German Submarine U-505 (Warning Heavy Pictures)

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lakelandman
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German Submarine U-505 (Warning Heavy Pictures)

Post by lakelandman »

A must-see if you have a chance to visit it I went as a kid years ago this is 10X better now the only German Submarine in the US I think.

https://blockclubchicago.org/2019/05/28 ... -industry/
MUSEUM OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY — The Museum of Science and Industry will soon open a temporary exhibit as part of its commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the capture of the U-505 submarine.

The German sub was captured by the U.S. Navy on June 4, 1944, during World War II. Just two years earlier, the U-boat sank eight Allied ships in the Atlantic.

When the Navy captured it, it was “the first capture of a foreign man-of-war in battle on the high seas” by the U.S. Navy since 1815, according to a book about the capture.

The museum’s new exhibit, “U-505 Submarine: 75 Stories,” will include sailors’ personal journals and belongings, photos taken during the war and pop culture items.

Seventy-five “rarely-seen” artifacts and photographs will help tell the U-505’s story. The commemoration is set for June 4, one of the museum’s free days this summer. A ceremony will start around 11:10 a.m. when U-505 capture efforts started 75 years earlier.

HANNAH BOUFFORD/BLOCK CLUB CHICAGO
The Museum of Science and Industry is preparing a new temporary exhibit called “U-505 Submarine: 75 Stories.”
The sub capture was led by Capt. Daniel V. Gallery, who commanded Hunter-Killer Task Group 22.3, one of the groups formed to target German subs.

With the help of antisubmarine intelligence in Washington, Gallery searched for a U-boat “known to be prowling off the coast of West Africa,” according to the U-505 exhibit. His idea of capturing, rather than sinking, it came from a previous attack, according to his book about the capture.

Task Group 22.3, with five light destroyer escorts and one small aircraft carrier escort, tried to find the sub. Gallery said they would get close, but then the submarine would slip away.

“It was a game of hide and seek, you know,” Gallery said in a Museum of Science and Industry video.

After Gallery called off the search and started to head for fuel, one of the destroyer escorts reported possible contact with the U-boat at around 11:10 a.m. June 4, according to the museum.

“Frenchy to Bluejay — I have a possible sound contact!” Gallery heard, according to his book.

Task-Group 22.3 went on to fire hedgehog explosives and then depth charges, and the submarine surfaced.

Three destroyer escorts and fighter planes fired at the sub upon its surfacing, though Gallery ordered only antipersonnel ammunition be used so no major holes would be blown in the hull, according to an exhibit placard. Holes torn by bullets in the minutes of gunfire after surfacing can still be seen on the submarine at MSI.

German sailors began to abandon ship and attempted to scuttle, or sink, the U-505. U-boats were loaded with German intelligence and technology, and in addition to captains having orders to sink their subs if in danger of capture, sailors were trained to set time bombs to go off, according to the museum.


The U-505 crew opened a sea strainer to flood the submarine. A member of the boarding party replaced the cover and helped keep the submarine from flooding.
HANNAH BOUFFORD/BLOCK CLUB CHICAGO
Some task group crews rescued the German sailors abandoning ship, and a boarding party headed toward the sub to try and save it. It could blow up or sink at any moment. In an oral history aspect of the U-505 exhibit, Motor Machinist’s Mate 1st Class Zenon Lukosius, a boarding party member who helped keep the U-505 from sinking, recalled German sailors asking to be saved.

“We’re going after the submarine,” he said he told them.

The task group pulled intelligence from the U-505. Even if the sub was lost, they would have something to show for their efforts, Gallery said in his book.

“The attack had jammed the U-505’s rudder, the sub was out of control and the German crew had jumped into the water. Waves washed over the sub’s deck as it slowly began to sink. The Americans didn’t know how long the sub would stay afloat – or if it was boobytrapped inside. Undaunted, a volunteer boarding party of nine men from the U.S.S. Pillsbury – only one of whom had been in a submarine before – tumbled down the hatch. Water was pouring in from a sea strainer that had been opened by the fleeing Germans who had attempted to sink the vessel. Thinking quickly – under incredible pressure – Engineer’s Mate Zenon Lukosius searched for the
scuttle valve and finding it, was able to secure the U-505.

Museum of Science And Industry
After the group was able to keep the submarine from sinking, it was towed to Bermuda so the Navy could study it. There, analysts cataloged more than 1,200 “secret German Navy items,” including two Enigma code machines. The capture of the U-505 was announced after Germany surrendered.

“The U-505 was more than a trophy of war,” according to the Museum of Science and Industry. “Its seizure was critical in helping the Allies understand German technology and codes. More immediately, by studying the U-boat, the Allies were able to better defend their ships at sea.”


Members of a U.S. Navy boarding party attach a tow line to the U-505 after it’s capture in 1944.
US NAVY
The submarine has been at the Museum of Science and Industry since 1954. Gallery campaigned for it to come to Chicago and serve as a memorial instead of being scrapped or even sunk.

It was towed through the St. Lawrence Seaway to Lake Michigan. After it crossed Lake Shore Drive, it became a permanent exhibit, standing proudly outside the museum. The submarine was dedicated Sept. 25, 1954. It became a National Historic Landmark in 1989.


The U-505 sits in its old location outside the museum.
J.B. SPECTOR/MUSEUM OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY, CHICAGO
After decades outside, the U-505 was lowered into its current indoor exhibit in 2004. The museum has acted as a “gathering place for the members of the boarding party to come together and reflect on the historic happenings of the day,” museum spokesperson Amy Patti said. MSI was also the setting of a reunion between Gallery and Harald Lange, the skipper of the U-505.
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Everybody's got a plan until they get hit.
neverenoughguns
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Post by neverenoughguns »

Our family visited this museum a couple years back. Absolutely amazing!
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FfNJGTFO
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Post by FfNJGTFO »

Same here. Having lived in Chicago for several years, I've had a chance to visit the Museum and the U-Boat several times. One would think that they had to recruit extremely short, thin crew members to occupy that sub. Because, trust me, it ain't a "Ohio Class" boomer!
Joecruiser
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Post by Joecruiser »

What a great read with my morning coffee and awesome pics.
The one with Old Glory proudly flying above the conning tower while the Salties bow surf is my fav.
Interesting tidbit I found:

When the Navy captured it, it was “the first capture of a foreign man-of-war in battle on the high seas” by the U.S. Navy since 1815, according to a book about the capture

The war had been raging on for 3 years prior to U-505's capture. Every enemy ship or sub prior to that had been sunk or scuttled. It was fire at will.
aka: Dolfan
ADulay
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Post by ADulay »

Thanks for the article. Excellent pictures to go with my morning cup of brew.

I remember seeing U-505 as a kid when my dad took us to Chicago, and the museum, way back in the late 50's or early 60's. At the time, that was only 15-20 years from WWII !

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Wulfmann
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Post by Wulfmann »

Anyone here remember Hans Goebeler?
He was on the U-505 and claimed to be the man who pulled the plug to scuttle the boat
He wrote a book about it "Steel Boat Iron Herats"

Hans immigrated to the US and lived in Central Florida.
He married a much much much younger German girl who spoke with a heavy German accent. Hans used to do local gun shows selling "Historic Mugs" as he called them along with T-shirts with German unit markings.
He was a very anti-Nazi guy.
Because I speak a(very) little German we got to chat a few times at length. I remember one guy saying to him "We know you were good guys and there was only one bad guy". Hans turns to me and says (in German) "If he thinks there was only one bad guy he is crazy, there were many bad guys"
He was a very likeable fellow.
He had a daughter with his young wife who did an occasional show (To clear out the rest of the stuff???) and the daughter was the spitting image of Hans (when he was a young man) She would mimic her mother's accent to a T and her mother said to me nicely. "I don't think I sound like that or have any accent" to wish I LOLed and said the girl has you pecked exactly as she says it.
I have been to the U-505 as well.

The U-505 was smaller than the standard US fleet sub of WWII but was actually the larger of the 2 main U-Boat types. It was a long range Type IXC boat so was tasked to the US coast (Operation Drumbeat), the South Atlantic and Indian Ocean as well as the long trips to Japan.
The smaller Type VIIC was what fought the North Atlantic battles and while much smaller than US Boats was more maneuverable, faster diving and could dive much deeper and withstand far more punishment than any other sub until the wonder weapon type XXI

Here is a nice story on the U-505
https://www.historynet.com/german-subma ... war-ii.htm
jimmac
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Post by jimmac »

Born and raised in Chicago (West Side) went the the Museum many times, the old CTA would take me there as a kid, no problems, not like today.
Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms, add a bag of Doritos, and we have a picnic.
It's a beautiful day, watch some idiot come along and screw it up.
NRA BENEFACTOR MEMBER, RETIRED FIRE LIEUTENANT. FORMER AUX POLICE OFFICER, FORMER POLICE COMMISSIONER
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