It's true, countries of all nations mistook whales for submarines. Hell, the other day I was reading a story of a certain destroyer escort by the name of Samuel B. Roberts leaving on her maiden voyage and almost immediately finding an enemy submarine stalking her. Of course, she was a little skeptical about an enemy sub being that close to the American coastline but it never hurts to be safe.
It also never hurts to "roadkill" an innocent whale as she found out the hard way.
It's true, countries of all nations mistook whales for submarines. Hell, the other day I was reading a story of a certain destroyer escort by the name of Samuel B. Roberts leaving on her maiden voyage and almost immediately finding an enemy submarine stalking her. Of course, she was a little skeptical about an enemy sub being that close to the American coastline but it never hurts to be safe.
It also never hurts to "roadkill" an innocent whale as she found out the hard way.
It clearly does hurt. Not only was the whale wounded, the Roberts had to return to port to fix her damaged propeller shaft.
You're a submarine!There's only Mr. Whale hereHey...How many!!!?In the end...It's probably... going to be nothing...Showa 17, January
1942Thirty submarines spotted!?Destroyer Divisions 15, 16 and Minesweeping Division 21Wait!! I'm not actually a whale!!Everyone, please sweep the area.You're making a mistake!Because of the false sighting, they spent a whole day chasing after a pod of whales, so the story goes.BlowholeSpewThis area of ocean is an important route for our transport fleets.Yes ma'am!WavesWaaavesThese kinds of false sightings didn't only occur in the Japanese Navy, but also happened to navies across the globe.
