"Parker's Tin Can"

[Arlo]

I'm deep in research (ok, Wikipedia - doesn't actually seem a bad source, overall) covering Japanese ships featured. But "Parker's Tin Can" appears to yield no results, Wikipedia or otherwise. Google and Bing can't ping a thing.

I even tried searching this forum using 'Parker's Tin Can' as a specific search phrase and ... nothing. Figured I'd ask here, this being the most knowledgable community I know of on the subject matter at hand. I'll also post an inquiry at Aces of the Deep.

Thanks in advance for any type of response, guys. :)

(P.S. Um, Bungo Pete drives an Akikaze, doesn't he?)

[WernherVonTrapp]

I'm deep in research (ok, Wikipedia - doesn't actually seem a bad source, overall) It's not that Wikipedia is a bad source, but rather, that virtually anyone can post information to it, including false or incorrect information. If you're going to rely on info from Wikipedia, just make sure you cross reference with other reliable/solid sources, if possible. I've heard that they want to make the website more reliable and were looking for ways to accomplish this, but to what end, I do not know.

Now, you bring up a good subject. On occasion, I have also wondered about that particular name/boat. I couldn't find anything specific so I figured it had to be a reference taken (probably) from a specific book/account of the war. "Parker" is a pretty common name and I've seen at least one reference that suggested (though I don't know for certain) that it was a generic term (Parker Man) for someone who manned a DE (destroyer escort), though this is suppositional on my part.

The name could be related to anything from, Foxhall Alexander Parker (Superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy in 1878 and was one of the founders of the United States Naval Institute), to the WWI destroyer USS Parker (DD-48).

Hopefully, someone who has more specific details will come along and clear it all up for us.:up:

[Armistead]

Interesting. I thought the Parker's were captured US escorts captured near Luzon when the Philippines fell, later reworked to look more like JP minelayers. However, I don't know why I think that, except that it sticks in my mind from somewhere. I could be thinking of the name PB102 given to captured US patrol boats the JP's used.

Now I want to know where this came from.

[Arlo]

Thanks, WVT. U.S.S. Parker was the only somewhat relevant info I've found to date. But I did get what I thought was some pretty good reference material on U.S.S. Stewart aka Patrol Boat 102 from Wiki. Wiki is the most readily accessible material online. The books I would have to acquire would take more time and expense for the website I'm hammering away at but I do plan to buy some reliable harcopy reference books over time.

:salute:

[Arlo]

Interesting. I thought the Parker's were captured US escorts captured near Luzon when the Philippines fell, later reworked to look more like JP minelayers. However, I don't know why I think that, except that it sticks in my mind from somewhere. I could be thinking of the name PB102 given to captured US patrol boats the JP's used.

Now I want to know where this came from.

Thanks, Armi! :)

[Ducimus]

Ensign Parker and his tin can is a fictional character made up specifically for the one of the sea trial missions in TMO. He was inspired by the Uboat communtiy's, "Bernard". Or rather, it was thought at one time, that both Uboats and Fleet boats should have some comical character to blame things on when everything goes wrong, or as a virtual punching bag for comedy hijinks.

Orginally someone (i forget who) decided that this character for fleet boats should be named "Dinsdale". However Dinsdale sounds more British then American, so i tried to rename him to something a bit more unique to American comedy, hence the name "Parker".

Bottom line, the character never quite caught on in the fleet boat community, so, regardless if the guys name is Dinsale or "Ensign Parker", nobody really has a clue what the joke is supposed to be.

[Arlo]

Ensign Parker and his tin can is a fictional character made up specifically for the one of the sea trial missions in TMO. He was inspired by the Uboat communtiy's, "Bernard". Or rather, it was thought at one time, that both Uboats and Fleet boats should have some comical character to blame things on when everything goes wrong, or as a virtual punching bag for comedy hijinks.

Orginally someone (i forget who) decided that this character for fleet boats should be named "Dinsdale". However Dinsdale sounds more British then American, so i tried to rename him to something a bit more unique to American comedy, hence the name "Parker".

Bottom line, the character never quite caught on in the fleet boat community, so, regardless if the guys name is Dinsale or "Ensign Parker", nobody really has a clue what the joke is supposed to be.

Thank you, Ducimus! I really appreciate this. Though I've been focusing specifically on the ships available in SH4 and their *historical* context - including their stats, would you be interested in helping me figure out a psuedo 'wiki' type entry as a basis for info for this ship. I'd like to include it as a shoutout to the subsim community, specifically now.

http://www.wix.com/mumsiewumsie/uss-sea-tiger#!__enemy-dds-and-des

[WernherVonTrapp]

Ensign Parker and his tin can is a fictional character made up specifically for the one of the sea trial missions in TMO. He was inspired by the Uboat communtiy's, "Bernard". Or rather, it was thought at one time, that both Uboats and Fleet boats should have some comical character to blame things on when everything goes wrong, or as a virtual punching bag for comedy hijinks.

Ahhh, sort of like the fictional "Kilroy" character who began showing up on destryed enemy tanks, bunkers, etc., during WWII. Servicemen would draw a picture of a nose with a pair of hands and write, "Kilroy Was Here" as if Kilroy was responsible for the destruction.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_njdGb5_3GH8/TMW2XnoffzI/AAAAAAAAAkM/fvYUtoBZsv8/s1600/WWII-Plane-Nose-Art-04.jpg

[Arlo]

I was thinking more like the U.S. naval officer tin can version of 'Private SNAFU.

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=us+navy+training+cartoons&view=detail&mid=628D44B27B45DB1FD28C628D44B27B45DB1FD28C&first=0&FORM=LKVR

Naval aviation had:

http://www.rfcafe.com/miscellany/smorgasbord/dilbert-the-pilot.htm

[Bubblehead1980]

Duci beat me to it, I was going to explain it.Ensign Parker is a little bit of a a hole if you ask me :arrgh!:

[WernherVonTrapp]

I was thinking more like the U.S. naval officer tin can version of 'Private SNAFU.

I had him in mind too but, at the moment that I was posting, I couldn't recall his darn name.:D:O:

[Arlo]

Duci beat me to it, I was going to explain it.Ensign Parker is a little bit of a a hole if you ask me :arrgh!:

Ah, not an Ensign Pulver type? Or more an Ensign Pulver than a Mr. Roberts?

[Arlo]

Ensign Parker's 'Tin Can' certainly has a distinctive bow. It doesn't look like a forward mount could even possibly be installed. Looks like it'd be a mother of a rammer, though. Perhaps that's his reputation. The most rammingest ensign in the fleet. Who knows, that could have been the motivation behind why (how being a different story) he was somehow transferred/infiltrated into the Japanese Navy, in hopes that his inate ramming instinct would follow him there and he would single-handedly ram the the entire convoy he was escorting to the bottom of the sea.

[Sailor Steve]

Ensign Charles Parker was originally the character played brilliantly by Tim Conway in the TV series McHale's Navy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGDUHA2Zxuo&feature=related

[Arlo]

Ensign Charles Parker was originally the character played by Tim Conway in the TV series McHale's Navy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGDUHA2Zxuo&feature=related

Ah! I loved that series! Missed the correlation completely.

Ensign Charles Parker: Say, Fuji, you don't have any relatives in the air force, do you?
Fuji Kobiaji: Me? Oh, no.
Ensign Charles Parker: You know, I could have swore that pilot I shot down looked exactly like you.
McHale: Oh, well, you know how it is with the Japanese.
Fuji Kobiaji: Yeah. You've seen one of us, you've seen us all.

http://sharetv.org/shows/mchales_navy/episodes/290469

[WernherVonTrapp]

Ensign Charles Parker was originally the character played brilliantly by Tim Conway in the TV series McHale's Navy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGDUHA2Zxuo&feature=related
Darn it, I knew I heard that name (Ensign Parker) somewhere before.:oops: That used to be one of my favorite shows too. Can't believe I couldn't think of that.:nope:

[Arlo]

Definately has me looking at 'Parker's Tin Can' in a whole new light. :03:

[Sailor Steve]

Darn it, I knew I heard that name (Ensign Parker) somewhere before.:oops: That used to be one of my favorite shows too. Can't believe I couldn't think of that.:nope:
Don't blame yourself. I'm pretty sure I was the one who suggested him as the American replacement for Bernard.

[Arlo]

Don't blame yourself. I'm pretty sure I was the one who suggested him as the American replacement for Bernard.
Dibs on McHales cocked hat, goofy face publicity pic when I make my next donation and can shuck the standard biopic rotation. IF there's not someone else who beat me to it. There's another Matt Sherman on the forum. ;)

[subcpo]

Orginally someone (i forget who) decided that this character for fleet boats should be named "Dinsdale". However Dinsdale sounds more British then American, so i tried to rename him to something a bit more unique to American comedy, hence the name "Parker".

Doug and Dinsdale Piranha were born, on probationn the slums of London, in 1929. Doug was born in February that year, and Dinsdale two weeks later, and again the week after that. Their father, Arthur Piranha, was a TV quizmaster and scrapmetal dealer who was well known to the police and a devout Catholic, who in January 1928 had married Kitty Malone, an up and coming East End boxer. Doug and Dinsdale were found too mentally unbalanced even for National Service, and became extortionists, running a protection racket after several false starts. Having acquired enough money, the Piranha Brothers formed a gang (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gang) which they called "The Gang". They proceeded to use terror to take over (among other things) night clubs, billiard halls, gaming casinos and race tracks, failing only to acquire the MCC. It is said that Dinsdale was a gentleman; he bought his mother flowers and that he knew how to treat a female impersonater. Despite a jaw-dropping violent streak (including nailing people's heads to the floor and to coffee tables, and screwing people's pelvises to cake stands), he was beloved by everyone who knew him, most considering him "a cruel man, but fair". The local chief constable was in his employ, and would help him threaten others with a thermonuclear device. Dinsdale also possessed a tank (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tank). Known associates of the Piranhas included American musical stars, aristocrats, a man named Kierkegaard who bit the heads off whippets and other gang leaders.

Dinsdale was deeply afraid of Spiny Norman, an (apparently) imaginary hedgehog who, he believed, lived in a hangar at Luton Airport and who "was wont to be about twelve feet from "snout to tail", (one version states "about twelve feet from "tip of his snout to his anus"); when Dinsdale was depressed, Norman could be anything up to eight hundred yards long."

[Arlo]

Doug and Dinsdale Piranha were born, on probationn the slums of London, in 1929. Doug was born in February that year, and Dinsdale two weeks later, and again the week after that. Their father, Arthur Piranha, was a TV quizmaster and scrapmetal dealer who was well known to the police and a devout Catholic, who in January 1928 had married Kitty Malone, an up and coming East End boxer. Doug and Dinsdale were found too mentally unbalanced even for National Service, and became extortionists, running a protection racket after several false starts. Having acquired enough money, the Piranha Brothers formed a gang (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gang) which they called "The Gang". They proceeded to use terror to take over (among other things) night clubs, billiard halls, gaming casinos and race tracks, failing only to acquire the MCC. It is said that Dinsdale was a gentleman; he bought his mother flowers and that he knew how to treat a female impersonater. Despite a jaw-dropping violent streak (including nailing people's heads to the floor and to coffee tables, and screwing people's pelvises to cake stands), he was beloved by everyone who knew him, most considering him "a cruel man, but fair". The local chief constable was in his employ, and would help him threaten others with a thermonuclear device. Dinsdale also possessed a tank (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tank). Known associates of the Piranhas included American musical stars, aristocrats, a man named Kierkegaard who bit the heads off whippets and other gang leaders.

Dinsdale was deeply afraid of Spiny Norman, an (apparently) imaginary hedgehog who, he believed, lived in a hangar at Luton Airport and who "was wont to be about twelve feet from "snout to tail", (one version states "about twelve feet from "tip of his snout to his anus"); when Dinsdale was depressed, Norman could be anything up to eight hundred yards long."

Monty Python. ;)

[subcpo]

Monty Python. ;)

My Favorite Episode...Tonight on Ethel the Frog

[razark]

Don't blame yourself. I'm pretty sure I was the one who suggested him as the American replacement for Bernard.
So it was you! :stare:


I was always in favor of Seaman Hornsby.

[Able Brown]

Dinsdale was deeply afraid of Spiny Norman, an (apparently) imaginary hedgehog who...

Having played the U-Boat commander, I'm pretty scared of Hedgehogs myself.

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t214/Karen_Tom/Historic%20Clothing/Nautical/WAMBR_Hedgehog_North_Bay_pic.jpg

http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WAMBR_ASW.htm

[Bubblehead1980]

did the IJN ever use hedgehog or anything like it? I once saw on specs for an ASW craft about a "mortar" and was wondering why a ASW escort would have a mortar, perhaps it was similar to hedgehog?

[Sailor Steve]

According to NavWeaps, no, the Japanese didn't have any ahead-thrown weapons. I recall reading about a mortar used on some sub-chasers, but I trust this site and accept that there wasn't one. The mortar used by merchants is listed at the very bottom.
http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WAMJAP_ASW.htm

[Daniel Prates]

Doug and Dinsdale Piranha were born, on probationn the slums of London, in 1929. Doug was born in February that year, and Dinsdale two weeks later, and again the week after that. Their father, Arthur Piranha, was a TV quizmaster and scrapmetal dealer who was well known to the police and a devout Catholic, who in January 1928 had married Kitty Malone, an up and coming East End boxer. Doug and Dinsdale were found too mentally unbalanced even for National Service, and became extortionists, running a protection racket after several false starts. Having acquired enough money, the Piranha Brothers formed a gang (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gang) which they called "The Gang". They proceeded to use terror to take over (among other things) night clubs, billiard halls, gaming casinos and race tracks, failing only to acquire the MCC. It is said that Dinsdale was a gentleman; he bought his mother flowers and that he knew how to treat a female impersonater. Despite a jaw-dropping violent streak (including nailing people's heads to the floor and to coffee tables, and screwing people's pelvises to cake stands), he was beloved by everyone who knew him, most considering him "a cruel man, but fair". The local chief constable was in his employ, and would help him threaten others with a thermonuclear device. Dinsdale also possessed a tank (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tank). Known associates of the Piranhas included American musical stars, aristocrats, a man named Kierkegaard who bit the heads off whippets and other gang leaders.

Dinsdale was deeply afraid of Spiny Norman, an (apparently) imaginary hedgehog who, he believed, lived in a hangar at Luton Airport and who "was wont to be about twelve feet from "snout to tail", (one version states "about twelve feet from "tip of his snout to his anus"); when Dinsdale was depressed, Norman could be anything up to eight hundred yards long."


Hehe... sweet... MP. Soon enough we'll be hosting inspector Harry "snaper" Organs. But now, for something completely different.

[subcpo]

Sancho Panza (Mr Organs) spoilt an otherwise impeccably choreographed rape scene by his unscheduled appearance and persistent cries of "What's all this then?"'

[Bubblehead1980]

According to NavWeaps, no, the Japanese didn't have any ahead-thrown weapons. I recall reading about a mortar used on some sub-chasers, but I trust this site and accept that there wasn't one. The mortar used by merchants is listed at the very bottom.
http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WAMJAP_ASW.htm


Thanks, I was wondering.

[Ducimus]

did the IJN ever use hedgehog or anything like it? I once saw on specs for an ASW craft about a "mortar" and was wondering why a ASW escort would have a mortar, perhaps it was similar to hedgehog?

"Mortor" i think is a contextual synonym for a Y gun, or a weapon very similar.

[Sailor Steve]

"Mortor" i think is a contextual synonym for a Y gun, or a weapon very similar.
You could be right. I always thought it was more like this
.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/WAMBR_ASW_Howitzer_pic.jpg

Or this.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/WAMBR_ASW_Bombthrower_pic.jpg

http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WAMBR_ASW.htm