RN3DB

April 1, 2022

Good Morning,

I was doing research on a topic when I found this tidbit below and I want to share. Not aviation related, not verified, and possibly total nonsense. You decide….

Enjoy…..

Did You Know?

The passenger steamer SS Warrimoo was quietly knifing its way through the waters of the mid Pacific on its way from Vancouver to Australia.

The navigator had just finished working out a star fix and brought the Master, Captain John Phillips, the result.

 The Warrimoo’s position was at 0 degrees 31 minutes N and 179 degrees 30 minutes West….. the date was 31 December 1899.

Know what this means?

First mate Peyton broke in, “We are only a few miles from the intersection of the equator and the international dateline.”

Captain Phillips was prankish enough to take full advantage of the opportunity for achieving the navigational freak of a lifetime.

He called his navigator to the bridge to check and double check the ship’s position and changed course slightly so as to bear directly on his mark and adjusted the engine speed.

The calm weather and clear night worked in his favor……at midnight The SS Warrimoo lay on the equator at exactly the point where it crossed the international dateline

The consequences of this bizarre position we’re many…..

1. 1. 1. 1. The bow of the ship was in the southern hemisphere in the middle of the summer.
         2. The stern of the ship was in the northern hemisphere in the middle of winter.
         3. The date in the aft part of the ship was 31, December 1899.
         4. The date for the bow of the ship 1, January 1900.
         5. The ship therefore was not only in 2 different days, 2 different months, 2 different years and 2 different seasons, but it was also in 2 different centuries all at the same time.

Could be true,or could be a figment of someone’s imagination….you decide. Have a good weekend, take care, and enjoy time with family and friends.

Robert Novell

April 1, 2022