Captain Cook’s Endeavour ship wreck ‘found’
AUTHORITIES believe they have located the wreck of Captain James Cook’s Endeavour, bringing to an end a decades-long search and potentially solving one of the greatest maritime mysteries of all time.
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AUTHORITIES believe they may have located the wreck of Captain James Cook’s Endeavour, bringing to an end a decades-long search and potentially solving one of the greatest maritime mysteries of all time.
A team from the Australian National Maritime Museum and Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project will formally announce their findings Friday but have released a statement saying the search had narrowed to “one or two archaeological sites”.
Divers and marine archaeologists have been combing Newport Harbour since 1993 and believe they have located the wreck off Goat Island.
The hunt for the Endeavour has bedevilled historians hoping to trace the whereabouts of the ship, which Captain Cook sailed from England 250 years ago to discover Australia and claim it as a British territory 1770.
The vessel was sold to a private owner and renamed the Lord Sandwich in 1775, following Cook’s 1768 to 1771 voyage, and vanished from naval records not long after.
Marine archaeologist Dr Kathy Abbas in 1998 found records indicating the Endeavour was one of 13 ships scuttled in 1778 by the British in an attempt to blockade Newport Harbour from the French during the War of Independence.
Dr Abbas last night posted an update on the RIMAP web page revealing the search had narrowed significantly.
“The 25-year-long archaeological study of the Newport transports has narrowed the search for the Endeavour from a fleet of thirteen vessels to five, and now possibly to one or two archaeological sites,” she said.
The discovery and potential raising of the Endeavour would have particular historic and cultural significance for countries including England, Australia, New Zealand and the US.
“This year, 2018, is the 250th anniversary of Cook’s departure from England in the Endeavour, and 2020 is the anniversary of Cook’s claim of Australia for Britain,” Dr Abbas said.
“The identification of the Lord Sandwich ex Endeavour in Newport Harbor will be particularly significant during this time of historical celebrations.”
Dr Abbas said extensive fundraising was required for “the detailed work” necessary to prove it is the Endeavour.
“The remote sensing, diver ground-truthing, and mapping of the sites in Newport Harbour have been funded by RIMAP memberships and donations, by grants from the US federal government, and especially by the donated time and resources of its volunteers,” Dr Abbas said.
“Since 1999 the Australian National Maritime Museum has participated intermittently in the Newport fieldwork and in 2016, 2017, and 2018 provided grants to support RIMAP’s studies.”
Australian National Maritime Museum chairman Peter Dexter is travelling to the US for Friday’s announcement at Rhode Island, which will also be attended by Alistair Walton, Australia’s Consul General in New York.
Researchers will then release a “3-D photogrammetric image of a promising site located in the Limited Study Area, just off the Goat Island shore near Gurneys Resort”, Dr Abbas said.