Homeward

She turned for home arriving, after several other stops, on July 11, 1771. Cook's first voyage in Endeavour is of historical importance because of its contributions to the world's knowledge of seamanship and navigation, as well as geography.

Approximately one month after his feted return to England, Lt. Cook was promoted to the Royal Navy rank of Commander, and by the end of November he was in receipt of Admiralty Orders for a new expedition to the southern hemisphere and search for Terra Australis.

Cook's two subsequent voyages of exploration were made in command of another vessel, HMS Resolution. The first of these (1771—1776) circumnavigated the globe at a high southern latitude in the Southern Ocean, and laid to rest any lasting doubts that there was an undiscovered continent at these latitudes. On the second Resolution expedition (1771—1780), Cook charted the western coastline of North America, from California northwards to Bering Strait. Finding his attempts to sail through the strait frustrated by pack ice, Cook returned southwards through the central Pacific to the Hawaiian Islands, which he had first encountered in the earlier part of this voyage, naming them the Sandwich Islands. It was here, after spending some months in the archipelago that Cook met his end— killed in an altercation with the local Hawaiians at Kealakekua Bay on February 14, 1779.

Scurvy

Much has been made of Cook's success avoiding scurvy on the voyage. Although the efficacy of oranges and lemons had been known for some 175 years (since Hawkins in 1593), they could not always be obtained. The disease was not well understood and was a very serious problem on long voyages.

The Admiralty Sick and Hurt Board gave Cook a number of believed anti-scorbutics, based mainly on ideas of Dr David McBride. These included malt (which McBride favoured), concentrated orange juice, and sauerkraut. Malt is now known to be ineffective, having barely a trace of vitamin C; and concentrating juices by heating destroys much of their vitamin C. Sauerkraut is a good source of vitamin C and was apparently new to a shipboard diet.

Sailors of the day were notoriously against innovation, and at first the men would not eat the sauerkraut. Cook used a little trick, one he'd never known to fail. He ordered it served to himself and the officers, and left an option for crew who wanted some. Within a week of seeing their superiors set a value on it the demand was so great a ration had to be instituted. (Cook's journal 13 April 1769.)

Cook's general approach was essentially empirical, encouraging as broad a diet as circumstances permitted, and collecting such greens as could be had when making landfall. All onboard ate the same food, with Cook specifically dividing equally anything that could be divided (and indeed recommending that practice to any commander – journal 4 August 1770).

Two cases of scurvy did occur on board, astronomer Charles Green and the Tahitian man Tupia were treated, but Cook was able to proudly record that upon reaching Batavia he had "not one man upon the sick list" (journal 15 October 1770), unlike so many voyages that reached that port with much of the crew suffering illness.

Later history

In 1773 the British Admiralty fitted out Endeavour as a store ship and finally sold her in 1775 for £615. After that point there is much doubt as to her fate. One account has her sold to the French in 1790 and renamed La Liberté, finally running aground in 1794, near Newport, Rhode Island, USA. Another version has her moored as a hulk on the River Thames near Woolwich in 1825. Yet another version has Endeavour returned to the coal trade in 1775 and grounded at Rhode Island in 1790. This version being the more plausible. After being sold out of ''the royal Navy, she was purchased by James Mather & Sons in 1775 and re-named 'Lord Sandwich' in 1777 (Ref Lloyd's Register of Shipping. Mather used the old ship as a transport on voyages to Archangel in Russia to bring back European fir tress to make masts and spars for the over burdened Royal Navy.

When 'Lord Sandwich' was all but a wreck, Mather was asked to provide one of his three hundred ships to transport German Mercenary Troops "Hessians" to Rhode Island USA to help the British put down the recalcitrant Colonial Americans. Mather offered one his 'relics' the old spongy Bark Endeavour renamed "Lord Sandwich"

At Newport Rhode Island "Lord Sandwich" was turned into a prison Ship under the British flag.

In the spring of 1778 the French and American's signed a treaty. This union saw the French dispatch an armada of ships with 3000 troops to America to assist in the war effort. Eventually the French forces arrived at Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island. The British Commander in charge Captain Brisbane, realised that he had little defence against superior forces and so ordered a number of ships sunk as a blockade to the Newport, Rhode Island's outer harbour entrance. This blockade proved successful.

The blockade ships sunk by Captain Brisbane during August 1778 included HM Frigates 'Juno' 32; 'Lark' 32; 'Orpheus' 32; 'Cerberus' 28; a number of HM Galley ships 'Spitfire'; 'Alarm'; ‘Pigot'; sloop 'Flora' 12 pdr (later raised); and the Sloops 'Falcon' (later raised); and 'Kingfisher', and ten transports. Some of these ships were later raised amd placed back in service.

Rhode Island Marine Archaeologist Dr Kathy Abbass set out to find out more about the demise of 'Lord Sandwich' by delving through the copious files at the Public Records Office London. This search found some suasive evidence that brings the location of the demise of Cook’s Bark Endeavour closer.

Amongst the information gleaned from the PRO records:-

February 4 1776, the ‘Lord Sandwich’ was accepted into transport Service (to the US) a Transport Office survey showed:

‘Lord Sandwich’ ”Burthen according to Measurem[en]t” is 368 71/94 tons and Above 7 ft 6 in Height between Decks Midships 7 ft 9 in Abaft 7 ft 11 in.

7 February 1776 – ‘Ready to enter into pay?

In a ledger called “Entry of Transport Charter Party's 1774 - 1794” is also found the

‘Lord Sandwich’ under contract as of January 2, 1776, entered into pay February 7, 1776, and with tonnage of 368 71/94.

Probably one of the most suasive documents found by Dr Abbass was a letter from Captain Brisbane, the senior naval commander at Newport RI. On August 3 He wrote to Admiral Howe in New York to report on circumstances in Newport:

"As to the time the Garrison may be able to sustain the Attempts of the Enemy, Is the General says, very uncertain and depends upon the Numbers they throw in—With respect to the nature of their hostile operations, There are two Ships of the Line up the Naraganset [sic] Passage; Two Frigates a large Brig and two Sloops in the Seconnet; The rest consisting of Ten Sail of the Line and one Frigate are still at Anchor without any form, between Churche’s [sic] Point, (which forms the West Side of Easton's Beach) and Brenton's Reef, the Southmost about 5 miles Distance from the Island, the other Frigate is supposed to be Cruizing off Montock Point". The blockade ships sunk by Captain Brisbane during August 1778 included HM Frigates 'Juno' 32; 'Lark' 32; 'Orpheus' 32; 'Cerberus' 28; a number of HM Galley ships 'Spitfire'; 'Alarm'; ‘Pigot'; sloop 'Flora' 12 pdr (later raised); and the Sloops 'Falcon' (later raised); and 'Kingfisher', and ten transports including 'Lord Sandwich'

Captain Brisbane further stated "This Morning I caused five Transports to be sunk in the passage between Goat Island and the Blue Rocks, to prevent the Approach of the Enemy too near the North Battery so as to attack it with Advantage. And Five more Transports are proceeding out, in order to be sunk between Goat Island and Rose Island for the same Purpose".

Mather as owner of these vessels sunk at RI depatched a letter via his Agent to the Commissioners of His Majesty’s Navy dated London, December 2, 1778 requesting that a valuation certificate be issued by the Deptford Naval Yard:

"Honble Sirs. The Masters of the Transports Destroy’d at Rhode Island are arriv[e]d and passing their Accounts at the Victualling Office, I beg the favour you will be pleased to order the Deptford Officers to Send up the Value of Eache" [sic].

The letter achieved its purpose for a valuation certificate for all of those vessels sunk at RI was issued. It included the ‘Lord Sandwich’ of 368 71/94 tons that entered into pay on February 7, 1776.

Confusion with this story is not helped when the history of Cook's other ship 'Resolution' is followed up - she too was renamed, as 'Marie Antoinette' and later 'La Liberte' and serendipidously she also ended her days in Newport, RI (Now under the car park at Sherman's Wharf).

Dr Abbass concluded: “Based on the Public Records Office documents, there can be no doubt that this is the same ‘Lord Sandwich’ that had been HMB ‘Endeavour’, and that she was one of the transports sunk in Newport’s outer harbour in 1718. If Connell and Liddy ('Cook's Bark Endeavour: Did this Vessel end her days in Newport, Rhode Island? Great Circle Vol. 19, No 1 1997) are correct that ‘La Liberte’ was Cook’s ‘Resolution’, abandoned at a dock in Newport’s inner harbour in 1793, then Newport was the final port of call for two of the four vessels that went around the world with Captain James Cook”.

A Reuters article published on May 16, 2006 seems to indicate the possible presence of the Endeavour within Rhode Island's state waters; it was reportedly sunk in 1778, bearing the later name Lord Sandwich, according to the records of archaelogists with the Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project .

Endeavour Reef recoveries

In 1886 the Working Men's Progress Association of Cooktown wanted to recover the cannons Cook had left at Endeavour Reef when grounded there, for a proposed memorial. They offered a £300 reward but searches that year and the next failed to find anything. Further later searches in 1966, 1967 and 1968 were unsuccessful too.^[2]

In 1969 a search using a sophisticated magnetometer designed by Virgil Kaufman from the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences found the abandoned cannons, and iron ballast, near the reef. Pinpointing the grounding narrowed down the search for the lost bower anchor too. Seven of the journal keepers had it set to the west, Cook's log and journal put it to the south, but apparently a misreading of Cook's account made the searchers believe it was universally described as westward. An area in that direction was marked out for passes with the magnetometer. By chance while turning it around outside the search area an anomaly was detected, which turned out to be the anchor, to the south, where Cook described.

Conservation work on the cannons was undertaken by the Australian National Maritime Museum and one is on display there.^[3] The anchor and another cannon are displayed at the James Cook Historical Museum in Cooktown^[4] Those items are all long-term loans from the National Museum of Australia.^[5]

Replica vessel

In January 1988, to commemorate the bicentenary of European settlement in Australia, work began in Fremantle, Western Australia on a replica of Endeavour. The survival of the original drawings from the 1768 refit at Deptford meant that the replica could be made as similar as possible to the original ship. Financial difficulties delayed completion until April 1994. She then embarked on her own world trip, calling at many ports along the way. After a long voyage the ship is alongside at the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney.

The ship first visited Whitby, the original Endeavour's home port in England, in 1997 and left in 2003.

Research conducted by Karl Heinz Marquardt has cast interesting doubt on the accuracy of the Mizzen Mast dimensions in replica craft (and scale models). While a number of the original drawings of Earl of Penbroke and Endeavour still are in existence, although these do not include a mast plan. One drawing (3814c) has written mast and spar dimensions including that of 16 yards 29 inches for the mizzen. Marquardt compares the dimensions of the masts to those in the Navy Standard (W Sutherland, The Ship Builders Assistant, (London 1711, reprint Rotherfield 1989) and dimensions suggested by other sources for mizzen (specifically J Davis from The Seamen's Speculum, London 1711 reprint N.R.G 1985 and J H Roding (unattributed)). All of the other masts are longer than contemporary standards. The mizzen is however shorter than the standards, unless the length in the drawing 3814(c) is a transcription error and should be 19 yards 29 inches (rather than 16/29). The 16/29 reproduction produces a very truncated looking mast, and is inconsistent with the few contemporary reproductions of Endeavour (including sketches of the acclaimed Sydney Parkinson who was the draughtsmen on the first voyage).

Details taken from K H Marquardt "Captain Cook's Endeavour" published 1995 (ISBN 9708 85177 8969) from the "Anatomy of the Ship" series by publisher Anova Books, London, pp18-20, Parkinson sketch p32.

References

• Captain Cook's Journal During the First Voyage Round the World, available at Project Gutenberg.
• Project Gutenberg Australia hosts a free eBook of The Endeavour Journal of Sir Joseph Banks; note that copyright may apply in countries other than Australia - Zip file, Text file, HTML file
• HM Bark Endeavour (2005). Retrieved on March 14, 2006.

See also

• HMS Endeavour for other ships of this name.
• Ship replica (including a list of ship replicas)

External links

• The Fate of Cook's Ships
• London Port's Endeavour information
• Picture of the recovered anchor and team, in Great Scot newsletter of Scotch College (Melbourne), April 2004
• Joseph Banks' Endeavour Journal
• Endeavour visiting Rotterdam, The Netherlands - Shipyard 'De Delft'
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqMp4ylsAukscale model made by Bülent Karaali

Named after Endeavour

• Endeavour River, Australia
• Space Shuttle Endeavour
• The Apollo 15 command module.
• Endeavour Rupes, an escarpment on Mercury
• The Endeavour Award, Science Fiction/Fantasy Book Award
• Space Shuttle Endeavour, in science-fiction book Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke
• DCI Endeavour Morse, from the novels by Colin Dexter and associated TV series