Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum is a naval museum located in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, at the mouth of the Cooper River on the

Charleston Harbor The Charleston Harbor is an inlet (8 sq mi/20.7 km2) of the Atlantic Ocean at Charleston, South Carolina. The inlet is formed by the junction of Ashley River (South Carolina), Ashley and Cooper River (South Carolina), Cooper rivers at . Morr ...

, across from Charleston.

History

The museum was born out of an idea by former naval officer Charles F. Hyatt to develop a major tourist attraction on what had once been a dump for dredged mud. Initial plans for the museum called for a large building onshore to display exhibits related to the history of small combatants ships in the U.S. Navy. On 3 January 1976, the aircraft carrier was opened to the public. The destroyer was added to the museum in 1978. The museum was expanded again in 1981 with the addition of the submarine in May and '' NS Savannah'' in October. was acquired in 1984. The Patriots Point Development Authority attempted to capitalize on its financial success in 1987 when it announced an plans to build a hotel and marina. However, the museum encountered controversy in 1989 when it was revealed that ''Comanche'', which never opened to the public, had been used to conduct cruises for private tours and VIP parties. The same year, arrived at the museum, replacing ''Comanche''. The latter was removed from the museum and sunk as a reef in 1992, but not before suffering damage during Hurricane Hugo. By that time, the development project had failed and the development authority was forced to declare bankruptcy. A replica of a Vietnam War-era naval base was opened in 1993. ''Savannah'' was removed from the museum and towed to the James River Merchant Marine Reserve Fleet in 1994. On 2 September 2003, ''Yorktown'' served as the backdrop for the formal announcement of Senator

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as the 68th United States secretary of state from 2013 to 2017 in the Presidency of Barack Obama#Administration, administration of Barac ...

's candidacy as he sought, and ultimately won, the Democratic nomination for

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

for the 2004 election. ''Laffey'' was towed to a shipyard for repairs on 19 August 2009. The following day, ''Ingham'' was removed by the Coast Guard. The destroyer returned to the museum in 2012. ''Clamagore'' was towed away for scrapping in 2022.

Exhibits

Ships

View taken toward the Northeast of the bow of the USS Laffey

* , an

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering carrier-based aircraft, shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the ...

* , a

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

Aircraft collection

* Boeing-Stearman N2S-3 * Douglas A-4C Skyhawk * Douglas AD-4N Skyraider * Douglas EA-3B Skywarrior * Douglas SBD-5 Dauntless * General Motors TBM-3E Avenger * Goodyear FG-1D Corsair * Grumman A-6E Intruder * Grumman E-1B Tracer * Grumman F-14A Tomcat * Grumman F4F-3A Wildcat * Grumman F6F-5K Hellcat * Grumman S-2E Tracker * Grumman TF-9J Cougar * Gyrodyne QH-50 DASH * Lockheed S-3B Viking * Ling-Temco-Vought A-7E Corsair II * McDonnell Douglas F-4J Phantom II * McDonnell Douglas F/A-18A Hornet * North American B-25D Mitchell * Sikorsky SH-3G Sea King * Vought F-8K Crusader

Vietnam Experience

* Bell AH-1J SeaCobra * Bell UH-1D Iroquois * Bell UH-1M Iroquois * Boeing Vertol CH-46E Sea Knight * Sikorsky UH-34D * M35A2 cargo truck * M42 Duster mobile anti-aircraft gun * M101 howitzer artillery gun * M114 armored fighting vehicle * Dodge M43 ambulance * Naval Support Camp * PBR-105 river patrol boat *

Willys MB The Willys MB and the Ford GPW, both formally called the U.S. Army truck, ton, 4×4, command reconnaissance, commonly known as the Willys Jeep, Jeep, or jeep, and sometimes referred to by its List of U.S. military vehicles by supply catalog des ...

Other exhibits

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...

museum, with biographies of all medal recipients

References

External links

*
USS Yorktown Foundation

USS Yorktown CV10 Association
{{Authority control Museums in Charleston County, South Carolina Maritime museums in South Carolina Military and war museums in South Carolina Naval museums in the United States Mount Pleasant, South Carolina