SLNSW 838426 Lieutenant David Blackburn silhouette

Launched in 1759, the third HMS ''Supply'' was a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

armed tender that played an important part in the foundation of the

Colony of New South Wales The Colony of New South Wales was a colony of the British Empire from 1788 to 1901, when it became a State of the Commonwealth of Australia. At its greatest extent, the colony of New South Wales included the present-day Australian states of New ...

. The Navy sold her in 1792. She then served commercially until about 1806.

Construction

''Supply'' was designed in 1759 by shipwright Thomas Slade, as a yard craft for the ferrying of naval supplies. Construction was contracted to Henry Bird of

Rotherhithe Rotherhithe () is a district of south-east London, England, and part of the London Borough of Southwark. It is on a peninsula on the south bank of the Thames, facing Wapping, Shadwell and Limehouse on the north bank, as well as the Isle of Dogs ...

, for a vessel measuring 168 tons (bm) to be built in four months at £8.80 per ton. In practice, construction took about five months from the laying of the keel on 1 May 1759 to launch on 5 October. As built, the vessel was also larger than designed, measuring 174 tons (bm) and with a length overall of , a beam of , and a hold depth of . She had two masts, and was fitted with four small 3-pounder cannons and six -pounder swivel guns. Her armament was substantially increased in 1786 with the addition of four 12-pounder carronades. Her initial complement was 14 men, rising to 55 when converted to an armed tender for the

First Fleet The First Fleet was a fleet of 11 ships that brought the first European and African settlers to Australia. It was made up of two Royal Navy vessels, three store ships and six convict transports. On 13 May 1787 the fleet under the command ...

voyage in 1788.

Service history

Naval service

''Supply'' was used to transport naval supplies between the Thames and Channel ports from 1759 to 1786. Throughout this period, she was based at

Deptford Dockyard Deptford Dockyard was an important naval dockyard and base at Deptford on the River Thames, operated by the Royal Navy from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries. It built and maintained warships for 350 years, and many significant events a ...

, undergoing minor repairs as required to maintain seaworthiness. She left

Spithead Spithead is an area of the Solent and a roadstead off Gilkicker Point in Hampshire, England. It is protected from all winds except those from the southeast. It receives its name from the Spit, a sandbank stretching south from the Hampshire ...

on 13 May 1787 and was the first to arrive in

Botany Bay Botany Bay (Dharawal: ''Kamay''), an open oceanic embayment, is located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, south of the Sydney central business district. Its source is the confluence of the Georges River at Taren Point and the Cook ...

on 18 January 1788, as recorded in the journals of William Bradley and John Hunter of HMS ''Sirius'', which arrived on 20 January. ''Supply'' was under the command of Captain

Arthur Phillip Admiral Arthur Phillip (11 October 1738 – 31 August 1814) was a British Royal Navy officer who served as the first governor of the Colony of New South Wales. Phillip was educated at Greenwich Hospital School from June 1751 unti ...

(who had transferred from ''Sirius'' at

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

). She was captained by

Henry Lidgbird Ball Henry Lidgbird Ball (7 December 1756 – 22 October 1818) was a Rear-Admiral in the Royal Navy of the British Empire. While Ball was best known as the commander of the First Fleet's , he was also notable for the exploration and the establishmen ...

, the master was David Blackburn, and the surgeon was James Callam. ''Supply'' was also the first ship to sail into

Port Jackson Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman Sea (p ...

after the original Botany Bay landing was found unsuitable for settlement. After the establishment of the initial settlement at Port Jackson, ''Supply'' was the link between the colony and

Norfolk Island Norfolk Island (, ; Norfuk: ''Norf'k Ailen'') is an external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head and about from Lord Howe Island. Together with ...

, making 10 trips. 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 Batavia may refer to: Historical places * Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands * Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...

for supplies, returning on 19 September, her captain having chartered a Dutch vessel, ''Waaksamheid'', to follow with more stores. ''Supply'' left Port Jackson on 26 November 1791 and sailed via

Cape Horn Cape Horn ( es, Cabo de Hornos, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which are the Diego Ramírez ...

, reaching

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

on 21 April 1792. A number of David Blackburn's letters to family and friends have survived. These letters describe the events of the voyage and the early days of settlement, including Blackburn's participation in the expedition to Norfolk Island to establish a settlement there in February 1788.

Later service

The Admiralty sold her at auction in July 1792 and her new owners renamed her ''Thomas and Nancy''. She then carried coal in the Thames area until 1806.''Register of Shipping'' (1806), Seq.№186.
/ref> The Admiralty in October 1793 purchased the American mercantile ship ''New Brunswick'', named her , and sent her out to Botany Bay to replace her predecessor.

Postscript

Urban Transit Authority The Urban Transit Authority, a former statutory authority of the Government of New South Wales, was responsible for the operation and maintenance of buses and ferries in Sydney and Newcastle from July 1980 until January 1989. History The Urban ...

First Fleet ferry was named after ''Supply'' in 1984.Sydney Ferries Fleet Facts
Transport for NSW

Citations

References

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External links

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] {{DEFAULTSORT:Supply (1759), HMS Auxiliary ships of the Royal Navy Ships of the First Fleet Brigs of the Royal Navy 1788–1850 ships of Australia Convict ships to Norfolk Island 1759 ships