U-505 or not?

[deathwest]

Ok I said to my wife, in passing, lets go see U-505 in Chicago on my
upcoming week off. Never thinking she would agree.
So she looked it up and said OK but after we see your Sub you
have to see Collen Moore's Fairy Castle at the same museum.

I always wanted to see U-505 since sh3.

To go or not to go or just sub on Sh5 for a week?
Not sure if one Fairy Castle is worth one Sub?

[Kapt Z]

Let the wife see her castle while you see the u-boat. Isn't that possible?

Has to be better than one of you bored to tears.

[deathwest]

She will not want to be alone in a strange city, its an all or nothing thing.
Ill go and see her castle thing. I guess its a small price to pay, kind of like
getting wounded. Beside i wanted to go and see U-505 for a very long time.

No i in team.
Wish me luck we leave the 9th

[TLAM Strike]

Negotiations: Coming to an agreement that neither side is happy with.

[Sailor Steve]

Seeing the u-boat is not the reason to go see the castle. Making her happy is the reason to go see the castle. The u-boat is the icing on the cake.

Gotta put these things in perspective.

[TLAM Strike]

Required post:

Reasons why submarines are better than women

[deathwest]

"Gotta put these things in perspective. "
Did I mention its Experience the enchantment of a fairy’s dream home in Colleen Moore’s Fairy Castle.

And #

15. Submarines don't mind if you look at other submarines or if you buy books and magazines about them. this should be number 1st

But on another note I am pumped cant wait tell the 9th and I am glad
The 1st mate found something she wanted to visit.

[Sledgehammer427]

I live 3 hours away from Chicago and the U-505 and I visit every couple of years.
(in retrospect, Rockford, halfway from here to Chicago, is less congested and usually the alternative.((Thanks to the mall))
But when I visited last time I was disappointed. You can't walk through the whole boat and it's all under tourguide. you can't simply roam through the boat OR go up on the bridge...perhaps they don't want any visitors seeing the bulletholes? The tourguides are well versed on the boats history (the last time I went I was with a fellow subsimmer and we were going to be smart and show the guy up if he got any of the technical specifications wrong)
The tour spent a lot of time in the control room and there was a simulated depth charge attack (simulated meaning the tourguide would hang onto the conning tower ladder and shake himself everytime the lights flickered, explaining to the layman the horrors of being in the boat during such an attack)
But really, the only reason I'm truly disappointed in my last visit is because everything's practically automated (from my viewpoint anyhow) and you really don't get a feel for what it was like to be in a U-boat. they even cut into the bilges into the engine room! while they blast the sounds of a running diesel engine out of the main induction opening. I'm 6'3" and I'd rather risk whacking my head on a pipe than have to walk somewhere the sailors didn't usually walk.

after all that bitching though, it IS worth seeing, just don't expect much from the submarine itself. the rest of the exhibit is incredible, with torpedoes and even a "dive trainer" with the planesman's stations laid out and a depth gauge. the scenarios vary and I feel bad for only going through one. There is a conning tower simulator, with an observation peri trainer (identifying landmarks and such) and an attack scope trainer (conducting an attack on a convoy, watch out for how you put in the AOB setting, my friend and I both had dead misses on one of those targets, couldn't figure out why.) there's a lot of artifacts that were pulled off the boat and sent to the museum (including an enigma machine if memory serves me right)


I was disappointed by the boat but altogether it's deffo worth the visit!

[deathwest]

Why would they into the bilges into the engine room?

I have walked aboard the USS REQUIN (SS-481) in Pittsburgh.

It was an experience of my life to see the inside of a sub.
I walked around in awe, with a dumb smile on my face that only the
wife knew why, from what she calls sub-bing in sh2, sh3 and sh4.

The German U-boots would top that I think.

[mookiemookie]

I just saw it a couple months ago. You can read about my trip here: http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=167739

[deathwest]

Thanks for the heads up on the cost
Did they remove the deck gun?
Didnt see it in your pics.

[FIREWALL]

Get drug thru " It's a Small World " at Disneyland then, I'll have some sympathy for you.

[deathwest]

Originally Posted by FIREWALL

Get drug Thur " It's a Small World " at Disneyland then, I'll have some sympathy for you.

Dude my hats off to you.
The fairy castle thing cant last more then 10 or 15 minutes I hope.

[mookiemookie]

Originally Posted by deathwest

Thanks for the heads up on the cost
Did they remove the deck gun?
Didnt see it in your pics.

I don't recall it having a deck gun. It was captured in 1944, so I would assume by that point in the war all the deck guns had been removed. But to echo what everyone else is saying, the artifacts and exhibits they have around the boat are worth the price of admission themselves.

[Lagger123987]

Originally Posted by mookiemookie

I don't recall it having a deck gun. It was captured in 1944, so I would assume by that point in the war all the deck guns had been removed. But to echo what everyone else is saying, the artifacts and exhibits they have around the boat are worth the price of admission themselves.

Actually the deck gun got blasted off in an earlier patrol before being captured...