Endeavour wreck ‘found’ ... as it sails into a new storm
THE wreckage of Captain James Cook’s ship Endeavour has reportedly been discovered off the coast of the United States, subsequently triggering a battle about who owns the vessel and where it should be displayed.
American marine archaeologists say they believe they are close to solving the 240-year-old mystery surrounding the final resting place of the Whitbybuilt vessel that the British explorer sailed to Australia in 1768.
For 25 years, experts from the Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project have been analysing numerous wrecks around Newport Harbour, where HMS Endeavour was scuttled as part of a naval blockade during the American War of Independence in 1778.
Project leaders are due to announce tomorrow “one or two” sites thought to pinpoint Endeavour. Kathy Abbass, the director, said: “We can say we think we know which one it is.”
But the historical significance of the ship to Britain, Australia, New Zealand and the US is expected to ignite a tussle over how remains and artefacts are divided up.
Australian media has already suggested the vessel could be excavated in time for 2020, the 250th anniversary of Cook becoming the first European to land at Botany Bay.
In 1999, the Rhode Island state government took legal action to pursue ownership of the Endeavour.
However, Jenny Phillips, of the Middlesbrough Museums Service where the Captain Cook Birthplace Museum is based, insisted that the UK has a legitimate claim on the wreck because it was built here and British-registered.
“It would be nice to think we have some claim on it,” she said. “If it came from here, it should come back here.
“It would be lovely for it to return because it is part of our heritage. But I think there will be complications surrounding where it belongs and is best kept.”
Alwyn Peel, secretary of the Captain Cook Society, predicted that
several countries will lobby to see any remains exhibited in their national museums.
“I think all the countries affected would want a little piece of it. I would be quite happy if something of the ship went to different places associated with Endeavour’s voyage. If it is retrieved I can see a piece in Australia, New Zealand and Britain,” he said.
Robert Goodwill, the Conservative MP for Whitby, where Cook trained as a seaman, said the town’s Captain Cook Memorial Museum would be an ideal location to house elements of the ship. “It would be great if some part of the vessel could be brought back to Whitby and put in the museum,” he said.
He added, however, that he would be surprised if enough remains were found to create an exhibition, adding that because the American marine archaeologists had done so much to identify it, they deserved to keep it. The ship, known as HM Bark Endeavour, was built by Thomas Fishburn and launched in Whitby in 1764. After a spell delivering coal, it was bought by the Admiralty as a research vessel and in 1768 Cook took command. After its famous landings in New Zealand and Australia, it was bought and renamed Lord
Sandwich 2 before being hired by the Navy and joining the British
fleet sailing to North America to try to prevent the War of Independence from succeeding.
In a desperate attempt to recapture Newport, the fleet’s commander decided to blockade the bay by sinking a number of vessels, including Lord Sandwich 2, to prevent the French sailing into harbour.
It is understood the wreck archaeologists believe Endeavour can only be fully confirmed as such once it has been excavated.
Charles Forgan, of the Captain Cook Memorial Museum in Whitby, said he believed any wreckage is technically a “spoil of war” and so belonged to the United States.
‘All countries affected would want a little piece of it. If it is retrieved, I can see a piece in Australia, New Zealand and Britain’