Wisconsin Maritime Museum's World War II-era submarine to head to Sturgeon Bay for drydocking

Wisconsin news site Seahafer News reports that the Wisconsin Maritime Museum's (WMM) World War II-era submarine will depart later this week for drydocking.

The Gato-class submarine USS Cobia will be towed from WMM in Manitowoc to the facilities of Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay to undergo drydocking as part of scheduled routine maintenance. Departure from Manitowoc is scheduled for Thursday, September 4.

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 her permanent berth in Manitowoc.

WMM has raised US$1.5 million for the drydocking. The amount will also cover any needed metal repairs and the application of an epoxy coating on Cobia's hull to protect it for at least another 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 for the US Navy, Cobia was in service 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 WMM in 1986 and was eventually declared a National Historic Landmark.