f_crane
27.11.09, 23:56
Tutaj ciekawy artykuł:
www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/barmy-armies-tales-of-derringdo-and-derringdont-955392.html
Przykład:
The U-boat captain who scuttled his submarine
The call of nature is a fact of life that must be dealt with by the designer of every war vehicle that requires manning. On a ship, it's easy – there's always the sea. In a small plane, you might have to hold on but no flight can last more than a few hours.
A submarine is more problematic. Submarine crews might be submerged for days at a time and the crew will simply have to go to the lavatory. The solution hit upon by U-boat designers in the Second World War was the high-pressure submarine toilet, a fiendishly complicated device that directed waste from the toilet bowl through a series of chambers to an airlock where, with a puff of compressed air, it was expelled into the surrounding sea.
Using the toilet was complex and required special training. The operative had to remember the exact order in which to open and close various valves to ensure the waste went out and sea didn't come in.
So we come to 14 April 1945, aboard U-1206 as it cruised at a depth of 200ft some 10 miles off Peterhead in the North Sea. U-1206 had had an uneventful career since her launch in December 1943. She had not sunk or damaged a single ship, nor had she lost a single member of her crew – but Captain Karl-Adolph Schlitt was about to answer a call of nature.
What exactly happened when he finished and flushed is a matter of debate. There are two schools of thought. The first, as told to a German researcher by Capt Schlitt, was that the toilet malfunctioned. The second, more widely reported, had it that the bashful captain refused to call the crew member who had been trained in high-pressure toilet use and had a go at operating it himself. He got the order of valves wrong. The result, whether through misadventure or malfunction, was that Schlitt was showered with high-pressure sewage and sea water.
Pandemonium ensued. By the time the valves had been shut, sea water was draining through the lavatory compartment into the battery room below. When the water came into contact with the battery acid, it formed highly toxic chlorine gas. Schlitt was forced to give the order to surface to vent the sub.
At this point, you will remember that U-1206 was only 10 miles off Peterhead and, as it surfaced, it was almost immediately spotted by a British aircraft and bombed. Capt Schlitt, unable to escape, was forced to burn his orders and to scuttle his submarine, making his the only submarine ever to be sunk by its own toilet.
W skrócie:
Niemiecki okręt podwodny był wyposażony w skomplikowany system spłukujący toaletę. Kapitan, po skorzystaniu, postanowił spłukać ją sam, zamiast poprosić o pomoc przeszkolonego technika (najprawdopodobniej, są też inne wersje). Skutek był dosłownie odwrotny od zamierzonego - konieczne było natychmiastowe wynurzenie. Jako, że okręt znajdował się 10 mil od wybrzeży Wlk. Bryt. został łatwo dostrzeżony i zatopiony.
Znacie jeszcze jakieś równie nietypowe wypadki?
