New pavilion for maritime museum

The Australian National Maritime Museum will get a new pavilion to showcase the role of the Royal Australian Navy in World War I.

It will tell of Australia's first submarine, AE1, which disappeared off New Britain in September 1914, AE2 and its incredible voyage through the Dardanelles at Gallipoli and Australia's first great naval battle between cruiser HMAS Sydney and the German raider SMS Emden.

Arts Minister George Brandis says it will be the only major permanent centenary project to commemorate the Royal Australian Navy's involvement in the First World War.

"The pavilion will be a permanent tribute to the men and women of the Royal Australian Navy and ensure their stories and experiences are remembered and shared with future generations," he said in a statement on Thursday.

Senator Brandis said the $12 million facility would be adjacent to the Sydney museum's destroyer HMAS Vampire, submarine HMAS Onslow and patrol boat HMAS Advance, explaining the history of the navy and its people to visitors.

More than half a million people, including over 50,000 school children, are expected to visit the new centre each year.

Construction is expected to start in July 2014, with the pavilion scheduled to open in September 2015, coinciding with the centenary of the loss of AE1.