Explorers and Surveyors
Explore notable explorers and surveyors in Royal Navy history.
Joseph Nagle
Rank: Seaman and coxswain
Service on Cook’s voyages and contribution to exploration history.
Robert FitzRoy
Rank: Naval officer and surveyor
Hydrography, surveying, and scientific voyage leadership.
Matthew Flinders
Rank: Navigator and surveyor
Navigation, coastal survey, and maritime work associated with Australia.
William Bligh
Rank: Navigator and officer
Exceptional small-boat navigation after the Bounty mutiny.
James Cook
Rank: Navigator, surveyor, and exploration officer
Voyages of exploration and outstanding practical navigation.
George Vancouver
Rank: Surveyor and exploration officer
Exploration and charting work in the Pacific and northwest coast of North America.
John Franklin
Rank: Naval officer and explorer
Arctic exploration and command of the lost Franklin expedition.
George Nares
Rank: Naval officer and explorer
Polar exploration and scientific geographical work.
William Edward Parry
Rank: Naval officer and polar explorer
Arctic exploration, navigation, and northern surveying.
Robert Falcon Scott
Rank: Naval officer and polar explorer
Antarctic expeditions and their enduring place in British memory.
John Byron
Rank: Naval officer and explorer
Naval command, travel writing, and imperial maritime service.
William Robert Broughton
Rank: Surveyor and exploration officer
Surveying and exploratory voyages in distant waters.
William Dampier
Rank: Navigator and explorer
Voyages of exploration, observation, and contribution to maritime knowledge.
Edmund Halley
Rank: Scientific naval officer and surveyor
Scientific voyages, maritime observation, and practical contributions to navigation.
John Narbrough
Rank: Naval officer and explorer
Reconnaissance voyages and navigation in distant waters.
Erasmus Ommanney
Rank: Naval officer and Arctic explorer
Arctic exploration and the search for Franklin.
Leopold McClintock
Rank: Naval officer and explorer
Arctic service and role in uncovering the fate of Franklin’s expedition.
Allen Gardiner
Rank: Naval officer and missionary-associated traveller
Service, travel, and the intersection of naval culture with missionary enterprise.
Henry Rawlinson's maritime contemporary George Back
Rank: Naval officer and explorer
Exploration, survival, and overland-maritime expeditionary work.
Arthur Phillip
Rank: Naval officer and colonial governor
Naval service and later colonial leadership in Australia.
George Henry Richards
Rank: Hydrographer and survey officer
Survey work, charting, and maritime knowledge production.
Frederick Evans
Rank: Hydrographer and scientific naval officer
Hydrography, magnetic work, and scientific contribution to navigation.
William Scoresby
Rank: Navigator and Arctic observer
Arctic observation, navigation, and contribution to polar knowledge.
John Ross
Rank: Naval officer and explorer
Arctic voyages and contribution to knowledge of northern waters.
James Clark Ross
Rank: Naval officer and polar explorer
Arctic and Antarctic exploration, surveying, and magnetic observation.
Sherard Osborn
Rank: Naval officer and Arctic writer
Arctic service, exploration, and writing on naval and polar matters.
Robert McClure
Rank: Naval officer and Arctic explorer
Arctic exploration and association with the Northwest Passage.
Francis Leopold McClintock
Rank: Naval officer and explorer
Arctic expeditions and recovery of evidence related to the Franklin expedition.
Francis Rawdon Moira Crozier
Rank: Naval officer and polar explorer
Polar service and command connection with the Franklin expedition.
John Lort Stokes
Rank: Naval officer and surveyor
Surveying work and maritime exploration in Australian waters.
George Back
Rank: Naval officer and explorer
Northern exploration and expeditionary work in extreme environments.
Francis Crozier
Rank: Naval officer and polar explorer
Polar service and command connection with the Franklin expedition.
Alexander Dalrymple
Rank: Hydrographer
Hydrographic scholarship and the systematization of maritime geographical knowledge.
Philip Parker King
Rank: Naval officer and surveyor
Australian and South American surveying work and coastal charting.
Robert Moresby
Rank: Naval officer and surveyor
Surveying and charting in the Indian Ocean and Red Sea.
Frederick William Beechey
Rank: Naval officer and explorer
Polar and Pacific exploration and surveying service.
Basil Hall
Rank: Naval officer and traveler
Voyages, observation, and published reflections on maritime service.
Frederick Bullock
Rank: Naval surveyor
Hydrographic survey work and charting in distant waters.
Thomas Abel Brimage Spratt
Rank: Naval officer and surveyor
Mediterranean survey work and hydrographic observation.
William Chimmo
Rank: Naval officer and surveyor
Surveying and hydrographic service across imperial waters.
John MacClintock
Rank: Naval officer and surveyor
Hydrography, sailing directions, and coastal survey work.
Edward R. G. R. Evans
Rank: Naval officer and polar explorer
Polar expedition service and naval leadership.
William Henry Smyth
Rank: Naval officer and hydrographer
Hydrography, Mediterranean observation, and scientific maritime writing.
Bartholomew Sulivan
Rank: Naval officer and surveyor
Surveying work and hydrographic service in South American waters.
Henry Mangles Denham
Rank: Naval officer and surveyor
Hydrographic survey work across imperial waters.
Edward Inglefield
Rank: Naval officer and explorer
Arctic service and exploration in northern waters.
Allen Young
Rank: Explorer and mariner
Arctic voyaging and maritime support for polar enterprise.
Hubert Wilkins
Rank: Polar explorer linked to maritime exploration
Polar exploration and the widening culture of maritime discovery.