San Diego offers historic ships at the the Maritime Museum of San Diego. From its website (link),
The Maritime Museum of San Diego enjoys a worldwide reputation for excellence in restoring, maintaining and operating historic vessels. The museum has one of the world’s finest collections of historic ships, including the world’s oldest active ship Star of India (above). Our collection of ships and exhibits are available for daily public tours.
The Star of India is the world's oldest active sailing ship. The began her life on the stocks at Ramsey Shipyard in the Isle of Man in 1863. In 1871 she was purchased by the Shaw Savill line of London and embarked on a quarter century of hauling emigrants to New Zealand, sometimes also touching Australia, California and Chile. She made 21 circumnavigations in this service, some of them lasting up to a year.
The ship now known as HMS Surprise began life in 1970 as a replica of the 18th century Royal Navy frigate Rose. During the next 30 years Rose sailed thousands of miles as an attraction vessel and sail training ship prior to her conversion to HMS Surprise. For the academy award winning film, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, the filmmakers made a painstaking effort to recreate a 24 gun frigate specific to Great Britain's Nelson era Royal Navy. The result is a replica vessel unmatched in its authenticity and attention to detail.
The deepest diving submarine in the world, the USS Dolphin is responsible for many "firsts". In November 1968, she set a depth record for operating submarines that still stands. In August 1969, she launched a torpedo from the deepest depth that one has ever been fired. Employed by both Navy and civilian researchers, the submarine is equipped with an extensive and impressive instrumentation suite that can support multiple missions.
Californian was built from the ground up in 1984 at Spanish Landing in San Diego Bay. She was launched with great fanfare for the 1984 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles. The Californian is a replica of the 1847 Revenue Cutter C.W. Lawrence, which patrolled the coast of California enforcing federal law during the gold rush.
One of a fleet of diesel electric submarines the Soviet Navy called “Project 641,” B-39 was commissioned in the early 1970s and served on active duty for more than 20 years. 300 feet in length and displacing more than 2000 tons, B-39 is among the largest conventionally powered submarines ever built. She was designed to track U.S. and NATO warships throughout the world’s oceans.
B-39, assigned to the Soviet Pacific fleet, undoubtedly stalked many of the U.S. Navy’s ships home ported in San Diego. Now, less than 20 years after the collapse of the Berlin Wall signaled the end of the Cold War, she is berthed on San Diego Bay amidst her former adversaries. Soviet Project 641 submarines, classified as “Foxtrot” by NATO, are essentially larger and more powerful versions of German World War II era U-boats. Low-tech but lethal, she carried 24 torpedoes while she was on patrol-some capable of delivering low-yield nuclear warheads.
I spotted the Queen in the Tuna Docks ...
... with the USS Midway in the distance. Have you visited any historic ships? One randomly selected commenter from this week's blog posts wins a book choice from my convention stash. Comments are open through Saturday, August 20, 10 pm in Baltimore. I'll post the winner on Sunday, August 21.
Kim in Baltimore
Aloha Spirit in Charm City
A more recent speedboat to entertain tourists ...