The Wisconsin Maritime Museum’s USS Cobia is now available for overnight Bed & Breakfast bookings through airbnb.

The US Navy submarine, which played a key role in the Pacific during World War II and has been has been a museum ship in Wisconsin since 1970, can take private groups of over 16 people for overnight stays, sleeping in some of the 65 sailors’ bunks on board… but not, apparently, the captain’s quarters!

The “Sub BnB” offers more than just accommodation. While on their after-hours visit, private groups can explore the museum and submarine, take guided tours of both, and watch maritime and submarine movies from the museum’s collection.

USS Cobia* is a National Historic Landmark vessel with a significant war record. One of 70 Gato-class submarines, she was launched in November 1943 and during her service in the Pacific, sank 13 Japanese ships over six war patrols.

On her first patrol she attacked a Japanese convoy over three nights in July 1944, sinking three freighters. The last of which was the Nisshu Maru, transporting a Japanese tank regiment and its 28 tanks to Iwo Jima, which undoubtably helped when the US Marines attacked the island in February 1945.

Overnight stays are not new. Many museum ships offer visitors the chance to sleep on board, and the Wisconsin Maritime Museum has been providing that opportunity to local scout troops and youth groups for a long time. But Covid-19 put a stop to that and so the museum offered the submarine to family groups instead. Now the sleepover has been upgraded for private groups, and is part of the museum’s new fundraising goal to raise $1.5 million for an inspection and essential preventative maintenance at a local shipyard in September 2025.

* USS Cobia was named after the cobia (Rachycentron canadum) a large fish that grows up to 2m long and lives in warm waters around the world.

Image: Andrew Dramm, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons