HMS Endeavour (90x60cm) Print

The inspiration for the painting "HMS Endeavor", one of the most important ships in human history, was a research ship of the British Royal Navy which Lieutenant James Cook commanded Australia and New Zealand on his first voyage of discovery from 1768 to 1771. It was launched in 1764 as Earl of Pembroke, and was purchased by the Navy in 1768 for a scientific mission to the Pacific Ocean and sea exploration for the presumed Terra Australis Incognita or "unknown southern land." Ordered as a venture by His Majesty, she left Plymouth in August 1768, bypassed Cape Horn, and arrived in Tahiti in time to observe the passage of Venus across the Sun in 1769. It then sailed into the largely unexplored ocean to the south, stopping on the islands of Huahine, Bora Bora and Raiatea west of Tahiti to allow Cook to take them over to the UK. In September 1769 it anchored off New Zealand, becoming the first European ship to reach the island from Heemskerk Abel Tasman 127 years earlier. In April 1770, Endeavor became the first European ship to reach the east coast of Australia, and Cook came ashore in what is now known as Botany Bay. The endeavor then sailed north along the Australian coast. She narrowly escaped disaster after running aground on the Great Barrier Reef, and Cook had to throw his weapon into the sea to make it easier for her. Endeavor was on a beach on the Australian mainland for seven weeks to allow for rudimentary repairs to her hull. Continuing her voyage, in October 1770 she entered the port at Batavia, and her crew swore to secrecy about the lands they had visited. From Batavia Endeavor continued west, bypassed the Cape of Good Hope on March 13, 1771, and reached the English port of Dover on July 12, after being at sea for nearly three years. It was sunk in a blockade of Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island in 1778. The wreck was not accurately located, but is thought to be one of five groups in Newport Harbor. . Relics from Endeavor are on display in maritime museums around the world, including the anchor and six of its cannons. A replica of the Endeavor was launched in 1994 and is attached to the Australian National Maritime Museum in the port of Sydney. NASA's Space Shuttle Endeavor is named after this ship.

Print:Giclee on Canvas

Size:14 W x 21 H x 1.25 D in

Size with Frame:15.75 W x 22.75 H x 1.25 D in

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