Friendship (1785 ship) — First Fleet convict transport

Construction and contract

Built at Scarborough around 1785, Friendship was a commercial transport chartered to the Admiralty under the common practice of the period. Owners entered into a contract that paid them a monthly fee per ton — traditionally recorded as ten shillings per ton per month — for the duration of the assignment until the return to Deptford. As part of this charter they were required to keep the transported prisoners secure and in safe custody, and to carry provisions and any detachments of soldiers appointed to guard them.

Voyage with the First Fleet

The fleet departed England in May 1787 with a mixed complement of convicted prisoners, naval and marine guards, and civilian seamen. Friendship carried a number of convicts and was one element among the eleven ships that made the long voyage, stopping at ports for reprovisioning before reaching the site chosen for the new penal settlement in January 1788. The arrival of these vessels marked the beginning of sustained European settlement of what would become the colony of Australia.

Return voyage and loss

After disembarking prisoners and supplies, the Friendship prepared to sail back to England. On the outward and return passages many seamen suffered illness; in particular scurvy affected crew health. During the homeward passage a large part of Friendship's crew became incapacitated, and insufficient fit hands remained to operate both her and the companion vessel Alexander. In the arrangement that followed, the able-bodied survivors and remaining crew were transferred to the Alexander, and the undermanned Friendship was deliberately sunk (scuttled) off the coast of Borneo on 28 October 1788. Contemporary accounts note scurvy as a factor in crew weakness, and the name of the disease appears in several logs from the period (scurvy).

Key facts and historical significance

• Role: Convict transport in the First Fleet.
• Tonnage: approximately 278 tons burthen.
• Master: Francis Walton.
• Built: circa 1785 at Scarborough.
• Contract: government charter paid at about ten shillings per ton per month until return to Deptford.
• Fate: scuttled off Borneo on 28 October 1788 after transfer of crew to Alexander.

Context and distinctions

The Friendship should be understood in the broader context of late‑18th century British transportation policy and maritime commerce. Transports like Friendship were civilian merchant ships pressed into government service under formal charter. They differed from Royal Navy vessels in ownership and often in construction, and their crews were private mariners rather than naval ratings. The First Fleet operation involved both military guards (soldiers) and civilian contractors, reflecting the hybrid nature of the enterprise (soldiers, penal colony). The loss of Friendship on the return leg underlines the hazards of long sea voyages of the era, where disease such as scurvy could render ships unseaworthy and force difficult decisions about scuttling and consolidation of crews.

For further reading on the First Fleet, convict transportation, and individual transports like the Friendship, consult specialised maritime histories and primary ship logs held in contemporary archives. These sources place individual vessel stories within the larger narrative of British colonial expansion, penal reform debates, and the global movements of people and supplies at the end of the 18th century.

Additional references and archival material can be found through historical research services and collections that maintain records of the period (Australia colonial records), naval contracts (First Fleet documentation), and port records from places such as Scarborough and Deptford.