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Saturday, July 10, 2021

Under the shower


This was taken at the same time as the preceding photo, but I'm not sure if it's the same guy or not because this one looks more tanned.  Note the shower nozzle extending out of the conning tower.
Leaves me wondering if they had to surface to get showers on this model sub.

 

4 comments:

  1. These guys look pretty old and out of shape. The man on the far left in particular.

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    1. I was in the Navy. Although the guys in the ship look rather old, hardly any of the guys on my ship of 1300 were in shape. Gaggles of handsome sailors on these ships is fantasy. I'd never seen such ugly guys in my life. There were a few who were stunning, but those were few and far between.

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  2. I believe I'm right in saying that all the submariners in the US Navy as well as those of European navies, including the RN, were and remain strictly volunteers. They were and remain of a temperament to withstand the psychological stress of staying up to months of time submerged, and were and remain accepted for duty on that basis. Little physical demands are placed on men who spend their time and exercise their skills in such a confined space - which most probably exacerbates their physical condition. Back in the day, not even washing was a regular occurrence and on German U-boats, a whole valuable cupboard of cologne was kept for "washing" when surfacing was impossible for a wash down. The German Nazi and Soviet submarines had of course an SS or KGB officer on board to countermand the captain's orders, but they were all of them very brave men, however misguided. My father, a junior officer, saw action in the Battle of the Atlantic and being the acting officer - and therefore the captain - of a stricken vessel, having taken on board the men of a fellow RN convoy frigate, sailed through the men of a destroyed German U-boat, his reason that King's Regulations and the international laws of warfare and the sea, allowed this under the caveat that doing so would endanger his own ship. He was decorated by King George VI himself, it being recognized that he had had to make the most agonizing moral and ethical decision for so young an officer. It haunted him on his deathbed. They might not have been beauties, but they were brave and courageous men.

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    1. Yes, there were agonizing decisions of that sort made on both sides. The Kriegsmarine had a better reputation for humane practices than other branches of the German armed forces, but they would not endanger their own vessels to take on survivors. Your father deserved decoration and made the right decision.

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