You will have another opportunity to see the WWII-era submarine USS COBIA on the waters of Lake Michigan this week. The Wisconsin Maritime Museum announced last week that the USS COBIA plans on departing for its home port in Manitowoc on Wednesday at 7 a.m.
The journey is expected to take about eight hours, with the submarine expected to greet museum visitors at 3 p.m. According to the Wisconsin Maritime Museum, approximately 1,945 gallons of paint were used to help restore the outside of the 82-year-old vessel after more than three tons of zebra mussel shells were scraped and power-washed off its hull over the course of a few days.
One issue discovered during its dry dock stay at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding was a drainage issue with the COBIA’s second main ballast tank. Crews found water and mud in the tank along with a welded seal that had opened.
The submarine’s sea chests, which were used to let water in to cool the engines, were sealed shut since the engines only run a few minutes at a time.
Shortly after the USS COBIA docked in Sturgeon Bay last month, Wisconsin Maritime Museum Executive Director Kevin Cullen explained why preserving the USS COBIA is so important.
If you miss the submarine heading back to Manitowoc, you may have to wait a while until its next time on open water. It had been since 1996 that the USS COBIA was in dry dock.
