Charles Wilkes

Wilkes, Charles (1798–1877), U.S. naval officer. He led a U.S. Navy expedition that identified Antarctica as a continent. He also seized the British ship Trent off Cuba (1861) to remove 2 Confederate agents from it—an action that almost caused Britain to support the South in the Civil War (1861–65). His career waned afterwards, and he completed his career writing reports of his explorations.

See also: Antarctica.