She was nominally rated as a sixth-rate, allowing her to be commanded by a post-captain, though she retained her armament of only 10 guns, and on 12 October 1786 Berwick was renamed Sirius, after the southern star Sirius. Paid off in February 1785 she was initially laid up before being fitted for sea between September and December 1786 for service with the First Fleet. She spent the last part of the American War of Independence there, transferring to the West Indies in June 1784. She was commissioned for service under her first commander, Lieutenant Bayntun Prideaux in January 1782, and went out to North America later that year. When completed she carried 10 guns, four 6-pounder long guns, and six 18-pounder carronades. The newly purchased vessel was fitted out and coppered at Deptford Dockyard between December 1781 and April 1782, for a total sum of £6,152.11s.4d. Berwick had a burthen of 511 83⁄ 94 tons (bm) and, after being burnt in a fire, was bought and rebuilt by the Royal Navy in November 1781, retaining her original name. of Rotherhithe, who also built another ship of the First Fleet, Prince of Wales. īerwick was likely built in 1780 by Christopher Watson and Co. A note about her by future New South Wales governor Philip Gidley King, describing her as a former 'East country man', was interpreted for many years as relating to the East Indies trade however, analysis of the maritime nomenclature of the time suggests that this description referred instead to ships participating in the Baltic trade. There has been confusion over the early history of Berwick.
Sirius had been converted from the merchantman Berwick.
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