- We are in Muskegon now, and I am so excited as a history buff myself because we are at the USS Silversides Museum.

The only place in Michigan where you can go inside and tour a World War II submarine.

Let's dive into this history.

(upbeat lively music) So BethAnn, tell me a bit about USS Silversides.

- Yeah, so the USS Silversides Submarine Museum has been here since 1987 in Muskegon, Michigan, and we have not only a two story museum full of different exhibits, but we also have two different vessels.

So we have our Gato class submarine from World War II, and we also have our US Coast Guard vessel, which is the cutter McLane, and that was a Prohibition era vessel that was brought back out into World War II.

So a lot of rich history here.

- [Kylie] Am I correct in saying that this is the only place in Michigan where people who want to get an up close look, a tour of a vessel like that, a submarine, they can only do it here?

- Absolutely, and not only can you take a look, walk through, really explore below the waterline, you can actually stay on board overnight, which is a really cool experience.

I actually got to do it when I was a bit younger, and it was a ton of fun.

It was a great night's sleep, but also just a humbling experience because you get to be where so many walked before you and in, you know, pretty intense moments.

But the amount of passion, the technology that surrounds it, it's really truly amazing.

- This is one of the favorite spots in the boat for the kids to sleep.

Wartime, they would've had 16 torpedoes up here.

So they would have six in the torpedo tubes, so you got one, two, three, four, and then five, six are below, and they would've had 10 out here.

Right now we have two, but the eight remainders would be side by side next to each other, so the beds would all slide into the center.

This at the end, this was your bed when you slept on board.

- This one right here.

So I got to sleep right next to, you know, this warm torpedo here.

But yeah, it was a great night's sleep.

You know, we had plans of doing all these, you know, crazy things on the sub of, you know, oh, we'll play hide and go seek and we'll do this and that.

This was one of the best nights of sleep that we had all summer long as, you know, staffers at a youth camp, and so this was a great night that we had and something that's definitely memorable for sure.

- And then this is enlisted birthing, so this is where the majority of 'em slept.

- [Kylie] And these are really tight quarters.

- Yep, you got to know your buddy really well sleeping here.

Yeah, officer country was forward battery, and this is underneath this floor is the after battery space.

Most of the ship had AC air conditioning service, but it was more to control the humidity of the boat.

Doesn't really, didn't really cool off the boat very much.

The whole boat is lined in cork to also cut down on condensation.

- What does it mean to have a snapshot of that history right here in West Michigan?

- [BethAnn] Yeah, I think the interesting thing that we're up against now is that generation gap, right?

So a lot of our young folks now, including myself, we don't know everything about World War II.

The opportunity to learn about it really is at museums, and what we wanna do is we wanna be the catalyst, right?

To get people excited and curious about these things so that they can then leave the museum and explore it even more.

So we're just kind of the starting point.

You don't have to be a history buff to come out and see a submarine and learn about it, right?

But we want to engage you and get you excited about learning once you leave our doors.

So I think we have an amazing opportunity here to get the next generation talking about this, and continue to have them understand what happened in history.

- So there's wings on the front of the boat and on the back of the boat so they could adjust how the sub was floating through the water, or on the surface to help it dive or surface faster.

- And would that be turning these then?

- Yep.

- Okay.

- Yep, they would turn 'em as fast as they could.

They have their depth gauge.

So they are constantly adjusting those wheels to make sure that they're staying at the correct depth.

- And what does that mean to you to be able to honor those people who are in the service?

Because I know it's been a big topic right now, how our veterans are treated here in the US, some of the resources that they're fighting for right now.

What does it mean to say, hey, let's not forget the important work that they did?

- [BethAnn] I think that it's having our civilians better understand, you know, what it is about, you know, veterans that they're going through.

So understanding the language to use, understanding, you know, their trials and tribulations is really important, and there's so much to the military world that civilians just don't, they don't know, they don't get to see, and we'd like to unveil that just a little bit more so that they do feel supported when they come home, or even when they retire.

- And I know that you have so much here.

It is a huge museum and then you have vessels outside.

What is your favorite portion?

- Ooh, so I think my favorite portion right now is looking at our remotely operated vehicle programs.

So ROVs, and they're actually submersible.

So they go under the water, the kids get to put 'em together and even some adults, and so it's really cool to watch them learn and figure out, you know, buoyancy and how to keep it down under the water, and move it around.

That's really neat to see, and then for them to actually understand the concept that the big huge vessel outside the submarine does the same thing, or did the same thing.

And so that's really cool to see them connect right in the moment of going this is what that did.

Just a lot of fun things happening here at the museum.

(upbeat bright music) (upbeat music) - Celebrating vibrant people, captivating places, and remarkable things, this is "Living West Michigan."

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