|
USS Belknap (DD-251)
USS ''Belknap'' (DD-251/AVD-8/DD-251/APD-34) was a in the United States Navy during World War II. She was named for Rear Admiral George Belknap. History ''Belknap'' was launched 14 January 1919 by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation; sponsored by Miss Frances Georgiana Belknap, granddaughter of Admiral Belknap; and commissioned 28 April 1919. Following her shakedown cruise, ''Belknap'' joined US naval forces in the eastern Mediterranean. After several months she returned to the United States and served with Division 28, Atlantic Fleet, until placed in reserve at Charleston Navy Yard in 1920. She was decommissioned 28 June 1922 at Philadelphia Navy Yard and remained there until 1940. World War II During 1940 ''Belknap'' was converted into a seaplane tender (reclassified AVD-8, 2 August 1940) and recommissioned 22 November 1940. She was assigned to Patrol Wing 5 at Hamilton, Bermuda, and remained there until early 1941 when she returned to Newport, Rhode Island. Between May an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Belknap
George Eugene Belknap (January 22, 1832 – 7 April 1903) was a rear admiral in the United States Navy. USS ''Belknap'' (DD-251) was named for him. Naval career Born in Newport, New Hampshire, Belknap was appointed a Midshipman in 1847. He commanded the monitor during the attacks on Battle of Fort Fisher, and the sloop-of-war during the Formosa Expedition of 1867. He was the senior officer present during the riots following David Kalākaua's election as the King of Hawaii in 1874. Belknap commanded the United States Naval Observatory from 1885 to 1886 and the Mare Island Naval Shipyard from 1886 to 1890. Belknap was appointed as a rear admiral on 12 February 1889. He served as the Commander of the Asiatic Squadron from 4 April 1889 to 20 February 1892. He retired from the Navy on 22 January 1894. In August 1902, Belknap and his wife visited the United Kingdom, including Devonport as guests of Rear Admiral William Hannam Henderson, the Admiral Superintendent of the dockyard ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its surrounding areas) is home to over 65% of the population. Iceland is the biggest part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge that rises above sea level, and its central volcanic plateau is erupting almost constantly. The interior consists of a plateau characterised by sand and lava fields, mountains, and glaciers, and many glacial rivers flow to the sea through the lowlands. Iceland is warmed by the Gulf Stream and has a temperate climate, despite a high latitude just outside the Arctic Circle. Its high latitude and marine influence keep summers chilly, and most of its islands have a polar climate. According to the ancient manuscript , the settlement of Iceland began in 874 AD when the Norwegian chieftain Ingólfr Arnarson became the first p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Star
A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five-pointed star inch (4.8 mm) in diameter that is authorized to be worn by members of the eight uniformed services of the United States on medals and ribbons to denote an additional award or service period. The service star may also be referred to as a campaign star or battle star depending on which award the star is authorized for and the manner in which the device is used for the award. Service stars, campaign stars, and battle stars are worn with one point of the star pointing up on the suspension ribbon of a medal or service ribbon. A silver star is worn instead of five bronze stars. A service star is sometimes mistaken for a Bronze Star (Bronze Star Medal) or Silver Star (Silver Star Medal). The service star is also similar to the gold and silver -inch stars that may be authorized to be worn on specific individual decorations of certain services to denote additional decorations. Service stars Expeditionary medals Servic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Admiralty Islands
The Admiralty Islands are an archipelago group of 18 islands in the Bismarck Archipelago, to the north of New Guinea in the South Pacific Ocean. These are also sometimes called the Manus Islands, after the largest island. These rainforest-covered islands form part of Manus Province, the smallest and least-populous province of Papua New Guinea, in its Islands Region. The total area is . Many of the Admiralty Islands are atolls and uninhabited. Islands The larger islands in the center of the group are Manus Island and Los Negros Island. The other larger islands are Tong Island, Pak Island, Rambutyo Island, Lou Island, and Baluan Island to the east, Mbuke Island to the south and Bipi Island to the west of Manus Island. Other islands that have been noted as significant places in the history of Manus include Ndrova Island, Pitylu Island and Ponam Island. Geography The temperature of the Admiralty Islands varies little throughout the year, reaching daily highs of and at night. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manus Island
Manus Island is part of Manus Province in northern Papua New Guinea and is the largest of the Admiralty Islands. It is the fifth-largest island in Papua New Guinea, with an area of , measuring around . Manus Island is covered in rugged jungles which can be broadly described as lowland tropical rain forest. The highest point on Manus Island is Mt. Dremsel, above sea level at the centre of the south coast. Manus Island is volcanic in origin and probably broke through the ocean's surface in the late Miocene, 8 to 10 million years ago. The substrate of the island is either directly volcanic or from uplifted coral limestone. Lorengau, the capital of Manus Province, is located on the island. Momote Airport, the terminal for Manus Province, is located on nearby Los Negros Island. A bridge connects Los Negros Island to Manus Island and the provincial capital of Lorengau. In the 2000 census, the whole Manus Province had a population of 50,321. The Austronesian Manus languages are sp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Missing In Action
Missing in action (MIA) is a casualty classification assigned to combatants, military chaplains, combat medics, and prisoners of war who are reported missing during wartime or ceasefire. They may have been killed, wounded, captured, executed, or deserted. If deceased, neither their remains nor grave have been positively identified. Becoming MIA has been an occupational risk for as long as there has been warfare. Problems and solutions Until around 1912, service personnel in most countries were not routinely issued with ID tags. As a result, if someone was killed in action and their body was not recovered until much later, there was often little or no chance of identifying the remains unless the person in question was carrying items that would identify them, or had marked their clothing or possessions with identifying information. Starting around the time of the First World War, nations began to issue their service personnel with purpose-made identification tags. Thes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Underwater Demolition Team
Underwater Demolition Teams (UDT), or frogmen, were amphibious units created by the United States Navy during World War II with specialized non-tactical missions. They were predecessors of the navy's current SEAL teams. Their primary WWII function began with reconnaissance and underwater demolition of natural or man-made obstacles obstructing amphibious landings. Postwar they transitioned to scuba gear changing their capabilities. With that they came to be considered more elite and tactical during the Korean and Vietnam Wars. UDTs were pioneers in underwater demolition, Rebreather, closed-circuit diving, combat swimming, and midget submarine (dry and Wet sub, wet submersible) operations. They later were tasked with ensuring recovery of space capsules and astronauts after splash down in the Mercury program, Mercury, Gemini program, Gemini and Apollo program, Apollo space flight programs. Commando training was added making them the forerunner to the United States Navy SEAL progra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kamikaze
, officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending to destroy warships more effectively than with conventional air attacks. About 3,800 ''kamikaze'' pilots died during the war, and more than 7,000 naval personnel were killed by ''kamikaze'' attacks. ''Kamikaze'' aircraft were essentially pilot-guided explosive missiles, purpose-built or converted from conventional aircraft. Pilots would attempt to crash their aircraft into enemy ships in what was called a "body attack" (''tai-atari'') in aircraft loaded with bombs, torpedoes and or other explosives. About 19% of ''kamikaze'' attacks were successful. The Japanese considered the goal of damaging or sinking large numbers of Allied ships to be a just reason for suicide attacks; ''kamikaze'' was more accurate than conventional attacks and often cau ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Luzon
Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as well as Quezon City, the country's most populous city. With a population of 64 million , it contains 52.5% of the country's total population and is the fourth most populous island in the world. It is the 15th largest island in the world by land area. ''Luzon'' may also refer to one of the three primary island groups in the country. In this usage, it includes the Luzon mainland, the Batanes and Babuyan groups of islands to the north, Polillo Islands to the east, and the outlying islands of Catanduanes, Marinduque and Mindoro, among others, to the south. The islands of Masbate, Palawan and Romblon are also included, although these three are sometimes grouped with another of the island groups, the Visayas. Etymology The name ''Luz ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lingayen Gulf
The Lingayen Gulf is a large gulf on northwestern Luzon in the Philippines, stretching . It is framed by the provinces of Pangasinan and La Union and sits between the Zambales Mountains and the Cordillera Central. The Agno River and the Balili River drain into Lingayen Gulf. Geography The gulf has numerous islands, the most famous of which are in the Hundred Islands National Park. This tourist attraction features 123 islands, the majority of which are small in size. The largest island is Cabarruyan Island, which constitutes the municipality of Anda, Pangasinan, followed by Santiago Island at the mouth of the Gulf. The shore from Labrador to San Fabian is characterized by a long grey-sand beach. Other well-known beaches are at Bonuan-Tondaligan, Bolinao and San Fernando City. The waters of Lingayen Gulf are murky due to its sandy bottom. Coral reefs were all but destroyed by dynamite fishing, although efforts are made to restore some, especially inside the Hundred Islands ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Leyte
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force commitment. An engagement with only limited commitment between the forces and without decisive results is sometimes called a skirmish. The word "battle" can also be used infrequently to refer to an entire operational campaign, although this usage greatly diverges from its conventional or customary meaning. Generally, the word "battle" is used for such campaigns if referring to a protracted combat encounter in which either one or both of the combatants had the same methods, resources, and strategic objectives throughout the encounter. Some prominent examples of this would be the Battle of the Atlantic, Battle of Britain, and Battle of Stalingrad, all in World War II. Wars and military campaigns are guided by military strategy, wherea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
