Australian National Maritime Museum
By Richard Moore
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The James Craig vessel
at the Australian National
Maritime Museum
(image: TikiTouring.co.nz)
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When touring around it is rare these days to come across
anything that you don't have to pay through the nose for.
However, there is one place we enjoyed in Sydney that is now
free and it's the impressive Australian National Maritime
Museum.
The museum takes up a sizeable chunk of Darling Harbour and
it is easy to spend half a day having a look at its permanent
and temporary exhibits.
Inside the museum are seven main exhibitions that span Australia's
links to the seas and its crucial part in our history.
They include Merana Eora Nora - First People, Navigators
- Defining Australia, Passengers - the Long Sea Voyage, Commerce
- the Working Sea, Watermarks - Adventure, Sport and Play
and Navy - Protecting Australia.
Each of the exhibitions is in a gallery that has been designed
to add to the flavour of the subject with the Navigators,
for example, having brass trim and a ceiling of stars to suggest
exploration, while the Commerce gallery makes the most of
old timbers from wharves in its area.
Other major attractions within the Maritime Museum are a
stunning six-metre lens from the Tasman Island Lighthouse
and photographic exhibitions.
For mine, however, it is on the harbour itself that the major
attractions are - real vessels that sailed the oceans and
served with Australia's navy. The two outstanding ones are
the destroyer HMAS Vampire and the submarine HMAS Onslow.
The first ship you clamber on to at the South Wharf is the
Vampire, which served from 1959 to 1986 and was involved in
the Indonesian Confrontation (1965) and made troop escort
runs during the Vietnam War.
The Vampire is a Daring-class destroyer and was one of the
last vessels to be built with cannons rather than today's
guided missiles. In 1980 the ship, affectionately nicknamed
The Bat, became a training vessel.
Of even more interest to landlubbers may be the Onslow -
a 90-metre submarine that was only decommissioned in 1999.
The Onslow is one of the highly rated Oberon-class subs and
was both fast and strong and capable of anti-shipping and
anti-sub roles.
It is a bit of a tight fit getting down into the Onslow and
there are volunteers around to remind you to watch your head.
Just how the sailors managed to put up with what looked like
cramped conditions is anyone's guess - this fellow had to
turn sideways down the corridors to avoid getting stuck shoulders
- but one of the old servicemen said it was roomier than it
looked and the food was great.
Still, with the Onslow capable of being underwater for six
weeks at a time without needing to surface I reckon its crew
of 60 sailors and eight officers were pretty steady and brave
people.
A short walk around the waterfront to Wharf 7 will bring
you to two old sailing ships - The Bounty, a replica of the
famed vessel of William Bligh's mutiny, and the three-masted
barque James Craig.
You can't hop on board the Bounty, which is a real shame,
but the James Craig is crewed by knowledgeable volunteers
who can tell about almost every nail in every square centimetre
of the ship. They also spend time maintaining her and taking
her out on fortnightly cruises through the Sydney Heads.
The James Craig is one of only four such vessels left in
the world and began life in 1874 at Sunderland, UK, as the
Clan Macleod. For 50 years she worked as a bulk-cargo carrier
and rounded Cape Horn an amazing 23 times.
She ended her haulage days in Recherche Bay, Tasmania, where
she was abandoned for some 40 years before being repaired
so she could be towed to Hobart in 1973. More repairs followed
and eight years later she made the trip to Sydney. The James
Craig was eventually recommissioned in 2001.
Temporary ANMM Exhibitions:
Sailor Style (3 June 2004-28 February 2005 Nortel Networks
Gallery)
About Time! (28 September 2004-6 March 2005 South Gallery)
Scrimshaw: Art of the Whaler (19 March 2004-9 February 2005
USA Gallery)
How to Get to the Australian National Maritime Museum in
Sydney
· Bus 443 from city, or an Explorer Bus
· Get off monorail at Harbourside
· Ferry
· Walk across Pyrmont Bridge from city
Open Hours:
9.30am to 5pm (6pm in January).
Closed on Christmas Day.
Trips Aboard the James Craig:
Sails fortnightly, on a Saturday or Sunday, with summer departures
from 10.30am to 5pm and 9.30am to 4pm in winter. Ph: (02)
9298 3888.
ANMM Exhibitions and Main Themes:
Merana Eora Nora - First People
· Arrival of humans in Australia
· Sea voyages from Asia to Australia
· The cultures of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders
Navigators - Defining Australia
· Early trade with Asia
· European explorers
· Matthew Flinders voyage to map Australia
· Use of indigenous dances and stories as oral/aural
maps
· Models of sailing ships
· Collection of maps, globes and 18th Century equipment
Passengers - the Long Sea Voyage
· Personal stories of people sailing to Australia
· Diaries and personal items
· Experiences of convicts through to Vietnamese refugees
Commerce - the Working Sea
· Transportation
· Whaling and sealing industries
· Broome's pearling industry
· Modern exploration for minerals
Navy - Protecting Australia
· Naval tradition and history
· Wartime roles
· Border protection
· Personal experiences of sailors
Watermarks - Adventure, Sport and Play
· Celebrating Australians love of the beach
· Solo yachtswoman Kay Cottee's vessel First Lady
· A 1919 18-foot skiff
· A beercan boat
Links:
ANMM.gov.au
AustFleet.com
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