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Farewell dinner menu on board SS LARGS BAY during the vessel's final voyage from London to Australia.

Date8 December 1956

Object numberANMS0844[006]

NameMenu

MediumPaper, ink.

DimensionsHeight: 212mm, width: 126mm.

ClassificationsEphemera

Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Carol Gordon

Terms

DescriptionFarewell dinner menu on board SS LARGS BAY. The menu features a colour print of a female pirate sitting on a suspended anchor. Inside contains a handwritten list of crew members and the reverse has an image of a sailing ship and a space for autographs.HistoryLARGS BAY was built for the fleet of the Australian Commonwealth Line in 1921, and was one of five new large cargo-passenger ships known as the 'Bay Vessels', comprised of MORETAN BAY, LARGS BAY, HOBSON'S BAY, ESPERANCE BAY and JERVIS BAY. The fiver liners had accommodation for 12 first class and around 710 third class passengers and each was registered in the State relative to its name, thus LARGS BAY was registered in South Australia, and MORETAN BAY in Brisbane. After a period of disruptions with strikes, labour issues and a change of government, the company wound up in 1928 and the 'Bay Vessels' were sold to the Aberdeen-White Star Line, sailing under the title of Aberdeen & Commonwealth Line as part of the terms of sale. LARGS BAY was requisitioned as a troopship during World War II and was returned to Aberdeen & Commonwealth Line in 1948. The vessel's last sailing was in 1957, and LARGS BAY was scrapped in England at Barrow later that year. The last of the 'Bay' liners to be sold to breakers, the Aberdeen & Commonwealth Line also ceased with the scrapping of LARGS BAY. The Australian Commonwealth Line was created in the middle of World War I in 1916, as means to speed the transport of troops and cargo during the war effort. The company's fleet included several captured German steamships as well as 16 second-hand British ships bought from the Burrel Strath Line. During the years after the war the company purchased more vessels and the fleet rose to 64. However the mid-1920s saw a slump in Australian Commonwealth Line's profits and the company began to sell some of their ships. By 1928 the last of the company's fleet was sold and operations ceased.SignificanceSS LARGS BAY was one of five 'Bay' liners that sailed under the Aberdeen & Commonwealth Line. This menu was issued in 1956, a crucial point in the history of both the ship and the company as with the scrapping of SS LARGS BAY the following year, Aberdeen & Commonwealth Line also ceased to exist. Shipboard menus such as these were often printed to be souvenirs and were collected as mementos by crew and passengers.