m o c . t e n r e t n i t b Enterprise and Adventure Cover: In what is believed to be a first for the @ e l museum sector, local community groups in y o d Portsmouth are set to benefit from a stunning, . e s colourful legacy to our highly successful tattoo / e l exhibition which was curated by The National y o 2019 IMPACT REPORT D Maritime Museum Cornwall. h a r a S A full-sized handcrafted, painted tattooed : n g torso nicknamed ‘Tattoo Jack’ and featuring i s e up to 35 designs has been created by artist D Gary Coole. Some of the tattoos featured were submitted by the public, some of them serving or veteran personnel following a public appeal by the museum to learn more about the tradition of tattoos. The torso is now being toured around Portsmouth and beyond as part of an outreach programme including sessions with Alzheimer’s and Dementia Veterans group. The National Museum of the Royal Navy HM Naval Base (PP66) Portsmouth PO1 3NH United Kingdom T (+44) (0) 2392 882411 E [email protected] The NMRN is a charity registered in the United Kingdom (No. 1126283) and a company limited by guarantee registered in England (No. 6699696) Contents 2 Introduction 3 Major Achievements 4 Focus on Hartlepool 6 Devonport Update 8 Lights, Camera, Action 9 Fundraising and Membership 10 Use of Funds 11 Trading and Visitor Services 13 Learning 14 Collections, Research and Scholarship 16 Future Projects 19 Navy Opposite Fundraising Notable Visitors and Events for the new Royal Marines 20 Museum is a strategic project for the museum. 1 2019 IMPACT REPORT HMS Victory is progressing well and Hosting 96 tourism leaders from across the UK for the a full-size Polaris and Tomahawk missile. The Royal Navy the Trafalgar Sail is back on display main Council Meeting of the Association of Leading Submarine Service has carried the nation’s nuclear and looks superb. The museum broke Visitor Attractions (ALVA). The two-day Tourism Summit deterrent since 1968. new ground with a ‘Tattoos’ opened with an exclusive tour of HMS Victory. Speakers temporary exhibition which included Jenny Waldman CBE, Director of 1 4-18 Now. ‘Welcoming Tattoo: British Tattoo Art Revealed’, a stimulated a great deal of interest major new exhibition, curated by The National Maritime and a considerable contrast to the Holding a two-day international conference to mark Museum Cornwall celebrating the rich artistic heritage ‘Silent and Secret’ exhibition which the centenary of the Zeebrugge Raid to blockade of tattooing as an art form in the UK – and challenging recognised 50 years of the Continuous the German forces in the Belgian port. Eight Victoria long-standing myths and pre-conceptions about At-Sea Deterrent. Further afield, Crosses were awarded for a raid considered to be tattooing in terms of class, gender and age. RML 497 arrived as the vanguard of one of the key moments of the First World War. Revealing HMS Victory’s Trafalgar Sail, after it had a major development at the National lain unseen for the last six years. The only surviving Museum Hartlepool and we progress Reopening the Pump House alongside HMS Caroline. foretopsail from the 1805 Battle of Trafalgar, it measures the gifting of the Devonport Naval The biggest regeneration project undertaken in recent the equivalent of two tennis courts when fully laid out. Introduction Heritage Centre collection. years in the Titanic Quarter, Belfast, it forms the base Internationally, we hosted a formal for an extensive new visitor centre. A new 25-metre Displaying, for the very first time, a 42-pound cannon, visit from the Chilean Navy and signed steel and timber footbridge has been installed across from the wreck of HMS Victory 1744. Since her discovery a Memorandum of Understanding the mouth of Alexandra Dock to allow even greater 2019 HAS BROUGHT HOME the separate marketing and visitor ten years ago, the predecessor to Nelson’s famous accessibility for visitors. Chinese adage, ‘may you live in entrances bemuse our visitors. with the Hellenic Navy. flagship has captured the imagination of naval interesting times’! We were both Sharing a static or reducing ticket enthusiasts and maritime archaeologists. Her sinking Commemorating 50 years of the Continuous At-Sea surprised and indeed disappointed to income is never easy and there is not Looking forward uncertainty, both was one of the Royal Navy’s worst naval disasters. Deterrent with a new exhibition, ‘Silent and Secret’ receive the unwelcome news that the enough revenue generated to meet political and economic, appears to be at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum (RNSM). National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) the increasing costs of The National the order of the day. If this adversely Confirming a grant of £4.7m from the NLHF towards The permanent displays include the installation of found themselves unable to support Museum of the Royal Navy (NMRN), impacts on visitor numbers and the conservation and move of D-Day survivor LCT 7074. the creation of a new Royal Marines the MRT and Portsmouth Naval Base income then we stand to be in for Museum and ‘Storyhouse 12: The Property Trust (PNBPT). Ways must be both a difficult year and an Navy Unlocked’. It is unconscionable found to maximise income, share it increasingly uncertain future. We are that the Royal Marines should be fairly and transparently and reduce now fast reaching the point where an without a museum to tell their the cost base. appropriate Grant in Aid settlement Major Achievements illustrious story. We are driving hard must be put in place, which allows now with a £5m campaign to raise the On the upside, we signed a shared free visitor access in line with funds and as part of this will be asking ‘Statement of Intent’ reaffirming the Government policy for National Opposite left Senior conservator Diana Davis making both the Royal Marines charities and relationship between the Royal Navy Museums and the governance final checks on the Trafalgar Sail. the navy for their financial support. and its museum. Landing Craft Tank relationships in Portsmouth Historic Opposite right Sir Jonathon Band GCB, DL, Chairman (LCT) 7074, the last LCT to be on the Dockyard (PHD) are reformed with of The National Museum of the Royal Navy. It has proved difficult to find an beaches on D-Day, secured a Round 2 the aim of reducing the cost base. accommodation with the Mary Rose pass from the NLHF and is planned Admiral Sir Jonathon Band GCB; Left Curator Alexandra Geary with a firing panel Trust (MRT) since they chose to to be on site in Southsea, next to the from the Polaris-era. operate independently but we D-Day Story in the summer of 2020. Chairman of the Board of The continue to try. All parties agree that Work on the new support system for National Museum of the Royal Navy. 2 3 2019 IMPACT REPORT SFuoccuess os nin H Paortrltespmoooult h HOW IS THE NATIONAL MUSEUM by a new indoor adventure centre. WHAT LIES IN WAIT FOR RML 497? WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP TO We have also been working with RML 497 will be the centrepiece HELP THIS? architecture students from of a new exhibition hall on the We are working with Hartlepool Northumbria University on an exciting site and it will help to tell the story Borough Council and Tees Valley project which has seen them redesign of these heroic vessels and their Combined Authority to devise a and repurpose the museum and crews during the Second World War. scheme which will not only enable buildings. This will culminate in a Extensive repairs and conservation us to reach a wider audience but summer exhibition onsite which will work are required before that will will ensure the National Museum open the dialogue with the local occur. In the meantime, she is being acts as that much-needed catalyst community on what the future might carefully cleaned and looked after for regeneration. Interim work has look like. The students’ work, done in by a team of volunteers led by our already begun and this summer a short space of time, is phenomenal Curator and Ship Keepers. will see the installation of a new and really highlights the huge playground which will be followed potential of the site. READ OUR SHORT Q AND A with the National Museum Hartlepool’s General Manager, Roslyn Adamson. WHAT IS THE SPECIFIC CHALLENGE WE FACE IN Opposite left General Manager, HARTLEPOOL? Roslyn Adamson with the Tees We have a fantastic site in Hartlepool which continues Valley Mayor, Ben Houchen. CAN YOU EXPLAIN WHAT IT MEANS TO HARTLEPOOL to surprise and delight any new visitors who travel to TO HAVE A NATIONAL MUSEUM BASED THERE? see us. It is difficult not to be impressed of course by Opposite right Costumed interpretation is always popular Hartlepool is a proud town with big aspirations for the the sight of HMS Trincomalee floating in the dock. at Hartlepool. future, but it isn’t without its social and economic The story we currently tell through HMS Trincomalee challenges. The National Museum is seen by many as a represents only a snapshot of the history of the Royal Left A new play ship will be a positive step towards tackling these negative external Navy. We are tasked with bringing to the region the welcome addition to the Hartlepool perceptions and we have a responsibility to play our part wider story of naval history through the ages but also visitor offer. in the regeneration of the area. The waterfront location of what the Royal Navy represents today.