U.S. Naval Undersea Museum

09/02/2026

Our Greenling Control Room exhibit is getting a new look! We're refreshing the text and graphics to make this visitor favorite better than ever.

The Greenling gallery will close temporarily beginning Tuesday, September 8, so visit us now through Labor Day to experience it before the closure begins.

We look forward to sharing the new and improved control room with you soon!

09/01/2026

Science Saturday and Navy Band Northwest return to the museum in September! Learn more about what we have coming up this fall in this month's newsletter!

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Email from U.S. Naval Undersea Museum September Brings Our First Science Saturday and Navy Band Concert of the Fall! SEPTEMBER 5: SCIENCE SATURDAY     The first Science Saturday of the school year is

08/30/2026

On this day in 1929, twenty-six submarine officers and crew made a test escape from a submarine using Momsen lungs. The wearable breathing device, designed by Lt. Charles Momsen in 1928, allowed survivors of a submarine accident to ascend to safety.

Momsen developed the device after the crews of submarines USS S-51 and USS S-4 suffocated inside their downed submarines with no means of rescue or escape.

Learn more about Momsen lungs, submarine escape, and Charles Momsen in our online exhibit "Saving Submariners": https://navalunderseamuseum.org/rescue/

08/28/2026

Living underwater might seem like the stuff of a Jules Verne story or a popular TV cartoon. But 61 years ago, 28 Navy aquanauts did just that, as part of the .S. Navy's groundbreaking Sealab II project!

Beginning in 1965, three teams of ten divers each spent 15 days living and working 205 feet underwater off LaJolla, California. (Two divers pulled double duty and served on two teams, for a total of 28 aquanauts.) They tested underwater tools, raised a sunken fighter jet, conducted geological studies, set up a weather station, and worked with a dolphin named Tuffy trained to carry tools and messages between the habitat and the surface.

The experiment demonstrated the possibilities of saturation diving, a new approach to undersea work that kept divers underwater for days or weeks at a time. Saturation divers enjoyed unprecedented lengths of work time in exchange for only one decompression period. For their efforts, the Sealab II team was awarded the Navy Unit Commendation — the first time it was given to a mixed military and civilian scientific team.

08/26/2026

While operating off Norway in August 1949, submarine USS Cochino (SS 345) encountered a storm so violent it sparked an electrical fire and battery explosion. For 14 hours, Cochino's crew fought to save their sub while countering stormy seas and toxic hydrogen gas spewing from the battery.

Then a second battery explosion struck on August 26, leaving commanding officer Cmdr. Rafael Benitez with only one option: to order his crew to abandon ship. He initiated a hazardous rescue to transfer his crew to USS Tusk (SS 426), who had accompanied Cochino on the exercise.

Tragically, the storm responsible for decimating Cochino now hampered the rescue. A Cochino officer and civilian technician were thrown into the icy water during the first transfer attempt. Though they were initially rescued, heavy seas swept the civilian and six Tusk crew members to their deaths.

Cmdr. Benitez and a skeleton crew attempted to limp the stricken Cochino back to Norway, until another explosion in Cochino's after battery sealed the submarine's fate. Benitez and the remaining crew escaped to safety aboard Tusk as Cochino sank below the waves, 77 years ago today.

08/17/2026

Submarine USS Parche (SSN 683), the most decorated ship in U.S. Navy history, was commissioned 52 years ago today!

Parche joined the fleet on August 17, 1974. Two years later, the Sturgeon-class submarine underwent an Ocean Engineering conversion and began a long career carrying out exceptionally challenging missions vital to national security. By her decommissioning in October 2004, Parche and her crews had earned thirteen Expeditionary Medals, ten Navy Unit Commendations, and nine Presidential Unit Citations — an astonishing record that remains unmatched to this day!

08/05/2026

In August we celebrate the U.S. Navy diving community's birthday, commemorated August 1, the date the first Navy diving school began in 1882! To honor this milestone, our exhibit Faces of the Deep is now sharing stories of Navy divers, including James McDonald.

McDonald served as a Master Diver on the rescue and salvage of sunken submarine USS Squalus (SS 192) in 1939, directing diving operations and making critical, hazardous dives. He was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1940 for his leadership and “masterly skill” on the operation.

Catch the stories of James McDonald and other Navy divers through August 21!

08/01/2026

Hooyah deep sea — the U.S. Navy diving community celebrates its 144th birthday today!

The first Navy diving school began in 1882, at Naval Torpedo Station Newport (now the Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division Newport). Though gunner’s mates had served as divers before that point, diving was considered a collateral duty and on-the-job training was erratic and inadequate.

The development of torpedoes, and the need to recover test torpedoes from the water, drove Naval Torpedo Station Newport to establish the first formal diving training by adding three days of diving instruction to a month-long ordnance course. Six students took part in the first class that began August 1, 1882, learning diving basics and qualifying to dive to a maximum depth of 60 feet of seawater.

In the 144 years since that first diving course, Navy Divers have evolved to become the world’s foremost experts in underwater salvage, repair, and maintenance.

07/30/2026

Check out our August newsletter to learn more about this month in naval undersea history, updates in our Faces of the Deep content, and our summer programming, including Jet Blast Bash at the Museum of Flight!
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Email from U.S. Naval Undersea Museum Join us for Summer STEAM and Jet Blast Bash! SUMMER PROGRAMS     Our Wednesday Summer STEAM programs continues in August! During each event, you can find educatio

07/29/2026

Happy birthday to USS Maine (SSBN 741), which celebrates 31 years today! The ballistic missile submarine was commissioned in 1995.

Maine is homeported locally at Naval Base Kitsap–Bangor, together with seven other SSBNs that also carry out strategic deterrent patrols. Each can carry up to 20 nuclear Trident II (D5) missiles.

Six years ago, Maine successfully launched an unarmed life-extended Trident II missile, as part of the demonstration and shakedown operation (DASO) certification process. The launch marked the 177th successful missile launch of a Trident II missile.