Captain Cook’s HMS Endeavour identified off coast of USA

The ship Captain Cook used to explore Australia has been identified after a 250-year-old mystery.

HMS Endeavour was the first European ship to reach Eastern Australia, in 1770, and went on to circumnavigate* the main islands of New Zealand.

It was then sold, renamed the Lord Sandwich* and was last seen in the US in 1778, during the American War of Independence*.

During the war, the ship was scuttled (intentionally sunk) to create a blockade* to prevent French ships from entering the harbour and supporting the American forces.

And it has now been confirmed that a shipwreck off Newport Harbour, Rhode Island, USA, called RI 2394, is actually the HMS Endeavour.

The Australian National Maritime Museum (ANMM) announced the findings in a new report, after studying the wreck for the past 25 years.

“This final report is the culmination* of 25 years of detailed and meticulous* archaeological study on this important vessel”, said museum director Daryl Karp.

“It has involved underwater investigation in the US and extensive research in institutions across the globe.”

The ship was hard to identify because anything that would have been of value, such as a bell, would have been taken from the boat before it was sunk.

However, experts were able to determine that the shipwreck was the lost ship by comparing it with plans for the Endeavour.

They discovered timbers which matched the placement of the main and foremasts* of the ship.

Measurements from the wreck also matched those taken during a 1768 survey of the ship, while analysis of the ship’s wood showed it had come from Europe, which was in keeping with records showing that the Endeavour was repaired there in 1776.

ANMM archaeologist, Kieran Hosty, said: “We’ll never find anything on this site that screams Endeavour. You’ll never find a sign saying ‘Cook was here.’”

“We will never see a ship’s bell with Endeavour crossed out and Lord Sandwich inscribed* on it,” he said.

“We’ve got a whole series of things pointing to RI 2394 as being HMS Endeavour.”

“The timbers are British timbers,” Mr Hosty added.

“The size of all the timber scantlings* are almost identical to Endeavour, and I’m talking within millimetres – not inches, but millimetres.”

“The stem scarf* is identical, absolutely identical.”

“This stem scarf is also a very unique feature – we’ve gone through a whole bunch of 18th-century ships plans, and we can’t find anything else like it.”

In 2022, the ANMM had announced the HMS Endeavour was one of five wrecks sunk by the British off the US East Coast during the American Revolutionary War, but US research partner the Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project (RIMAP) said there wasn’t enough proof to make that claim and the RIMAP has yet to conclude that the shipwreck is indeed the Endeavour.

Only 15 per cent of the ship remains and researchers were now focused on what to do to preserve it.

This story originally appeared on The Sun and is republished here with permission.

POLL

GLOSSARY

• circumnavigate: sail all the way around something
• Lord Sandwich: John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich, was a British lord who was said to have invented the sandwich. It is possible the ship was named after him.
• War of Independence: an eight year revolutionary war that led to the 13 colonies of America winning independence from England to become the United States of America
• blockade: a way of sealing off a place to stop vessels or vehicles from passing through
• culmination: the highest point of something after a long effort working towards a goal
• meticulous: showing great attention to detail
• foremasts: the masts closest to the bow at the front of the ship
• inscribed: marked with letters
• scantlings: dimensions of a structural element used in shipbuilding
• stem scarf: a type of joint in the ship’s stem, which is the most forward part of a ship’s bow

EXTRA READING
Row over ‘discovery’ of Captain Cook’s shipwreck
Endeavour shipwreck mystery
Cook’s Endeavour a vehicle for reflection

QUICK QUIZ
1. When did the HMS Endeavour reach Australia?
2. What was its name after it was sold?
3. When was it last seen?
4. How much of the ship remains?
5. How many years have the ANMM and the RIMAP spent studying the wreck?

LISTEN TO THIS STORY

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Brainstorm!
Do you know why old timber ships, like the Endeavour, stay intact for so many years under the sea? Brainstorm as many ideas as you can think of.

Time: allow at least 15 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, History, Science

2. Extension
What types of technology would have been used by the archaeologists studying the site of the Endeavour? Use your research skills to find out more about underwater archaeology. Use the information that you have found to write a step-by-step guide that will help other kids understand how they studied the site.

Time: allow at least 30 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, History

VCOP ACTIVITY
Creative vocabulary
Find a bland sentence from the article to up-level. Can you add more detail and description? Can you replace any ‘said’ words with more specific synonyms?

Have you outdone yourself and used some really great vocabulary throughout your writing? Firstly, well done. Secondly, let’s ensure everyone can understand it by adding a glossary of terms. Pick three of your wow words and create a glossary for each word to explain what it means.