Neptune (ship, 1779)
The Neptune was one of the notorious Second Fleet ships that brought British convicts, settlers, and supplies to the newly formed colony in Australia. She was built on the Thames in 1779 with 809 gross tons , making it the largest ship in the Second Fleet. Together with the Surprize and the Scarborough , she ran out of England on January 19, 1790 with 421 male and 78 female convicts on board. Their captain was Donald Traill , and the ship's doctor was William Gray. She reached the Cape of Good Hope on April 13 , where she spent 16 days and took on board provisions and 12 convicts from the Guardian, who was destroyed after contact with an iceberg .
She and the Scarborough were separated from the Surprize in heavy weather . The Neptune arrived in Port Jackson on June 28, 1790 after a 160-day journey . 158 (31%) of the convicts died during the trip, and another 269 (53%) were sick on arrival.
Among the passengers on the Neptune was D'Arcy Wentworth , after whom a district of Sydney , Wentworthville, is named today.
literature
- Charles Bateson: The Convict Ships, 1787-1868. 1st Australian edition. Reed, Sydney 1974, ISBN 0-589-07146-7 .