Richard Collinson

Who was Richard Collinson?

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

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

The three expeditions sent in 1848 to locate Sir John Franklin all failed. In 1850 Collinson was instructed to look for him by sailing through the Bering Strait while Horatio Austin and others would use the normal route through the Parry Channel. He was given the HMS Enterprise and was to be accompanied by Commander Robert McClure the HMS Investigator. They left Plymouth in January 1850. After becoming separated off the coast of Chile the two ships became independent.. When Collinson reached the Bering Strait and learned that McClure was ahead of him he turned back and spent the winter in Hong Kong. He returned to Bering Strait in mid-July 1851 and sailed east along the coast. On 29 August he was off the coast of Banks Island and saw an open strait tending northeast. This was the Prince of Wales Strait.