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An Amazing Story: How a Sub Sailed the Pacific with Sails Made From Hammocks & Blankets
the vintage news ^

Posted on 05/10/2021 12:00:57 PM PDT by mylife

during what looked like a standard search and rescue mission, they were met by a strange twist of fate. The crew of the submarine very soon found encountered a situation where they were the ones in need of saving.

Having incorrectly estimated the amount of fuel needed for the mission, when they arrived at the spot where Conestoga was presumed to be, the submarine had run out of usable fuel.

Since its electric motors lacked enough battery power to transport them back to base, they were stranded some 100 nautical miles from Hawaii, caught in a desperate situation. To make matters worse, their radio had malfunctioned and all communication went silent. On top of it all, the limited food supply wasn’t going to hold out for more than five days.

Navy Submarine USS R 14, SS 91, in Quincy, 1919. (Photo by Arkivi/Getty Images) Navy Submarine USS R 14, SS 91, in Quincy, 1919. (Photo by Arkivi/Getty Images)

They were out in the open sea, with no fuel and no means of letting their headquarters know in what trouble they were in or where were they stranded. The crew consisting of 27 men and two officers were getting restless, as their situation seemed unresolvable.

That was until the submarine’s engineering officer Roy Trent Gallemore decided to think outside the box. Gallemore realized that they were, in fact, surrounded by a power source used by mariners for thousands of years.

The ship’s engineer came up with an idea to use the wind to power the submarine.

(Excerpt) Read more at thevintagenews.com ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; History; Military/Veterans; Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS: conestoga; deadinthewater; engineer; gallemore; rescuemission; roygallemore; roytrentgallemore; sailing; sailors; sails; stranded; submarine; usn; ussr14
I have seen amazing ingenuity on subs but not sure how they frigged that rigging..


1 posted on 05/10/2021 12:00:57 PM PDT by mylife
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2 posted on 05/10/2021 12:06:45 PM PDT by mylife (The Roar Of The Masses Could Be Farts)
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To: mylife

That’s nothing. Once 3 ships sailed the Pacific using nothing but hemp!


3 posted on 05/10/2021 12:07:41 PM PDT by monkeyshine (live and let live is dead)
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To: mylife

4 posted on 05/10/2021 12:13:21 PM PDT by Yo-Yo (is the /sarc tag really necessary?)
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To: mylife

Good thing they weren’t Millennials.


5 posted on 05/10/2021 12:16:36 PM PDT by polymuser (A socialist is a communist without the power to take everything from their citizens...yet.d)
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To: polymuser
Good thing they weren’t Millennials.

They don't go to sea, their cell phones don't work there.

6 posted on 05/10/2021 12:18:50 PM PDT by 1Old Pro
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To: Yo-Yo

my boss was in that movie! he had one line..


7 posted on 05/10/2021 12:19:29 PM PDT by mylife (The Roar Of The Masses Could Be Farts)
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To: mylife

During WWII my Father served on an Oceangoing Tug.

Their main job was to pull Landing Craft stuck on Sand Bars and Coral Reefs back to open water during the Island Invasions.

They did it under fire from the Japanese defending the Islands. Of course, like most Men of the time my Father barely mentioned it. I only heard snippets growing up.

He also served on a Mine Sweeper, a Destroyer and modified Landing Craft used as a Machine Shop to fabricate Parts for the Fleet.

He survived the deadly Typhoon that sunk many of our Ships and took many lives.

All that sacrifice and now we watch our Republic being dismantled before our eyes. What a crying shame that it has come to this.


8 posted on 05/10/2021 12:32:47 PM PDT by Kickass Conservative (Don't blame me, I Voted for the guy who actually Won the 2020 Presidential Election...)
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To: Kickass Conservative

I have a soft spot in my heart for tug boats


9 posted on 05/10/2021 12:40:06 PM PDT by mylife (The Roar Of The Masses Could Be Farts)
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To: Kickass Conservative

Makes me sick to my stomach.


10 posted on 05/10/2021 12:40:31 PM PDT by sport
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To: mylife

So the Conestoga didn’t make it much more than 30 miles from the Golden Gate Bridge before it sunk with all hands?


11 posted on 05/10/2021 12:44:36 PM PDT by chaosagent (Remember, no matter how you slice it, forbidden fruit still tastes the sweetest!)
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To: chaosagent

salute


12 posted on 05/10/2021 12:45:48 PM PDT by mylife (The Roar Of The Masses Could Be Farts)
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To: mylife

“Like an old man trying to send back soup in a deli...”


13 posted on 05/10/2021 1:16:07 PM PDT by Mr. K (No consequence of repealing obamacare is worse than obamacare itself)
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To: mylife

Mighty creative of them... Shackleford would be proud. I think.


14 posted on 05/10/2021 1:28:36 PM PDT by Kommodor (Solzhenitsyn was an optimist...)
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To: polymuser

Getting “millenialled” is now a verb on construction sites. It is understood by foremen to mean younger workers coming into the workforce not able to produce industry standard quality in construction.......and taking way too much time to do it because they spend too much time on the phone.

Latinos are far and away the preferred labor force.


15 posted on 05/10/2021 1:35:01 PM PDT by Salvavida
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To: mylife

This is the part that got me - the crew size:

27 men and two officers

Less then 30 men to man a man-o-war

Figure 12 on 12 off shifts: 1 officer and 13 enlisted per watch + 1 cook

Also in todays Navy the CO, only an LT (O-3) no less, would have been court-martialed for miscalculating, instead of getting a commendation and would be at least a Commander (O-6).


16 posted on 05/10/2021 1:49:46 PM PDT by reed13k (For evil to triumph it is only necessary that good men do nothing)
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To: polymuser

I suppose technically some of them WERE Millennials.
Just a different Millennium.


17 posted on 05/10/2021 6:07:07 PM PDT by Do_Tar (Do I really need a /joke?)
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