Australian Merchant Navy Memorial

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Australian Merchant Navy badge AS Merchant Navy badge.jpg
Australian Merchant Navy badge

The Australian Merchant Navy Memorial is a memorial honouring the Australian Merchant Navy's involvement in World War I and World War II. It is located in Kings Park, on the northern shore of Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra, the national capital city of Australia. [1] Its location at the shore of the lake represent's the Merchant Navy's relationship with water. [2] It was unveiled on 7 October 1990 by Bill Hayden AC, Governor-General of Australia. [3] A memorial service is held on the first Sunday on or after 21 October each year.[ citation needed ]

World War I 1914–1918 global war starting in Europe

World War I, also known as the First World War or the Great War, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. Contemporaneously described as "the war to end all wars", it led to the mobilisation of more than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, making it one of the largest wars in history. It is also one of the deadliest conflicts in history, with an estimated nine million combatants and seven million civilian deaths as a direct result of the war, while resulting genocides and the resulting 1918 influenza pandemic caused another 50 to 100 million deaths worldwide.

World War II 1939–1945, between Axis and Allies

World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world's countries—including all the great powers—eventually formed two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. A state of total war emerged, directly involving more than 100 million people from more than 30 countries. The major participants threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. World War II was the deadliest conflict in human history, marked by 70 to 85 million fatalities, most of whom were civilians in the Soviet Union and China. It included massacres, the genocide of the Holocaust, strategic bombing, premeditated death from starvation and disease, and the only use of nuclear weapons in war.

Kings Park, Canberra park in Canberra, Australia

Kings Park is a park in Canberra, Australia on the shore of Lake Burley Griffin.

Design

The Australian Merchant Navy Memorial in November 2012 Australian Merchant Navy Memorial frontal view Nov 2012.JPG
The Australian Merchant Navy Memorial in November 2012

The memorial was designed by Daryl Jackson Alastair Swayn architects and symbolises the Merchant Navy and the sea. It consists of seven columns, a dias, concrete drums, and a flagpole. [1]

Granite A common type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock with granular structure

Granite is a common type of felsic intrusive igneous rock that is granular and phaneritic in texture. Granites can be predominantly white, pink, or gray in color, depending on their mineralogy. The word "granite" comes from the Latin granum, a grain, in reference to the coarse-grained structure of such a holocrystalline rock. Strictly speaking, granite is an igneous rock with between 20% and 60% quartz by volume, and at least 35% of the total feldspar consisting of alkali feldspar, although commonly the term "granite" is used to refer to a wider range of coarse-grained igneous rocks containing quartz and feldspar.

Column structural element sustaining the weight of a building

A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. The term column applies especially to a large round support with a capital and a base or pedestal which is made of stone, or appearing to be so. A small wooden or metal support is typically called a post, and supports with a rectangular or other non-round section are usually called piers. For the purpose of wind or earthquake engineering, columns may be designed to resist lateral forces. Other compression members are often termed "columns" because of the similar stress conditions. Columns are frequently used to support beams or arches on which the upper parts of walls or ceilings rest. In architecture, "column" refers to such a structural element that also has certain proportional and decorative features. A column might also be a decorative element not needed for structural purposes; many columns are "engaged", that is to say form part of a wall.

Concrete Composite construction material

Concrete, usually Portland cement concrete, is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement that hardens over time—most frequently in the past a lime-based cement binder, such as lime putty, but sometimes with other hydraulic cements, such as a calcium aluminate cement or Portland cement. It is distinguished from other, non-cementitious types of concrete all binding some form of aggregate together, including asphalt concrete with a bitumen binder, which is frequently used for road surfaces, and polymer concretes that use polymers as a binder.

The inscription on the memorial reads: [3]

"In honour of those of the Australian Merchant Navy who gave their lives for their country and have no known grave but the sea. They will be remembered for ever more. 1914-1918 1939-1945."

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References

  1. 1 2 "Kings Park Memorials" (PDF). National Capital Authority. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 February 2017. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
  2. ↑ "Lake Burley Griffin Walk". National Capital Authority. 13 February 2015. Archived from the original on 2 March 2017. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
  3. 1 2 "Merchant Navy Memorial". Monument Australia. 3 February 2015. Retrieved 7 September 2016.

Coordinates: 35°17′49″S149°08′38″E / 35.297°S 149.144°E / -35.297; 149.144

Geographic coordinate system Coordinate system

A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are often chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position and two or three of the numbers represent a horizontal position; alternatively, a geographic position may be expressed in a combined three-dimensional Cartesian vector. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation. To specify a location on a plane requires a map projection.

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