Relive San Diego’s gloried military past with a day of museum touring on the Big Bay.
Make your first stop the Maritime Museum of San Diego located on Harbor Drive near the corner of Ash Street. The Maritime Museum enjoys a worldwide reputation for excellence in restoring, maintaining and operating historic vessels. The museum’s collection includes the world’s oldest active ship Star of India; the 1898 steam ferry Berkeley; the 1904 steam yacht Medea; the 1914 Pilot; a B-30 Soviet attack submarine; the state’s official tall ship Californian — a replica of a mid-19th century revenue cutter; and the H.M.S Surprise, a magnificent replica of an 18th century Royal Navy frigate featured in the award winning film “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.”
The Maritime Museum is open every day of the year from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Special packages that include Bay tours are available. Visit www.sdmaritime.org for more information.
South along the Embarcadero from the Maritime Museum is the longest-serving aircraft carrier in U.S. Naval history, the USS Midway. Now a museum, the San Diego Aircraft Carrier Museum features:
-
Self-guided audio tour with admission to 60 exhibits including 24 restored aircraft. The audio tour features interactive, story-telling docents — many of them Midway veterans who lived or worked in the spaces you'll visit
-
Access to engineering, mess deck, berthing spaces, foc's'le, hangar deck, officers country, flight deck and the island superstructure, and 24 restored aircraft
-
Three types of optional flight simulators
-
Virtual video tour of access-limited spaces
-
Gift shop
-
Fantail Café
-
Handicapped elevator from Navy Pier to the hangar deck, second deck and flight deck
The Aircraft Carrier Museum is open daily from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. with the exception of Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. The ticket booth closes at 4 p.m.
The museum is conveniently located alongside Navy Pier on the Embarcadero in downtown San Diego. Public transit, including Amtrak, is three blocks away. The cruise ship terminal is within easy walking distance. There is parking on Navy Pier (subject to construction) and at nearby lots. Street metered parking is also available throughout the area.
Immediately south of the USS Midway is the Port of San Diego’s Military Heritage Public Art. The Port’s military-related artworks are located in the tidelands park at the G Street Mole, which is located off Harbor Drive approximately one block south of Broadway Pier and adjacent to the Aircraft Carrier Museum. Artworks include the USS San Diego (CL-53) Memorial, Battle of Leyte Gulf Memorial, Military Tribute to Bob Hope, Aircraft Carrier Memorial, and Homecoming sculpture, a seven-foot bronze sculpture depicting the joyous reunion of a sailor, his wife and child upon return from deployment.
Did you know that during World War II, the Japanese Navy was ordered to avoid San Diego because of the coastal defense systems in place, some of which can still be seen today at the Cabrillo National Monument?
Along the paths of Cabrillo National Monument sit the remains of coastal defenses built to protect the approaches to San Diego Bay. While visiting the park, you will find base-end stations, fire control stations, searchlight bunkers, a radio station which now houses an exhibit, and other remains of troubled times; lonely sentinels that now serve to guard our memories of the past.
