Boat tours to begin this season from new dock at Nautilus in Groton

The Day

By: Kimberly Drelich

May 16, 2025


Groton — A new floating dock by the Historic Ship Nautilus will allow visitors to take boat tours on the Thames River.

The tours by Thames River Heritage Park Foundation from the dock at the Submarine Force Museum are expected to start next month. 

"It's been a long time coming," Linda Mariani, president of the foundation board, said Thursday. "It's really the jewel in the crown now because everything else seems to be falling into place, and that was the one thing we had been waiting for."

After construction of the long-planned dock was completed over the winter, the Naval Submarine Base held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday to officially celebrate the new addition and the Town of Groton giving the dock to the Navy.

The Navy said in a news release that it has granted a license for the dock to be used by the Thames River Heritage Park's Harbor Tours and Cruises for 2025.

"It's great for the surrounding area, great for tourism, great for the park," Ret. U.S. Navy Captain Paul Whitescarver, who recently stepped down as board president of the Thames River Heritage Park Foundation, said Thursday.

Marian Galbraith, a foundation board member and former president, said Thursday that the Nautilus dock is significant because the vision of the Thames River Heritage Park, which opened in 2016, was always to link the four cornerstones of the Thames River: Fort Trumbull, Fort Griswold, the Nautilus and downtown New London, the site of the future Coast Guard Museum.

Bob Ross, executive director of the state's Office of Military Affairs, said Friday that the Thames River Heritage Park, which is designated as a state park, is built around those four anchors and then about 20 smaller organizations with sites that thrive together as part of a network. People visiting the Thames River Heritage Park, which has water taxis and boat tours, can learn about the different organizations and activities in New London and Groton.

Galbraith said boat tours hopefully will start running from the Nautilus dock on June 13. The beginning plan is to hold two tours on Fridays and Saturdays and one tour on Sundays.

Most tours will focus on military history and take visitors to New London and then up past the Naval Submarine Base and back to the Nautilus, she said.

Once a month, Mohegan Tribal Elders will offer a tour called the Mohegan Life on the Massapequotuck, which will take visitors upstream. Massapequotuck is the Mohegan name for the Thames River.

Mariani said she thinks people serving in the Navy and their families will be interested in visiting the dock. 

"I think it's adding a tremendous dimension to the park," she said.

The dock, which cost $664,379, was funded through a $730,000 grant from the Connecticut Port Authority. The town gave the dock, located on Navy land, to the Navy.

"I look forward to the dock bringing people together, supporting tourism, and helping our community continue to thrive," Groton Town Manager John Burt said Thursday.

City of Groton Mayor Keith Hedrick said Friday that the new dock will expand the Thames River Heritage Park trail and give tourists more opportunities to see the region and the Thames River.

"I think the museum is a tremendous asset for the region, and I do think it will be a draw," he added.

Captain Kenneth M. Curtin, Jr., commanding officer of the Naval Submarine Base, said in prepared remarks for the Friday evening ceremony that the Nautilus, the first nuclear-powered submarine, is a National Historic Landmark and is Connecticut-made, and was designated Connecticut's State Ship by the General Assembly in 1983.

"The Submarine Force Museum could not be more excited for this new opportunity to bring visitors to the site and help them discover the bold and courageous stories of our Submarine Force," Lt. Cmdr. Bryan Chapman, Officer-in-Charge of the Historic Ship Nautilus and Director of the Submarine Force Museum, said in prepared remarks.

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