Chicago, Illinois
Walking around the corner in the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry, the hair on my arms raised when I first saw the submarine. The U-boat was a machine of cunning design that caused mass terror on Allied shipping for years. The U-505 is one of the few remaining examples of these machines and was responsible for sinking eight ships.
Viewing the boat and the exhibits is included with museum admission, but it costs extra to tour the vessel. Today, there are only four places in the world where you can visit a U-boat, and Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry is the only place in the Western Hemisphere that is home to one. You have come to the correct location if you are looking for a rare historical find.
You will be cramped in many spots on the boat if you are tall like myself. The captain of the vessel was 6′ 2″, so there was no way he was comfortable either. It is hard to believe the boat was home to 59 sailors. Even crazier is that there were not enough beds for the crew members; they had to share bunks when they were not on duty. Water use was limited, there were no showers, and only two crew members, the captain and the chef, could wash their hands. Since patrols lasted 90 days and each crew member only had two pairs of underwear, there were probably not too many pleasant smells on the high seas.
The story of the capture of the U-505 is one of intrigue and luck. A task force led by Chicago native Captain Daniel Gallery managed to corner the U-505 off the African coast. It was here that the Americans launched depth charges and caused the boat to surface. The crew attempted to scuttle the U-505, but between the evacuation of the crew and a timely capture from a task force led by Lieutenant Albert David, the United States had captured its first enemy vessel since the War of 1812.
Now, the Americans had a German Boat that was difficult to move and 2,500 miles from a safe port of call. If the Germans had discovered that the boat had not sunk, they would have changed the Enigma machine codes, making the primary mission of capturing the submarine obsolete. Disguised as an American vessel, the newly christened USS Nemo was towed 2,500 miles across the Atlantic Ocean to Bermuda. The U-505 remained in Bermuda until the war’s end.
The U-505 came to Chicago with help from Rear Admiral Daniel Gallery (The Perks of Promotion). The vessel was scheduled for target practice, but instead, the U-505 transferred to Chicago, Gallery’s hometown. Gallery’s foresight, along with some fortune, is why we can experience the boat today and imagine the terror they unleashed on Allied shipping in World War II.