The National Maritime Museum in Greenwich joins The Commons on Flickr today.

Comprised of three separate sites – the Maritime Galleries, the Royal Observatory and the Queen’s House – the museum is "a celebration of the sea, ships, time and the stars and their relationship with people."

There’s a taste of Britain’s finest maritime archive available for you, grouped into an “Historic Photographs” collection:
 

PortCities London
Exploring the heart of Britain’s commerce and industry

Freeze Frame
Documentary from two Arctic expeditions in the mid 1800s

Bedford Lemere & Co.
Passenger ships at the turn of the 20th Century, including an interior on the Titanic

And finally, in celebration of the importance of fish and chips to Britons everywhere*, Beside the Seaside…
 

 

All 45 photographs you can see in that particular set are part of an exhibition opening today in the museum itself, Beside the Seaside: snapshots of British coastal life, 1880–1950. The NMM team has also opened a Beside The Seaside group on Flickr where you’re welcome to share photos you’ve taken of the British coastline and its culture. Some photos shared in the group might actually become part of a display in the museum!

    

These two contributions to the group are from DJ Bass and Kollage Kid.

In other sea-related Commons news, there are already about 200 photos of ships in The Commons, and the Division of Fishes at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History have just shared some glorious tropical fish “portraits”, including the Puddingwife Wrasse, the Caribbean Sharp-Nose Puffer and these bright things:

* I’m Australian, so I can say that.