Geography Quiz: Naval Edition

[jpmassar]

The more narrowly you can pinpoint the geographical area, the more brownie points you get.

• You probably know about Trafalgar Square in London, but what and (approximately) where is Trafalgar ?


• You've probably heard of the battle of Midway, an important naval encounter between the US and Japan in World War II. It's less likely that you've heard of

Comments

[kalimac]

I knew two and a half (Jutland, Plattsburgh, and the where, but not the what, of Trafalgar) for sure offhand - I've been to Plattsburgh, though not the others - and wasn't sure if I had the other two correctly, but when I checked it turned out that I had. So I gave myself four points, though it should have been four-and-a-bit.

BTW, if you look up the Merrimac on Wikipedia, it will archly tell you, 1) there were several ships of that name; why, which one do you mean?, 2) that this one was properly spelled Merrimack, and 3) that when it was rebuilt as an ironclad, it was renamed the Virginia anyway. Sheesh. Picky, picky, picky.

[jpmassar]

The Battle of Hampton Roads, often referred to as the Battle of the Monitor and Merrimack (or Merrimac) ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Hampton_Roads

and

http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/monitor-merrimac.htm

and

USS Merrimack (sometimes spelled without the "k")

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Merrimack_%281855%29

[kalimac]

And your point is?

If it's to try to say that the Virginia is often now called the Merrimac (without the "k"), I didn't say that Wikipedia denied that this happens. I just reported what it informs you is correct.

[jpmassar]

I misinterpreted your comment. My apologies.

Yet I've now traced through your Wikipedia path and I have yet to find where it says that the proper spelling was Merrimack (as opposed to simply noting that it is sometimes spelled without the 'k', or an alternative spelling is without the 'k'.)

USS Merrimack, or variant spelling USS Merrimac

USS Merrimack (sometimes spelled without the "k")

USS Merrimack, several, some spelled "Merrimac"

[kalimac]

I dunno why you can't find it, as you just quoted two of the places where it says just that. In one, it goes on to say, "In Massachusetts, the Merrimack River flows through the town of Merrimac, often considered an older spelling which has sometimes caused confusion of the name." If by "the name" it means "the name of the ship" - otherwise, I can't imagine why the comment would be there, though this is Wikipedia, home of irrelevant comments, after all - the word "confusion" shows that the article considers "Merrimack" correct, and merely notes that "Merrimac" is common without allowing that it's also correct. Whether this opinion is reliable or not, though, I don't venture to confirm.