Philip Carteret (d. 1796)

English navigator, sailed as lieutenant in Byron’s voyage, and commanded the second vessel in Wallis’s expedition to the southern hemisphere (Aug. 1766). In the following April, while clearing the Strait of Magellan, Carteret’s vessel was separated from the others by a hurricane, and he proceeded alone, discovering Pitcairn, Gloucester, and a number of other small islands. He explored the strait between New Britain and New Zealand, and drew a map of the western coast of Celebes. He returned round the Cape of Good Hope to England, March 20, 1769. His long voyage added much to the geographical knowledge of his time. He retired from active service in 1794 with the rank of rear-admiral, and died in Southampton on the 21st of July 1796.