The Wisconsin Maritime Museum has confirmed that a decommissioned World War II-era US Navy submarine among its exhibits will undergo drydocking later this year.
The submarine USS Cobia will be towed to Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, for drydocking as part of routine maintenance scheduled for September. The last time the submarine went into drydock was 1996.
Cobia will be removed from the water to permit proper cleaning and inspection of the underwater portion of the hull. The works will be completed within four to six weeks, after which the submarine will be towed back to its permanent berth in Manitowoc.
The Wisconsin Maritime Museum expects the drydocking to cost US$1.5 million, which will also cover any needed metal repairs and the application of an epoxy coating on Cobia's hull to protect it for at least 25 years.
The museum said the full extent of repairs will not be known until the hull has been properly inspected.
Built as one of 77 Gato-class diesel-electric submarines, Cobia was in service with the US Navy from 1944 to 1946 and again from 1951 to 1954. During six patrols in the Pacific in the last 13 months of World War II, she sank over 16,000 tonnes of Japanese shipping and earned four battle stars.
Cobia became a floating exhibit at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum in 1986 and was eventually declared a National Historic Landmark.