STURGEON BAY — After weeks in dry dock for repair and maintenance at Fincantieri’s Shipyard in Sturgeon Bay, the historic WWII submarine USS Cobia will return this week to its home in Manitowoc.
Cobia will leave Sturgeon Bay Wednesday morning at 7 a.m. Oct. 15, 2025, and travel through the shipping canal before making an eight-hour journey by tugboat.
She’ll dock back in Manitowoc around 3 p.m. at her permanent home in the Manitowoc River outside of the Wisconsin Maritime Museum.
Visitors can watch the USS Cobia dock from the Sub Pub on the Water atop the museum, open 30 minutes before the arrival.
According to the Wisconsin Maritime Museum, USS Cobia was launched Nov. 28, 1943, in Groton, Connecticut.
In June 1944, it began the first of six war patrols in which she sank thirteen Japanese vessels.
By July 1944, Cobia had established itself in the annals of World War II sub history by attacking an enemy convoy bound for Japanese-held Iwo Jima.
Cobia sank two vessels, including a troop transport carrying a Japanese tank battalion of twenty-eight tanks. U.S. Marines considered this sinking critical to their success in capturing Iwo six months later.
In 1970, Cobia was brought to Manitowoc to serve as an international memorial to submariners.
In 1986, Cobia was incorporated as a part of the Manitowoc Maritime Museum, declared a National Historic Landmark, and placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
As a National Historic Landmark, Cobia has been restored to it’s original 1945 configuration.
Visitors of all ages can enjoy a guided tour through the boat and see where the crew slept, ate and prayed to make it out alive.
