American archaeologists may have found the remains of the ship on which Captain James Cook first charted New Zealand.
Researchers believe they may have come across the wreck of HMS Endeavour off the coast of Rhode Island.
The ship was last seen in 1778, by which point it was being used as a transport vessel during the American Revolution when it had a new name -- Lord Sandwich.
The vessel was a bark – a three-masted sailing ship.
The Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project (RIMAP) says the Endeavour was one of 13 ships scuttled in Newport Harbour in 1778.
It was scuttled in the days leading up to the Battle of Rhode Island.
RIMAP says it will soon describe its plans to confirm the fifth shipwreck in the limited study area, and will outline what must be done to determine which of the five sites is which of the five ships.
The next phase of the archaeological investigation will require a more intense study of each vessel's structure and its related artifacts, RIMAP says.
Newshub.
