Researchers say they may have found the remains of the HMS Endeavour, the ship on which Captain James Cook first discovered the eastern coastline of Australia.
Cook commanded the Endeavour on his first voyage of discovery to Australia and New Zealand between 1769 and 1771.
It was last seen in 1778, by which time it was being used as a transport ship during the American Revolution and renamed the Lord Sandwich.
US archaeologists now say they may have come across the ship's wreck off the coast of Rhode Island, where they believe it was scuttled by British troops during the American Revolution.
The Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project has announced it is 80 to 100 per cent certain the ship never left Newport Harbour.
"RIMAP has mapped nine archaeological sites of the 13 ships that were scuttled in Newport Harbour in 1778 during the American Revolution," it said.
"One group of five ships included the Lord Sandwich transport, formerly Capt James Cook's Endeavour. RIMAP now knows the general area of Newport Harbour where those five ships were scuttled."
The researchers now say they will examine each of the five ships to try to determine which is which.
"The next phase of the archaeological investigation will require a more intense study of each vessel's structure and its related artefacts," it said.
