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Old 06-03-06, 06:13 PM   #1
Subnuts
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Default Things I learned from watching U-571

* A 200-foot long stationary object is untouchable at 150 yards.
* A German supply submarine is a regular U-boat with an extra 20mm AA gun.
* A leaky 25-year old submarine is a prestigious command.
* A ship struck in the bow will explode deck-first in an enormous fireball.
* A torpedo can travel 400 yards in ten seconds
* A vessel that requires 45 men to operate efficiently can be operated with only six men (four of whom are on the bridge). These six men can also repair the vessel to working order in a few hours.
* American aircraft have convenient 10-foot tall "US NAVY" markings. On the TOP of the wings.
* Atlantic storms are usually accompanied by a mild rain shower.
* Being shot a dozen times at close range is a relatively clean affair.
* Black men weren't just 'token' in the '40s.
* British and German destroyers could drop about 60 depth charges at a time.
* Confusion will not take over when the captain orders a dive, but signals to surface on the diving alarm.
* Depth charges can crack your spine and knock your teeth out, but can't damage a submarine two feet away.
* Destroyers always appear out of nowhere.
* Destroyers usually take on the appearance of a large ocean-going tug.
* Diesel engines can be turned on 20 meters under water.
* Diesel fuel explodes in enormous fireballs.
* Each U-boat crewman was issued an MP-40.
* Everybody smoked in the 40s, but nobody actually inhaled.
* Fighter-sized patrol planes could operate in the mid-Atlantic.
* German destroyers regularly appeared in the North Atlantic in mid-1942.
* German U-boats had cozy lounges with leather sofas and expensive tables.
* It's okay to spray gunfire around in a cramped metal tube.
* It's possible to locate the exact location a crippled sub based on it's radio signals, which you can not decrypt.
* Mechanics hang out in one spot while being depth charged.
* Red light is all-encompassing.
* Submarine-mounted deck guns had laser-like accuracy.
* Submariners completely unadapted to a new submarine type adjust in about 45 seconds.
* Submarines in WWII routinely engaged in underwater dogfights.
* Submarines remain on the surface even after a crash dive has been ordered.
* The best way to attack an unescorted merchant at night is submerged, using the search periscope.
* The control panels on a German submarine are "all in German!"
* The electrician berserker squad was the most lethal German fighting force at the time.
* The French resistance could obtain extremely high-quality photographs, but could not obtain the subject of said photographs.
* The handle that activates the stern torpedo tube is located in the bilge.
* Torpedo tube inner doors (and the torpedoes within) can survive the water pressure at 700 feet.
* Torpedoes have 10,000-pound warheads.
* U-boat crewmen were never cross-trained to operate diesel engines.
* U-boats machine gunned survivors in lifeboats "every now and then".
* You can't hold your breath for six minutes straight.
* You should Wave your hands heroically while drowning instead of shouting "throw me a f**king rope!"

Last edited by Gizzmoe; 06-03-06 at 10:19 PM.
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