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Posted: 7/7/2014 4:01:05 PM EDT
 Today mostly the domain of riverboat tours and kayakers, the Chicago River was once part of the thoroughfare for 28 World War II submarines built in Wisconsin making their way out to the Pacific. To highlight this little-known chapter of Chicago history, two Illinois submariner veterans groups are raising money to erect a memorial along the riverwalk. "It's a part of the city's history that most people today are not aware of," said Frank Voznak Jr., project manager and vice commander of the northern Illinois Crash Dive Base, which is teaming up with the USS Chicago Base. "We want to try to educate the public on what did happen all those many years ago." In summer 1941, in anticipation of involvement in World War II, the U.S. Navy approached shipyards across the country about building submarines. Among those contacted was the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co., which had never built submarines but agreed first to build 10, then eventually 30, said Karen Duvalle, submarine curator at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc, 40 miles southeast of Green Bay. The museum has been working closely with the veterans groups. The Manitowoc River was too narrow for a typical launch, so the submarines had to be side-launched, a process that involves sliding a vessel off its supports and tipping it into the water on its side, Duvalle said. Before the submarines were sent off, crews did "sea trials" on Lake Michigan and tested diving, surfacing and other system controls. "People are pretty surprised that such a unique vessel was built in Wisconsin," she said. "They usually associate (submarines) with East Coast shipyards. But a lot of people think it's pretty neat that we built submarines here ... and that they were some of the best built submarines in the Navy at the time." GREAT JOB CHEESEHEADS!!!   it always amazes me what this great country manufactured to win the war! |
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Posted: 7/7/2014 4:16:02 PM EDT
[#1]
Sumbitches build some fine cranes also.
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Posted: 7/7/2014 4:16:38 PM EDT
[#2]
There is still a sub there, and a museum.
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Posted: 7/7/2014 4:20:52 PM EDT
[#3]
Cool I had no idea
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Posted: 7/7/2014 4:22:50 PM EDT
[#4]
Who knew?
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Posted: 7/7/2014 4:30:27 PM EDT
[#5]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
There is still a sub there, and a museum. I always thought it was kind of odd that there was a WWII sub on display in the Wisconsin Maritime Museum. But now after all the times I've seen the signs for it and wondered while driving up to Green Bay or Milwaukee, I know why they have one on display there. All these years I thought they just got hold of one to display with no connection to the area. Very fitting that they do have one on display. |
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Posted: 7/7/2014 4:30:32 PM EDT
[#6]
I knew about the Manitowoc subs but the article was interesting. Thanks for the link.
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Posted: 7/7/2014 4:35:42 PM EDT
[#7]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
There is still a sub there, and a museum. USS Cobia I crawled over her a few times when I was but a wee lad. |
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Posted: 7/7/2014 4:36:00 PM EDT
[#8]
I knew they made ice machines up there, but not subs
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Posted: 7/7/2014 4:36:40 PM EDT
[#9]
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Posted: 7/7/2014 4:37:12 PM EDT
[#10]
They also made landing craft and would take the workers out on lunch break to go for a ride and try them out. My wife has a picture somewhere of this. I'll try and find it.
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Posted: 7/7/2014 4:38:37 PM EDT
[#11]
Quote HistoryQuote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
Sumbitches build some fine cranes also. 
http://www.craneblogger.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/manitowoc-model-31000.JPGhttp://webzoom.freewebs.com/cranedude07/photos/Manitowoc-31000/manitowoc%20trip%20141DFGHST.jpg As a contractor, I go in all the buildings once a month. Those are made, literally from scratch. It's amazing to see CNC machines people ride in to create parts for them. |
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Posted: 7/7/2014 4:39:08 PM EDT
[#12]
 they also built LCT's dem cheezers know how to build shit! |
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Posted: 7/7/2014 4:42:16 PM EDT
[#13]
Today mostly the domain of riverboat tours and kayakers, the Chicago River was once part of the thoroughfare for 28 World War II submarines built in Wisconsin making their way out to the Pacific. To highlight this little-known chapter of Chicago history, two Illinois submariner veterans groups are raising money to erect a memorial along the riverwalk. "It's a part of the city's history that most people today are not aware of," said Frank Voznak Jr., project manager and vice commander of the northern Illinois Crash Dive Base, which is teaming up with the USS Chicago Base. "We want to try to educate the public on what did happen all those many years ago." In summer 1941, in anticipation of involvement in World War II, the U.S. Navy approached shipyards across the country about building submarines. Among those contacted was the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co., which had never built submarines but agreed first to build 10, then eventually 30, said Karen Duvalle, submarine curator at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc, 40 miles southeast of Green Bay. The museum has been working closely with the veterans groups. The Manitowoc River was too narrow for a typical launch, so the submarines had to be side-launched, a process that involves sliding a vessel off its supports and tipping it into the water on its side, Duvalle said. Before the submarines were sent off, crews did "sea trials" on Lake Michigan and tested diving, surfacing and other system controls. "People are pretty surprised that such a unique vessel was built in Wisconsin," she said. "They usually associate (submarines) with East Coast shipyards. But a lot of people think it's pretty neat that we built submarines here ... and that they were some of the best built submarines in the Navy at the time." GREAT JOB CHEESEHEADS!!! it always amazes me what this great country manufactured to win the war! IIRC it took some persuading to the Navy that you could launch a sub sideways like that, which was necessitated by the narrow condition in Wiskyland.
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Posted: 7/7/2014 4:42:53 PM EDT
[#14]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Sumbitches build some fine cranes also. and ice machines.  |
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Posted: 7/7/2014 4:45:37 PM EDT
[#15]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
and ice machines.
http://www.thermalcommercial.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/MANITOWOC-ice-machine-2.jpg Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
Sumbitches build some fine cranes also.
http://www.thermalcommercial.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/MANITOWOC-ice-machine-2.jpg Moving to Mexico in August. very few people left by September. It's not going to be pretty in that town when it starts to wind down.  I also go there once a month also.
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Posted: 7/7/2014 4:55:08 PM EDT
[#16]
Slight derail, do you know if the mexico move will affect the plant in pa?
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Posted: 7/7/2014 5:04:40 PM EDT
[#17]
If you ever visit there, try the Courthouse Pub which happens to be right across the street from the courthouse.
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Posted: 7/7/2014 5:15:32 PM EDT
[#18]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
If you ever visit there, try the Courthouse Pub which happens to be right across the street from the courthouse. I like the Courthouse Pub. Great lunch menu. |
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Posted: 7/7/2014 5:18:18 PM EDT
[#19]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
and ice machines.
http://www.thermalcommercial.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/MANITOWOC-ice-machine-2.jpg Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
Sumbitches build some fine cranes also.
http://www.thermalcommercial.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/MANITOWOC-ice-machine-2.jpg
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Posted: 7/7/2014 5:18:22 PM EDT
[#20]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Slight derail, do you know if the mexico move will affect the plant in pa? Don't know. I really don't feel like bringing it up with the engineers I deal with and especially people I know that work there. It's a very touchy subject here. Lots of seniority and guys with over 35 years are being cut that will not make the seniority list. There will be Harleys, Quads, Boats and Campers on every lawn in that town this fall with FOR SALE signs on them, that's for sure. |
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Posted: 7/7/2014 5:33:45 PM EDT
[#21]
When a lake in Idaho is the "most important body of water" to our submarine force, building subs in Wisconsin doesn't seem so weird.
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Posted: 7/7/2014 6:12:27 PM EDT
[#22]
I've toured the Cobia in Manitowoc twice. First time, the guide was a WW2 sub veteran. Hearing firsthand, and seeing the look in his eyes, as he described sitting on the bottom of the Pacific while getting depth charged by the Japs, was quite impressive. For an engine geek; seeing the two Electro Motive diesels in the engine room was really cool.
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Posted: 7/7/2014 6:18:32 PM EDT
[#23]
Before the submarines were sent off, crews did "sea trials" on Lake Michigan and tested diving, surfacing and other system controls. Doesn't the salinity of ocean water lend some buoyancy to a sub? Wonder if these had further sea trials in the Atlantic or Pacific before going in theatre. |
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Posted: 7/7/2014 6:21:51 PM EDT
[#24]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Cool I had no idea |
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Posted: 7/7/2014 6:22:51 PM EDT
[#25]
The Cobia is really a great tour. I can't imagine being cooped up in one of those subs for 60-90 days at a time under those conditions. I don't know how they did it.
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Posted: 7/7/2014 6:34:21 PM EDT
[#26]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Doesn't the salinity of ocean water lend some buoyancy to a sub? Wonder if these had further sea trials in the Atlantic or Pacific before going in theatre. Quote HistoryQuoted:
Before the submarines were sent off, crews did "sea trials" on Lake Michigan and tested diving, surfacing and other system controls. Doesn't the salinity of ocean water lend some buoyancy to a sub? Wonder if these had further sea trials in the Atlantic or Pacific before going in theatre. Yes, it does. I think I recall reading in these pages http://maritime.org/doc/fleetsub/index.htm that the depth gauges and other instruments were set up to indicate based on salinity. That is an excellent link to spend hours on if you are truly interested in how these boats worked, BTW.
ETA: not sure about the further trials in seawater but I think they did just that. No link though. |
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Posted: 7/7/2014 6:41:40 PM EDT
[#27]
A chronological list of all the ships built at Manitowoc Shipyard.
http://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/history/shipyards/2large/inactive/manitowoc.htm |
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Posted: 7/7/2014 6:43:33 PM EDT
[#28]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
The Cobia is really a great tour. I can't imagine being cooped up in one of those subs for 60-90 days at a time under those conditions. I don't know how they did it. Fun fact: The USS Cobia was not laid down in Manitowoc. |
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Posted: 7/7/2014 6:46:29 PM EDT
[#29]
Quote HistoryQuote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
Sumbitches build some fine cranes also.
http://www.craneblogger.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/manitowoc-model-31000.JPGhttp://webzoom.freewebs.com/cranedude07/photos/Manitowoc-31000/manitowoc%20trip%20141DFGHST.jpg As a guy who has spent much of his career managing those thing, buy Liebherr and don't look back. Rotten cocksuckers won't listen to the customer or the operators. They gave up in the 80's |
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Posted: 7/7/2014 7:23:22 PM EDT
[#30]
I'm sure those Submarines were very well built
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Posted: 7/8/2014 5:55:12 AM EDT
[#31]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Yes, it does. I think I recall reading in these pages http://maritime.org/doc/fleetsub/index.htm that the depth gauges and other instruments were set up to indicate based on salinity. That is an excellent link to spend hours on if you are truly interested in how these boats worked, BTW.
ETA: not sure about the further trials in seawater but I think they did just that. No link though. Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
Before the submarines were sent off, crews did "sea trials" on Lake Michigan and tested diving, surfacing and other system controls. Doesn't the salinity of ocean water lend some buoyancy to a sub? Wonder if these had further sea trials in the Atlantic or Pacific before going in theatre. Yes, it does. I think I recall reading in these pages http://maritime.org/doc/fleetsub/index.htm that the depth gauges and other instruments were set up to indicate based on salinity. That is an excellent link to spend hours on if you are truly interested in how these boats worked, BTW.
ETA: not sure about the further trials in seawater but I think they did just that. No link though. The boats were put on a barges in Chicago and floated from Chicago to New Orleans. They then did a shakedown cruise in the Gulf of Mexico. Interesting to note they were decommissioned for shipping and then recommissioned when they got to NO (I guess because they were not crewed?). My mom grew up in Morris and remembers a couple of the boats going down the Illinois River. All the bridges across the river were closed and armed guards posted. The local boat club was closed and posted as well. |
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