Wapsi Square Forum

How many Great Lakes are there?

For that matter, how many lakes are there in the British Lake District?

Five, though technically Michigan and Huron are joined . . . but in the ordinary sense there are five.

Many?

/checks wikipedia/ Oh.
--FreeFlier

+/- enough to fill the Albert Hall?

FreeFlier wrote: ↑Mon Jul 26, 2021 5:02 am Five, though technically Michigan and Huron are joined . . . but in the ordinary sense there are five.

Many?

/checks wikipedia/ Oh.

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Technically one - bassenthwaite Lake. The others are traditionally meres, tarns or waters.

--FreeFlier

Yep

Hydrologically, Michigan/Huron is one lake, with a narrow {well, 3-1/2 miles wide} neck connecting the two lobes at the Mackinac Strait, where at different times the water may flow between the two in one direction or the other, unlike with two true lakes connected by a river, as the others are.

Once you asked the question, my test awareness kicked in . . . nobody asks questions like that unless the answer is not what you expect.

What's the deadliest shipwreck on record?

--FreeFlier

FreeFlier wrote: ↑Mon Jul 26, 2021 8:21 pm Once you asked the question, my test awareness kicked in . . . nobody asks questions like that unless the answer is not what you expect.

What's the deadliest shipwreck on record?

--FreeFlier

In the Great Lakes?

No idea if it's the deadliest, but I know this one made it into a song...

More on the subject of the Edmund Fitzgerald:

Another documentary on the Edmund Fitzgerald, this one containing recordings of communications from that night.

My brother's father in law was on duty as a radio operator in the military the night that ship sank. I'd also been to one of the light houses up there, and one of them had one of the life rings from that ship on display.

lake_wrangler wrote: ↑Tue Jul 27, 2021 2:42 am

FreeFlier wrote: ↑Mon Jul 26, 2021 8:21 pm . . . What's the deadliest shipwreck on record? . . .

In the Great Lakes?

I actually meant worldwide, but in the lakes also works, just with a different answer.

lake_wrangler wrote: ↑Tue Jul 27, 2021 2:42 amNo idea if it's the deadliest, but I know this one made it into a song...

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Nope - 29 dead. Not even close. Squaring the death toll would be about right.

--FreeFlier

Hmmm - the excursion boat that capsized in the Chicago River {which, BTW, was mostly loaded with Czech/Bohemian employees of Chicago Edison ...where my grandfather was a senior electrician}?

Well - the SS Eastland disaster referenced above killed 844...

=====================

Regarding the Fitzgerald - as i recall, when they raised her,. they discovered that what had happened was pretty much what i suspected - she got lifted by two wave crests at bow and stern and broke her back - which is not uncommon for craft designed like that - long and narrow.

And, of course, the Fitzgerald had been stretched significantly by welding in a new section of hull amidships, which would have made her more vulnerable to that sort of thing....

Here's another: What was the last World War One U-boat sunk by a US Navy ship, and where and when?

AnotherFairportfan wrote: ↑Tue Jul 27, 2021 8:39 pm Here's another: What was the last World War One U-boat sunk by a US Navy ship, and where and when?

I dunno, but I'll bet a quatloo that it was well after the war and not in combat.

AnotherFairportfan wrote: ↑Tue Jul 27, 2021 8:31 pmHmmm - the excursion boat that capsized in the Chicago River {which, BTW, was mostly loaded with Czech/Bohemian employees of Chicago Edison ...where my grandfather was a senior electrician}?

Well - the SS Eastland disaster referenced above killed 844...

That's the one!

There were a number of other passenger ships lost that killed several hundred, as well.

AnotherFairportfan wrote: ↑Tue Jul 27, 2021 8:31 pmRegarding the Fitzgerald - as i recall, when they raised her,. they discovered that what had happened was pretty much what i suspected - she got lifted by two wave crests at bow and stern and broke her back - which is not uncommon for craft designed like that - long and narrow.

And, of course, the Fitzgerald had been stretched significantly by welding in a new section of hull amidships, which would have made her more vulnerable to that sort of thing....

They didn't raise her . . . they found her and dove on her, finding her broken in half.

/reviews Wikipedia/

I hadn't remembered that they located the wreck only four days after the sinking, and put the first ROV down the following spring.

They appear to be uncertain what caused her to break in half . . . hogging is one hypothesis, but there are others.

General information: lakers (lake boats - like submarines, they're always boats) are long and narrow because they need to pass through the Soo Locks, which limit both width and length.

AnotherFairportfan wrote: ↑Tue Jul 27, 2021 8:39 pm Here's another: What was the last World War One U-boat sunk by a US Navy ship, and where and when?

I don't remember the number, but I believe it was the one sunk off --FreeFlier

Yep -

AnotherFairportfan wrote: ↑Tue Jul 27, 2021 11:37 pmYep -

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SM-C-97, sunk 7 June 1921 by USS Wimette off Highland Park IL

I don't know about you, but I'm having fun with this semi-random trivia game.

--FreeFlier