Interesting. I am surprised it was not discovered before now. Why not?
It’s quite possible there was local knowledge that there was a lot of old wooden ship debris in that area. But doing the research to realize that (a) the debris came from deliberate enemy action in the Revolutionary War, (b) one of the wrecks was the Lord Sandwich, which © was previously the HMS Endeavour didn’t happen until this particular project.
I have a book of Rhode Island dive sites somewhere. I’ll take a look to see if it mentions wooden wrecks anywhere in Newport harbor. They must have scuttled them in shallow water if the intent was to block the harbor.
Nobody endeavored to look for it?
Sumbitch was GOOD at hide-and-seek.
New England waters are cold, dark, and murky and there are literally hundreds of shipwrecks along the coast. And, aside from its historical significance, this is just one more wooden ship that went down along the coast. Even in 1778, it was no big deal.
Perhaps it was sandwiched between two other ships.
Cook’s ship? Smells fishy.
So, the area isn’t scenic enough to attract casual divers?
Endeavour.
As I understand, the wreck isn’t in open water, it was sunk as a blockade ship in Newport Harbor. There are a bunch of wrecks (or what’s left of them) in that area. I used to dive for lobster there with my father 30-odd years ago, we found several piles of ballast on the bottom.
But yeah, there’s a lot of junk sitting on the bottom that’s really indistinguishable from a traditional “wreck.”
Ugh, indistinguishable was the wrong word there. It’s indistinguishable from a pile of junk, not at all looking like a traditional wreck.
That’s what I get for posting and talking at the same time.
Lots of wrecks out there and poor documentation. Even in places where they (ships) were sunk as a form of moth-balling, finding a specific wreck or almost any wreck can take ages and a lot of dollars. Is someone with deep pockets willing to front the bill when no treasure is involved?
I would have thought this would be quite important to Australians.
Important and paying for searching for it are two different things; especially when the resting place isn’t in your waters. I was involved in a lot of the roll-up to the 250th French & Indian War things related to Fort DuQuesne. Daniel Liénard de Beaujeu, who is considered a major hero in parts of Canada, was killed at the Battle of the Monongahela and buried in the cemetery outside the fort. We got letters and all kinds of offers of support for efforts to find the cemetery and that grave in particular from the highest levels of government and business in Canada. And our mayor at that time was willing. But when it came time to write a check ------ crickets. Dead silence. Major expenses and no real promise of success? Something that hadn’t already turned up in 250 years? And we’re talking a small area of dry land. So in a big ocean with less of a paper trail to follow I’m just not very surprised.
I wonder if a Kickstarter would work for that. I’d kick in twenty.
It’s interesting that nobody at that time thought it important enough to preserve it. Have British attitude towards inanimate historical objects changed much since then? Or just more biased towards military/royalty? (I note that HMS Victory is from that era, and is not only preserved, but still commissioned.)
But the Victory was still being used as an active warship for several years after Trafalgar, then used as a depot ship for decades - they didn’t just turn her into a museum ship immediately. It’s quite possible that had the Endeavour survived for a hundred years it would eventually have been preserved too.
Plus, at the time, being the flagship at one of the greatest British naval victories ever seemed a little more important than being the ship that was used to explore some interesting islands halfway around the world.
ETA: Read the wikipedia article on the Victory - it was basically sitting in Portsmouth Harbor for a hundred years, and decaying at it’s moorings. It wasn’t until the early 1900s that interest in preserving her for historical reasons really began.
Atsa wrap.
Holy Smoke! You found it again…!
Its all those tourists, but what are you gonna do…?
I’ve been following this with interest, being a Rhode Icelander and always interested in history.
What is known now through Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project’s (RIMAP) research in historic archives:
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During Cook’s first voyage, he wrecked The Endeavour on reefs on the shores of Australia
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Upon returning to England it was refitted as a naval transport, and Cook obtained a new ship
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*The Endeavour *was used to transport supplies to the Falklands in 1772
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It was then sold in 1775, and renamed Lord Sandwich
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By chance it was moored in Newport Harbor in 1778, and sunk by the British to blockade the harbor from advancing French ships - in all it was believed 13 ships were sunk at that time
By the time it was sunk, it’s easy to understand how no one would even consider the importance of a transport at the time of the sinking.
Cook has some importance to America too, as he was the “first to Discover” Hawaii, and died in the islands he had named Sandwich Islands.
Above or below water? Newport is plenty scenic. But visibility in New England waters is maybe four or five feet. Also, depending on the location, New England coastal waters can be pretty rough and Newport is one of the windier areas. So, unless you like mud, murk, and lobsters – no, not really all that attractive for diving.