Diving into History
Learning event introduces alumni to submarine warfare.
A group of UW grads experienced a taste of the naval life during a two-day tour of duty in September. After a discussion with war veteran Dean Pawlish ’50, the group boarded the USS Cobia, a World War II submarine, where they had a chance to maneuver the gun turrets and “take the conn” in the control room.
A National Historic Landmark now docked at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc, the Cobia sank two Japanese ships bound for Iwo Jima. Although it was not manufactured in the Badger state, it’s representative of twenty-eight submarines constructed in Manitowoc during WWII.
You’re in the Navy Now, a Wisconsin Alumni Lifelong Learning event, gave Badgers an in-depth look at the lives of sailors. Over dinner, Pawlish shared his experiences as a submariner. After a guided tour of the Cobia, participants learned firsthand about the sleeping accommodations on a submarine by staying overnight in the vessel’s officer’s quarters. The next morning, they toured the Maritime Museum for a lesson about Wisconsin’s shipping and military history.
“We found out that service on a submarine was voluntary,” says Joyce Baer ’55, MS’70, who attended with her spouse, George Socha MS’50. “Some of them had to sleep in the torpedo room, and those bunks! You’d be lucky to have six inches above your nose.”
— Erin Hueffner ’00