Images(2)

The Great Surrender

Artist Hallett Robertson Bartlett (Australian, 1906 - 1989)

Date1920

Object number00027503

NamePainting

MediumWatercolour on paper

DimensionsOverall: 395 x 575 mm, 0.05 kg

ClassificationsArt

Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Geoffrey Martin

Terms

DescriptionTwo watercolour paintings, one on each side of the page, by Hallett Bartlett. On one side of the page is a view of the HMS SKIRMISHER and the cruiser VANDER TANN following behind in the English Channel, both vessels fly the Royal Navy white ensign. Handwritten text over and under the image reads 'The Great Surrender 1920. HMS SKIRMISHER (Scout) and ex German armoured cruiser (VON DER TANN). Escorting the Germans to England in the English Chanal [sic].' On the reverse side of the page is a painted image of the Aberdeen Commonwealth Line TSS EURIPIDES at sea. The steamship is flying the Royal Mail flag and the signal flag 'Q'. A steam launch in the foreground is flying the Australian flag from its jack. These watercolours were painted by Hallett Bartlett when a teenager (thirteen years old to sixteen years old) and were originally part of a watercolour album. See 00027420 - 00027528. HistoryThe SS EURIPIDES was a triple-screw steamship built by Harland and Wolff at Belfast for the Aberdeen Line. Her maiden voyage to Australia began on July 1, 1914. On arrival she was one of 28 vessels requisitioned by the Australian government and fitted out as a troop ship. She was equipped to carry 136 officers, 2204 other ranks and provided stabling for 20 horses and took part in the first Australian troop convoy to the Dardanelles. During the First World War she carried more than 38,000 troops, and in 1919 she returned to the London-Australia run via the Cape of Good Hope. HMS SKIRMISHER was designed to act as a leader of a destroyer flotilla but like other ships of this type was soon proved to be too slow for the role. As turbine engine destroyers came into service, they were rendered obsolete. She has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name SKIRMISHER. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Skirmisher_ (1905)) At the end of WWI the remainder of German High Fleet was escorted and sent to Scarpa Flow in Scotland to be retained there whilst a decision was made by the Allies on its future. This process took a long time, and seven months later the German Fleet was still there under the direction of Admiral von Reuter. Von Reuter, like other German commanders, had found the surrender particularly difficult and 7 months at harbour had seen the remaining crew and his own morale sink to new lows. On the morning of June 21 1919, after much planning, von Reuter used signal flags to order to the fleet to be scuttled. He had waited until the Royal Navy were out on exercise duties so by the time they realized what had happened, 52 of the German ships had been sunk.SignificanceThis album of drawings by Hallett Bartlett reflect the aeroplanes and ships of the WWI era that captured the imagination of young Australians.