HMS DRAGON anchored on the northern side of Sydney Harbour
Photographer
Frederick Garner Wilkinson
(1901-1975)
Date10 April 1924
Object number00037656
NameGlass plate negative
MediumEmulsion on glass
DimensionsOverall: 82 x 103 mm, 2 mm, 0.04 kg
ClassificationsPhotographs
Credit LineANMM Collection Purchased with USA Bicentennial Gift funds
DescriptionHMS DRAGON is shown anchored on the northern side of Sydney Harbour on 10 April 1924. This photograph was taken during a trip on board the special cruise ferry ROMANA. DRAGON visited Sydney Harbour as part of the British Special Service Squadron's world tour in 1923-1924.HistoryHMS DRAGON was a Danae class cruiser of the Royal Navy launched in December 1917 and scuttled in July 1944. It completed service for the Royal Navy in the Russian Civil War and during Word War II conducted patrols against German U-boats in the Shetland Islands and also served in the Yellow Sea. After 1943 the Polish Navy took command of DRAGON and used it for operations in Normandy before it was scuttled in 1944.
During 1923-1924 the British Special Service Squadron including HMS DRAGON completed their Empire Cruise, a world tour that stopped at many countries that had fought in World War I and held allegiance with Britain. Starting on 27 November 1923 the tour lasted until 28 September 1924. The public relations exercise was an attempt to express Britain's sea power, particularly relevant in the aftermath of World War I.SignificanceThis photograph represents HMS DRAGON and its visit to Sydney in 1924 with the British Special Service Squadron. The print is part of the F G Wilkinson Photograph Collection, comprising more than 700 glass plate negatives of ships in Sydney Harbour between 1919 and 1936. The collection provides an extensive and well-documented coverage of the changing styles of shipping in the port of Sydney before the decline of the coastal trade. The background panoramas also reveal the changing face of the city and harbour foreshores.
