Discover Military History Museums & Sites in Wisconsin

The EAA Aviation Museum in Oshkosh occupies a distinctive place in aviation heritage, bringing historic military aircraft into direct conversation with experimental, homebuilt, and classic designs. Established as part of Paul Poberezny’s vision for an EAA Air Museum and Education Center, and opened in its current form in 1983, the institution reflects the long arc from early flight through the World Wars and into the age of advanced composites and private spacecraft. More than 200 aircraft and tens of thousands of artifacts include warbirds and military types presented alongside their civilian contemporaries, allowing close study of how combat requirements pushed aerodynamics, propulsion, and materials science. World War I replicas, World War II-era aircraft, and later military-related designs sit within a broader collection that also encompasses pioneers like Curtiss and Bleriot, providing context for how military doctrine and engineering co-evolved. The adjacent grass Pioneer Airport and proximity to Wittman Regional Airport tie the museum to living operations, where restorations, flying examples, and EAA’s broader activities underscore the continuing challenges of keeping historic airframes airworthy rather than static.

USS Cobia, a Gato-class submarine moored on the Lake Michigan waterfront at Manitowoc, stands as a preserved example of late–World War II U.S. undersea engineering. Laid down in 1943 at Electric Boat in Groton and commissioned in March 1944, Cobia went on to complete six war patrols in the Pacific. Several of those patrols were officially rated successful, and the boat earned four battle stars and a later designation as a National Historic Landmark. The submarine’s record includes sinking Japanese freighters and transports, engaging in gunnery duels with small armed vessels, and conducting lifeguard duty and rescue work for downed aircrews and shipwrecked survivors. Interpreted today as a museum ship affiliated with the Wisconsin Maritime Museum, Cobia offers a compact cross-section of fleet-boat design: pressure hull, conning tower, and weapons systems preserved in the constrained space dictated by wartime production and operational demands. Set in an industrial Great Lakes port that once contributed directly to U.S. submarine construction, the vessel’s presence connects local manufacturing history with the broader evolution of American undersea warfare.