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

How close to ...

[freelikebeer]

Plattsburgh did you grow up?

I don't know of Leyte from history, but from naval mythology and army mythology.

I am in my mid-thirties, and I have friends who grew up in the south who would be angry that you didn't call The Battle of the Monitor and the Virginia. These same people had history books that tell that the battle was part of the War of Northern Aggression. Still taught as such in some places in the mid-80s.

Bonus points ...

[freelikebeer]

might be given for computing the distance from the homeport of the USS Leyte Gulf and the site of the Battle of the Monitor and Merrimack.

And lastly, ...

[freelikebeer]

boo for me for not getting Trafalgar. My dad was in the Navy. I spent most of non-teen youth growing up near there

Re: How close to ...

[jpmassar]

about 15 miles.

It's also called the Battle of Hampton Roads, which I had no idea.

[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"

[cakmpls]

#1: I know this because my mind is a storehouse of useless information.

#2: I know this because I copyedited this:
http://www.amazon.com/Battle-Leyte-Gulf-Twentieth-Century-Battles/dp/0253345286/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1283139267&sr=8-3

#3: I know this because of some WWI military history book that I copyedited, the title of which I can't remember.

#4: I know the general answer; how specific do you require?

#5: beats the heck outa me

[cakmpls]

Correction to #2: This, rather, is the book that I copyedited that taught me about Leyte Gulf: http://www.iupress.indiana.edu/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=84320

I did edit a book by Willmott, but it was a different one.

[jpmassar]

Looks kind of interesting. One can get it at Amazon for considerably less...

[jpmassar]

At least Virginia (as opposed to, say, the Confederacy or the United States or the Eastern Seaboard). Better more specific, as in southeastern Virginia, or off Norfolk, or Hampton Roads.

[evwhore]

I recognized all the names and that's about it.