I am deeply humbled by the honour that you have given me today.  I am joining an extraordinary team of gifted individuals in a special place: Bitten, John Silver, Knud Jakobsen. Led by a man  - Gert Normann Andersen - whose extraordinary generosity, modesty and  commitment has given each one of us something very precious. A sense of direction and purpose.  

Gert Normann and I have not known each other that long. 4 years but we have built a special friendship on a shared passion.

How those who died at Jutland  - or in any conflict – shouldn’t be overshadowed with messages of glory and sacrifice. This is too often the case in national commemorations. The museum is here to tell stories, to make one stop and think, to reflect a little and to try to get a closer to the truth of conflict: the horror of world war.  

Every moment of this friendship with Gert, with Thyborøn, with his team, has been very special for me. We have shared our knowledge, helped each other and worked as a team.  It has been an extraordinary and very privileged journey for me.

I would never have been able to write about the Jutland wrecks or the remaining wrecks in Scapa Flow without having seen them. Or to have been able to have been part of the documentary films.

Each time I come to this museum it is also like visiting old friends. There are many objects here that are very personal:

• The Union Jack which up until yesterday was on the wall opposite the E.50 conning tower.  It was this flag which my grandfather covered his mother’s coffin when she died in 1916 and he wasn’t able to leave the Fleet. It was replaced yesterday with Iron Duke’s white ensign, her battle flag, which I will be taking back to its home on the Isle of White in a month.  
• When I see his watches, I think of my grandfather quietly working out what to do in the midst of the chaos of battle. Gert and I had them with us when he invited me to join the expedition in 2015.  
• A very special gift to the family by a man who spent three years of his life lovingly making it is the ship’s model of the Iron Duke. Ron wasn’t rich, he was a bricklayer, a man who built houses. He sadly died of cancer and never saw his model here but his widow and I talk each month.
• When the Iron Duke was loaned to the German Naval Museum, Stefan Huck, the museum Director and I then drove here with a model of Lutzow in the back of the van, arriving in the dark, in the rain, working with Gert that night before we left in the morning. I hope that moments like these will also lead to more sharing and co-operation between the principal European naval museums. The story is all the better for sharing our resources and knowledge.

The last four years have been very full of these kinds of memories. Helping digitize photos, translating Knud’s audio guide, using different language versions of the Jutland animation to help German visitors. It has been the greatest pleasure to work with, and learn from, the men and women of the team, J/D Contractor, the Sea War museum. I could spend hours on the bridge of the Vina listening to Mons’ explanations of how multi-beam works and what it helps us now see.

Whatever I can do to bring value and connections to help this wonderful museum, I will do. This is a great honour. I am under no illusion that the tasks ahead are not small. That’s the pleasure of working with people of passion and vision. I am excited about the challenge and look forward to being part of this great team.

Thank you.

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Nyt museum i Belgien om søkrigen i Kanalen under første verdenskrig.

Der findes kun to museer i verden der udelukkende handler om søkrigen under første verdenskrig, Det er det nye museum i Brugge ”The Battle for the North Sea” og ”Sea War Museum Jutland” i Thyborøn.

Museet i Brugge ligger midt i den gamle by og inde i Provincial Palace (Provenciaal Hof) Markt 3, Brugge.

Det er en helt fantastisk udstilling i en flot statelig bygning ud til byens torv!

I udstillingen er der en biograf der fortæller historien, samt en særlig udstilling om Victoriakorset, der er den fornemste britiske orden for heltemod. Operationen ved Zebrugge er den begivenhed, som førte til uddeling af flest Victoriakors.

Udstillingen fortæller historien om den stærkest armerede ubådsbase under Første Verdenskrig, som tyskerne havde oprettet i Zeebrugge. Ubådene fra denne base var skyld i ikke mindre end 2.554 sænkede allierede skibe.

Museet viser genstande fra ubådskrigen og basen i Zeebrugge. På gulvet i den store hal ses omridset af UB29, der ligger sunket i Kanalen ud for den Belgiske kyst. Omridset er malet på gulvet i 1:1, og på den måde kan man fornemme hvor lidt plads der har været til ubådens 22 mand store besætning.

Samlet set er det en rigtig flot udstilling med effekter, uniformer og billeder, som fortæller historien på en meget autentisk måde

Udstillingen viser også en animeret model af angrebet og blokeringen af Zeebrugge, hvor man fra allieret side gjorde alt for at ødelægge ubådsbunkeren og spærre havneindsejlingen med blokskibe.  Alle blokskibe var fyldt op med beton inden de blev sænket, så de ikke umiddelbart kunne bjerges eller flyttes.

Museet i Belgien er en af de vigtigste museumssamarbejdspartnere for Sea War Museum.

Sea War Museum vil opfordre til, at man lægger sommerturen til Brugge for at se denne specielle udstilling. Ved samme lejlighed kan man nyde den gamle og uberørte middelalder by til fods, i hestevogn eller pr. båd i kanalerne. På trods af hårde krigshandlinger i området omkring Brugge, under både første og anden verdenskrig gik den gamle by fri, De fleste huse i den gamle bydel er fra 1600- og 1700-tallet. Der er flere store torve, og der findes mange museer, attraktioner og gode spisesteder i bydelen.

Det er næsten umuligt at køre bil inden for voldene, så det anbefales at parkere uden for den indre by og i stedet gå eller finde anden transport inden for voldene og kanalerne.

se billeder fra udstillingen HER

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I en lille særudstilling præsenterer vi bl.a. genstrande fra det det såkaldte "dukkeskib, der forliste ud for Fjaltring Kirke og genstande fra det danske skib "Thomas Lawrence, der forliste i den engelske kanal i 1862. Montren indeholder også guld- og sølvmønter fra forliste skatteskibe fra hele verden.

se også artiklen her på Lemvig Folkeblad: HER

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Ny permanent udendørs udstilling om søminer og torpedoer. Se mere HER

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To-årigt projekt med støtte fra Kulturministeriet skal kortlægge, hvor hurtigt skibsvrag nedbrydes i Nordsøen

Tekst og foto af Knud Jakobsen

Seniorforsker David Gregory fra Nationalmuseets afdeling for Bevaring og Naturvidenskab har i samarbejde med Sea War Museum Jutland i Thyborøn indledt et omfattende forskningsprojekt, som kan få afgørende indflydelse på bevaring af kulturværdierne i Nordsøen og andre udsatte farvande. se mere HER

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Støt Mindeparken for Jyllandsslaget med et støttebeløb på mindst 200kr. Se mere HER

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