It was during the American Revolution that the British Government first began to use former warships as floating prisons in New York City. This practise was later extended to Bermuda, and between 1833 and 1854, convicts from Great Britain were kept in hulks moored east of St. George's in what came to be known as "Convict Bay".

Each day, the convicts were ferried ashore where they were put to work quarrying stone or building forts and military storehouses in and around St. George's. They returned to their floating prisons each evening.

However, in 1853, yellow fever struck the convict hulk Thames, as well as the St. George's garrison.

The casualties on board and in the town were huge, and the practise of employing convicts in St. George's came to an abrupt end. Convict Bay, under the direction of the Royal Engineers, became a military wharf to service the nearby forts.