great lakes naval memorial & museum

I respect all of the all of the armed forces and to sea what these men protected our country with looking and seeing all of the ships and subs that they sunk or severely damaged what these men put there life on the line with so I salute you all and thank you for all you do

On the north shore of Muskegon, Michigan's lovely sandy beach is the US Naval Museum, the submarine Silver Sides, and a Coast Guard Cutter. Both adults and children will be awed by the size of the submarine where 99 guys lived for an extended time. The unique places where the cooks stored the food will wow visitors. The museum building is lovely and has both still photographs and a film to watch before going out to the sub. Life in the Navy is spelled out for nonmilitary tourists. The Coast Guard Cutter is also exciting to step into and allows you to feel like you are part of the crew. Both the sub and the cutter are self-guided tours so you can stay as long as you want to. My parents and friends from other states have been taken there and they were not disappointed.

We loved the museum and felt the entry fee was fair. My guys loved the sub tour, you can take a guided tour for no extra fee or walk in alone. The museum itself was very nice and well laid out, very interesting historical facts and artifacts!

I took my young daughter to the museum the day before we went to Michigan's Adventure. We had a really good time climbing around the sub and coast guard cutter. The museum was not busy, so it was nice to be able to roam around without being pushed by people behind us. Most of the interesting things (to me) were outside of the building, but the inside was okay. You can sit in the "driver's seat" of the sub and flip some switches on old radar and radio equipment. All with very informative information hanging around them that explains what they all are. There are also models, a cutaway torpedo, anti-aircraft gun and other displays. The main attraction is the sub for sure and I thought it was great. It may be pricey for families, but there were only 2 of us, so i didn't notice. Besides, I looked it up online so I knew what the cost was before I got there. The intennet is good for things like that.

We toured the museum and the USS Silversides because a family friend served two and a half years on that sub during WWII. I agree that admission is pricey, but it was worth it to us. The museum is relatively small but gives an excellent overview of WWII, as well as touching on the technology behind submarines. Given the relatively small size of the museum, I thought they paid a tremendous amount of attention to offering interactive pieces for the kids. You can practice sighting Japanese zeroes with a deck gun, sit at the conning tower control panel, spin the helm, and look through a periscope. Outside, you can have your picture taken with a torpedo, climb around a tower, etc. I was there with three kids 4-12, and there was plenty to keep them busy while I read through the material. They were not too interested in the movie, so we explored the gift shop while Dad watched. In all, I thought they do quite a nice job over there. The submarine is great fun. We enjoyed our tour a lot, although you do have to be able to get up and down ladders, go through narrow passageways and step through portals, etc. I gather they still sail her! There are signs everywhere not to touch any dials or switches. All three kids loved it. We had fun pretending to cook in the kitchen, talked about what it would be like to sleep right next to a torpedo every night, etc. They immediately asked us to arrange for an overnight (which Scout troops do pretty regularly, I think, with a donation). The Silversides was in the top 5 for number and total tonnage of enemy ships sunk. It was a very interesting and personal way to learn more about this facet of WWII. We were very pleased to be able to send our family friend, the sailor's widow, a book that included not only many pictures of what the submarine looked like while he served his 14 missions, but that also surprised us by including pictures of him! An unexpected treasure.

We spent 2 hours at the museum including the tour of the USS Silversides. The admission withe tours seems a bit pricey but I think the tour of the submarine was worth it. People who have difficulty with stairs/ladders should not do the tour. Also the hatch doors are original so they are small. The history may be lost with many but the excellent restoration of the submarine and knowledgable tour guide make it a worth while site to see. The museum has a scattering of nautical models and parts from various ships. There are many murals and narratives to read about the history of submarines.

Everything in the Museum was very interesting, although there was a lot of reading it was good, we wish there would have been more to actually look at (displays) to take the tour on the submarine was kind of expensive.

Allow a couple of hours to take it all in! Seemed a little pricey at first but it was worth the money.

If you like history about the war you will want to include a stop at the museum and also tour the inside of the Silverside when you are in the area. The fee is reasonable and you can take your time viewing the sub to try and imagine what it was like to be onboard during the action. It's amazing how many Japanese ships they sunk during the war. Plan on at least two hours.

This is really worth a visit if you are in this area. The submarine SILVERSIDE is an excellent tour and really makes you wonder how the men that ran it didn't go crazy. The museum is also very good. So glad we stopped!!!!!

We stopped here on our way to see the Muskegon Lighthouses. We didn't even know it was there until we stopped at the visitors center for directions to the lighthouse and she told us about it. We went in and paid the fee, $15 a person, and looked through the museum, it had several nice displays. We then went through the submarine and cutter. I had never been in a submarine so it was really neat. This was a sub used in actual combat, and men died on it. Definitely worth a visit.

Plan on spending several hours. Take it all in, you will love it. Tour the Silverside and the other ship. The museum is very informative and worth at least two hours

The museum was awesome. The price was good, adding the additional price to see the submarine made it pricy & not worth the extra fee to us. I couldn't go down into the sub, too claustrophobic after the first flight of steps, I came back out...my husband said it was cool to see the stuff inside. $6.00 for the museum was worth it, the additional $9.00 for the sub & coastguard boat was not worth it to us.

My guys loved ever bit of this. Right on the banks of Lake Michigan, beautiful setting. Take the tour of the ships, and don't forget the museum. A few hours of historic fun.

Michigan has been important in the past for Transportation around, over and through the Great Lakes. There are many old ships still underwater, airplanes, and a lot of other items under the water.