HMS Sirius (1786) facts for kids
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The melancholy loss of HMS Sirius off Norfolk Island March 19th 1790, painted by George Raper
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Quick facts for kids History |
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.svg){kind=small} Great Britain |
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| Name | HMS Sirius |
| Builder | Watson, Rotherhithe |
| Launched | 1780 |
| Acquired | November 1781 |
| Renamed |
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| Fate | Wrecked 19 March 1790 29°03′37″S 167°57′18″E / 29.06028°S 167.95500°E |
| __1B0X_5H1P__ | career |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | 10-gun ship |
| Tons burthen | 51183⁄94 (bm) |
| Length | 110 ft 5 in (33.7 m) (gundeck), 89 ft 8.75 in (27.3 m) (keel) |
| Beam | 32 ft 9 in (9.98 m) |
| Depth of hold | 13 ft (4 m) |
| Sail plan | Full-rigged ship |
| Complement | 50 |
| Armament |
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| __1B0X_5H1P__ | characteristics |
HMS Sirius was a famous wooden sailing ship of the British Royal Navy. She served as the flagship of the First Fleet, an eleven-ship convoy that sailed across the globe. In 1787, the fleet left Portsmouth, England, to set up the very first European colony in New South Wales, Australia. As an armed sloop-of-war, Sirius helped protect the other ships and guided them across stormy oceans. Later, she sailed thousands of miles on emergency supply runs to bring food back to save the starving settlers. Even though she tragically crashed on a coral reef at Norfolk Island in 1790, her story remains one of the most adventurous chapters in naval history.
Contents
Building the Famous Ship
Before the vessel was known as Sirius, she had a very different name and purpose. She was built around 1780 in Rotherhithe, a bustling shipbuilding district along the River Thames in London. The shipbuilder Christopher Watson constructed her as a sturdy merchant vessel named Berwick. He also built another ship that joined the First Fleet, named the Prince of Wales.
A future governor of the colony, Philip Gidley King, wrote that the ship had worked in the 'East country' trade. For many years, people thought this meant she sailed to Asia. Historians now know it meant she traded across the stormy Baltic Sea. Her hull had to be exceptionally strong to survive northern ice and heavy waves.
The ship measured about 110 feet long and had a burthen of nearly 512 tons. Soon after construction, a terrible fire damaged the craft. In November 1781, the Royal Navy purchased the damaged ship. Workers repaired her completely and kept the name HMS Berwick.
Repairs and Shiny Copper Armor
Between December 1781 and April 1782, shipwrights rebuilt her at the famous Deptford Dockyard. The entire project cost over £6,152, which was a large sum of money at that time. Workers fastened sheets of copper sheathing to the outside of the wooden hull. This copper skin stopped sea worms from chewing through the planks and kept sea plants from slowing the vessel down.
The navy fitted the ship with ten powerful cannons. These included four long guns and six heavy carronades. Under her first naval commander, Lieutenant Bayntun Prideaux, she crossed the Atlantic Ocean during the American War of Independence. She later traveled to sunny islands in the West Indies.
In 1786, the navy decided to prepare her for an exciting secret mission to the other side of the world. Because she was rated as a sixth-rate ship, she could be commanded by a top-ranking post-captain. On 12 October 1786, she was renamed HMS Sirius after the brightest southern star, Sirius, often called the Dog Star.
The Epic Voyage of the First Fleet
Sailing Across Unknown Oceans
On 13 May 1787, HMS Sirius led the First Fleet out from The Motherbank, Ryde, Isle of Wight. She acted as the leading flagship under Captain Arthur Phillip, who was chosen to govern the new colony of New South Wales. A total of eleven ships traveled together, carrying sailors, officers, tools, farm animals, and seeds.
Captain Phillip eventually moved to a swifter vessel called HMS Supply. He left Second Captain John Hunter in command of Sirius. The ship carried important leaders, including Marine Major Robert Ross and surgeons George Bouchier Worgan and Thomas Jamison.
Midshipman Daniel Southwell noted that the crew took special care of a rare navigation device. This was the famous Larcum Kendall K1 marine chronometer, an ultra-precise clock used by Captain James Cook on his second and third round-the-world journeys. With this clock, navigators could find their exact location on vast oceans.
The ships sailed south through the Atlantic, stopping for fresh supplies in Rio de Janeiro and at the Cape of Good Hope. After sailing over 15,000 miles across 252 days, Sirius safely reached Botany Bay on 20 January 1788. Lieutenant William Bradley kept careful charts and journal entries during this unbelievable crossing.
Surprise French Visitors and Finding Sydney Cove
Botany Bay turned out to be too shallow and lacked fresh drinking water. Governor Phillip decided to move the entire fleet slightly north. Before they could leave, fierce ocean winds trapped the fleet inside the bay.
Suddenly, two mysterious foreign ships appeared through the ocean mist. They belonged to a French exploration team led by Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse. British officers greeted the French explorers kindly and offered them supplies. The two expedition leaders never met face-to-face, but they traded friendly letters. Lapérouse gave the British mail packets, charts, and travel journals to carry home to France.
On 26 January 1788, Governor Phillip landed at Sydney Cove inside deep Port Jackson and raised the British flag. HMS Sirius arrived the next day. The French departed soon after to explore distant places like New Caledonia, the Santa Cruz Islands, the Solomon Islands, and the Louisiade Archipelago. Tragic storms wrecked the French ships near Vanikoro, and none of the crew ever returned home. The papers carried home by the British were the last records ever received from Lapérouse's brave crew.
Daring Missions and Final Shipwreck
Racing for Food Around the World
The new settlement at Sydney Cove faced harsh conditions, rocky soil, and a severe shortage of food. To stop everyone from starving, Captain Hunter received orders to sail Sirius back to the Cape of Good Hope in October 1788.
The voyage was extremely dangerous. Sirius circled halfway around the planet, battling freezing waters, gigantic waves, and roaring winds. Hunter sailed all the way around the bottom of the globe to return. The ship arrived back at Sydney Cove in May 1789, loaded with sacks of flour and medicine. This brave run saved the settlement from collapse. Later that year, the ship underwent heavy repairs in Mosman Bay, an inlet once called Great Sirius Cove.
The Tragic Wreck at Norfolk Island
In early 1790, food ran low again. Leaders decided to move many people and supplies to tiny Norfolk Island, located about 1,000 miles out in the Pacific Ocean.
On 19 March 1790, HMS Sirius attempted to unload cargo into small boats near the island. Strong sea currents and sudden wind shifts pushed the heavy ship backward toward a sharp coral reef. Her wooden hull smashed hard against the jagged rocks. Giant waves broke over her decks, trapping the crew and drowning supplies. Surgeon Thomas Jamison watched the horrible crash helplessly from the beach.
Luckily, every single sailor made it safely ashore using ropes, but the ship broke apart in the pounding surf. A sailor named Jacob Nagle wrote a thrilling diary describing the terrifying crash and how the survivors lived on the remote island for nearly a whole year. Captain Hunter and his crew were finally rescued in February 1791. Hunter sailed home on the Dutch ship Waaksamheyd and was later cleared of any wrongdoing before becoming governor himself.
Relics and Treasures of HMS Sirius
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Today, HMS Sirius is remembered as one of Australia's foundational ships. Skilled underwater divers have visited her watery resting place to recover historical treasures from beneath the sand.
Diving teams raised three massive anchors and two heavy carronades from the ocean floor. Visitors can see these fascinating artifacts at the Norfolk Island Museum. Another large anchor and an iron cannon stand outdoors in Macquarie Place in downtown Sydney. Curious visitors can explore more ship equipment at the Australian National Maritime Museum.
A handcrafted scale model showing every rope and sail sits inside the Powerhouse Museum, while the Museum of Sydney displays miniature versions of the entire fleet. The historic underwater site is protected by national law under the Commonwealth Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976. It also holds a proud place on the official Australian National Heritage List.
People celebrate the ship in fun and unique ways. A harbor passenger ferry was named a First Fleet ferry in her honor. Beautiful Bas-relief stone carvings honoring Sirius stand in Mosman, New South Wales, on Norfolk Island, and at Ryde on the Isle of Wight. Marine scientists even named a tiny sea creature, Mallacoota sirius, after the ship because they discovered it crawling on the very reef where the famous flagship met her end.
See Also
- Journals of the First Fleet
