1.
Mountbatten family
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The Mountbatten family is a European dynasty originating as a branch of the German princely Battenberg family. The name was adopted during World War I by family members residing in the United Kingdom due to rising anti-German sentiment amongst the British public, the name is an Anglicisation of the German Battenberg, a small town in Hesse. The title of count of Battenberg, later prince of Battenberg, was granted to a branch of the House of Hesse-Darmstadt, itself a cadet branch of the House of Hesse. The family now includes the Marquesses of Carisbrooke and Milford Haven, Lady Louise Mountbatten became Queen Consort of Sweden, after having married Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden. The Mountbatten family are a branch of the German house of Battenberg, the Battenberg family was a morganatic branch of the House of Hesse-Darmstadt, rulers of the Grand Duchy of Hesse in Germany. Julia was elevated in her title to Princess of Battenberg with the style Serene Highness in 1858, two of Alexander and Julias sons, Prince Henry of Battenberg and Prince Louis of Battenberg, became associated with the British Royal Family. Prince Henry married The Princess Beatrice, the youngest daughter of Queen Victoria, Prince Louis married Victorias granddaughter, Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine, and became the First Sea Lord of the Royal Navy. Their cousin, George V compensated the princes with British peerages, Prince Louis became the 1st Marquess of Milford Haven, while Prince Alexander, Prince Henrys eldest son, became the 1st Marquess of Carisbrooke. The marquessate of Milford Haven was created in 1917 for Prince Louis of Battenberg, the former First Sea Lord, and he was at the same time made Earl of Medina and Viscount Alderney, also in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Louis Mountbatten, 1st Marquess of Milford Haven m, Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine Princess Alice of Battenberg m. Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark Princess Margarita of Greece and Denmark m, gottfried, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg Princess Theodora of Greece and Denmark m. Berthold, Margrave of Baden Princess Cecilie of Greece and Denmark m, georg Donatus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Hesse Princess Sophie of Greece and Denmark m. Prince George William of Hanover Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden George Mountbatten, 2nd Marquess of Milford Haven m. Countess Nadejda Mikhailovna de Torby Lady Tatiana Mountbatten David Mountbatten, 3rd Marquess of Milford Haven m, janet Mercedes Bryce George Mountbatten, 4th Marquess of Milford Haven m. Clare Steel Lady Tatiana Mountbatten Henry Mountbatten, Earl of Medina Lord Ivar Mountbatten m, penelope Anne Vere Thompson div.2011 Ella Mountbatten Alexandra Mountbatten Louise Mountbatten Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma m. Edwina Ashley Patricia Knatchbull, 2nd Countess Mountbatten of Burma m, John Knatchbull, 7th Baron Brabourne Lady Pamela Hicks m. On his accession in 1950 as Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden, the letters patent creating the title specified the following special remainder to his daughters. Both of these titles, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, have the special remainder as the Earldom
2.
Plymouth Hoe
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Plymouth Hoe, referred to locally as the Hoe, is a large south facing open public space in the English coastal city of Plymouth. The Hoe is adjacent to and above the low cliffs that form the seafront and it commands views of Plymouth Sound, Drakes Island. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon word Hoe, a sloping ridge shaped like an inverted foot, until the early 17th century large outline images of the giants Gog and Magog had for a long time been cut into the turf of the Hoe exposing the white limestone beneath. These figures were periodically re-cut and cleaned, the British Library holds a 1591 Spry map of Plimmouth from this era. Its purpose was to protect the port and probably also to intimidate the townsfolk who had leaned towards Parliament during the Civil War and it remains occupied by the military. From 1880 there was a bandstand on the Hoe. It was removed for scrap metal during the Second World War, a three tier belvedere built in 1891 survives, it was built on the site of a camera obscura, probably built in the 1830s, which showed views of the harbour. Below this site was the Bull Ring, and a pleasure pier, started in 1880, which provided a dance hall, refreshment, promenading. The pier was destroyed by German bombing in World War II, a prominent landmark on the Hoe is Smeatons Tower. This is the portion of John Smeatons Eddystone Lighthouse, which was originally built on the Eddystone Rocks in 1759. It was dismantled in 1877 and moved, stone by stone, Smeatons Tower overlooks Tinside Pool, an unusual 1930s outdoor lido which sits upon the limestone shoreline at the base of the cliff. Most of the works to create the areas and Madeira Road were carried out to make work for the local unemployed during the Depression. A statue of Sir Francis Drake by Joseph Boehm was placed here in 1884 to commemorate him, there are also several war memorials along the northern side of the Hoe. The Armada Memorial was opened in 1888 to celebrate the tercentenary of the Spanish Armada, below and to the east, perched on the rocky foreshore is the clubhouse of the Royal Plymouth Corinthian Yacht Club. The Hoe is an area for Plymothians and visitors. The Fastnet yacht race ends here, the annual two-day British Firework Championships attracts tens of thousands of spectators. For forty years, there has been controversy about development on the edges of the Hoe green space. The erection of two discount hotel chain box buildings, at the end of Armada Way and the other at the Sound end of Leigham Street
3.
Marina
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A marina is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large ships or cargo from freighters. The word marina is also used for inland wharves on rivers, marinas may be located along the banks of rivers connecting to lakes or seas and may be inland. They are also located on coastal harbors or coastal lagoons, either as stand alone facilities or within a port complex, a marina may have refueling, washing and repair facilities, marine and boat chandlers, stores and restaurants. A marina may include facilities such as parking lots for vehicles. Slipways transfer a trailered boat into the water, a marina may have a boat hoist well operated by service personnel. A marina may provide in- or out-of-water boat storage, fee-based services such as parking, use of picnic areas, pubs, and clubhouses for showers are usually included in long-term rental agreements. Visiting yachtsmen usually have the option of buying each amenity from a fixed schedule of fees, arrangements can be as wide as a use, such as a shower. The right to use the facilities is frequently extended at overnight or period rates to visiting yachtsmen, since marinas are often limited by available space, it may take years on a waiting list to get a permanent berth. Boats are moored on buoys, on fixed or floating walkways tied to an anchoring piling by a roller or ring mechanism, buoys are cheaper to rent but less convenient than being able to walk from land to boat. Harbor shuttles, may transfer people between the shore and boats moored on buoys, the alternative is a tender such as an inflatable boat. Facilities offering fuel, boat ramps and stores will normally have a common-use dock set aside for such short term parking needs, where the tidal range is large, marinas may use locks to maintain the water level for several hours before and after low water. Marinas may be owned and operated by a club, especially yacht clubs —. Marinas may be private businesses, components of a resort. List of marinas MARINA - Maritime Industry Authority
4.
Bronze Age Britain
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Bronze Age Britain is an era of British history that spanned from c.2500 until c.800 BC. Lasting for approximately 1,700 years, it was preceded by the era of Neolithic Britain and was in turn followed by the period of Iron Age Britain. Being categorised as the Bronze Age, it was marked by the use of copper and then bronze by the prehistoric Britons, Great Britain in the Bronze Age also saw the widespread adoption of agriculture. This has been described as a time when elaborate ceremonial practices emerged among some communities of subsistence agriculturalists of western Europe, there is no clear consensus on the date for the beginning of the Bronze Age in Great Britain and Ireland. Some sources give a date as late as 2000 BC, while others set 2200 BC as the demarcation between the Neolithic and the Bronze Age. The period from 2500 BC to 2000 BC has been called the Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age, 2500–2000 BC, Mount Pleasant Phase, Early Beaker culture, Britain, copper+tin. 2100–1900 BC, Late Beaker, knives, tanged spearheads, 1500–1300 BC, Acton Park Phase, palstaves, socketed spearheads, copper+tin, also lead. 1300–1200 BC, Knighton Heath Period, rapiers, 1200–1000 BC, Early Urnfield, Wilburton-Wallington Phase. 1000–900 BC, Late Urnfield, socketed axes, palstaves, 800–700 BC, Ewart Park Phase, Llyn Fawr Phase, leaf-shaped swords. In Ireland the final Dowris phase of the Late Bronze Age appears to decline in about 600 BC, in around 2700 BC, a new pottery style arrived in Great Britain, the Beaker culture. Beaker pottery appears in the Mount Pleasant Phase, along with flat axes, people of this period were also largely responsible for building many famous prehistoric sites, such as the later phases of Stonehenge along with Seahenge. Movement of Europeans brought new people to the islands from the continent, recent tooth enamel isotope research on bodies found in early Bronze Age graves around Stonehenge indicates that at least some of the new arrivals came from the area of modern Switzerland. The Beaker culture displayed different behaviours from the earlier Neolithic people, integration is thought to have been peaceful, as many of the early henge sites were seemingly adopted by the newcomers. Also, the burial of dead became more individual, for example, in the Neolithic era, a large chambered cairn or long barrow was used to house the dead. The Early Bronze Age saw people buried in barrows, or sometimes in cists covered with cairns. They were often buried with a beaker alongside the body, modern thinking tends towards the latter view. Alternatively, a Beaker elite may have made the migration and come to influence the population at some level. Believed to be of Iberian origin, part of the Beaker culture brought to Great Britain the skill of refining metal, at first they made items from copper, but from around 2150 BC smiths had discovered how to make bronze by mixing copper with a small amount of tin
5.
Roman Empire
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Civil wars and executions continued, culminating in the victory of Octavian, Caesars adopted son, over Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC and the annexation of Egypt. Octavians power was then unassailable and in 27 BC the Roman Senate formally granted him overarching power, the imperial period of Rome lasted approximately 1,500 years compared to the 500 years of the Republican era. The first two centuries of the empires existence were a period of unprecedented political stability and prosperity known as the Pax Romana, following Octavians victory, the size of the empire was dramatically increased. After the assassination of Caligula in 41, the senate briefly considered restoring the republic, under Claudius, the empire invaded Britannia, its first major expansion since Augustus. Vespasian emerged triumphant in 69, establishing the Flavian dynasty, before being succeeded by his son Titus and his short reign was followed by the long reign of his brother Domitian, who was eventually assassinated. The senate then appointed the first of the Five Good Emperors, the empire reached its greatest extent under Trajan, the second in this line. A period of increasing trouble and decline began with the reign of Commodus, Commodus assassination in 192 triggered the Year of the Five Emperors, of which Septimius Severus emerged victorious. The assassination of Alexander Severus in 235 led to the Crisis of the Third Century in which 26 men were declared emperor by the Roman Senate over a time span. It was not until the reign of Diocletian that the empire was fully stabilized with the introduction of the Tetrarchy, which saw four emperors rule the empire at once. This arrangement was unsuccessful, leading to a civil war that was finally ended by Constantine I. Constantine subsequently shifted the capital to Byzantium, which was renamed Constantinople in his honour and it remained the capital of the east until its demise. Constantine also adopted Christianity which later became the state religion of the empire. However, Augustulus was never recognized by his Eastern colleague, and separate rule in the Western part of the empire ceased to exist upon the death of Julius Nepos. The Eastern Roman Empire endured for another millennium, eventually falling to the Ottoman Turks in 1453, the Roman Empire was among the most powerful economic, cultural, political and military forces in the world of its time. It was one of the largest empires in world history, at its height under Trajan, it covered 5 million square kilometres. It held sway over an estimated 70 million people, at that time 21% of the entire population. Throughout the European medieval period, attempts were made to establish successors to the Roman Empire, including the Empire of Romania, a Crusader state. Rome had begun expanding shortly after the founding of the republic in the 6th century BC, then, it was an empire long before it had an emperor
6.
Ptolemy
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Claudius Ptolemy was a Greek writer, known as a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer, and poet of a single epigram in the Greek Anthology. He lived in the city of Alexandria in the Roman province of Egypt, wrote in Koine Greek, beyond that, few reliable details of his life are known. His birthplace has been given as Ptolemais Hermiou in the Thebaid in a statement by the 14th-century astronomer Theodore Meliteniotes. This is a very late attestation, however, and there is no reason to suppose that he ever lived elsewhere than Alexandria. Ptolemy wrote several treatises, three of which were of importance to later Byzantine, Islamic and European science. The first is the astronomical treatise now known as the Almagest, although it was entitled the Mathematical Treatise. The second is the Geography, which is a discussion of the geographic knowledge of the Greco-Roman world. The third is the treatise in which he attempted to adapt horoscopic astrology to the Aristotelian natural philosophy of his day. This is sometimes known as the Apotelesmatika but more known as the Tetrabiblos from the Greek meaning Four Books or by the Latin Quadripartitum. The name Claudius is a Roman nomen, the fact that Ptolemy bore it indicates he lived under the Roman rule of Egypt with the privileges and political rights of Roman citizenship. It would have suited custom if the first of Ptolemys family to become a citizen took the nomen from a Roman called Claudius who was responsible for granting citizenship, if, as was common, this was the emperor, citizenship would have been granted between AD41 and 68. The astronomer would also have had a praenomen, which remains unknown and it occurs once in Greek mythology, and is of Homeric form. All the kings after him, until Egypt became a Roman province in 30 BC, were also Ptolemies, abu Mashar recorded a belief that a different member of this royal line composed the book on astrology and attributed it to Ptolemy. The correct answer is not known”, Ptolemy wrote in Greek and can be shown to have utilized Babylonian astronomical data. He was a Roman citizen, but most scholars conclude that Ptolemy was ethnically Greek and he was often known in later Arabic sources as the Upper Egyptian, suggesting he may have had origins in southern Egypt. Later Arabic astronomers, geographers and physicists referred to him by his name in Arabic, Ptolemys Almagest is the only surviving comprehensive ancient treatise on astronomy. Ptolemy presented his models in convenient tables, which could be used to compute the future or past position of the planets. The Almagest also contains a catalogue, which is a version of a catalogue created by Hipparchus
7.
Plymouth Breakwater
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Plymouth Breakwater is a 1, 560-metre stone breakwater protecting Plymouth Sound and the anchorages near Plymouth, Devon, England. It is 13 metres wide at the top and the base is 65 metres and it lies in about 10 metres of water. Around 4 million tons of rock were used in its construction in 1812 at the then-colossal cost of £1.5 million. In 1806, as the Napoleonic Wars impended, Lord St. Vincent commissioned John Rennie, in 1811 came the order to begin construction, Whidbey was appointed Acting Superintending Engineer. Nearly 4,000,000 tons of stone were quarried and transported, a paper to the Royal Society suggests that Whidbey found many fossils as a result of the quarrying necessary to the breakwater. The foundation stone was laid on Shovel Rock on August 8,1812 and it followed a line over Panther Rock, Shovel and St. Carlos Rocks, and was sufficiently completed by 1814 to shelter ships of the line. Napoleon was reported as commenting that the breakwater was a grand thing, severe storm damage in 1817 and 1824 prompted a change in the profile and height. Whidbey continued to work on the breakwater and other engineering projects, including the breakwaters lighthouse and it was finished by 1841, the final work being finished by Rennies son, Sir John Rennie. The lighthouse became operational in 1844, and soon afterwards a horse-drawn omnibus was driven from end to end, with a complement of passengers. A beacon was placed at the end, consisting of a 6-foot spherical cage on a 17-foot pole. In 1860, a Royal Commission, established by Lord Palmerston, produced a plan for the defence of Plymouth, the Breakwater Fort was designed to defend the entrances to Plymouth Sound in conjunction with forts and batteries on either shore. Designed by Captain Siborne, work on the oval masonry sea fort started in 1861 and it has its foundations on Shovel Rock and is 35 yards inside the Breakwater. After several changes in plan, the fort was armed in 1879 with fourteen 12. 5-inch. Although the fort had been disarmed before World War I, it served as a station, and from 1937. It was finally released by the military in 1976, national Harbor of Refuge, a comparable structure at the mouth of Delaware Bay in the United States, intended principally for civilian use. List of lighthouses in England Catterwater Harbour Commissioners
8.
Scheduled monument
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In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation used for protecting heritage assets from damage. The protection given to scheduled monuments is given under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979, a heritage asset is a part of the historic environment that is valued because of its historic, archaeological, architectural or artistic interest. Only some of these are judged to be important enough to have legal protection through designation. There are about 20,000 scheduled monuments in England representing about 37,000 heritage assets, of the tens of thousands of scheduled monuments in the UK, most are inconspicuous archaeological sites, but some are large ruins. According to the 1979 Act, a monument cannot be a structure which is occupied as a dwelling, as a rule of thumb, a protected historic asset that is occupied would be designated as a listed building. Scheduled Monuments are defined in the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979, in England, Wales and Scotland they are often referred to as a scheduled ancient monument, although the Act defines only ancient monument and scheduled monument. A monument can be, A building or structure, cave or excavation which is above or below the surface of the land, a site comprising any vehicle, vessel, aircraft or other moveable structure. In Northern Ireland they are designated under separate legislation and are referred to as a historic monument or a monument in state care. The first Act to enshrine legal protection for ancient monuments was the Ancient Monuments Protection Act 1882 and this identified an initial list of 68 prehistoric sites, which were given a degree of legal protection. This was the result of strenuous representation by William Morris and the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, which had been founded in 1877. Following various previous attempts, the 1882 legislation was guided through parliament by John Lubbock, the first Inspector of Ancient Monuments, as set up by the act, was Augustus Pitt Rivers. At this point, only the inspector, answering directly to the First Commissioner of Works, was involved in surveying the scheduled sites and persuading landowners to offer sites to the state. The act also established the concept of guardianship, in which a site might remain in private ownership, however the legislation could not compel landowners, as that level of state interference with private property was not politically possible. The Ancient Monuments Protection Act 1900 extended the scope of the legislation to include medieval monuments, in a speech in 1907, Robert Hunter, chairman of the National Trust, observed that only a further 18 sites had been added to the original list of 68. Charles Peers, an architect, was appointed as Inspector in 1910 in the Office of Works becoming Chief Inspector in 1913. The job title Inspector is still in use, scheduling offers protection because it makes it illegal to undertake a great range of works within a designated area, without first obtaining scheduled monument consent. However, it does not affect the owner’s freehold title or other interests in the land
9.
Frigate
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A frigate /ˈfrɪɡᵻt/ is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries. In the 17th century, this term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability and these could be warships carrying their principal batteries of carriage-mounted guns on a single deck or on two decks. The term was used for ships too small to stand in the line of battle. In the late 19th century, the frigate was a type of ironclad warship that for a time was the most powerful type of vessel afloat. The term frigate was used because such ships still mounted their principal armaments on a continuous upper deck. Ship classes dubbed frigates have more closely resembled corvettes, destroyers, cruisers. The rank frigate captain derives from the name of type of ship. The term frigate originated in the Mediterranean in the late 15th century, referring to a lighter galleass type ship with oars, sails and a light armament, built for speed and maneuverability. The etymology of the word is unknown, although it may have originated as a corruption of aphractus, aphractus was, in turn, derived from the Ancient Greek phrase ἄφρακτος ναῦς, or undefended ship. In 1583, during the Eighty Years War, Habsburg Spain recovered the Southern Netherlands from the rebellious Dutch and this soon led to the occupied ports being used as bases for privateers, the Dunkirkers, to attack the shipping of the Dutch and their allies. To achieve this they developed small, maneuverable, sailing vessels that came to be referred to as frigates, in French, the term frigate became a verb, meaning to build long and low, and an adjective, adding further confusion. Even the huge English Sovereign of the Seas could be described as a frigate by a contemporary after her upper decks were reduced in 1651. The navy of the Dutch Republic was the first navy to build the larger ocean-going frigates, the first two tasks required speed, shallowness of draft for the shallow waters around the Netherlands, and the ability to carry sufficient supplies to maintain a blockade. The third task required heavy armament, sufficient to fight against the Spanish fleet, the first of these larger battle-capable frigates were built around 1600 at Hoorn in Holland. The effectiveness of the Dutch frigates became most visible in the Battle of the Downs in 1639, encouraging most other navies, especially the English, to adopt similar designs. The fleets built by the Commonwealth of England in the 1650s generally consisted of ships described as frigates, the largest of which were two-decker great frigates of the third rate. Carrying 60 guns, these vessels were as big and capable as great ships of the time, however, most other frigates at the time were used as cruisers, independent fast ships. The term frigate implied a long hull design, which relates directly to speed and also, in turn, in Danish, the word fregat is often applied to warships carrying as few as 16 guns, such as HMS Falcon which the British classified as a sloop
10.
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
11.
Flying boat
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A flying boat is a fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water, that usually has no type of landing gear to allow operation on land. It differs from a floatplane as it uses a purpose-designed fuselage which can float, Flying boats may be stabilized by under-wing floats or by wing-like projections from the fuselage. Flying boats were some of the largest aircraft of the first half of the 20th century and their advantage lay in using water instead of expensive land-based runways, making them the basis for international airlines in the interwar period. They were also used for maritime patrol and air-sea rescue. Their use gradually trailed off after World War II, partially because of the investments in airports during the war. In the 21st century, flying boats maintain a few uses, such as dropping water on forest fires, air transport around archipelagos. Many modern seaplane variants, whether float or flying boat types, are convertible amphibious aircraft where either landing gear or flotation modes may be used to land, on 6 June 1905 Gabriel Voisin took off and landed on the River Seine with a towed kite glider on floats. The first of his flights was 150 yards. He later built a powered floatplane in partnership with Louis Blériot, other pioneers also attempted to attach floats to aircraft in Britain, Australia, France and the USA. On 28 March 1910 Frenchman Henri Fabre successfully flew the first successful powered seaplane, the Gnome Omega-powered hydravion, fabres first successful take off and landing by a powered seaplane inspired other aviators and he designed floats for several other flyers. The first hydro-aeroplane competition was held in Monaco in March 1912, featuring aircraft using floats from Fabre, Curtiss, Tellier and this led to the first scheduled seaplane passenger services at Aix-les-Bains, using a five-seat Sanchez-Besa from 1 August 1912. The French Navy ordered its first floatplane in 1912, in 1911-12 François Denhaut constructed the first seaplane with a fuselage forming a hull, using various designs to give hydrodynamic lift at take-off. Its first successful flight was on 13 April 1912, throughout 1910 and 1911 American pioneering aviator Glenn Curtiss developed his floatplane into the successful Curtiss Model D land-plane, which used a larger central float and sponsons. Combining floats with wheels, he made the first amphibian flights in February 1911 and was awarded the first Collier Trophy for US flight achievement, from 1912 his experiments with a hulled seaplane resulted in the 1913 Model E and Model F, which he called flying-boats. In February 1911 the United States Navy took delivery of the Curtiss Model E, in Britain, Captain Edward Wakefield and Oscar Gnosspelius began to explore the feasibility of flight from water in 1908. They decided to use of Lake Windermere in the Lake District. Meanwhile, Wakefield ordered a similar to the design of the 1910 Fabre Hydravion. By November 1911, both Gnosspelier and Wakefield had aircraft capable of flight from water and awaited suitable weather conditions, gnosspeliers flight was short-lived as the aircraft crashed into the lake
