7 comments

USS Montana

by Carlos Menezes

2007/02/25

70% of the world's surface is covered in water. And yet that's not enough space to accommodate the ego of a US Navy captain.

I mean, come on!!! You're the captain of a tiny boat dude! 2nd largest vessel in the North Atlantic? Pfffhht - whatever! I've been to 21st’s thrown on yachts bigger than that. Now if you were at the helm of the USS Nimitz or of a 550 metre dreadnought bristling with mean looking guns you might have a case. But no, you're patrolling the friendly seas in some second-rate, entry-level metal-dinghy with a gun. That thing barely even qualifies as a ship. But don't let that stop you from throwing your weight around...
Interesting fact of the day - the US Navy has as many admirals as it does ships. Ya gotta love bureaucrats.

Oh yeah, apparently this is based on a true story. Anyone care to verify that?

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Sorry dude, but this seems to be based on an urban legend going back several decades, possibly originating in the Readers Digest of all places. Snopes has the entire story here: http://www.snopes.com/military/lighthse.htm

Posted by Andrew on 2007/02/25

*sniff* Thanks a lot Andrew - you just shot one of the defining stories of my childhood. Next you'll be trying to convince me that the Easter Bunny doesn't exist.

Posted by Carlos Menezes on 2007/02/25

See

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

Posted by bob on 2007/07/19

iF YOU BELIEVE THIS, YOU WILL BELIEVE ANYTHING. For a start, does every US warship have a television crew on board? I have seen and heard this many times, many ships in different oceans.

Posted by Mike Cooper on 2008/07/07

"Based on a true story" Mike. I didn't mean that it was documentary footage.

Posted by Carlos on 2008/07/08

This is an unfortunate lesson on the need to check out the 'facts' before saying anything! The internet is a too easy place to hang some bait and see who bites. A quick check of the net shows the last USS Montana was a battleship that was never completed once the bomb was dropped in Japan. Don't feel bad Carlos, on one website, someone insisted that the USS Enterprise was just launched, to go to war. I had to tell him that the current USS Enterprise was launched in the early sixties. To find a recently created USS Enterprise, the writer would have to look to the ones in Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Star Trek: Enterprise. Best wishes...

Posted by Michael on 2009/03/21

Hey Michael,

You're right that the facts need to be checked - it's all too easy to get egg on face. But you'll see that I said that I was unsure whether this was based on a true story (whether the ship in question had been the Montana or a fishing trawler it would still be a pretty funny story to tell).

Posted by Carlos on 2009/03/23

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