'' Independence '', a 35-ton

schooner A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...

, was the first ship constructed in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

n waters. The crew of the visiting American sealing brig , under the command of Capt. Isaac Pendleton, built her between April and August 1803 at what is now known as

American River The American River is a List of rivers of California, river in California that runs from the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada mountain range to its confluence with the Sacramento River in downtown Sacramento. Via the Sacramento River, it ...

Kangaroo Island Kangaroo Island (, ) is Australia's third-largest island, after Tasmania and Melville Island, Northern Territory, Melville Island. It lies in the state of South Australia, southwest of Adelaide. Its closest point to the mainland is Snapper Poi ...

. Daniel Wright, the ship's carpenter, was in charge of the construction of the ''Independence'' at the mouth of Ship Creek, 800m west of the present-day American River oval. On 15 June 1805, ''Independence'' set sail from Sydney for the

Antipodes Islands The Antipodes Islands (, ) are inhospitable and uninhabited volcanic islands in subantarctic waters to the south of – and territorially part of – New Zealand. The archipelago lies to the southeast of Stewart Island / Rakiura, and to the ...

(860 km south east of Dunedin New Zealand) and was never seen again. The ''

Sydney Gazette ''The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser'' was the first newspaper printed in Australia, running from 5 March 1803 until 20 October 1842. It was a semi-official publication of the government of New South Wales, authorised by Governo ...

'' reported the loss on 16 March 1806.

Prehistory

In 1802, Capt. Isaac Pendleton of Stonington, Connecticut was commissioned by Fanning & Coles of New York to sail ''Union'' to the waters of New Holland in search of seal skins. "Her commander (Captain Isaac Pendleton) was …left unrestricted, and at perfect liberty to act on all occasions as his judgment should direct, to make the most profitable voyage he could of it for his owners." In early 1803, whilst sealing in

King George Sound King George Sound (Mineng ) is a sound (geography), sound on the south coast of Western Australia. Named King George the Third's Sound in 1791, it was referred to as King George's Sound from 1805. The name "King George Sound" gradually came in ...

near what is now

Albany, Western Australia Albany ( ; ) is a port city in the Great Southern region in the Australian state of Western Australia, southeast of Perth, the state capital. The city centre is at the northern edge of Princess Royal Harbour, which is a part of King G ...

Pendleton met the French explorer,

Nicolas Baudin Nicolas Thomas Baudin (; 17 February 175416 September 1803) was a French explorer, cartographer, naturalist and hydrographer, most notable for his explorations in Australia and the southern Pacific. He carried a few corms of Gros Michel banana ...

, who recommended

as a place where seals could be found in plenitude. Arriving in what is now known as Eastern Cove on the north coast of Kangaroo Island, Pendleton took the decision to winter here and, presumably to increase the quantity of skins that could be taken to Sydney, construct a smaller vessel to work alongside ''Union'' in its sealing activities.

Construction and Use

As was common practice at the time, ''Union'' carried the frame of a small schooner. This, possibly with the addition of some locally sourced timber, was used to build a smaller vessel. It appears that Baudin had lost a longboat whilst surveying the coastline of Kangaroo Island and his carpenters had found suitable timber to rebuild the longboat near what is now the town of American River. As the new vessel was to be smaller than ''Union'', it would have better access to shallow waters. Thus was born ''Independence''. No original plans of ''Independence'' are known to exist. In fact, it is possible the original ''Independence'' was built without plans. The two ships sealed together, working around southern Australia and then shipped their seal furs to buyers including some in China, "The ship Union, and schooner Independence are expected to sail this day for China.“ from the Sydney Gazette 1804. The Union was lost at sea with all hands in 1804 off the coast of Fiji.

Reconstruction

In May 2013, the Rebuild Independence Group, a volunteer group based in

, was formed to set about reconstructing the ''Independence''.

References

{{reflist Kangaroo Island Maritime history of Australia History of South Australia History of New South Wales Ships of South Australia Ships built in South Australia Missing ships of Australia Ships lost with all hands