USS Silversides Museum, Muskegon, Michigan 2025

Today we visited the USS Silversides Museum located in Muskegon, Michigan, on the east side of Lake Michigan.

The highlight was a complete walkthrough of the ship.

She was a Gato-class submarine. They were able to build 77 of these type subs between 1940 and 1944.

Some interesting numbers and factoids about Gatos:

• They could dive to 300 feet.
• Typically, they went out for about 60 days at a time.
• Many of the crew never got outside during those two months.
• Submarine duty was the most dangerous of all military categories. 22% of the men perished.
• They could fully submerge in 37 seconds.
• They could dive 300 feet.
• They carried up to 80 staff.

The USS Silversides (SS-236) undertook 14 war patrols in the Pacific Theater.

She is officially credited with sinking 23 Japanese ships, the third-highest number of enemy vessels sunk by a U.S. submarine during the war. She was awarded 12 battle stars and a Presidential Unit Citation for her service. She only lost one sailor.

It was extremely tough to get selected to be on a sub. The men had to be able to walk the entire ship blindfold and know every system because that was sometime reality during the war.

After all the hard work to be certified, many still quit because of the claustrophobia and poor conditions. Inside temperatures ranged from 90 – 120 degrees.

Dining was in shifts with four cramped tables for six men each.

Bunks were shared by shift, and uncomfortable, smelling and certainly not private.

Torpedo room

Two toilets for 80 people. Also to showers. They got to have one a week.

Lots of controls.