1.
Annascaul
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Annascaul or Anascaul is a village on the Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry, Ireland. The village was recorded as having a population of 299 at the time of the 2011 census, different suggestions as to the original meaning of the name include Scáils River, River of the Shadows, or Ford of the Heroes. There was a controversy in the Leader years ago about the meaning of the word Annascaul and I remember Dr. Douglas Hyde, Beirt Fhear, moran, editor of the Leader, visited Annascaul to carry out investigations locally into it. The Dingle Way walking route passes through the village, Annascaul Lake is situated inland and just above the village. The village is of modern origins, having grown up around the beginning of the nineteenth century. In 1837 it was described as. containing 11 houses and 92 inhabitants and this place is situated in a pleasant valley on the new mail coach road from Tralee to Dingle, to each of which it has a penny post recently established. In 2003 a statue of Crean was erected in the village opposite the South Pole Inn, irish American sculptor Jerome Connor, famous for his work the Nuns of the Battlefield in Washington D. C. was also born in Annascaul. There was a history in the locality particularly around the late 19th. Annascaul GAA is the local Gaelic Athletic Association club, Annascaul FC is the local soccer club. List of towns and villages in Ireland
2.
County Kerry
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County Kerry is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and is part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county, Kerry County Council is the local authority for the county and Tralee serves as the county town. The population of the county was 147,554 in 2016, Kerry is the fifth-largest of the 32 counties of Ireland by area and the 15th-largest by population. It is the second-largest of Munsters six counties by area, uniquely, it is bordered by only two other counties, County Limerick to the east and County Cork to the south-east. The diocesan see is Killarney, which is one of Irelands most famous tourist destinations, the Lakes of Killarney, an area of outstanding natural beauty are located in Killarney National Park. The tip of the Dingle Peninsula is the most westerly point of Ireland, there are nine historic baronies in the county. While baronies continue to be officially defined units, they are no longer used for administrative purposes. Their official status is illustrated by Placenames Orders made since 2003, the county is bounded on the west by the Atlantic Ocean and on the north by the River Shannon. Just off the coast are a number of islands, including the Blasket Islands, Valentia Island, skellig Michael is a World Heritage Site, famous for the medieval monastery clinging to the islands cliffs. The county contains the extreme west point of Ireland, Dunmore Head on the Dingle Peninsula, or including islands, Tearaght Island, the most westerly inhabited area of Ireland is Dún Chaoin, on the Dingle Peninsula. The River Feale, the River Laune and the Roughty River flow through Kerry, the North Atlantic Current, part of the Gulf Stream, flows north past Kerry and the west coast of Ireland, resulting in milder temperatures than would otherwise be expected at the 52 North latitude. This means that plants such as the strawberry tree and tree ferns, not normally found in northern Europe. Because of the area and the prevailing southwesterly winds, Kerry is among the regions with the highest rainfall in Ireland. Owing to its location, there has been a reporting station on Valentia for many centuries. The Irish record for rainfall in one day is 243.5 mm, in 1986 the remnants of Hurricane Charley crossed over Kerry as an extratropical storm causing extensive rainfall, flooding and damage. Kerry means the people of Ciar which was the name of the tribe who lived in part of the present county. The legendary founder of the tribe was Ciar, son of Fergus mac Róich, in Old Irish Ciar meant black or dark brown, and the word continues in use in modern Irish as an adjective describing a dark complexion
3.
Ireland
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Ireland is an island in the North Atlantic. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, Ireland is the second-largest island of the British Isles, the third-largest in Europe, and the twentieth-largest on Earth. Politically, Ireland is divided between the Republic of Ireland, which covers five-sixths of the island, and Northern Ireland, in 2011, the population of Ireland was about 6.4 million, ranking it the second-most populous island in Europe after Great Britain. Just under 4.6 million live in the Republic of Ireland, the islands geography comprises relatively low-lying mountains surrounding a central plain, with several navigable rivers extending inland. The island has lush vegetation, a product of its mild, thick woodlands covered the island until the Middle Ages. As of 2013, the amount of land that is wooded in Ireland is about 11% of the total, there are twenty-six extant mammal species native to Ireland. The Irish climate is moderate and classified as oceanic. As a result, winters are milder than expected for such a northerly area, however, summers are cooler than those in Continental Europe. Rainfall and cloud cover are abundant, the earliest evidence of human presence in Ireland is dated at 10,500 BC. Gaelic Ireland had emerged by the 1st century CE, the island was Christianised from the 5th century onward. Following the Norman invasion in the 12th century, England claimed sovereignty over Ireland, however, English rule did not extend over the whole island until the 16th–17th century Tudor conquest, which led to colonisation by settlers from Britain. In the 1690s, a system of Protestant English rule was designed to materially disadvantage the Catholic majority and Protestant dissenters, with the Acts of Union in 1801, Ireland became a part of the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland saw much civil unrest from the late 1960s until the 1990s and this subsided following a political agreement in 1998. In 1973 the Republic of Ireland joined the European Economic Community while the United Kingdom, Irish culture has had a significant influence on other cultures, especially in the fields of literature. Alongside mainstream Western culture, an indigenous culture exists, as expressed through Gaelic games, Irish music. The culture of the island shares many features with that of Great Britain, including the English language, and sports such as association football, rugby, horse racing. The name Ireland derives from Old Irish Eriu and this in turn derives from Proto-Celtic *Iveriu, which is also the source of Latin Hibernia. Iveriu derives from a root meaning fat, prosperous, during the last glacial period, and up until about 9000 years ago, most of Ireland was covered with ice, most of the time
4.
Cork (city)
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Cork is a city in Ireland, located in the South-West Region, in the province of Munster. It has a population of 125,622 and is the second largest city in the state, the greater Metropolitan Cork area has a population exceeding 300,000. In 2005, the city was selected as the European Capital of Culture, the city is built on the River Lee which splits into two channels at the western end of the city, the city centre is divided by these channels. They reconverge at the end where the quays and docks along the river banks lead outwards towards Lough Mahon and Cork Harbour. The citys cognomen of the city originates in its support for the Yorkist cause during the English 15th century Wars of the Roses. Corkonians often refer to the city as the capital in reference to the citys role as the centre of anti-treaty forces during the Irish Civil War. Cork was originally a settlement, reputedly founded by Saint Finbarr in the 6th century. Cork achieved an urban character at some point between 915 and 922 when Norseman settlers founded a trading port and it has been proposed that, like Dublin, Cork was an important trading centre in the global Scandinavian trade network. The citys charter was granted by Prince John, as Lord of Ireland, the city was once fully walled, and some wall sections and gates remain today. Neighbouring Gaelic and Hiberno-Norman lords extorted Black Rent from the citizens to them from attacking the city. The present extent of the city has exceeded the boundaries of the Barony of Cork City. Together, these baronies are located between the Barony of Barrymore to the east, Muskerry East to the west and Kerrycurrihy to the south, the medieval population of Cork was about 2,100 people. It suffered a blow in 1349 when almost half the townspeople died of plague when the Black Death arrived in the town. The then mayor of Cork and several important citizens went with Warbeck to England, oBrien published a third local newspaper, the Cork Free Press. In the War of Independence, the centre of Cork was burnt down by the British Black and Tans, during the Irish Civil War, Cork was for a time held by anti-Treaty forces, until it was retaken by the pro-Treaty National Army in an attack from the sea. The climate of Cork, like the rest of Ireland, is mild oceanic and changeable with abundant rainfall, Cork lies in plant Hardiness zone 9b. Met Éireann maintains a weather station at Cork Airport, a few kilometres south of the city. It should be noted that the airport is at an altitude of 151 metres and temperatures can often differ by a few degrees between the airport and the city itself, there are also smaller synoptic weather stations at UCC and Clover Hill
5.
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was established as a sovereign state on 1 January 1801 by the Acts of Union 1800, which merged the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland. The growing desire for an Irish Republic led to the Irish War of Independence, Northern Ireland remained part of the United Kingdom, and the state was consequently renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Britain financed the European coalition that defeated France in 1815 in the Napoleonic Wars, the British Empire thereby became the foremost world power for the next century. The Crimean War with Russia and the Boer wars were relatively small operations in a largely peaceful century, rapid industrialisation that began in the decades prior to the states formation continued up until the mid-19th century. A devastating famine, exacerbated by government inaction in the century, led to demographic collapse in much of Ireland. It was an era of economic modernization and growth of industry, trade and finance. Outward migration was heavy to the colonies and to the United States. Britain also built up a large British Empire in Africa and Asia, India, by far the most important possession, saw a short-lived revolt in 1857. In foreign policy Britain favoured free trade, which enabled its financiers and merchants to operate successfully in many otherwise independent countries, as in South America. Britain formed no permanent military alliances until the early 20th century, when it began to cooperate with Japan, France and Russia, and moved closer to the United States. A brief period of limited independence for Ireland came to an end following the Irish Rebellion of 1798, the British governments fear of an independent Ireland siding against them with the French resulted in the decision to unite the two countries. This was brought about by legislation in the parliaments of both kingdoms and came into effect on 1 January 1801, however, King George III was bitterly opposed to any such Emancipation and succeeded in defeating his governments attempts to introduce it. When the Treaty of Amiens ended the war, Britain agreed to return most of the territories it had seized, in May 1803, war was declared again. In 1806, Napoleon issued the series of Berlin Decrees, which brought into effect the Continental System and this policy aimed to eliminate the threat from the British by closing French-controlled territory to foreign trade. Frances population and agricultural capacity far outstripped that of the British Isles, Napoleon expected that cutting Britain off from the European mainland would end its economic hegemony. The Spanish uprising in 1808 at last permitted Britain to gain a foothold on the Continent, after Napoleons surrender and exile to the island of Elba, peace appeared to have returned. The Allies united and the armies of Wellington and Blucher defeated Napoleon once, simultaneous with the Napoleonic Wars, trade disputes, arming hostile Indians and British impressment of American sailors led to the War of 1812 with the United States. The war was little noticed in Britain, which could devote few resources to the conflict until the fall of Napoleon in 1814, American frigates inflicted a series of defeats on the Royal Navy, which was short on manpower due to the conflict in Europe
6.
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
7.
Albert Medal for Lifesaving
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The Albert Medal for Lifesaving was a British medal awarded to recognise the saving of life. It has since replaced by the George Cross. The medal was named in memory of Prince Albert and originally was awarded to recognise saving life at sea, the original medal had a blue ribbon 5/8 wide with 2 white stripes. Witnessing the accident, Popplestone paused only to raise the alarm before setting off alone for the wreck and he clambered out onto the rocks and although swept off several times, he eventually managed to lift four men out of the water and drag them up the cliff to safety. In 1877, the medal was extended to cover saving life on land, the land version was enameled in red, with a red ribbon. The titles of the changed in 1917, the gold Albert Medal, first class becoming the Albert Medal in gold. The event that led to the introduction of the Albert Medal for Gallantry on Land was the Tynewydd Colliery disaster which occurred on 11 April 1877. In many ways, although it was tragic the disaster at Tynewydd was, by the standards of the time when mining accidents often claimed hundreds of lives. The Albert Medal in gold was abolished in 1949, being replaced by the George Cross, in 1971, the Albert Medal was discontinued and all living recipients were invited to exchange the award for the George Cross. From the total of 64 eligible to exchange,49 took up the option, the medal was made of gold, which was enameled blue. Miniatures of all four types are known to exist, with the gold awards believed to be gilt, Albert Medal and Edward Medal George Cross and Albert Medal at Sea in World War 2
8.
Polar Medal
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The Polar Medal is a medal awarded by the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. It was instituted in 1857 as the Arctic Medal and renamed the Polar Medal in 1904, the first polar award was called the Arctic Medal which was presented twice in the 19th century. The second presentation of the Arctic Medal was to the crews of three ships exploring the Arctic in 1875–76. In 1904, the Polar Medal was inaugurated for members of Captain Scotts first expedition to Antarctica. It was also awarded to the crews of both ships, Terra Nova and Morning. Subsequent medals were awarded to members of Ernest Shackletons expeditions in 1907–09. Until 1968, the Polar Medal was presented to anyone who participated in a polar expedition endorsed by the governments of any Commonwealth realms, however since then the rules governing its presentation have been revised with greater emphasis placed on personal achievement. The Medal may also be awarded in recognition of service of outstanding quality in support of the objectives of Polar expeditions. A total of 880 silver and 245 bronze medals have been issued for Antarctic expeditions, another 73 silver medals have been issued for service in the Arctic. Several people have been awarded bars to the medal for earning the award again for polar expeditions, both Frank Wild and Ernest Joyce hold the joint record of four bars on their Polar Medal. The medal is octagonal in shape with a white ribbon, the reverse of the original Arctic Medal showed a three-masted ship surrounded by ice floes. The die for the medal was engraved by Leonard Charles Wyon, a new design by Ernest Gillick was used from 1904, showing RRS Discovery, with a sledging party in the foreground. The obverse bears a portrait of the reigning monarch, the medal was originally cast in both silver and bronze. Since 1939, all awarded medals have been silver, bronze medals were presented to personnel on relief ships for Antarctic expeditions, they were never awarded to participants of Arctic expeditions. The Government of Australia replaced the Polar Medal with its own Australian Antarctic Medal in 1987, in 1996, when New Zealand revised its royal honours system, New Zealanders ceased to receive the Polar Medal. It was proposed that the medal would be preserved, with a new name, under New Zealand regulations, the rationale for the renaming was that it is in relation to Antarctica that New Zealands endeavours and achievements have been made. The Report on honours that recommended the change contained the inaccurate claim that the medal was named after the North Pole, the new medal was formally instituted by the Queen of New Zealand on 1 September 2006. In 2016 the medal was awarded to Kim Crosbie for her work in both the arctic and the antarctic, category, Recipients of the Polar Medal Poulsom, Neville W. The White Ribbon, A Medallic Record of British Polar Expeditions, Poulsom, Neville, W, and Myres, J. A. L
9.
Irish people
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The Irish people are a nation and ethnic group native to the island of Ireland, who share a common Irish ancestry, identity and culture. Ireland has been inhabited for about 9,000 years according to archaeological studies, for most of Irelands recorded history, the Irish have been primarily a Gaelic people. Today, Ireland is made up of the Republic of Ireland, the people of Northern Ireland hold various national identities, including Irish, Northern Irish, British, or some combination thereof. The Irish have their own customs, language, music, dance, sports, cuisine, although Irish was their main language in the past, today the huge majority of Irish people speak English as their first language. Historically, the Irish nation was made up of kin groups or clans, there have been many notable Irish people throughout history. After Irelands conversion to Christianity, Irish missionaries and scholars exerted great influence on Western Europe, the 6th-century Irish monk and missionary Columbanus is regarded as one of the fathers of Europe, followed by saints Cillian and Fergal. The scientist Robert Boyle is considered the father of chemistry, famous Irish writers include Oscar Wilde, W. B. Yeats, George Bernard Shaw, Bram Stoker and James Joyce, notable Irish explorers include Brendan the Navigator, Robert McClure, Ernest Shackleton and Tom Crean. By some accounts, the first European child born in North America had Irish descent on both sides, many presidents of the United States have had some Irish ancestry. The population of Ireland is about 6.3 million, but it is estimated that 50 to 80 million people around the world have Irish forebears, historically, emigration from Ireland has been the result of conflict, famine and economic issues. People of Irish descent are mainly in English-speaking countries, especially the United Kingdom. There are also significant numbers in Argentina, Mexico and New Zealand, the United States has the most people of Irish descent, while in Australia those of Irish descent are a higher percentage of the population than in any other country. Many Icelanders have Irish and Scottish Gaelic forebears, in its summary of their article Who were the Celts. The National Museum Wales notes It is possible that genetic studies of ancient. However, early studies have, so far, tended to produce implausible conclusions from very small numbers of people and using outdated assumptions about linguistics, nineteenth century anthropology studied the physical characteristics of Irish people in minute detail. During the past 10,000 years of inhabitation, Ireland has witnessed some different peoples arrive on its shores, the ancient peoples of Ireland—such as the creators of the Céide Fields and Newgrange—are almost unknown. Neither their languages nor terms they used to describe themselves have survived, as late as the middle centuries of the 1st millennium the inhabitants of Ireland did not appear to have a collective name for themselves. Ireland itself was known by a number of different names, including Banba, Fódla, Ériu by the islanders, Iouerne and Hiverne to the Greeks, other Latin names for people from Ireland in Classic and Mediaeval sources include Attacotti and Gael
10.
Seaman
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Seaman is a naval rank and is either the lowest or one of the lowest ranks in most navies around the world. In the Commonwealth it is the lowest rank in the navy, the next rank up is able seaman, followed by leading seaman, which is followed by the petty officer ranks. In the United States, it means the lowest three enlisted rates of the U. S. Navy and U. S. Coast Guard, the equivalent of the seaman is the matelot in French-speaking countries, and Matrose in German-speaking countries. The term seaman is also a general-purpose for a man or a woman who works anywhere on board a ship, including in the engine spaces. This is untrue in the US Navy where a sailor might be a seaman but not all US Navy sailors are a Seaman as they might be an Airman, Fireman, Constructionman, or Hospital Corpsman. Furthermore, seaman is a form for the status of an able-bodied seaman. There are 4 grades of seaman/matelot in the Royal Canadian Navy and it does not follow the British tradition of other Canadian ranks. It corresponds to the rank of master corporal/caporal-chef, matelot 2e classe, or apprentice seaman, and matelot breveté are designations of the French Navy. Matelots are colloquially known as mousses, the German rank of seaman is the lowest enlisted rank of the German Navy. It is equivalent to OR1 in NATO and is a grade A3 in the pay rules of the Federal Ministry of Defence, there is one grade of seaman in the Hellenic Navy. In the Indonesian Navy this rank is referred to as Kelasi, there are three levels of this rank in the Indonesian Navy which are, Second Seaman, First Seaman, and Master Seaman. The Italian rank of seaman is the lowest enlisted rank of the Italian Navy equivalent in NATO to OR1, much Russian military vocabulary was imported, along with military advisers, from Germany in the 16th and 17th centuries. The Russian word for seaman or sailor was borrowed from the German matrose, in Imperial Russia the most junior naval rank was seaman 2nd class. The 1917 Revolution led to the term Red Fleet man until 1943, estonia and Latvia use closely related loanwords. In the Royal Navy the rate is split into two divisions, AB1 and AB2, the AB2 rating is used for those who have not yet completed their professional taskbooks. The rate of ordinary seaman has been discontinued, Seaman is the third enlisted rank from the bottom in the U. S. Navy and U. S. Coast Guard, ranking above seaman apprentice and below petty officer third class. This naval rank was formerly called seaman first class, the rank is also used in United States Naval Sea Cadet Corps, a naval-themed uniformed youth program under the sponsorship of the Navy League of the United States. The actual title for an E-3 in the U. S. Navy varies based on the subset of the Navy or Coast Guard, also known as a group rate, to which the member will ultimately be assigned
11.
Antarctic
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The Antarctic is a polar region, specifically the region around the Earths South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises in the sense the continent of Antarctica. The region covers some 20% of the Southern Hemisphere, of which 5. 5% is the area of the Antarctic continent itself. All of the land and ice shelves south of 60°S latitude are administrated under the Antarctic Treaty System, in a biogeographic sense, the Antarctic ecozone is one of eight ecozones of the Earths land surface. Most of the Antarctic region is situated south of 60°S latitude parallel, there are only two species of flowering plant, Antarctic hair grass and Antarctic pearlwort, but a range of mosses, liverworts, lichens and macrofungi. The first Antarctic land discovered was the island of South Georgia, the first human born in the Antarctic was Solveig Gunbjørg Jacobsen born on 8 October 1913 in Grytviken, South Georgia. However, the region is visited by more than 40,000 tourists annually, the definitive results of the conference was presented at the Antarctic Treaty states meeting in Uruguay in May 2010. The Antarctic hosts the worlds largest protected area comprising 1.07 million km2, the South Georgia, because Antarctica surrounds the South Pole, it is theoretically located in all time zones. For practical purposes, time zones are based on territorial claims or the time zone of a stations owner country or supply base. Antarctic Circle History of Antarctica Krupnik, Igor, Michael A. Lang, smithsonian at the Poles, Contributions to International Polar Year Science
12.
Exploration
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Exploration is the act of searching for the purpose of discovery of information or resources. Exploration occurs in all animal species, including humans. In human history, its most dramatic rise was during the Age of Discovery when European explorers sailed and charted much of the rest of the world for a variety of reasons. Since then, major explorations after the Age of Discovery have occurred for reasons mostly aimed at information discovery, in scientific research, exploration is one of three purposes of empirical research. The term is used metaphorically. For example, an individual may speak of exploring the Internet, sexuality, the Phoenicians traded throughout the Mediterranean Sea and Asia Minor though many of their routes are still unknown today. The presence of tin in some Phoenician artifacts suggests that they may have traveled to Britain, according to Virgils Aeneid and other ancient sources, the legendary Queen Dido was a Phoenician from Tyre who sailed to North Africa and founded the city of Carthage. Hanno the Navigator, a Carthaginean navigator explored the Western Coast of Africa, the Greek explorer from Marseille, Pytheas was the first to circumnavigate Great Britain, explore Germany, and reach Thule. Africa Exploration The Romans organized expeditions to cross the Sahara desert with five different routes, through the western Sahara, toward the Niger river, through the Tibesti mountains, toward Lake Chad and actual Nigeria through the Nile river, toward actual Uganda. Though the western coast of Africa, toward the Canary Islands, through the Red Sea, toward actual Somalia and perhaps Tanzania. All these expeditions were supported by legionaries and had mainly a commercial purpose, only the one done by emperor Nero seemed to be a preparative for the conquest of Ethiopia or Nubia, in 62 AD two legionaries explored the sources of the Nile river. One of the reasons of the explorations was to get gold using the camel to transport it. The explorations near the African western and eastern coasts were supported by Roman ships, Romans organized several explorations also in Northern Europe, and as far as Asia up to China. 30 BC-640 AD With the acquisition of Ptolemaic Egypt, The Romans begin trading with India, the Empire now has a direct connection to the Spice trade Egypt had established beginning in 118 BC.100 AD-166 AD Romano-Chinese relations begin. Ptolemy writes of the Golden Chersonese and the port of Kattigara, now identified as Óc Eo in northern Vietnam, then part of Jiaozhou. The Chinese historical texts describe Roman embassies, from a land they called Daqin, 2nd century Roman traders reach Siam, Cambodia, Sumatra, and Java. 161 An embassy from Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius or his successor Marcus Aurelius reaches Chinese Emperor Huan of Han at Luoyang, when Zhang returned to China in 125 BC, he reported on his visits to Dayuan, Kangju, and Daxia. Zhang described Dayuan and Daxia as agricultural and urban countries like China, from about 800 Ad to 1040 AD, the Vikings explored Europe and much of the Western Northern Hemisphere via rivers and oceans
13.
Antarctica
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It contains the geographic South Pole and is situated in the Antarctic region of the Southern Hemisphere, almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle, and is surrounded by the Southern Ocean. At 14,000,000 square kilometres, it is the fifth-largest continent, for comparison, Antarctica is nearly twice the size of Australia. About 98% of Antarctica is covered by ice that averages 1.9 km in thickness, Antarctica, on average, is the coldest, driest, and windiest continent, and has the highest average elevation of all the continents. Antarctica is a desert, with precipitation of only 200 mm along the coast. The temperature in Antarctica has reached −89.2 °C, though the average for the quarter is −63 °C. Anywhere from 1,000 to 5,000 people reside throughout the year at the research stations scattered across the continent. Organisms native to Antarctica include many types of algae, bacteria, fungi, plants, protista, vegetation, where it occurs, is tundra. The continent, however, remained neglected for the rest of the 19th century because of its hostile environment, lack of easily accessible resources. In 1895, the first confirmed landing was conducted by a team of Norwegians, Antarctica is a de facto condominium, governed by parties to the Antarctic Treaty System that have consulting status. Twelve countries signed the Antarctic Treaty in 1959, and thirty-eight have signed it since then, the treaty prohibits military activities and mineral mining, prohibits nuclear explosions and nuclear waste disposal, supports scientific research, and protects the continents ecozone. Ongoing experiments are conducted by more than 4,000 scientists from many nations, the name Antarctica is the romanised version of the Greek compound word ἀνταρκτική, feminine of ἀνταρκτικός, meaning opposite to the Arctic, opposite to the north. Aristotle wrote in his book Meteorology about an Antarctic region in c.350 B. C, marinus of Tyre reportedly used the name in his unpreserved world map from the 2nd century A. D. Before acquiring its present geographical connotations, the term was used for locations that could be defined as opposite to the north. For example, the short-lived French colony established in Brazil in the 16th century was called France Antarctique, the first formal use of the name Antarctica as a continental name in the 1890s is attributed to the Scottish cartographer John George Bartholomew. Antarctica has no population and there is no evidence that it was seen by humans until the 19th century. Explorer Matthew Flinders, in particular, has credited with popularising the transfer of the name Terra Australis to Australia. Cook came within about 120 km of the Antarctic coast before retreating in the face of ice in January 1773. The first confirmed sighting of Antarctica can be narrowed down to the crews of ships captained by three individuals, according to various organisations, ships captained by three men sighted Antarctica or its ice shelf in 1820, von Bellingshausen, Edward Bransfield, and Nathaniel Palmer
14.
Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration
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The common factor in these expeditions was the limited nature of the resources available to them before advances in transport and communication technologies revolutionized the work of exploration. This meant that each became a feat of endurance that tested. The heroic label, bestowed later, recognized the adversities which had to be overcome by these pioneers, some of whom did not survive the experience, during the course of these expeditions the geographical and magnetic poles were both reached. The achievement of being first to the geographical South Pole was an object in some expeditions. However, this was not the only aspect of polar exploration during this time, as a result of all this activity, much of the continents coastline was discovered and mapped, and significant areas of its interior were explored. The exploration of the South Pole has been an off and on area of focus, this particular period, the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, is not the first intensive period of Antarctic exploration. Curtailing what is known as the Age of Exploration, British explorer James Cook would be one of the few explorers who would travel to that Southern region of the world. The discoveries of his voyage would change the global map forever. Prior to his expedition it was believed that a continent known as Terra Australis occupied majority of the Southern hemisphere. However, Cook discovered that no land mass existed though massive ice floes prevented his reaching Antarctica proper. He did hypothesize that, based upon the amount of ice, subsequently, exploration of the Southern regions of the world came to a great halt. However, a period of interest arose again between 1819 and 1843, what followed this period of Antarctic interest is what historian H. R. Mill called the age of averted interest, following the expedition South by the ships Erebus and Terror under James Clark Ross, he suggested that there were no scientific discoveries, or problems, worth exploration in the far South. However, in the twenty years after Ross return, there is a general lull internationally in Antarctic exploration. The initial impetus for the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration is somewhat contested as it is an international movement. George von Neumayer of Hamburg, also an Antarctic explorer, worked to renew Antarctic exploration in 1861 onwards as he worked in an observatory in Melbourne and his particular interests were the importance of meteorology and how more information of the South Pole could lead to more accurate weather predictions. This helps explain German involvement in Antarctic research, murray advocated that research into the Antarctic should be organised to resolve the outstanding geographical questions still posed in the south. Such work would bring additions to almost every branch of science, during his address, Borchgrevink outlined plans for a full-scale pioneering Antarctic expedition, to be based at Cape Adare
15.
Robert Falcon Scott
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On the first expedition, he set a new southern record by marching to latitude 82°S and discovered the Polar Plateau, on which the South Pole is located. During the second venture, Scott led a party of five which reached the South Pole on 17 January 1912, on their return journey, Scotts party discovered plant fossils, proving Antarctica was once forested and joined to other continents. Before his appointment to lead the Discovery Expedition, Scott had followed the career of an officer in the Royal Navy. Having taken this step, his name became associated with the Antarctic. Following the news of his death, Scott became a celebrated hero, in the closing decades of the 20th century, Scott became a figure of controversy, with questions raised about his competence and character. Scott was born on 6 June 1868, the child out of six and elder son of John Edward and Hannah Scott of Stoke Damerel. Scotts father was a brewer and magistrate, there were also naval and military traditions in the family, Scotts grandfather and four uncles all having served in the army or navy. John Scotts prosperity came from the ownership of a small Plymouth brewery which he inherited from his father, Robert Falcon Scotts early childhood years were spent in comfort, but some years later, when he was establishing his naval career, the family would suffer serious financial misfortune. In accordance with the tradition, Robert and his younger brother Archie were predestined for careers in the armed services. Having passed these exams Scott began his career in 1881. In July 1883, Scott passed out of Britannia as a midshipman, by October, he was en route to South Africa to join HMS Boadicea, the flagship of the Cape squadron, the first of several ships on which he served during his midshipman years. On this occasion,1 March 1887, Markham observed Midshipman Scotts cutter winning that race across the bay. Markhams habit was to collect likely young naval officers with a view to their undertaking polar exploration work in the future and he was impressed by Scotts intelligence, enthusiasm and charm, and the 18-year-old midshipman was duly noted. In March 1888 Scott passed his examinations for sub-lieutenant, with four first class out of five. His career progressed smoothly, with service on ships and promotion to lieutenant in 1889. In 1891, after a spell in foreign waters, he applied for the two-year torpedo training course on HMS Vernon. He graduated with first class certificates in both the theory and practical examinations, a small blot occurred in the summer of 1893 when, while commanding a torpedo boat, Scott ran it aground, a mishap which earned him a mild rebuke. According to Huntford, Scott disappears from records for eight months
16.
Terra Nova Expedition
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The Terra Nova Expedition, officially the British Antarctic Expedition, was an expedition to Antarctica which took place between 1910 and 1913. It was led by Robert Falcon Scott and had various scientific, Scott wished to continue the scientific work that he had begun when leading the Discovery Expedition to the Antarctic in 1901–04. He also wanted to be the first to reach the geographic South Pole and he and four companions attained the pole on 17 January 1912, where they found that the Norwegian team led by Roald Amundsen had preceded them by 34 days. Scotts entire party died on the journey from the pole, some of their bodies, journals. The expedition, named after its ship, was a private venture. It had further backing from the Admiralty, which released experienced seamen to the expedition, the expeditions team of scientists carried out a comprehensive scientific programme, while other parties explored Victoria Land and the Western Mountains. An attempted landing and exploration of King Edward VII Land was unsuccessful, a journey to Cape Crozier in June and July 1911 was the first extended sledging journey in the depths of the Antarctic winter. For many years after his death, Scotts status as hero was unchallenged. In the final quarter of the 20th century the expedition came under closer scrutiny, the degree of Scotts personal culpability, and more recently, the culpability of certain expedition members, remain controversial. In 1909 Scott received news that Ernest Shackletons Nimrod Expedition had narrowly failed to reach the Pole and he had been forced to turn for home at 88°23 S, less than 100 geographical miles from his objective. This soured relations between the two explorers, and increased Scotts determination to surpass Shackletons achievements, as he made his preparations for a further expedition, Scott was aware of other polar ventures being planned. A Japanese expedition was being planned, the Australasian Antarctic Expedition under Douglas Mawson was to leave in 1911, meanwhile, Roald Amundsen, a potential rival, had announced plans for an Arctic voyage. Sixty-five men formed the shore and ships parties of the Terra Nova Expedition and they were chosen from 8,000 applicants, and included seven Discovery veterans together with five who had been with Shackleton on his 1907–09 expedition. Lieutenant Edward Evans, who had been the officer on Morning. He abandoned plans to mount his own expedition, and transferred his financial backing to Scott. Ex-RN officer Victor Campbell, known as The Wicked Mate, was one of the few who had skills in skiing, and was chosen to lead the party that would explore King Edward VII Land. Two non-Royal Navy officers were appointed, Henry Robertson Bowers, known as Birdie, who was a lieutenant in the Royal Indian Marine, and Lawrence Oates, Oates, independently wealthy, volunteered his services to the expedition and paid £1,000 into its funds. The Admiralty also provided a largely naval lower deck, including the Antarctic veterans Edgar Evans, Tom Crean, other seamen in the shore party included Patrick Keohane and Robert Forde, Thomas Clissold and Frederick Hooper
17.
Roald Amundsen
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Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen was a Norwegian explorer of polar regions. He led the Antarctic expedition of 1910–12 which was the first to reach the South Pole, in 1926, he was the first expedition leader for the air expedition to the North Pole. Amundsen is recognized as the first person, without dispute, as having reached both poles and he is also known as having the first expedition to traverse the Northwest Passage in the Arctic. In June 1928, while taking part in a mission for the airship Italia. Amundsen was a key leader during the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, in the class of Douglas Mawson, Robert Falcon Scott. Amundsen was born to a family of Norwegian shipowners and captains in Borge and his parents were Jens Amundsen and Hanna Sahlqvist. Roald was the son in the family. His mother wanted him to avoid the family trade and encouraged him to become a doctor. He promptly quit university for a life at sea, Amundsen had hidden a lifelong desire inspired by Fridtjof Nansens crossing of Greenland in 1888 and Franklins lost expedition. He decided on a life of exploration of wilderness places. Amundsen joined the Belgian Antarctic Expedition as first mate and this expedition, led by Adrien de Gerlache using the ship the RV Belgica, became the first expedition to winter in Antarctica. The Belgica, whether by mistake or design, became locked in the sea ice at 70°30′S off Alexander Island, the crew endured a winter for which they were poorly prepared. By Amundsens own estimation, the doctor for the expedition, the American Frederick Cook, probably saved the crew from scurvy by hunting for animals and feeding the crew fresh meat. In cases where citrus fruits are lacking, fresh meat from animals that make their own vitamin C contains enough of the vitamin to prevent scurvy and this was an important lesson for Amundsens future expeditions. In 1903, Amundsen led the first expedition to successfully traverse Canadas Northwest Passage between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and he planned a small expedition of six men in a 45-ton fishing vessel, Gjøa, in order to have flexibility. His ship had relatively shallow draft and his technique was to use a small ship and hug the coast. Amundsen had the ship outfitted with a gasoline engine. They traveled via Baffin Bay, the Parry Channel and then south through Peel Sound, James Ross Strait, Simpson Strait and they spent two winters at King William Island in the harbor of what is today Gjoa Haven, Nunavut, Canada
18.
Ross Ice Shelf
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The Ross Ice Shelf is the largest ice shelf of Antarctica. It is several hundred metres thick, the nearly vertical ice front to the open sea is more than 600 kilometres long, and between 15 and 50 metres high above the water surface. Ninety percent of the ice, however, is below the water surface. Most of Ross Ice Shelf is in the Ross Dependency claimed by New Zealand and it floats in, and covers, a large southern portion of the Ross Sea and the entire Roosevelt Island located in the west of the Ross Sea. The ice shelf is named after Captain Sir James Clark Ross and it was originally called The Barrier, with various adjectives including Great Ice Barrier, as it prevented sailing further south. Ross mapped the ice front eastward to 160°W, in 1947, the US Board on Geographic Names applied the name Ross Shelf Ice to this feature and published it in the original US Antarctic Gazetteer. In January 1953 the name was changed to Ross Ice Shelf, four days later, they found their way into open water and were hoping that they would have a clear passage to their destination. But on 11 January, the men were faced with a mass of ice. Sir James Clark Ross, who was the commander, remarked, Well. Two volcanoes in the region were named by Ross for his vessels, for early Antarctic explorers seeking to reach the South Pole, the Ross Ice Shelf became a starting area. The findings were presented at a lecture entitled Universitas Antarctica, given 7 June 1911 and were published in the account of Scotts second expedition. Both Roald Amundsen and Scott crossed the shelf to reach the Pole in 1911, Amundsen wrote, Along its outer edge the Barrier shows an even, flat surface, but here, inside the bay, the conditions were entirely different. Even from the deck of the Fram we were able to observe great disturbances of the surface in every direction, the greatest elevation lay to the south in the form of a lofty, arched ridge, which we took to be about 500 feet high on the horizon. But it might be assumed that this continued to rise beyond the range of vision. The next day, the party made its first steps on the Barrier, after half an hour’s march we were already at the first important point—the connection between the sea-ice and the Barrier. This connection had always haunted our brains, a high, perpendicular face of ice, up which we should have to haul our things laboriously with the help of tackles. Or a great and dangerous fissure, which we should not be able to cross without going a long way round and we naturally expected something of the sort. This mighty and terrible monster would, of course, offer resistance in form or other
19.
Edward Evans, 1st Baron Mountevans
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Admiral Edward Ratcliffe Garth Russell Evans, 1st Baron Mountevans KCB, DSO, SGM, known as Teddy Evans, was a British naval officer and Antarctic explorer. Evans was seconded from the Navy to the Discovery Expedition of the Antarctic in 1901–04, when he served on the crew of the relief ship, and afterwards began planning his own Antarctic expedition. However, he suspended this plan offered the post of second-in-command on Robert Falcon Scotts ill-fated expedition to the South Pole in 1910–1913. He accompanied Scott to within 150 miles of the Pole, but later became ill with scurvy. Ironically, since the team that continued towards the Pole died. After the expedition he toured the country giving lectures, and returned to his duties as a commander in the summer of 1914. He spent the First World War as a captain, becoming famous as Evans of the Broke after the Battle of Dover Strait in 1917. Edward Ratcliffe Garth Evans, known to his family and friends as Teddy, was born in London on 28 October 1880 and he was the second of three sons born to Frank Evans and his wife Eliza, née McNulty. Frank Evans, a barrister at Lincolns Inn, hailed from a large Lancashire family of Welsh descent. Eliza McNultys family were of Irish origin and lived at Deptford, Edward and his older brother Joe were admitted to the Merchant Taylors School in 1890, when he was ten, and were expelled for fighting and truancy a year later. He became one of the star performers, with a string of prizes. Evans sought a career at sea, and while at school had tried and his father chose the latter, and Evans joined the Worcester in January 1895. He was heavily bullied, but by the middle of his year had found his place. He won several prizes, culminating in a coveted Navy cadetship in his final year, in August he became seriously ill with brucellosis, after drinking contaminated milk, and was sent home to recover for three months. After returning to duty, he was posted to the battleship Repulse and then the sloop Dolphin and he then studied at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, interrupted with a posting to HMS Majestic, where he first encountered then-Lieutenant Robert Falcon Scott. In July 1901, the British National Antarctic Expedition – the Discovery Expedition – sailed from London aboard RRS Discovery and he met Markham twice in the following weeks, and made a strong impression. In early 1902, Evans was seconded from the Navy to be second officer aboard the ship, the Morning. Here the two crews met – the two ships were separated by fifteen miles of ice, requiring long sledge journeys – with Evans among the first party to greet the Discoverys crew
20.
HMS Ringarooma (1889)
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HMS Ringarooma was a Pearl-class cruiser of the Royal Navy, originally named HMS Psyche, built by J & G Thomson, Glasgow and launched on 10 December 1889. Renamed on 2 April 1890, as Ringarooma as part of the Auxiliary Squadron of the Australia Station and she arrived in Sydney with the squadron on 5 September 1891. She was damaged after running aground on a reef at Makelula Island, between 1897 and 1900 she was in reserve at Sydney. On 15 February Captain Frederick St. George Rich was appointed in command and she left the Australia Station on 22 August 1904. She was sold for £8500 in May 1906 to Forth Shipbreaking Company for breaking up, bastock, John, Ships on the Australia Station, Child & Associates Publishing Pty Ltd, Frenchs Forest, Australia. ISBN 0-86777-348-0 Winfield, Rif & Lyon, David, the Sail and Steam Navy List, All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815–1889
21.
New Zealand
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New Zealand /njuːˈziːlənd/ is an island nation in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The country geographically comprises two main landmasses—the North Island, or Te Ika-a-Māui, and the South Island, or Te Waipounamu—and around 600 smaller islands. New Zealand is situated some 1,500 kilometres east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and roughly 1,000 kilometres south of the Pacific island areas of New Caledonia, Fiji, because of its remoteness, it was one of the last lands to be settled by humans. During its long period of isolation, New Zealand developed a distinct biodiversity of animal, fungal, the countrys varied topography and its sharp mountain peaks, such as the Southern Alps, owe much to the tectonic uplift of land and volcanic eruptions. New Zealands capital city is Wellington, while its most populous city is Auckland, sometime between 1250 and 1300 CE, Polynesians settled in the islands that later were named New Zealand and developed a distinctive Māori culture. In 1642, Dutch explorer Abel Tasman became the first European to sight New Zealand, in 1840, representatives of Britain and Māori chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi, which declared British sovereignty over the islands. In 1841, New Zealand became a colony within the British Empire, today, the majority of New Zealands population of 4.7 million is of European descent, the indigenous Māori are the largest minority, followed by Asians and Pacific Islanders. Reflecting this, New Zealands culture is derived from Māori and early British settlers. The official languages are English, Māori and New Zealand Sign Language, New Zealand is a developed country and ranks highly in international comparisons of national performance, such as health, education, economic freedom and quality of life. Since the 1980s, New Zealand has transformed from an agrarian, Queen Elizabeth II is the countrys head of state and is represented by a governor-general. In addition, New Zealand is organised into 11 regional councils and 67 territorial authorities for local government purposes, the Realm of New Zealand also includes Tokelau, the Cook Islands and Niue, and the Ross Dependency, which is New Zealands territorial claim in Antarctica. New Zealand is a member of the United Nations, Commonwealth of Nations, ANZUS, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Pacific Islands Forum, and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. Dutch explorer Abel Tasman sighted New Zealand in 1642 and called it Staten Landt, in 1645, Dutch cartographers renamed the land Nova Zeelandia after the Dutch province of Zeeland. British explorer James Cook subsequently anglicised the name to New Zealand, Aotearoa is the current Māori name for New Zealand. It is unknown whether Māori had a name for the country before the arrival of Europeans. Māori had several names for the two main islands, including Te Ika-a-Māui for the North Island and Te Waipounamu or Te Waka o Aoraki for the South Island. Early European maps labelled the islands North, Middle and South, in 1830, maps began to use North and South to distinguish the two largest islands and by 1907, this was the accepted norm. The New Zealand Geographic Board discovered in 2009 that the names of the North Island and South Island had never been formalised and this set the names as North Island or Te Ika-a-Māui, and South Island or Te Waipounamu
22.
Discovery Expedition
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Its scientific results covered extensive ground in biology, zoology, geology, meteorology and magnetism. The expedition discovered the existence of the only snow-free Antarctic valleys, further achievements included the discoveries of the Cape Crozier emperor penguin colony, King Edward VII Land, and the Polar Plateau on which the South Pole is located. The expedition tried to reach the South Pole travelling as far as the Farthest South mark at a reported 82°17′S, as a trailbreaker for later ventures, the Discovery Expedition was a landmark in British Antarctic exploration history. Between 1839 and 1843 Royal Naval Captain James Clark Ross, commanding his two ships HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, completed three voyages to the Antarctic continent. During this time he discovered and explored a new sector of the Antarctic that would provide the field of work for many later British expeditions. He returned to the Barrier several times, hoping to penetrate it, Ross suspected that land lay to the east of the Barrier, but was unable to confirm this. After Ross there were no recorded voyages into this sector of the Antarctic for fifty years, then, in January 1895, a Norwegian whaling trip made a brief landing at Cape Adare, the northernmost tip of Victoria Land. Four years later Carsten Borchgrevink, who had participated in landing, took his own expedition to the region. This expedition was financed by a donation of £35,000 from British publishing magnate Sir George Newnes, Borchgrevink landed at Cape Adare in February 1899, erected a small hut, and spent the 1899 winter there. The following summer he sailed south, landing at Rosss inlet on the Barrier, a party of three then sledged southward on the Barrier surface, and reached a new Furthest South at 78°50′. The Discovery Expedition was planned during a surge of international interest in the Antarctic regions at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. A German expedition under Erich von Drygalski was leaving at about the time as Discovery. The Swedish explorer Otto Nordenskiöld was leading an expedition to Graham Land, finally, the Scottish scientist William Speirs Bruce was leading a scientific expedition to the Weddell Sea. Under the influence of John Barrow, Second Secretary to the Admiralty, Naval interest diminished after the disappearance in 1845 of the Franklin expedition, and the many fruitless searches that followed. However, the Royal Geographical Societys Secretary Sir Clements Markham was a naval man who had served on one of the Franklin relief expeditions in 1851. He had accompanied Nares for part of the 1874–76 expedition, murray presented a paper entitled The Renewal of Antarctic Exploration, and called for a full-scale expedition for the benefit of British science. This was strongly supported, both by Markham and by the premier scientific body, the Royal Society. A joint committee of the two Societies was established to decide the form which the expedition should take and his cousin and biographer later wrote that the expedition was the creation of his brain, the product of his persistent energy
23.
Terra Nova (ship)
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Terra Nova was a whaler and polar expedition ship. She is best known for carrying the 1910 British Antarctic Expedition, Terra Nova was built in 1884 for the Dundee whaling and sealing fleet. She was ideally suited to the regions and worked for 10 years in the annual seal fishery in the Labrador Sea. In 1903, she sailed in company with fellow ex-whaler SY Morning to assist in freeing the National Antarctic Expeditions RRS Discovery from McMurdo Sound, on return to the UK, expedition leader Commander Robert Falcon Scott was promoted to the rank of captain. On return from the Antarctic Terra Nova was purchased by the American millionaire, William Ziegler and placed under the command of a Norwegian and she sailed to the Arctic to return members of the US Fiala/Ziegler expedition from Franz Josef Land to Norway. This expedition had lost its ship America, crushed by ice, after returning to Newfoundland in 1906, Terra Nova resumed sealing duties with her owners, C. T. Bowring & Co. of St. Johns and Liverpool, in 1909, Terra Nova was bought by Captain R. F. Scott RN for the sum of £12,500, as expedition ship for the British Antarctic Expedition 1910. Reinforced from bow to stern with seven feet of oak to protect against the Antarctic ice pack and he described her as a wonderfully fine ice ship. As she bumped the floes with mighty shocks, crushing and grinding a way through some, twisting and turning to avoid others, she seemed like a living thing fighting a great fight. After wintering at Cape Evans on Ross Island, Scott, Henry Bowers, Edgar Evans, Lawrence Oates, starting with tractors and Mongolian ponies, the final 800 miles had to be covered by man-hauling alone. Reaching the South Pole on 17 January 1912, they found that Roald Amundsens expedition had beaten them by thirty-four days, worse was to come, as all five men died on the return journey. The frozen bodies of three were discovered eight months later, in November 1912 and their journals and papers were found and retrieved. After returning from the Antarctic in 1913, Terra Nova was purchased by her former owners, estimates for her career as a sealing vessel is over 800,000 seal pelts. In 1918 she was charted by DOSCO to transport coal from the mines at North Sydney to Bell Island. She also assisted at the disaster of the SS Florizel in February 1918, in 1942, Terra Nova was chartered by Newfoundland Base Contractors to carry supplies to base stations in Greenland. On 12 September 1943 at 2205, the vessel sent an SOS reporting damage, the US Coast Guard Cutters Atak, Amarok, Laurel, and Manitou, all part of the Greenland Patrol of the US Atlantic Fleet, responded. Atak reached Terra Nova on 13 September and they rescued all personnel aboard and set the ship alight before proceeding to Narsarssuak, Greenland
24.
Ernest Shackleton
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Born in Kilkea, Athy, County Kildare, Ireland, Shackleton and his Anglo-Irish family moved to Sydenham in suburban south London when he was ten. Also, members of his team climbed Mount Erebus, the most active Antarctic volcano, for these achievements, Shackleton was knighted by King Edward VII on his return home. After the race to the South Pole ended in December 1911 with Roald Amundsens conquest, Shackleton turned his attention to the crossing of Antarctica from sea to sea, to this end he made preparations for what became the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, 1914–17. Disaster struck this expedition when its ship, Endurance, became trapped in ice and was slowly crushed before the shore parties could be landed. In 1921, he returned to the Antarctic with the Shackleton–Rowett Expedition, at his wifes request he was buried there. Away from his expeditions, Shackletons life was generally restless and unfulfilled, in his search for rapid pathways to wealth and security, he launched business ventures which failed to prosper, and he died heavily in debt. Upon his death, he was lauded in the press, but was largely forgotten. Ernest Shackleton was born on 15 February 1874 in Kilkea near Athy, County Kildare, Ireland, ernests father was Henry Shackleton, and his mother was Henrietta Letitia Sophia Gavan. His fathers family was Anglo-Irish, originally from Yorkshire, England and his mothers family was Irish, from counties Cork and Kerry. Ernest was the second of their ten children and the first of two sons, the second, Frank, achieved notoriety as a suspect, later exonerated, in the 1907 theft of the Irish Crown Jewels. In 1880, when Ernest was six, Henry Shackleton gave up his life as a landowner to study medicine at Trinity College, Dublin, four years later, the family moved again, from Ireland to Sydenham in suburban London. From early childhood, Shackleton was a reader, a pursuit which sparked a passion for adventure. He was schooled by a governess until the age of eleven, at the age of thirteen, he entered Dulwich College. The young Shackleton did not particularly distinguish himself as a scholar and he was quoted later as saying, I never learned much geography at school. Literature, too, consisted in the dissection, the parsing, teachers should be very careful not to spoil taste for poetry for all time by making it a task and an imposition. In his final term at the school he was able to achieve fifth place in his class of thirty-one. Shackletons restlessness at school was such that he was allowed to leave at 16 and his father was able to secure him a berth with the North Western Shipping Company, aboard the square-rigged sailing ship Hoghton Tower. In August 1894, he passed his examination for Second Mate, two years later, he had obtained his First Mates ticket, and in 1898, he was certified as a Master Mariner, qualifying him to command a British ship anywhere in the world
25.
Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition
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The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, also known as the Endurance Expedition, is considered the last major expedition of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Conceived by Sir Ernest Shackleton, the expedition was an attempt to make the first land crossing of the Antarctic continent, after the conquest of the South Pole by Roald Amundsen in 1911, this crossing remained, in Shackletons words, the one great main object of Antarctic journeyings. The expedition failed to accomplish this objective, but became recognised instead as a feat of endurance. Shackleton had served in the Antarctic in Captain Scotts Discovery Expedition, 1901–04, in this new venture he proposed to sail to the Weddell Sea and to land a shore party near Vahsel Bay, in preparation for a transcontinental march via the South Pole to the Ross Sea. A supporting group, the Ross Sea party, would meanwhile establish camp in McMurdo Sound and these depots would be essential for the transcontinental partys survival, as the group would not be able to carry enough provisions for the entire crossing. The expedition required two ships, Endurance under Shackleton for the Weddell Sea party, and Aurora, under Aeneas Mackintosh, for the Ross Sea party. Endurance became beset in the ice of the Weddell Sea before reaching Vahsel Bay, eventually the ship was crushed and sunk, stranding its 28-man complement on the ice. After months spent in camps as the ice continued its northwards drift. Shackleton and five others then made an 800-mile open-boat journey in the James Caird to reach South Georgia, from there, Shackleton was eventually able to mount a rescue of the men waiting on Elephant Island and bring them home without loss of life. On the other side of the continent, the Ross Sea party overcame great hardships to fulfil its mission, Aurora was blown from her moorings during a gale and was unable to return, leaving the shore party marooned without proper supplies or equipment. Nevertheless, the depots were laid, but three lives were lost before the eventual rescue. By 1912 his future Antarctic plans depended on the results of Scotts Terra Nova Expedition, which had left Cardiff in July 1910, and on the concurrent Norwegian expedition led by Roald Amundsen. The news of Amundsens conquest of the South Pole reached Shackleton on 11 March 1912, to which he responded, the next work, he said, would be a transcontinental journey from sea to sea, crossing the pole. He was aware that others were in the field pursuing this objective, in late 1912 Filchner returned to South Georgia, having failed to land and set up his base. However, his reports of landing sites in Vahsel Bay, at around 78° latitude, were noted by Shackleton. News of the deaths of Captain Scott and his companions on their return from the South Pole reached London in February 1913, against this gloomy background Shackleton initiated preparations for his proposed journey. He solicited financial and practical support from, among others, Tryggve Gran of Scott’s expedition, and the former Prime Minister Lord Rosebery, Gran was evasive, and Rosebery blunt, I have never been able to care one farthing about the Poles. Bruce generously allowed Shackleton to adopt his plans, although the eventual scheme announced by Shackleton owed little to Bruce
26.
Endurance (1912 ship)
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Endurance was the three-masted barquentine in which Sir Ernest Shackleton sailed for the Antarctic on the 1914 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. She was launched in 1912 from Sandefjord in Norway and was crushed by ice, designed by Ole Aanderud Larsen, Endurance was built at the Framnæs shipyard in Sandefjord, Norway and fully completed on 17 December 1912. Every detail of her construction had been planned to ensure maximum durability, for example, every joint. The ship was launched on 17 December 1912 and was initially christened Polaris and she was 144 feet long, with a 25 feet beam and measured 348 tons gross. Though her black hull looked from the outside like that of any vessel of a comparable size. She was designed for conditions with a very sturdy construction. She was built of planks of oak and Norwegian fir up to 30 inches thick, sheathed in greenheart, the bow, which would meet the ice head-on, had been given special attention. Each timber had been made from an oak tree chosen for its shape so that its natural shape followed the curve of the ships design. When put together, these pieces had a thickness of 52 inches, of her three masts, the forward one was square-rigged, while the after two carried fore and aft sails, like a schooner. As well as sails, Endurance had a 350 horsepower coal-fired steam engine capable of speeds up to 10.2 knots, however, there was one major difference between the ships. Fram was bowl-bottomed, which meant that if the ice closed in against her it would be squeezed up and out, but since Endurance was designed to operate in relatively loose pack ice she was not constructed so as to rise out of pressure to any great extent. The rowing-boat/lifeboat aboard the Endurance was named the James Caird and was used continually to ferry those on board to the shore or ice, as Endurance was built for Adrien de Gerlache and Lars Christensen, they intended to use her for polar cruises for tourists to hunt polar bears. Financial problems leading to de Gerlache pulling out of their partnership meant that Christensen was happy to sell the boat to Ernest Shackleton for GB£11,600 less than cost. He is reported to have said he was happy to take the loss in order to further the plans of an explorer of Shackletons stature, after Shackleton purchased the ship, she was rechristened Endurance after the Shackleton family motto Fortitudine vincimus. In the previous 16 years, nearly two dozen wooden vessels had sailed to the icy seas of the far south, all had returned home but the Aurora. Lloyds of London and the Indemnity Marine Assurance Company had underwritten her hull, machinery and equipment for £15,000. The Times had praised Endurance as built specially for work in Polar seas, Shackleton sailed with Endurance from Plymouth, England on 6 August 1914 and set course for Buenos Aires, Argentina. This was Endurances first major voyage following its completion and amounted to a shakedown voyage, the trip across the Atlantic took more than two months
27.
Elephant Island
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Elephant Island is an ice-covered mountainous island off the coast of Antarctica in the outer reaches of the South Shetland Islands, in the Southern Ocean. Its name was given by early explorers sighting elephant seals on its shores and it is within the Antarctic claims of Argentina, Chile and the UK. Brazil has a shelter on the island, Goeldi, supporting the work of up to six researchers each during the summer, and another, which was dismantled in the summer of 1997/98. The island is oriented approximately east-west, with an elevation of 853 m at Pardo Ridge. Significant named features are Cape Yelcho, Cape Valentine and Cape Lookout at the northeastern and southern extremes, and Point Wild, the Endurance Glacier is the main discharge glacier. Due to slow recoveries and illegal whaling by Soviet Union with support from Japan, the island supports no significant flora or native fauna although migratory gentoo penguins and seals may be found, and chinstrap penguins nest in season. A lack of safe anchorage has prevented any permanent human settlement, despite the island being well placed to support scientific, fishing and whaling activities. Elephant Islands name can be attributed to both its elephant head-like appearance and the sighting of elephant seals by Captain George Powell in 1821, the weather is normally foggy with much snow, and winds can reach 160 km/h. The island is most famous as the refuge of British explorer Ernest Shackleton. Following the loss of their ship Endurance in Weddell Sea ice, the first of Shackletons crew to set foot here, and presumably the first person ever to make landfall, was Perce Blackborow, originally a stowaway on Endurance. Since Blackborow was the youngest crew member, Shackleton commanded that he make the first landfall on the island, realizing that there was no chance of rescue, Shackleton decided to sail to South Georgia where he knew there were several whaling stations. Shackleton sailed with five men on a 1,287 km voyage in the open lifeboat James Caird on Easter Monday, April 24,1916. His second-in-command, Frank Wild, was left in charge of the men on Elephant Island, there was much work for the stranded men. Because the island had no source of shelter, they constructed a shack. Blubber lamps were used for lighting, Expedition physicist Reginald James composed the following verses out of gratitude for Wilds leadership, They hunted for penguins and seals, neither of which were plentiful in autumn or winter. Many of the crew were ill and frostbitten, and they were now also in danger of starvation. After four and a half months, one of the men spotted a ship on August 30,1916. The ship, with Shackleton on board, was the tug Yelcho, from Punta Arenas, Chile, commanded by Luis Pardo and it was the fourth attempt to rescue the men
28.
Voyage of the James Caird
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The voyage of the James Caird was a small-boat journey from Elephant Island in the South Shetland Islands to South Georgia in the southern Atlantic Ocean, a distance of 800 nautical miles. Polar historians regard the voyage as one of the greatest small-boat journeys ever undertaken, in October 1915 pack ice in the Weddell Sea had sunk Endurance, leaving Shackleton and his companions adrift on a precarious ice surface. Throughout the duration of their survival, the group drifted northward until April 1916 and they then made their way in the ships lifeboats to Elephant Island, where Shackleton decided that the most effective means of obtaining rescue would be to sail one of the lifeboats to South Georgia. Of the three lifeboats, the James Caird was deemed the strongest and most likely to survive the journey, Shackleton had named it after Sir James Key Caird, a Dundee jute-manufacturer and philanthropist, whose sponsorship had helped finance the expedition. Before its voyage ships carpenter Harry McNish strengthened and adapted the boat to withstand the mighty seas of the Southern Ocean, surviving a series of dangers, including a near capsizing, the boat reached the southern coast of South Georgia after a voyage lasting 16 days. Shackleton and two then crossed the islands mountainous interior to reach a whaling station on the northern side. Here he organised the relief of the Elephant Island party, after the end of the First World War in 1918, the James Caird was brought back from South Georgia to England in 1919 and put on permanent display at Shackletons old school, Dulwich College from 1922. On 5 December 1914, Shackletons expedition ship Endurance left South Georgia for the Weddell Sea, on the first stage of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. It was making for Vahsel Bay, the southernmost explored point of the Weddell Sea at 77°49 S, before it could reach its destination the ship was trapped in pack ice, and by 14 February 1915 was held fast, despite prolonged efforts to free her. During the following eight months she drifted northward until, on 27 October, she was crushed by the packs pressure, as his 27-man crew set up camp on the slowly moving ice, Shackletons focus shifted to how best to save his party. His first plan was to march across the ice to the nearest land, the march began, but progress was hampered by the nature of the ices surface, later described by Shackleton as soft, much broken up, open leads intersecting the floes at all angles. They had managed to three lifeboats, which Shackleton had named after the principal backers of the expedition, Stancomb Wills, Dudley Docker. The party waited until 8 April 1916, when they took to the boats as the ice started to break up. Over a perilous period of seven days they sailed and rowed through stormy seas and dangerous loose ice, Elephant Island, on the eastern limits of the South Shetland Islands, was remote from anywhere that the expedition had planned to go, and far beyond normal shipping routes. No relief ship would search for them there, and the likelihood of rescue from any other outside agency was equally negligible, the pressures and hardships of the previous months were beginning to tell on the men, many of whom were in a run-down state both mentally and physically. In these conditions, Shackleton decided to try to reach help, the nearest port was Stanley in the Falkland Islands,540 nautical miles away, but made unreachable by the prevailing westerly winds. A better option was to head for Deception Island, at the end of the South Shetland chain. Although it was uninhabited, Admiralty records indicated that this island held stores for shipwrecked mariners, however, reaching it would also involve a journey against the prevailing winds—though in less open seas—with ultimately no certainty when or if rescue would arrive
29.
South Georgia Island
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South Georgia is an island in the South Atlantic that is part of the British Overseas territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. South Georgia is 167.4 kilometres long and 1.4 to 37 km wide. The Island of South Georgia is said to have been first sighted in 1675 by Anthony de la Roché, a London merchant and it was sighted by a commercial Spanish ship named León operating out of Saint-Malo on 28 June or 29 June 1756
30.
Dingle Peninsula
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The Dingle Peninsula is the northernmost of the major peninsulas in County Kerry. It ends beyond the town of Dingle at Dunmore Head, the westernmost point of Ireland, the Dingle Peninsula is named after the town of Dingle. The peninsula is commonly called Corca Dhuibhne even when those referring to it are speaking in English. Irelands highest mountain outside Macgillycuddys Reeks, Mount Brandon at 951 m, forms part of a high ridge with stunning views over the peninsula. The Blasket Islands lie off the west coast and they are famous for the literary and linguistic heritage of the former inhabitants. However, these islands have been uninhabited since the 1950s following an evacuation. The western end of the peninsula is a Gaeltacht that has produced a number of notable authors and poets, Ó Siochfhradha. This is the most western part of Ireland, and the village of Dún Chaoin is often referred to as the next parish to America. Músaem Chorca Dhuibhne, situated in the village of Baile an Fheirtéaraigh has exhibitions detailing the archaeology, some of the exhibitions include Ogham stones, artefacts from the excavations at the nearby monastic site of Riasc and objects on loan from the National Museum of Ireland. The peninsula is known for the Ranga, a Spanish cargo vessel that wrecked on the coast in 1982. Far and Away, a 1992 film directed by Ron Howard, was filmed on the peninsula. The film Leap Year is partly set in the Dingle Peninsula, but none of the filming took place in the area
31.
Boy seaman
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A boy seaman is a boy who serves as seaman and/or is trained for such service. On a boys 18th birthday he automatically became rated as a seaman and was subject to the Naval Discipline Act as applicable to adult seamen. His rate of pay was increased on being promoted, boy 2nd class - a boy aged 15 to 17 rated as such on entry to a training ship of the Royal Navy. Such entry was conditional on a boys adequate physical height, weight and medical fitness, the boys parents or guardians would sign a declaration that the boy would serve in the navy for a minimum period. Boy 3rd class - a boy aged 14 to 18 who served either as a domestic aboard the port flagships or as a clerk or storekeeper in the ports. He would be eligible for entry to a ship as a boy 2nd class from age 15 if he met the physical requirements. The majority of boys were enlisted from homes in the ports and were not wholly resident on ships or in the dockyards. Powder-boy was a role for younger boys to service artillery, cadet - boys aged 13 to 15 enlisted to become officers and trained on a training ship reserved for such schooling, the last was HMS Britannia moored at Dartmouth
32.
HMNB Devonport
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Her Majestys Naval Base, Devonport, is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy. HMNB Devonport is located in Devonport, in the west of the city of Plymouth, having begun as Royal Navy Dockyard in the late-17th century, it is now the largest naval base in Western Europe and is the sole nuclear repair and refuelling facility for the Royal Navy. From 1934 until the early 21st century the barracks on the site was named HMS Drake. Recently, the name HMS Drake has been extended to cover the entire base, in the early 1970s the newly-styled Fleet Maintenance Base was itself commissioned as HMS Defiance, it remained so until 1994, at which point it was amalgamated into HMS Drake. HM Naval Base Devonport is the port of the Devonport Flotilla which includes the largest ship in the Royal Navy, HMS Ocean. In 2009 the Ministry of Defence announced the conclusion of a review of the long-term role of three naval bases. Devonport will no longer be used as a base for submarines after these move to Faslane by 2017. However, Devonport retains a role as the dedicated home of the amphibious fleet, survey vessels. In 1588, the ships of the English Navy set sail for the Spanish Armada through the mouth of the River Plym, Sir Francis Drake is now an enduring legacy in Devonport, as the naval base has been named HMS Drake. In 1689 Prince William of Orange became William III and almost immediately he required the building of a new Royal Dockyard west of Portsmouth, having dismissed the Plymouth site as inadequate, he settled on the Hamoaze area which soon became known as Plymouth Dock, later renamed Devonport. On 30 December 1690, a contract was let for a dockyard to be built, having selected the location, Dummer was given responsibility for designing and building the new yard. At the heart of his new dockyard, Dummer placed a stone-lined basin, previously the Navy Board had relied upon timber as the major building material for dry docks, which resulted in high maintenance costs and was also a fire risk. The docks Dummer designed were stronger with more secure foundations and stepped sides that made it easier for men to work beneath the hull of a docked vessel and these innovations also allowed rapid erection of staging and greater workforce mobility. He discarded the earlier three-sectioned hinged gate, which was labour-intensive in operation, Dummer wished to ensure that naval dockyards were efficient working units that maximised available space, as evidenced by the simplicity of his design layout at Plymouth Dock. He introduced a centralised storage area alongside the basin, and a positioning of other buildings around the yard. His double rope-house combined the previously separate tasks of spinning and laying while allowing the floor to be used for the repair of sails. On high ground overlooking the rest of the yard he built a terrace of houses for the senior dockyard officers. Most of Dummers buildings and structures were rebuilt over ensuing years, including the basin, the terrace survived into the 20th century, but was largely destroyed in the Blitz along with several others of Devonports historic buildings
33.
HMS Devastation (1871)
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HMS Devastation was the first of two Devastation-class mastless turret ships built for the British Royal Navy. This was the first class of ocean-going capital ship that did not carry sails, Devastation was built at a time in which steam power was well established among the worlds larger naval powers. However, most ships built at this time were equipped not only with a steam engine, the presence of masts also prohibited the use of gun turrets since the rigging would obstruct their arc of fire. Devastation, designed by Sir Edward J. Devastation was the first turret ship built to an Admiralty design. She was 285 feet long between perpendiculars, with a beam of 62 feet 3 inches, a draught of 26 feet 1.5 inches. She was armed with four RML12 inch 25 ton guns and her breastworks and hull were protected by 10–12 inches of armour, and she was also fitted with a 10–12-foot spur bow. The ship had a bottom, and was divided internally into watertight compartments. Devastation could carry 1,350 tons of coal, giving her a range of 3,550 nautical miles at 12 knots or 5,570 nautical miles at 10 knots. She also carried 30 tons of water, enough for three weeks, and 19 tons of provisions, six weeks supply for her crew of 329. Although they found no reason for concern in the stability of the ship, the freeboard was increased to 10 feet 9 inches, and armour-plated bulkheads, between 4–6 inches thick provided additional protection to the magazines and engines. The 25-ton guns were replaced by RML12 inch 35 ton guns and this additional weight increased her mean draught to 26 feet 8 inches. Sea trials were made in mid-1873 and generated an unusual amount of public interest, not just for the novelty of her appearance, in time trials she recorded a speed of 13.84 knots, the engines producing 6,637 horsepower. Gunnery trials were made off the Isle of Wight, firing 700-pound Palliser shells, apart from a tendency for her low forecastle to be swept by the sea, she performed slightly better than her companions in both pitch and roll. Devastation was deployed to serve in the waters of the United Kingdom, in 1891, the 12-inch guns were replaced with 10-inch breech-loading guns and she was refitted with new triple expansion steam engines. In 1901, under the command of Captain Francis George Kirby, she was guard ship at the port of Gibraltar and she left the Mediterranean station headquarters at Malta, homebound, on 19 February 1902, and after a last visit to Gibraltar arrived in Plymouth 2 April. She was paid off at Devonport 18 April, and proceeded to Portsmouth, the ship was broken up in 1908. HMS Devastation is familiar as the ship depicted on Englands Glory matchboxes and her badge was also issued by publishers for use in Monogram and Crest Albums – a popular collecting hobby of the second half of the 19th century. Chesneau, Roger, Kolesnik, Eugene M. eds, conways All the Worlds Fighting Ships 1860–1905
34.
HMS Royal Arthur (1891)
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HMS Royal Arthur was a first class cruiser of the Edgar class, previously named Centaur, but renamed in 1890 prior to launching. She served on the Australia Station and briefly on the North America and she was paid off after the First World War. Royal Arthur, and her sister ship Crescent, were built to a modified design and are sometimes considered a separate class. She was built at Portsmouth and launched on 26 February 1891 and she first served as the flagship of the Pacific Station from 1893 to 1896, before being refitted at Portsmouth in 1897. She then served as the flagship of the Australian Station from 1897 to 1904, in that role she provided escort for the royal yacht Ophir carrying the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York to Australia to open the new Federal Parliament in 1901. Captain Thomas Philip Walker was appointed in command in April 1901 and she visited Norfolk Island in July 1902. She left the Australia Station on 6 April 1904 and was paid off and she recommissioned in 1905 and served on the North America and West Indies Station before returning to England in 1906. Laid up in reserve for three years, she served as part of the Home Fleet and later Queenstown Training Squadron and she was a guardship at Scapa Flow during the early part of the First World War and later as a submarine depot ship. She was paid off in 1920 and sold in August 1921 for breaking up in Germany, bastock, John, Ships on the Australia Station, Child & Associates Publishing Pty Ltd, Frenchs Forest, Australia. ISBN 0-86777-348-0 Colledge, J. J. Warlow, Ben, Ships of the Royal Navy, The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy. Roger Chesneau and Eugene M. Kolesnik, ed. Conways All The Worlds Fighting Ships, 1860-1905, ISBN 0-85177-133-5
35.
Naval rating
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A naval rating is an enlisted member of a countrys navy, subordinate to warrant officers and officers hence not conferred by commission or warrant. Historically the term also applied to ships, denoting their combat strength by the number. It is analogous to the rank as used, for example. However, the rank should not be used in lieu of rate when referring to U. S. naval enlisted personnel. A rating refers to the occupational specialty, combined with their paygrade. Navy personnel in pay grades E-1 to E-3 may not have a rate and are classed into one of five groups. Petty Officers and Chief Petty Officers are sometimes referred to by a combination of rate, for example, a Petty Officer Second Class with the rating of Gunners Mate may be addressed as Gunners Mate Second Class. Similarly, a Chief Petty Officer with the rating of Quartermaster is referred to in formal occasions as Chief Quartermaster, on less formal occasions, however, senior enlisted personnel are referred to simply as Chief, Senior Chief, or Master Chief, as applicable. Rate badges consist of insignia that indicate the rate and rating. Within these a number of further specializations are available such as aviation electrician, royal Navy ratings rank insignia Enlisted rank Military Occupational Specialty Ordinary seaman Able seaman Baker, Ernest A. The New English Dictionary, Odhams Press, London,1932, the Blue Jackets Manual Centennial Edition, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland,2002
36.
HMS Wild Swan (1876)
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HMS Wild Swan was an Osprey-class sloop built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1870s. She was launched in 1877 and became a ship in 1904. She was renamed Columbine in 1913 and was sold for breaking in 1920, Wild Swan was an Osprey-class sloop-of-war, with a composite hull design. The ship had a displacement of 1,130 tons, was 170 feet long, had a beam of 36 feet, an R & W Hawthorn two-cylinder horizontal returning-rod steam engine fed by three cylindrical boilers provided 797 indicated horsepower to the single 13 ft propeller screw. This gave Wild Swan a top speed of 10.3 knots, after the first commission the engine was replaced by a Devonport Dockyard two-cylinder horizontal compound-expansion steam engine. She had a range of 1,480 nautical miles at 10 kn. In addition to the propeller, the vessel was also barque rigged. The standard ships company was between 140 and 150, armament consisted of two 7-inch muzzle-loading rifled guns, four 64-pound guns, four machine guns, and one light gun. Wild Swan and her sister-ship Pelican were re-armed later with two 6-inch BL guns and six 5-inch BL guns, Wild Swan was built by Robert Napier and Sons, of Govan, Scotland. The vessel was laid down on 14 September 1874 as yard number 341 and she was launched on 28 January 1876, and commissioned into the Royal Navy on 23 August 1876. Construction costs included £39,643 for the hull, and £11,853 for machinery, Wild Swan patrolled off the coast of Mozambique in 1880, operating against the slave trade. In early 1881, she operated together with Portuguese forces against slavers, landing a Portuguese force at Conducia Bay on 12 February 1881 and supporting them with gun, Wild Swan was decommissioned and placed on the list of Admiralty vessels for sale in 1900. She was withdrawn from the list and re-fitted in late 1901 as a ship in Kingstown Harbour for men of the Royal Navy Reserve. She also served as tender to HMS Melampus, coast guard ship at Kingstown, Wild Swan became a base ship on 1 May 1904 and was renamed Clyde. She was renamed again in July 1913, becoming Columbine and she was sold for breaking to the Forth Shipbreaking company on 4 May 1920. British Sloops of 1875, The Larger Ram-Bowed Type, cambridge, UK, Society for Nautical Research. Chesneau, Roger, Kolesnik, Eugene M. eds, conways All the Worlds Fighting Ships 1860-1905. The Royal Navy, A History From the Earliest Times to the Death of Queen Victoria, the Sail and Steam Navy List, All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815–1889
37.
Able seaman (rank)
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In the British Royal Navy in the middle of the 18th century, the term able seaman referred to a seaman with more than two years experience at sea and considered well acquainted with his duty. Seamen with no or less one year experience at sea are referred to as landmen or ordinary seamen respectively. In 1653 the Royal Navy introduced a new pay scale as part of reforms following defeat in the Battle of Dungeness the previous year, included in these reforms were, for the first time, separate pay scales for more experienced seamen. It distinguished between an ordinary seaman and an able seaman, the higher ranked able seaman could steer, use the lead and work aloft, traditionally to hand, reef, and steer. An able seaman received about 25% higher pay than an ordinary seaman, in peacetime, with fewer active warships, there was usually a surplus of unemployed able seamen willing to work in the navy. Some notable able seamen from the Royal Navy include, Simon, ships cat on HMS Amethyst, also said to have been promoted to able seacat Just Nuisance, a Great Dane in the Royal Navy, famous for his dislike of officers and liking of ordinary sailors. Alistair MacLean, author Sir Fairfax Moresby, English admiral of the fleet, William Charles Williams, recipient of the Victoria Cross William G. V. Williams, first recorded Australian casualty in World War 1. He was actually part of the Royal Australian Navy and was an able seaman and he died on 11 September 1914 in Rabaul, Papua New Guinea as part of the Australian expeditionary force that captured the former German colony called German New Guinea. He is buried in the Rabaul War Cemetery in Kopoko that is near Rabaul on the island of New Britain, in all trades, the rank is awarded on completion of 30 months of service, by which time all initial training is completed. Consequently, it is said that promotion to the rank of able seaman means the recipient has lost their best excuse. Able seaman is the equivalent rank to private, or simply private, in the Army, in French the rank is called matelot de 2e classe. In the Royal Australian Navy, able seaman is the second-lowest of the non-commissioned member ranks, ranking above seaman, Able seaman is the equivalent rank to Leading aircraftman, in the Royal Australian Air Force and Private Proficient Private Proficient in the Australian Army. It is not equivalent to Lance Corporal which is rated as E4, not E3 like the ranks of Able Seaman, the Wooden World, An Anatomy of the Georgian Navy. The Command of the Ocean, A Naval History of Britain, 1649–1815 W. W
38.
Petty officer
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A petty officer is a non-commissioned officer in many navies and is given the NATO rank denotion OR-6. They are equal in rank to sergeant in the British Army, a petty officer is superior in rank to leading rate and subordinate to chief petty officer, in the case of the British armed forces. The modern petty officer dates back to the Age of Sail, Petty officers rank between naval officers and most enlisted sailors. These were men with some claim to rank, sufficient to distinguish them from ordinary ratings. Several were warrant officers, in the sense of being appointed by warrant. The Oxford English Dictionary suggests that the title derives from the Anglo-Norman and Middle French petit, meaning of small size, small, little. Two of the petty officers rates, midshipman and masters mate, were a superior petty officer with a general authority. However, it was possible for a warrant officer, in his role as a superior officer. This is because both were regarded as future sea officers, with the all-important social distinction of having the right to walk the quarterdeck, midshipmen wore distinctive uniforms, masters mates dressed respectably, and both behaved like officers. The masters mate rating evolved into the rank of sub-lieutenant, there are two petty officer ranks in the Royal Canadian Navy. Petty officer, 2nd class is equivalent to a sergeant and petty officer, Petty officers are normally addressed as Petty Officer Bloggins or PO Bloggins, thereafter as PO. The NATO rank denotion for petty officer, 2nd class is OR-6, the NATO rank denotion for petty officer, 1st class is OR-7. A petty officer is an officer in the Indian Navy. They are equal in rank to an sub inspector of police in the Indian Police Services, or sergeant in the Indian Army and Indian Air Force. A petty officer is superior in rank to a rate and subordinate to a chief petty officer. A petty officer has the ability to work as a leader, capable of taking charge of a group of personnel, in the Royal Navy, the rate of petty officer comes above that of leading rating and below that of chief petty officer. It is the equivalent of sergeant in the Royal Marines, British Army, Petty officer is the lowest of the senior rating grades. Petty officers, like all senior rates, wear fore and aft rig, the title of petty officer in the United States Navy and United States Coast Guard has three separate classes and three senior grades
39.
South Island, New Zealand
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The South Island or Te Waipounamu is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, the South Island covers 150,437 square kilometres and has a temperate climate. In the early stages of European settlement of the country, the South Island had the majority of the European population, in prose, the two main islands of New Zealand are called the North Island and the South Island, with the definite article. Charcoal drawings can be found on rock shelters in the centre of the South Island. The drawings are estimated to be between 500 and 800 years old, and portray animals, people and fantastic creatures, possibly stylised reptiles, some of the birds pictured are long extinct, including moa and Haasts eagles. They were drawn by early Māori, but by the time Europeans arrived, early inhabitants of the South Island were the Waitaha. They were largely absorbed via marriage and conquest by the Kāti Mamoe in the 16th century, Kāti Mamoe were in turn largely absorbed via marriage and conquest by the Kāi Tahu who migrated south in the 17th century. While today there is no distinct Kāti Mamoe organisation, many Kāi Tahu have Kāti Mamoe links in their whakapapa and, a notable feature of the Moriori culture, an emphasis on pacifism, proved disadvantageous when Māori warriors arrived in the 1830s aboard a chartered European ship. In the early 18th century, Kāi Tahu, a Māori tribe who originated on the east coast of the North Island, There they and Kāti Mamoe fought Ngāi Tara and Rangitāne in the Wairau Valley. Ngāti Māmoe then ceded the east coast regions north of the Clarence River to Kāi Tahu, Kāi Tahu continued to push south, conquering Kaikoura. By the 1730s, Kāi Tahu had settled in Canterbury, including Banks Peninsula, from there they spread further south and into the West Coast. In 1827-1828 Ngāti Toa under the leadership of Te Rauparaha successfully attacked Kāi Tahu at Kaikoura, Ngāti Toa then visited Kaiapoi, ostensibly to trade. When they attacked their hosts, the well-prepared Kāi Tahu killed all the leading Ngāti Toa chiefs except Te Rauparaha, Te Rauparaha returned to his Kapiti Island stronghold. After destroying Te Maiharanuis village they took their captives to Kapiti, John Stewart, though arrested and sent to trial in Sydney as an accomplice to murder, nevertheless escaped conviction. In the summer of 1831–32 Te Rauparaha attacked the Kaiapoi pā, Kaiapoi was engaged in a three-month siege by Te Rauparaha, during which his men successfully sapped the pā. They then attacked Kāi Tahu on Banks Peninsula and took the pā at Onawe, in 1832-33 Kāi Tahu retaliated under the leadership of Tūhawaiki and others, attacking Ngāti Toa at Lake Grassmere. Kāi Tahu prevailed, and killed many Ngāti Toa, although Te Rauparaha again escaped, fighting continued for a year or so, with Kāi Tahu maintaining the upper hand. Ngāti Toa never again made an incursion into Kāi Tahu territory
40.
Lyttelton Harbour
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Lyttelton Harbour / Whakaraupō is one of two major inlets in Banks Peninsula, on the coast of Canterbury, New Zealand, the other is Akaroa Harbour. Diamond Harbour lies to the south and the Māori village of Rāpaki to the west, at the head of the harbour is the settlement of Governors Bay. The reserve of Quail Island is near the head and Ripapa Island is just off its south shore at the entrance to Purau Bay. The harbour provides access to a commercial port at Lyttelton which today includes a petroleum storage facility. Hectors dolphins, an endemic to New Zealand, and New Zealand fur seals live in the harbour. Māori referred to the harbour as Te Whakaraupō, with this translating as harbour of the raupō reed, the common original European name for the harbour was Port Cooper, after Daniel Cooper). The surveyors under Joseph Thomas who surveyed Canterbury in the late 1840s named the harbour Port Victoria after the monarch of the United Kingdom, the name was officially changed to Lyttelton Harbour in 1858, in honour of George William Lyttelton, who was the chairman of the Canterbury Association. The official name of the harbour was amended again to become a name by the Ngāi Tahu Claims Settlement Act 1998. Early European settlers used Quail Island as a colony in 1918–25. It is now a nature reserve, fort Jervois was built on the island of Rīpapa in 1885–95. Rīpapa was used in World War I to intern German nationals as enemy aliens, from 1907 it was worked with turbine steamships and from 1933 it was named the Steamer Express. However, in 1962 New Zealand Railways started the Interislander ferry service on the 55-nautical-mile route between Picton and Wellington and this competing service not only offered a shorter crossing but also used diesel ships that had lower running costs than the Union Companys turbine steamers. The wreck of the Steamer Express TEV Wahine in 1968 was a setback for the Lyttelton service but the Union Company introduced a new ship, TEV Rangatira, in 1972. She lost money, survived on a Ministry of Transport subsidy from 1974 and was withdrawn in 1976, media related to Lyttelton Harbour at Wikimedia Commons
41.
McMurdo Sound
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McMurdo Sound and its ice-clogged waters extends about 55 kilometres long and wide. The sound connects the Ross Sea to the north with the Ross Ice Shelf cavity to the south via Haskell Strait, the strait is largely covered by the McMurdo Ice Shelf. The Royal Society Range rises from sea level to 4,205 metres on the western shoreline, Ross Island, an historic jumping-off point for polar explorers, designates the eastern boundary. The active volcano Mt Erebus at 3,794 metres dominates Ross Island, Antarcticas largest scientific base, the United States McMurdo Station, as well as the New Zealand Scott Base are on the southern shore of the island. Less than 10 percent of McMurdo Sounds shoreline is free of ice and it is the southernmost navigable body of water in the world. Captain James Clark Ross discovered this sound, which is about 1,300 kilometres from the South Pole, in February 1841, the sound today serves as a resupply route for cargo ships and for airplanes that land on the floating ice airstrips near the McMurdo Station. However, McMurdo Station’s continuous occupation by human beings since 1957/58 has dirtied the harbor of Winter Quarters Bay, the pack ice that girdles the shoreline at Winter Quarters Bay and elsewhere in the sound presents a formidable obstacle to surface ships. Vessels require ice-strengthened hulls and often have to rely upon escort by icebreakers, such extreme sea conditions have limited access by tourists, who otherwise are appearing in increasing numbers in the open waters of the Antarctic Peninsula. The few tourists who reach the McMurdo Sound find spectacular scenery with wildlife to be seen, including whales, seals, Adelie penguins. Cold circumpolar currents of the Southern Ocean reduce the flow of warm South Pacific or South Atlantic waters reaching McMurdo Sound, bitter katabatic winds spilling down from the Antarctic polar plateau into McMurdo Sound demonstrate Antarcticas status as the coldest and windiest continent in the world. The McMurdo Sound freezes over with sea ice about 3 metres thick during the winter, the Antarctic summer causes the pack ice to break up. Wind and currents may push the ice northward into the Ross Sea, temperatures during the dark winter months at McMurdo Station have dropped as low as −51 °C. However, December and January are the warmest months, with highs at −1 °C. McMurdo Sounds role as a strategic waterway dates back to early 20th century Antarctic exploration, British explorers Ernest Shackleton and Robert Scott built bases on the sounds shoreline as jumping-off points for their overland expeditions to the South Pole. McMurdo Sounds logistic importance continues today, aircraft transporting cargo and passengers land upon frozen runways at Williams Field on the McMurdo Ice Shelf. Moreover, the annual sealift of a ship and fuel tanker rely upon the sound as a supply route to the continents largest base. Both the U. S. base and New Zealands nearby Scott Base are on the tip of Ross Island. Ross Island is the southmost piece of land in Antarctica that is accessible by ship, in addition, the harbor at McMurdos Winter Quarters Bay is the worlds southmost seaport
42.
Edward Adrian Wilson
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Edward Adrian Wilson FZS was an English physician, polar explorer, natural historian, painter and ornithologist. Born in 91 Montpellier Terrace, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, on 23 July 1872, Wilson was the son and fifth child of physician Dr Edward Thomas Wilson and his wife, Mary Agnes. A clever, sensitive, but boisterous boy, he developed a love of the countryside, natural history and drawing from an early age. He was sent as a boarder to a school in Clifton, Bristol. His mother was a breeder and he spent much of his youth at The Crippetts farm. By the age of nine he had announced to his parents that he was going to become a naturalist, with encouragement and tuition from his father, he started to draw pictures of the wildlife and fauna in the fields around the farm. After passing his Oxford and Cambridge exams with honours in science, in 1891 he went to Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge where he read Natural Sciences and it was during his time there that he developed the deep Christian faith and asceticism by which he lived his life. He studied for his Bachelor of Medicine degree at St Georges Hospital Medical School, London, in February 1898, shortly before qualifying as a doctor, Wilson became seriously ill and was diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis, contracted during his mission work. During a long convalescence from illness he spent months in Norway and Switzerland, time he used to practice. He qualified in medicine in 1900 and the year was appointed Junior House Surgeon at Cheltenham General Hospital. He married Oriana Souper on 16 July 1901 just three weeks before setting off for the Antarctic as a member of Robert Falcon Scotts Discovery Expedition. Wilson took part in two British expeditions to Antarctica, the Discovery Expedition and the Terra Nova Expedition, both under the leadership of Scott, from 1901 to 1904, Wilson acted as Junior Surgeon, Zoologist and expedition artist, setting off with the expedition on 6 August 1901. They reached Antarctica in January 1902, on 2 November 1902, Wilson, Scott and Ernest Shackleton set off on a journey that, at the time, was the southern-most trek achieved by any explorer. The party had dogs but they were not experienced in using them, with many of the dogs dead, they turned back on 31 December 1902 having reached latitude 82°17S. They had travelled 300 miles farther south than anyone before them and were only 480 miles from the Pole, Shackleton was deteriorating rapidly, coughing blood and suffering fainting spells and unable to help pull the sledge. Scott and Wilson, themselves suffering, struggled to get the party home and it was a close call but 93 days after setting off, having covered 960 miles, they reached the Discovery and safety in February 1903. The following month, Shackleton, having suffered particularly badly from scurvy and exhaustion, was sent home early by Scott on the relief ship, Morning. On his return, Shackleton asked Wilson to join his Nimrod expedition to Antarctica in 1907, on 15 June 1910, Wilson set sail from Cardiff on the Terra Nova, as Chief of the Scientific Staff of Scotts final expedition
43.
Farthest South
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Farthest South was the most southerly latitudes reached by explorers before the conquest of the South Pole in 1911. From the late 19th century onward, the quest for Farthest South latitudes became in effect a race to reach the pole, in the years before reaching the pole was a realistic objective, other motives drew adventurers southward. Initially, the force was the discovery of new trade routes between Europe and the Far East. James Cooks voyages of 1771–74 demonstrated conclusively the likely nature of any hidden lands. This caused a shift of emphasis in the first half of the 19th century, away from trade and towards sealing and whaling, after the first overwintering on continental Antarctica in 1899, the prospect of reaching the South Pole appeared realistic, and the race for the pole began. The British were pre-eminent in this endeavor, which was characterized by the rivalry between Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton during the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Shackletons efforts fell short, Scott reached the pole in January 1912 only to find that he had beaten by the Norwegian Amundsen. In 1494, the maritime powers, Portugal and Spain, signed a treaty which drew a line down the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. That gave Portugal dominance of the known route to the east—via the Cape of Good Hope and Indian Ocean, which left Spain. The exploration of the south began as part of the search for such a route, unlike the Arctic, there is no evidence of human visitation or habitation in Antarctica or the islands around it prior to European exploration. However, the most southerly parts of South America were already inhabited by such as the Selknam/Ona, the Yagán/Yámana, the Alacaluf. Fuegian Indian artifacts and canoe remnants have also discovered on the Falkland Islands. There are also remains of a Polynesian settlement dating back to the 13th century on Enderby Island in the Auckland Islands and it is unclear from the legends how far south Ui-te-Rangiora penetrated, but it appears that he observed ice in large quantities. A shard of undated, unidentified pottery, reported as found in 1886 in the Antipodes Islands, has been associated with this expedition. Success depended on finding a strait or passage through the South American land masses, or finding the southern tip of the continent and sailing around it. The South American coast was sighted on 6 December 1519, and Magellan moved cautiously southward, little if anything was known of the coast south of this point, so Magellan decided to wait out the southern winter here, and established the settlement of Puerto San Julian. In September 1520, the voyage continued down the uncharted coast, here Magellan found a deep inlet which proved to be the strait he was seeking, later to be known by his name. Early in November 1520, as the squadron navigated through the strait, the first sighting of an ocean passage to the Pacific south of Tierra del Fuego is sometimes attributed to Francisco de Hoces of the Loaisa Expedition
