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The Great White Fleet Visit To Australia [US Navy] Collection

1908. Sixty-three (63) items comprising of 40 vintage silver gelatin photographs in stereo card format; 16 postcards; two framed paintings; one framed lithograph; two commemorative booklets; and two pieces of lithographic ephemera, one painting signed “B. Barker”, several items captioned with ship names and dated “August 1908”, sizes include 4.6 x 7.3cm (stereo views), 8.8 x 14cm (postcards), 19 x 44cm to 8.7 x 75.8cm (framed work). Slight silvering and foxing to photographs, minor creases and foxing overall.

This collection comprises stereo views by The Rose Stereographs company, and show the American fleet in Melbourne and Victorian waters, as well as Sydney and the harbour; postcards identifying and naming the ships of the American fleet: Georgia, Virginia, Illinois, Minnesota, Raleigh, Maine, Kearsage, Kansas, California, Wisconsin, and Louisiana; souvenir booklets illustrated with the ships and their captains; three images of the fleet in Sydney Harbour; and an invitation to a state banquet in honour of the US Fleet. A detailed list is available on request.

The Great White Fleet received its nickname from the ships’ hulls which were painted white, “the Navy’s peacetime colour scheme.” The fleet visited Australia in August 1908 at the invitation of Prime Minister Alfred Deakin, who ignored Britain’s concerns and overlooked protocol by making his initial request “directly to American diplomats rather than through imperial authorities.” Over half a million Australians turned out to watch the arrival of the United States Navy’s “Great White Fleet.” Ref: Australian Navy; SLNSW; Wiki.

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Item #CL194-102

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