Shipwreck Galleries Fremantle Australia

When you are visiting Fremantle there is a good chance you will find yourself down at the waterfront at the old Americas Cup base. There are some fantastic places to eat some of the best Fish & Chips on the waterfront. After lunch take a walk over to the Shipwreck Galleries & drop your change from lunch in the donation box before taking a look around.

While having lunch the Indian Ocean waters off the coast of Western Australia appear still & relaxed but it turns out they can be dangerous for unprepared ships. The Shipwreck Galleries is a collection of items from ships that have come to grief on the coast. The centre piece of the collection is in a climate controlled room that you can walk around & view from above. The Batavia wreck which was excavated in the 1970s is over 380 years old. Large parts of the wreck were preserved under water & have been set up in an amazing display.

There are many displays around the gallery including a boat that is being built using old style methods to show how it was done.

There is a wide range of items that have been recovered from a series of wrecks, including coins, clay pipes, sliver & glass. The glass is very cool, it has changed from a clear glass to a purple glass due to a combination of additives in the glass & decades of exposure to UV light.

There are a series of displays of ships models & armour along with modern displays of underwater cameras. All around the gallery are stories of ship wrecks & survival along with an amazing tale to go with a collection of human bones.