Maritime scientists believe to possess new evidence the shipwreck site in Newport Harbour, Rhode Island, known as RI-2394 is that of the legendary HMS Endeavour.
The museum first said in February 2022 that it believed the wreck was the Endeavour – a claim that followed decades of archaeological tests.
Marine archaeologists in the US who are also studying the wreck, however, argued at the time that there wasn’t yet indisputable data to support the claim – despite finds “consistent with what might be expected of the Endeavour”.
Now, experts at the Australian National Maritime Museum said an analysis of the newly discovered pump well and section of the bow further confirmed their suspect this is the ship on which James Cook reached Australia in the 18th century.
Only around 15 percent of the wreck remains, and the survival of this tiny portion is likely at risk as a report dating back to August 2022 suggested it is being devoured by shipworms.
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Experts have been comparing the structural details and shape of the remaining parts of the vessel to plans of the Endeavour dating back to the 1700s.
This analysis on the pump shaft stump and the pump well partitions on the wreck, experts at the museum said, shows a perfect alignment with the archival document of the Endeavour.
Moreover, a scarph joint in the surviving keel timber allowed the team to take further measurements of the wreck. The distinctive design of the scarph itself was also an exact match for the form and size of the joint on the Endeavour’s plans, experts at the museum said.
The HMS Endeavour was a Royal Navy research vessel commanded by Cook during his first voyage of discovery between 1768 and 1771.
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The vessel had initially been launched in 1764 as a collier named Earl of Pembroke but was purchased four years later by the Royal Navy to carry out a scientific mission.
The goal was to explore the Pacific Ocean and particularly the seas of the “Terra Australis Incognita” – the unknown southern hemisphere.
The 94-strong crew led by Cook was also tasked to observe the transit of Venus across the sun and learn more about the solar system.
In April 1969, the ship reached Tahiti, where it stayed for four months also to allow astronomer Charles Green to study the movements of Venus.
In October that year, the Endeavour became the first European vessel to land in New Zealand in more than 100, having been reached by Dutch explorer Abel Tasman in 1642.
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In April 1770, crew members of the Endeavour spotted Australia, and upon making landfall on the east coast of the country Cook claimed it for Great Britain.
Three years after it first left Plymouth, the Endeavour reached the port of Dover, and Cook was promoted to Commander.
While he carried on exploring the Pacific aboard the HMS Resolution, the Endeavour was turned into a naval transport ship, hauling troops and cargo to and from the Falkland Islands for three years.
In 1778, during the American War of Independence, the vessel was scuttled in a blockade of Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island.
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