FORDSDALE
Photographer
Frederick Garner Wilkinson
(1901-1975)
Date23 February 1924
Object number00041539
NameGlass plate negative
MediumEmulsion on glass
Dimensions83 x 108 x 2 mm
ClassificationsPhotographs
Credit LineAustralian National Maritime Museum collection
DescriptionFORDSDALE was photographed at Cockatoo Island on Saturday afternoon 23 February 1924. This photograph was taken from a ferry on Sydney Harbour. This photograph was taken during the ships construction in 1924.HistorySS FORDSDALE was a steel twin screw steamship of 9674 ton vessel involved in general trade on the international market to countries including Britain. Built at Commonwealth Dockyard, Cockatoo Island Sydney in 1924 and owned by Australian Commonwealth Line of Steamers it operated for the White Star Line from 1924 to 1928. The twin screw steamer had a refrigerated cargo space and was registered at Melbourne. In 1933 its management was taken over by Shaw, Savill & Albion Line and during World War II was involved in commercial and war services in the eastern Mediterranean.
Its later years saw the vessel change ownership and name a number of times. In 1952 it was sold to the Hong Kong Based Audax Shipping Co and renamed OCEAN NEPTUNE. In 1954 it was renamed PACIFIC TRADER and operated for the Pacific Union Lines. In 1956 it was called ATLANTIC CONCORD and operated for Atlantic Bulk Carriers. In 1958 it was named JUI YUNG and managed by the Chinese Maritime Trust. It was eventually broken up in Japan in 1959.SignificanceThis photograph represents the Australian built vessel FORDSDALE and its involvement in international trade.
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, and in a period which was probably the peak reached by commercial shipping in Australia. The backgrounds also reveal the changing face of the city and harbour foreshores.
