1.
HMS Capetown (D88)
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HMS Capetown was a C-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy, named after the South African city of Cape Town. So far she has been the ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name. She was part of the Carlisle group of the C-class of cruisers and she was laid down by Cammell Laird on 23 February 1918, and launched on 28 June 1918. She was sailed to Pembroke Dock for outfitting, a process completed in February 1922. Capetown was commissioned too late to see action in the First World War, like most of her sisters, she was originally assigned to the Mediterranean and later to the Red Sea. She spent a part of her career with the Eastern Fleet. She rejoined the Mediterranean Fleet in August 1940, while deployed in the Red Sea, she was torpedoed and severely damaged by the Italian motor torpedo boat MAS213 off Massawa, on 6 April 1941. Seven members of her crew lost their lives, after a year of repairs at Bombay, she served with the Eastern Fleet until 1943. She then returned to the UK and joined the Home Fleet, during the Normandy landings in June 1944 Capetown was deployed as a Shuttle Control/Depot ship at Mulberry A placed to seaward in order to direct incoming convoys to berths or anchorages. Ceres was anchored inshore to control returning convoys of unloaded vessels with Shuttle Control Command for both ships being embarked in Capetown, Shuttle Control Command was responsible for keeping the Army informed of expected arrivals and directing them to the proper unloading sectors. She survived the war and was sold on 5 April 1946 and she arrived at the yards of Ward of Preston for breaking up on 2 June 1946. Ships of the Royal Navy, The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy, Janes Fighting Ships of World War One, Janes Publishing Company
2.
Royal Navy
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The Royal Navy is the United Kingdoms naval warfare force. Although warships were used by the English kings from the medieval period. The modern Royal Navy traces its origins to the early 16th century, from the middle decades of the 17th century and through the 18th century, the Royal Navy vied with the Dutch Navy and later with the French Navy for maritime supremacy. From the mid 18th century it was the worlds most powerful navy until surpassed by the United States Navy during the Second World War. The Royal Navy played a key part in establishing the British Empire as the world power during the 19th. Due to this historical prominence, it is common, even among non-Britons, following World War I, the Royal Navy was significantly reduced in size, although at the onset of the Second World War it was still the worlds largest. By the end of the war, however, the United States Navy had emerged as the worlds largest, during the Cold War, the Royal Navy transformed into a primarily anti-submarine force, hunting for Soviet submarines, mostly active in the GIUK gap. The Royal Navy is part of Her Majestys Naval Service, which includes the Royal Marines. The professional head of the Naval Service is the First Sea Lord, the Defence Council delegates management of the Naval Service to the Admiralty Board, chaired by the Secretary of State for Defence. The strength of the fleet of the Kingdom of England was an important element in the power in the 10th century. English naval power declined as a result of the Norman conquest. Medieval fleets, in England as elsewhere, were almost entirely composed of merchant ships enlisted into service in time of war. Englands naval organisation was haphazard and the mobilisation of fleets when war broke out was slow, early in the war French plans for an invasion of England failed when Edward III of England destroyed the French fleet in the Battle of Sluys in 1340. Major fighting was confined to French soil and Englands naval capabilities sufficed to transport armies and supplies safely to their continental destinations. Such raids halted finally only with the occupation of northern France by Henry V. Henry VII deserves a large share of credit in the establishment of a standing navy and he embarked on a program of building ships larger than heretofore. He also invested in dockyards, and commissioned the oldest surviving dry dock in 1495 at Portsmouth, a standing Navy Royal, with its own secretariat, dockyards and a permanent core of purpose-built warships, emerged during the reign of Henry VIII. Under Elizabeth I England became involved in a war with Spain, the new regimes introduction of Navigation Acts, providing that all merchant shipping to and from England or her colonies should be carried out by English ships, led to war with the Dutch Republic. In the early stages of this First Anglo-Dutch War, the superiority of the large, heavily armed English ships was offset by superior Dutch tactical organisation and the fighting was inconclusive
3.
Arethusa-class cruiser (1913)
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The Arethusa-class cruisers were a class of eight oil-fired light cruisers of the Royal Navy all ordered in September 1912, primarily for service in the North Sea. They had three funnels with the middle one larger in diameter than the others. All served in the First World War and they were found to be very cramped internally. The earlier scout cruisers were too slow to accomplish their duties of working with destroyer flotillas. The primary emphasis of the Arethusa-class cruisers was a speed of 30 knots. They retained the side protection introduced in the ships of the previous Town class. The ships were 456 feet 6 inches long overall, with a beam of 49 feet 10 inches, displacement was 5,185 long tons at normal and 5,795 long tons at full load. The Arethusa class were powered by four steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft. The six ships that used Parsons turbines were equipped with cruising turbines on the outer shafts, the turbines used steam generated by eight Yarrow boilers at a working pressure of 235 psi. They carried 840 long tons tons of oil that gave the ships with cruising turbines a range of 5,000 nautical miles and 3,200 nmi for those without. The main armament of the Arethusa-class ships was two BL 6-inch Mk XII guns that were mounted on the fore and aft of the superstructure. They were also fitted with a single QF 3-pounder anti-aircraft gun, Arethusa, built by Chatham Dockyard, laid down 28 October 1912, launched 25 October 1913, and completed August 1914. She was sunk by mine off Felixstowe on 11 February 1916, aurora, built by Devonport Dockyard, laid down 24 October 1912, launched 30 September 1913, and completed September 1914. She took part in the sinking of the German raider Meteor on 9 August 1915, was transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy in November 1920, and for sold for breaking up in August 1927. Galatea, built by William Beardmore and Company, Dalmuir, laid down 9 January 1913, launched 14 May 1914 and she also took part in the sinking of the German raider Meteor on 9 August 1915, and was sold for breaking up 25 October 1921. Inconstant, built by Beardmore, laid down 3 April 1914, launched 6 July 1914 and she was sold for breaking up 9 June 1922. Penelope, built by Vickers, Barrow in Furness, laid down 1 February 1913, launched 25 August 1914 and she was damaged by a torpedo from the German submarine UB-29 on 25 April 1916, but repaired, and was sold for breaking up in October 1924. Phaeton, built by Vickers, laid down 12 March 1913, launched 21 October 1914 and she fought at the Dardanelles in 1915, and was sold for breaking up 16 January 1923
4.
Danae-class cruiser
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The Danae or D class was a class of light cruiser built for the Royal Navy at the end of World War I which also saw service in World War II. The Danaes were based on the design of the preceding C class series and this gave an A, B, P, Q, X, Y arrangement. Additionally, the torpedo tubes in the C class were replaced by triples, giving the Danaes a total of twelve tubes. Machinery and general layout was otherwise the same as the Ceres group of C-class cruisers, such was the success of the knuckled bow that it was incorporated into all subsequent British cruisers. Delhi, Dunedin, Durban, Despatch and Diomede were provided with platforms for a wheeled aircraft aft. The lessons of the Battle of Jutland were applied and protection was improved in detail, additional torpedo tubes were installed and depth charge throwers were also included. The Mk XII 6-inch gun was retained but, in Diomede, inter-war, all ships had their anti-aircraft armament standardised as three QF4 inch Mark V guns on mountings HA Mark III, with a QF2 pdr Mk. II gun in each bridge wing. All aircraft equipment were removed and Dragon and Dauntless had their bridges rebuilt along the lines of the rest of the class. Between 6 and 820 mm Oerlikon guns were added, replacing the old 2 pounder guns in the bridge wings, on either side of P and Q guns. Dragon and Danae were taken in again in 1943 and had the aft 4 inch /2 pounder mountings replaced by a twin Mounting Mark XIX for the QF4 inch Mark XVI gun. Danae also received twin in lieu of single Oerlikon mounts and later received a pair of single Bofors 40 mm guns, Diomede landed her torpedo tubes in 1943 and received one twin mount Hazemeyer Mark IV and two single mounts Mark III for Bofors guns. Between 1941 and 1942, Delhi was rebuilt in the United States as an anti-aircraft vessel, all armaments were removed, and five 5 inch L/38 Mark 12 guns in Mark 30 single mountings were added, controlled by a pair of Mark 37 Fire Control Systems. The guns were in all but the former P position and she carried a new bridge and stepped light tripod masts fore and aft, carrying Radar Type 291 air warning. Sets Type 273 target indication was added amidships and Type 285 on the Mark 37 FCS for target ranging and bearings. Dragon and Durban were expended as breakwaters in support of the Normandy landings in June 1944, Dragon being replaced in Polish service by the Danae and Despatch was disarmed as a depot ship. Dunedin — built by Armstrong Whitworth, laid down 5 November 1917, launched 19 November 1918, transferred to Royal New Zealand Navy 1925, torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-124 off Saint Pauls Rock in the South Atlantic 24 November 1941. Durban — built by Scotts, laid down 22 June 1918, launched 29 May 1919, completed by Devonport Royal Dockyard 1 September 1921, expended as breakwater off Normandy beaches 9 June 1944. Diomede — built by Vickers Limited, Barrow-in-Furness, laid down 3 June 1918, launched 29 April 1919, transferred to Royal New Zealand Navy 1925, sold for breaking up 5 April 1946
5.
Light cruiser
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A light cruiser is a type of small- or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the light armored cruiser, describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser. Prior to this smaller cruisers had been of the protected cruiser model, the first small steam-powered cruisers were built for the British Royal Navy with HMS Mercury launched in 1878. Such second and third class protected cruisers evolved, gradually becoming faster, better armed, germany took a lead in small cruiser design in the 1890s, building a class of fast cruisers—the Gazelle class—copied by other nations. Such vessels were powered by coal-fired boilers and reciprocating steam engines, the adoption of oil-fired water-tube boilers and steam turbine engines meant that older small cruisers rapidly became obsolete. Furthermore, new construction could not rely on the protection of coal bunkers, the British Bristol group of Town-class cruisers were a departure from previous designs, with turbine propulsion, mixed coal and oil firing and a 2-inch protective armoured belt as well as deck. Thus, by definition, they were armoured cruisers, despite displacing only 4,800 tons, the first true modern light cruisers were the Arethusa class which had all oil-firing and used lightweight destroyer-type machinery to make 29 knots. 1-inch to 5. 9-inch guns. Cruiser construction in Britain continued uninterrupted until Admiral Jacky Fishers appointment as First Sea Lord in 1904, the group of 21 Town-class cruisers begun in 1910 proved excellent in scouting in all types of weather and could carry enough fuel and ammunition to guard the shipping lanes. The Arethusa class, launched three years later, was also successful, British designers continued enlarging and refining subsequent cruiser designs throughout the war. The Germans built a number of cruisers in the belief that they were good multi-purpose vessels. However, the Germans were very late in adapting 5. 9-inch guns, with the Pillau and Wiesbaden-class cruisers the Germans followed the British example of heavier guns. Earlier German light cruisers were in competition with a series of British scout cruisers which had a speed of 25 knots. The Germans completed the last two of their Bremen-class cruisers in 1906 and 1907 and followed them up with four Königsberg-class and these last two classes, larger and faster than the Bremens, were armed the same and carried less deck armor. Other major powers concentrated on construction and built few cruisers. The United States, Italy, and Austria-Hungary each built only a handful of scout cruisers while Japan and Spain added a few based on British designs. The United States resumed building light cruisers in 1918, largely because the ships it then had in service had become obsolete, the first of these, the ten Omaha-class ships, displaced 7,050 tons and were armed with twelve 6-inch guns. Eight of these guns were mounted in casemates at the bow and stern. Fast and maneuverable, they were well-liked as seaboats despite being very wet in rough weather, the term light cruiser was given a definition by the London Naval Treaty of 1930
6.
Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company
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Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company was a British engineering company based in Wallsend, North England, on the River Tyne. The company was founded by Charles Algernon Parsons in 1897 with £500,000 of capital, although both these vessels came to grief, the new engines were not to blame, and the Admiralty was convinced. His son became a director in the company and was replaced during the First World War by his daughter Rachel Parsons, USS Arizona used four direct-drive Parsons turbines. The turbines were designed to produce a total of 34,000 shaft horsepower, but only achieved 33,376 shp during Arizonas sea trials, the Royal Navy, along with the Royal Canadian Navy, and Royal Australian Navy, used Parsons turbines on their Tribal-class destroyers. The Invincible-class battlecruisers all used propulsion systems manufactured by the company, the last ship to use a Parsons propulsion system was HMS Glamorgan launched in 1964. The company was absorbed into C. A. Parsons and Company and survives in the Heaton area of Newcastle as part of Siemens, C. A. Parsons and Company Johnston, Ian, Buxton, Ian. The Battleship Builders - Constructing and Arming British Capital Ships
7.
Horsepower
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Horsepower is a unit of measurement of power. There are many different standards and types of horsepower, two common definitions being used today are the mechanical horsepower, which is approximately 746 watts, and the metric horsepower, which is approximately 735.5 watts. The term was adopted in the late 18th century by Scottish engineer James Watt to compare the output of engines with the power of draft horses. It was later expanded to include the power of other types of piston engines, as well as turbines, electric motors. The definition of the unit varied among geographical regions, most countries now use the SI unit watt for measurement of power. With the implementation of the EU Directive 80/181/EEC on January 1,2010, units called horsepower have differing definitions, The mechanical horsepower, also known as imperial horsepower equals approximately 745.7 watts. It was defined originally as exactly 550 foot-pounds per second [745.7 N. m/s), the metric horsepower equals approximately 735.5 watts. It was defined originally as 75 kgf-m per second is approximately equivalent to 735.5 watts, the Pferdestärke PS is a name for a group of similar power measurements used in Germany around the end of the 19th century, all of about one metric horsepower in size. The boiler horsepower equals 9809.5 watts and it was used for rating steam boilers and is equivalent to 34.5 pounds of water evaporated per hour at 212 degrees Fahrenheit. One horsepower for rating electric motors is equal to 746 watts, one horsepower for rating Continental European electric motors is equal to 735 watts. Continental European electric motors used to have dual ratings, one British Royal Automobile Club horsepower can equal a range of values based on estimates of several engine dimensions. It is one of the tax horsepower systems adopted around Europe, the development of the steam engine provided a reason to compare the output of horses with that of the engines that could replace them. He had previously agreed to take royalties of one third of the savings in coal from the older Newcomen steam engines and this royalty scheme did not work with customers who did not have existing steam engines but used horses instead. Watt determined that a horse could turn a mill wheel 144 times in an hour, the wheel was 12 feet in radius, therefore, the horse travelled 2.4 × 2π ×12 feet in one minute. Watt judged that the horse could pull with a force of 180 pounds-force. So, P = W t = F d t =180 l b f ×2.4 ×2 π ×12 f t 1 m i n =32,572 f t ⋅ l b f m i n. Watt defined and calculated the horsepower as 32,572 ft·lbf/min, Watt determined that a pony could lift an average 220 lbf 100 ft per minute over a four-hour working shift. Watt then judged a horse was 50% more powerful than a pony, engineering in History recounts that John Smeaton initially estimated that a horse could produce 22,916 foot-pounds per minute
8.
BL 6 inch Mk XII naval gun
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This was a high-velocity naval gun consisting of inner A tube, A tube, wound with successive layers of steel wire, with a jacket over the wire. Ordinary Seaman John Henry Carless was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for heroism in serving his gun on HMS Caledon during the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight on 17 November 1917. This gun generated a higher pressure in the chamber on firing compared to preceding 6-inch guns such as Mk VII and this necessitated use of special shells capable of withstanding a pressure of 20 tons per square inch on firing, which had Q suffixed to the name. World War I shells were marked A. Q. denoting special 4 C. R. H. List of naval guns 15 cm SK L/45 German equivalent On monitor HMS M33 at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, UK A gun from HMAS Adelaide at HMAS Cerberus naval base, Victoria, Australia Campbell, British Naval Guns, 1880–1945, No.12. Handbook For The 6-inch Breech Loading Mark XII, tony DiGiulian, British 6/45 BL Mark XII and Mark XX
9.
QF 4 inch Mk V naval gun
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This QF gun was introduced to provide a higher rate of fire than the BL4 inch Mk VII. It first appeared in 1914 as secondary armament on Arethusa class cruisers, was adapted to a high-angle anti-aircraft role. It was typically used on cruisers and heavier ships, although V and W class destroyers of 1917 also mounted the gun. Mk V was superseded by the QF4 inch Mk XVI as the HA gun on new warships in the 1930s, early in World War I several guns were supplied by the Navy for evaluation as anti-aircraft guns for the home defence of key installations in Britain. They were mounted on platforms and proved fairly successful after a fixed round was developed to replace the original separate round. The AA mounting allowed elevation to 80° but loading was not possible above 62°, at the Armistice a total of 24 guns were employed in AA defences in Britain and 2 in France. After World War I the guns were returned to the Navy, from 1915 to 1928 several guns were mounted in forts to guard the estuary of the River Humber. The fixed Mk V ammunition was 44.3 inches long and weighed 56 pounds, List of anti-aircraft guns List of naval guns List of naval anti-aircraft guns Cannon 102/45 Italian copy of the QF Mk V made under license 10. V. Hogg & L. F. Thurston, British Artillery Weapons & Ammunition 1914-1918, routledge, History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery. Naval Weapons of World War Two, gun drill for 4-inch Q. F. gun mark V1924 at State Library of Victoria
10.
QF 6-pounder Hotchkiss
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The QF6 pounder Hotchkiss was a light 2.24 inch naval gun and coast defence gun of the late 19th century used by many countries, and was adapted for use in the early British tanks in World War I. The UK adopted a 40-calibre version as Ordnance QF Hotchkiss 6 pounder gun Mk I and it was manufactured under licence by the Elswick Ordnance Company. They were originally mounted for use against the new torpedo boats which started to service in the late 1870s. The original 1885 Mk I lacked a recoil system, the Mk II of 1890 introduced a recoil system, with a pair of recoil/recuperator cylinders. During World War I the navy required many more guns and a version with a barrel was developed to simplify manufacture. Initially these guns were allowed to be fired with a special lower charge. After World War I the gun was considered obsolete for combat use, of the 3,984 produced it was estimated that 1,640 still existed in 1939. With the onset of World War II the remaining guns were rushed back into service for anti-submarine defense, E-boat defense, New non-recoil Mk VI, Mk VI* and Mk VI** mountings were built with elevations between -10° to +70°. These mountings were used on models of the Fairmile D Motor Gunboats, Motor Launchs. Some of which were not re-armed with the modern auto-loading 6 pdr Mk IIA until late 1944, the gun was used to equip Male versions of the early British tanks, Mk I - Mk III. In 1916 the British Army having no experience in fighting tanks was faced with the difficulty of quickly providing a new class of weapon. The existing Hotchkiss 6 pounder naval gun appeared to most closely meet the need, a single gun was mounted in each sponson, i. e.2 per Male tank, able to fire forwards or to the side. The British chose to shorten the gun rather than change its location, the history of the Hotchkiss six pounder in United States Navy and Army service is a complex story. It was used in conjunction with another design, its primary rival being the Driggs-Schroeder six pounder. Oddly, one shipbuilding and naval supply company, Cramp & Sons, had a license to both the Hotchkiss and Driggs-Schroeder and sold both to the Navy in parallel. However, the purchases by the Navy were in small lots each year. Both Hotchkiss and Driggs-Schroeder guns used the same ammunition and eventually the Navy made certain that the ammunition for both was identical, there is no question that the Driggs-Schroeders were predominant in the new protected and armored cruisers that were being commissioned by 1895. However, USS Texas, a second class battleship commissioned in 1895, carried a mixed six pounder complement of ten Driggs-Schroeders, USS Maine, an armored cruiser, exclusively carried Driggs-Schroeder six pounders although it had a mixed one pounder battery of both Driggs-Schroeder and Hotchkiss
11.
British 21 inch torpedo
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There have been several British 21-inch diameter torpedoes used by the Royal Navy since their first development just before the First World War. The 21-inch was the largest size of torpedo in use in the RN. They were used by ships and submarines rather than aircraft which used smaller 18 inch torpedoes. The first British 21 inch torpedo came in two lengths Short at 17 ft 10.5 in, and Long at 23 ft 1.25 in, the explosive charge was 200 lb of gun cotton increased later to 225 lb. The Mark II, chiefly used by destroyers, entered service in 1914, apart from some older British ships, it was used with the old US Town-class destroyers provided to the UK during the early part of the Second World War. The running speed was reduced from 45 knots for better reliability, the Mark II*, an improved Mark II was used by battleships and battlecruisers. A wet heater design, it could run for 4.1 km at 45 knots From 1912, used by destroyers, in the Second World War they were carried on HMS Hood. The Mark V was used by the A and B-class destroyers and, with modification, the Mark VII was issued for use on the British heavy cruisers, i. e. cruisers with 8-inch guns. Designed in the mid-1920s the County-class cruisers were built at the time in the post Washington Naval Treaty period. The power came from the use of enriched air, though torpedo stocks were converted to run on normal air at the start of the Second World War. It was used from 1927 on submarines of the O class onwards, the principal World War II version was the improved Mark VIII**,3,732 being fired by September 1944. The torpedo was still in service with the Royal Navy as late as 1983, the Mark VIII** was used in two particularly notable incidents, - On 9 February 1945 the Royal Navy submarine HMS Venturer sank the German submarine U-864 with four Mark VIII** torpedoes. This is the only intentional sinking of one submarine by another while both were submerged. On 2 May 1982 the Royal Navy submarine HMS Conqueror sank the Argentine cruiser ARA General Belgrano with three Mark VIII** torpedoes during the Falklands War and this is the only sinking of a surface ship by a nuclear-powered submarine in wartime. First appeared in 1930 and was improved by 1939. Used on Leander and later cruisers, A and later destroyer classes, also replaced the old Mark VII in some 8 cruisers during the war. From 1939, used by submarines, motor boats and destroyers. Electric battery powered torpedo with a 322 kg TNT warhead, entering service during the Second World War it was used by destroyers
12.
Torpedo tube
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A torpedo tube is a cylinder shaped device for launching torpedoes. There are two types of torpedo tube, underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships. Thus a submarine torpedo tube operates on the principle of an airlock, the diagram on the right illustrates the operation of a submarine torpedo tube. The diagram is somewhat simplified but does show the working of a torpedo launch. A torpedo tube has a number of interlocks for safety reasons. For example, an interlock prevents the door and muzzle door from opening at the same time. The submarine torpedo launch sequence is, in simplified form, Open the breech door in the torpedo room, load the torpedo into the tube. Hook up the connection and the torpedo power cable. Shut and lock the breech door, turn on power to the torpedo. A minimum amount of time is required for torpedo warmup, fire control programs are uploaded to the torpedo. This may be manually or automatically, from sea or from tanks. The tube must be vented during this process to allow for complete filling, Open the equalizing valve to equalize pressure in the tube with ambient sea pressure. If the tube is set up for Impulse Mode the slide valve will open with the muzzle door, if Swim Out Mode is selected, the slide valve remains closed. The slide valve allows water from the pump to enter the tube. Modern torpedoes have a safety mechanism that prevents activation of the torpedo unless the torpedo senses the required amount of G-force, the power cable is severed at launch. However, if a wire is used, it remains connected through a drum of wire in the tube. Torpedo propulsion systems vary but electric torpedoes swim out of the tube on their own and are of a smaller diameter,21 weapons with fuel-burning engines usually start outside of the tube. Once outside the tube the torpedo begins its run toward the target as programmed by the control system
13.
Magazine (artillery)
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Magazine is the name for an item or place within which ammunition or other explosive material is stored. It is taken originally from the Arabic word makhāzin, meaning magazine or storeroom, via Italian, the term is also used for a place where large quantities of ammunition are stored for later distribution, or an ammunition dump. In the early history of tube artillery drawn by horses, ammunition was carried in separate unarmored wagons or vehicles and these soft-skinned vehicles were extremely vulnerable to enemy fire and to explosions caused by a weapons malfunction. Therefore, as part of setting up a battery, a designated place would be used to shelter the ready ammunition. In the case of batteries of towed artillery the temporary magazine would be placed, if possible, in a pit, or natural declivity, circumstances might require the establishment of multiple field magazines so that one lucky hit or accident would not disable the entire battery. The ammunition storage area aboard a warship is referred to as a magazine or the magazine by sailors. An open flame was never allowed inside the magazine, more modern warships use semi-automated or automated ammunition hoists. The separation of shell and charge gave the storage of the former the name shell room, surface warships that have carried torpedoes, and ones that still do, have had torpedo magazines for carrying these dangerous antiship and antisubmarine weapons in well-defended compartments. For ships with both forward and aft surface-to-air missile launchers, there are at least two missile magazines, nearly every detail of nuclear weapons storage is classified, although many of the same principles of an ammunition dump would apply. The one consistent factor is the increased security compared to that afforded to the storage of other weapons. In naval usage, most nuclear weapons are stored fitted to vehicles in the launch position. Their vertical launching system tubes and missile tubes could technically be described as magazines, the United States employs the Weapons Storage and Security System for storing its tactical nuclear weapons in Europe. Ammunition dump Armory Arsenal Gunpowder magazine Colonial Williamsburg Magazine
14.
Deck (ship)
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A deck is a permanent covering over a compartment or a hull of a ship. On a boat or ship, the primary or upper deck is the structure that forms the roof of the hull, strengthening it. Decks for some purposes have specific names, the main purpose of the upper or primary deck is structural, and only secondarily to provide weather-tightness and support people and equipment. The deck serves as the lid to the box girder which is the hull. It resists tension, compression, and racking forces, the decks scantling is usually the same as the topsides, or might be heavier if the deck is expected to carry heavier loads. The deck will be reinforced around deck fittings such as the capstan, cleats, on ships with more than one level, deck refers to the level itself. The actual floor surface is called the sole, the term refers to a structural member tying the ships frames or ribs together over the keel. In modern ships, the decks are usually numbered from the primary deck. So the first deck below the deck will be #2. Some merchant ships may alternatively designate decks below the deck, usually machinery spaces, by numbers. Ships may also call decks by common names, or may invent fanciful and romantic names for a deck or area of that specific ship. Equipment mounted on deck, such as the wheel, binnacle, fife rails. Eastern designs developed earlier, with efficient middle decks and minimalist fore, in vessels having more than one deck there are various naming conventions, numerically, alphabetically, etc. However, there are various common historical names and types of decks,01 level is the term used in naval services to refer to the deck above the main deck. The next higher decks are referred to as the 02 level, the 03 level, afterdeck an open deck area toward the stern-aft. Berth deck, A deck next below the gun deck, where the hammocks of the crew are slung, Boat deck, Especially on ships with sponsons, the deck area where lifeboats or the ships gig are stored. Boiler deck, The passenger deck above the vessels boilers, may also refer to the deck of a bridge. Flight deck, A deck from which aircraft take off or land, flush deck, Any continuous unbroken deck from stem to stern
15.
North Sea
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The North Sea is a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean located between Great Britain, Scandinavia, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the ocean through the English Channel in the south and it is more than 970 kilometres long and 580 kilometres wide, with an area of around 570,000 square kilometres. The North Sea has long been the site of important European shipping lanes as well as a major fishery, the North Sea was the centre of the Vikings rise. Subsequently, the Hanseatic League, the Netherlands, and the British each sought to dominate the North Sea and thus the access to the markets, as Germanys only outlet to the ocean, the North Sea continued to be strategically important through both World Wars. The coast of the North Sea presents a diversity of geological and geographical features, in the north, deep fjords and sheer cliffs mark the Norwegian and Scottish coastlines, whereas in the south it consists primarily of sandy beaches and wide mudflats. Due to the population, heavy industrialization, and intense use of the sea and area surrounding it. In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean, in the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively. In the north it is bordered by the Shetland Islands, and connects with the Norwegian Sea, the North Sea is more than 970 kilometres long and 580 kilometres wide, with an area of 570,000 square kilometres and a volume of 54,000 cubic kilometres. Around the edges of the North Sea are sizeable islands and archipelagos, including Shetland, Orkney, the North Sea receives freshwater from a number of European continental watersheds, as well as the British Isles. A large part of the European drainage basin empties into the North Sea including water from the Baltic Sea, the largest and most important rivers flowing into the North Sea are the Elbe and the Rhine – Meuse watershed. Around 185 million people live in the catchment area of the rivers discharging into the North Sea encompassing some highly industrialized areas, for the most part, the sea lies on the European continental shelf with a mean depth of 90 metres. The only exception is the Norwegian trench, which extends parallel to the Norwegian shoreline from Oslo to a north of Bergen. It is between 20 and 30 kilometres wide and has a depth of 725 metres. The Dogger Bank, a vast moraine, or accumulation of unconsolidated glacial debris and this feature has produced the finest fishing location of the North Sea. The Long Forties and the Broad Fourteens are large areas with uniform depth in fathoms. These great banks and others make the North Sea particularly hazardous to navigate, the Devils Hole lies 200 miles east of Dundee, Scotland. The feature is a series of trenches between 20 and 30 kilometres long,1 and 2 kilometres wide and up to 230 metres deep. Other areas which are less deep are Cleaver Bank, Fisher Bank, the International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the North Sea as follows, On the Southwest
16.
QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss
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It was also used ashore as a coast defense gun and later occasionally as an anti-aircraft gun. In 1886 this gun was the first of the modern QF artillery to be adopted by the Royal Navy as the Ordnance QF3 pounder Hotchkiss, built under licence by Elswick Ordnance Company. By the middle of World War I the Hotchkiss gun had become obsolescent, of the 2,950 produced it is estimated that 1,948 were still available in 1939 for RN use. A 3-pounder Hotchkiss was used on a mounting in a battle that resulted in Australias first prisoners of World War 2 being captured in 1940 near Berbera. The guns are now used in a Three Pound Saluting Gun Battery at the Garden Island Naval Base, russia adopted the Hotchkiss 5-barrel Gatling-type 3-pounder revolver cannon in the 1880s, and later adopted the less complicated single-barrel quick-firing weapon. The 5-barrel guns were equipped on the Ekaterina II-class battleships commissioned in 1889,47 mm Hotchkiss guns were used during the Russo-Japanese war and were ineffective against Japanese torpedo boats, so they were removed from first-line warships following that war. New Russian battleships ceased carrying the weapon with the Evstafi class, however, they were subsequently fitted to patrol vessels and river craft during World War I, and at least 62 weapons were converted to anti-aircraft guns by 1917. The US Navy used several types of 3-pounder guns, and it is difficult to determine from references which type a particular ship had, Hotchkiss 5-barrel Gatling-type 3-pounder revolving cannon were used, along with single-barrel quick-firing single-shot Hotchkiss 3-pounders. Both are called rapid-firing in references, other manufacturers included Driggs-Schroeder, Maxim-Nordenfelt, and Vickers-Maxim. By 1910 the US was building the dreadnought-type South Carolina class, although removed from first-line warships by World War I, some 3-pounders were fitted on patrol vessels of that war, with a few weapons serving on those ships through World War II. 47 mm Hotchkiss guns, designated as wz.1885 gun, were used on first ships of the Polish Navy, received after World War I, like ex-German torpedo boats, the Jardines Noonday gun at Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. 3 Guns used for purposes at HMS Drake. QF3 pounder Nordenfelt, Nordenfelt equivalent I. V, hogg & L. F. Thurston, British Artillery Weapons & Ammunition 1914-1918. Naval Weapons of World War Two, Handbook of the 3 pounder Hotchkiss quick-firing gun Land service 1892,1900 at State Library of Victoria Handbook for Hotchkiss 6-pr and 3-pr
17.
QF 2-pounder naval gun
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The 2-pounder gun, officially designated the QF 2-pounder and universally known as the pom-pom, was a 40-millimetre British autocannon, used as an anti-aircraft gun by the Royal Navy. The name came from the sound that the original models make when firing. This QF 2-pounder was not the gun as the Ordnance QF2 pounder, used by the British Army as an anti-tank gun. The first gun to be called a pom-pom was the 37 mm Nordenfelt-Maxim or QF 1-pounder introduced during the Second Boer War and it fired a shell one pound in weight accurately over a distance of 3,000 yd. The barrel was water-cooled, and the shells were belt-fed from a 25-round fabric belt, the Boers used them against the British, who, seeing their utility, had the design copied by Vickers, who were already producing Maxim guns. During the First World War, it was used in the trenches of the Western Front against aircraft, the first naval pom-pom was the QF1. 5-pdr Mark I, a piece with a calibre of 37 mm and a barrel 43 calibres long. This was trialed in the Arethusa-class light cruisers HMS Arethusa and Undaunted, but did not enter service, being replaced instead by a larger weapon. The QF 2-pounder Mark II was essentially a version of the QF1 pounder Maxim gun produced by Vickers. It was a 40 mm calibre gun with a water-cooled barrel and it was ordered in 1915 by the Royal Navy as an anti-aircraft weapon for ships of cruiser size and below. The original models fired from hand-loaded fabric belts, although these were replaced by steel-link belts. This scaling-up process was not entirely successful, as it left the mechanism rather light, in 1918, one example of this weapon was experimentally mounted on the upper envelope of His Majestys Airship 23r. Surviving weapons were out of storage to see service in World War II, mainly on board ships such as naval trawlers, Motor Boats. It was used almost exclusively in the single-barrel, unpowered pedestal mountings P Mark II except for a number of weapons on the mounting Mark XV. These were too heavy to be of any use at sea, calibre,40 mm L/39 Total length,96 inches. Length of bore,62 inches Rifling, Polygroove, plain section,54.84 inches, Weight of gun & breech assembly,527 lb Shell Weight,2 lb. HE. Rate of Fire,200 rpm Effective Range,1,200 yd Muzzle Velocity,1920 ft/s Some 7,000 guns were made, the gun was also used by the Japanese as the 40 mm/62 HI Shiki. The Royal Navy had identified the need for a rapid-firing, multi-barrelled close-range anti-aircraft weapon at an early stage. Design work for such a weapon began in 1923 based on the earlier Mark II, lack of funding led to a convoluted and drawn-out design and trials history, and it was not until 1930 that these weapons began to enter service
18.
HMS Caroline (1914)
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HMS Caroline is a decommissioned C-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy that saw combat service in the First World War and served as an administrative centre in the Second World War. Caroline was launched and commissioned in 1914, at the time of her decommissioning in 2011 she was the second-oldest ship in Royal Navy service, after HMS Victory. She served as a headquarters and training ship for the Royal Naval Reserve, based in Alexandra Dock, Belfast, Northern Ireland. She was converted into a museum ship, as of October 2016 she is currently undergoing an inspection and repairs to her hull at Harland and Wolff and is currently closed to the public. Once complete she will be returned to her home of Alexandra Dock in the Titanic Quarter in Belfast, Caroline was the last remaining British First World War light cruiser in service, and she is the last survivor of the Battle of Jutland still afloat. She is also one of three surviving Royal Navy warships of the First World War, along with the 1915 Monitor HMS M33. HMS Caroline was built by Cammell Laird of Birkenhead and she was laid down on 28 January 1914, launched on 29 September 1914 and completed in December 1914. Carolines machinery is still in place today, although not in working order, Caroline was commissioned on 4 December 1914 and served in the North Sea throughout the First World War. Upon commissioning, she joined the Grand Fleet based at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands and she was part of the Grand Fleets 1st Light Cruiser Squadron from February to November 1915. From 1917 until late 1918, she carried a platform for the launching of Royal Naval Air Service. Caroline remained in the 4th Light Cruiser Squadron after World War I, in February 1922 she paid off into dockyard control and was placed in reserve. Harland and Wolff of Belfast removed her weaponry and some of her boilers around 1924, eventually several thousand ratings were wearing Caroline cap tallies. The first such establishment was set up in the Belfast Custom House, later, Belfast Castle was taken over and included a radio station. There were depth charge pistol and Hedgehog repair workshops associated with HMS Caroline, during the early part of the Second World War when RAF Belfast occupied Sydenham airfield, Fleet Air Arm personnel based there were lodged under HMS Caroline. In 1943, the airfield was transferred to the Admiralty and commissioned as HMS Gadwall, after the Second World War, the Royal Navy returned Caroline to the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, and she served as its last afloat training establishment. She underwent a refit at Harland and Wolff in Belfast in 1951, the Royal Naval Reserve Unit decommissioned from the ship in December 2009, moved ashore, and recommissioned as the stone frigate HMS Hibernia. Caroline herself was decommissioned on 31 March 2011 in a traditional ceremony and her ensign was laid up in St Annes Cathedral in Belfast. Caroline is listed as part of the National Historic Fleet, on her decommissioning, she was placed into the care of the National Museum of the Royal Navy at Portsmouth, though remaining moored in her position in Alexandra Dock in Belfast
19.
Cammell Laird
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Cammell Laird is a British shipbuilding company. One of the names in British shipbuilding during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The company came about following the merger of Laird, Son & Co. of Birkenhead and they also built railway rolling stock until 1929, when that side of the business was separated and became part of the Metropolitan-Cammell Carriage and Wagon Company. The Laird company was founded by William Laird, who had established the Birkenhead Iron Works in 1824, when he was joined by his son, John Laird in 1828, their first ship was an iron barge. John realised that the techniques of making boilers could be applied to making ships, the company soon became pre-eminent in the manufacture of iron ships and made major advances in propulsion. In 1860 John Laird was joined in the business by his three sons, renaming it John Laird, Sons & Co, the sons continued it after their fathers death in 1874 as Laird Brothers. Johnson Cammell & Co. was founded by Charles Cammell and Henry and Thomas Johnson, it made, amongst many other metal products, in 1903 the businesses of Messrs. Cammell and Laird merged to create a company at the forefront of shipbuilding, the company also built a number of vehicles for the London Underground. An order was placed for 20 trailer cars and 20 control trailer cars in 1919, which were known as 1920 Stock and they ran with converted French motor cars, originally built in 1906. The doors were fitted with a edge, designed to re-open the door if someone became trapped in it, but the mechanism was too sensitive. The cars continued in operation until 1938, eight years after the cars were withdrawn. Cammell Laird also built a number of Standard Stock vehicles for the Underground and they were one of five builders approached to build a sample car to a general specification, which were put into service in February 1923, and three of the builders subsequently built production runs. The company supplied 41 motor cars and 40 trailer cars in 1923,25 control trailers in 1924, in 1927, they built 160 passenger coaches for use in India. To transport them, Cammell Laird asked Watsons of Gainsborough to build five dumb barges. The coaches were loaded onto the barges at Clifton, near Nottingham on the River Trent and they were taken to Hull for export. In 1929, the rolling stock business of Cammell Laird was spun off and merged to become Metropolitan-Cammell Carriage. Between 1829 and 1947, over 1,100 vessels of all kinds were launched from the Cammell Laird slipways into the River Mersey, among the many famous ships made by the companies were the worlds first steel ship, the Ma Roberts, built in 1858 for Dr. In 1898, Cammell provided the half-inch armour plate used to fabricate the four Fowler Armoured Road Trains built during the Second Anglo-Boer War
20.
Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve
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The Royal Naval Reserve is the volunteer reserve force of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. The present RNR was formed by merging the original Royal Naval Reserve, created in 1859, the Royal Naval Reserve has seen action in World War I, World War II, the Iraq War and Afghanistan. This led to a Royal Commission on Manning the Navy in 1858 and this established the RNR as a reserve of professional seamen from the British Merchant Navy and fishing fleets, who could be called upon during times of war to serve in the regular Royal Navy. The RNR was originally a reserve of only, but in 1862 this was extended to include the recruitment. From its creation, RNR officers wore on their uniforms a unique, after initial shore training, officers embarked in larger ships of the Royal Navys fleet for one year, to familiarise themselves with gunnery and naval practice. In 1910, the RNR was formed to recruit and train fishermen for wartime service in minesweepers, prior to the First World War, one hundred RNR officers were transferred to permanent careers in the regular navy—forever after referred to as the hungry hundred. In their professional careers, many RNR officers went on to command the largest passenger liners of the day and some also held positions in the shipping industry. On mobilisation in 1914, the RNR consisted of 30,000 officers, Officers of the permanent RNR on general service quickly took up seagoing appointments in the fleet, many in command, in destroyers, submarines, auxiliary cruisers and Q-ships. Others served in units of the battle fleet including a large number with the West Indies Squadron who became casualties at the Battle of Coronel. One such casualty was armed naval drifter HMT Frons Olivae, which hit a mine off Ramsgate on 12 October 1915 in an explosion killed at least five other seamen. One casualty, a Newfoundlander serving with the Royal Naval Reserve, was buried in the Hamilton Road Cemetery, Deal. Merchant service officers and men serving in armed merchant cruisers, hospital ships, fleet auxiliaries, although considerably smaller than both the RN and the RNVR, the RNR had an exceptional war record, members being awarded twelve Victoria Crosses. Again, RNR officers found themselves in command of destroyers, frigates, sloops, landing craft and submarines, or as specialist navigation officers in cruisers, in convoy work, the convoy commodore or escort commander was often an RNR officer. As in the First World War, the RNR acquitted itself well, during the Second World War, no more ratings were accepted into the RNVR, which then became the main route for wartime officer entry. The service was called the Wavy Navy, after the 3/8-inch wavy sleeve rings that RNVR officers wore to differentiate them from RN/RNR officers. From 30 November 2007, mainly due to increasing involvement of the RNR in RN operations and deployments, similarly, RNR ratings no longer wear RNR shoulder flashes. From 1938 until 1957, the RNVR provided aircrew personnel in the form of their own Air Branch, in 1947, their contribution was cut to anti-submarine and fighter squadrons only. By 1957, it was considered by the UK government that the required to operate modern equipment was beyond that expected of reservists
21.
Belfast
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Belfast is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, the second largest on the island of Ireland, and the heart of the tenth largest Primary Urban Area in the United Kingdom. On the River Lagan, it had a population of 286,000 at the 2011 census and 333,871 after the 2015 council reform, Belfast was granted city status in 1888. Belfast played a key role in the Industrial Revolution, and was an industrial centre until the latter half of the 20th century. It has sustained a major aerospace and missiles industry since the mid 1930s, industrialisation and the inward migration it brought made Belfast Irelands biggest city at the beginning of the 20th century. Today, Belfast remains a centre for industry, as well as the arts, higher education, business, and law, additionally, Belfast city centre has undergone considerable expansion and regeneration in recent years, notably around Victoria Square. Belfast is served by two airports, George Best Belfast City Airport in the city, and Belfast International Airport 15 miles west of the city. Although the county borough of Belfast was created when it was granted city status by Queen Victoria in 1888, the site of Belfast has been occupied since the Bronze Age. The Giants Ring, a 5, 000-year-old henge, is located near the city, Belfast remained a small settlement of little importance during the Middle Ages. The ONeill clan had a presence in the area, in the 14th century, Cloinne Aodha Buidhe, descendants of Aodh Buidhe ONeill built Grey Castle at Castlereagh, now in the east of the city. Conn ONeill of the Clannaboy ONeills owned vast lands in the area and was the last inhabitant of Grey Castle, evidence of this period of Belfasts growth can still be seen in the oldest areas of the city, known as the Entries. Belfast blossomed as a commercial and industrial centre in the 18th and 19th centuries, industries thrived, including linen, rope-making, tobacco, heavy engineering and shipbuilding, and at the end of the 19th century, Belfast briefly overtook Dublin as the largest city in Ireland. The Harland and Wolff shipyards became one of the largest shipbuilders in the world, in 1886 the city suffered intense riots over the issue of home rule, which had divided the city. In 1920–22, Belfast became the capital of the new entity of Northern Ireland as the island of Ireland was partitioned, the accompanying conflict cost up to 500 lives in Belfast, the bloodiest sectarian strife in the city until the Troubles of the late 1960s onwards. Belfast was heavily bombed during World War II, in one raid, in 1941, German bombers killed around one thousand people and left tens of thousands homeless. Apart from London, this was the greatest loss of life in a raid during the Blitz. Belfast has been the capital of Northern Ireland since its establishment in 1921 following the Government of Ireland Act 1920 and it had been the scene of various episodes of sectarian conflict between its Catholic and Protestant populations. These opposing groups in conflict are now often termed republican and loyalist respectively. The most recent example of conflict was known as the Troubles – a civil conflict that raged from around 1969 to 1998
22.
Pembroke Dockyard
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Pembroke Dockyard is a former Royal Navy dockyard in Pembroke Dock, Pembrokeshire, Wales. It was founded in 1814, although not formally authorized until the Prince Regent signed the necessary Order in Council on 31 October 1815, the Mayor of Pembroke had requested the change in deference to the town of Pembroke some two miles distant. The site selected for the dockyard was greenfield land and the closest accommodations were in Pembroke, office space was provided by the old frigate Lapwing after she was beached. The Royal Marine garrison was housed in the hulked 74-gun ship, HMS Dragon, many of the workmen commuted by boat from nearby communities until Pembroke Dock town was built up. After the end of the First World War, the dockyard was closed by the cash-strapped Admiralty as redundant in 1926, Pembroke Dockyard and the Old Navy, A Bicentennial History. Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK, The History Press
23.
HMS Cleopatra (1915)
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The fourth HMS Cleopatra was a C-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy that saw service during World War I and the Russian Civil War. She was part of the Caroline group of the C class, constructed by Devonport Dockyard, Cleopatra was laid down on 26 February 1914, launched on 14 January 1915, and completed in June 1915. In August 1915, she took part in the hunt in the North Sea for the Imperial German Navy auxiliary cruiser SMS Meteor, in February 1916, she replaced the recently lost light cruiser HMS Arethusa as flagship for Harwich Forces commander, Commodore Reginald Tyrwhitt. She was involved in an engagement with German destroyers in the North Sea on 18 July 1916, on 4 August 1916, she struck a mine off Thornton Ridge off the coast of Belgium, but soon returned to action after repairs. In January 1917, Cleopatra participated in an operation to attack German destroyers off the Belgian coast. After returning to the United Kingdom, she recommissioned in October 1920 to serve in the Atlantic Fleet and she was decommissioned in 1921 and placed in the Nore Reserve. Cleopatra recommissioned in 1923 to serve in the 3rd Light Cruiser Squadron, in December 1927, she commissioned into the Nore Reserve, and was its flagship from September 1928 to March 1931. While in the Nore Reserve, she transported troops to the Mediterranean in October 1928, in March 1931, she was decommissioned and placed under dockyard control at Chatham Dockyard. Cleopatra was sold on 26 June 1931 to Hughes Bolckow of Blyth, Northumberland, Ships of the Royal Navy, The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy. Janes Fighting Ships of World War One, Janes Publishing Company Ships of the Caroline class
24.
HMNB Devonport
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Her Majestys Naval Base, Devonport, is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy. HMNB Devonport is located in Devonport, in the west of the city of Plymouth, having begun as Royal Navy Dockyard in the late-17th century, it is now the largest naval base in Western Europe and is the sole nuclear repair and refuelling facility for the Royal Navy. From 1934 until the early 21st century the barracks on the site was named HMS Drake. Recently, the name HMS Drake has been extended to cover the entire base, in the early 1970s the newly-styled Fleet Maintenance Base was itself commissioned as HMS Defiance, it remained so until 1994, at which point it was amalgamated into HMS Drake. HM Naval Base Devonport is the port of the Devonport Flotilla which includes the largest ship in the Royal Navy, HMS Ocean. In 2009 the Ministry of Defence announced the conclusion of a review of the long-term role of three naval bases. Devonport will no longer be used as a base for submarines after these move to Faslane by 2017. However, Devonport retains a role as the dedicated home of the amphibious fleet, survey vessels. In 1588, the ships of the English Navy set sail for the Spanish Armada through the mouth of the River Plym, Sir Francis Drake is now an enduring legacy in Devonport, as the naval base has been named HMS Drake. In 1689 Prince William of Orange became William III and almost immediately he required the building of a new Royal Dockyard west of Portsmouth, having dismissed the Plymouth site as inadequate, he settled on the Hamoaze area which soon became known as Plymouth Dock, later renamed Devonport. On 30 December 1690, a contract was let for a dockyard to be built, having selected the location, Dummer was given responsibility for designing and building the new yard. At the heart of his new dockyard, Dummer placed a stone-lined basin, previously the Navy Board had relied upon timber as the major building material for dry docks, which resulted in high maintenance costs and was also a fire risk. The docks Dummer designed were stronger with more secure foundations and stepped sides that made it easier for men to work beneath the hull of a docked vessel and these innovations also allowed rapid erection of staging and greater workforce mobility. He discarded the earlier three-sectioned hinged gate, which was labour-intensive in operation, Dummer wished to ensure that naval dockyards were efficient working units that maximised available space, as evidenced by the simplicity of his design layout at Plymouth Dock. He introduced a centralised storage area alongside the basin, and a positioning of other buildings around the yard. His double rope-house combined the previously separate tasks of spinning and laying while allowing the floor to be used for the repair of sails. On high ground overlooking the rest of the yard he built a terrace of houses for the senior dockyard officers. Most of Dummers buildings and structures were rebuilt over ensuing years, including the basin, the terrace survived into the 20th century, but was largely destroyed in the Blitz along with several others of Devonports historic buildings
25.
Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson
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Swan Hunter, formerly known as Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson, is a shipbuilding design, engineering, and management company, based in Wallsend, Tyne and Wear. At its apex, the company represented the forces of three powerful shipbuilding families, Swan, Hunter and Wigham Richardson. In 2006 Swan Hunter ceased vessel construction on Tyneside, but continues to provide engineering services. Swan & Hunter was founded by George Burton Hunter, who formed a partnership with the widow of Charles Sheridan Swan under the name in 1880, Swan & Hunter merged with Wigham Richardson, specifically to bid for the important contract to build RMS Mauretania on behalf of Cunard. Their bid was successful, and the new company, Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson Ltd, went on to build what was to become, in its day, Mauretania was launched from Wallsend on 20 September 1906 by the Duchess of Roxburghe. The firm expanded rapidly in the part of the twentieth century. In 1966 Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson merged with Smiths Dock Company to form Associated Shipbuilders, following the publication of the Geddes Report recommending rationalisation in British shipbuilding, the Company went on to acquire Clelands Shipbuilding Company and John Readhead & Sons in 1967. Meanwhile, Swan Hunter inherited both the Naval Yard at High Walker on the River Tyne of Vickers-Armstrongs and the Hebburn Yard of Hawthorn Leslie in 1968, in 1973 further expansion came with the purchase of Palmers Dock at Hebburn from Vickers-Armstrongs. Then in 1977, Swan Hunter Group was nationalised as part of British Shipbuilders, the flagship of the Royal Navy, HMS Ark Royal was built at Swan Hunter during this period, entering service in 1985. The Company was privatised again in 1987 but decided to close its Neptune Yard in 1988 and it was then forced to call in the receivers when the UK government awarded the contract for HMS Ocean to Kvaerner Govan in 1993. The Receiver took steps to break up the business, however the main shipyard in Wallsend was bought out from receivership by Jaap Kroese, a Dutch millionaire. The yard subsequently undertook several ad-hoc ship repair and conversion projects for private-sector customers, by July 2006, the costs had risen to £309 million and only one ship had been delivered. As result of this, the second ship RFA Lyme Bay was transferred to BAE Systems Govan in Glasgow for completion, in 2001 Swan Hunter acquired Kvaerners Port Clarence offshore yard at Teesside but then in 2006 sold it to Wilton Engineering Group. He also said that he was looking for a buyer for the land. During this time, The Lyme Bays earlier sister ship, the Largs Bay, was noted as the last ship to be built and fully completed by Swan Hunter. In April 2007, Swan Hunters cranes, along with its floating dock and other equipment, were sold to Bharati Shipyards, the entire plant machinery and equipment from Swan Hunter was dismantled and transported to India over six months to be rebuilt at Bharati Shipyards. Swans performed the design of Pioneering Spirit, provisionally named Pieter Schelte. The basic design of the systems was completed by the end of 2008
26.
HMS Conquest (1915)
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HMS Conquest was a C-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy that saw service during World War I. She was part of the Caroline group of the C class, constructed by Chatham Dockyard, Conquest was laid down on 3 March 1914, launched on 20 January 1915, and completed in June 1915. Conquest was commissioned into service in the Royal Navy in June 1915 and she was assigned to the 5th Light Cruiser Squadron in Harwich Force, which operated in the North Sea to guard the eastern approaches to the Strait of Dover and English Channel. She covered the force carried out the Royal Naval Air Service seaplane raid on the German Navy airship hangars at Tondern, then in northern Germany. In January 1917, she took part in an attempt to attack German destroyers off the coast of Belgium. She was damaged by a mine in July 1918 and was decommissioned on 13 July 1918 for repairs which lasted through the end of World War I, after her repairs were complete, Conquest went into the Nore Reserve, and underwent a refit in 1921 while in reserve. She left the Mediterranean in April 1928 and returned to the United Kingdom to enter the reserve at Portsmouth. Conquest was sold on 29 August 1930 to Metal Industries of Rosyth, Scotland, Ships of the Royal Navy, The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy. Janes Fighting Ships of World War One, Janes Publishing Company Ships of the Caroline class
27.
Chatham Dockyard
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Chatham Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the River Medway in Kent. Established in Chatham in the century, the dockyard subsequently expanded into neighbouring Gillingham. It came into existence at the time when, following the Reformation, relations with the Catholic countries of Europe had worsened, for 414 years Chatham Royal Dockyard provided over 500 ships for the Royal Navy, and was at the forefront of shipbuilding, industrial and architectural technology. At its height, it employed over 10,000 skilled artisans, Chatham dockyard closed in 1984, and 84 acres of the Georgian dockyard is now managed as a visitor attraction by the Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust. The Treasurer of the Navys accounts of the Kings Exchequer for the year 1544 identifies Deptford as the Dockyard that carried out all the repairs to the Kings Ships that year. Chathams establishment as a naval dockyard was precipitated by the use of the Medway as an anchorage by the ships of what was to become Englands permanent Royal Navy. 1567 is generally seen as the date of Chathams establishment as a Royal Naval Dockyard, in the years that followed the ground was prepared, accommodation was secured and a mast pond was installed. The renowned Tudor shipwright Mathew Baker was appointed to Chatham in 1572, under his supervision the site was developed to include sawpits, workshops, a wharf with a crane and, most significantly, its first dry dock, which opened in 1581. The dockyard received its first royal visit, from Elizabeth I, the first ship to be built at the dockyard, HMS Sunne was launched in 1586. James I used Chatham dockyard for a meeting in 1606 with Christian IV of Denmark, in 1613, the dockyard moved from its original location to its present site. Peter Pett, of the family of shipwrights whose history is connected to the Chatham dockyard. One of the disadvantages of Chatham was their relative inaccessibility for ships at sea, thus deliveries of victuals, ordnance and other supplies were made by small boats, sailing regularly between Chatham and The Nore. Seeking to alleviate this situation, the Navy Board explored options for developing a shore facility with direct access from the open water of the Thames Estuary. Sheerness remained operational as a royal dockyard until 1959, but it was never considered a major shore establishment, by the late 17th century Chatham was the largest refitting dockyard, important during the Dutch wars. It was, however, superseded in the century, first by Portsmouth, then Plymouth, when the main naval enemy became France. In addition, the Medway had begun to silt up, making more difficult. Nevertheless, following a visit by the Admiralty Board in 1773, the decision was taken to invest further in Chatham, among many vessels built in this Dockyard, and which still exist, are HMS Victory, launched in 1765 – now preserved at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. The officers and men employed in the yard increased, and by 1798 they numbered 1,664, including 49 officers
28.
HMS Cordelia (1914)
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HMS Cordelia was a C-class light cruiser built for the Royal Navy during World War I. She was one of six ships of the Caroline sub-class and was completed at the beginning of 1915, the ship was assigned to the 1st and 4th Light Cruiser Squadrons of the Grand Fleet for the entire war and played a minor role in the Battle of Jutland in mid-1916. Cordelia spent most of her time on patrols of the North Sea. She spent most of 1919 as a ship before she was recommissioned for service with the Atlantic Fleet in 1920. The ship was placed in reserve at the end of 1922 and was sold for scrap in mid-1923, the C-class cruisers were intended to escort the fleet and defend it against enemy destroyers attempting to close within torpedo range. Ordered in July–August 1913 as part of the 1913–14 Naval Programme, the ships were 446 feet long overall, with a beam of 41 feet 6 inches and a mean draught of 16 feet. Displacement was 4,219 long tons at normal and 4,733 long tons at deep load, Cordelia was powered by four direct-drive Brown-Curtis steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, which produced a total of 40,000 indicated horsepower. The turbines used steam generated by eight Yarrow boilers which gave her a speed of 28.5 knots and she carried 916 long tons tons of fuel oil. The ship had a crew of 301 officers and other ranks, cordelias main armament consisted of two BL 6-inch Mk XII guns that were mounted on the centreline in the stern, with one gun superfiring over the rearmost gun. For anti-aircraft defence, she was fitted with one QF 6-pounder 2.2 in Hotchkiss gun, the ship also mounted two twin, above-water, mounts for 21 in torpedoes, one on each broadside. The Carolines were protected by a waterline belt amidships that ranged in thickness from 1–3 inches, the walls of their conning tower were 6 inches thick. In August 1915, her 6-pounder anti-aircraft gun was replaced by a Ordnance QF 3-pounder 1.9 in Vickers Mk II anti-aircraft gun, in September–October 1917 the ships armament was extensively revised. This was removed between April and August 1918 when an additional 6-inch gun was added abaft the funnels in lieu of her forward main-deck 4-inch guns. Cordelias last 4-inch guns, including the Mk V AA gun, were replaced by a pair of QF3 in 20-cwt AA guns abaft the bridge, where the 4-inch guns had originally been located. Sometime between 1919 and 1923, the received a pair of 2-pounder 1.6 in Mk II pom-pom guns on single mounts. All of these changes affected the ships stability and the additional 21-inch torpedo tubes. Cordelia, the ship of her name in the Royal Navy, was laid down by Pembroke Dockyard in Pembroke Dock, Wales. She was launched on 23 February 1914, and completed in January 1915, commissioned into service in the Royal Navy that same month, Cordelia was assigned to the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron of the Grand Fleet
29.
Belt armor
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Belt armor is a layer of heavy metal armor plated onto or within the outer hulls of warships, typically on battleships, battlecruisers and cruisers, and aircraft carriers. The belt armor is designed to prevent projectiles from penetrating to the heart of a warship, typically, the main armor belt covers the warship from its main deck down to some distance below the waterline. If, instead of forming the hull, the armor belt is built inside the hull, it is installed at a sloped angle for improved protection. Furthermore, the spaces around the main belt in some designs were filled with storage tanks that could contain fuel oil, seawater. The liquids in these tanks absorb or scatter much of the force of warheads. To deal with the leakage from the tanks and incoming seawater and this multilayer design is featured in the cross-sectional drawings of Tirpitz and King George V. In combat, a warship can be seriously damaged underwater not only by torpedoes, to improve protection against both shells and torpedoes, an air space can be added between the armor belt and the hull to increase the buoyancy of the warship. Some kinds of naval warships have belt armor thinner than actually necessary for protection against projectiles and this is common especially with battlecruisers, battleships, and aircraft carriers to reduce their weight, thus increasing their acceleration and speed. Another possible reason is to meet treaty restrictions on ship displacement, one such method is all-or-nothing armoring, where belt armor is stripped from areas deemed non-vital to the functioning of the ship in battle. Agility gained from such processes are an asset to offensive warships that seek to quickly bring their heavy striking power to the enemy. In carriers, the maneuverability is exploited when deploying and recovering aircraft, since planes take off and land most easily when flying into the wind, the aircraft carrier steams rapidly into the wind in both maneuvers, making take-off and landing safer and easier. S. Comparison of WW2 battleship armor schemes Torpedo belt Protected cruiser Armored cruiser
30.
HMS Calliope (1914)
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HMS Calliope was a C-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy under construction at the outbreak of the First World War. Both Calliope and her sister ship Champion were based on the earlier cruiser Caroline and they were effectively test ships for the use of geared turbines which resulted in the one less funnel. They also received slightly thicker armour and they led into the first of the Cambrian subclass. Eight light cruisers were ordered for the Royal Navy in the 1913 budget, Calliope was built at HM Dockyard, Chatham, Kent. She was laid down in January 1914, launched on 17 December 1914, Calliope had four shafts as used in the Caroline design but unlike the two used in Champion. Gearing increased the efficiency of transmission to the water so allowed smaller boilers. Nominal design power for the target speed was therefore reduced from 40,000 shp in the Caroline class to 37,500 shp. Commissioned in June 1915, Calliope was assigned to the Grand Fleet for service as flagship of the 4th Light Cruiser Squadron, under the command of Commodore Charles E. Le Mesurier, HMS Calliope received a number of hits just before nightfall on 31 May, in September 1917, Calliope helped to sink four German trawler minesweepers in the North Sea off the coast of Jutland. She returned to Devonport for repairs, which were carried out between November 1919 and March 1920, and then recommisioned for continued service on the North America and she returned to the United Kingdom in December 1920 for a refit and paid off at the Nore in January 1921. She was in the Nore Reserve from October 1921 to May 1924, between 1925 and 1926, Calliope was used to transport troops before paying off into dockyard control at the Nore in April 1926 for a refit. Between 1927 and 1928 she was used for trooping runs again, in September 1928 received her last commission, this time with the 3rd Cruiser Squadron in the Mediterranean Fleet, which ended in January 1930 when she paid off into reserve at Portsmouth Dockyard. Calliope was transferred to control in January 1931. She was sold for scrap on 28 August 1931 to Thos W Ward of Inverkeithing, Calliope received one battle honour, for the Battle of Jutland in 1916. Ships of the Royal Navy, The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy, Janes Fighting Ships of World War One, Janes Publishing Company
31.
HMS Champion (1915)
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HMS Champion was a C-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy that saw service during World War I. She was part of the Calliope group of the C class, eight light cruisers were ordered for the Royal Navy in the 1913 budget. Champion and Calliope tested different designs, built by Hawthorn Leslie and Company at Tyneside, England, Champion was laid down on 9 March 1914, launched on 29 May 1915, and completed in December 1915. Champion had two shafts, the port one being driven from the sternmost engine room and the starboard one from forward. However, during construction modifications were made to again increase boiler capacity, maximum propeller speed was a nominal 340 revolutions per minute. The ship could achieve 28 knots operating at the power of 31,000 shp. Champion was commissioned into service in the Royal Navy on 20 December 1915 and she was assigned to the Grand Fleet upon completion, serving as the leader of the 13th Destroyer Flotilla through the end of World War I and until early 1919. She fought in the Battle of Jutland on 31 May-1 June 1916, during which she also was the flagship of Commodore, Champion briefly served in the 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron during 1919. She then was attached to the Royal Navy Torpedo School, HMS Vernon, from 1919 to 1924 and she was decommissioned and placed under dockyard control at Portsmouth in October 1924. In May 1925, Champion was recommissioned to serve as Gunnery Firing Ship and she was attached to the Signal School in 1928, and was used as a testbed for the Royal Navys first remote-power-control gunnery systems that year. She was decommissioned in December 1933 and placed under dockyard control, Champion was sold on 28 July 1934 to Metal Industries of Rosyth, Scotland, for scrapping. Ships of the Royal Navy, The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy, Janes Fighting Ships of World War One, Janes Publishing Company Ships of the Calliope class Brown, David
32.
HMS Cambrian (1916)
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HMS Cambrian was a C-class light cruiser built for the Royal Navy during World War I. She was the ship of her sub-class of four ships. Assigned to the Grand Fleet, the ship played only a role during the war. Cambrian was assigned to the Atlantic and Mediterranean Fleets during the 1920s and was sent to support British interests in Turkey during the Chanak Crisis of 1922–23, the ship was placed in reserve in late 1929. She was sold for scrap in 1934, the C-class cruisers were intended to escort the fleet and defend it against enemy destroyers attempting to close within torpedo range. The ships were 446 feet long overall, with a beam of 41 feet 6 inches, displacement was 4,320 long tons at normal and 4,799 long tons at deep load. Cambrian was powered by four direct-drive Parsons steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, the turbines used steam generated by six Yarrow boilers which gave her a speed of 28.5 knots. She carried 841 long tons tons of fuel oil, the ship had a crew of 368 officers and other ranks. Cambrians main armament consisted of three BL 6-inch Mk XII guns that were mounted on the centreline, one gun was forward of the bridge and the last two were in the stern, with one gun superfiring over the rearmost gun. Her secondary armament consisted of six QF4 in Mk IV guns, for anti-aircraft defence, she was fitted with one QF4 in Mk V gun. The ship also mounted two submerged 21 in torpedo tubes, one on each broadside, the Cambrians were protected by a waterline belt amidships that ranged in thickness from 1. 5–3 inches with a 1-inch deck. The walls of their conning tower were 6 inches thick, during 1917–18, her pole foremast was replaced by a tripod mast that was fitted with a gunnery director. In January 1919, Cambrian had her 4-inch guns removed and an additional 6-inch gun added abaft the funnels, at the same time, her AA gun was replaced by a pair of QF3 in 20-cwt anti-aircraft guns. Sometime between 1919 and 1924 the ship received a pair of 2-pounder Mk II pom-pom guns on single mounts. Cambrian, the ship of her name in the Royal Navy, was laid down by Pembroke Dockyard in Pembroke Dock, Wales, on 8 December 1914, launched on 3 March 1916. She was commissioned into service that month and was assigned to the 4th Light Cruiser Squadron of the Grand Fleet in which she served through the end of World War I. The squadron was tasked with screening the battleships of the Grand Fleet during the war. The ship did not participate in the inconclusive Action of 19 August 1916 with the rest of her squadron, the squadron was briefly detached from the Grand Fleet in March 1917 to fruitlessly patrol off the Norwegian coast when news of a blockade runner was received by the Admiralty
33.
HMS Canterbury (1915)
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HMS Canterbury was a C-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy that saw service in the First World War and the Russian Civil War. She was part of the Cambrian group of the C class, Canterbury was laid down on 28 October 1914, launched on 21 December 1915, and completed in May 1916. Unlike the rest of the Cambrian subclass, Canterbury was armed with six torpedo tubes instead of the usual four. From 1916 to 1918, she was assigned to the 5th Light Cruiser Squadron, operating as part of Harwich Force in the North Sea to defend the approaches to the Strait of Dover. On 5 June 1917, she and the light cruisers HMS Centaur and HMS Conquest sank the German torpedo boat S20 in the North Sea near the Shouwen Bank off Zeebrugge, Belgium. In 1918, she was assigned to operate in the Aegean Sea, after the First World War, Canterbury served in the Black Sea in 1919 during the British intervention in the Russian Civil War. She commissioned at Portsmouth in November 1919 for service in the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron in the Atlantic Fleet and she was attached to the Gunnery School at Portsmouth from 1920 to 1922, then was in the Portsmouth Reserve from 1922 to 1924. She recommissioned at Portsmouth in May 1924 to serve in the 2nd Cruiser Squadron in the Atlantic Fleet, Canterbury recommissioned out of the Nore Reserve in November 1926 for another tour of duty in the Atlantic Fleet with the 2nd Cruiser Squadron. She transported troops to China from 1930 to 1931, reentered the Nore Reserve in March 1931 and she was decommissioned in December 1933. Canterbury was sold on 27 July 1934 to Metal Industries of Rosyth, canterburys ships bell is preserved at Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, England, and her ships badge is on display at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England. Ships of the Royal Navy, The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy, Janes Fighting Ships of World War One, Janes Publishing Company Ships of the Cambrian class
34.
HMS Castor (1915)
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HMS Castor was one of the Cambrian subclass of the C-class of light cruisers. She saw service during the First World War and the Russian Civil War, Castor was built by Cammell Laird at Birkenhead, England. Laid down on 28 October 1914, she was launched on 28 July 1915, commissioned in November 1915, Castor was the flagship of Commodore, assigned to the 11th Destroyer Flotilla in the Grand Fleet. She fought in the Battle of Jutland, in which she was damaged by German gunfire, on 4 October 1917, the United States Navy patrol vessel USS Rehoboth suffered an uncontrollable leak in her hull while on patrol duty off France. Rehoboths crew had to be taken off, and Castor sank her with gunfire, after the First World War, Castor served in the Black Sea from 1919 to 1920 during the British intervention in the Russian Civil War. In April 1920, she recommissioned at Chatham Dockyard for service in the 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron in the Atlantic Fleet, Castor patrolled off the coast of Ireland in 1922 during the Irish Civil War. She was assigned to the Gunnery School at Portsmouth from 1923 to 1924, Castor underwent a refit from November 1925 to September 1926, then began transporting troops to China in October 1927. She recommissioned at Devonport in June 1928 to serve on the China Station and she entered the Devonport Reserve in July 1930, then was decommissioned in May 1935. Castor was sold on 30 July 1936 for scrapping and arrived at the yard at Rosyth in August 1936. Ships of the Royal Navy, The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy, janes Fighting Ships Cambrian Class Light Cruisers Royal Navy Log Books of the World War 1 Era - HMS Castor. Transcription of ships logbooks November 1918 to May 1920
35.
HMS Constance (1915)
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HMS Constance was a C-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy that saw service in World War I. She was part of the Cambrian group of the C class, Constance was laid down on 25 January 1915, launched on 12 September 1915, and completed in January 1916. From September 1926 to December 1927, she underwent a refit at Chatham Dockyard and she was assigned to the 5th Cruiser Squadron on the China Station from 1928 to November 1930. In March 1931, Constance was decommissioned, transferred to the Reserve Fleet, Constance was sold in January 1936 or on 8 June 1936 to Arnott Young, of Dalmuir, Scotland, to be scrapped. Ships of the Royal Navy, The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy, Janes Fighting Ships of World War One, Janes Publishing Company Ships of the Cambrian class
36.
Scout cruiser
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All these ships served in World War I, when the advent of better machinery and larger, faster destroyers and light cruisers had already made them obsolete. The other major operator of scout cruisers was Italy, with no conventional protected cruisers or light cruisers planned between 1900 and 1928, the Regia Marina instead operated a number of scout cruisers from 1912 onwards. Ranging in size from enlarged destroyers to substantial, light cruiser-like ships, later esploratori, such as the Leone class, carried extremely heavy armament for their modest size, capable of outgunning any destroyer of the early 1920s. However, by 1938 the surviving esploratori were re-rated as destroyers, admiral Spaun Novara class Bahia class Almirante Grau class Note, this list includes the ‘super-destroyers’ rated as scouts by Italy
37.
Turkey
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Turkey, officially the Republic of Turkey, is a transcontinental country in Eurasia, mainly in Anatolia in Western Asia, with a smaller portion on the Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. Turkey is a democratic, secular, unitary, parliamentary republic with a cultural heritage. The country is encircled by seas on three sides, the Aegean Sea is to the west, the Black Sea to the north, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. The Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles, Ankara is the capital while Istanbul is the countrys largest city and main cultural and commercial centre. Approximately 70-80% of the countrys citizens identify themselves as ethnic Turks, other ethnic groups include legally recognised and unrecognised minorities. Kurds are the largest ethnic minority group, making up approximately 20% of the population, the area of Turkey has been inhabited since the Paleolithic by various ancient Anatolian civilisations, as well as Assyrians, Greeks, Thracians, Phrygians, Urartians and Armenians. After Alexander the Greats conquest, the area was Hellenized, a process continued under the Roman Empire. The Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm ruled Anatolia until the Mongol invasion in 1243, the empire reached the peak of its power in the 16th century, especially during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent. During the war, the Ottoman government committed genocides against its Armenian, Assyrian, following the war, the conglomeration of territories and peoples that formerly comprised the Ottoman Empire was partitioned into several new states. Turkey is a member of the UN, an early member of NATO. Turkeys growing economy and diplomatic initiatives have led to its recognition as a regional power while her location has given it geopolitical, the name of Turkey is based on the ethnonym Türk. The first recorded use of the term Türk or Türük as an autonym is contained in the Old Turkic inscriptions of the Göktürks of Central Asia, the English name Turkey first appeared in the late 14th century and is derived from Medieval Latin Turchia. Similarly, the medieval Khazar Empire, a Turkic state on the shores of the Black. The medieval Arabs referred to the Mamluk Sultanate as al-Dawla al-Turkiyya, the Ottoman Empire was sometimes referred to as Turkey or the Turkish Empire among its European contemporaries. The Anatolian peninsula, comprising most of modern Turkey, is one of the oldest permanently settled regions in the world, various ancient Anatolian populations have lived in Anatolia, from at least the Neolithic period until the Hellenistic period. Many of these peoples spoke the Anatolian languages, a branch of the larger Indo-European language family, in fact, given the antiquity of the Indo-European Hittite and Luwian languages, some scholars have proposed Anatolia as the hypothetical centre from which the Indo-European languages radiated. The European part of Turkey, called Eastern Thrace, has also been inhabited since at least forty years ago. It is the largest and best-preserved Neolithic site found to date, the settlement of Troy started in the Neolithic Age and continued into the Iron Age
38.
HMS Centaur (1916)
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HMS Centaur was a C-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy that served in the First World War and the Russian Civil War. She was the ship of the Centaur group of the C-class of cruisers. The Ottoman Empire had ordered a pair of cruisers in 1914. When the First World War started, construction was halted, a considerable amount of material had already been prepared, and much of this was used in the construction of HMS Centaur and her sister HMS Concord. Built by Vickers Limited, Centaur was laid down in January 1915, on 5 June 1917 she and the light cruisers HMS Canterbury and HMS Conquest sank the German torpedo boat S20 in the North Sea near the Schouwen Bank off Zeebrugge, Belgium. On 13 June 1918 she struck a mine and had to undergo repairs at Hull, after the First World War, Centaur was sent to the Baltic Sea in December 1918 to take part in the British campaign there against Bolshevik and German forces during the Russian Civil War. In October 1923, Centaur was decommissioned, transferred to the Reserve Fleet and she was decommissioned again in March 1932 and placed in reserve at Portsmouth. Centaur was placed on the sale list in 1933 and sold in February 1934 to King, of Troon, Scotland and she arrived at their yards on 6 March 1934 to be scrapped. Ships of the Royal Navy, The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy, Janes Fighting Ships of World War One, Janes Publishing Company Ships of the Centaur class
39.
Armstrong Whitworth
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Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd was a major British manufacturing company of the early years of the 20th century. With headquarters in Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne, Armstrong Whitworth engaged in the construction of armaments, ships, locomotives, automobiles and aircraft. In 1882, it merged with the firm of Charles Mitchell to form Armstrong Mitchell & Company. Armstrong Mitchell merged again with the firm of Joseph Whitworth in 1897. The company expanded into the manufacture of cars and trucks in 1902, and created a department in 1913. In 1927, it merged with Vickers Limited to form Vickers-Armstrongs. the Wilson-Pilcher was an advanced car, originally with a 2. 4-litre engine, that had been made in London from 1901 until 1904 when production moved to Newcastle. When Armstrong-Whitworth took over production two models were made, a 2. 7-litre flat four and a 4. 1-litre flat six, the engines had the flywheel at the front of the engine, and the crankshaft had intermediate bearings between each pair of cylinders. Drive was to the wheels via a preselector gearbox and helical bevel axle. The cars were listed at £735 for the four and £900 for the six and they were still theoretically available until 1907. The first Armstrong-Whitworth car was the 28/36 of 1906 with a water-cooled, drive was via a four-speed gearbox and shaft to the rear wheels. A larger car was listed for 1908 with a choice of either 5-litre 30 or 7. 6-litre 40 models sharing a 127 mm bore, the 40 was listed at £798 in bare chassis form for supplying to coachbuilders. These large cars were joined in 1909 by the 4. 3-litre 18/22 and in 1910 by the 3. 7-litre 25, which seems to have shared the same chassis as the 30 and 40. In 1911, a new car appeared in the shape of the 2. 4-litre 12/14, called the 15.9 in 1911. This model had an 88-inch wheelbase compared with the 120 inches of the 40 range and this was joined by four larger cars ranging from the 2. 7-litre 15/20 to the 3. 7-litre 25.5. The first six-cylinder model, the 30/50 with 5. 1-litre 90 mm bore by 135 mm stroke engine came in 1912 with the option of electric lighting and this grew to 5.7 litres in 1913. At the outbreak of war, as well as the 30/50, the range consisted of the 3-litre 17/25, the cars were usually if not always bodied by external coach builders and had a reputation for reliability and solid workmanship. The company maintained a London sales outlet at New Bond Street, when Armstrong Whitworth and Vickers merged, Armstrong Whitworths automotive interests were purchased by J. D. Siddeley as Armstrong Siddeley. An Armstrong Whitworth car is displayed in the Discovery Museum, Newcastle upon Tyne, in the bibliography heading links are given to the museums information sheet as available through Wiki Commons
40.
HMS Concord (1916)
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HMS Concord was a C-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy that saw service during the First World War. She was part of the Centaur group of the C class, the Ottoman Empire had ordered a pair of scout cruisers in 1914. When the First World War started, construction was halted, a considerable amount of material had already been prepared, and much of this was used in the construction of HMS Concord and her sister HMS Centaur. Built by Vickers Limited, Concord was laid down in February 1915 and she remained in the squadron through the end of the war in November 1918 and until March 1919. After undergoing a refit at Devonport, Concord recommissioned in May 1924 to return to the Mediterranean Fleet for more duty with the 3rd Light Cruiser Squadron, in 1925 she was attached to the Australian Station, then from 1925 to 1926 to the China Station. She returned to service to troops to China in February 1928. She then was assigned to the Signals School at Portsmouth, remaining in service there until January 1933, after the death of the exiled King Manuel II of Portugal, she transported his coffin to Lisbon, Portugal, on 2 August 1932. Concord was decommissioned in January 1933 and placed under dockyard control, Concord was placed on the sale list in November 1934 and was sold in August 1935 for scrapping. She arrived at the yards of Metal Industries of Rosyth, Scotland, Ships of the Royal Navy, The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy. Janes Fighting Ships of World War I, Janes Publishing Company Ships of the Centaur class
41.
QF 3-inch 20 cwt
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The QF3 inch 20 cwt anti-aircraft gun became the standard anti-aircraft gun used in the home defence of the United Kingdom against German airships and bombers and on the Western Front in World War I. It was also common on British warships in World War I,20 cwt referred to the weight of the barrel and breech, to differentiate it from other 3 inch guns. The gun was based on a prewar Vickers naval 3-inch QF gun with modifications specified by the War Office in 1914 and these included the introduction of a vertical sliding breech-block to allow semi-automatic operation. When the gun recoiled and ran forward after firing, the motion also opened the breech, ejected the empty cartridge case and held the breech open ready to reload, when the gunner loaded the next round, the block closed and the gun fired. The early 12. 5-pound shrapnel shell at 2,500 ft/s caused excessive wear and was unstable in flight. The 1916 16-pound shell at 2,000 ft/s proved ballistically superior and was suited to a high explosive filling. The Mark I* had different rifling, the Mark II lost the semi-automatic action. Routledge quotes a rate of fire of 16-18 rounds per minute and this would appear to be the effective rate of fire found to be sustainable in action. 8 more Mks followed between the World Wars, by 1934 the rocking-bar deflection sights had been replaced by Magslip receiver dials which received input from the Predictor, with the layers matching pointers instead of tracking the target. Predictor No.1 was supplemented from 1937 by Predictor No,2, based on a US Sperry AAA Computer M3A3. This was faster and could track targets at 400 mph at heights of 25,000 ft, the 3 inch 20 cwt gun was superseded by the QF3.7 inch AA gun from 1938 onwards, but numbers of various Marks remained in service throughout World War II. In Naval use it was being replaced in the 1920s by the QF4 inch Mk V on HA mounting, Britain entered World War I with no anti-aircraft artillery. When war broke out and Germany occupied Belgium and North-east France, as a result, a search for suitable anti-aircraft guns began. It was from then onwards operated by Royal Garrison Artillery crews, with drivers, however, the Mobile Anti-Aircraft Brigade based at Kenwood Barracks in London, continued to be manned by the RNVR, although under the operational control of the Army. The 3 inch 20 cwt with its powerful and stable in flight 16 lb shell and fairly high altitude was well suited to defending the United Kingdom against high-altitude Zeppelins and bombers. The 16 pound shell took 9.2 seconds to reach 5,000 ft at 25° from horizontal,13.7 seconds to reach 10,000 ft at 40°,18.8 seconds to reach 15,000 at 55°. This means that the gun team had to calculate where the target would be 9 –18 seconds ahead, determine the deflection and set the fuze length, load, aim. British time fuzes, required for airburst shooting, were powder burning, however, the powder burning rate changed as air pressure reduced, making them erratic for the new vertical shooting
42.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
43.
Oerlikon 20 mm cannon
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The Oerlikon 20 mm cannon is a series of autocannons, based on an original German 20 mm Becker design that appeared very early in World War I. It was widely produced by Oerlikon Contraves and others, with various models employed by both Allied and Axis forces during World War II, and many still in use today. During World War I, the German Reinhold Becker developed a 20 mm caliber cannon and this used a 20x70 RB cartridge and had a cyclic rate of fire of 300 rpm. It was used on a scale as an aircraft gun on Luftstreitkräfte warplanes. Because the Treaty of Versailles banned further production of weapons in Germany. SEMAG continued development of the weapon, and in 1924 had produced the SEMAG L, the Oerlikon firm, named after the Zürich suburb where it was based, then acquired all rights to the weapon, plus the manufacturing equipment and the employees of SEMAG. In 1927 the Oerlikon S was added to the product line. This fired a larger cartridge to achieve a muzzle velocity of 830 m/s, at the cost of increased weight. The purpose of development was to improve the performance of the gun as an anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapon. An improved version known as the 1S followed in 1930, three sizes of gun with their different ammunition and barrel length, but very similar mechanisms, continued to be developed in parallel. In 1930 Oerlikon reconsidered the application of its gun in aircraft and introduced the AF and AL, designed to be used in flexible mounts, the 15-round box magazine used by earlier versions of the gun was replaced by drum magazine holding 15 or 30 rounds. In 1935 it made an important step by introducing a series of guns designed to be mounted in or on the wings of fighter aircraft, designated with FF for Flügelfest meaning wing-mounted, these weapons were again available in the three sizes, with designations FF, FFL and FFS. The FF fired a larger cartridge than the AF, 20x72RB. The FF weighed 24 kg and achieved a velocity of 550 to 600 m/s with a rate of fire of 520 rpm. The FFL of 30 kg fired a projectile at a velocity of 675 m/s with a rate of fire of 500 rpm. And the FFS, which weighed 39 kg, delivered a high velocity of 830 m/s at a rate of fire of 470 rpm. Apart from changes to the design of the guns for wing-mounting and remote control, for the FF series drum sizes of 45,60,75 and 100 rounds were available, but most users chose the 60-round drum. The 1930s were a period of global re-armament, and a number of foreign firms took licenses for the Oerlikon family of aircraft cannon
44.
Bofors 40 mm gun
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The Bofors 40 mm gun, often referred to simply as the Bofors gun, is an anti-aircraft/multi-purpose autocannon designed in the 1930s by the Swedish arms manufacturer AB Bofors. It was one of the most popular medium-weight anti-aircraft systems during World War II, a small number of these weapons remain in service to this day, and saw action as late as the Gulf War. In the post-war era the original design was not suitable for action against jet powered aircraft, so Bofors introduced a new model of more power. In spite of sharing almost nothing with the design other than the calibre and the distinctive conical flash hider. Although not as popular as the original L/60 model, the L/70 remains in service to this day, especially as a weapon for light armored vehicles. Bofors itself has been part of BAE Systems AB since March 2005, the Swedish Navy purchased a number of 2 pounder Pom-Poms from Vickers as anti-aircraft guns in 1922. The Navy approached Bofors about the development of a capable replacement. Bofors signed a contract in late 1928, Bofors produced a gun that was a smaller version of a 57 mm semi-automatic gun developed as an anti-torpedo boat weapon in the late 19th century by Finspong. Their first test gun was a re-barreled Nordenfelt version of the Finspong gun, testing of this gun in 1929 demonstrated that a problem existed feeding the weapon in order to maintain a reasonable rate of fire. A mechanism that was enough to handle the stresses of moving the large round was too heavy to move quickly enough to fire rapidly. One attempt to solve this problem used zinc shell cases that burned up when fired and this proved to leave heavy zinc deposits in the barrel, and had to be abandoned. This seemed to be the solution they needed, improving firing rates to a level. During this period Krupp purchased a share of Bofors. Krupp engineers started the process of updating the Bofors factories to use equipment and metallurgy. The prototype was completed and fired in November 1931, and by the middle of the month it was firing strings of two and three rounds. Changes to the mechanism were all that remained, and by the end of the year it was operating at 130 rounds per minute. Continued development was needed to turn it into a suitable for production. Since acceptance trials had been passed the year before, this known as the 40 mm akan M/32
45.
HMS Caledon (D53)
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HMS Caledon was a C-class light cruiser built for the Royal Navy during World War I. She was the ship of the Caledon sub-class of the C class. She survived both wars to be scrapped in 1948. The Caledon sub-class was a larger and improved version of the preceding Centaur sub-class with a more powerful armament. The ships were 450 feet 6 inches long overall, with a beam of 42 feet 3 inches, displacement was 4,238 long tons at normal and 4,911 long tons at deep load. Caledon was powered by two Parsons steam turbines, each driving one shaft, which produced a total of 40,000 shaft horsepower. The turbines used steam generated by six Yarrow boilers which gave her a speed of about 29 knots and she carried 935 long tons tons of fuel oil. The ship had a crew of about 400 officers and other ranks, the main armament of the Caledon-class ships consisted of five BL 6-inch Mk XII guns that were mounted on the centreline. One gun was forward of the bridge, two were fore and aft of the two funnels and the last two were in the stern, with one gun superfiring over the rearmost gun, the two QF 3-inch 20-cwt anti-aircraft guns were positioned abreast of the fore funnel. The torpedo armament of the Caledons was four more powerful than that of the Centaurs, with eight 21 in torpedo tubes in four twin mounts. She was laid down by Cammell Laird on 17 March 1916, launched on 25 November 1916, Caledon, commanded by Commodore Walter Cowan, saw action in the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight, where the ship was the leader of the First Light Cruiser Squadron. The engagement developed into a chase with the German ships retreating behind smoke screens, the pursuit broke off when the British cruisers came under fire from the German battleships Kaiser and Kaiserin, which were deployed as a distant covering force for the German minesweeping operation. Caledon was hit by a single 305-millimetre shell from one of the German battleships which failed to explode, and did no damage. Throughout the battle, five men of Caledons crew were killed, with one man, Caledon survived the First World War. Caledon returned to the Baltic, again as Cowans flagship, in April 1919 and she was reassigned to the Eastern Fleet between August 1940 and September 1942. Caledon then rejoined the Home Fleet, upon her arrival in the UK, she underwent conversion into an anti-aircraft cruiser at Chatham Dockyard between 14 September 1942 and 7 December 1943. Obsolete by the end of the war, she was disarmed in April 1945, Caledon arrived at the yards of Dover Industries, Dover on 14 February 1948 to be broken up. Chesneau, Roger, ed. Conways All the Worlds Fighting Ships 1922–1946, Ships of the Royal Navy, The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy
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HMS Calypso (D61)
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HMS Calypso was a C class cruiser of the Caledon sub-class of the Royal Navy, launched in 1917 and sunk in 1940 by the Italian submarine Alpino Attilio Bagnolini. HMS Calypso was built by Hawthorn Leslie and Company and her keel was laid down in February 1916 and she was completed in June 1917. During the battle, Calypsos bridge was struck by a 5.9 in shell which killed all personnel on the bridge including the captain, Calypso went to the rescue of the Greek royal family in 1922 after King Constantine of Greece abdicated and a military dictatorship seized power. The Kings brother, Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark was banished for life by a court and was forced to flee with his family. The British Government had received news of the situation, and dispatched Calypso to evacuate the family, philippos was carried onboard in a cot made from an orange box. The family were taken to Brindisi where they were put on a train to Paris, All four people aboard the motorboat were saved by a boat from the destroyer HMS Umpire. During the early part of the Second World War, Calypso served with the 7th Cruiser Squadron on Northern Patrol duty as a ship in the North Sea between Scotland and Iceland. On 24 September 1939, Calypso intercepted the German merchant ship Minden south of Iceland, the crew of Minden scuttled their ship before she could be captured. On 22 November, Calypso captured the German merchant ship Konsul Hendrik Fisser off Iceland, following the sinking of the Rawalpindi on 23 November, Calypso was involved in the search for the German warships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. In early 1940, Calypso was sent to Alexandria in the eastern Mediterranean, Calypso was the first Royal Naval vessel to be sunk by the Regia Marina in the Second World War. The sinking occurred at 00,59 on 12 June 1940, Alpino Attilio Bagnolini captained by C. C. One officer and 38 ratings from Calypso perished in the sinking, the majority of her survivors were picked up by the destroyer Dainty and taken to Alexandria. Chesneau, Roger, ed. Conways All the Worlds Fighting Ships 1922–1946, Ships of the Royal Navy, The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy. British Cruisers, Two World Wars and After, Naval Weapons of World War One. Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal, eds, Conways All the Worlds Fighting Ships, 1906–1921. History of the Great War Based on Official Documents, molony, Brigadier C. J. C. with Flynn, Captain F. C. & Gleave, Group Captain T. P. The Mediterranean and Middle East, Volume I, The Early Successes Against Italy, history of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series. Uckfield, UK, Naval & Military Press, British Cruisers of World War Two
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Crete
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Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, 88th-largest island in the world and the fifth-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and Corsica. Crete and a number of surrounding islands and islets constitute the region of Crete, the capital and the largest city is Heraklion. As of 2011, the region had a population of 623,065, Crete forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece, while retaining its own local cultural traits. It was once the centre of the Minoan civilization, which is regarded as the earliest recorded civilization in Europe. The island is first referred to as Kaptara in texts from the Syrian city of Mari dating from the 18th century BC, repeated later in Neo-Assyrian records and it was also known in ancient Egyptian as Keftiu, strongly suggesting a similar Minoan name for the island. The current name of Crete is thought to be first attested in Mycenaean Greek texts written in Linear B, through the words
Royal Navy
