US naval officer, born in New York City, USA. He joined the US Navy in 1818 and studied hydrography. He explored the South Pacific islands and the Antarctic continent, including the stretch that now bears his name (183940). During the Civil War he intercepted the British mail-steamer Trent off Cuba, and took off two Confederate commissioners accredited to France, thereby creating a risk of war with Britain (1861). As acting rear-admiral he commanded a squadron against commerce raiders in the West Indies, but was court-martialled for disobedience in 1864, after which he retired.
Charles Wilkes (April 3, 1798 – February 8, 1877) was an American naval officer and explorer.
Early life and career
Wilkes was born in New York City, in 1798, as the great nephew of the former Lord Mayor of London John Wilkes.
In 1833, for his survey of Narragansett Bay, he was placed in charge of the Navy's Department of Charts and Instruments, out of which developed the Naval Observatory and Hydrographic Office.
The South Seas expedition
In 1838, although not a seasoned naval line officer, Wilkes was experienced in nautical survey work, and working with civilian scientists.
The United States Exploring Expedition, commonly known as the Wilkes Expedition, included naturalists, botanists, a mineralogist, taxidermists, artists and a philologist, and was carried by the sloops-of-war Vincennes (780 tons) and Peacock (650 tons), the brig Porpoise (230 tons), the store-ship Relief, and two schooners, Sea Gull (110 tons) and Flying Fish (96 tons).
Leaving Hampton Roads on August 18, 1838, it stopped at the Madeira Islands and Rio de Janeiro; visited Fiji and the Hawaiian Islands in 1840, explored the west coast of the United States, including the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Puget Sound, the Columbia River, San Francisco Bay and the Sacramento River, in 1841, and returned by way of the Philippines, the Sulu Archipelago, Borneo, Singapore, Polynesia and the Cape of Good Hope, reaching New York on June 10, 1842.
After having completely encircled the globe (his was the last all-sail naval mission to do so), Wilkes had logged some 87,000 miles and lost two ships and 28 men. Wilkes was court-martialled on his return for the loss of one of his ships on the Columbia River bar, but was acquitted on all charges except that of illegally punishing men in his squadron.
His Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition (5 volumes and an atlas) were published in 1844.
The Narrative contains much interesting material concerning the manners and customs and political and economic conditions in many places then little known. Wilkes's 1841 Map of the Oregon Territory pre-dated John Charles Fremont's first Oregon Trail pathfinder expedition guided by Kit Carson during 1842.
Other valuable contributions were the three reports of James Dwight Dana on Zoophytes (1846), Geology (1849) and Crustacea (1852-1854). In addition to many shorter articles and reports, Wilkes published the major scientific works Western America, including California and Oregon in 1849, and Theory of the Winds in 1856.
The Civil War
At the outbreak of the American Civil War, Wilkes (who had reached the rank of commander in 1843 and that of captain in 1855) was assigned to the command of the San Jacinto to search for the Confederate commerce destroyer Sumter.
The Trent Affair
On November 8, 1861, he stopped the British mail packet Trent, and took off the Confederate commissioners to England, James Murray Mason and John Slidell.
As part of these duties, he visited the British colony of Bermuda. Acting on his orders, however violating the British rule that allowed American naval vessels (of either side) to remain in port for a single day, Wilkes remained in port for nearly a week aboard his flagship the Wachusett, while his gunboats Tioga and Sonoma blockaded St. George harbour, a key Confederate blockade-runner base.
Promotion controversy
Despite his accomplishments, Wilkes acquired a reputation as sometimes arrogant and capricious. This conflict was due to Secretary Welles recommendation that Wilkes had been too old to receive the rank of commodore under the act then governing promotions, and resulted in Wilkes writing a scathing letter to the Secretary of the Navy.
Last years
Some historians speculate, that Wilkes' obsessive behavior and harsh code of shipboard discipline reportedly shaped Herman Melville's characterization of Captain Ahab in Moby Dick.
In addition to his invaluable contribution to U.S. Naval history and scientific study in his official Narrative of the Exploration Squadron (6 volumes), Wilkes also authored an autobiography.
Wilkes died in Washington, D.
In August 1909, the United States paid its final tribute to Real Admiral Wilkes by moving his remains to Arlington National Cemetery.
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