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Whyalla has kicked off South Australia’s History Festival in our region with an explosive historical theory.
Were the Portuguese actually the first to land on our shores way back in 1522?
It’s a big call but a question that, if answered in the affirmative, would re-write world history.
What's more, there is evidence to suggest it could be true and some of this is on display at the Whyalla Maritime Museum’s new pop-up Navigation exhibition.
Documents on this tantalising theory are just one of the fascinating historical treats on offer as the new exhibition explores the history of navigation and specific events related to Whyalla and the northern Spencer Gulf. It is a collection, put together by the Maritime Museum, that covers the early explorers, colonial shipping and shipwrecks to channel dredging and commercial shipping.
Exhibition curator Paul Mazourek says the pop-up display, which opened this month and will run throughout the statewide history festival until May 31, is full of fascinating information relating directly to Whyalla and Australian maritime history.
There are lists of colonial shipwrecks in our waters from 1866 to 1988 and naval charts from the 70s through to the 90s. There’s also never-before displayed copies of Freycinet and Flinders original maps of South Australia including Spencer Gulf and many more exhibits from our seafaring past.
NEW EXHIBITION: A small section of the Navigation exhibition at the Maritime Museum.
“A lot of people wouldn’t know we have many shipwrecks off our coast dating back to the colonial days and the early explorers,” Paul said.
“We have a rich and fascinating maritime history that keeps throwing up new, interesting facts and historical events.
“You only have to look at the recent news that the SS Crown has been found to realise there is still much to learn and discover about our maritime past.”
The ABC revealed last week that the wreck of SS Crown, a 100-metre-long freighter chartered by BHP to transport ore from Whyalla to Newcastle in 1942, has been found after 77 years. Her journey was cut short after being struck by a Japanese torpedo during World War II hostilities and she was sunk off the Victorian coast.
The Navigation exhibition is at the Whyalla Maritime Museum at the Whyalla Visitor and Information Centre on Lincoln Highway where tours of the HMAS Whyalla are also available. The Museum is open Monday to Friday from 10am to 4pm every day. Phone 1800 088 589 for more information.
READ MORE ON WHYALLA'S HISTORY FESTIVAL EVENTS
