TSS AWATEA interior

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

Date1936-1942

Object number00023255

NameNitrate negative

MediumEmulsion on nitrate film.

ClassificationsPhotographs

Credit LineANMM Collection

Terms

DescriptionImage of the Observation Deck, also known as the Wintergarden on the Promenade deck, on TSS AWATEA. HistoryAWATEA, built in 1936, was owned by Union Steamship Company and was known as the 'Queen of the Tasman Sea'. It was a luxury liner that serviced the trans-Tasman route. AWATEA was requisitioned by the British Government during World War II and was sunk in 1942. The 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.