I've read that story before. Lots of guys with big kahuna's kept that sub on the surface when they could have died trying.
I have been in it in Chicago and it's a fascinating tour. They had lead code books and
logs and lot's of other equipment from the sub. If you ever get to Chicago and like
this kind of history, go see it.
logs and lot's of other equipment from the sub. If you ever get to Chicago and like
this kind of history, go see it.
I read a book about it years ago.
Been in it - those U-boat crews were a tough lot. I can't imagine being packed in that thing and underwater. The American subs were luxury liners in comparison.
The Balaos and Gatos were, but there’s a reason their predecessors were called Pig Boats.
I’ve read the memoirs of a few WWII Pacific fleet submariners, and they were a special breed of cat. I remember one officer who said he pitied the nicotine fiends in the crew, but none of them, no matter how bad it got, would light up when they were submerged. Of course, part of that was because, after a few hours, you couldn’t—there wasn’t enough oxygen in the air to keep a cigarette lit.
I visited that one a couple of times, and several times in the Batfish in Muskogee. I could not spend more than an hour inside one of those. It takes a special kind of individual to man these.
Seriously doubt that I ever go to Chitown again, but if I do that's definitely on the list.
When I lived in Fresno, CA years ago, my downstairs neighbor told me that he had been in the German Navy on a sub in the Atlantic during WWII. After the war ended, he was placed in prison in England until 1955. After that, he moved to Wisconsin and became a barber. You would've never known just by looking at him.........
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