Strange and Facinating Facts of WWII

[Gasbag]

Thought I'd add this one:

U-boat Sunk by a Toilet...

On 14 April 1945, U-1206, a late war VII C boat outfitted with one of the new deep water high pressure toilets designed to work at deeper depths, was cruising at about 200 feet 8-10 miles off the the British coast. The commander was "caught short" & decided to use the new device without the help of a trained specialist (the new toilets were rather complicated to use). Something went wrong & when the specialist came to help he must have misunderstood something and opened the wrong valve end. As a result of this mistake, seawater came rushing in & managed to get in contact with the batteries. This resulted in a large amount of chlorine gas forming. The commander had no choice but to surface immediately in order to air out the boat. They managed to surface & give the boat a good airing but as they were about to dive an enemy aircraft appeared & attacked them. This did extensive damage to the U-boat, leaving it unable to dive, & the commander was left with no choice but scuttle U-1206 after destroying his code books, etc. The crew then disembarked & were later captured.

Source: U-Boat.net Myths

Strange but true...