Who is James Cook?
James Cook is a 18th century British explorer, navigator and cartographer (map-maker). He was also a captain in the British Royal Navy.
What is he famous for?
Cook is famous for three voyages between 1768 and 1779. He sailed extensively in the Pacific Ocean and the unchartered Australian coast. He is the first recorded European contact with the eastern coastline of Australia and the on the Hawaiian Islands. He is also the first to have conducted a recorded circumnavigation of New Zealand. His detailed maps of Newfoundland are useful even today. He is said to have sailed twice around the world.
The current dispute
The Australian National Maritime Museum (ANMM) claims that the wreck known as RI 2394 in Newport Harbour, Rhode Island belongs to the Endeavour. But the U.S. partners from the Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project (RIMAP) say claim is “premature and a “breach of contract.
The Australian museum says the structural details and shape of the remains “closely match historic plans of Endeavour and that its timber samples strongly suggested it was built in Europe and not America. But the RIMAP says that many unanswered questions remained.
Backgrounder
The British-built coal ship famously landed in eastern Australia in 1770. The Endeavour, which the British explorer sailed in, in a voyage to Australia and New Zealand between 1768 and 1771, was scuttled in Newport Harbour during the American War of Independence. The Endeavour, then known as Lord Sandwich II, was sunk in 1778 with 12 other ships off Rhode Island, U.S. but no-one was sure where
Did you know?
Named after Cook
- The Apollo 15 Command/Service Module Endeavour was named after Cook’s ship, HMS Endeavour.
- Another shuttle, Discovery, was also named after his HMS Discovery.
- James Cook University, was the first institution of higher education in North Queensland, Australia.
- Cook Islands, the Cook Strait, Cook Inlet, and even the Cook crater on the Moon!
- Aoraki/Mount Cook is the highest summit in New Zealand.
- Mount Cook, on the border between the U.S. and Canada.
- A life-size statue of the explorer can be found in a park in central Sydney.
Picture Credit : Google
