Nauticus is a maritime-themed
science center and
museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...
located on the downtown waterfront in
Norfolk, Virginia, also known as the National Maritime Center.
History
Nauticus was incorporated under the National Maritime Center Authority in February 1988. The following month,
Rear Admiral Jackson Knowles Parker, retired commander of
Norfolk Naval Base
Naval Station Norfolk is a United States Navy base in Norfolk, Virginia, that is the headquarters and home port of the U.S. Navy's Fleet Forces Command. The installation occupies about of waterfront space and of pier and wharf space of the Hampt ...
, became the founding executive director.
Construction began at the former site of Norfolk's ''Banana Pier'' on the downtown Norfolk waterfront in February 1992, and Nauticus opened to the public in June 1994. Other
visitor attractions close by include the
Virginia Zoo
The Virginia Zoological Park is a zoo located adjacent to Lafayette Park in Norfolk, Virginia, United States. The zoo opened in 1900, and was accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) in 1987.
History
In 1892, the City of Norfolk ...
,
Norfolk Scope
Norfolk Scope is a multi-function complex in Norfolk, Virginia, comprising an 11,000-person arena, a 2,500-person theater known as Chrysler Hall, a exhibition hall and a 600-car parking garage.
The arena was designed by Italian architect/engin ...
, and
Harbor Park
Harbor Park is a stadium, used primarily for baseball, on the Elizabeth River, in downtown Norfolk, Virginia. Once rated the best minor league stadium by ''Baseball America'', it is home to the Norfolk Tides Minor League Baseball team. The Tid ...
, home to the
Norfolk Tides
The Norfolk Tides are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. They are located in Norfolk, Virginia, and are named in nautical reference to the city's location on the Chesapea ...
.
Campus
Half Moone Cruise and Celebration Center
![Halfmoone Cruise and Celebration Center](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/Halfmoone_Cruise_and_Celebration_Center.jpg)
The City of Norfolk opened the Half Moone Cruise and Celebration Center—located at Nauticus on April 7, 2007.
The , passenger-friendly facility features views of the
Elizabeth River; an enclosed, elevated passenger gangway; a retractable bridge leading into a 16-slip
marina; a
terrazzo
Terrazzo is a composite material, poured in place or precast, which is used for floor and wall treatments. It consists of chips of marble, quartz, granite, glass, or other suitable material, poured with a cementitious binder (for chemical bind ...
floor tile in the entrance; a separate lounge and check-in area for cruise line VIP passengers; a security-focused Customs and Border Protection area and an embarkation station. Its first passenger ship, RCI's ''Empress of the Seas'', arrived on April 28, 2007.
The Half Moone also serves as an event venue with approximately of event spaces, each of which include interpretation and exhibits. Among the areas available for special event rental are the Bermuda Room, which displays artifacts and objects that tell the historic connections between Virginia and
Bermuda
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; the Half Moone Vista, which includes some facts about the original fort; and the Lido and Promenade Decks, which address functions of those traditional decks on board
cruise ship
Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as ...
s.
The name—Half Moone—is taken from the name of the fort that was built on the same site in 1673 in the form of a "half moone." The fort was built to protect Norfolk's burgeoning maritime industry.
USS ''Wisconsin''
One of the largest
battleships ever built arrived at Nauticus on the downtown Norfolk waterfront on December 7, 2000. That date was significant because it marked the 57th anniversary of USS ''Wisconsin''s
launching in 1943 – two years to the day after the
attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii ...
.
USS ''Wisconsin'' opened for
main deck
The main deck of a ship is the uppermost complete deck extending from bow to stern. A steel ship's hull may be considered a structural beam with the main deck forming the upper flange of a box girder and the keel forming the lower strength me ...
tours on April 16, 2001. That date marked the 57th anniversary of the ship's commissioning in 1944.
''Wisconsin'', one of four s constructed by the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
, was built from 1941 to 1943 at the
Philadelphia Navy Yard
The Philadelphia Naval Shipyard was an important naval shipyard of the United States for almost two centuries.
Philadelphia's original navy yard, begun in 1776 on Front Street and Federal Street in what is now the Pennsport section of the ci ...
and
commissioned in 1944. She played a major role in World War II, earning five
battle star
A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five-pointed star inch (4.8 mm) in diameter that is authorized to be worn by members of the eight uniformed services of the United States on medals and ribbons to denote an additional award or ser ...
s for service against Japanese forces. She served during the
Korean War
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, and led the Navy’s surface attack on Iraq during the Persian
Gulf War
The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...
in 1991, firing not only her first but also the campaign's first
Tomahawk missile
The Tomahawk () Land Attack Missile (TLAM) is a long-range, all-weather, jet-powered, subsonic cruise missile that is primarily used by the United States Navy and Royal Navy in ship and submarine-based land-attack operations.
Under contract fr ...
. The ship was
decommissioned at
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
and retired to the Naval Inactive Reserve Fleet in
Portsmouth, Virginia, in October 1996.
On April 16, 2010, exactly 66 years from the day she was commissioned at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, the United States Navy ceremoniously transferred ownership of the vessel to the city of Norfolk, Virginia.
Vice Admiral David Architzel joined Mayor
Paul Fraim
Paul David Fraim (born October 26, 1949) is an American politician and lawyer. A Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, he was elected to the City Council of Norfolk, Virginia in 1986, was appointed mayor of Norfolk July 1, 1994 and re-appoi ...
, other city and military leaders, and former crew members on deck to conduct the ceremony. Vice Admiral Architzel presented the long glass to Norfolk Mayor Paul Fraim signifying that the Mayor now has the watch.
By the end of November 2009, more than 2,495,296 visitors have walked the
teak
Teak (''Tectona grandis'') is a tropical hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. ''Tectona grandis'' has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters ( pan ...
decks of ''Wisconsin''. These visitors have come from all fifty U.S. states and from many other nations to experience the battleship.
Sail Nauticus
![Natnlmarcen](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f6/Natnlmarcen.jpg)
Sail Nauticus is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization created by the Nauticus Foundation in 2013. Sail Nauticus is a community sailing center, with both adult and youth programs. Its cornerstone program is the Sail Nauticus Academy, an after-school program in partnership with Norfolk Public Schools that teaches middle school students sailing and maritime sciences from a STEM perspective.
Exhibits
The museum features hands-on exhibits, interactive theaters,
aquaria, digital high-definition films and an extensive variety of educational programs. Nauticus has a high-definition large screen theater and shows several nautically-related films on a rotating basis.
The second floor of Nauticus houses the
Hampton Roads Naval Museum
The Hampton Roads Naval Museum is one of ten Navy museums that are operated by the Naval History & Heritage Command. It celebrates the long history of the U.S. Navy in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia and is co-located with Nauticus in downt ...
and the entrance to the battleship ''Wisconsin''. On the third floor of Nauticus, guests can view a variety of science and maritime exhibits, including: aquaria, a
horseshoe crab
Horseshoe crabs are marine and brackish water arthropods of the family Limulidae and the only living members of the order Xiphosura. Despite their name, they are not true crabs or crustaceans: they are chelicerates, most closely related to ar ...
touch tank, shark lab,
Science On a Sphere,
NOAA
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...
exhibits, interactive theaters, and a weather station. The shark lab of Nauticus is home to three sharks of two different species. There is one male
epaulette shark
The epaulette shark (''Hemiscyllium ocellatum'') is a species of longtailed carpet shark, family Hemiscylliidae, found in shallow, tropical waters off Australia and New Guinea (and possibly elsewhere). The common name of this shark comes from ...
, two male
whitespotted bamboo shark
The whitespotted bamboo shark (''Chiloscyllium plagiosum'') is a carpet shark with an adult size that approaches one metre in length. This small, mostly nocturnal species is harmless to humans. The whitespotted bamboo shark is occasionally kept ...
s. In the Fall of 2016, there was also a male brownbanded bamboo shark, but it was relocated to a closed tank near the entrance due to aggressiveness.
See also
*
Downtown Norfolk, Virginia Downtown Norfolk serves as the traditional center of commerce, government, and culture in the Hampton Roads region. Norfolk, Virginia's downtown waterfront shipping and port activities historically played host to numerous and often noxious port and ...
References
External links
Nauticus websiteBattleship ''Wisconsin'' at NauticusCruise Norfolk websiteHalf Moone Cruise and Celebration Center website
{{authority control
1994 establishments in Virginia
Buildings and structures in Norfolk, Virginia
Maritime museums in Virginia
Museums established in 1994
Museums in Norfolk, Virginia
Naval museums in the United States
Science museums in Virginia
Downtown Norfolk, Virginia