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Latvian Fleet That Fought For The Allies In World War II
The part of the Latvian fleet that fought for the Allies in World War II under the flag of Latvia consisted of eight freighters: ''Abagra'', ''Ciltvaira'', ''Regent'', ''Everasma'', '' Everalda'', ''Everelza'', ''Ķegums'', and ''Everagra''. Only ''Everagra'' and ''Ķegums'' survived the war."S.O.S. - Save Our Souls" by Aleksandrs Krasnitskijs, printed in ''Chas'', a Russian-language daily in , reprinted in ''Sestdiena'', a Saturday supplement of '''', April 13, 2003 [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flag Of Latvia
The national flag of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas karogs) was used by independent Latvia from 1918 until the country was occupied by the Soviet Union in 1940. Its use was suppressed during Soviet rule. On 27 February 1990, shortly before the country regained its independence, the Latvian government re-adopted the traditional red-white-red flag. Though officially adopted in 1921, the Latvian flag was in use as early as the 13th century. The red colour is sometimes described as symbolizing the readiness of the Latvians to give the blood from their hearts for freedom and their willingness to defend their sovereignty. An alternative interpretation, according to the ''Rhymed Chronicle of Livonia'', is that a Latgalian leader was wounded in battle, and the edges of the white sheet in which he was wrapped were stained by his blood with the centre stripe of the flag being left unstained. This story is similar to the legend of the origins of the flag of Austria. History The red-white-red ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Soviet Deportations
From 1930 to 1952, the Government of the Soviet Union, government of the Soviet Union, on the orders of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin under the direction of the NKVD official Lavrentiy Beria, forced transfer, forcibly transferred populations of various groups. These actions may be classified into the following broad categories: deportations of "anti-Soviet" categories of population (often classified as "enemies of workers"), deportations of entire nationalities, labor force transfer, and organized migrations in opposite directions to fill ethnic cleansing, ethnically cleansed territories. Dekulakization marked the first time that an entire class was deported, whereas the Deportation of Koreans in the Soviet Union, deportation of Soviet Koreans in 1937 marked the precedent of a specific ethnic deportation of an entire nationality. In most cases, their destinations were underpopulated remote areas (see Forced settlements in the Soviet Union). This includes deportations to the Sovie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nortraship
The Norwegian Shipping and Trade Mission (Nortraship) was established in London in April 1940 to administer the Norwegian merchant fleet outside German-controlled areas. Nortraship operated some 1,000 vessels and was the largest shipping company in the world. It made a major contribution to the Allied war effort. The British politician Philip Noel-Baker, Baron Noel-Baker, commented after the war, "The first great defeat for Hitler was the battle of Britain. It was a turning point in history. If we had not had the Norwegian fleet of tankers on our side, we should not have had the aviation spirit to put our Hawker Hurricanes and our Spitfires into the sky. Without the Norwegian merchant fleet, Britain and the allies would have lost the war". Nortraship had its main offices in London and New York City and was active during World War II. Nortraship was vital to Norway and the exile government as it lacked other means to support the Allied fight against the Axis powers. The organisati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Irish Mercantile Marine During World War II
The Irish Mercantile Marine during World War II continued essential overseas trade in the conflict, a period referred to as The Long Watch by Irish mariners. Irish merchant shipping saw to it that vital imports continued to arrive and exports, mainly food supplies to Great Britain, were delivered. Irish ships sailed unarmed and usually alone, identifying themselves as neutrals with bright lights and by painting the Irish tricolour and EIREÉire is the Irish name for Ireland. From 1937 "Ireland" was the correct name for the country. Prior to that it was the "Irish Free State". British documents of the time, tended to use the word "Eire" while the USA used "Irish Republic". Churchill said "Southern Ireland". in large letters on their sides and decks. Nonetheless twenty percent of seamen serving in Irish ships perished, victims of a war not their own: attacked by both sides, though predominantly by the Axis powers. Often, Allied convoys did not stop to pick up survivors, while I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Krišjānis Valdemārs (icebreaker)
''Krišjānis Valdemārs'' was an icebreaker of the Ministry of Trade and Industry of the Republic of Latvia from 1926 to 1941. It was designed to clear shipping lanes from the ice in the freezing port of Riga, but was also used for escorting the President and members of the government on foreign visits. Description It had a tonnage of . The vessel long with a beam of and a draught of . The ship had an engine rated at . The maximum speed of the vessel in free water was and in hard, smooth ice, . History The ship was ordered in 1924–1925 by the Latvian government and built at Glasgow Shipyard. The icebreaker was given the name of the spiritual leader of The First Latvian National Awakening and the most prominent member of the Young Latvians movement Krišjānis Valdemārs (1825–1891). ''Krišjānis Valdemārs'' sailed on January 13, 1926 on its first voyage from the port of Riga. The first captain of the icebreaker was Kārlis Cērpe (1875–1931). After his death Ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coastal Waters
The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in natural ecosystems, often home to a wide range of biodiversity. On land, they harbor important ecosystems such as freshwater or estuarine wetlands, which are important for bird populations and other terrestrial animals. In wave-protected areas they harbor saltmarshes, mangroves or seagrasses, all of which can provide nursery habitat for finfish, shellfish, and other aquatic species. Rocky shores are usually found along exposed coasts and provide habitat for a wide range of sessile animals (e.g. mussels, starfish, barnacles) and various kinds of seaweeds. Along tropical coasts with clear, nutrient-poor water, coral reefs can often be found between depths of . According to a United Nations atlas, 44% of all people live within 5 km (3.3mi) of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
German Submarine U-123 (1940)
German submarine ''U-123'' was a Type IXB U-boat of Nazi Germany's ''Kriegsmarine'' that operated during World War II. After that conflict, she became the French submarine ''Blaison'' (Q165) until she was decommissioned on 18 August 1959. Construction ''U-123'' was laid down on 15 April 1939 at the AG Weser yard in Bremen as yard number 955. She was launched on 2 March 1940 and commissioned on 30 May, with ''Kapitänleutnant'' Karl-Heinz Moehle (Crew 30) in command. He was relieved on 19 May 1941 by ''Kptlt.'' Reinhard Hardegen (Crew 33), who was relieved in turn on 1 August 1942 by his watch officer, ''Oberleutnant zur See'' Horst von Schroeter (Crew 37b). He remained in command until the boat was decommissioned on 17 June 1944. Design German Type IXB submarines were slightly larger than the original German Type IX submarines, later designated IXA. ''U-123'' had a displacement of when at the surface and while submerged. The U-boat had a total length of , a pressure hull ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nags Head, North Carolina
Nags Head is a town in Dare County, North Carolina, United States. It is a busy vacation spot because of its beaches and sand dunes of Jockey's Ridge. The population was 3,146 at the 2020 census. History Early maps of the area show Nags Head as a promontory of land characterized by high sand dunes visible from miles at sea. The origin of the town's name is obscure but it is likely to have been named after any one of the Nag's Heads on the English coast. A folkloric explanation claims that mules or horses ( nags) would have lights hung on their heads by nefarious wreckers in order to trick ships into running aground and then loot the ships of their valuables.The town's emblem depicts one such equine accomplice from the tale. Around 1830, Nags Head became known as a resort area. This direction was accelerated in 1855 when Dr. W.G. Pool bought 50 acres of oceanfront land which he separated into plots and sold to friends, increasing the number of homes in the area. Jockey's Ridg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Labor Camp
A labor camp (or labour camp, see spelling differences) or work camp is a detention facility where inmates are forced to engage in penal labor as a form of punishment. Labor camps have many common aspects with slavery and with prisons (especially prison farms). Conditions at labor camps vary widely depending on the operators. Convention no. 105 of the United Nations International Labour Organization (ILO), adopted internationally on 27 June 1957, abolished camps of forced labor. In the 20th century, a new category of labor camps developed for the imprisonment of millions of people who were not criminals ''per se'', but political opponents (real or imagined) and various so-called undesirables under communist and fascist regimes. Some of those camps were dubbed "reeducation facilities" for political coercion, but most others served as backbones of industry and agriculture for the benefit of the state, especially in times of war. Precursors Early-modern states could exploit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gulag
The Gulag, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= was the government agency in charge of the Soviet network of forced labour camps which were set up by order of Vladimir Lenin, reaching its peak during Joseph Stalin's rule from the 1930s to the early 1950s. English-language speakers also use the word ''gulag'' in reference to each of the forced-labor camps that existed in the Soviet Union, including the camps that existed in the post-Lenin era. The Gulag is recognized as a major instrument of political repression in the Soviet Union. The camps housed a wide range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners, a large number of whom were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas or other instruments of extrajudicial punishment. In 1918–22, the agency was administered by the Cheka, follow ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
MV Sovetskaya Latviya
MV ''Sovetskaya Latviya'' (Soviet Latvia, russian: Советская Латвия) was a transport ship operated by the Dalstroy concern of the NKVD. One of its main uses was to transport prisoners as forced labour in the Kolyma camps system. Prior to Soviet ownership The ship was originally christened ''Childar'' when launched on 25 November 1925. It was operated as a merchant vessel for several years by the Norwegian line Wiel & Amundsen Rederi A/S, based in Halden. ''Childar'' ran aground on 4 May 1934 at the entrance to the Columbia River in the United States while en route to Cape Town, South Africa. Four seamen were killed in this incident. The ship was eventually was repaired at Porsgrunn and re-launched in May 1935 as MS ''Aakre'' by another Norwegian line, Rederi A/S Henneseid (Thoralf Holta). In 1939, it was purchased by the Latvian United Shipping Company (Apvienotā Kuģniecības Akciju Sabiedrība), in Riga, Latvia, and renamed ''Hercogs Jēkabs'', in honour ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cargo Ship
A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. Cargo ships are usually specially designed for the task, often being equipped with crane (machine), cranes and other mechanisms to load and unload, and come in all sizes. Today, they are almost always built of welded steel, and with some exceptions generally have a life expectancy of 25 to 30 years before being scrapped. Definitions The words ''cargo'' and ''freight'' have become interchangeable in casual usage. Technically, "cargo" refers to the goods carried aboard the ship for hire, while "freight" refers to the act of carrying of such cargo, but the terms have been used interchangeably for centuries. Generally, the modern ocean shipping business is divided into two classes: # Liner business: typically (but not exclusively) container vessels (where ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
