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Image Not Available for US Navy Pacific Fleet entering Sydney Harbour
US Navy Pacific Fleet entering Sydney Harbour
Image Not Available for US Navy Pacific Fleet entering Sydney Harbour

US Navy Pacific Fleet entering Sydney Harbour

Artist (Australian, 1864 - 1949)
Datec 1925
Object number00019508
NamePainting
MediumWatercolour on paper
DimensionsOverall: 309 × 514 mm
ClassificationsArt
Credit LineAustralian National Maritime Museum Collection Purchased with USA Bicentennial Gift funds
DescriptionThis watercolour painting depicts the United States Navy's Pacific Fleet entering Sydney Heads in 1925 led by the flagship USS CALIFORNIA. The Tennessee-class battleship USS CALIFORNIA was the flagship for the Pacific Fleet's peace-time tour to Australia in 1925. Launched in 1919 and commissioned in 1921, USS CALIFORNIA served in the Pacific Fleet until the battleship was laid up in 1945, decommissioned in 1947 and eventually sold for scrap in 1959.SignificanceThis painting depicts the goodwill cruise of the American Pacific Fleet to Australia, which renewed the Australian-American alliance established by the Great White Fleet visit in 1908. The 1925 visit contributes to a long history of US Naval visits to Australian ports starting with the US Exploring Expedition in 1839-1840, followed by the 1908 visit of the Great White Fleet and later visits in the 1940s in the lead-up to World War II.