John Cunningham

Who was John Cunningham?

John Cunningham, known in Danish as Hans Køning, was a Scottish explorer who became a captain in the Danish navy in 1603.

In 1605, he was captain of the 60-ton Danish naval ship Trost, which was probably named after one of the queen's dogs.) The ship, along with the 70-ton Løven or Den Røde Løve and the 20-ton Katten, was directed by King Christian IV to reëstablish contact with the Norse settlements in Greenland, the first of three annual expeditions sent between 1605 and 1607. Cunningham served as the chief commander, following the piloting of James Hall and commanding Godske Lindenov in the Løven and John Knight in the Katten.

During the 1606 expedition, Cunningham served as the captain of the Løven under Lindenov's command.

In 1615, he was among the commanders aboard the naval expedition under Gabriel Kruse sent to Spitsbergen to demand tolls from foreign whalers. There he encountered Robert Fotherby, Thomas Edge, and Adriaen Block. The following year, he captained the Gabriel as part of the naval expedition under Jørgen Daa sent to rid the coasts of Norway, the Faeroes, and Iceland of illegal whalers and pirates.