Champion surveyed Johnston Atoll as a possible cable station, provoking Hawaiian objections that the mission infringed sovereignty. Apparently technical hydrographic work could support strategic communications and create a diplomatic dispute. At Pitcairn, Champion's captain found that the colony lacked a criminal code and supplied one under the authority attached to his command. Nineteenth-century naval captains could exercise unusually broad governmental discretion on remote stations. A cruiser's influence could extend from charting and cable planning to the legal organization of a small colony.
Notable Point · 54:26-55:55
Surveying Johnston Atoll and governing Pitcairn
Champion's survey of Johnston Atoll and its captain's criminal code for Pitcairn show how a station cruiser could touch sovereignty, communications, and colonial government.