13 Facts About Richard Collinson

Admiral Sir Richard Collinson was an English naval officer and explorer of the Northwest Passage.

Richard Collinson was born in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England, then part of County Durham.

Richard Collinson joined the Royal Navy in 1823 at age twelve and rose in the ranks, becoming a lieutenant in 1835, commander in 1841, and captain in 1842.

In 1850 Richard Collinson was instructed to look for him in the Canadian Arctic by sailing eastward from the Bering Strait and Alaska, while Horatio Austin and others would use the normal route westward through the Parry Channel.

Richard Collinson was given HMS Enterprise and was to be accompanied by Commander Robert McClure commanding HMS Investigator.

When Richard Collinson reached the Bering Strait and learned that McClure was ahead of him he turned back and spent the winter in Hong Kong.

Richard Collinson returned to Bering Strait in mid-July 1851 and sailed east along the coast.

Richard Collinson entered the strait thinking that he might have found the northwest passage, but after a while he saw a flagpole on a hill.

Richard Collinson pushed on a little beyond McClure's maximum before he was blocked by ice.

Richard Collinson went a little further southeast and chose winter quarters at Minto Inlet.

Richard Collinson wintered at Cambridge Bay on the southeast coast of Victoria Island.

Richard Collinson returned through Bering Strait and around the Cape of Good Hope.

Richard Collinson was awarded the Founder's Medal by the Royal Geographical Society in 1858, knighted in 1875, and made an admiral on the retired list in the same year.