A Los Angeles Family Attraction Where Everyone Joins the Crew
A shared family adventure aboard a real battleship.
Finding a Los Angeles attraction that interests children, parents, and grandparents is not always easy.
At Battleship IOWA, families do more than look at exhibits. They climb aboard a real battleship, receive a mission, explore seven decks, and discover what it takes to become part of a ship's crew.
Located on the LA Waterfront in San Pedro, Battleship IOWA is home to the National Museum of the Surface Navy and its immersive Life of a Sailor experience.
This Is Not a Replica. It Is the Ship.
Battleship IOWA is nearly three football fields long and once carried a crew of more than 2,700 sailors.
Families walk through actual passageways, enter historic crew spaces, stand beneath massive 16-inch guns, and see the systems that allowed thousands of people to live and work at sea.
The ship's scale immediately inspires questions: Where did everyone sleep? How did they make fresh water? How did they communicate? What happened during an emergency? How did sailors find their way through such an enormous ship? Every deck offers something new to discover together.
Become a Sailor for a Day
Life of a Sailor turns a museum visit into a shipboard assignment.
Guests receive a sailor card when they come aboard. The card contains their orders and connects them with a real sailor whose story unfolds during the experience.
As families explore, they hone sailor skills, discover different Navy jobs, learn how ships operate, and see why every member of the crew matters.
The experience is built around adventure, opportunity, belonging, and purpose. Children are not just along for the tour. They become part of it.
Join Vicky's Scavenger Hunt
Vicky the Dog gives younger visitors an additional mission aboard the ship.
Families search for Vicky throughout the visitor route, turning each deck into another opportunity for discovery. The scavenger hunt encourages children to look closely, stay engaged, and find details they might otherwise pass by.
Instead of asking, 'Are we done yet?' children have something to find and a mission to complete.
Learning That Feels Like an Adventure
A visit naturally connects to American history, science, engineering, navigation, communications, leadership, teamwork, skilled trades, and maritime careers.
Parents do not need to prepare a lesson plan. The ship creates the questions, and the experience helps families find the answers together.
Children see that a battleship is more than steel, guns, and machinery. It is a community whose members must learn their jobs, solve problems, trust one another, and work toward a shared purpose.
Something for Every Generation
Children experience the excitement of exploring a massive ship. Adults discover the ingenuity and human effort required to operate it. Veterans and military families can share personal experiences and connect them with a new generation.
Families do not need an existing interest in naval or military history. Life of a Sailor is ultimately about people - how they learn, work, form friendships, overcome challenges, and become a crew.
Plan Your Family Visit
Most families should allow approximately two to three hours aboard Battleship IOWA. The experience covers seven decks of a real historic ship, so visitors should wear comfortable shoes and review current accessibility information before arriving.
Battleship IOWA is located in San Pedro near Long Beach, the Port of Los Angeles, and the Los Angeles World Cruise Center. Life of a Sailor and Vicky's scavenger hunt are included with general admission.
Give Your Family a Mission
Los Angeles has plenty of places where families can watch. Battleship IOWA gives them something to do together.
Step aboard. Receive your orders. Hone your skills. Follow your sailor's story. Join the crew.
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 Retriever Helicopter.
Sticks Art Gallery
Discover IOWA’s story through art.
Gunnery Incidents
A dive into Navy gunnery incidents over the years.
Limited time only!
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.