| Place | Oceania: Australia, Northern Territory, Darwin |
|---|---|
| Accession Number | ART22831 |
| Collection type | Art |
| Measurement | Overall: 52.8 x 68.4 cm |
| Object type | Work on paper |
| Physical description | charcoal, watercolour, goauche on paper |
| Maker |
Hodgkinson, Roy |
| Place made | Australia: Northern Territory, Darwin |
| Date made | 1942 |
| Conflict |
Second World War, 1939-1945 |
| Copyright |
Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain
|
First air-raid on Australia, 19 February 1942
Description
This work was drawn from a small set of photographs taken by an able seaman on a corvette on the day that the Japanese first bombed Darwin. The SS Neptuna was bombed whilst berthed at the Darwin Jetty. The ship was loaded with mixed cargo and depth charges, it caught alight and eventually blew up. Directly in front of the explosion the tiny Vigilant can be seen doing rescue work. To the right in the background is the floating dock holding the SS Katoomba which escaped the bombing. In the foreground is the SS Zealandia which was dive bombed and which eventually foundered. On that day 9 of the 13 ships in the Harbour were sunk.