The Photographical Archive of the Hellenic Maritime Museum started being formed in the early days of the museum’s establishment. The objective was to gather, record, study and make the best use of photographic material related directly or indirectly to the Greek history and tradition.

The photographic material comes mainly from donations of descendants of historic families and today it exceeds 8000 original photographs (both black and white and colour photos), some of which belong to photo albums. At the same time, the archive owns more than 2000 postcards (both black and white and colour), whereas it keeps a considerable number of negatives in glass cases (200).

The material covers the most important historical events that took place in Greece from the end of the 19th century until today. The war of 1897, the Balkan Wars of the period 1912-13, World War I, the Asia Minor Disaster, the Interwar years and World War II are brought to life through the works of important photographers (P. Moraitis, Romaidis Brothers, G. Damianos, Α. Gaziadis, G. Boukas, Carl Boehringer, Nelly, Ε. Evaggelidis, Μ. Kaliabetsos). Next to the photographs of these famous photographers stand those of amateurs, mainly those of navy officers, sailors and soldiers (Ensign Ι. Soliotis, Lieutenant G. Kritsas, Lieutenant Junior Ν. Maris). Using their personal cameras those people took snapshots of historical events as well as of the everyday life onboard the vessels and in the battle fields.

The photographic material of the archive has been classified into the following general categories:

• People (Portraits of Kings, politicians, military officers, etc) • Ships (war ships, merchant ships, passenger ships, fishing boats, etc) • Ports and naval facilities (shipyards, navy yards, naval bases, etc) • Navy training (Navy school facilities, training and drills, training voyages) • War activities (sea battles, convoys, war drills) • Life at sea (snapshots of everyday life on board the ships, photos of the crew) • Naval Air Force (facilities, officers, war scenes) • Navy events (celebrations for the Maritime Week, national celebrations, etc.)

The HMM makes continuous efforts to enrich its photographic archive, which is one of its most significant parts. A great volume of the photographic archive has already been rendered digitally as part of the “Society of Information” programme. This will secure the maintenance and safe-keeping, particularly of the older records, while at the same time it will allow easier access for researchers and history scholars.

Photograph from the visit of a Danish navy ship in Athens. In the center king George I and Queen Olga are pictured. Photographer P. Moraitis.