Nautical History Gallery & Museum — Attraction in San Diego

I stumbled upon this pleasant surprise at Liberty Station on my last visit to my hometown and discovered this awesome exhibit to US Navy history. While admiring the intricate and detailed large-scale models of the ships on display, the craftsman himself, Joe, struck up a conversation with me about the ships he had built in here. An ex-Marine with a passion for modelling, it was a real treat talking with Joe about his methods when it comes to handcrafting these amazing replicas of US Navy warships!

Being a modeler myself, albeit of smaller scale ships, it was really fun hearing how he cobbles things together. He has a passion especially for ships from the early era from the Spanish-American War through WWI as can be seen by his incredible small-scale recreations of the BB-1 USS Indiana and the CV-1 Langley. He's currently working on the USS Baltimore, a Spanish-American War era protected cruiser, which is turning out great so far. He's also full of knowledge about how these ships were designed. I learned the reason USN battleships used cage masts was because enemy shells fired at them would pass right through the lattice masts and not explode, which is why the USN went with them for a while. However, it turned out the gales of the North Atlantic would end up bending and breaking them, so Mother Nature had the upper hand on cage masts. As a result the Navy got rid of them.

Definitely come on by here and talk to Joe. He's an awesome guy and its a really cool tribute to US Navy ship history, especially in a city with such a rich Naval heritage as San Diego! A very good location too considering the former Naval Training Center's...

Free admission to this amazing little museum of US nautical history. The museum's founder, Joe Francioso, is a veteran of both the US Navy and the Marine Corps. His hobby of building model ships dates back to his childhood and has now blossomed into a collection of fantastic displays that form the core of his fantastic displays of US Naval history in one small room.

Joe is not only the founder of this hidden San Diego treasure, he is also its curator, only staff member and will be your personal host. He eagerly shares his deep knowledge of the displays and the history with visitors and doesn't ask for anything in return. There's just an inconspicuous donation tin near the entrance for anyone that is so inclined.

The ship models are absolutely mind-blowing for their incredible attention to detail. Each is a one-of-a-kind creation and some, even more amazingly, are displayed in perfect models of the dry docks they were actually serviced in back in the day. For visorts that really pay attention, Joe's life work is nothing short of mind-blowing.

Well worth a visit if you are anywhere near Liberty Station or the San...

Joe was super friendly! The way the museum is set up is so fascinating and well done; each booth is of a historical era, highlighting fascinating aspects of each.

From the Revolutionary war-era up to modern. Each model hand built, hand painted, and even included historical antiques. He showed me a sight for a ship's weapon that was dated in 1904 and each booth had a steering wheel from the ships of that era.

It's a tight space, which at first had me hesitant actually ended up adding to the quaint feeling of love put into this museum. There's SO much history and paintings, models and displays everywhere I looked. It was an amazing find for us, while we were randomly walking through Liberty Station.

I wish I could've spent much more time there talking to Joe! He was very kind and extremely informative and answered any questions I had while adding little trivia I'd never known to ask about. I could really pick up his passion for each aspect of this museum. It was a lovely time!

Seriously, this place is a gem and 100%...