Doug's Darkworld

Just for fun. No time limit, no cheating. And yes in advance, some of them are trick questions. :P True or false?:

1. The Allies planned to build giant aircraft carriers made of ice during World War Two.
2. The Confederates fired a primitive multi-stage rocket towards Washington near the end of the Civil War.
3. North Vietnam had more aces, and the highest scoring aces, in their air war with the United States.
4. In 1942 a Japanese submarine aircraft carrier launched a fire bombing air raid on Oregon.
5. The Romans built a primitive tank, the turtle, for use during sieges.
6. German U-boats installed a robotic weather station in Canada during World War Two.
7. A German armed merchant ship sank the flagship of the Australian Navy in World War Two.
8. People are still being killed to this day by Civil War munitions.
9. The Americans used submarines to attack British warships during the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812.
10. The Nazis experimented with flying saucers during World War Two.

Scroll down for the answers.

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OK, this was for fun. If I made any egregious errors, let me know, and I’ll fix them.

1.  The Allies planned to build giant aircraft carriers made of ice during World War Two.

TRUE. Project Habakkuk was started to build an ice island in the mid Atlantic for aircraft to be based on to protect convoys from German U-Boats. It went slowly though, and while tests showed it was feasible, soon aircraft with longer ranges and numerous American escort carriers were being built, and it wasn’t needed.

2.  The Confederates fired a primitive multi-stage rocket towards Washington near the end of the American Civil War.

FALSE. This “rumour” has only one source, a modern pop writer of dubious historical scholarship. It’s a modern urban legend at best.

3.  North Vietnam had more aces, and the highest scoring aces, in their air war with the United States.

TRUE. However, it’s no reflection on the American’s abilities or technology. It’s basically because the Americans only flew 100 missions each, and there were a lot more American planes to boot. The American pilots no matter how good didn’t have the opportunities to rack up kills. The Vietnamese flew until  they were killed, and more importantly, when they did go up it was because Americans had just flown over and there would almost certainly be air combat. Usually to the surprise of the Americans, who might go weeks or months without encountering a Mig.

4.  In 1942 a Japanese submarine aircraft carrier launched a fire bombing air raid on Oregon.

TRUE. It was one plane trying to start a forest fire,and it failed. It was however the first time a foreign power launched an air strike on the continental USA.

5.  The Romans built a primitive tank, the turtle, for use during sieges.

FALSE. Sort of. Roman soldiers did use their shields to form a “turtle” in order to advance while under missile fire, and this has been called a Roman tank. Score yourself accordingly if this is what you were thinking of.

6.  German U-boats installed a robotic weather station in Canada during World War Two.

TRUE. The Allies weather stations in the North Atlantic gave them a big advantage predicting weather in Europe, the Germans tried to compensate by setting up an automated station in Newfoundland. An armed party went ashore to install in, the only time in World War Two where a German military formation operated on North American soil.  It was recovered in the seventies and now sits in a  Museum in Canada.

7.  A German armed merchant ship sank the flagship of the Australian Navy in World War Two.

TRUE. Shocking at the time, shocking still. I’ve written about this disaster.

8.  People are still being killed to this day by Civil War munitions.

TRUE. Black powder, the explosive in Civil War munitions, if it doesn’t get wet, it’s dangerous forever. And even if it does get wet, if it dries out, still dangerous. Here is a 2009 death.

9.  The Americans used submarines to attack British warships during the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812.

TRUE. Exactly one tiny, one man, home made, submarine in each war, but at least they tried. One man died, no ships were sunk.

10. The Nazis experimented with flying saucers during World War Two.

FALSE. How do ideas like this even get started? People make them up. Maybe I’ll write a blog post on it someday.

And that’s that. Nothing too enlightening or exciting, just sharing my fascination with military trivia.

(The above image is claimed as Fair Use under US copyright law. It’s more tan likely public domain as the government that produced it is long gone. It’s an experiment Nazi plane with a circular wing, a Sack AS-6 to be precise. It didn’t work out very well, but it’s the closest thing to a Nazi flying saucer I could find.)