Australian Museum Claims Rhode Island Shipwreck Is Captain Cook’s Lost Ship HMS Endeavour

An Australian museum is reiterating its earlier disputed claim that a shipwreck off the shore of Rhode Island is the long-lost ship sailed by British explorer and experienced cartographer Captain James Cook.

The Australian National Maritime Museum announced on Thursday that two fresh discoveries provide evidence that a shipwreck in Newport Harbor is the final resting spot of the HMS Endeavour, a vessel of the British Royal Navy headed by Cook during his initial discovery voyage and the first European vessel thought to have reached Australia’s eastern coast.

The museum’s revelation this month came almost two years after it initially claimed the wreck in Rhode Island was the Endeavour, provoking a sharp reprimand from its research collaborator.

The Rhode Island Maritime Archeology Project soon called the Australian museum’s February 2022 statement into question, claiming that while the remains could very well be those of the Endeavour, there was a lack of “indisputable data” to confirm it.

The Rhode Island organization claimed it would not be tempted by “Australian emotions or politics” to announce the wreck’s identity prematurely. It accused its Pacific counterparts of a “breach of contract.”

On the other hand, the museum stuck by its announcement, stating on its website that the vessel’s identity was determined utilizing a preponderance of evidence approach.

According to The Sydney Herald, Daryl Karp, chief executive associated with the Australian National Maritime Museum, claimed Thursday that no more dissenting responses to the museum’s earlier assertion had been levelled in the years following its controversial revelation.

The museum has to say that two recent discoveries held up as additional proof of the shipwreck’s identity, including uncovering a pump well as part of the wreck’s bow.

Per The Guardian, museum researchers compared the unexpected discovery to archival designs of the Endeavour prepared during a British admiralty survey in 1768.

Per the site, archaeologists could correctly anticipate where the vessel’s bow would be positioned after comparing the debris to historical documents. They also discovered a distinctive joint in the timber that matched the details included in the original drawings.

During the Revolutionary War, the Endeavour transported British troops before getting “scuttled” — or purposely destroyed — in 1778. Researchers assume that the vessel was one among five British boats discovered 39 meters beneath the waters of Newport Harbour.

The museum’s maritime archaeology manager, Kieran Hosty, told The Herald that the institution was anxious to get back to this site and 3D model the shipwreck so that people all around the world could see the ship’s last resting place.

They want to associate with the government of Rhode Island to do that, Hosty informed the site. If it means collaborating with the Rhode Island Maritime Archaeology Project, they are happy to collaborate with them; they will collaborate with anyone ready to help them on this site.

Reference- Business Insider

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Source: Maritime Shipping News