This side of the special plastic bicentennial banknote issued in 1988 (other notes at that time were paper) featured the Royal Navy ship HMS Supply, launched in 1759, the oldest and smallest of the First Fleet ships which had carried naval supplies between the Thames and Channel ports for 27 years. The ship left Portsmouth on 13 May 1787, and arrived at Botany Bay on 18 January 1788 with the First Fleet under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip (from Cape Town). She was captained by Henry Lidgbird Ball and the surgeon was James Callam. Supply was also the first ship to sail into Port Jackson.
After the establishment of the initial settlement at Port Jackson, Supply was the link between the colony and Norfolk Island, making 10 trips. Following the loss of HMS Sirius in 1790 she became the colony's only link with the outside world. On 17 April 1790 she was sent to Batavia for supplies, returning on 19 September, having chartered a Dutch vessel, the Waaksamheid, to follow with more stores.
HMS Supply left Port Jackson on 26 November 1791 and sailed via Cape Horn reaching Plymouth on 21 April 1792. She was bought at auction in July 1792, renamed Thomas and Nancy, and carried coal in the Thames area until 1806.
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