Queensland Maritime Museum

A visit to the Queensland Maritime Museum provides an overview on

the maritime history of Queensland Australia and the interesting stories that accompany it.

Situated on Brisbane River at the southern end of South Bank Parklands and close to the Goodwill Bridge, this museum was founded back in 1971 and features a two-level exhibition structure that displays historical sailing ship models alongside merchant shipping from early cargo ships to modern day container cruise liners, tankers and container ships.

Once used for the "Pavilion of Promise" at Expo 88, and the South Brisbane Dry Dock which was developed in the 1870s and was 95 m long and 18 m wide. In 1887 the dock was built up to 430 feet due to

the increasing size of vessels. Information on a part of the 1,500 or more shipwrecks along the Queensland coast that includes the Great Barrier Reef is also provided.

Picture taking in the museum is very much encouraged, so bringing that camera along and taking as many souvenir photos as possible is a common

sight at this maritime museum. Notable maritime displays include the steam tug Forceful, the South Brisbane Dry Dock, the warship known as Diamantina and a huge collection of exhibits. Before it was basically possible to take one of the regular river-bay trips being offered by the 1925 steam tug SS

Forceful, although at present it is temporarily not in operation as repairs are being undertaken to its main circulation pump as well as other maintenance repairs on the vessel is being carried out.

An option however is visting another attraction worth seeing in the museum, which is the South Brisbane's Dry Dock. Having served the people of Queensland for nearly a century, it was an important transportation asset for people and goods across the Brisbane River. It first opened to the public

back in 1881. Today the gargantuan warship HMAS Diamantina (a River Class Frigate) now stays at the Dry Dock where visitors can view a collection of Australian Naval memorabilia.