Qualla: Maritime Museum of San Diego

Maritime Museum of San Diego: Introduction

Thu, 22 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit BrokenSphere, CC BY-SA 3.0. Star of India has been sailing for over 160 years. Built in 1863 at a shipyard on the Isle of Man, this iron-hulled barque has circled the globe, carried emigrants to New Zealand, hauled cargo to India, and crossed the Pacific countless times. Today she floats at the heart of the Maritime Museum of San Diego, the oldest ship still sailing regularly and the cornerstone of one of America's most remarkable collections of historic vessels.

Image: BrokenSphere | CC BY-SA 3.0

Maritime Museum of San Diego: A Fleet Anchored in Time

Thu, 22 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit P. Alejandro Diaz (Intersofia), CC BY-SA 2.5. Since 1948, the Maritime Museum has gathered ships along San Diego's Embarcadero, creating a floating timeline of maritime history. The collection spans over a century and a half of naval architecture. Beside Star of India floats Berkeley, an 1898 ferryboat from San Francisco Bay...

Image: P. Alejandro Diaz (Intersofia) | CC BY-SA 2.5

Maritime Museum of San Diego: Replicas That Bring History to Life

Thu, 22 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Logawi at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0. Alongside its historic originals, the museum maintains several working replicas that make the past tangible. HMS Surprise, originally built in 1970 as HMS Rose, gained fame as Captain Jack Aubrey's command in Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. The schooner Californi...

Image: Logawi at English Wikipedia | CC BY-SA 3.0

Maritime Museum of San Diego: Where Research Meets the Tide

Thu, 22 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Dirk Hansen, CC BY-SA 3.0. The Maritime Museum is more than a collection of floating artifacts. Its quarterly peer-reviewed journal, Mains'l Haul: A Journal of Pacific Maritime History, contributes to scholarship on the region's seafaring heritage. The MacMullen Library and Research Archives aboard Berkele...

Image: Dirk Hansen | CC BY-SA 3.0

Maritime Museum of San Diego: A Rising Tide Lifts All Ships

Thu, 22 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Willy Logan at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0. When the USS Midway Aircraft Carrier Museum opened nearby, some worried it would compete with the Maritime Museum for visitors. Instead, the opposite occurred: visitation to the Maritime Museum increased. The two institutions, though independently operated, create a critical mass...

Image: Willy Logan at English Wikipedia | CC BY-SA 3.0