A routine restoration project on the World War II submarine USS Silversides has uncovered something far more intriguing than corrosion or worn steel. Workers examining the historic boat in a Wisconsin dry dock found a metal flood valve stamped with the name “TRIGGER,” apparently identifying it as a component intended for USS Trigger , the sister submarine that disappeared beneath the Pacific in March 1945. The discovery does not solve the mystery of Trigger’s final hours, but it creates an unexpected physical link between two submarines that once served alongside each other and later met dramatically different fates.
The component surfaced while Silversides was undergoing a major preservation project at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. The roughly $3.5 million effort is the submarine’s first major dry-dock preservation in more than five decades. Crews are inspecting the hull, repairing steel, cleaning marine growth and applying protective coatings. Because much of the submarine normally sits below the waterline, dry docking offers restorers an opportunity to examine parts that have been difficult or impossible to inspect while the vessel remained afloat.
