August 3, 1987
The sail training ship (STS) Young Endeavour began her maiden voyage at the coastal town and civil parish of Lowestoft in England. (Lowestoft holds the record as the most easterly settlement in the entire United Kingdom.) Sail training ships are vessels used for teaching people how to operate wind-powered vessels. This training customarily emphasizes teamwork, leadership, and personal growth.
STS Young Endeavour was constructed by the Lowestoft-based shipbuilding firm Brooke Yachts as a gift from the British government to Australia. The ship was designed by naval architect Colin Mudie. Construction on Young Endeavor began during the spring of 1986; she was launched on June 2, 1987.
Those on hand for the start of Young Endeavour’s Australia-bound maiden voyage included Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh and husband of Queen Elizabeth II. “Young Endeavour Gets Right Royal Send-Off,” announced a headline in a subsequent edition of the Lowestoft Journal.
Doug McClelland, who had become Australia’s high commissioner to the United Kingdom in March of that year and would serve in this position until 1991, read a message from Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke to the crew of Young Endeavour in celebration of the ship’s departure from England. “There are few genuine opportunities for adventure left in the modern world,” stated this message. “Those who are on the Young Endeavour are therefore to be envied.”
After leaving Lowestoft, Young Endeavour embarked on her extensive journey of about three months to Australia via Rio de Janeiro, the South Atlantic group of islands known as Tristan da Cunha, and the waters of Antarctica. A crew consisting of young Britons and Australians sailed on board the ship during this voyage. Chris Blake served as the vessel’s master. After Young Endeavour arrived at the city Fremantle in the state of Western Australia, Blake wrote Lowestoft businessman Colonel George Chadd about this milestone.
“It’s my pleasure to let you know we made it!” Blake confirmed in his communication to Chadd. “We sailed into Fremantle on Sunday, November 1, with a ship and crew tried and proven. Our next task is to take Young Endeavour to the Australian people and promote the concept of sail training for young Australians, which is after all what this gift is all about.” Blake also noted, “We’ll be officially handing the ship over on January 25 and the first sail training voyage for young Australians will commence two weeks later.”
While Young Endeavour has since been officially operated and maintained by the Royal Australian Navy, she is used frequently for sail training and youth development voyages for thousands of Australians between the ages of 16 and 23. As many as 24 people take part in each of these voyages as members of the youth crew. This ship is still in active service today, but it was formally announced on October 20, 2025, that she had made what would be her final circumnavigation of Australia. The motto of Young Endeavour is “carpe diem,” which is the Latin phrase for “seize the day.”
Photo Credit: Chris Phutully (https://www.flickr.com/people/72562013@N06) – licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en
Additional information on STS Young Endeavour is available at https://www.defence.gov.au/news-events/releases/2025-10-20/sail-training-ship-young-endeavour-marks-end-era
For more information on naval architect Colin Mudie, please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Mudie
Transportation History 
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