Ever wonder what it’s like to be surrounded by steel in the belly of a submarine? Find out at the floating Maritime Museum of San Diego. Located at the Port of San Diego, the museum’s collection of real-life seagoing vessels includes the magnificent Star of India, which bears the distinction of the oldest existing active ship in the world. Other ships moored at the harbor-side museum are the America, a replica of the yacht after which the America’s Cup sailing competition was named; the San Salvador, a replica of the ship that reached port in San Diego in 1542; the Medea, a steam yacht built in 1904 for Scotsman William Macalister Hall of Torrisdale Castle; the Berkeley, an 1898 steam ferry listed as a California State Historic Landmark and National Historic Landmark for its 60 years of service in San Francisco Bay; the HMS Surprise, a recreation of a 24-gun British Frigate; and the spectacular California, the official Tall Ship of the State of California.

San Salvador © SanDiego.org and Jerry Soto

Other vessels include a San Diego Harbor Pilot Boat, a PCF 816 Swift Boat and two submarines. The first sub is the 555 USS Dolphin, the world’s deepest diving submarine. The dive record set by the USS Dolphin was made in 1968 and still endures. Also a fascinating tour, the museum’s B-39 Submarine is particularly fascinating — part of the Soviet Navy’s fleet of diesel electric submarines directly tied to the Cuban Missile Crisis, the B-39 carried nuclear warheads classified as Foxtrot by NATO.

Museum exhibits include “Charting the Sea, Rum: Sailors, Pirates and Prohibition,” “Age of Sail,” “To the Brink of War,” “Harvesting the Ocean,” “San Diego’s Navy,” “Age of Steam” and “Swift Boats at War in Vietnam.” In addition to walking among the exhibits and exploring the physical spaces of the museum’s vessels, get to know some of the collection up-close and personal while on the water. History tours in the bay are offered five times daily, seven days a week on the 1914 Pilot boat, while the Swift Boat covers military history in the bay on two 75-minute tours on Saturdays and Sundays. Tall Ship Adventure Sailings aboard the California are available on most weekends; these tours are three hours in duration. On most weekends from now until March 2018, visitors have the opportunity to ply the waters of the bay with a daytime sailing tour aboard the San Salvador, a 1542 galleon replica. Boarding time is 11:30 a.m. for the noon San Salvador Sailing Adventure, with a return to port at 4 p.m. Tickets can be purchased in advance online (https://sdmaritime.org) or via phone by calling 619 234 9153, ext. 111.