Maritime Museum of the Atlantic facts for kids
Maritime Museum of the Atlantic
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| Established | 1948 |
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| Location | 1675 Lower Water Street Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada |
| Type | Maritime Museum |
The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic is a cool place in downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It's a museum all about the sea! It shows off Canada's rich history with ships, the navy, and life on the ocean.
This museum is part of the Nova Scotia Museum family. It's the oldest and biggest maritime museum in Canada. It has over 30,000 items, including 70 small boats. It even has a big steamship called the CSS Acadia. This ship is 180 feet long and was launched in 1913. It used to survey the ocean floor.
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History of the Museum
The museum started in 1948. It was first called the Maritime Museum of Canada. It was located at the naval base in Halifax Harbour. Naval officers volunteered to lead the museum at first.
In 1959, Niels Jannasch became the first full-time director. He led the museum until 1985. The museum moved a few times over the years. Its current building was built in 1981. This was part of a plan to make the waterfront better. The museum got the CSS Acadia ship in 1982. Today, it's a key part of the Nova Scotia Museum system.
Where to Find the Museum
The museum was one of the first cool spots to open on the new Halifax Waterfront. Its location is perfect! It has several piers and boat sheds. It also offers amazing views of the Halifax Harbour. You can see the Harbourmaster office and Georges Island. You can also look across to Dartmouth.
One special part of the museum is the old Robertson Store. This building from the 1880s was a ship chandler shop. That's a place where ships bought supplies. The museum also has modern exhibit rooms. The HMCS Sackville is a World War II ship. It docks next to the museum in summer. The museum doesn't own it, but they work together.
You might notice flags on the front of the building. They read, "Welcome aboard L44 38N G63 34W." This shows the museum's exact location using its latitude and longitude.
Amazing Collections
Besides its 30,000 artifacts, the museum has 30,000 photos. It also has many old maps and rare books. There's a library for everyone to use. It's named the Niels Jannasch Library, after the museum's first director.
The museum has Canada's largest collection of ship portraits. This includes the oldest ship portrait in Canada! You can also see many ship models. Some of these are the original models from the TV show Theodore Tugboat.
You can often see work happening on Whim. This is a 1937 C-class sloop. It's being restored in one of the boat sheds. These sheds also hold other small boats from the museum's collection. In summer, three working boats are moored near the CSS Acadia. In July 2017, the museum finished restoring the small schooner Hebridee II.
Cool Exhibits to Explore
The museum has many public galleries. These include "Days of Sail" and "The Age of Steam." There are also sections on "Small Craft" and "The Canadian Navy." You can learn about the Halifax Explosion and "Shipwrecks."
The Titanic Story
A special exhibit tells the story of the RMS Titanic sinking. It focuses on Nova Scotia's role in finding the victims. The museum has the world's best collection of wooden items from the Titanic. This includes one of the few surviving deck chairs. The Titanic exhibit also has a child's pair of shoes. These shoes helped identify Titanic's "unknown child" as Sidney Leslie Goodwin.
Shipwreck Treasures
Next to the Titanic exhibit is "Shipwreck Treasures of Nova Scotia." This exhibit explores many other shipwrecks off Nova Scotia's coast. You can see items found from naval shipwrecks. These include discoveries in Louisbourg Harbour. There's also an unknown schooner from the 1750s found near Lower Prospect, Nova Scotia.
You can also see treasures found by hunters. This section shows weapons, tools, gold, and silver. These items are from wrecks like the 1711 HMS Feversham and the 1725 wreck of the Chameau. Another wreck featured is the 1761 ship Auguste.
Other Galleries
The "Age of Steam" gallery has a special display about Samuel Cunard. He was from Nova Scotia and started the famous Cunard Line. The restored 1880s Robertson building has a fully working ship chandlery. You can try out foghorns, ropes, and ship fittings there.
The "Navy" gallery includes the "Convoy Exhibit." This is about the Battle of the Atlantic. It features the Canadian Merchant Navy Book of Remembrance. Monuments to the Canadian and Norwegian Merchant Navies are outside the museum. There's even a fun playground shaped like a submarine for kids!
The museum also has changing exhibits. In 2009, an exhibit called Ship of Fate: The Tragic Voyage of the St. Louis was shown. It was the first Canadian exhibit about the 1939 voyage of the Jewish refugee ship MS St. Louis. In 2011, the museum showed Hello Sailor: Life on the Ocean Waves. This exhibit explored the lives of different people who worked on ships. It was based on an exhibit from the Merseyside Maritime Museum in Liverpool, England. A 2012 exhibit looked at the experiences of cable ships. These ships, based in Halifax, helped recover most of the victims from the RMS Titanic sinking.
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The original models and set from Theodore Tugboat
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Artifacts in the restored ship chandlery
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Sailboat exhibit
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One of several ship models on display
Ships and Boats at the Museum
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The sloop Windekilda, named after founding director Niels Windekilda Jannasch.
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CSS Acadia, the museum's largest artifact.
- CSS Acadia: This ship was used for research from 1913 to 1968. It also served as a patrol ship in World War I and World War II.
- 70 small craft: These are displayed in a special gallery and in the boat sheds.
- Working collection vessels: These boats sail from the museum wharves. They include the ketch Elson Perry, the sloop Windekilda, and the S-Class sloop Valkyrie.
- Schooner Hebridee II
The corvette HMCS Sackville (K181) is not part of the museum. However, it is located next to the museum in the summer. It works with the museum to teach about the Royal Canadian Navy.
Special Events at the Museum
The museum's spot on the Halifax waterfront makes it a great place for public events. It has hosted meetings for the 1995 G7 Summit. It also held a September 11 event in 2006. Important people like Peter MacKay (Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs) and Condoleezza Rice (United States Secretary of State) attended.
The museum holds an annual event to remember the Battle of the Atlantic. This happens on the first Sunday of every May. They also celebrate Canadian Merchant Navy day every September 3.
See also
- History of the Royal Canadian Navy
- List of museum ships
- Marine Museum of the Great Lakes
- Military history of Canada
- Military history of Nova Scotia
- Museum ship
- Naval Museum of Halifax
- Organization of Military Museums of Canada
- Ship replica
- Ships preserved in museums
- Theodore Too – full-size tugboat based on a model present in the museum
- Toronto Maritime Museum
