U-Boat Exhibit @ MSI

Our first stop on the Chicago road trip was a quick one. We really only had about an hour and a half to hit MSI before we needed to get moving to next stop of family dinner on the North Shore. We agreed we'd focus on two things, Science Storms and the U-505 Submarine. http://www.msichicago.org/whats-here/exhibits/u-505/
I did not opt for tickets to get on the Sub this time, although I have done this in the past. It is a great experience to go inside the sub, but I did not think that seven year old would have patience for it (it's about 15-20 minute guided tour) or the capacity to be the small space. It is well worth it though for older kids. Honestly, I was a little claustrophobic on it myself.

I love the preamble of the exhibit, setting the context. This video is a mixture of historic footage and scripted new footage shot to re-enact the capture sighting, disabling and capture of U-505 by the US Naval Hunter Task Force.

The boys were captivating by the story of the capture of the ship. When they turned the corner to see her, "WHOA!" was the word that came forth.

They also really enjoyed the simulation of driving the submarine. This exercise shows how the sub crew had to work together to make the sub move, dive, surface, etc. Their training mission was accomplished!

They were fascinated by the story of how the US had to tow the sub from the coast of Africa, where it was captured, all the way across the Atlantic to Bermuda to keep the Germans from knowing the sub (and its code breaking equipment) had fallen into the hands of the US.

Boys were also really intriqued by the explanation how the ship came to be in Chicago. It was moved from Bermuda, up the Eastern coast, into the St. Lawrence Seaway, through four of the five Great Lakes and then faced on last hurdle--how to cross Lake Shore Drive to MSI without damaging the roadway or stopping traffic. Amazing story. The video that showed a reunion of the US commander who captured U-505 and the German commander of the sub once it was installed at MSI in 1962 was also pretty cool.

One of the neatest videos in the exhibit is the super-speed video showing how U-505 was moved into this new gallery space, built exclusively for it. Remember, it sat outside the museum from the early 1960's until mid-2000's. This video shows how the space was excavated, how U-505 was loaded onto a truck and driven, very slowly around the museum to its new location and then lowered carefully into the new space. Literally the building was built around the sub and now it is encased in the building and preserved for many millions more to see and remember.