IT'S the fifth time she's visited, but for the town and the crew the excitement has never waned.

She may be a replica of the original, but when HM Bark Endeavour returned to her spiritual home of Whitby it was as if the clock had gone back two centuries.

Forget all the modern launches and pleasure boats _ when her tall and elegant rigging hoves into view all eyes are on her and nothing else.

And yesterday not even the presence of Royalty on a bright spring day could detract from the thrill of watching the spectacular vessel make her majestic way into the port and her careful berthing at Endeavour Wharf.

The Duke of Edinburgh is the honorary president of the HM Bark Endeavour Foundation but, even for an ex-naval man, his eagerness to see the impressive vessel was plain to see.

The ship's cannons boomed her greeting to the town as she made her stately way through the open arms of the swing bridge at the harbour entrance.

Teeming crowds thronged the harbourside to witness her arrival, with the sleek lines of James Cook, training yacht for the Ocean Youth Trust, preceding her into place.

The tanned and fit-looking Duke was there at the invitation of the Trust and the Endeavour's captain, Chris Blake, but a delay in his arrival meant he missed the chance to board the port's pilot boat, St Hilda, and greet the vessels out at sea as first planned.

Instead he met the 12 young crew members of the James Cook _ all working towards their Duke of Edinburgh Award _ on the quayside before plunging into the crowd and making his way to the Captain Cook Memorial Museum.

There he was given a VIP tour of the new attractions _ the Portrait of Omai by the artist William Parry and an exhibition of artefacts brought back from Cook's original voyage.

Later he was treated to a VIP tour around the Endeavour herself, exploring her nooks and crannies for some 40 minutes before his departure. A rumoured protest by local fishermen angry at their latest quotas failed to materialise and the mood of the day was one of celebration not demonstration.

Endeavour will remain in Whitby until next Monday and will be open to the public from tomorrow until Sunday evening, from 9am daily with the last admission at 6pm.