SS EDINA the World's Oldest Screw Steamship

Maker Rose Stereograph Co (Australian, founded 1880)

Date1937

Object number00051995

NamePostcard

MediumPhotographic print on paper

DimensionsOverall: 90 x 135 mm

ClassificationsPosters and postcards

Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Peter Trebilco

Terms

DescriptionThis postcard relates to the farewell voyage of the passenger steamer SS EDINA from Melbourne to Geelong in June 1938. During this voyage, 'each passenger was given a card bearing a photograph of the EDINA, and autographs of Captain Moxey and prominent passengers were collected' (Argus, 30 June 1938, p3).HistoryEDINA was built by Robert Barclay & Curle in Glasgow in 1854 and served during the Crimean War and American Civil War before being diverted to the Australia-New Zealand gold rush trade in 1862. From 1863 it operated passenger and cargo services in western Victoria and along the Queensland coast. In 1875 EDINA was purchased by Howard Smith & Co for the Melbourne-Geelong passenger service, which it operated for the next 63 years. It was converted to a lighter in 1938 and operated around Melbourne until it was broken up in 1958.SignificanceThe postcard relates to a significant event in the Howard Smith passenger trade before World War II. SS EDINA is remembered with great affection as one of the oldest continuously operating passenger steamships in the world.