Three-masted barque MAGDELENE VINNEN sailing out of Sydney Harbour

Photographer William James Hall (Australian, 1877 - 1951)

Date1933

Object numberANMS1092[089]

NameGlass plate negative

MediumEmulsion on glass

ClassificationsPhotographs

Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Mr and Mrs Glassford

Terms

negatives

DescriptionThis image appears in The Sydney Morning Herald, 5 July 1933 (page 20), beneath the heading: 'Outside the Heads - Homeward Bound.' An accompanying caption reads: 'An aerial view of the MAGDALENE VINNEN, which has reached Bremen, Germany, after a passage of 82 days.'HistoryThe four-masted steel barque, MAGDALENE VINNEN, was built in 1921 in Kiel, Germany for F A Vinnen and Company in Bremen. On 27 February 1933, under the command of Captain Lorenz Peters, MAGDALENE VINNEN sailed into Sydney Harbour. The masts were too tall to allow the vessel to pass under the Harbour Bridge to be berthed in Pyrmont, so it was moved to Number 2 wharf in Woolloomooloo. The barque was loaded with almost 16,000 bales of wool, the fourth largest shipment to have left Sydney, before it sailed the record-breaking 82-day voyage for Falmouth, England. The barque visited Australia again in 1935, with its cargo being wheat, lifted from Port Broughton in South Australia. The following year, the vessel was sold to Norddeutscher Lloyd, Bremen, renamed KOMMODORE JOHNSEN and used as a cargo carrier and sail-training ship. In 1945, the ship was awarded to the Soviet Union as war compensation and renamed SEDOV. When it was first built, it was the largest auxiliary barque in the world. To this day, it is still in operation and in 2011, it retained its ranking as the largest tall ship in the world. SignificanceThe Hall photographic collection provides an important pictorial record of recreational boating in Sydney Harbour from the 1890s to the 1930s. The collection documents the lively sailing scene in Sydney during this period and features images of vessels ranging from large racing and cruising yachts to the great array of skiffs and the emerging technologies of motorboats. Images of many iconic vessels are also included in this visual record.