All right, are we going to let this thread die, or are we going to post silly stories until everyone barfs? I shall make the supreme sacrifice and cough up another story....
Why is a lousy idea to give a submarine a job other than that of sinking enemy shipping? Well, quite simply because the average submariner is so focused on his job he can't be bothered with thinking about anything else, including the value of a 26 pound gold ingot...
Quote:
REMEMBER THIS USS TROUT?
Early in the war many submarines were assigned various "auxiliary" jobs. One of these fell to the Trout (Fenno), taking ammo. to Corregidor. After most of her torpedoes and ballast were removed, Trout took on over 3500 3" AA shells and delivered them to Corregidor. After unloading the ammunition and taking in ten additional torpedoes and 27000 gallons of fuel oil, it was discovered that Trout needed additional ballast to replace that left at Pearl. The CO requested twenty-five tons of sand bags, but this was denied since there was an urgent need for sand bags at Corregidor. Instead of sand, Trout took on twenty tons of gold and silver, which had been removed from Manila for safekeeping. Upon arrival at Pearl, when the bullion was unloaded, it was discovered that a gold bar, worth $14,500 was missing. A thorough search of the boat finally turned up the missing bar; it was found in the galley where one of the cooks was using it as a paperweight.
|
True story courtesy of the
United States Submarine Veterans of World War II.