1.
Menorca
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Minorca or Menorca is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. Its name derives from its size, contrasting it with nearby Majorca, Minorca has a population of approximately 94,383. It is located 39°47 to 40°00N, 3°52 to 4°24E and its highest point, called El Toro or Monte Toro, is 358 metres above sea level. The island is known for its collection of stone monuments, navetes, taules and talaiots. Some of the earliest culture on Minorca was influenced by other Mediterranean cultures, for example, the use of inverted plastered timber columns at Knossos is thought to have influenced early peoples of Minorca in imitating this practice. The end of the Punic wars saw an increase in piracy in the western Mediterranean, the Roman occupation of Hispania had meant a growth of maritime trade between the Iberian and Italian peninsulas. Pirates took advantage of the location of the Balearic Islands to raid Roman commerce. In reaction to this, the Romans invaded Minorca, by 121 BC both islands were fully under Roman control, later being incorporated into the province of Hispania Citerior. In 13 BC Roman emperor Augustus reorganised the system and the Balearic Islands became part of the Tarraconensis imperial province. The ancient town of Mago was transformed from a Carthaginian town to a Roman town, the island had a Jewish population. The Letter on the Conversion of the Jews by a 5th-century bishop named Severus tells of the conversion of the islands 540 Jewish men and women in AD418. Several Jews, including Theodore, a rich representative Jew who stood high in the estimation of his coreligionists and of Christians alike, many Jews remained within the Jewish faith while outwardly professing Christian faith. Some of these Jews form part of the Xueta community, when the Jewish community in Mahon requested the use of a room as a synagogue, their request was refused and they were denounced by the clergy. In 1781, when Louis des Balbes de Berton de Crillon, duc de Mahon invaded Minorca, at that time, the Jewish community consisted of about 500 people and they were transported from Minorca in four Spanish ships to the port of Marseilles. The Vandals easily conquered the island in the 5th century, the Byzantine Empire recovered it in 534. Following the Moorish conquest of peninsular Spain, Minorca was annexed to the Caliphate of Córdoba in 903 and given the Arabicized name of Manûrqa, with many Moors emigrating to the island. In 1231, after Christian forces reconquered Majorca, Minorca chose to become an independent Islamic state, the island was ruled first by Abû Uthmân Saîd Hakam al Qurashi, and following his death by his son, Abû Umar ibn Saîd. An Aragonese invasion, led by Alfonso III, came on 17 January 1287, some of the Muslim inhabitants of the island were enslaved and sold in the slave markets of Ibiza, Valencia and Barcelona, while others became Christians
2.
Hospital
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A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized medical and nursing staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the hospital, which typically has an emergency department to treat urgent health problems ranging from fire. A district hospital typically is the health care facility in its region, with large numbers of beds for intensive care. Specialised hospitals can help reduce health care costs compared to general hospitals, a teaching hospital combines assistance to people with teaching to medical students and nurses. The medical facility smaller than a hospital is called a clinic. Hospitals have a range of departments and specialist units such as cardiology, some hospitals have outpatient departments and some have chronic treatment units. Common support units include a pharmacy, pathology, and radiology, Hospitals are usually funded by the public sector, by health organisations, by health insurance companies, or by charities, including direct charitable donations. Historically, hospitals were founded and funded by religious orders, or by charitable individuals. During the Middle Ages, hospitals served different functions from modern institutions, Middle Ages hospitals were almshouses for the poor, hostels for pilgrims, or hospital schools. The word hospital comes from the Latin hospes, signifying a stranger or foreigner, another noun derived from this, hospitium came to signify hospitality, that is the relation between guest and shelterer, hospitality, friendliness, and hospitable reception. By metonymy the Latin word then came to mean a guest-chamber, guests lodging, hospes is thus the root for the English words host hospitality, hospice, hostel and hotel. The German word Spital shares similar roots, the grammar of the word differs slightly depending on the dialect. Some patients go to a hospital just for diagnosis, treatment, or therapy and then leave without staying overnight, while others are admitted and stay overnight or for several days or weeks or months. Hospitals usually are distinguished from other types of facilities by their ability to admit and care for inpatients whilst the others. Larger cities may have several hospitals of varying sizes and facilities, some hospitals, especially in the United States and Canada, have their own ambulance service. A district hospital typically is the health care facility in its region, with large numbers of beds for intensive care. In California, district hospital refers specifically to a class of healthcare facility created shortly after World War II to address a shortage of beds in many local communities. Twenty-eight of Californias rural hospitals and 20 of its critical-access hospitals are District hospitals, Californias District hospitals are formed by local municipalities, have Boards that are individually elected by their local communities, and exist to serve local needs
3.
Royal Navy
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The Royal Navy is the United Kingdoms naval warfare force. Although warships were used by the English kings from the medieval period. The modern Royal Navy traces its origins to the early 16th century, from the middle decades of the 17th century and through the 18th century, the Royal Navy vied with the Dutch Navy and later with the French Navy for maritime supremacy. From the mid 18th century it was the worlds most powerful navy until surpassed by the United States Navy during the Second World War. The Royal Navy played a key part in establishing the British Empire as the world power during the 19th. Due to this historical prominence, it is common, even among non-Britons, following World War I, the Royal Navy was significantly reduced in size, although at the onset of the Second World War it was still the worlds largest. By the end of the war, however, the United States Navy had emerged as the worlds largest, during the Cold War, the Royal Navy transformed into a primarily anti-submarine force, hunting for Soviet submarines, mostly active in the GIUK gap. The Royal Navy is part of Her Majestys Naval Service, which includes the Royal Marines. The professional head of the Naval Service is the First Sea Lord, the Defence Council delegates management of the Naval Service to the Admiralty Board, chaired by the Secretary of State for Defence. The strength of the fleet of the Kingdom of England was an important element in the power in the 10th century. English naval power declined as a result of the Norman conquest. Medieval fleets, in England as elsewhere, were almost entirely composed of merchant ships enlisted into service in time of war. Englands naval organisation was haphazard and the mobilisation of fleets when war broke out was slow, early in the war French plans for an invasion of England failed when Edward III of England destroyed the French fleet in the Battle of Sluys in 1340. Major fighting was confined to French soil and Englands naval capabilities sufficed to transport armies and supplies safely to their continental destinations. Such raids halted finally only with the occupation of northern France by Henry V. Henry VII deserves a large share of credit in the establishment of a standing navy and he embarked on a program of building ships larger than heretofore. He also invested in dockyards, and commissioned the oldest surviving dry dock in 1495 at Portsmouth, a standing Navy Royal, with its own secretariat, dockyards and a permanent core of purpose-built warships, emerged during the reign of Henry VIII. Under Elizabeth I England became involved in a war with Spain, the new regimes introduction of Navigation Acts, providing that all merchant shipping to and from England or her colonies should be carried out by English ships, led to war with the Dutch Republic. In the early stages of this First Anglo-Dutch War, the superiority of the large, heavily armed English ships was offset by superior Dutch tactical organisation and the fighting was inconclusive
4.
Hospital ship
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A hospital ship is a ship designated for primary function as a floating medical treatment facility or hospital. Most are operated by the forces of various countries, as they are intended to be used in or near war zones. Although attacking a ship is a war crime, belligerent navies have the right to board such ships for inspections. In the nineteenth century redundant warships were used as moored hospitals for seamen, Hospital ships possibly existed in ancient times. The Athenian Navy had a ship named Therapia, and the Roman Navy had a ship named Aesculapius, their names indicating that they may have been hospital ships. The earliest British hospital ship may have been the vessel Goodwill, however this experiment in medical care was short-lived, with Goodwill assigned to other tasks within a year and her complement of convalescents simply left behind at the nearest port. It was not until the mid-seventeenth century that any Royal Navy vessels were designated as hospital ships. In addition to their crew, these seventeenth century hospital ships were staffed by a surgeon. The standard issue of supplies were bandages, soap, needles. Patients were offered a beds or rug to rest upon, the quality of food was very poor. Hospital ships were used for the treatment of wounded soldiers fighting on land. An early example of this was during an English operation to evacuate English Tangier in 1683, an account of this evacuation was written by Samuel Pepys, an eyewitness. One of the concerns was the evacuation of sick soldiers. The hospital ships Unity and Welcome sailed for England on 18 October 1683 with 114 invalid soldiers and 104 women and children, arriving at The Downs on 14 December 1683. A1705 amendment provided for a further five male nurses, on 8 December 1798, unfit for service as a warship, HMS Victory was ordered to be converted to a hospital ship to hold wounded French and Spanish prisoners of war. According to Edward Hasted in 1798, two hospital ships, were moored in Halstow Creek in Kent. The creek is an inlet from the River Medway and the River Thames, the crew of these vessels watched over ships coming to England, which were forced to stay in the creek under quarantine to protect the country from infectious diseases including the plague. From 1821 to 1870 the Seamens Hospital Society provided HMS Grampus, HMS Dreadnought, in 1866 HMS Hamadryad was moored in Cardiff as a seamens hospital, replaced in 1905 by the Royal Hamadryad Seamens Hospital
5.
Anglo-Dutch Wars
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They were fought in the years 1652-1674 and 1781-1810, mainly over trade routes and overseas colonies. Almost all the battles were fought at sea, in the early 1600s, the Dutch, while continuing to fight the Eighty Years War with the Catholic Habsburgs, also began to carry out long distance exploration by sea. The Dutch invention of the Joint Stock Company allowed them to finance expeditions with stock subscriptions sold in the United Provinces and they founded colonies in North America, in India, and in Indonesia. They also enjoyed continued success in privateering — in 1628 Admiral Piet Heyn became the commander to successfully capture a large Spanish treasure fleet. With the many long voyages by Dutch East Indiamen, their society consequently built an officer class, by the middle of the 17th century, the Dutch had largely replaced the Portuguese as the main European traders in Asia. In particular, by taking over most of Portugals trading posts in the East Indies and this coincided with the enormous growth of the Dutch merchant fleet, made possible by the cheap mass production of the fluyt sailing ship types. Soon the Dutch had Europes largest mercantile fleet, with merchant ships than all other nations combined. As the English civil war was beginning, the Dutch took over much of Englands maritime trade with its North American colonies, between 1648 and 1651, however, the situation reversed completely. In 1648 the United Provinces concluded the Peace of Münster with Spain, due to the division of powers in the Dutch Republic, the army and navy were the main base of power of the stadtholder, although the budget allocated to the military was set by the States General. With the war gone, the States General decided to decommission most of the Dutch army and these raids, financed by the Crown or the nobility, were initially immensely profitable—until the overhaul of Spains naval and intelligence systems led to a series of costly failures. Around the turn of the 17th century Anglo-Spanish relations began to improve, resulting in the peace of 1604, underfunding then led to the neglect of the Royal Navy. When the colony of Jamestown was founded in North America, it had the backing of a joint stock company, not the English crown nor its navy. But steadily, as the English observed the wealth of the Dutch. As a consequence, the English parliament agreed to fund a new naval build-up, Charles I of England made a number of secret agreements with Spain, directed against Dutch sea power. He also embarked on another programme of naval construction, enforcing ship money to build such prestige vessels as HMS Sovereign of the Seas. In 1636 and 1637 he made some halfhearted attempts to extort North Sea herring rights from Dutch fishermen until intervention by the Dutch navy put an end to it, in the New World, Dutch New Netherlands and the English Massachusetts Bay Colony contested much of Americas north-eastern seaboard. Commencing soon thereafter, the English Civil War severely weakened Englands naval position for a time, the mood in England grew increasingly belligerent towards the Dutch. When the delegation returned home, the English Parliament decided to pursue a policy of confrontation
6.
John Benbow
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John Benbow was an English officer in the Royal Navy. Benbow fought against France during the Nine Years War, serving on and later commanding several English vessels and taking part in the battles of Beachy Head, Barfleur and La Hogue in 1690 and 1692. He went on to fame during campaigns against Salé and Moor pirates, laying siege to Saint-Malo. Benbows fame and success earned him both public notoriety and a promotion to admiral and he was then involved in an incident during the Action of August 1702, where a number of his captains refused to support him while commanding a squadron of ships. Benbow instigated the trial and later imprisonment or execution of a number of the captains involved and these events contributed to his notoriety, and led to several references to him in subsequent popular culture. Benbow was born the son of William and Martha Benbow, encyclopædia Britannica writes that Benbows father was in fact a tanner. Meanwhile, his uncle, Thomas, was executed by Charles I, Benbows lack of possessions, Nightingale writes, turned him to a career at sea. Benbow entered the Royal Navy on 30 April 1678, aged 25 years and he became masters mate aboard the 64-gun HMS Rupert under the command of Captain Arthur Herbert, whilst she was fitting out at Portsmouth. He sailed with her to the Mediterranean, where Herbert was promoted to the rank of vice-admiral whilst serving under the commander-in-chief in the Mediterranean, during this period the English fleet was often in action against the Barbary pirates of North Africa that were actively preying upon European shipping. The Rupert herself captured an Algerine warship in 1678, which was commissioned in the Royal Navy as the HMS Tiger Prize. Benbow distinguished himself well in a number of actions against the Algerine vessels, on Narboroughs return to England, Herbert was appointed acting commander-in-chief, and made Benbow master aboard HMS Nonsuch on 15 June 1679. All were impressed by Benbow, and would help to advance his career. The Nonsuch was next in action on 8 August 1681, this time against the Algerine warship, the Golden Horse had been engaged by HMS Adventure, under the command of Captain William Booth, and when the Nonsuch arrived on the scene the Golden Horse surrendered. A dispute then arose over the question of the money and how it should be shared out. Benbow was ordered to three months pay, amounting to £12 15s. The Nonsuch then returned to England and was paid off on 9 November 1681, Benbow left the Navy and entered the merchant service, sailing a merchant vessel from London and Bristol to ports in Italy and Spain. By 1686 he was a merchant seaman and the owner and commander of a frigate named the Benbow. In May 1687 he commanded a merchant vessel, the Malaga Merchant and he mounted a successful defence and beat off the attack
7.
Royal Hospital Haslar
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Its military status was withdrawn in 2007, and those military personnel remaining joined the Ministry of Defence Hospital Unit at Queen Alexandra Hospital in Cosham, Portsmouth. In the summer of 2009, all remaining medical services at Haslar were relocated to the Queen Alexandra Hospital, the Royal Military Hospital Haslar had a number of notable specialist medical facilities, including a decompression chamber and a zymotic isolation ward. The Royal Hospital Haslar was designed by Theodore Jacobsen and built between 1745 and 1761, the site opened as a Royal Naval Hospital in 1754. On completion it was the largest brick building in Europe, building works cost more than £100,000, nearly double the cost of the Admiralty headquarters in London. The high brick walls and railings surrounding the site were designed to stop patients from going absent without leave, in 1902 the hospital became known as the Royal Naval Hospital Haslar. In the 1940s, RNH Haslar set up the countrys first blood bank to treat wounded soldiers from the Second World War. In 1966, the remit of the hospital expanded to all three services – the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force, after which time. In 1996 the hospital became known as the Royal Hospital Haslar. In 2001, the provision of healthcare within Royal Hospital Haslar was transferred from the Defence Secondary Care Agency to the NHS Trust. The Royal Hospital was the last MOD-owned acute hospital in the UK, the change from military control to the NHS, and the complete closure of the hospital have remained the subject of considerable local controversy. The hospital formally closed in 2009 and the site is being redeveloped, in 2001 Haslar was designated a Grade II listed historic park. Several of the buildings are listed, in addition to the main 18th-century block, the grounds contained, Residences for senior hospital staff/officers. A separate psychiatric ward and pathology lab, separate mess blocks to house medical officers, nursing sisters and sick berth staff. Errol Hall, a community hall providing entertainment and communal space for the patients, the original quadrangle was originally designed with four sides, but building of the rear wing was cancelled in 1756 due to cost. Over 200 years later a building was opened in 1984. On 17 May 2010 an investigation of the burial ground. It was estimated that up to 7,785 individuals had been buried there, from 1758 the chief surgeon was James Lind, who previously, though unwittingly, had discovered the cure for scurvy. Linds pioneering work on infection control considerably reduced mortality rates, archaeological investigations showed evidence of scurvy and revealed that limb amputations had been commonplace
8.
Plymouth
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Plymouths early history extends to the Bronze Age, when a first settlement emerged at Mount Batten. This settlement continued as a trading post for the Roman Empire, until it was surpassed by the prosperous village of Sutton founded in the ninth century. In 1620, the Pilgrim Fathers departed Plymouth for the New World, during the English Civil War the town was held by the Parliamentarians and was besieged between 1642 and 1646. The combined town took the name of Plymouth which, in 1928, the citys naval importance later led to its targeting and partial destruction during World War II, an act known as the Plymouth Blitz. After the war the city centre was rebuilt and subsequent expansion led to the incorporation of Plympton. The city is home to 262,700 people, making it the 30th most populous area in the United Kingdom. It is governed locally by Plymouth City Council and is represented nationally by three MPs, Plymouths economy remains strongly influenced by shipbuilding and seafaring including ferry links to Brittany and Spain, but has tended toward a service-based economy since the 1990s. It has the largest operational base in Western Europe – HMNB Devonport and is home to Plymouth University. An unidentified settlement named TAMARI OSTIA is listed in Ptolemys Geographia and is presumed to be located in the area of the modern city, at the time this village was called Sutton, meaning south town in Old English. The name Plym Mouth, meaning mouth of the River Plym was first mentioned in a Pipe Roll of 1211, the name Plymouth first officially replaced Sutton in a charter of King Henry VI in 1440. See Plympton for the derivation of the name Plym, during the Hundred Years War a French attack burned a manor house and took some prisoners, but failed to get into the town. In 1403 the town was burned by Breton raiders, on 12 November,1439, the English Parliament made Plymouth the first town incorporated. The castle served to protect Sutton Pool, which is where the fleet was based in Plymouth prior to the establishment of Plymouth Dockyard. In 1512 an Act of Parliament was passed for further fortifying Plymouth, defences on St Nicholas Island also date from this time, and a string of six artillery blockhouses were built, including one on Fishers Nose at the south-eastern corner of the Hoe. This location was further strengthened by the building of a fort in 1596, during the 16th century locally produced wool was the major export commodity. According to legend, Drake insisted on completing his game of bowls on the Hoe before engaging the Spanish Armada in 1588. In 1620 the Pilgrim Fathers set sail for the New World from Plymouth, during the English Civil War Plymouth sided with the Parliamentarians and was besieged for almost four years by the Royalists. The last major attack by the Royalist was by Sir Richard Grenville leading thousands of soldiers towards Plymouth, the civil war ended as a Parliamentary win, but monarchy was restored by King Charles II in 1660, who imprisoned many of the Parliamentary heroes on Drakes Island
9.
Great Yarmouth
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Great Yarmouth, often known to locals as Yarmouth, is a coastal town in Norfolk, England. It is located at the mouth of the River Yare,20 miles east of Norwich, the town has been a seaside resort since 1760, and is the gateway from the Norfolk Broads to the North Sea. The discovery of oil in the North Sea in the 1960s led to an oil rig supply industry. More recently, the development of energy sources, especially offshore wind power, has created further opportunities for support services. A wind farm of 30 generators is within sight of the town on the Scroby Sands, the town has a beach and two piers. The town itself is on a 3. 1-mile spit sandwiched between the North Sea and River Yare and its well-known features include the historic rows and the main tourist sector on the seafront. The area is linked to Gorleston, Cobholm and Southtown by Haven Bridge and to the A47 and A149 by the Breydon Bridge. The urban area that makes up the town of Great Yarmouth has an area of 8.3 sq mi and it is the main town in the larger Borough of Great Yarmouth. The ONS identify a Great Yarmouth Urban Area, which has a population of 68,317, including the sub-areas of Caister-on-Sea, the wider borough of Great Yarmouth has a population of around 92,500, increasing to 97,277 at the 2011 census. Great Yarmouth lies near the site of the Roman fort camp of Gariannonum at the mouth of the River Yare and its situation having attracted fishermen from the Cinque Ports, a permanent settlement was made, and the town numbered 70 burgesses before the Norman Conquest. Henry I placed it under the rule of a reeve, in 1101 the Church of St Nicholas was founded by Herbert de Losinga, the first Bishop of Norwich, and consecrated in 1119. This was to be the first of several priories founded in what was a trading centre of considerable importance. In 1208, King John granted a charter to Great Yarmouth, a hospital was founded in Yarmouth in the reign of Edward I by Thomas Fastolfe. In 1551, a school founded and the great hall of the old hospital was appropriated to its use. The school was closed from 1757 to 1860, was re-established by the charity trustees, in 1552 Edward VI granted a charter of admiralty jurisdiction, later confirmed and extended by James I. In 1668 Charles II incorporated Little Yarmouth in the borough by a charter which with one brief exception remained in force until 1703, in 1673 during the Third Anglo-Dutch War the Zealand Expedition was assembled in the town. In 1797, during the French Revolutionary Wars, the town was the supply base for the North Sea Fleet. The fleet collected at the roadstead, from whence it sailed to the decisive Battle of Camperdown against the Dutch fleet, again in 1807, during the Napoleonic Wars, the fleet collected at and sailed from the roadstead to the Battle of Copenhagen
