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Sept. 19 (UPI) -- Researchers in Rhode Island believe they found the wreckage site of Capt. James Cook's HMS Endeavour. Archaeologists from the Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project and the Australian National Maritime Museum said Tuesday they had narrowed the search for the Endeavour from a fleet of 13 vessels to five and possibly one or two archaeological sites.
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RIMAP and ANMM plan to reveal the findings Friday at the Gurneys Resort on Goat Island, Newport, R.I., as well as detail the 25-year-long archaeological study of the ship's whereabouts.
The wreck is believed to have been discovered off of the U.S. East Coast, CNN reported.
"Now that RIMAP and the ANMM have identified a possible site in Newport Harbor that might be the Lord Sandwich ex Endeavour, the detailed work must begin to prove it," the research group said.
Researchers hope to excavate the remains of the ship by 2019, a year before the 250th anniversary of Cook's arrival in Australia, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.
"It is exciting, we are closing in," RIMAP director Kathy Abbass said. "This is a vessel that is significant to people around the world, including Australia."
The HMS Endeavour landed on Australia's east coast and was used to circumnavigate the globe from 1768-71.
It was later renamed the Lord Sandwich and used as a troop transport and prison brig.
The Endeavour has historical significance in Australia, New Zealand, the United Sates and Britain, and all of the territories are likely to bid to house the vessels remains.
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