I took the MOST AMAZING cruise on this WW2 navy ship. It was such a beautiful day out. We went under the bay bridge then under the GG and went a little further out for a memorial. I cant believe how beautiful the city is from afar. We plan on sailing on her again during fleet week. read more

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Great self guided tour. Worth a visit and cool to see a ship that has so much history read more

SS Jeremiah O'Brien - Museums Near Me - San Francisco, California

Also the submarine ship museum offers July 4th fireworks viewing meeting ...must be every year ..first come first served ..hot chocolate sodas ..chips ..where r the hot dogs ..I can bring them ..haha ..best view and seats to watch fireworks ...first time this year ...hang out on the submarine museum ... read more

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Cool piece of history. This ship was part of D day and the staff are great at sharing stories. You can go on and through the ship to see how they ran things including the engine room. Fun activity for anyone visiting pier 39 read more

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For Fleet Week, we got our cruise tickets off Eventbrite $175. This was such a fun experience. The crew and volunteers were friendly and made the ride memorable. I loved the live band and the announcer pointing out the details of the ride and where we were on the bay. There were about 900 people on the boat. It departed at 10am and returned back at 5pm. Upon boarding, there were coffee, donuts, hot chocolate and tea. The lunch service started at around 11am with hot dogs and tacos. The beer and wine ran out at around 2pm. The line for the tacos went almost the length of ship at one point. Good job everyone on SS Jeremiah O'Brien. read more

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This is an amazing experience! Nothing like it! Real honest history in ACTION! Book one of the cruises!

I purchased tickets for a fleet week tour that left earlier than advertised. I have tried to contact them via telephone number from the website. It appears to be wrong or disconnected. I've tried to reach out via email with a contact address from the website. No response. I've been trying this for 2 months now. Maybe they are closed for the winter. I recommend passing on this trip. Especially, if you pre-purchase tickets online. Very disappointing. It has been a fun experience in past years. read more

The SS Jeremiah O'Brien is one of two remaining fully functional liberty ships of the 2,710 built and launched during WWII. Beyond the normal admission tickets to get onboard, there are fund raising events, usually twice a year, in May and October, where guests can be cruising with the ship for the entire day. read more

SS Jeremiah O'Brien - Museums Near Me - San Francisco, California

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Survived a huge fire! This ship can stand anything thrown it's way. Definitely a must see while visiting this area. read more

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My wife and I went on the 2022 Fleet week cruise. It was a great day trip, unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate and the air space the air shows would be performed was socked in with fog. The ship was really fun, as well as visiting the engine room, and other areas of the ship. The hot dogs were really good as well as the taco bar was a welcome food choice. read more

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Interesting living history about WW2, located at Pier 35 in San Francisco, open most days from 10:00-5:00. May 18 the O'Brien will be going out for a Seaman's Memorial Cruise. Check the web site for details. read more

SS Jeremiah O'Brien - Pier 35 SS Jeremiah O'Brien entrance - Museums Near Me - San Francisco, California

Celebrated New Years 2020 on the SS Jeremiah and it has a decent/good view of the fireworks and of the Bay Area! The ship itself has a lot of history and was well maintained. The crew members were also very nice. For the Dance Party Battleship event: - Great location to celebrate the new year (view of the bay + fireworks) but needed more bartenders or beverage stations. - There was also no food being served after 10 pm? Did they run out? - Music + DJs were great! Shout out the DJ TN and DJ Hendrixk. read more

Husband loves ships so we tour them when on vacation. This one was "ok". Nothing spectacular. $20 per person. Go with you like ships. read more

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*SHIP AHOY!!!* It's A Sea-Faring, Steam-Punkin Halloween Party! SITREP It doesn't really get much better than this! Imagine being deep within the hold of an authentic WWII sailing vessel, with giant metal doors, and vast subterranean spaces to have the most-kick Halloween Party you've been too! Well, I didn't have to imagine that! It HAPPENED! But first, a bit more about our wonderful floating venue! HISTORY OF THE O'BRIEN In June 1943 the Liberty Ship S.S. Jeremiah O'Brien slid down the ways at the New England Shipbuilding Corporation in South Portland, Maine. Shortly thereafter she entered service, operated by Grace Line for the War Shipping Administration. Named for the first American to capture a British naval vessel during the Revolutionary War, the O'Brien made seven World War II voyages, ranging from England and Northern Ireland to South America, to India, to Australia. She also made eleven crossings of the English Channel carrying personnel and supplies to the Normandy beaches in support of the D-Day invasion. After the war, she was "mothballed" and laid up in the Reserve Fleet at Suisun Bay, north of San Francisco. She has since become a great venue for a lot of wonderful social events & galas, including tonight's party. THE "SALVAGE" (FOR A PARTY!) OPERATION! My lovely friend Ann Vargas - an incredible hostess with the mostess - decided why not host a fun party aboard a SHIP? Ann is the sort of social-genius that finds these wonderful locations to host fun parties - such as the recent Alice-In-Wonderland "UnBirthday Celebration" we celebrated in a mansion on the top of a hill in the East Bay. [In one of her PREVIOUS lives, Ann was no-doubt the Madame of one of the most touted Salons in 18th Century PARIS or 19th Century VIENNA, where the likes of Mozart, Chopin & Liszt would play & entertain the guests, or artists such De La Croix would mesmerize spectators with his wonderful paintings. These are the kinds of events and people in the 21st Century - such as Shawni, X, BLIXA and PARADOX - that Ann brings together!] She got to talking with the good folks responsible for scheduling and maintenance of the Sailing Ship (S.S.) Jeremiah O'Brien @ Pier 45 in Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco and made it happen! THE SET-UP The S.S. Jeremiah O'Brien turned out to be a fantastic venue to host our Saturday Night Halloween Party Spectacular! The ship is permanently moored at Pier 45 and so there were no strict "timing" issues like you "had to be there right at 6pm or you would be left behind!" For our group of friends who lean strongly towards the Steam Punk & Gothic-Industrial music scenes, the environment could not have been more perfect. * Large LARGE SHIP! * Metal Walls & Submarine Doors * Large Open Ball Room to host the Dance Floor and DJ Set-up, along with buffet tables for goodies and the Bar. * Conveniently located SAILOR and SAILORETTE Rest Rooms! * Large POOP DECK in which we could escape the subterranean Ballroom and come up and hang out with the seagulls, catch some fresh air, have a smoke, view the beautiful San Francisco cityscape from a shipside view. We actually got to walk up the gang-plank to get into the ship which was quite the feat if you had issues with a fear of heights or "vertigo". DONATIONS The S.S. Jeremiah O'Brien is part of a historical preservation society and relies upon donations to keep the ship maintained and in good working order for visitors. The donations are regularly $10 per person which can be purchased at the head of PIER 45. THE LOWDOWN A historic ship can make for one FANTASTIC PARTY! read more

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This was a great experience and a very interactive one. You get to climb onto the ship and into different areas that sailors walked through. The engine area where scenes from the movie Titanic happen to be shot is a really impressive area. It's easy to see how hard the work was to keep the boat running. This is truly a place for history buffs AND for those who simply enjoy ships. It is a live working one that is run purely off of passionate volunteers who strive to keep the place living history. A must visit. read more

SO COOL! Seriously. I wasn't planning on visiting this ship (honestly didn't even know it excited) but my mom and were walking through Fisherman's Wharf and stumbled upon it. I was wooed by it's majestic, historical beauty and had to do the tour. I'm a huge history nerd, particularly WW2, so I was excited by the prospect of checking it out and doing some investigating. Definitely worth the $12 entry fee. The "tour" is self guided. Basically you just walk around with some literature they give you and explore on your own. There is very little here that is off limits so it's really about how much time you want to spend and how high you want to go (lots of ladders to climb!). There are crew cabins, captain's quarters, kitchens, dining areas, sick bays, etc etc to check out. All small but packed with artifacts from the time period. The engine room is also a sight to see. FUN FACT! Apparently the filmed scenes from Titanic in there as well! The "crew "are SO friendly and very eager and willing to answer any questions you may have. I'm not sure if everyone gets this but when we were walking off a very lovely volunteer gave us each a sizable book that touched on some of the history of the ship. Pretty darn generous and very very rad. read more

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After wandering around pier 39 poking our heads into random shops to try to dodge the rain, we finally found an umbrella and were able to wander down the coast a bit. Looking for something to explore we stumbled upon the S.S. Jeremiah O'Brien. The ticket guy (8 bucks a head to get in) sold us our tickets, and told us we were the last people he was going to let in for the day. We gave us the money, he handed us a few brochures, and we hurried onto the ship. The first thing I noticed is the giant naked lady painted on the front of the ship.. awesome :) It wasn't until we got into the ship that we realized that the ticket guy had handed us 8 brochures... all in German... Fortunately we found an English one in one of the holds. We only ran into one worker while wandering around, and one other much older couple. Otherwise, it was like a big play ground/museum. Climbing around from the engine all the way up to the top deck. We learned about the Liberty Ships that were built and sunk during WWII. The one worker we found informed us that the ship is fully functional, and they do a few fund raising trips around the bay. That explained the odd mixing of modern items (suave shampoo bottle in the shower) with the purposely left artifacts from the 40s. As we headed off the ship, we noticed that the gate was closed. It was a fun moment of panic, as we thought we'd been locked into the pier (it has razor wire on top, and extends out over the water). turns out it was just shut, but not locked. got the old heart rate up a bit though. An odd side note is that they have fully functional bathrooms. How many times do you get to use the toilette in a fully functional war ship? read more

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I have always had a great time on the O'Brien. Highly recommend the fleet week cruise!

A Fleet Week cruise was $150 and the Shed A parking was full around 10 minutes after boarding started. As we disembarked, the band played the themes for all of the armed forces so that we could clap to acknowledge the many veterans present. Because of the steps for the gangplank they don't recommend flip flops but do wear flat shoes because of all the ropes on deck. Beer, bottled water, and popcorn snacks were included in the ticket price. I spent several hours here, crossing the Golden Gate Bridge twice as part of the Parade of Ships. I wore four layers so I could be warm enough to sleep sitting up. Medical volunteers passed out small bottles of water. My boyfriend and his brother loved the hot engine room tour. The crew is helpful, especially when someone in the band needed a medic. The gift shop machine was out of order. I didn't see any books or teddy bears I liked but the Omaha Beach diorama was great. The inner room also has two military jeeps. The children onboard seemed to enjoy the BBQ lunch and doughnuts. The view of the San Francisco bay area was worth it. There are half a dozen porta-potties that didn't smell. read more

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Greatest Ship Ever ! A must see if you are in the San Fran area. Beautiful art work on the Gunners Mast. read more

SS Jeremiah O'Brien - Gunners Mast - Museums Near Me - San Francisco, California

Happened to walk by this and got a ticket last minute. What a cool piece of working history. Was able to walk around just about everywhere and it was great. Price was also good so give it a try. read more

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During my random trip to San Francisco during Fourth of July, I had stopped by Fisherman's Wharf. On my walking adventure, there were different exhibits throughout marina. I saw on ship that caught my attention. A volunteer ship that helped during World War II called me. This ship's name is the SS Jeremiah O'Brien. The SS Jeremiah O'Brien is located at Pier 45. It is not too far from where I ate clam chowder at Sabella and Latorre. Admission price to SS Jeremiah O'Brien is $12. Most of the people who work on the ship are volunteers and I suggest you give them a lot of compliments because they do a hard work to keep the ship looking good and more importantly, working. When you board the ship, you are entering becoming part of history. A ship that remains active and helped decide World War II. You will see volunteers paint the ship and even cooking in the mess hall. On the day I was there, there were was a school of cadets on board. I felt like going back to the Maritime Academy re-doing it over again just board classic ships like the SS Jeremiah O'Brien. You can go all levels of the ship from the engine room to the bridge of the ship. You can man the multiple guns or check out the living quarters. The interesting views are definitely from the guns. It will require some climbing ladders. Just take your time going up and down. Sometimes, the guests won't read which ladders to go up or down. Usually, there are two sets just the opposit of each other. There are volunteers and retirees throughout the ship to help you navigate around the SS Jeremiah O'Brien if you get lost. Its a big ship, but in 15-20 minutes you'll know your way around. The one main area that caught my attention was the Engine Room. Apparently, it was used in the movie, Titanic. As I mentioned, this is an active ship and could be used in an emergency. In the movie, Titanic, there is a big engine room that starts moving when it departs and hits full-speed. In fact, its just SS Jeremiah O'Brien's engine room amplified to look huge. Amazing that SS Jeremiah O'Brien is still making history. Its amazing to see ships still active and not just put in a museum and not put to use. This is probably why I chose this ship versus the other exhibits. I volunteer a lot, but who knows, I might get called to help the SS Jeremiah O'Brien on its next journey. Yelp! The One Stop Place For Your Everyday Research! read more

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This is a very rare remaining liberty ship. Very few people are fully aware of the roles these ships played in World War II. I recommend a tour, especially if you have children or grandchildren whom you can bring. I volunteered on the ship, back when I lived in the Bay Area. I got to cruise around the Bay on her, on several occasions. They had a live band and catered food (nothing fancy,but enjoyable). Great memories! read more

I went on the Jeremiah O'Brien because of Smithsonian Magazine Museum Day Sat 9/25/10. B. loves boats so we went even though he's been on it a few times, I went pre-Yelp so I had to go back to review it. They have a booth along Pier 45 to buy tickets, but it's was FREE for us with a printout for Museum Day. Regular price is $10 per adult. You have to walk up some steps onto the ship. I noticed some bathrooms, I think it's for anyone to use them, I didn't. I think we spent over 1hr there. Engine Room is the Highlight. Can't bring backpacks - have to put it on the side before you go down. Volunteer guide gave us a short talk about the Engine Room, another volunteer let us see some pipes in a confined locked up space. That was neat. Put in 50c at a machine before the gift shop, and you'll see how an engine model runs. That was nice to see. They have volunteer in the gift shop - there's books. dolls, model of some boats, etc. Might be worth going at least once. read more

It might be because I'm in the military, or it might be because I currently work in a history department, but I love touring historical war machines. In essence, what you have here is one of the two remaining Liberty ships, built in under 60 days. That's mad impressive when you take it in. You can explore everything fully, and the guns still rotate (you can pretend to sink boats in the harbor!) What really made the experience is that a volunteer veteran from WWII who served on a Liberty ship took my friend and I around on a free tour telling us about his job, where he lived on the ship, specific jobs people had. It's really moving to see someone who served over 50 years ago, STILL having pride and passion about how he served. Giving up years of your life in your youth to fight a war. That's time you'll never get back. Even more, he's still giving back by volunteering his time and he's ~80? Military members get in free, and I enjoyed it enough that I donated the cost of an admission ticket when left read more

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I've got a pretty good reason to love this ship... I was married there! It was an unconventional venue, for sure, but the SS O'Brien staff (Kyle Day in particular) couldn't have been more helpful in making it happen. We had our ceremony on deck right before sunset, and our reception in the #2 cargo hold below. And the cannon turret is SO much fun - the photos produced lots of "shotgun wedding" jokes. Ideal for veterans, history buffs, and anyone looking for an "adult jungle gym" to climb on. I don't recommend this venue for young children unless they are very closely supervised. (We didn't allow children at our wedding for this reason.) The entire ship is metal, with steep narrow staircases. Also, wear comfortable shoes when aboard. read more

SS Jeremiah O'Brien - Our wedding aboard the O'Brien - Museums Near Me - San Francisco, California

Great staff, wonderful and interesting history! AJ at the gift store was so helpful and friendly! Phil has a lot of stories to tell about the ship! Really great, I'd like to come back to explore some more! read more

A living, working, tribute to the Sailors, Merchantmen, and builders that helped win the war. If you have not been to this ship, you should go. The cruises are awesome, especially the fleetweek cruise. read more

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WW II history buffs will love this Liberty Ship. It's one of two operational Liberty Ships remaining. (The other one is in Baltimore, MD). The SS Jeremiah O'Brien was salvaged from the moth ball fleet located in Suisun Bay. Liberty Ships were built to transport cargo and as such smaller in size than battleships. I enjoyed touring the ship, and I'm not a WW II buff. Most of the ship is opened to the public. There's a museum in one of the cargo holds and a running documentary DVD. It runs for 45 minutes. Its about Liberty Ships in general, and the project to save the O'Brien. The best part was the steam engine room. Parts of the room was featured in the movie Titanic. The O'Brien can be rented for private events, and it sails out on the SF Bay for special occasions such as Fleet Week. The entire family will enjoy touring the ship. read more

We toured this ship on our most recent trip to San Francisco (June 2014) while staying at the Argonaut Hotel near Pier 45. As one of only two restored liberty ships from the WWII era, the Jeremiah O'Brien was a great experience for the family to go back in time (1943) and see what sailors lived on and how we made it through the war. To think that it only took 60 days to complete this ship is amazing. We spent 4 hours on this boat exploring every available open area and the kids sat up on the forward and rear guns. This operation ship has a 2500HP steam engine that was featured in the movie "Titanic". The engine room itself is a modern marvel. To see how everything was put together and how America's might and ingenuity came together for our country's need is awe inspiring. It is a great way to see firsthand how liberty ships played a major role in WWII and specifically the allied landing at Omaha Beach in Normandy France through the D-day diorama on display in the Cargo hold. I was very excited to learn the Jeremiah O'Brien has an overnight program for special groups such as the cub/boy scouts with I think has a minimum age and parent to child ration. But I can't wait to get my kids scouting group signed up for this. The boat is maintained by donations and volunteer hours from navy vets constantly painting and restoring this beautiful piece or our country's history. A special THANKS to all of them for what they are doing.Through their efforts and their time explaining how everything worked helped make our visit extremely rewarding. Preserving this ship for future generations has been a great effort by all involved. If you have the opportunity to tour this ship, its great for adults and families. Cheers! read more

Took the Fleet week tour! Around the bay, under the bridge, park in the bay to watch the air show! Amazing! Volunteers were all friendly, music ( Garbage band) was good, food was good. Views were great. The history is incredible. So awesome that it still putts around the bay a few times a year! This is the second time we have done the tour and plan to do it again - if you get a chance I recommend it. If you can't be there for Fleet Week, just take the tour. History is amazing! read more

SS Jeremiah O'Brien - Jeremiah O'Brien - Museums Near Me - San Francisco, California

I wondered about this ship for several years before I finally got around to going! It just sits there at Fisherman's Wharf and tries to lure you over with it's overall impressiveness. My boyfriend told me somewhere in the region of 10 times that his grandfather used to live on the boat. So I mean, he had a special connection to it already! When I noticed a Google Offer pop up for admission to none other than the Jeremiah O'Brien, I was all over it. So basically you walk inside the ship and explore at your leisure. There are still some people who live on it (or so it appears) although I'm not sure exactly what they do there. The day we went they had the boilers going and it was HOT down there. Really cool to see though, it reminded me of that scene in Titanic where they're running through all the workers shoveling coal. You can climb upstairs to the top deck and sit behind the guns, and you can stroll from bow to stern (see I know nautical terms!) One of the coolest parts was the "museum" where you can see the evolution of ships over the past several centuries. The main takeaway from that is ships are now freakin HUGE. Anyway, I would definitely recommend a trip here - it's not just a tourist thing, it's fun for locals too. And did you know there's a arcade museum/graveyard right next door? Yeah.... read more

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First off the ship is amazing. It's just a honor to see something like this. My biggest gripe and the reason why I'm giving it 1 star is because for $20 a person, I should be able to see the entire ship. There were multiple hallways and floors that I couldn't see because of Covid restrictions. I couldn't even see the engine room! Like seriously such a disappointment. read more

We started the self guided your not expecting much. And it was as expected until we ran into volunteer Wilma! She spent 45 min with us! She showed us all around the ship even some exsclusive places aboard all while providing details and interesting tid bits about the Obrien and ships like it. She did a great job and made sure too let us know they are always looking for volunteers and can work with any schedule. read more

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If you're a maritime geek, you'll love taking a tour of this ship. Out of the (I believe) 2,700-ish liberty ships built in WWII, this is one of only two remaining in seaworthy condition -- and the ONLY one that remains largely unchanged. Most ships tours severely restrict your access. Not so here. You're free to tour the vast majority of the ship at your leisure. Want to see an engine room and boiler in operation? Drop by on the 3rd weekend of the month, when they fire the boilers up and turn the screw at dead slow while docked to keep everything lubricated. They're more than happy to have you in the engine room while they work. Even better -- head out of port with them on one of their several-times-yearly cruises. I did this over the last weekend... a six-hour memorial cruise that took us from pier 45, out past the Golden Gate bridge for a memorial service, then back across the bay and down the Alameda estuary and finally back to pier 45. The trip included a "continental breakfast" (chuckle -- coffee and doughnuts), and a pretty darn tasty catered lunch... including all the beer, wine or soda you felt like drinking. The docents and crew were really marvelous and knowledgeable and happy to entertain any questions I had. It was a real treat to stand on the fair weather bridge and watch the captain and bay pilot operate the ship. I wholeheartedly recommend both the docked-tour and the bay cruises they offer. You won't be disappointed. read more

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Had my mom in San Francisco over the weekend to escape the fires up north and we decided to take our minds off the tragedy by being tourists in my own town. We decided to walk down to the pier 39 area and magically stumbled upon the SS Jeremiah O'Brian because I wanted to take a look at the neighboring submarine. Anyway, if you don't know anything about this ship you should definitely make a visit. I won't ruin the whole history but know that this liberty ship is one of two left and this one was actually at the landing of Normandy in World War II!! It's a piece of history that helped turn the tide of the war and it's an incredible feeling being on board. It's a self guided tour and you're able to sit/operate the massive guns on board, visit the operational engine room and many other nooks/crannies. If you're a WWII buff then this is a great spot to feel the history of the greatest generation. read more

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As an old sailer there is nothing like a cruise on the SS Jeremiah O'Brien. The crew is friendly and helpful people that seem to be enjoying the day. On all of the cruises I have been on, there has been a nice selection of breakfast pastries, coffee, and orange juice to start the cruise. Lunch is served from real hot dog stands. The hot dogs are like hot dogs I remember from childhood from a real meat store. A couple of cruises have had live music. I forget the full name of the band but there called themselves the Sewer Band for short. Their music is wonderful. Seating is provided but a couple of times we have brought bag chairs that are a bit more comfortable. On July 4 the SS Jeremiah O'Brien is an excellent place to watch the fireworks. Now for the negatives, parking $36-$40 per day, maybe more depending on where you park; location, I wish the City of San Francisco would do something to clean up this part of Fishermen's Wharf. If I were a tourist, I would think twice about returning to San Francisco after walking through this place. read more

Great place to bring your kids. The museum is well kept, clean, and lots of friendly employees roaming around. I recommend bringing your kids and getting the tour so that they get enlightened with all the history the tour guides have to offer. I didn't realize how massive these battleships are until I got up close to one. Best battleship museum and probably the only one you'll find in the San Francisco area. read more

To anyone interested in World War ll history, the Merchant Marine, San Francisco and/or the movie Titanic ( the engine scenes were filmed here), this place is nirvana ! There is access to all parts of the ship- going down the railings to the engine room is a bit like being in the Poseidon Adventure! The history of the Merchant Marines, and their bravery and sacrifices make you long for a time when this country was truly united in a common effort. The volunteers here are truly dedicated and very informative. The tour of the ship is self-guided, and you can take as long as you like-maybe even cozy up to a good book somewhere on deck and drink in the beauty of San Francisco Bay. Would give this place far more than 5 Stars if it were possible. read more

- recommended for homeschool field trips, although there are few interpretive signs - Wear good nonslip shoes for ascending and descending. There are some tight spaces, and it isn't very accessible for persons with disabilities. Give yourself plenty of time to explore. On a weekday, you may have this decommissioned battleship almost entirely to yourself. read more