U-Boat Is Taken for a Spin in Chicago

A German U-boat captured by the U.S. Navy 60 years ago embarked on a new voyage Thursday after a champagne christening.

The 700-ton U-505 began a two-week journey of 1,000 feet -- on remote-controlled dollies -- around the Museum of Science and Industry’s campus to a new, climate-controlled exhibit space below ground.

The submarine hadn’t budged from its outdoor mooring in 50 years, left rusting through Chicago’s snowy winters and steamy summers.

About 65 guests, including Mayor Richard M. Daley and four World War II veterans who helped capture the boat in June 1944, gathered under blue skies to send the sub off with all the pomp and circumstance of a maiden voyage. A Navy brass band played and onlookers cheered from a viewing platform draped in ceremonial bunting.

Wayne Pickels, one of nine members of a task force that captured the U-505 in the Atlantic, traveled from San Antonio for the festivities.

Pickels, a mate on the U.S. Navy destroyer escort Pillsbury, was 21 when he boarded the sub and seized documents that helped Allied officers crack German naval codes.

“We’ve seen the rust building up on it over the years,” said Pickels, 81. “It’ll be great to get it inside so the kids can learn from it for a long time to come.”

Zenon Lukosius, 85, a machinist from suburban Chicago who was also involved in the sub’s capture, shook his head in awe as the gunmetal gray behemoth began its almost imperceptible move forward.

“I had no idea how they were gonna move this thing,” said Lukosius.

A 30-member crew is maneuvering the vessel using 18 remote-controlled dollies, rolling on 144 wheels at an average speed of five feet an hour.

The 252-foot-long vessel must negotiate several tight turns. Thursday’s task was for it to rumble about 200 feet, skirting a pond.