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USS Slater Destroyer Escort Historical Museum

The last WWII destroyer escort afloat in the United States, moored on the Hudson and restored by volunteers to 1945 condition — you climb down ladders into the engine room.

Where
Downtown Albany
Time needed
1.5 hr visit
Tickets
$10
USS Slater DE-766 moored on the Hudson River in Albany USS Slater DE-766 moored on the Hudson River in Albany

What to expect at USS Slater Destroyer Escort Historical Museum

The USS Slater (DE-766) is the last of 563 destroyer escorts built during World War II still afloat as a museum ship in the United States. Commissioned in 1944, she hunted U-boats in the Atlantic and later served the Greek Navy before being brought to Albany in 1997 and painstakingly restored to her 1945 wartime configuration. She is moored on the Hudson River at the foot of Broadway, painted in her original dazzle camouflage, and every rope, gauge and mess-hall coffee cup is either original or a period-accurate replacement. She is a Cannon-class ship: 306 feet of welded steel, diesel-electric drive, and a wartime complement of 216 officers and men packed into a hull barely 37 feet across. The restoration has never actually finished — the volunteer crew works through the closed winter months, so a compartment that was bare steel one summer is a furnished berthing space the next.

Visits are by guided tour only, running about 75 minutes and led almost always by a veteran or long-time volunteer. You board at the quarterdeck, walk the main deck past the 3-inch guns and depth-charge racks, then climb steep ladders down into the forward crew berthing, the galley, the CIC (Combat Information Center) with its original radar plots, and finally into the engine room with its still-oily diesel engines. It is physical — narrow doorways, tight ladders — and unusually moving because the guides tell the actual stories of the men who slept in the bunks you pass. Along the way the route takes in the radio room, the sick bay with its two bunks and single operating light, the wardroom, the chiefs' quarters and the bridge. Topside, ask your guide to explain the hedgehog projector forward and the twin 40mm Bofors mount aft — the anti-submarine kit is what makes this ship different from a destroyer, and it is the part most visitors walk past.

Open only April through November. Buy tickets on arrival, though weekends fill up and it's worth calling the same morning. Wear closed-toe shoes and something you can climb ladders in — no skirts or sandals. Best combined with a walk along the Hudson River Way pedestrian bridge from Broadway to the Corning Preserve. Not recommended for very small children or anyone with mobility issues; the interior tour requires climbing three sets of steep stairs. Arrive ten to fifteen minutes before your tour slot: you pay at the small ticket point by the gangway, and latecomers are held back for the next departure rather than slotted into a group already below decks. Leave the ship's store for afterwards — it is a single small compartment and there is no point browsing caps while your guide is waiting to muster the group on the quarterdeck.

Getting there is easy on foot if you are already downtown. The ship lies at 141 Broadway at the foot of Quay Street, on the river side of the road: from the corner of State and Broadway it is a five-minute walk north, and from the Empire State Plaza or the Capitol allow 12 to 15 minutes downhill (and a stiffer climb back up). From the Renaissance Albany Hotel or Hilton Albany it is roughly a 10 to 12 minute walk. Driving, come off I-787 at the downtown Albany exits signed for Broadway and Quay Street; parking on the pier beside the ship is free and there is no reason to feed a Broadway meter. CDTA bus 100 stops two blocks west on Broadway, with a single ride around $1.50 and a day pass about $4. Arriving by train, the Albany-Rensselaer Amtrak station is about two miles away across the Dunn Memorial Bridge — a taxi or rideshare runs roughly $15 to $20 and takes under ten minutes.

Costs are refreshingly simple. Admission is $10 for adults, $9 for seniors and military, $8 for children 6 to 14, and free for under-6s, which covers the whole guided tour — there is no separate charge for the below-decks section, no premium engine-room ticket and no audio guide to decline, because none exists. Cash is preferred at the gangway and cards are accepted. Groups of ten or more can arrange a reduced per-person rate, but that needs a phone call in advance rather than a coach turning up. There is no combined ticket with the New York State Museum or the Albany Institute of History & Art, so no saving to chase by bundling. Once aboard, the only place to spend money is the ship's store, where caps, patches, books and DE unit histories run roughly $5 to $25, and a donation box that funds the steel and paint keeping her afloat.

Timing matters more here than at most museums because tours cap at 20 people. The 10:00 departure on a Wednesday, Thursday or Friday is the quiet slot — you may be one of six people, which changes the tour completely, because the guide starts answering your questions rather than delivering a script. Saturday and Sunday midday is the crush: arrive at 12:30 without calling and you may wait 30 to 45 minutes for the next group. The last tour leaves at 15:00, so be at the gangway by 14:45. By month: April is a soft opening, weather-dependent, right after the ship is towed back across the river; May and June bring school groups on weekday mornings; July and August turn the engine room into a genuinely hot steel box; September and October are the best weeks, crisp and clear over the water; early November is cold and the crew is already preparing for layup.

It suits curious adults, anyone with a family connection to the wartime Navy, and children from about seven upwards who can manage a vertical ladder and a 75-minute narrative without a screen. Teenagers do better than expected — the CIC, the radar plots and the guns hold them, and the sheer tightness of the berthing spaces lands the point about what service on a small escort was actually like. It does not suit wheelchair users, walker users or anyone who cannot climb: there is no lift and no alternative route below decks, though it is worth asking on the phone whether a topside-only visit can be arranged. Skip it if you are claustrophobic, if you have a stroller, or if you have only an hour before a train — the tour alone runs 75 minutes and cannot be shortened. On a wet afternoon it works well, but the steel decks and ladders are slick, so grip matters.

Fold it into a riverfront half-day. The Hudson River Way pedestrian bridge, with its painted piers illustrating Albany history, starts two minutes from the ship and lifts you over I-787 to the Corning Preserve and Jennings Landing, where there are paved paths, a boat launch and the amphitheatre — 5 to 10 minutes of walking gets you a view back at the ship, which is where the good photograph of that dazzle paint is taken. Ten minutes north on Broadway is Quackenbush Square, home to the Albany Heritage Area Visitors Center and the Olde English Pub in one of the city's oldest buildings; Wolff's Biergarten is closer still. Uphill, the Albany Institute of History & Art is about 15 minutes away and the New York State Museum and free Capitol tours about 20. Two attractions plus lunch is a comfortable day; three plus the ship is a forced march.

Be honest with yourself about scale. This is a 306-foot escort, not the USS Intrepid — visitors arriving expecting a hangar deck, an air wing and a food court leave puzzled, and there is no cafe aboard, no cinema and no interactive gallery. Access is guided only, so you cannot wander at your own pace, linger in the CIC or double back to the engine room; if that is the museum experience you want, this is the wrong ship. Guide quality varies with who is on watch that day, and the acoustics in the engine room are dreadful, so stay within arm's length of whoever is talking. The pier itself has nothing to do on it while you wait, which is why the same-morning phone call is the single most useful thing in this entry. And the guns topside are not the point — the engine room is, so save your camera battery.

Plan your visit Tickets$10 Time needed1.5 hr visit WhereDowntown Albany Opening hours Wed-Sun 10:00-16:00 (Apr-Nov) Closed Dec-Mar Last tour 15:00 Hotels near USS Slater Destroyer Escort Historical Museum

Questions about USS Slater Destroyer Escort Historical Museum

How much is a tour?

$10 adults, $9 seniors and military, $8 kids 6-14, free under 6. Cash preferred, cards accepted. That single price covers the full guided route including the below-decks compartments and the engine room — there is no upgrade tier and no audio guide to add on. Groups of ten or more can arrange a lower per-person rate, but only by calling ahead rather than arriving en masse. The only other spend aboard is the ship's store, where caps, patches and destroyer-escort histories run about $5 to $25, plus a restoration donation box at the gangway.

Is there a free entry option?

No free days. Active-duty military in uniform receive complimentary admission year-round. Children under 6 also come aboard free, though in practice they cannot manage the ladders to the lower decks, so a family with a toddler is paying $10 or more for a topside look. There is no municipal free afternoon, no first-Sunday scheme and no reciprocal deal with the New York State Museum up the hill. If cost is the deciding factor, note that the State Museum on Madison Avenue asks only a suggested donation, and Capitol tours are free.

How long is the tour?

Guided tours run about 75 minutes. Allow 90 minutes total including the deck and gift shop. Add ten to fifteen minutes at the front for ticketing and mustering on the quarterdeck, and a few more if you want the photograph of the dazzle-painted hull from the Hudson River Way bridge afterwards. Large school or Scout groups move more slowly and can push closer to 90 minutes below decks. Because the last tour leaves at 15:00, arriving at 14:45 is cutting it fine but workable; arriving at 15:10 means coming back another day.

When is the ship closed?

Closed all of December through March. In season, closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Last tour departs 15:00. Over the winter the ship is towed across the Hudson to the Rensselaer side for layup while the volunteer crew works on her, so there is no access at all and nothing to see from the Albany pier. The April reopening is weather- and tow-dependent rather than fixed to a date, so if you are planning an early-spring visit, phone (518) 431-1943 first. Mondays and Tuesdays are volunteer work days, not staffing gaps you can talk your way past.

Do I need to book ahead?

Walk-ups accepted but weekends fill up. Call (518) 431-1943 the morning of to reserve a spot. There is no online booking system for standard tours — the phone is the system, and it works because tours cap at 20 people and the volunteers know exactly which departures are already full. Turning up at 12:30 on a July Saturday without calling can mean a 30 to 45 minute wait on a pier with nothing on it. Groups of ten or more, and Scout or youth overnight encampments aboard, need to be arranged with the museum office well in advance.

How do I get to the ship?

Moored on the Hudson at the foot of Broadway near Quay Street. Free parking on the pier. CDTA bus 100 stops two blocks west on Broadway. The address is 141 Broadway, a five-minute walk north from State and Broadway and 12 to 15 minutes downhill from the Capitol or Empire State Plaza. Driving, use the downtown I-787 exits signed for Broadway and Quay Street and ignore the metered kerb. CDTA fares run about $1.50 a ride or $4 for a day pass; from the Albany-Rensselaer Amtrak station, a taxi across the Dunn Memorial Bridge is roughly $15 to $20.

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