The World War 2 Obscure Trivia Thread

43

I have no idea, but I curious as to why a vessel would be named after Bindweed… aka Convolvulus sp.

EDIT: D’oh! Flower class corvette. There you go…

2 Likes
44

I’ll guess Candytuft. Pansy has to be a Flower-class, and Spanker is a sailing term.

1 Like
45

I’d say Robin, cause it’s the most normal.
Oh wait…I’d say trick question. So, probably none. As in, all are real.

1 Like
46

There’s definitely an odd one out in the list.

1 Like
47

Well, the Spanker then, since it’s the only one that has a sea term as a name.

1 Like
48

Nope. HMS Spanker was an Algerine class minesweeper and definitely a real, ocean going ship.

2 Likes
49

Pansy, Convolvulus and Candytuft are all, as others have already noticed, named after flowers and are in fact Flower Class Corvettes, so what’s the deal with HMS Robin?

2 Likes
50

Hmmm, I thought this was the right answer… I’m stumped.

1 Like
51

Well, I actually accidentally googled the answer when I was checking if I missed any translations of the names, so I’m not saying. The devil is in detail.

1 Like
52

Indeed it is.

There are actually two HMS Robins from WW2 but neither is an ocean going warship. One was a shore training establishment and another was a river going gunboat. I did specify ocean going ships though, which sadly also ruled out HMS Cockchafer from the list of silly ship names.

There was no HMS Robin exactly but there was a Royal Navy ship that kind of went by that name.

In 1943, the war in the Pacific had reached a stalemate. The USN and IJN both started the war with 6 fleet carriers and by the start of 1943 had lost 4 apiece. The USN was left with Saratoga and Enterprise and the Japanese had Shokaku and Zuikaku. Enterprise had to retire to refit and repair heavy damage she’d taken in the battles around the Solomon Islands. Saratoga was in better shape because she’d just come back from a refit after eating a torpedo again but the USN had little carrier airpower left to support Macarthur’s drive up through Indonesia towards the Phillipines besides land based air. There was a concern that if Shokaku and Zuikaku could be returned to service, along with a number of light and auxiliary carriers the IJN possessed they could have a decisive advantage.

The Essex and Independence classes were still some months away from being ready for fleet service so the USN turned to the navy that, at that point in the war, had more fleet carriers in service than any other - the Royal Navy. The Brits loaned them HMS Victorious for several months and she operated with Saratoga as a combined task force. While she retained her British crew, the two ships operated together and learned a great deal from each other’s practice. The Brits had the edge in radar directed fighter control building on experience from the Battle of Britain. The USN on the other hand was superior in deck handling and in launching and recovering aircraft. In the end, Victorious took on fighter aircraft from Saratoga while the American ship took on board strike aircraft from Victorious.

A great deal of debate was also generated about whether it was better to serve on a Royal Navy ship and be issued with rum or beer every day or a USN warship which though dry, had the ability to manufacture nearly limitless quantities of ice cream.

HMS Victorious retained her name but was given the radio callsign Robin, which sometimes erroneously has led to her being referred to as the USS Robin.

Here’s a picture of the two together off of Nomea.

4 Likes
53

Tricky, very tricky…

Cockchafer? Is that the opposite of a fluff girl???

3 Likes
54

(May not be too obscure, but worthy of this thread I think…)

Who is credited with the only longbow kill of WW2?

1 Like
55

I think that would be Wilhelm Tell in the fake German Swiss War :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

1 Like
56

Herr Tell is know for his crossbow. Though, yes, he did earn the epitaph Bastard of Basel during the 44 hr. long Swiss-Prussian War of 1881. It was that embarrassing defeat that convinced Bismarck to only pick on weak opponents, like France or Russia.

(Can’t even keep a straight face while typing that nonsense. :rofl:)

4 Likes
57

But oh what lovely nonsense it is… :crazy_face::joy:

Still laughing…

3 Likes
58

Some scottish or british guy. crazy bastard, really. wasn’t it somewhere in Italy?

4 Likes
59

“Crazy bastard” indeed.

4 Likes
60

You could also say that he was mad as a hatter… or perhaps the mad piper :face_with_monocle:

5 Likes
61

I could’ve, but I didn’t want to give anything away, jack.

3 Likes
62

Picture round. What am I?

2 Likes