HMCS Integrity (1804)

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.

In 1805 Integrity encountered and recaptured a Spanish brig which had been unlawfully seized by privateers and concealed in the Kent Group of islands in Bass Strait. Having returned the Spanish vessel to colonial control, Integrity was designated the task of sailing to Chile to negotiate its return to Spain. She set sail for Valparaíso, Chile, in June 1805, but was not seen again and is likely to have foundered during the voyage.

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. During construction shipwright Thomas Moore tested that the hull was watertight by filling it with water from the inside, and repairing any visible leaks. Her hold also incorporated a partition that her crew could move to or away from the forecastle bulkhead to vary her cargo capacity.

Governor King's direction had been for a vessel measuring around 46 tons burthen, but the final vessel was significantly larger at 59 3⁄4 tons. King was impressed with the work despite this variation from the original plans; in a letter to Lord Hobart, Secretary of State for War and the Colonies, he praised the speed and quality of Integrity's construction and described her as "extremely well put together and strong".

The newly built vessel was launched on 13 January 1804 as "His Majesty's Armed Colonial Cutter Integrity" under the command of Royal Navy Lieutenant John Houstoun and with a crew of eight men. She was the first seagoing vessel to be launched in the colony of New South Wales, all previous craft having been small enough to be floated off the shore. Throughout her active service she remained under the direct control of the colonial government of New South Wales, and was never formally commissioned into the Royal Navy.

Integrity's first voyage was in February 1804, heading south along the eastern coastline of Australia to transport settlers and supplies across Bass Strait to the colonial outpost in Van Diemen's Land. The administrator of that outpost, Lieutenant John Bowen, had recently resigned his position and returned to Port Jackson. Governor King now directed that Bowen travel back to Van Diemen's Land aboard Integrity in order to formalise the transfer of colonial authority to his successor. However Bowen refused to go aboard, and the cutter ultimately sailed without him in order to deliver its supplies. The voyage was a success other than a broken rudder fastener which was repaired when Integrity reached Van Diemen's Land in early March. The cutter then completed the round trip back to Port Jackson, arriving safely at her home port on 24 April.

On 1 June Governor King issued directions for Integrity's second voyage. With Lieutenant Houstoun again in command, the cutter was to transport Lieutenant-Colonel William Paterson to the north of Van Diemen's Land in order to found a new settlement at Port Dalrymple. To support the settlement, the cutter was also assigned to carry nineteen soldiers of the New South Wales Corps, a ship's surgeon and ten convicts. A further fifteen soldiers and eleven convicts would accompany the expedition aboard a privately owned vessel, Contest. Once Paterson had disembarked at Port Dalrymple, Integrity was to follow the coastline of Port Phillip Bay so that Houstoun could survey the shore and determine its suitability for future colonisation. The cutter would then proceed to Cape Barren Island, a remote location in Bass Strait, to investigate rumours that a group of American sailors were establishing an unlawful trade in seal skins.

Integrity and Contest set sail on 8 June, heading south along the New South Wales coast. A week later they encountered heavy storms and winds while passing Cape Howe and were unable to proceed. Lieutenant Houstoun ordered the vessels to return to Port Jackson, which Integrity regained on 19 June. While in port, one of Integrity's crew, a sailor named William Dwyre, was removed from the ship and sent to prison for having refusing to carry out his duties while aboard. There was no sign of Contest and she was presumed lost at sea.