DOOR COUNTY (NBC 26) — Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding is working with living history on the USS Silversides, a Gato-class submarine (like the USS Cobia, which also recently saw repairs at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding) built in Vallejo, Calif. in 1940 that sank 23 Japanese ships during World War II.
"There aren't too many 85-year-old submarines that come rolling through," Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding repair project manager Casey Lautenbach said.
"For planning, it's just a lot of prep and a lot of conversations with the (USS Silversides) Museum on what they want to have done," Lautenbach said when asked about what goes into a project like this. "(This includes) blanking of the flood valves (and the) preparation for paint."
This will be completed during dry docking, a process where the vessel is brought on land, and maintenance is done underneath the ship. It is the first time the USS Silversides is going through this since 1954.
"It means a lot to be able to put hands on a vessel like this and preserve it for years to come, and for other people to tour it safely," Lautenbach said.
"It is actually one of the top three decorated submarines of World War II," USS Silversides Museum executive director Veronica Campbell said. "She is the only one remaining of those three."
For Campbell, the dry docking process has been special.
"We had a major send off event when she went to dry dock to see her off," she said.
She expects that number to grow for its return.
"Not only are we preserving the submariners that served on her and the submariners for World War II, but we are also preserving the overall story of World War II," Campbell said.
The USS Silversides will be at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding until October when it is returned to its museum in Muskegon, Mich.
