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MARITIME MUSEUM-LONDON-UK

( Image credit: Morio, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

The National Maritime Museum is a maritime museum in Greenwich, London. It is part of Royal Museums Greenwich, a network of museums in the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site. It has no general admission charge like other publicly funded national museums in the United Kingdom. However, there are admission charges for most side-gallery temporary exhibitions.

Since the earliest times Greenwich has had associations with the sea and navigation. It was a landing place for the Romans.  Henry VIII lived here. For “finding the longitude of places” Charles II founded the Royal Observatory in 1675. The home of Greenwich Mean Time and the Prime Meridian 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. It is the home for most important holdings in the world on the history of Britain at sea. They comprise 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, and instruments for timekeeping and astronomy (based at the Observatory). Its holdings including paintings relating to Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson and Captain James Cook.

(Image credit::Fernando Losada Rodríguez, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

FACILITIES:

  • Eat and drink
  1. The Great Map Café is located on the first floor of the National Maritime Museum.
  2. The Parkside Café is a bright and airy space at the National Maritime Museum with expansive views of Greenwich Royal Park. There is plenty of seating, both indoor and outdoor.
  • Accessibility:

The National Maritime Museum has accessible toilets, and our cafés and gift shops are wheelchair accessible.

  • Toilets & baby change.
  • Lockers and buggy park.
  • Multi-faith prayer room.

Opening time:

Open daily 10am-5pm.

Getting there:

  • Trains and Underground services to Greenwich

The nearest rail stations are Greenwich and Maze Hill. Direct trains run to these stations from London Cannon Street and London Bridge.

If you are using the London Underground, the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) will take you straight to Cutty Sark station. The DLR connects with other Underground lines at Bank, Tower Gateway and Stratford stations.

  • Bus services to Greenwich

The following buses stop near the National Maritime Museum and the Queen’s House: 129, 177, 180, 188, 286, 386 and N1. The following buses stop near Cutty Sark: 129, 177, 180, 188, 199 and 386.The following buses stop near the Royal Observatory Greenwich and Peter Harrison Planetarium: 53, 54, 202 and 380.

  • By river

The pier is situated right next to Cutty Sark and is a five-minute walk from the National Maritime Museum and Queen’s House and a short walk up the hill to the Royal Observatory.

  • Uber Boat by Thames Clippers

The fastest and most frequent river transport services, Uber Boat by Thames Clippers depart from all major London piers every 20 minutes. Your journey time is 45 minutes from London Eye Pier, 25 minutes from London Bridge Pier or 20 minutes from Tower Pier.

Tickets:

Free entry. Booking is recommended.

TIPS

  • You can download the FLOOR MAP and mark the rooms for the painting you want see. It will help you for not missing any paintings in your wish list.
  • download our free audio tour.
  • Attraction near to it are
  1. Queen’s House- Free entrance
  2. Royal Observatory
  3. Planetarium shows and astronomy talks
  4. Cutty Sark
  • If you planning to visit Royal Observatory, Planetarium shows and astronomy talks, Cutty Sark book ticket here and becoming a member is cheaper than taking the ticket individually.

Things not to miss

  • Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle.                                           

      (image credit: Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net)., CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
Nelson's Ship in a Bottle
Yinka Shonibare’s richly decorated replica of Nelson’s ship HMS Victory is one of the most photographed artworks in London. Horatio Nelson is generally regarded as the greatest officer in the history of the Royal Navy. His reputation is based on a series of remarkable victories, culminating in the Battle of Trafalgar where he was killed in his moment of triumph. The poet Byron referred to him as ‘Britannia’s God of War’.
You can visit his Tomb in St. Paul’s cathedral.
Yinka Shonibare CBE  is one of Britain’s best-known artists. He was born in London and raised in Nigeria before returning to the UK to study fine art. He was nominated for the Turner Prize in 2004.
Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle has 80 cannon and 37 sails set as on the day of battle. The richly patterned sails were inspired by Indonesian batik, mass-produced by Dutch traders and sold in West Africa. Today these designs are associated with African dress and identity. 

  • Nelson’s coat at the time of his final battle.

(Image credit: :Charles Lovett, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

Though the Royal Navy won the Trafalgar battle, admiral Nelson lost his life during the battle. The coat he wore is on display with all its military glory.  You will be able to see the bullet hole from the French sniper that caused his Nelson’s death, if you look closely amongst the medals and trim. His dead body transferred to London for Military funeral. As the journey from Trafalgar to London is too long, his body was buried in a casket full of brandy to preserve it.

  • AHOY! CHILDREN’S GALLERY.

A fun-filled gallery for 0-7s at the National Maritime Museum which contains models of ship decks and cabins for children to play in. Until summer 2025, there is a new visitor route at the National Maritime Museum as there are essential improvements to the Museum’s roof. Most galleries will still be open as normal, and special exhibitions are currently free for all visitors. However, the Great Map and AHOY! will be closed for the duration of the works. 

( Image credit::Cristian Bortes from Cluj-Napoca, Romania, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

  • JOURNEY ACROSS THE GREAT MAP

There is a giant atlas at the centre of the National Maritime Museum  from which you can explore the world and  the collection in the museum. Find five famous ships; RRS Sir David Attenborough (It is a Antarctica and the Arctic next-generation marine science platform for UK research ) ;Encounter Bay (Once the world’s largest container ship was launched 50 years ago ); HMS Kildangan (It was operated by the Royal Navy during World War I, to confuse German submarines it was double-ended and painted in “dazzle” camouflage in order); Empire Windrush (It brought some of the first post-war migrants to Britain from the Caribbean.); Arctic Sunrise (the Arctic Sunrise has been used by environmental organisation Greenpeace  as an icebreaker  since 1995)

  • ALL HANDS CHILDREN’S GALLERY

Fire a cannon, shoot down a dastardly pirate ship and explore life at sea in this brilliant interactive gallery for children aged 6-12. Children can fire a cannon and shoot down a dastardly pirate ship in an interactive game and also can load cargo in the port and explore our ship Seahorse.

  • TURNER’S BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR GALLERY

         (Image credit: GetArchive | License details)
William Turner's painting: The Battle of Trafalgar

Joseph William Turner born in Covent Garden, London was an English painter who is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes, and often violent marine paintings. It is the largest of his painting and the only royal commissioned one.

He completed a series of sketches of HMS Victory in 1805, borrowed a ship plan from the Admiralty and made two compositional oil sketches.

This painting portraits several incidents from the battle. The falling mast may be an allusion to the dying Nelson. In the foreground you can see an effort to save the fellow and enemy crew from the bloodied sea by the British seamen.

  • CAPTAIN JAMES COOK

   ( Image credit: PICRYL | License details)
Captain James Cook, 1728-79

In the Sackler Gallery: Pacific Encounters you can discover his storyand the legacy of his actions. Captain James Cook is one of history’s best known and most controversial explorers who had a humble beginning and become a national hero. You can read all about his life from charting the coasts of New Zealand and Australia to his fatal death in Hawaii.

Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) is a famous for his three voyages in the Pacific Ocean and to New Zealand and Australia between 1768 and 1779.In these voyages, Mr.Cook managed to sail thousands of miles across largely uncharted areas of the globe and managed to map lands from New Zealand to Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean in greater detail. He surveyed and named and recorded islands and coastlines on European maps.

Cook encountered the Hawaiian Islands in 1779, during his third voyage in the Pacific. During a dispute, he tried to take chief of the island of Hawaiithe as hostage, but he got killed in that attempt. Though he left a legacy of scientific and geographical knowledge, he remains controversial as an enabler of British colonialism.

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