Queensland Maritime Museum, Brisbane

The Queensland Maritime museum is located at the end of the Southbank entertainment district directly across from the Brisbane CBD on the site of the 19th century Queensland naval drydock.

HMAS Diamantia (launched 1945) is the star exhibit of the museum.

Museum entry

The drydock is now home to the Carpentaria lighthouse ship and HMAS Diamantia. This is the same drydock where Queensland's original naval ships, the HMQS Gayundah and Paluma (1884) were based and refitted (see photo below).

See my post on HMQS Gayundah here:
https://militarymuseum.blogspot.com/2022/10/hmqs-gayundah.html

HMAS Diamantia is a River Class frigate that was built in Australia and launched in 1945. Australia had a very small navy in 1939 comprising of British-built cruisers and destroyers. When the Second World War started it was obvious that more ships would be required to perform 'work-a-day' tasks like convoy escort, maritime patrol and anti-submarine duties. Australian shipyards built British-designed standard types, like the Flower Class corvette and River Class frigate to fill this gap. The Diamantia was the last River Class frigate built in Australian yards and was commissioned in April 1945. She served in the Pacific theatre until the war ended in August later that year. The Japanese forces in Nauru signed their surrender documentation on her deck. In 1946 she was placed into reserve before being recommissioned in 1959 as a hydrological survey vessel, a role she performed until 1979 when she was retired. She was donated to the Queensland Maritime Museum in 1981. The Diamantia is one three surviving Australian vessels that served in action in the Second World War and is the only River Class frigate in the world. 

CLS4 Carpentaria lightship. This is one of two lightships built in the Sydney in 1917 for service in the Bass Strait between Tasmania and the Australian mainland. The CLS4 and its sistership served as lightships until 1985 when they were retired. The CLS4 was donated to the Queensland Maritime museum while the CLS3 was donated to the Sydney Maritime Museum and is on display at Darling Harbour.



View from the walkway beside the museum.

The museum can easily be visited from the CBD in Brisbane. For details of admission fees and opening hours, check the website here: https://maritimemuseum.com.au/