Possession Bay

Possession Bay is a bay 2 miles (3.2 km) wide which recedes southwest for 5 miles (8 km), entered southeast of Black Head on the north coast of South Georgia, an island in the southern Atlantic Ocean.

Cook's Second Voyage

It was discovered and named by a British expedition under Cook in 1775. Cook made the first known landing on South Georgia in this vicinity.

The great mariner Captain James Cook in HMS Resolution accompanied by HMS Adventure made the first landing, survey and mapping of South Georgia. As mandated by the Admiralty, on 17 January 1775 he took possession for Britain and renamed the island "Isle of Georgia" for King George III. German naturalist Georg Forster, who accompanied Cook during their landings in three separate places at Possession Bay on that day, wrote:

Cook himself wrote in his log:

References

Coordinates: 54°6′S 37°7′W / 54.100°S 37.117°W / -54.100; -37.117  This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Geological Survey document "Possession Bay" (content from the Geographic Names Information System).