German submarine U-1206 sank during World War II after the captain improperly operated its highly complex deep-water flushing toilet, causing pressurized seawater and human waste…

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German submarine U-1206 sank during World War II after the captain improperly operated its highly complex deep-water flushing toilet, causing pressurized seawater and human waste to flood the battery compartment and generate lethal chlorine gas. There is arguably no worse way for a fearsome instrument of naval warfare to meet its demise than a literal plumbing catastrophe triggered by someone not reading the manual for the commode. It serves as a beautiful, albeit tragic, reminder that no matter how much advanced engineering you pack into a steel tube, the human digestive tract will always find a way to ruin everything

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German submarine U-1206 sank during World War II after the captain improperly operated its highly complex deep-water flushing toilet, causing pressurized seawater and human waste…

A closer look

A bigger world.One discoveryat a time.

Keep exploring

Nuclear submarines move slower than you might think

Soviet engineers built the Alfa-class submarine in the 1970s with a titanium hull that allowed it to dive deeper and swim faster than the actual torpedoes the US Navy was using to hunt it.

The first passenger submarines were underwater sightseeing buses

Russian Typhoon-class submarines were engineered to be the largest underwater vessels ever constructed, featuring bizarre amenities like an onboard swimming pool, a sauna, and a bird sanctuary.

Why do military submarines completely switch to eerie red lighting in the control room during night operations?

Why submarines still need a horn

A bigger world.
One discovery
at a time.