Submarine USS Silversides

[Bookworm]

Drydocked,
My late (adult) son and I have visited both the Cod and the Cobia. In fact, our Cobia visit (for him) was the highlight of the day which began when we boarded the Badger at Ludington and crossed to Manitowoc.
(Don't read this paragraph while drinking any liquid):
We were living in Oklahoma when the Fitz went down and didn't get regular updates on the recovery. In fact, the last report we saw was a tabloid headline that asserted, because of UFO activity that night, there was a theory that the crew was abducted and the ship ("which hasn't been found") was sunk!
While perusing the brochure rack, my son discovered the Whitefish Point Shipwreck Museum's and was both shocked (this was 2003) and delighted to finally learn the truth.
That discovery drastically changed my Waterfalls Vacation plan and we visited every Great Lakes maritime museum from there and north along the Lake Michigan shoreline, finishing at Whitefish Point.
As you know, the Cobia is adjacent to the museum at Manitowoc. We visited the museum and then joined the Cobia tour. Before we boarded, my son (known for his wry sense of humor) was looking out into the river and excitedly said, "There's a sailing ship!" and he was right, the Denis Sullivan was coming in off the lake!
I don't remember (memories are selective now) anything about the Cod though.

[Drydocked]

Thank you, Guest for emphasizing my post refers only to historical submarines now serving as Great Lakes museums.

Welcome, Bookworm! 😁
I was that ‘guest’
Im just a luddite and forgot to log in before posting.

You asked for the Great Lakes, i did my best to deliver.
That sub list in my first reply is complete.

And as my second post touched on, the Darter/Dace REPLICA conning tower “memorial” is a joke.

Dont be fooled.
There is literally no memorial there.
Its in a back corner of the park, one small sign bolted to it, no memorial.
It was made years ago by metalworking students, and was moved about a decade ago to this more secluded location.

It sits mostly abandoned in Marquette, Michigan’s Lower Harbor Park.
It is nearly invisible from the road and there is no signage pointing people towards it.

Theres a small but well stocked annex devoted to the Darter and Dace in the local maritime museum a couple of miles away, but nothing to tie the two together.

No offense to the guest who posted on it, but in my many decades of travel, visiting museums and memorials, that semi abandoned fake conning tower “memorial” is one of the top three worst I have ever been to, in any state or country I have been to.

As my daughter would say, “One Star, do NOT recommend!”

As for the actual preserved ships each is a treat. I have been aboard many surviving WWII submarines and think the ones here on the Lakes, (especially Cod) are the cream of the crop when it comes to floating museum/memorials.
I hope you get a chance to board and explore one soon.

I cannot speak for the others but Cobia is heated and open year round. 😉 Just sayin.

[Guest]

Don't forget the Darter/Dace conning tower in Marquette

The topic was on original surviving WWII submarines used as memorials/ floating museums on the Great Lakes.

Hence why i didn't include the modern replica conning tower sculpture thats used for Darter and Dace
It is neither original, nor is it floating.

Same reason I didnt include submarines located off the Great Lakes such as ones in Baltimore, Philadelphia, Sam Francisco, Germany, India, or England as none of those are under the purview of the thread.

It sounds like the OP was intending on visiting a Great Lakes submarine, and was talking specifically about surviving ones here in our region, hence why i only provided ‘local’ ones from my records.

OP, By all means, visit as many of these as you can. No two subs are the same, even if built to the same plans (Gato, Balao, Tench, etc)
Each one has its quirks and its own story.
And all are worth the visit.

No kidding! If we really want to get silly we might as well talk about the Japanese sub in Japan at the JMSDF Museum or the German U-boat memorials! I think Germany has one and Norway has another and we have U-505 in Chicago! :)

[Bookworm]

Thank you, Guest for emphasizing my post refers only to historical submarines now serving as Great Lakes museums.

[Guest]

Don't forget the Darter/Dace conning tower in Marquette

The topic was on original surviving WWII submarines used as memorials/ floating museums on the Great Lakes.

Hence why i didn't include the modern replica conning tower sculpture thats used for Darter and Dace
It is neither original, nor is it floating.

Same reason I didnt include submarines located off the Great Lakes such as ones in Baltimore, Philadelphia, Sam Francisco, Germany, India, or England as none of those are under the purview of the thread.

It sounds like the OP was intending on visiting a Great Lakes submarine, and was talking specifically about surviving ones here in our region, hence why i only provided ‘local’ ones from my records.

OP, By all means, visit as many of these as you can. No two subs are the same, even if built to the same plans (Gato, Balao, Tench, etc)
Each one has its quirks and its own story.
And all are worth the visit.

[Guest793]

The Tench Class submarine Torsk is in Baltimore harbor.

[guest]

Don't forget the Darter/Dace conning tower in Marquette

[Drydocked]

USS Cobia - SS-245 - Gato Class (Manitowoc, WI)

USS Cod - SS-224 - Gato Class (Cleveland, OH)

USS Croaker - SS-246 - Gato Class (Buffalo, NY)

USS Silversides - SS-236 - Gato Class (Muskegon, MI)

USS Requin - SS-481 - Tench Class (Pittsburgh, PA)

And an honorable mention:

U-505 - Type IXC Uboat (Chicago, IL)

[Bookworm]

Thanks for adding to the list, CG BOB.

[CG Bob]

She's only one of three such memorials on the Great Lakes. USS Cod (Cleveland, Ohio) and USS Cobia (Manitowoc, Wisconsin) that I'm aware of.

USS CROAKER (SS-246) is located in Buffalo, NY. None of the 28 Manitowoc built subs were preserved as museum ships.

[Guest]

Silversides was the first of four submarines allotted by the navy for reserve training on the lakes to make the trip from New Orleans. The others were Gar for Cleveland, Tambor for Milwaukee, and Tautog for Detroit. Tautog proved deadliest for Japanese shipping, sinking twenty six vessels, Silversides third with twenty-three. It left the Atlantic Reserve Fleet at New London, Connecticut, under tow 22 August 1947 (its running gear including propeller removed) and arrived at New Orleans 6 September 1947. From there beginning 29 September 1947 the Inland Waterways Corporation steam towboat Minnesota brought it to Joliet, Illinois, aboard the same navy floating drydock that had brought the Manitowoc submarines to New Orleans during the war. On 12 October 1947 at Joliet Silversides was released from the drydock and towed by two Great Lakes Towing Company tugs to the Hoskins Coal Company yard at the mouth of the Chicago River where reservists and volunteers refurbished and painted it, later towed to Manitowoc for additional work. The Coast Guard tender White Lupine, recently transferred to Detroit from New Orleans, accompanied it up the Sanitary and Ship Canal and Chicago River to lessen the inconvenience of the many bridge openings required to get to the lake. A week later Silversides was towed back to Chicago and put on display at the Chicago Tribune dock near the mouth of the Chicago River, hosting 17000 curious visitors until 1 November 1947, Navy Day, when it was brought its longtime spot at the Naval Armory at the foot of Randolph and the lake. When I was a kid I climbed over it many times and toured it several. Here is Silversides at St. Louis on 9 October 1947 on its way to Chicago in a rather poor newsprint photograph.

[Bookworm]

Decorated for her part in WWII (Pacific), she is a museum at Muskegon, Michigan. I learned of her only because she's part of the webcam scene as ships traverse the Muskegon channel.
Now a history channel on YouTube has posted a documentary (slightly more than 20 minutes) honoring her efforts in the war and of the concerted effort to save her from being scrapped.
She's only one of three such memorials on the Great Lakes. USS Cod (Cleveland, Ohio) and USS Cobia (Manitowoc, Wisconsin) that I'm aware of.
Her trip from the East Coast to Chicago was a major logistics challenge as was relocating her to Muskegon.
I love watching "our" own WWII hero passing Silversides going in and out of the channel!