The 1788 wreck of HMS Sirius at Norfolk Island

Record summary

HMS Sirius, flagship of the First Fleet, was wrecked at Norfolk Island in 1790 while attempting to land supplies. Contemporary and near-contemporary records describe navigation, surf, weather, salvage and the ship’s loss. The episode is a useful maritime comparison because later anomalous-encounter narratives often begin with poorly understood lights, coastlines or vessel movements around isolated islands, whereas this case has a documented conventional explanation. The records include official reports, journals and later colonial histories, but exact details should be checked against the earliest surviving accounts.