Tumblr Thread: The Still On-Patrol Submarines

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Eric Lund
Apr 6, 2021 7:30 PM EDT

There's a tradition in the U.S. navy that no submarine is lost at sea, and every Christmas a broadcast is sent out to all the crews of those subs still on duty. Naturally, tumblr took it and made it into a whole ghost ship thing, which is somehow macabre but also heartwarming. Why not, people see some unexplained stuff at sea. For a totally classic navy story, here's a Navy operations officer who pulled the laziest move ever.

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  • 01
    Text - pipistrellus STILL ON PATROL I learned something new and horrifying today which is. that.. no submarine is ever considered "lost". there is apparently a tradition in the U.S. Navy that no submarine is ever lost. Those that go to sea and do not return are considered to be "still on patrol." ????? There is a monument about this along a canal near here its. the worst thing I have ever seen. it says "STILL ON PATROL" in huge letters and then goes on to specify exactly how many WWII submarine
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  • 02
    Text - thehoneybeewitch Actually, it's rather sweet. I don't know if this is common across the board, but my dad's friend is a radio op for subs launched off the east coast, and he always is excited for Christmas, because they go through the list of SoP subs and hail them, wishing them a merry Christmas and telling them they're remembered. Imagine a country whose seamen never die, and whose submarines can't be destroyed..because no ones sure if they exist or not. willowwitchery No but imagine. I
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  • 03
    Text - home, have a good one." A sepulchral tear wafts it's way down the seaman's face. The bony captain embraces him. The crew grin through rotten jaws, laughing silently in their joy. They haven't forgotten us. They haven't forgotten. beautifultoastdream I am completely on board with this. It's not horrifying, it's heartwarming. Personal story time: whenever I go to Field Museum's Egypt exhibit, I stop by the plaque at the entrance to the underground rooms. It has an English translation of a p
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  • 04
    Text - emilysidhe There's been something in the water since we first learned to float on it. Not marine life, although there's more of that than we'll ever know. Not rocks and currents and sand bars and icebergs either, although they've all taken more than their share of human life. But something deeper. Something Other. Something not natural. Sailors have always been superstitious. Not one of them described it right. You don't hear about it so much now that we don't lose ships anymore, really,
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