SS WESTMEATH

Photographer Frederick Garner Wilkinson (1901-1975)

Date24 February 1924

Object number00041541

NameGlass plate negative

MediumEmulsion on glass

Dimensions83 x 108 x 2 mm

ClassificationsPhotographs

Credit LineAustralian National Maritime Museum collection

Terms

DescriptionSS WESTMEATH was photographed arriving in Sydney Harbour from New York and other ports on Sunday morning, 24 February 1924.This photograph depicts the ship when it was under the management of the Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand.HistorySS WESTMEATH was originally launched as EVERTON GRANGE in 1903 as a passenger/cargo vessel of 7204 tons it could accommodate 204 third-class passengers. It was built by Furness Withy at Middleton, Britain and was owned by Empire Tpt Co Ltd of Greenock. It was used on the British and Australian trade route, transporting horses from Japan to Australia. In 1911 the vessel was sold to the New Zealand Shipping Company and renamed WESTMEATH. In 1913 it was transferred to the Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand. During World War I the vessel was hit by a torpedo in 1917 but repaired. It was sold in 1925 to Soc. Ligure di Nav. a Vapeur, of Genoa and renamed NORDICO. It was scrapped in 1932.SignificanceThis photograph 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 gradual decline of the coastal trade, and in a period which was probably the peak reached by commercial shipping in Australia. The backgrounds also reveal the changing face of the city and harbour foreshores.