Submarine

​The U-505, the World War II German submarine at the Museum of Science and Industry, is perhaps the best known and the most widely visited warship in Chicago history.  Less well-know is the UC-97, a German submarine from World War I, that was brought to Chicago as part of a war bond drive in 1919.  This special mine-laying submarine was a trophy of war sent to the Great Lakes after the surrender of the Imperial German navy.  After fulfilling her public relations mission, the Illinois Naval Reserve used her for target practice.  Guns from the USS Wilmette and the USS Hawk pumped 18 rounds in the UC-97.  She sank somewhere off the North Shore, and in recent years has been the subject of numerous effort to locate by underwater explorers.