Painting of the USS Cobia was just as important as cleaning it while it was drydocked in Sturgeon Bay.
The Wisconsin Maritime Museum explained on its Facebook page that the new coat of paint on Cobia was specifically picked to follow guidelines for camouflaging it on open water.
While submarine camouflage may not be common knowledge, it was important for Submarine Curator Karen Duvall who took a proper paint memo from the Navy from July 1944 entitled “Instructions for Applying Submarine Camouflage,” to make sure the WWII submarine was not only as accurate as it should be, but also up to the code it should have been if it was in service.
That’s why the gray and black designs painted on Cobia were done on purpose, even though they might look uneven. Back in the day, the Navy warned, “the difference between a good paint job and a sloppy one means 500 to 2000 yards of invisibility to the men who fight. It may well mean the difference between life and death.”
You can find a copy of the Navy memo at maritime.org.
Cobia was reopened for tours last week after it was closed for a couple of days after its return.
Tours will be offered at 12:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m.
