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'I couldn't believe it': location of Captain Cook's HMB Endeavour finalised
It was early afternoon in September 2017 when Australian National Maritime Museum maritime archaeologist Dr James Hunter took his first dive on the shipwreck lying in 13 metres of murky water at Newport Harbour in Rhode Island. He was joined by two local divers from the Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project (RIMAP). They were underwater for just 20 minutes. "We just went down and swam around," says Hunter. "I saw two cannons sitting on the seabed. The visibility wasn't great. We were looking at it for the first time and realised: 'Wow, there's a lot here.'" They were diving amongst a graveyard of British 18th-century transport ships scuttled by the British to blockade Newport Harbour in August 1778 during the American War of Independence. What they were looking at was the shipwreck RI 2394 - now positively identified by the Museum as HMB Endeavour (later renamed Lord Sandwich), the ship used by Lieutenant James Cook on his discovery of Australia in 1770. Their findings are part of the Australian National Maritime Museum's final 126-page report, Locating HMB Endeavour, into the 25-year journey to positively identify the ship's resting place Authors Kieran Hosty and James Hunter state: "This report outlines the archival and archaeological evidence that confirms the identification of the shipwreck site of Lord Sandwich, formerly HMB Endeavour... and at the same time discounts any of the other investigated shipwreck sites as that of James Cook's renowned ship of exploration." READ MORE: Let's not cancel Captain Cook: what history tells us of the great navigator Ms Daryl Karp AM, director and CEO of the museum, said, "This Final Report is the culmination of 25 years of detailed and meticulous archaeological study on this important vessel. "It has involved underwater investigation in the US and extensive research in institutions across the globe. This Final Report marks our definitive statement on the project." The positive identification was based on a 'preponderance of evidence' approach. An agreement between RIMAP and the Sydney Museum established 10 key criteria needed to positively identify the wreck. The museum is now satisfied that those criteria match Cook's ship, launched in Whitby, North Yorkshire in 1764, originally named the Earl of Pembroke. Work by the museum positively identified the precise part of the ship on which they were diving and led them to identify the stump of a pump shaft used to pump water out of the bottom of the hull. Hunter said: "RIMAP maintained that all ships scuttled prior to the Battle of Rhode Island had their bows facing north, but notes that didn't make sense because of prevailing southerly winds and swell that are characteristic of Newport Harbour in August. They would have been easier to prepare for scuttling with their bows facing south into the wind and waves. "I'd acquired high-resolution scans of the Endeavour plans from 1768. I superimposed them over my site plan with the bow facing north, but it didn't work. So, I swung the site plan around in Photoshop, and multiple hull features lined up. I couldn't believe it." Dr Kathy Abbas, however, one of two principal investigators at RIMAP, refuses to acknowledge that the ship is Endeavour. Her report, released last November, states: "Some details are consistent with the possibility that she could be HMB Endeavour, but there has been nothing found to refute or confirm the identification of this site as that iconic vessel." The impasse, Hunter says, is delaying further research. He suggests bringing one of the ship's cannons to the surface to compare it with one jettisoned by Cook when he ran aground on the Great Barrier Reef in June 1770 (now on display at the Museum). Endeavour originally had 10 four-pounder cannons. Six in total were abandoned to raise the ship in the water when it grounded and there are four lying inside the surviving lower hull. It is, however, possible the cannons were changed as the ship was later deployed in different roles. "RIMAP has always had the concept that you have to find an artifact with a name on it or something compelling like a ship's bell," says Hunter. RIMAP is looking for a 'gold nugget' artefact. "They have the gold nugget artefact. It's the hull. But they're still not over the line. They're still not saying: 'Yeah, you guys have got it right.'" Marine archaeologist Nigel Erskine, former museum archaeologist who first dived on the wrecks in Rhode Island in 2004, is convinced the identification is correct. He said of Dr Abbas: "She wants something, a bit like Shackleton's vessel [Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton's ship Endurance was found in 2022] with great preservation and the name still intact across the stern, you couldn't miss it. But that's not the case with this vessel, or any of the others there in Rhode Island." Report co-author Kieran Hosty said preservation of the site remained a priority. "The development of a conservation management plan in association with the state authorities regarding management of the site would be a good move." He said he had great respect for Dr Abbas as a historian. "Dr Abbas has done some amazing work in Newport on the shipwrecks there," he said. "But I think she's incorrect in her premise that it's not the Endeavour." Daryl Karp added: "We want to acknowledge the work of the museum's archaeological team over the past 25 years, the work of Dr Kathy Abass in Rhode Island, the Rhode Island authorities, and the many subject specialists who have provided expert information and guidance over the years." The writer is a contractor for the Australian Maritime Museum It was early afternoon in September 2017 when Australian National Maritime Museum maritime archaeologist Dr James Hunter took his first dive on the shipwreck lying in 13 metres of murky water at Newport Harbour in Rhode Island. He was joined by two local divers from the Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project (RIMAP). They were underwater for just 20 minutes. "We just went down and swam around," says Hunter. "I saw two cannons sitting on the seabed. The visibility wasn't great. We were looking at it for the first time and realised: 'Wow, there's a lot here.'" They were diving amongst a graveyard of British 18th-century transport ships scuttled by the British to blockade Newport Harbour in August 1778 during the American War of Independence. What they were looking at was the shipwreck RI 2394 - now positively identified by the Museum as HMB Endeavour (later renamed Lord Sandwich), the ship used by Lieutenant James Cook on his discovery of Australia in 1770. Their findings are part of the Australian National Maritime Museum's final 126-page report, Locating HMB Endeavour, into the 25-year journey to positively identify the ship's resting place Authors Kieran Hosty and James Hunter state: "This report outlines the archival and archaeological evidence that confirms the identification of the shipwreck site of Lord Sandwich, formerly HMB Endeavour... and at the same time discounts any of the other investigated shipwreck sites as that of James Cook's renowned ship of exploration." READ MORE: Let's not cancel Captain Cook: what history tells us of the great navigator Ms Daryl Karp AM, director and CEO of the museum, said, "This Final Report is the culmination of 25 years of detailed and meticulous archaeological study on this important vessel. "It has involved underwater investigation in the US and extensive research in institutions across the globe. This Final Report marks our definitive statement on the project." The positive identification was based on a 'preponderance of evidence' approach. An agreement between RIMAP and the Sydney Museum established 10 key criteria needed to positively identify the wreck. The museum is now satisfied that those criteria match Cook's ship, launched in Whitby, North Yorkshire in 1764, originally named the Earl of Pembroke. Work by the museum positively identified the precise part of the ship on which they were diving and led them to identify the stump of a pump shaft used to pump water out of the bottom of the hull. Hunter said: "RIMAP maintained that all ships scuttled prior to the Battle of Rhode Island had their bows facing north, but notes that didn't make sense because of prevailing southerly winds and swell that are characteristic of Newport Harbour in August. They would have been easier to prepare for scuttling with their bows facing south into the wind and waves. "I'd acquired high-resolution scans of the Endeavour plans from 1768. I superimposed them over my site plan with the bow facing north, but it didn't work. So, I swung the site plan around in Photoshop, and multiple hull features lined up. I couldn't believe it." Dr Kathy Abbas, however, one of two principal investigators at RIMAP, refuses to acknowledge that the ship is Endeavour. Her report, released last November, states: "Some details are consistent with the possibility that she could be HMB Endeavour, but there has been nothing found to refute or confirm the identification of this site as that iconic vessel." The impasse, Hunter says, is delaying further research. He suggests bringing one of the ship's cannons to the surface to compare it with one jettisoned by Cook when he ran aground on the Great Barrier Reef in June 1770 (now on display at the Museum). Endeavour originally had 10 four-pounder cannons. Six in total were abandoned to raise the ship in the water when it grounded and there are four lying inside the surviving lower hull. It is, however, possible the cannons were changed as the ship was later deployed in different roles. "RIMAP has always had the concept that you have to find an artifact with a name on it or something compelling like a ship's bell," says Hunter. RIMAP is looking for a 'gold nugget' artefact. "They have the gold nugget artefact. It's the hull. But they're still not over the line. They're still not saying: 'Yeah, you guys have got it right.'" Marine archaeologist Nigel Erskine, former museum archaeologist who first dived on the wrecks in Rhode Island in 2004, is convinced the identification is correct. He said of Dr Abbas: "She wants something, a bit like Shackleton's vessel [Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton's ship Endurance was found in 2022] with great preservation and the name still intact across the stern, you couldn't miss it. But that's not the case with this vessel, or any of the others there in Rhode Island." Report co-author Kieran Hosty said preservation of the site remained a priority. "The development of a conservation management plan in association with the state authorities regarding management of the site would be a good move." He said he had great respect for Dr Abbas as a historian. "Dr Abbas has done some amazing work in Newport on the shipwrecks there," he said. "But I think she's incorrect in her premise that it's not the Endeavour." Daryl Karp added: "We want to acknowledge the work of the museum's archaeological team over the past 25 years, the work of Dr Kathy Abass in Rhode Island, the Rhode Island authorities, and the many subject specialists who have provided expert information and guidance over the years." The writer is a contractor for the Australian Maritime Museum It was early afternoon in September 2017 when Australian National Maritime Museum maritime archaeologist Dr James Hunter took his first dive on the shipwreck lying in 13 metres of murky water at Newport Harbour in Rhode Island. He was joined by two local divers from the Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project (RIMAP). They were underwater for just 20 minutes. "We just went down and swam around," says Hunter. "I saw two cannons sitting on the seabed. The visibility wasn't great. We were looking at it for the first time and realised: 'Wow, there's a lot here.'" They were diving amongst a graveyard of British 18th-century transport ships scuttled by the British to blockade Newport Harbour in August 1778 during the American War of Independence. What they were looking at was the shipwreck RI 2394 - now positively identified by the Museum as HMB Endeavour (later renamed Lord Sandwich), the ship used by Lieutenant James Cook on his discovery of Australia in 1770. Their findings are part of the Australian National Maritime Museum's final 126-page report, Locating HMB Endeavour, into the 25-year journey to positively identify the ship's resting place Authors Kieran Hosty and James Hunter state: "This report outlines the archival and archaeological evidence that confirms the identification of the shipwreck site of Lord Sandwich, formerly HMB Endeavour... and at the same time discounts any of the other investigated shipwreck sites as that of James Cook's renowned ship of exploration." READ MORE: Let's not cancel Captain Cook: what history tells us of the great navigator Ms Daryl Karp AM, director and CEO of the museum, said, "This Final Report is the culmination of 25 years of detailed and meticulous archaeological study on this important vessel. "It has involved underwater investigation in the US and extensive research in institutions across the globe. This Final Report marks our definitive statement on the project." The positive identification was based on a 'preponderance of evidence' approach. An agreement between RIMAP and the Sydney Museum established 10 key criteria needed to positively identify the wreck. The museum is now satisfied that those criteria match Cook's ship, launched in Whitby, North Yorkshire in 1764, originally named the Earl of Pembroke. Work by the museum positively identified the precise part of the ship on which they were diving and led them to identify the stump of a pump shaft used to pump water out of the bottom of the hull. Hunter said: "RIMAP maintained that all ships scuttled prior to the Battle of Rhode Island had their bows facing north, but notes that didn't make sense because of prevailing southerly winds and swell that are characteristic of Newport Harbour in August. They would have been easier to prepare for scuttling with their bows facing south into the wind and waves. "I'd acquired high-resolution scans of the Endeavour plans from 1768. I superimposed them over my site plan with the bow facing north, but it didn't work. So, I swung the site plan around in Photoshop, and multiple hull features lined up. I couldn't believe it." Dr Kathy Abbas, however, one of two principal investigators at RIMAP, refuses to acknowledge that the ship is Endeavour. Her report, released last November, states: "Some details are consistent with the possibility that she could be HMB Endeavour, but there has been nothing found to refute or confirm the identification of this site as that iconic vessel." The impasse, Hunter says, is delaying further research. He suggests bringing one of the ship's cannons to the surface to compare it with one jettisoned by Cook when he ran aground on the Great Barrier Reef in June 1770 (now on display at the Museum). Endeavour originally had 10 four-pounder cannons. Six in total were abandoned to raise the ship in the water when it grounded and there are four lying inside the surviving lower hull. It is, however, possible the cannons were changed as the ship was later deployed in different roles. "RIMAP has always had the concept that you have to find an artifact with a name on it or something compelling like a ship's bell," says Hunter. RIMAP is looking for a 'gold nugget' artefact. "They have the gold nugget artefact. It's the hull. But they're still not over the line. They're still not saying: 'Yeah, you guys have got it right.'" Marine archaeologist Nigel Erskine, former museum archaeologist who first dived on the wrecks in Rhode Island in 2004, is convinced the identification is correct. He said of Dr Abbas: "She wants something, a bit like Shackleton's vessel [Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton's ship Endurance was found in 2022] with great preservation and the name still intact across the stern, you couldn't miss it. But that's not the case with this vessel, or any of the others there in Rhode Island." Report co-author Kieran Hosty said preservation of the site remained a priority. "The development of a conservation management plan in association with the state authorities regarding management of the site would be a good move." He said he had great respect for Dr Abbas as a historian. "Dr Abbas has done some amazing work in Newport on the shipwrecks there," he said. "But I think she's incorrect in her premise that it's not the Endeavour." Daryl Karp added: "We want to acknowledge the work of the museum's archaeological team over the past 25 years, the work of Dr Kathy Abass in Rhode Island, the Rhode Island authorities, and the many subject specialists who have provided expert information and guidance over the years." The writer is a contractor for the Australian Maritime Museum It was early afternoon in September 2017 when Australian National Maritime Museum maritime archaeologist Dr James Hunter took his first dive on the shipwreck lying in 13 metres of murky water at Newport Harbour in Rhode Island. He was joined by two local divers from the Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project (RIMAP). They were underwater for just 20 minutes. "We just went down and swam around," says Hunter. "I saw two cannons sitting on the seabed. The visibility wasn't great. We were looking at it for the first time and realised: 'Wow, there's a lot here.'" They were diving amongst a graveyard of British 18th-century transport ships scuttled by the British to blockade Newport Harbour in August 1778 during the American War of Independence. What they were looking at was the shipwreck RI 2394 - now positively identified by the Museum as HMB Endeavour (later renamed Lord Sandwich), the ship used by Lieutenant James Cook on his discovery of Australia in 1770. Their findings are part of the Australian National Maritime Museum's final 126-page report, Locating HMB Endeavour, into the 25-year journey to positively identify the ship's resting place Authors Kieran Hosty and James Hunter state: "This report outlines the archival and archaeological evidence that confirms the identification of the shipwreck site of Lord Sandwich, formerly HMB Endeavour... and at the same time discounts any of the other investigated shipwreck sites as that of James Cook's renowned ship of exploration." READ MORE: Let's not cancel Captain Cook: what history tells us of the great navigator Ms Daryl Karp AM, director and CEO of the museum, said, "This Final Report is the culmination of 25 years of detailed and meticulous archaeological study on this important vessel. "It has involved underwater investigation in the US and extensive research in institutions across the globe. This Final Report marks our definitive statement on the project." The positive identification was based on a 'preponderance of evidence' approach. An agreement between RIMAP and the Sydney Museum established 10 key criteria needed to positively identify the wreck. The museum is now satisfied that those criteria match Cook's ship, launched in Whitby, North Yorkshire in 1764, originally named the Earl of Pembroke. Work by the museum positively identified the precise part of the ship on which they were diving and led them to identify the stump of a pump shaft used to pump water out of the bottom of the hull. Hunter said: "RIMAP maintained that all ships scuttled prior to the Battle of Rhode Island had their bows facing north, but notes that didn't make sense because of prevailing southerly winds and swell that are characteristic of Newport Harbour in August. They would have been easier to prepare for scuttling with their bows facing south into the wind and waves. "I'd acquired high-resolution scans of the Endeavour plans from 1768. I superimposed them over my site plan with the bow facing north, but it didn't work. So, I swung the site plan around in Photoshop, and multiple hull features lined up. I couldn't believe it." Dr Kathy Abbas, however, one of two principal investigators at RIMAP, refuses to acknowledge that the ship is Endeavour. Her report, released last November, states: "Some details are consistent with the possibility that she could be HMB Endeavour, but there has been nothing found to refute or confirm the identification of this site as that iconic vessel." The impasse, Hunter says, is delaying further research. He suggests bringing one of the ship's cannons to the surface to compare it with one jettisoned by Cook when he ran aground on the Great Barrier Reef in June 1770 (now on display at the Museum). Endeavour originally had 10 four-pounder cannons. Six in total were abandoned to raise the ship in the water when it grounded and there are four lying inside the surviving lower hull. It is, however, possible the cannons were changed as the ship was later deployed in different roles. "RIMAP has always had the concept that you have to find an artifact with a name on it or something compelling like a ship's bell," says Hunter. RIMAP is looking for a 'gold nugget' artefact. "They have the gold nugget artefact. It's the hull. But they're still not over the line. They're still not saying: 'Yeah, you guys have got it right.'" Marine archaeologist Nigel Erskine, former museum archaeologist who first dived on the wrecks in Rhode Island in 2004, is convinced the identification is correct. He said of Dr Abbas: "She wants something, a bit like Shackleton's vessel [Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton's ship Endurance was found in 2022] with great preservation and the name still intact across the stern, you couldn't miss it. But that's not the case with this vessel, or any of the others there in Rhode Island." Report co-author Kieran Hosty said preservation of the site remained a priority. "The development of a conservation management plan in association with the state authorities regarding management of the site would be a good move." He said he had great respect for Dr Abbas as a historian. "Dr Abbas has done some amazing work in Newport on the shipwrecks there," he said. "But I think she's incorrect in her premise that it's not the Endeavour." Daryl Karp added: "We want to acknowledge the work of the museum's archaeological team over the past 25 years, the work of Dr Kathy Abass in Rhode Island, the Rhode Island authorities, and the many subject specialists who have provided expert information and guidance over the years." The writer is a contractor for the Australian Maritime Museum
The Guardian
09-04-2025
- General
- The Guardian
The Kamay spears come home to Dharawal land more than two centuries after James Cook took them
When Quaiden Williams Riley laid eyes on the spears of his ancestors, tens of thousands of kilometres away from his traditional lands, it was the start of a return home more than two centuries in the making. 'My great-grandmother would always talk about it to my grandfather and his siblings, about the spears and artefacts that were in England and how they would eventually get them back,' Riley said. Sign up for the Afternoon Update: Election 2025 email newsletter The four spears, known as the Kamay spears, are the only that remain of dozens stolen by James Cook and his crew at the time of first contact with the Gweagal warriors. The spears were taken aboard the HMB Endeavour in 1770. The spears were then given to John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich who then donated them to Trinity College, Cambridge. They were part of the collection since 1771. In 2024, Riley was part of a delegation to the United Kingdom to shepherd the spears back to Country – and the spears are now the centrepiece of Mungarri, an exhibition at the Chau Chak Wing Museum at the University of Sydney. The exhibition honours cultural strength and resilience through the Dharawal fishing songlines, featuring contemporary woven fishing nets, carved fish hooks, woomeras and spears. Today, the spears still bare a worn label from Trinity College. They rest upon sand collected from La Perouse, the traditional lands of Kamay, where both men are from. 'I was so grateful to be able to go there and get him for her,' Riley said of his great-grandmother. David Johnson, who was also part of the delegation to the UK last year, said the journey to bring them home has been a delicate one, with elders and Gweagal community balancing negotiations with institutions, governments and community relations and expectations to ensure their respectful return. 'We're honoured to be here showing the spears that belonged to our Old People,' Johnson said. 'It had to be the right people speaking on behalf of and representing the spears.' 'It wasn't an easy journey,' he said. 'It's that resilience towards building relationships over decades and trying to think of what's best between institutions and community and family.' Johnson said the spears are a cultural lens for younger generations to continue the ways of their elders, now that they are back in Australia permanently. 'It's history in front of me, not in books, it's another way of our classroom,' Johnson said. 'It gives [all Australians] a cultural lens of how our Old People done, lived and camped throughout that area.' Sign up to Afternoon Update: Election 2025 Our Australian afternoon update breaks down the key election campaign stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion The founding chair of the Gujaga Foundation, Ray Ingrey, says the exhibition is a rare opportunity to get up close with special objects – and handing down cultural knowledge means contemporary ways are not so different from the old. 'Making the spears and teaching the young ones now using sinew and glues – it's not that far off to what our ancestors were making 255 years ago.' He acknowledged that without the UK university's care the spears would not exist today. 'They're 255 plus years old. They're made of natural materials, just by nature, they're supposed to break down.' 'My grandmother tells the story of finding an old spear and picking it up and it just crumbling in her hands,' Ingrey says. Their centuries-old age and rarity meant that the spears must be carefully handled with gloves, kept in a temperature and light controlled conditions. On arrival in 2024, they were quarantined to ensure no mites led to their demise. Ingrey said the spears will be permanently displayed at Botany Bay, with the La Perouse Aboriginal community building a museum and visiting centre. 'This shows that Aboriginal communities have the capacity and the capability to care for significant objects. What better place for them to be displayed than on the very lands they came from, rather than sitting in a drawer in the UK somewhere.' For Riley, while his great-grandmother never got to see the spears arrive back into Gweagal hands, he said she never wavered in her belief that they would come home. 'She knew eventually that we were going to get them.' Mungari exhibition runs at Chau Chak Wing Museum until 29 June 2025
