Warship, possibly SMS CONDOR of the German Imperial Navy, in Farm Cove in Sydney

Photographer Samuel J Hood Studio (Australian, 1899 - 1953)

Date1903-1914

Object number00024965

NameGlass plate negative

MediumEmulsion on glass

ClassificationsPhotographs

Credit LineANMM Collection

Terms

DescriptionThis image possibly depicts the German Imperial Navy's cruiser, SMS CONDOR in Farm Cove, Sydney. The vessel visited Sydney in September 1903, April 1905, and in March of 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1910, 1912 and 1914.HistorySMS CONDOR was a cruiser class IV of the German Imperial Navy. The vessel was built by Blohm and Voss in Hamburg before and launched in February 1892. The vessel sailed between East Africa and South Africa during the Second Boer War in the late 1890s. In the early 1900s, the cruiser visited various ports in the South Pacific including the colonial protectorate, German Samoa. While in the region, the vessel also visited Australian ports including Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Hobart and Adelaide between 1903 and 1914. In 1913, CONDOR was reclassified as a gunboat before being decommissioned in March 1914.SignificanceThe Samuel J Hood photographic collection records an extensive range of maritime activity on Sydney Harbour, including sail and steam ships, crew portraits, crews at work, ship interiors, stevedores loading and unloading cargo, port scenes, pleasure boats and harbourside social activities from the 1890s through to the 1950s. They are also highly competent artistic studies and views - Hood was regarded as an important figure in early Australian photojournalism. Hood’s maritime photographs are one of the most significant collections of such work in Australia.