But the maritime museum issued a statement on Thursday afternoon rejecting the claim that its announcement was a breach of contract and insisting its scientists were confident of their findings.

“Having worked with Dr Abbass to investigate the Endeavour shipwreck site for 22 years, the museum acknowledges that she is entitled to her own opinion regarding the vast amount of evidence we have accumulated.”

“As stated today, our Director Kevin Sumption is confident that the preponderance of evidence identifies shipwreck site RI 2394 in Newport Harbor as the last resting place of Endeavour. The museum has reviewed our previous agreements with RIMAP and we conclude that we are not in breach of any current commitments. We look forward to pursuing a due process of peer review and consultation with all stakeholders in Rhode Island.”

The Endeavour was originally launched in 1764, albeit under another name: the Earl of Pembroke.

Four years later it was renamed by the British Royal Navy and spent the next few years voyaging to the South Pacific and Pacific, firstly to record the transit of Venus in Tahiti in 1769 before charting the east coast of Australia and the coast of New Zealand in 1770.

Sold in 1775 and renamed Lord Sandwich 2, it was ultimately scuttled during a blockade by the British military in an American harbour in 1778 during the American Revolutionary War.

Its location was forgotten for more than two centuries until maritime archaeologists worked with a team in Newport Harbor, Rhode Island, to hunt for clues to confirm its identity.

Sumption said that since 1999, maritime archaeologists had had been investigating several 18th-century shipwrecks in a two square mile area where they believed that Endeavour sank.

“However, the last pieces of the puzzle had to be confirmed before I felt able to make this call.”

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According to the museum, there were several key identifiers that set the Endeavour apart from the four other ships sunk in Newport in August 1778: the length of the surviving hull is almost exactly identical to that recorded for Endeavour; the structural details and shape of the remains closely match the ship’s historic plans; and historical evidence indicates the ship was sunk just north of Goat Island in Newport Harbour, along with four other British transports.

The discovery could also spark a cross-continent tussle over where to store the historical wreckage, with Sumption noting that the vessel’s role in exploration, astronomy and science “applies not just to Australia, but also Aotearoa New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States”.

He also paid tribute to the RIMAP and noted that “the archaeological work continues, and we anticipate further discussion of the evidence over the coming months”.

Arts Minister Paul Fletcher also backed Thursday's announcement as he helped the museum launch a new website dedicated to its maritime archaeology research over the past 22 years.

“As the positive identification of the Endeavour shows, marine archaeology is a fascinating and rapidly developing field of expertise,” he said.

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