Colonist (1861)

Port Jackson or Sydney Harbour is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman Sea (part of the South Pacific Ocean). It is the location of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge. The location of the first European settlement and colony on the Australian mainland, Port Jackson has continued to play a key role in the history and development of Sydney. Port Jackson, in the early days of the colony, was also used as a shorthand for Sydney and its environs. Thus, many botanists, see, e.g, Robert Brown's Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen, described their specimens as having been collected at Port Jackson. Many recreational events are based on or around the harbour itself, particularly Sydney New Year's Eve celebrations. The harbour is also the starting point of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. The waterways of Port Jackson are managed by Transport for NSW. Sydney Harbour National Park protects a number of islands and foreshore areas, swimming spots, bushwalking tracks and picnic areas.

In late May and early June 1942, during World War II, submarines belonging to the Imperial Japanese Navy made a series of attacks on the Australian cities of Sydney and Newcastle. On the night of 31 May – 1 June, three Ko-hyoteki-class midget submarines, (M-14, M-21 and M-24) each with a two-member crew, entered Sydney Harbour, avoided the partially constructed Sydney Harbour anti-submarine boom net, and attempted to sink Allied warships. Two of the midget submarines were detected and attacked before they could engage any Allied vessels. The crew of M-14 scuttled their submarine, whilst M-21 was successfully attacked and sunk. The crew of M-21 killed themselves. These submarines were later recovered by the Allies. The third submarine attempted to torpedo the heavy cruiser USS Chicago, but instead sank the converted ferry HMAS Kuttabul, killing 21 sailors. This midget submarine's fate was unknown until 2006, when amateur scuba divers discovered the wreck off Sydney's northern beaches. Immediately following the raid, the five Japanese fleet submarines that carried the midget submarines to Australia embarked on a campaign to disrupt merchant shipping in eastern Australian waters. Over the next month, the submarines attacked at least seven merchant vessels, sinking three ships and killing 50 sailors. During this period, between midnight and 02:30 on 8 June, two of the submarines bombarded the ports of Sydney and Newcastle. The midget submarine attacks and subsequent bombardments are among the best-known examples of Axis naval activity in Australian waters during World War II, and are the only occasion in history when either city has come under attack. The physical effects were slight: the Japanese had intended to destroy several major warships, but sank only an unarmed depot ship and failed to damage any significant targets during the bombardments. The main impact was psychological; creating popular fear of an impending Japanese invasion and forcing the Australian military to upgrade defences, including the commencement of convoy operations to protect merchant shipping.

The Manly–Agnes collision was a 1904 shipwreck in Sydney Harbour, Australia. It involved the 30' launch Agnes and the steamer SS Manly which was a much larger passenger ferry. The Agnes was carrying a family between Snails Bay and Middle Harbour.

Clark Island is a small island in Sydney Harbour, near the coast of New South Wales, Australia. The island is part of the Sydney Harbour National Park and lies offshore the Sydney suburb of Darling Point, in the eastern part of Sydney Harbour between the Harbour Bridge and the harbour entrance.

The Bradleys Head Fortification Complex is a heritage-listed former mast and defensive battery and military fortification and now war memorial and recreational area located at Bradleys Head Road within the Sydney Harbour National Park in Mosman in the Mosman Council local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by Government engineers and built from 1840 to 1934. It is also known as Bradleys Head Forts and HMAS Sydney 1 Mast and Associated Memorials. The property is owned by the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, an agency of the Government of New South Wales. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 30 August 2010.The small fort is located on the northern side of Sydney Harbour, just south of Taronga Park Zoo, and the fortification formed part of a total defence system for Sydney Harbour and recalls a period when the colony of New South Wales became increasingly aware of its isolation and wealth.

Bradleys Head is a headland protruding from the north shore of Sydney Harbour, within the metropolitan area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is named after the First Fleet naval officer William Bradley. The original Aboriginal inhabitants, who belonged to the Borogegal clan of the Eora nation, knew Bradleys Head as Borogegy, Booraghee, Booragy or Burrogy. On the headland is an active lighthouse, Bradleys Head Light, constructed in 1905.Bradleys Head is now a unit of the Sydney Harbour National Park and managed by the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

The Bradleys Head Light is an active heritage-listed lighthouse at Bradleys Head, a headland protruding from the north shore of Sydney Harbour, within Mosman, Mosman Council, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is the sibling of Robertson Point Light. The site is owned and managed as part of the Sydney Harbour National Park by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, an agency of the Government of New South Wales; while the light is managed and operated by Sydney Ports Corporation. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 18 April 2000.

Garden Island ferry wharf is located on the southern side of Sydney Harbour. It serves the Royal Australian Navy's Heritage Centre, Garden Island.

Robertson Point Light, also known as Cremorne Point Light, is an active lighthouse in Cremorne Point, a suburb on the lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is the sibling of Bradleys Head Light. The lighthouse is mounted on a rock and connected to shore by a footbridge. The light characteristic shown is a green occulting light with a cycle of three seconds (Oc.G. 3s), the same as Bradleys Head Light.

The Royal Australian Navy Heritage Centre is the maritime museum of the Royal Australian Navy. The centre opened on 4 October 2005 and is located within the Public Access Area on the northern end of the Garden Island naval base in Sydney. The need for such a facility was first recognised in 1922, by Vice Admiral Sir William Creswell who suggested the building of a museum to permanently display the Australian Navy's already rich and unique heritage. Since then, there have been several attempts to establish an international-standard naval museum. The origins of the RANHC date from 2001, when the then Chief of the Navy commissioned a Naval Heritage Management Study to examine in detail how the RAN's past might best be used to support the present Navy's goals. One of the most important recommendations was the creation of a facility for the public display of the Naval Heritage Collection (NHC). Once approval for funding was received, a RANHC Project Board was formed and the project began on 24 May 2004. The NHC contains more than 250,000 individual items, and the mission of the RANHC is to display those objects of museum standard to the public, and through these displays capture something of the Australian naval experience.

Taronga Zoo ferry wharf is located on the northern side of Sydney Harbour serving Taronga Zoo. It is a short walk from Taronga Zoo's Lower Entrance.

The Garden Island Tunnel System, also known as Garden Island tunnels, Garden Island Tunnel Complex and Potts Point Tunnels, is a former tunnel warfare system in Garden Island, Sydney, Australia. Used in World War II by the Royal Australian Navy in 1941, the tunnels were dug from sandstone beneath Potts Point after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, to shelter the men working at the naval base from air raids. Some of the tunnels feature names such as Petticoat Lane (named after London's landmark), North-West Passage and Lambeth Walk.The tunnel system featured a power station, a command centre, offices and air raid shelters. Today, the tunnels and chambers are used for electrical wiring and communications.