kongo

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kong%C5%8D_class_battlecruiser

in her early configuration, nearly unrecognizable compared to this post 1929, originally a battle cruiser, she was redesigned as a fast battleship with an enormous pagoda superstructure

grace!

Bingo! She is the warship 'Kongo', aka 'Kon-go', a "Japanese Training Vessel". It was June 1898. Full details in the AT&CJ 25/6/1998 - trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/71287855 - including a photograph by none other than ... ... [drumroll] ... ... W. F. Hall, Sydney. I think he was standing at Mrs Macquaries Chair for both photos. [information found via a Trove search for " japanese navy barque " limited to the 1890s - sometimes it is just too easy!]

beachcomber australia Good research!

beachcomber australia Great find! Thank you so much for the article link, was hoping we would find that W F Hall image in the collectio but no luck as yet! What a great find. Andy Brill Thanks to you both for identifying the landmarks in the background :)

Australian National Maritime Museum on The Commons An idea not backed up by any facts - when the photographer had a photo chosen by a newspaper for publication, he might have had to surrender the glass negative for copyright and/or technical printing reasons? I don't know - just guessing.

beachcomber australia That would seem most likely, but every now and then one of our collection pops up in the papers! It is a bit of a treasure hunt :) Eg a Hood pic of a movie star & his wife appears in the AWW