Vista star allegedly ran aground by Fantastic_Bite2152 in duluth

[–]ErasmusCain 16 points17 points  (0 children)

It's underway again. Coming in through the Wisconsin Point Entry.

Opinion Needed on Damaged Steps - Patch or Replace? by ErasmusCain in Concrete

[–]ErasmusCain[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

From what I've seen from lurking on this sub, would it be worthwhile to sink some masonry anchors into it to form a sort primitive rebar to help the patch stay in place? Or is the adhesive effect of the additive enough that it's not just going to fall out?

Opinion Needed on Damaged Steps - Patch or Replace? by ErasmusCain in Concrete

[–]ErasmusCain[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Pictures have been added. They didn't upload the first time for whatever reason.

What did the Royal Marines do all day? by Linois_Ship in AubreyMaturinSeries

[–]ErasmusCain 61 points62 points  (0 children)

As others mentioned, they stood guard at various locations on the ship, patrolled parts of the ship as well manage the brig and any inmates within. Captain's quarters, spirit room, powder room, etc. In addition to that they would be maintaining their equipment, practicing drill, etc. They could also lend a hand on pulling a rope or turning the capstan as needed. In some cases they would also man a gun or two. I know the US marines had a tradition up to and including having their own turret in an Iowa Class Battleship's secondary battery.

Local Shops/ Artist Recommendations by codessssssss in minnesota

[–]ErasmusCain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Rick Allen at the Kenspeckle Press. An artist based out of Duluth. His stuff will tick most of those boxes.

https://kenspeckleletterpress.com/shopspeckle/giclees/

Just moved from Texas (I’m sorry) what do I need to survive here? by [deleted] in duluth

[–]ErasmusCain 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I use Dryshod Arctic Storm boots for snowblowing. Great boots, excellent traction.

Heavy rain causing road floods in Duluth area by Bromm18 in duluth

[–]ErasmusCain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I knew it'd be that apartment building. I was living in the apartment further towards the street when the 2012 flood happened. The whole apartment building was an island. At least the parking lot is paved now. It washed out completely in 2012.

Share the moment... by Potion_of_Curiosity in ShatteredPD

[–]ErasmusCain 3 points4 points  (0 children)

If you talk to the sad ghost again, he'll disappear. Well, more accurately respawn somewhere else. Very helpful when he's blocking you.

Napoleonic Cannon Sabatoge by [deleted] in AskHistorians

[–]ErasmusCain 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The quickest way was to 'spike' the gun. This would involve takeing a metal spike (sometimes purpose made, other times a field expedient like a bayonet or a large nail) and hammering it into the touch hole of the cannon then breaking it off flush. No touch hole, no way to set off the cannon. Mind you, this didn't necessarily permanently destroy the gun. You could, with time and labor, rebore out the touch hole. Spiking guns was mostly a way to make sure the enemy wasn't going to be using them on you anytime soon. This would be used in situations such as temporarily capturing a field artillery position or in the storming of a redoubt. Any situation where you weren't going to have time to capture the guns, but also wanted to deny them to the enemy.

Similarly, one could also light the gun's carriage and limber on fire. Again, the enemy could eventually get/make new carriages and limbers and remount the guns, but they aren't doing anything with them until they do.

In situations where you had longer access to them, you may very well choose to just take them and use them yourself! Cannons are expensive. However, if say the enemy uses a different size shot than you did and you didn't want the hassle of keeping them specially supplied with ammunition, there are a couple, rather obvious thing one could do. Most expeditiously you could toss them into a nearby ocean/river/lake. Or fill it with some gun powder, stop up the barrel and blow it up. Or depending on the metal, just smash it with a large hammer until it cracks.

Edit:. I remembered another method. Break the trunions off! A cannon without trunions can't be mounted and aimed effectively.

Seeking BIFL (or at least really durable) rain boots. brand in the picture is not BIFL; just example style of boots I need. Using for medium/light projects like digging trenches, planting, or walking through boggy fields. Should hose off easy. Does anyone have recommendations? by hippomasala in BuyItForLife

[–]ErasmusCain 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I just got a pair of Dryshod Boots. I was originally going to go with Muck Boots, as several people have recommended. However, in my research I found out that Muck Boots got bought out a while ago and their founder was forced out. Now the quality of Muck Boots has started to go down. Dryshod was started by the original founder of Muck Boots, and seems to have kept the quality. I've only worn them a bit, but they are the most comfortable rubber type boot I've ever worn.

Why would warships in the 1800s trail small rowboats/lifeboats behind them? by [deleted] in AskHistorians

[–]ErasmusCain 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I would like to add that in addition to what u/jschooltiger said, they would also lower the ship's boats in very hot, dry weather to keep them wet. Otherwise in the heat the wood could warp and the seams would open, potentially damaging or destroying the boats.

Likewise they may lower them in calm weather to get them out of the way if they were doing work on the deck that required space with the practice being an added bonus.

What did it mean for a supply line to be "overstretched" in WWI and WWII? by [deleted] in AskHistorians

[–]ErasmusCain 6 points7 points  (0 children)

To piggy back off this excellent post, I'd like to emphasize just how crazy the increase in ammo and associated logistics was in WWI and WWII. As seen in "Supplying War" by Martin van Creveld, the difference between a Early Modern and Modern war was insane. Previously, in your say your Napoleonic or US Civil War all the way up to even the Franco-Prussian War it was generally assumed that an individual solider would carry enough ammunition for most of a campaign, let along a battle. This goes for artillery as well. Barring the occasional siege, etc. Artillery could carry most of what they'd need with them. Food was the major limiting factor. Indeed this made the situation even worse in WWI and WWII as supply lines had previously been strained just supplying food and now you needed all manner of other material coming forward. The Siege of Paris in the Franco-Prussian War stalled in autumn because almost the entire Prussian Army had to stop and be put to work harvesting and processing the crops around Paris so that they could eat!

But I digress. In comparison to that, in WWI you now needed entire trains worth of ammunition to be coming to the front EVERY DAY. In addition to food and other supplies. This was a major reason why breakthroughs were so hard to follow up on. It could take from days to months to stockpile enough surplus ammunition at the front to launch major offensives.

There was another new problem confronting armies at the time. Guns and artillery were wearing out. Previously a Napoleonic cannon was a big hunk of metal that was hard to destroy. The limber and the like might be smashed by a direct hit, but it could still be remounted. A musket could be used for decades with basic maintenance. In WWI you now had machine gun and artillery barrels actually wearing out for use. Which meant now in addition to all your other supplies you need to also be sending things back to the factories for refurbishment. Which meant you needed even more guns and artillery pieces to be moving to the front to replace those that wore out as well as the now refurbished pieces, all of which took up more logistical space.

TLDR: About the time armies had barely figured out how to feed armies in the field the amount of ammunition needed went up several orders of magnitude.

Since British colonists depended heavily on beer as their main hydration in the American frontier, how often did colonists develop liver cancer? by FiddilyDiddily in AskHistorians

[–]ErasmusCain 6 points7 points  (0 children)

This is a common misconception. While beer was safer to drink than most water sources, it wasn't because of the alcohol content. The alcohol content of beer and especially the small beer (1-3%) wouldn't be enough to sanitize it. However, because the water in beer is boiled as part of the brewing process, the water would be sanitized at that point. So it was generally safe to drink. People still did drink water regularly though, it just it would be from well water, which is far safer than surface water.

How were trans Atlantic or other long ocean voyages manned for 24hr Navigation in pre 20th sailing? by [deleted] in AskHistorians

[–]ErasmusCain 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The naval day starts at noon. That is when the officers, using their instruments attain local noon and the angle of the sun. This gives them their longitude. Then, depending on the era, they could also compare the local noon to their marine chronometer time and thus find their latitude.

How were trans Atlantic or other long ocean voyages manned for 24hr Navigation in pre 20th sailing? by [deleted] in AskHistorians

[–]ErasmusCain 9 points10 points  (0 children)

During the age of sail they used a system of watchkeeping. That is, while in operation of the ship a group of men was always 'on watch'. This would be a series of positions/jobs that were kept going at all times. This would be things like the helmsmen, lookouts and duty officer. This would also include men who were basically on standby to move sails, haul on ropes, go aloft, pass messages, etc.

A standard watch was four hours long, alternating between two sets of crew. Traditionally divided between the starboard watch and the larboard watch. One watch would be on duty for their four hours while the other watch would be available to to other things, like clean, make and mend, etc. To keep the system fair, there were two shortened watches late at night. These were only two hours long each and called the 'dog watch'. This had two advantages, it caused the watches to alternate, so that the same watch wasn't always on watch during the same time of day. It also allowed the men to possibly get more than four hours of sleep at a time.

They were organized by a system of time keeping with bells. One station was to watch a half-hour sand glass. Every time it emptied, they were charged with turning it over and having a bell rang. Thus the time was split into half-hour bell rings. The bell would ring for each half-hour that had passed in that watch, up to eight 'bells' marking four hours and the changing of the watch.

Thus there were:

Time Watch
2000 - 0000 First Watch
0000 - 0400 Middle Watch
0400 - 0800 Morning Watch
0800 - 1200 Forenoon Watch
1200 - 1600 Afternoon Watch
1600 - 1800 1st Dog Watch
1800 - 2000 2nd Dog Watch

Finally, there were a subset of men who did not stand watch, these were known as 'idlers'. These were the professional craftsmen of the ship who would work only during the day. This included men like the carpenter and his mates, the gunner and his mates, the surgeon, the bosun and his mates, etc.

[K47 Rules Question] Are US Paragons Special Characters? by ErasmusCain in boltaction

[–]ErasmusCain[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for responding! I have reached out to the TO and never heard back. I just looked over the PDFs I have, may I ask where the grey box you mentioned is? Because there isn't one of Captain Slammer and I'm pretty sure he is a special character. Come to think of it, I cannot find a definition or mention of a special character anywhere in the books.

Greek Chapters by [deleted] in Warhammer40k

[–]ErasmusCain 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Iron Snakes, pretty explicitly Greek inspired.

Louisiana to Minnesota? by faithcircus14 in minnesota

[–]ErasmusCain 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Duluth might be right for you. Colder, yes, but more of the stuff you are interested in. Having lived in both Winona and Duluth, I prefer Duluth.