The Voyage of the Three Bees - The Story Behind Fire Water
The true events behind Fire Water's focal point is a truly fiery Sydney story.
In 1813 the Napoleonic Wars were raging in Europe and on the high seas. Against this backdrop two convict ships, the Three Bees and the Catherine, set out for Sydney, escorted part of the way by two armed naval frigates. Off the west coast of Africa the little fleet encountered a French warship, the Ceres, commanded by Baron de Bougainville.
Bougainville had himself visited Sydney a decade earlier as part of a French scientific (and spying) expedition, and a decade later would lead another scientific expedition to the Pacific, and spend time in Sydney. But at this time, he was the enemy, and in the ensuing battle with the English frigates the Ceres was captured.
Taking their captured prize back to a friendly port, the two convict ships sailed on without their escorts. The convict ships too were armed and ready for action, although no further encounters were recorded for the rest of the voyage.
After a journey of almost six months the Catherine arrived in Sydney Cove on 4 May 1814 carrying 98 female convicts, and the Three Bees two days later, carrying a cargo of 210 male convicts. The Three Bees was tied up on the shore of The Rocks, near Dawes Point.
Almost a week later the convicts were brought ashore. About 50 suffering from scurvy had already been sent to the hospital on nearby George Street, and nine had died from the disease on the voyage.
Sitting at his desk in the Naval Office where 100 George Street now stands, Captain John Piper kept account of the arrivals and departures in the harbour and the cargoes they carried. Piper left his office on the afternoon of Friday 20 May, having dealt with the Three Bees, which was then preparing for the return journey to England.
Late that afternoon crew on the Three Bees discovered a fire in the cargo hold of the ship, which quickly got out of hand. The ship was cut from its moorings and, well ablaze, drifted out into Sydney Cove, forcing ships in the harbour to maneuvre to avoid collision. At 5.30pm the fire reached the first of the cannons, perhaps still loaded after the encounter some months earlier with the French warship.
To add to the spectacle of a blazing ship cannon balls and grapeshot commenced firing from the loaded guns. Although no person was hurt, the main casualty was Captain Piper's writing desk - destroyed when a cannon ball came flying through the window.
The Three Bees kept burning until the fire reached the lower cargo hold. It finally sunk off Bennelong Point when the ship's gunpowder store exploded.
In 1833 the ship Ann Jameson caught fire near the site of the MCA, and The Sydney Morning Herald recalled the spectacle of the burning and explosion of the Three Bees, almost 20 years earlier, an event still vivid in the memories of Sydney's older citizens.
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