by David Nicolson
Australian National Maritime Museum, situated in Sydney’s Darling Harbour, is one of the premier museums in Australia and should be on the must-see list for anyone interested in maritime history.
The best way to reach it is by taking the ferry from Circular Quay; it is one of the best harbour trips in the world, taking you past the iconic Opera House and then under one of Australia’s national landmarks, the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Arriving at the museum landing gives you the best views of the James Craig, a three masted clipper and the replica of Captain Cook’s HMB Endeavour.
The museum has two main sections; the first is a collection of historic ships ranging from history making yachts to a Daring class destroyer. The second section is the main museum building that is full of maritime artifacts and special exhibitions.
It costs nothing to stroll around the various jetties to look and photograph the moored exhibits, but there is a cost to enter the museum, however, the entry fee gives access to many of the ships on display.
Of particular interest to West Australians is the two replicas made here in WA. They are the Endeavour and the Duyfken. The original Endeavour was of course made famous by Captain Cook and his trip of discovery to Australia. The little 60 tonne Duyfken, captained by the Dutchman Willem Jansxoon, was the first European to chart the northern part of Australia in 1606.
Arguably the most famous ship in the collection is the Krait. Although not much to look at, the story of the ship and her courageous crew in the sinking of Japanese merchant ships moored in Singapore harbour in World War II is the stuff of legends.
The Royal Australian Navy is represented with three ships, the destroyer Vampire, the submarine Onslow and the patrol boat, Advance. Once again there is a West Australian connection, the sistership of Advance was HMAS
Acute, a regular in the Swan River and often seen on the WA coast, and the sistership of Onslow is the Ovens, now newly restored and on show at the Fremantle Maritime Museum.
Many of the museum’s ships make regular trips into the harbour. These include the sailing ship James
Craig, the two replicas, Endeavour and Duyfken, or you can choose the luxury of the beautifully restored stream yacht, SY Ena, however bookings are essential if you are going to take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime experience.
The museum building houses an amazing diversity of maritime artifacts including indigenous and South Pacific artifacts, navigational instruments, model ships from all ages plus a full-size maritime helicopter. For those interested in boat modelling, the museum has a volunteer on duty each day to give you an explanation of this craft.
A new exhibition, entitled the Sydney Harbour Gallery, features historical and contemporary accounts of Sydney Harbour by making use of ship models, images and unique graphic panels to tell the story of the importance of the harbour to Sydney and Australia.
A favourite of the younger visitors is the marine life display that includes a life-sized whale shark suspended from the ceiling. An array of marine sculptures hang from the roof throughout the building providing plenty of interesting photo opportunities.
I was delighted to see a replica of John Harrison’s famous clock, H1. In 1736 the original clock was taken to sea in an attempt, for the first time, to measure longitude by mechanical means. Although partially successful, it took many more years before a reliable maritime chronometer was developed. It was the use of such a chronometer that made Cook’s cartography so accurate.
Although there are no dining facilities inside the main building, there is an excellent café on the terraces which gives a wonderful view of Darling Harbour with the historic ships in the foreground and the city skyline in the distance. The museum is continually updating its exhibits and putting on special exhibitions, so it is worthwhile checking out their web page before planning a visit.
