Comments on: Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago

By: Jodi

Jodi — Sat, 19 Aug 2006 01:33:28 +0000

You can see time-lapse videos of the move of the sub here:

http://www.msichicago.org/exhibit/U505/exhibit/a_restoration/03_timelapse.html

Pretty amazing!

By: SNUGGLE BEAR

SNUGGLE BEAR — Tue, 02 May 2006 18:31:52 +0000

y r u all on soo freakin early?????

By: Jon B

Jon B — Sun, 16 Apr 2006 00:30:23 +0000

The Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company is still around, btw. On a boat trip a couple of years back, we stayed in the harbor where one of their yards is on our way to Chicago. They build (or are a builder of) and do overhauls on the Staten Island ferries. They had two when I was there, one under construction and one looking like it was getting overhauled. If you’re a New Yorker, they make the Kennedy Class ferries, which are 310′ long. When I posted my trip photos, my friends were a little freaked out, asking how the heck we got from NYC to Chicago in three days.

There are a three ways (that I’m aware of) to get into the Great Lakes from the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. The route down to the Gulf of Mexico that Chicago mentioned is one, although due to the decommisioning of a drawbridge, large ships starting in Chicago can’t use it. Another uses the NY state canal system to get to the Atlantic, but it has height restrictions.

The Saint Lawrence Seaway is the other way, which also leads to the Atlantic. Niagara Falls has a shipping canal (the Welland) that bypasses the falls. I would guess this is the route used for the ships the Manitowoc company builds for the Coast Guard and the NYC ferry system.

The UC-97, btw, used the Saint Lawrence Canal System (now the Seaway).

By: cookie monster

cookie monster — Sat, 01 Apr 2006 18:54:02 +0000

If i stood on a very large box i wouldn’t even come close to ankles of this giant of a man.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_turing

It was a bit of a circuitous reference but this man does not the credit it rightly deserves.

By: nigerache

nigerache — Fri, 31 Mar 2006 12:14:50 +0000

or wait if you want you could be the philosopher and mathematician Alan Turing whitch is it?

By: nigerache

nigerache — Fri, 31 Mar 2006 12:12:33 +0000

I googled you and it said you are a dead writer… sounds impressive

By: Chicago

Chicago — Fri, 31 Mar 2006 09:24:24 +0000

Well the UC 97 was considerably smaller than the later WWII subs. Quoting the article posted above the UC 97 was “185 feet in length, weighed 491 tons while surfaced, and had a crew of 32. By comparison, the U-505, manufactured some 20 years later, was 252 feet long, weighed 1,120 tons and had a crew of 59.” Plus this was in the teens when the locks could have been different than they are now.

Having said that, submarines in the Great Lakes weren’t really an uncommon occurance considering the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company of Wisconsin produced 28 commissioned submarines, during WWII that were moved through the lakes, down the Chicago River, to the Illinois River, to the Mississippi River, and eventually to New Orleans.

By: mark

mark — Fri, 31 Mar 2006 02:24:13 +0000

A sub in the Great lakes? Thatd be some kind of accomplishment, considering itd have to go through the very tight (and shallow) squeeze of the locks, or sail UP niagra falls.

By: Chicago

Chicago — Fri, 31 Mar 2006 00:49:18 +0000

A captured German sub from the FIRST World war, the UC 97, which was sunk off the shores of shores of Chicago after a tour of the Great lakes, is supposedly in the midst of a raising. Last I heard it was to be put on dispay at the Museum of Science and Industry alongside the U-505.
http://www.atrecovery.com/PDF/u-boat.htm

By: cookie monster

cookie monster — Thu, 30 Mar 2006 14:47:43 +0000

Mel has seen through my cynicism!
Nigerache - i live in a place called Bletchley Park and my real name is Alan Turing.
Google me and you’ll see what i’m on about.