Maritime Mystery Nearly Solved

American archaeologists have discovered four 18th century ships off the coast of Rhode Island, New York, one of which could be Captain Cook’s Endeavour. Cook commanded the Endeavour on his famous 1768-1771 voyage to find the unknown “Terra Australis,” during which he mapped the east coast of Australia and circumnavigated New Zealand. The four ships were scuttled by the British in 1778 during the American Revolution. “Archaeology is a slow and meticulous process but maybe a few years down the line, we might find out [which ship] is the Endeavour,” says University of Rhode Island professor Rod Mather. “We have quite good construction details for her, so the best chance is finding a very close match.”