HISTORIC NAVAL SHIPS
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HISTORIC NAVAL SHIPYARDS
The following is a short list of existing and/or replicated historic military ships, and important shipwrecks. Please visit each linked website for more detailed information. We have included here all museum capital ships and submarines (no destroyers or smaller). It is NOT our intent to include all ships or museums. There are many more preserved historic naval vessels located throughout the country, too many to list here.
For more ships, please visit the websites listed at the bottom of the page.
Why, do you ask, do we include ships on this website? Just think of them as "floating forts", of course!
U.S.S.
Albacore AGSS-569
Albacore Park, Portsmouth
Type: Albacore Class Submarine || Launched & Commissioned: 1953 || Decommissioned: 1972
National Historic Landmark
The first submarine with a tear-drop shaped hull. 1985 Haul-Out Photos from SeacoastNH.com
U.S. Frigate Constitution
USS Constitution Museum, Charlestown Navy Yard, Boston
Type: 44-Gun Frigate || Launched: 1797 || Still commmissioned
National Historic Landmark
The oldest commissioned ship in the US Navy.
Early Photos from Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, ME.
U.S.S. Salem CA-139
U.S. Naval & Shipbuilding Museum, Quincy
Type: Des Moines Class Heavy Cruiser || Launched: 1947 || Commissioned: 1949 || Decommissioned: 1959
The world's only preserved heavy cruiser.
U.S.S. Massachusetts BB-59
Battleship Cove, Fall River
Type: South Dakota Class Battleship || Launched: 1941 || Commissioned: 1942 || Decommissioned: 1947
National Historic Landmark
U.S.S.
Lionfish SS-298
Battleship Cove, Fall River
Type: Balao Class Fleet Submarine || Launched: 1943 || Commissioned: 1944 || Decommissioned: 1971
National Historic Landmark
Sloop Providence
Providence
Type: 12-Gun Sloop || Launched: 1760's || Commissioned: 1775 || Destroyed: 1779 || Reconstructed: 1976
The original was the refurbished merchant ship Katy. It was the first ship commissioned in America's Continental Navy.
U.S.S. Nautilus SSN-571
Submarine Force Museum, Groton
Type: Nautilus Class Nuclear Submarine || Launched & Commissioned: 1954 || Decommissioned: 1980
National Historic Landmark
The world's first nuclear-powered submarine.
U.S.C.G. Barque Eagle WIX-327
U.S. Coast Guard Academy, New London
Type: 3-Masted Barque || Launched: 1936 || U.S. Commissioned: 1946
Originally the Horst Wessel from Hamburg, Germany, it was taken after World War II as a war prize. It is now used as a training vessel for Coast Guard cadets.
Gunboat
Philadelphia II
Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, Vergennes
Type: Gondola || Launched: 1991
A full size replica of the original gunboat from the American Revolution.
Gunboat
Spitfire (still submerged)
Lake Champlain
Type: Gondola || Launched: 1776 || Sunk: 1776
Still submerged under Lake Champlain, it was only recently found. It is the last remaining ship of its type, scuttled in Benedict Arnold's ill-fated Lake Champlain campaign.
See also Lake Champlain Maritime Museum entry
U.S.S. Intrepid CV-11
Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum, Manhattan
Type: Essex Class Aircraft Carrier || Launched & Commissioned: 1943 || Decommissioned: 1974
National Historic Landmark
U.S.S.
Growler SSG-557
Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum, Manhattan
Type: Grayback Class Submarine || Launched & Commissioned: 1958 || Decommissioned: 1964
National Historic Landmark
Armed with Regulus nuclear cruise missiles. The only nuclear missile submarine on public display.
Land Tortoise (still submerged)
Lake George
Type: Radeau || Launched: 1758 || Scuttled: 1758
National Historic Landmark
A British seven-gun floating gun battery. Discovered in 1990, and managed by the State of New York as a Submerged Heritage Preserve, it is one of the last, and finest, example of a flat-bottomed "floating fortress" built in the 18th century. See also Lake George Historical Association entry
U.S.S.
Little Rock CL-92/CLG-4
Buffalo and Erie Co. Naval & Military Park, Buffalo
Type: Cleveland Class Cruiser || Launched: 1944 || Commissioned: 1945 || Converted to Guided Missile Cruiser: 1960 || Decommissioned: 1972
The last remaining WWII era cruiser
U.S.S.
Croaker SS-246
Buffalo and Erie Co. Naval & Military Park, Buffalo
Type: Gato Class Fleet Submarine || Launched: 1943 || Commissioned: 1944 || Decommissioned: 1971
Displayed in Groton, CT until 1988.
U.S.S.
Ling SS-297
New Jersey Naval Museum, Hackensack
Type: Balao Class Fleet Submarine || Launched: 1943 || Commissioned: 1945 || Decommissioned: 1971
U.S.S. New Jersey BB-62
Camden
Type: Iowa Class Battleship || Launched: 1942 || Commissioned: 1943 || Decommissioned: 1948, 1957, 1969, 1991 || Recommissioned: 1950, 1968, 1982
USS New Jersey Veteran's Association | USS New Jersey Historical Museum Society
U.S. Brig Niagara
Erie Maritime Museum, Erie
Type: 20-Gun Brig || Launched: 1813 || Scuttled: 1820 || Raised: 1913 || Rebuilt 1990
National Register of Historic Places
Heated debate now exists as to the genuine identity of this fully restored ship. Some historians now say that the hull raised was that of the HMS Detroit or the HMS Queen Charlotte.
U.S.S.
Requin SS-481
Carnegie Science Center, Pittsburgh
Type: Tench Class Fleet Submarine || Launched & Commissioned: 1945 || Decommissioned: 1971
National Historic Landmark
Formerly displayed in Tampa, FL until 1990.
U.S.S. Olympia C-6
Independence Seaport Museum, Philadelphia
Type: Olympia Class Cruiser || Launched: 1892 || Commissioned: 1895 || Decommissioned: 1922
National Historic Landmark
The oldest steel-hulled American warship still afloat. Last surviving warship of the Spanish-American War. See also Cruiser Olympia by Patrick McSherry
U.S.S.
Becuna SS-319
Independence Seaport Museum, Philadelphia
Type: Balao Class Fleet Submarine || Launched & Commissioned: 1944 || Decommissioned: 1971
National Historic Landmark
U.S.S. Constellation
Inner Harbor, Baltimore
Type: 24-Gun Corvette / Sloop-of-War || Launched: 1854 || Commissioned: 1855 || Decommissioned: ca.1950
National Historic Landmark
The only surviving Civil War ship and the last sailing ship built by the US Navy. It was built at the same time and place the original U.S. Frigate Constellation (1797) was being dismantled - at Norfolk Navy Yard in Virginia. Much of the original ship was used in the construction of the new ship.
U.S.S.
Torsk SS-423
Baltimore Maritime Museum, Baltimore
Type: Tench Class Fleet Submarine || Launched & Commissioned: 1944 || Decommissioned: 1971
National Historic Landmark
USS Torsk Volunteer Association
Black Panther U-1105 (still submerged)
Black Panther Historic Shipwreck Preserve, Piney Point
Type: German VII-C U-boat || Launched & Commissioned: 1944 || Scuttled: 1949
Accuired by the U.S. Navy at the end of World War II. It was used as a research and target ship in the Chesapeake Bay. See also The German Subs at Portsmouth from SeacoastNH.com
US Navy Historical info
U.S.S. Tulip (still submerged)
off Ragged Point, VA
Type: Screw Steamer || Launched: 1862 || Commissioned: 1863 || Sunk: 1864
Originally named Chi Kiang and built for China, it was purchased by the Navy, and served in the Potomac Flotilla during the Civil War. Sunk in a boiler explosion. Wreck located in 1994.
U.S.S.
Blenny SS-324 (still submerged)
off Ocean City
Type: Balao Class Fleet Submarine || Launched & Commissioned: 1944 || Decommissioned: 1969
Gunboat
Philadelphia (salvaged remains)
Smithsonian - National Museum of American History
Type: Gondola || Launched: 1776 || Sunk: 1776 || Raised: 1935
National Historic Landmark
One of only two surviving American built and manned gunboats during the American Revolution.
U.S.S.
Monitor (still submerged)
U.S.S. Monitor Center at The Mariners' Museum, Newport News
Type: Monitor Class Ironclad || Launched: 1862 || Sank: 1862 || Items Salvaged: 1983-present
Monitor National Marine Sanctuary
Nicknamed "The Cheesebox". Although the hull of the ship remains on the ocean's floor offshore from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, the Mariners' Museum was designated the principal museum for the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary and includes a permanent exhibit with salvaged items, including the revolving gun turret, and a full scale replica of the ship.
U.S.S. Wisconsin BB-64
Hampton Roads Naval Museum & Nauticus - The National Maritime Center, Norfolk
Type: Iowa Class Battleship || Launched: 1943 || Commissioned: 1944 || Decommissioned: 1948, 1958, 1991 || Recommissioned: 1951, 1988
After an accident in the 1950's, the bow section was replaced with that of
the never completed U.S.S. Kentucky (BB-66), making it 11 inches longer than its sister ships.
USS Wisconsin Veterans Association
U.S.S. Cumberland (still submerged)
Newport News
Type: Frigate / 24-gun Sloop-of-War || Launched and Commissioned: 1842 || Sunk: 1862
Flagship of the Mediteranean Squadron 1843 - 1845, 1852 - 1855. Converted to a Sloop in 1856. Flagship of the Home Squadron 1860 - 1861. Sunk by the C.S.S. Virginia in 1862 during the Battle of Hampton Roads. Wreck discovered in 1981.
C.S.S. Florida (still submerged)
Newport News
Type: Steam Commerce Raider || Launched and Commissioned: 1862 || Scuttled: 1864
Built in Liverpool, England. Captured in Brazil in 1864. Sunk in accident off Newport News, VA. Wreck discovered in 1981 adjacent to wreck of U.S.S. Cumberland.
U.S.S. North Carolina BB-55
North Carolina Battleship Memorial, Wilmington
Type: North Carolina Class Battleship | Launched: 1940 | Commissioned: 1941 | Decommissioned: 1947
National Historic Landmark
C.S.S.
Neuse (salvaged remains)
CSS Neuse and Governor Caswell Memorial, Kinston
Type: Ironclad Gunboat || Launched: 1863 || Scuttled: 1865 || Raised: 1963
State Historic Site
U.S.S. Huron (still submerged)
Historic Shipwreck Preserve, Nags Head
Type: Iron Steamship || Launched: 1875 || Sunk: 1877
State Historic Site
One of the last all iron-built warships of the U.S. Navy.
U.S.S. Yorktown CV-10
Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum, Charleston
Type: Essex Class Aircraft Carrier || Launched & Commissioned: 1943 || Decommissioned: 1970
National Historic Landmark
U.S.S.
Clamagore SS-343
Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum, Charleston
Type: Balao Class Fleet Submarine || Launched & Commissioned: 1945 || Decommissioned: 1975
National Historic Landmark
C.S.S. H.L. Hunley
Warren Lasch Conservation Center, Charleston
Type: Submarine || Launched: 1863 || Sunk: 1864 || Raised: 2000
Now under restoration. It was the world's first submarine that was successful in combat.
US Navy Historical info
U.S.S. Housatonic (still submerged)
Charleston
Type: Sloop-of-War || Launched and Commissioned: 1861 || Sunk: 1864
First vessel to be sunk by an enemy submarine in wartime. Artifacts recovered in 1999.
C.S.S. Chattahoochee (salvaged remains)
Port Columbus - National Civil War Naval Museum, Columbus
Type: steam & sail Gunboat || Launched: 1862 || Commmissioned: 1863 || Scuttled: 1865 || Salvaged: 1964
National Register of Historic Places
C.S.S. Jackson (salvaged remains)
Port Columbus - National Civil War Naval Museum, Columbus
Type: Ironclad Ram || Launched: 1864 || Sunk: 1865 || Raised: 1963
National Register of Historic Places
Originally known as CSS Muskogee.
C.S.S. Georgia (still submerged)
Savannah
Type: Ironclad Floating Battery || Launched: 1862 || Scuttled: 1864
Artifacts on display at Fort Jackson and at the Savannah History Museum.
U.S.S. Massachusetts BB-2 (still submerged)
Fort Pickens State Aquatic Preserve, Pensacola
Type: Indiana Class Battleship || Launched & Commissioned: 1896 || Decommissioned: 1906, 1919 || Recommissioned: 1917 || Scuttled: 1921
U.S.S. Alligator (still submerged)
Alligator (Caryford) Reef, Islamorada
Type: 12-gun Schooner || Launched & Commissioned: 1820 || Scuttled: 1822
The last known example of this type of ship. Used in the Slave and Pirate Patrols.
Maple Leaf (still submerged)
St. John's River, Jacksonville
Type: River Steamboat || Launched: 1851 || Sunk: 1863
A civilian river steamer built in Canada, converted to a military transport in 1862. It hit a Confederate mine as it was transporting troops and supplies to Union forces in Florida. The wreck was found in 1984.
U.S.S.
Alabama BB-60
Battleship Memorial Park, Mobile
Type: South Dakota Class Battleship || Launched & Commissioned: 1942 || Decommissioned: 1947
National Historic Landmark
U.S.S.
Drum SS-228
Battleship Memorial Park, Mobile
Type: Gato Class Fleet Submarine || Launched & Commissioned: 1941 || Decommissioned: 1962
National Historic Landmark
U.S.S. Tecumseh (still submerged)
off Fort Morgan
Type: Canonicus Class Ironclad Gunboat || Launched: 1863 || Sunk: 1864
Sunk off Fort Morgan during the Battle of Mobile Bay. Wreck found in 1967.
U.S.S. Cairo (salvaged remains)
Vicksburg National Military Park, Vicksburg
Type: City Class Ironclad Gunboat || Launched: 1861 || Commissioned: 1862 || Sunk: 1862 || Raised: 1964
National Register of Historic Places
The only surviving ship of its class. It was the first ironclad ship sunk by an electrically controlled mine.
C.S.S.
Pioneer
Louisiana State Museum, New Orleans
Type: Pioneer Class Submersible Privateer || Launched & Commissioned: 1862 || Scuttled: 1862 || Raised: 1878
The first of only three Confederate submarines.
U.S.S. Lexington CV-16
Corpus Christi
Type: Essex Class Aircraft Carrier || Launched: 1942 || Commissioned: 1943 || Recommissioned: 1955 || Decommissioned: 1991
U.S.S. Texas BB-35
San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site, La Porte
Type: New York Class Battleship || Launched: 1912 || Commissioned: 1914 || Decommissioned: 1946
National Historic Landmark
The only surviving vessel from both World Wars. See also Battleship Texas by First Texas Volunteers
The Battleship Texas Foundation
U.S.S.
Cavalla SS-244
Seawolf Park, Galveston
Type: Gato Class Fleet Submarine || Launched: 1943 || Commissioned: 1944 || Decommissioned: 1969
Belle (shipwreck)
Matagorda Bay
Sunk: 1686
French explorer La Salle's ship. It is currently being salvaged. A replica is planned for a museum, using the salvaged artifacts.
U.S.S.
Cod SS-224
Cleveland
Type: Gato Class Fleet Submarine || Launched & Commissioned: 1943 || Decommissioned: 1971
National Historic Landmark
U-505
Museum of Science & Industry, Chicago
Type: German IXc U-boat || Launched & Commissioned: 1941 || Captured: 1944
National Historic Landmark
The first enemy warship boarded and captured on the high seas by US forces since the War of 1812. See also The Capture of U-505 from US Naval Historical Center
See also The German Subs at Portsmouth from SeacoastNH.com
U.S.S.
Silversides SS-236
Great Lakes Naval Memorial & Museum, Muskegon
Type: Gato Class Fleet Submarine || Launched & Commissioned: 1941 || Decommissioned: 1969
National Historic Landmark
U.S.S.
Cobia SS-245
Wisconsin Maritime Museum, Manitowoc
Type: Gato Class Fleet Submarine || Launched: 1943 || Commissioned: 1944 || Decommissioned: 1970
National Historic Landmark
U.S.S.
Marlin SST-2
Freedom Park, Omaha
Type: Mackerel Class Submarine || Launched & Commissioned: 1953 || Decommissioned: 1973
The smallest operational submarine built since 1911.
U.S.S.
Batfish SS-310
War Memorial Park, Muskogee
Type: Balao Class Fleet Submarine || Launched & Commissioned: 1943 || Decommissioned: 1960
U.S.S.
Razorback SS-394
Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum, North Little Rock
Type: Balao Class Fleet Submarine || Launched & Commissioned: 1944 || Decommissioned: 1970
Awarded five battle stars in WWII (Pacific). Underwent GUPPY conversion after WWII service. Awarded four battle stars in the Vietnam War. Sold to Turkey in 1970, renamed T.C.G. Muratreis. Decommissioned in 2001 and brought back to the states as a museum ship.
U.S.S. Hornet CV-12
USS Hornet Museum, Alameda
Type: Essex Class Aircraft Carrier || Launched & Commissioned: 1943 || Decommissioned: 1947, 1970 || Recommissioned: 1953
National Historic Landmark
USS Hornet Landmark
U.S.S.
Pampanito SS-383
Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco
Type: Balao Class Fleet Submarine || Launched & Commissioned: 1943 || Decommissioned: 1971
National Historic Landmark
U.S.S. Iowa BB-61
Pacific Battleship Center, San Pedro
Type: Iowa Class Battleship || Launched: 1942 || Commissioned: 1943 || Decommissioned: 1949, 1958, 1990 || Recommissioned: 1951, 1984
USS Iowa Veteran's Association
Scorpion B-427
RMS Queen Mary, Long Beach
Type: Soviet Foxtrot Class Attack Submarine || Launched & Commissioned: 1974 || Decommissioned: 1994
Berthed alongside the R.M.S. Queen Mary.
U.S.S. Midway CV-41
San Diego Aircraft Carrier Museum, San Diego
Type: Midway Class Aircraft Carrier || Launched & Commissioned: 1945 || Decommissioned: 1992
U.S.S.
Dolphin AGSS-555
Maritime Museum of San Diego, San Diego
Type: Dolphin Class Submarine || Launched & Commissioned: 1968 || Decommissioned: 1998
A deep-diving research boat holding many top secret performance records.
H.M.S. Rose / Surprise
Maritime Museum of San Diego, San Diego
Type: 24-gun Frigate || Built 1970
Built in 1970 in Canada as the H.M.S. Rose, a full-size replica of the British frigate from the French & Indian and the Revolutionary Wars, and once homeported in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Rebuilt and renamed in 2002 as a replica of the Nelson-era 24-gun British frigate H.M.S. Surprise.
B-39
Maritime Museum of San Diego, San Diego
Type: Soviet Foxtrot Class Attack Submarine || Launched & Commissioned: 1970's || Decommissioned: 1990's
.
U.S.S.
Blueback SS-581
Oregon Museum of Science & Industry, Portland
Type: Barbel Class Submarine || Launched & Commissioned: 1959 || Decommissioned: 1990
The last non-nuclear powered attack submarine built by the Navy, and the last to be decommissioned. This was the first operational class to use the tear-drop hull pioneered by the U.S.S. Albacore.
U.S.S. Arizona BB-39 (still submerged)
Ford's Island, Pearl Harbor
Type: Pennsylvania Class Battleship || Launched: 1915 || Commissioned: 1917 || Sunk: 1941
National Historic Landmark
Arizona Memorial Museum Association
U.S.S. Utah BB-31/AG-16 (still submerged)
Ford's Island, Pearl Harbor
Type: Florida Class Battleship || Launched: 1909 || Commissioned: 1911 || Converted to Auxiliary Ship: 1931 || Sunk: 1941
National Historic Landmark
Located on the opposite side of Ford's Island from the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial.
USS Utah Memorial from US Navy Historical Center
U.S.S. Missouri BB-63
Pearl Harbor
Type: Iowa Class Battleship || Launched & Commissioned: 1944 || Decommissioned: 1955, 1992 || Recommissioned: 1986
National Register of Historic Places
U.S.S.
Bowfin SS-287
USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park, Pearl Harbor
Type: Balao Class Fleet Submarine || Launched: 1942 || Commissioned: 1943 || Decommissioned: 1971
National Historic Landmark
Located adjacent to the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial.
Most of this material was collected from Historic Naval Ships Visitors' Guide
See Also: Preserved Naval Vessels in the U.S. from Haze Gray Naval History Information Center
See also Canadian Ships and Shipyards page
QUESTIONS ? Please send any corrections and/or additions to this list to:
"Updates" at NorthAmericanForts.com
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