Remains of British explorer James Cook’s ship Endeavor found

Sydney, Australia, Feb 3 (EFE).- The ship Endeavour with which British Cpt. James Cook explored numerous Pacific territories including Australia in 1770, was found in the depths of the northeast coast of the United States, confirmed the Australian National Maritime Museum said Thursday.

“This is the final resting place for one of the most important and controversial ships in Australian maritime history,” Kevin Sumption, executive director of the museum, said in a statement, adding that since 1999 they have been searching for the famous ship among the 18th century shipwrecks recorded in the area.

Maritime experts confirmed with “archaeological and archival evidence” that the Endeavor, of which only about 15 percent of its structure remains, is located north of Goat Island in Newport Bay, Rhode Island.

The analysis of the structures that are preserved in the documents of the archives and the archaeological remains show the ship was sunk in 1778 during the War of Independence of the US.

The Australian and US authorities are working to secure the site of the discovery of this ship, according to a statement from the Australian National Maritime Museum.

The ship, launched in 1768 under the name Earl of Pembroke and called Endeavour in 1768, has “an important role in exploration, astronomy and applied science not only in Australia, but also in New Zealand, United Kingdom and US,” Sumption said.

During the tour Cook’s ship made between 1968 and 1771 through the Pacific, he recorded the transit of the planet Venus in Tahiti, located in French Polynesia, as well as made maps of the Australian and New Zealand east coast.

But in addition to his search for “the great southern land,” Cook declared Australia a “terra nullius” (no man’s land) on Aug. 22, 1770 and planted the British flag, which later gave way to the territory’s colonization.

The ship was later named “Lord Sandwich” after being sold to private hands and in 1776 it transported British soldiers who were going to fight against the independence side.

In 1778, the ship was deliberately sunk, along with four other ships, by British forces during the war, while Cook died in 1779 in Hawaii, during his third voyage across the Pacific. EFE

wat/lds