Captain Cook’s lost ship is FOUND after 250 years: Scientists discover the sunken remains of HMS Endeavour in Newport Harbor

The final resting place of Captain Cook’s Endeavour, the legendary ship that first brought the British to Australia, has been identified after 250 years. 

Between 1768 and 1771, the Endeavour became the first European vessel to reach Eastern Australia and circumnavigate New Zealand’s main islands. 

Yet while James Cook was established as one of history’s most famous explorers, his ship faded into obscurity, becoming a troop transport. 

She was then sold in 1775, renamed the Lord Sandwich, and finally scuttled off the US coast in 1778, during the American War of Independence. 

Now the sunken remains of the Endeavour have been found in Newport Harbor, Rhode Island, after experts formally identified her with a wreck called RI 2394. 

The verdict was announced by the Australian National Maritime Museum (ANMM) in a new report, bringing 25 years of study to a close with a ‘definitive statement’.

 Museum director Daryl Karp said: ‘This final report is the culmination of 25 years of detailed and meticulous archaeological study on this important vessel. 

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

Sunken remains of the Endeavour have been found in Newport Harbor, Rhode Island, after experts formally identified her with a wreck called RI 2394

Cook spent six months exploring and mapping the coast of New Zealand and claimed the land for Britain before sailing west. In April 1770, people on the ship first spotted Australia, and on April 29 HMS Endeavour became the first European vessel to make landfall on its east coast

Between 1768 and 1771, the Endeavour became the first European vessel to reach Eastern Australia and circumnavigate New Zealand ‘s main islands

The sunken remains of the Endeavour have been found in Newport Harbor, Rhode Island , after experts formally identified her with a wreck called RI 2394

‘This final report marks our definitive statement on the project.’ 

Experts reached their conclusion after comparing the sunken ship with historical plans of the Endeavour. 

They discovered timbers whose placement corresponds exactly with the locations of Endeavour’s main and fore masts. 

Measurements from the wreck also correlated with those taken during a 1768 survey of Cook’s ship. 

Furthermore, analysis of the wood revealed it had European origins, consistent with records of the Endeavour being repaired in 1776, several years after the expedition.

Collectively they represented a ‘preponderance of evidence’ that the Newport wreck was indeed the Endeavour. 

ANMM archaeologist, Kieran Hosty, said: ‘The timbers are British timbers. 

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

Analysis of the wood revealed it had European origins, consistent with records of the Endeavour being repaired in 1776 

The verdict was announced by the Australian National Maritime Museum (ANMM) in a new report, calling it their ‘definitive statement’. Only around 15 per cent of the vessel remains with researchers now focused on what can be done to protect and preserve it

Experts reached their conclusion after comparing the sunken ship with historical plans of the Endeavour

HMS Endeavour

The HMS Endeavour was a British research vessel sailed by Captain James Cook.

Cook left England in Endeavour in 1768 in search of Australia – the ‘unknown Southern Land’. It was a small ship – less than 100ft long – and housed a crew of around 100 sailors. 

Before coming to Australia, Captain Cook reached New Zealand in 1769. He circumnavigated New Zealand’s North and South Islands and drew the first complete chart of the country’s coast. 

Endeavour was the first ship to reach the East Coast of Australia, landing in Botany Bay in 1770. 

The vessel returned to England in 1771 and was largely forgotten before it was sold in 1775 and renamed The Lord Sandwich. 

Source: Australian National Maritime Museum 

‘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.’ 

The findings could prove controversial however; when ANMM released a preliminary report in 2022 identifying RI 2394 as the Endeavour, their research partners at the Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project (RIMAP) pushed back. 

In a statement, RIMAP asserted that they were the lead organisation for the study, and that the finding was both ‘premature’ and a ‘breach of contract’ – but ANMM experts have seen enough. 

Archaeologist James Hunter said: ‘The Lord Sandwich was intentionally scuttled – it was sunk on purpose as a block ship. 

‘The chances of finding artifacts that would provide an immediate identification, such as a bell, were very unlikely. And that’s because anything that was of value would have been stripped out of that ship before it was sunk. 

‘But what has been recovered up to this point is indicative of an 18th-century time frame.’ 

Mr Hosty added: ‘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. ‘We’ve got a whole series of things pointing to RI 2394 as being HMB Endeavour. 

James Cook’s world-famous ship ended up being sunk by the British military in an American harbour

When ANMM released a preliminary report in 2022 identifying RI 2394 as the Endeavour, their research partners at the Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project (RIMAP) pushed back

The Endeavour was a small ship – less than 100ft long – and housed a crew of around 100 sailors

‘And so far we found lots of things that tick the box for it to be Endeavour and nothing on the site which says it’s not.’ 

Only around 15 per cent of the vessel remains with researchers now focused on what can be done to protect and preserve it.  

In a statement, ANMM acknowledged RIMAP’s ‘fine historical analysis and detailed artifact recording’. 

The statement continued: ‘We acknowledge that RIMAP continues to accept that RI 2394 may be Endeavour, but they are not ruling out other candidate shipwreck sites.’

Ms Karp also acknowledged the work of the ANMM archaeological team, of Dr Kathy Abass in Rhode Island, and of the Rhode Island authorities. 

RIMAP has been contacted for comment. 

How do we know that Endeavour has been found? 

• Historical evidence tells us that five vessels were deliberately sunk by the British in 1778, just north of Goat Island in Newport Harbor. One of them was Lord Sandwich – previously known as James Cook’s Endeavour. 
• Four shipwreck sites have been found in this small area, including RI 2394. Therefore, one of these four wrecks is highly likely to be Endeavour. 
• All five ships were deliberately sunk – ‘scuttled’ – by cutting holes in their hulls. There is clear archaeological evidence of scuttling holes in the surviving hull timbers of RI 2394. This confirms that it was one of the vessels sunk in 1778. 
• We know from archival documents that Lord Sandwich (Endeavour) was the largest of the five ships sunk in this location. Archaeological evidence confirms that RI 2394 is much larger than any of the other eighteenth century shipwrecks in the area. 
• Archaeologists have been able to measure the length of a large section of the shipwreck RI 2394. Its length almost perfectly matches the dimensions shown on historic Royal Navy plans for Endeavour. 
• Many other details of the shipwreck RI 2394, right down to the size of specific pieces of timber used in its construction, closely match historic plans for Endeavour. Known as ‘scantlings’, these measurements also confirm that RI 2394 was the same size (tonnage) as Endeavour. 
• Endeavour was originally built to carry coal. The shipbuilder used some techniques that were quite uncommon in the eighteenth century. One of these was a form of joint in the bow (front) of the vessel, known as a scarph. Archaeologists have found this very rare scarph joint in the bow of RI 2394. 
• The overall shape and layout of the shipwreck RI 2394 also closely matches historic plans of Endeavour. This includes its very flat bottom and the places where the masts were located. These are important diagnostic clues in confirming the identity of the Endeavour wreck. 
• Finally, while some of the ships sunk in Newport Harbor in 1778 were constructed in America, Endeavour was built in Britain. Timber samples taken with permission from RI 2394 have confirmed that it is made of British or European timbers. 

Source: Australian National Maritime Museum

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