"The Gallant, Good Riou", and Jack Renton 1901

In late 1789 a young lieutenant named Riou takes command of the 40‑gun Guardian, now stripped of its artillery and packed with food, livestock, and precious plant seedlings destined for the starving settlement at Port Jackson. The ship sails from England, rounds the Cape of Good Hope, and loads cattle before heading southward across the southern oceans. Riou’s reputation for bravery, later praised at Copenhagen, is already evident as he steers his heavily laden vessel through treacherous waters.

On a bleak December day an enormous iceberg looms ahead, and despite cautious maneuvering the Guardian’s bow strikes the hidden shoal beneath the ice. The impact shatters the rudder, tears the hull and quickly floods the hold, forcing the crew to pump relentlessly while the sea swells around them. In a desperate bid to stay afloat, Riou orders the livestock and their feed to be cast overboard, watching the once‑full decks become a floating graveyard.