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Image Not Available for First fleet flagship HMS SIRIUS
First fleet flagship HMS SIRIUS
Image Not Available for First fleet flagship HMS SIRIUS

First fleet flagship HMS SIRIUS

Model Maker
Date1988 - 1994
Object number00028098
NameModel
MediumWood, copper, string, cloth, metal
DimensionsOverall: 1590 x 1680 x 840 mm
ClassificationsModels
Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from the Italo Australian Sirius 200 Group
DescriptionA model of HMS SIRIUS made by Giovanni Scardinale. HMS SIRIUS was the flagship of the First Fleet, the contingent of ships that left Portsmouth on 13 May 1787 to establish the first British settlement in New South Wales. The vessel was later sent back to the Cape of Good Hope to gather urgent supplies for the struggling colony now based at Port Jackson. On the return of SIRIUS, whilst at Norfolk Island landing stores, the vessel was wrecked on a reef on 19 March 1790. A crushing blow to the European settlers already struggling with the alien conditions.HistoryModel of ships are made for many different reasons including religious beliefs, design and invention, decoration, advertising, leisure and educational purposes. Models can also be made to commemorate a significant event or period in a countries history or presented as gifts between friends, colleagues and political allies. In 1989 the Australian National Maritime Museum was contacted by Cav G.Fin who represented a group of Italian business and community leaders who had under the auspices of the Consul General of Italy formed an organisation called The Italo Australian Sirius 200 Group.The aim of the group was to help celebrate the Australian bicentenary by commissioning a model of HMS Sirius which could then be presented as a gift from the Australian / Italian community to the people of Australia. The SIRIUS model is fully rigged with 30 sails aloft and banners flapping at the mast heads, the1. 6 metre long craft displays the action and exuberance of a real ship at sea. Italian-Australian model maker Giovani Scardinale put 8000 hours of work into the 1:31 scale model. His SIRIUS has some 18,000 components including deck lanterns which light up and cannon that fire.The detail includes 70,000 tiny "nail holes" in the ship's timbers. He has used hundreds of metres of twine of different thicknesses and colours in the rigging, and these lines are fastened with 6000 tiny knots that were used by the Royal Navy in the late 18th century. A spokesman for the Italian business people, Mr Giuseppe Fin, said he and his colleagues made their gift on behalf of the Italian community of New South Wales. "We want to recognise the hospitality of the Australian people, we want to demonstrate our friendship and we want to show the quality of Italian craftsmanship," he said. National Maritime Museum curator Kieran Hosty agrees: "The model is very realistic in that you see the evidence of real people...hammocks out to air on deck, and ropes and buckets all over the place. It's wonderfully artistic, and still shows a great amount of research into 18th century ship board life."SignificanceThe arrival of the First Fleet changed forever the face of Australia. Unlike other voyages of exploration and European settlement such as that of the Mayflour to North America in 1620, the arrival of the First Fleet and the two Royal Navy vessels HMS SIRIUS and HMS SUPPLY signified a change in official government attitude to colonisation and settlement. Colonisation was no longer seen as a non official, private trading enterprise but an official government action sanctioned by what was at the time the most powerful navy on earth. With the backing of the flagship HMS SIRIUS and the British Royal Navy, the European occupation of Australia was almost guaranteed.