When Captain Cook set out to seek a western entrance to the fabled North West Passage, his instructions allowed him no more than the briefest contact with the coast of north-west America. The burden of that survey was to fall on George Vancouver, one of his midshipmen. Vancouver was sent, with two ships, to explore the coast and to claim land for Britain.

His remarkably accurate survey of the coast was to set a standard that lasted over a century. There was much more to his journey than the tracing of the coast. Extraordinarily young crews, inexperienced officers and a doctor set on Vancouver's downfall, all combined to test Vancouver's leadership to the limit.

For five years, he kept his men together and returned with few casualties, itself a rare occurrence. He also returned with new lands discovered and the sovereignty of Hawaii in his pocket. He returned to a land at war and was soon forgotten in all but his native Kings Lynn. But his name has been immortalised on shores far from home.