tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post4357807786232205810..comments2023-11-10T04:17:00.492-05:00Comments on View From The Porch: Today In History: A very long run for a very short slide.Tamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07285540310465422476noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-9522235496471249562008-05-28T21:00:00.000-04:002008-05-28T21:00:00.000-04:00Somewhere I read or heard that the Pearl Harbor at...Somewhere I read or heard that the Pearl Harbor attack was preceded by an official Declaration of War delivered to the Japanese Embassy in D.C. and that it was So Super Seekrit Sensitive that the code room staff was sent home and the diplomats tackled the job (perhaps using the legendary Purple Machine?) with predictable results.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-79653296813995003072008-05-28T19:58:00.000-04:002008-05-28T19:58:00.000-04:00Great post! My dear old departed dad (a first gen...Great post! My dear old departed dad (a first generation American whose parents came over on the borscht boat from Holy Mother Russia) would wax poetic about that epic journey and curse the damned British for their aid to the Japs. As I recall, the Russkie fleet actually shot up some limey fishing boats during the trip, either for the hell of it or because they believed them to be torpedo boats. And didn't one of the Czar's fleet end up in the P.I.?alex.https://www.blogger.com/profile/15692445096986876284noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-79677092896895580142008-05-28T17:51:00.000-04:002008-05-28T17:51:00.000-04:00But if it had been a railroad into Leningrad, inst...But if it had been a railroad into Leningrad, instead of an ice road?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-91131882190217339692008-05-28T16:53:00.000-04:002008-05-28T16:53:00.000-04:00The ice road over Lake Ladoga helped save Leningra...The ice road over Lake Ladoga helped save Leningrad....Kenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04780425923108876647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-31708207079142933772008-05-28T15:48:00.000-04:002008-05-28T15:48:00.000-04:00"Frozen lakes are generally considered a blessing ..."Frozen lakes are generally considered a blessing from god in Permafrost country.<BR/><BR/>You can move stuff easily on ice."<BR/><BR/>Generally, yes they are a blessing, unless they are keeping you from running troop and supply trains from Moscow to Vladivostok.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-7221263883640981472008-05-28T13:53:00.000-04:002008-05-28T13:53:00.000-04:00John Van Duyn Southworth devotes considerable spac...John Van Duyn Southworth devotes considerable space to the Russo-Japanese naval war in his highly readable <I>War at Sea: Age of Steam</I> (vol. 3 of a four-volume set). There's also a nice operational history of the ironclad <I>Huascar</I> in there.Kenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04780425923108876647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-62472108807183165722008-05-28T08:41:00.000-04:002008-05-28T08:41:00.000-04:00"They were also somewhat hamstrung by a small lake..."They were also somewhat hamstrung by a small lake in Siberia, to the point that they ran trains over the ice, until it thawed in the spring."<BR/><BR/>Frozen lakes are generally considered a blessing from god in Permafrost country.<BR/><BR/>You can move stuff easily on ice, but unfrozen bogs and lakes are a a misery in every sense.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-40398151314337363102008-05-28T08:23:00.000-04:002008-05-28T08:23:00.000-04:00They were also somewhat hamstrung by a small lake ...They were also somewhat hamstrung by a small lake in Siberia, to the point that they ran trains over the ice, until it thawed in the spring.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-11391020044169878142008-05-28T08:21:00.000-04:002008-05-28T08:21:00.000-04:00The Tsar wasn't up to the task of world domninatio...The Tsar wasn't up to the task of world domnination, but then neither were the Japanese, and Teddy would win a peace prize. Lovely old coal fired battleships, what lovely trench warfare in Asia unstudied by the General Staffs of Europe. Hindsight is marvelously clear, and still the past will haunt our future. Nice to remember, you and I make two.Earlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14794620086508373660noreply@blogger.com