SS ACHILLES departing Sydney
Photographer
Samuel J Hood Studio
(Australian, 1899 - 1953)
Date16 July 1910
Object number00035062
NameGlass plate negative
MediumEmulsion on glass
ClassificationsPhotographs
Credit LineANMM Collection
DescriptionThis photograph depicts SS ACHILLES departing Sydney. The writing on the negative indicates that this photograph was taken on 16 July 1910. In the background, the finger wharves of Walsh Bay can be seen under construction. Sydney Observatory and Millers Point is also visible.HistorySS ACHILLES was built by Scott and Company at Greenock, Scotland in 1900. It was launched on 28 September 1900 and owned by Ocean Steamships Company Ltd (A Holt and Company) of Liverpool, England. The vessel cost £89,142 to build.
In 1915, ACHILLES was requisitioned by the Royal Navy as a troopship. On 31 March 1916, five crew members died when the ship was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-44 off the coast of the French island Ushant (Ouessant).SignificanceThe Samuel J Hood photographic collection records an extensive range of maritime activity on Sydney Harbour, including sail and steam ships, crew portraits, crews at work, ship interiors, stevedores loading and unloading cargo, port scenes, pleasure boats and harbourside social activities from the 1890s through to the 1950s. They are also highly competent artistic studies and views - Hood was regarded as an important figure in early Australian photojournalism. Hood’s maritime photographs are one of the most significant collections of such work in Australia.
