AAMH NEWSLETTER

The Australian Association for Maritime History

The 7th International Congress of Maritime History ishere!

The AAMH welcomes delegates tothe 7th IMEHA International Congressof Maritime History. Maritimehistorians from around the world aregathering in Western Australia from 27June to explore the theme: "OldWorlds, New Worlds? Emergingthemes in maritime history."

The AAMH has a proud record insupporting international conferencesthat explore and promote a broaddefinition for maritime history. TheAssociation continues to rememberfounding father Frank Broeze’sobservation that “Australian History

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and Australian Society havebeen shaped by thedynamic interaction of land,cities and the sea”.

The conference coincideswith the 400th Anniversary ofDirk Hartog’s landing on ourshores. This event will beanalysed in a special issueof our journal The Great

Circle to be launched during theconference at the Stokes Gallery bythe Dutch consul. The Great Circleis our flagship publication andprovides a focus for maritime historyin Australia.

The key conference venue isMurdoch University where maritimehistory is imbedded in a range ofresearch including the AsiaResearch Centre’s “The IndianOcean World”. Other venues includethe Maritime Museum and HMASStirling.

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FROM THE EDITORHello All!It's been a busy time for theorganisation with the executiveteam preparing for theInternational Congress ofMaritime History arriving on ourshores in late June. With years ofwork in the making, theconference is set up to be awonderful gathering of academicsand maritime historianenthusiasts! I cannot wait for theopportunity to explore the StokesGallery private collection.In other news, later this month(the 30th of June) the SouthAustralian Maritime Museumopens its doors to a newexhibition: "The Art of Science:Baudin's Voyagers 1800-1804."

The exhibition isset to showcaseoriginal sketchesand paintingscreated byBaudin's artistsCharles- AlexandreLesueur andNicolas- Martin Petit during thevoyage . It's set to bring a fabulouscollection from the Museum of NaturalHistory in Le Havre, France to SouthAustralian audiences for the first time.If any members get the opportunity tovisit the exhibition please feel free tosend a review or any thoughts to me,as I would love to do an article on it forthe next issue.Alex

The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlandsis supporting Dr Wendy Van Duivenvoorde toproduce a free Dirk Hartog booklet, to belaunched in October, and a number of lectures about DirkHartog. The Embassy is also supporting Wendy’s

presentation at ICMH7 conference as part ofthe lecture series.

Embassy supportsAAMH member

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PRESIDENT'S REPORTMy focus over the last few monthshas been on contributing to themanagement of the InternationalCongress of Maritime History at theend of June. I have also prepared aresearch paper examining theAssociation’s contribution to bemaritime history in Australia todelivered to the conference. At thetime of writing, over 80 scholarsfrom around the world hadregistered to attend. Our Treasurer,Professor Malcolm Tull, is the chairof the organising committee and isdoing a magnificent job. Theconference is open to all membersof the AAMH.

On the 27th of April, Malcolm Tulland I provided an after dinner talk toa meeting of the Company of MasterMariners held at the Flying AngelClub (more formally known as TheMission to Seamen) Fremantle. TheCompany of Master Mariners ofAustralia is an associationestablished to promote the interestsand status of the Merchant Navygenerally and of Master Mariners inparticular. The Company wasfounded in 1938 by Capt. A NBoulton and became anincorporated body in 1988.

The Company has six branchesbased in Fremantle, Adelaide,Melbourne, Sydney, Newcastle andBrisbane.

I note that the Western AustralianMuseum has conferred its highesthonour upon retiring ExecutiveDirector of Fremantle Museums andCollections, Dr Ian MacLeod – that ofFellow of the Western AustralianMuseum. Dr MacLeod retired in Mayafter 38 years with the Museum.

Ian has an outstanding internationalreputation in the field of metalsconservation, and hadmade a truly significantcontribution to theMuseum, particularly inthe fields of shipwreckconservation and thepreservation ofAboriginal rock art. Heis a good friend of theAAMH and I thank himfor assisting us over many years.

Peter

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David Stevens Wins Broeze AwardThe award – sponsored jointly bythe Australian Association forMaritime History and the AustralianNational Maritime Museum –reflects the wish of bothorganisations to promote a broadview of maritime history,demonstrating how the sea andmaritime influences have beencentral to shaping Australia, itspeople and its culture.

The winner of the 2015 FrankBroeze Memorial Maritime HistoryBook Prize of $4,000, which isawarded for a book published in2013 or 2014 by an Australianauthor on any aspect of maritimehistory relating to or affecting

Australia, is David Stevens for In AllRespects Ready – Australia’s Navy InWorld War One (Oxford UniversityPress, 2014). This comprehensive andauthoritative account details theinvolvement of the Royal AustralianNavy (RAN) in World War I.

In 1914, when war broke out, the RANwas less than one year old, but fullytrained and ready, and was the mostprofessional and effective forceAustralia had to offer the BritishEmpire. The book traces Australia’srole in the conflict and how the warhelped to forge the country’s navaland national identity.

The first runner-up was Michael Pembroke for Arthur Phillip – Sailor, Mercenary,Governor, Spy (Hardie Grant, 2014), a biography of the first governor of the colony of New South Wales, and the man credited with being the founding father of modern Australia. Pembroke’s book will change the way Australian’s view Governor Phillip’s contribution to not only Australia but the British Empire.

The second runner-up was EdwardDuyker for Dumont d’Urville: Explorerand Polymath (Otago UniversityPress, 2014).

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This work traces the life and career ofthe man who is sometimes calledFrance’s Captain Cook, and whoeffectively helped to precipitate pre-emptive British settlement on severalparts of the Australian coast.

Duyker has uncovered new andoriginal material and puts to thesword several myths in this mostcomprehensive account of one ofthe last explorers or the sailing age.

By Peter Ridgway (AAMH) and Janine Flew(ANMM)

Volunteers are wanted forMaritime Day. Last year’s

AAMH stand at Maritime Daywas such a success that we

have again applied forsponsorship from FremantlePorts for 2016. This year

Maritime Day will be held onSaturday 12 November, 2016between 10am and 4pm.

Please contact the Secretary ifyou can lend a hand by

manning the stand for an houror providing items for a display.

Maritime Day 2016: WeNeed You

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North Head Lighthouse Restoration

The Whitsunday Regional Councilhas allocated $100,000 toward therestoration of the North Headlighthouse near Bowen on the coastof Queensland. The six-sidedwooden structure is nine metreshigh and topped by a red cupola.The council took control of thelighthouse in the early 1990s andhas supported efforts to restore theiconic local landmark. In May 2016,its red cupola was removed andlifted by helicopter to DalrymplePoint, from where it went by truck toBrisbane for repair.

It is hoped the restoration work willbe finished by November 2016, intime for the 150th anniversary of itsconstruction. Reputed to be the thirdoldest lighthouse in Queensland, the

North Head lighthouse wasdecommissioned in the mid 1980s,after being superseded by anautomated light on Sinclair Head,Stone Island, and it has beendeteriorating ever since.

A conservation management plan hasbeen drawn up, and it includes aprovision for routine inspections and amaintenance schedule, to ensure thestructure remains a historic feature ofthe landscape well into the future.Interpretative signage will be designedand erected to explain the history ofthe building and communicate itscultural significance to visitors. It ishoped the project will enhance thelighthouse, and the Bowen region ingeneral, as a tourist destination.

By Mark Howard

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Four members of the recently formed not-for-profit Wreck Check Inc.conducted a three-week magnetometer search for shipwrecks on

Christmas Island and the Cocos Keeling Islands during February andMarch, as one of the activities commemorating 400 years since Dirk

Hartog's 1616 landing in Western Australia.The project members are currently analysing the survey results andassembling documentary information about more than 60 shipwrecksrecorded on the islands. Wreck Check is a recently formed not-for-profit with a mission to explore offshore heritage sites of relevance to

Australia.The work is being sponsored by the Maritime Program of the CulturalHeritage Agency of the Parks Australia, Environment Australia and

Silentworld Foundation.

For more information head too: http://www.wreckcheckinc.org

Wreck Check Inc.

Search for Dutch VOC ship FortuynNews article

The fifth Dutch VOC wreck inAustralian waters may soon befound. From 23 February 2016 ateam of Australian shipwreckarcheologists will have three weeksto try to locate Dutch vessel Fortuyn(lost in 1724) close to ChristmasIsland and the Cocos KeelingIslands.

A number of Dutch VOC (East IndiaCompany) ships wrecked inAustralian waters. Four VOCshipwrecks have been located; theBatavia (1629), Vergulde Draeck(1656), Zuytdorp (1712) and Zeewijk

(1727), near the coast of WesternAustralia. Other ships have neverbeen found and are waiting to bediscovered. The fate of the Fortuynhas long been unknown; varioustheories exist about its sailing routeand the location of the shipwreck. Areassessment of historic documentshas led to new search targets tosolve the mystery and to possiblyfind wreckage or objects of the ship.

The Fortuyn was built in 1723, witha length of 145 feet and was armedwith 36 cannon and 8 swivel guns.Skipper Pieter Westrik and his crewof 225 men departed from the Dutch

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island Texel on its maiden voyageon 27 September 1723. It carried200.000 guilders in valuables,consisting of silver bars and silvercoins. The Fortuyn sailed incompany with the VOC shipsHogenes and Graveland, heading toBatavia (now Jakarta) via the Capeof Good Hope. After a fast and safejourney of 97 days the Fortuynanchored in Table Bay on 2 January1724, reporting just one man deadand three sick. The Fortuyn took insome extra rations and left the Capefor Batavia on 18 January, but waswrecked during its journey.

Over the past years Australian andDutch archeologists havereassessed British, French andDutch documents. They discoveredthat these documents indicate that aDutch ship anchored at ChristmasIsland and ran ashore at night.Further research undertaken by aDutch collaborator Pablo Boorsmarevealed that in April 1724 theskipper of the Dutch ship Gravelandfound floating wreckage from themissing Fortuyn in the latitude of theCocos Keeling islands and thelongitude of Christmas Island.

Skippers of the VOC ships thatsailed eastward across the IndianOcean to Batavia during the 18thcentury were also given instructionsabout their route. Between Octoberand March they had to sail 700miles eastwards to St Paul andAmsterdam Islands and then

northeast, to Sunda Strait. On thiscourse many would have passedbetween the Cocos Islands andChristmas Island. This could meanthat the Fortuyn can be found in thisarea.

The research team consists ofGraeme Henderson, Andrew Viduka,Alex Moss and James Parkinson ofthe not-for-profit Wreck Check Inc, andstudents Robert de Hoop andShinatria Adhityatama from TheNetherlands and Indonesia. In January2015 the team conductedmagnetometer surveys along targetedcoastlines of the two islands. This yearthey will explore the research areawhile diving. The fieldwork will start on23 February and conclude on 15March. The Embassy of the Kingdomof the Netherlands in Australia, theMaritime Program of The NetherlandsCultural Heritage Agency( www.culturalheritageagency.nl/en),the Silent World Foundation and ParksAustralia sponsor this project, called‘Closing in on the Fortuyn’. The projectis one of the activities thatcommemorate the 400th anniversaryof Dirk Hartog's landing at CapeInscription in Western Australia in1616. The results will be presented atthe 2016 IKUWA conference(International Congress forUnderwater Archaeology) in FremantleWA.For more information:www.facebook.com/FortuynProject?fref=nf

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Built in AustraliaAustal Limited has announced thatthe RNOV Al Mubshir has beendelivered to the Royal Navy ofOman. The RNOV Al Mubshir is thefirst of two 72 metre High SpeedSupport Vessels (HSSVs) to bedelivered to the Royal Navy ofOman under a US$124.9 milliondesign, construct and integratedlogistics support contract. Austalcommenced construction of theHSSVs in August 2014 at itsHenderson, Western Australiashipyard, with the second HSSVscheduled to be delivered later in

CY2016 in line with the contract. Forover 27 years, Austal has designedand constructed over 255 vesselsfor over 100 operators in 44countries.

Submarines New and OldThe recent release of Michael White’ssecond edition of AustralianSubmarines: A History is very timelywith the announcement in late April ofthe decision to buy 12 Frenchdesigned submarines.The book commences with adiscussion of the policy issues as towhether Australia needed submarinesand then the decision to buy AE1 andAE2 just before the outbreak of WW1.The history then goes on to deal withthe J-Class submarines that came toAustralia in 1919 and the fact that wewere without a submarine force inWorld War Two.The book also covers the story of theRAN submarine arm from 1963 withthe Oberon class and their

replacements, the Collins class.The delivery of AE1 and AE2 in1914 provided the RAN withstrategic and technologicaladvantage in what David Steven’shas indicated was a small butbalanced and comprehensive navalforce. It could be argued that theCollins class also gave Australia atechnological and strategicadvantage and so it seems that theFrench Shortfin Barracudasubmarine may do the same. A keytechnological feature is that thepropulsion is from its advanced topsecret pump jet instead of aconventional propeller. This isreportedly quieter than a propellerand makes the submarines harderto detect.

Thank you for your continued support of the AAMH. Foreven more updates please like our facebook page.

Australian Association for Maritime History

The AAMH Team

CommitteePresidentPeter Ridgwaypridgway3@gmail.com

Vice PresidentChris Maxworthycgmaxwor@gmail.com

TreasurerMalcolm TullM.Tull@murdoch.edu.au

SecretaryJohn Spurlingjohn.spurling1@bigpond.com

State RepresentativesNew South WalesChris Maxworthy

Northern TerritoryPaul Clark

QueenslandIan Jempson

South AustraliaTBA

TasmaniaTBA

VictoriaMark Howard

Western AustraliaGraeme Henderson

EditorsThe Great CircleMichael McCarthyMichael.McCarthy@museum.wa.gov.auShipwreck Galleries, Cliff Street,Fremantle, WA

Book Reviews EditorDr Howard Grayhsgray@midwest.com.auP.O. Box 1559, Geraldton, WA, 6530

Newsletter EditorAlexandra Ridgwayalexandra.ridgway30@gmail.com7 Sinian Crescent, Willetton, WA, 6155