If you have been planning to welcome a World War II-era submarine to Sturgeon Bay, you now have a date.

On Friday, the Wisconsin Maritime Museum announced that the USS Cobia will make its planned trip to Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding for dry dock repairs on Sunday. Wind speeds of more than 15 miles per hour, which are too fast for crews to complete their mission safely, prevented the submarine from making the trip on the initially scheduled date of September 4th. Wind speeds were worse on Friday, which triggered gale warnings during the morning hours. The USS Cobia will be towed to Sturgeon Bay at approximately 8 a.m. on September 7th. By around 6 p.m., the USS Cobia is expected to complete its 55 nautical mile journey to Sturgeon Bay, where it will spend about a month in dry dock for restoration work. 

The USS Cobia was used as a training vessel after serving in the Pacific theater during World War II. It was brought to the then-Manitowoc Maritime Museum in 1986, where it has hosted thousands of visitors every year for tours and overnight experiences. Like the Door County Maritime Museum’s Tug John Purves, the USS Cobia spends time docked outside the Wisconsin Maritime Museum year-round. The Wisconsin Maritime Museum raised approximately $1.5 million to tow it to and from Sturgeon Bay for maintenance, which has not happened since 1996. 

Picture courtesy of the Wisconsin Maritime Museum