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Corvette at Milne Bay

by Dennis Adams

Setting:
WW II (1939-1945)
  • About Dennis Adams

    Dennis Adams was born in Sydney but when his father, a marine engineer, retired from the sea the family moved to a sheep farm in Queensland. Stories of adventures at sea gave him a desire to experience life on the oceangoing sailing vessels. When the family visited Sydney Dennis was taken to see the magnificent windjammers enter the Heads – linking Australia with ‘the rest of the world’.

    Adams demonstrated that he was a gifted draftsman and when he finished school was accepted as a student at the Julian Ashton School of Art in Sydney. After completing his Art studies, the 20-year-old Adams lived in Sydney and worked as a commercial artist with artists such as William Dobell and Lloyd Rees.

    Adams had two desires. One was to continue his art studies at the Royal Academy of Art in London - the other was to sail on one of the windjammers that he had seen entering Sydney Harbour when he was a lad.

    By the 1930s many of the windjammers coming to Australia now only visited South Australian ports so in 1935 Adams moved to South Australia and signed on as an ‘able-bodied passenger’ on the Herzogin Cecilie.

    Adams, joined the port watch and lived and worked in the fo’c’s’le. He made a pictorial record of life on a windjammer. His quick oil sketches chronicled the crew as they set or reduced sail as well as completing important maintenance tasks on board.

    Adams arrived in Falmouth in 1935 with his oil sketches on sail canvas and headed for London to enrol at the Royal Academy of Arts.  He spent several years studying art at the Royal Arts School, with its emphasis on life drawing and figurative work.

    Iin 1939 Adams returned to Australia on Erikson’s Lawhill. Like when he was on Herzogin Cecilie he made many quick oil sketches of the crew at work on the ship.

    On his return to Australia Adams enlisted as a solider in the 18th Battalion and was later seconded to the Department of Home Security for camouflage work.  In 1942 he was appointed an official war artist to represent the activities of the Australian and US Navies and the merchant marine in the South Pacific.

    After WWII Adams established a career as an artist specialising mainly in maritime and war art. Adams also taught art at the East Sydney Technical College. He completed numerous public works of sculptural art, many in bronze.

    In 1989, Dennis Adams was awarded the Order of Australia Medal for his contributions to the arts.

    More paintings by Dennis Adams
  • About Ships and aircraft in company

    In this section a wide variety of artworks with more than one ship, submarine or aircraft are featured. When two or more naval vessels are operating together they are said to be ‘in company’.

    The diverse nature of activities, exercises and deployments undertaken by ships, submarines and aircraft of the Royal Australian Navy means that a ship may spend long periods conducting single ship operations or periodically join with large numbers of other ships for such events as a naval review or fleet entry to a port. These latter events are generally scheduled to commemorate a particular event.  During such events a prominent or royal figure will review the fleet as part of the ceremony. Throughout its history ships of the RAN have participated in major fleet entries and reviews both in Australian waters and overseas.

     

    Details of Ships in the First Fleet

    Name Class Commission Dates
    HMAS Australia Indefatigable Class 21 Jun 1913 – 12 Dec 1921
    HMAS Melbourne Town Class Light Cruiser 18 Jan 1913 – 23 Apr 1928
    HMAS Sydney Town Class Light Cruiser 26 Jun 1913 – 8 May 1928
    HMAS Encounter Challenger Class Light Cruiser 1 Jul 1912 – 1 Jan 1923
    HMAS Warrego River Class 1 Jun 1912 – 22 Jul 1919
    HMAS Parramatta River Class 10 Sep 1910 – 22 Jul 1919
    HMAS Yarra River Class 10 Sep 1910 –  30 Sep 1929

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