Puget Sound Navy Museum — Attraction in Bremerton

This is an official US Navy Museum, free admission, located just outside the main gate to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard on the Bremerton waterfront. There is not parking nearby - you'll have to find a street spot up the road and walk down. Be conscious of the time limits for your parking, this museum can take a couple hours to work through and most of the parking is 2 hours max. Beware also that trying to drive down to the museum directly can easily result in ending up at the guard shack for the ferry - if that happens, just tell the guard you're there for the museum and they'll let you turn around. But you'll have to wait in line until you reach the shack... so just avoid it in the first place and do NOT continue on the road that passes the museum.

Now, as far as the museum, it's ok. I have been three times and it's more interesting each time, but it still feels underwhelming compared to other navy museums like the undersea one in Keyport and the national one in DC, or the submarine force museum in Groton. There's plenty here to teach you about the shipyard itself, but not really that much on the navy... it's heavily local focused. There's also WAY too much reliance on text and photos, instead of primary artifacts. Some exhibits are literally just walls with works painted on them. That, to me, is unacceptable. The artifacts the museum has on display are, frankly, pretty boring too. Wooden patterns for chains and nuts and other assorted ship fittings, some helmets, some obscure and mundane snips, wedges, and other tools, a time clock, some signs, etc. The most interesting items are the bell from the Navy's first ammunition ship, USS Pyro, and the skylight from the old gunboat Nipsic that survived the Apra Harbor disaster and went on to be PSNY's original headquarters during construction of buildings ashore. I was EXTREMELY disappointed that there was nothing - not a single piece - of the famous battleship USS Washington on display anymore. The museum tells me the wheel and bell from that ship are in storage to go back to DC, which is stupid, since the namesake is the state of Washington. The only USS Seattle they have anything from is the Cold War-era replenishment ship, so nothing from the famous armored cruiser that served as the US fleet flagship in the 1920s and survived longer than any other ship of her type. Hugely missed opportunity. I understand the museum is going for interactivity, but the result of such a lack of artifacts is that many of the rooms feel empty other than the paint on the walls, and some of the exhibits just don't flow because they're all vertical-space. I continue to be disappointed in this place for this exact reason. The best exhibit overall is the Nimitz-class carrier exhibit upstairs, which definitely represents the features of that kind of ship well, and is informative and full of items from the John C. Stennis (CVN-74). The patrol boats exhibit, while interesting to read, is another huge miss when it comes to artifacts. A couple models, a boxed game, a couple badges, and a builder's plaque is all they could really muster here... meanwhile two of the ships shown in pictures on the wall were laying around like so much junk just three hours southwest in Astoria, Oregon. Sad they couldn't get some actual artifacts to support the exhibit.

Overall, it's still an informative museum and is well maintained, so I can't consciously give it less than three stars. But I was definitely disappointed at the lack of actual navy items on display for being a navy museum. It just feels incoherent and empty unless you're either a/ totally unaware of anything navy and this is your first exposure to the topic or b/ really, really interested in...

No one goes to these places. Why do the people that review the two Navy Museums rate them so highly? No way in hell that the places in question should rate higher than two stars.

I visited the Under Sea Museum previously and both suffer from a lack of a physical exhibit although the facility that dismantled the aging ships, a far more interesting place, is literally next door. Both of the Navy Museums should have entire sections if not decommissioned vessels docked at the Museum like was done in Fall River Massachusetts where 3 naval vessels are docked there and numerous smaller vessels inside. Yes one was a few dollars to enter and the other is free; but our time is also a commodity and going to the Naval Museums is a waste of it.

The only saving grace is the incredibly beautiful park that lies behind the Museum. It has a series of large fountains of brass or copper with pathways of stone in a ribbon shape. There are large metal sculptures throughout. At the end, is puget sound. When we were there, we saw the USS Nimitz leaving port in regalia with a helicopter hovering overhead; I assume for a photo op. There is also a pretty nice fountain in front of the shipyard and a decent downtown.

It's the things around the Museum that makes it worth while, but again the Museum itself is a let down.

I will drop some...

This free museum offers a wonderful exploration of the history of the Bremerton Naval Yard and the ships both built, repaired, and overhauled there. Staffed by Navy veteran docents, the welcome is warm and the stories these national treasures have to tell of sea duty, the silent service (submarine dity), and daily life of seamen is in itself worth a visit. The museum is loaded with artifacts from the late 19th century through to today. For those with kids, there is an exploration room with activities and even a chance to try on navy clothing. Some exhibits are hands-on. The most fascinating for us was the piece of hull steel from the construction of a submarine, which was surprising in its weight and thickness. Of special note is the museum's exhibits from the nation's wars and conflicts, including the oitdoor monument score card of the Naval Yard's efforts WWII contributions to include repair of Battleships damaged and sunk at Pearl Harbor. Even more fascinating and enlightening is the contribution of women to the wartime work at Bremerton. There are restrooms available and a small gift shop. Well worth a visit for anyone traveling to, through, or living...