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Port Lyautey Airfield
Naval Air Station Port Lyautey is a former United States Navy Naval Air Station in Morocco, about north-northwest of Kenitra and about northeast of Casablanca. The Naval Air Station was turned over to the Royal Moroccan Air Force and the last of US military personnel departed the base in 1977. The airport was later reopened as Kenitra Airport after it was closed. History World War II The facility was established as an Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) shortly after the Operation Torch landing at the former Vichy France airfield at Mehdiya–Port Lyautey. The facility was captured by one American destroyer and a U.S. Army Raider team. The destroyer came up the Sebou River, silenced the shore batteries with its guns and landed the Raider team which in turn captured the airfield. After being secured, the airfield was upgraded by Seabees and used by the United States Army Air Forces Twelfth Air Force 33d Fighter Group, flying P-40 Warhawks. The group took part in initial lan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kenitra
Kenitra ( ar, القُنَيْطَرَة, , , ; ber, ⵇⵏⵉⵟⵔⴰ, Qniṭra; french: Kénitra) is a city in north western Morocco, formerly known as Port Lyautey from 1932 to 1956. It is a port on the Sebou River, Sebou river, has a population in 2014 of 431,282, is one of the three main cities of the Rabat-Salé-Kénitra region and the capital of the Kenitra Province. During the Cold War Kenitra's U.S. Naval Air Facility served as a stopping point in North Africa. History Ancient history The history of the city begins with the foundation of a trading-post by the Ancient Carthage, Carthaginian, known back then as Thamusida. Under the Antonine dynasty, a Venus (mythology), Venus temple was built there. Before the French protectorate in Morocco, French protectorate, the Kasbah Mahdiyya was the only construction in the area where the modern city can today be found. Colonial and recent history In March 1912 the French government and the Sultan of Morocco, Abd al-Hafid of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Straits Of Gibraltar
The Strait of Gibraltar ( ar, مضيق جبل طارق, Maḍīq Jabal Ṭāriq; es, Estrecho de Gibraltar, Archaic: Pillars of Hercules), also known as the Straits of Gibraltar, is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates the Iberian Peninsula in Europe from Morocco in Africa. The two continents are separated by of ocean at the Strait's narrowest point between Point Marroquí in Spain and Point Cires in Morocco. Ferries cross between the two continents every day in as little as 35 minutes. The Strait's depth ranges between which possibly interacted with the lower mean sea level of the last major glaciation 20,000 years ago when the level of the sea is believed to have been lower by . The strait lies in the territorial waters of Morocco, Spain, and the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, foreign vessels and aircraft have the freedom of navigation and overflight to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dakar
Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.94 million in 2021. The area around Dakar was settled in the 15th century. The Portuguese established a presence on the island of Gorée off the coast of Cap-Vert and used it as a base for the Atlantic slave trade. France took over the island in 1677. Following the abolition of the slave trade and French annexation of the mainland area in the 19th century, Dakar grew into a major regional port and a major city of the French colonial empire. In 1902, Dakar replaced Saint-Louis as the capital of French West Africa. From 1959 to 1960, Dakar was the capital of the short-lived Mali Federation. In 1960, it became the capital of the independent Republic of Senegal. History The Cap-Vert peninsula was settled no later than the 15th century, by the Lebu peop ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metropolitan area, with a population of 21.9 million, is the 12th-largest in the world by population. Cairo is associated with ancient Egypt, as the Giza pyramid complex and the ancient cities of Memphis and Heliopolis are located in its geographical area. Located near the Nile Delta, the city first developed as Fustat, a settlement founded after the Muslim conquest of Egypt in 640 next to an existing ancient Roman fortress, Babylon. Under the Fatimid dynasty a new city, ''al-Qāhirah'', was founded nearby in 969. It later superseded Fustat as the main urban centre during the Ayyubid and Mamluk periods (12th–16th centuries). Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life, and is titled "the city of a thousand m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oran, Algeria
Oran ( ar, وَهران, Wahrān) is a major coastal city located in the north-west of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria after the capital Algiers, due to its population and commercial, industrial, and cultural importance. It is west-south-west from Algiers. The total population of the city was 803,329 in 2008, while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately 1,500,000 making it the second-largest city in Algeria. Etymology The word ''Wahran'' comes from the Berber expression ''wa - iharan'' (place of lions). A locally popular legend tells that in the period around AD 900, there were sightings of Barbary lions in the area. The last two lions were killed on a mountain near Oran, and it became known as ''la montagne des lions'' ("The Mountain of Lions"). Two giant lion statues stand in front of Oran's city hall, symbolizing the city. History Overview During the Roman Empire, a small settlement called ''Unica Colonia'' existed in t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tafarquay Airport
Ahmed Ben Bella Airport ( ar, مطار أحمد بن بلة), formally Es-Sénia Airport is an airport located 4.7 nm (8.7 km) south of Oran (near Es Sénia), in Algeria. History During World War II, La Sénia Airport was first used by the French Air Force as a military airfield, first by the Armée de l'Air, and after June 1940, by the Armistice Air Force (french: link=no, Armée de l'Air de Vichy) of the Vichy government. During the Operation Torch landings in 1942, La Sénia was one of the primary objectives of the assault on Oran on 9 November. A paratroop task force was to be directly seize La Sénia, with an armored task force to thrust inland to insure the capture of the field. Just after daylight, eight Albacore dive bombers from H.M.S. ''Furious'' and six Hurricane fighter escorts from each of the two auxiliary carriers swung back over La Sénia airfield in broad daylight to be greeted by strong antiaircraft fire and Vichy fighters. The airfield was attacked in r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Air Transport Command (United States Air Force)
Air Transport Command (ATC) was a United States Air Force unit that was created during World War II as the strategic airlift component of the United States Army Air Forces. It had two main missions, the first being the delivery of supplies and equipment between the United States and the overseas combat theaters; the second was the ferrying of aircraft from the manufacturing plants in the United States to where they were needed for training or for operational use in combat. ATC also operated a worldwide air transportation system for military personnel. Inactivated on 1 June 1948, Air Transport Command was the precursor to what became the Military Air Transport Service in 1948 and was redesignated Military Airlift Command (MAC) in 1966. It was consolidated with MAC in 1982, providing a continuous history of long range airlift through 1992 when the mission was transferred to today's Air Mobility Command. History By no means least among the achievements of the Army Air Forces ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
K-class Blimp
The ''K''-class blimp was a class of blimps (non-rigid airship) built by the Goodyear Aircraft Company of Akron, Ohio for the United States Navy. These blimps were powered by two Pratt & Whitney ''Wasp'' nine-cylinder radial air-cooled engines, each mounted on twin-strut outriggers, one per side of the control car that hung under the envelope. Before and during World War II, 134 ''K''-class blimps were built and configured for patrol and anti-submarine warfare operations, and were extensively used in the Navy’s anti-submarine efforts in the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean areas. Development In 1937, ''K-2'' was ordered from Goodyear as part of a contract that also bought the ''L-1'', (Goodyear’s standard advertising and passenger blimp). ''K-2'' was the production prototype for future ''K''-class airship purchases. ''K-2'' flew for the first time at Akron, Ohio on December 6, 1938 and was delivered to the Navy at NAS Lakehurst, New Jersey on December 16. The envelope capacit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Moroccan Sea Frontier
Sea Frontiers were several, now disestablished, commands of the United States Navy as areas of defense against enemy vessels, especially submarines, along the U.S. coasts. They existed from 1 July 1941 until in some cases the 1970s. Sea Frontiers generally started at the shore of the United States and extended outwards into the sea for a nominal distance of two hundred miles. As early as 1927 the Navy's plans for the coastal defense of the United States and its Territories and possessions provided for the establishment of Naval Coastal Frontiers that would be larger operational commands than the individual Naval Districts.HyperWarFederal Records of World War II Volume II Military Records Part Four, 1083 On 1 July 1941, the Chief of Naval Operations formally established several Naval Coastal Frontiers; on 6 February 1942, these were renamed Sea Frontiers. Each Frontier was a geographic area, usually comprising a number of Naval Districts but including in addition the outer shipping ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Northwest African Coastal Air Force
The Northwest African Coastal Air Force (NACAF) was a specialized functional command of the combined Northwest African Air Forces. The Mediterranean Air Command (MAC) oversaw the combined air forces until superseded by the MAAF. The NACAF had responsibility for air defense of North Africa, sea/air reconnaissance, antisubmarine air operations, air protection of Allied shipping, and air interdiction of enemy shipping. The components of NACAF at the time of the Allied invasion of Sicily (Operation Husky) on July 10, 1943 are illustrated below.Richards, D. and H. Saunders, The Royal Air Force 1939-1945 (Volume 2, HMSO, 1953). Order of Battle Northwest African Coastal Air Force''Air Vice-Marshal Sir Hugh Lloyd''Order of Battle, July 10, 1943 Notes: ^ No. 242 Group was originally a part of the Northwest African Tactical Air Force (NATAF) but later transferred to NACAF. The 1st and 2nd Antisubmarine Squadrons were assigned to NACAF for administration and placed under the operational c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Magnetic Anomaly Detector
A magnetic anomaly detector (MAD) is an instrument used to detect minute variations in the Earth's magnetic field. The term refers specifically to magnetometers used by military forces to detect submarines (a mass of ferromagnetic material creates a detectable disturbance in the magnetic field); military MAD equipment is a descendant of geomagnetic survey or aeromagnetic survey instruments used to search for minerals by detecting their disturbance of the normal earth-field. History Geoexploration by measuring and studying variations in the Earth's magnetic field has been conducted by scientists since 1843. The first uses of magnetometers were for the location of ore deposits. Thalen's "The Examination of Iron Ore Deposits by Magnetic Measurements", published in 1879, was the first scientific treatise describing this practical use. Magnetic anomaly detectors employed to detect submarines during World War II harnessed the fluxgate magnetometer, an inexpensive and easy to use t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
VPB-63
VPB-63 was a Patrol Bombing Squadron of the U.S. Navy. The squadron was established as Patrol Squadron 63 (VP-63) on 19 September 1942, redesignated as Patrol Bombing Squadron 63 (VPB-63) on 1 October 1944 and disestablished on 2 July 1945. Operational history *19 September 1942: VP-63 was established at NAS Alameda, California, under the operational control of PatWing-8, as a seaplane squadron flying the Consolidated PBY Catalina, PBY-5A Catalina. The squadron was originally intended to be used in the South Pacific as a Black Cat squadron operating out of Guadalcanal, but shortly after its establishment a decision was made to use it as a test bed for two new technological innovations - Magnetic anomaly detector (MAD) equipment and retro-firing rockets. The MAD gear was designed to detect the presence of a submarine underwater, while the 12 (later 15) retro-firing rockets overcame the tendency of air-dropped depth charges to overshoot the target by canceling out the bomb's forward ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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