Visiting The Submarine Force Museum

The Submarine Force Museum is located near the Thames River in Groton, Connecticut. It has one of the world’s finest selections of Marine Artifacts. You are able to visit the on land museum as well as, the submarine museum which sits on the Thames River. This is the only submarine museum operated by the United States Navy. There is no cost to enter the museum but they do accept donations. We recommend donating to keep this wonderful museum operating. This museum collection includes; 33,000 artifacts, 20,000 significant documents, and 30,000 photographs.

The museum is self paced guided tour. It is very easy to find your way around and keeping with the flow of the foot traffic. The on land portion of the museum contains two floors, a movie theater, and some hands on opportunities to try exhibits.

One of the largest exhibits is the torpedo and missile exhibit. Here, you can see a wide angle view. This room contains many exhibits and access to the second floor. A model of the submarine USS Gato is suspended from the ceiling. It shows the interior and exterior of the submarine. With action figures to depict what solider would be doing in each section.

I would have missed this if it wasn’t for my children. Of course this is an artifact that a child could never miss. This is an official document of a trip made to the North Pole. My children were very happy to see this along with some photos of crew members with Santa.

Once you are ready to explore the submarine make your way outside!

The USS NAUTILUS is the submarine in which the submarine tour is taken on. The white “E”, a red “E” and a white “A” represent awards the ship has won.

It is a quick walk up a ramp and onto the tour your go. the tour is self guided buy you are given an audio device to listen to as you walk through. It is as easy as pressing a button.

This submarine is on water. This was one of the highlights of our trip. To see our tour click here to our YouTube channel. Please subscribe to our channel and wander with us. There we have video tours of our trip!

This is a submarine so please be aware that places can be tight. With tall family members making your way through the submarine is part of the fun. Of course your kids will state how easy it is and laugh at your expense. Overall it is a lot of fun, very interesting, and educational.

Once you are done you can make your way back into the museum. Don’t forget to take a tour completion photo.

If you are able to catch a movie. The museum has a movie that plays every every hour on the hour.

The museum also has a lovely gift shop. There are plenty of things to buy and something for everyone. Some items directly profit the museum. Of course you should pick up your penny souvenir.

With a submarine and so many artifacts to see. The museum also has pieces of history right in front of the building!