SS KNIGHT OF THE GARTER, possibly near Port Jackson in Sydney
Photographer
Samuel J Hood Studio
(Australian, 1899 - 1953)
Date1902-1923
Object number00020426
NameNitrate negative
MediumEmulsion on nitrate film.
ClassificationsPhotographs
Credit LineANMM Collection
DescriptionSS KNIGHT OF THE GARTER was built in 1902 by Charles Connell and Company in Greenock, Scotland. The vessel served as a New Zealand Expeditionary Transport in its early years until it was transferred from the Knight Steamship Company to the China Mutual Steam Navigation Company. The vessel further served the Expeditionary Force and escaped three German torpedo attacks in January and February of 1918. After the war, the ship was sold to W R Davies and Company. It later wrecked on Skorpas Island in Norway in 1930.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.