Hawaiian Navigation By hadams24 1778 Captain Cooks arrival marking first European contact Period: 1778 to 1810 Hawaiian Navigation 1790 Vehicle shift for war trade 1805 Hawaiian sailors, recorded working on foreign ships 1810 Kamehameha unifies the Hawaiian islands, western ships play a major role in his campaign 1820 missionaries arrive and further accelerate westernization 1830 large numbers of Hawaiians serve as sailors aboard whaling ships