Admiral Arthur Phillip RN (11 October 173831 August 1814) was the first Governor of New South Wales, and founder of the settlement which became Sydney. After much experience at sea, including command of a ship that was saved in a storm by convicts, Phillip sailed with the First Fleet, as Governor-designate of the proposed British penal colony of New South Wales. In February 1788, he selected its location to be Port Jackson (now Sydney Harbour). Phillip retired in 1805, but continued to correspond with his friends in New South Wales and to promote the colony's interests.