Signals, Issue 81

Signals

Number 81 December 2007–February 2008

SIGNALS 81 December 2007–February 2008

Your museum …

Sydney’s finest harbour-side venue Whatever you’re planning … a conference, meeting, product launch, party, cocktails or celebration, our helpful staff can prepare you an attractive package.

From our 220-seat theatre and Tasman Light Deck to the Terrace Room, Yots Café and HMAS Vampire and South Wharf, we’ve got history, style and views.

Book early for a North Wharf Christmas party.

Magnificent CBD views from the Terrace Room.

SIGNALS 81 December 2007–February 2008

Signals

Australian National Maritime Museum’s quarterly magazine Number 81 December 2007–February 2008

COVER: The museum’s replica of James Cook’s HM Bark Endeavour sails on Bass Strait in April this year, under charter to the makers of the four-part documentary series Captain Cook – Obsession and Discovery that screened on ABC TV in October and November this year.

Contents

Photographer Simon Cardwell, reproduced courtesy of Film Australia

14 Endeavour to Newcastle

ABOVE: Cook expert and author Vanessa Collingridge, who wrote and presented the TV series Captain Cook – Obsession and Discovery, on the Endeavour replica with Matt Young (left) as Cook and Patrick Mobbs at the wheel.

Photographer Simon Cardwell, reproduced courtesy of Film Australia

TOP RIGHT: TV personality and environmentalist Richard Morecroft (left) presented medals to the overall and category winners of the 2007 Dymocks Golden Paw Awards, for paintings of endangered Australian species by NSW and ACT primary school children. The awards raise funds to help save endangered creatures.

The paintings went on display at the museum. Photographer J Mellefont/ANMM

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Iceman – the story of Ötzi Fresh from 5,300 years in a glacier, meet Ötzi the copper-age hunter

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Conrad in Australia The Polish-born giant of English literature had a soft spot for us Another port welcomes the replica, in a busy year of voyaging

16 2007 Frank Broeze prize $2000 award for the best work of maritime history

18 Survival Two teenagers who survived a wartime torpedoing off NSW coast

20 Members message, events and activities Talks, tours, previews, cruises, fireworks … Members’ summer calendar

26 What’s on at the museum Summer exhibitions, events and activities for visitors, schools programs

30 A Titanic hero The fifth officer who was lauded for his courage on that terrible night

34 Norman Lindsay – magic of the sea That controversial Australian artist harboured another passion

38 Tales from the Welcome Wall Daughter of Sri Lankan and French parents migrates to Hornsby

40 Off-watch reading Sea quotations, Broome history, ship spotting and clipper adventures

42 Collections Saving souls on board The Gospel Ship

44 See you at the Summit Close encounters with a President during APEC leaders meeting

48 From the Director ICMM meets in Malta; new council announced for ARHV SIGNALS 81 December 2007–February 2008

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iceman the story of Ötzi A travelling exhibition featuring ring the sensational discovery of a 5,300-year-old hunter, mummifi mmified in the snow and ice of the Austro-Italian Alps, has come me to us from the South Tyrol Museum um of Archaeology. Its director Angelika Fleckinger recounts nts the Iceman’s recovery and the fascinating evidence that it reveals of life – and death – in neolithic lithic Europe.

DISCOVERIES of human mummies and as are skeletal remains in Alpine glacial areas extremely rare and are usually serendipitous. With few exceptions, they hey were made by alpinists in the 19th century ntury or soldiers during the two world wars.. The few older finds testify to the early usee d of the Alpine area as a hunting ground and pasture for animal herds, or attest to long-forgotten traffic routes.

All glacial findings of human remains discovered before Ötzi were deformed, fragmented and partly crushed by the sheer forces of the ice masses flowing down valleys. The fortuitous circumstances that resulted in the preservation and discovery of Ötzi, the Iceman from Tisenjoch (Italy), have so far been unique. So too is the fact that this man has been preserved in full dress with all his equipment – as though frozen in time.

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The Iceman, who is on public display at the archaeology museum in Bolzano, South Tyrol, Italy, is now one of the most famous mummies in the world.

His nickname Ötzi comes from the Ötztal Alps, the region in which he was discovered. Years of research at the location of the find has provided fresh insights into the everyday life of a stone-age man, his environment and his extraordinary skills in adapting to his environment and shaping it to his needs.

Discovery and recovery On 19 September 1991 Erika und Helmut Simon from Nuremberg, Germany, who were vacationing in the high mountains of the Ötztal Alps, were making their way down the Finail Peak near Tisenjoch at an altitude of 3,210 metres when they discovered the mummified body of a person. Only the back of the head, the naked shoulders and part of the back protruded from the ice.

SIGNALS 81 December 2007–February 2008

The corpse lay in a hollow measuring around 40 metres long, 5–8 metres wide and 2.5–3 metres deep, which was surrounded by steep rock faces. This geological formation protected the body from the immense forces of the ice, which in the course of time settled above the hollow.

It took several days before a rescue operation was launched. Not until 23 September were the mummy and other finds recovered by a coroner, though unfortunately not in the presence of an archaeologist. The body with all the other finds was taken to the Institute of Forensic Medicine at Innsbruck University, Austria.

by carbon 14 dating, which showed that the Iceman lived between 3,350 and 3,100 BC, ie over 5,000 years ago. At the time, the introduction of copper as a new material was transforming simple life in Europe, which was based on agriculture and animal husbandry and centred around villages. The Iceman was already buried in the glacier when Pharaoh Cheops had the Cheops pyramids built in Egypt. The world-famous Stonehenge monument would not be erected in England for several centuries to come.

Soon after the mummy was recovered, rumours began circulating that the find was inside Italian and not – as originally assumed – Austrian territory. A new

The Iceman was already buried in the glacier when Pharaoh Cheops had the Cheops pyramids built in Egypt The head of the Department of Prehistory and Ancient History at Innsbruck University, Konrad Spindler, examined the corpse and roughly dated the find as being at least 4,000 years old, on the basis of the type of axe found with the body. Nowhere in the world had there ever been such a well-preserved find of a human several thousand years old who, to top things off, had been preserved in his full clothing and with numerous pieces of equipment.

Final proof of the genuineness and extraordinary age of the find was provided SIGNALS 81 December 2007–February 2008

OPPOSITE PAGE: The reconstruction of the Iceman, his tools and clothing, is based on the bestpreserved samples of these perishable materials yet found. He has a bear-skin cap and shoe soles, deer-skin shoe uppers and legging straps, domestic goat-skin upper garments, leggings and loincloth, and a grass cape. He carries a copper-headed axe, a bow and quiver.

All photographs reproduced courtesy of the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology

TOP LEFT: The Iceman is displayed in Italy in a high-tech, sterile cold cell at constant temperature and humidity.

ABOVE: CT scan image of the Iceman revealed a flint arrowhead embedded in the left shoulder, from behind.

official survey of the border revealed the truth. The find spot is located 92.56 metres from the border between Austria and Italy in South Tyrol, Italy.

leather, a net, grass twine, and the remains of birch bark containers complete with their contents. The Iceman’s bearskin cap was discovered near the rock on which he lay. The two excavation campaigns exhaustively scoured the entire area around the find.

Archeological investigations of the site where the Iceman was found were carried out in October 1991 and in the summer of 1992. The aim was to record the exact position of the mummy and the artefacts scattered about the rock ledge, and to draw up a precise strata plan. During the archeological investigation of the site, numerous small items were found, including body tissue, pieces of hide and

It is not only the Iceman’s age but also the nature of the mummification process that makes him such a valuable scientific discovery. The body is a so-called ‘wet mummy’, because moisture is still preserved in the individual cells. The body tissue is therefore elastic – a lucky circumstance, as some scientific examinations would otherwise have been impossible.

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The Iceman in life and death The Iceman appears to be frozen in time – the time of his death. Nothing about the body was altered as a result of burial rituals or other preparations.

Because of shrinkage caused by the mummification process, the mummy is 154 cm in length. Measurements of the body have shown, however, that the Iceman was about 160 cm tall [around five feet three inches] and weighed around 50 kg [nearly 8 stone] in life.

This corresponds to the average size and weight of people in that era.

The Iceman wore his dark wavy hair at

place where he died. Strontium, lead and oxygen isotopes in the Iceman’s tooth enamel reflect the composition of his food and thus that of the soil and water in his immediate environment.

Having reached the ripe old age of around 46, the Iceman was probably the eldest member of his community. This is shown by marked signs of degeneration, eg worn joints and calcified blood vessels. In addition, the Iceman was missing the 12th pair of ribs. This rare anomaly, however, would not have affected him at all in life.

The body also shows signs of injuries sustained during life.

Soon after the mummy was recovered, rumours began circulating that the find was inside Italian and not Austrian territory least shoulder length. In all probability he had a beard. He was 46 years old at the time of his death and had therefore achieved a relatively advanced age by Neolithic standards. Examination of the isotope composition of a milligram-size sample taken from the tooth enamel of the mummy showed where the Iceman had spent his early childhood – probably in the upper Eisack Valley or the lower Puster Valley, some 100 km from the Page 4

The fact that the Iceman suffered a violent death was finally proven in the summer of 2001. Examination of new X-rays revealed an arrowhead buried in the mummy’s left shoulder. The CT scans showed that the arrowhead had made an approximately two-centimetre entry wound in the left shoulder and then lodged in soft tissue about 15 mm from the left lung. On close examination of the left part of the back a small lesion was discovered – the opening

ABOVE: Archaeological excavations in the glacier ice at the site of the Iceman’s discovery.

of a deep stab wound. Although no vital organs were affected, the arrowhead is near vascular nerve bundles of the left arm.

Injury of these nerve fibres would have resulted in major bleeding and possibly paralysis of the left arm. The Iceman probably died from massive blood loss after just a few minutes.

We will probably never know the exact circumstances of his death. What is certain is that he was shot from behind, probably from a low position. Massive head and brain trauma suggests a fall or a blow to the head. A deep-penetrating injury to the Iceman’s hand shows that he had been involved in close combat.

The Iceman’s body is covered with around 50 tattoos in the form of lines and crosses.

Unlike modern tattoos, these tattoos were not made with needles but by fine cuts in the skin into which charcoal was then rubbed. The tattoos are located on parts of the body that were subjected to wear and tear and that probably were a source of pain for the Iceman during his life. He had therefore undergone treatment for pain relief on several occasions. The tattoos are thought to have been made for therapeutic SIGNALS 81 December 2007–February 2008

purposes, though other explanations cannot be ruled out.

The content of the Iceman’s gut provided evidence of his last meal, a porridge prepared from einkorn (one of the earliest cultivated forms of wheat), meat and unidentifiable plant components. Based on the degree of digestion and the pollen contained in the food, botanists have concluded that the Iceman must have stayed in Vinschgau (a high valley in South Tyrol) 12 hours before his death and that he probably died in early summer.

The Iceman’s clothing The find provides us with unique insights into the everyday life and general appearance of an Alpine resident of the copper age over 5,000 years ago. Under normal conditions the Iceman’s clothing SIGNALS 81 December 2007–February 2008

and equipment made from organic materials would have decomposed. His clothing consisted of a cap, a vest, a pair of leggings, a belt, a loincloth, a pair of shoes and a grass mat. No woven fabrics were used, only tanned hides and wickerwork. Sinew, rarely grass and tree bark, were used for sewing.

The vest was made from dark and light strips of goat skin sewn together with sinew. The vest had been in use for some time, as evidenced by soiling of the inner surface, sweat deposits and repairs made with grass straws. The two-piece leggings consist of several pieces of goat hide sewn together with sinew.

TOP LEFT: Dagger has flint blade, ash wood handle and a scabbard of sewn tree bast.

TOP RIGHT: The oldest such shoes ever found: complex structure includes an inner netting to hold insulating hay, deerskin outer and bear-skin sole.

LEFT: Details of arrow: flint arrowhead secured by birch tar and thread bindings; notched end shows traces of three-part fletches.

ABOVE: The Iceman’s leggings, made of domestic goat hide cross-stitched together, with the fur on the outside.

Native North American Indians used such leggings.

The Iceman’s shoes are the oldest preserved shoes in the world. Each comprises an inner shoe and an outer Page 5

shoe. The inner shoe consists of a netting made of tree bark. The netting serves to hold grass in place, which acted as insulation against the cold. The outer shoe is made from deer hide. Both parts – grass netting and upper leather – are attached to the oval bearskin sole with leather straps.

Unlike the sole leather, the upper leather was worn with the fur on the outside.

they are excellent tools for felling trees.

The Iceman’s equipment

The largest piece of equipment discovered was a 182-cm-long yew bow stave. Signs of work in progress clearly show that the bow was still unfinished. The finished bow would have had a smooth finish. The bowstring, which on prehistoric bows was usually fixed at one end with a loop and at the other end by winding it around the bow tip, was also missing.

The Iceman carried his very extensive and efficient equipment with him, which made it possible for him to remain far away from his settlement and sustain himself for long periods. His tools enabled him to repair or replace damaged objects. He probably carried his bow in his hand; the rest of his

The quiver fashioned from chamois hide contained two ready-to-shoot arrows and 12 rough arrow shafts. The unfinished shafts were 84 to 87 cm in length and were made from shoots of the wayfaring tree. The two finished arrows were fitted with flint arrowheads. The arrowheads

Examination of new X-rays revealed an arrowhead buried in the mummy’s left shoulder … 15 mm from the left lung equipment was stowed in his backpack, on his belt and in his quiver. Only in this way would he have been able to negotiate the difficult terrain safely.

The most sensational item is the Iceman’s axe. It is the only fully preserved prehistoric axe in the world. The blade is fashioned from copper, the angled haft from yew. Initially it was thought that such axes would be useless as tools or weapons due to the softness of the metal. However, archeological experiments have shown that Page 6

were glued to the shafts with birch pitch and bound with thread. The remains of three-part radial fletchings at the other end of the arrows, which were secured with birch pitch and thin nettle fibres, are unique. The fletching served to stabilise the arrow in flight.

The Iceman’s equipment also included a modest medicinal kit. Strung on two strips of hide were two forms cut from the fruiting body of the birch fungus. They were probably intended for medicinal

ABOVE: Birch bark containers carried by the Iceman held these maple leaves (LEFT), showing traces of carbon. They are believed to have been used, when fresh-picked, to carry embers.

purposes. Tree fungi were used for various medicinal purposes right up to the last century. The birch fungus is known to have antibiotic and hemostatic (bleeding control) properties. Toxic oils in the tree fungi may also have been used against intestinal parasites, which the Iceman suffered from.

The Iceman displayed Since March 1998 it has been possible to view Ötzi and his possessions at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano. For this purpose a new refrigeration technology had to be developed. The so-called ‘Iceman box’ is a hitherto unique, complex system comprising two cooling chambers with independent systems, an examination room and a decontamination antechamber.

Through an opening in the wall measuring 40 x 40 cm visitors to the museum are able to look into the refrigerated cell in which the mummy is stored and preserved on a precision scale at -6°C and 98% humidity. To prevent the body from drying out further, plates of ice are affixed to the SIGNALS 81 December 2007–February 2008

ABOVE: The Iceman’s axe, with its copper blade, is the only completely intact prehistoric axe in the world. In Ötzi’s time such an implement, using the latest materials technology, was a mark of high status. Mineral traces detected by scientists suggest that he may have been a copper smelter himself.

The research work continues. Every year the museum receives research applications from around the world. The interaction of multiple research disciplines is sure to flesh out our picture of the Iceman further and deepen our knowledge of life in the

Alps 5,000 years ago.

RIGHT: Tattoos are visible on the Iceman’s back. They also occurred on his legs, feet and wrists, and are believed to have had some therapeutic purpose.

Ötzi the neolithic hunter is conserved in Italy, but the life-size replica of his mummified body, and a mannequin wearing his replicated clothing and toolkit, have come to Sydney. Original and replica copper age objects, sound effects, holograms and interactive stations tell the story of his life and death 5,300 years ago.

inside wall of the cell. A high level of sterility and air filtration is ensured in all the rooms. A small laboratory is available for further scientific tests. A computer station records the ambient pressure, temperature and humidity and the weight of the mummy, which are measured by sensors located on the body of the mummy and in the refrigerated cell. An alarm is triggered automatically if any changes are detected.

Principal sponsors:

SIGNALS 81 December 2007–February 2008

Angelika Fleckinger is director of the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology, Bolzano, Italy. She trained in ancient and early history, art history and classical archaeology at the University of Innsbruck, Austria. Ms Fleckinger travelled to Sydney to deliver lectures and to attend the exhibition’s opening on Friday 9 November. Rorum norteridem ilicae quam, dii con tiliciam hicae con

SPECIAL ÖTZI ACTIVITIES Summer School Holiday Program 27 December 2007–25 January 2008 Sessions hourly 10 am–4 pm daily Come to KIDS DECK to find out what happened to Ötzi the Iceman, buried in ice for 5,300 years. Join an archeological ‘dig’ and use the evidence to learn what kind of food Ötzi ate, what he wore and the medicine that he took.

For children 5–12 years. More information page 26 Family fun Sundays 11 am–3 pm Sundays in February 5–12 year olds can join an archeological ‘dig’ and learn about Ötzi the Iceman, dress up, and make an arrow-quiver to take home.

Cost $7 per child or FREE with any purchased ticket. Adults/Members FREE FREE film – Ice Age 2 pm daily during Term

Supporting sponsors:

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Conrad in Australia

It’s 150 years since the birth of Jozef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski (1857–1924), the Polish mariner who, writing as Joseph Conrad, became one of English literature’s greatest novelists. Curator Lindl Lawton’s new Tasman Light display looks at the seafaring life that inspired so much of his writing, and at Conrad’s connections with Australia.

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SIGNALS 81 December 2007–February 2008

LEFT: Joseph Conrad the literary giant on the SS Tuscania, New York 1923.

Photograph reproduced courtesy of the Library of Congress

BELOW: Circular Quay panorama, photographer Charles Pickering 1871.

Ordinary seaman Conrad’s ship Duke of Sutherland is at far right.

ANMM collection

I did go to Minlacowie. The farmers around were very nice to me, and I gave their wives (on a never-to-be-forgotten day) a tea party on the dear old ‘Otago’ then lying alongside the God-forsaken jetty there. (Letter from Joseph Conrad to A T Saunders, 14/06/1917, State Library of South Australia) IN THIS LETTER to an Australian acquaintance, novelist Joseph Conrad reflects on a voyage to the tiny South Australian port of Minlacowie in 1889.

At that time he had not yet started to write but was master of the Otago, an Australian-owned barque trading along the coast. The letter is one of four originals written by Joseph Conrad that are held in Australian collections.

Two of these are exhibited for the first time as part of Conrad in Australia, a display of photographs, paintings and documents exploring Conrad’s links with the continent and celebrating the 150th anniversary of his birth.

Many people are familiar with Conrad as the author of Heart of Darkness – a story SIGNALS 81 December 2007–February 2008

based on his bleak voyage down the River Congo in 1890. Fewer are aware of his connections with, and indeed affection for, Australia. Conrad first visited as a young seaman in 1878 and returned regularly in the ensuing decade. While the antics of Minlacowie’s tea-sipping ladies may not have slipped into his fiction, Conrad’s experiences on ships carrying cargo to and from the Antipodes inspired a cache of works including The ShadowLine, Chance, The Secret Sharer, Falk and The Mirror of the Sea. Conrad was born Jozef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski at Berdyczow, Poland (then part of the Ukraine) on 3 December 1857. Orphaned at the age of 10, he was raised by his maternal uncle Tadeusz Bobrowski. Even as a boy Jozef was determined to go to sea and at 16 travelled to the French port of Marseilles to join the merchant marine. Before he put pen to paper, Conrad spent the next 20 years sailing the world with the French and later British merchant navy.

On the 12 October 1878 Conrad signed

on with an Australia-bound wool clipper, the Duke of Sutherland, as an ordinary seaman at one shilling a month. The outward voyage was uneventful but after the vessel reached Sydney the company spent five months locating a cargo for the return passage. Most of the crew abandoned ship, fed up with paltry pay and meagre rations. Penniless, 20-yearold Joseph signed on for the return voyage, living on board and eking out an existence as night watchman.

In The Mirror of the Sea (1906), Conrad captured the heartbeat of Circular Quay as the sun set and its seedier characters seeped from the shadows: The night humours of the town descended from the street to the waterside in the still watches of the night: larrikins rushing down in bands to settle some quarrel by a stand-up fight away from the police, in an indistinct ring half hidden by piles of cargo with the sounds of blows, a groan now and then, the stamping of feet and the cry of ‘Time!’ rising suddenly above the sinister and excited murmurs.

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Perched on the rails of the old Duke of Sutherland, Conrad became intimately familiar with his surrounds – the Kings Head pub ‘patronised by the cooks and stewards of the fleet’, bawdy cabmen awaiting the bi-weekly ASN Company’s passenger boat, and George Street’s noisy saveloy vendors and cheap Chinese eateries. It was while confined to the quay that Conrad encountered the handless

The ship, brought-to and bowing under enormous flashing seas, glistened wet from deck to trucks; her one set sail stood out a coal-black shape upon the gloomy blueness of the air. I was a youngster then and suffering from weariness, cold and imperfect oilskins which let water in at every seam. (The Mirror of the Sea) In 1880 Conrad gained his second mate’s ticket in the British merchant navy and

Conrad signed on with an Australia-bound wool clipper, the Duke of Sutherland, as an ordinary seaman at one shilling a month French sailor who kept a tobacco shop in George Street. This curious character provided the inspiration for the villainous Man without Hands in his 1912 story Because of the Dollars.

The Duke of Sutherland eventually secured a mixed cargo of wheat and wool and embarked for London on 6 July 1879. On the homeward voyage the ship rounded Cape Horn during a ferocious gale. Conrad’s visceral descriptions of facing the ocean’s fury from the deck of a clipper remain some of the most evocative in English literature: Page 10

spent three months scouring London’s shipping offices for a vessel. By a quirk of fate (recounted at length in the novel Chance) he was appointed third mate on the Loch Etive, a sleek new iron clipper destined for Australia. The ship departed England in August 1880 and docked at Dibbs Wharf in Sydney in November.

This time officer Conrad had respectable earnings to spend and relished his time in port. He remained enchanted with the Quay’s spider web of masts and rigging: ‘… no walled prison-house of a dock that, but the integral part of one of the finest, most beautiful, vast and safe bays the sun

The barque Otago in full sail, H Percival, watercolour, about 1877.

Reproduced courtesy of the National Library of Australia

ever shone upon …’ (The Mirror of the Sea). Conrad’s words are now etched on a plaque on the Sydney Writers’ Walk, not far from where he spent his shore leave.

Conrad’s only command and one of his most memorable ordeals at sea was on the Otago, an iron barque owned by the Port Adelaide firm of Henry Simpson & Sons. The British Consul General appointed him master in January 1888 after the previous master, Captain Snadden, had died suddenly at sea.

Conrad was marooned in Singapore having just resigned from the Vidar, a steamer trading between Borneo and Sulawesi. In the novel The Shadow-Line, published in 1917, he recounted his first tantalising glimpse of the Otago, who ‘… amongst her companions moored to the bank appeared as an Arab steed in a string of cart horses …’ Conrad sailed from Bangkok on 9 February with a cargo of teak but the ship was becalmed and the crew struck down with fever, dysentery and cholera. Diverting to Singapore, all were hospitalised bar the robust cook with a gammy heart, and six SIGNALS 81 December 2007–February 2008

new seamen were employed before the ship continued to Sydney.

Sharer were all partly inspired by this voyage.

After rounding Cape Leeuwin off the Western Australian coast the Otago encountered a heavy gale which Conrad recalled in The Mirror of the Sea. The passage captures his utter delight in the dynamic between the sea and a ship supremely built for taking on its challenges:

Conrad held command of the Otago for 14 months. Eight of those months were spent in extended voyages, six in trading along the Australian coast. He grew bored with the routine of coastal trading and for his second long voyage sailing from Sydney to Mauritius for a cargo of sugar, he proposed an unconventional course.

Literary pilgrims pilfered souvenirs while Hobart sightseers continued to visit the ship until it was finally broken up The solemn thundering combers caught her up from astern, passed her with a fierce boiling up of foam level with bulwarks, swept on ahead with a swish and a roar; and the little vessel, dipping her jib-boom into the tumbling froth, would go on running in a smooth glassy hollow, a deep valley between two ridges of the sea, hiding the horizon ahead and astern. There was such fascination in her pluck, nimbleness, the continual exhibition of unfailing seaworthiness … that I could not give up the delight of watching her …

The Shadow-Line, Falk, and The Secret SIGNALS 81 December 2007–February 2008

Almost without reflection I sat down and wrote a letter to my owners suggesting that, instead of the usual southern route, I should take the ship to Mauritius via way of Torres Strait. I ought to have received a severe rap on the knuckles, if only for wasting their time in submitting such an unheard-of proposition.

(Last Essays, 1926) As a boy, Conrad had devoured books on exploration and was lured to the sea in part by the prospect of following in the wake of the ‘great shades’ of his youth – Luis Váez de Torres, Captain Cook and Abel Tasman. To his surprise, Henry

Reefing sail on the Loch Etive.

Photograph reproduced courtesy of the Brodie Collection, La Trobe Picture Collection, State Library of Victoria

Simpson & Sons consented and the Otago sailed from Sydney on 7 August 1888. As he took a bearing on Possession Island in the Torres Strait, Conrad envisaged his hero Cook – ‘a lonely figure in a threecornered hat and square-skirted lace coat, pacing to and fro slowly on the rocky shore.’ (Last Essays) The Otago went on to have a long and illustrious career long after Conrad resigned his command in 1889. It sailed the world until 1900 before being converted into a coal lighter in Sydney and later in Hobart. In 1931 the vessel was sold to a wrecker and scuttled in the Derwent River where the remnants of its rusting hull can still be glimpsed today.

Literary pilgrims pilfered souvenirs while Hobart sightseers continued to visit the ship until 1960 when it was finally broken up. American novelist Christopher Morley requisitioned the Otago’s teak wheel, installing it at the headquarters of the Honourable Company of Master Mariners located on the ship Wellington on the Thames. The Page 11

timber companion hatchway is displayed at the Maritime Museum of Tasmania and its rusting anchor is located at the seaside town of Bicheno.

In 1890 Conrad travelled to Africa – lured by his connections with the region and the chance of exploring the vast uncharted spaces that still existed on the continent.

He served as first mate on the steamer Roi des Belges under Captain Koch voyaging up the River Congo to Stanley Falls. After the captain fell ill to dysentery and malaria, Conrad was appointed master for the return trip to Kinshasa. The sevenweek voyage destroyed Conrad’s health and he abandoned his three-year contract, making his way back to London by January 1891. The ‘merry dance of death and trade’ that Conrad witnessed in the Belgian Congo inspired his most famous story, Heart of Darkness.

After Africa, Conrad was afflicted with painful gout for the rest of his life. A photograph displayed of a melancholy Conrad gazing from the rails of the Tuscania in 1923 depicts one hand bandaged (see page 8). One of the original Conrad letters exhibited is typed (apart from the flourish of a signature), Conrad apologising that ‘a bad attack of gout in my wrist prevents me from answering your letter in my own hand’.

(Letter to Captain Wade, 26/07/1918, State Library of NSW) Despite misgivings about his health, in November 1891 Conrad was appointed chief officer of the Torrens, a magnificent ship designed to carry both cargo and

on this voyage that Conrad gave a young student from Cambridge, W H Jacques, a copy of his unfinished manuscript Almayer’s Folly to read. His encouraging remarks convinced Conrad to keep writing. On January 1893 the Torrens docked in Adelaide and, ill again, Conrad spent the seven weeks in port recuperating, several in the hills to escape the city heat. On the return passage Conrad met the writer John Galsworthy who became a lifelong friend. Galsworthy provides one of the few personal accounts of Conrad’s prowess as a mariner and talents as a raconteur. In his book Castles in Spain and other Screeds (1927) he describes Conrad as ‘a good seaman, watchful of the weather, quick in handling the ship; considerate with the apprentices … Many evening watches in fine weather we spent on the poop. Ever the great teller of a tale, he had already nearly 20 years of tales to tell. Tales of ships and storms, Polish revolution, of his youthful Carlist gun-running adventure, of the Malay seas, and the Congo’.

Conrad was discharged from the Torrens in October, several months after it reached London, and walked away from his maritime career to become a full-time novelist. In Last Essays he reflected on that dramatic juncture in his life, when he ‘took a long look from the quay at that last of ships I ever had under my care, and, stepping around the corner of a tall warehouse, parted from her forever, and at the same time stepped (in merciful ignorance) out of my sea life altogether.’

The ship, brought-to and bowing under enormous flashing seas, glistened wet from deck to trucks passengers and purpose-built for the Australian trade. In 1880 it completed the voyage from Plymouth to Adelaide in 64 days – a feat never equaled by any other sailing ship. The Torrens was Conrad’s last berth as a ship’s officer and probably the vessel he loved the most (he penned a tribute to the Torrens in Last Essays published posthumously). Conrad made his first passage on the Torrens in November 1891, reaching Adelaide on 28 February1892. The ship remained in port for five weeks, returning to London in September.

Conrad’s ill health was much improved by his stint at sea and he decided to remain with the ship, signing on for the next voyage departing in October. It was Page 12

In the 30-year writing career that followed, Joseph Conrad penned 13 novels, 28 short stories and a series of memoirs and essays. Many of these works drew on his sea years, and few authors since have managed to evoke this life as vividly, honestly and poetically. While he never returned to Australia, he cherished his memories of his time on its ships and shore and maintained his links with the people there. In a letter to an Australian correspondent written the year he died, Conrad conceded ‘I have acquired a great affection for that Young Continent which will endure as long my faculty of memory itself endures.’ (Letter to Walter B Rodd, 26/03/1924, National Library of

Australia)

TOP: Joseph Conrad at the age of eight, seated on a mule, 1865.

Photograph reproduced courtesy of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University

ABOVE: A very rare photograph of Joseph Conrad at sea (he is at top row centre, with beard), posing with apprentices on the Torrens.

Photograph reproduced courtesy of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University

SIGNALS 81 December 2007–February 2008

At the Festival Pontoon Australian National Maritime Museum

For more information or to book contact 02 9280 1110 or www.sydneybysail.com

SIGNALS 81 December 2007–February 2008

Page 13

Newcastle cruise It’s not all hard work on board an 18th-century square rigger, as our fearless sailors proved during the Endeavour replica’s round trip to Newcastle’s maritime festival. Reported by Antonia Macarthur ON MONDAY 1 October, passing the Bounty replica, Endeavour’s bosun fi red a four-pounder gun salute to wish her fair winds and following seas. The Bounty replica, built for the 1984 Dino de Laurentis film of the same name, and a familiar sight on Sydney Harbour for many years, was sailing that morning for a new home in Hong Kong.

Meanwhile the HM Bark Endeavour replica, just out of refit and looking ship-shape, was shaping a course for Newcastle and the Newcastle Maritime Festival with 37 voyage crew aboard.

The ship had departed the Australian National Maritime Museum wharf at 1000 hours and motored down the harbour to anchor in Taylors Bay for voyage crew training. By 1700 she was through the heads with sails set in a light SE wind.

The Newcastle Maritime Festival, where Endeavour was bound, is celebrated as part of Newcastle’s annual city festival, Mattara, and is one of the oldest

own cabins on the after fall, where – for a premium fare – they could indulge their fantasies and inhabit the quarters of one of the supernumeraries who sailed with Captain Cook – astronomer Charles Green, naturalists Joseph Banks and Dr Daniel Solander, or artist Sydney Parkinson.

The remainder, including a group of 12 from the Open Training and Education Network who were completing a squaresail endorsement course, signed on as voyage crew (or scurvy dogs). It was their job to sail the vessel. They lived like Cook’s men, slung their hammocks 14 inches from each other on the mess deck, stood watches and learned the ropes. They climbed aloft (a thrill peculiar to square-rig sailing, known also as getting your ‘buttocks over the futtocks’), they handled the sails, stretched previously untried muscles, hauled ropes, and raised and lowered the anchor. And they scrubbed decks, tarred rigging, sanded and polished.

They climbed aloft – a thrill peculiar to squarerig sailing, known also as getting your ‘buttocks over the futtocks’ maritime events in Australia. First held in 1834 as the Newcastle Harbour Regatta, it ran until World War II intervened and was revived in 1984 by the Newcastle Maritime Museum.

Newcastle is only 60 nautical miles north of Sydney, so with winds in the right direction this voyage would normally take one day. To give voyage crew a true taste of 18th-century life on board James Cook’s famous ship, however, one day at sea is just not long enough. So the passages to and from Newcastle were organised as five-day voyages, allowing ample time for crew to familiarise themselves with the sailing routines and giving the ship, under Captain Ross Mattson, the scope to stretch her legs and sail off with the breeze before heading into her port of destination.

Nearly 80 people signed on for these two voyages. A lucky few had their Page 14

But it was not all hard work. There was the wonder of lying on deck at night and seeing the full canopy of stars through the swaying rigging; the amazing sunrises and sunsets; quiet talks on watch; whales and dolphins alongside.

Gradually 21st-century time changed to 18th-century time, regulated only by the ship’s bell every four hours. As time slowed, people relaxed.

The days were full. There was manoverboard drill and fire drill; talks on rigging and sailing, navigation and history; a film show projected on a sail.

En route there was time on a secluded beach for a swim, BBQ and a bush walk.

And, in a tradition of each Endeavour voyage, there was Sods Opera – a night of song, poetry and laughter.

To get Endeavour ready for sea takes a huge amount of organising, and dozens of people are involved months before she

sails – from office staff to the engineer to the cook. If an army marches on its belly, then sailors certainly sail on theirs.

Everyone loves the cook at sea – especially after four hours standing a cold, wet watch on deck. On the return voyage as lightning filled the sky and cold rain lashed down with 35 knot winds, the captain sensibly anchored in Broken Bay, for a hot meal and a good night’s rest.

Sailing back into the modern world came as something of a shock, but most agreed that the camaraderie, laughter and experiences shared far outweighed the lack of privacy, discomforts and challenges of 18th-century life on board the replica of James Cook’s bark Endeavour.

The Australian National Maritime Museum is committed to keeping HM Bark Endeavour replica sailing with a three-months’ sailing itinerary arranged each year to encourage square-rig voyaging and seamanship, and to show the ship in other Australian ports. During her first year under museum management in 2006, the ship voyaged to Melbourne and other ports for the Commonwealth Games. In 2007 Endeavour voyaged to Tasmania for the Australian Wooden Boat Show and other ports. In 2008 the ship will voyage to Brisbane and Queensland ports. Full details of voyages, photographs and logs are on our

website www.anmm.gov.au/endeavour.

Assistant editor Antonia Macarthur was a principal researcher, historian and archives manager for the Endeavour replica project under its previous management.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Under full sail on return to Sydney.

Crowds queued to visit the replica at Newcastle’s maritime festival.

Leonie and Joe on brass-polishing duties en route to Newcastle.

View from aloft (having swung the buttocks o’er the futtocks).

Crew hiked up for view of Endeavour in Broken Bay. Photographs by various Endeavour crew; copyright ANMM

SIGNALS 81 December 2007–February 2008

SIGNALS 81 December 2007–February 2008

Page 15

2007 FRANK BROEZE PRIZE

for best maritime history book

This year’s Frank Broeze Memorial Maritime History Book Prize has been awarded to Dr Edward Duyker’s François Péron – An Impetuous Life: naturalist and voyager. Report by Antonia Macarthur.

A LIVELY field of 29 books were submitted for this year’s Frank Broeze Memorial Maritime History Book Prize, the biennial $2,000 cash award sponsored and administered jointly by the Australian National Maritime Museum (ANMM) and the Australian Association for Maritime History (AAMH). The book prize is named in honour of the late Professor Frank Broeze of the University of Western Australia, who introduced Australia’s first university course on maritime history.

Frank helped redefine the field in broader terms, embracing economic, business, social and urban histories to make maritime history truly multidisciplinary.

The wide-ranging topics of this year’s entrants included Melbourne’s tall ship Polly Woodside, the recollections of a World War II patrol boat man, a study of the influence of the sea on the people of Oceania and a history of the Australian Navy in the Persian Gulf 1991-2006.

Emerging from this competitive field of books published in 2005 or 2006 was this year’s winner Dr Edward Duyker OAM, for François Péron – An Impetuous Life: naturalist and voyager (Miegunyah Press 2006).

Graham Williams, critic with the Sydney Morning Herald, has written that ‘Dr Edward Duyker … is, quietly and methodically, trying to redress the Anglocentrism of early Australian history.’ That’s evident when you scan Dr Duyker’s earlier publications. His biographies cover many important European figures in the great era of

Dr Edward Duyker is, quietly and methodically, trying to redress the Anglocentrism of early Australian history The judging panel felt that Dr Duyker’s treatment of the important though littleknown figure of Pacific exploration, François Péron, brought him to life in an accessible way. In 1800 Péron sailed as an assistant zoologist on Nicolas Baudin’s voyage of exploration to Australian waters.

The author’s treatment of sources was, as always, exhaustive. It is both a balanced assessment of the difficult relationship between Péron and expedition leader Nicolas Baudin, and an analysis of the conduct of science during some of the most turbulent years in French history. It takes the reader from the heart of pre-revolutionary rural France to the little-known shores of Van Diemens Land and New Holland.

Page 16

maritime exploration. Nature’s Argonaut, the biography of Swedish naturalist Daniel Solander, a botanist on James Cook’s Endeavour voyage, was shortlisted for the New South Wales Premier’s General History Prize in 1999. Citizen Labillardière, about the botanist on the much-overlooked d’Entrecasteaux expedition, won the New South Wales Premier’s General History Prize in 2003.

Based in Sydney, Dr Duyker is a former intelligence officer with the Department of Defence and is now an independent historian and author of 16 books. His most recent is A Dictionary of Sea Quotations (Miegunyah Press 2007). It’s reviewed elsewhere in this edition of Signals.

The late Professor Frank Broeze, when reviewing Dr Duyker’s 1995 biography of Marion Dufresne, An Officer of the Blue, described him as ‘one of the growing army of freelance historians who, working outside the facilities and pressures of traditional academic institutions, provide an important stimulus to historical scholarship.’ The two had corresponded, but never met. Of his own work Duyker says ‘I feel fortunate to have achieved a measure of success in what I have done.

I have also seen a great deal of the world, I am very rarely bored and I value the friendships I have made.’

Dr Duyker is a fellow of the Linnean Society of London and the Royal Historical Society; was elected to the Royal Geographical Society, and is an Honorary Senior Lecturer of the Department of French Studies, University of Sydney. In 2000 he was made a Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques by the French government, and in 2004 received a medal in the Order of Australia (OAM) for services to Australian history.

Shortlisted for second place is Granville Allen Mawer for South by Northwest: the magnetic crusade & the contest for Antarctica (2006, Wakefield Press, Kent SIGNALS 81 December 2007–February 2008

Town SA). Mawer re-examines the forces that have driven Antarctic exploration over the last 160 years – not, in this case, the better-known race for the geographic South Pole, but for the more-important magnetic South Pole. Here is a tale of ambition, achievement and tragedy which was eventually won by Australian magneticians as late as 1986. Mawer, a retired public servant and historian, lives in New South Wales. His other books include Fast Company, a history of the clipper ship Walter Hood (1994), and Most Perfectly Safe about 19th-century convict shipwrecks (1997). Ahab’s Trade (1999), about whaling in the South Seas, was short listed for the Queensland Premier’s History Prize 2000 and the New South Wales Premier’s History Prize 2001. His most recent publication was The Life and Legend of Jack Doolan, the Wild Colonial Boy (2004).

Unusually, this year, two authors were short listed in equal third place.

Miriam Estensen, The Life of George Bass; surgeon & sailor of the Enlightenment (Allen & Unwin 2005) brought this intellectually curious and complicated man to life. She presents his English childhood, medical studies, his wife and his ground-breaking Australian coastal voyages, weaving in 18th-century Sydney, friends and contemporaries and his eventual mysterious disappearance. Americanborn Estensen has a sea-faring heritage, the legacy of forebears in Sweden and Spain’s Basque country, and many years of travel have deepened her interest in the maritime history of the world. She lives with her husband, a retired sea SIGNALS 81 December 2007–February 2008

captain, on Australia’s Gold Coast. Her other books include Discovery: the Quest for the Great South Land (1999) and The Life of Matthew Flinders (2004).

Glenys McDonald AM takes on the unsolved wartime disappearance of Australia’s pride, HMAS Sydney, with her book Seeking the Sydney: A Quest for Truth (University of Western Australia Press 2005). McDonald’s thorough research includes oral history but what most impresses is her sheer tenacity to work through the maze of confusion, innuendo, claims of official obfuscation and political disinterest, to produced a detailed and tested analysis. McDonald has had a varied career as nurse, midwife, sports administrator and JP. This is her first book.

This year’s Frank Broeze prize was presented at the Australian National Maritime Museum after the Vaughan Evans Memorial Lecture on 15 November 2007. Dr Duyker had already been engaged to give this year’s lecture – on James Cook’s Swedish naturalist Daniel Solander, subject of his earlier book Nature’s Argonaut – when the judges announced him as winner. This allowed members of both the museum and Australian Association for Maritime History to meet Dr Duyker in person over a drink on the replica of HM Bark Endeavour.

The annual Vaughan Evans Memorial Lecture is held in honour of the late Vaughan Evans OAM (1924–1993), a passionate and witty maritime historian who was an influential figure in the development of both ANMM and

OPPOSITE PAGE: Winner of the Frank Broeze memorial book prize, Dr Edward Duyker, signs a book for Member Myles Mooney on board the Endeavour replica.

Photographer J Mellefont/ANMM

ABOVE: Covers of the winning and shortlisted titles.

AAMH. Vaughan served in the Royal Navy in WW2 and worked for Lloyds of London before migrating to Australia in 1955. He established AAMH in 1978 with Frank Broeze and John Bach, and edited this newsletter until his death. He also edited its journal The Great Circle from 1983 to 1988, with John Bach.

Vaughan donated his personal library to this museum, to become the foundation of its public research library which is

named in his honour.

Page 17

Survival Research into World War II merchant shipping losses in Australian waters led curator Patricia Miles to two survivors of a harrowing torpedoing off Nambucca Heads, NSW, in 1943 – when they were teenagers. Here are their stories.

THE DECEMBER 2006 issue of Signals published an address that I had given on World Maritime Day that year, concerning merchant navy losses in World War II. A few weeks later I was surprised and touched to receive a letter which began:

landing on top of cargo on the already ripped open hatch; and having one leg caught under cargo everything blacked out. I thought to myself at the time that if this is dying it’s quite easy. An elderly Norwegian seaman apparently came across me and as I was wearing a life

Heads, two Japanese torpedoes smashed into the ship one after another. It sank within a minute. The survivors, who were blown or jumped overboard, clung to debris and broken rafts. The destroyer Patterson, some way off, sent down depth charges then left the

Someone gave me a copy of your address to the Merchant Seamen’s Memorial Ceremony held at the Museum 29th Sept last. Surprisingly I find I even have a mention as the 15-year-old deck boy surviving the

jacket he picked me up and dropped me over the side of the ship which by this time was almost underwater.

I came to in the water with another seaman slapping my face as I mumbled something about swimming to shore.

area – naval vessels were not put at risk in these situations. But its signal about the sinking was heard at Coffs Harbour and an RAAF spotter plane flew to the scene, saw the survivors in a large oil slick in the sea, chased the Patterson and signalled the position. The destroyer returned to pick the Fingal survivors out of the sea. By this time they had been in the water for about four hours.

I still remember it clearly up until the second torpedo explosion when I sailed up into the air, landing on top of cargo sinking of the Fingal on May 5th 1943.

John Bird, now 79 and living in far North Queensland, went on to describe the event.

The sinking of the Fingal I suppose was one of the highlights of my short span of life at the time. I still remember it clearly up until the second torpedo explosion when I sailed up into the air, Page 18

The Norwegian merchant ship Fingal, of 2,137 gross tons, under charter to the Australian Government, was sailing from Sydney to Darwin with general cargo and ammunition, escorted by the USS Patterson. The 31-man crew were mostly Scandinavian, but there were six Australians including two naval gunners.

At 1.35 in the afternoon, off Nambucca

The Patterson’s doctor, Henry W Moore, later wrote: All survivors were thickly coated with black fuel-oil and suffered from prolonged chilling; and were quite ill from ingestion and/or aspiration of large amounts of oil. Many were clothed only in skimpy underwear or ‘skivvies’, and suffered from hyperthermia and long immersion. Practically every survivor SIGNALS 81 December 2007–February 2008

was extremely ill from the ingested oil, and to the last man all vomited large quantities of fuel oil, carrots and green peas during the rescue efforts.

Nineteen of the crew survived. The 12 who died included the captain, all three engineer officers, and two Australians – a trimmer and a naval gunner. The survivors were examined and treated on board the USS Patterson, given a cup of pea soup, and put to bed. Patterson sailors gave them their spare clothing and gave up their bunks for them. The next morning they were landed at Newcastle, where the injured were taken to hospital by ambulances. John Bird recalled: Survivors who appeared ok and could walk were given train tickets to Sydney

in his right hand and his back toward me. I see the Chief Mate wearing his button to the neck navy tunic and cap.

I see that somebody is in the life boat and a few others are near the boat and moving about. At that moment I am halfway to my boat when the biggest bang I have ever heard occurs, and the group near the life boat are blown into the air as the torpedo exploded beneath them! A great grey column of grey water spurts up from behind the funnel and the funnel begins to fall … the water lifts me up and over the lifeboat but I don’t f loat, the water covers me, all I can see is black and bubbles – I know I will die – I say a prayer – I think about my mother – everything is black …

It was 9.00 am the next day when the USS Patterson delivered the survivors to Kings Wharf at Newcastle. With the others Bernie walked across the road to muster at the Country Women’s Association building, where ladies gave them knitted socks and sweaters.

But Bernie collapsed, cold, shivering and sick. Chief Steward Johansen picked him up and carried him over his shoulder to Newcastle Hospital, a block away. As they staggered up the street, two women assumed they were drunk, called them disgraceful, and stuck a white feather (a symbol of cowardice for men who did not join the forces) in Johansen’s collar. At the hospital, Johansen left Bernie on a bed in the foyer and covered him with a

that day. I arrived home via the last ferry to Manly and knocked on the door at midnight. Mother and my sister had no idea anything had happened to me; and spent the next hour crying.

Bernie O’Brien, a 16-year-old galley boy

Bernie eventually surfaced and was able to cling to floating objects. He gave his shirt to RAN gunner Geoff Miller, who had been taking a shower when the torpedo hit, and was naked and cold. They saw the Patterson drop

The water lifts me up and over the lifeboat but I don’t float, the water covers me, all I can see is black and bubbles also from Sydney, was not so lucky. He had been sitting in the galley washing a big pot when the first torpedo hit. He managed to grab his life jacket and was making for a lifeboat when the second explosion came. In his words: I see Captain Richardson in a grey suit wearing his hat and a briefcase SIGNALS 81 December 2007–February 2008

depth charges and then speed away from them. In the water they were scared of sharks. When the RAAF patrol plane appeared, an air crewman leaned out with a signal lamp and sent a Morse code message that help was on the way. The third mate swam from group to group to tell them what the signal meant.

LEFT TO RIGHT: Fingal survivors, Newcastle Herald 8 May 1943. Courtesy Newcastle Region Library Bernie O’Brien at the Vernon Anchors Memorial to Seamen, 2007.

Photographer J Mellefont/ANMM

John Bird in retirement in the tropics.

Reproduced courtesy John Bird

Belated recognition: War Veteran’s Badge awarded to Bernie O’Brien in 2007.

Photographer A Frolows/ANMM

blanket. He lay there all day, with his wet life jacket on the floor next to the bed, unnoticed until 8.00 pm when a night watchman ordered him out. Only then was his real situation discovered.

He was admitted to hospital suffering from hypothermia and pneumonia, and needed many weeks to recover.

Page 19

Both John Bird and Bernie O’Brien were undeterred by this catastrophic experience. Soon afterwards John joined the US Army Small Ships Service, working on tugs to Newcastle, but was discharged after a few months because he was still under 16. He then spent several years in foreign-going ships. He acquired American seaman’s papers and served for more than a year on an American tanker with highly explosive cargo operating off the US west coast to the Pacific war zones, India and the Persian Gulf. After the war he made his life in New Guinea.

Bernie O’Brien also went back to sea, making a voyage to the USA later that year, and then signing on with the US Army Small Ships in Sydney. He was

able to do this because he was still under 18 and was not subject to control by the wartime manpower authority.

He sailed on small vessels carrying Australian and American troops and supplies to places around New Guinea, making their way through reefs and

before spending 14 years in the British Columbia police force.

Their youthful experience in the sinking of the Fingal had a deep and lasting effect on the lives of both men. On return to Australia in 1964, Bernie tried without success to locate the Australian survivors of the event.

In 1990 he fi nally made contact with John Bird, who was now living in Cooktown, and then met Barry Blackstone, the RAAF Pilot Officer on the Avro Anson patrol aircraft whose crew had searched for them and saved their lives. To John and Bernie, Barry Blackstone was an unsung hero.

After learning of a ship’s reunion for USS Patterson, Bernie managed to

put out the word of his search, and heard from ex-USN Commander Frank Whitaker, commander at the time of the rescue. He also heard from the ship’s medic Vernon Sciochhetti, who had wrapped him in a blanket when he was rescued. Vernon was about to visit

Unlike other services who were re-kitted and provided with transport and leave to go home, merchant seamen were on their own shallows where larger ships could not go. By the end of the war he had been to many places in the Pacific, to the Philippines and, just after the surrender, to Japan. He was now second officer on an 1,100-ton ship and had been trained to navigate. He was repatriated in 1947, but went to the USA and Canada, going back to sea for two years Page 20

Australia, and he marched with Bernie and the Merchant Navy on Anzac Day. In the following years Bernie and his wife have developed close associations with US naval veterans’ groups, attending reunions in the USA, hosting visits and arranging tours in Australia.

He traced the gunner Geoff Miller, to

whom he had given his shirt, and Johan Johansen, the chief steward who had carried him to hospital. He also traced a relative of RAN gunner Syd Payne, his best mate on the ship, who was lost with the Fingal at the age of 21. Bernie placed a name plaque for him on a Wall of Remembrance in Brisbane.

John Bird also went to great lengths to achieve recognition for a 19-year-old American merchant seaman who was lost overboard in Torres Strait from the US tanker on which he sailed after the loss of the Fingal. Norbert Schmitz ‘s family in South Dakota had never been told of where and how he died. It took John 55 years to find his next of kin, and to see that his name was included on

LEFT: Merchant mariners on their annual march to the museum on World Mariners Day, 27 September 2007.

Photographer J Mellefont/ANMM

ABOVE: Memorial to merchant mariners at Newcastle, at the site of the old Kings Wharf where the Fingal survivors came ashore. Photographer A Frolows/ANMM

the internet lists of American Merchant Marine casualties of World War II. Bernie O’Brien wrote: My pay stopped the hour and the minute that the Fingal was sunk – I had lost all of my clothes and possessions and did not even have my fare for the train to get home to Bexley from Newcastle.

Unlike other services who were re-kitted and provided with transport and leave to go home, merchant seamen were on

their own.

SIGNALS 81 December 2007–February 2008

Message to Members From Members manager Adrian Adam

The summer holiday period will be a great time for children and the young at heart, with our popular summer activity Wetworld making a big splash from 27 December to 25 January. Wetworld and all other children’s programs are free for Members so do bring the kids along.

Enjoying museum hospitality at our most recent ‘Welcome to new Members’ reception are (LEFT to RIGHT) Darryl and Sue Bullock, Stephanie Hardcastle, Chris Tew, Neil Gould, Robyn Baldwin and John Broomhall. Photographer J Mellefont/ANMM

There are a multitude of exclusive Members events planned for the coming year – check out the Summer instalment by turning the page. Our Australia Day activities are always popular with families, including our Australia Day ferry cruise, the HM Bark Endeavour replica’s harbour sail and Australia Day picnic watching the fireworks from Vampire. For more opportunities to get out on the harbour, jump on our Boxing Day Sydney– Hobart ferry cruise to watch the fleet depart. In February we have cruises to welcome the Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth 2 into the harbour.

consider a museum gift membership – it lasts all year and is great for friends or family. We can send it direct to the recipient with a gift card in a matter of days.

When Endeavour goes out on Australia Day she will be the centre of attention, so why not book in for the rare opportunity to spread sail on one of the most exciting days on the harbour? For those who are a little more adventurous and want to experience real sea time, you can join the Endeavour crew on one of the legs of her proposed journey to Queensland in 2008. Check our website for more details on that one.

Don’t forget to visit the museum’s website for updates of what’s happening. Members have their own password-protected area on the website containing lots of information on past events and what’s coming up, so do check it out. Contact us if you do not have a user name and password. And when visiting the museum, please make use of the Members lounge where you can take some time out over a complimentary tea, coffee or cordial for the kids.

Wine lovers (or anyone looking for that special Christmas gift), see the enclosed offer to Members from the museum’s wine sponsor Ensign Wines. You can purchase a special six-pack of choice Australian wines, delivered to your door at no cost. Why not give it a go? For another last-minute Christmas present,

Thank you for your continued support throughout the year and I look forward to seeing you at the museum in 2008. With Christmas just around the corner, on behalf of Claire and myself in Members, please have a safe and happy Christmas

and a terrific New Year.

SIGNALS 81 December 2007–February 2008

PLEASE NOTE that the Members Office will be closed for Christmas from Monday 24 to Friday 28 December (though we will be here to run the Boxing Day cruise). Of course the museum will be open every day but Christmas Day, and don’t forget that the museum always extends its opening hours until 6.00 pm all January.

Page 21

Specially for Members

First-hand account of Pasha Bulker refloating by salvor Drew Shannon (seen here with his wife Rebecca) was popular with Members.

Photographers A Adam/ANMM, D Shannon

How to book It’s easy to book for the Members events on the next pages … it only takes a phone call and if you have a credit card ready we can take care of payments on the spot.

• To reserve tickets for events call the Members Office on 02 9298 3644 (business hours) or email members@anmm.gov.au.

Bookings strictly in order of receipt.

Members Events Calendar December Sun 9

Special: Christmas party & shopping night

Wed 26

On the water: Sydney–Hobart start ferry cruise

January

• If paying by phone, have credit card details at hand.

Wed 9

Tour: John Oxley in dry dock

• If paying by mail after making a reservation, please include a completed booking form with a cheque made out to the Australian National Maritime Museum.

Sun 13

Tour: MV Cape Don

Wed 16

Special: Wetworld family breakfast

Tue 22

Tour: Pyrmont Bridge climb

• The booking form is on reverse of the address sheet with your Signals mailout.

Wed 23

Tour: Pyrmont Bridge climb

Thu 24

Lecture: Governor Bligh

• If payment for an event is not received seven (7) days before the function your booking may be cancelled.

Sat 26

On the water: Australia Day ferry cruise

Sat 26

On the water: Endeavour sail & parade

Booked out?

Sat 26

Special: Australia Day fireworks & picnic

We always try to repeat the event in another program.

February

Cancellations

Sun 3

Tour: Norman Lindsay Gallery

Wed 13

Tour: Vampire gun turret

Wed 20

Tour: Convict Hulks exhibition

Sat 23

On the water: Queen Victoria arrival ferry cruise

Sun 24

On the water: Two Queens ferry cruise

If you can’t attend a booked event, please notify us at least five (5) days before the function for a refund. Otherwise, we regret a refund cannot be made. Events and dates are correct at the time of printing but these may vary … if so, we’ll be sure to inform you.

Parking near museum Wilson Parking offers Members discount parking at nearby Harbourside Carpark, Murray Street, Darling Harbour.

To obtain a discount, you must have your ticket validated at the museum ticket desk.

Page 22

March Thu 6

Lecture: 6th Phil Renouf memorial lecture

8–9

2008 Classic & Wooden Boat Festival

SIGNALS 81 December 2007–February 2008

Lectures and Talks

Tours and Walks

Governor Bligh or Mr Macarthur: who rules NSW? 5.30 pm Thursday 24 January State Library of NSW

Exclusive – John Oxley restoration tour 3–4.15 pm Wednesday 9 January Rozelle Bay Built of riveted steel with teak decks in Scotland 1927, John Oxley continued in service until 1968, first as a Moreton Bay pilot vessel then as a buoy and lighthouse tender along the Queensland coast. Our accompanied tour will examine the latest restoration work by its present owner Sydney Heritage Fleet.

Members only $20. Some climbing & ladders required.

Accompanied children over 16 years. Meet at the Heritage Shipyard gate 4, James Craig Road, Rozelle Bay Exclusive – MV Cape Don guided tour 10–11.30 am Sunday 13 January

The arrest of Governor Bligh, 1808, watercolour, artist unknown, State Library of New South Wales

On 26 January 1808, Governor William Bligh was placed under house arrest by the colonial elite, represented by John Macarthur. Both Bligh and Macarthur were confrontational, self-righteous and resolute – one would have to go. Paul Brunton, senior curator Mitchell Library, tells us who. Introduced by Her Excellency Professor Marie Bashir, AC CVO, Governor of New South Wales Members $15 guests $22. Includes light refreshments. Bookings 02 9273 1770 or email bookings@sl.nsw.gov.au with your ANMM membership number 6th Phil Renouf Memorial Lecture Boats and boat people on Sydney Harbour, an evolutionary tale 6.15–8.30 pm Thursday 6 March at the museum ANMM with Sydney Heritage Fleet presents this annual lecture in honour of the Fleet’s late president Phil Renouf. Guest speaker Sean Langman, champion sailor and managing director of the famous Noakes boat and shipyard, will talk about the people and boats he knows so well. Sean has won almost every ocean race on the east coast of Australia, and in 2007 completed his 18th Sydney to Hobart race on board the newly restored 30-foot, gaff-rigged Maluka, built in 1932.

Members $20 guests $25. Includes Ensign wine, cheese and James Squire beer BOOKINGS AND ENQUIRIES Booking form on reverse of mailing address sheet.

Phone 02 9298 3644 or fax 02 9298 3660, unless otherwise indicated. All details are correct at publication but subject to change.

SIGNALS 81 December 2007–February 2008

The MV Cape Don built in 1963 is the last of a fleet of small coastal freighters that once serviced our ports and lighthouses carrying cargo and relief crews to remote locations. Enjoy a guided tour with volunteer crew on this floating reminder of a bygone era.

Members only $20. Some climbing & ladders required.

Accompanied children over 16 years. Meet at entry to Cape Don, Old Coal Wharf, Balls Head Drive Waverton. Includes morning tea Pyrmont Bridge climb 1.30–2.30pm Tuesday 22 and Wednesday 23 January Pyrmont Bridge, the world’s oldest electric swing-span bridge, began operating in June 1902 providing access to the railway goods yard in Darling Harbour. Join us for a guided tour underneath the span and between the pylons of the bridge to see this marvel of early 20th-century engineering work.

Members $20 guests $30. Meet at controller’s cabin on Pyrmont Bridge. You should be in reasonable physical condition and comfortable with heights. Accompanied children over 16 years Page 23

Specially for Members Day tour: Norman Lindsay Gallery – Magic of the Sea 9.15 am–4.30 pm Sunday 3 February Norman Lindsay Gallery When artist Norman Lindsay bought an estate in the Blue Mountains in 1912 he named it Springwood and worked and lived there for 57 years. The house, his studio and gardens are full of original items and artworks, and our visit includes a curator-led tour of a new exhibition showcasing Lindsay’s little-known passion for ships and the sea (see story page 34).

Members $75 guests $85. Includes morning and afternoon tea, luxury airconditioned bus, gallery entry and garden tour. Meet in museum car park 9 am

On the water Sydney–Hobart yacht race ferry cruise 11 am–2.30 pm Wednesday 26 December

Convict hulks: life on the prison ships 12–1.30 pm Wednesday 20 Hyde Park Barracks Museum In 1776 with British prisons overflowing, the government converted old ship hulks into floating prisons for convicts awaiting transportation. Convict hulks is the first comprehensive exhibition recalling the harsh but fascinating history of these prisons, and over 600 rare artefacts are on display. Join Brad Manera, curator of the Hyde Park Barracks museum, for a guided tour.

Members $10 guests $12, includes entry, afternoon tea. Meet at main entry to Hyde Park Barracks, Macquarie Street, Sydney Vampire X gun turret tour 9–10.30 am Wednesday 13 February

HMAS Vampire is the last of three Daring class destroyers built and launched in Australia – last of the ‘big guns’. The three twin-gun turrets manned by teams of gunners are now a relic of the past, but when in service the X gun turret could fire 16 shells per minute. Accompany the museum’s Fleet manager Steven Adams on a behind-the-scenes tour of X gun turret, shell room and cartridge room.

Members only $10. Limited places, reasonable physical condition necessary. Accompanied children over 16 years.

Includes morning tea

EMAIL BULLETINS Have you subscribed to our email bulletins yet? Email your address to members@anmm.gov.au to ensure that you’ll always be advised of activities organised at short notice in reponse to special opportunities.

Page 24

Bid farewell to this year’s Sydney–Hobart boats on board the luxury ferry MV Seivadis as we follow the fleet towards the heads, on one of the harbour’s most famous blue-ribbon days.

We’ll find a secluded bay to enjoy our picnics (or left-over Christmas dinner) and admire the view.

Members $55 child $30. Guests adult $65 child $40. BYO picnic, cash bar on board. Meet next to Vampire Australia Day family ferry cruise 10.30–2.30 pm Saturday 26 January

Enjoy a great day on the harbour aboard the MV Captain Cook II and see the famous Ferrython, the historic fleet, the tall ships, the Army Sea King helicopter flypast and all the fun and excitement of Australia Day. Members $45 children $30 family $120. Guests adult $55 children $35 family $145. BYO picnic, cash bar on board. Meet at Pyrmont wharf next to museum Australia Day HM Bark Endeavour sail 11 am-4.30 pm Friday 26 January on Sydney Harbour Enjoy a great day out on HM Bark Endeavour and take in all the fun and excitement of the Australia Day festivities on Sydney Harbour. Join in the famous Australia Day Parade, catch a glimpse of the historic fleet, compete in the Tall Ships race, enjoy live music and lots more.

Members $185, guests $200. Includes gourmet lunch, afternoon tea, Ensign wines and James Squire beer. Meet next to Endeavour gangway at the museum SIGNALS 81 December 2007–February 2008

Welcome Queen Victoria sunrise ferry cruise 6–9 am Saturday 23 February

Australia Day family picnic & fireworks party 7–10 pm Saturday 26 January

Join us early in the morning to welcome Cunard’s second largest ship, the classic ocean liner Queen Victoria, as she sails into Sydney Harbour on her maiden voyage. A speaker will be on board to provide commentary. Her little sister the QE2, on her final voyage to Sydney, will join her later in the day.

Members $35 guests $45. Includes morning tea on board. Meet at Pyrmont Bay Wharf next to the museum at 5.45 am Two Queens evening ferry cruise 5.30–8.30 pm Sunday 24 February

Celebrate our national day and watch the magnificent Darling Harbour fireworks from our family-friendly museum. BYO picnic dinner and we’ll provide chairs, a jazz band and a wonderful view. Snacks, coffee and refreshments for purchase.

Watch the 9 pm fireworks from our forecourt or on board HMAS Vampire.

Members $15 child $10 family $40. Guests adult $20 child $15 family $55. Book early to view fireworks from Vampire Members Christmas party 5.30–8 pm Sunday 9 December at the museum A never-to-be-repeated event – Cunard’s ocean liner Queen Victoria on her maiden voyage to Sydney, is in port with her famous little sister Queen Elizabeth 2 on her final voyage to Sydney. Join our evening ferry cruise and watch these giants of the sea sail past. Speakers will be on board to provide commentary.

Members $45 guests $55. BYO picnic, cash bar on board. Meet at Pyrmont wharf next to museum

Special events Wetworld family breakfast 8.30–10 am Wednesday 16 January Beat the crowds and tell your kids to grab their swimmers for an exclusive before-hours playtime at Wetworld. Water fun includes the Super Soaker action zone, amazing bubbles and radio-controlled boats. We’ll kick off with a BBQ and welcome champagne for mum or dad!

Members and children $8 guests $12. Includes breakfast and refreshments BOOKINGS AND ENQUIRIES Booking form on reverse of mailing address sheet.

Phone 02 9298 3644 or fax 02 9298 3660, unless otherwise indicated. All details are correct at publication but subject to change.

SIGNALS 81 December 2007–February 2008

Kick-off the festive season at our special Members’ Christmas party. Enjoy complimentary champagne and a whopping 20% discount off all merchandise at The Store; a wine tasting with expert John Cooley of Ensign Wines; new exhibitions Tall Ship Adventure and Iceman – the story of Ötzi without the crowds.

There’s plenty to keep the kids happy, with party hats, balloons, lollies and activities. Includes a sausage sizzle, live music, Ensign wine and James Squire beer. Get in early!

Members $15 guests $25. Members’ children, grandchildren FREE Page 25

What’s on at the museum Summer school holidays 27 December 2007–25 January 2008 KIDS DECK: Iceman – the story of Ötzi Hourly sessions 10 am–4 pm daily Find out what happened to Ötzi the Iceman and how he lay buried in ice for 5,300 years. Join an archeological ‘dig’ to uncover what was found at the site and use the evidence to learn what kind of food Ötzi ate, what he wore and the medicine he took. You can even dress up like an iceman and make your own arrow-quiver to take home.

For children 5–12 years. Maximum 30 children per session

During term time Fun family Sundays Every Sunday in February 11 am–3 pm

10 am–4 pm daily Wetworld is full of fun activities for children to explore and enjoy the properties of water. There are experiments in wet lab, exciting river races, Aqua Play and the Super Soaker action zone. There’s even a boat for you to climb in and explore!

For children 3–9 years.

Sponsors

Holiday Fun Ticket includes Kids Deck and Wetworld entry $9 per child/adult and free for members

Movies on Sundays Every Sunday in February 1.30 pm There will be a FREE film in the Passengers theatrette to complement the temporary exhibition program. Please call 02 9298 3777 to confirm which film is being shown.

Courageous Conrad!

Sunday 2 December 11 am, 1 pm A super, silly, scary story for 5–12 year olds. Joe Conrad is alone on a boat, trying to write a new story. But he is afraid. Afraid of the dark. Afraid of the strange noises around him. Afraid of being afraid! Help him discover that things aren’t always as scary as they seem. FREE Mini Mariners 10–10.45 am every Tuesday December and February (not school holidays)

Find out what happened to Ötzi the Iceman and how he lay buried in ice for 5,300 years. Join an archeological ‘dig’ to uncover what was found at the site. Learn what kind of food Ötzi ate, what he wore and the medicine that he took. You can even dress-up like Ötzi the Iceman and make your own arrow quiver to take home.

For children aged 5–12 years. $7 per child or FREE with any purchased ticket. Adults FREE

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Songs, stories, games and craft for children 2–5 years old.

This exciting, interactive, themed program will change at the beginning of each month. See our website for details $7 per child, Members and adults FREE. Playgroup bookings 02 9298 3655 or email bookings@anmm.gov.au Program times and venues are correct at time of going to press. To check programs before your museum visit call 02 9298 3777.

SIGNALS 81 December 2007–February 2008

Summer 2007–2008 program FREE ACTIVITIES Roaming Character Performances 11 am, 12 pm and 1 pm daily Come on a journey through the exhibition Iceman – the story of Ötzi and travel back 5,300 years to the icy heights of the Schnalstal glacier in Austria. Who was this ancient man, what did he eat, what clothes did he wear, how did he die? Learn the surprising truth about Ötzi the Iceman.

Children’s film 2 pm daily SPECIAL GROUP RATES For groups of 10 children or more; booking essential. $9 per child for a fully organised program of activities that includes: • All museum exhibitions • All children’s activities • Entry to the destroyer HMAS Vampire and submarine HMAS Onslow • Free entry for two adults per 10 children • Free bus parking • NB $2 extra per child for HM Bark Endeavour replica or 1874 tall ship James Craig Book early to ensure your space! For bookings or more information: Phone 02 9298 3777 Fax 02 9298 3660 Email: bookings@anmm.gov.au

Saturday 8–Sunday 9 March

Special events 2007 Cruise Forum No 3 Joseph Conrad – seaman and storyteller 10 am–2 pm Monday 3 December In association with WEA Jo oseph Conrad, Conrad the Polish-born giant of English Joseph literature, vis visited Sydney four times from 1878 duuri r ngg his ea during earlier career as a master mariner a d we an w nt on to write 13 novels and 28 short and went stor stories.

He described Sydney Harbour as ‘one of the finest, most beautiful, va and safe bays the sun ever vast shone upon’. At the 150th anniversary of his birth Associate Professor Anthony Uhlmann, University of Western Sydney, talks about Conrad’s life and work, and historian Bob Irving describes Sydney as Conrad saw it.

Our heritage ferry cruise of relevant sites alights at Circular Quay for a closer inspection, then a picnic lunch in the Botanic Gardens. View the museum’s display of photographs, paintings and original letters exploring Conrad’s links with Australia.

Cost $60, concession $55, includes morning tea and lunch.

Museum entry FREE. Bookings essential WEA 02 9264 2781 SIGNALS 81 December 2007–February 2008

Restoration is the theme for this year’s Classic & Wooden Boat Festival, Sydney’s fun-for-everyone harbourside celebration of maritime heritage and maritime cultures. The museum’s newly-restored vessel, Ben Lexcen’s famous Taipan, the boat that changed the shape and performance of Australia’s 18-foot racing skiffs, will be on show and lectures on the restoration will be held in the museum. Over 100 wooden boats will visit – historic vessels, graceful yachts, streamlined speedboats, dories, dinghies, skiffs and canoes. There will be demonstrations by traditional craftsmen – blacksmiths, caulkers, sailmakers and rope knotters; work will be carried out on our 18thcentury HMB Endeavour replica; a nautical marketplace and an outstanding display of boating products; a working marine engine, heritage boat rides; a giant model display and our hotlycontested deckhand line-throwing contest. Don’t miss this weekend of fun for all the family.

Cost adult $18, child $9, family $40 Become a Member and get in FREE! Page 27

Summer 2007–2008 exhibitions In our galleries Iceman – the story of Ötzi Until 17 February Gallery One Courtesy South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology

Ötzi, the world’s oldest ‘wet’ mummy, was killed by an arrow 5,300 years ago in the Italian Alps and preserved in a glacier till 1991. His life-size replica and copper-age objects, with sound effects, holograms and interactive stations reveal his fascinating life and the mystery of his death. From the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology

Courtesy South Australian Maritime Museum

Wrecked! Tragedy and the Southern Seas Until 28 January South Gallery There are 850 wrecks along the wild South Australian coast, each a rich historic time capsule. The exhibition from the South Australian Maritime Museum shows the dangers involved when immigrants arrived by ship.

Discomedusæ by Timothy Horn 2004

Jellyfish – nature inspires art Until 17 February 2008 North Gallery Jellyfish have no brain, no heart, no central nervous system, no bones, no blood and are 95% water. They are found all over the world, even in freshwater.

See how art, science and natural history view these beautiful but deadly marine creatures.

Courtesy Library of Congress

Conrad in Australia Until 10 February 2008 Tasman Light 150th-anniversary tribute to this famous Polish-born novelist and giant of English literature, and his littleknown maritime links with Australia. Conrad honed his English at Circular Quay, standing deck watch on the Duke of Sutherland. His letters, photographs and books highlight his impressions of the country, its people and places.

Page 28

Tall Ship Adventure: A Young Man’s Journey New York to Fremantle 1905 14 December 2007–20 July 2008 USA Gallery In 1905, 19-year old Fred Taylor took a pre-university gap year and a camera on a voyage from New York to Fremantle on the four-masted barque Queen Margaret. His photographs and journal entires tell the tale. From the Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of American History.

Little shipmates – seafaring pets 13 February–8 June Tasman Light Cats, dogs, monkeys and birds have been part of shipboard life for as long as people have made sea voyages. Sydney photographer Sam Hood photographed them for over 50 years and this selection of 19 delightful photographs shows their special place in seafaring hierarchy.

Steel beach – ship breaking in Bangladesh 8 February–30 March South Gallery Sitakunda, a graveyard for old ships in Bangladesh, provided photographer Andrew Bell with these stark images of the shipbreaking industry – skeletons of half-scrapped ships and the workers tearing them apart in this dangerous environment on the mud flats of the Bay of Bengal.

On the water Replica of James Cook’s Endeavour Open at museum wharves 10 am–4 pm (except Christmas Day) January open 10 am–5 pm Visit the magnificent Australian-built replica of the vessel on which James Cook made his first circumnavigation (1768–71), charting Australia’s east coast and claiming it for Britain.

Members FREE. Adults $15, child/concession $8, family $30.

Other ticket combinations available. Enquiries 02 9298 3777 Barque James Craig (1874) Daily Wharf 7 (except when sailing) Sydney Heritage Fleet’s magnificent iron-hulled ship is the result of an award-winning 30-year restoration. Tour the ship with various museum ticket packages (discount for Members).

ANMM travelling exhibitions The River – Life on the Murray-Darling 7 December 2007–17 February 2008 Pioneer Park, Italian Museum Griffith NSW Patriotism Persuasion Propaganda – American War Posters 2 December 2007–3 February 2008 Manning Regional Art Gallery Taree NSW 8 February–13 April 2008 Wagga Wagga Regional Art Gallery NSW Antarctic Views by Hurley and Ponting 8 December 2007–26 February 2008 Gladstone Regional Art Gallery & Museum QLD

SIGNALS 81 December 2007–February 2008

For schools Over 30 programs for students K–12, across a range of syllabus areas. Options include extension workshops, hands-on sessions, theatre, tours with museum teacherguides and harbour cruises. Programs link to both core museum and special temporary exhibitions. Bookings essential: telephone 02 9298 3655 fax 02 9298 3660 email bookings@anmm.gov.au or visit our website: www.anmm.gov.au/site/page.cfm?u=29 What is history?

Years 7–8 History This workshop relates to the Stage 4 Introducing History topic with particular reference to the Inquiry Questions. Students examine objects from three ships, looking at conservation, how curators investigate the past and ways in which museums represent history. $12 per student Transport Years K–2 HSIE, Science Students tour the Museum identifying various forms of transport connected with water. They see sailing ships, row-boats, ferries, tugs, a Navy destroyer, water traffic and even a helicopter! A transport cruise is also available, where students board a heritage ferry and look at industrial, commercial and passenger transport systems on the harbour. $6 per student (cruise extra) Navigators Years 3–6 HSIE This program investigates early contact with the Australian continent. Students encounter non-European traders, traditional navigation techniques, and early European explorers. They view constellations in the night sky used for navigation, and look at the influence of European explorers in the Age of Sail.

Items on display include artefacts from ships such as Endeavour and Batavia, and material from Dutch, English, French, Torres Strait Islander and Makassan explorers. $6 per student Pyrmont walk Years 9–12 History & Geography Explore this inner-city suburb from the perspective of changing demographics, construction, planning and development. Led by a teacher-guide, students walk the streets of Pyrmont and examine changes. The program is suitable as a site study for History and Geography. A harbour cruise examining change and development along the waterfront is also available.

From $12 per student. Cruise extra SIGNALS 81 December 2007–February 2008

Iceman – the story of Ötzi Years 5–12 HSIE & Science Be immersed in the fascinating mystery of Ötzi’s life and death. Examine a replica of the mummy as he was found encased in ice, examine a reconstructed model of the man and journey through the history of the Iceman. Investigate amazing scientific discoveries, see a unique collection of Neolithic artefacts and learn about life in the copper age.

CSIce workshop How did Ötzi die? Accident? Murder? Students use archaeology, science and deduction to sort through the evidence – how did he live, what was his last meal, what happened to him, how did the evidence survive? Fascinating CSI for student time detectives!

Guided tours $6 per student, CSIce workshop from $12 per student (includes guided tour) Wrecked! – Tragedy and the Southern Seas Years 5–12 HSIE, Science, English There are 850 shipwrecks along the South Australian coast, each telling a story of drama and tragedy from a time when shipping was part of daily life and when immigrants came to Australia by sea. Ideal to join with our Shipwreck Stories program!

Guided tours $6 per student. Maritime archaeology workshop$15 per student (includes guided tour) Jellyfish – nature inspires art All years Visual Arts, Science Jellyfish are found all over the world. Australia is home to many species, including the deadly Box Jellyfish. This exhibition examines the science and natural history of these remarkable creatures, and their inspiration for beautiful works of art. A visit to Jellyfish can also be incorporated into several of our programs.

Guided tours $6.00 per student The Art of Jellyfish for years 7–10 shows students how jellyfish have inspired amazing works of art, then students design their own work. $10 per student Visual Design for years 11–12 introduces students to how designers use an existing space and alter its character to engage an audience. The tour includes a short presentation by a professional 3-D designer. $8 per student Splash!

Years K-2 HSIE, PD, PE & Health, Creative Arts Splash! is a hands-on program where younger visitors explore leisure in, on, under and near the water through movement, dress-ups, games and stories. The program includes a guided tour of the Watermarks and Jellyfish exhibitions and students make their own jellyfish craftwork to take home. $8.00 per student Page 29

A Titanic Hero One of the Titanic’s real heroes, fifth officer Harold Lowe, was a regular visitor to Australian ports during his career as a merchant seafarer, and three generations of his family now call Australia home. The museum’s Inger Sheil teases more strands out of the ever-fascinating Titanic yarn.

JUST SIX MONTHS after the most infamous shipping disaster in world history – the sinking of the White Star Line’s ‘unsinkable’ passenger liner Titanic – another White Star steamship, Medic, quietly left Melbourne for Liverpool.

Soon after, a short article about one of the Medic’s officers appeared in the Australian edition of Punch: ‘The lion-hunting, hero-worshipping public missed a great opportunity last week, when the Medic was in port. The third officer was named Lowe, formerly fifth officer on the ill-fated Titanic. A great fuss was made of him in the English and American papers at the time … He is a young man, and it is supposed he has been sent out on the Australia–Cape trade, so that he may be free from lionising for a time.’ (Punch, October 1912) Harold Godfrey Lowe had certainly tasted a lion’s share of fame since Titanic sank on 15 April 1912. He had made a lasting impression at both the American and British inquiries into the sinking. A colourful figure with a memorable turn of phrase, he related how he had helped to load lifeboats, then repeatedly fired his Browning automatic pistol to deter desperate boarders as his own boat, number 14, was lowered. As the ship sank Lowe mustered a group of lifeboats into a flotilla, transferred his passengers to other boats and took a small crew back to the site of the sinking – the only officer to do so.

fearing his nerve would break down.

Lowe followed faint cries and found four people alive in the freezing sea. One died soon after being brought aboard.

Fifth officer Lowe commanded the only lifeboat to successfully hoist its sails, and when the rescue ship Carpathia arrived on the scene he was able to take an overloaded lifeboat in tow. He then encountered a collapsible boat that had been stored on top of the officers’

Lowe and his crew encountered a macabre scene, picking their way through a sea of frozen bodies floating in their lifejackets Lowe and his crew encountered a macabre scene, picking their way through a sea of frozen bodies floating in their lifejackets – victims of hypothermia rather than drowning. Steeling himself to the task, Lowe thought: ‘I am not here to worry about bodies; I am here for life, to save life …’ One crewman remembered that he couldn’t look over the side, Page 30

quarters on Titanic. It had not been properly launched, but had shot free in the ship’s final plunge and a number of swimmers were able to find refuge upon it. There they had floated through the night, up to their knees in icy water, with several succumbing in the darkness. One of the few left alive when Lowe arrived was Rhoda Abbott, the only woman

Clean-shaven second officer Harold Lowe (top row, right) posed with fellow officers in the West African trade, 1909.

All photographs Lowe family collection

who went into the water and lived.

Lowe pulled these survivors into his lifeboat and landed them all safely on the Carpathia.

Lowe’s strong, direct language did not endear him to everyone. One first-class passenger found Lowe – a lifelong total abstainer – so profane that she thought him drunk. At the American Senate inquiry Lowe recalled that he had told the chairman of the White Star Line, J Bruce Ismay, to ‘get the hell out of it’ when Ismay was proving more of a hindrance than a help during the chaos on the sinking liner. Ismay survived, remembering Lowe’s language as ‘not very parliamentary’.

But the majority of survivors applauded him. Irene ‘Rene’ Harris, prominent in theatrical circles, dubbed him ‘the real hero of the Titanic’ and presented him with a set of expensive nautical SIGNALS 81 December 2007–February 2008

Harold Lowe wears the White Star Line insignia on his officer’s cap and World War I campaign ribbons, 1920s.

His older brother George, a boatman, was less adept. Unable to swim, he drowned in a separate incident after slipping from the quay while moving his boat.

Lowe resisted his father’s attempts to apprentice him to a Liverpool shipping firm, taking the view ‘that I was not going to work for anybody for nothing …

I wanted to be paid for my labour.’ At age 15 he nonetheless ran away to sea on a Welsh coasting vessel. His first voyage to Australia came in 1903, when he signed as an able-bodied seaman on the steel barque Ormsary, bound on her maiden voyage from Greenock to Sydney. It was Lowe’s introduction to a port that was to remain a favourite throughout his career.

Some of his shipmates found it so much to their taste that they jumped ship when the opportunity arose.

instruments inscribed to that effect.

He received a gold watch, paid for by subscription. Passenger Sara Compton thought he personified the best traditions of the British sailor. Selena Cook went further, stating that ‘too much praise cannot be given the officer for his work’ and that she and a number of other women owed their lives to him.

A Michigan newspaper editorialised, ‘As we look back on the stories of the

to the boat of which he was placed in command.’

Lowe returned to sea in August 1912, joining the Medic as third officer, bound for Australia. It was not his first voyage to the southern continent – he was sailing in familiar waters. At the age of 30 he had already spent half his life at sea, in a career during which he had demonstrated physical courage and strength on several occasions.

One first-class passenger found Lowe – a lifelong total abstainer – so profane that she thought him drunk Titanic, the figure of this man Lowe looms gigantic, masterful, above his fellows.’ After the US Senate inquiry The New York Tribune concluded ‘The conduct of H G Lowe, fifth officer, was deserving of the highest commendation; he exhibited not only personal bravery, but discretion and a resourcefulness which resulted in saving many more lives than those originally entrusted SIGNALS 81 December 2007–February 2008

Harold Godfrey Lowe was born 21 November 1882 in North Wales, moving with his family to Barmouth at the mouth of the Mawddach Estuary. Here the young Harold learned his early seacraft in small sailing vessels, and first made local news when he took his father’s punt out in bad weather. It capsized, yet he managed to swim half a mile to shore while fully clothed and wearing boots.

After a month in Sydney the Ormsary sailed the 60 miles to Newcastle, voyaged on to Honolulu but returned to Sydney in December. Lowe spent Christmas 1903 in the heat of an Australian summer, with the screeching parrots, thrumming cicadas and scent of the eucalyptus forests that still covered much of the Port Jackson shore. In late January the Ormsary left for home. In heavy winter weather on the final leg of her voyage an 18-year-old apprentice, Frederick John Marsh, was lost overboard. The effect on board can be imagined.

When Lowe signed off he received £30 and nine shillings for 14 months at sea, his longest period on a single vessel to date. This would be his last sailing ship before entering steam. Perhaps the long voyage had convinced him to examine the future of his profession.

The Ormsary would later disappear without a trace after sailing in 1906 from Chile with a cargo of nitrate. The Shipping Gazette Summary suggested she had probably struck an iceberg in the seas around Cape Horn. It was a bad year for icebergs in southern waters, and Ormsary was the fourth vessel posted missing amid the southern ice. In the days before all ships were fitted with wireless, such disappearances were not uncommon.

Two anecdotes during Lowe’s subsequent service with the Alfred Holt shipping line on the Far East run attest to his mettle. On one voyage, while on the ship’s sicklist with an infected arm, he leaped after a Page 31

man who had fallen overboard. He was able to keep them both afloat until they could be picked up. In another incident, during a ‘terrific gale’, crew were sought to climb aloft. In an account attributed to the captain, the only volunteer was Lowe who stepped forward with the ready response, ‘I will go. I may as well die from the yard as from the deck.’

Working for the Elder Dempster line in the West-African trade, Lowe earned his Board of Trade certifications as an officer.

He sat for his master’s ticket in 1911, and thereupon joined the prestigious White

assigned a fourth officer’s berth on the Tropic, a 15-year-old, 8,262-ton steamer in the Australian livestock trade. While far from the most glamorous vessel in the White Star fleet – a distinction reserved for Atlantic passenger liners such as the elegant Oceanic, Adriatic, Baltic and now the Olympic-class behemoths nearing completion in the Belfast shipyards of Harland and Wolff – the Tropic did represent an accomplishment for the young Harold.

On sailing day word was received that there was to be a last minute change

Lowe had confidence and ability, however, and he was widely recognised as an up-and-comer Star Line. Some of his seafaring relatives were rather bemused that Lowe was able to satisfy the exacting standards of this premier firm since he was, in their words, a ‘very rough diamond’. Lowe had confidence and ability, however, and he was widely recognised as an up-andcomer. One Liverpool newspaper was to report him ‘an officer who is regarded as having a promising career before him’.

in the lineup on the bridge. The third officer was transferred to another vessel, and fourth officer Lowe received his first promotion in the White Star Line, becoming replacement third as the Tropic sailed from Liverpool bound for Port Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. Several of these ports were familiar from his voyage on the Ormsary, and were places he enjoyed.

Nonetheless, the White Star Line was not prepared to offer its 28-year-old recruit a front rank ship, and in April 1911 he was

Lowe’s next Australian voyage with the White Star Line, again as third officer, was on the Belgic in 1911, under Captain

Page 32

LEFT: Lowe in a formal portrait with his friend the champion Australian rower Harry Pearce (RIGHT) in London, 1913, wearing a watch & chain presented by his home town, and a gold sovereign presented by a first-class Titanic passenger.

ABOVE: In 1917 as a lieutenant in the Royal Navy Reserve, with his children Harold and Josephine.

J H Thornton. In Cape Town some of the men were involved in a disturbance ashore and one was left behind in prison. There was more discontent crossing the Indian Ocean, and in Fremantle three crew were discharged into legal custody for ‘refusal of duty’. Replacements were engaged and others discharged by mutual consent, and the Belgic sailed on to Melbourne.

Discontent continued, and in Sydney no fewer than 16 crew were discharged by mutual consent. Eleven more deserted in Sydney before sailing day.

This voyage, characterised by simmering dissatisfaction for reasons unrecorded, was probably one that Lowe was glad to finish. But not all was well at home in the United Kingdom where shipping was being crippled by a national coal strike that had begun in January 1912.

A complex and anachronistic system of wages had precipitated a struggle over SIGNALS 81 December 2007–February 2008

minimum pay rates for colliers, and now scores of ships lay idle at their berths.

on the White Star Line’s Ceramic as second officer.

Although not a prolific correspondent, Lowe was a keen photographer and filled his albums with photographs he took on these voyages. His sense of humour appears in the caption for one cheerful shot of a group of attractive young flappers decked out in officers’ jackets and peaked caps – ‘Relief Officers’ he noted alongside. But he also enjoyed photographing the migrant families that travelled during the interwar period, and his friends in rower Harry Pearce’s family.

Lowe had made a positive impression with his new employers, however, and would not remain ‘on the beach’ for long. Towards the end of March, a few select White Star officers received telegrams notifying them that they were to be assigned to a new ship. Lowe dutifully reported to the White Star Line offices in Liverpool to pick up his tickets to cross overnight to Belfast, where he was to join the RMS Titanic – and soon find himself in the midst of the greatest maritime tragedy of all time. He would more than rise to the occasion, when the iceberg struck Titanic a fatal blow on that dark night in the North Atlantic.

Harry’s son, Henry ‘Bobby’ Pearce, was already showing the skills that would make him Australia’s greatest Olympic sculling champion, the first Australian to win back-toFollowing the disaster, Lowe’s back gold medals in 1928 and return to sea as the Medic’s third 1932. Lowe photographed mate brought reminders of the father and son in casual events of 14–15 April. Among backyard shots and Bobby on the passengers was Lizelle Lowe of the lifeboats, on a White Star liner, date unknown the Parramatta River, sculling Simpson, sister of the Titanic’s in his shell. Pearce presented lost junior surgeon, Dr John Simpson.

Lowe with a silver cigar case, inscribed Lowe’s mercantile marine career gave way She was travelling to visit a sister living ‘from one pal to another’. to training as a sub-lieutenant in the Royal in Melbourne. Lowe told her he had Naval Reserve.

He served out World War I Lowe retired from the sea in 1931, encountered her brother briefly during in cruisers, travelling as far as Vladivostok moving with his wife and two children the Titanic evacuation, when the young where one of his ships was stationed during to an idyllic retirement in Deganwy, doctor had handed him an electric torch the civil war that followed the Russian North Wales, where he died on 12 to use while loading the lifeboats. When Revolution. Following demobilisation, May 1944. He was not yet 62. Lowe’s Lowe injured his leg during Medic’s he returned to service on the Atlantic run, family continued his association with voyage Lizelle visited him in the ship’s sailing to the USA and Canada, before Australia, and in later years his son infirmary, bringing gifts of flowers and fruit, and she invited him to visit her joining the White Star Line’s Gallic in May Harold William George Lowe moved to Western Australia, remaining family home in Belfast.

1922 as the ship’s chief officer. there until his death in 1998. Today Lowe’s next voyage to Australia was on Lowe remained with the Gallic, sailing to three generations of Lowe’s direct the liner Gothic. On the return voyage Australia and New Zealand, until 1925. descendents live in Australia.

‘I will go’, said Lowe. ‘I might as well die from the yard as from the deck.’ from Sydney in February 1913 was the athlete Henry ‘Harry’ Pearce, who was bound for England to challenge Ernest Barry for the sculling World Championships on the Thames. Lowe and Pearce struck up a warm friendship that was to endure for the remainder of Harold’s life, although it would be nearly ten years before he sailed again to Australia. Intervening were his marriage in September 1913 to Ellen Marion Whitehouse, with whom he would have two children, Florence and Harold, and the war that was on the horizon.

SIGNALS 81 December 2007–February 2008

Australia would always be a destination he enjoyed, but he saved his greatest affection for New Zealand. Its spectacular scenery and excellent fishing prospects appealed to the angler and game fisherman in Lowe, inspiring him to say that if he were ever to live outside Wales, he would make New Zealand his home. One of his brothers, Edgar, did make that move, and for some years was captain of an inter-island ferry.

Lowe then spent some years on the Canadian service before returning to Australia in 1927 for two voyages

One British grandson has continued the family’s seafaring links, serving as a captain in the merchant marine. Like his grandfather he has strong ties to Australia, having married an Australian. It is their intention to retire to the sunny climate of the lands under the Southern Cross that so

enchanted Harold Lowe.

Inger Sheil, executive assistant to the museum director, is researching a book on Harold Lowe in UK, American and Australian archives, and in interviews with descendants of Titanic crew and passengers. She has published on the subject in historical journals and has been interviewed on BBC radio. She is grateful to Harold Lowe’s family for their assistance.

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SIGNALS 81 December 2007–February 2008

Norman Lindsay – Magic of the Sea This versatile and controversial Australian artist is best-known for his children’s book The Magic Pudding and for his nude studies – often set in elaborate, erotic tableaux with historic or mythological settings. Story by manager of the Norman Lindsay Gallery Amanda Trevillion who with Gaye McKenna has curated a new exhibition highlighting another of the artist’s passions, for ships and the sea. It’s on this summer at the gallery in Faulconbridge, NSW. NORMAN LINDSAY (1879–1969) is mostly remembered for defending his right to paint the nude, although the many Australians who have read and enjoyed his classic Australian children’s story The Magic Pudding would remember him too as an author and illustrator. But unless you are a devoted Lindsay fan you probably wouldn’t know that Norman Lindsay painted, drew and made scale models of ships.

of a square rigger bound for England with a cargo of wool, battling the weather and all the dangers that the sea could throw at a sailor, must have seemed preferable to sitting in a classroom.

For Lindsay himself this was not to be.

But later when he left home, he often frequented the wharves of the Yarra while an art student in Melbourne. It was only when he came to Sydney in 1901 to work on The Bulletin, however, that the

I don’t doubt that one of my progenitors was a sailor whose memory cells were impregnated in mine. I am much in his debt The high seas, pirates and adventure were a source of fascination for Norman Lindsay from a very early age. In later life he would recall that, when he was a child of only three or four, the father of the family’s housemaid made him a model of a full-rigged ship. This was the beginning of a lifelong passion.

perfection of the full-rigged ship was revealed to him in Sydney’s glorious harbour. The Sydney experienced by Lindsay in the early 1900s was to stay with him and he remembered that period as Sydney’s heyday.

In his autobiography My Mask he wrote: ‘When I arrived there it was at its best … a sailor-town city, a free-trade city, a premechanised city in which one jostled in lower George St and the quay sailors from all the earth, and glimpsed over wharves and the roofs of harbourside houses the tall spars of sailing ships.’

The drawing for the watercolour The Ballad of Circular Quay illustrates Lindsay’s memory of Sydney’s wharves and its colourful characters during the era of the sailing ship.

In 1910 Lindsay went to London for the publication of his illustrations to Petronius and took up rooms in South Kensington, specifically to be near the Science Museum and its substantial collection of ship models. For three months he spent most of his time there, studying the model ships and making careful drawings of a large number of them. Lindsay came to know the

Lindsay’s childhood as the middle son in a family of 10 children was not as exciting as he would have wished. The tediousness of a strict 19th-century schoolroom routine and the discipline imposed at home left many young Australian boys longing to escape to a real adventure.

Running away to sea and joining the crew Never mere technical studies, Norman Lindsay’s models capture the essence and romance of ships. This one, the 18thcentury regal yacht The Royal Caroline, expresses his love of classical themes with fanciful friezes of languid goddesses and nymphs adorning the topsides near the cathead and the stern galleries. The recognisable features of one of his real-life models adorn the figurehead.

Photographer J Mellefont/ANMM

SIGNALS 81 December 2007–February 2008

Page 35

craftsmen in the museum’s working department, mostly old naval men who rerigged and refitted the old models.

After asking about the length of time and cost involved in having a bare hull of an 18th-century model made for him, it became clear that if he wanted one then he would have to make it himself.

By the time he returned to Sydney, Lindsay was equipped with notes, plans, drawings and manuals on ship construction and rigging, and even a first edition of William Falconer’s 1769 Dictionary of the Marine. His first ship model, Cook’s Endeavour, followed soon after his return. He later sold it for £100 and it is now in the collection of the National Gallery of Victoria.

Over the following years the modelmaking urge took him to experiment with all the different periods in ship construction. During his long career, Lindsay is known to have made 14 ship models and nine of these are on display at the Norman Lindsay Gallery in the artist’s former home at Faulconbridge in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney. The models include a Greek galley, a Tudor galleon, the royal yacht The Royal Caroline, Juno frigate of 1757, a Naval cutter of 1800, a flush-deck ship of 1830, a three-masted ship, an East Indiaman and the clipper Thermopylae.

Lindsay’s ship models were made, if possible, after researching the shipwright’s original plans. One exception was the most modern ship that Lindsay modelled, the Joseph Conrad. The model, which is now in the University of Melbourne collection, was made after Lindsay studied her rigging and decks when she visited Sydney in the 1930s. At that time she was the last British registered, fully rigged sailing ship.

Ship modelling was a diversion for Lindsay from the serious business of

action around a model, which he could view from any angle.

In her book Portrait of Pa, Lindsay’s daughter Jane recalled her first memory of her father’s ship-modelling obsession

When I arrived there [Sydney] was at its best … a sailor-town city, a free-trade city, a pre-mechanised city painting. He was highly inventive, and used what materials he had to hand – even melting down the lead casings of oil paint tubes to cast canon balls and to make the 43 different figures of the rowers on the Greek galley. But in fact the ship models provided more than relaxation for Norman Lindsay. They were of great use to him in his paintings, enabling him to mentally construct the Page 36

when she was around 10 years old and Lindsay was making the largest of his models, the Thermopylae. She was interested once he had finished the decks because then the small wooden buildings, wheels and fittings would start to be placed in position and after that it was time for the rigging and chains. Jane remembers her father explaining what all the ropes were called, and their uses.

He allowed Jane and her sister Honey to help make the chains. After Lindsay had wound the fine wire around nails and then cut down one side to make hundreds of tiny open links the two girls were allowed to pinch them together with pliers and they made a whole chain each – Jane’s on the foremast of the Thermopylae and Honey’s on the main mast.

Literary inspiration for Lindsay came from adventure stories he read as a child, and from the classics – and of particular importance, Homer’s great epic, The Odyssey. The myths of classic Greece, the lost world of Atlantis, Ulysses and the haunting sirens whose song could lure sailors to a tragic end, all provided a constant source of material for Lindsay to illustrate.

As a child the first book Lindsay read was The Coral Island by R M Ballantyne. It relates the adventures of SIGNALS 81 December 2007–February 2008

OPPOSITE: Ulysses by Norman Lindsay, watercolour, 1923. © H C & A Glad LEFT: Boarded by Norman Lindsay, watercolour, 1954. © H C & A Glad BELOW: Norman Lindsay and his ship model of clipper Thermopylae.

Photographer unknown

three English boys shipwrecked on an undiscovered South Pacific island, and their conflict with pirates who visit the island. When it came to portraying piratical themes in his art, Lindsay had a ready-made pirate to hand.

James Robb, who was originally employed to clean the studio once a week, possessed the perfect countenance for the most sinister of all pirates. Lindsay sketched him in fierce poses with a blunderbuss tucked into his belt, with a jacket and tricorn, or bare-chested with a scarf around his head.

He used these sketches for later paintings including well-known works such as Captured and Suspense. Robb recalls that the six years he spent posing for Lindsay were full of laughter and were some of the happiest of his life. The blunderbuss and many of the photographs taken of Robb are in the National Trust’s Norman Lindsay Gallery collection.

Norman Lindsay maintained his fascination with the magic of the sea throughout his life, making his last ship model when he was in his 80s, and the influence of the sea can be seen in examples of all the various types of art he created. Drawings, etchings, watercolours, oils, ship models, decorated furniture and ceramics depict sailing ships, pirates, mermaids and adventures on the high seas.

Even Lindsay’s children’s book, The Magic Pudding, written in 1917, incorporates elements of the sea. While sailing around the horn Bill Barnacle, a sea captain, sings the song ‘Spanish Gold’ about pirates, and the ship’s cook, Curry and Rice, creates the original ‘Magic Pudding’.

‘I don’t doubt that one of my progenitors was a sailor whose memory cells were impregnated in mine. I am much in his

debt …’ Norman Lindsay The Magic of the Sea 7 September 2007–28 February 2008 Norman Lindsay Gallery Faulconbridge NSW Enquiries 02 4751 1067 Join our Members tour to the Norman Lindsay Gallery to view The Magic of the Sea on Sunday 3 February 2008. See page 24 of the Members program for more details.

SIGNALS 81 December 2007–February 2008

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Tim Tam Times The most recent of our ceremonies to unveil new panels of names on the Welcome Wall, last October, took a new tack. The guest speakers were drawn from our own museum staff whose family names are on the Wall. ANMM media officer Shirani Aththas recalled some childhood migration experiences.

WHEN I MIGRATED to Australia from France with my parents and two older sisters in December 1986, I was only five years old. Not surprisingly, my memories of the flight here are a little hazy. I know the flight was long and no doubt extremely boring for a five year old, even though we stopped in Sri Lanka on the way to visit my dad’s family. Mum has my complete sympathy for putting up with three kids on such long flights!

It wasn’t exactly by mistake that we came to Australia, but we were propelled on our way by a mix up over visas at the travel agent. My parents were interested in Australia – my dad’s brother had already migrated there and on visits to France he told us how great it was. Mum and dad thought there would be better opportunities for us if we moved to Australia, but they also thought it would be a good idea to visit first. After applying for residency, mum bought return tickets to Sydney on advice from the travel agent believing we could still obtain tourist visas. It turned out however that you can only apply for one visa at a time, and we ended up foregoing the visit and moving to Australia sight unseen!

For my dad, Mohamed Aththas, it was his second big relocation half way round the world! He was born in Sri Lanka and that’s where he met my mother Michelle Duterte. My mum was born in Lille, in northern France and had been working for a French airline company in the former French colony Niger

saying – French was the language we spoke and my English was, well let’s be honest, it was non-existent! At first we stayed at my uncle’s house in St Ives, all of us camped out on mattresses in the lounge room until we found more permanent accommodations. Between the five of us and my uncle, aunt and three cousins it was pretty crowded, and to make it worse I couldn’t understand what they were saying to me! We shared the house with my three Australian-born cousins – like many migrants do, I guess, until we found a house in Hornsby.

Despite not knowing a single word of English on my first day of school, my kindergarten report card described me as a ‘chatterbox’ in West Africa. When she was offered her choice of holiday destinations, she decided on Sri Lanka and ended up staying in a beachside hotel in Beruwela, south of Colombo. It was the same hotel my dad was working at – Confifi Hotel.

Love quickly blossomed and after a second visit to Sri Lanka, dad followed mum to France where they married and settled in her hometown of Lille. Initially mum and dad only spoke in English to each other as dad didn’t speak French, but he quickly picked up the language thanks to evening French classes. My sisters and I were all born in France and so grew up speaking only French.

One of the first things I remember from when we arrived in Sydney was not understanding much of what anyone was Page 38

For me, looking back now, the most interesting part of my family’s journey to Australia was not so much the badly remembered flight here, or the visa mix-up as we left France for Australia, or even settling in our own home in Hornsby after leaving St Ives. The most interesting parts of our story are all the little anecdotes about the cultural differences we all experienced adjusting to a new country, a new language and a new lifestyle. Differences I’m sure most migrants experience.

They include not knowing a single word of English on my first day of school, but then having my kindergarten report card describe me as a ‘chatterbox’. Discovering the wonders of Australian cuisine such as the chocolate topping Ice Magic on SIGNALS 81 December 2007–February 2008

The museum’s tribute to migrants, The Welcome Wall, encourages people to recall and record their stories of coming to live in Australia.

cold ice cream, Tim Tam biscuits, Aeroplane Jelly, meat pies and even Vegemite. And even teasing mum about her French accent, and her confusion when asked to ‘bring a plate’ to a friend’s morning tea. Do these Australian’s not have enough kitchenware to go around? Should I bring some cutlery too?

LEFT TO RIGHT:

But as much as we can look back and laugh at those first few months and years, it wasn’t easy adjusting – especially with all my mum’s side of the family halfway across the globe in France. I remember painting a portrait of my family in primary school. There we all were standing in front of our house with a plane in the background in the sky and mum crying. In those first few months she would cry whenever she saw a plane.

That’s how much she missed home, her friends and her family.

Shirani, Esthel and Juliette set off for their first day at school.

But that was 21 years ago and I think it’s safe to say that now we wouldn’t call anywhere else home, other than Australia. We all have a great circle of friends. Mum and dad have their own home with a big backyard, a barbeque and a cat. We can now communicate more regularly with family by email, swapping news, stories and photos. And we even cheer for the Wallabies (despite their dismal performance in the World Cup!) My sister Juliette, who was eight when we migrated, married a Greek Australian and my other sister Esthel, who was 11 when we arrived, married an Italian. I guess that sort of cultural SIGNALS 81 December 2007–February 2008

The author speaks at last October’s Welcome Wall unveiling ceremony. Photographer A Gordon/ANMM The Aththas family four years after arriving in Sydney.

Photographer unknown Photographer Michelle Aththas

mixing is in our blood. It’s great to have an overseas heritage and family to stay with when in Europe or Sri Lanka. But there’s still no better feeling than flying home and seeing the great Sydney skyline through the aeroplane window. We may all still miss the French food, the wine, the cheese – and of course, the cakes – but our journey here was well and truly

worth it. We wouldn’t have it any other way.

It costs just $105 to register a name and honour your family’s arrival in this great country! We’d love to add your family’s name to the Welcome Wall, cast in bronze, and your story to the online database at www.anmm.gov.au/ww. So please don’t hesitate to call Helen Jones during business hours with any enquiries regarding the project on 02 9298 3777.

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OFF-WATCH READING CALL ME ISHMAEL

LEGENDARY BROOME

A Dictionary of Sea Quotations – from Ancient Egypt to the present by Edward Duyker. Miegunyah Press, Melbourne 2007. Hardcover, illustrations, 340 pages. $65 (Members $58.50) at The Store

A Pearling Master’s Journey: in the wake of the schooner Mist by J E deB Norman & G V Norman.

G V Norman, Strathfield NSW 2007. Hardcover, illustrations, 338 pages. $120 (Members $108)

THIS IS A CHRISTMAS cracker of a compendium of writings about the sea in which Dr Edward Duyker has assembled a gorgeous array of words. The anthology presents an embarrassment of riches, from knuckle-raw, brineybitter elegies through pungent political satire to exquisite lyrical reflection and deft language play.

This large and handsome book is a treasure trove of information and images about the north west of Australia in the ebullient years of the early pearling industry, from the late 19th century until World War II. Hugh Davis Norman, in his schooner Mist, arrived in Roebuck Bay in 1887 to take up partnership with pearl sheller William Robison. His son Edgar de Burgh (Ted) joined Robison & Norman in Broome in 1910, straight from boarding school, aged 18. A Pearling Master’s journey is written by Ted’s son John and daughter-in-law Verity, and is centred around his life.

There are of course the usual suspects, but often placed in unfamiliar ways. So there is John Masefield’s ‘Sea Fever’ (‘I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky’) as well as its parody by Arthur Guiterman (‘I must go down to the seas again, though there I’m a total loss/And I can’t say which is worst, the pitch, the plunge, the roll, the toss’). There’s Conrad of course: ‘There is nothing more enticing, disenchanting, and enslaving than the life at sea’ from Lord Jim, and ‘I need not tell you what it is to be knocking about in an open boat’ from Youth. There’s a lot of Shakespeare, Melville (‘Call me Ishmael’) and Dickens (‘The sea has no appreciation of great men, but knocks them about like the small fry’ from Bleak House). More surprising, there’s Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh; Ronald Reagan; and Judith Wright.

The publisher says it’s a book for browsing, which is true. But even more, it’s addictive. In the end I was reading the way I like to listen to music. I was delighted, transported and ready to be changed. It’s all there, the emotions and recognitions. Yet this is not just a lukewarm anthology of the sea’s golden oldies or greatest hits. Even from those quotations we’re familiar with there is pleasure to be had reminding ourselves; and from every other one there is a something true and fresh, though not always happy or comforting.

The pieces are arranged alphabetically by writers’ names, and there is a generous general index and an even more helpful index (an aide-mémoire) of key lines. The book looks great and feels great: a good weight; an abstract pattern of waves and sumptuously embossed titles on the covers. The striking black and white illustrations – engravings – are from the personal collection of Edward Duyker. They match the text superbly and often spine-tinglingly. This is a book you’ll love on your coffee table and one you’ll be proud to give to friends.

Dr Edward Duyker is the author of many books dealing with early Australian coastal shipping – there’s a tribute to him on page 16 of Signals. His passion for the sea and literature is reflected in this wonderful collection of quotations gathered from a lifetime’s reading, research and travel.

Dr Wendy Wilkins Page 40

The impetus for the book came from discovering a battered black metal trunk containing an album of photographs taken at Broome in 1910. The Normans began to write the book while Ted’s wife Rene was still alive, in her 90s, more than 25 years ago. She was a valuable first-hand source: the chapter ‘A Pearler’s Wife’, written by her daughter-in-law Verity, includes large extracts from her own memoirs and gives a rare picture of the detail of family life. But the book, more widely, is an intricate social history of a unique time and place.

John Norman ‘listened as a child and later an adult to the reminiscences of those early pearlers, pastoralists, policemen, doctors, soldiers and nurses who came to our home’. The authors also drew on the knowledge, photographs and documents of ‘descendants of the earlier pioneers of every race and ethnicity … most important of all … the Aboriginal people of the Kimberley’. ANMM curator Paul Hundley is also acknowledged for his contribution to research into the Mist.

The result is a rich account ranging from pearling industry economics to diving, mutiny and murder on the luggers, the mix of cultures and people in Broome, the missionaries and the Indigenous people, the Broome Riot of 1920, cyclones, the Flying Doctor Service, and the Japanese air raid on the port in 1942. The profusion of illustrations includes such rarities as the recompression chamber at Broome Hospital in 1915, interiors of the Norman house, and the Saturday night audience in the open roofed Sun Picture Theatre – Indigenous people on bench seats at the front, white people on cane chairs in the centre, and ‘Asiatics’ at the rear and sides. There are many scenes of the town and pearl shelling operations on boats and ashore.

For anyone interested in the history of the north west, in the pearling industry, or even simply in Australian social history, this is an absorbing book.

Patricia Miles SIGNALS 81 December 2007–February 2008

SHIP SPOTTER’S GUIDE

LEGENDS OF THE CLIPPERS

Ships worldwide – What ship is that? by Robert Fildes. Shipsworldwide Pty Ltd, Sydney 2007.

Hardcover, colour illustrations, 205 pages. $79.50 (Members $71.95); CD $35/$31.50 at The Store

Racers of the Deep: The Yankee Clippers and Bluenose Clippers on the Australian Run 1852– 1869, Ralph P Neale. Australian Scholarly Publishing Pty Ltd, Melbourne 2007. Soft cover, illustrations, 380 pp. $45 (Members $40.50) at The Store

WHEN AUTHOR Bob Fildes walked in with his brand-new, self-published, self-designedand-laid-out hardcover emitting that glorious, fresh-off-theprinting-press smell, my first thought was, ‘Now where have I seen something like this before?’ The answer took a moment to percolate as I leafed through the neatly laid out pages of colour-postcard ship mugshots with their neat, concise descriptions.

The answer was, in fact, ‘Nowhere!’ What had initially tickled my memory cells were half-recalled books from childhood five decades ago, of the ‘Boys Book of Ships and the Sea’ genre. But those were simple black, white and grey collations of drawings or muddy photographic half-tones, pulled together by children’s editors rather than marine authorities. I can’t recall a shipspotters guide quite like this one – global in scope, with virtually every one of hundreds of photos taken by the indefatigable Mr Fildes himself during a lifelong fascination with shipping (including a stint as editor of Australian Sea Heritage, the longestablished ship-lover’s journal of Sydney Heritage Fleet).

It’s a book that answers shipping questions from the basic – ‘What IS that thing with the four giant igloos, and LNG writ large on side?’ – to the intermediate – ‘How do you tell the difference between a geared and a gearless container ship?’ – and it includes more commercial vessel types than you might have thought possible. Cable layers, bulkers, tankers, tenders, tugs, trawlers, purseiners and pilot boats, surveyors, hopper-dredgers, car carriers, cruise ships and ferries … plus their ensigns and houseflags, markings, numbers and registers. As well there’s a brief reference to the types of sailing rig from skiffs to sail trainers, and a quick guide to naval craft spanning patrol boats to aircraft carriers. All in a book that comes in at a fraction of the tonnage of Jane’s Fighting Ships. It’s available too as a CD, but many will prefer to own this glossy hardcover which the author has issued in a limited, numbered and signed edition of 650.

For some folks there’s a huge fascination – verging at times on fixation – with the artefacts that we, the human race, produce with such ingenuity. It doesn’t strike everyone, but it often strikes hard, producing dedicated train spotters, car buffs, ship afficionados and the like. In this book the fascination extends with no evident bias across the whole spectrum of ships and boats, and it has produced a useful guide for anyone who needs (or would just like) to know one of them from another.

Jeffrey Mellefont SIGNALS 81 December 2007–February 2008

The history of the clipper ship is inextricably tied to the history of the American and Australian goldrushes, British and American economic history and the worldwide investigation of natural history during this period. The Black Ball Line and the White Star Line, the two Liverpool-based shipping lines whose activities are woven throughout this narrative, were pivotal in these histories.

In his introduction to Racers of the Deep Ralph Neale starts out with a present-tense account of the first voyage from Liverpool to Melbourne of the Donald McKay clipper, Lightning. Under the command of Captain James Forbes the vessel is caught in perilous conditions as it passes Kerguelen Island in the dead of night. This opening passage gives the reader an enticing glimpse into the life aboard ship that immigrants in the mid-19th-century would have been exposed to.

It is clear that Neale has spent years researching the passenger journals and ship’s logs which provide a wealth of primary source material for this volume. As well, information from the many secondary-source publications that have been printed from an American or British perspective has been reinterpreted with an Australian perspective in this book.

While the book as a whole is a comprehensive overview as the subtitle suggests, the 380-page volume does not have to be read cover to cover. The chapters are laid out chronologically, but can almost be read as a series of inter-related short stories about the shipping line, the captains or the vessels that the reader may have a special interest in.

As a reference book for the maritime history of this period, Racers of the Deep provides a comprehensive list, by year of sailing, of the fleets of both the White Star and Black Ball Lines that embarked for Australia and New Zealand. The glossary provides welcome assistance for a general readership that may not be as familiar with nautical terminology as maritime historians. The author also proves himself a maritime artist, embellishing his written work (including the cover) with 12 colour plates of clipper ships taken from his own paintings.

My only criticism is that I found the multiple fonts and print sizes to be a distraction from the content of the book. I can see why it was done – in order to differentiate large block quotations and technical information – but I think this could have been handled in a more sympathetic manner for the reader.

Paul Hundley Page 41

COLLECTIONS The Gospel Ship This rare example of evangelist art with a nautical theme, rescued from a docklands hotel in Hobart, showed sailors the true road to salvation. By curator and maritime archaeologist Kieran Hosty

FOR THOUSANDS of years people have sought answers to the fundamental questions of human and cosmological origins and meaning, and of mortality. To help answer these questions and provide a guide to life, societies all over the world developed moral codes and frameworks, social traditions and religious beliefs. Most of them centre on a universal god or gods, and a place of heavenly peace or spiritual salvation after death.

As the road to spiritual salvation is frequently a difficult one, with many temptations along the way, some religions developed the concept of ‘vehicles of salvation’ to help point people on the way to spiritual realisation. Advocates of this approach within the Christian traditions included the non-conformist Wesleyans, the Presbyterian, Methodist, Congregationalist and Baptist faiths. In the 19th century and early 20th century people imagined getting to heaven by means of the gospel carriage, the Page 42

gospel train and the gospel ship. These metaphors for the path to spiritual salvation were used in writing, music, poetry, stories, song and artworks to explain the true path.

The term ‘gospel ship’ can be traced back to at least mid-18thcentury England where it featured in some of the earliest free forms of Baptist hymns and, according to music folklorists at Kent University (USA), the term is still found today in Baptist hymns and white spirituals sung in the churches of Arkansas, Virginia, and eastern Kentucky in the United States of America.

Examples include: The Gospel ship has long been sailing, Bound for Canaan’s peaceful shore; All who wish to sail to glory Come, and welcome, rich and poor ...’

SIGNALS 81 December 2007–February 2008

or I set my foot on the Gospel ship And the ship it begin to sail And it landed me over on Canaan’s shore And I’ll never come back anymore.

Besides music, the term gospel ship can also be found in religious tracts which were especially produced for sailors in the early 19th century, such as the Reverend J Lenfest’s The locker containing some precious and glorious truths from the great store-house of God’s word. Served out by an unworthy steward on board the gospel ship for the benefit of his brother seamen (New York, c. 1845). The Reverend J H Vincent’s Curiosities of the Bible (New York 1888) used an illustration of a three-masted barque called The Gospel Ship, with religious quotes and texts to explain teachings from the Bible.

OPPOSITE: The Gospel Ship, charcoal on linen, 1575 mm x 2290 mm, artist unknown, once graced the walls of a Hobart hotel.

BELOW: Curator of ship technology and maritime archaeology, Kieran Hosty, showing the scale of The Gospel Ship.

Photography A Frolows/ANMM

A similar illustration, this time a photograph, by a Reverend R G MacKenzie, is recorded in the collection of The Presbyterian Church Archives of Aotearoa New Zealand, an archive with an extensive collection of material relating to missionary activity in New Zealand and the Pacific, and in the collection of The Ceredigion Museum, Ceredigion, Wales, a museum devoted to Wesleyan and Methodist religious material dating from the 1850s.

Songs, music and other forms of art concerning religion tend to have three major themes. They provide a blueprint for living prior to death. They provide the means of conveyance to the hereafter such as a train (Life’s Railway to Heaven), or a ship (The Gospel Ship). Lastly there are lyrics and images that denote what the afterlife is like.

The museum has recently acquired The Gospel Ship, a charcoal on linen drawing of a three-masted sailing vessel with biblical messages written on the sails, hull and seascape.

This large, fragile work was recovered from The Bird in Hand Hotel in Hobart, Tasmania, prior to its demolition. It was later sold at Gowans Auctions, Hobart, in the 1970s. It was offered for sale most recently by the dealer in historic prints and photographs Josef Lebovic of the Josef Lebovic Gallery, Paddington NSW.

Sailing ‘To Glory’, it appeals for passengers with promises of ‘Eternity’, ‘Berths Secure’ and ‘Insurance – They shall never perish’ How this large-scale drawing of a gospel ship ended up in a seaman’s hotel on the corner of Argyle and Bathurst Streets in Hobart in the late 19th or early 20th century still remains a mystery. However, it’s highly likely, given the hotel’s maritime clientele and the drawing’s nautical theme, that the work was deliberately drawn there by an unidentified artist as an act of missionary zeal to spread the knowledge of Christ, and show the true road to salvation to sailors. Sailing ‘To Glory’, it appeals for passengers with promises of ‘Eternity’, ‘Berths Secure’ and ‘Insurance – They shall never perish’ – drawing upon the language of seafaring and reflecting the SIGNALS 81 December 2007–February 2008

concerns of sailors and passengers for secure and safe voyages.

Although religion played ‘a strong, even a decidedly formative role in sailors’ behaviour’ (according to Christopher Magra in a recent paper ‘Faith at Sea: Exploring Maritime Religiosity’ in the International Journal of Maritime History, June 2007 page 108), examples of didactic religious art with overtly nautical themes such as The Gospel Ship are extremely rare with few representatives recorded elsewhere.

The charcoal drawing The Gospel Ship joins a body of material in the museum collection representing the experiences and stories of those who travelled to Australia by sea, both as seafarers and passengers. Missionary society activities in Australia and the Pacific Region were identified in the 2003 Collection Development Policy as an area to be developed as the opportunity arises, and The Gospel Ship well fulfils this aim, too.

Page 43

See you at the Summit The world’s most high-profile museum visitor dropped in during the APEC summit in Sydney last September. Director Mary-Louise Williams recalls a hectic time.

WHEN THE LEADERS of the AsiaPacific Economic Co-Operation (APEC) nations, accompanied by their ministers and mandarins, gathered in Sydney for the 2007 APEC summit, the city was locked down and barricaded off in the biggest security operation ever seen here.

Sydneysiders were given a holiday and encouraged to go away, so they wouldn’t be too inconvenienced by it all.

During this hectic week the leader of the world’s superpower, President George W Bush – subject of much of the security – chose just two extra-curricular, nonAPEC diversions. One was mountainbike riding in leafy St Ives, a northern Sydney suburb. The other was a visit to this very museum, where in 1992 his father, President George Bush Snr, had officially opened our USA Gallery. This special gallery had been funded by the US Senate in 1988, our Bicentenary year, as a vote of thanks to its long-standing ally Australia.

Welcoming the President of the United States constitutes a quite memorable occasion in the working life of a museum director, and I can’t resist sharing this and some other APEC memories with our readers.

APEC first entered our lives about two years ago when I joined a group of

theme of Asia-Pacific-rim cuisine and called our festival Pacific on a Plate.

Over 13,000 people joined us over two days on this culinary and cultural kneesup, enjoying great food and entertaining performances from many different countries. It was a lot of fun – although few visitors seem to have made the APEC connection.

Another tentative, early suggestion was a Tall Ships event. As a maritime museum we know something about those, and we

The largest man I’ve ever seen materialised from somewhere, walking backwards, arms outstretched to protect the President Sydney museum and gallery CEOs for a briefing at the NSW Premier’s Department, organiser of the summit.

Here it was suggested that we work up special exhibitions for an associated cultural program. ‘Just like the Olympics?’ we asked. ‘That’s it,’ they replied. Except, we discovered, that there was no allocated budget. Nor was there a marketing program, because people would be encouraged to stay away from the city centre. So no audience, either.

But we like to be helpful, and as it happened the beginning of the APEC event would coincide with our biennial spring food festival. So we chose the Page 44

advised the organisers about negotiating the best and biggest tall ships from all over the world. The decision to go ahead was rather delayed, however, resulting in a limited number of shorter tall ships turning up. Augmented by yachts from the charter company that operates from our wharves, Sydney By Sail, they put on a spectacular, illuminated parade specially for APEC dignitaries dining in Sydney’s Opera House. Sydneysiders would have enjoyed it too, along with the fireworks, had they been told that they were on!

The museum was also involved in getting all those APEC delegates to the Opera House that night – over 1,000 of them,

In the museum’s Saltwater exhibition, director Mary-Louise Williams introduces US President George Bush to performer Clarence Slockee.

Photographer Craig Borrow, © Newspix/News Ltd

who had been meeting in the cordonedoff conference centre nearby in Darling Harbour. They were to be ‘processed’ – searched and secured – and loaded on ferries here at the museum. In the various meetings called to organise this I was fascinated by the array of police forces represented. It ended up being very successful, though. We didn’t lose one of their dinner guests.

But by far the most challenging of all our APEC activities was the visit by the US President. It started months beforehand with a phone call to say that a few Americans, about 30 of them, were in the foyer and was I available? They were from the White House, the American Embassy and Consulate and the Protocol Office of the NSW Premier’s Department – just looking around. I could sniff something in the wind but wasn’t quite sure just what it was. It was some weeks before I was told – in strict confidence – that George W Bush was going to make an official visit to the museum. And some weeks more before I could tell key staff such as the museum’s executive, security and senior staff.

SIGNALS 81 December 2007–February 2008

The food, the arts and the cultures of the Asia-Pacific region featured in our Pacific on a Plate food festival coinciding with APEC. Food festival photography by J Mellefont/ANMM

BOTTOM LEFT: The exciting sounds of Japanese Taiko drumming pervaded our Pacific on a Plate food festival weekend with the group Taiko no Wa.

the Presidential car when it arrives. Two White House phones appeared in the office next to mine the day before the visit.

His museum tour had to be rehearsed with a range of protocol, security and press staff. Aides placed oxygen cylinders all along the chosen route – in case of a gas attack on our temporary exhibition gallery? For someone who can give a tour of the museum in my sleep, I was starting to get nervous at the prospect.

The night before the visit the building was cleaned and cleared. The dogs moved in with their handlers and the sharpshooters took up their positions on our roof, overlooking the back parking lot and fire escape door through which the President would enter – he can’t use normal doors, they’re too exposed.

Heaven only knows what else happened in my museum that evening. Only a chosen handful including me, the Minister for the Arts, Senator George Brandis, our chairman Peter Sinclair and a few key staff were allowed in after 7.00 am. All other staff had been sent home and visitors were turned away.

It was to be an event as complex as the Punic Wars. Briefing sessions were held almost every day, and I have never met so many brands of police in my entire life – Federal, state, regional, some with dogs, some on bikes, and others that go underwater. And that’s just the Australians. I never did work out which of the White House force did what. On several occasions secret service men in suits and ear pieces would suddenly appear unannounced in the foyer. Frontof-house staff would ring the museum’s head of security and let him know we were being cased. I wondered why they SIGNALS 81 December 2007–February 2008

didn’t dress more discreetly, like tourists.

Maybe they don’t need to.

I have to say that the main protocol people were a delight to deal with. Americans can be disarmingly charming and polite.

A White House official turned to me one day when inspecting the President’s route through the museum and said in a soft Texas drawl, ‘We certainly don’t want to intrude or anything here, Mayam, but could you move this wall a bit?’

The logistics were complex. The President’s people don’t use mobile phones so land lines have to be wired into

It was always a bit unclear just who was going to be with President Bush when he emerged from his cavalcade of two Armageddon-proof 20-ton cars, an ambulance and wagon-train of black 4WDs, while helicopters buzzed overhead and commando rubber boats circled Darling Harbour. We recognised the US Ambassador to Australia, Robert McCallum. The majority of the entourage had a sort of physical presence that would suggest certain military or medical functions, and we believe one of them carried a valise with that button in it.

And the man himself? Well, I was told beforehand that he was easy to talk to and he was. He was charming, remembered people’s names and had clearly been briefed about the museum.

He knew his father had dedicated the USA Gallery in 1992 and he remembered giving Prime Minister Howard the bell of the USS Canberra that we display there, during a visit to Washington in 2001 – the day before 9/11.

Page 45

From the USA Gallery we wended our much-rehearsed way past Kay Cottee’s yacht First Lady and I said it was a shame that his first lady, Laura – who had stayed in the USA for health reasons – wasn’t able to see it. We even spent a couple of homely minutes talking about the things that ail us.

We safely reached the display of our magnificent Saltwater collection of Aboriginal bark paintings from Arnhem Land. Here we met two of the artists flown down specially from the Northern Territory, cultural leaders Djambawa Murawili and Wanubi Marika, who explained the works to the President. A group of Indigenous dancers and singers gave an acknowledgement of Land followed by a cultural performance under the glare of what seemed to be a thousand lights and cameras.

Djambawa Murawili made a point of telling the President about the importance to him and his people of self determination. This seemed to interest the President who wanted to know more about it … but he was ushered instead to his waiting tank. Before he left we exchanged gifts. The museum received a framed US Naval chart from the Wilkes Scientific Expedition of 1846, which had visited Sydney. It was a fi ne piece and I told him so. ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘It took me a while to fi nd that for the museum,’ and he laughed.

On his way out of the museum I said he ought to visit more often, since the place has never been so spic and span. He waved and went out through the back door, pausing in a rare, unscripted moment just long enough to have his photograph taken with two of our security staff. Then the largest man I’ve ever seen materialised from somewhere, walking backwards, arms outstretched to protect the President.

ABOVE: While APEC delegates began to descend on Sydney, museum visitors enjoyed Asia-Pacific cuisine and culture, including Maori dance and song from performance group Tumanako (centre).

It seems funny that official pictures went all around the world and were seen in all the Australian media – but mostly without a word of explanation about where the President of the United States was, and why he had chosen to visit the Australian National Maritime Museum and no other institution of any sort representing Australian history and culture. But that’s the sort of APEC

summit it was, really.

Museum security staff members Eliki Yavaca and Sanfa Bamba handed a digital camera to an un-named Presidential aide to take this memento of the museum’s VIP visitor.

Page 46

SIGNALS 81 December 2007–February 2008

SPONSORS The Iceman cometh THE MUSEUM’S new exhibition: Iceman – the story of Ötzi has been generously supported by the Mediterranean Shipping Company – our newest sponsorship partner.

Created by the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano in the Italian Alps, the exhibition tells the story of the famous ‘wet’ mummy Ötzi now displayed in that museum (see pages 2–7 of this issue of Signals). The exhibition has already travelled throughout Europe and Japan but is making its first appearance in the southern hemisphere.

The displays travelled in two 40-foot (12.2 m) high-top containers provided by the Mediterranean Shipping Company, on board that company’s vessel MSC London. They arrived safely in Sydney in late October, and were handled by leading stevedoring company Patrick. It’s certainly apposite that this wonderful exhibition, coming from the Italian Alps, should be transported by a leading shipping company with origins in the same part of the world. The Mediterranean Shipping Company is a privately owned business with headquarters in Geneva, founded in 1970. One of the world’s leading global shipping lines, MSC was voted 2007 Best Ocean Carrier of the Year by the Canadian International Freight Forwarders Association.

Also assisting MSC and the exhibition is the well-known stevedoring company Patrick, which is loading and unloading the Iceman replica and the accoutrements that reveal what life was like in his time. Patrick is Australia’s largest stevedore, with origins around 1919.

The company’s facilities and work practices are state-of-the-art and it is with assurance that the museum trusts this fascinating and valuable material to them.

In addition, the Mediterranean Shipping Company has successfully negotiated for the services of MCS, the company that is to truck the exhibition from the Sydney port, Port Botany, to the museum in Darling Harbour and back again at the end.

MSC’s Managing Director for Australia and New Zealand, Kevin Clarke, said: ‘MSC are delighted to assist the Australian National Maritime Museum in transporting the Ötzi replica and associated material to and from Australia. We are sure it will be a wonderful new exhibition and our staff look forward to visiting the exhibition themselves.’

The director of the museum, Mary-Louise Williams, said that ‘bringing the exhibition to Sydney is an enterprise of ambition and enthusiasm; there is a pleasing synergy in this partnership between the museum and MSC and we are delighted to welcome them as sponsors.’

(Apologies to playwright Eugene O’Neill whose 1939 play bears the above title.)

Principal sponsors:

Supporting sponsors:

Corporate Members of the museum Admiral Memberships

HMAS Waterhen

Abloy Security Pty Ltd CHAMP Pty Ltd Leighton Holdings

HMAS Watson Welfare Fund

Commodore Memberships

LOPAC Pty Limited HMAS Creswell Maritime Workers of Australia Credit Union

Hapag Lloyd (Australia) P/L Trace Personnel

Maritime Union of Australia (NSW Branch)

Captain Memberships

Naval Association of Australia

Art Exhibitions Australia Ltd Asiaworld Shipping Services Pty Ltd Australia Japan Cable Ltd DSTO Aeronautical & Research Laboratory Ferris Skrzynski & Associates P/L HMAS Albatross Welfare Fund HMAS Creswell HMAS Kuttabul HMAS Newcastle HMAS Vampire Association

SIGNALS 81 December 2007–February 2008

Middle Harbour Yacht Club Canterbury-Bankstown Sub Section Penrith Returned Services League Pivod Technologies Pty Ltd Royal Caribbean & Celebrity Cruises SME Regimental Trust Fund Svitzer Australasia Sydney Pilot Service Pty Ltd Thales Underwater Systems P/L

Museum Sponsors Princial Sponsor ANZ Australian Customs Service State Forest of NSW

Major Sponsors Akzo Nobel Blackmores Ltd Raytheon Australia Pty Ltd Spotless Tenix Pty Ltd

Sponsors Australian Maritime Safety Authority Abloy Security Bill and Jean Lane BT Australasia Centenary of Federation Institution of Engineers Australia Louis Vuitton Speedo Australia Spotless Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics

Project Sponsors ABLOY Australia ANL Container Line Pty Ltd Cathay Pacific Cargo CSIRO Forrest Training Harbourside Darling Harbour “K” Line Lloyd’s Register Asia MCS Maritime Union of Australia Maxwell Optical Industries Mediterranean Shipping Company Mercantile Mutual Holdings Patrick Penrith Lakes Development Corp Philips Electronics Australia SBS Scandinavian Airlines SDV (Australia) Pty Ltd Shell Companies in Australia Sydney by Sail Visions of Australia – Commonwealth Govt Vincent Fairfax Family Foundation

Founding Patrons Alcatel Australia ANL Limited Ansett Airfreight Bovis Lend Lease BP Australia Bruce & Joy Reid Foundation Doyle’s Seafood Restaurant Howard Smith Limited James Hardie Industries PG, TG & MG Kailis National Australia Bank P&O Nedlloyd Telstra Westpac Banking Corporation Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics Zim Shipping Australasia

Donors Grant Pirrie Gallery State Street Australia

Zim Shipping Australasia

Page 47

From the Director

IT’S BEEN a busy quarter since the last issue of Signals, and much of it is recounted in this issue (including a report on our special guest during the APEC summit last September; see page 44). In October I travelled to Malta for the 2007 Congress of the International Council of Maritime Museums (ICMM).

The theme this year was maritime museums attracting new audiences and engaging with emerging communication technologies. Our own external relations manager Bill Richards spoke to this theme with a well-received paper on media – old and new – for museums.

As chair of the program committee I was largely responsible for developing the academic program. Keynote speakers included UK museologist Sir Neil Cossons and marketing consultant Ken Robinson, with other speakers from the USA, UK, Malta, Germany, Italy, Norway, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Denmark, the Falkland Islands and Australia. Several of our colleagues from Sydney Heritage Fleet attended and their film on the James Craig was shown at an evening reception where it was launched

by Australia’s High Commissioner in Malta, Mr Jurek Juszczyk.

I’M VERY PLEASED to announce the appointment of a council to guide the on-line Australian Register of Historic Vessels which was launched in February. The register has developed very well and received a great deal of interest both here and overseas, and was much-discussed at the ICMM Congress. The register’s council had its inaugural meeting on 28 November. I’m chairing the group, whose members are Alan Edenborough, Sydney Heritage Fleet; Mori Flapan, an independent naval architect; Dr Damian Purcell, Classic Yacht Association of Australia; John Smith, Naval Historical Society of Australia; Dr Leah McKenzie, Department of Environment & Water Resources; Llew Russell, CEO of Shipping Australia Ltd; and two museum curatorial staff Dr Nigel Erskine and senior curator Dania Fletcher.

Page 48

Mary-Louise Williams

LEFT: The Ambassador of the Netherlands, His Excellency Mr Niek van Zutphen, and his Consul-General Margarita Bot presented the museum with this specially-commissioned set of artworks by Indigenous artists commemorating the first European encounter with Australia and its Indigenous people by the Dutch jacht Duyfken in 1606. Photographer J Mellefont/ANMM ABOVE: At the opening of Iceman – the story of Ötzi, director of the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology, Angelika Fleckinger, and Australian science broadcaster and author Dr Karl Kruszelnicki AM (who launched the exhibition) contemplate the replica of the famous ice mummy. Photographer A Frolows/ANMM

IT’S BEEN quite a year for anniversaries. The sesquicentennial of the terrible Dunbar shipwreck was marked in August, and you’ll see in this issue of Signals that we’re noting the 150th anniversary of the birth of the great writer Joseph Conrad, whose affection for Australia grew during his years as a seafarer and ship master. Now we’ve just received a message from our good friend Ken Warby, still the fastest man on water, to remind us that it’s 30 years since he first broke the world water speed record on his jet-powered Spirit of Australia, on 20 November 1977 at a speed of 288.6 miles per hour. Spirit hangs over the entrance to our main galleries, and is one of our great icons. Even though he raised his record to 317.6 mph (511.1 km/h) in 1978, he says that was just ‘icing on the cake’. It was the earlier record that realised his lifetime dream to hold the record for Australia. Ken, who now lives in the USA, asked us to ‘pat the old tub on the bow’ for him. It was our pleasure.

AS THIS momentous year comes to an end I’d like to wish our Members, friends and supporters everywhere the very best for the festive season, a happy Christmas and a safe and

prosperous new year.

SIGNALS 81 December 2007–February 2008

Online shopping now available safely and securely at www.anmm.gov.au ... click on SHOP. Hundreds of books … something for everyone … from key rings to shipmodels and boating clothes … friendly service … mail order … Members discounts!

We’re open 9.30 am to 5.00 pm seven days a week. To contact our helpful staff phone 02 9298 3698 or fax orders to 02 9298 3675 or email mlee@anmm.gov.au

Nautical naughts and crosses in brass-inlaid box $25.00 Members $22.50

Boxed brass sextant, 5”, the perfect corporate gift $99.95 Members $89.95

Russian Matryoshka dolls within dolls, sailor with wheel $59.95 Members $53.95

Limited edition bears, RAAF, Jack Tar RAN, Digger Only 5,000 made. $69.95 Members $62.96

The incredible fold-out pirate ship book Normally $29.95 special price $15.00

Check, mate! Russian navy chess set $120.00 Members $108.00

Tie land – signal flags, map of discovery and Bayeux tapestry. $79.95 Members $71.95

Keep your weather eye on this thermometer/hygrometer in brass shipwheel $150.00 Members $135.00

Olde style navigator’s cradle globe $99.95 Members $89.96

Watch out for squalls with steel weather station $79.95 Members $71.96

Replicas of RAN ships’ badges mounted on wall plaques Vampire or Onslow $69.95 Members $62.95

Ensign Wines Cabernet Rose, Semillon Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon each $19.95 Members $17.95

SIGNALS 81 December 2007–February 2008

The Museum Open daily except Christmas Day 9.30 am to 5.00 pm (January to 6.00 pm) Darling Harbour, Sydney NSW Australia Phone 02 9298 3777 Facsimile 02 9298 3780

ANMM Council Chairman Mr Peter Sinclair AM CSC

Director Ms Mary-Louise Williams

Councillors CDRE S Gilmore CSC AM RAN Hon Brian Gibson AM Ms Gaye Hart AM Emeritus Professor John Penrose Mr John Rothwell AO Dr Andrew Sutherland Mrs Nerolie Withnall

Signals ISSN1033-4688 Editorial production Editor Jeffrey Mellefont 02 9298 3647 Assistant Editor Antonia Macarthur

Photography Staff photographer Andrew Frolows

Design & production Aad van der Stap, Vanda Graphics

Printer Printed in Australia by Pirion

Advertising enquiries Jeffrey Mellefont 02 9298 3647 Deadline end of January, April, July, October for issues March, June, September, December

Signals back issues The museum sells a selection of back issues of Signals. Back issues $4.00, 10 back issues $30.00.

Extra copies of current issue $4.95.

Call Matt Lee at The Store 02 9298 3698 Material from Signals may be reproduced only with the editor’s permission 02 9298 3647.

The Australian National Maritime Museum is a statutory authority of the Commonwealth Government. For more information contact us at: GPO Box 5131 Sydney NSW 2001 Australia

ANMM on the web www.anmm.gov.au

SIGNALS 81 December 2007–February 2008