CLASSIC: The WWII Naval Battle Won Using Potatoes

Summary

Ridiculous History: CLASSIC - The WWII Naval Battle Won Using Potatoes

Release Date: February 27, 2025
Hosts: Ben Bowlin and Noel Brown
Production: iHeartPodcasts

---

Introduction

In this classic episode of Ridiculous History, hosts Ben Bowlin and Noel Brown delve into one of World War II’s most unconventional naval encounters—the Battle of Guadalcanal, where potatoes played an unexpected role in naval warfare. This detailed recounting reveals how ingenuity and sheer luck can turn ordinary objects into pivotal tools in battle.

---

Setting the Scene

[00:00 - 05:33]
Ben and Noel kick off the episode with light-hearted banter, referencing humorous insults among the Gallagher brothers and segwaying into the episode's main topic: the USS O'Bannon's unique engagement with a Japanese submarine using potatoes. They set the historical context, emphasizing the bizarre nature of using a common food item in naval combat.

Notable Quote:
Noel: "The humble potato is a staple foodstuff. It is delicious, it is hearty, it is resilient, and apparently also can be used to win naval battles."
[00:32]

---

The USS O'Bannon and Destroyer Squadron 21

[05:44 - 12:01]
The hosts introduce the USS O'Bannon, a Fletcher-class destroyer, and its role within Destroyer Squadron 21 (Desron 21) during World War II. They explain the capabilities of destroyers, highlighting their speed, armament, and strategic importance in naval warfare. The squadron's composition is detailed, showcasing the various ships involved alongside the O'Bannon.

Notable Quote:
Ben: "Destroyers are these very fast, long endurance ships that are meant to function as escorts in a fleet or a battle group."
[06:22]

---

The Encounter with the Japanese Submarine

[12:01 - 24:01]
Ben narrates the USS O'Bannon's mission on April 5, 1943, returning from shelling shore installations in the Solomon Islands. The ship detects a Japanese submarine on the surface. Initial attempts to engage the submarine escalate into a tense standoff when both sides lack adequate weaponry—neither the destroyers nor the submarine have handguns, leading to a precarious situation.

Notable Quote:
Noel: "They must have caught it right in the nick of time because they, you know, hit that tower and it disabled the sub enough that it wasn't able to escape."
[24:00]

---

The Potato Battle

[21:19 - 23:41]
The crux of the episode revolves around the unconventional use of potatoes. As tensions rise, the crew of the O'Bannon, realizing they can't effectively use their guns at close range, resort to improvisation. They discover storage bins filled with potatoes and begin throwing them at the Japanese sailors, who, in the darkness and panic, mistakenly believe these are hand grenades.

Notable Quote:
Ben: "They started throwing these at the guys on the submarine. And the Japanese sailors panicked because they thought the potatoes were hand grenades."
[21:25]

Consequences:

• The ensuing "potato war" causes chaos, with both sides exchanging potatoes.
• This diversion allows the O'Bannon to distance itself from the submarine.
• Once out of the sub's deck gun range, the O'Bannon seizes the opportunity to launch a decisive attack, hitting the submarine's conning tower and deploying depth charges to sink it.

Notable Quote:
Noel: "It's essentially a food fight at this point, because the Japanese sailors think that these are hand grenades."
[22:33]

---

Aftermath and Recognition

[24:01 - 25:23]
The battle concludes with the sinking of the Japanese submarine, marking a unique victory attributed to resourcefulness under pressure. The Potato Growers of Maine recognized this unconventional tactic by presenting the USS O'Bannon's crew with a plaque praising their ingenuity, albeit with controversial language.

Notable Quote:
Noel: "A tribute to the officers and men of the USS O'Bannon for their ingenuity in using our now proud potato to sink a submarine in the spring of 1943."
[25:14]

---

Additional Insights and Wrap-Up

[27:02 - 43:55]
Ben and Noel expand on the broader history of the USS O'Bannon, sharing anecdotes from sailor Ernest A. Hare about life aboard the ship during the Battle of Guadalcanal. They discuss the harsh realities of war, the disillusionment faced by young sailors, and the technological prowess of destroyers like the O'Bannon.

Towards the end, the hosts reflect on the human aspect of warfare, acknowledging the tragedy of lost lives despite the episode's humorous premise involving potatoes. They emphasize the blend of absurdity and gravity that Ridiculous History seeks to highlight in historical events.

Notable Quote:
Ben: "War as hell."
[31:20]

---

Conclusion

In this episode, Ridiculous History masterfully intertwines humor with historical analysis, presenting the Battle of Guadalcanal's potato skirmish as a testament to human ingenuity and the unpredictable nature of war. Ben and Noel provide a compelling narrative that not only entertains but also educates listeners on a lesser-known, yet fascinating chapter of naval history.

---

Key Takeaways:

• Ingenuity in Warfare: The use of potatoes underscores the resourcefulness of sailors in desperate situations.
• Human Element: The episode balances the absurdity of the potato battle with the sobering realities of war.
• Historical Context: Understanding the capabilities and strategic roles of ships like the USS O'Bannon enriches the narrative of WWII naval engagements.

Listen to the episode on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts to explore more such extraordinary tales from history.

Transcript

[Ben]

Fellow ridiculous historians, thank you so much for joining us in today's classic episode. We've been on a bit of a World War II kick this week.

[Noel]

Yeah. And also a bit of a whirlwind tour of the world, which is why we're giving you a few extra classics this week. We appreciate you bearing with us. Ben, have you ever heard that insult that the Gallagher brothers tend to throw at one another? Or I believe it is Liam calling Noel a potato.

[Ben]

I have. I have heard of that. I thought you were talking about different Gallagher brothers.

[Noel]

Yeah.

[Ben]

Throwing stuff at each other. And that also checks out.

[Noel]

It does, yeah. That would be probably watermelons, but I don't know. I think it's a kind of. Bit of a misnomer to use a potato as an insult. The humble potato is a staple foodstuff. It is delicious, it is hearty, it is resilient, and apparently also can be used to win naval battles.

[Ben]

Yes, as a fan of food fights, this one has always been fascinating to me. This episode from 2018, long time ago. Now, weirdly enough, we are sharing some classics, as we mentioned earlier, because we are on the road. I have been in our hometown of Atlanta only like 26 hours this month. So from afar, we return to you with the true, ridiculous story of a World War II naval battle won using potatoes.

[Noel]

That's right. The USS O'Bannon using potatoes against a hapless Japanese submarine.

[Ben]

What a food fight indeed.

[Noel]

Let's roll it.

[Ben]

Breaking news. T Mobile network outperforms expectations in all sectors because T Mobile helps keep you connected from big cities to your hometown on America's largest 5G network. Switch. Now keep your phone and T Mobile will pay it off at the $800 per line via prepaid card.

[Maria Tremorki]

Visit your local T Mobile location or.

[Ben]

Learn more@t mobile.com keepandswitch up to 4 lines of via virtual prepaid card. Allow 15 days qualified unlock device, credit service port in 90 plus days, device in eligible carrier and timely redemption required. Card is no cash access and expires in six months. Welcome to the Criminalia Podcast. I'm Maria Tremorki.

[Noel]

And I'm Holly Frey. Together, we invite you into the dark and winding corridors of historical true crime.

[Holly Frey]

Each season we explore a new theme. From poisoners to art thieves.

[Noel]

We uncover the secrets of history's most interesting figures, from legal injustices to body snatching.

[Holly Frey]

And tune in at the end of each episode as we indulge in cocktails and mocktails inspired by each story.

[Noel]

Listen to criminalia on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Holly Frey]

Hey, y'all. I'm Maria Fernanda Diaz. When youn're Invisible is my love letter to the working class people and immigrants who shaped me. Season 2 shares stories about community and being underestimated.

[Maria Tremorki]

All the greatest changes have happened when a couple of people said, this sucks.

[Ben]

Let'S do something about it. We get paid to serve you, but.

[Holly Frey]

We'Re made out of the same things.

[Maria Fernanda Diaz]

It's rare to have black male teachers.

[Noel]

Sometimes I am the testament.

[Holly Frey]

Listen to when youn're invisible, the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Maria Tremorki]

Hi, I'm Arturo Castro, and I've been.

[Noel]

Lucky enough to do stuff like Broad.

[Maria Tremorki]

City and Narcos and Roadhouse. And now I'm starting a podcast because.

[Noel]

Honestly, guys, I don't feel the space is crowded enough. Get ready for Greatest Escapes, a new.

[Maria Tremorki]

Comedy podcast about the wildest true escape stories in history.

[Noel]

Each week, I'll be sitting down with some of the most hilarious actors and writers and comedians. People like Ed Helms, Diane Guerrero, and Joseph Gordon Levitt.

[Ben]

I love storytelling and I love you. So I can't wa listen and subscribe.

[Maria Tremorki]

To Greatest escapes on the iHeartRadio app.

[Noel]

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Ben]

Ridiculous History is a production of iHeartrad. Welcome to the show. Presley Neville O'Bannon was born in 1784 and has nothing to do with this episode other than the fact that there is a ship named after him, the USS O'Bannon.

[Noel]

But, Ben, what did he do? Why did they name a ship after him? Can we make the episode about him instead of the ship? I'm intrigued.

[Ben]

I. I am intrigued as well, Noel. Well, he did join the Marines in 1801, and as a first lieutenant, he commanded a detachment of Marines in the war with Tripoli. And during his operations with the US Navy, he led a successful attack on Dern in April 27, 1805. And this gave the Marine Corps its immortal phrase, to the shores of Tripoli.

[Noel]

Oh, yeah.

[Ben]

So he's, you know, he's done stuff.

[Noel]

That's some stirring stuff right there.

[Ben]

Enough to get a ship named after him, right?

[Noel]

Did you say my name?

[Ben]

Yeah, you're. I think so. You're. No, I am. Okay.

[Noel]

It's just a ritual thing.

[Ben]

Yeah, we should have the ritual.

[Noel]

We got it.

[Ben]

And I'm Ben.

[Noel]

Yes, you are. How do you feel about potatoes?

[Ben]

I feel. I feel great. I like them almost as much as I like super producer Casey Pegram. Which, you know, sets the bar very high. Yeah, potatoes are pretty amazing, Right.

[Noel]

Boil a mashem, stick them in a stew.

[Ben]

Yeah, right on.

[Noel]

Throw them at some Japanese submariners.

[Ben]

There we go. They have many uses, and today's episode is about one of those uses. We are exploring the story of the USS O'Bannon, which is a Fletcher class destroyer. Right. And some innovative warfare techniques. They used a story so bizarre that I don't know about you, man. At first I was skeptical.

[Noel]

Did it beg credulity a bit?

[Ben]

It did.

[Arturo Castro]

It did.

[Noel]

It did. But then when you really get down to the nitty gritty of it, you can kind of see how this absurd farce could play out in real time.

[Ben]

So how should we set the scene?

[Noel]

Let's talk first a little bit about the ship in question, the USS O'Bannon. You mentioned it was a Fletcher class destroyer. What's a destroyer, Ben? It sounds scary.

[Ben]

It's a great band.

[Noel]

I'd said, yeah, it's a dude. Dan Behar. Yes. I love destroyer, but, you know, the ship. What's the ship?

[Ben]

They're these very fast, long endurance ships that are meant to function as escorts in a fleet or a battle group. So I guess before World War II, you would say destroyers were pretty light vessels, and they weren't great at unattended ocean operations. They had to roll with a gang of other ships. So typically there would be a number of destroyers together. But after World War II, guided missiles allowed destroyers to step up and take the roles that used to be filled by battleships and cruisers exclusively.

[Noel]

That's right. And the destroyers would, like you said, kind of flock together in a squadron. And the squadron in question today is desron21.

[Ben]

Yes.

[Noel]

D E S R O N stands short for Destroyer Squadron 21.

[Ben]

There we go. Yeah, I like the way you're pronouncing that.

[Noel]

Yeah. And that squadron consisted of the Fletcher, the Radford, the Jenkins, the Lavallette, The Nicholas, the O'Bannon, which was. Oh, the Nicholas was actually the flagship. The O'Bannon, the Chevalier, I think it was named after Maurice, the French singer.

[Ben]

Surely, Casey. Maurice Chevalier.

[Noel]

Yeah. I don't know. Yeah, okay.

[Ben]

Casey on the case.

[Noel]

Very underwhelming. Casey on the case. But by no fault of his. That was a silly question because it's not fair for me to put that much on Casey.

[Ben]

You know what, though? We do hold him to a very high standard.

[Noel]

Well, he is the standard. He is the bar which we strive for on this show.

[Ben]

Show every day, daily basis. But I like how we're talking about assumptions because an assumption is gonna play a big role in this story. Oh, and by the way, I should mention that, yes, the USS O'Bannon was named after the famous hero of Derna, Lt. Presley O'Bannon, but it was actually the second ship to be named after him.

[Noel]

Really?

[Ben]

So this guy is ship rich.

[Noel]

Oh, and just to wrap up this squadron list, we've also got the Strong, The Taylor, the DeHaven, the Howorth, and the Hopewell.

[Ben]

The Hopewell. That last one's pretty inspiring. Right, so this is the group of ships known as Desron 21. On April 5, 1943, they were returning from a night of shelling, attacking shore installations deep in the Solomon Islands in an area known as New Georgia. A lot of this story comes to us from a firsthand witness, a sailor named Ernest A. Hare. You can read his direct account on destroyerhistory.org so there they are. They're on the way back from shelling these installations. And One destroyer, the O'Bannon, picked up a radar ping that turned out to be Dun, dun, dun, a huge Japanese submarine cruising on the surface.

[Noel]

Yeah. And the. The Japanese naval men. Submariners. I said that earlier. I don't know if that's accurate or not. I know. It's a superhero. The Submariner.

[Ben]

Yeah, Submariner works okay, because they're, you.

[Noel]

Know, they're on a submarine. They're, like, asleep on the deck. Seems super risky, right? Like, yeah. I don't even think of a submarine really having a deck. It's got this tower that you crawl up, and then I guess it's got a flat part that you can, like, hang out on, and that's what they were doing, and they were asleep. And one description I found of this event on shipcomrade.com has a very specific description of these sleeping sailors. Has them wearing dark shorts and dinky blue hats. So I'm guessing insubstantial. Little blue hats?

[Ben]

Yeah. Small or insignificant?

[Noel]

Is that part of the. The nav. The Japanese naval uniform?

[Ben]

It must have been. I mean, navies have uniforms, but, yeah, these were. Dinky would mean tiny. So essentially saying that they have tiny.

[Noel]

Bring that word back.

[Ben]

You can bring it back.

[Noel]

Yeah, I don't think people use that word enough.

[Ben]

You know, Chuck likes to use hinky.

[Noel]

That's different.

[Ben]

He goes through a hinky phase every so often. That's Chuck Bryant from Movie Crush and stuff.

[Noel]

You should know that just means things are a little dicey or there's, like, a problem.

[Ben]

It's like wonky it's not quite problematic.

[Noel]

Right. But it's getting there.

[Ben]

It could well get there, as is this situation.

[Noel]

Hey.

[Ben]

Hey. Nice. Good to see you.

[Noel]

Reeled it in.

[Ben]

Yeah. So this submarine, wonder of wonders, is already surfaced, and it's not appearing to react to the presence of these destroyers of the O'Bannon in particular. So they take the advantage. They say, well, if we have caught this enemy vessel unaware, we better make the best of it. They approach at a rapid speed and they're preparing to ram the sub to, you know, physically knock the tar out of it.

[Noel]

Because I saw some videos actually of these destroyers at work doing that, and that was a thing. I didn't really think about that. But they were like these, you know, seaborne battering rams, and they could pick up speed pretty quickly and were made of pure steel and could withstand tons of damage and inflict tons of damage on smaller vessels.

[Ben]

Yeah. And think about it from a strategic standpoint, you're saving resources if you don't have to waste any kind of artillery.

[Noel]

That's right.

[Ben]

So.

[Noel]

And at close range, that's probably a more effective way of dealing with it anyway. Especially if you're pretty sure that the lookouts of said target are asleep at the wheel or the periscope, as it were, or in this case, on the deck of the submarine.

[Ben]

Right. So the Captain of the O'Bannon is trying to identify what sort of sub this is, and then at the last minute, they said, wait, we shouldn't ram this thing because we might blow ourselves up. If this sub is, for instance, the kind of sub that lays mines in the water, I don't know why I said in the water, it's not like they're just laying mines in Poughkeepsie. You know, maybe that's a very weirdly specific type of sub. But. So they, they didn't want to blow themselves up and they decided that they're not going to ram them. So at the last minute, they swing to avoid collision and they're really close to the submarine.

[Noel]

I imagine that probably caused the Japanese submariners to awake with a start.

[Ben]

Right.

[Noel]

Wouldn't you think?

[Ben]

Because as you said, they were on board the sub, the surface of the sub. Right. Yeah, Asleep. So they are close enough now because of their last minute decision not to ram the submarine. They are close enough now that they can actually see the Japanese sailors on the deck. And, you know, while that might sound weird for them to be just sleeping out in the open on deck, we have to remember how claustrophobic a Submarine environment. Could be you're gonna do whatever you can probably to get some fresh air.

[Noel]

A friend of mine who was talking about this story says, I bet submarines smell like farts all the time.

[Ben]

Oh, man. Have you heard of hot racking?

[Noel]

No.

[Ben]

Okay, so this is just a side note. Space is at a premium and so I believe it's called hot racking. Different individuals will share the same bunk just based on their schedule. So you could have like three people sleeping in the same bunk depending on their shift. So you get up, you go to work, someone else lays down in the bunk, they get up, they go to work. At the same time, you're walking back and you sleep where they slept.

[Noel]

What does this have to do with farts?

[Ben]

I'm just saying it's an unhygienic situation.

[Noel]

Ah, yes, yes, agreed.

[Ben]

I don't want a hot bunk, hot rack with anybody.

[Noel]

Well, you said hot bunk and I immediately thought of hot box.

[Ben]

Oh no.

[Noel]

Which is where you fart and pull the covers up. Wow, this has really gone off the hot rails, hasn't it, ma'am?

[Ben]

So here we go. It's understandable that these guys want to get some fresh air. But the ship is now awkwardly, very awkwardly close to this submarine. And they have this Larry David Seinfeld esque moment, that level of awkwardness because their ship was way too close for them to fire guns on the sub. And since no one on deck carried a gun either, there was not a shot at all from the US side. See what I'm saying? They were too close for the trajectory of their guns to work.

[Noel]

Well, those are meant to be like longer range weapons or at least medium range. You gotta be able to get a bead on them and get a little arc. Right. Because these are shells, these aren't just like high powered machine guns. You can shoot directly. You got to kind of lob these things.

[Ben]

Yeah, yeah. Oddly enough, there was a similar situation on the Japanese sub because none of the people on the deck there had handguns. There was one gun that could have worked though, right? At least on the sub.

[Noel]

Yeah, it was like a 3 inch deck gun. What does that mean? 3 inch, like caliber? What are we talking about here?

[Ben]

I think it means primarily that the gun fires a projectile that's three inches long.

[Noel]

Okay. So that would be much more of a machine gun type situation. Right, right.

[Ben]

Much more powerful than a handgun, but.

[Noel]

Also much more able to fire at close rang and hit a target.

[Ben]

True.

[Noel]

So these Japanese sailors are scrambling to get to this gun because they, you know, this Giant ship is just right up on them. Can you imagine how, how terrifying that must feel?

[Ben]

Oh, yeah. On both sides.

[Noel]

On both sides, but especially on the dudes who were just naked up there on top of this little raft thing. I mean, not that a submarine small, but in comparison to the size of the destroyer, it would have been like, you know, being out in the ocean and like coming up on a. A whale that wanted to kill you.

[Ben]

Right? And then on the O'Bannon side, on the US side, can you imagine the escalating panic they see when they realize that they can't fire anything? And they're watching. They're literally watching the folks on the submarine wake up, see what's going on, and start running toward that deck gun. And they have to think fast.

[Noel]

They do have to think fast. Cause you may have mentioned this before, Ben, I apologize if I missed it, but the Americans didn't have handguns either on them for whatever reason. I guess that's not. I guess naval officers don't really carry handguns.

[Ben]

Well, the thing I think that's important here is on a destroyer, you're not really building it with the assumption that you will get boarded or the individuals will be in close hand to hand combat. You know what I mean?

[Noel]

And just the official word is that no, Navy officers do not carry handguns. They're trained in weaponry, but that is not part of their kit. That is not part of their uniform, their usual equipment. Right.

[Ben]

So they have to, they have to think fast, looking around. Who has a gun? No one has a gun. Wait, the sub has a deck gun. And if they, if these guys reach it, then we are in for a terrible, terrible time.

[Holly Frey]

Hey, y'all. I'm Maria Fernanda Diaz. My podcast when youn're Invisible is my love letter to the working class people and immigrants who shaped my life. I get to talk to a lot of people who form the backbone of our society, but who have never been interviewed before. Season 2 is all about community organizing and being underestimated.

[Maria Tremorki]

All the greatest changes have happened when a couple of people said, this sucks.

[Ben]

Let'S do something about it. I can't have more than $2,000 in my bank account or else I can't get disability benefits. They won't let you. You succeed. I know we get paid to serve you guys, but, like, be respectful.

[Holly Frey]

We're made out of the same things. Bone, body, blood.

[Maria Fernanda Diaz]

It's rare to have black male teachers.

[Noel]

Sometimes. I am the lesson and I'm also the testament.

[Holly Frey]

Listen to when you're invisible. As part of the My Cultura Podcast Network, available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Maria Tremorki]

I started to live a double life when I was a teenager. Responsible and driven and wild and out of control. My head is pounding. I'm confused. I don't know why I'm in jail. It's hard to understand what hope is when you're trapped in a cycle of addiction. Addiction took me to the darkest places. I had an AK47 pointed at my head. But one night a new door opened and I made it into the rooms of recovery. The path would have roadblocks and detours, stalls and relapses. But when I was feeling the most lost, I found hope with community and I made my way back. This season, join me on my journey through addiction and recovery. A story told in 12 steps. Listen to Crumbs as part of the Mike Oluda Podcast Network, available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Arturo Castro]

This is John Cameron Mitchell and my new fiction podcast series. Cancellation island stars Holly Hunter as Karen, a wellness influencer who launches a rehab for the recently cancelled. In the future we will all be cancelled for 15 minutes, but don't worry, we'll take you from broke to woke or your money back. Cancellation Island's revolutionary rehab therapies like bad touch football, anti racism, spin class and mandatory ayahuasca ceremonies are designed to force the council to confront their worst impulses. But everything starts to fall apart when people start disappearing.

[Ben]

Karen, where have you you brought us.

[Arturo Castro]

Cancellation island, where a second chance might just be your last. Listen to Cancellation island on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Maria Fernanda Diaz]

Do you remember what you said the first night I came over here?

[Arturo Castro]

Ow.

[Ben]

Go slower.

[Maria Fernanda Diaz]

From Blumhouse TV, iHeart podcasts and Ember 20 comes an all new fictional comedy podcast series. Join the flighty Damien Hirst as he unravels the mystery of his vanished boyfriend. And Santi was gone. I've been spending all my time looking for answers about what happened to Santi and what's the way to find a missing person. Sleep with everyone he knew, obviously. Hmm. Pillow talk, the most unwelcome window into the human psyche. Follow our out of his element hero as he engages in a series of ill conceived investigative hookups. Mama always used to say God gave me gumption in place of a gag reflex. And as I was about to learn, no amount of showering can wash your hands of a bad hookup.

[Noel]

Now take a big whiff, my bruh.

[Maria Fernanda Diaz]

Listen to the hookup on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite show.

[Ben]

So the guys on the USS O'Bannon look around and they see these storage bins.

[Noel]

Yeah. It's not even clear from reading up on this if they really, even in the moment, knew quite what was in there. I think they were just kind of like just frantically grabbing at anything, scrabbling for purchase. And it turns out that these bins were full of potatoes.

[Ben]

Yeah. And so they started throwing these at the guys on the submarine. And the Japanese sailors panicked because they thought the potatoes were hand grenades, because that's the kind of thing you would logically throw at someone in a war.

[Noel]

Well, these Japanese folks must have thought that these American sailors had their act together much more than they actually did. They gave them a little credit thinking, oh, surely they're lobbing hand grenades at us. And it was dark, right?

[Ben]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Noel]

But you think when they gripped it, they would sense the feel of the potato and not have those, you know, traditional hand grenade rivets that you'd be used to feeling probably, if you were a soldier.

[Ben]

Yeah, but I think the adrenaline probably made it feel. Yeah, probably triggers a fight or flight thing.

[Noel]

That's right. The mind took over and made those potatoes into hand grenades in the mines of the Japanese. And so they started lobbing back.

[Ben]

Yeah, yeah. They didn't run away. That's the best part. This is essentially a food fight at this point, because the Japanese sailors think that these are hand grenades. And they tried to get rid of them by picking them up, catching them, throwing them back at the O'Bannon. And then as this ensued, just lobbing potatoes back and forth at each other, the crew of the O'Bannon was able to, as Ernest Hare says, put a little distance between our ship and the sub essentially to get far enough away to be out of range of that deck gun. And it's important to note, at the same time they're getting out of range of the submarine's deck gun, they're getting far enough away for their own guns to come into play. Specifically, Those guns are five dual purpose five inch 38 caliber guns on single mounts. And those, those five guns are not the entirety of the armament. There are also torpedoes aboard and they also had anti aircraft armament. But those five guns themselves, the 5 inch 38 caliber ones, that's game over.

[Noel]

Yeah, for sure. And it was game over because they, they lobbed off a good Shot. And they caught the Japanese sub right in the. The little tower thing. What's it called?

[Ben]

Conning tower.

[Noel]

The conning tower, which is where they. You climb out of it to get to the top, to get to the deck. And I believe that's also where the periscope is located.

[Ben]

I believe so.

[Noel]

Like, run up into that, and that's the little piece that you see of. That's always, you know, kind of floating over the top when the submarine's not fully underwater, but mostly submerged, because. Yeah, it was trying to go for a dive. It was trying to get out of there. And they must have caught it right in the nick of time because they, you know, hit that tower and it disabled the sub enough that it wasn't able to escape. And then the O'Bannon kind of maneuvered on top of it and hit it with a depth charge.

[Ben]

Yeah.

[Noel]

Which is like. How does that work?

[Ben]

Just picture. Picture like a. A slow orb or bomb dropping down.

[Noel]

Yeah.

[Ben]

So a bop on the head.

[Noel]

Oh, my gosh.

[Ben]

Which is. I. You know, which I'm not saying to diminish the tragedy of human life, but all indications we could find, show us that the sub did indeed sink due to that depth charge and the shot at the conning tower.

[Noel]

Human life is indeed quite a tragedy, Ben.

[Ben]

Yeah. Yeah. I don't want to diminish that. And off the O'Bannon went. But we have two other things that we thought were very interesting about this story. The association of Potato Growers of Maine heard about this potato battle, and they loved the idea.

[Noel]

Yeah, they did. They loved it so much, they presented the crew of the O'Bannon with a plaque with some problematic language.

[Ben]

Right. Yeah. A tribute to the officers and men of the USS O'Bannon for their ingenuity in using our now proud potato to sink a. And again, this is a quote. This is an offensive phrase. To sink a submarine in the spring of 1943, presented by Potato growers of the state of Maine on June 14, 1945. One thing that's weird about this is they have sink in quotation marks.

[Noel]

Yeah. That seems like kind of a dig.

[Ben]

Was it slang?

[Noel]

I don't know.

[Ben]

I don't know.

[Noel]

I have a question, too, Ben.

[Ben]

Yeah.

[Noel]

Why is this considered a main incident, the main potato episode? And why were they in the waters of Maine? I thought they were, like, somewhere else.

[Ben]

No, they're by the Solomon Islands.

[Noel]

I know. That's what I thought. So how does Maine have to do with anything?

[Ben]

I guess because they grow potatoes.

[Noel]

No, I Mean, they literally called this event the Maine Potato episode. I've seen it called that a bunch of times.

[Ben]

Must have been Maine potatoes then. The potatoes were supplied by Maine.

[Noel]

It's so weird, dude. It's such a strange nomenclature. Like, the only mention of Maine other than the fact that it's called the Maine Potato Incident multiple places is the fact that the O'Bannon itself was forged in Bath, Maine.

[Ben]

Right? Yeah. That's a good call. Back in March of 1941, so. So now we don't know for sure, but we have two, I would say pretty good guesses. It was made in Maine or it was using potatoes from Maine. There's a main element here.

[Noel]

Mainly.

[Ben]

Mainly a main element. It's not the main part of the story, but main is an important part.

[Noel]

But we got there.

[Ben]

We got there.

[Noel]

Here we are. I think this is the end. Well, no, no, there's a little bit more. Do you want to talk a little bit more about the ship and about destroyers just as a little supplementary wrap up?

[Ben]

Sure, man. Cause destroyers are fascinating ships. And the O'Bannon in particular has way more war stories than just this one potato incident, right?

[Noel]

That's right. And there's another great account from this guy, Ernest Hare. Just about like being cadet or what do you call, like a rookie first year sailor on the O'Bannon and you know, going into the battle of Guadalcanal and it's. It's an Angelfire website which I thought. I thought went the way of Geocities.

[Ben]

Still around, huh?

[Noel]

Yeah.

[Ben]

That's crazy.

[Noel]

You ever try to find your old MySpace profile, Ben?

[Ben]

Not a door I would care to open.

[Noel]

Still around. I'll have to look it up and report back, but no. In this account he talks about his early days on the brand new, shiny new destroyer, the O'Bannon. Fresh from the ironworks, he says, of Bath, Maine.

[Ben]

Also, the crew was as new as the ship, right? 70% of them were just raw recruits, as you said. Munches, green boys, right, with stars in their eyes, right?

[Noel]

But they're training. They're learning how to, you know, put on gas masks and, you know, nurse severed limbs and all of this stuff. And he says a really interesting thing. We're talking about the gas mask. He says, surely we are not going to be so unlucky as to need one of these things. Everyone knows you can get hurt out here and maybe even killed, but these are things that happen to the other guy, not you. Nevertheless, a laugh or a smile became a rare item. And then he refers to people over 30 as being old timers, which makes me feel like a grandpapa.

[Ben]

Right. But again, you know, a lot of these recruits are people who are straight out of high school too, you know, in many ways still kids.

[Noel]

That's right. But in this account, he does take some solace in the fact that he's told his whole crew, is told, that this ship is damn near impending, impenetrable and unsinkable, and is loaded with all kinds of bells and whistles. What kind of bells and whistles are we talking about here? We've mentioned a few, but what else we got?

[Ben]

Right, so we mentioned some of the guns, both the anti aircraft and the surface guns, also torpedoes. And, you know, we mentioned depth charges earlier, but he points out that submarines actually run from this destroyer.

[Noel]

Yeah, except when they're, you know, asleep.

[Ben]

Right, right, right. Which again, you have to. We have to empathize with the utter terror the Japanese sailors must have felt with this thing rolling up on them, as you said, like an angry whale. But let's get more specific. We mentioned those 5 inch guns. They also had ten 40 millimeter guns for anti aircraft, seven 20 millimeter anti aircraft guns, ten torpedo tubes, six depth charge projectors, and two depth charge tracks. So this thing is pretty much ready to tangle.

[Noel]

Yeah, that's right. And you know, like I said, the crew of this maiden voyage took some comfort in that fact, but they were first engaged in a battle called the Battle of Guadalcanal, which was fought in the Pacific theater of WWII around the island of Guadalcanal. And it was the first big attack by the Allies against the Empire of Japan. And this was the moment when Hare and his sailor buddies kind of got a taste of what war was really like. We always hear about this idea of the romanticization of war by these young bucks that come in thinking they're gonna find glory, and instead they find, you know, severed limbs and destruction, flotsam and jetsam floating in the water.

[Ben]

It reminds me of a poem from World War I by a guy named Wilfred Owen called Dolce et decora mest. I won't recite the whole thing because it's a little bit long, but it, I think, encapsulates this, I don't know, this universal idealism and then disillusionment and often death that's involved with war. The first engagement of the naval battle at Guadalcanal was relatively short in terms of time, but there was massive damage. Two American light cruisers and four destroyers went down. Two Japanese destroyers were sunk. It was terrible. War as hell.

[Holly Frey]

Hey y'all. I'm Maria Fernanda Diaz. My podcast when youn're Invisible is my love letter to the working class people and immigrants who shaped my life. I get to talk to a lot of people who form the backbone of our society, but who have never been interviewed before. Season 2 is all about community organizing and being underestimated.

[Maria Tremorki]

All the greatest changes have happened when a couple of people said, this sucks.

[Ben]

Let's do something about it. I can't have more than $2,000 in my bank account or else I can't get disability benefits. They won't let you succeed. I know we get paid to serve you guys, but like, be respectful.

[Holly Frey]

We're made out of the same things. Bone, body, blood.

[Maria Fernanda Diaz]

It's rare to have black male teachers.

[Noel]

Sometimes I am the lesson and I'm also the testament.

[Holly Frey]

Listen to when youn're Invisible as part of the My Cultura Podcast network, available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Maria Tremorki]

I started to live a double life when I was a teenager. Responsible and driven and wild and out of control. My head is pounding. I'm confused. I don't know why I'm in jail. It's hard to understand what hope is when you're trapped in a cycle of addiction. Addiction took me to the darkest places. I had an AK47 pointed at my head. But one night, a new door opened and I made it into the rooms of recovery. The path would have roadblocks and detours, stalls and relapses. But when I was feeling the most lost, I found hope with connection, community and I made my way back this season. Join me on my journey through addiction and recovery. A story told in 12 steps. Listen to Crumbs as part of the Michael Luda Podcast Network, available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Arturo Castro]

This is John Cameron Mitchell and my new fiction podcast series, Cancellation island stars Holly Hunter as Karen, a wellness influencer who launches a rehab for the recently canceled. In the future, we will all be canceled for 15 minutes. But don't worry, we'll take you from broke to woke or your money back. Cancellation Island's revolutionary rehab therapies, like bad touch football, anti racism, spin class and mandatory ayahuasca ceremonies are designed to force the council to confront their worst impulses. But everything starts to fall apart when people start disappearing.

[Ben]

Karen, where have you brought us?

[Arturo Castro]

Cancellation island, where a second chance might just be your last. Listen to Cancellation island on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Maria Fernanda Diaz]

Do you remember what you said the first night I came over here?

[Ben]

How go slower.

[Maria Fernanda Diaz]

From Blumhouse TV, iHeart podcasts and Ember 20 comes an all new fictional comedy podcast series. Join the flighty Damien Hirst as he unravels the mystery of his vanished boyfriend. And Santi was gone. I've been spending all my time looking for answers about what happened to Santi and what's the way to find a missing person. Sleep with everyone he knew, obviously. Hmm. Pillow talk, the most unwelcome window into the human psyche. Follow our out of his element hero as he engages in a series of ill conceived investigative hookups. Mama always used to say God gave me gumption in place of a gag reflex. And as I was about to learn, no amount of showering can wash your hands of a bad hookup.

[Noel]

Now take a big whiff, my bruh.

[Maria Fernanda Diaz]

Listen to the hookup on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

[Ben]

And so I think we've established that the O'Bannon had a number of other adventures that were not potato related. However, I gotta say, even though war is a terrible, terrible thing, I love the image of these grown people having this sudden food fight.

[Noel]

I was about to say it's a food fight, you know, among grown men. I love it.

[Ben]

Yeah, I know. You need more food fights in general.

[Noel]

It did. It did end in the Japanese men being, you know, brutally exploded by a depth charge.

[Ben]

That is true.

[Noel]

That's not super cool.

[Ben]

No. But again, food fights. Let us know if you ever want to get involved in a food fight. Yeah, I would totally be in on.

[Noel]

Really? That's. No. No way.

[Ben]

You wouldn't do it.

[Noel]

No way.

[Ben]

Do you hate fun?

[Noel]

I don't know. It doesn't sound like fun to me. It sounds like a mess. I don't even like it when it happens in movies. It grosses.

[Ben]

Oh, really? Yeah, I think it depends on the type of food for me. Like, a potato's not a messy thing. And actually, a potato could hurt you if you threw it hard enough.

[Noel]

You ever shot a potato gun?

[Ben]

Mm, I built one.

[Noel]

Did you ever make napalm? No, no, just potato guns.

[Ben]

And let us know about your experience with where do we go here, Potatoes, life in the Navy, building potato guns.

[Noel]

Anarchist cookbook recipes, what have you.

[Ben]

And speaking of you, enough about us, what do you say to some listener mail?

[Noel]

I say, huz, our first listener mail comes from Michelle K. Subject is Weird People who Built with Beer Bottles hello. I had gotten a little behind and finally listened to the Weird People who Built Weird Things episode on the five hour drive to visit my parents in the small California coastal town of Cambria, which is just below Hearst Castle. It's about halfway between San Francisco. That's the famous Hearst Castle of William Randolph Hearst, famously depicted fictionalized in Citizen Kane, but it is literally as it sounds, a castle. It's about halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles. In that episod, you asked about other weird buildings and I had one immediately. One of my favorite places in Cambria history is a truly bizarre home built by hand called Nitwit Ridge, which I love. It was built by a man named Art Beale over the course of 50 years, mostly out of trash that he dragged down the coast of Hearst Castle where he worked and native materials such as abalone shells. Tying in with another episode, there are beer cans built into the structure as well. It's about our Heineken Bottle Bricks episode. He lived there for most of his life. It's uninhabitable at this point, but still sound enough for tours. It's a time capsule inside because when he left, he left everything behind. So there are old clothes, food cans, et cetera. And then she attached a couple of photos here and it looks like a crazy Peter Pan treehouse. It's awesome. Thank you so much for the podcast. I've enjoyed every episode so far and look forward to many more. Thanks for the company on my long drive.

[Ben]

That's awesome. Thank you so much for writing to us, Michelle. Also, thanks to everyone who responded and sent us weird buildings from your neck of the global woods. You know, please keep sending them as well and let's do one more. May M. Writes to us and says hi there Ben and Newell. I'm a big fan of the show. I love the segment Casey on the Case. Hi Casey. Right on. I just finished listening to the States that Never Were, says May and during the episode I was pondering note I had from Massachusetts where I feel the attitude on the south can often be derogatory or patronizing, but I try my best to be inclusive of all folks.

[Noel]

It's cool we feel the same way about you in Massachusetts.

[Ben]

I think Massachusetts is great.

[Noel]

No, it's great. I'm joking.

[Ben]

So May continues. I can't help but notice the two of you do not speak in a Southern accent. I heard one of your fathers during extra credit and was delighted by his pride and his Southern heritage and accent I was wondering if you two naturally have an accent and smooth it over because you're on the radio and it alienates others or if. If it's a thing you picked up from TV and other media. I don't mean to be rude, and you're not being rude. Me. This is a great letter. I'm just curious on the ridiculous history of why there is this divide and how our country speaks, which is quite diverse in reality, but in movies and tv, only if it is relevant, is the Southern accent ever used. Late for work. Have to get going.

[Noel]

Should we show her our real voices, Ben? All right, man. This is me.

[Ben]

That's your real voice.

[Noel]

Me, for the first time ever, is me, Noel Brown. This is how I sound. Bare my soul for you people. No more putting on airs for this podcast.

[Ben]

Yeah, you can hear Noel's German accent coming out there.

[Noel]

No, I'm obviously kidding. No, I don't know. It is funny, though. We don't have any kind of Southern accent.

[Ben]

Not very strong.

[Noel]

Do you ever code switch, though, when you're around, like, your folks or you go back home to. To Tennessee and you see some family who have more of an accent, do you ever kind of find yourself drifting into it a little bit?

[Ben]

No. No. The only thing is sometimes vowels will come out strange, you know, But I actually, I responded to this, and one of the points that we wanted to make is that here in the information age, a lot of people, at least in the US are going to speak with a more neutral Midwestern kind of accent because that's what's encouraged in telev on your local news station, for example. And I think we can all agree that diversity of accents is a really fantastic thing, and they could be more well represented in the media. Also, this is great embarrassment. I cannot pronounce you all to save my life.

[Noel]

You just did it.

[Ben]

No, you know what I mean. The contraction.

[Noel]

Yeah, you can't say y'all.

[Ben]

I just can't pull it off.

[Noel]

What kind of Southerner are you?

[Ben]

I don't know. I don't know, man. I quarrel with this, but I got.

[Noel]

Quarrel with you now. Oh, yeah, we are beefed up.

[Ben]

Well, our creative differences aside, the point that I think the three of us wanted to make with accents is that regardless of how people may or may not judge you for the way you speak, I would say embrace your accent. You know what I mean? It's part of what makes you you. And also, accents are dynamic. So if you move somewhere where people pronounce things differently, such as Madonna moving to the UK or us moving to Australia. Eventually, some things are gonna sink in. You're gonna start. I mean, you're not automatically gonna start yelling g'day at people, but G'day. But we tend to at least speak the way that people around us speak.

[Noel]

It's true.

[Ben]

So thank you so much to May and Michelle and everyone else who wrote in. This is the end of listener mail, but not our show. You can find us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. We're especially delighted with our community page.

[Noel]

Ridiculous historians that we are made some lifelong friends there. Ridiculous Historians. And you can be a part of that pool of humans as well by going to Facebook and signing up. All you gotta do is tell the robot what our names are. Only one of them. And we get a kick out of the ways people spell my name and the ways people spell your last name. Ben. It is a hoot.

[Ben]

We also. We also have T shirts now. We're legit.

[Noel]

Yeah. With our names on them spelled correctly.

[Ben]

You can find one of our favorite T shirt designs featuring our old pal nemesis, Jonathan Strickland. The Quizzter.

[Noel]

Yeah, you just go to teepublic.com ridiculoushistory and you can get that stuff slapped on a mug or a map mouse pad or a backpack or a laptop sleeve. Anything pretty much that you can think of, you can slap a logo on it there. And if you have ideas yourself for designs, anything you hear in the show that you think would be cool on a piece of merch, let us know. Write us ridiculousowstuffworks.com I'd like to thank super producer Casey Pegram. Like to thank Alex Williams, who composed our theme.

[Ben]

Like to thank our research associates, Christopher Haciotes, Eve's Jeffcoat. And most importantly, thank you for tuning in Foreign.

[Noel]

For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

[Ben]

Welcome to the Criminalia Podcast. I'm Maria Tremarke.

[Noel]

And I'm Holly Fry. Together, we invite you into the dark and winding corridors of historical true crime.

[Holly Frey]

Each season, we explore a new theme.

[Ben]

From Poisoners to Argue Heart Thieves, we.

[Noel]

Uncover the secrets of history's most interesting figures, from legal injustices to body snatching.

[Holly Frey]

And tune in at the end of each episode as we indulge in cocktails and mocktails inspired by each story.

[Noel]

Listen to criminalia on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Holly Frey]

Hey, y'all. I'm Maria Fernanda Diaz. When youn're Invisible is my love letter to the working class people and immigrants who shaped me. Season 2 shares stories about community and being underestimated.

[Maria Tremorki]

All the greatest changes have happened when a couple of people said, this sucks.

[Ben]

Let'S do something about it. We get paid to serve you, but.

[Holly Frey]

We'Re made out of the same things.

[Maria Fernanda Diaz]

It's rare to have black male teachers.

[Noel]

Sometimes I am the Testament Listen to.

[Holly Frey]

When youn're Invisible on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Maria Tremorki]

I'm Emila, host of the podcast Crumbs. For years I had to rely on other people to tell me my story, and what I heard wasn't good. You really? Last night, it felt like I lived most of my life in a blackout. I was trapped in addiction. I had to grab the lamp and smashed it against the walls. And then I decided I wanted to tell my own story. Listen to crumbs on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hi, I'm Arturo Castro, and I've been.

[Noel]

Lucky enough to do stuff like Broad City and Narcos and Roadhouse.

[Maria Tremorki]

And now I'm starting a podcast because.

[Noel]

Honestly guys, I don't feel the space is crowded enough. Get ready for Greatest Escapes, a new.

[Maria Tremorki]

Comedy podcast about the wildest true escape stories in history.

[Noel]

Each week I'll be sitting down with some of the most hilarious actors and writers and comedians. People like Ed Helms, Diane Guerrero, and Joseph Gordon Levitt.

[Ben]

I love storytelling and I love you, so I can't wait.

[Noel]

Listen and subscribe to Greatest escapes on.

[Maria Tremorki]

The iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever.

[Ben]

You get your podcast.