The sea battle between HMAS Sydney and the German cruiser Emden, 9 November 1914

by Phil Belbin

Medium:

Oil on canvas

Place made:

St Ives, Sydney

Date:

1986

Setting:

WW I (1914-1918)

Courtesy of Royal Australian Navy

In this painting Belbin has illustrated the clash between Sydney and Emden. “Sydney was faster than Emden and possessed superior firepower, but Müller opened the engagement with rapid and accurate long-range fire, attempting to inflict as much damage as possible at the outset. All of Sydney’s casualties occurred in the opening stages of the battle, from hits to the control platform and the range finder located on the upper bridge. Using his ship’s superior speed and armament, Glossop soon caused hits to be scored on Emden. After 40 minutes Emden’s fire control positions, forward funnel and foremast were gone, and the ship was holed all over and burning fiercely fore and aft. Realising that Emden was at Sydney’s mercy, Müller ran his ship onto the reef at North Keeling Island in order save the lives of his surviving crew.”

About Phil Belbin
Phil Belbin was interested in art from a young age and a prolific drawer. He is said to have produced his first comic book at the age of eleven and had his first published work, a calendar for a metallurgist, at the age of thirteen. He studied art for two years at East Sydney Technical College. In 1942 Belbin had further training for one year at Sydney's The Sun newspaper as an intern in the art department.

In 1943 Belbin enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force and served as an armourer in the Pacific Islands. Following his demobilisation in March 1946, Belbin found work at Frank Johnson Publications as an illustrator. In 1947 Belbin went to work for K.G. Murray Publishing Company. He created cartoons, comic strips and artwork for the company over the next 30 years.

Throughout his time at the publishing house Belbin also worked as a freelance illustrator for other publications and illustrated campaigns for advertising agencies and numerous private commissions. Belbin's list of commercial art clients grew to include local and international engineering, aerospace, and transportation companies.

In 1974 Belbin was awarded a 'Citation of Merit' by the New York Society of Illustrator and in 1984 he was elected as a fellow by the Royal Society of Arts, London.

Throughout his life Belbin had maintained a keen interest in steam transport - ships and trains. In addition to his print illustrations, Belbin also painted scenes of shipping and steam trains whose accurate details were highly regarded.

Belbin was asked to illustrate the book “The Royal Australian Navy: the first seventy-five years”. This book contains twenty-six outstanding ship paintings and several drawings by Phil Belbin. The text was by Ross Gillett. It was published by Child & Henry in 1989.

Phil Belbin passed away in 1993, succumbing to motor neurone disease.

More paintings by Phil Belbin
About HMAS Sydney (l)
HMAS Sydney was a Town Class, Light Cruiser; one of three ordered in 1910 which were part of the initial Australian fleet unit. On 4 October 1913 Sydney formed part of the Australian Fleet Unit that ceremonially entered her namesake harbour to a welcome from tens of thousands of spectators who turned out to welcome the arrival of ‘their’ fleet.