U.S. Ship Memorials and Museums


(sorted geographically)

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.

Region State Location Museum Name Type Pennant # Built By Builder's Location Built
Atlantic CT Groton CT Submarine Force Museum Nautilus Nuclear Submarine SSN 571 Electric Boat Groton CT 1954
Atlantic CT Mystic CT Mystic Seaport Brilliant Schooner   Henry B. Nevins, Inc. City Island NY 1932
Atlantic CT Mystic CT Mystic Seaport Joseph Conrad Sailing Ship   Burmeister & Wain Copenhagen, Denmark 1882
Atlantic CT Mystic CT Mystic Seaport Sabino Ferry   W. Irving Adams East Boothbay ME 1908
Atlantic CT Mystic CT Mystic Seaport Charles W. Morgan Whaler   J. & Z. Hillman New Bedford MA 1841
Atlantic CT Mystic CT Mystic Seaport Emma C. Berry Fishing Smack   R. & J. Palmer Noank CT 1866
Atlantic CT New London CT U.S. Coast Guard Academy Eagle Barque WIX 327 Blohm + Voss Hamburg, Germany 1936
Atlantic DC Washington DC Navy Museum Barry Destroyer DD 933 Bath Iron Works Bath ME 1956
Atlantic DC Washington DC Navy Museum No name Patrol Craft, Fast PCF 1 Sewart Seacraft Berwick LA 1965
Atlantic DC Washington DC Navy Museum Trieste Bathyscaphe   Navalmeccanica Naples, Italy 1953
Atlantic DC Washington DC Navy Museum No name Landing Craft, Vehicle LCVP Higgins Industries New Orleans LA 1944
Atlantic DC Washington DC Navy Museum Philadelphia Gunboat     Whitehall NY 1776
Atlantic DE Lewes DE The Overfalls Maritime Museum Overfalls Lightship LV 118 Rice Brothers East Boothbay ME 1939
Atlantic FL Deland FL PTF 3 Restoration Project No name Patrol Boat, Fast PTF 3 Batservice AS Masden, Norway 1962
Atlantic FL Freeport FL Eden Gardens State Park Governor Stone Coasting Schooner     Pascagoula MS 1877
Atlantic FL Key West FL USS Mohawk Maritime Museum Mohawk Gunboat WPG 78 Pusey & Jones Wilmington DE 1935
Atlantic FL Orlando FL National Vietnam War Museum No name Patrol Boat, Riverine PBR Uniflite Bellingham WA 1960s
Atlantic FL Ponce de Leon Inlet FL Ponce de Leon Inlet F. D. Russell Tug   Frank D. Russell   1938
Atlantic FL Tampa FL American Victory Mariners Memorial American Victory Victory Ship   California Shipbuilding Los Angeles CA 1945
Atlantic GA Columbus GA National Civil War Naval Museum Jackson Ironclad Ram     Columbus GA 1864
Atlantic GA Columbus GA National Civil War Naval Museum Chattahoochee Gunboat   David S. Johnston Saffold GA 1862
Atlantic MA Boston MA Boston National Historical Park Cassin Young Destroyer DD 793 Bethlehem San Pedro San Pedro CA 1943
Atlantic MA Boston MA Luna Preservation Society Luna Tug   M. M. Davis Solomons MD 1930
Atlantic MA Boston MA USS Constitution Constitution Sailing Frigate IX 20 Edmund Hartt Boston MA 1797
Atlantic MA Essex MA Essex Shipbuilding Museum Evelina M. Goulart Fishing Schooner     Essex MA 1927
Atlantic MA Fall River MA Battleship Cove No name Torpedo Boat PT 617 Electric Launch Bayonne NJ 1945
Atlantic MA Fall River MA Battleship Cove