Images(4)

BHP Ltd house flag

Date1963

Object number00049280

NameFlag

MediumTextile

ClassificationsVessels and fittings

Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Patricia Miles

Terms

DescriptionBHP Company house flag presented to Captain John William Miles on his retirement as Commodore of BHP Fleet in 1963. The flag was signed by numerous seamen from different ships and other shipping industry associates.HistoryBroken Hill Proprietary Company Ltd (BHP) began its operations at the lead, silver and zinc mine in Broken Hill, New South Wales in 1885. It leased an iron ore mine in South Australia in 1899 and in 1915, commissioned its first steelworks in Newcastle, New South Wales. During the 1920s, BHP formed a shipping fleet and since then has been a major Australian shipowner. During the 1940s and 1950s it was also a major shipbuilder at Whyalla, South Australia. Until the 1970s its shipping operations serviced only its own coastal requirements to carry materials for its steelmaking industry, but it then expanded into overseas trade. Its bulk carriers operate on regular national and international routes.SignificanceThe occasion of the retirement of a Commodore of a significant merchant fleet such as BHP was an important affair at the height of the modern shipping age in the 1960s. The signed BHP house flag is an important piece of Australian shipping memorabilia.