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Battle Of May Island
The Battle of May Island is the name given to the series of accidents that occurred during Operation E.C.1 in 1918. Named after the Isle of May, a nearby island in the Firth of Forth, the "battle" consisted of a disastrous series of accidents amongst Royal Navy vessels on their way from Rosyth, Scotland, to fleet exercises in the North Sea. On the misty night of 31 January1 February 1918, five collisions occurred between eight ships. Two K-class submarines were lost and three other submarines and a light cruiser were damaged. 105 British sailors in total died in the accidents. Naming The use of ''Battle'' for the events is an example of black humour. Although it took place during the First World War, no enemy forces were present and the losses were entirely accidental. Operation E.C.1 On the afternoon of 31 January 1918, around forty naval vessels left Rosyth on the Firth of Forth, Scotland, bound for Scapa Flow in Orkney where exercises involving the entire Grand Fle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isle Of May
The Isle of May is located in the north of the outer Firth of Forth, approximately off the coast of mainland Scotland. It is about long and wide. The island is owned and managed by NatureScot as a national nature reserve. There are now no permanent residents, but the island was the site of St Adrian's Priory during the Middle Ages. Most visitors to the island are daytrippers taking the ferry from Anstruther in Fife, although up to six visitors can stay at the bird observatory, usually for a week at a time. The only way to get there is by ferry; the journey takes 45 minutes from the small harbours of Anstruther and Crail, and also from North Berwick. As of 2015, around 11,000 people visit the island each year.The Story of the Isle of May National Nature Reserve. p. 23. The island is closed to visitors from 1 October until Easter to prevent disturbance to the large number of seal pups. The Scottish Seabird Centre at North Berwick has two live cameras on the island, whi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battlecruiser
The battlecruiser (also written as battle cruiser or battle-cruiser) was a type of capital ship of the first half of the 20th century. These were similar in displacement, armament and cost to battleships, but differed in form and balance of attributes. Battlecruisers typically had thinner armour (to a varying degree) and a somewhat lighter main gun battery than contemporary battleships, installed on a longer hull with much higher engine power in order to attain greater speeds. The first battlecruisers were designed in the United Kingdom, as a development of the armoured cruiser, at the same time as the dreadnought succeeded the pre-dreadnought battleship. The goal of the design was to outrun any ship with similar armament, and chase down any ship with lesser armament; they were intended to hunt down slower, older armoured cruisers and destroy them with heavy gunfire while avoiding combat with the more powerful but slower battleships. However, as more and more battlecruisers were ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HMS Indomitable (1907)
HMS ''Indomitable'' was one of three s built for the Royal Navy before World War I and had an active career during the war. She tried to hunt down the German ships and in the Mediterranean when war broke out and bombarded Turkish fortifications protecting the Dardanelles even before the British declared war on Turkey. She helped to sink the German armoured cruiser during the Battle of Dogger Bank in 1915 and towed the damaged British battlecruiser to safety after the battle. She damaged the German battlecruisers and during the Battle of Jutland in mid-1916 and watched her sister ship explode. Deemed obsolete after the war, she was sold for scrap in 1921. Design General characteristics The ''Invincible''-class ships were formally known as armoured cruisers until 1911 when they were redesignated as battlecruisers by an Admiralty order of 24 November 1911. Unofficially a number of designations were used until then, including "cruiser-battleship", "dreadnought cruiser" an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HMS New Zealand (1911)
HMS ''New Zealand'' was one of three s built for the defence of the British Empire. Launched in 1911, the ship was funded by the government of New Zealand as a gift to Britain, and she was commissioned into the Royal Navy in 1912. She had been intended for the China Station, but was released by the New Zealand government at the request of the Admiralty for service in British waters. During 1913, ''New Zealand'' was sent on a ten-month tour of the British Dominions, with an emphasis on a visit to her namesake nation. She was back in British waters at the start of the First World War, and operated as part of the Royal Navy's Grand Fleet, in opposition to the German High Seas Fleet. During the war, the battlecruiser participated in all three of the major North Sea battles—Heligoland Bight, Dogger Bank, and Jutland—and was involved in the response to the inconclusive Raid on Scarborough, and the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight. ''New Zealand'' contributed to the destruction ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HMAS Australia (1911)
HMAS ''Australia'' was one of three s built for the defence of the British Empire. Ordered by the Australian government in 1909, she was launched in 1911, and commissioned as flagship of the fledgling Royal Australian Navy (RAN) in 1913. ''Australia'' was the only capital ship ever to serve in the RAN. At the start of World War I, ''Australia'' was tasked with finding and destroying the German East Asia Squadron, which was prompted to withdraw from the Pacific by the battlecruiser's presence. Repeated diversions to support the capture of German colonies in New Guinea and Samoa, as well as an overcautious Admiralty, prevented the battlecruiser from engaging the German squadron before the latter's destruction. ''Australia'' was then assigned to North Sea operations, which consisted primarily of patrols and exercises, until the end of the war. During this time, ''Australia'' was involved in early attempts at naval aviation, and 11 of her personnel participated in the Zeebrugge Ra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HMS Courageous (50)
HMS ''Courageous'' was the lead ship of her class of three battlecruisers built for the Royal Navy during the First World War. Designed to support the Baltic Project championed by First Sea Lord John Fisher, the ship was very lightly armoured and armed with only a few heavy guns. ''Courageous'' was completed in late 1916 and spent the war patrolling the North Sea. She participated in the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight in November 1917 and was present when the German High Seas Fleet surrendered a year later. ''Courageous'' was decommissioned after the war, then rebuilt as an aircraft carrier during the mid-1920s. She could carry 48 aircraft compared to the 36 carried by her half-sister on approximately the same displacement. After recommissioning she spent most of her career operating off Great Britain and Ireland. She briefly became a training ship, but reverted to her normal role a few months before the start of the Second World War in September 1939. ''Courageous'' was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hugh Evan-Thomas
Admiral (Royal Navy), Admiral Sir Hugh Evan-Thomas, (27 October 1862 – 30 August 1928) was a British Royal Navy officer. During World War I he commanded the 5th Battle Squadron (United Kingdom), 5th Battle Squadron of the Grand Fleet, flying his flag in , and fought at the Battle of Jutland on 31 May – 1 June 1916. Background Evan-Thomas' family came from Wales, where they had owned the Llwynmadoc estate near Beulah, Powys, for two hundred years. The family also owned Gnoll Country Park, the Gnoll at Neath in Glamorgan and Pencerrig at Builth Wells, but nonetheless suffered a shortage of money to support their seven children in the style they might have wished. Evan-Thomas had to rely upon his own salary rather than family money to support himself through his life. Hugh Evan-Thomas was born the son of Charles Evan-Thomas, who was High Sheriff of Brecknockshire for 1885 and died at Cople in Bedfordshire aged 65 on 30 August 1928. A memorial service was held at Eglwys ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Weigh Anchor
Weigh anchor is a nautical term indicating the final preparation of a sea vessel for getting underway. ''Weighing anchor'' literally means raising the anchor of the vessel from the sea floor and hoisting it up to be stowed on board the vessel. At the moment when the anchor is no longer touching the sea floor, it is ''aweigh.'' Example of use USS Marvel (AM-262)'s narrative is described in part in DANFS as "On 17 January 1945 she ''weighed anchor'' and began a 2-1/2-month cruise to Kodiak, Alaska." When not at anchor When a vessel is not at anchor, but tied to a pier Seaside pleasure pier in Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th century.">England.html" ;"title="Brighton, England">Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th ... or to another anchored vessel, it does not weigh anchor; the captain or master gives the order to "take in lines." References * Nautical terminology Ship anc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty
Admiral of the Fleet David Richard Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty (17 January 1871 – 12 March 1936) was a Royal Navy officer. After serving in the Mahdist War and then the response to the Boxer Rebellion, he commanded the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron at the Battle of Jutland in 1916, a tactically indecisive engagement after which his aggressive approach was contrasted with the caution of his commander Admiral Sir John Jellicoe. He is remembered for his comment at Jutland that "There seems to be something wrong with our bloody ships today", after two of his ships exploded. Later in the war he succeeded Jellicoe as Commander in Chief of the Grand Fleet, in which capacity he received the surrender of the German High Seas Fleet at the end of the war. He then followed Jellicoe's path a second time, serving as First Sea Lord—a position that Beatty held longer (7 years 9 months) than any other First Sea Lord. While First Sea Lord, he was involved in negotiating the Washington Naval Trea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HMS Ithuriel (1916)
HMS ''Ithuriel'' was a flotilla leader of the British Royal Navy. Originally to have been named ''Gabriel'', the name was changed before her launch. The ship was built by Cammell Laird at Birkenhead, being launched on 8 March 1916 and entering service in August that year. ''Ithuriel'' served with the Grand Fleet during the First World War, leading both a destroyer flotilla and a submarine flotilla. She survived the war, before being sold for scrap on 8 November 1921. Construction and design In November 1914, as part of the Emergency War Programme of shipbuilding, the British Admiralty ordered three s (i.e. large destroyers intended to lead flotillas of smaller destroyers in action) from the Birkenhead shipyard Cammell Laird.. The second of these three ships, HMS ''Ithuriel'' (originally to be named ''Gabriel'') was laid down on 14 January 1915 and was launched on 8 March 1916. The construction of the three ''Marksman''-class ships by Cammell Laird was problematical, with the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HMS Fearless (1912)
HMS ''Fearless'' was one of three scout cruisers built for the Royal Navy shortly before the First World War. Upon completion in 1913, the ship was assigned to the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron (LCS) of the 1st Fleet. She became flotilla leader of the 1st Destroyer Flotilla (DF) shortly before the start of the war in August 1914 and was transferred to the Harwich Force shortly after it began. ''Fearless'' participated in the Battle of Heligoland Bight and the Cuxhaven Raid later that year. The ship was transferred to the Grand Fleet in early 1915 and played a minor role in the Battle of Jutland the following year. ''Fearless'' was converted into a submarine depot ship shortly afterwards and briefly deployed to Russia later in the year. She later became the flotilla leader of the 12th Submarine Flotilla (SF), initially based in Scapa Flow, but later in Rosyth. In early 1918, she accidentally rammed and sank one submarine from a different flotilla as part of an incident t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Little (Royal Navy Officer)
Admiral Sir Charles James Colebrooke Little (14 June 1882 – 20 June 1973) was a senior Royal Navy officer who went on to be Second Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Personnel. Naval career Little joined the Royal Navy at the training ship ''Britannia'' in 1897. He served in World War I and commanded the cruiser HMS ''Fearless'' and the Grand Fleet Submarine Flotilla from 1916 to 1918. After the War he commanded the cruiser HMS ''Cleopatra'' in the Baltic Sea and then, in 1920, became Director of the Trade Division at the Admiralty. He was appointed Captain of the Fleet for the Mediterranean Station in 1922 and then became a Senior Staff Officer at the Royal Naval War College in 1924. He became Captain of the battleship HMS ''Iron Duke'' in 1926 and Director of the Royal Naval Staff College in 1927. He became Commander of the 2nd Battle Squadron in 1930 and Rear Admiral Submarines in 1931. He was appointed Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff in 1932, promoted vice-admiral on 1 Sept ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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