Mixed feelings

[GoldenRivet]

I'm proud to report that my last patrol resulted in a considerable amount of tonnage.

Unfortunately, according to SH3 Commander, the majority of the cargo being sunk to the bottom of the sea was Tobacco, Coffee and Wine/Spirits

Damn!

[Aktungbby]

Actually those were war commodities of the highest order! My father, flying B-29's off Tinian, after transferring out of a chemical weapons unit (his chemical engineering degree) where his duty was on a one-way hike up the beach with a flame thrower-prime targets for Jap snipers. None of his classmates survived. He then went to work making and developing instant coffee and tea for c-rations (an army travels on its stomach); such that, when called back to duty as a LT for Korea in B-29's-now cannon fodder for MIG's- his importance to the war effort was deemed so vital in 1950, that his services were retained by his employer as vital to the war effort under section blah blah blah US DEPT of Commerce (I've got the docs): get your cojones in gear and create Subsim's 2015 thread-of- the-year winner which was accomplished-1951! And of course, good American cigarettes were the economy backbone of any POW camp and the wartime black market: http://bkmarcus.com/cache/pow/ (req reading to any student of WWII: I wrote a paper on this in economics). So don't believe it! You are destroying vital commodities and prevented the wicked BILGE from winning the Best of Subsim Thread award by your devoted service to the Fatherland....er my fatherland too!!http://www.stripes.com/news/former-paratrooper-recalls-wwii-incident-that-led-to-beer-fame-1.254178

[Foggy]

You should have seized that cargo for the Fatherland!

[Aktungbby]

Originally Posted by Foggy

You should have seized that cargo for the Fatherland!

Indeed: vital to moral on both sides; they're smoking American cigarettes-Battle of the Bulge

[GoldenRivet]

Several crates of cigars, wine, champagne, liquors and a mound of coffee beans would have looked good in the stern torpedo room

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by GoldenRivet

Several crates of cigars, wine, champagne, liquors and a mound of coffee beans would have looked good in the stern torpedo room

Even more so in my garage

[RConch]

Great one-liner!

[Sailor Steve]

Look at the bright side. Denying those items to the enemy can't be good for his morale.

[BigWalleye]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

Look at the bright side. Denying those items to the enemy can't be good for his morale.

The tobacco and alcohol, yes. But they'd never have noticed the lack of coffee. The word "coffee" in Britain refers to a beverage most Americans wouldn't recognize. Although legend has it that it is made from coffee beans.

[Aktungbby]

Originally Posted by BigWalleye

The tobacco and alcohol, yes. But they'd never have noticed the lack of coffee. The word "coffee" in Britain refers to a beverage most Americans wouldn't recognize. Although legend has it that it is made from coffee beans.

Actually they did and made do with 'ersatz coffee' of every description: In Britain, this was additionally popularised as an adjective from the experiences of thousands of U.S., British, and other English-speaking combat personnel, primarily airmen, who were captured in the European Theatre of operations during World War II. These Allied POW's were given ersatz goods such as Ersatzkaffee, an inferior Getreidekaffee or "grain coffee" as a coffee substitute by their German captors also known as Mucke**** possibly from the French "mocca faux".. In WWII, Acorns were used to make coffee... or toast chicory or rice...I can't start the day without a cuppa joe ritually ground be me from whole Arabica French roast beans in my Krupp coffee maker... WAR is HEll !! http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaffee%C3%A4hnliches_Getr%C3%A4nk

[BigWalleye]

Originally Posted by Aktungbby

Actually they did and made do with 'ersatz coffee' of every description: In Britain, this was additionally popularised as an adjective from the experiences of thousands of U.S., British, and other English-speaking combat personnel, primarily airmen, who were captured in the European Theatre of operations during World War II. These Allied POW's were given ersatz goods such as Ersatzkaffee, an inferior Getreidekaffee or "grain coffee" as a coffee substitute by their German captors also known as Mucke**** possibly from the French "mocca faux".. In WWII, Acorns were used to make coffee... or toast chicory or rice...I can't start the day without a cuppa joe ritually ground be me from whole Arabica French roast beans in my Krupp coffee maker... WAR is HEll !! http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaffee%...s_Getr%C3%A4nk

What you say is true. That was the experience of Allied POWs in Germany. (Ersatz meaning substitute von Deutsch.) Ersatz became an English loan word for any inferior substitute.

But losing a boat-load of Arabica (Robusta, more likely!) would not have had an impact on British morale, military or civilian, like losing a boatload of Virginia long-leaf or (Heaven forfend!) Canadian rye.

And Churchill himself would have been bereft at the loss of a boatload of Cohibas!

[Aktungbby]

Originally Posted by BigWalleye

But losing a boat-load of Arabica (Robusta, more likely!) would not have had an impact on British morale, military or civilian, like losing a boatload of Virginia long-leaf or (Heaven forfend!) Canadian rye.

And Churchill himself would have been bereft at the loss of a boatload of Cohibas!

Get out your Heli-ox SCUBA gear BBY! and about 30 lbs weight belts apiece I reckon. WE"RE GOIN"DOWN-Hamm's on me; you cover the salvage rights... We'll cause a boom in the coffee-futures commodities market!$$$$ Actually Connecticut shade grown leaf would be the disaster! They make the best wrappers and binders (the two outermost layers) on anyones' stogie. Filtering the sun produces a thinner and more elastic tobacco leaf that cures to a lighter, even color often desired by the Cuban and Dominican cigar producers. Good ol' Yankee knowhow-My wife had a job picking that one summer-grueling work; I enjoy an ersatz Cohiba from the Dominican Republic all the more for it-but think the impendin' recognition of Cuba-thanks Mr Obama- will alter the logistics of the humidor...considerably I see from his cruise honeymoon pics, our OP, GoldenRivet, might just be in on this!

[GoldenRivet]

I tell you - i had a hand full of folks ashore in Mexico try to sell me Cigars. Some had the raised gold "Cohiba" Seal commensurate with authentic Cuban Habanos.

I didnt buy a single cigar in Mexico... seemed like every batch i looked at had signs of tobacco beetles - i even saw one indiscriminately crawling across the glass of the humidor.

Sorry Juan... a) im not keen on smoking beetle larva and b) there is no way in hell im introducing them to my humidor