![]() South Head was immediately recognised as an important site for the young colony and, as early as the first year of settlement, a signal gun from Sirius was installed at South Head in order to indicate the arrival of any seagoing vessels. In November 1818, Watson was installed as the first superintendent of the Macquarie Lighthouse (depicted on the HMAS Watson badge), a position he held for just 11 months before requesting temporary leave due to illness. In 1801, Governor Philip King had granted Watson land at South Head in Sydney and, upon Francis’ loss, he settled there, later becoming boatswain, senior pilot and harbourmaster of the colony. He returned to sea in 1793 in the schooner Francis until she too was wrecked in 1805 near Newcastle. Watson continued to serve in Sirius until she was wrecked on Norfolk Island in 1790. Watsons Bay is named after Robert Watson (1756-1819) of Northumberland, England, who arrived with the First Fleet as quartermaster of the flagship, HMS Sirius. The area of Sydney known as Watsons Bay, however, has a naval, and indeed a broader defence, connection stretching back to the earliest days of European settlement. Situated on the South Head of Port Jackson, Watson’s role is to prepare RAN officers and sailors to fight and win at sea. ![]() HMAS Watson is the Royal Australian Navy’s (RAN) premier maritime warfare training establishment and in 2010 it celebrated its 65th anniversary as a commissioned Naval base. The flagship of the First Fleet in which Robert Watson served as quartermaster, HMS Sirius.
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