The final resting place of Captain Cook’s ship the Endeavour has reportedly been found – so how did it end up at the bottom of a US harbour?
The final resting place of the HMB Endeavour – the vessel used by Captain James Cook on his maiden voyage to Australia in 1770 – looks to have been confirmed off the coast of Rhode Island in the United States.
The Australian National Maritime Museum announced the news on Thursday, although it was immediately disputed by leader investigator and the Director of the Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project, Dr Kathy Abbass, who said the announcement was “premature”.
It has taken 22 years for experts to prove His Majesty’s Bark Endeavour, renamed Lord Sandwich, was one of 13 ships sunk in Newport Harbour in 1778.
In 1997, amateur Australian historians Des Liddy and Mike Connell first uncovered clues in a shipping register that suggested the Endeavour had been renamed Lord Sandwich, something that Dr Abbass later confirmed after a trip to inspect records in England.
Ahead of the 250th anniversary of Captain Cook sailing the Endeavour into Botany Bay, in April 2020, there was anticipation experts would be able to confirm the shipwreck was in the harbour but this did not happen.
Dr Abbass has previously told Australian Geographic visibility is poor in the harbour and the wreck is buried beneath a muddy seabed making it difficult to find definitive evidence.
In a statement Australian National Maritime Museum director and chief executive officer Mr Kevin Sumption released on Thursday he said he was convinced, based on archival and archaeological evidence, that the Endeavour’s final resting place had been found.
Evidence includes the site of RI 2394 is significantly larger than any of the other 18th
century shipwreck sites, the length of the surviving hull is almost exactly the same as that recorded for Endeavour, the structural details and shape of the remains closely match historic plans of the ship, and timber samples strongly suggest a vessel built in Europe, not America.
Other diagnostic clues include the construction of the keel along the bottom of the wreck, and the joinery used in its bow at the front and the placement of the vessel’s fore and main mast are identical to those shown on 18th century plans of Endeavour.
The museum is so confident of the discovery it has launched a new web experience called Deep Dive exploring the shipwreck.
If the HMB Endeavour was sunk in Newport Harbour, it means the ship was destroyed one year before Captain Cook’s death in Hawaii while he was on his third Pacific voyage, and 10 years before the First Fleet arrived in New South Wales.
Here is how the Endeavour met its murky end.
Role in Cook’s famous voyage
The HMB Endeavour was originally launched in 1764 and was originally called the Earl of Pembroke. It was renamed the Endeavour in 1768 by Britain’s Royal Navy as it prepared for its South Pacific voyage.
Commanded by Lieutenant (later Captain) James Cook, it sailed to the region to record the transit of Venus in Tahiti in 1769.
After successfully completing this mission the ship travelled around the South Pacific searching for the “Great Southern Land” and charted the east coast of Australia (known as New Holland), famously landing at Botany Bay in 1770. It also charted the coast of New Zealand.
Sold to a private owner and renamed Lord Sandwich
Between 1768 and 1771 the ship was used by the British Royal Navy as a transport to take supplies to the Falkland Islands. By 1775, it was found to be in poor condition and sold to a private owner, who renamed it Lord Sandwich.
This ship carried goods to the Baltic before being hired by the Royal Navy to operate as troop transport.
In 1776, the Lord Sandwich took British soldiers to fight in America against the colonists who sought to break free from British control during the American War of Independence.
It was being used to hold American patriots who had been captured by the British in 1778 but was scuttled (deliberately sunk) when a French fleet of warships sailed in to the harbour to support American forces.
The scuttling of Lord Sandwich, along with four other vessels Earl of Orford, Mayflower, Peggy and Yowart, created a blockade at the northern end of the harbour. They were among 13 vessels sunk to block French access to the harbour.
War of words erupts over discovery
Australia’s announcement that Captain Cook’s HMB Endeavour had likely been found sparked instant backlash from the leader of the American investigation.
Dr Kathy Abass shut down the “premature” announcement and hinted it was driven by “Australian emotions or politics”.
“The Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project (RIMAP) is now and always has been the lead organisation for the study in the Newport harbour,” she said in a statement.
“What we see on the shipwreck site under study is consistent with what might be expected of the Endeavour, but there has been no indisputable data found to prove the site is that iconic vessel, and there are many unanswered questions that could overturn such an identification.
The Australian National Maritime Museum stood by its announcement.
“We don’t believe we are in breach of contract,” a museum spokesperson said.
“We are about to embark on a due process of putting the paper out to the archaeological community and so further insights will be made as happens with all archaeological projects.
“She can have her opinion and we’ve got ours.”
Originally published as How did the HMB Endeavour end up near the coast of Rhode Island in the United States?
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