Crew member on board SS SUEVIC

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

Date1901-1928

Object number00020308

NameNitrate negative

MediumEmulsion on nitrate film.

ClassificationsPhotographs

Credit LineANMM Collection

Terms

DescriptionUnidentified merchant marine crew member on SS SUEVIC, Oceanic Steam Navigation Co Ltd, (White Star Line).HistorySUEVIC was built by Harland and Wolff in Belfast for the White Star Line in 1901. It was the last and largest of the five Jubilee class ships built and was to service the Liverpool-Cape Town-Sydney route. SUEVIC had a capacity for 4oo passengers and was fitted with refrigerators. In 1907 SUEVIC was returning to Liverpool when the crew misjudged the distance to shore during a fog at night off Cornwall; as a result the ship ran aground onto rocks at full speed. All passengers and crew were rescued. The ship was lightened in an attempt to refloat it but the bow was stuck fast. White Star decided to cut the ship in half and salvage the stern. This was successfully completed and the company ordered a new bow section from Harland and Wolff. The ship was rebuilt and re-launched in January 1908. SUEVIC was requisitioned by the British Government during World War I but maintained its commercial route and was used for bringing provisions and troops from Australia to Europe. SUEVIC continued on the Sydney route after the war until 1928 when White Star sold it to a Norwegian company where it was renamed SKYTTEREN and served in the whaling fleet in Antarctic waters. In April 1940 Norway was occupied by Germany during World War II and SKYTTEREN was interned in a neutral Swedish port. In 1942, 10 ships attempted to leave the port and meet with British ships; only 2 made it. SKYTTEREN was scuttled by its crew so it would not fall into German hands.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.