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HMS Aetna (1803)
HMS ''Aetna'' (or HMS ''Etna'') was the mercantile ''Success'' launched in 1803 at Littlehampton. The Admiralty purchased here in 1803 to convert her to a Royal Navy bomb vessel. ''Aetna'' participated in the second Battle of Copenhagen in 1807 and the Battle of the Basque Roads in 1809. Later, she participated in the attack on Fort McHenry in the Battle of Baltimore and the bombardment of Fort Washington, Maryland in 1814, during the War of 1812. The Navy sold her in 1816 and she returned to mercantile service under her original name. She sailed to Calcutta, to Rio de Janeiro, and more locally until she was wrecked in 1823. Mercantile origins ''Aetna'' was the merchant vessel ''Success'', launched at Arundel, equally Littlehampton, at the mouth of the River Arun. She appeared in the ''Register of Shipping'' (''RS'') in the volume for 1804 with W.Birch, master, J. Coney, owner, and trade London. The Admiralty purchased ''Success'' in 1803. Naval career ''Aetna'' was commissi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arundel
Arundel ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Arun District of the South Downs, West Sussex, England. The much-conserved town has a medieval castle and Roman Catholic cathedral. Arundel has a museum and comes second behind much larger Chichester in its number of listed buildings in West Sussex. The River Arun runs through the eastern side of the town. Arundel was one of the boroughs reformed by the Municipal Reform Act 1835. From 1836 to 1889 the town had its own Borough police force with a strength of three. In 1974 it became part of the Arun district, and is now a civil parish with a town council. Name The name comes from the Old English ''Harhunedell'', meaning "valley of horehound", and was first recorded in the Domesday Book. Folk etymology, however, connects the name with the Old French word ''arondelle'', meaning "swallow", and swallows appear on the town's arms. Governance An electoral ward of the same name exists. This ward stretches north to Houghton ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
River Arun
The River Arun () is a river in the English county of West Sussex. At long, it is the longest river entirely in Sussex and one of the longest starting in Sussex after the River Medway, River Wey and River Mole. From the series of small streams that form its source in the area of St Leonard's Forest in the Weald, the Arun flows westwards through Horsham to Nowhurst where it is joined by the North River. Turning to the south, it is joined by its main tributary, the western River Rother, and continues through a gap in the South Downs to Arundel to join the English Channel at Littlehampton. It is one of the faster flowing rivers in England, and is tidal as far inland as Pallingham Quay, upstream from the sea at Littlehampton. The Arun gives its name to the Arun local government district of West Sussex. The first major improvements to the river were made between the 1540s and the 1570s, when Arundel became a port, and navigation up to Pallingham was improved, but barges had di ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sir Richard Strachan, 6th Baronet
Sir Richard John Strachan, 6th Baronet GCB (27 October 1760 – 3 February 1828) was a British officer of the Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, eventually rising to the rank of admiral. Sir Dicky, as his friends referred to him, was the last Chief of Clan Strachan. The Baronetcy became dormant in 1854 as he died without male heir. Childhood Strachan was born in Devon on 27 October 1760, the eldest son of Lieutenant Patrick Strachan RN and a daughter of Captain Pitman RN. His uncle was Sir John Strachan, fifth baronet. Strachan entered the Royal Navy in 1772 at the age of twelve, serving first aboard HMS ''Intrepid''. He sailed with ''Intrepid'' to the East Indies, before moving to HMS ''Orford'', then under the command of his uncle. He went on to serve in a number of different ships on the North American Station, first aboard HMS ''Preston'' under Commodore William Hotham, followed by HMS ''Eagle'', the flagship of Lord Howe. Early car ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walcheren Campaign
The Walcheren Campaign ( ) was an unsuccessful British expedition to the Netherlands in 1809 intended to open another front in the Austrian Empire's struggle with France during the War of the Fifth Coalition. Sir John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham, was the commander of the expedition, with the missions of capturing Flushing and Antwerp in the Netherlands and enabling navigation of the Scheldt River. Some 39,000 soldiers, 15,000 horses together with field artillery and two siege trains crossed the North Sea and landed at Walcheren on 30July. This was the largest British expedition of that year, larger than the army serving in the Peninsular War in Portugal. Nevertheless, it failed to achieve any of its goals. The Walcheren Campaign involved little fighting, but heavy losses from the sickness popularly dubbed "Walcheren Fever". Although more than 4,000 British troops died during the expedition, only 106 died in combat; the survivors withdrew on 9December. Background In July 1809, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pence
A penny is a coin ( pennies) or a unit of currency (pl. pence) in various countries. Borrowed from the Carolingian denarius (hence its former abbreviation d.), it is usually the smallest denomination within a currency system. Presently, it is the formal name of the British penny ( p) and the ''de facto'' name of the American one-cent coin (abbr. ¢) as well as the informal Irish designation of the 1 cent euro coin (abbr. c). It is the informal name of the cent unit of account in Canada, although one-cent coins are no longer minted there. The name is used in reference to various historical currencies, also derived from the Carolingian system, such as the French denier and the German pfennig. It may also be informally used to refer to any similar smallest-denomination coin, such as the euro cent or Chinese fen. The Carolingian penny was originally a 0.940-fine silver coin, weighing pound. It was adopted by Offa of Mercia and other English kings and remained ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
£sd
£sd (occasionally written Lsd, spoken as "pounds, shillings and pence" or pronounced ) is the popular name for the pre-decimal currencies once common throughout Europe, especially in the British Isles and hence in several countries of the British Empire and subsequently the Commonwealth. The abbreviation originates from the Latin currency denominations '' librae'', ''solidi'', and ''denarii''. In the United Kingdom, these were referred to as '' pounds'', ''shillings'', and '' pence'' (''pence'' being the plural of ''penny''). Although the names originated from popular coins in the classical Roman Empire, their definitions and the ratios between them were introduced and imposed across Western Europe by the Emperor Charlemagne. The £sd system was the standard across much of the European continent (France, Italy, Germany, etc.) for nearly a thousand years, until the decimalisations of the 18th and 19th centuries. As the United Kingdom remained one of the few countries reta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shilling
The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence or one-twentieth of a pound before being phased out during the 20th century. Currently the shilling is used as a currency in five east African countries: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Somalia, as well as the ''de facto'' country of Somaliland. The East African Community additionally plans to introduce an East African shilling. History The word ''shilling'' comes from Old English "Scilling", a monetary term meaning twentieth of a pound, from the Proto-Germanic root skiljaną meaning 'to separate, split, divide', from (s)kelH- meaning 'to cut, split.' The word "Scilling" is mentioned in the earliest recorded Germanic law codes, those of Æthelberht of Kent. There is evidence that it may alternatively be an early borrowing of Phoenician ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ÃŽle-d'Aix
Île-d'Aix () is a commune and an island in the Charente-Maritime department, region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine (before 2015: Poitou-Charentes), off the west coast of France. It occupies the territory of the small Isle of Aix (''île d'Aix''), in the Atlantic Ocean. It is a popular place for tourist day-trips during the summer months. Location Île-d'Aix is located at the mouth of the river Charente, between Oléron Island and the coast of mainland France. The island is also close to Fort Boyard. History During the Roman period, it seems the island was connected to the continent at low tide. It finally took its current shape around 1500. In 1067, Isembert de Châtelaillon gave the island to the order of Cluny. A small convent was established, which depended on St Martin in Île de Ré. At the end of the 12th century, France and England fought for the possession of the island. Until 1286, the island was located at the boundary between the French and the English Saintonge, formed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl Of Dundonald
Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald, Marquess of Maranhão (14 December 1775 – 31 October 1860), styled Lord Cochrane between 1778 and 1831, was a British naval flag officer of the Royal Navy, mercenary and Radical politician. He was a successful captain of the Napoleonic Wars, leading Napoleon to nickname him french: le Loup des Mers, lit=the Sea Wolf, label=none. He was successful in virtually all of his naval actions. He was dismissed from the Royal Navy in 1814 after a controversial conviction for fraud on the Stock Exchange. He helped organise and lead the rebel navies of Chile and Brazil during their respective successful wars of independence through the 1820s. While in charge of the Chilean Navy, Cochrane also contributed to Peruvian independence through the Freedom Expedition of Perú. He was also hired to help the Greek Navy, but did not have much impact. In 1832, he was pardoned by the Crown and reinstated in the Royal Navy with the rank of Rear-Admiral of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Congreve Rocket
The Congreve rocket was a type of rocket artillery designed by British inventor Sir William Congreve in 1808. The design was based upon the rockets deployed by the Kingdom of Mysore against the East India Company during the Second, Third, and Fourth Anglo-Mysore Wars. Lieutenant general Thomas Desaguliers, colonel commandant of the Royal Artillery at Woolwich, was impressed by reports of their effectiveness, and undertook several unsuccessful experiments to produce his own rocket weapons. Several captured Mysorean rockets were sent to England following the annexation of the Mysorean kingdom into British India following the death of Tipu Sultan in the siege of Seringapatam. The project was continued chiefly with William Congreve, who set up a research and development programme at the Woolwich Arsenal's laboratory. After development work was complete the rockets were manufactured in quantity further north, near Waltham Abbey, Essex. He was told that "the British at Seringapa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fire Ship
A fire ship or fireship, used in the days of wooden rowed or sailing ships, was a ship filled with combustibles, or gunpowder deliberately set on fire and steered (or, when possible, allowed to drift) into an enemy fleet, in order to destroy ships, or to create panic and make the enemy break formation. Ships used as fire ships were either warships whose munitions were fully spent in battle, surplus ones which were old and worn out, or inexpensive purpose-built vessels rigged to be set afire, steered toward targets, and abandoned quickly by the crew. Explosion ships or "hellburners" were a variation on the fire ship, intended to cause damage by blowing up in proximity to enemy ships. Fireships were used to great effect by the outgunned English fleet against the Spanish Armada during the Battle of Gravelines, [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Gambier, 1st Baron Gambier
Admiral of the Fleet (Royal Navy), Admiral of the Fleet James Gambier, 1st Baron Gambier, (13 October 1756 – 19 April 1833) was a Royal Navy officer. After seeing action at the capture of Charleston, South Carolina, Charleston during the American Revolutionary War, he saw action again, as captain of the third-rate , at the battle of the Glorious First of June in 1794, during the French Revolutionary Wars, gaining the distinction of commanding the first ship to break through the enemy line. Gambier went on to be a Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty and First Sea Lord, First Naval Lord and then served as Governor of Newfoundland Colony, Newfoundland. Together with William Cathcart, 1st Earl Cathcart, General Lord Cathcart, he oversaw the Battle of Copenhagen (1807), bombardment of Copenhagen during the Napoleonic Wars. He later survived an accusation of cowardice for his inaction at the Battle of the Basque Roads. Early career Born the secon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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