Christmas dinner on HMAS KANIMBLA

Date1940

Object numberANMS0298[001]

NamePhotograph

MediumSilver gelatin print

ClassificationsPhotographs

Credit LineANMM Collection

Terms

DescriptionA black and white photograph of six men seated at table set with small plates of food and bottles of beer in the mess room aboard the HMS KANIMBLA. The occasion was Christmas Day and some festive cheer can be seen in the background. HistoryKANIMBLA was built for the Australian shipping company McIlwraith McEacharn and from 1936 - 1939 was put on the Carins to Fremantle run. In 1939 KANIMBLA was commissioned by the Royal Australian Navy and converted to an armed merchant cruiser and in October 1939 became HMAS KANIMBLA. In 1940 HMAS KANIMBLA was detached to the Singapore station via Saigon and for the immediate future she patrolled Malaya and East Indies. The rest of the war was spent patrolling and transporting troops and cargo. In 1949 HMAS KANIMBLA was decommissioned, refitted and returned to McIlwraith McEacharn in 1950 where she remained in service just over 10 years. Then sold, KANIMBLA was scrapped in 1973 after a long, varied and distinguished career. http://www.navy.gov.au/hmas-kanimbla-i SignificanceImages such as this evoke a personal experience of life aboard a war ship during WWII. Far from home and family, crews kept to traditions and festivities as much as they could despite the events raging around them.