HMS Supply (1759)

For other ships of the same name, see HMS Supply.
Career (Great Britain)
Name: Supply
Launched: 1759
Renamed: Thomas and Nancy 1792
General characteristics
Tons burthen:175
Lt. Henry Lidgbird Ball, Commander of HMS Supply
Lt. David Blackburn, Master of HMS Supply

Launched in 1759, the third HMS Supply was a Royal Navy armed tender that played an important part in the foundation of Australia.[1]

The oldest and smallest of the First Fleet ships, she was built in 1759 as a yard craft of 175 tons, and had carried naval supplies between the Thames and Channel ports for 27 years.[2]

She left Spithead on 13 May 1787, and arrived at Botany Bay on 18 January 1788 with the First Fleet under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip (who had transferred from HMS Sirius at Cape Town).[3][4] She was captained by Henry Lidgbird Ball and the surgeon was James Callam. Supply was the first ship to sail into Port Jackson after the original Botany Bay landing was found unsuitable for settlement.[5]

After the establishment of the initial settlement at Port Jackson, Supply was the link between the colony and Norfolk Island, making 10 trips.[3] Following the loss of Sirius in 1790 she became the colony's only link with the outside world. On 17 April 1790 she was sent to Batavia for supplies, returning on 19 September, having chartered a Dutch vessel, the Waaksamheid, to follow with more stores.[6]

Supply left Port Jackson on 26 November 1791 and sailed via Cape Horn reaching Plymouth on 21 April 1792. She was bought at auction in July 1792, renamed Thomas and Nancy, and carried coal in the Thames area until 1806.[6]

An Urban Transit Authority First Fleet ferry was named after Supply in 1984.[7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "H.M.S. SUPPLY.". The Sydney Morning Herald (National Library of Australia). 23 May 1927. p. 12. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
  2. ↑ Marquardt, Karl Heinz (2003). The Global Schooner: Origins, Development, Design & Construction 1695-1845. Naval Institute Press. p. 164. ISBN 978-1591143284. Retrieved 23 January 2013.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "THE EARLY HISTORY OF NEW SOUTH WALES.". The Sydney Morning Herald (National Library of Australia). 25 March 1889. p. 3. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
  4. ↑ "The Argus STUDENTS' PRACTICAL NOTEBOOK.". The Argus (Melbourne, Vic.: National Library of Australia). 28 August 1954. p. 10. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
  5. ↑ "GUNS AND GUNNERS.". The Capricornian (Rockhampton, Qld: National Library of Australia). 18 December 1920. p. 43. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "HMS Supply". First Fleet Fellowship Victoria Inc. Retrieved 23 January 2013.
  7. ↑ Sydney Ferries Fleet Facts Transport for NSW

External links