Joliet plans WWII submarine monument along Des Plaines River

Joliet is making plans for a monument to commemorate the covert passage of submarines through town on the way to the Pacific Ocean during World War II.

The monument would be located in Billie Limacher Bicentennial Park, a site along the Des Plaines River where observers can reflect on the day when submarines instead of barges moved along the river.

The USS Chicago Base, the local chapter of the United States Submarine Veterans Inc., would erect the monument dedicated to an expedition of 28 submarines built by the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company in Wisconsin.

“They approached us,” said city Planner Jayne Bernhard after presenting the monument proposal to the City Council Public Service Committee on Monday. “They really wanted a site where you could look at the monument and look out onto the river.”

The committee recommended approval of the monument in the city park, and the proposal will next go to the City Council for a final vote on Aug. 16. If approved, the monument would likely be erected in spring 2023, Berhnard said.

A similar monument is located in Morris at Canal Port Plaza. It was dedicated in 2020 by USS Chicago Base.

Morris, too, lies along the Illinois Waterway system used by the submarine crews on a covert journey that ran from Lake Michigan, where they trained, to the Mississippi River and onward to the Pacific Ocean where they joined the war effort, according to a city staff report on the proposal.

The monument would be located next to the Veterans Memorial in Billie Limacher Bicentennial Park. It would be made of black granite and stand about 3.5-feet tall and be nearly four feet wide.

The City Council will be asked to approve a memorandum of outstanding stating that USS Chicago Base will pay for installation of the monument and the city will assume future ownership and maintenance.