Museum of Science and Industry - Chicago by Exotic Chicken

We went to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago.

My favourite exhibit was about the U-505 submarine.

The U-505 was a German military submarine used in WWII.

Its main use was to blow up merchant ships transporting food

and supplies. German subs sunk hundreds of Allied ships each year.

The subs’ three main technologies were:

1. Electric torpedos
2. Periscope
3. Codes and radio communication

Submarines use outer ballast tanks to float up and sink down.

If you add compressed air you float to the surface;

if you release air, water enters and the subs dives below the surface .

The U.S. army captured the German sub by shooting depth

charges under and around it, forcing it up, then hailing the sub

with a spray of bullets intil the crew surrendered.

In order to keep the capture secret, the U.S. crew avoided

Morocco (150 miles) because it was teeming with German spies.

Instead they towed the submarine to the British base of Bermuda

over 2500 miles away. Once in Bermuda, they deciphered the
German codes which helped them to win the war.

The U-505 is in Chicago because the Navy sailor who led

the mission was from Chicago.

And yes, they fit the whole submarine into one small part of the museum.