LIBERTAD at Circular Quay
Date1970
Object number00046611
NamePhotographic slide
MediumCellulose acetate slide, colour
35mm photographic slide
DimensionsOverall: 50 x 50 x 1 mm
ClassificationsPhotographs
Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Peter Bleeck
DescriptionA coloured kodachrome transparency of Argentinian ship LIBERTAD moored at the eastern side of Circular Quay during the 1970 Cook Bicentennial celebrations.The Indonesian ship DEWARUTJI is moored ahead.HistoryLIBERTAD is a naval sail training ship for the Argentine Navy and took part during Australia's 1970 celebrations of James Cook's landing in Botany Bay in 1770.
LIBERTAD is a steel hulled, full rigged sailing ship and one of the fastest and well-travelled tall ships in the world.
While a naval training vessel, LIBERTAD is also a 'goodwill vessel' taking part in many historic occasions such as the "Parade of Large Sailboats" in Sydney celebrating the bicentenary of the first European settlement in Australia in 1970 and later the United States Bicentennial in 1976 on the Hudson River, in front of New York City, in what was called 'Operation Sail'.
More recently LIBERTAD came to public attention in 2012 when she was impounded in Ghana in a dispute over outstanding debts owned by the Argentine government to a United States hedge fund.SignificanceThe bicenntenary in Australia in 1970 was to commemorate the the explorer Lieutenant (later Captain) James Cook charting of the East Coast of Australia in 1770.
