The ship that carried Captain James Cook to Australia more than 250 years ago has been found off the coast of Rhode Island, according to a new report by the Australian National Maritime Museum (ANMM).
Known for being the first European vessel to reach eastern Australia between 1768 and 1771, HMS Endeavour was later sold, renamed Lord Sandwich, and repurposed during the American War of Independence.
In 1778, the ship was deliberately scuttled by British forces in Newport Harbour, Rhode Island, along with a dozen other vessels, in an effort to block advancing American and French forces. It has remained submerged ever since.
After decades of extensive investigation, ANMM researchers have now identified a wreck known as RI 2394 as the likely remains of Endeavour.
The finding follows 25 years of archaeological research and underwater investigations, according to ANMM director Daryl Karp.
“The timbers are British timbers. The size of all the timber scantlings are almost identical to Endeavour, and I’m talking within millimetres – not inches, but millimetres,” said Kieran Hosty, an archaeologist with the museum and co-author of the report,.
“The stem scarf is identical, absolutely identical. This stem scarf is also a very unique feature – we’ve gone through a whole bunch of 18th-century ship’s plans, and we can’t find anything else like it.”
The announcement that a shipwreck in Newport Harbor, 200 miles up the coast from New York City, has been proven to be James Cook’s HMS Endeavour, will not surprise those who have followed the search for years.
In 1768, when Cook set out to record the transit of Venus in Tahiti,… pic.twitter.com/C5eTWoixfX
— The Spectator Australia (@SpectatorOz) June 17, 2025
The wreck was compared against 18th-century schematics, including a 1768 survey of Cook’s ship.
Measurements and construction features strongly aligned with those from the historic Endeavour.
Used as a troop transport and also a prison hulk, the ship was among 13 deliberately sunk to form an underwater barrier during the siege of Newport.
James Hunter, another co-author of the report, noted the difficulty of definitive identification.
“It was unlikely they would find artefacts that would provide an immediate identification
”Anything that was of value would have been taken out of the ship before it sank.”
The same wreck had been tentatively identified as Endeavour in a 2022 preliminary report, but the claim sparked controversy among experts.
The Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project (RIMAP), a U.S.-based research partner, called the announcement “premature” and a “breach of contract.”
In response, the Australian museum said it was still considering other potential shipwreck candidates, and has not ruled out alternative sites.
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