1.
Calshot
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Calshot is a coastal village in Hampshire, England at the west corner of Southampton Water where it joins the Solent. According to the Post Office the majority of the population of the village at the 2011 Census was in the parish of Fawley. In 1539, Henry VIII ordered the construction of Calshot Castle, at the end of Calshot Spit and its strategic importance continues to the present day, and there is still a military presence in Calshot, though the castle is no longer a manned fort. Calshot is notable for its role in the development of aircraft, in 1913 the Royal Flying Corps established Calshot Naval Air Station at the end of Calshot Spit. It was also at one point home to Lawrence of Arabia, following a volcanic eruption in 1961, the population of the Tristan da Cunha islands was evacuated to Calshot. Many evacuees thrived, with the children attending schools and adults employed in a variety of local businesses. Most of the Islanders returned home, but some of the decided to stay. Those that returned to Tristan da Cunha renamed the harbour there, Calshot Lifeboat Station was established in 1970 by the RNLI. The original hangar from the World War II flying boats remains as an activity centre for watersports, climbing, snowboarding, there is a small velodrome for the cycling, a small practice slope for practising board tricks, and recently improved facilities for climbing and bouldering. The climbing grades vary from about 3 to the occasional 8a, the centre offers residential and visitor courses. Next to the hangar is a dinghy marina, the approach road passes on the landward side of the spit and there are a large number of beach huts. The spit comprises a flint pebble structure more than 1 km long, between it and the main shore is a salt marshy area with a wealth of wildlife and birds. The nearby Fawley Power Station discharged cooling water into the waters around Calshot beach. Excavation for the power station discovered buried land surfaces from the Neolithic period. There are spectacular views at night of the Fawley refinery and Fawley Power Station lit up, on a clear day, the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth can be seen to the east, and the Hamble estuary, to the north
2.
Hampshire
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Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, the capital city of England. The larger South Hampshire metropolitan area has a population of 1,547,000, Hampshire is notable for housing the birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force. It is bordered by Dorset to the west, Wiltshire to the north-west, Berkshire to the north, Surrey to the north-east, the southern boundary is the coastline of the English Channel and the Solent, facing the Isle of Wight. At its greatest size in 1890, Hampshire was the fifth largest county in England and it now has an overall area of 3,700 square kilometres, and measures about 86 kilometres east–west and 76 kilometres north–south. Hampshires tourist attractions include many seaside resorts and two parks, the New Forest and the South Downs. Hampshire has a maritime history and two of Europes largest ports, Portsmouth and Southampton, lie on its coast. The county is famed as home of writers Jane Austen and Charles Dickens, Hampshire takes its name from the settlement that is now the city of Southampton. Southampton was known in Old English as Hamtun, roughly meaning village-town, the old name was recorded in the Domesday book as Hantescire, and it is from this spelling that the modern abbreviation Hants derives. From 1889 until 1959, the county was named the County of Southampton and has also been known as Southamptonshire. The region is believed to have continuously occupied since the end of the last Ice Age about 12,000 BCE. At this time Britain was still attached to the European continent and was covered with deciduous woodland. The first inhabitants came overland from Europe, these were anatomically and behaviourally modern humans, notable sites from this period include Bouldnor Cliff. Agriculture had arrived in southern Britain by 4000 BCE, and with it a neolithic culture, some deforestation took place at that time, although it was during the Bronze Age, beginning in 2200 BCE, that this became more widespread and systematic. Hampshire has few monuments to show from early periods, although nearby Stonehenge was built in several phases at some time between 3100 BCE and 2200 BCE. It is maintained that by this period the people of Britain predominantly spoke a Celtic language, hillforts largely declined in importance in the second half of the second century BCE, with many being abandoned. Julius Caesar invaded southeastern England briefly in 55 and again in 54 BCE, notable sites from this period include Hengistbury Head, which was a major port. There is a Museum of the Iron Age in Andover, the Romans invaded Britain again in 43 CE, and Hampshire was incorporated into the Roman province of Britannia very quickly
3.
Royal Air Force station
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A Royal Air Force station is a permanent Royal Air Force operations location. Most RAF stations are aerodromes, or airfields, being the home to one or more flying squadrons, other RAF stations are training units, administrative units, headquarters, or carry out ground-based operational tasks. Although many RAF units are called stations, they can only be properly classified as an RAF station if they are self-accounting with their own station commander. Units without a commander or headquarters staff will ordinarily be a satellite of an RAF station proper. In the early years of the RAF, very few of its bases were classified as stations, some bases which were locally known as RAF location name were officially listed under the units title. For example, No.1 Stores Depot was at RAF Kidbrooke which was described as No.1 Stores Depot in the official lists, in the years before World War II the RAF went through a period of rapid expansion. One means of achieving this expansion was to several units together at one location. This resulted in a growth in the number of stations. The commanding officer in charge of an RAF station is titled as the station commander, on flying units the station commander normally holds the rank of group captain. Most RAF stations are administratively sub-divided into wings, and are controlled by a station headquarters, on a flying station the subordinate wings have usually been called Operations Wing, Engineering Wing, and Administration Wing. Engineering wings are being split into Forward Support Wing and Depth Support Wings, while many Administration, flying stations are typically in remote or rural areas, and are geographically quite large in area. Non-flying RAF stations are much smaller in area than flying stations. They may be close to urban conurbations, and may sometimes be situated in historic mansions, manor houses, or other notable buildings of fine architectural quality. Current RAF stations are mainly in the United Kingdom, overseas RAF stations include RAF Akrotiri in Akrotiri and Dhekelia, RAF Gibraltar in Gibraltar, naval air station Royal Air Force official site
4.
Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
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The Ministry of Defence is the British government department responsible for implementing the defence policy set by Her Majestys Government and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces. The MoD states that its objectives are to defend the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and its interests and to strengthen international peace. The MoD also manages day-to-day running of the forces, contingency planning. As rearmament became a concern during the 1930s, Stanley Baldwin created the position of Minister for Coordination of Defence. Winston Churchill, on forming his government in 1940, created the office of Minister of Defence to exercise control over the Chiefs of Staff Committee. The post was held by the Prime Minister of the day until Clement Attlees government introduced the Ministry of Defence Act of 1946, the new ministry was headed by a Minister of Defence who possessed a seat in the Cabinet. These departments merged in 1964, the functions of the Ministry of Aviation Supply merged into the Ministry of Defence in 1971. The Ministers in the Ministry of Defence are as follows, The Ministers and Chiefs of the Defence Staff are supported by a number of civilian, scientific, the Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Defence is the senior civil servant at the MoD. His or her role is to ensure the MoD operates effectively as a department of the government, Permanent Under-Secretary of State, Stephen Lovegrove—commencing April 2016 Defence Equipment & Support CEO - Tony Douglas — commencing 2016 Chief Scientific Adviser, Professor Vernon C. He is supported by the Vice Chief of the Defence Staff, vice-Chief of the Defence Staff, General Sir Gordon Messenger, Royal Marines. First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Sir Philip Jones, Royal Navy Chief of the General Staff, General Sir Nick Carter, the Surgeon General, represents the Defence Medical Services on the Defence Staff, and is the clinical head of that service. These forces must be capable of representing Britain as lead nation in any coalition operations, the ability, at longer notice, to deploy forces in a large-scale operation while running a concurrent small-scale operation. The MoD has since been regarded as a leader in elaborating the post-Cold War organising concept of defence diplomacy, the UK is establishing air and naval bases in the Persian Gulf, located in the UAE and Bahrain. A presence in Oman is also being considered, the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 included £178 billion investment in new equipment and capabilities. The review set a policy with four primary missions for the Armed Forces, Defend and contribute to the security and resilience of the UK. Contribute to improved understanding of the world through strategic intelligence and the defence network. Reinforce international security and the capacity of our allies, partners. Conduct operations to restore peace and stability, conduct major combat operations if required, including under NATO Article 5
5.
Royal Air Force
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The Royal Air Force is the United Kingdoms aerial warfare force. Formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, following victory over the Central Powers in 1918 the RAF emerged as, at the time, the largest air force in the world. The RAF describe its mission statement as, an agile, adaptable and capable Air Force that, person for person, is second to none, and that makes a decisive air power contribution in support of the UK Defence Mission. The mission statement is supported by the RAFs definition of air power, Air power is defined as the ability to project power from the air and space to influence the behaviour of people or the course of events. Today the Royal Air Force maintains a fleet of various types of aircraft. The majority of the RAFs rotary-wing aircraft form part of the tri-service Joint Helicopter Command in support of ground forces, most of the RAFs aircraft and personnel are based in the UK, with many others serving on operations or at long-established overseas bases. It was founded on 1 April 1918, with headquarters located in the former Hotel Cecil, during the First World War, by the amalgamation of the Royal Flying Corps, at that time it was the largest air force in the world. The RAFs naval aviation branch, the Fleet Air Arm, was founded in 1924, the RAF developed the doctrine of strategic bombing which led to the construction of long-range bombers and became its main bombing strategy in the Second World War. The RAF underwent rapid expansion prior to and during the Second World War, under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan of December 1939, the air forces of British Commonwealth countries trained and formed Article XV squadrons for service with RAF formations. Many individual personnel from countries, and exiles from occupied Europe. By the end of the war the Royal Canadian Air Force had contributed more than 30 squadrons to serve in RAF formations, additionally, the Royal Australian Air Force represented around nine percent of all RAF personnel who served in the European and Mediterranean theatres. In the Battle of Britain in 1940, the RAF defended the skies over Britain against the numerically superior German Luftwaffe, the largest RAF effort during the war was the strategic bombing campaign against Germany by Bomber Command. Following victory in the Second World War, the RAF underwent significant re-organisation, during the early stages of the Cold War, one of the first major operations undertaken by the Royal Air Force was in 1948 and the Berlin Airlift, codenamed Operation Plainfire. Before Britain developed its own nuclear weapons the RAF was provided with American nuclear weapons under Project E and these were initially armed with nuclear gravity bombs, later being equipped with the Blue Steel missile. Following the development of the Royal Navys Polaris submarines, the nuclear deterrent passed to the navys submarines on 30 June 1969. With the introduction of Polaris, the RAFs strategic nuclear role was reduced to a tactical one and this tactical role was continued by the V bombers into the 1980s and until 1998 by Tornado GR1s. For much of the Cold War the primary role of the RAF was the defence of Western Europe against potential attack by the Soviet Union, with many squadrons based in West Germany. With the decline of the British Empire, global operations were scaled back, despite this, the RAF fought in many battles in the Cold War period
6.
World War I
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World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history and it was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and paved the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved. The war drew in all the worlds great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances, the Allies versus the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. These alliances were reorganised and expanded as more nations entered the war, Italy, Japan, the trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia. Within weeks, the powers were at war and the conflict soon spread around the world. On 25 July Russia began mobilisation and on 28 July, the Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia, Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia to demobilise, and when this was refused, declared war on Russia on 1 August. Germany then invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, after the German march on Paris was halted, what became known as the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, with a trench line that changed little until 1917. On the Eastern Front, the Russian army was successful against the Austro-Hungarians, in November 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Sinai. In 1915, Italy joined the Allies and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, Romania joined the Allies in 1916, after a stunning German offensive along the Western Front in the spring of 1918, the Allies rallied and drove back the Germans in a series of successful offensives. By the end of the war or soon after, the German Empire, Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, national borders were redrawn, with several independent nations restored or created, and Germanys colonies were parceled out among the victors. During the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the Big Four imposed their terms in a series of treaties, the League of Nations was formed with the aim of preventing any repetition of such a conflict. This effort failed, and economic depression, renewed nationalism, weakened successor states, and feelings of humiliation eventually contributed to World War II. From the time of its start until the approach of World War II, at the time, it was also sometimes called the war to end war or the war to end all wars due to its then-unparalleled scale and devastation. In Canada, Macleans magazine in October 1914 wrote, Some wars name themselves, during the interwar period, the war was most often called the World War and the Great War in English-speaking countries. Will become the first world war in the sense of the word. These began in 1815, with the Holy Alliance between Prussia, Russia, and Austria, when Germany was united in 1871, Prussia became part of the new German nation. Soon after, in October 1873, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors between the monarchs of Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany
7.
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
8.
Seaplane
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A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing on water. Seaplanes that can take off and land on airfields are in a subclass called amphibious aircraft. Their use gradually tailed off after World War II, partially because of the investments in airports during the war, the word seaplane is used to describe two types of air/water vehicles, the floatplane and the flying boat. A floatplane has slender pontoons, or floats, mounted under the fuselage, two floats are common, but other configurations are possible. Only the floats of a floatplane normally come into contact with water, some small land aircraft can be modified to become float planes, and in general, floatplanes are small aircraft. Floatplanes are limited by their inability to handle wave heights typically greater than 12 inches and these floats add to the empty weight of the airplane and to the drag coefficient, resulting in reduced payload capacity, slower rate of climb, and slower cruise speed. Most flying boats have small floats mounted on their wings to keep them stable, not all small seaplanes have been floatplanes, but most large seaplanes have been flying boats, with their great weight supported by their hulls. The term seaplane is used by some instead of floatplane and this is the standard British usage. This article treats both flying boats and floatplanes as types of seaplane, in the US fashion, an amphibious aircraft can take off and land both on conventional runways and water. A true seaplane can only take off and land on water, there are amphibious flying boats and amphibious floatplanes, as well as some hybrid designs, e. g. floatplanes with retractable floats. Modern production seaplanes are typically light aircraft, amphibious, and of a floatplane design, 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 United States. On 28 March 1910, Frenchman Henri Fabre 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
9.
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
10.
Calshot Spit
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Calshot Spit is a one-mile long sand and shingle bank, near the village of Calshot, located on the southern bank of the open end of Southampton Water, on the south coast of England. At the end of the spit are Calshot Castle, an RNLI lifeboat, an NCI station, several slipways, a former Royal Navy and Royal Air Force flying boat station and Calshot Activities Centre. The neck of the spit is owned by New Forest District Council while the end of the spit is owned by the Crown Estate which leases it to Hampshire County Council, there are spectacular views at night of Fawley Refinery lit up. On a clear day, the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth can be seen to the east, the decommissioned Fawley Power Station to the northwest, the castle is a low, circular, stone structure and was armed with large muzzle-loading guns. Its purpose, when it was built in 1539, was to access to the important harbour at Southampton from seaborne attack. For much of its history the spit was low lying and parts of it often underwater at high tide and this changed in 1703 when the great storm of that year washed enough shingle onto the spit to make it a more substantial structure. Calshot Naval Air Station was originally set up in 1913, in 1929 and 1931, Calshot was the venue for the Schneider Trophy, an international air race for seaplanes. The Spit was transferred to control at the start of the 1960s. The site is now the location of Calshot Lifeboat Station operated by the RNLI, yachts, the hangars are home to Calshot Activities Centre and house indoor climbing walls, artificial ski slopes and a velodrome. In 2005 new public toilets were installed in the spit with a design inspired by the spits beach huts. The spit is a navigation hazard for ships entering Southampton Water. This replaced a Trinity House lightvessel that was anchored off the spit, in November 2010 it was moved a short distance to the Trafalgar dock where, after renovation, it was to be displayed at the Aeronautica attraction, due to open in 2015. The plans for Aeronautica came to a halt in January 2012 and it was built in 1914 by J I Thornycroft shipyard in Southampton and decommissioned in 1978. LV50, which was once on the Calshot station, was bought by the Royal Northumberland Yacht Club, personnel from RAF Calshot traveling to and from the spit would sometimes be taken on and off passing Red Funnel ferries in launches. Historically the sites status as a military base provided a degree of protection for the local flora, the large scale construction of car parks, beach-huts and the importation of topsoil has reduced the range of plants present. Crambe maritima still grows on the spit and in the 19th century it was harvested for sale in Southampton. RNAS Calshot RAF Calshot Trinity House LV No.78 Harbour Lights
11.
Southampton Water
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Southampton Water is a tidal estuary north of the Solent and the Isle of Wight in England. The city of Southampton lies at its most northerly point, along its salt marsh-fringed western shores lie the New Forest villages of Hythe and the waterside, Dibden Bay, and the Esso oil refinery at Fawley. On the slightly steeper eastern shore are the Southampton suburb of Weston, the villages of Netley and Hamble-le-Rice, together with the Solent, Southampton Water is world-renowned for yachting. It served as one of the sailing and motorboating venues for the 1908 Summer Olympics, geographically, Southampton Water is classified as a ria, or drowned valley, of the English Channel. Southamptons emergence as a port, and particularly as a port handling very large vessels. Its depth, even in its state, was generous. An additional factor is the phenomenon of the tide, which results in unusually prolonged periods of high water. This greatly facilitates the movements of large ships. Southampton Water is an estuary with major potential for land use conflicts, an area of urban development runs in the narrow band of land between Southampton Water and the New Forest National Park. Villages such as Marchwood, Hythe, Dibden Purlieu, Holbury, between Hythe and Marchwood, an area of reclaimed land - Dibden Bay - was the site of a proposed port expansion by Associated British ports. This was argued to be essential for the economic development of the Port of Southampton. The intertidal marshlands of Dibden Bay have international significance, the government accepted the recommendations of the planning inspector in April 2005. In July 2009, Associated British Ports launched a consultation on a 20-year masterplan for Southampton port
12.
England
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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years
13.
Ordnance Survey National Grid
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The Ordnance Survey National Grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references used in Great Britain, different from using Latitude and Longitude. It is often called British National Grid, the Ordnance Survey devised the national grid reference system, and it is heavily used in their survey data, and in maps based on those surveys. Grid references are commonly quoted in other publications and data sources. The Universal Transverse Mercator coordinate system is used to provide references for worldwide locations. European-wide agencies also use UTM when mapping locations, or may use the Military Grid Reference System system, the grid is based on the OSGB36 datum, and was introduced after the retriangulation of 1936–1962. It replaced the previously used Cassini Grid which, up to the end of World War Two, had issued only to the military. The Airy ellipsoid is a regional best fit for Britain, more modern mapping tends to use the GRS80 ellipsoid used by the GPS, the British maps adopt a Transverse Mercator projection with an origin at 49° N, 2° W. Over the Airy ellipsoid a straight grid, the National Grid, is placed with a new false origin. This false origin is located south-west of the Isles of Scilly, the distortion created between the OS grid and the projection is countered by a scale factor in the longitude to create two lines of longitude with zero distortion rather than one. Grid north and true north are aligned on the 400 km easting of the grid which is 2° W. 2° 0′ 5″ W. OSGB36 was also used by Admiralty nautical charts until 2000 after which WGS84 has been used, a geodetic transformation between OSGB36 and other terrestrial reference systems can become quite tedious if attempted manually. The most common transformation is called the Helmert datum transformation, which results in a typical 7 m error from true, the definitive transformation from ETRS89 that is published by the OSGB is called the National Grid Transformation OSTN02. This models the detailed distortions in the 1936–1962 retriangulation, and achieves backwards compatibility in grid coordinates to sub-metre accuracy, the difference between the coordinates on different datums varies from place to place. The longitude and latitude positions on OSGB36 are the same as for WGS84 at a point in the Atlantic Ocean well to the west of Great Britain. In Cornwall, the WGS84 longitude lines are about 70 metres east of their OSGB36 equivalents, the smallest datum shift is on the west coast of Scotland and the greatest in Kent. But Great Britain has not shrunk by 100+ metres, a point near Lands End now computes to be 27.6 metres closer to a point near Duncansby Head than it did under OSGB36. For the first letter, the grid is divided into squares of size 500 km by 500 km, there are four of these which contain significant land area within Great Britain, S, T, N and H. The O square contains an area of North Yorkshire, almost all of which lies below mean high tide
14.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
15.
Isle of Wight
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The Isle of Wight /ˈaɪl əv ˈwaɪt/ is a county and the largest and second-most populous island in England. It is located in the English Channel, about 4 miles off the coast of Hampshire, the island has resorts that have been holiday destinations since Victorian times, and is known for its mild climate, coastal scenery, and verdant landscape of fields, downland and chines. The island has been home to the poets Swinburne and Tennyson and to Queen Victoria and it has a maritime and industrial tradition including boat building, sail making, the manufacture of flying boats, the hovercraft, and Britains space rockets. The island hosts annual festivals including the Isle of Wight Festival. It has well-conserved wildlife and some of the richest cliffs and quarries for dinosaur fossils in Europe, the Isle was owned by a Norman family until 1293 and was earlier a kingdom in its own right. Rural for most of its history, its Victorian fashionability and the affordability of holidays led to significant urban development during the late 19th. The island was part of Hampshire until 1890 when it became its own administrative county, apart from a shared police force, there is now no administrative link with Hampshire, although a combined local authority with Portsmouth and Southampton is being considered. Until 1995 the island had a governor, the quickest public transport link to the mainland is the hovercraft from Ryde to Southsea, while three ferry and two catamaran services cross the Solent to Southampton, Lymington and Portsmouth. During the Ice Age, sea levels were lower and the Solent was part of a river flowing south east from current day Poole Harbour towards mid-Channel. As sea levels rose, the valley became flooded. The first inhabitants are assumed to have been hunter-gatherers migrating by land during the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age period, as the ice age began to recede. From the Neolithic era onwards, there are indications that the island had wide trading links, with a port at Bouldnor, evidence of Bronze Age tin trading, caesar reported that the Belgae took the Isle of Wight in about 85 BC and gave its name as Vectis. The Roman historian Suetonius mentions that the island was captured by the commander Vespasian, the Romans built no towns or roads on the island, but the remains of at least seven Roman villas have been found, indicating the prosperity of local agriculture. During the Dark Ages the island was settled by Jutes as the kingdom of Wihtwara under King Arwald. In 685 it was invaded by Caedwalla, who tried to replace the inhabitants with his own followers and it suffered especially from Viking raids, and was often used as a winter base by Viking raiders when they were unable to reach Normandy. Later, both Earl Tostig and his brother Harold Godwinson held manors on the island, the Norman Conquest of 1066 created the position of Lord of the Isle of Wight, the island being given by William the Conqueror to his kinsman William FitzOsbern. Carisbrooke Priory and the fort of Carisbrooke Castle were then founded, allegiance was sworn to FitzOsbern rather than the king, the Lordship was subsequently granted to the de Redvers family by Henry I, after his succession in 1100. For nearly 200 years the island was a semi-independent feudal fiefdom, the final private owner was the Countess Isabella de Fortibus, who, on her deathbed in 1293, was persuaded to sell it to Edward I
16.
Solent
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The Solent is the strait that separates the Isle of Wight from the mainland of England. The Solent is a shipping lane for passenger, freight. It is an important recreational area for sports, particularly yachting, hosting the Cowes Week sailing event annually. Spithead, an area off Gilkicker Point near Gosport, is known as the place where the Royal Navy is traditionally reviewed by the monarch of the day, the area is of great ecological and landscape importance, particularly because of the coastal and estuarine habitats along its edge. Much of its coastline is designated as a Special Area of Conservation and it is bordered by and forms a part of the character of a number of nationally important protected landscapes including the New Forest National Park, and the Isle of Wight AONB. The word first appears in the Saxon record as Solentan, a pre-Celtic and supposedly Semitoidic root meaning free standing rock has also been suggested as a possible description of the cliffs marking western approach of the strait. This Semitic origin may be a relic of the Phoenician traders who sailed to Britain from the Mediterranean as part of the ancient tin trade, another suggestion is that the name may reflect the number of Northern Gannets along the coast. Originally a river valley, the Solent has gradually widened and deepened over many thousands of years, the River Frome was the source of the River Solent, with three other rivers — the Rivers Avon, Itchen and Test — being tributaries of it. Seismic sounding has shown that, when the sea level was lower, since the retreat of the most recent glaciation the South East of England, like the Netherlands, has been steadily slowly sinking through historic time due to forebulge sinking. A new theory – that the Solent was originally a lagoon – was reported in the Southern Daily Echo by Garry Momber from the Hampshire and Wight Trust for Maritime Archaeology. The Isle of Wight was formerly contiguous with the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset — the Needles on Wight, inland behind the Chalk were less resistant sands, clays and gravels. This great estuary ran through a valley and is now referred to as the Solent River. When glaciers covering more northern latitudes melted at the end of the last ice age, firstly, a great amount of flood water ran into the Solent River and its tributaries, carving the estuary deeper. Over thousands of years, the land sank in the south to submerge many valleys creating todays characteristic rias, such as Southampton Water and Poole Harbour and this is thought to have happened about 7,500 years ago. The process of change is still continuing, with the soft cliffs on some parts of the Solent, such as Fort Victoria, constantly eroding, whilst other parts. The Solent is a shallow stretch of tidal water. It has an unusual double tide that is favourable and hazardous to maritime activities with its strong tidal movements and quickly changing sea states. Coupled with the above, the Solent is renowned for its volume of vessel usage
17.
Saunders-Roe
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Saunders-Roe Limited, also known as Saro, was a British aero- and marine-engineering company based at Columbine Works, East Cowes, Isle of Wight. The name was adopted in 1929 after Alliott Verdon Roe and John Lord took a controlling interest in the boat-builders S. E. Saunders, prior to this the products were Saunders, the A4 Medina for example dating from 1926. Sam Saunders the founder developed the Consuta material used in marine, Saunders Roe concentrated on producing flying-boats, but none were produced in very large quantities – the longest run being 31 Londons. They also produced hulls for the Blackburn Bluebird, during the Second World War Saro manufactured Supermarine Walrus and Supermarine Sea Otters. Their works at Beaumaris, Anglesey, modified and serviced Catalinas for the Royal Air Force, in January 1931 Flight magazine revealed that Whitehall Securities Corporation Limited acquired a substantial holding in Saunders Roe. Whitehall Securities was already a shareholder in Spartan Aircraft Ltd, of Southampton. In 1938 Saunders-Roe undertook a re-organisation of the commercial and administrative sides of its business. First, the section, consisting of the shipyard and boat building business, was transferred to a new company. Laminated Wood Products Ltd. which had marketed most of the plywood output, major Darwin, managing director, left the company. On the aircraft side of the business Mr. Broadsmith continued as director, all other senior posts in the executive staff remain unchanged. In 1947 they flew the SR, no further new seaplanes were produced here. Modification work on Short-built flying boats continued at Cowes until 1955, the last fixed-wing aircraft they built was experimental SR53 mixed-power interceptor. In 1951 Saunders-Roe took over the interests of the Cierva Autogiro Company at Eastleigh including the Skeeter helicopter project. In September 1952 the company comprised, Saunders-Roe Ltd. with a Head Office in Osborne, East Cowes, Isle of Wight with works at Columbine I. O. W. there was a branch design office in London, during the 1950s. It was situated in Queens Square, overlooking the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children Saunders-Roe Ltd, Friars Works, Beaumaris, Ltd of Osborne I. O. W. with an office in London at 45 Parliament St. SW1. In 1959 it demonstrated the first practical hovercraft built under contract to the National Research Development Corporation to Christopher Cockerells design, in the same year Saros helicopter and hovercraft interests were taken over by Westland Aircraft which continued the Skeeter family with the Scout and Wasp. In 1964 all the businesses under Westland were merged with Vickers-Armstrongs to form the British Hovercraft Corporation. This, in turn, was taken over by Westland and was renamed Westland Aerospace in 1985, by the mid-1990s, over 60% of the worlds production of turboprop nacelles took place in the East Cowes works
18.
RNLI
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There are numerous other lifeboat services operating in the same area. Founded in 1824 as the National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck, the RNLI is principally funded by legacies and donations with most lifeboat crew members being unpaid volunteers. The RNLI has 237 lifeboat stations and operates 444 lifeboats, crews rescued on average 22 people a day in 2015. RNLI Lifeguards operate on more than 200 beaches and they are paid by local authorities, while the RNLI provides equipment and training. The Institution operates Flood Rescue Teams nationally and internationally, the prepared to travel to emergencies overseas at short notice. The Institution has saved some 140,000 lives since its foundation, Sir William Hillary came to live on the Isle of Man in 1808. Being aware of the nature of the Irish Sea, with many ships being wrecked around the Manx coast. Initially he received response from the Admiralty. At the age of 60, Sir William took part in the 1830 rescue of the packet St George and he commanded the lifeboat and was washed overboard with others of the lifeboat crew, yet finally everyone aboard the St George was rescued with no loss of life. In 1854 the institutions changed to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. In its first year the RNLI raised £10,000, however by 1849, finding itself in financial difficulties, the RNLI accepted a government subsidy of £2,000, which rose in subsequent years. It was the loss of 27 lifeboat crew of Southport and St Annes in 1886 that gave new impetus to fundraising, the first Lifeboat Saturday was held in that year. During World War I, lifeboat crews launched 1,808 times, with many younger men on active service, the average age of a lifeboatman was over 50. During the war 6,376 lives were saved, nineteen RNLI lifeboats sailed to Dunkirk between 27 May and 4 June 1940 to assist with the Dunkirk evacuation. Lifeboats from Ramsgate and Margate went directly to France with their own crews, the crew of Ramsgates Prudential collected 2,800 troops. Margates Coxswain, Edward Parker, was awarded a Distinguished Service Medal for his taking the RNLB Lord Southborough to the beaches. The dispute resulted in the first three crews being sent home, subsequent lifeboats arriving were commandeered without discussion, much to the disappointment of many lifeboatmen. The RNLIs lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved more than 140,000 lives since 1824, the RNLI makes a distinction between people aided and lives saved
19.
Royal Flying Corps
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The Royal Flying Corps was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War, until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC supported the British Army by artillery co-operation, at the start of World War I the RFC, commanded by Brigadier-General Sir David Henderson, consisted of five squadrons – one observation balloon squadron and four aeroplane squadrons. These were first used for spotting on 13 September 1914. Aerial photography was attempted during 1914, but again only became effective the next year, by 1918, photographic images could be taken from 15,000 feet and were interpreted by over 3,000 personnel. By this time parachutes had been used by balloonists for three years, on 17 August 1917, South African General Jan Smuts presented a report to the War Council on the future of air power. On 1 April 1918, the RFC and the RNAS were amalgamated to form a new service, after starting in 1914 with some 2,073 personnel, by the start of 1919 the RAF had 4,000 combat aircraft and 114,000 personnel in some 150 squadrons. The recommendations of the committee were accepted and on 13 April 1912 King George V signed a royal warrant establishing the Royal Flying Corps, the Air Battalion of the Royal Engineers became the Military Wing of the Royal Flying Corps a month later on 13 May. The Flying Corps initial allowed strength was 133 officers, and by the end of year it had 12 manned balloons and 36 aeroplanes. The RFC originally came under the responsibility of Brigadier-General Henderson, the Director of Military Training, and had branches for the Army. Major Sykes commanded the Military Wing and Commander C R Samson commanded the Naval Wing, the RFCs motto was Per ardua ad astra. This remains the motto of the Royal Air Force and other Commonwealth air forces, the RFCs first fatal crash was on 5 July 1912 near Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain. Loraine and his observer, Staff Sergeant R. H. V, an order was issued after the crash stating Flying will continue this evening as usual, thus beginning a tradition. Four months later on 11 December 1912 Parke was killed when the Handley Page monoplane in which he was flying from Hendon to Oxford crashed. The Naval Wing, with pilots and aircraft than the Military Wing. In November 1914 the Royal Flying Corps, even taking the loss of the Naval Wing into account, had expanded sufficiently to warrant the creation of wings consisting of two or more squadrons and these wings were commanded by lieutenant-colonels. In October 1915 the Royal Flying Corps had undergone further expansion which justified the creation of brigades, further expansion led to the creation of divisions, with the Training Division being established in August 1917 and RFC Middle East, being raised to divisional status in December 1917. Finally, the air raids on London and the south-east of England led to the creation of the London Air Defence Area in August 1917 under the command of Ashmore who was promoted to major-general. Two of the first three RFC squadrons were formed from the Air Battalion of the Royal Engineers, No.1 Company becoming No.1 Squadron, RFC, a second heavier-than-air squadron, No.2 Squadron, RFC, was also formed on the same day
20.
RNAS Calshot
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The station was originally established on 29 March 1913 by the Royal Flying Corps, as Calshot Naval Air Station, for the purpose of testing seaplanes for the RFC Naval wing. The first aircraft to arrive was a Sopwith Bat Boat, in July 1914 the Royal Navy re-formed its air branch, naming it the Royal Naval Air Service, and took over the Calshot base and its development and training functions. Calshot was also used for training on observer kite balloons and airships, in 1917, seaplane training was extended to the new Naval Seaplane Training School at nearby Lee-on-the-Solent. A major rebuild at Calshot then took place when new buildings, offices, the largest hangar – Sunderland Hangar – is now home to the Calshot Activities Centre. By 1918 there were two flights of Felixstowe flying boats and a flight of seaplanes, and together managed to exceed 9,000 hours of patrol flights in a three-month period. Out of 42 U-boats reported,3 were sunk, on 1 April 1918 the RFC and the RNAS combined to form the Royal Air Force and the station became home to the headquarters of No.10 Group RAF. The three flights that were based at Calshot became No.240 Squadron RAF, after the war, the station became home to the RAF School of Naval Co-operation and Aerial Navigation, and on 5 February 1922 was renamed RAF Calshot. RNAS Lee-on-Solent List of seaplanes and flying boats - United Kingdom Seaplane bases in the United Kingdom List of air stations of the Royal Navy List of former Royal Air Force stations
21.
Royal Naval Air Service
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In 1908, the British government had recognised that the use of aircraft for military and naval purposes should be investigated. To this end the Prime Minister, H. H. Asquith, approved the formation of an Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, both committees were composed of politicians, army officers and Royal Navy officers. After much discussion on the Committee of Imperial Defence the suggestion was approved on 7 May 1909, the airship, named Mayfly, never flew and broke in half on 24 September 1911. The then First Sea Lord, Sir Arthur Wilson, recommended that rigid airship construction be abandoned, on June 21st,1910, Lt. George Cyril Colmore became the first qualified pilot in the Royal Navy. After completing training, which Colmore paid for out of his own pocket, in November 1910, the Royal Aero Club, thanks to one of its members, Francis McClean, offered the Royal Navy two aircraft with which to train its first pilots. The Club also offered its members as instructors and the use of its airfield at Eastchurch on the Isle of Sheppey, the airfield became the Naval Flying School, Eastchurch. Two hundred applications were received, and four were accepted, Lieutenant C. R. Samson, Lieutenant A. M. Longmore, Lieutenant A. Gregory and Captain E. L. Gerrard, RMLI. After prolonged discussion on the Committee of Imperial Defence, the Royal Flying Corps was constituted by Royal Warrant on 13 April 1912 and it absorbed the nascent naval air detachment and also the Air Battalion of the Royal Engineers. It consisted of two wings with the Military Wing making up the Army element and Naval Wing, under Commander C. R. Samson, the naval wing, by the terms of its inception was permitted to carry out experimentation at its flying school at Eastchurch. In the summer of 1912, in recognition of the air branchs expansion, sueters remit as outlined in September 1912 stated that he was responsible to the Admiralty for all matters connected with the Naval Air Service. In the same month as the Air Department was set up, in 1913 a seaplane base on the Isle of Grain and an airship base at Kingsnorth were approved for construction. On 16 April ten officers of the Navy Service graduated from the Central Flying School, as of 7 June 44 officers and 105 other ranks had been trained at the Central Flying School and at Eastchurch, and 35 officers and men had been trained in airship work. Three non-rigid airships built for the army, the Willows, Astra-Torres, on 1 July 1914, the Admiralty made the Royal Naval Air Service, forming the Naval Wing of the Royal Flying Corps, part of the Military Branch of the Royal Navy. By the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, the Navy maintained twelve airship stations around the coast of Britain from Longside, Aberdeenshire in the northeast to Anglesey in the west. On 1 August 1915 the Royal Naval Air Service officially came under the control of the Royal Navy, inter-service rivalry even affected aircraft procurement. This situation continued, although most of Sopwiths post-1915 products were not designed specifically as naval aircraft, on 23 June 1917, after the Second Battle of Gaza, RNAS aircraft attacked Tulkarm in the Judean Hills. On 1 April 1918, the RNAS was merged with the RFC to form the Royal Air Force, at the time of the merger, the Navys air service had 55,066 officers and men,2,949 aircraft,103 airships and 126 coastal stations. The RNAS squadrons were absorbed into the new structure, individual squadrons receiving new squadron numbers by effectively adding 200 to the number so No.1 Squadron RNAS became No.201 Squadron RAF
22.
Felixstowe F.2
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The Felixstowe F.1 hull design married with the larger Curtiss H-12 flying boat. The Felixstowe hull had superior water contacting attributes and became a key technology in most seaplane designs thereafter. Once modified by the fitting of a two steps, the new hull proved to give much better take off and landing characteristics and was much more seaworthy. Porte then designed a similar hull, for the larger Curtiss H-12 flying boat, the F.2 entered production as the Felixstowe F. 2A, being used as a patrol aircraft, with about 100 being completed by the end of World War I. Another seventy were built, and these were followed by two F. 2C which were built at Felixstowe, in February 1917, the first prototype of the Felixstowe F.3 was flown. This was larger and heavier than the F.2, giving it greater range and heavier bomb load, approximately 100 Felixstowe F. 3s were produced before the end of the war. The Felixstowe F.5 was intended to combine the qualities of the F.2 and F.3. The Felixstowe F. 2A was used as an aircraft over the North Sea until the end of the war. Its excellent performance and maneuverability made it an effective and popular type, often fighting enemy patrol and fighter aircraft, as well as hunting U-boats and Zeppelins. The larger F.3, which was popular with its crews than the more maneuverable F. 2A, served in the Mediterranean. The F. F. 2A, Based on Curtiss H12 with new hull, powered by two 345 hp Rolls-Royce Eagle VIII engines. 4 to 7 machine guns and 460 lb of bombs, F. 2C, Modified F. 2A with lighter hull. Climb to 10,000 ft,39 min 30 s
23.
No. 10 Group RAF
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No.10 Group of the Royal Air Force is a disbanded group. It was formed on 1 April 1918 in No.2 Area, on 8 May of the next year it was transferred to South-Western Area. In 1919 it was transferred to Coastal Area where it remained until it was disbanded on 18 January 1932, the group was re-formed on 1 June 1940 within Fighter Command to enable neighbouring No.11 Group to function more efficiently. Its area of operation was the region of England. As well as providing support for 11 Group,10 Group also had some squadrons of aircraft that could not be risked in the Battle of Britain. Browns Quarry, a quarry north of Tunnel Quarry, was converted into an underground operations centre for HQ No.10 Group. After the Battle of Britain,10 Group also provided fighter cover missions for convoys approaching and leaving the British Isles, No.10 Group was reabsorbed into No.11 Group on 2 May 1945
24.
Reconnaissance
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In military operations, reconnaissance is the exploration outside an area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about natural features and enemy presence. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops, ships or submarines, manned/unmanned reconnaissance aircraft, satellites, espionage normally is not reconnaissance, because reconnaissance is a militarys special forces operating ahead of its main forces, spies are non-combatants operating behind enemy lines. Often called recce or recon, the verb is reconnaître. Traditionally, reconnaissance was a role that was adopted by the cavalry, speed was key in these maneuvers, thus infantry was ill suited to the task. From horses to vehicles, for warriors throughout history, commanders procured their ability to have speed and mobility, to mount and dismount, skirmishing is a traditional skill of reconnaissance, as well as harassment of the enemy. Reconnaissance conducted by ground forces includes special reconnaissance, armored reconnaissance, amphibious reconnaissance, aerial reconnaissance is reconnaissance carried out by aircraft. The purpose is to weather conditions, map terrain, and may include military purposes such as observing tangible structures, particular areas. Naval forces use aerial and satellite reconnaissance to observe enemy forces, navies also undertake hydrographic surveys and intelligence gathering. Reconnaissance satellites provide military commanders with photographs of enemy forces and other intelligence, military forces also use geographical and meteorological information from Earth observation satellites. A tracker needs to pay attention to both the environment and the psychology of his enemy. Knowledge of human psychology, sociology, and cultural backgrounds is necessary to know the actions of the enemy and this is almost as necessary as to know the physical character of the country, its climate and products. Certain people will do certain things almost without fail, certain other things, perfectly feasible, they will not do. There is no danger of knowing too much of the habits of an enemy. One should neither underestimate the enemy nor credit him with superhuman powers, fear and courage are latent in every human being, though roused into activity by very diverse means. Types of reconnaissance, Terrain-oriented reconnaissance is a survey of the terrain, force-oriented reconnaissance focuses on the enemy forces and may include target acquisition. Civil-oriented reconnaissance focuses on the dimension of the battlespace. The techniques and objectives are not mutually exclusive, it is up to the commander whether they are carried out separately or by the same unit, some military elements tasked with reconnaissance are armed only for self-defense, and rely on stealth to gather information. Others are well-enough armed to also deny information to the enemy by destroying their reconnaissance elements, reconnaissance-in-force is a type of military operation or military tactics used specifically to probe an enemys disposition
25.
Vickers Viking
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The Vickers Viking was a British single-engine amphibious aircraft designed for military use shortly after World War I. Later versions of the aircraft were known as the Vickers Vulture, research on Vickers first amphibious aircraft type began in December 1918 with tests of alternative fuselage/hull designs occurring in an experimental tank at St Albans in Hertfordshire, England. A prototype, registered G-EAOV, was a cabin biplane with a pusher propeller driven by a Rolls-Royce Falcon water-cooled V12 engine. Sir John Alcock died taking this aircraft to the Paris exhibition on 18 December 1919, whilst trying to land at Côte dEvrard, near Rouen, Normandy in foggy weather. The next example, G-EASC, known as the Viking II, had a wing span. The Viking III machine, piloted by Captain Stan Cockerell, won first prize in the class in Air Ministry competitions held in September and October,1920. Most of these Mark IV Vikings had a Napier Lion engine, the next version was the Viking V, two were built for the RAF for service in Iraq. A further development with a redesigned wing structure using the 450 hp Napier Lion would have been the Viking VI, a second with a Rolls-Royce Eagle IX was the Type 95 Vulture II. Both Vultures were used for an unsuccessful around the attempt in 1924 after the Eagle engine of the Vulture II was replaced with a Lion. With registration G-EBHO, the first set off from Calshot Seaplane Base on 25 March 1924, after mechanical difficulties in earlier stages G-EBHO crashed at Akyab where it was replaced by G-EBGO on 25 June. Encountering heavy fog on the Siberian side of the Bering Sea G-EBGO crashed, some Viking amphibians were built by Canadian Vickers Limited, a subsidiary company in Montreal with no previous aircraft manufacturing experience. Their involvement with the Viking led to a line of indigenous flying boats beginning with the Canadian Vickers Vedette which borrowed heavily on the earlier design. No Vikings survive today although a replica built for the film The People That Time Forgot is displayed at Brooklands Museum in Surrey. Argentina Argentine Air Force Argentine Naval Aviation - four Type 84 delivered in 1923, river Plate Aviation Company - two Type 73 delivered in 1923. Canada Laurentide Air Services - One Type 69 delivered in 1922, Royal Canadian Air Force - two Type 85 delivered in 1923 followed by six built in Canada by Canadian Vickers at Montreal. France French Navy - One Type 54 delivered in 1921 with civilian markings, japan Imperial Japanese Navy - two Type 58 delivered in 1921. Netherlands Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Air Force - Eight Type 55 delivered in 1922 followed two attrition replacements in 1923, Russian SFSR One Type 64 ordered by the Russian Trade Delegation delivered in 1922. United Kingdom Royal Air Force - two Type 59 delivered in 1922 for tropical trials with No.70 Squadron RAF, United States United States Navy - one aircraft purchased by the US Navy in 1921
26.
Sittwe
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Sittwe is the capital of Rakhine State, Myanmar. Sittwe, pronounced site-tway in the Rakhine language, is located on an island created at the confluence of the Kaladan, Mayu. It is the seat of Sittwe Township and Sittwe District. The name Sittwe is the Burmese version of Rakhine Saite-Twêy, when the Burmese King Bodawpaya invaded the Mrauk U Kingdom in 1784, the Rakhine defenders encountered the Burmese force at the mouth of Kalandan river. In the ensuing battle, which was waged on land and water, the Mrauk U forces were defeated. The place where the battle occurred came to be called Site Twêy by the Rakhine, in early 1825, during the First Anglo-Burmese War, the British forces landed at Sittwe and stationed their forces by the ancient pagoda, Ahkyaib-daw, which is still standing in the city. The British adopted the name Akyab for the place, Sittwe was the location of a battle during the conquest of Arakan by the Burmese king Bodawpaya. In 1784, the Burmese expeditionary force, some 30,000 strong, encountered the governor of U-rit-taung Province, Saite-ké Aung, outnumbered hugely, the Arakanese force tried to fight the Burmese forces on both land and sea, but were brutally crushed. This defeat opened the route towards the inland Arakanese capital of Mrauk-U, according to Arakanese lore, all of the Arakanese defenders were killed. In 1826, after the First Anglo-Burmese War, the British transferred the seat of government to Sittwe on the seacoast. During the first 40 years of British rule it increased from a village to a town of 15,536 inhabitants, and by 1901 it was the third port of Burma with a population of 31,687. During colonial times, Site-tway had a bad reputation for malaria and cholera, during World War II the island was an important site of many battles during the Burma Campaign due to its possession of both an airfield and a deepwater port. Sittwe is the birthplace of political monks in Myanmar and it was the birthplace of U Ottama, the first monk who protested against the colonial British in Myanmar. Also, in the recent 2007 protest marches, known as the Saffron Revolution, Sittwe houses the Dhanyawadi Naval Base, named after the ancient Rakhine city-state of Dhanyawadi. Since 2012, when Buddhist mobs set fire to Rohingya homes, there are now some 140,000 Rohingya living in flimsy bamboo huts with no electricity, open concrete sewage drains and no adequate medical facilities. The beach at Ohn Daw Gyi became the departure point for the 2015 Rohingya refugee crisis. The largest ethnic group in Sittwe is the Rakhine people, alongside, there are some Burmese from other parts of the country. The vast majority practices Theravada Buddhism, Hinduism or Animism, the Rohingya Muslim quarter used to be called Aung Mingala, until the Muslims were driven out during the 2012 riots in October
27.
Myanmar
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Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and also known as Burma, is a sovereign state in South East Asia bordered by Bangladesh, India, China, Laos and Thailand. About one third of Myanmars total perimeter of 5,876 km, forms an uninterrupted coastline of 1,930 km along the Bay of Bengal, the countrys 2014 census revealed a much lower population than expected, with 51 million people recorded. Myanmar is 676,578 square kilometres in size and its capital city is Naypyidaw and its largest city and former capital city is Yangon. Early civilizations in Myanmar included the Tibeto-Burman-speaking Pyu city-states in Upper Burma, the Pagan Kingdom fell due to the Mongol invasions and several warring states emerged. In the 16th century, reunified by the Taungoo Dynasty, the country was for a period the largest empire in the history of Mainland Southeast Asia. The early 19th century Konbaung Dynasty ruled over an area included modern Myanmar and briefly controlled Manipur. The British invaded Myanmar after three Anglo-Burmese Wars in the 19th century and the became a British colony. Myanmar became an independent nation in 1948, initially as a nation and then, following a coup détat in 1962. For most of its independent years, the country has been engrossed in rampant ethnic strife, during this time, the United Nations and several other organisations have reported consistent and systematic human rights violations in the country. In 2011, the junta was officially dissolved following a 2010 general election. While former military leaders still wield enormous power in the country, there is, however, continuing criticism of the governments treatment of the Muslim Rohingya minority and its poor response to the religious clashes. In the landmark 2015 election, Aung San Suu Kyis party won a majority in both houses, Myanmar is a country rich in jade and gems, oil, natural gas and other mineral resources. In 2013, its GDP stood at US$56.7 billion, the income gap in Myanmar is among the widest in the world, as a large proportion of the economy is controlled by supporters of the former military government. As of 2016, according to the Human Development Index, Myanmar had a level of human development. The renaming remains a contested issue, many political and ethnic opposition groups and countries continue to use Burma because they do not recognise the legitimacy of the ruling military government or its authority to rename the country. The countrys official name is the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. Countries that do not officially recognise that name use the long form Union of Burma instead, in English, the country is popularly known as either Burma or Myanmar /ˈmjɑːnˌmɑːr/. Both these names are derived from the name of the majority Burmese Bamar ethnic group, Myanmar is considered to be the literary form of the name of the group, while Burma is derived from Bamar, the colloquial form of the groups name
28.
Bering Island
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Bering Island is located off the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Bering Sea. At 90 kilometers long by 24 kilometers wide, it is the largest and westernmost of the Commander Islands, most of Bering island and several of the smaller islands in their entirety are now part of the Komandorsky Zapovednik nature preserve. Known as the hidden Jewel of the U. S. -Russia Maritime Boundary, Bering Island is treeless, desolate and experiences severe weather, including high winds, persistent fog and it had no year-round human residents until roughly 1826. Now, the village of Nikolskoye is home to 800 people, the islands scant population is involved mostly in fishing. 4 km off Bering Islands northwest shore lies small Toporkov Island 55°12′9″N 165°55′59″E and it is a round island with a diameter of 800 m. In 1741 Commander Vitus Bering, sailing in Svyatoy Pyotr for the Russian Navy, was shipwrecked and died of scurvy on Bering Island and his ship had been destroyed by storms as they returned from an expedition that discovered mainland Alaska as well as the Aleutian Islands. The survivors under the command of the Swedish born lieutenant Sven Waxell were stranded on the island for 10 months, another of the expeditions survivors was Georg Wilhelm Steller, who eventually managed to convince his companions to eat seaweed. Steller explored Bering island and cataloged its fauna, including Stellers sea cow, the islands highest point is now named to honor the German-born naturalist. Upon returning to the Russian mainland, Steller then explored the Kamchatka peninsula, in 1743 Emilian Basov landed on Bering island to hunt sea otter, beginning the islands documented human habitation as well as ecological destruction. Promyshlenniki began to island-hop across the Bering Sea to the Aleutian islands, after Russia sold Alaska and the Aleutian islands to the United States in 1867, Bering island was placed under the Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky jurisdiction. The population grew from 110 people in 1827 to more than 300 people in 1879, because of their isolation, like the now-Alaskan Pribilof Islands, the Aleuts have been used for studies of genetic drift. The area surrounding Bering Island is now a reserve, known for its diverse wildlife. Steller sea lions continue to summer on Bering island, but the manatee-like Stellers sea cows, whale species sighted in the surrounding waters include sperm whales, orcas, several species of beaked whales, humpback, and right whales. Bering island also has numerous seabirds, UNESCO noted that 203 bird species have been sighted on the Commander Islands, including 58 nesting there. Puffins are abundant, although the spectacled cormorant became extinct circa 1850. Two species of the Arctic foxes that tormented Berings crew remain, humans introduced reindeer, American mink and rats to the islands, with negative effects on native wildlife
29.
High Speed Flight RAF
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The Flight was together only until the Trophy was won outright, after which it was disbanded. In the Schneider Trophy race of 1926 both competing countries, Italy and the United States, had used military pilots, there had not been time to arrange a British team to compete. The British defeat of 1925 was held to be the result of technical inferiority, for the 1927 competition, six aircraft, from three manufacturers, were taken to Venice, a pair of Supermarine S. 5s, three Gloster IVs and a single Short Crusader. The Crusader was slower than the others, and was intended for training, the cause was later identified as a control rigging error, following re-assembly after the journey from the UK to Venice. The Supermarine S. 5s came in first and second, with neither the Gloster nor the three Italian aircraft completing the race, as the winning nation, the UK would host the following event. This was the last annual competition, subsequently, the race was held on a biannual schedule, to allow more time for development between races. The High Speed Flight was disbanded after the race, the Treasury agreed to fund the aircraft for the next event but the Air Ministry objected initially to the use of serving pilots. This was sorted out and the High Speed Flight reformed, in March 1928, Samuel Kinkead made an attempt on the air speed record using a Supermarine S5. At the approach to the start of the course, however, the 1929 Trophy race was to be held at Cowes. With little money forthcoming from the Ministry aircraft and engine development had to be private ventures, the costs of the 1927 and 1929 meetings was stated to be £196,000 and £220,000 respectively. Rolls-Royce had now developed the supercharged R engine, giving Supermarines designer R. J, mitchell far more power for his new S.6 than the naturally aspirated Napier Lion VIIB of the S.5. Glosters first racing monoplane, the Gloster VI, had stayed with the Lion, S.6 N247 came first, piloted by Waghorn, with Atcherley and N248 disqualified for cutting inside a turn. The Gloster VI had been withdrawn before the race, but Stainforth used it to set a new speed record the following day, a record which soon fell in turn to one of the S. 6s. Under the rules of the Schneider Trophy, a win would be an outright win in perpetuity. The official attitude after the 1929 victory was summed up by the Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald, however official support was withdrawn because of the need for economies following the Wall Street crash of October 1929. The Cabinet vetoed RAF involvement and Government funding in a sporting event, trenchards view that there was no advantage as aircraft development would continue whether or not the UK competed. The public however had other ideas and backed the idea of a national team, a wealthy benefactor, shipping heiress Lady Lucy Houston, offered to pay £100,000 towards its cost. With the financial burden removed, the Government generously allowed the RAF to compete again, two new aircraft were built to this specification and the two existing S. 6s were upgraded and renamed S. 6A
30.
Schneider Trophy
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The Coupe dAviation Maritime Jacques Schneider, commonly called the Schneider Trophy or Schneider Prize, was a trophy awarded annually to the winner of a race for seaplanes and flying boats. The Schneider Trophy is now held at the Science Museum, South Kensington, London, announced in 1912 by Jacques Schneider, a French financier, balloonist and aircraft enthusiast, the competition offered a prize of approximately £1,000. The race was held twelve times between 1913 and 1931 and it was intended to encourage technical advances in civil aviation but became a contest for pure speed with laps over a triangular course. The contests were staged as time trials, with setting off individually at pre-agreed times. The contests were popular and some attracted crowds of over 200,000 spectators. An earlier trophy, also presented by Jacques Schneider in 1910, in France, was the Schneider Cup, which is now in the possession of the RAF College Cranwell. If an aero club won three races in five years, they would retain the trophy and the pilot would receive 75,000 francs for each of the first three wins. Each race was hosted by the winning country. The races were supervised by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale and the club in the hosting country. Each club could enter up to three competitors with an number of alternatives. The race was significant in advancing aeroplane design, particularly in the fields of aerodynamics and engine design, the Schneider Trophy is a sculpture of silver & bronze set on a marble base. It depicts a zephyr skimming the waves, and a winged figure is seen kissing a zephyr recumbent on a breaking wave. The heads of two other zephyrs and of Neptune, the god of the Sea, can be surrounded by octopus. The symbolism represents speed conquering the elements of sea and air, the first competition was held on 16 April 1913, at Monaco. It was won by a French Deperdussin at an speed of 73.56 km/h. The British won in 1914 with a Sopwith Tabloid at 139.74 km/h, after World War I, the competition resumed in 1919 at Bournemouth where in foggy conditions the Italian team won. They were later disqualified and the race was voided, in 1920 and 1921 at Venice the Italians won — in 1920 no other nation entered and in 1921 the French entry did not start. After 1921, a requirement was added, the winning seaplane had to remain moored to a buoy for six hours without human intervention
31.
Venice
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Venice is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is situated across a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and these are located in the shallow Venetian Lagoon, an enclosed bay that lies between the mouths of the Po and the Piave Rivers. Parts of Venice are renowned for the beauty of their settings, their architecture, the lagoon and a part of the city are listed as a World Heritage Site. In 2014,264,579 people resided in Comune di Venezia, together with Padua and Treviso, the city is included in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area, with a total population of 2.6 million. PATREVE is a metropolitan area without any degree of autonomy. The name is derived from the ancient Veneti people who inhabited the region by the 10th century BC, the city was historically the capital of the Republic of Venice. Venice has been known as the La Dominante, Serenissima, Queen of the Adriatic, City of Water, City of Masks, City of Bridges, The Floating City, and City of Canals. The City State of Venice is considered to have been the first real international financial center which gradually emerged from the 9th century to its peak in the 14th century and this made Venice a wealthy city throughout most of its history. It is also known for its several important artistic movements, especially the Renaissance period, Venice has played an important role in the history of symphonic and operatic music, and it is the birthplace of Antonio Vivaldi. Venice has been ranked the most beautiful city in the world as of 2016, the name Venetia, however, derives from the Roman name for the people known as the Veneti, and called by the Greeks Eneti. The meaning of the word is uncertain, although there are other Indo-European tribes with similar-sounding names, such as the Celtic Veneti, Baltic Veneti, and the Slavic Wends. Linguists suggest that the name is based on an Indo-European root *wen, so that *wenetoi would mean beloved, lovable, a connection with the Latin word venetus, meaning the color sea-blue, is also possible. The alternative obsolete form is Vinegia, some late Roman sources reveal the existence of fishermen on the islands in the original marshy lagoons. They were referred to as incolae lacunae, the traditional founding is identified with the dedication of the first church, that of San Giacomo on the islet of Rialto — said to have taken place at the stroke of noon on 25 March 421. Beginning as early as AD166 to 168, the Quadi and Marcomanni destroyed the center in the area. The Roman defences were again overthrown in the early 5th century by the Visigoths and, some 50 years later, New ports were built, including those at Malamocco and Torcello in the Venetian lagoon. The tribuni maiores, the earliest central standing governing committee of the islands in the Lagoon, the traditional first doge of Venice, Paolo Lucio Anafesto, was actually Exarch Paul, and his successor, Marcello Tegalliano, was Pauls magister militum. In 726 the soldiers and citizens of the Exarchate rose in a rebellion over the controversy at the urging of Pope Gregory II
32.
Supermarine S.5
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The Supermarine S.5 was a 1920s British single-engined single-seat racing seaplane built by Supermarine. Designed specifically for the Schneider Trophy competition, the S.5 was the progenitor of a line of racing aircraft that led to the Supermarine Spitfire. The Supermarine S.5 was designed by Reginald Mitchell for the 1927 Schneider Trophy, following the earlier loss of the S.4 before the 1925 Schneider Trophy event Mitchell designed a new all-metal monoplane racer. Unlike the S. 4s all-wood structure, the S.5 featured composite construction with the semi-monocoque fuselage mainly duralumin including the engine cowlings, the S.5 had a low, braced wing with spruce spars and spuce-ply ribs and a plywood skin. The wing surface made up of corrugated copper sheets replaced the Lamblin type radiators of the S.4. Three aircraft were built, one with a direct drive 900 hp Napier Lion VIIA engine, the first aircraft flew for the first time on 7 June 1927. The S. 5s came 1st and 2nd in the 1927 race held at Venice, one S.5, N221 crashed during an attempt on the world air speed record on 12 March 1928, killing the pilot Flight Lieutenant Samuel Kinkead.6. Concern over the unreliability of the Gloster VI, led to the High Speed Flight entering one S.5 along with the two S. 6s for the race. The S.5 flown by Flight Lieutenant DArcy Greig finished third in 46 minutes 15 seconds at a speed of 282.11 mph, behind the winning S.6 flown by Flying Officer H. R. Waghorn and a Macchi M.52. Ray Hilborne of Leisure Sports designed and built a full-scale S.5 replica which flew for the first time on 28 August 1975.5, in the song Bill Hosie by Archie Fisher, the protagonist rebuilds an S.5 Supermarine that survived the 1927 Schneider Trophy Race
33.
Supermarine S.6B
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The Supermarine S. 6B is a British racing seaplane developed by R. J. Mitchell for the Supermarine company to take part in the Schneider Trophy competition of 1931, the S. 6B marked the culmination of Mitchells quest to perfect the design of the racing seaplane and represented the cutting edge of aerodynamic technology. The last in the line developed by Supermarine, it followed the S.4, S.5 and this caused enormous public disappointment, having won two successive races a victory in a third race would secure the trophy outright. The RAF High Speed Flight was reformed, and Mitchell and Rolls-Royce set to work, additionally, the floats were extended forward by some three feet. Rolls-Royce had managed to increase the power of the engine by 400 hp to 2,300 hp, although the British team faced no competitors, the RAF High Speed Flight brought six Supermarine Schneider racers to Calshot Spit on Southampton Water for training and practice. The aircraft were, S.5 N219, second at Venice in 1927, S.5 N220, winner at Venice in 1927, two S. 6s with new engines and redesignated as S. 6As, and the newly built S. 6Bs, S1595 and S1596. The improved aircraft was designated the Supermarine S. 6B to differentiate the variant from the S. 6A, if both S1595 and N248 failed in their attempts, N247 held in reserve would be used. The S. 6B S1596 was then to attempt the World Air Speed Record, during practice, N247 was destroyed in a takeoff accident, resulting in the death of the pilot, Lieut. G. L. Brinton, R. N. precluding any other plans with only the two S. 6Bs and the surviving S.6 prepared for the final Schneider run, the winning Schneider flight was piloted by Flt. Lt. John Boothman in aircraft serial number S1595 at a speed of 340.08 mph, flying seven perfect laps of the course over the Solent. Seventeen days later, Flt Lt. George Stainforth in S. 6B serial S1596 broke the air speed record reaching 407.5 mph. The S. 6B is hailed as giving the impetus to the development of the Supermarine Spitfire, at the completion of the record flights, both S. 6Bs were retired. The Schneider Trophy winning S. 6B S1595 was donated to the Science Museum in London, for a short period of time, S1596 was tested at the Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment at Felixstowe. Until the 1960s, S. 6A N248 was displayed incorrectly as S1596 at Southampton Royal Pier as a visitor attraction, the ultimate fate of the S1596 is unknown. Flight,2 October 1931, pp. 981–982
34.
T. E. Lawrence
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Thomas Edward Lawrence, CB, DSO was a British archaeologist, military officer, diplomat, and writer. He was renowned for his role during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign. Chapman had left his wife and first family in Ireland to live with Junner, in 1896, the Lawrences moved to Oxford, where Lawrence attended high school, then in 1907–1910 studied History at Jesus College. Between 1910 and 1914 he worked as an archaeologist, chiefly at Carchemish, soon after the outbreak of war he joined the British Army and was stationed in Egypt. In 1916, he was sent to Arabia on a mission and quickly became involved with the Arab Revolt, serving, along with other British officers. After the war, Lawrence served until 1922 as a diplomat, in 1922, he retreated from public life and spent the years until 1935 serving as an enlisted man, mostly in the Royal Air Force, with a brief stint in the Army. During this time, he wrote and published his work, Seven Pillars of Wisdom. He also translated books into English and completed The Mint, which was published posthumously and he corresponded extensively and was friendly with well-known artists, writers, and politicians. For the RAF, he participated in the design of rescue motorboats, Lawrences public image resulted in part from the sensationalised reporting of the Arab revolt by American journalist Lowell Thomas, as well as from Seven Pillars of Wisdom. In 1935, Lawrence was fatally injured in a accident in Dorset. Lawrence was born on 16 August 1888 in Tremadog, Carnarvonshire, Wales in a house named Gorphwysfa, now known as Snowdon Lodge. His Anglo-Irish father Thomas Chapman had left his wife Edith after he fell in love and had a son with Sarah Junner, a young Scotswoman who had been engaged as governess to his daughters. Sarah was the daughter of Elizabeth Junner and John Lawrence, who worked as a carpenter and was a son of the household in which Elizabeth had been a servant. She was dismissed four months before Sarah was born, Sarah and Thomas did not marry, but lived together under the name Lawrence. In 1914, Sir Thomas inherited the Chapman baronetcy based at Killua Castle, the family home in County Westmeath, Ireland. They had five sons, Thomas Edward was the second eldest, from Wales the family moved to Kirkcudbright, Galloway in southwestern Scotland, then Dinard in Brittany, then to Jersey. In 1894–96, the family lived at Langley Lodge, set in woods between the eastern borders of the New Forest and Southampton Water in Hampshire. The residence was isolated, and young Ned Lawrence had many opportunities for outdoor activities, in the summer of 1896, the Lawrences moved to 2, Polstead Road in Oxford, where they lived under the names of Mr and Mrs Lawrence until 1921
35.
British Power Boat Company
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The British Power Boat Company was a British manufacturer of motor boats, particularly racing boats and later military patrol boats. Together with his designer, Fred Cooper, the company produced many racing boats which won numerous awards around Europe, including Miss England II. From 1930 the British Power Boat Company supplied seaplane tenders to the Air Ministry, commencing with RAF200, a 37-footer. The trials of this and other boats was carried out by T E Shaw on behalf of the Royal Air Force and these tenders were powered by twin 100bhp Meadows petrol engines giving a maximum speed of 29knots. The company marketed its own modified Napier Sea Lion engines under the name Power Marine Engines, on 3 August 1931 the factory burnt to the ground, but was rapidly rebuilt as the most modern and efficient boatyard in Britain. Motor Torpedo Boats with a hard chine were designed, built, armoured target boats were also built for the RAF, proving very successful and cost-effective, together with tenders for Imperial Airways flying boats, and admirals barges. In 1939, due to the difficulties in obtaining British engines, all unfinished contracts were cancelled at the cessation of hostilities and the British Power Boat Company closed in 1946. Fairmile Marine Vospers Electric Launch Company British Coastal Forces of World War II Rance, Adrian Fast Boats and Flying Boats
36.
Hubert Scott-Paine
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Hubert Scott-Paine was a British aircraft and boat designer, record-breaking power boat racer, entrepreneur, inventor, and sponsor of the winning entry in the 1922 Schneider Trophy. Hubert Paine was born in Shoreham, England, on 11 March 1891, to Henry Paine and he was educated at Shoreham Grammar School. Scott-Paine worked for Noel Pemberton Billing dealing in yachts, eventually in 1913 forming Pemberton-Billing Ltd, with Hubert the factory manager at Woolston, in 1916 Scott-Paine bought the company and renamed it the Supermarine Aviation Company Limited, building flying boats for the British Admiralty. Reginald Mitchell was employed at this time and the greatly expanded. Hubert married Alice Brenda Hockey in 1917, having four children, by this time he had changed his surname by hyphenating his parents surnames to create Scott-Paine. In February 1919 Scott-Paine started the first cross-channel flying boat service and his company was named the British Marine Air Navigation Co Ltd. After his failed 1919 attempt for the Jacques Schneider Trophy, Supermarine won the Trophy in 1922 with its Sea Lion II and this allowed Britain to win it outright years later. In 1924 Imperial Airways was formed by the merger of Scott-Paines British Marine Air Navigation Co Ltd and he was a director of Imperial Airways until 1939. The well-financed Scott-Paine now designed and raced power boats, in 1927 he bought the Hythe Shipyard, renaming it the British Power Boat Company. It was enlarged into one of the countrys most modern mass production boat building yards, many sophisticated award-winning racing boats were produced, an example being Miss England which is now on display at the Science Museum. In the 1930s the British Power Boat Company supplied seaplane tenders and armoured target boats to the Air Ministry, T E Shaw assisted in the testing of these boats. Although the factory was destroyed by fire in 1931, it was rapidly rebuilt, during 1932 and 1933 Scott-Paine and Fred Cooper designed and built the single-engined Miss Britain III as a Harmsworth Trophy challenger. In a 1933 race Scott-paine was narrowly defeated by the four-engined Miss America X, in 1934 Miss Britain III set the world record for a single-engined boat of 110.1 mph. Miss Britain III is now on display at the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich, from 1933 Scott-Paine designed and built hard chine motor torpedo boats, and MA/SB anti-submarine boats, from 1935 having them accepted by the Admiralty. Scott-Paine and George Selman designed and built a new 70-foot private venture PV70, the boat was launched in 1938, but although no orders came from the Admiralty, orders were received from friendly governments. In 1939 agreement was reached with the American Electric Launch Company to purchase a British Power Boat 70-footer, pT9 was taken by the SS President Roosevelt to Elco’s works at New London, Connecticut. On 3 October Scott-Paine met President Roosevelt and senior Elco representatives at the White House to authorize the creation of a new naval arm, production started at a new Elco factory at Bayonne, New Jersey in January 1940. The Canadian Power Boat Company was set up by Scott-Paine in 1940 and this produced 39 boats, mainly MTBs
37.
No. 201 Squadron RAF
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No.201 Squadron of the Royal Air Force, until March 2010, operated the Nimrod MR2, based at RAF Kinloss, Moray. It is the only squadron affiliated with Guernsey, in the Channel Islands and this affiliation started in 1935 and is commemorated in the museum on Castle Cornet. Its history goes further back than the RAF itself, being formed originally as No.1 Squadron RNAS on 17 Oct 1914. Despite its high number,201 Squadron is one of the oldest squadrons in the RAF. It started out as a unit, but was soon flying fighter aircraft. A Victoria Cross was won by a member of No.1 Squadron RNAS when on 7 June 1915 Sub-Lieutenant R. A. J, after the war the squadron was disbanded at RAF Eastleigh on 31 December 1919. H. Maynard, Robert McLaughlin, and Hazel Wallace, the squadron was reformed at RAF Calshot on 1 January 1929 by expanding no.480 Flight, a Supermarine Southampton flying boat unit. In April 1936 the Southamptons gave way to the Saro London, the squadron was reformed at RAF St. Mawgan, when No.220 Squadron RAF was renumbered to 201 Squadron. The squadron flew the next twelve years with the Avro Shackleton MR.3, following the Shackletons retirement, the squadron converted to Nimrods in October 1970. The squadron was active for over a decade in the Gulf region, the Nimrod MR2 was withdrawn in March 2010, and the squadron was formally disbanded on 26 May 2011. It had been preparing to operate the Nimrod MRA4 but this aircraft was cancelled under the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review
38.
Supermarine Southampton
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The Supermarine Southampton was a 1920s British flying boat, one of the most successful flying boats of the interwar period. It was a development of the Supermarine Swan, which was used for a service between England and France. The Southampton was designed by the team of R. J. Mitchell, due to the success of the Swan, the Air Ministry ordered six Southamptons direct from the drawing board, which was unusual. As the Swan had acted in effect as a prototype, development time was short, the Southampton was a twin-engine biplane flying boat, with the tractor engines mounted between the wings. The Southampton Mk I had both its hull and its wings manufactured from wood, the Southampton Mk II had a hull with a single thickness of metal. This change gave a weight saving of 900 lb allowing for an increase in range of approximately 200 mi, in 1929,24 of the Mk I were converted by having newly built metal hulls replacing the wooden ones. Some of the aircraft were built with metal wings and were probably designated as Southampton Mk III. There were three positions for guns, one in the nose and two staggered in the rear fuselage. The first flight of an aircraft was made on 10 March 1925. Southamptons first entered RAF service in August 1925 with No.480 Flight at RAF Calshot, in a series of showing the flag flights, the type quickly became famous for long-distance formation flights, the most notable was a 43,500 km expedition in 1927 and 1928. It was carried out by four Southamptons of the Far East Flight, setting out from Felixstowe via the Mediterranean, further Southamptons were sold to a number of other countries. Eight new aircraft were sold to Argentina, with Turkey purchasing six aircraft, japan also purchased a single aircraft which was later converted into an 18-passenger cabin airliner. In all,83 Southamptons were constructed, excluding the three-engined Southampton MK X which was a single prototype, different powerplants were fitted in variants, Mk I Napier Lion V engine, wooden hull. Mk II Napier Lion Va,39 built Saunders A.14 Argentina Lorraine-Dietrich 12E, five wooden-hulled + three metal-hulled aircraft. Bombs,1,100 lb of bombs under the wings, jackson, British Civil Aircraft since 1919 Volume 3,1974, Putnam, London, ISBN 0-370-10014-X. Schneider Trophy to Spitfire - The Design Career of R. J. Mitchell, Aircraft of the Royal Air Force 1918-57. Núñez Padin, Jorge Felix, ed. Viking, Southampton & Walrus, beyond the Spitfire, The Unseen Designs of R. J. Mitchell
39.
Saro London
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The Saunders Roe A.27 London was a British military biplane flying boat built by the Saunders Roe company. Only 31 were built, entering service with the Royal Air Force in 1936, although due for replacement by the outbreak of World War II, they saw some active service pending the introduction of the ultimately unsuccessful Lerwick. The A.27 London was designed in response to the Air Ministry Specification R. 24/31 issued for a General Purpose Open Sea Patrol Flying Boat and was based on the Saro A.7 Severn. The London and its contemporary, the Supermarine Stranraer, were the last multi-engine, biplane flying-boats to see service with the RAF. The first prototype flew in 1934 and then went on to serve until 1936 with 209 and 210 Squadrons RAF at RAF Felixstowe, earlier Londons were retrofitted with the Pegasus X and were also given the Mk. II designation. This model equipped 201 Squadron RAF at RAF Calshot, replacing Supermarine Southamptons, others were delivered in October of the same year to 204 Squadron RAF at RAF Mount Batten, Plymouth, also replacing Southamptons. In this configuration they had a range of 2,600 miles, by the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, Londons equipped 201 Squadron RAF which was by now stationed at Sullom Voe in Shetland, and 202 Squadron RAF at Gibraltar. 240 Squadron RAF at Invergordon had also re-equipped with Londons in July 1939 and these aircraft carried out active patrols over the North Sea and the Mediterranean. Some were fitted with a fuel tank to increase operational radius. Armaments in the form of bombs, depth charges and mines up to a weight of 2,000 lb could be carried beneath the lower wings. Gradually, the Londons duties were assumed by newer aircraft such as the Lockheed Hudson while squadrons flying Atlantic, some were transferred to the Royal Canadian Air Force. All were withdrawn from duties by the middle of 1941. Prototype One only London Mk. I10 built with two 820 hp Pegasus III engines and two-bladed propellers, London Mk. II20 built with two 915 hp Pegasus X engines and four-bladed propellers. Canada Royal Canadian Air Force United Kingdom Royal Air ForceNo,201 Squadron RAF No.202 Squadron RAF No.204 Squadron RAF No.209 Squadron RAF No.210 Squadron RAF No.228 Squadron RAF No
40.
No. 240 Squadron RAF
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No.240 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force flying boat and seaplane squadron during World War I, World War II and up to 1959. It was then reformed as a missile squadron, serving thus till 1963. No.240 Squadron of the Royal Air Force was formed at RAF Calshot on 20 August 1918 to provide protection, using its Short 184s seaplanes. It was disbanded on 15 May 1919, the squadron was reformed at Calshot on 30 March 1937. March 1941 these were replaced with Consolidated Catalinas, to carry out patrols over the Atlantic Ocean. It then moved to India in March 1942 where it flew anti-shipping and submarine patrols from Red Hills Lake, the squadron reformed that same day,1 July 1945, from elements of 212 Squadron and 240 Squadrons Special Duties Flight. The squadron converted to Short Sunderland Mk. Vs and moved to Ceylon in 1945, on 1 May 1952 the squadron reformed again at RAF Aldergrove and was equipped with Avro Shackleton Mk. 1a maritime reconnaissance aircraft. The squadron moved to Northern Ireland in June 1952, where it disbanded on 1 November 1958 at RAF Ballykelly by being renumbered to 203 sqn, the squadron reformed once again on 1 August 1959, as one of 20 Thor Strategic Missile squadrons, associated with Project Emily. The squadron was equipped with three Thor Intermediate range ballistic missiles, and based at RAF Breighton, in October 1962, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the squadron was kept at full readiness, with the missiles aimed at strategic targets in the USSR. The squadron was disbanded with the termination of the Thor Program in Britain, notes Bibliography History of No. s 236–240 Squadrons at RAF Web
41.
Supermarine Scapa
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The Supermarine Scapa was a British general reconnaissance flying boat built by Supermarine that was used by the Royal Air Force between 1935 and 1939. It was developed from the Southampton and formed the basis of the later Stranraer flying boat, after experimenting with a three-engine design of flying boat, Supermarines chief designer, R. J. Mitchell, decided that the good design that had been developed in the twin-engined Southampton. A prototype designated the Southampton IV was built and it had a hull that performed even better in the tank tests. An Air Ministry Specification was received in November 1931, the test pilot Joseph Mutt Summers took the first flight on 8 July 1932. The name had then changed to the Scapa. 15 Scapas were built before production was changed to a powerful development. The Scapa hull was an all-metal structure, the wing and tail surfaces had metal structure with fabric covering. The engines were mounted in nacelles underslung from the upper wing, similar to the Southampton, there were three gun positions provided, one in the nose and two staggered in the rear fuselage. United Kingdom Royal Air Force No.202 Squadron RAF No.204 Squadron RAF No.228 Squadron RAF No.3 lb/ft² Power/mass,0.065 hp/lb Climb to 9,840 ft,20 minutes Armament Guns,3 ×0. Schneider Trophy to Spitfire - The Design Career of R. J. Mitchell
42.
Short Singapore
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The Short Singapore was a British multi-engined biplane flying boat built after the First World War. The design was developed into two four-engined versions, the prototype Singapore II and production Singapore III. The latter became the Royal Air Forces main long-range maritime patrol flying boat of the 1930s, the first prototype of the Short Singapore, also known as the Short S.5, was a metal hull version of the wooden-hulled Short Cromarty. The biplane design included a single fin and rudder, and was powered by two Rolls-Royce Condor IIIA650 horsepower engines. Its maiden flight was made from Rochester on 17 August 1926, the type did not enter production, but was used by Sir Alan Cobham for a survey flight around Africa. Registered G-EBUP, it left Rochester on 17 November 1927 and arrived at the Cape on 30 March 1928 and it was displayed at the Olympia in July 1929. The Singapore II which followed was a development of the Singapore I with four engines, the single example of this aircraft to be built was first flown on 27 March 1930, also by John Lankester Parker. From the Singapore II came a design with four engines and triple fins, in 1933 the British Air Ministry ordered four flying boats based on the Singapore II for trials with squadrons under specification R. 3/33. These would be followed by a production order to specification R. 14/34. These aircraft, the Singapore III, had hulls and fabric-covered metal flying surfaces. They were powered by four 675 hp Rolls-Royce Kestrel IX mounted between the wings in two tandem pairs, similar to the Singapore IIs. The crew of six was located in a cabin and fore, aft. A long-range fuel tank could be carried externally on the dorsal hull, the first Singapore III flew on 15 June 1934. Although obsolescent by the time the first aircraft entered service with 210 Squadron in January 1935,230 Squadron was the first squadron equipped with Singapore IIIs. It was posted to Alexandria in 1935, during 1937 the Singapores of 209 Squadron and 210 Squadron moved from RAF Kalafrana in Malta to Algeria as part of an international effort to prevent gun running during the Spanish Civil War. Replacement of the Singapore with the Short Sunderland was well underway by the outbreak of the Second World War, however,19 survivors saw limited service in secondary theatres, mainly in a training role. The last RAF unit operating the type was No.205 Squadron RAF in, appropriately enough, four 205 squadron aircraft found their way to No.5 Squadron RNZAF in Fiji, for use against German raiders. When Japan attacked in December, the New Zealand aircraft found themselves in the front line and they accounted for a Japanese submarine and conducted several air-sea rescues before being replaced by the Consolidated Catalinas from No.6 Squadron RNZAF in April 1943
43.
Calshot Activities Centre
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Calshot Activities Centre is located on Calshot Spit near Southampton. Indoor facilities include a velodrome, dry ski slope and climbing wall, Calshot Velodrome is the oldest indoor cycling venue in the UK. It is located inside an old hangar, is unheated and has a reputation for being rather cold. The current wooden velodrome was built in 1996 to replace an older smaller wooden track. The former wooden track was a version of the London six-day racing track used at Earls Court in 1967. The current track is 142.85 metres long with bankings of 45°, Calshot Winter Track League, run under British Cycling rules, is held weekly from October to February
44.
Pembroke Dock
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Pembroke Dock is a community and a town in Pembrokeshire, South West Wales, lying north of Pembroke on the River Cleddau. Originally a small fishing village known as Paterchurch, the town was expanded from 1814 onwards following the construction of a Royal Naval Dockyard. It is the third largest town in Pembrokeshire after Haverfordwest and Milford Haven, from the 790s until the Norman Invasion in 1066, the Milford Haven estuary was used occasionally by Vikings looking for shelter. During one visit, the Viking chieftain Hubba wintered in the haven with 23 ships, in 1172, three years after the Norman Invasion of Ireland, having prepared his fleet and army in the mouth of the Pembroke River, Henry II of England sailed there from the haven. Prior to 1814, the site of modern Pembroke Dock and its settlements were mostly farmland. The first recorded mention of Paterchurch was in 1289, in the area a medieval tower was built and, like nearby 18th century and 19th century fortifications, it may have served as a lookout post. By the 17th century, additional domestic and farm buildings close to the tower. The ruin of the tower now lies within the walls of the dockyard, Paterchurch Tower was the centre of an estate said to stretch from Pennar Point to Cosheston. This changed hands in 1422 when Ellen de Paterchurch married a John Adams, prior to the building of the town and before the dockyard was thought of, various sales and exchanges took place between the principal local landowners – the Adams, Owen and Meyrick families. These exchanges left the Meyricks in control of most of the land on which the dockyard, by 1802 the Paterchurch buildings were mostly ruins. The origins of naval shipbuilding on Milford Haven were in the shipyard of Jacobs on the north side of the Haven at Milford. In November 1757, the Admiralty sent a delegation to the haven. It should be noted that no place as Milford existed at this time. Secondly, the report showed early signs of lobbying existing, with the scale of the local infrastructure and ship building activity exaggerated. In partnership with the administrator, his nephew and heir the Hon. Charles Grenville. They began by building a shipyard, and leased it to a Messrs, in December 1796, in an unusual arrangement, the Admiralty directed the Navy Board to contract Jacobs shipyard to build a frigate and later a 74-gun ship-of-the-line. However, due to a lack of local standing oak, access to supplies of timber from the Baltic, and local skills in volume. The Navy took over the lease, and employed royalist French naval architect M. Rennie Barallier and his son as Builder
45.
Invergordon
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Invergordon is a town and port in Easter Ross, in Ross and Cromarty, Highland, Scotland. The town is known for the Invergordon Mutiny of 1931. More recently it has become known for the repair of oil rigs which line up in the Cromarty Firth on which the town is situated. In the 1970s and 1980s nearby Nigg was known for the construction of these rigs, the yard used for this is now attempting to re-establish itself as a fabricator of large offshore wind turbines and oil rig refurbishment since being purchased by Global Energy Group. For a number of years Invergordon was the site of an aluminium smelter until 1981 when British Aluminium closed it down. The pipeline that covered the conveyor belt from the smelter to the BA pier was not dismantled until the early 2000s and it still has a grain whisky distillery, operated by Indian-owned whisky giant Whyte and Mackay, the output of which contributes to many blended whiskies. Connected to the distillery was the Invergordon Distillery Pipe Band, at present the port is visited by many large cruise liners each year, as the deep water port allows disembarkation for coach tours in the northern Highlands. Since the 1970s some would perceive the town as a Glasgow colony, since workers were recruited from southern Scotland to work in the oil rig fabrication. As a result, the residents accents often show influence from Glasgow. According to town history the bomb did not explode, Invergordon is now the premiere mural town of the Highlands and hopes to emulate the success of her mentor in Chemainus, British Columbia. Currently the town is adorned with a series of 17 murals, the paintwork created by a selection of artists tells the stories of the local community and the area. This trail is a result of a community project which was designed to integrate local community groups. The trail, which was opened by the Princess Royal, now acts as a major tourist draw, take a moment to view their pieces, Channel, Foundations and Bubblefield. As ever, these artists drew their material from working with a broad cross-section of local people. The town is served by Invergordon railway station lies on the far north line. The £43 million plant would be built by Combined Power and Heat Ltd, Invergordon has one secondary school, Invergordon Academy, which is fed by four primary schools, Newmore Primary School, Park Primary School, South Lodge Primary School and Milton Primary School. In 2013 the Highland Council announced plans for a new school to serve Ross shire with the preferred option being that it be built in Invergordon. This has seen much protest by locals and is currently under review, if it went ahead Alness and Tain academies would close and there would also be a change to the local primary schools. invergordonoffthewall. com
46.
Stranraer
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Stranraer is a town in Inch, Wigtownshire, in the west of Dumfries and Galloway, southwest Scotland. It lies on the shores of Loch Ryan, on the side of the isthmus joining the Rhins of Galloway to the mainland. Stranraer is Dumfries and Galloways second-largest town, with a population including the area of nearly 13,000. Stranraer is a centre for the West Galloway Wigtownshire area of Dumfries. It is best known as having been a port, previously connecting Scotland with Belfast and Larne in Northern Ireland. The main industries in the area are the port, with associated industries, tourism and, more traditionally. Some argue that name comes from the Scottish Gaelic An t-Sròn Reamhar meaning The Fat Nose, the most commonly accepted explanation is that it it derives its name from the strand or burn which divides the row, raw, of houses on its banks. In time Strandraw was named and spelled Stranrawer, and afterwards Stranraer, another interpretation would link the second element in the name with Rerigonium, an ancient settlement noted by Ptolemy in this part of Britain. The A77 runs north towards Ayr, Prestwick and Glasgow, the A75 runs east from Stranraer to Gretna, with links to the M6 going to Carlisle. The A75 is part of European route E18, but, like all European routes, the main national coach providers operate services from Stranraer. National Express offer a service to London, and Scottish Citylink operate services to Edinburgh, local transport in and around the town is provided by Stagecoach Western, and three local companies – McCullochs Coaches. Stranraer railway station is the terminus for one of the branch lines of the Glasgow South Western Line. Trains are provided by Abellio ScotRail daily to Ayr, Glasgow Central, from Stranraer connections to the West Coast Main Line, can be made at Glasgow Central, or traveling via Ayr, Kilmarnock, Dumfries to Carlisle. Onward trains from either Glasgow Central or Carlisle connect direct to London Euston and other such as Manchester Piccadilly, Crewe. In November 2011, Stena Line relocated its services to a new port at Old House Point, north of Cairnryan. The existing port in Stranraer may be redeveloped with the departure of Stena Line, both Campbeltown Airport and Glasgow Prestwick Airport, at around 45 miles, are the closest airports in Scotland to Stranraer. Belfast City Airport in Northern Ireland is 39 miles distant, the European Union is partly financing The Stranraer and Loch Ryan Waterfront Project for now and future generations. At an estimated cost of £1, by January 2010, work on the streets around the town centre was complete, with the streets around the Castle of St John re-paved and re-profiled
47.
Short Sunderland
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The Short S.25 Sunderland was a British flying boat patrol bomber developed for the Royal Air Force by Short Brothers. It took its name from the town and port of Sunderland in North East England. Based in part upon the S.23 Empire flying boat, the flagship of Imperial Airways, the S.25 was extensively re-engineered for military service. It was one of the most powerful and widely used flying boats throughout the Second World War, RAF Sunderlands also saw service in the Korean War and continued in service until 1959. It also took part in the Berlin airlift, Sunderlands remained in service with the Royal New Zealand Air Force until 1967. Sunderlands converted for use, known as Short Sandringhams, continued in airline operation until 1974. A single airworthy example remains on display in Florida at Fantasy of Flight. S, in response, Imperial Airways announced a competition to design and produce 28 flying boats, each weighing 18 long tons and having a range of 700 mi with a capacity for 24 passengers. The 1933 Air Ministry Specification R. 2/33 called for a flying boat for ocean reconnaissance. The new aircraft had to have four engines but could be either a monoplane or biplane design. Specification R. 2/33 was released roughly in parallel with the Imperial Airways requirement, Chief Designer Arthur Gouge originally intended that a 37 mm COW gun be mounted in the bow with a single Lewis gun in the tail. As with the S.23, he tried to make the drag as low as possible, while the nose was longer than that of the S.23. The military flying boat variant was designated S.25 and the design was submitted to the Air Ministry in 1934. Saunders-Roe also designed a flying boat, the Saro A.33, in response to the R. 2/33 competition, the initial S.25 prototype first took flight in October 1937. The S.25 shared much in common with the S.23, as construction proceeded the armament was changed to a single 0.303 Vickers K machine gun in the nose turret and four 0.303 Browning machine guns in the tail. Then there was a change in the turret to a powered version. The unarmed prototype first flew, on 16 October 1937, following some flight trials it was modified with a wing sweepback of 4°15 by adding a spacer into the front spar attachments. This moved the centre of lift enough to compensate for the centre of gravity. The modified K4774 flew on 7 March 1938 with Bristol Pegasus XXII engines of 1,010 hp, the crew was originally intended to be seven but increased in later versions to 11 crew members or more
48.
Dunkirk evacuation
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The operation was decided upon when large numbers of Belgian, Canadian, British, and French troops were cut off and surrounded by the German army during the Battle of France. In his We shall fight on the speech on 4 June. After Nazi Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, France and the British Commonwealth, the British Expeditionary Force was sent to aid in the defence of France. After the Phoney War, Germany invaded Belgium and the Netherlands on 10 May 1940, by 21 May, the German forces had trapped the BEF, the remains of the Belgian forces, and three French armies in an area along the northern coast of France. On 22 May 1940, an order was issued by the German High Command. This gave the trapped Allied forces time to construct defensive works and pull back large numbers of troops toward Dunkirk, to fight the Battle of Dunkirk. On the first day of the evacuation, only 7,669 men were evacuated, but by the end of the eighth day, the BEF lost 68,000 soldiers during the French campaign and had to abandon nearly all of their tanks, vehicles, and other equipment. In his speech to the House of Commons on 4 June, wars are not won by evacuations. By May 1940 the force consisted of ten divisions in three corps under the command of General John Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort, working with the BEF were the Belgian Army and the French First, Seventh, and Ninth Armies. During the 1930s, the French had constructed the Maginot Line and this line had been designed to deter a German invasion across the Franco-German border and funnel an attack into Belgium, which could then be met by the best divisions of the French Army. Thus, any war would take place outside of French territory avoiding a repeat of the First World War. He believed that any enemy force emerging from the forest would be vulnerable to a pincer attack, the French commander-in-chief, Maurice Gamelin, also believed the area to be of a limited threat, noting that it never favoured large operations. With this in mind, the area was lightly defended. The initial plan for the German invasion of France called for an encirclement attack through the Netherlands and Belgium, avoiding the Maginot Line. Erich von Manstein, then Chief of Staff of the German Army Group A, prepared the outline of a different plan and submitted it to the OKH via his superior, Generaloberst Gerd von Rundstedt. Mansteins plan suggested that Panzer divisions should attack through the Ardennes, then establish bridgeheads on the Meuse River, the Germans would thus cut off the Allied armies in Belgium and Flanders. This part of the later became known as the Sichelschnitt. Adolf Hitler approved a version of Mansteins ideas, today known as the Manstein Plan
49.
Norway
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The Antarctic Peter I Island and the sub-Antarctic Bouvet Island are dependent territories and thus not considered part of the Kingdom. Norway also lays claim to a section of Antarctica known as Queen Maud Land, until 1814, the kingdom included the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Iceland. It also included Isle of Man until 1266, Shetland and Orkney until 1468, Norway has a total area of 385,252 square kilometres and a population of 5,258,317. The country shares a long border with Sweden. Norway is bordered by Finland and Russia to the north-east, Norway has an extensive coastline, facing the North Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea. King Harald V of the Dano-German House of Glücksburg is the current King of Norway, erna Solberg became Prime Minister in 2013, replacing Jens Stoltenberg. A constitutional monarchy, Norway divides state power between the Parliament, the Cabinet and the Supreme Court, as determined by the 1814 Constitution, the kingdom is established as a merger of several petty kingdoms. By the traditional count from the year 872, the kingdom has existed continuously for 1,144 years, Norway has both administrative and political subdivisions on two levels, counties and municipalities. The Sámi people have an amount of self-determination and influence over traditional territories through the Sámi Parliament. Norway maintains close ties with the European Union and the United States, the country maintains a combination of market economy and a Nordic welfare model with universal health care and a comprehensive social security system. Norway has extensive reserves of petroleum, natural gas, minerals, lumber, seafood, the petroleum industry accounts for around a quarter of the countrys gross domestic product. On a per-capita basis, Norway is the worlds largest producer of oil, the country has the fourth-highest per capita income in the world on the World Bank and IMF lists. On the CIAs GDP per capita list which includes territories and some regions, from 2001 to 2006, and then again from 2009 to 2017, Norway had the highest Human Development Index ranking in the world. It also has the highest inequality-adjusted ranking, Norway ranks first on the World Happiness Report, the OECD Better Life Index, the Index of Public Integrity and the Democracy Index. Norway has two names, Noreg in Nynorsk and Norge in Bokmål. The name Norway comes from the Old English word Norðrveg mentioned in 880, meaning way or way leading to the north. In contrasting with suðrvegar southern way for Germany, and austrvegr eastern way for the Baltic, the Anglo-Saxon of Britain also referred to the kingdom of Norway in 880 as Norðmanna land. This was the area of Harald Fairhair, the first king of Norway, and because of him
50.
Heinkel He 115
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The Heinkel He 115 was a World War II Luftwaffe seaplane with three seats. It was used as a bomber and performed general seaplane duties, such as reconnaissance. The plane was powered by two 960 PS BMW 132K nine-cylinder air-cooled radial engines, some later models could seat four, had different engines, or used different weapon setups. In 1935, the German Reich Air Ministry produced a requirement for a twin engined general purpose floatplane, suitable both for patrol and for anti-shipping strikes with bombs and torpedoes. Meanwhile, the first prototype was used to set a series of records for floatplanes over 1,000 km and 2,000 km closed circuits at a speed of 328 km/h. Armament initially consisted of two 7.92 mm MG15 machine guns, one in the nose and one in the dorsal position. Later He 115s were fitted with a fixed forward-firing 15 mm or 20 mm MG151 cannon, ordnance used by He 115 variants included LTF5 or LTF 6b torpedoes and SD500500 kg or SC250250 kg bombs. Some also carried LMB III or LMA mines, the River Thames was also a prime target. However, the aircraft had its finest moment when operating in the role against the Arctic convoys from bases in Northern Norway. Because these convoys initially lacked air cover, the low speed, apart from its use as a minelayer and torpedo bomber, it was also used in the coastal reconnaissance role, and by KG200 to drop agents behind enemy lines. In response to the tensions in Europe, the Norwegian Ministry of Defence had ordered six He 115Ns on 28 August 1939. From 14 July-13 November 1939, all six ordered aircraft were delivered to the Norwegian authorities, the Norwegians signed another order of six He 115Ns in December 1939, with delivery estimated to March/April 1940. The delivery of this order was however pre-empted by the German invasion of Norway on 9 April 1940. The two aircraft were seized after they ran out of fuel and had to emergency landings on 10 April. Manned by Norwegian aircrews, they served against their owners for the duration of the campaign. Seven Norwegian He-115s, five of them He-115Ns, were employed against German and German-controlled ships, on 14 April 1940 three Norwegian He 115s made a successful attack on German Ju-52s at Gullesfjordbotn. Four of the Norwegian aircraft made the journey to the United Kingdom shortly before the 10 June 1940 surrender, a sixth He 115 also tried to make the journey to Britain, but was lost over the North Sea. The last of the Norwegian He 115s, F.62, was unserviceable at the time of the evacuation and had to be abandoned at Skattøra, later being repaired, the four escaped aircraft were at first reformed into the Norwegian Helensburgh Group under Commander Bugge
Royal Air Force (1918-61)
