Capt. James Cook’s Endeavour Found? Not So Fast!

A premature claim about the discovery of one of history’s most famous ships leads to an American-Australian science rift.

A painting of the Endeavour by Samuel Atkins off the coast of New Holland during Cook's voyage of discovery 1768 to 1771. Public Domain

The Australian National Maritime Museum (ANMM) issued its “Final Report” on June 3, claiming that it “outlines the historical and archaeological evidence confirming that shipwreck site RI 2394, located in Newport Harbor, Rhode Island, USA, is that of the British troop transport Lord Sandwich, formerly Endeavour.”

The report claims to conclude a “more than two-decade project” in search of the ship that belonged to Capt. James Cook, one of history’s greatest explorers and navigators. The museum’s claim made headlines across the globe, although the headlines didn’t start popping up until two weeks after the report’s release.

Oddly, this is not the first time the museum has made headlines from the exact same claim. On Feb. 2, 2022, Kevin Sumption, the CEO of the ANMM, stated, “Based on archival and archaeological evidence, I’m convinced it’s the Endeavour.”

But there seems to be a problem with this claim. It may very well not be true.

A Premature Claim

According to a recent interview with Dr. Kathy Abbass, of the Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project (RIMAP), it is too soon to make such a claim. Abbass is and has long been the lead investigator of this ongoing project, and based on the evidence that she says has been gathered, the best conclusion one can make is that “it is possible it is the Endeavour.”

The situation is a complicated matter, as most archaeological discoveries are. There are a lot of moving parts, and making premature claims certainly doesn’t help.

When the ANMM made its 2022 statement, Abbass was quick to issue a rebuttal statement the same day, calling the ANMM report premature and saying such a claim was “a breach of the contract between RIMAP and the ANMM for the conduct of this research and how its results are to be shared with the public.”

Abbass, in her 2022 statement, conceded that what had been found in Newport Harbor was “consistent with what might be expected of the Endeavour, but there has been no indisputable data found to prove the site is that iconic vessel,” and the site leaves “many unanswered questions.”

No Possible Recourse

More than three years later, the situation, according to Abbass, has not changed. Apparently. the ANMM believes the situation has not changed either—though from a very different perspective. The doubling down by the Australians has created an understandable rift.

“It was our data and our intellectual property,” Abbass said. “We don’t want to fight with the Australians, but they have no right to make that statement.”

The ANMM seems to have fallen prey to motivated reasoning ... twice. From a historical and scientific perspective, it is an amateurish move by the Australians. But it seems that the ANMM is large enough and the RIMAP is small enough that making such claims comes with no consequences.

Abbass noted that lawsuits are indeed in order, but that RIMAP has neither the resources nor the time to undertake such an effort. RIMAP, a non-profit organization that is accredited by UNESCO, is made up of “citizen scientists,” though led by professional archaeologists. In fact, Abbass, who founded RIMAP in 1992 at the request of the Rhode Island Historical Preservation Commission, is a leading maritime archaeologist. She earned her master’s and doctorate in anthropology from Southern Illinois University and performed her post-doctoral studies in maritime history at Harvard and Berkeley.

“As a citizen scientist organization, we have to be very careful,” Abbass said, regarding making premature claims. “Had we done something like that, they would say, ‘Oh, they aren’t serious. They don’t know what they’re doing.’”

Social and Political Significance

A replica of the HM Bark Endeavour at the Australian National Maritime Museum, in Sydney. Hpeterswald/CC BY-SA 3.0

Abbass is fully aware of the historical and social significance of James Cook and his ship. Cook was known for many discoveries, though most significantly for claiming Australia for Great Britain. His ship, the Endeavour, is almost equally as famous, though by the time it arrived off the Rhode Island coast, it was a British troop ship renamed Lord Sandwich. It was purposely sunk along with four other ships as a means to block the harbor during the American Revolutionary War.

Perhaps this social significance, especially during an era of very vocal anticolonial sentiment, is part of what drove ANMM to make the claim. That may have played a role, at least according to Abbass’s 2022 rebuttal, which noted that “RIMAP recognizes the connection between Australian citizens of British descent and the Endeavour, but RIMAP’s conclusions will be driven by proper scientific process and not Australian emotions or politics.”

Or perhaps after more than 25 years of searching, diving, excavating, testing, calculating, and debating, the ANMM had lost patience with the process—a process that may now be in a perpetual stalemate. For whatever reason, ANMM’s doubling down on a claim that cannot be proven is a less than scientific decision and could call into question the historicity of the multi-decade investigation. Furthermore, the small coast of Rhode Island is rich with sunken 18th-century ships. The issues arising from publicly concluding that the Endeavour has been found will only extrapolate if a different ship in a different location in the Newport Harbor proves to be the actual Endeavour.

Abbass noted that for more than 170 years, historians and archaeologists believed the Endeavour was located in Newport’s inner harbor. That was disproven, ultimately placing the ship in the outer harbor. She added that her team is currently investigating a new location near RI 2394, which also shows promise to be the Endeavour.

Opposing Conclusions

Although the ANMM’s 129-page June 3 report has received much of the publicity, and rightfully so since it claims to have found one of history’s most famous ships, the RIMAP issued its own 297-page report approximately six months prior. The two conclusions could hardly be more opposite.

In the opening pages of the ANMM’s Executive Summary, it states, “This report outlines the archival and archaeological evidence that confirms the identification of the shipwreck site of Lord Sandwich, formerly HMB Endeavour.”

In the final pages of the RIMAP report, it states, “Archaeology is based on the physical evidence left behind, and the construction details and associated cultural materials related to RI 2394 can neither confirm or deny that this site is the ship that carried James Cook on his first circumnavigation.”

Has James Cook’s famous ship been found? Maybe. Maybe not.

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