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RMS QUEEN MARY with North Heads in the background
RMS QUEEN MARY with North Heads in the background

RMS QUEEN MARY with North Heads in the background

Photographer (Australian, 1899 - 1953)
DateMay 1940
Object number00020476
NameNitrate negative
MediumEmulsion on nitrate film.
ClassificationsPhotographs
Credit LineANMM Collection
DescriptionThis photograph, depicting RMS QUEEN MARY passing down the Western channel off Sydney Heads, was taken when the Cunard Line's RMS MAURETANIA and QUEEN MARY had sailed from New York to Sydney in March 1940 to carry troops to the United Kingdom.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.