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View Full Version : I visited the U-505 today


MonkeyHero
08-31-05, 09:45 PM
I went with friends and family to visit the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago today. We went through the Body Worlds exhibit (very interesting), but the real reason I went was for the new U-505 exhibit. Previously they just had it sitting outside rusting, and you could look at it through tiny little windows, but couldn't really see it at all.

Now, though, they've brought it inside and fully restored it. When I first walked into the "dry dock" I was surprised by how big it really is. It's a type IXC, and just seeing pictures or the SH3 models really doesn't give you a good sense of what a beast she is.

We payed $5 and got to go inside on a guided tour. Unfortunately they don't give you too much time and the tour guide knew nothing besides the scripted lines she'd been given. When one of the other people in our group asked her what type of boat it was she answered, "This is a Type C One X submarine." I think I cried a little right there.

All in all it's really a fantastic exhibit. You can walk all around the sub, and there's walkways so you can see the top of the deck. Unfortunately nobody thought to bring a camera so I don't have any pictures to show. You can check this (http://www.msichicago.org/exhibit/U505/exhibit/index.html) site out for a little bit of info. For those who don't know the U-505 was captured by a US Hunter-Killer task force in '44 I believe.

urseus
08-31-05, 11:06 PM
And your attaching the pictures you took......?

MonkeyHero
08-31-05, 11:34 PM
Unfortunately nobody thought to bring a camera so I don't have any pictures to show.

ReM
09-01-05, 01:57 AM
Anyway : lucky you!
I would love to visit the U 505, but it is exhibited on another continent and I can't visit it any time in the near future....

TreverSlyFox
09-01-05, 02:41 AM
Ahhhhhh, the U-505. My parents took me through it in the 50s, I must have been 9 or 10 at the time. It's sort of what got me into Subsims later in life. I don't remember if it was Silent Service or Aces of the Deep that I got first but I spent Hours and Hours playing them. All the time remembering the feeling when I was in the U-505.

I'm sorry to hear how bad the Tour Guide is now. When we went through it the Guide was a Volunteer that served abord Gato class subs in the Pacific and old CPO in Engineering. Guy was a wealth of info and really knew the sub. He knew the whole story of how she was captured, who the Officers were, where she was built and commissioned and most of all HOW SHE WORKED! I've never forgotten her.