Talk:TSMS Lakonia

WikiProject class rating

This article was automatically assessed because at least one WikiProject had rated the article as start, and the rating on other projects was brought up to start class. BetacommandBot 17:01, 9 November 2007 (UTC)

Dubious

Mmccalpin, you provided a citation in support of the statement that

• The ship was about 180 miles (290 km) north of Madeira.

But it is to a book, Marine Fire Prevention, Firefighting and Fire Safety at page 46, to which you obviously have access. What, exactly, does that book say the distance was? Is it like this one here, saying "180 miles (290 km)"? I doubt it.

I think this is still dubious, unless you can provide a quote from the book which either gives that distance in kilometers, else gives that distance in miles which are clearly identified, with no ambiguity. Can you do so?

And, if they are indeed statute miles as the 290 km implies, they need to be specifically identified as such, in accordance with common sense (and for once it is something for which the guidance Wikipedia:Manual of Style (dates and numbers) uses common sense—"Use nautical mile or statute mile rather than mile in nautical and aeronautical contexts."). If they are not, they need to be properly converted to 330 km, not 290 km, and should still be specifically identified for clarity. Gene Nygaard (talk) 05:02, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for clarifying your original edit. I was head-faked by the fact that a location 180 miles north of Madeira is just barely north of due west of Casablanca, not northwest stated in the previous text: I considered the possibility that somehow that error was part of your meaning. Only after your above explanation did I consider statute vs nautical miles... d'oh!

I have now edited out any mention of kilometers and have added a clarifying footnote that the available sources are unclear which mile being used. Also, I have added the URL from which I found the two citations. I had hoped to find a source with lat/long information to put the matter to rest, but alas, none have yet turned up.

In any case, thanks again for your eye for detail. Mmccalpin (talk) 16:22, 25 December 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for looking into it. I should have been clearer the first time around that I thought it was more likely they'd be nautical miles. Gene Nygaard (talk) 11:13, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

It's a routine navigational calculation (and not Original Research!) to get the distance between two Lat/Long positions A and B. (The two key assumptions / approximations are tht the Earth is a sphere, and, at the equator, 1min (1°/60) is 1 nautical mile (1 n.m.). That means a complete circle of constant Longitude is 360 x 60 = 21600 n.m. .. same for the circle of Latitude at the Equator; the complication with Latitude is tht the circles get smaller as u get closer to the Poles - obviously, kind-of: the 'circle' of Latitude at 90°N is the North Pole - so cosines get into the act.) The basis of the calculation is a triangle, on the Earth's surface, linking A and B and with a corner C on the same Lat as A, same Long as B. AC and BC are direct to calculate (applying the cos(Lat) adjustment to AC). The triangle is not completely flat; it's possible to correct for this, by another stage of calculation, but if A, B & C are reasonably close it's (third & final approximation) flattish; and applying Pythagoras's theorem with the figures for AC and BC gives the distance A-to-B.

Taking the stated position, and relating it to the Lat/Long for Funchal (capital of Madeira), gives a distance of 203 stat. miles / 176 n.m. / 327km, at a bearing of 028°(T), aka NNE-ish. In the article I've revised the Note, putting some of this detail in it (and using the statute-miles / kilometres figures in the main text, as being familiar to the general readership). 2A04:B2C2:405:EB00:C54F:9BF6:E166:B4A2 (talk) 17:21, 30 December 2023 (UTC)

Postwar service

The Johan van Oldenbarnevelt was refitted again in 1958 at a cost of A$800,000.

How can this be? The Australian dollar didn't exist before 1966. Was it A£400,000 (the dollar was introduced at 2 to the Australian Pound), or A£800,000 perhaps? -- Arwel Parry (talk) 18:09, 19 December 2016 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page has been nominated for deletion

The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page has been nominated for deletion:

• TSMS Lakonia.JPG

Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 12:52, 31 August 2019 (UTC)