Lightship Portsmouth Museum

Amazing and knowledgeable curator. History behind it is wonderful. If you're into the paranormal, the location is haunted. But all around a wonderful family destination visit.

Fun 2alk through. It is a self guided tour. The period is mid 50's. You do need to be able to step over door ways and duck if you are tall. They are opened limited hours so check ahead.

Nice area. Guided inside session. Guy that did the information tour was great personality and information. Cool it is free ask for donations.

Interesting and fun! The museum is open Saturday and Sunday and is free, but a donation is appreciated. I spent about an hour, taking time to read the plaques that provide information about the lightship. The museum guide was very nice and happy to answer questions and provide information. The museum is air-conditioned. Enjoyed this museum and would recommend visiting.

Reopened to the public in 2023: The Lightship Museum is small because the lightship is small. Not a lot of museum pieces, but does allow you to walk around most areas of the ship. If you’d like a maritime history, this would be an interesting short visit. It makes for a nice stop if you’re in the area and provides a glimpse of what life may have been like aboard this small lightship. As of the date of this review, admission was free with donations accepted.

Loved visiting and the tour. We are now part of the elite lightship anchor lifters club. Better than the Chesapeake in Baltimore where they charge a fortune to board. Totally worth it, but skip if you are closterphobic. Great experience!

Fun and historic place to visit. One of the few remaining lightships in the world, where there were once several hundreds. This is officially Lightship 101 (WAL 524) in the U.S. Built in 1916, this 360-ton steel ship, 101 ft (30.8 m) long, with a 25 ft (7.6 m) beam, had multiple duty stations before it was decommissioned in 1964. Among them are Cape Charles, Virginia, the Overfalls station off Cape Henlopen, Delaware, and on Stonehorse Shoal off Nantucket, Massachusetts. The light was displayed from the top of the mast. Hull painted red, superstructure painted white.

What a great little museum. Admission fee is a free will donation. Guide is a charming gentleman. Kids loved it!

Went here during the Free Museum Day and it was amazing! It's a great piece of history that they are showing people, and the people running it were very welcoming. I personally love museums like this one and would recommend that if you are in the area definitely check it out!
You will not be disappointed.

Its a nice museum ship. Unfortunately the city decided to encase it in concrete in 1986. It was in the water and fairly neglected rather than preserved for at least 20 years before this. The visit is free but do donate. Hopefully there will be a fundraiser to restore the ship one day.

This museum is tiny (and I do mean tiny!) but mighty and full of historical memorabilia about Ocean View in Norfolk VA. It is staffed with volunteers who are friendly, knowledgeable, and and helpful. Lots of photos on the walls, in display cases, and on tables. A neat red and blue rowboat is a visual delight--I'm sure it has an interesting history of its own. Will go back to find out.

We stumbled upon this place. Didn’t even know there were lighthouse ships. And the docent, Les, gave us a great informative tour. This is the kind of thing we travel for. Unexpected and unique.

This place is so cool and interesting, great place to take the kids. Only downside is that I wish they would open the upper deck so people can see what that is like.

A whole lot of Coast Guard history packed into a small lighthouse ship. It was able to keep my two teenagers engaged and off their phones- so that's a huge win in and of itself

If you love history especially of ships, this is a place ccx e to visit. Also if you need a COMREL they always need help cleaning the outside of the ship.

Even though the ship is set in concrete for some reason I could still feel it rolling in the ways very cool experience

Love the Historical value. Lots to explore is such a small area

Absolutely wonderful historic site! I suggest everyone should go!

Great tour guide, he was very informative

Crazy to see the living condition back then aren't much different than what they are today on CG ships.