Baffin's Exploration of Baffin Bay

Timeline

1. 1616Gravesend · GravesendLondon's Company of the Discovery of the North-West Passage again sent Hudson's old ship Discovery north, with Bylot as captain and Baffin as pilot; this was the most important Arctic re-survey after Hudson's 1610–1611 voyage, aiming to continue searching along Davis Strait for a passage to Asia.
2. 1616Around Smith Strait · Smith StraitThe fleet passed the northern limit reached by John Davis in 1587 and penetrated the broad gulf between Greenland and Baffin Island; Baffin recorded a northernmost point of about 77°45'N, a record for European ships that stood for some two centuries, and his observations of latitude, coastline, and ice conditions later proved quite accurate.
3. 1616Straits on Baffin Bay's west coast · Baffin BayBaffin named Lancaster Strait, Smith Strait, and Jones Strait after his patrons; judging from ice barriers and coastline trends, he concluded that north of Davis Strait did not lead to India, and Arctic passage exploration consequently shifted direction. This conclusion greatly influenced 17th-century cartography but underestimated the significance of Lancaster Strait as an entrance.
4. 1616–1625Dover · DoverDiscovery returned to Dover on 30 August; Baffin's journal was later excerpted and published by Purchas, but the charts were not published at the same time, and some 18th-century cartographers even deleted Baffin Bay. Only after John Ross re-entered the bay in 1818 was the accuracy of its coastline widely recognized, and Baffin Island and Baffin Bay were named after him.