H.M.A.S Castlemaine Williamstown

Another weekend another road trip. It’s just what my family enjoy. After stopping in Williamstown on the way home. We parked up alongside the piers next to the yacht club. This area has great spots for easy fun fishing. On this slow stroll mum pointed out a Navy ship moored on the other side of the port.

Williamstown looking towards Melbourne CBD

So off we went to see if we could get a closer look as Dad loves things like this.

We walked along the Gem Pier towards the ship. We discovered that it was an old WW2 Ship which is open to explore like a museum.

About H.M.A.S Castlemaine

The ships name is HMAS Castlemaine, named after the city of Castlemaine, Victoria. The Ship was constructed during World War II and was one of 36 manned and commissioned by the Royal Australian Navy. She first went to sea in 1941. She serviced her country (Australia) until 1945 then became a training vessel for the Navy. In 1973 was given to the maritime trust to become a museum for us all to see.

This amazing ship has a flat bottom, so she could get into shallow waters and sweep for mines. 85 crew at a time were used to call this ship home.

Our Visit To H.M.A.S Castlemaine Museum

Being so excited I just wanted to run all over the ship straight away. There is not a direct way to follow around the ship, you meander at your leisure. We are very lucky that this ship survived WW2 and especially lucky for those that came home with her.

We got to see hammocks that were used for beds hanging from the ceiling, the Captains quarters and Officers Mess to name a few of the areas we visited. There’s very steep ladders that go up and down to different floors/levels of the ship which makes it feel like a maze for amazing exploring. So much history to be found here.

On deck of course theres her big guns that were used to protect the crew. A must see is the engine rooms and if you’re lucky there will be a volunteer to take you down and explain how they run the ship. The volunteers were very friendly and extremely knowledgeable, they were keen to share their knowledge and show us the areas which were cordoned off.