Diorama of ship ST KILDA

Model Maker Frank Griffith Hine

DateEarly 20th century

Object number00030948

NameModel

MediumWood, paint, rope, metal, iron, glass cabnet

DimensionsOverall: 400 x 1080 x 670 mm

ClassificationsModels

Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from D Lyons

Terms

DescriptionThis cased 'sailor made' diorama of the three-masted sailing ship ST KILDA was made by Frank Griffith Hine during his time at sea as deck officer aboard the ship.HistoryThe ST KILDA was a three-masted iron schooner, built by Fullarton's of Paisley, Scotland in 1868. The vessel was originally owned by John Kidston of Glasgow but was sold on its arrival in Melbourne to John and David Spencer of Melbourne. For the next 30 years, a testimony to the builders and the building material, ST KILDA plied its trade between South Africa, New Zealand, India and various Australian ports. During these voyages it carried cargos of alcohol, castor oil, sardines, jams, medicines, canvas, rope, twine, flour, cast iron, tobacco pipes, chemicals, wool, stationary, as well as passengers. In 1908 the schooner was purchased by Cleghorn, Hopkins and Co of Auckland, New Zealand and converted into a hulk. The schooner ended its days in Brisbane as a lighter, disappearing from The Register of Australian and New Zealand Shipping in the mid-1940s. Constructed during a time when iron ships were built under a special survey, the ST KILDA was an early example of iron shipbuilding technology. Its length of service and its success as a trading vessel helped confirm iron and steel as the ship building material of the future.SignificanceThis model is an example of a 'sailor made model' - a simple model using scrap material, often from the ship itself. The model is inaccurate in regards to scale and hull features, however the masts, rigging and deck structures - those features most familiar to the sailor - are good representations of how the ST KILDA was fitted out.