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posted by martyb on Wednesday October 26 2016, @03:14PM   Printer-friendly
from the no-word-from-Bea-Arthur dept.

They have raised the Maud!

Arctic explorer Roald Amundsen's ship, the Maud, has been raised from where it sunk in 1930, off of Victoria Island, Canada. Plans are being made to return the wreck to Norway.

Article in Live Science here.

Along with the Fram, these ships were the extreme science platforms of their time. They were built of wooden hulls that could withstand being frozen into the Arctic ice cap, and traveling with it. Amundsen sailed the Maud through the Northeast Passage.

From 1918 to 1920, Amundsen and his crew sailed from Oslo, Norway, along the Russian Arctic coast to Nome, Alaska, traversing a Northeast Passage. Amundsen eventually abandoned the plan to go to the North Pole. Maud spent a total of seven years exploring the Arctic before the ship was seized by Amundsen's creditors and was sold to Canada's Hudson's Bay Co., according to Norway's Fram Museum.

Nice to see the old girl up and about again. They certainly don't make them like that anymore. Now they make Boaty McBoatfaces.


Original Submission

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Meet The U.K.'s Cutting-Edge Research Vessel ... Boaty McBoatface? 24 comments

NPR writes about the NERC naming poll for their $300million polar research vessel:

Britain's Natural Environment Research Council asked the public to help think of possible monikers for the new world-class ship, urging them to look for "an inspirational name" that exemplifies the vessel's mission, a historical figure, movement, landmark or a famous polar explorer or scientist.

"The polar research ship represents a leap forward in securing Britain's place as a world leader in marine and climate change science — and illustrates this government's commitment to invest in research facilities on a record scale," Jo Johnson, minister of universities and science, said in the initial press release. "Can you imagine one of the world's biggest research labs travelling to the Antarctic with your suggested name proudly emblazoned on the side?"

A name like, you know, Boaty McBoatface.

Since the NERC announced the poll, the Internet (as it is wont to do) hijacked it and went full-steam ahead with Boaty McBoatface. While the poll's Web page is experiencing "technical issues" due to what the NERC said was "overwhelming interest," Boaty McBoatface had amassed 27,000 votes as of Monday morning, while the second place pick had racked up around 3,000, according to the BBC.

Other perhaps less-than-inspirational names suggested include Ice Ice Baby, Usain Boat and It's Bloody Cold Here.

Alison Robinson, NERC's director of corporate affairs, said in a statement that the council is "pleased that people are embracing the [naming] idea in a spirit of fun," but noted that the NERC will have the final say over the boat's name.

Good faith would be naming a lifeboat, or a submersible using the results.


Original Submission

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 26 2016, @05:12PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 26 2016, @05:12PM (#419048)

    I knew a Maud in college, an unusual/archaic name in the mid-70s -- she started out pretty mouse-y and hung out with a quiet genius. Later she hooked up with an anesthesiologist and started to bloom, last time I saw her at a reunion (still with the doctor) a lot of old guys were drooling.

    I wonder if the ship Maud will look that good after all those years underwater.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 26 2016, @08:07PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 26 2016, @08:07PM (#419120)

      Did she look like Bea Arthur, because that is the only image I can conjure up for a Maud.

  • (Score: 5, Funny) by fishybell on Wednesday October 26 2016, @05:13PM

    by fishybell (3156) on Wednesday October 26 2016, @05:13PM (#419049)

    They definitely don't make them like that anymore. That one sunk. Not a great track record for that design.

    • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Wednesday October 26 2016, @06:54PM

      by aristarchus (2645) on Wednesday October 26 2016, @06:54PM (#419091) Journal

      Have you ever had a leak in your propeller shaft? Usually this is a result of a lack of proper maintenance, not a design flaw. I blame Hudson's Bay Co.!

      Of course, not as bad a fate as the Jeanette, an American expedition ship whose remains in polar ice discovered some thousands of miles from its place of demise set off the theories about moving polar ice, or really, the Fram which preceded the Maud.

      Saving the Fram
      On the return from Antarctica in 1912 the Fram was sailed to Buenos Aires, arriving 25 May. Roald Amundsen was now to return to the original plan of seeking a more northerly drift across the Arctic Ocean than the First Fram Expedition had managed, and the idea was to sail around South America and north to the Bering Strait. There was much for Amundsen to arrange beforehand, and in October 1913 the Fram was sailed further north, to Colón at the Atlantic end of the Panama Canal. The famous polar ship had been given the honour of sailing first through the canal, but having waited there until 1 December this plan was abandoned and the Fram was ordered to sail south round Cape Horn and north to San Francisco. Arriving once more at Buenos Aires captain Nilsen received the message to return home to Norway instead. Horten was reached on 16 July 1914.

      Because of the First World War there was no chance of arranging a new polar expedition and the Fram was left lying at Horten. The long months in tropical waters had left her worm eaten and in generally poor condition. Amundsen therefore had a new polar ship built, the Maud.

      Leak in your propeller shaft, or being eaten by worms, take your choices!

  • (Score: 3, Informative) by richtopia on Wednesday October 26 2016, @05:32PM

    by richtopia (3160) on Wednesday October 26 2016, @05:32PM (#419064) Homepage Journal

    Looking at the Wikipedia article, you can see that the ship was just off shore and not completely submerged (in the photo, perhaps it would "sink" with the tide or season). Refloated seems more appropriate.

    • (Score: 2) by Appalbarry on Thursday October 27 2016, @03:54AM

      by Appalbarry (66) on Thursday October 27 2016, @03:54AM (#419274) Journal

      The top of the Maud was routinely pointed out to anyone visiting Cambridge Bay.

      Old news to the locals.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 27 2016, @01:46PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 27 2016, @01:46PM (#419402)

      Refloated seems more appropriate.

      Except in naval parlance, that is exactly what "raised" means.

  • (Score: 2) by Thexalon on Wednesday October 26 2016, @05:51PM

    by Thexalon (636) on Wednesday October 26 2016, @05:51PM (#419073)

    "You read a scroll of amnesia. Thinking of Maud you forget everything else."

    The Nethack Dev Team really does think of everything!

    --
    The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by KiloByte on Thursday October 27 2016, @02:18AM

      by KiloByte (375) on Thursday October 27 2016, @02:18AM (#419249)

      Try that when your character is named Maud.

      --
      Ceterum censeo systemd esse delendam.
  • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday October 26 2016, @10:12PM

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday October 26 2016, @10:12PM (#419178) Journal

    No, it's not a hobby, it's not that advanced, but I do like old ships. It's amazing how walking the decks of those old wooden ships makes things "real". Sailing ships, steam powered, or whatever, the old ships are fascinating.

    One of the strangest moments, was visiting the HMS Victory. There was an image in one of my textbooks, of Sir Lord Nelson on an operating table, with the surgeon and the ship's officers standing around him. I stood in that spot, and if the sketch or drawing were to scale, then all of those men standing upright were 5 foot 6 inches - or less. I could stand upright, with my head just touching the deck above, but the wooden beams that support the deck came down below my chin.

    Ehh - artistic license, right?

    Real ships don't really resemble paintings, drawings, sketches, or movies. I like visiting them, to see what they are relaly like.

    I saw the replica Santa Maria, in Spain. I didn't have the time to go aboard, but I got to see her. Good GOD - that ship is tiny! I felt claustrophobic just looking at her from the pier!

    • (Score: 2) by Thexalon on Wednesday October 26 2016, @11:18PM

      by Thexalon (636) on Wednesday October 26 2016, @11:18PM (#419197)

      Having been on board a few, the thing you notice really quickly is the complete lack of privacy on a typical-sized ship. For just about anything: The reason the poop deck is called the poop deck is because that's where sailors would poop over the side. They slept in hammocks packed in like sardines, and if the ladies of the night came on board when they were in port, well, guess what, they were doing that right in front of everybody too. The captain might have a separate cabin, about the size of a small closet. Everybody else, tough luck.

      Naval vessels were a different story, because they were much larger than your typical merchant ship, but even then space was very much at a premium.

      --
      The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
      • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday October 26 2016, @11:41PM

        by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday October 26 2016, @11:41PM (#419204) Journal

        Naval vessels were no more "roomy". Warships always carry more men than they need - if it takes 80 bodies to crew the ship, then the crew is set at around 240, because you expect casualties in combat. The old sailing ships' only sizeable space that was sheltered from the elements was the gun deck. Hammocks were strung right around and above the cannon. Lowly seamen and petty officers were only permitted a small sack of personal items, because every morning, ALL personal gear had to be stowed away, and secured, so that the ship was ready to fight at the drop of a hat.

        Besides which, the military and privacy are anathema to each other. The officers expect their chiefs to know what the men are thinking, their fighting spirit, morale or lack thereof. Privacy degrades the ability of the chiefs to read the enlisted men's minds. On the ships I served on, "privacy" meant closing the curtain on your bunk. Bunks were foughly 3 ft wide, 7 feet wide, and your locker under it was about 10 inches deep. These bunks were stacked 3 high, so the guys in the upper bunks were constantly putting a toe on the edge of the bottom bunk to hop up.

        A person who treasures privacy will have a difficult time even aboard modern fighting ships.

      • (Score: 3, Interesting) by deadstick on Thursday October 27 2016, @02:03AM

        by deadstick (5110) on Thursday October 27 2016, @02:03AM (#419244)

        that's where sailors would poop over the side

        I'm gonna disagree with that: poop is from a french word that has nothing to do with poo. Nobody pooped from the poop deck but the senior officers, whose cabins were below it and overhung the water below the stern. The crew toilet was typically a two-holer flanking the bowsprit at the front end (hence head) of the ship.

        Square-rigged vessels sailed before the wind as much as possible, so the crew were quartered in the bow and the officers in the stern where they usually didn't have to smell the crew quarters. "Sailing before the mast" meant being an enlisted sailor.

  • (Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Thursday October 27 2016, @01:08AM

    by PartTimeZombie (4827) on Thursday October 27 2016, @01:08AM (#419231)

    Another Foreign Johnny whose parents didn't know how to spell Ronald.

    • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Thursday October 27 2016, @05:21AM

      by aristarchus (2645) on Thursday October 27 2016, @05:21AM (#419291) Journal

      Perhaps you refer to Roland the Thompson Gunner, another famous Norwegian, but only by way of Warren Zevon. All modern advances are either Norwegian (preferable), or Swedish (acceptable) like the Nobel prize named after a great Swede. And surely you have heard of Quisling, and the Heavy Water plants in Tennessee? Tritium? OMG, I have crossed the streams! With Norwegians! Curse a' you, Banzai!

  • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Thursday October 27 2016, @07:25AM

    by aristarchus (2645) on Thursday October 27 2016, @07:25AM (#419318) Journal

    All too often we do not appreciate the skill and finesse of our editors. But martyb has added a lot of informative and useful links to my original post. I, for one, welcome and appreciate our SoylentNews Editors! Hoorah!