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Scottish Maritime Museum (Denny Tank) Marks 40th Anniversary with Free Entry for Doors Open Days

The Scottish Maritime Museum (Denny Tank) gets set to welcome everyone with free entry on Saturday 14 September in celebration of this year’s Doors Open Days and the 40th anniversary of the family-friendly attraction.

Visitors can explore the Museum on Castle Street, Dumbarton, between 10am - 3pm and discover more about the world-famous Victorian shipbuilder William Denny whose shipyard once stood on the spot the Museum occupies today.

One of the most influential of the Clyde shipbuilders, William Denny made pioneering advances in shipbuilding as well as designing and constructing one of the first helicopters to fly and the Denny Hovercraft. 

Key to the success of the William Denny and Brothers Shipyard was the Denny Tank, which sits at the heart of the Museum. Built to test the power and speed of hulls, it is the world’s oldest working model experiment tank and was recently recognised as one of the UK’s most significant transport heritage sites.

As well as enjoying family-friendly interactive games and trails, everyone can also immerse themselves in what shipyard life would have been like, finding out how ships were designed, smoothing a real wax model and testing hulls in a mini test tank.

Other highlights include the ‘Drawing Office’, ‘Manager’s Office’, ship models, photographs and model propellers that it took a skilled technician a week to cast, fair and balance before testing.

Visitors can also see the brand new exhibition, Dream Destinations, which charts the rise of Scotland’s seaside resorts and the golden era of steamboat travel ‘doon the watter’.

Christopher Woodland, Commercial Manager at the Scottish Maritime Museum, says:

“We’re delighted to support Doors Open Days once again. In our 40th anniversary year, it’s also wonderful to be able to invite everyone along to discover and enjoy the fascinating story of William Denny and his Dumbarton shipyard which once stood on our doorstep!

“The shipyard opened in 1844 and the first experiments in the Denny Tank took place in 1883. It wasn’t long though before the inventive Denny extended the Tank’s use to experiments on the components of submarines, yachts, barges and finally the ‘Denny Hovercraft’. 

“It’s also amazing to think that whilst all the engineering advances were taking place at the Shipyard, homing pigeons were used for transferring speed trial results back to the Tank for analysis up until 1939! 

“Altogether, Doors Open Days is a great chance for everyone to pop along and learn more about Scotland’s shipbuilding history and Dumbarton’s local heritage.”

The William Denny and Brothers Shipyard opened in 1844. When it closed in 1963, the Tank was purchased by Vickers-Armstrong then fell out of use. 

Recognising the historic importance of the building and Tank, the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, National Museums Scotland and the Scottish Maritime Museum came together to save them. In 1984 the doors opened once again, this time as part of the Scottish Maritime Museum, which also has a second site in Irvine, Ayrshire.

The National Transport Trust recognised the Denny Ship Model Experiment Tank with a ‘Red Wheel’ heritage plaque in 2023. The Red Wheel Scheme raises awareness of the most important sites of engineering and transport development across the UK.

Doors Open Days is co-ordinated nationally by the Scottish Civic Trust and is part of European Heritage Days. The yearly initiative began in 1990 and is, today, Scotland’s largest free festival that celebrates places and stories, new and old.

 

Doors Open Days runs at the Scottish Maritime Museum (Denny Tank) on Saturday 14 September.

 

www.scottishmaritimemuseum.org

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