Re: GREAT MOMENTS IN MILITARY PLANNING

[Brian Whatcott <betwys@SBCGLOBAL.NET>]

At 12:50 AM 6/7/2003 -0700,  BC, you wrote:
> What I find interesting is the material contemplated was a composite of
> wood pulp and ice.
>
> When I taught engineering materials, I gave a home work assignment
> for the students to make composites of ice and materials of their choice.
>  We then Charpy tested them, quickly.  Before I assigned this I first
>  made one of frozen Jell-O.  I'm still amazed at what a little gelatin
> does for ice.
>
> "DEFENSE TECH - As the Allies prepared to invade occupied Europe in 1942,
> a truly nutty idea swept through the British military hierarchy: build
> giant aircraft carriers made of ice.
/snip/
>  <http://64.207.156.228/>


This puff by Noah for Daddy's new book reminds me of the more recent
iceberg saga: an entrepreneurial scheme to tow icebergs to LA for a
fresh water supply.

Browsing the net offerings, I see reports of various towed icebergs in this
conference proceedings  (Iowa, 1977)  here:
 <http://www.desline.com/proceedings/06-tc.html>

Surprizing to read  elsewhere that "In 1773, Captain James Cook collected
fifteen tons
of Antarctic icebergs for fresh water on his ship The Resolution, and today,
 Alaskan icebergs are harvested and sold as gourmet ice cubes in Japan."

Brian Whatcott   Altus OK