She spent about a year transporting people and supplies between New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land before the colonial government sent her back to England in 1816.

[2] The Navy appointed Lieutenant George Brooks Forster to command Emu and she departed from England on 1 September 1814.

[3] Governor Macquarie after assessment in Sydney that Emu was unseaworthy and should be withdrawn from naval and colonial service.

On her way to England Emu encountered a hurricane off the coast of southern Africa near Cape Agulhas.

On 11 February 1817, Emu was wrecked on a submerged rock at Knysna, east of Simon's Bay.

One report stated that "HM brig Emu", a transport belonging to the Cape Town Dockyard, was the first European vessel to enter the Knysna heads.

[6] Lloyd's List reported on 29 July 1817 that the "Emu, Colonial Brig," had wrecked on the south-west coast of Africa, but that her crew had been saved.