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When they are leaving Japan after trading the damascus steel ingots for quicksilver, the Japanese fill all the quicksilver bottles to a level that will cause it

by dwater 8y ago

When they are leaving Japan after trading the damascus steel ingots for quicksilver, the Japanese fill all the quicksilver bottles to a level that will cause it to slosh along with the same frequency, causing harmonic resonance to sink the ship. Before leaving they open all of the bottles and transfer the quicksilver so that they are filled to the top and can't slosh. This is from memory and may not be completely accurate.

saltcured 8y ago
Not only tuned to a common frequency but tuned to match a predominant wave pattern in the mouth of the harbor they were departing. I had a hard time reading this part, as the puzzle placement seemed so forced and nonsensical to the plot. What did the Japanese gain from this stunt if it worked? A sunken ship in their harbor leaking mercury from hundreds of smashed jars...?
- hinkley 8y ago
  I thought I had heard at one point that Industrial Age Japan was responsible for some substantial fraction of mercury contamination of the ocean but I can’t find a citation for that. What I did find is Minamata disease, which is a particular set of symptoms from severe mercury poisoning, documented in a town in a bay on the western end of Japan. Maybe Neal was making some sort of nod to that?
- logfromblammo 8y ago
  I think the idea was to sink the ship by capsizing it, then bring up the intact bottles with free divers. Any mercury leaks would immediately sink, and would probably stay inside the hold of the ship long enough to recover it. If it escaped, it would run into the nearest local minimum on the harbor bottom. If rock bottom, just scoop it up into fresh bottles. If sandy bottom, scoop up the sand with it and separate it on the surface. So they keep the wootz payment, they recover the cargo, and they don't lose reputation by just murdering the crew of a merchant vessel outright. If the merchants capsize instead, that's a shame, and a result of poor seamanship, and they'll just go ahead and pretend to be sad during the salvage operation.
dredmorbius 8y ago
Minor point; Root recognises the hazard and adjusts the flasks such that the levels differ, thereby disrupting the harmonics.

by dwater 8y ago

saltcured 8y ago

Not only tuned to a common frequency but tuned to match a predominant wave pattern in the mouth of the harbor they were departing. I had a hard time reading this part, as the puzzle placement seemed so forced and nonsensical to the plot. What did the Japanese gain from this stunt if it worked? A sunken ship in their harbor leaking mercury from hundreds of smashed jars...?

hinkley 8y ago
I thought I had heard at one point that Industrial Age Japan was responsible for some substantial fraction of mercury contamination of the ocean but I can’t find a citation for that. What I did find is Minamata disease, which is a particular set of symptoms from severe mercury poisoning, documented in a town in a bay on the western end of Japan. Maybe Neal was making some sort of nod to that?
logfromblammo 8y ago
I think the idea was to sink the ship by capsizing it, then bring up the intact bottles with free divers. Any mercury leaks would immediately sink, and would probably stay inside the hold of the ship long enough to recover it. If it escaped, it would run into the nearest local minimum on the harbor bottom. If rock bottom, just scoop it up into fresh bottles. If sandy bottom, scoop up the sand with it and separate it on the surface. So they keep the wootz payment, they recover the cargo, and they don't lose reputation by just murdering the crew of a merchant vessel outright. If the merchants capsize instead, that's a shame, and a result of poor seamanship, and they'll just go ahead and pretend to be sad during the salvage operation.

dredmorbius 8y ago

Minor point; Root recognises the hazard and adjusts the flasks such that the levels differ, thereby disrupting the harmonics.