Mio caro Alessandro.
Surely you don't give credence to ANYTHING that Netflix broadcasts?🙄
NETFLIX is a pure fiction channel; action, adventure, fantasy, drama.
Sometimes based on a single historical or scientific fact/premise.
But then extrapolated exponentially into the realms of Sci-Fi / fantasy.

'The Vikings' series I watched a few years ago was a serious documentary about the rise and fall of the influence of the Nordic races. From marauders and conquerors through to peaceful traders when they had spread across Europe.
The series was supported and presented by researchers from various Universities and scientific institutions from the US, Scandinavia and Europe.
Might have been from National Geographic, History Channel or even the excellent German series Terra X.
Whichever; the use of the Sun stone (a.k.a Iceland Spar, Feldspar or Felspar) was convincingly demonstrated and explained during a journey on a replica iconic Viking ship.

Ciao, Doug😎
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunstone_(medieval)
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonnenstein_(Wikinger)

My Dear Oxford-Dave,
Surely you are not insinuating that our dearly beloved, 'Holier than thou' Better Biscuit Company is a purveyor of Fake News?!😉

Cheers, Doug😎

Hi Oxford-Dave it's true what you say.
In the series Vikings which aired recently (in recent years) on Netflix in Italy there are all kinds of historical errors. From the clothes, to the weapons, to the names, to the simple succession of events there are errors after errors, even gross ones.
However, perhaps the only thing they got right is the sunstone.
Apparently there are studies that confirm this.

Quite honestly, I really wouldn't believe much of what you see & hear on TV.
I worked for a national television company for 16 years, and became increasingly sceptical as each year passed.

Heyyyyy!!
Thanks for the clarifying words and information! As I said, now a landlubber knows a bit more about ship lore. . . 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Michel-C.
PS: I think I have to downgrade myself, with this ignorance . . .

I agree with Simplesailor.

I had heard about the sunstone and had seen some films and TV series that talked about it.
However (since it was fiction) I never gave it serious consideration.

This article taken from Focus (a medium-reliable popular magazine) talks about it as if it were something that really exists. Here's what he writes:

"""""""""""""""""""""Satellite navigator enthusiasts would never think of using crystals to orient themselves. Yet that is exactly how the Vikings sailed the seas, using the "grandmother" of the compass and magnetic compass. Recently, some Hungarian researchers discovered the existence of some "sunstones", used to navigate safely even when the sun was obscured by fog or clouds. They are particular prisms of Cordierite, a magnetic rock that exploits the polarization of natural light and changes color depending on the inclination of the sun. Nordic sailors used it to look at the sky, as is usually done with the slides used to observe solar eclipses. From the refraction and color of the stone, they were thus able to deduce the position of the sun and, therefore, the cardinal points. The discovery puts an end to a decades-long debate: although the use of sunstones was a hypothesis from a few decades ago, no finds had ever been found and the only evidence remained the epic sagas and some ship's logs. One of the darkest mysteries about the men of the North, who around the year 1000 managed to explore a good part of the Arctic Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, could thus be revealed."""""""""""""""""

Icelandic calcite no less!

Well I got that right by guess work. However the description of how the sunstone works is a bit off. "(a form of calcite), which could detect the direction of polarized light in the sky." The calcite crystal could not detect anything, it is the user that is detecting and using the polarised light with their eyes. I must look into this a bit more because to find a bit of crystal, look into it and then have a eureka moment by thinking, "Wow I could use this for navigation" is interesting. Sorry for the rant. Bad head this morning 😂😂😂

There was a tv show aired some time ago and the presenter sailed with the Viking recreated longship in Norway where they compared the sunstone with modern navigation methods. The results were pretty close...

Well, this new format and new questions are refreshing but I don’t think it will be long before I am sitting in the corner with a dunces cap on.

Mike..
https://images.app.goo.gl/H2TUkei1JAsArUmW6

🤔🤔🤔🤔
Can someone explain what a ‘sunstone’ is?
Bb Michel-C.

Answer just come through and I think it is wrong, again. Oh! dear.

Just checked with Wiki and they agree with me!

The existence of sunstones is still debated among scholars, but recent archaeological finds have supported the theory that they may have been used by Vikings for navigation. Nevertheless, the Norse Compass remained the primary tool for Viking navigators, providing a reliable and accurate means of finding their way across the open seas.

Also a compass of whatever type does not give your position at sea only the direction you are travelling in.
Roy

Something is screwed up here! I have been told I have previously entered and it refuses to say whether I was right or not. So I cannot see other posts. BTW I went for magnetic.
GRRRRR
Roy

Got it wrong, but good question. Caused us to think and the explanation was interesting.

Got today's answer right, but my score has gone down from 73% to 70% - doesn't make sense to my addled brain!

Finally got one right, good guess 🥴

Triton was not commissioned until 27 September 1959. I don’t know how she could have gone through the strait in February.

I opted for the British sub as Gibraltar is British. Wrong again!

Mike Stoney. By the look of your post today I think ypou must have done the same as me, !!!!Sh** !! GOT IT WRONG TODAY.

I have now dropped another three %, for getting one wrong. It will now take god now how many to get right to jump up the 1% back up to my 70% again.

Wrong again! B****r!
Roy

!!!! Sh** !!
**
**

oh sorrry . . .
Michel-C.

Well I got that one wrong after considerable research, I couldn't find anything out about the Straights of Gibraltar and submarines. Only that the USS Triton was launched in August 1958 and commissioned in November 1959. So maybe the running through the straits was done on her shake down trials.☹️

Thanks for the lexical clarifications Doug. Much appreciated.
Even though I didn't know the English terminology, I was convinced that the term "sail" was not a technical term but had been added later (almost like a nickname).
I have to remember this term: "Conning Tower".

Hi Nick,
Re "I was under the impression it was Amundson in the Goja, nkt St Roch.. "
Amundsen's trip in the Gjøa was in 1903-1906 and was through the Northwest Passage from East to West. The Gjøa only has a small 13HP auxiliary motor. Presumably for manoeuvring in harbour. It relied on sails for voyaging. The journey took so long because it was icebound for two years.
St Roch had a 150HP engine which it used for it's traverse of the Northwest Passage, West to East, in the 1940s.

BTW This is also a recycled QoTD with revamped question formulation and answers.
BTW 2 Some years ago a Canadian (?) member posted a Blog/Thread of his building of a St Roch model.
Cheers, Doug😎

Oh! dear I am told I have entered already!
Wasn't me guv!
Roy

Hi Alessandro,
Re "The turret of the submarine ...", "the submarine cannot use a sail (which is actually a turret) ..."
Must be a translation problem. Submarines do not have turrets.
In various navies at various times the 'superstructure' of a submarine has been known as Conning Tower (German Kommandoturm), Fin (Dorsal😉) or Sail which I believe originated in the USN.
Definitions of turret from Oxford Language Dictionary-
- a small tower on top of a larger tower or at the corner of a building or wall, typically of a castle. "a castle with fairy-tale turrets"
- a low armoured tower, typically one that revolves, for a gun and gunners in a ship, aircraft, fort, or tank.
- a rotating holder for tools, especially on a lathe.
Ciao, Doug😎

"the first submarine to successfully sink an enemy warship ..."
A Pyrrhic victory as the submarine was also lost with all 8 crew members☹️
A 'recycled' previous question🙄

😎

Same here first time to answer question and tell me I already have, not true today.

I have just come on here for the first time today to enter the days question. And for some reason it tells me as I go to answer it comes up as I answer that I get it wrong and it's not the answer that I put. It tells me that I have already answered todays question. My % had dropped again, and I haven't been on here at all today We were watching stuff on the Firestick until 2am and I didn't get up until 11am and this is the first time I have been on the Model Boat Website today.
I JUST DO NOT GET THIS???????🙊🙊🙊😠😠

Mike, Bashibazooks! Troglodites! Vegetarians!

. . . . my answer . . . is in the picture below.
Michel-C.

Well, fell into that one and got it right. Will wonders never cease!

It were called the conning tower when I were a lad....

Indeed Hermank! Only the submarine cannot use a sail (which is actually a turret) to move. It only has its own propulsion (in this case nuclear).

Alessandro amigo italiano
It is indeed the wrong translation. They mean an engine

"Which of the following vessels was the first to successfully traverse the Northwest Passage entirely under its own power without the use of sails?"

Maybe I'm mistranslating but the phrase: "its own power without the use of sails?" it makes one think of a functional use of the sail (therefore a real sail and a word of the same name).
The turret of the submarine, even in very strong winds, will never be able to contribute to the propulsion of the submarine itself. Under no circumstances and under any conditions.

But. It has a SAIL. (it was excluded anyways)😁

(this is more fun than going out and shovelling snow😝 today)

Yes but it's not a real sail.
The protrusion called the sail on the submarine has no propulsive function (neither main nor auxiliary). That was the point of the question.

Isn't the section of the submarine that projects above the deck often called the sail?
(just disturbing the peace)

I thought they all had sails (except the Nautilus of course). I was wrong, but I'm not 100% convinced, some doubts remain.

Hi, the Billing kit of St. Roch loooks like a regular patrol boat. Owned and run by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Roy

https://au.images.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;_ylt=AwrjYlWJ1LFn8Zo0FgA36At.;_ylu=Y29sbwNncTEEcG9zAzEEdnRpZAMEc2VjA3Nj?p=Billing+kit+St.+Roch&ei=UTF-8&h=1083&type=f2%3A%3B.6850610d4680680b2811f3dcdca6be379af%3B5.ac48569fc081a6a1b52a8ef8e64166f19c0ca9cd289925759ba5c0534a4ff17f5111a60ddaee787ec434f84¶m2=9dUI1n2R0BLDxNuWfiP4aSFOTltNdSPoIx38%2BUf%2FiXrvPdoGmStdlfwLFZYDvqkAfvapUGDUlfVlBewW80EIyfLKqcMe%2BrjTiiTXa97n6AdssJTgfLcPRmWRuwVDa1h%2Bs5HlKXv86Prw1%2F83hnr0rTgE0oCG57RSfg1W54V4CEC5fCJps7pA%2BETvTmnnOJjAjxzIBCJrWdJrmjggq5AWB7ee8%2FvGIw7FMVEUILvoGFM%3D¶m3=HpCyCT2cXaKG4CVDR00rqudfjEw4Sq6mEyH4z8L%2BmqiTxt7LxZY21Hl9zNlEVA3BJ%2BNt4gyQ8JRFYOVBBz%2BlT2b1%2FkCN%2BEJctISPFpp3jUbcCugBCT2cWL15UAPotY%2BeBKRWHzVMKBQOBRZxpQ1CytNXZ2cH1SSFxRVxhsTaMFe9753Oyim%2FzWIKuKl9dFsCkeoENacZZ6YUU7cC5bLKzMjDM79CAtFwr4xFxejrtJ0P2kYymBUZ257btxkEFutVJioYXnZz8ECmsej4bQqCY0rEOzWpi4hBiFReth89z5ml%2FtQ2oTkhEdJms%2BdQIkGX&hsimp=yhs-syn_weatherprince&hspart=iba&fr=yhs-iba-syn_weatherprince

The St Roch was a schooner with sails and an auxiliary engine. Not quite a Nova Scotia fishing schooner, but a Canadian schooner built in the 1920's
Both Erebus and Terror were found in 2014 & 2016

I was going to buy the St. Roch kit and read about it in their blurb on the vessel.
Roy

I was under the impression it was Amundson in the Goja, nkt St Roch..

Well I got that wrong. As my teacher used to say "read the question two or three times before you answer" 😀

Hello to all modelers.
Even if the year is probably wrong the topic is very interesting. It is a fundamental transition period in navigation.
We already talked about this topic months ago in the forum.
In particular in message no. 16 of the topic entitled: "Do we want to talk about propellers?" (link at the end of the text) we talked about the first propellers and that of Ericsson (which however was certainly not the first ever).


https://model-boats.com/forum/135377

Number 21 here! I have not got a question wrong for over a month i.e. 30 days although I was absent at sea for 2 days but not presumed lost!
Roy

We got this right, lucky quest. Back on the board again as #20👍😊

EdW - that was the Northwest passage not the Northeast passage that the question was about.