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Author Topic: Not sure if this is true  (Read 1703 times)

BrianB6

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Not sure if this is true
« on: December 31, 2018, 04:12:10 am »

GREAT SEA STORY
The passenger steamer SS Warrimoo was quietly knifing its way through the waters of the mid-Pacific on its way from Vancouver to Australia. The navigator had just finished working out a star fix and brought Captain John DS. Phillips, the result. The Warrimoo's position was LAT 0º 31' N and LONG 179 30' W. The date was 31 December 1899. "Know what this means?" First Mate Payton broke in, "We're only a few miles from the intersection of the Equator and the International Date Line". Captain Phillips was prankish enough to take full advantage of the opportunity for achieving the navigational freak of a lifetime.
 
He called his navigators to the bridge to check & double check the ship's position. He changed course slightly so as to bear directly on his mark. Then he adjusted the engine speed.
 
The calm weather & clear night worked in his favour. At mid-night the SS Warrimoo lay on the Equator at exactly the point where it crossed the International Date Line! The consequences of this bizarre position were many:
The forward part (bow) of the ship was in the Southern Hemisphere & in the middle of summer.
The rear (stern) was in the Northern Hemisphere & in the middle of winter.
The date in the aft part of the ship was 31 December 1899.
In the bow (forward) part it was 1 January 1900.
 
This ship was therefore not only in:
Two different days,
Two different months,
Two different years,
Two different seasons
But in two different centuries - all at the same time!
 
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Martin (Admin)

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Footski

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Re: Not sure if this is true
« Reply #2 on: December 31, 2018, 06:19:27 am »

True or not, a great little story..
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derekwarner

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Re: Not sure if this is true
« Reply #3 on: December 31, 2018, 07:08:34 am »

Certainly a well documented report...[a final resting place for SS Warrimoo according the google]


In late 1914 WARRIMOO was taken up as a troopship. On 17 May 1918 when on a convoy from Bizerta to Marseille she collided with the escorting French destroyer CATAPULTE. In the collision the destroyer’s depth-charges were dislodged; they exploded in the water blowing out the bottom plates of both ships, causing them both to sink with some loss of life.
Sources:        Passenger Ships of Australia and New Zealand Volume 1 page 74.                                            Crossed Flags (World Ship Society) page 51                      Photos from Flotilla-Australia.com
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Derek Warner

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tonyH

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Re: Not sure if this is true
« Reply #4 on: December 31, 2018, 12:39:21 pm »

Some of you may remember my model of the "pointy thing", the destroyer Arquebuse, that looked good in a straight line but was impossible to manoeuvre quickly , having the rudder ahead of the screws.
Catapulte was one of her sister ships being launched in 1903.
Just a sad coincidence but it may have been part of the reason for the collision.


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jaymac

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Re: Not sure if this is true
« Reply #5 on: December 31, 2018, 07:09:19 pm »

Not So Nice line crossing Fact
TraditionsAustralia In 1995, a notorious line-crossing ceremony took place on a Royal Australian Navy submarine, HMAS Onslow. Sailors undergoing the ceremony were physically and verbally abused before being subjected to an act called "sump on the rump", where a dark liquid was daubed over each sailor's anus and genitalia. One sailor was then sexually assaulted with a long stick before all sailors undergoing the ceremony were forced to jump overboard until permitted to climb back aboard the submarine. A videotape of the ceremony was obtained by the Nine Network and aired on Australian television. The television coverage provoked widespread criticism, especially when the videotape showed some of the submarine's officers watching the entire proceedings from the conning tower.
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derekwarner

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Re: Not sure if this is true
« Reply #6 on: December 31, 2018, 08:46:14 pm »

Agreed jaymac......and these Equatorial traditions carried over from the days of British seafarers ie., Captain Cook, however there is nothing like the media to cover a story and the following are the transcripts of the Enquiry


During 1995, Onslow was deployed to South East Asia. During this deployment, the personnel of Onslowwere involved in a controversial line-crossing ceremony while operating near the equator.[6] During this particular ceremony, normally intended to induct new sailors into the 'court of King Neptune', the victims were verbally and physically abused, had their pelvises and genitals covered in what was described as a "blistering concoction", then thrown overboard and forced to stay there until the rest of the company permitted them on board.[6] When one of the victimised sailors complained to superiors, he became subject to several administrative errors and inconveniences, to the point where he was forced to resign a year later.[6] The sailor acquired a copy of a videotape made of the ceremony and presented it to the Nine Network, which broke the story on 6 July 1999.[6] An inquiry into the incident aboard Onslow was held, which found that although guidelines had been developed in the years after the incident to prevent harassment in the Australian Defence Force, disciplinary charges against the sailors involved could not be laid, as more than three years had passed since the offence.[5] The inquiry also stated that while line-crossing ceremonies would continue to be held aboard RAN vessels, they would be supervised by a non-involved member of the crew to prevent similar extreme situations developing.[5] The deployment ended in December, with Onslow visiting her namesake town for the last time on her return to Australia.[2


[thank goodness, my only sea time on RAN vessels was a a distance of a few hours steaming off Jarvis Bay {-) ]
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Derek Warner

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