It's not often you see a battleship about to be rammed by a giant swan.
March 12, 2009 5:16 AM Subscribe
The Smallest Manned Navy in the World
In the seaside town of Scarborough (home of officially the best donkeys in the UK) in Northeast England, spectacular naval battles are recreated thrice-weekly in the summer months. Council employees steer the replica battleships with their feet leaving their hands free to operate the guns. That is, if a new enemy doesn't scupper the show.
In the seaside town of Scarborough (home of officially the best donkeys in the UK) in Northeast England, spectacular naval battles are recreated thrice-weekly in the summer months. Council employees steer the replica battleships with their feet leaving their hands free to operate the guns. That is, if a new enemy doesn't scupper the show.
I wish I had a lake where I have these mock battles.... :>( My life sucks now.
posted by Mastercheddaar at 5:40 AM on March 12, 2009
posted by Mastercheddaar at 5:40 AM on March 12, 2009
Gotta love it. Rabid enthusiasts of any arcane subject help to make life more interesting for those of us not-so-rabid livers of ordinary lives. Hats off!
posted by Devils Rancher at 6:07 AM on March 12, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by Devils Rancher at 6:07 AM on March 12, 2009 [1 favorite]
From the "naval battles" link: It's not often you see a battleship about to be rammed by a giant swan.
Speak for yourself.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:13 AM on March 12, 2009
Speak for yourself.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:13 AM on March 12, 2009
Awesome. I'd love to see them build additional ship types and do Greek, Roman, Norse, etc too.
posted by DU at 6:22 AM on March 12, 2009
posted by DU at 6:22 AM on March 12, 2009
good stuff, thanks! Also well done for linking to the ever-wonderful House of the
Orange Monkey (previously, wearing hats)
posted by patricio at 7:08 AM on March 12, 2009
Orange Monkey (previously, wearing hats)
posted by patricio at 7:08 AM on March 12, 2009
For shame, I've not seen one of these battles, despite many happy days spent in Scarborough. However, my mother once saw one and enthused so wildly about '...the little ships! ...and they really fire at each other!' that it must be ten times better than you can possibly imagine.
(Oh, and Scarborough beats every other seaside in England hands down, just so you know.)
posted by Sova at 7:35 AM on March 12, 2009
(Oh, and Scarborough beats every other seaside in England hands down, just so you know.)
posted by Sova at 7:35 AM on March 12, 2009
Scarborough Evening News definitely needs to hire a guy with a camera.
posted by crapmatic at 9:31 AM on March 12, 2009
posted by crapmatic at 9:31 AM on March 12, 2009
I would so love to have one of those to put in the river by my house. Some punk on a jet-ski would buzz be and I could swing the turrets his way and open fire!
posted by TedW at 9:39 AM on March 12, 2009
posted by TedW at 9:39 AM on March 12, 2009
In Salem, we do this full size.
I would love to combine this with replicas of modern ships and little model airplanes launching off model carriers and model rockets launched from model missile cruisers. Dangerous, I imagine.
posted by mkb at 10:04 AM on March 12, 2009
I would love to combine this with replicas of modern ships and little model airplanes launching off model carriers and model rockets launched from model missile cruisers. Dangerous, I imagine.
posted by mkb at 10:04 AM on March 12, 2009
I'd love to see them build additional ship types and do Greek, Roman...
Only if there are tiny slaves and a drummer.
RAMMING SPEED!
posted by GuyZero at 10:30 AM on March 12, 2009
Only if there are tiny slaves and a drummer.
RAMMING SPEED!
posted by GuyZero at 10:30 AM on March 12, 2009
I'm sure I saw this as a little kid, I know we had a least one holiday up there... or perhaps it's just wish fulfillment. Still, makes me proud to be British.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 10:30 AM on March 12, 2009
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 10:30 AM on March 12, 2009
Nice post. I could probably do something cool like this too if I didn't spend so much time reading about and looking at the websites of folks that do it and making pithy comments about it. Maybe I should -- Ooh! Diamond theft story. Hold that thought.
posted by Ufez Jones at 11:09 AM on March 12, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by Ufez Jones at 11:09 AM on March 12, 2009 [1 favorite]
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posted by Pants! at 5:30 AM on March 12, 2009