Just south of Door County Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc allows kids and adults to stuff a torpedo tube, listen to sonar and sound the alarm to send a veteran submarine into a deep-water dive.
The U.S.S. Cobia, a World War II submarine responsible for sinking 13 Japanese destroyers in the south Pacific, is located in Manitowoc. It is a GATO-class fleet submarine, identical to the 28 submarines built here. The port was perfectly suited for sea trials on the vessels considered by many responsible for keeping the U.S. Navy functioning in the first months after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
A National Historic Landmark in Manitowoc Wisconsin
The Cobia and the adjacent museum are open for daily tours and an overnight sleep program where kids get to eat and sleep in the original cramped quarters that once housed 80 sailors for up to 60 days at a time. During the overnight stay, children and their adult companions are assigned a watch section and duties identical to that of their World War II counterparts. Some trim the sub on the Main Induction board called The Christmas Tree. Others make observations through the periscope and still others attempt to decipher secret codes picked up through sonar.
Pollywogs, Plungers and Torpedo Juice
The program is called Pollywogs and Plungers. A pollywog was the nickname more seasoned sailors gave those on their first at-sea patrol. Submarines were commonly known as plungers or pigboats, because of the snout-shaped nose on some models.
Snacks are accompanied by a special soft drink known as Torpedo Juice. In reality, it’s a root beer bottled in Green Bay, but the concoction represents a drink that submerged sailors created by combining fruit juices and the nonlethal combustible liquid fuels that propelled torpedoes of the time period. Some crews became legendary for their special mixes. Torpedo Juice is, therefore, one of the more popular souvenirs at the gift shop and a fond memory for veterans who visit the museum.
Scouts may earn points toward the American Heritage Merit Badge by participating in this program.
Wisconsin Maritime Museum Tours
The museum tour provides plenty of opportunities to learn what life was like living in a submerged tube with 80 men working 12 hour shifts in 100-degree temperatures and bathing just once a week. The tour explains how depth, temperature and ocean current all affect the operation of a submarine under water and how 1940s era technology kept the submarine on course.
Other exhibits include a history of boat building in the Wisconsin port, including the use of ice breakers and car ferries on Lake Michigan. Throughout the summer months, the museum hosts daily boat building workshops, where kids and adults work with masters in the craft to build model boats. A part of the museum is the International Submariners Memorial.
Manitowoc is also the only town in the U.S. with streets named after commissioned submarines, such as Kete, Peo and Rashee, including all 28 subs built in Manitowoc.
Look for the upside down broom on the deck of the USS Cobia and in other places around town. That represents the Navy term "clean sweep" which means all as well as a submarine returns to port.
Manitowoc is a nice stop on the way to Door County, Wisconsin's most popular summer vacation destination.
Diana Lambdin Meyer - As at home on her family's grain farm in southern Illinois as she is riding a camel on the Sinai Peninsula, Diana Lambdin Meyer most ...
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