The National Maritime Museum (NMM) is a

maritime museum A maritime museum (sometimes nautical museum) is a museum specializing in the display of objects relating to ships and travel on large bodies of water. A subcategory of maritime museums are naval museums, which focus on navies and the militar ...

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

, London. It is part of

Royal Museums Greenwich Royal Museums Greenwich is an organisation comprising four museums in Greenwich, east London, illustrated below. The Royal Museums Greenwich Foundation is a Private Limited Company by guarantee without share capital use of 'Limited' exemption, co ...

, a network of museums in the Maritime Greenwich

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

. Like other publicly funded national museums in the United Kingdom, it has no general admission charge; there are admission charges for most side-gallery temporary exhibitions, usually supplemented by many loaned works from other museums.

Creation and official opening

The museum was created by the National Maritime Museum Act 1934 under a Board of Trustees, appointed by

HM Treasury His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury), occasionally referred to as the Exchequer, or more informally the Treasury, is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for developing and executing the government's public finance policy and ec ...

. It is based on the generous donations of Sir James Caird (1864–1954).

King George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of Ind ...

formally opened the museum on 27 April 1937 when his daughter Princess Elizabeth accompanied him for the journey along the Thames from London. The first director was Sir

Geoffrey Callender Sir Geoffrey Arthur Romaine Callender (25 November 1875 – 6 November 1946) was an English naval historian and the first director of the National Maritime Museum from its opening in 1937 until his death in 1946. Life The son of a cotton ...

Collection

Since the earliest times

has had associations with the sea and navigation. It was a landing place for the Romans,

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

lived here, the Navy has roots on the waterfront, and Charles II founded the Royal Observatory in 1675 for "finding the longitude of places". The home of

Greenwich Mean Time Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the Local mean time, mean solar time at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, counted from midnight. At different times in the past, it has been calculated in different ways, i ...

and the

Prime Meridian A prime meridian is an arbitrary meridian (a line of longitude) in a geographic coordinate system at which longitude is defined to be 0°. Together, a prime meridian and its anti-meridian (the 180th meridian in a 360°-system) form a great c ...

since 1884, Greenwich has long been a centre for astronomical study, while navigators across the world have set their clocks according to its time of day. The museum has the most important holdings in the world on the history of Britain at sea comprising more than two million items, including maritime art (both British and 17th-century Dutch), cartography, manuscripts including official public records, ship models and plans, scientific and navigational instruments, instruments for time-keeping and astronomy (based at the Observatory). Its holdings including paintings relating to Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson and

Captain James Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean and ...

Admiral George Keith Elphinstone 1st Viscount Keith by George Sanders

An active loans programme ensures that items from the collection are seen in the UK and abroad. The museum aims to achieve a greater understanding of British economic, cultural, social, political and maritime history and its consequences in the world today. The museum plays host to various exhibitions, including ''Ships Clocks & Stars'' in 2014, ''Samuel Pepys: Plague, Fire, Revolution'' in 2015 and ''Emma Hamilton: Seduction and Celebrity'' in 2016. The collection of the National Maritime Museum also includes items taken from the German

Naval Academy Mürwik A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It include ...

after World War II, including several ship models, paintings and flags. The museum has been criticized for possessing what has been described as "

looted art Looted art has been a consequence of looting during war, natural disaster and riot for centuries. Looting of art, archaeology and other cultural property may be an opportunistic criminal act or may be a more organized case of unlawful or unet ...

". The museum regards these cultural objects as "

war trophies __NOTOC__ A war trophy is an item taken during warfare by an invading force. Common war trophies include flags, weapons, vehicles, and art. History In ancient Greece and ancient Rome, military victories were commemorated with a display of captu ...

", removed under the provisions of the

Potsdam Conference The Potsdam Conference (german: Potsdamer Konferenz) was held at Potsdam in the Soviet occupation zone from July 17 to August 2, 1945, to allow the three leading Allies to plan the postwar peace, while avoiding the mistakes of the Paris Pe ...

. The museum awards the Caird Medal annually in honour of its major donor, Sir James Caird. In late August 2018, several groups were vying for the right to purchase the 5,500 relics that were an asset of the bankrupt

Premier Exhibitions Premier Exhibitions Inc is an Atlanta, Georgia-based company that organizes travelling exhibitions. , the company owned 5,500 ''Titanic'' relics with approximately 1,300 on display in various countries. Its two most prominent exhibits are artif ...

. Eventually, the National Maritime Museum,

Titanic Belfast ''Titanic'' Belfast is a visitor attraction opened in 2012, a monument to Belfast's maritime heritage on the site of the former Harland & Wolff shipyard in the city's Titanic Quarter where the RMS ''Titanic'' was built. It tells the stories o ...

and Titanic Foundation Limited, as well as

National Museums Northern Ireland National Museums Northern Ireland (NMNI) (formerly ''National Museums and Galleries of Northern Ireland'') is a museum service in Northern Ireland, consisting of the Ulster American Folk Park, the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum and the Ulster M ...

, joined together as a consortium that was raising money to purchase the 5,500 artifacts. The group intended to keep all of the items together as a single exhibit. The oceanographer

Robert Ballard Robert Duane Ballard (born June 30, 1942) is an American retired Navy officer and a professor of oceanography at the University of Rhode Island who is most noted for his work in underwater archaeology: maritime archaeology and archaeology of ...

said that he favoured this bid as it would ensure that the memorabilia would be permanently displayed in Belfast (where the ''Titanic'' was built) and in

. The museums were critical of the bid process set by the Bankruptcy Court in Jacksonville, Florida. The minimum bid for the auction on 11 October 2018 was set at US$21.5 million (£16.5m) and the consortium did not have enough funding to meet that amount.

The site

The museum was officially established in 1934 within the of Greenwich Royal Park in the buildings formerly occupied by the

Royal Hospital School ) , established = 1694 Royal Charter1712 Greenwich1933 Holbrook, Suffolk, Holbrook , type = Public school (UK), Public School Independent school (UK), Independent day and boarding School Royal Foundation , founders = William ...

, before it moved to

Holbrook Holbrook may refer to: Places England *Holbrook, Derbyshire, a village * Holbrook, Somerset, a hamlet in Charlton Musgrove * Holbrook, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, a former mining village in Mosborough ward, now known as Halfway *Holbrook, Suffolk, ...

in Suffolk. The gardens immediately to the north of the museum were reinstated in the late 1870s following construction of the

cut-and-cover A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube constr ...

tunnel A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube cons ...

between

and

Maze Hill Maze Hill is an area in Greenwich and Blackheath, in south-east London, lying to the east of Greenwich Park, and west of the Westcombe Park area of Blackheath. It is part of the Royal Borough of Greenwich, and takes its name from the main thorou ...

stations. The tunnel comprised part of the final section of the

London and Greenwich Railway The London and Greenwich Railway (L&GR) was opened in London between 1836 and 1838. It was the first steam railway in the capital, the first to be built specifically for passengers, and the first entirely elevated railway. Origins The idea for t ...

and opened in 1878. A full redevelopment of the main galleries, centring on what is now the Neptune Court, which was designed by Rick Mather Architects and funded by the

Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...

, was completed in 1999. In 2008, the museum announced that the Israeli shipping magnate

Sammy Ofer Sammy Ofer ( he, שמואל "סמי" עופר; born Shmuel Herskovich; 22 February 1922 – 3 June 2011) was an Israeli shipping magnate and one of the richest men in the country. Early life Shmuel Herskovich was born in 1922 in Galați, Romania ...

had donated £20m for a new gallery. For a year between 2016 and 2017 the National Maritime Museum reported 2.41 million visitors.

Directors of the National Maritime Museum

*1937–1946:

*1947–1966: Frank George Griffith Carr *1967–1983: Basil Jack Greenhill *1983–1986:

Neil Cossons Sir Neil Cossons FMA (born 15 January 1939) is a British historian and museum administrator. Biography Cossons was born in Beeston and studied at the University of Liverpool. He was the first director of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust fr ...

*1986–2000: Richard Louis Ormond CBE (born 1939) *2000–2007: Rear Admiral

Roy Clare Rear Admiral Roy Alexander George Clare, (born 30 September 1950) is a non-executive Director/Trustee in the 'third sector', including appointments as: inaugural Chair of the Chelmsford Cultural Development Trust; as a member of the Board of ...

(born 1950) *2007–2019: Dr Kevin Fewster *2019–present: Paddy Rogers

Caird Medal

National Maritime Museum - Greenwich (2887954170)

The Caird Medal was instituted in 1984 to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the National Maritime Museum Act 1934 that established the museum. The medal is awarded annually to "an individual who, in the opinion of the Trustees of the National Maritime Museum, has done conspicuously important work in the field of the Museum's interests and is of a nature which involves communicating with the public." The medal is named for Sir James Caird (1864–1954), the principal donor at the founding of the National Maritime Museum.

Caird Medallists

* 1984: Eric McKee * 1985:

Michael S. Robinson Michael Strang Robinson (1910–1999) was Keeper of Pictures at the National Maritime Museum, London, England. He was an expert on the paintings of Willem van de Velde, the elder and Willem van de Velde, the younger..Obituary, ''Mariner's Mirro ...

* 1987: Jules van Beylen * 1989:

C. R. Boxer Sir Charles Ralph Boxer FBA GCIH (8 March 1904 – 27 April 2000) was a British historian of Dutch and Portuguese maritime and colonial history, especially in relation to South Asia and the Far East. In Hong Kong he was the chief spy for the ...

* 1990: Helen Wallis * 1991:

John F. Coates John Francis Coates, OBE (30 March 1922 – 10 July 2010) was a British naval architect best known for his work on the study of construction of the Ancient Greek trireme. His research led to the construction of the first working replica of trirem ...

and

John Sinclair Morrison John Sinclair Morrison CBE (1913-2000) was an English classicist whose work led to the reconstruction of an Athenian Trireme, an ancient oared warship. Born in 1913, Morrison was professor of Greek and head of the classics department at the Uni ...

* 1992:

Richard Ollard Richard Ollard (1923–2007) was an English historian and biographer. He is best known for his work on the English Restoration period. Life Richard Laurence Ollard was born in Yorkshire on 9 November 1923, the son of Rev Dr S. L. Ollard, a ...

* 1993:

Gerard L. E. Turner Gerard is a masculine forename of Proto-Germanic origin, variations of which exist in many Germanic and Romance languages. Like many other early Germanic names, it is dithematic, consisting of two meaningful constituents put together. In this ca ...

* 1994:

Glyndwr Williams Glyndwr Williams (1932–24 January 2022) was a professor of history at Queen Mary, University of London since 1974, specialising in the history of exploration and the history of Europe overseas. He was appointed a professor emeritus of the Uni ...

* 1995:

Margaret Rule Dr Margaret Helen Rule, (27 September 1928 – 9 April 2015) was a British archaeologist. She is most notable for her involvement with the project that excavated and raised the Tudor warship ''Mary Rose'' in 1982. Early life Rule, née Marti ...

* 1996:

John de Courcy Ireland John Evan de Courcy Ireland (19 October 1911 – 4 April 2006) was an Irish maritime historian and political activist. Biography de Courcy Ireland was born at Lucknow, India, son of British Army major de Courcy Ireland and Gabrielle (née Byro ...

* 1997:

Felipe Fernández-Armesto Felipe Fernández-Armesto (born 1950) is a British professor of history and author of several popular works, notably on cultural and environmental history. Life and career He was born in London; his father was the Spanish journalist A journal ...

* 1998:

Elly Dekker Elisabeth (Elly) Dekker (Haarlem, 1943) is a Dutch astronomer and science historian, specialising in the history of astronomy. She studied theoretical physics and astronomy at Utrecht University.

* 1999:

Elisabeth Mann-Borgese Elisabeth Veronika Mann Borgese, (24 April 1918 – 8 February 2002) was an internationally recognized expert on maritime law and policy and the protection of Environment (biophysical), the environment. Called "the mother of the oceans", s ...

* 2000:

John Hattendorf John Brewster Hattendorf, D.Phil., D.Litt., L.H.D., FRHistS, FSNR, (born December 22, 1941) is an American naval historian. He is the author, co-author, editor, or co-editor of more than fifty books, mainly on British and American maritime hi ...

* 2002:

* 2004:

Sir David Attenborough Sir David Frederick Attenborough (; born 8 May 1926) is an English broadcaster, biologist, natural historian and author. He is best known for writing and presenting, in conjunction with the BBC Natural History Unit, the nine natural histor ...

* 2005:

Paul Kennedy Paul Michael Kennedy (born 17 June 1945) is a British historian specialising in the history of international relations, economic power and grand strategy. He has published prominent books on the history of British foreign policy and great pow ...

* 2006: David Armitage * 2007:

Martin Rees, Baron Rees of Ludlow Martin John Rees, Baron Rees of Ludlow One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from the royalsociety.org website where: (born 23 June 1942) is a British cosmologist and astrophysicist. He is the fifteenth Astronomer Royal, ...

* 2010: Willem F. J. Mörzer Bruyns * 2011: Daniel A. Baugh * 2014:

R. J. B. Knight ''For the English cricketer, administrator, and schoolmaster, see Roger Knight '' Roger John Beckett Knight (born 11 April 1944) is a British naval historian of the 18th century, a former Deputy Director of the National Maritime Museum at Greenwi ...

* 2015:

Simon Schaffer Simon J. Schaffer (born 1 January 1955) is a professor of the history and philosophy of science at the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge and was editor of ''The British Journal for the History of Sci ...

Other British maritime museums

The

National Maritime Museum Cornwall The National Maritime Museum, Cornwall is located in a harbourside building at Falmouth in Cornwall, England. The building was designed by architect M. J. Long, following an architectural design competition managed by RIBA Competitions. The ...

is a fully independent museum, a development of the original FIMI (Falmouth International Maritime Initiative) partnership created in 1992 and the result of collaboration between the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich and the former Cornwall Maritime Museum in Falmouth.

References

External links

*
The official prints website of the National Maritime Museum
containing a selection of the museum's finest images
National Maritime Museum Photostream
(many photos labelled "no known copyright restriction") at

Flickr.com Flickr ( ; ) is an American image hosting and video hosting service, as well as an online community, founded in Canada and headquartered in the United States. It was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and was a popular way for amateur and professional ...

{{Authority control Museums in the Royal Borough of Greenwich Grade I listed buildings in the Royal Borough of Greenwich Grade I listed museum buildings Transport museums in London Archives in the Royal Borough of Greenwich Art museums and galleries in London Maritime museums in England Naval museums in England History museums in London Science museums in London World War I museums in the United Kingdom World War II museums in the United Kingdom Marine art museums Museums established in 1937 Exempt charities Charities based in London Maritime history organizations