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HMS Fencer (D64)
HMS ''Fencer'' (D64/R308) was an American-built that served with the Royal Navy during the Second World War. Acquired by the United States Navy for conversion to a ; she was transferred to the Royal Navy and commissioned as ''Fencer'' on 1 March 1943, under the Lend-Lease agreement. She spent most of her career escorting convoys in the North Atlantic and Arctic Ocean, she transferred to the British East Indies Fleet in October 1944. Construction ''Fencer'' was laid down 5 September 1941, as a C3-S-A1 freighter, under Maritime Commission contract, MC hull #197, by Western Pipe and Steel Company, in San Francisco, California. The hull was purchased by the US Navy to be converted to a and named ''Croatan'' (AVG-14). While under construction she was transferred to the Admiralty under the Lend-Lease agreement, with a Royal Navy commissioning crew arriving in May 1942, under the command of Commander C.N. Lentaigne, RN. She was launched on 4 April 1942, sponsored by Mrs. Powers Sy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Croatan Sound
Croatan Sound is an inlet in Dare County, North Carolina. It connects Pamlico Sound with Albemarle Sound, and is bordered to the east by Roanoke Island; Roanoke Sound is on the other side of the island. Its name comes from the Croatan Indians who once inhabited the area. The Croatan Sound is crossed by two bridges, the older William B. Umstead Bridge, and the newer Virginia Dare Memorial Bridge, which carries U.S. Route 64 U.S. Route 64 (US 64) is an east–west United States highway that runs for 2,326 miles (3,743 km) from Nags Head in eastern North Carolina to just southwest of the Four Corners in northeast Arizona. The western terminus is at U.S. Route 1 .... External links Bodies of water of Dare County, North Carolina Sounds of North Carolina {{DareCountyNC-geo-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steam Turbine
A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam turbine involves advanced metalwork to form high-grade steel alloys into precision parts using technologies that first became available in the 20th century; continued advances in durability and efficiency of steam turbines remains central to the energy economics of the 21st century. The steam turbine is a form of heat engine that derives much of its improvement in thermodynamic efficiency from the use of multiple stages in the expansion of the steam, which results in a closer approach to the ideal reversible expansion process. Because the turbine generates rotary motion, it can be coupled to a generator to harness its motion into electricity. Such turbogenerators are the core of thermal power stations which can be fueled by fossil-fuels, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of The Atlantic
The Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, ran from 1939 to the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, covering a major part of the naval history of World War II. At its core was the Allied naval blockade of Germany, announced the day after the declaration of war, and Germany's subsequent counter-blockade. The campaign peaked from mid-1940 through to the end of 1943. The Battle of the Atlantic pitted U-boats and other warships of the German '' Kriegsmarine'' (Navy) and aircraft of the ''Luftwaffe'' (Air Force) against the Royal Navy, Royal Canadian Navy, United States Navy, and Allied merchant shipping. Convoys, coming mainly from North America and predominantly going to the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union, were protected for the most part by the British and Canadian navies and air forces. These forces were aided by ships and aircraft of the United States beginning September 13, 1941. Carney, Robert B., Admiral, USN. "Comment and Discu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Pacific Fleet
The British Pacific Fleet (BPF) was a Royal Navy formation that saw action against Japan during the Second World War. The fleet was composed of empire naval vessels. The BPF formally came into being on 22 November 1944 from the remaining ships of the former Eastern Fleet then being re-named the East Indies Fleet and continuing to be based in Trincomalee. The British Pacific Fleet's main base was at Sydney, Australia, with a forward base at Manus Island in northern Papua New Guinea. One of the largest fleets ever assembled by the Royal Navy, by Victory over Japan Day (VJ Day) it consisted of over two hundred ships and submarines and more than 750 aircraft; including four battleships and six fleet aircraft carriers, fifteen smaller aircraft carriers, eleven cruisers and numerous smaller warships, submarines, and support vessels. The fleet took part in the Battle of Okinawa and the final naval strikes on Japan. Background Following their retreat to the western side of the India ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elevator
An elevator or lift is a wire rope, cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or deck (building), decks of a building, watercraft, vessel, or other structure. They are typically powered by electric motors that drive traction cables and counterweight systems such as a hoist (device), hoist, although some pump hydraulic fluid to raise a cylindrical piston like a hydraulic jack, jack. In agriculture and manufacturing, an elevator is any type of conveyor device used to lift materials in a continuous stream into bins or silos. Several types exist, such as the chain and bucket elevator, grain auger screw conveyor using the principle of Archimedes' screw, or the chain and paddles or forks of hay elevators. Languages other than English, such as Japanese, may refer to elevators by loanwords based on either ''elevator'' or ''lift''. Due to wheelchair access laws, elevators are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aircraft Catapult
An aircraft catapult is a device used to allow aircraft to take off from a very limited amount of space, such as the deck of a vessel, but can also be installed on land-based runways in rare cases. It is now most commonly used on aircraft carriers, as a form of assisted take off. In the form used on aircraft carriers the catapult consists of a track, or slot, built into the flight deck, below which is a large piston or ''shuttle'' that is attached through the track to the nose gear of the aircraft, or in some cases a wire rope, called a catapult bridle, is attached to the aircraft and the catapult shuttle. Other forms have been used historically, such as mounting a launching cart holding a seaplane on a long girder-built structure mounted on the deck of a warship or merchant vessel, but most catapults share a similar sliding track concept. Different means have been used to propel the catapult, such as weight and derrick, gunpowder, flywheel, air pressure, hydraulic, and steam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oerlikon 20 Mm Cannon
The Oerlikon 20 mm cannon is a series of autocannons, based on an original German Becker Type M2 20 mm cannon design that appeared very early in World War I. It was widely produced by Oerlikon Contraves and others, with various models employed by both Allied and Axis forces during World War II. Many versions of the cannon are still used today. Blowback-operated models History Origins During World War I, the German industrialist Reinhold Becker developed a 20 mm caliber cannon, known now as the 20 mm Becker using the advanced primer ignition blowback (API blowback) method of operation. This used a 20×70mmRB cartridge and had a cyclic rate of fire of 300 rpm. It was used on a limited scale as an aircraft gun on ''Luftstreitkräfte'' warplanes, and an anti-aircraft gun towards the end of that war. Because the Treaty of Versailles banned further production of such weapons in Germany, the patents and design works were transferred in 1919 to the Swiss firm SEMAG (''Seeba ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anti-aircraft Warfare
Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes Surface-to-air missile, surface based, subsurface (Submarine#Armament, submarine launched), and air-based weapon systems, associated sensor systems, command and control arrangements, and passive measures (e.g. barrage balloons). It may be used to protect naval, ground, and air forces in any location. However, for most countries, the main effort has tended to be homeland defence. NATO refers to airborne air defence as counter-air and naval air defence as anti-aircraft warfare. Missile defense, Missile defence is an extension of air defence, as are initiatives to adapt air defence to the task of intercepting any projectile in flight. In some countries, such as Britain and Germany during the World War II, Second World War, the Soviet Union, and modern NATO a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bofors 40 Mm Automatic Gun L/60
The Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60 (often referred to simply as the "Bofors 40 mm gun", the "Bofors gun" and the like, see name) is an anti-aircraft autocannon, designed in the 1930s by the Swedish arms manufacturer AB Bofors. The gun was designed as an intermediate anti-aircraft gun, filling the gap between fast firing close-range small calibre anti-aircraft guns and slower firing long-range high calibre anti-aircraft guns, a role which previously was filled by older outdated guns. The Bofors 40 mm L/60 was for its time perfectly suited for this role and outperformed competing designs in the years leading up to World War II in both effectiveness and reliability. It entered the export market around 1932 and was in service with 18 countries by 1939. Throughout World War II it became one of the most popular and widespread medium-weight anti-aircraft guns. It was used by the majority of the western Allies and some Axis powers such as Nazi Germany and Hungary. In the pos ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dual-purpose Gun
A dual-purpose gun is a naval artillery mounting designed to engage both surface and air targets. Description Second World War-era capital ships had four classes of artillery: the heavy main battery, intended to engage opposing battleships and cruisers of 305 mm to 457 mm (12 inch to 18 inch); a secondary battery for use against enemy destroyers of 152 mm to 203 mm (6 inch to 8 inch); heavy anti-aircraft guns of 76 mm to 127 mm (3 inch to 5 inch), which could create barrages to knock out airplanes at a distance; finally, light rapid-fire anti-aircraft batteries (A/A) to track and bring down aircraft at close range. The light A/A was dispersed throughout the ship and included both automatic cannons of 20 mm to 40 mm (.787 inch to 1.57 inch) and heavy machine guns of 12.7 mm to 14.5 mm (.50 inch to .58 inch). During World War II, the US Navy, Royal Navy, the French Navy, and the Imperial Japanese Navy combined the secondary battery with the heavy anti-aircraft guns, creating a d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
QF 4 Inch Mk V Naval Gun
The QF 4 inch Mk V gunMk V = Mark 5. Britain used Roman numerals to denote Marks (models) of ordnance until after World War II. Mark V indicates this was the fifth model of QF 4-inch gun. was a Royal Navy gun of World War I which was adapted on British ordnance terms#HA, HA (i.e. high-angle) mountings to the heavy anti-aircraft role both at sea and on land, and was also used as a coast defence gun. Service Naval service This QF gun was introduced to provide a higher rate of fire than the BL 4 inch naval gun Mk VII, BL 4 inch Mk VII. It first appeared in 1914 as secondary armament on s, was soon adapted to a high-angle anti-aircraft role. It was typically used on cruisers and heavier ships, although s of 1917 also mounted the gun. Mk V was superseded by the QF 4 inch Mk XVI naval gun, QF 4 inch Mk XVI as the HA (i.e. anti-aircraft) gun on new warships in the 1930s, but it continued to serve on many ships such as destroyers, light and heavy cruisers in World War II. Army ant ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
5"/51 Caliber Gun
5"/51 caliber guns (spoken "five-inch-fifty-one-caliber") initially served as the secondary battery of United States Navy battleships built from 1907 through the 1920s, also serving on other vessels. United States naval gun terminology indicates the gun fired a projectile in diameter, and the barrel was 51 calibers long. Description The different marks of the gun were Marks 7, 8, 9, 14, and 15. The built-up gun consisted of a tube, full-length jacket, and single hoop with side swing Welin breech block and Smith-Asbury mechanism for a total weight of about 5 metric tons. Some Marks included a tapered liner. A charge of smokeless powder gave a projectile a velocity of . Range was at the maximum elevation of 20 degrees. Useful life expectancy was 900 effective full charges (EFC) per liner.Campbell 1985 p.136 US service The 5-inch/51 caliber gun was designed to engage destroyers, torpedo boats, and other surface targets. The 5"/51 gun entered service in 1911 as secondary ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
%2C_F-14_on_catapult.jpg "Click for more on -> Aircraft Catapult")
