Maritime Museum Of San Diego News

The Spanish ship San Salvador is the embodiment of California’s origin story. The ship’s voyage in 1542, with Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo at the helm, established California as one of the places in America’s landscape where we can say our country truly began. Nearly 500 years later, the Maritime Museum of San Diego has launched a full-sized, fully functional replica of the original galleon. The San Salvador was successfully lowered into the Pacific Ocean by Marine Group Boat Works of Chula Vista.

Maritime Museum of San Diego to ceremonially welcome Vietnam War-era Swift Boat P24, September 18, 2012, restoration work to follow. The event, to be attended by 35 Swift Boat Veterans and Mayor Jerry Sanders, among other dignitaries, takes place at the Museum located at 1492 Harbor Drive in downtown San Diego. It marks the first public appearance of the vessel acquired in July from the Republic of Malta. P24 was originally donated by the United States Navy to Malta’s Maritime Squadron in 1971. It continued in service to that country until being retired in 2010.

Maritime Museum of San Diego acquires Vietnam war-era vessel for restoratation, appeals for donations. The Maritime Museum of San Diego announces the acquisition of a Vietnam War-era Swift Boat from the Republic of Malta for renovation and permanent display in San Diego. Formally called Patrol Craft Fast (PCF), the United States Navy’s PCFs were first put into service in 1965 when American sailors used them to patrol the coastline of South Vietnam to prevent sea infiltration of soldiers and munitions from North Vietnam.

Decommissioned Navy research submarine, the USS Dolphin (AGSS 555), has opened for public exploration at the Maritime Museum of San Diego. The landmark research sub is responsible for many firsts in the industry, including the world record for deepest dive, still held today and the first email sent underwater. The July 4 opening of the USS Dolphin marked the seventh large, docked vessel to make its permanent home among the Maritime Museum of San Diego’s collection of historic ships and living history. Among the historic ships it joins is Cold War enemy submarine, the Russian B-39. The USS Dolphin, also known as the “World’s Deepest Diving Submarine,” was the last U.S. Navy diesel-electric submarine and was commissioned at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, N.H. in 1968.

The U.S. Navy officially transferred the decommissioned research submarine ex-Dolphin (AGSS 555) to the Maritime Museum of San Diego (MMSD) during a donation contract signing ceremony Sept. 18 in Washington. The ceremony took place in the Washington office of U.S. Rep. Susan Davis. Ex-Dolphin was decommissioned in 2007 after more than 30 years of service supporting naval research activities from her homeport in San Diego. "As a museum, Dolphin will highlight America's technical expertise and dedication to the advancement of science," said Capt. David Tungett, program manager for the Navy's inactive ships program. Ex-Dolphin was one of the world's deepest diving submarines with a maximum operating depth in excess of 3,000 feet.