(Image via www.sea.museum)

Volunteer Writer: Emma Bowser

Email: ebowser@umassd.edu 

A shipwreck discovered off the coast of Rhode Island is now a topic of hot debate among archeologists. The heated discussion started in February of 2022 and is still going strong.

The burning question: is this ship Captain Cook‘s HMS Endeavor, or just a red herring?

Captain James Cook began his journey with the HMS Endeavor in 1768, setting sail from Plymouth to explore the South Pacific area. The ship had originally been a coal ship but was refitted so that Cook could use it to explore.

Kerry Lotzof of the Natural History Museum details, “On board was a full naval complement of 85, including a dozen marines armed with gunpowder, cannons and swivel guns. There were also nine civilians, including the renowned astronomer Charles Green as well as the young naturalist Joseph Banks and his party of four servants, a secretary, two artists, a botanist and two dogs.”

Officially, the voyage aimed to chart Venus’ transit while they sailed to Tahiti. Once they reached Tahiti, Cook opened a sealed document that the Admiralty, or the executive department or officers formerly having general authority over British naval affairs, had provided. The contents were to be seen solely by Cook, who ordered him to search for any land in the South Pacific and lay claim to it for the British.

After successfully locating both Australia and New Zealand, the HMS Endeavor returned to Dover in 1771. The entire crew had been sworn to secrecy about everything they had seen during the journey.

Cook received high praise from the Admiralty for his work, and the numerous samples brought to England quickly won the admiration of the scientific community in London.

Australian scientists have claimed that the shipwreck, known as RI 2394, is Captain Cook’s infamous HMS Endeavor. However, scientists in Rhode Island (and the US in general) object to this idea and believe that further investigation is required before an official announcement.

The Australian National Maritime Museum first reported that RI 2394 was, in fact, the Endeavor in February of 2022 after a decade of examination.

According to Kevin Swampton, “It is with great pride that after a 22-year program of archival and archaeological fieldwork that, based on a preponderance of evidence approach, I have concluded that an archaeological site known as RI 2394, located in Newport Harbor, Rhode Island, USA, comprises the shipwreck of HM Bark Endeavour.”

The Australian National Maritime Museum has an entire webpage detailing why they believe RI 2394 is the HMS Endeavor on their website. 

Kathy Abbass, The Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project’s executive director, stated that after the group’s work was finished, an official statement would be released, and not any sooner.

Abbass’ complete statement about RI 2394 and the HMS Endeavor is posted on the Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project’s website. 

In it, she says that the Australian National Maritime Museum’s attempt at identification was premature. She clarified that it was a breach of contract between the two groups, explicitly highlighting how information would be shared with the public.

She says that the Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project will keep working on identifying the shipwreck but that the “conclusions will be driven by proper scientific process and not Australian emotions or politics.“

The Australian National Maritime Museum still holds to what they said, and the further findings presented only confirm that the shipwreck is actually the HMS Endeavor. Furthermore, they point towards the lack of argument against the theory within the past two years.