Free Dockside Entry to Star of India — One Day Only
Free Entry to Star of India*
Friday, November 14, 2025
10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Complimentary cake served at 12 noon (while supplies last)
*General admission required to explore the full Museum fleet and exhibits.
SAN DIEGO, CA — Maritime Museum of San Diego, with an international reputation for excellence in restoring, maintaining, and operating historic vessels—including the world’s oldest active sailing ship, Star of India—invites Museum members, volunteers, and the public to celebrate the legendary vessel’s 162nd birthday with a complimentary visit to Star of India on Friday, November 14, 2025. The Museum last sailed Star of India on November 11 and 12, 2023 to celebrate her 160th birthday. San Diegans and visitors alike will have the chance to come aboard Star of India for free dockside entry on Friday, November 14, 2025, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. This exclusive offer applies to walk-up guests only. Museum volunteers will serve complimentary birthday cake starting at 12:00 noon, while supplies last.
Donations are encouraged, or visitors may upgrade to a general admission ticket to explore the Maritime Museum of San Diego fleet and exhibits, plus galleries nested below deck and unseen from the embarcadero.
Star of India, built in 1863, is the world’s oldest active sailing ship and has circumnavigated the globe twenty-one times. Star of India first came to the City of San Diego in 1927. In 1951, the Maritime Museum of San Diego began long-awaited historical renovations to the vessel, originally named Euterpe after the Greek goddess of music and poetry. Star of India relies on Museum volunteers and a committed staff for her upkeep.
The 501(c)(3) nonprofit Maritime Museum of San Diego relies on donations and the support of members, volunteers, and visitors to sustain this waterfront collection of historic vessels and maritime exhibits. The Museum is ranked among the nation’s top attractions, offering self-guided tours, docent-guided group tours, tall ship charters and historic bay cruises, public events, educational programs, and a distinctive venue for corporate and private events.
General admission tickets include entrance to all Maritime Museum of San Diego vessels and exhibits. Tickets are $28.00 for adults, $20.00 for seniors and military, and $15.00 for youth ages 6–17. Children five and under are free. Tickets can be purchased in advance online at General Admission or at the Maritime Museum of San Diego Ticket Booth located at Star of India Wharf, 1492 N. Harbor Drive (between Grape and Ash Street, next to Portside Pier), San Diego, CA 92101-3309. The Museum is open daily 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; last guest entry at 4:00 p.m.
“This year’s dockside celebration of Star of India’s 162nd birthday is timed perfectly to coincide with activities of our strategic partners TMA BlueTech and ONE OCEAN EXPEDITION.”
Christina Connett Brophy, Ph.D., President & CEO, Maritime Museum of San DiegoThe 2025–2026 ONE OCEAN EXPEDITION is a 12-month global voyage with the Norwegian tall ship Statsraad Lehmkuhl—a floating ambassador for the UN Ocean Decade—combining sail training, ocean science, and diplomacy to inspire action for a more sustainable ocean. Dr. Brophy adds, “Our celebration also features our partnership and support of TMA BlueTech, the San Diego–based leading U.S. BlueTech cluster driving innovation in maritime defense, advanced maritime, and maritime resilience technologies. On Saturday, November 15 the Maritime Museum of San Diego will be displaying new innovations in robotics, engineering, and autonomous underwater and surface technologies designed to better study and sustain our oceans.” Demonstrations are included with purchase of general admission.
ABOUT STAR OF INDIA
Star of India is the world’s oldest active sailing vessel and the oldest iron-hulled merchant ship still afloat. She was launched as the fully rigged ship Euterpe at Ramsey Shipyard on the Isle of Man in 1863.
Euterpe began her working life with two near-disastrous voyages to India. On her first trip she suffered a collision and a mutiny. On her second, a cyclone caught Euterpe in the Bay of Bengal; with her topmasts cut away, she barely made port. Shortly afterward, her first captain died on board and was buried at sea. After such misfortunes, Euterpe would eventually make four more voyages to India as a cargo ship.
In 1871 she was purchased by the Shaw Savill line of London and for the next quarter century transported hundreds of emigrants to New Zealand and Australia, completing twenty-one circumnavigations. It was rugged voyaging, with the little iron ship battling terrific gales, “laboring and rolling in a most distressing manner,” according to her log.
With the opening of the Suez Canal and sail giving way to steam, Euterpe was sold to the Alaska Packers Association. In 1901 her new owners changed her rig to that of a bark (her present configuration). By the time of her retirement in 1923, she had made twenty-two voyages from San Francisco to Alaska, returning each year with her hold laden with canned salmon.
In 1926, Star of India was sold to the Zoological Society of San Diego as the projected centerpiece for an aquarium and museum. The Great Depression and World War II stalled those plans. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, thanks to a groundswell of local support, Star of India was restored to sailing condition, and in 1976 she set sail once again. Her preservation continues as a living reminder of the great Age of Sail, thanks to the tireless efforts of curators and volunteers at the Maritime Museum of San Diego.