NEWPORT, RI — Imagine if the Santa Maria was discovered in Sydney Harbor? That’s the question Australia’s Consul General Alistair Walton asked Friday after archaeologists confirmed the likely location of the Endeavour, the ship sailed by British explorer Capt. James Cook when he discovered Australia in 1770.
After more than two decades of searching, archaeologists narrowed the list of possible wreckage sites to one, Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project (RIMAP) Principal Investigator Kathy Abbass told reporters at a press conference at Gurney’s Resort.
“This is the first time we’ve really been willing to say we think we’re closing in on having the Endeavour,” Abbass said.
The site is off of Goat Island in Newport Harbor, near where Australia defeated the U.S. in the America’s Cup sailboat race in 1983.
In addition to the Endeavour’s wreckage site, the team found three other nearby sites where large transport ships accompanying the ship sank, State Marine Archaeologists Charlotte Taylor confirmed. A fourth site is also believed to have a sunken transport.
The Endeavour was a massive ship weighing 368 tons. At 105 feet in height and 29 feet wide, the vessel was large enough to hold a crew of 94.
How Did the Ships End Up In Newport?
Australian National Maritime Museum Chairman Peter Dexter said it’s better to ask where the Endeavour has not been rather than where it’s been. Captain James Cook circumnavigated the globe with the ship, but it was being used as a transport for British troops and prisoners when it found its way to Newport during the American Revolution.
This ship had been turned into a military transport after it was sold to a private owner in 1775, who lent it to the British war effort. Endeavour was renamed Lord Sandwich. Historians say the vessel was deliberately sunk to block French ships coming to America’s aid.
Captain Cook took the Endeavour and after its sale, the HMS Resolution, on three of the world’s greatest expeditions, the first beginning on August 26, 1768. On those voyages, he circumnavigated the globe more than once and was the first European explorer to reach Australia’s eastern coast and the Hawaiian Islands.
Cook mapped lands from New Zealand to Hawaii to the Northern American west coast. Historians say the maps’ details were on a scale not previously achieved.
Just on the Endeavour’s journey to Australia, Cook explored Tahiti, New Zealand, Cape Horn, Indonesia and more.
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“If you simply take that voyage into account, one of the greatest mariners in history was James Cook,” said Dexter.
The Research
Abbass told reporters her team analyzed physical characteristics to identify the ships.
“Where and when was she built, what was the kind of construction she was made of, what was the size and the form of the ship and what was the wood and the other materials that went in to making her?” Abbass said were the questions asked when identifying the Endeavour.
As more information was uncovered, the research became much more collaborative. Taylor told reporters that Australian researchers and officials as well as outside volunteers were involved.
“We’re really grateful for all the work RIMAP and all the RIMAP volunteers have put into looking for the Endeavor and to the other transport ships, Taylor said. “We’re grateful as well to the assistance of the Australian National Maritime Museum (ANMN).”
Specifically, Taylor mentioned ANMN Photogrammetry Specialist and Marine Archaeologists James Hunter’s work in getting underwater pictures of the Endeavour and using computer programming to create three-dimensional images.
Hunter said poor underwater visibility made using photography for analytical and exhibition purposes difficult. On the dive team’s best day, visibility was eight feet. It was normally much worse.
“When you’re dealing with visibility that ranges around a meter, three feet, it’s tough to see the whole site. You can see bits of it, but you can’t see the whole thing.”
Three-dimensional photogrammetry allowed the team to use computer software to find relationships among a group of pictures and create a 3-D model. Hunter used the technology to show the crowd a three-dimensional image of a cannon on the ship.
Hunter said the tool adds a lot of analysis that just physical dives and photography cannot provide on their own. He said the technique has potential as a a recreational and educational tool.
“I think it would be great to have a virtual environment where people could visit this wreck, “Hunter said. “Not everybody can dive, so to have an option that’s available where people can see it as it appears but not have to get in the water, I think would be incredibly useful.”
RIMAP hopes to roll out excavation plans next year, but Abbass said a lot of work still needs to be completed between now and then.
“This is science, it’s not a documentary, it’s not something that will be over in 50 minutes,” Abbass said. “We got a lot more work to, but we felt that this is the time to share with you where we are.”
Feature image: Australian National Maritime Museum Chairman Peter Dexter
Photography by Jimmy Bentley and Mark Bentley
Video by Jimmy Bentley