WISCONSIN MARITIME MUSEUM EXPEDITION!

This  photo shows the front of the Wisconsin Maritime Museum (www.wisconsinmaritime.org), with the nautical alphabet flags, spelling out the word "OPEN".  Fortunately, for those who do not have the nautical alphabet flags memorized, they also included the letters,  O P E N, to let passers-by know they are receiving visitors.  This is welcome news, since the museum did close for a period during the height of the COVID19 Pandemic.  I visited there in June, 2021, when they had re-opened, following state requirements for such institutions, which included the wearing of masks. 

This photo shows the staff member (Shane Lee -  email:  slee@wisconsinmaritime.org ) who gave us a guided tour of the museum, and told us some of the history of shipbuilding in the Manitowoc area. 

A big draw of visitors to the Wisconsin Maritime Museum is the fact that it is the permanent docking location for the USS COBIA submarine.  The ship is 312 feet long, and 27 feet wide.  It is permanently docked at the Manitowoc River's mouth, where it empties into Lake Michigan. 

Because of the construction of this submarine from the 1940's, it is not handicapped accessible.  In fact, one has to demonstrate they can crawl through the "template" of a submarine "door", before they even start the tour of the submarine.

Here is a photo of me checking to see if I can climb through the small opening: Doors like this are necessary on a submarine, so that if one compartment gets a leak, that section can be sealed off, so that the entire ship is not put out of commission.

This photo shows another one of the visitors going through the hatch, after we were actually down inside the submarine.  Notice the rubber gaskets on the door, to insure a watertight seal whenever the door is locked shut 

The control room of the submarine is "mind boggling", full of levers and switches and dials and gauges!  Plus, keep in mind, this was before the advent of computer technology, so everything was definitely "old school" operational procedures!   The submarine was powered by four diesel engines, that supplied energy for generators to provide electricity.  Theoretically, this enabled them to stay submerged for up to 48 hours.  However, the longest dive in WWII was 37 hours, 45 minutes, on a Manitowoc-built submarine, the U.S.S. Puffer.   Although the submarine Cobia, gets its name from a fish called "cobia" (nickname black salmon), a submarine cannot stay submerged forever, like its fish namesake!  During WWII, submarines would usually stay submerged during day time hours, then surface at night, when it was harder for them to be spotted by their enemies.   

 

It was encouraging to see an open Bible out on the desk of the captain's quarters.  One has to wonder which passages the captain found especially comforting and helpful, as he led the "Silent Service" sailors on this submarine, who were under his command.

With a background in institutional food service, I was interested in seeing the food preparation areas.  On a submarine, this area is called the "Galley". 

Likewise, the dining area was of interest to me---on a submarine, this is called "The Mess".  (That phrase could very literally be applied to my dining room table, as it contains piles of craft supplies, with no sign of dishes or silverware needed for dining!)

The crew sleeping quarters were above and next to the torpedoes!  Crew members slept in shifts, so there was usually more sailors on board, than there were beds.  

 

The officers  of the submarine had a private bunk, which is a luxury with such limited space.  One can contact the museum to arrange for an overnight stay in the submarine!  They call it a "SUB BnB"!  The museum advertises that the submarine can sleep up to 65 guests, and they can choose whichever of the 65 choices they want to sleep. 

This is a photo of the toilet in the submarine, which on a boat is called The Head.  Our guide told us there were several different steps involved in getting rid of the waste, so knowing the proper procedures was very important.  It is important to note that guests who purchase the SUB BnB overnight experience do not have to use this complicated contraption.  Instead, the clean and modern restrooms of the museum are left open for that purpose. 

The top of the museum is a great event space.  It looks out over the Manitowoc River, with a newly-opened entertainment district occupying the opposite shore  In the distance, Lake Michigan is visible. 

Our guide told us that this rooftop of the museum is a great place to enjoy the music, whenever a live band is playing on the entertainment stage across the river .

The Wisconsin Maritime Museum is full of exhibits that commemorate the maritime heritage of the Manitowoc/Two Rivers cities.  These two cities are famous for being where submarines were built during World War II.  The museum has over 60,000 square feet of space.  This photo shows the room with model ships in it.

Another room is a gallery for Wisconsin-built boats. That is where one can read about some historic vessels, as well as marine engines. 

One section of the museum  tells the story of the many shipwrecks that have occurred off the coast of Lake Michigan.  The Bible on display here references the sinking of the SS Phoenix in 1847.  It is significant because many of the passengers on board were immigrants from Holland, who were traveling to the Midwest, seeking religious freedom.  

The SS Phoenix was a wooden steamship, and the theory of its demise states that the boilers overheated, causing the wooden beams above the boilers to catch on fire.  The painting on the right depicts the fact that the ship burned down to the waterline.  This would explain how a Bible could have been saved from the fire. 

The museum likes to provide interactive exhibits that students can actually touch, and experiment with.  The items shown in this exhibit enable the visitor to choose what they could fit into a trunk, knowing that whatever was in that trunk, are the only things they would have when they arrived at their destination.  There would be no "Walmart" at their destination, where anything they wanted could easily be purchased.

I have a wooden trunk that belonged to my grandparents, and is similar in size to the one shown in this photo.  I imagine they had it in the back of their horse-drawn covered wagon, when they relocated from Arkansas to Oklahoma, during the early 1900's, when my mother was just a toddler.  My imagination goes on a trip down memory lane, as I try to conjure up what they might have put in that trunk, for their arduous journey to a land that was very strange to them---known then, as "Indian Territory". 

Of course, like most museums, the Wisconsin Maritime Museum has a fantastic gift shop.  It is full of items related to boats, ships, maritime history, nautical decor, and tee shirts to remind you of your visit.  They also sell an updated version of "Torpedo Juice", which is a non-alcohol-containing beverage, that gives a nod to the concoction that some sailors made to "lift their spirits" as they endured the many hours of being confined to the small, cramped  space, required for submarine service.  When the American slang phrase was coined during World War II, it referred to the mixture of pineapple juice and the 180-proof grain alcohol fuel, used in U.S. Navy torpedo motors. 
 

This cut-a-way exhibit showing the insides of a torpedo is what I am using as the visual aid for one of my First Place 4 Health ( www.FirstPlace4Health.com ) memory verses that says, "For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.  The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world.  On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds." (2 Corinthians 10:3-4)

The Wisconsin Maritime Museum is just one of MANY attractions of interest for visitors to the Manitowoc/Two Rivers area of Wisconsin.  Their motto is "Coast for a While", and you can get more ideas, if you surf on over to their website at www.manitowoc.info

A visit to this fascinating area gave me "MILES OF MARITIME SMILES"!  Tricia