HMS ''Sirius'' was the

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of navy, 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 ...

of the

First Fleet The First Fleet were eleven British ships which transported a group of settlers to mainland Australia, marking the beginning of the History of Australia (1788–1850), European colonisation of Australia. It consisted of two Royal Navy vessel ...

, which set out from

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

, England, in 1787 to establish the first European

colony A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their ''metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often orga ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

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

Norfolk Island Norfolk Island ( , ; ) is an States and territories of Australia, external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head, New South Wales, Evans Head and a ...

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 Royal Navy officer and colonial administrator who served as the governor of New South Wales from 1800 to 1806. When the First Fleet arrived in January 1788, King was detai ...

, 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 trade. ''Berwick'' was likely built in 1780 by Christopher Watson and Co. of Rotherhithe, 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 naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

in November 1781, retaining her original name.

As HMS ''Berwick''

The newly purchased vessel was fitted out and coppered at

Deptford Dockyard Deptford Dockyard was an important Royal Navy Dockyard, 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 man ...

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 carronades. 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 an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

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, allowing her to be commanded by a

post-captain Post-captain or post captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of captain in the Royal Navy. The term "post-captain" was descriptive only; it was never used as a title in the form "Post-Captain John Smith". The term served to dis ...

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

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 Arthur Phillip (11 October 1738 – 31 August 1814) was a British Royal Navy officer who served as the first Governor of New South Wales, governor of the Colony of New South Wales. Phillip was educated at Royal Hospital School, Gree ...

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

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

, 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 pr ...

. Midshipman Daniel Southwell recorded that ''Sirius'' was carrying the Larcum Kendall K1 marine chronometer used by Captain

James Cook Captain (Royal Navy), Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 176 ...

on his

second The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...

and third voyages around the world. She arrived in

Botany Bay Botany Bay (Dharawal language, Dharawal: ''Kamay'') is an open oceanic embayment, located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, south of the Sydney central business district. Its source is the confluence of the Georges River at Taren Point a ...

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, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

and the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( ) is a rocky headland on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A List of common misconceptions#Geography, common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Afri ...

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 Commodore (rank), Commodore Jean François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse (; 23 August 1741 – ) was a French Navy officer and explorer. Having enlisted in the Navy at the age of 15, he had a successful career and in 1785 was appointed to lea ...

arrived in Botany Bay. The colony was established at

Sydney Cove Sydney Cove (Eora language, 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 ...

Port Jackson Port Jackson, commonly known as Sydney Harbour, is a natural harbour on the east coast of Australia, around which Sydney was built. It consists of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta ...

when Governor Phillip arrived on 26 January aboard ''Supply''. ''Sirius'' arrived the following day. 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 New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

, 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. ''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

, the surgeon for the penal settlement. Jamison would eventually become Surgeon-General of New South Wales. ''Sirius''s crew was stranded on Norfolk Island until they were rescued on 21 February 1791. Hunter returned to England aboard '' Waaksamheyd'' where he faced court martial and was honourably acquitted. He was appointed as Phillip's successor as Governor of New South Wales in February 1795, though he did not return to the colony until September. One of the sailors on ''Sirius'', Jacob Nagle, wrote a first-hand account of the ship's last voyage, wreck, and the crew's stranding. With the settlement in New South Wales still on the brink of starvation, the loss of ''Sirius'' left the colonists with only one navy ship.

Legacy

Many artefacts have been retrieved from the ''Sirius'' wreck. They include three anchors and two

carronades A carronade is a short, smoothbore, cast iron, 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 last quarter of the 18th century to the mid- ...

. Objects are displayed in the Norfolk Island Museum. Another anchor, as well as a cannon, are on display in Macquarie Place, Sydney. Other ''Sirius'' artefacts including an anchor can be viewed at the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney. A detailed 1:24 scale model of ''Sirius'' is displayed in the

Powerhouse Museum The Powerhouse Museum, formerly known as the Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences (MAAS), is a collection of 4 museums in Sydney, owned by the Government of New South Wales. Powerhouse is a contemporary museum of applied arts and sciences, explori ...

, Sydney. Small models of all the First Fleet ships are displayed in the Museum of Sydney. The ''Sirius'' wrecksite is protected by the Commonwealth '' Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976'' and is listed on the Australian National Heritage List. An Urban Transit Authority First Fleet ferry was named after ''Sirius'' in 1984.

Bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

memorials to the ship were erected in the Sydney suburb of Mosman,

and Ryde,

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

in 1989, 1990 and 1991 respectively. The scientific name of the tiny crustacean ''Mallacoota sirius'' recalls HMS ''Sirius''. The specimens of this species were collected from the point on the reef where ''Sirius'' wrecked.

Citations

References

External links

HMS ''Sirius'', Norfolk Island Museum
Retrieved 2011-08-27
Anchor and cannon in Macquarie Place, Sydney
Retrieved 2011-08-27

Retrieved 2011-08-27
Model of ''Sirius'', Powerhouse Museum, Sydney
Retrieved 2011-08-27

Retrieved 2011-08-27

Retrieved 2013-06-10 * CC-By-SA">Creative_Commons_license.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Creative Commons license">CC-By-SA/nowiki> {{DEFAULTSORT:Sirius Ships of the First Fleet Ships built in Rotherhithe 1780 ships Maritime incidents in 1790 1790 in Australia 1788–1850 ships of Australia Full-rigged ships of Australia Australian National Heritage List Shipwrecks of Norfolk Island Convict ships to Norfolk Island