
Possible discovery of Captain Cook's HMS Endeavour Off US Coast - curtis
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/sep/19/wreck-of-captain-cooks-hms-endeavour-discovered-off-coast-of-america
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sjclemmy
I live in Northern England and a couple of years ago my wife and I visited the
town of Staithes[0][1] on the the North Yorkshire coast. To get there from
where we live you have to go around the North York Moors, either travelling
east and north up the coast or north and east. If you take the latter route
you can end up going through Cook's childhood home of Great Ayton. I had no
idea Cook was from around there and that he lived in Staithes.

Staithes (along with Robin Hood's Bay[2] further south) is an amazing example
of what English fishing ports were once like and I encourage everyone to visit
if you have the opportunity.

[0]
[https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Staithes](https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Staithes)

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staithes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staithes)

[2]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Hood%27s_Bay](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Hood%27s_Bay)

~~~
TheOtherHobbes
Robin Hood's Bay is well worth the effort.

But that whole coastal strip is full of special places, from the bird colonies
at Flamborough to gothic Whitby.

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Tomminn
I'm a kiwi. The ship is on our 50c coins, but has always seemed almost
mythical to me. This would be pretty damn cool.

~~~
keithnz
kiwi too, and yes, this would be a cool find. This ship is such a significant
part of the south pacifics history.

~~~
Applethief
Also Kiwi. Amazing News...

~~~
bacon_waffle
Checking in from Dunedin ;)

Too bad it sounds like Endeavour will stay up there, but what an amazing find!

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everdev
> It was scuttled in 1778 along with 12 other ships to act as a blockade in
> the lead up to the battle of Rhode Island.

Why would sinking a ship act as a blockade? I can see if it was in shallow
water, but I'm presuming these shipwrecks are in deeper water since they're
only now being discovered.

~~~
chrsstrm
Well, this is just a random guess, but as you can see here [0], the navigation
channel where a linked article roughly located the wreck [1] seems to vary in
depth between 50-120'. Looking at a similar style ship from the same timeframe
[2], we see a main mast height taller than the water depth in that location. I
would imagine if you scuttled the ships in a precise pattern, it would make it
incredibly difficult for a ship under wind power to enter the port and avoid
hitting the mast of a scuttled ship. I just happened to be in Newport this
summer and learned about the area's history. The people who lived there were
very accomplished seamen and I would not doubt their knowledge was put to good
use in setting up that blockade.

[0]
[http://www.charts.noaa.gov/OnLineViewer/13223.shtml](http://www.charts.noaa.gov/OnLineViewer/13223.shtml)

[1] [https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/hms-endeavour-
fou...](https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/hms-endeavour-found-one-of-
the-greatest-maritime-mysteries-of-all-time-solved-20180919-p504lx.html)

[2]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Constitution](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Constitution)

~~~
ilikepi
It's a little odd that the article says this:

> The site is located just off Goat Island, a small island in the Narragansett
> Bay.

...but the map in the article doesn't actually reflect this. The little red
circle is southwest of Brenton Point, and it's a couple miles away from the
vicinity of Goat Island. I guess whomever put the map together phoned it
in...or decided there wasn't enough room on the map to place the circle more
accurately.

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escherplex
Seems there wasn't much of an appreciation for items of historic significance
in those days. Although data is sketchy, _HMS Resolution_ used in Cook's
second and third voyages of discovery apparently suffered a similar
ignominious fate (from Wikipedia)

 _Her fate, by some cruel twist of historical irony, is as incredible as
Endeavour 's – she [Resolution] was sold to the French, rechristened La
Liberte, and transformed into a whaler, then ended her days rotting in Newport
Harbor. She settled to the bottom just a mile from Endeavour_

And yet items of monarchical conspicuous consumption like the crown jewels are
afforded meticulous preservation resources. /s

~~~
adrianratnapala
There will always be a selection effect here. You need hindsight to know with
any accuracy what is old junk, vs. what is of historical interest.

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ada1981
I read this as Captain Hook the first time...

~~~
jvzr
This is exactly what I read and I was actually confused why people were
suddenly talking of a certain Captain Cook ('who is this guy?!') in this
thread

