Auburn research project allowing world to see inside USS Drum submarine like never before - Office of Communications and Marketing

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Bill Lister had not been wrong the USS Drum successful years.

The 97-year-old Edinburg, Indiana, nonmigratory is believed to beryllium the past surviving unit subordinate of the World War II submarine—on show astatine the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park successful Mobile, Alabama—and it had been years since helium was capable to marque the travel down to the bay and spot the vas helium spent clip aboard during World War II. Lister, a Master Chief radioman during the war, was portion of 8 missions connected the Drum. He figures the past clip helium went to Mobile to spot it arsenic portion of the yearly reunions was astir 2015.

But earlier this twelvemonth done the wonders of technology, Lister was capable to instrumentality a travel done the 311-foot, nine-inch submarine helium occupied with dozens of others during 1 of the astir transformational times successful American history. Thanks to an inter-university task headed by Auburn University’s Junshan Liu from the College of Architecture, Design and Construction and Danielle Willkens of the Georgia Institute of Technology’s College of Design, Lister was capable to usage virtual-reality instrumentality to instrumentality a virtual tour of his erstwhile vessel.

Liu, Willkens and their squad utilized 360-degree cameras and Lidar scanners to seizure images of the interior of the eight-compartment submarine and enactment unneurotic a highly interactive virtual circuit accessible to anyone and everyone done the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park’s website. The tour—which went unrecorded connected Friday—Nov. 11, Veteran’s Day, is simply a one-of-a-kind mode to presumption the Gato-class sub that includes commentary from Lister and video segments featuring Tom Bowser, a retired atomic submariner who has written a publication astir the USS Drum.

Lister—who served successful the U.S. Navy from 1942-45—was fascinated by the interactive circuit aft being presented a sneak peek of it during a astir daylong sojourn with the probe and restoration squad earlier this year. Liu and USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park Curator Shea McLean took a travel to Indiana to amusement Lister the exertion and fto him circuit the boat.

“It was precise interesting, and I deliberation it’s a bully deal,” said Lister, who besides was portion of the unit of the USS Nautilus during his work time. “I went done the boat, and you get a bully thought of what’s going on. They said, ‘Point to a dot,’ and past zoom, I was successful the conning tower. I hadn’t been successful the conning operation since the war.”

Lister was capable to walk a large woody of clip touring the vessel and besides watching his great-granddaughter navigate the interactive expedition arsenic well.

“I went wholly done the boat,” said Lister, who told researchers helium present tours the sub astir regular from Indiana. “They tin instrumentality idiosyncratic similar me, oregon idiosyncratic who’s claustrophobic who would alternatively bash it [virtually]. You get the thought erstwhile you’re doing this that you’re really connected determination pointing this [pointer] astatine something. It’s precise realistic, really.

“You enactment your mode done with these small dots, and you propulsion the fastener and bing, you’re successful the guardant battery. You constituent it astatine a dot guardant connected deck, propulsion a fastener and zip, you’re there.”

Lister said touring the Drum—which was successful work from 1941-46—in specified item brought backmost memories from his days aboard the sub from 1943-October 1945.

“The submarine unit ne'er got overmuch publicity,” said Lister, who enlisted astatine the property of 17. “We had 80 men connected a 311-foot-long mechanized sewer pipe. I fought a antithetic warfare than my member did successful the Marine Corps. Only 15,200 men really made patrols and rode the boats during the war, and they killed 28 percent of us.

“We were conscionable not astir anybody [out astatine sea], and determination were times erstwhile you were scared. I knew the warfare was going connected and what we were doing. Each submarine had its area, and you stayed successful your area.”

One-of-a-kind probe opportunity

The USS Drum task gave researchers a accidental to supply accessibility to a prized World War II relic to those who antecedently were incapable to acquisition it, either successful idiosyncratic oregon by descending wrong its choky layout.

“The main intent of this task is to let aging veterans and radical with reduced mobility to sojourn the USS Drum virtually,” said Liu, who has been moving connected the task since June 2021. “Danielle and I person been utilizing the aforesaid exertion successful documenting operation task sites and historical buildings for years, but it was the archetypal clip we tested it retired connected a naval ship. The full acquisition was challenging, but besides precise rewarding.

“One happening we recovered astir breathtaking astir this task was that the virtual circuit tin service arsenic a repository to archive and stock Bill’s unthinkable wartime stories onboard the Drum and Tom’s astonishing enactment to reconstruct the submarine, which is lone accessible by stairs for in-person visits to the boat.

The USS Drum task was a unsocial endeavor for Liu and his team.

“As a researcher, you don’t get to enactment successful this benignant of task each day,” Liu said. “I consciousness truthful fortunate to beryllium progressive successful this precise meaningful work, with the enactment from my school, the CADC and a workfellow from RBD’s Innovation & Research Commons. We person started the treatment with USS Alabama [Battleship Park] astir our adjacent projects, including bringing the battleship online and presenting their warplanes virtually, et cetera.”

For Willkens, the task was astir some providing accessibility and preserving history.

“The virtual circuit provides visitors with a unsocial acquisition to interact with the submarine and its past astatine their ain pace,” said Willkens, an adjunct prof successful Georgia Tech’s School of Architecture. “They tin instrumentality a heavy dive into method aspects oregon research stories of those who worked onboard. I anticipation this is the archetypal of galore projects for america determination astatine Battleship Park.”

Next measurement successful restoration, preservation

This USS Drum probe task was the latest successful a bid of commitments by the park’s medication to restore and preserve historical vessels similar the submarine. It reflects a concerted effort by the park’s squad of restoration experts dating backmost to 2007 to proceed to physique a surviving past successful Mobile Bay.

“The video collaboration betwixt USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park and Auburn University’s McWhorter School of Building Science is each astir entree to history,” said Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Janet Cobb, the park’s enforcement director. “It was created for those physically incapable to entree submarine USS Drum (SS-228), oregon for a funny schoolhouse kid connected the different broadside of the world. When you’re greeted by the past surviving subordinate of USS Drum’s World War II crew? A phenomenal experience.”

McLean said the virtual circuit provides a amusive and interactive mode to research the USS Drum—the world’s oldest American submarine connected display—without having to physically navigate the choky quarters wrong the vessel.

“Firstly, the USS Drum was ne'er designed to beryllium a vas with abundant country inside, and the spaces wrong are cramped and often hard to navigate,” McLean said. “It is filled with tiny compartments and constrictive passageways, and each compartment is separated by a tiny oval water-tight doorway that are somewhat hard to walk done arsenic well. So, that being said, it tin sometimes beryllium rather challenging for anyone to circuit the sub and tin beryllium peculiarly challenging for anyone with immoderate benignant of carnal impairment.

“These virtual tours, for the archetypal time, volition marque the Drum accessible to each who privation to circuit the vas from stem to stern. Moreover, these tours volition marque the vas disposable to radical worldwide who mightiness not different beryllium capable to marque the travel to Mobile to spot her successful person. The summation of interactive idiosyncratic interviews, combined with archival footage, provides the visitant with a amended consciousness of the boat’s past arsenic good arsenic what it was similar to unit the warship during the world’s top humanities conflict, World War II.”

Lister was highly complimentary regarding the park’s restoration and preservation efforts.

“It’s astir apt 1 of the amended subject parks successful the country, due to the fact that they’ve got truthful overmuch there,” said Lister, who made runs aboard O-boats, R-boats and S-boats during his clip successful the Navy. “It was indispensable that they got the Drum retired of the water. It got truthful bushed up connected the eighth tally that they had to regenerate the conning tower, and erstwhile they pulled it retired of the water, it was successful beauteous atrocious shape.

“That thing’s successful amended signifier close present than it was erstwhile I got disconnected it. They’ve done a large occupation determination successful Alabama astatine the subject park.”

History preserved done technology

Lister is pleased the Auburn-led probe squad has partnered with the Mobile parkland to guarantee that aboriginal generations of visitors and past enthusiasts person the accidental to spot the USS Drum successful specified a amusive and interactive way.

“I person precocious hopes of going down to spot the Drum again [at a reunion], but I don’t person precocious hopes of getting connected it,” said Lister, who has attended 30-40 USS Drum reunions astatine the park. “Going done the boat, they’ve done a bully occupation of stopping astatine the close places and pointing retired this and that. I deliberation what they’re doing down determination is bully and is going to sphere a batch of history.

“It’s bully that determination are radical similar that who are funny successful preserving the history. It amazes maine what they’re doing with past now. I’m truly gladsome they are doing this.”