Tamkang University Maritime Museum

The Tamkang University Maritime Museum is a museum on Sea Navigation located on the campus of Tamkang University in Danshuei, a suburb of Taipei in Taiwan. The museum is located in a ship-like formed building which formerly served as a training center for future sailors on trading ships.

The museum to which entry is free, exhibits marine engines in the basement, models of famous historical and contemporary vessels and ancient maps on the first and second floor, marine utensils such as ropes, lights and anchors on the first floor, as well as providing an extensive library on the third floor.

The museum has a partnership with the Los Angeles Maritime Museum. Most texts in the museum are written in English as well as Chinese, some also in Japanese language.

hip models

One of the museum's largest asset are its down-scaled realistic ship models, some of which are result of intense research. The model are presented in the following categories.

戰艦 Historic combat vessels

*the "San Philip". Spanish battleship, launched 1693; scrapped 1736.

*a typical Spanish galleon. (European sailing ship used from the 16th to 18th centuries.)

*the . Launched 1911; sank 1912.

*the ocean liner RMS|Britannia. Launched 1840; sunk 1880.

*a Liberty-class ship. A class of cargo ships built in the US between 1941 and 1945 to replace ships lost to U-boats during the war. With 2,751 of those ships produced this is easily the largest number of ships produced to a single design.

*the container ship "Venus"

*the Panamax container ship "璟龍輪". Launched 1997.

*the cruise ship "MS Fuji Maru". Launched 1937; sunk 1943.

*the "Yamato-I". Superconducted Electromagnet-propelled Boat. [http://www2.tku.edu.tw/~finearts/boat/yamato1/engyamato1.htm Link to English Museum Website]

*the cruise ship "Royal Viking Sea". Launched 1973 for Royal Viking Line.

*principal depiction of a 28,000 DWMT bulk carrier

[http://www2.tku.edu.tw/~finearts/cc3.htm Link to Description Page] on the Museum's website.

漁船 Fishing vessels

* A Taiwanese "Spearfish Boat". This boat was specifically designed to catch Spearfish (Marlin), which is quite different from catching other fish. Spearfish are caught using harpoons or with nets that have sharp gills. Spearfish are traditionally caught in Eastern Taiwan during the nord-east wind season in October and November.

* A "Danshui sampan boat". Danshui River is the only water in Taiwan where these boats were traditionally used for fishing. A long time ago they have also be used to reach northern Taiwan from Mainland China. Some of these boats are still in use today.

[http://www2.tku.edu.tw/~finearts/cc4.htm Link to Description Page] on the Museum's website.

遊艇 Pleasure and racing vessels

*HMY "Royal Caroline", built 1749 in Bedford for George II of Great Britain; in service as the king's state yacht and regatta vessel till 1805; dismantled 1820.
*HMY "Mary", built in 1660 by the Dutch East India Company; served as first royal yacht in history to king Charles II of England; wrecked on a riff in 1675.
*a typical Venetian gondola.
*Swedish Royal Yacht "Amphion". Built in Stockholm; launched in 1778, served as yacht to Gustav III of Sweden and also as a warship in battle against Russia.
*Principial depiction of a modern 46-foot sailing yacht.

[http://www2.tku.edu.tw/~finearts/cc5.htm Link to Description Page] on the Museum's website.

作業船 Construction and utilitarian vessels

*a Multi-purpose Service Boat
*a principal depiction of the oil drilling ship "Western Offshore NO. VIII" (Built in Keelung from an ex-US oil tanker.)
*an Icebreaker

[http://www2.tku.edu.tw/~finearts/cc6.htm Link to Description Page] on the Museum's website.

Taiwanese Aboriginal boats

*an "Assembled Boat" (拼板船) as traditionally used by the Taiwanese aboriginal Tao people on Orchid Island (Lanyu). Their way to produce boats from several pieces of wood is unique to the Tao people, which are well known for their Assembled Boats.
Although those boats are often referred to as "Orchid Island Canoe" or "Lanyu Canoe", they are actually not canoes, but boats, because they are assembled from several pieces of different woods. To build the boats either 21 (for the small variant) or 27 (for the larger variant) pieces of wood are used, where different kinds of wood are used for different pieces. For painting the boat only the colors black, white and red are used. The colors are produced from materials found naturally on the island.
This boat is exhibited as original, not model. [http://www2.tku.edu.tw/~finearts/cc7.htm Link]

*A New Zealand Māori War Canoe ("Ngatokimatawhaorua"). This is the largest canoe in the world. It was built in 1940 using techniques already known before the colonization period. It has a length of 35 m and offers space for 80 persons paddling. It was made from three large trees: one for the main boat, one for the head and the stern and the third one for the paddles. (獨木舟, [http://www2.tku.edu.tw/~finearts/cc8.htm Link] )

External links

* [http://www2.tku.edu.tw/~finearts/a1.htm Maritime Museum's official website]
* [http://www2.tku.edu.tw/~finearts/engmuseum/engwelcome.htm Unofficial English website] (Does not contain all models.)