Taxonomy Term

Integrity (Cutter)

Term Description

HMCS Integrity was a cutter built by the Colonial Government of New South Wales in 1804. She was the first vessel ever launched from a New South Wales dockyard and carried goods between the colony's coastal settlements of Norfolk Island, Newcastle, New South Wales, Van Diemen's Land and Port Jackson. In 1804 she took part in a series of voyages to Van Diemen's Land with the aim of founding a colony at Port Dalrymple, the site of the modern settlement of George Town, Tasmania. Integrity was laid down in September 1802 at the newly opened King's Dockyard in the colony of New South Wales. Governor Philip Gidley King ordered that construction proceed as swiftly as possible, in order to test the Dockyard's capacity. A team of two shipwrights, two apprentice shipwrights and two sawyers were assigned the task and delivered the finished cutter in thirteen months. In June 1805 Governor King received legal advice from the British Government indicating that colonial retention of the Spanish vessels Extremeña and St Francisco & St Paulo could give rise to a charge of piracy. In these circumstances, King directed that Integrity should sail to Chile to offer the safe return of the Spanish ships. The cutter departed for Valparaíso, Chile on 20 June 1805. For the voyage she was again under the command of Acting Lieutenant Robbins, with a crew of ten men and bearing a flag of truce "in case war should have taken place between England and Spain" before she reached her destination. She was not seen again. Historian Frank Bladen has conjectured that the cutter either foundered en route, or reached South America but was captured by an indigenous tribe. Source - Wikipedia

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