[Milsurplus] Re; Chicago Museum U-505

[Jack Sullivan]

I toured the U-505 back in the 1970s when it was attached to the main museum building. Big openings had been cut in the side at the front & rear so that you could walk through. It was an amazing exhibit, with the crew bunks still made up with red & white checkered sheets the same as the day it had been launched.
 
In 2004 a dedicated underground exhibit hall next to the Museum was constructed & the sub moved into it. There's a film on the web that shows the process, which must have cost them a fortune.
 
More recently I visited the Royal Navy Dockyards in Bermuda where there is a small exhibit to the U-505, which was stored there under guard there for the duration of WW2 so the Nazis wouldn't get wise to the fact that we had scored an amazing cryptographic intelligence coup when the sub was captured. Two (2) Enigma machines & associated code books were captured.
 
The U-505 is the biggest crowd attraction at the Museum & is a must-see when in Chicago.

Jack