Have you read or listened to "Endurance", the Story of the Shackleton expedition to the Antartica? I've been listening off and on on YouTube. Frozen sea made me think of it. Such an experience!!

I haven't read it, but I'm vaguely familiar with the story. To intentionally sail a wooden ship into ice packs is nuts!

I have many sea captain ancestors who sailed the southern waters and they avoided ice like the plague. For two years (1904-06), one great-great uncle was captain of the 4-mast schooner Rosamond. A book called The Last Voyage of the Schooner Rosamond chronicles her 1920 voyage from San Francisco to South Africa with a cargo of lumber. The Rosamond did not have a stream engine. They sailed too far south and drifted in the fog, freezing temperatures and ice for nearly 2 months. Even when there was a breeze they traveled slowly to avoid icebergs. Making all of this worse was that regulations required that the foghorn be sounded every half hour, so any decent sleep was impossible... for weeks. The chances that there was a ship within 200 miles was slim-to-none, but the foghorn sounded anyway. Altho the Rosamond's last voyage was horrific, the book gave me a glimpse into the life those seafaring ancestors had chosen.

Old Blue
None of my ancestors would have volunteered for the Shackleton Expedition.

Wise decision. It seems he was a strict and tough task master whose sometimes ridiculous optimism did not help an already horrific situation.

Five Reasons Why the US Won the Battle of Midway

1) Radar The first advantage the US Navy had was that all the major ships had radar, capable of detecting aircraft up to 100 miles away. The Japanese had no such counterpart and were dependent on visual identification of enemy planes.

2) Code Breaking The US Navy had largely broken the Japanese codes, so the US knew the Japanese plans before the event. Admiral Nimitz's plan was to turn the surprise around and catch the Japanese off guard.

3) Japan's Complex Plan Yamamoto believed deception would be required to lure the U.S. fleet into a fatally compromised situation. The plan to attack Midway had three objectives. First they wanted the elimination of the US land-based planes, and second, to establish it as there own mid-Pacific base of operation. Lastly, they wanted to set a trap to destroy the "two" remaining US carriers in the Pacific. The Japanese thought the US had only two carriers remaining - the Hornet and the Enterprise. They were sure that the Yorktown had been sunk a month before at the Battle of Coral Sea.

Having both Midway and the US carriers as primary targets greatly complicated their logistics. Land based targets require different weaponry than carrier targets. Launching, recovering (i.e. allowed to land) and rearming of planes on an aircraft carrier takes careful coordination under the best of conditions, but having two targets that were different in nature, in the heat of battle is likely beyond the capacity of even the best of crews. This became the critical issue for the Japanese during the battle. Lastly to attack the enemy carriers, they first need to be located.

4) American Ingenuity The aircraft carrier, USS Yorktown, was badly damaged at the Battle of Coral Sea only 27 days earlier, taking at least 6 direct hits from bombs and torpedoes. She was listing so badly (26 degrees) that her skipper, Captain Elliott Buckmaster ordered her abandonment. After everyone was off and the Yorktown was still floating, Buckmaster and Fleet Commander Admiral Frank Fletcher decided to send back a salvage crew of 170 men to try and save her. And save her they did. Initially the Yorktown was towed by a heavy cruiser, but within days she was able to steam at 20 knots (23 mph) back to Pearl Harbor.

With an imminent attack expected at Midway, Nimitz ordered the Yorktown to be repaired and be seaworthy in 2 days. Nobody thought it could be done. Yet good old American ingenuity and hard work completed what has to be considered a miracle and the Yorktown was pushed out of dry dock on Nimitz's schedule and was ready for another fight. She steamed out of Pearl Harbor to catch up with the rest of the fleet.

5) Luck Their Bad Luck: the Japanese failed to find the US fleet in a timely manner, due primarily to their bad luck.

Our Good Luck: the US carrier-based dive bombers found the Japanese carriers at exactly a perfect time. More on these events later.

The Battle At 5AM, 108 Japanese planes launched to attack Islands of Midway. Their immediate intent was to destroy the land-based planes and make it impossible for offensive actions by the Americans from the island.

The Americans knew when and approximately where the Japanese would launch their attack on Midway. In response, the US fleet, with the three carriers, sailed to within range of the Japanese carriers. Early in the morning of June 4, 1942, Admiral Fletcher ordered his strike force to launch. At 7 AM the first group of fighters got airborne. They would circle for a full hour until the dive-bombers and torpedo-bombers were in the air.

However, the Americans on Midway were ready for the attack, thanks to the code breaking and the fact that radar detected the approaching planes. The US Marine fighters intercepted the approaching enemy aircraft, but the Japanese fighters, known as zeros, could fly circles around the US fighters. Nonetheless the aggressive assault by the Marines broke up the attacking Japanese formations, forcing them to make individual approaches. By the time the Japanese planes arrived at Midway, their primary target – planes on the ground - were gone. The Americans had already launched their own attack on the enemy fleet. Although the Japanese did much damage, they failed their basic objective of neutralizing Midway. This failure was a major problem for the Japanese. They now decided they needed to make a second attack to finish off the tiny airfield, and therefore planes on the Japanese carriers needed to have their bombs switched out from anti-ship to land-targeting bombs.

Bad Luck of the Day - Japan: Due to a mechanical failure, what would be the critical Japanese scout plane, had launched 30 minutes late. The delay turned into an hour by the time it actually spotted a US carrier. When Nagumo received the report of a US carrier, he reversed his decision and ordered the anti-ship bombs be remounted. Meanwhile, some 90 of his planes returning from the Midway attack needed to be recovered. All of this turned the decks and hangers of the Japanese carriers into complete chaos. (In military terms, it was a Cluster F*qué!)

About this point, the Midway based Army Air Force B-26 and B-17 bombers made high altitude bombing runs over the Japanese fleet. This was followed by several attacks by US torpedo bombers. Unfortunately due to inferior planes and inexperience Americans pilots, none of the torpedoes. In fact, most of the torpedo bombers were shot down before they could launch their weapons. These attacks did force the Japanese carriers to make radical turns in avoiding bombs, greatly hindering the ability to re-arm, recover and refuel planes. During the next hour, three more attacks were made from the land-based American planes, but not a single bomb hit a target.

Radio communication between American squadrons was poor to nonexistent. Consequently, even thought three carrier-based squadrons had found the Japanese fleet, its location was not generally known to the Americans. By this time, most of the American strike force had been searching for the Japanese fleet for at least an hour and a half. Time was running out.

FIVE CRITICAL MINUTES It is seldom possible to identify an exact moment in time when the course of history changes. However at 10:22 AM June 4, 1942 this did occurred. All morning the Japanese had dominated in the battle. Things had not gone perfectly for them, but in over 3 hours of fighting, the Japanese fought off over 100 US planes and the Americans had failed to deliver a single hit on any of the Japanese ships. On the other hand, significant damage had been inflicted on Midway, and over half of the attacking US planes had been shot down. But most importantly, the Japanese had found the US fleet. Shortly the Imperial Japanese Navy would have a strike force ready to attack the American aircraft carriers.

Meanwhile, at precisely 10 o’clock, Lieutenant Commander Wade McClusky spotted a lone Japanese destroyer steaming at high-speed as though she was hurrying to re-join the fleet . McClusky mentally projected its path ahead to where the Japanese fleet must be, and he was right.

The Luck of the Irish had smiled on the Americans, McClusky (of Irish descent) could see the Japanese fleet with 2 carriers. Looking around, he could not believe that there was no fighter cover for the enemy fleet. The zeros were all down on the deck attacking the US torpedo-bombers. His two 15 dive-bomber squadrons followed him. At precisely 10:22 AM, the first of four bombs hit the Japanese carrier Kaga. The Japanese carrier decks were in chaos, They were changing bomb types;, fuel lines and planes were spread hap-hazardly all over the Japanese carrier's decks. As American bombs finally found there target, secondary explosions from on-deck bombs and burning fuel immediately followed. Minutes later a second enemy carrier, the Akagi, fell victim to this dive-bomber attack with similar results. Meanwhile, a third dive-bomber squadron from the Yorktown arrived on the scene. There was still no Japanese fighter cover as the 15 Yorktown planes went into a steep dive and drop bombs successfully on the carrier Soryu. Three carriers had been fatally wounded.

In less time than it took you to read this article, the fortunes of the war were reversed. The Imperial Japanese Navy's dominance had been blunted and was forced to go on the defensive... for the rest of the war.

Six hours later, the fourth and last Japanese carrier in their armada was crippled by yet another dive-bomber attack. However, at about the same time, the Yorktown was hit with several bombs which left her completely disabled. Two days later, she was sunk by a Japanese submarine. Thus ending the Battle of Midway.

Losses The materiel losses suffered by Japan at Midway were catastrophic. Four aircraft carriers, a heavy cruiser, and more than 320 planes were sent to the bottom of the Pacific. Approximately 3,000 Japanese sailors and airmen were killed, and, because the Japanese fleet left the area in relative haste, there was little opportunity to recover survivors who had gone into the water. Significantly, they lost some 200 experienced pilots and hundreds of airplane mechanics.

The victory cost the United States one carrier and a destroyer, as well as, nearly 150 aircraft—more than two-thirds of which were carrier-based. American personnel losses were comparatively light; 317 sailors, airmen, and Marines killed.

The Japanese had dominated the fighting for the first 3 hours of the battles; all of that changed in a 5-minute period. What if the day had gone to the Japanese? What if the Japanese had sunk our three aircraft carriers and lost none; what would’ve been the result? The Japanese would control Midway; and Hawaii could be isolated. Japan did not have the resources to occupy Hawaii, but they would have harassed the island with submarines and air raids. The US had 75,000 troops and 300 aircraft to defend the islands, so a Japanese invasion was not possible. Japan would have had free rein over the western Pacific. New Zealand and New Guinea might would not be defendable. Australia would be threatened. The Aussies surely would have call home all of their oversea troops. Almost certainly the US Navy would have to pull all the way back to the West Coast with an isolated strong hold at Hawaii. Defending the West Coast would have drawn significant resources from other war efforts. War supplies for England and the Soviet Union would be cut, and materiel to fight the Germans would go to San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, the Panama Canal and Alaska. The US's ability to support the war in Europe would have been greatly diminished. The fight would likely have been prolong and Hitler would likely still be dominating Europe in 1945.

Over the next 18 months, the United States industrial power geared up and were producing war materiel in quantity and quality. The country also still had a huge reserve of fighting age men to throw into the fray. I'm sure we would have eventually gone back on the offensive in the Pacific. But far more American fighting men would have been in harms way. In the end, I think the war still ends in the latter part of 1945, just after when it actually did. Only this time we would have had to drop far more than 2 atomic bombs to end the war. Atomic weapons would certainly have been used on the Germans. Thank God we won at Midway.

Submitted for your consideration,
Old Blue

The common belief is that James Dean died in a car crash because he was wild & probably reckless. The only problem with this is that another car turned in front of him at a badly designed intersection. This left turn move was a sweeping turn that could be taken at 50+ mph. You were darn near playing chicken if there is any on-coming traffic.

At the time of the collision, it was assumed Dean was doing 65+ mph and that his speed was a contributing cause. A collision reconstruction analysis done in 1992 concluded Dean was doing 55-60. Frankly it shouldn’t matter if he was doing 65, the other driver’s sight distance was miles long. The intersection was reconfigured long ago.

Old Blue, Retire Highway Designer
my, not always, humble opinion

"If you’ve got an opinion, why be humble about it?”
~Joan Baez

:)))

Neat stimulation... but have you found the box?

No we haven't! Shame on us

Old Blue

Stephanie Zimbalist's birthday is not today, it's actually October 8th, the same as mine. The only reason I remember is because she starred in a TV show called Remington Steele. My last name is Steele.

Old Blue
seems like there should be a letterbox somewhere in this post... or at least an alias!

Remington Steele! One of my favorites :)

Use to watch that show all the time

Loved that show!

🎈You, Stephanie and my nephew all share a birthday. Enjoy your special day🎈

Happy Birthday Old Blue! Hope you spend it well!

~Nature Hikers

Btw, today is also my sister-in-laws birthday. Lots of birthdays today.

U.S. Senator Charles Sumner was born on this date, January 6, 1811 in Boston; he was a Civil War-era orator and leader of anti-slavery efforts. Sumner is most remembered for being nearly beaten to death with a cane on the floor of the U.S. Senate in May of 1856, two days after speaking out against the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which would leave slavery decisions up to new states in the western territories. Representative Preston Brooks, a pro-slavery congressman, entered the Senate chamber on May 22 and began pummeling Sumner with a cane, breaking his cane into pieces and severely injuring the senator.

Subsequently Brooks was tried and convicted in Washington DC of assault for which he paid a $300 fine. He served no jail time, was not censured nor was seriously rebuked by the House. However, the attack influenced many Americans who had been politically passive regarding slavery to turn against the pro-slavery South.

Two weeks after the caning, Ralph Waldo Emerson described the divide that the incident represented: "I do not see how a barbarous community and a civilized community can constitute one state. I think we must get rid of slavery, or we must get rid of freedom."

Submitted for your consideration,
Old Blue

In the early years, the head of the Navy's nuclear program was Admiral Rickover. The man was a REAL stickler for detail and had no sense of humor. One important fact to know: all pumps leak a little. His chief design engineer of the reactor system asked Rickover, "How much leakage of the pumps is allowable?"

Rickover's response was, "A teaspoon a century."

The engineer laughed and Rickover fired him on the spot.

Old Blue
just a little engineering humor!

No officer was approved to attend ‘Nuke school’ until after an interview with Admiral Rickover. You could not command a nuclear boat without having attended Nuke school, so it’s absolutely necessary for career advancement.

One officer’s interview consisted of him walking into Rickover’s office and being told by Rickover that he could attend Nuke school if he could piss him off. The officer immediately smashed a detailed model of the Nautilus on Rickover’s desk. Interview over and the officer proceeded to the school.

Old Blue
who never went to Nuke School... phew!

My dad, now eighty years old, served on the Nautilis, so this thread caught my attention. Now, though, I am trying to figure out what engineering humor I did not get. 🤔

Sounds like a get’er done kind of guy. Thanks for the history

I remember Adm. Rickover very well. He has been called "the most famous and controversial admiral of his era. He was hyperactive, blunt, confrontational, insulting, and a workaholic."

In the early 80s I was working in the Defense industry and living about 15 miles from Groton, CT where General Dynamics Electric Boat Division build nuclear submarines. My boyfriend at the time worked at Electric Boat.

During that time, structural welding flaws in submarines under construction were covered up by falsified inspection records, and the resulting scandal led to significant delays and expenses in the delivery of several submarines being built by EB. The yard tried to pass on the vast cost overruns to the Navy, while Rickover demanded that the yard make good on its "shoddy" workmanship. The Navy settled with General Dynamics in 1981, paying out $634 million of $843 million in Los Angeles-class submarine cost overrun and reconstruction claims. Rickover was extremely bitter over the General Dynamics yard being paid hundreds of millions of dollars.

OK, I promise the next one will be funnier. I had a professor who worked at the Nuke school, one day someone poked his head in his room and said Rickover was walking this way, so my professor went to hide in the closet. When he opened the door and looked inside it was so full of people there wasn’t room for him.

Old Blue

The stories that came from that office seem larger than fiction...but I believe them.

The illustrious chair, with its front legs cut slightly short so that the interviewee could never sit comfortably is in fact on display outside the Admiral's office.

Squatchis
Who sat in that chair's successor, and went to Nuke School

Monday marks the 60^th anniversary of the 'I Have a Dream' speech.
video
transcript

Thank you for the links. I had never read the speech before. Thank you.

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, or officially, Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.

His life was cut short, but he is the one credited the most with the Civil Rights Movement. He condensed it into his famous I Have a Dream speech.

I especially like these parts:

My favorite ML King quote is "It is always the right time to do the right thing."

It is one you can live by.

Old Blue

From the Nantucket Inquirer and Mirror, 175 Years Ago This Week:

1849 – The ship Astor, lately returned from a whaling voyage, has been purchased by a number of enterprising individuals in this place, by whom she is to be sent to California, on a gold hunting expedition, as soon as she can be made ready. The owners propose to put her in order and furnish her with 2-years’ worth of provisions for 40 men. The plan is to compensate the parties concerned in the same manner that our whalers are.

Precursor: On August 19, 1848, the New York Herald reported that the rumors of gold in California were true. In the coming months, the newspapers editorialized not to be foolish and chase off on a fool’s errand to seek instant riches. Of course, all of the young men went back to their chores of milking the cows and cleaning out the stalls in the barn…. except for those brawny Nantucketers who all had lived (or dreamed of) the adventures of the whaling ships. In the following years, at least 800 had gone to California. I found one account that said, in 1850 there were more men in the golden state from Nantucket than from any state!

From the San Francisco newspaper, Alta California Sept18, 1848: Mining Company ship Henry Astor, 377 tons, built 1820 in New York. Sailed from Nantucket, Mass, March 13, 1849 under command of G.F. Joy with 67 passengers. It arrived 188 day later on September 16th.

When the Astor arrived in San Francisco Bay, there were “some 200 vessels lying at anchor”. Three days later, the Astor anchored about 15 miles northeast of San Francisco, off Benicia and acted as a base of operation for the mining company. Several men went to Sacramento with plans to go to the “mines”. By the first of January 1850, at least 4 of the group died of unknown illnesses and a dozen others were seriously sick.

The rainy season that winter started early with the first series of storms arriving on November 3. By mid-December, Sacramento was completely flooded. That winter the city received the most rain on record with 35.5” from October 1st to April 30. The mother load would have received double that amount. Mining activities were significantly curtailed by the weather until May of 1850. This forced miners into towns where sickness was common and jobs were not.

By June 1850, the official population of California was 97,597, but this excluded records destroyed by fire in Contra Costa, Santa Clara and San Francisco counties. In addition, Chinese were not counted and Latinos were significantly under counted. Even in counties where the census’ were taken, at least 10% of the miners were so far in the back country, they were not included. The actual population was more like 130,000, of which at least half arrived after the Nantucketers.

So much for getting an early start.

Submitted for your consideration,
Old Blue
who in his youth, was drawn to those hills, seeking the shiny metal.

Despite centuries of war in Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries, one mystery has long beguiled archaeologists: Where are all the bones? For instance, despite nearly 20,000 people dying at Waterloo, only two bodies have been excavated there since 2012, not to mention the scores of horses killed that day. A new book argues that it’s because of a massive market for bone char that emerged in the 1830s, as markets for sugar boomed and the industry needed burned bone as a raw material for its factories. Those bones became very valuable very quickly; the price for 100 kilograms of bones increased from two francs in 1832, the year before the first sugar factories opened in Belgium, to 14 francs per 100 kilograms in 1837, when the industry was in full swing. It didn’t take much for the farmers in the area to do the math.

Beet sugar has only been grown in Europe, and today bone char is not used to process it. After a bit of research, I found that it was used in Belgium in the 1830s. In fact, both sugar refining and bone char factories were built just miles from the battlefield.

In 1879, the German newspaper Prager Tagblatt, noted that using honey to sweeten food avoided the risk of 'having your great-grandfather's atoms dissolved in your coffee one fine morning’.

Ick,
Old Blue

can you say soylent green?

I'll be taking my coffee black no sugar this morning thank you!

Thanks! Now I have 2 reasons to hate coffee...the other being the taste.