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Exploring America’s Naval Heritage: Iconic Battleships Turned Museums

The United States can claim an impressive fleet of historic ships that have been preserved to tell the stories of the nation’s rich naval history. What is now known as floating museums are those very historic navy ships, members not only to pay tribute to the bravery and sacrifice of the sailors who served aboard but also to provide an all-encompassing experience to their visitors.

In Mobile, Alabama, step foot into the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park. Here you will have a unique opportunity to explore the in and out of the USS Alabama, a National Historic Landmark, and the WWII submarine, the USS Drum, which patrolled out of Pearl Harbor. The park has 25 aviation and military craft altogether, being the one-stop shop for military history.

Sail on the USS Missouri, affectionately called the “Mighty Mo,” to leave a message about American naval power. Since the time of commission in 1944, Missouri has served in World War II, the Korean War, and Desert Storm. The ship is now situated close to the USS Arizona Memorial, providing part of the historical journey from the “day of infamy” to Japan’s formal surrender in Tokyo Bay.

Known as “The Blue Ghost” by Japanese propagandist Tokyo Rose, the USS Lexington can be found docked in Corpus Christi, Texas. Though most U.S. aircraft carriers were eventually covered in camouflage paint during the war, this was not true of the Lexington. Visitors today get to explore independently on self-guided tours eleven decks and 100,000 square feet of the vessel, or in more depth on guided hard hat tours.

A great facility located in Fall River, Massachusetts, is the Battleship Cove museum, with three easily visited museum ships on one ticket: the battleship USS Massachusetts, the destroyer USS Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., and the submarine USS Lionfish. On the property is the world’s greatest collection of historic naval ships, and the site allows for an extensive view of the history of the U.S. Naval Service.

In Camden, New Jersey, the USS New Jersey, the largest and most decorated battleship in the nation, houses joined souls to live as the crew lived when it was operational. Fully renovated, the battleship now serves as a museum, where visitors can explore by climbing ladders and crawling through passageways.

Based in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, Patriots Point, home of the World War II aircraft carrier USS Yorktown, features thirteen decks available for guests to explore. It is complemented by the USS Laffey, the nation’s only remaining conspicuous participant of World War II here in the U.S.

The USS North Carolina was one of the ten fast U.S. battleships in service during World War II, moored in the Cape Fear River near Wilmington, North Carolina. It was decommissioned in 1947 and saved from the scrappers in 1960. Today it serves as a museum where visitors can walk her decks and learn the stories of her crew.

The USS Texas is the last of the battleship designs patterned after the HMS Dreadnought which served in both World Wars, located in La Porte, Texas. In 1948, she became the first memorial battleship museum in the United States and is located at the San Jacinto Battle Monument and Museum in Houston.

First in the service to seek the German Battleship Tirpitz in 1942, the USS Iowa now rested dockside at the Port of Los Angeles. The Iowa was permanently decommissioned in 1990, and in 2012, opened as a museum, providing a place to tour the West Coast’s only battleship museum.

The third museum ship is the USS Massachusetts, the ship that first opened fire and the one that last fired the 16-inch guns during the war. She is a South Dakota-class battleship that is almost universally agreed to be the least altered/most authentic battleship in existence today, serving as part of Battleship Cove.

These three are joined by a series of odd preservation efforts in the United States Navy heritage, one of which includes a program that made use of the timbers and other materials from historic ships to make furniture, including desks. A team of Seabees designed a pair of desks for the Vice President and the Secretary of the Navy parts from the USS Constitution, USS Chesapeake, USS Constellation, USS Texas, USS New Jersey, and USS Arizona. Builder 1st Class Hilary Lemelin was quoted as saying this project was important in that making the desk for someone who makes significant strides for their country and Navy is making history.

These museum ships and heritage projects overall signify, in the broad sense of the word, reminders of the rich naval history of the United States and the legacies left behind by the sailors who serve aboard such magnificent vessels.

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