The First Fleet Ships

First Fleet is the name given to the eleven ships which sailed from Great Britain on 13 May 1787 with
about 1,487 people, including 778 convicts (192 women and 586 men), to establish the first European
colony in Australia, in the region called by Captain Cook New South Wales. The fleet was led by Captain
(later Admiral) Arthur Phillip. The ships arrived at Botany Bay between 18 and 20 January 1788. HMS
Supply arrived on 18 January, The Alexander, Scarborough and Friendship arrived on 19 January and the
remaining ships on 20 January 1788.

Naval escorts:

Ship Type Tonnage Captain Dep. England Arr. Sydney Duration

512t 20 January
HMS armed naval vessel - Captain John 13 May 1787 at
1788 at 252 days
Sirius Flagship of the fleet 33.5m Hunter Portsmouth
Botany Bay

175t 18 January
HMS Captain Henry 13 May 1787 at
armed tender 1788 at 250 days
Supply 21.3m Ball Portsmouth
Botany Bay

Convict transports:

Male Female
Dep. Arr. convicts convicts
Ship Type Tonnage Master Duration
England Sydney arrived arrived
(boarded) (boarded)

452t 19
Duncan 13 May
Alexander Barque January 251 days 195 none
34.7m Sinclair 1787
1788

335t 20
heavy Thomas 13 May
Charlotte January 252 days 88 20
sailer 32m Gilbert 1787
1788

278t 19 21 - to Cape
Francis 13 May
Friendship Brig January 251 days 76 of Good
22.9m Walton 1787
1788 Hope only

Lady Penrhyn transport 333t William 13 May 20 252 days none 101
Cropton January
 31.4m Server 1787 1788

350t 20
Prince of 13 May
transport John Manson January 252 days 1 49
Wales 31.4m 1787
1788

430t 19
Captain John 13 May
Scarborough transport January 251 days 208 none
33.8m Marshall 1787
1788

Food and Supply Transports:

Male Female
Dep. Arr. Sydney Duration convicts convicts
Ship Type Tonnage Master
England (Port Jackson) (days) arrived arrived
(boarded) (boarded)

21 - from 11 - from
375t Port Port
Golden Store William 13 May 26 January
258 days Jackson to Jackson to
Grove ship 31.4m Sharp 1787 1788
Norfolk Norfolk
Island Island

Store 378t Robert 13 May 26 January

Fishburn 258 days none none
ship 31.4m Brown 1787 1788

Store 272t Houston 13 May 26 January

Borrowdale 258 days none none
ship 22.9m Reed 1787 1788

People of the First Fleet:

The number of people directly associated with the First Fleet will probably never be exactly established,
and all accounts of the event vary slightly.

Embarked at Portsmouth Landed at Port Jackson

Officials and passengers 16 14

Ships' crews 324 269

Marines 247 245

Marines wives and children 46 54

Convicts (men) 579 543

Convicts (women) 193 189

Convicts' children 14 18

Total 1,403 1,332

During the voyage there were seven births, while 69 people either died, were discharged, or deserted
(61 males and 8 females). As no complete crew musters have survived for the six transports and three
store ships, there may have been as many as 110 more seamen.

Ropes, crockery, glass panes for the governor's windows, ready-cut wood, cooking equipment (including
some complete cast-iron stoves), and a miscellany of weapons were needed. Other items included tools,
agricultural implements, seeds, spirits, medical supplies, bandages, surgical instruments, handcuffs, leg
irons and chains. A prefabricated house for the governor was constructed and packed flat. 5,000 bricks
for construction and thousands of nails were loaded. The party had to rely on only its provisions to
survive until it could make use of local materials, assuming suitable supplies existed, and could grow its
own food and raise livestock.

The voyage:

With fine weather the convicts were allowed on deck, and on 3 June 1787 the fleet anchored at Santa
Cruz at Tenerife. Here fresh water, vegetables and meat were taken on board. Phillip and the chief
officers were entertained by the local governor, while one convict tried unsuccessfully to escape. On 10
June they set sail to cross the Atlantic to Rio de Janeiro, taking advantage of favourable trade winds and
ocean currents.

The weather became increasingly hot and humid as the fleet sailed through the tropics. Vermin, such as
rats, and parasites such as bedbugs, lice, cockroaches and fleas, tormented the convicts, officers and
marines. Bilges became foul and the smell, especially below the closed hatches, was over-powering. On
Alexander a number of convicts fell sick and died. Tropical rainstorms meant that the convicts could not
exercise on deck, and were kept below in the foul, cramped holds. On the female transports,
promiscuity between the convicts and the crew and marines was rampant. In the doldrums, Phillip was
forced to ration the water to three pints a day.

The fleet reached Rio de Janeiro on 5 August and stayed a month. The ships were cleaned and water
taken on board, repairs were made, and Phillip ordered large quantities of food for the fleet. The
women convicts' clothing had become infested with lice and were burnt. They were issued with new
clothes made from rice sacks. While the convicts remained below deck, the officers explored the city
and were entertained by its inhabitants. A convict and kohi marine were punished for passing forged
quarter-dollars made from old buckles and pewter spoons.

The fleet left Rio de Janeiro on 4 September to run before the westerlies to the Cape of Good Hope in
southern Africa, which it reached on 13 October. This was the last port of call, so the main task was to
stock up on plants, seeds and livestock for their arrival in Australia. The livestock taken on board from
the Cape of Good Hope destined for the colony of NSW included: two bulls, seven cows, one stallion,
three mares, 44 sheep, 32 pigs, four goats and "a very large quantity of poultry of every kind". Women
convicts on the Friendship were moved to other transports to make room for livestock purchased there.
The convicts were provided with fresh beef and mutton, bread and vegetables, to build up their strength
for the journey. The Dutch colony of Cape Town was the last outpost of European settlement which the
fleet members would see for years, perhaps for the rest of their lives. “Before them stretched the
awesome, lonely void of the Indian and Southern Oceans, and beyond that lay nothing they could
imagine.”

Assisted by the gales of the latitudes below the 40th parallel, the heavily-laden transports surged
through the violent seas. A freak storm struck as they began to head north around Van Diemen's Land,
damaging the sails and masts of some of the ships.

In November, Phillip transferred to Supply. With Alexander, Friendship and Scarborough, the fastest
ships in the Fleet and carrying most of the male convicts, Supply hastened ahead to prepare for the
arrival of the rest. Phillip intended to select a suitable location, find good water, clear the ground, and
perhaps even have some huts and other structures built before the others arrived. However, this "flying
squadron" reached Botany Bay only hours before the rest of the Fleet, so no preparatory work was
possible. The Supply reached Botany Bay on 18 January 1788; the three fastest transports in the advance
group arrived on 19 January; slower ships, including the Sirius arrived on 20 January.

This was one of the world's greatest sea voyages — eleven vessels carrying about 1,487 people and
stores had travelled for 252 days for more than 15,000 miles (24,000 km) without losing a ship. Forty-
eight people had died on the journey, a death rate of just over three per cent. Given the rigors of the
voyage, the navigational problems, the poor condition and sea-faring inexperience of the convicts, the
primitive medical knowledge, the lack of precautions against scurvy, the crammed and foul conditions of
the ships, poor planning and inadequate equipment, this was a remarkable achievement.

It was soon realized that Botany Bay did not live up to the glowing account that the explorer, Captain
James Cook had provided. The bay was open and unprotected, fresh water was scarce, and the soil was
poor. First contacts were made with the local indigenous people, the Eora, who seemed curious but
suspicious of the newcomers. The area was studded with enormously strong trees. When the convicts
tried to cut them down, their tools broke and the tree trunks had to be blasted out of the ground with
gunpowder. The primitive huts built for the officers and officials quickly collapsed in rainstorms. The
marines had a habit of getting drunk and not guarding the convicts properly, whilst their commander,
Major Robert Ross, drove Phillip to despair with his arrogant and lazy attitude. Crucially, Phillip worried
that his fledgling colony was exposed to attack from the Aborigines or foreign powers.
On 21 January, Phillip and a party which included John Hunter, departed the Bay in three small boats to
explore other bays to the north. Phillip discovered that Port Jackson, about 12 kilometres to the north,
was an excellent site for a colony with sheltered anchorages, fresh water and fertile soil. Cook had seen
and named the harbour, but had not entered. Phillip's impressions of the harbour were recorded in a
letter he sent to England later; "the finest harbour in the world, in which a thousand sail of the line may
ride in the most perfect security ...". The party returned on 23 January.

On the morning of 24 January the party was startled when two French ships were seen just outside
Botany Bay. This turned out to be a scientific expedition led by Jean-François de La Pérouse. The French
had expected to find a thriving colony where they could repair ships and restock supplies, not a newly
arrived fleet of convicts considerably more poorly provisioned than themselves. There was some cordial
contact between the French and British officers, but Phillip and La Pérouse never met. The French ships
remained until 10 March, but never returned to France, being wrecked with the loss of nearly all lives
near Vanikoro Island in the New Hebrides (Vanuatu).

On 26 January 1788, the fleet weighed anchor and sailed to Port Jackson. The site selected for the
anchorage had deep water close to the shore, was sheltered, and had a small stream flowing into it.
Phillip named it Sydney Cove, after Lord Sydney the British Home Secretary. This date is still celebrated
as Australia Day, marking the beginnings of the first British settlement. The British flag was planted and
formal possession taken. This was done by Phillip and some officers and marines from the Supply, with
the remainder of the Supply's crew and the convicts observing from on board ship. The remaining ships
of the Fleet did not arrive at Sydney Cove until later that day.