Tom Wenstadt, our Door County correspondent, reports that the USS SILVERSIDES (SS-236) arrived at the Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding yard, Tuesday, July 14th. Two tugs towed the submarine through the Sturgeon Bay ship canal, through Sturgeon Bay’s three bridges then to the yard where it will be docked in the FBS floating drydock for a major overhaul. This effort is expected to take better than six weeks.
The SILVERSIDES was built in 1941 by the Mare Island Navy Yard of Vallejo, California, as a Gato Class submarine for the United States Navy. She sank 23 enemy ships, weighing over 90,000 long tons.
The vessel’s home port is Muskegon, Michigan, where it has been on permanent display since 1987 at the USS Silversides Submarine Museum.
Specifications:
Length 311 feet, 9 inches
Beam (width) 27 feet, 3 inches
Draft 15 feet, 3 inches
Surfaced Displacement 1,526 long tons
Submerged Displacement 2,424 long tons
Power – four GM 16-248 V16 1,350 horsepower diesel engines, driving two GE electric motors, turning two propellers
Rated speeds – Surfaced 20 knots; Submerged 9 knots
Crew – 8 officers; 72 enlisted
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Tom Wenstadt, who lives in Sturgeon Bay, is a retired marine engineer, having worked in the Great Lakes area for thirty-seven years. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from Michigan Technological University and is the author of Freighters of Manitowoc. He is a member of the Wisconsin Marine Historical Society and the Door County Maritime Museum & Lighthouse Preservation Society. He is a volunteer archival assistant and docent for the JOHN PURVES.
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
