Scottish Maritime Museum facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Scottish Maritime Museum

The Linthouse building
Established	1991
Location	The Linthouse, Harbour Road, Irvine, Ayrshire KA12 8BT Scotland
Scottish Maritime Museum The Dumbarton building Established 1983 Location Denny Ship Model Experiment Tank, Castle Street, Dumbarton, Dunbartonshire G82 1QS Scotland Type Maritime museum Collection size Buildings, ship testing tank, historic vessels, artefacts, art, personal items, shipbuilding tools and machinery

The Scottish Maritime Museum is a special place that shows off Scotland's amazing history with ships and shipbuilding. It has a huge collection of items that are considered very important to Scotland! The museum has two main locations in the west of Scotland: one in Irvine and another in Dumbarton. Both places help tell the story of how Scotland built so many famous ships.

Irvine - The Linthouse Building

The museum's main building in Irvine is called the Linthouse. It's located right by Irvine Harbour. This building used to be an engine shop for a company called Alexander Stephen and Sons. It was carefully moved from their old shipyard in Glasgow in 1991.

Today, the Linthouse building is home to many important ships. These include the MV Kyles and the MV Spartan. Both of these ships are listed on the UK's National Historic Ships register. The MV Kyles is a very special iron ship built in 1872 in Paisley. It's the oldest iron ship built on the River Clyde that is still floating in the UK! The museum got the MV Kyles in 1984.

The museum also has a collection of old ship engines and tools used in factories. You can even see a recreated worker's flat from the 1920s at Irvine Harbour. The museum also has a large collection of artwork about the sea and ships. In 2020, the museum raised money to keep the MV Kyles floating and in good condition.

Dumbarton - The Denny Ship Model Experiment Tank

The Denny Ship Model Experiment Tank is located in Dumbarton. This part of the museum focuses on the world of ship designers. A shipbuilder named William Denny Jr. was inspired by the work of a famous ship designer, William Froude. So, William Denny Jr. built this tank for his shipyard in 1883.

This tank was the world's first commercial tank used for testing ship models. It reopened as a museum in 1983. Many of its original parts are still there, including the 100-meter-long tank itself. The museum also shares the story of William Denny and Brothers. They were one of the most creative shipbuilding companies in the world until they closed in 1963.

How the Museum is Run

The Scottish Maritime Museum is an independent museum. It is run by a charity called the Scottish Maritime Museum Trust. This trust started working in 1983. The first person to lead the trust was a shipbuilder named Ross Belch. He was in charge until 1998. The trust also includes a Scottish history expert named John R. Hume. The first Director of the museum was Dr. Henry C. McMurray.

See also

• Titan Clydebank
• Summerlee, Museum of Scottish Industrial Life
• Riverside Museum
• Aberdeen Maritime Museum
• City of Adelaide (1864)
• Boyd's Automatic tide signalling apparatus
• William Denny and Brothers
• Irvine Harbour

Images for kids

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  Looking seaward towards the museum's pontoons, with the closed 'Big Idea' building and footbridge in the background

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  The Scottish Maritime Museum with the old ICI Explosives tug MV Garnock to the right

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  The ship exhibits at the pontoons

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  The Clyde Puffer MV Spartan at the slipway

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  The A-listed Linthouse building forms the main exhibition hall at the Irvine Museum

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  Tug Garnock

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  The A-listed 100m Denny Ship Model Experiment Tank forms the centrepiece of the Dumbarton collection

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  Early side-lever engine designed by Robert Napier, from PS Leven (1823), on display at Dumbarton

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  Another marine engine at Dumbarton

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  William Froude memorial on facade of building

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  The Dumbarton building from the side