Collections - Australian National Maritime Museum

Due to the sheer size of our collection, only a fraction of the Australian National Maritime Museum’s objects can be on display at any one time.

Don't let our lack of physical space get in the way of making new discoveries. You can explore a rich and diverse collection of artefacts online ranging from rocket boats to gold buttons, and discover a wealth of remarkable stories.

Explore the Collection

Colonial Wallpapers - Pacific Encounters

Based on the conventions and elements of early European sea charts, the painting 'Colonial Wallpapers - Pacific Encounters' incorporates a central compass rose, rumb lines and wind gods in a reconstruction of the Pacific.

From the collection

Illustrated log of the whaling barque TERROR

Illustrated log of the Terror

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HMT Queen Mary assisted by a tug

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Hobart Town 1856

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Arch in the Sky

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Emeret Nar: ghost net canoe

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The Charlotte Medal

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Midget submarine attack on Sydney 31 May – 1 June 1942

14 Jun 2017

It’s hard to imagine an enemy so audacious that it would simply sail into Sydney Harbour and attack the city.

Out of Hawaii: Surfing goes global with Australia’s King of the Surf

13 Jun 2017

18-year-old Australian surfer Bernard ‘Midget’ Farrelly’s victory in Hawaii in 1963 positioned him, in a very real sense, as the human ‘winged keel’ in forging a golden moment in Australia’s sporting folklore.

The Australian White Ensign and its connection with HMAS Vampire

29 Mar 2017

Flags are everywhere. We see them flying from government and corporate buildings, from ships and cars, at sporting events, and during festivals.

75 years ago today a queen arrived in Sydney

28 Mar 2017

On 28th March 1942 the troopship RMS Queen Mary arrived in Sydney with 8,398 Americans on board, destined for the Pacific War.

Careers in science and museums: Meeting our conservators

08 Mar 2017

What a museum without its collection? The stories we tell are imbued in the objects the museum collects and the conservation department is tasked with caring for these objects.

Chinese maritime traditions and Lunar New Year: It’s the Year of the Rooster… so bring on the Dragons!

27 Jan 2017

It’s Lunar New Year and time to present the colour and excitement of ancient Chinese culture from the museum’s collections. Dragons feature heavily. And so does racing.

Throwback Thursday: American troopship convoy departs for Australia 1942

12 Jan 2017

SS Mariposa was launched in 1931 by the Matson Line to carry 700 passengers in luxury across the Pacific from San Francisco to Sydney.

Ken Warby and life lessons

30 Dec 2016

For years Ken Warby went his own way, building an 8.2-metre boat in his backyard with a J34 Westinghouse jet engine to top it off. His neighbours and wife must have despaired.

The lost art of the Christmas card

24 Dec 2016

It was bound to happen. There was only one this year: a lone Christmas card arriving in my mailbox, stoically spreading Christmas cheer and best wishes for the season.

Tobruk: The lifting of the siege, 75 years ago

09 Dec 2016

The 9th of December 2016 is the 75th anniversary of the lifting of the siege of Tobruk, the port on the north coast of Libya that proved such a thorn in the side of German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel during the eight months that the siege lasted.