First collection of naval memorabilia open to the public
Collections
Decommissioned ships
equipment used by the Norwegian, Allied and German navies
ship models, paintings and pictures
Founder
C.F. Klinck
The Royal Norwegian Navy Museum (Norwegian: Marinemuseet) is a museum documenting the history of the Royal Norwegian Navy. It is located at the former main naval base of Karljohansvern in Horten. The museum was founded by C.F. Klinck on 24 August 1853. The museum is sometimes regarded as the world's first naval museum, as it was the first collection of naval memorabilia open to the public.[1]
The submarine HNoMS Utstein outside the Royal Norwegian Navy Museum
The collection
The collection contains several decommissioned ships, much equipment used by the Norwegian, Allied and German navies and ship models, paintings and pictures. In the 1980s the Royal Norwegian Navy Library was transferred to the museum. The library's book collection started in 1805. The Museum and Library have a book collection of about 25,000 volumes. In addition the museum has preserved all of the navy's ship log books from 1814 to today. Parts of the Museum was however destroyed during an allied bombing raid on Horten in February 1945. The museum also preserves ship designs and has an archive of Navy rules and regulations from about 1750 to today, with about 4,500 volumes.
A section of the Navy Museum exhibitions, with a model of the frigate Freia
^In English, the Royal Norwegian Navy is the larger military branch that includes both the Coast Guard and the Navy Fleet. However, in Norwegian, the larger branch is called the Sea Defence, and the term Navy refers to the Navy Fleet.
Media related to Royal Norwegian Navy Museum at Wikimedia Commons
