Editing HMS Endeavour (section)

====Shipwreck====
[[File:Tile on street depictng HMB Endeavour. Cooktown. 2005.jpg|thumb|Tile on street depicting HMS ''Endeavour''. Cooktown. 2005]]
For the next four months, Cook charted the coast of Australia, heading generally northward. Just before 11:00&nbsp;pm on 11 June 1770, the ship struck a reef,{{sfn|Beaglehole|1968|pp=343–345}} today called [[Endeavour Reef]], within the [[Great Barrier Reef]] system. The sails were immediately taken down, a [[Anchor#Kedging|kedging anchor]] set and an unsuccessful attempt was made to drag the ship back to open water. The reef ''Endeavour'' had struck rose so steeply from the seabed that although the ship was hard aground, Cook measured depths up to {{convert|70|ft}} less than one ship's length away.{{sfn|Beaglehole|1968|pp=343–345}}

Cook then ordered that the ship be lightened to help her float off the reef. Iron and stone ballast, spoiled stores and all but four of the ship's guns were thrown overboard, and the ship's drinking water pumped out.{{sfn|Beaglehole|1968|pp=343–345}} The crew attached [[buoy]]s to the discarded guns with the intention of retrieving them later,<ref name="Parkin317">Parkin 2003, p. 317</ref> but this proved impractical. Every man on board took turns on the pumps, including Cook and Banks.<ref>Parkin 2003, p. 313</ref>

When, by Cook's reckoning, about {{convert|40|to|50|long ton|t}} of equipment had been thrown overboard, on the next high tide a second unsuccessful attempt was made to pull the ship free.<ref>Hough 1995, p. 179</ref> In the afternoon of 12 June, the longboat carried out two large bower anchors, and block and tackle were rigged to the anchor cables to allow another attempt on the evening high tide. The ship had started to take on water through a hole in her hull. Although the leak would certainly increase once off the reef, Cook decided to risk the attempt and at 10:20&nbsp;pm the ship was floated on the tide and successfully drawn off.{{sfn|Beaglehole|1968|pp=345–346}} The anchors were retrieved, except for one which could not be freed from the seabed and had to be abandoned.{{sfn|Beaglehole|1968|pp=345–346}}

As expected the leak increased once the ship was off the reef, and all three working pumps had to be continually manned. A mistake occurred in [[Sounding line|sounding]] the depth of water in the hold, when a new man measured the length of a sounding line from the outside plank of the hull where his predecessor had used the top of the cross-beams. The mistake suggested the water depth had increased by about {{convert|18|in|cm}} between soundings, sending a wave of fear through the ship. As soon as the mistake was realised, redoubled efforts kept the pumps ahead of the leak.{{sfn|Beaglehole|1968|pp=345–346}}

The prospects if the ship sank were grim. The vessel was {{convert|24|mi}} from shore<ref name="Courier1878"/> and the three ship's boats could not carry the entire crew.<ref>Parkin 2003, p. 311</ref> Despite this, Banks noted in his journal the calm efficiency of the crew in the face of danger, contrary to stories he had heard of seamen panicking or refusing orders in such circumstances.<ref>Blainey 2008, p. 236</ref>

Midshipman Jonathon Monkhouse<!-- sometimes spelt Munkhouse, but Cook used "Monkhouse" in his journal. Brother of William Monkhouse, the gunner --> proposed [[fothering]] the ship, as he had previously been on a merchant ship which used the technique successfully.<ref>Parkin 2003, p. 321</ref> He was entrusted with supervising the task, sewing bits of [[oakum]] and wool into an old sail, which was then drawn under the ship to allow water pressure to force it into the hole in the hull. The effort succeeded and soon very little water was entering, allowing the crew to stop two of the three pumps.<ref>Parkin 2003, p. 322</ref>

[[File:Endeavour at Endeavour River, engraving c. 1786.jpg|thumb|250px|alt=An old engraving shows the Endeavour beached on the shore of a bay, surrounded by wooded hills. An area of land has been cleared and tents set up. A small boat carrying eight men rows on the bay.|''Endeavour'' beached at its namesake river, [[Endeavour River]], for repairs after her grounding on the Great Barrier Reef in 1770. By Johann Fritzsch, published 1786.]]
''Endeavour'' then resumed her course northward and parallel to the reef, the crew looking for a safe harbour in which to make repairs. On 13 June, the ship came to a broad watercourse that Cook named the [[Endeavour River]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Shipping |work=The Brisbane Courier |page=2 |publisher=Brisbane Newspaper Company Ltd |date=13 October 1873 |url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/1329404?searchTerm=James+Cook|access-date=27 August 2008 }}</ref> Cook attempted to enter the river mouth, but strong winds and rain prevented ''Endeavour'' from crossing the [[sandbar|bar]] until the morning of 17 June. She grounded briefly on a sand spit but was refloated an hour later and [[warping (sailing)|warped]] into the river proper by early afternoon. The ship was promptly beached on the southern bank and [[careening|careened]] to make repairs to the hull. Torn sails and rigging were also replaced and the hull scraped free of barnacles.<ref>Blainey 2008, pp. 252–257</ref>

An examination of the hull showed that a piece of coral the size of a man's fist had cleanly sliced through the timbers before breaking off. Surrounded by pieces of oakum from the fother, this coral fragment had helped plug the hole in the hull and preserved the ship from sinking on the reef.<ref name="Parkin335-336">Parkin 2003, pp. 335–336</ref>