The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Museum and the associated Lightship Museum are located on the downtown

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, United States waterfront. The museum covers the 250+ year relationship with the

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...

- America's oldest and largest naval shipyard located on the Portsmouth Waterfront. The city and the shipyard have been intertwined since the founding of the Gosport Shipyard in 1767, which was later renamed Norfolk Navy Yard and finally

Norfolk Naval Shipyard The Norfolk Naval Shipyard, often called the Norfolk Navy Yard and abbreviated as NNSY, is a U.S. Navy facility in Portsmouth, Virginia, for building, remodeling and repairing the Navy's ships. It is the oldest and largest industrial facility tha ...

. This rich history is told through exhibits, hands-on programs and special events. The Lightship ''Portsmouth'' is a

museum ship A museum ship, also called a memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public for educational or memorial purposes. Some are also used for training and recruitment purposes, mostly for the small numb ...

that is part of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Museum. Built in 1915 and began service as part of the U.S. Lighthouse Service in 1916. In 1964, the lightship was retired to Portsmouth, Virginia. In 1989, the Lightship ''Portsmouth'' was designated a National Historic Landmark. Now a museum, the ship's quarters are fitted out realistically and filled with artifacts, uniforms, photographs, models, and more.

External links

Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Museum website
Museums in Portsmouth, Virginia Maritime museums in Virginia Military and war museums in Virginia Naval museums in the United States United States Navy shipyards {{Virginia-museum-stub

See also

External links