HMS Endeavour, 1764-1778: a Short but Interesting Life
After four years of anonymous labour, carrying coal from Newcastle, she circled the globe under James Cook, “discovering” Australia exactly 250 years ago, 29 April 1770. Celebrity was followed by the obscurity of life as a Falkland Islands supply ship.
And it was downhill from there: carrying troops across the Atlantic to fight for the bad guys in the American War of Independence; serving as a horrific prison ship; and being scuttled by the British, to prevent the French navy from entering the harbour at Newport, Rhode Island.
However, resurrection may be at hand: marine archaeologists believe they have found her.
