U-505, Chicago
 

Toured U-505 this afternoon.


Real neat and very small and tight inside.

Did you take some pictures?IIRC there was a thread posted a while back with several pictures of U-505 on here.Also I think Neal has some pic of 505 on here.You should post some of yours if you took any.

I went through it a long time ago. I was dismayed that they cut the side...

Woulda been more impressed if they left it all stock.

I read an article somewhere that said when they got it and were restoring it just after the war, they wrote to the companies that made the parts asking for replacements. Most of them replied with a letter that said something like, "We are sorry you have our U-Boat, but, since you do, we at least want it to stand as a testament to German technology."

Woo 600th post

I toured U-505 in 1962. I don't remember much about it.

It's highly unlikely that a German company would have written this shortly after the war. They would never openly stated that they are sorry that the enemy has captured a boat, especially not during "denazification". Plus they had tons of other problems and did not care much for the stuff they produced during the war.

In John Venzo's chapter in "Steel Boat, Iron Hearts", he also never mentions this, iirc he also writes that the restoration did not start until the 1990s.
Can't check the book out atm - still in a box somewhere.

Penguin is correct, there was no "restoration" as such done just after the war. The museum didn't physically acquire the boat until 1954; the full restoration was only begun in 1997 when they decided to move it indoors.

From 1944 through 1954 the boat was in the hands of the US Navy. They sent her around the country on a war bonds tour after VE Day and certainly she was thoroughly examined for whatever intelligence and technological insights she might yield, but they wouldn't have been doing anything to restore or preserve her. Just the opposite, they were planning to get her "off the books" by using her for target practice until the buyers in Chicago intervened and saved her from destruction.

Here's the thread Mookie started in the museums section.

Some good pics there. Unfortunately, the lighting sux in the pen. Too dim for anything out of flash range.

Next time I go, I'm taking a hand held spotlight with me. :yeah:

Many WW2 items were left mothballed for quite sometime after the war. There is a storage facilty in Suitland MD were many were kept. Flying wings. Enola Gay. Of course the Enola Gay was restored and on display.

The again, U-505 was used quite a bit after capture. Many things could have been altered or changed. Much like the Torsk from her WW2 configuration up to Guppy class Cold War boat.

Dim lights are propably here preserve the ship. This is atleast case in Vasamuseet (Vasa Museum) where there is very poor lighting inside to prevent further damage to wreckage of Swedish 64-gun warship Vasa.

You're right, the lighting is very dim inside the exhibit hall. I think that's more for atmosphere than any sort of preservation. The boat is painted up good as new, so I don't think it's in any danger of rust or decay due to light.

This would work if you only want to take pics of details.
If you want to take a shot of the whole boat, you would need dozens of kilowatt's of light from different positions. Better take a tripod with you and use a long exposure time.
Looking forward to any submarine pics! :salute:

I suspect there is a large sign that states no flash photography. Flash will discolor paint over time plus it disturbs other visitors.

Not that I saw, and I looked. There were plenty of folks snapping flash pics. They even had an employee taking pics of visitors and hawking them.

Just can't take any inside the boat. :down:

I'd be grateful it didn't receive the same treatment as U-534...sliced into four sections.

http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...b7MXKke6FFCIEU

http://www.u-boatstory.co.uk/_common...Out2-U-534.jpg

http://www.merseymammoth.com/assets/...2%5B1%5D_1.jpg

http://www.irishseashipping.com/viewpoint/u534/u534.htm

Apologies for the background music.

I figured no pics inside with flash. Just the nature of some museums. Personally all the darn flashing is irritating to me. I'm sure it is to others.