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HMS DUNEDIN off the eastern side of Garden Island
HMS DUNEDIN off the eastern side of Garden Island

HMS DUNEDIN off the eastern side of Garden Island

Photographer (1901-1975)
Date1924
Object number00037699
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 DUNEDIN is shown off the eastern side of Garden Island, Sydney on 9 April 1924. This photograph was taken by Frederick Wilkinson during a ferry trip to Watson’s Bay, Sydney. DUNEDIN was one of five light cruisers active in the Royal Navy's Special Service Squadron world tour between 1923 and 1924.HistoryDuring 1923-1924 HMS HOOD was flagship of the Royal Navy's Special Service Squadron and led the Empire Cruise, a world tour that stopped at many countries who fought for and held allegiance with Britain in World War I. The tour started on 27 November 1923 and lasted until 28 September 1924. The public relations exercise was an attempt to express Britain's world sea power, particularly relevant in the aftermath of World War I. The fleet consisted of H M Ships HOOD, REPULSE, the light cruisers DELHI, DRAGON, DAUNTLESS, DANAE and DUNEDIN with nine other supporting vessels. HMS DUNEDIN was a Danae class light cruiser of the Royal Navy commissioned at Newcastle-on-Tyne on 13 September 1919. In the decades prior to World War II DUNEDIN was attached to the New Zealand division of the Royal Navy. During the war it was used for searching out German battle cruisers and merchant ships as part of the Northern Patrol, then the West Indies Station and finally the South Atlantic Station. On 24 November 1941 DUNEDIN was sunk after it was hit by torpedoes from the German U-boat (U-124) off the coast of Brazil. In total 419 men lost their lives; there were only 67 survivors.SignificanceThis photograph is representative of HMS DUNEDIN in Sydney Harbour as part of the Royal Navy's 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 backgrounds also reveal the changing face of the city and harbour foreshores.