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This Day in History - the U-505
June 4, 1944 was a particularly auspicious day for the Allied forces in Europe. The Allies entered Rome, General Eisenhower decided D-day would not be June 5th, but June 6th, and the U.S. Navy captured the first enemy combat vessel since 1815, the German submarine U-505. By 1944, small aircraft carriers with several destroyer escorts formed hunter-killer groups to sink enemy subs. The group lead by the USS Guadalcanal not only wanted to kill subs, they wanted to capture one! The group understood the difficulty, knew the risks, but planned to overcome the obstacles.After three weeks at sea without enemy contact, the group was running low on fuel and turned toward home. A few minutes later, they almost tripped over the U-505. The first destroyer literally overran the sub before getting ready to fire depth charges, while the carrier quickly launched two planes. The planes spotted the shallowly-submerged sub almost immediately and marked the position with machine gun fire. Depth charges brought the sub to the surface within six minutes, and the well-rehearsed plan went into action. Almost immediately, the sub was under fire from three ships and two planes, using 50-caliber machine guns planned to preserve the structural integrity of the ship, but discourage a fight. The Captain of the U-505 quickly ordered his crew to abandon ship and the sailors promptly complied, leaving the sea strainer open to the sea, and a time bomb on board to assure the sub would not be captured.  Lieutenant (j.g) Albert L. David was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for leading an eight-man boarding party into the sinking submarine. The men gathered up code books, disarmed the demolition changes and located the sea strainer inlet cover and replaced it, which stopped the flooding and prevented the sinking of the German sub. The Navy sailors then disconnected the subs diesels from her motors, which allowed the propellers to turn the electric motors into generators, charging the sub's batteries. Then the subs pumps and air compressors could pump out the seawater and stabilize the boat.The U-505 was thoroughly investigated (and her technology incorporated into US designs), kept secret until after the war, and then slated to be used for target practice. Shortly after the capture was revealed in 1946, a Chicago priest, who happened to be the brother of the Captain of the Guadalcanal, alerted Chicagos Museum of Science and Industry which had been planning a submarine exhibit since 1936. The people of Chicago raised $250,000 to help prepare the boat for the tow through the St. Lawrence Seaway and the Great Lakes to the Chicago beachfront just a few hundred yards from the Museum. In September 1954, U-505 was donated to the City of Chicago and dedicated as a war memorial and permanent exhibit. For 50 years, it rested just outside the huge Museum, which was built for the Colombian Exposition in 1893. In 1989, the U-505 was designated a National Historic Landmark. In 2004, it was moved into a specially-constructed, underground exhibit hall. The last time I visited the Museum, the line to see the U-505 was over two hours long, so if you go, be patient! Bobby Posted by: Bobby 2014-06-05 |
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