The National Maritime Museum (NMM) is a museum located in Greenwich, London. It is part of a group called Royal Museums Greenwich, which includes several museums in the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site. Like other museums in the United Kingdom that are supported by the government, the National Maritime Museum does not charge an entrance fee. However, most temporary exhibits in side galleries require an admission fee, and these exhibits often include items that are borrowed from other museums.

Creation and official opening

The museum was established by the National Maritime Museum Act of 1934 under the guidance of a Board of Trustees, who were chosen by HM Treasury. It was made possible through the generous donations of Sir James Caird (1864–1954). King George VI officially opened the museum on April 27, 1937. His daughter, Princess Elizabeth, joined him during the boat trip along the Thames from London. The first director of the museum was Sir Geoffrey Callender.

Collection

Greenwich has been connected to the sea and navigation since ancient times. It was a place where ships landed during the Roman era. Henry VIII lived in Greenwich, and the Royal Navy began on the waterfront. In 1675, Charles II created the Royal Observatory to help find the longitude of places. Since 1884, Greenwich has been the home of Greenwich Mean Time and the Prime Meridian. It has been a center for studying the stars and the movement of the heavens. Navigators worldwide have used Greenwich’s time to set their clocks.

The museum holds the most important collection in the world about Britain’s history at sea. It includes over two million items, such as maritime art from Britain and 17th-century Dutch artists, maps, official records, ship models, scientific tools, and instruments for navigation and timekeeping. The collection also includes paintings of Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson and Captain James Cook.

A program allows items from the museum to be displayed in the UK and other countries. The museum’s goal is to help people learn more about Britain’s economic, cultural, social, political, and maritime history and how these events affect the world today. The museum has hosted exhibitions such as Ships Clocks & Stars in 2014, Samuel Pepys: Plague, Fire, Revolution in 2015, and Emma Hamilton: Seduction and Celebrity in 2016.

The museum also has items from the German Naval Academy Mürwik, taken after World War II, including ship models, paintings, and flags. Some people have criticized the museum for keeping these items, calling them “looted art.” The museum says the items were taken as “war trophies” under the rules of the Potsdam Conference.

Each year, the museum gives the Caird Medal to honor Sir James Caird, a major donor.

In late August 2018, several groups competed to buy 5,500 relics from the RMS Titanic, which belonged to the bankrupt company Premier Exhibitions. A group including the National Maritime Museum, Titanic Belfast, Titanic Foundation Limited, and National Museums Northern Ireland formed a team to raise money for the purchase. They planned to keep all the items together in one exhibit. Oceanographer Robert Ballard supported this plan, as it would display the relics in Belfast (where the Titanic was built) and in Greenwich. However, the museums disagreed with the auction process set by the Bankruptcy Court in Jacksonville, Florida. The minimum bid was $21.5 million (£16.5m), and the group did not have enough money to meet this amount.

Greenwich site

The museum was established in 1934 in Greenwich Park, which covers 200 acres (0.81 km²). It was built in the buildings that had previously been used by the Royal Hospital School before the school moved to Holbrook in Suffolk.

The gardens located directly north of the museum were restored in the late 1870s after the construction of a cut-and-cover tunnel between Greenwich and Maze Hill stations. This tunnel was part of the final section of the London and Greenwich Railway and opened in 1878.

A major redevelopment of the main galleries, focused on an area called Neptune Court, was completed in 1999. The project was designed by Rick Mather Architects and funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

In 2008, the museum announced that Sammy Ofer, an Israeli shipping magnate, donated £20 million to build a new gallery.

Between 2016 and 2017, the National Maritime Museum reported that it had 2.41 million visitors.

A major renovation of the main galleries, including replacing the roof of Neptune Court, began in the early 2020s. These improvements were completed in 2025, and the gallery was formally renamed the Ocean Court.

Prince Philip Maritime Collections Centre

The museum has another location nearby called the Prince Philip Maritime Collections Centre in Kidbrooke, which opened in 2018. This place stores about 70,000 items from the collection. However, it is only open to the public on certain days, and visitors must book tours in advance.

Directors of the National Maritime Museum

• 1937–1946: Geoffrey Callender
• 1947–1966: Frank George Griffith Carr
• 1967–1983: Basil Greenhill
• 1983–1986: Neil Cossons
• 1986–2000: Richard Louis Ormond (born 1939)
• 2000–2007: Rear Admiral Roy Clare (born 1950)
• 2007–2019: Dr Kevin Fewster
• 2019–present: Paddy Rogers

Caird Medal

The Caird Medal was created in 1984 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the National Maritime Museum Act 1934, which established the museum. The medal is given each year to an individual who, as decided by the Trustees of the National Maritime Museum, has done very important work in areas related to the museum's goals and involves sharing knowledge with the public. The medal is named after Sir James Caird (1864–1954), the main supporter who helped found the National Maritime Museum.

Other British maritime museums

The National Maritime Museum Cornwall is a completely independent museum. It grew from the original FIMI (Falmouth International Maritime Initiative) partnership, which was started in 1992. The museum was created through teamwork between the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich and the former Cornwall Maritime Museum in Falmouth.

Gallery

• Sir Francis Drake, painted by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger, 1591
• Portrait of James, Duke of York, painted by Henri Gascar, 1673
• George Rooke, painted by Michael Dahl, c. 1705
• Edward Russell, painted by Godfrey Kneller, c. 1710
• Portrait of Augustus Keppel, painted by Joshua Reynolds, 1749
• Edward Hawke, painted by Francis Cotes, c. 1768
• Portrait of the Earl of Sandwich, painted by Thomas Gainsborough, 1783
• Portrait of Sir Edward Pellew, painted by Thomas Lawrence, 1797
• Napoleon on the Bellerophon, painted by Charles Lock Eastlake, 1815
• Portrait of George Cockburn, painted by John James Halls, 1817
• Portrait of George Cockburn, painted by William Beechey, 1820
• The Battle of Vigo, painted by Ludolf Bakhuizen, 1702
• Wager's Action off Cartagena, painted by Samuel Scott, c. 1747
• Princess Charlotte Arriving at Harwich, painted by Dominic Serres, 1763
• The Battle of Quiberon Bay, painted by Dominic Serres, 1779
• Lord Howe's Action, or the Glorious First of June, painted by Philip James de Loutherbourg, 1795
• Nelson and the Bear, painted by Richard Westall, 1809
• The Battle of Trafalgar, painted by J. M. W. Turner, 1822–24
• Nelson Boarding the San Josef, painted by George Jones, 1829
• Dead Calm, painted by Augustus Wall Callcott, 1827
• The Piazza at Havana, painted by Dominic Serres, c. 1770