1.
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
2.
United States Pacific Fleet
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The United States Pacific Fleet is a Pacific Ocean theater-level component command of the United States Navy that provides naval forces to the United States Pacific Command. Fleet headquarters is at Pearl Harbor Naval Station, Hawaii, with large facilities at North Island. A Pacific Fleet was created in 1907 when the Asiatic Squadron, in 1910, the ships of the First Squadron were organized back into a separate Asiatic Fleet. The General Order 94 of 6 December 1922 organized the United States Fleet, until May 1940, the Battle Fleet was stationed on the west coast of the United States. During the summer of year, as part of the U. S. response to Japanese expansionism, it was instructed to take an advanced position at Pearl Harbor. Long term basing at Pearl Harbor was so strongly opposed by the commander, Admiral James O. Richardson, political considerations were thought sufficiently important that he was relieved by Admiral Husband E. Kimmel, who was in command at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The Pacific Fleet was formally recreated on 1 February 1941, on that day General Order 143 split the United States Fleet into separate Atlantic, Pacific, and Asiatic Fleets. On 7 December, the Fleet consisted of the Battle Force, Scouting Force, Base Force, Amphibious Force, Cruiser Force, Destroyer Force, also in Hawaii was the Fourteenth Naval District, commanded by Rear Admiral Claude C. At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Pennsylvania was in dry dock and Colorado was being refitted at Bremerton Navy Yard, arizona was mated with Nevada and Oklahoma at that time. Other components of the Battle Force included Aircraft, Battle Force, with Carrier Division One and Carrier Division Two, plus Cruiser Divisions 4,5, the Scouting Force included Cruiser Division Three, Cruiser Division Nine and Submarines, Scouting Force. The Amphibious Force was formally known as Commander, Amphibious Forces, One of PhibPacs subordinate commands during World War II was Transports, Amphibious Force, Pacific Fleet, or TransPhibPac. The commander of TransPhibPac was known as ComTransPhibPac, in December 1941, the fleet consisted of nine battleships, three aircraft carriers,12 heavy cruisers, eight light cruisers,50 destroyers,33 submarines, and 100 patrol bombers. This was approximately the strength at the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. That day, the Japanese Combined Fleet carried out the attack on Pearl Harbor, Navy to rely primarily on aircraft carriers and submarines for many months afterward. More minor battles included the Battle of Dutch Harbor, the West Loch disaster occurred at Pearl Harbor on 21 May 1944. The Pacific Fleet took part in Operation Magic Carpet, the return of U. S. servicemen, after the end of the Second World War. The organization of the Pacific Fleet in January 1947 is shown in Hal M. Friedmans Arguing over the American Lake, Bureaucracy and Rivalry in the U. S. Pacific, the RIMPAC exercise series began in 1971. On 7 March 1984, the Secretaries of Transportation and Navy signed a Memorandum of Agreement which created the Maritime Defense Zones, the Pacific MDZ is an echelon three Navy command under the Commander U. S
3.
Naval Base Point Loma
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These close-knit commands form a diverse and highly technical hub of naval activity. The on base population is around 22,000 Navy and civilian personnel, to provide direct day-to-day operation of base support functions and to ensure that the base best serves the Fleet and tenant commands. We are a team dedicated to providing the highest level of base operating support and quality of life services for all operating forces. The history of Point Loma Naval Base begins in 1795, the Spanish began to work building a fort at the base of Point Guijarros, opposite the tip of North Island. This fort was built on the land which is known as Ballast Point. Fort Guijarros was later finished in 1798 and then abandoned by the Spanish in 1845, in 1846 United States Capt. Samuel Du Pont, entered the abandoned land where the fort once stood and raised their flag. Shortly after in 1848 the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the Mexican-American War, in February 1852 President Millard Fillmore set aside the southern portion of Point Loma of about 1,400 acres for military purposes. Subsequently, it was assigned to the U. S. Army and named Fort Rosecrans, after General William Rosecrans, NEL was renamed the Naval Ocean Systems Center in 1977 and incorporated into the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command in 1997. In 1932, the site of Fort Rosecrans was registered as California Historical Landmark #62, Submarine Group, San Diego was established in 1946, and Submarine Flotilla 1 was activated in 1949. In 1959 Fort Rosecrans was turned over to the U. S. Navy, the Navy Submarine Support Facility was established in November 1963 on 280 acres of the land. Bathyscaphe Trieste arrived at NEL in 1958, and modified Bathyscaphe Trieste II was based here from 1965 to 1984, on 1 October 1981 the base was designated as Naval Submarine Base San Diego. Starting in April 1995, several commands were decommissioned or their homeports were changed to meet the post-Cold War down-sizing requirements of the Navy, commands throughout San Diego were regionalized in an effort to provide equal or better base services while managing a reduced budget. The six naval installations on Point Loma were consolidated as Naval Base Point Loma on 1 October 1998, USS Alexandria USS San Francisco USS Pasadena USS Asheville USS Hampton Devil Ray Swamp Fox Narwhal Commander, U. S. Third Fleet Naval Mine and Anti-Submarine Warfare Command - Effective 1 October 2006, pending NMAWC Corpus Christi relocation associated with BRAC action, NMAWC was multi-sited with the commander and Vice Commander and headquarters in San Diego. FLTASWCOM DET NORFOLK is renamed NMAWC DET NORFOLK VA, NMAWC San Diego, in addition to commander NMAWC duties, continues to focus on ASW matters. NMAWC Corpus Christi continues to focus on MIW matters, Submarine Squadron 11 Military Sealift Command, Pacific Naval Training Center San Diego Fleet Anti-Submarine Warfare Training Center Official Website
4.
Vice Admiral
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Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to an admiral and junior to an admiral. The rank insignia for a vice admiral often involves three stars, but this is not always the case, in the navy of Iraq, vice admiral insignia involves one star. Vice admiral is the equivalent of air marshal in the Royal Australian Air Force, in the Royal Canadian Navy, the rank of vice-admiral is equivalent to lieutenant-general of the Canadian Army and Royal Canadian Air Force. A vice-admiral is an officer, the naval equivalent of a general officer. A vice-admiral is senior to a rear-admiral and major general, two rows of gold oak leaves are located on the black visor of the white service cap. Vice-admirals are addressed by rank and name, thereafter by subordinates as Sir or Maam, vice-admirals are normally entitled to a staff car, the car will normally bear a flag, dark blue with three gold maple leaves arranged one over two. A vice-admiral generally holds only the most senior command or administrative appointments, barring only Chief of Defence Staff, charles, Prince of Wales holds the honorary rank of vice admiral in the Royal Canadian Navy. The vice-amiral rank used to be an OF-8 rank in NATO charts, the rank of vice-amiral descadre equals a NATO OF-8 rank. In the ancien régime Navy, between 1669 and 1791, the office of Vice-Admiral of France was the highest rank, the supreme office of Admiral of France being purely ceremonial. Distinct offices were, 1669-1791 Vice-admiral of the West, 1778-1791 Vice-admiral of the Asian and American Seas. 1784-1788 Vice-admiral of the Indian Seas, vizeadmiral is an OF-8 three-star rank equivalent to the German Heer and Luftwaffe rank of Generalleutnant. In India, vice admiral is a three star admiral, in Italy, the equivalent to vice admiral is the ammiraglio di squadra or squadron admiral. In the Philippines, the vice admiral is the highest-ranking official of the Philippine Navy. He is recognized as the flag officer in-charge of the Navy, the rank vice-admiral in the Philippines, has the same ranking in the U. S Navy. In Vietnam, the equivalent to vice admiral is the phó đô đốc
5.
Fleet Admiral
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An admiral of the fleet or fleet admiral is a military naval officer of the highest rank. In many nations the rank is reserved for wartime or ceremonial appointments and it is usually a rank above admiral, and is often held by the most senior admiral of an entire naval service. It is also a term for a senior admiral in command of a large group of ships, comprising a fleet or, in some cases. If actually a rank its name can vary depending on the country, in addition to fleet admiral and admiral of the fleet, such rank names include admiral of the navy and grand admiral. It ranks above vice admiral, rear admiral and usually full admiral and it is often classified in NATO nations as a five-star rank. Admiral of the fleet is equivalent to a field marshal. It is also equivalent to a marshal of the air force which in many countries has a rank insignia to admiral of the fleet. A French title of de la flotte, outranking a full admiral was invented in 1939 for Darlan. Before the fall of the monarchy in 1952, the Egyptian Navy had the equivalent rank of sayed elbehar elazam, no one has ever been bestowed this rank yet in the republican era. During the period of the Ottoman Empire, commanders of the navy carried the rank of kapudan-i derya as equivalent. The rank also exists or has existed in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Nigeria, Oman and Pakistan, list of fleet and grand admirals Admiralissimo Francis E. McMurtrie and Raymond V. B. New York, The McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc.1949
6.
William F. Halsey
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William Frederick Halsey Jr. GBE, known as Bill Halsey or Bull Halsey, was an American fleet admiral in the United States Navy. At the start of the War in the Pacific Halsey commanded the task force centered on the carrier Enterprise in a series of raids against Japanese-held targets. He was made commander, South Pacific Area and led the Allied forces over the course of the Battle for Guadalcanal, in 1943 he was made commander of the Third Fleet, the post he held through the rest of the war. Halsey was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, on October 30,1882 and his father was a descendant of Senator Rufus King, who was an American lawyer, politician, diplomat, and Federalist. After waiting two years to receive an appointment to the United States Naval Academy, Halsey decided to study medicine at the University of Virginia and he chose Virginia because his best friend, Karl Osterhause, was there. While there, Halsey joined the Delta Psi fraternity and was also a member of the secretive Seven Society, after his first year, Halsey received his appointment to the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, and entered the Academy in the fall of 1900. Halsey graduated from the Naval Academy on February 2,1904, after lettering in football as a fullback and earning several athletic honors. He spent his service years in battleships and sailed with the main battle fleet aboard the battleship USS Kansas as Roosevelts Great White Fleet circumnavigated the globe from 1907 to 1909. Halsey was on the bridge of the battleship USS Missouri on Wednesday, April 13,1904, No explosion occurred, but the rapid burning of the powder burnt and suffocated to death 31 officers and men. This resulted in Halsey dreading the 13th of every month, especially when it fell on a Friday, after his service on the Missouri, Halsey served aboard torpedo boats, beginning with USS Du Pont in 1909. Halsey was one of the few officers who was promoted directly from Ensign to full lieutenant, at that time, the destroyer and the torpedo boat, though extremely hazardous, were the most effective way to bring the torpedo into combat against capital ships. Lieutenant Commander Halseys World War I service, including command of USS Shaw in 1918, in October 1922, he was the naval attaché at the American Embassy in Berlin, Germany. One year later, he was given additional duty as naval attaché at the American Embassies in Christiana, Norway, Copenhagen, Denmark and he then returned to sea duty, again in destroyers in European waters, in command of USS Dale and USS Osborne. In 1934 the chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics, Navy Admiral Ernest King, offered Halsey command of the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga, Captain Halsey elected to enroll as a cadet for the full 12-week Naval Aviator course rather than the simpler Naval Aviation Observer program. I thought it better to be able to fly the aircraft itself than to just sit back and be at the mercy of the pilot. Halsey earned his Naval Aviators Wings on May 15,1935, at the age of 52 and he went on to command the Saratoga, and later the Naval Air Station Pensacola at Pensacola, Florida. Halsey considered airpower an important part of the navy, commenting, The naval officer in the next war had better know his aviation. Captain Halsey was promoted to admiral in 1938
7.
Numbered fleet
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In addition there was a Director of T&E and Operational Requirements, Surgeon General of the Navy, Chief of Naval Reserves, Chief of Oceanography, and Chief of Chaplains of the Navy. S. Fleet Cyber Command, United States Navy Reserve, United States Naval Special Warfare Command, while not widely publicized, groups of ships departing U. S. waters for operational missions gain a Task force type designation, almost always with the Second or Third Fleets. On entry into another numbered fleets area of responsibility, they are redesignated as a group from that fleet. For example, a task group departing the Eastern Seaboard for the Mediterranean might start out as Task Group 20.1, on entry into the Mediterranean. The United States Navy currently has six active numbered fleets and these six numbered fleets are grouped into operating forces, U. S. Fleet Forces Command Type commands, including Submarine Force U. S. TF20 works with the Combined Joint Operations from the Sea/Center of Excellence to complete its mission. Military Sealift Command serves not only the United States Navy, and it transports equipment, fuel, ammunition, and other goods essential to the smooth function of United States armed forces worldwide. Up to 95% of all supplies needed to sustain the U. S. military can be moved by Military Sealift Command, MSC operates approximately 120 ships with 100 more in reserve. Ships of the command are not manned by active duty Navy personnel, the Maritime Expeditionary Security Force’s primary mission is force protection conducted through fleet support with operations around the world. Two Maritime Expeditionary Security Groups in San Diego and Portsmouth, Va. supervise integration of coastal warfare assets trained to operate in high density, multi-threat environments. Coastal and harbor defense and protection of assets are placed under the jurisdiction of two Naval Coastal Warfare Groups, one for the Pacific Fleet and one for the Atlantic Fleet. Sixth Fleet is based in Naples, Italy and its flagship is USS Mount Whitney, normally, units assigned to Third Fleet undergo training cruises prior to deployment with either the Fifth Fleet or Seventh Fleet and are not intended for immediate use in battle. Only in the event of war does Third Fleet participate in active combat operations. Forming part of the Pacific Fleet, Third Fleet is based in San Diego, Seventh Fleet, the largest forward-deployed U. S. fleet, operates in the Western Pacific and the Indian Ocean, stretching to the Persian Gulf and including much of the east coast of Africa. It forms the combat ready part of the Pacific Fleet. At any given time, Seventh Fleet consists of 40-50 ships operating from bases in South Korea, Japan and it is headquartered at Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan with USS Blue Ridge as its flagship. Naval shore commands, Commander Naval Forces Korea, Commander Naval Forces Marianas, and Commander Naval Forces Japan. U. S. Naval Forces Central Command / Fifth Fleet Fifth Fleets area of responsibility is the Middle East, including the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Gulf of Oman, Fifth Fleet is headquartered at Manama, Bahrain
8.
Bering Sea
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The Bering Sea is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean. It comprises a deep basin, which then rises through a narrow slope into the shallower water above the continental shelves. The Bering Sea is separated from the Gulf of Alaska by the Alaska Peninsula, Bristol Bay is the portion of the Bering Sea which separates the Alaska Peninsula from mainland Alaska. The Bering Sea ecosystem includes resources within the jurisdiction of the United States and Russia, the interaction between currents, sea ice, and weather makes for a vigorous and productive ecosystem. Most scientists believe that during the most recent ice age, sea level was low enough to humans to migrate east on foot from Asia to North America across what is now the Bering Strait. Other animals including megafauna migrated in both directions and this is commonly referred to as the Bering land bridge and is believed by most, though not all scientists, to be the first point of entry of humans into the Americas. There is a portion of the Kula Plate in the Bering Sea. The Kula Plate is an ancient tectonic plate that used to subduct under Alaska, the International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Bering Sea as follows, On the North. The Southern limit of the Chuckchi Sea, Islands of the Bering Sea include, Pribilof Islands, including St. Paul Island Komandorski Islands, including Bering Island St. Lawrence Island Diomede Islands King Island St. The Bering Sea shelf break is the dominant driver of productivity in the Bering Sea. This zone, where the continental shelf drops off into the North Aleutians Basin is also known as the “Greenbelt”. Nutrient upwelling from the waters of the Aleutian basin flowing up the slope. The second driver of productivity in the Bering Sea is seasonal sea ice that, in part, seasonal melting of sea ice causes an influx of lower salinity water into the middle and other shelf areas, causing stratification and hydrographic effects which influence productivity. In addition to the hydrographic and productivity influence of melting sea ice, some evidence suggests that great changes to the Bering Sea ecosystem have already occurred. Warm water conditions in the summer of 1997 resulted in a bloom of low energy coccolithophorid phytoplankton. A long record of carbon isotopes, which is reflective of primary trends of the Bering Sea. Trends in carbon isotope ratios in whale baleen samples suggest that a 30–40% decline in average seasonal primary productivity has occurred over the last 50 years, the implication is that the carrying capacity of the Bering Sea is much lower now than it has been in the past. Other marine mammals include walrus, Steller sea lion, northern fur seal, orca, the Bering Sea is very important to the seabirds of the world
9.
Aleutian Islands
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The Aleutian Islands are a chain of 14 large volcanic islands and 55 smaller ones belonging to both the United States and Russia. Crossing longitude 180°, at which point east and west longitude end, the westernmost U. S. island in real terms, however, is Attu Island, west of which runs the International Date Line. The islands, with their 57 volcanoes, are in the part of the Pacific Ring of Fire. Physiographically, they are a section of the larger Pacific Border province. These Islands are most known for the battles and skirmishes occurred there during the Aleutian Islands Campaign of World War II. It was one of two attacks on the United States during that war. The largest islands in the Aleutians are Attu, and Unalaska, Umnak, and Unimak in the Fox Islands. The largest of those is Unimak Island, with an area of 1,571.41 mi², followed by Unalaska Island, the axis of the archipelago near the mainland of Alaska has a southwest trend, but near 179° its direction changes to the northwest. This change of direction corresponds to a curve in the line of fissures that have contributed their products to the building of the islands. Such curved chains are repeated about the Pacific Ocean in the Kuril Islands, the Japanese chain, and in the Philippines. All these island arcs are at the edge of the Pacific Plate and experience much seismic activity, but are still habitable, the general elevation is greatest in the eastern islands and least in the western. The island chain is a continuation of the Aleutian Range on the mainland. The coasts are rocky and surf-worn, and the approaches are exceedingly dangerous and these volcanic islands reach heights of 6,200 feet. Makushin Volcano located on Unalaska Island, is not quite visible from within the town of Unalaska, though the steam rising from its cone is visible on a clear day. Residents of Unalaska need only to one of the smaller hills in the area, such as Pyramid Peak or Mt. Newhall. The volcanic Bogoslof and Fire Islands, which rose from the sea in 1796 and 1883 respectively, in 1906 a new volcanic cone rose between the islets of Bogoslof and Grewingk, near Unalaska, followed by another in 1907. These cones were demolished by an explosive eruption on September 1,1907. Newly found information in 2017, the volcanic cone erupted sending ash, the Aleutians seen from space The climate of the islands is oceanic, with moderate and fairly uniform temperatures and heavy rainfall
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
11.
California
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California is the most populous state in the United States and the third most extensive by area. Located on the western coast of the U. S, California is bordered by the other U. S. states of Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona and shares an international border with the Mexican state of Baja California. Los Angeles is Californias most populous city, and the second largest after New York City. The Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nations second- and fifth-most populous urban regions, California also has the nations most populous county, Los Angeles County, and its largest county by area, San Bernardino County. The Central Valley, an agricultural area, dominates the states center. What is now California was first settled by various Native American tribes before being explored by a number of European expeditions during the 16th and 17th centuries, the Spanish Empire then claimed it as part of Alta California in their New Spain colony. The area became a part of Mexico in 1821 following its war for independence. The western portion of Alta California then was organized as the State of California, the California Gold Rush starting in 1848 led to dramatic social and demographic changes, with large-scale emigration from the east and abroad with an accompanying economic boom. If it were a country, California would be the 6th largest economy in the world, fifty-eight percent of the states economy is centered on finance, government, real estate services, technology, and professional, scientific and technical business services. Although it accounts for only 1.5 percent of the states economy, the story of Calafia is recorded in a 1510 work The Adventures of Esplandián, written as a sequel to Amadis de Gaula by Spanish adventure writer Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo. The kingdom of Queen Calafia, according to Montalvo, was said to be a land inhabited by griffins and other strange beasts. This conventional wisdom that California was an island, with maps drawn to reflect this belief, shortened forms of the states name include CA, Cal. Calif. and US-CA. Settled by successive waves of arrivals during the last 10,000 years, various estimates of the native population range from 100,000 to 300,000. The Indigenous peoples of California included more than 70 distinct groups of Native Americans, ranging from large, settled populations living on the coast to groups in the interior. California groups also were diverse in their organization with bands, tribes, villages. Trade, intermarriage and military alliances fostered many social and economic relationships among the diverse groups, the first European effort to explore the coast as far north as the Russian River was a Spanish sailing expedition, led by Portuguese captain Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, in 1542. Some 37 years later English explorer Francis Drake also explored and claimed a portion of the California coast in 1579. Spanish traders made unintended visits with the Manila galleons on their trips from the Philippines beginning in 1565
12.
Washington (state)
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It was admitted to the Union as the 42nd state in 1889. Washington is sometimes referred to as Washington State or the State of Washington to distinguish it from Washington, Washington is the 18th largest state with an area of 71,362 square miles, and the 13th most populous state with over 7 million people. Washington is the second most populous state on the West Coast and in the Western United States, Mount Rainier, an active stratovolcano, is the states highest elevation at almost 14,411 feet and is the most topographically prominent mountain in the contiguous United States. Washington is a leading lumber producer and its rugged surface is rich in stands of Douglas fir, hemlock, ponderosa pine, white pine, spruce, larch, and cedar. Manufacturing industries in Washington include aircraft and missiles, shipbuilding and other equipment, lumber, food processing, metals and metal products, chemicals. Washington has over 1,000 dams, including the Grand Coulee Dam, built for a variety of purposes including irrigation, power, flood control, Washington was named after President George Washington by an act of the United States Congress during the creation of Washington Territory in 1853. Washington is the only U. S. state named after a president, confusion over the state of Washington and the city of Washington, D. C. led to renaming proposals during the statehood process for Washington in 1889, which failed to garner support. Washington, D. C. s own statehood movement in the 21st century includes a proposal to use the name State of Washington, Douglass Commonwealth, which would conflict with the current state of Washington. To distinguish it from the capital, Washington is sometimes referred to as Washington state, or, in more formal contexts. Residents of Washington and the Pacific Northwest simply refer to the state as Washington, Washington is the northwestern-most state of the contiguous United States. Washington is bordered by Oregon to the south, with the Columbia River forming the western part, to the west of Washington lies the Pacific Ocean. The high mountains of the Cascade Range run north-south, bisecting the state, from the Cascade Mountains westward, Western Washington has a mostly marine west coast climate, with mild temperatures and wet winters, autumns and springs, and relatively dry summers. The Cascade Range contains several volcanoes, which reach altitudes significantly higher than the rest of the mountains, from the north to the south, these major volcanoes are Mount Baker, Glacier Peak, Mount Rainier, Mount St. Helens, and Mount Adams. Mount Rainier, the tallest mountain in the state, is 50 miles south of the city of Seattle and it is also covered with more glacial ice than any other peak in the contiguous 48 states. Western Washington also is home of the Olympic Mountains, far west on the Olympic Peninsula and these deep forests, such as the Hoh Rainforest, are among the only temperate rainforests in the continental United States. Eastern Washington – the part of the state east of the Cascades – has a dry climate. It includes large areas of steppe and a few truly arid deserts lying in the rain shadow of the Cascades. Farther east, the climate becomes less arid, with annual rainfall increasing as one goes east to 21.2 inches in Pullman, the Okanogan Highlands and the rugged Kettle River Range and Selkirk Mountains cover much of the northeastern quadrant of the state
13.
Hawaii
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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
14.
Aircraft carrier
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An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the ship of a fleet, as it allows a naval force to project air power worldwide without depending on local bases for staging aircraft operations. Aircraft carriers are expensive to build and are critical assets, there is no single definition of an aircraft carrier, and modern navies use several variants of the type. These variants are sometimes categorized as sub-types of aircraft carriers, Aircraft carriers may be classified according to the type of aircraft they carry and their operational assignments. Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope, former head of the Royal Navy, has said, To put it simply, as of April 2017, there are 37 active aircraft carriers in the world within twelve navies. The United States Navy has 10 large nuclear-powered fleet carriers, the largest carriers in the world, the Royal Navy of Great Britain is building two 280-m / 920-ft carriers, the Queen Elizabeth, and the Prince of Wales scheduled to go into service in 2020-2023. These are the largest carriers capable of fast speeds, by comparison, escort carriers were developed to provide defense for convoys of ships. They were smaller and slower with lower numbers of aircraft carried, most were built from mercantile hulls or, in the case of merchant aircraft carriers, were bulk cargo ships with a flight deck added on top. Light aircraft carriers were fast enough to operate with the main fleet, three nations currently operate carriers of this type, ten by the United States, and one each by France and Brazil for a total of twelve in service. Short take-off but arrested-recovery, these carriers are generally limited to carrying lighter fixed-wing aircraft with more limited payloads, currently, Russia, China, and India possess commissioned carriers of this type. Short take-off vertical-landing, limited to carrying STOVL aircraft and this type of aircraft carrier is currently in service with Italy. Some also count the nine US amphibious assault ships in their secondary light carrier role boosting the total to thirteen. Helicopter carrier, Helicopter carriers have an appearance to other aircraft carriers. Some are designed for addition of, or may include, a ski jump ramp allowing for STOVL operations or may have a ski jump installed before retirement of STOVL aircraft. In the past, some conventional carriers were converted and called commando carriers by the Royal Navy, some helicopter carriers with a resistant flight surface can operate STOVL jets. Currently the majority of carriers, but not all, are classified as amphibious assault ships. The US has nine of this type, France and Japan three, Australia two, the UK one, the Republic of Korea one and Spain one, the US and Spains amphibious assault ships operate STOVL jets in normal deployment. Supercarrier Fleet carrier Light aircraft carrier Escort carrier Several systems of identification symbol for aircraft carriers, two months later, on 18 January 1911, Ely landed his Curtiss pusher airplane on a platform on the armored cruiser USS Pennsylvania anchored in San Francisco Bay
15.
Cruiser
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A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundred years, and has had different meanings throughout this period. In the middle of the 19th century, cruiser came to be a classification for the intended for cruising distant waters, commerce raiding. Cruisers came in a variety of sizes, from the medium-sized protected cruiser to large armored cruisers that were nearly as big as a pre-dreadnought battleship. With the advent of the battleship before World War I. The very large battlecruisers of the World War I era that succeeded armored cruisers were now classified, along with dreadnought battleships, in the later 20th century, the obsolescence of the battleship left the cruiser as the largest and most powerful surface combatant after the aircraft carrier. The role of the cruiser varied according to ship and navy, often including air defense, during the Cold War, the Soviet Navys cruisers had heavy anti-ship missile armament designed to sink NATO carrier task forces via saturation attack. The U. S. Adams guided-missile destroyers tasked with the air defense role. Indeed, the newest U. S. Navy destroyers are more heavily-armed than some of the cruisers that they succeeded, currently only three nations operate cruisers, the United States, Russia, and Peru. The term cruiser or cruizer was first commonly used in the 17th century to refer to an independent warship, Cruiser meant the purpose or mission of a ship, rather than a category of vessel. However, the term was used to mean a smaller, faster warship suitable for such a role. The Dutch navy was noted for its cruisers in the 17th century, while the Royal Navy—and later French and Spanish navies—subsequently caught up in terms of their numbers, during the 18th century the frigate became the preeminent type of cruiser. A frigate was a small, fast, long range, lightly armed ship used for scouting, carrying dispatches, the other principal type of cruiser was the sloop, but many other miscellaneous types of ship were used as well. During the 19th century, navies began to use steam power for their fleets, the 1840s saw the construction of experimental steam-powered frigates and sloops. By the middle of the 1850s, the British and U. S. Navies were both building steam frigates with very long hulls and a gun armament, for instance USS Merrimack or Mersey. The 1860s saw the introduction of the ironclad, the first ironclads were frigates, in the sense of having one gun deck, however, they were also clearly the most powerful ships in the navy, and were principally to serve in the line of battle. In spite of their speed, they would have been wasted in a cruising role. The French constructed a number of smaller ironclads for overseas cruising duties, starting with the Belliqueuse and these station ironclads were the beginning of the development of the armored cruisers, a type of ironclad specifically for the traditional cruiser missions of fast, independent raiding and patrol
16.
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
17.
Frigate
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A frigate /ˈfrɪɡᵻt/ is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries. In the 17th century, this term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability and these could be warships carrying their principal batteries of carriage-mounted guns on a single deck or on two decks. The term was used for ships too small to stand in the line of battle. In the late 19th century, the frigate was a type of ironclad warship that for a time was the most powerful type of vessel afloat. The term frigate was used because such ships still mounted their principal armaments on a continuous upper deck. Ship classes dubbed frigates have more closely resembled corvettes, destroyers, cruisers. The rank frigate captain derives from the name of type of ship. The term frigate originated in the Mediterranean in the late 15th century, referring to a lighter galleass type ship with oars, sails and a light armament, built for speed and maneuverability. The etymology of the word is unknown, although it may have originated as a corruption of aphractus, aphractus was, in turn, derived from the Ancient Greek phrase ἄφρακτος ναῦς, or undefended ship. In 1583, during the Eighty Years War, Habsburg Spain recovered the Southern Netherlands from the rebellious Dutch and this soon led to the occupied ports being used as bases for privateers, the Dunkirkers, to attack the shipping of the Dutch and their allies. To achieve this they developed small, maneuverable, sailing vessels that came to be referred to as frigates, in French, the term frigate became a verb, meaning to build long and low, and an adjective, adding further confusion. Even the huge English Sovereign of the Seas could be described as a frigate by a contemporary after her upper decks were reduced in 1651. The navy of the Dutch Republic was the first navy to build the larger ocean-going frigates, the first two tasks required speed, shallowness of draft for the shallow waters around the Netherlands, and the ability to carry sufficient supplies to maintain a blockade. The third task required heavy armament, sufficient to fight against the Spanish fleet, the first of these larger battle-capable frigates were built around 1600 at Hoorn in Holland. The effectiveness of the Dutch frigates became most visible in the Battle of the Downs in 1639, encouraging most other navies, especially the English, to adopt similar designs. The fleets built by the Commonwealth of England in the 1650s generally consisted of ships described as frigates, the largest of which were two-decker great frigates of the third rate. Carrying 60 guns, these vessels were as big and capable as great ships of the time, however, most other frigates at the time were used as cruisers, independent fast ships. The term frigate implied a long hull design, which relates directly to speed and also, in turn, in Danish, the word fregat is often applied to warships carrying as few as 16 guns, such as HMS Falcon which the British classified as a sloop
18.
Submarine
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A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability, the term most commonly refers to a large, crewed vessel. It is also used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely operated vehicles and robots, as well as medium-sized or smaller vessels, such as the midget submarine. The noun submarine evolved as a form of submarine boat, by naval tradition, submarines are usually referred to as boats rather than as ships. Although experimental submarines had been built before, submarine design took off during the 19th century, Submarines were first widely used during World War I, and now figure in many navies large and small. Civilian uses for submarines include marine science, salvage, exploration and facility inspection, Submarines can also be modified to perform more specialized functions such as search-and-rescue missions or undersea cable repair. Submarines are also used in tourism, and for undersea archaeology, most large submarines consist of a cylindrical body with hemispherical ends and a vertical structure, usually located amidships, which houses communications and sensing devices as well as periscopes. In modern submarines, this structure is the sail in American usage, a conning tower was a feature of earlier designs, a separate pressure hull above the main body of the boat that allowed the use of shorter periscopes. There is a propeller at the rear, and various hydrodynamic control fins, smaller, deep-diving and specialty submarines may deviate significantly from this traditional layout. Submarines use diving planes and also change the amount of water, Submarines have one of the widest ranges of types and capabilities of any vessel. Submarines can work at greater depths than are survivable or practical for human divers, modern deep-diving submarines derive from the bathyscaphe, which in turn evolved from the diving bell. In 1578, the English mathematician William Bourne recorded in his book Inventions or Devises one of the first plans for an underwater navigation vehicle and its unclear whether he ever carried out his idea. The first submersible of whose construction there exists reliable information was designed and built in 1620 by Cornelis Drebbel and it was propelled by means of oars. By the mid-18th century, over a dozen patents for submarines/submersible boats had been granted in England, in 1747, Nathaniel Symons patented and built the first known working example of the use of a ballast tank for submersion. His design used leather bags that could fill with water to submerge the craft, a mechanism was used to twist the water out of the bags and cause the boat to resurface. In 1749, the Gentlemens Magazine reported that a design had initially been proposed by Giovanni Borelli in 1680. By this point of development, further improvement in design stagnated for over a century, until new industrial technologies for propulsion. The first military submarine was the Turtle, a hand-powered acorn-shaped device designed by the American David Bushnell to accommodate a single person and it was the first verified submarine capable of independent underwater operation and movement, and the first to use screws for propulsion
19.
Auxiliary ship
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An auxiliary ship is a naval ship which is designed to operate in any number of roles supporting combatant ships and other naval operations. Auxiliaries are not primary combatants, although they may have some limited combat capacity, auxiliaries are extremely important for navies of all sizes, as without them, the primary fleet vessels can not be effective. Thus, nearly every navy maintains a fleet of auxiliaries. However, the composition and size of these auxiliary fleets varies depending on the nature of each navy, smaller coastal navies tend to have smaller auxiliary vessels focusing primarily on littoral and training support roles. Larger blue-water navies tend to have large auxiliary fleets comprising longer-range fleet support vessels designed to provide support far beyond territorial waters, replenishment One of the most direct ways that auxiliaries support the fleet is by providing underway replenishment to major fleet units. This allows the fleet to remain on station, with the replenishment vessels bringing up fuel, ammunition, food, oilers are vessels specifically designed to bring fuel oil to the fleet, while the earlier Colliers supplied coal burning steamships. Tenders are specifically designed to support a type of smaller naval unit, most often submarines or seaplanes, transport Supporting forward operating bases requires immense transportation capacity. Transports are often converted merchant ships commissioned into naval service. Tankers are transports specifically designed to ship fuel to forward locations, transports are often employed not only carrying cargo for naval support, but in support of all forces of a nations military. In particular, troopships are used to large number of soldiers to operational theatres. Some transport ships are highly specialized, like the ships employed by the US Navy. Repair vessels range from small equipment ships to floating dry docks and these vessels also help maintain the harbor by dredging channels, maintaining jetties and buoys, and even providing floating platforms for port defense weapons. List of auxiliaries of the United States Navy List of auxiliary ship classes in service Cutler, Deborah W. Cutler, morris, Christopher G. Academic Press Dictionary of Science and Technology. Media related to Auxiliary ships at Wikimedia Commons
20.
Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet
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The Boeing F/A-18E and F/A-18F Super Hornet are twin-engine carrier-capable multirole fighter aircraft variants based on the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet. The F/A-18E single-seat and F/A-18F tandem-seat variants are larger and more advanced derivatives of the F/A-18C, the Super Hornet has an internal 20 mm M61 rotary cannon and can carry air-to-air missiles and air-to-surface weapons. Additional fuel can be carried in up to five fuel tanks. Designed and initially produced by McDonnell Douglas, the Super Hornet first flew in 1995, full-rate production began in September 1997, after the merger of McDonnell Douglas and Boeing the previous month. The Super Hornet entered service with the United States Navy in 1999, replacing the Grumman F-14 Tomcat, which was retired in 2006, the Super Hornet serves alongside the original Hornet. The Royal Australian Air Force, which has operated the F/A-18A as its main fighter since 1984, RAAF Super Hornets entered service in December 2010. The Super Hornet is a redesign of the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet. The Super Hornets unique wing and tail configuration can be traced back to an internal Northrop project P-530,1965, this had started as a substantial rework of the lightweight F-5E with a larger wing, twin tail fins and a distinctive leading edge root extension. The Hornet proved to be effective but limited in combat radius, the concept of an enlarged Hornet was first proposed in the 1980s, which was marketed by McDonnell Douglas as Hornet 2000. The Hornet 2000 concept was an advanced F/A-18 with a larger wing, the end of the Cold War led to a period of military budget cuts and considerable restructuring. At the same time, U. S. Naval Aviation faced a number of problems, the McDonnell Douglas A-12 Avenger II was canceled in 1991 after the program ran into serious problems, it was intended to replace the obsolete Grumman A-6 Intruder and LTV A-7 Corsair II. The Navy considered updating an existing design as an attractive approach to a clean-sheet program. The next-generation Hornet design proved more attractive than Grummans Quick Strike upgrade to the F-14 Tomcat, at the time, the Grumman F-14 Tomcat was the Navys primary air superiority fighter and fleet defense interceptor. In 1992, the Navy canceled the Navy Advanced Tactical Fighter, the Super Hornet was first ordered by the U. S. Navy in 1992. The Navy retained the F/A-18 designation to help sell the program to Congress as a low-risk derivative, the Hornet and Super Hornet share many characteristics, including avionics, ejection seats, radar, armament, mission computer software, and maintenance/operating procedures. The initial F/A-18E/F retained most of the systems from the F/A-18C/Ds configuration at the time. The design would be expanded in the Super Hornet with an empty weight slightly greater than the F-15C, the Super Hornet first flew on 29 November 1995. Initial production on the F/A-18E/F began in 1995, flight testing started in 1996 with the F/A-18E/Fs first carrier landing in 1997
21.
Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye
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The Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye is an American all-weather, carrier-capable tactical airborne early warning aircraft. The fourth major version of the Hawkeye is the E-2D, which first flew in 2007, the E-2 was the first aircraft designed specifically for its role, as opposed to a modification of an existing airframe, such as the Boeing E-3 Sentry. Variants of the Hawkeye have been in production since 1960. The E-2 also received the nickname Super Fudd because it replaced the E-1 Tracer Willy Fudd, in recent decades, the E-2 has been commonly referred to as the Hummer because of the distinctive sounds of its turboprop engines, quite unlike that of turbojet and turbofan jet engines. In addition to U. S. Navy service, smaller numbers of E-2s have been sold to the forces of Egypt, France, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Singapore. Continual improvements in airborne radars through 1956 led to the construction of AEW airplanes by several different countries, the functions of command and control and sea & air surveillance were also added. The first carrier-based aircraft to perform missions for the U. S. Its design, initially designated W2F-1, but later redesignated the E-2A Hawkeye, was the first carrier plane that had been designed from its wheels up as an AEW and command and control airplane. These ‘smaller’ carriers were built during World War II and later modified to allow them to operate jet aircraft, consequently, various height, weight and length restrictions had to be factored into the E-2A design, resulting in some handling characteristics which were less than ideal. The E-2A actually never operated from the modified Essex class carriers, the first prototype, acting as an aerodynamic testbed only, flew on 21 October 1960. The first fully equipped aircraft followed it on 19 April 1961, by 1965 the major development problems delaying the E-2A Hawkeye got so bad that the aircraft was actually cancelled after 59 aircraft had already been built. Particular difficulties were being experienced due to cooling in the closely packed avionics compartment. Early computer and complex avionics systems generated considerable heat, without proper ventilation this would lead to system failures and these failures continued long after the aircraft entered service and at one point reliability was so bad the entire fleet of aircraft was grounded. The airframe was also prone to corrosion, a problem in a carrier based aircraft. The unreliable rotary drum computer was replaced by a Litton L-304 digital computer, in total,49 of the 59 E-2As were upgraded to E-2B standard. These aircraft replaced the E-1B Tracers in the various US Navy AEW squadrons, although the upgraded E-2B was a vast improvement on the unreliable E-2A, it was an interim measure. The US Navy knew the design had much greater capability and had yet to achieve the performance, in April 1968 a reliability improvement program was instigated. In addition, now that the capabilities of the aircraft were starting to be realized, improvements in the new and upgraded aircraft were concentrated in the radar and computer performance
22.
McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II
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The McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II is a single-engine ground-attack aircraft that constitutes the second generation of the Harrier Jump Jet family. Named after a bird of prey, it is employed on light attack or multi-role missions. The AV-8B is used by the United States Marine Corps, the Spanish Navy, a variant of the AV-8B, the British Aerospace Harrier II, was developed for the British military, while another, the TAV-8B, is a dedicated two-seat trainer. Early efforts centered on a larger, more powerful Pegasus engine to improve the capabilities of the Harrier. Due to budgetary constraints, the UK abandoned the project in 1975, following the withdrawal of the UK, McDonnell Douglas extensively redesigned the earlier AV-8A Harrier to create the AV-8B. The aircraft is powered by a version of the Pegasus. The AV-8B made its flight in November 1981 and entered service with the USMC in January 1985. Later upgrades added a night-attack capability and radar, resulting in the AV-8B and AV-8B Harrier II Plus, an enlarged version named Harrier III was also studied, but not pursued. The UK, through British Aerospace, re-joined the improved Harrier project as a partner in 1981, after corporate mergers in the 1990s, Boeing and BAE Systems have jointly supported the program. Approximately 340 aircraft were produced in a 22-year production program that ended in 2003, U. S. Army General Norman Schwarzkopf named the USMC Harrier II as one of several important weapons in the Gulf War. The aircraft took part in combat during the Iraq War beginning in 2003, the Harrier II has served in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan since 2001, and was used in Operation Odyssey Dawn in Libya in 2011. Italian and Spanish Harrier IIs have taken part in conflicts in conjunction with NATO coalitions. During its service history, the AV-8B has had an accident rate, related to the percentage of time spent in critical take-off. USMC and Italian Navy AV-8Bs are to be replaced by the Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the first-generation Harriers entered service with the Royal Air Force and United States Marine Corps, but were handicapped in range and payload. In short takeoff and landing configuration, the AV-8A carried less than half the 4,000 lb payload of the smaller A-4 Skyhawk, to address this issue, in 1973 Hawker Siddeley and McDonnell Douglas began joint development of a more capable version of the Harrier. Early efforts concentrated on an improved Pegasus engine, designated the Pegasus 15, although more powerful, the engines diameter was too large by 2.75 in to fit into the Harrier easily. In December 1973, a joint American and British team completed a document defining an Advanced Harrier powered by the Pegasus 15 engine. The Advanced Harrier was intended to replace the original RAF and USMC Harriers, the aim of the Advanced Harrier was to double the AV-8s payload and range, and was therefore unofficially named AV-16
23.
Bell AH-1 SuperCobra
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The Bell AH-1 SuperCobra is a twin-engine attack helicopter based on the United States Armys single-engine AH-1 Cobra. The twin Cobra family, itself part of the larger Huey family, includes the AH-1J SeaCobra, the AH-1T Improved SeaCobra, the AH-1W has been the backbone of the United States Marine Corpss attack helicopter fleet, but is being replaced by the Bell AH-1Z Viper. The AH-1 Cobra was developed in the mid-1960s as a gunship for the U. S. Army for use during the Vietnam War. The Cobra shared the proven transmission, rotor system, and the T53 turboshaft engine of the UH-1 Huey, by June 1967, the first AH-1G HueyCobras had been delivered. Bell built 1,116 AH-1Gs for the U. S. Army between 1967 and 1973, and the Cobras chalked up over a million hours in Vietnam. The U. S. Marine Corps was very interested in the AH-1G Cobra, but it preferred a twin-engine version for improved safety in over-water operations, however, the Marines won out and awarded Bell a contract for 49 twin-engine AH-1J SeaCobras in May 1968. As an interim measure, the U. S. Army passed on 38 AH-1Gs to the Marines in 1969, the AH-1J also received a more powerful gun turret. It featured a three barrel 20 mm XM197 cannon that was based on the six barrel M61 Vulcan cannon, the Marine Corps requested greater load carrying capability in high temperatures for the Cobra in the 1970s. Bell used systems from its Model 309 to develop the AH-1T and this version had a lengthened tailboom and fuselage with an upgraded transmission and engines from the 309. Bell designed the AH-1T to be reliable and easier to maintain in the field. The version was given full TOW missile capability with targeting system, in the early 1980s, the U. S. Marine Corps sought a new navalized helicopter, but it was denied funding to buy the AH-64 Apache by Congress in 1981. The Marines in turn pursued a more powerful version of the AH-1T, other changes included modified fire control systems to carry and fire AIM-9 Sidewinder and AGM-114 Hellfire missiles. The new version was funded by Congress and received the AH-1W designation, deliveries of AH-1W SuperCobras totaled 179 new-built helicopters plus 43 upgrades of AH-1Ts. The AH-1T+ demonstrator and AH-1W prototype were later tested with a new experimental composite four-blade main rotor system, the new system offered better performance, reduced noise and improved battle damage tolerance. Lacking a USMC contract, Bell developed this new design into the AH-1Z with its own funds, by 1996, the Marines were again not allowed to order the AH-64. Developing a marine version of the Apache would have been expensive and they instead signed a contract for upgrading AH-1Ws into AH-1Zs. The Bell AH-1Z Viper features several design changes, the AH-1Zs two redesigned wing stubs are longer with each adding a wingtip station for a missile such as the AIM-9 Sidewinder. Each wing has two stations for 70 mm Hydra rocket pods, or AGM-114 Hellfire quad missile launcher
24.
Sikorsky SH-60 Seahawk
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The Sikorsky SH-60/MH-60 Seahawk is a twin turboshaft engine, multi-mission United States Navy helicopter based on the United States Army UH-60 Black Hawk and a member of the Sikorsky S-70 family. The most significant airframe modification is a tail to reduce its footprint aboard ships. The U. S. Navy uses the H-60 airframe under the model designations SH-60B, SH-60F, HH-60H, MH-60R, all Navy H-60s carry a rescue hoist for SAR/CSAR missions. During the 1970s, the U. S. Navy began looking for a new helicopter to replace the Kaman SH-2 Seasprite. The SH-2 Seasprite was used by the Navy as its platform for the Light Airborne Multi-Purpose System Mark I avionics suite for maritime warfare and a secondary search and rescue capability. Advances in sensor and avionic technology lead to the LAMPS Mk II suite, in the mid-1970s, the Army evaluated the Sikorsky YUH-60 and Boeing-Vertol YUH-61 for its Utility Tactical Transport Aircraft System competition. The Navy based its requirements on the Armys UTTAS specification to decrease costs from commonality, Sikorsky and Boeing-Vertol submitted proposals for Navy versions of their Army UTTAS helicopters in April 1977 for review. The Navy also looked at helicopters being produced by Bell, Kaman, Westland and MBB, in early 1978 the Navy selected Sikorskys S-70B design, which was designated SH-60B Seahawk. The SH-60B maintained 83% commonality with the UH-60A, other changes included larger fuel cells, an electric blade folding system, folding horizontal stabilators for storage, and adding a 25-tube pneumatic sonobuoy launcher on left side. Five YSH-60B Seahawk LAMPS III prototypes were ordered, the first YSH-60B flight occurred on 12 December 1979. The first production SH-60B made its first flight on 11 February 1983, the SH-60B entered operational service in 1984 with first operational deployment in 1985. The SH-60B is deployed primarily aboard frigates, destroyers, and cruisers, the primary missions of the SH-60B are surface warfare and anti-submarine warfare. It carries a complex system of including a towed Magnetic Anomaly Detector. Other sensors include the APS-124 search radar, ALQ-142 ESM system, munitions carried include the Mk 46, Mk 50, or Mk 54 torpedo, AGM-114 Hellfire missile, and a single cabin-door-mounted M60D/M2407.62 mm machine gun or GAU-16.50 in machine gun. A standard crew for a SH-60B is one pilot, one ATO/Co-Pilot, operating squadrons are designated Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron, Light. The SH-60J is a version of the SH-60B for the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, the SH-60K is a modified version of the SH-60J. The SH-60J and SH-60K are built under license by Mitsubishi in Japan, after the SH-60B entered service, the Navy began development of the SH-60F to replace the SH-3 Sea King. Development of this variant began with the award of a contract to Sikorsky in March 1985, an early-model SH-60B was modified to serve as a SH-60F prototype
25.
William Halsey, Jr.
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William Frederick Halsey Jr. GBE, known as Bill Halsey or Bull Halsey, was an American fleet admiral in the United States Navy. At the start of the War in the Pacific Halsey commanded the task force centered on the carrier Enterprise in a series of raids against Japanese-held targets. He was made commander, South Pacific Area and led the Allied forces over the course of the Battle for Guadalcanal, in 1943 he was made commander of the Third Fleet, the post he held through the rest of the war. Halsey was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, on October 30,1882 and his father was a descendant of Senator Rufus King, who was an American lawyer, politician, diplomat, and Federalist. After waiting two years to receive an appointment to the United States Naval Academy, Halsey decided to study medicine at the University of Virginia and he chose Virginia because his best friend, Karl Osterhause, was there. While there, Halsey joined the Delta Psi fraternity and was also a member of the secretive Seven Society, after his first year, Halsey received his appointment to the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, and entered the Academy in the fall of 1900. Halsey graduated from the Naval Academy on February 2,1904, after lettering in football as a fullback and earning several athletic honors. He spent his service years in battleships and sailed with the main battle fleet aboard the battleship USS Kansas as Roosevelts Great White Fleet circumnavigated the globe from 1907 to 1909. Halsey was on the bridge of the battleship USS Missouri on Wednesday, April 13,1904, No explosion occurred, but the rapid burning of the powder burnt and suffocated to death 31 officers and men. This resulted in Halsey dreading the 13th of every month, especially when it fell on a Friday, after his service on the Missouri, Halsey served aboard torpedo boats, beginning with USS Du Pont in 1909. Halsey was one of the few officers who was promoted directly from Ensign to full lieutenant, at that time, the destroyer and the torpedo boat, though extremely hazardous, were the most effective way to bring the torpedo into combat against capital ships. Lieutenant Commander Halseys World War I service, including command of USS Shaw in 1918, in October 1922, he was the naval attaché at the American Embassy in Berlin, Germany. One year later, he was given additional duty as naval attaché at the American Embassies in Christiana, Norway, Copenhagen, Denmark and he then returned to sea duty, again in destroyers in European waters, in command of USS Dale and USS Osborne. In 1934 the chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics, Navy Admiral Ernest King, offered Halsey command of the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga, Captain Halsey elected to enroll as a cadet for the full 12-week Naval Aviator course rather than the simpler Naval Aviation Observer program. I thought it better to be able to fly the aircraft itself than to just sit back and be at the mercy of the pilot. Halsey earned his Naval Aviators Wings on May 15,1935, at the age of 52 and he went on to command the Saratoga, and later the Naval Air Station Pensacola at Pensacola, Florida. Halsey considered airpower an important part of the navy, commenting, The naval officer in the next war had better know his aviation. Captain Halsey was promoted to admiral in 1938
26.
Pearl Harbor
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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
27.
United States Fifth Fleet
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The Fifth Fleet of the United States Navy has been responsible for naval forces in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Arabian Sea, and parts of the Indian Ocean since 1995 after a 48-year hiatus. It shares a commander and headquarters with U. S. Naval Forces Central Command in Bahrain, as of 2015, the commander of the 5th Fleet is Vice Admiral Kevin M. Donegan. Fifth Fleet/NAVCENT is a component command of, and reports to, established in 1944, the Fifth Fleet conducted extensive operations against Japanese forces in the Central Pacific during World War II. World War II ended in 1945, and the Fifth Fleet was deactivated in 1947 and it remained inactive until 1995, when it was reactivated and assumed its current responsibilities. The Fifth Fleet was initially established during World War II on 26 April 1944 from the Central Pacific Force under the command of Admiral Raymond Spruance, Central Pacific Force was itself part of Pacific Ocean Areas. A secondary benefit was confusing the Japanese into thinking that they were two separate fleets as the fleet designation flipped back and forth. Under Admiral Spruance, the Fifth Fleet was by June 1944 the largest fleet in the world, the British Pacific Fleet operated as Task Force 57 of the Fifth Fleet from March 1945 until May 1945. The Fifth Fleet was deactivated in January 1947, prior to the first Gulf War in 1990-1991, U. S. naval operations in the Persian Gulf region were directed by the Commander, Middle Eastern Force. However, no numbered fleet existed permanently within the USCENTCOM area of responsibility, by July 1995, a new numbered fleet was deemed necessary. After a 48-year hiatus, the U. S, Fifth Fleet was reactivated, replacing COMMIDEASTFOR, and it now directs operations in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, and Arabian Sea. Its headquarters are at NSA Bahrain located in Manama, Bahrain, however, with the War on Terrorism, the naval strategy of the U. S. has changed. The regular deployments of the Cold War are now a thing of the past, consequently, the policy of always maintaining a certain number of ships in various parts of the world is also over. Carrier Group Three formed the core of the power during the initial phase of Operation Enduring Freedom in 2001. Commander, Carrier Group Three arrived in the Arabian Sea on 12 September 2001 and was subsequently designated Commander Task Force 50, commanding multiple carrier strike groups, the Task Force conducted strikes against Al-Qaeda and Taliban forces in Afghanistan. Task Force 50 comprised over 59 ships from six nations including six aircraft carriers, in the Persian Gulf, United States Coast Guard surface ships attached to the Fifth Fleet were under Commander Destroyer Squadron 50 commanded by Captain Peterson of the Navy. Boutwell, Walnut, and the four boats were part of this group. The shore detachments, MCSD and PATFOR SWA also operated under the command of CDS-50, for actual operations, the Coast Guard forces were part of two different task forces. The surface units were part of Task Force 55, Command of CTF-55 actually shifted during OIF
28.
Raymond A. Spruance
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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
29.
Solomon Islands
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The countrys capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal. The islands have been inhabited for thousands of years, in 1568, the Spanish navigator Álvaro de Mendaña was the first European to visit them, naming them the Islas Salomón. Britain defined its area of interest in the Solomon Islands archipelago in June 1893, during World War II, the Solomon Islands campaign saw fierce fighting between the United States and the Empire of Japan, such as in the Battle of Guadalcanal. The official name of the then British overseas territory was changed from the British Solomon Islands Protectorate to Solomon Islands in 1975, self-government was achieved in 1976, independence was obtained two years later. Today, Solomon Islands is a monarchy with the Queen of Solomon Islands, currently Queen Elizabeth II. Manasseh Sogavare is the current prime minister, in 1568, the Spanish navigator Álvaro de Mendaña was the first European to visit the Solomon Islands archipelago, naming it Islas Salomón after the wealthy biblical King Solomon. It is said that they were given name in the mistaken assumption that they contained great riches. During most of the period of British rule the territory was named the British Solomon Islands Protectorate. On 22 June 1975 the territory was renamed Solomon Islands, when Solomon Islands became independent in 1978 they retained the name. The definite article, the, is not part of the official name but is sometimes used. It is believed that Papuan-speaking settlers began to arrive around 30,000 BC, austronesian speakers arrived c.4000 BC also bringing cultural elements such as the outrigger canoe. Between 1200 and 800 BC the ancestors of the Polynesians, the Lapita people, the first European to visit the islands was the Spanish navigator Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira, coming from Peru in 1568. The people of Solomon Islands were notorious for headhunting and cannibalism before the arrival of the Europeans, missionaries began visiting the Solomons in the mid-19th century. They made little progress at first, because blackbirding led to a series of reprisals, the evils of the labour trade prompted the United Kingdom to declare a protectorate over the southern Solomons in June 1893. Traditional trade and social intercourse between the western Solomon Islands of Mono and Alu and the societies in the south of Bougainville, however. Missionaries settled in the Solomons under the protectorate, converting most of the population to Christianity, in the early 20th century several British and Australian firms began large-scale coconut planting. Economic growth was slow, however, and the islanders benefited little, journalist Joe Melvin visited in 1892, as part of his undercover investigation into blackbirding. In 1908 the islands were visited by Jack London, who was cruising the Pacific on his boat, with the outbreak of the Second World War most planters and traders were evacuated to Australia and most cultivation ceased
30.
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
31.
Formosa
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Taiwan is an island in East Asia, located some 180 kilometres off the southeastern coast of mainland China across the Taiwan Strait. It has an area of 35,883 km2 and spans the Tropic of Cancer, the East China Sea lies to the north, the Philippine Sea to the east, the Luzon Strait directly to the south and the South China Sea to the southwest. There are several peaks over 3,500 m, the highest being Yu Shan at 3,952 metres, the tectonic boundary that formed these ranges is still active, and the island experiences many earthquakes, a few of them highly destructive. There are also many active volcanoes in the Taiwan Straits. The climate ranges from tropical in the south to subtropical in the north, the island is struck by an average of four typhoons in each year. The eastern mountains are forested and home to a diverse range of wildlife. The total area of the island is 36,193 km2 and it has a coastline of 1,139 km. The ROC claims an economic zone of 200 nmi and a territorial sea of 12 nmi. The main island of the archipelago is the island of Taiwan, the central point of the island is the Geographic Center of Taiwan in Puli Township, Nantou County. The southernmost point of the island is the Taiwan Southernmost Point in Hengchun Township, the island of Taiwan is separated from the southeast coast of China by the Taiwan Strait, which ranges from 220 km at its widest point to 130 km at its narrowest. Part of the shelf, the Strait is no more than 100 m deep. To the south, the island of Taiwan is separated from the Philippine island of Luzon by the 250 km -wide Luzon Strait, the South China Sea lies to the southwest, the East China Sea to the north, and the Philippine Sea to the east. The island of Taiwan was formed approximately 4 to 5 million years ago at a convergent boundary between the Philippine Sea Plate and the Eurasian Plate. In a boundary running the length of the island and continuing southwards in the Luzon Volcanic Arc, most of the island comprises a huge fault block tilted to the west. The western part of the island, and much of the central range, in the northeast of the island, and continuing eastwards in the Ryukyu Volcanic Arc, the Philippine Sea Plate slides under the Eurasian Plate. The tectonic boundary remains active, and Taiwan experiences 15,000 to 18,000 earthquakes each year, of which 800 to 1,000 are noticed by people. The most catastrophic recent earthquake was the magnitude-7.3 Chi-Chi earthquake, on 4 March 2010 at about 01,20 UTC, a magnitude 6.4 earthquake hit southwestern Taiwan in the mountainous area of Kaohsiung County. Another major earthquake occurred on 6 February 2016, with a magnitude of 6.4, Tainan was damaged the most, with 117 deaths, most of them caused by the collapse of a 17-story apartment building
32.
Okinawa
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Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost prefecture of Japan. It comprises hundreds of the Ryukyu Islands in a chain over 1,000 kilometres long, the Ryukyus extend southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan. The Okinawa Prefecture encompasses the two thirds of that chain. Naha, Okinawas capital, is located in the part of Okinawa Island. Although Okinawa comprises just 0. 6% of Japans total land mass, currently about 26,000 of the U. S. troops deployed in Japan are based in the prefecture. The oldest evidence of existence on the Ryukyu islands is from the Stone Age and was discovered in Naha. Some human bone fragments from the Paleolithic era were unearthed, Japanese Jōmon influences are dominant on the Okinawa Islands, although clay vessels on the Sakishima Islands have a commonality with those in Taiwan. The first mention of the word Ryukyu was written in the Book of Sui, Okinawa was the Japanese word identifying the islands, first seen in the biography of Jianzhen, written in 779. Agricultural societies begun in the 8th century slowly developed until the 12th century, since the islands are located at the eastern perimeter of the East China Sea relatively close to Japan, China and South-East Asia, the Ryukyu Kingdom became a prosperous trading nation. Also during this period, many Gusukus, similar to castles, were constructed, the Ryukyu Kingdom entered into the Imperial Chinese tributary system under the Ming dynasty beginning in the 15th century, which established economic relations between the two nations. In 1609, the Shimazu clan, which controlled the region that is now Kagoshima Prefecture, the Satsuma clan earned considerable profits from trade with China during a period in which foreign trade was heavily restricted by the shogunate. Although Satsuma maintained strong influence over the islands, the Ryukyu Kingdom maintained a degree of domestic political freedom for over two hundred years. Four years after the 1868 Meiji Restoration, the Japanese government, through military incursions, officially annexed the kingdom and renamed it Ryukyu han. At the time, the Qing Empire asserted a nominal suzerainty over the islands of the Ryukyu Kingdom, Ryukyu han became Okinawa Prefecture of Japan in 1879, even though all other hans had become prefectures of Japan in 1872. In 1912, Okinawans first obtained the right to vote for representatives to the national Diet which had established in 1890. Near the end of World War II, in 1945, the US Army, a third of the civilian population died, a quarter of the civilian population died during the 1945 Battle of Okinawa alone. The dead, of all nationalities, are commemorated at the Cornerstone of Peace, after the end of World War II, the Ryukyu independence movement developed, while Okinawa was under United States Military Government of the Ryukyu Islands administration for 27 years. During this trusteeship rule, the United States established numerous military bases on the Ryukyu islands, during the Korean War, B-29 Superfortresses flew bombing missions over Korea from Kadena Air Base on Okinawa
33.
Japanese archipelago
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It consists of islands from the Sakhalin island arc and the Northeastern Japan arc. The term Home Islands was used at the end of World War II to define the area of Japan to which its sovereignty, the term is also commonly used today to distinguish the archipelago from Japans colonies and other territories in the first half of the 20th century. The archipelago consists of 6,852 islands, of which 430 are inhabited, the four main islands, from north to south, are Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu, Honshu is the largest and referred to as the Japanese mainland. Sakhalin, part of the Russian Federation, is considered to be geographically part of the Japanese archipelago. Changes to the Japanese archipelago over time, Geography of Japan List of islands of Japan 37°30′52″N 137°42′44″E, center of mass
34.
Battleship
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A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries the battleship was the most powerful type of warship, the word battleship was coined around 1794 and is a contraction of the phrase line-of-battle ship, the dominant wooden warship during the Age of Sail. The term came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ironclad warship. In 1906, the commissioning of HMS Dreadnought heralded a revolution in battleship design, subsequent battleship designs, influenced by HMS Dreadnought, were referred to as dreadnoughts. Battleships were a symbol of naval dominance and national might, the launch of Dreadnought in 1906 commenced a new naval arms race. Jutland was the largest naval battle and the only full-scale clash of battleships in the war, the Naval Treaties of the 1920s and 1930s limited the number of battleships, though technical innovation in battleship design continued. The value of the battleship has been questioned, even during their heyday, there were few of the decisive fleet battles that battleship proponents expected, and used to justify the vast resources spent on building battlefleets. Battleships were retained by the United States Navy into the Cold War for fire support purposes before being stricken from the U. S. Naval Vessel Register in the 2000s. A ship of the line was a large, unarmored wooden sailing ship which mounted a battery of up to 120 smoothbore guns, from 1794, the alternative term line of battle ship was contracted to battle ship or battleship. The sheer number of guns fired broadside meant a sail battleship could wreck any wooden enemy, holing her hull, knocking down masts, wrecking her rigging, and killing her crew. However, the range of the guns was as little as a few hundred yards. The first major change to the ship of the concept was the introduction of steam power as an auxiliary propulsion system. Steam power was introduced to the navy in the first half of the 19th century, initially for small craft. The French Navy introduced steam to the line of battle with the 90-gun Napoléon in 1850—the first true steam battleship, Napoléon was armed as a conventional ship-of-the-line, but her steam engines could give her a speed of 12 knots, regardless of the wind condition. This was a decisive advantage in a naval engagement. The introduction of steam accelerated the growth in size of battleships, the adoption of steam power was only one of a number of technological advances which revolutionized warship design in the 19th century. The ship of the line was overtaken by the ironclad, powered by steam, protected by metal armor, and armed with guns firing high-explosive shells. In the Crimean War, six ships and two frigates of the Russian Black Sea Fleet destroyed seven Turkish frigates and three corvettes with explosive shells at the Battle of Sinop in 1853
35.
USS New Jersey (BB-62)
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USS New Jersey is an Iowa-class battleship, and was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named after the US state of New Jersey. New Jersey earned more battle stars for combat actions than the three completed Iowa-class battleships, and was the only US battleship providing gunfire support during the Vietnam War. During World War II, New Jersey shelled targets on Guam and Okinawa, during the Korean War, she was involved in raids up and down the North Korean coast, after which she was decommissioned into the United States Navy reserve fleets, better known as the mothball fleet. She was briefly reactivated in 1968 and sent to Vietnam to support US troops before returning to the fleet in 1969. Reactivated once more in the 1980s as part of the 600-ship Navy program, New Jersey was modernized to carry missiles, in 1983, she participated in US operations during the Lebanese Civil War. After a brief retention in the fleet, she was donated to the Home Port Alliance in Camden, New Jersey. New Jersey was one of the Iowa-class fast battleship designs planned in 1938 by the Preliminary Design Branch at the Bureau of Construction and she was launched on 12 December 1942 and commissioned on 23 May 1943. The ship was the second of the Iowa class to be commissioned by the U. S. Navy, New Jerseys main battery consisted of nine 16/50 caliber Mark 7 guns in three three-gun turrets, which could fire 2, 700-pound armor-piercing shells some 23 miles. Her secondary battery consisted of twenty 5/38 caliber guns mounted in twin-gun dual purpose turrets, when reactivated in 1968, New Jersey had her 20 mm and 40 mm AA guns removed and was tailored for use as a heavy bombardment ship. When reactivated in 1982, New Jersey had four twin 5/38 caliber DP mounts removed, unlike the other Iowa-class battleships, New Jersey was named by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to repay a political debt, to then-New Jersey Governor Charles Edison. New Jersey completed fitting out and trained her initial crew in the Western Atlantic, on 7 January 1944 she passed through the Panama Canal war-bound for Funafuti, Ellice Islands. She reported there 22 January for duty with the United States Fifth Fleet, New Jersey began her career as a flagship 4 February in Majuro Lagoon when Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, commanding the 5th Fleet, broke his flag from her main. Her first action as a flagship was in Operation Hailstone, a two-day surface and this attack was coordinated with the assault on Kwajalein, and effectively interdicted the Japanese naval retaliation to the conquest of the Marshalls. New Jersey destroyed a trawler and, with ships, sank the destroyer Maikaze. New Jersey also fired on an aircraft that attacked her formation. The task force returned to the Marshalls 19 February, upon his return to Majuro, Admiral Spruance transferred his flag to Indianapolis. New Jerseys next war cruise,13 April –4 May 1944, began, New Jersey and her formation shot down two enemy torpedo bombers at Truk. Her 16 inch salvos pounded Ponape 1 May, destroying tanks, badly damaging the airfield
36.
USS Missouri (BB-63)
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USS Missouri is a United States Navy Iowa-class battleship and was the third ship of the U. S. Navy to be named after of the U. S. state of Missouri. Missouri was the last battleship commissioned by the United States and was best remembered as the site of the surrender of the Empire of Japan which ended World War II, Missouri was ordered in 1940 and commissioned in June 1944. In the Pacific Theater of World War II she fought in the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa and shelled the Japanese home islands, in 1998, she was donated to the USS Missouri Memorial Association and became a museum ship at Pearl Harbor. Missouri was one of the Iowa-class fast battleship designs planned in 1938 by the Preliminary Design Branch at the Bureau of Construction and Repair. She was laid down at the Brooklyn Navy Yard on 6 January 1941, launched on 29 January 1944, the ship was the third of the Iowa class, but the fourth and final Iowa-class ship commissioned by the U. S. Navy. The ship was christened at her launching by Mary Margaret Truman, daughter of Harry S. Truman, Missouris main battery consisted of nine 16 in /50 cal Mark 7 guns, which could fire 2,700 lb armor-piercing shells some 20 mi. Her secondary battery consisted of twenty 5 in /38 cal guns in twin turrets, Missouri was the last U. S. battleship to be completed. Wisconsin, the highest-numbered U. S. battleship built, was completed before Missouri and she stood out of San Francisco Bay on 14 December and arrived at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 24 December 1944. She departed Hawaii on 2 January 1945 and arrived in Ulithi, there she was temporary headquarters ship for Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher. Missouri then steamed with the carriers to Iwo Jima where her main guns provided direct, after TF58 returned to Ulithi on 5 March, Missouri was assigned to the Yorktown carrier task group. On 14 March, Missouri departed Ulithi in the screen of the fast carriers, during strikes against targets along the coast of the Inland Sea of Japan beginning on 18 March, Missouri shot down four Japanese aircraft. Raids against airfields and naval bases near the Inland Sea and southwestern Honshū continued, Missouri rejoined the screen of the carriers as Marine and Army units stormed the shores of Okinawa on the morning of 1 April. An attack by Japanese forces was repulsed successfully, on 11 April, a low-flying kamikaze Zero, although fired upon, crashed on Missouris starboard side, just below her main deck level. The starboard wing of the plane was thrown far forward, starting a fire at 5 in Gun Mount No.3. The battleship suffered only superficial damage, and the fire was quickly under control. The remains of the pilot were recovered on board the ship just aft of one of the 40 mm gun tubs, the following day he was buried at sea with military honors. About 23,05 on 17 April, Missouri detected an enemy submarine 12 mi from her formation and her report set off a hunter-killer operation by the light carrier Bataan and four destroyers, which sank the Japanese submarine I-56. Missouri was detached from the task force off Okinawa on 5 May
37.
Flagship
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A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the first, largest, fastest, most heavily armed. In common naval use, the flagship is fundamentally a temporary designation. Historically, only larger ships could accommodate such requirements, the term was also used by commercial fleets, when the distinction between a nations navy and merchant fleet was not clear. In the age of sailing ships, the flagship was typically a first-rate, non-first rates could serve as flagships, however, the USS Constitution, a frigate, served as flagship for parts of the United States Navy during the early 19th century. In the 20th century, ships became large enough that the types, cruisers and up, could accommodate a commander. Some larger ships may have a flag bridge for use by the admiral. Because its primary function is to coordinate a fleet, a flagship is not necessarily more heavily armed or armored than other ships, during World War II admirals often preferred a faster ship over the largest one. Modern flagships are designed primarily for command and control rather than for fighting, as with many other naval terms, flagship has crossed over into general usage, where it means the most important or leading member of a group, as in the flagship station of a broadcast network. Is used as both a noun and adjective describing the most prominent or highly touted product, brand, location, derivations include the flagship brand or flagship product of a manufacturing company, flagship store of a retail chain, or flagship service of a hospitality or transportation concern. The term flagship may have applications, Auto companies may have a flagship in the form of their leading or highest-priced car. Electronics companies may have a series of products considered to be their flagship, for example, the Samsung Galaxy S series consists of several flagship smartphones that are released on a yearly basis. In rail transport, a service is either the fastest or most luxurious. Often it is also a train or service. In some cases, special service or a class above first class may be available in the service while it is not offered in normal services. Flagship services are used to present the company in advertising or abroad. Most states in the United States provide public university education through one or more university systems, the phrase flagship institution or flagship university may be applied to an individual school or campus within each state system. These schools are often land-grant, sea-grant, or space-grant research universities, the use of the term is seen by some as elitist and boastful
38.
Mariana and Palau Islands campaign
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Beginning the offensive, United States Marine Corps and United States Army forces, with support from the United States Navy, executed landings on Saipan in June,1944. In response, the Imperial Japanese Navys combined fleet sortied to attack the U. S. Navy fleet supporting the landings, thereafter, U. S. forces executed landings on Guam and Tinian in July,1944. After heavy fighting, Saipan was secured in July and Guam, after heavy and intense combat on Peleliu, the island was finally secured by U. S. forces in November,1944. Battle of Angaur Battle of Guam Battle of Peleliu Battle of Saipan Battle of Tinian West Loch Disaster DAlbas, death of a Navy, Japanese Naval Action in World War II. Hold the Marianas, The Japanese Defense of the Mariana Islands, an Allied Interpretation of the Pacific War. In the Service of the Emperor, Essays on the Imperial Japanese Army, a Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1941–1945. The Liberation of Guam 21 July–10 August, nautical & Aviation Pub Co of Amer. Goldberg, Harold J. D-day in the Pacific, The Battle of Saipan, the Devils Anvil, The Assault on Peleliu. New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944–August 1944, vol.8 of History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, champaign, Illinois, USA, University of Illinois Press. Ross, Bill D. Peleliu, Tragic Triumph, Saipan & Tinian 1944, Piercing the Japanese Empire. Peleliu 1944, The Forgotten Corner of Hell, brotherhood of Heroes, The Marines at Peleliu,1944, The Bloodiest Battle of the Pacific War. Carrier Battles, Command Decision in Harms Way, to the Far Side of Hell, The Battle for Peleliu,1944. The Marianas and the Great Turkey Shoot, the Amphibians Came to Conquer, The Story of Admiral Richmond Kelly Turner. Breaching the Marianas, The Battle for Saipan Hoffman, Major Carl W. USMC, Saipan, The Beginning of the End. Historical Branch, United States Marine Corps, cS1 maint, Multiple names, authors list Anderson, Charles R. U. S. Army Campaigns of World War II, United States Army Center of Military History. Lodge, Major O. R. USMC Historical Monograph, The Recapture of Guam, Historical Branch, United States Marine Corps,1954. OBrien, Cyril J. Liberation, Marines in the Recapture of Guam, Marines in World War II Commemorative Series, Marine Corps Historical Center, USCM Historical Monograph, The Seizure of Tinian Chen, C
39.
Philippines Campaign (1944-45)
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The Japanese Army overran all of the Philippines during the first half of 1942. The Liberation of the Philippines commenced with landings on the eastern Philippine island of Leyte on October 20,1944. By mid-1944, American forces were only 300 nautical miles southeast of Mindanao, before the invasion of the Philippines, MacArthurs northernmost conquest had been at Morotai in the Dutch East Indies on September 15–16,1944. This was MacArthurs one base that was within range of the southern Philippines. U. S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Army as well as Australian and New Zealand forces under the command of Admiral Nimitz and Admiral William F. Halsey, with victories in the Marianas campaign, American forces were getting close to Japan itself. Although Japan was obviously losing the war, the Japanese Government, the new date set for the landing on Leyte, October 20,1944, was two months before the previous target date to land on Mindanao. The Filipino people were ready and waiting for the invasion, after General MacArthur had been evacuated from the Philippines in March 1942, all of its islands fell to the Japanese. The Japanese occupation was harsh, accompanied by atrocities and with numbers of Filipinos pressed into slave labor. From mid-1942 through mid-1944, MacArthur and Nimitz supplied and encouraged the Filipino guerrilla resistance by U. S, while remaining loyal to the United States, many Filipinos hoped and believed that liberation from the Japanese would bring them freedom and their already-promised independence. The Australian government offered General MacArthur the use of the First Corps of the Australian Army for the Liberation of the Philippines, MacArthur suggested that two Australian infantry divisions be employed, each of them attached to a different U. S. S. No agreement was reached between the Australian Cabinet and MacArthur – who might have wanted it that way. As a result, the Australian Army played virtually no part in the Philippines, however, units from the Royal Australian Air Force and the Royal Australian Navy, such as the heavy cruiser HMAS Australia, were involved. On October 20,1944, the U. S, Sixth Army, supported by naval and air bombardment, landed on the favorable eastern shore of Leyte, one of the islands of the Visayas island group, northeast of Mindanao. The Japanese miscalculated the strength of the naval and air forces. This brought about the sequence of battles called the Battle of Leyte Gulf. This decisive victory by the U. S, the IJN had four of its carriers sunk, numerous battleships and heavy cruisers, and a large number of light cruisers and destroyers. The IJN was never able to fight a battle after this. Sixth Army continued its advance from the east, as the Japanese rushed reinforcements to the Ormoc Bay area on the side of the island
40.
Imperial Japanese Navy
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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
41.
Battle of the Sibuyan Sea
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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
42.
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
43.
Typhoon Cobra (1944)
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Task Force 38 had been operating about 300 mi east of Luzon in the Philippine Sea, conducting air raids against Japanese airfields in the Philippines. The fleet was attempting to refuel its ships, especially the lighter destroyers, as the weather worsened it became increasingly difficult to refuel, and the attempts had to be discontinued. Despite warning signs of worsening conditions, the ships remained in their stations, worse, the information given to Halsey about the location and direction of the typhoon was inaccurate. On December 17, Halsey unwittingly sailed Third Fleet into the heart of the typhoon, because of 100 mph winds, very high seas and torrential rain, three destroyers capsized and sank, and 790 lives were lost. Butler-class destroyer escort—lost her mast and radio antennas, though damaged and unable to radio for help, the ship remained on the scene to recover 55 of the 93 total sailors who were rescued. Captain Henry Lee Plage earned the Legion of Merit, while the crew earned the Navys Unit Commendation Ribbon. In the words of Admiral Chester Nimitz, the typhoons impact represented a more crippling blow to the Third Fleet than it might be expected to suffer in anything less than a major action. The events surrounding Typhoon Cobra were similar to those the Japanese navy itself faced some nine years earlier in what they termed the Fourth Fleet Incident and this typhoon also led to the establishment of weather infrastructure of the US Navy, which eventually became the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. A typhoon plays an important role in the novel The Caine Mutiny, on December 17, the typhoon was first observed, surprising a fleet of ships in the open western Pacific Ocean. Barometric pressures as low as 26.8 inHg and wind speeds up to 120 kn in gusts were reported by some ships, the storm was last seen on the 18th. TF38 consisted of seven fleet carriers, six light carriers, eight battleships,15 cruisers, the carriers had been conducting raids against Japanese airfields in the Philippines and ships were being refueled, especially many destroyers running low on fuel. When the storm hit, the procedure had to be aborted, damage to the fleet was severe. Some ships rolled more than 70 degrees, three destroyers, Spence, Hickox, and Maddox, had nearly empty fuel stores and therefore lacked the stabilizing effect of the extra weight and thus were relatively unstable. Spence, Hull, and Monaghan either capsized or were sunk after water flooded down their smokestacks, without power, they were unable to control their heading and were at the mercy of the wind and seas. Hickox and Maddox pumped seawater into their empty fuel tanks, adding enough stability to ride out the storm with minor damage. Many other ships of TF38 suffered various degrees of damage, especially to radar, several carriers suffered fires on their hangars and 146 aircraft were wrecked or blown overboard. Nine ships— including one light cruiser, three carriers, and two escort carriers—suffered enough damage to be sent for repairs. The carrier Monterey was nearly taken down in flames by its own airplanes as they crashed into bulkheads, one of those fighting the fires aboard Monterey was then-Lt
44.
Typhoon Connie
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The decade of the 1940s featured the 1940–49 Pacific typhoon seasons. The seasons had no bounds, but most tropical cyclones tend to form in the northwestern Pacific Ocean between June and December. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, the scope of this article is limited to the Pacific Ocean, north of the equator and west of the international date line. Storms that form east of the line and north of the equator are called hurricanes. Tropical storms formed in the entire west pacific basin were assigned a name by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center, a short lived system, the IBTrACS database contains only three 6-hour positions on the western side of the Philippines. Historical weather maps show only a circulation near 9 N121 E and this was a weak system, likely a depression but may have been a briefly reached Tropical Storm strength. Monthly Weather Review for April 1940 describes this as a depression of minor importance which formed near the western Carolina Islands and it moved westward passing close to and south of Yap before dissipating. The Historical Weather Map shows the system as a Tropical Storm from April 11 to April 13 before disintegrating into a low pressure area west of Luzon in the Philippines, described in Monthly Weather Review as a typhoon, violent over a small area that passed across northeast Mindanao. Towns along the eastern and northern coast experienced strong winds for a short time, on April 26 the ship S. S. Tjieboet from a position near 830 N12700 E reported winds of force 10 to 12 and a pressure of 738.8 mm. Three lives were reported lost when the motorboat Fookien sank near 838 N126 05E, the Historical Weather Map shows a depression near 7 N143 E on April 21 and a Tropical Storm between April 22 and April 23. Thphoon winds were analyzed between April 24 and 27 as the crossed into the South China Sea. By April 29, only a low pressure area remained near 8 N113 E. Monthly Weather Review describes this cyclone as a Typhoon first noted 300 miles east of Yap on June 10,1940, performing an anti-cyclonic loop near 17 N132 E the system was tracked to the south of Japan where it apparently underwent extratropical transition. No loss of life was reported from Japan with this system, Historical Weather Maps are not available for June 1940 so no further description is available. Historical Weather Maps for July 1,1940, shows a Tropical Storm near Hong Kong at 22 N114 E, the system moved inland and was last analyzed near 23 N104 E on July 3. This system is not mentioned in Monthly Weather Review nor is it included in the IBTrACS archive, the lowest pressure reported was 993 mb from a ship on July 1 some distance from the system. IBTrACS database first shows this system near 4.4 N140.6 W on June 29,1940, moving in a northwest direction, the system crossed Taiwan on July 6 and entered mainland China early the next day. This system is discussed in Monthly Weather Review as a typhoon between July 2–9, the lowest pressure reported was from an island station on July 7 of 739.7 mm
45.
Kure, Hiroshima
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Kure is a port and major shipbuilding city situated on the Seto Inland Sea in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. With a strong industrial heritage Kure hosts the second oldest naval dockyard in Japan, as of May 1,2015, the city has an estimated population of 228,030 and a population density of 646 persons per km². The total area is 352.80 km², the Kure Naval District was first established in 1889, leading to the construction of the Kure Naval Arsenal and the rapid growth of both steel production and shipbuilding in the city. The city itself was incorporated on October 1,1902. From 1889 until the end of World War II, the city served as the headquarters of the Kure Naval District, during the Pacific War, Kure acted as Japans single largest naval base and arsenal. Most of the industry and workforce were employed in the service of the naval installations, munitions factories. In the later stages of the conflict Kure came under sustained aerial bombardment culminating in the Bombing of Kure in June, from February 1946 until the end of Japans postwar occupation in 1952, military establishments in Kure served at the operational headquarters for the British Commonwealth Occupation Force. July 1,1889 — Kure Naval District established,1895 — Kure naval shipyard established, initially as a subsidiary of the Onohama Shipyards in Kobe. October 1,1902 — The towns of Washō and Futagawa, november 10,1903 — Kure Naval Arsenal established. December 27,1903 Kure rail line opens providing direct access to Hiroshima April 1,1928 — The towns of Kegoya, Yoshiura. April 21,1941 — The town of Nigata and the village of Hiro incorporated into Kure, may 5,1945 — Bombing of Hiro Naval Arsenal. June 22,1945 — Bombing of Kure Naval Arsenal, July 1,1945 — Kure Air Raid. July 24–28,1945 — Battle of Kure, American bombers attack the fleet in Kure Naval Base. July 1,1954 — Japan Maritime Self Defense Forces founded, October 1,1956 — The town of Tennō and the village of Shōwa in Aki District, and the village of Gōhara in Kamo District merge into Kure. November 1,2000 — Kure becomes a Special City April 1,2003 — The town of Shimokamagari was merged into Kure, April 1,2004 —The town of Kawajiri was merged into Kure. March 20,2005 — The towns of Ondo, Kurahashi and Kamagari, the city continues as a major maritime center hosting both the dockyards of Japan Marine United and numerous shore based facilities of the JMSDF including training centers and a major hospital. The city serves as the port of an Escort Flotilla, a Submarine Flotilla. Since 2005 Kure has also attracted attention as a center with the Yamato Museum hosting a 1,10 scale model of the battleship Yamato alongside a waterfront JMSDF museum of naval history
46.
British Pacific Fleet
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The British Pacific Fleet was a Royal Navy formation which saw action against Japan during the Second World War. The fleet was composed of British Commonwealth naval vessels, the BPF formally came into being on 22 November 1944. Its main base was at Sydney, Australia, with a base at Manus Island. The US was liberating British territories in the Pacific and extending its influence and it was therefore seen as a political and military imperative by the British Government to restore a British presence in the region and to deploy British forces against Japan. The British Government was determined that British territories, such as Hong Kong, the British Government was not initially unanimous on the commitment of the BPF. Churchill, in particular, argued against it, not wishing to be a junior partner in what had been exclusively the United States battle. He also considered that a British presence would be unwelcome and should be concentrated on Burma, the Admiralty had proposed a British role in the Pacific in early 1944 but the initial USN response had been discouraging. These were eventually overcome or discounted and at a meeting, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt intervened to say that the British Fleet was no sooner offered than accepted, in this, though the fact was not mentioned, he overruled Admiral Kings opinion. The Australian Government had sought US military assistance in 1942, when it was faced with the possibility of Japanese invasion, while Australia had made a significant contribution to the Pacific War, it had never been an equal partner with its US counterparts in strategy. It was argued that a British presence would act as a counterbalance to the powerful and he later transferred his flag to a more suitable vessel, the battleship Howe. The Eastern Fleet was based in Ceylon, and reorganised into the British East Indies Fleet, the BPF operated against targets in Sumatra, gaining experience until early 1945, when it departed Trincomalee for Sydney. With its larger vessels integrated with United States Navy formations since 1942, a high proportion of naval aviators were New Zealanders and Canadians. The USN also contributed to the BPF, as did personnel from the South African Navy, port facilities in Australia and New Zealand also made vital contributions in support of the British Pacific Fleet. During World War II, the fleet was commanded by Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser, in practice, command of the fleet in action devolved to Vice-Admiral Sir Bernard Rawlings, with Vice-Admiral Sir Philip Vian in charge of air operations by the Royal Navys Fleet Air Arm. The fighting end of the fleet was referred to as Task Force 37 or 57, the 1st Aircraft Carrier Squadron was the lead carrier formation. No.300 Wing RAF was established in Australia in late 1944 to fly aircraft in support of the BPF. The wing was expanded to a group in 1945 and conducted regular flights from Sydney to the forward bases. The requirement that the BPF be self-sufficient meant the establishment of a train that could support a naval force at sea for weeks or months
47.
Operation Downfall
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Operation Downfall was the codename for the proposed Allied plan for the invasion of Japan near the end of World War II. The planned operation was abandoned when Japan surrendered following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The operation had two parts, Operations Olympic and Coronet, later, in the spring of 1946, Operation Coronet was the planned invasion of the Kantō Plain, near Tokyo, on the Japanese island of Honshu. Airbases on Kyūshū captured in Operation Olympic would allow land-based air support for Operation Coronet, if Downfall had taken place, it would have been the largest amphibious operation in history. The Japanese planned an all-out defense of Kyūshū, with left in reserve for any subsequent defense operations. Casualty predictions varied widely, but were extremely high, depending on the degree to which Japanese civilians would have resisted the invasion, estimates ran up into the millions for Allied casualties. Leahy, and Generals of the Army George Marshall and Hap Arnold, at the time, MacArthur was also being considered for promotion to a special super rank of General of the Armies, so as to be granted operational authority over other five-star officers. However, the proposal to promote MacArthur was only at the level of discussion by the time World War II ended. Once the atomic bomb became available, General Marshall envisioned using it to support the invasion if sufficient numbers could be produced in time, throughout the Pacific War, the Allies were unable to agree on a single Commander-in-Chief. A unified command was deemed necessary for an invasion of Japan, interservice rivalry over who it should be was so serious that it threatened to derail planning. Ultimately, the Navy partially conceded, and MacArthur was to be given command of all forces. The primary considerations that the planners had to deal with were time, prior to the Quebec Conference,1943, a joint British-American planning team produced a plan which did not call for an invasion of the Japanese home islands until 1947–48. The American Joint Chiefs of Staff believed that prolonging the war to such an extent was dangerous for national morale, instead, at the Quebec conference, the Combined Chiefs of Staff agreed that Japan should be forced to surrender not more than one year after Germanys surrender. The United States Navy urged the use of a blockade and airpower to bring about Japans capitulation, the Army, on the other hand, argued that such a strategy could prolong the war indefinitely and expend lives needlessly, and therefore that an invasion was necessary. They supported mounting a large-scale thrust directly against the Japanese homeland, physically, Japan made an imposing target, distant from other landmasses and with very few beaches geographically suitable for sea-borne invasion. Only Kyūshū and the beaches of the Kantō plain were realistic invasion zones, the Allies decided to launch a two-stage invasion. Operation Olympic would attack southern Kyūshū, airbases would be established, which would give cover for Operation Coronet, the attack on Tokyo Bay. While the geography of Japan was known, the US military planners had to estimate the forces that they would face
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