Metropolitan Police Marine Policing Unit Museum
A lot of London’s best museums are the smaller ones that fewer people have heard of. Then there are the museums that you can only visit by appointment.
The Marine Policing Unit
The Metropolitan Police Marine Policing Unit traces its lineage back to 1798 which gives them more than enough history for their own private museum. And what a place it is, with display cabinets overflowing with interesting objects – from a 1980s mobile phone to cutlasses. They even have the ensign from the Princess Alice which sank with dreadful loss of life in 1878.
Virtual Tour
The 360 Virtual Tour lets you see the museum from all angles, just like Google Street View.
Items on Display
Handcuffs, a 1980s mobile phone and a wooden rattle.
Several cutlasses that were issues to Police Offices in the past.
Police helmets from World War Two.
The Princess Alice
The ensign (ship’s flag) from the “Princess Alice” paddle steamer which sank in 1878 with the loss of at least 600 lives. At the time, Police Officers on the River Thames used rowing boats, the disaster led to the introduction of steam engine powered launches (small boats). The flag was taken from the forepart by PC Venables once the paddle steamer had been raised.
The Roll of Honour
The Roll of Honour lists all River Thames Police Officers killed either on duty or on active service.
Four names have the same date of death whilst serving in the Royal Navy – 15th October 1914. On that day during World War One, HMS Hawke was torpedoed. The ship sank within ten minutes, taking 524 sailors with her. HMS Hawke is best known for the accidental 1911 ramming in Southampton Water of the White Star ocean liner “Olympic”, sister ship of “Titanic”.
