Merseyside Maritime Museum facts for kids
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| Established | 1980 |
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| Location | Liverpool, Merseyside, England, UK |
| Type | National museum |
| Visitors | 836,980 (2019) |
The Merseyside Maritime Museum is a cool place to visit in Liverpool, England. It's a museum that tells the story of Liverpool's important connection to the sea. This museum is part of National Museums Liverpool. It also helps tell the story of industrial history in Europe.
The museum first opened for a short time in 1980. It then fully opened its doors in 1984. Later, it became even bigger in 1986. You can find the museum in a large warehouse building. This building is located at the famous Albert Dock.
Contents
History of the Museum
How the Collection Started
The museum's collection began a very long time ago. It started in 1862 with just a few items. For many years, the collection grew slowly. This was because there wasn't much money to buy new things. By 1924, it mostly had an old canoe and some model ships.
Growing the Museum
In 1931, a historian named Robert Gladstone helped create a special shipping gallery. Sadly, some of this gallery was damaged in 1941. This happened during a time when Liverpool was attacked from the air.
Later, new galleries opened to show more maritime history. The "History of the Ship" gallery opened in 1965. Then came the "Port of Liverpool" gallery in 1971. A new shipping exhibition followed in 1974. In the late 1970s, work began to build a special museum just for maritime history. This led to the museum opening in 1980.
Amazing Collections to Explore
The Titanic and Lusitania
The museum has special exhibits about two famous ships. One is the Titanic, which sank on April 15, 1912. The other is the British ship Lusitania. It sank on May 7, 1915, after being hit by a German submarine. You can learn many details about these ships.
Liverpool's Link to the Titanic
The company that owned the Titanic was called White Star Line. This company was based in Liverpool. Because of this, the word "Liverpool" was written on the back of the Titanic.
In 2012, the museum showed some very rare items. These items were connected to the Titanic. This special display marked 100 years since the ship sank.
Archives Centre
The museum building also has an Archives Centre. This place used to be called the Maritime Archives and Library. It holds many important documents and records. These help people learn even more about maritime history.
