DOOR COUNTY (NBC 26) — On Wednesday morning, after five weeks in dry dock, the USS Cobia returned home to Manitowoc.
The historic submarine arrived in Sturgeon Bay in early September, 30 years after its last trip to dry dock for maintenance.
Watch as the USS Cobia departs from Fincantieri Bay Ship in Sturgeon Bay Wednesday morning:
"We're at this point now where it is as good as really when it rolled off the line, when it splashed into the water in 1943," Kevin Cullen, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Maritime Museum, said.
After spending five weeks at Fincantieri Bay Ship in Sturgeon Bay, crews removed nearly three tons of invasive mussels and gave the Cobia a fresh coat of paint.
"You'll see something that's very unique, actually, that is a surprise when folks see it in Manitowoc."
Cullen says the new numbers painted on the submarine identify the Cobia as the 245th submarine of its type to be built.
"For the Wisconsin Maritime Museum to take care of USS Cobia, a World War II heralded National Landmark, it is a priceless artifact." He said, "So it really takes a whole community to keep vessels like this preserved."
As the tugs guided the Cobia, John Propsom and his wife, Julie, arrived at the ship canal just in time.
"We live a few miles to the north, so we jumped on the bikes, bicycles, and then we rode, trying to time it, and the timing was almost perfect," John Propsom said.
For the Propsoms, catching a glimpse of the Cobia’s new look was a must. They had visited it in Manitowoc before and were there when it arrived back in September.
"We actually did see it come in the first time, and so we wanted to make sure that we saw it going out."
The Propsoms weren’t the only ones who came out; dozens of neighbors lined the canal to watch the Cobia make its way back to the lake, until it’s due for repairs again.
