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Image of a troopship possibly HMAT A7 MEDIC departing for war
Image of a troopship possibly HMAT A7 MEDIC departing for war

Image of a troopship possibly HMAT A7 MEDIC departing for war

Photographer (Australian, 1899 - 1953)
Datec 1900
Object number00021321
NamePhotograph
MediumSilver gelatin print
DimensionsOverall: 155 x 202 mm
ClassificationsPhotographs
Credit LineANMM Collection
DescriptionThis photograph possibly depicts the troopship HMAT A7 MEDIC. It is possible that it depicts MEDIC after it was requisitioned as a troopship for the Second Boer War (1899-1902).HistoryThe Oceanic Steam Navigation Company Ltd's TSS MEDIC was built in 1898 and completed its maiden voyage from Liverpool, England to Sydney, Australia via Cape Town, South Africa the following year. The vessel served as a troopship during the Second Boer War (1899-1902). The vessel was requisitioned from the White Star Line for the war effort and was used in the first convoy of Australian and New Zealand troops sent to Egypt in 1914. The MEDIC was sold in 1928, converted into a whale factory ship and renamed KEKTORIA. In 1942, it was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-608.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.