{"slug": "i-toured-the-only-nuclear-missile-submarine-in-the-us-open-to-the-public-take-a", "title": "I toured the only nuclear-missile submarine in the US open to the public. Take a look inside the USS Growler.", "summary": "The USS Growler, a Cold War-era nuclear-missile submarine once used for top-secret deterrent patrols, is now open to the public as the only such vessel in the US available for tours. Located at the Intrepid Museum in New York City, visitors can take a self-guided tour through its narrow confines, including missile hangars and navigation compartments. The submarine, which carried Regulus missiles with nuclear warheads, was decommissioned in 1964 and underwent significant repairs before being displayed alongside the USS Intrepid.", "body_md": "The USS Growler was once a top-secret US Navy submarine that patrolled the ocean's depths during the Cold War. Armed with nuclear missiles and operated by a crew of 90 men, Growler's firepower acted as a deterrent to keep other nations from using their nuclear weapons in a strategy known as mutually assured destruction.\nToday, Growler is on display at the Intrepid Museum in New York City housed on the USS Intrepid, a 900-foot-long World War II-era aircraft carrier. Growler floats alongside the ship in the Hudson River.\nVisitors don't just get to look at Growler; they can actually climb inside and walk through its narrow confines on a self-guided tour.\nSubmarines remain a crucial component of the US Navy's deterrent strategy. In March 2026, a US Navy submarine torpedoed an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean as part of Operation Epic Fury. The Navy also occasionally publicizes the locations of nuclear-armed submarines to send a message to adversaries. In September 2024, for example, the USS Georgia, a guided-missile submarine, was sent to the Middle East in a show of support for Israel and a show of force to Iran.\nSubmarines are a costly endeavor. The US Navy's Virginia-class submarine program is projected to run $17 billion over budget through 2030 amid delays, House Rep. Ken Calvert, chairman of the House defense appropriations subcommittee, said in 2024. The Navy has said delays are due to supply-chain issues and \"lingering COVID-19 impacts.\"\nI visited the Intrepid Museum to tour the USS Growler in May 2024. Here's what I saw aboard the only nuclear-missile submarine that's open to the public.\nThe Intrepid Museum in New York City displays historic vessels used in sea, air, and space exploration as well as military operations.\nWhile a nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus, is open to the public in Groton, Connecticut, the Intrepid Museum is the only place in the US where members of the public can go inside a submarine that carried nuclear missiles.\nTickets cost $38 per adult and $28 per child over 4 years old and can be purchased on the Intrepid Museum's website. Veterans and military service members receive free admission.\nOne of the museum's top attractions is a self-guided tour of the USS Growler submarine.\nEvery time I've visited the Intrepid Museum, there has been a line to enter the submarine due to the attraction's popularity and small, enclosed spaces.\nThe line moved quickly when I visited in May 2024 — I only waited for about 15 minutes.\nThe USS Growler patrolled the seas on top-secret missions off the coast of Russia during the Cold War.\nCommissioned in 1958, the USS Growler carried Regulus II sea-to-surface missiles armed with nuclear warheads. The looming threat of the submarine's firepower acted as a deterrent to prevent other countries from using their nuclear arsenals.\nThe submarine now floats in the Hudson River with its top deck visible from the dock of the museum.\nGrowler was decommissioned in 1964 and awarded to the Intrepid Museum in 1988. The Intrepid Museum spent over $1 million repairing the submarine in 2008 when holes were discovered in its hull during a museum-wide renovation, The New York Times reported.\nExhibits provided a brief history of the USS Growler and the nuclear missiles it carried before entering the submarine.\nThe first Regulus missiles had a range of 500 miles. Regulus II missiles could travel twice that distance.\nThere was also a sample doorway to make sure guests could walk through the submarine.\nTo visit Growler, guests had to be at least 40 inches tall and had to be able to pass through this doorway without assistance.\nThe first stop inside the submarine was one of the USS Growler's two missile hangars.\nEach hangar could hold two Regulus I missiles, which each measured 33 feet long, according to the National Air and Space Museum.\nIn the navigation compartment, crew members plotted courses and tracked Growler's position.\nGrowler used a binnacle — a stand that holds a ship's compass — and SINS — the Ship's Inertial Navigation System — to navigate through the seas.\nThe missile checkout and guidance center was once a top-secret area.\nCrew members assigned to the missile checkout and guidance center were in charge of maintaining, firing, and guiding the trajectory of the Regulus missiles. Launching a Regulus missile took about 15 minutes.\nOfficers on Growler lived in staterooms that held two to three people.\nOfficers acted as leaders and commanders of the crew, overseeing the day-to-day operations of the submarine.\nTheir staterooms featured folding sinks and desks with chairs that included storage drawers to maximize the tight quarters.\nOfficers had access to their own shower.\nCrew members shared a separate washroom.\nOfficers used the wardroom to eat, socialize, and hold meetings.\nThe wardroom was furnished with laminate walls and vinyl seating booths, popular interior design trends post-World War II.\nOfficers' meals were cooked in the galley and served from the wardroom pantry.\nGrowler carried all of the food and supplies it would need to sustain itself during patrols that lasted over two months.\nA storekeeper kept track of non-food supplies such as light bulbs, pens, and toilet paper.\nGrowler's commanding officer enjoyed the only private room on the entire submarine as its highest-ranked leader.\nThe room featured a telephone and a bed that folded up into seating.\nThe chief petty officers' quarters were nicknamed the \"goat locker.\"\nChief petty officers helped train new submariners and acted as leaders and liaisons between officers and crew members.\nThe nickname \"goat locker\" dates back to 1893, when the rank of chief petty officer was established. Chief petty officers were put in charge of the goats that were kept on ships to produce milk, and the animals' pens were located in their quarters, according to the Naval History and Heritage Command.\nYeomen handled clerical and administrative work aboard Growler's tiny office.\nYeomen wrote reports, sorted files, and maintained crew members' service records.\nA ladder in the bridge trunk led to the bridge of the submarine.\nWhen Growler traveled on the surface of the water, the bridge provided a vantage point for crew members to surveil the surrounding ocean.\nSeeing how far down I was in the submarine was striking. I couldn't imagine what it must have been like to serve on a two-month-long patrol with no fresh air or sunlight.\nThe control room and attack center contained a dizzying number of buttons, dials, and other instruments.\nCrew members monitored Growler's function with data gathered in the control room and attack center.\nHere, the commanding officer would give orders to the crew.\nThe crew members who sat in the chairs directed Growler's movements with three steering wheels that controlled different angles and movements.\nThe room also featured two periscopes: one for observation and one for attacks.\nThe periscope used for observation featured a wider view, while the attack periscope had higher magnification capabilities.\nA call signal station could signal different areas of the submarine such as the wardroom, the office, and the control room.\nEach room had a corresponding number that crew members could dial.\nThe sonar room also aided Growler's navigation.\nSonar stands for sound navigation and ranging. Growler used passive sonar, a system of underwater microphones that listen to the ocean and detect sound waves, to track other vessels and navigate its own positions.\nPassive sonar is a more discreet alternative to active sonar, which sends a pulse of energy through the water to detect objects.\nCrew members communicated with other ships in the radio room.\nGrowler could only send messages at periscope depth. Lower down in the ocean, it could receive low-frequency signals, but couldn't send any outgoing messages.\nMeals were prepared in the galley.\nA meal schedule from 1962 listed dishes such as fried chicken, clam chowder, hamburgers, and meatloaf with gravy.\nIn the scullery, Growler crew members washed dishes and compacted trash.\nTrash was disposed of in weighted tubes that wouldn't float to the surface and give away the submarine's location.\nThe crew's mess was the only common space on board Growler.\nIt functioned as the dining room as well as a place for crew members to play games and watch movies.\nGrowler's largest sleeping area contained 46 bunks.\nThe green straps on the beds kept crew members from rolling out of the bunks during rough seas.\nThe crew's washroom featured two showers.\nShowers were a rare luxury for crew members on Growler. A plaque displayed in the room read that some sailors said they never showered once during their two-month patrols.\nA distillation system boiled seawater, filtering out the salt to supply fresh water.\nThe distilled water was used for cooling the submarine's diesel engines, cooking food, washing dishes, and bathing.\nGrowler's three diesel engines were located in the engine room.\nThe engines were soundproofed.\nSailors controlled Growler's speed in the maneuvering room, with officers communicating orders from the control room.\nGrowler's maximum speed was 12 knots, or 14 mph, while submerged and 14 knots, or 16 mph, while surfaced.\nIn addition to carrying nuclear missiles, Growler was also armed with torpedoes.\nNine crew members slept in the aft torpedo room, where weapons like the Mark 37 torpedo were kept.\nI was relieved to see the sky again as I exited Growler, and in awe of service members who spent months at a time on the vessel.\nAs the only nuclear-missile submarine in the US that's open to the public, visiting the USS Growler is absolutely worth a trip to the Intrepid Museum.\nI was fascinated by how self-sufficient the submarine was as it carried out top-secret patrols. It was hard to believe that 90 crew members operated in such small spaces for extended periods of time.\nWith its supply of nuclear missiles kept at the ready during the Cold War, the stakes couldn't have been higher to keep Growler running smoothly and efficiently. The stakes remain high today as US Navy submarines continue to patrol waters connected to regional conflicts.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/i-toured-the-only-nuclear-missile-submarine-in-the-us-open-to-the-public-take-a", "canonical_source": "https://www.businessinsider.com/submarine-tour-intrepid-growler-nuclear-missiles-2024-10", "published_at": "2026-05-23 14:06:01+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-05-23 14:35:45.316045+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": [], "entities": ["USS Growler", "US Navy", "Intrepid Museum", "USS Intrepid", "USS Georgia", "Operation Epic Fury", "Ken Calvert", "Iran"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/i-toured-the-only-nuclear-missile-submarine-in-the-us-open-to-the-public-take-a", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/i-toured-the-only-nuclear-missile-submarine-in-the-us-open-to-the-public-take-a.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/i-toured-the-only-nuclear-missile-submarine-in-the-us-open-to-the-public-take-a.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/i-toured-the-only-nuclear-missile-submarine-in-the-us-open-to-the-public-take-a.jsonld"}}