Stockwin's Maritime Miscellany

by Julian Stockwin

  HOLLAND

  The National Maritime Museum

  Kattenburgerplein 1

  Amsterdam

  The National Maritime Museum has a superb collection telling the story of the maritime heritage of the Netherlands. However, the museum is currently closed for a major renovation of the 300-year-old building which houses the exhibits. The Amsterdam, a replica of an eighteenth-century Dutch Indiaman that was moored outside the museum, is still open to the public but has been moved until the refurbishment of the museum is complete.

  Amsterdam – temporary site:

  Science center NEMO

  Oosterdok 2

  1011 VX Amsterdam

  Open: Tuesday to Sunday, plus Monday during school holidays and peak season. Closed on public holidays

  http://www.scheepvaartmuseum.nl/english

  HONG KONG

  The Hong Kong Maritime Museum

  G/F Murray House

  Stanley Plaza

  Telephone: +852 2813 2322

  Open: daily except Mondays and Chinese New Year

  One of Asia’s newest institutional celebrations of the history and culture of the sea, the Hong Kong Maritime Museum was opened in 2005. The focus of the museum is how China, Asia and the West have interacted in the development of boats, ships, maritime exploration and trade, and naval warfare. The exhibits are displayed in two main areas – the Ancient Gallery and the Modern Gallery, with ship models, paintings, ceramics, trade goods and ship manifests. A model of a 2,000-year-old boat made of pottery from the Han Dynasty is one of the many priceless treasures on display.

  www.hkmaritimemuseum.org

  ITALY

  Museo Storico Navale

  Castello, 2148

  30100

  Venice

  Telephone: 0415200276

  Open: Monday to Saturday

  At the height of Venice’s naval power in the fifteenth century, the Arsenale, the focus of the republic’s military operations, occupied one-fifth of the area of the city and employed over 16,000 workers who turned out vessel after vessel, both for commercial and military use, in massive assembly lines. The Museo Storico Navale, situated close to the Arsenale, is a vast museum devoted to the maritime achievements of the Venetian republic and story of the Italian navy. The highlight of the model ships exhibition is a lavish model of the Bucintoro, the golden ceremonial barge of the ruler of Venice, the doge. The museum’s art treasures include a sixteenth-century frieze that depicts Venice’s famous victory against the Ottoman empire at the Battle of Lepanto in 1572.

  http://www2.regione.veneto.it/cultura/musei/inglese/pag462e.htm

  MALTA

  The Maritime Museum of Malta

  Vittoriosa

  Grand Harbour

  Telephone: +356 2295 4000, 2295 4300

  Open: daily except major public holidays

  Housed in the former British Naval Bakery, the museum was built over the site of the slipway where the Knights of St John, who ruled Malta for nearly three centuries, launched their galleys. The bakery remained part of the naval establishment up until the closure of the British base in 1979. The museum celebrates the island’s rich maritime history and the broader Mediterranean maritime context. A prized exhibit is a model of the French ship of the line Bucentaure, made by captive French sailors during the Napoleonic wars. Maltese sea crafts are well represented, as are uniforms, weapons and artefacts from the Royal Navy’s days in Malta.

  http://www.visitmalta.com/the-maritime-museum

  PORTUGAL

  Museu de Marinha

  Praça do Império

  1400-206

  Lisbon

  Telephone: +351 – 21 – 362 00 10

  Open: daily except Monday. Closed on national holidays

  The treasures of the museum are displayed in themed rooms. In the entrance hall is a planisphere that celebrates the boldness and daring of the Portuguese explorers of the fifteenth century. The museum has a very fine collection of astrolabes. One poignant artefact in the museum is a figure of the archangel Raphael, which Paulo da Gama carried in his ship Sao Rafael in the famous voyage of 1497. When his ship was wrecked he managed to save the archangel, but he died shortly afterwards. After that his brother Vasco da Gama kept the figure always by his side.

  http://www.museumarinha.pt/museu/ENG/Homepage/index.aspx

  SPAIN

  Maritime Museum of Barcelona

  Av. de les Drassanes s/n

  08001 Barcelona

  Telephone: 933 429 920

  Open: daily except major public holidays

  Fittingly sited opposite a statue of Christopher Columbus, the Maritime Museum of Barcelona is located in the royal arsenals that date from the fourteenth century and are the most complete medieval dockyards in the world. The museum celebrates not just Spain’s extensive seafaring heritage but that of the Mediterranean as a whole. Of note is ‘The Great Adventure of the Sea’, an interactive exhibition that is a homage to Catalonia’s maritime history. There is also a unique collection of votive paintings by sailors, and a wide range of models, figureheads and maritime paintings.

  www.mmb.cat

  SWEDEN

  Vasa Museum

  Galärvarvsvägen 14

  Stockholm

  Telephone: +46-8-519 558 10

  Open: daily, closed over Christmas

  Vasa, the only remaining intact seventeenth-century ship in the world, was rediscovered on the seabed of Stockholm harbour in 1956 in a remarkable state of preservation. Excavation work went on until 1967 and she was put on public view in a specially constructed building in 1990. Visitors to the Vasa Museum are almost overwhelmed by their first sight of the ship, over 50 m long, illuminated in the soft light of the vast purpose-built ship’s hall. The lower rig has been rebuilt complete with masts, stays and shrouds, just as the ship would have looked when set for winter in harbour. A superb 1:10 scale model recreates the glorious colours of her original livery and ornamentation.

  http://www.vasamuseet.se/InEnglish/about.aspx

  UNITED KINGDOM

  National Maritime Museum of Great Britain

  Romney Road

  Greenwich

  London SE10 9NF

  Telephone: +44 (0)20 8312 6565

  Opening hours: daily, closed over Christmas

  Three sites – the Maritime Galleries (covering the sixteenth to the early twentieth centuries), the Royal Observatory and the Queen’s House (showcasing a priceless art collection) – together constitute one museum dedicated to the sea, ships, time and the stars and their relationship with people. Among the most moving exhibits is the actual coat worn by Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar, the bullet hole from the musket-ball which killed him clearly visible on the left shoulder. The National Maritime Museum is arguably the world’s greatest maritime collection of paintings, prints, models, relics, manuscripts, instruments, weapons and charts.

  http://www.nmm.ac.uk/

  Chatham Historic Dockyard

  Chatham

  Kent ME4 4TZ

  Telephone: +44 (0)1634 823807

  Open: daily. Restricted hours or closed in November, December and January

  The complex is set in 32 hectares. Down the centuries the great names of maritime history, Francis Drake, John Hawkins, Horatio Nelson and many others, have all sailed from here. This was the birthplace of many of the navy’s most celebrated ships, including HMS Victory. One fascinating exhibition is ‘Wooden Walls’ which follows William Crockwell, an apprentice shipwright, on his first day at work on the 74-gun ship of the line HMS Valiant. He is introduced to many of the different trades involved in building the ship. The Ropery, with its 400-m long Double Ropehouse, is the only working traditional rope-walk from the age of sail to survive anywhere in the world. Chatham closed as a working dockyard in 1984 and was redeveloped as a historic dockyard celebrating four centuries of naval history. It is the most complete dockyard of the age of sail in existence.

  http://www.chdt.org.uk/

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nbsp; Buckler’s Hard

  Beaulieu

  Brockenhurst

  Hampshire SO42 7XB

  Telephone: 01590 616203

  Open: daily except Christmas Day

  A hard is a place where boats and ships are landed, the muddy bottom being covered with gravel or shingle. Buckler’s Hard developed as a thriving shipbuilding village where warships for Nelson’s navy were built, three of which took part in the Battle of Trafalgar. Nelson’s favourite HMS Agamemnon was built at Buckler’s Hard and launched in 1781. As well as fascinating information on how wooden ships were built and many superb ship models the museum has a fine collection of Nelson memorabilia including his baby clothes made for him by citizens of his birthplace, Burnham Thorpe in Norfolk.

  http://www.bucklershard.co.uk/ipus/bucklershard/index

  Portsmouth Historic Dockyard

  HM Naval Base

  Portsmouth

  Hampshire PO1 3LJ

  Telephone: 023 9286 1512

  Opening hours: daily, closed over Christmas

  Unique in its combination of historic site, naval museum and famous ships (Mary Rose, HMS Victory and HMS Warrior), the dockyard draws huge crowds of visitors each year. Its origins go back to the twelfth century when Richard I ordered the construction of a dockyard in Portsmouth. The Royal Naval Museum has a very fine Sailing Navy Gallery, housed in a restored eighteenth-century storehouse. To go on board Victory and peep into Nelson’s cabin, then to go and see the spot where he died on the orlop is to experience a moving connection with history.

  http://www.historicdockyard.co.uk/

  Cutty Sark

  King William Walk

  Greenwich

  London SE10 9HT

  Telephone: 020 8858 2698

  Now in permanent berth in dry dock, this famed vessel has attracted over 15 million visitors. With her shapely hull, steeply raked bow and wondrous spread of sail, the clipper was arguably the most beautiful ship ever built. Cutty Sark travelled across the world sailing under both the Red Ensign and the Portuguese flag, visiting every major port through the course of her working life. She is the world’s sole surviving extreme clipper and the only tea clipper still in existence. There are some facilities at the site for viewing the conservation work through a special observation dome.

  www.cuttysark.org.uk

  HMS Trincomalee

  Hartlepool’s Maritime Experience

  Jackson Dock

  Maritime Avenue

  Hartlepool TS24 0XZ

  Telephone: 01429 860077

  Open: daily, closed over Christmas

  Located within the Hartlepool Maritime Experience complex, this venerable historic ship is the oldest British fighting ship still afloat. She was built in Bombay in 1817 as a frigate, a fifth-rate ship of 46 guns. Later she was reduced to a sixth-rate and served all over the world from the Pacific to the Arctic Circle. In 1898 she was renamed Foudroyant and served as a training ship. Now she is fully restored with her original name.

  http://www.hms-trincomalee.co.uk/

  Docklands Museum

  West India Quay

  Canary Wharf

  London E14 4AL

  Telephone: 020 7001 9844

  Open: daily, closed over Christmas

  Housed in a Georgian warehouse that once stored imports of exotic spices, rum and cotton from all over the world, this museum explores the 2,000-year-old history of London’s river and port – and the people who lived and worked there. During the eighteenth century there was a great increase in international trade, and by 1800 the number of ships entering the port had increased 400 per cent. One of the focuses of the museum’s permanent exhibitions is the development of London’s port and docks to cater to this rapid expansion.

  http://www.museumindocklands.org.uk/English/

  Golden Hinde

  St Mary Overie Dock

  Cathedral St

  London SE1 9DE

  Telephone: 020 7403 0123

  Open: daily, but in case of closure for functions it is advisable to check before visiting

  This is a full-sized reconstruction of the famous Tudor warship in which Sir Francis Drake circumnavigated the world in 1577–80. Queen Elizabeth I visited the galleon on Drake’s return and decreed that the ship should be preserved at Deptford so that the general public could visit the ship and celebrate England’s success. The original Golden Hinde therefore became Britain’s first museum ship! This replica ship, now permanently berthed in London, has herself circumnavigated the globe.

  http://www.goldenhinde.com/

  Merseyside Maritime Museum

  Albert Dock

  Liverpool L3 4AQ

  Telephone: 0151 478 4499

  Opening hours: daily, closed over Christmas

  Located in an old warehouse in Albert Dock, the museum celebrates the city’s long-held seafaring traditions and particularly the importance of the merchant navy. The museum’s exhibits reflect the city’s role in the transatlantic slave trade and emigration. One of the jewels of the museum is its collection of ships in bottles made by Jo Dashwood-Howard. Among the fine collection of ship models are 39 miniature ships made by French prisoners of war during the Napoleonic wars.

  http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/maritime/

  UNITED STATES

  Nantucket Whaling Museum

  15 Broad Street

  Nantucket

  Massachusetts

  Telephone: 508 2281894

  Open: check website for current details

  Many people today look on whaling with revulsion, but in the past it was generally seen as a brave, romantic – and lucrative – enterprise. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries Yankee whaling ships sailed the oceans of the world for years at a time, returning with oil for the lamps of America and Europe. The Nantucket Whaling Museum houses a fascinating record of the heyday of whaling, including ships’ logs, a huge finback whale skeleton and scrimshaw.

  http://www.nha.org/sites/index.html

  The Museum of America and the Sea

  Mystic Seaport

  Connecticut

  Telephone: 860 572 5315

  Open: daily. Closed Mondays in the winter months and over Christmas

  Located on the banks of the Mystic River, an area with centuries-old maritime traditions, this foremost living history museum features a re-created nineteenth-century seafaring village, an impressive collection of sailing ships and boats (including the Charles W. Morgan, the world’s last wooden whaleship) and a preservation shipyard where craftsmen keep alive old skills with the use of traditional methods and tools. As well, over the 15-hectare site, there are many formal exhibits and galleries plus a planetarium that demonstrates how seamen used the stars for navigation.

  http://www.mysticseaport.org/

  The Mariners’ Museum

  Newport News

  Virginia

  Telephone: (757) 596-2222

  Open: daily, closed over Christmas

  Over 5,600 square metres of gallery space showcase all manner of splendid sea artefacts. The collection of 1,200 nautical navigation instruments includes such treasures as a mid-seventeenth-century silver astrolabe and a marine barometer thought to have been on Cook’s voyages. Among the other permanent exhibitions is ‘The Age of Exploration’, which chronicles the developments in shipbuilding, ocean navigation and cartography that made possible the voyages of the period between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries. A perennial favourite is the ship model collection of August F. Crabtree.

  http://www.mariner.org/index.php?oatsad=29

  USS Constitution

  Building 5, Charlestown Navy Yard

  Charlestown

  Massachusetts

  Telephone: (617) 242 – 5670

  Open: see website for current details

  Affectionately known as ‘Old Ironsides’, she’s the oldest warship afloat still in commission and America’s ‘Ship of State’. The vessel was launched on 21 October 1797 from a shipyard a stone�
��s throw from her current berth just across the Charles River from Boston. USS Constitution was one of six frigates built to form the genesis of the US Navy. In the War of 1812 in an encounter with HMS Guerriere a cannonball bounced off her thick hull, at which a sailor reportedly shouted, ‘Huzzah! Her sides are made of iron!’ She is still crewed, maintained and sailed by the US Navy.

  http://www.history.navy.mil/USSconstitution/index.html

  Maritime Museum of San Diego

  1492 North Harbor Drive

  San Diego

  California

  Telephone: 619-234-9153

  Open: daily

  This maritime museum features one of the finest collections of historic ships in the world including the world’s oldest active ship, Star of India. An 1863 barque, she now sails at least once a year. You can also see HMS Surprise, the replica of an eighteenth-century Royal Navy frigate that featured in the film Master and Commander. The museum’s permanent collection is presented in five galleries representing major themes of maritime history.

  http://www.sdmaritime.com/

  Sail opens up the world Square-rigged ships make heroic open-ocean voyages practical

  1405

  China’s great exploration fleet sets sail

  1492

  Columbus reaches America

  1519

  Magellan captains the first voyage around the world

  1545

  Henry VIII sees Mary Rose, the first broadside-equipped warship, sink before his eyes

  1588

  Francis Drake and others defeat the Spanish Armada

  Race for Empire Nations clash as they discover and colonise the world

  1600s

  Dutch, French and English vie for empire

  1650s–1750s

  dark age of pirates

  1696

  work begins on the first open-sea lighthouse, at Eddystone Rock

  1700s

  science and seamanship flourish: reliable charts, sextant, chronometer