Naval History

A 300-foot-long Cold War submarine floats in a Chilean River as a maritime museum.

The perfect spot for a picnic, right next to a giant ballistic missile.

Captured in 1968, the Cold War spy ship is the only U.S. Navy vessel being held by a foreign government.

The fountains of the U.S. Navy Memorial are annually salted with water from the Seven Seas as part of a nautical ritual.

The U.S. Navy’s preposterously detailed mini battleship took 77,000 hours to complete.

The naval commander’s proudest moment in battle is memorialized in this unique tomb at Arlington Cemetery.

The "Heroine of Dunkirk" rescued over 7,000 Allied troops during the historic World War II evacuation.

This strategic isle was once swapped between empires and almost entirely destroyed in a bomb explosion.

A hoard of sky catalogs, astrophysical journals, even the works of Galileo and Copernicus.

A World War II-era submarine is stuck in the mud in New Jersey.

Beautiful stained glass depictions of the history of human flight fill this surprising chapel.

A forest of immensely tall and unusually straight oak trees planted nearly 200 years ago to build naval ships that never came to be.

Chicago's Navy Pier on Lake Michigan was a training hub for aircraft carrier pilots during WWII.

The final home of the legendary Danish sailor said to have lived to be 146 years old.

An oddly shaped tower built to mark the acquittal of Admiral Keppel in a controversial 1770s case.

An eccentric 18th century naval officer built a ship's quarterdeck on his roof, the inspiration for Mary Poppins's "Admiral Boom."

This 16-foot, intricately detailed model of the Gearing-class destroyer has been called the most detailed model ship ever built.