Officers of TSS AWATEA at East Circular Quay
Photographer
Samuel J Hood Studio
(Australian, 1899 - 1953)
DateSeptember 1936
Object number00035264
NameGlass plate negative
MediumEmulsion on glass
ClassificationsPhotographs
Credit LineANMM Collection
DescriptionThis photograph depicts the officers of TSS AWATEA posing on board the vessel while moored at East Circular Quay. The man seated centre is the ship's captain, A H Davey. Through one of the ship's windows, the old Farmers and Graziers Co-operative building in Alfred St is visible. AWATEA, built in 1936, was owned by Union Steamship Company and was known as the 'Queen of the Tasman Sea'. It was a luxury liner that serviced the trans-Tasman route. AWATEA was requisitioned by the British Government during World War II and was sunk in 1942.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.
