Sydney
Under the reign of Queen Victoria federation of the six colonies occurred on 1 January 1901. Sydney, with a population of 481,000, then became the state capital of New South Wales. The Great Depression of the 1930s had a severe effect on Sydney's economy, as it did with most cities throughout the industrial world. For much of the 1930s up to one in three breadwinners was unemployed. Construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge served to alleviate some of the effects of the economic downturn by employing 1,400 men between 1924 and 1932. The population continued to boom despite the Depression, having reached 1 million in 1925.
HMAS Sydney (D48)
The ship was laid down by Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson at Wallsend-on-Tyne, England, on 8 July 1933 for the Royal Navy as HMS "Phaeton", named after the Greek mythological figure. However, in 1934, the Australian government was seeking a replacement for the light cruiser , and negotiated to purchase "Phaeton" while she was still under construction. The cruiser was renamed after the capital city of New South Wales, and was launched on 22 September 1934 by Ethel Bruce, the wife of Stanley Bruce, former Prime Minister of Australia and the serving Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. "Sydney" was commissioned into the RAN on 24 September 1935, drawing her ship's company from "Brisbane", which had been decommissioned earlier that day.