Hampton Roads Naval Museum

Free museum covering 225 years of naval history in the Hampton Roads region

The Hampton Roads Naval Museum occupies the second floor of Nauticus, the maritime science centre on the downtown waterfront. It is entirely free and well worth the time. The exhibits cover 225 years of naval history in the region, with particular strength on the Civil War ironclad battle, the two World Wars, and the Cold War submarine era.

Moored just outside is the USS Wisconsin, one of the last Iowa-class battleships and at 270 metres one of the largest warships ever built by the United States. You can tour the main deck and several interior spaces for free. The combination of the museum and the battleship is a half-day in itself.

things to do museum
A story
Hampton Roads is where the ironclad warships Monitor and Virginia (formerly Merrimac) fought the first battle between armoured warships in 1862. The battle ended inconclusively, but it made every wooden warship in every navy on earth obsolete overnight. The museum has significant material on this engagement, including artifacts recovered from the wreck of the Monitor, which sank in a storm the same year.