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NMRN Blog

  • Naval Figureheads: Removing Devonport's Figureheads Part Three

    Wednesday, 8 September 2021 - 3:09pm

    Removing Devonport’s Figureheads

    For years, Devonport’s figureheads had stood proudly in the old dockyard fire station at Devonport Naval Heritage Centre.

    A main attraction, visitors would be led into the building where they would walk between the figureheads, gazing up at them in their magnitude as sailors would have once done as they walked along the quayside, some 200 years ago.

    Devonport Naval Heritage Centre had done all they could for them with limited money and resources. But ultimately, the conditions for these ornate wooden carvings that had already been...

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  • NAVAL FIGUREHEADS: DEVONPORT PART TWO

    Tuesday, 7 September 2021 - 5:11pm

    Devonport Figureheads: stories and decline from the bow

    As wooden vessels were broken up and figureheads removed from the bow of the ship, many were absorbed into the Royal Navy collection. In Plymouth, several were housed at Devonport Naval Heritage Centre on public display.

    But while protected from the coastal elements inside the old Fire Station, the building was not fit for purpose. Gradually the figureheads began to degrade amid growing concern that they and their stories, some of which feature below, would be lost to the collection forever.

    HMS Topaze

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  • The Tragedy of Jun’yō Maru

    Tuesday, 7 September 2021 - 4:39pm

    The Tragedy of Jun’yō Maru

    On 12 and 18 September 1944, Allied forces sank three Japanese cargo ships. The outcome was an unforeseen tragedy that became one of the deadliest maritime disasters of the Second World War.

    Japan entered the war in a bid to advance their position. Adolf Hitler had been building strong ties with China but turned his attention to Japan as the Nazi Party grew, considering them a more strategic partner in Asia.

    Japan saw this renewed relationship with Germany as an opportnity to expand and displace America as the dominant power in the Pacific...

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  • Discover Record Breaking Aircraft at the Fleet Air Arm Museum

    Friday, 3 September 2021 - 12:46pm

    From record breaking to pioneering aircraft, the Royal Navy has always been at the forefront of aviation technology and development.

    The Fleet Air Arm Museum celebrates and commemorates the navy’s aviation history and in this post we take a look at the history of the museum and the record breaking aircraft on display.

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  • Naval Figureheads: A Brief History Part One

    Thursday, 2 September 2021 - 5:01pm

    Naval Figureheads: A Brief History Part One

    From the sixteenth to the early twentieth century, figureheads adorned the bows of British naval ships. Often related to the ship’s name, they were believed to embody the spirit of the vessel and were steeped in superstition, historical and religious significance. It is estimated that throughout this period some 5,000 figureheads were carved and installed. 

    Superstition

    Maritime superstition was woven into the very fabric of figureheads, and sailors would go to great lengths to protect them. The popular choice of a...

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  • The R38 Disaster

    Monday, 23 August 2021 - 6:30pm

    100th Anniversary

    One hundred years ago, on 24 August 1921, the huge airship HMA R38 was spectacularly wrecked over the River Humber at Hull, in front of large crowds.

    The airship had been sold to the US Navy, which was expanding its fleet of rigid airships, and she was to become the USN’s ZR-2.

    She was 699 feet long (213 metres) and her gas-filled envelope had a capacity of 2.7 million cubic feet (77,000 cubic metres). She was powered by six 350 horse-power Sunbeam Cossack engines. She must have been an impressive sight.

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