National Maritime Museum#Caird Medal

The museum was created by the National Maritime Museum Act 1934[http://www.nmm.ac.uk/server/show/nav.00500600c004000 National Maritime Museum, Governing Acts of Parliament] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070608215848/http://www.nmm.ac.uk/server/show/nav.00500600c004000 |date=8 June 2007 }}. under a Board of Trustees, appointed by HM Treasury. It is based on the generous donations of Sir James Caird (1864–1954). King George VI 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.ODNB article by Michael Lewis, 'Callender, Sir Geoffrey Arthur Romaine (1875–1946)’, rev. H. C. G. Matthew, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/32249] accessed 23 September 2007.

File:captainjamescookportrait.jpg by Nathaniel Dance at the National Maritime Museum]]

Since the earliest times Greenwich has had associations with the sea and navigation. It was a landing place for the Romans,{{cite web|url=https://www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/greenwich-park/things-to-see-and-do/ancient-greenwich/roman-remains|title=Greenwick Park: Roman Remains|publisher=Royal Parks|access-date=29 December 2018}} Henry VIII lived here,{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/greenwich-palace-henry-viii-birthplace-remains-discovered-archaeologists-old-royal-naval-college-a7894331.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220618/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/greenwich-palace-henry-viii-birthplace-remains-discovered-archaeologists-old-royal-naval-college-a7894331.html |archive-date=18 June 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Greenwich Palace: Archaeologists discover ruined remains of Henry VIII's birthplace|date=15 August 2017|work=The Independent|access-date=29 December 2018}} the Navy has roots on the waterfront,{{cite web|url=https://www.southlondonclub.co.uk/blog/brief-history-of-the-old-royal-naval-college|title=A brief history of the Old Royal Naval College|date=18 October 2017 |publisher=South London Club|access-date=29 December 2018}} and Charles II founded the Royal Observatory in 1675 for "finding the longitude of places".{{cite web|url=https://www.rct.uk/collection/themes/exhibitions/charles-ii-art-power/the-queens-gallery-buckingham-palace/charles-ii-and-the-royal-observatory-greenwich|title=Charles II and the Royal Observatory, Greenwich|publisher=Royal Collection Trust|access-date=29 December 2018}} 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. 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, and instruments for time-keeping and astronomy (based at the Observatory). Its holdings including paintings relating to Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson and Captain James Cook.{{cite web|url=http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/14102.html|title=Captain James Cook, 1728–79|publisher=Royal Museums Greenwich|access-date=29 December 2018}}

File:Bretagne 1859 7154.jpg, painting by Jules Achille Noël, 1859, at the National Maritime Museum]]

File:Admiral George Keith Elphinstone 1st Viscount Keith by George Sanders.jpg, 1st Viscount Keith by George Sanders]]

An active loans programme ensures that items from the collection are seen in the UK and abroad.{{cite web|url=http://yahcs.york.ac.uk/studentships/phd/cda-nmm-2010-13/|title=Collaborative Doctoral Award with the National Maritime Museum (2010–13)|publisher=York Art History Collections|access-date=29 December 2018}}

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.{{cite journal|last1=Falk|first1=Seb|title=Review of Ships, Clocks & Stars: The Quest for Longitude|url=http://journal.sciencemuseum.ac.uk/browse/issue-02/review-of-ships-clocks-stars/|journal=Science Museum Group Journal|year=2022|volume=2|issue=2|doi=10.15180/140204|s2cid=241871356|access-date=24 February 2017|doi-access=|archive-date=13 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170313164428/http://journal.sciencemuseum.ac.uk/browse/issue-02/review-of-ships-clocks-stars/|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|last1=Smart|first1=Alastair|title=Samuel Pepys, National Maritime Museum, review: 'history rivetingly brought to life'|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/art/what-to-see/samuel-pepys-national-maritime-museum-review/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/art/what-to-see/samuel-pepys-national-maritime-museum-review/ |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|newspaper=The Telegraph|access-date=24 February 2017}}{{cbignore}}{{cite web|last1=Jones|first1=Jonathan|title=Emma Hamilton: Seduction and Celebrity review – the betrayal of Nelson's mistress|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/nov/01/emma-hamilton-seduction-and-celebrity-review-national-maritime-museum|website=theguardian.com|date=November 2016|access-date=24 February 2017}}

The collection of the National Maritime Museum also includes items taken from the German Naval Academy Mürwik after World War II, including several ship models, paintings and flags. The museum has been criticised for possessing what has been described as "looted art".[https://web.archive.org/web/20070114103422/http://www.theartnewspaper.com/article01.asp?id=544 "Revealed: Nazi painting in London’s Maritime Museum looted by British."] The Art Newspaper. 3 January 2007{{cite web |url=http://www.theartnewspaper.com/article01.asp?id=562 |title=The Art Newspaper |access-date=2009-05-09 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080526132548/http://www.theartnewspaper.com/article01.asp?id=562 |archive-date=26 May 2008 }} How the London Maritime Museum rebuffed a German claim in 1965.] The Art Newspaper. 1 February 2007{{cite web |url=http://www.theartnewspaper.com/article01.asp?id=563 |title=The Art Newspaper |access-date=2009-05-09 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080526132553/http://www.theartnewspaper.com/article01.asp?id=563 |archive-date=26 May 2008 }}"Revealed: six paintings in Maritime Museum were seized by British troops from Nazi Germany." The Art Newspaper. 1 February 2007Schleswig-Holsteinischer Zeitungsverlag: [http://gezeiten.shz.de/Artikel/Krieg_und_Kriegsende/481_Die_letzten_Tage_der_D%C3%B6nitz-Regierung_in_M%C3%BCrwik Gezeiten. Die letzten Tage der Dönitz-Regierung in Mürwik] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170222015059/http://gezeiten.shz.de/Artikel/Krieg_und_Kriegsende/481_Die_letzten_Tage_der_D%C3%B6nitz-Regierung_in_M%C3%BCrwik |date=22 February 2017 }}. 21. Dezember 2009; access: 27. August 2016 The museum regards these cultural objects as "war trophies", removed under the provisions of the Potsdam Conference.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yYEOjbU2FSMC&q=War+Trophies+Committee+National+Maritime+Museum&pg=PA117|page=117|title=Of Ships and Stars: Maritime Heritage and the Founding of the National Maritime Museum Greenwich|first1= Kevin|last1= Littlewood|first2=Beverley |last2=Butler|publisher=Continuum International Publishing Group|year=1998|isbn=978-0485115376}}

The museum awards the Caird Medal annually in honour of its major donor, Sir James Caird.{{cite web|url=https://humanities.exeter.ac.uk/history/research/centres/maritime/prizes/|title=Prizes and fellowships in naval and maritime history|publisher=University of Exeter|access-date=29 December 2018}}

In late August 2018, several groups were vying for the right to purchase the 5,500 {{RMS|Titanic}} relics that were an asset of the bankrupt Premier Exhibitions.{{cite web|author=Dawn McCarty, Jef Feeley, Chris Dixon|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2018/07/news-titanic-uk-belfast-bankruptcy-cameron/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180725065628/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2018/07/news-titanic-uk-belfast-bankruptcy-cameron/|url-status=dead|archive-date=25 July 2018|work=National Geographic|date=2018-07-24 |title=James Cameron: Getting Titanic Artifacts to U.K. Would Be 'a Dream'|access-date=2018-09-02}} Eventually, the National Maritime Museum, Titanic Belfast and Titanic Foundation Limited, as well as National Museums Northern Ireland, 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 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 Greenwich. 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.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-45766021|title=Titanic: Salvaged treasure may not return to Belfast|work=BBC News |date=5 October 2018}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/article/the-basch-report-titanic-artifacts-finally-to-be-sold-at-auction|title=The Basch Report: Titanic artifacts finally to be sold at auction | Jax Daily Record|date=20 September 2018|website=Jacksonville Daily Record - Jacksonville, Florida}}

The museum was officially established in 1934 within the {{convert|200|acre|km2}} of Greenwich Royal Park in the buildings formerly occupied by the Royal Hospital School, before it moved to Holbrook in Suffolk.{{cite web|url=https://www.londonremembers.com/memorials/royal-hospital-school|title=Royal Hospital School|publisher=London Remembers|access-date=12 November 2023}}

The gardens immediately to the north of the museum were reinstated in the late 1870s following construction of the cut-and-cover tunnel between Greenwich and Maze Hill stations. The tunnel comprised part of the final section of the London and Greenwich Railway and opened in 1878.{{cite web|url=http://rail.felgall.com/ser.htm|title=SER Lines and Stations|publisher=Stephen Chapman|access-date=29 December 2018|archive-date=21 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170621033320/http://rail.felgall.com/ser.htm|url-status=dead}}

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, was completed in 1999.{{cite web|url=https://www.ajbuildingslibrary.co.uk/projects/display/id/2701|title=Neptune Court, Greenwich Maritime Museum|publisher=Architects Journal|access-date=29 December 2018}}

In 2008, the museum announced that the Israeli shipping magnate Sammy Ofer had donated £20m for a new gallery.{{cite web|url=https://www.cfmoller.com/p/National-Maritime-Museum-The-Sammy-Ofer-Wing-i2204.html|title=The Sammy Ofer Wing|publisher=C F Moller|access-date=29 December 2018}}

Between 2016 and 2017 the National Maritime Museum reported 2.41 million visitors.{{Cite web|url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/628588/HC_108_NMM_16-17_Web.pdf|title=National Maritime Museum Annual Report and Accounts 2016-2017}}

A major refurbishment of the main galleries, including replacement of the Neptune Court roof, was undertaken in the early 2020s.{{cite news |title=New roof for National Maritime Museum |url=https://www.theconstructionindex.co.uk/news/view/new-roof-for-national-maritime-museum |access-date=22 January 2025 |work=The Construction Index |date=22 January 2025}}

The museum has an additional site nearby, the Prince Philip Maritime Collections Centre in Kidbrooke, opened in 2018. This houses approximately 70,000 items from the collection, but is only open to the public on limited occasions, by means of (pre-booked) guided tours.{{Cite web |title=The Prince Philip Maritime Collections Centre |url=https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/prince-philip-maritime-collections-centre |access-date=2024-02-10 |website=Royal Museums Greenwich |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2019-07-03 |title=This Kidbrooke Housing Estate Is Hiding An Incredible Collection Of Maritime Treasures |url=https://londonist.com/london/secret/prince-philip-maritime-collections-centre-visit |access-date=2024-02-10 |website=Londonist |language=en}}

File:Propeller, National Maritime Museum.jpg propeller at the National Maritime Museum]]

• 1937–1946: Geoffrey Callender
• 1947–1966: Frank George Griffith Carr{{Cite web |url=http://www.worldshiptrust.org/carr2.html |title=Biography Frank Carr: Ship saver by Peter Elphick, states "Meanwhile, in 1966, the Trustees of the National Maritime Museum dismissed Frank Carr from his post as Director, two years before he was due to retire. No one seems to know the full circumstances behind this highly controversial decision, but it seems that the Trustees wanted a change of course." |access-date=13 January 2008 |archive-date=5 December 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071205175531/http://www.worldshiptrust.org/carr2.html |url-status=dead }}
• 1967–1983: Basil Jack Greenhill
• 1983–1986: Neil Cossons
• 1986–2000: Richard Louis Ormond CBE (born 1939)Who's who entry for Richard Ormond
• 2000–2007: Rear Admiral Roy Clare (born 1950)Who's who entry for Roy Clare
• 2007–2019: Dr Kevin Fewster{{Cite web |url=http://www.nmm.ac.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.21897 |title=Biography of Director Kevin Fewster on NMM website. |access-date=13 January 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080623195504/http://www.nmm.ac.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.21897 |archive-date=23 June 2008 |url-status=dead }}
• 2019–present: Paddy Rogers{{Cite web|url=https://www.rmg.co.uk/about-us/directors-trustees|title=Directors and Trustees|website=www.rmg.co.uk}}

File:National Maritime Museum - Greenwich (2887954170).jpg

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.

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• 1984: Eric McKee{{cite journal|author=R. J. B. KNIGHT, HONOR FROST, ERIC RIETH, MICHAEL WEBB, N. A. M. RODGER, DAVID H. ROBERTS, RICHARD BARKER, ALEXANDER FLINDER & LAWRENCE PHILLIPS (1989)|title= NOTES|journal = The Mariner's Mirror|volume= 75|issue= 3|pages= 210–276|doi=10.1080/00253359.1989.10656259|year = 1989}}
• 1985: Michael S. Robinson{{citation|url=http://www.erithyachtclub.org.uk/mrobituary.htm|title=Obituary – Michael Robinson 1910 – 1999|journal=The Independent|date=15 January 2000|first=Pieter|last=van der Merwe|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101204230417/http://www.erithyachtclub.org.uk/mrobituary.htm|archive-date=4 December 2010}}.
• 1987: Jules van Beylen
• 1989: C. R. Boxer
• 1990: Helen Wallis
• 1991: John F. Coates and John Sinclair Morrison
• 1992: Richard Ollard[http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Author/AuthorPage/0,,1000047878,00.html Penguin Books author biography: Richard Ollard] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110520042531/http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Author/AuthorPage/0,,1000047878,00.html |date=20 May 2011 }}, accessed 20 October 2007.
• 1993: Gerard L. E. Turner{{cite web|url=https://static1.squarespace.com/static/54ec9b40e4b02904f4e09b74/t/567fdc9f1115e03a973ac2fc/1451220127206/SIS_Bulletin_037.pdf|title=Gerard Turner awarded the Caird Medal|publisher=Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society No.37 |year=1993|access-date=29 December 2018}}
• 1994: Glyndwr Williams
• 1995: Margaret Rule
• 1996: John de Courcy Ireland
• 1997: Felipe Fernández-Armesto
• 1998: Elly Dekker
• 1999: Elisabeth Mann-Borgese[http://www.jmr.nmm.ac.uk/server/show/conJmrArticle.15 The Caird Lecture, 1999, by Elisabeth Mann-Borgese: "The economics and governance of the oceans" in Journal for Maritime Research, January 2000.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071029034825/http://www.jmr.nmm.ac.uk/server/show/conJmrArticle.15 |date=29 October 2007 }} accessed 20 October 2007.
• 2000: John Hattendorf[http://www.jmr.nmm.ac.uk/server/show/conJmrArticle.30 The Caird Lecture, 2000, by John Hattendorf: "The Anglo-French Naval Wars (1689–1815) in twentieth-century naval thought"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090321123536/http://www.jmr.nmm.ac.uk/server/show/conJmrArticle.30 |date=21 March 2009 }}
• 2002: Robert Ballard
• 2004: Sir David Attenborough[http://www.captaincooksociety.com/vol27no4.pdf Reference to David Attenborough's Caird Medal Address in Cook's Log: the quarterly newsletter of the Captain Cook Society, Volume 27 No.4 (Oct–Dec 2004)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210830225748/https://www.captaincooksociety.com/vol27no4.pdf |date=30 August 2021 }} accessed 20 October 2007.
• 2005: Paul Kennedy[http://www.history.ac.uk/friends/PastandFuture2005.pdf Institute of Historical Research Newsletter 2005: Peter Kennedy's Caird Medal Address noted] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080410025350/http://www.history.ac.uk/friends/PastandFuture2005.pdf |date=10 April 2008 }} accessed 20 October 2007.
• 2006: David Armitage[http://www.jmr.nmm.ac.uk/server/show/ConJmrArticle.227 Caird Lecture, 2006, by David Armitage: "The Elephant and the Whale: Empires of Land and Sea"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071026064054/http://www.jmr.nmm.ac.uk/server/show/ConJmrArticle.227 |date=26 October 2007 }}
• 2007: Martin Rees, Baron Rees of Ludlow
• 2010: Willem F. J. Mörzer Bruyns
• 2011: Daniel A. Baugh
• 2014: R. J. B. Knight{{Cite web|url=https://www.rogerknight.org/|title=Roger Knight|website=Roger Knight}}
• 2015: Simon Schaffer{{Cite web|url=https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/fellows/simon-schaffer-FBA/|title=Professor Simon Schaffer FBA|website=The British Academy}}

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File:DSCN1436NMMCornwall.jpg, Falmouth]]

The National Maritime Museum Cornwall 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.{{EW charity|1067884|National Maritime Museum Cornwall Trust|access-date=29 December 2018}}

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File:Sir Francis Drake, 1540-96 RMG L8411.jpg|Sir Francis Drake by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger, 1591

File:James, Duke of York, 1633-1701 RMG BHC2797.tiff|Portrait of James, Duke of York by Henri Gascar, 1673

File:George Rooke.jpg|George Rooke by Michael Dahl, c. 1705

File:Admiral Edward Russell (1652–1727), 1st Earl of Orford by Godfrey Kneller.jpg|Edward Russell by Godfrey Kneller, c. 1710

File:Augustus Keppel BHC2821.jpg|Portrait of Augustus Keppel by Joshua Reynolds, 1749

File:Edward Hawke 1.jpg|Edward Hawke by Francis Cotes, c. 1768

File:John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich.jpg|Portrait of the Earl of Sandwich by Thomas Gainsborough, 1783

File:Thomas Lawrence (1769-1830) - Sir Edward Pellew, Lord Exmouth - ZBA0434 - Royal Museums Greenwich.jpg|Portrait of Sir Edward Pellew by Thomas Lawrence, 1797

File:Eastlake - Napoleon on the Bellerophon.jpg|Napoleon on the Bellerophon by Charles Lock Eastlake, 1815

File:Rear-Admiral George Cockburn (1772-1853), by John James Halls.jpg|Portrait of George Cockburn by John James Halls, 1817

File:Vice-Admiral Sir George Cockburn, 1772-1853 RMG BHC2618.tiff|Portrait of George Cockburn by William Beechey, 1820

File:Battle of Vigo Bay 1702.webp|The Battle of Vigo by Ludolf Bakhuizen, 1702

File:Wager's Action off Cartagena, 28 May 1708 RMG BHC0348.tiff|Wager's Action off Cartagena by Samuel Scott, c.1747

File:Princess Charlotte Arriving at Harwich, September 1761 RMG BHC0405.tiff|Princess Charlotte Arriving at Harwich by Dominic Serres, 1763

File:The Battle of Quiberon Bay.jpg|The Battle of Quiberon Bay by Dominic Serres, 1779

File:Loutherbourg-La Victoire de Lord Howe.jpg|The Glorious First of June by Philip James de Loutherbourg, 1795

File:Richard Westall (1765-1836) - Nelson and the Bear - BHC2907 - Royal Museums Greenwich.jpg|Nelson and the Bear by Richard Westall, 1809

File:Turner, The Battle of Trafalgar (1822).jpg|The Battle of Trafalgar by J. M. W. Turner, 1822–24

File:Nelson Boarding the 'San Josef' at the Battle of Cape St Vincent, 14 February 1797 RMG BHC0492.tiff|Nelson Boarding the San Josef by George Jones 1829

File:Sir Augustus Wall Callcott - Dead Calm.jpg|Dead Calm by Augustus Wall Callcott, 1827

File:Dominic Serres the Elder - The Piazza at Havana.jpg|The Piazza at Havana by Dominic Serres, c. 1770

• Britain and the Sea
• British Maritime Charitable Foundation
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• List of London museums
• National Historic Fleet
• National Museum of the Royal Navy
• National Waterways Museum—the UK's national museum of inland waterway transport
• Het Scheepvaartmuseum (Netherlands Maritime Museum)

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{{commons category|National Maritime Museum, London}}

• {{Official website}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20101230091841/http://www.nmmprints.com/?ref=wiki&ad=nmm01 The official prints website of the National Maritime Museum] containing a selection of the museum's finest images
• [https://www.flickr.com/photos/nationalmaritimemuseum/ National Maritime Museum Photostream] (many photos labelled "no known copyright restriction") at Flickr.com

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