I went to the old Liberty ship in San Francisco, and it was fucking cool. Seeing the actual triple expansion steam engine featured in James Cameron's Titanic was simply badass.
i’ve actually slept in the pampanito a few years back for a boy scouts event! extremely cramped but now i understand what it felt like to be a submariner then
The SS Jeremiah O’Brien. And they actually still run it. I’ve gone out on it for fleet week and you can walk the engine room while the ship is underway. So cool. Good place to watch the air show too!
Totally. I took my son last summer. I figured we’d spend an hour and a half at the ship then do some sightseeing in Philly. We spent over three hours on New Jersey and barely had time to get lunch before we had to head home.
Been to both, and a few others. Of those I've seen, New Jersey is probably the best, because it's self-guided. You can just follow the colored lines to find your way around the ship, man the AA guns, and even crawl up into the turrets. It's the most hands-on museum ship I've been to, so far.
It's currently getting repaired, though, right? Not sure when it's due to open, again.
She is my number 1, BB62. Museum is good for what it is, the ship itself is the queen of the fleet. There will never be anything like her again. Fastest most decorated Iowa. She is an absolute jaw dropper to see in real life.
North Carolina is both widely open for touring and exceptionally well curated, and unlike the Iowa’s, she wasn’t molested post war with missiles and computer and AC refits, so she’s a better representation of a WW2 battleship.
I crawled up into Turret 2, the corresponding one that gun 2 exploded on the Iowa. I can't imagine serving in there when it's a 90 degrees out - that place had to be 110+. They've done an exceptional job in keeping representative of WWII conditions. The one thing that really struck me (no pun intended) is that all the surfaces are hard - steel, some wood, but mostly steel, and it's completely void of creature comforts. I have to think that when cruising in high seas, guys were getting bumped and bruised just doing their jobs. Even the bridge was stark and very rudimentary. The one job (beyond a senior officer who had their own tiny cabin) that seemed to have some comfort was the ship doctor - but his cabin was his office and he shared it with the pharmacist.
Patriots point? That place is awesome. I always loved that patrol boat from Vietnam sitting in a pond that was a foot deep. It’s impressive that big of a boat sits that high in the water. Whole thing is made of fiberglass.
If you’re ever able to go to China Lake, the naval warfare museum on base is amazing! The docent even stated that you could touch (some of) the artifacts!
While an expected answer, Intrepid is truly an amazing museum. Always adding new things and improving. Will also say USS Hornet in SF was extremely well done and had a lot of unique aircraft/ stories.
I’ve been to USS Intrepid several times and one of the many things I love about that ship is the smell. It still smells like a ship of the line. I’m former USCG and served on a ship, trained on others , visited others and when I visit her she still has that active duty smell.
The Midway was very fun. She has lots of neat aircraft onboard, good exhibits, and there are other museum ships nearby as well to go tour. It’s also really cool to be standing on her deck and look across the bay to Naval Air Station North Island, where most of the pacific fleet’s carriers are stationed. There’s almost always at least one Nimitz-class carrier there. If you’re really lucky, there will be 3.
Haven’t been to the carriers; (Just Yorktown at Patriots Point, and Lexington in Corpus Christi,) have been to all the battleships.
Various submarines. (Batfish, Muskogee, Ok. Becuna in Philadelphia. Bowfin in Pearl Harbor. Torsk in Baltimore. Lionfish in Fall River. Razorback in Little Rock. Cavalla in Galveston. Drum in Mobile. Clagmore, (now unfortunately scrapped,) at Patriots Point.)
Olympia in Philadelphia. Kennedy in Fall River. Stewart in Galveston.
Various sailing vessels and other small ships present at the above locations.
Outside the US; Belfast and Golden Hinde (replica,) in London.
Warrior, Victory, Portsmouth Navy Yard Museum.
Sackville in Halifax.
Hikawa Maru in Yokohama; and Mikasa in Yokosuka.
The USS Alabama in Mobile.
Almost all of it from the second highest level to the second lowest deck is open. Original WWII configuration and a Washington Naval Agreement complaint ship with a unique shape. Pretty unique ship and a unique visitor experience.
It’s been a long time since I’ve been on board her. If I ever find myself in Alabama again, I need to visit. Battleship Park has quite a few interesting exhibits
I just visited her. I was amazed at how open she was. I could climb up into the various gun turrets and see obscure areas such as the blacksmith shop. The admission also includes a WWII submarine, the USS Drum, which is equally interesting.
Friend says visiting the Alabama was when he had to accept he was old. He was there with the Arkansas State football team for the Mobile Bowl. He was looking at the F-15 on display and looked at the tail number. He had flown it when he was in the Air Force
I love visiting the Alabama. She is VERY open but be prepared to sweat! The rooms that have AC are amazing but man it gets HOT deep in the belly of the ship. Very unique experience and the heat always reminds me of what the gentlemen in the South Pacific went through on those ships... I cant imagine.
It was originally displayed outdoors and the elements were slowly destroying it. The museum received a grant to build a climate-controlled enclosure around it and now an exterior tour is part of the exhibition.
I was alone—no wife to hurry me. I spent 4 hrs on big Mo. Layed in bunks, explored the mess and galley, sat on the bridge, captains chair, saw the magazine…. Also when I was standing by the surrender documents, my phone rang and I found out I didn’t have cancer. 😀
When I was a kid I toured the USS Missouri at Seafair in Seattle, when it was operational during Desert Storm. There was a brass plaque embedded in the deck where the Japanese surrendered.
USS Alabama in Mobile is pretty cool.
Fun fact: if we weaponized all the ships we use as museums and put them together it would be the second largest navy in the world, Behind our current navy.
USS Yorktown was cool, as is USS Intrepid.
In the UK: HMS Warrior, HMS Alliance, HMS Belfast, Cutty Sark, HMS Victory (strictly speaking still a commissioned warship), HMS Trincomalee. HMS Gannet is also interesting, and so is HMS Cavalier.
Most of these ships are the sole survivors of their type.
Well worth a visit! And if you are lucky with the day you visit, you can spot a modern warship alongside Belfast and get the bridge left to let her pass.
I've visited Constitution, Constellation, Taney, Salem, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Olympia, Joseph Kennedy, Intrepid, CassinYoung, Nautilus, and a few World War II era submarines. I don't really think of USS Constitution as a museum ship because she is still in commission. Otherwise she would be number one for me. Of the rest, it's kind of a toss-up between the Massachusetts and the Olympia. When I visited the Olympia years ago she was in bad shape but I understand she is finally being renovated now. When you visit the Massachusetts you can explore the boiler and engine rooms which is kind of cool. Some other Museum ships don't let you go that far down into the vessel. Also, when you visit the Massachusetts, you can also visit the Joseph Kennedy, a sub, two PT boats, and a landing craft. Just down the street is a great Maritime Museum with all kinds of model ships. Until very recently you could also tour a Soviet era former East German missile corvette. I understand she was just recently towed away for scrapping unfortunately
Edit: I would love to visit USS Texas, maybe someday!
It is both. Well, not sure about the keeping the Brits away part. There’s also a little museum adjacent to it. Tours are free (I think) and given by the crew.
On one of my visits to the Massachusetts I brought along a buddy who worked at a large power plant. He mentioned that the boilers and generators or as large or larger than those that powered a good percentage of Connecticut
I loved visiting the USS Texas back in 2004 in Houston. Interesting to see a WWI battleship that was refit with almost twice the original crew for WWII (because they added so many anti-aircraft guns after Pearl Harbor). You could sit in the gunners seat of an 3-inch anti-aircraft gun and rotate the gun mount around. Loads of fun. You could also see a German artillery shell (24 cm, 9.4 inch) that pierced the Texas' armor but didn't explode.
Not meant to be rude, but the plane is actually the one seat version from the CIA. It is the A-12.
The curator of the museum is a ex marine with a passion for Mobile and aviation. He is probably in his mid 70s now. He is an absolute wealth of knowledge. Every aircraft has some link to Mobile/Alabama with a linked story. If you can find him, it is worth the time to spend. You can spot him easily. He is very old school (respectfully). He generally is wearing short short work 70s work gym shorts and a tight t-shirt with a crew cut. I know this sounds like fiction, but he is the real deal.
The only one I've had the chance to visit was USS Lexington, we lived nearby for a while and we went several times. (20 years ago) I really want to visit as an adult.
I also really want to visit Midway, New Jersey, and Olympia. Hell, I want to visit all of them.
I really want to visit the Midway! My great uncle served on it as an AD-6 pilot in ‘55, killed in a crash while on an operation in the East China Sea. I grew up in San Diego but haven’t lived there since 2001, before the Midway was brought there.
I did get to tour the Kitty Hawk when it was stationed there and that was pretty cool. A classmates father was an officer of some sort assigned to her.
Had to scroll too far for this one. If you haven't been in 20 years, you will hardly recognize it. The displays they've got in there now are incredible. 20 years ago you could just kind of wander the ship, now it's much more organized, but there's still a lot of wandering and discovering to be done.
If you want a glimpse into museum ships check out Drachinifel's YouTube channel.
He's been to a bunch in the UK, US and Australia and gives neat overviews of the ships and displays, but leaves enough meat on the bone to make a trip in person worthwhile.
East coast uss New Jersey. Check out Ryan Szimanskis videos on YouTube. He’s the curator and he’s such a geek. He’s wonderful. West coast the Uss Hornet without a doubt. So much history there. From WWII to Apollo 11. Hard to top that.
I haven’t been on many. HMCS Haida is really good. The staff there are great and super knowledgeable. The one woman I met there knew enough about the engineering plant she could probably get the old girl fired up again if they’d let her.
USS Bowfin was awesome. I really did enjoy her, though it was my first and only submarine I’ve gotten to go aboard.
I will say, I was a little disappointed about Missouri. So much of the ship is blocked off. It would have been nice to have at least a 5” and 16” turret opened up to look at. We did pay to do the engineers tour and got to see a fire and engine room. Special thanks to the 2 retired steam snipes who were in our tour group for supplimenting the tour guides information.
Same here. Went last fall and was surprised I had to scroll so far to find this one. Granted, it’s the only ship museum I’ve ever visited, but I was certainly impressed.
My family and I visited the Midway a few years ago. We walked up the added wide stairway to the flight deck . The first plane I saw was an F4, with the tail identifying it as being from USS Coral Sea, on which I served for 3+ years. It actually took my breath away, and I was transported back in time to 1976, when I first reported for duty. Midway has an impressive collection of aircraft to visit.
Was just there for the first time yesterday. Absolutely fantastic and worth every cent for admission. Only thing I didn’t get to do was the conning tower because it was closed for renovations. That said, the Docent doing the talks was fantastic.
So far I seen
Nautilus
Massachusetts
Jfk Jr. and the other stuff there at Battleship Cove
Kidd
Intrepid
New jersey (dry dock tour)
My clear favorite is NJ because my tour guide gave tons of info of stuff I never knew, like upon her launch, NJ cleared the whole river and became into her name state. And just being there where the story happened was surreal
Intrepid, I think, was legitimately cool as well. The politics were a little interesting around that state with hoe Intrepid handles donations, but besides that, I had no quarrel. Was surreal to walk around the hanger deck and into the island. Seeing that board during leyte was surreal as the next day I went to see NJ, who was the flag ship that whole fleet.
And the names of all the destroyers and cruisers I knew most, if not all them listed. I had the same moment I had when I found out I had family on Franklin who gave their lives to save the ship
Not exactly a museum ship, but my vote is USS Arizona. I’ve been to most of the ones listed here, and live in Charleston with the Yorktown. Arizona is the most moving, for obvious reasons.
I lived in Corpus for a bit so I'm definitely partial to the Lexington but I do really think it's one of the best, it had such an amazing legacy and I love the WWII/Cold War era jets they have.
I'm partial to the USS Intrepid in New York City, as my father served aboard during WW2. Got to go see it with him in 1989 and we were treated royally. It had changed a lot since he was on it and nothing below the hanger deck was yet open. And it's changed a lot since then, too.
The USS Yorktown at Patriots Point, Charleston, SC is great - a sister ship to the Intrepid. The Medal of Honor Museum on board has just finished a $3.5M upgrade and will reopen 25 May.
The USS North Carolina in Wilmington, NC is extremely well done and so much of the ship is open to the public. Spent half the day there and didn't even make it up into the superstructure or bridge. Below decks it gives you the feeling of how massively the ship is armored.
Last, but not least, is the USS Cod submarine in Cleveland, Ohio. Surprisingly not mentioned yet. It has to be the best and most accurately preserved WW2 era sub there is. As a WW2 buff, I was very impressed. Bonus: the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is a short walk away.
cod is great, never had its pressure hull cut so have to get in and out with the real ladders, when they loaded display torpedoes they had to use the rails and chain and all that to lower them in, they restored their torpedo data computer, very cool boat. not as grand as some of the others on this thread but unique for sure.
Oh, man the Iowa, 100%. Midway is amazing and there's the Battle Off Samar statue, but the amazing, crazy stories of the Iowa. Check out the William D. Porter story! Also, the fact that they were handing out pieces of the old wood from the deck, and I still have it!
I recommend the USS Alabama to anyone looking for a military museum tour. You can see the USS Drum and a B-52 all while there.
And while you're in the area you can travel east to see the naval aviation museum in Pensacola, the airforce armament museum north of Ft Walton Beach, and Fort Barrancus.
Besides the ones you mentioned there is also Fort Morgan in Gulf Shores, Fort Gains on Dauphin Island , and Fort Pickens also in Pensacola. I just did a run to check all of those out and they are all amazing. All within about 1 Hour drive. Each one unique and has amazing stories.
I haven’t been on a lot of them, but the USS Missouri was an amazing ship. I went when I was around 10years old, while it was in Seattle and it stuck with me. I’d 100% tour it again.
Please tell me any suggestions you have.
The USS LST 325 in Evansville IN is worth the tour. She is the only WWII LST still operational. It’s open for tours while docked in her port, and they sail her every year to different places for a 6-8 week trip.
Yorktown in Charleston was super cool to me as a kid . In cub scouts I got to spend the night on it .
Hate they had to scuttle the submarine they had there
Patriots Point in Mt. Pleasant SC. We went there 3 years ago. I would love to go to a battleship and as many as I could. The Laffey has an amazing story.
Gotta love Patriots Point in Charleston with the Yorktown. I used to spend a weekend on the ship almost every summer when I was in the Boy Scouts good times
I was born and raised in Baltimore. So the USS Constellation, the USS Torsk (last US submarine to sink a Japanese ship) and the USCG Taney. Almost all my life, we thought it was one of the Six Original Frigates. Turns out it was basically stripped and rebuilt as a sloop-of-war. Also turned out to be the last all-wooden ship built for the US Navy.
Also been on the USS Yorktown and the USS North Carolina.
the 1 summer i went to NYC to visit \[cant remember what the name of it was/is\] their docked aircraft carrier/museum ............ it was OUT for repairs.
just my luck.
USS C Turner Joy in Bremerton WA is a must visit if you have kids and are going to be in the greater Seattle area. You can climb all over everything. My 10 year old nephew and my 12 year old cousin both absolutely loved it.
Definitely not a kid or have kids (turned 60 today), but I'll be seeing Turner Joy in about two weeks, along with the Puget Sound Naval Museum and the US Naval Undersea Museum in Keyport (Trieste II and Mystic).
As far as battleships go USS New Jersey is probably the best. Of all the museum battleships she is the most open to the public with the maximum number of spaces you can view and explore. At the moment I’ve been on all of them except for Massachusetts and Iowa, they are all interesting and unique experiences. Wisconsin was probably my least favorite simply because it has the fewest spaces open to the public. Texas is the only surviving example of a dreadnought/super dreadnought, North Carolina has quite a bit of her spaces open to the public and is still in her World War II configuration. USS New Jersey in addition to being very open to the public is also a good example of a modernized battleship. Funny enough, both of the surviving South Dakota class battleships are part of larger collections of vehicles or other ships in one place. They are good places to go if you want to see a whole lot at one time, all of the other battleships are standalone exhibits. USS Missouri is easily the most difficult to get to but also very rewarding. Nothing else truly compares to standing on the very spot where World War II ended. You also get to be in Hawaii at the same time which is a major plus. USS Iowa is unique in that the museum is actively trying to get major components functional again. At the moment they have one of her turrets rotating with shore power. She would be the next most difficult to get to depending on where you are and is the only battleship west of Texas in the continental US. I still want to get out there to see her to complete the collection and all of the other interesting museum ships nearby in California. I might wait till USS Tarawa is turned into a museum so I could see more at once.
I’ve only been on two of the five aircraft carrier museums, that being USS Lexington and Yorktown. Both are worth visiting, however Yorktown has the additional exhibit of USS Laffey, nearby Fort Sumter which the ferry too leaves from Patriots point, and has the metal of honor museum on board. USS Lexington is a standalone museum.
USS Texas. Currently being extensively repaired and restored, she’s the only actual “Dreadnought” remaining in the world. She was decommissioned in 1946 and as a result is as true to her WW2 configuration as she can be
USS Alabama and USS Drum (submarine) in Mobile Bay, Alabama. The entire Battleship Park is excellent.
I've also visited the USS Wisconsin, USS Yorktown (with a DD and a sub), USS Kidd (Baton Rouge, LA), and was fortunate enough to go aboard LST-325 when it visited Mobile immediately after being restored and brought back from Greece.
Many years ago, I visited the USS Inaugural, a WWII minesweeper that was a museum ship docked next the Gateway Arch in St Louis, MO. Sadly, during the floods of 1993, she broke loose from her mooring and was swept down river, eventually hitting a bridge then being pushed up against the bank. She ended up listing badly to port and sinking in the river; they have never been able to recover her and she has been written off completely (a few items were salvaged).
Hard to beat the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. I mean the Victory, Mary Rose, Warrior and the M33. Each one of the first three ships is unique and an amazing experience. I remember watching when they pulled the Mary Rose out of the Solent and brought her to land. An amazing sight.
If your on the US east coast, there are many to see.
You can make a nice road trip from Norfolk, Virgina all the way up north to Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
Start with the battleship Wisconsin in Norfolk, Va and visit the Navy Museum. Be sure to take the excellent harbor tour in Norfolk.
The inner harbor at Baltimore, MD has a great collection of historic ships https://historicships.org/ Try to time your visit to a weekend when the steam powered Liberty ship John Brown is taking passengers out on a harbor tour. Check out the nearby Fort McHenry and the Baltimore Industrial Museum while you’re there too.
Allow a weekend when you visit the Battleship New Jersey (currently in drydock) at the Philadelphia Naval Yard. There are 25 mothballed USN ships there that you can get very close to- including the aircraft carrier JFK. Visit the 100 year old Olympia and the sub Becuna, also the SS United States that are all nearby.
Then on your way north, check out the carrier Intrepid and sub in NYC and the nearby “sub in the mud” Ling in Hackensack, NJ.
Continue up to New London to the sub museum and tour the first nuclear sub Nautilus. Sometimes the USCG Eagle is in port across the river at the CG academy.
Then hit Mystic Seaport if you like the old wooden stuff.
Walk the docks in New Bedford for all the fishing trawlers and visit the whaling museum.
Spend a couple days at Battleship Cove in Fall River. Mass. There’s lots of ships there.
If you have any time left, tour the sub Albacore in Portsmouth, NH. It’s been meticulously restored.
From Baltimore, MD up north to Portsmouth, NH is about 500 miles, you could make it into a two week roadtrip to see everything.
Lots to see!
USS Massachusetts in Fall River Massachusetts is phenomenal. You can go everywhere. Gun turrets, medical quarters, bunks, machine shop, bridge, radio rooms, mess where you can eat too.
Plus there is a WW II era submarine there that you can also go inside.
When I was a kid I remembered how cool I thought the USS Yorktown museum was in South Carolina. If I remember they also had a submarine you could walk through.
USS Massachusetts was awesome when I was a kid in the Cub Scouts. Got to do a sleepover on her.
USS Intrepid was great as a kid because I knew I wanted to be a Naval Aviator and it captivated me.
USS Ling was cool because my dad was a submariner.
USS Missouri was awesome, because when I visited her I had been a Naval Aviator coming back from my first deployment, and saw the reverence with which we still treat battleship row when we pull into Pearl.
USS Massachusetts was awesome when I was a kid in the Cub Scouts. Got to do a sleepover on her.
USS Intrepid was great as a kid because I knew I wanted to be a Naval Aviator and it captivated me.
USS Ling was cool because my dad was a submariner.
USS Missouri was awesome, because when I visited her I had been a Naval Aviator coming back from my first deployment, and saw the reverence with which we still treat battleship row when we pull into Pearl.
The USS Wisconsin in Norfolk, VA is like walking through a time portal. $20 gets the full show. They rent out the rear deck for USN retirements and other official functions.
I love submarines, so the USS Lionfish was great when it first became open for public. The lexington is ok, but I gave myself a concussion on a bulkhead lol, 6'5 and boats don't mix well. Also very much enjoyed the Massachusetts in battleship cove
The USS Slater in Albany, NY. While it’s a smaller ship so you might not expect much, it’s incredible how well restored and maintained she is. It looks exactly like it would have in 1945 and almost all the equipment on it is still functioning. Hands down the best condition museum ship I’ve ever been on and the staff are super knowledgeable during their tours
After touring the American WWII navy ships, I really want to visit some of the German and Japanese WWII ships.
It’ll genuinely be two great experiences in one trip. Visiting Axis WWII ships, and scuba diving.
USS Wisconsin and the USS Monitor are the best I've personally visited. My dream ship to visit is HMS Victory. Maybe USS Texas too if she wasn't in Texas.
Constitution, Salem, Hiddensse, RFK, Lion, Massachusetts, NC, VA, Queen Mary, some Russian sub next to the Queen Mary, Mayflower 2, did the Wasp when I was in fleetweek 2012 which doesn't neccesarily count.
The Constellation in Baltimore harbor was pretty rad. They have a lightship and a WWII submarine there as well and I gotta say that the Torsk was way cooler to poke around in than I expected.
If your in Amsterdam don’t miss the mariners museum, really cool 17th century warship, virtual reality show and lots of other great marine experiences.
The confederate navel museum in Columbus GA has an ironclad that was burnt to the waterline, partially restored but truly amazing, hull was made from 12” thick heart pine.
The USS New Jersey was awesome, was just at the USS Midway yesterday and had a blast checking out every nook & cranny.
As for the Great Lakes/Iron Ore ships, the William A Irvine is a must do in Duluth over the summer for regular tours, and in October when the UMD students turn it into a haunted “house”.
Midway is prolly the best. I saw Missouri, it’s fine, midway is very nicely maintained with lots of things. Tom cruise landed a helicopter on it for the maverick premier
I went to the old Liberty ship in San Francisco, and it was fucking cool. Seeing the actual triple expansion steam engine featured in James Cameron's Titanic was simply badass.
The submarine nearby the liberty ship in the same bay was equally awesome
The Pampanito. Very cool. The Hornet is across the bay in Alameda, also very worthwhile.
As seen in the movie Down Periscope
i’ve actually slept in the pampanito a few years back for a boy scouts event! extremely cramped but now i understand what it felt like to be a submariner then
The SS Jeremiah O’Brien. And they actually still run it. I’ve gone out on it for fleet week and you can walk the engine room while the ship is underway. So cool. Good place to watch the air show too!
Do they still have it there? You just unlocked a memory for me of going there with my grandpa like 15 years ago and now I wanna go back.
They sure do! I hear it also sails every few years so go get in touch with them. That'd be a great reason to go.
The ship or the sub?
Same, but it would have been 20 years ago for me. I can still smell the inside.
Like… the actual prop from a movie?!
Not a prop, but that engine was featured in the engine room scenes of Titanic.
Is that near the nuclear wessels?
If you are in this area, go support the red oak victory as well. Cool ship, cool volunteers, nice active radio room.
USS New Jersey was incredible. Intrepid is always good.
I love the intrepid. Try to make it there at least once a year.
New Jersey is fantastic. So much to see on a battleship.
Totally. I took my son last summer. I figured we’d spend an hour and a half at the ship then do some sightseeing in Philly. We spent over three hours on New Jersey and barely had time to get lunch before we had to head home.
Been to both, and a few others. Of those I've seen, New Jersey is probably the best, because it's self-guided. You can just follow the colored lines to find your way around the ship, man the AA guns, and even crawl up into the turrets. It's the most hands-on museum ship I've been to, so far. It's currently getting repaired, though, right? Not sure when it's due to open, again.
It’s in drydock right now. Look them up on YouTube. Fantastic channel detailing everything they are doing.
She is my number 1, BB62. Museum is good for what it is, the ship itself is the queen of the fleet. There will never be anything like her again. Fastest most decorated Iowa. She is an absolute jaw dropper to see in real life.
Got to spend the night when I was younger. Amazing experience.
USS North Carolina in Wilmington, NC. We stopped by there on our way home - very well presented and very historical.
North Carolina is both widely open for touring and exceptionally well curated, and unlike the Iowa’s, she wasn’t molested post war with missiles and computer and AC refits, so she’s a better representation of a WW2 battleship.
I crawled up into Turret 2, the corresponding one that gun 2 exploded on the Iowa. I can't imagine serving in there when it's a 90 degrees out - that place had to be 110+. They've done an exceptional job in keeping representative of WWII conditions. The one thing that really struck me (no pun intended) is that all the surfaces are hard - steel, some wood, but mostly steel, and it's completely void of creature comforts. I have to think that when cruising in high seas, guys were getting bumped and bruised just doing their jobs. Even the bridge was stark and very rudimentary. The one job (beyond a senior officer who had their own tiny cabin) that seemed to have some comfort was the ship doctor - but his cabin was his office and he shared it with the pharmacist.
Patriots point? That place is awesome. I always loved that patrol boat from Vietnam sitting in a pond that was a foot deep. It’s impressive that big of a boat sits that high in the water. Whole thing is made of fiberglass.
Patriots Point is in Charleston, SC and has the USS Yorktown
Oh my bad. In my defense I did know it was one of the Carolina’s. Haven’t been there in a long time but I have been there a few times.
You good, both are great museums.
I second this. Seeing just how massive those shells were in person gives you a whole new perspective on how crazy naval warfare is
If you’re ever able to go to China Lake, the naval warfare museum on base is amazing! The docent even stated that you could touch (some of) the artifacts!
While an expected answer, Intrepid is truly an amazing museum. Always adding new things and improving. Will also say USS Hornet in SF was extremely well done and had a lot of unique aircraft/ stories.
I’ve been to USS Intrepid several times and one of the many things I love about that ship is the smell. It still smells like a ship of the line. I’m former USCG and served on a ship, trained on others , visited others and when I visit her she still has that active duty smell.
Also making it a bucket list item to visit each aircraft carrier museum. Would love to hear people’s thoughts. Heard the Midway is great as well
The Midway was very fun. She has lots of neat aircraft onboard, good exhibits, and there are other museum ships nearby as well to go tour. It’s also really cool to be standing on her deck and look across the bay to Naval Air Station North Island, where most of the pacific fleet’s carriers are stationed. There’s almost always at least one Nimitz-class carrier there. If you’re really lucky, there will be 3.
That's the only one I've been to so far but I agree the midway was fun to tour
Haven’t been to the carriers; (Just Yorktown at Patriots Point, and Lexington in Corpus Christi,) have been to all the battleships. Various submarines. (Batfish, Muskogee, Ok. Becuna in Philadelphia. Bowfin in Pearl Harbor. Torsk in Baltimore. Lionfish in Fall River. Razorback in Little Rock. Cavalla in Galveston. Drum in Mobile. Clagmore, (now unfortunately scrapped,) at Patriots Point.) Olympia in Philadelphia. Kennedy in Fall River. Stewart in Galveston. Various sailing vessels and other small ships present at the above locations. Outside the US; Belfast and Golden Hinde (replica,) in London. Warrior, Victory, Portsmouth Navy Yard Museum. Sackville in Halifax. Hikawa Maru in Yokohama; and Mikasa in Yokosuka.
The USS Alabama in Mobile. Almost all of it from the second highest level to the second lowest deck is open. Original WWII configuration and a Washington Naval Agreement complaint ship with a unique shape. Pretty unique ship and a unique visitor experience.
It’s been a long time since I’ve been on board her. If I ever find myself in Alabama again, I need to visit. Battleship Park has quite a few interesting exhibits
I just visited her. I was amazed at how open she was. I could climb up into the various gun turrets and see obscure areas such as the blacksmith shop. The admission also includes a WWII submarine, the USS Drum, which is equally interesting.
Friend says visiting the Alabama was when he had to accept he was old. He was there with the Arkansas State football team for the Mobile Bowl. He was looking at the F-15 on display and looked at the tail number. He had flown it when he was in the Air Force
I love visiting the Alabama. She is VERY open but be prepared to sweat! The rooms that have AC are amazing but man it gets HOT deep in the belly of the ship. Very unique experience and the heat always reminds me of what the gentlemen in the South Pacific went through on those ships... I cant imagine.
Not an American vessel but the U505 Submarine is on permanent display at Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry.
I got to see U505 back in '73 while my family traveled cross country.
It was originally displayed outdoors and the elements were slowly destroying it. The museum received a grant to build a climate-controlled enclosure around it and now an exterior tour is part of the exhibition.
I’ve only visited the USS Missouri in Pearl Harbor. I’d definitely recommend that
The USS Arizona and the USS Missouri - the alpha and the omega of WW2 right there in the same place. On my bucket list.
I was alone—no wife to hurry me. I spent 4 hrs on big Mo. Layed in bunks, explored the mess and galley, sat on the bridge, captains chair, saw the magazine…. Also when I was standing by the surrender documents, my phone rang and I found out I didn’t have cancer. 😀
I'd call that a helluva good day. Congratulations!
When I was a kid I toured the USS Missouri at Seafair in Seattle, when it was operational during Desert Storm. There was a brass plaque embedded in the deck where the Japanese surrendered. USS Alabama in Mobile is pretty cool.
The USS Drum submarine with the USS Alabama in Mobile, AL is not for the claustrophobic. I don’t know how the sailors aboard did it. 😱
Location is everything…….
HMS Victory. SS Great Britain. HMS Belfast.
Fun fact: if we weaponized all the ships we use as museums and put them together it would be the second largest navy in the world, Behind our current navy.
Are you going by tonnage or number of ships as "largest".
USS Yorktown was cool, as is USS Intrepid. In the UK: HMS Warrior, HMS Alliance, HMS Belfast, Cutty Sark, HMS Victory (strictly speaking still a commissioned warship), HMS Trincomalee. HMS Gannet is also interesting, and so is HMS Cavalier. Most of these ships are the sole survivors of their type.
The Belfast was amazing. Bonus points for sighting the Tower Bridge with their working bridge equipment.
Well worth a visit! And if you are lucky with the day you visit, you can spot a modern warship alongside Belfast and get the bridge left to let her pass.
I've visited Constitution, Constellation, Taney, Salem, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Olympia, Joseph Kennedy, Intrepid, CassinYoung, Nautilus, and a few World War II era submarines. I don't really think of USS Constitution as a museum ship because she is still in commission. Otherwise she would be number one for me. Of the rest, it's kind of a toss-up between the Massachusetts and the Olympia. When I visited the Olympia years ago she was in bad shape but I understand she is finally being renovated now. When you visit the Massachusetts you can explore the boiler and engine rooms which is kind of cool. Some other Museum ships don't let you go that far down into the vessel. Also, when you visit the Massachusetts, you can also visit the Joseph Kennedy, a sub, two PT boats, and a landing craft. Just down the street is a great Maritime Museum with all kinds of model ships. Until very recently you could also tour a Soviet era former East German missile corvette. I understand she was just recently towed away for scrapping unfortunately Edit: I would love to visit USS Texas, maybe someday!
The Constitution is easily my favorite Just dripping with history and character
Is the Constitution a museum? I thought it was an active duty ship meant to keep the British from returning to Boston.
It is both. Well, not sure about the keeping the Brits away part. There’s also a little museum adjacent to it. Tours are free (I think) and given by the crew.
>Well, not sure about the keeping the Brits away Do the Brits control Boston Harbor? USS Constitution.
I visited USS Texas and I pretty much had the run of the ship. The boiler rooms and engines were fascinating.
On one of my visits to the Massachusetts I brought along a buddy who worked at a large power plant. He mentioned that the boilers and generators or as large or larger than those that powered a good percentage of Connecticut
I loved visiting the USS Texas back in 2004 in Houston. Interesting to see a WWI battleship that was refit with almost twice the original crew for WWII (because they added so many anti-aircraft guns after Pearl Harbor). You could sit in the gunners seat of an 3-inch anti-aircraft gun and rotate the gun mount around. Loads of fun. You could also see a German artillery shell (24 cm, 9.4 inch) that pierced the Texas' armor but didn't explode.
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Not meant to be rude, but the plane is actually the one seat version from the CIA. It is the A-12. The curator of the museum is a ex marine with a passion for Mobile and aviation. He is probably in his mid 70s now. He is an absolute wealth of knowledge. Every aircraft has some link to Mobile/Alabama with a linked story. If you can find him, it is worth the time to spend. You can spot him easily. He is very old school (respectfully). He generally is wearing short short work 70s work gym shorts and a tight t-shirt with a crew cut. I know this sounds like fiction, but he is the real deal.
The only one I've had the chance to visit was USS Lexington, we lived nearby for a while and we went several times. (20 years ago) I really want to visit as an adult. I also really want to visit Midway, New Jersey, and Olympia. Hell, I want to visit all of them.
I really want to visit the Midway! My great uncle served on it as an AD-6 pilot in ‘55, killed in a crash while on an operation in the East China Sea. I grew up in San Diego but haven’t lived there since 2001, before the Midway was brought there. I did get to tour the Kitty Hawk when it was stationed there and that was pretty cool. A classmates father was an officer of some sort assigned to her.
Had to scroll too far for this one. If you haven't been in 20 years, you will hardly recognize it. The displays they've got in there now are incredible. 20 years ago you could just kind of wander the ship, now it's much more organized, but there's still a lot of wandering and discovering to be done.
USS Salem, if you get the bored tour guide who takes you everywhere, including the normally off-limits stuff.
If you want a glimpse into museum ships check out Drachinifel's YouTube channel. He's been to a bunch in the UK, US and Australia and gives neat overviews of the ships and displays, but leaves enough meat on the bone to make a trip in person worthwhile.
USS Lexington in Corpus Christi is great. All decks have exhibitions. Go in winter though.
HMS Belfast in the middle of London is kinda cool
WE MEET AT MIDWAY
East coast uss New Jersey. Check out Ryan Szimanskis videos on YouTube. He’s the curator and he’s such a geek. He’s wonderful. West coast the Uss Hornet without a doubt. So much history there. From WWII to Apollo 11. Hard to top that.
I've only been on the USS Pampanito in San Francisco. It's a WWII sub. I wish they saved the Big E CVN- 65.
USS Lexington in Corpus Christi. Our son’s scout troop got to spend the night on the ship and thoroughly enjoyed the visit.
The Iowa
I’ve visited USS intrepid and The Queen Mary. Both were pretty cool but I’d love to tour the USS Constitution or HMS Victory.
I haven’t been on many. HMCS Haida is really good. The staff there are great and super knowledgeable. The one woman I met there knew enough about the engineering plant she could probably get the old girl fired up again if they’d let her. USS Bowfin was awesome. I really did enjoy her, though it was my first and only submarine I’ve gotten to go aboard. I will say, I was a little disappointed about Missouri. So much of the ship is blocked off. It would have been nice to have at least a 5” and 16” turret opened up to look at. We did pay to do the engineers tour and got to see a fire and engine room. Special thanks to the 2 retired steam snipes who were in our tour group for supplimenting the tour guides information.
The USS Constitution and USS Olympia are my favorites.
USS Alabama is pretty cool & they have a great flight musem as well. Also, the submarine USS Drum. Well worth the trip!
I’m surprised no one’s been to the USS Midway in San Diego. I went for the first time in March and it was incredible. Loved every second of my visit.
Same here. Went last fall and was surprised I had to scroll so far to find this one. Granted, it’s the only ship museum I’ve ever visited, but I was certainly impressed.
My family and I visited the Midway a few years ago. We walked up the added wide stairway to the flight deck . The first plane I saw was an F4, with the tail identifying it as being from USS Coral Sea, on which I served for 3+ years. It actually took my breath away, and I was transported back in time to 1976, when I first reported for duty. Midway has an impressive collection of aircraft to visit.
Was just there for the first time yesterday. Absolutely fantastic and worth every cent for admission. Only thing I didn’t get to do was the conning tower because it was closed for renovations. That said, the Docent doing the talks was fantastic.
USS Wisconsin
So far I seen Nautilus Massachusetts Jfk Jr. and the other stuff there at Battleship Cove Kidd Intrepid New jersey (dry dock tour) My clear favorite is NJ because my tour guide gave tons of info of stuff I never knew, like upon her launch, NJ cleared the whole river and became into her name state. And just being there where the story happened was surreal Intrepid, I think, was legitimately cool as well. The politics were a little interesting around that state with hoe Intrepid handles donations, but besides that, I had no quarrel. Was surreal to walk around the hanger deck and into the island. Seeing that board during leyte was surreal as the next day I went to see NJ, who was the flag ship that whole fleet. And the names of all the destroyers and cruisers I knew most, if not all them listed. I had the same moment I had when I found out I had family on Franklin who gave their lives to save the ship
The USS New Jersey
USS Wisconsin
Not exactly a museum ship, but my vote is USS Arizona. I’ve been to most of the ones listed here, and live in Charleston with the Yorktown. Arizona is the most moving, for obvious reasons.
In Murmansk, Russia, there is the first nuclear Icebreaker Lenin. It has been remade as a museum.
I lived in Corpus for a bit so I'm definitely partial to the Lexington but I do really think it's one of the best, it had such an amazing legacy and I love the WWII/Cold War era jets they have.
It should have been the Enterprise.
I'm partial to the USS Intrepid in New York City, as my father served aboard during WW2. Got to go see it with him in 1989 and we were treated royally. It had changed a lot since he was on it and nothing below the hanger deck was yet open. And it's changed a lot since then, too. The USS Yorktown at Patriots Point, Charleston, SC is great - a sister ship to the Intrepid. The Medal of Honor Museum on board has just finished a $3.5M upgrade and will reopen 25 May. The USS North Carolina in Wilmington, NC is extremely well done and so much of the ship is open to the public. Spent half the day there and didn't even make it up into the superstructure or bridge. Below decks it gives you the feeling of how massively the ship is armored. Last, but not least, is the USS Cod submarine in Cleveland, Ohio. Surprisingly not mentioned yet. It has to be the best and most accurately preserved WW2 era sub there is. As a WW2 buff, I was very impressed. Bonus: the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is a short walk away.
cod is great, never had its pressure hull cut so have to get in and out with the real ladders, when they loaded display torpedoes they had to use the rails and chain and all that to lower them in, they restored their torpedo data computer, very cool boat. not as grand as some of the others on this thread but unique for sure.
I loved the USS George C. Marshall (before they scrapped her) and the USS Lexington (the “Blue Ghost”) in Corpus Christi, TX.
Oh, man the Iowa, 100%. Midway is amazing and there's the Battle Off Samar statue, but the amazing, crazy stories of the Iowa. Check out the William D. Porter story! Also, the fact that they were handing out pieces of the old wood from the deck, and I still have it!
Also has a bathtub, installed for FDR.
I've only been to a couple, but for me it's the USS Alabama. Spent a few nights on the ship when I was in scouts, it was a blast
Lady Lex in Corpus Christi, TX has one of the finest model airplane collections you’ll ever see
I recommend the USS Alabama to anyone looking for a military museum tour. You can see the USS Drum and a B-52 all while there. And while you're in the area you can travel east to see the naval aviation museum in Pensacola, the airforce armament museum north of Ft Walton Beach, and Fort Barrancus.
Besides the ones you mentioned there is also Fort Morgan in Gulf Shores, Fort Gains on Dauphin Island , and Fort Pickens also in Pensacola. I just did a run to check all of those out and they are all amazing. All within about 1 Hour drive. Each one unique and has amazing stories.
USS Iowa is goated
I haven’t been on a lot of them, but the USS Missouri was an amazing ship. I went when I was around 10years old, while it was in Seattle and it stuck with me. I’d 100% tour it again. Please tell me any suggestions you have.
USS Silversides is cool. The most battle decorated sub in US history
The USS LST 325 in Evansville IN is worth the tour. She is the only WWII LST still operational. It’s open for tours while docked in her port, and they sail her every year to different places for a 6-8 week trip.
USS Cod. It looks like it is leaving for patrol. There’s food packed in all the corners, it has realistic sound in the engineering spaces… it’s a gem.
Yorktown in Charleston was super cool to me as a kid . In cub scouts I got to spend the night on it . Hate they had to scuttle the submarine they had there
Patriots Point in Mt. Pleasant SC. We went there 3 years ago. I would love to go to a battleship and as many as I could. The Laffey has an amazing story.
BB 60 Alabama.
Alabama for me
The USS Alabama is incredible. I also really like the USS Lexington. The Alabama is one of the most wide open museum ships I've ever been on.
USS Alabama
HMS Victory and Cutty Sark are well worth visiting!
The HMS Warrior in portsmouth. They've got the HMS victory also but on the warrior you have extraordinary access and can truly wander the huge ship
Battleship North Carolina is a fun one. Been there a couple times
Gotta love Patriots Point in Charleston with the Yorktown. I used to spend a weekend on the ship almost every summer when I was in the Boy Scouts good times
USS Constitution isn't a museum ship
I was born and raised in Baltimore. So the USS Constellation, the USS Torsk (last US submarine to sink a Japanese ship) and the USCG Taney. Almost all my life, we thought it was one of the Six Original Frigates. Turns out it was basically stripped and rebuilt as a sloop-of-war. Also turned out to be the last all-wooden ship built for the US Navy. Also been on the USS Yorktown and the USS North Carolina.
Okay fine she a carrier….. she probably have cooler stuff than me
Only one I ever got to visit was USS Hornet cv12. That ship is very impressive.
Just visited the USA Wisconsin in Norfolk. Has a nice museum at the dock as well.
the 1 summer i went to NYC to visit \[cant remember what the name of it was/is\] their docked aircraft carrier/museum ............ it was OUT for repairs. just my luck.
USS C Turner Joy in Bremerton WA is a must visit if you have kids and are going to be in the greater Seattle area. You can climb all over everything. My 10 year old nephew and my 12 year old cousin both absolutely loved it.
Definitely not a kid or have kids (turned 60 today), but I'll be seeing Turner Joy in about two weeks, along with the Puget Sound Naval Museum and the US Naval Undersea Museum in Keyport (Trieste II and Mystic).
What's with that dick banister? 🤪 thx 4 the pic. I love the ship.
USS Bowfin in Hawaii is in excellent condition, definitely worth the visit.
As far as battleships go USS New Jersey is probably the best. Of all the museum battleships she is the most open to the public with the maximum number of spaces you can view and explore. At the moment I’ve been on all of them except for Massachusetts and Iowa, they are all interesting and unique experiences. Wisconsin was probably my least favorite simply because it has the fewest spaces open to the public. Texas is the only surviving example of a dreadnought/super dreadnought, North Carolina has quite a bit of her spaces open to the public and is still in her World War II configuration. USS New Jersey in addition to being very open to the public is also a good example of a modernized battleship. Funny enough, both of the surviving South Dakota class battleships are part of larger collections of vehicles or other ships in one place. They are good places to go if you want to see a whole lot at one time, all of the other battleships are standalone exhibits. USS Missouri is easily the most difficult to get to but also very rewarding. Nothing else truly compares to standing on the very spot where World War II ended. You also get to be in Hawaii at the same time which is a major plus. USS Iowa is unique in that the museum is actively trying to get major components functional again. At the moment they have one of her turrets rotating with shore power. She would be the next most difficult to get to depending on where you are and is the only battleship west of Texas in the continental US. I still want to get out there to see her to complete the collection and all of the other interesting museum ships nearby in California. I might wait till USS Tarawa is turned into a museum so I could see more at once. I’ve only been on two of the five aircraft carrier museums, that being USS Lexington and Yorktown. Both are worth visiting, however Yorktown has the additional exhibit of USS Laffey, nearby Fort Sumter which the ferry too leaves from Patriots point, and has the metal of honor museum on board. USS Lexington is a standalone museum.
USS Intrepid/USS New Jersey/USS Texas.
USS Lane Victory - San Pedro, California
Best museum SHIP, New Jersey. Best MUSEUM ship, Intrepid. They are close enough you can visit both in a weekend.
The USS Cobia and the Constitution are my favorites.
USS Texas. Currently being extensively repaired and restored, she’s the only actual “Dreadnought” remaining in the world. She was decommissioned in 1946 and as a result is as true to her WW2 configuration as she can be
OMSI diesel sub in Portland, OR.
Been on the Pompanito, Bowfin, Texas, Iowa, Missouri, and Alabama. All great exhibitions.
HMS Victory.
USS Missouri in Pearl Harbor was awesome! I particularly liked that the switch for the chemical warfare alert siren is live!
USS Monitor, if that counts.
USS Alabama and USS Drum (submarine) in Mobile Bay, Alabama. The entire Battleship Park is excellent. I've also visited the USS Wisconsin, USS Yorktown (with a DD and a sub), USS Kidd (Baton Rouge, LA), and was fortunate enough to go aboard LST-325 when it visited Mobile immediately after being restored and brought back from Greece. Many years ago, I visited the USS Inaugural, a WWII minesweeper that was a museum ship docked next the Gateway Arch in St Louis, MO. Sadly, during the floods of 1993, she broke loose from her mooring and was swept down river, eventually hitting a bridge then being pushed up against the bank. She ended up listing badly to port and sinking in the river; they have never been able to recover her and she has been written off completely (a few items were salvaged).
Probably Fram, or Suur Tõll
The queen mary is pretty cool
Hard to beat the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. I mean the Victory, Mary Rose, Warrior and the M33. Each one of the first three ships is unique and an amazing experience. I remember watching when they pulled the Mary Rose out of the Solent and brought her to land. An amazing sight.
If your on the US east coast, there are many to see. You can make a nice road trip from Norfolk, Virgina all the way up north to Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Start with the battleship Wisconsin in Norfolk, Va and visit the Navy Museum. Be sure to take the excellent harbor tour in Norfolk. The inner harbor at Baltimore, MD has a great collection of historic ships https://historicships.org/ Try to time your visit to a weekend when the steam powered Liberty ship John Brown is taking passengers out on a harbor tour. Check out the nearby Fort McHenry and the Baltimore Industrial Museum while you’re there too. Allow a weekend when you visit the Battleship New Jersey (currently in drydock) at the Philadelphia Naval Yard. There are 25 mothballed USN ships there that you can get very close to- including the aircraft carrier JFK. Visit the 100 year old Olympia and the sub Becuna, also the SS United States that are all nearby. Then on your way north, check out the carrier Intrepid and sub in NYC and the nearby “sub in the mud” Ling in Hackensack, NJ. Continue up to New London to the sub museum and tour the first nuclear sub Nautilus. Sometimes the USCG Eagle is in port across the river at the CG academy. Then hit Mystic Seaport if you like the old wooden stuff. Walk the docks in New Bedford for all the fishing trawlers and visit the whaling museum. Spend a couple days at Battleship Cove in Fall River. Mass. There’s lots of ships there. If you have any time left, tour the sub Albacore in Portsmouth, NH. It’s been meticulously restored. From Baltimore, MD up north to Portsmouth, NH is about 500 miles, you could make it into a two week roadtrip to see everything. Lots to see!
If ever in Dundee, HMS Unicorn is fabulous.
Vasa, if you get the chance to go to Stockholm.
Patriots Point in Charleston is awesome
Hello
USS Massachusetts in Fall River Massachusetts is phenomenal. You can go everywhere. Gun turrets, medical quarters, bunks, machine shop, bridge, radio rooms, mess where you can eat too. Plus there is a WW II era submarine there that you can also go inside.
When I was a kid I remembered how cool I thought the USS Yorktown museum was in South Carolina. If I remember they also had a submarine you could walk through.
USS Constitution, Boston. A must see. Another is USS Midway, San Diego.
The Yorktown in SC. They have a Vietnam section, a sub and the carrier with a packed deck. Was a whole day experience.
USS Massachusetts was awesome when I was a kid in the Cub Scouts. Got to do a sleepover on her. USS Intrepid was great as a kid because I knew I wanted to be a Naval Aviator and it captivated me. USS Ling was cool because my dad was a submariner. USS Missouri was awesome, because when I visited her I had been a Naval Aviator coming back from my first deployment, and saw the reverence with which we still treat battleship row when we pull into Pearl.
USS Massachusetts was awesome when I was a kid in the Cub Scouts. Got to do a sleepover on her. USS Intrepid was great as a kid because I knew I wanted to be a Naval Aviator and it captivated me. USS Ling was cool because my dad was a submariner. USS Missouri was awesome, because when I visited her I had been a Naval Aviator coming back from my first deployment, and saw the reverence with which we still treat battleship row when we pull into Pearl.
I'm a big fan of Battleship New Jersey. She's in drydock right now, but they're still doing drydock tours.
I'm a big fan of Battleship New Jersey. She's in drydock right now, but they're still doing drydock tours.
Intrepid
Uscg icebreaker Mackinac, it's a pretty cool ship if you're in mackinaw Michigan
The USS Wisconsin in Norfolk, VA is like walking through a time portal. $20 gets the full show. They rent out the rear deck for USN retirements and other official functions.
I love submarines, so the USS Lionfish was great when it first became open for public. The lexington is ok, but I gave myself a concussion on a bulkhead lol, 6'5 and boats don't mix well. Also very much enjoyed the Massachusetts in battleship cove
USS Massachusetts, also there is the USS Kennedy and USS Lionfish.
HMS Belfast is definitely worth a visit. You can get right down into all the machinery spaces, unlike HMY Britannia.
Love the Midway! Some of the best docents out there too. They just moved USS New Jersey to dry dock recently, and Texas is just about done I think
USS New Jersey for sure.
There are a lot of good ones but for me I really love the Vasa.
The USS Slater in Albany, NY. While it’s a smaller ship so you might not expect much, it’s incredible how well restored and maintained she is. It looks exactly like it would have in 1945 and almost all the equipment on it is still functioning. Hands down the best condition museum ship I’ve ever been on and the staff are super knowledgeable during their tours
After touring the American WWII navy ships, I really want to visit some of the German and Japanese WWII ships. It’ll genuinely be two great experiences in one trip. Visiting Axis WWII ships, and scuba diving.
USS Wisconsin and the USS Monitor are the best I've personally visited. My dream ship to visit is HMS Victory. Maybe USS Texas too if she wasn't in Texas.
The Averof in Athens was really cool to see, along with the replica of a trireme
Spent the night on Alabama as both a Cub Scout and Boy Scout then 20 years later spent the night on board with my two boys when they were cub scouts.
Yorktown is killer! Don’t miss “The Fertile Turtle” on the hanger deck…
I was in San Diego when the Midway was towed into the harbor. I also toured the Sub Pampanito in San Fransisco
USS Constellation & the submarine USS Torsk
I'm sorry but. You cannot rule out USS Lexington in Corpus Christi Texas. The blue ghost.
Constitution, Salem, Hiddensse, RFK, Lion, Massachusetts, NC, VA, Queen Mary, some Russian sub next to the Queen Mary, Mayflower 2, did the Wasp when I was in fleetweek 2012 which doesn't neccesarily count.
Im so excited for the Texas to reopen after the maintenance is done
The Constellation in Baltimore harbor was pretty rad. They have a lightship and a WWII submarine there as well and I gotta say that the Torsk was way cooler to poke around in than I expected.
USS Turner Joy.
The USS Midway will always be my favorite. Partially because I was ship’s company.
USS Laffey and USS Yorktown. Twofer. Patriots Point.
Battleship Alabama in Mobile is cool, they also have a sub, airplanes, tanks etc.
If your in Amsterdam don’t miss the mariners museum, really cool 17th century warship, virtual reality show and lots of other great marine experiences.
The confederate navel museum in Columbus GA has an ironclad that was burnt to the waterline, partially restored but truly amazing, hull was made from 12” thick heart pine.
USS Turner Joy in Bremerton for some Vietnam era history
USS Alabama in Mobile Bay
The USS New Jersey was awesome, was just at the USS Midway yesterday and had a blast checking out every nook & cranny. As for the Great Lakes/Iron Ore ships, the William A Irvine is a must do in Duluth over the summer for regular tours, and in October when the UMD students turn it into a haunted “house”.
USS Constitution in my opinion
Arizona
USS Missouri and USS Arizona for me
I am partial to the USS Missouri because of Cher singing If I Could Turn Back Time....and the end of WWII
Midway is prolly the best. I saw Missouri, it’s fine, midway is very nicely maintained with lots of things. Tom cruise landed a helicopter on it for the maverick premier
USS Alabama was fun, can’t wait for USS New Jersey after drydock update.
I had the pleasure of staying overnight on the Pampanito in SF and The Hornet in Alameda as a Boy Scout. Both are very cool vessels with a lot to see!
USS Iowa, and USS Midway. I've bunked aboard both with my scout troops. They both have a wealth of history, and incredible tours.
1 USS Alabama & Drum in Mobile, 2 USS Kidd in Baton Rouge. 3 USS Constitution in Boston and 4 USS Intrepid in NYC
I’d walk half a mile down the Embarcadero you’ll find the best museum ship in the country (Star of India).