I Toured The Uss Cobia, A World War Ii Submarine That Sank 13 Ships And Received 4 Battle Stars. Take A Look Inside.

The USS Cobia is exhibited astatine nan Wisconsin Maritime Museum successful Manitowoc.

In 1970, nan USS Cobia was turned into a memorial for submariners successful Manitowoc, Wisconsin, a municipality known for nan Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company, which built 28 submarines during World War II.

In 1986, nan USS Cobia was designated arsenic a National Historic Landmark, added to nan National Register of Historic Places, and permanently docked for accumulation astatine nan Wisconsin Maritime Museum.

General admittance to nan depository costs $22. Veterans salary $17, and progressive subject work members person free admission.

Tickets tin beryllium purchased connected nan Wisconsin Maritime Museum's website.

My circuit guide, Mark Becker, served connected a US Navy submarine during nan Cold War.

Becker worked arsenic a navigator connected nan submarine USS Silversides.

The depository besides offers self-guided audio tours done an app, but I was excited to locomotion done nan alloy pinch personification who had acquisition surviving and moving connected a submarine.

At nan guidelines of its periscope, an upside-down broom indicated that nan submarine sank an force ship, a Navy awesome still successful usage today.

"Any US Navy vessel that is flying that broom has made a cleanable expanse of nan force from nan sea. So successful different words, they sunk an force ship," Becker said.

Becker indicated patched holes connected nan apical of nan submarine that were caused by force fire.

While bullets would bounce disconnected nan submarine, heavier artillery could punch holes successful its surface.

A plaque connected nan platform paid tribute to Ralph Clark Huston Jr., a 19-year-old unit personnel who died successful battle.

Huston Jr. was fatally wounded successful a firefight pinch Japanese warships successful 1945 and buried astatine sea. He was nan only USS Cobia unit personnel who died during nan submarine's six warfare patrols.

The first extremity connected nan circuit wrong nan submarine was nan guardant torpedo room.

Torpedomen, unit members who were successful complaint of loading and firing nan torpedoes, slept successful nan room connected pull-out bunks.

Each torpedo weighed complete 3,000 pounds.

We proceeded done nan hatch to a constrictive hallway starring to nan officers' quarters.

Each conception of nan submarine could beryllium sealed disconnected from nan others pinch watertight doors.

In nan officers' pantry, nutrient from nan galley was reheated and plated connected fancier dinnerware for higher-ranking unit members.

Officers ate nan aforesaid meals arsenic nan remainder of nan crew.

Officers ate, held meetings, and spent their free clip successful nan ward room.

The room was laid retired for illustration a edifice booth, pinch benches connected either broadside and a array successful nan middle. Food was served done a model connecting nan ward room to nan officers' pantry.

Another room featured bunks for 4 officers.

The room included a mini pull-out chair and folding array and a closet to bent uniforms.

Chief petty officers slept successful a room known arsenic nan "goat locker."

According to nan Naval History and Heritage Command, nan nickname dates backmost to 1893, erstwhile nan officers' rank was established. Chief petty officers were successful complaint of nan goats kept connected ships to nutrient milk, and nan animals were kept successful their quarters.

Becker offered an replacement colloquial explanation.

"By nan clip a man makes a main petty officer, he's been successful nan Navy for a while — astatine minimum 10, 15 years," he said. "So they called this nan goat locker, arsenic in, aged goats."

Only nan skipper enjoyed nan privilege of a backstage stateroom pinch a telephone that could telephone immoderate room connected nan submarine.

The photograph connected nan table showed nan USS Cobia's existent captain, Captain Albert Becker, who earned nan Navy Cross and Silver Star Medal for his 5 warfare patrols pinch nan submarine.

The yeoman served arsenic nan submarine's caput successful a mini agency called nan yeoman's shack.

The yeoman handled each of nan submarine's paperwork, including unit unit records and bid forms for nutrient and mechanical parts.

The power room acted arsenic nan encephalon of nan submarine pinch important instrumentality that controlled and measured nan ship's guidance and function.

The power room was staffed astir nan clock.

The brass steering instrumentality successful nan power room functioned arsenic nan backup steering wheel, known arsenic nan auxiliary helm.

The main helm, aliases steering wheel, was located successful nan captain's conning building located supra nan power room.

"Everything connected a submarine has a backup," Becker said.

Other wheels successful nan room controlled nan submarine's extent by moving front and stern dive planes.

Dive planes acted for illustration nan fins of a whale, shifting nan submarine's perspective while diving aliases surfacing.

The USS Cobia's power room still useful acknowledgment to nan Wisconsin Maritime Museum's restoration efforts.

Becker said that nan submarine's SJ-1 radar is nan oldest operational radar successful nan US.

"Not that I'm bragging, but we person nan astir awesome volunteers who travel and activity connected nan Cobia conscionable because they emotion her," he said. "Those are 80-something-year-old radios pinch nan large aged tubes successful them and stuff. These men will spell to junk stores and scrap places and look for tubes."

The radar is truthful powerful that Becker said it tin interfere pinch telephone work successful nan surrounding municipality erstwhile it's turned on, which tin elicit "nasty notes from nan telephone company" telling them to "turn that point off."

The submarine's mini room fed its 80 unit members 3 meals positive a midnight snack each day.

Becker, a erstwhile submarine cook, said that nutrient was cardinal to nan crew's morale, particularly connected holidays for illustration Christmas erstwhile work members often felt homesick.

"When they drawback a whiff of turkey aliases ham aliases cakes baking aliases thing for illustration that, they drawback that smell, it'll popular them retired of it for illustration that," he said.

The crew's messiness was a multipurpose room wherever sailors ate meals, watched movies, publication books, and took classes.

Crew members ate successful shifts since nan room could only spot 24 group astatine a time.

The crew's quarters had 36 bunks, which wasn't capable for each personification to person their ain designated bed.

Using a strategy called "hot racking," unit members shared bunks by rotating their usage pinch group assigned to different shifts.

Each unit personnel was allotted 1 cubic ft of abstraction for their individual items.

The crew's washroom featured 2 showers, 4 sinks, and 2 toilets for 72 people.

Showers were uncommon for sailors connected nan USS Cobia owed to nan submarine's constricted proviso of caller water. Crew members could usage 1 sinkful's worthy of caller h2o per day.

Using nan bath connected nan USS Cobia was not a elemental task — it took 9 steps to flush nan toilet correctly.

If nan process was not decently followed, nan contents would sprout backmost out, starring unit members to nickname nan toilets "freckle-makers."

The USS Cobia had 4 16-cylinder diesel locomotive engines, 2 successful nan guardant motor room and 2 successful nan aft motor room.

The 2 engines successful nan guardant motor room still work.

With each of nan power from nan engines trapped wrong nan submarine's alloy frame, nan mean somesthesia connected committee was 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Most unit members wore cutoffs and sandals alternatively of uniforms.

The diesel engines charged nan submarine's artillery banks, which powered its electrical motors.

The h2o purifying strategy successful nan guardant motor room could nutrient up to 1,000 gallons of caller h2o each day.

Most of nan freshwater proviso went toward maintenance, not hygiene. The submarine's batteries required caller h2o since they ran truthful basking that they evaporated their electrolyte fluid.

In nan maneuvering room, unit members monitored nan USS Cobia's energy usage and speed.

The USS Cobia could only complaint its batteries while surfaced, truthful it usually moved slowly, astir 2 to 3 miles per hour, to conserve artillery power. Its maximum velocity was 9 knots, aliases astir 10 miles per hour.

"The faster we spell underwater, nan quicker nan batteries are going to beryllium depleted," Becker said. "Then you sewage to aboveground that overmuch sooner."

The past extremity was nan aft torpedo room successful nan backmost of nan submarine.

During World War II, submarines had 2 torpedo rooms, 1 successful nan beforehand and 1 successful nan back, truthful that torpedoes could beryllium fired offensively and defensively, Becker said.

The torpedo motorboat conduit featured an image of nan cobia food from nan USS Cobia's conflict flag.

Walt Disney Studios designed complete 30 submarine conflict flags featuring cartoon-like oversea creatures during World War II. While Disney didn't tie nan cobia depicted connected nan USS Cobia's flag, it was apt inspired by nan studio's different designs.

I exited nan USS Cobia successful awe of its intricate systems and nan work members who kept it moving during World War II.

When I looked astatine my watch astatine nan extremity of Becker's tour, I couldn't judge that astir 2 hours had passed. The clip flew by.

As I said goodbye and thanked him for nan tour, I asked Becker astir his favourite recipes from his work arsenic a submarine cook. He said that nan skipper of nan USS Silversides was a instrumentality of his chocolate-chip cookies and erstwhile called nan room to inquire for a sheet erstwhile he smelled them baking.

"For nan remainder of nan clip he was connected that boat, each greeting erstwhile he woke up, location was a small sheet of chocolate-chip cookies connected his desk," Becker said. He pointed to his shoulder, indicating nan spot wherever Navy azygous stripes bespeak rank. "I sewage promoted."