St. Marys Submarine Museum

Introduction

Text-to-speech Audio

Located in historic St. Marys, Georgia, in the Kings Bay Naval Submarine base, the St. Marys Submarine Museum has one of the world's most extensive collection of submarine memorabilia and displays. It is the fifth largest submarine museum with collections of original records and 99 percent of previously classified WWII Patrol Reports.

Images

Outside of the Museum located in a historic city building built in 1911. Credit: St. Marys Submarine Museum

Mock-up of a control room of a submarine. Credit: Rob B., TripAdvisor

Old WWII deep-sea diving suit. Credit: Barbara B., TripAdvisor

USS George Bancroft: a full-sized Navy submarine at the gates to the Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base. Credit: Marsha & Bernie, thenomadiclife

Cast chair from the movie "Hunt for Red October," a movie adaptation of Tom Clancy's 1984 novel. Credit: The Hesters

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

The St. Marys Museum opened in March 1996 as a nonprofit organization at Kings Bay, the site of the Navy’s newest military base. Kings Bay Naval Submarine base is one of only two Trident submarine bases in the world.

As the fifth largest submarine museum, St Marys Submarine Museum has one of the largest collections of original submarine records in the US next to the national archives, along with a library filled with books on all subjects related to submarines. The two story, 5,000-square-foot collection contains nearly 20,000 artifacts, paintings and historical documents. Included in the collection are boat models, WWII deep-sea diving suits, an old torpedo and working shipboard equipment. Also included is a display honoring the eight submariners who received the Medal of Honor and previously classified WWII Patrol Reports—the museum houses more than 99 percent of such documents.

The Museum offers a view of the St. Marys River from a real working Type 8 periscope which is used in many submarines today. The periscope extends 40-feet above the ground, giving guests views of Southeast Georgia and Northeast Florida.

Sources

Discover St Marys Georgia Submarine Museum. N-Georgia. . Accessed October 21, 2018. https://www.n-georgia.com/st-marys-submarine-museum.html.

Georgia. Maritime Museums. . Accessed October 21, 2018. http://www.maritimemuseums.net/GA.html.

St. Marys Submarine Museum. Atlas Obscura. . Accessed October 21, 2018. https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/st-marys-submarine-museum.

What to do. Visit St. Marys. . Accessed October 21, 2018. https://www.visitstmarys.com/what-to-do.html.