Why the Australian National Maritime Museum is worth a visit

By Carla Marine Fischer

The Australian National Maritime Museum, is on multiple websites for tourists, yet due to COVID-19 and their lack of presence. I had the pleasure to be invited by Mona Hussain who offered me a tour of the Museum prior to the lockdown. While the museum is currently closed until the 30th of September. I thought it to be a good idea to showcase what the Museum has to offer and why it might be worthwhile your time once the Museum reopens.  


Established in 1991 the Museum is situated on the traditional land and water of the Gadigal people who are of the 21 clans of the Eora nation. Today it is situated on land known as 2 Murray Street. Yet, it has not forgotten its origin as a museum is open to all and ensures itself to be accessible to all. As the museum is located a ten-minute walk from the Queen Victoria light rail station or a twenty-minute car ride from UNSW. It has preserved this historical knowledge with exhibitions such as ‘Badu by Earth’ an exhibition which talks how from a First Nation perspective they looked after the ocean. This is proving itself to be an everlasting legacy as one volunteer who was repairing the sail of the James Craig ship expressed to me “you know Carla, if you want to integrate here, you need to learn how to sail - as Sydney is a coastal city.”




This connection is showcased throughout the museum as Mona explains “the museum started off as a maritime museum for ships and boats and migrants who come to Australia with some of their personal things they brought with them. For example, the Vietnamese people that came here with their boat we have some of their cooking utensils and suitcases as well” Mona said. She then pointed to a small, squared tapestry with the Taj Mahal on it brought by migrants from India. Herself a migrant from Pakistan she grew up in the UK, where she met her husband and together, they moved to Australia. Why she might have felt the need to point out these historical items as they might have explained the struggle of modern migration to Australia, and their effort towards being acceptance. As she adds how “we need to break that glass ceiling especially as women but then also I am a person of colour, so I have got that double barrier if you’d like”, “we need to constantly break the barriers for our future generations for our daughters for our granddaughters.” Due to my background, I was most moved by the small birthday cards written by Dutch citizens who migrated to Australia back in the 1950s. Translated by myself, they depict times of trying to form stability during instability with songs, lunch menus, and poetry.  

On the outside of the museum larger items are exhibited on the docks such as the 1874 James Craig, and the HMAS Vampire, a destroyer ship which served in the Royal Australian Navy from 1959 to 1986. To the Krait which served as a spy vessel fighting off the Japanese in Singapore in 1943 as part of operation Jaywick. Mona noted that the Krait is most likely to be their most valuable ship as it is today part of Australia’s War Memorial collection. 

For me the most impressive item the Museum had to offer was the HMAS Onslow (SS 60/SSG 60) Submarine. With an additional cost you are set back to what life must have felt being in a submarine during the second world war. Entailing a need for great mental endurance as you are plunging down to 200m in a tight pressurised space metal tube with over 60 people.  


 

Preservation and Restoration  

Part of the museum is ensuring items are preserved. For that they have curators, researchers, and volunteers all working on objects that have been donated or purchased like Ena, a yacht built in 1901. Previously owned by Rene Rivkin, who went on to become the youngest member of the Sydney Stock Exchange. She must be maintained at extreme costs. Like her boiler which can only be repaired by one person in the world, who lives in England. Mona adds how these repairs are financed through either ticket sales, or with the help of the range of donors/sponsors such that of the Department of Defence, and the Royal Australian Navy. Sponsors such as National Geographic, The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. In return the boat can be rented for private events.  


 


For researchers the Museum offers a library accessible to the public upon request. Which holds an impressive collection of preserved replicas of the S.S Nolisemen passenger boat from the 1920s, and other collectable documents such as early descriptions of early migration to Australia. The museum promote the work of marine biologists and researcher who oversee the health of the bay, like a machine which sucks out plastic debris that come in from Darling Harbour. “We are trying to be more friendly of the maritime we try to make it more environmentally conscious about what is happening with our ocean at the moment” Mona said. This is not the only effort the Museum, as Mona herself a paid employee donates left behind items to Brothers in Need, a homeless charity organisation situated in Sydney’s CBD. Proving itself to be a museum which attempts to give back to its community as part of its duty. 


Writer's Bio: Carla Fischer, is in her third year of Politics and International Relations. She spends most of her time finding patterns, and collecting information to find reason in her curiosity. This has evolved to writing in the hopes that her stories impact the readers. She enjoys spending time with the people, and living through the adventure that comes along the way.