June
18
/ 2025
Following over two decades of research, scientists at the Australian National Maritime Museum have asserted in no uncertain terms that they've located one of the most famous ships of maritime history — the HMS Endeavour. Sunk off the Newport, Rhode Island coast during the American War of Independence, the vessel formerly captained by James Cook and used to traverse the Pacific now rests broken and waterlogged under the Atlantic. But instead of a moment of unifying triumph, the find has rekindled tensions between the Australian scientists and their American counterparts. The Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project (RIMAP), a longtime collaborator in the search, accused the museum of violating protocols and letting “Australian politics or emotions” cloud an otherwise evidence-based process
