HMS "Terrible"

Depicts a seaman dressed in uniform, at home engaged with cleaning the kitchen dishes. His wife stands aggressively in the doorway, like a ship's captain, pointing to shoes on the floor lined up as if ready to be polished. The title is a play on the naval naming conventions for vessels with the difficulties and challenges of post-deployment. The work has the same title as one of the 12 colour lithographs published in Weston's 'All's well with the fleet!' (1914), a set of illustrations themed to a dozen vessels, starting with HMAS Australia. The names of the other ships are all British, and chosen for comic effect. Other examples in the Memorial's collection include HMS Dreadnought, HMS Challenger and HMS Flirt.

Harry John Weston (1874-1938) was an Australian cartoonist, painter, commercial artist and architect who worked in Launceston, Melbourne and from 1905 in Sydney. Weston was a member of many clubs and societies, and associated with many of Australia's now famous cartoonists and illustrators.