On This Day
1770-1849 > First Fleet and RN
On This Day - 1770-1849
- March 8, 1808
The 5th-rate, HMS SAN FIORENZO, (CAPT G. N. Hardinge, RN), captured the French ship PIETMONTAISE, (40 guns), in a battle which lasted three days.
CAPT Hardinge was killed in the battle. The victory gave the RN control of the Indian Ocean.
HMS SAN FIORENZO was the French ship MINERVE, captured at Corsica in 1794. CAPT Hardinge was presented with two prize swords for this action which are now on display at the Historical Collection of HMAS CRESWELL.
- December 15, 1803
HMC Schooner CUMBERLAND, (CMDR Matthew Flinders, RN), was seized by the Captain General of Mauritius, Charles Mathieu Decaen. Flinders was held prisoner for five and a half years. He was released on 19 June 1809 after the island was blockaded by a British Squadron.
- March 11, 1803
CAPT James Colnett, RN, in HMS GLATTON, was appointed Senior Officer of His Majesty’s Ships and Vessels in Port Jackson.
- March 9, 1801
LEUT John Murray, RN, in HMC brig LADY NELSON, explored and took possession of Port Phillip.
He named the bay in honour of the first Governor of NSW, CAPT Arthur Phillip, RN.
- September 25, 1800
A battery of two guns was established on Garden Island, to protect Sydney from a French attack.
The garrison of 12 Marines was commanded by Henry Hacking.
- October 12, 1799
The Board of Admiralty issued the first signal book to the RN.
- September 13, 1796
The Governor of NSW, CAPT John Hunter, RN, appointed Thomas Moore Master Boat Builder of His Majesty’s Dockyard at Sydney.
- July 25, 1795
A new form of signalling called semaphore was introduced into the RN.
The system was devised by the Reverend Lord George Murray.
- December 13, 1791
Philip Parker King, (son of Governor Phillip Gidley King, RN), was born on Norfolk Island. He was the first Australian to reach flag rank in the RN.
- October 5, 1789
The first boat built in the colony of NSW, the ROSEHILL PACKET, was launched in Sydney Cove.
The boat builder was R. R. Read, the ship’s carpenter of HMS SIRIUS.