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HMAT ORONTES, 16 August 1916
HMAT ORONTES, 16 August 1916

HMAT ORONTES, 16 August 1916

Photographer (Australian, 1858 - 1921)
Date1916
Object number00027619
NamePhotograph
MediumPhotographic print on paper
DimensionsOverall: 121 x 167 mm, 1 mm, 0.04 kg
ClassificationsPhotographs
Credit LineANMM Collection
DescriptionPhotograph by Melbourne photographer Josiah Barnes of the troopship ORONTES as it is about to depart on 16 August 1916 during WWI. It is packed with soldiers who throw streamers to the crowd of civilians on the wharf below. Note the abandoned pram at lower left.HistoryMelbourne based photographer Josiah Barnes had two sons, Norm and Victor, who left for war in 1916 (both returned to Australia after their service). Barnes appears to have taken an interest around this time in photographing the troopships as they departed for war from Melbourne. SS ORONTES was a 9,028 ton Royal Mail steamer built in 1902 at Clyde, Scotland and managed by the Orient Line. The ship was designed specifically for the Australian mail and passenger service. It could accommodate 320 first class and 320 third class passengers. Its maiden voyage left from Tilbury, Britain on 24 October 1902 for Sydney, Australia travelling via the Suez Canal. The ship became popular with passengers and conducted numerous trips to Australia for 14 years until it was requisitioned in 1916 for service in WWI as a troopship. For a short period after 1921 the vessel was renamed BRITISH TRADE and used as an exhibition ship. In 1922 it once again came under the management of the Orient Line who renamed it ORONTES and placed the vessel back on the Australian passenger trade route until 1926 when it was scrapped.