[JenBurdoo] Where are we going again?

[JenBurdoo]

During a WWII Commando raid against the occupied British island of Guernsey, the crew of the ship carrying the landing force prepared carefully for their journey - a short journey with which they were quite familiar and had taken in peacetime. Yet, they got lost, and nearly dropped their passengers off on the wrong island. Why?

[GalFisk]

Was the journey complicated by it being wartime? By weather? By the ship? Magnetic fields relevant? Compasses? Fog? Mines? Sabotage? Blackout? Lighthouses? Other beacons?

[JenBurdoo]

Was the journey complicated by it being wartime? By weather? By the ship? This. Magnetic fields relevant? This. Compasses? And this. Fog? Mines? Sabotage? Blackout? Lighthouses? Other beacons? None of the others.

[hominid]

Relevant which island they almost landed on?

Was there something magnetic on the ship?

[JenBurdoo]

Relevant which island they almost landed on? No, I think it was Sark.

Was there something magnetic on the ship? No.

[GalFisk]

Was the ship magnetized? Demagnetized? Did they demagnetize the ship, but also, unwittingly, the compass?

[JenBurdoo]

Was the ship magnetized? Demagnetized? This. Did they demagnetize the ship, but also, unwittingly, the compass? Yes.

That was quick. I won't make you figure out WHY it was demagnetized, as that would only be another question or two.




SPOILER




"The inexplicable failure of the Royal Navy to navigate between Dartmouth and Guernsey was due to the fact that the ships had been degaussed to avoid attracting mines. Unfortunately people were not yet aware that the degaussing process also causes the ship's compass to go haywire so that if John Durnford-Slater, who happened to be on the bridge at the time, had not pointed to a passing island and asked if that might be their destination, none of the raiding party would have achieved their objective."
- Commando to Captain-Generall