Established 1948 Visitors 220,000 Phone +1 619-234-9153 | Type Maritime museum President Raymond Ashley Date founded 1948 | |
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Location San Diego, California, United States Key holdings Star of India
Berkeley
Californian
Medea Address 1492 N Harbor Dr, San Diego, CA 92101, USA Hours Closed now Sunday9AM–8PMMonday9AM–8PMTuesday9AM–8PMWednesday9AM–8PMThursday9AM–8PMFriday9AM–8PMSaturday9AM–8PM Public transit access County Center/Little Italy station Similar Star of India, USS Midway Museum, HMS Surprise, San Diego Bay, Seaport Village Profiles | ||
Maritime museum of san diego
The Maritime Museum of San Diego, established in 1948, preserves one of the largest collections of historic sea vessels in the United States. Located on the San Diego Bay, the centerpiece of the museum's collection is the Star of India, an 1863 iron bark. The museum maintains the MacMullen Library and Research Archives aboard the 1898 ferryboat Berkeley. The museum also publishes the quarterly peer-reviewed journal Mains'l Haul: A Journal of Pacific Maritime History.
Contents
The Maritime Museum is located on the west side of North Harbor Drive, between the ends of Ash Street and Grape Street, south of San Diego International Airport.
Current collection
San Salvador replica
Starting in 2011 the Maritime Museum of San Diego built a full-sized, fully functional, historically accurate replica of Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo’s flagship, San Salvador. The replica was constructed in full public view in the bayside Spanish Landing park in San Diego, giving people the opportunity to watch a living recreation of the first modern industrial activity in the Americas. She was launched in 2015 and is stationed at the San Diego Bay Embarcadero as part of the Museum's fleet of historic and replica ships. She will open for public tours starting in September 2016, in conjunction with the Maritime Museum's annual Festival of Sail. Later that month she is expected to start making coastal tours up the California coast.
Midway Museum
Not affiliated with the Maritime Museum, but located a short distance away, is the independently operated USS Midway Aircraft Carrier Museum. Although at first it was feared the Midway would compete with the Maritime Museum for visitors, in fact visitation of the Maritime Museum has increased since the Midway museum opened.