HMS Supply (1759)

Replica of HMS Supply in Sydney Harbour in 1938
History
Great Britain
Name:	HMS Supply
Ordered:	4 April 1759
Builder:	Henry Bird, Rotherhithe
Laid down:	1 May 1759
Launched:	5 October 1759
Commissioned:	17 October 1759
Decommissioned:	21 April 1792
Out of service:	17 July 1792
Fate:	Sold out of Navy service for ₤600
Great Britain
Name:	Thomas and Nancy
Acquired:	1792 by purchase for ₤600
Fate:	Last listed in 1806
General characteristics
Class and type:	Yard Craft (1759-86) Armed Tender (1786-92)
Tons burthen:	174  76⁄94 (bm)
Length:	79 ft 4 in (24.2 m) overall 64 ft 11 in (19.8 m) (keel)
Beam:	22 ft 6 in (6.9 m)
Depth of hold:	11 ft 6 in (3.5 m)
Propulsion:	Sail
Complement:	14 as yard craft (1759-86) 55 as armed tender (1786-92)
Armament:	As yard craft: 4 × 3-pdrs, 6 x  1⁄2-pdr swivels As armed tender: 4 x 3-pdrs, 4 x 12-pdr carronades

Launched in 1759, the third HMS Supply was a Royal Navy armed tender that played an important part in the foundation of Australia. The Navy sold her in 1792. She then served commercially until c. 1806.

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, for a vessel measuring 168  ²⁰⁄₉₄ tons (bm) to be built in four months at £8.80 per ton. In practice, construction took approximately 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  ⁷⁶⁄₉₄ tons (bm) and with a length overall of 79 ft 4 in (24.2 m), a beam of 22 ft 6 in (6.9 m) and a hold depth of 11 ft 6 in (3.51 m).

She had two masts, and was fitted with four small 3-pounder cannons and six  ¹⁄₂-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 voyage in 1788.

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, undergoing minor repairs as required to maintain seaworthiness.

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). She was captained by Henry Lidgbird Ball, the master was David Blackburn, 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.