This painting celebrates the arrival of the Australian fleet into Sydney Harbour on 4 October 1913, led by HMAS 'Australia'. The battle-cruiser was built at Clydebank for the defence of the British Empire and was commissioned as a flagship of the newly established Royal Australian Navy in 1913. On Monday 30 June King George V and Edward, Prince of Wales visited Portsmouth to farewell the ship. The King recorded: 'Arrived at 12.0 at South Railway Jetty, went on bd-"Australia" new Battle cruiser just built for Australian Govt./ she leaves on 20th. Rear Adml. Patey receivd. me, I inspected the ship & the men & all the officers were presented, more than half of them are Australians. I photographed with the Officers & I gave Patey the K.C.V.O. & knighted him.'

On 2 October 'Australia' and 'Sydney' reached Jervis Bay and rendezvoused with the rest of the Australian Naval Fleet (cruisers 'Encounter' and 'Melborne', and the destroyers 'Parramatta', 'Warrego' and 'Yarra'). On 4 October she and the fleet entered the harbour. The 'Sydney Morning Herald' of 5 October recorded…'Out of the mist of the morning the ships came into sight. The blur became something definite and tangible; and seven ships of war rode in from the east…Majestic and beautiful, yet a grim, portentous thing, the fleet took shape before our eyes. From seven grey ships rose seven grey clouds of smoke…And exactly at half-past 10 HMAS Australia flagship of the Australian Fleet, Rear-Admiral Sir George Patey, K.C.V.O. in command was passing through the Heads. And as she did so her band played "Rule Britannia", and the crew stood at their stations.'

The painter and illustrator Percy Frederick Seaton Spence (1868-1933) was born in Sydney, and spent his early career in Australia and Fiji. He came to London in 1895 where he remained for the rest of his life. He exhibited at the Royal Academy and contributed to magazines such as 'Punch' and the 'Illustrated London News'. The Government Art Collection holds two large paintings by Spence ('Sydney Harbour', 1911-15 and 'Murrumbidgee River, New South Wales'). The Royal Collection holds a watercolour of Rear Admiral Sir George E Patey KCV, 1913 (RCIN 452501).