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These aren't subs, they are ships. I would imagine the plane circled overhead at a low altitude several times, tried to get their attention, kept going away and

These aren't subs, they are ships. I would imagine the plane circled overhead at a low altitude several times, tried to get their attention, kept going away and seeing if they would follow, kept going back when they didn't. And people on the ship were probably looking up being like, “what's his deal?” A “shot across the bows” is a colloquial expression for a warning demanding imminent action. The idea was that long ago if you couldn't communicate with some other ship, your last ditch effort to tell them to stop “or else” was to fire a cannonball over the nose (the bow) of the ship, so that you do not damage the ship but they would definitely see it and know you mean business. So I imagine someone on this plane using the colloquial expression was just like “dammit! Follow us!! What more of a shot across the bows do you need?!” And someone else was like “you mean a literal one? I have some cable here, you drag that a few meters above the deck I bet it will make a terrible noise.” or something.

the-printer 4y ago
The dynamics of how humans can communicate with each other, especially in spontaneous occasions like this, are so interesting. From what you’re explaining, the expression wasn’t something necessarily standardized “code yellow” sort of thing. Could two novices been able to convey or comprehend the meaning between themselves? With stories like this, who needs film!
- rootusrootus 4y ago
  > Could two novices been able to convey or comprehend the meaning between themselves? Maybe not for a towed line, though the shot across the bow is probably intuitive. That's essentially the same thing bees will do to warn you away from their hive.
- jrumbut 4y ago
  It's also possible that the ship was already aware of a lot of context, or perhaps after seeing the plane they called to another ship and got the story.
mjochim 4y ago
In German, we have almost the same expression, "ein Schuss vor den Bug." Literally, it translates to "a shot in front of the bow." I never thought about where it came from. Interesting to learn. The expression has somehow always felt more like a frontal attack that stops right before actually hitting you. But my head may have conflated it with "jemandem etwas vor den Latz knallen," which translates to "slap something in front of somebody's bib."
LorenPechtel 4y ago
Even without that--if an aircraft that I have identified as an emergency services craft indicates a direction to me I'm going to figure there's some reason I should be heading in that direction. They clearly know something I don't.

the-printer 4y ago

The dynamics of how humans can communicate with each other, especially in spontaneous occasions like this, are so interesting. From what you’re explaining, the expression wasn’t something necessarily standardized “code yellow” sort of thing. Could two novices been able to convey or comprehend the meaning between themselves? With stories like this, who needs film!

rootusrootus 4y ago
> Could two novices been able to convey or comprehend the meaning between themselves? Maybe not for a towed line, though the shot across the bow is probably intuitive. That's essentially the same thing bees will do to warn you away from their hive.
jrumbut 4y ago
It's also possible that the ship was already aware of a lot of context, or perhaps after seeing the plane they called to another ship and got the story.

mjochim 4y ago

In German, we have almost the same expression, "ein Schuss vor den Bug." Literally, it translates to "a shot in front of the bow." I never thought about where it came from. Interesting to learn. The expression has somehow always felt more like a frontal attack that stops right before actually hitting you. But my head may have conflated it with "jemandem etwas vor den Latz knallen," which translates to "slap something in front of somebody's bib."

LorenPechtel 4y ago

Even without that--if an aircraft that I have identified as an emergency services craft indicates a direction to me I'm going to figure there's some reason I should be heading in that direction. They clearly know something I don't.