Housed on the Pacific Fleet Submarine Museum campus, stepping into the conning tower of USS Parche (SS-384) offers a rare glimpse into one of the smallest—and most critical—spaces aboard a World War II–era submarine.

The conning tower served as a submarine’s nerve center for attack and navigation. Within a steel cylinder just eight feet in diameter and seventeen feet long, submariners operated periscopes, radar, sonar, and the torpedo data computer. From this cramped space, officers and enlisted men coordinated ship movements and directed attacks, often under intense combat conditions. During action, as many as ten men could be packed inside at once, each with a vital role to play.

Aboard USS Bowfin, the conning tower sits directly above the control room. Its confined dimensions and steep vertical ladder make it inaccessible to the general public. The USS Parche conning tower display, however, offers a unique opportunity to experience this space up close.

Like Bowfin, Parche was a Balao-class diesel-electric submarine, launched just six months later. Their near-identical designs allow visitors to step inside Parche’s conning tower and better understand how Bowfin’s crew lived, worked, and fought during the war—bringing the realities of submarine service into sharp focus.