Historic Warships

Grey painted destroyer alongside the city quay in bright sunshine
Le Maillé-Brézé destroyer on permanent display in Nantes, France

These are notable warships (submarines, aircraft carriers, destroyers, cruisers, battleships) that have been decommissioned (mostly – I’m looking at you, USS Constitution, and you, HMS Victory!) and are now visitor attractions, floating, dry-docked or in museum buildings.

Ship Location Desc
Alabama, USS
Battleship, 1942
USA – Mobile, Alabama Wet-berthed WW2 battleship that had a busy, if brief (5 yrs) service.
Aurora
Cruiser, 1903
Russia – St. Petersburg Wet-berthed historic cruiser that fired the first shot of the October Revolution. More info…
B-39
Submarine, 1967
USA – San Diego, CA Wet-berthed former Foxtrot class diesel-electric Soviet submarine now moored in the Maritime Museum of San Diego.
B-396
Submarine, 1980
Russia – Moscow Wet-berthed former Tango class diesel Soviet submarine ‘Novosibirsky Komsomolets’ now a museum display on the Moscow river since 2006.
B-413
Submarine, 1968
Kaliningrad – Konigsburg Wet-berthed former diesel-electric Soviet submarine at the Museum of the World Ocean, Kaliningrad.
Belfast, HMS
Cruiser, 1938
UK – London Wet-berthed WW2 cruiser berthed next to tower bridge in London.
Blyskawica, ORP
Destroyer, 1937
Poland – Gdynia Wet-berthed WW2 Polish destroyer. The world’s oldest preserved destroyer.
Cassin Young, USS
Destroyer, 1943
USA – Boston, MA Fletcher class destroyer, served in WW2 and the Korean War. Now wet-berthed at the National Historical park in Boston.
Cod, USS
Submarine, 1942
USA – Cleveland, OH Wet-berthed WW2 era, GATO class fleet submarine.
Constitution, USS
Sail, 1797
USA – Charleston, MS Wet-berthed heavy frigate. The world’s oldest commissioned warship in active service. More info…
Drum, USS
Submarine, 1941
USA – Mobile, Alabama Dry-berthed WW2 Gato class submarine. Saw early action in the Pacific.
Edson, USS
Destroyer, 1958
USA – Bay City, MI Forrest Sherman-class destroyer and Vietnam War veteran, now wet-berthed on the Saginaw River.
Espadon
Submarine, 1958
France – St Nazaire Wet-berthed French Narval class submarine now on display in the former U-boat pens.
Georgios Averof
Cruiser, 1910
Greece – Faliron Wet-berthed Greek armoured cruiser More info…
Hiddensee
Missile Corvette, 1984
USA – Fall River, MS Wet-berthed former Soviet-built Tarantul I class missile corvette built for the East German Navy, now an exhibit at Battleship Cove, MS.
Hornet, USS
Aircraft Carrier, 1943
USA – Alameda, CA Wet-berthed Essex class aircraft carrier that saw service in WW2, Vietnam, and recovered the Apollo 11 space capsule.
Intrepid, USS
Aircraft Carrier, 1943
USA – New York Wet-berthed WW2 aircraft carrier with a terrific array of aircraft exhibited on board too. More info…
Joseph P. Kennedy Jr, USS
Destroyer, 1945
USA – Fall River, MS Wet-berthed in Battleship Cove with USS Massachussetts
Kidd, USS
Destroyer, 1943
USA – Baton Rouge, Louisiana Wet-berthed WW2 destroyer with a distinguished war history in the Pacific.
Kiev
Aircraft Carrier, 1972
China – Tianjin Wet-berthed former flagship of the Soviet Pacific Fleet and now, like her sister ship, Minsk, a theme park in China… or was. She still appears to be there, but a BBC news report in 2011 said she was being turned into a luxury hotel. I’ll keep her listed here until I find a link for her.
Lionfish, USS
Submarine, 1943
USA – Fall River, MS Balao-class submarine wet-berthed at Battleship Cove.
Maillé-Brézé
Destroyer
1953
Nantes, France Wet-berthed Le Maillé-Brézé (D627) is a Surcouf-class destroyer, decommissioned in 1988 and on display in the city of Nantes. She featured, with her modern gear (like radar antennae) removed or covered up, in the 2017 movie, ‘Dunkirk’.
Massachusetts, USS
Battleship, 1941
USA – Fall River, MS Wet-berthed WW2 battleship. (I visited her once. Very slender, designed to go through the Panama Canal)
Midway, USS
Aircraft Carrier, 1945
USA – San Diego, CA Wet-berthed First of the post-WW2 carriers, she has numerous exhibits on board and 27 restored aircraft.
Mikasi
Battleship, 1900
Japan – Yokosuka Wet-berthed flagship of Admiral Togo during the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905).
Minsk
Aircraft Carrier, 1972
China – Shenzhen Wet-berthed former Soviet aircraft carrier, now a theme park in China (like her sister ship, Kiev). She was last reported to be closed and is being relocated to Nantong, Jiangsu. I’ll keep her listed in the hope she’s re-opened as a museum ship.
New Jersey, USS
Battleship, 1942
USA – Philadelphia Wet-berthed WW2 and Korean war battleship
Onslow, HMAS
Submarine, 1968
Australia – Sydney Wet-berthed Australian navy diesel-electric submarine, that left the service only recently (1990) and is now on display at the Australian National Maritime Museum.
Otus, HMS
Submarine, 1962
Germany – Rügen island Wet-berthed Royal Navy submarine from the cold war era and later, serving during the Falkland War & the 1991 Persian Gulf war.
Slater, USS
Destroyer, 1944
USA – Albany, NY Cannon-class destroyer escort wet-berthed on the Hudson River.
Stewart, USS
Destroyer, 1942
USA – Galveston, TX Edsall-class escort destroyer dry-berthed at the Galveston Naval Museum, Seawolf Park.
The Sullivans, USS
Destroyer, 1943
USA – Buffalo, NY Fletcher class destroyer wet-berthed at the Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park.
Turner Joy, USS
Destroyer, 1958
USA – Bremerton, WA Wet-berthed Cold War Forrest Sherman-class destroyer.
U-505
Submarine, 1941
USA – Chicago Dry-berthed type IXC U-boat that was famously captured intact, with its enigma code books, is now a museum exhibit at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. More info…
U-534
Submarine, 1942
UK – Birkenhead Dry-berthed WW2 German U-boat, sunk in the Baltic, raised in 1993. More info…
U-995
Submarine, 1943
Germany – Laboe Dry-berthed WW2 German U-boat. The only surviving type VIIC. More info…
Unicorn, HMS
Sail, 1824
UK – Dundee Wet-berthed 46-gun frigate, moored alongside without masts and rigging.
Vasa
Sail, 1628
Sweden – Stockholm Dry-berthed flagship of Swedish navy sunk in Stockholm harbour on her maiden voyage, and raised in 1961.
HN Velos Thessaloniki – Greece Former WW2 Fletcher class US destroyer transferred to the Hellenic Navy in 1958. Made famous in 1973 when her captain & crew mutinied against the anti-junta uprising.
Victory, HMS
Sail, 1778
UK – Portsmouth Dry-berthed flagship of Admiral Nelson, made famous at the battle of Trafalgar. Review here.

Notes

    • The Historic Naval Ships Association has many of the above ships in its membership database, with a lot more detail.
    • The National WW2 Museum in New Orleans is currently working on the restoration of a WW2 patrol boat, PT-305.
    • Not exactly a warship, but as well as the B-396, the Naval Museum in Moscow has a rare exhibit – the Alekseyev A-90 Orlyonok Ekranoplan. Only a handful of these extraordinary ground-effect vehicles were ever made.
    • SS Bandırma was an Ottoman 48m mixed-freight steam ship (not a warship), built 1878 in Paisley, Scotland, which became famous in Turkish history for carrying Mustafa Kemal Pasha (Atatürk) and his entourage of 55 soldiers & administrators from Constantinople (today-Istanbul) to Samsun in May 1919, a move that gave birth to the Turkish national movement, and the Turkish War of Independence ending in the declaration of the Republic of Turkey. The original ship was broken up in 1925 but a replica was built in 2001 and opened as a dry-berthed museum ship by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on 19 May 2003.