Submarine Force Library & Museum
The USS Nautilus and a shore museum explain submarine design, hidden work, navigation, and the people who served beneath the sea.
Artwork inspired by Eric Sloane
The museum’s essential experience is moving from diagrams and artifacts into Nautilus itself. Narrow passageways, bunks, controls, and machinery reveal how engineering becomes daily life in a confined vessel. Exhibits also trace earlier submarine experiments and the growth of the U.S. Navy’s undersea force.
Start indoors so labels prepare you for what the preserved boat can and cannot show. Nautilus access involves tight spaces, ladders, and operational closures; visitors unable to board can still use shore exhibits and exterior views. Security rules and maintenance may change access without much notice. Riverside exhibits clarify how submarines actually meet the water.
- Vessel
- USS Nautilus
- Milestone
- First nuclear-powered submarine
- Admission
- Free
Quick guide
- Learn the sections
- Identify control, berthing, and propulsion functions before boarding.
- Read the constraints
- Notice where crew life gives way to machinery and storage.
Know before you go
- Begin ashore
- Use models and diagrams before entering the preserved submarine.
- Move deliberately
- Allow others room in ladders and narrow passageways.
- Find human scale
- Compare bunks, galley, controls, and work stations.
- Plan an alternative
- Use indoor exhibits if boarding is unavailable or inaccessible.
Good to know
The museum is on a U.S. Navy installation. Bags, photography, identification, and entry procedures can change, and the submarine may close independently of the museum because of weather, maintenance, or security.
Notice these
- USS Nautilus
- Control room
- Submarine history