27 April: The National Maritime Museum at Greenwich

On this date in 1937 the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich, England was officially opened. Here are ten things you might not know about the museum.

1. The opening ceremony was performed by King George VI, accompanied by his daughter, who is now Queen Elizabeth II.
2. There has been a naval-themed art gallery in Greenwich since the 1800s. It was in 1927 when it was decided to set up a ‘national naval and nautical museum’. The Society for Nautical Research launched a public appeal to develop it. The writer Rudyard Kipling suggested the name, National Maritime Museum.
3. The museum is situated in Greenwich Royal Park, within 200 acres (0.81 square kilometres) of park land. The buildings housing it were originally the Royal Hospital School, a school for the children of seafarers, before it moved to Holbrook in Suffolk.
4. Although it's in London, you can't get there by tube. You'd have to venture onto the DLR (Docklands Light Railway) - or travel there from central London by boat.
5. The museum's collection comprises over 2.5 million nautical and seafaring items. These include astronomical and navigational instruments, ship models and plans, coins, medals and flags, uniforms and weapons, historical art, film and photography. There are paintings by JMW Turner, William Hodges, George Stubbs, Willem van de Veldes (Elder and Younger), Hans Holbein, William Hogarth and Thomas Gainsborough. One of the highlights is the uniform Lord Admiral Horatio Nelson was wearing when he was fatally wounded at the Battle of Trafalgar. There are even a few things which are somewhat controversial. There are items taken from the German Naval Academy Mürwik after World War II, such as model ships and flags, which critics say are "looted art". The museum says these items are "war trophies" granted under the provisions of the Potsdam Conference.
6. There's also an extensive maritime historical reference library, the largest of its kind in the world. The Caird Library and Archive includes books and manuscripts dating back to the 14th century, public records of the Royal Navy and Merchant Navy, ship plans and personal accounts of naval journeys. The library is named after Sir James Caird, who bought the A.G.H. Macpherson Collection of over 11,000 maritime prints, along with ship models and many other items, and donated it to the museum.
7. The actual museum building isn't all there is to it. Since 2012, it has formed part of the Royal Museums Greenwich, which incorporates the Queen’s House, the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, and the Cutty Sark as well as the museum itself.
8. The collection is not limited to Greenwich, either. Some of the collection is housed outside London: the Shamrock sailing barge on the Tamar in Cornwall; the Valhalla figurehead collection on Tresco in the Isles of Scilly; and a small-boat collection at the National Maritime Museum, Cornwall.
9. At time of writing the Director of the museum is Dr Kevin Fewster.
10. A new development called the Sammy Ofer Wing opened in 2011 and is deemed the biggest development in the museum's history. It includes a special exhibition gallery and a cafe which overlooks Greenwich Park.

New!

Closing the Circle

A stable wormhole has been established between Earth and Infinitus. Power Blaster and his friends can finally go home.

Desi Troyes is still at large on Earth - Power Blaster has vowed to bring him to justice. His wedding to Shanna is under threat as the Desperadoes launch an attempt to rescue their leader. 

Someone from Power Blaster's past plays an unexpected and significant role in capturing Troyes.

The return home brings its own challenges. Not everyone can return to the life they left behind, and for some, there is unfinished business to be dealt with before they can start anew.

Ben Cole in particular cannot resume his old life as a surgeon because technology no longer works around him. He plans a new life in Classica, away from technology. Shanna hears there could be a way to reverse his condition and sets out to find it, putting herself in great danger. She doesn't know she is about to uncover the secret of Power Blaster's mysterious past.

Available from:

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Completes The Raiders Trilogy. 

Other books in the series:

Book One

Book Two