On April 14, 1945, the German submarine U-1206, on its first war patrol, had its mission go down the toilet. U-1206 “was one of the late war boats fitted with the new deepwater high-pressure toilets which allowed them to be used while running at depth. Flushing these toilets was extremely complicated and special technicians were trained to operate them.” When Captain Karl-Adolf Schlitt used the toilet, he had problems making it work. He called an engineer who turned the wrong valve, causing flooding which reached the battery compartment, releasing chlorine gas, forcing the sub to surface. Only ten miles off the coast of Scotland they were spotted by British planes, which killed crew on deck and damaged the submarine. Captain Schlitt set scuttling charges and sank the submarine.
April 14, 1945: Tweaky Toilet Costs Skipper His Sub
Thanks to Phil Leon for passing on this wonderful bit of history.
I can imagine a couple of bird watchers who become excited when they sight puffins on Pembrokeshire’s Ramsey Island. There haven’t been puffins on the island since the 1890s when they were killed off by rats. The rats are gone now, but the only puffins on the island are plastic decoys, installed on the cliffs in hopes of luring real puffins back to their former home. Apparently the use of plastic decoys has been successful on other islands, so the folks on Ramsey are hoping that their plastic puffins will do as well.
For those in the area this looks like fun. 
One hundred and eleven years ago today the US Navy accepted its first successful submarine, the 
Hundreds of dead dolphins and sea turtles are washing ashore on the beaches of the Gulf of Mexico. No one knows exactly what is killing them though many point to the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill of a year ago. In the mean time, BP is spending roughly $100 million in advertising to “clean up” its image.
Reports now indicate that 
