HMS DRAGON anchored at the northern side of the Sydney Harbour

Photographer Frederick Garner Wilkinson (1901-1975)

Date1924

Object number00037683

NameGlass plate negative

MediumEmulsion on glass

DimensionsOverall: 82 x 103 mm, 2 mm, 0.04 kg

ClassificationsPhotographs

Credit LineANMM Collection Purchased with USA Bicentennial Gift funds

Terms

Sydney

DescriptionHMS DRAGON is shown anchored at the northern side of Sydney Harbour on 11 April 1924. This photograph was taken by Frederick Wilkinson whilst on board a special ferry cruise on the KARINGAL. HMS DRAGON was one of the Danae class cruisers in the Royal Navy's Special Service Squadron world tour of 1923-1924.HistoryDuring 1923-1924 the British ship HMS HOOD led the Special Service Squadron on the Empire Cruise, a world tour that stopped at countries who fought for and held allegiance with Britain in World War I. The tour started on 27 November 1923 and lasted until 28 September 1924. It was primarily a public relations exercise to express Britain's world power and naval strength, particularly relevant in the aftermath of World War I. The fleet consisted of HM ships HOOD, REPULSE, the cruisers HM ships DELHI, DRAGON, DAUNTLESS, DANAE and DUNEDIN with nine other supporting vessels. HMS DRAGON was a Danae class cruiser of the Royal Navy launched in Glasgow in December 1917 and scuttled in July 1944 off the beaches of Normandy as part of the Arromanches Breakwater. Before World War II DRAGON carried HRH the Prince of Wales on a Royal tour to Canada; took part in the Russian civil war aiding independent Latvia and Estonia, and was a member of the Special Service Squadron. During World War II it was part of the Northern patrol against German U-boats; took part in Operation Menace against the French fleet; served as an escort ship for Atlantic convoys; and in 1942 was attached to a task force in the Yellow Sea. In January 1943 she was transferred to the Polish Navy for further convoy duties and then took part in Operation Neptune as part of the Normandy landings. It was torpedoed and eventually scuttled in 1944.SignificanceThis photograph is representative of the British naval cruiser HMS DRAGON in Sydney Harbour during 1924.

The print is part of the F G Wilkinson Photograph Collection, comprising more than 700 glass plate negatives of ships in Sydney Harbour between 1919 and 1936. The collection provides an extensive and well-documented coverage of the changing styles of shipping in the port of Sydney before the decline of the coastal trade. The backgrounds also reveal the changing face of the city and harbour foreshores.