SS ALDEBARAN in Farm Cove, 14 July 1923

Photographer Frederick Garner Wilkinson (1901-1975)

Date1923

Object number00037669

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

Terms

DescriptionALDEBARAN is depicted in Farm Cove, Sydney on French Republic Day (Bastille Day), 14 July 1923. The vessel has been dressed with flags in honour of the special occasion.HistoryALDEBARAN was a French sloop or despatch vessel built in the UK in 1916. It was similar to the British Flower class sloops. It served in the Far East and Pacific inFrench territorial waters until the mid-1930s.SignificanceThis photograph represents the presence of French ships in Sydney Harbour celebrating French Republic Day in 1923.

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 backgrounds also reveal the changing face of the city and harbour foreshores.