HMS Sirius Longboat Model Ship Kit 1786- Modellers Shipyard (1009)

The HMS Sirius Longboat 1786 Model Ship Kit is manufactured by Modellers Shipyard. Modellers Shipyard offer historically accurate Wooden Model Ship Kits and Wooden Model Boat kits which are faithful interpretations of the original vessels. The comprehensive instructional DVDs, plans and highly detailed English instructions will assist you throughout the whole construction process. All ship model kits are double plank on bulkhead construction and only use the highest quality parts.

HMS Sirius Longboat – Instructions

History of the HMS Sirius Longboat

The LONGBOAT – HMS Sirius 1786 was the flag ship of the First Fleet. Under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip, the frigate led a fleet of 11 ships carrying 1350 convicts, sailors and other passengers, to establish the first settlement in New South Wales The fleet left England on 13 May 1787 and after a monumental journey taking eight months arrived in Botany Bay between 18-20 January 1788.

The largest boat of the HMS Sirius was the longboat. The primary propulsion of the longboat was oar power. A pair of men would sit abreast on a single thwart, one man pulling a starboard oar, the other the port (or larboard) oar.

The main duty of the longboat was to carry dispatches or transport the officers to and from shore. The HMS Sirius Longboat would have been used to transport Captain Arthur Phillip ashore in Sydney Cove to raise the Union Jack and claim the eastern part of the Australian continent for Great Britain on the 26 January 1788 naming the new colony New South Wales.

The HMS Sirius Longboat was also equipped with a collapsible sailing rig making her a speedy sailer allowing her to be employed to explore the environs of Port Jackson.

In March 1790 the HMS Sirius foundered when she struck a reef off Sydney Bay (Kingston) on Norfolk Island and was finally wrecked on the 19th March 1790. The ship’s Longboat was used extensively to ferry crew and convicts to the island and to salvage goods and supplies. Importantly the Longboat was used to salvage the ship’s guns, one of which is now a permanent monument in Macquarie Place, Sydney.