Tuesday, December 22, 2009

The Innsmouth Crew

A sailor from the S-8, hull number SS-113, the submarine that torpedoed the Deep One city off the coast of Innsmouth.*



*"Wait, that's not what Chaosium's "Escape From Innsmouth" says," I can hear you saying. That's true, but based on historical events I believe it was actually the S-8 that did the deed.

In real life, there were five submarines assigned to patrol the area where Lovecraft set the fictional town of Innsmouth in early February of 1928- S-6, S-8, S-12, S-19, and S-20. S-6 was assigned to the recovery efforts for the S-4, a submarine tragically sunk by an accidental collision in December of 1927. Of the remaining four, the cruise record for the S-8 is the only one that specifically mentions a delay in it's annual trip south (to late February) coinciding with the time of the Innsmouth raid.
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5 comments:

  1. Nick StormDecember 22, 2009 at 6:57 AM

    This is the MOST exciting and interesting stuff, to me, at least.

    Cryptohistory!

    Fascinating investigation and hypothosis you have developed!

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  2. PropnomiconDecember 22, 2009 at 7:45 AM

    @ Nick Storm

    I'm just following in Lovecraft's footsteps. Accepting the S-8 as the sub in "Shadow" also solves one of the biggest problems with the scenario in "Escape From Innsmouth"- SPOILERS AHEAD!....

    The section where the submarine's hull turns turns transparent for no real reason other than to describe what's happening outside the sub. It's a bit of goofy handwaving that's totally unnecessary because the Government-type S submarines (like the S-8) actually had portholes surrounding the steering station at the base of the conning tower.

    You don't need magic to see the Deep Ones outside the boat. Just look out the window. Heh.

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  3. AnonymousDecember 22, 2009 at 2:52 PM

    Brillant !!!

    Here are some pictures of the sub

    http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/OnlineLibrary/photos/images/h41000/h41751.jpg

    Alban

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  4. AnonymousDecember 22, 2009 at 4:07 PM

    I have in my possession a little German 1 Mark paperback from 1916 entitled "Die Fahrt des Deutschland", written by captain Paul König, which documents the first trip from Germany to the US in the merchant submarine "Deutschland". It has something like ten or fifteen lovely (and Lovecraft-appropriate) photos of the U-Boot and its interior in it.

    Would you be interested in some scans?

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  5. PropnomiconDecember 23, 2009 at 7:47 AM

    @ Robbert

    I would dearly love to see those scans.

    ReplyDelete