U505

First of all, sorry to have left this unexplained for so long – David and I went and spent the night in downtown Chicago last Thursday because we were both off last week and we had a bunch of things we’d been wanting to do for fun.

UPDATE: Everytime I look at this image I think how striking it is how a museum display can have so much impact. It’s a little like walking into an unexpected cathedral.

Besides a narrative using historical dioramas and reenacted filmed material, there’s also a really cool video showing how the old German submarine was rehabbed, restored, lifted up, and moved into the excavated “submarine bay.” They did it by taking still pictures every day, and putting them together to make a stop-action movie. It’s fascinating, and a remarkable engineering accomplishment.

Here’s a list of what we did:

1. Museum of Science and Industry
2. Lunch at the museum cafeteria
3. Navigated our way via Lower Wacker to the hotel
4. Dinner at The Palm in the lobby of the hotel
5. Went to see “Wait Wait! Don’t Tell Me!” being taped
6. Admired Carl Cassel’s natty suit and tie from afar
7. Walked back to the hotel for dessert
8. Admired the pretty lights and the skaters along the way
9. Went to bed but I didn’t sleep well
10. Enjoyed the view of the sleeping city
11. Went home the next morning after a nice buffet breakfast

The highlight of the visit to the Museum of Science and Industry was definitely seeing the refurbished German sub the U-505 in its beautifully designed new underground bunker. It’s very well done and the story of its capture is told in an interesting and exciting way as you walk along toward the the entrance to the bay. There’s actually a lot of dramatic tension that builds up through their use of sound effects, visual displays, and filmed reconstructions of the tense battle to capture the sub. Then when you finally get inside, you’re right there at the prow, looking along the deck.

I’d rank this display right up there with London’s Cabinet War Rooms for evoking WWII for a modern audience and for preserving history in a way that puts you in the middle of the era, and invites you to be part of the action.

It’s a very moving display – we didn’t pay to take the tour inside this time, but definitely will next time. Previously, if you didn’t take the tour, all you could do was look at the sub from a distant window on the way to the Space Center section. It looked a little forlorn and neglected out there, quietly rusting away into oblivion. Now it’s preserved, rebuilt, and looks totally impressive and dangerous again.

One detail – they left the bullet holes intact in the conning tower, so that it looks like it was freshly captured.
Via: Flickr Title: U505 By: GinnyRED57
Originally uploaded: 15 Dec ’05, 8.51pm PST