On a thread some ago it was asked what people would do if godlike abililities were bestowed on them, I said I’d take a pretty much hands off approach but to show off my neat local omnipotence and snazzy new powers I’d instantly and harmlessly teleport every single warship and submarine plus crew into a lake deep in the interior of a continent.
It would make good TV apart from anything else.
Anyway, while mulling over this scenario again today (got to be prepared, just in case, you know) I was wondering how large a lake would actually be needed (one that’s only just big enough to hold them all, but large enough to let the submarines surface). Are any lakes already suitable or do I have to go to the bother and actually make one? sighs audibly
I’m sure there’s a suitable lake out there somewhere. According to wikipedia there’s about 3000 warships in service world wide with displacements over 250 tons. Considering how many of those are patrol boats and such, I’ll bet the average surface area of them is somewhat less than an acre. According to this list of lakes in Minnesota there’s at least a dozen in the 3000ish acreage range. You might have to try a few first but, hey, it ain’t easy being omnipotent.
You would think a large lake would be required. But if you’re only looking at surface area, the size of the lake would be a lot smaller than you would imagine.
Still, at least I don’t have to make my own damn lake, can you imagine the paperwork?
That’s why I mentioned that the lake should be only just large enough to hold them all, it would be a lot more entertaining if the Kuznetsov was jammed up against the USS Carl Vinson, wouldn’t it? (or put a North Korean ship beside an American one! Something to consider…)
Well I was trying to make a point about the militaristic nature of man or something…I don’t know, it seemed like a good idea at the time…
I’m going for the whole benign diety thing, could try the wrath and destruction later if that loses its entertainment value.
That’s a bit harsh, way to dent the self-esteem of a newly incarnated minorly godlike posthuman entity.
Crater Lake in Oregon has a surface area of over 14,000 acres. If Greasy Jack is right about the 3,000 acre figure, or even close, then it’ll be no problem. As a bonus, Crater Lake is definitely deep enough for even the largest ships to avoid bottoming out.
Ulithi Atoll might be useful for comparison’s sake. According to wikepedia, the lagoon there is 212 square miles. During WWII, a survey team estimated that 700 ships could be anchored there. Chart of the berthing plan.
