Spartan Gold: dogging lever

pg 81

She gave each of the hatch's four dogging levers a solid rap.

Levers that look like "dog legs" are called dogs.

The body was wearing a Kriegsmarine cap

The Kriegsmarine (War Navy) was the name of the German Navy during the Nazi regime (1935–1945). It superseded the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the post-war Reichsmarine. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches of the Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany.

The Kriegsmarine grew rapidly during German naval rearmaments in the 1930s. In January 1939 Plan Z was ordered, calling for the construction of many naval vessels. The ships of the Kriegsmarine fought during the Spanish Civil War and World War II. The commander-in-chief of the Kriegsmarine was Adolf Hitler, who exercised his authority through the Oberkommando der Marine.

The Kriegsmarine's most famous ships were the U-boat wolfpacks, most of which were constructed after Plan Z was abandoned at the beginning of World War II. They were submarine groups which attacked Allied convoys during the Battle of the Atlantic. Along with the U-boats, surface ships (including auxiliary cruisers) were used to disrupt Allied shipping in the early years of the war. However, the adoption of convoy escorts later in the war greatly reduced the effectiveness of naval strikes on convoys. At the end of the Second World War, the Kriegsmarine's remaining ships were divided up amongst the Allied powers and were used for various purposes including minesweeping.

a leather holster containing a Luger pistol

The Pistole Parabellum 1908 or Parabellum-Pistole (Pistol Parabellum), popularly known as the Luger, is a toggle-locked recoil-operated semi-automatic pistol. The design was patented by Georg J. Luger in 1898 and produced by German arms manufacturer Deutsche Waffen- und Munitionsfabriken (DWM) starting in 1900; it was an evolution of the 1893 Hugo Borchardt designed C-93. It would be succeeded and partly replaced by the Walther P38.

The Luger was made popular from its use by Germany during World War I and World War II, along with the interwar Weimar Republic and the post war Soviet Volkspolizei. Although the Luger pistol was first introduced in 7.65×21mm Parabellum, it is notable for being the pistol for which the 9×19mm Parabellum (also known as the 9 mm Luger) cartridge was developed.

Bolted to the bulkead beneath each trim tank was a rectangular footlocker.

Pacific Vortex: Fullerton Fracture zome

pg 93

"That puts us over the Fullerton Fracture Zone," Pitt said slowly.

A fracture zone is a linear oceanic feature--often hundreds, even thousands of kilometers long--resulting from the action of offset mid-ocean ridge axis segments. They are a consequence of plate tectonics. Lithospheric plates on either side of an active transform fault move in opposite directions; here, strike-slip activity occurs. Fracture zones extend past the transform faults, away from the ridge axis; seismically inactive (because both plate segments are moving in the same direction), they display evidence of past transform fault activity, primarily in the different ages of the crust on opposite sides of the zone.

In actual usage, many transform faults aligned with fracture zones are often loosely referred to as "fracture zones" although technically, they are not.

"I've got a solid reading on the magnetometer."

A magnetometer is a measuring instrument used to measure the strength or direction of a magnetic field either produced in the laboratory or existing in nature. Some countries such as the USA, Canada and Australia classify the more sensitive magnetometers as military technology, and control their distribution.

The International System of Units unit of measure for the strength of a magnetic field is the tesla. As this is a very large unit, workers in the earth sciences commonly use the nanotesla (nT) as their working unit of measure. Engineers often measure magnetic fields in Gauss. 1 Gauss = 100,000 nT or 1 Gauss = 100,000 gamma.

The Earth's magnetic field (the magnetosphere) is a potential field. It varies both temporally and spatially for various reasons, including inhomogeneity of rocks and interaction between charged particles from the Sun and the magnetosphere.

The earth's magnetic field is relatively weak. A simple magnet that may be purchased in a hardware store produces a field many hundreds of times stronger than the earth's field. The earth's magnetic field varies from around 20,000 nT near the equator to 80,000 nT near the poles. It also varies with time. There is a daily variation of around 30 nT at mid latitudes and hundreds of nT at the poles. Geomagnetic storms can cause much larger variations.

Magnetometers, which measure magnetic fields, are distinct from metal detectors, which detect hidden metals by their conductivity. When used for detecting metals, a magnetometer can detect only magnetic (ferrous) metals, but can detect such metals buried much deeper than a metal detector. Magnetometers are capable of detecting large objects like cars at tens of meters, while a metal detector's range is unlikely to exceed 2 meters.

"Keep it down to bare steerageway."

The rudder of a vessel can steer the ship only when water is passing over it. Hence, when a ship is not moving relative to the water it is in or cannot move its rudder, it does not respond to the helm and is said to have "lost steerage." The motion of a ship through the water is known as "making way." When a vessel is moving fast enough through the water that it turns in response to the helm, it is said to have "steerage way." That is why boats on rivers must always be under propulsion, even when traveling downstream.

Pacific Vortex: heaving to and more

pg 90

"We're heaving to."

In sailing, heaving to (to heave to and to be hove to) is a way of slowing a sail boat's forward progress, as well as fixing the helm and sail positions so that the boat does not actively have to be steered. It is commonly used for a "break"; this may be to wait for the tide before proceeding, to wait out a strong or contrary wind. For a solo or shorthanded sailor it can provide time to go below deck, to attend to issues elsewhere on the boat, or for example to take a lunch break.

The term is also used in the context of vessels under power and refers to bringing the vessel to a complete stop. For example, in waters over which the United States has jurisdiction the Coast Guard may, under Title 14 USC 89, demand that a boat "heave to" in order to enforce federal laws.

Hove to
A sailing vessel is hove to when it is at or nearly at rest because the driving action from one or more sails is approximately balanced by the drive from the other(s). This always involves 'backing' one or more sails, so that the wind is pressing against the forward side of the cloth, rather than the aft side as it normally would for the sail to drive the vessel forwards. On large square rigged, multi-masted vessels the procedures can be quite complex and varied, but on a modern two-sailed sloop, there is only the jib and the mainsail. A cutter may have more than one headsails, and a ketch, yawl or schooner may have more than one sail on a boom. In what follows, the jibs and boomed sails on such craft can either be treated as one of each, or lowered for the purposes of reduced windage, heel or complexity when heaving to for any length of time.

When a sloop is hove to, the jib is backed. This means that its windward sheet is tight holding the sail to windward. The mainsail sheet is often eased, or the mainsail reefed, to reduce forward movement, or 'fore-reaching'. The rudder is placed so that, should the boat make any forward movement, it will be turned into the wind, so as to prevent forward momentum building up. Looking from above, the three relevant items would make something like a Z-shape: jib to windward, main to leeward, and rudder roughly parallel with the jib.

"The heart of the operation. Our Flash Gordon room."

Flash Gordon is the hero of a science fiction adventure comic strip originally drawn by Alex Raymond. First published January 7, 1934, the strip was inspired by and created to compete with the already established Buck Rogers adventure strip. Also inspired by these series were comics such as Dash Dixon (1935 to 1939) by H.T. Elmo and Larry Antoinette and Don Dixon and the Hidden Empire (1935 to 1941) by Carl Pfeufer and Bob Moore.

In Australia, the character and strip were retitled Speed Gordon to avoid a negative connotation of the word "Flash". (At the time, the predominant meaning of "flash" was "showy", connoting dishonesty.) In France, his adventures were published in "Le Journal de Mickey", under the name "Guy l'Eclair". Dale Arden was named Camille in the French translation. In Mexico and some countries in Latin America, the strip is called "Roldán el Temerario".

The Flash Gordon comic strip has been translated into a wide variety of media, including motion pictures, television and animated series. The latest version, a Flash Gordon TV series, appeared on the US Sci Fi Channel in 2007–2008 and then on the United Kingdom Sci Fi channel. A print comic book series by Brendan Deneen and Paul Green and published by Ardden Entertainment debuted in 2008, with the first arc entitled "The Mercy Wars", and is also available on iTunes for the iPod and iPhone. They followed this up with further storylines.

"A Selco-Ramsey 8300 computer system"

This is a fictional computer.

Pacific Vortex: white butcher's cap and more

pg 85
He was wearing a white butcher's cap on his head...

A butcher is a person who may slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat or any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat, poultry, fish, and shellfish for sale in retail or wholesale food establishments. A butcher may be employed by supermarkets, grocery stores, butcher shops and fish markets or may be self-employed.

An ancient trade, whose duties may date back to the domestication of livestock, butchers formed guilds in England as far back as 1272. Today, many jurisdictions offer trade certifications for butchers. Some areas expect a three-year apprenticeship followed by the option of becoming a master butcher.

"Excuse me, sir, the chief engineer reports the engine room is in readiness and the bosun's mate has the crew standing by to cast off.

A boatswain (bo's'n, bos'n, or bosun) is an unlicensed member of the deck department of a merchant ship. The boatswain supervises the other unlicensed members of the ship's deck department, and typically is not a watchstander, except on vessels with small crews. Other duties vary depending on the type of ship, her crewing, and other factors.

"What was there in the tale of Kanoli that couldn't be found in half the drivel written about the lost continent of Mu."

Mu is the name of a hypothetical continent that allegedly existed in one of Earth's oceans, but disappeared at the dawn of human history.

The concept and the name were proposed by 19th century traveler and writer Augustus Le Plongeon, who claimed that several ancient civilizations, such as those of Egypt and Mesoamerica, were created by refugees from Mu—which he located in the Atlantic Ocean. This concept was popularized and expanded by James Churchward, who asserted that Mu was once located in the Pacific.

The existence of Mu was disputed already in Le Plongeon's time. Today, scientists universally dismiss the concept of Mu (and of other lost continents like Lemuria) as physically impossible, since a continent can neither sink nor be destroyed in the short period of time required by this premise. Mu is today considered to be a fictional place.

Spartan Gold: The Titanic and More

pg 78

Add to that the volume of water her interior could hold this midget submarine might as well be the Titanic for all the good their ropes and ratchet blocks would do them.

Cussler's first "hit" book was Raise the Titanic, which postulated that the Titanic had sunk all in one piece and could be raised by sealing all the holes and then pumping it full of air. But when the Titanic was found about ten years after Raise the Titanic had been published, it was found to have broken into two pieces, probably as it sank as opposed to when it hit the ocean floor two miles below.

The first boat turned out to be a father and son trolling for pike.

Trolling is a method of fishing where one or more fishing lines, baited with lures or bait fish, are drawn through the water. This may be behind a moving boat, or by slowly winding the line in when fishing from a static position, or even sweeping the line from side-to-side, e.g. when fishing from a jetty. Trolling is used to catch pelagic fish such as salmon, mackerel and kingfish.

Trolling can be phonetically confused with trawling, a different method of fishing where a net (trawl) is drawn through the water instead of lines. Trolling is used both for recreational and commercial fishing whereas trawling is used mainly for commercial fishing.

Trolling from a moving boat involves moving quite slowly through the water. This can be accomplished with the use of a special trolling motor. Multiple lines are often used, and outriggers can be used to spread the lines more widely and reduce their chances of tangling. Downriggers can also be used to keep the lures or baits trailing at a desired depth.

Sam scratched out the calculations on his notepad, figuring force vectors and buoyancy vectors until certain they were as ready as they were going to get.

In physics, a force is any influence that causes an object to undergo a change in speed, a change in direction, or a change in shape. In other words, a force is that which can cause an object with mass to change its velocity (which includes to begin moving from a state of rest), i.e., to accelerate, or which can cause a flexible object to deform. Force can also be described by intuitive concepts such as a push or pull. A force has both magnitude and direction, making it a vector quantity. Newton's second law, F = ma, was originally formulated in slightly different, but equivalent terms: the original version states that the net force acting upon an object is equal to the rate at which its momentum changes.

Related concepts to force include: thrust, which increases the velocity of an object; drag, which decreases the velocity of an object; and torque which produces changes in rotational speed of an object. Forces which do not act uniformly on all parts of a body will also cause mechanical stresses, a technical term for influences which cause deformation of matter. While mechanical stress can remain embedded in a solid object, gradually deforming it, mechanical stress in a fluid determines changes in its pressure and volume.

In physics, buoyancy is a force exerted by a liquid, gas or other fluid, that opposes an object's weight. In a column of fluid, pressure increases with depth as a result of the weight of the overlying fluid. Thus a column of fluid, or an object submerged in the fluid, experiences greater pressure at the bottom of the column than at the top. This difference in pressure results in a net force that tends to accelerate an object upwards. The magnitude of that force is proportional to the difference in the pressure between the top and the bottom of the column, and is also equivalent to the weight of the fluid that would otherwise occupy the column. For this reason, an object whose density is greater than that of the fluid in which it is submerged tends to sink. If the object is either less dense than the liquid or is shaped appropriately (as in a boat), the force can keep the object afloat. This can occur only in a reference frame which either has a gravitational field or is accelerating due to a force other than gravity defining a "downward" direction (that is, a non-inertial reference frame). In a situation of fluid statics, the net upward buoyancy force is equal to the magnitude of the weight of fluid displaced by the body.

Spartan Gold: Molch meets Salamander and more

pg 75

"It was a class of midget torpedo submarine produced by Nazi Germany in 1944.

The Molch (German language: "newt" or "salamander") was an unsuccessful, one-man series of German midget submarines created during World War II. Built in 1944, it was the first mini-submarine of the Kriegsmarine, but was not successful in combat operations and suffered heavy losses.

The Molch was based on torpedo technology, and carried two G7e torpedoes attached externally on either side of the craft. It was fully electrical and was created for coastal operations, with a range of 64 km (40 mi) at 5 knots (9.26 km/h). The front section of the boat held a large battery. Behind the battery was the operator's position, which sat between two small trimming tanks. Behind the operator sat the electric motor. The complicated system of tanks made it difficult to control during combat operations. The first of 393 boats were delivered on June 12, 1944 and were built by AG Weser in Bremen.

The Molch were first used in the Mediterranean against the Allied Operation Dragoon in 1944. The submarines were a part of the K-Verband 411 flotilla. On the night of September 25 they attacked allied battleships, with the loss of ten out of the twelve Molch submarines in the flotilla. Shortly after, the remaining two were sunk by allied warship bombardment off of the Sanremo coast.

Other Molch flotillas were sent to Holland in December 1944, but were also unsuccessful. From January to April 1945, Molch and Biber submarines went out on 102 sorties, losing seven of their own and sunk only seven small ships. Due to the ineffectiveness of the Molch in combat operations, it was later used as a training vessel for more advanced midget submarines.

The Molch was the brainchild of Dr. Heinrich Drager.

Several sites confirm Heinrich Drager was the designer of the Molch, but none of them give any further info.

"We're going to have to tell somebody about this-the coast guard or the navy."

The roots of the Coast Guard lie in the United States Revenue Cutter Service established by Alexander Hamilton under the Department of the Treasury on 4 August 1790. The first Coast Guard station was in Newburyport, Massachusetts. Until the re-establishment of the United States Navy in 1798, the Revenue Cutter Service was the only naval force of the early United States. It was established to collect taxes from a brand new nation of patriot smugglers. When the officers were out at sea, they were told to crack down on piracy; while they were at it, they might as well rescue anyone in distress.[14]

"First Fleet" is a term occasionally used as an informal reference to the U.S. Coast Guard, although there is no indication that the United States has ever officially used this designation with reference either to the Coast Guard or any element of the U.S. Navy. The informal appellation honors the fact that between 1790 and 1798, there was no United States Navy and the cutters which were the predecessor of the U.S. Coast Guard were the only warships protecting the coast, trade, and maritime interests of the new republic.

The modern Coast Guard can be said to date to 1915, when the Revenue Cutter Service merged with the United States Life-Saving Service and Congress formalized the existence of the new organization. In 1939, the U.S. Lighthouse Service was brought under its purview. In 1942, the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation was transferred to the Coast Guard. In 1967, the Coast Guard moved from the Department of the Treasury to the newly formed Department of Transportation, an arrangement that lasted until it was placed under the Department of Homeland Security in 2002 as part of legislation designed to more efficiently protect American interests following the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001.

In times of war, the Coast Guard or individual components of it can operate as a service of the Department of the Navy. This arrangement has a broad historical basis, as the Guard has been involved in wars as diverse as the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, and the American Civil War, in which the cutter Harriet Lane fired the first naval shots attempting to relieve besieged Fort Sumter. The last time the Coast Guard operated as a whole within the Navy was in World War II. More often, military and combat units within the Coast Guard will operate under Navy or joint operational control while other Coast Guard units will remain under the Department of Homeland Security.

he history of the United States Navy divides into two major periods: the "Old Navy", a small but respected force of sailing ships that was also notable for innovation in the use of ironclads during the American Civil War, and the "New Navy", the result of a modernization effort that began in the 1880s made it the largest in the world by the 1920s.

The United States Navy recognizes 13 October 1775 as the date of its official establishment, when the Continental Congress passed a resolution creating the Continental Navy. Soon after the end of the Revolutionary War the last ship was sold and the Continental Navy was disbanded. Eleven years later, conflicts between American merchant shipping and pirates in the Mediterranean Sea led to the Naval Act of 1794, which created the US Navy. The original six frigates were authorized as part of the Act. During the next 20 years the Navy fought the French Navy in the Quasi-War, Barbary states in the First and Second Barbary Wars, and the British in the War of 1812. After the War of 1812, the Navy was at peace until the Mexican-American war in 1846, and served to combat piracy in the Mediterranean and Caribbean seas, and the slave trade. During this period the Naval Academy was founded in 1845. In 1861, the American Civil War began and the US Navy fought the small Confederate Navy with both sailing ships and ironclad ships while forming a blockade on the confederacy. After the Civil war most of the ships were laid up in reserve and by 1878 the Navy only included 6,000 men.

In 1882, the US Navy consisted of many outdated ship designs. In the next decade Congress approved building multiple modern armored cruisers and battleships and by the turn of the century had moved from twelfth place in 1870 to fifth place in terms of numbers of ships. After winning two major battles during the Spanish–American in 1898, the Navy continued to build more ships and by the end of World War I had more men and women in uniform than the Royal Navy. The Washington Naval Conference recognized the Navy as equal in capital ship size to the Royal Navy, and during the 1920s and 1930s, the Navy built several aircraft carriers and modern battleships. The Navy was drawn into World War II after the Attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, and over the next 4 years fought many historic battles including the Battle of the Coral Sea, the Battle of Midway, multiple naval battles during the Guadalcanal Campaign, and the largest naval battle in history, the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Much of the Navy's activity was in support of landings, not only in the "island-hopping" campaign in the Pacific, but also in the landings in Europe. When the Japanese surrendered, a large flotilla entered Tokyo Bay to witness the ceremony conducted on the battleship Missouri. By the end of the war the Navy had over 1600 warships.

After World War II ended, the US Navy entered the Cold War and participated in the Korean War, Vietnam War, Gulf War and Iraq War. Nuclear power and ballistic missile technology led to new ship propulsion and weapon systems which were used in the Nimitz-class Aircraft carriers and Ohio-class submarines. By 1978 the number of ships had dwindled to less than 400, many of which were from World War II, and Ronald Reagan instituted a program for a modern 600-ship Navy. Today, the United States is the world's undisputed naval superpower, with the ability to engage in two simultaneous limited wars along separate fronts.

Pacific Vortex: a bindle stiff and more

pg 77

He felt like a tossup between a bindle-stiff and a skid-row derelict.

Bindle stick: collection of belongings wrapped in cloth and tied around a stick
Bindlestiff: a hobo who carries a bindle.

A hobo is a migratory worker or homeless vagabond, especially one who is penniless. The term originated in the Western—probably Northwestern—United States during the last decade of the 19th century. Unlike 'tramps', who work only when they are forced to, and 'bums', who do not work at all, 'hobos' are workers who wander

Or better yet, a bottle of Grand Marnier Yellow Ribbon

Grand Marnier (French pronunciation: is a liqueur created in 1880 by Alexandre Marnier-Lapostolle. It is made from a blend of true cognacs and distilled essence of bitter orange. Grand Marnier is 40% alcohol (70 Proof in UK, 80 Proof in US). It is produced in several varieties, most of which can be consumed "neat" as a digestif and can be used in mixed drinks and desserts. In France this kind of use is the most popular especially with Crêpes Suzette and "crêpes au Grand Marnier". César Ritz reportedly came up with the name "Grand Marnier" for Marnier-Lapostolle, who in return helped him purchase and establish the Hotel Ritz Paris.

Cordon Jaune or "Yellow Ribbon" Grand Marnier is only sold in some European countries and at some major international airports. Yellow Label Grand Marnier is generally regarded as being the lowest quality. It is made with neutral grain spirit rather than cognac. It is used for mixed drinks and cooking purposes, such as Crêpes Suzette.

We could almost raise the Andrea Doria if they turned us loose on it

SS Andrea Doria was an ocean liner for the Italian Line (Società di navigazione Italia) home ported in Genoa, Italy, most famous for its sinking in 1956, when 46 people died. Named after the 16th-century Genoese admiral Andrea Doria, the ship had a gross register tonnage of 29,100 and a capacity of about 1,200 passengers and 500 crew. For a country attempting to rebuild its economy and reputation after World War II, Andrea Doria was an icon of Italian national pride. Of all Italy's ships at the time, Andrea Doria was the largest, fastest and supposedly safest. Launched on 16 June 1951, the ship undertook its maiden voyage on 14 January 1953.

On 25 July 1956, approaching the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts, bound for New York City, Andrea Doria collided with the east-bound MS Stockholm of the Swedish American Line in what became one of history's most infamous maritime disasters. Struck in the side, the top-heavy Andrea Doria immediately started to list severely to starboard, which left half of her lifeboats unusable.

The consequent shortage of lifeboats might have resulted in significant loss of life, but the efficiency of the technical design of the ship allowed it to stay afloat for over 11 hours after the ramming. The good behavior of the crew, improvements in communications and the rapid response of other ships averted a disaster similar in scale to that of the Titanic in 1912. 1,660 passengers and crew were rescued and survived, while 46 people died as a consequence of the collision. The evacuated luxury liner capsized and sank the following morning.

The incident and its aftermath were heavily covered by the news media. While the rescue efforts were both successful and commendable, the cause of the collision with the Stockholm and the loss of Andrea Doria generated much interest in the media and many lawsuits. Largely because of an out-of-court settlement agreement between the two shipping companies during hearings immediately after the disaster, no determination of the cause(s) was ever formally published. Although greater blame appeared initially to fall on the Italian liner, more recent discoveries have indicated that a misreading of radar on the Swedish ship may have initiated the collision course, leading to errors on both ships.

Andrea Doria was the last major transatlantic passenger vessel to sink before aircraft became the preferred method of travel.

Pacific Vortex: Continental slope and more

pg 80

A NUMA zoologist was studying and recording fish sounds off the Continental slope near Iceland

The continental margin is the zone of the ocean floor that separates the thin oceanic crust from thick continental crust. Continental margins constitute about 28% of the oceanic area.

The transition from continental to oceanic crust commonly occurs within the outer part of the margin, called continental rise. Oceanwards beyond the edge of the rise lies the abyssal plain. The underwater part of the continental crust is called continental shelf, which usually abruptly terminates with the continental slope, which in turn terminates with the foot of the slope. The under-ocean part constitutes about 20% of the continental crust.

The edge of the continental margin is one criterion for the boundary of the internationally recognized claims to underwater resources by countries in the definition of the "Continental Shelf" by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (although in the UN definition the "legal continental shelf" may extend beyond the geomorphological continental shelf and vice versa).

...to pick up noises heard by rarely seen benthos

Benthos is the community of organisms which live on, in, or near the seabed, also known as the benthic zone. This community lives in or near marine sedimentary environments, from tidal pools along the foreshore, out to the continental shelf, and then down to the abyssal depths.

Many organisms adapted to deep-water pressure cannot survive in the upper parts of the water column. The pressure difference can be very significant (approximately one atmosphere for each 10 meters of water depth).

Because light does not penetrate very deep ocean-water, the energy source for deep benthic ecosystems is often organic matter from higher up in the water column which drifts down to the depths. This dead and decaying matter sustains the benthic food chain; most organisms in the benthic zone are scavengers or detritivores.

The term benthos comes from the Greek noun βένθος "depths of the sea". Benthos is also used in freshwater biology to refer to organisms at the bottom of freshwater bodies of water, such as lakes, rivers, and streams.

He also noticed the continuous crackling notice made by shrimps

Shrimp are swimming, decapod crustaceans classified in the infraorder Caridea, found widely around the world in both fresh and salt water. Adult shrimp are filter feeding benthic animals living close to the bottom. They can live in schools and can swim rapidly backwards. Shrimp are an important food source for larger animals from fish to whales. They have a high tolerance to toxins in polluted areas, and may contribute to high toxin levels in their predators. Together with prawns, shrimp are widely caught and farmed for human consumption.

The illustration on the knife: death before dishonor

Death Before Dishonor Tattoo - The slogan of “Death Before Dishonor”, frequently written in a coiling scroll wrapped around a dagger, is a perennially popular military tattoo -- and for good reason. The saying has been used for military units at least as early as ancient Rome (“morte prima di disonore”). By the time of the famed Roman senator and historian Tacitus (AD 56 to ca. 117), the vow of "death before dishonor" had become 'old-fashioned' and something espoused by the barbari or barbarians such as Caratacus (chief of the British, who revolted against Rome). However, some two centuries earlier it was Catiline (108 to 62 BC), the Roman politician who attempted to overthrow the Roman Republic, who had urged it and Cataline may even have been influenced by Thucydides (the Greek historian of 460 to 395 BC who wrote about the Peloponnesian War). However, the famous concept of death as preferable to dishonor, if not the actual phrase, is not restricted to the western world. For example, it was also advocated in the Japanese bushido code of samurai warriors who would rather die than live with the dishonor brought on by surrender. Even as late as the 1970s, Japanese soldiers of World War II such as Second Lieutenant Hiroo Onada were still being discovered on Pacific islands where word of the end of the war had never reached them.

However, there was also a concept in Greco-Roman and later European traditions that a virtuous woman would do anything possible, including killing herself or engineering her own death, to avoid rape. The ermine, because of the myth that it would prefer death rather than soil its pure white coat, became associated with this phrase. This animal appears on coats of arms as the emblem of knights who would perform any unpleasant deed and suffer any hardship, including death, rather than stain their reputation and conscience.

Ironically, the "death before dishonor" tattoo has occasionally been singled out for criticism. In his 1968 paper, "The Relationship of Tattoos to Personality Disorders", published in the The Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology and Police Science, Richard Post notes that another study had surveyed prison inmates with the "death before dishonor" tattoo and found that, if these prison inmates had been in military service, they had all been dishonorably discharged. That finding led him to conclude that "It is reasonably safe to assume that there is some correlation between this particular tattoo pattern and the ability to adjust to the armed services, expressed by some form of deviancy which caused their discharge under other than honorable circumstances" (p. 521). However dated the material might be, it seems odd (to say the least) that the total population for the study was taken solely from prison inmates. Wouldn't it be reasonable to expect that convicted criminals would have had a high rate of less than honorable discharges? Where is the study which polls all outgoing military people with the "death before dishonor" tattoo? Or the study which examines the prevalence of this tattoo outside of military service? We might even begin to wonder if military honors might not be positively correlated with tattoos that espouse the types of sentiments implied by the "death before dishonor" tattoo such as camaraderie, courage, esprit de corps, sacrifice and service.

You two look like you just received Dear John letters

A "Dear John letter" is a letter written to a husband or boyfriend by his wife or girlfriend to inform him their relationship is over, usually because the author has found another lover. Dear John Letters are often written out of an inability or unwillingness to inform the person face to face. The reverse situation, in which someone writes to his wife or girlfriend to break off the relationship, is referred to as a "Dear Jane letter."

While the exact origins of the phrase are unknown, it is commonly believed to have been coined by Americans during World War II. Large numbers of American troops were stationed overseas for many months or years, and as time passed many of their wives or girlfriends decided to begin a relationship with a new man rather than wait for their old one to return.

As letters to servicemen from wives or girlfriends back home would typically contain affectionate language (such as "Dear Johnny", "My dearest John", or simply "Darling"), a serviceman receiving a note beginning with a curt "Dear John" would instantly be aware of the letter's purpose.

A writer in the Democrat and Chronicle of Rochester, NY, summed it up in August 1945:

"Dear John," the letter began. "I have found someone else whom I think the world of. I think the only way out is for us to get a divorce," it said. They usually began like that, those letters that told of infidelity on the part of the wives of servicemen... The men called them "Dear Johns".

An early reference to Dear John letters was made in a United Press article of March 21, 1944.

There are a number of theories on why the name John is used rather than any other. John was a common name in the United States at the time the term was coined. John is also the name used in many other terms that refer to an anonymous man or men, such as "John Doe" or "John Smith". Another possible source for the term is the "Dear John" soap opera which was on the radio from 1933 to 1944.

The phrase "that's all she wrote" is believed to have originated from Dear John letters. These letters would contain either the words "Dear John" and abruptly terminate, or only contain the words "Dear John, goodbye." The phrase "that's all she wrote" is used to indicate the end of story or an abrupt end of story, especially when the reader has a desire to know more, but the writer does not want to fulfill that desire. An example of this connection can be found in the 1951 country hit "Dear John" by Hank Williams. In this song, the chorus proceeds as "...And that's all she wrote, Dear John..."

Spartan Gold: You say potayto and more

pg 72

Remi sang softly, "You say potayto, I say potahto..."

"Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" is a song written by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin for the 1937 film Shall We Dance where it was introduced by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers as part of a celebrated dance duet on roller skates. The song is most famous for its “You like to-may-toes and I like to-mah-toes and other verses comparing their different regional dialects.

The differences in pronunciation are not simply regional, however, and serve more specifically to identify class differences. At the time, typical American pronunciations were considered less "refined" by the upper-class, and there was a specific emphasis on the "broader" a sound.

This class distinction with respect to pronunciation has been retained in caricatures, especially in the theater where the longer a pronunciation is most strongly associated with the word "darling.
Writer: GERSHWIN, GEORGE / GERSHWIN, IRA
Things have come to a pretty pass,
Our romance is growing flat,
For you like this and the other
While I go for this and that.
Goodness knows what the end will be,
Oh, I don't know where I'm at...
It looks as if we two will never be one,
Something must be done.

You say eether and I say eyether,
You say neether and I say nyther,
Eether, eyether, neether, nyther,
Let's call the whole thing off!
You like potato and I like potahto,
You like tomato and I like tomahto,
Potato, potahto, tomato, tomahto!
Let's call the whole thing off!
But oh! If we call the whole thing off,
Then we must part.
And oh! If we ever part,
Then that might break my heart!
So, if you like pajamas and I like pajahmas,
I'll wear pajamas and give up pajahmas.
For we know we need each other,
So we better call the calling off off.
Let's call the whole thing off!

You say laughter and I say lawfter,
You say after and I say awfter,
Laughter, lawfter, after, awfter,
Let's call the whole thing off!
You like vanilla and I like vanella,
You, sa's'parilla and I sa's'parella,
Vanilla, vanella, Choc'late, strawb'ry!
Let's call the whole thing off!
But oh! If we call the whole thing off,
Then we must part.
And oh! If we ever part,
Then that might break my heart!
So, if you go for oysters and I go for ersters
I'll order oysters and cancel the ersters.
For we know we need each other,
So we better call the calling off off!
Let's call the whole thing off!

"Hold the fort, I'll be back."

"Hold the fort: was a song popular on the Union side during the American Civil War. It had been written after the seige of Fort Henry during the War of 1812 (the same siege that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the poem that would become our national anthem.)

A typical order in a military encampment.

He was trapped inside some nightmarish snow globe.

Precisely when the first snow globe (also called a" waterglobe", "snowstorm", or "snowdome") was made remains unclear, but they appear to date from France during the early 19th century. They may have appeared as a successor to the glass paperweight, which became popular a few years earlier. Snow globes appeared at the Paris Universal Expo of 1878, and by 1879 at least five companies were producing snow globes and selling them throughout Europe.

In 1889, a snow globe containing a model of the newly built Eiffel Tower was produced to commemorate the International Exposition in Paris, which marked the centenary of the French Revolution. Snow globes became popular in England during the Victorian era and, in the early 1920s, crossed the Atlantic to the United States of America where they became a popular collectors item. Many of these globes were produced by Atlas Crystal Works, which had factories in Germany and America.

In the United States, the first snow globe-related patent was granted in 1927 to Joseph Garaja of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1929, Garaja convinced Novelty Pool Ornaments to manufacture a fish version underwater.

In America, during the 1940s, snow globes were often used for advertising. In Europe, during the 1940s and 1950s, religious snow globes were common gifts for Catholic children. Snow globes have appeared in a number of film scenes, the most famous of which is the opening of the 1941 classic Citizen Kane.

In the 1950s, the globes, which were previously made of glass, became available in plastic. Currently, there are many different types of snow globes available. These globes are produced by a number of countries and range from the mass produced versions of Hong Kong and China to the finely crafted types still produced in Germany. Snow globes feature diverse scenes, ranging from the typical holiday souvenirs to more eclectic collectibles featuring Christmas scenes, Disney characters, popular icons, animals, military figures, historical scenes, etc. Snow globes have even been used for election campaigns.

A history of snowdomes can be found in "Snowdomes" by Nancy McMichael.

Pacific Vortex: Chart room and more

Pg 78

"You'll find Commander Denver in the chart room."

The chart room is just what it sounds like, a room full of charts that can be placed on a lighted table so that positions can be plotted. Of course the room is also full of other equipment lining the walls.

Two of our oceanographic ships were conducting subbottom profiling and underwater acoustical tests in the Kurile Trench off Japan...

The Kuril–Kamchatka Trench or Kuril Trench (Russian: Курило-Камчатский жёлоб) is an oceanic trench in the northwest Pacific Ocean. It lies off the southeast coast of Kamchatka and parallels the Kuril Island chain to meet the Japan Trench east of Hokkaido. It extends from a triple junction with the Ulakhan Fault and the Aleutian Trench near the Commander Islands, Russia, in the northeast, to the intersection with the Japan Trench in the southwest.

The trench formed as a result of the subduction zone, which formed in the late Cretaceous, that created the Kuril island arc as well as the Kamchatka volcanic arc. The Pacific Plate is being subducted beneath the Okhotsk Plate along the trench, resulting in intense volcanism.

"Another ship working over the Cayment Trench off Cuba came up with the identical contact."

This must be a typo. It is actually the Cayman Trench.
The Cayman Trough, (also known as the Cayman Trench, Bartlett Deep and Bartlett Trough) is a complex transform fault zone pull apart basin which contains a small spreading ridge on the floor of the western Caribbean Sea between Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. It is the deepest point in the Caribbean Sea and forms part of the tectonic boundary between the North American Plate and the Caribbean Plate. It extends from the Windward Passage, going south of the Sierra Maestra of Cuba toward Guatemala. The transform continues onshore as the Motagua Fault, which cuts across Guatemala and extends offshore under the Pacific Ocean, where it intersects the Middle America Trench subduction zone.

The relatively narrow trough trends east-northeast to west-southwest and has a maximum depth of 7,686 metres (25,217 ft). Within the trough is a slowly spreading north-south ridge which may be the result of an offset or gap of approximately 420 kilometres (260 mi) along the main fault trace. The Cayman spreading ridge shows a long-term opening rate of 11–12 mm/yr.

The eastern section of the trough has been named the Gonâve Microplate. The Gonâve plate extends from the spreading ridge east to the island of Hispanola. It is bounded on the north by the Oriente and Septentrional fault zones. On the south the Gonâve is bounded by the Walton fault, the Jamaica restraining bend and the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault zone. The two bounding strike slip fault zones are left lateral. The motion relative to the North American Plate is 11 mm/yr to the east and the motion relative to the Caribbean Plate is 8 mm/yr.

During the Eocene the trough was the site of a subduction zone which formed the volcanic arc of the Cayman Ridge and the Sierra Maestra volcanic terrain of Cuba to the north, as the northeastward-moving Caribbean Plate was subducted beneath the southwest-moving North American Plate, or as some researchers contend, beneath a plate fragment dubbed the East Cuban Microplate.

In 2010 a UK team from the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton (NOCS), equipped with an autonomously controlled, robot submarine, began mapping the full extent of the trench and discovered black smokers on the ocean floor at a depth of 3.1 miles (5 kilometers), the deepest yet found. In January 2012, the researchers announced that water exits the vents at a temperature possibly exceeding 450C, making them among the hottest known undersea vents. They also announced the discovery of new species, including an eyeless shrimp with a light-sensing organ on its back.