The wreck of HMS Endeavour - Captain Cook's legendary sailing ship - has been found!

The media from the British Isles and the USA have been covering the sensational discovery, which is undoubtedly the finding of the wreck of HMS Endeavour. The Royal Navy sailing ship became famous as a research vessel used during the first expedition of Captain James Cook, during which he discovered, among others, Australia. The vessel had been considered lost for the last 230 years when it was sunk near Rhode Island in 1778 during the American War of Independence. This is another remarkable discovery made this year. Not so long ago, we reported, among other things, on the discovery off the coast of Oman of the wreck of the sailing ship Esmeralda, which belonged to another famous explorer, the Portuguese Vasco da Gama.

-- Advertisement --

The probable remains and wreck of HMS Endeavour have been found, underwater archaeologists working for the Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project have announced. An official announcement on the matter will be made this Wednesday, May 4, 2016. The collected materials, scans and sonar images will also be made public at that time. On the same day, all materials will be made public online for all interested parties.

The Royal Navy sailing ship HMS Endeavour was a research vessel commanded by the legendary Captain James Cook during his first exploratory expedition in 1768-1771. Both the ship and her captain became famous for conducting a series of astronomical observations (Venus crossing the solar disk) in the southern hemisphere, reaching New Zealand, and discovering Australia on 20 April 1770 and exploring its eastern coast.

After returning to England in 1771, HMS Endeavour stood forgotten for the next four years until 1775, when she was sold and then bought back by the Royal Navy, renamed Lord Sandwitch and used in hostilities during the British-American War. In 1778 the ship was blown up off Newport to form a blockade that was used during the Battle of Rhode Island

The wreck of the sailing ship Endeavour was discovered, along with the wrecks of thirteen other vessels, during a large-scale archaeological survey. The search was conducted using historical archival sources from collections held in London and advanced seabed mapping technology. All the wrecks found off the coast of Newport, in a total of nine locations, were sunk in 1778 during the American War of American Independence.

The activities of the Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project have been largely funded by the Australian National Maritime Museum since 2014. For Australian authorities, the finding of the wreck of HMS Endeavour has a huge symbolic dimension and is part of the country’s cultural heritage. After all, Australia’s history as we know it today began aboard an English sailing ship in the spring of 1770, and Cook himself is considered the founding father of European settlement on the continent.

Source: dailymail.co.uk