Tom Wenstadt, our Door County correspondent, reports that the U.S.S COBIA (SS 245) departed from the Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding yard, the morning of Wednesday, October 15th. The lake tugs NICKELENA and ERIKA KOBASIC towed the submarine through Sturgeon Bay’s three bridges, then through the Sturgeon Bay ship canal then out into Lake Michigan. The submarine underwent hull repairs, pressure washing its hull, general inspection and painting. The project costs $1.5 million dollars and attracted many hundreds of sight seers.
The U.S.S COBIA (SS 245) was built in 1943 by Electric Boat Company, Groton, Connecticut, as a Gato Class submarine for the United States Navy. She conducted six patrols in the Pacific, sinking 16,835 tons of shipping.
The vessel’s home port is Manitowoc, Wisconsin, where it has been on permanent display since 1970 at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum.
Specifications:
Length 311 feet, 9 inches
Beam (width) 27 feet, 3 inches
Draft 15 feet, 3 inches
Surfaced Displacement 1,526 long tons
Submerged Displacement 2,424 long tons
Power – four GM 16-248 V16 1,350 horsepower diesel engines, driving two GE electric motors, turning two propellers
Rated speeds – Surfaced – 20 knots; Submerged – 9 knots
Crew – 8 officers; 72 enlisted
Photo Credit: COBIA at Fincantieri drydock Sep 21 2025 courtesy of Greg Stamatelakays
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Tom Wenstadt, who lives in Sturgeon Bay, is a retired marine engineer, having worked in the Great Lakes area for thirty-seven years. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from Michigan Technological University and is the author of Freighters of Manitowoc. He is a member of the Wisconsin Marine Historical Society and the Door County Maritime Museum & Lighthouse Preservation Society. He is a volunteer archival assistant and docent for the JOHN PURVES.
