Malaspina Expedition - Background and Preparation

Background and Preparation

From September 1786 to May 1788 Malaspina made a commercial circumnavigation of the world on behalf of the Royal Philippines Company. During this voyage he was in command of the frigate Astrea. His route went via the Cape of Good Hope and, returning, Cape Horn. Astrea called at Concepcion in Chile in February 1787, whose military governor, the Irish-born Ambrose Higgins, had six months before recommended that Spain organize an expedition to the Pacific similar to those led by Lapérouse and Cook. Higgins had made this recommendation following the visit of the Lapérouse expedition to Concepcion in March 1786, and presumably discussed it with Malaspina while the Astrea was at Concepcion. Following the Astrea's return to Spain, Malaspina produced, in partnership with José de Bustamante, a proposal for an expedition along the lines set out in Higgins' memorandum. A short time later, on 14 October 1788, Malaspina was informed of the government's acceptance of his plan. José de Espinoza y Tello, one of the officers of the Malaspina expedition, subsequently confirmed the importance of the information sent by Higgins in stimulating the Government to initiate an extensive program of exploration in the Pacific. The prompt acceptance of Malaspina's proposal was also stimulated by news from St. Petersburg of preparations for a Russian expedition (the Mulovsky expedition) to the North Pacific under the command of Grigori I. Mulovsky that had as one of its objectives the claiming of territory on the North West Coast of America around Nootka Sound that was also claimed at the time by Spain.

The Spanish government of the time devoted a large share of its budget to scientific development, that was incomparably superior to that of other European nations. In the last four decades of the eighteenth century, a staggering amount of scientific expeditions crossed the Spanish Empire, such as the botanical expeditions to New Granada, Mexico, Peru and Chile, that collected a very complete sample of the American flora. The New World was a vast laboratory for experimentation and an unending source of samples.

The Spanish king at the time, Charles III was also known for having a penchant for just about everything related to science, and had already procured funds to further develop science and technology in several areas. He promptly approved the expedition, although he could never see its results, as he died exactly two months later.

Additionally, the Spanish government had a vested interest on all issues concerning the Pacific Ocean because a large number of her colonies were in that area, including most of the American Pacific coast, the Philippines in Asia, and several islands, such as Guam.

Two frigates were specially designed and built for the expedition by the shipbuilder Tómas Muñoz at the La Carraca shipyard, under Malaspina's direction. They were both 306 tons burden and 36 metres long, with a normal load displacement of 4.2 metres. They were launched together on April 8, 1789 and were baptized in honor of former James Cook's ships Resolution and Discovery as Descubierta and Atrevida (a liberal translation in Spanish). Malaspina commanded Descubierta and Bustamante Atrevida.

The expedition carried on board the elite of astronomers and surveyors of the Spanish Navy, headed by Juan Gutiérrez de la Concha. Also on board were many scientists and artists, such as painting master José del Pozo, artists José Guío and Fernando Brambila, cartoonist and columnist Tomás de Suria, botanists Luis Née, Antonio Pineda and Thaddäus Haenke, and many others.