Galveston Naval Museum (USS Cavalla and USS Stewart)

Two warships sit at Seawolf Park on Pelican Island — one submarine, one destroyer escort — and between them they tell the whole war in the Pacific and Atlantic. The USS Cavalla spotted Japanese forces on her first patrol, reported their position, and that intelligence led directly to American success against the carrier Shokaku. The USS Stewart, nicknamed the Protector, guarded Allied convoys against the submarine threat the Cavalla embodied. Both are open for boarding. That symmetry is real, and it's worth the trip.