Since we began this investigation, we have received many calls and letters regarding negative experiences at this really fine museum. Member 5772-1999 sent this to us recently:

"I was up there (in Chicago) a few years ago and all I can accurately recall was I was really put off by the guide."

It is unfortunate that such a great museum is going through such a slump in customer satisfaction - and the really sad thing is that even though these problems are shown to the top executives, they seem to be happy to bury their heads in the sand rather than fix the problems. We hope they realize they need to fix the problems.

I visited this great Museum and U-505 a couple years ago, and here are his observations:
• The waiting area before entering U-505 was dirty - litter was everywhere and appeared to have not had janitorial service in some time;
• The tour guide, while pleasant, did not seem to have been briefed about the workings of U-505 or any submarines. He had a vivid imagination, primarily bull;
• He stated that U-505 was a war memorial to submariners of both navies. I believe the dedication plaque of 1955 displayed on "the Story of the U-505 magazine I have states "to the memories of the American seamen who went down to unmarked ocean graves..." I also have the later copyright editions ending with 1985 which states the same. The new director should be replaced and the quality of the Museum be restored.

Ouch! Tough words, but that is what this Member thinks. When U-505 first came to the Museum, Major Lohr was the director and he ran the place right! After him, there were a few who weren't so hot, then Jack Kahn took over and the Museum ran right. The new director & his staff might possibly see what Jack did - and copy it.

As you will remember when we first mentioned this situation in KTB #150, we were going to list the problems in 5 categories:

1. serious lack of service and actual rude behavior by some;
2. serious lack of historical accuracy;
3. horrible lack of security;
4. oddities in fund raising;
5. what boat really is in Chicago?

We thought that we would spend one or two issues on this first topic, that of lack of service and rude behavior by some of the personnel connected with the U-505 exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. Since beginning this topic, the letters, e-mails and phone calls have been coming in pretty heavily with Member's reports of negative memories of their time at this great museum and especially at U-505

We are actively requesting any Member with an experience at the U-505 exhibit to send us the details. Your name will not be used.

Looking further at problems here at this great museum, Member (5???-2000) has these personal observations:

"I recently received KTB #150 and upon reading the section on the Museum of Science and Industry, I thought that I might be able to give some insight into the tour situation. You see, I was a program interpreter at MSI for 6 months from May to October 1998. Given my experience only, I think that there are three areas that are of glaring concern.

First, the Museum is run for maximum profit. To this end, they pay tour guides approx. $6 per hour. For most of the people that I worked with, this was nothing more than a paycheck. *e_y definitely reflected the `pride' (we think he means LACK of pride) in the job. To make matters worse, the tours were set up so that there are no less than 4 an hour, and during busy times it is pushed to one every ten minutes. With this schedule, guides are expected to push them through. Little thought is given to how the information is presented. When combined with a staff of 4 to b guides in the exhibit, it becomes a game of who can get as many people through at one time.

Second, I know for a fact that the information is given to tour guides in a haphazard manner. My training consisted of being handed a script that was written in 1994. 1 was told to memorize the facts in the script, and then I was told to follow some of the other tour guides. When they thought that I was ready, into rotation I went In all fairness, the Acquisitions Department does have some decent reference material, but all too often it goes untouched. I wanted to make my tours as realistic and accurate as possible, and so I did a fair amount of reading outside of work. Once the training supervisor listened in on my explanation of how fast the G7E torpedoes were in the water, and then proceeded to tell me that the info I was quoting was wrong I told him that I was right, since I was getting the info from declassified US Navy reports on torpedo performance. His info was from the script which I told him was wrong. Since the older guides are expected to train the younger ones, this led to a cascade effect of errors.

When those tour guides did take more than 20 minutes to give a thorough explanation of the sub and its history, we were reprimanded for being too slow. This is not to say that my tours were perfect. If I did find that the info was wrong, I did try to rectify it. 1 was able to meet with several German submariners during my tenure there, and I wanted to learn from them. I asked what I could, and more importantly asked them if the info I was giving was accurate I even went so far as to have a brief message written in German asking former Kriegsmariners if they'd be willing to discuss their experiences. This idea was shelved to the best of my knowledge. One man whose recollections were questioned was Hans Gobeler. I met Mr. Gobeler and asked him about certain events on the boat He was quite friendly and willing to discuss those events. I was told later by Keith Gill (Collections Chief ?) that Mr. Gobeler's stories were exaggerated for his own ends concerning a book that Gobeler was writing I found this to be presumptuous on Gill's part, as he never served on a U-boat. This attitude of 'I Know it all' seems to run in the collections department.

"Third, key resources are not utilized. The Museum could be doing a much better job to discuss events concerning the U-boat arm and its people. But instead, the folks in the front (the tour guides) are told they don't really count concerning the boat As I mentioned before, the Museum should be interviewing any and a11 submariners for info. This would give a human element to the tours

Please don't get me wrong. Some of the people I worked with were friendly and did try to give accurate info on tours Unfortunately, it wasn't always the case."

EDITOR’S NOTE - we understand this Member's frustration because we have also tried to help various personnel at the Museum to get their facts accurate but have been treated in a shabby manner. Some years ago, the Museum used a small hand-held radio receiver that each visitor carried with him on the tour All the voices on that recorded message were U-boot veterans, and all introduced to the Museum by SHARKHUNTERS. They don't use this anymore.

Push them through in a rushed manner - sounds like a cattle drive, doesn't it? We have been there - it is indeed that way. "Head `em up! Move `em out!" As you will read in further issues of our KTB Magazine, it seems that accuracy is not as important as being able to tell some idiotic bit of fantasy (not fact) to get a reaction from the group.

It appears that this Member has placed his finger squarely on what appears to be the biggest problem with the U-505 and that is what he refers to as the `I Know All!' and `This is MY Boat!' syndrome that bothers some people at the top. More on that later

We plan to focus on five specific areas that might appear to need major attention. They are:

1. Inaccurate speeches by guides & rude behavior by others;
2. Horrible security;
3. Possible oddities in the ongoing fund-raising;
4. What if something happened to the submarine;
5. What submarine is really in Chicago?

We offered to do everything to help the Museum in all areas where help was really indicated, but we were pretty well snubbed.

Tell Us Your Story

As we have said, anyone who has had any experience at U-505 in the Museum of Science and Industry is invited to fill us in on those experiences Your name will not be used - ad if you are concerned that your Membership Number is used - is this REALLY the right number for this Member? Or does she have a different one? We will certainly not allow our confidentiality to be compromised If you have a story regarding U-SOS and any Museum personnel over the past few years, please send it in here. Thanks in advance