National Museum of the Royal Navy
Gosport

Silent & Secret

Working with the National Museum of the Royal Navy, GuM designed a new permanent exhibition marking the 50th Anniversary of the Royal Navy’s first nuclear submarine deterrent mission. For the first time, this fascinating, ever topical subject is showcased in a dedicated gallery at the Submarine Museum.

Visitors are drawn into a series of intimate spaces, which tell the remarkable story of those who served deep under water for months at a time. Objects retell hidden conflicts and first-hand accounts from crew on-board. Tiny, personal items; a Zippo lighter, a sewing kit, are stashed in lockers or strewn across submarine bunkbeds creating a dynamic interplay with large scale utilitarian objects; the Polaris Warhead and Radar Mast. The fascinating workings of the submarine are exposed through step-by-step and exploded isometric graphics and visitors stand alongside life-size crew members captured in black and white photography. The interpretation also examines the view of nuclear deterrent missions through the eye of the opposition and how submarines have been represented in popular culture. 

The exhibition opened in June 2018, with many ex-service men attending the event, discussing stories still to be told.

A wonderful aural histories project continues to bring forth memories to add to this already rich and moving artefact collection.