Yamato & Kongo vs. KGV & Queen Elizabeth (Short Vers

[juggler69uk]

Fletcher Pratt is one person. . . and a relative of mine. :wink:

Not sure I would admit to being related to a pratt

Jk (on uk meaning of word) no offence intended to any current or expired pratts

 

[Soulmage]

Well, my last name happens to be Pratt. . . and I lived in England for three years as a kid. I guess I don't have to tell you what that was like! LOL!!

 

[juggler69uk]

Well, my last name happens to be Pratt. . . and I lived in England for three years as a kid. I guess I don't have to tell you what that was like! LOL!!

No you dont, Im sure everyone who mentioned it thought it was amusing at the time, but things like that wear thin after being directed personally the first 100 or so times dont they.

 

[Soulmage]

It didn't get any better when I came back to the states. My first name is Harry. . . of course EVERYBODY thinks they have the most clever comment about that too!!!

 

[captainsmirk]

Hey! There was a famous (in Chile anyway) Chilean naval hero called Captain Pratt!

Come to think of it he was killed whilst conducting a one man boarding action against a Peruvian ironclad...

Hmmmm... :|


Nick

 

[Alexb83]

Hey! There was a famous (in Chile anyway) Chilean naval hero called Captain Pratt!

Come to think of it he was killed whilst conducting a one man boarding action against a Peruvian ironclad...

Hmmmm... :|


Nick

Dare I say it... What a Pratt! :roll:

But, given the heroic nature of his demise, you could also read it in the sense of: Wow, what a guy!

 

[DM]

It wasn't actually one-man boarding action. Prat and two others attempted to board (his order to go wasn't heard over the noise of the battle) and he was killed on the deck of the Peruvean ship.

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

The ship, the Huascar, was later casptured and brought into the Chilean Navy. She is still afloat and preserved as a memorial in Tulcahuano (I've been lucky enough to visit her)

Also, as a friend of mine discovered when we were in Chile, dissing Arturo Prat (especially in a Chilean Navy town) is NOT recommended in front of the locals!

 

[captainsmirk]

Ok then a three man boarding action...

And no I imagine dissing him anywhere in Chile is asking for a linching, he has been a top choice for naming ships after in the Chilean navy ever since...

The Huascar was about the only effective ship in the whole Peruvian navy at the time. She was also a survivor of one of the first motorised torpedo attacks in history!!!


Nick

 

[DM]

Ah yes, the Ley mechanical torpedo, a vertitable technological marvel of its age (as much a hazard to the launching ship as the target; one was only deflected from hitting the ship that launched it by one of the crew diving in and batting it out of the way as it apprached - all good stuff for the Ironclad version of VAS )

 

[captainsmirk]

Never said they had much difficulty surviving the torpedo attack...

:lol:


Nick

 

[DM]

IIRC the captain of the ship that fired the weapon was so disgusted in its performance that he had the others and their control box (it was wire guided) landed and buried in the local cemetary!

 

[captainsmirk]

It still amuses me that the main competitor to Whitehead was called Schwartzkopf...

Not sure the early ones these worked much better though...

Oh well the wonders of Victorian era weapons technology eh?


Nick

 

[DM]

Even more ironic, in more recent years the two main manufacturers of torpedoes in Europe were Marconi (Italian name but a British company) and Whitehead (British name but Italian company). A source of much comfusion!