Wreck of ship sailed by James Cook in S. Pacific found in US
ABC News
Maritime experts believe they’ve found the wreck of one of the most important ships in the history of Australia and the South Pacific
SYDNEY -- Maritime experts said Thursday they believe they've found the wreck of one of the most important ships in the history of Australia and the South Pacific after it was scuttled in the U.S. more than 200 years ago.
Experts said they identified what's left of British explorer James Cook’s ship HMS Endeavour in Newport Harbor, Rhode Island. Cook sailed the ship around the South Pacific in a pioneering voyage before landing on the east coast of Australia in 1770.
For 22 years, maritime archaeologists have been investigating several ancient shipwrecks in a 2-square-mile area of Newport Harbor. The Endeavour was deliberately sunk there by the British during the American Revolution and lay forgotten for more than two centuries.
Kevin Sumption, the chief executive of the Australian National Maritime Museum, said archaeologists were convinced they had found the wreck of the Endeavour after matching structural details and the shape of the remains to those on original plans.
