The museum's entry hall and adjoining galleries display models of submarines, torpedoes, missiles, deck guns, periscopes, and a full-scale cross section of Bushnell's Turtle, the "first submersible ever used in a military conflict," in 1776. Out back, the USS Nautilus itself stands at its mooring, ready for inspection. The 362-foot-long sub was commissioned in 1954 and in operation until 1980. The claustrophobic walk through the control rooms, attack center, galley, and sleeping quarters is aided by listening devices handed out to each visitor. Passing through, it is difficult to imagine how the sub could possibly contain a crew of 116 men, especially on its fabled cruise between Pearl Harbor and the North Pole.

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's New England, 14th Edition, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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