Puget Sound Navy Museum

Photo: Renata Hickey via Google Maps

The Puget Sound Navy Museum is the large white building in Harborside Fountain Park in downtown Bremerton, right beside the ferry terminal and Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. It is an official U.S. Navy museum, accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, and its job is to collect, preserve and interpret the naval heritage of the Pacific Northwest.

Because it sits steps from the ferry dock, it makes an easy walk on day trip from Seattle. The building is a piece of history too: it served as the first headquarters for the shipyard’s commandants back in the 1890s. Inside, the exhibits lean into what life in the Navy is really like, which makes it a good stop for families as well as veterans.

What You’ll See

• USS Nimitz. The museum’s first permanent exhibit shows life aboard a nuclear aircraft carrier: where sailors sleep, what they eat, how they spend their time and how the ship carries out its mission.
• A Heritage of Excellence. More than a century of Puget Sound Naval Shipyard history, beginning with Lieutenant Ambrose B. Wyckoff’s vision for a naval station on Puget Sound.
• Family Discovery Room. An immersive space built for kids and families. Look for the yellow submarine.
• The USS Parche sail. Just outside, the preserved sail of the submarine Parche anchors the fountain plaza near the museum. The boat earned nine Presidential Unit Citations over three decades of service, many of its missions still classified.

The collection itself focuses on shipyard history, aircraft carriers homeported in the region, locally based special operations submarines such as USS Jimmy Carter, and the Navy’s story across the Pacific Northwest.

The Story Behind It

The museum began on December 3, 1954, as the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard Museum, staffed by shipyard employees. Over the next five decades it moved several times, from the ferry terminal lobby to a leased building on Washington Avenue to a rented gallery downtown. City leaders, the museum’s foundation and Congressman Norm Dicks finally worked out a permanent home in historic Building 50, and the museum reopened there on August 25, 2007. It took its current name and became an official Navy museum in March 2008. A collection that started with about 600 objects now numbers more than 18,000.

The Navy built Building 50 at the shipyard in 1896. It was moved three times, most recently in 2006 to its present spot on land the shipyard donated to the City of Bremerton, then restored in a $6 million city funded renovation that kept much of its original exterior character.

Tips for Your Visit

• Coming by ferry? Exit the Bremerton terminal to the left and follow the sidewalk. Both the Washington State Ferry and the passenger only Kitsap Transit Fast Ferry run from downtown Seattle.
• Driving? Street parking nearby has one to three hour limits, and there are paid lots and garages within a short walk.
• Pack light. Backpacks, daypacks and luggage are not allowed in the galleries, purses and camera bags go into lockers, and sharp items such as pocketknives are not permitted.
• The museum is accessible and has restrooms, plenty of seating, a museum store and a research library.
• Pair it with the USS Turner Joy nearby, or with the sister museum, the U.S. Naval Undersea Museum in Keyport.

Plan Your Visit

Address: 251 First Street, Bremerton, WA 98337
Phone: 360.479.7447
Website: pugetsoundnavymuseum.org
Hours and admission: Check the museum website for current days, hours, and admission before you visit.
Directions: View on Google Maps