The wrangle at Wrangell Island

[Joe C-P]

Two vessels in progress, back story being built.

[The Rat]

Clarify: Wrangell, in Alaska, or Wrangel, in Russia? If it's got "LL", it's Alaska, and it's below 60°

Wrangel Island has an interesting history. For some reason, the last ice age seems to have forgotten about it, and left it bare while covering everything around it. And it was the last stand for the mammoth; the last one keeled over into the tundra when the Great Pyramid was over 800 years old.

[Joe C-P]

Wrangel, not Wrangell.  The one above Siberia with one L, the last stand of the mammoth.

This is fun to work on, had a couple spare ship models from another project.  I bought a set of four and the seller gave me extras!

[Joe C-P]

Okay, the models and diorama are pretty much done, I need to complete the back story.

[Joe C-P]

1860.

In the third year of the undeclared War of the Arctic, on October 17 (October 5 on the Russian calendar) ships of the USN and Tsar's Royal Navy arrived at Wrangel Island, north of Siberia, anchoring just out of sight of one another on the same day, planted flags and began to construct housing while exploring the interior of the

The US had sent the steam-sail frigate USS Draco and the steam sloop USRC Polaris, arriving on the western south shore of the island soon after dawn of the 17th.  The Tsar's Navy ship Great Bear anchored late that afternoon on the west coast, just a few miles away.  Each planted their flag, claiming the island as New Columbia for the US and Tsarina Island for Russia.

The next day both ships spotted the tops of the others' masts.  Groups set forth from each to confront the other.  They stuck with shouting, though no one in either side spoke the other's language.  Finally a young USN Lieutenant Llingal, student of multiple languages at the Academy, tried German and then French, which some of the Russian spoke, and a conversation finally was struck up, establishing a rapport, still tense, over their mutual claims and presence. 

All three ships would be trapped there over the winter, as planned, as they undertook competing surveys of the island, naming features on drawn charts.

Christmases came, dark yet peaceful night, twice for the ship's crews.  The first, for the Americans, saw the first diplomatic gesture as the US captains invited their counterpart officers to dine with them on the Eve, a gesture returned on the Day.  For the Orthodox Christmas a far more elaborate affair found the crews meeting, at first reluctantly after months of mutual antagonism, loosened by rum and vodka and singing so that the Americans had to sleep it off on the overcrowded Great Bear, rather than risking even the short trip back to their ships.

With that the crews took up a more friendly rivalry. Both still intended to keep the island for their countries, but shared information to a degree, and once the Russians helped a US group stuck in deep snow.

As spring and sunlight returned, and the ice thinned, the crews came up with a challenge: they'd race ships in opposite directions to directions around the island, and whichever team had gone further when they met would win and could claim the island.

The Great Bear and Polaris set off, breaking through the thinned ice to force their way around.  By the time they met on the north side of the island both claimed to have won, based on competing measurements and surveys.  After lengthy and loud debate they settled on continuing to sail around, since the arrival at the starting point would be definitive. 

At the other end USS Draco waited, and soon out of caution her captain set sail to the west and north.  They met Polaris on her journey, which gained her an advantage as Draco had loosened a path through the ice. They arrived back at their anchorage before Great Bear appeared, where they waited for a day. When she still didn't appear they set out toward her, only to find her stuck on a hidden spit of land just under the surface, one having sailed too close to shore in the effort to win.  The Americans kindly towed the Russians off, and after another lively celebration parted ways for home.

Legends later spread by both ships' crews claimed the Russians shot and killed a great hairy elephant, the last living mammoth in the world.  Later evidence proved the last died millennia before.  Bones, especially tusks, were collected for both scientific and profit purposes, the ivory tusks valuable, teeth gathered by the sailors for scrimshaw.

The competing claims of the countries became moot when the Tsar sold Alaska to the US with the proviso they drop their claim to all lands above Siberia.

[The Rat]

  

[Glenn Gilbertson]

That story gave me a good chuckle!

[Captain Canada]

What a great read ! Very well done. Cheers !

[Wardukw]

Yep I enjoyed that