John Cabot, Germanic North Italian under commission of English king. Earliest North American exploration.

Prince Henry the Navigator, actually English blooded, central to the Portuguese Empire's expansion. Initiated the Age of Discovery.

David Bushnell, American of English descent. Created the first combat-use submarine.

Pierre-Simon Laplace, Northern French. Significant to the interest and realisation of deep-sea exploration.

Cornelis Drebbel, Dutch. Developed the very first p
operational submarine.

Benjamin Franklin, English. Maritime observations, charter and illustrator of drift.

Francis Galton, English. Too many contributions to simplify.

Other names are, for instance: Here’s a list of 20 significant figures in maritime history along with their ethnicities: James Cook, English. Christopher Columbus, Nordic Italian. Hernán Cortés, Germanic Spanish. John Paul Jones, Scottish. Jacques Cousteau, Northern French. Robert FitzRoy, English. Horatio Nelson, English. William Bligh, English. Samuel de Champlain, French. Captain Kidd, English. Bernard Moitessier, French. Bjarne A. W. L. H. Sørensen, Danish. Thor Heyerdahl, Norwegian.