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Updated 8 April 2014
Here are the First and Second fleets - the names have been gleaned/taken from Wikipedia. More ships to come...
The First Fleet is the 11 ships which left Great Britain on 13 May 1787 to found a penal colony that would become the first European settlement in Australia. The fleet consisted of two Royal Navy vessels, three store ships and six convict transports, carrying more than 1,000 convicts, marines and seamen, and a vast quantity of stores. From England, the Fleet sailed southwest to Rio de Janeiro, then east to Cape Town and via the Great Southern Ocean to Botany Bay, arriving in mid-January 1788, taking between 250 and 252 days from departure to final arrival.
Naval escort
The fleet included two Royal Navy escort ships, HMS Sirius and HMS Supply.
Ship | Type | Captain | Dep. England | Arr. Botany Bay | Duration |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
HMS Sirius | converted merchant ship/armed naval vessel – Flagship of the fleet | Captain John Hunter | 13 May 1787 at Portsmouth | 20 January 1788 at Botany Bay | 252 |
HMS Supply | armed tender | Lieutenant Henry Lidgbird Ball | 13 May 1787 at Portsmouth | 18 January 1788 at Botany Bay | 250 |
Convict transports
Ship | Type | Master | Crew[12] | Dep. England | Arr. Botany Bay | Duration | Male convicts arrived (boarded) | Female convicts arrived (boarded) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Alexander | Barque | Duncan Sinclair | 40 | 13 May 1787 | 19 January 1788 | 251 | 210 – two were pardoned | none |
Charlotte | heavy sailer | Thomas Gilbert | 30 | 13 May 1787 | 20 January 1788 | 252 | 100 | 24 |
Friendship | Brig | Francis Walton | 20 | 13 May 1787 | 19 January 1788 | 251 | 80 | 24 – to Cape of Good Hope only |
Lady Penrhyn | transport | William Cropton Server | 31 | 13 May 1787 | 20 January 1788 | 252 | none | 102 |
Prince of Wales | Bark | John Mason | 25 | 13 May 1787 | 20 January 1788 | 252 | 2 | 47 |
Scarborough | transport | Captain John Marshall | 35 | 13 May 1787 | 19 January 1788 | 251 | 210 | none |
Food and supply transports
Ropes, crockery, agricultural equipment and a miscellany of other stores were needed. Items included tools, agricultural implements, seeds, spirits, medical supplies, bandages, surgical instruments, handcuffs, leg irons and a prefabricated wooden frame for the colony's first Government House.[13] The party had to rely only on its own provisions to survive until it could make use of local materials, assuming suitable supplies existed, and could grow its own food and raise livestock.
Ship | Type | Master | Crew | Dep. England | Arr. Botany Bay | Duration (days) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Golden Grove | storeship | William Sharp | N/A | 13 May 1787 | 20 January 1788 | 252 |
Fishburn | storeship | Robert Brown | N/A | 13 May 1787 | 20 January 1788 | 252 |
Borrowdale | storeship | Houston Reed | N/A | 13 May 1787 | 20 January 1788 | 252 |
Second Fleet (Australia)
The Second Fleet is the name of the second fleet of ships sent with settlers, convicts and supplies to colony at Sydney Cove in Port Jackson, Australia. The fleet comprised six ships: one Royal Navy escort, four convict ships, and a supply ship.
The ships were intended to sail to Australia together, arriving at Sydney Cove in 1789. However the escort was disabled en route and failed to make the destination, and one convict ship which was delayed arrived two months after the other ships.
Unlike the preceding First Fleet, where great efforts were taken to ensure the health of the convicts, the Second Fleet was contracted to private businesses who kept the convicts in horrific conditions. Upon arrival the sickly convicts were a drain on the already struggling colony.Ship | Image | Type | Master | Crew | Dep. England | Arr. Sydney | Duration | Male convicts arrived (boarded) | Female convicts arrived (boarded) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lady Juliana | convict transport | Thomas Edgar | 35 | 29 July 1789 | 3 June 1790 | 309 days | n/a | 222 (226) | |
Guardian | converted gun ship to convict transport | Edward Riou | 12 September 1789 | disabled en route | n/a | 20 (25) - see below | n/a | ||
Justinian | storeship | 20 January 1790 | 20 June 1790 | 151 days | |||||
Surprize | converted merchant ship to convict transport | Nicholas Anstis | 19 January 1790 | 26 June 1790 | 158 days | 218 (254) | n/a | ||
Neptune | convict transport | Donald Traill | 19 January 1790 | 27 June 1790 | 159 days | ? (421) + 12 from Guardian | ? (78) | ||
Scarborough | converted transport to convict ship | John Marshall | 19 January 1790 | 28 June 1790 | 160 days | 180 (253) + 8 from Guardian | n/a |