The Probert Encyclopaedia of Ships

ENDEAVOUR

The Endeavour was a British collier barque launched in 1764 as the Earl of Pembroke before being purchased by the British Admiralty and fitted out for a scientific journey to the South Seas to observe the transit of Venus from Tahiti and ascertain whether a southern continent existed. Endeavour was commanded by Lieutenant James Cook and left Plymouth in 1768, returning to England in 1771 where she was refitted and made three subsequent voyages to the Falkland Islands before being sold in 1775 and returning to work as a collier. In 1790 she was bought by the French and used as a whaler under the name La Liberte until she ran aground off Newport, Rhode Island in 1793.
Research Endeavour