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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

#31

Post by potato3732842 »

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.

The torpedo grade ethanol (fuel grade alcohol generally) necessitates quality control than ethanol for consumption because it has to pair with a precise number of oxygen molecules (which in the case of a torpedo are pre-allocated so you can't just tolerate it running lean or rich without a huge change in range) and produce known energy in the process and calling a bunch of subs and ships back to have their ethanol tested because you put out a bad batch is a way bigger PITA than telling a bunch of distributors to trash product and collect a refund.

If unsafe for humans amounts of methanol in the product was tolerable for the torpedos they would have just done that to prevent consumption.

The cleanliness and hygiene controls along the way are going to be lesser. It's not like it's being made in a food factory.

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

#32

Post by n8henrie »

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.

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

#33

Post by pnutjam »

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…

Look for a copy of Zinky Boys. It shows the conditions for Soviet soldiers during the Afghan war, I think it hasn't changed much.

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

#34

Post by aaron695 »

ranger207 wrote: post #4

There's a story from the USS Drum (now a museum ship in Mobile, Alabama) that the skipper eventually gave up trying to get his crew to stop drinking the torpedo juice, and just ordered them to leave enough alcohol for a 1,500 yard range (out of 4,500yd or 9,000yd at slower speeds). Their success rate actually went up as a result, because they were making shots from much closer in. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZQ-…

Bread won't work as a filter.

I'm not sure why people think this I'd guess its from burning toast it becomes charcoal and that will work to an extent. ( the filter story is also told about toast)

Experiment here - https://youtu.be/_A8AErdGz20?t=248

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

#35

Post by ahartmetz »

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…

Don't forget shitty leadership - harsh, anti-intellectual, and expecting obedienece, not initiative.

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

#36

Post by W-Stool »

ahartmetz wrote: post #35
mschuster91 wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

Don't forget shitty leadership - harsh, anti-intellectual, and expecting obedienece, not initiative.

Where have I heard that before?

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

#37

Post by vanderZwan »

potato3732842 wrote: post #31
folli wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

The torpedo grade ethanol (fuel grade alcohol generally) necessitates quality control than ethanol for consumption because it has to pair with a precise number of oxygen molecules (which in the case of a torpedo are pre-allocated so you can't just tolerate it running lean or rich without a huge change in range) and produce known energy in the process and calling a bunch of subs and ships back to have their ethanol te…

> The cleanliness and hygiene controls along the way are going to be lesser. It's not like it's being made in a food factory.

Sincere question: isn't "hygiene" usually referring only to bacteria, viruses and other organic contamination? Don't get me wrong, I'm with you that I'd worry about contamination with all kinds of other toxic stuff.

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

#38

Post by RajT88 »

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.

If I recall correctly, a politician's wife back in the 80's was hospitalized for drinking isopropyl.

(Just looked it up on Wikipedia - I recall correctly)

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

#39

Post by cdot2 »

gadtfly wrote: post #6

See also the Mark 14 torpedo, the primary American torpedo in WWII, which didn't actually work for the first 2 years of the war because they had never bothered to actually test it because it would be too expensive. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_14_torpedo

If I remember correctly part of the issue was that they used magnetic detector based firing systems and only tested them off the coast of California. When they fired them elsewhere the Earth's magnetic field was different enough that the detonators failed.
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