Merchant Navy
Date1940s
Object number00042393
NamePennant
MediumWool felt, ink, adhesive
Dimensions260 x 775 x 2 mm
ClassificationsCommemorative artefacts
Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Ron Thiele
DescriptionDeep navy blue triangular pennant reading 'Merchant Navy Australia.
Previously owned by Ron Thiele who was an able seaman on the Adelaide ketch JOHN LEWIS in the 1940s.
HistoryThe donor, Ron Thiele, spent 20 years at sea, beginning his career in the 1940s on trading ketches out of Port Adelaide. The ketch JOHN LEWIS was one of the vessels Thiele served on, sailing between South Australia and Adelaide. He later wrote a book, 'Ketch hand: Life aboard the little ships of the South Australian Gulfs', 1976, with an expanded edition, 'Ketch Hand: the twilight of sail in South Australian Waters', 1987.
The Missions to Seamen pennant was probably distributed by the organisation to promote its existence to seamen. The text 'Greetings from Australia, Adelaide' suggests it was intended as a souvenir for foreign seamen. The Mission to Seamen (now Mission to Seafarers) is a benevolent organisation, originally Anglican, caring for the spiritual and physical needs of seafarers around the world. It was founded in England in 1856 and has centres or chaplains in more than 100 ports around the world.SignificanceThe Missions to Seaman, a benevolent organisation caring for the spiritual and physical needs of seafarers, has been an important presence in the shipping world since its inception in 1856.
1945-1947
