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Submarine Force Museum, Groton, CT

Photo: John Phelan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.

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Submarine Force Museum

Submarine Force Museum is a museum in Groton, CT, part of the Mystic & the Connecticut Shore guide. Cost: free.

1 Crystal Lake Road · Groton, CT

Why you should go…

Operated by the U.S. Navy adjacent to Naval Submarine Base New London, this museum lets visitors take a self-guided audio tour through the forward compartments of USS Nautilus, launched in 1954 and the first vessel to reach the North Pole beneath the polar ice cap. The museum's collection includes roughly 33,000 artifacts and thousands of documents and photographs tracing submarine history. It draws around 150,000 to 250,000 visitors a year.

  • #submarine
  • #navy
  • #military history
  • #museum
  • #groton

What's around here?

The closest stops to Submarine Force Museum, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.

  • Tours
    Outdoor Adventure

    Thames River Heritage Park

    Under $25

    Hop-on hop-off water taxi tour linking historic sites along the Thames River in New London and Groton.

    2.3 mi awaySwitch it up: Tours

  • Shopping
    Local Gem

    Scooter A Long

    $25–$50

    Mobility scooter rental and delivery service serving Mystic-area attractions like the aquarium and Seaport.

    2.3 mi awaySwitch it up: Shopping

  • Tours
    Outdoor Adventure

    Argia

    $25–$50

    A traditional wooden schooner offering sailing cruises out of downtown Mystic.

    6.5 mi awaySwitch it up: Tours

  • Museums
    History Buff

    Mystic Seaport Museum

    $25–$50

    Board an 1841 whaleship, walk a recreated 19th-century seaport village and watch shipwrights restore wooden boats.

    6.6 mi awayMore like this

  • Museums
    History Buff

    Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center

    $25–$50

    A Smithsonian-affiliated tribal museum with life-size dioramas covering Pequot history and southeastern Connecticut's natural history.

    8.4 mi awayMore like this

  • Museums
    History Buff

    Florence Griswold Museum

    Under $25

    Historic art museum on the Connecticut River celebrating American Impressionism and the Lyme Art Colony.

    13 mi awayMore like this

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