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Torpedo juice: Legendary, illegal WWII liquor drunk in Alaska and the world

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Re: Torpedo juice: Legendary, illegal WWII liquor drunk in Alaska and the world

#51

Post by pfdietz »

lupusreal wrote: post #23
cyberax wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ethyl alcohol is _cheap_. You literally need just a bunch of sugar, yeast, and a still. Straightforward, low-tech, and safe. Isopropyl alcohol needs to be synthesized from acetone, which itself is synthesized.

I don't know how the balance broke down during WW2, but synthesis of ethanol from ethylene in more recent times is economically competitive with fermentation. So for instance, fermentation of sugarcane is easily cheaper in Brazil, but in America most industrial ethanol came from synthesis until corn subsidies were introduced in the 80s which made fermentation cheaper than synthesis.

The US has ample ethane now (it's abundant in much fracked gas) so I suspect this synthesized ethanol would be superior here without the corn subsidies.

Re: Torpedo juice: Legendary, illegal WWII liquor drunk in Alaska and the world

#52

Post by kevin_thibedeau »

echoangle wrote: post #12
russell_h wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I read somewhere that some Soviet jets used huge quantities of alcohol for cooling.

Specifically the Tu-22 is known for this.

Many of the Russian fighters still in active service have alcohol coolant. The ground crews are reputed to partake when they want a tipple.

Re: Torpedo juice: Legendary, illegal WWII liquor drunk in Alaska and the world

#53

Post by scottLobster »

rightbyte wrote: post #19
genocidicbunny wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My guess: jet fuel is commonly kerosene, which if ingested (especially at somewhat palatable dilutions) will majorly fuck you up, but with effects that can somewhat mimic being drunk. That said, it's also going to fry your liver, kidneys, and pretty much anything else, but if you were already a conscript that spent 26 hours a day in a state somewhere between unconscious and drunk, a little kerosene nightcap might be…

It is funny how putting on a uniform instantly makes you ... stupid. It is like a part of your brain shuts off. The social behaviour regress to like 5th grade in adult men. Like of someone tells you you tie your shoes in the wrong way you become a child mentally or something.

You clearly don't know many people in uniform, to make that sort of sweeping generalization.

Re: Torpedo juice: Legendary, illegal WWII liquor drunk in Alaska and the world

#54

Post by oakwhiz »

folli wrote: post #29
rglullis wrote: post #28

When Ethanol started being used as car fuel in Brazil (in the 70's), there were not life-threatening additives on it, so of course some people would use it to mix with drinks. The practice only stopped in the late 80's when there was a supply crisis and Brazil had to import methanol and the TV started reporting cases of people going blind due to severe methanol poisoning.

Methanol is a biproduct of fermentation, and will be part of the destillate if not done carefully. I doubt that ethanol used in car and torpedo fuel will go through the same quality control than drinking alcohol.

If I recall correctly, there might be benzene remaining in the alcohol from the water removal process.

Re: Torpedo juice: Legendary, illegal WWII liquor drunk in Alaska and the world

#55

Post by theophrastus »

m463 wrote: post #3

"American torpedoes utilized 180-proof ethyl alcohol as fuel for the miniature steam engines that drove them toward their targets." I wonder if this was by design ... I think isopropyl alcohol is probably generally available/popular only because it is not drinkable.

What was the source of the oxygen to maintain ethyl alcohol combustion in a sealed WWII torpedo?

Re: Torpedo juice: Legendary, illegal WWII liquor drunk in Alaska and the world

#56

Post by ceejayoz »

theophrastus wrote: post #55
m463 wrote: post #3

"American torpedoes utilized 180-proof ethyl alcohol as fuel for the miniature steam engines that drove them toward their targets." I wonder if this was by design ... I think isopropyl alcohol is probably generally available/popular only because it is not drinkable.

What was the source of the oxygen to maintain ethyl alcohol combustion in a sealed WWII torpedo?

Compressed air. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torpedo#Wet-heater

Re: Torpedo juice: Legendary, illegal WWII liquor drunk in Alaska and the world

#57

Post by fvvybfbfbyg »

mschuster91 wrote: post #21
nicbou wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I read the same story from Anthony Beevor’s book about the battle of Berlin, although I think it was a different chemical. The Red Army seemed to have a drinking problem.

> The Red Army seemed to have a drinking problem. s/seemed to have/has had and still has/ Life in Soviet/Russian armies is grim. Many of the recruits come from remote regions so poor that they lack fridges, washing machines and even toilets (today as well [2], hence all the looting in Ukraine [3]). Broken-down equipment - either because it was crap from the factory or because someone along the chain sold off parts an…

> today as well

To be fair it’s hard to reconcile with them being paid relatively high wages due to manpower shortages (since they are generally reluctant to send conscripts into Ukraine).

Re: Torpedo juice: Legendary, illegal WWII liquor drunk in Alaska and the world

#58

Post by snozolli »

genocidicbunny wrote: post #10
namanyayg wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why were people even drinking jet fuel? Did it have any psychotropic effects?

My guess: jet fuel is commonly kerosene, which if ingested (especially at somewhat palatable dilutions) will majorly fuck you up, but with effects that can somewhat mimic being drunk. That said, it's also going to fry your liver, kidneys, and pretty much anything else, but if you were already a conscript that spent 26 hours a day in a state somewhere between unconscious and drunk, a little kerosene nightcap might be…

I saw Russians depicted as drinking brake fluid in Beast of War and couldn't believe it. A few searches proved it true!

Here's an excerpt from "Inside the Soviet Army in Afghanistan" by Alexander Alexiev (US Army document):

You cannot imagine what they drink. They will drink shaving lotions and cologne. That's good stuff. Then they will drink toothpaste. The best one is the Bulgarian Pomorin brand. They will simply squeeze four or five tubes in a jar, dilute it with water and drink it. They also drank truck antifreeze, glue, and brake fluid. The brake fluid they used to heat up and put some nails in it for some reason. I don't know why. They will also take shoe polish and smear it on a piece of bread and leave it in the sun until the alcohol separates from the shoe polish. Then you eat the bread and get drunk.

Re: Torpedo juice: Legendary, illegal WWII liquor drunk in Alaska and the world

#59

Post by saalweachter »

natmaka wrote: post #7

In France, around 1985, an old man said to me that just after WW2 he was, as a French soldier, working in Germany in some airfield or military site which was then used to host Allied soldiers of various nationalities. They had a problem with Soviet soldiers dying due to some poisonous/toxic substance they consumed. It lasted for days, maybe weeks. Nobody had a clue. Then they realized that some/many Soviet soldiers h…

Alcoholism in Russia, and most of the former USSR is just like, real bad. The sex ratio in Russia is something like 80 men : 100 women, and it's mostly due to alcohol.

Re: Torpedo juice: Legendary, illegal WWII liquor drunk in Alaska and the world

#60

Post by ryandvm »

n8henrie wrote: post #32
m463 wrote: post #3

"American torpedoes utilized 180-proof ethyl alcohol as fuel for the miniature steam engines that drove them toward their targets." I wonder if this was by design ... I think isopropyl alcohol is probably generally available/popular only because it is not drinkable.

Isopropyl is drinkable (and highly intoxicating). Just very unpleasant to drink and highly irritating to the mucosa.

"When it comes to drinking rubbing alcohol, the digestive tract suffers the most, even when only swallowing a small amount. The body metabolizes these extremely high alcohol levels into acetone. If consumed to intoxication, the substance can lead to organ damage. Because it's a central nervous system depressant, side effects can include dizziness, headaches and inebriation. Because it's a gastrointestinal irritant, it can cause nausea, abdominal pain and vomiting blood. In addition, "due to having a higher molecular weight than ethanol, isopropanol, is more intoxicating than ethanol and can produce an altered sensorium, hypotension, hypothermia, and even cardiopulmonary collapse. Hypotension is associated with severe overdose and related to a mortality rate of nearly 45 percent," according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI).

I am not sure I would call that "drinkable", unless you just mean it will physically go down your gullet.

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