What Is It Really Like To Walk Through An Iowa-Class Battleship?
Step aboard Battleship IOWA and discover what it really feels like to explore an Iowa-class battleship—from steep ladders and tight passageways to massive guns, engineering spaces, and the everyday world of the sailors who lived and worked aboard.
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Recent Posts
Halloween STEMebration at Battleship IOWA
Freedom of the Seas Awards: Honoring Those Who Keep the World Connected
Why Kids Board Free at Battleship IOWA
Clubs and Organized Groups Aboard Battleship IOWA
Los Angeles, Long Beach and San Pedro Group Tours
What’s Your Limiting Factor? CDR Victor Vescovo
News & Announcements
Why Kids Board Free at Battleship IOWA
For many families, a museum visit that inspires curiosity and opens doors to opportunity has become harder to afford.
News
Battleship IOWA Receives $500,000 Timken Foundation Gift to Launch Engineering Career Track
Port of Los Angeles Invests $4 million in Battleship IOWA Freedom of the Seas Park and Pavilion
Kamin Samuel, PhD to Receive National Museum of the Surface Navy’s 2026 VADM Samuel L. Gravely, Jr. Leadership Award
Pacific Battleship Center & America250 Announce Partnership to Celebrate America’s 250th Anniversary in Los Angeles
Pacific Battleship Center Announces New Board Leadership, Honors Retiring Chairman
Announcements
Why Kids Board Free at Battleship IOWA
Family Overnight
FIFA World Cup Games on Battleship IOWA
Battleship IOWA Named IAAPA Member for 2026
Battleship IOWA STEM Adventure Summer Camp Scholarship Application/Waitlist 2026
Podcasts
What’s Your Limiting Factor? CDR Victor Vescovo
Explorer and retired Navy Reserve Commander Victor Vescovo has traveled to the deepest points of all five oceans and located some of the deepest shipwrecks ever discovered. His story shows how exploration, engineering, advanced submersible technology and a willingness to tackle difficult problems can push the boundaries of what humans know about the ocean.
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What’s Your Limiting Factor? CDR Victor Vescovo
Joe Sienkiewicz on Tropical Storm Hilary and Other 2023 Storms – Part 2
Joe Sienkiewicz on Tropical Storm Hilary and Other 2023 Storms – Part 1
Port of Los Angeles Police: Stacey Creech & Aldo Morales – Part 2
Port of Los Angeles Police: Stacey Creech & Aldo Morales – Part 1
History
Did We Need Permission From The Navy To Turn A Turret?
Did we need permission from the Navy to turn a turret? What’s in our donation contract?
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Did We Need Permission From The Navy To Turn A Turret?
What Would It Take to Move Battleship IOWA to the State of Iowa?
Why is Battleship IOWA one of the most significant battleships in American history?
What Can A Museum Collection Tell Us That A Battleship Alone Cannot?
IOWA recommissioning ceremony August 25, 1951 / the Korean War
Behind the Scenes
Did We Need Permission From The Navy To Turn A Turret?
Did we need permission from the Navy to turn a turret? What’s in our donation contract?
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Did We Need Permission From The Navy To Turn A Turret?
What Is It Really Like To Walk Through An Iowa-Class Battleship?
Would You Climb Down 30 Feet Into This Steel Cave?
Development
Freedom of the Seas Awards: Honoring Those Who Keep the World Connected
Most Americans benefit from freedom of the seas every day without realizing it.
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Freedom of the Seas Awards: Honoring Those Who Keep the World Connected
Preserving Battleship IOWA: Our 2026 Priorities
Battleship IOWA Receives $500,000 Timken Foundation Gift to Launch Engineering Career Track
Quarterdeck of Honor
Supporters
Education
Halloween STEMebration at Battleship IOWA
Each fall, Battleship IOWA welcomes children and families for Halloween STEMebration, an annual community event that pairs the familiar fun of Halloween with hands-on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics activities.
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Halloween STEMebration at Battleship IOWA
What Can Students Learn From a Battleship?
Camp Battleship Overnight
USS IOWA Education Programs Leverage Historic Battleship to Bring STEM Lessons to Life
STEM Lesson: Sound, Sonar, and Underwater Detection
Preservation
Preserving Battleship IOWA: Our 2026 Priorities
Every day, we fight deterioration, corrosion, and unauthorized intrusion. Our 2026 preservation priorities include securing the ship’s gangways, repairing damage from a pipe leak, preserving the hull, replacing deteriorated decking, and renewing critical mooring lines.
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Preserving Battleship IOWA: Our 2026 Priorities
Did We Need Permission From The Navy To Turn A Turret?
What Can A Museum Collection Tell Us That A Battleship Alone Cannot?
Would You Climb Down 30 Feet Into This Steel Cave?
Ethos of Preservation
Innovation
How has innovation shaped Battleship IOWA?
Innovation has shaped Battleship IOWA throughout its history and continues to drive how its story is shared today.
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How has innovation shaped Battleship IOWA?
Our sound effects are back! Thanks to our amazing IT team, the ship is once again alive with all the bells and whistles, as well…
LADRRC
2027 Leadership Summit
The 2027 Leadership Summit will be during LA Fleet Week. The event is invitation only. Summit details and invitation information will be announced as planning continues.
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2027 Leadership Summit
Public Safety Training
LA Disaster Recovery and Resilience Collective (LADRRC)
Donate to City of LA EMD Disaster Relief Fund
A Message About The Wildfires from CEO Jonathan Williams
SITREP
Where It Began – and Why It Still Matters
Two hundred fifty years ago, our nation was not yet a nation at all.
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Where It Began – and Why It Still Matters
“Damn The Torpedoes! Full Speed Ahead!”
Preserving the Watch: Purpose, Connection, and the Future of the Surface Navy Legacy
Building the National Museum of the Surface Navy: Honoring Surface Warriors in Phase 1
Surface Navy Museum Update
Visitor Information
Halloween STEMebration at Battleship IOWA
Each fall, Battleship IOWA welcomes children and families for Halloween STEMebration, an annual community event that pairs the familiar fun of Halloween with hands-on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics activities.
Explore More
Halloween STEMebration at Battleship IOWA
Why Kids Board Free at Battleship IOWA
Clubs and Organized Groups Aboard Battleship IOWA
Los Angeles, Long Beach and San Pedro Group Tours
Vicky’s Doghouse Café: Gourmet Hot Dogs, Friday Happy Hour, and Waterfront Views Aboard Battleship IOWA
Veterans
How Battleship IOWA serves veterans beyond remembrance
Battleship IOWA supports veterans through connection, purpose, opportunity, and a community built around continued service.
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How Battleship IOWA serves veterans beyond remembrance
A Meaningful Place to Mark a Military Milestone
MVA Inquiry
Scuttlebutt Extra: Judge Eileen Moore on Vietnam Veterans
Jesse Mendoza and VPAN: Making a Difference for Veterans aboard Battleship IOWA
Volunteers
Why volunteers are essential to Battleship IOWA
Volunteers are the crew that keeps Battleship IOWA preserved, operating, and connected to the community.
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Why volunteers are essential to Battleship IOWA
Volunteering: Find Your Place Aboard Battleship IOWA
Celebrating Our Volunteers
Year in Review
2025: From Vision to Visible Transformation
In 2025, Pacific Battleship Center turned several long-planned ideas into operating programs and visible experiences. A new disaster-recovery network launched as Los Angeles faced devastating fires, major deck and hull work protected Battleship IOWA, the Great Ships experience opened for preview, and LA Fleet Week connected 1,000 service members with communities across the region.
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2025: From Vision to Visible Transformation
2024: Building the Foundation for Battleship IOWA’s Next Chapter
2023: From Strategy to Action Aboard Battleship IOWA
2022: Ten Years in Los Angeles — and the Future Became Buildable
2021: Reopening Battleship IOWA Without Returning to the Old Normal
Maritime Careers
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Events & Career Fairs
Careers & Opportunities
Apprenticeships & Maritime Training
Schools & Maritime Academies
What’s Your Limiting Factor? CDR Victor Vescovo
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.