Whyalla Maritime Museum — Attraction in Whyalla Barson

The Whyalla Maritime Museum is home of the former HMAS Whyalla - first ship built at the Whyalla Shipyard in 1941. It stands high and dry – 2km inland from its birthplace and 2 metres off the ground. Every year thousands of visitors enjoy actually walking under the ship before boarding it with a tour guide for a truly unique experience over the restored vessel.

The nearby museum building houses a treasured collection of artefacts and memorabilia:

Tracing the HMAS Whyalla’s World War II involvement and the BHP’s shipbuilding years. A natural history section featuring the upper Spencer Gulf’s diverse marine environment. Matthew Flinders’ journals and charts, reflecting early maritime heritage. A bonus attraction of one of the largest HO gauge model railways depicting operations between OneSteel in Whyalla and Iron Knob, and links between Whyalla to Port Augusta, and Port Augusta to Adelaide. The complex is set amidst tranquil gardens with free electric barbecues, boardwalk to the museum’s pond and plenty of shady lush lawns – indeed an often...

I recently took the kids and my wife to see the maritime museum. The staff are friendly and knowledgeable, with plenty of things to look at for everyone. You have guided tours of the HMAS Whyalla, a Corvette Class minesweeper that you can wander through, and get all the history from the guides. We had Liz, and she was great, with adults and kids alike. They were trialling a kids treasure hunt when we went, so my 2 boys, both 9 years old, got to find different symbols scattered along the tour and into the museum area itself. Once in the museum building, you are treated to various rooms with different displays, including scale models of the ships that were built in Whyalla. An aboriginal cultural room with local indigenous artifacts. A second World War area, showing some of the uniforms that they wore, plus information about the crews that manned the minesweepers built in Whyalla. Finally, you are treated to a railway model setting that shows the journey from the mines in the Middleback Ranges, right through to the Whyalla Steelworks area. Well...

This place is underrated!

Took my autistic nephew who is fascinated with the titanic...he went into overload with the displays of ships & model railway in the display centre.

The tour guide was very professional & informative aboard the ship. There was also a lot of “hands on” activities for the kids & big kids at heart to play with.

The garden had a treasure hunt for kids to explore & piece together to keep them entertained.

The one thing missing is a cafeteria, so that families can spend more time & or relax while the kids explore.

Great value for money & highly recommended if you’re interested in the history of Whyalla & it’s steel mill & ship building past!

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