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Australasian Gazette – HMAS Brisbane Launched at Cockatoo Island (1915)

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HMAS Brisbane launched

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Clip description

Crowds gather at the docks at Cockatoo Island for the launching of the HMAS Brisbane on 30 September 1915. Mrs Fisher, wife of the then Prime Minister Andrew Fisher, breaks a bottle of champagne over the ship’s bow. The ship is then launched to the witness of thousands of onlookers – some of them from small boats bobbing in the harbour.

Curator’s notes

by Elizabeth Taggart-Speers

Cockatoo Island, the largest island in Sydney Harbour, was the site of a major dockyard in Australia. At the time of this newsreel, it was the largest shipping dock of its kind in the world. Built by convicts, it was the first dry dock in Australia and became the Commonwealth Naval Dockyard in 1913.

During the period of the First World War, a series of naval ships were built at Cockatoo Island including the HMAS Brisbane which we see launched in this newsreel. People flocked to see the spectacle of this Town class cruiser begin its maiden voyage.

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