Kidnapping of Kalaniʻōpuʻu by Captain James Cook Kidnapping of Kalaniʻōpuʻu by Captain James Cook Captain James Cook's 1779 attempted kidnapping of Kalaniʻōpuʻu, the ruling chief of the island of Hawaii and the decision to hold him in exchange for a stolen long boat (lifeboat) was the fatal error of Cook's final voyage, ultimately leading to Cook's death. Cook's arrival in Hawaii was followed by mass migrations of Europeans and Americans to the islands that ended with the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii, the aboriginal monarchy of the islands. James Cook led three separate voyages to chart unknown areas of the globe for the British Empire. It
Kidnapping of Kalaniʻōpuʻu by Captain James Cook when the dismayed and insulted chiefs refused, Cook proceeded to give orders to ascend the Morai, break down the fence and load the boats with it. John Ledyard also tells of an episode where Captain Clerke accused a native chieftain friend of stealing the Resolution's jolly boat. The boat was soon found unstolen and the native chief soured from the false accusation. After staying in the bay for 19 days, Cook and his two ships sailed out of the bay. On 6 February Cook's ships unmoored and left Kealakekua Bay. They were met with an unexpected hard gale which wrenched