New Southland

The year was 1788 and Captain Arthur Phillip was commanding the first fleet from Portsmouth in England to the new penal colony of New South Wales. Sailing had been relatively smooth over the past few months, however as the fleet approached their final destination, things were about to change...

 

A monster storm had been brewing in the great Southern Ocean, and on the night of the 4th January 1788 just off the coast of Van Diemen's Land, the fleet sailed directly into its path. The night sky became pitch black as the fleet sailed into heavy cloud and fog. Thunder boomed and lightning flashed all around. Huge waves crashed against the sides of the ships, knocking the crew right off their feet. The ships rode the massive waves like bucking broncos, tossed around like toys in the wild seas. The creaking of the timber hulls, snapping of masts and ripping of sails in the gale force winds was enough to strike fear into anyone, especially the convicts, who were held up below deck and locked in heavy iron chains.

 

During the storm, despite their best efforts to remain together, some of the ships lost sight of each other. The transport ship "Charlotte", captained by Thomas Gilbert with a crew of 62 (including 32 marines) and 124 convicts, was one of those ships. The terrential rain made visibility near-impossible, and navigation a pointless exercise. Six marines were blown right off the deck and into the ocean below as they attempted to furl the mainsail. After witnessing this, the rest of the crew gave up their positions above deck and bunkered down with the convicts below. Captain Gilbert ordered several of the marines to head back up to finish furling the mainsail, as the risk of capsizing was significant with the sails still up during the storm. The marines, fearing for their own lives, proposed to send several convicts up instead, to which Captain Gilbert agreed. Ten strong convicts were selected, unlocked from their shackles, and sent up to furl the mainsail. After a few minutes, the group of men were able to bring the sail down safely. Little did he know, furling of the mainsail was the least of Captain Gilbert's concerns.

 

Unbeknownst to the Captain, during the last stop-over in Cape Town, Arthur Portsman, one of the senior marines, had smuggled in several cutlasses, which he had traded for gunpowder, and hid below deck with the convicts. Arthur was the step-brother of convict William Buck, and had managed to get himself posted aboard the "Charlotte" on its journey to New South Wales. As they did not share a family name, the relation was not detected and had not been disclosed. William Buck happened to be one of the ten convicts who had just been sent above deck.

 

During the months following the departure from Cape Town, William had discussed his plans for a mutiny with several of the other convicts whom he had befriended along the journey. Noting that he had the backing of at least half of the marines, due to his family relation to Arthur, and with the smuggled cutlasses at hand, it was only a matter of waiting for the right time to strike.

 

Once William and the other convicts had returned below deck, Arthur led them back to their chains, however did not lock them back in. With the cutlasses within reach, the convicts waited for Arthur's signal. During the rush to head below deck, many of the other marines had left their weapons at their posts - not Arthur. With Captain Gilbert out of sight, Arthur gave the signal and the ten convicts grabbed the cutlasses and rushed the marines. A bloody brawl ensured with four marines and two convicts killed - the rest, who were exhausted from weathering the storm, surrendered to Arthur. A further eleven marines backed Arthur and joined the mutiny, roping up the surrendered marines and marching towards the Captain's cabin.

 

Captain Gilbert, who had heard the brawl below deck, already had his pistol ready and fired when Arthur entered the cabin. Luckily for Arthur, the shot misfired and only scraped his left arm. Captain Gilbert, who was surrounded by several mutineers now pointing their weapons directly at him, had no choice but to surrender. He was taken below deck and roped up with the other fourteen surrendered marines.

 

The "Charlotte", which had now been swept well off-course and was far detatched from the rest of the fleet, endured the great storm overnight, and when the sun rose, the seas were calm once again.

 

Arthur and William's plan did not end at just a successful mutiny. They knew they would likely be caught if they continued the course towards New South Wales, and so they had planned to continue further East reaching the nearby land of New Zealand, where they hoped to start a new life. New Zealand had not yet been settled by the British, who were more focussed on establishing their penal colonies in New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land. The only major problem with their plan was that neither one had any experience in navigation. Unfortunately for the mutineers, the lead navigator had been killed in the brawl, and only his assistant, John Wilson, had survived. John was one of the marines who had surrendered to Arthur and was currently tied up below deck. Needing a navigator to reach his destination before supplies ran out, Arthur trusted John with leading the ship Eastward towards New Zealand. However, after several weeks of smooth sailing, land had not been sighted. John had correctly been navigating the ship to the East, however during the great storm, the "Charlotte" had been pushed much further south than the novice navigator had predicted. The ship had in fact long passed New Zealand, sailing south of the South Island, just out of sight of land, and had entered the vast South Pacific Ocean. With no known landmass on their Easterly course for thousands of miles, will the crew manage to survive?