USS FLORIDIAN off Balmain, Sydney
Photographer
Samuel J Hood Studio
(Australian, 1899 - 1953)
Date1915-1953
Object number00020365
NameNitrate negative
MediumEmulsion on nitrate film.
ClassificationsPhotographs
Credit LineANMM Collection
DescriptionAmerican-Hawaiian Steamship Company Ltd's USS FLORIDIAN was built in 1915 as a cargo vessel. It was requisitioned by the United States Government in 1919 to serve as a troop transport for the Unites States Navy. By the end of the year, FLORIDIAN returned to the company as a cargo vessel.SignificanceThe Samuel J Hood photographic collection records an extensive range of maritime activity on Sydney Harbour, including sail and steam ships, crew portraits, crews at work, ship interiors, stevedores loading and unloading cargo, port scenes, pleasure boats and harbourside social activities from the 1890s through to the 1950s. They are also highly competent artistic studies and views - Hood was regarded as an important figure in early Australian photojournalism. Hood’s maritime photographs are one of the most significant collections of such work in Australia.
