Joseph P Farrell – Ok folks, things just became even more bizarre regarding the Antarctica Strange Visitors Sweepstakes. May we have the envelope please… ?
… And the next visitor to Antarctica is…
The Russian Baltic Fleet! (Applause):
Ships of Russian Baltic Fleet to make voyage to Antarctica this year
…uhm… er… really? I mean… really!?
Now, as I recall, the last time the Russians sent their Baltic Fleet on this kind of half-way-round-the-world junket was in 1905 during the Russo-Japanese war, whereupon Japanese Admiral Togo promptly sank it in the Tsushima straits. Of course, when it comes to the modern Baltic Fleet, the TASS article reassures us that this is all “perfectly” normal and just part of the Baltic Fleet’s usual schedule of voyages and drills and “showing the flag”:
Ships of Russia’s Baltic Fleet, one of the major regional divisions of the Navy, will make several long-distance voyages this year, including a voyage to Antarctica, the official spokesman for the Fleet, Roman Martov told TASS.