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Highlights
- Australian National Maritime Museum claims the discovery of Captain Cook's Endeavour.
- Endeavour's discovery sparks a row among Australian and US researchers.
- The principal investigator believes emotions or politics should not drive the claims.
Captain James Cook's Endeavour has been found, claims the Australian National Maritime Museum (ANMM). However, the discovery claims have sparked a fire among Australian and US research teams.
In an event in Sydney, the ANMM confirmed that a wreck in Newport Harbour, off Rhode Island in the US, was the ship. However, soon the Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project (RIMAP) labelled the revelation as a breach of contract.
What did ANMM claim about the Endeavour?
The ANMM director and CEO Kevin Sumption believed the archaeological evidence pointed to the discovery in the US. He said that he was satisfied that about the final resting place of Captain Cook's Endeavour.
Sumption even categorised the Endeavour amongst Australia's maritime history's most important and contentious vessels. He called it an important historical moment. Sumption stressed the vessel's role in exploration, astronomy, and science for Australia, the US, the UK, and New Zealand.
How did the US research team respond?
The US team of researchers termed the claims of ANMM as a breach of contract. RIMAP is the leading organisation in the search. RIMAP, therefore, expected the ANMM to have shared the discovery results. The public announcement by ANMM has been termed as driven by Australian emotions and politics.
RIMAP's executive director Dr Kathy Abbass acknowledged that the shipwreck site was consistent with Endeavour's expectations. However, she believes that there was no indisputable data to prove the site as the iconic vessel.
Why is the Endeavour so important to Australia and US?
The Australian and US Maritime archaeologists have been investigating several 18th-century shipwrecks since 1999. The Endeavour is one of them. It has historical relevance in the American War of Independence. It also holds a prominent place in Australian history.
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Launched in 1764, by the original name of Earl of Pembroke, the ship was renamed Endeavour. It was commissioned as Endeavour in 1768 by Britain's Royal Navy. The Englishmen used the ship for a major scientific voyage to the Pacific. Between 1768 to 1771, the Endeavour sailed across the South Pacific. It would primarily record the transit of another ship.
Cook was sailing it around the South Pacific at the helm to search 'the Great Southern Land'. The ship charted the New Zealand coast and the eastern Australian coastline. It later claimed the land for Great Britain in 1770.
Later, Endeavour was sold to private owners, who renamed it, Lord Sandwich. The ship then was deliberately sunk in 1778 by British forces. It was the time of the American War of Independence. After a year, Captain Cook was also killed in Hawaii on his third voyage. It was ten years later the first British fleet arrived in New South Wales to establish a colony.
Bottom line-
The claims of the discovery of Endeavour's resting place have sparked controversy. As the ship holds historical relevance, US researchers believe many questions remain unanswered about the discovery claims.
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