A Visit to the USS Silversides WWII Submarine 

I spent the night on this sub as a boy scout in 2004. One of the coolest nights of my life. Thanks for the tour and the memories!

Thank you so much for this. You bring back memories. As a young boy I remember visiting the Silversides, along with 2 Navy destroyers, as part of a field trip to Chicago's Navy pier. Fifteen or so years later I was part of the Water Purification Unit, Headquarters Company of the 863rd Engineering Battalion, Combat Engineers, then located in Aurora, Illinois. I understand the Battalion is now headquartered in Darien, Illinois. One weekend we were detailed to the Silversides to pump fresh water into the ship's holding tanks and batteries preparatory to restarting the ship's engines. Evidently the Silversides had fallen into disrepair and had sunk or partially sunk to Lake Michigan's floor while tied up at the pier. An amazing group of former Service volunteers had gotten together to not only raise the craft but also to put her back in working order. As we were the closest water purification unit in the Chicagoland area, the purification task fell to us. This group of volunteers had worked on the vessel for 18 or so months. There were only 8 to 10 of them. When we were brought in the vessel was practically finished but nowhere near the beautiful, painted and polished version depicted in your video. Let's just say it was in a functional state of completion. The Sunday we visited was a beautiful bluebird day with multiple pleasure craft tied up close by. Lots of pretty girls in bikinis. Everyone was stunned to see an Army van mounted deuce and a half, with six soldiers, pull up to the side of a Navy submarine at 10 AM and begin to provide the Silversides with pure water. It took about 3 or 4 hours to fill her tanks. I remember multiple warm, very pleasant conversations with the people around us that day. Especially the girls! But the best part was visiting with the volunteers who restored the ship to working order. One of these men was a formed Army Infantry Captain so there was an instant bond. He gave us a complete tour of the ship, including the officer's mess where the appendectomy was performed. No ideas how the corpsman did that. The table was the size of a postage stamp. I believe they were under attack at the time. I was 6' 1" and could not stand up straight in the conning tower. We, of course, were just enlisted personnel but that Captain was as warm and friendly as he could be. He couldn't do enough for us. I asked him how he got involved and he said a close, former Navy friend dragged him in and once he saw the ship, he was hooked. Then he laughed and said he would like to see his Army 201 file. Multiple MOSs: Infantry Commander, Submarine Qualified. Quite a guy. It was an honor to have provided some small assistance to these volunteers in their recovery effort. Its one of the most heartening memories I have from my service days. I am 72. Now, 45 years later, its good to know the ship is alive and well, still awing the American public with it tremendous record of combat in the Pacific during World War II. God Bless those who served on her and Thank You for a job very well done.

That is amazing how much more spacious this sub is compared to the German Type VII

Had the pleasure of talking to some of the best men from that sub now and then as a ham radio operator.They hold a museum ship weekend for all the old ships and if conditions are good you can talk to these guys I did on the 4th of June of 2017 on the 20 meter band...fun time...impressive....here in Pittsburgh we have the USS REQUIN at the Carnegie science center. I urge everyone to please support these museum ships...as a former sailor I can appreciate what these mean..it`s history never to be seen again...

Thank you for doing this video tour! I've lived in Muskegon my whole life but I've never managed to get over my unfortunate fear of ships and deep water. You did it all for me!

I took a tour of this sub back when it was at the Navy pier in Chicago when I was going through "A" school at Great Lakes...brings back memories..thanks!

Good video!! Thank you for posting for those of us who can't get out there. I haven't read all of the comments so my apologies if others have already answered your question. There were two basic types of topedos used by the USN during WWII; electric driven and engine driven. The engine driven torpedo used alcohol (aka torpedo juice) and air (compressed in a tank). The torpedo burned alcohol/air in an internal combustion engine and in doing so had an exhaust much like your car does. This exhaust was vented into the water and bubbled to the surface in a wide swath. These engines drove the torpedos in the range of 45knots (52mph) and thus dumped a LOT of exhaust gases into the water, leaving a WIDE trail (50ft ?) of bubbles from its launch point (i.e. the submarine) to the target (e.g. the Maru). The Maru's definders (Japanese destroyers, patrol boats, planes etc) needed only to follow the "yellow brick road" (this torpedo wake) back to the submarine and attack. In fact, this is usually how our subs were detected. The alcohol torpedos usually ran 10 to 20 feet below the surface but it could ride on the surface if so programmed. If it ran on the surface it left the exhaust trail and a physical wake as a boat does, plus the disturbance from the high speed propeller. Compare that to an electrically driven torpedo: when operating below the surface, it left no exhaust, and nearly no disturbance of the water. It was therefore difficult, if not impossible to back-track to the launch point. The down side to the electric was that it wasn't as fast (30knots 35mph) and didn't have as great a range (half?) . The electric torpedos used by the USN were copies of captured German torpedos and didn't enter our arsenal until later in the war. Sorry for such a long answer but I hope it addresses all the issues.

It's amazing the American craftsmanship looking at all those intricate plumbing and controls!

Great tour. Why? There are no people around. That makes it VERY special. A pleasure to watch.

Binged watched your tours of Silversides, Patriot Point, Boeing Museum of Flight and Smithsonian today. Enjoyed it all and saved myself ALOT of walking. Thanks..Well done.

Awesome tour...thanks! I was on the USS Cero in Detroit in 1968.

I went through the Silversides in the early 1980’s when it was still in Chicago. They’ve done a lot of work since then. The boat looks good.

Great video, thank you for sharing your knowledge ! I've always been fascinated by subs and the men and women who live and work on them. It's amazing to me. With so many holes and things on the sides of the outer hull and all over the outside of the ship I have to imagine they were noisy as helll when running underwater

Thank you for your video and the others you have done that I have watched. My hat is off to the people chargered with keeping the boat in top condistion and clean and the people with the tech understanding to keep this boat functional in much of it's fittings/equiptment. To see the detail in everything as it was in 47 and seems to be the most complete boat I have every seen. The crews during war time and peace that called the Silversides home during deployment I think would be proud of the keepers of her today. I hope the people that visit her will respect the memories there and many more years she will look this good and open to veiw.

Thanks for coming to my home town.Hope you had fun

That was a great tour. The sub is in excellent condition. I was fortunate to have toured a nuclear submarine (Los Angeles class) when I was at Kings Bay. The contrast in technology between diesel and nuclear submarines is striking. Thanks for posting.

What an amazing history this sub has!

Very good tour!!!! Thank you!!!!

Thanks for posting. we here in New Jersey also have a Baleo class submarine. The USS Ling, which is our state disgrace. It is in the Hackensack River and is rusting away. The bridges in the river are frozen shut and the river has silted to the extent that the sub can not be removed. The museum that owned the sub went bankrupt and no company, individual, or government entity wants anything to do with her. Hurricane Sandy sealed her fate by damaging the boarding ramp. Now she sits listing, rusting and crying. I visited her recently and can attest to the deteriorated and disgusting condition of this once fine lady. It was built at the end of the war, saw no real action, was used as a trainer and then given to the museum. It seems that every other state that hosts these Grey ladies treats them with the respect they deserve except us here in New Jersey. IF I had millions and were still drinking I would save this lady before the ravages of time do her it completely. I am sad to live in a state that cares nothing for the past. I am so glad that you took time off from your "training" schedule to tour this wonderful piece of history. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Ren Franse

Thanks for taking the time for the video. Iam listening to the book so this helps a lot.

Great video! Very educational and interesting! Thanks so much!

Very cool. I took the SS Milwaukee Clipper overnight from Milwaukee in 1962 when I was 10 years old after a summer spent on an alfalfa farm in Idaho heading back to NYC. After the ferry trip we stopped at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, MI, which was also very cool. I visited the captured German submarine U-505 at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago when I was stationed at Great Lakes in the late 80's (26 years in the Navy). Cheers.

About 20 years ago my son and I and a lady friend and her daughter went to Michigans Adventureland near Muskegon. On the way home I wanted to tour the sub. My friend thought it sounded boring but she finally agreed to do it. After the tour she said it was so interesting and more fun than the amusement park! The kids really liked it too.

Thanks great tour.

This is AWESOME!!! I was part of the crew for the USS SILVERSIDES SSN679. Thank you for this.

Excellently presented. Great clear voice and thoughtful video shots and thorough general coverage thanks

You were right about the access on the sub. I also enjoyed the tour of the McLane. It had quite a history!

I was there a few years ago. Unfortunately, it was closed. Thanks for the tour!

I was too young to be part of the greatest generation, but will never be too old to be in awe of what they did.

Thanks great video well narrated as good as visiting in person.

WOW! What a great video to watch on my time while inside on a Saturday afternoon, not something normally that I would watch, But you did an excellent Job at explaining things and such. I look forward to other videos that you may do.

I really enjoyed your visit to both boats in this video. I Learned some detail about the sub that I had wondered about for years. The Coast Guard cutter was was an other learning experience. Thank you for you video.

Awesome! Don't think I'd have the chance to visit. Thank you for uploading this video!

AMAZING! They built all the plumbing and electrical harness's engines and the ship itself in just one year. Great upload

that was really neat. thanks for posting

Nice tours! Thanks for sharing!

I've been on Intrepid, Alabama, Drum, and New Jersey and all of them, without fail, have some area for scouts to sleep. I stayed aboard Intrepid for a night when I was younger with Scouts. Great time!

I saw the one in Baltimore. made me humbled to know how many young men saw the last of this world within these awesome boats. I wish I could thank them all for the bravery and well...far avenging pearl harbor so well.

For decades, the Silversides was moored at Navy Pier in Chicago. Every time we crossed the Chicago River, I'd be sure to take a look. They did the Boy Scout overnight stays back then as well.

you do a fantastic job my friend. thanks

Thanks, really interesting, a piece of history

Talk about a nice day out! First riding the SS Badger (herself a National Historic Landmark), and the touring the USS Silversides, what a treat! Siversides looks good, and can't wait for her Virginia-class successor!

Very interesting in technology of USS submarine in 80 years ago ,thank you so much for your video. (From BangkokThailand)

Pretty good video tour of the boat my dad served on during her last three war patrols. He was a gunners mate on the 40mm gun. He lookout station was aft starboard shears ( the rings on the sides of the periscope) and his bunk was in the after torpedo room. His submerged attack battle station was on sonar. A slight correction, there were 6 torpedo tubes forward, 2 are below the deck plates.

Remarkable condition for a 80 year old machine. Very nice setup and accommodations for crews. Looking at other 1940 subs the room and space for crews is impressive. The quality of build and how much content of high quality equipment on board shows why USA is such a great nation in regards to economic might. They simply did not scrimp on design. Stunning that was built in one year. It takes one year of paper work to get that far in the build process today.

Now after watching the whole video, Thank you for a very nice video. I know i will never get a chance to go back into that part of the country to see it in person, may not be the best way to see these boats but it is the best way i have, again thank you very much for this nice video.

I believe there are 6 forward torpedo tubes, 3 to a side. Two are just below the deck. Nice tour, thanks.

Great vid on a Fantastic boat! Thanks for sharing man, T.

The USS Drum, Silversides sister submarine is a now a dry museum in Mobile Al. Great pieces of history.

This is a great tour, thanks. I only wish I could pause the video and drag the camera around to look a bit more at the equipment in the control room and the maneuvering room. I guess a trip to Michigan is in my future.

Thanks for the tour. What a squeeze, you'd never have got me serving on one. Sub movies always seem to make them look bigger inside. Even so, compared to German subs they were palaces. Kudos to all those brave crews...

I had the honor of being able to tour this boat while berthed at Navy Pier in Chicago. While a member of the Army Reserve, (1974) we brought our 5-ton wrecker down to the pier where we helped remove several torpedoes from the hull. What they did with those once we winched them out I do not know. Probably restored them to display in the sub once that was restored. I was amazed at the amount of room there was to move around. Quite a difference from the U-505 which is also in Chicago. The condition back then was not quite comparable to what I'm seeing in this video.

Thank you very much for the great tour Happy New Year 2020

Thank you !

cool good tour thank you

The boat is very clean. I recently visited the HMS Ojibwa in Ontario. I can't wait to go back and take a more detailed tour. Btw, at the beginning, I really thought that fellow was going to push you off the walkway 😂😂. Excellent video. Very informative.

Did a couple sleep overs on the ship with a church youth groups a few years ago. It was a great experience, watched sub movies all night long

Great tour! Thank you for posting this.

Siversides was based in my home town during ww2 BRISBANE. It was based at the New Farm Submarine docks as the pacific fleet and General McCarther were based here. All US and pacific fleet destroyers and submarines were based in Brisbane from approx 1942 to 1945.

Well done... Thank you...!

Excellent.

great watch cheers love from Australia

THANX A BUNCH. TRAVELED THERE WITH MY WEBLOS CUB SCOUT PACK AND SPENT THE NIGHT INSIDE. GREAT !!!! BUT VERY HUMID INSIDE. ENTRY AND EGRESS WAS TRYING, AS PEOPLE WERE SMALLER IN STATURE BACK IN THE 1940s

Aw, great! I've always wanted to see someone's drive to the ship.

I love what you do! Cheers!

Thanks 👍

The single rack cabin is the C.O.'s cabin. 1.) There was the safe, the desk, and the officers cabin instruments. Additionally, it was across from the most junior officers cabin to "keep them more in line" as they would usually be Ensigns or LTJGs on their 1st Patrol

Nice video tour. I enjoyed it !!

That's a lot nicer than the 1941 U-660 tour I just watched.

Excellent tour. Thank you for the time you took in filming and narrating it for us. Sorry that you have to suffer some trolls on this thread with their unwelcome, sniping, and useless comments. I have visited the display in the Museum of Science and Industry, the one in Mobile, Honolulu, and one of the German boats in Bremen and I, like you and other visitors have noted, was surprised how much "roomier " the Siversides is in comparison to those vessels. Not that it was comfortable by any stretch, but at least a bit more elbow room. I have also read a range of the sub books from the likes of Beach, O'Kane, Gannon, etc., but I find all them lacking in the true details of what it must have been like to be on board. Not that this corpus of narration from the veteran skippers is bad, but just does not seem to match what I see on a tour like this. Odd to say the least.

thx for this complete visit, I don't know US sub WWII, different than U Boots, but seem spacy, and modern. In the same time Silversides be bigger than a few german type...

33:21 - All torpedoes produce a "wake" if they're on the surface churning up the water. But most of the time that wasn't the issue. What you mean by "wakeless" is that the the Mark 18 didn't produce a bubble trail when it ran underwater because batteries turned the propeller; the older style (WWI and interwar) torpedoes heated up concentrated liquid hydrogen peroxide to create hydrogen and oxygen at high pressure to push the propeller. This resulted in copious amounts of bubbles being released which left a visible trail on the surface above the torpedo's path. The bubble trail was easily spotted during daylight (especially by aircraft) which was another reason why submariners preferred attacking at night.

I haven't been on the Badger since 1961 when we moved from Ludington MI to North Bonneville WA.

What was amazing to me was during a patrol in ww11 the Navy Corpsman preformed an Appendectomy . .He has no instruments to do the surgery nore ever preformed one. The chief boatsmans mate madet the instruments to preform it, out of the silverware, he did the surgery on the officers eating table.

Great tour. I never missed an opportunity to visit the Pampanito in San Francisco. At 312' she's a bit smaller. The faster steam-driven torpedoes blew a trail of bubbles that could be easily seen from the surface. The electric fish did not.

I'm going to check it out! 6 forward tubes tho.

A pretty credible tour of the Silversides. Only a small number of mistakes but to be expected since he was making best guess about half the time. He did correct a lot of errors. A few corrections. In the Forward Battery (Officers country), the last stateroom he looked in was the Chief Quarters not Officers. The Head in the Forward Torpedo Room was also the Officers Head. The "escape hatch" in the Torpedo room was actually the Forward Torpedo Room Access Hatch. He kept saying "hatch" as he passed through each Watertight Door. Doors go though vertical bulkheads (walls, just like doors in a house), Hatches go through Decks (floors). The batteries he was talking about were EXIDE batteries. Pronounced "X-side". Each cell was 2feet X 4 feet X 6 feet and weighed a ton. 252 cells all together. All in all he gave a very good tour. Oh, if you are wondering, I spent 6 years on submarines, nuc and diesel.

Electric motor driven prop. No torpedo wake because there was no gas generator to exhaust bubbles after driving the prop turbine I imagine. Wonderful tour. Big thanks for posting.

The reason you had to go up and down so much on the McLean is that surface ships have major watertight areas so if the hull is breached, the boat is more difficult to sink. The CG Icebreaker I was on had 5 major sections.

Looks fairly comfortable and much more spacious than a German U-Boat.

Awesome.

hey there, it is up in the overhead area because it shoots the signal flares upward !! and on my boats it was in the FORWARD torpedo room , but i do not know about a diesel boat !!

Regarding the torpedoes: the non electric types left a wake of bubbles behind them e.g. the exhaust fumes from the engine.

As an ex-submariner I so wish they performed the proper upkeep on the Clamagore as they do on the Silversides. That just broke my heart to see.

U995 in Kiel is also 'browse at leisure' too!

The two tubes in the conning tower were originally designed to store two additional torpedoes- but striking them below, at sea, and in enemy territory was deemed hazardous to their health due to the time element, and not being able to submerge quickly in an emergency- so most were converted to other uses, such as SILVERSIDES converted them to ready ammo boxes for the deck gun. WAHOO, for a time, used them to store Molotov Cocktails prepared by the Marines on Midway for them, when they had a dedicated "boarding party"... Eventually these got used to very minor effect against a Japanese picket boat... One of Dudley Morton's few "failures"... lol...

Would love to see that sub underway. That vehicle of yours takes bumps hard. Great video. Let's take it out and do some fishing. It's got bars on the back for some skying too.

The boat was used on the movie "Below", but not "Destination Tokyo". That was the USS Wahoo, which was sunk by the Japanese in 1943, after filming had taken place. Good tour!

She's in really nice shape. Looks like they removed the outer torpedo doors. Did they mention why? Speaking of torpedos - a torpedo wake isn't really a wake. Electric torps left no trail leading back to the sub but had a much shorter range. Fuel propelled torps didn't leave a wake but a trail of bubbles pointing back to the subs location. You have to exhaust the gas after the fuel is burned. Nice tour!

I remember that! I saw it in ' The Silent Service' !

25:03 the green pipe is the exhaust pipe...complete with Flowmaster Glass pack mufflers for that deep down rumble.

welcome to michigan youtuuba! we live outside muskegon. my husband would have loved buying you a cup of coffee during your visit here, enjoy your videos. hope you enjoyed your visit.

Assuming the torpedo loading is similar to german u-boats, there would be a slide like the one on deck un the torpedo room and on deck two gin poles, one to lift the torpedo from the deck on the slide and the other one as the mounting point for the pulley block to let the torpedo slide down unto the torpedo room. Once the torpedo is down, the slide with the torpedo on it is lowered in a horizontal position and then the torpedo get lifted with the loading equipment to its storage place.

The Silverside is nice to see it is still afloat since 1941 and apparently not leaking. I saw the first appendectomy performed on a Submarine, the Silverside, in the movie "Destination Tokyo". A corpsman was reading a book on how to perform an appendectomy and one of them used a scalpel and clamps to successfully accomplish it. Wonder how many corpsmen could do that today?

Thanks for the video. Although a few years old, I still LOVE watching anything on WWll subs! I did'n't know that ANY of the WWll subs were operational? Cool if that is accurate. But I'd be surprised if the batteries are still on board.

Wow...and as soon as you said "Christmas tree " the first thing that came to mind was the USS "Squalfish " and her story

other types ran on compressed air, so the exhaust would push the propellor and then escape our the rear of the torpedo. it left a bubble trail. An electric one has no bubble trail

Sounded like Gary Macha narrator. Of the AirCraft Wrecks of 1996 book. Good book.

I really enjoyed this tour. I have a deceased friend who worked on a submarine .. and I remember him talking about the "Christmas Tree" in the control room .. which was an awesome space with all the gauges etc. Wow! Since I am an Army medic .. I was hoping to see something that would be a medical area. After you completed the tour .. I began to postulate that maybe one of the rooms in the officers area .. with bunks etc. would be used for guys who were being treated. One would need some room in case you needed to do some surgery .. so the main mess table would be available .. maybe? Always wondered what it was like inside .. thanks for the tour. :-) Great video!

The non-electric torpedoes left a trail of bubbles that came to the surface and gave away the track of the torpedo.