Scottish Maritime Museum: Dumbarton
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Located on the site of the William Denny Shipyard, at the Scottish Maritime Museum Dumbarton you can discover how the Denny brothers’ approach to shipbuilding made waves in the industry from the 1800s to 1963.
The William Denny Shipyard was home to the world’s first commercial ship testing facility. Measuring the length of a football pitch, the Denny Ship Model Experiment Tank tested numerous vessels, explored propulsion methods and held experiments on the Denny-Brown hovercraft.
Discover how the Denny Brothers, builders of the Cutty Sark, made waves in the shipbuilding industry through ship models, photographs and historic artefacts.
You can also set foot in the world of the bygone ship designer by visiting William Denny’s drawing office and finding out how to design your own ship.
Other highlights include four exhibitions a year, an interactive STEM play area and the chance to experience the working environment of the traditional model makers, clay moulders and carpenters of the 1880s. You can even try your hand at smoothing and carving a real wax hull model.
You can also visit the Scottish Maritime Museum: Irvine.