In one of the odder stories from WWII, a submarine destroyed a train.
In August 1945, eight members of the crew of the USS Barb posed for a photo at Pearl Harbor holding up the submarine's battle flag. The different patches on the flag represented the boat's myriad accomplishments over 12 patrols in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters. Seventeen ships sunk, a Presidential Unit Citation awarded following its 11th patrol, and the Medal of Honor was awarded to the ship's captain, Cmdr. Eugene Fluckey. But, most unusual, the flag also featured a kill marking for a train. Yes, a train.
[...] In the Sea of Okhotsk, Fluckey and the crew observed the rail line. After several days, Fluckey and the chief of the boat, a 26-year-old sailor named Paul Golden "Swish" Saunders, devised a plan. Saunders was the most experienced submariner aboard — he had joined the Navy when he was 17 and had served on the USS Barb since it was commissioned, sailing from the coast of North Africa to the North Pacific, for all of the submarine's 12 patrols.
[...] The USS Barb returned from its final patrol to Midway Island on Aug. 2, 1945, one of the most decorated U.S. Navy submarines of the war, and also the only submarine to have ever sunk a train.
You weren't expecting spoilers were you? JR.
(Score: 5, Informative) by richtopia on Wednesday February 15, @04:06PM (11 children)
I expect spoilers, and here it is: 8 men went ashore on Sakhalin island and planted explosives on the tracks. That is an over-simplification and the article is a good read.
As an aside, Task and Purpose is a good publication for military topics: keeping up with current developments with some historical stories like this one, while not being overly gun-ho or excessively USA patriotic. Their YouTube content is very approachable and since there is a hot conflict in Europe I'm tracking their uploads closely.
(Score: 0, Funny) by crafoo on Wednesday February 15, @04:25PM (10 children)
What does that even mean? What other allegiance do you put above your own country, people, history, and culture? Do you want to live somewhere else?
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 15, @05:31PM
Reality.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 15, @05:46PM (4 children)
I think what it means is that it's possible to recount your country's accomplishments without "laying it on too thick". e.g., "this is the only boat to have ever sunk a train" is OK but "Only the USA could sink a train with a boat" is cringe.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 15, @06:03PM
I prefer leaders that score 9 holes-in-one on their first round of golf and who have the best words and stop the steal. That's my team so that's who I support.
(Score: 2) by vux984 on Thursday February 16, @12:04AM (1 child)
As per TFA, (i read it several hours ago now), i think it mentioned another sub is credited with 3 train kills. So no this isn't even the only boat credited with a train hit.
(Score: 3, Informative) by janrinok on Thursday February 16, @06:42AM
Looking further at the comments below the TFA on the linked source, A British submarine (HMS Turbulent) was credited with 3 trains, so the Barb was the only US submarine credited with a train kill.
(Score: 2) by driverless on Friday February 17, @09:10AM
Particularly when there are e.g. countries without a navy who sank the other side's flagship cruiser...
(Score: 2) by tizan on Wednesday February 15, @08:47PM (1 child)
Nobody has tested this strongly i think...right now the interpretation of US constitution allows for multiple citizenship along with US (as long you donot swear allegiance to the King of England)...ask John Oliver (he is dual US/UK). So you can be multiply patriotic ...or citizen of the world or even singly patriotic without being jingoistic.
(Score: 2) by aafcac on Wednesday February 15, @10:11PM
IIRC, it's mostly having multiple passports that's an issue, nobody bothers to check if you've actually renounced your citizenship to other nations. I don't know that it's actually allowed, so much as not something that the bureaucracy cares to deal with
(Score: 4, Insightful) by SingularityPhoenix on Wednesday February 15, @09:33PM
I put my allegiance to humanity above my own country, people, history, and culture? When patriotism is used to support killing civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan, sending our children to the horror that is war, setting up banana republics or otherwise stepping on little nations, being hostile to immigrants and refugees, I don't support it.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday February 16, @10:03AM
The AC replier who said "reality" hit a good point here. A common problem with such "allegiances" is that they often aren't to actual countries, people, history, etc, but to some feelgood ideal or nebulous nostalgia fantasy. I think that's at play here.
I'm still salty over when you wrote [soylentnews.org]
I'm salty because among other things, you disrespect my mother who was the second woman at her school to have graduated with a degree in chemical engineering. She had to deal at the time with a lot of jerks who didn't think college and chemical engineering were places for women. Well, they were wrong.
But here, we have a real reason to question your patriotism because the US not only is famous for its present large number of female college students, but continues an almost two century US tradition! Women have graduated from college before, there are examples going back many centuries, but they were rare and isolated. The US changed that. In 1836 the first women's college [bestcolleges.com] worldwide was opened in 1836 (that is, a real college offering real degrees), Wesleyan College of Georgia. This was followed the next year by the first coed college (a school allowing admission to both male and female students) in the world when Oberlin College of Ohio admitted female students. Rather than taking pride in a great advance of humanity spearheaded by the US - real history of your country BTW, you spurn it with your dribble.
So now, you're all huffy over "excessively USA patriotic"? Well, stop being part of the problem.