1.
Bethlehem Steel Company
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Bethlehem Steel Corporation was Americas second-largest steel producer and largest shipbuilder. Bethlehem Steel and a company, Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, were two of the most powerful symbols of American industrial manufacturing leadership. In 2005, ISG merged with Mittal Steel, ending American ownership of the assets of Bethlehem Steel, the companys roots go back to 1857 when the Saucona Iron Company was first organized by Augustus Wolle. The Panic of 1857, a financial crisis, halted further organization of the company. Eventually, the organization was completed, the site moved elsewhere in South Bethlehem, on June 14,1860, the board of directors of the fledgling company elected Alfred Hunt president. On May 1,1861, the title was changed again. Construction of the first blast furnace began on July 1,1861, the first rolling mill was built between the spring of 1861 and the summer of 1863, with the first railroad rails being rolled on September 26. A machine shop, in 1865, and another blast furnace, during its early years, the company produced rails for the rapidly expanding railroads and armor plating for the US Navy. In 1899, the company assumed the name Bethlehem Steel Company, in 1904, Charles M. Schwab and Joseph Wharton formed the Bethlehem Steel Corporation with Schwab becoming its first president and chairman of its board of directors. The Bethlehem Steel Corporation installed the gray rolling mill and producing the first wide-flange structural shapes to be made in America and these shapes were partly responsible for ushering in the age of the skyscraper and establishing Bethlehem Steel as the leading supplier of steel to the construction industry. In the early 1900s, the corporation branched out from steel, with mines in Cuba. In 1913, it acquired the Fore River Shipbuilding Company of Quincy, Massachusetts, in 1917, it incorporated its shipbuilding division as Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, Limited. In 1922, it purchased the Lackawanna Steel Company, which included the Delaware, Lackawanna, the nations decision to rebuild the United States Navy with steam-driven, steel-hulled warships reshaped Bethlehem Iron Companys destiny. Following the American Civil War, the Navy quickly downsized after the end of hostilities, as national energies were redirected toward settling the West, almost no new ordinance was produced, and new technology was neglected. By 1881, international incidents highlighted the poor condition of the U. S. fleet, in 1883, Secretary of the Navy William E. Chandler and Secretary of the Army Robert Todd Lincoln appointed Lt. William Jaques to the Gun Foundry Board. Jaques was sent on several fact-finding tours of European armament makers and on one of these trips he formed ties with the firm of Joseph Whitworth of Manchester. He returned to America as Whitworths agent and, in 1885, was granted a furlough to pursue this personal interest. Jaques was aware that the U. S. Navy would soon solicit bids for the production of heavy guns and other products such as armor that would be needed to further expand the fleet
Bethlehem Steel Company
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Bethlehem Steel Works, a watercolor by
Joseph Pennell, depicting Bethlehem Iron Company in May 1881
Bethlehem Steel Company
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Bethlehem Steel Corporation
Bethlehem Steel Company
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The Bethlehem Steel plant, photographed circa 1896 by
William H. Rau
Bethlehem Steel Company
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Construction of two warships:
HMS Calder (K349) as USS Formoe (DE-58) and
USS Foss (DE-59) on the right
2.
San Pedro, California
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San Pedro is a community within the city of Los Angeles, California. Formerly a separate city, it consolidated with Los Angeles in 1909, the Port of Los Angeles, a major international seaport, is partially located within San Pedro. The district has grown from being dominated by the industry to become primarily a working class community within the city of Los Angeles. The site, at the end of the Palos Verdes Peninsula. The peninsula, including all of San Pedro, was the homeland of the Tongva-Gabrieleño Native American people for thousands of years, in other areas of the Los Angeles Basin archeological sites date back 8, 000–15,000 years. The Tongva believe they have been here since the beginning of time, once called the lords of the ocean, due to their mastery of oceangoing canoes, many Tongva villages covered the coastline. Their first contact with Europeans in 1542 with João Cabrilho, the Portuguese explorer who also was the first to write of them, chowigna and Suangna were two Tongva settlements of many in the peninsula area, which was also a departure point for their rancherias on the Channel Islands. Legend has it that the Native Americans blessed the land of Palos Verdes, the Tongva called the San Pedro area Chaaw. San Pedro was named for St. Peter of Alexandria, a bishop in Alexandria. His feast day is November 24 on the ecclesiastical calendar of Spain. Santa Catalina Island, named after Catherine of Alexandria, was claimed for the Spanish Empire the next day, on her feast day, in 1602–1603, Sebastián Vizcaíno officially surveyed and mapped the California coastline, including San Pedro Bay, for New Spain. The anglicized pronunciation, popularized by the English-speaking people of Midwestern America, is san-PEE-dro, european settlement began in 1769 as part of an effort to populate California, although trade restrictions encouraged more smuggling than regular business. Rancho San Pedro is the site of the first Spanish land grant in Alta California, the land was granted in 1784 by King Carlos III to Juan Jose Dominguez, a retired Spanish soldier who came to California with the Gaspar de Portolà expedition. When New Spain won its independence from the Spanish Empire and Alta California became part of Mexico, the restrictions were lifted. In 1888, the War Department took control of a tract of land next to the bay and this became Fort MacArthur in 1914 and was a coastal defense site for many years. Woodrow Wilson transferred 200 United States Navy ships from the Atlantic to the Pacific in 1919 when tension arose between the United States and Japan over the fate of China. San Diego Bay was considered too shallow for the largest ships, local availability of fuel oil minimized transportation costs, and consistently good weather allowed frequent gunnery exercises off the nearby Channel Islands of California. The heavy cruisers of the Scouting Force were transferred from the Atlantic to San Pedro in response to the 1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria, by 1934,14 battleships, two aircraft carriers,14 cruisers, and 16 support ships were based at San Pedro
San Pedro, California
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Boundaries of San Pedro as drawn by the Los Angeles Times
San Pedro, California
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1859 survey map of the Rancho San Pedro
San Pedro, California
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The
Sea Princess in Port of Los Angeles
San Pedro, California
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A cyclist on Beacon Street around the time of annexation by Los Angeles in 1909
3.
Fletcher-class destroyer
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The Fletcher class was a class of destroyers built by the United States during World War II. The class was designed in 1939, as a result of dissatisfaction with the destroyer leader types of the Porter. Some went on to serve during the Korean War and into the Vietnam War, the United States Navy commissioned 175 Fletcher-class destroyers between 1942 and 1944, more than any other destroyer class, and the design was generally regarded as highly successful. Fletchers had a speed of 38 knots, and an armament of five 5 guns in single mounts with 1021 torpedoes in two quintuple centerline mounts. The Allen M. Sumner and Gearing classes were Fletcher derivatives, the long-range Fletcher-class ships performed every task asked of a destroyer, from anti-submarine warfare and anti-aircraft warfare to surface action. They could cover the vast distances required by fleet actions in the Pacific, in fact, they served almost exclusively in the Pacific Theater of Operations during World War II, during which they accounted for 29 Imperial Japanese Navy submarines sunk. Three have been preserved as museum ships in the U. S. the Fletcher class was the largest class of destroyer ordered, and was also one of the most successful and popular with the destroyer men themselves. Compared to earlier classes built for the Navy, they carried a significant increase in weapons and other weaponry. Their flush deck construction added structural strength, although it did make them rather cramped, the Fletcher-class was the first generation of destroyers designed after the series of Naval Treaties that had limited ship designs heretofore. The growth in the design was in part to answer a question that always dogged U. S. Navy designs, that being the long range required by operations in the Pacific Ocean. They were also to no less than five 5 in guns and ten deck-mounted torpedo tubes on the centerline. Compared to earlier designs, the Fletchers were large, allowing them to absorb the addition of two 40 mm Bofors quadruple mount AA guns as well as six 20 mm Oerlikon dual AA gun positions. This addition to the AA suite required the deletion of the forward quintuple torpedo mount, Fletchers were also much less top-heavy than previous classes, allowing them to take on additional equipment and weapons without major redesign. They were fortunate in catching American production at the moment, becoming the destroyer design, and only Fletcher-class derivatives. The first design inputs were in the fall of 1939 from questionnaires distributed around design bureaus, the design parameters were the armaments desired of the next destroyer. As such, the questions were of how many guns, torpedoes, also asked was at what point would the design grow large enough to become a torpedo target instead of a torpedo delivery system. As with other previous U. S. flush deck destroyer designs and this was mitigated by deployment to the Pacific Ocean, which is relatively calm. To achieve 38 kn with a 500-ton increase in displacement, shaft horsepower was increased from 50,000 to 60,000 compared to the previous Benson and Gleaves classes
Fletcher-class destroyer
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USS Fletcher in her original layout, 1942
Fletcher-class destroyer
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Fletcher -class destroyer
4.
Destroyer
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Before World War II, destroyers were light vessels with little endurance for unattended ocean operations, typically a number of destroyers and a single destroyer tender operated together. After the war, the advent of the missile allowed destroyers to take on the surface combatant roles previously filled by battleships. This resulted in larger and more powerful guided missile destroyers more capable of independent operation, the emergence and development of the destroyer was related to the invention of the self-propelled torpedo in the 1860s. A navy now had the potential to destroy an enemy battle fleet using steam launches to launch torpedoes. Fast boats armed with torpedoes were built and called torpedo boats, the first seagoing vessel designed to fire the self-propelled Whitehead torpedo was the 33-ton HMS Lightning in 1876. She was armed with two drop collars to launch these weapons, these were replaced in 1879 by a torpedo tube in the bow. By the 1880s, the type had evolved into small ships of 50–100 tons, in response to this new threat, more heavily gunned picket boats called catchers were built which were used to escort the battle fleet at sea. The anti-torpedo boat origin of this type of ship is retained in its name in other languages, including French, Italian, Portuguese, Czech, Greek, Dutch and, up until the Second World War, Polish. At that time, and even into World War I, the function of destroyers was to protect their own battle fleet from enemy torpedo attacks. The task of escorting merchant convoys was still in the future, an important development came with the construction of HMS Swift in 1884, later redesignated TB81. This was a torpedo boat with four 47 mm quick-firing guns. At 23.75 knots, while still not fast enough to engage torpedo boats reliably. Another forerunner of the torpedo boat destroyer was the Japanese torpedo boat Kotaka, designed to Japanese specifications and ordered from the London Yarrow shipyards in 1885, she was transported in parts to Japan, where she was assembled and launched in 1887. The 165-foot long vessel was armed with four 1-pounder quick-firing guns and six torpedo tubes, reached 19 knots, in her trials in 1889, Kotaka demonstrated that she could exceed the role of coastal defense, and was capable of accompanying larger warships on the high seas. The Yarrow shipyards, builder of the parts for the Kotaka, the first vessel designed for the explicit purpose of hunting and destroying torpedo boats was the torpedo gunboat. Essentially very small cruisers, torpedo gunboats were equipped with torpedo tubes, by the end of the 1890s torpedo gunboats were made obsolete by their more successful contemporaries, the torpedo boat destroyers, which were much faster. The first example of this was HMS Rattlesnake, designed by Nathaniel Barnaby in 1885, the gunboat was armed with torpedoes and designed for hunting and destroying smaller torpedo boats. Exactly 200 feet long and 23 feet in beam, she displaced 550 tons, built of steel, Rattlesnake was un-armoured with the exception of a 3⁄4-inch protective deck
Destroyer
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USS Winston S. Churchill, an
Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer of the
United States Navy
Destroyer
Destroyer
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The
Imperial Japanese Navy 's Kotaka (1887)
Destroyer
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HMS Havock the first modern destroyer, commissioned in 1894
5.
Bofors 40 mm gun
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The Bofors 40 mm gun, often referred to simply as the Bofors gun, is an anti-aircraft/multi-purpose autocannon designed in the 1930s by the Swedish arms manufacturer AB Bofors. It was one of the most popular medium-weight anti-aircraft systems during World War II, a small number of these weapons remain in service to this day, and saw action as late as the Gulf War. In the post-war era the original design was not suitable for action against jet powered aircraft, so Bofors introduced a new model of more power. In spite of sharing almost nothing with the design other than the calibre and the distinctive conical flash hider. Although not as popular as the original L/60 model, the L/70 remains in service to this day, especially as a weapon for light armored vehicles. Bofors itself has been part of BAE Systems AB since March 2005, the Swedish Navy purchased a number of 2 pounder Pom-Poms from Vickers as anti-aircraft guns in 1922. The Navy approached Bofors about the development of a capable replacement. Bofors signed a contract in late 1928, Bofors produced a gun that was a smaller version of a 57 mm semi-automatic gun developed as an anti-torpedo boat weapon in the late 19th century by Finspong. Their first test gun was a re-barreled Nordenfelt version of the Finspong gun, testing of this gun in 1929 demonstrated that a problem existed feeding the weapon in order to maintain a reasonable rate of fire. A mechanism that was enough to handle the stresses of moving the large round was too heavy to move quickly enough to fire rapidly. One attempt to solve this problem used zinc shell cases that burned up when fired and this proved to leave heavy zinc deposits in the barrel, and had to be abandoned. This seemed to be the solution they needed, improving firing rates to a level. During this period Krupp purchased a share of Bofors. Krupp engineers started the process of updating the Bofors factories to use equipment and metallurgy. The prototype was completed and fired in November 1931, and by the middle of the month it was firing strings of two and three rounds. Changes to the mechanism were all that remained, and by the end of the year it was operating at 130 rounds per minute. Continued development was needed to turn it into a suitable for production. Since acceptance trials had been passed the year before, this known as the 40 mm akan M/32
Bofors 40 mm gun
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Bofors 40 mm/L60. This example includes the British-designed Stiffkey Sight, being operated by the aimer standing to the right of the loader (turned sideways). It operates the trapeze seen above the sights, moving the sights to adjust for lead.
Bofors 40 mm gun
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Finnish Bofors 40 mm. This gun mounts the original reflector sights, and lacks the armor found on British examples.
Bofors 40 mm gun
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Polish-made Bofors gun after the
Battle of the Bzura. This gun also mounts the reflector sight that equipped the original Bofors versions.
Bofors 40 mm gun
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Q.F. 40 mm Mk. 1 displayed at
CFB Borden. This example mounts a Stiffkey Sight, and displays the additional armor protecting the gunners.
6.
Oerlikon 20 mm cannon
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The Oerlikon 20 mm cannon is a series of autocannons, based on an original German 20 mm Becker design that appeared very early in World War I. It was widely produced by Oerlikon Contraves and others, with various models employed by both Allied and Axis forces during World War II, and many still in use today. During World War I, the German Reinhold Becker developed a 20 mm caliber cannon and this used a 20x70 RB cartridge and had a cyclic rate of fire of 300 rpm. It was used on a scale as an aircraft gun on Luftstreitkräfte warplanes. Because the Treaty of Versailles banned further production of weapons in Germany. SEMAG continued development of the weapon, and in 1924 had produced the SEMAG L, the Oerlikon firm, named after the Zürich suburb where it was based, then acquired all rights to the weapon, plus the manufacturing equipment and the employees of SEMAG. In 1927 the Oerlikon S was added to the product line. This fired a larger cartridge to achieve a muzzle velocity of 830 m/s, at the cost of increased weight. The purpose of development was to improve the performance of the gun as an anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapon. An improved version known as the 1S followed in 1930, three sizes of gun with their different ammunition and barrel length, but very similar mechanisms, continued to be developed in parallel. In 1930 Oerlikon reconsidered the application of its gun in aircraft and introduced the AF and AL, designed to be used in flexible mounts, the 15-round box magazine used by earlier versions of the gun was replaced by drum magazine holding 15 or 30 rounds. In 1935 it made an important step by introducing a series of guns designed to be mounted in or on the wings of fighter aircraft, designated with FF for Flügelfest meaning wing-mounted, these weapons were again available in the three sizes, with designations FF, FFL and FFS. The FF fired a larger cartridge than the AF, 20x72RB. The FF weighed 24 kg and achieved a velocity of 550 to 600 m/s with a rate of fire of 520 rpm. The FFL of 30 kg fired a projectile at a velocity of 675 m/s with a rate of fire of 500 rpm. And the FFS, which weighed 39 kg, delivered a high velocity of 830 m/s at a rate of fire of 470 rpm. Apart from changes to the design of the guns for wing-mounting and remote control, for the FF series drum sizes of 45,60,75 and 100 rounds were available, but most users chose the 60-round drum. The 1930s were a period of global re-armament, and a number of foreign firms took licenses for the Oerlikon family of aircraft cannon
Oerlikon 20 mm cannon
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A modern Oerlikon cannon (Oerlikon 20mm/85 KAA) on a Royal Navy warship
Oerlikon 20 mm cannon
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1942, a
Royal Navy Oerlikon gunner at his gun mount aboard the
Dido-class cruiser HMS Dido
Oerlikon 20 mm cannon
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Diagrams showing basic design and colour-coding of British HE/Incendiary, Tracer and HE/Incendiary/Tracer shells for the 20 mm Oerlikon gun
Oerlikon 20 mm cannon
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1945, a row of 20 mm Oerlikon guns aboard the
Essex-class aircraft carrier USS Hornet
7.
Mark 15 torpedo
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It was developed by the Naval Torpedo Station Newport concurrently with the Mark 14 and was first deployed in 1938. It replaced the Mark 8 torpedo on surface ships with tubes that could accommodate the longer Mark 15, older destroyers, primarily the Wickes and Clemson classes, continued to use the Mark 8, as did PT boats early in World War II. During the war 9,700 were produced at Newport and at the Naval Ordnance Station Forest Park, one major shared deficiency was the Mark 6 exploder, which usually caused duds. Surface-combatant torpedo attacks very often included confusing splashes from gunnery and aerial bombs, obscuring smoke screens, rarely was a destroyer given a chance for a slow, careful surprise attack. Torpedo results were difficult to estimate under these circumstances, the correction of the Mark 15s problems would depend on the submariners solving theirs. By September 1943, effective methods of deployment were beginning to be distributed to all U. S. destroyers. Anticipating the possibility of war with Japan, the United States planned to move their battleships across the Pacific with the fleet train, Cruisers and destroyers would be responsible for defending this large formation at night. Fleet exercises held during the 1930s revealed the nature of close range engagements during hours of darkness. In 1932, during Fleet Problem XIII, attacking destroyers closed to within 500 yd of USS Saratoga before being detected, Fleet Problem XV in 1934 placed the destroyer screen 7 nmi beyond the battleship formation, but the battleships were unable to differentiate friend from foe at that distance. Screening destroyers were stationed at effective searchlight illumination range,3 nmi. Recognition improved at that distance, but torpedo hit probability increased as evasive maneuvering of the large, United States Navy War Instructions published in 1934 remained in effect through the initial 1942 engagements in the Solomon Islands. The instructions emphasized defense to avoid the attrition objective of Japanese planning, destroyers were to attack at once with guns, but reserve torpedoes for use against capital ships. Searchlight illumination range effectively covered launch positions of United States torpedoes, Japanese ships could remain outside of illumination range, launching torpedoes at American ships revealing their position with gunfire and searchlights. US Navy Bureau of Ordnance in World War II, washington, DC, US Navy Bureau of Ordnance, Department of the Navy
Mark 15 torpedo
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Mk 15 torpedoes aboard USS O'Brien (DD-725)
Mark 15 torpedo
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Above-water Mark 15 torpedo tube installation mounted on destroyers
Mark 15 torpedo
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USS O'Brien (DD-725) firing a Mark 15 torpedo, circa 1953.
8.
Depth charge
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A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful. Most depth charges use high explosive charges and a set to detonate the charge. Depth charges can be dropped by ships, patrol aircraft, Depth charges were developed during World War I, and were one of the first effective methods of attacking a submarine underwater. They were widely used in World War I and World War II and they remained part of the anti-submarine arsenals of many navies during the Cold War. Depth charges have now largely replaced by anti-submarine homing torpedoes. A depth charge fitted with a warhead is known as a nuclear depth bomb. These were designed to be dropped from a plane or deployed by an anti-submarine missile from a surface ship, or another submarine. All nuclear anti-submarine weapons were withdrawn from service by the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia and they were replaced by conventional weapons whose accuracy and range had improved greatly as ASW technology improved. The first attempt to fire charges against submerged targets was with aircraft bombs attached to lanyards which triggered them, a similar idea was a 16 lb guncotton charge in a lanyarded can. Two of these together became known as the depth charge Type A. Problems with the lanyards tangling and failing to function led to the development of a chemical pellet trigger as the Type B and these were effective at a distance of around 20 ft. A1913 Royal Navy Torpedo School report described a device intended for countermining, at Admiral John Jellicoes request, the standard Mark II mine was fitted with a hydrostatic pistol preset for 45 ft firing, to be launched from a stern platform. Weighing 1,150 lb, and effective at 100 ft, the design work was carried out by Herbert Taylor at the RN Torpedo and Mine School, HMS Vernon. The first effective depth charge, the Type D, became available in January 1916 and it was a barrel-like casing containing a high explosive. There were initially two sizes—Type D, with a 300 lb charge for fast ships, and Type D* with a 120 lb charge for ships too slow to leave the area before the more powerful charge detonated. A hydrostatic pistol actuated by water pressure at a pre-selected depth detonated the charge, initial depth settings were 40 or 80 ft. Because production could not keep up with demand, anti-submarine vessels initially carried two depth charges, to be released from a chute at the stern of the ship
Depth charge
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Mark IX depth charge used by the
U.S. Navy late in World War II. Unlike the cylindrical, barrel-shaped depth charge used earlier, the Mark IX is streamlined and equipped with canted fins to impart rotation, allowing it to fall in a straight
trajectory with less chance of drifting off target. This type of depth charge contained 200 pounds (90 kg) of
Torpex.
Depth charge
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USS Cassin Young (DD-793)]]
Depth charge
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Loading a drum-type Mark VII depth charge onto the K-gun of the
Flower-class corvette HMS Dianthus
Depth charge
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A depth charge explodes after being dropped from
HMS Ceylon
9.
United States Navy
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The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U. S. Navy is the largest, most capable navy in the world, the U. S. Navy has the worlds largest aircraft carrier fleet, with ten in service, two in the reserve fleet, and three new carriers under construction. The service has 323,792 personnel on duty and 108,515 in the Navy Reserve. It has 274 deployable combat vessels and more than 3,700 operational aircraft as of October 2016, the U. S. Navy traces its origins to the Continental Navy, which was established during the American Revolutionary War and was effectively disbanded as a separate entity shortly thereafter. It played a role in the American Civil War by blockading the Confederacy. It played the role in the World War II defeat of Imperial Japan. The 21st century U. S. Navy maintains a global presence, deploying in strength in such areas as the Western Pacific, the Mediterranean. The Navy is administratively managed by the Department of the Navy, the Department of the Navy is itself a division of the Department of Defense, which is headed by the Secretary of Defense. The Chief of Naval Operations is an admiral and the senior naval officer of the Department of the Navy. The CNO may not be the highest ranking officer in the armed forces if the Chairman or the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The mission of the Navy is to maintain, train and equip combat-ready Naval forces capable of winning wars, deterring aggression, the United States Navy is a seaborne branch of the military of the United States. The Navys three primary areas of responsibility, The preparation of naval forces necessary for the prosecution of war. The development of aircraft, weapons, tactics, technique, organization, U. S. Navy training manuals state that the mission of the U. S. Armed Forces is to prepare and conduct prompt and sustained combat operations in support of the national interest, as part of that establishment, the U. S. Navys functions comprise sea control, power projection and nuclear deterrence, in addition to sealift duties. It follows then as certain as that night succeeds the day, that without a decisive naval force we can do nothing definitive, the Navy was rooted in the colonial seafaring tradition, which produced a large community of sailors, captains, and shipbuilders. In the early stages of the American Revolutionary War, Massachusetts had its own Massachusetts Naval Militia, the establishment of a national navy was an issue of debate among the members of the Second Continental Congress. Supporters argued that a navy would protect shipping, defend the coast, detractors countered that challenging the British Royal Navy, then the worlds preeminent naval power, was a foolish undertaking. Commander in Chief George Washington resolved the debate when he commissioned the ocean-going schooner USS Hannah to interdict British merchant ships, and reported the captures to the Congress
United States Navy
United States Navy
–
United States Navy portal
United States Navy
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USS Constellation vs L'Insurgente during the
Quasi-War
United States Navy
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USS Constitution vs HMS Guerriere during the
War of 1812
10.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
World War II
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Clockwise from top left: Chinese forces in the
Battle of Wanjialing, Australian
25-pounder guns during the
First Battle of El Alamein, German
Stuka dive bombers on the
Eastern Front in December 1943, a U.S. naval force in the
Lingayen Gulf,
Wilhelm Keitel signing the
German Instrument of Surrender, Soviet troops in the
Battle of Stalingrad
World War II
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The
League of Nations assembly, held in
Geneva,
Switzerland, 1930
World War II
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Adolf Hitler at a German
National Socialist political rally in
Weimar, October 1930
World War II
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Italian soldiers recruited in 1935, on their way to fight the
Second Italo-Abyssinian War
11.
Ship naming and launching
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Ceremonial ship launching is the process of transferring a vessel to the water. It is a tradition in many cultures, dating back thousands of years. It has been observed as a celebration and a solemn blessing. The process also involves many traditions intended to invite good luck, such as christening by breaking a bottle of champagne over the bow as the ship is named aloud. There are three methods of conveying a new ship from building site to water, only two of which are called launching. The oldest, most familiar, and most widely used is the launch, in which the vessel slides down an inclined slipway. With the side launch, the ship enters the water broadside and this method came into use in the 19th-century on inland waters, rivers, and lakes, and was more widely adopted during World War II. The third method is float-out, used for ships that are built in basins or dry docks and then floated by admitting water into the dock. In all cases, heavy chains are attached to the ship, normally, ways are arranged perpendicular to the shore line and the ship is built with its stern facing the water. The barricades support the two launch ways, the vessel is built upon temporary cribbing that is arranged to give access to the hulls outer bottom and to allow the launchways to be erected under the complete hull. When it is time to prepare for launching, a pair of standing ways is erected under the hull, the surface of the ways is greased. A pair of sliding ways is placed on top, under the hull, the weight of the hull is then transferred from the build cribbing onto the launch cradle. On launching, the vessel slides backwards down the slipway on the ways until it floats by itself, some slipways are built so that the vessel is side-on to the water and is launched sideways. This is done where the limitations of the channel would not allow lengthwise launching. The Great Eastern designed by Brunel was built this way as were many landing craft during World War II and this method requires many more sets of ways to support the weight of the ship. Sometimes ships are launched using a series of inflated tubes underneath the hull and this procedure has the advantages of requiring less permanent infrastructure, risk, and cost. The airbags provide support to the hull of the ship and aid its launching motion into the water and these airbags are usually cylindrical in shape with hemispherical heads at both ends. The Xiao Qinghe shipyard launched a tank barge with marine airbags on January 20,1981, egyptians, Greeks, and Romans called on their gods to protect seamen
Ship naming and launching
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1908 launch of the Brazilian battleship
Minas Geraes
Ship naming and launching
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Stern-first launch of the battleship
USS Arizona in 1915 at the
Brooklyn Navy Yard
Ship naming and launching
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Sideways launch of
lake freighter Frank J. Hecker,
St. Clair, Michigan. 1905
Ship naming and launching
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Launch of the
Friedland on 4 March 1840, sliding stern first
12.
Raymond A. Spruance
–
Raymond Ames Spruance was a United States Navy admiral in World War II. Spruance commanded U. S. naval forces during two of the most significant naval battles took place in the Pacific theater, the Battle of Midway. The Battle of Midway was the first major victory for the United States over Japan and is seen by many as the point of the Pacific war. The Battle of the Philippine Sea was also a significant victory for the US, the Navys official historian said of the Battle of Midway. Spruances performance was superb. Emerged from this one of the greatest admirals in American naval history. After the war, Spruance was appointed President of the Naval War College, Spruance was nicknamed electric brain for his calmness even in moments of supreme crisis, a reputation enhanced by his successful tactics at Midway. Spruance was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to Alexander and Annie Hiss Spruance and he was raised in Indianapolis, Indiana. Spruance attended Indianapolis public schools and graduated from Shortridge High School, from there, he went on to graduate from the U. S. Naval Academy in 1906, and received further, hands-on education in electrical engineering a few years later. Spruances first duty assignment was aboard the battleship USS Iowa, a 11,400 ton veteran of the Spanish–American War, in July 1907 he transferred to the battleship Minnesota and was aboard her during the historic around the world cruise of the Great White Fleet from 1907 to 1909. Spruances seagoing career included command of the destroyers Bainbridge from March 1913 to May 1914, Osborne, in 1916 he aided in the fitting out of the battleship Pennsylvania and he served on board her from her commissioning in June 1916 until November 1917. During the last year of World War I he was assigned as Assistant Engineer Officer of the New York Naval Shipyard, Spruance ran a quiet bridge, without chit-chat, he demanded that orders be given concisely and clearly. In one incident a distraught officer rushed to report, Captain, well, pick it up and put it back, was Spruances measured response. Spruance began attendance at the Naval War College in 1926, and he served as executive officer of USS Mississippi from October 1929 to June 1931. He also held several engineering, intelligence, staff and Naval War College positions up to the 1940s and he served as an instructor at the Naval War College from 1935 to 1938. He commanded the battleship USS Mississippi from April 1938 to December 1939, on February 26,1940, Spruance reported as commandant of the 10th Naval District with headquarters at San Juan, Puerto Rico. On August 1,1941, he finished his tour in Puerto Rico, in the first months of World War II in the Pacific, Spruance commanded the four heavy cruisers and support ships of Cruiser Division Five from his flagship, the heavy cruiser USS Northampton. His division was an element of the force built around the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise and commanded by Vice Admiral William F. Halsey. These raids were critical to morale—setting a new tone of aggressiveness by U. S. commanders while providing invaluable battle experience for the commanders and sailors of the U. S. Navy
Raymond A. Spruance
–
Spruance in April 1944
Raymond A. Spruance
–
Spruance's headstone at
Golden Gate National Cemetery
Raymond A. Spruance
–
Bust of Admiral Spruance, located in Spruance Hall at the US
Naval War College
13.
Ship commissioning
–
Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its countrys military forces, the ceremonies involved are often rooted in centuries old naval tradition. Ship naming and launching endow a ship hull with her identity, the engineering plant, weapon and electronic systems, galley, and multitudinous other equipment required to transform the new hull into an operating and habitable warship are installed and tested. The prospective commanding officer, ships officers, the petty officers, prior to commissioning, the new ship undergoes sea trials to identify any deficiencies needing correction. USS Monitor, of American Civil War fame, was commissioned less than three weeks after launch, regardless of the type of ship in question, a vessels journey towards commissioning in its nations navy begins with process known as sea trials. Sea trials begin when the ship in question is floated out of its dry dock, after a ship has successfully cleared its sea trial period, it will officially be accepted into service with its nations navy. At this point, the ship in question will undergo a process of degaussing and/or deperming, once a ships sea trials are successfully completed plans for the actual commissioning ceremony will take shape. If the ships ceremony is an affair the Captain may make a speech to the audience. Religious ceremonies, such as blessing the ship or the singing of hymns or songs. Once a ship has been commissioned its final step toward becoming a unit of the navy it now serves is to report to its home port. To decommission a ship is to terminate its career in service in the forces of a nation. Decommissioning of the vessel may also occur due to treaty agreements or for safety reasons, vessels preserved in this manner typically do not relinquish their names to other, more modern ships that may be in the design, planning, or construction phase of the parent nations navy. Prior to its decommissioning, the ship in question will begin the process of decommissioning by going through a preliminary step called inactivation or deactivation. The removed material from a ship usually ends up either rotating to another ship in the class with similar weapons and/or capabilities, or in storage pending a decision on equipments fate. During this time a crew may be thinned out via transfers. When a ship finishes its inactivation, it is then formally decommissioned, often, but not always, ships that are decommissioned end up spending the next few years in a reserve fleet before their ultimate fate is decided. Commissioning in the early United States Navy under sail was attended by no ceremony, thus, the ship was placed in commission. Commissionings were not public affairs, and unlike christening-and-launching ceremonies, were not recorded by newspapers, the first specific reference to commissioning located in naval records is a letter of November 6,1863, from Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles to all navy yards and stations
Ship commissioning
–
In 1999 the French carrier Charles De Gaulle began her sea trial phase, which identified the need for the flight deck to be extended for the safe operation of the E2C Hawkeye.
Ship commissioning
–
Hundreds attend the commissioning ceremony for the nuclear-powered
aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan.
Nancy Reagan, wife of the ship's namesake, gave the ship's crew its traditional first order as an active unit of the Navy: "Man the ship and bring her to life."
Ship commissioning
–
USS Liberty (AGTR-5) was attacked by the
Israeli Defense Forces in 1967, which left her damaged beyond economical repair.
Ship commissioning
–
Crew members and guest salute as the colors are paraded at the decommissioning ceremony of the salvage and rescue ship
Grasp.
14.
Terminal Island
–
Terminal Island is a largely artificial island located in Los Angeles County, California, between the neighborhood of San Pedro in the city of Los Angeles, and the city of Long Beach. Terminal Island is roughly split between the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach, land use on the island is entirely industrial and port-related, as well as the Federal Correctional Institution, Terminal Island. The island was originally called Isla Raza de Buena Gente and later Rattlesnake Island and it was renamed Terminal Island in 1891. The site chosen for the new plant was on a barren mudflat known as Rattlesnake Island, construction of Plant No.1 began in 1910. In 1930, the Ford Motor Company built a facility called Long Beach Assembly, the factory remained until 1958 when manufacturing operations were moved inland to Pico Rivera. In 1927, a facility, Allen Field, was established on Terminal Island. The Naval Reserve established a center at the field and later took complete control. In 1941 the Long Beach Naval Station became located adjacent to the airfield, in 1942 the Naval Reserve Training Facility was transferred, and a year later NAB San Pedros status was downgraded to a Naval Air Station. Reeves Field as a Naval Air Station was disestablished in 1947, a large industrial facility now covers the site of the former Naval Air Station. The island was home to about 3,500 first- and second-generation Japanese Americans prior to World War II in a known as East San Pedro or Fish Island. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, all of the adult Issei males on Terminal Island were incarcerated by the FBI on February 9,1942. Immediately after the signing of Executive Order 9066 on February 19,1942 and they were subsequently sent to internment camps, and the entire neighborhood was razed. The Japanese community on Terminal Island was the first to be evacuated and interned en masse, because of the relative geographical isolation of the island, the citizens developed their own culture and even their own dialect. After World War II, the Terminal Islanders settled elsewhere, in 1971, they formed the Terminal Islanders Club, which has organized various events for its members. In 2002, the surviving second-generation citizens set up a memorial on Terminal Island to honor their parents, during World War II, Terminal Island was an important center for defense industries, especially shipbuilding. It was also, therefore, one of the first places where African Americans tried to effect their integration into defense-related work on the West Coast. In 1946, Howard Hughes moved his monstrous Spruce Goose airplane from his plant in Culver City to Terminal Island in preparation for its test flight, in its first and only flight, it took off from the island on November 2,1947. Preservation of vacant buildings earned the island a spot on the top 11 sites on the National Trust for Historic Preservations 2012 Most Endangered Historic Places List, in mid-2013, the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners approved a preservation plan
Terminal Island
–
Terminal Island, which includes
Federal Correctional Institution, Terminal Island.
Gerald Desmond Bridge is also visible in the background.
Terminal Island
–
Vincent Thomas Bridge
15.
San Diego, California
–
San Diego is a major city in California, United States. It is in San Diego County, on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, approximately 120 miles south of Los Angeles and immediately adjacent to the border with Mexico. With an estimated population of 1,394,928 as of July 1,2015, San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest in California. It is part of the San Diego–Tijuana conurbation, the second-largest transborder agglomeration between the US and a country after Detroit–Windsor, with a population of 4,922,723 people. San Diego has been called the birthplace of California, historically home to the Kumeyaay people, San Diego was the first site visited by Europeans on what is now the West Coast of the United States. Upon landing in San Diego Bay in 1542, Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo claimed the area for Spain, the Presidio and Mission San Diego de Alcalá, founded in 1769, formed the first European settlement in what is now California. In 1821, San Diego became part of the newly independent Mexico, in 1850, California became part of the United States following the Mexican–American War and the admission of California to the union. The city is the seat of San Diego County and is the center of the region as well as the San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area. San Diegos main economic engines are military and defense-related activities, tourism, international trade, the presence of the University of California, San Diego, with the affiliated UCSD Medical Center, has helped make the area a center of research in biotechnology. The original inhabitants of the region are now known as the San Dieguito, the area of San Diego has been inhabited by the Kumeyaay people. The first European to visit the region was Portuguese-born explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo sailing under the flag of Castile, sailing his flagship San Salvador from Navidad, New Spain, Cabrillo claimed the bay for the Spanish Empire in 1542, and named the site San Miguel. In November 1602, Sebastián Vizcaíno was sent to map the California coast, in May 1769, Gaspar de Portolà established the Fort Presidio of San Diego on a hill near the San Diego River. It was the first settlement by Europeans in what is now the state of California, in July of the same year, Mission San Diego de Alcalá was founded by Franciscan friars under Junípero Serra. By 1797, the mission boasted the largest native population in Alta California, with over 1,400 neophytes living in, Mission San Diego was the southern anchor in California of the historic mission trail El Camino Real. Both the Presidio and the Mission are National Historic Landmarks, in 1821, Mexico won its independence from Spain, and San Diego became part of the Mexican territory of Alta California. In 1822, Mexico began attempting to extend its authority over the territory of Alta California. The fort on Presidio Hill was gradually abandoned, while the town of San Diego grew up on the land below Presidio Hill. The Mission was secularized by the Mexican government in 1833, the 432 residents of the town petitioned the governor to form a pueblo, and Juan María Osuna was elected the first alcalde, defeating Pío Pico in the vote
San Diego, California
–
Images from top, left to right: San Diego Skyline,
Coronado Bridge, museum in
Balboa Park, Serra Museum in
Presidio Park and the
Old Point Loma lighthouse
San Diego, California
–
Kumeyaay people lived in San Diego before Europeans settled there.
San Diego, California
–
Namesake of the city,
Didacus of Alcalá: Saint Didacus in Ecstasy Before the Cross by Murillo (Musée des Augustins)
San Diego, California
–
Mission San Diego de Alcalá
16.
Hawaii
–
Hawaii is the 50th and most recent state to have joined the United States of America, having received statehood on August 21,1959. Hawaii is the only U. S. state located in Oceania and it is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean. Hawaii is the only U. S. state not located in the Americas, the state encompasses nearly the entire volcanic Hawaiian archipelago, which comprises hundreds of islands spread over 1,500 miles. At the southeastern end of the archipelago, the eight main islands are—in order from northwest to southeast, Niʻihau, Kauaʻi, Oʻahu, Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi, Kahoʻolawe, Maui, and the Island of Hawaiʻi. The last is the largest island in the group, it is called the Big Island or Hawaiʻi Island to avoid confusion with the state or archipelago. The archipelago is physiographically and ethnologically part of the Polynesian subregion of Oceania, Hawaii has over a million permanent residents, along with many visitors and U. S. military personnel. Its capital is Honolulu on the island of Oʻahu, Hawaii is the 8th-smallest and the 11th-least populous, but the 13th-most densely populated of the fifty U. S. states. It is the state with an Asian plurality. The states coastline is about 750 miles long, the fourth longest in the U. S. after the coastlines of Alaska, Florida, the state of Hawaii derives its name from the name of its largest island, Hawaiʻi. A common Hawaiian explanation of the name of Hawaiʻi is that was named for Hawaiʻiloa and he is said to have discovered the islands when they were first settled. The Hawaiian language word Hawaiʻi is very similar to Proto-Polynesian *Sawaiki, cognates of Hawaiʻi are found in other Polynesian languages, including Māori, Rarotongan and Samoan. According to linguists Pukui and Elbert, lsewhere in Polynesia, Hawaiʻi or a cognate is the name of the underworld or of the home, but in Hawaii. A somewhat divisive political issue arose in 1978 when the Constitution of the State of Hawaii added Hawaiian as an official state language. The title of the constitution is The Constitution of the State of Hawaii. Article XV, Section 1 of the Constitution uses The State of Hawaii, diacritics were not used because the document, drafted in 1949, predates the use of the okina and the kahakō in modern Hawaiian orthography. The exact spelling of the name in the Hawaiian language is Hawaiʻi. In the Hawaii Admission Act that granted Hawaiian statehood, the government recognized Hawaii as the official state name. Official government publications, department and office titles, and the Seal of Hawaii use the spelling with no symbols for glottal stops or vowel length
Hawaii
–
Hawaii from space, January 26, 2014
Hawaii
–
Flag
Hawaii
–
Nā Pali coast, Kaua ʻ i
Hawaii
–
The main islands and undersea terrain of Hawaii
17.
Marshall Islands
–
The Marshall Islands, officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands, is an island country located near the equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the International Date Line. Geographically, the country is part of the island group of Micronesia. The countrys population of 53,158 people is spread out over 29 coral atolls, comprising 1,156 individual islands and islets. The islands share maritime boundaries with the Federated States of Micronesia to the west, Wake Island to the north, Kiribati to the south-east, about 27,797 of the islanders live on Majuro, which contains the capital. Micronesian colonists gradually settled the Marshall Islands during the 2nd millennium BC, Islands in the archipelago were first explored by Europeans in the 1520s, with Spanish explorer Alonso de Salazar sighting an atoll in August 1526. Other expeditions by Spanish and English ships followed, the islands derive their name from British explorer John Marshall, who visited in 1788. The islands were known by the inhabitants as jolet jen Anij. The European powers recognized Spanish sovereignty over the islands in 1874 and they had been part of the Spanish East Indies formally since 1528. Later, Spain sold the islands to the German Empire in 1884, in World War I the Empire of Japan occupied the Marshall Islands, which in 1919 the League of Nations combined with other former German territories to form the South Pacific Mandate. In World War II, the United States conquered the islands in the Gilbert, along with other Pacific Islands, the Marshall Islands were then consolidated into the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands governed by the US. Self-government was achieved in 1979, and full sovereignty in 1986, Marshall Islands has been a United Nations member state since 1991. The country uses the United States dollar as its currency, the majority of the citizens of the Marshall Islands are of Marshallese descent, though there are small numbers of immigrants from the United States, China, Philippines, and other Pacific islands. The two official languages are Marshallese, which is a member of the Malayo-Polynesian languages, and English, micronesians settled the Marshall Islands in the 2nd millennium BC, but there are no historical or oral records of that period. Over time, the Marshall Island people learned to navigate over long distances by canoe using traditional stick charts. Spanish explorer Alonso de Salazar was the first European to see the islands in 1526, commanding the ship Santa Maria de la Victoria, on August 21, he sighted an island at 14°N that he named San Bartolome. On September 21,1529, Álvaro de Saavedra Cerón commanded the Spanish ship Florida and he stood off a group of islands from which local inhabitants hurled stones at his ship. These islands, which he named Los Pintados, may have been Ujelang, on October 1, he found another group of islands where he went ashore for eight days, exchanged gifts with the local inhabitants and took on water. These islands, which he named Los Jardines, may have been Enewetak or Bikini Atoll
Marshall Islands
–
Marshall Islanders sailing in traditional costume, circa 1899-1900.
Marshall Islands
–
Flag
Marshall Islands
–
US troops inspecting an enemy bunker,
Kwajalein Atoll. 1944.
Marshall Islands
–
Shipping Lane Patrol Kwajalein Island (Marshall Islands-April 1945)
18.
Picket ship
–
A radar picket is a radar-equipped station, ship, submarine, aircraft, or vehicle used to increase the radar detection range around a force to protect it from surprise attack, typically air attack. Radar picket vessels may also be equipped to direct fighters to intercept the enemy. In British terminology the radar picket function is called aircraft direction, often several detached radar units encircle a force to provide increased cover in all directions. Airborne radar pickets are generally referred to as early warning. Radar picket ships first came into being in the US Navy during World War II to aid in the Allied advance to Japan. The number of pickets was increased significantly after the first major employment of kamikaze aircraft by the Japanese in the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October 1944. Fletcher- and Sumner-class destroyers were pressed into service with few modifications at first, deploying some distance from the force to be protected along likely directions of attack, radar pickets were the nearest ships to the Japanese airfields. Thus, they were usually the first vessels seen by incoming waves of kamikazes, the radar picket system saw its ultimate development in World War II in the Battle of Okinawa. A ring of 15 radar picket stations was established around Okinawa to cover all approaches to the island. Initially, a picket station had one or two destroyers supported by two landing ships, usually landing craft support or landing ship medium, for additional AA firepower. Eventually, the number of destroyers and supporting ships were doubled at the most threatened stations, seven destroyer escorts were also completed as radar pickets. The radar picket mission was vital, but it was costly to the ships performing it. Out of 101 destroyers assigned to picket stations,10 were sunk and 32 were damaged by kamikaze attacks. The 88 LCSs assigned to picket stations had two sunk and 11 damaged by kamikazes, while the 11 LSMs had three sunk and two damaged, from October 1943, the NJL Togo cruised the Baltic Sea under the operational control of the Luftwaffe. In March 1944, after the three great Soviet bombing raids on Helsinki, she arrived in the Gulf of Finland to provide fighter cover for Tallinn. During the Cold War, the United States Navy expanded the radar picket concept, the wartime radar picket destroyers were retained, and additional DDRs, destroyer escorts, and submarines were converted and built 1946-1955. The concept was that every group would have radar pickets deployed around it for early warning of the increasing threat of Soviet air-to-surface missile attack. The 26 Gearing-class DDRs were supplemented by nine additional conversions during the early 1950s, the seven wartime DERs were not considered worth modernizing and were relegated to secondary roles
Picket ship
–
USS Goodrich (DDR-831) underway in 1950s radar picket configuration
Picket ship
–
An Atlantic barrier
WV-2 and the radar picket destroyer escort
USS Sellstrom (DER-255) off Newfoundland in 1957
Picket ship
–
USS Tracer (AGR-15), an ocean radar picket ship
Picket ship
–
HMS Lincoln (F99), a
Salisbury-class frigate, in 1972
19.
Kwajalein
–
Kwajalein Atoll is part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. The southernmost and largest island in the atoll is named Kwajalein Island, the total land area of the atoll amounts to just over 6 square miles. The atoll lies in the Ralik Chain,2,100 nautical miles southwest of Honolulu, Hawaii, Kwajalein is one of the worlds largest coral atolls as measured by area of enclosed water. Comprising 97 islands and islets, it has an area of 16.4 km² and surrounds one of the largest lagoons in the world. The average height above sea level for all the islands is about 1.8 metres, Islands often have alternate names, the first is the Marshallese name, the second was assigned somewhat arbitrarily by the US Navy prior to their attack on the atoll during World War II. The original name was considered too difficult for English speakers to properly differentiate among the islands, the latter has often been retained by English speakers. The exception to this is Kwajalein itself, which is close to the native name, the atoll is 2,100 miles from Honolulu,2,000 miles from Australia, and 2,100 miles from Japan. Kwajalein Island is about 500 miles north of the equator, Kwajalein Island is the southernmost and largest of the islands in the atoll. The area is about 1.2 square miles and it is 2.5 miles long and averages about 800 yards wide. To enlarge the island, the Americans placed fill at both the part of the island above the pier, the northern part extending towards Ebeye. The northern extension was used for housing, the remainder for industrial purposes, some 13,500 Marshallese citizens live on the atoll, most of them on Ebeye Island. The water temperature averages 81 °F degrees, underwater visibility is typically 100 feet on the ocean side of the atoll. SAR Pass is closest to Kwajalein on the West reef and this pass is manmade and was created in the mid-1950s. It is very narrow and shallow compared to the passes in the lagoon and is only used by small boats. South Pass is on the West reef, north of SAR Pass, Gea Pass is a deep water pass between Gea and Ninni islands. Bigej Pass is the first pass on the East reef north of Kwajalein, other islands in the atoll, Directly north of the eastern end of Kwajalein is Ebeye. It is not part of the Reagan Test Site, it is a Marshallese island-city with shops, restaurants and it has the largest population in the atoll, with approximately 13,000 residents living on 80 acres of land. Inhabitants are mostly Marshall Islanders but include a population of migrants and volunteers from other island groups
Kwajalein
–
Anti-ballistic missile testing at Kwajalein. [
citation needed]
Kwajalein
–
This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the
talk page.
Kwajalein
–
U.S. Infantry inspect a hole after capturing the Kwajalein Atoll from Japan during World War II
Kwajalein
–
Short-term accommodations at the "Kwaj Lodge" showing typical Kwajalein housing construction.
20.
Roi-Namur
–
Roi-Namur /ˌrɔɪ-nəˈmʊər/ is an island in the north part of the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Germany annexed the Marshalls in 1885 but did not put government officials on the islands until 1906, under the Treaty of Versailles, Japan took over in 1914. They colonised the Marshalls extensively, developing and fortifying large bases on many of the islands, Roi-Namur was the target of the U. S. 4th Marine Division in the Battle of Kwajalein, in February 1944. During the Japanese occupation, the two islands were connected by a neck of land and causeway. Roi-Namur was selected by DARPA as a host site for a series of experiments under the Project Defender umbrella. By building on Roi-Namur, they were able to use the test shots being used by the US Armys Nike-X program installed on Kwajalein Island, Roi-Namur is home to an about 120 American and Marshallese employees of the Reagan Test Site. The Roi side is the housing area, with the retail. Activities on Roi-Namur range from a golf course, saltwater swimming pool, scuba club, movie theater, volleyball. Roi hosts the Freeflight International Airport with one runway for planes that commute from Kwajalein bringing additional workers. Additional Marshallese daytime workers come via ferry from the island of Enniburr, the Namur side is home to the ALCOR, ALTAIR, MMW and TRADEX radar tracking stations. There is a launch facility on Roi-Namur. Rockets launched here are usually sounding rockets that ascend beyond the atmosphere but have short ranges, there are crumbling remnants of Japanese blockhouses and pillboxes around Roi-Namur
Roi-Namur
–
TRADEX radar
21.
Namur Island
–
Roi-Namur /ˌrɔɪ-nəˈmʊər/ is an island in the north part of the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Germany annexed the Marshalls in 1885 but did not put government officials on the islands until 1906, under the Treaty of Versailles, Japan took over in 1914. They colonised the Marshalls extensively, developing and fortifying large bases on many of the islands, Roi-Namur was the target of the U. S. 4th Marine Division in the Battle of Kwajalein, in February 1944. During the Japanese occupation, the two islands were connected by a neck of land and causeway. Roi-Namur was selected by DARPA as a host site for a series of experiments under the Project Defender umbrella. By building on Roi-Namur, they were able to use the test shots being used by the US Armys Nike-X program installed on Kwajalein Island, Roi-Namur is home to an about 120 American and Marshallese employees of the Reagan Test Site. The Roi side is the housing area, with the retail. Activities on Roi-Namur range from a golf course, saltwater swimming pool, scuba club, movie theater, volleyball. Roi hosts the Freeflight International Airport with one runway for planes that commute from Kwajalein bringing additional workers. Additional Marshallese daytime workers come via ferry from the island of Enniburr, the Namur side is home to the ALCOR, ALTAIR, MMW and TRADEX radar tracking stations. There is a launch facility on Roi-Namur. Rockets launched here are usually sounding rockets that ascend beyond the atmosphere but have short ranges, there are crumbling remnants of Japanese blockhouses and pillboxes around Roi-Namur
Namur Island
–
TRADEX radar
22.
Pearl Harbor
–
Pearl Harbor is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base and it is also the headquarters of the United States Pacific Fleet. The U. S. government first obtained exclusive use of the inlet, the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Empire of Japan on December 7,1941, was the immediate cause of the United States entry into World War II. Pearl Harbor was originally a shallow embayment called Wai Momi or Puʻuloa by the Hawaiians. Puʻuloa was regarded as the home of the goddess, Kaʻahupahau. Making due allowance for legendary amplification, the estuary already had an outlet for its waters where the present gap is, during the early 19th century, Pearl Harbor was not used for large ships due to its shallow entrance. The interest of United States in the Hawaiian Islands grew as a result of its whaling, shipping and trading activity in the Pacific. As early as 1820, an Agent of the United States for Commerce and these commercial ties to the American continent were accompanied by the work of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. American missionaries and their families became a part of the Hawaiian political body. Throughout the 1820s and 1830s, many American warships visited Honolulu, in most cases, the commanding officers carried letters from the U. S. Government giving advice on governmental affairs and of the relations of the island nation with foreign powers. In 1841, the newspaper Polynesian, printed in Honolulu, advocated that the U. S. establish a base in Hawaii for protection of American citizens engaged in the whaling industry. The British Hawaiian Minister of Foreign Affairs Robert Crichton Wyllie, remarked in 1840 that and my opinion is that the tide of events rushes on to annexation to the United States. In 1865, the North Pacific Squadron was formed to embrace the western coast, lackawanna in the following year was assigned to cruise among the islands, a locality of great and increasing interest and importance. This vessel surveyed the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands toward Japan, as a result, the United States claimed Midway Island. The Secretary of the Navy was able to write in his report of 1868. This increased activity caused the permanent assignment of at least one warship to Hawaiian waters and it also praised Midway Island as possessing a harbor surpassing Honolulus. In the following year, Congress approved an appropriation of $50,000 on March 1,1869, after 1868, when the Commander of the Pacific Fleet visited the islands to look after American interests, naval officers played an important role in internal affairs. They served as arbitrators in disputes, negotiators of trade agreements and defenders of law
Pearl Harbor
–
Aerial view of Pearl Harbor,
Ford Island in center. The
Arizona memorial is the small white dot on the left side above Ford Island
Pearl Harbor
–
Pearl Harbor in the 1880s.
Pearl Harbor
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Astronaut photograph of Pearl Harbor from October 2009
23.
Florida Islands
–
The Nggela Islands, also known as the Florida Islands, are a small island group in the Central Province of Solomon Islands, a state in the southwest Pacific Ocean. The chain is composed of the two islands, Nggela Sule to the north and Nggela Pile to the south and a number of smaller islands, including Tulagi, Gavutu. The name Florida Island is sometimes used to refer to Nggela Sule. The first recorded sighting by Europeans was by the Spanish expedition of Álvaro de Mendaña on 16 April 1568 and they were who charted it as Pascua Florida from where its present-day name Florida derives. Tulagi in Nggela Sule was the seat of the administration of the British Solomon Islands prior to the 1942 Japanese invasion in World War II. On 7 August of the year, the United States 1st Battalion. Following the Allied liberation of the island from the Japanese, it became the site of a US seaplane base, the island subsequently served as a watering point for the US Navy, diverting water from an underground source on the island. After World War II the British administration moved to Honiara, Guadalcanal, the possibly extinct Florida naked-tailed rat was endemic to the Nggela Islands
Florida Islands
–
The Nggela Islands from the air.
24.
New Guinea
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New Guinea is a large Island in the South West Pacific region. It is the worlds second-largest island, after Greenland, covering an area of 785,753 km2. The island is divided between two countries, Papua New Guinea to the east, and Indonesia to the west, the island has been known by various names. The name Papua was used to refer to parts of the island before contact with the West and its etymology is unclear, one theory states that it is from Tidore, the language used by the Sultanate of Tidore, which controlled parts of the islands coastal region. The name came from papo and ua, which means not united or, ploeg reports that the word papua is often said to derive from the Malay word papua or pua-pua, meaning frizzly-haired, referring to the highly curly hair of the inhabitants of these areas. When the Portuguese and Spanish explorers arrived in the island via the Spice Islands, when the Dutch colonized it as part of Netherlands East Indies, they called it Nieuw Guinea. The name Irian was used in the Indonesian language to refer the island and Indonesian province, the name was promoted in 1945 by Marcus Kaisiepo, brother of the future governor Frans Kaisiepo. It is taken from the Biak language of Biak Island, and means to rise and this name of Irian is the name used in the Biak language and other languages such as Serui, Merauke and Waropen. The name was used until 2001, when the name Papua was again used for the island, the name Irian, which was originally favored by natives, is now considered to be a name imposed by the authority of Jakarta. New Guinea is an island to the north of Australia, and it is isolated by the Arafura Sea to the west and the Torres Strait and Coral Sea to the east. A spine of east–west mountains, the New Guinea Highlands, dominates the geography of New Guinea, stretching over 1,600 km from the head to the tail of the island. The western half of the island of New Guinea contains the highest mountains in Oceania, rising up to 4,884 m high, the tree line is around 4,000 m elevation and the tallest peaks contain permanent equatorial glaciers—which have been retreating since at least 1936. Various other smaller mountain ranges occur both north and west of the central ranges, except in high elevations, most areas possess a warm humid climate throughout the year, with some seasonal variation associated with the northeast monsoon season. At 4,884 metres, Puncak Jaya makes New Guinea the worlds fourth highest landmass, Puncak Mandala, located in Papua, is the second highest peak on the island at 4,760 metres. Puncak Trikora, also in Papua, is 4,750 metres, mount Wilhelm is the highest peak on the PNG side of the border at 4,509 metres. Its granite peak is the highest point of the Bismarck Range, mount Giluwe 4,368 metres is the second highest summit in PNG. It is also the highest volcanic peak in Oceania, another major habitat feature is the vast southern and northern lowlands. Stretching for hundreds of kilometres, these include lowland rainforests, extensive wetlands, savanna grasslands, the southern lowlands are the site of Lorentz National Park, also a UNESCO World Heritage Site
New Guinea
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Mount Bosavi
New Guinea
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New Guinea (Papua Island)
New Guinea
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Dani tribesman in the
Baliem Valley
New Guinea
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Kurulu Village War Chief at Baliem Valley
25.
Aitape
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Aitape is a small town of about 18,001 people on the north coast of Papua New Guinea in the Sandaun Province. It is a settlement that is almost equidistant from the provincial capitals of Wewak and Vanimo. Aitape was established as a station by German colonists in 1905 as part of German New Guinea. During the Second World War the town was occupied by the Imperial Japanese Army, Aitape can be reached by logging road from Vanimo and Wewak. Boats also leave Aitape Harbor to Vanimo and Wewak, there are two airstrips, Tadji, where most flights land, and Aitape. Tadji airstrip is located 10 km east of town, First contact between the Aitape area and the outside world is believed to have occurred during the 15th century when large sailing expeditions arrived from China. It is certain that Malay fishing fleets were active along the Sepik coastline from the early 17th century when island inhabitants were recruited as navigators for these Malay fishing vessels, the first Christian missionary arrived in the Aitape area in 1896. It was Societatis Verbi Divini from Germany and Holland, the first mission station was established on the island of Tumleo in 1896. A second station was set up at Pro on the mainland the following year, the inhabitants of Pro requested that the mission station be established to protect them from raids by much larger settlements. The major native settlements at the time were at Sissano, Malol, the island settlements of Tumleo, Ali and Seleo made up the next group of main settlements. Both the Siau and Bakla would band together annually for major trading expeditions taking in the Aitape coastline to the south east areas around Wewak, German authorities found it difficult to colonize the Siau and Bakla of the Aitape area. The Aitape area was described as uncontrolled during the German colonial period. Still, the Germans built a prison at Aitape and installed a powerful radio station which maintained quality communication with Europe. In 1908, the Aitape coastline was struck by a major tsunami event resulting in the collapse of an area of coastline between Arop and Sissano creating the Sissano Lagoon, by 1914 there were 68 missionaries and 6 new stations established along the coast. The town along with the rest of German New Guinea passed to Australian control after the First World War, during the Second World War the town was occupied, along with the rest of the Territory of New Guinea, by the Imperial Japanese Army. During the recapture American forces bypassed the Japanese 18th Army based at Wewak, a base was developed here and repulsed a major Japanese counter-attack. The Americans were content to hold Aitape and not advance far towards Wewak, in fact, Aitape was captured as part of a 3-pronged invasion by the Allies. There was little or no gain to be had in doing so as the Japanese force based at Wewak no longer posed a real threat – cut off, short of supplies
Aitape
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Aitape Beach
Aitape
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Aitape from space
26.
Jayapura
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Jayapura City is the provincial capital of Papua, Indonesia. It is situated on the island of New Guinea, on Yos Sudarso Bay. It covers an area of 935.92 km2, and borders Jayapura Regency to the west, Keerom Regency to the south, the nation of Papua New Guinea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the north. It had a population of 256,705 at the 2010 Census, Jayapura is the largest city in the Indonesian part of New Guinea. It is served by Sentani Airport, located near Lake Sentani, a highway connects the city to Skow, a small town near the border with Papua New Guinea and continues beyond the border to Vanimo. The government is planning to build a railway from Jayapura to Sarmi. Further plans could connect Jayapura with Manokwari and Sorong, the project is planned for completion by 2030. The last battle against the Dutch was fought in Jayapura from 14 August 1962 -15 August 1962, nowadays the Humboldt bay natives know the city as Port Numbay. The topography of Jayapura varies from valleys to hills, plateaux, Jayapura overlooks the Yos Sudarso Bay. Jayapura is about 94,000 ha in area, and is divided into 5 districts, around 30% of the area is inhabited, with the remainder consisting of a rough terrain, swamps, and protected forest. The average temperature is 29 °C-31.8 °C, before its inclusion into the colonial government of the Dutch Indies, the location of present-day Jayapura was known as Numbay. The mode of the trade was through barter for spices, cassava, salted fish, the society of Numbay was led by an ondoafi. In the 1800s, Numbay maintained relations with the Ternate Sultanate, on September 28,1909 a detachment of the Dutch navy under Captain F. J. P. Sachse came ashore at Humboldt Bay near the mouth of the Numbay river and their task was the systematic exploration of northern New Guinea and the search for a natural border between the Dutch and German spheres on New Guinea. Their camp along the river was called Kloofkamp, a still in use as the name of an ancient district of Jayapura. Forty coconut trees were cut down for the establishment of the camp and they were bought from the owners at a cost of one rijksdaalder per palm. On March 7,1910, the Dutch flag was raised, on the other side of the bay there was already a German camp, Germania-Huk, which is now uninhabited and part of Indonesian territory. Hollandia was the capital of a district of the name in the northeast of West New Guinea
Jayapura
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Jayapura
Jayapura
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Seal
Jayapura
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Looking east to
Yos Sudarso Bay, showing the floating village of Tobati (left) and Engros (right), just to the south of Jayapura.
27.
United States Seventh Fleet
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The Seventh Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy. Fleet Activities Yokosuka, in Yokosuka, Japan, with units based in Japan. It is part of the United States Pacific Fleet, at present, it is the largest of the forward-deployed U. S. fleets, with 60 to 70 ships,300 aircraft and 40,000 Navy and Marine Corps personnel. In 1994, 7th Fleet was assigned the responsibility as Commander. The Seventh Fleet was formed on 15 March 1943 in Brisbane, Australia, during the Second World War and it served in the South West Pacific Area under General Douglas MacArthur. The Seventh Fleet commander also served as commander of Allied naval forces in the SWPA, most of the ships of the Royal Australian Navy were also part of the fleet from 1943 to 1945 as part of Task Force 74. The Seventh Fleet—under Admiral Thomas C, kinkaid—formed a large part of the Allied forces at the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the largest naval battle in history. After the end of the war, the 7th Fleet moved its headquarters to Qingdao, after the war, on 1 January 1947, the Fleets name was changed to Naval Forces Western Pacific. In late 1948, the Fleet moved its base of operations to the Philippines, where the Navy, following the war, had developed new facilities at Subic Bay. Peacetime operations of the Seventh Fleet were under the control of Commander in Chief Pacific Fleet, on 19 August 1949 the force was designated as United States Seventh Task Fleet. On 11 February 1950, just prior to the outbreak of the Korean War, the force assumed the name United States Seventh Fleet, Seventh Fleet units participated in all major operations of the Korean and Vietnamese Wars. The first Navy jet aircraft used in combat was launched from a Task Force 77 aircraft carrier on 3 July 1950, the landings at Inchon, Korea were conducted by Seventh Fleet amphibious ships. The battleships Iowa, New Jersey, Missouri and Wisconsin all served as flagships for Commander, Seventh Fleet during the Korean War. Over the next decade the Seventh Fleet responded to numerous crisis situations including contingency operations conducted in Laos in 1959, during September 1959, in the autumn of 1960, and again in January 1961, the Seventh Fleet deployed multiship carrier task forces into the South China Sea. Once again the fleet moved into Southeast Asian waters, by the end of April 1961, most of the Seventh Fleet was deployed off the Indochinese Peninsula preparing to initiate operations into Laos. At the same time, shorebased air patrol squadrons and another three Marine battalion landing teams stood ready in Okinawa and the Philippines to support the afloat force, the contending Laotian factions concluded a cease-fire on 8 May 1961, but it lasted only a year. In June 1963 the Seventh Fleet held Flagpole 63, a joint naval exercise with the Republic of Korea, Seventh Fleet represented the first official entrance of the United States into the Vietnam War, with the Gulf of Tonkin incident. Between 1950 and 1970, the U. S, Seventh Fleet was known by the tongue-in-cheek nickname Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club since most of the fleets operations were conducted from the Tonkin Gulf at the time
United States Seventh Fleet
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Seventh Fleet
United States Seventh Fleet
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USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) and escorts at the
Battle off Samar in 1944.
United States Seventh Fleet
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Military humor: Unofficial insignia of the "Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club" – aka U.S. 7th Fleet.
United States Seventh Fleet
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George Washington, Squadron HC-1 during operation "Desert Shield" in 1990, U.S. Seventh Fleet.
28.
New Ireland (island)
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New Ireland is a large island in Papua New Guinea, approximately 7,404 km² in area with ca.120,000 people. It is the largest island of the New Ireland Province, lying northeast of the island of New Britain, both islands are part of the Bismarck Archipelago, named after Otto von Bismarck, and they are separated by Saint Georges Channel. The administrative centre of the island and of New Ireland province is the town of Kavieng located at the end of the island. While the island was part of German New Guinea, it was named Neumecklenburg, the island is part of the Bismarck Archipelago and is often described as having the shape of a musket. For much of its 360 km in length, the width varies between less than 10 km to 40 km, yet the central mountainous spine is very steep. The highest peak is Mount Taron in the Hans Meyer Range, other mountain ranges are Tirpitz, Schleinitz, Verron and Rossel. The island lies between two and five south of the equator. The original land cover was primarily dense rainforest, New Ireland is surrounded by the Bismarck Sea in the southwest and by the Pacific Ocean in the northeast. The first inhabitants of the Bismarck Archipelago arrived around 33,000 years ago after sailing from what is now Papua New Guinea, later arrivals included the Lapita people approximately 3,000 years ago. Three distinct cultural practices are characteristic of the people of New Ireland, Kabai. In 1616 the Dutch sailors Jacob Le Maire and Willem Schouten were the first Europeans to set foot on the island, in the 1870s and 1880s, the Marquis de Rays, a French nobleman, attempted to establish a French colony on the island called New France. He sent four ill-fated expeditions to the island, the most famous of which caused the death of 123 settlers, from 1885 to 1914 New Ireland was a part of German New Guinea and bore the name Neumecklenburg. Germans managed several highly profitable copra plantations and built a road to transport the goods and this road is currently in service and is named the Boluminski Highway after the German administrator of German New Guinea, Franz Boluminski. After World War I New Ireland was ceded to Australia, Australia renamed the island New Ireland, after the island of Ireland. In January 1942, during World War II, the island was captured by Japanese forces and was under their control. Widespread deforestation and degradation of lowland rainforest is an issue on New Ireland, nearly 60% of their forests are accessible to logging, and by 2002, 63% of the accessible forests had been deforested or degraded. Malagan - funerary arts that originate in Tabar Group, and have been imported to the region of New Ireland. Tatanua - The person who organises a tatanua performance must select the music and dancers, assemble a male chorus, the masks are usually rented from one of the sculptors who makes them
New Ireland (island)
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New Ireland's main towns and nearby islands
29.
Escort carrier
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They were typically half the length and a third the displacement of larger fleet carriers. While they were slower, carried fewer planes and were well armed and armored, escort carriers were cheaper and could be built quickly. Escort carriers could be completed in greater numbers as a stop-gap when fleet carriers were scarce, however, the lack of protection made escort carriers particularly vulnerable and several were sunk with great loss of life. The light carrier was a concept to escort carriers in most respects. Most often built on a ship hull, escort carriers were too slow to keep up with the main forces consisting of fleet carriers, battleships. Instead, they were used to escort convoys, defending them from threats such as submarines and planes. In the invasions of mainland Europe and Pacific islands, escort carriers provided air support to forces during amphibious operations. Escort carriers also served as aircraft transports for fleet carriers. In the Battle of the Atlantic, escort carriers were used to protect convoys against U-boats, initially escort carriers accompanied the merchant ships and helped to fend off attacks from aircraft and submarines. As numbers increased later in the war, escort carriers formed part of hunter-killer groups that sought out submarines instead of being attached to a particular convoy. In the Pacific theater, CVEs provided air support of troops in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. They lacked the speed and weapons to enemy fleets, relying on the protection of a Fast Carrier Task Force. However, at the Battle off Samar, one U. S. task force of escort carriers managed to defend itself against a much larger Japanese force of battleships. The Japanese met a furious defense of carrier aircraft, screening destroyers, of the 151 aircraft carriers built in the U. S. during World War II,122 were escort carriers. Though no examples survive to this day, the Casablanca class was the most numerous class of aircraft carrier, second was the Bogue class, with 45 launched. In the early 1920s, the Washington Naval Treaty imposed limits on the maximum size, later treaties largely kept these provisions. As a result, construction between the World Wars had been insufficient to meet needs for aircraft carriers as World War II expanded from Europe. The foregoing mission requirements limited use of fleet carriers′ unique offensive strike capability demonstrated at the Battle of Taranto, conversion of existing ships provided additional aircraft carriers until new construction became available
Escort carrier
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Escort carrier
HMS Audacity (D10)
Escort carrier
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USS Gambier Bay, burning from earlier gunfire damage, is bracketed by a salvo from a Japanese
heavy cruiser (faintly visible in the background, center-right) shortly before sinking during the Battle off Samar.
Escort carrier
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Model of Gambier Bay at
USS Midway museum
30.
USS Hoggatt Bay
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USS Hoggatt Bay was a Casablanca class escort carrier of the United States Navy. She was launched under Maritime Commission contract by Kaiser Co. Inc, vancouver, Washington, on 4 December 1943. Originally classified AVG-75, she had been reclassified ACV-75 on 20 August 1942. Sponsored by Mrs. Victor Sundrik, she was reclassified again to CVE-75 on 15 July 1943, after intensive training off the California coast, Hoggatt Bay transported aircraft and crews to Pearl Harbor from 10–25 March 1944. Upon her return and further training in work, she sailed on 1 May for Pearl Harbor. The combination of escort carriers and destroyers had proven effective against submarines in the Battle of the Atlantic. Hoggatt Bay and a group of destroyers and destroyer escorts patrolled in the southwest Pacific from 26 May-19 June with notable success, england scored a kill on Ro-105 on 31 May and Taylor sank Ro-111 with depth charges and gunfire 11 June. These operations and those of other groups did much to reduce Japanese submarine interference with the invasion of the Marianas, for nearly two months the escort carrier cruised these seas south and west of the Marianas in support of American operations. Samuel S. Miles, a member of her group, sank I-177 on 3 October, the ship arrived at Ulithi on 28 October, and sailed on 10 November to provide air support for the developing campaign in the Philippines. This was followed by exercises in Huon Gulf, New Guinea. Arriving at Manus on 20 December 1944, Hoggatt Bay joined the task force which departed from that. The voyage through the Philippines was a one, as the Japanese attacked with their last desperate weapon. Crewmen on Hoggatt Bay and the ships fought continuously after 3 January, downing many of the attackers. The veteran escort carrier returned to San Diego 15 February 1945 and she arrived Okinawa 8 May via Pearl Harbor and Ulithi and immediately took station south of the island to lend her aircraft to the carrier air forces engaged in the operation. Her planes flew direct support missions, photographic flights, and supply drops during the period from 8 May-24 June, Hoggatt Bay arrived at Leyte Gulf on 27 June, and after a month of training sailed on 28 July for Adak, Alaska. The surrender came while the carrier was en route, however, after her arrival on 18 August, Hoggatt Bay sailed for Ominato. She arrived September and supported the occupation of Hokkaidō and northern Honshū, Hoggatt Bay also participated in the occupation of Aomori before anchoring in Tokyo Bay on 27 September. The escort carrier departed Tokyo on 30 September and, after a service with the Magic Carpet fleet
USS Hoggatt Bay
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USS Hoggat Bay (CVE-75) in January 1944
31.
Morotai
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Morotai Island is an island in the Halmahera group of eastern Indonesias Maluku Islands. It is one of Indonesias northernmost islands, Morotai is a rugged, forested island lying to the north of Halmahera. It has an area of some 1,800 square kilometres, stretching 80 kilometres north-south, the islands largest town is Daruba, on the islands south coast. Between Halmahera and the islets and reefs of the west coast of Morotai is the Morotai Strait, Morotai was part of the Ternate Sultanate, which was a vassal of the Dutch East India Company by the end of the 17th century. The Empire of Japan invaded Morotai early in 1942 as part of its Dutch East Indies Campaign, US forces and their allies counter-attacked by launching the Battle of Morotai in 1944, bombing the island in August and invading it in September. Imperial Japanese forces on Morotai held out until 1945 but failed to expel the Allied invaders, in the latter part of 1944,61,000 personnel landed on Morotai. Two thirds of them were engineers, who rapidly established facilities including harbours, the formal surrender of the Second Japanese Army took place at Morotai on 9 September 1945. The last Japanese holdout from the war, Private Teruo Nakamura, was discovered by the Indonesian Air Force on Morotai, the Dutch Empire withdrew in the Indonesian National Revolution in the late 1940s, after which the new Indonesian Air Force kept one of the Allied-built airstrips in use. During the Permesta rebellion in 1958, AURI North American B-25 Mitchell bomber aircraft used the airstrip in transit on their way to attack the centre at Manado in North Sulawesi. Permesta had its own Revolutionary Air Force, AUREV, whose aircraft, munitions, AUREV aircraft attacked Morotai on April 21 and again early on April 26. The second air raid was followed by an amphibious Permesta landing force that quickly captured the island. Within hours a Douglas C-47 Skytrain transport aircraft landed on the now captured airstrip, carrying senior Permesta representative, one was a USAF officer who inspected the runway and pronounced that Boeing B-29 Superfortress heavy bomber aircraft could use it. In May 1958 Indonesian National Armed Forces started to gather forces to retake both Morotai and the rebel-held town of Jailolo on the neighbouring island of Halmahera. By May 16 the assault fleet started to gather in Ambon harbour, the Permesta forces surrender was as quick as its capture of the island less than a month before. It alarmed the Permesta rebels who had captured Jailolo, many of whom promptly fled back to North Sulawesi, thereafter the rebellion was largely confined to the Minahassa Peninsula of Sulawesi, where Permesta remnants waged a guerilla campaign until the last unit surrendered in January 1962. Melky Goeslaw, singer and father of Melly Goeslaw Battle of Morotai Islands of Indonesia Conboy, Kenneth, Morrison, feet to the Fire CIA Covert Operations in Indonesia, 1957–1958. Kahin, Audrey R, Kahin, George McT, subversion as Foreign Policy The Secret Eisenhower and Dulles Debacle in Indonesia. Seattle and London, University of Washington Press
Morotai
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Morotai
32.
Philippines
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The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is a sovereign island country in Southeast Asia situated in the western Pacific Ocean. It consists of about 7,641 islands that are categorized broadly under three main geographical divisions from north to south, Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, the capital city of the Philippines is Manila and the most populous city is Quezon City, both part of Metro Manila. The Philippines has an area of 300,000 square kilometers, and it is the eighth-most populated country in Asia and the 12th most populated country in the world. As of 2013, approximately 10 million additional Filipinos lived overseas, multiple ethnicities and cultures are found throughout the islands. In prehistoric times, Negritos were some of the archipelagos earliest inhabitants and they were followed by successive waves of Austronesian peoples. Exchanges with Chinese, Malay, Indian, and Islamic nations occurred, then, various competing maritime states were established under the rule of Datus, Rajahs, Sultans or Lakans. The arrival of Ferdinand Magellan in Homonhon, Eastern Samar in 1521 marked the beginning of Hispanic colonization, in 1543, Spanish explorer Ruy López de Villalobos named the archipelago Las Islas Filipinas in honor of Philip II of Spain. With the arrival of Miguel López de Legazpi from Mexico City, in 1565, the Philippines became part of the Spanish Empire for more than 300 years. This resulted in Roman Catholicism becoming the dominant religion, during this time, Manila became the western hub of the trans-Pacific trade connecting Asia with Acapulco in the Americas using Manila galleons. Aside from the period of Japanese occupation, the United States retained sovereignty over the islands until after World War II, since then, the Philippines has often had a tumultuous experience with democracy, which included the overthrow of a dictatorship by a non-violent revolution. It is a member of the United Nations, World Trade Organization, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. It also hosts the headquarters of the Asian Development Bank, the Philippines was named in honor of King Philip II of Spain. Spanish explorer Ruy López de Villalobos, during his expedition in 1542, named the islands of Leyte, eventually the name Las Islas Filipinas would be used to cover all the islands of the archipelago. Before that became commonplace, other such as Islas del Poniente. The official name of the Philippines has changed several times in the course of its history, during the Philippine Revolution, the Malolos Congress proclaimed the establishment of the República Filipina or the Philippine Republic. From the 1898 Treaty of Paris, the name Philippines began to appear, since the end of World War II, the official name of the country has been the Republic of the Philippines. The metatarsal of the Callao Man, reliably dated by uranium-series dating to 67,000 years ago is the oldest human remnant found in the archipelago to date and this distinction previously belonged to the Tabon Man of Palawan, carbon-dated to around 26,500 years ago. Negritos were also among the archipelagos earliest inhabitants, but their first settlement in the Philippines has not been reliably dated, there are several opposing theories regarding the origins of ancient Filipinos
Philippines
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King Philip II of Spain.
Philippines
Philippines
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Tabon Cave and its carvings.
Philippines
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The
Banaue Rice Terraces where
Ifugao/Igorot utilized terrace farming in the steep mountainous regions of northern Philippines over 2000 years ago.
33.
Teluk Yos Sudarso
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The Indonesian provincial capital Jayapura is situated on the bay. In 1827 the French explorer Jules Dumont dUrville named the bay after Alexander von Humboldt, the Dutch Etna Expedition of 1858 under Hugo van der Goes was the first to explore and map the bay. Its goal was to find locations for the establishment of a permanent government post on New Guinea. However, it took until March 1910, prodded by German claims on the northern coast of New Guinea, after Indonesian independence, the city became the capital of Netherlands New Guinea in 1949. It was renamed Kota Baru in November 1962, Sukarnopura in 1963 or 1964, and after the Transition to the New Order Jayapura in 1968. Duting World War II the area was occupied by the Japanese in April 1942, was liberated by U. S. forces on April 22,1944 and it served as General Douglas MacArthurs headquarters until the conquest of the Philippines in March 1945. WWII Map of Hollandia and Humboldt Bay
Teluk Yos Sudarso
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Yos Sudarso Bay from the skyline overlooking the bay. Villages of Tobati (left) and Enggros (right) are visible in the foreground.
Teluk Yos Sudarso
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New Guinea. Click the map to see Jayapura and Teluk Yos Sudarso. The bay is the unlabeled indentation northeast of the city, which is in the center of the north coast of the island.
34.
Leyte (island)
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Leyte /ˈleɪtɛ/ is an island in the Visayas group of the Philippines. Politically, the island is divided into two provinces, Leyte and Southern Leyte, territorially, Southern Leyte includes the island of Panaon to its south. To the north of Leyte is the province of Biliran. The major cities of Leyte are Tacloban, on the shore at the northwest corner of Leyte Gulf. The island was once the location of Mairete, a community which was ruled by Datu Ete. Before being colonized by Spain, the island was home to indigenous animist Warays to the east. Leyte today is notable for the electric power plants near Ormoc. However, Leyte is most famous for its role in the reconquest of the Philippines in World War II. On 20 October 1944, General Douglas MacArthur waded ashore on Leyte, saying, I have returned, the convergence of naval forces resulted in the four-day Battle of Leyte Gulf, the largest naval battle in history. The island measures about 180 kilometres north-south and about 65 kilometres at its widest point, in the north it nearly joins the island of Samar, separated by the San Juanico Strait, which becomes as narrow as 2 kilometres in some places. The island province of Biliran is also to the north of Leyte and is joined to Leyte island by a bridge across the narrow Biliran Strait, to the south, Leyte is separated from Mindanao by the Surigao Strait. To the east, Leyte is somewhat set back from the Philippine Sea of the Pacific Ocean, Samar to the northeast, to the west is the Camotes Sea. Leyte is mostly forested and mountainous, but the Leyte Valley in the northeast has much agriculture. The Leyte Provincial capital is the seat of the government where there is a historic mural depicting the First Mass of Limasawa in the Orient. The MacArthur Landing Memorial National Park in Red Beach, Palo and it also has a lagoon where a life-size statue of Gen. MacArthur stands. MacArthurs true landing took place at Dulag, Leyte, lake Danao is a violin-shaped lake hemmed by cloud-capped mountain ranges. Kalanggaman Island in Palompon, Leyte is an island with pure white sand. The ecological atmosphere of the island had been preserved by the municipality, nino Shrine and Heritage Museum boasts the painting of the fourteen stations of the cross done by Filipino artists and a bas-relief of the legend of the first Filipino man and woman
Leyte (island)
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Battle of Leyte: Gen.
Douglas MacArthur and staff land at
Dulag Beach, Leyte, 20 October 1944
Leyte (island)
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The location of the Island of Leyte
35.
Battle of Leyte Gulf
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The Battle of Leyte Gulf is generally considered to be the largest naval battle of World War II and, by some criteria, possibly the largest naval battle in history. It was fought in waters near the Philippine islands of Leyte, Samar and Luzon, from 23–26 October 1944, between combined American and Australian forces and the Imperial Japanese Navy. The Imperial Japanese Navy mobilized nearly all of its major naval vessels in an attempt to defeat the Allied invasion but was repulsed by the U. S. Navys 3rd. The IJN failed to achieve its objective, suffered heavy losses. The majority of its surviving ships, deprived of fuel, remained in their bases for the rest of the Pacific War. It was the first battle in which Japanese aircraft carried out organized kamikaze attacks, by the time of the battle, Japan had fewer aircraft than the Allied forces had sea vessels, demonstrating the difference in power of the two sides at this point of the war. S. 5th Fleets Fast Carrier Task Force captured most of the Mariana Islands and this offensive breached Japans strategic inner defense ring and gave the Americans a base from which long-range Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers could attack the Japanese home islands. The Japanese counterattacked in the Battle of the Philippine Sea, the U. S. Navy destroyed three Japanese aircraft carriers and approximately 600 Japanese aircraft, leaving the IJN with virtually no carrier-borne air power or any experienced pilots. For subsequent operations, Admiral Ernest J. U. S. Army General Douglas MacArthur championed an invasion of the Philippines, which also lay across the supply lines to Japan. Leaving the Philippines in Japanese hands would be a blow to American prestige and an affront to MacArthur. However, Nimitz and MacArthur initially had opposing plans, with Nimitzs plan centered on an invasion of Formosa, Formosa could also serve as a base for an invasion of mainland China, which MacArthur felt was unnecessary. Nimitz eventually changed his mind and agreed to MacArthurs plan and it was also estimated that an invasion of Formosa would require about 12 divisions of U. S. Army soldiers and Marines. It was eventually decided that MacArthurs forces would invade the island of Leyte in the central Philippines, amphibious forces and close naval support would be provided by the 7th Fleet, commanded by Vice Admiral Thomas C. The 7th Fleet at this time contained units of the U. S. Navy, the U. S. 3rd Fleet—commanded by Admiral William F. Halsey, Jr. with Task Force 38 as its main component—would provide more distant cover and support for the invasion. A fundamental defect in this plan was there would be no single American naval admiral in overall command, Kinkaid and his 7th Fleet fell under MacArthur as Supreme Allied Commander Southwest Pacific, whereas Halseys 3rd Fleet reported to Nimitz as C-in-C Pacific Ocean Areas. This lack of unity of command, along with failures in communication, was to produce a crisis, by coincidence, the Japanese plan, using three separate fleets, also lacked an overall commander. The American options were apparent to the IJN, the plans were for complex offensive operations committing nearly all available forces to a decisive battle, despite this substantially depleting Japans slender reserves of fuel oil. The Japanese command therefore put Shō-Gō2 into action, launching waves of air attacks against 3rd Fleets carriers, following the American invasion of the Philippines, the Japanese Navy made the transition to Shō-Gō1
Battle of Leyte Gulf
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The
light aircraft carrier Princeton on fire, east of
Luzon, 24 October 1944.
Battle of Leyte Gulf
–
The four main actions in the battle of Leyte Gulf: 1
Battle of the Sibuyan Sea 2
Battle of Surigao Strait 3
Battle of (or 'off') Cape Engaño 4
Battle off Samar. Leyte Gulf is north of 2 and west of 4. The island of Leyte is west of the gulf.
Battle of Leyte Gulf
–
Admiral Kurita's force at anchor in
Brunei
Battle of Leyte Gulf
–
Musashi departing Brunei in October 1944 for the Battle of Leyte Gulf
36.
Imperial Japanese Navy
–
The Imperial Japanese Navy was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 until 1945, when it was dissolved following Japans defeat and surrender in World War II. The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force was formed after the dissolution of the IJN, the Japanese Navy was the third largest navy in the world by 1920, behind the Royal Navy and the United States Navy. It was supported by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service for aircraft and it was the primary opponent of the Western Allies in the Pacific War. This eventually led to the Meiji Restoration, accompanying the re-ascendance of the Emperor came a period of frantic modernization and industrialization. Following the attempts at Mongol invasions of Japan by Kubilai Khan in 1274 and 1281, Japan undertook major naval building efforts in the 16th century, during the Warring States period, when feudal rulers vying for supremacy built vast coastal navies of several hundred ships. Around that time Japan may have developed one of the first ironclad warships when Oda Nobunaga, in 1588 Toyotomi Hideyoshi issued a ban on Wakō piracy, the pirates then became vassals of Hideyoshi, and comprised the naval force used in the Japanese invasion of Korea. Japan built her first large ocean-going warships in the beginning of the 17th century, from 1604 the Bakufu also commissioned about 350 Red seal ships, usually armed and incorporating some Western technologies, mainly for Southeast Asian trade. For more than 200 years, beginning in the 1640s, the Japanese policy of seclusion forbade contacts with the outside world and prohibited the construction of ocean-going ships on pain of death. Contacts were maintained, however, with the Dutch through the port of Nagasaki, the Chinese also through Nagasaki and the Ryukyus and Korea through intermediaries with Tsushima. Apart from Dutch trade ships no other Western vessels were allowed to enter Japanese ports, an exception was during the Napoleonic wars. However frictions with foreign ships started from the beginning of the 19th century, the Nagasaki Harbour Incident involving the HMS Phaeton in 1808 and other subsequent incidents in the following decades led to the Shogunate to enact an edict to repel foreign vessels. Western ships which were increasing their presence around Japan due to whaling, the shogunate also began to strengthen the nations coastal defenses. Numerous attempts to open Japan ended in failure in part to Japanese resistance, during 1853 and 1854, American warships under the command of Commodore Matthew Perry entered Edo Bay and made demonstrations of force requesting trade negotiations. After two hundred years of seclusion the 1854 Convention of Kanagawa led to the opening of Japan to international trade and this was soon followed by the 1858 Treaty of Amity and Commerce and treaties with other powers. In 1855, with Dutch assistance, the Shogunate acquired its first steam warship, Kankō Maru, samurai such as the future Admiral Enomoto Takeaki were sent by the Shogunate to study in the Netherlands for several years. In 1859 the Naval Training Center relocated to Tsukiji in Tokyo, in 1857 the Shogunate acquired its first screw-driven steam warship Kanrin Maru and used it as an escort for the 1860 Japanese delegation to the United States. In 1865 the French naval engineer Léonce Verny was hired to build Japans first modern naval arsenals, at Yokosuka, in 1867–1868 a British Naval mission headed by Commander Richard Tracey went to Japan to assist the development of the Japanese Navy and to organize the naval school of Tsukiji. The Shogunate also allowed and then ordered various domains to purchase warships and to develop naval fleets, Satsuma, a naval center had been set up by the Satsuma domain in Kagoshima, students were sent abroad for training and a number of ships were acquired
Imperial Japanese Navy
–
Naval
battle of Dan-no-ura in 1185.
Imperial Japanese Navy
–
Ensign of the Imperial Japanese Navy
Imperial Japanese Navy
–
Replica of the Japanese-built 1613
galleon San Juan Bautista, in
Ishinomaki, Japan.
Imperial Japanese Navy
–
A 1634 Japanese
Red seal ship, combining eastern and western naval technologies
37.
USS LST-472
–
USS LST-472 was an LST-1-class tank landing ship built for the United States Navy during World War II. LST-472 was laid down on 31 October 1942 at Vancouver, Washington by Kaiser, Inc. launched on 7 December 1942, huntoon, and commissioned on 13 March 1943. LST-472 was sunk by Kamikaze aircraft off Mindoro Island, Philippines on 21 December 1944, LST-472 earned six battle stars and the Navy Unit Commendation for World War II service. List of United States Navy LSTs List of United States Navy losses in World War II This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
USS LST-472
–
LST-472 on fire just prior to sinking on 21 December 1944
38.
Allies of World War II
–
The Allies of World War II, called the United Nations from the 1 January 1942 declaration, were the countries that together opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War. The Allies promoted the alliance as seeking to stop German, Japanese, at the start of the war on 1 September 1939, the Allies consisted of France, Poland and the United Kingdom, and dependent states, such as the British India. Within days they were joined by the independent Dominions of the British Commonwealth, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Poland was a minor factor after its defeat in 1939, France was a minor factor after its defeat in 1940. China had already been into a war with Japan since the Marco Polo Bridge Incident of 1937. The alliance was formalised by the Declaration by United Nations, from 1 January 1942, however, the name United Nations was rarely used to describe the Allies during the war. The leaders of the Big Three – the UK, the Soviet Union, in 1945, the Allied nations became the basis of the United Nations. The origins of the Allied powers stem from the Allies of World War I, Germany resented signing Treaty of Versailles. The new Weimar republics legitimacy became shaken, by the early 1930s, the Nazi Party led by Adolf Hitler became the dominant revanchist movement in Germany and Hitler and the Nazis gained power in 1933. The Nazi regime demanded the cancellation of the Treaty of Versailles and made claims to German-populated Austria. The likelihood of war was high, and the question was whether it could be avoided through strategies such as appeasement, in Asia, when Japan seized Manchuria in 1931, the League of Nations condemned it for aggression against China. Japan responded by leaving the League of Nations in March 1933, after four quiet years, the Sino-Japanese War erupted in 1937 with Japanese forces invading China. The League of Nations condemned Japans actions and initiated sanctions on Japan, the United States, in particular, was angered at Japan and sought to support China. In March 1939, Germany took over Czechoslovakia, violating the Munich Agreement signed six months before, Britain and France decided that Hitler had no intention to uphold diplomatic agreements and responded by preparing for war. On 31 March 1939, Britain formed the Anglo-Polish military alliance in an effort to avert a German attack on the country, also, the French had a long-standing alliance with Poland since 1921. The Soviet Union sought an alliance with the powers. The agreement secretly divided the independent nations of eastern Europe between the two powers and assured adequate oil supplies for the German war machine, on 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland, two days later Britain and France declared war on Germany. Then, on 17 September 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east, a Polish government-in-exile was set up and it continued to be one of the Allies, a model followed by other occupied countries. After a quiet winter, Germany in April 1940 invaded and quickly defeated Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Britain and its Empire stood alone against Hitler and Mussolini
Allies of World War II
–
Poland first to fight — British wartime poster supporting
Poland after the German invasion, 1939
Allies of World War II
–
Allied Powers (and their colonies)
Allies of World War II
–
British
Supermarine Spitfire fighter aircraft (left) flying past a German
Heinkel He-111 bomber aircraft (right) during the
Battle of Britain
Allies of World War II
–
British tanks during the
North African Campaign
39.
Luzon
–
Luzon (/luːˈzɒn/, Tagalog pronunciation, is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. It is ranked 15th largest in the world, with a population of 52.99 million as of 2015, it is the fourth most populous island in the world, containing about 53% of the countrys total population. Luzon may also refer to one of the three island groups in the country. The name Luzon is thought to derive from the Tagalog word lusong, from just before the first millennium, the Tagalog and Kapampangan peoples of south and central Luzon had established several Indianized kingdoms, notably among them those of Tundok and Namayan. The Laguna Copperplate Inscription, the first Philippine document written in 900AD, names places in and these kingdoms were based on leases between village rulers and landlords or Rajahs, to whom tributes and taxes were levied. These kingdoms were coastal thalassocracies based on trade with neighboring Asian political entities at that time, some parts of Luzon were Islamized when the Sultanate of Brunei expanded its realms from Borneo to the Philippines and set up the Kingdom of Maynila as its puppet-state. In addition, other kingdoms like the Wangdom of Pangasinan had become tributary states to China and were largely Sinified kingdoms, certain kilns were renowned over others and prices depended on the reputation of the kiln. Of this flourishing trade, the Burnay jars of Ilocos are the large clay jar manufactured in Luzon today with origins from this time. The Yongle Emperor instituted a Chinese Governor on Luzon during Zheng Hes voyages, China also had vassals among the leaders in the archipelago. China attained ascendancy in trade with the area in Yongles reign, in the 1500s, people from Luzon were called Lucoes and were actively employed in trading, seafaring and military campaigns across Southeast Asia. The Portuguese were the first European explorers who recorded it in their charts as Luçonia or Luçon, edmund Roberts, who visited Luzon in the early 19th century, wrote that Luzon was discovered in 1521. Many people from Luzon had active-employment in Portuguese Malacca and his father and wife carried on his maritime trading business after his death. Another important Malacca trader was Curia de Raja who also hailed from Luzon, the surname of de Raja or diraja could indicate that Regimo and Curia, and their families, were of noble or royal descent as the term is an abbreviation of Sanskrit adiraja. Pinto noted that there were a number of Lucoes in the Islamic fleets that went to battle with the Portuguese in the Philippines during the 16th century, the Sultan of Aceh gave one of them the task of holding Aru in 1540. Pinto also says one was named leader of the Malays remaining in the Moluccas Islands after the Portuguese conquest in 1511, pigafetta notes that one of them was in command of the Brunei fleet in 1521. However, the Luções did not only fight on the side of the Muslims, pinto says they were also apparently among the natives of the Philippines who fought the Muslims in 1538. On Mainland Southeast Asia, Lusung/Lucoes warriors aided the Burmese king in his invasion of Siam in 1547 AD, at the same time, Lusung warriors fought alongside the Siamese king and faced the same elephant army of the Burmese king in the defence of the Siamese capital at Ayuthaya. Scholars have thus suggested that they could be valued by all sides
Luzon
–
Luzon
Luzon
–
Luzon
mainland in red; its associated islands in maroon
Luzon
–
U.S. Navy ships under attack while entering
Lingayen Gulf, January 1945
Luzon
–
The
Sierra Madre mountains as viewed from
Cabagan
40.
Lingayen Gulf
–
The Lingayen Gulf is a large gulf on northwestern Luzon in the Philippines, stretching 56 km. It is framed by the provinces of Pangasinan and La Union, the Agno River drains into Lingayen Gulf. The gulf has numerous islands, the most famous of which are in the Hundred Islands National Park and this tourist attraction features 123 islands, the majority of which are small in size. The largest island is Cabarruyan Island, which constitutes the municipality of Anda, Pangasinan, the shore from Labrador to San Fabian is characterized by a long grey-sand beach. Other well-known beaches are at Bolinao and San Fernando City, the waters of Lingayen Gulf are murky due to its sandy bottom. Coral reefs were all but destroyed by dynamite fishing, although efforts are made to restore some, a number of cities are found along the gulfs coast such as Dagupan City and Alaminos City in Pangasinan, and San Fernando City in La Union. Lingayen, the capital of Pangasinan, also lies on the shores of the gulf, the gulf has five major river sources. Flowing from the province of Pangasinan in the south are the Agno, Dagupan, from the east in the province of La Union flow the Aringay and Bauang rivers. During World War II, the Lingayen Gulf proved an important theatre of war between American and Japanese forces. Following the defeat, the next day General MacArthur issued the order to retreat from Luzon, for the next three years, the gulf remained under Japanese occupation prior to the Lingayen Gulf Landings. At 09,30 on 9 January 1945, the U. S, on January 9,2008, Gov. Amado Espino, Jr. and Vice Gov. Marlyn Primicias-Agabas established an annual commemoration to honor the war veterans. The resolution named January 9 as Pangasinan Veterans’ Day, fishing and salt-making are the primary industries on Lingayen Gulf. In fact, the name Pangasinan literally means “place where salt is made”, salt is collected from seawater through evaporation, leaving the crystalline salt behind. The Lingayen Gulf is also home to the 1200 megawatt Sual Power Station, the Philippines largest coal power plant
Lingayen Gulf
–
Lingayen Gulf at
San Fabian, Pangasinan, with the Cordillera Central mountains in the background.
Lingayen Gulf
–
Hundred Islands National Park
Lingayen Gulf
–
World War II Memorial Ground Site, Town Park & Capitol Grounds (
Lingayen, Pangasinan).
41.
Kamikaze
–
During World War II, about 3,862 kamikaze pilots died, and about 19% of kamikaze attacks managed to hit a ship. Kamikaze aircraft were essentially pilot-guided explosive missiles, purpose-built or converted from conventional aircraft, a kamikaze could sustain damage which would disable a conventional attacker and still achieve its objective. The goal of crippling or destroying large numbers of Allied ships, particularly aircraft carriers, was considered by the Empire of Japan to be a just reason for sacrificing pilots and these attacks, which began in October 1944, followed several critical military defeats for the Japanese. They had long since lost aerial dominance due to outdated aircraft, Japan suffered from a diminishing capacity for war, and a rapidly declining industrial capacity relative to the Allies. Japan was also losing pilots faster than it could train their replacements, in combination, these factors, coupled with the unwillingness to surrender, led to the use of kamikaze tactics as Allied forces advanced towards the Japanese home islands. While the term usually refers to the aerial strikes, it has also been applied to various other suicide attacks. The Japanese military also used or made plans for non-aerial Japanese Special Attack Units, including those involving submarines, human torpedoes, speedboats, the tradition of death instead of defeat, capture, and perceived shame was deeply entrenched in Japanese military culture. It was one of the traditions in the samurai life. The Japanese word kamikaze is usually translated as divine wind, in Japanese, the formal term used for units carrying out suicide attacks during 1944–1945 is tokubetsu kōgeki tai, which literally means special attack unit. This is usually abbreviated to tokkōtai, more specifically, air suicide attack units from the Imperial Japanese Navy were officially called shinpū tokubetsu kōgeki tai. Shinpū is the on-reading of the characters that form the word kamikaze in Japanese. As a result, the attack units are sometimes known in Japan as kamikaze tokubetsu kōgeki tai. Axell and Kase see these suicides as individual, impromptu decisions by men who were prepared to die. The case of Nikolai Gastellos taran on 26 June 1941 passed into Soviet air-warfare lore, in most cases, little evidence exists that such hits represented more than accidental collisions of the kind that sometimes happen in intense sea or air battles. One example of this occurred on 7 December 1941 during the attack on Pearl Harbor, First Lieutenant Fusata Iidas plane had taken a hit and had started leaking fuel when he apparently used it to make a suicide attack on Naval Air Station Kaneohe. Before taking off, he had told his men that if his plane were to become badly damaged he would crash it into an enemy target. During 1943–1944, U. S. forces steadily advanced toward Japan, newer U. S. -made planes, especially the Grumman F6F Hellcat and Vought F4U Corsair, began to outnumber and outclass Japans fighter planes. Tropical diseases, as well as shortages of parts and fuel
Kamikaze
–
USS Bunker Hill was hit by kamikazes piloted by Ensign Kiyoshi Ogawa (photo above) and Lieutenant Junior Grade Seizō Yasunori on 11 May 1945. 389 personnel were killed or missing and 264 wounded from a crew of 2,600.
Kamikaze
–
Ensign Kiyoshi Ogawa, who flew his aircraft into the
USS Bunker Hill during a kamikaze mission on 11 May 1945
Kamikaze
–
The
Mongol fleet destroyed in a typhoon, ink and water on paper, by
Kikuchi Yōsai, 1847
Kamikaze
–
Lt Yoshinori Yamaguchi's
Yokosuka D4Y 3 (Type 33 Suisei) "Judy" in a suicide dive against
USS Essex. The attack left 15 killed and 44 wounded.(25 November 1944). The
dive brakes are extended and the non-
self-sealing port wing tank trails fuel vapor and/or smoke.
42.
Corregidor
–
Corregidor Island /kəˈrɛɡᵻˌdɔːr/, locally called Isla ng Corregidor, is an island located at the entrance of Manila Bay in southwestern part of Luzon Island in the Philippines. The island was also the site of a military airfield. During World War II, Corregidor played an important role during the invasion and liberation of the Philippines from Japanese forces. Heavily bombarded in the part of the war, the ruins left on the island serve as a military memorial to American, Filipino. Corregidor is one of the important historic and tourist sites in the country, Corregidor and the other fortified islands of Manila Bay fall under the jurisdiction of the City of Cavite, Cavite province. The tadpole-shaped island, with its tail running eastward, is about 6.5 km long, the highest elevation is at 180 m on the Topside. The island is divided into four sections, The islands biggest area, beneath this was the fortified communications center of the island, as well as the location for the Army headquarters, barracks for enlisted men, a branch of the Philippine Trust Co. Bottomside is the part of the island and is the neck that connects the tail. South of Bottomside was Barangay or Barrio San José, on the north is what was Army Dock, the Malinta Hill separates Bottomside from the Tail End. The Tailside or Tail End is not a name, but it is the remaining portion of the island where different memorials, shrines. Kindley Field was constructed in the early 1920s and named in honor of a hero of the U. S. Army Air Corps. The airfield was operated then by the army, and the navy had a seaplane base, the short runway, cramped and hilly terrain had limited its use. Corregidor and Caballo islands are remnants of a crater, the Corregidor Caldera. However, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology still classifies Corregidor as an active volcano. The island came under Spanish sovereignty on May 19,1570, Legazpi was authorized by the Spanish Crown to establish the capital of the Philippines in Manila, and convert the Muslims in Luzon and Mindanao to Christianity. Corregidor was used as a site for the nine Spanish galleons used during the campaign. Corregidor comes from the Spanish word corregir, meaning to correct, another version claims that the island was used a penitentiary or correctional institution by the Spanish government, and thus came to be called El Corregidor. Corregidor is also a position of authority within the former Spanish administrative structure
Corregidor
–
Map of Corregidor Island
Corregidor
–
Corregidor Island and the entrance to
Manila Bay.
Corregidor
–
Bottomside in 1982
Corregidor
–
The entrance to Malinta Tunnel
43.
Manila Bay
–
Manila Bay is a natural harbour which serves the Port of Manila, in the Philippines. Manila Bay drains approximately 17,000 km2 of watershed area, with an average depth of 17 m, it is estimated to have a total volume of 28.9 billion cubic metres. Entrance to the bay is 19 km wide and expands to a width of 48 km, however, width of the bay varies from 22 km at its mouth and expanding to 60 km at its widest point. The islands of Corregidor and Caballo divides the entrance into two channels, about 2 mi towards the North and 6.5 mi wide on the South side. Mariveles, in the province of Bataan, is an anchorage just inside the northern entrance, on either side of the bay are volcanic peaks topped with tropical foliage,40 km to the north is the Bataan Peninsula and to the south is the province of Cavite. In the south channel is El Fraile Island and outside the entrance, to the immediate north and south are additional harbors, upon which both local and international ports are situated. Large number of ships at the North and South harbors facilitate maritime activities in the bay, being smaller of the two harbors, the North Harbor is used for inter-island shipping while the South Harbor is used for large ocean-going vessels. Manila Bay was connected to Laguna de Bay approximately 3,000 years ago, recurring episodic uplifts along the West Marikina Valley Fault caused the two to break up. Interaction between Manila Bay and Laguna de Bay today occurs only through the Pasig River, the bay was the setting for the Battle of Manila Bay in 1898, in which American troops led by Commodore George Dewey seized the area. This battle showcased the United States naval strength, all major Spanish ships were destroyed and captured. With its proud historic past and abundant marine life, Manila Bay became the portal and Filipino epicenter for government, economy. During the Russo-Japanese War at the close of the Battle of Tsushima in 1905, three surviving Russian protected cruisers managed to make port in then-United States-controlled Manila for repairs. However, because the US was neutral in conflict, the trio of warships. In World War II, Corregidor Island was annexed by 1942 by Japanese forces based in Manila Bay, much earlier, various other battles were fought from this naval base, including the La Naval de Manila in 1646, which finally ended Dutch attempts to seize the Philippines. It also serves a focus for recreation for Metro Manila and is a destination for walks. Much of the land fronting the bay along Metro Manila is reclaimed land now includes important sites such as the Philippine Senate. On 27 September 2011, the sea walls of Manila Bay were destroyed by the surge caused by Typhoon Pedring. Even the United States Embassy, Museo Pambata and Sofitel Philippine Plaza were submerged by the flooding and it was estimated that the damage would cost P30 million to repair
Manila Bay
–
Manila Bay Sunset
Manila Bay
–
Satellite image of Manila Bay.
Manila Bay
–
View of Manila Bay in the late afternoon from the
SM Mall of Asia in
Pasay, Metro Manila.
Manila Bay
–
Roxas Boulevard facing Manila Bay
44.
Manus Island
–
Manus Island is part of Manus Province in northern Papua New Guinea and is the largest of the Admiralty Islands. It is the fifth-largest island in Papua New Guinea with an area of 2,100 km2 measuring around 100 km ×30 km. According to the 2000 census, the whole Manus Province had a population of 43,387, Lorengau, the capital of Manus Province, is located on the island. Momote Airport, the terminal for Manus Province, is located on nearby Los Negros Island, a bridge connects Los Negros Island to Manus Island and the province capital of Lorengau. In addition to its resident population, asylum seekers have been relocated here from Australia between 2001–2004 and since 2012, Manus Island is covered in rugged jungles which can be broadly described as lowland tropical rain forest. The highest point on Manus Island is Mt. Dremsel 718 metres above sea level at the centre of the south coast, Manus Island is volcanic in origin and probably broke through the oceans surface in the late Miocene, 8–10 million years ago. The substrate of the island is either directly volcanic or from uplifted coral limestone, Manus Island is home to the Emerald green snail, whose shells are harvested to be sold as jewellery. Saavedra circled Manus Island and landed possibly in the Murai islet in its south west, Murai was found inhabited and some natives came out in canoes attacking with arrows. Three of these men were captured by the Spaniards and were returned by Saavedra to the island on his second attempt to return to North America the following year. Manus Island was charted as Urays la Grande or Big Urays, Manus was first bombed by the Japanese on 25 January 1942, the radio mast being the main target. The vastly outnumbered Australians withdrew into the jungle, later in 1942, Japan established a military base on Manus Island. This was attacked by United States forces in the Admiralty Islands campaign of February–March 1944, an Allied naval base was established at Seeadler Harbor on the island and it later supported the British Pacific Fleet. In 1950–51 the Australian government conducted the last trials against Japanese war criminals on the island, one case heard was that of Takuma Nishimura, who faced an Australian military court. He had already tried by a British military court in relation to the Sook Ching massacre in Singapore. While on a stopover in Hong Kong he was intercepted by Australian Military Police, evidence was presented stating that Nishimura had ordered the shootings of wounded Australian and Indian soldiers at Parit Sulong and the disposal of bodies so that there was no trace of evidence. In this trial he was guilty and was hanged on 11 June 1951. American anthropologist Margaret Mead lived on Manus Island before and after the war, a detention centre was built on Manus Island in 2001 as part of Australias Pacific Solution. The last inmate in that period was Aladdin Sisalem, who was kept as an inmate from July 2003 until he was finally granted asylum in Australia in June 2004
Manus Island
–
Admiralty Islands
45.
San Francisco
–
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the cultural, commercial, and financial center of Northern California. It is the birthplace of the United Nations, the California Gold Rush of 1849 brought rapid growth, making it the largest city on the West Coast at the time. San Francisco became a consolidated city-county in 1856, after three-quarters of the city was destroyed by the 1906 earthquake and fire, San Francisco was quickly rebuilt, hosting the Panama-Pacific International Exposition nine years later. In World War II, San Francisco was a port of embarkation for service members shipping out to the Pacific Theater. Politically, the city votes strongly along liberal Democratic Party lines, San Francisco is also the headquarters of five major banking institutions and various other companies such as Levi Strauss & Co. Dolby, Airbnb, Weebly, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Yelp, Pinterest, Twitter, Uber, Lyft, Mozilla, Wikimedia Foundation, as of 2016, San Francisco is ranked high on world liveability rankings. The earliest archaeological evidence of habitation of the territory of the city of San Francisco dates to 3000 BC. Upon independence from Spain in 1821, the became part of Mexico. Under Mexican rule, the system gradually ended, and its lands became privatized. In 1835, Englishman William Richardson erected the first independent homestead, together with Alcalde Francisco de Haro, he laid out a street plan for the expanded settlement, and the town, named Yerba Buena, began to attract American settlers. Commodore John D. Sloat claimed California for the United States on July 7,1846, during the Mexican–American War, montgomery arrived to claim Yerba Buena two days later. Yerba Buena was renamed San Francisco on January 30 of the next year, despite its attractive location as a port and naval base, San Francisco was still a small settlement with inhospitable geography. The California Gold Rush brought a flood of treasure seekers, with their sourdough bread in tow, prospectors accumulated in San Francisco over rival Benicia, raising the population from 1,000 in 1848 to 25,000 by December 1849. The promise of fabulous riches was so strong that crews on arriving vessels deserted and rushed off to the gold fields, leaving behind a forest of masts in San Francisco harbor. Some of these approximately 500 abandoned ships were used at times as storeships, saloons and hotels, many were left to rot, by 1851 the harbor was extended out into the bay by wharves while buildings were erected on piles among the ships. By 1870 Yerba Buena Cove had been filled to create new land, buried ships are occasionally exposed when foundations are dug for new buildings. California was quickly granted statehood in 1850 and the U. S. military built Fort Point at the Golden Gate, silver discoveries, including the Comstock Lode in Nevada in 1859, further drove rapid population growth. With hordes of fortune seekers streaming through the city, lawlessness was common, and the Barbary Coast section of town gained notoriety as a haven for criminals, prostitution, entrepreneurs sought to capitalize on the wealth generated by the Gold Rush
San Francisco
–
San Francisco and the
Golden Gate Bridge from
Marin Headlands
San Francisco
–
Mission San Francisco de Asís (Mission Dolores)
San Francisco
–
1853
United States Coast Survey Map
San Francisco
–
Francis Samuel Marryat, Hilltop of San Francisco, California, Looking toward the Bay, 1849. M.& N. Hanhart Chromolithograph
46.
Eniwetok
–
Enewetak Atoll is a large coral atoll of 40 islands in the Pacific Ocean and with its 850 people forms a legislative district of the Ralik Chain of the Marshall Islands. With a land area less than 5.85 square kilometres, its not higher than 5 metres. It is the second-westernmost atoll of the Ralik Chain and is 305 kilometres west from Bikini Atoll. Nuclear testing by the US totaling more than 30 megatons of TNT took place during the war, in 1977–1980. The Runit Dome is deteriorating and could be breached by a typhoon, the U. S. government referred to the atoll as Eniwetok until 1974, when it changed its official spelling to Enewetak. Enewetak Atoll formed atop a seamount, the seamount was formed in the late Cretaceous. This seamount is now about 4,600 feet below sea level and it is made of basalt, and its depth is due to a general subsidence of the entire region and not because of erosion. Enewetak has an elevation above sea level of 10 feet. Humans have inhabited the atoll since about 1,000 B. C, the first European visitor to Enewetak, Spanish explorer Alvaro de Saavedra, arrived on 10 October 1529. He called the island Los Jardines, in 1794 sailors aboard the British merchant sloop Walpole called the islands Browns Range. It was visited by about a dozen ships before the establishment of the German colony of the Marshall Islands in 1885. With the rest of the Marshalls, Enewetak was captured by the Imperial Japanese Navy in 1914 during World War I, the Japanese administered the island under the South Pacific Mandate, but mostly left affairs in hands of traditional local leaders until the start of World War II. The 1st Amphibious arrived on January 4,1944, combat also occurred on the main islet of Enewetak itself and on Parry Island, site of a Japanese seaplane base. Following its capture, the anchorage at Enewetak became a forward base for the U. S. Navy. The daily average of ships present during the first half of July 1944 was 488, woods, who executed the Nazi war criminals convicted at the Nuremberg Trials, was accidentally electrocuted here. Following the end of World War II, Enewetak came under the control of the United States as part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands until the independence of the Marshall Islands in 1986. During its tenure, the United States evacuated the local residents many times, the atoll was used for nuclear testing as part of the Pacific Proving Grounds. Before testing commenced, the U. S. exhumed the bodies of United States servicemen killed in the Battle of Enewetak, forty-three nuclear tests were fired at Enewetak from 1948 to 1958
Eniwetok
–
Aerial view of Enewetak and Parry
Eniwetok
–
Landsat 8 satellite image of Enewetak Atoll. The
crater formed by the
Ivy Mike nuclear test can be seen on the northeast cape of the atoll, with the smaller
Castle Nectar crater adjoining it.
Eniwetok
–
Aerial view of the Cactus dome.
Eniwetok
–
Battle of Eniwetok
47.
Guam
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Guam is an unincorporated and organized territory of the United States. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, Guam is one of five American territories with a civilian government. The capital city is Hagåtña and the most populous city is Dededo, in 2015,161,785 people resided on Guam. Guamanians are American citizens by birth, Guam has an area of 210 sq mi and a population density of 770/sq mi. It is the largest and southernmost of the Mariana Islands and the largest island in Micronesia, among its municipalities, Mongmong-Toto-Maite has the highest density at 3, 691/sq mi, whereas Inarajan and Umatac have the lowest density at 119/sq mi. The highest point is Mount Lamlam at 406 meters above sea level, the Chamorros, Guams indigenous people, settled the island approximately 4,000 years ago. Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan was the first European to visit the island on March 6,1521, Guam was colonized in 1668 with settlers, like Diego Luis de San Vitores, a Catholic missionary. Between the 16th century and the 18th century, Guam was an important stopover for the Spanish Manila Galleons, during the Spanish–American War, the United States captured Guam on June 21,1898. Under the Treaty of Paris, Spain ceded Guam to the United States on December 10,1898, Guam is among the seventeen Non-Self-Governing Territories of the United Nations. Before World War II, Guam and three other territories – American Samoa, Hawaii, and the Philippines – were the only American jurisdictions in the Pacific Ocean. On December 7,1941, hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Guam was captured by the Japanese, during the occupation, Guamanians were subjected to beheadings, forced labor, rape, and torture. Guam endured hostilities when American forces recaptured the island on July 21,1944, since the 1960s, the economy has been supported by two industries, tourism and the United States Armed Forces. The original inhabitants of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands are believed to be descendants of Austronesian people originating from Southeast Asia as early as 2000 BC and they evolved into the Chamorro people. The ancient-Chamorro society had four classes, chamorri, matua, achaot, the matua were located in the coastal villages, which meant they had the best access to fishing grounds, whereas the manachang were located in the interior of the island. Matua and manachang rarely communicated with other, and matua often used achaot as intermediaries. There were also makåhna, skilled in healing and medicine, belief in spirits of ancient Chamorros called Taotao mona still persists as a remnant of pre-European culture. Their society was organized along matrilineal clans, Latte stones are stone pillars that are found only in the Mariana Islands, they are a recent development in Pre-Contact Chamorro society. The latte-stone was used as a foundation on which thatched huts were built, Latte stones consist of a base shaped from limestone called the haligi and with a capstone, or tåsa, made either from a large brain coral or limestone, placed on top
Guam
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Marines laying fire on a
Japanese sniper nest (July 28, 1944).
Guam
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Flag
Guam
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Guam from satellite
Guam
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Aerial view of
Apra Harbor
48.
Puget Sound Navy Yard
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It is bordered on the south by Sinclair Inlet, on the west by the Bremerton Annex of Naval Base Kitsap, and on the north and east by the city of Bremerton, Washington. It is the Pacific Northwests largest naval facility and one of Washington states largest industrial installations. PSNS & IMF provides the Navy with maintenance, modernization, and technical, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard was established in 1891 as a Naval Station and was designated Navy Yard Puget Sound in 1901. During World War I, the Navy Yard constructed ships, including 25 subchasers, seven submarines, during World War II, the shipyards primary effort was the repair of battle damage to ships of the U. S. fleet and those of its allies. Following World War II, Navy Yard Puget Sound was designated Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and it engaged in an extensive program of modernizing carriers, including converting conventional flight decks to angle decks. During the Korean War, the shipyard was engaged in the activation of ships, in the late 1950s, it entered an era of new construction with the building of a new class of guided missile frigates. In 1965, USS Sculpin became the first nuclear-powered submarine to be maintained at PSNS, the shipyard was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1992. The historic district includes 22 contributing buildings and 42 contributing structures, as well as 49 non-contributing buildings, structures, perhaps the most visible feature of the shipyard is its huge green hammerhead crane, built in 1933. The PSNS hammerhead crane is 250 feet tall and 80 feet wide with a capacity of 250 tons. In 1990 the Navy authorized the Ship-Submarine Recycling Program to recycle nuclear-powered ships at PSNS, approximately 25% of the shipyards workload involves inactivation, reactor compartment disposal, and recycling of ships. It has pioneered an environmentally safe method of deactivating and recycling nuclear-powered ships and this process places the U. S. Navy in the role of being the worlds only organization to design, build, operate, and recycle nuclear-powered ships. On May 15,2003 PSNS and IMF were consolidated into what is now known as PSNS & IMF, PSNS is the only U. S. facility certified to recycle nuclear ships. During all this period Puget Sound Naval Shipyard has scrapped more than 125 submarines, the shipyard contains a portion of the United States Navy reserve fleet, a large collection of inactive U. S. Navy vessels, including the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk. Kitty Hawk is mothballed, meaning that she is stored in case she is needed by the Navy in the future. Gorst Creek Ravine near Port Orchard, Washington was a waste dump for the Navys shipyard waste between 1969 and 1970, when the site was not permitted by local authorities to take waste. After several collapses since 1997 the landfill could blow out Highway 3, in October 2014, the US EPA ordered the Navy to fix the problems. These five units are a representation of the historic features of the naval shipyard. List of U. S. National Historic Landmark ships, shipwrecks, and shipyards Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility
Puget Sound Navy Yard
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Puget Sound Naval Shipyard
Puget Sound Navy Yard
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Navy Yard views in 1910
Puget Sound Navy Yard
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Puget Sound Navy Yard in 1913
Puget Sound Navy Yard
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The complete U.S. Navy carrier force at Puget Sound, 1929
49.
Korean War
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The Korean War began when North Korea invaded South Korea. The United Nations, with the United States as the principal force, China came to the aid of North Korea, and the Soviet Union gave some assistance. Korea was ruled by Japan from 1910 until the days of World War II. In August 1945, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan, as a result of an agreement with the United States, U. S. forces subsequently moved into the south. By 1948, as a product of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States, Korea was split into two regions, with separate governments, both governments claimed to be the legitimate government of all of Korea, and neither side accepted the border as permanent. The conflict escalated into open warfare when North Korean forces—supported by the Soviet Union, on that day, the United Nations Security Council recognized this North Korean act as invasion and called for an immediate ceasefire. On 27 June, the Security Council adopted S/RES/83, Complaint of aggression upon the Republic of Korea and decided the formation, twenty-one countries of the United Nations eventually contributed to the UN force, with the United States providing 88% of the UNs military personnel. After the first two months of war, South Korean forces were on the point of defeat, forced back to the Pusan Perimeter, in September 1950, an amphibious UN counter-offensive was launched at Inchon, and cut off many North Korean troops. Those who escaped envelopment and capture were rapidly forced back north all the way to the border with China at the Yalu River, at this point, in October 1950, Chinese forces crossed the Yalu and entered the war. Chinese intervention triggered a retreat of UN forces which continued until mid-1951, after these reversals of fortune, which saw Seoul change hands four times, the last two years of fighting became a war of attrition, with the front line close to the 38th parallel. The war in the air, however, was never a stalemate, North Korea was subject to a massive bombing campaign. Jet fighters confronted each other in combat for the first time in history. The fighting ended on 27 July 1953, when an armistice was signed, the agreement created the Korean Demilitarized Zone to separate North and South Korea, and allowed the return of prisoners. However, no treaty has been signed, and the two Koreas are technically still at war. Periodic clashes, many of which are deadly, continue to the present, in the U. S. the war was initially described by President Harry S. Truman as a police action as it was an undeclared military action, conducted under the auspices of the United Nations. In South Korea, the war is referred to as 625 or the 6–2–5 Upheaval. In North Korea, the war is referred to as the Fatherland Liberation War or alternatively the Chosǒn War. In China, the war is called the War to Resist U. S
Korean War
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Clockwise from top: A column of the U.S.
1st Marine Division 's
infantry and
armor moves through Chinese lines during their
breakout from the Chosin Reservoir; UN landing at
Incheon harbor, starting point of the
Battle of Incheon; Korean refugees in front of an American
M26 Pershing tank; U.S. Marines, led by First Lieutenant
Baldomero Lopez, landing at Incheon;
F-86 Sabre fighter aircraft
Korean War
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Three Koreans shot for pulling up rails as a protest against seizure of land without payment by the Japanese
Korean War
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Soviet troops in Korea, October 1945
Korean War
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U.S. troops in Korea, September 1945
50.
Korea
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Korea is a historical state in East Asia, since 1945 divided into two distinct sovereign states, North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by China to the northwest and it is separated from Japan to the east by the Korea Strait and the Sea of Japan. Korea emerged as a political entity after centuries of conflict among the Three Kingdoms of Korea. Later Silla divided into three states during the Later Three Kingdoms period. Goryeo, which had succeeded Goguryeo, defeated the two states and united the Korean Peninsula. Around the same time, Balhae collapsed and its last crown prince fled south to Goryeo, Goryeo, whose name developed into the modern exonym Korea, was a highly cultured state that created the worlds first metal movable type in 1234. However, multiple invasions by the Mongol Yuan Dynasty during the 13th century greatly weakened the nation, following the Yuan Dynastys collapse, severe political strife followed, and Goryeo eventually fell to a coup led by General Yi Seong-gye, who established Joseon in 1388. The first 200 years of Joseon were marked by peace and saw the creation of the Korean alphabet by Sejong the Great in the 14th century. During the later part of the dynasty, however, Koreas isolationist policy earned it the Western nickname of the Hermit Kingdom, by the late 19th century, the country became the object of imperial design by the Empire of Japan. Despite attempts at modernization by the Korean Empire, in 1910 Korea was annexed by Japan and these circumstances soon became the basis for the division of Korea by the two superpowers, exacerbated by their incapability to agree on the terms of Korean independence. To date, both continue to compete with each other as the sole legitimate government of all of Korea. Korea is the spelling of Corea, a name attested in English as early as 1614. It is a derived from Cauli, Marco Polos transcription of the Chinese 高麗. This was the Hanja for the Korean kingdom of Goryeo or Koryŏ, Goryeos name was a continuation of the earlier Goguryeo or Koguryŏ, the northernmost of the Samguk, which was officially known by the shortened form Goryeo after the 5th-century reign of King Jangsu. The original name was a combination of the go with the name of a local Yemaek tribe. The name Korea is now used in English contexts by both North and South Korea. In South Korea, Korea as a whole is referred to as Hanguk, the name references the Samhan—Ma, Jin, and Byeon—who preceded the Three Kingdoms in the southern and central end of the peninsula during the 1st centuries BC and AD. It has been linked with the title khan used by the nomads of Manchuria
Korea
Korea
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Anapji (Anap Pond) in
Gyeongju Historic Areas.
Korea
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The
Gyeongbokgung Palace
United States
