U-505’s guns, which had been removed for evaluation in Bermuda, were reunited with the boat at an unknown date. Except for one barrel, the twin 2cm anti-aircraft guns and mounts are original to the boat. The replacement barrel came from U-858, a type IXC/40 and the first German U-boat to surrender to the US Navy on May 8, 1945. Ironically, its skipper was Thilo Bode, U-505’s former I.W.O. Bode surrendered to a hunter-killer group off the American East Coast that included four of the five destroyer escorts present during the capture of U-505. The destroyer that accepted Bode’s capitulation was USS Pillsbury, whose boarding party had so valiantly captured U-505 only 11 months earlier.130
U-505’s Future
Structurally speaking, the boat arrived in good condition, if a bit shabby looking. Extensive corrosion damage (as noted earlier in the article) was present, but for the most part major structural components were intact. Many of the compartments were coated with surface rust and many painted areas were chipped and peeling. The Navy had repainted the vessel black on the outside and white on the inside, without making any attempt to match the boat’s original color scheme (which was a two-tone gray exterior and ivory interior). Thankfully, the original Kriegsmarine interior colors survived intact beneath several coats of American white paint, which helped the museum significantly in recent restoration efforts. The original paint scheme has been restored to the interior of the submarine, and extensive research helped return the exterior to its original color scheme. Expertise in restoring the boat has been received from many of U-505’s former crewmen, some of whom emigrated to the United States after the war.
The Officers Quarters on U-505 on the afternoon of June 4, 1944. The small photo on the wall is the destroyer T-25. (Bottom) U-505’s rear torpedo room looks crammed even after 80 days at sea. A spare torpedo is under the starboard bunks and spare parts containers clog the central aisle. The emergency steering control in the center rear of the room was activated by Captain Gallery, and Earl Trosino used it to straighten the boat’s rudders.
The rear planesman station, starboard side of the Control Room. To the right is the low pressure air manifold and main dive tank controls with dive status indicators above. The thick black hose in the bottom right corner leads up to the bridge and was being used to pump water out of the bilges to keep U-505 afloat.
The Control room of U-505 looking aft. The gear in the middle of the narrow isle was being moved toward the overhead conning tower hatch by the salvage crew for removal to USS Guadalcanal in an effort to lighten the boat. The radar detection gear is visible on the far right. Note the hose running aft being used to remove water from the rear of the boat. The wear and tear of more than 80 days at sea is evident.
U-505 arrived in Cleveland on June 3, 1954. The plan was to stop for a few days to raise funds and make a media splash featuring Chester Mocarski of the USS Pillsbury boarding party. U-505 was painted black in Cleveland to improve its appearance in preparation for the grand arrival in Chicago. However, nothing could be done about the gaping rust holes in the outer hull (those in the stern are clearly visible in both images above) or the unsafe wooden deck. As a result, no visitors were allowed aboard during this stage of the journey.
U-505 in Portsmouth, as seen by the U-505 Committee members during the 1953 inspection visits. The original deck shows signs of rotting. (Bottom) U-505 and its tug escort in May 1954, heading toward Chicago in the St. Lawrence River just north of Clayton, New York, and the northeast end of Lake Ontario.
U-505 in Portsmouth, as seen by the U-505 Committee members during the 1953 inspection visits. The original deck shows signs of rotting. (Bottom) U-505 and its tug escort in May 1954, heading toward Chicago in the St. Lawrence River just north of Clayton, New York, and the northeast end of Lake Ontario.
U-505 sits atop the floating dry-dock transverse beams inserted through the CVK (Center Vertical Keel) and atop longitudinal shoe beams for the jacking operation. Note the rusted GHG (group listening apparatus) array. (Bottom) Display cradles and jacking framework are installed. The steel rollers are in place and U-505 is ready for the move onto the beach.
U-505 leaves the Calumet River in the floating dry-dock and begins the journey to the 57th street beach.
The floating dry-dock maneuvers close to the beach and is carefully repositioned so U-505 can be pulled onto the specially-built pier. The steel rollers to help the move are clearly visible on the track. These images convey well the complexity of the engineering required to transport U-505 onto land.
Once the dry-dock was secured U-505 was slowly rolled off onto the pier. (Bottom) Thousands came from miles around to watch U-505 move ashore. Note the boat’s propeller shafts, propellers, and rudders.
The dry-dock is now just a few yards away from the pier and its final position. (Bottom) Once safely ashore U-505 was jacked up six feet in the air so it could be moved across Lake Shore Drive.
For 2½ weeks U-505 created a surreal backdrop for swimmers who, in this image at least, seem uninterested in the 750-ton steel land shark lurking on their beach.
With landing operations successfully completed U-505 awaits its next move—across busy Lake Shore Drive, visible just beyond its stern.
The move across Lake Shore Drive began at 7:00 p.m. on September 2, 1954, over temporary rails covering 312 feet on 638 steel rollers. (Bottom) The middle of the boat crossed the center line of the street at 1:00 a.m. on September 3. The event made for an ideal photo opportunity. Here, Daniel Gallery and his son, Daniel V. Gallery, III, pose with Seth Gooder. Gallery arranged the installation of the sign and for Life magazine to cover this part of the move.
On September 25, 1954, U-505’s dedication ceremony before 40,000 people was broadcast live on national television. (Bottom) U-505 in the late 1970’s with the Burlington Pioneer Zephyr alongside and two locomotives in the background. The harsh Chicago climate eventually forced these artifacts indoors.
Harald Lange, U-505’s last captain, visits his former boat for the first time since the war in 1964. Daniel Gallery is seen giving Lange back his 8x60 commander binoculars. (Bottom) Axel-Olaf Loewe, U-505’s first and most successful captain, returned to U-505 in 1957 for an official visit. Loewe and museum director Lenox Lohr are examining the Petty Officers’ quarters.
In 1995 Keith Gill, U-505’s curator, helped organize special night tours of the boat. Here, museum members are led on a fascinating tour of U-505 by former U-518 crewman Pete Petersen (left), Wayne Pickels (center) and Zenon Lukosius (right) from the USS Pillsbury boarding party.
Lothar-Ghnther Bucheim visited U-505 May 2, 1983, during the promotional tour for his book Das Boot. He chided visitors about the American hero worship he saw in the exhibit.
This photograph was taken during one of the annual U-505 members-only events. From left to right: Wayne Pickels (Pillsbury boarding party), Keith R. Gill (U-505 curator), Pete Petersen (U-518), Zenon Lukosius (Pillsbury boarding party), and historian Timothy Mulligan.
Former members of the USS Guadalcanal Task Group and U-505 came together for a reunion in 1982. German crewmen are seated in front. Hans Goebeler (with cane) on the far left. Earl Trosino, Guadalcanal’s engineer who led the salvage team, is visible over Goebeler’s right shoulder. This was the German crew’s first formal visit to U-505 since its capture in June 1944.
Since its arrival at the museum U-505 has undergone four restorations: 1954, 1968, 1978, and 1988-1989. Each time the boat was sandblasted to metal, damaged or rusted shell plating was cut out and patched in or doubled over, and a new coat of fresh paint applied. Unfortunately, each restoration required that bits and pieces of the original boat be cut or sandblasted away. Corrosion has been taking its toll on the outer hull plating and complex mechanical equipment located under the main deck. The periodic sandblasting provides a clean and easy-to-paint surface, but removes and thins the metal. The pace of deterioration has been as unrelenting as Chicago’s weather.
When tests in the 1990s conclusively demonstrated that U-505’s ou
ter hull had thinned dramatically during its many decades of outdoor display, it became obvious that something had to be done to preserve the boat for future generations. The successful construction of a massive underground structure to display and protect the 1934 Pioneer Zephyr, the train that had been outdoors alongside U-505 for 30 years, persuaded museum officials do consider doing the same thing for U-505.
Plans were formulated to move the boat to a new location underground on the North side of the East Pavilion, with a roof installed overhead and special exhibits around the boat to tell the story of its heroic capture in June 1944. The controlled atmosphere of the new exhibit will be maintained at 45% Rh and 70 degrees Fahrenheit and greatly reduce environmental damage to the boat while allowing caretakers to maintain U-505 in its current state in perpetuity. Visitors will be able to observe U-505’s deck from a balcony, walk around the outside and touch the boat, and participate in many interesting smaller interactive exhibits. Over the past 15 years a determined effort has been made to collect artifacts related to U-505. Many of these items—including medals awarded to the Navy personnel and more than 50 artifacts removed as souvenirs—will appear on exhibit for the first time when the new display opens in 2005. At $23,500,000, this new exhibit is the largest and most expensive ever undertaken by the museum.
Other efforts have been made to preserve the boat’s history. In 1999, the author and Laura Graedel, a museum archivist, organized an intensive oral history project. More than 100 hours of filmed interviews have now been preserved with surviving American and German veterans who played important roles during the June 1944 capture of the boat. Many members of the crew arrived for a reunion at the boat and took part in the oral history project. Some met for the first time the Americans they had faced in 1944. One of the surviving crewmen from the Thomas McKean, which had been sunk by U-505 more than four decades earlier, attended the 1999 reunion. He, too, met his former enemies for the first time.
To many people U-505 was an “unlucky” boat. It is hard to agree with that assessment. The U-boat did have the misfortune of several aborted war patrols due to mechanical failures and witnessed the dramatic suicide of one of its captains at sea. But U-505 survived the bombing attack of November 1942 that would have been fatal to many other boats, sank more than its share of Allied shipping, and every man but one aboard the boat survived June 4, 1944. Considering how many U-boats and crews were lost during the war, leaving on patrol in 1944 and living to tell the tale can hardly be considered an unlucky fate.
The meaning of U-505 as a memorial has evolved over time. World War II grows more distant by the day. As we lose participants from that era, so too will we lose all direct continuity with that watershed historical event. U-505 served first as a memorial for the World War II generation established by the World War II generation. Yet, even as the memorial was being dedicated a new interpretive framework, the Cold War Communist threat, was employed to alter the symbolism and meaning the veterans attributed to the submarine. The Cold War generation utilized the threat once posed by U-505 as a clarion call for preparedness against the Soviet Union, whose “challenge for control of the high seas,” Admiral Halsey so eloquently noted, was “doomed to failure.”
Subsequent generations will look upon, study, and apply their own meaning to U-505. As such, the boat will transcend the purpose for which it was built and for which it was saved.
Appendix A
Type IXC U-Boats: Technical Data
(compiled by Eric C. Rust)
Total number built: 54
Designations: U-66 through 68; U-125 through 131; U-153 through 166; U-171 through 176; and U-501 through 524.
First boat commissioned: U-66 (January 2, 1941)
Last boat commissioned: U-524 (July 8, 1942)
Constructed at:
Deschimag Weser, Bremen (U-66 through 68; U-125 through 131;
U-153 through 160; and U-171 through 176);
Seebeckwerft, Geestemünde (U-161 through 166);
Deutsche Werft, Hamburg (U-501 through 524)
Displacement:
Surfaced: 1,120 tons
Submerged: 1,232 tons
Hull Dimensions (overall):
Length: 76.76 m (251.83 ft.)
Beam: 6.76 m (22.18 ft.)
Draft: 4.67 m (15.32 ft.)
Pressure Hull:
Length: 57.75 m (189.47 ft.)
Diameter: 4.40 m (14.44 ft.)
Thickness (plates): 18.5 mm (.73 inches)
Diving Characteristics:
Diving depth, safe: 100 meters (328 feet)
Diving depth, tested: 165 meters (541 feet)
Maximum depth, theoretical: 250 meters (820 feet)
Fastest dive: 35 seconds
Engines:
2 MAN 9 cylinder four-stroke diesels, producing up to 2,500 HP
2 SSW electric motors fed by 164 (2 x 62) battery cells, generating 740 W at 11,300 Ah (based on discharge over 20 hours); producing up to 562 HP Battery weight: 74.90 metric tons
Maximum Speed:
Surface: 19.25 knots
Submerged: 7.46 knots
Maximum Range:
Surface: 13,450 nautical miles at 10 knots
5,000 nautical miles at 18.3 knots
Submerged: 63 nautical miles at 4 knots
128 nautical miles at 2 knots
Fuel Storage Capacity:
Inside pressure hull: 64.35 metric tons
Including diving tanks: 152.42 metric tons
Including diving and trimming tanks: 207.51 metric tons
Weight:
Hull without ballast: 404.78 metric tons
Engines: 291.31 metric tons
Water, lubricating oil, etc.: 10.15 metric tons
Weaponry: 168.30 metric tons
Miscellaneous: 2.00 metric tons
Weight without ballast: 876.54 metric tons
Effective ballast: 78.33 metric tons
Weight (normal load): 958.33 metric tons
Weight (maximum load): 1081.45 metric tons
Weaponry:
Torpedo tubes: 6 (4 in bow compartment, 2 aft), 21-inch diameter
Torpedoes carried: 22
Deck gun: One 10.5cm (4.1 inch) L/45 (removed after 1943)
Anti-aircraft artillery: One 3.7cm, one (after 1943 up to four) 2cm
Complement:
Standard: 48; Officers: 4; Petty officers: 15; Ratings: 29
After 1943, up to 12 additional crew were utilized to man anti-aircraft artillery.
Appendix B
U-505 Combat Chronology
(compiled by Timothy Mulligan)
Abbreviations:
GRT = gross registered tons, the weight of a merchant ship without regard for cargo
I. W.O. = Erster Wach-Offizier, First Watch Officer
II. W.O. = Zweiter Wach-Offizier, Second Watch Officer
September 25, 1939: German Navy contracts with Deutsche Werft AG Hamburg-Finkenwerder for the construction of five Type IXC U-boats; Construction No. 295 will become U-505.
June 12, 1940: Keel laid.
May 24, 1941: Submarine launched.
August 26, 1941: Commissioned into service as U-505 under Kaptlt. Axel-Olaf Loewe.
August 27, 1941-19 January 1942: Training and shakedown cruises in the Baltic.
August 31-October 3, 1941: Acceptance and silent running trials in Kiel, off Bornholm, and in Danzig Bay.
October 4-15, 1941: Operational training off Danzig and Hela.
October 16-November 10, 1941: Torpedo-firing, artillery, and depth-charge exercises with the 25th U-boat Flotilla, Danzig.
November 11-22, 1941: Tactical training in the Baltic with the 27th U-boat Flotilla.
November 27, 1941-8 January 1942: Tied up in Hamburg.
January 12-15, 1942: Outfitting for operations in Stettin.
January 17-19, 1942: Final preparations for departure in Kiel.
January 19-February 3, 1942: Transfer passage from Kiel to Lorient.
First o
perational cruise; No encounters with enemy forces; total distance traveled = 2,562 nautical miles, of which 2,371 surfaced [92.5%], 191 submerged [7.5%].
February 6: Admiral Karl Dönitz personally inspects U-505.
February 11-May 7, 1942: Combat patrol off Freetown and West Africa (second operational cruise).
March 1-April 21: in operations area.
March 5: Sinks British steamer Benmohr (5,920 GRT) at 06.05 N/14.15 W with four torpedoes (two hits); crew recovered by British aircraft.
March 6: Sinks Norwegian tanker Sydhav (7,587 GRT) at 04.47 N/14.57 W with two torpedoes (both hits); survivors brought to Freetown.
March 16: Unsuccessful attack on unidentified vessel, two torpedoes miss.
March 29: Boat experiences first depth-charge attack.
March 31: Boat crosses the Equator.
April 2-3: Pursues and torpedoes American cargo vessel West Irmo (5,775 GRT), bound from New York to Lagos with 4,000 tons of general cargo; the ship sinks 4 April at 02.10 N/05.52. W; five torpedoes fired (two hits); all 44 crewmen and Navy gunners survive, but 10 of 65 African longshoremen on board are killed.
April 4: Sinks Dutch merchantman Alphacca (5,759 GRT) at 01.50 N/07.40 W with one torpedo hit; no apparent casualties among crew.
April 6: Error during emergency dive leaves bridge and stern exposed above water for five minutes, but U-505 eludes detection.
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