Historical boat search in Newport

NEWPORT, R.I. (AP) -- A marine archeologist is hoping to find and recover the wreck of Capt. James Cook's famous ship the Endeavor in Newport Harbor.

D.K. Abbass, the founder of the Rhode Island Marine Archeology Project, tells the Providence Journal she believes the ship may be among eight 18th-century shipwrecks the project has mapped in the area.

The Endeavor, which Cook sailed to Australia in 1770, was scuttled by the British in 1778 as part of its blockade of Narragansett Bay.

Abbass will be putting on an educational presentation in Providence on Sunday. She is trying to raise $300,000 to develop the project.

The group also hopes to build a marine-preservation laboratory and museum, which would be used to preserve artifacts from the Endeavour and other wrecks.