S.S. John W. Brown, Baltimore

Excellent Tour. A Stern to Bow tour with little left out. It's a working ship, so prepare for ladders (steep ship's stairs), mooring lines, and possibly slick decks in the engine room. Our group met the Captain who clarified some questions and was a grand host.

This ship is amazing! WWII Liberty Ship built in Baltimore. Three museums on board. Really nice gift shop with gifts for all age groups from children to adults. Great tour given by one of the volunteers. Highly recommend visiting this ship.

This is a really unique piece of WWII history that most people probably wouldn't notice. We were told there are only 2 like this in the US that the public can tour. The volunteers at Ft McHenry (across the harbor) pointed it out to us the day before we went. Definitely plug the address into your GPS and check the hours online before venturing that way. It's in an industrial area on the waterfront beside a cement company. Parking is free but you have to stop at the gate first and let them know you're going on a tour. You'll take a narrow gangway with steps up to the main deck and walk inside to sign in as a guest. There's a suggested donation of $10/adult, and kids are free. When it's not crowded, they allow you to walk around the ship on your own and provide you with a map. We were lucky to meet some volunteers that helped guide us, though, and one even showed our daughter the big guns (non-working but neat) on each side of the top deck. She loved it! This is the perfect place to go if you love history, touring ships, on a school field trip, or for a unique date. Twice a year they also have a "living history trip" that takes guests on a 6 hour cruise over the Chesapeake Bay. Hoping we can go back for it!

There is a lot of focus on WW2 warships, but merchant ships were essential to victory. Liberty ships helped to build Allied transportation capacity (making things like D-Day, the 8th Air Force, and Okinawa invasion possible) and replacing capacity sunk by Axis aircraft, submarines, and mines. There are 3 of the 2710 of these ships built in WW2 remaining. The John W Brown is an outstanding example, and periodically goes for cruises (the public can buy tickets). If you have questions, many of the volunteers on board will show you in depth the systems that made these ships work.

Great experience going out into the bay on the John Brown, great entertainment out to sea and very well kept, volunteers are very nice and you can even steer the ship if you are lucky.