L.A.'s Hidden Gem:
Become a Sailor for a Day aboard Battleship IOWA.
Aboard Battleship IOWA, you become part of the crew when you receive your sailor assignment, follow orders, hone the skills to be a sailor, and learn the story of your sailor.
Open Thurs-Mon
10am-5pm
Last entry 4pm
PLAN YOUR VISIT
Allow 2 to 3 Hours
Location
LA Waterfront
Parking
Next Door
Highly Rated
Google 4.8/5
Experience the Life of a Sailor
Receive your orders, hone your skills, and reveal your story.
You don't just tour the ship; you join the crew.
A Navy ship is a city at sea. It needs power, food, water, complex systems, a clear mission, and sailors with the skills to keep everything moving.
Beginning Labor Day weekend, Life of a Sailor puts you inside that world. Step aboard Battleship IOWA as a sailor recruit, follow a famous sailor, receive your orders, hone the skills needed at sea, find your ship, and reveal the story of your sailor across 7 decks of the ship.
This self-guided experience is included with general admission and unfolds through four parts.
Kids Board Free
In the all-new Life of a Sailor experience, kids become sailor recruits while joining Vicky the Dog on an all-new scavenger hunt through Battleship IOWA.
Up to 2 kids board free per paid adult for a limited time.
1. Sailor Assignment
2. Hone Your Skills
3. Reveal Your Story
4. Explore Deeper
About Battleship IOWA
Known as the Battleship of Presidents, Battleship IOWA is considered one of the most powerful warships ever built. Nearly three football fields long, the ship carried more than 2,700 sailors during World War II, while its nine massive 16-inch guns could fire 2,700-pound shells more than 20 miles. Today, visitors can walk the same decks where generations of sailors lived, worked, and served.
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1. Sailor Assignment
Every Sailor Has a Story. One of Them Is Now Yours to Follow.
Board the Battleship IOWA at the forward brow and receive your sailor assignment. Your assignment card has your orders to lead you to your sailor.
Along the way, hone your skills as you become a sailor recruit and walk in the footsteps of sailors.
2. hone your sailor skills
Receive your orders and collect skills in Customs & Courtesies, Seamanship, Navigation, Watchstanding, Communication, and Damage Control.
As you collect each skill, you experience the ship as a sailor would when first reporting aboard—learning its language, responsibilities, routines, and your place within the crew.
3. Reveal Your Sailor
As you approach the end of your journey, find the ships connected to your sailor on the new Great Ships wall and decide which Navy rate best fits you.
Then reveal the identity of your sailor and discover the experiences, choices, and defining moments behind the person you have been following.
4. Explore Deeper
Your Life of a Sailor experience does not have to end with the reveal.
Continue your journey through immersive career tracks that take you deeper into the ship and the work of its crew. Led by a knowledgeable crewmember, these guided experiences provide access to spaces beyond the self-guided route while exploring the specialized skills, systems, and responsibilities required aboard a Navy ship.
Choose the career track that interests you and see where life as a sailor could take you.
TICKETS
Experience the Life of a Sailor.
Life of a Sailor
Our general admission experience shows how sailors live, work, and serve.
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.
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.
Gun Tour Experience
This exclusive, behind-the-scenes journey puts you inside the systems that made Battleship IOWA one of the most powerful warships ever built.
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.
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.
Included with Admission
Life of a Sailor
Our general admission experience shows how sailors live, work, and serve.
Great Ships
Explore the ships of America’s Surface Navy.
Ship Cutaway
See inside a Navy ship from bow to stern.
Vicky’s Scavenger Hunt
Find Vicky throughout your shipboard adventure.
Living Blueprint
Immerse yourself in a blueprint of a Navy ship.
Stewards of the Sea
Explore how the Navy protects the seas.
What’s My Rate?
Find the Navy career that fits you.
Every Sailor has a Story
Meet the people who serve.
HUP-2 Retriever Helicopter
Korean War era Hup-2 Helicopter
Sticks Art Gallery
Discover IOWA’s story through art.
Gunnery Incidents
Navy ships operate around the world in service of our nation, often using powerful and complex weapons under demanding conditions.
YOUTH PROGRAMS
Learn more about our day and overnight youth programs that follow Maritime Pathways.
Group & Private Events
Host your group for a memorable experience from car clubs to weddings.
Support Our Mission
Your support helps more people discover their place in America’s maritime story.
PLAN YOUR VISIT
Hours, directions, parking, accessibility, and helpful tips before you come aboard.
Families & Kids
Life of a Sailor includes hands-on exhibits, real ship spaces, and interactive moments designed for guests of all ages.
Kids can explore how a Navy ship works, discover the skills sailors use at sea, and follow and take a picture with Vicky the Dog, Battleship IOWA’s beloved mascot, on a scavenger hunt included with general admission.
Getting Here, Parking, & Luggage Storage
Battleship IOWA is located on the LA Waterfront in San Pedro, CA, at the south end of the 110 Freeway.
250 S. Harbor Blvd.
San Pedro, CA 90731
We are a 5-minute walk from the LA World Cruise Terminal and minutes from Downtown Long Beach and the Long Beach Cruise Terminal.
Parking
Paid parking is available in the adjacent shared LA World Cruise Terminal public lot. The first hour is free, then $3 per hour, up to a maximum of $23 per day. Limited street parking may also be available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Public Transit
We are located across Harbor Blvd. from a Metro Silver Line/J Line stop. The Metro Silver Line/J Line connects Downtown LA and Union Station to San Pedro. The ride from Downtown LA is approximately 1 hour.
Luggage Storage
We have luggage storage lockers available for day use rental pierside by our aft brow, closest to the cruise terminal.
Food, Gifts, & Nearby Attractions
Ship’s Store
Visit the Ship’s Store on board for souvenirs, apparel, books, and Battleship IOWA items.
Food
Vicky’s Doghouse is a highly rated gourmet hot dog counter-service restaurant on the fantail of Battleship IOWA. It is open Friday through Sunday from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
You can eat at Vicky’s Doghouse without paying museum admission, and parking is free if your visit is under one hour. Ask for the special menu.
We are also within walking distance of the San Pedro Fish Market on the LA Waterfront and numerous restaurants in Downtown San Pedro.
Nearby Attractions
Spend a day on the LA Waterfront with nearby attractions including the LA Maritime Museum, SS Lane Victory, Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, the Korean Bell, CRAFTED, and Downtown San Pedro restaurants.
Coming soon: the new West Harbor waterfront development.
Luggage Storage and LA World Cruise Terminal
Battleship IOWA is located at the L.A. World Cruise Center and shares the adjacent parking lot with the cruise terminal. We are within a 5-minute walk of Los Angeles–based cruise ships, including Princess, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, and many others.
For passengers sailing from Long Beach Cruise Terminal, Battleship IOWA is a short taxi or rideshare trip away.
Day-use luggage storage lockers are available pierside near our aft brow, closest to the cruise terminal.
Aboard & Accessibility
Battleship IOWA is a real Navy ship with indoor and outdoor spaces, historic decks, passageways, exhibits, and shipboard areas to explore.
Some areas include steep stairs, also known aboard ship as ladders, narrow passageways, uneven surfaces, and outdoor decks. Comfortable shoes are strongly recommended.
The main deck is wheelchair accessible, and chair lifts provide access to three decks when available.
Boarding ramps and gangways may be steep, especially during high tide. For safety, guests using wheelchairs, scooters, walkers, or other mobility devices are strongly encouraged to board under their own power when able and transfer to a wheelchair once on deck.
Because this is a historic ship, many spaces may not be accessible to all guests. Guests board and visit Battleship IOWA at their own risk and are responsible for determining whether they can safely board, move through the ship, and follow posted signs and crew instructions.
Hours & Tickets
Open Thursday thru Monday (closed Tuesday and Wednesday) from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, with the last entry at 4:00 PM. Beginning August Most guests spend 2–3 hours aboard. Life of a Sailor is included with all tours, and guided tours should be booked in advance.
Questions & Helpful Links
Need help planning your visit? Contact our team before you come aboard.
Use the links below to book tickets, get directions, view tours, or find answers to common questions.
General Information
Things to Do Before or After a Los Angeles Cruise
How Close Is Battleship IOWA to Disneyland? Plan Your Visit.
Birthday Parties Aboard IOWA
What Is It Really Like To Walk Through An Iowa-Class Battleship?
Top Things To Do In Long Beach And San Pedro
What Is Life Like Aboard a Navy Ship?
A Waterfront Event Venue at the Center of San Pedro’s Next Chapter
Why the National Museum of the Surface Navy at Battleship IOWA Is One of Los Angeles’ Most Unique Museums
Host Your Event Inside Living History Aboard Battleship IOWA
LA Fleet Week
UPCOMING EVENTS
Connect with Our Community
September 11th – 25th Anniversary Remembrance
September 11th – 25th Anniversary Remembrance
Spooktacular Sleepover Family Overnight
Spooktacular Sleepover Family Overnight
Sign up your whole family for Battleship IOWA's SPOOKTACULAR family overnight
Freedom of the Seas 2026
Freedom of the Seas 2026
Join us for a historic evening at the 6th Annual Freedom of the Seas Awards Dinner to "Honor the Extraordinary".
Holiday Family Overnight
Holiday Family Overnight
Limited time only beginning on September 5, 2026!
Kids Board Free
In the all-new Life of a Sailor experience, kids become sailor recruits, building their skills, following the story of a famous sailor, and joining Vicky the Dog on a scavenger hunt through Battleship IOWA.
Kids board free with a paid adult.