Life at sea

Insight into the lives of sailors and seafarers throughout history

A photographic passport-style photo of Nina from her seamen's record

Nina Baker: one of the first women navigation officers in the Merchant Navy

Learn about Dr Nina Baker’s struggle to become one of the first women navigation officers in the British Merchant Navy
Silver coin depicting Treasure Island character Long John Silver in a cocked hat with a parrot on his shoulder

Pirates: fact or fiction?

From buried treasure to walking the plank, how much of what we think we know about pirates is really true?
Drawing of two women dressed as men

Who were Anne Bonny and Mary Read?

What do we really know about the notorious pirate duo, and how have later accounts shaped our perception of female pirates?
two boats full of sailors. A chaplain is standing in one of the boats, presiding over a burial at sea.

Parishes-on-sea: Royal Navy chaplains

In this blog we look at the role and experiences of Royal Navy chaplains and what their accounts can tell us about shipboard life.
Illustration of pirate queen Zheng Yi Sao at sunrise holding a sword with her back to another pirate

The art of piracy: imagining the world of Zheng Yi Sao

A series of illustrations by Livia Giorgina Carpineto brings the world of notorious pirate queen Zheng Yi Sao to life
Black and white woodcut style illustration of pirates Anne Bonny and Mary Read standing on the deck of a ship holding a sword and a lantern, which emits orange beams

The art of piracy: a fresh perspective on Bonny and Read

A new artwork by Linnea Maertens questions what we think we know about notorious female pirates Anne Bonny and Mary Read. See it on display in Pirates at the National Maritime Museum
A detail from an oil painting of a scene on board a ship. Waves are crashing over the deck, and sailors are attempting to hold on to the rigging

The Shipping Forecast

The Shipping Forecast was first broadcast on the BBC in 1925. Explore the history of the forecast with the National Maritime Museum, and discover objects connected with the power of our ocean
Rigging on Cutty Sark, with long lengths of rope in pulley systems, looking off the edge of the ship towards the Greenwich foot tunnel

Cordage: its origins, construction, properties and uses in ships

Learn more about cordage, also known as rope, including the different fibres used to make cordage and the types of rope most commonly used in sailing ships
Painting of the bow of a sailing ship looking out on a calm sea with a three masted sailing ship in the distance. Three men are on board the closer ship, with a sail above them. One man is looking through binoculars at the other ship. The sky is cloudy in the background.

The nautical origins of everyday phrases

Ever heard that traffic was chock-a-block, been called a son of a gun, or told someone you like the cut of their jib? Learn the maritime origins of phrases you hear every day
See all