A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries the battleship was the most powerful type of warship, a fleet centered around the battleship was part of the command of the sea doctrine for several decades. By the time of World War II, the battleship was made obsolete as other ships the smaller and faster destroyers, the secretive submarines, the powerful and large aircraft carriers came to be far more useful in naval warfare. While a few battleships were repurposed as fire support ships and as platforms for guided missiles, few countries maintained battleships after the 1950s, with the last battleships coming offline in the late 1990s and 2000s; the term battleship came into formal use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ironclad warship, now referred to by historians as pre-dreadnought battleships. In 1906, the commissioning of HMS Dreadnought into the United Kingdom's Royal Navy heralded a revolution in battleship design.

Subsequent battleship designs, influenced by HMS Dreadnought, were referred to as "dreadnoughts", though the term became obsolete as they became the only type of battleship in common use. Battleships were a symbol of naval dominance and national might, for decades the battleship was a major factor in both diplomacy and military strategy. A global arms race in battleship construction began in Europe in the 1890s and culminated at the decisive Battle of Tsushima in 1905, the outcome of which influenced the design of HMS Dreadnought; the launch of Dreadnought in 1906 commenced a new naval arms race. Three major fleet actions between steel battleships took place: the long range gunnery duel at the Battle of the Yellow Sea in 1904, the decisive Battle of Tsushima in 1905, during the Russo-Japanese War, the inconclusive Battle of Jutland during the First World War. Jutland was the largest naval battle and the only full-scale clash of dreadnoughts of the war, it was the last major battle in naval history fought by battleships.

The Naval Treaties of the 1920s and 1930s limited the number of battleships, though technical innovation in battleship design continued. Both the Allied and Axis powers built battleships during World War II, though the increasing importance of the aircraft carrier meant that the battleship played a less important role than had been expected; the value of the battleship has been questioned during their heyday. There were few of the decisive fleet battles that battleship proponents expected, used to justify the vast resources spent on building battlefleets. In spite of their huge firepower and protection, battleships were vulnerable to much smaller and inexpensive weapons: the torpedo and the naval mine, aircraft and the guided missile; the growing range of naval engagements led to the aircraft carrier replacing the battleship as the leading capital ship during World War II, with the last battleship to be launched being HMS Vanguard in 1944. Four battleships were retained by the United States Navy until the end of the Cold War for fire support purposes and were last used in combat during the Gulf War in 1991.

The last battleships were struck from the U. S. Naval Vessel Register in the 2000s. A large number of World War II-era battleships remain in use today as museum ships. A ship of the line was the dominant warship of its age, it was a large, unarmored wooden sailing ship which mounted a battery of up to 120 smoothbore guns and carronades. The ship of the line developed over centuries and, apart from growing in size, it changed little between the adoption of line of battle tactics in the early 17th century and the end of the sailing battleship's heyday in the 1830s. From 1794, the alternative term'line of battle ship' was contracted to'battle ship' or'battleship'; the sheer number of guns fired broadside meant a ship of the line could wreck any wooden enemy, holing her hull, knocking down masts, wrecking her rigging, killing her crew. However, the effective range of the guns was as little as a few hundred yards, so the battle tactics of sailing ships depended in part on the wind; the first major change to the ship of the line concept was the introduction of steam power as an auxiliary propulsion system.

Steam power was introduced to the navy in the first half of the 19th century for small craft and for frigates. The French Navy introduced steam to the line of battle with the 90-gun Napoléon in 1850—the first true steam battleship. Napoléon was armed as a conventional ship-of-the-line, but her steam engines could give her a speed of 12 knots, regardless of the wind condition; this was a decisive advantage in a naval engagement. The introduction of steam accelerated the growth in size of battleships. France and the United Kingdom were the only countries to develop fleets of wooden steam screw battleships although several other navies operated small numbers of screw battleships, including Russia, the Ottoman Empire, Naples and Austria; the adoption of steam power was only one of a number of technological advances which revolutionized warship design in the 19th century. The ship of the line was overtaken by the ironclad: powered by steam, protected by metal armor, armed with guns firing high-explosive shells.

Guns that fired explosive or incendiary shells were a major threat to wooden ships, these weapons became widespread after the introduction of 8-inch shell guns as part of the standard armament of French and American line-of-battle ships in 1841. In the Crimean War, six line-of-battle ships and two frigates of the Russian Black Sea Fleet destroyed seven Turkish frigates and thr

Das Buddhistische Haus is a Theravada Buddhist temple complex in Frohnau, Germany. It is considered to be the oldest and largest Theravada Buddhist center in Europe and has been declared a National Heritage site; the main building was designed by the architect Max Meyer for Paul Dahlke, a German physician who had undertaken a number of trips to Ceylon prior to World War I and became a Buddhist. It incorporates elements of Sri Lankan Buddhist architecture and culture and was completed in 1924. Under Dahlke's direction it became a center of Buddhism in Germany. After his death in 1928, the house was inherited by his relatives and Buddhists met in a house nearby. By 1941 Buddhist meetings and publications were prohibited by the Nazi government. After the war refugees lived in the quarters; the place deteriorated and was considered for demolition, when Asoka Weeraratna from Sri Lanka became aware of its existence. In December 1957 he bought the building from Dahlke’s nephew on behalf of the German Dharmaduta Society.

It was renovated at that time as a Buddhist temple complex. Missionary Buddhist monks from Sri Lanka, came to stay at the Haus that became the center for spreading the teachings of the Buddha in Western Europe; the temple is open to the public and was visited by about 5,000 people in 2006. Entering the Elephant Door the visitor faces 73 steps up to reach the main building; the building houses among others the meditation room. In a separate building, guests can be accommodated. In 1959, the city of Nagoya donated a sculpture of Guanyin, placed in the garden. Paul Dahlke created the inscription for Das Buddhistische Haus: What we are doing, anybody shall be able to see What we are saying, anybody shall be able to hear What we are thinking, anybody shall be able to know Religion in Berlin Buddhism in Germany Official website German Dharmaduta Society - Wikipedia Buddhists from Sri Lanka open campaign to propagate Buddhism in Germany in 1957 Buddhists open campaign in West Germany - Milwaukee Sentinel Newspaper Report in 1957

Erik Černák is a Slovak professional ice hockey defenceman playing for the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League. He was selected by the Los Angeles Kings in the second round, 43rd overall, in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. Černák began his youth career with HC Košice before playing one season in the junior youth hockey team within the Slovan Bratislava system before returning to HC Košice's youth team on 11 June 2013. He made his senior professional debut with HC Košice in the 2013–14 season, he split Orange 20, the Slovakian national junior under-20 team. After his second year with HC Košice in which he registered 5 goals and 13 points in 43 games, Černák's promising potential was recognized as he was ranked just outside the top-ten European prospect skaters eligible for the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, he and goaltender Matej Tomek were the only Slovakian prospects to partake in the NHL draft combine in Buffalo, New York, prior to the draft. On 14 July 2015, Černák signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League.

After attending the Kings' 2016 training camp, Černák was re-assigned to their American Hockey League affiliate, the Ontario Reign, training camp. Despite an impressive play at the AHL level, he was returned to junior to play a second season with the Ontario Hockey League's Erie Otters for the 2016–17 season. On 26 February 2017, the Kings traded Černák to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for goaltender Ben Bishop and a 2017 fifth-round pick. On 13 November 2018, Černák made his NHL debut in a 2–1 defeat to the Buffalo Sabres at the KeyBank Center. On 19 November, Černák recorded his first NHL point with an assist to Victor Hedman as the Lightning lost 3–2 to the Nashville Predators. On 2 February 2019, Černák recorded his first career NHL goal against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden; the goal came in a 3–2 Lightning win. Černák is a cousin of Christián Jaroš. Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database