An unusual, and unseemly, public dispute has broken out between two scientific organizations trying to identify the remains of a sunken ship in the Newport, Rhode Island, harbor that may be the historic 18th Century Endeavour that once explored the South Seas under Capt. James Cook.
In one corner, we have the Australian Maritime Museum, whose chief executive, Kevin Sumption, announced last week that the Newport shipwreck was indeed the Endeavour and was “the final resting place of one of the most important and contentious vessels in Australia’s maritime history.”
In the other, the head of the Rhode Island Marine Archeology Project (RIMAP), which has been working as partners with the Australian museum for the past 22 years, said, not so fast. Within hours of the Australian announcement, Dr. Kathy Abbass, the executive director of RIMAP, said the wreck, in 45 feet of water a bit north of Goat Island, may be the Endeavour, and it may not.
Furthermore, she said, the Australian announcement was a breach of contract. Shortly after, the Australians replied no, it wasn’t.
But Dr. Abbass’ statement, on the RIMAP website, said the Australian announcement was “premature” and although the wreck might be the Endeavour, “there has been no indisputable date found to prove that it is that iconic vessel.”
She said that RIMAP will continue to study the remains, and that “RIMAP’s conclusions will be driven by proper scientific process and not Australian emotions or politics.”
The Endeavour was launched in 1764 as the Earl of Pembroke, and was renamed the Endeavour in 1768 by Britain’s Royal Navy when it started a major voyage to the Pacific where Capt. Cook sailed looking for “the Great Southern Land.” In 1770, the Endeavour charted the coast of New Zealand and the east coast of Australia, claiming them for Great Britain.
The boat was sold to a private owner in 1775 and renamed Lord Sandwich before it was taken over by the Royal Navy during the Revolution. It housed prisoners of war for a while, and then was deliberately sunk, with five other British vessels, in 1778 in an effort to blockade Newport harbor.
You can read more at http://rimap.org and see a video of the Australian’s explorations of the wreck below
