christmasparty

[love it!]

The ship in the foreground here is HMAS Australia since the wheelhouse has square windows, not HMAS Canberra as captioned. HMAS Canberra's wheelhouse had round windows. In the first two Sydney Morning Herald articles referenced by Quasymody above, you will note that the photograph of HMAS Australia depicts the characteristic square wheelhouse windows, as they are in this photograph. I'm viewing this on a tablet device at the moment so I cannot add a note to the photograph outlining the wheelhouse windows. I.ll try tomorrow when I use a desktop computer.

[http://www.flickr.com/photos/51979177@N02] beachcomber australia BobMeade Brilliant, thanks everyone! Based on the evidence of the Harbour Bridge construction, plus BobMeade's evidence regarding the wheelhouse windows, we have changed our data to HMAS Australia as this seems the most likely. Thank again for your help.

Many thanks ANMM for this wonderful series of images, whose release adds so much to the visualisation our social history, as does your whole Sam Hood Studio Collection. Taken in the Depression era, this and its companion images - your Object NOs. 00034838 [crane ride] and Object No. 0034839 [slippery slide] - are just a joy to behold. Now, CORRECTIONS AND A MEA CUPLA : forget the round and square wheelhouse windows distinction between HMAS CANBERRA [I] and HMAS AUSTRALIA [II] for a moment - it did not apply until modifications to CANBERRA some time after 1933, and I think you should go back to your original caption. This image is almost certainly HMAS CANBERRA [I] holding her series of children's parties at Garden Island on the weekend of December 12-13 1931, as described in the Sydney Morning Herald articles to which you had links from beachcomberaustralia under Pic Object NO. 00034838, the crane ride image. Note it is the same crane ride, and the same unusual flag flying above the slippery slide kids entertainment as shown in Pic, Object No. 00034839. So, the round and square wheelhouses question. I feel I may be responsible for Bob Meade's perception on this, and I had myself accepted it as a blanket distinction, given to me also by an expert commentator. I've applied it as an identifying distinction many times, but I now find it did not apply until after some bridge work modernisations on CANBERRA l sometime after 1933. Hence, we'll have to make a number of corrections in our own collections. Reviewed salient points supporting this: *In their original configurations, both HMAS CANBERRA [I] and HMAS AUSTRALIA [II] arrived in Australia in 1928 and 1929 with the same original and old-fashioned County Class 'ocean liner' look, and both with large square, pretty ugly box-type wheelhouses above the bridge, both with square windows. Evidence: Ross Gillett's 'Australian an d N ew Zealand Warships 1914-1945, p87. * CANBERRA still had this square wheelhouse with square windows when she was photographed by the celebrated NZ photographer Sydney Charles Smith at Wellington's Kings Wharf in September 1933, as shown here: www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/3908140912/. *Some time between Sept 1933 and 1937 CANBERRA's bridge was modified and modernized, resulting in rounded wings above the wheelhouse at the Director Tower level, and round portholes or scuttles in the wheelhouse structure, in place of the square windows there previously. From this point on she is distinguishable from HMAS AUSTRALIA [II]. Source for this 1937 dating, pics shown in John Bastock's authoritative but limited edition book 'Australia's Ships of War' [Angus and Robertson, Sydney 1975] page 106, particularly the Allan C. Green image in the middle of that page. . Hence, from 1937, CANBERRA [I] looked like this, with round scuttles in her wheelhouse... www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5491719366/ Sorry again for any confusion caused. Warships are continually modified, and tracking those changes in photographs can be a continual process. Glad if anyone can more precisely date CANBERRA's bridge modifications in the 1930s - standard book references and online sources don't seem to have it. Concluding: I now feel certain this photo shows CANBERRA doing the publicized childrens christmas parties in mid-December 1931, same as the companion images, and as reported in the Sydney Morning Herald. Oh, in the background here are a Modified Town Class Cruiser, probably HMAS BRISBANE [I], in reserve and being stripped, and a Flower Class survey/sloop ex-mineswseeper, probably HMAS GERANIUM, also in reserve, the smaller vessel alongside the cruiser.

I think it is most likely HMAS Canberra as the ship features a Rear Admiral's flag at the mast head and 'Canberra' was the flag ship.

yeeahhh

I certainly thank you for sharing so many wonderful images. An excellent collection which we enjoy very much! If you look at the scrip (Bottom of photo) seems to be flipped...

Carlos Ariel Salamantes (Off) Thank you Carlos Ariel Salamantes. We are happy to share it! The handwriting at the bottom of the photo is indeed reversed because it is a glass plate negative. Please watch this space for more uploads, you're feedback is always welcome.

This is a great shot - always good to see images from the ANMM collection.

It would be good to identify this flag, which seems to have three bars and an elephant in the middle. A social oprganisation's flag I'm guessing. Our group will post here if we find out. We learn elsewhere that crane rides like this were conducted during Navy Week at Garden Island up to the 1950s, sometimes using the famous 250 ton hammerhead crane [the demolition of which is now being discussed] but we don't think the crane rides could happen today. There's a lady holding a baby up high above the safety rail in one of the companion photos!

THE FLAG. This information comes from Kim Dunstan of Melbourne, RAN 1958-1967, who does a lot of investigation of our photos, and sometimes extensively so. Kim tells us the flag seen here above the slide chute is the naval ensign of Siam, now Thailand, and probably from the WWI era. We agree. Look closely at your enlarged image and you can see the similarity here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Flying_Naval_Ensign_of_Thailan... Kim also notes that there is an officer in a foreign naval uniform - black epaulettes, collar and dark tie, where an RAN officer's tunic is buttoned to the throat and collar - standing below the crane talking to a lady. The point is, a man in the same uniform can be seen standing fourth from the left in your image of a naval launch, several photos along at Object 00010453. Effectively this ties these two images to the same occasion, and dates the naval launch image for you as Dec. 12, 1931, same as here. We think the men in the launch are those who did entertainment for the children, with a diver looking for 'lost children,' as described in the linked newspaper articles under the companion 'crane basket' image. Well, that's it.