On this Day – 16 Jan 1952 - HMAS Sydney begins its seventh patrol in Korean waters 1962 - Death of Frank Hurley The aircraft carrier HMAS Sydney The Majestic Class Light Fleet Aircraft Carrier HMAS Sydney. This ship was launched on 3 September 1944 as HMAS Terrible and was unfinished at the end of WWII in Europe in May 1945. The Australian Government took over the ship on 16 December 1948 and renamed her Sydney. From September 1951 to January 1952 Sydney served with the United Nations Command in Korean waters where her aircraft carried out 2366 sorties. The Americans lent Sydney a Sikorski helicopter for pilot rescue duties. After initial reluctance, based on concerns about committing Australia’s main fleet unit in a deteriorating world situation, the Australian Government agreed to deploy the carrier for a short period to allow the Royal Navy to refit its carrier HMS Glory. Sydney was well prepared for the deployment, being given priority for men and stores but, with other commitments to Korea, this was a strain on the RAN’s limited resources. Sydney commenced operations on 5 October 1951 under command of Captain D. H. Harries. On 11 October she flew a record 89 sorties, an effort bringing praise from American and British authorities, USS New Jersey stating that Sydney’s gunnery spotting was ‘the best she has yet had’. On 25 and 26 October three aircraft were lost, the last involving a dangerous pickup of shot-down aircrew by the ship’s helicopter. Enemy infantry attempting to capture the aircrew were suppressed by fire from other Sydney aircraft. Normal daily operations aimed at 54 sorties although this was often difficult to achieve on an axial deck carrier requiring a constant movement of aircraft around the deck, often in foul weather, especially as a freezing winter set in. In October, Typhoon Ruth caused damage to the carrier and the loss of aircraft. While no match for Chinese jets, Sydney’s piston engine aircraft were invaluable for ground attack duties. Normally the Fireflies carried bombs and the Sea Furies rockets. Both types mounted four 20mm cannon. Targets attacked included troops, gun positions and transport infrastructure. Sydney’s aircraft were credited with causing 3000 communist casualties as well as the destruction of 66 bridges, seven tunnels, 38 railway sections, seven sidings, five water towers, three locomotives, 59 wagons, 2060 houses, 495 junks and sampans and 15 guns. They also carried out target spotting and reconnaissance, for which the two-seat Firefly was particularly well suited, as well as combat air and antisubmarine patrols around the carrier and her escorts. Enemy anti-aircraft fire was the main danger. Sydney had 99 aircraft hit and nine were shot down. Casualties were three aircrew killed and six wounded. Captain James Francis (Frank) Hurley James Francis Hurley was born at Glebe, Sydney, in 1885 and became interested in photography as a young man. He began his career with a Sydney postcard company at the age of 20 in 1905. Hurley grew to regard photography as a medium that could be manipulated to achieve a desired effect and he began to follow the well-established practice of making composite prints by combining two or more negatives to make an image. He was also a proponent of colour photography. An inveterate traveller, Hurley was on one of his six trips to the Antarctic; the famous Shackleton expedition of 1914-16, when the First World War began. In 1917, he became one of the AIFs official photographers with the honorary rank of captain. Some of Hurleys most famous images of the war were taken during the Passchendaele campaign in the second half of 1917. He ran considerable risks to get his shots, earning the name the mad photographer from the troops. War affected Hurley deeply but he also found the battlefield fascinating. A self-described showman, Hurley had spent years producing popular attractions using the latest photographic and film techniques, and he was confident that he knew which images would engage the publics imagination. His methods, particularly his use of composites, led to arguments with the influential Charles Bean and, at one stage, Hurley threatened to resign rather than give up the practice. A compromise was reached, but in late 1917, Hurley was sent to Palestine. He took many well-known images of the Australian Light Horse and the Australian Flying Corps, finding the relative peace there in stark contrast to what he called the hell of France. He stayed just six weeks, then went to Cairo where he met Antoinette Leighton. They married on 11 April 1918 and Hurley returned to London to work on an exhibition of Australian war photography. After the war, Hurley made further trips to the Antarctic, and to the Torres Strait and New Guinea. He flew with Ross Smith, returned to Europe on several occasions and visited the United States. Many of his photographic and film projects received both critical acclaim and commercial success. For much of the 1930s he worked in Sydney for Cinesound, but in 1940 Hurley resumed war photography with the AIF in the Middle East. His work was, however, overshadowed by that of younger men like Damien Parer and George Silk, who found Hurleys methods outdated. He remained in the Middle East until 1946. For the rest of his life, Hurley continued travelling and taking photographs, publishing several books of his work. Always a loner, Hurley nevertheless influenced later generations of photographers, and his work - taken all over the world over almost six decades - remains very much in the public eye. He died in Sydney in 1962.
Posted on: Mon, 19 Jan 2015 01:46:09 +0000
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