Move over von Forstner!

[Aktungbby]

IT"S SUBSIM DAY!
On April 30, 1918, the waning days of World War 1, the British patrol ship Coreopsis, while sailing off the Belfast Lough in Ireland, came upon a disabled German submarine, the UB-85, floating on the surface of the North Atlantic. The crewmembers of the Coreopsis were stunned by their discovery as they did not often come upon non aggressive German U Boats, especially not in the middle of the day.
The crew of the UB-85 was picked up by the Coreopsis after they abandoned ship with no provocation. Once on board the British patrol ship, the UB-85's commander, Captain Gunther Krech, was interrogated immediately. One of the first questions asked by the British officers conducting the interrogation regarded the decision to remain on the surface even after the obviously British Coreopsis came within the UB-85's line of sight.
According to Captain Krech, his U Boat surfaced the night before in order to recharge the submarine's batteries. Krech was on deck with some men and a few of his officers, getting some fresh air and having a smoke, when an abrupt surge rocked the ship and a heavy weight seemed to bring down the starboard bow. Out of the darkness of the night, what the captain referred to as, a strange beast climbed out of the ocean and onto the side of the U Boat. The following is the description of the beast as told by Captain Krech to his British captors:
"This beast had large eyes, set in a horny sort of skull. It had a small head, but with teeth that could be seen glistening in the moonlight. Every man on watch began firing a sidearm at the beast, but the animal had hold of the forward gun mount and refused to let go."
Captain Krech continued, stating the proportions of the beast were so immense that it rocked the U Boat and caused it to list greatly to the starboard side. Fearing that the ships open hatch would dip below the water line, which would subsequently flood the U Boat and sink it, Captain Krech ordered his men to continue their barrage. The crew continued firing upon the beast until it finally released the forward guns and disappeared back into the night blackened ocean.
Krech noted that during the struggle the forward deck plating of the UB-85 had been damaged rendering the U Boat incapable of submerging, the reason why the Coreopsis was able to catch the UB-85 at the surface. The crews retelling of the encounter, along with that of the captains, was chronicled by members of the British Navy only hours after the U Boat was found. The UB-85 was then cleared of any remaining crew that may have remained on board and sunk by the Coreopsis.
Today there remains no explanation that would adequately explain the events which resulted in the sinking of the UB-85 and the capture of her crew.
The Evidence There remains no physical evidence to suggest just what attacked the UB-85 on April 30, 1918, perhaps if the UB-85 could one day be found and examined, especially the reportedly damaged forward deck plating, we may be able to gain a better understand of the events which transpired. http://www.unknownexplorers.com/beastofub85.php


According to the UB-85's crew's description of the beast, it sounded very much like a prehistoric Mosasaur. (One of the prehistoric sea going carnivorous creatures that lived during the time of the Dinosaurs. The fossil record of the largest Mosasaur, Hainosaurus was estimated to be between 49 feet to 57 feet.)
What von Forstner described July 30 1915, blown out of the water: by an explosion from the SS Iberian...The sinking of Iberian was about 60 nautical miles south of Fastnet Rock, off the southwest corner of Ireland, practically the opposite end of the Emerald Isle Both stories are incredulous with similar dixcriptions of the beast-with one difference... Gunther Krech needed a good excuse to surrender in the waning days of WWI...von Forstner did not... We're gonna need a new mod for this! http://www.cryptozoonews.com/u28-croc13/

[fumo30]

Oh boy! We sure don't know evrything about those vast and deep oceans and what ancient creatures they still might hide from us.

[Eichhörnchen]

[Aktungbby]

Originally Posted by fumo30

Oh boy! We sure don't know evrything about those vast and deep oceans and what ancient creatures they still might hide from us.

INDEED FROM A PREVIOUS POST inspired by Sailor Steve:

Originally Posted by me

I totalled it all up...and it is 21,003 tons! And then things got interesting!!! Bear in mind that U-boat skippers, especially of the von Forstner calibre are straight shooting, precise caculating Alpha sorts that don't miss out on the details-their lives depend on it: http://www.americanmonsters.com/site/2010/11/u-28-abomination-atlantic-&http://blogs.forteana.org/node/93
“On July 30, 1915, our U-28 torpedoed the British steamer Iberian, which was carrying a cargo across the North Atlantic. The steamer sank so swiftly that its bow stuck up almost vertically into the air. Moments later the hull of the Iberian disappeared.”
“The wreckage remained beneath the water for approximately twenty-five seconds, at a depth that was clearly impossible to assess, when suddenly there was a violent explosion, which shot pieces of debris — among them a gigantic aquatic animal — out of the water to a height of approximately 80-feet.”
“At that moment I had with me in the conning tower six of my officers of the watch, including the chief engineer, the navigator, and the helmsman. Simultaneously we all drew one another’s attention to this wonder of the seas, which was writhing and struggling among the debris.”
“We were unable to identify the creature, but all of us agreed that it resembled an aquatic crocodile, which was about 60-feet long, with four limbs resembling large webbed feet, a long, pointed tail and a head which also tapered to a point. Unfortunately we were not able to take a photograph, for the animal sank out of sight after ten or fifteen seconds.” Of the six other men on the con only seaman Robert Maas survived the war and he never said a word! "Unfortunately, almost all witnesses to the incident were later killed. But one lives on: our then cook, submariner Robert Maas, who lives in Gross Ottersleben, near Magdeburg, and who saw the animal while it was still flailing in the air. To my delight, I recently met him again by chance...but if seaman Maas did indeed see anything, he never seems to have placed the fact on record." None of the 61 survivors of the Iberian said any thing about a 60' crocodile either. It has been suggested by some — including us in the original version of this article — that this creature is mostly likely a living specimen of the flipper bearing, croc-featured, long presumed to be extinct mosasaur species, but the fact that Commander von Forstner specifically described the creature as having “webbed” feet would seem to suggest that the culprit is more akin to also allegedly extinct family of gargantuan sea crocodiles known as thalattosuchia. Two things are certain that come to mind: A;We thought coelacanths were extinct until one was caught in the 60's> B; We don't know really all that much about what's really down there. C; The sinking of Iberian was off Fastnet, Ireland. Close enough!...I hope 'Nessie' made back to Loch Ness Nessie on the loose??!! Then came 1977 and it gets real interesting: http://www.discoverynews.us/DISCOVERY%20MUSEUM/CreaturesFromTheDeep/Plesiosaur-Japanese-Fishing-Nets.html "“It seems that these animals are not extinct after all. It’s impossible for only one to have survived. There must be a group.” Von Forster was on to something. IMHO __________________

All things considered, we have two no-nonsense kaleuns, in and around Ireland, three years apart, attesting to the same critter...I would disregard one but I can't entirely disregard two. Nor were they being casual in the second episode:" Every man on watch began firing a sidearm at the beast, but the animal had hold of the forward gun mount and refused to let go." They were alert and armed for the battery charge procedure. AS Sailor Stave put it: 'FASCINATING'....

[fumo30]

Very interesting thread Aktungbby, Thanks.

[Rhodes]

According to one documentary my father saw in one doc channel, the Carcharodon megalodon is possible to be alive, since enormous dorsal fins were or are sighted from time to time. A 15m long shark...

Move over jaws, the real thing is passing!!!

[Aktungbby]

^ I think I saw that too! http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/7504/20140610/great-white-shark-disappears-hunt-for-super-predator-begins.htm

"They were baffled when the tag, minus the shark, washed up on a beach in Australia's Bremer Bay area four months later, Mail Online reported.
Data captured on the device showed there was a rapid temperature rise from 46 degrees to 78 degrees Fahrenheit (8 to 26 degrees Celsius) along with a sudden, sharp 1,902-foot plunge - temperatures drop considerably in deep ocean waters.

This - along with signs of bleaching from stomach acid - suggests that the tag was inside the belly of another animal, and that "Shark Alpha," as the victim was named, was prey to some mysterious Super Predator.
The only theory so far is that a "colossal cannibal great white shark" was responsible, according to the New York Post."

I've seen a video of an orca killing a great white, so it's still pretty inconclusive.

The tag, which has been analyzed as a sort of “black box” of the studied three-meter-long shark, showed the creature abruptly moving some 580 meters (1902 feet) down the continental shelf before registering a dramatic change in temperature.

The sudden temperature jump from 46 degrees Fahrenheit (7.7 degrees Celsius) to 78 degrees Fahrenheit (25.5 degrees Celsius) convinced scientists that the tag – which was “perfectly” fitted under the skin of the great white shark – was eaten together with its host.

Questions arose regarding what could have devoured a predator that large. Such speculation prompted the launch of an investigative documentary dubbed 'Hunt for the Super Predator.'
Several theories emerged after Riggs spoke to experts and whalers who sailed near the scene at the time of the incident.

Some suggested that it was an even larger “cannibal” white shark that devoured the smaller one. Great white sharks have been known to reach six to eight meters (21-28 feet) in size and over three tons in weight, making the suggestion “plausible,” according to Riggs.

However, the temperature data does not go entirely well with this theory, as great white sharks are able to maintain a body temperature of up to 10-14 degrees Celsius higher than the surrounding water – and the tag showed a striking difference with the cold 600-meter-deep water temperature.

While cases of killer whales or orcas attacking sharks are well documented, it is not typical of these mammal species to dive several hundreds of meters below the surface of the ocean, because they need fresh air to breathe. The deepest known dive for a killer whale is said to be about 260 meters (850 feet).

But such a dive would be possible for another huge sea mammal – the sperm whale. According to Riggs’ findings, some whalers saw a group of sperm whales passing along the Western Australian cost at the time in question. The filmmaker said he plans on interviewing the whalers for the documentary.

However, it is not clear how the tag’s data would then match the temperature inside the warm-blooded sperm whale’s belly.

This being SUBSIM Day we should spread the cheer a tad; one thing is clear: the poor little 9' great white is not an 'apex predator' after all! Right now I'm happy that perhaps a sperm whale mistook a great white for a giant squid...in much the same fashion that the Great white might err in attacking a wet-suited surfer for a 7 ton elephant seal which happens often enough. OOOOPS

[Platapus]

At times, I feel that we know more about outer space than we do about the oceans on Earth.

[Jimbuna]

Well slap me daft with a wet lettuce