ALLCOT, John (1888-1973)
'HMAS Australia'
Signed and titled lower left.
Oil on Canvas
75x106cm (image) 95x125cm (frame)

PROVENANCE:
Boronia Gallery, Mosman, NSW; John Hannan Collection of Marine Art from 1987.

OTHER NOTES:
HMAS Australia was one of three Indefatigable-class battlecruisers built for the defence of the British Empire. Ordered by the Australian government in 1909, she was launched in 1911, and commissioned as flagship of the fledgling Royal Australian Navy (RAN) in 1913. 'Australia' was the only capital ship to serve in the RAN. At the start of World War I, 'Australia' was tasked with finding and destroying the German East Asia Squadron, which was prompted to withdraw from the Pacific by the battlecruiser's presence. She was then assigned to North Sea operations, which consisted primarily of patrols and exercises, until the end of the war. The battlecruiser was not at the Battle of Jutland, as she was undergoing repairs following a collision with sister ship HMS New Zealand. 'Australia' fired in anger twice: at a German merchant vessel in January 1915, and at a suspected submarine contact in December 1917. The disarmament provisions of the Washington Naval Treaty required the destruction of 'Australia' as part of the British Empire's commitment, and she was scuttled off Sydney Heads in 1924.

Estimate $3,500-5,500



Condition: Three patches verso (sky, sea x 2), various small losses, some inpainting to sky.


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