Travel writer Talia Lakritz visited six World War II-era submarine museums across the United States and spent the night on one of them. There are 15 World War II-era submarine museums open to the public across the United States, according to the online database MuseumShips.

During her visits, Lakritz observed a missile hangar, sonar equipment, and a conning tower where orders were issued aboard historic submarines. She also observed a soft-serve ice cream machine and comic strips aboard historic submarines.

The USS Growler is the only nuclear-missile submarine open to the public at the Intrepid Museum in New York City. Commissioned in 1958, the USS Growler carried Regulus II sea-to-surface missiles armed with nuclear warheads during the Cold War. The submarine had two missile hangars, each capable of holding two Regulus I missiles with a range of 500 miles. The USS Growler's missile checkout and guidance center contained the technology necessary to aim and fire missiles in a process that took about 15 minutes.

The USS Cobia is docked at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. Commissioned in 1944, the USS Cobia sank 13 enemy ships during World War II, earned four battle stars, and rescued seven downed American pilots. The submarine featured an upside-down broom as a symbol indicating that the submarine sank an enemy ship.

"Clean sweep of the enemy from the sea," said Mark Becker, a volunteer at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum and US Navy submarine veteran who served during the Cold War. The USS Cobia's radio room contains the oldest operational radar in the United States, and the SJ-1 radar can interfere with phone service in the area when turned on.

The USS Nautilus, commissioned in 1954, was the world's first nuclear-powered submarine. Before nuclear power, submarines were powered by diesel engines and electric batteries that charged only while surfaced, allowing them to stay underwater for 12 to 48 hours. Using nuclear power, the USS Nautilus could stay submerged for up to two weeks and became the first ship to traverse the North Pole by sailing under the polar ice cap in 1958.

The USS Nautilus included the first-ever set of stairs on a submarine. On older submarine models, ladders were used to move between levels. The officers' quarters on the USS Nautilus featured a display of an 1892 edition of "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" by Jules Verne, which features a fictional submarine named Nautilus.

The USS Becuna is part of the Independence Seaport Museum in Philadelphia. Commissioned in 1944, the submarine earned four battle stars during World War II and underwent a Greater Underwater Propulsive Power 1-A modernization in 1951, making it the only remaining GUPPY 1-A submarine in the world.