NANKIN

Photographer Frederick Garner Wilkinson (1901-1975)

Date11 November 1933

Object number00041618

NameGlass plate negative

MediumEmulsion on glass

Dimensions83 x 108 x 2 mm

ClassificationsPhotographs

Credit LineAustralian National Maritime Museum collection

Terms

DescriptionThe British passenger and cargo vessel NANKIN was photographed at No 4 Circular Quay on Saturday morning 11 November 1933. This image was captured from the 8.10am ferry travelling from Mosman to Circular Quay, Sydney. The pylons of the then recently constructed Sydney Harbour Bridge can be seen.HistoryThe NANKIN was a British passenger and cargo vessel of 6,853 tons built by Caird at Greenock in 1912. It operated for the Eastern & Australian Line. On the 10th of March 1942 it was captured by a German raider in the Indian Ocean. The passengers and crew were taken as prisoners and the ship taken to Yokohama. It was renamed LEVTHEN and converted to a naval supply vessel on 20th November 1942. It was destroyed by fire when the tanker UCKERMARK exploded during bunkering.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.