Domingo Bernardo de Bonechea Andonaegui (21 September 1713 – 26 January 1775) was a
Spanish Navy
The Spanish Navy, officially the Armada, is the Navy, maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces and one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Spanish Navy was responsible for a number of major historic achievements in navigation ...
officer and explorer. He is known for having tried to incorporate
Tahiti
Tahiti (; Tahitian language, Tahitian , ; ) is the largest island of the Windward Islands (Society Islands), Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France. It is located in the central part of t ...
into the
Spanish Empire
The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy (political entity), Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered ...
James Cook
Captain (Royal Navy), Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 176 ...
's explorations might lead to the creation of British bases from which to attack Peru. De Bonechea reached Tahiti only weeks after the
first voyage of James Cook
The first voyage of James Cook was a combined Royal Navy and Royal Society expedition to the south Pacific Ocean aboard HMS Endeavour, HMS ''Endeavour'', from 1768 to 1771. The aims were to observe the 1769 transit of Venus from Tahiti and to ...
, and indeed found an axe left there by Cook's expedition. He recorded a great many local native words.
Early life and family
Domingo Bernardo de Bonechea Andonaegui was born 21 September 1713 in Getaria,
Gipuzkoa
Gipuzkoa ( , ; ; ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French department of Pyrénées-Atlantiqu ...
,
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
. His father, Juan Bauptista de Bonechea Aramburu (1685–1770), son of Geronimo Boneachea and Mariana Aramburu, commanded the fishing vessel ''Terranova'' off
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...
in 1727 became a captain in the Spanish Royal Navy, and was Alcalde (mayor) of Getaria in 1756; his uncle Francisco de Bonechea Aramburu was a
frigate
A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied.
The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...
captain. His mother was Francisca Andonaegui Narbasta; the parents married on 25 March 1714, a few months after Domingo's birth. His younger brother Francisco Bonechea Andonaegui was also a naval officer, mentioned as a lieutenant aboard one of the frigates that escorted Carlos III from Italy to Spain in 1759 on his accession to the Spanish throne and died in Puerto Caballo in 1761. He was a third cousin once removed of the explorer Manuel Facundo Agote Bonechea 1755-1803), with whom he corresponded.
Domingo de Bonechea Andonaegui did not pass through naval college or formal navigational studies. He served in the Spanish navy as a pilot from 1732 to 1740, when he became
midshipman
A midshipman is an officer of the lowest Military rank#Subordinate/student officer, rank in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Royal Cana ...
( Alferez) of a frigate. He took part in the Battle of Toulon (22/23 February 1744) He was promoted to Midshipman of a
Ship of the Line
A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactics in the Age of Sail, naval tactic known as the line of battl ...
in 1749 and to Frigate lieutenant in 1751.
In 1754 he was promoted to lieutenant of a ship of the line. His first command seems to have been the Corvette ''Maite'' (18)in which he took part in the action in which Spain lost
Havana
Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Pocock in 1762. After a desperate action on June 28 against the British Captain George Mackenzie he surrendered at Mariel together with the Virganza (24) commanded by Diego Argote. He was exonerated of all blame and acquitted with honour.
In 1766 he became a frigate captain and from 1767 commanded the frigate ''Santa Maria Magdalena'', afterwards renamed ''Aguila''. Together with the ''Lievre'', he took supplies to the
Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands (; ), commonly referred to as The Falklands, is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and from Cape Dub ...
and reached the port of Concepcion (Chile) on 14 April 1768. From there he continued on to Callao (Peru) and seems to have remained in the region for several years.
First voyage (1772–1773)
On September 26, 1772, de Bonechea went on an exploratory expedition to Tahiti. He sailed with Tomás Gayangos as his lieutenant on the ''Aguila'', ''Santa Maria Magdalena'', from Callao harbour,
Peru
Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...
, and reached Tahiti on 7 Nov. He anchored in Vaiuru's Bay, which de Bonechea christened "Puerto Santa Maria Magdalena". De Bonechea forbade himself and his crew any sexual relations with local women, which surprised the
Tahitians
The Tahitians (; ) are the Indigenous peoples of Oceania, Indigenous Polynesians, Polynesian people of Tahiti and thirteen other Society Islands in French Polynesia. The numbers may also include the modern population in these islands of mixed P ...
greatly. He left Tahiti on December 20 and reached
Valparaíso
Valparaíso () is a major city, Communes of Chile, commune, Port, seaport, and naval base facility in the Valparaíso Region of Chile. Valparaíso was originally named after Valparaíso de Arriba, in Castilla–La Mancha, Castile-La Mancha, Spain ...
on February 21, 1773.
Georg Forster
Johann George Adam Forster, also known as Georg Forster (; 27 November 1754 – 10 January 1794), was a German geography, geographer, natural history, naturalist, ethnology, ethnologist, travel literature, travel writer, journalist and revol ...
The aim of this expedition was the annexation of Tahiti to the Spanish crown, with the approval and encouragement of King Carlos III, and to convert its inhabitants. Two ships, the ''Aguila'' and the ''Jupiter'' left Callao on September 20, 1774. Bonechea and Tu decided a place within 150 yards of the Vaitepiha River, in Vaitepiha Bay, was the best place for a mission. This area is now known as Tautira Bay, but referred to by the Spanish as 'La Santissima Cruz de Ohatutira'.
However, de Bonechea died on 26 January 1775, in Tahiti, and buried near the Holy Cross marking Spain's dominion over the island, near the mission house. The mission was abandoned on 12 November, however.
The cross, with the inscription ''Christus Vincit Carolus III imperat 1774'', was taken down by the British in 1777.
His grave was rediscovered in the 20th century in the village of Tautira.
See also
* Buenechea Regarding his family name.
* Tahanea & Tatakoto, two atolls visited by Domingo de Bonechea before any other recorded European mariner.