Queensland Maritime Museum, Maritime museum in South Brisbane, Australia
The Queensland Maritime Museum is a maritime museum on the south bank of the Brisbane River, in South Brisbane. It combines indoor galleries with navigation tools, ship models, and seafarers' belongings, alongside historic vessels moored at its own dock.
The Queensland Maritime Museum was founded in 1971 and occupies the building used for the "Pavilion of Promise" at World Expo 88. Its South Brisbane Dry Dock was built in the 1870s at 313 feet long and 60 feet wide, then extended in 1887 to 430 feet as vessels grew larger.
The museum sits along the river in South Brisbane, on ground that was once tied to working shipyards. Families, school groups, and people with a love of boats come to walk the docks and get close to the vessels moored there.
The museum is on the South Brisbane riverbank and easy to reach on foot or by public transport from central Brisbane. Allow enough time to see both the indoor exhibits and the vessels moored outside, as the outdoor section alone takes a good while to explore.
The Forceful, a 121-foot steam tug built in 1925 by Alex Stephen & Son Ltd. of Glasgow, is the only remaining coal-fired steam tug in Queensland. Chartered by the government in 1941 for Middle East service, it was requisitioned by the Royal Australian Navy as HMAS Forceful and armed with a 20mm Oerlikon and a .303-inch Vickers gun. It is now laid up for repairs estimated at around $250,000 AUD.
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