Editing HMS Endeavour (section)

==Final resting place==
[[File:Gun recovered from HMS Endeavour.JPG|right|thumb|A recovered cannon from ''Endeavour'' on display at the [[National Maritime Museum]] in [[Greenwich]], [[England]]]]
The surrender of British General [[John Burgoyne]]'s army at [[Battles of Saratoga|Saratoga]] brought France into the war, and in the summer of 1778 a [[pincer movement|pincer]] plan was agreed to [[Battle of Rhode Island#French arrival at Newport|recapture Newport]]: the [[Continental Army]] would approach overland, and a French fleet would sail into the harbour. To prevent the latter the British commander, Captain John Brisbane, determined to blockade the bay by sinking surplus vessels at its mouth. Between 3 and 6 August a fleet of Royal Navy and hired craft, including ''Lord Sandwich 2'', were scuttled at various locations in the Bay.{{sfn|Hosty|Hundley|2003|pp=16–17}}{{efn|A number of British vessels were sunk in local waters in the days leading up to the 29–30 August 1778, Battle of Rhode Island. These were the four Royal Navy frigates on 5 August along the coast of Aquidneck Island north of Newport: ''Juno'' 32, ''[[HMS Lark (1762)|Lark]]'' 32, ''[[HMS Orpheus (1773)|Orpheus]]'' 32, and ''Cerberus'' 28; the Royal Navy sloop of war ''Kingsfisher'' and galleys ''Alarm'' and ''Spitfire'' in the Sakonnet River on 30 July; the Royal Navy frigate ''Flora'' and sloop of war ''Falcon'' in Newport Harbour on 9 August; and ten of the thirteen privately owned British transports sunk in Newport Harbour between 3–5 August were ''Betty'', ''Britannia'', ''Earl of Oxford'', ''Good Intent'', ''Grand Duke of Russia'', ''Lord Sandwich'', ''Malaga'', ''Rachel and Mary'', ''Susanna'', and ''Union''.{{sfn|Hosty|Hundley|2003|p=17}}}} ''Lord Sandwich'' ''2'', previously ''Endeavour'', previously ''Earl of Pembroke'', was sunk on 4 August 1778.<ref>TNA ADM 68/204 1778.</ref>

The owners of the sunken vessels were compensated by the British government for the loss of their ships. The Admiralty valuation for 10 of the sunken vessels recorded that many had been built in Yorkshire, and the details of the ''Lord Sandwich'' transport matched those of the former ''Endeavour'' including construction in Whitby, a [[Builder's Old Measurement|burthen]] of {{frac|368|71|94}}&nbsp;tons, and re-entry into Navy service on 10 February 1776.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Abbass |first=D. K. |title=''Endeavour'' and ''Resolution'' Revisited: Newport and Captain James Cook's Vessels |journal=Newport History: Journal of the Newport Historical Society |volume= 70 |issue=1 |pages=1–17 |publisher=Newport Historical Society |location=Newport, Rhode Island |year=1999}} cited in Hosty and Hundley 2003, p. 16</ref>

In 1834 a letter appeared in the ''[[Providence Journal]]'' of Rhode Island, drawing attention to the possible presence of the former ''Endeavour'' on the seabed of the bay.<ref name="CCS">{{cite web |title=The Fate of Cook's Ships: What Do We Know About The Endeavour? – Part 1 |publisher=Captain Cook Society |year=2008 |url=https://www.captaincooksociety.com/cooks-life/cooks-ships/the-fate-of-cook-s-ships/did-endeavour-end-up-at-the-bottom-of-an-american-harbour |access-date=29 August 2008}}</ref> This was swiftly disputed by the British consul in Rhode Island, who wrote claiming that ''Endeavour'' had been bought from Mather by the French in 1790 and renamed ''Liberté''. The consul later admitted he had heard this not from the Admiralty, but as hearsay from the former owners of the French ship.<ref name="CCS" /> It was later suggested ''Liberté'', which sank off Newport in 1793, was in fact another of Cook's ships, the former HMS ''Resolution'',<ref>{{cite news |last=Harris |first=Francis |title=Captain Cook's Endeavour found off coast of America |work=The Telegraph (UK) |publisher =Telegraph Media Group Ltd |date=18 May 2006 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/1518741/Captain-Cooks-Endeavour-found-off-coast-of-America.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/1518741/Captain-Cooks-Endeavour-found-off-coast-of-America.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=29 August 2008}}{{cbignore}}</ref> or another ''Endeavour'', a naval [[schooner]] sold out of service in 1782.<ref name="CCS" /> A further letter to the ''Providence Journal'' stated that a retired English sailor was conducting guided tours of a [[hulk (ship type)|hulk]] on the [[River Thames]] as late as 1825, claiming that the ship had once been Cook's ''Endeavour.''<ref name="CCS" />

In 1991 the Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project (RIMAP) began research into the identity of the thirteen transports sunk as part of the Newport blockade of 1778, including ''Lord Sandwich.'' In 1999 RIMAP discovered documents in the [[Public Record Office]] (now called the National Archives) in London confirming that ''Endeavour'' had been renamed ''Lord Sandwich'', had served as a troop transport to North America, and had been scuttled at Newport as part of the 1778 fleet of transports.{{sfn|Hosty|Hundley|2003|pp=16–17}}

In 1999, a combined research team from RIMAP and the Australian National Maritime Museum examined some known wrecks in the harbour{{sfn|Hosty|Hundley|2003|pp=23–26}} and in 2000, RIMAP and the ANMM examined a site that appears to be one of the blockade vessels, partly covered by a separate wreck of a 20th-century barge. The older remains were those of a wooden vessel of approximately the same size, and possibly a similar design and materials as ''Lord Sandwich'' ex ''Endeavour''.{{sfn|Hosty|Hundley|2003|pp=23–26}} Confirmation that Cook's former ship had indeed been in Newport Harbor sparked public interest in locating her wreck.<ref>{{cite news |title=Captain Cook's Endeavour 'found' |work=BBC World News |publisher=British Broadcasting Corporation |date=18 May 2006 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4994614.stm |access-date=29 August 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Shipwreck may be Cook's Endeavour |work=ABC News |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |date=17 May 2006 |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200605/s1640502.htm |access-date=9 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090113163814/http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200605/s1640502.htm|archive-date=13 January 2009}}</ref> However, further mapping showed eight other 18th-century wrecks in Newport Harbor, some with features and conditions also consistent with ''Endeavour''. In 2006 RIMAP announced that the wrecks were unlikely to be raised.<ref>{{cite news |last=Lewis |first=Richard |title=Found, maybe! Captain Cook's Endeavour |work=News in Science |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |date=17 May 2007|url=http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/2006/1640443.htm?ancient |access-date=29 August 2008}}</ref> In 2016 RIMAP concluded that there was a probability of 80 to 100% that the wreck of ''Endeavour'' was still in Newport Harbor, probably one of a cluster of five wrecks on the seafloor, and planned to investigate the ships and their artifacts further. They were seeking funds to build facilities for handling and storing recovered objects.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-36189421 |title=Endeavour: Has the ship Captain Cook sailed to Australia been found? – BBC News |newspaper=BBC |date=3 May 2016 |access-date= 3 May 2016}}</ref>

In September 2018, [[Fairfax Media]] reported that archaeologists from RIMAP had pinpointed the final resting place of the vessel.<ref>{{citation|url=https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/04/20160504-Cook-Endeavour-shipwreck-discovery-Newport-underwater-archaeology/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160506045049/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/04/20160504%2DCook%2DEndeavour%2Dshipwreck%2Ddiscovery%2DNewport%2Dunderwater%2Darchaeology/|url-status=dead|archive-date=6 May 2016|title=No, Captain Cook's Ship Hasn't Been Found Yet}}</ref> The possible discovery was hailed as a "hugely significant moment" in Australian history, but researchers have warned they were yet to "definitively" confirm whether the wreck had been located.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/sep/19/wreck-of-captain-cooks-hms-endeavour-discovered-off-coast-of-america|title=Wreck of Captain Cook's HMS Endeavour 'discovered' off US coast|first=Michael|last=McGowan|date=19 September 2018|website=The Guardian|access-date=30 September 2018}}</ref>

On 3 February 2022, the [[Australian National Maritime Museum]] (ANMM) held an event attended by federal cabinet minister [[Paul Fletcher (politician)|Paul Fletcher]] to announce that the wreck had been confirmed to be that of the ''Endeavour''.<ref name="ABC Furious search team claim">{{cite news |last1=Connell |first1=Cecilia |last2=Travers |first2=Jamie |title=Furious search team claim announcement Captain Cook's Endeavour has been found 'premature' |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-03/captain-james-cook-endeavour-found-museum-says/100800894 |access-date=3 February 2022 |work=ABC News |date=3 February 2022 }}</ref> The RIMAP has called the announcement "premature"<ref>{{cite news|last=|first=|date=3 February 2022|title=Captain Cook's ship found after long search|work=news.com.au|url=https://www.news.com.au/technology/science/archaeology/hms-endeavour-wreck-chartered-by-captain-james-cook-found-after-22year-search/news-story/8615bf73d60ae93de74f2cd61d2e5a73|access-date=3 February 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/captain-cook-s-ship-the-endeavour-at-centre-of-dispute-over-shipwreck-discovery-20220203-p59tjn.html|last=Tomazin|first=Farrah|title=Captain Cook's ship the Endeavour at centre of dispute over shipwreck discovery|work=Sydney Morning Herald|date=3 February 2022|access-date=3 February 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/feb/03/captain-cook-ship-endeavour-identified-confirmed-shipwreck-us-rhode-island|last=Shepherd|first=Tory|title=Ship fight: row erupts over wreck in US waters identified as Captain Cook's Endeavour|work=The Guardian|date=3 February 2022|access-date=3 February 2022}}</ref> and a "breach of contract", which the ANMM denies. The RIMAP's lead investigator stated that "there has been no indisputable data found to prove the site is that iconic vessel, and there are many unanswered questions that could overturn such an identification".<ref name="ABC Furious search team claim" /> In November 2023, however, the ANMM announced further confirmative discoveries.<ref>{{cite news|url=
https://www.smh.com.au/national/museum-presents-new-claims-for-endeavour-shipwreck-20220904-p5bf7n.html|last=Barlass|first=Tim|title=Museum presents new claims for Endeavour shipwreck|work=Sydney Morning Herald|date=23 November 2023|access-date=23 November 2023}}</ref> Meanwhile, the wreck is being eaten by [[Shipworm|shipworms]] and [[Gribble|gribbles]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/aug/14/shipwreck-of-captain-cooks-endeavour-being-eaten-by-termites-of-the-ocean-expert-says|last=Shepherd|first=Tory|title=Shipwreck of Captain Cook's Endeavour being eaten by 'termites of the ocean', expert says|work=The Guardian|date=14 August 2022|access-date=14 August 2022}}</ref>

[[File:Pig iron ballast from Captain James Cook's HM Bark Endeavour in the New Zealand Maritime Museum. This piece of ballast was recovered from the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, where Endeavour had gone aground in 1770.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Pig iron ballast from Captain James Cook's HM Bark Endeavour in the [[New Zealand Maritime Museum]]. This piece of ballast was recovered from the [[Great Barrier Reef]] in Australia, where Endeavour had gone aground in 1770]]