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What Is the Surface Navy?

The Surface Navy includes the ships, sailors, systems, and missions that operate on the surface of the world’s oceans.

It is one of the most visible parts of the United States Navy, but many people do not fully understand what it does or how its ships work together.

At the National Museum of the Surface Navy, visitors explore this story aboard Battleship IOWA through Life of a Sailor, an immersive experience focused on the people who make naval operations possible.

What Ships Are Part of the Surface Navy?

The Surface Navy includes several types of ships designed for different roles.

These include:

  • Aircraft carriers
  • Cruisers
  • Destroyers
  • Amphibious ships
  • Littoral combat ships
  • Mine countermeasure ships
  • Support and logistics vessels
  • Historic battleships such as USS IOWA

Each ship has its own purpose, systems, crew, and capabilities.

Some protect larger groups of ships. Some carry aircraft. Some transport Marines, vehicles, and equipment. Others provide fuel, supplies, maintenance, or specialized support.

Together, they form a connected force.

A group of people listens to a guide on the deck of a large gray ship docked by a harbor, with equipment and masts visible under a sunny sky.

What Does the Surface Navy Do?

The Surface Navy supports missions around the world.

Its responsibilities include:

  • Protecting maritime routes
  • Supporting national defense
  • Responding to crises
  • Providing humanitarian assistance
  • Supporting diplomacy
  • Deterring conflict
  • Operating with allies and partners
  • Protecting the movement of people and goods at sea

The oceans connect nations, economies, resources, and communities.

The Surface Navy helps keep those connections open and secure.

Why Does the Surface Navy Matter?

Most of the world’s trade moves by sea.

Food, fuel, technology, vehicles, raw materials, and consumer products all depend on maritime transportation.

When shipping routes are threatened or disrupted, the effects can reach communities far from the water.

The Surface Navy supports freedom of navigation and helps maintain access to the global maritime system.

Its role is not limited to combat. Surface ships also respond to disasters, evacuate civilians, provide medical support, and strengthen partnerships between nations.

The Ships Depend on Sailors

Ships do not operate themselves.

Every Surface Navy ship depends on sailors with specialized roles.

Sailors operate engines, maintain electrical systems, navigate, communicate, prepare food, manage supplies, support aviation, provide medical care, repair equipment, and respond to emergencies.

Every role connects with others.

The ship succeeds because the crew works as one system.

Experience the Surface Navy Aboard Battleship IOWA

Battleship IOWA provides an authentic platform for understanding the scale and complexity of Surface Navy service.

Visitors explore seven decks and encounter the spaces where sailors work, live, communicate, train, and prepare for missions.

Life of a Sailor brings the story together by focusing on how individuals develop skills, take on responsibility, and become part of a crew.

Discover More Than Ships

The National Museum of the Surface Navy tells a story larger than one vessel.

It connects visitors with the people, missions, technology, leadership, and purpose of America’s Surface Navy.

Battleship IOWA provides the platform.

Life of a Sailor provides the experience.

The National Museum of the Surface Navy provides the larger story.

Discover the Surface Navy.
Explore Battleship IOWA.
Experience Life of a Sailor.

VISIT & EXPLORE

Experience the Life of a Sailor.

A smiling family of four poses on a battleship deck, capturing the spirit of sailor life. Three give a thumbs-up. An emblem at the bottom left says Self-Guided with map and play icons. The battleship and a partly cloudy sky are in the background.

Life of a Sailor

Our general admission experience shows how sailors live, work, and serve.

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A white bathtub with bubbles holds a toy ship, rubber duck, and a book. Towels hang on metal bars by the tub. Blue tile is visible on the floor. An illustrated Guided badge appears in the lower left corner, hinting at an imaginative President’s Tour through bathtime adventures.

President’s Tour

It’s November 1943, and Battleship IOWA is on a covert mission. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his entire staff are aboard, headed for top-secret meetings with Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin.

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A museum guide offers an engaging overview to visitors near a large shell and diagrams on a wall, enhancing their experience. The blue guided tour icon is visible in the foreground.

Overview Experience

The overview experience is a 90-minute crew-led tour that brings the ship’s legacy to life through the stories of those who served, and those who preserve her today.

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A tour guide in a blue cap speaks to visitors, holding a clear folder with papers. A wall with diagrams and text is behind him. A Guided tour icon appears in the foreground.

Gun Tour

This exclusive, behind-the-scenes journey puts you inside the systems that made Battleship IOWA one of the most powerful warships ever built.

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A tour guide points to a map on a wall while three visitors listen inside an industrial-looking room with exposed pipes, capturing the essence of an immersive Engineering Tour Experience. A blue Guided tour icon appears in the foreground.

Engineering Tour Experience

The Engineering Tour takes you below into the hidden heart of Battleship IOWA, where eight boilers and four steam turbines once generated 212,000 shaft horsepower, enough to power 650 Ford F-150 trucks, and drove IOWA to a blistering 35 knots, the fastest of any battleship ever built.

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A battleship deck painted with a large American flag and cannons aimed forward under a cloudy sky, setting the stage for a thrilling Fleet Adventure. An adventure game-inspired Guided tour icon appears in the lower left corner.

Escape the Fleet Adventure

In 2011, a small team raced against time to pull Battleship IOWA out of the Navy’s reserve “ghost fleet” — or watch her be scrapped forever. Now it’s your turn to live that mission.

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Included with Admission

A smiling family of four poses on a battleship deck, capturing the spirit of sailor life. Three give a thumbs-up. An emblem at the bottom left says Self-Guided with map and play icons. The battleship and a partly cloudy sky are in the background.

Life of a Sailor

Our general admission experience shows how sailors live, work, and serve.

A boy in glasses stands in front of an illuminated wall display of ships at a museum exhibit commemorating America 250. Signs, ropes, and informational posters are visible, with a woman in the background.

Great Ships

Explore the ships of America’s Surface Navy.

A man and woman observe a large, detailed cutaway model of an aircraft carrier—an impressive symbol of Surface Navy strength—displayed in a modern, spacious exhibit room with panoramic lighting and a blue sky background.

Ship Cutaway

See inside a Navy ship from bow to stern.

Three girls, including Vicky, look at a display on a ship wall featuring a photo of a dog in a vest labeled with a red number 1. One girl in front has a large red bow in her blonde hair.

Vicky’s Scavenger Hunt

Find Vicky throughout your shipboard adventure.

A futuristic, neon-lit room with blue and purple lights, metallic pipes, railings, and labeled panels, resembling a sci-fi spaceship interior aboard The Broadside. A workstation emits an orange glow in the background.

Living Blueprint

Immerse yourself in a blueprint of a Navy ship.

Immerse yourself in this interactive Navy museum exhibit featuring blue-lit displays, touch screens, and educational panels about ocean stewardship. The space offers industrial ceilings and a central digital kiosk labeled Navy Look for a truly engaging Experience.

Stewards of the Sea

Explore how the Navy protects the seas.

A room with navy-themed displays; a mannequin dressed as a sailor stands near large informational posters and a digital screen showing a sailors image. The lighting is dim with blue accents.

What’s My Rate?

Find the Navy career that fits you.

Exhibit with dim blue lighting, crates, rope barriers, life-size cutouts of people in uniforms, and a background resembling a ships interior and a library area.

Every Sailor has a Story

Meet the people who serve.

A large battleship with three massive gun turrets and a blue helicopter displayed on its deck at night, with visitors walking nearby and bright lights illuminating the scene.

HUP-2 Retriever Helicopter

Korean War era Hup-2 Helicopter

Dimly lit museum exhibit with large panels displaying historic photos and illustrations of battleships, Navy personnel, and World War II scenes, surrounded by pipes and industrial decor.

Sticks Art Gallery

Discover IOWA’s story through art.

Exhibit Description: Museum exhibit featuring panels on the USS Mississippi, the first Iowa battleship, and naval history. A large artillery shell stands in the foreground, with photos, artifacts, and an American flag displayed throughout the exhibit.

Gunnery Incidents

Navy ships operate around the world in service of our nation, often using powerful and complex weapons under demanding conditions.

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National Museum of the Surface Navy Plank Owner certificate

LIMITED TIME ONLY! Receive a digital commemorative Plank Owner certificate.

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Become a Surface Navy Museum and Battleship IOWA Patron and, for a limited time, receive a free digital commemorative Plank Owner certificate.

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