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HMS Petersfield
HMS ''Petersfield'' (ex-Portmadoc) was a Hunt-class minesweeper of the ''Aberdare'' sub-class built for the Royal Navy during World War I. She was not finished in time to participate in the First World War. Re-commissioned at Hong Kong on 23 February 1925 for service on the China Station as an admiral's yacht. She was wrecked on 11 November 1931 off Tung Yung Island, with the C-in-C China Station Admiral Sir Howard Kelly embarked. Two courts martial following her loss resulted in severe reprimands for her Captain, Commander Douglas C. Lang and Navigating Lieutenant, Geoffrey A. H. Pratt, though an imperious meddling throughout the unfolding disaster brought ignominy upon Admiral Kelly, as well. Design and description The ''Aberdare'' sub-class were enlarged versions of the original Hunt-class ships with a more powerful armament. The ships displaced at normal load. They had a length between perpendiculars of and measured long overall. The ''Aberdare''s had a beam of a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Naval Ensign Of The United Kingdom
The White Ensign, at one time called the St George's Ensign due to the simultaneous existence of a cross-less version of the flag, is an ensign worn on British Royal Navy ships and shore establishments. It consists of a red St George's Cross on a white field, identical to the flag of England except with the Union Flag in the upper canton. The White Ensign is also worn by yachts of members of the Royal Yacht Squadron and by ships of Trinity House escorting the reigning monarch. In addition to the United Kingdom, several other nations have variants of the White Ensign with their own national flags in the canton, with the St George's Cross sometimes being replaced by a naval badge omitting the cross altogether. Yachts of the Royal Irish Yacht Club wear a white ensign with an Irish tricolour in the first quadrant and defaced by the crowned harp from the Heraldic Badge of Ireland. The Flag of the British Antarctic Territory and the Commissioners' flag of the Northern Lighthouse Bo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
China Station
The Commander-in-Chief, China was the admiral in command of what was usually known as the China Station, at once both a British Royal Navy naval formation and its admiral in command. It was created in 1865 and deactivated in 1941. From 1831 to 1865, the East Indies Station and the China Station were a single command known as the East Indies and China Station. The China Station, established in 1865, had as its area of responsibility the coasts of China and its navigable rivers, the western part of the Pacific Ocean, and the waters around the Dutch East Indies. The navy often co-operated with British commercial interests in this area. The formation had bases at Singapore (Singapore Naval Base), HMS ''Tamar'' (1865–1941 and 1945–1997) in Hong Kong and Wei Hai (at Liugong Island) (1898–1940). The China Station complement usually consisted of several older light cruisers and destroyers, and the Chinese rivers were patrolled by a flotilla of suitable, shallow-draught gunboats, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HMS Suffolk (55)
HMS ''Suffolk'', pennant number 55, was a heavy cruiser of the Royal Navy, and part of the ''Kent'' subclass. She was built by Portsmouth Dockyard, Portsmouth, UK, with the keel being laid down on 30 September 1924. She was launched on 16 February 1926, and commissioned on 31 May 1928. During the Second World War, ''Suffolk'' took part in the Norwegian Campaign in 1940 and then the Battle of the Denmark Strait in 1941, before serving in the Arctic throughout the following year. After a refit that concluded in April 1943, the cruiser served in the Far East until the end of the war. In the immediate post-war period, ''Suffolk'' undertook transport duties between the Far East, Australia and the United Kingdom before being placed in reserve in mid-1946. The vessel was sold off and then scrapped in 1948. History Pre-World War II ''Suffolk'', like her sisters, served on the China Station, save for reconstruction, until the outbreak of the Second World War. In early 1934 she becam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
County-class Cruiser
The County class was a class of heavy cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the years between the First and Second World Wars. They were the first post-war cruisers constructed for the Royal Navy and were designed within the limits of the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922. Such ships, with a limit of 10,000 tons, standard displacement and 8-inch calibre main guns may be referred to as "treaty cruisers" (the term "heavy cruiser" was not defined until the London Naval Treaty of 1930). The thirteen Counties were built in the ''Kent'', ''London'' and ''Norfolk'' sub-classes. They were the only 10,000-ton 8-inch gun, or "A", cruisers that the Royal Navy built. The Counties are remembered for their distinctive three-funnel layout and service in all the major naval theatres of the Second World War. To extract more ships from the treaty limits, the navy planned to construct 8,250-ton "B" ships, six of which could be built in place of five Counties. The extra ship that this afforded was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RMS Empress Of Asia
RMS ''Empress of Asia'' was an ocean liner built in 1912–1913 by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering at Govan on the Clyde in Scotland for Canadian Pacific Steamships. As well as being a passenger liner in peacetime, ''Empress of Asia'' served as an armed merchant cruiser and a troopship in wartime. She was sunk during World War II by Japanese aircraft while transiting from Bombay to Singapore. Service history ''Empress of Asia'' was built by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering at Govan near Glasgow in Scotland She was launched on 23 November 1912, and christened by Mrs. Bosworth, wife of the Vice-President of the Canadian Pacific Railway. She completed her maiden voyage in 1913. In May 1914, Captain Samuel Robinson pushed the RMS ''Empress of Asia'' and her crew in setting a new world's record for both a single day's steaming (473 nautical miles) and for crossing the Pacific (nine days, two hours, and fifteen minutes). World War I During the First World War, ''Empre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Admiral
Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, or fleet admiral. Etymology The word in Middle English comes from Anglo-French , "commander", from Medieval Latin , . These evolved from the Arabic () – (), “king, prince, chief, leader, nobleman, lord, a governor, commander, or person who rules over a number of people,” and (), the Arabic article answering to “the.” In Arabic, admiral is also represented as (), where () means the sea. The 1818 edition of Samuel Johnson's '' A Dictionary of the English Language'', edited and revised by the Rev. Henry John Todd, states that the term “has been traced to the Arab. emir or amir, lord or commander, and the Gr. , the sea, q. d. ''prince of the sea''. The word is written both with and without the d, in other languages, as we ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stuart Bonham Carter
Vice Admiral Sir Stuart Sumner Bonham Carter, (9 July 1889 – 5 September 1972) was an officer in the Royal Navy who served in both the First and Second World Wars. Naval career Born the younger son of Lothian Bonham-Carter and Emily Maud Sumner, Bonham Carter joined the Royal Navy in 1904. He served in the First World War, commanding the block ship during the Zeebrugge Raid in 1918. He also commanded the destroyer in the closing stages of the war. A keen cricketer, Bonham Carter played two first-class matches for the Royal Navy Cricket Club in 1925. He was appointed Chief of Staff to the Commander-in-Chief, Africa in 1928, and made Assistant Director for Navy Equipment in 1932 before becoming Chief Staff Officer to the commander of the 1st Cruiser Squadron in 1934. He was given command of the Royal Naval Barracks at Chatham in 1937 and made Naval Secretary in 1939. Bonham Carter also served in the Second World War, commanding the 3rd Battle Squadron from 1940 and the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bridge (nautical)
The interior of the bridge of the Sikuliaq'', docked in Ketchikan, Alaska">RV_Sikuliaq.html" ;"title="Research Vessel ''RV Sikuliaq">Sikuliaq'', docked in Ketchikan, Alaska file:Wheelhouse of Leao Dos Mares.jpg, Wheelhouse on a tugboat, topped with a flying bridge The bridge, also known as the pilothouse or wheelhouse, is a room or platform of a ship from which the ship can be commanded. When a ship is under way, the bridge is manned by an officer of the watch aided usually by an able seaman acting as a lookout. During critical maneuvers the captain will be on the bridge, often supported by an officer of the watch, an able seaman on the wheel and sometimes a pilot, if required. History and etymology The compass platform of a British destroyer in the Battle of the Atlantic during the Second World War with central binnacle">Second_World_War.html" ;"title="Battle of the Atlantic during the Second World War">Battle of the Atlantic during the Second World War with central bin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quick-firing Gun
A quick-firing or rapid-firing gun is an artillery piece, typically a gun or howitzer, which has several characteristics which taken together mean the weapon can fire at a fast rate. Quick-firing was introduced worldwide in the 1880s and 1890s and had a marked impact on war both on land and at sea. Characteristics The characteristics of a quick-firing artillery piece are: *A breech-loading weapon with a breech mechanism that allows rapid reloading *Single-part cased ammunition, i.e. a cartridge containing both shell and propellant *Recoil buffers to limit recoil, so the barrel can quickly return to the same position after firing *The use of smokeless powder – nitrocellulose, nitroglycerine, or cordite – which create far less smoke than gunpowder, meaning that gun crews could still see their target These innovations, taken together, meant that the quick-firer could fire aimed shells much more rapidly than an older weapon. For instance, an Elswick Ordnance Company 4.7-inch gun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Draft (hull)
The draft or draught of a ship's hull is the vertical distance between the waterline and the bottom of the hull (keel). The draught of the vessel is the maximum depth of any part of the vessel, including appendages such as rudders, propellers and drop keels if deployed. Draft determines the minimum depth of water a ship or boat can safely navigate. The related term air draft is the maximum height of any part of the vessel above the water. The more heavily a vessel is loaded, the deeper it sinks into the water, and the greater its draft. After construction, the shipyard creates a table showing how much water the vessel displaces based on its draft and the density of the water (salt or fresh). The draft can also be used to determine the weight of cargo on board by calculating the total displacement of water, accounting for the content of the ship's bunkers, and using Archimedes' principle. The closely related term "trim" is defined as the difference between the forward and aft ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beam (nautical)
The beam of a ship is its width at its widest point. The maximum beam (BMAX) is the distance between planes passing through the outer extremities of the ship, beam of the hull (BH) only includes permanently fixed parts of the hull, and beam at waterline (BWL) is the maximum width where the hull intersects the surface of the water. Generally speaking, the wider the beam of a ship (or boat), the more initial stability it has, at the expense of secondary stability in the event of a capsize, where more energy is required to right the vessel from its inverted position. A ship that heels on her ''beam ends'' has her deck beams nearly vertical. Typical values Typical length-to-beam ratios ( aspect ratios) for small sailboats are from 2:1 (dinghies to trailerable sailboats around ) to 5:1 (racing sailboats over ). Large ships have widely varying beam ratios, some as large as 20:1. Rowing shells designed for flatwater racing may have length to beam ratios as high as 30:1, while a cor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
