Regardless of whether it was true or not, it was funny.

And heaven knows, we need to distract ourselves, even for a moment, to forget the current state of affairs on our beautiful planet.

And as stated in the Wikipedia article, there is a teachable lesson to learned in that, "[this example] is often used it simply as a parable teaching the dangers of inflexibility and self-importance, or the need for situational awareness."

Kalina... I just want you to know that I always give everyone an upvote/one thumbs up for every comment they make. Unfortunately, there is someone who believes that downvoting my posts, and the commenters' comments, is a productive use of their time.

It was fun and funny, but I doubt an American naval ship would speak in Spanish or any language other than English, although they might have bilingual service personnel and translators.

Regrettably, fake. Yours is supposedly recorded 2004, but the one I remembered was circulating in the mid-1990s and was a supposed transcript of a conversation between a US aircraft carrier and a <em>Canadian</em> lighthouse. But the joke actually goes back to the 1930s.

I was pretty sure it was fake because a) I was pretty sure I'd heard it long before 2004, and b) Galicia and Finisterre are on the Spanish mainland, they aren't some tiny isolated island, and while I can't be certain I would imagine that modern radio communications would be digital and clearer than that.

<a href="https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/the-obstinate-lighthouse/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Obstinate Lighthouse</a> (Snopes)

<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lighthouse_and_naval_vessel_urban_legend" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Lighthouse and naval vessel urban legend</a> (Wikipedia)

This is cool! Congratulations to the American Navy :)

Richard, I am getting ready to pass C1 in Russian and started working again on my English (vocabulary) with the idea to face one day the proficiency exam. I am participating in two book clubs - one Russian and one Englis. I do not have any time to care about who is downvoting my posts. I haven't even noticed. But I would like to thank you for your comment!