US Army Veteran Reacts "Americans Stole German Submarine | Grand Theft Uboat | The Fat Electrician"

[@Whiskey_Assassin]

Best part is that a few years ago MSI was refurbishing U-505 after years of elemental damage (she had been kept outside but now has an indoor enclosure. MSI reached out to find parts and the company that built her in Germany actually donated parts and mechanics to repair her. They wanted the last remaining example of their cutting edge engineering (at the time) to be in pristine condition for anyone to see.

[@rarinrecruit3150]

Straight up the dude was like “Yeah, they stole it. It just goes to show how god damn amazing our shit was, so look at it in its full beauty, thanks to German engineering”

[@jeffgossard1451]

It's been inside for years,I toured it on the outside in the 70s, been inside since the. 90s at least?

[@Whiskey_Assassin]

@jeffgossard1451 you're right. God it doesn't feel like it was that long ago.

[@brianbaker5671]

My hometown is DeKalb IL I remember it was on blocks outside and steel stairs and let you go thru .

[@JackulaHD]

He may have dismissed the photographer as a joke but he is probably the most important man on that submarine. If it does sink he has a limited time to photograph as many documents, technology and other secret things as he could before the sub went underwater. On board there would be significant engineering and communications type equipment, lots of document intel, up to date codebooks and much more. All of which would be extremely useful to the war effort. So much so that these documents are printed on water soluble paper to stop them being recovered from a sunk vessel.

[@dementedshadow23]

The fact that the officer closed the hatch without thinking twice speaks volumes to the amount of trust he has in his men.

[@jakeseward9035]

Since it was abandoned by the previous owner this wasn't stealing. It was just an intense salvage operation!

[@mattstorm360]

Legitimate salvage!

[@markcameron3110]

America squatted on a German sub.

[@bookman7409]

The submarine was NOT dead, it was just resting after a long shag while it pined for the fjords!

[@SBQDawn]

Yes getting that machine was the HUGE win which is why that German Commander broke down. it wasn't being captured it was knowing what we got from his ship.

[@ianmclean6399]

Nah British had enigma machines 3 years before this after boarding multiple uboats

[@voraciousblackstn]

True, but neither the Americans nor the Germans knew that at the time.

[@adventussaxonum448]

​@@voraciousblackstn The Americans knew about the intelligence the British were providing them, courtesy of the RN boarding U-boats, and Bletchley Park developing computer technology.

[@johnathon007]

@@ianmclean6399 The machine had been taken before but the complete code books were very much a new and needed piece.

[@BrotherPraetus]

"Camera guy" is usually code for "intelligence operative" People forget that the U.S. Navy's boot camp is just north of Chicago because, you know, the Great Lakes connect to the ocean, and are only classified as "lakes" because they are fresh water bodies.

[@andrewwirch7227]

It is incidents like this that deservedly gave the name "The Greatest Generation" to this generation. "We do the difficult immediately, the impossible takes a little longer." There are so many stories like this, probably even crazier than this, that are left undocumented and forgotten to history. Insurmountable obstacles were just annoying speed bumps to people that had just survived the Great Depression.

[@bookman7409]

"We are the unwilling, tasked with doing the unnecessary for the ungrateful. We have done so much for so long with so little that we are now qualified to do the impossible with nothing, and have it done yesterday." Dunno if any other vets heard that one, but there was a great "organization chart" floating around in the '80s, as well.

[@scottgorski7931]

Guys, I'm 67 and during the mid to late 1960's we went to the museum of science and industry as a family. At the time there were actual WWII fighters hanging from the ceiling and we did the tour of this sub when it was still outside along one of the exterior walls. You walked through a hallway to enter at one end and then through another to exit. I've also done the tour of the Cobi I believe it's called, in Manitowoc Wi. A U.S. WWII sub that's being restored. It's simply amazing how small these things are when you get aboard and try moving around.

[@adventussaxonum448]

"We sank all of them" The Royal Navy and Royal Canadian Navy are SO grateful.😂

[@brianbaker5671]

He’s covered this we means we all the allies lol 😂

[@PulsingKrugotvoid]

Lol, also my understanding of the enigma machine was it wasn't much help without the British since the codes changed daily they had to go to Touring who was one of the only ones cracking it.

[@IvIidnight]

The American Crew was never actually in danger of sinking. Their ginormous testies would have displaced enough water to keep them afloat.

[@InstrucTube]

Yeah, not only do we have the biggest functioning navy in the world, we also have an option to refit the second largest navy in the world if we absolutely needed to, since it's also ours. We've retired more ships than most countries have ever had.

[@DarkKatzy013]

Hell our fleet of museum ships is larger than most countries functioning Navies.

[@frednone]

And don't forget that we have a heck of a lot of tonnage in mothballs.

[@KaoretheHalfDemon]

Oh also Lt David, the guy who led the boarding part was awarded the Medal of Honor for his part in this.

[@arclight545]

Sam, you said it best.... The Navy is Built Different.

[@FrogmanAnime]

The British captured a German U-boat in 1942 and from that,they got the enigma device and code books that they later used to crack the submarine U-boat codes. And from that point on, they were reading their mail. From this boat, they got a up-to-date, modern enigma code, machine, and code books that were later passed on to the British to assist with the continual breaking of the U-boat codes

[@drumiddleton3226]

May 9, 1941

[@FrogmanAnime]

@@drumiddleton3226 ok knew it was early in the battle of the Atlantic…just was not sure when. 1942 was just a convenient year I put for reference. Thank you for clarifying this

[@_A_Daytona_]

Chicago native here, most definitely worth the visit. I’ve been in it and around it multiple times at the museum of science and industry downtown.

[@TheZoenGaming]

Don't seek revenge, seek prevenge to save time!

[@donaldstewart8342]

They didn't tow it cross country,they towed is through the St Lawrence Seaway and through the Great Lakes to Chicago.I have taken the tour of the sub,it is really cramped!

[@rarinrecruit3150]

Maybe to us today, yes. Because I think the average size/height of people increased after that time because of better access to food and more healthier stuff. (Healthier being subjective but that’s a different topic). To WW2 people that space might’ve been just perfect

[@roachpole1]

This bloke can talk his way out of trouble

[@coleyffc]

This sounds like something the SAS would've done, and praise doesn't get much higher then that.

[@ImezRuez]

and WE did it with random dudes

[@Valkyrie0933]

Strategically Transferred Equipment to an Alternate Location (S.T.E.A.L.) - A very common tactic amongst US military branches, namely within their own organization, but can extend to other branches within the US military as well as enemy military forces during a time of conflict or war.

[@reba1030]

If you haven’t watched The Biggest Logistical Flex:Berlin Airlift by The Fat Electrician, you are seriously missing out. It’s truly one of the best.

[@davidmarquardt9034]

Yes the Allies had captured an Enigma before and some code books from a German weather ship in the North Atlantic. When the war started, the enigma had 3 encoding rotors. But later on in the war (probably 1943) the Navy decided to add a 4th rotor to it's machines, adding millions of new combinations. Thus they had captured one of the newly issued 4 rotor machines.

[@thatpatrickguy3446]

Great reaction guys! Some more Fat Electrician to check out? Um, ALL OF IT! 😀Seriously, I've watched his whole YT library and both short and long they're all good. He did a video that was basically a rant about how his wife bought single ply (i.e. military grade) toilet paper and it was both hilarious and actually a great learning video. Nic's a fricking national treasure and all his stuff is absolutely great and has taught me, an old dude who loves learning odd things about history, a bunch of stories I'd never heard of before.

[@TheRagratus]

Just last summer I visited the LST-325, (Landing Ship Tank) which is "stationed" in Evansville In, but travels around the midwest as it is still operational. It was in LaCrosse WI on it's summer tour. In the U.S. there are 164 ships, which are members of the Historic Naval Ships Association, that the public can visit. They range from massive aircraft carriers, to intimidating battleships of World War II, to small patrol boats and experimental submarines.

[@xheralt]

The sequence was so fucking perfect. The ONLY reason they got power to run the bilge pumps was U505 being taken under tow, and the people inside felt it. The ONLY reason they took it under tow was because the hatch had been shut. Getting the pumps running got the hatch back above sea level. Hatch above sea level allowed the second team to get in. That plus shanghai'd Polish sailor? Perfection. Absolutely everything fell into place.

[@DaveSlate-q9x]

Bro, I had A LOT of damage control training in the Navy. Leave the two officers and cameraman and give me three more engineers.

[@javadan]

I grew up in the Chicago area, and I've been through that sub. I was a kid then, and I can still remember how cramped and uncomfortable it was in that thing. My parents probably read the story at the museum, but as I was a kid I couldn't have cared less. Now that I'm older I appreciate the story. That guy was funny as hell.

[@tboltaq2]

Major combatant ships of the "US Museum Fleet"... 5 aircraft carriers, 8 battleships, 8 destroyers, 2 destroyer escorts, 1 heavy cruiser, 1 light cruiser, 1 protected cruiser, 25 fleet / attack subs, 13 patrol boat/corvettes, 4 LST amphibious assault ships, 5 military sealift/cargo ships.... Serious whoopass by any measure if missiles weren't the thing. The subs alone would be devistating, let alone the carriers which, if carrying modern planes would have a make any sane person say "Yikes!!!!!!!"

[@raymurray3401]

Interesting fact: the reason they had brought a photographer with them on the boarding mission was so that should it prove to be impossible to keep the sub from sinking they could still recover vital information via photographs (which due to the skill needed to get clear images in that kind of situation meant they needed a skilled photographer).

[@ghomerhust]

i have a STEAL t shirt from quackbang, and it's epic! i get a ton of vets commenting on it. Strategically Transferring Equipment to an Alternate Location. fantastic. i have the shirt in green with the orange/gold print, looks fantastic. its comfy, and the print has held up under a ton of washes, so it's a properly good shirt. his merch is good stuff. imma order more when i can afford it! (disabled vet, gotta save up for the fun stuff cuz the fed doesnt care about us. tax CUTS hurt vets.)

[@RB-tb2kt]

Thank you for the reactions to TFE ! You guys are great.

[@ExUSSailor]

Taking enemy ships as prizes is a long standing tradition in naval warfare. We didn't "steal" shit. It was captured as a prize in combat.

[@michaelschemlab]

If you think the part about the second largest navy in the world being the US fleet of museum ships is crazy, the second largest air fleet in the world after the U.S. Air Force is the US Naval Air Force

[@dimitrijensk2845]

4:25 on a serious note, the camera guy was there for intel gathering

[@jakeseward9035]

You guys should check out the submarine that sunk a train as well as Ramage's Rampage which is about the first submarine commander who won the medal of honor and lived.

[@FalconWingedGirl]

I cannot recommend "The unluckiest ship with the most untouchable in WW2" any more than I am.

[@pebblehilllane]

I grew up outside of Chicago. When the U-505 was on the lawn of the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago I was in it many times over the years. In 1987 I moved to Kerr Lake, in North Carolina, and a man who lived three houses away had been one of the Navy crew that went with the U-505 on it's war tour drive.

[@danacarter4793]

The slap heard around the world 😂😂😂

[@jasonmarkwell8593]

Damn the one time I visited Chicago by myself as a teenager and I had no clue it was there. Must go back if Chicago survives it's current issues.

[@susangille7255]

I remember my grandmother telling me about seeing them bring the U-Boat into Chicago via the Saint Lawrence seaway and lake Michigan. I remember touring it at the museum when I was about 11 years old, back in the early 60s.

[@ChuckHuffmaster]

German POWs in the United States had a good life considering they were prisoners they were fed ,housed provided healthcare and exercise and entertainment and were able to make money working outside of camp

[@mamfzf]

This is my list from a few videos ago, they're ranked by hilarity to coolness -Winter Solder OD's on METH, Becomes Unkillable -Marines Outsmart DARPA's Advanced AI - USS Barb - The Submarine That Sank A Train + The Ship That Wouldn't Sink, USS Nevada (BB-36) + The Fat Electrician Reviews: Iowa Class Battleships ( USS Wisconsin ) + The flying Ginsu - Missile full of Swords [These 4 are short videos and go well together] -America Blew Up A Whale With 1000lbs. of TNT (Also shorter video) -WW2 Veteran vs. HOA - Van T. Barfoot - Wrecking & Trolling The Germans With A Wooden Plane - DH-98 Mosquito -The Real Tank Genius Of WW2 - Percy "Hobo" Hobart -RAF's Legless Antihero - Sir Douglas Bader - America Dismantles Pirate Nations For Touching Their Boats - The Barbary Wars -The Limping Lady - Deadliest Spy Of WW2 - Virginia Hall -The Last War Chief - Joe Medicine Crow -The Infamous Eager Beavers & Their Custom B17 Bomber - Old 666

[@tahliasgoddaddy]

So, you haven't seen the one about the USS No Go the concrete battleship? It's one of the better ones too. Love listening to Fat Electrician's stuff.

[@Flash_Flood44]

He has another KZbin channel called the fat files

[@griffinsummoner]

"Strategically Transferred Equipment to an Alternate Location" is indeed a great acronym.

[@Roboto2073]

I'm going to give a like before I even watch you reaction. I've been in the sub when I was a kid and thought "this is neat", I've been there a few times more as an adult and thought "this is f-ing cool" once I understood the history behind it.

[@ImezRuez]

I'm about 90% sure this event was the inspiration for Hunt for Red October. 7:42-8:50 well the Germans deciding they are going to DIE if they try to escape while actively under attack is a VERY different evolution from us deciding we can fix it while NOT under fire even though the Germans tried to turn up the difficulty with scuttling charges

[@dennisanderson7034]

I saw this sub in the 80's at the science and industry museum. It was so cool. I would love to take my kids to see it.

[@davidcorbett341]

America stole shed loads of Titanium from Russia in the 1960s and built the SR71 Blackbird with the Titanium

[@2were5678]

They sold it to us through a cia shell company.

[@davidcorbett341]

@@2were5678 Russia were Not aware that they were sending it back to America to build the fastest and highest altitude aircraft to spy on them

[@ThatGirlLib]

New to this channel and this is my first video I’m watching. Did anyone notice the guy on the right ask a question @ 14:15 that was already answered @ 3:46? 🤔 Did I hear that wrong? I’m confused. Is this something he said for engagement or was he not paying attention to the beginning of the video? 👀

[@niftynetty0129]

They didn't steal it they "acquired" it lol

[@gacrux-ni7hw]

"The previous owner died... Suddenly" oh wait, that's a different video

[@niftynetty0129]

​@@gacrux-ni7hw "get off my lawn" lol

[@raymurray3401]

I mean technically speaking the Germans willingly abandoned it so I’d argue it was therefore free to take,sorta like when someone leaves a sofa outside on the curb for the dump lol.

[@Whiskey_Assassin]

Strategically Transfered Equipment To Alternate Location

[@theshoot2958]

Chicago is right next to lake Michigan and there is a path from there to the ocean!

[@sizemorej]

Guys look up reserve fleet or the mothball fleet.

[@griffinsummoner]

The first time I saw the "Hedgehog" I thought, "Oh. America reinvented the Hwatcha for naval combat."

[@sizemorej]

Figure all 4 of the Iowas. USS Texas. I can think of several Carriers. WW2 cruisers. DDs and Subs

[@jeffgossard1451]

Fun fact the u505 wasn't the 1st uboat in Chicago, there was one from ww1 that was scuttled in Lake Michigan after WW1

[@lauren3224]

24:31 All after they set it on fire themselves.

[@frednone]

There are several other U-boats still out there as museum ships in other countries.

[@jonathanmakuberski8048]

Ive seen that U-boat.

[@dkajj]

I never noticed that Nic said our museum ships was the 2nd largest Navy. I assumed 2nd largest American Navy..... thinking Ciast Guard, Maritime ships.... I don't know. Good catch!

[@FDzerzhinsky]

If you want a fun read, I strongly recommend Admiral Gallery's World War II memoir, Clear the Decks. It's one of the most enjoyable reads I've ever read. He ended his memo to all hands to turn in their souvenirs and to hush the news of the capture with the sentence "Keep your bowels open and your mouth shut."

[@danielseelye6005]

Be aware: Those wanting to tour inside U-505 need to book an appointment in advance. Drachinifel just did a video showing the inside of her.

[@hazardousroo]

I've toured the inside of the boat, many years ago, well before appointments were needed. Amazing. But I never knew the true story until Nic educated me. Even the tour guide was mostly clueless.

[@mikepurswell3814]

The movie U-571 is partially based on this story and is mentioned near the end of the movie. It appears that only three German subs were captured that had enigma machines, and the cyphers required to use them, during the war.

[@Pi_r8]

The cameraman never dies.

[@Zarni-fv2fj]

Read the book U505 by Admiral Gallery. Gallery also wrote several very funny NAVY books like Captain Fatso.

[@2strokinit527]

DON"T TOUCH THE BOATS!!!

[@appo9357]

They should’ve changed the name to Rocinante, because that was legitimate salvage. 👍🏼

[@paznerkiller]

How much you wanna bet the entire boarding party, other than the officer, were E4s.

[@Reshtarc]

America ......FUCK YEAH!!!!!!

[@adventussaxonum448]

Nearest American port is British (Bermuda)?

[@christopheryoder8292]

He probably meant allied but it is not his most glaring error.

[@Brimstone-Gaming]

fat electrician has a few more videos out now. time to react

[@AR.WalkerClan]

Rear Admiral Daniel V Gallery has a great book that tells this story among others. Very funny and informative. It's called "Clear the Decks"

[@jonuschurchill7130]

NO! That's like running into a house on fire... Putting it out.... And than strategically transfer everything (to a) alternate location.

[@stephanieraebel8160]

Back in the time of the civil war, the Blues stole a sub from the Grays if that makes a difference. Those ships were the very first submarines!!! This is not the first time a sub has been stolen by Americans😂😂😂 the year was 1815 according to the Fat Electrician..,and I believe him....😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂. It was the war of 1812.😂😂😂😂 Our grandfather's 5 times back were super gangsters😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂.

[@OriginalLictre]

The crew of the U-505 made the decision to abandon and scuttle because they knew they couldn't escape the pursuit of the ships that were currently blowing them to chunks, or repair the damage faster than it was being dealt. Sustaining their operations was impossible, so they set the charges and abandoned the boat. That's when the boarding parties arrive. With the battle over, all that effort to save the sub could be focused on by the US sailors. Those escorts were now in a position to defend that prize.

[@iamaloafofbread8926]

Guys... the cheese... it's key to everything. O.O

[@christopheryoder8292]

Y'all should do the unluckiest ship in the USN.

[@hiddenInsight486]

We secretly built a ship to go lift one off the ocean floor, wasn't fully successful but.....

[@adventussaxonum448]

Rather disrespectful to not mention Johnny Walker RN, when claiming credit for Hunter Killer tactics, seeing as he put them into operation long before this, with great success.

[@djj9675]

You should do Brandon Herrera’s video on when the govt dropped nukes on NC, it has a cameo from thefatelectrician

[@damienburroughs2119]

as an american, i am not ashamed to say Great Britian got the Enigma machine translated first.

[@thebassgamertv]

The captain was going to be court martialed because he was supposed to sink the sub and they had already broken the enigma code and us high command worried that if the germans found out one of their subs had been captured they would change the enigma code.

[@LolGamer5]

Tbh the german sub crew was pobalby glad for their lifes and their ship in that moment, did they feel fuckin trolled to the max? sure. Are they just glad they got to live and see their ship NOT go under? also yes! Just glad murica pulled it off! Legends

[@charlesmaurer6214]

Fair salvage after the crew abandoned.

[@commandercritic9036]

American Sailor hopping onto sinking U-boat: Heh man, you using this? German Sailor hopping OUT of sinking U-boat: Niiien? 🤨 American Sailor: Cool 😁 (jumps inside) COME ON FELLA’S WE GOTTA PATCH THESE HOLES! (Eight more American sailors rush past) German Sailors: 🤯😱🤯😱🤯😱🤯😱🤯😱🤯😱🤯😱🤯😱🤯😱🤯😱🤯😱🤯

[@jasonregister3494]

Come on guys. Why haven't you done his video on the Barbary war?

[@captin3149]

Bearing in mind, the Germans not saving the boat when the Americans could...The Germans were under attack, the Americans weren't. Not saying it was any less impressive, but that, to me, is a difference worth mentioning.

[@KaoretheHalfDemon]

Unfortunately the Enigma machine wasn’t all that special at this point as it had already been cracked and a few machines had already been secretly acquired. Gallery almost got into a lot of trouble for it. The submarine itself on the other hand was useful for reverse engineering purposes. Also when the Sub was put in the museum German companies that had manufactured parts of the sub made new one so that the Sub could be in perfect condition.

[@chrismaverick9828]

Yes, through the years of sitting outside it had been stripped of a lot of its instruments. Some letters were sent around and the original makers of those parts were happy to make new ones from the plans they still had since it really was a work they were proud of contributing to back in the day. Politics aside, the U-Boats really were quite impressive for their time.

[@DarkKatzy013]

Yeah gonna have to disagree with you on that. IT WAS A CURRENT UP TO DATE ENIGMA MACHINE. My dude you know how many millions of combos that thing has? To have a current active up to date machine is literally invaluable. That was the whole point of getting the sub..

[@chrismaverick9828]

@@DarkKatzy013And by that time in the war the Brits were cracking the changes to the codes and reading the messages in almost real time.

[@KaoretheHalfDemon]

I will not deny that. They were amazing vehicles.@@chrismaverick9828

[@rickybuhl3176]

'Critically wounded' not 'Terminally wounded' lol worth a punt..

[@gkiferonhs]

The world's largest air force is the USAF, the second largest air force is the US Navy.

[@stephenfludd6296]

If you haven't. Check out his story about old 666. Y'all will like it.

[@Ayselx]

You guys should watch his cheese video 😂

[@donaldjz]

There is a book about the real happening, it tells the whole story not what this TS is taking about

[@johnlawrence7386]

And not let us forget all the times America has stolen battle honours from other countries, you're quite good at that.

[@DarkKatzy013]

Boo hoo ??? Do better ? Don't suck ? That is not at all any of our fault . Don't be mad at us for doing what you people FAIL TO DO.

[@johnlawrence7386]

@@DarkKatzy013 We did do it, you made a film years later and stole the glory, funny how the Americans were winning battles when they were not even in the war at the time.