Weaponizing Ice Cream In WW2 

Sending notes cut up from newspapers demanding wafers.

When your the only destroyer that can fly the Jolly Roger you gotta live up to the reputation

As someone with the last name Kidd and related to the actual pirate, this made me smile.

That's fuckin AMAZING! 👌👍👏

We used to kidnap platoon leaders from other companies and hold them for ransom. Usually just a case of beer or two. The battalion commander at the time approved of it, even when it interfered with daily business a bit because it taught you to watch out for your platoon and to pay attention. But we could only take them in to battalion area and training areas that didn’t involve weapons. We would tape them to a chair and wait for the ransom to be paid. Fun times.

I mean at that point it was us or the Soviets, so…

"Ice cream or borscht? Ice cream or borscht?"

​@@murdock94 borscht is fucking delicious, but man I'd rather have some ice cream 😂

.... ja

@@adenkyramud5005 I actually finally tried borscht last week. It is delicious.

dead checks are only for the japanese, and the SS

Vaht ze hell?!😮

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

Chocolate was also a luxury to the Germans during WWII. It was only meant for German officers. There's a story about a German soldier realizing they'd lose the war when he found chocolate bars while looting a dead American private.

Highly improbable that a fudgecicle would have made it long enough into a battle for them to be walking through what was the enemy lines dead checking people, before it melted. Regular chocolate bar likely, fudgecicle, historically inaccurate.

Gotta pay your tithes to the boss.

The sign of a wise commander is one who sees such efforts as an act of resourcefulness and productivity, rather than a frivolous waste of time and energy.

@@kylenguyen7371 most commanders also know their men get up to some kind pf hijinks and trouble. No matter what. So I'd the worst Is they making Ice cream while also doing their jobs. Your peobbly not gonna worry too hard and let them keep busy on stuff that's harming no one.

LOL 😆 🤣

That is SOOOOOOO disturbing to even THINK about. I've known a few guys who would ABSOLUTELY take that challenge. 😳

Klondike bars are now Red Bull and Copenhagen flavoured?!

@@HM2SGT 🤢

​@@HM2SGTrip it and snuff. Lol

I shoulda said that lol

What a legend 😂

😂😝😁😅😜🤣 EPIC!!!

That's legendairy....hah

"What would you do for a Klondike Bar?" Take Iwo Jima.

This is morbidly hilarious

It's almost poetic in a way. If that were to happen to me I'd be ghost stuffing my face with some ice cream right there with them.

Hense the tradition of burial at sea. We're just to soft for that shite nowadays. The weighted box ain't foolin anyone! People need an open casket and all that.

The Norse would approve. Norse funerary tradition involved a days long party to share stories of the dead and get absolutely plastered.

That is a great way to go and be honoured. Soldiers are the reason why we live the way we do now, thank you

Murrica. Just do not shoot Said machine. The Marines might go a little angry.

So would the enemy shooting the ice cream maker be equal to shooting at the doc.

SeaBees can do

@@alexh3974 Shooting said machine will result in a bunch of very pissed off Marines swarming to the same degree of throwing a rock at a hornet's nest.

Maybe Mcdonalds should ask the seabees to fix the ice cream machines 🤔😂

31 Flavors of Fuck Around and Find Out

@@ElGreco15or 31 flavors to fuck around and find out

Amateurs talk tactics, professionals talk logistics, but America has raised it to a fruggin art form.

Amateurs discuss tactics, professionals discuss logistics, WINNERS DISCUSS MORALE.

@@William_Bryant And the true masters can harness the power of all three.

its the talking balaclava

@@William_Bryant All too often logistics and morale are the same damned thing

Love this story, when you see the admiral patiently waiting in line you better not be cutting.

What was it like serving aboard a submarine? It looks scary as shit to even set foot on one of those things.

And may god have mercy on your soul if you forgot to fill up the ice cream machine before chow ...

Ice cream machine is more important than the nuclear reactor. I love those priorities lol

We joke a lot that the reactor exists to power the ice cream machine, thus making it a nuclear powered ice cream maker. Side note though, soft serve and a couple drops of soy sauce tastes strangely similar to butterscotch.

Nuclear meltdown

there another legend of a Japanese general quoting he knew they'd lose when he found out about ice but I couldn't verfy it

I heard the same story, it was supposedly during the battle of the bulge when the lead German elements overran the 30th(?) Infantry division. I think. Anyways, they found a fresh birthday cake that the icing hadn't even melted on with a happy birthday card in one of the fighting positions. The Germans had just scraped up everything they had and rationed up fuel from everywhere to run their tanks for one big final push. They saw this and were like yeah, we had to beg borrow and steal gas to get an elite unit fuel for it's panzers and these guys are delivering birthday cakes across the friggin Atlantic... What's the point. Of course there is another similar story from WW1 during the Kaiserschlact so they may just be apocryphal. EDIT: it's also a line in the 1965 movie battle of the bulge

Germany had no intention of ever invading the US. That's beyond fantasy and how anyone still parrots the "we'd all be speaking German" nonsense is baffling. It's a little less stupid than someone saying if Ukraine doesn't win this war we'll all be speaking Russian.

@Repent and believe in Jesus Christ Only if he has ice crream.

@@stischer47 amen 🤣🤣

I'm sorry he passed but that is an awesome story!

o7 🫡

May he rest in peace o7

Puts my dads ice cream obsession into perspective. He and my mom got a cup of coffee and a McDonald’s cone literally every day. WW2 submariner

RIP Devil Dog🇺🇸🦅. Thanks for my freedom.

I got to vote for Ronald Reagan not once but twice. I sure do miss him. I go back to 20 mule team Borax -Death Valley Days. I will turn 69 in a few more months. Ice Cream is one of my true weaknesses.

​@@GeorgeSemela boomer proud to have helped ruin American politics who's surprised.

🤣🤣🤣 All those trips to go get ice cream just took on a different meaning.

I’m guessing that goes for Pizza and Jalapeno poppers as well? I heard submariners eat pretty well.

True facts, can confirm.

..And the ice cream machine must be thoroughly tested before leaving maintenance availabilities. A good day for morale all the way around!

“Invisible nuclear ninja boat” will now be part of my day to day vocabulary.

​@@fuzzyhead878 I mean, would you want to spend a month in a tube with no windows, only like 50 people to talk with, everything being painted grey or key lime, and have to eat the same "meals" they sent for grunts to eat a month after it was made?

Americans are Brits will always enjoy trading. Even after the revolution where we hated each other it was like “so… trade back on?” “Yes but F you.”

It was also because during the Great Depression food was extremely scarce. The US actually started the child food programs because in 1934 it was found that over 40% of 18 year olds would be ineligible to fight as they were severely under weight. Sugar and milk were like gold. My grandfather who was 12 when the great Depression started said that getting ice cream once or twice a year was considered a luxury. The only time he really got it was in winter when freezers weren't needed. This was literally giving people who rarely had sugar and fat (2 very addicting foods) the ability to have it for free and in large amounts regularly. Of course it was a massive morale booster.

I love those kinds of stories. Even if they aren’t true they’re fun to hear. My favorite is an urban legend where a bunch of German POWs that were shipped stateside saw the size of American steam locomotives and came to the conclusion that America had already won the war.

That was even in the movie Battle of the Bulge.

I'd swear I saw that in some movie or other, might've been Robert Shaw in Battle of the Bulge. Whomever it was made a point of mentioning the cake was still fresh.

That late in the war some of the Germans were only asking wether or not prisoners got fed.

​@@ninjabearpress2574yes. Battle of the bulge.

One of my favorite stories from the show Battle 360.

I believe the destroyer was the USS Kidd, which still continues that tradition today in some form. I was stationed on it during a WestPac and we did that with the Japanese. Also the USS Kidd is allowed to fly the jolly roger because of it.

SOP back in the day. Destroyers were tiny, everything they had was dried, canned or frozen, nothing perishable unless they got it from an unrep ship, and that would be fruit and the like that just had to be cooled to the point of a root cellar. Dairy, particularly ice cream, amazing luxury. The Brits and Anzacs probably would have traded for booze :P

How much, and what flavors would you like?

​@@tenchraven pretty sure the brits regularly traded their booze for ice cream when they got the chance. Win win situation 😂

Yesh no wonder the Kidd became known as a pirate ship for holding pilots ransom😂

That is awesome!

Did you thank the ice cream for its service though?

Always 👍

It should also be mentioned that ice cream was a major luxury item during the Great Depression. My grandfather was 12 in 1929. He mentioned ice cream as a once per few months to year thing and for many people that was only in winter. Getting ice cream was like being given a once in a year treat. Also, my great great uncle served in WW2. This might sound sad, but he freaked out when the military gave him 2 brand new sets of boots. He thought that they gave him an extra by mistake and he would be punished as a result. He brought it up and cried when his commanding officer told him they were both his and he would get more soon. His commander thought he was wondering when he would get more. In reality, this was the first time in his life having new shoes let alone 2 pairs. He talked more fondly of the military than anyone I have ever known.

@@bransonwalter5588 @catdude5567 I have to say same about my grandfather, to both of these.

Your grandfather must’ve had some trouble trying to deliver ice cream to you from overseas without it melting

My grandmother had the same. She drove trucks in the Army Air Corps, pfc but in photos she’s wearing an armband w/sergeant stripes. She told us she was the acting warehouse sergeant in a base in New Jersey.

PIN THIS COMMENT.

It's said nowadays that while other countries struggle with supplies, the Americans biggest issue is deciding whether they want a McDonald's or a Pizza Hut on base.

4 takes lol

​@@the_fat_electrician that's all. What did you take an ice cream break

​@@ZoomZoomMX3 he took at least 2, one for each theater won

@@the_fat_electrician LMAO, yeah. I'd have a problem keeping a straight face as well.

​@the_fat_electrician just 4? Still very impressive.

Yeah I was thinking of the same scene in the same movie!

It would be a Oh shi# moment

@@raiderdare7462 Yeah the sudden, stunning realization that if the Americans can get a cake halfway around the world, fresh, for a private, we can move the world if need be.

I wonder if you could make ice cream beer float…?

​@@matasa7463I'd probably rather go with the root beer...but I can't say im not intrigued lol

​@@matasa7463There are several porters and stouts that make great floats. I prefer those with chocolate notes, but those with coffee notes work just as well

Nice!

yup 10 gallons to rescue a pilot

@@the_fat_electrician water is about 8 lb to the gallon, and with ice cream being fatty and aerated it probably is considerably less, but even so that's still a significant proportion of the pilots weight in ice cream.

@@danielbickford3458 8.3 pounds to be precise. _(I like to trick probies and try to teach them to actually listen and think by asking them how much does a _*_pound_*_ of water weigh? Invariably they always say "8.3 pounds! ")_

​@Wasn’t tomorrow Wonderful? Ahhh, yes.. I remember my probie days!

Yep USS Kidd. The pirates of the pacific. They got that name because they did exactly that. They are the only ship authorized to fly the Jolly Roger. That extends to the current USS Kidd.

The Alaska was a hell of a ship, it's the closest the US navy ever came to building a battlecruiser. They were the fastest ships in the world to carry such large guns.

If only they'd have more time with the POGs and Officers

Was USS Alaska a participant of Operation Magic Carpet?

Quality control....gotta make sure it works properly...

Not many can lead in with...I build DESTRYERS for a living. Thanks😁🦅

Hadn't thought about that game in years. And now I'm going to have nightmares... lmao

@@bawdydog176 my bad lmao

Imagine realizing that your enemy, who is a literal treacherous ocean away, has good enough logistics that they can essentially provide their troops anything they want, while you can't even get a loaf of bread and some bullets just 100 miles outside and later inside your own border.

​@@troybaxteradding to the embarrassment. The axis at the time was aggressively pursuing and sinking the merchant marine supply lines. In response, shipbuilders held competitions to see who could build cargo ships faster. The record was 15.5 hours from drydock draining to the ship leaving the shipyards

I wanna 2!

If I see a WW-II vet, any vet, waiting in line at an ice cream parlor, he's not paying for it.

@Ninjabear Press thank you for servicing those who have served. Had a guy pay for my burger one time after I got out and had a little tear knowing I'll never be able to give him the money back. What an American

*Iowa Class battleship* "So. We took that personly."

"Usually" being the key word there. But if they knew where a machine was they might take it, and not let minor inconveniences like a door lock stop them. USS Kidd (the first, DD661 I think) got one like this (officially, source unknown), Samuel B Roberts (a DE, aka, economy sized DD) also got one this way (allegedly from an unlocked storeroom...)

@@can_hauler yup, the navy must have had to keep the excess machines under close guard to make sure that sailors didn’t STEAL them

@@can_hauler I’m pretty sure the DEs were technically frigates. I think drachinifel said something to that affect in one of his videos

I know two submarines got machines by taking them from a bigger ship in the same port a few hours before leaving for patrol. By the time anyone noticed they were gone a group of subs had left and were radio silent.

Also depending on the pilot the more the ice cream.

Anything we can do to bring a few comforts of home to an otherwise hellish existence is worth the time, effort and expense, that's the American way.

Never saw anyone ever drink the near beer though. Everyone was too busy crushing Rip-Its.

@@JAY-gl5xd I did both while driving my mrap

Flamethrowers and ice cream...Baked Alaska, anyone?

Dude was a 100 years old, owned more guns than you can count, smoked cigars like a chimney and was a tough SOB.

Weird that the oldest brewery in the US is Chinese 😂

I can imagine some downed pilot grumbling, "This is embarrassing, I'm worth more than five gallons of vanilla."

USS Kidd was expert at that, there is a reason, US ships that have the name "Kidd", is allowed to use the pirate flag. They was apparently much better at "getting more" ice, for the pilotes.

And I'm all out of ice cream.

fax

Bro, you gotta do a video on the XB50, the most guns on a single airframe ever, it’s right up your alley.

It doesn't even matter what country you're from

I’m going to say it’s worse if the speaker is someone who WORKS for the government. FEMA … or the Red Cross, Salvation Army, or whatever flavor of church you like. Who would you rather have helping you?

​@@the_fat_electricianI do love that Regan said those are the worst words you can ever hear.

Rescued pilots were exchanged for ice cream when they were brought back to their parent ship.

ooo I'll have to look into that!

Yeah, gots to have something to wash down your ice cream.

I will throw hands if someone gets between me and an ice cold Coca-cola.

@@lupenngrimpaw936 I'd throw you an ice-cold Coke.

thank you!!

Brandon is running for Congress, I find that refreshing as an old man.@@the_fat_electrician

One command: Fire for Effect

We're here to eat ice cream and kick ass. And we're out of ice cream...

If my memory if correct some high ranking Japanese navy officer told Americans after the war that the day he heard about these he knew the war was lost saying “Americans can make ships to provide sailors with a luxury while we can’t replace our losses”.

oh it was

@@the_fat_electrician 😂😝😁😅😜🤣 Killed 'em with ice cream headaches! (or brain freeze, whichever)

I also was disappointed

Maybe. But look at it this way. We made ships out of rock, and they worked. We would have made an aircraft carrier out of ice and saw dust, but the Germans died too much and reality outran the project.

@@the_fat_electrician that said- isn't it awesome that American industry made CONCRETE float?

@@josiahzabel8596 BY WWII, ships out of concrete was proven tech. Both the US and the UK had built concrete ships already in WWI, and it worked. (Displacement works 😃.) Concrete didn't work as well as steel-concrete ships had less available cargo volume than comparable steel ships, and the concrete ships additionally had a bad habit of shattering in a collision-but it did work. In fact, of the 12 concrete merchant ships built by the USA in WWI, one is still afloat (as of 2022, at least), and four more are grounded and findable. Which isn't a bad longevity record for a group of 12 ships (that nobody much wanted when they were new) after 100 years!

That matters. No one wants to see British when they are not calmed by endless cups of tea lol

@@alexh3974 someone has to keep the Canadians busy playing hockey.