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Tour information
The guided on-board tour is an optional visitor experience. The U-505 Submarine exhibit is included in general Museum admission. The on-board tour is $5 per person with a special discount for members. A limited number of timed tour tickets are available for the exhibit each day. Those interested in taking the tour are encouraged to purchase them in advance via the Museum’s website at www.msichicago.org, or by phone at (773) 684-1414, prompt 4. Or, the Museum recommends planning to visit early in the week (Mondays and Tuesdays are generally best) and early in the day, preferably before 10 a.m.
The tour is 15-minutes long and includes a brief introduction and question and answer session at the conclusion. Ample stroller parking is available at the sub entrance. Tours begin every 15 minutes.
Tour Hilights
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Board the newly conserved U-505 Submarine, the actual craft that stalked the waters of the Atlantic before it was blown to the surface and captured on June 4, 1944. Complete with dramatic lighting and sound effects, the tour lets you experience life aboard this sub first-hand in the days leading up to her capture.
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Forward Torpedo Room/Petty Officers’ Quarters
Maneuver through the cramped quarters where the crew spent most of their days and nights. Hear the sound of orders being shouted, torpedoes being launched and explosions in the distance. Listen to the authentic music the German sailors enjoyed. Luxurious by comparison, the petty officers’ quarters featured small wooden lockers provided for personal belongings, but the quarters also served double duty as storage for escape gear.
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Captain’s Quarters/Radio and Sound Room
The captain’s bed was only 30 inches wide (about the width of an infant’s crib) to accommodate the radio and sound rooms nearby. Imagine sleeping with these rooms, manned and active 24 hours a day, just three feet away. Though your desk doubles as your sink, you are lucky because you get your own bunk! Here in the radio and sound room, see where the legendary Enigma machine was found and recovered by the U.S. Navy.
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Control Room
Here, in the boat’s “nerve center,” see the helmsman and planesman stations. Look up and see the conning tower. Listen as the crew prepares for a crash dive. This is also the room where the U.S. Navy's boarding party found the opened “sea strainer” and had to secure its cover in time to save the sub.
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Engine Room/Rear Torpedo Room
Walk past real nine-cylinder, 2,170 horsepower diesel engines. Hear the authentic, thunderous roar of them operating at full blast. Imagine what this room was like under “normal” conditions – more than 100 degrees with unrelenting, deafening noise. Crew often suffered hearing loss, sleeplessness and other health troubles. Discover how the crew ensured they could find their way around the torpedo room in the dark. Find out where the U-505 fired her final shot.
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