Passenger liner in WWI dazzle paint

Photographer Frederick Garner Wilkinson (1901-1975)

Date1914 - 1918

Object number00042341

NamePhotograph

MediumPaper

Dimensions81 x 108 mm

ClassificationsPhotographs

Credit LineAustralian National Maritime Museum collection

Terms

DescriptionA warship is depicted moored alongside Circular Quay and painted in a dazzle paint scheme (camouflage). This image was taken from the roof of the Sydney City Mission in Harrington Street by Frederick Wilkinson. Aspects of the Sydney Tram Depot can be seen behind the ship.SignificanceThis photograph is representative of warships in Sydney Harbour in late World War I and demonstrates the use of camouflage as a naval defence mechanism.

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.