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HMS Supply

On 25 November 1787, with the longest and final leg of the voyage ahead of them, Captain Phillip divided the fleet in two and sailed ahead with the four fastest ships. Phillip transferred from HMS Sirius to HMS Supply and took with him Scarborough, Alexander and Friendship. He also took with him men who would be useful in preparing the camp: carpenters, blacksmiths and sawyers.

Lieutenant Philip Gidley King wrote skeptically of Phillip’s plan in his journal:

...the governor flatters himself that he shall arrive at the place of our destination (Botany Bay) a fortnight before the Transports in which time he will be able to make his observations on the place whether it is a proper spot for the settlement.

Bad weather thwarted Phillip’s plan and Supply arrived at Botany Bay on the 18 January, just 48 hours ahead of the slowest ships in the fleet.

Ship size
Length: 21.3 metres (70 feet); width: 7.9 metres (26 feet)

Weight
173 tonnes (170 tons)

First Fleet Ships

First Fleet Ships

At the time of the First Fleet’s voyage there were some 12,000 British commercial and naval ships plying the world’s oceans

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The ships

Photograph of a wooden model depicting a First Fleet ship
First Fleet Ships

Alexander

Length: 34.75 metres (114 feet); width: 9.5 metres (31 feet); weight: 460 tonnes (452 tons)

Photograph of a wooden model depicting a First Fleet ship.
First Fleet Ships

Borrowdale

Length: 22.7 metres (75 feet); width 6.7 metres (22 feet); weight: 276 tonnes (272 tons)

Photograph of a wooden model depicting a First Fleet ship.
First Fleet Ships

Charlotte

Ship size length: 32 metres (105 feet); width: 8.5 metres (28 feet); weight: 343 tonnes (338 tons)

Photograph of a wooden model depicting a First Fleet Ship
First Fleet Ships

Fishburn

Length: 31.4 metres (103 feet); width: 8.8 metres (29 feet wide); weight: 384 tonnes (378 tons)

Photograph of a wooden model depicting a First Fleet ship.
First Fleet Ships

Friendship

Length: 22.9 metres (75 feet); width: 7 metres (23 feet); weight: 282 tonnes (278 tons)

Photograph of a wooden model depicting a First Fleet ship.
First Fleet Ships

Golden Grove

Length: 31.4 metres (103 feet); width: 8.8 metres (29 feet); weight: 336 tonnes (331 tons)

Photograph of a wooden model depicting a First Fleet ship.
First Fleet Ships

HMS Sirius

Length 35.5 metres (110 feet); width: 9.8 metres (32 feet) weight: 549 tonnes (540 tons)

Photograph of a wooden model depicting a First Fleet ship.
First Fleet Ships

Lady Penrhyn

Length: 31.3 metres (103 feet); width: 8.2 metres (27 feet); weight: 337 tonnes (333 tons)

Photograph of a wooden model depicting a First Fleet ship.
First Fleet Ships

Prince of Wales

Length: 31.3 metres (103 feet); width: 8.8 metres (29 feet); weight: 356 tonnes (350 tons)

Photograph of a wooden model depicting a First Fleet ship.
First Fleet Ships

Scarborough

33.9 metres (111 feet, 6 inches); width: 9.1 metres (30 feet, 2 inches); weight: 417.5 tonnes (411 tons)

First Fleet people

Portrait of man in uniform with black hat, standing on beach with ship and small boat in background.
First Fleet Ships

Ambition and adventure: the early life of Arthur Phillip

We looked back at the early life of Phillip, who had enjoyed an extraordinary career before he even set foot on a boat bound for Botany Bay

Colour illustration of group of boys.
First Fleet Ships

John Hudson

Described as ‘sometimes a chimney sweeper’, John Hudson was the youngest known convict to sail with the First Fleet

First Fleet Ships

John ‘Black Caesar’

Convict John ‘Black’ Caesar became Australia’s first bushranger when he fled the settlement in December 1795 and led a gang of fellow escapees in the bush surrounding Port Jackson

Adult convict, cropped from larger painted artwork.
First Fleet Ships

James Ruse

Ex-convict James Ruse became the first person in NSW to receive a land grant when Governor Phillip gave him 30 acres at Parramatta in April 1791