U-505

Brief Information

U-505 is interesting not only as a German submarine from the Second World War, but as a rare case in which a warship is important above all because it was not destroyed. It is a large Type IX-C ocean-going submarine: it was designed for long-range patrols, and during the war it made 12 combat sorties, sinking 8 ships.

On June 4, 1944, the submarine was captured off the west coast of Africa by U.S. Navy ships with support from a Wildcat aircraft. Along with the hull, the Allies got hold of an Enigma cipher machine, intact cipher tables, and secret logs. So what the viewer sees is not simply a preserved piece of technology, but a captured information carrier that helped read the communications of German submarines. Since 1954, U-505 has been housed at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago.

What to Notice First

It makes sense to view U-505 as an object with two biographies: first a warship, then a trophy with documents and ciphers. The shape of the large Type IX-C ocean-going submarine explains its role in long-range patrols: this is not a coastal vessel, but a hull designed to operate far from base.

You can compare the submarine itself with what was found inside it when it was captured: the Enigma, cipher tables, and logs were not an external addition, but part of the ship’s military significance. The place of production is also important: U-505 was laid down at the Hamburg shipyard Deutsche Werft AG under construction number 295, so the museum object preserves not only a combat history, but also a trace of serial shipbuilding. The main shift in perspective here is simple: after its capture, the submarine’s value was determined not by the size of its hull, but by the fact that the secret materials remained undamaged.