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16 March 2023 — Looking Forward to Visiting Nauticus

The NMHS Annual Meeting is approaching quickly—have you made your reservations? In a previous installment of NMHS Cause in Motion we told you a little bit about our host for the event, The Mariners’ Museum and Park. That weekend we also look forward to lunch and a cruise aboard Victory Rover, and learning more about the Monitor and Mallows Bay–Potomac River National Marine Sanctuaries. Another wonderful maritime venue we’ll be privileged to visit over the weekend will be the Nauticus maritime discovery center, on the Norfolk waterfront.

Nauticus maritime discovery center has been serving the City of Norfolk, helping visitors of all ages learn more about the business of the port, the Navy and its Norfolk history, marine life and more since 1994. Photo: Ewelch1, via Wikimedia Commons.

Nauticus first opened in Norfolk in June of 1994, and Sea History welcomed the new institution as “an icon of that city’s preeminence in naval and commercial shipping.” Today, the center engages visitors through media and interactive exhibits and encourages exploration of the worlds of STEM, the marine environment, maritime careers and industry, the military, and the sailing experience. The Nauticus campus comprises the Maritime Discovery Center, the Hampton Roads Naval Museum and the Battleship Wisconsin, the Sail Nauticus Sailing Center and the schooner Virginia, and the Half Moone Decker Cruise Terminal. That's a whole lot to see!

An important component of the Nauticus mission is to get people out on the water, through its summer camp, Sail Nauticus Academy, and other programs. Photo courtesy Nauticus.

The Maritime Discovery Center, already a rich collection of interactive exhibits for all ages, is currently evolving. In 2020 the Nauticus Foundation began fundraising for a $21 million capital campaign to “Reimagine Nauticus” and contracted the global exhibit design firm ROTO for the ground-up refresh. It was announced in January of this year that the Reimagine Nauticus Campaign had raised 80% of its goal. Due to the work in progress, not all of the exhibit space will be open to the public during our visit in April, but there is still plenty to see and do!

Part of the Nauticus complex is the Hampton Roads Naval Museum, and of course the Battleship Wisconsin. This Iowa-class battleship, launched on 7 December 1943 and commissioned on 16 April 1944, served in WWII, the Korean War, and Operation Desert Storm. Photo: Bruce Emerging via Wikimedia Commons.

Another key part of the Nauticus experience is the schooner Virgina, a replica of the Virginia Pilot Association vessel, which operated for that organization from 1917 to 1926. Aboard the original Virginia, pilots in training learned seamanship and navigation. Today, Nauticus’s Virginia hosts students of all ages, museum visitors, and the general public, serving as an educational platform teaching STEM subjects, maritime history, and conservation, while also facilitating sail training and workforce development.

We hope you'll join us for the NMHS Annual Meeting, and have the chance to explore Nauticus together.