Map of Part of Caria and Lycia Hoskyn 1842 s572id13663650 0409

Richard Hoskyn (1811–1873) was a Royal Navy officer and hydrographic surveyor. He discovered the site of Ancient

Kaunos Kaunos ( Carian: ''Kbid'';. Translator Chris Markham. Lycian: ''Xbide''; Ancient Greek: ; ) was a city of ancient Caria and in Anatolia, a few kilometres west of the modern town of Dalyan, Muğla Province, Turkey. The Calbys river (now kno ...

in what is now southern Turkey, surveyed much of the coast of Ireland, carried out deep-sea sounding in preparation for the laying of telegraphic cables, and became superintendent of charts for the UK Admiralty. Hoskyn began his surveying career in 1835, when he was appointed acting Master on HMS ''Fairy'' working with

William Hewett Vice-Admiral Sir William Nathan Wrighte Hewett, (12 August 1834 – 13 May 1888) was a Royal Navy officer and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonw ...

in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

. The next year he transferred to under Thomas Graves. He was promoted to Master in 1840. He continued working as assistant to Graves, surveying in the Mediterranean until 1843. While surveying on the south coast of Turkey, Hoskyn carried out inland exploration and mapping from November 1840 to December 1841. The main purpose was to create a map of the region, but he also investigated some of the ancient sites. Entering the Dalyan River, he came across the remains of an ancient city with rock tombs, a theatre, baths, temples and an aqueduct. From an inscription, he was able to establish that this was the classical Caunus or

. He also visited the ancient sites of

Telmessos Telmessos or Telmessus ( Hittite: 𒆪𒉿𒆷𒉺𒀸𒊭 ''Kuwalapašša'', Lycian: 𐊗𐊁𐊍𐊁𐊂𐊁𐊛𐊆 ''Telebehi'', ), also Telmissus (), later Anastasiopolis (), then Makri or Macre (), was the largest city in Lycia, near th ...

Tlos Tlos (Lycian language, Lycian: 𐊗𐊍𐊀𐊇𐊀 ''Tlawa'', Hittite language, Hittite: 𒁕𒆷𒉿 ''Dalawa'', or Τλῶς) was an ancient Lycian city near the modern town of Seydikemer in the Mugla Province of southern Turkey, some 4 kilo ...

and

Xanthos Xanthos or Xanthus, also referred to by scholars as ''Arna'', its Lycian name, (, Lycian: 𐊀𐊕𐊑𐊏𐊀 ''Arñna'', , Latin: ''Xanthus'') was an ancient city near the present-day village of Kınık, in Antalya Province, Turkey. The ru ...

. In October 1841 he was joined by the naturalist

Edward Forbes Edward Forbes FRS, FGS (12 February 1815 – 18 November 1854) was a Manx naturalist. In 1846, he proposed that the distributions of montane plants and animals had been compressed downslope, and some oceanic islands connected to the mainland ...

, and they travelled together for the next two months. Hoskyn described the aqueduct supplying Patara, with its stone pipes. They then travelled inland, and explored and described the ruins of a site known in Turkish as Urlujah, the ancient

Oenoanda Oenoanda (; ''Oinoanda'') was a Lycian city, in the upper valley of the River Xanthus. It is noted for the philosophical inscription by the Epicurean, Diogenes of Oenoanda. The ruins of the city lie on a highly isolated site west of the mo ...

. Returning to the ''Beacon'', the travellers found that she was at Makri, modern

Fethiye Fethiye () is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Muğla Province, Turkey. Its area is 875 km2, and its population is 177,702 (2022). It is one of the prominent tourist destinations in the Turkish Riviera. It was formerly k ...

, taking on board the marbles from Xanthos which are now in the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

. In 1843, Hoskyn moved to Ireland, becoming Assistant-Surveyor to George Frazer on HMS ''Comet''. He worked on the Irish survey until 1862, being in charge of the survey from 1853. He compiled sailing directions for the coasts of Ireland.Second edition 1877
/ref> In 1862 he took command of , making deep soundings off the west coast of Ireland, in order to find the best route for the

Transatlantic telegraph cable Transatlantic telegraph cables were undersea cables running under the Atlantic Ocean for telegraph communications. Telegraphy is a largely obsolete form of communication, and the cables have long since been decommissioned, but telephone and dat ...

. Earlier surveys had found a precipitous drop from the 100 fathom line. Hoskyn succeeded in finding a more suitable route to the west of Slyne Head. The soundings and dredgings on this voyage brought up a number of interesting specimens of

Brachiopods Brachiopods (), phylum Brachiopoda, are a phylum of animals that have hard "valves" (shells) on the upper and lower surfaces, unlike the left and right arrangement in bivalve molluscs. Brachiopod valves are hinged at the rear end, while the fron ...

, including one new species, ''Discina atlantica'', now named ''Pelagodiscus atlanticus'', from . Hoskyn was promoted to Commander in June 1863. In April 1864, he was appointed Chief Draughtsman to the Hydrographic Office. In the next year he became Superintendent of Charts. He retired with the rank of Captain, and died in 1873.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoskyn, Richard Royal Navy captains 1811 births 1873 deaths