At the bottom of Lake Michigan lies a 185-foot German submarine. Although U-boats from the German Imperial Navy approached the United States during World War I, they never entered the Great Lakes. So, how did this piece of German military hardware end up submerged in the lake’s depths?
German U-boats after WWI
It was 1919, and WWI had ended in November of the previous year. After four vicious years of war, Europe was finally on the path to recovery. When the Armistice was signed, Germany was instructed to hand over its ships to the British. This was the start of a process that would lead to the dissection of Germany, military and financially. The Treaty of Versailles forced Germany to disarm and pay huge amounts in reparations for damage caused during the war.
Instead of handing their ships over, Germany broke the agreed terms of the Armistice and scuttled most of them. However, their U-boats managed to escape this fate and ended up in the hands of the British. Germany had been the technological leader of submarine warfare and design up until that point, so these U-boats were valuable pieces of equipment.
The US saw U-boats as a way to fix some of their wartime debt
The British ultimately acquired 176 U-boats and distributed some to Allied nations for research. However, these submarines came with a stipulation: once they had fulfilled their purpose, they were to be scuttled in waters deep enough to ensure they could never be recovered.
The United States, by contrast, showed little interest in taking possession of the U-boats, confident in the superiority of their own submarines. Moreover, there was a common belief that submarines might soon be outlawed entirely, as the British were pushing for a complete ban on their use as weapons of war due to the devastation they had caused during World War I.
Still, a few individuals saw the captured submarines as a chance to turn a profit. The financial burden of World War I had left the United States heavily in debt, which was being managed through public bond purchases.
It was suggested that displaying these captured enemy submarines at U.S. ports and charging admission for public viewing could provide a much-needed boost in revenue to help reduce the national debt.
UC-97
UC-97 was one of six submarines brought over from Europe. She was a Type UC III, a class of late-war, relatively small minelaying U-boats. They were equipped with six minelaying tubes, three torpedo tubes, and a deck gun.
Over 100 Type UC III U-boats were ordered, but the war cut production short with just 25 having been built. UC-97 was one of these. When she arrived in the US, the public was told about her record of seven ships sunk. However, UC-97 never actually saw combat, and her record was fabricated to make her more appealing to the public.
UC-97 toured the Great Lakes
She spent much of this time in New York City, attracting thousands of visitors wherever it went. Once she had served her use making money, the submarine began more tours as part of a recruitment drive.
She toured the Great Lakes visiting places like Milwaukee and Chicago, and once again pulled in huge crowds, attracting so many people that ports often struggled to cope with them. After her tour was over, she was completely stripped of anything even remotely useful and moored up on the Chicago River.
The empty hull sat there until 1921. In June of that year, UC-97, lacking engines for propulsion, was towed out into Lake Michigan to fulfill the original agreement of sinking it once it was no longer useful.
The sinking of UC-97
UC-97 was to be used as a floating target for the gunboat USS Wilmette in a highly publicized event. She was hit by a number of 4-inch rounds before quickly sinking to the bottom of the lake, to be forgotten for much of the century.
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Attempts to locate the vessel in the 1960s and 1970s were thwarted by a clear lack of information about the submarine’s final moments. In 1992, UC-97 was finally discovered by A and T Recovery. Her location is not available to the public, but A and T Recovery have visited her multiple times since the discovery.
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