Researchers hope to find Cook's ship
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Researchers believe the ship that legendary explorer Captain James Cook used to sail around the world is still submerged somewhere in Rhode Island’s Newport Harbor.
The Endeavour was part of a fleet of 13 ships the British scuttled during the Revolutionary War in 1778 to blockade the port. The roughly 100-foot vessel had been listed in records under a different name, the Lord Sandwich.
The Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project, which is leading the search effort, used a grant from the Australian National Maritime Museum to locate documents in London identifying the groups of ships in that fleet and where each was scuttled.
The nonprofit thinks the Endeavour is part of a group of five sunken wrecks.
It already has mapped nine sites in the harbor, including four of the five sites in that group.
It announced plans to investigate the fifth shipwreck this year.
“We know there were five. We know we mapped four. We think we can find the fifth one,” said Kathy Abbass, founder and executive director of the Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project. “That’s for this year, to find the fifth one.”
Remote sensing data appears to show the fifth site, but it could be badly disturbed, Abbass said. She said she won’t know for sure until divers investigate.
Even if all five sites are located, Abbass said she may not find enough conclusive evidence to say that one is the Endeavour.
Cook used the Endeavour to claim Australia for the British during his historic 1768-71 voyage.
“The Endeavour is considered to be the founding vessel for Australia,” Abbass said. “She’s important in all of the Pacific Rim countries, she’s important to England and she’s important as well to the whole world because of the scientific information brought back.”
In 2014, the Australian National Maritime Museum signed an agreement to help the Rhode Island group find the lost vessel.
“This isn’t a process that can be rushed,” said Kevin Sumption, director of the Australian museum, which features a replica of the Endeavour. “People would love us to have an instant result, but there is no such thing as instant results in maritime archaeology.”
The museum hopes to locate the wreck in time for the 250th anniversary celebrations of Cook’s voyage.
Abbass said she’ll need to raise millions for archaeological field work and to build a facility for artifacts.
She estimates the field work would cost about $1 million and the facility would cost $7.5 million.
If the Endeavour is found, it will belong to Rhode Island, she added.
