Did SS Warrimoo Sail From One Century Into Another At the Equator & International Date Line?

One Ship in Two Centuries?

What's Going on With Shipping?
December 30, 2022

In this episode, Sal Mercogliano - maritime historian at Campbell University and former merchant mariner - tackles the strange story of the SS Warrimoo that supposedly sailed into 20th century from the 19th century at the intersection of the International Date Line and Equator on December 31, 1899 into January 1, 1900.

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One ship in two centuries: the strange tale of the SS Warrimoo

Using a Sextant

Dava Sobel, Longitude

Moon Phase for Monday January 1st, 1900

[thereissomecoolstuff]

Excellent explanation on celestial nav Sal. One of the best. Happy New Year.

[patriciatennery]

You are wonderful. What is terrific is that I, yes little me, understood all of it!! Oh, my! ❤❤

[mikesarno]

They could totally have done it! They could have routed their chart plotter through VR goggles and actually seen the equator and international date line on the surface of the ocean. The real problem would have been flushing a toilet while crossing the equator; the opposing forces would make the water shoot straight up!

[edshelden]

Great story Sal and very well explained. There was A similar story to this, on December 31, 1999 and January 1, 2000.
Are United States nuclear submarine was at that location at the stroke of midnight. A day or so later recording was played on I think KGO radio AMS San Francisco of the community officer explaining where they were exactly what time they were doing it.
I never heard a repeat of the broadcast after that.🎉

[robertlevine]

Sal,

Interesting. About the time I retired one of the suppliers of navigation equipment was marketing a system that used two GLONASS (Russian GPS equivalent [?]), one forward and one aft. The idea was you could measure two positions at once. Theoretically you were able calculate; latitude, longitude, draft, trim, list, rate of turn, distance off docks, closure speeds and there may have been others.

Being a natural born skeptic I didn't pay much attention. Based on information from the war in Ukraine, my guess is GLONASS is not equivalent to GPS, otherwise Russian pilots would not need commercial GPS receivers. My skepticism was most likely correct.

I am not sure if there is still a USCG requirement that ships be fitted with two different electronic positioning systems. Radio Direction Finders (RDF) never worked. LORAN C was shut down because of cost. So, if compliance was to be done GPS and GLONASS receivers were required.

Sea story time. One of the Masters I worked with was telling sea stories. He claimed that when he was a Chief Mate he came up to the bridge to see the Master. The Third Mate had the watch. The Master was on the bridge doing Master things. The ship was on the Autopilot away from anywhere. The Master told the Third Mate to fix the position using the sextant and that he'd watch the bridge. When the Third Mate went out on the bridge wing the Master said "watch this." He went over to the console, took the ship off Autopilot and put the rudder hard over. The Third Mate kept the sextant fixed on the sun, turning 360° as the ship turned.

Nice video to end the year. Tell your students they're lucky to have you as their teacher. Where else can they hear sea going urban legends debunked, see Lego container ships, or have the size of the container ship fleet illustrated using giant Lego blocks.

Have a Happy New Year!

Bob

[TheoSmith]

Sal, I read 'Longitude' while crossing the Atlantic years back....great read. It was mixed in with my SO 239 tables. Another good read if I may, is The Frozen Water Trade, Gavin Weightman..have a wonderful 2023, and I look forward to your edifications

[jimharrison]

Great video Sal. I remember doing celestial navigation during a night watch in 1970 about half way between Midway and Tokyo on USCGC Pontchartrain on a calm full moon night where I could see a good horizon at about midnighI and I agree that it would have been impossible to do it on a new moon night. The horizon would have been impossible to see. I enjoy your videos but I really see the changes that have occurred in the last 52 years in both ships and technology.

[mgv]

I’m so glad I was a (Deck & Engine) Cadet in the early 70’s Celestial Navigation& rounds for taking logs. We also had LORAN A and C. We also had RDF but I didn’t like using it. Using the Air Almanac made picking the best stars so easy. I love doing an amplitude for gryo error.

[SuperRedeu]

@Sal Thanks for the sextant for dummies explanation, I always wondered about some of the things that you touched on. Folklore is something that quite often doesn't pass the sniff test as you so excellently pointed out. Finally I now know how much work went into the early explorers like Capt. Vancouver & Capt. Cook (and others) who did much of the exploration in the Pacific around the soon to be named British Columbia. Thanks as always for a thoughtful video.

[davidwilson]

Sal you just made me get my 1888 sextant out. If anyone doesn’t believe in navigating with this device you would be surprised that the USA Navy demands that all senior officers are required to know how to use it. I am not in the navy. But my dad was from the Coast Guard. He taught me how to do it when I was 8. Old school. Great video 😃👍

[soyoucametosee]

It could have been. However it makes a great story to tell all the Junior Sailors! Some things just have to be chalked up to legends.

[michaelogden]

If they did it exactly or not, it was still a fun idea!

[bazza]

"Steamship of 3528 tons, built in 1892 for J Huddart & Co (later Huddart Parker). Taken over by the New Zealand Shipping Co., and in 1901 purchased by the Union Steam Ship Co. Used as a troopship in World War I. Sold to Eastern buyers in 1916, and sank in a collision in 1918."

Info: National Library of New Zealand.

[m.streicher]

This doesn't ruin the story for me, I still think it's close enough to be impressive and worth remembering.

[AllNighterHeider]

That was a fun one, looking forward to the book. Thanks Sal!!!

[mustavogaia]

And Sal, it is a good idea to show images of the nautical twilight. Many people might not realize how bright stars would look like on open seas.

[rickrogers]

Adam and Jamie from Mythbusters would be proud. Happy New Year Dr. Sal and thank you for another year of great content.

[mustavogaia]

Scifi extrapolation: at some point, a ship will arrive in another point of the universe before a ship that never knew the first ship even existed. The second one could be travelling at a high fraction of the speed of light, but the first one might be the maiden voyage thru a wormhole.

[tpaw]

Happy New Year President Sal. You have a great historic mind. Thank you for a great year Blessings to you in 3023. ❤️🙏👍

[petermargie]

It interesting to note that the Navy, Coast Guard etc....still teach celestial navigation not just because of tradition but because GPS could stop working for a variety or reasons....