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Scorpion Submarine Museum
1126 Queen's Hwy
Long Beach, CA 90802
(562) 435-3511
Long Beach, CA 90802
(562) 435-3511
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
4 reviews for Scorpion Submarine Museum
This is a great take for an hour or two for a naval enthusiast of any age, even if you aren't also visiting the Queen Mary. "Scorpion" is a 1972 Soviet Navy Foxtrot-class submarine that is almost completely outfitted from its operational days (unlike the Soviet sub found in San Diego's Maritime Museum). Subs of this class were likely involved in the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962.
I was surprised to learn that some of the food stored in the sub's galley was in containers filled with alcohol. When the container was opened, the alcohol evaporated leaving the food suitable for eating.
I've written about my recent visit to tour Scorpion; see it here: http://www.examiner.co...
It's definitely cool to tour a real submarine and see this floating artifact firsthand!
However, real Russians (like me) may be a bit put off by the kitschified, somewhat-patronizing aspect of the whole thing. Yes, this means that all their R's are backwards and the gift shop will feature some Russian stuff that has nothing to do with the military, let alone the submarine... a Sergei Fedorov hockey jersey? Okay...
Though probably the worst aspect of it all is:
1) The lame-ish submarine video playing in the gift shop theater... I don't want to say it's bad, but I've seen better acting in pornos.
2) The submarine voice-over narration is clearly an American actor trying to fake a stereotypical Russian accent. If they wanted someone to sound like he was fresh off the boat... why not just hire some guy fresh off the boat? (Or a guy fresh off the sub, for that matter?)
So anyway, just as long as you come here to learn about the sub and take the misrepresented culture with a grain of salt, it's quite the unique and interesting experience!
I made a new entry for the Scorpion Submarine because the existing entry was for the gift shop. I also list the real website where you will find information about the Scorpion.
The real jewel in visiting this establishment is to go INTO the submarine, not the gift shop. For $10.95 you get to see exactly what it was like to live and walk through a Cold War Russian submarine that was in USSR service between 1972 and 1994. You can stay as long as you like in listening to the self guiding audio tracks. Each section of the submarine is there for you to touch, feel, smell the real thing. You have to climb though the sub like the sailors had to do and face every day. The only difference is that you can leave anytime you want. The 78 sailors assigned to this sub lived there for months at a time, at sea without the luxury of leaving the ship anytime they wanted.
I had to carefully walk down the narrow ladders/stairs or crawl through each bulkhead into the various compartments so I either didn't trip or fall. I can just imagine just moving through this ship under heavy seas or when under attack with depth charges. It is sobering and mind numbing to think about the scores of men that had to serve on this sub and be within its confines for months at a time.
In a world filled with fantasy worlds created by supercomputer graphics and software and limited only by the creators imagination, here is a relic of the Cold War that has a much more pronounced impact on you than any movie or graphic arts media......mainly because this sub is REAL.
By touring though this sub and listening to the audio stories thoughout the sub, you get the essence of living on board during the Cold War. It is very dark visually and emotionally. If a jail was made the size of this sub to house a same number of inmates, as it had sailors, it would never be built for inhumane reasons.
This is a 5 star tour if you are a history buff or just want to know more about the Cold War and experience first hand what it was like being on the military side of the equation.
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Very cool to walk through a real Russian Submarine. The narrative (through a sound system as you walk through each room - so kids won't have to read anything) gives you a good feel for what it was like to work in the sub. It doesn't take long to tour, only about 40 minutes. This isn't for everyone with steep stairs and tall steps to crawl over.
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