RMS OPHIR
Artist
Italian School
Date1891 - 1915
Object number00000043
NamePainting
MediumWatercolour on paper
DimensionsOverall: 405 x 610 mm
Display Dimensions: 660 x 895 x 50 mm
Display Dimensions: 660 x 895 x 50 mm
ClassificationsArt
Credit LineANMM Collection
DescriptionWatercolour titled 'RMS OPHIR' depicting the Orient Line steamship OPHIR underway at sea.HistoryRMS OPHIR was built by Robert Napier & Sons in Glasgow in 1891 and was the first twin-screw vessel to operate on the Australian mail service. It was often described as ‘the opulent Ophir’ because of its sumptuously-decorated interiors.
In 1900 it was chartered to the British Admiralty as the royal yacht HMS OPHIR for the tour of the British Empire by the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York (later King George V and Queen Mary). The main task for the Duke was to open Australia’s new Federal Parliament in Melbourne, but the tour also served to thank the colonies for their assistance during the Boer War.
In March 1901 the Duke and Duchess departed Portsmouth on an eight-month tour that took in the following ports: Gibraltar, Malta, Port Said, Suez, Aden, Colombo, Singapore, Albany, Melbourne, Sydney, Auckland, Wellington, Lyttleton, Hobart, Adelaide, Albany, Fremantle, Mauritius, Durban, Simonstown, St Vincent, Quebec, Halifax and St John’s.
The tour was an outstanding diplomatic success, with thousands of people turning out in each port to welcome the royal couple. The museum holds several mementos from the tour, including a breakfast menu and a souvenir copper medallion issued to school children in New Zealand.
Following the royal tour, OPHIR'S popularity soared, helping to sell summer cruises to the Norwegian fjords. However the vessel continued to lose money for the Orient Line because of its high running costs and it started to spend increasing time laid-up. During World War I it was commissioned as an armed merchant cruiser and in 1918 it was purchased by the Admiralty and converted into a hospital ship. OPHIR was finally scrapped at Troon, Scotland, in 1922 – a sad end for the former royal yacht.
The long-held belief is that OPHIR was named after a gold mining town near Bathurst, NSW. However recent research by the P&O archivist Rob Henderson into the personal papers of the Anderson family (co-founders of the Orient Line) suggests that it was named after the biblical port of Ophir, thought to have been on the coast of Arabia on the Red Sea.
SignificanceThe Ophir had a strong association with Australia, especially during the royal tour of 1901 and later throughout WW1.
