Trivia!

In late 1820, long before the Hunley sank the Housatonic, a submerged object somewhat larger than a sperm whale twice struck a vessel in the south pacific and sank it. The survivors resorted to cannibalism to survive. What was the ship and what sank it?

 

Why am I having vision of 20,000 leagues under the sea.....

 

You mean the answer isn't Capt Nemo and the Nautilas?????

 

I think you must be talking about the whaling ship that was attacked by a whale and sunk. I know it sounds like the book Moby Dick, but it happened in real life. It was one of two actual events that inspired Herman Melville's work of fiction.

The ship in question was named Essex. The "submerged object somewhat larger than a sperm whale" was in fact a sperm whale--a larger than average sperm whale!

 

The reason that I was thinking of 20,000 leagues is because what starts that story off is the hunt for what they think is a giant nawhale.

 

On November 20, 1820,....
1,500 nautical miles (2,800 km) west of the Galapagos Islands, the Essex was struck twice by a huge sperm whale, estimated to be 85 feet (26 m) in length....
near starvation...
it was at this point that in order to survive their ordeal the men resorted to cannibalism. As other crew members died their bodies were eaten in turn until only four men were left alive on Pollard’s boat.

Looks like I found that same story.

 

Eljefe shoots, he scores! The ship was the Essex, and the "object" was a sperm whale. A friend just lent me a book about it, though I don't know when I'll get around to reading it.

 

Either you're up really early or really late. I'm in the latter category trying to finish up something for work tomorrow. But before I go to bed, I'm going to try something a little different this time--sort of a naval MadLibs! First person to get all four parts correct is the winner...

After the Soviet submarine (1)______ mysteriously disappeared, the Russian Navy's massive search effort failed to locate the missing vessel. The United States, however, knew the sunken submarine's location thanks to its (2)______ network of underwater listening posts. The American submarine (3)______ was equipped with special underwater reconnaissance gear to search for and photograph the Russian sub. The mission was so successful that the CIA secretly built a unique ship called the (4)______ to recover the Russian sub and study its secrets. The exact reasons for the salvage attempt and how successful it was remain clouded in mystery.

Fill in the blanks!

(1) :
(2) :
(3) :
(4) :

 

That's an easy one.
Once the iron curtain fell, the US navy sent the Russians a video of the naval funeral the Russian sailors received.

 

As Submariners, we here at work have an interrest in ALL submarine accidents. We have a pretty good data base.
J

 

My Dad used to be an electrician at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, and spent a lot of time working on subs. He mentioned once upon a time they had some boat in there for some work, and the chief of the boat was a total jackass, and kept trying to tell everyone how to do their job. My Dad, being the somewhat smart aleck type, finally had enough, and told the chief "But Chief, that isn't how we did it on the Thresher!"

Next day the shop had reassigned him to work on the Coral Sea.

 

HA HA HA HA !!!!!
I think yourDad and I would have gotten along very well. I would have loved to see that Chief's face!!
J

 

Yeah he said that the joke was really tasteless and that the sub guys were pretty touchy about the Thresher and the Scorpion but said the chief was really getting under everyone's skin, so finally he just popped off. Damned yardbirds!

 

As for the questions I only knew the class for (1), I knew (2) I didn't know (3) and I knew (4). Had to look up the exact name of the Soviet sub and the US Sub. I didn't actually know the part about the USN Sub visiting the wreck before the attempted salvage.

 

I know what you're talking about, but I can't remember the name to look it up. I suppose I could look for "cold war submarine accidents" or something, but I'll wait for someone else to get it.

 

The military channel had done an episode about it a while back

 

IIRC, the discovery channel did a program on the nominal purpose of the recovery ship.

 

Yes, that part of the story remained classified until fairly recently--maybe 10 years ago? The US didn't want to give the Soviets clues about the very active submarine spy program.

 

sorry had to google to find the us sub. I knew the other three answers. 1. k-129, 2. sosus, 3. halibut, should have knowen that one, read the book blind mans bluff, 4, glomar explorer. So I don't claim to win this question.
Kim

 

Well someone needs to take credit! Since you've posted all the answers moose, I don't have much choice other than to name you the winner!

The next question is yours...