Move over von Forstner!

[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'....