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Arasteele t1_iwqlvoh wrote

I'll break with conventional norms and say the Little Dipper. That's right, the LITTLE Dipper. The big dipper can go bite buckets of fiddler crabs!

Reasons

Also called Ursa Minor. The little bear. As a Canadian I can tell you I would much rather fight a little bear than a big one. You'll want to trust me on this.

It is comprised of 7 stars. 7 is my favorite number. Polaris is one of two favorite stars. I'll leave you to wonder as to what the other might be.

Traditionally it has been important to navigation, particularly at sea, because of Polaris being the North Star. My dad, a former Seaman during WWII in the Merchant Navy, was the one who first drew my attention to the Little Dipper when I was a small boy in the 1960's. He sailed on munitions ships and oil tankers, all high prizes to the German Wolfpack submarines. It's a wonder I exist at all. How could Ursa Minor NOT be my favorite?

Call me a rebel, but there it is.

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dittybopper_05H t1_iwrjmey wrote

>He sailed on munitions ships and oil tankers, all high prizes to the German Wolfpack submarines.

High prizes, true, but for most of the war the Ubootwaffe sank an amazingly small percentage of ships. Something like 99% of the ships sailing to and from the British Isles managed to do so without being sunk over the entire course of the war.

Even at their height, the percentage sunk by U-boats was still just 5 or 6%. And that height wasn't very long lasting.

For all the talk about the German U-boats, it was US submarines in the Pacific that actually did what Germany was trying to do: Bleed the enemy merchant shipping fleet dry.

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Arasteele t1_iwrr8ef wrote

Many good points, and thanks for the input. However, many merch ships from many countries were in fact sunk. Canada saw over 1600 seamen lost. My dad could easily have been among them. According the bbc.co.uk 30,248 merchant seamen lost their lives during World War Two, a death rate that was higher proportionately than in any of the armed forces.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/timeline/factfiles/nonflash/a6652091.shtml

And high or low, I'm not sure percentages would really carry much weight with you when you're at sea during wartime, standing on a deck looking over the ocean, and you know there are giant metal torpedo-spitting sharks out there looking to ruin your day.

Allow me the one point of feeling lucky to be alive to have a favorite constellation.

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