As the Japanese sailors attempted to man their three-inch deck gun, the O'Bannon 's deck hands, not having side arms, grabbed potatoes from nearby storage bins and pelted the Japanese with them. Thinking the potatoes were hand grenades, the submarine's sailors were too occupied with throwing them away from the sub to fire.
but from the wiki, the potatoes gave USS O'Bannon a chance to distance herself from Ro-34 and then used depth charges to sink Ro-34.
Well we would never be able to tell if the reef got her or the charges, most likely she would have hit the reef and have to surface where she would meet the charges on the way up
I probably love Nagato's reaction to the whole thing most of all.
I'd expect Choukai having a similar response to being the only warship ever sunk by direct fire by a carrier thanks to a fluke shot to the torpedo tubes.
I probably love Nagato's reaction to the whole thing most of all.
I'd expect Choukai having a similar response to being the only warship ever sunk by direct fire by a carrier thanks to a fluke shot to the torpedo tubes.
(US CVE HAX, PLS NERF!)
not sunk by it since she was still afloat but the damage caused by it did result in her being scuttled as it was so extensive that they couldn't afford to repair her.
So... I'm currently reading a history book about O'Bannon's DesRon 21 and I have bad news:
This incident was an invention by the media.
The CO of O'Bannon claimed in an interview that he had been trying to drive a stake through that story for years. The truth is that O'Bannon got so close to Ro-34 while it was surfaced that O'Bannon's cook believed that the crew could hit the sub with potatoes, an assessment that the CO disagreed with.
EDIT: I was just reliably informed that the CO was well out of the loop of what was going on on deck and the enlisted men of the O'Bannon never disagreed with that story. In fact, destroyers getting too close to submarines for comfort was very common back then leading to the sailors on the destroyers grabbing whatever they can to throw at the submariners and even open fire with small arms. Also, the fact the food locker of the Fletcher-class was very close to the point of contact adds to the credibility of this story even more.
So... I'm currently reading a history book about O'Bannon's DesRon 21 and I have bad news:
This incident was an invention by the media.
The CO of O'Bannon claimed in an interview that he had been trying to drive a stake through that story for years. The truth is that O'Bannon got so close to Ro-34 while it was surfaced that O'Bannon's cook believed that the crew could hit the sub with potatoes, an assessment that the CO disagreed with.
So... I'm currently reading a history book about O'Bannon's DesRon 21 and I have bad news:
This incident was an invention by the media.
The CO of O'Bannon claimed in an interview that he had been trying to drive a stake through that story for years. The truth is that O'Bannon got so close to Ro-34 while it was surfaced that O'Bannon's cook believed that the crew could hit the sub with potatoes, an assessment that the CO disagreed with.
So Nagato is right, then; it IS bullshit!
Ro-345th April 1943Fire!Ro-34 sunk (in the depths of the ocean)
U.S.S. O'Bannonhas been found!Ro-34 was frightened and took a dive in an escape attempt.Bumped into a reefBULLSHIT!