Wreckage off Rhode Island could be Cook's Endeavour

Wreckage of what researchers believe may be Captain Cook's ship Endeavour has been found in the waters off the United States east coast but local maritime experts say positive identification may still be years away, if at all.

New Zealand National Maritime Museum chief executive officer Larry Robbins said he was "very excited" at news reports researchers with the Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project believed they had found four ships, off Rhode Island, in the US.

The ships are part of a British fleet used during the US Revolutionary War and one is thought to be the vessel Captain Cook sailed on his voyage to Australia and New Zealand.

Mr Robbins said people did not know what happened to the Endeavour after it was sold for commercial use.

"Historical records are indistinct as to what actually happened to it."

Mr Robbins warned against any premature celebrations.

"They need to be a bit careful because there are a few Endeavours in history," Mr Robbins said.

Australian National Maritime Museum spokesman Bill Richards said it had been involved in the project for the search of the British troop ship Lord Sandwich - which had been the Endeavour - during the past six years.

The Lord Sandwich, as well as many other British vessels, was sunk in Newport Harbour, Rhode Island, in early August 1778.

Mr Richards said while four new wreck sites had been identified, any positive confirmation of the ships was a "long time away". The wreckage was also not in a form which was easily identifiable, he said.

Reuters reported archaeologists as saying it was unclear which ship could be the Endeavour.

Seven of the ships in the British fleet have not been found. But they said the latest find raised the chance one of the discovered ships was the Endeavour.

"There is a 47 per cent chance that we have our hands on the Endeavour," said project executive director Dr Kathy Abbass.

She added it was unlikely anything on the ships would provide a direct link to Cook.

HMS Endeavour

Length 29.77m
Beam 8.89m
Weight 393 tonnes

- NZPA