What was the composition of the First Fleet?
Answer
Officers, soldiers, sailors, guards, convicts, and supplies
Explanation
The First Fleet was composed of eleven ships carrying about 1,400 people: about 778 convicts (586 men and 192 women), about 245 marines and their families, the civil officials of the new colony, ships' officers and crews, and a small number of non-convict passengers including the surgeon and the chaplain.
Two Royal Navy escorts provided protection. HMS Sirius, the flagship under Captain Arthur Phillip, was a 540-ton, 24-gun ship that had been built as a merchant vessel and converted for naval use. HMS Supply was a small armed tender (170 tons, 8 guns) that proved valuable for the supply runs to Norfolk Island after settlement. The two escorts carried the senior officials and supplies for the voyage.
Six transports carried convicts and marines. The Alexander (454 tons) carried 195 male convicts. The Charlotte (345 tons) carried 88 male and 20 female convicts. The Friendship (278 tons) carried 76 male and 21 female convicts. The Lady Penrhyn (338 tons) carried 101 female convicts and was the main women's transport. The Prince of Wales (333 tons) carried 1 male and 49 female convicts. The Scarborough (430 tons) carried 208 male convicts. Marines were distributed across the transports to guard the convicts and to form the colony's military presence under Major Robert Ross.
Three storeships carried supplies. The Borrowdale (272 tons), Fishburn (378 tons), and Golden Grove (337 tons) together held two years' food supplies, agricultural tools, building equipment, livestock (cattle, horses, sheep, goats, pigs, chickens, ducks, geese, and turkeys), seeds, and the personal belongings of officials. The voyage took 252 days from Portsmouth to Botany Bay via the Canary Islands, Rio de Janeiro, and the Cape of Good Hope. About 48 people died on the voyage (about 3 per cent of total numbers), a remarkably low death rate for the period thanks to Phillip's insistence on hygiene, fresh provisions at port stops, and regular exercise where possible. The Second Fleet, which followed in 1790 under different management, had a death rate of over 25 per cent in stark contrast.
Why this matters for your test
The First Fleet's composition explains how a colony was established at the far side of the world, and recognising the ship types and numbers puts the founding voyage in practical context.
Source: Australian Citizenship: Our Common Bond (2024)
