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Lascaris Battery
Lascaris Battery ( mt, Batterija ta' Lascaris), also known as Fort Lascaris ( mt, Forti Lascaris) or Lascaris Bastion ( mt, Sur ta' Lascaris), is an artillery battery located on the east side of Valletta, Malta. The battery was built by the British in 1854, and it is connected to the earlier St. Peter & Paul Bastion of the Valletta Land Front. In World War II, the Lascaris War Rooms were dug close to the battery, and they served as Britain's secret headquarters for the defence of the island. History When the British took over the Maltese islands in 1800, they used the fortifications built by the Order of St. John almost without alterations. Under the military theory of the time, the Royal Navy in the Mediterranean was regarded as the most reliable protection against invasion. However, during his time as governor, Sir William Reid ordered gun batteries to be added inside the Grand Harbour, in order to repel any ships which broke through the cordon of Fort St. Elmo and Fort St. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fortifications Of Valletta
The fortifications of Valletta ( mt, Is-Swar tal-Belt Valletta) are a series of defensive walls and other fortifications which surround Valletta, the capital city of Malta. The first fortification to be built was Fort Saint Elmo in 1552, but the fortifications of the city proper began to be built in 1566 when it was founded by Grand Master Jean de Valette. Modifications were made throughout the following centuries, with the last major addition being Fort Lascaris which was completed in 1856. Most of the fortifications remain largely intact today. The city of Valletta, along with Nicosia in Cyprus, was considered to be a practical example of an ideal city of the Renaissance, and this was due to its fortifications as well as the urban life within the city. The fortifications were well known throughout Europe by the 17th century, and might have influenced the designs of part of the Fortress of Luxembourg. In an 1878 book, Valletta was described as "one of the best fortified ities ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Reid (British Army Officer)
Major General Sir William Reid (25 April 1791 – 31 October 1858) was a Scottish military engineer, administrator and meteorologist. He was Governor of the Bermudas (1839–1846), of the British Windward Islands (1846–1848), and of Malta (1851–1858). Reid founded the Bermuda National Library in 1839. Early life and education William Reid was born on 25 April 1791 at Kinglassie, Fife, the fifth child and eldest son of James Reid, minister of the Church of Scotland at Kinglassie, and his wife, Alexandrina, daughter of Thomas Fyers, chief engineer in Scotland. He was educated at a private school in Musselburgh. In 1806 he was admitted to the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. Military career Reid was commissioned in the Corps of Royal Engineers, Board of Ordnance, as no. 419, with the rank of second lieutenant on 10 February 1809, promoted first lieutenant on 23 April 1810, whereupon he joined Wellington's army at Lisbon. From 1810 to 1814 he served with the British army in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RML 10 Inch 18 Ton Gun
The RML 10-inch guns Mk I – Mk II were large rifled muzzle-loading guns designed for British battleships and monitors in the 1860s to 1880s. They were also fitted to the and flat-iron gunboats. They were also used for fixed coastal defences around the United Kingdom and around the British Empire until the early years of the 20th century. Design The 10-inch gun was a standard "Woolwich" design (characterised by having a steel A tube with relatively few broad, rounded and shallow rifling grooves) developed in 1868, based on the successful Mk III 9-inch gun, itself based on the "Fraser" system. The Fraser system was an economy measure applied to the successful Armstrong design for heavy muzzle-loaders, which were expensive to produce. It retained the Armstrong steel barrel surrounded by wrought-iron coils under tension, but replaced the multiple thin wrought-iron coils shrunk around it by a single larger coil (10 inch Mark I) or 2 coils (Mark II); the trunnion ring was n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rifled Muzzle Loader
A rifled muzzle loader in the forecastle of HMS Gannet (1878) ">HMS_Gannet_(1878).html" ;"title="forecastle of HMS Gannet (1878)">forecastle of HMS Gannet (1878) A rifled muzzle loader (RML) is a type of large artillery piece invented in the mid-19th century. In contrast to Smoothbore, smooth bore cannon which preceded it, the rifling of the gun barrel allowed much greater accuracy and penetration as the spin induced to the shell gave it directional stability. Typical guns weighed 18 tonnes with 10-inch-diameter bores, and were installed in forts and ships. This new gun and the rifled breech loader (RBL) generated a huge arms race in the late 19th century, with rapid advances in fortifications and ironclad warships. Royal Navy experience The largest rifled muzzle-loader carried on a warship was the 17.7-inch, 100-ton Elswick of the 1870s, four of which were installed in each of the Italian battleships '' Duilio'' and ''Enrico Dandolo'' (launched in 1872). The Royal Navy at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RML 8 Inch 9 Ton Gun
The British RML 8-inch 9-ton guns Mark I – Mark III were medium rifled muzzle-loading guns used to arm smaller ironclad warships and coast defence batteries in the later 19th century. Design In common with other Royal Ordnance RML designs of the 1860s, Mark I used the strong but expensive Armstrong system of a steel tube surrounded by a complex system of multiple wrought-iron coils, which was progressively simplified in Marks II and III to reduce costs : Mark III consisted only of A tube, B tube, breech coil and cascabel screw. Rifling was of the "Woolwich" pattern of a small number of broad shallow grooves: 4 grooves with twist increasing from 0 to 1 turn in 40 calibres (i.e. in 320 inches) at the muzzle. Ammunition The ammunition was mainly studded, with the studs engaging in the Woolwich rifling grooves. However, a studless pointed common shell with automatic gas-check also became available later in the gun's life.Gas-checks in British RML heavy guns See also * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barracks
Barracks are usually a group of long buildings built to house military personnel or laborers. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word "barraca" ("soldier's tent"), but today barracks are usually permanent buildings for military accommodation. The word may apply to separate housing blocks or to complete complexes, and the plural form often refers to a single structure and may be singular in construction. The main object of barracks is to separate soldiers from the civilian population and reinforce discipline, training, and ''esprit de corps''. They have been called "discipline factories for soldiers". Like industrial factories, some are considered to be shoddy or dull buildings, although others are known for their magnificent architecture such as Collins Barracks in Dublin and others in Paris, Berlin, Madrid, Vienna, or London. From the rough barracks of 19th-century conscript armies, filled with hazing and illness and bare ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Casemate
A casemate is a fortified gun emplacement or armored structure from which artillery, guns are fired, in a fortification, warship, or armoured fighting vehicle.Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary When referring to Ancient history, antiquity, the term "casemate wall" means a double city wall with the space between the walls separated into chambers, which could be filled up to better withstand battering rams in case of siege (see #Antiquity: casemate wall, Antiquity: casemate wall). In its original early modern meaning, the term referred to a vaulted chamber in a fort, which may have been used for storage, accommodation, or artillery which could fire through an opening or embrasure. Although the outward faces of brick or masonry casemates proved vulnerable to advances in artillery performance, the invention of reinforced concrete allowed newer designs to be produced well into the 20th century. With the introduction of ironclad warships, the definition was widened to include a prot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bastion
A bastion or bulwark is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with fire from the flanks being able to protect the curtain wall and the adjacent bastions. Compared with the medieval fortified towers they replaced, bastion fortifications offered a greater degree of passive resistance and more scope for ranged defence in the age of gunpowder artillery. As military architecture, the bastion is one element in the style of fortification dominant from the mid 16th to mid 19th centuries. Evolution By the middle of the 15th century, artillery pieces had become powerful enough to make the traditional medieval round tower and curtain wall obsolete. This was exemplified by the campaigns of Charles VII of France who reduced the towns and castles held by the English during the latter stages of the Hundred Years War, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Allied Invasion Of Sicily
The Allied invasion of Sicily, also known as Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II in which the Allied forces invaded the island of Sicily in July 1943 and took it from the Axis powers ( Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany). It began with a large amphibious and airborne operation, followed by a six-week land campaign, and initiated the Italian campaign. To divert some of the Axis forces to other areas, the Allies engaged in several deception operations, the most famous and successful of which was Operation Mincemeat. Husky began on the night of 9–10 July 1943 and ended on 17 August. Strategically, Husky achieved the goals set out for it by Allied planners; the Allies drove Axis air, land and naval forces from the island and the Mediterranean sea lanes were opened for Allied merchant ships for the first time since 1941. These events led to the Italian leader, Benito Mussolini, being toppled from power in Italy on 25 July, and to the Allied invasion of Italy on 3 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis powers. World War II was a total war that directly involved more than 100 million personnel from more than 30 countries. The major participants in the war threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. Aircraft played a major role in the conflict, enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and deploying the only two nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II was by far the deadliest conflict in human history; it resulted in 70 to 85 million fatalities, mostly among civilians. Tens of millions died due to genocides (including the Holocaust), starvation, ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Giovanni Paolo Lascaris
Giovanni Paolo Lascaris di Ventimiglia e Castellar ( Maltese: ''Laskri'') (28 June 156014 August 1657) was an Italian nobleman and Grand Master of the Knights of Malta. Early life Lascaris was born on 28 June 1560, the second son of Giannetto Lascaris and his wife Franceschetta di Agostino Lascaris of the ancient family of the Counts of Ventimiglia, related to the Lascaris who were emperors of the Byzantine Nicaean Empire. In 1584, he entered the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. As a member of the order he lived for over thirty years in a priory and was responsible for a range of monastic functions. He was put in charge of the order's grain supplies and later, in 1615, the order's furnaces across the island. He comported himself well and was promoted to master of the ''"St Anthony"'' prison. In 1632 he was sent as ambassador to the Kingdom of Spain. On the death of Grand Master Antoine de Paule, there were three candidates for election as Grand Master; Lascaris, ''Signori ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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