Henry Hudson
Jack Smith
Who was he?
Sir Henry Hudson (1575-1611) was an English sailor and explorer in the early 17th century.
What was his goal?
Trained and hired by both the Muscovy Company (with which he had a familial connection), and later the Dutch East India Company, Hudson set out on four different voyages in attempts to find a northern trade route connecting Europe to China and the East Indies.
First Voyage
Hudson set sail on his first recorded voyage on May 1, 1607. Leaving the harbor of Gravesend, England in the ship Hopwell, the goal was to make it to sail straight through the North Pole on a shortened route to East Asia. However, while attempting to sail around the east coast of Greenland, Hudson and his crew found that Greenland extended further east than was previously thought. With an altered route and the constant threat of icebergs, the explorer was forced to steer his ship back to Gravesend prematurely.