Collection: National Museum of the Royal Navy

Collection-level records:

• Collection history (Collection development policy)

  The basis of the collection of the National Museum of the Royal Navy is formed from the legacy collections of National Museum’s founder Museums and historic ship trusts including: Royal Naval Museum, Royal Marines Museum, Royal Navy Submarine Museum, Explosion Museum of Naval Firepower, Fleet Air Arm Museum, HMS Warrior Preservation Trust and HMS Trincomalee Trust. Histories for each of these are as follows:

  Royal Naval Museum

  The origins of these collections are in the Dockyard Museum (established in 1911) and the Victory Museum (established in 1938). These collections were amalgamated at the creation of the Royal Naval Museum in 1972 and were developed significantly by bequest, gift, purchase, transfer or loan with items relating to the history of the Royal Navy, and its people, throughout the area of its worldwide operations. The Royal Naval Museum Trust was established in February 2010 as a linked charity of the National Museum of the Royal Navy, its sole corporate trustee. The Royal Naval Museum Portsmouth is now fully integrated within the National Museum of the Royal Navy. On 30 November 2016, the operational activities of the museum transferred to a newly incorporated charitable entity, NMRN Operations, a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Museum of the Royal Navy.

  Royal Marines Museum

  The collections were based on artefacts from the Corps messes at Chatham, Portsmouth (Eastney) and Plymouth. These barracks took in historical objects throughout their lives, with particular weight given to medals and uniforms. These were expanded following the formation of the Museum in 1958. The Royal Marines Museum Trust was established in June 1969. On 22 March 2018, the National Museum of the Royal Navy was appointed as its sole corporate Trustee and the Trust is now fully integrated into the National Museum.

  Royal Navy Submarine Museum

  The Royal Navy Submarine Museum was created at HMS Dolphin in 1963, was formally recognised by the Ministry of Defence in 1967, and became a charity in 1970. In 1978 the Museum moved out of the naval establishment, providing full access to members of the public for the first time. The collection centres around three historic boats (Holland 1, X24 and HMS Alliance), and was then expanded to cover all aspects of the history of Royal Navy submarines. The Royal Naval Submarine Trust was established in August 2016, with the National Museum of the Royal Navy as its sole corporate Trustee.

  Fleet Air Arm Museum

  The Fleet Air Arm Museum was established on 28 May 1964 and the Fleet Air Arm Museum Charitable Trust was subsequently established in June 1966. The Fleet Air Arm collection developed to cover the history of the Royal Naval Air Service and Fleet Air Arm from inception to the present day. On 26 January 2017, the National Museum of the Royal Navy was appointed as its sole corporate Trustee.

  Explosion The Museum of Naval Firepower

  The museum opened as the Museum of Naval Ordnance on 10 December 1971. The collection was made up of those gathered together from Old Gunwharf, Portsmouth and Upnor Castle adding them to loans from other National Museums such as Greenwich. On 30 April 2001 it was transformed into a trust and opened as Explosion The Museum of Naval Firepower before transferring to Gosport Borough Council the following year. Ownership again changed to the Portsmouth Naval Base Property Trust in 2009 and then to the National Museum of the Royal Navy in April 2013.

  HMS Warrior Preservation Trust

  The Warrior Preservation Trust Limited (the company) was established on 9 July 1968.

  The Maritime Trust obtained the hulk of HMS WARRIOR 1860 from the MoD in 1979 for the sum of £1. The ship was restored in Hartlepool from 1979-1987. Ownership was transferred in 1983 to the Ships Preservation Trust (which was subsumed into the Warrior Preservation Trust in 1985). From 1987 the shares of the Warrior Preservation Trust were owned by the Manifold Trust. The share-holding passed to the Directors of the Warrior Preservation Trust in 2010.

  Since 1987, the ship has been on display to the public in Portsmouth Naval Base as part of the historic dockyard.

  On 1 July 2017, the Warrior Preservation Trust Limited transferred all of its operational activities to NMRN Operations, a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Museum of the Royal Navy. A small collection of material was created to support the history, understanding and display of the ship, as well as document her restoration. The collection was reviewed and rationalised at this time to remove duplication and display collections, and assure the establishment of a core collection of material reflecting HMS Warrior’s history and restoration which was digitised and made available for public use.

  HMS Trincomalee Trust

  HMS Trincomalee was renamed HMS Foudroyant in the early 1900s. However, when The HMS Trincomalee Trust was formed in January 1992, she reverted to her original name. The ship was restored in Hartlepool shortly after HMS Warrior had left and opened to visitors by the Trust as a museum ship in 2000. In June 2014 HMS Trincomalee Trust became a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Museum of the Royal Navy. In June 2016 the Museum took responsibility for HMS Trincomalee and the site previously known as Hartlepool Historic Quay where she is docked, along with a small collection of objects and a large archive pertaining to the ship’s restoration (the archive being on deposit at Teesside University’s Library and Archive facility).

  HMS Caroline

  HMS Caroline acted as a Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve ship for many years after the Second World War. She was formally decommissioned in 2011. HMS Caroline Preservation Trust was established in November 2012 as a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Museum of the Royal Navy which is the sole corporate member of the company. The charity is the sole corporate Trustee of the HMS Caroline Preservation Trust. The Ship, the collection and the endowment for the future of HMS Caroline are held under the objects of this Trust. All operational activity is undertaken under an operator agreement with the charitable entity, NMRN Operations also a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Museum, to enable both the maintenance of the Ship and its present it as a visitor attraction to the public as part of its charitable activities. Material to support her restoration, history and display have since been collected directly into the Museum.

  HMS Victory

  HMS Victory Preservation Company was established in February 2012 as a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Museum of the Royal Navy which is the sole corporate member of the company. On 29 March 2012, the ownership of HMS Victory transferred to the HMS Victory Preservation Trust, an unincorporated registered charitable trust of the company. An agreement was signed which allows the use of the Ship by the Royal Navy for the foreseeable future. HMS Victory thus remains a commissioned warship and the Royal Navy’s Flagship.

  National Museum of the Royal Navy

  Since 2016 the collection has been seen as one single national collection held by the Museum and is the single collecting body.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: Not known

  Licence: CC BY-NC

• Collection overview (Collection development policy)

  The collection covers items of significance and scale, such as ships, boats and aircraft and airframes and both display and reserve material comprising books, documentary archives, photographs, film and sound material, artefacts (such as textiles, models, medals, operational and personal equipment and weapons), artwork (including paintings, print and sculpture) and, most recently, maritime archaeology. Broad areas of the collection are set out as follows:

  Ships

  There are 10 historic ships managed by the National Museum of the Royal Navy that are of international significance and are recognised by National Historic Ships as part of the National Historic Fleet (NHF):

  • HMS Victory (1765) – world’s only surviving first rate ship-of-the-line
  • HMS Trincomalee (1817) – fifth rate frigate
  • HMS Warrior (1860) – ironclad steam frigate
  • Holland 1 (1901) – Royal Navy’s first submarine
  • Steam Pinnace 199 (1911) – pinnace
  • HMS Caroline (1914) – light cruiser
  • HMS M.33 (1915) – monitor
  • H21 (1918) – sea-plane lighter
  • LCT 7074 (1944) – landing craft
  • HMS Alliance (1945) – submarine

  There are also 4 historic ships, recognised as part of the National Register of Historic Ships:

  • MTB 71 (1940) – motor torpedo boat
  • CMB 331 (1941) – coastal motorboat (Registered as MTB 331)
  • RML 497 (1941 – Fairmile B Rescue Motor Launch)
  • X24 (1943) – midget submarine

  There are other historic boats held by NMRN. These are all too small or too recently built to be recognised by the National Register of Historic Ships:

  • King Charles II’s state barge (c.1660) – used at Vice-Admiral Lord Nelson’s funeral
  • Maiale (1943) – human torpedo
  • Biber 105 (1944) – human torpedo
  • X51 (1954) – midget submarine
  • LCVP F7 (1965) – landing craft
  • Rigid Raider Craft Mk1 – Royal Marine patrol boat

  Our collection also includes canoes, cockle boats and folboats (folding kayaks). These ships and boats are often accompanied by significant collections of historic artefacts and archives as well as the records of their conservation and restoration.

  The nature of the care and maintenance of historic ships and boats means that material such as timbers, or parts of timbers, are occasionally needed to be removed following a heritage impact assessment (HIA). More details around the management of these ‘arisings’.

  Aircraft

  The aircraft and airframe collection is a key component of the NMRN collection and is regarded as a collection of national importance. Comprising over 100 complete or incomplete airframes, there are 18 that would be regarded as unique or highly significant.

  Other material included in this area are over 80 aircraft engines and over 10,000 items of aircraft parts and equipment, maintenance tools and specialist equipment.

  The collection is particularly strong in aircraft from the 1940s to the 1960s, but has a good representation of the entire history of the Royal Naval Air Service and Fleet Air Arm. While there are specific gaps in aircraft type (demonstrated by the existence of the Barracuda Project) the collection of new aircraft is a low priority with airframes only being considered if an element of uniqueness through provenance and story can be identified.

  Archives

  The archive collections consist mainly of documentary and photographic archival material with a smaller collection of film and sound material.

  Documentary archive

  The documentary archive contains various types of material including but not limited to: diaries, letters, log books, certificates, line books, maps, reports, flying logs, technical drawings and plans, posters, reports, broadsides, etc.

  This part of the collection has mainly been created through personal donations with some purchases. It covers all aspects of the history of the Royal Navy, but is particularly strong in the 19^th and early part of the 20^th century. Topics include but are not limited to: sailing navy, personal accounts, Fleet Air Arm, Falklands Conflict, World Wars, Interwar period, Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRNS), Naval Communications Branch, armaments, personnel papers including Enlistment and Attestation papers, Muster Lists and Rating records. The recent acquisition of the 10 Armada Maps has been a significant addition to the documentary’s beginning to strengthening the material available on the early navy.

  Official documentation and reports from the Royal Navy are on occasion collected through the DBS Records Reviewers when it is not required by The National Archives. The Fleet Air Arm Museum is also an appointed Place of Deposit by The National Archive to hold ADM 335: a collection of papers known as The State of The Art, drawn together by the Admiralty. Place of Deposit is to be extended across the NMRN in the near future so the Priddy’s Hard collection currently held at the Hampshire Record Office can be transferred.

  Corporate archive material is accepted into the documentary archive as appropriate. In particular, archives around the management and preservation of our historic ships are prioritised in order to better inform future preservation activities. Other material is accepted in order to create a representative picture of the history and identity of the organisation.

  Photographic archive

  The photographic collections at the National Museum of the Royal Navy are extensive, including over 2,000,000 individual images. These range in format from early Victorian daguerreotypes and ambrotypes to recent digital prints, though the majority of the collection is photographic prints and negatives (film and glass plate). The vast bulk of the collection covers the 20^th century, including large photographic album collections for this period. Like the documentary archive much of these collections have been compiled from personal donation but some large collections of official Naval photography and from named photographers, such as Wright & Logan, Bruce-Leslie, etc., exist. In particular, RN ships’ portraits are comprehensive.

  Film and sound archive

  The film and sound archive contains a broad range of material types, including a significant collection of around 400 oral history recordings. This part of the collection has a particularly strong focus on the Second World War period of the Surface Navy, and the Royal Marines from 1990 to 2010. Some key areas covered include, the WRNS, the Battle of the Atlantic, the Gulf War and Afghanistan. Other parts of the sound collection include recordings of the Royal Marines and other Naval bands. Various formats for the sound collection exist including reel to reel, cassette, vinyl, mini disc, CD, mp3, etc.

  The film collection is located separately with part of it being held at the Wessex Film and Sound Archive, and the rest being stored at the Fleet Air Arm Museum. It contains various format types including reel to reel and VHS, and covers many topics including personal footage from service, newsreel footage, and training videos made by the Royal Navy among other things.

  Art

  The Art collections across the NMRN cover a wide variety of styles and techniques. We hold around 4,500 paintings, drawings and prints, which cover the late 17^th century through to the present day. The variety of the subject matter is extensive including, portraiture of people as well as ships, submarines or aircraft, caricatures, detailed uniform studies, depictions of naval actions, operations or places visited by naval personnel.

  In 2017 the Museum took ownership of a significant proportion of the former Ministry of Defence Art Collection (MODAC) comprising nearly 700 pieces of predominately fine art and sculpture items but also examples of tableware and furniture. Much of this material is presently on loan, but this situation is expected to change over time.

  Artefacts

  The artefact collections contain a diverse and wide range of material, which includes ships’ fittings, operational equipment and uniform items together with personal items used, made or acquired by naval personnel during their service. In addition, we have material commemorating naval events or people. Greater emphasis is given to the acquisition of items that have provenance to identified personnel, ships, boats, aircraft or events rather than on the collection of typographical items with no known association. Significant collections types include:

  Medals

  This is one of the largest and most comprehensive collections of Royal Navy medals in the world, with over 15,000 individual pieces, and includes examples of almost every type of medal awarded to members of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines. There is a high proportion of gallantry awards and a significant variety of foreign awards to members of the Royal Navy. Included in the collection are a number of early, privately minted examples, such as Boulton’s Nile and Trafalgar medals, pre-dating the first medals officially produced by the Royal Navy.

  Models

  There is an extensive collection of over 750 individual ship models, which includes surface ships, landing craft and submarines. We also hold models of aircraft, instructional models of weapons and missile systems as well as dioramas of naval operations. The models are of various different types, ranging from high quality builders’ models to entirely bespoke home-made examples.

  Ships’ fittings and decorations

  The NMRN has a nationally important collection of 87 figureheads ranging between the 18^th and early 20^th centuries. Significant examples include those from HMS Victory and HMS Trincomalee, unusual in having belonged to surviving ships, both of which are part of the NMRN collection themselves. Other figureheads of note include two which were carved in India for Royal Navy ships built at the Honourable East India Company’s yard.

  NMRN also has a substantial collection of over 5,000 nameboards, crests, honours’ boards, tompions, treadplates, plaques, and bells primarily from post-1900 ships, submarines and naval air stations.

  The collection also contains some examples of furniture carried on ships and boats, or souvenir items carved from reclaimed ships’ timber.

  Textile and clothing

  The NMRN has extensive uniform collection numbering over 15,000 items including some that are considered of national significance. Key items include rare examples of eighteenth- century uniform, such as a bearskin mitre cap from the American War of Independence era or the Royal Marines coat dating from around 1800 recently purchased from the Kochan collection. The collections are strongest in post-Second World War period, with many Sealed Patterns acquired from the Defence Clothing and Textile Agency (DCTA) including examples of working dress, formal dress uniforms and a comprehensive collection of headwear and badges across all branches of the Royal Navy.

  In addition, we hold examples of clothing that are not formerly recorded as uniform but have become perceived in this way over time for example, the Pirate Rig worn by submariners when at sea.

  We also collect examples of non-naval clothing when there has a strong link to the Royal Navy. Examples include sport caps, the nightdress made of a naval ensign or the ballet shoes belonging to HMS Tiptoe.

  The museum has a good collection of flags representing all aspects of the Royal Navy dating predominately from the twentieth century. Among the collection are official flags, including ensigns flown by ships during battles, commissioning and decommissioning pennants, Royal Marine Colours as well as flags captured from enemy forces during battle including examples from the Seven Years War, China Wars, First and Second World Wars. We also collect unofficial flags and have a significant collection of Jolly Rogers.

  Personal, mess and commemorative items

  We hold substantial collections of personal items, predominately dating from the 20^th century period. These collections encompass a wide variety of items from ditty boxes to items of jewellery such as the Rolex watch purchased by a Prisoner of War. They also feature good examples of craft, embroidery and artwork produced by sailors as well as examples of items exchanged between sailors and their families.

  We have significant collections of former mess property, including presentation and commemorative pieces, mess silver and tableware, dating from the 18^th century. In addition, we also hold more unusual items relating to communal ships’ activities such as items relating to crossing the line ceremonies or stuffed ships’ pets.

  The museum collections also contain many examples of items collected by naval personnel during their service from around the world. Many have been gifted, bought or traded but the museum recognises that some of these items, such as the Edo altar tusk from the Benin expedition of 1897, and a set of Chinese vases from the Yuanmingyuan, or Imperial Chinese Palace, burned and looted in 1860 were stolen from their indigenous communities. Other items have poor provenance and currently little is known about their acquisition. In these instances, more work is required to work with representatives from the descendant community groups to improve our understanding, cataloguing and interpretation of our holdings and, in some cases, this may result in the repatriation or restitution of material to the source communities.

  Operational equipment

  This large category reflects the broad range of occupations undertaken by naval personnel over centuries.

  One of the most substantial collections of material relates to radio, communications and navigational equipment used by the navy during the twentieth century and collected by HMS Collingwood. In addition, we have good collections of optical equipment including periscopes, telescopes and binoculars as well as optical testing equipment.

  We have a significant collection of musical instruments primarily relating to the Royal Marine Band Service. Notable examples include instruments that were damaged during the IRA bombing of Deal Barracks and the Battle of Jutland.

  The work of the Coastal Forces branch, is strongly represented reflecting the history of the branch from its inception in the First World War to 1957. Other branches or trades are less comprehensively represented but we hold examples of equipment used by divers, medical services as well as survival and Safety Equipment. In addition, we have collected a variety of hand tools from shipwright tools and aircraft engineering equipment, to issued tools, such as entrenching tools, and tools for working on weaponry and armaments.

  Human remains

  The Museum collection includes a very small number of items recognised as human remains under the terms of the Human Tissue Act 2004. Our existing holdings are all over 100 years old and it is not our intention to actively collect further in this area.

  Library

  The NMRN library covers all aspects of the history of the Royal Navy including specialist collections covering the Royal Marines, Royal Naval Air Service, Fleet Air Arm, Submarines and naval communications. It contains material covering the 16^th-21^st centuries and is approximately 25,000 items.

  The collection is particularly strong in the following areas:

  • Biographical material
  • Operational history
  • Technology, with an exceptional focus on radio and radar
  • Naval and Royal Marines regulations

  It holds a number of specialist periodicals including Navy Lists from 1797 and Admiralty Fleet Orders. As well as a number of rare books and privately published works. From an initial identification of only 22 rare items; this collection has more than doubled at the Portsmouth site following a dedicated review of the Royal Marines Library. The following examples are globally rare, with no other surviving copies being traced during the relocation:

  • The Guns of HMS Warrior 1861 – 1864 by Ernest F Slaymaker
  • Hints to Young Marine Officers on their Duties Afloat / By Lieutenant J. Urquhart. – [s.l.] : James Burrill, 1842.
  • Memorandum on the Power of Russia to operate against Northern Afghanistan: Prepared in the Intelligence Branch; with a note on the military and political situation on the Hindu Kush Frontier and a brief strategical report on the Eastern Hindu Kush / By Captain J A Douglas, DAQMG Quarter Master generals Department. – [s.l.] : Government Printing Office, 1899

  Core elements of the catalogue are available to the public online through the NMRN Collections portal and through JISC Library Hub.

  Maritime archaeology

  The National Museum of the Royal Navy has a nationally significant and expanding collection of maritime archaeological material.

  All acquisitions of archaeological material recovered from Royal Navy ships are subject to the approval of the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and The Receiver of Wrecks and the National Museum of the Royal Navy liaises closely with both parties to ensure the preservation of significant maritime archaeological items. On occasion we are offered material after it has been seized following illegal recovery, such as with the bell from HMS Prince of Wales.

  In exceptional circumstances the MOD will grant permission for the recovery items from a Royal Navy wreck site. In these cases, we often work with other partners to recover the items which are then presented to the museum. Significant recent examples include a project working with National Grid and Wessex Archaeology to recover sections of a Barracuda lost in the Solent. We have also acquired over 8,000 items recovered from wreck of HMS Invincible which sank in 1758.

  Weapons

  The museum has a nationally significant collection of firearms and edged weapons, many of which were recently acquired from the collection of Sim Comfort. The collection includes some rare and well provenanced items including Captain Broke’s fighting sword which he used when he and the crew of HMS Shannon boarded and took USS Chesapeake.

  We also have a comprehensive collection of naval guns, larger weapons, specialist weapons, as well as a substantial collection of torpedoes and missiles, depth charges including numerous parts of weapons, shell cases, fuses and primers. The main focus is from the 18th century to the Second World War with some examples from the Falklands conflict and the Gulf War.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date:

  Licence: CC BY-NC