Photo taken from behind showing a wooden tall ship in a harbour

Aboard Endeavour

Endeavour is one of the world's most accurate maritime replica vessels and regularly hoists the sails for voyages in Australia and beyond.

Join the crew

Full wide view of Endeavour sailing with waves in the foreground
Photo up the rigging on a tall ship. It shows crew members spread along the yard working on the sails, with a sun on the horizon behind them.

Australian National Maritime Museum

Follow the Wind to Hobart

Look back at the journey from Darling Harbour to the Australian Wooden Boat Festival, 28 January – 7 February 2025

Return to Sydney

Read the Captain's log, stay up-to-date with photos and video from the crew and track Endeavour as it sails back to the museum from the Wooden Boat Festival in Hobart, 12 – 24 February 2025.

Replica tall ship HMB ENDEAVOUR out of water for its regular refit. 

Photographer: David Knight

High painting ENDEAVOUR, 2019.

History of the Replica

This vessel is an accurate replica of the 18th-century tall ship used by Lieutenant James Cook on his epic 1768-71 voyage. 

Built in Fremantle, Western Australia, this remarkable ship took six years and $17 million to complete – from the laying of the keel in 1988 to her launch in 1993 and commissioning in 1994. Funding came from various sources; corporate, government and private, with an incalculable contribution of voluntary labour, goods and services. 

The ship still utilises the same sailing techniques Cook and his men used over 250 years ago – there are no modern conveniences such as winches nor are there colour-coded lines to aid in setting the 10,000 square feet of sails. Of course, the 21st century still has a part to play – by law, Endeavour employs technology such as GPS, satellite phones, engines, modern galley and showers in order for the ship to operate. In fact, Endeavour is a Registered Australian Ship and, as such, complies with the high survey requirements dictated by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA).

Endeavour was launched and operated by the non-profit HM Bark Endeavour Foundation until 2005, when she was acquired by the Australian Government. Since her commissioning, Endeavour has sailed thousands of nautical miles and has circumnavigated the world twice. Endeavour is now operated by the Australian National Maritime Museum. 

The tale of how a little coal-carrying ship, originally called the Earl of Pembroke, but better known as His Majesty's Bark Endeavour

Australian National Maritime Museum

Finding Endeavour - A ship now simply known as RI 2394 lies wrecked on the muddy seabed of Newport Harbor—find out why the museum is claiming this is HMB Endeavour

Australian National Maritime Museum

Overhear shot of replica Endeavour tall ship, sailing with large white sails on a dark blue green ocean.

Discovering the wreck

Did you know that this world-famous ship ended up being sunk by the British military in an American harbour? 

Its location was forgotten for over two centuries until our maritime archaeologists worked with a team in Newport Harbor, Rhode Island, to hunt for clues that confirmed its identity.