Shipwreck · Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island
HMS Endeavour
James Cook's ship. Built at Whitby in 1764 as the collier Earl of Pembroke, bought by the Navy and renamed Endeavour for Cook's first voyage of 1768 to 1771, which charted New Zealand and the east coast of Australia, she was sold in 1775, renamed Lord Sandwich and hired as a troop transport and prison ship. In August 1778, with Admiral d'Estaing's French fleet in Narragansett Bay, the British scuttled her with twelve other transports to block Newport Harbor. The Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project and the Australian National Maritime Museum narrowed the scuttling area to the water between the northern end of Goat Island and Newport's North Battery, and in 2022 the museum identified site RI 2394 there as the Endeavour from the surviving hull: keel, floor timbers, planking and a pump well, matching her recorded scantlings. The point is the middle of that stretch of harbor, not the site itself, whose position is not published; the site is protected, and nothing may be taken or disturbed.
Open in the viewer from Beavertail Lighthouse, Jamestown →
Quick facts
| Type | Shipwreck, bark, ex-collier, troop transport |
|---|---|
| Lost | August 1778 |
| Built | 1764 |
| Depth | Not recorded |
| Position | 41.4952°N, 71.3231°W (approximate, ±500 m) |
| Position known from | One rough record: approximate |
| From Beavertail Lighthouse, Jamestown | 8.1 km (5.1 mi), bearing 51° NE |
| Source | Australian National Maritime Museum; Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project; Wikipedia |
How to see it
Underwater, so there is nothing to see from the shore. From Beavertail Lighthouse, Jamestown, 8.1 km (5.1 mi) away, CoastFinder draws it below the horizon at its bearing and distance.
Further reading: HMS Endeavour on Wikipedia.
On the website for now. This shipwreck is in the web viewer first. The CoastFinder app covers the North Carolina coast today; follow @coastfinderapp to hear when more coasts arrive.
Nearby
- Newport Harbor LighthouseLighthouse · 390 m
- Saint Patrick RockReef · 1.5 m · 424 m
- Mitchell RockShoal · 16.7 m · 984 m
- Citing RockReef · 2.1 m · 1.4 km
- Rose IslandIsland · 1.5 km
- Coasters Harbor IslandIsland · 1.6 km
Not for navigation. Positions and depths come from public charts and records, with their sources named above; they are for looking, not for piloting a boat.