Guided Engineering Tour (Includes Self-Guided Experience)

Your Experience

Approx. 4.5-hour experience • Ages 10+ • Advance purchase required Includes:

• 🧑‍🏭 Crew-Led Engineering Tour (2.5 hours)

• 🚢 Self-Guided IOWA Experience (2 hours — completed after the Engineering Tour)

Get ready to explore the hidden heart of Battleship IOWA on this in-depth tour below deck. Designed for adventurers and history buffs, this experience grants you rare access to behind-the-scenes engineering spaces once essential to powering the most innovative battleship of WWII.

Your journey begins with the crew-led Engineering Tour, plunging you into the ship’s mechanical soul. Traverse areas normally closed to the public, including:

• ⚓ Anchor Windlass Room

• 🔧 Engine and Boiler Rooms

• 🔄 After-Steering Station

• 🧪 Oil and Water Testing Labs

• 🗭 Exclusive sailor-only passageways not seen by visitors since 1943

This immersive tour highlights how the ship’s eight boilers and four steam turbines generated 212,000 shaft horsepower—enough to power 650 Ford F-150 trucks—launching IOWA to a blistering 35 knots (40 mph), the fastest for any battleship ever built.

Your guide, a member of today’s dedicated crew, will share riveting stories of sailors’ service and ingenuity in maintaining this engineering marvel during peace and war.

Following the crew-led Engineering Tour, you’ll continue with the self-guided IOWA Experience—featuring historical exhibits, presidential stories, sailor life, and a scavenger hunt for kids across five decks.

⚠️ Important Details

• Closed-toe shoes required.

• This experience is physically demanding and involves ladders, tight spaces, and grated decks.

• Not recommended for guests under 10 or those with mobility limitations.

• Offered on select days. Advance reservations are required due to limited space.