Millions of unseen naval artefacts to star in new Portsmouth museum

Named Storyhouse 12: The Navy Unlocked, the centre will house many items that have never been seen before.

At the moment they are kept in 30 separate stores within 14 buildings across nine sites – with some left in properties that are ‘at risk’.

The new investment will see all of the items, including the bell from HMS Hood, brought together under one roof, with cash coming from an £18m lottery pot also funding the Royal Marines Museum.

‘We are blazing a trail here in Portsmouth,’ said Jacquie Shaw, of the NMRN.

‘This new attraction will be the very first of its kind in the country.

‘It will revolutionise the way the epic story of the Royal Navy is being told.’

The news comes as the NMRN has announced it will be pumping £33m into the area to bolster its heritage offering. It is one of the NMRN’s biggest-ever investments in Portsmouth and follows a record-breaking year for the dockyard.

Last year, it was visited by 850,000 people, generating £110m for the area’s economy.

Details of the new attraction come on the eve of a public consultation into the final resting place for the NMRN’s Landing Craft Tank LCT 7074 at the D-Day Story, Southsea.

Councillor Donna Jones, Portsmouth City Council leader, said of Storyhouse 12: The Navy Unlocked : ‘This will strengthen Portsmouth’s hand as one of the globe’s premier maritime heritage destinations.

‘The Historic Dockyard has one of the most unique historic ship offerings in the world. The growth of the NMRN is key to attracting more visitors to the city.’

Almost £100,000 of the new cash has been invested in three exhibitions this year. Silent and Secret at Gosport’s Royal Navy Submarine Museum will focus on the 50th anniversary of the Royal Navy’s first Polaris nuclear ballistic missile submarine.

The Historic Dockyard is also hosting a major new temporary exhibition for 2018, Tattoo: British Tattoo Art Revealed, focusing on the history of British tattooing.

Also announced is a major new £1m permanent gallery on Coastal Forces, the Spitfires of the Sea, which will open in 2019 at Gosport’s Explosion! Museum of Naval Firepower.

HMS Victory will see £3m pumped into providing 134 new hull supports and HMS Warrior is being boosted by £2.6m to restore its bulwarks.