Visiting the Australian Maritime Museum

When you visit Darling Harbour, its impossible to miss the impressive range of ships docked on the left side of the bay as you stroll down from the Sydney‘s Central Business District. Those vessels form part of the Australian Maritime Museum, where you’ll have the chance to immerse yourself in various periods of Australia’s maritime history.

The Basics:

• Where? 2 Murray Street, Sydney NSW 2000
• When? 9.30am – 5.00pm daily (closed Christmas Day)
• How much? General Admission to the museum is free, to board vessels tickets are $32.00 AUD for adults.
• How to get here? Darling Harbour is a short walk from Town Hall or Wynyard Stations in the Sydney Central Business District.
• Website: https://www.sea.museum/

Exhibits inside the Maritime Museum

When you arrive at the Museum, you’ll be able to explore a range of indoor exhibits for no charge at all. The permanent exhibits that you’ll find as you explore the two storied building include:

• Navigators: an exhibit highlighting the great sea voyages that led to the discovery of Australia.
• Eora – First People: a look at the seafaring traditions of Australia’s seafaring Indigenous population.
• Passengers: highlighting the experiences of those that have travelled to the shores of the island continent from abroad over different periods of history.
• Navy: a look into the history of the Royal Australian Navy and the role of the Navy today.
• Australian-US Relations: a gallery paying tribute to the history of maritime cooperation between the USA and Australia.

I didn’t spend much time inside the museum exhibits when I visited the museum, although there was an interesting special exhibit looking at James Cameron’s underwater filming in movie’s such as the Titanic that I spent some time looking at. I believe that exhibit is still running, but the museum does host many special exhibits so check the website before your visit to see what’s happening when you’re around.

If you only have a limited amount of time to spend at the Maritime Museum though, you’ll want to spend most of it outside. Along the boardwalk alongside the Museum’s exterior, there is a whole heap of vessels docked for your exploration. Admission to these vessels is at a fee, however I think if you come to the Maritime Museum and don’t check these ships out you’ll be kicking yourself later as they really are the highlight of the experience.

HMAS Vampire and HMAS Onslow

Two of the most impressive vessels at the Maritime Museum come from Australia’s military past. The massive HMAS Vampire destroyer served in the Australian navy from 1959 to 1986, before being moored at the museum in 1991. Next to the huge vessel, the HMAS Onslow submarine joined the museum after participating in navy operations from 1968 to 1999. I’d recommend visiting both of these vessels on your visit, particularly if you’ve never been on a military vessel before. Its interesting to see the quarters in which crew members lived for months on end as they served the nation. I know I couldn’t have done it!

Before boarding the vessels, I highly recommend the amazing Action Stations theatre. Here you’ll be able to see short documentaries of real life missions undertaken by both the Vampire and the Onslow. I saw numerous people just walk past these screenings in a rush to board, but I really think it added a lot to the visit to watch this before climbing onboard.

Aboard the HMAS Vampire

Being the largest Destroyer ship to serve in the Australian Navy, you’ll find there’s plenty to see on board the HMAS Vampire. You’ll get to walk around the deck and cabins of the vessel freely but there are plenty of museum staff stationed around that can assist you with any questions that you have when exploring. While on the main deck, you’ll also be treated to great views of the rest of Darling Harbour, so don’t forget to take them in. When you’re done admiring the scenery, get exploring as you’ll see the living quarters, utility stations, communications rooms and more below the deck. I found the captain’s quarters interesting. It was significantly more comfortable looking than the rest of the ship!

I also couldn’t help but notice the artillery on the deck – the Vampire packed some serious firepower, including guns and torpedoes. I was surprised that the ship never actually saw combat, despite its time in the Vietnam war. Later on it was relegated to serving as a navy training vessel, before being left to the museum. Nonetheless, the destroyer remains an imposing sight when viewed in person and is well worth a look on board.

Boarding the HMAS Onslow

After your tour of the Vampire, you’ll next want to board the HMAS Onslow nearby. The Onslow was mainly used in surveillance missions throughout the Cold War and as a result is one of the quietest submarines designed. This military submarine is near operational, having served with the navy right up to the time that it was given to the museum, and walking through the tightly packed corridor through the length of the vessel is an eye opening experience.

Climbing down the steep steps into the submarine, I was surprised at just how little space there was inside. You’ll constantly need to duck (watch your head!) as you’re moving through the various compartments. There’s staff members posted throughout the submarine to provide you with information about what you’re looking at and to answer all your questions. The highlight for me was once again the living quarters – seeing the limited space that crew members have on board and how they would live their lives for weeks on end in that environment was so fascinating.

The HMB Endeavour

While most of the ships along the museum’s dock are the originals, there’s one replica. That replica is the HMB Endeavour, the tall ship that Captain Cook set sale on when he discovered the eastern Australian coastline in the 18th century. The whereabouts of the actual Endeavour remain unknown (its suspected to be wrecked somewhere off the coast of Rhode Island owing to its subsequent British service in the American War of Independence), but this model was completed in 1994 and really takes you back to another time.

Stepping on board, the contrast to the ships you’ve experienced prior to this one couldn’t be more transparent. Wooden decks, tall masts and countless ropes and sails are evidence that long distance travel in Cook’s days was completely different. Remember, the Endeavour travelled all the way from England to Australia. Keep that in mind as you go underneath the deck. You’ll enter into a chamber with picnic like benches draped by countless rope hammocks where crew members sleep on board. From there you literally have to crawl through the next chambers due to the low headspace. I was shocked at just how cramped it was inside!

By the time you reach the captain’s quarters, things take a turn though as this part of the ship was quite beautifully crafted. The chambers occupied by James Cook and botanist Joseph Banks are nicely recreated. As always, the staff were great at giving an insight into the topics of discussion that would have filled this chamber over 200 years prior.

It turns out I was lucky to be able to check out the Endeavour during my visit. I didn’t know this at the time, but the replica takes voyages that people can actually join the crew on. For more details, see here.

The James Craig 1874 Tall Ship

The final ship that you’re able to board outside the museum is the James Craig barque. Originally serving as a cargo ship, the vessel was eventually abandoned and sunk in 1932, the vessel was restored and now forms part of the Sydney Heritage Fleet. Its definitely an important part of history as its one of only four vessels of its kind left in the world that can still sail. Like the Endeavour replica, this ship also takes cruises from time to time, so make sure you check if its going to be around for your visit to the museum.

From the outside, the James Craig looked like a larger version of the Endeavour, however when boarding I quickly found nothing could be further from the truth. Sure, there’s more masts and sails, but under the deck its far more spacious. Yes, you can actually stand in this one! There’s actual bed bunks against the wall and hanging tables with modern kitchen amenities and the like on board. Its far from being a cruise ship, but the level of luxury compared to what was on the other boats was clearly evident.

There’s plenty of information available about this vessel while you explore. Not only are there staff members positioned throughout the ship, but you’ll also be given an information sheet when boarding that guides you through all the highlights so that you don’t miss anything.

More to do…

Doing a quick walk through the museum and then going through the above mentioned vessels took me around two and a half hours or so. By that point I felt I had experienced enough of the Maritime Museum, but there’s plenty more to see here if you want to spend more time. The museum offers various guided tours and there’s even more vessels docked along the harbour (although you can’t go inside these). Other vessels that you’ll find include:

• The HMAS Advance Patrol Boat: a navy vessel involved in monitoring the Australian coastline out of Darwin.
• The SY Ena Steam Yacht: a luxury 1900 private vessel.
• The Carpentaria Lightship: a navigational vessel designed to keep other ships on course.
• The Krait Fishing Trawler: a fishing vessel that also served in an undercover navy operation in World War 2.
• The Tu Do Refugee Boat: a simple Vietnamese fishing craft that made it to Australian shores in 1977.

There’s also a restored 1874 kerosene powered lighthouse located on the dockside that you can sometimes ascend (although the stairs were closed during my visit).

As you can tell, if you’re into any and all things Maritime, this museum is a must do when you’re in Sydney. While its not a topic that fascinates me to any extent, I definitely still enjoyed visiting and exploring the vessels outside. Its a fun way to spend a few hours, especially considering its different to your traditional museum.