Monitor (warship)
A monitor was a small warship, neither fast nor armoured but carried disproportionately large guns. They were used by some navies from the 1860s, during the First World War and with limited use in the Second World War. During the Vietnam War they were used by the United States Navy; the Brazilian Navy's Parnaíba is the last monitor in service. The original monitor was designed in 1861 by John Ericsson, they were served as coastal ships. The term "monitor" encompassed more flexible breastwork monitors, was sometimes used as a generic term for any turreted ship; the term "monitor" encompasses the strongest of riverine warcraft, known as river monitors. In the early 20th century, the term "monitor" was revived for shallow-draught armoured shore bombardment vessels those of the Royal Navy: the Lord Clive-class monitors carried guns firing heavier shells than any other warship has, seeing action against German targets during World War I; the Lord Clive vessels were scrapped in the 1920s. In Latin, a monitor is someone who admonishes: that is, reminds others of their duties—which is how USS Monitor was given its name.
She was designed by John Ericsson for emergency service in the Federal navy during the American Civil War to blockade the Confederate States from supply at sea. Ericsson designed her to operate in shallow water and to present as small a target as possible, the water around her acting as protection. Nathaniel Hawthorne described Monitor thus: At no great distance from the Minnesota lay the strangest-looking craft I saw, it was a platform of iron, so nearly on a level with the water that the swash of the waves broke over it, under the impulse of a moderate breeze. It could not be called a vessel at all, it was ugly, suspicious, evidently mischievous—nay, I will allow myself to call it devilish. The wooden walls of Old England cease to exist, a whole history of naval renown reaches its period, now that the Monitor comes smoking into view; the singularity of the object has betrayed me into a more ambitious vein of description than I indulge. Going on board, we were surprised at the convenience of her interior accommodations.
There is a spacious ward-room, nine or ten feet in height, besides a private cabin for the commander, sleeping accommodations on an ample scale. Forward, or aft, the crew are quite as well provided for as the officers, it was like finding a palace, with all its conveniences, under the sea. The inaccessibility, the apparent impregnability, of this submerged iron fortress are most satisfactory. A storm of cannon-shot damages them no more than a handful of dried peas. We saw the shot-marks made by the great artillery of the Merrimack on the outer casing of the iron tower. In fact, the thing looked altogether too safe. Nothing, can exceed the confidence of the officers in this new craft, it was pleasant to see their benign exultation in her powers of mischief, the delight with which they exhibited the circumvolutory movement of the tower, the quick thrusting forth of the immense guns to deliver their ponderous missiles, the immediate recoil, the security behind the closed port-holes. Yet this will not long be the last and most terrible improvement in the science of war.
We hear of vessels the armament of, to act beneath the surface of the water. The Battle of Hampton Roads, between Monitor and CSS Virginia, was the first engagement between ironclad vessels. Several such battles took place during the course of the American Civil War, the dozens of monitors built for the United States Navy reflected a ship-to-ship combat role in their designs. However, fortification bombardment was another critical role that the early monitors played, though one that these early designs were much less capable in performing. Three months after the Battle of Hampton Roads, John Ericsson took his design to his native Sweden, in 1865 the first Swedish monitor was built at Motala Warf in Norrköping, taking the engineer's name, she was followed by 14 m
First Battle of Topolobampo
The First Battle of Topolobampo was a bloodless engagement and one of the few naval battles of the Mexican Revolution. The small action occurred off Topolobampo and involved three gunboats, two from the Mexican Navy and another which mutinied from the armada and joined the rebel Constitutionalists, it was fought on the morning of March 4, 1914 and was the first battle of the naval campaign in the Gulf of California. On 22 February 1914, off Guaymas, Mexico a mutiny began at about 8:00 pm when the Mexican Navy gunboat Tampico was refitting for a cruise. Half of the officers and crew were still enjoying shore leave when Executive Officer Lieutenant Hilario Rodríguez Malpica and three other officers began to rally the remaining crew aboard Tampico; the mob of sailors headed for their captain, whom they arrested with violence. Malpica, who had assumed command of the mutineers, informed Captain Manuel Azueta that he intended to sail Tampico to join the Constitutionalists.. Tampico intended to head westward.
Just the Huerista gunboat Guerrero, under Captain Navio Torres, was spotted in front of Tampico. Malpica steamed Tampico straight for Guerrero, hoping to sink her. For Tampico, her steering gear malfunctioned and she was forced to turn around and head for Topolobampo in Sinaloa; the mutineers transferred Tampico's former captain to a merchant vessel, SS Herrerias, which took him to Mazatlán, still in federal hands at the time. Tampico made it to Topolobampo; because Tampico was short half of her crew, twenty-five Sinaloan insurgents were ordered to her to become sailors. After being humiliated by allowing Tampico to escape and join the rebellion, Captain Navio Torres with Guerrero and another gunboat, headed for Topolobampo where they suspected to find the Tampico. Guerrero arrived on 2 March, where she anchored outside the bar and waited for Morelos which would arrive the following day. Tampico was not in sight however. So the two gunboats waited in Topolobampo Bay until the next morning. Guerrero was ordered underway.
Just seconds after lifting anchor, Guerrero opened fire from around 9,000 yards with her main gun battery. A running battle ensued. Tampico had one other 6-pounder gun on board but only the one would be used in the battle. Upon receiving fire, Captain Torres, ordered his ship to maneuver into position for a broadside attack with his six 4-inch guns. At this time Morelos was about 800 yards off Guerrero's portside. A gunnery duel continued for sometime. Guerrero had a better armament than Tampico; this would become a major factor in the coming battles which gave the federals a distinct advantage over the Constitutionalist gunboat. Tampico made for the protection of Topolobampo's port; the gunboat Guerrero again anchored outside the bar, to initiate a naval blockade while Morelos left for Guaymas for coal and provisions. Throughout the engagement, none of the rounds fired hit their targets. Tampico, according to report, fired far more than the other two gunboats. Of her rounds, one was spotted 50 yards short of Guerrero, another 50 yards over, one more, just off Guerrero's portside.
Guerrero fired about twenty rounds that Morelos about seven and Tampico fired fourteen. On 13 March, Tampico would test the federal blockade during another bloodless sea battle known as the Second Battle of Topolobampo. Pancho Villa Expedition Second Battle of Topolobampo Third Battle of Topolobampo Fourth Battle of Topolobampo Stefoff, Rebecca. Independence and Revolution in Mexico.. Http://www.semar.gob.mx/informes/politicas_armada/parte_dos/capitulo_3.htm
São Paulo (state)
São Paulo is one of the 26 states of the Federative Republic of Brazil and is named after Saint Paul of Tarsus. As the richest Brazilian state and a major industrial complex dubbed the "locomotive of Brazil", the state is responsible for 33.9% of the Brazilian GDP. São Paulo has the second highest Human Development Index and GDP per capita, the fourth lowest infant mortality rate, the third highest life expectancy, the third lowest rate of illiteracy among the federative units of Brazil, being by far, the safest state in the country; the homicide rate is 3.8 per 100 thousand as of 2018 1/4 of the Brazilian rate. São Paulo alone is richer than Argentina, Uruguay and Bolivia combined. If São Paulo were an independent country, its nominal GDP would be ranked among the top 20 in the world; the economy of São Paulo State is the most developed in Brazil. With more than 45 million inhabitants in 2017, São Paulo is the most populous Brazilian state, the most populous national subdivision in the Americas, the third most populous political unit of South America, surpassed only by the rest of the Brazilian Federation and Colombia.
The local population is one of the most diverse in the country and descended from Italians, who began immigrating to the country in the late 19th century. In addition, Germans, Japanese and Greeks are present in the ethnic composition of the local population; the area that today corresponds to the state territory was inhabited by indigenous peoples from 12,000 BC. In the early 16th century, the coast of the region was visited by Portuguese and Spanish explorers and navigators. In 1532 Martim Afonso de Sousa would establish the first Portuguese permanent settlement in the Americas—the village of São Vicente, in the Baixada Santista. In the 17th century, the paulistas bandeirantes intensified the exploration of the interior of the colony, which expanded the territorial domain of Portugal and the Portuguese Empire in South America. In the 18th century, after the establishment of the Province of São Paulo, the region began to gain political weight. After independence in 1820, São Paulo began to become a major agricultural producer in the newly constituted Empire of Brazil, which created a rich regional rural oligarchy, which would switch on the command of the Brazilian government with Minas Gerais's elites during the early republican period in the 1880s.
Under the Vargas Era, the state was one of the first to initiate a process of industrialization and its population became one of the most urban of the federation. The city of São Paulo, the homonymous state capital, is ranked as the world's 12th largest city and its metropolitan area, with 20 million inhabitants, is the 9th largest in the world and second in the Americas, after Greater Mexico City. Regions near the city of São Paulo are metropolitan areas, such as Campinas, Sorocaba and São José dos Campos; the total population of these areas coupled with the state capital—the so-called "Expanded Metropolitan Complex of São Paulo"—exceeds 30 million inhabitants, i.e. 75 percent of the population of São Paulo statewide, the first macro-metropolis in the southern hemisphere, joining 65 municipalities that together are home to 12 percent of the Brazilian population. In pre-European times, the area, now São Paulo state was occupied by the Tupi people's nation, who subsisted through hunting and cultivation.
The first European to settle in the area was João Ramalho, a Portuguese sailor who may have been shipwrecked around 1510, ten years after the first Portuguese landfall in Brazil. He became a settler. In 1532, the first colonial expedition, led by Martim Afonso de Sousa of Portugal, landed at São Vicente. De Sousa added Ramalho's settlement to his colony. Early European colonisation of Brazil was limited. Portugal was more interested in Asia, but with English and French raiding privateer ships just off the coast, the territory had to be protected. Unwilling to shoulder the burden of naval defence himself, the Portuguese ruler, King Joao III, divided the coast into "captaincies", or swathes of land, 50 leagues apart, he distributed them among well-connected Portuguese. The early port and sugar-cultivating settlement of São Vicente was one rare success connected to this policy. In 1548, João III brought Brazil under direct royal control. Fearing Indian attack, he discouraged development of the territory's vast interior.
Some whites headed nonetheless for Piratininga, a plateau near São Vicente, drawn by its navigable rivers and agricultural potential. Borda do Campo, the plateau settlement, became an official town in 1553; the history of São Paulo city proper begins with the founding of a Jesuit mission of the Roman Catholic order of clergy on January 25, 1554—the anniversary of Saint Paul's conversion. The station, at the heart of the current city, was named São Paulo dos Campos de Piratininga. In 1560, the threat of Indian attack led many to flee from the exposed Santo André da Borda do Campo to the walled fortified Colegio. Two years the Colégio was besieged. Though the town survived, fighting took place sporadically for another three decades. By 1600, the town had about 1,500 citizens and 150 household
Revolta da Armada
The Brazilian Naval Revolts, or the Revoltas da Armada, were armed mutinies promoted by Admirals Custódio José de Melo and Saldanha Da Gama and their fleet of Brazilian Navy ships against the unconstitutional staying in power of the central government in Rio de Janeiro. In November 1891, President Marshal Deodoro da Fonseca, amid a political crisis compounded by the effects of an economic crisis, in flagrant violation of the new constitution, decided to "solve" the political crisis by ordering the closure of Congress, supported by Paulista oligarchy; the Navy, still resentful of the circumstances and outcomes of the coup that had put an end to the monarchy in Brazil, under the leadership of Admiral Custódio José de Melo, rose up and threatened to bombard the town of Rio de Janeiro capital of the Republic. To avoid a civil war, Marshal Deodoro resigned the presidency in 23 November. With the resignation of Deodoro, after just nine months from the beginning of his administration, the vice president, Floriano Peixoto, took office.
The 1891 Constitution, provided for a new election if the presidency or vice-presidency became vacant sooner than two years in office. The opposition accused Floriano of staying as head of the nation illegally; the second revolt started in March 1892, when thirteen generals sent a letter and manifesto to the President Marshal Floriano Peixoto. This document demanded new elections be called to fulfill the constitutional provision and ensure internal tranquility in the nation. Floriano harshly suppressed the movement. Thus, not solved, the political tensions increased; the revolt broke out in September 1893 at Rio de Janeiro, was suppressed only in March 1894 after a long blockade of the city. With many of the Brazilian Navy's most powerful ships either in the hands of the rebels or under repair, the Brazilian government had to improvise a new fleet to battle the rebel fleet; the "cardboard squadron" had to face off against a mutiny that had overtaken most of the powerful ships of the original navy.
Local bloody conflicts in some regions of Brazil ensued. The navy's mutiny off Rio de Janeiro was a challenge, became linked to the Federalist Rebellion; the revolt included the powerful battleship Aquidaban and a collection of small ironclads, modern cruisers and older wood'cruiser' or steam frigate type ships. Two of the navy's major ships were overseas and away from the conflict: the battleship Riachuelo was under repairs in France, the corvette Barrozo was on a round-the world training voyage; this did not leave the government with much left to challenge the mutineers, who could have controlled the seas and influenced the concurrent conflicts on land. The government bought itself a new naval force on the open markets, of small and sometimes unusual ships including torpedo gunboats, various medium and small torpedo boats, small armed yachts, a transport converted to carry a Zalinsky "dynamite gun"; such improvised stocking up was common at that time: the US pressed a similar mix of ships into action to supplement its fleet in the 1898 war with Spain, Japan scrambled to purchase available ships for its conflict with Russia in 1904-5.
In this case, the new fleet was dedicated to confronting the original navy of the same country. Brazilian Navy First Battle of Topolobampo Rebellions and revolutions in Brazil
Hermes da Fonseca
Hermes Rodrigues da Fonseca was a Brazilian soldier and politician. The nephew of Deodoro da Fonseca, the first Brazilian President, he was the country's Minister of War in 1906, he served as the eighth President of Brazil, from 1910 to 1914. He was on an official visit to Portugal when the revolution that overthrew the Portuguese monarchy and replaced it with a new republican regime took place, his father served in the Brazilian Armed Forces. Hermes was born in there in 1855; when his father was sent to the Paraguayan War, the family returned to Rio de Janeiro. In 1871, at 16, he got his bachelor's degree in Science and Letters and enrolled in the Military Academy, where he was student of Benjamin Constant Botelho de Magalhães, a promoter of the ideas of Auguste Comte in Brazil; when he graduated, he served as aide-de-camp to Gaston, comte d'Eu. He was a supporter of the republic proclaimed by his uncle Deodoro da Fonseca and was invited by the latter to be camp assistant and military secretary after the coup.
During the Revolta da Armada he proved his worth in the command of the defense of Floriano Peixoto's government. He headed the Police Brigade of Rio de Janeiro from 1899 to 1904, when he assumed command of the Military Academy of Realengo; as commander of the Academy he fought against the Vaccine Revolt. He was promoted to Marshal, he performed various jobs until becoming Minister of War under Rodrigues Alves. He continued in that position during the next president, Afonso Pena, reformed the army and the ministry with the creation of technical and administrative services. Of these innovations, the most important was the institution of obligatory military service, he resigned due to the discussion in Congress about the participation of soldiers in politics of Brazil. He was a minister of the Supreme Federal Court. In November 1908, he was pointed to for the succession. Counting with the support of Nilo Peçanha and all states other than São Paulo and Bahia. For the first time in republican history, there was an actual campaign with the "civilista" campaign running in open election against Hermes da Fonseca.
Once elected, he traveled to Europe. Among the events of his presidency were the Chibata Revolt and the Contestado War. Renegotiation of Brazil's National debt meant. After leaving the presidency, in November 1914, he ran for the senate for Rio Grande do Sul, but refused to take the position because of the assassination of Pinheiro Machado in September 1915, he traveled to Europe, returning to Brazil after living in Switzerland for six years, when a new presidential campaign was underway. He was welcomed by the military men and assumed the presidency of the Military Club in 1921. In this post, he was involved in the 18 of the Copacabana Fort revolt, which started at Fort Copacabana. List of Presidents of Brazil
Fortification
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, is used to solidify rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from the Latin fortis and facere. From early history to modern times, walls have been necessary for cities to survive in an ever-changing world of invasion and conquest; some settlements in the Indus Valley Civilization were the first small cities to be fortified. In ancient Greece, large stone walls had been built in Mycenaean Greece, such as the ancient site of Mycenae. A Greek phrourion was a fortified collection of buildings used as a military garrison, is the equivalent of the Roman castellum or English fortress; these constructions served the purpose of a watch tower, to guard certain roads and lands that might threaten the kingdom. Though smaller than a real fortress, they acted as a border guard rather than a real strongpoint to watch and maintain the border; the art of setting out a military camp or constructing a fortification traditionally has been called "castrametation" since the time of the Roman legions.
Fortification is divided into two branches: permanent fortification and field fortification. There is an intermediate branch known as semi-permanent fortification. Castles are fortifications which are regarded as being distinct from the generic fort or fortress in that they are a residence of a monarch or noble and command a specific defensive territory. Roman forts and hill forts were the main antecedents of castles in Europe, which emerged in the 9th century in the Carolingian Empire; the Early Middle Ages saw the creation of some towns built around castles. Medieval-style fortifications were made obsolete by the arrival of cannons in the 14th century. Fortifications in the age of black powder evolved into much lower structures with greater use of ditches and earth ramparts that would absorb and disperse the energy of cannon fire. Walls exposed to direct cannon fire were vulnerable, so the walls were sunk into ditches fronted by earth slopes to improve protection; the arrival of explosive shells in the 19th century led to yet another stage in the evolution of fortification.
Star forts did not fare well against the effects of high explosive, the intricate arrangements of bastions, flanking batteries and the constructed lines of fire for the defending cannon could be disrupted by explosive shells. Steel-and-concrete fortifications were common during the early 20th centuries; however the advances in modern warfare since World War I have made large-scale fortifications obsolete in most situations. Demilitarized zones along borders are arguably another type of fortification, although a passive kind, providing a buffer between hostile militaries. Many US military installations are known as forts. Indeed, during the pioneering era of North America, many outposts on the frontiers non-military outposts, were referred to generically as forts. Larger military installations may be called fortresses; the word fortification can refer to the practice of improving an area's defence with defensive works. City walls are fortifications but are not called fortresses; the art of setting out a military camp or constructing a fortification traditionally has been called castrametation since the time of the Roman legions.
The art/science of laying siege to a fortification and of destroying it is called siegecraft or siege warfare and is formally known as poliorcetics. In some texts this latter term applies to the art of building a fortification. Fortification is divided into two branches: permanent fortification and field fortification. Permanent fortifications are erected at leisure, with all the resources that a state can supply of constructive and mechanical skill, are built of enduring materials. Field fortifications—for example breastworks—and known as fieldworks or earthworks, are extemporized by troops in the field assisted by such local labour and tools as may be procurable and with materials that do not require much preparation, such as earth and light timber, or sandbags. An example of field fortification was the construction of Fort Necessity by George Washington in 1754. There is an intermediate branch known as semi-permanent fortification; this is employed when in the course of a campaign it becomes desirable to protect some locality with the best imitation of permanent defences that can be made in a short time, ample resources and skilled civilian labour being available.
An example of this is the construction of Roman forts in England and in other Roman territories where camps were set up with the intention of staying for some time, but not permanently. Castles are fortifications which are regarded as being distinct from the generic fort or fortress in that it describes a residence of a monarch or noble and commands a specific defensive territory. An example of this is the massive medieval castle of Carcassonne. From early history to modern times, walls have been a necessity for many cities. In Bulgaria, near the town of Provadia a walled fortified settlement today called Solnitsata starting from 4700 BC had a diameter of about 300 feet, was home to 350 people living in two-storey houses, was encircled by a fortified wall; the huge walls around the settlement, which were built tall and with stone blocks which are 6 feet high and 4.5 feet thick, make it one of the earliest walled settlements in Europe but it is younger than the walled town of Sesklo in Greece from 6800 BC.
Uruk in ancient Su
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro, or Rio, is anchor to the Rio de Janeiro metropolitan area and the second-most populous municipality in Brazil and the sixth-most populous in the Americas. Rio de Janeiro is the capital of the state of Brazil's third-most populous state. Part of the city has been designated as a World Heritage Site, named "Rio de Janeiro: Carioca Landscapes between the Mountain and the Sea", by UNESCO on 1 July 2012 as a Cultural Landscape. Founded in 1565 by the Portuguese, the city was the seat of the Captaincy of Rio de Janeiro, a domain of the Portuguese Empire. In 1763, it became the capital of the State of Brazil, a state of the Portuguese Empire. In 1808, when the Portuguese Royal Court transferred itself from Portugal to Brazil, Rio de Janeiro became the chosen seat of the court of Queen Maria I of Portugal, who subsequently, in 1815, under the leadership of her son, the Prince Regent, future King João VI of Portugal, raised Brazil to the dignity of a kingdom, within the United Kingdom of Portugal and Algarves.
Rio stayed the capital of the pluricontinental Lusitanian monarchy until 1822, when the War of Brazilian Independence began. This is one of the few instances in history that the capital of a colonising country shifted to a city in one of its colonies. Rio de Janeiro subsequently served as the capital of the independent monarchy, the Empire of Brazil, until 1889, the capital of a republican Brazil until 1960 when the capital was transferred to Brasília. Rio de Janeiro has the second largest municipal GDP in the country, 30th largest in the world in 2008, estimated at about R$343 billion, it is headquarters to Brazilian oil and telecommunications companies, including two of the country's major corporations – Petrobras and Vale – and Latin America's largest telemedia conglomerate, Grupo Globo. The home of many universities and institutes, it is the second-largest center of research and development in Brazil, accounting for 17% of national scientific output according to 2005 data. Despite the high perception of crime, the city has a lower incidence of crime than Northeast Brazil, but it is far more criminalized than the south region of Brazil, considered the safest in the country.
Rio de Janeiro is one of the most visited cities in the Southern Hemisphere and is known for its natural settings, samba, bossa nova, balneario beaches such as Barra da Tijuca, Copacabana and Leblon. In addition to the beaches, some of the most famous landmarks include the giant statue of Christ the Redeemer atop Corcovado mountain, named one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. Rio de Janeiro was the host of the 2016 Summer Olympics and the 2016 Summer Paralympics, making the city the first South American and Portuguese-speaking city to host the events, the third time the Olympics were held in a Southern Hemisphere city; the Maracanã Stadium held the finals of the 1950 and 2014 FIFA World Cups, the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, the XV Pan American Games. Europeans first encountered Guanabara Bay on 1 January 1502, by a Portuguese expedition under explorer Gaspar de Lemos, captain of a ship in Pedro Álvares Cabral's fleet, or under Gonçalo Coelho; the Florentine explorer Amerigo Vespucci participated as observer at the invitation of King Manuel I in the same expedition.
The region of Rio was inhabited by the Tupi, Puri and Maxakalí peoples. In 1555, one of the islands of Guanabara Bay, now called Villegagnon Island, was occupied by 500 French colonists under the French admiral Nicolas Durand de Villegaignon. Villegagnon built Fort Coligny on the island when attempting to establish the France Antarctique colony; the city of Rio de Janeiro proper was founded by the Portuguese on 1 March 1565 and was named São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro, in honour of St. Sebastian, the saint, the namesake and patron of the Portuguese then-monarch Sebastião. Rio de Janeiro was the name of Guanabara Bay; until early in the 18th century, the city was threatened or invaded by several French pirates and buccaneers, such as Jean-François Duclerc and René Duguay-Trouin. In the late 17th century, still during the Sugar Era, the Bandeirantes discovered gold and diamonds in the neighbouring captaincy of Minas Gerais, thus Rio de Janeiro became a much more practical port for exporting wealth than Salvador, much farther northeast.
On 27 January 1763, the colonial administration in Portuguese America was moved from Salvador to Rio de Janeiro. The city remained a colonial capital until 1808, when the Portuguese royal family and most of the associated Lisbon nobles, fleeing from Napoleon's invasion of Portugal, moved to Rio de Janeiro; the kingdom's capital was transferred to the city, thus, became the only European capital outside of Europe. As there was no physical space or urban structure to accommodate hundreds of noblemen who arrived many inhabitants were evicted from their homes. In the first decades, several educational establishments were created, such as the Military Academy, the Royal School of Sciences and Crafts and the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts, as well as the National Library of Brazil – with the largest collection in Latin America – and The Botanical Garden; the first printed newspaper in Brazil, the Gazeta do Rio de Janeiro, came into circulation during this period. When Brazil was elevated to Kingdom in 1815, it
First Brazilian Republic
Brazilian mutineers
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