Karl and I visited the Maritime Museum on the downtown waterfront today.  It has indoor and outdoor exhibits covering virtually every aspect of travel on the water, from the birch bark canoes made by the indigenous Mi’kmaq people long before the arrival of Europeans,  up to and including a scale model of an experimental, armed hydrofoil ship built in Halifax for the Canadian navy.  (All photos Max Vollmer, Click on any image to enlarge]

Inside, there are full size examples of small, wood, pleasure and working boats that illustrate differences related purpose and evolution over time.

There are also exquisitely detailed, scale models of ships that served Halifax, like the White Star Lines, Mauritania, that plied the North Atlantic in peace and war.  It was built for display in the company’s offices.  The model is approx. 6 feet long.

Halifax has a historic connection to the RMS Titanic.  Although the ship was built in Belfast, Ireland, when she sank on her maiden voyage, rescue ships from Halifax went out to search for survivors.  There are two cemeteries in the city where drowning victims from the disaster are interred.  Her sister ship, the RMS Olympic, ferried thousands of Canadian and American troops from Halifax to Europe during WW I using the shortest route across the North Atlantic.