Seaworks at Williamstown will host the largest display of American Civil War memorabilia seen in Melbourne as part of a three-day maritime festival during the Australia Day long weekend.
The event will coincide with the 150th anniversary of the arrival of a Confederate ship in Melbourne in 1865.
There was debate at the time whether to call the crew of the CSS Shenandoah pirates or heroes.
The Shenandoah was allowed into Williamstown to make repairs to its propeller bearings, which had been damaged in a storm.
Opinion was divided over whether to celebrate the ship’s officers and crew, who had been tasked with sinking Yankee whaling ships because they were fighting the north.
While the US consul in Melbourne fumed at the presence of a Confederate ship known for burning its whaling fleets, the public was in awe.
The Shenandoah’s officers, under the command of James Waddell, prided themselves on not harming any of the 1053 people they took captive from whaling ships at sea.
The Australia Day exhibition will include photographs, maps, documents, uniforms, weapons and a civil war sailor’s hammock.
The exhibition is the centrepiece of the Seaworks Maritime Festival, which will run from January 24 to 26.
For information, visit www.seaworks.com.au.
Goya Dmytryshchak
