Hervey Bay Historical Village and Museum

Items from Australia’s largest World War I relic, Gallipoli hospital ship TSS Maheno, were opened as an exhibit in 2015, marking the 80th anniversary of the beaching on Fraser Island of the former Union Steamship Company vessel. A twin-screw passenger steamship of 5000 tons on the trans-Tasman run between Australia and New Zealand, she was converted to a hospital ship during the Great War and stood off Gallipoli Peninsula giving hope to Anzacs wounded in battle. Her rusting hulk has been on Fraser’s east coast since her founding during a cyclone in 1935 in inglorious circumstances – without her propellers and while under tow to a Japanese scrap yard.

Opening hours: Friday, Saturday 1 – 4:30pm, Sunday 10:30am – 4:30pm (Bookings essential for this museum). To find out more click here