Scorpion Submarine at the Queen Mary

THIS. THING. IS. AWESOME! It’s a REAL submarine! Cough up the $ 12 and go in it!
Bring a tripod if you want to take photos cuz it’s real dark inside and you’re going to need to slow your shutter speed down to way under ¹⁄₆₀ of a second. Maybe even bring a small flashlight or two to supplement your camera. Set the timer on your camera to 10 seconds if you want good photos.
Bring extra money and buy a real Russian fuzzy hat at the gift shop/​tent.
No you can’t get in it if you’re in a wheelchair, don’t even think about it. Submarines were not made for wheelchair access.

The Scorpion is a Russian submarine docked in Long Beach right next to the Queen Mary. There is a gift shop you can browse around in, then if you like, you can walk through the submarine. The self-​guided tour is $ 10 per person.
The submarine was alright to see for the first time. It’s not an everyday sight (unless you’re in the Navy or some other related military branch). You get to walk across the top and then through the inside. This is a real submarine, so everything is small and narrow. If you’re big, claustrophobic, and have difficulty getting around small spaces like I do, you might want to forgo this tour.
Otherwise, it’s a neat thing to see and something to do if you’re in the mood to try something new.

Visit this! =) I enjoyed it very much, it’s really cool inside and it’s like an obstacle.

Copied and pasted from my review on the Queen Mary!
I loved touring the QM because you get the feeling of something that use to roam the ocean back in the day. There are many stories of the soldiers that she took home and how some of the waves reached 70 feet high (can you imagine?! holey moley). The exhibits were labeled but you have to go looking for some of the signs. Navigating with the brochure map was a tad difficult but I enjoyed wandering around. I would not stay in the hotel because: the smell was very musty after the rain, there were many flies in the hallways, and finding someone working with any questions on where to go is almost impossible.
I also toured the Russian Scorpion (aka B-​427, which operated until 1994) submarine located next to the ship as well for a package deal. (Don’t forget your AAA card for a discount). This thing was used in the Cold War and it is still in operational condition so don’t play with too many of the buttons. Very authentic feel to it. You have one hallway from beginning to end so don’t go the wrong way or else it gets a little crowded. The Russian guys’ voice over throughout the ship was kinda pointless to me, I wasn’t listening/couldn’t really hear. There was a nice man next to the periscope who told us stories of the sub. Did you know: the crew had some of the best food? Most of the crew gained about 151 lbs. while working. Also, the last captain was over 6′ tall? Can’t imagine being that tall and having to navigate your way through the inside of that on a daily basis.
Overall, it was a great experience. The history seems to still be alive in the ship and the submarine. I wish parking was a little cheaper but it definitely was one of my favourite things to do in Long Beach :)

This place is a great place to just explore when you have the time! As a fellow «russkiy,» it’s amazing to see the history of my people in such a tight and small space. This submarine is literally right next to the Queen Mary, and it often shadows it, which can seem drab, but you know… They have a small gift shop blaring with old Soviet tunes, some onboard artifacts and other memorabilia on which you can buy…
If you are a tall person like 6′ 5″, you might get a bit claustrophobic, so you are warned!

The Russian Submarine Scorpion is in front of the Queen Mary and a very cheesy tour. They have a Russian narrative that was pretty funny.
Lots of crawling over the different areas in the boat, if you don’t like cramped tight places don’t go there.
They have a gift shop that you enter & exit from.

I got the scorpion submarine tours as part of a package on the day that the bacon festival was going on.
This is a self-​guided tour so you can go at your own pace and it is tight in there so a guided tour would be tricky lol! First you start off in the scorpion building and show them your ticket and then you walk out of the building, down the bridge and onto the sub. Then you walk to the far end of the sub and enter. You walk through the whole thing and pop back up on the back. Its a pretty good system and I only saw one guy moving backwards through the sub to go check out the torpedo room again.
There are seven departments and each time you crawl through one of the watertight doors or through one of the hatches, a Russian voice starts speaking to you and telling you what’s going on in the room that you a currently in. I took a bunch of photos and checked it out for about 20 minutes and emerged in the back and then rushed off for the World War 2 History tour aboard the Queen Mary.

Set up:
Russian Scorpion Submarine, Long Beach, California. I arrived at the Queen Mary so late in the evening that I had no idea that this submarine was even there until I awoke the next morning and was walking my suitcase back to my car. When I turned around, I saw the gift shop and then noticed the Submarine. I am a HUGE fan of nautical anything and especially submarines.
Pro’s
It is, as other reviewers have noted, an actual submarine that was in use from 1971 until 1994 when it was decommissioned.
The boat was on display in Australia before making the trek to California in 1998
The boat holds authentic memorabilia, including uniforms and photos, papers and bedding that was used when the submarine was in use in the time of commission.
The tour of the Submarine is a wonderful self paced tour and once you pay to get in, you can go through the submarine from stern to bow and back as many times as you want to before leaving the area of the submarine and entering into the gift shop.
The gift shop has a large array of overpriced items relating to the submarine, other Russian items of interest (as one reviewer stated, hockey jerseys) and even items relating to the Queen Mary.
There is an informative film that you can see before or after the tour, but (as another reviewer pointed out) it is a bit lame, however it does give information regarding the commissioning and the decommissioning and everything in between.
You can take photos of everything in and out of the boat. So much lately, there are limits on what you can photograph due to copyrights etc, but not here. I have photos of the inside, including video, I have photos of me climbing on the outside. I have photos of me from the front to the back, in the kitchen, lying on a cot, touching the electronics, touching the missiles etc.
I spent hours on the submarine and no one ever asked me to leave, not to go here or there and they didn’t treat me like I was a kid that would destroy everything
When I went, I was the only one on the boat the second, third, fourth and fifth time I went through and I was able to get a complete video.
Con’s
The gift shop staff did not speak Russian or English
The cost of items in the gift shop was a little outlandish (but didn’t stop me from acquiring a few items to remember my trip)
There was really not anyone to answer any questions we had about the commissioning/​decommissioning, we got our information in a book and from the movie and from the audio tour.
The Submarine was at sea level and would have been neat if it was a little below sea level and could have given you the feel of movement to mimic more realistically what the Submariners endured.
Summary–
I highly recommend that this be a stop on your trip to LA, it is worth the 30 minute drive south, even if you don’t stay in the area or on the Queen Mary. I would say that even though parts of the tour are audio made to sound Russian by and American actor, it still doesn’t take away from the feeling that you are in a live submarine that was used in the seas by submariners and that is still in excellent condition and pretty much just the way it was when decommissioned.
This is also a great aspect for those who feel claustrophobic as there are doors at both ends, opened and there is little traffic in and out during the week (or at least when we were there) and you don’t feel like a sardine in a can as the submariners surely did.
It gives you a real sense of what even our own United States naval officers endured on these submarines and how tight their quarters were and how they would have had to maneuver, sleep in shifts and bunk in close proximity to other naval personnel.
I am amazed about what I was able to touch, feel and see. I was transformed back and I was able to just sit and soak it all in. As someone who would have loved to have been able to be on a submarine, this type of museum is as close as I will get and I would like to see more. (Rumor has it that there is another one in San Diego and I will hopefully go and see it when I am in California again.
I just can’t say enough about this particular museum. I was pleasantly surprised.

If you love military naval history then this is the place for you.
You’ll experience a real live submarine inside and out. The only reason I didn’t give it 5 stars is parking. Spend up to 60 minutes in the museum and it’s five bucks to park, not bad. Spend 61 minutes there and you’ll be hit with a full days’ worth of parking. I mean I took my son there for less than an hour and a half and voila — parking more expensive than the airport!

They’ve enhanced this experience since I was last here! They have former submariners (volunteers) stationed in the boat to answer questions. Kinda cool.
For those with interest in this sort of thing this is a worthwhile tour. All the stuff inside is in Russian, but there are a few English signs to tell you some of what you are looking at. The one thing you don’t get to see is the conning tower, but otherwise you get pretty much everything.

This place is definitely worth a visit so I’m giving it four starts (it’s 3.5 stars), but the submarine tour in Portland is far better because the tour guide there is awesome and she made all the difference. This sub is still amazing because the technological feat is truly remarkable in light of the cold war, and it’s a good price for a self-​guided tour (information signs are occasionally posted and a recording loops at different parts of the sub). Not much else to say except that the sub is designed for small people, so if you are rotund or extra buff, you may not easily fit inside (or at all).

I never even knew this submarine was here until a friend mentioned it so my family and I decided to check it out this past weekend. I thought it was a very cool experience. As stated by some others it’s a genuine Cold War era Soviet submarine that’s been in the US for about 15 years. Now about the tour: I can see this being great for kids but I still enjoyed it despite being in my late 20s. As did my family of all ages. It’s a self-​guided tour through the hull. You get to see the sleeping quarters, torpedo silos, galley, radio room, etc.
I noticed someone mentioned that there is no one available to answer questions about the ship itself or submarines in general, but when I went there was actually a US Navy veteran who served on a submarine who was extremely knowledgeable! However, he mentioned that he is a volunteer so I imagine that with volunteers answering the questions having someone available to discuss it is inconsistent.
If you are claustrophobic or over 6’1″ I recommend thinking twice about this museum. Being a submarine I think it goes without saying that everything is super close quarters. You have to squeeze through these small hatches to get from one room to the next. My uncle had some trouble getting through at first. But then again, it’s only ten bucks so if you want to try to stomach it there’s not a lot to lose! Also, I agree that the fake Russian accent recording/​narrator was super cheesy. But at the same time I learned a lot so oh well.
All in all a good find!

This is a cool museum and piece of history located right outside the Queen Mary. We purchased a Groupon deal that included the self guided tour of the Scorpion submarine and although small was a very cool experience.
The first thing I will say is if you are even a little bit claustrophobic, this may not be the tour for you. The Scorpion is claustrophobia to the max. From the stairs leading down into the hull to the passageways to the small holes you must squeeze through between rooms the entire ship is a tight and enclosed space. It is very cool to be able to see the living quarters, kitchen, bathroom facility and more that the men and women who serve on these ships must endure and call home day in and day out. It must take a person with very strong will to make this their home.
The ship itself is kept up fairly well and really is a piece of history. To be able to stand on this amazing ship is a honor in itself. Besides the ship itself, a small store is also available to shop for souvenirs. These gifts range from books, shirts and even russian hats and uniforms. Anyone who is into history or has never been aboard a real life sub will almost definitely enjoy this experience.

Very cool!
My son, husband and myself enjoyed this museum very much. We came with the in-​laws and my mother and very glad we were able to enjoy our entire day here and on the Queen Mary.
There is a neat little shop right before you go into the sub too, pretty neat little finds in there for touristy type gifts.

Worth the money and was very neat!!! Actually better than the queen Mary ticket that it came with. It was an additional five bucks onto the queen Mary ticket, ten dollars stand alone.
I could have done without the cheesy Russian accented audio play though out the boat, but my boyfriend thought it was funny, so to each their own.

Fun little museum. Watch your head going through it. It’s a bit pricey considering the small size but I enjoyed it.

Right alongside the Queen Mary is the Scorpion. Dan dan DAAAAAN [play sinister music with a choppy camera close up ]! It’s a real Russian submarine that is fun to explore. How cool is that?
Not for people who gets heebie jeebies in really tight places. You might hit your head if you forget to crouch or hit your shin while going from one tight space to another. To preserve your dignity, learn to make Three Stooges sounds and pretend you planned it all along. (When no one is looking, only then can you cry while you rub your bruised shin.)

Parked alongside the Queen Mary —
The ONLY thing missing here is some shots of VODKA before entering this sub. Omg. it was amazing and they even baby sit my little dog before going in.
Where else are you going to find a Russian Sub? Well. Russia of course. but then again i would HIGHLY DOUBT they would let anyone on those, even the decommissioned ones. This is a potentially working 1970s military sub that is quite eyeopening and worth every single «Russian Rupal» to enter. Crawl, duck, twist, twine in and around the steel hub you can see why these boats were the pride of there navy.
If I were Russia, I would try to ask for this Sub to return home. You gotta go see it before they ask for it back.
If you have time, visit the gift shop. they people inside there are so very nice.

I never thought I would be setting foot on a machine assembled by the workers of the Soviet Union. Pretty amazing… cramped… quite the machine and made me appreciate fresh air, creature comforts and capitalism.

It’s definitely cool to tour a real submarine and see this floating artifact firsthand!
However, real Russians (like me) may be a bit put off by the kitschified, somewhat-​patronizing aspect of the whole thing. Yes, this means that all their R’s are backwards and the gift shop will feature some Russian stuff that has nothing to do with the military, let alone the submarine… a Sergei Fedorov hockey jersey? Okay…
Though probably the worst aspect of it all is:
1) The lame-​ish submarine video playing in the gift shop theater… I don’t want to say it’s bad, but I’ve seen better acting in pornos.
2) The submarine voice-​over narration is clearly an American actor trying to fake a stereotypical Russian accent. If they wanted someone to sound like he was fresh off the boat… why not just hire some guy fresh off the boat? (Or a guy fresh off the sub, for that matter?)
So anyway, just as long as you come here to learn about the sub and take the misrepresented culture with a grain of salt, it’s quite the unique and interesting experience!