HISTORICAL MODEL SHIP DISPLAY AT PACIFIC 2013 TRADESHOW
The U.S. Australia Centennial Display honors RAN and USN cooperation in a unique exhibit
The U.S. Australian Centennial Display, a unique exhibit comprising historically-accurate scale models of maritime vessels exemplifying 100 years of cooperation between the U.S. Navy (USN) and the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), opens Monday, October 7th at the Pacific 2013 International Maritime Exposition in Sydney, Australia.
The display can be viewed in the U.S. International Pavilion, Hall 4 Stand M1, through Wednesday, October 9th. The naval show takes place at the Sydney Convention & Exposition Centre.
The U.S. Australian Centennial Display was created by the Pacific ‘13 U.S. representative and U.S. International Pavilion organizer, Kallman Worldwide Inc., and is supported by Northrop Grumman, the Royal Naval Historical Society and Maritime Australia Ltd.
Tom Kallman, president and CEO of Kallman Worldwide explained, “Over the last 100 years, the RAN and USN have engaged in countless wartime battles in World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and in the Arab Gulf. And they have sailed together in peacetime exercises conducting training, search-and-rescue and humanitarian relief missions around the world.” He continued, “We created the U.S. Australian Centennial Display to honor this century of cooperation between these two great navies—in this opportune time and place.”
Noted author and official historian of the Royal Australian Navy, Dr. David M. Stevens, curated the collection, which includes:
· USS Connecticut
o (1906-1923) Flagship of Admiral Sperry’s Great White Fleet which visited Sydney in 1908. The arrival of the Great White Fleet did much to encourage the push for an effective Australian Navy.
· HMAS Australia
o (1913-1922) The RAN’s first flagship and the centerpiece of the 1913 fleet entry. During World War I, it operated in the North Sea with the Grand Fleet, which included a USN battleship squadron.
· USS Peary
o (1920-1942) “A leading symbol of Australian-American ties…survived the first month of [WWII] by ‘brilliant seamanship’ only to turn ‘desperately unlucky’ in her sinking [at Darwin] six weeks later…” (destroyerhistory.org)
· USS Pampanito
o (1943- ) World War II Balao class fleet submarine. Conducted a famous rescue of Australian prisoners of war (including RAN members), from a torpedoed Japanese transport in September 1944.
· HMAS Darwin
o (1984-) Built in the USA, served regularly with the US Navy in the Gulf from 1990 onwards, took part in 2003 Iraq War.
The U.S. Australian Centennial Display exhibit is open to all visitors of Pacific 2013. Photography is permitted.
The display will be donated to the Australian National Maritime Museum at show’s end.
