The display of submarines, which are a part of the maritime history, in museums

It is known that the first design of the submarines, which aimed to benefit from the concealing nature of the seas and were assigned to wars in this context, was made in the 15th century. In the process from the first time they were produced to the present, the designs of submarines have been developed to be faster, quieter, and lighter in line with the gained experiences from war and training. While some of the submarines that have completed their active duties were scrapped but some of the salvaged submarines are exhibited in museums. In this thesis, the display of the submarines, which are a part of maritime history, in museums abroad and in Türkiye was discussed. In addition to the literature review, the data obtained from the museums abroad and in Türkiye formed the source of this study. In total, thirty one museums from abroad and four from Türkiye were examined. It was determined that the submarines are exhibited in war, industry, naval, science, and technology museums. While these museums were researched in terms of exhibition methods and exhibition spaces, the information on the history of each submarine in the collections of the museums was given. In this thesis, it was aimed to create a systematic information index about the functions, areas of use, and common history of submarines as museum objects. By this means, submarine museums and museums with submarines in their collections were researched and these important institutions, which enabled nations to share their maritime heritage with the public, were examined in terms of contemporary museology. Thus, a big contribution was made to the scientific field. Keywords: Submarine, maritime, collection, exhibition, museum.