In 1615 Fotherby again was part of an exploratory expedition, this time commanding his own ship, the pinnace Richard (20 tons). Although he failed to find Henry Hudson's elusive Hold-with-Hope (generally believed to be part of the east coast of Greenland), he did stumble upon Jan Mayen, becoming the first documented English expedition to reach the island. Thinking it was a new discovery, he named it Sir Thomas Smith's Island, and the large volcano, Beerenberg, dominating the northeastern part of the island, Mount Hackluyt. The island may have been discovered the year before by the Dutchman Fopp Gerritsz., sailing in command of a whaleship sent out by the Englishman John Clarke, of Dunkirk.