Across the Antarctic Circle Party, February 1948 - Well Done Chaps!
Date1948
Object numberANMS1445[127]
NamePhotograph
MediumBlack and white photographic print on paper
DimensionsOverall: 290 × 405 mm
Image: 213 × 302 mm
Image: 213 × 302 mm
ClassificationsPhotographs
Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Rhod Cook
DescriptionWilliam Frank Cook was First Lieutenant on HMAS WYATT EARP, the primary research vessel for the Australian National Antarctic Research Expedition of 1947-1948. He is identified here by the initials 'WFC' during a party held by the crew to celebrate crossing the Antarctic Circle in February 1948.HistoryLincoln Ellsworth (1880-1951) made four expeditions to Antarctica between 1933 and 1939 using MS WYATT EARP as an aircraft transporter and base. The ship was a former Norwegian herring boat. In 1939 it was purchased from Ellsworth by the Australian Government and handed over the Royal Australian Navy. On restarting its Antarctic research program the ship was recommissioned by the Australian Government as HMAS WYATT EARP on 17 November 1947 at Port Adelaide and William Frank Cook appointed First Lieutenant. Following a visit by the Antarctic explorer Sir Douglas Mawson, it sailed for Williamstown, Victoria, in December 1947 for preparation and loading, which included an OS2U Kingfisher amphibian aircraft of the RAAF. HMAS WYATT EARP left from Nelson Pier, Williamstown, on 19 December 1947 and proceeded to Hobart. Gales caused some problems en route. After several days in Hobart, the ship left for the Antarctic on 26 December 1947, but storm damage caused its return to Melbourne for repairs, leaving again on 8 February 1948. Bad weather made landing at Adelie Land impossible. HMAS WYATT EARP made for Macquarie Island where it met HMAS LABUAN and transferred a team of scientists over to it. HMAS WYATT EARP then returned to Melbourne ending its career in the RAN.SignificanceThe photographic portrait of Frederick Cook as a RAN Commander dates to the Second World War, and depicts the types of uniform worn by RAN officers at this time. It is one of three dated photographs in the collection that depict Cook in naval uniform at different phases of his career.
Frederick Cook served with distinction during the Second World War and was mentioned in despatches twice. He was also presented to King George IV and awarded the DSC for gallantry. He was also the only Australian aboard HMS Royal Oak when it was torpedoed at Scapa Flow in September 1939, and one of only 400 of Royal Oak's complement of 1200 to survive the ship's loss. At the time Cook appeared in this photograph, he was Naval Force Commander of Operation Biting, a Combined Operations raid on a German radar installation at Bruneval in northern France in 1942. For his role in the raid, Cook was awarded the DSC, and was later tasked with organising and commanding Australia's first Combined Operations Training Centre.
