BALRANALD of Greenock

Photographer Frederick Garner Wilkinson (1901-1975)

Date11 December 1923

Object number00042029

NameGlass plate negative

MediumEmulsion on glass

Dimensions83 x 108 x 2 mm

ClassificationsPhotographs

Credit LineAustralian National Maritime Museum collection

Terms

DescriptionFrederick Wilkinson took this photograph of the BALRANALD departing Sydney for London at 12:30pm from the McIves Wharf steps on Tuesday 11 December 1923.HistoryThe passenger liner SS BALRANALD was built by Harland and Wolff of Greenock, Scotland. BALRANALD was launched in February 1921 and after a lengthy fit-out and sea trial of over a year, the vessel served the UK – Australia emigrant service for the Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company. The vessel had a passenger capacity of 491 third-class berths, and 658 temporary berths until a refit in 1929, which saw the capacity change to 586 single class berths. In 1936, the ship was sold for £26,000 and broken up at Troon, Scotland.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.