Battleship USS Iowa Museum

The Battleship USS Iowa Museum, located in San Pedro, California, offers visitors a chance to explore the historic USS Iowa (BB-61), which served during World War II, the Korean War, and the Cold War. The museum provides guided tours, overnight programs, and special events, making it a must-visit destination for history enthusiasts and families alike.

Planning your visit

USS Iowa was the lead ship of the last class of battleships the United States built, and she is enormous — 887 feet, nine 16-inch guns capable of throwing a shell weighing as much as a small car over 20 miles. She carried Franklin Roosevelt to the Tehran Conference in 1943, with a bathtub installed specifically for him, the only battleship ever fitted with one. She served through the Second World War, Korea and, after reactivation in the 1980s, the late Cold War.

Visitors tour the main deck, the gun turrets, the bridge, officers' quarters, the wardroom and the crew spaces. The scale of the machinery is the thing that registers — the turret barbettes, the armour, the sheer mass of an object built to absorb shellfire.

She is berthed at San Pedro in the Port of Los Angeles, some way from central LA, which is the main practical consideration.

Bookable options include entry with guided tours, and combined formats with Los Angeles hop-on hop-off bus passes that handle the journey down to the port. Overnight programmes and special events run periodically. Current availability is listed below.