I grew up about 2 miles south of the Museum of Science and Industry and used to ride my bike there or take the Illinois Central train. My dad took me there in the 50s when they moved the U 505 out of Lake Michigan and across the Outer Drive. I was only about 9 or 10 but was still very impressed. Until 2004 or so it was outside the museum on the east side but was becoming badly weathered. I have not had a chance to visit it in its new quarters but from your video it is a much better exhibit than in the 50s and 60s. BTW, the holes in the conning tower are from the .50 machine guns of the strafing aircraft and the 20 mm and 40 mm used by the destroyer escorts. They specifically did not want to sink the U boat so that it could be captured and therefore did not use their 5" guns. As you say, the Museum of Science and Industry is an amazing place and it really takes a full 1-2 days to properly see everything. Also, about 3/4 of a mile away at the University of Chicago is the Oriental Institute which is an amazing museum of Egyptian and Babylonian artifacts. Definitely worth 2-3 hours if you are interested in those periods. And that is not to mention the Field Natural History Museum, the Chicago Historical Society Museum, the Chicago Academy of Sciences, the Art Institute, and a bunch of smaller museums in Chicago. You can easily spend a week or 10 days in the Chicago area just doing museums. If you have an interest in WW1 and WW2 history do not miss the 1st Infantry Division Museum (Cantigny) in Wheaton, IL, one of the western suburbs of Chicago.
Thank you very much for focusing on submarines in this video. My father served in the Atlantic before the war protecting the merchant shipping. He was on the USS Drum which is in Mobile, Alabama and when we entered the war he served on the USS Cavalla which is now on display in Texas. He was one of the most highly decorated officers in the US Navy! I used to attend many of their reunions. His rank was CWO. Bless you for honoring our Submariners!!
Thank you for this very interesting presentation. My Father served in the British Merchant Navy during the war. He was on North Atlantic Convoy Duty up to Murmansk and Archangel in Russia. There is a U Boat on display, not far from where I live U-534 is at Birkenhead UK but it has been cut into sections and preserved. It was sank in the Kattegat by an RAF Liberator Bomber in May 1945 and is one of only four U-Boats in preserved condition left in the World. Once again, thank you sir.
@@marcuswardle3180 Hi Marcus. My Dad never spoke much about those days, but when I was an inquisitive lad, growing up I used to ask him stuff and you are quite right in what you say. He said the Cold was one of the worst things to deal with, you had that many layers of clothing on. The rest, you had no control over, it was in the hands of God. Thankfully he came through it ok. Keep safe my friend.
Great Book: The Ghost Ships of Archangel. Library Book read recently. Shame that the Russians forget how much Lend Lease was delivered to Murmansk and Archangel in Russia. Great tribute to the Merchant Marines from the Allies.
It's so nice that one of the 5 remaining U-Boats in the world (other than wrecks at the bottom of the ocean) is located in the USA in Chicago. And as a bonus, it's in the Museum of Science and Industry, which would be a fascinating trip even without the U-Boat!
I live in Chicago, I have seen that U boat at least twice! It’s very interesting to see in person, and well worth a trip! To say nothing of the excellent museum it’s in.
I grew up in Chicago and went there many times as a kid. I remember looking through the periscope and getting to lay down on one of the crew bunks. The whole Museum is one of my favorite places.
Been through this submarine so many times growing up in the Chicagoland area. It sat outside since it's arrival in Chicago. Tours were cold in the winter, but so very cool. Excellent idea for bringing it inside.
My dad was on the USS Chatalain when this all took place. We went through the sub in 1970, the year before he died. We had to sit through the movie they had back then because he was standing next to the boat's captain in a few second segment in the movie. I took my family there in 2015 and they were in awe. In came home to them when they saw his name on the crew roster. Thanks for covering this!
Thank you for the reminiscence. I grew up in Chicago (no longer live there) and as a kid was able to see this submarine. A great adventure for me back then. Good to see it again.
A wonderful WWI submarine book is “Fips: Legendary U Boat Commander...” Here’s a student film about this great story: th-cam.com/video/SZvL_0BTSis/w-d-xo.html.
Fantastic book. A crewman from this U-boat (U-505), Hans Goebeler, wrote a memoir called “Steel Boats, Iron Hearts.” I re-read it last week and it brought me here. It’s a great, quick read.
5:04 so glad you included these graphics showing the huge number of ships that U-Boats sunk in ‘40, ‘41, ‘42 and ‘43. The losses in ‘42 nearly brought Britain to its knees and the war cost the lives of 30-40,000 sailors. But by the end of the war such was the effectiveness of intelligence gathering and active sonar that serving on a U Boat meant almost certain death. The hunters became the hunted. Also worth noting that modern day nuclear subs are 50% longer and 7 x heavier!
This was the first History Underground video I watched and now I’m hooked. I think you should get in contact with these people and see if you can make a new video inside of the sub.
I was there in March of 20. Right before Covid. The last time I saw the U-505 it was outside. VERY VERY cool!!! World class museums can be found in Chicago. Plan a day or two for each one. NOT hours.
Great Video, my Dad served aboard the USS Pope DE-134, each year there is a reunion of the Sailors from TG-22.3, very fascinating to hear the stories. Last reunion was on the 71st anniversary of the capture.
I had no idea that this place existed. I'm so putting this on my to do list !! thank you for this channel, I am going to DC for the first time and used it to help with my itinerary. I appreciate all the sites you take in.
I've been on the U505 (prior to the discovery of the bread dough). It is shockingly cramped making the USS Pampanito, a US Fleet submarine from WWII, feel like a cruise ship in comparison. My dad, who was supposed to have been discharged from the army in January 1942 (this was delayed...) was also scheduled to sail with his army unit to England on the SS Normandie. That never happened, as the Normandie was capsized in the harbor before sailing, originally thought to be sabotage but later determined to be an accidental fire. Instead he sailed on a smaller ship (I think it was the USS Mexico). He said that the convoy no sooner turned the corner out of the harbor before the corvettes started depth charging U boats. Dad said he didn't know who he felt sorrier for, the Germans getting depth charged, or the sailors in the tiny corvettes dropping the charges, because the racket was like being in a trash can with someone beating the outside with a baseball bat. He also said that his ship had a torpedo explode near enough to lift the ship almost out of the water and knock the engines off line. He said all he could remember was being lined up with the other guys, life vests donned, three holds down, waiting to get into that awful, frigid water, where they were not likely to survive for long. Thankfully, the crew managed to get the ship's engines running again, and the actual amount of damage wasn't disclosed to the troops aboard her, being considered a military secret at the time. Several ships in the convoy were lost to the U boats. Must've been one helluva cruise.
fantastic playlist. thankyou for sharing your great knowledge with incredible footage. my own grandfather was killed in a u-boat torpedo attack on his troop ship SS Yoma off the coast of libya 1943. peace brother. im looking forward to any more ww2 videos.
Thru the late 50's and early 60's in grade school we went there each year on field trips they had a theater to watch the capture then the tour thru it was outside then and the planes hanging when you walked in. It was a kids dream come true!!
So my father (and hopefully, myself one day) is a operating engineer in the local 150 the local for this part of the state. At a picnic at the Union hall one year, we met one of the operators who had helped bring the 505 to her current and final resting place
7:15 these _Hedgehog_ shells were set to only go off on contact with the targeted U-Boat. This was so that a sonar lock could be maintained on the target. Very deadly!
Your music is always tasteful and goes right with the program you’re really getting good at this. Thanks for all the great Contant I taught English in school but I love history.
😃 Ahhhhh, awesome! I wondered if it was the U-505 you were going to visit. I had the great fortune of growing up in a small suburb of Chicago, and nearly every year getting to see this U-Boat as we got to visit our *vast* Science and Industry museum on a school trip. 😏 I remember being quite fascinated by all the gauges. Fond memories! Thanks for posting this! 😊 I hope we all can stay safe and stay healthy! 💕 Blessings!
@@23draft7 Heh. Yes... I have to tell you, I love your username. My Dad loved the Blackhawks, and so did I. Still do. I've lived away from Chicago for more years than I ever lived there, but I was born and raised (or 'bred and buttered,' as an old friend would say) a proud Chicagoan. *It's in my blood.* I miss being there, and I am sorry I had to leave.
@@CatalinaThePirate lucky guy. Saw Stan Mitika, Bobby Hull, and a short stint with my personal fav player Bobby Orr. Now the Cup winners in resent years. Instead of saying early '60's. Now it's the Maple Leafs mid '60's. Lots of history, that's for sure. Go Hawks!
Definitely a must see for any Chicago trip. As a side note, I feel sorry for people who don't have an appreciation for this giant artifact and your historical videos in general. Keep up the great content.
Thanks for the great video on the U-505. I have grown in Chicagoland area and never knew the history of the museum building. I like how u read up on the what you’re planning on capturing on video before hand. You’re like this “ultimate tour guide” A friend of mine told me while they moved it from the old outside location to the renovated inside, a boobytrap was discovered in the machinery space. Possibly to scuttle the vessel, by one of the boarding crew inadvertently turning a valve. Thanks! 👍👍😁🇺🇸
Those men of the boarding party were very brave. They knew the boat had been rigged to explode (to avoid capture) but they desperately wanted any intelligence they could recover. Mostly that Enigma Machine. Nice video, thanx.
Yes although the Captain was nearly Court martialed as the code books were the most important as we already had a machine & were breaking codes. Towing it risked letting Germany know we had the machines and code books
The capture of the U-505 was against orders. The Allies didn't want the Germans to ever become aware that the Allies had captured any Enigma machines or code books or settings. Had this happened the Germans would have to assume their codes and methods were compromised and change them up. The British at Bletchley Park were reading German codes and didn't want the Germans doing anything to further complicate their efforts. Had the skipper of the destroyer followed orders, he'd have rescued the German sailors and then let the U-Boat sink, the rationale being that U-Boat crews as they abandoned ship set a time bomb. So Allied sailors wouldn't board them, and that's why the sailor who did got the Medal of Honor. The skipper probably didn't know the reason why U-Boats were not to be captured. Bletchley Park was a secret kept until the 1970s. The whole capture of U-505 had to remain a secret until the end of the war. The sailors were kept in isolation so no one in Germany could find out they'd survived, and communicate that the Allies had captured the sub. Only the Germans believed the Engima machine made unbreakable codes. Polish mathematicians before the war figured out that the codes could be broken, started working on it and sent intelligence agents to Berlin to steal a machine. When the Nazis invaded Poland, the Poles made sure they got everything they had on Enigma to the British who continued and built on their work. If you want to learn about Enigma and Bletchley Park the absolute last thing you'd want to do is watch the Imitation Game - it's garbage. Anything on Alan Turing is wonderful. Perhaps the best primer on U-Boats is of course the long version of the movie Das Boot. (What's cool is that when visiting submarines you can swing through the hatches like the crews did.) Also the reason it's so difficult to lower a submarine to a specific depth is the way buoyancy works. Once you are neutrally buoyant there is nothing in the physics that determines your depth. A neutrally buoyant sub can be 6 inches under the surface or at the bottom of the ocean. This is why early subs were on the surface, on the surface, on the surface and then on the bottom (often with the people inside drowning). This is where the dive planes and forward or backward movement determines the speed of and depth of a dive. At the ordered depth the captain will order the dive planes to level out. [For secondary science students the trick to getting the best neutrally buoyant submarine project is to have a piece that sticks up just above the surface. So you're really after not 1.0000 g/mL (density) buoyancy, but 1.0001 g/mL. A drinking straw works best. You test it out, with the straw sticking above the surface, then mark it at the waterline, cut it off and plug it.] Just being a busy body on quarantine.
Great Tour. Amazing how these U-Boats came close to shutting-down the British Island in WW II. Amazing how someone succeeded in having this preserved for an American Museum. Thank you so much.
I grew up in Chicago, and went on the U-505 several times as a kid, back when it sat outside behind the museum. I loved going to both the Museum of Science and Industry as well as the Field Museum, often on school field trips. Would love to visit both museums again some time, thanks for making this video..
I fondly remember being a little guy and my dad taking me to watch the U505 being transported across Lake Shore Drive and set in place outside the museum. They even had some poor sod dressed up in the full hard-hat diving suit of the period at the festivities.
I live just North of Chicago. I remember touring through the U505 when it was outside on the East side of the museum. Have been meaning to get there. Thanks for sharing!
I've been to the museum several times too and each time I visited the interactive area where you could push buttons to make mechanical devices do stuff but it seemed as if half of them were broken every time. Have they improved their maintenance? I was disappointed for my 10 year old son. (Actually, I was disappointed more for me. I wanted to see them all working.)
Ahhh, my old stomping ground! Living in the suburbs of Chicago most of my life I visited this exhibit countless times. Although, back in the day this boat was outside and getting damaged due to the decades of the outdoor elements. This new exhibit is amazing and you get a much better look at this historical treasure! Side trivia: the re-enactment video on a screen near the bow showing how it was captured were fellow WWII re-enactor friends of mine. :) Very cool to see you were able to make it to Chicago!
Really cool video! I was stationed onboard 4 submarines (USS Seahorse SSN 669, USS Lewis & Clark SSBN 644, USS Chicago SSN 721, and USS Pennsylvania SSBN 735) during the Cold War. One of them, USS Chicago has a mock up of the control room at the museum.
7:07 The hedgehog had not the same concept as the depth charge. Depth charges damage a submarine by a huge explosion. The hedgehogs had a contact fuse and only explode when they hit an object. That's why they didn't need a lot of explosives. The advantage was that they could be fired forward across the bow in clusters much further than the heavy depth charges.
I remember going on the guided tour of U-505 when it was outside the building. I remember the woman tour guide yelling at a visitor "don't touch that!" lol
The story of the actual boarding and capture is fascinating and scary. The boarders closed the hatch behind them as the sub filled with water. Heroes all
My dad had 5 friends from his senior class who were merchant sailors on Liberty and Victory ships. 4 never returned.Got to see and board a couple when they were mothballed in the 60's on the Hudson River off Tompkins Cove, Rockland County NY.
Most people (including me) have no concept of how ugly the Battle of the Atlantic really was. Looking forward to the new Tom Hanks movie. Hopefully it brings that part of the war to light for more people.
When you picture dangerous jobs in WW2 everyone pictures the infantry, but in reality your odds in the infantry were pretty good. Submariners, merchant mariners, airmen, and the signals telephone/radio linesmen are the ones that really had terrible casualty percentages.
Wow Really lucky to have such a cool piece of history to see and learn from... really amazing museum!! U-Boats has the highest mortality rates of any service in WWII... Interestingly the large tonnage of shipping lost in 1943, the U-Boats called the Second Happy Time! (The first being earlier in the war whilst Britain established a workable convoy system!)... It’s ‘reported’ Your then operational head Admiral Ernest King, who hated the english so much, he totally ignored all British advice regarding convoys and up-to-date British intelligence on U-Boat operations in the Atlantic. This combined with the fact that not until very late in the war before the allies developed better detection methods and full aerial combat cover for shipping lanes meant U-Boats had sizeable areas for their Wolf-pack attack strategy. Arguably resulting in the loss of much more British & American lives than needed to be and almost crippling the western front! A stunningly incompetent act from a normally excellent serviceman! And btw... For anyone reading, It wasn’t the Americans that captured an Enigma machine! Hollywood still doesn’t believe you’ll watch anything that isn’t Americanised!
I just found these videos and have been watching since this morning. I find these very educational and respectful, you do a great job and I can tell you are passionate about all history. I'm curious as when you will head to New Orleans for the WWII museum, the Chalmette Battlefield (war of 1812) and other military historical places. Keep in mind, you may be like me and need at least two days to fully take in the WWII museum.
I went on the U-505 about 3 years ago. I also was on a U boat that is on display in Keil Germany. Back in 1986. I remember the one in Keil being somewhat smaller than U-505.
Made me want to shout Alaaarm from the amazing film Das Boot. When you next get to visit the UK Bletchley Park and the British WW2 submarine HMS Alliance at Portsmouth are both well worth a visit. You are a very lucky chap to visit this wonderful exhibit thanks again for sharing.
Very cool! I have to check this one out some time. Finally a reason to go to Chicago. :) As a kid i did some school trips to see the Wilhelm Bauer in Bremerhaven and the U-Boat in Laboe (near Kiel), but i did not fully appreciate it at the time. Perhaps i make it back to Germany some day and revisit those.
I just watched this Episode. (8/2/20) My father received a Medical Discharge from the USA Army. We moved to Brunswick, Georgia. Daddy worked at the Ship Yard for the rest of WWII. We lived 2 blocks away from the beach. Blimps patrolled the coastline looking for German Submarines back then. I was about 2 years old then. This is one of the memories I have of then (I'm 78 yrs old now). I was terrified of he blimps, Mom said she knew when one was coming over even before she heard it. I would run in screaming. Our apartment was built high off of the ground, at least it seemed that way to me. One day I was trying to climb the steps to get inside with my Mom. Just as I got to the top, I fell and rolled all the way back down to the bottom. I was terrified, Thank God the Blimp did not get me. They flew very low, nothing like we see the Goodyear Blimp fly over today.
Worked right around the corner from that at UofC for 15 years, got to drive by every day and watch the progress as they built the underground. We all went down there the day they moved it in all down 57th street around LSD, what a sight that was.
I live in the UK and was very lucky to have a tour through the U534 while she was still complete. What is interesting was that she was sunk during ww2 and was raised off the seabed because they thought she was carrying gold.
Great, story, forced to the surface by one of our DDs they set explosives but didn't start the timers. We went inside it and shut them down. Towed it back to port. They got the enigma machine too, as well as the codes and cyphers.
This was a yearly school trip destination for suburban kids. Back then, the 505 was outside, and one entered and exited via doorways cut into the hull. The JU-87 that hung from the ceiling, was once stored at the EAA Museum, when it was at Hales Corners, Wisconsin. Visitors were allowed to get close enough to see the battle damage to that aircraft. One school kid "story", was that the captured "Zero", also hanging from the ceiling, was piloted by a Kamikazi, who chose to land and surrender.
I have spent years serving on submarines and have visited the U-505 exhibit many times (I grew up in Chicago)...Incredible how small it is...and I'm a bubblehead. Would have been terrifying to be in while being depth-charged.
I was there in 92, the U-505 was outside back then, It's cool that they moved it inside. The Enigma machine code was broken by Polish scientists before the fall of Poland. They escaped and when they went to England they turned it over to the British.
Great they have this Submarine preserved indoors out of the water. So many museum ships are in disrepair due to exposure and lack of maintenance. I bet in the builders and crews wildest dreams they would never believe their boat would end up in a museum in Chicago Illinois.
You should also check the USS silverside and the USS Lst 393 in Muskegon, Michigan. Both are really interesting and informative,plus you get to go inside both
I have pictures I took with my Baby Brownine Special Camera of the U505 going across the highway to the Museum. One of the high points in my life. I can remember on my first trip in the U505 was how holes were just cut into the side for entry. To go through you had to pass going via the round hatches. My dad was interested in the U505 due to his job. He worked at the US Naval Ordinance Plant in Forest Park, where they made torpedoes. After the war they had open houses at the plant. I still have some of the little torpedoes They gave out, 1 1/2 inches long.
Years ago, l was at a gun show in Orlando FL and there was an old guy who was one of the German crewmembers from U-105, he was selling autographed pictures of himself as a young man in his krigesmarine uniform and some coffee mugs with prints of the U boat on it.
In 1969, I read Daniel V. Gallery's book about capturing U-505. An interesting read. The Navy was NOT PLEASED about the capture. Why? Because Enigma had already been cracked, and that fact was Top Secret. Given the U-505 capture, the Allies assumed the Germans would learn about it and know that we now had an Enigma machine. Therefore, we feared the Kriegsmarine would change it or change to a different coder/decoder. That did not happen. When the U-Boot skipper was captured, he was held below decks on Gallery's destroyer. He refused to believe Gallery had captured hos boat until Gallery brought him a framed photo of the skipper's family that was on his desk on the boat.
Very nice Museum ! In Germany you can look to a Type VII C boat, the U995 in Laboe and a Type XXI 'Wilhelm Bauer' U2540 in Bremerhaven. There are a few walk-arround vids on YT that shows you the inside, similar to the one in chicago. There is also a Uboat U10 (served 1967 till 1993) in a museum in Wilhelmshaven to visit. That places are all in North-Germany, so you can plan youre Uboat-holiday ^^
We've got the U2540 Wilhelm Bauer in our city, it's still in the water. It's closed from the middle of November until the middle of March. We've been there, it's awesome. She's only a small u-boot, but she was sent to the bottom and after a few years she was taken out again. If you Google the number or name you will find English information too.
Start off, I LOVE your vidoes, and am not trying to be a troll, just tryiing to add a little more info. I used to go there fairly often a a child...hated it The museum), it was (I felt) a huge advertising area for businesses. Loved the U-505! (When I visited it, it was 'outside' the building in open air) Interesting history regarding the capture of it and being kept secret until the end of the war (the capture of the 505 was kept TOP secret so Germany wouldn't know an Enigma was captured. The code was unbreakable, until and unless you had the encoding machine...then it was relatively easy. Then, we (the Allies) knew what & where the subs were. New search and destroy weapons and tactics were then developed). And the boarding party had BIG brass ones! The 'bullet holes' were TOO big for 50cal, they were caused by the guns on the attacking ship (probably the 4"ers) Also, per the plaque that is displayed in the beginning of your tour, it is not an original building from the World's Colombian Exposition (and I also have a huge collection of the Exposition, saved by my grandparents, including the massive tour-book). It was originally a wood and plaster construction and was rebuilt as an 'exact reproduction) in stone in the 1920s (after the Field Museum of Natural History moved to their new building at Grant's Field (along with the Adler Planetarium and the Shedd Aquarium (and not to forget Soldier's Field and the bandstand). Still, a reproduction on the same site. Almost all early (really, until the 60-70s) 'life preservers' were kapok.
My Grandfather served on a U-Boat from 1940-1942 , but due to punctured ear drums was sent back to become an instructor. The sub he was on was sunk in the North Atlantic in March of "43 with a loss of all hands . Those punctured eardrums saved his life . But rather than feeling a sense of relief , he always felt guilty to his dying day . He told me that after enduring many close calls , his fellow seamen were closer than brothers . Just a side note , he lost 4 brothers in WW II and hated Hitler with a passion . He and his brothers fought for Germany , not Hitler and his demented Third Reich .
I grew up about 2 miles south of the Museum of Science and Industry and used to ride my bike there or take the Illinois Central train. My dad took me there in the 50s when they moved the U 505 out of Lake Michigan and across the Outer Drive. I was only about 9 or 10 but was still very impressed. Until 2004 or so it was outside the museum on the east side but was becoming badly weathered. I have not had a chance to visit it in its new quarters but from your video it is a much better exhibit than in the 50s and 60s. BTW, the holes in the conning tower are from the .50 machine guns of the strafing aircraft and the 20 mm and 40 mm used by the destroyer escorts. They specifically did not want to sink the U boat so that it could be captured and therefore did not use their 5" guns.
As you say, the Museum of Science and Industry is an amazing place and it really takes a full 1-2 days to properly see everything. Also, about 3/4 of a mile away at the University of Chicago is the Oriental Institute which is an amazing museum of Egyptian and Babylonian artifacts. Definitely worth 2-3 hours if you are interested in those periods. And that is not to mention the Field Natural History Museum, the Chicago Historical Society Museum, the Chicago Academy of Sciences, the Art Institute, and a bunch of smaller museums in Chicago. You can easily spend a week or 10 days in the Chicago area just doing museums. If you have an interest in WW1 and WW2 history do not miss the 1st Infantry Division Museum (Cantigny) in Wheaton, IL, one of the western suburbs of Chicago.
Wow. Thanks for all of the extra info. Much appreciated!
th-cam.com/video/-p0FSHa3EBc/w-d-xo.html
Thank you very much for focusing on submarines in this video. My father served in the Atlantic before the war protecting the merchant shipping. He was on the USS Drum which is in Mobile, Alabama and when we entered the war he served on the USS Cavalla which is now on display in Texas. He was one of the most highly decorated officers in the US Navy! I used to attend many of their reunions. His rank was CWO. Bless you for honoring our Submariners!!
Much respect for those guys. I went through the Drum a few years ago. Pretty amazing what those guys did. 🇺🇸
Thank you for your awesome pictures and informative video 👍👍
Thank you for this very interesting presentation. My Father served in the British Merchant Navy during the war. He was on North Atlantic Convoy Duty up to Murmansk and Archangel in Russia. There is a U Boat on display, not far from where I live U-534 is at Birkenhead UK but it has been cut into sections and preserved. It was sank in the Kattegat by an RAF Liberator Bomber in May 1945 and is one of only four U-Boats in preserved condition left in the World. Once again, thank you sir.
Your father must have had some horrific stories seeing how cold it was on those convoys.
@@marcuswardle3180 Hi Marcus. My Dad never spoke much about those days, but when I was an inquisitive lad, growing up I used to ask him stuff and you are quite right in what you say. He said the Cold was one of the worst things to deal with, you had that many layers of clothing on. The rest, you had no control over, it was in the hands of God. Thankfully he came through it ok. Keep safe my friend.
Great Book: The Ghost Ships of Archangel. Library Book read recently. Shame that the Russians forget how much Lend Lease was delivered to Murmansk and Archangel in Russia. Great tribute to the Merchant Marines from the Allies.
It's so nice that one of the 5 remaining U-Boats in the world (other than wrecks at the bottom of the ocean) is located in the USA in Chicago. And as a bonus, it's in the Museum of Science and Industry, which would be a fascinating trip even without the U-Boat!
Ron - Completely agree. Got another one from there next week. Thanks for watching!
and it was not surrendered or donated or spoils of war....it was captured by a boarding party of US Navy pirates!!....gotta love it
Don't forget the submarines now on display in Neuschwabenland 😎
I live in Chicago, I have seen that U boat at least twice! It’s very interesting to see in person, and well worth a trip!
To say nothing of the excellent museum it’s in.
On my bucket list, was looking for airfare last night,,,
I grew up in Chicago and went there many times as a kid. I remember looking through the periscope and getting to lay down on one of the crew bunks. The whole Museum is one of my favorite places.
Very cool place. Aren’t many in the world that you can see.
I grew up there too- I remember when the U505 was outside- OUTSTANDING job making it enclosed in a "U-Boat pen"
@@TheRagratus And that periscope looked right out over Lake Shore Drive.
Well, that settles it. I'm watching Das Boot (German version with subtitles) for the 100th time tonight. Excellent video.
Lol
Alarrrrrrrrm!!!
@@aka99 haha! I love that scene when he yells that out.
I watch it for the ' Chief '.
@@thinghammer I had a yacht named ' Das Boot ' when my brother came up from the hatch i yelled ' Alarm ' . Still children😅
Been through this submarine so many times growing up in the Chicagoland area. It sat outside since it's arrival in Chicago. Tours were cold in the winter, but so very cool. Excellent idea for bringing it inside.
My dad was on the USS Chatalain when this all took place. We went through the sub in 1970, the year before he died. We had to sit through the movie they had back then because he was standing next to the boat's captain in a few second segment in the movie. I took my family there in 2015 and they were in awe. In came home to them when they saw his name on the crew roster. Thanks for covering this!
My pleasure! I really enjoyed visiting there and putting this one together. Glad that you enjoyed it.
Your channel is the best!!! You really spread history and culture worldwide! Please don’t stop! My best wishes from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil!
Thanks! I really do appreciate that. I think that you are the first viewer from Brazil 🇧🇷😁
Thank you for the reminiscence. I grew up in Chicago (no longer live there) and as a kid was able to see this submarine. A great adventure for me back then. Good to see it again.
Why does this vlog only have 4,5k views....this is history and should be passed down from generation to generation
Ha! Hard to say. I can't figure TH-cam out, but thanks. Feel free to share it and spread the word :)
I think probably not many know what a u-boat is
Great piece. For a fantastic book by a WW2 U-boat captain, I heartily recommend Herbert Werner's 'Iron Coffins'.
A wonderful WWI submarine book is “Fips: Legendary U Boat Commander...” Here’s a student film about this great story: th-cam.com/video/SZvL_0BTSis/w-d-xo.html.
@@jimhoffmann thanks for the recommendation
Also the incomparable “Das Boot” by Lothar-Günther Bucheim.
Fantastic book.
A crewman from this U-boat (U-505), Hans Goebeler, wrote a memoir called “Steel Boats, Iron Hearts.” I re-read it last week and it brought me here. It’s a great, quick read.
Thanks for taking us along for another great part of WW2 History. Really appreciate seeing/learning about the Normandy beaches and bunkers too!
Tim Pinner - I’ve really enjoyed putting it all together and have learned a lot in the process. Thanks for watching!
You do a good job at showing just enough about a place that makes people want to go and see it for themselves!
5:04 so glad you included these graphics showing the huge number of ships that U-Boats sunk in ‘40, ‘41, ‘42 and ‘43. The losses in ‘42 nearly brought Britain to its knees and the war cost the lives of 30-40,000 sailors. But by the end of the war such was the effectiveness of intelligence gathering and active sonar that serving on a U Boat meant almost certain death. The hunters became the hunted. Also worth noting that modern day nuclear subs are 50% longer and 7 x heavier!
I was on this when it was inside. The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. This was 1996. A tour I'll never forget!
As a retired U. S. Navy Submarine Sonar Technician this is interesting. I may have to go there.
The showers are blocked off. 😉
Any giant squid show up ?
This was the first History Underground video I watched and now I’m hooked. I think you should get in contact with these people and see if you can make a new video inside of the sub.
Good video. Thanks. It must have been a terrifying experience in a U-Boat during the war.
I was there in March of 20. Right before Covid. The last time I saw the U-505 it was outside. VERY VERY cool!!! World class museums can be found in Chicago. Plan a day or two for each one. NOT hours.
We really made a mistake by not planning more time at that particular museum. Very cool place.
When I saw the U525 in '69, it was outside. Couldn't go inside IIRC, but could look at it. At some naval museum. I was at Great Lake's at the time.
Great Video, my Dad served aboard the USS Pope DE-134, each year there is a reunion of the Sailors from TG-22.3, very fascinating to hear the stories. Last reunion was on the 71st anniversary of the capture.
Oh wow! How cool. Thanks for sharing that!
I had the pleasure to visit it, was an amazing experience !
Thank you so much for sharing it !
I like how MSI Chicago makes the huge room the boat is in feel and look like a U-boat bunker.
I had no idea that this place existed. I'm so putting this on my to do list !! thank you for this channel, I am going to DC for the first time and used it to help with my itinerary. I appreciate all the sites you take in.
I've been on the U505 (prior to the discovery of the bread dough). It is shockingly cramped making the USS Pampanito, a US Fleet submarine from WWII, feel like a cruise ship in comparison. My dad, who was supposed to have been discharged from the army in January 1942 (this was delayed...) was also scheduled to sail with his army unit to England on the SS Normandie. That never happened, as the Normandie was capsized in the harbor before sailing, originally thought to be sabotage but later determined to be an accidental fire. Instead he sailed on a smaller ship (I think it was the USS Mexico). He said that the convoy no sooner turned the corner out of the harbor before the corvettes started depth charging U boats. Dad said he didn't know who he felt sorrier for, the Germans getting depth charged, or the sailors in the tiny corvettes dropping the charges, because the racket was like being in a trash can with someone beating the outside with a baseball bat. He also said that his ship had a torpedo explode near enough to lift the ship almost out of the water and knock the engines off line. He said all he could remember was being lined up with the other guys, life vests donned, three holds down, waiting to get into that awful, frigid water, where they were not likely to survive for long. Thankfully, the crew managed to get the ship's engines running again, and the actual amount of damage wasn't disclosed to the troops aboard her, being considered a military secret at the time. Several ships in the convoy were lost to the U boats. Must've been one helluva cruise.
fantastic playlist. thankyou for sharing your great knowledge with incredible footage. my own grandfather was killed in a u-boat torpedo attack on his troop ship SS Yoma off the coast of libya 1943. peace brother. im looking forward to any more ww2 videos.
Thanks for the kind words. Unfortunately, there were a lot of good men like your grandpa who were killed by the U-boat attacks.
Thru the late 50's and early 60's in grade school we went there each year on field trips they had a theater to watch the capture then the tour thru it was outside then and the planes hanging when you walked in. It was a kids dream come true!!
I visited the museum and toured the U505 in the 50s with my father, a WWII vet. A memory I'll always treasure.
So my father (and hopefully, myself one day) is a operating engineer in the local 150 the local for this part of the state.
At a picnic at the Union hall one year, we met one of the operators who had helped bring the 505 to her current and final resting place
Love it, again very informative.. From a US Soldier retired..
7:15 these _Hedgehog_ shells were set to only go off on contact with the targeted U-Boat. This was so that a sonar lock could be maintained on the target. Very deadly!
Your music is always tasteful and goes right with the program you’re really getting good at this. Thanks for all the great Contant I taught English in school but I love history.
I too went on the USS Pampanito. I have total appreciation of the submariner force in WWII.
If you're ever in Germany, you can visit a newer German Uboot Type (Type XXI) in Bremerhaven (nothern Germany).
I would love to. Thanks!
😃 Ahhhhh, awesome! I wondered if it was the U-505 you were going to visit. I had the great fortune of growing up in a small suburb of Chicago, and nearly every year getting to see this U-Boat as we got to visit our *vast* Science and Industry museum on a school trip. 😏 I remember being quite fascinated by all the gauges. Fond memories! Thanks for posting this! 😊
I hope we all can stay safe and stay healthy! 💕 Blessings!
Amen.
@@23draft7 Heh. Yes... I have to tell you, I love your username. My Dad loved the Blackhawks, and so did I. Still do. I've lived away from Chicago for more years than I ever lived there, but I was born and raised (or 'bred and buttered,' as an old friend would say) a proud Chicagoan. *It's in my blood.* I miss being there, and I am sorry I had to leave.
@@CatalinaThePirate lucky guy. Saw Stan Mitika, Bobby Hull, and a short stint with my personal fav player Bobby Orr. Now the Cup winners in resent years. Instead of saying early '60's. Now it's the Maple Leafs mid '60's. Lots of history, that's for sure. Go Hawks!
My grandfather actually helped move that U boat into that museum in Chicago thought that was interesting love your channel keep it up man
Wow! Thanks for sharing that.
Kudos to Chicago 👍 ❗️
Definitely a must see for any Chicago trip. As a side note, I feel sorry for people who don't have an appreciation for this giant artifact and your historical videos in general. Keep up the great content.
Thanks!!!
Thanks for creating great videos on meaningful subjects!
My pleasure. Thank you for watching and contributing. It's a lot of work but I enjoy doing it.
Thanks for the great video on the U-505. I have grown in Chicagoland area and never knew the history of the museum building. I like how u read up on the what you’re planning on capturing on video before hand. You’re like this “ultimate tour guide” A friend of mine told me while they moved it from the old outside location to the renovated inside, a boobytrap was discovered in the machinery space. Possibly to scuttle the vessel, by one of the boarding crew inadvertently turning a valve. Thanks! 👍👍😁🇺🇸
Really appreciate the inside photos. When you mentioned no video inside I got bummed out for a second. 👍
Those men of the boarding party were very brave. They knew the boat had been rigged to explode (to avoid capture) but they desperately wanted any intelligence they could recover. Mostly that Enigma Machine. Nice video, thanx.
Yes, you are right. Pure guts.
Yes although the Captain was nearly Court martialed as the code books were the most important as we already had a machine & were breaking codes.
Towing it risked letting Germany know we had the machines and code books
The capture of the U-505 was against orders. The Allies didn't want the Germans to ever become aware that the Allies had captured any Enigma machines or code books or settings. Had this happened the Germans would have to assume their codes and methods were compromised and change them up. The British at Bletchley Park were reading German codes and didn't want the Germans doing anything to further complicate their efforts. Had the skipper of the destroyer followed orders, he'd have rescued the German sailors and then let the U-Boat sink, the rationale being that U-Boat crews as they abandoned ship set a time bomb. So Allied sailors wouldn't board them, and that's why the sailor who did got the Medal of Honor. The skipper probably didn't know the reason why U-Boats were not to be captured. Bletchley Park was a secret kept until the 1970s. The whole capture of U-505 had to remain a secret until the end of the war. The sailors were kept in isolation so no one in Germany could find out they'd survived, and communicate that the Allies had captured the sub.
Only the Germans believed the Engima machine made unbreakable codes. Polish mathematicians before the war figured out that the codes could be broken, started working on it and sent intelligence agents to Berlin to steal a machine. When the Nazis invaded Poland, the Poles made sure they got everything they had on Enigma to the British who continued and built on their work.
If you want to learn about Enigma and Bletchley Park the absolute last thing you'd want to do is watch the Imitation Game - it's garbage. Anything on Alan Turing is wonderful. Perhaps the best primer on U-Boats is of course the long version of the movie Das Boot. (What's cool is that when visiting submarines you can swing through the hatches like the crews did.)
Also the reason it's so difficult to lower a submarine to a specific depth is the way buoyancy works. Once you are neutrally buoyant there is nothing in the physics that determines your depth. A neutrally buoyant sub can be 6 inches under the surface or at the bottom of the ocean. This is why early subs were on the surface, on the surface, on the surface and then on the bottom (often with the people inside drowning). This is where the dive planes and forward or backward movement determines the speed of and depth of a dive. At the ordered depth the captain will order the dive planes to level out. [For secondary science students the trick to getting the best neutrally buoyant submarine project is to have a piece that sticks up just above the surface. So you're really after not 1.0000 g/mL (density) buoyancy, but 1.0001 g/mL. A drinking straw works best. You test it out, with the straw sticking above the surface, then mark it at the waterline, cut it off and plug it.] Just being a busy body on quarantine.
Thanks for the extra info!
Pretty awesome!! Thanks for showing us this amazing piece of history!! Keep it up!
Josh Hilliard - Thanks! We really enjoyed it there. TONS of stuff to see and do.
Great Tour. Amazing how these U-Boats came close to shutting-down the British Island in WW II. Amazing how someone succeeded in having this preserved for an American Museum. Thank you so much.
I grew up in Chicago, and went on the U-505 several times as a kid, back when it sat outside behind the museum. I loved going to both the Museum of Science and Industry as well as the Field Museum, often on school field trips. Would love to visit both museums again some time, thanks for making this video..
I fondly remember being a little guy and my dad taking me to watch the U505 being transported across Lake Shore Drive and set in place outside the museum. They even had some poor sod dressed up in the full hard-hat diving suit of the period at the festivities.
I live just North of Chicago. I remember touring through the U505 when it was outside on the East side of the museum. Have been meaning to get there. Thanks for sharing!
👍🏻
Been there several times and there is no end to this place.
I've been to the museum several times too and each time I visited the interactive area where you could push buttons to make mechanical devices do stuff but it seemed as if half of them were broken every time. Have they improved their maintenance? I was disappointed for my 10 year old son. (Actually, I was disappointed more for me. I wanted to see them all working.)
Ahhh, my old stomping ground! Living in the suburbs of Chicago most of my life I visited this exhibit countless times. Although, back in the day this boat was outside and getting damaged due to the decades of the outdoor elements. This new exhibit is amazing and you get a much better look at this historical treasure! Side trivia: the re-enactment video on a screen near the bow showing how it was captured were fellow WWII re-enactor friends of mine. :)
Very cool to see you were able to make it to Chicago!
SO COOL! Never knew of this. Thanks for sharing and enjoy your videos
Thanks! Glad that you’re enjoying them. It’s definitely a cool place to visit if you ever are in the area.
Really cool video! I was stationed onboard 4 submarines (USS Seahorse SSN 669, USS Lewis & Clark SSBN 644, USS Chicago SSN 721, and USS Pennsylvania SSBN 735) during the Cold War. One of them, USS Chicago has a mock up of the control room at the museum.
Oh wow! Very cool. Much respect to people who served on subs. 👊🏻🇺🇸
7:07 The hedgehog had not the same concept as the depth charge.
Depth charges damage a submarine by a huge explosion. The hedgehogs had a contact fuse and only explode when they hit an object.
That's why they didn't need a lot of explosives.
The advantage was that they could be fired forward across the bow in clusters much further than the heavy depth charges.
Yes, that was my bad. I made an annotation in the description.
I remember going on the guided tour of U-505 when it was outside the building.
I remember the woman tour guide yelling at a visitor "don't touch that!" lol
The story of the actual boarding and capture is fascinating and scary. The boarders closed the hatch behind them as the sub filled with water. Heroes all
My dad had 5 friends from his senior class who were merchant sailors on Liberty and Victory ships. 4 never returned.Got to see and board a couple when they were mothballed in the 60's on the Hudson River off Tompkins Cove, Rockland County NY.
Wow. I knew the figures were bad, but the graphic showing the numbers sunk per year really shocked me. What an eye-opener.
Most people (including me) have no concept of how ugly the Battle of the Atlantic really was. Looking forward to the new Tom Hanks movie. Hopefully it brings that part of the war to light for more people.
When you picture dangerous jobs in WW2 everyone pictures the infantry, but in reality your odds in the infantry were pretty good. Submariners, merchant mariners, airmen, and the signals telephone/radio linesmen are the ones that really had terrible casualty percentages.
Wow Really lucky to have such a cool piece of history to see and learn from... really amazing museum!!
U-Boats has the highest mortality rates of any service in WWII...
Interestingly the large tonnage of shipping lost in 1943, the U-Boats called the Second Happy Time! (The first being earlier in the war whilst Britain established a workable convoy system!)...
It’s ‘reported’ Your then operational head Admiral Ernest King, who hated the english so much, he totally ignored all British advice regarding convoys and up-to-date British intelligence on U-Boat operations in the Atlantic. This combined with the fact that not until very late in the war before the allies developed better detection methods and full aerial combat cover for shipping lanes meant U-Boats had sizeable areas for their Wolf-pack attack strategy. Arguably resulting in the loss of much more British & American lives than needed to be and almost crippling the western front! A stunningly incompetent act from a normally excellent serviceman!
And btw... For anyone reading, It wasn’t the Americans that captured an Enigma machine! Hollywood still doesn’t believe you’ll watch anything that isn’t Americanised!
Absolutely awesome video. Loads of cool stuff to show there. Thanks for sharing :)
Thanks! Appreciate that. It's definitely a cool place.
U 505 - I saw it before the new structure. The new bit is better than what I saw.
I just found these videos and have been watching since this morning. I find these very educational and respectful, you do a great job and I can tell you are passionate about all history. I'm curious as when you will head to New Orleans for the WWII museum, the Chalmette Battlefield (war of 1812) and other military historical places. Keep in mind, you may be like me and need at least two days to fully take in the WWII museum.
I had to cancel a trip to Chicago,the U-505 was on my list of things to see thank you showing the sub !
I went on the U-505 about 3 years ago. I also was on a U boat that is on display in Keil Germany. Back in 1986. I remember the one in Keil being somewhat smaller than U-505.
Great video. I wonder why they didn't allow filming in there?
Very enlightening video. You learn something new every day. I know I did. It a shame that the younger generation doesn't care about history.
I've been aboard the USS DRUM, USS RAZOR BACK, And USS CAVALLA. This thing looks massive. Great video, I love these things.
Its a very cool display. My family and I were there a couple of years ago
Made me want to shout Alaaarm from the amazing film Das Boot.
When you next get to visit the UK Bletchley Park and the British WW2 submarine HMS Alliance at Portsmouth are both well worth a visit.
You are a very lucky chap to visit this wonderful exhibit thanks again for sharing.
Oh the list. Thanks!
Das Boot!!! So awesome! Thank you for this 😲😃😁
Thank for another great video!
Tom Caldwell - Thanks!
Very cool! I have to check this one out some time. Finally a reason to go to Chicago. :)
As a kid i did some school trips to see the Wilhelm Bauer in Bremerhaven and the U-Boat in Laboe (near Kiel), but i did not fully appreciate it at the time. Perhaps i make it back to Germany some day and revisit those.
I just watched this Episode. (8/2/20)
My father received a Medical Discharge from the USA Army. We moved to Brunswick, Georgia. Daddy worked at the Ship Yard for the rest of WWII.
We lived 2 blocks away from the beach. Blimps patrolled the coastline looking for German Submarines back then.
I was about 2 years old then. This is one of the memories I have of then (I'm 78 yrs old now). I was terrified of he blimps, Mom said she knew when one was coming over even before she heard it. I would run in screaming.
Our apartment was built high off of the ground, at least it seemed that way to me. One day I was trying to climb the steps to get inside with my Mom. Just as I got to the top, I fell and rolled all the way back down to the bottom. I was terrified, Thank God the Blimp did not get me.
They flew very low, nothing like we see the Goodyear Blimp fly over today.
I just want to say that I am a fairly new subscriber and I really admire and appreciate your intelligent videos.
Oh wow. Thank you. I really do appreciate that. We've got some pretty big plans for 2020 so keep checking in :)
@@TheHistoryUnderground
I check in every day and will continue to do so :)
Worked right around the corner from that at UofC for 15 years, got to drive by every day and watch the progress as they built the underground. We all went down there the day they moved it in all down 57th street around LSD, what a sight that was.
I’ll bet!
Nice video. I was in that submarine myself while in the Navy stationed in Great Lakes, IL. Back then the sub was outside of the museum.
hedgehogs had a contact detonator
Yes. That was my error. I've made a correction in the description. Thanks.
I live in the UK and was very lucky to have a tour through the U534 while she was still complete. What is interesting was that she was sunk during ww2 and was raised off the seabed because they thought she was carrying gold.
Great, story, forced to the surface by one of our DDs they set explosives but didn't start the timers. We went inside it and shut them down. Towed it back to port. They got the enigma machine too, as well as the codes and cyphers.
A very wicked interesting video - thank you. I was a Anti-sub warfare sailor for the Canadian Navy. Petty Officer 1st Class (Ret)
I remember they have a Stuka bomber hanging in the museum too. Very cool.
Outstanding video!
This was a yearly school trip destination for suburban kids. Back then, the 505 was outside, and one entered and exited via doorways cut into the hull. The JU-87 that hung from the ceiling, was once stored at the EAA Museum, when it was at Hales Corners, Wisconsin. Visitors were allowed to get close enough to see the battle damage to that aircraft.
One school kid "story", was that the captured "Zero", also hanging from the ceiling, was piloted by a Kamikazi, who chose to land and surrender.
I have spent years serving on submarines and have visited the U-505 exhibit many times (I grew up in Chicago)...Incredible how small it is...and I'm a bubblehead. Would have been terrifying to be in while being depth-charged.
I'm an airedale and would like to visit this sub one day. Serving in naval aviation, i/we rarely encountered subs except on deployments.
Excellent........Thanks......
I was there in 92, the U-505 was outside back then, It's cool that they moved it inside. The Enigma machine code was broken by Polish scientists before the fall of Poland. They escaped and when they went to England they turned it over to the British.
Great they have this Submarine preserved indoors out of the water. So many museum ships are in disrepair due to exposure and lack of maintenance. I bet in the builders and crews wildest dreams they would never believe their boat would end up in a museum in Chicago Illinois.
You should also check the USS silverside and the USS Lst 393 in Muskegon, Michigan. Both are really interesting and informative,plus you get to go inside both
I have pictures I took with my Baby Brownine Special Camera of the U505 going across the highway to the Museum. One of the high points in my life. I can remember on my first trip in the U505 was how holes were just cut into the side for entry. To go through you had to pass going via the round hatches. My dad was interested in the U505 due to his job. He worked at the US Naval Ordinance Plant in Forest Park, where they made torpedoes. After the war they had open houses at the plant. I still have some of the little torpedoes They gave out, 1 1/2 inches long.
Years ago, l was at a gun show in Orlando FL and there was an old guy who was one of the German crewmembers from U-105, he was selling autographed pictures of himself as a young man in his krigesmarine uniform and some coffee mugs with prints of the U boat on it.
The U-105 had quite a record of success. It was sunk with all hands.
@@stevek8829 it was a typo on my part, I meant U-505 that was captured and on display in Chicago
Great channel....thx for all
never heard of this place, thanks, I just might visit Chicago because of this
It's worth it!
In 1969, I read Daniel V. Gallery's book about capturing U-505. An interesting read. The Navy was NOT PLEASED about the capture. Why? Because Enigma had already been cracked, and that fact was Top Secret. Given the U-505 capture, the Allies assumed the Germans would learn about it and know that we now had an Enigma machine. Therefore, we feared the Kriegsmarine would change it or change to a different coder/decoder. That did not happen.
When the U-Boot skipper was captured, he was held below decks on Gallery's destroyer. He refused to believe Gallery had captured hos boat until Gallery brought him a framed photo of the skipper's family that was on his desk on the boat.
Went on a tour of the USS Pampanito in San Francisco a few years back. It was really cool. Also went on a tour of the USS Hornet in Alameda.
Very nice Museum ! In Germany you can look to a Type VII C boat, the U995 in Laboe and a Type XXI 'Wilhelm Bauer' U2540 in Bremerhaven. There are a few walk-arround vids on YT that shows you the inside, similar to the one in chicago. There is also a Uboat U10 (served 1967 till 1993) in a museum in Wilhelmshaven to visit. That places are all in North-Germany, so you can plan youre Uboat-holiday ^^
Thanks for the heads up!
We've got the U2540 Wilhelm Bauer in our city, it's still in the water. It's closed from the middle of November until the middle of March. We've been there, it's awesome. She's only a small u-boot, but she was sent to the bottom and after a few years she was taken out again. If you Google the number or name you will find English information too.
Start off, I LOVE your vidoes, and am not trying to be a troll, just tryiing to add a little more info. I used to go there fairly often a a child...hated it The museum), it was (I felt) a huge advertising area for businesses. Loved the U-505! (When I visited it, it was 'outside' the building in open air) Interesting history regarding the capture of it and being kept secret until the end of the war (the capture of the 505 was kept TOP secret so Germany wouldn't know an Enigma was captured. The code was unbreakable, until and unless you had the encoding machine...then it was relatively easy. Then, we (the Allies) knew what & where the subs were. New search and destroy weapons and tactics were then developed). And the boarding party had BIG brass ones! The 'bullet holes' were TOO big for 50cal, they were caused by the guns on the attacking ship (probably the 4"ers) Also, per the plaque that is displayed in the beginning of your tour, it is not an original building from the World's Colombian Exposition (and I also have a huge collection of the Exposition, saved by my grandparents, including the massive tour-book). It was originally a wood and plaster construction and was rebuilt as an 'exact reproduction) in stone in the 1920s (after the Field Museum of Natural History moved to their new building at Grant's Field (along with the Adler Planetarium and the Shedd Aquarium (and not to forget Soldier's Field and the bandstand). Still, a reproduction on the same site. Almost all early (really, until the 60-70s) 'life preservers' were kapok.
Thanks! Appreciate the kind words and the extra info. I'm always looking to learn.
My Grandfather served on a U-Boat from 1940-1942 , but due to punctured ear drums was sent back to become an instructor. The sub he was on was sunk in the North Atlantic in March of "43 with a loss of all hands . Those punctured eardrums saved his life . But rather than feeling a sense of relief , he always felt guilty to his dying day . He told me that after enduring many close calls , his fellow seamen were closer than brothers . Just a side note , he lost 4 brothers in WW II and hated Hitler with a passion . He and his brothers fought for Germany , not Hitler and his demented Third Reich .
Wow! Thanks for sharing that. Gosh, what I wouldn't give to have had an hour to sit down and chat with him.
The sub used to be displayed outside. I went through the sub several times as a kid in the 70’s.
Awesome! Thank you!