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It was November 24, 1930 and the ship in the background is HMAS Canberra, which will sink Torrens as target practice [i.e., she is not being scuttled].

I am looking for shots fo the HMAS Sydney (and other old naval vessels) after being shown this shot... My great grandfather is onboard, I am amazed at the size of ship but also the quality of photography back then!

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMAS_Torrens_%28D67%29 nice cross link

Azmazing

The opening of the Harbour Bridge!

The opening of the Harbour Bridge.

OK Quiz Kids (2) ... 1 - name the ship 2 - which photo was earlier? Above or this -

I suppose I'm banned from this competition!!! EG

[http://www.flickr.com/photos/51979177@N02] Indeed, beachcomber australia has won enough chocolates on Museums of History NSW - State Archives Collection photostream over the years to make a glittering quilt out of the wrappers! My chocolate wrappers only make a doily! :)

HMAS Canberra by Kookaburra2011 :

Andy Brill Thanks Andy! Great photo & information :)

Among many fine ships photographers in Australia over the decades, the two contemporaries Sydney's Sam Hood [1872-1953] and Melbourne's Allan C. Green [1878-1954] are the equal giants of the field in my opinion, and we are so fortunate that their collections are so well preserv ed and now presented to the public, respectively by ANMM here, and the State Library of Victoria [La Trobe Library]. The true hallmark of their greatness was their gritty dedication, out in all weathers, at all times of the night and day, over decades - more than half a century in both cases. And they did it for the love of ships. There was not much money in it, and out of necessity their livings were earned in more commercial photography, or by other means in the case of Allan Green, who became a newsagent for a while. His relatives tell me he was just not much of a businessman: a dreamer, photographer and marine artist. Many ports have had a dedicated maritime photographers; Fremantle had Saxon Fogarty, and just recently I learned something of Vancouver's Walter Edwin Frost [1878-1988]. Britain must also have had very many: I came to admire the the superb technical clarity of the Tyneside photographer James Henry Cleet FRPS [1876-1959] at Newcastle, U.K., another contemporary of Sam Hood and Allan Green, who did commissioned work for the British Ministry of Defence. There will be many I know nothing of, but I would place Sam Hood and Allan Green on a plane with the Italian Aldo Fraccaroli [1919-2010 who overcame bad eyesight to become a Regia Marfina officer and widely acknowledged as the world's greatest naval photographer. He did did much work for Janes Fighting Ships and other publications. He retired and had lost his sight completely by 1984. His work is held in a massive archive, but is unfortunately is still not very widely available. Thank heavens we are receiving these from the ANMM - there is so much to learn from them, and truthfully in Australia we have had limited access to our own visual history for too long.

Horatio J. Kookaburra Wow, thank YOU Kookaburra2011! It is a pleasure to share the collection with the Flickr community and those who simply stumble across our collection. The discussions going on underneath our images have contributed enormous value and meaning to our collection, and for that we are immensely grateful. We recently published a blog about the Commons community, thanking our 'super sleuths' (of which you are included)!