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RMS MOOLTAN (Bow) at the P&O Wharf on Sunday afternoon 10 February 1924
RMS MOOLTAN (Bow) at the P&O Wharf on Sunday afternoon 10 February 1924

RMS MOOLTAN (Bow) at the P&O Wharf on Sunday afternoon 10 February 1924

Photographer (1901-1975)
Date1924
Object number00040913
NameGlass plate negative
MediumEmulsion on glass
Dimensions83 x 108 x 2 mm
ClassificationsPhotographs
Credit LineAustralian National Maritime Museum collection
DescriptionRMS (Royal Mail Ship) MOOLTAN was photographed at P&O's wharf in Sydney Harbour during its maiden voyage from London to Australia. MOOLTAN was a respected liner fitted out with 327 first class and 329 second class cabins to transport passengers to Australia between 1924 and 1954. The maiden voyage started on 5 October 1923 leaving the Port of Tilbury Britain it travelled via the Suez Canal to arrive in Sydney, Australia on 21 December 1923, calling at Colombo, Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and Melbourne on the way.HistoryRMS MOOLTAN was built in 1923 and was the third ship of the P&O Line to be given the name mooltan. It was a 20,847 ton vessel with 327 first class and 329 second class passenger accommodation. Constructed by Harland & Wolff, at Belfast and launched on 15 February 1923. Its maiden voyage was from London via the Suez Canal to Colombo, Melbourne and Sydney on 21st December 1923. In 1939 MOOLTAN was converted to an Armed Merchant Cruiser, based at Freetown it became a troopship in 1941, travelling from Bombay, and in November 1942 was present at the North African landings at Arzeu. It was refitted in 1948 with accommodation for 1,030-tourist class passengers and returned to the Australia trade route in August. It was sold and scrapped in 1954.SignificanceThe photograph records a well-known liner which brought passengers to and from Australia between 1924 and 1954.

It 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 gradual decline of the coastal trade. The backgrounds also reveal the changing face of the city and harbour foreshores.