U.S. Ship Memorials and Museums
This table attempts to list all the ships and boats, wherever built, that have been retired from active service and preserved in the U.S. either as a memorial or as a museum, if not both. Some are not technically either museums or memorials, just old boats that have been rescued from the scrap yard. Pleasure boats and boats that are so small that they do not require a crew are not included. Replicas are not included either, only original vessels. It's quite a list: who would have thought that there were so many products of the shipbuilder's art (with an average age of about 80) preserved and on public display all over the U.S. (in 40 states and the District of Columbia)? It's curious, however, that the Smithsonian Institution isn't represented here.
A lot of credit for this table goes to Kevin Kopp, who has inundated me with links to boats that I would probably never have found otherwise: thanks, Kevin. Anyone who finds any more or notices any errors, please e-mail me at timcolton@aol.com.
Click here to see the same data presented geographically.
| Name | Type | Pennant # | Built By | Builder's Location | Built | Museum | Location |
| A. J. Meerwald | Oyster Schooner | Stowman & Sons | Camden NJ | 1928 | Bayshore Discovery Project | Port Norris NJ | |
| Acacia | Buoy Tender | WLB 180 | Zenith Dredge | Duluth MN | 1944 | American Academy of Industry | Chicago IL |
| Adventure | Schooner | John F. James & Son | Essex MA | 1926 | Schooner Adventure | Gloucester MA | |
| Alabama | Battleship | BB 60 | Norfolk NSY | Portsmouth VA | 1942 | Battleship Memorial Park | Mobile AL |
| Albacore | Submarine | SS 569 | Portsmouth NSY | Kittery ME | 1953 | Albacore Museum and Park | Portsmouth NH |
| Alma | Schooner | Fred Siemer | San Francisco CA | 1891 | San Francisco Maritime Museum | San Francisco CA | |
| Aluminaut | Deep Submergence Vessel | Electric Boat | Groton CT | 1964 | Science Museum of Virginia | Richmond VA | |
| Ambrose Channel | Lightship | LV 87 | New York Shipbuilding | Camden NJ | 1907 | South Street Seaport | New York NY |
| American Victory | Victory Ship | California Shipbuilding | Los Angeles CA | 1945 | American Victory Mariners Memorial | Tampa FL | |
| Angels Gate | Tug | ST 695 | Decatur Iron Works | Decatur AL | 1944 | Los Angeles Maritime Museum | San Pedro CA |
| Aries | Hydrofoil Gunboat | PHM 5 | Boeing Marine Systems | Seattle WA | 1982 | USS Aries Memorial | Brunswick MO |
| Arizona | Battleship | BB 39 | New York NSY | Brooklyn NY | 1916 | USS Arizona Memorial Museum | Pearl Harbor HI |
| C. L. Churchill | Tug | Cohasset MA | 1964 | Lake Champlain Maritime Museum | Vergennes VT | ||
| Arthur Foss | Tug | Portland OR | 1889 | Northwest Seaport | Seattle WA | ||
| Balclutha | Sailing Ship | Charles Connell & Co. | Glasgow, Scotland | 1886 | San Francisco Maritime Museum | San Francisco CA | |
| Baltimore | Tug | Skinner Shipbuilding | Baltimore MD | 1906 | Baltimore Museum of Industry | Baltimore MD | |
| Barbara H | Sternwheel Towboat | Marietta Manufacturing | Point Pleasant WV | 1923 | Historic Sternwheeler Preservation Society | Lamb IN | |
| Barry | Destroyer | DD 933 | Bath Iron Works | Bath ME | 1956 | Navy Museum | Washington DC |
| Batfish | Submarine | SS 310 | Portsmouth NSY | Kittery ME | 1943 | Muskogee War Memorial Park | Muskogee OK |
| Bayfield | Tug | ST 2023 | Roamer Boat Co. | Holland MI | 1953 | Canal Park | Duluth MN |
| Becuna | Submarine | SS 319 | Electric Boat | Groton CT | 1944 | Independence Seaport Museum | Philadelphia PA |
| Belle of Louisville | Steamboat | James Rees & Sons | Pittsburgh PA | 1914 | Belle of Louisville | Louisville KY | |
| Berkeley | Steam Ferry | Union Brass & Iron Works | San Francisco CA | 1898 | Maritime Museum of San Diego | San Diego CA | |
| Bertha | Canadian Lumber Tug | Armstrong Whitworth | Newcastle, England | 1925 | Pier 63 Maritime Museum | New York NY | |
| Blueback | Submarine | SS 581 | Ingalls Shipbuilding | Pascagoula MS | 1960 | Oregon Museum of Science and Industry | Portland OR |
| Bolster | Rescue and Salvage Tug | ARS 38 | Basalt Rock Co. | Napa CA | 1945 | American Fleet Tug Museum | San Rafael CA |
| Bowfin | Submarine | SS 287 | Portsmouth NSY | Kittery ME | 1943 | USS Bowfin Museum and Park | Pearl Harbor HI |
| Bramble | Buoy Tender | WLB 392 | Zenith Dredge | Duluth MN | 1944 | Port Huron Museum | Port Huron MI |
| Brilliant | Schooner | Henry B. Nevins, Inc. | City Island NY | 1932 | Mystic Seaport | Mystic CT | |
| Buddy O | Fishing Tug | Sturgeon Bay Boat Works | Sturgeon Bay WI | 1936 | Rogers Street Fishing Village | Two Rivers WI | |
| Buffalo | Tug | 1922 | Waterford Maritime Historical Society | Waterford NY | |||
| C. A. Thayer | Schooner | Hans Ditlev Bendixsen | Fairhaven CA | 1895 | San Francisco Maritime Museum | San Francisco CA | |
| Cairo | Gunboat | James B. Eads | Mound City IL |