Hmmmmm, thats a good one. Time to get out the thinking cap for this one.

HMS Habbakuk??

Negative.... couple clues... the dimensions suggested are indeed real and literal, but the "sinking" parts was symbollic.... it is NOT a ship.... (and not a combatant country either).

You guys make my head hurt!

Jim

What Is:

The island of Vieques off Puerto Rico that was used as a US Navy bombing range and weapons testing site up until 2003? 34 kms long, 6km wide.....that's definitely bigger than Yamato or Yorktown.



Bob

Aye Aye Sir! Good one! Cheers mate, you are up!

I have fond memories of watching our 5" rounds hitting that island. I cannot believe I did not get that one. We spent a good deal of time shelling that place.

Good catch Bob!!!

Gorgeous place too... I spent some time on the "viable" end of the island, you will not find more pristine water/beaches anywhere... visibility was close to 100 ft down into the water, calm waters, perfect for snorkeling. And the best mangos I ever had!

Never had a chance to actually land there. We would run out, shell the range, and then head to Rosie Roads.

Ah, then off the ship and down to PaPa Joe's for a cool beer. Sorry

Cool, I got one!!!, thanks!


This should be fairly easy for most.....

What are the objects sometimes referred to as "Nelson's Balls"....?

(You RN, RCN, RNZN, RAN guys out there should get this in a flash...)



Bob

Hint......

They can move in and out, are quite heavy, and sometimes painted red and green. They are also sometimes outside, sometimes inside and sometimes missing altogether! There may be more than one pair aboard and take a master mariner to fiddle with them. If you try to do it yourself, you could end up with a 'cocked hat' too big to be useful to anyone.



Bob


(trust me, this is definitely in the 'things that sound dirty but aren't' category....)

Um, I barely recall their mention in one of O'Brians Audrey/Maturin books. Hard candy balls? Its some food... sweet.... ok, final answer:

hard candy balls
??

For something that sounded so easy, this is a little tricky. But the red and green are a big hint. Red and green are markers for port and starboard.

Semephore stations

Nope, sorry James and Jim, not correct. Think of Lord Kelvin.......



Bob

This does not happen often, but darn it, I am totally stumped.

Jim, you're correct about the red and green signifying port and starboard, but in this case it's more decorative than for a purpose. They could be any colour and are painted because they're not brass, but 'iron'...........



Bob

Of course balls and iron on a ship point toward cannon balls. But that just seems too easy.

I believe it has to due with the movable masses of iron at the binnacle. They are for correcting magnetic deviation.

hello all,
what is the chiefs personal crapper.

i got my system back up after 3 days down.if is very unstable(like me),so i will only be on 1-2 times a day for a while.i will try to keep track of all my responsibilities as fast as i can.
cheers,
Bruce

Bingo Jim Adams, you got it!! (Nice try Bruce....lol)

More properly called Kelvin's Balls, they, along with the Flinder's Bar (or Rod) located inside the binnacle are used to correct magnetic compasses for local effects of deviation due to masses of ferro-magnetic anomolies.

Fondly referred to as "Nelson's Balls" by just about every 'Commonwealth Navy' around the world, they are the two large spheres of iron, one painted red on the port side and the other painted green of course for starboard, on either side of the compass binnacle in the picture Jim has posted above. Well done Jim and over to you!




Bob


ps - Jim's picture was the very one I was going to post should more hints be required....nice find!

This was possibly the hardest one to track down, great challenge in that one Bob. I read an article on Kelvin 3 times then it struck me. So in order to follow up on this one, I will need to really dig and find something.

So, check back later today and I will have something that will make Alex Trebek scratch his head.

OK, here is the latest in stumpers.

On a plain near Stonehenge there is a unique memorial to a very famous Naval battle.

Name that battle.

It was the Battle of the Nile.

Fought on August 1st 1798 between the naval forces of Napolean and Nelson in the Bay ot Aboukir just east of Alexandria, Egypt.

The memorial is on Salsbury Plain near Stonehnge and Amesbury and is know locally as the Nile Clumps or the Nile Trees. It's a stand of Beech trees said to represent the positions of the ships as they were sunk (that part is likely folklore).

I saw the Nile Clumps on my trip to Stonhenge in 1986. They're a lone stand of trees surrounded by open farmland and is really a very picturesque setting.



Bob

I thougth that might take a little longer for somebody to get.

OK, You are up sir.

Hey Jim, sorry to spoil your fun.....hahaha lol...

I just happened to visited there briefly on the way to Stonehenge, otherwise I would never have guessed.

Let's try this:

Out of the grainy, murky depths... what is the name of this unfortunate wreck?:






Bob

Bob,
Sometimes luck can be a good thing.

Anyway, back to the task at hand. I know that is a Soviet Submarine, but which of the many they have lost.? So to start off things, I will go with Kursk.