--- title: "There’s a German U-boat at the bottom of Lake Michigan" description: "In 1992, a recovery crew found a German U-Boat at the bottom of Lake Michigan. What on Earth was it doing there?" date: "2022-06-09" modified: "2023-06-09" authors: - name: "Blake Stilwell" job_title: "Editor-In-Chief, Air Force Veteran" link: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/authors/blake/" url: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/popular/german-u-boat-lake-michigan/" categories: - "History" - "Ships" - "Tactical" - "War History" - "World War I" --- # There’s a German U-boat at the bottom of Lake Michigan ![german u boat lake michigan]() Crewman aboard a ship owned by A and T Recovery on Lake Michigan dropped cameras into the deep to confirm what sonar was telling them – there was a [German U-boat]() resting on the bottom of the Great Lake. Luckily, the year was 1992, a full 73 years removed from the end of the Great War that saw German submarines force the United States to enter the war in Europe. How it got there has nothing to do with naval combat. ![A large ship is sinking at a steep angle in the ocean, with smoke billowing from its three smokestacks. People are visible on the decks, and the ship appears to be in distress, with water splashing around its hull. Another smaller vessel is seen in the background on the right side of the image. The scene is depicted in black and white.]() *Unlike how we got into World War I in the first place. (Bundesarchiv)* In the days before a true visual mass medium, the American people were restricted to photos in newspapers to get a view of what the war looked like. [World War I]() was the first real industrial war, marked for its brutality and large numbers of casualties, not to mention the advances in weapons technology that must have seemed like magic to the people who had never seen poison gas, automatic machine guns, and especially boats that moved underneath the waves, sinking giant battleships from the depths. So after years of hearing about evil German U-boats mercilessly sinking tons and tons of Allied shipping and killing thousands of sailors while silently slipping beneath the waves, one of those ships began touring the coastal cities of the United States – and people understandably wanted to see it. ![]() *WWI-era submarines after being surrendered to the Allied powers.* The Nov. 11, 1918 Armistice demanded that the German navy turn over its ships to the British but instead of doing that, the Germans scuttled the bulk of their fleet near the British base at Scapa Flow. The submarines, however, survived. Seeing that there were so many U-boats and that German technology surrounding U-boats used some of the best technology at the time, the British offered them out to other nations, as long as the submarines were destroyed when their usefulness came to an end. The United States accepted one, [UC-97](), and toured it around the country to raise money needed to pay off the enormous war debt incurred by the government of the United States. When they successfully raised that money, the Navy continued touring the ships as a way to recruit new sailors. The UC-97 was sailed up the St. Lawrence Seaway into Lake Ontario and then Lake Erie. It was the first submarine ever sailed into the Great Lakes. ![]() *UC-97 sails into New York Harbor in April 1919.* Eventually, though, the novelty of the ship wore off, and after raising money, recruiting sailors, and giving all the tech she had on board, the boat just sat on the Chicago River. All the other subs taken by the U.S. were sunk according to the treaty's stipulations. UC-97 couldn't really move under her own power and was towed to the middle of Lake Michigan, where she was sunk for target practice by the USS Wilmette*,* forgotten by the Navy for decades after. ## Author Blake Stilwell is We Are The Mighty's Editor-in-Chief, covering military news, entertainment, and history, along with veteran education, employment and entrepreneurship. He is a former U.S. Air Force combat cameraman with degrees in Graphic Design, Television and Film, International Relations, Public Relations, Business Management and Middle Eastern Affairs. After leaving the military, he began working in film and television production in New York and Los Angeles, work that included ABC News, NBC Olympics, and HBO Sports. He then spent two years in Washington with White House Communications, before joining the Near East Foundation. At NEF he served as an International Development Fellow, then Communications Officer, and finally, Media Officer for the Middle East and Africa. Based in the Palestinian Territory, he coordinated strategic communications between eight country offices, international media, and government and NGO partners. He began a career focused on writing and editing in 2015 with We Are The Mighty. He left in 2019 for Military.com, but returned as Editor-in-Chief in 2025. Blake’s work has been seen on CBS News, Fox News, CBC, The Chicago Tribune, Task & Purpose, Military Times, Recoil, Skillset, American History, and was shockingly even used in a Supreme Court argument. He is an avid traveler and small business owner in Ohio, where he spends most of his energy fixing up a very old house. ### Author social links [Facebook]() [Twitter]() [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]()