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Group portrait of the Royal Marines Band of HMS DORSETSHIRE
Group portrait of the Royal Marines Band of HMS DORSETSHIRE

Group portrait of the Royal Marines Band of HMS DORSETSHIRE

Photographer (Australian, 1899 - 1953)
DateApril 1938
Object number00020190
NameNitrate negative
MediumEmulsion on nitrate film.
ClassificationsPhotographs
Credit LineANMM Collection
DescriptionOn 3 April 1938, HMS DORSETSHIRE arrived in Sydney for the celebrations marking the 150th anniversary of British settlement in Australia. The Royal Marines Band sailing on board the British cruiser performed at various events during their short sojourn in Sydney, including the Special Easter Concert on 16 April at Town Hall and the Zeebrugge reunion night on 23 April (in commemoration of the Zeebrugge Raid). HistoryThe Sydney Morning Herald of 4 April 1938 reported: H.M.S. DORSETSHIRE Arrival at Sydney DAMAGED BY CYCLONE The thousands who inspected H.M.S. Dorsetshire during the week-end saw no signs of the severe buffeting the cruiser received in a cyclone off the Queensland coast. The Dorsetshire, which is representing the Royal Navy at the 150th Anniversary celebrations, encountered a 75-mile-an-hour gale off the coast near Brisbane and suffered minor damage. The breakwater, a steel plate on the bows, was bent by the force of the waves. The Dorsetshire arrived on Saturday morning, and was watched by the thousands who had assembled on the foreshores and at Fort Macquarie to witness the arrival of the Empress of Britain. She berthed at Circular Quay. The cruiser is of the same class as H.M.A.S Canberra. She is attached to the China station, but she began her cruise to Sydney from Singapore, where the crew attended the opening of the new naval base. On her quarter-deck are inscribed the names of the battles in which the former Dorsetshire - a sailing vessel - took part. Commanded by Captain F. R. Barry, the cruiser carries 709 officers and men. The ratings are very young, the average age being not more than 20. This is a sign of the intensive recruiting for the navy since Great Britain commenced her programme of naval expansion. When she was launched in 1930, the Dorsetshire was identical with the Canberra, but recently she was refitted with more modern guns. The sister ships exchanged salutes as the Dorsetshire steamed past the Canberra, anchored in Farm Cove. FIRST VISIT TO SYDNEY Few of the officers have visited Sydney before, and almost none of the crew, has travelled farther from England than the East. The cruiser was stationed chiefly in North China during the fighting recently. Her crew saw very little actual warfare, although they witnessed the peaceful occupation of Tsing-tao by the Japanese. The Chinese soldiers had evacuated the city before the Japanese fleet arrived, and a landing party from the warships entered without any resistance being offered. During her passage down the Queensland coast the Dorsetshire followed the example of Cook's Endeavour and anchored at sunset, without attempting the dangerous passage at night. H.M.S. Dorsetshire was ordered to Sydney with only a few days' notice, and no programme has yet been arranged. She will remain in harbour until April 27, in order that the crew may take part in the Anzac Day celebrations.SignificanceThe Samuel J Hood photographic collection records an extensive range of maritime activity on Sydney Harbour, including sail and steam ships, warships, 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.