Western Approaches occupies a converted basement complex beneath the streets of central Liverpool, on Rumford Street in the L2 postcode area. Originally built as a telecommunications exchange during the Second World War, the structure served as a command centre for Allied naval operations in the Battle of the Atlantic. The museum preserves the original operations rooms, plotting tables and communications equipment used to coordinate convoy protection and U-boat defence across the western ocean approaches to Britain.
Visitors descend into the underground chambers to walk through restored wartime workstations where radio operators, plotters and officers tracked merchant shipping and enemy vessels across vast expanses of Atlantic water. The site remains largely as it was left in 1945, with period furniture, signalling equipment and original wall maps still in place. The museum opens daily from 10:00 to 17:00 and admission is charged. It can be reached by telephone on +44 151 227 2008 or via the website at westernapproaches.org.uk.