USN: "Commander, you are ordered to disrupt and destroy enemy shipping operations."
Fluckey: "Hmm. Trains are used for shipping...."
TheRogueWolf
The fact that Fluckey used the next Barb, the Permit class nuclear submarine one, as his flagship when he became flag Admiral
ramal
Rear Admiral Fluckey's book "Thunder Below!" Is beyond a good read. USS Barb's exploits with Fluckey in command are beyond unbelievable, even for those already familiar with the matter.
bmouch
"i'm a Barb sub, in a Barb world. Life in the Pacific is terrific".
cartmann
Barb's CO, "They don't pay me to bring back ammunition."
Thirdbase
The crew of Barb was having so much fun, i listened to this twice
danielstarnes
Drach your telling of the Barb and Admiral Flucky years ago prompted me to buy Thunder Below on audio book. One of the best books written by a WWII veteran. Thanks for the work you do.
trentonarney
USS Barb: 1.) Got a double kill on an escort carrier and tanker,
2.) Provided bombardment with rockets,
3.) Sank a train of all things,
and 4.) In the process of 3, landed troops in an offensive action against the Japanese home islands, the only case I know of this occurring.
Nihilist_Saint
No sailor who ever served with Fluckey as their CO was ever awarded a Purple Heart. (source: Drach’s occasional collaborators, The Unauthorized History of the Pacific War).
It’s said that they were going to make a movie about him, but he was just too damned good. No drama, no redemption arc, no costly mistake to atone for, no emotional loss to avenge. He just went out, and won.
Briandnlo
The bit about the train reminds me of a great scene in an old movie where a mishap on board a submarine cause a torpedo to fire prematurely. The torpedo missed the ship they were targeting, hit a beach, travelled up the beach and blew up a truck driving by.
The look of sheer disbelief and despair on the captain’s face when he informed the bridge crew “they sunk a truck” is priceless.
Kestrel
Dick O'Kane of the USS Tang was proud of the soft serve ice cream machine he was able to get installed on her.
Fluckey was proud of the number of cases of beer he could smuggle aboard and keep in one of the reefers, rewarding each crew member with a nice cold beer after a successful attack. Of which there were many.
(US Navy was officially dry)
donbaccus
Amazing what a crew of highly motivated submariners and their properly functioning weapons can do.
michaelbourgeault
Dad served on 596, saw the launch of her in Pascagoula myself, ate a few family dinners on the Barb when in Honolulu, looked through the periscope and saw the plaques showing all these kills, great to hear the stories again of the Barb linage.
greybeard
A landing party blew up a train. This is the stuff of legends.
AWildTWOcard
Imperial Japan: "This train brakes for nobody!"
USS Barb: "You're gonna wish you had some dive brakes in a minute."
williamcostigan
At our local library I read a book by Admiral Flukey and it was edited by him and signed copy!. Very interesting read, especially the details of the train raid, They used the scuttle chargers of the boat and a homemade pressure switch
stephenryan
Sounds like Fluckey was that perfect combination of aggressive, competent, and fortunate.
robomonkey
My favorite part is that Barb rammed the last trawler on the 12th patrol to ensure it's sinking so that Fluckey could win a bet with an admiral and win a quart of whiskey.
andrewkessinger
Fantastic record. Thanks Drach. The apprehension when the subject is a submarine, anticipating it's loss or disappearance was happily, wasted effort.
hazchemel
Wait wait wait. Hold on a sec. THE ENTIRE CONVOY GOT SUNK?? This deserves it's own video!
Heck it deserves it's own movie. From the Japanese perspective. Like trying to fight Godzilla or a Predator.
