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She was decked out with all the feature Cook the explorer demanded. Although she was a very small ship by any modern standards (at only 106 ft long and 29 feet wide) The rounded bow and wide deep waist gave her plenty of room for storing supplies to support her 94 crew members and scientific voyagers on their long ocean sail; the diminutive size and wider keel area allowed her to be easily beached for maintenance, as well as stable (she remained upright) when she went aground, which she did on more than one occasion. Endeavour was built with extra wood framing below decks, planks closely studded with flatheaded nails were used to prevent an infestation of shipworms and provide added insurance should she come into contact with a reef. Twenty two guns were on board for defense. Her Captain, James Cook, occasionally provided the use of his cabin to expedition naturalists on board. This group was led by headed by Joseph Banks, an exceptionally talent botanist who would soon after be named as president of the English "Royal Society". Endeavour wrecked on a reef off of Rhode Island in 1795, but her scientific discoveries still inspire scientists today. Apollo 15 astronauts even named one of their spacecrafts to honor the tall ship. She discovered the Great Barrier Reef by hitting its coral. Although her hull sat only 13 feet below water when fully loaded. Many of her onboard supplies, rock ballast and even her 6 cannons were lost. Still, she stayed afloat. There were many effort to untangle her from that reef and each attempt was a failure. Pumps couldn't keep pace of water and her leaking seemed unstoppable.At high tide she floated upright but this caused an even faster rate of leakage. The Captain ordered the crew to lower sails down beside the bow to be dragged back against the worst areas of the leaks. It worked and within a short hour she was free of most water. Using a single pump Cook kept her afloat and sailing until he was able to find a suitable harbor to beach on. She was water tight after two weeks of repair work by the crew. She then sailed through a strait first found by by Luis Vaez de Torres in 1606. She ported briefly in New Guinea, and at Batavia, Java. Not a man was lost during the adventure. However, prior to her arrival back in England, malaria and dysentery cost 30 of her sailors their lives. The Dutch colonies they visited was where the disease was picked up. Cook was promoted to Commander and in 1772 he set off once again with with two other sister ships - Resolution and Adventure on their way to the continent of Antarctica. At the time of their launch they had no idea whether or not the southern continent even existed, these were truly courageous sailors. He was accompanied by both naturalists and astronomers. Cook also used one of the newest and best chronometers. The clock told the Captain the prime meridian's exact time, while he could calculate his current time using both a sextant and astronomical charts. He now knew precisely how far east and west he was as compared to other Ship Captains who were known for making large errors in positioning since they had no way of identifying the exact time. The chronometer weathered freezing weather - just like Endeavor sailors - with long icicles hanging below their noses. He narrowly missed discovering Antarctica and believed that no land extended high enough into habitable latitudes. They did, however, make great exploration of the Pacific between the tropics and temperate zone, discovering and documenting many new islands. Naturalists on board made note of the many plants and birds discovered. Upon return, The Royal Society elected Cook a fellow. On protecting the health of his crew men, he was bestowed their gold medal. He received a comfortable shore assignment from The Admiralty, providing him a pension for life. The itch to sail once again when he took on the responsibility to sail through the Northwest Passage, from the Pacific side this time. He was sailing again! He departed Plymouth, England July 12, 1776. His vessels, including Resolution and Discovery rounded Africa, land-hopped to New Zealand and beyond. On their way north they discovered the Hawaiian Islands. Next they sailed just of the North American west coast - from where California and Washington now are and dropped anchor in Nootka Sound, Vancouver Island, Canada. Here, they built an observatory. After this it was on to Prince William Sound, Alaska, and then tested Cook Inlet as a possible entry point to the Northwest Passage. Although he explored the Bering Sea south of Alaska he decided to return to Hawaii and on February 14, 1779 England's greatest explorer was killed in a clash with local natives. Read more about the tall ships and tall ship races including ship profiles at my site.
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