KBC 14: In 1601, Sir James Lancaster led the first fleet of which newly formed organisation to Java?
Options:
British Museum
Royal Geographical Society
Royal Mint
East India Company
Answer: East India Company
Lancaster led the East India Company’s first trading expedition in April 1601, commanding the Red Dragon. He established the first of the company’s trading posts in Bantam, Java. After his return to England in 1603 he was knighted. Lancaster remained a director of the company and funded several expeditions to find the Northwest Passage, the American Arctic waterway that connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.



