The Turning Tide at the Maritime Museum

The Maritime Museum of Tasmania

Be sure not to miss the Museum’s major exhibition – “THE TURNING TIDE, Australia’s War at Sea in 1942” in the Carnegie Gallery until 3 November 2017.

The exhibition looks at Australia’s naval war in the Pacific and south-east Asia during the dark days of 1942 – a pivotal year during the Second World War. Not only does the exhibition deal with the Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942 and other key naval engagements, it also deals with the war effort in Tasmania. We have found some wonderful material dealing with wartime industries like the Zinc Works, local naval defence efforts, and visiting troopships to Hobart. And there are the little known stories including German mines laid in Storm Bay and Bass Strait, and the Japanese reconnaissance flight over Hobart!

Curator John Wadsley thanked all volunteers for their help as well as Navy Headquarters Tasmania, Brian Morrison (Warships and Marine Corps Museum), Rex Cox, Graeme Broxam, Roger Dewar, the Minett family and the RAAF Museum for loaning paintings, photographs, objects and models. Also a big thanks to the Australian National Maritime Museum for loaning two videos, which run continuously through the exhibition. The exhibition has been made possible through a grant from the State Government Centenary of Anzac program, in part to acknowledge the significance of the Battle of the Coral Sea.

With only three weeks left to run, it’s time to pay a visit to this excellent exhibition before it’s gone.  The Museum is open every day from 9 to 5. Admission is $10 for adults, $8 for concessions.  Children under 13 are free, which makes a family visit a great school holiday idea.