HOME
*



picture info

HMS Unicorn (1634)
HMS ''Unicorn'' was a 46-gun second rate ship of the line of the English Royal Navy, launched at Woolwich in 1634. History On 14 April 1634, shortly after the ''Unicorn'' was launched, her first captain, Sir John Penington, was knighted on her deck by King Charles I. On 8 May 1634 aboard the ''Unicorn'' in The Downs, Sir John in a letter to the Admiralty wrote that the Unicorn was "tender sided" and "walty" and in her current state "could hold no sail" and as such, was not serviceable. He further states that this opinion was also held by all of his officers, as well as the builder Mr. Boate, who was also aboard. In defence of the builder, he says in all other respects the ''Unicorn'' handles "as well as any other ship he has put his foot in" and she "only wants two or three more foot of breadth". He goes on to state, that "the builder says that it is not his fault, for the dimensions were given to him, and he made her 20 inches broader than he had order." In the Admiralty's ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Kingdom Of England
The Kingdom of England (, ) was a sovereign state on the island of Great Britain from 12 July 927, when it emerged from various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, until 1 May 1707, when it united with Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain. On 12 July 927, the various Anglo-Saxon kings swore their allegiance to Æthelstan of Wessex (), unifying most of modern England under a single king. In 1016, the kingdom became part of the North Sea Empire of Cnut the Great, a personal union between England, Denmark and Norway. The Norman conquest of England in 1066 led to the transfer of the English capital city and chief royal residence from the Anglo-Saxon one at Winchester to Westminster, and the City of London quickly established itself as England's largest and principal commercial centre. Histories of the kingdom of England from the Norman conquest of 1066 conventionally distinguish periods named after successive ruling dynasties: Norman (1066–1154), Plantagenet (1154–1485), Tudor ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Demi-cannon
The demi-cannon was a medium-sized cannon, similar to but slightly larger than a culverin and smaller than a regular cannon, developed in the early 17th century. A full cannon fired a 42-pound shot, but these were discontinued in the 18th century as they were seen as too unwieldy. The lower tiers of 18th century English warships were usually equipped with demi-cannons. Ships featuring demi-cannons included HMS ''Sovereign of the Seas'', HMS ''Resolution'' and HMS ''James'', which fought in the Anglo-Dutch naval wars. Demi-cannons were also used on HMS ''Stirling Castle'', the wreck of which was discovered in the Goodwin Sands. Several examples of this weapon were recovered from the site. The barrels of demi-cannon were typically long, had a calibre of and could weigh up to . It required of black powder to fire a round shot. The demi-cannon had an effective range of . These 32-pounders were used during the 18th century on first-rate ships of the line which carried up to ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Unicorn (Tintin)
The ''Unicorn'' (french: La Licorne) is a fictional 17th-century three-masted armed French Royal Navy vessel appearing in ''The Adventures of Tintin'', the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé. The ship plays a leading role in both ''The Secret of the Unicorn'' and ''Red Rackham's Treasure'', published in 1943 and 1944, respectively. The ''Unicorn'' also appears in the 2011 film adaptation '' The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn''. In the ''Tintin'' adventures, the ''Unicorn'' is the setting of a battle between pirates and sailors followed by a duel between its captain, Sir Francis Haddock (an ancestor of Captain Haddock) and the pirate Red Rackham. The ''Unicorn'' is scuttled and sinks, only to be discovered years later by Tintin and his friends in an attempt to locate Red Rackham's treasure. Creation The ''Unicorn'' was inspired by the 64-gun ''Brillant'', built in 1690 at Le Havre, France by the shipwright Salicon and then decorated by the designer ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Charles II Of England
Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651, and King of England, Scotland and Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685. Charles II was the eldest surviving child of Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland and Henrietta Maria of France. After Charles I's execution at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War, the Parliament of Scotland proclaimed Charles II king on 5 February 1649. But England entered the period known as the English Interregnum or the English Commonwealth, and the country was a de facto republic led by Oliver Cromwell. Cromwell defeated Charles II at the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651, and Charles fled to mainland Europe. Cromwell became virtual dictator of England, Scotland and Ireland. Charles spent the next nine years in exile in France, the Dutch Republic and the Spanish Netherlands. The political crisis that followed Cromwell's death in 1 ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Sir Francis Haddock
This is the list of fictional characters in ''The Adventures of Tintin'', the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé. The characters are listed alphabetically, grouped by the Main characters, the Antagonists, and the Supporting characters. Before the list, there is an Index of characters for each of the 24 albums. The supporting characters Hergé created for his series have been described as far more developed than the central character, each imbued with a strength of character and depth of personality that has been compared with that of the characters of Charles Dickens. Hergé used the supporting characters to create a realistic world in which to set his protagonists' adventures. To further the realism and continuity, characters recur throughout the series. During the German occupation of Belgium during World War II, and the subsequent restrictions this imposed, Hergé was forced to focus on characterisation to avoid depicting troublesome political situations. The publi ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Captain Haddock
Captain Archibald Haddock (french: Capitaine Archibald Haddock, link=no, ) is a fictional character in ''The Adventures of Tintin'', the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé. He is one of Tintin's best friends, a seafaring pipe-smoking Merchant Marine Captain. Haddock is initially depicted as a weak and alcoholic character under the control of his treacherous first mate Allan, who keeps him drunk and runs his freighter. He regains his command and his dignity, even rising to president of the Society of Sober Sailors (''The Shooting Star''), but never gives up his love for rum and whisky, especially Loch Lomond, until the final Tintin adventure, ''Tintin and the Picaros'', when Professor Calculus 'cures' him of his taste for alcohol. In the adventure '' Secret of the Unicorn'' (and continuing in ''Red Rackham's Treasure'') he and Tintin travel to find a pirate's treasure captured by his ancestor, Sir Francis Haddock (François de Hadoque in French). With newfound wealt ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Adventures Of Tintin
''The Adventures of Tintin'' (french: Les Aventures de Tintin ) is a series of 24 bande dessinée#Formats, ''bande dessinée'' albums created by Belgians, Belgian cartoonist Georges Remi, who wrote under the pen name Hergé. The series was one of the most popular European comics of the 20th century. By 2007, a century after Hergé's birth in 1907, ''Tintin'' had been published in more than 70 languages with sales of more than 200 million copies, and had been adapted for radio, television, theatre and film. The series first appeared in French on 10 January 1929, in (''The Little Twentieth''), a youth supplement to the Belgian newspaper (''The Twentieth Century''). The success of the series led to serial (literature), serialised strips published in Belgium's leading newspaper (''The Evening'') and spun into a successful ''Tintin (magazine), Tintin'' magazine. In 1950, Hergé created Studios Hergé, which produced the canonical versions of 11 ''Tintin'' albums. The series is se ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Midshipmen
A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada (Naval Cadet), Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Kenya. In the 17th century, a midshipman was a rating for an experienced seaman, and the word derives from the area aboard a ship, amidships, either where he worked on the ship, or where he was berthed. Beginning in the 18th century, a commissioned officer candidate was rated as a midshipman, and the seaman rating began to slowly die out. By the Napoleonic era (1793–1815), a midshipman was an apprentice officer who had previously served at least three years as a volunteer, officer's servant or able seaman, and was roughly equivalent to a present-day petty officer in rank and responsibilities. After serving at least three years as a midshipman or master's mate, he was eligible to take the e ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

English Civil War
The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of religious freedom. It was part of the wider Wars of the Three Kingdoms. The first (1642–1646) and second (1648–1649) wars pitted the supporters of King Charles I against the supporters of the Long Parliament, while the third (1649–1651) saw fighting between supporters of King Charles II and supporters of the Rump Parliament. The wars also involved the Scottish Covenanters and Irish Confederates. The war ended with Parliamentarian victory at the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651. Unlike other civil wars in England, which were mainly fought over who should rule, these conflicts were also concerned with how the three Kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland should be governed. The outcome was threefold: the trial of and ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Richard Haddock
Admiral Sir Richard Haddock (c. 1629 – 26 January 1715 Old Style) was an officer of the Royal Navy. He served during the Anglo-Dutch Wars, eventually rising to the rank of Admiral in August 1690. In Herge's ''Adventures of Tintin'', Richard Haddock was one of the inspirations for Captain Haddock's 17th century ancestor, Sir Francis Haddock. Family and early life Haddock was born into a distinguished navy family. His grandfather, also Richard Haddock, had been rewarded by the government in 1652, having held commands under both Charles I and subsequently the Parliamentary regime; he commanded the ''Victory'' in 1642, the ''Antelope'' in 1643–44, the ''John'' in 1644 and the ''Unicorn'' in 1648. In 1652 he served as Vice-Admiral commanding the ''Vanguard''. His father, William Haddock, also commanded trading vessels, and was appointed on 14 March 1651 to command the ''America'', a ship hired by the Commonwealth of England Navy. He served in the First Anglo–Dutch War and ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]