National Museum of the Royal Navy

As an island Nation, the sea has always played a major role in Britain’s history.

Founded in 1911, the National Museum of the Royal Navy is one of country’s leading maritime museums and is the only museum devoted to the ships of the Royal Navy and the men and women who served in them. Visitors can see, touch, hear and even smell the history of the Royal Navy through a rich collection of artefacts and award-winning permanent exhibitions. 

The Trafalgar Experience brings the Battle of Trafalgar vividly to life and The Nelson Gallery features one of the best collections of Nelson material in the world. The galleries devoted to the 20th century Navy focus on the changing face of the senior service from the launch of the Dreadnought to the Falklands War.

Sea Your History: 20th Century Royal Navy

Open daily from 10am

Sea Your History is a special exhibition focusing on the real experiences of the Navy’s people - in combat and under stress, doing their day-to-day work, at rest and play, at home and abroad, at sea and  on land - during a century of almost continuous conflict and rapid technological and social change.

The exhibition will include colourful, surprising and often touchingly intimate items of both official and personal material selected from the collections of the National Museum of the Royal Navy, the Fleet Air Arm Museum, the Royal Marines Museum and the Royal Navy Submarine Museum.

The exhibition is part of a larger project to make the Museums’ 20th century collections available to the public via a new website, www.seayourhistory.org.uk. Visitors to the exhibition will also have the opportunity to explore this website.

Supported by funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the project is a joint effort by the four museums, Portsmouth Royal Dockyard Historical Trust and the Mary Rose Trust.

FREE with a valid attraction ticket