Here you go:
http://www.msichicago.org/secret/
The first published photographs of the U-505 Submarine
and what’s up with the exhibit.
The U-505 Submarine will resurface in less than two months! Here’s a sneak peek at what’s going on to get the exhibit up and running by opening day, June 5.
For those who have not been following recent developments, the submarine has already been restored to its original colors at the time of capture. A large crew also spent five months welding, cleaning, repairing and painting the hull. The underground exhibition space has been excavated, and the U-505 has been moved from the west side of the Henry Crown Space Center to the north side of the East Pavilion and lowered into the new space. It took nearly two years to make sure that the sub was structurally sound for the move, and it took five days to move the sub around the building and lower it into its new home.
Now the environment and exhibitry around the sub are being installed. The entrance façade is just about complete, and the exhibit walls have been prepped and painted. Final edits are being made to the script for the new onboard tour, and lighting and sound effects for the tour are being installed in the submarine. Nearly 200 authentic artifacts are arriving, including radio transmissions, archival newspapers, photographs and first-person veteran accounts that will transport you back to World War II's Battle of the Atlantic.
The concrete for the space has already been poured, and the railings have been installed. Carpet, paint and lighting are now being added to create the right atmosphere for the exhibition. Since guests will be able to view the outside of the sub, the developers made sure there were spacious photography areas so guests can capture some of the best views of the sub. Tile and plumbing work is also being completed on new bathrooms that will be at the end of the exhibit.
Previously, the Museum’s U-505 exhibit consisted mainly of the sub’s interior tour. Now, touring the vessel is only a small part of a dynamic exhibit experience. As guests enter the exhibit, they will be immersed in the history and events of World War II and learn about the use of U-boats as a deadly tactic to keep necessary supplies from the Allies. Guests will encounter recreations of the key moment when the U-505 was tracked and pinpointed, as well as when Navy Captain Daniel Gallery and his crew bravely went in for the capture. The rooms that will display these suspenseful scenes have been built, and props, scenery, speakers, lighting and special effects are now being installed.
Guests will then come “face to face” with this monumental vessel. For the first time, they will be able to view the length of the sub and its deck from above. Dramatic lighting effects, which are being perfected, will make the sub seem as if it is still prowling the depths of the Atlantic. If guests have purchased tickets for the optional onboard tour, they will now take a journey back in time, led by an exhibit interpreter, to see just how the crew of a submarine lived and worked on the high seas during World War II.
On the floor of the exhibit, many interactive challenges that explain how a submarine like the U-505 navigated the seas and engaged the enemy, are currently being delivered and installed. Guests will be able to try their hand at a dive training exercise, learn more about how buoyancy kept the U-505 both under the waves and above them, use the periscopes to see if it is safe to surface, encode Enigma messages to send to their friends and examine an authentic recreation of the crew’s tiny quarters.
The exhibit will finish with a stop in the Gallery/Lange Theater, where guests can see a video that chronicles the poignant and reconciliatory meeting in 1964 between Captain Daniel Gallery and Harald Lange, the German captain of the captured U-505. As visitors make their way out of the exhibit, they will encounter the beautiful Tribute Display, an area which honors the 2,200 brave members of the 22.3 Task Force by name, as well as the Merchant Marines, the WAVES of Intelligence, and the crew of the U-505.
In addition to being surrounded by a rich and artful exhibit space, the U-505 is now fully conserved and protected in its new indoor home. Strict climate controls are necessary to ensure the sub’s preservation, but we’ve also made the exhibit space comfortable for our guests – humidity is about 45 percent and room temperature is around 70 degrees. Thanks to a state-of-the-art air handling system, the space will never have to be heated.
In designing this new experience, developers included thoughtful details for guests. The onboard tour will start with an introductory lecture and end with a question and answer session. Accessibility and visibility were key concerns for the exhibit designers. They made sure there was ample stroller parking for those who wish to take the onboard tour, and transparent glass barriers allow terrific views of the exterior of the sub for those in wheelchairs and strollers.
What else? We’ll let you see that for yourselves. But believe us, the new U-505 Submarine exhibit, aside from being the largest single project ever undertaken by the Museum, will let you see the sub as you’ve never seen it before!
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