John Bastock
(Born Sydney, February 18, 1908. Died Padstow, July 26, 1996)
In 1913 John and his father watched the First Fleet of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) sail into Sydney Harbour. From that time on he knew he wanted to join the navy.
At age 15, he joined the RAN training ship HMAS Tingira. After successfully completing his training, he served on a number of RAN ships. He served in HMAS Brisbane (I) on the China Station and then on HMAS Melbourne (I) in the Mediterranean he then served the final commission of HMAS Sydney (I). He then sailed in S.S. Beltana to commission HMAS Canberra (I) at Clydebank, Scotland.
On the ship’s long voyage to Australia, John found time to take up painting. He completed many paintings on board the Canberra. On his return to Australia John trained at HMAS Cerberus as a torpedo-gunner’s mate and qualified.
In 1931 Bastock sustained a serious eye injury whilst on duty and was medically discharged 18 February 1932. He had reached the rank of Leading Seaman Torpedoman. He found employment with the electrical branch of the New South Wales Department of Public Works and later the State Electricity Commission. Over time his sight improved, and he resumed painting.
In the years to follow he painted many subjects and executed hundreds of drawings, diagrams and paintings of ships and wrote many articles on both ships and maritime subjects. He also wrote the popular reference books 'Australia's Ships of War' (1975) and 'Ships on the Australia Station' (1990). Many of his paintings were donated to the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian National Maritime Museum, Sydney.
The hallmark of John’s work was his attention to detail. His dedicated research, along with the knowledge and experience gained during his service at sea, enabled his drawings and paintings to be correct in every detail.
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