Introduction

The Historic Photographs collection covers every maritime subject from British and foreign warships and merchant ships to seaports, shipyards and coastal views. This collection contains negatives, photographs, photograph albums and transparencies, in all totaling well over one million images from the birth of photography to the present day. These indexes are only of those images for which we hold negatives. In addition to this there is material which is in the process of being catalogued, an ongoing task. If you cannot find the photograph you are looking for please contact the Historic Photographs Section for more information.

Historic Photographs Section, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London SE10 9NF
Tel: +44 (0) 20 8855 1647 | Fax: +44 (0) 20 8317 0263

Using Boolean operators: AND, OR and NOT

Two or more search terms can be linked using Boolean operators, for example :

• Searching on 'lifeboat AND lighthouse' will find records that contain both "lifeboat" and "lighthouse".
• Searching on 'lifeboat OR lighthouse' will find records that contain either "lifeboat" or "lighthouse".
• Searching on 'lifeboat NOT lighthouse' will find records that contain "lifeboat" unless they also contain "lighthouse".
• Boolean operators can be combined in more complex ways using brackets, e.g.: Searching on '(lifeboat OR lifesaving) AND (lighthouse NOT optics)' will find records that contain either "lifeboat" or "lifesaving" and "lighthouse" but not "optics".

Key to the indexes

Merchant Vessels & Pleasure Craft
The simplest way to search these indexes is to use the ship name and its date of completion. The name of each vessel is listed, alphabetically, in the top left-hand corner of the record. In brackets alongside the name is the country of registry, (Br) for Great Britain, (No) for Norway etc., followed by the museum's internal filing code. Alongside this is the date of completion. Any other information known about the vessel such as type of vessel, former names, owner / managers etc. is included underneath.

The negative number is then listed below. The majority of our negative numbers begin with the prefixes P, N or G and this prefix is an integral part of identifying the negative to which it refers, please be sure and include this when ordering prints. In some instances a suffix such as CT, CN, or BWT is included; these refer to the type of negative i.e. colour transparency (CT), colour negative (CN) and black & white transparency. (BWT).

Next to the negative number, in brackets, is a code which indicates from which direction the photograph was taken. The following diagram illustrates the view each of the figures represents. P represents a view from the port side and S represents a view from the starboard side. Where a double dash occurs this indicates an onboard photograph relating to, but not of, the vessel e.g.. a deck scene.

Next is an alphabetical part code denoting the quality of the negative, taking into consideration its age and other factors. A is the best quality, B is average to good, C is a poorer negative and D indicates a very substandard image. Any other information relating to the image is then included, for example the date the photograph was taken or where (if known).

Warships
The layout of these indexes is simpler than that for merchant ships; after the ships name is the museum's filing code and the date of launch followed by the ship type and nationality. The negative number and any other information is then included as above.

Topographical
These are listed by place name and county for British ports or place name and country for non-British ports. This is followed by the internal filing codes and then by Lloyds Maritime Atlas codes.

Historical
These photographs of specific historical events are arranged chronologically.

People
These are arranged alphabetically by surname within the individual's year of death.