PRINCE OF WALES First Fleet

[aukepalmhof]

1779 Built as a wooden ship rigged vessel at Sidmouth for James Mather, London.
It is given that her previously name was HANNIBAL.
Tonnage 300 ton (bm).
She was built as West Indiaman, and her captain was James Johnson.

Rebuilt as a three masted wooden ship rigged vessel by Christopher Watson & Co on the River Thames for James Mather a merchant.
12 August 1780 relaunched. as PRINCE OF WALES.
Tonnage 318 ton (bm), dim. 31.39 x 8.32m. (her tonnage is given different in the sources)
Two decks, square stern, quarter galleries and a fiddle-head.

1786 Chartered by the Royal Navy Board, where after she was fitted out for a voyage as a transport to Botany Bay.
After she was fitted out for the voyage she sailed to Portsmouth where she embarked 1 male convict and 49 females. The transports carried also the marine guards with their families, the convict children, nowhere can I find how many persons exactly were on board each ship.
Most of the decks of the transports were cluttered up with water cask, animals pens, while below deck provisions and stores were stowed needed for all the people on board. The transport were very crowded and not much space left for movement.

The convict fleet was assembled at the Motherbank in the Solent, 11 March 1787 the complete fleet had anchored at the Motherbank and the ships were provisioned by lighters.

13 May 1787 early on a Sunday morning the fleet in a fresh breeze left the Solent for their long voyage to New South Wales. The PRINCE OF WALES was under command of Captain John Mason.

3 June the fleet reached Tenerife on the Canary Islands where fresh provision was required., left 10 June for the second leg of the fleet to Rio de Janeiro.

One of the women prisoners got six lashes for theft. The prisoners behaved well but the marine guards did give more trouble and had been lashed for drunkenness , found by the women convicts or trying to sneak in the women prisoners cells.

After a call at Rio and Cape Town the fleet sailed to Botany Bay, the crew, guards and prisoners suffered from the strong gales, heavy seas and bitter cold during the crossing from South Africa to Botany Bay.
17 December the flour and butter was exhausted, and the stores needed after the landings were used, till a calm day and a boat could be lowered to get some butter from the FISHBURN.
But fodder could not be replaced for the life stock on deck and the mortality was high.

When they sighted the coast of Van Diemen’s Land on 06 January 1788 they were running in a heavy gale in which the PRINCE OF WALES carried away her main yard and split her main topsail.

20 January 1788 she anchored in Botany Bay.
26 January she moved to Port Jackson where her convicts, stores, equipment and animals which were still alive were landed.
14 August 1788 the PRINCE OF WALES left Port Jackson and was sent home via Cape Horn.
09 October 1788 captain John Mason died, he was succeeded by Samuel Moore.

She reached Rio de Janeiro in great distress owing to scurvy. When arrived at Rio de men boarding her on the road had to bring the vessel to anchor.
22 March 1789 she reached Falmouth and Deptford on 30 April.
1789 She resumed trading from London to the West Indies.
05 July 1797 registered at Fort Royal, Martinique, which was at that time under British control.
Her fate is unknown.

Norfolk Islands 1987 55c sg422, scott? (The ship onthe MS is till so far not identifeid.)

Ships of the East India Company by Rowan Hackman. The Convict Ships 1788-1868 by Charles Bateson.

See below for all ships on the stamp:
http://www.shipstamps.co.uk/forum/viewt ... =2&t=10907