Commander-in-Chief, Western Approaches 1-3 Rumford St, Liverpool L2 8SZ, UK

Commander-in-Chief, Western Approaches was the commander of a major operational command of the Royal Navy during World War II.

Walk through hidden rooms and discover the stories locked in the wartime bunker that protected the tactics and secrets of the British Armed Forces plotting to bulwark the Western Approaches and aid the Allied victory.

Glimpse the documents and tools the forces used to monitor enemy convoys and inform the British government of their findings whilst keeping their intelligence secret from the enemy, including one of only two surviving wartime phones which had a direct connection to the war cabinet in London.

See where commanders and WRNS and WAAF personnel worked every day and night in the Map Room, the nerve centre of the Battle of the Atlantic. Here they monitored convoy routes and vital shipping lines, and pin-pointed enemy locations on a huge map laid across the table; total accuracy was necessary to enable the Royal Navy to contact and destroy the enemy.

The Map Room has remained exactly how as it was left when the doors were closed on 15 August 1945.

Opening Hours

Open six days a week (closed Wednesdays)

10am – 5pm (last admission 4.30pm)

Facilities

Wheelchair Access

Unfortunately due to the nature of the museum as an unconverted wartime bunker, there is no wheelchair access.

Please note that access to the museum is via a staircase.

Toilets

There are a number of toilets in the museum.

Parking

There is pay and display parking on Rumford Street in front of the museum. There are a number of other car parks nearby.