Scottish Maritime Museum
Encyclopedia
The Scottish Maritime Museum currently has collections located at two sites in the West of Scotland
, both with strong maritime connections. The museums, located in Irvine
and Dumbarton, each portray different areas of Scotland’s maritime heritage. A third museum, Clydebuilt at Braehead
, originally opened in 1999 but was closed indefinitely during October 2010 due to lack of funding.
Ship Model Experiment Tank, in Dumbarton, offers the opportunity to step back into the world of the Victorian
naval architect. Inspired by the work of eminent naval architect William Froude
and completed in 1883, it was the world's first commercial example of a ship testing tank
.
Re-opened as a museum in 1982, it retains many of its original features, including the 100m long ship testing tank
, as long as a football pitch, which continues, from time to time, to be used for hydrodynamic research and testing. The museum also tells the story of the test tank's original owners, William Denny and Brothers
of Dumbarton; one of the most innovative shipbuilding companies in the world, until their closure in 1963.
The museum at Irvine is located within Irvine harbour
, situated within the grade A-listed former Engine Shop of Alexander Stephen and Sons
, which was salvaged and relocated from their Linthouse
shipyard in Glasgow during 1991. The Linthouse engineering shop is now home to many industrial exhibits, including a model boat pond and the Boatshop on the quayside, which contains an exhibition of ship models and children’s activities. Visitor's can step into the past by touring the Shipyard Workers' Tenement Flat where they can see a typical 'room and kitchen' worker's tenement
flat, restored to its 1920's appearance.
at Braehead
, Clydebuilt explored the industrial development of Glasgow
and the River Clyde from 1700 to the present day. Opened in September 1999, it told of what was built on the Clyde and how the River Clyde itself was 'built'.
The ground floor of the centre used a timeline consisting of a large model of the River Clyde containing 300 gallons of flowing water. The river went from a muddy stream, where in the 17th century you could wade across the Clyde at low tide, to the birthplace of ships great and small; through sail and steam and the great ocean liners, to today's warship
s and bulk carrier
s.
From the days of Glasgow
's 'Tobacco Lords
', Mr Glassford, told how Glasgow made its fortune from tobacco
, rum
and sugar
from the colonies.
Glasgow's rise to the Industrial Revolution was shown by cotton
, iron
and steel
trading, with a cotton printing press showing images of finished goods, and charting the markets for the city's products. A model cotton mill
was situated on a tributary of the river, which also features the earliest stages of the civil engineering
methods used to deepen the channel. An installation allows the visitor to see and hear at first hand the process of manufacturing iron and steel.
The visitor's journey through the museum included an Audio and Visual presentation that took them through the last 100 years of Clyde shipbuilding with a specially commissioned video running twice every hour bringing the Clydebuilt story up to date in an accessible way for all ages. Model docks indicated the scale and type of infrastructure required for the movement of cargo, whilst a mock crane provided a visual link to the second floor, which expanded on trade and cargo using a warehouse theme. A range of traded products fill this area and the visitor could make their fortune at the hands-on Cargo Game or try their hands at piloting a tanker into port.
A working triple expansion engine was used to tell the story of 'Powering World Trade' which gave an insight into the development of the marine steam engine
and offered the visitor a chance to operate the engine using a ships' telegraph
.
led the world of shipbuilding, with over 30,000 vessels in 300 years from 250 yards. The visitor could experience the sights and sounds of the building of a ship from the inside of the 'stage set' of the MV Rangitane, following all of the construction elements from design and laying the keel
, through to the launch and showing the skills of the 'black squads' who made the term 'Clydebuilt' recognised the world over.
The Clyde-built coaster MV Kyles is permanently berthed at a pontoon on the River Clyde
following her restoration at the Scottish Maritime Museum, Irvine. A highly significant vessel built of iron in 1872 in Paisley
, MV Kyles is the oldest iron Clyde built vessel still afloat in the UK.
withdrew an annual subsidy that was an original condition of planning permission for Braehead Shopping Centre. There do not currently appear to be plans to relocate or reopen.
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, both with strong maritime connections. The museums, located in Irvine
Irvine, North Ayrshire
Irvine is a new town on the coast of the Firth of Clyde in North Ayrshire, Scotland. According to 2007 population estimates, the town is home to 39,527 inhabitants, making it the biggest settlement in North Ayrshire....
and Dumbarton, each portray different areas of Scotland’s maritime heritage. A third museum, Clydebuilt at Braehead
Braehead
Braehead is a commercial development located at the former site of Braehead Power Station in Renfrew on the south bank of the River Clyde in Renfrewshire. It is particularly notable for its large shopping centre, arena and leisure facilities....
, originally opened in 1999 but was closed indefinitely during October 2010 due to lack of funding.
Dumbarton - Denny Ship Model Experiment Tank
The DennyWilliam Denny and Brothers
William Denny and Brothers Limited, and often referred to simply as Denny, were a Scottish shipbuilding company.-History:The Company was founded by Peter Denny in 1840 and based in Dumbarton, on the River Clyde. Although the Denny yard was situated near the junction of the River Clyde and the River...
Ship Model Experiment Tank, in Dumbarton, offers the opportunity to step back into the world of the Victorian
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
naval architect. Inspired by the work of eminent naval architect William Froude
William Froude
William Froude was an English engineer, hydrodynamicist and naval architect. He was the first to formulate reliable laws for the resistance that water offers to ships and for predicting their stability....
and completed in 1883, it was the world's first commercial example of a ship testing tank
Ship model basin
A ship model basin may be defined as one of two separate yet related entities, namely:* a physical basin or tank used to carry out hydrodynamic tests with ship models, for the purpose of designing a new ship, or refining the design of a ship to improve the ship's performance at sea;* the...
.
Re-opened as a museum in 1982, it retains many of its original features, including the 100m long ship testing tank
Ship model basin
A ship model basin may be defined as one of two separate yet related entities, namely:* a physical basin or tank used to carry out hydrodynamic tests with ship models, for the purpose of designing a new ship, or refining the design of a ship to improve the ship's performance at sea;* the...
, as long as a football pitch, which continues, from time to time, to be used for hydrodynamic research and testing. The museum also tells the story of the test tank's original owners, William Denny and Brothers
William Denny and Brothers
William Denny and Brothers Limited, and often referred to simply as Denny, were a Scottish shipbuilding company.-History:The Company was founded by Peter Denny in 1840 and based in Dumbarton, on the River Clyde. Although the Denny yard was situated near the junction of the River Clyde and the River...
of Dumbarton; one of the most innovative shipbuilding companies in the world, until their closure in 1963.
Irvine
River Irvine
The River Irvine is a river flowing through southwest Scotland, with its watershed on the Lanarkshire border of Ayrshire at an altitude of above sea-level, near Drumclog, and SW by W of Strathaven...
, situated within the grade A-listed former Engine Shop of Alexander Stephen and Sons
Alexander Stephen and Sons
Alexander Stephen and Sons Limited, often referred to simply as Alex Stephens or just Stephens, was a Scottish shipbuilding company based in Linthouse, Govan in Glasgow, on the River Clyde.-History:...
, which was salvaged and relocated from their Linthouse
Linthouse
Linthouse is a district in the Scottish city of Glasgow. It is situated south of the River Clyde. It is immediately west of Govan, and although it is often referred to locally as 'Govan' due to its closeness, it is in fact a distinct area .Linthouse was home to the shipbuilder...
shipyard in Glasgow during 1991. The Linthouse engineering shop is now home to many industrial exhibits, including a model boat pond and the Boatshop on the quayside, which contains an exhibition of ship models and children’s activities. Visitor's can step into the past by touring the Shipyard Workers' Tenement Flat where they can see a typical 'room and kitchen' worker's tenement
Tenement
A tenement is, in most English-speaking areas, a substandard multi-family dwelling, usually old, occupied by the poor.-History:Originally the term tenement referred to tenancy and therefore to any rented accommodation...
flat, restored to its 1920's appearance.
Braehead - Clydebuilt
Closed since October 16 2010, the Braehead museum was located on the south bank of the River ClydeRiver Clyde
The River Clyde is a major river in Scotland. It is the ninth longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third longest in Scotland. Flowing through the major city of Glasgow, it was an important river for shipbuilding and trade in the British Empire....
at Braehead
Braehead
Braehead is a commercial development located at the former site of Braehead Power Station in Renfrew on the south bank of the River Clyde in Renfrewshire. It is particularly notable for its large shopping centre, arena and leisure facilities....
, Clydebuilt explored the industrial development of Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
and the River Clyde from 1700 to the present day. Opened in September 1999, it told of what was built on the Clyde and how the River Clyde itself was 'built'.
The ground floor of the centre used a timeline consisting of a large model of the River Clyde containing 300 gallons of flowing water. The river went from a muddy stream, where in the 17th century you could wade across the Clyde at low tide, to the birthplace of ships great and small; through sail and steam and the great ocean liners, to today's warship
Warship
A warship is a ship that is built and primarily intended for combat. Warships are usually built in a completely different way from merchant ships. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster and more maneuvrable than merchant ships...
s and bulk carrier
Bulk carrier
A bulk carrier, bulk freighter, or bulker is a merchant ship specially designed to transport unpackaged bulk cargo, such as grains, coal, ore, and cement in its cargo holds. Since the first specialized bulk carrier was built in 1852, economic forces have fueled the development of these ships,...
s.
From the days of Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
's 'Tobacco Lords
Tobacco Lords
The Tobacco Lords were Glasgow merchants who, in the 18th Century made enormous fortunes by trading in tobacco from Great Britain's American Colonies....
', Mr Glassford, told how Glasgow made its fortune from tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
, rum
Rum
Rum is a distilled alcoholic beverage made from sugarcane by-products such as molasses, or directly from sugarcane juice, by a process of fermentation and distillation. The distillate, a clear liquid, is then usually aged in oak barrels...
and sugar
Sugar
Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...
from the colonies.
Glasgow's rise to the Industrial Revolution was shown by cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
, iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
and steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
trading, with a cotton printing press showing images of finished goods, and charting the markets for the city's products. A model cotton mill
Cotton mill
A cotton mill is a factory that houses spinning and weaving machinery. Typically built between 1775 and 1930, mills spun cotton which was an important product during the Industrial Revolution....
was situated on a tributary of the river, which also features the earliest stages of the civil engineering
Civil engineering
Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings...
methods used to deepen the channel. An installation allows the visitor to see and hear at first hand the process of manufacturing iron and steel.
The visitor's journey through the museum included an Audio and Visual presentation that took them through the last 100 years of Clyde shipbuilding with a specially commissioned video running twice every hour bringing the Clydebuilt story up to date in an accessible way for all ages. Model docks indicated the scale and type of infrastructure required for the movement of cargo, whilst a mock crane provided a visual link to the second floor, which expanded on trade and cargo using a warehouse theme. A range of traded products fill this area and the visitor could make their fortune at the hands-on Cargo Game or try their hands at piloting a tanker into port.
A working triple expansion engine was used to tell the story of 'Powering World Trade' which gave an insight into the development of the marine steam engine
Marine steam engine
A marine steam engine is a reciprocating steam engine that is used to power a ship or boat. Steam turbines and diesel engines largely replaced reciprocating steam engines in marine applications during the 20th century, so this article describes the more common types of marine steam engine in use...
and offered the visitor a chance to operate the engine using a ships' telegraph
Engine order telegraph
An engine order telegraph or E.O.T., often also chadburn, is a communications device used on a ship for the pilot on the bridge to order engineers in the engine room to power the vessel at a certain desired speed...
.
Shipbuilding
The River ClydeRiver Clyde
The River Clyde is a major river in Scotland. It is the ninth longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third longest in Scotland. Flowing through the major city of Glasgow, it was an important river for shipbuilding and trade in the British Empire....
led the world of shipbuilding, with over 30,000 vessels in 300 years from 250 yards. The visitor could experience the sights and sounds of the building of a ship from the inside of the 'stage set' of the MV Rangitane, following all of the construction elements from design and laying the keel
Keel
In boats and ships, keel can refer to either of two parts: a structural element, or a hydrodynamic element. These parts overlap. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in construction of a ship, in British and American shipbuilding traditions the construction is dated from this event...
, through to the launch and showing the skills of the 'black squads' who made the term 'Clydebuilt' recognised the world over.
The Clyde-built coaster MV Kyles is permanently berthed at a pontoon on the River Clyde
River Clyde
The River Clyde is a major river in Scotland. It is the ninth longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third longest in Scotland. Flowing through the major city of Glasgow, it was an important river for shipbuilding and trade in the British Empire....
following her restoration at the Scottish Maritime Museum, Irvine. A highly significant vessel built of iron in 1872 in Paisley
Paisley
Paisley is the largest town in the historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland and serves as the administrative centre for the Renfrewshire council area...
, MV Kyles is the oldest iron Clyde built vessel still afloat in the UK.
Closure
The Clydebuilt Museum was closed on 16 October 2010, after Capital Shopping CentresCapital Shopping Centres
Capital Shopping Centres Group plc is a United Kingdom-based Real Estate Investment Trust , largely focused on shopping centre management and development. Formerly named Liberty International plc, it changed its name to that of its major subsidiary in May 2010 after demerging its Capital & Counties...
withdrew an annual subsidy that was an original condition of planning permission for Braehead Shopping Centre. There do not currently appear to be plans to relocate or reopen.
Locations
- Braehead: 55.87591°N 4.36172°W
- Dumbarton: 55.94342°N 4.56312°W
- Irvine: 55.60953°N 4.67684°W
See also
- Titan ClydebankTitan ClydebankTitan Clydebank is a high cantilever crane that was built in 1907 in Clydebank, Scotland. It was designed to be used in the lifting of heavy equipment, such as engines and boilers, during the fitting-out of battleships and ocean liners at the John Brown & Company shipyard, then the biggest...
- Summerlee, Museum of Scottish Industrial Life
- Riverside MuseumRiverside MuseumThe Riverside Museum is a new development for the Glasgow Museum of Transport, completed on 20 June 2011, at Pointhouse Quay in the Glasgow Harbour regeneration district of Glasgow, Scotland. The next day it opened to the public.-Concept and design:...
- Aberdeen Maritime MuseumAberdeen Maritime MuseumAberdeen Maritime Museum is a maritime museum in Aberdeen, Scotland.The museum is situated on the historic Shiprow in the heart of the city, near the harbour. It makes use of a range of buildings including a former church and Provost Ross' House, one of the oldest domestic buildings in the city.The...
- City of Adelaide (1864)City of Adelaide (1864)The City of Adelaide was built in 1864 by William Pile, Hay and Co. in Sunderland, England, and was launched on 7 May 1864. The ship was commissioned in the Royal Navy as HMS Carrick between 1923 and 1948 and, after decommissioning, was known as Carrick until 2001...
- Boyd's Automatic tide signalling apparatusBoyd's Automatic tide signalling apparatusThe automatic tide signalling apparatus at Irvine harbour in North Ayrshire, Scotland, is a Grade B Listed Building and is probably unique, having been invented and patented by Martin Boyd, the Irvine harbourmaster, in 1905 and opened in 1906.- Introduction :...
- William Denny and BrothersWilliam Denny and BrothersWilliam Denny and Brothers Limited, and often referred to simply as Denny, were a Scottish shipbuilding company.-History:The Company was founded by Peter Denny in 1840 and based in Dumbarton, on the River Clyde. Although the Denny yard was situated near the junction of the River Clyde and the River...
Further reading
- Douglas McGowan, Clydebuilt: A Photographic Legacy, 2005, Tempus Publishing, ISBN 0752432281
- John Shields, Clyde Built: A History of Shipbuilding on the River Clyde, 1949, William MacLellan