Ship Modelers Association

The HMS ENDEAVOUR was originally the EARL OF PEMBROKE and as such was launched in Whitby, England in 1764, built by Fishburn. She was modified for naval service with the following statistics: Length, 97.6 feet; breadth, 29.3 feet; depth, 11.3 feet with a tonnage of 369 tons. She had a complement of 85 to 94 men and was armed with 6 each 4pdr cannon and 8 swivels. Endeavour Stern from Anatomy of the Ship

This vessel was made famous for the first voyage made by
Lieutenant James Cook in his expedition to the South Seas that was
sponsored by the Royal Society. He had two missions to
accomplish on the voyage, first to visit Tahiti to observe the transit
of Venus across the sun and second to determine if there was a
great southern continent, or Terra Australis.

The EARL OF PEMBROKE was purchased, renamed HMS
ENDEAVOUR, and modified to the specifications of the Royal Navy
to meet the requirements of exploration. She was ship rigged
although she was officially referred to as H.M. Bark, since the Royal
Navy already had another ship with the name Endeavour.

HMS ENDEAVOUR sailed from Plymouth on August 25, 1768. Her compliment included the naturalists Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander, as well as Second Lieutenants John Gore and Charles Clerke, both veterans of HMS DOLPHIN. She stopped at Madeira, Rio de Janeiro, and the Bay of Good Success in Le Maire Strait before entering the Pacific Ocean and finally arriving at Tahiti on April 13, 1769. Good relations were established between the crew of the HMS ENDEAVOUR and the Tahitians and the ship stayed there three months. They then sailed, touching other areas of the Society Islands before sailing south then west to land on the North Island of New Zealand on October 9th. For the next six months Cook determined that New Zealand consisted of two main islands separated by Cook strait, a name suggested by Banks. Cook then abandoned his search for Terra Australis, on March 31, 1770, Cook sailed due west across the Tasman Sea, hoping to sail into the Indian Ocean via Van Diemen’s Land (now called Tasmania.)

The onset of winter drove the HMS ENDEAVOUR off course, and on April 19, the ship arrived off New Holland (Australia.) Nine days later, the ship entered Botany Bay (just south of modern day Sydney.) She then sailed again on May 6th, skirting the coast of Australia until June 10th, when the ship was accidentally holed on the Great Barrier Reef near Cape Tribulation. It took two days to free the ship from the reef. The leak was only stopped by fothering, that is, drawing a sail impregnated with oakum under the ship’s bottom. It took nine days to reach a landing place, now known as Cooktown. It took 6 weeks to repair the ship during which time a Kangaroo was shot and stuffed to take back to England. Cook claimed this land for the British Crown, then sailed through the Torres Strait, stopping at Savu Island (west of Timor), and then sailing on to the Dutch entrepot at Batavia (now Jakarta.) Thanks to the efforts of Captain Cook, an “electric chain” had been rigged on HMS ENDEAVOUR which saved her from a bolt of lightning that did serious damage to a Dutch East Indiaman while here. There was also considerable suffering due to needed repairs to the ships hull accompanied by a raging fever and dysentery among the ship’s company. Seven died. She did not leave until December 26,1770. The subsequent voyage across the Indian Ocean saw the death of an additional 23 of the crew from disease contracted in the East Indies. HMS ENDEAVOUR anchored at Cape Town from March 15 to April 14, 1771, sailed for St. Helena and finally anchored in the Downs on July 12, 1771, after acircumnavigation lasting two years, nine months, and fourteen days. Cook went on to make two more voyages of discovery, but not with the HMS ENDEAVOUR.

Following a refit at Woolwich, HMS ENDEAVOUR made three voyages to the Falkland Islands and was paid off in September of 1774. Sold out of the Royal Navy on March 7, 1775, the ENDEAVOUR sailed once again as a North Sea collier for fifteen years. She was then purchased by French interests in 1790 and, renamed La Liberte, entered the whale trade. In 1793, she ran aground off Newport, Rhode Island, and was later broken up by James Cahoon.

A replica of the ship was commissioned at Fremantle in 1994 and is still sailing the worlds oceans today. The author had a chance to go aboard this replica while in Sydney, Australia several years ago and really enjoyed the experience. As a result of this trip a scratch model of the HMS ENDEAVOUR will be attempted using a number of sources which have been collected over the last few years, including plans by several people (including Underhill) along with the Anatomy of the Ship Series book.

There are a number of kits available of this ship depending on how much money you want to spend. To name a few, there is the Corel kit ($219.99), Artesania Latina ($169.99), Mantua ($119.99), Mamoli (149.99) and Caldercraft ($320.00). There are probably more, but this is a sample. The bluff bow of the model is difficult to plank, so this would not be a model recommended for a first-time builder.