General Discussions
This is the place to discuss general issues related to the U-boat war or the war at sea in WWII.
RE: Toilet trouble - the fate of U-1206
Posted by:
kurt
()
Date: July 24, 2001 09:26PM
<HTML>I believe that the flooding was due to operator error.
WWII sub toilets were maddingly complicated and error intolerant. Basically, you had a traditional john emptying into a small tank. After making a deposit, you closed the valve btwn the tank and the toilet, opened one to the outside ocean, and opened a pressure line to pressurized the tank to empty it overboard. (This is a bit simplified, and operations differed between surface and underwater flushing, but the main principle is the same....)
The point is that if you forgot to close the valve between the sewage tank and the toilet, and then opened the dump valve to the outside sea, sea water would rush in, backed by sea pressure, and squirt the contents of the sewage tank out of the toilet - all over the operator, giving a facefull of a hard object lesson in proper toilet operation (this is but one of the messy mistakes incorrect valve opration could result in - face it, high pressure and sewage are not a safe combination). If you only took a second or two to close the valves, you simply got a facefull of sewage. If the valves were left open long enough, the seawater would flood in till it reached dangerous levels, as U-1206 found out.
Mistakes in operating the \'thunder box\' were rights of passage for submariners of all nations in those days, and a casual \'mistake\' in instructions to a neophyte was a common prank by the \'old hands\', especially if the newcomer was an obnoxious new officer that needed \'breaking in\' by the crew. </HTML>
WWII sub toilets were maddingly complicated and error intolerant. Basically, you had a traditional john emptying into a small tank. After making a deposit, you closed the valve btwn the tank and the toilet, opened one to the outside ocean, and opened a pressure line to pressurized the tank to empty it overboard. (This is a bit simplified, and operations differed between surface and underwater flushing, but the main principle is the same....)
The point is that if you forgot to close the valve between the sewage tank and the toilet, and then opened the dump valve to the outside sea, sea water would rush in, backed by sea pressure, and squirt the contents of the sewage tank out of the toilet - all over the operator, giving a facefull of a hard object lesson in proper toilet operation (this is but one of the messy mistakes incorrect valve opration could result in - face it, high pressure and sewage are not a safe combination). If you only took a second or two to close the valves, you simply got a facefull of sewage. If the valves were left open long enough, the seawater would flood in till it reached dangerous levels, as U-1206 found out.
Mistakes in operating the \'thunder box\' were rights of passage for submariners of all nations in those days, and a casual \'mistake\' in instructions to a neophyte was a common prank by the \'old hands\', especially if the newcomer was an obnoxious new officer that needed \'breaking in\' by the crew. </HTML>
| Subject | Written By | Posted |
|---|---|---|
Toilet on deck!!!!!!!!!!!!
|
Arnaldo S. | 07/22/2001 07:29PM |
|
Toilet trouble
|
Clark | 07/22/2001 07:39PM |
|
RE: Toilet trouble - the fate of U-1206
|
kurt | 07/22/2001 08:42PM |
|
RE: Toilet trouble - the fate of U-1206
|
Yuri IL\'IN | 07/22/2001 11:33PM |
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RE: Toilet trouble - the fate of U-1206
|
Clark | 07/23/2001 03:57AM |
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RE: Toilet trouble - the fate of U-1206
|
Dietzsch | 07/23/2001 05:26AM |
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RE: Toilet trouble - the fate of U-1206
|
kurt | 07/24/2001 09:26PM |
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RE: Toilet trouble - the fate of U-1206
|
Clark | 07/24/2001 10:14PM |
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RE: Toilet on deck!!!!!!!!!!!!
|
Ken Dunn | 07/22/2001 09:46PM |
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RE: Toilet on deck!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Rainer Bruns | 07/22/2001 11:58PM |
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RE: Toilet on deck!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Eric-Jan Bakker | 07/23/2001 01:12PM |
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RE: Toilet on deck!!!!!!!!!!!!
|
parade | 07/23/2001 03:06PM |