History Quiz

**dave lukins** · 01 Nov 07,, 18:02

Originally Posted by Southie

OK, what was the name of the plane that dropped the second atomic bomb on Nagasaki?

I didn't know they dropped 2 bombs on Nagasaki

)

**Southie** · 01 Nov 07,, 18:54

Originally Posted by dave lukins

I didn't know they dropped 2 bombs on Nagasaki

)

From what I read the original (primary) target had been the city of Kokura, but it was bypassed due to heavy cloud cover. The plutonium-based bomb that was dropped was nicknamed "Fat Man". It was equivalent to 22,000 tons of TNT destroying nearly half the city and killed over 25,000 people with another estimated 45,000 later killed by radiation poisioning.

The History Place - Frequently Asked Questions

**Julie** · 01 Nov 07,, 19:39

Originally Posted by dave lukins

I didn't know they dropped 2 bombs on Nagasaki

)

Me either.

Wow, I'm learning something new everyday here.

**zraver** · 02 Nov 07,, 00:19

Bockscar

**glyn** · 02 Nov 07,, 00:37

Originally Posted by zraver

Bockscar

Correct

Your question.

**zraver** · 02 Nov 07,, 00:43

what size in millimeters was the British 20 pounder gun fitted to the first marks of the Centurion battle tank?

**temujin77** · 02 Nov 07,, 01:09

Originally Posted by zraver

what size in millimeters was the British 20 pounder gun fitted to the first marks of the Centurion battle tank?

That would be 84mm.

**zraver** · 02 Nov 07,, 01:11

Originally Posted by temujin77

That would be 84mm.

Good job your question.

**temujin77** · 02 Nov 07,, 01:22

Originally Posted by zraver

Good job your question.

Thank you.

Mine is a two-part question:

What were the original civilian names of the three Taiyo-class escort carriers? Why were they given those three original names?

**zraver** · 02 Nov 07,, 01:41

Kasuga Maru, Nitta Maru, and Yawata Maru started life as cruise ships

**temujin77** · 02 Nov 07,, 01:46

Originally Posted by zraver

Kasuga Maru, Nitta Maru, and Yawata Maru started life as cruise ships

Good job, you're half way there. Now, why were they given those three names?

Hint: Which company ran these civilian cruise ships?

**Ironduke** · 02 Nov 07,, 02:04

They were built by the NYK Line...

For the past few centuries, only non-warships bore the maru ending. It was intended to be used as a good hope naming convention that would allow the ship to leave port, travel the world, and return safely to home port--hence the complete circle arriving back to its origin unhurt.

**temujin77** · 02 Nov 07,, 02:20

Originally Posted by Ironduke

They were built by the NYK Line...

You're almost there, Ironduke...

Hint #2: Don't put so much stress on the Maru prefix. Look at the 3 names together.

**Julie** · 02 Nov 07,, 02:30

Nippon Yusen Kaisha ??

**temujin77** · 02 Nov 07,, 02:35

In the interest of keeping the trivia questions going, I'm going to reveal the answer!

In 1937, Japanese shipping company Nippon Yusen Kaisha decided to build three luxury passenger liners to compete with Germany's liners Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, and Potsdam. To brand them uniquely for Nippon Yusen Kaisha, the three ships were named Nitta Maru, Yawata Maru, and Kasuga Maru so that the initial letters of the three ships would spell out the acronym "NYK".

Quote from:
WW2DB: Taiyo-class Escort Carrier

They were named so that to the Europeans, whom these ships were built to compete with, these ships would come to symbolize not just the "NYK" name but also the strength of the Japanese civilian maritime fleet.

I'm going to pass the torch to ZRAVER, for he was the first to name the three ships.