Box made from wood salvaged from HMAS Sydney (1913-28)

Rectangular wooden box with hinged lid made from timber from HMAS Sydney (1913-28). At the front of the box is a blue enamel-like badge bearing a fouled anchor and the words 'WOOD FROM H.M.A.S. 'SYDNEY''. A strip of metal is inlaid on the left and right sides of the box and along the front of the lid. The bottom of the box is lined with felt.

This box is made from wood, probably teak, recovered from HMAS Sydney I, a light cruiser of the Royal Australian Navy, commissioned in June 1913. During the First World War she was initially engaged in operations in the Pacific and in November 1914 escorted the first troop convoy to the Middle East. On 9 November she engaged with and defeated the German Cruiser SMS Emden off the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. Through the rest of the war she served in the Caribbean and also with the Royal Navy's Grand Fleet in the North Sea.

After the war the Sydney returned to Australian waters and undertook routine duties until she was paid off in 1928 and broken up in 1929. Numerous souvenirs - from fruit and nut bowls, ash trays, match holders, tobacco jars and paperweights to specially framed prints of the HMAS Sydney - were fashioned from teak and other wood fittings salvaged from the Sydney before she was broken up and sunk off Sydney Heads. This box is a souvenir from that period.