The replica of Captain (then Lieutenant) Cook's ship HMB Endeavour is based at the National Maritime Museum in Sydney's Darling Harbour. Here we get a front-on view of her on a rather drizzly January day.

The B stands for "Bark". According to notes provided by the Museum, in the 18th century ships were classified by hull shape and the Endeavour (formerly the collier ship Earl Of Pembroke) qualified with her flat bow and square stern. By the 19th century the method of classifying ships had changed to be based on rigging.

Not that this mattered to the Endeavour, which was long gone by the 19th century. Renamed the Lord Sandwich she was used as a troop ship during the American War of Independence and scuttled in Newport Harbour Rhode Island as part of a plan to blockade it against the French.

Our Endeavour is a replica which was built in the late 1980's / early 1990's, being launched in 1993. With a displacement of 550 tonnes, she's 43.7 metres long (from bowsprit to stern), has a beam of 8.89 metres, and a draught of 3.6 metres. She carries 16 professional and 36 amateur crew, which is more comfortable than the 94 people who were on the original.

The replica is built of Jarrah below the waterline, and Oregon above it. This isn't true to the original, but was a necessary compromise.

More information can be found at the Australian National Maritime Museum web site.