Cape Peron
Cape Peron is a headland at Rockingham, at the southern end of Cockburn Sound in Western Australia. It contains the suburb of Peron. Locally known as Point Peron, the cape is noted for its protected beaches, limestone cliffs and panoramic views. "Point Peron" is the designation of a minor promontory on the south side of the cape's extremity. The feature was named after the French naturalist and zoologist François Péron, who accompanied the expedition of Nicolas Baudin along the western coast of Australia in 1801. A causeway has been constructed between Cape Peron and Garden Island to carry vehicle traffic between the mainland and the island. Since the island houses a major naval base, access is restricted by the military; the wreck of the RMS Orizaba lies just north, between Garden Island. The cape and southern environs comprise a crown land reserve on which a number of recreational resort activities and camps have been established, including buildings constructed of asbestos material which are now unsuitable.
During World War II, an observation post for the nearby coastal battery was located on the hilltop, the old buildings remain, being listed as a permanent entry on the national estate. Control was vested in the Commonwealth of Australia until 10 January 1964, when the land was transferred to the state of Western Australia on condition that future use was restricted to purposes of public recreation and/or parklands, it was further agreed that when existing holiday-camp leases expired, the entire area would become an A-class reserve. Cape Peron is included in planning by the state's Department of Environment and Conservation for the Rockingham Lakes Regional Parks, it is one of the scheme's main areas or estates and a former environment minister, Donna Faragher, drew attention to its "extremely high nature conservation values the local community with a unique opportunity to enjoy the natural environment". From 1942 until 1945, Cape Peron was the site of the "K" Battery complex, one of a chain of coastal gun emplacements defending the Perth region between Swanbourne in the north and Cape Peron in the south.
"K" Battery was established as part of Australian coastal defences in 1942 following the fall of Singapore to the Axis powers and the imminent threat of invasion of Australia by Japanese forces. This chain of gun emplacements was colloquially named "Fortress Fremantle" and included sites at both Rottnest Island and Garden Island. During World War II, Fremantle was not only the Allied forces' largest submarine base in the southern hemisphere, it was an important logistical port, troop station and location for ship repairs; the battery consisted of two 155 mm American field guns, two observation posts and numerous support buildings including ammunition magazines and generator rooms, troop accommodation for 100 troops. The guns were placed to cover any shipping within range of Rockingham, Safety Bay and the western side of Garden Island. In addition to providing cover for shipping, "K" Battery provided cover for a boom defence across the south channel that provided access to Cockburn Sound between Cape Peron and Garden Island.
The battery never fired upon an enemy target and was decommissioned in 1945. As of 2016, the complex lies in a state of disrepair with the gun emplacements and observation posts suffering from extensive structural damage due to erosion, reclamation by the natural environment and pedestrian activity. There have been calls over the years for the site to be rehabilitated and repaired into a memorial to remember Australia's wartime history. There have been various restoration efforts with Australian Army Reservists and the Department of Environment and Conservation taking part, but limited funding has resulted in the complex remaining in disrepair. A group known as the Point Peron Restoration Project is leading a push to restore the site, stating their goals as being: 1. Create a memorial "sanctuary for reflection" whilst preserving and maintaining the local Point Peron reserve, with upgraded local amenities to preserve and protect the history of the area. 2. Preserve the remaining WWII landmarks of the Coastal Defence System at Point Peron in a dedicated museum collection to tell the story of the Australian Coastal Defence network in World War II.
A proposal for an extensive private residential canal and marina redevelopment caused much controversy among the local community until refused necessary planning approval by the state government on 1 March 2018. The project was advanced by a state government agency, LandCorp, in partnership with Cedar Woods Properties Limited, titled "Mangles Bay Marina Based Tourist Precinct" Acceptance of the proposal would have required abrogation of a 1964 compact for everlasting public ownership, transfer of 77 hectares to the developer. Prolonged public objection led by "Hands Off Point Peron" claimed such development would damage seagrass beds, threaten the stability of ecosystems at nearby Lake Richmond and result in significant long-term maintenance expense to taxpayers, besides loss of the land's current status as a regional park. Cape Peron is an unprotected headland, subsequently exposed year round to severe prevailing southerly and westerly winds, hot, dry summers; these harsh environmental conditions result in the endemic species of flora to Cape Peron being typical of Western Australian coastal shrubs.
Hardy, halotolerant plants such as spinifex, sea-heath and coastal sword-sedge are commonplace close to the shore, abating to coastal scrublands that consist of wattle, coastal daisy-bush and grasslands, amongst other species. The underwater flora of Cape Peron consists of many species of algae, including red, g
Welfreighter
The Welfreighter was a Second World War British midget submarine developed by the Special Operations Executive for the purpose of landing and supplying agents behind enemy lines. It only saw action once and was not successful. After the success of the X class midget submarines, an attempt was made by SOE's technical division, Inter Services Research Bureau under the command of Lt. Colonel John Dolphin to design a submersible craft for covert missions; these would include the landing and supplying agents behind enemy lines, intelligence gathering work off hostile coastlines, delivering explosive depth charges to enemy shipping routes. This design became the Welfreighter, it was intended that the Welfreighter could travel surfaced by night towards an enemy-held coastline, submerging as and when necessary to avoid detection. The special agents would be disembarked and go ashore along with their equipment, stored in the special containers; the Welfreighter would sail out to sea and submerge itself to wait until the next night.
At a pre-arranged time, or upon receiving a sound signal from the landing party it would surface again and pick up the agents, before heading out to sea either to rendezvous with a larger surface vessel or return to base under its own power. The initial concept was a true miniature submarine which could from a distance be mistaken for a conventional motor boat and which could hold two agents along with its crew of two men, which could carry up to one ton of supplies in sealed containers; the designed range was to be up to 600 miles on the surface, with a range of 200 miles at speeds of up to 8 knots. While submerged it was to be capable of diving to a depth of 130 feet and travelling up to 40 miles underwater. Design work began towards the end of 1942 with the building of a 1/4 scale model, used for tests in an experimental tank at Vickers' plant at St. Albans. By February 1943 the tests had produced several alterations to the original design including modifications to the hull form to make it stable under tow at speeds of 10 knots - 15 knots.
Following the model tests, permission was granted for the construction of a full size prototype at the SOE establishment known as The Frythe near Welwyn Garden City. The first prototype had little resemblance to the versions; when launched at Staines in May 1943 it permitted further tests but showed flaws in that it was not stable under tow at speeds over 7 knots and lacked freeboard. A second prototype was tested throughout the autumn and winter. A third prototype was begun in September 1943, its surface range - 1,000 miles - exceeded the specification, but at the expense of reducing the storage capacity by 240 pounds. Its speed was less than the specification, at 6 knots maximum while surfaced, with a mere 2 knots submerged, it did however perform satisfactorily. In early 1944 a specification for a final Mk III version was proposed by SOE, which entered series production; the range was now specified with an additional 1,000 miles using disposable tanks. A further 600 miles could be added; the accommodation had been enlarged.
The cargo capacity had been enhanced to enable between 1.5 and 2 tons to be carried. Underwater endurance had been augmented, the craft now being capable of supporting 6 persons for up to 40 hours submerged. Surface speed had been increased to 5.5 knots cruising speed, or 7 knots maximum. The electric propulsion was upgraded: it could deliver 2-3 knots. By now it was apparent that it was unlikely that the Welfreighter would be needed in Europe, therefore consideration was given to its use in the Far East. Due to the urgency of production it was not possible to create a dedicated factory; as had happened with the Welman submarine the year before, production was contracted out to specialised engineering firms engaged in production of war material. In the spring of 1944 the Letchworth company of Shelvoke and Drewry Ltd. was awarded a contract to produce Welfreighters. By early September an order for up to 34 Welfreighters was placed for delivery as soon as possible after 1 October; the company had no experience of ship construction, was 75 miles from the sea.
Security surrounding the production of the Welfreighter was tight, few non-vetted employees knew the truth until after the end of the war. Completed craft were transported at night under canvas covers to Station IX at Welwyn, where they were fitted out, the compass and periscope and secret equipment fitted; the craft were balanced and pressure tested in the establishment's water tank. They were transported onwards to Fishguard in Wales, for sea trials; the Welfreighter outwardly resembled a conventional 37 feet motor boat. While surfaced it was propelled by a Gardner 4LW 44 hp diesel omnibus engine driving a 4-bladed propeller, while underwater propulsion was provided by two 2 hp electric motors, driving a pair of small propellers. Two "masts" on the craft's foredeck housed a magnetic compass. A dummy mast and sail could be attached to these masts to help disguise the craft as a fishing smack; the foredeck was raised up to give some headroom inside the craft, was fitted with small square viewports.
To the rear of the main structure was a raised deck, beneath which were
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is a port city in Hampshire, with a total population of 205,400 residents. The city of Portsmouth is nicknamed Pompey and is built on Portsea Island, a flat, low-lying island measuring 24 square kilometres in area, just off the south-east coast of Hampshire. Uniquely, Portsmouth is the only island city in the United Kingdom, is the only city whose population density exceeds that of London. Portsmouth is located 70 miles south-west of London and 19 miles south-east of Southampton. With the surrounding towns of Gosport, Fareham and Waterlooville, Portsmouth forms the eastern half of the South Hampshire metropolitan area, which includes Southampton and Eastleigh in the western half. Portsmouth's history can be traced back to Roman times. A significant naval port for centuries, Portsmouth has the world's oldest dry dock. In the sixteenth century, Portsmouth was England's first line of defence during the French invasion of 1545. By the early nineteenth century, the world's first mass production line was set up in Portsmouth Dockyard's Block Mills, making it the most industrialised site in the world and birthplace of the Industrial Revolution.
Portsmouth was the most fortified town in the world, was considered "the world's greatest naval port" at the height of the British Empire throughout Pax Britannica. Defences known as the Palmerston Forts were built around Portsmouth in 1859 in anticipation of another invasion from continental Europe. In 1926, Portsmouth was elevated in status from a town to a city; the motto "Heaven's Light Our Guide" was registered to the City of Portsmouth in 1929. During the Second World War, the city of Portsmouth was a pivotal embarkation point for the D-Day landings and was bombed extensively in the Portsmouth Blitz, which resulted in the deaths of 930 people. In 1982, a large proportion of the task force dispatched to liberate the Falkland Islands deployed from the city's naval base, her Majesty's Yacht Britannia left the city to oversee the transfer of Hong Kong in 1997, which marked for many the end of the empire. In 1997, Portsmouth became a Unitary Authority, with Portsmouth City Council gaining powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined, responsibilities held by Hampshire County Council.
Portsmouth is one of the world's best known ports. HMNB Portsmouth is considered to be the home of the Royal Navy and is home to two-thirds of the UK's surface fleet; the city is home to some famous ships, including HMS Warrior, the Tudor carrack Mary Rose and Horatio Nelson's flagship, HMS Victory. The former HMS Vernon naval shore establishment has been redeveloped as a retail park known as Gunwharf Quays. Portsmouth is among the few British cities with two cathedrals: the Anglican Cathedral of St Thomas and the Roman Catholic Cathedral of St John the Evangelist; the waterfront and Portsmouth Harbour are dominated by the Spinnaker Tower, one of the United Kingdom's tallest structures at 560 feet. Nearby Southsea is a seaside resort with a pier amusement medieval castle. Portsmouth F. C. the city's professional football club, play their home games at Fratton Park. The city has several mainline railway stations that connect to Brighton, London Victoria and London Waterloo amongst other lines in southern England.
Portsmouth International Port is a commercial cruise ship and ferry port for international destinations. The port is the second busiest in the United Kingdom after Dover, handling around three million passengers a year; the city had its own airport, Portsmouth Airport, until its closure in 1973. The University of Portsmouth enrols 23,000 students and is ranked among the world's best modern universities. Portsmouth is the birthplace of author Charles Dickens and engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel; the Romans built a fort, at nearby Portchester in the late third century. The city's Old English name "Portesmuða" is derived from port, meaning a haven, muða, the mouth of a large river or estuary; the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle has a warrior called Port and his two sons killing a noble Briton in Portsmouth in 501. Winston Churchill, in his A History of the English-Speaking Peoples, says that Port was a pirate and he founded Portsmouth in 501; the south coast was vulnerable to Danish Viking invasions during the 9th centuries.
In 787, it was assaulted and conquered by Danish pirates, during the reign of Æthelwulf, King of Wessex in 838, a Danish fleet landed between Portsmouth and Southampton and the surrounding area was plundered. In response, Æthelwulf sent Wulfherd and the governor of Dorsetshire to confront the Danes at Portsmouth, where most of their ships were docked, they were successful. In 1001, the Danes returned and pillaged Portsmouth and surrounding locations, threatening the English with extinction; the Danes were massacred by the survivors the following year and rebuilding began, although the town suffered further attacks until 1066. Portsmouth was not mentioned in the Domesday Survey of 1086, but Bocheland and Frodentone were; some sources maintain. When King Henry II died in 1189, his son Richard I, who had spent most of his life in France, arrived in Portsmouth before he was crowned in London; when Richard returned from captivity in Austria in May 1194, he summoned a fleet of 100 ships and an army to the port.
He granted the town a royal charter on 2 May, giving permission for an annual fifteen-day free market fair, weekly markets, a local court to deal with minor matters, exempted its inhabitants from paying an annual tax of £18. Richard granted the town the arm
Folding kayak
A folding kayak is a direct descendant of the original Inuit kayak made of animal skins stretched over frames made from wood and bones. A modern folder has a collapsible frame made of some combination of wood and plastic, a skin made of a tough fabric with a waterproof coating. Many have integral air chambers inside the hull, making them unsinkable; the first workable folding kayak was built by Alfred Heurich in 1905, a German architectural student. Heurich paddled his creation on the Isar River near Munich and took out a patent on the design, called the Delphin, the following year; the Delphin had a bamboo frame with a sailcloth hull stretched over it. It could be carried in three bags, each weighing less than 4.5 kg. The folding kayak was made commercially successful by Johannes Klepper, whose factory was at Rosenheim, Germany. Klepper kayaks were popular for their compact size and ease of transport. Klepper's Faltboot was introduced in 1906, many years before hardshell boats were commercially produced.
Oskar Speck undertook his seven-year journey from Germany to Australia in the 1930s using folding kayaks made and sponsored by another manufacturer, Pionier-Faltboot-Werft. During the Second World War the British and Commonwealth special forces employed "canoes" in the Mediterranean and South-east Asian theatres; the special forces of the day had developed for them about a dozen state of the art "canoes" which were given the codename Cockle. These Cockles ranged from the Mk 1 early frame-and fabric'folbot' type to the four man boats made of aluminum alloy; the Mk 2 could be collapsed but along its 15 ft length... to just c. 7 inches. This Mk 2 and its three-man Mk 2** were all of the same design and were designed by the same man—a Mr Fred Goatley; the Cockle Mk II was used by the RMBPD in Operation Frankton, the attack on Bordeaux in late 1942. There is plenty of documentation showing delivery of British canoes Mk 3's and Mk 6's for British Military in Australia and beyond. For the British led Operation Jaywick.
Walter Höhn developed and built the first Swiss folding kayaks, which were tested in white water conditions, in 1924. Hoehn emigrated to Australia in 1928, bringing two examples of his boat designs with him: A 1-man and a 2-man design, his boats were patented and produced for sport use. During the Pacific war and Hedley's P. L. built a total of 1024 folding kayaks, called'folboats', for the Australian military from the Hoehn design. Hoehn supplied the first 2 folboats for the secret'Operation Jaywick' training at Camp-X near Sydney in 1942. Hoehn supplied his folboats for Cairns, Fraser Island and Mount Martha training camps. Hoehn's first military model designated'Folboat Kayak Type' was succeeded by the 3-seater MKIII; the MKIII was used in many raids during the Pacific War. Hoehn's first army folboats were tested at the ZES commando base in Cairns, Queensland by commandos under the direction of Major Ivan Lyon for preparation of the Operation Jaywick raid, they included Robert Page and Albert Sargent.
They were used for training and actual use in Operation Rimau. At least 33 raids, reconnaissance patrols and rescue missions in the Pacific Islands, notably RIMAU, COPPER, PYTHON, PLATYPUS and SUNCHARLIE used these folboats; this is confirmed by official documentation from the National Archives of Australia, reference NAA K1214-123/1/06, wherein signed correspondence between Major Cameron, H. Q. Western Command and Army Headquarters Military Board, Melbourne and 6 commissioned officers of "Z Special" Unit, namely Lt. Col Dewar, Capt. Walne, Capt Eadmedes MC, Capt Nicholls MC, Capt Braithwaite and Lt. Chaffey attested to the use of Australian built folboats for Rimau and other Pacific War raids. Further official government correspondence confirms that Höhn manufactured folboats were used for these raids; the Klepper Aerius II model is still in production. In 1956, Dr. Hannes Lindemann crossed the Atlantic Ocean in an Aerius II, proof of the folding kayak's integrity and seaworthiness, their light weight and non-metallic construction has made them the choice of many military special forces.
Nautiraid of France produces a special model for military use, as do Klepper and Long Haul, who supply German and US Special Forces, respectively. The newest design innovation has come from Canada's TRAK Kayaks, who in 2007 have come out with a polyurethane skin over aluminum frame design with hydraulics in the cockpit to make the skin taut and to change the shape of the hull for varying paddling conditions. There are about ten major folding kayak manufacturers today, a handful of small, one-off makers. In addition to Klepper the best-known brands are Feathercraft, Triton advanced, Long Haul, Pakboats, Pouch and TRAK. Long Haul double kayak hulls are identical in form to Kleppers, so a Klepper Aerius II frame can be used with a Long Haul MK-II skin, vice versa. Most folding kayaks have similar construction though the materials may differ; some boats use frames made of mountain ash and marine plywood, while others use aluminium tubing and various plastics, a few newer boats such as Fujita and Firstlight use carbon fiber or glass-reinforced plastic tubing.
There are solid bow and stern pieces, anywhere from three to s
Clearance Diving Branch (RAN)
The Clearance Diving Branch is the specialist diving unit of the Royal Australian Navy whose versatile role covers all spheres of military diving, includes explosive ordnance disposal and maritime counter-terrorism. The Branch has evolved from traditional maritime diving, explosive ordnance disposal, to include a special operations focus; the RAN has used divers on a regular basis since the 1920s, but it was not until World War II that clearance diving operations came to the fore, with RAN divers working alongside Royal Navy divers to remove naval mines from British waters, from the waters of captured ports on the European mainland such as Hugh Syme, John Mould, George Gosse and Leon Goldsworthy all decorated. RAN divers were used in performing duties including reconnaissance of amphibious landing sites; the skills learned in the European theatre were brought back to Australia, used in the war against Japan. After the war, RAN divers were used during the clean-up of Australian and Papua New Guinea waters of defensive mines.
The utility of clearance and commando divers demonstrated during and after World War II prompted the Australian Commonwealth Naval Board to establish a clearance diving branch within the RAN in 1951. Divers were attached to the Underwater Research and Development Unit, based at HMAS Rushcutter. In 1956, they were organised into a separate Mobile Clearance Diving Team. In March 1966, the divers underwent further reorganisation, splitting into two Clearance Diving Teams. Clearance Diving Team 1 was the operational team assigned to mine clearance and reconnaissance operations throughout the Australia Station, while Clearance Diving Team 2 was dedicated to mine warfare in the Sydney area, but was not cleared for operations outside this area. In late 1966, Clearance Diving Team 3 was established for deployment to the Vietnam War to assist the overworked United States Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal units, to give RAN personnel in clearance diving work in an operational environment. Sending CDT 1 or CDT 2, in full or in part, would have impacted on the teams' existing commitments, along with the continuity of training and postings.
CDT 3 was formed from available personnel. CDT 3 was disbanded at the end of the Vietnam War, but the designation is reactivated for overseas wartime deployments, including in 1991 for the Gulf War, again in 2003 for the Iraq War; the Clearance Diving Branch consists of units:- Clearance Diving Team One. The Royal Australian Naval Reserve has eight Reserve Diving Teams which provide supplementary or surge capability in support of regular CDTs in addition to localised fleet underwater taskings: Reserve Diving Team Five – based at HMAS Waterhen Reserve Diving Team Six – based in Melbourne Reserve Diving Team Seven – based at HMAS Stirling Reserve Diving Team Eight – based in Brisbane Reserve Diving Team Nine – based in Adelaide Reserve Diving Team Ten – based in Hobart Reserve Diving Team Eleven – based in Darwin Reserve Diving Team Twelve – based in Cairns The Clearance Diving Branch force elements are:1. Maritime Tactical Operations: Clandestine beach reconnaissance Clandestine hydrographic survey of seabed prior to an amphibious assault Clandestine clearance or demolition of sea mines and/or obstacles Clandestine placing of demolitions charges for the purpose of diversion or demonstration Clandestine document collection2.
Mine Counter Measures: Location and disposal of sea mines in shallow waters Rendering safe and recovering enemy mines The search for and disposal of ordnance below the high water mark Clearance of surface ordnance in port or on naval facilities Search for, rendering safe or disposal of all ordnance in RAN ships and facilities 3. Underwater Battle Damage Repair: Surface supplied breathing apparatus diving Use of underwater tools including welders, explosive nailguns and pneumatic drills and chainsaws4. Task Group Explosive Ordnance Disposal: Embarking on warships for Operation MANITOU rotations in the Middle East to provide specialist support for boarding parties with improvised explosive devices and explosive ordnance5. Maritime counter terrorism-explosive ordnance disposal: Provide explosive ordnance and improvised explosive device disposal mobility support to Tactical Assault Group Conduct Assault Improvised Explosive Device Disposal at a rapid speed to maintain the momentum of a direct assault missionA Clearance Diver may be posted to a Clearance Diving Team, Huon Class Minehunter Coastal ship, training position in the Australian Defence Force Diving School at HMAS Penguin and can apply to serve in the Tactical Assault Group-East.
Since January 2002, Special Duties Units of Clearance Divers from AUSCDT1 and AUSCDT4 have provided the maritime counter terrorism element of Tactical Assault Group-East, attached to the Australian Army 2nd Commando Regiment, which became operational on 22 July 2002 to respond to terrorist incidents in the Eastern States of Australia. Clearance Divers need to pass the Army Special Forces Screen Test and successfully complete specific elements of Commando Reinforcement Training befor
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a country located in Northwestern Europe. The European portion of the Netherlands consists of twelve separate provinces that border Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, the North Sea to the northwest, with maritime borders in the North Sea with Belgium and the United Kingdom. Together with three island territories in the Caribbean Sea—Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba— it forms a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands; the official language is Dutch, but a secondary official language in the province of Friesland is West Frisian. The six largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, The Hague, Utrecht and Tilburg. Amsterdam is the country's capital, while The Hague holds the seat of the States General and Supreme Court; the Port of Rotterdam is the largest port in Europe, the largest in any country outside Asia. The country is a founding member of the EU, Eurozone, G10, NATO, OECD and WTO, as well as a part of the Schengen Area and the trilateral Benelux Union.
It hosts several intergovernmental organisations and international courts, many of which are centered in The Hague, dubbed'the world's legal capital'. Netherlands means'lower countries' in reference to its low elevation and flat topography, with only about 50% of its land exceeding 1 metre above sea level, nearly 17% falling below sea level. Most of the areas below sea level, known as polders, are the result of land reclamation that began in the 16th century. With a population of 17.30 million people, all living within a total area of 41,500 square kilometres —of which the land area is 33,700 square kilometres —the Netherlands is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. It is the world's second-largest exporter of food and agricultural products, owing to its fertile soil, mild climate, intensive agriculture; the Netherlands was the third country in the world to have representative government, it has been a parliamentary constitutional monarchy with a unitary structure since 1848.
The country has a tradition of pillarisation and a long record of social tolerance, having legalised abortion and human euthanasia, along with maintaining a progressive drug policy. The Netherlands abolished the death penalty in 1870, allowed women's suffrage in 1917, became the world's first country to legalise same-sex marriage in 2001, its mixed-market advanced economy had the thirteenth-highest per capita income globally. The Netherlands ranks among the highest in international indexes of press freedom, economic freedom, human development, quality of life, as well as happiness; the Netherlands' turbulent history and shifts of power resulted in exceptionally many and varying names in different languages. There is diversity within languages; this holds for English, where Dutch is the adjective form and the misnomer Holland a synonym for the country "Netherlands". Dutch comes from Theodiscus and in the past centuries, the hub of Dutch culture is found in its most populous region, home to the capital city of Amsterdam.
Referring to the Netherlands as Holland in the English language is similar to calling the United Kingdom "Britain" by people outside the UK. The term is so pervasive among potential investors and tourists, that the Dutch government's international websites for tourism and trade are "holland.com" and "hollandtradeandinvest.com". The region of Holland consists of North and South Holland, two of the nation's twelve provinces a single province, earlier still, the County of Holland, a remnant of the dissolved Frisian Kingdom. Following the decline of the Duchy of Brabant and the County of Flanders, Holland became the most economically and politically important county in the Low Countries region; the emphasis on Holland during the formation of the Dutch Republic, the Eighty Years' War and the Anglo-Dutch Wars in the 16th, 17th and 18th century, made Holland serve as a pars pro toto for the entire country, now considered either incorrect, informal, or, depending on context, opprobrious. Nonetheless, Holland is used in reference to the Netherlands national football team.
The region called the Low Countries and the Country of the Netherlands. Place names with Neder, Nieder and Nedre and Bas or Inferior are in use in places all over Europe, they are sometimes used in a deictic relation to a higher ground that consecutively is indicated as Upper, Oben, Superior or Haut. In the case of the Low Countries / Netherlands the geographical location of the lower region has been more or less downstream and near the sea; the geographical location of the upper region, changed tremendously over time, depending on the location of the economic and military power governing the Low Countries area. The Romans made a distinction between the Roman provinces of downstream Germania Inferior and upstream Germania Superior; the designation'Low' to refer to the region returns again in the 10th century Duchy of Lower Lorraine, that covered much of the Low Countries. But this time the corresponding Upper region is Upper Lorraine, in nowadays Northern France; the Dukes of Burgundy, who ruled the Low Countries in the 15th century, used the term les pays de par deçà for the Low Countries as opposed to les pays de par delà for their original
Willem de Vlamingh
Willem Hesselsz de Vlamingh was a Dutch sea captain who explored the central west coast of Australia in the late 17th century. The mission proved fruitless. Willem de Vlamingh was born in Oost-Vlieland in the Dutch Republic, he was baptised on 28 November 1640. In 1664 De Vlamingh discovered Jelmerland. In 1668 he married. In 1687 he and his wife sold their "apartment" in the Jordaan. De Vlamingh made his first voyage to Batavia in the same year. Following a second voyage, in 1694, he was asked, on request of Nicolaes Witsen, to mount an expedition to search for the Ridderschap van Holland, a VOC capital ship, lost with 325 passengers and crew on its way to Batavia in 1694. VOC officials believed. In 1696 Willem de Vlamingh commanded the rescue mission to Australia's west coast to look for survivors of the Ridderschap van Holland that had gone missing two years earlier, had admiral Sir James Couper on board. There were three ships under his command: the frigate Geelvink, captained by de Vlamingh himself.
The expedition departed Texel'strictly incognito' on 3 May 1696 and, because of the Nine Years' War with France, sailed around the coast of Scotland to Tristan de Cunha. Early September the three ships arrived at Cape of Good Hope, where they stayed for seven weeks because of scurvy among the crew.. On 27 October they left, using the Brouwer Route on the Indian Ocean route from the African Cape of Good Hope to the Dutch East Indies. On their way east they checked Île Saint-Paul and Île Amsterdam, but no wreckage or survivors were found. On 5 December they sailed on. On 29 December 1696, de Vlamingh's party landed on Rottnest Island, he saw numerous quokkas, thinking they were large rats he named it't Eylandt't Rottenest. He afterwards wrote of it in his journal: "I had great pleasure in admiring this island, attractive, where it seems to me that nature has denied nothing to make it pleasurable beyond all islands I have seen, being well provided for man's well-being, with timber and lime for building him houses, only lacking ploughmen to fill these fine plains.
There is plentiful salt, the coast is full of fish. Birds make. So I believe that of the many people who seek to make themselves happy, there are many who would scorn the fortunes of our country for the choice of this one here, which would seem a paradise on earth". On 10 January 1697, he ventured up the Swan River, he and his crew are believed to have been the first Europeans to do so. They are assumed to be the first Europeans to see black swans, de Vlamingh named the Swan River after the large number they observed there; the crew split into three parties, hoping to catch an Aborigine, but about five days they gave up their quest to catch a "South lander". On 22 January the sailed through the Geelvink Channel; the next days they saw ten black people. On 24 January they passed Red Bluff. Near Wittecarra they went looking for fresh water. On 4 February 1697, he landed at Dirk Hartog Island, Western Australia, replaced the pewter plate left by Dirk Hartog in 1616 with a new one that bore a record of both of the Dutch sea-captains' visits.
The original plate is preserved in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. De Vlamingh, with his son and Collaert, commanded a return fleet from the Indies on 3 or 11 February 1698, which arrived in his hometown, Amsterdam, on 16 August. However, it is not certain that De Vlamingh was still alive at that point, burial records from Vlieland around this time do not exist. On an earlier retourship, De Vlamingh had sent Witsen a box with seashells and vegetation from New Holland, as well as eleven drawings that Victor Victorsz had made on the expedition. De Vlamingh included some black swans, but they died on the voyage. Witsen offered the drawings to Martin Lister. Witsen, who had invested in the journey, was disappointed the men had been more interested in setting up trade than in exploring. In 1699 William Dampier would explore the coast of New Guinea. Early Voyages to Terra Australis by R H Major, at Project Gutenberg of Australia VOC Historical Society "Enriching Australian History" Series biography http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/vlamingh-willem-de-2760
