Motor launch for hospital ship ORANJE

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

Date24 July 1941

Object number00020007

NameNitrate negative

MediumEmulsion on nitrate film

ClassificationsPhotographs

Credit LineANMM Collection

Terms

DescriptionThis image depicts a motor launch for the hospital ship MS ORANJE on Sydney Harbour following a refitting at Cockatoo dock.HistoryThe Nederland Line ship ORANJE was in Surabaya at the onset of World War II on its maiden voyage. Forced to remain at the port for a year, the vessel was offered to Australia and New Zealand in 1941 for use as a hospital ship. While a partial refit was undertaken at Surabaya, the rest was carried out in Sydney. Over the remaining war years, the ORANJE carried out 41 medical voyages and after the war, repatriated Netherlands East Indies forces back to the Netherlands. 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.