Thar She Blows - William Frank Cook and engineer Irwin aboard HMAS WYATT EARP in the Antarctic
Date1947
Object numberANMS1445[131]
NamePhotograph
MediumBlack and white photographic print on paper
DimensionsOverall: 286 × 112 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 shown here on the ship's ice covered deck with its engineer Irwin who is pointing out to sea.HistoryHMAS Wyatt Earp was originally built as the Norwegian fishing vessel Fanefjord in 1919. In 1933 it was purchased by American Antarctic explorer Lincoln Ellsworth and named Wyatt Earp after the famed American lawman of Dodge City, Kansas and Tombstone, Arizona. The vessel was acquired by the Royal Australian Navy in 1939, renamed HMAS Wongala (an Indigenous Australian word meaning 'Boomerang'), and operated as an examination vessel and guardship in South Australian waters during the Second World War. In 1947 the vessel was renamed HMAS Wyatt Earp prior to its involvement in the Australian National Antarctic Resarch Expedition. It was decommissioned and sold in 1951, ultimately renamed M/V Natone, and was wrecked on Queensland's Rainbow Beach in January 1959.
Lincoln 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.SignificanceThis photograph belonged to Captain William Cook, a Royal Australian Navy officer who served as second-in-command aboard Wyatt Earp, the first Australian naval vessel to participate in an Antarctic research expedition (the Australian National Antarctic Research Expedition) in the immediate post-war period. It depicts Cook aboard Wyatt Earp in Antarctic waters, and provides a literal snapshot of a candid moment during the voyage. This differs from most other known photographs of the expedition, which were to a large degree staged for publicity purposes.
