Wisconsin Maritime Museum

Neat museum located on the shores of Lake Michigan in Manitowoc. The museum itself is not large but does offer a few hand on exhibits, examples of boats, and models of leather shoes built or used in the area.
The coolest exhibit is real World War II submarine in the water. They offer roots of the boat; but even cooler of you are part of a youth group, you can spend the night in it.
This museum is well worth a visit.

Definitely a must see when in the Manitowoc area — we weren’t into WWII history or even boats/​ships, but people recommended the museum so we went. It exceeded our expectations — we thoroughly enjoyed the submarine tour and the details about what life would have been like as a submarine sailor during WWII. The rest of the museum was fantastic as well… offering something of interest for me and my tween daughters.

I came here on account of the USS Cobia which is a diesel submarine, that served during WW-​II and has bragging rights of sweeping the seas of several Japanese ships.
Even though I read about the museum prior to coming here, I was a little caught off guard on the museum itself. I was expecting the museum to have a little bit more about the silent service of the submarines during WW-​II, but found that the indoor portion of the museum was mainly dedicated to shipping /​fishing on the Great Lakes. Nonetheless, I had an hour to kill before my scheduled tour of the Cobia, so I put this time to good use and walked about the various exhibits and found that I was enjoying myself and learning a thing or two.
It’s not a large museum, but the artifacts were displayed and depicted well. A lot of models, some interesting history, a few engines, and a few hands on exhibits which I had the chance to show my kids a thing or two in handling the lines (rope) which I picked up while serving in the Navy.
Before I knew it, the hour went by and headed out to the Cobia. I always enjoy walking on the decks of any ship /​boat that was around during WW-​II and especially when one saw action like the Cobia. The boat is in real good shape for her age and told that up to 85% or so of the equipment is in working order, including the radar and 3 of the 4 engines. The tour guid was very informative, and gave a good walk through, especially for those who never been on a submarine before. I’ve been on several WW-​II subs and I would have to say this one is in excellent shape and enjoyed having the chance in spending some time onboard.
In closing, if you’re in the area or even passing by on your way from Chicago to Door County, I would highly recommend you carve our a little time and take the tour of the USS Cobia… it’s well worth the time!

A good stop if you’re in the area. Very interesting museum and my husband said the submarine tour was good. Worth a stop.

A really cool tour through a great piece of American history in a place that would otherwise not seem like it

Not usually 1 of my interest areas, but it was pretty good. The museum is new & clean. We did the sub tour & the guide was very knowledgable.

The museum is just ok, but the tour of the WW II submarine is excellent. It appears to be in a mostly-​working, mostly-​original state. I understand they even fire up the engines a couple times a year for fun. You can sense the boat rocking back and forth and smell the dripping diesel fuel and you are warned not to touch any of the levers as they may actually activate something. The whole ship feels alive. I highly recommend to anyone with enough physical dexterity to swing through a hatch.

I was pleasantly surprised by the variety and sheer number of items exhibited. First, there is the exhibit for the triple compound expansion steam engine from the ferry Chief Wawatam. The engine is controlled from a panel in which you are invited to operate. I almost fainted. Another room contains many scale models of significant ship types which were either manufactured in town or sailed the local waters. One comment, photography is now allowed in the museum and in the submarine, which is the star of the show.

My husband and I took a trip up to Manitowoc this past spring, and the Maritime Museum was one of our stops. The museum was well planned out, and we were able to explore some of the exhibits before we took a tour of the actual submarine (The SS Cobia). A lot of it was hands on and we were allowed to go at our own pace.
The submarine tour was great, Our tour guide was very knowledgeable about the Cobia, and many different aspects of maritime history of the area. He answered all of our questions and was pleasant and fun as he lead us through the (tiny) sub. It’s hard to imagine they had 80+ sailors living on the submarine at a time!
All in all, the museum was very well planned and incredibly interesting. It would be impossible for someone to leave without learning something. Highly recommended!

My husband and I were in the area for a Packers game and decided to check out the Wisconsin Maritime Museum. We really enjoyed our visit, especially the tour of the USS Cobia submarine. Our tour guide was very informative and friendly, and the sub has been kept in great condition.
I also enjoyed some of the hands-​on aspects of the museum, like learning to tie knots, playing dress-​up by donning a sailor shirt and cap, etc. The museum itself was laid out in an easy-​to-​navigate manner, had lots of information and was nicely kept.
This is a great museum for people of all ages. I definitely recommend it if you have any curiosity about the fishing, boating, shipbuilding, etc. history of Lake Michigan and/​or if you want to tour a pretty neat submarine.

I made an unplanned detour to this museum based on a highway sign that I saw on my way home to Chicago from a weekend trip to Green Bay and Door County. I expected something rinky-​dink, but was very pleasantly surprised. Apparently the museum had been recently renovated and expanded. Everything was new-​looking and skillfully curated. I learned quite a bit about Lake Michigan exploring, trading, fishing, shipbuilding, and all sorts of other topics. One of my favorite rooms featured dozens of ship models from various eras. Unfortunately, photography was not allowed inside the museum.
However, photography WAS allowed outside and aboard the U.S.S. Cobia, a WWII-​era submarine. The Cobia is the most functional WWII sub in existence; 85% of her machinery and controls still work. The Cobia was manufactured nearby at the Manitowoc Shipping Company, which was one of three shipyards awarded contracts to build subs for the U.S. war effort. They built 28 submarines from 1941 – 44. The Cobia ran six successful war patrols from 1944 – 45, sinking twelve enemy vessels and rescuing seven downed Allied pilots. She suffered only one crew fatality during all six missions. Her most prominent kill was a Japanese tank carrier bound for Iwo Jima; all 28 tanks went to the bottom, severely limiting the Japanese ground-​defense capabilities on the island.
The sub is pretty small; I have been on later-​era subs, and they sure have gotten bigger. Both interior and exterior are very well preserved. It was neat to see the galley and crew’s mess area, sleeping quarters, officers’ quarters, torpedo room, control room, engine room, deck guns, etc. The Cobia was decommissioned after the Korean War and served as a training vessel until the 1970’s.
Either the museum or the Cobia would be worth a short detour if you have some time to kill. Together, they make for a fun and interesting afternoon.