Australian
Screen

an NFSA website

Titles tagged with ‘ships’

38 titles - sorted alphabetically or by year

A

Antarctica 1948 documentary – 1949

A record of the operations of the Australian National Antarctic Research Expedition, November 1947–April 1948.

Antarctic Vigil documentary – 1952

One of the first colour films about Australian bases in the sub-Antarctic islands.

Antarctic Voyage documentary – 1956

In 1955, the Danish ship Kista Dan takes a team of Australian scientists south for a year at Mawson, Australia’s new Antarctic research station.

Australasian Gazette – Bon Voyage to Ex-Chief Justice, Sir William Cullen newsreel – c1924

This newsreel shows the 1924 farewell and departure from Sydney of the retired Chief Justice Sir William Cullen and Lady Cullen for an overseas trip.

Australasian Gazette – Dame Nellie Melba newsreel – c1920

This newsreel footage shows soprano Dame Nellie Melba, having arrived in Sydney from Vancouver on the passenger liner RMS Niagara after a world tour.

Australasian Gazette – HMAS Brisbane Launched at Cockatoo Island newsreel – 1915

In this 1915 newsreel, the wife of then prime minister Andrew Fisher launches the HMAS Brisbane naval ship from the dockyard of Cockatoo Island.

Australasian Gazette – Master Pictures Lead the Way newsreel – c1926

In 1926, the general manager of Australasian Films and the producer of For the Term of His Natural Life leave for Tasmania to scout movie locations.

Australasian Gazette – Miss Australia, Beryl Mills, Leaves for the US on the Sonoma newsreel – 1926

This newsreel clip shows a large crowd farewelling the first Miss Australia, Miss Beryl Mills, as she leaves for the USA on the ocean liner Sonoma in 1926.

Australasian Gazette – Ship Building as Hobby newsreel – c1925

In this 1925 newsreel, builders of model passenger liners sail their boats on a pond in Moore Park, Sydney.

Australian Navy: Destroyers documentary – c1930

The capacity of Royal Australian Navy destroyers to carry and launch torpedoes in the 1930s is demonstrated here.

Australia Today – Antarctic Pioneers documentary – 1963

Photographer Frank Hurley discusses his Antarctic exploits in his last appearance on film.

B

The Battleships documentary – 2000

Included is a dramatic recreation of Japan’s 1941 attack on Pearl Harbour, which brought the US into the Second World War.

A Big Country – Perkins Navy television program – 1979

Bruce Perkins, a highly trained engineer with a pioneering spirit, says you need someone for the top end who is prepared to get things done.

Blue Ice documentary – 1954

The story of the 1954 Australian National Antarctic Research Expedition to set up the first Australian base on the Antarctic continent.

Bushells Tea: The Charmed Cup advertisement – 1929

Divided into three parts, this advertisement was screened like chapters of a dramatic fairytale plot.

C

Cockatoo Island: HMAS Success Launching historical – 1984

The HMAS Success was ultimately the last ship to be built on Cockatoo Island before the dockyard closed in 1992.

Cockatoo Island: Newsreel Film of Dockyard Activities historical – c1939

The largest island in Sydney Harbour became the major shipbuilding and dockyard facility for the Pacific during the Second World War, following the fall of Singapore.

D

Dad’s Clock short film – 2001

This stop-motion animation short film celebrates the life of the animator’s late father.

Dimpel, Konrad: On the Voyage to Germany home movie – c1966

Konrad Dimpel has recorded his family’s history through home movies since his arrival in Australia from Germany in 1954.

Dogwatch feature film – 1997

This film could almost pass as a 1940s Hollywood studio thriller starring Humphrey Bogart.

E

Endurance documentary – 1933

After watching Home of the Blizzard Ernest Shackleton asked Frank Hurley to film his expedition across Antarctica with the aim of funding part of the expedition through film sales.

I

Ikara the Weapon Thrower sponsored film – 1963

This black-and-white film, classified 'confidential’ at the time, shows the lead up to the Ikara weapons trials and the trials that began in April 1963.

Il Contratto feature film – 1953

In 1950s Melbourne, four recent Italian migrants eager for work to pay off their debts finally find employment on a rural farm near the city.

In the Wake of the Bounty feature film – 1933

Made by Charles Chauvel and with Errol Flynn in the cast, In the Wake of the Bounty is an odd mixture of re-creation and travelogue.

L

Loading Horses on the SS Cornwall historical – 1899

Horses board the SS Cornwall on 31 October 1899, prior to the ship’s departure for the Boer War.

M

Menzies 1948 Journey, Reel 1 home movie – 1948

This 16mm colour home movie filmed and edited by Sir Robert Menzies is an extraordinary record for not only Australians but the British too.

A Mountain Goes to Sea documentary – 1943

Made during the Second World War, A Mountain Goes to Sea was intended as a morale booster for workers building the machinery of war.

N

National Treasures – Endeavour Journal documentary – 2004

A look at Lieutenant James Cook’s journal, written on board the Endeavour during his trip down under in 1770.

No Survivors: The Mysterious Loss of the HMAS Sydney documentary – 1993

The loss of HMAS Sydney, the worst naval disaster in Australian history, sparked allegations of a cover-up.

P

The Painters and Dockers Strike documentary – 1976

In the 1950s the Waterside Workers’ Federation of Australia had its own film unit to counter government policies of the day.

Patrol Boat – Never Under the White Ensign television program – 1979

Patrol Boat is a television drama about the crew of a navy patrol boat, whose job it is to guard Australia’s coastal waters.

S

Sea Patrol – Cometh the Hour television program – 2007

Adventure-driven navy drama revolving around the crew of a patrol boat and set in the waters of northern Australia.

The Ship That Shouldn’t Have documentary – 1984

A scientific expedition aboard the steam-powered Cheynes 2 was beset by disasters. The members of the expedition were lucky to survive.

Siege of the South documentary – 1931

Frank Hurley documents Australia’s rich history of scientific exploration of the Australian Antarctic Territory.

SS Katoomba Unloading historical – 1899

This actuality footage from 1899 shows the unloading of timber spars from the SS Katoomba at a busy wharf in Brisbane.

Sydney Harbour and Anzac Day home movie – c1946

This colour home movie shows the official Anzac Day parade through central Sydney in 1946, one year after the end of the Second World War.

T

Through the Centre sponsored film – 1940

The Indian camel trader and the Japanese pearl diver become part of the film’s projection of the exotic within the expansive space of the Australian outback.

W

WWI Troops Embarkation and Charity Bazaars, Sydney historical – c1915

This silent footage shows newly recruited troops embarking for service; life on board the ships for troops heading overseas; and the fundraising activities of the Red Cross to aid in the war effort.