A decommissioned submarine that saw service with the US Navy in World War II has been placed in drydock for the first time in 50 years.
The Gato-class submarine USS Silversides is at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding's facilities in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, where she will undergo a refurbishment scheduled to last three months. The boat will return to the USS Silversides Submarine Museum in Muskegon, Michigan, in October.
The preservation work will be undertaken by Valkor Energy Services at a cost of approximately US$3.5 million. Activities will include hull cleaning, sandblasting, and applying paint and protective coatings where necessary along her exterior.
The last time the submarine was in drydock was in the 1970s.
Silversides was one of 77 Gato-class submarines that were built for the US Navy between 1940 and 1944. The boat saw service in the Pacific Theater and her crew was credited with 23 enemy ships totalling 90,000 tons.
Silversides arrived in Muskegon in 1987 after several years in lay-up. She later became an on-site attraction of the Great Lakes Naval Memorial and Museum, later renamed the USS Silversides Submarine Museum, when it relocated to Muskegon from Chicago.