German U-Boat in Kingston Harbour!

 

No such provocative headline graced The Daily British Whig on June 2, 1919. Instead, it was, "German U-Boat Visits Kingston" and the use of the word 'visit' seems much more friendly. Regardless, war-weary Kingston still turned out hundreds of onlookers to see the captured prize on its way to Milwaukee, WI (Racine, WI Museum - top photo). The German booty 'boot', one of 160 surrendered to the Allies, was on the Great Lakes as part of a Liberty Bonds drive. One of a class of mine-laying submarines, UC-97 and three others sailed into New York harbour on April 29. Their voyage across the Atlantic took three weeks, making 8 knots. With engine problems, she was taken in tow by the submarine tender USS Bushnell at New York, then the USS Iroquois in Halifax to continue its voyage into the St. Lawrence River. 

The tow stopped at 37 Great Lakes ports, including Alexandria Bay, NY and Kingston. While in Kingston, the vessels stopped over at Swift's Dock, arriving at 10 a.m.. USN Lt-Cmdr. Gibson was welcomed by Kingston's Mayor Newman and at 1 p.m., dined at the Frontenac Club with US and Canadian military and civic personages.

A post-card view in Toronto harbour showing UC-97 docked with USS Iroquois at the Toronto Harbour Commission building: 

Lt.-Cmdr. Lockwood, made a controversial break with tradition while negotiating Canadian river locks, flying an American flag at the fore, not the Union Jack. A postcard view taken in Hamilton:

On display as a tourist attraction at Chicago's Grant Park, a treaty clause called for its destruction and in June, 1921 the USS Kitty Hawk towed the now-plundered sub 20 miles into Lake Michigan where the gunboat USS Wilmette used it for gunnery practice, sinking the sub after scoring 14 4-inch hits. The location of the wreck was found in August, 1992 after searching 140 sq. mi. using side-scan sonar.