Australian National Maritime Museum Volunteers’ Quarterly All Hands Issue 83 June 2013 Barrenjoey Revisited Page CONTENTS - No 83 EDITORIAL Director’s Column 3 An eclecc issue as always …….. ditty box Compiled by Alex Books 4 The atmospheric cover photograph from Barrenjoey Lighthouse and short item My First Trip inside resulted from reader feedback on The Australian Wooden Boat Fesval 7 the last issue – always good to learn that the magazine is being read. Peter Sco Speaking of atmospheric, Tom Ware’s The Sixty Milers 11 account of the last hours of the 60 Miler Tom Ware Birchgrove Park makes for gripping reading. Visit the Hobart Wooden Boat Last Voyage of Birchgrove Park 13 Fesval in Peter Sco’s fresh take on an Tom Ware old favourite event. John Lind has provided the next instalment of the saga of Internaonal fleet Review (IFR) 20 the First Fleet Re-enactment voyage from Q & A at Model Ship Building Bench 22 1988, and Col Gibson provides an insight When is a ship (or boat) wrecked? into journalist accounts of shipwrecks as Col Gibson only he can. All this and more…. Torpedoed Ship Discovered 25 Readers will be aware of the upcoming Internaonal Fleet Review in early October this year, celebrang the centenary of the A Sea Song 26 arrival in Sydney of Australia’s first naval (or, A Litany of Alliteraon) fleet. All Hands team is planning to feature Richard Downer this major event in Australia’s marime history in its next issue due in September. USS Guardian 27 There is much already published Barrenjoey Revisited 28 informaon, but original contribuons Neale Philip from readers would also, as always, be most welcome. Silver anniversary. 29 So, happy reading of this issue, and get The Voyage of the First Fleet Re-Enactment wring for the next. London 1987 - Sydney 1988 John Lind All Hands Committee Editorial David van Kool, Alex Books, Carley Floats 38 Bob Hetherington, John Lea, Alex Books Neale Philip , Judith Laurence, Janet Pagan, Ian Stevens Design Jenny Patel, Hailey Mannell, Spectacular naucal event - Tasmania 39 Peter Wood Ditty Box Alex Books Tacoma, Super Trawler Back Page ANMM All Hands Committee Lighthouse Keeper, George Mulhall snr 2 Murray St, SYDNEY NSW 2000 is buried here, sll ‘on duty’ at Barrenjoey light E-mail: [email protected] Photo Neale Philip Front Cover Phone: 9298-3772 [Editor] Fax: 9298-3729 Page 2 Director’s Column: What a great few months we’ve had! Aer a very strong summer, in which families returned to the museum, we connue build on our success with the launch of another interacve family exhibion – Rescue. Showing unl July, the exhibion gives families the opportunity to explore the world of air, land and sea rescue. Many kids – and big kids – have had great fun while learning about the important work our rescue services do. Rescue was also a great opportunity to build community relaons. Personnel from a variety of rescue organisaons received a discount to Kevin Sumpon the exhibion and aended the museum for the first me. We even played host to a couple of TV stars when brothers Aaron and Kobi Graham from Channel 10’s Bondi Rescue came to check it out. And in April the Rescue exhibion became a TV star in its own right when Channel 9’s Today show came and filmed its breakfast weather crosses from it. In April we opened the stunning Elysium Antarcc Visual Epic exhibion which features over 70 awe-inspiring images from a recent expedion to the Antarcc. Expedion leader, award winning photographer Michael Awe, is passionate about the environment and the exhibion’s important ecological message highlights the effects of global warming on wildlife in the area. Featuring images of penguins, seals, microscopic krill and stunning landscapes it truly is a treat to experience. In my last column I talked about the Waves of Migraon projecon show featuring our rich migraon history which launched on the roof on Australia day. I am delighted to say that the museum was recently awarded a presgious silver American Alliance of Museums MUSE award for the show. The awards celebrate excellence in museum media and technology and we were awarded in the public outreach category. This wonderful piece of internaonal recognion for the museum is a demonstraon of the work that we are doing to create a museum for the future. Building on the success of Waves of Migraon we were proud to produce our second projecon show for Sydney’s world famous Vivid Fesval this May. Inspired by our newest exhibion, East of India – forgoen trade with Australia – the projecon show features the colours of India moving to the sound of the sitar. In addion to the projecon show, the museum’s basin and vessels were also bathed in light and Yots café transformed into an Indian themed bar with live music and DJs each weekend. I feel that the museum’s involvement in Sydney fesvals such as Vivid is incredibly important as we seek to engage and inspire new audiences. Vivid Sydney brought thousands of visitors into Darling Harbour and was the perfect opportunity for us to bring our exhibions from the inside to the outside as the building becomes an extension of the gallery. It is also an opportunity for us to demonstrate our relevance to Sydney’s rich cultural tapestry. Our newest exhibion, East of India – forgoen trade with Australia – is a fascinang journey from the Indian sub-connent to the new colony of New South Wales, Australia. It explores the close links between the two countries and the rise and fall of the East India Shipping Company. Researched and curated by our in house team of experts, the exhibion features objects from Australian and overseas instuons including the V&A museum and the Royal Collecon. East of India is an informaon-rich, fascinang exhibion and I hope that you enjoy browsing through it. Page 3 diy box Compiled by Alex Books No Posthumous Victoria Crosses The queson, by a Senate esmates hearing, of why no Victoria Crosses had been awarded to any member of the Royal Australian Navy was referred to the Defence Honours and Awards Appeals Tribunal. The review was to include Private John Simpson Kirkpatrick, famous for transporng wounded men at Gallipoli on a donkey; and Gunner Albert Cleary, who was executed on the Sandakan death march. Other names were added and finally 13 soldiers and sailors were subject to the year-long review. The tribunal concluded no award of the VC or any other medals should be made posthumously to these former members of the defence force and handed the conclusion to the Australian Government. The government announced, on 1 March 2013, that no Victoria Cross will be awarded posthumously for any of the 13 individuals who were the subject of the inquiry into Unresolved Recommendaons for Past Acts of Naval and Military Gallantry and Valour. AAP; addional reporng Three Peaks Race ‘It’s hard to know what to call them – runners, sailors, adventurers, or just plain mad men and women’, announced the ABC AM presenter. ‘In Tasmania each year, quite sane people board boats with an odd quest; sail to three mountains and scale each in turn’. The event is the Australian Three Peaks Race which is a short-handed offshore sailing and endurance mountain running race held in Tasmania over the Easter long weekend; the first race was in 1989. It is a non-stop event commencing at Beauty Point, Launceston on the Tamar River, during which runners are carried by yachts, finish in Hobart some three to four days later. First leg is 90 nm to Flinders Island where two runners race to the top of Mount Strzelicki (65 km run; 756 m ascent); next 145 nm to Coles Bay where two runners scale Mount Freycinet (63 km run; 620 m ascent); thence 100 nm to the Derwent River where two runners top Mount Wellington (33 km run; 1,270 m ascent); and finishing in Hobart. The concept of the race is similar to the Brish Three Peaks Challenge. The Tasmanian race was inaugurated in 1989 aer a team competed in the 1987 Brish event. Winners of the 2013 Tasmanian race crossed the line early in 1 April in Hobart. It was the event’s 25th anniversary; entries were well down and there were concerns about the future of the event. Eleven teams competed; down from a record of thirty; and the winner was Team Euphoria in just under 62 hours. ABC AM; and addional reporng Page 4 diy box Compiled by Alex Books Mrs Cook’s Diy Box A diy box, originally owned by Mrs James Cook, has been put on display at a new exhibion at the State Library of NSW in April 2013 is unique in that it is a memento coffin. In 1770, when Cook was speared to death in Hawaii, a member of the crew made the memento coffin (with a swivel lid rather than hinged), small enough to be cupped in two hands, made from wood of Cook’s last ship, HMS Resoluon, and presented it to his widow. Inside the box is a ny water colour painng of the beach at Kealakekua Bay, where Cook was killed, and a loop of his hair. Also on display, among other items, are earlier works of cartography including Cook’s hand-drawn charts of New Zealand. The Sydney Morning Herald Japanese Ice Breaker In Sydney The Japanese ice breaker JS Shirase berthed at Garden Island, on 17 March 2013, aer an absence of two years. It was built in Japan and commissioned in 2009 to meet the requirements of the Japanese Antarcc Research Expedion (JARE) and carries members of JARE to and from the Antarcc every year.