Merchant marine officer, possibly on board SS PURLEY

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

Date1913-1917

Object number00020696

NameNitrate negative

MediumEmulsion on nitrate film.

ClassificationsPhotographs

Credit LineANMM Collection

Terms

Sydney

DescriptionSS PURLEY was built by Richardson, Duck and Company Ltd in Stockton-on-Tees in 1913. On 25 July 1917, it was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-46 en route from Barry, Wales to Malta.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.