Far exceeded my expectations. Good historical background of WWII in the main building, with some amazing facts I did not know about. Also some good info on the local contributions to the war effort. The submarine itself was incredible to see, with the cramped quarters, watertight sections, the engines, motors, batteries, radio systems. It's still a huge boat, almost unimaginable that this thing could dive on demand and stay under for 15 hours before surfacing. Even the toilets were quite a feat of engineering. A great illustration of the incredible industrial might the USA developed in such a short time to ensure victory. Made me proud to see this knowing that my Father was a radar man in the Pacific theater on a ship.

This is a hidden gem in Muskegon! Well it's not really hidden, but I've lived here for awhile and this was my first trip. My husband and I had a great time exploring the exhibits and touring the submarine. It's a very unique experience to see how the crew lived and functioned within the sub's limited space. I would definitely recommend this as a stop on your west Michigan vacation. Also the souvenir shop had a neat variety of things to purchase including Lego boats, themed coffee mugs, and grenade hot sauce!!

Its amazing, sleeping over with scouts is a great experience, the USS Drum playgrond can be a great place to burn off some energy. The museum is fun and informative, so you learn when you have fun. Great!

While on our family vacation we stopped to check out the ship and submarine. I truly loved walking through the building and learning about the history of WW2. They have some historical artifacts that are worth seeing. Some of the exhibits brought tears to my eyes. Like watching some of the videos of what our troops went through. Going in the submarine and ship was pretty amazing. I can tell you I could not live on a submarine for months at a time. This place should definitely be a stop in and see some of our history. If it was not for our military that serve we could not live the way we do. So thank you to all who have served and still are serving thank you.

What an incredible experience and to be able to share in some amazing history! Absolutely loved this place and it's a great family friendly activity. As with almost all my reviews, it's the staff who make or break the customer service experience. Here I had the pleasure of interacting with some of the kindest, friendly and informative people I'd ever had the good fortune to meet. If you are fortunate enough to find yourself in Michigan, this is a place you should definitely visit! Loved it and I highly recommend it!

A good museum with a great overnight experience. Interesting exhibits from World War II on both the Pacific and European fronts. I enjoyed seeing the nurse recruitment posters and other contributions from women. The videos about the sub provided a good description of what we would see below. Good selection of souvenirs in the shop. I highly recommend visiting with scout troops. Our girl scouts loved it.

I've been meaning to write a review. We went for a overnight on the submarine with my son's Cub Scout pack. It was a great experience. The boys took a class with the museum guides about how a submarine floats and sinks, it was very interesting and informative. The staff was very helpful and informative with the Scouts in general. They were willing to talk to my son about WW2 a lot. The museum has some great displays, and a good gift shop. There is a neat playground out front that is set up like the deck and tower of a sub! The overnight accommodations were not the Hilton, but that isn't the point.

Wonderful place to explore history! Great family Adventure. Give yourself about three hours to explore a Submarine, A Coast Guard Cutter, and a great Museum! Reasonable prices.

I stayed overnight on the sub with my son for a cub scout outing and I had a blast. The staff was very helpful and informative and kindly accommodated the overnight stay with late and early hours in the museum and gift shop. The sun itself was fascinating to see and really made you appreciate the sacrifice made by all who served on them.

Saw the submarine as we passed on the ferry and went there as soon as we landed. Had no idea there was such a historic gem in Muskegon. The museum is filled with informative and interesting artifacts. After we finished inside to boarded the sub and enjoyed it stern to bow. Highly recommend!

I am a qualified submariner, I therefore earned my dolphins. I enjoyed the museum & my walkthrough of the Silversides. However, I am disturbed by the fact that this museum gift shop sells a ball cap with dolphins on it. . . they should know better. One might say that many others sell similar caps & items; i.e. – Amazon, etc. Yet, a submarine specific museum should honor “The Silent Service” & is therefore held to a higher standard. I go to physical Army Navy stores near me & they won’t sell it/them. Why, because it’s no less than stealing honor and/or valor. Would you sell a Purple Heart, Medal of Honor, a SEAL’s Trident? I have written a polite email to the museum stating that I, & most submariners I’ve spoke with, have a problem with the sale of this item. Yet, the museum has chosen to ignore my/our concern. This is the absolute worst thing they could have done, it’s insulting. Selling an item with authentic looking dolphins to the general public, waters down the integrity of an honor a submariner earned. We went through a LOT of blood sweat & tears to receive our dolphins, fish, phins, etc. I, & other submariners like myself, will not be returning to this facility until this situation is adequately addressed. The museum hurts local businesses by their actions as well. I stayed @ The Pidge Inn during my visit. PS - I seriously doubt removing this particular item from stock would hurt the museum's bottom line, especially when it's the integrity & honor of submarine history you're suppose to be preserving. . . right, Ms. Egan? BTW, has anyone on the staff or board of directors earned the (SS) designator? UPDATE: 12/6/23 Bethann Egan (Executive Director) & I have been in contact with each other via email & a phone conversation. She has taken my concerns seriously. . . submarine dolphins should only be worn by those who have earned them. How would a Navy SEAL feel if he saw a person who hadn't earned a Trident, wearing it? Selling honor is dishonorable. Bethann has seen fit to remove these ball caps from the gift shop & online. She has taken heat for this decision, especially from old timey (smoker/diesel boat) submariners she consults who think differently from myself. Yet, approx. 70%+ of the submariners I've spoken with relative this subject agree with me 100%. Hence, the majority is on my side with respect to this subject. The majority & I believe these old timey submariners have lost their way, & forgotten what it once took to earn your dolphins. We have a saying on submarines, “Pride Runs Deep.” Yet, I believe, with respect to some submariners that pride, as well as honor, now runs shallow. Selling an item of clothing displaying authentic looking submarine dolphins, for the general public to wear, waters down the integrity, & turns a badge of honor into a cheap carnival prize. Ms. Egan has informed me that there are 2 upcoming meetings where this concern will be the main topic of discussion. I have offered to be on conference call or even in-person if she’d like. I fully expect to be ridiculed by some, I’m prepared for that. It is not my intent to handcuff or cripple the museum financially . . . far from it. I have offered to purchase the museums remaining supply of this ball cap. I already have a Master Chief COB (Chief of the Boat) submariner friend that wants to buy some off me, if it comes to that. He has been on smokers/diesel as well as nukes. Thank you for your time & consideration, I/we are here to serve.

Great place to stop when you’re in north Muskegon. Lots of history and very well organized and lots of visuals. Good place to go if you’re camping or just in town. You get to go aboard two vessels.

Stopped here by chance after seeing it on Google maps when I was in the area. It is a fantastic museum and WWII submarine you can explore. There is a movie running on a loop in the museum that is a must watch before touring the sub. It tells in detail what each compartment is used for and offers insight into what life was like aboard.

Haven't been here since I was in Boy Scouts 25 years ago. Now it's a full fledged museum. Lots of cool facts and walking through the sub that I once slept over night on as a scout was awesome.

Go watch the video in the museum first before going out to the Silversides as it will tell you a lot more then what is visually in the sub. The submarine was definitely the highlight! The cutter was as to be expected (they really hype the Silversides instead of the McLane). Getting through the sub can be quite tight in some places (obvs), so if you can't bend/stretch your legs over knee height, I would stick to the museum. We spent about 3 hours on site (there are quite a few things to look/watch in the museum building).

Wonderful WWII historical museum with great people and the museum is just the right size to introduce you to navel history during WWII. The silversides is well cared for and a must see.

A museum that let's you experience the cramped conditions of a WW2 submarine that is virtually unchanged since its service over 80 years ago, the Silversides museum is a place to learn about the history of the most successful U.S. submarine still in existence. The boat itself is well preserved with the ability to tour the boat stem to stern from the forward torpedo room to the aft torpedo room. The museum itself has lots of information about the history of the Silversides and the great lake's part in WW2. When I visited they also had a piece of the World Trade Center and an exhibit about 9/11.

This was one of my families' favorite museums as of yet! It was really organized. It had a LOT of history information and was such a cool experience. We enjoyed the museum and then the video tour. It made it feel like we had a personal tour guide when we walked through, even though our tour was self guided. I recommend that everyone should check out this place.

We didn't go in as we were in a hurry but if inside is anywhere near as cool as outside its a home run! We'll be stopping next time we're out that way to check out the inside. 🙂

Very neat place to tour. There's a museum, plus you can walk through the submarine and boat. You can only tour them during summer, so check before driving far. Lots of history and worth the visit.

This is a great place to visit. If you want to know anything about our history, check the submarine exhibit. You get to tour the submarine and see how the men lived and fought for our country. This is one of the best museums I've seen. If I could give more stars, I would.

Great place to taking young kids to learn the history of WW II and military history! We only take a quick look of what is displayed on the outside of the museum due to the shortage of time we have! We will be sure to come back for a full tour because it is very interesting place!

Wonderful to have 2 historic ships available for self guided tours. Silversides is well maintained and well signed. Great History. Cutter is very interesting but could use a bit more info. A great value for a few dollars.

The walk through sub and cutter were really neat. Other exhibits I've been to have everything behind glass or roped off, but these let you get up close and personal. My kids loved trying out the small, crowded bunks, climbing ladders, and sitting on the toilets! I loved all the interesting facts posted throughout. We learned a lot, took a lot of great pictures, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!

I cannot recommend going to see Silversides enough. I heard about the Silversides from Battleship New Jersey's YouTube channel from when Ryan visited. After pinning the museum in my map and forgetting about it I realized it was close by on my work trip and I'm SO glad I took the time to visit. The museum has a fairly large selection of exhibits inside and a theater playing a loop of stories about the Silversides. The sub itself is, of course, very cramped and requires being able to navigate tight stairwells (that are closer to ladders) and being able to climb through the small watertight doors between compartments. The inside museum however would be very navigable for anyone with mobility difficulties. Having visited the New Jersey, Iowa, and Midway so far I can say Silversides definitely holds its own as a museum ship and deserves as much attention and foot traffic as they can get. They even start of the diesel engines occasionally if you're interested in hearing those fired up, you'd just have to plan to visit that day.

This very nice little museum. First time I've ever been in a submarine. Some tight quarters for sailors. Learning the history of this vessel was very interesting.

Great museum with a lot naval history right on Lake Michigan! My ten year old daughter and I toured this museum on a recent trip to Grand Haven, Michigan and had a really good time. My daughter liked all the ship models and laying down inside an actual torpedo. I enjoyed all the history they crammed into their space, more than just naval history too. It took about 2 hours to look at everything and the entrance fees are very reasonable. I found the USS Silversides very fascinating and have untold respect for the sailors who climbed into the cramped spaces and defended our freedom. The sub looks tiny compared to subs of today. The USCG Mclane cutter was equally interesting and more up my daughters alley, the sub had a wooden slat deck and made her nervous. If you're in the area of Grand Rapids, Grand Haven, or Muskegon you should make time to check this place out. There's is also a very nice park right next door before your drive up to the museum.

The draw here are the WWII Submarine USS SILVERFISH and the USCGC McLane. However, the museum is much more. Containing a pictorial and laden treasure trove of military memorabilia, the Silverfish museum provides an educational tour of the fight in Europe and the South Pacific. With all there is to see and touch, military life is brought into focus for all who walk through the exhibits. A guided tour is available of the Silverfish and everything can be seen in three hours. Numerous families were here during my visit and I noted positive comments from all ages.

Amazing experience!! I brought my ScoutsBSA Girl Troop755G (girls in Boy Scouts) here and we had a wonderful time! We shared the submarine with Cub Pack 773 and thank to them for graciously allowing us to take the forward third of the boat. We slept in the forward torpedo room and officers quarters. I'm pleased to report that everyone slept really well!! Tom (the museum Docent and out host) was really knowledgable about the USS Silversides and definitely focused on ensuring that everyone had an engaging and enjoyable time. Thanks to him, we all felt very welcome and valued guests. Thank you, Tom! Peripheral information: If bringing a scout group here, consider arriving at noon and go to the beach at Muskegon State Park. Our scout-girls loved their afternoon playing and exploring there. Bring stunt kites, sand toys and more warm gear than you'd expect. Pizza: We ordered 24" pizzas from Lombardo's Sicilian Pizza. Order 90 minutes ahead. Great pizza and they were really huge! The girls loved "this is the largest pizza I have ever seen" experience" -- make things memorable!

An amazing place to explore with my family. Had a wonderful time sleeping on the Submarine! Thank you for the hospitality to Tom and Jane. Jennifer (Cub Scouts Pack #252.)