HMS ''Sirius'' was the

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the f ...

of the First Fleet, which set out from

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is admi ...

, England, in 1787 to establish the first European

colony In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the ''metropole, metropolit ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia. In 1790, the ship was wrecked on the reef, south east of Kingston Pier, in Slaughter Bay,

Norfolk Island Norfolk Island (, ; Norfuk: ''Norf'k Ailen'') is an external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head and about from Lord Howe Island. Together w ...

Construction

''Sirius'' had been converted from the merchantman ''Berwick''. There has been confusion over the early history of ''Berwick''. A note about her by future New South Wales governor

Philip Gidley King Captain Philip Gidley King (23 April 1758 – 3 September 1808) was a British politician who was the third Governor of New South Wales. When the First Fleet arrived in January 1788, King was detailed to colonise Norfolk Island for defence an ...

, describing her as a former 'East country man', was interpreted for many years as relating to the East Indies trade; however, analysis of the maritime nomenclature of the time suggests that this description referred instead to ships participating in the

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages *Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...

trade. ''Berwick'' was likely built in 1780 by Christopher Watson and Co. of

Rotherhithe Rotherhithe () is a district of south-east London, England, and part of the London Borough of Southwark. It is on a peninsula on the south bank of the Thames, facing Wapping, Shadwell and Limehouse on the north bank, as well as the Isle of ...

, who also built another ship of the First Fleet, ''Prince of Wales''. ''Berwick'' had a burthen of 511 tons (bm) and, after being burnt in a fire, was bought and rebuilt by the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

in November 1781, retaining her original name.

As HMS ''Berwick''

The newly purchased vessel was fitted out and

coppered Copper sheathing is the practice of protecting the under-water hull of a ship or boat from the corrosive effects of salt water and biofouling through the use of copper plates affixed to the outside of the hull. It was pioneered and developed b ...

Deptford Dockyard Deptford Dockyard was an important naval dockyard and base at Deptford on the River Thames, operated by the Royal Navy from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries. It built and maintained warships for 350 years, and many significant events ...

between December 1781 and April 1782, for a total sum of £6,152.11s.4d. When completed she carried 10 guns, four 6-pounder long guns, and six 18-pounder

carronade A carronade is a short, smoothbore, cast-iron cannon which was used by the Royal Navy. It was first produced by the Carron Company, an ironworks in Falkirk, Scotland, and was used from the mid-18th century to the mid-19th century. Its main fu ...

s. She was commissioned for service under her first commander, Lieutenant Bayntun Prideaux in January 1782, and went out to North America later that year. She spent the last part of the American War of Independence there, transferring to the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Great ...

in June 1784. Paid off in February 1785 she was initially laid up before being fitted for sea between September and December 1786 for service with the First Fleet. She was nominally rated as a

sixth-rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a sixth-rate was the designation for small warships mounting between 20 and 28 carriage-mounted guns on a single deck, sometimes with smaller guns on the upper works and ...

, allowing her to be commanded by a

post-captain Post-captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of captain in the Royal Navy. The term served to distinguish those who were captains by rank from: * Officers in command of a naval vessel, who were (and still are) addressed as captain ...

, though she retained her armament of only 10 guns, and on 12 October 1786 ''Berwick'' was renamed ''Sirius'', after the southern star

Sirius Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. Its name is derived from the Greek word , or , meaning 'glowing' or 'scorching'. The star is designated α Canis Majoris, Latinized to Alpha Canis Majoris, and abbreviated Alpha CMa ...

Voyage of the First Fleet

''Sirius'' sailed from The Motherbank, Ryde, Isle of Wight on 13 May 1787 as the

of the eleven-vessel First Fleet, under the command of Captain

Arthur Phillip Admiral Arthur Phillip (11 October 1738 – 31 August 1814) was a British Royal Navy officer who served as the first governor of the Colony of New South Wales. Phillip was educated at Greenwich Hospital School from June 1751 unti ...

(Governor-designate of the new colony). Phillip transferred to the Armed Tender HMS ''Supply'' at

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second larges ...

, with Second Captain John Hunter remaining in command of ''Sirius''. Also on board were Marine Major Robert Ross, who would be responsible for colony security and surgeons George Bouchier Worgan and

Thomas Jamison Thomas Jamison ( – 25 January 1811) was a naval surgeon, who was surgeon mate on as part First Fleet which founded Colony of New South Wales in 1788. He was surgeon at the Norfolk Island settlement, before returning to Sydney and becoming ...

. Midshipman Daniel Southwell recorded that ''Sirius'' was carrying the

Larcum Kendall Larcum Kendall (21 September 1719 in Charlbury, Oxfordshire – 22 November 1790 in London) was a British watchmaker. Early life Kendall was born on 21 September 1719 in Charlbury. His father was a mercer and linen draper named Moses K ...

K1 chronometer used by Captain James Cook on his second and

third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hi ...

voyages around the world. She arrived in

Botany Bay Botany Bay ( Dharawal: ''Kamay''), an open ocean The ocean (also the sea or the world ocean) is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of the surface of Earth and contains 97% of Earth's water. An ocean can also refe ...

on 20 January 1788, two days after ''Supply'', according to the journals of Hunter and First Lieutenant (later Rear Admiral) William Bradley The 252-day voyage had gone via

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of the same name, Brazil's List of Brazilian states by population, third-most populous state, and the List of largest citi ...

and the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is ...

and covered more than . It was quickly decided that Botany Bay was unsuitable for a penal settlement and an alternative location was sought. While waiting to move, a large gale arose preventing any sailing; during this period the French expeditionary fleet of

Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse Jean François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse (; variant spelling: ''La Pérouse''; 23 August 17411788?), often called simply Lapérouse, was a French naval officer and explorer. Having enlisted at the age of 15, he had a successful naval caree ...

arrived in Botany Bay. The colony was established at

Sydney Cove Sydney Cove ( Eora: ) is a bay on the southern shore of Sydney Harbour, one of several harbours in Port Jackson, on the coast of Sydney, New South Wales. Sydney Cove is a focal point for community celebrations, due to its central Sydney loca ...

Port Jackson Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman ...

when Governor Phillip arrived on 26 January aboard ''Supply''. ''Sirius'' arrived the following day. Last letter La Pérouse

The British cordially received the French. ''Sirius''s captains, through their officers, offered assistance and asked if Lapérouse needed supplies. However the French leader and the British commanders never met personally. Lapérouse also took the opportunity to send his journals, some charts and some letters back to Europe with ''Sirius''. After obtaining wood and fresh water, the French left on 10 March for New Caledonia, Santa Cruz, the Solomons, the Louisiades, and the western and southern coasts of Australia. The French fleet and all on board were never seen again. The documents carried by ''Sirius'' would be its only testament. Decades later it was discovered that Lapérouse's expedition had been shipwrecked on the island of

Vanikoro Vanikoro (sometimes wrongly named ''Vanikolo'') is an island in the Santa Cruz group, located to the Southeast of the main Santa Cruz group. It is part of the Temotu Province of the Solomon Islands. The name ''Vanikoro'' is always used as thou ...

. ''Sirius'' left Port Jackson under the command of Hunter on 2 October 1788, when she was sent back to the Cape of Good Hope to get flour and other supplies. The complete voyage, which took more than seven months to complete, returned just in time to save the near-starving colony. In 1789, she was refitted in Mosman Bay, which was originally named Great Sirius Cove after the vessel. The name lives on in the adjacent Sirius Cove (formerly "Little Sirius Cove"). On 19 March 1790, ''Sirius'' was wrecked on a reef at

while landing stores. Among those who witnessed the ship's demise from shore was

Thomas Jamison