Ship Trivia Quiz

USS Mississippi, former BB-41

correct, your turn.

What do/ did these two men have in common, that was unusual?

The guy on the left is Yao Ming, plays for the Rockets. The other guy, the one with the vampire eyes and the funy hat, is also Chinese.

Both were 7' 6" tall.

Mike T.

Yes. Yao Ming is 7'-6" tall and weighs 310. John Paul Jones was 7'-6" tall and weighed 246, all according to wiki.

Couple of big fellas.

Over to you Mike.

Let's see haow this one flies. I really couldn't think of a better one.

What was the reason behind the US Naval Reservations created in 1794 and are they still in existence?

Mike T.

That was for the preservation of Oak forests necessary in that era for the construction of warships. The program persisted until the beginning of the Civl War.

Tirpitz...

Rich - that's a partial answer, I would rather a more complete one and the official ending was after the Civil War.

and Manny, it wasn't the Tirpiz or the Zuiho either!

Mike T.

telsono

Rich - that's a partial answer, I would rather a more complete one and the official ending was after the Civil War.

and Manny, it wasn't the Tirpiz or the Zuiho either!

Mike T.

It was the Live Oak Reservation Program of 1794 - 1880 implemented at the Gulf Islands National Seashore of Florida & Mississippi. A majpr project was the Deer Point plantation. I think I answered both of your questions Mike.

Rich-

I'll accept it, but it wasn't limited  to Florida and Mississippi and included most of the southern states up to and including Virginia and wasn't exclusive to preserving the Live Oak for our naval use. This program also preserved areas of pine forest for the pitch and tar which was also needed for sailing vessels of the time.

After the American Revolution the British tried to buy as much of the Live Oak as they could. The Kentish oak that the British Navy was built upon was depleted, and the only other source of oak lumber for naval use available to the British was certain German oak forests, but their quality was inferior. As we were preparing to build 6 frigates, that lumber was going to be important (mostly sourced from the Carolinas). The Congress then set up these reserves to protect those stocks at the request of the Navy.

Florida entered the program in 1831 after it become part of our nation. In 1880, the program ended as the method of constructing ships had changed not needing to preserve these stocks. The lands were mostly given away for homesteading in 1885 with the exception of Florida. The Gulf Islands was one of the remaining reserves from that program and converted to a National Seashore. I believe some our of the coastal national forests originated also in this program.

http://www.nps.gov/guis/historyculture/upload/Naval%20Live%20Oaks%20Reservation%20Program%20Special%20History%20Study%201794%20to%201880.pdf

Over to you Rich,

Mike T.

BTW: Monitors were also greatly employed for coastal and harbor defense

Mike, thanks for the education; I stand corrected.

Question: Many prominent sailing yacht races such as the Governor's Cup, The Heineken and Rolex sponsored races, the Around Alone, and the Vendee Globe take a specific route mostly through the southern ocean.

What is the name of this route and why is it taken?

clipper route . westerly winds. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clipper_route

Repeat, what is the NAME of the route, and WHY is it taken (you're warm).

The Americas Cup will include a leg up the Bay that's in front of my house, directly across is Marin Ship. My wife and I are already staking out a spot across the street on the beach.

Looks like the makings of a riot Bill.

Anyway, that's not the answer.

Is it the Whitbread Round after the original sponsor of the race?

Mike T.

Nope

re-read my post.

It is the Clipper Route. I need a better answer why.

read the link i posted already.

Instead of playinbg silly games with me, all you had to do was say

 " it remains the fastest sailing route around the world, and as such has been the route for several prominent yacht races,"

I don't feel responsible for surfing around the net to find the answer to my question when you have it at hand.

Your turn.

let somebody else go then.

Posting a link as an answer is not a very good way to respond to a question. A better way might be to cut and paste the answer from the link and then add the link to let those who would like to delve deeper into the subject, to do so. 

I agree with subfixer and et al on this. The method I like to respond to these questions is to summarize the answer, links to information are then appropriate as it backs up your answer. Searching through the link for the answer is considered poor form. There may be situations like the Yao Ming / John Paul Jones question that only require a simple one line answer. If the questioner wants to expand more on the subject that is fine and gives us more information on the subject. Giving a synopsis is the best method.

For my job I have to answer questions for the public. If I just gave them links to our website as the answer, I know that I would get alot of angry messages. My preferred method is to answer the question and then provide a link to where they can find the answer I gave them.

Weren't not trying to offend you, but to inform.

Mike T.

Ok , I feel like things are getting a little tense for a game, kinda like when someone pulls out a Franklin while playing cards on a camping trip.

Here's a question:

What was the first Allied aircraft carrier to enter Japanese home waters at the end of the war, August 1945.

I don't have an answer, but think I'm getting warm! This thread is great for researching history lessons:

Though "cease fire" orders were issued on 15-16 August, the fighting forces were uncertain that the Japanese would stop fighting so abruptly after nearly four years of brutal combat. Therefore, the combined U.S. British fleet remained at a high degree of alertness. However, the days passed without serious incident as carrier planes actively patrolled over Japan to monitor the situation and to seek out prisoner of war facilites.

On 27 August, units of the fleet entered Japanese waters for the first time. Guided by local pilots, the ships anchored in Sagami Wan, just outside of Tokyo Bay and within view of Mount Fuji. A day later, some of the fleet went into Tokyo Bay itself, though almost all of the aircraft carriers remained at sea, ready to provide air cover "just in case". Fleet Admiral Nimitz, who had directed much of the Pacific War, arrived on 29 August and made USS South Dakota his flagship. Aboard USS Missouri, which flew Admiral Halsey's flag, preparations were underway to host the formal surrender ceremonies on 2 September.

Almost all carriers, hmm I wonder which ones remained? The question is which allied carrier, so it might be a RN carrier. The third fleet was swarming with US carriers, but the RN was a big part of that fleet (poor RN, generally overlooked in the late pacific war, but the victors write history - there's a film where the USN capture the first enigma machine! ).

Keep going...

USS Cowpens? 

"Cowpens was the first American carrier to enter Tokyo Harbor"