History Trivia Thread Reducks

[Alatriste]

Should I post the answer?

Hah, I just found the answer through the google.

I wonder if it's the same I read.

OK, it's true white uniforms could be 'cleaned' with dirt and even with chalk too (all armies used chalk to 'clean' white leather equipment, by the way) mainly because they weren't truely white but natural wool... they would probably look a a very pale cream or gray to us.

And that's the reason, that white uniforms weren't dyed. Dyes were so bad in those days that uniforms of other colors looked old and worn out in far less time than white ones. In addition white uniforms were cheaper, making them even more attractive for cash starved Austria.

I was going to make another question, what trick did soldiers use to hide holes in their shoes if they had a parade, etc (answer: paint their feet black with shoe polish) but I have already made two...

@MadInmortalMan

Forget about getting the color right. In those days, prior to the Industrial Revolution, that was an unachievable dream... Regiments tried hard to achieve uniformity but memories from this epoch leave it abundantly clear that many battalions in campaign were indeed a motley crew, with civilian pants, coats from several batches that didn't really match, etc, etc...

For example many French battalions in Spain in 1809-10 were indeed in a sorry state, with a mix of blue and white coats, bicorns and shakos, all in the same unit...

[ulmont]

I wonder if it's the same I read.

OK, it's true white uniforms could be 'cleaned' with dirt and even with chalk too (all armies used chalk to 'clean' white leather equipment, by the way) mainly because they weren't truely white but natural wool... they would probably look a a very pale cream or gray to us.

The one I read just said they could be 'cleaned' with chalk, missing the dirt, but otherwise yes.

[grumbler]

The one I read just said they could be 'cleaned' with chalk, missing the dirt, but otherwise yes.

They commonly used pipe clay, which is a white "dirt" (not really a clay unless mixed with water) that was cheap and covered up the stains (until the next rain, anyway).  Chalk was also used, but was more expensive. 

Leaving the uniforms undyed also was cheaper.  The Napoleonic French army experimented with white uniforms for the same reasons.

[grumbler]

Here's a softball:  why is the commanding officer of a warship always called "captain?"

[The Brain]

Here's a softball:  why is the commanding officer of a warship always called "captain?"

Ego?

[grumbler]

Ego?

More like "super ego" from my experience.

[Admiral Yi]

It simplified signalling?

[BuddhaRhubarb]

"Commodore" sounded too gay?

[Eddie Teach]

Here's a softball:  why is the commanding officer of a warship always called "captain?"

Tradition!

[grumbler]

Tradition!

You are on the right track.

Biggish hint:  it is the same reason the crew is called "the ship's company."

[Alatriste]

I didn't want to answer because, if I'm right, it's quite related with Spanish history. Anyway... during the XVI century the biggest ships, the galleons for example, carried one company of infantry... commanded by a captain. In consequence, the ships had to be commanded by captains to avoid the godamned landlubbers being in charge!

[Alatriste]

I take the floor, gentlemen.

Napoleonic trivia, part MMCLVIII: Russian warships of this era had a much shorter life span than those of other powers, quite a few were scrapped after barely 10 years afloat. Why?

[Sophie Scholl]

Usage of inferior wood?  Not aged long enough so it warped or something?  No idea.

[Syt]

I guess it has something to do with faulty reactor shielding.

[Alatriste]

Usage of inferior wood?  Not aged long enough so it warped or something?  No idea.

Indeed, the wood the Russians used wasn't 'cured' long enough (a process that took years in English, French, Spanish or Dutch shipyards) but why did they use that wood?