HMS DUNEDIN at wharf 2 Circular Quay
Photographer
Frederick Garner Wilkinson
(1901-1975)
Date1934
Object number00037691
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 DUNEDIN is shown at Wharf 2 Circular Quay on 22 September 1934. Frederick Wilkinson took this photograph from a ferry travelling between Circular Quay and Mosman, Sydney. DUNEDIN was one of many international naval vessels visiting Australian waters in 1934 as part of Victoria's centenary celebrations.HistoryDuring 1923-1924, the British ship HMS HOOD with the Special Service Squadron undertook the Empire Cruise, a world tour that stopped at countries who fought for and held allegiance with Britain in World War I. Starting on 27 November 1923 and lasting until 28 September 1924 the tour was largely a public relations exercise to express Britain's sea power and dominance, particularly relevant in the aftermath of World War I.
HMS DUNEDIN was a Danae class light cruiser of the Royal Navy commissioned at Newcastle-on-Tyne on 13 September 1919. In the decades prior to World War II DUNEDIN was attached to the New Zealand division of the Royal Navy. During the war it was used for searching out German battle cruisers and merchant ships as part of the Northern Patrol, then the West Indies Station and finally the South Atlantic Station.
On 24 November 1941 DUNEDIN was sunk after it was hit by torpedoes from the German U-boat (U-124) off the coast of Brazil. In total 419 men lost their lives; there were only 67 survivors.SignificanceThis photograph is representative of the Royal Navy's HMS DUNEDIN in Sydney Harbour in 1934. 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.
