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ORP Błyskawica
ORP ''Błyskawica'' (Lightning) is a which served in the Polish Navy during World War II. It is the only Polish Navy ship to have been decorated with the ''Virtuti Militari'', Poland's highest military order for gallantry, and in 2012 was given the Pro Memoria Medal. ''Błyskawica'' is preserved as a museum ship in Gdynia and is the oldest preserved destroyer in the world. ''Błyskawica'' is moored next to the ''Dar Pomorza''. She was the second of two ''Grom'' (Thunderbolt)-class destroyers built for the Polish Navy by J. Samuel White, of Cowes, in 1935–37. The ''Grom'' class were two of the most heavily armed and fastest destroyers in World War II. Construction and design In 1934 the British shipbuilder J. Samuel White won a competition to design and build large destroyers for the Polish Navy, beating a proposal from fellow British shipbuilder Swan Hunter. (A design by the French shipyard Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire had been rejected in 1933).Friedman 2009, p. 35. ...
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World War II
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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II was a total war that directly involved more than 100 million Military personnel, 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. Air warfare of World War II, Aircraft played a major role in the conflict, enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and deploying the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, only two nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II was by far the List of wars by death toll, deadliest conflict in hu ...
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Three-drum Boiler
Three-drum boilers are a class of water-tube boiler used to generate steam, typically to power ships. They are compact and of high evaporative power, factors that encourage this use. Other boiler designs may be more efficient, although bulkier, and so the three-drum pattern was rare as a land-based stationary boiler. The fundamental characteristic of the "three-drum" design is the arrangement of a steam drum above two water drums, in a triangular layout. Water tubes fill in the two sides of this triangle between the drums, and the furnace is in the centre. The whole assembly is then enclosed in a casing, leading to the exhaust flue. Firing can be by either coal or oil. Many coal-fired boilers used multiple firedoors and teams of stokers, often from both ends. Development Development of the three-drum boiler began in the late 19th century, with the demand from naval ships that required high power and a compact boiler. The move to water-tube boilers had already begun, wit ...
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Displacement (ship)
The displacement or displacement tonnage of a ship is its weight. As the term indicates, it is measured indirectly, using Archimedes' principle, by first calculating the volume of water displaced by the ship, then converting that value into weight. Traditionally, various measurement rules have been in use, giving various measures in long tons. Today, tonnes are more commonly used. Ship displacement varies by a vessel's degree of load, from its empty weight as designed (known as "lightweight tonnage") to its maximum load. Numerous specific terms are used to describe varying levels of load and trim, detailed below. Ship displacement should not be confused with measurements of volume or capacity typically used for commercial vessels and measured by tonnage: net tonnage and gross tonnage. Calculation The process of determining a vessel's displacement begins with measuring its draft.George, 2005. p.5. This is accomplished by means of its "draft marks" (or "load lines"). A ...
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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 a ...
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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 In watercraft, a racing shell (also referred to as just a ''fine boat'' (UK) or just ' ...
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Length Between Perpendiculars
Length between perpendiculars (often abbreviated as p/p, p.p., pp, LPP, LBP or Length BPP) is the length of a ship along the summer load line from the forward surface of the stem, or main bow perpendicular member, to the after surface of the sternpost A sternpost is the upright structural member or post at the stern of a (generally wooden) ship or a boat, to which are attached the transoms and the rearmost left corner part of the stern. The sternpost may either be completely vertical or m ..., or main stern perpendicular member. When there is no sternpost, the centerline axis of the rudder stock is used as the aft end of the length between perpendiculars. Measuring to the stern post or rudder stock was believed to give a reasonable idea of the ship's carrying capacity, as it excluded the small, often unusable volume contained in her overhanging ends. On some types of vessels this is, for all practical purposes, a waterline measurement. In a ship with raked stems, natural ...
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Length Overall
__NOTOC__ Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, and is also used for calculating the cost of a marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships o ... berth (for example, £2.50 per metre LOA). LOA is usually measured on the hull alone. For sailing ships, this may ''exclude'' the bowsprit and other fittings added to the hull. This is how some racing boats and tall ships use the term LOA. However, other sources may include bowsprits in LOA. Confusingly, LOA has different meanings. "Sparred length", "Total length including bowsprit", "Mooring length" and "LOA including bowsprit" are oth ...
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Józef Piłsudski
Józef Klemens Piłsudski (; 5 December 1867 – 12 May 1935) was a Polish statesman who served as the Naczelnik państwa, Chief of State (1918–1922) and Marshal of Poland, First Marshal of Second Polish Republic, Poland (from 1920). He was considered the ''de facto'' leader (1926–35) of the Second Polish Republic as the Ministry of National Defence (Poland), Minister of Military Affairs. After World War I, he held increasing dominance in Politics of Poland, Polish politics and was an active player in international diplomacy. He is viewed as a father of the Second Polish Republic re-established in 1918, 123 years after the final Partitions of Poland, Partition of Poland in 1795. Seeing himself as a descendant of the culture and traditions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Piłsudski believed in a multi-ethnic Poland—"a home of nations" including indigenous ethnic and religious minorities. Early in his political career, Piłsudski became a leader of the Polish Socia ...
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Danzig Crisis (1932)
The Danzig crisis of 1932 was an incident between the Free City of Danzig (modern Gdańsk, Poland) and Poland concerning whether the Polish government had the right to station warships in Danzig harbour, together with Poland's claim to represent Danzig with foreign powers. The incident was sparked on 14 June 1932 when a squadron of British destroyers visited Danzig and was greeted by the Polish destroyer ''Wicher '' which had entered Danzig harbour without the permission of the Senate of the Free City. The incident led to the Danzig authorities reluctantly ceding the right of Poland to station its warships in Danzig, the renewal of the agreement governing Polish rights in the Free City and within Poland a shift towards navalism. Background The American president Woodrow Wilson had issued a set of war aims known as the 14 Points on 8 January 1918. Point 13 called for Polish independence to be restored after the war and for Poland to have "free and secure access to the sea", a statem ...
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Ateliers Et Chantiers De La Loire
Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire (ACL) was a French shipbuilding company of the late 19th and early 20th century. The name translates roughly to English as "Workshops and Shipyard of the Loire". Early years In the eighteenth century Nantes had been the biggest French port, and the Loire had a major shipbuilding industry. A prime example was Dubigeon established in 1760. In the nineteenth century Nantes was surpassed by Le Havre and Marseille. In the first half of the nineteenth century a port was developed at Saint-Nazaire for ships that could no longer reach Nantes. In the second half of the nineteenth century industrialization got under way in Nantes and Saint-Nazaire. In 1861 a Scottish engineer founded the Chantiers de Penhoët at Saint-Nazaire. Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire (ACL) was formed in 1881 in Nantes by Jollet Babin to take advantage of the expansion of the French Navy. The shipyard was built at Prairie du Lac, near the Dubigeon yard, and the following yea ...
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Swan Hunter
Swan Hunter, formerly known as Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson, is a shipbuilding design, engineering, and management company, based in Wallsend, Tyne and Wear, England. At its apex, the company represented the combined forces of three powerful shipbuilding families: Swan, Hunter and Wigham Richardson. The company was responsible for some of the greatest ships of the early 20th century, most famously which held the Blue Riband for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic, and which rescued survivors from . In 2006 ''Swan Hunter'' ceased vessel construction on Tyneside, but continues to provide design engineering services. History Swan & Hunter was founded by George Burton Hunter, who formed a partnership with the widow of Charles Sheridan Swan (the owner of a Wallsend Shipbuilding business established in 1852 by Charles Mitchell) under the name in 1880. In 1903, C.S. Swan & Hunter merged with Wigham Richardson (founded by John Wigham Richardson as Neptune Works in 1860 ...
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