Southampton Maritime Collection is housed in the Special Collections department of Southampton Central Library. It is one of the finest specialist maritime libraries open to the public in Britain. Here, you can carry out in-depth research, or just further an interest in shipping-related topics. You do not need an appointment to visit, and staff will help you find information.

The Maritime Collection celebrates and documents Southampton`s long tradition as a home to merchant shipping. It naturally concentrates on areas associated with the port of Southampton, like passenger shipping, containerisation and the Titanic. But it also has some material on related areas, such as naval craft, yachting, maritime law and ports. The history of merchant shipping is well represented in the library with good collections of books on all types of shipping, including coastal shipping, paddle steamers, tugboats, tramp fleets and passenger ships and ferries. There are books on shipbuilding, ship design, marine engineering, navigation and seamanship. Up to date books on shipping law and international maritime codes are also kept. For those interested in yachting and sailing there are books on yacht design, motor ships, harbour guides and pilots and nautical almanacs.

You can discover the history of individual ships and shipping lines using our excellent collection of maritime registers. These include a near-complete set of Lloyd`s Register of Shipping, the Mercantile Navy Lists and Lloyd`s Register of Yachts. We also have many books on individual ships and shipping lines, if you want to trace a fleet history.

There is a full set of Formal Investigations, the official British marine accident reports often called Wreck Reports, from 1876 to date. We also have British and world statistics on wrecks, shipbuilding and the merchant fleet.

The general book stock contains many books on individual ships and even more on merchant shipping lines, particular those companies with a local connection. Videos of Southampton`s famous liners and shipping lines can be viewed in the library. Thousands of illustration of ships and Southampton Docks are also available. The library also subscribes to many relevant historical and current periodicals, and we index these for articles on ships connected with Southampton and on UK shipping lines. Files of local press cuttings on ships and shipping lines are also maintained by the library, as are press cuttings on Southampton Docks.

Trained and knowledgeable staff are always on hand to help with your research. There is also a limited research service for those unable to visit the collection in person.