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Image Not Available for Two nurses on board hospital ship TSS ORANJE II
Two nurses on board hospital ship TSS ORANJE II
Image Not Available for Two nurses on board hospital ship TSS ORANJE II

Two nurses on board hospital ship TSS ORANJE II

Photographer (Australian, 1899 - 1953)
Date28 June 1941
Object number00021318
NamePhotograph
MediumSilver gelatin print
DimensionsOverall: 153 x 209 mm
ClassificationsPhotographs
Credit LineANMM Collection
DescriptionThis photograph depicts two unidentified nurses on board TSS ORANJE II. On 28 June 1941, after a refitting at Cockatoo Island Dockyard, Prime Minister Robert Menzies hoisted a Red Cross flag on the Dutch liner TSS ORANJE. The ceremony marked the handing over of the vessel from the Dutch Netherlands Indies Government to the Australian and New Zealand Governments to be used as a hospital ship.HistoryOn 28 June 1941, after a refitting at Cockatoo Island Dockyard, a ceremony was conducted to mark the official handing over of TSS ORANJE II from the Dutch Netherlands Indies Government to the Australian and New Zealand Governments, to be used as a hospital ship. Australia's prime minister, Robert Gordon Menzies, made a speech, commending the actions of the Dutch Government saying, 'The ship will be a daily reminder of the neighbourliness existing between the Dutch Indies and Australia' ('The Sydney Morning Herald', 30 June 1941, p. 10). The 'Morning Bulletin' also reported that Menzies described the generous actions of the Dutch Government as 'a piece of practical and unselfish help.' Major-General Hein ter Poorten was the Dutch representative and described the vessel as 'the most beautiful and most modern Netherlands mail steamer'. The Royal Netherlands Indies Army placed a unit of its army medical service on board ORANJE. The medical staff was also composed of Australian and New Zealand doctors and nurses. 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.