Editing French ship Astrolabe (1811) (section)

== Career ==
=== Voyage under the command of Louis Isidore Duperrey===
[[Louis-Isidore Duperrey]] commanded ''Coquille'' on its circumnavigation of the earth (1822–1825) with [[Jules Dumont d'Urville]] as second. [[René-Primevère Lesson]] also travelled on ''Coquille'' as a naval doctor and naturalist. On their return in March 1825, Lesson and Dumont brought back to France an imposing collection of animals and plants collected on the [[Falkland Islands]], on the coasts of [[Chile]] and [[Peru]], in the archipelagos of the Pacific and [[New Zealand]], [[New Guinea]] and [[Australia]].<ref name="KSDDM">{{cite journal|author1=Chambers, Keith S.|author2=Munro, Doug|title=The Mystery of Gran Cocal: European Discovery and Mis-Discovery in Tuvalu|url=http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document/Volume_89_1980/Volume_89,_No._2/The_%26apos%3Bmystery%26apos%3B_of_Gran_Cocal%3A_European_discovery_and_mis-discovery_in_Tuvalu,_by_Doug_Munro,_p_167-198/p1|year=1980|volume=89|issue=2|journal=The Journal of the Polynesian Society|pages=167–198|access-date=2013-11-10|archive-date=2018-12-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181215134048/http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document/Volume_89_1980/Volume_89%2C_No._2/The_%26apos%3Bmystery%26apos%3B_of_Gran_Cocal%3A_European_discovery_and_mis-discovery_in_Tuvalu%2C_by_Doug_Munro%2C_p_167-198/p1|url-status=dead}}</ref>

During the voyage the ship spent two weeks in the [[Bay of Islands]] in the north of [[New Zealand]] in 1824.<ref name="ESNZC">{{cite web| work=Early shipping in New Zealand waters| title=''Coquille''| url=http://www.myancestorsstory.com/shiplist_05.html| access-date=10 November 2013| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110052416/http://www.myancestorsstory.com/shiplist_05.html| archive-date=10 November 2013| url-status=dead}}</ref> The vessel arrived in [[Kosrae]] where Duperrey and his crew visited for ten days. On the return voyage to France the ship sailed through the Ellice Islands (now known as [[Tuvalu]]).<ref name="KSDDM"/>

===First Voyage under the command of Jules Dumont d'Urville===
''Coquille'' was renamed ''Astrolabe'' in honour of one of the ships of [[Jean-François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse|La Pérouse]]. She sailed from Toulon on 22 April 1826, towards the Pacific Ocean, for a circumnavigation of the world that was destined to last nearly three years.

''Astrolabe'' explored parts of [[New Zealand]]. In January 1827, the French explorer Dumont d'Urville arrived in [[Tasman Bay]] in the north of the [[South Island]]. A number of landmarks around Tasman Bay were named by d'Urville and his crew including [[D'Urville Island, New Zealand|d'Urville Island]], [[Te Aumiti / French Pass|French Pass]] and [[Torrent Bay]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.theprow.org.nz/d-urville-s-tasman-bay-odyssey/#.UPmE0B2R-So|title = D'Urville's Tasman Bay Odyssey}}</ref> Dumont then sailed along the east coast of the [[North Island]]. On 12 March 1827, ''Astrolabe'' entered the [[Bay of Islands]].<ref name="ESNZA">{{cite web| work=Early shipping in New Zealand waters| title=''Astrolabe''| url=http://www.myancestorsstory.com/shiplist_02.html| access-date=10 November 2013| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110020537/http://www.myancestorsstory.com/shiplist_02.html| archive-date=10 November 2013| url-status=dead}}</ref>

On 19 December 1827 ''Astrolabe'' came into Hobart to repair, refresh, and seek out information relative to the wreck and remains of La Pérouse's shipwreck.

''Astrolabe'' then visited [[Fiji]], after which [[Jules Dumont d'Urville]] executed the first relief maps of the [[Loyalty Islands]] (part of French [[New Caledonia]]) and explored the coasts of [[New Guinea]]. He confirmed the site of La Pérouse's shipwreck in [[Vanikoro]] (one of the [[Santa Cruz Islands]], part of the archipelago of the [[Solomon Islands]]) and collected numerous remains of his boats. The voyage continued with the mapping of part of the [[Caroline Islands]] and the [[Moluccas]]. The ''Astrolabe'' returned to Marseille on 25 March 1829.

===Second Voyage under the command of Jules Dumont d'Urville===
[[File:Les Corvettes L'Astrolabe, watercolour by A. Mayer 1838 slnsw.jpg|thumb|Les Corvettes L'Astrolabe, watercolour by A. Mayer, 1838]]
Dumont wanted to do further exploration of the Pacific Ocean, however King [[Louis-Philippe of France|Louis-Philippe]] ordered that the second expedition aim for the [[South Pole|South Magnetic Pole]] and to claim it for France; if that was not possible, Dumont's expedition was asked to equal the most southerly latitude of 74°34'S achieved in 1823 by [[James Weddell]]. Thus France became part of the international competition for polar exploration, along with the United States and the United Kingdom. ''Astrolabe'' and [[French ship Zélée (1812)|''Zélée'']] sailed from Toulon on 7 September 1837.

After reaching the [[South Orkney Islands]], the expedition headed directly to the [[South Shetland Islands]] and the [[Bransfield Strait]]. In spite of thick fog they located some land only sketched on the maps, which Dumont named Terre de Louis-Philippe (now called [[Graham Land]]), the [[Joinville Island group]], and Rosamel Island (now called [[Andersson Island]]). As most of the crew had obvious symptoms of scurvy, at the end of February 1838, Dumont accepted that he was not able to continue further south, and he continued to doubt the actual latitude reached by Weddell. He therefore directed the two ships towards [[Talcahuano]], in Chile, where he established a temporary hospital for the crew members affected by scurvy.

The ships then sailed to the [[Marquesas Islands]] then to [[Hobart]] in Australia on the way south.  The expedition followed the coast of Antarctica then carried out experiments to determine the approximate position of the [[South magnetic pole]].

They sighted the [[schooner]] {{USS|Porpoise|1836|6}} of the [[United States Exploring Expedition]] commanded by [[Charles Wilkes]], but due to poor communication, contact was not made.<ref name=Stanton>{{cite book|last1=Stanton|first1=William|title=The Great United States Exploring Expedition|date=1975|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley|isbn=0520025571|pages=[https://archive.org/details/greatunitedstate00will/page/176 176–177]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/greatunitedstate00will/page/176}}</ref>

On 1 February 1840, Dumont decided to turn to the north heading for Hobart, which the two ships reached 17 days later. They were present for the arrival of the two ships of [[James Clark Ross|James Ross]]’s expedition to Antarctica.

On 25 February 1840, the ships sailed towards the [[Auckland Islands]], where they carried out magnetic measurements. The expedition returned via New Zealand, the [[Torres Strait]], [[Timor]], [[Réunion]], [[Saint Helena]] and finally Toulon, returning on 6 November 1840.