Art at the Sydney Royal Easter Show
Sydney Heritage Fleet’s Maritime Records and Research Centre Curator, Bill Bourke, is an artist in his spare time. At the 2017 Sydney Royal Easter Show Bill exhibited a recent painting … Continue reading
Alice Austen’s house & Clan Macleod
At a meeting in March 2017 of the Executive Council of the International Congress of Maritime Museums (ICMM) at Mystic Seaport, USA, Council members Alan Edenborough from Sydney Heritage Fleet … Continue reading
Mori Flapan’s exciting New Zealand finds
Mori Flapan began a discussion on his group website ‘Maritime Downunder’ about finds during his travels in New Zealand. Mori writes – 12 April 2017: “While touring around New Zealand … Continue reading
What a view!
Passengers and crew aboard Sydney Heritage Fleet’s restored 1874 barque James Craig had a stunning view of the early stage of the 2016 Sydney to Hobart yacht race on Boxing Day … Continue reading
The Fleet in the international spotlight
Sydney Maritime Museum, home of Sydney Heritage Fleet had two mentions in the 4th Quarter 2016 Newsletter of the International Congress of Maritime Museums (ICMM). The first was a short … Continue reading
SS Our Elsie – A tough timber trade workhorse
Shipwright, Alfred William Morrow Settree (1877-1957), built the SS Our Elsie, at Camden Haven, New South Wales, in 1908, for the purpose of transporting timber between the Bellinger River, Nambucca … Continue reading
Vale Warwick Turner
On Monday, 20 June 2016, Warwick Turner, the principal founder of today’s Sydney Heritage Fleet, crossed the bar at the age of 74. The news of Warwick’s passing in Echuca, … Continue reading
A real can of worms
HMS Implacable entering Sydney Harbour, December 1945 By Brian Hawkins – In memory of Royal Marine Arthur Lasson, 1922- 2008 Over the last 60 years or … Continue reading
What’s in a Word
There’s been interest around the Fleet recently in the origin of maritime terms. Captain David Wharington has been doing his research and here he tells us . . . WHAT IS A … Continue reading
As it used to be done
Not entirely sure of the provenance of this picture but it is believed to have been taken in Calcutta in the 1940s. It is such a remarkable picture that it … Continue reading
Tragic events off the coast of Brazil
Research can often take unexpected turns. Bill Bourke of our editorial team wrote a series of articles for the print edition of Australian Sea Heritage about the life at sea … Continue reading
The Signalman’s Alphabet
Voyages aboard Sydney Heritage Fleet’s 1874 Barque James Craig often include a musical element. In the early voyages of the restored ship, crew member James Parbery – Jimmy Parbuckle is his musical name … Continue reading
A UK tribute to the Fleet
A press clipping came our way recently, a little dogeared – it dates from 2011 – from the UK magazine The Spectator. Columnist Matthew Parris was visiting Australia and found himself … Continue reading
We’ve celebrated 50 years : 1965 – 2015
Sydney Maritime Museum began life in 1965 with the wonderfully descriptive name – Lady Hopetoun & Port Jackson Marine Steam Museum. ‘LadyHopetoun’ the very first vessel in the Museum’s fleet … Continue reading
MV Babinda – a Coastal Trader
WILLIAM BOURKE In the magazine Australian Sea Heritage No.102, the author chronicled the World War II Merchant Navy service of his father-in-law Captain Ronald Charles Pratt with the Australasian United Steam … Continue reading
Australian Sea Heritage online 