If the ship legendary explorer Capt. James Cook used to sail around the world is found, Rhode Island will own it outright.
That's because of a legal maneuver the state took nearly 20 years ago based on an obscure, centuries-old maritime practice.
Rhode Island in 1999 asked the federal court to secure shipwrecks at the bottom of Newport Harbor and declare the state the owner. The court agreed. Researchers believe one of those wrecks is Cook's ship, the Endeavour.
Cook used it to claim Australia for the British. Researchers now believe the Endeavour was part of a fleet of 13 ships scuttled by the British during the Revolutionary War in 1778 to blockade Newport Harbor.
The Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project has said it's closing in on locating Cook's ship.
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