GPS City GuideNorfolkWisconsin Square

Stop 4 of 25 · Norfolk audio walking tour

Wisconsin Square

Elizabeth River waterfront · 1948 · Honoring 30 Kearsarge sailors

What you'll hear here: about 90 seconds on Wisconsin Square — how it came to be, who it mattered to, and what to look for while you're standing in front of it.

Wisconsin Square is a small park on Norfolk, Virginia's Elizabeth River waterfront, directly opposite the berth of the USS Wisconsin museum ship. Wisconsin Square contains memorials to the seamen lost while serving on United States Navy ships homeported in Norfolk. It also holds the ship's bell of USS Norfolk (DL-1) and a copy of The Lone Sailor.

As you move through the space you will read tributes: USS Kearsarge (CV-33), honoring 30 sailors lost in 1948; USS Forrestal (CV-59), for those lost in the 1967 USS Forrestal fire; and USS Liberty (AGTR-5), remembering those killed in the 1967 USS Liberty incident. Other markers recall USS Scorpion (SSN-589), lost with all hands in 1968, and the crew lost in a 1972 misfire on USS Newport News (CA-148). You will also find memorials for the crew lost in the 1981 flight deck crash on USS Nimitz (CVN-68), the crew lost in the 1989 turret explosion on USS Iowa (BB-61), and the crew lost in the 2000 suicide bombing of USS Cole (DDG-67).

The Square even commemorates The Pentagon, September 11, 2001. Your attention moves from the berth of the USS Wisconsin to the clustered memorials filling this small park.

Where it is

Coordinates
36.84886, -76.29431
Area
Elizabeth River waterfront
Era
1948 · Honoring 30 Kearsarge sailors
Start the Norfolk tour →

Three stops free. No account needed. The audio plays itself as you walk.