HMS DELHI anchored on the northern side of Sydney Harbour
Photographer
Frederick Garner Wilkinson
(1901-1975)
Date11 April 1924
Object number00037685
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
DescriptionHMS DELHI is shown anchored on the northern side of Sydney Harbour on 11 April 1924. This photograph was taken by Frederick Wilkinson from a special cruise on board the ferry KARINGAL. DELHI was visiting Sydney as part of the Royal Navy's Special Service Squadron.HistoryDuring 1923-1924 the British ship HMS HOOD led the Special Service Squadron on the Empire Cruise, a world tour that stopped at many countries who fought and held allegiance with Britain in World War I. The tour started on 27 November 1923 and lasted until 28 September 1924. It was largely a public relations exercise to express Britain's world sea power, particularly relevant in the aftermath of World War I. The fleet consisted of HMS HOOD, REPULSE, the cruisers HMS DELHI, DRAGON, DAUNTLESS, DANAE and DUNEDIN with 9 other supporting vessels.
HMS DELHI was a Danae class cruiser of the British Royal Navy launched in 1919 and broken up at Cashmore shipyards, Newport in 1948. DELHI played a role in the Baltic Campaign during 1918-1919, served in the Special Service Squadron's 1923-1924 world tour, was stationed with the home fleet between 1939 and 1942 where it captured one German merchant ship and intercepted another, the Mediterranean fleet in 1940 and 1943-1945 taking part in allied landings at Anzio in 1943. The ship also served in the South Atlantic between 1941-1942 when it was refitted in America and laid up in 1945 after being damaged and not fully repaired.SignificanceThis photograph highlights the Royal Navy's Special Service Squadron world tour in 1923-1924 and the presence of HMS DELHI in Sydney in April 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.
