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Summary
On
June 1944 the German Submarine U-505 became the first
man-of-war since the War of 1812 to be captured by the U.S. Navy in battle on
high seas. Attacked by the American hunter-killer force Task Group 22/3 of the
coast of West Africa, the U-boat was forced to the surface after a fierce bombardment.
Abandoned by the crew while partially afloat, she was boarded by American sailors
and secretly towed to Bermuda. Renamed USS Nemo, the submarine made a war bond
subscription tour of Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico ports before docking at Portsmouth,
New Hampshire, to await scrapping in accordance with the allied agreement regarding
postwar retention of operational enemy U-boats. These events are vividly described
in the pages of this book along with the story of how the U-505 became a major
attraction at the world-renowned Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago.
Author Jim Wise tells how Admiral Dan Gallery, the commander
of the Task Group 22.3, saved the boat and became a major force in convincing
the Navy Department not to scuttle the submarine but to transfer the U-505's
ownership to the science museum, where she would be put on display to commemorate
the thousands of Americans who had been lost at sea during World War II. Wise
chronicles the boat's arduous journey down the St. Lawrence River and across four
of the five Great Lakes to the shores of Lake Michigan for restoration. He then
offers a memorable description of the staggering engineering feat that moved the
sub over-land to an outdoor exhibit area at the museum, where she was opened to
the public in 1954. In 1989 the U-505 was designated a National Historic
Landmark.
By the turn of the 21st century, museum executives had determined
that the nearly fifty years of exposure to the elements and more that 24 million
visitors had taken their tool. They raised millions of dollars to restore the
U-boat and to build a temperature-controlled site four stories below ground. In
addition to the fully restored German submarine, the exhibit area of "The
New U-505 Experience" also includes artifacts and interactive stations
to give visitors a taste of what is was like for the crewmen in battle. This book
showcases some two hundred photographs, including some of the submarine's new
home while under construction.
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