Talk:Bjørn Honstadt

I'm just trying to build on what some folks at conculture are suggesting. Among other things, they suggested Mr. Honstadt be a GM. The first open slot is in 1893, the president who succeeded John Sparrow David Thompson when he died. This person would be in office approximately a year and be a Conservative Democrat. My proposal has Honstadt born in 1822, which would make him seventy one in 1893. What do folks think? Zahir 11:19, 6 November 2005 (PST)

Why not? Filling in open slots with something substantial is certainly useful! But keep in mind that that would make him a president, not a GM. It could also mean that Mr. Honstadt died in office, in 1894. --IJzeren Jan 04:06, 7 November 2005 (PST)

The years 1853-1865 would be too late for the naval campaign against the slave trade. The campaign took place in the first half of the 19th century. The TMS Cherokee, must have seen action in the 1840s, rather than in the 50s or 60s. Boreanesia 04:48, 7 November 2005 (PST)

Ah! I kinda suspected as much, vis-a-vis the dates, although it has been established (so I recall) that the NAL finished banning slavery in 1833. But if the Cherokee (or more specifically Mr. Honstadt) saw action in the 1840s, then to make him President/GM in 1893 would either make him older than 71 when taking office or give him some kind of heroic action while very young, as in still a teenager! Some thoughts:

• If I push back his birth to 1819, that would make him seventy four in 1893. Given that he would die in office, and the presidency was just a honorary position usually, this would make sense I think?
• Assuming Honstadt entered the SLN as a midshipman circa 1833 (age fourteen), by the late 1840s he could--if sufficiently able--to have not only become a Lieutenant, but possibly a Commander (the rank "Lt. Cmdr." was a later idea as I recall--"Commander" was a rank for distinguished lieutenants believed not ready for the exalted rank of Captain yet given command of fairly large ships). In 1848, for example, he'd be twenty-nine, which is a rather young for a full captain in a peace-time navy but not impossible.
• *Here* a major slaving outpost called Lomboko in Sierra Leonee was finally located and destroyed by the Royal Navy in 1833. Suppose Lomboko in fact flourished for a longer time and it was Mr. Midshipman (or possibly Lieutenant) Honstadt who in fact found it? That might have been the initial reason for his promotion and fame? What do you think? Zahir 07:06, 7 November 2005 (PST)

Regarding year of birth: 1819 is OK with me.

Regarding the rank of Commander: I'm wondering if the name of the rank might not have caused some confusion among the Scandinavians. In Scandinavia, Commandeur outranks Commandeurcapitaine, which outranks Orlogscapitaine. In other words, the Scandinavian rank of Commandeur is equivalent to the English rank of Captain. Perhaps in 1848, he was indeed a "Captain" in the Scandinavian sense.

Regarding Lomboko: The equivalent of Sierra Leone *there* is called Leeuwenbergland. It is Batavian today. We do not know much about it. But I suppose the Dalmatians were there first. *Here*, after the Brits kicked the Portuguese out of Sierra Leone, the Brits stayed and turned it into the British equivalent of Liberia. I was thinking that perhaps the Batavians did the same thing. But if Honstadt was instrumental in destroying the Dalmatian outpost there, then we need to explain why it is it Batavian today.

Boreanesia 08:38, 7 November 2005 (PST)

Good points all. But might not corrupt Batavians be running Lomboko in collusion with Austro-Dalmatia, and using locals to pretty much administer the place? That way, you don't have to create a whole conquest of Leeuwenbergland but simply a police action in a far off colony against renegades up to No-Good. The Batavian government would be thrilled to come down like the Wrath of God on Lomboko once its location was finally discovered, and might well accept military help from others (the SR, the NAL, the KF?) in turning the operation into an object lesson for all. Such might also hinder the profits of the slave trade so much that Austro-Dalmatia were motivated to cut their losses and get out while they were slightly ahead?

I'm simply unfamiliar with SR naval ranks in the first half of the XIXth century. I was going with the idea that the Solemn League Navy used a slightly modified system from the English Navy, in which the official ranks were: Midshipman/Lieutenant/Commander/Captain/Admiral ("Commodore" was unofficial, while "Ensign" and "Lieutenant Commander" came later, along with different grades of Admiral). But any confusion might well be an interesting curlicue in Honstadt's story, with the folks of the SR and New Sweden, New Iceland, etc. becoming initially indignant when he is "demoted" to Captain. Zahir 09:04, 7 November 2005 (PST)

Update the Gen Moderator Page

In order to prevent someone creating another GM at the same time period, you'll want to update the Gen Moderator page. BoArthur

Done. Zahir 09:55, 8 November 2005 (PST)

One little point: the page mentions him as "11th GM". But according to the GM page, he was in fact president between the 10th GM and the 11th GM (and another president, yet unknown). But presenting him as "president" would make the header "order" pretty pointless! --IJzeren Jan 11:26, 8 November 2005 (PST)

Head's Up!

In another couple of days this article will have been proposed 30 days ago. If there are any comments, corrections, objections to make, now is the best time!