On the shores of Darling Bay in Sydney, the Australian National Maritime Museum offers a variety of themed exhibition halls to explore the history of seafaring from Aboriginal times to the present day. Among the museum galleries are "Navigators: Discovering Australia", "Passengers: From Exiled Convicts to South East Asian Refugees", "The Navy: Guarding Australia", "Australia - USA: Connected by Sea" and others. Here you can also learn about the history of the continent's first lighthouses, such as the Cape Bowling Lighthouse.
At the marina you can see a real flotilla of ships and boats: "Krait", built in the 1920s and in service with Special Forces during World War II; "Carpentaria", a floating lighthouse built in 1917, stands here; former Royal Australian Navy ships - the submarine Onslow (1968), the destroyer Vampire (1956), the patrol vessel Progress (1968); as well as the merchant ship James Craig (1874) and a model of the famous Endeavour, on which James Cook himself sailed.
Other famous exhibits of the museum include the boat "Spirit of Australia", which holds the world speed record of 511.11 kilometres per hour, and the pair twin "Barcelona", which won the gold medal at the Olympic Games in Barcelona.
Interestingly, a large part of the museum's exhibits are dedicated to the history of whaling in Australia.
