BIRTH OF AUSTRALIA
 
THE BICENTENNIAL OF THE FIRST FLEETERS - 1787-1987
 
UNVEILED BY
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN
13TH MAY 1987
 
On the 13th May 1787, a fleet of eleven ships under the
command of Captain Arthur Phillip R.N.
set sail from Portsmouth's naval anchorage at Spithead.
On board were the first of those sentenced to
transportation to the recently charted coast of
New South Wales
Captain Phillip was commissioned to establish a penal colony
and to assume the role of Governor
The First Fleet arrived at Sydney Cove on
26th January 1788
- the birth of modern Australia.