User:Mdnavman/sandbox

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History
Spain
Name	Vencedora
Namesake	Victoriou
Builder	Arsenal de Cartagana, Cartagena, Spain
Cost	1,212,764.44 pesetas
Laid down	1859
Launched	1861
Commissioned	1862
Decommissioned	1888
General characteristics
Type	Screw corvette
Displacement	778 tonnes (766 long tons)
Length	58 m (190 ft 3 in)
Installed power	160 hp (119 kW) (nominal)
Propulsion	Mixed sail and steam One steam engine, one shaft
Sail plan	Schooner rig
Speed	8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph)
Complement	98 to 130
Armament	2 × 200 mm (7.9 in) 68-pounder smoothbore guns 1 × 160 mm (6.3 in) 32-pounder smoothbore gun

Vencedora (English: Victorious) was a screw corvette of the Spanish Navy in commissioned from 1862 to 1888. She participated in the Chincha Islands War of 1865–1866, and in the Spanish-Moro conflict in the Philippines in the 1870s and 1880s.

Charcateristics

Vencedora was a Narváez-class screw corvette with a wooden hull and a schooner rig, and because of the latter she is listed in some sources as a schooner. She had three masts and a bowsprit. She displaced 778 tons. She was 58 metres (190 ft 3 in) long. She had a La Maquinista Terrestre y Marítima steam engine manufactured in Barcelona, Spain, that was rated at a nominal 160 horsepower (119 kW) and could reach a maximum speed of 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph). Her armament consisted of two 68-pounder (31 kg) 200-millimetre (7.9 in) smoothbore guns amidships and a 32-pounder (14.5 kg) 160-millimetre (6.3 in) smoothbore swivel gun on her bow. She had a crew of 98 to 130 men.

Construction and commissioning

Vencedora was laid down at the Arsenal de Cartagena in Cartagena, Spain, in 1859 as a wooden-hulled screw frigate with mixed sail and steam propulsion. She was launched in 1861, and after fitting out was commissioned in 1862. Her total construction cost was 1,212,764.44 pesetas.

Service history

Early service

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Méndez and the second or maternal family name is Núñez.

Casto Méndez Núñez
Born	(1824-07-01)July 1, 1824 Vigo, Spain
Died	August 21, 1869(1869-08-21) (aged 45) Pontevedra, Spain
Buried	Panteón de Marinos Ilustres, Cádiz, Spain 36°28′47″N 006°11′37″W
Allegiance	Kingdom of Spain
Service / branch	Spanish Navy
Years of service	1840–1869
Rank	Cantralmirante (Counter admiral)
Commands	Schooner Cruz Gunboat Narvaez Screw corvette Narvaez Naval division, southern Philippines Gunboat Isabel II Screw frigate Princesa de Asturias Armoured frigate Numancia Pacific Squadron
Battles / wars	First Italian War of Independence Spanish-Moro Conflict Dominican Restoration War Chincha Islands War Bombardment of Valparaíso Battle of Callao
Alma mater	Nautical School, Vigo, Spain

Casto Secundino María Méndez Núñez (1 July 1824 – 21 August 1869) was a Spanish Navy officer. He served in the First Italian War of Independence in Italy in 1849, the Spanish-Moro Conflict in the Philippines in 1861, and the Dominican Restoration War in the Caribbean in 1863–1864. He achieved international renown for his command of the Spanish Navy's Pacific Squadron during the Chincha Islands War in 1865–1866, becoming one of the major Spanish naval figures of the nineteenth century.

Biography

Early life

Méndez Núñez was from Vigo, Spain, where he was born on 1 July 1824. His father was a postal worker. He completed his training at the Nautical School in Vigo. then went to Cádiz to take the naval entrance exams, which he passed. He was granted the right to wear the uniform of a guardiamarina (midshipman) on 1 February 1839.

Naval career

1840–1857

Méndez Núñez and he took up his post as a Spanish Navy midshipman on 24 March 1840 and remained at Cádiz until 4 September 1840, then reported aboard the 14-gun brig Nervión at Pasajes on 5 November 1840. In 1842 he made a voyage to Fernando Po off the coast ofAfrica and distinguished himself so much by his superior performance that his eligibiity for promotion was accelerated by a year. Operating along the coast of North Africa, he was promoted to guardiamarina de 1º (first midshipman) and reported aboard the paddle gunboat Isabel II. In April 1846 he was commissioned as an officer after passing another exam, and on 11&nbspJuly 1846 following he was promoted to the rank of alférez de navío (ship-of-the-line ensign), the lower of the Spanish Navy's two ensign ranks.

Méndez Núñez reported to the new 12-gun brig Volador on 31 July 1846 and was named officer in command of the four midshipmen aboard. Volador departed Cádiz on 10 October 1846 to deliver documents to Montevideo, Uruguay. In March 1848 Volador headed for Rio de Janeiro and in June 1848 departed Rio de Janiero bound for Cádiz, which she reached on 1 August 1848. On 7 January 1849 she put to sea from Barcelona to transport Spanish Army troops to Italy as part of an expedition to protect the Papal States during the First Italian War of Independence. Once the threat to the Papal States had abated, the expedition got back underway on 4 May 1849, participated in the capture of Terracina, then carried out maneuvers as a show of force at Naples, Gaeta, and Porto D'Auro which helped bring the war to an end. On 18 May Méndez Núñez disembarked at Gaeta and on 29 May members of the Spanish expedition were reviewed by Pope Pius IX, showing him enemy flags they had captured, and he blessed the Spaniards and gave them thanks by Royal Order. Pius IX]] made Méndez Núñez and the other officers of the expedition the Commanders of the Cross of the Order of St. Gregory the Great. Volador subsequently returned to Spain at Cádiz.

Voladar arrived at Málaga in early 1850 and became part of the Training Squadron, subsequently cruising between Cape Rosas and Málaga. By a Royal Order of 19  November 1950, Méndez Núñez received a promotion to teniente de navío (ship-of-the-line lieutenant. He became commanding officer of the seven-gun schooner Cruz on 14 April 1851. Under his command, Cruz patrolled the southern coast of Spain to prevent the smuggling of arms into the country. Although Cruz was in need of repairs and scheduled for drydocking, Méndez Núñez received orders to carry documents to Havana in the Captaincy General of Cuba, and got underway from Cádiz on 8 February 1852. Méndez Núñez displayed great seamanship in command during what turned out to be a risky and exhausting voyage, and Cruz avoided serious damage.

In 1853, Méndez Núñez took command of the two-gun paddle gunboat Narváez, which still was under construction at the Reales Astilleros de Esteiro at Ferrol. He received orders in January for Narvaez to proceed to Cádiz in January, but after she put to sea he found that she was unseaworthy due to her poor overall condition, including much rotten wood in her hull, forcing him to return to Ferrol, where Narvaez was scrapped. He subsequently saw service with the Spanish coast guard. Shore duty at the Ministry of the Navy followed, during which he translated into Spanish the 1820 book A Treatise on Naval Gunnery by the British Army officer Howard Douglas. His translation was published in 1857.

Philippines, 1858–1862

In 1858 Méndez Núñez became the commanding officer of another warship named Narváez, this one a screw corvette which, like the previous Narvaez, was under construction when he took command, also at the Reales Astilleros de Esteiro at Ferrol, and used the same steam engine that had been installed on the previous Narvaez. Narvaez was commissioned on 20 November 1858. She departed Cádiz on 10 February 1859, rounded the Cape of Good Hope, and headed for the Philippines in the Spanish East Indies, stopping along the coast of Luzon on 21 June before arriving at Manila on 26 June 1859, completing the passage in four months and eleven days. On the Philippines station, Méndez Núñez took command of the paddle gunboat Jorge Juan, which off Basilan on 21 August 1860 sank five armed boats manned by Moro pirates from Jolo that were headed to the Visayas, took the survivors prisoner, and handed them over to Spanish authorities at Cavite.

Méndez Núñez was promoted to capitán de fragata (frigate captain) on 3 May 1861 and given command of both the schooner Constancia and the Spanish naval division in the southern Philippine Islands. He raised his flag aboard Constancia. His first operation after his promotion was against the Sultanate of Buayan, which was in rebellion against Spain. The Sultan was based alongside the Rio Grande de Mindanao at Pagalungan on the southwestern coast of Mindanao in a well-garrisoned and well-equipped fort surrounded by a wall 7 metres (23 ft) high and 6 metres (20 ft) thick, surrounded by a 15-metre (49 ft) wide moat, and armed with short-range guns. Arriving on the scene with his entire division — Constancia, the schooner Valiente, and the gunboats Arayat, Luzón, and Toal — Méndez Núñez disembarked a Spanish Army force to attack the fort on 16 November 1861, but the men sank up to their knees in the marshy ground around the fort, making an assault likely to result in high casualties, and he withdrew them. At dawn on 17 November he launched a second attack, with the landing force supported by gunfire from Arayat and Pampanga, and the Spanish troops reached firmer ground, albeit at a greater distance from the fort, and managed emplace several artillery pieces ashore. When that attack stalled, Méndez Núñez ordered small boats to reconnoitre the fort under enemy fire, then, having chosen a point of attack, maneuvered Constancia alongside the fort and sent an assault force into the fort as if boarding a ship. The disembarked landing force renewed its attack at the same time, and two hours later the fort fell to the Spaniards withheavy casualties among its Moro defenders. For this feat of arms, Méndez Núñez was promoted to capitán de navío (ship-of-the-line captain) in January 1862 and recalled to Spain. He arrived at Cádiz on 2 July 1862.

Caribbean, 1862–1864

In October 1862, Méndez Núñez was ordered to command of the paddle gunboat Isabel II, on which he had once served, and he took command of her on 1 November 1862. She dgot underway on 14 November and arrived at Havana on 8 December 1862. From January to March 1863 Isabel II carried out patrols along the coast of Cuba to interdict the flow of arms and other contraband onto the island. During political unrest in Venezuela, he left Havana on 23 May 1863 bound for Puerto Cabello and La Guaira. Upon arriving at Puerto Cabello, local authorities informed him that the port was blockaded, but Méndez Núñez took the position that no recognized government existed in Venezuela, and on that basis ignored the local authorities and entered the harbor, where Isabel II landed a [[Spanish Marine Infantry] force which protected all foreign diplomatic representatives, citizens, and property. He personally negotiated an agreement under which no one opened fire. On 29 June 1863, he departed La Guaira to transport the chargé d'affaires of the United Kingdom and Spain and Venezuelan General José Antonio Páez to Puerto Cabello to sign the agreement, which took effect a few days later. For engaging in diplomacy that prevented bloodshed and defused the crisis in Venezuela, he received the thanks of the Commander General of of Havana and the Government of Spain.

After departing Venezuela, Méndez Núñez stopped at San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Santo Domingo, before arriving at Santiago de Cuba on the southeastern coast of Cuba, where Isabel II took on coal and dropped off a schooner captured in Santo Domingo. Receiving word that the Dominican Restoration War had broken out on Santo Domingo, he brought 650 Spanish Army troops, a battery of horse artillery, mules, and 19 horses, and put to sea. Isabel II arrived at Puerto Plata on the moonless evening of 27 August 1863, where a maritime pilot informed him that 200 Spaniards were holding out in a fort under siege by 2,000 rebels who planned to attack at dawn. Isabel II picked her way through uncharted shallows, anchored at 22:00, and completed disembarkation of the troops at 01:30 on 28 August. The Spaniards attacked the rebels at 02:00, taking them completely by surprise and quickly scattering them, relieving the fort.

On 1 January 1864, Méndez Núñez returned to Havana, where Isabel II was scheduled to undergo an overhaul. Leaving Isabel II, he took command of the screw frigate Princesa de Asturias on 22 January 1864and returned to action off Santo Domingo aboard her, establishing a blockade of Manzanillo and Monte Chisti. He returned to Havana on 9 August 1864.

For other ships with the same name, see Spanish ship Méndez Núñez.

Mendez Nuñez at anchor
History
Spain
Name	Méndez Núñez
Namesake	Admiral Casto Méndez Núñez
Builder	Reales Astilleros de Esteiro, Ferrol, Spain
Laid down	22 September 1859 as frigate Resolución
Launched	19 September 1861
Completed	28 August 1862
Recommissioned	February 1870
Renamed	Méndez Núñez, 21 August 1870
Refit	1867–1870
Stricken	1886
Fate	Scrapped, 1896
General characteristics (as reconstructed)
Type	Central-battery ironclad
Displacement	3,382 long tons (3,436 t)
Length	236 ft 2 in (71.98 m)
Beam	49 ft 3 in (15.01 m)
Draft	21 ft 11 in (6.7 m)
Installed power	4 boilers 2,250 ihp (1,680 kW)
Propulsion	1 shaft, compound-expansion steam engine
Sail plan	Ship rig
Speed	about 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph)
Complement	417
Armament	4 × 9 in (229 mm) rifled muzzle-loaders 2 × 8 in (203 mm) RML guns
Armor	Belt: 127 mm (5 in) Battery: 127 mm (5 in)

The Spanish ironclad Méndez Núñez was a wooden-hulled armored corvette converted from the 38-gun, steam-powered frigate Resolución during the 1860s after the ship was badly damaged during the Chincha Islands War of 1864–1866. She was captured by rebels during the Cantonal Revolution in 1873 and participated in the Battle of Portmán that year before she was returned to government control after Cartagena surrendered in early 1874. The ship was stricken from the Navy List in 1886 and broken up ten years later.

Resolución

Characteristics

Resolución was a Lealtad-class screw frigate with a wooden hull. She had three masts and a bowsprit. She displaced 3,200 tons. She was 70 metres (229 ft 8 in) long, 14 metres (45 ft 11 in) in beam, 7.33 metres (24 ft 1 in) in depth, and 6.16 metres (20 ft 3 in) in draft. She had a John Penn and Sons steam engine rated at a nominal 500 horsepower (373 kW) that generated 1,900 indicated horsepower (1,417 kW), giving her a speed of 11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph). She could carry up to 350 tons of coal. Her armament consisted of fifteen 68-pounder (31 kg) 200-millimetre (7.9 in) smoothbore guns and twenty-six 32-pounder (14.5 kg) 160-millimetre (6.3 in) guns as well as two 150-millimetre (5.9 in) howitzers for disembarkation and use in her boats. She had a crew of 500 men.

Construction and commissioning

Resolución′s construction was authorized on 14 September 1859. Her keel was laid at the Reales Astilleros de Esteiro in Ferrol, Spain, on 22 September 1859. She was launched on 19 September 1861 and commissioned on 28 April 1862. Her construction cost was 3,661,741 pesetas.

Service history

Resolución′s first assignment was to the Training Squadron, which was under the overall command of Contralmirante (Counter Admiral) Luis Hernández-Pinzón Álvarez. The squadron was dissolved in June 1862, and Resolución and her sister ship Nuestra Señora del Triunfo were assigned to the Pacific Squadron. The two screw frigates entered the Arsenal de La Carraca at San Fernando to fit out for their deployment to the southeastern Pacific Ocean.

Resolución and Nuestra Señora del Triunfo departed Cádiz on 10 August 1862. Under the command of Pinzón, who flew his flag aboard Resolución, the two ships had both the political-military task of demonstrating a Spanish presence in the Americas and a scientific research mission and had three zoologists, a geologist, a botanist, an anthropologist, a taxidermist, and a photographer aboard. The two screw frigates stopped at the Canary Islands and Cape Verde and then crossed the Atlantic Ocean to Brazil before arriving at the Río de la Plata (River Plate), where they rendezvoused with the screw corvette Vencedora.

The screw schooner Virgen de Covadonga soon joined the expedition at the Río de la Plata as well. The four ships got underway from Montevideo on 10 January 1863 and proceeded down the coast of Patagonia, passed the Falkland Islands, rounded Cape Horn on 6 February 1863, and entered the Pacific Ocean. They then stopped at the Chiloé Archipelago off the coast of Chile before continuing their voyage up the coasts of South America and North America, stopping at several ports before calling at San Francisco, California, in the United States from 9 October to 1 November 1863. They then headed southward and arrived at Valparaíso, Chile, on 13 January 1864.

At the time, Spain still had not yet recognized the independence of Chile and Peru from the Spanish Empire, and the presence of the Spanish warships on the Pacific coast of South America — especially in the aftermath of Spain's annexation of the First Dominican Republic in 1861 and Spanish involvement in a mulitnational intervention Mexico in 1861–1862 — raised suspicions n South America as to the intentions of the Spanish government. In retaliation for various hostile actions against Spanish citizens and property in Peru, Pinzón's squadron seized the Chincha Islands from Peru on 14 April 1864 without authorization from the Spanish government, taking several Peruvians prisoner. With tensions spiking between Spain and Peru, and Resolución and Nuestra Señora del Triunfo covered an operation in which many of the Spaniards in Peru embarked on the steamer Heredia at Callao and Virgen de Covadonga towed Heredia out of the harbor under the guns of Peruvian Navy warships that were ready to open fire. Spain and Peru avoided war, but Pinzón resigned his command on 9 November 1864 because he felt that the Spanish government had not supported his actions, and Vicealmirante (Vice Admiral) José Manuel Pareja took charge of the Pacific Squadron.

An accidental fire destroyed Nuestra Señora del Triunfo on 25 November 1864, but Pareja's squadron received reinforcements on 30 December 1864 when the screw frigates Berenguela, Reina Blanca, and Villa de Madrid joined it. Tensions with Peru remained high, and a member of Resolución′s crew was killed while on leave at Callao. Pareja attempted to settle affairs with Peru by signing the Vivanco–Pareja Treaty with a Peruvian government representative aboard Villa de Madrid (Pareja's flagship), but the Peruvian Congress viewed it as a humiliation and refused to ratify it, and the failed treaty instead sparked the outbreak of the Peruvian Civil War of 1865 in February 1865.

The ship played a major role in the Chincha Islands War. Resolución participated in various military operations such as the blockade of the Chilean coast (Action of 17 November 1865), the Bombardment of Valparaíso and the Battle of Callao.

Méndez Núñez

Characteristics

Méndez Núñez was 236 feet 3 inches (72.0 m) long at the waterline, had a beam of 49 feet 4 inches (15.0 m) and a mean draft of 21 feet 11 inches (6.7 m). The ship displaced 3,382 long tons (3,436 t). She had a single compound-expansion steam engine that drove her propeller using steam provided by four boilers. The engine was designed to produce a total of 2,250 indicated horsepower (1,680 kW) which gave the ship a speed of 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph). For long-distance travel, Méndez Núñez was fitted with three masts and ship rigged. She carried 400 long tons (410 t) of coal.

The ship was armed with four Armstrong 9-inch (229 mm) and two 8-inch (203 mm) rifled muzzle-loading guns. The ship was a central-battery ironclad with the armament concentrated amidships. Her wrought-iron armor covered most of the ship's hull and was five inches (127 mm) thick.

Service history

For other ships with the same name, see Spanish ship Lealtad.

History
Name	Lealtad
Namesake	Loyalty
Ordered	19 September 1859 {authorized)
Builder	Reales Astilleros de Esteiro, Ferrol, Spain
Cost	3,518,068 pesetas
Laid down	1860
Launched	15 October 1860
Commissioned	6 September 1861
Decommissioned	1893
Fate	Sold for scrapping 1897
General characteristics
Type	Screw frigate
Displacement	3,200 t (3,100 long tons)
Length	70 m (229 ft 8 in)
Beam	14 m (45 ft 11 in)
Draft	6.16 m (20 ft 3 in)
Depth	7.33 m (24 ft 1 in)
Installed power	500 hp (373 kW) (nominal)
Propulsion	One John Penn and Sons steam engine, one shaft; 500 tons coal
Speed	9.5 to 11 knots (17.6 to 20.4 km/h; 10.9 to 12.7 mph)
Complement	500
Armament	As built: 14 x 68-pounder (31 kg) 200 mm (7.9 in) smoothbore guns 26 x 32-pounder (14.5 kg) 160 mm (6.3 in) rifled guns 4 x smaller bronze guns 1870: 21 x 68-pounder (31 kg) 200 mm (7.9 in) smoothbore guns 6 x 32-pounder (14.5 kg) 160 mm (6.3 in) rifled guns

Lealtad (Loyalty) was the lead ship of the Spanish Navy′s Lealtad-class of screw frigates. Commissioned in 1861, she operated in the Caribbean during the Chincha Islands War of 1865–1866 and in Cuba during the Ten Years' War of 1868–1878. She was disarmed in 1883 and served thereafter as a training ship. She was decommissioned in 1893 and sold for scrapping in 1897.

Characteristics

Lealtad was a Lealtad-class frigate screw frigate with a wooden hull. She had three masts and a bowsprit. She displaced 3,200 tons. She was 70 metres (229 ft 8 in) long, 14 metres (45 ft 11 in) in beam, 7.33 metres (24 ft 1 in) in depth, and 6.16 metres (20 ft 3 in) in draft. She had a John Penn and Sons steam engine rated at a nominal 500 horsepower (373 kW) that generated 1,900 indicated horsepower (1,417 kW), giving her a speed of 9.5 to 11 knots (17.6 to 20.4 km/h; 10.9 to 12.7 mph). She could carry up to 550 tons of coal. Sources disagree on her armament, one claiming it consisted of fourteen 68-pounder (31 kg) 200-millimetre (7.9 in) smoothbore guns and twenty-six 32-pounder (14.5 kg) 160-millimetre (6.3 in) guns as well as four smaller bronze guns for disembarkation and use in her boats, while another asserts that she was armed with one 220-millimetre (8.7 in) swivel gun on her bow, twenty 68-pounder (31 kg) 200-millimetre (7.9 in) smoothbore guns, fourteen 32-pounder (14.5 kg) 160-millimetre (6.3 in) guns, and six guns — two 150-millimetre (5.9 in) howitzers, two 120-millimetre (4.7 in) rifled guns, and two short 80-millimetre (3.1 in) rifled guns — for use in her boats. She had a crew of 480 or 500 men, according to different sources.

Construction and commissioning

Lealtad′s construction was authorized on 14 September 1859. Her keel was laid at the Reales Astilleros de Esteiro in Ferrol, Spain, in 1860. She was launched on 15 October 1860 and commissioned on 6 September 1861. Her construction cost was 3,518,068 pesetas.

Service history

After commissioning, Lealtad deployed to the Caribbean with her base at Havana in the Captaincy General of Cuba. A break in relations between Spain and Mexico occurred in 1861 when Spain insisted on the settlement of damage claims it had made. A Spanish squadron under the command of Joaquín Gutierrez de Rubalcava which included Lealtad departed Havana to transport a landing force under the command of General Juan Prim to Veracruz as part of a mulitnational intervention in Mexico. The ships and landing force seized Veracruz on 14 December 1861, and French and British forces arrived in January 1862. Spanish and British forces withdrew from Mexico in April 1862 when it became apparent that France intended to seize control of Mexico, and Lealtad returned to Cuba. She returned to Spain in August 1864, but when the Spanish government learned that France intended to make Maximilian I emperor of Mexico, she received orders to return to Cuba.

During the Chincha Islands War of 1865–1866, Lealtad and the screw frigate Nuestra Señora del Carmén operated in the Caribbean. Lealtad returned to Spain in 1868 and was at Cádiz in September 1868 when Queen Isabella II was deposed in the Glorious Revolution. The Ten Years' War broke out in Cuba in 1868, and in 1869 Lealtad once again deployed there to support Spanish Empire forces fighting against insurgents of the Cuban Liberation Army. Her armament underwent alterations in 1870, leaving her with one 200-millimetre (7.9 in) smoothbore gun on her bow and twenty 68-pounder (31 kg) 200-millimetre (7.9 in) smoothbore guns and fourteen 32-pounder (14.5 kg) 160-millimetre (6.3 in) guns in her battery.

Lealtad returned to Spain in 1882 and was assigned to the Training Squadron under the overall command of Contralmirante (Counter Admiral) Luis Bula y Vázquez. She became a training ship for midshipmen in February 1883, with her armament becoming twenty-four 200-millimetre (7.9 in) smoothbore guns, two Hontoria 90-millimetre (3.5 in) guns, two Hontoria 70-millimetre (2.8 in) guns, and two machine guns. She made a training cruise to the United Kingdom in April and May 1883 in which she visited Southampton and Portsmouth.

Tasked with transporting the remains of Admiral Casto Méndez Núñez from Ferrol to Cádiz, Lealtad anchored at Vigo on 4 June 1883. There she embarked Méndez Núñez′s remains, joined by a British Royal Navy squadron under the command of Vice-Admiral William Dowell and Rear-Admiral John Wilson consisting of the ironclad armoured frigates HMS Achilles, HMS Agincourt, HMS Minotaur, and HMS Northumberland, the centre battery ironclad HMS Sultan, and the ironclad turret ship HMS Neptune. She disembarked Méndez Núñez′s remains at San Fernando at 08:30 on 16 June 1883, and Méndez Núñez was reburied at the Panteón de Marinos Ilustres (Pantheon of Illustrious Sailors) at Cádiz.

In 1883, she also joined Carmén (the former Nuestra Señora del Carmén) and the armoured frigates Numancia and Vitoria escorted the Imperial German Navy screw corvette SMS Prinz Adalbert as Prinz Adalbert transported the German Crown Prince Frederick on his trip to Valencia. In the summer of 1884, Lealtad was part of a Training Squadron commanded by Contralmirante (Counter Admiral) Francisco de Paula Llanos y Herrera. King Alfonso XII and Queen Maria Christina embarked on Vitoria on 19 August 1884 for a voyage to La Coruña and Ferrol escorted by Numancia, Carmén, Lealtad, and the gunboat Paz. The unprotected cruiser Navarra joined the squadron at Ferrol, they continued the journey along the coast of Spain until Alfonso XII and Maria Christina disembarked at Vigo on 25 August 1884.

At the beginning of 1885, the screw frigate Gerona replaced Lealtad as the midshipmen training ship. During tensions with the German Empire over the status of the Caroline Islands in the Spanish East Indies, the Training Squadron — made up of Lealtad, Numancia, and Vitoria — anchored at Mahón on Menorca in the Balearic Islands on 18 March 1886 with orders to prepare to deploy to the Pacific Ocean to defend the Carolines. Shortly afterwards, Navarra and the screw frigate Almansa joined them, and on 24 October the Ministry of the Navy ordered additional ships to the reinforce the squadron out of a fear that Germany would attack the Balearic Islands and use them as bargaining chips in peace talks after a possible war. In the end, no conflict broke out between the countries.

In 1890, Lealtad was awaiting careening. She was decommissioned in 1893 and thereafter was hulked at Cartagena to serve as a veterans' asylum until she was sold for scrapping in 1897.

References

Bibliography

• Anca Alamillo, Alejandro (2009). Buques de la Armada Española del Siglo XIX (in Spanish). Ministry of Defence. ISBN 9788497815284.
• Bancroft, Hubert Howe (1888). History of Mexico VI: 1861–1887. New York: The Bancroft Company.
• Bancroft, Hubert Howe. History of Mexico: Being a Popular History of the Mexican People from the Earliest Primitive Civilization to the Present Time The Bancroft Company, New York, 1914, pp. 466–506
• Blanco Núñez, José María (2011). La construcción naval en Ferrol, 1726-2011 (in Spanish). Navantia S.A.
• Bordejé y Morencos, Fernando de (1995). Crónica de la Marina española en el siglo XIX, 1868-1898 (in Spanish). Vol. II. Madrid: Ministry of Defence.
• González, Marcelino (2009). 50 Barcos españoles (in Spanish). Vol. II. Gijón, Spain: Fundación Alvargonzález.
• González-Llanos Galvache, Santiago (November 1996). La construcción naval en Ferrol durante el siglo XIX. Cuaderno monográfico nº 29 (in Spanish). Madrid: Instituto de Historia y Cultura Naval.
• Cortes constituyentes (1869). Diario de sesiones de las Córtes Constituyentes de la República (in Spanish). Vol. 1.
• Lledó Calabuig, José (1998). Buques de vapor de la armada española, del vapor de ruedas a la fragata acorazada, 1834-1885 (PDF) (in Spanish). Agualarga Editores.
• Rodríguez González, Agustín Ramón (1999). La Armada española, la campaña del Pacífico, 1862-1871. España frente a Chile y Perú (in Spanish). Madrid: Aqualarga Editores.
• Rodríguez González, Agustín Ramón; Coello Lillo, José Luis (2003). La fragata en la Armada española. 500 años de historia (in Spanish). IZAR. Construcciones Navales, S.A.
• Rubio, Carlos (1869). Historia filosófica de la revolución española de 1868. Vol. 2. Madrid: Miguel Guijarro.
• Torres, Martín de las (1867). El Archiduque Maximiliano de Austria en Méjico (in Spanish).
• VV.AA (1999). El Buque en la Armada española (in Spanish). Madrid: Editorial Sílex.

For other ships with the same name, see Spanish ship Velasco.

Velasco, probably in 1926.
History
Spain
Name	Velasco
Namesake	Luis Vicente de Velasco (1711–1762), Spanish naval commander
Operator	Spanish Navy
Ordered	1915
Builder	Sociedad Española de Construcción Naval (SECN), Cartagena Spain
Laid down	6 July 1920
Launched	16 June 1923
Commissioned	27 December 1924
Decommissioned	9 April 1957
Honors and awards	Military Medal
Fate	Scrapped
Notes	Allegiance to: Kingdom of Spain 1924–1931 Second Spanish Republic 1931–1936 Nationalist faction 1936–1939 Spanish State 1939–1957
General characteristics
Class and type	Alsedo-class destroyer
Displacement	1,044 long tons (1,061 t) standard 1,315 long tons (1,336 t) full load
Length	83.82 m (275 ft) pp 86.25 m (283 ft) oa
Beam	8.23 m (27 ft)
Draught	4.57 m (15 ft)
Installed power	4 × Yarrow boilers 33,000 shp (24,608 kW)
Propulsion	2 shafts; 2 geared steam turbines
Speed	34 knots (63 km/h; 39 mph)
Range	2,500 nmi (4,630 km; 2,877 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement	86
Armament	3 × 102 mm (4 in)/45 guns 2 × 47 mm (1.9 in) anti-aircraft guns 4 × 533 mm (21 in) torpedo tubes (2×2)

Velasco was a Spanish Navy destroyer in commission from 1924 to 1957. She served in the Rif War in 1925 and fought on the Nationalist side during the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939. While in commission, she served the Kingdom of Spain from 1924 to 1931, the Second Spanish Republic from 1931 to 1936, and the Nationalist faction and the Spanish State its victory established from 1936 to 1957.

Design and characteristics

The Alsedo class were designed jointly by the British companies Vickers and John Brown & Co..|group=lower-alpha}} The Alsedo class was of similar layout to the Hawthorn Leslie variant of the British M-class destroyer.

The ships were 86.25 metres (283 ft) long overall and 83.82 metres (275 ft), with a beam of 8.23 metres (27 ft) and a draught of 4.57 metres (15 ft). Displacement was 1,060 tonnes (1,043 long tons) standard and 1,336 tonnes (1,315 long tons) full load. They were propelled by two geared steam turbines driving two shafts and fed by four Yarrow boilers and had a distinctive four-funneled silhouette. The ships a design speed of 34 knots (63 km/h; 39 mph). They were the first Spanish Navy ships to use only fuel oiil and could carry 276 tonnes (272 long tons) of oil, giving them a range of 1,500 nautical miles (2,800 km; 1,700 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph). The ships had a crew of 86.

The Alesdo-class ships were armed with three Vickers 4-inch (102 mm) guns manufactured under license in Spain and mounted in three single mounts, with one forward, one aft, and one between the second and third funnels, as well as two anti-aircraft guns, identified by different sources as either 47-millimetre or 2-pounder (40 mm) guns. The anti-aircraft guns later were replaced by four 20 mm autocannons. Four 533-millimetre (21 in) torpedo tubes were mounted in twin banks, and the Alsedo class ships were the first Spanish destroyers to carry torpedoes of that size. The ships were fitted with two depth charge throwers sometime around 1945. A rangefinder was mounted on each ship's bridge.

By the time the Alsedo class entered service in the mid-1920s, destroyer design had advanced and made them obsolete. The Spanish Navy therefore cancelled plans to build three more ships of the class and instead next constructed the more modern and much larger Churruca-class destroyers. Nonetheless, the Alsedo class had active and lengthy careers.

Construction and commissioning

The Spanish Cortes (Parliament) passed a navy law on 17 February 1915 authorizing a large program of construction for the Spanish Navy, including three Alsedo-class destroyers to be built in Spain at the Sociedad Española de Construcción Naval (SECN) shipyard at Cartagena. SECN was part of the same British consortium that included the ship's designers, Vickers and John Brown & Co.

World War I (1914–1918) caused shortages of materials and equipment sourced from the United Kingdom and delayed construction of the Alsedo class, and Velasco′s keel was not laid at the SECN shipyard until 6 July 1920. She was launched on 16 June 1923 and delivered to the Spanish Navy on 27 December 1924.

Service history

Kingdom of Spain

1924–1927

Velasco and the light cruiser Reina Victoria Eugenia visited Lisbon, Portugal, in January 1925 for the celebration of the fourth centenary of Vasco da Gama. After refueling at Almería, Spain, on 19 March 1925, she proceeded to the coast of Africa. In mid-July 1925 she got underway from Ceuta on the coast of North Africa with her sister ship Alsedo and the light cruisers Blas de Lezo and Méndez Núñez bound for Ferrol on the coast of Galicia. They then continued on to Santander, where King Alfonso XIII received them when they arrived on 27 July 1925. With the two light cruisers and the Royal Family present, Velasco and Alsedo each received a battle ensign acquired by popular subscription in Santander on 3 August 1925. On the afternoon of 19 August 1925, Velasco got underway from Santander to conduct engine tests with Alfonso XIII on board. She anchored in the Bay of La Concha two hours later, hen returned to Santander the same day.

Assigned to the Training Squadron along with Alsedo, Blas de Lezo, Méndez Núñez, and the battleships Alfonso XIII and Alfonso XIII, Velasco deployed for service in the Rif War. She took part in the Alhucemas landing at Alhucemas in Spanish Morocco on 9 September 1925. Velasco and Alsedo both suffered damage in a collision with the gunboat Cánovas del Castillo on 12 September. Velasco put into port for repairs which were completed in six days, then returned to the area of operations off Spanish Morocco.

On 25 February 1926, Velasco arrived at Barcelona. All three Alsedo-class destroyers made several cruises during 1926 with students from the Escuela de Guerra Naval (Naval War College) aboard, calling at various ports in Italy in the Mediterranean Sea and Adriatic Sea, as well as Istanbul and other ports. On 20 May 1926, she departed Cartagena with the Training Squadron for exercises in the Mediterranean off Mazarrón with Alfonso XIII, Jaime I, Blas de Lezo, Méndez Núñez, and her sister ship Lazaga. After a new commanding officer reported aboard on 16 July 1926, Velasco, Alsedo, Lazaga, and the torpedo boats T-5, T-6, T-14, and T-19 left Mahón on Menorca in the Balearic Islands on 18 July to conduct maneuvers with naval aviation aircraft off Catalonia.

On 20 June 1927, the three Alsedo-class destroyers got undderway from Cartagena to begin a training cruise in the Mediterranean Sea for Naval War College students that lasted almost a month. They conducted tactical exercises with the torpedo boats T-4, T-5, T-15, and T-19, the submarine division based at Mahón, and seaplanes based at Barcelona. After parting company with the torpedo boats, the three destroyers made foreign port visits at Palermo in Sicily, and Ajaccio in Sardinia. They arrived at Patras, Greece, on 27 July 1927, where on 28 July they participated in a ceremony at the site of the 1571 Battle of Lepanto. They next stopped at Piraeus, Greece, and transited the Turkish Straits into the Black Sea to call at Varna, Bulgaria,and Constanta, Romania. They returned through the straits to the Aegean Sea to visit Rhodes in the Italian Dodecanese and called at Haifa in Mandatory Palestine, Crete, Malta, Tunis, Bizerte, and Algiers before returning to Cartagena on 18 September 1927.

In May 1928, the three Alsedo-class destroyers departed Cartagena and called at Ceuta and Cádiz before arriving at Marín, where they conducted gunnery exercises. They visited Portsmouth, England, from 1 to 8 August 1928 for Cowes Week. They also visited other ports in France and the United Kingdom during a training cruise with Naval War College students aboard. During October and November 1928, the three Alsedo-class destroyers were part of a squadron that also included Alfonso XIII, Jaime I, Blas de Lezo, Méndez Núñez, the light cruiser Almirante Cervera, the destroyer Sánchez Barcáiztegui, the submarines Isaac Peral, B-1, B-2, B-3, B-4, B-5, B-6, C-1, and C-2, the torpedo boats T-11, T-13, T-14, T-15, T-18, and T-22, the seaplane carrier Dédalo, and the tug Cíclope that conducted exercises in the Balearic Islands and off Spain's Mediterranean coast. After their conclusion, the squadron made port at Barcelona on 10 and 11 November 1928. The squadron began to disband and depart Barcelona on 20 November 1928.

1929–1931

Blas de Lezo, Méndez Núñez, and the three Alsedo-class destroyers called at Cádiz on 5 March 1929, but soon put back to sea for exercises in the Cíes Islands off Galicia with Alfonso XIII, Jaime I, and Almirante Cervera. The three destroyers anchored at Vigo on the night of 4–5 April 1929 and reached Cádiz on 9 April. As part of a destroyer squadron that also included Sánchez Barcáiztegui, they arrived at Barcelona on 18 May 1929 along with a number of other Spanish Navy ships — including Dédalo, two battleships, five cruisers, nine submarines, two torpedo boats, and other smaller and auxiliary vessels — for the opening of the 1929 Barcelona International Exposition on 19 May. the four destroyers got underway from Barcelona at 16:30 on 25 May 1929 and proceeded to Cartagena.

The four destroyers reached Ferrol to refuel on 19 June 1929, with plans to stay until 22 June before proceeding to Santander. However, the Dornier Do J Wal flying boat of Ramón Franco crashed into the sea during an attempted transatlantic flight, and they were ordered to instead steam to the Azores to join the search for the plane and its crew. They departed at the end of June. The British Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Eagle rescued Franco and his crew, and the four destroyers returned to Ferrol during the first week of July 1929. Leaving Ferrol early on the morning of 8 July, they reached Santander on the night of 9 July. After Sánchez Barcáiztegui embarked Naval War College students, the four destroyers put to sea with a squadron of torpedo boats for exercises.

The four destroyers were among Spanish Navy ships that began to arrive at Palma de Mallorca on Mallorca in the Balearic Islands on the afternoon of 26 September 1929 for maneuvers in the waters of the islands. Almirante Cervera, Blas de Lezo, Méndez Núñez, the light cruiser Príncipe Alfonso, and the destroyer Almirante Ferrándiz also took part in the exercises, which concluded in early October 1929. The ships left Palma de Mallorca on 5 October 1929.

While the rest of the ships proceeded to Valencia, Velasco, Alsedo, Lazaga, Sánchez Barcáiztegui, and the destroyer José Luis Díaz anchored at Barcelona on the evening of 6 October 1929. King Alfonso XIII arrived at Barcelona the same evening and boarded the motor ship Infanta Isabel to inspect the squadron. After the king's visit, the ships steamed southward to resume the maneuvers. On 16 October, part of the squadron returned to Barcelona for a stay of about ten days to rest the crews, repair damage, and take on supplies. First the destroyer Bustamante led the torpedo boats into the harbor; Velasco, Almirante Ferrándiz, Alsedo, José Luis Díez, Lazaga. and Sánchez Barcáiztegui, and the destroyer Cardaso followed, and then the two battleships, the four cruisers, the submarines, and other smaller vessels entered port. After the Barcelona visit, the destroyer squadron proceeded to Cartagena along with several of the other ships, arriving in late October 1929. After a new commanding officer reported aboard, Velasco got back underway and steamed to Galicia.

During the second half of March 1930, Velasco, Alsedo, Almirante Ferrándiz José Luis Díez, Lázaga, and Sánchez Barcáiztegui departed Cartagena stopped at Cádiz, where on the morning of 28 March 1930 José Luis Díez was presented with a battle ensign at the Arsenal de La Carraca. They then proceeded to Marín, where two battleships and two cruisers joined them. The ships began gunnery exercises at the Janer training ground in April 1930. Once the gunnery exercises ended, the squadron remained in Galician waters and carried out various maneuvers, most of them in the estuary at Pontevedra. Upon their completion, the squadron returned to Ferrol on 30 June 1930. The destroyer squadron called at El Musel at Gijón for several days in August 1930, them steamed to Santander and Bilbao.

On 27 September 1930, the three Alsedo-class destroyers assembled at Cádiz with Alfonso XIII, Jaime I, Almirante Cervera, Blas de Lezo, Méndez Núñez, Príncipe Alfonso, Reina Victoria Eugenia, Almirante Ferrándiz, José Luis Díez, and Sánchez Barcáiztegui to begin a Mediterranean training cruise. The ships visited Almería and Cartagena before arriving at Alicante in mid-December 1930. Leaving the battleships at Cartagena for boiler repairs, the other ships steamed to Ferrol in January 1931.

Second Spanish Republic

1931–1932

After King Alonso XIII was deposed, the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931. The three Alsedo-class destroyers got underway from Barcelona with José Luis Díez and Sánchez Barcáiztegui and called at Cádiz from 21 to 30 April. On the evening of 27 May 1931, the battleships España (ex-Alfonso XIII, renamed by the new government) and Jaime I, the light cruisers Almirante Cervera, Miguel de Cervantes, Méndez Núñez, República (ex-Reina Victoria Eugenia, renamed by the new government), and a destroyer squadron composed of Velasco, Almirante Ferrándiz, Lazaga, Lepanto, and Sánchez Barcáiztegui arrived at Ferrol, where they took part along with the seaplne carrier Dédalo and a submarine division in a naval review in the presence of the Minister of the Navy, the captain general of the Maritime Department of the North, and the commander of the squadron.

The destroyer squadron carried out several patrols in the Strait of Gibraltar, making a stop in Cádiz on 3 June 1931 at the end of a voyage from Ceuta. On the evening of 8 June 1931, the three Alsedo-class destroyers left Cadiz in company with Almirante Ferrándiz, José Luis Díez, Lepanto, and Sánchez Barcáiztegui bound for the Mediterranean. All seven destroyers arrived at Palma de Mallorca overnight on 14-15 July 1931 after a voyage from Barcelona. A new commanding officer reported aboard Velasco in August 1931 and was replaced at the beginning of October. On 5 November 1931, Velasco departed Cádiz.

In May 1932, the Undersecretary of the Navy ordered Velasco to get underway from Cartagena, proceed to Valencia, and place itself under the orders of the civil governor there. On 21&bsp;May 1932, the Khalifa of Spanish Morocco and his entourage boarded Velasco at Ceuta for transportation to Seville. After visiting several other Spanish cities, the Moroccans departed Cadiz aboard the Civil Guard vessel Xauen on 27 May 1932 and, after a final stop in Málaga, boarded Velasco on 2 June 1932 for transportation to Ceuta.

After rejoining her destroyer squadron, Velasco got underway from Palma de Mallorca in company with José Luis Díez and Lazaga on the morning of 28 July 1932 and set ccourse for Tarragona for maneuvers with a submarine squadron. On 19 August 1932 Velasco arrived at Cádiz for repairs. and after their completion got back underway on 1 September. In October 1932, a new commanding officer took command of Velasco. In November 1932 a squadron of destroyers consisting of Velasco, Alsedo, José Luis Díez, Lazaga, Lepanto, and Sánchez Barcáiztegui, completed a voyage from Mahón, anchoring at Palma de Mallorca on the night of 23 November 1932. On the morning of 24 November, José Luis Díez, and Sánchez Barcáiztegui left for Alicante, and the three Alsedo- class followed them on the 25 November.

1933–1936

In a reorganization of its forces at the beginning of 1933, the Spanish Navy assigned the three Alsedo-class destroyers to a separate destroyer squadron of their own. In company with José Luis Díez, Lepanto, Sánchez Barcáiztegui and the destroyers Alcalá Galiano (AG) and Churruca, the three Alsedo-class ships completed a voyage from Cartagena to Almería on 29 April 1933. They departed for the coast of Spanish Morocco on 30 April, then got underway from Ceuta on 3 May 1933 to return to Spain. In July 1933, the three Alsedo-class destroyers were among ships that conducted general maneuvers in the waters of the Balearic Islands.

At the beginning of 1934, Velasco became part off the 1st Destroyer Squadron, while Alsedo and Laaga joined the newly created torpedo training division based at Cartagena. In mid-February 1934, Velasco steamed from Cartagena to Ceuta with the transport Almirante Lobo to join Spanish naval forces in North Africa.

In April 1934, Velasco took part in Spanish Navy maneuvers began in the Balearic Islands. Velasco and Alsedo then began repairs, thus missing a naval review took place on 11 June 1934 at Alcudia in the Balearic Islands in the presence of the President of the Republic Niceto Alcalá Zamora, Minister of the Navy Juan José Rocha García, and other authorities after the maneuvers concluded. Velasco received a new commanding officer while under repair, and yet another on 26 November 1934. After getting underway from Ceuta, she stopped at Vigo from 8 to 9 December 1934 before proceeding to Gijón.

Velasco′s commanding officer died in an automobile accident in May 1935. In mid-May 1935, Velasco, Alsedo, Almirante Cervera, Libertad (the former Principe Alfonso), and Miguel de Cervantes cofmpleted gunnery exercises at the Janer training ground and later steamed to the Mediterranean for maneuvers.

Spanish Civil War

When the Spanish Civil War began in July 1936, Velasco was serving at the Gunnery School in Marín. She was the only destroyer to side with the Nationalist faction. After undergoing repairs at Ferrol, she was extermely active, especially in the Cantabrian Sea, bombarding fuel depots in Bilbao, laying mines off various ports, and participating in a National blockade of Republican-controlled ports. She was escorting the battleship España when España struck a mine and sank within sight of Santander on 30 April 1937. Velasco entered the minefield and came alongside the sinking battleship, rescuing her entire crew except for three men killed in the mine explosion. For their actions, Velasco′s commanding officer received the individual Cross of Naval Merit and her crew received a collective Military Medal.

On September 3, 1936, it faced the Republican submarine C-2. On 19 September 1936, the ship went to Cabo Peñas to rescue the armed tug Galicia, attacked by the Republican submarine B-6, which sank due to the leak caused by the tug's shots. It fought with numerous armed fishing boats and captured several merchant ships.

Between June and August 1938, it was repaired in Ferrol, and rejoined the squadron on 3 September, under the command of Lieutenant Commander Ricardo Benito Perera. On this occasion, it began to operate in the Mediterranean on escort missions, mining, port bombardment and other services. It returned to Ferrol on 13 October 1938 to undergo further repairs, but did not perform any more services during the war.

The three Alsedo destroyers were modernised between 1940 and 1943. The bridge was raised, a tripod mast with a crow's nest was added on the bridge and a smoke-guiding visor on the forward chimney. The main artillery was updated and three 20 mm anti-aircraft machine guns and two depth charge launching mortars were added. It was redelivered on 11 December 1943 and placed under the command of Lieutenant Commander Federico Fernández de la Puente.

On the morning of 24 August 1948, the destroyers Velasco and Lazaga arrived at Panjón, near Vigo, with a brigade of midshipmen from the Military Naval School, and the destroyer Alsedo arrived at midday, with the Minister of the Navy on board, Admiral Regalado, to celebrate the patron saint of the Navy. It was under the command of Lieutenant Commander Miguel Domínguez Sotelo.

In the following years he continued to serve at the Naval Military School. His last commander was Lieutenant Commander Enrique Golmayo Cifuentes.

Decommissioned on April 9, 1957.

Honors and awards

• Military Medal for actions of 30 April 1937

References

Bibliography

• Diarios ABC, La Época, Heraldo de Madrid, La Libertad, El Sol, La Vanguardia, La Voz.
• Semanario Vida Marítima..
• Aguilera, Alfredo; Elías, Vicente (1980). Buques de guerra españoles, 1885-1971 (in Spanish). Madrid: Editorial San Martín.
• Beevor, Antony (1999). The Spanish Civil War. London: Cassell. ISBN 0-304-35281-0.
• Blackman, Raymond V. B., ed. (1960). Jane's Fighting Ships 1960–61. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co Ltd.
• Blanco Núñez, José María (2011). La construcción naval en Ferrol (1726-2011) (in Spanish). Navantia, S.A.
• Cervera Pery, José (1988). La guerra naval española (1936-39) (in Spanish). Madrid: Editorial San Martín.
• Coello Lillo, Juan Luis (2000). Buques de la Armada española. Los años de la posguerra (in Spanish). Madrid: Aqualarga.
• Friedman, Norman (2009). British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the Second World War. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-049-9.
• Gardiner, Robert; Gray, Randal (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
• Martín Tornero, Antonio (1991). "El desembarco de Alhucemas. Organización, ejecución y consecuencias". Revista de Historia Militar (in Spanish). Vol. XXV, no. 70. Servicio Histórico Militar.
• Parkes, Oscar (1973) [Originally published 1931 by Sampson Low, Marston & Co.: London]. Jane's Fighting Ships. Newton Abbot, UK: David & Charles (Publishers). ISBN 0-7153-5849-9.
• Rohwer, Jürgen; Hümmelchen, Gerhard (1992). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945. London: Greenhill Books. ISBN 1-85367-117-7.
• Whitley, M. J. (2000). Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. London: Cassell. ISBN 1-85409-521-8.

Aftermath

The wreck of Infanta Maria Teresa aground on the south coast of Cuba after the Battle of Santiago de Cuba

On 6 July 1898, the commander of the U.S. Navy's North Atlantic Squadron, Rear Admiral William T. Sampson, appointed a board chaired by Commodore John C. Watson to survey the damage to the Spanish ships lost in the Battle of Santiago de Cuba. Watson's assistant Naval Constructor Richmond Pearson Hobson became supervisor of wrecks and convinced President William McKinley to support salvage operations in Cuba, after which the U.S. Navy hired the Merritt & Chapman Derrick and Wrecking Company to do most of the salvage work.

Surveys of the Spanish wrecks concluded that Infanta Maria Teresa was the least damaged of the Spanish ships sunk in the Battle of Santiago de Cuba and the only one that could be salvaged. She was pulled gently off the beach and refloated on 24 September 1898 and the tug {{|USS|Potomac|AT-50|6}} towed her to Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, for preliminary repairs. With these completed, the U.S. Navy repair ship USS Vulcan and the civilian wrecking company vessel Merritt took Infanta Maria Teresa under tow and departed Guantánamo Bay on 29 October 1898 headed for Norfolk, Virginia, where permanent repairs could be made. The three ships formed a tow stretching for nearly 1,000 yards (910 m), with Merritt leading and attached to Vulcan by a 400-yard (370 m) manila line and Vulcan in turn attached to Infanta Maria Teresa by a 460-yard (420 m) 15-inch (38 cm) manila chain. Good weather allowed the ships to make 6 knots (6.9 mph; 11 km/h) as they headed eastward into the Windward Passage between Cuba and Haiti, with Infanta Maria Teresa assisting the tow by operating one of her steam engines.

Good weather persisted on 30 October, and the ships rounded the northeastern tip of Cuba before 12:00 that day and headed toward the Bahamas. At around 20:00 that evening, however, the weather became unsettled, and it remained cloudy and squally on 31 October. On the morning of 1 November 1898, the three ships were in Crooked Island Passage in the Bahamas when a violent squall struck. The weather continued to deteriorate in the hours that followed as a tropical storm passed through the area. The tow's speed dropped to 2 knots (3.7 km/h; 2.3 mph), and Infanta Maria Teresa began to roll heavily and down by the bow, with the pumps unable to keep up with the ingress of water.

During the voyage, however, Vulcan and Infanta Maria Teresa encountered a violent storm on he morning of 1 November 1898; the tow cables broke, the repair ship Merritt took off her crew, and Infanta Maria Teresa was left adrift. , and Infanta María Teresa sank between two reefs off Cat Island in the Bahamas with a broken back, a total loss.

Cervera decided to beach it about six miles west of Santiago de Cuba. Despite this, it was the one that received the least damage from the Spanish squadron, and the Americans decided to refloat it on September 24, being towed to Guantanamo for urgent repairs and to be able to tow it to the Norfolk base. A violent storm that occurred on November 1 broke the towing cables and the cruiser was left adrift. Several days later it was found stranded on Car Island, one of the keys of the Bahamas. This time, the damage was irreparable.

History
Spain
Name	Petronila
Namesake	Petronilla of Aragon (1136–1173)
Ordered	8 August or 8 October 1853 (see text)
Builder	Arsenal de Cartagena, Cartagena, Spain
Cost	2,909,640 pesetas
Laid down	22 February 1854
Launched	27 February 1857
Commissioned	February 1858
Fate	Wrecked 8 August 1863
General characteristics
Type	Screw frigate
Displacement	2,600 or 3,800 tonnes (2,600 or 3,700 long tons)
Length	64 m (210 ft 0 in)
Beam	13 m (42 ft 8 in)
Height	7.22 m (23 ft 8 in)
Draft	6.35 m (20 ft 10 in)
Installed power	360 hp (268 kW) (nominal)
Propulsion	Mixed sail and steam One steam engine, one shaft, 234 t (230 lt; 258 st) coal
Speed	12 to 13 knots (22 to 24 km/h; 14 to 15 mph)
Complement	390–400
Armament	10 × 200 mm (7.9 in) 68-pounder smoothbore guns 26 × 160 mm (6.3 in) 32-pounder rifled guns

Petronila was a screw frigate of the Spanish Navy commissioned in 1858. She was the first screw frigate ever built at the Arsenal de Cartagena. She took part in the multinational intervention in Mexico in 1861–1862 and was wrecked in 1863.

Petronila was named for Petronilla of Aragon (1136–1173), sometimes spelled "Petronila" or "Petronella," who was Countess consort of Barcelona from 1150 to 1162, Countess of Barcelona from 1162 to 1164, and Queen Regent of Aragon from 1164 to 1173.

Construction and commissioning

Petronila′s construction was authorized along with that of her two sister ships, the screw frigates Berenguela and Reina Blanca, by a royal order of either 8 August or 8 October 1853 (according to different sources). She was laid down at the Arsenal de Cartagena in Cartagena, Spain, on 22 February 1854 as a wooden-hulled screw frigate with mixed sail and steam propulsion, and was the first screw frigate built at the Arsenal de Cartagena. She carried one of her 200-millimetre (7.9 in) guns on her bow and the rest in her battery; one gun was rifled, the rest smoothbore. She was launched on 27 February 1857, and after fitting out she was commissioned in February 1858. Her total construction cost was 2,909,640 pesetas.

Service history

1858–1863

Under the command of Capitán de fragata (Frigate Captain) José María Beránger, Petronila embarked the King Consort, Francisco de Asís, Duke of Cádiz, at Alicante, Spain, at the end of May 1858 and transported him to Valencia, escorted by a squadron of Spanish Navy warships. After the king consort returned to Cartagena aboard Petronila, the squadron was dissolved. On 8 July 1858, Petronila got underway from Cartagena and, after calling at Cádiz, headed into the Cantabrian Sea for operations along the northern coast of Spain. Subsequently, she was part of a squadron that escorted Queen Isabella II as she made a voyage aboard the ship-of-the-line Rey Don Francisco de Asís from Vigo to Ferrol, which the squadron reached on 1 September 1858. On 5 September 1858, Isabella II boarded Petronila at Gijón in northwestern Spain for a voyage to Ferrol and then to La Coruña, where she disembarked.

In 1859, Petronila embarked 346 marines of the Spanish Marine Infantry at Ferrol for transportation to Cadiz, but ran aground and to undergo repairs at a naval dockyard. When she was assigned to the naval base at Havana in the Captaincy General of Cuba for duty with the Spanish Navy squadron in the Caribbean, she had to enter a commercial drydock for further repairs after she began to take on an excessive amount of water.

From Havana, Petronila made several voyages, visiting New York City in the United States, Santo Domingo in the Captaincy General of Santo Domingo, Veracruz in Mexico, and La Guaira in Venezuela. Under the command of Capitán de navío (Ship-of-the-Line Captain) Romualdo Martínez y Viñalet, she participated in a mulitnational intervention in Mexico to settle damage claims in 1861–1862 as part of a squadron under Joaquín Gutierrez de Rubalcava. The Spanish ships seized Veracruz on 14 December 1861 and French and British forces arrived in January 1862. Spanish and British forces withdrew from Mexico in April 1862 when it became apparent that France intended to seize control of Mexico, and Petronila embarked Spanish troops and returned to Cuba.

Loss

On 2 August 1863, Petronila, still under Martínez′s command, got underway from Havana to make a month-long cruise along the northwestern coast of Cuba between Matanzas and Cape San Antonio. On 8 August 1863, however, she ran hard aground at the entrance to the port of Mariel. On the morning of 9 August, the gunboat Isabel la Católica, a sidewheel paddle steamer, departed Havana to assist Petronila, then returned to Havana to report what she had found. On the afternoon of 9 August, Isabel la Católica returned with the gunboat Conde de Venadito to begin an effort to salvage Petronila, bringing divers and equipment such as pumps.

Petronila was refloated on 17 August 1863, but her engines did not function and she remained aground. On 21 August 1863 she was deemed lost, and salvage work shifted to the recovery of her guns, machinery, and other valuable equipment, which the corvette Niña transported to Havana. Petronila′s machinery later was installed in the screw corvette Doña María de Molina, which was built at the Arsenal de La Carraca in San Fernando, Spain, between 1865 and 1869.

In a court martial held on 7 December 1863, Martínez was acquitted of wrongdoing in the loss of Petronila.

References

Bibliography

History
Spain
Name	Petronila
Namesake	Petronilla of Aragon (1136–1173)
Ordered	8 August or 8 October 1853 (see text)
Builder	Arsenal de Cartagena, Cartagena, Spain
Cost	2,909,640 pesetas
Laid down	22 February 1854
Launched	27 February 1857
Commissioned	February 1858
Fate	Wrecked 8 August 1863
General characteristics
Type	Screw frigate
Displacement	2,600 or 3,800 tonnes (2,600 or 3,700 long tons)
Length	64 m (210 ft 0 in)
Beam	13 m (42 ft 8 in)
Height	7.22 m (23 ft 8 in)
Draft	6.35 m (20 ft 10 in)
Installed power	360 hp (268 kW) (nominal)
Propulsion	Mixed sail and steam One steam engine, one shaft, 234 t (230 lt; 258 st) coal
Speed	12 to 13 knots (22 to 24 km/h; 14 to 15 mph)
Complement	390–400
Armament	11 × 200 mm (7.9 in) 68-pounder smoothbore guns 26 × 160 mm (6.3 in) 32-pounder rifled guns

Petronila was a screw frigate of the Spanish Navy commissioned in 1858. She was the first screw frigate ever built at the Arsenal de Cartagena. She took part in the multinational intervention in Mexico in 1861–1862 and was wrecked in 1863.

Petronila was named for Petronilla of Aragon (1136–1173), sometimes spelled "Petronila" or "Petronella," who was Countess consort of Barcelona from 1150 to 1162, Countess of Barcelona from 1162 to 1164, and Queen Regent of Aragon from 1164 to 1173.

Construction and commissioning

Petronila′s construction was authorized along with that of her two sister ships, the screw frigates Berenguela and Reina Blanca, by a royal order of either 8 August or 8 October 1853 (according to different sources). She was laid down at the Arsenal de Cartagena in Cartagena, Spain, on 22 February 1854 as a wooden-hulled screw frigate with mixed sail and steam propulsion, and was the first screw frigate built at the Arsenal de Cartagena. She carried one of her 200-millimetre (7.9 in) guns on her bow and the rest in her battery; one gun was rifled, the rest smoothbore. She was launched on 27 February 1857, and after fitting out she was commissioned in February 1858. Her total construction cost was 2,909,640 pesetas.

Service history

1858–1863

Under the command of Capitán de fragata (Frigate Captain) José María Beránger, Petronila embarked the King Consort, Francisco de Asís, Duke of Cádiz, at Alicante, Spain, at the end of May 1858 and transported him to Valencia, escorted by a squadron of Spanish Navy warships. After the king consort returned to Cartagena aboard Petronila, the squadron was dissolved. On 8 July 1858, Petronila got underway from Cartagena and, after calling at Cádiz, headed into the Cantabrian Sea for operations along the northern coast of Spain. Subsequently, she was part of a squadron that escorted Queen Isabella II as she made a voyage aboard the ship-of-the-line Rey Don Francisco de Asís from Vigo to Ferrol, which the squadron reached on 1 September 1858. On 5 September 1858, Isabella II boarded Petronila at Gijón in northwestern Spain for a voyage to Ferrol and then to La Coruña, where she disembarked.

In 1859, Petronila embarked 346 marines of the Spanish Marine Infantry at Ferrol for transportation to Cadiz, but ran aground and to undergo repairs at a naval dockyard. When she was assigned to the naval base at Havana in the Captaincy General of Cuba for duty with the Spanish Navy squadron in the Caribbean, she had to enter a commercial drydock for further repairs after she began to take on an excessive amount of water.

From Havana, Petronila made several voyages, visiting New York City in the United States, Santo Domingo in the Captaincy General of Santo Domingo, Veracruz in Mexico, and La Guaira in Venezuela. Under the command of Capitán de navío (Ship-of-the-Line Captain) Romualdo Martínez y Viñalet, she participated in a mulitnational intervention in Mexico to settle damage claims in 1861–1862 as part of a squadron under Joaquín Gutierrez de Rubalcava. The Spanish ships seized Veracruz on 14 December 1861 and French and British forces arrived in January 1862. Spanish and British forces withdrew from Mexico in April 1862 when it became apparent that France intended to seize control of Mexico, and Petronila embarked Spanish troops and returned to Cuba.

Loss

On 2 August 1863, Petronila, still under Martínez′s command, got underway from Havana to make a month-long cruise along the northwestern coast of Cuba between Matanzas and Cape San Antonio. On 8 August 1863, however, she ran hard aground at the entrance to the port of Mariel. On the morning of 9 August, the gunboat Isabel la Católica, a sidewheel paddle steamer, departed Havana to assist Petronila, then returned to Havana to report what she had found. On the afternoon of 9 August, Isabel la Católica returned with the gunboat Conde de Venadito to begin an effort to salvage Petronila, bringing divers and equipment such as pumps.

Petronila was refloated on 17 August 1863, but her engines did not function and she remained aground. On 21 August 1863 she was deemed lost, and salvage work shifted to the recovery of her guns, machinery, and other valuable equipment, which the corvette Niña transported to Havana. Petronila′s machinery later was installed in the screw corvette Doña María de Molina, which was built at the Arsenal de La Carraca in San Fernando, Spain, between 1865 and 1869.

In a court martial held on 7 December 1863, Martínez was acquitted of wrongdoing in the loss of Petronila.

References

Bibliography

• Bancroft, Hubert Howe. History of Mexico: Being a Popular History of the Mexican People from the Earliest Primitive Civilization to the Present Time The Bancroft Company, New York, 1914, pp. 466–506
• Fernández Duro, Cesareo (1867). Naufragios de la Armada Española (in Spanish). Madrid: Establecimiento tipográfico de los Señores Estrada Díaz y López.
• Bancroft, Hubert Howe. History of Mexico: Being a Popular History of the Mexican People from the Earliest Primitive Civilization to the Present Time The Bancroft Company, New York, 1914, pp. 466–506

External links

• Todoavante Petronila (1858) (in Spanish)

External links

• Todoavante Petronila (1858) (in Spanish)

Berenguela transiting the Suez Canal in 1869.
History
Spain
Name	Berenguela
Namesake	Berengaria of Castile
Ordered	8 or 9 October 1853
Builder	Reales Astilleros de Esteiro, Ferrol, Spain
Cost	3,082,909 pesetas
Laid down	16 October 1854 or 4 April 1855 (see text)
Launched	24 February 1857
Commissioned	1859
Fate	Hulked 1875
Decommissioned	1877
General characteristics
Type	Screw frigate
Displacement	2,600 or 3,800 tonnes (2,600 or 3,700 long tons)
Length	64 m (210 ft 0 in)
Beam	13 m (42 ft 8 in)
Height	7.22 m (23 ft 8 in)
Draft	6.35 m (20 ft 10 in)
Installed power	360 hp (268 kW) (nominal)
Propulsion	Mixed sail and steam One steam engine, one shaft, 234 t (230 lt; 258 st) coal
Speed	8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph)
Complement	408
Armament	10 × 200 mm (7.9 in) 68-pounder smoothbore guns 26 × 160 mm (6.3 in) 32-pounder rifled guns 6 × bronze guns (for boats)

Berenguela (English: Berengaria) was a screw frigate of the Spanish Navy commissioned in 1857. She took part in the the mulitnational intervention in Mexico in 1861–1862, several actions during the Chincha Islands War of 1865–1866, and the Spanish-Moro conflict in the early 1870s and was the first Spanish Navy ship to transit the Suez Canal. She was disarmed in 1875 and decommissioned in 1877.

Berenguela was named for Berengaria of Castile (1179 or 1180–1246), who was Queen consort of León from 1197 to 1204 and Queen of Castile from June to August 1217.

Construction and commissioning

Berenguela′s construction was authorized along with that of the screw frigates Petronila and Reina Blanca by a royal order of either 8 or 9 October 1853 (sources disagree). She was laid down at the Reales Astilleros de Esteiro in Ferrol, Spain, on either 16 October 1854 or 4 April 1855 (sources disagree) as a wooden-hulled screw frigate with mixed sail and steam propulsion. She was launched on 24 February 1857, and after fitting out she was commissioned in September 1857. Her total construction cost was 3,082,909 pesetas.

Service history

Early service

After commissioning, Berenguela was assigned to service in the Caribbean, based at Havana in the Captaincy General of Cuba. In mid-November 1860, she arrived at New York City, anchoring in New York Harbor off the The Battery in Manhattan. After the United States Navy screw frigate USS Wabash was floated out of drydock at the New York Navy Yard in Brooklyn, New York, Berenguela entered the drydock for an overhaul of her machinery. On the evening of 6 December 1860 two "medium-sized" shells lying on deck were ignited by sparks from a cigar and exploded. Two sailors jumped or were blown overboard and landed in the drydock, suffering fatal injuries, and the explosion also injured four others. A fire started, which the navy yard′s firefighters quickly extinguished. Fortunately for Berenguela and her crew, two 80-pound (36 kg) shells lying near the explosion and fire did not themselves explode.

Under the command of Capitán de navío (Ship-of-the-Line Captain) José Ignacio Rodríguez de Arias y Villavicencio, Berenguela took part in 1861 in a naval demonstration off Port-au-Prince, Haiti, by a squadron commanded by Joaquín Gutierrez de Rubalcava. She then participated in a mulitnational intervention in Mexico to settle damage claims in 1861–1862, again as part of a squadron under Gutierrez de Rubalcava. The Spanish ships seized Veracruz on 14 December 1861 and French and British forces arrived in January 1862. Spanish and British forces withdrew from Mexico in 1862 when it became apparent that France intended to seize control of Mexico, and Berenguela returned to Cuba.

Chincha Islands War

Amid tensions between Spain, Chile, and Peru, Berenguela was reassigned to the Pacific Squadron in 1864. Getting underway from Havana under the command of Capitán de navío (Ship-of-the-Line Captain) Manuel de la Pezuela y Lobo, she moved to Montevideo, Uruguay, where she and the screw frigate Reina Blanca rendezvoused with the screw frigate Villa de Madrid. The three ships passed through the Strait of Magellan into the Pacific Ocean and Berenguela reached Pisco, Peru, on 11 December 1864, then joined the Pacific Squadron in the Chincha Islands on 30 December 1864. Villa de Madrid became the flagship of the squadron's commander, Vicealmirante (Vice Admiral) José Manuel Pareja, whose predecessor Luis Hernández-Pinzón Álvarez had seized the Chincha Islands from Peru in April 1864. On 27 January 1865 Pareja and a Peruvian government representative, Manuel Ignacio de Vivanco, signed the Preliminary Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Spain and Peru, known informally as the Vivanco–Pareja Treaty, aboard Villa de Madrid in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to settle claims between the two countries that instead sparked the outbreak of the Peruvian Civil War of 1865.

The political situation in the region further deteriorated during 1865 when Pareja steamed to Valparaíso, Chile, to settle Spanish claims. When Chile refused to settle, Pareja announced a blockade of Chilean ports, with Berenguela assigned to the blockade of Valparaíso. As a result of the blockade, the Chincha Islands War broke out between Spain and Chile on 24 September 1865. When the Chilean Navy corvettes Esmeralda and Maipú departed Valparaíso, Pareja reassigned Berenguela to join Reina Blanca in blockading Caldera. While on blockade duty, Berenguela captured the steamer Matías Cousiño, which was making a voyage from Lota to Lota Alto, Chile, with a cargo of coal. On 27 November 1865, a group of Chilean gunboats attacked Berenguela off Caldera, and Berenguela drove off the attackers with gunfire. The blockade spread the Pacific Squadron thinly along the Chilean coast, and early setbacks in the war culminated in a humiliating Spanish naval defeat in the Battle of Papudo on 26 November 1865 in which Esmeralda captured the Spanish Navy schooner Virgen de Covadonga. News of the defeat prompted Pareja to commit suicide aboard Villa de Madrid off Valparaíso, shooting himself in his cabin on 28 November 1865 while lying on his bed wearing his dress uniform. He was buried at sea, and Capitán de navío (Ship-of-the-Line Captain) Casto Méndez Núñez received a promotion to contralmirante (counteradmiral) and took command of the Pacific Squadron.

Peru and Ecuador joined the war on Chile's side in January 1866. Méndez Núñez's attempts during February 1866 to bring the combined Chilean-Peruvian squadron to action failed. Bolivia joined the war against Spain on 22 March 1866, closing all the Pacific ports of South America south of Colombia to Spanish ships. Under orders to take punitive action against South American ports, Méndez Núñez selected undefended Valparaíso as his target. On the morning of 31 March 1866 his squadron arrived at Valparaíso. Facing no opposition, Reina Blanca, Villa de Madrid, the armored frigate Numancia, the screw frigate Resolución, and the screw corvette Vencedora conducted a three-hour bombardment of Valparaíso while Berenguela and the sidewheel paddle steamer Paquete de Maule stood by offshore to guard against any attempt at escape by Chilean merchant ships. The bombardment killed two people, injured 10, and sank 33 merchant ships in the harbor, destroying Chile's merchant fleet. It inflicted US$10 million (equivalent to about US$224 million in 2011) in damage.

Méndez Núñez chose the heavily defended port of Callao, Peru, for his next attack. He divided the squadron into two divisions, the first made up of Berenguela, Numancia, Reina Blanca, Vencedora, and three auxiliary steamers and the second of Villa de Madrid, Resolución, the screw frigate Almansa, Paquete de Maule, and three transport frigates and, after burning prize ships his squadron had captured, set off on 14 April 1866 for San Lorenzo Island off Callao, the second division getting underway at 09:00 and the first division at 16:00. The first division made the voyage under steam and arrived at San Lorenzo Island on 25 April, while the second division, making the journey under sail and delayed by the low speed of one of the transport frigates, arrived on 27 April 1866. Several days of negotiations began on 26 April, during which Méndez Núñez granted neutral countries a four-day delay in his attack to give them time to salvage their interests in Callao. The Spanish ships used the delay to prepare for the attack: The frigates all lowered their topmasts and main yards and altered their rigging to reduce the likelihood of damage to their masts, set up on-board field hospitals, and painted over the white stripes on their hulls with black paint to reduce the ships' visibility and give Peruvian gunners less of an aiming point.

On the morning of 2 May 1866 the Spanish ships entered Callao Bay, beginning the Battle of Callao, the largest battle of the Chincha Islands War. Vencedora and the auxiliary ships stood off near San Lorenzo Island while the other six Spanish ships attacked Callao, with Numancia, Almansa, and Resolución assigned to bombard the northern part of the harbor while Reina Blanca, Berenguela, and Villa de Madrid shelled the southern part. Numancia fired the first shot at 11:55, and soon all the Spanish ships were exchanging fire with the Peruvian fortifications. Berenguela suffered heavy damage: A 500-millimetre (19.7 in) 300-pound (136 kg) Blakely shell penetrated her side, passed through her battery, and exited below the waterline on her opposite side, killing 13 men and opening a 5-square-metre (54 sq ft) hole in her hull, and another shell seriously damaged her deck and started a fire in her coal bunker near her gunpowder store. She developed a list to port and pulled out of the firing line to withdraw to San Lorenzo Island. By the time the Spanish squadron ceased fire entirely at 16:40, all but three guns of the harbor defenses had been silenced.

Méndez Núñez's squadron spent the next several days at San Lorenzo Island, making repairs and tending to casualties. Her crew dismantled a house on the island to use its wood to make repairs to the ship. On the night of 5 May 1866, a Peruvians steamboat armed with a torpedo attacked Berenguela, but the attack failed when Berenuela opened fire and captured the steamboat.

The Chincha Islands War ended in a ceasefire on 9 May 1866, and on 10 May 1866, Mendez Núñez's squadron burned and scuttled Paquete de Maule near San Lorenzo Island and departed South American waters to steam west across the Pacific Ocean. Méndez Núñez led most of the squadron on a voyage across the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic Oceans to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with Villa de Madrid as his flagship. However, Berenguela′s and Numancia′s temporary repairs at San Lorenzo Island were deemed inadequete for them to round Cape Horn safely in winter, and Numancia also had exhausted her coal supply, so Méndez Núñez formed a separate division made up of Berenguela, Numancia, Vencedora, the steamers Marqués de la Victoria and Uncle Sam, and the sailing transport Matauara to proceed under sail to the Philippines, where Berenguela′s and Numancia could undergo permanent repairs.

Mendez Núñez's squadron got underway from San Lorenzo Island on 10 May 1866 and Berenguela and Numancia′s division parted company with the other ships to make its voyage to the Philippines. Numancia was slow under sail, forcing the other ships to use reduced sail so as not to leave her behind., After the first case of scurvy was detected among Berenguela′s crew, however, she and Uncle Sam parted company with Numancia on 15 May and headed for Papeete on Tahiti in the Society Islands, as did Venecdora on 19 May. On 9 June Berenguela arrived at Papeete, and the rest of the ships straggled n behind her, the last of them, Numancia, arriving on 24 June., After provisioning and fueling and treating their sick crewmen, the ships resumed their voyage to the Philippines on 17 July1866., Numancia arrived at Manilain the Philippines on 8 September 1866, Berenguela joined her there on 24 September, and on 13 October 1866 the division's the last ship reached Manila. After completion of their repairs, Berenguela and Numancia departed Manila, rounded Cape Horn, and arrived at Rio de Janeiro, completing a circumnavigation of the world. They subsequently returned to Spain, arriving at Cádiz.

Later service

Berenguela was assigned to the Mediterranean Squadron in 1868. In 1869, she was assigned to duty in the Philippines. Planning to take advantage of the opening of the Suez Canal scheduled for November 1869 to shorten her voyage, she departed Cartagena on 27 October 1869 under the command of Capitán de navío (Ship-of-the-Line Captain) Alejandro Arias Salgado Téllez. After crossing the Mediterranean Sea with stops at Malta and at Alexandria, Egypt, she proceeded to Port Said, Egypt, at the northern end of the new canal, where she anchored on 14 November 1869. Her draft prevented her from participating in the convoy of ships that inaugurated the canal on 17 November, and she had to unship her guns to keep her draft to a maximum of 5.8 metres (19 feet) so that she could pass through the canal as far as Ismailia. On 2 December 1869, she began her canal transit, becoming the first Spanish Navy ship to use the Suez Canal. Upon arriving at Ismailia, she unloaded most of her coal and other supplies to reduce her draft further before proceeding. She finally arrived at Suez on the southern end of the canal on 17 December 1869. There her guns, transported across the desert from Port Said on camels, were reinstalled.

Bereguela reached Manila in 1870, and joined the Spanish Navy squadron there, which was commanded by Contraalmirante (Counter Admiral) Manuel Mac-Crohon. She conducted several operations against pirates on Jolo, bombarded Parang and Maimbung, and participated in the Spanish occupation of Jolo on 29n&bsp;February 1872.

Final disposition

Bereguela was disarmed in 1875 and subsequently served as a pontoon at Cavite on Luzon. She was decommissioned in 1877.

References

Bibliography

• de Alarcón, Pedro Antonio (1859). Diario de un testigo de la guerra de África (in Spanish). Madrid: Gaspar y Roig editores.
• Balaguer, Víctor (1860). Jornadas de gloria: o, Los Españoles en África (in Spanish). Madrid.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Bancroft, Hubert Howe. History of Mexico: Being a Popular History of the Mexican People from the Earliest Primitive Civilization to the Present Time The Bancroft Company, New York, 1914, pp. 466–506
• Blanco Núñez, José María (2011). La construcción naval en Ferrol, 1726-2011 (in Spanish). Navantia S.A.
• Bordejé y Morencos, Fernando de (1995). Crónica de la Marina española en el siglo XIX, 1868-1898 (in Spanish). Madrid: Ministry of Defense (Spain).
• de Novo y Colson, Pedro (1882). Historía de la guerra de España en el Pacífico (in Spanish). Impr. de Fortanet.
• Farcau, Bruce W. (2000). The Ten Cents War: Chile, Peru, and Bolivia in the War of the Pacific, 1879 - 1884 (1. publ ed.). Westport, Connecticut; London: Praeger. ISBN 978-0-275-96925-7.
• González-Llanos Galvache, Santiago (1996). La construcción naval en Ferrol durante el siglo XIX, Cuaderno monográfico nº 29 (in Spanish). Madrid: nstituto de Historia y Cultura Naval.
• Iriondo, Eduardo (1867). Impresiones del viaje de circunnavegación en la fragata blindada Numancia (in Spanish). Madrid.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Lledó Calabuig, José (1998). Buques de vapor de la armada española, del vapor de ruedas a la fragata acorazada, 1834-1885 (in Spanish). Agualarga Editores. pp. 96–98. ISBN 8495088754.
• Ministerio de Fomento (1853). Boletín oficial del Ministerio de Fomento (in Spanish). Vol. 8. Madrid: Imprenta del Ministerio de Fomento.
• Montero y Ariostegui, José (1867). Historia y Descripción de la Ciudad y Departamento naval del Ferrol (in Spanish). Madrid.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• New York Times staff (6 May 1866). "South America: From the Seat of War – Great Preparations and "Great Expectations" – The Grand Movement of the Allied Fleet Again Delayed – Paraguayan Spies and their Stories – The War Beginning to Affect the Finances of the Argentine Confederation. The Bombardment of Valparaiso: Letter from an Americal Naval Officer". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
• Pardo San Gil, Juan (2006). "Las operaciones navales en las Guerras Carlistas" (PDF). Revista de Estudios Marítimos del País Vasco. San Sebastián, Spain: Museo Naval de San Sebastián. pp. 433–466. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 May 2011. Retrieved 8 October 2010.
• Piñera y Rivas, Álvaro de la (1990). "El almirante Juan Bautista Antequera y Bobadilla y su vinculación con la región murciana". Revista Murgetana (in Spanish). No. 82.
• Rodríguez González, Agustín Ramón (1999). La Armada Española, la campaña del Pacífico, 1862-1871: España frente a Chile y Perú (in Spanish). Agualarga Editores. ISBN 978-84-95088-90-1.
• Rodríguez González, Agustín Ramón; Coello Lillo, José Luis (2003). La fragata en la Armada española. 500 años de historia (in Spanish). IZAR. Construcciones Navales, S.A.
• Ruiz Fernández de Cañete, Pilar (1993). "Don Miguel Lobo Malagamba en la escuadra del Pacífico, 1868-1871". Revista de Historia Naval (in Spanish). No. 41.
• Scheina, Robert (2003). Latin America's Wars: The Age of the Caudillo, 1791–1899. Brassey's. ISBN 9781597974776.
• de las Torres, Martín (1867). El Archiduque Maximiliano de Austria en Méjico (in Spanish). p. 14.
• Ventosa, Evaristo (1859). Españoles y marroquíes: Historia de la guerra de África (in Spanish). Vol. 1 and 2. Barcelona.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• VV.AA (1999). El Buque en la Armada española (in Spanish). Madrid: Editorial Sílex.

External links

• Todoavante Berenguela (1857) (in Spanish)

This page will be placed in the following categories if it is moved to the article namespace.

Categories:

• Frigates of the Spanish Navy
• 1862 ships
• Ships built in Spain
• Chincha Islands War

Antiques Roadshow

Season	Host	Filmed	Broadcast
1	Chris Jussel	1996	1997
LOCATIONS: Albuquerque, New Mexico  • Chicago, Illinois  • College Park, Maryland  • Concord, Massachusetts  • Denver, Colorado  • Durham, North Carolina  • Greenwich, Connecticut  • Kansas City, Missouri  • Minneapolis, Minnesota  • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania  • San Antonio, Texas  • Seattle, Washington  • Southfield, Michigan
NOTES: Jussel began a four-season run as the original host of Antiques Roadshow. The 13 tour stops remain the most ever for a season.
2	Chris Jussel	1997	1998
LOCATIONS: Atlanta, Georgia  • Cincinnati, Ohio  • Dallas, Texas  • Nashville, Tennessee  • Phoenix, Arizona  • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania  • San Francisco, California  • Secaucus, New Jersey
3	Chris Jussel	1998	1999
LOCATIONS: Houston, Texas  • Los Angeles, California  • Louisville, Kentucky  • Milwaukee, Wisconsin  • Portland, Oregon  • Richmond, Virginia  • Rochester, New York
4	Chris Jussel	1999	2000
LOCATIONS: Baltimore, Maryland  • Birmingham, Alabama  • Columbus, Ohio  • Des Moines, Iowa  • Providence, Rhode Island  • Salt Lake City, Utah  • Tampa, Florida  • Toronto, Ontario, Canada
NOTES: Jussel′s last season as host, concluding a four-season run. The visit to Toronto remains Antiques Roadshow′s only tour stop outside the United States.
5	Dan Elias	2000	2001
LOCATIONS: Austin, Texas  • Charleston, South Carolina  • Denver, Colorado  • Las Vegas, Nevada  • Madison, Wisconsin  • Sacramento, California  • St. Louis, Missouri  • Tulsa, Oklahoma
NOTES: Elias′s first season as host, beginning a three-season run. Antiques Roadshow also made a tour stop in Boston, Massachusetts, in 2000, but did not broadcast footage from it until 2002.
6	Dan Elias	2001	2002
LOCATIONS: Boston, Massachusetts  • Indianapolis, Indiana  • Miami, Florida  • New Orleans, Louisiana  • New York, New York  • San Diego, California  • Tucson, Arizona
NOTES: The Boston episodes were filmed in 2000, the rest in 2001.
7	Dan Elias	2002	2003
LOCATIONS: Albuquerque, New Mexico  • Charlotte, North Carolina  • Cleveland, Ohio  • Hot Springs, Arkansas  • Kansas City, Missouri  • Seattle, Washington
NOTES: Elias's last season as host, concluding a three-season run.
8	Lara Spencer	2003	2004
LOCATIONS: Chicago, Illinois  • Oklahoma City, Oklahoma  • San Francisco, California  • Savannah, Georgia
SPECIALS: "Greatest Finds"  • "Roadshow Favorites"
NOTES: Spencer's first season as host, beginning a two-season run. The four tour stops remain the fewest ever in a season of Antiques Roadshow, but the season was the first to include specials.
9	Lara Spencer	2004	2005
LOCATIONS: Memphis, Tennessee  • Omaha, Nebraska  • Portland, Oregon  • Reno, Nevada  • St. Paul, Minnesota
SPECIALS: "Tomorrow's Antiques"  • "Wild Things!"
NOTES: Spencer's last season as host, concluding a two-season run. During early 2005, she also hosted the short-lived spinoff series Antiques Roadshow FYI.
10	Mark Walberg	2005	2006
LOCATIONS: Bismarck, North Dakota  • Houston, Texas  • Los Angeles, California  • Providence, Rhode Island  • Tampa, Florida
SPECIALS: "Fame and Fortune"  • "Roadshow Remembers"
NOTES: Walberg's first season as host, beginning a 16-season run.
11	Mark Walberg	2006	2007
LOCATIONS: Honolulu, Hawaii  • Milwaukee, Wisconsin  • Mobile, Alabama  • Salt Lake City, Utah  • Tucson, Arizona
SPECIALS: "Jackpot!"  • "Unique Antiques"
NOTES: The Honolulu visit remains Antiques Roadshow′s only tour stop outside North America.
12	Mark Walberg	2007	2008
LOCATIONS: Baltimore, Maryland  • Las Vegas, Nevada  • Louisville, Kentucky  • Orlando, Florida  • San Antonio, Texas  • Spokane, Washington
SPECIALS: "Politically Collect"  • "Trash to Treasure"
13	Mark Walberg	2008	2009
LOCATIONS: Chattanooga, Tennessee  • Dallas, Texas  • Grand Rapids, Michigan  • Hartford, Connecticut  • Palm Springs, California  • Wichita, Kansas
SPECIALS: "Big and Little"  • "Relative Riches"
14	Mark Walberg	2009	2010
LOCATIONS: Atlantic City, New Jersey  • Denver, Colorado  • Madison, Wisconsin  • Hartford, Connecticut  • Raleigh, North Carolina  • San Jose, California
SPECIALS: "Naughty or Nice"  • "Simply the Best"
15	Mark Walberg	2010	2011
LOCATIONS: Billings, Montana  • Biloxi, Mississippi  • Des Moines, Iowa  • Miami Beach, Florida  • San Diego, California  • Washington, D.C.
SPECIALS: "Forever Young"  • "Junk in the Trunk"  • "Tasty Treasures"
NOTES: The season introduced the annual "Junk in the Trunk" specials, which include appraisals made during the season's tour stops that were not included in the episodes for those tour stops.
16	Mark Walberg	2011	2012
LOCATIONS: Atlanta, Georgia  • El Paso, Texas  • Eugene, Oregon  • Minneapolis, Minnesota  • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania  • Tulsa, Oklahoma
SPECIALS: "Cats & Dogs"  • "Greatest Gifts"  • "Junk in the Trunk 2"  • "Vintage Atlanta"  • "Vintage Houston"  • "Vintage Phoenix"  • "Vintage Pittsburgh"  • "Vintage San Francisco"  • "Vintage Secaucus"
NOTES: The season introduced "Vintage" specials, each of which repeated an episode from an earlier season and compared each original appraisal with an update of the object's appraised value.
17	Mark Walberg	2012	2013
LOCATIONS: Boston, Massachusetts  • Cincinnati, Ohio  • Corpus Christi, Texas  • Myrtle Beach, South Carolina  • Rapid City, South Dakota  • Seattle, Washington
SPECIALS: "Finders Keepers"  • "Junk in the Trunk 3"  • "Survivors"  • "Vintage Hartford"  • "Vintage Los Angeles"  • "Vintage Louisville"  • "Vintage Milwaukee"  • "Vintage Richmond"  • "Vintage Rochester"
18	Mark Walberg	2013	2014
LOCATIONS: Anaheim, California  • Baton Rouge, Louisiana  • Boise, Idaho  • Detroit, Michigan  • Jacksonville, Florida  • Kansas City, Missouri  • Knoxville, Tennessee  • Richmond, Virginia
SPECIALS: "The Boomer Years"  • "Junk in the Trunk 4.1"  • "Junk in the Trunk 4.2"  • "Manor House Treasures"  • "Vintage Baltimore"  • "Vintage Columbus"  • "Vintage Des Moines"  • "Vintage Providence"  • "Vintage Salt Lake City"  • "Vintage Tampa"  • "Vintage Toronto"
19	Mark Walberg	2014	2015
LOCATIONS: Albuquerque, New Mexico  • Austin, Texas  • Birmingham, Alabama  • Bismarck, North Dakota  • Charleston, West Virginia  • Chicago, Illinois  • Santa Clara, California
SPECIALS: "Celebrating Black Americana"  • "Junk in the Trunk 5.1"  • "Junk in the Trunk 5.2"  • "Treasures on the Move"  • "Vintage Charleston"  • "Vintage Denver"  • "Vintage Las Vegas"  • "Vintage Madison"  • "Vintage Sacramento"  • "Vintage St. Louis"  • "Vintage Tulsa"
NOTES: The last season in which the host appeared on camera, and the last to include a weekly mid-show field segment in which the host toured a local museum or historic site with one of the appraisers to discuss and appraise antiques.
20	Mark Walberg	2015	2016
LOCATIONS: Charleston, South Carolina  • Cleveland, Ohio  • Little Rock, Arkansas  • Omaha, Nebraska  • Spokane, Washington  • Tucson, Arizona
SPECIALS: "The Best of 20"  • "Celebrating Asian-Pacific Heritage"  • "Mansion Masterpieces"  • "Junk in the Trunk 6"  • "Vintage Boston"  • "Vintage Indianapolis"  • "Vintage Miami"  • "Vintage New Orleans"  • "Vintage New York"  • "Vintage San Diego"  • "Vintage Tucson"
NOTES: The show adopted a new logo, new set, new graphics, and new opening credits and unveiled a new format in which the host provided voiceovers at the show's beginning and end but did not appear on camera. The weekly mid-show field segment was discontinued, and brief "snapshot" appraisals of items of lesser value debuted.
21	Mark Walberg	2016	2017
LOCATIONS: Fort Worth, Texas  • Indianapolis, Indiana  • Orlando, Florida  • Palm Springs, California  • Salt Lake City, Utah  • Virginia Beach, Virginia
SPECIALS: "The Civil War Years"  • "Junk in the Trunk 7"  • "Our 50 States Part One"  • "Our 50 States Part Two"  • "Vintage Albuquerque"  • "Vintage Austin"  • "Vintage Charlotte"  • "Vintage Cleveland"  • "Vintage Hot Springs"  • "Vintage Kansas City"  • "Vintage Seattle"
22	Mark Walberg	2017	2018
LOCATIONS: Green Bay, Wisconsin  • Harrisburg, Pennsylvania  • New Orleans, Louisiana  • Portland, Oregon  • St. Louis, Missouri  • Rosecliff, Newport, Rhode Island
SPECIALS: "Celebrating Latino Heritage"  • "Junk in the Trunk 8"  • "Kooky & Spooky"  • "Somethings Wild"  • "Vintage Birmingham"  • "Vintage Chicago"  • "Vintage Oklahoma City"  • "Vintage Omaha"  • "Vintage Portland"  • "Vintage San Francisco"  • "Vintage Savannah"
NOTES: The last season to include tour stops filmed at facilities such as convention centers or ballrooms. The final three episodes, filmed in Newport and shot inside and on the grounds of Rosecliff, unveiled a new format in which the show was taped for the first time at a historic house or other historic site, and included appraisals taped outdoors for the first time, although plans for all the appraisals to take place outdoors were spoiled by rain generated by Hurricane Jose offshore, and most of the appraisals took place inside the mansion or in tents erected on the mansion's grounds. Another new feature of the Newport episodes was the interspersing among appraisals of frequent pauses for segments narrated off-camera by the host about the mansion's construction, history, and features, as well as those of neighboring mansions.
23	Mark Walberg	2018	2019
LOCATIONS: Meadow Brook Hall, Rochester Hills, Michigan  • Ca' d'Zan, Sarasota, Florida  • Hotel del Coronado, Coronado, California  • Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, Oklahoma  • Churchill Downs, Louisville, Kentucky
SPECIALS: "Extraordinary Finds"  • "The Gen X Years"  • "Junk in the Trunk 9"  • "Out of this World"  • "Vintage Bismarck"  • "Vintage Houston 2019"  • "Vintage Memphis"  • "Vintage Providence 2019"  • "Vintage Reno"  • "Vintage St. Paul"  • "Vintage Tampa 2019"
NOTES: Walberg's last season as host, ending a 16-season run. The format introduced with the previous season's Newport episodes became standard for all episodes, with each tour stop taking place at an historic site or museum, with many or all of the appraisals taking place outdoors, separated by brief segments narrated off-camera by the host relating facts about the features and history of the site itself and its surroundings. The Churchill Downs episodes were broadcast in May 2019 to give them a tie-in with the 2019 Kentucky Derby, which was run that month at Churchill Downs. For the first time, the season's "Vintage" episodes included taping locations featured in a "Vintage" episode broadcast during a previous season, denoting these by including the year of the current season's "Vintage" broadcast (i.e., 2019 this season) in the episode's title. "Extraordinary Finds," a special which aired on November 4, 2019, was the 500th episode of Antiques Roadshow.
24	Coral Peña	2019	2020
LOCATIONS: Desert Botanical Garden, Phoenix, Arizona  • McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, Texas  • Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, California  • Bonanzaville, USA, West Fargo, North Dakota  • Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library, Winterthur, Delaware
SPECIALS: "Election Collection"  • "Junk in the Trunk 10"  • "Treasure Fever"  • "Women's Work"  • "Vintage Honolulu"  • "Vintage Los Angeles 2020"  • "Vintage Milwaukee"  • "Vintage Mobile"  • "Vintage Philadelphia 2020"  • "Vintage Salt Lake City"
ANTIQUES ROADSHOW RECUT, Season 1: "Recut: Politically Collect, Part 1"  • "Recut: Politically Collect, Part 2"  • "Recut Newport, Part 1"  • "Recut Newport, Part 2"  • "Recut Newport, Part 3"  • "Recut Newport, Part 4"  • "Recut Newport, Part 5"  • "Recut Newport, Part 6"
NOTES: Coral Peña′s first season as narrator, the title of "host" having been dropped with Walberg's departure at the end of the previous season. Antiques Roadshow Recut, a spin-off of Antiques Roadshow premiered this season; each Recut episode was 30 minutes long and consisted of material previously broadcast in a full-length episode of Antiques Roadshow of the same name during an earlier season.
25	Coral Peña	2020	2021
LOCATIONS: The planned tour was cancelled. It would have made five stops: Boston Public Library, Boston, Massachusetts  • The Stanley Hotel, Estes Park, Colorado  • Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art, Nashville, Tennessee  • Santa Fe's Museum Hill, Santa Fe, New Mexico  • Colonial Williamsburg, Williamsburg, Virginia
SPECIALS: "American Stories"  • "Best Bargains"  • "Body of Work"  • "Celebrating 25 Years"  • "Extraordinary Finds 2"  • "Modern Icons"  • "Tearjerkers"  • "True Colors"  • "Vintage Baltimore 2021, Hour 1"  • "Vintage Baltimore 2021, Hour 2"  • "Vintage Las Vegas 2021, Hour 1"  • "Vintage Las Vegas 2021, Hour 2"  • "Vintage Louisville 2021, Hour 1"  • "Vintage Louisville 2021, Hour 2"  • "Vintage Orlando, Hour 1"  • "Vintage Orlando, Hour 2"  • "Vintage Spokane, Hour 1"  • "Vintage Spokane, Hour 2"  • "Vintage Tucson 2021, Hour 1"  • "Vintage Tucson 2021, Hour 2"  • "Vintage Wichita"
ANTIQUES ROADSHOW RECUT, Season 2: "Recut: American Stories Part 1"  • "Recut: American Stories Part 2"  • "Recut: Out of This World Part 1"  • "Recut: Out of This World Part 2"  • "Recut: Women's Work Part 1"  • "Recut: Women's Work Part 2"  • "Recut: Treasure Fever Part 1"  • "Recut: Treasure Fever Part 2"
NOTES: The 2020 tour would have provided footage for new episodes in 2021, but it was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. During 2020, Antiques Roadshow appraisers instead visited celebrities — actor Gbenga Akinnagbe, performer Rubén Blades, author Marc Brown, comedian Ronny Chieng, musician and composer Paquito D'Rivera, musician Brenda Feliciano, chef Carla Hall, humorist John Hodgman, Olympic figure skater Nancy Kerrigan, television personality Carson Kressley, comedian Jay Leno, performer Luba Mason, actress S. Epatha Merkerson, broadcast journalist Soledad O'Brien, golfer Dottie Pepper, author Jason Reynolds, humorist Mo Rocca, fashion designer Christian Siriano, and cartoonist Mo Willems — to discuss and appraise their antiques. This footage aired in four new episodes in 2021: "Celebrity Edition, Hour 1," "Celebrity Edition, Hour 2," "Celebrity Edition, Hour 3," and "Celebrity Edition, Hour 4." Otherwise, the show relied on specials made up of previously aired appraisals to fill out the season.
26	Coral Peña	2021	2022
LOCATIONS: Omni Mount Washington Resort, Bretton Woods, New Hampshire  • Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton, New Jersey  • Samuel Wadsworth Russell House, Middletown, Connecticut  • Hempstead House, Sands Point, New York  • Colonial Williamsburg, Williamsburg, Virginia
SPECIALS: "Junk in the Trunk 11"  • "Let's Celebrate!"  • "Natural Wonders"  • "Musical Scores"  • "Vintage Grand Rapids, Hour 1"  • "Vintage Grand Rapids, Hour 2"  • "Vintage Palm Springs, Hour 1"  • "Vintage Palm Springs, Hour 2"  • "Vintage San Antonio, Hour 1"  • "Vintage San Antonio, Hour 2"
ANTIQUES ROADSHOW RECUT, Season 3: "Recut: Bonanzaville Part 1"  • "Recut: Bonanzaville Part 2"  • "Recut: Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library Part 1"  • "Recut: Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library Part 2"  • "Recut: Crocker Art Museum Part 1"  • "Recut: Crocker Art Museum Part 2"  • "Recut: Desert Botanical Garden Hour 1"  • "Recut: Desert Botanical Garden Hour 2"
NOTES: Rather than conventional tour stops, guests at each stop were filmed by invitation only on a closed set to ensure safety during the COVID-19 pandemic.
27	Coral Peña	2022	2023
LOCATIONS: Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art, Nashville, Tennessee  • Idaho Botanical Garden, Boise, Idaho  • Santa Fe's Museum Hill, Santa Fe, New Mexico  • Filoli, Woodside, California  • Shelburne Museum, Shelburne, Vermont
SPECIALS: "Did Grandma Lie?"  • "Junk in the Trunk 12"  • "Thrills & Chills"  • "Wags to Riches"  • "Vintage Chattanooga, Hour 1"  • "Vintage Chattanooga, Hour 2"  • "Vintage Dallas, Hour 1"  • "Vintage Dallas, Hour 2"  • "Vintage Hartford 2023, Hour 1"  • "Vintage Hartford 2023, Hour 2"
NOTES: No episodes of Antiques Roadshow Recut aired.
28	Coral Peña	2023	2024
LOCATIONS: LSU Rural Life Museum, Baton Rouge, Louisiana  • North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, North Carolina  • Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens, Akron, Ohio  • Old Sturbridge Village, Sturbridge, Massachusetts  • Alaska Native Heritage Center, Anchorage, Alaska
SPECIALS: "Celebrating Native American Heritage"  • "Extraordinary Finds 3"  • "I Was There"  • "Junk in the Trunk 13"  • "Vintage Atlantic City Hour 1"  • "Vintage Atlantic City Hour 2"  • "Vintage Denver Hour 1"  • "Vintage Denver Hour 2"  • "Vintage Madison Hour 1"  • "Vintage Madison Hour 2"
ANTIQUES ROADSHOW RECUT, Season 4: "Recut: Filoli Part 1"  • "Recut: Filoli Part 2"  • "Recut: Filoli Part 3"  • "Recut: Filoli Part 4"  • "Recut: Idaho Botanical Garden Part 1"  • "Recut: Idaho Botanical Garden Part 2"  • "Recut: Idaho Botanical Garden Part 3"  • "Recut: Idaho Botanical Garden Part 4"
29	Coral Peña	2024	2025
LOCATIONS: Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas  • Denver Botanic Farms at Chatfield Farm, Littleton, Colorado  • Living History Farms, Urbandale, Iowa  • The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland  • Springs Preserve, Las Vegas, Nevada
SPECIALS: "Junk in the Trunk 14"

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Beck

Beck c. 1890
Born	(1830-03-21)March 21, 1830 Freiburg im Breisgau, Grand Duchy of Baden
Died	February 9, 1920(1920-02-09) (aged 89) Vienna, Austria
Allegiance	Austrian Empire (1848–1867) Austria-Hungary (1867–1918) Republic of Austria (1918–1920)
Service / branch	Imperial Austrian Army (1848–1867) Imperial and Royal Army (1867–1907)
Years of service	1848–1907
Rank	Generaloberst (Colonel general)
Known for	Chief of the general staff, Imperial and Royal Army
Battles / wars	Hungarian Revolution of 1848 First Italian War of Independence Brescia Second Italian War of Independence Battle of Magenta Austro-Prussian War Battle of Königgrätz (Sadowa)

Friedrich Graf von Beck-Rzikowsky (21 March 1830 – 9 February 1920), sometimes Friedrich Beck, was an Austrian Generaloberst and Chief of the general staff of the Imperial and Royal Army of Austria-Hungary from 1881 to 1906.

Biography

Beck c. 1890
Born	(1830-03-21)March 21, 1830 Freiburg im Breisgau, Grand Duchy of Baden
Died	February 9, 1920(1920-02-09) (aged 89) Vienna, Austria
Allegiance	Austrian Empire (1848–1867) Austria-Hungary (1867–1918) Republic of Austria (1918–1920)
Service / branch	Imperial Austrian Army (1848–1867) Imperial and Royal Army (1867–1907)
Years of service	1848–1907
Rank	Generaloberst (Colonel general)
Known for	Chief of the general staff, Imperial and Royal Army
Battles / wars	Hungarian Revolution of 1848 First Italian War of Independence Brescia Second Italian War of Independence Battle of Magenta Austro-Prussian War Battle of Königgrätz (Sadowa)

Friedrich Graf von Beck-Rzikowsky (21 March 1830 – 9 February 1920), sometimes Friedrich Beck, was an Austrian Generaloberst and Chief of the general staff of the Imperial and Royal Army of Austria-Hungary from 1881 to 1906.

Military career

Early years

Beck entered the Imperial Austrian Army in the service of the Austrian Empire in 1846 and served as a Leutnant (second lieutenant) and then as an Oberleutnant (first lieutenant) in the infantry, the pioneers, and then the quartermaster general's staff. In 1848 he took part in fighting in the Hungarian Revolution and in 1849 in the storming of Brescia during the First Italian War of Independence. During the Autumn Crisis of 1850, he was stationed in Bohemia as part of an Austrian mobilization to confront the Kingdom of Prussia over Prussia's proposal to create the Erfurt Union, resulting in Prussia backing down and the reestablishment of the German Confederation. During the early 1850s, he was stationed in the Vienna garrison.

Beck was among the first students admitted to the Kriegsschule, the Austrian staff college, from which he graduated near the top of his class in 1854, and that year he received a promotion to Hauptmann (captain) and an appointment to the general staff. He then served on occupation duty in Moldavia and Wallachia. In 1857 he took part in a cartographic and geographic expedition in southern Hungary.

Beck distinguished himself as chief of staff of General Sigmund Freiherr von Reischach's division in Italy in 1859 during the Second Italian War of Independence. Finding that the Reischach Division had no maps of Piedmont, where the division fought forces of the Kingdom of Sardinia, he searched for maps in bookshops and stationery stores. Because of a breakdown in communications, the division was late to arrive on the scene of the Battle of Magenta, and he was seriously wounded, shot in the knee, while urging the division's troops forward on 4 June 1859. He was taken by train to Vienna to recover from his wound and missed the rest of the war, much to his dismay. However, in 1861 he was elevated to the Austrian knighthood as a Knight of the Order of the Iron Crown, Third Class, with war decoration for bravery in the face of the enemy.

Rivalry with Prussia

Meanwhile, Beck was stationed in Frankfurt-am-Main in 1860 to assist Austria's representative to the German Federal Army, General Leopold Freiherr Rzikowsky von Dobrzicz, in administrative matters. The assignment made him aware of the rivalry between the Austrian Empire and and the Kingdom of Prussia for leadership and control of the German Confederation. In 1861, the year he was promoted to major, he toured the western German railway network to determine the improvements needed in case France invaded the German Confederation, during which he worked with Prussian military personnel. Beck was deeply impressed by Prussian military methods and came to admire the chief of the Prussian General Staff, Generalleutnant (Lieutenant General) Helmuth von Moltke the Elder.

By 1862, the year in which he became adjutant to Baron Heinrich von Heß, Beck had begun to urge the Austrian Empire to enter into a formal military convention with the Kingdom of Hanover allowing the German Federal Army to base mostly Austrian troops in Hanover, both allowing them to react quickly to a French invasion of the German Confederation and to weaken any Prussian military move against the Austrian Empire by splitting the eastern and western portions of the Kingdom of Prussia, but his idea was rejected. In 1863 he became personal aide-de-camp to Emperor of Austria Franz Josef I. He held this position until 1881, winning the emperor's confidence and exercising the greatest influence on all military questions.

In 1864, Beck assisted Feldmarschalleutnant (Lieutenant Field Marshal) Ludwig von Gablenz, the commander of the VI Corps, in military preparations for Second Schleswig War against Denmark. The war that year resulted in a victory for the German Confederation, which took control of the provinces of Schleswig and Holstein from Denmark. Beck believed that Prussia would attempt to annex both provinces, and when he returned to Vienna the Austrian Ministry of War tasked him to draw up plans for war against Prussia if Prussia attempted the annexation. Beck assumed that the Prussians would move into Bohemia in the event of war and his plan acordingly called for the Imperial Austrian Army to assemble at Gitschin to counter the Prussians.

Beck was promoted to Oberstleutnant (lieutenant colonel) in 1865. When the Austro-Prussian War broke out in June 1866, he personally convinced the Kingdom of Saxony to side with the Austrian Empire, and he became the emperor's confidential agent at the headquarters of Feldzeugmeister Ludwig von Benedek, commander of the Northern Army, where he encouraged Benedek to move forward to Gitschin. Benedek, however, followed his staff's advice to keep the Northern Army in Moravia to counter any possible Prussian attack from Silesia, although no evidence existed that the Prussians planned such a attack. The Prussians occupied Saxony and, as Beck had anticipated, moved into Bohemia in late June 1866. Moltke, commanding the Prussian Army, then ordered his two field armies to meet in Bohemia in July 1866 to begin a march on Vienna, again as Beck had expected. The Prussians and Austrians clashed in the Battle of Königgrätz on 3 July 1866, resulting in a Prussian victory. Beck then convinced Benedek to withdraw the Northern Army out of Moravia and reorganize it north of Vienna, which probably saved it from destruction by Prussian forces advancing from Bohemia and Silesia. The war ended in the Austrian Empire's defeat on 22 July 1866, leaving Prussia to dominate a new North German Confederation that excluded Austria.

In carrying out special missions for the emperor in the theater of war, Beck became known in wilder circles in the Austrian military. He also gained a reputation for having a talent to correctly anticipate enemy intentions and movements during a conflict.

1867–1881

Beck served as the Austrian military's representative in negotiations that resulted in the Ausgleich, the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, which established the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary. The compromise included the creation of the Austro-Hungarian Imperial and Royal Army (known as the Common Army), the Imperial-Royal Landwehr (the army of the Austrian half of the monarchy), and the Royal Hungarian Honvéd (the Kingdom of Hungary's army). Beck then set about establishing a system of universal conscription on the Prussian model.

In January 1868, Feldmarschalleutnant (Lieutenant Field Marshal) Fritz Kuhn von Kuhnenfeld became Austria-Hungary's minister of war. Beck agreed with Kuhn that the ministry of war's bureaucracy needed to be reduced and streamlined to make it more effective in future wars, but Kuhn — an Austrian patriot who opposed Prussian power and influence — found Beck's goals of adopting features of the Prussian military model, such as a universal conscription system for men and independence of the general staff from the ministry of war, unpalatable. This resulted in constant conflict between Beck and Kuhn. Kuhn succeeded in making the general staff subservient to the ministry of war, and when the Franco-Prussian War broke out in 1870 urged Austria-Hungary come to France's aid, mobilizing against both Prussia and the Russian Empire in the belief that Russia would attack Austria-Hungary if it allied with France. Kuhn's ministry performed poorly, proving unable to mobilize an effective army even after making huge demands on the Austro-Hungarian economy to support such a mobilization, and France's poor performance in the war further undermined Kuhn's reputation.

Kuhn resigned in 1874, and Alexander von Koller succeeded him as minister of war. Koller agreed with Beck that the general staff should be independent of the ministry of war,

During the Hungarian Crisis (1905), Beck developed plans ("Case U" for Hungary) to suppress a possible uprising in Hungary by force. [ 1 ] In 1906, at the insistence of the heir to the throne Franz Ferdinand, the emperor reluctantly had to have the 76-year-old field marshal replaced by Lieutenant Field Marshal Conrad von Hötzendorf . In recognition of his many years of service, he was elevated to the rank of count and subsequently appointed captain of the Arcièren Bodyguard .

He retired at the age of 77, and was appointed commander of the Imperial Guard. He died in Vienna, Austria, on 9 February 1920.

In 1913, the imperial approval was given for his name to be united with that of his wife's family, whose male line had died out, a Baroness Rzikowsky von Dobrschitz.

In 1916, Beck was appointed to the newly created rank of Colonel General.

Beck-Rzikowsky was popularly called “Vice Emperor”.

On 5 October 1905, Beck married Baroness Bianca Sylvia von Lazarini (1882-1949), the daughter of Baron Oskar Hippolyt von Lazarini and the noble Helene von Rotarest. The couple's eldest daughter, Alice (* 1906), married Alfred Schwinner , the legation secretary of the Austrian embassy in Vienna, in September 1929. [ 2 ]

History

The 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill off the coast of California on January 28, 1969, was the largest oil spill in history at the time and first to receive widespread television coverage in the United States. A public outcry followed demanding greater protection of the natural environment, leading to a series of legislative actions authorizing new United States Government agencies and programs. Among these actions were bills introduced in the United States Congress in 1971 to protect marine areas. The United States Senate version of the bill originally included Title III, a last-minute addition which authorized the creation of marine sanctuaries but was deleted over concerns about the authority of the United States to establish protected zones in international waters. After a bitter debate and negotiations between the Senate and the United States House of Representatives, Title III was restored and the Congress passed the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act (MPRSA) in 1972. President Richard Nixon signed the MPRSA into law on October 23, 1972.

As of 2022, Title III of the MPRSA remains the only legal authority to address marine conservation in U.S. waters from a holistic perspective taking into account the entire ecosystem. It authorizes the United States Secretary of Commerce to assess, designate, and manage national marine sanctuaries, requiring the secretary to consult with other U.S. Government and U.S. state government officials and conduct public reviews during the designation process for each sanctuary, as well as to issue regulations for each sanctuary. It assigns management of the sanctuaries to the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

NOAA's first action to create the national marine sanctuary program took place in November 1973, when hosted a multidisciplinary workshop of experts examined the existing U.S. national park system and the park systems of various states and considered the views of various scientists, government officials, user groups, and marine industries. By 1974, NOAA had issued the first regulations for the National Marine Sanctuary program. In 1975, NOAA designated the first sanctuary, the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary, a circular area covering about 1 square mile (0.76 sq nmi; 2.6 km²) in the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, to protect the wreck of the ironclad warship USS Monitor, a monitor of American Civil War fame which sank in 1862. Later in 1975 it designated the second sanctuary, the Key Largo National Marine Sanctuary, which protected 103 square miles (78 sq nmi; 270 km²) of coral reef habitats in the Florida Reef off Florida's John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park.

Despite this progress, the National Marine Sanctuary program was a low priority, unpublicized, and unfunded or underfunded effort within NOAA and by 1978 had come under criticism from conservationists for its limited number of sanctuaries, its slow pace in identifying and designating new ones, and NOAA's failure to request significant funding for it. NOAA developed a List of Recommended Areas (LRA) to improve the transparency and clarity of its designation efforts. To be listed, NOAA required a nominated area to function as a habitat preserve, species preserve, natural area to be left undeveloped field laboratory, or recreational and esthetic area, or to have some combination of these attributes. Sanctuary designation required a detailed description of the site, public hearings, and NOAA consultations with U.S. Government and state government agencies. NOAA whittled down 169 nominations it had received to a list of 68 recommended areas, of which seven were active candidates undergoing the formal designation process, and published this list as the LRA on March 19, 1979.

Designated process never completed

Eight areas began a sanctuary designation but never completed it.

• Georges Bank (off New England): Nominated in May 1977 by the Gloucester Fishermen's Wives Association, Boat Owners United, Seafood Producers Association, New Bedford Fishermen's Union, Chatham Seafood Cooperative, Old Harbor Fish Company, National Coalition for Marine Conservation, and Conservation Law Foundation of New England. Listed as an active candidate on August 10, 1979. Withdrawn from consideration after three public hearings after NOAA determined that designation of the area would be controversial and that the area already had adequate protection.
• Saint Thomas (United States Virgin Islands: NOAA held a public workshop in 1979 to consider a sanctuary that would protect the last sizable intact mangrove forest, extensive coral reefs, and several shipwrecks in the U.S. Virgin Islands. In June 1980, NOAA issued the draft regulations and draft management plan for the site, proposing that the governemnt of the U.S. Virgin Islands establish the primary regulations for the proposed sanctuary. After the legislature of the Virgin Islands failed to enact the proposed regulations, NOAA suspended the designation process in March 1982.
• Culebra and Culebrita Islands/Cordillera Reef (Puerto Rico): Listed as an active candidate in 1980. Removed from consideration in July 1981 due to local opposition and NOAA's inability to managoe so many simultaneous designations.
• La Parguera (Puerto Rico): Listed as an active candidate in 1980. Designation process began in July 1981.NOAA published the draft regulations and draft management plan for the proposed sanctuary in March 1983. A new governor of Puerto Rico had taken office and promised to veto any inclusion of Puerto Rico's territorial waters in a sanctuary to prevent a loss of Puerto Rican authority to the U.S. Government, and the Puerto Rico Department of Natural Resources withdrew its support for the sanctuary. Well-orchestrated anti-sanctuary campaigns arose which spread false information about the proposed sanctuary — including that it would become a base for U.S. missiles targeting Central America and that the sanctuary would shut down local commercial fishing businesses — and public meetings became rowdy and contentious. NOAA withdrew the nomination in 1984.
• Ten Fathom Ledge/Big Rock (North Carolina): In 1985, NOAA announced the area as an active candidate for consideration as a sanctuary to protect the area's unique mix of benthic communities) as active candidates for designation. Despite mostly positive public comments on the idea, NOAA dropped the site from further consideration in February 1986 because of the competing demands made by the ongoing designations of Cordell Bank and Flower Garden Banks.
• Norfolk Canyon (Virginia): In 1985, NOAA announced the area as an active candidate for consideration as a sanctuary to protect its deep-water corals and marine invertebrates. It held scoping meetings in the summer of 1985 and completed a draft environmental impact statement in 1992. However, no apparent threats to the site were identified, and NOAA discontinued consideration of the site in 1997.

Carlo Mirabello at sea
History
Kingdom of Italy
Name	Carlo Mirabello
Namesake	Carlo Mirabello (1847–1910), Italian admiral and politician
Builder	Gio. Ansaldo & C., Sestri Ponente, Italy
Laid down	21 November 1914
Launched	21 December 1915
Completed	24 August 1916
Reclassified	from scout cruiser to destroyer 1938
Fate	Sunk by mine 21 May 1941
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type	Mirabello-class destroyer
Displacement	1,784 t (1,756 long tons) (normal) 2,040 t (2,010 long tons) (deep load)
Length	103.75 m (340 ft 5 in)
Beam	9.74 m (31 ft 11 in)
Draught	3.6 m (11 ft 10 in) (deep load)
Installed power	4 Yarrow boilers 44,000 hp (33,000 kW)
Propulsion	2 shafts; 2 geared steam turbines
Speed	35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph)
Range	2,300 nmi (4,300 km) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement	8 officers and 161 enlisted men
Armament	8 × single 102 mm (4 in) guns 2 × single 76 mm (3 in) AA guns 2 × twin 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes 100 mines

Francesco Stocco was the last of four Giuseppe Sirtori-class destroyers built for the Italian Regia Marina (Royal Navy) during World War I. She participated in that war's Adriatic campaign. During the interwar period, she took part in operations related to the Fiume crisis and was reclassified as a torpedo boat in 1929. In World War II, she served primarily on convoy escort duties in the Adriatic campaign as part of the broader Battle of the Mediterranean from 1940 to 1943. Shortly after Italy switched sides in the war, she was sunk by German aircraft in September 1943.

Design

Main article: Giuseppe Sirtori-class destroyer

The ships of the Giuseppe Sirtori class were 72.5 m (237 ft 10 in) long at the waterline and 73.54 m (241 ft 3 in) long overall, with a beam of 7.34 m (24 ft 1 in) and a mean draft of 2.7 m (8 ft 10 in). They displaced 709 t (698 long tons) standard and up to 914 t (900 long tons) at full load. They had a crew of 98 officers and enlisted men. The ships were powered by two steam turbines, with steam provided by four Thornycroft water-tube boilers. The engines were rated to produce 15,500 shaft horsepower (11,600 kW) for a top speed of 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph), though in service they reached as high as 33.6 knots (62.2 km/h; 38.7 mph) from around 17,000 shp (13,000 kW). At a more economical speed of 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph), the ships could cruise for 1,700 nautical miles (3,100 km; 2,000 mi).

Franco Stocco was armed with a main battery of six 102 mm (4 in) guns. Her light armament consisted of a pair of 40 mm (1.6 in) anti-aircraft guns and two 6.5 mm (0.26 in) machine guns. She was also equipped with four 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes in two twin launchers, one on each side of the ship. The ship also carried ten naval mines.

Construction and commissioning

Francesco Stocco was laid down at the Cantieri navali Odero shipyard in Sestri Ponente, Italy, on 2 February 1916. She was on launched on 5 June 1917 and completed and commissioned on 19 July 1917.

Service history

World War I

1917

Upon commissioning, Francesco Stocco deployed to the northern Adriatic Sea for service in the ongoing Adriatic campaign of World War I. During the night of 13–14 August 1917, Francesco Stocco got underway from Venice, Italy, with the rest of her squadron (the destroyers Giovanni Acerbi, Giuseppe Sirtori, and Vincenzo Giordano Orsini,), another destroyer squadron composed of Animoso, Ardente, Audace, and Giuseppe Cesare Abba, and a destroyer section composed of Carabiniere and Pontiere to intercept an Austro-Hungarian Navy force made up of the destroyers Dinara, Reka, Scharfschütze, Streiter, and Velebit and six torpedo boats which had supported an air raid by 32 aircraft against Venice which hit the San Giovanni e Paolo Hospital, killing 14 people and injuring approximately 30 others. Only Vincenzo Giordano Orsini made brief and fleeting contact with the Austro-Hungarian ships. She had to discontinue her pursuit when she approached Austro-Hungarian minefields and lost sight of the Austro-Hungarian formation, which then returned to its base without difficulty.

On 29 September 1917, Franceco Stocco put to sea with the rest of her squadron (Giovanni Acerbi, Giuseppe Cesare Abba, and Vincenzo Giordano Orsini), the scout cruiser Sparviero (flagship of Prince Ferdinando of Udine, who had overall command of the formation), and a destroyer squadron made up of Ardente, Ardito, and Audace to support a bombing attack by 10 Italian Royal Army Caproni aircraft against Pola in Austria-Hungary. At about the same time, Austro-Hungarian seaplanes attacked Ferrara, Italy, setting fire to the airship M.8. An Austro-Hungarian force made up of the destroyers Huszár, Streiter, Turul , and Velebit and the torpedo boats TB 90F, TB 94F, and TB 98M, as well as a fourth torpedo boat, according to some sources, was at sea to support the attack. Alerted to the Austro-Hungarian air attack, the Italian ships headed for the waters off Rovinj (known to the Italians as Rovigno) on the assumption that the Austro-Hungarian ships would pass through the area while returning to base. At 22:03, Sparviero sighted unknown ships about 2 nautical miles (3.7 km; 2.3 mi) away. They were, in fact, the Austro-Hungarians, and at 22:05 the opposing groups opened fire on one another. The gunfire became intense when the opposing ships closed to a range of 2,000 metres (2,200 yards). According to Italian sources, the clash ended at 22:30, when the two formations lost contact because they were on divergent courses and, although the two sides regained contact at 22:45, they lost it completely after a few minutes without achieving significant results. According to Austro-Hungarian sources, Sparviero was hit and suffered serious damage, after which she left the battle line, prompting the other Italian ships to cease fire and withdraw as well, while on the Austro-Hungarian side Velebit was damaged by an Italian projectile which disabled her steering system and started a fire. Streiter took Velebit in tow, but then two Italian destroyers arrived on the scene and closed to a range of 1,000 metres (1,100 yards) before moving away after Streiter, Velebit and the torpedo boats opened fire on them.

After its defeat in the Battle of Caporetto on the Italian front, the Italian Royal Army retreated 150 kilometres (93 mi) to the Piave River in November 1917. During the retreat, Francesco Stocco and the rest of her squadron had orders to slow advancing Austro-Hungarian Army troops by bombarding them in enfilade and to oppose Austro-Hungarian ships attempting to bombard Italian forces. At 10:35 on 16 November 1917, the Austro-Hungarian coastal defense ships Budapest and Wien arrived off Cortellazzo, Italy, and began a bombardment targeting the Italian lines and artillery batteries. Italian coastal artillery immediately returned fire, and Italian aircraft made three attacks on the Austro-Hungarian ships. Budapest and Wien ceased fire at 11:52 to avoid interfering with Austro-Hungarian troops on the front and withdrew, but they returned to the area at 13:30 and resumed fire at 13:35. Francesco Stocco departed Venice with Animoso, Ardente, Audace, Giovanni Acerbi, Giuseppe Cesare Abba, and Vincenzo Giordano Orsini to counter the bombardment. Operating west of the area under bombardment, the destroyers supported an attack by the Italian motor torpedo boats MAS 13 and MAS 15 which, combined with the three air attacks and attacks by the Italian submarines F11 and F13, interfered with the bombardment and ultimately forced Budapest and Wien to withdraw.

On 28 November 1917, an Austro-Hungarian Navy force consisting of Dinara, Huszár, Reka, Streiter, the destroyers Dikla and Triglav, and the torpedo boats TB 78, TB 79, TB 86, and TB 90 attacked the Italian coast. While Dikla, Huszár, Streiter, and the torpedo boats unsuccessfully attacked first Porto Corsini and then Rimini, Dinara, Reka, and Triglav bombarded a railway near the mouth of the Metauro, damaging a train, the railway tracks, and telegraph lines. The Austro-Hungarian ships then reunited and headed back to the main Austro-Hungarian naval base at Pola. Francesco Stocco, Animoso, Aquila, Ardente, Ardito, Audace, Giovanni Acerbi, Giuseppe Cesare Abba, Giuseppe Sirtori, Sparviero, and Vincenzo Giordano Orsini departed Venice and, together with reconnaissance seaplanes, pursued the Austro-Hungarian formation. The seaplanes attacked the Austro-Hungarians without success, and the Italian ships had to give up the chase when they did not sight the Austro-Hungarians until they neared Cape Promontore on the southern coast of Istria, as continuing beyond it would bring them too close to Pola.

1918

On 10 January 1918 Francesco Stocco received a bronze plaque commissioned by the Province of Catanzaro made by Domenico Cucchiari of Rome, where the ship's namesake, the Italian patriot and general Francesco Stocco, was born. Baron Evellino Marincola of San Floro delivered the plaque on behalf of the Provincial Deputation of Catanzaro.

On 10 February 1918 Francesco Stocco, Ardito, Aquila, Ardente, Giovanni Acerbi, and Giuseppe Sirtori — and, according to some sources, the motor torpedo boat MAS 18 — steamed to Porto Levante, now a part of Porto Viro, in case they were needed to support an incursion into the harbor at Bakar (known to the Italians as Buccari) by MAS motor torpedo boats. Sources disagree on whether they remained in port or put to sea to operate in distant support, but in any event, their intervention was unnecessary. The motor torpedo boats carried out their raid, which became known in Italy as the Beffa di Buccari ("Bakar mockery").

World War II

After the Italian surrender to the Allies on 3 September 1943, German forces launched a major attack against their erstwhile ally. Francesco Stocco was attacked and sunk by German bombers on 24 September while cruising off Corfu.

Bibliography

• Brescia, Maurizio (2012). Mussolini's Navy: A Reference Guide to the Regina Marina 1930–45. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-544-8.
• Fraccaroli, Aldo (1970). Italian Warships of World War I. London: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0105-7.
• Fraccaroli, Aldo (1968). Italian Warships of World War II. Shepperton, UK: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0002-6.
• Gray, Randal, ed. (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-907-8.
• Roberts, John (1980). "Italy". In Chesneau, Roger (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. New York: Mayflower Books. pp. 280–317. ISBN 0-8317-0303-2.
• Rohwer, Jürgen (2005). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (Third Revised ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-119-2.
• Whitley, M. J. (1988). Destroyers of World War 2: An International Encyclopedia. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-85409-521-8.

External links

• Carlo Mirabello Marina Militare website

Conference winners and tournaments

The first college basketball game played in the United States had taken place on January 20, 1892, at the Training School of the International YMCA College (later known as Springfield College) in Springfield, Massachusetts, and the first game played in public had pitted the students against the faculty at the same school on March 11, 1892, with a crowd of 200 seeing the students post a 5–1 victory. A college had played a full schedule of games for the first time in 1894, when Chicago posted a 6–1 record, and the first game between two college teams had occurred on February 9, 1895, when the Minnesota School of Agriculture had defeated Hamline 9–3 in a game with nine players allowed on the court at the same time for each team.

Italian destroyer Angelo Bassini
Also known as	Comedy Spotlight
Genre	Anthology series
Presented by	Art Gilmore
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	8
Production
Running time	30 minutes
Original release
Network	CBS
Release	June 28, 1960 (1960-06-28) – September 19, 1962 (1962-09-19)

The Comedy Spot is an American anthology television series that aired on CBS in the summers of 1960, 1961 (when it was known as Comedy Spotlight), and 1962. The 30-minute episodes consisted of a combination of unsold television pilots and repeats of episodes aired previously on other anthology series.

Background

By the mid-1950s, the practice of television executives of ordering dozens of pilots for proposed television series each year – far more than their networks could possibly broadcast as series – had created a sizable body of unsold pilots that had never aired. By 1954, the American television industry had begun to consider the idea of packaging these unsold pilots in anthology series and airing them during the summer, providing television networks with a way of both providing fresh programming during the summer rerun season and recouping at least some of the expense of producing them. ABC and NBC pioneered the concept in the summer of 1956, simultaneously premiering G.E. Summer Originals (on ABC) and Sneak Preview (on NBC), but CBS did not air its first two such series, The Comedy Spot and New Comedy Showcase, until the summer of 1960.

Art Gilmore hosted The Comedy Spot. Its name and content changed from year to year. In the summer of 1960, it consisted of a combination of unsold pilots and reruns of episodes of General Electric Theater and NBC's Colgate Theater. It was retitled Comedy Spotlight for the summer of 1961, and that year was composed entirely of reruns of General Electric Theater episodes. For its final run in the summer of 1962, it returned to the name The Comedy Spot and consisted entirely of unsold pilots, one of them a repeat of an episode aired in 1960 on New Comedy Showcase.

On July 19, 1960, The Comedy Spot aired the unsold pilot "Head of the Family," which told the story of Robbie Petrie, a writer for a comedy television show who has trouble explaining to his son Ritchie what he does at work. With a revamped cast but largely the same characters, a reworked version of "Head of the Family" became the successful situation comedy The Dick Van Dyke Show, which aired from 1961 to 1966, and the plot of "Head of the Family" served as the basis of The Dick Van Dyke Show′s February 1962 episode "Father of the Week."

Broadcast history

The Comedy Spot ran for 11 episodes over the course of 13 weeks in the summer of 1960, airing on CBS from 9:30 to 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday evenings. It premiered on June 28, and its last episode aired on September 20. It returned in the summer of 1961 the title Comedy Spotlight and moved to the 9:00–9:30 p.m. time slot on Tuesdays, premiering on July 25 and concluding its season on September 19. Reverting to the name The Comedy Spot and returning to the 9:30–10:00 p.m. time slot on Tuesdays, it had its last run in the summer of 1962, premiering on. Its last episode aired on.

Episodes

Season 1 (The Comedy Spot, 1960)

SOURCES

No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
1	"Ben Blue's Brothers"	Norman Z. McLeod	Russell Beggs & Marion Hargrove	June 28, 1960 (1960-06-28)
A vaudevillian and his three brothers — a wealthy snob, a tramp, and an average guy — interact in a box at the opera. Ben Blue, appearing as himself in portraying the vaudevillian, played all four brothers. Also starring Ruth McDevitt, Barbara Heller, Robin Raymond, Lillian Culver, Yvette Vickers, Jane McGowan, and Fred Essler. An unsold pilot filmed in 1958.
2	"McGarry and Me"	Unknown	Unknown	July 5, 1960 (1960-07-05)
A romantic comedy about an errant policeman. An unsold pilot starring Michael O'Shea and Virginia Mayo.
3	"Head of the Family"	Don Weis	Carl Reiner	July 19, 1960 (1960-07-19)
After Robbie Petrie, a writer for a television series, is asked to write an amusing bulletin for a parent–teacher association function, he has trouble explaining to his son Ritchie what he does at work, so his wife Laura talks a skeptical Robbie into taking Ritchie to work for a day to see what he does. Starring Carl Reiner, Barbara Britton, Morty Gunty, Sylvia Miles, Gary Morgan, Jack Wakefield, Milt Kamen, Jean Sincere, Nancy Kenyon, Joey Trent, and Mannie Sloane. An unsold pilot which was reworked with a new cast to become The Dick Van Dyke Show of 1961–1966, which used the pilot's plot as the basis for its 1962 episode "Father of the Week."
4	"I Was a Bloodhound"	Sidney Lanfield	Laurence Marks & Milton Pascal	August 2, 1960 (1960-08-02)
A private investigator with an unusually good sense of smell takes on a case in which a baby Indian elephant disappears from a hotel room and its owner receives a ransom demand. Starring Ernie Kovacs, Lawrence Dobkin, Shirley Mitchell, Bart Bradley, Robert Nash, Michael Garrett, Yvonne White, Joseph Mell, Frank Sully, Phil Arnold, and Tony Michaels. A repeat of an episode of General Electric Theater that originally aired on February 15, 1959.
5	"The Incredible Jewel Robbery"	Mitchell Leisen	Dallas Gaultois & James Edmiston	August 9, 1960 (1960-08-09)
In an episode performed in pantomime, two jewel thieves plan the perfect crime, involving one dressed as a police officer and drving up to "arrest" the other in a car marked as a police car and both of them disguising themseves as Groucho Marx. Starring Chico Marx, Harpo Marx, Benny Rubin, Joy Rogers, Russell Custer, Charles Fogel, and Hans Moebus, with a cameo appearance by Groucho Marx. A repeat of an episode of General Electric Theater that originally aired on March 8, 1959.
6	"The Sky's the Limit"	Paul Harrison	Berni Gould & Paul Harrison	August 16, 1960 (1960-08-16)
Three young United States Navy officers have misadventures while undergoing naval aviation training at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida. An unsold pilot starring Doug McClure, Ross Martin, Joey Forman and Ralph Dumke.
7	"Welcome to Washington"	Norman Tokar	Inez Asher & Whitfield Cook	August 23, 1960 (1960-08-23)
After a newly elected congresswoman arrives in Washington, D.C., she discovers that there is a lot more to representing of her legislative district than merely passing legislation. Starring Claudette Colbert, Elvia Allman, Florenz Ames, Eric Anderson, Herb Butterfield, Malcolm Cassell, Herb Ellis, Leif Erickson, Shelley Fabares, Tony Henning, Doris Packer, Maudie Prickett, and Paula Winslowe. An unsold pilot for a proposed series, The Claudette Colbert Show, which previously aired on NBC on Colgate Theatre on September 30, 1958.
8	"Meet the Girls"	Charles Barton	Roger Clay	August 30, 1960 (1960-08-30)
Three young women from small towns who styled as "The Brain," "The Face," and "The Shape" move to New York City in search of fame, fortune, and marriage. An unsold pilot starring Mamie Van Doren, Gale Robbins, Virginia Field, John Bryant, Darlene Fields, Cynthia Leighton, and Ralph Sanford.
9	"Adventures of a Model"	Norman Tokar	Sidney Sheldon	September 6, 1960 (1960-09-06)
A fashion model must endure an agonizing series of athletic challenges while on the job. Starring Joanne Dru, Roxanne Arlen, Phil Arnold, Jimmy Cross, John Emery, Bob Jellison, William Kendis, Nancy Kulp, William Redfield, Charles Wagenheim, and Roland Winters. A repeat of an episode which previously aired on NBC on Colgate Theatre on August 19, 1958.
10	"Full Speed for Anywhere"	Don Taylor	Jack Elinson & Charles Isaacs	September 13, 1960 (1960-09-13)
After orders for action finally come through, a yeoman aboard a United States Coast Guard cutter comes down with the mumps, and the ship's commanding officer and crew conspire to get him ashore unnoticed. An unsold pilot starring Stubby Kaye, Conrad Janis, George Dunn, Glen Turnbull, Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez, Edwin Bruce, and Jonathan Hale.
11	"Tom, Dick and Harry"	Oscar Rudolph	Ben Starr	September 20, 1960 (1960-09-20)
Newly discharged frim the United States Army, three war buddies decide to abandon their individual civilian careers and open a restaurant together — and decide that the best way to get a free lease on a restaurant is for one of them to marry the owner's daughter. An unsold pilot starring Gene Nelson, Joe Mantell, Marvin Kaplan, Cheryl Calloway, Pamela Dean, Howard McNear, Hazel Shermet, Irene Ryan, and Mavis Davenport.

Season 2 (Comedy Spotlight, 1961)

SOURCES

No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
1	"Bachelor's Brdie"	Michael Leisen	Mortimer Braus & Joseph Hoffman	July 25, 1961 (1961-07-25)
When a confirmed bachelor visits Vermont to write a book, he meets a young woman who falls in love with him. Starring Fred MacMurray, Patricia Crowley, Virginia Field, Lawrence Keating, and Sarah Selby. A repeat of an episode of General Electric Theater that originally aired on February 20, 1955.
2	"Love Came Late"	Robert B. Sinclair	Robert Carson & Leon Gordon	August 1, 1961 (1961-08-01)
When a United States Army veteran and father attending college and struggling to adjust from military to civilian life has poor grades, his professor is unsympathetic toward him until the veteran's mother intervenes and uses her feminine charm to show the professor that there is more to higher education than passing grades. Starring Melvyn Douglas, Darryl Hickman, Myrna Loy, David Armstrong, Jack Chefe, Alan DeWitt, Robert Ellis, Joseph Kearns, Jennifer Lea, Ted Mapes, Harry Strang, Max Power, and Frank Tweddell. A repeat of an episode of General Electric Theater that originally aired on November 17, 1957.
3	"Blaze of Glory"	Don Weis	James B. Allardice & Paul W. Fairman	August 8, 1961 (1961-08-08)
A plumber responds to a late-night call and finds himself involved with a gang of jewel thieves. Starring Lou Costello, Jonathan Harris, Joyce Jameson, Lurene Tuttle, Joseph Martorano, Herman Rudin, Olan Soulé, and Phil Arnold. A repeat of an episode of General Electric Theater that originally aired on September 21, 1958.
4	"Blaze of Glory"	Don Weis	James B. Allardice & Paul W. Fairman	August 15, 1961 (1961-08-15)
A meek plumber responds to a late-night call and experiences various misadventures, including finding himself involved with a gang of jewel thieves. Starring Lou Costello, Jonathan Harris, Joyce Jameson, Lurene Tuttle, Joseph Martorano, Herman Rudin, Olan Soulé, and Phil Arnold. A repeat of an episode of General Electric Theater that originally aired on September 21, 1958.
5	"A New York Knight"	James Neilson	Jameson Brewer & Richard Connell	August 22, 1961 (1961-08-22)
A lone derelict who finds sympathy from no one buys an equally friendless horse and finds himself in the unaccustomed position of having to earn a living for them both. Starring Charles Laughton, Gavin Gordon, Nestor Paiva, Irving Bacon, Anthony Eustrel, Earle Hodgins, Addison Richards, Bartlett Robinson, Ted Wedderspoon, Norma DeHaan, Gil Donaldson, Boyd "Red" Morgan, and John Ayres. A repeat of an episode of General Electric Theater that originally aired on March 2, 1958.
6	"The Glorious Gift of Molly Malloy"	Herschel Daugherty	Jameson Brewer	August 29, 1961 (1961-08-29)
An Irish schoolteacher refuses to follow the stringent principles a professor has set up as the foundation of modern education, and her actions almost disrupt the entire country. Starring Greer Garson, John Abbott, Jimmy Fields, John Gallaudet, Charles Herbert, John Hoyt, J. M. Kerrigan, and Ludwig Stössel. A repeat of an episode of General Electric Theater that originally aired on September 23, 1956.
7	"Miracle at the Opera"	Mitchell Leisen	Frank Gabrielson	September 5, 1961 (1961-09-05)
A lonely flutist and music teacher is devoted to his dog, in whose company he finds great comfort. Starring Ed Wynn, Barbara Morrison, Sig Ruman, Fortunio Bonanova, Maggie Pierce, Cyril Delevanti, Fritz Feld, Paul Frees, Robert Nash, and Jack Rice. A repeat of an episode of General Electric Theater that originally aired on September 20, 1959.
8	"The Incredible Jewel Robbery"	Mitchell Leisen	Dallas Gaultois & James Edmiston	September 12, 1960 (1960-09-12)
In an episode performed in pantomime, two jewel thieves plan the perfect crime, involving one dressed as a police officer and driving up to "arrest" the other in a car marked as a police car and both of them disguising themseves as Groucho Marx. Starring Chico Marx, Harpo Marx, Benny Rubin, Joy Rogers, Russell Custer, Charles Fogel, and Hans Moebus, with a cameo appearance by Groucho Marx. A repeat of an episode of General Electric Theater that originally aired on March 8, 1959 and then on The Comedy Spot on August 9, 1960.
9	"Platinum on the Rocks"	Sidney Lanfield	Donn Baylor, Laurence Marks, & Milton Pascal	September 19, 1961 (1961-09-19)
In search of excitement, an ex-vaudevillian ends up facing a false robbery charge, allowing him a taste of the life of a gentleman thief in the mold of the fictional A. J. Raffles. Starring Eleanor Audley, Fred Beir, George Burns, Kaye Elhardt, Milton Frome, Jonathan Hole, Betsy Jones-Moreland, Joanne Lee, Charles Tannen, and Frank Wilcox. A repeat of an episode of General Electric Theater that originally aired on November 29, 1959.

External links

• Mdnavman/sandbox at IMDb
• "Ben Blue's Brothers" at IMDb
• "Head of the Family" at IMDb
• "I Was a Bloodhound" at IMDb
• "The Incredible Jewel Robbery" at IMDb
• "The Sky's the Limit" at IMDb
• "Welcome to Washington" at IMDb
• "Meet the Girls" at IMDb
• "Advebtures of a Model" at IMDb
• "Full Speed for Anywhere" at IMDb
• "Tom, Dick and Harry" at IMDb
• "Bachelor's Bride" at IMDb
• "Bachelor's Bride" at IMDb
• "Blaze of Glory" at IMDb
• "A New York Knight" at IMDb
• "The World's Greatest Quarterback" at IMDb
• "The Glorious Gift of Molly Malloy" at IMDb
• "Miracle at the Opera" at IMDb
• "Platinum on the Rocks" at IMDb

Francesco Stocco sometime between 1930 and 1940.
History
Kingdom of Italy
Name	Francesco Stocco
Namesake	Francesco Stocco (1806–1880), Italian general and patriot
Builder	Cantieri navali Odero, Sestri Ponente, Kingdom of Italy
Laid down	2 February 1916
Launched	5 June 1917
Commissioned	19 July 1917
Reclassified	Torpedo boat 1 October 1929
Identification	Pennant number: ST (1917–1932) SO (1932–1943)
Fate	Sunk or Scuttled (see text) 24 September 1943
General characteristics
Class and type	Giuseppe Sirtori-class destroyer
Displacement	709 t (698 long tons) (normal) 914 t (900 long tons) (deep load)
Length	73.54 m (241 ft 3 in) (o/a)
Beam	7.34 m (24 ft 1 in)
Draft	2.7 m (8 ft 10 in) (mean)
Installed power	4 × Thornycroft boilers 15,500 shp (11,558 kW)
Propulsion	2 shafts; 2 steam turbines
Speed	30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Range	1,700 nmi (3,100 km; 2,000 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement	98 officers and men
Armament	6 × single 102 mm (4 in) guns 2 × single 40 mm (1.6 in) AA guns 2 × twin 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes 10 × mines

Francesco Stocco was the third of four Giuseppe Sirtori-class destroyers built for the Italian Regia Marina (Royal Navy) in the 1910s.

Francesco Stocco was a Giuseppe Sirtori-class destroyer. Commissioned into service in the Italian Regia Marina (Royal Navy) in 1917, she served during World War I, participating in the Adriatic campaign. During the interwar period, she took part in operations related to Gabriele D'Annunzio's seizure of Fiume in 1919–1920 and was reclassified as a torpedo boat in 1929. During World War II, she took part in support to Italian forces in the Greco-Italian War as well as in the Adriatic campaign until she was sunk in 1943.

Design

Main article: Giuseppe Sirtori-class destroyer

The ships of the Giuseppe Sirtori class were 72.5 m (237 ft 10 in) long at the waterline and 73.54 metres (241 ft 3 in) long overall, with a beam of 7.34 metres (24 ft 1 in) and a mean draft of 2.7 metres (8 ft 10 in). They displaced 709 tonnes (698 long tons) standard and up to 914 tonnes (900 long tons) at full load. They had a crew of 98 officers and enlisted men. The ships were powered by two steam turbines, with steam provided by four Thornycroft water-tube boilers. The engines were rated to produce 15,500 shaft horsepower (11,558 kW) for a top speed of 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph), though in service they reached as high as 33.6 knots (62.2 km/h; 38.7 mph) from around 17,000 shp (12,677 kW). At a more economical speed of 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph), the ships could cruise for 1,700 nautical miles (3,100 km; 2,000 mi).

Francesco Stocco was armed with a main battery of six 102 mm (4 in) guns. Her light armament consisted of a pair of 40-millimetre (1.6 in) anti-aircraft guns and two 6.5-millimetre (0.26 in) machine guns. She also had four 450-millimetre (17.7 in) torpedo tubes in two twin launchers, one on each side of the ship. The ship also carried 10 naval mines.

Construction and commissioning

Francesco Stocco was laid down at the Cantieri navali Odero (English: Odero Shipyard) in Sestri Ponente, Italy, on 2 February 1916. She was launched on 5 June 1917 and commissioned on 19 July 1917.

Service history

World War I

1917

World War I was raging when Francesco Stocco entered service. On the night of 13–14 August 1917 she left Venice with rest of her destroyer squadron (her sister ships Giovanni Acerbi, Giuseppe Sirtori, and Vincenzo Giordano Orsini), another squadron composed of the destroyers Animoso, Ardente, Audace, and Giuseppe Cesare Abba, and a section made up of the destroyers Carabiniere and Pontiere to intercept an Austro-Hungarian Navy force made up of the destroyers Dinara, Reka, Sharfschutze, Streiter, and Velebit and six torpedo boats which had supported an air raid by 32 aircraft against the fortress of Venice which had struck San Giovanni e Paolo Hospital, killing 14 people and injuring around 30 others. Only Vincenzo Giordano Orsini managed to make brief and fleeting contact with the Austro-Hungarian ships before they escaped.

On 29 September 1917 Francesco Stocco put to sea together with the rest of her squadron (Giovanni Acerbi, Giuseppe Cesare Abba, and Vincenzo Giordano Orsini), the scout cruiser Sparviero (flagship of the Italian commander Prince Ferdinando of Udine), and a second destroyer squadron composed of Ardente, Audace, and the destroyer Ardito in support of a bombing raid carried out by 10 Caproni airplanes of the Italian Royal Army against the Austro-Hungarian Navy base at Pola. At more or less the same time, Austro-Hungarian seaplanes attacked Ferrara, setting fire to the Italian airship M 8, and in support of this attack, the Austro-Hungarian destroyers Huszár, Streiter, Turul, and Velebit and torpedo boats TB 90F, TB 94F, and TB 98M — and a fourth, unidentified torpedo boat, according to some sources — were at sea. After receiving word of the attack on Ferrara, the Italian formation set course for Rovinj (known to the Italians as Rovigno), which the Austro-Hungarian ships probably would pass during their return to port. At 22:03 Sparviero sighted unidentified ships at a range of about 2 nautical miles (3.7 km; 2.3 mi), and at 22:05 the opposing ships opened gunfire on each other at a range of 2,000 metres (2,200 yd). According to Italian sources, the clash ended at 22:30 when the two formations lost contact due to their divergent courses, then regained contact at 22:45, but lost it again completely after a few minutes, and the Italians claimed that the engagement achieved no significant results. According to Austro-Hungarian sources, Sparviero sustained serious damage from a shell hit and fell out of the battle line, prompting the other Italian ships to withdraw as well, while on the Austro-Hungarian side Velebit had her steering system knocked out by an Italian shell which also started a fire. Streiter took Velebit in tow, but according to the Austro-Hungarians two Italian destroyers arrived on the scene at that point and closed to a range of about 1,000 metres (1,100 yd), but withdrew after Streiter, Velebit and the torpedo boats opened fire on them.

At 10:35 on 16 November 1917 the Austro-Hungarian coastal defense ships Budapest and Wien arrived off Cortellazzo, Italy, and opened fire on Italian artillery batteries and on Italian troops holding the line on the Italian front. Italian coastal artillery immediately returned fire, and then Italian aircraft made three attacks on the Austro-Hungarian ships. Budapest and Wien ceased fire at 11:52 so as not to interfere with Austro-Hungarian ground troops, but then closed to within range of the Italian coast again at 13:30 and resumed fire at 13:35. Meanwhile, Francesco Stocco, Animoso, Ardente, Audace, Giovanni Acerbi, Giuseppe Cesare Abba, and Vincenzo Giordano Orsini left Venice to counterattack the Austro-Hungarian ships. The Italian destroyers steamed to an area west of the area Budapest and Wien were bombarding and supported an attack on the Austro-Hungarian ships by the motor torpedo boats MAS 13 and MAS 15 which, together with attacks by Italian aircraft and the Italian submarines F11 and F13 disrupted the Austro-Hungarian bombardment and prompted Budapest and Wien to withdraw.

On 28 November 1917, an Austro-Hungarian Navy force consisting of Dinara, Reka, Streiter, the destroyers Dikla, Huszar, and Triglav, and the torpedo boats TB 78, TB 79, TB 86, and TB 90 attacked the Italian coast. While Dikla, Huszar, Streiter and the torpedo boats unsuccessfully attacked first Porto Corsini and then Rimini, Dinara, Reka, and Triglav bombarded a railway near the mouth of the Metauro, damaging a train, the railway tracks, and telegraph lines. The Austro-Hungarian ships then reunited and headed back to the main Austro-Hungarian naval base at Pola. Francesco Stocco, Animoso, Ardente, Ardito, Audace, Giovanni Acerbi, Giuseppe Cesare Abba, Giuseppe Sirtori, Sparviero, Vincenzo Giordano Orsini, and the destroyer Aquila departed Venice and, together with reconnaissance seaplanes, pursued the Austro-Hungarian formation. The seaplanes attacked the Austro-Hungarians without success, and the Italian ships had to give up the chase when they did not sight the Austro-Hungarians until they neared Cape Promontore on the southern coast of Istria, as continuing beyond it would bring them too close to Pola.

1918

On 10 February 1918 Giovanni Acerbi, Ardito, Aquila, Ardente, Francesco Stocco, and Giuseppe Sirtori — and, according to some sources, the motor torpedo boat MAS 18 — steamed to Porto Levante, now a part of Porto Viro, in case they were needed to support an incursion into the harbor at Bakar (known to the Italians as Buccari) by MAS motor torpedo boats. Sources disagree on whether they remained in port or put to sea to operate in distant support, but in any event, their intervention was unnecessary. The motor torpedo boats carried out their raid, which became known in Italy as the Beffa di Buccari ("Bakar mockery").

The Regia Marina planned a raid under the command of Capitano di fregata (Frigate Captain) Costanzo Ciano against the Austro-Hungarian Navy base at Pola by the small boat Grillo, but had to abort the raid during attempts on the nights of 8–9 April, 12–13 April, 6–7 May, 9–10 May, and 11–12 May 1918. At 17:30 on 13 May, Giovanni Acerbi, Animoso, Francesco Stocco, Giuseppe Sirtori, Vincenzo Giordano Orsini, the coastal torpedo boats 9 PN and 10 PN, the motor torpedo boats MAS 95 and MAS 96, and Grillo got underway from Venice to attempt the raid again, with the MAS boats towing Grillo. Grillo dropped her tow line at 02:18 on 14 May and began her attempt to penetrate the harbor at Pola. Grillo′s attack, conducted between 03:16 and 03:18, achieved no success and resulted in Grillo′s destruction. Austro-Hungarian searchlights illuminated the MAS boats waiting offshore at 03:35 and again at 03:40, so they withdrew and rejoined the supporting destroyers at 05:00. The Italian force then headed back to port.

On the night of 1–2 July 1918 Giovanni Acerbi, Audace, Francesco Stocco, Giuseppe Sirtori, Vincenzo Giordano Orsini, and the destroyers Giuseppe La Masa and Giuseppe Missori provided distant support to a formation consisting of the torpedo boats Climene and Procione and the coastal torpedo boats 15 OS, 18 OS, 48 OS, 3 PN, 40 PN, 64 PN, 65 PN, and 66 PN. While 15 OS, 18 OS, and 3 PN, towing dummy landing pontoons, staged a simulated amphibious landing to distract Austro-Hungarian troops in support of an Italian advance on the Italian front, 48 OS, 40 PN, 64 PN, 65 PN, and 66 PN bombarded the Austro-Hungarian lines between Cortellazzo and Caorle, proceeding at low speed between the two locations, with Climeme and Procione in direct support. Meanwhile, an Austro-Hungarian force consisting of the destroyers Balaton and Csikós and the torpedo boats TB 83F and TB 88F had put to sea from Pola late on the evening of 1 July to support an Austro-Hungarian air raid on Venice. After an Italian MAS boat made an unsuccessful torpedo attack against Balaton, which was operating with a faulty boiler, at first light on 2 July, the Italian and Austro-Hungarian destroyers sighted one another at 03:10 on 2 July. The Italians opened gunfire on the Austro-Hungarians, who returned fire. During the brief exchange of gunfire that followed, Balaton, in a more advanced position, suffered several shell hits on her forward deck, while Audace, Giuseppe La Masa, and Giuseppe Missori fired on Csikós and the two torpedo boats, scoring a hit on Csikós in her aft boiler room and one hit on each of the torpedo boats. On the Italian side, Francesco Stocco suffered damage which set her on fire and killed and injured some of her crew. While Giovanni Acerbi remained behind to assist Francesco Stocco, the Austro-Hungarians withdrew toward Pola and the Italians resumed operations in support of their own torpedo boats.

By late October 1918, Austria-Hungary had effectively disintegrated, and the Armistice of Villa Giusti, signed on 3 November 1918, went into effect on 4 November 1918 and brought hostilities between Austria-Hungary and the Allies to an end. On the morning of 4 November, Giovanni Acerbi, Giuseppe Sirtori, Francesco Stocco, and Vincenzo Giordano Orsini got underway from Venice with the battleship Emanuele Filiberto, flagship of Contrammiraglio (Counter Admiral) Guglielmo Rainer, in command of the operation, to take possession of Fiume. During the voyage, Giovanni Acerbi and Vincenzo Giordano Orsini were detached, Giovanni Acerbi to call at Volosko (known to the Italians as Volosca) on 4 November and occupy Opatija (known to the Italians as Abbazio), and Vincenzo Giordano Orsini to occupy Lošinj (known to the Italians as Lussino). Giovanni Acerbi, under the command ofCapitano di corvetta (Corvette Captain), arrived at Opatija at 12:00 on 4 November, where she disembarked a platoon of sailors with a machine gun and raised an Italian flag. Local Yugoslavs protested the raising of the flag, and tensions between the minority Italian and majority Yugoslav populations made the local situation so uncertain that Italy's taking possession of the city was merely a formality, without a real occupation. During the same day Giovanni Acerbi also arrived at Volosko to make contact with the local population and assess the situation there. On 8 November, Giovanni Acerbi joined Vincenzo Giordano Orsini at Lošinj, an island with an Italian majority but as well as numerous Yugoslavian soldiers where there were strong tensions.

World War I ended on 11 November 1918 with the armistice between the Allies and the German Empire. The situation at Volosko was resolved that day when Giuseppe Sirtori occupied it. At Lošinj, tensions were not resolved until 20 Noveember, when Italian fores definitively occupied the island, disarmed and evacuated the Yugoslavian soldier to Fiume, and seized of war material, a yacht, and some merchant ships.

Interwar period

Fiume

Before Italy entered World War I, it had made a pact with the Allies, the Treaty of London of 1915, in which it was promised all of the Austrian Littoral, but not the city of Fiume (known in Croatian as Rijeka). After the war, at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, this delineation of territory was confirmed, with Fiume remaining outside of Italy's borders and amalgamated into the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (which in 1929 would be renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia). Opposing this outcome, the poet and Italian nationalist Gabriele D'Annunzio led a force of about 2,600 so-called "legionaries" to Fiume and seized the city on 12 September 1919 in what became known as the Impresa di Fiume ("Fiume endeavor" or "Fiume enterprise"). The Italian government opposed D'Annunzio's move and ordered the Regia Marina ships at Fiume — Francesco Stocco, Emanuele Filiberto, and the battleship Dante Alighieri — to leave port. Francesco Stocco and Emanuele Filiberto complied, but part of Dante Alighieri′s crew mutinied in support of D'Annunzio, leaving her with insufficient crewmen to get underway. With the commander of the Maritime department of Venice, Ammiraglio di squadra (Squadron Admiral) Mario Casanuova Jerserinch, aboard, Francesco Stocco steamed back to the Fiume area in company with Giuseppe Sirtori on 14 September, where Casanuova disembarked at Opatija and immediately went aboard Dante Alighieri to order her crew to put to sea. D'Annunzio summoned Casanuova to the Government Palace, where Casanuova was arrested and briefly held as a prisoner. Still unable to get their ship underway, Dante Alighieri′s remaining loyal crew members received new orders to stay in port at Fiume as representatives of the Kingdom of Italy. Meanwhile, Francesco Stocco steamed to Pola.

At 06:30 on 11 October 1919, the submarine F16 left her mooring at the naval base at Venice with a mutinous crew on board planning to take her to Fiume to support D'Annunzio. She passed in front of the San Nicoletto guard post at 08:30 without being recognized, responding to signals, or waiting for orders, arousing strong suspicions among Italian naval authorities. On her commanding officer's initiative, the coastal torpedo boat 42 PN lit her boilers at 08:45, and and at the same time the commander of the Maritime Defense of Venice, Capitano di vascello (Ship-of-the-Line Captain Ettore Rota, telephoned the officer in charge of the Spignon Pass, ordering him to go aboard Francesco Stocco and order the immediate ignition of her boilers, after which he sent an official phonogram with the order to go out and force the F16 to return to port by any means. In the event that F16 disappeared, he also ordered Frabcesco Stocco to search for her along the route from Venice to Cape Promontore, keeping in radiotelegraphic contact with Venice while doing so. Rota then communicated to Francesco Stocco information on 42 PN′s pursuit of F16. The situation was resolved when 42 PN stopped F16 and forced her to return to port.

Francesco Stocco returned to the Fiume area on 7 December 1919. On 29 April 1920 she was steaming off Fiume when a coastal artillery battery controlled by D'Annunzio′s "legionaries" fired 25 rounds at her, scoring no hits. D'Annunzio supporters aboard motor torpedo boats also attempted to take control of her, but she avoided capture and returned to Opatija. In 1920 Giuseppe Sirtori underwent modifications which saw the replacement of her six Cannon 102/35 Model 1914 102-millimetre (4 in) guns with six more modern Cannon 102/45 Schneider-Armstrong Model 1917 102-millimetre (4 in) guns.

D'Annunzio declared Fiume to be the Italian Regency of Carnaro in September 1920. Relations between Italy and D'Annunzio's government continued to deteriorate, and after Italy signed the Treaty of Rapallo with the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes in November 1920, making Fiume an independent state as the Free State of Fiume rather than incorporating it into Italy, D'Annunzio declared war on Italy. Italy launched a full-scale invasion of Fiume on 24 December 1920, beginning what became known as the Bloody Christmas. The Bloody Christmas fighting ended on 29 December 1920 in D'Annunzio's defeat and the establishment of the Free State of Fiume.

1921–1940

Francesco Stocco continued to operate in the upper Adriatic Sea and off Dalmatia until 1921, carrying out surveillance cruises to protect Italian traffic and connections with Venice and Trieste. She then assigned to the Maritime Military Command of Brindisi, being occasionally deployed to Saseno, Italy. Latr in 1921 she became inactive at Brindisi.

Francesco Stocco resumed active service in the summer of 1923 when sje was assigned to the 2nd Destroyer Squadron in the Mediterranean Naval Force. She was based at Taranto, Italy, and Messina, Sicily, operating infrequently and carrying out local duties. In March 1927 she was assigned to the 5th Squadron for service as a training ship, operating mainly in the Tyrrhenian Sea. In 1928 she was assigned to the Special Division, actively operating in the Adriatic Sea.

In 1929 Francesco Stocco, Aquila, Giovanni Acerbi, Giuseppe Sirtori, and the destroyer Ippolito Nievo formed the 5th Destroyer Squadron, which with the five-ship 6th Destroyer Squadron and the scout cruiser Brindisi formed the Special Division's 5th Flotilla. During 1929 Francesco Stocco took part in a cruise in the Italian Dodecanese with the rest of the Special Division. On 1 October 1929 she was reclassified as a torpedo boat.

Francesco Stocco then deployed to Italian Tripolitania for about a year. On 28 September 1930 she took aboard 31 leaders of the zawiyeh —political, economic, and religious centers of the Senusiyya — arrested in Italian Cyrenaica during the Second Italo-Senussi War and interned in Benina. She deported them to Ustica in the Tyrrhenian Sea.

From 1931 to 1933 Francesco Stocco again was based at Taranto and Messina. In 1932 the new destroyer Strale entered service and took the pennant number ST, which previously had belonged to Francesco Stocco, so Francesco Stocco received the new pennant number SO. In 1933 she deployed to La Spezia as a unit of the 4th Torpedo Boat Squadron. From April to May 1933, Guardiamarina (Ensign) Mario Arillo, a future recipient of the Gold Medal of Military Valor, was her executive officer. In 1934 she began service in the 1st Squadron as a target tug, a task she carried out until the beginning of World War II.

World War II

1940

June–October

World War II broke out in September 1939 with Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland. Italy joined the war on the side of the Axis powers with its invasion of France on 10 June 1940. At the time, Francesco Stocco was part of the 6th Torpedo Boat Squadron along with Giueppe Missori, Giuseppe Sirtori, and the torpedo boat Rosolino Pilo. She was assigned escort duties and, more occasionally, to search-and-rescue operations and anti-submarine patrols. Initially assigned to the 5th Torpedo Boat Group, based at Taranto, for operations in the Gulf of Taranto, she then was transferred to the 3rd Torpedo Boat Group, based at Brindisi, for operations in the southern Adriatic Sea.

On 20 August 1940 the Regia Marina established the Comando Superiore Traffico Albania (Maritrafalba, the Albanian Higher Traffic Command), responsible for convoy escort services between Italy and Albania. Maritrafalba became active on 5 September 1940. Not officially reassigned to Maritrafalba, Francesco Stocco remained subordinate to the Maritime Department of Taranto, but she nonetheless was placed at the disposal of Maritrafalba, and spent most of her World War II service on escort duty and antisubmarine patrols for Maritrafalba. She carried out her first operation for Maritrafalba on 5 October 1940 when she escorted the steamers Alfio, Poseidone, Sant'Agata, and Carmela as they carried cargo from Brindisi to Vlorë (known to the Italians as Valona) in the Italian protectorate of Albania.

Maritrafalba was disbanded on 12 October 1940, but reconsituted on 21 October, and Francesco Stocco again was placed its disposal. At 01:10 on 24 October, she left Brindisi headed for Durrës (known to the Italians as Durazzo) in Albania escorting the postal ships Filippo Grimani and Piero Foscari. She then left Durrës to return to Brindisi, arriving there at 14:20, then was back underway at 18:00 the same day to escort the steamer Artiglio, transporting 144 motor vehicles, from Bari to Durrës, where she arrived at 09:00 on 25 October. After returning to Italy, she left Brindisi at 02:20 on 26 October escorting Piero Foscari on postal service to Durrës. Rough seas forced Francesco Stocco to return to Brindisi, but the larger Piero Foscari was able to continue her voyage and proceeded alone to Durrës, where she arrived at 08:00.

1943

After the Italian surrender to the Allies on 3 September 1943, German forces launched a major attack against their erstwhile ally. Francesco Stocco was attacked and sunk by German bombers on 24 September while cruising off Corfu.

Commemoration

Francesco Stocco′s November 1918 arrival at Ches to take possession of the island for the Kingdom of Italy was commemorated on Cres with a painting of the ship and the preservation of part of her anchor chain.

References

• "L'impresa di D'Annunzio a Fiume: l'infelice tentativo dell'ammiraglio Casanuova". Fiume (in Italian). fiumefil.com. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
• Paolo Alberini; Franco Prosperini (2016). Uomini della Marina, 1861–1946 (in Italian). Rome: Ufficio Storico dello Stato Maggiore della Marina Militare. ISBN 978-8-89848-595-6.
• Giosuè Allegrini. "L'eventuale perdita della Serenissima avrebbe significato riaprire l'Adriatico e il Mar Ionio alla flotta austroungarica". Marina Difesa (in Italian). marina.difesa.it. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
• Brescia, Maurizio (2012). Mussolini's Navy: A Reference Guide to the Regina Marina 1930–45. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-544-8.
• Favre, Franco. La Marina nella Grande Guerra. Le operazioni navali, aeree, subacquee e terrestri in Adriatico (in Italian).
• Fraccaroli, Aldo (1970). Italian Warships of World War 1. London: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0105-7.
• Fraccaroli, Aldo (1968). Italian Warships of World War II. Shepperton, UK: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0002-6.
• Fraccaroli, Aldo (1985). "Italy". In Gray, Randal (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. pp. 252–290. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
• Roberts, John (1980). "Italy". In Chesneau, Roger (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. New York: Mayflower Books. pp. 280–317. ISBN 0-8317-0303-2.
• Rohwer, Jürgen (2005). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (Third Revised ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-119-2.
• Whitley, M. J. (1988). Destroyers of World War 2: An International Encyclopedia. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-85409-521-8.

[[Category:La Masa-class destroyers| [[Category:1918 ships [[Category:Ships built by Cantieri navali Odero [[Category:World War I destroyers of Italy [[Category:World War II torpedo boats of Italy [[Category:Maritime incidents in May 1943 [[Category:Ships sunk by US aircraft [[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea [[Category:Shipwrecks of Italy

Giacomo Medici off Algiers on 19 April 1922.
History
Kingdom of Italy
Name	Giacomo Medici
Namesake	Giacomo Medici (1817–1882), Italian general and politician
Builder	Cantieri navali Odero, Sestri Ponente, Kingdom of Italy
Laid down	2 October 1916
Launched	6 September 1918
Completed	13 September 1918
Commissioned	13 September 1918
Identification	Pennant number MD
Motto	Signemus fidem sanguinis (Let Us Sign the Faith of Blood)
Reclassified	Torpedo boat 1 October 1929
Fate	Sunk 16 May 1943 Stricken 18 October 1946 Refloated 1952 Scrapped
General characteristics (as built)
Type	Destroyer
Displacement	785 long tons (798 t) (standard) 851 long tons (865 t) (full load)
Length	72.5 m (237 ft 10 in) (waterline)
Beam	7.3 m (23 ft 11 in)
Draught	2.8 m (9 ft 2 in)
Installed power	15,500 shp (11,558 kW) maximum 17,000 shp (12,677 kW)
Propulsion	2 × Tosi steam turbines 4 × Thornycroft boilers
Speed	33.6 knots (62.2 km/h; 38.7 mph)
Range	2,230 nmi (4,130 km; 2,570 mi) at 12.5 knots (23.2 km/h; 14.4 mph) 410 nmi (759 km; 472 mi) at 28.5 knots (52.8 km/h; 32.8 mph)
Complement	4 officers, 74 non-commissioned officers and sailors
Armament	As built: 4 × 102 mm (4 in)/45 guns 2 × 76.2 mm (3 in)/40 AA 4 × 450 mm (18 in) torpedo tubes 10 mines

Giacomo Medici was an Italian La Masa-class destroyer. Commissioned into service in the Italian Regia Marina ("Royal Navy") in 1918, she served in the final weeks of World War I. During the interwar period, she took part in operations during the Corfu incident in 1923 and was reclassified as a torpedo boat in 1929. During World War II, she took part in the Greco–Italian War and the Mediterranean campaign until she was sunk in 1943.

Construction and commissioning

Giacomo Medici was laid down at the Cantieri navali Odero (English: Odero Shipyard) in Sestri Ponente, Italy, on 2 October 1916. She was launched on 6 September 1918 and completed and commissioned on 13 September 1918.

References

Bibliography

• Fraccaroli, Aldo (1970). Italian Warships of World War 1. London: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0105-7.
• Fraccaroli, Aldo (1985). "Italy". In Gray, Randal (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. pp. 252–290. ISBN 978-0-87021-907-8.
• Whitley, M.J. (2000). Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. London: Cassell & Co. ISBN 1-85409-521-8.

[[Category:La Masa-class destroyers| [[Category:1918 ships [[Category:Ships built by Cantieri navali Odero [[Category:World War I destroyers of Italy [[Category:World War II torpedo boats of Italy [[Category:Maritime incidents in April 1943 [[Category:Ships sunk by US aircraft [[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea [[Category:Shipwrecks of Italy

For other ships with the same name, see Japanese destroyer Urakaze.

Urakaze at Wuhan, China, sometime between 1930 and 1933.
History
Japan
Name	Destroyer No. 35
Ordered	27 December 1912
Builder	Yarrow Shipbuilders, Scotstoun, Scotland
Laid down	1 October 1913
Renamed	Urakaze 12 September 1914
Launched	16 February 1915
Completed	14 September 1915
Stricken	1 July 1936
Renamed	Decommissioned Destroyer No. 18 1 April 1940
Fate	Sunk 18 July 1945 Refloated 1948 Either scrapped 27 May–15 August 1948 or refloated 9 September 1948 and subsequently scrapped (see text)
General characteristics ′′s
Type	Destroyer
Displacement	907 long tons (922 t) normal, 1,085 long tons (1,102 t) full load
Length	83.9 m (275 ft 3 in) pp, 87.2 m (286 ft 1 in) overall
Beam	8.4 m (27 ft 7 in)
Draught	2.4 m (7 ft 10 in)
Installed power	22,000 shp (16,405 kW) 3 Yarrow boilers
Propulsion	2 shafts; 2 steam turbines
Speed	30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Range	1,800 nmi (3,300 km; 2,100 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement	120
Armament	1 x single QF 4.7 inch Gun Mk I – IV 4 x single 3-inch 12-pounder guns 2 x twin 533 mm (21 in) torpedo tubes

Urakaze (浦風, "Wind on the Sea") was the lead ship of the Imperial Japanese Navy′s Urakaze-class destroyers. Completed in 1915, she served during World War I, followed by service on the Yangtze in China during the 1920s and 1930s. She was the only unit of her class to enter Japanese service, the Japanese having sold her only sister ship, Kawakaze, to Italy while Kawakaze was under construction. Urakaze alos was the last Japanese destroyer built in a foreign shipyard to enter service in the Imperial Japanese Navy. Stricken in 1936, she thereafter was used for training until she was sunk during World War II in an Allied air raid in 1945. She was refloated and scrapped in 1948.

Construction and commissioning

The Government of Japan authorized the construction of Urakaze in its fiscal year 1911 budget and signed a construction contract with the British firm Yarrow Shipbuilders on 27 December 1912. She was laid down on 1 October 1913 as Destroyer No. 35, received the name Urakaze on 12 September 1914, and was registered as a first-class destroyer on 6 December 1914. She was launched on 16 February 1915 and completed on 14 September 1915. Her guns were shipped from Japan and installed at the Yarrow yard and the Japanese negotiated the purchase of ammunition for them from the British firm Armstrong Whitworth, but she was completed without her torpedo tubes.

Service history

Urakaze left the Yarrow shipyard's mooring pond on 15 September 1915 and moored at Greenock, Scotland, the same day. There she filled her fuel tanks with 248 tons of fuel oil and and took aboard 50 tons of canned goods, which were loaded on her upper deck.

Delivery voyage

Urakaze began her delivery voyage to Japan on the afternoon of 16 September 1915, departing Greenock bound for Gibraltar, with an itinerary calling for her make calls at ports in the British Empire along the way. With World War I raging and Japan an active belligerent on the Allied side, she maintained a speed of 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) to reduce the danger of attack by Imperial German Navy submarines. She arrived at Gibraltar on the afternoon of 19 September 1915 and refueled.

Urakaze′s fuel consumption was lower than expected, and even after she had left the German submarine threat behind her she maintained 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) — with occasional exceptions — throughout her voyage to Japan as an experiment in the range and endurance of oil-fired ships, refueling as necessary along the way. She resumed her voyage on 21 September 1915, departing Gibraltar to cross the Mediterranean Sea and calling at Valletta, Malta, from 23 to 24 September before arriving at Port Said, Egypt, on 26 September. She immediately entered the Suez Canal, completing her transit of the canal with her arrival at Suez Port on 27 September. She departed Suez Port on 29 September and proceeded southward through the Red Sea, calling at Aden on the southern coast of the Arabian Peninsula from 1 to 4 October 1915. She then began her crossing of the Indian Ocean. On 7 October she had to drift for about an hour because of a clogged oil filter, but she soon got back underway and arrived at Bombay, India, later that day.

Urakaze departed Bombay on 11 October 1915 and called briefly at Colombo, Ceylon, on 13 October, and at Singapore from 17 to 18 October. She then set out across the South China Sea, conducting fuel consumption tests along the way. She encountered strong winds on 22 October and rolled 30 degrees, causing her aft mast to collapse. She arrived at Hong Kong later that day and made emergency repairs to her mast before departing on 23 October for the last leg of her voyage. She completed it on 27 October 1915 with her arrival at Yokosuka, Japan, which became her home port.

At Yokosuka, Urakaze′s torpedo tubes were installed and additonal work was carried out, temporarily interrupted by a naval review on 4 November 1915.

World War I

On 1 December 1915, Urakaze was assigned to the 16th Destroyer Squadron, a component of the 2nd Torpedo Squadron in the 1st Fleet, an element of the Combined Fleet. The squadron also included the destroyers Umikaze and Yamakaze. On 13 December 1915, the Combined Fleet was dissolved, and on that date the 16th Destroyer Squadron was transferred to the 2nd Torpedo Squadron in the 2nd Fleet.

On 26 September 1916, the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal was ordered to equip Urakaze with cruise turbines, although this work did not take place until 1918. Meanwhile, the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal carried out other work on Urakaze between 5 December 1916 and 5 June 1917, installing a new engine room ventilation system and other equipment. During this work, Urakaze left the 16th Destroyer Squadron on 1 April 1917.

The Yokosuka Naval Arsenal finally installed Urakaze′s new cruise turbines in 1918. In February 1919, just after the end of World War I, a new cruise turbine test run report was submitted.

Post-World War I

On 1 December 1926, Urakaze was assigned to the 1st Expeditionary Fleet, which was responsible for operations in China, and was engaged in patrolling the Yangtze area of China. On 20 May 1933, the 3rd Fleet was organized as a permanent fleet, and Urakaze became a unit of the 3rd Fleet's 11th Squadron.

On 25 May 1936, Urakaze returned to her home port of Yokosuka for the first time in about a year, after her last tour patrolling the Yangtze. She was stricken from the naval register on 1 July 1936, and on the same day she was handed over to the Yokosuka Special Naval Landing Force, which used her as a training ship. On 1 April 1940 , she was renamed Decommissioned Destroyer No. 18, freeing up her former name for use by the new destroyer Urakaze, commissioned later that year.

Decommissioned Destroyer No. 18 was sunk when a bomb hit her during the United States Navy and Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm air raid on Yokosuka on 18 July 1945, during the final weeks of the Pacfic campaign of World War II. Sources agree that her wreck was refloated in 1948 and subsequently scrapped, but disagree on details: According to one source, she was scrapped at Uraga between 27 May and 15 August 1948, while another claims that she was refloated on 9 September 1948 and subsequently scrapped by Shinto Iron Works.

Bibliography

• Evans, David (1979). Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887–1941. US Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-192-7.
• Howarth, Stephen (1983). The Fighting Ships of the Rising Sun: The Drama of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1895–1945. Atheneum. ISBN 0-689-11402-8.
• Jentsura, Hansgeorg (1976). Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869–1945. US Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-893-X.
• 浅井将秀/編 (December 1928). 日本海軍艦船名考. 東京水交社. {{cite book}}: Text "和書" ignored (help) (Masahide Asai/ed., "Review of Japanese Navy Ships," Tokyo Suikosha , December 1928, in Japanese).
• 海軍省, ed. (November 1971) [1939]. 海軍制度沿革 巻四の1. Vol. 明治百年史叢書 第175巻. 原書房. {{cite book}}: Text "和書" ignored (help) (Ministry of the Navy (ed.), History of the Naval System Volume 4-1, Meiji Centennial History Series, Volume 175, Hara Shobo , November 1971 (original 1939) (in Japanese)).
• 海軍省, ed. (October 1971) [1941]. 海軍制度沿革 巻八. Vol. 明治百年史叢書 第180巻. 原書房. {{cite book}}: Text "和書" ignored (help) (Ministry of the Navy (ed.), History of the Naval System Volume 8, Meiji Centennial History Series Volume 180, Hara Shobo, October 1971 (original 1941) (in Japanese)).
• 海軍省, ed. (April 1972) [1940]. 海軍制度沿革 巻十の1. Vol. 明治百年史叢書 第182巻. 原書房. {{cite book}}: Text "和書" ignored (help) (Ministry of the Navy (ed.), History of the Naval System Volume 10, Volume 182 of the Meiji Centennial History Series, Hara Shobo, April 1972 (original 1940) (in Japanese)).
• 海軍省, ed. (May 1972) [1941]. 海軍制度沿革 巻十一の2. Vol. 明治百年史叢書 第185巻. 原書房. {{cite book}}: Text "和書" ignored (help) (Ministry of the Navy (ed.), History of the Naval System Volume 11-2, Meiji Centennial History Series, Volume 185, Hara Shobo, May 1972 (original 1941) (in Japanese)).
• 海軍歴史保存会『日本海軍史』第7巻、第9巻、第10巻（第一法規出版、1995年）。
• 呉市海事歴史科学館, ed. (2005). 日本海軍艦艇写真集 駆逐艦. ダイヤモンド社. ISBN 4-478-95060-1. {{cite book}}: Text "和書" ignored (help) (Naval History Preservation Society "Japanese Naval History" Volumes 7, 9, and 10 (Daiichi Hoki Publishing , 1995) (in Japanese)).
• (社)日本造船学会, ed. (1981). 昭和造船史(第1巻). Vol. 明治百年史叢書 第207巻 (第3版 ed.). 原書房. ISBN 4-562-00302-2. {{cite book}}: Text "和書" ignored (help)(Kure City Maritime History and Science Museum, ed., “Photo Collection of Japanese Navy Ships: Destroyers”, Diamond Publishing , 2005. ISBN 4-478-95060-1 (in Japanese)).
• 日本舶用機関史編集委員会, ed. (November 1975). 帝国海軍機関史. Vol. 明治百年史叢書 第245巻. 原書房. {{cite book}}: Text "和書" ignored (help) (EJapan Society of Naval Architects (ed.), Showa Shipbuilding History (Volume 1), Meiji Centennial History Series, Volume 207 (3rd edition), Hara Shobo, 1981 (original October 1977). ISBN 4-562-00302-2 (in Japanese)).
• 福井静夫 (January 2011). 終戦と帝国艦艇 わが海軍の終焉と艦艇の帰趨. 光人社. ISBN 978-4-7698-1488-7. {{cite book}}: Text "和書" ignored (help)"History of Imperial Naval Engines" edited by the Japanese Marine Engine History Editorial Committee, Meiji Centennial History Series, Volume 245, Hara Shobo, November 1975 (in Japanese)).
• 福井静夫 (1993). 日本駆逐艦物語. Vol. 福井静夫著作集第5巻. 光人社. ISBN 4-7698-0611-6. {{cite book}}: Text "和書" ignored (help) (Shizuo Fukui , “The End of the War and Imperial Ships : The End of Our Navy and the Future of Ships ,” Kojinsha , January 2011 (original 1961). ISBN 978-4-7698-1488-7 (in Japanese)).
• 福井静夫 (1994). 写真 日本海軍全艦艇史. ベストセラーズ. ISBN 4-584-17054-1. {{cite book}}: Text "和書" ignored (help) (Shizuo Fukui , “Japanese Destroyer Story”, Shizuo Fukui Collected Works Volume 5, Kojinsha, 1993. ISBN 4-7698-0611-6 (in Japanese)).
• 防衛庁防衛研修所戦史室 (1969). 海軍軍戦備＜1＞ 昭和十六年十一月まで. Vol. 戦史叢書第31巻. 朝雲新聞社. {{cite book}}: Text "和書" ignored (help) (Shizuo Fukui , “Photograph History of All Japanese Navy Ships,” Bestsellers , 1994. ISBN 4-584-17054-1 (in Japanese)).
• 横須賀海軍工廠, ed. (July 1983) [1935]. 横須賀海軍工廠史(2). Vol. 明治百年史叢書 第330巻. 原書房. ISBN 4-562-01379-6. {{cite book}}: Text "和書" ignored (help) (Yokosuka Naval Arsenal (ed.). “Yokosuka Naval Arsenal History (2)” Meiji Centennial History Series Volume 330, Hara Shobo, July 1983 (original 1935). ISBN 4-562-01379-6 (in Japanese)).
• 『官報』("Official Gazette") (in Japanese)
• アジア歴史資料センター公式サイト（防衛省防衛研究所）] (Asian Historical Records Center Official Website ( Ministry of Defense Research Institute (in Japanese)).])
  • 各国へ軍艦建造並二購入方交渉雑件／英国 第三巻/5.駆逐艦江風浦風. Ref.B07090362200. {{cite book}}: Text "和書" ignored (help)（日本国外務省外交史料館）("Miscellaneous matters related to warship construction and purchase negotiations for various countries/Britain Volume 3/5. Destroyer Efuura Kaze". Ref.B07090362200. Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Diplomatic Archives (in Japanese))
  • 大正3年 公文備考 巻15 艦船1/ヤロー内火式駆逐艦関係(3). Ref.C08020401900. {{cite book}}: Text "和書" ignored (help) ("Taisho 3 Kumon Notes Volume 15 Ships 1/Yarrow Internal Fire Destroyer Related (3)". Ref.C08020401900 (in Japanese)).
  • 大正4年 公文備考 巻44 艦船4/試験(1). Ref.C08020603800. {{cite book}}: Text "和書" ignored (help) ("Taisho 4 Kumon Notes Volume 44 Ship 4/Examination (1)". Ref.C08020603800 (in Japanese),
  • 大正4年 公文備考 巻58 艦船18/浦風回航記事(1). Ref.C08020627700. {{cite book}}: Text "和書" ignored (help) ("Taisho 4 Kumon Notes Volume 58 Ship 18/Urakaze Sailing Article (1)". Ref.C08020627700 (in Japanese)).
  • 大正4年 公文備考 巻58 艦船18/浦風回航記事(2). Ref.C08020627800. {{cite book}}: Text "和書" ignored (help) ("Taisho 4 Kumon Notes Volume 58 Ship 18/Urakaze Sailing Article (2)". Ref.C08020627800 (in Japanese))
  • 大正5年 公文備考 巻26 艦船3/装備、備付. Ref.C08020764400. {{cite book}}: Text "和書" ignored (help) ("Taisho 5 Kumon Notes Volume 26 Ships 3/Equipment, Supplies". Ref.C08020764400 (in Japanese)).
  • 大正7年 公文備考 巻20 艦船1/駆逐艦浦風、江風、製造(1). Ref.C08021104400. {{cite book}}: Text "和書" ignored (help) ("Taisho 7 Kumon Notes Volume 20 Ship 1/Destroyer Urakaze, Ekaze, Manufacture (1)". Ref.C08021104400 (in Japanese)).
  • 大正7年 公文備考 巻22 艦船3/付属換(2). Ref.C08021107300. {{cite book}}: Text "和書" ignored (help) ("Taisho 7 Kumon Notes Volume 22 Ship 3/Attachment Replacement (2)". Ref.C08021107300 (in Japanese)).
  • 大正8年 公文備考 巻20 艦船3/試験(1). Ref.C08021314300. {{cite book}}: Text "和書" ignored (help) (“Taisho 8 Kumon Notes Volume 20 Ship 3/Examination (1)”. Ref.C08021314300 (in Japanese)).
  • 公文備考 昭和11年 F 艦船 巻8/佐鎮第21号 11.5.28 除籍艦船廃艦処分に関する件. Ref.C05034964300. {{cite book}}: Text "和書" ignored (help) ("Kubun Notes 1933 F Ships Volume 8/Sachin No. 21 11.5.28 Matters regarding the scrapping of deregistered ships." Ref.C05034964300 (in Japanese)).
  • 昭和14年 達 完/11月. Ref.C12070106100. {{cite book}}: Text "和書" ignored (help) (Showa 14 Completed/November. Ref.C12070106100 (in Japanese)).

[[Category:Urakaze-class destroyers| [[Category:1915 ships [[Category:Ships built on the River Clyde [[Category:World War I destroyers of Japan [[Category:Maritime incidents in July 1945 [[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean [[Category:Shipwrecks in Tokyo Bay

History
Kingdom of Italy
Name	Simone Schiaffino
Namesake	Simone Schiaffino (1835–1860), Italian patriot
Builder	Cantieri navali Odero, Sestri Ponente, Kingdom of Italy
Laid down	12 September 1913
Launched	11 September 1915
Completed	7 November 1915
Commissioned	7 November 1915
Identification	Pennant number SF, SH
Reclassified	Torpedo boat 1 October 1929
Fate	Sunk 24 April 1941
General characteristics
Class and type	Rosolino Pilo-class destroyer
Displacement	912 tons (max) 770 tons (standard)
Length	73 m (240 ft)
Beam	7.3 m (24 ft)
Draught	2.3 m (7 ft 7 in)
Installed power	16,000 brake horsepower (11,931 kW)
Propulsion	1 × Tosi steam turbines 4 × Thornycroft boilers
Speed	30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Range	1,200 nmi (2,200 km; 1,400 mi) at 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph)
Complement	69–79
Armament	As built: 4 × 1 Cannon 76/40 Model 1916 2 × 1 76mm/30 AA 4 × 1 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes 10 mines Post-World War I: 5 × 1 102 mm (4.0 in)/35 guns 2 × 1 – 40 mm/39 AA 2 × 1 65-millimetre (2.6 in) machine guns 4 × 1 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes

Simone Schiaffino was an Italian Rosolino Pilo-class destroyer. Commissioned into service in the Italian Regia Marina ("Royal Navy") in 1915, she served in World War I, participating in the Adriatic campaign. Reclassified as a torpedo boat in 1929, she took part in the Mediterranean campaign of World War II until she was sunk in 1941.

Construction and commissioning

Simone Schiaffino was laid down at the Cantieri navali Odero (English: Odero Shipyard) in Sestri Ponente, Italy, on 12 September 1913. She was launched on 11 September 1915 and completed and commissioned on 7 November 1915.

Service history

World War I

World War I was raging when Simone Schiaffino entered service in November 1915. During the night of 11–12 December 1915 she and the destroyer Ardito escorted the steamships Epiro and Molfetta from Brindisi, Italy, to Durrës (known to the Italians as Durazzo) in the [[Principality of Albania], where the two steamers delivered supplies for the Serbian Army. After monitoring the unloading of the supplies, the destroyers escorted the steamers back to Brindisi.

In December 1916, Simone Schiaffino underwent repairs at Brindisi.

On the night of 14–15 May 1917, the Battle of the Strait of Otranto, the largest naval action of the Adriatic Campaign of World War I, began when the Austro-Hungarian Navy staged a two-pronged attack against the Otranto Barrage in the Strait of Otranto aimed both at destroying naval drifters — armed fishing boats that patrolled the anti-submarine barrier the barrage formed — and, as a diversionary action, at destroying an Italian convoy bound from Greece to Albania. At 04:50 on 15 May, following news of these attacks, Simone Schiaffino, the Italian destroyer Rosolino Pilo, and the British light cruiser HMS Dartmouth made ready for sea to intervene in the clash. After getting underway, they headed northeast to intercept the Austro-Hungarian ships. Around 08:10, combat began between the Austro-Hungarians and various Allied naval formations sent out to engage them. The Italian scout cruiser Aquila suffered a hit that immobilized her at around 09:05, and the Austro-Hungarian scout cruisers Helgoland, Novara, and Saida closed with her. Dartmouth, the British light cruiser HMS Bristol and the Italian destroyers Antonio Mosto and Giovanni Acerbi placed themselves between Aquila and the Austro-Hungarian ships and opened fire on them at 09:30 at a range of 8,500 metres (9,300 yd). The three Austro-Hungarian ships retreated toward the northwest and the British and Italian ships pursued them at distances of between 4,500 and 10,000 metres (4,900 and 10,900 yd), continuing to fire. All the major warships suffered damage during the battle, but Simone Schiaffino′s formation had to discontinue the action and withdraw at 12:05 when it neared the major Austro-Hungarian naval base at Cattaro, from which the Austro-Hungarian armored cruiser Sankt Georg and destroyers Tátra and Warasdiner had sortied to intervene in the engagement.

An Austro-Hungarian Navy force consisting of Helgoland and the destroyers Balaton, Csepel, Lika, Orjen, Tátra, and Triglav left Cattaro on 18 October 1917 to attack Italian convoys. The Austro-Hungarians found no convoys, so Helgoland and Lika moved within sight of Brindisi to entice Italian ships into chasing them and lure the Italians into an ambush by the Austro-Hungarian submarines U-32 and U-40. At 06:30 on 19 October 1917, Simone Schiaffino, the scout cruisers Alessandro Poerio and Guglielmo Pepe, and the destroyers Insidioso and Pilade Bronzetti got underway from Brindisi to pursue the Austro-Hungarians, and Rosolino Pilo, the destroyer Ippolito Nievo, and the British ight cruiser Weymouth diverted from a voyage from Vlorë (known to the Italians as Valona) to Brindisi to join the pursuit. After a long chase which also saw some Italian air attacks on the Austro-Hungarian ships, the Austro-Hungarians escaped and all the Italian ships returned to port without damage.

On 2 October 1918 Simone Schiaffino and Ippolito Nievo were at sea with the battleship Dante Alighieri, the scout cruisers Alessandro Poerio, Carlo Alberto Racchia, Cesare Rossarol, and Gulglielmo Pepe to provide distant cover for a British and Italian naval bombardment of Durrës. Simone Schiaffino′s force's main mission was to counter any counterattack against the bombardment force by Austro-Hungarian ships based at Cattaro.

By late October 1918, Austria-Hungary had effectively disintegrated, and the Armistice of Villa Giusti, signed on 3 November 1918, went into effect on 4 November 1918 and brought hostilities between Austria-Hungary and the Allies to an end. World War I ended a week later with the armistice between the Allies and the German Empire on 11 November 1918. In November 1918, Simone Schiaffino landed an occupying force on the island of Žirje (known to the Italians as Zuri) off the coast of Dalmatia.

Interwar period

After World War I, Simone Schiaffino underwent the revision of her armament, which became five 102-millimetre (4 in)/35-caliber guns, two 40-millimetre (1.6 in)/35-caliber guns, and four 450-millimetre (17.7 in) torpedo tubes, and, according to some sources, two 65-millimetre (2.6 in) machine guns. Her full-load displacement rose to 900 tonnes (886 long tons). She was reclassified as a torpedo boat on 1 October 1929.

World War II

World War II broke out in September 1939 with Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland. Italy joined the war on the side of the Axis powers with its invasion of France on 10 June 1940. At the time, Simone Schiaffino was part of the 5th Torpedo Boat Squadron, along with the torpedo boats Albatros, Giuseppe Cesare Abba, Giuseppe Dezza, and Giuseppe La Farina. During the war, she served on escort, coastal surveillance, transport, and serch-and-rescue duties.

initially operating in the southern Tyrrhenian Sea.

On 24 April 1941, Simone Schiaffino was laying signal buoys in the waters of the Mediterreanean Sea off Cape Bon, Tunisa, when her stern struck a mine that other Italian ships had just laid.. She blew up, sinking by the stern within three minutes. [6] [7 ] Her 36 survivors were all men who had been towards her bow at the time of the explosion.[7] Her commanding officer Capitano di corvettA (Corvette Captain) Riccardo Argentino, was among the missing.[8]

References

Bibliography

• Favre, Franco. La Marina nella Grande Guerra. Le operazioni navali, aeree, subacquee e terrestri in Adriatico (in Italian).
• Fraccaroli, Aldo (1970). Italian Warships of World War 1. London: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0105-7.
• Fraccaroli, Aldo (1985). "Italy". In Gray, Randal (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. pp. 252–290. ISBN 978-0-87021-907-8.
• Whitley, M.J. (2000). Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. London: Cassell & Co. ISBN 1-85409-521-8.

External links

• Photo of Simone Schiaffino] at Italian Wikipedia

[[Category:Rosolino Pilo-class destroyers| [[Category:1915 ships [[Category:Ships built by Cantieri navali Odero [[Category:World War I destroyers of Italy [[Category:World War II torpedo boats of Italy [[Category:Maritime incidents in April 1941 [[Category:Friendly fire incidents of World War II [[Category:Ships sunk by mines [[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea

Construction and commissioning

Ardito was laid down at the Cantiere navale fratelli Orlando shipyard in Livorno, Kingdom of Italy, in 1912. She was launched on 20 October 1912 and and completed and commissioned in 1913.

Service history

World War I broke out in 1914, and the Kingdom of Italy entered the war on the side of the Allies with its declaration of war on Austria-Hungary on 24 May 1915. At the time, Ardito and the destroyers Animoso, Ardente, Audace, and Fracesco Nullo made up the 1st Destroyer Squadron, based at Brindisi, with the squadron under the command of Capitano di corvetta (Corvette Captain) Caccia. On the day Italy entered the war, Ardito, Animoso, and Audace carried out an anti-submarine patrol in the Gulf of Drin off the coast of the Principality of Albania and subsequently off Cattaro, a major base of the Austro-Hungarian Navy.

On 9 June 1915, Ardito, Animoso, Ardente, Audace, the destroyers Indomito, Intrepido, Impetuoso, Irrequieto, and Insidioso and the protected cruiser Quarto escorted the armored cruisers Giuseppe Garibaldi and Vettor Pisani as they participated in the bombardment of the lighthouses at the Cape of Rodon and Shëngjin (known to the Italians as San Giovanni di Medua) on the coast of Albania.

On 11 July 1915 Ardito, Animoso, Ardente, and Audace escorted Quarto to the Palagruža (known to the Italians as Pelagosa) archipelago, where they landed the vanguard of an occupation force. The auxiliary cruiser Città di Palermo, the protected cruiser Marsala, the destroyer Strale, and the torpedo boats Airone, Arpia, Astore, Calliope, Cassiopea, and Clio also took part in the operation, which went smoothly: Two Austro-Hungarian signalmen, who first hid from and then surrendered to the Italians, made up the archipelago's entire garrison.

At 04:00 on 17 July 1915 Ardito, together with Giuseppe Garibaldi, Vettor Pisani, Ardente, Strale, Airone, Arpia, Astore, Calliope, Clio, the armored cruiser Varese, and the torpedo boats Alcione, Centauro, and Cigno, took part in the bombardment of the Ragusa–Cattaro railway. The Italian force broke off the bombardment when Vettor Pisani sighted an Austro-Hungarian submarine at 04:25. The Italians had begun their return voyage to Brindisi when the Austro-Hungarian submarine U-4 attacked the formation at 04:40 and torpedoed Giuseppe Garibaldi, which sank within minutes.

A few hours after an Austro-Hungarian Navy force subjected Palagruža to a heavy bombardment during the night of 16–17 August 1915, Ardito, Quarto, Animoso, Intrepido, and the destroyer Impavido, which were on a cruise in the Adriatic Sea north of the line Brindisi–Cattaro, interrupted their operations to respond. They reached Palagruža at around 10:00 on 17 August 1915.

During the night of 11–12 December 1915 Ardito and the destroyer Simone Schiaffino escorted the steamships Epiro and Molfetta from Brindisi to Durrës (known to the Italians as Durazzo) in Albania, where the two steamers delivered supplies for the Serbian Army. After monitoring the unloading of the supplies, the destroyers escorted the steamers back to Brindisi.

On 23 February 1916, Ardito, Indomito, Impetuoso, and the protected cruisers Libia and Puglia positioned themselves in the harbor at Durrës to protect the withdrawal of the "Savona" Brigade. Starting on 24 February 1916, the four ships, together with the destroyers Irrequieto and Bersagliere and the auxiliary cruisers Città di Siracusa and Città di Catania, began to bombard advancing Austro-Hungarian troops who were about to occupy Durrës. In the following days they also bombarded Austro-Hungarian artillery positions on the mountain Sasso Bianco in the Dolomites near Durrës.

While Ardito and Città di Siracusa were inspecting the Otranto Barrage in the Strait of Otranto on 31 May 1916, the Austro-Hungarian destroyers Balaton and Orjen attacked the barrage and sank Beneficent, a naval drifter (an armed fishing boat) that was one of the vessels responsible for laying and supervising the anti-submarine nets that formed the barrage. Centauro and the destroyer Aquilone got underway from Brindisi to reinforce Ardito and Città di Siracusa, and the four ships intervened and forced the Austro-Hungarian destroyers to retreat.

On 2 August 1916, Ardito and the French Navy destroyers Italian destroyer Bisson, Italian destroyer Bory, and Italian destroyer Riviére, supported an incursion carried out by the motor torpedo boat MAS 6, supported by the torpedo boats 33 PN and 37 PN, into the harbor at Durrës. MAS 6 penetrated the harbor and launched a torpedo. Her crew believed they torpedoed a steamer, but Austro-Hungarian sources reported no ships sunk or damaged.

On 11 May 1917 Ardito, under the command of Commander Gottardi, got underway from Venice together with Animoso, Ardente, Audace, and the destroyer Abba to intercept an Austro-Hungarian Navy force consisting of the destroyer Csikos and the torpedo boats 78 T, 93 T, and 96 T sighted at 15:30 about 10 kilometres (5.4 nmi; 6.2 mi) away. However, the Italians were unable to engage the Austro-Hungarian ships before they reached the vicinity of the major Austro-Hungarian Navy base at Pola, and after approaching Pola the Italian ships gave up the chase and returned to Venice.

On 29 September 1917 Ardito, now under the command of Capitano di corvetta (Corvette Captain) Inigo Campioni, a future ammiraglio di squadra (squadron admiral) and commander of the Italian battlefleet during World War II, put to sea with Ardente and Audace and a second formation made up of Abba, the scout cruiser Sparviero, and the destroyers Acerbi, Orsini, and Stocco to support a bombing raid by 10 Italian airplanes against Pola. The Italian ships then had a brief evening clash with an Austro-Hungarian force composed of the destroyers Huszar, Streiter, Turul, and Velebit and four torpedo boats without achieving significant results.

After the end of the war, the ship had her armament revised to five 102 mm (4.0 in) 35-cal. guns, a single 40 mm (1.6 in) 35-cal. gun, and a pair of 6.5 mm (0.26 in) machine guns. The work was completed by 1920. The ship was reclassified as a torpedo boat on 1 October 1929, though she did not remain on active service for long afterward. On 2 October 1931, Ardito was struck from the naval register and subsequently discarded.

Moyuru ōzora (The Burning Sky)
Japanese movie poster for The Burning Sky.
Directed by	Yutaka Abe
Screenplay by	Yasutarō Yagi
Based on	a story by Komatsu Kiyamura
Produced by	Yutaka Abe
Starring	Den Obinata, Ichiro Tsukita, Katsuhiko Haida
Cinematography	Yoshio Miyajima
Edited by	Toshio Goto
Music by	Fumio Hayasaka
Production company	Toho
Release date	September 25, 1940 (1940-09-25)
Running time	137 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

The Burning Sky (燃ゆる大空, Moyuru ōzora) is a 1940 black-and-white Japanese war film produced and directed by Yutaka Abe, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. The film depicts the growth and fighting style of Imperial Japanese Army Air Service officers as they undergo training, and later their interactions with their former instructor as they fight together in China during the Second Sino-Japanese War after he takes command of their squadron. Considered a work of high quality, The Burning Sky is ranked eighth in the Kinema Junpo list of Ten Best Japanese Films.[3] Special cinematographer Eiichi (or Eiji) Tsuburaya won the Japan Photographers Association Award for his work on the film.[3]

The theme song, also called "The Burning Sky," was composed by Kosaku Yamada and sung by Ichiro Fujiyama.

Synopsis

Captain Yamamoto, an instructor at the Imperial Japanese Army's Kumagaya Army Flight School at Kumagawa, Japan, gives his energetic students rigorous training every day, and one after another, they go on to become full-fledged pilots in the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service. Two years later, in February 1938, Yamamoto himself goes to the front in China during the Second Sino-Japanese War as the commanding officer of a fighter squadron in North China and is reunited joyfully with his former students, who have become successful military aviators. Although one of Yamamoto's former students, Tanaka, already has been killed in action, the others remain active, Yukimoto and Yamamura flying in Yamamoto's fighter squadron and Sato in a bomber squadron commanded by Captain Nara. Almost as soon as Yamamoto takes command, Yamamura crash-lands in enemy-held territory, and Yukimoto makes a forced landing and rescues him. As the war intensifies, the aviators fight hard and continue to achieve great success, but the number of those who do not return home increases.

Cast

• Captain Yamamoto...Den Obinata
• Yukimoto...Ichiro Tsukita
• Yamamura...Heihachiro "Henry" Okawa as Yamamura
• Sato...Katsuhiko Haida
• Weekly shift officer...Soji Kiyokawa
• Jinrei unit commander...Minoru Takada
• Surgeon general...Kazuo Hasegawa
• Captain Noto...Ichiro Ryuzaki
• Lieutenant Yokota...Toshio Miki
• Ensign Inaba...Jun Maki
• Instructor...Taizo Fukami
• Adjutant...Seishiro Hara
• Combat Team...Akira Nakamura, Eiichi Sha, Masanosuke Sawamura, Haruo Numata, Souji Shima, Sanpei Tani
• Captain Nara...Susumu Fujita
• Bomber squadron...Ryo Sayama, Ryutaro Nagai, Tokiichiro Osaki, Tetsuichiro, Susumu Osugi, Akira Kinoshita
• Mechanized soldiers...Hiroshi Yanagiya, Ryutaro Nagai, Tokiichiro Osaki, Tetsuichiro, Susumu Osugi, Akira Kinoshita, Satoshi Komori, Tomishiro Takeshita, Katsutaro Kimura
• Guard...Mitsuo Tsuda
• Students...Hideo Saito, Takenobu Kusumoto
• Also appearing: Yoji Misaki, Haruo Fujisawa, Hiroshi Yamakawa, Heikuro Imanari, Sen Yamabe, Isao Onizawa, Kinshiro Okubo, Hiroshi Tsukiji, Junichi Sugimoto, Ichiya Akai, Osamu Shindo

Crew

• Special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya.
• Art Director: Takeo Kita
• Lighting: Tsuruzo Nishikawa
• Sound: Isamu Suzuki

Equipment appearing in the film

• Mitsubishi Ki-1 Army Type 93 Heavy Bomber
• Tachikawa Ki-9 Army Type 95-1 Medium Grade Trainer (Allied name "Spruce")
• Kawasaki Ki-10 Army Type 95 Fighter (Allied name "Perry")
• Mitsubishi Ki-21 Type 97 Heavy Bomber (Allied names "Gwen" and "Sally")
• Nakajima Ki-27 Type 97 Fighter (Allied names "Nate" and "Abdul")
• Mitsubishi Ki-30 Type 97 Light Bomber (Allied name "Ann")
• Nakajima Ki-34 Army Type 97 Transport (Allied name "Thora")
• Nakajima Army Type 91 Fighter
• Toyota AA passenger sedan

Production

Imperial Japanese Army Air Service Kawasaki Ki-10 fighters in Republic of China Air Force markings for the filming of The Burning Sky. They depicted Chinese Polikarpov I-15 fighters in the film.

Made to commemorate the 2,600th anniversary of the Imperial era in Japan in 1940, The Burning Sky took three years to film. The Japanese Army Ministry and the Army Aviation Headquarters fully cooperated in the making of the film, and 947 real Imperial Japanese Army Air Service military aircraft in use during the Second Sino-Japanese War, as well as active air personnel, participated in the filming. In addition to a large number of what then were state-of-the-art Nakajima K-27 fighters and Misyubishi Ki-21 heavy bombers, older Kawasaki Ki-10 fighters also appear in Chinese markings as Polikarpov I-15 fighters of Republic of China Air Force.

Director Yutaka Abe was skeptical of special effects, so he focused on real scenes, but some scenes lacked the impact he desired, so special effects scenes were added. However, most of the flight scenes were shot with actual aircraft actually flying for the movie, rather than using special effects or reusing existing film such as that of newsreels. In addition, a camera was installed in the cockpit of a Ki-27 fighter during training scenes depicting the strafing of targets at sea during flight school and during the dogfight scenes between Ki-27 and Ki-10 fighters, giving a sense of realism from the perspective of a fighter pilot. As a result, The Burning Sky ranks among Japanse films of the era in terms of realism in the same category as the 1942 film Wings of Triumph and the 1944 movie Kato hayabusa sento-tai ("Kato Hayabusa Combat Team").

For the crash-landing scene, a model airplane made of pasted-together construction paper was launched from a cliff with a slingshot while three cameras filmed the action from the bottom of the cliff, but the model airplane blew away in the wind. It was not seen again.

The early part of The Burning Sky depicts the training and life of young airmen at the Kumagaya Army Flight School in a realistic and sometimes humorous manner, and serves as an advertisement for military enlistment. The movie was unique even at the time in that no women appear in the film. Kazuo Hasegawa appears in the role of a military doctor attached to the Army Air Service in order to attract a female audience.

Theme song

The movie's theme song also was entitled "The Burning Sky." Sonosuke Sato wrote the lyrics, Kosaku Yamada composed the melody, andTokio Niki arranged the song.Noboru Kirishima and Ichiro Fujiyama provided the vocals. Nippon Columbia relesed the song in May 1940. It was included in the 64th volume of the as NHK radio program Kokumin Kayo ("National Song").

Sato's bright and lively lyrics and Yamada's sophisticated melody reminiscent of a German march gained popularity. As a movie theme song, it became a hit as a military song in wartime song alongside "Sora no Shinhei" ("Sky God Soldier"), which sings about the Imperial Japanese Army's paratroopers, and many recordings of "The Burning Sky" were produced after World War II. On the record, a mixed chorus is added, and in the third verse, Fujiyama's singing voice is mixed with humming for added effect. On the other hand, a male chorus version is used in the beginning and end of the movie.

Later, Tatsunoko Production's 1971 television series Animation: Keizai, used an instrumental version of "The Burning Sky" as background music. Baseball player Toru Nimura, who played for the Chunichi Dragons from 1984 to 1995, used the opening line of the song as his walk-up music.

External audio
"The Burning Sky"
"The Burning Sky", sung by Ichiro Fujiyama. YouTube art track provided by Nippon Columbia.

The copyright for the lyrics expired at the end of 1992, and the copyright for the song expired at the end of 2015, leaving both in the public domain. The lyrics are as follows:

The burning sky is a current of air.
The clouds are rising, they are flying.
The wings are shining like a swift wind, sounding true and maintaining their altitude.
Competing with the light, Aviation Japan, we conquer the skies.

The plane's wings are in turmoil, it's a storm, it's raining,
The sparkling propellers are the first to dedicate themselves to the empire,
Our brave and invincible wings.
We are the elite, our fighting spirit is inexhaustible.

Far above the ground, both in the south and in the north,
We attack and defend, fighting and bombing in every direction.
Say hello to the devil's wings on the front lines.
We conquer the skies of East Asia with the help of radio waves.

Open up the skies, hope, road, Seven Seas,
Conquer the continent, and advance through culture,
Let's say the wings of the Golden Goose in high spirits,
We, young people, will surpass the world and bear the prestige of our nation.

External links

• 燃ゆる大空 at the Japanese Movie Database (in Japanese)
• Scene from the film on YouTube

Category:1940s war films Category:Japanese war films Category:Toho films Category:Japanese black-and-white films Category:1940 films Category:Films directed by Yutaka Abe Category:Films scored by Fumio Hayasaka

History
Italy
Name	Sebastiano Caboto
Namesake	Sebastian Cabot (c. 1474–1557), Italian explorer
Ordered	1910
Builder	Cantieri Navali Riuniti, Genoa or Palermo, Italy (see text)
Laid down	March 1911
Launched	20 July 1913
Completed	November 1913
Commissioned	23 November 1913
Reclassified	Submarine tender 1938
Fate	Possibly scuttled 9 September 1943 (see text) Captured 12 September 1943
Nazi Germany
Name	Sebastiano Caboto
Namesake	Previous name retained
Acquired	12 September 1943
Commissioned	never
Fate	Sunk September–October 1943 (see text)
General characteristics
Type	River gunboat
Displacement	778 t (766 long tons) standard 877 t (863 long tons) normal load 1,049 t (1,032 long tons) full load
Length	63.4 m (208 ft) overall 60 m (200 ft) lbp
Beam	9.94 m (32 ft 7 in)
Draught	2.7 or 2.97 m (8 ft 10 in or 9 ft 9 in) (medium) 3.02 or 3.4 m (9 ft 11 in or 11 ft 2 in) (maximum)
Installed power	1,100 hp (810 kW)
Propulsion	2 × cylindrical coal-fired boilers 2 × triple-expansion reciprocating steam engines, 1,000 hp (746 kW) 2 × shafts
Speed	13.2 kn (24.4 km/h; 15.2 mph)
Range	3,600 nmi (6,670 km; 4,140 mi) at 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph)
Complement	either 6 officers and 117 enlisted men or 107 officers and enlisted men(see text)
Armament	6 × 76/40 mm Armstrong/Vickers guns 4 x 6.5/80 mm Maxim machine guns

Sebastiano Caboto was a vessel of the the Italian Regia Marina ("Royal Navy") in commission from 1913 to 1943. She operated as a river gunboat — some sources describe her as an "oceanic gunboat" or "colonial-service gunboat" — from 1913 to 1938, then as a submarine tender. She was named in honor of the Italian explorer Sebastian Cabot.

Design and construction

By the early 1900s, Italian traders and entrepreneurs were managing commercial activities in China, especially along the Yangtze. Italians had built textile factories in China and were managing other commercial interests; for example, the importation of coral, which was processed in Italy mainly by artisan companies in Naples and then exported again to East Asia, had become an important activity. For economic reasons, the Italian Regia Marina ("Royal Navy") could no longer afford to station warships in East Asia, and in any event the Regia Marina′s ships were too large to operate without difficulty upstream of Woosung (now Wusong) or Hankow (now Hankou) on the Yangtze. For years, France had assumed the responsibility for the protection of Italian communities in China. After the ambassador of the Kingdom of Italy in Peking (now Beijing) contacted him about a need for Italian protection of Italian communities along Chinese rivers, and in particular those on the upper Yangtze and the Peiho, the Italian minister of foreign affairs requested that the Regia Marina take steps to address the issue. The Regia Marina decided to build two river gunboats for service in China.

The Regia Marina ordered the first gunboat, Sebastiano Caboto, in 1910. Colonnello del Genio Navale ("Colonel of the Naval Engineers") Ettore Berghinz designed her, and she was laid down in March 1911. Sources agree that Cantieri Navali Riuniti ("United Shipyards") of Genoa built the ship, but disagree on whether construction took place at the company's shipyard at Genoa or Palermo. launched on 20 July 1913, she was completed in November 1913.

At 1,000 displacement tons, Sebastiano Caboto was large for a river gunboat, making her capable of crossing the open ocean, but a precise distribution of weight gave her a very shallow draft which, combined with her good maneuverability, allowed her to navigate rivers easily. According to some sources, Berghinz designed Sebastiano Caboto to operate on rivers in South America, in particular the Amazon River, to protect Italian colonists there. As built, she was equipped with a circular saw that could be mounted on her bow almost at the waterline, allowing her to extricate herself from the roots of mangroves along rivers such as the Amazon, as well as to break through barriers of logs carried by the current. With the situation calm in South America, Sebastiano Caboto instead was allocated to duty in China, and the saw was landed.

Sebastiano Caboto′s armament consisted of six 76/40 mm Armstrong/Vickers guns and four 6.5/80 mm Maxim machine guns One of the 76 mm guns was located on the bow, a second on the stern, two on the port side, and two on the starboard side. Two of the machine guns were located on the bow and two on the stern. According to one source, the crew consisted of six officers (the commanding officer, two ship's officers, an engineer, a commissary, and a doctor) and 117 petty officers and sailors, although another source places her total crew at 107.

Sebastiano Caboto′s propulsion system consisted of two triple-expansion reciprocating steam engines powered by two [[coal]-buring low-pressure cylindrical boilers operating at 12.6 kilograms per square centimeter (179.21 [[Pounds per square inch|psi). The engines produced a combined 1,000 horsepower (746 kW), allowing a maximum speed of 13.2 knots (24.4 km/h; 15.2 mph). At an economical cruising speed of 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph) and the maximum amount of a supply of coal she could bring aboard (100 or 190 tons, according to different sources) the ship could travel 3,600 nautical miles (6,670 km; 4,140 mi), enough to cross the Atlantic Ocean. She also had a substantial sailing rig: Her mainmast had two yards and could carry a square sail, a mainsail, and a counter mainsail, while her mizzenmast, with only one yard, could carry a mainsail and a counter mainsail.

In her operations, Sebastiano Caboto revealed excellent nautical qualities, proving to be manoeuvrable, easy to handle, sufficiently powerful, and capable of economical autonomous operations: On 100 tons of coal she could steam 1,356 nautical miles (2,511 km; 1,560 mi). One flaw was her tendency to roll, so her crew often used her sails to better stabilize her as well as slightly increase her speed.

Operational history

1913–1915

After entering service on 23 November 1913, Sebastiano Caboto moved from Palermo to Naples for her fitting out. After its completion, she departed Naples on 11 December 1913 bound for Shanghai. She made the approximately 10,000-nautical-mile (18,500 km; 11,500 mi) voyage in 110 days, 51 of which were spent at sea and 59 in port. After leaving Naples she called at Port Said, Massawa, Rakmat, Aden, Karachi, Bombay, Colombo, Singapore, and Saigon before arriving in March 1914 in Hong Kong, where she met the armored cruiser Marco Polo, which was about to return to Italy. Departing Hong Kong on 29 March 1914, Sebastiano Caboto made stops at Canton (now Guangzhou) and Macau before arriving at Shanghai on 2 April 1914.

As soon as a reorganization, which lasted for almost a month after her arrival, was complete, Sebastiano Caboto began operations, departing Shanghai on 28 April 1914 and steaming up the rivers to the limit of their navigability, in particular up the Yangtze. Although her draft prevented her from operating on the upper Yangtze between Yichang and Suifu (now Yibin), she could navigate the middle and lower Yangtze from is mouth to Yichang. She steamed up the Yangtze to Chungking (now Chongqing), negotiating a very torturous stretch of the river: In the stretch between Yichang and Chungking there were, in addition to numerous whirlpools and countercurrents, about 70 rapids, the level of which could vary, and numerous canyons, the length of which varied from 5 to 25 miles (8 to 40 km) and the width from 50 to 150 metres (55 to 164 yd), surrounded by hills and mountains whose altitude varied from 100 to 1,000 metres (330 to 3,300 ft), and with a difference in altitude of 100 metres (328 ft) in 86 miles (138 km). In May 1914 Sebastiano Caboto was in Hankow (now Hankou), went up the Yangtze to Cheling, crossed Lake Tung-Ting (now Dongting Lake), and then went up the Xiang River, a tributary of the Yangtze, reaching Changsha in Hunan Province, 950 miles (1,529 km) from the sea. Religious missions, who now found themselves protected from attacks by pirates, stragglers, and the armed forces of Chinese warlords and continuously warring Chinese factions, greeted her with great enthusiasm. Despite the many difficulties and dangers she encountered, she never needed to use her weapons, as her mere presence acted as a deterrent without her having to open fire. During the voyage from Italy to China, she had consumed all of the warranted fire hours for her boilers and operating hours for her steam engines, so after operating on the Chinese rivers for a month, she entered dry dock for end-of-warranty work.

After completion of her drydock work, Sebastiano Caboto resumed operations on Chinese rivers. In July 1914 she was in Nanking (now Nanjing) and later in Tientsin (now Tianjin). During this period, she sometimes became involved in armed conflict and had to use her weapons. At the beginning of August 1914, as World War I broke out in Europe, she went to Tsingtao (now Qingdao).

World War I

After Italy entered World War I on the side of the Allies in May 1915, the Republic of China remained neutral and Sebastiano Caboto risked internment by Chinese authorities, but she avoided this by ignoring Chinese demands that she submit to internment, cutting her moorings, and quickly departing for Nagasaki, Japan, where she remained for 18 months. When China also entered the war on the side of the Allies in December 1917, Sebastiano Caboto returned to her patrol duties on Chinese rivers. In 1918, a group of prisoners of war of Italian ethnicity captured by Russian forces while serving in the Austro-Hungarian Army and sent from the Russian Empire to Tientsin, where Italian authorities had promised them repatriation to Italy, grew tired of waiting for repatriation and rebelled. They were arrested, and on 10 June 1918 Sebastiano Caboto embarked about a hundred of them. After spending a night on the ship, the former prisoners of war were taken to the Si-Juan concentration camp in Peking.

1919–1934

World War I ended in November 1918. In 1921 a second Regia Marina gunboat, the smaller Ermanno Carlotto, whose construction had been interrupted by World War I, joined Sebastiano Caboto in China. Between January and March 1923, Sebastiano Caboto was in Hong Kong. On 6 April 1924, Lieutenant Commander Angelo Iachino, a future admiral, assumed command of Sebastiano Caboto and, noting the worsening of internal conflicts in China, expressed hope for the sending of an expeditionary force that could carry out international police duties: As a result, the Naval Division was established in East Asia. During the summer of 1924, Sebastiano Caboto conducted a cruise in the waters of Siberia, stopping at Vladivostok and a number of smaller ports.

During these years, Sebastiano Caboto and Ermanno Carloto had the task of protecting Italian missions in China, which, as had occurred prior to World War I, often came under threat of looting by river pirates and the forces of Chinese warlords. The two gunboats also policed shipping on Chinese rivers. Italian standards for the ownership and crewing of Italian-flagged vessels required that shipping companies that owned them have corporate capital that was majority Italian and that the ships themselves have an Italian captain and a crew that was at least two-thirds Italian, even if the crew's composition otherwise was in compliance with regulations in China. Many of the Italian-flagged ships Italian-Chinese shipping companies owned had come under the control of Chinese captains who used them to smuggle weapons. Although Italian agreements with China prohibited Chinese authorities from stopping and inspecting Italian-flagged ships — something viewed as intolerable for the credibility and prestige of the Italian shipping companies and, by extension, of Italy itself — Chinese authorities made several attempts to inspect Italian-flagged ships for illegal activities. Sebastiano Caboto and Ermanno Carloto therefore monitored Italian-flagged ships belonging to Italian-Chinese shipping companies for compliance with Italian requirements and to detect any illegal activities, and they reported ships which did not comply with legal and regulatory requirements to Italian consulate authorities, who could withdraw authorization to use of the Italian flag.

During the first half of the 1920s, Sebastiano Caboto and Ermanno Carloto, reinforced, at different times by the protected cruiser Libia, the torpedo boat Calabria, and the armored cruiser San Giorgio, found the task of protecting Italian communities and interests in China complicated by Chinese civil conflicts. Sebastiano Caboto often visited Chinese "treaty ports" and steamed up the Yangtze to Hankow, remaining mainly in the lower reaches of the river because of her draft.

During the second half of the 1920s and the early 1930s, the [[destroyer] Muggia alternated on duties in China, joining Sebastiano Caboto, Ermanno Carloto, and Libia in forming the Italian naval squadron there. The transport Volta, the heavy cruiser Trento. and the destroyer Espero also made deployments to China. In March 1925 the Far East Naval Command included Libia, Sebastiano Caboto, Ermanno Carlotto, and the armored cruiser San Giorgio. In 1926 Sebastiano Caboto deployed to Shanghai to protect Italian interests in the city, but in the following years, except for regular visits to Shanghai and Hankow, she was mainly based at Tientsin. In 1932, following the 1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria and problems that resulted from it, the Far Eastern Naval Division was reconstituted under the command by Admiral Domenico Cavagnari and consisted of Trento (Cavagnari's flagship), Libia, Espero, Sebastiano Caboto, and Ermanno Carlotto. Later the protected cruiser Quarto replaced Trento, Libia, and Espero in East Asia.

In 1934, after 20 years of service on Chinese rivers, Sebatiano Caboto was worn out and losing operational efficiency: Her hull had become worn and her propulsion system no longer could develop sufficient speed to counteract river currents. The modern minelayer Lepanto arrived in China to replace her, and on 7 August 1934 Sebastiano Caboto left the mouth of the Yangtze to return to Italy. During her five-and-a-half-month voyage, she stopped at almost all the same ports she had visited during her voyage to China 20 years earlier.

1935–1938

During her voyage to Italy, Sebastiano Caboto received orders to place herself under the command of the Italian East Africa Naval Command at Massawa; sources disagree on whether she received the orders on 19 January 1935 while in port at Aden or after she already had reached Massawa. She subsequently returned to the Mediterranean and deployed to Rhodes for duty under the Aegean Naval Command In 1938 she was reclassified as a submarine tender.

World War II

With its invasion of France on 10 June 1940, Italy entered World War II on the side of the Axis powers. at the time, Sebastiano Caboto was part of the Auxiliary Ships Group of the Aegean Sea Naval Command , based at Rhodes. During the war, she continued to operate as a submarine tender, always based at Rhodes. She often participated with her shipboard armament in the [[anti-aircraft] defense of the island from frequent, but usually unsuccessful, British air attacks. The crew often took the opportunity to enrich their meals with fish, particularly mullet, killed by explosions during the air raids.

On 25 May 1941, during the preparation of a convoy that would land an Italian expeditionary force in Crete, to take part in the German invasion of the island, Aldo Cocchia, the commander of the convoy, requested that Sebastiano Caboto take part in the operation, but higher command rejected the request on the grounds that Sebastiano Caboto, although small and old, was registered in the naval register as a cruiser and it was undesirable to give the Allies an opportunity to announce the sinking of a cruiser if she were lost during the operation.

The Kingdom of Italy proclaimed an armistice with the Allies on 8 September 1943, and Nazi Germany immediately began the Dodecanese campaign to seize control of the Italian islands in the Aegean, including Rhodes. Sebastiano Caboto was still at Rhodes, under the orders of Lieutenant Commander Corradini. The ship was in no coniditon to either participate in the Battle of Rhodes nor flee the island, so Corradini disembarked weapons and supplies to reinforce the Italian defenses ashore. According to one source, the ship was scuttled in shallow water at Rhodes on 9 September 1943 to prevent her capture intact by the Germans. According to other sources, Sebastiano Caboto was moored in port with her engines stopped and only a small crew aboard — most of her crew having disembarked without Corradini's consent so as to avoid having to fight the Germans — when armed German soldiers boarded the ship on 11 September 1943. Sources agree that German forces captured her on 12 September 1943 when Corradini and the remaining crew, after destroying documents and archives, disembarked, bringing with them the ship's battle flag, after receiving the salute from German |sentries. However, the ship's Italian flag was not lowered until 17 September 1943.

After capturing Sebastiano Caboto, the Germans refloated and repaired her. Her time under Kriegsmarine control was short, and sources differ on her subsequent fate. Some sources claim she was sunk in an Allied air attack in September 1943, perhaps on 15 September 1943 while repairs were underway, sinking in the same place where she had scuttled herself. According to some sources, however, she suffered damage at Rhodes in an Allied air raid on 19 September 1943, hit near the forecastle. Some sources claim she was sunk in an Allied air raid in October 1943.

Commemorative Medal of the March on Rome
Medaglia commemorativa della Marcia su Roma
The obverse (left) and reverse of the medal.
Type	Commemorative medal
Awarded for	Participation in the March on Rome
Presented by	Kingdom of Italy
Eligibility	Military personnel
Status	obsolete
Established	31 December 1923
Ribbon of the medal

The Commemorative Medal of the March on Rome (Italian: Medaglia commemorativa della Marcia su Roma) was a decoration granted by the Kingdom of Italy to recognize the October 1922 March on Rome, which pressured the Italian government into appointing Benito Mussolini prime minister of Italy and began Fascist rule and what the National Fascist Party deemed the "Era Fascista" ("Fascist Era").

Background

In October 1922, Benito Mussolini decided on a "March on Rome" by members of the Italian National Fascist Party (Italian: Partito Nazionale Fascista or PNF) to pressure King Victor Emmanuel III (Italian: Vittorio Emanuele III) into forcing Prime Minister of Italy Luigi Facta to resign and appointing Mussolini to replace him. on 25 October 1922, he appointed the "Quadrumvirs" — the Italian fascist leaders Michele Bianchi, Emilio De Bono, Cesare Maria De Vecchi, and Italo Balbo — to organize the march while he remained in the PNF's stronghold in Milan. By 27 October 1922, about 30,000 supporters of the PNF had converged on Rome in 19 columns, and they entered the city on 28 October and began the first of three days of PNF marches and demonstrations in the city. Facta drafted an order declaring a state of siege in Rome and martial law, but Victor Emmanuel, fearing bloodshed, refused to sign it. Facta resigned on 29 October, and on 30 October Victor Emmanuel summoned Mussolini to Rome. On 31 October 1922, the king appointed Mussolini as the next prime minister, an event which began Fascist rule in Italy and which Italian fascists regarded as the beginning of the "Era Fascista" ("Fascist Era").

History

The Commemorative Medal of the March on Rome was created on 31 December 1923 by an order of the Voluntary Militia for National Security (Italian: Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale or MVSN), commonly called the "Blackshirts." With royal decrees of 31 January 1926 1 November 1928, and 15 July 1938 the Kingdom of Italy greatly expanded eligibility for the medal.

Eligibility

The medal was issued in three grades, gold, silver, and bronze. The 31 December 1923 MVSN order authorized the medal by grade as follows:

• The gold medal for Benito Mussolini, the Quadrumvirs, and the administrative secretary of the National Fascist Party, Giovanni Marinelli.
• The silver medal for the 19 commanders of the columns organized to converge on Rome in the march.
• The bronze medal for all other members of the National Fascist Party who participated in the march between 27 October and 1 November 1922.

By order of the National Fascist Party on 7 December 1931, the silver medal awarded to Achille Starace, a column leader during the march, was changed to a gold medal on the occasion of his appointment as secretary of the party.

After the initial creation of the medal in 1923, the Kingdom of Italy expanded eligibility for it as follows:

• The royal decree of 31 January  1926 extended eligibility to all members of the Voluntary Militia for National Security (Italian: Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale, or MVSN), commonly called the "Blackshirts."
• The royal decree of 1 November 1928 extended eligibility to personnel who were members of the Italian armed forces on 28 October 1922 but did not engage in opposition to the march that day.
• The royal decree of 15 July 1938 made all members of the Italian Armed Forces eligible.

Appearance

Medal

The medal is a gold, silver, or bronze disc with a diameter of 34 millimetres (1.3 in) and an hook attachment. The obverse depicts a winged victory holding an oak crown in his right hand and supporting a fasces in his left hand. Behind him are legionary insignia, fasces, and Roman daggers. The reverse is centered around a blank quadrilateral delimited by four fasces, within which a recipient could have his name engraved. The identity of the manufacturer of the medal — Lorioli & Castelli of Milan, Italy — is incused below the quadrilateral with the phrase "M Lorioli & Castelli Milano et EB Mod. Rip. Ris". The reverse is inscribed along its edge with the phrase "MARCIA SV ROMA" ("MARCH ON ROME") around the upper half and the phrase "27 OTTOBRE–1 NOVEMBRE 1922" ("27 OCTOBER–1 NOVEMBER 1922") around the lower half, with two small stars, one each on the left and right edges, separating the phrases.

Ribbon

The ribbon is divided equally into two vertical bands representing the colors of the comune ("commune" or "municipality") of Rome, with yellow on the left and amaranth on the right.

References

Bibliography

• Morittu, Giuseppe (1982). Guerre e decorazioni 1848–1945 (in Italian). Padua, Italy: Bolzonella s.n.c.
• Morittu, Giuseppe (1982). Guerre e decorazioni 1848–1945 (in Italian). Padua, Italy: Bolzonella s.n.c.

The lieutenancy of the kingdom is a royal institution entrusted to a high-level figure in a monarchy who either is designated to assume royal powers up to and including the regency of the Kingdom in the event of the absence of the monarch, or is designated to exercise monarchical powers in a particular territory of the kingdom under the overall authority of the monarch. Typically, the person exercising the authority of a lieutenancy takes the title of "lieutenant general."

In France

In the Kingdom of France, the Count of Artois, brother of the King of France, preceded the return of King Louis XVIII to Paris after the fall of Napoleon in 1814 and took the title of lieutenant general of the kingdom. From 2 to 9 August 1830, Duke Louis Philippe of Orleans assumed the title of lieutenant general of the kingdom.

In Italy

King's lieutenant

In the Kingdom of Italy, the institution of the lieutenancy general of the king (Italian: luogotenenza generale del re) under the House of Savoy was not codified in law, but became over time a true constitutional custom, finding application in the unification of Italy (Italian: Risorgimento) between 1859 and 1870 and during World War I, in which Italy participated from May 1915 to November 1918.

In the Kingdom of Sardinia, which the House of Savoy ruled prior to the unification of Italy, and later in the Kingdom of Italy, it was customary to appoint a lieutenant general of the kingdom (Italian: luogotenente generale del regno), chosen from among members of the Savoy royal family to carry out some of the king's duties as viceroy while the king was away from his office to follow the army on the battlefield during war. In 1848, when during the First Italian War of Independence (1848–1849) King of Sardinia Charles Albert (Italian: Carlo Alberto) reached the battlefield in Lombardy, Eugene Emmanuel of Savoy-Carignano (Italian: Eugenio Emanuele di Savoia-Carignano) was appointed "lieutenant general of the kingdom", a position he also held in 1849, when, after Charles Albert's defeat in the Battle of Novara, it fell to him to make the announcement that the defeated king had abdicated and the crown of Sardinia had passed to his son Victor Emmanuel II (Italian: Vittorio Emanuele II). Eugene Emmanuel of Savoy-Carignano held the same role in 1859 and 1866 when Victor Emmanuel II took part in the Italian Second and Third Wars of Independence.

Lieutenancies in the unification of Italy

Immediately after the new Kingdom of Italy issued decrees annexing pre-unification Italian states, it delegated the function of governing the territories of the former states in the name of the king to a decentralized constitutional body that served as the provisional government in each state. A "lieutenant of the king" served as the leader of each provisional government and oversaw the administration of the territory of each former state while awaiting its administrative unification with the kingdom. The title of "lieutenant of the king" fell to various figures in the annexed territories, such as that of the dictator or the royal commissioner that preceded the annexation.

A lieutenancy was established on the territory of the former Grand Duchy of Tuscany, where Eugene Emmanuel of Savoy-Carignano was appointed lieutenant of the king when the Kingdom of Italy annexed the grand duchy in 22 March 1860. He held the position until February 1861.

In the former territories of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies in Sicily, King Victor Emmanuel II appointed Senator Massimo Cordero di Montezemolo as "Lieutenant General of the King in the Sicilian Provinces" in December 1860 at the end of Giuseppe Garibaldi's dictatorship in Sicily. Montezemolo led a Council of Lieutenancy in Sicily which held he powers of the central government of the Kingdom of Italy except for those of Foreign Affairs, War, and the Navy. Montezemolo was followed by Alessandro Della Rovere and then Ignazio De Genova di Pettinengo before the lieutenancy ceased in January 1862.

In the Neapolitan provinces of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, which included most of Southern Italy (Italian: Mezzogiorno), Victor Emmanuel II appointed Luigi Carlo Farini as lieutenant general of the king on 6 November 1860. Eugene Emmanuel of Savoy-Carignano succeeded him on 3 January 1861 and remained in Naples until the end of May 1861. Thereafter, General Enrico Cialdini served as lieutenant general in Naples from 15 July to 15 October 1861.

After the Kingdom of Italy captured Rome from the Papal States in September 1870, it established the "General Lieutenancy of the King for Rome and the Roman Provinces" with Royal Decree Number 5906 of 9 October 1870. It was headed by Alfonso La Marmora. It was abolished on 1 February 1871.

World War I

When Italy entered World War I on the side of the Allies in May 1915, King Victor Emmanuel III (Italian: Vittorio Emanuele III) decided to leave for the front and entrusted some of his governmental functions to his uncle, Prince Tommaso of Savoy, Duke of Genoa, by a special decree of 25 May 1915.

As lieutenant general, Prince Tommasso carried out only formal and protocol functions in Rome without any role in substantive governance. However, during the war years royal decrees were called "lieutenant decrees" and bore the signature of Prince Tommasso rather than than of Victor Emmanuel III. The war ended on 11 November 1918, but Prince Tommasso's lieutenancy extended well beyond that: It was not until 7 July 1919, when, in accordance with Decree Number 1082 of 6 July 1919, that Prince Tommasso returned to private life and the king to the full extent of his functions.

Italian protectorate of Albania

Italy conquered the Albanian Kingdom in April 1939, establishing the Italian protectorate of Albania with Victor Emmanuel III as its king. In 1940, the Kingdom of Italy considered appointing Prince Adalberto, Duke of Bergamo, to act as king's lieutenant general in Albania, but no such appointment took place.

Lieutenant General of the Kingdom

During World War II, Italy surrendered to the Allies on 8 September 1943 and switched to the Allied side. The Kingdom of Italy's support for Italian fascism before the surrender and its choices thereafter had made the House of Savoy unpopular in Italy by the spring of 1944, leading to growing sentiment for King Victor Emmanuel III's abdication and even for the replacement of the monarchy with a republic; in fact, the leaders of anti-fascist Italian political parties desired the abdication of Victor Emmanuel, the renunciation of the throne by his son Crown Prince Umberto, former Prince of Piedmont, and the immediate appointment of a civil regent. In the spring of 1944, Victor Emmanuel reached an compromise agreement — supported by former president of the Chamber of Deputies and future president of the Italian Republic Enrico De Nicola — with the National Liberation Committee (Italian: Comitato di Liberazione Nazionale), to "freeze" the institutional question about the future government of Italy until the end of World War II and the concurrent Italian Civil War between the Kingdom of Italy and the Italian Social Republic. Under this agreement, Victor Emmanuel III retired to private life on 5 June 1944, remaining king but appointing his son Umberto, former Prince of Piedmont and heir to the throne, to serve as regent, exercising the prerogatives of the sovereign without holding the title of king.

Although Victor Emmanuel's signed appointment decree contained the traditional wording "Appointment of HRH [His Royal Highness] Umberto of Savoy, Prince of Piedmont, as Lieutenant General of the King," Umberto assumed the title of "Lieutenant General of the Kingdom" (Italian: Luogotenente generale del Regno) instead of "King's Lieutenant," as always used in the past. This choice was made to underline both Umberto's greater powers as lieutenant — unlike previous lieutenants, he was not subordinate to the king — and that the maintenance of the monarchy or the transition to a republican regime would be implemented freely, without the need to consult with or remove the king. The title of "Lieutenant General of the Kingdom," rather than of the king, also rooted Umberto's role more with the Italian state than with the monarchy.

After his appointment, Umberto split his role between lieutenant and crown prince: As lieutenant general he ruled Italy like a provisional head of state, while as crown prince he served as pretender to a throne now removed from automatic dynastic succession, pending resolution of the question of the institutional form of the future Italian state. In 1944 he signed Lieutenant Decree-Law Number 151/1944, which established that "after the liberation of the national territory" of Italy from the Axis powers and the Italian Social Republic "the institutional forms" of government would be "chosen by the Italian people, who for this purpose" would elect "by universal, direct, and secret suffrage, a Constituent Assembly to decide on the new Constitution of the State," extending the vote to women for the first time. As lieutenant, Umberto soon earned the trust of the Allies thanks to his choice of orienting the policies of the Italian monarchy toward pro-Western positions.

Umberto's lieutenancy lasted until 9 May 1946, when the result of post-World War II elections led Vittorio Emanuele III′s advisors to induce him to abdicate in advance of the referendum on the future governance of the Italian state scheduled for 2 and 3 June 1946. The advisors hoped that his abdication would further distance the House of Savoy from Victor Emmanuel, who had favored the advent of the fascist Mussolini government, and increase the chance that the referendum would result in the preservation of the monarchy. Umberto took the throne as King Umberto II, but the results of the June 1946 referendum favored the abolition of the monarchy and establishment of the Italian Republic, and Umberto II reigned only until 18 June 1946 before going into exile.

Kingdom of Sicily

The Swabians

As early as the 13th century, lieutenancy existed in the Kingdom of Sicily, then ruled by the Swabians, when Manfred ruled Sicily as regent on behalf of his brother Conard II (often called Conradin) with the title of "lieutenant."

The Aragonese

After the Angevin period, the Aragonese took on the commitment to keep the Kingdom of Sicily distinct from the Kingdom of Aragon, and the King of Aragon appointed a lieutenant who reigned in Sicily in his absence. As a result of this policy, when Peter III was recalled to Spain he left the lieutenancy in Sicily to Alfonso III of Aragon. After that, James II of Aragon was invested with the role of lieutenant.

Over the centuries, princes not of royal blood who performed functions in Sicily on behalf of the King of Aragon were given the title of "lieutenant of the king."

The Bourbons

The Bourbon King of Naples Ferdinand IV, who also was King of Sicily as Ferdinand III aolished the office of Viceroy of Sicily in 1803 and established the position of "Lieutenant General of Sicily." Alessandro Filangieri, Prince of Cutò, served as lieutenant general from 1803 to 1806. When Napoleon invaded the Kingdom of Naples in 1806, Ferdinand fled to Palermo in Sicily resumed direct rule of the Kingdom of Sicily.

In 1812, Ferdinand refused to grant a constitution to the Sicilian parliament and, in 1813, he practically abdicated his throne, fleeing to Ficuzza and appointing his son Francesco (Francis, Duke of Calabria) to served as lieutenant general. In this role, Francis served as regent in Sicily.

After the fall of Napoleon, Ferdinand was able to return to Naples as ruler of the Kingdom of Naples in May 1815. Ferdinand kept Francis in Sicily as lieutenant. Francis retained his lieutenancy in Sicily until 1820, even after the establishment in 1816 of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, which Ferdinand ruled as Ferdinand I.

Bibliography

• Vignoli, Giulio (2006). Il sovrano sconosciuto: Tomislavo II re di Croazia. Milan, Italy: Mursia. ISBN 88-425-3583-4.

Medal of Merit for the Avezzano Earthquake of 1915
Type	Meritorious service medal
Awarded for	Relief work related to the 1915 Avezzano earthquake
Presented by	Kingdom of Italy
Eligibility	Military and civilian personnel
Established	8 August 1915
Ribbon the medal

The Medal of Merit for the Avezzano Earthquake of 1915 (Italian: Medaglia di benemerenza per il terremoto di Avezzano del 1915) was established by the Kingdom of Italy with Lieutenant Legislative Decree no. 1339 of 1915 to reward the organizations and people who, from the day of the earthquake (13 January 1915) to the end of June 1915, had acquired a title of public merit by providing relief work to the survivors or contributing with substantial donations in their favor: both providing rescue, health or administrative services, as well as the material or moral needs of the injured. The new legislation did not modify the provisions of the Royal Decree of 30 April 1851, n. 1168, with which King of Sardinia Victor Emmanuel II established the medals for civil valor, a decree which remain in effect after the unification of Italy in 1861, when he became King of Italy.

The recognition consisted of a diploma of merit and the related gold, silver or bronze medal; with the Lieutenant Decree n. 574 of 1916 a certificate of honorable mention was also added if the degree of merit was not such as to be rewarded with a medal.

Eligibility criteria

The work performed by candidates for the medal was ascertained by certification. Certification authorities were as follows:

• The local heads of the various government administrations and of the heads of the various military corps for persons belonging to such administrations or corps;
• The Central Committee of the Italian Red Cross Association for people who had been part of the teams or committees employed by the association itself;
• The mayor, with the approval of the prefect (Italian: prefetto) of the province, for people who were members of rescue teams or committees or who provided relief work in isolation.

These certifications originally had to be presented to the competent offices by 30 October 1915, although Lieutenant Decree no. 1649 of 1915[4] later extended this deadline to 31 December 1915.

King Victor Emmanuel III awarded the medal or honorable mention with the relevant diploma, upon proposal of the Minister of the Interior, following the opinion of a commission composed of:

• A commission president, who was a state councilor designated by the Minister of the Interior; • the general director of the Civil Administration; • the director general of public health; • the director general of public security; • the general director of special services at the Ministry of Public Works; • a general officer designated by the Minister of War; • the commander of the Rome police force; • an official from the Ministry of the Interior responsible for the secretarial office of the commission.

The Lieutenant General of the King could also award the medal upon a simple proposal from the Minister of the Interior in the case provided for by Royal Decree no. 2706 of 1884, i.e., when the generous act was sufficiently ascertained due to the circumstances of time and place in which it was carried out and the integrity of the people who witnessed it.

The medals, minted at the expense of the State, were delivered together with the diploma to the organizations and decorated persons. The names of those decorated were published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom.

Appearance

Medal

The medal is gold, silver, or bronze depending on the degree of merit, and has a diameter of 35 millimetres (1.4 in). The obverse bears an effigy of the King Victor Emmanuel III encircled by the inscription "VITTORIO EMANUELE III" ("VICTOR EMMANUEL III"). The signature of the engraver, "Motti", appears under the king's neck. The reverse bears the inscription "TERREMOTO 13 GENNAIO 1915" ("EARTHQUAKE 13 JANUARY 1915") surrounded by two oak branches tied at the bottom with a ribbon. A crowned "Z", the mark of the Royal Mint, is inscribed at the bottom of the reverse.

Other versions of the medal exist that differ in the engraver, bust, and inscriptions, some produced by private companies such as Stefano Johnson based in Baranzate.

Ribbon

The medal was worn hanging on the left side of the chest with a silk ribbon with an overall width of 36 millimetres (1.4 in), scarlet red in color with black edges of 6 millimetres (0.24 in) each.

Bibliography

• Brambilla, Alessandro (1997). Le medaglie italiane negli ultimi 200 anni (two volumes) (in Italian). Milan, italy.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Ercoli, Ercole (1976). Le Medaglie al Valore, al Merito e Commemorative - Militari e Civili nei Regni di Sardegna, d'Italia e nella Repubblica Italiana - 1793-1976 (in Italian). Milan, Italy: I.D.L.
• Manno, Roberto (1995). Duecento anni di medaglie. I segni del valore e della partecipazione ad eventi storici dal 1793 al 1993 (in Italian). Hobby & Work Publishing. ISBN 88-7133-191-5.
• Morittu, Giuseppe (1982). Guerre e decorazioni 1848 - 1945 (in Italian). Padua, Italy: Bolzonella s.n.c.
• Scarpa, Costantino; Sézanne, Paolo (1982–1985). Le decorazioni del Regno di Sardegna e del Regno d'Italia (two volumes) (in Italian). Uffici storici Esercito - Marina - Aeronautica.

The Cross for Length of Military Service (Italian: Croce per anzianità di servizio militare) is a military medal created by the Kingdom of Italy which then passed to the Italian Republic. Created in 1900 and updated or reformed in 1953, 1966, 1972, and 2010, it is a seniority award which recognizes lengthy honorable service in the Italian armed forces.

Kingdom of Italy

Cross for Length of Military Service
Type	Medal for long service
Awarded for	16, 25, or 40 years of service
Presented by	Kingdom of Italy (1900–1946) Italian Republic (1946–1953)
Eligibility	Military personnel
Status	Replaced 1953
Established	8 November 1900

History

King Victor Emmanuel III created the Cross for Length of Military Service by royal decree on 8 November 1900 to decorate military personnel of all ranks of the Regio Esercito ("Royal Army") and Regia Marina ("Royal Navy") for long and meritorous service. When created in 1900, it replaced the by-then-obsolete Piedmontese-style chevrons of the uniforms of the era of King Umberto I, standardizing the decoration on a larger scale in step with the evolution of Italian military uniforms.

Eligibility

The Cross for Length of Military Service was a seniority medal, awarded strictly for length of honorable service. When created in 1900, it was divided into three classes, but a fourth class was added by royal decree on 15 June 1912. The four classes were:

• Silver cross for enlisted soldiers who had served for 16 years;
• Silver cross surmounted by the royal crown of Italy for enlisted soldiers who had served for 25 years (added in 1912);
• Gold cross for officers who had served for 25 years;
• Gold cross surmounted by the royal crown of Italy for officers who had served for 40 years.

Appearance

Medal

The medal consists of a Maltese cross in gold or silver, depending on the class, with a disc in the center bearing the crowned monogram of Vittorio Emanuele III ("VE") on the obverse and the years of service in Roman numerals on the reverse ("XVI", "XXV", or "XL"). The crowned crosses are surmounted by the royal crown of Italy in silver or gold, also depending on the class.

Ribbon

The medal was hung on the chest with a green silk ribbon, divided down the middle by a white stripe. A gold (for the gold cross) or silver (for the silver cross) crown on the ribbon with a diameter of 6 millimetres (0.24 in) distinguishes the crosses with crowns from those without when only the ribbon is worn. The founding royal decree of 1900 did not allow wearing of the ribbon without the medal, but a royal decree of 1906 modified this, giving the bearer the right to wear only the ribbon.

Ribbons
Silver Cross for non-commissioned officers and troops (16 years)	Silver Cross with Royal Crown for non-commissioned officers and troops (25 years)	Gold Cross for officers (25 years)	Gold Cross with Royal Crown for officers (40 years)

Italian Republic

Cross for Length of Military Service
The reverse of the Silver Cross for troops for 25 years of service (left) and the reverse of the Gold Cross for officers and non-commissioned officers for 40 years of service.
Type	Medal for long service
Awarded for	16, 25, or 40 years of service
Presented by	Italian Republic
Eligibility	Military personnel
Status	Reformed 15 March 2010
Established	10 February 1953

History

The Kingdom of Italy’s legislation governing the Cross for Length of Military Service remained in force even after the fall of the monarchy and birth of the Italian Republic. The Italian Republic first defined its version of the medal only in 1953. A 1966 reform established that the cross was awarded to officers, non-commissioned officers, and enlisted men of the Italian Army (Italian: ’’Esercito Italiano’’), Italian Navy (Italian: ’’Marina Militare’’), and Italian Air Force (Italian: ’’Aeronautica Militare’’) and had the following classes:

• Silver Cross for officers, non-commissioned officers, and enlisted personnel who had served for 16 years;
• Silver Cross with star for enlisted personnel who had served for 25 years;
• Gold Cross for officers and non-commissioned officers who had served for 25 years;
• Gold Cross with star for officers and non-commissioned officers who had served for 40 years.

Appearance

Medal

The Italian Republic’s 1953 legislation altered the appearance of the medal from that awarded by the Kingdom of Italy. The republic continued the practice of awarding a Maltese cross in gold and silver, depending on the class, but eliminated the crowns above the crosses and replaced the royal monogram "VE" on the obverse of the kingdom’s medal with the abbreviation "RI" (for Italian: ”’’Repubblica italiana’’” — "Italian Republic") in a disc in the center of the cross. On the reverse, the republic continued the practice of indicating the number of years of service in Roman numerals ("XVI", "XXV", or "XL"). The Maltese cross is 32 millimetres (1.3 in) wide.

Ribbon

The ribbon is 37 millimetres (1.5 in) wide and identical to the kingdom’s ribbon in that it is green with a white stripe in the middle. However, in the 1953 legislation, the republic eliminated the crown from the ribbon and replaced it with a 6-millimetre-wide (0.24 in) star when required by the class of the medal, in either gold or silver, depending on the class of the medal.

In 1972 a gold turreted crown was introduced, 4 millimetres (0.16 in) high and 6 millimetres (0.24 in) wide at the top, tapering to 4 millimetres (0.16 in) wide at the base, to be affixed to the ribbon of the Gold Cross for officers and non-commissioned officers with 25 years of service.

Ribbons
Silver Cross for officers, non-commissioned officers, and enlisted personnel (16 years)	Silver Cross with star for enlisted personnel (25 years)	Gold Cross for officers and non-commissioned officers (25 years) (1953-1972)	Gold Cross with crown for officers and non-commissioned officers (25 years) (1972-present)	Gold Cross with Star for officers and non-commissioned officers (40 years)

2010 reform

Cross for Length of Military Service
Type	Medal for long service
Awarded for	16, 25, or 40 years of service
Presented by	Italian Republic
Eligibility	Military personnel
Status	Current
Established	15 March 2010

Legislative Decree Number 66 of 2010 repealed all existing legislation regarding the Cross for Length of Military Service under Article 2268 and absorbed it under Article 1464 into Articles 857 and 858 of the Regulations without substantial changes. It continued the authorization for personnel to wear the ribbons without the respective medals unless the medal is expressly required.

The 2010 reform also made a distinction between ‘’graduati’’ (literally “graduates,” an Italian military term roughly corresponding to “junior non-commissioned officers”) and non-commissioned officers of a higher rank, corresponding to what other countries might consider a “senior non-commissioned officers.” It redefined eligibility as follows:

• Silver Cross for officers, non-commissioned officers, ‘’graduati’’, and enlisted personnel with 16 years of service.
• Silver cross with star for ‘’graduati’’ and enlisted personnel with 25 years of service;
• Gold Cross for officers and non-commissioned officers with 25 years of service;
• Gold Cross with star for officers and non-commissioned officers with 40 years of service.

Ribbons
Silver Cross for officers, non-commissioned officers, ‘’graqduati’’, and enlisted personnel (16 years)	Silver Cross with star for ’’graduati’’ and enlisted personnel (25 years)	Gold Cross with crown for officers and non-commissioned officers (25 years)	Gold Cross with Star for officers and non-commissioned officers (40 years)

References

[[:Category:1900 establishments in Italy [[:Category:1953 establishments in Italy [[:Category:Awards established in 1900 [[:Category:Awards established in 1953 [[:Category:Military awards and decorations of Italy

Italian Expeditionary Corps in China
Corpo di spedizione italiano in Cina
Italian mounted infantry in China in 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion. A unit of Italian Marine Fusiliers in colonial uniform marching to Tientsin (now Tianjin).
Active	5 July 1900–August 1905
Country	Kingdom of Italy
Branch	Regio Esercito ("Royal Army") Regia Marina ("Royal Navy")
Type	Expeditionary force
Size	Regiment
Part of	Eight-Nation Alliance
Engagements	Boxer Rebellion
Decorations	Commemorative Medal of the Campaign in China
Commanders
Alliance commander	Field Marshal Alfred von Waldersee
Italian commander	Vice Admiral Camillo Candiani
Italian ground commander	Colonel Vincenzo Garioni

The Italian Expeditionary Corps in China (Italian: Corpo di spedizione italiano in Cina) was an expeditionary force the Kingdom of Italy sent to China in the summer of 1900 to assist in the efforts of the Eight-Nation Alliance to put down the Boxer Rebellion. It began to return to Italy in 1901, but some of its elements operated in China until 1905. The Italian participation in the campaign against the Boxers allowed Italy to obtain the Italian concession of Tientsin in 1901.

Background

The Boxer Rebellion was an anti-colonialist and anti-Christian movement of the Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists (Yìhéquán), known in English as the "Boxers," which took place in China between November 1899 and 7 September 1901. The uprising was a reaction to Western and Japanese imperialist expansion in China that included European opium merchants, political invasion, economic manipulation, and missionary evangelization. In 1898, local organizations in Shantung (now Shandong) rebelled in response to both imperialist expansion and internal Chinese problems such as the Qing dynasty's fiscal crisis and natural disasters. Initially the Qing dynasty repressed the rebellion, but the dynasty later attempted to take advantage of the rebellion to free China from foreign influence. With the slogan "Support the Qing, destroy the foreigners" ("扶清灭洋"), the Boxers attacked missionary settlements throughout northern China. Many thousands of Chinese Christians were killed because the Boxers considered them responsible for foreign domination in China.

After the first violence in Peking (now Beijing) against Westerners and Japanese, eight countries – Austria-Hungary, the British Empire, France, the German Empire, the Kingdom of Italy, the Japanese Empire, the Russian Empire, and the United States – formed the Eight-Nation Alliance to intervene in the Boxer Rebellion, protect their citizens and interests in China, and suppress the Boxers. Naval vessels of the eight countries arrived at Tientsin (now Tianjin) on the northeastern coast of China by the end of May 1900, and on 1 June 1900 the first contingent of 436 armed sailors (75 British, 75 French, 75 Russian, 60 American, 50 German, 41 Italian, 30 Japanese, and 30 Austro-Hungarian) disembarked from the ships and went by train to Peking to protect Westerners and Japanese who had taken refuge from the Boxers in the Peking Legation Quarter. The Boxers soon began a siege of the International Legations in Peking, and by 15 June 1900, some Italian and French military personnel were separated from the rest of the contingent, defending the Beitang Church, a Catholic cathedral in Peking,[1] which the Boxers also besieged.

A second force of the eight nations arrived in China, and the Seymour Expedition, consisting of 914 British, 540 German, 312 Russian, 158 French, 112 American, 54 Japanese, 41 Italian – including Italian marines disembarked from the protected cruiser Calabria under the command of ‘’Tenente di vascello” (“Ship-of-the-Line Lieutenant”) Sirianni – and 25 Austro-Hungarian personnel set out from Tientsin on 10 Junr 1900 to march on Peking while Allied landing forces (including an Italian one under the command of ‘’Tenente di vascello” Giambattista Tanca) attacked the Taku Forts on the Chinese coast. In the Battle of the Taku Forts, European and Japanese forces captured the forts from Qing Dynasty forces on 16-17 June 1900 in an action which prompted the open intervention of Chin's ruling Qing Empire in the conflict on the side of the Boxers. Meanwhile, the Chinese repelled the Seymour Expedition with losses and forced it to return to its starting point at Tientsin on 26 June 1900. A group of 20 Italian sailors commanded by ‘’Sottotenente di vascello’’ (“Ship-of-the-Line Sublieutenant”) Ermanno Carlotto distinguished themselves in the defense of Tientsin: In clashes with the Boxers, 10 Italian sailors died, including Carlotto himself on 27 June 1900. The expedition came to an end on 28 June 1900.

History

On 5 July 1900, the Italian Parliament decided on a more massive military intervention in China by sending an expeditionary force, the Italian Expeditionary Corps in China, of more than 2,000 men under the command of Colonnello ("Colonel") Vincenzo Garioni of the Bersaglieri. The Expeditionary Corps was recruited mostly on a voluntary basis with an additional salary per day of 8 lire for commissioned officers, 2 lire for non-commissioned officers, and 40 centesimi for troops.

While the Expeditionary Corps was being recruited and prepared, the Italian Regia Marina (“Royal Navy”) sent an advance force, the Oceanic Naval Force, to Chinese waters under the command of Vice ammiraglio ("Vice Admiral") Camillo Candiani, who also was designated as the overall commander of Italian forces participating in the Eight-Nation Alliance's intervention in China. The naval force consisted of Candiani's flagship, the protected cruiser Ettore Fieramosca, as well as the armored cruiser Vettor Pisani and the protected cruiser Vesuvio. The three cruisers carried four companies of marine infantry.

Between 16 and 19 July 1900, the Expeditionary Corps completed its embarkation operations aboard the Italian Navigation Company steamers Minghetti, Giava, and Singapore at Naples. On the morning of 19 July 1900, King Umberto I and Minister of War Coriolano Ponza di San Martino reviewed the force. Escorted by the protected cruiser Stromboli, the three steamers left Naples on the evening of 19 July 1900 and proceeded to China, stopping at Port Said on 23 July, Aden on 29 July, and Singapore from 12 to 14 August 1900 before beginning the final leg of its voyage.

While the Expeditionary Corps was at sea, the Eight-Nation Alliance mounted the Gaselee Expedition, a second attempt to reach Peking composed of 10,000 Japanese, 4,000 Russian, 3,000 British, 2,000 American, 800 French, 200 German, 100 Austro-Hungarian, and 100 Italian personnel. Under the command of British Lieutenant General Alfred Gaselee, the expedition began from Tientsin on 4 August 1900. It defeated the Boxers in the Battle of Peking in mid-August succeeded in conquering Peking by 28 August 1900, when the forces of the eight nations paraded through the Forbidden City.[2]

The Italian Expeditionary Corps in China arrived at Tientsin on 29 August 1900. Once disembarked, it traveled the 150 kilometres (93 miles) by train Tientsin to Peking, where it participated in the Allied occupation of the city. The international contingent appointed Imperial German Army ‘’Generalfeldmarschall’’ (“Field Marshal”) Alfred von Waldersee as its overall commander on 26 September 1900 despite strong resistance to his selection from France and the United Kingdom and lesser opposition from Italy.

In Peking, the Italian military contingent was assigned to garrison a neighborhood near the Huang Tsun barracks. It also took part in the alliance’s actions to counter the last resistance within China, which involved 50,000 men, of whom 2,500 were Italians. On 2 September 1900, 470 men of the Italian Expeditionary Corps in China organized in three companies, two of ‘’Bersaglieri’’ (“sharpshooters”) and one of marines, captured the Chan-hai-tuan forts. On another occasion, the French military contingent moved to occupy the village of Paoting-fu in conflict with von Waldersee's orders which provided for a mixed German and Italian contingent to occupy the village. Garioni anticipated the French move and at the helm of 330 men, instead occupied the town of Cunansien, which the alliance originally had entrusted to the French.

The Expeditionary Corps's return to Italy began in August 1901, and the Boxer Protocol of 7 September 1901 brought the Boxer War to an end. Two companies of Bersaglieri returned to Italy in 1902, and the remaining companies, united in a mixed battalion, remained in China until 1905 and returned aboard the Florio Rubattino Company steamer Perseo in August 1905. Some Carabinieri, together with specialist troops, subsequently remained in the Italian concession of Tientsin even after the Expeditonary Corps's return to Italy.

Losses

Italian forces suffered 18 deaths in China during the Boxer Rebellion:

• During the Seymour Expedition, two columns of Boxers suddenly attacked a small group of Regia Marina personnel on the outskirts of Seymour's column at Langfang on 14 June&nbsp1900. A chief petty officer from the protected cruiser Calabria, three gunners, and a trumpeter were killed and, with the exception of one of the gunners, were awarded a posthumous Gold Medal of Military Valor.
• In fighting at Tientsin on 19 June 1900, a sottotenente (ensign) from the Elba was killed and awarded a posthumous Gold Medal of Military Valor.
• In the defense of the International Legations in Peking, si men were killed: A sailor and a gunner on 24 June&nbssp;1900, the latter receiving a posthumous Gold Medal of Military Valor; a sailor on 1 July 1900; a gunner on 2 July 1900 who was awarded a posthumous Gold Medal of Military Valor; a gunner on 3 July 1900; and another gunner sometime in July 1900 who received a posthumous Gold Medal of Military Valor.
• In the defense of Beitang Cathedral six men — four gunners and two sailors — were killed, all on 12 August 1900), and two of the gunners and one sailor were awarded a posthumous Gold Medal of Military Valor.

Italian Concession of Tientsin

An Italian naval unit marches behind a British Indian unit in Tientsin (now Tianjin), where both the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Italy had concessions, sometime between 1910 and 1915.

With the Boxer Protocol of 7 September 1901, Italy obtained control of the Italian concession of Tientsin, an area of 45 hectares (111 acres) consisting of a village, land along the river rich in salt marshes, and a large marshy area used as a cemetery. After a period of Italian disinterest in the concession, a cleanup began. The Italian presence lasted until 10 September 1943, when during World War II Italy surrendered to the Allies and switched sides in the war on 9 September 1943, prompting Japanese troops to occupy the concession the next day and take Italian civilians and military personnel prisoner.

Journalistic coverage

Embarked with the expeditionary corps when it departed Italy in July 1900 were numerous journalists, and others, such as Luigi Barzini, joined the Italian contingent in China in 1901. Journalists reported fewer clashes with the Chinese and less looting and repression in the Italian-occupied area of Peking than in other neighborhoods. Two official photographers — medical Lieutenant Giuseppe Messerotti Benvenuti from Modena, who used a Kodak camera, and Lieutenant Luigi Paolo Piovano from Chieri with a Goertz camera — captured an extensive photographic record of the Expeditionary Corps's stay in China. Both also photograph the horrors of repression, namely the shootings, beheadings, looting, and rubble.

Composition

The Expeditionary Force consisted of 83 officers, 1,882 non-commissioned officers and troops, and 178 animals. It was composed of:

• A command element consisting of:
  • The commanding officer, Collonnello ("Colonel") Vincenzo Garioni
  • One squad of Royal Carabinieri, consisting of one maresciallo ("marshal"), one vicebrigadier ("vice-brigadier"), and six carabinieri)
  • One officer, Lieutenant Pietro Verri, in charge of military intelligence
• One infantry battalion, commanded by Tenente colonnello ("Lieutenant Colonel") Tommaso Salsa of the Alpini, made up
  • One company of the 10th Battalion of the 8th Infantry Regiment "Cuneo"
  • One company of the 10th Battalion of the 41st Infantry Regiment "Modena"
  • One company of the 6th Battalion of the 43rd Infantry Regiment "Forlì"
  • One company of the 12th Battalion of the 69th Infantry Regiment "Ancona"
• Two groups of marine riflemen embarked on the protected cruiser Calabria under the command of Lieutenant Ermanno Carlotto and Lieutenant Sirianni
• One battalion of "Far East" Bersaglieri, 840 men commanded by Maggiore ("Major") Luigi Agliardi of the 5th Bersaglieri Regiment of Rome, composed of:
  • One company made up of troops of the 5th Bersaglieri Regiment (stationed in Rome) and 9th Bersaglieri Regiment (stationed in Leghorn), on which the General Staff of the Corps was based;
  • One company made up of troops of the 8th Bersaglieri Regiment (stationed in Naples) and 1st Bersaglieri Regiment (stationed in Palermo);
  • One company made up of troops of the 4th Bersaglieri Regiment (stationed in Bologna) and 11th Bersaglieri Regiment (stationed in Ancona);
  • One company made up of troops of the 2nd Bersaglieri Regiment (stationed in Milan) and 6th Bersaglieri Regiment (stationed in Verona);
• One machine gun battery, with four Gardner guns and artillery personnel, commanded by Captain Alcide Vallauri;
• One mixed detachment of the engineers from the 1st Engineer Regiment and 3rd Engineer Regiment, commanded by Lieutenant Vito Modugno and composed of:
  • One sapper group
  • One bridging group
  • One optical telegrapher group
• One field hospital with five beds
• One field kitchen squad with four mobile iron ovens

In addition to the marines under the command of Carlotto and Sirianni, other contingents of riflemen commanded by Vice ammiraglio ("Vice Admiral") Candiani landed shortly thereafter.

Clothing, equipment, and subsistence

The Expeditionary Corps wore a canvas uniform, colonial cork helmet, standard boots, plus various types of furs and winter clothing suitable for the harsh climate of North China, where temperatures can drop to as low as −20 °C (−4 °F). To ensure the troops had enough winter clothing, Minister of War Coriolano Ponza di San Martino ordered the Italian royal consul in Shanghai to purchase 2,000 furs locally for the troops. He reported, "Our soldiers left with their complete equipment, which also consisted of new objects: those who had old objects had left them and others had been distributed to them; therefore a Bersagliere cape, colonial helmet, and then a coat and a greatcoat for everyone, including the Bersaglieri, who do not normally wear it; everyone had a woolen hood like those worn in the Alps, Val d'Aosta-style woolen leggings, woolen socks, flannel gloves, and then a supply of all the equipment materials, cloth jackets and trousers, knitted doublets and so on. […] Admiral Candiani then telegraphed from Peking on 7 November [1900]: 'Provide us with sufficient furs' and Colonel Garioni in his report of 4 December [1900] literally wrote as follows: 'The furs ordered for the military troops in Shanghai correspond very well to the purpose because they can be worn comfortably under the coat.' Each soldier is given a fur coat which serves as a bed covering. Finally, from the reports it appears that after the expedition of Calgan [a Chinese city in the Hopeh [now Hebei] region where the Great Wall meets, the theater of joint Allied operations, in which the Italian Bersaglieri also participated. It was a commercial center of great importance, a depot of tea shipped to Siberia with the use of half a million camels, as well as a production center for 'Kalgan' type furs produced with Tibetan and Mongolian wool. – Ed.] other furs have been requisitioned, so that now the soldiers have all of them and two. By then adapting strips of fur to the fez, a very appropriate headdress was obtained because it also allows you to keep the hood on. This is a sui generis coverage; I don't know if it's beautiful but they tell me it's very comfortable. [...] Colonel Garioni always replied that he was provided for the whole winter and only asked for coats, cloaks, and shoes in case he had to go beyond the spring [...] and the supplies were sent to him."

For logistical support, the Expedtionary Corps relied on 178 animals, mostly mules , because Chinese roads were impassable for other means of transport. The daily food ration for Expeditionary Corps troops included 750 grams (26 oz) of bread, 375 grams (13.2 oz) of meat, 125 grams (4.4 oz) of rice or pasta, 15 grams (0.5 oz) of coffee, 20 grams (0.7 oz) of sugar, 20 grams (0.7 oz) of salt, 0.5 grams (0.02 oz) of pepper, and 15 grams (0.5 oz) of lard.

References

Bibliography

• Arturi, F. (January 1971). "Una vecchia imperatrice guidò i boxers in rivolta". Historia (in Italian). No. 158. {{cite magazine}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |magazine= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
• L. E. Bodin, The Boxer Rebellion, Osprey, London, 1979.
• G. Cucchi, "Una bandiera italiana in Cina," in Rivista Militare, No. 6, 1986 (in Italian).
• L.de Courten - G.Sargeri, Le Regie truppe in Estremo Oriente, 1900-1901, Rome, 2005 (in Italian).
• G. Fattori, "La guerra dei boxers", in Storia illustrata, No. 154, 1970 (in Italian).
• L. Ferrando, L'opera della R. Marina in Cina, Florence, Italy, 1935 (in Italian).
• P. Fleming, La rivolta dei boxers, Milan, 1965 (in Italian).
• V. Purcell, La rivolta dei boxers, Milan, 1972 (in Italian).
• L. Tesi, La rivolta dei boxer, Florence, Italy, 1995 (in Italian).
• M. Valli, Gli avvenimenti in Cina nel 1900 e l'azione della R Marina Italiana, Milan, 1905 (in Italian).
• C. Paoletti, La Marina Italiana in Estremo Oriente, Rome, 2000 (in Italian).
• C. Paoletti, "Un incubo logistico: imbarco, viaggio e sbarco delle Regie Truppe italiane in Estremo Oriente," in Quaderni della Società di storia militare - anno 1998, ]]Naples]], 2001 (in Italian).
• Stefano Ales, Il Corpo di spedizione italiano in Cina, CISM, Rome, 2012 (in Italian).
• R. Barba, Il Tenente Modugno: Quando Gli Italiani Invasero La Cina, Rome, 2016. (in Italian).
• F. Del Monte, "La rivolta dei Boxer a Montecitorio: l'Italia politica ed il Corpo di spedizione in Cina," in L'Italia Coloniale, 29 April&nbsp2020 (in Italian).
• "The Italian Squadron in China and Japan" (in Italian), in The Directory and Chronicle for China, Japan, Corea, Indo-China, Straits Settlements, Malay States, Siam, Netherlands India, Borneo, the Philippines, &c. for the Year 1903 Hong Kong: The Hong Kong Daily Press, 1903, p. 757 (in Italian).

Ministry of Aeronautics

Ministero dell'aeronautica
The Palazzo dell'Aeronautica in Rome, once the headquarters of the Ministry of Aeronautics, on 21 September 2007.
Agency overview
Formed	30 August 1925 (1925-08-30)
Preceding agency	General Commissariat for Aeronautics
Dissolved	4 February 1947 (1947-02-04)
Superseding agency	Ministry of Defence
Jurisdiction	Government of Italy

The Ministry of Aeronautics (Italian: Ministero dell'aeronautica) was a department of the Kingdom of Italy, and subsequently of the Italian Republic, with jurisdiction over both military and civil aviation. Established in 1925, it was abolished in 1947 when it merged with the Ministry of War and the Ministry of the Navy to form the Ministry of Defence.

Origins

In 1912, after the Italo-Turkish War ended, the Italian Ministry of War (Italian: Ministero della guerra) established an Aeronautical Inspectorate (Italian: Ispettorato aeronautico). It later became the Directorate of Aviation Services (Italian: Direzione dei servizi aeronautici).

During World War I, the Orlando government established the General Commissariat for Aeronautics (Italian: Commissariato generale per l'aeronautica) at the Ministry of Arms and Munitions (Italian: ministero delle Armi e munizioni),and on 1 November 1917 Eugenio Chiesa, a member of the Chamber of Deputies, was appointed commissioner.In December 1917, the Ministry of Arms and Munitions established the General Directorate of Aviation (Italian: Direzione generale di aviazione) under Colonel Giulio Douhet, but Douhet soon had a falling out with Chiesa and left the directorate in April 1918.

On 24 November 1918, the commissariat moved from the Ministry of Arms and Munitions to the Ministry of War. On June 30, 1919, the general management of aeronautics was transferred to the Ministry of Maritime and Railway Transport (Italian: Ministero dei trasporti marittimi e ferroviari).

In his first cabinet, Prime Minister Benito Mussolini established a General Commissariat for Aeronautics, overseeing both military and civil aviation, on 24 January 1923 with the Mussolini himself as commissioner. Aldo Finzi served as and deputy commissionerand prepared the legislative provisions necessary for the establishment of the Ministry of Aeronautics and of an independent air force. He established two general directorates – one for the air force and one for civil aviation – and appointed Giulio Douhet, who became a major general, as general director for the air force and Lieutenant Colonel Arturo Mercanti general director for civil aviation. Royal Decree Number 645 of 28 March 1923 n. 645 established a new armed force, the ‘’Regia Aeronautica’’ (literally “Royal Aeronautics” but usually translated as “Royal Air Force”) and resubordinated all military air forces in the Kingdom of Italy and its colonies, both those previously under the control of the ‘’Regio Esercito’’ (“Royal Army”) and those previously under the ‘’Regia Marina’’ (“Royal Navy”), to the new air force.

On 14 May 1925, the position of deputy commissioner for aeronautics was abolished and that of undersecretary of state for aeronautics was created, to which General Alberto Bonzani was appointed.

Creation

Royal Legislative Decree Number 1513 established the Ministry of Aeronautics on 30 August 1925, transforming the commissariat into a ministry. The new ministry oversaw both the ‘’Regia Aeronautica’’ and civil aviation and brought together all the aeronautical services previously under the Ministry of War. Initially, the Ministry of Aeronautics had three general directorates, for military personnel and aeronautical schools, for civil aeronautical personnel, and for the aeronautical engineering corps.

History

Prime Minister Mussolini himself served as minister of aeronautics from 1925 to 1929, with a senior ‘’Regia Aeronautica’’ officer appointed to serve as secretary of state, to whom Mussolini delegated everyday management of the ministry.

Italo Balbo became undersecretary in 1926 and succeeded Mussolini as minister in 1929. Balbo gave a notable impetus to the establishment of aviation in Italy. Under Balbo, the Fascist politician Raffaello Riccardi served as undersecretary.

Balbo’s tenure as minister ended in 1933 when Prime Minister Mussolini again became minister, and Mussolini remained minister until his fascist regime ended on 25 July 1943. Riccardi also departed in 1933, and Mussolini resumed the previous practice of appointing a senior ‘’Regia Aeronautica’’ officer to serve as secretary of state and handle the ministry’s daily management.

Abolition

With Decree Number 17 of the provisional head of state of 4 February 1947, the Third De Gasperi government ordered the dissolution of the Ministry of Aeronautics, Ministry of the Navy, and Ministry of War and their merger to form the new Ministry of Defence (Italian: Ministero della difesa). The Ministry of Defence retained control of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and Air Traffic (Italian: Direzione generale dell'Aviazione civile e del traffico aereo) until the Italian Republic transferred the responsibilities for civil aviation to the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation (Italian: Ministero dei trasporti e dell'aviazione civile) in 1963.[5]

Organization

In 1942, the ministry was organized as follows:[6]

• Office of the Minister
• General Directorate of Military Personnel
• General Directorate of Civilian Personnel and General Affairs
• General Directorate of Material snd Airport Services
• General Directorate of Construction snd Supplies
• Superior Directorate of Studies and Experiments
• General Directorate of Civil Aviation and Air Traffic
• General Directorate of Weapons and Ammunition
• General Directorate of State Property
• General Directorate of the Military Commissariat
• Telecommunications snd Flight Assistance Inspectorate
• Health Inspectorate
• Inspectorate of Aeronautical Engineering and Aeronautical Production

List of ministers

Main article: List of ministers of the Ministry of Aeronautics

Building

The ministry building is in Rome near the Sapienza University of Rome and the Roma Termini railway station. It consists of the historic Palazzo dell'Aeronautica , designed in 1929 by engineer Roberto Marino and opened in 1931. It was completed by the construction of the former Air War School, the Air Force Officers' Club building, and the Operational Technical Services Building (E.S.T.O.) built in the 1980s.

References

[[:Category:Military of Italy [[:Category:Civil aviation in Italy [[:Category:1925 establishments in Italy [[:Category:1947 disestablishments in Italy [[:Category:Ministries established in 1925 [[:Category:Ministries disestablished in 1947

Ministry of the Navy

Ministry of the Navy

Ministero della marina (1861–1946) Ministero della marina militare (1946–1947)
The Palazzo Marina ("Navy Palace") in Rome on 13 May 2016
Agency overview
Formed	1861 (1861)
Preceding agency	Ministry of the Navy (Kingdom of Sardinia)
Dissolved	14 February 1947 (1947-02-14)
Superseding agency	Ministry of Defence
Jurisdiction	Government of Italy

The Ministry of the Navy (Italian: Ministero della marina) was a ministry of the Kingdom of Italy from 1861 to 1946 and of the Italian Republic from 1946 to 1947. Under the Kingdom of Italy, it oversaw the Regia Marina ("Royal Navy"), while under the Italian Republic, when its name became Ministero della marina militare (literally "Ministry of the Military Navy"), it oversaw the Marina Militare (literally "Military Navy"), usually translated as "Italian Navy." The ministry was abolished in 1947, when it merged with the Ministry of the Air Force and the Ministry of War to form the Ministry of Defence.

History

The Italian Ministry of the Navy had its origins in the Kingdom of Sardinia, which on 11 October 1850 divided its Ministry of War and the Navy, creating a separate Ministry of War and moving oversight of the Royal Sardinian Navy to the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce. By a royal decree of 23 October 1853, the Kingdom of Sardinia established a separate Ministry of the Navy..

When Italy unified in 1861 to form the Kingdom of Italy, the last King of Sardinia became the King of Italy as Victor Emmanuel II, and in that year Italy's Fourth Cavour government created an Italian Ministry of the Navy to oversee the new Italian Regia Marina ("Royal Navy"). The ministry also had oversight responsibility for the Italian merchant marine, with control of the Division of the Merchant Marine and Maritime Health (Italian: Divisione della marina mercantile e della sanità marittima), which in 1874 was renamed the General Directorate of the Merchant Marine (Italian: Direzione generale della marina mercantile). The ministry retained its merchant marine responsibilities until 1916, when oversight of the merchant marine was transferred to the Ministry of Maritime and Railway Transport (Italian: Ministero dei Trasporti Marittimi e Ferroviari).

Under the fascist government of Prime Minister Benito Mussolini, the Regia Aeronautica ("Royal Air Force") was created in 1923 and took over aviation responsibilities from the Regia Marina and Italian Royal Army. On 30 August 1925, a new Ministry of the Air Force took control of the oversight of aviation activites which previously had fallen under the Ministry of the Navy or the Ministry of War.

Mussolini himself served as the Minister of the Navy from 8 May 1925 to 12 September 1929 and from 6 November 1933 to 25 July 1943. Italy entered World War II on the side of the Axis powers in June 1940. In August 1943, the ministry regained oversight of the Italian merchant marine when the Commissariat for Merchant Marine Services was transferred from the Ministry of Communiations to the Ministry of the Navy.

In September 1943, Italy surrendered to the Allies and switched sides, becoming a co-belligerent with the Allies. Between September 1943 and the surrender of Nazi Germany in May 1945, with the Kingdom of Italy in control of southern Italy, the ministry oversaw the Regia Marina′s forces as they fought as the Italian Co-belligerent Navy alongside Allied forces in the Italian campaign and simultaneously in the Italian Civil War against the Italian Social Republic, which the Germans established as a puppet state in northern Italy under Mussolini and which continued to fight on the Axis side.

In 1946, the Italian Republic replaced the Kingdom of Italy. Under the Republic, the Ministry of the Navy, renamed Ministero della marina militare (literally "Ministry of the Military Navy"), had oversight of what was now called the Marina maritime, literally "Military Navy" but usually translated as "Italian Navy." Upon the establishment of the Republic, the Ministry of the Navy again lost its responsibility for the merchant marine, oversight of which was transferred to a new Ministry of the Merchant Marine (Italian: Ministero della marina mercantile) on 13 July 1946.

Under the Third De Gasperi government, by Decree Number 17 of the provisional head of state on 4 February 1947, the Ministry of the Navy, Ministry of War, and Ministry of the Air Force were abolished as of 14 February 1947, and their responsibilities were transferred to a new, unified Ministry of Defence..

Organization

1876

The organization of the Ministry of the Navy established by Royal Decree Number 3624 of 31 December 1876 was as follows:

• Office of the Minister, including the General Secretariat, the Division of Personnel, and the Division of Military Service
• General Directorate of Materiel
• General Directorate of the Merchant Marine
• Central Maritime Military Health Office

1914

Royal Decree Number 860 of 28 June 1914 established the following organization:

• Office of the Minister
• General Secretariat of the Ministry
• General Directorate for officers and Military and Scientific Service
• General Directorate for the Crew Corps
• General Directorate for Naval Construction
• General Directorate for Artillery and Armaments
• General Directorate for Administrative Services
• General Directorate for the Merchant Marine;
• Inspectorate for the Operation and Economy of Machinery
• Inspectorate for Maritime Military Health Care
• Inspectorate for the Maritime Military Commissariat
• Inspectorate for Military Engineering for Naval Works, Lighthouses, and Maritime Signaling
• Inspectorate for Maritime Services
• Inspectorate for Port Authorities
• Inspectorate for Civilian Personnel and General Affairs

1923

Royal Decree Number 2052 of 10 September 1923 established the following organization:

• Office of the Minister, with the Office of Law and Decrees attached
• Office for Nautical Education
• General Directorate for Military Personnel and Services
• General Directorate for Civilian Personnel and General Affairs
• General Directorate for Artillery and Armaments
• General Directorate for Naval Construction
• Central Directorate for the Operation and Economy of Machinery
• Central Directorate for Maritime Military Health
• Central Directorate for the Maritime Military Commissariat
• Central Directorate for Military Engineering for Naval Work

1936

Royal Decree Number 773 of 16 April 1936 established the following organization:

• Office of the Minister
• Private Secretariat of the Undersecretary of State
• Office of Law and Decrees, reporting to the minister
• General Directorate for Military Personnel and Services
• General Directorate for Naval and Mechanical Construction
• General Directorate for Naval Weapons and Armaments
• General Directorate for Civilian Personnel and General Affairs
• General Directorate for Maritime Military Health Care
• General Directorate for the Maritime Military Commissariat
• General Directorate for Military Engineers and Naval Works
• General Directorate for Administrative Services

1944

Legislative Decree Number 342 of 28 September 1944 established the following organization:

• Office of the Minister
• General Secretariat of the Ministry
• General Directorate for Military and Scientific Officers and Services
• General Directorate for the Maritime Crew Corps
• General Directorate for Naval and Mechanical Construction
• General Directorate for Naval Weapons and Armaments
• General Directorate for Civilian Personnel and General Affairs
• General Directorate for Maritime Military Health Care
• General Directorate for the Maritime Military Commissariat
• General Directorate for Military Ingenuity in Naval Work
• General Directorate for Administrative Services

List of ministers

See Minister of the Navy (Italy).

External links

• Olympedia: Ministero della Guerra

[[:Category:Former government ministries of Italy|War [[:Category:Military of Italy [[:Category:1861 establishments in Italy [[:Category:1947 disestablishments in Italy

Antiques Roadshow table

Season	Host	Taping Year	Broadcast Year
1	Chris Jussel	1996	1997
Locations: Albuquerque, New Mexico: Chiago, Illinois::College Park, Maryland;Concord, Massachusetts; Denver, Colorado; Durham, North Carolina; Greenwich, Connecticut; Kansas City, Missouri; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; San Antonio, Texas; Seattle, Washington; Southfield, Michigan
Notes: The 13 taping locations are the most in a single season in the show's history.
1	Chris Jussel	1996	1997
Locations: Albuquerque, New Mexico: Chiago, Illinois::College Park, Maryland;Concord, Massachusetts; Denver, Colorado; Durham, North Carolina; Greenwich, Connecticut; Kansas City, Missouri; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; San Antonio, Texas; Seattle, Washington; Southfield, Michigan
Notes: The 13 taping locations are the most in a single season in the show's history.

Japanese destroyer Izazuchi

For other ships with the same name, see Japanese destroyer Shirakumo.

Shirakumo upon commissioning in England in 1902.
History
Empire of Japan
Name	Shirakumo
Namesake	白雲 ("White Cloud")
Ordered	1900
Builder	John I. Thornycroft & Company, Chiswick, England
Yard number	Destroyer No. 15
Laid down	1 February 1901
Launched	1 October 1901
Completed	13 February 1902
Commissioned	13 February 1902
Reclassified	Third-class destroyer 28 August 1912 Special-duty vessel (second-class minesweeper) 1 April 1922 Utility vessel (accommodation ship) 1 April 1923
Stricken	1 April 1923
Fate	Sunk as target 21 July 1925
General characteristics
Type	Destroyer
Displacement	322 tons normal, 432 tons full load
Length	215 ft 9 in (65.76 m) waterline 216 ft 9 in (66.07 m) overall
Beam	20 ft 9 in (6.32 m)
Draught	8 ft 3 in (2.51 m)
Depth	13 ft 9 in (4.19 m)
Propulsion	2-shaft reciprocating engines, 4 boilers, engine output 7,000 hp (5,200 kW)
Speed	31 knots (57 km/h; 36 mph)
Complement	62
Armament	1 x QF 12 pounder 12 cwt naval gun 5 × QF 6 pounder (57 mm) guns 2 × 450 mm (18 in) torpedoes
Service record
Operations:	Russo-Japanese War Battle of Port Arthur Battle of the Yellow Sea Battle of Tsushima World War I Battle of Tsingtao

Shirakumo (白雲, "White Cloud") was the lead ship of two Shirakumo-class destroyers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy in the early 1900s. During the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905), she took part in the Battle of Port Arthur in February 1904, the Battle of the Yellow Sea in August 1904, and the Battle of Tsushima in May 1905. During World War I (1914–1918), she participated in the Battle of Tsingtao in 1914.

Construction and commissioning

Line drawing of Shirakumo.

Authorized under the 1900 naval program, Shirakumo was laid down on 1 February 1901 as Destroyer No. 15 by John I. Thornycroft & Company at Chiswick, England. Launched on 1 October 1901 and named Shirakumo, she was completed on 13 February 1902 and commissioned the same day.

Service history

Shirakumo departed England on 27 February 1902 to make her delivery voyage to Japan. She completed it with her arrival at Kure on 30 May 1902.

When the Russo-Japanese War broke out on 8 February 1904, Shirakumo was part of the 1st Destroyer Division of the 1st Fleet. The war began that evening with the Battle of Port Arthur, a Japanese surprise attack on Imperial Russian Navy warships anchored in the outer roadstead of the Russian naval base at Port Arthur, China. Ten Japanese destroyers of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Destroyer Divisions made a torpedo attack in three waves, with the four destroyers of the 1st Destroyer Division (Akatsuki, Asashio, Kasumi, and Shirakumo) and Ikazuchi of the 2nd Destroyer Division constituting the first wave. They closed to about 650 yards (590 m) from the Russian ships and fired nine torpedoes. One of Kasumi′s torpedoes hit the Russian protected cruiser Pallada.

As the Russo-Japanese War continued, Shirakumo took part in the Battle of the Yellow Sea on 10 August 1904. After transferring to the 4th Destroyer Division in the 2nd Fleet, she participated in the Battle of Tsushima on 27–28 May 1905. Responding to a signal from the unprotected cruiser Chihaya on the afternoon of 27 May, the 4th Destroyer Division (Asagiri, Asashio, Murasame, and Shirakumo) mounted a torpedo attack against the damaged Russian battleship Knyaz Suvorov. Although Asagiri, Asashio, and Murasame launched their torpedoes at ranges of from 800 metres (870 yd) down to 300 metres (330 yd) and Murasame scored an apparent hit that caused Knyaz Suvorov to heel 10 degrees, Shirakumo did not fire, finding that Knyaz Suvorov had lost all steaming power and come to a stop before she could achieve a firing position. Knyaz Suvorov later sank.

Shirakumo was reclassified as a third-class destroyer on 28 August 1912.

After Japan entered World War I in August 1914, Shirakumo took part in the Battle of Tsingtao in 1914.

On 1 April 1922, Shirakumo was reclassified as a "special-duty vessel" for use as a second-class minesweeper. On 1 April 1923, she was stricken from the naval register and reclassified as a utility vessel for use as an accommodation ship.

Shirakumo was sunk as a target in the Bungo Channel off Himeshima on 21 July 1925.

Commanding officers

SOURCE:

• Lieutenant Commander Kota Hazama 26 June 1901 – 22 October 1901 (pre-commissioning)
• Lieutenant Commander Kota Hazama 22 October 1901 – unknown
• Lieutenant Commander Masayuki Kamada 12 December 1905 – 14 March 1906
• Lieutenant Kanzo Tsunoda 14 March 1906 – 1 April 1906
• Lieutenant Commander Yoshihiro Morimoto 1 April 1906 – 13 September 1906
• Lieutenant Yahei Nakahara 13 September 1906 -– 12 November 1906
• Lieutenant Hanjiro Sonoda 12 November 1906 – 17 May 1907
• Lieutenant Teruichi Akiyoshi 17 May 1907 – 20 April 1908
• Lieutenant Yasuhiro Yamamoto 20 April 1908 – 25 September 1908
• Lieutenant Shoichi Akiyoshi 25 September 1908 – 20 February 1909
• Lieutenant Yoshio Yamanaka 20 February 1909 – 1 April 1910
• Lieutenant Nobuyuki Kabayama 1 April 1910 – 1 December 1910
• Lieutenant Commander Tomomasa Ohashi 1 December 1910 – 20 December 1910
• Lieutenant Commander 20 December 1910 – 28 April 1911
• Lieutenant Goto Akira 28 April 1911 – 24 May 1913
• Lieutenant Meijiro Tate 24 May 1913 - 1 December 1913
• Lieutenant Commander Tadashi Takeuchi 1 December 1913 – unknown
• Lieutenant Koro Ogawa Unknown – 1 December 1916
• Lieutenant Nomura Jinzo (Naokuni) 1 December 1916 – 1 December 1917
• Lieutenant Ei Kashiwagi 1 December 1917 – 21 February 1920
• Lieutenant Fukashi Yamashita 21 February 1920 – 20 January 1921
• Lieutenant Tetsu Sano 20 January 1921 – 1 December 1921
• Lieutenant Miyazaki Taira 1 December 1921 – unknown

References

Bibliography

• 写真日本海軍全艦艇史 Fukui Shizuo Collection』資料編、KKベストセラーズ、1994年 ("Photographic history of all ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy Fukui Shizuo Collection" material edition, KK Bestsellers, 1994) (in Japanese).
• 海軍歴史保存会『日本海軍史』第7巻、第9巻、第10巻、第一法規出版、1995年 (Naval History Preservation Society "Japanese Naval History" Vol. 7, Vol. 9, Vol. 10, Daiichi Hoki Publishing, 1995) (in Japanese).
• 片桐大自『聯合艦隊軍艦銘銘伝』普及版、光人社、2003年 (Daiji Katagiri "Rengo Kantai Gunkan Meiden" popular version, Kojinsha, 2003) (in Japanese).

• Cocker, Maurice (1983). Destroyers of the Royal Navy, 1893–1981. Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-1075-7.
• Corbett, Julian S. (1994). Maritime Operations in the Russo-Japanese War 1904–1905, Volume I. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-129-7.
• Corbett, Julian S. (1994). Maritime Operations in the Russo-Japanese War 1904–1905, Volume II. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-129-7.
• Evans, David (1979). Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887-1941. US Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-192-7.
• Halpern, Paul G (1994). A Naval History of World War I. Routledge. ISBN 1-85728-498-4.
• Howarth, Stephen (1983). The Fighting Ships of the Rising Sun: The Drama of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1895-1945. Atheneum. ISBN 0-689-11402-8.
• Jane, Fred T. (1904). The Imperial Japanese Navy. Thacker, Spink & Co. ASIN: B00085LCZ4.
• Jentsura, Hansgeorg (1976). Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869-1945. US Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-893-X.
• Lyon, David (1981). The Thornycroft List. Greenwich: National Maritime Museum.
• Lyon, David (2006). The First Destroyers. Mercury Books. ISBN 1-84560-010-X.
• Stille, Mark (2016). The Imperial Japanese Navy of the Russo-Japanese War. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4728-1119-6.
• Watts, Anthony John (1971). The Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869-1945. London: Macdonald & Co. (Publishers) Ltd. ISBN 0-356-03045-8.

External links

[[:Category:Shirakumo-class destroyers [[:Category:Ships built in Chiswick [[:Category:1901 ships [[:Category:Russo-Japanese War naval ships of Japan [[:Category:World War I destroyers of Japan [[:Category:Maritime incidents in 1925 [[:Category:Ships sunk as targets [[:Category:Shipwrecks in the Philippine Sea [[:Category:Shipwrecks of Japan

2007–08 Big East Conference Men's Basketball Season

2007–08 Big East Conference Men's Basketball Season
League	NCAA Division I
Sport	Basketball
Duration	November 14, 2008 through March 15, 2008
Number of teams	16
TV partner(s)	ESPN
Regular Season
Champion	Georgetown (15–3)
Runners-up	Louisville, Notre Dame (14–4)
Season MVP	Luke Harangody – Notre Dame
Tournament
Champions	Pittsburgh
Finals MVP	Sam Young – Pittsburgh

2007–08 Big East men's basketball standings

	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 8 Georgetown	15	–	3		.833			28	–	6		.824
No. 13 Louisville	14	–	4		.778			27	–	9		.750
No. 15 Notre Dame	14	–	4		.778			25	–	8		.758
No. 16 Connecticut	13	–	5		.722			24	–	9		.727
West Virginia	11	–	7		.611			26	–	11		.703
No. 25 Marquette	11	–	7		.611			25	–	10		.714
No. 17 Pittsburgh†	10	–	8		.556			27	–	10		.730
Villanova	9	–	9		.500			22	–	13		.629
Syracuse	9	–	9		.500			21	–	14		.600
Cincinnati	8	–	10		.444			13	–	19		.406
Seton Hall	7	–	11		.389			17	–	15		.531
Providence	6	–	12		.333			15	–	16		.484
*DePaul	6	–	12		.333			11	–	19		.367
*St. John's	5	–	13		.278			11	–	19		.367
*South Florida	3	–	15		.167			12	–	19		.387
*Rutgers	3	–	15		.167			11	–	20		.355
† 2008 Big East tournament winner As of April 7, 2008 Rankings from AP Poll *Did not qualify for 2008 Big East tournament.

The 2007–08 Big East Conference men's basketball season was the 29th in conference history, and involved its 16 full-time member schools.

Georgetown won the regular-season championship with a 15-3 record. Pittsburgh was the champion of the Big East tournament.

Regular season

Season summary & highlights

• The Big East expanded its conference schedule from 16 to 18 games, allowing every team to play every other team during the season.
• Georgetown won the regular-season championship.
• Pittsburgh won the Big East Tournament.
• The Big East went 2–2 in the second year of the annual SEC–Big East Invitational, later known as the SEC–Big East Challenge.
• Syracuse missed the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row for the first time since 1982.
• Notre Dame posted the most conference wins in a season in school history (14), extended its home winning streak to 37 games dating back to 2006, the second-longest active home winning streak in the United States, and made the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2003.

Rankings

The Big East set a record when it placed seven teams in the preseason Associated Press poll. It set another record by placing eight teams in the December 1st ranking, and broke that record when the ninth team entered the AP Top 25 on January 5. Connecticut and North Carolina were the only two teams that did not vacate the top 5 in the AP poll all season.

2007–08 Big East Conference Weekly Rankings
Key: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. RV = Received Votes

AP Poll	Wk 1	Wk 2	Wk 3	Wk 4	Wk 5	Wk 6	Wk 7	Wk 8	Wk 9	Wk 10	Wk 11	Wk 12	Wk 13	Wk 14	Wk 15	Wk 16	Wk 17	Wk 18	Wk 19
Cincinnati												RV
Connecticut	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV					RV	RV		RV	19	17	13	15	13	16
DePaul
Georgetown	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	8	7	7	5	9	6	6	8	12	11	11	8
Louisville	6	6	6	12	14	22	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	23	18	13	12	13
Marquette	11	10	11	13	11	10	10	12	10	15	13	21	17	16	RV	25	21	21	25
Notre Dame	RV	RV							RV	RV			RV	22	20	21	17	19	15
Pittsburgh	22	19	17	14	12	11	11	6	13	20	15	13	18	21	22	RV	RV	RV	17
Providence	RV	RV	RV
Rutgers
St. John's
Seton Hall				RV	RV
South Florida
Syracuse	RV	RV	21	RV			RV
Villanova	RV	24	20	RV	25	23	20	18	17	19	25	18	RV
West Virginia	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	24	23	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV						RV

Statistical leaders

Scoring
Name	School	PPG
Luke Harangody	ND	20.4
Sam Young	Pitt	18.6
Brian Laing	SHU	18.1
Donté Greene	Syr	17.7
Draelon Burns	DPU	17.6

Rebounding
Name	School	RPG
Kentrell Gransberry	SFU	10.8
Luke Harangody	ND	10.6
Jeff Adrien	Conn	9.2
DeJuan Blair	Pitt	9.1
Mac Koshwal	DPU	8.4

Assists
Name	School	APG
Tory Jackson	ND	5.8
A. J. Price	Conn	5.8
Jonny Flynn	Syr	5.3
Eugene Harvey	SHU	4.9
Geoff McDermott	PC	4.9

Steals
Name	School	SPG
Jeff Xavier	PC	2.3
Jerel McNeal	Marq	2.2
Eugene Harvey	SHU	1.9
Corey Chandler	RU	1.8
Dominic James	Marq	1.8
Tory Jackson	ND	1.8

Blocks
Name	School	BPG
Hasheem Thabeet	Conn	4.5
Hamady N'Diaye	RU	3.0
Roy Hibbert	GU	2.2
Earl Clark	LU	1.7
Donté Greene	Syr	1.6
John Garcia	SHU	1.6
Wellington Smith	WVU	1.6

Field Goals
Name	School	FG%
Arinze Onuaku	Syr	.628
Roy Hibbert	GU	.609
Kentrell Gransberry	SFU	.518
Sam Young	Pitt	.503
Jeff Adrien	Conn	.501

3-Pt Field Goals
Name	School	3FG%
Kyle McAlarney	ND	.441
Alex Ruoff	WVU	.410
Deonta Vaughn	Cin	.398
Donté Greene	Syr	.345

Free Throws
Name	School	FT%
Rob Kurz	ND	.853
Joe Alexander	WVU	.814
Draelon Burns	DPU	.810
Brian Laing	SHU	.803
Wesley Matthews	Marq	.790

Postseason

Big East tournament

Main article: 2008 Big East men's basketball tournament

Only the top 12 finishers in the regular-season standings qualified for the Big East Tournament, and under these criteria DePaul, Rutgers, St. John's, and South Florida did not compete in the tournament. The teams finishing fifth through 12th in the regular season standings played first round games, while the top four teams during the regular season received a bye to the quarterfinals. The four-round tournament spanned four consecutive days, from Wednesday, March 12, 2008, through Saturday, March 15, 2008.

1–4 Seeding:
(1) Georgetown, (2) Louisville, (3) Notre Dame, (4) Connecticut
5–12 Seeding and First Round Matchups:
(5) West Virginia, (6) Marquette, (7) Pittsburgh, (8) Villanova, (9) Syracuse, (10) Cincinnati, (11) Seton Hall, (12) Providence
(5) West Virginia def. (12) Providence
(6) Marquette def. (11) Seton Hall
(7) Pittsburgh def. (10) Cincinnati
(8) Villanova def. (9) Syracuse

Quarterfinals Matchups:
(1) Georgetown def. (8) Villanova
(7) Pittsburgh def. (2) Louisville (OT)
(6) Marquette def. (3) Notre Dame
(5) West Virginia def. (4) Connecticut

Semifinals Matchups:
(1) Georgetown def. (5) West Virginia
(7) Pittsburgh def. (6) Marquette

Championship Game:
(7) Pittsburgh def. (1) Georgetown, 74–65

NCAA tournament

Main article: 2008 NCAA men's basketball tournament

The Big East sent eight teams to the NCAA tournament, tying the record of eight it set in 2006. Regular-season champion Georgetown had the highest seed at No. 2 in the Midwest Regional. Seven teams advanced to the second round and three to the regional semifinals. Louisville went deepest in the tournament, reaching the East Regional final. The conference finished with a combined record of 11–8.

School	Region	Seed	Round 1	Round 2	Sweet 16	Elite Eight	Final Four
Louisville	East	3	7 Boise State, W 79–61	6 Oklahoma, W 78–48	2 Tennessee, W 79–60	1 North Carolina, L 83–73
West Virginia	West	7	14 American, W 80–67	6 UCLA, W 89–69	2 Duke, W 77–54	1 Pittsburgh, W 78–76	1 UNC, L 83–69
Louisville	Midwest	1	16 Morehead St., W 74–54	9 Siena, W 79–72	12 Arizona, W 103–64	2 Michigan St., L 64–52
Pittsburgh	East	1	16 E. Tenn. St., W 72–62	8 Oklahoma St., W 84–76	4 Xavier, W 60–55	3 Villanova, L 78–76
Syracuse	South	3	14 S.F. Austin, W 59–44	6 Arizona St., W 78–67	2 Oklahoma, L 84–71
Marquette	West	6	11 Utah St., W 58–57	3 Missouri, L 83–79
West Virginia	Midwest	6	11 Dayton, L 68–60

National Invitation Tournament

Main article: 2009 National Invitation Tournament

In the 72nd annual National Invitation Tournament, there were three Big East teams among the field of 32: Georgetown, Notre Dame, and Providence.

• Notre Dame received a 2-seed in its region. They won their first round game against 7-seed UAB, 70–64. They beat 3-seed New Mexico in the second round, 70–68. They beat Kentucky in the quarterfinals, 77–67, and lost to 2-seed Penn State in the semifinals, 67–59.
• Providence received a 5-seed in a different region. They lost their first round game to 4-seed Miami (FL), 78–66.
• Georgetown received a 6-seed in a third region. They lost their first round game to 3-seed Baylor, 74–72.

College Basketball Invitational

Main article: 2009 College Basketball Invitational

In the 16-team College Basketball Invitational, the lone Big East representative was St. John's. The team earned a 4-seed in the East region, and lost their opening round game to top-seeded Richmond 75–69.

Awards and honors

The following players were honored with postseason awards after having been voted for by Big East Conference coaches.

Co-Players of the Year:

• Hasheem Thabeet, Connecticut, C, Jr.
• DeJuan Blair, Pittsburgh, C, So.

Defensive Player of the Year:

• Hasheem Thabeet, Connecticut, C, Jr.

Rookie of the Year:

• Greg Monroe, Georgetown, C, Fr.

Most Improved Player:

• Dante Cunningham, Villanova, F, Sr.

Sixth Man Award:

• Corey Fisher, Villanova, G, So.

Sportsmanship Award:

• Alex Ruoff, West Virginia, G, Sr.

Scholar-Athlete of the Year:

• Alex Ruoff, West Virginia, G, Sr.

Coach of the Year:

• Jay Wright, Villanova (8th season)

All-Big East First Team:

• Hasheem Thabeet, Connecticut, C, Jr., 7–3, 263, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
• Terrence Williams, Louisville, F, Sr., 6–6, 210, Seattle, Wash.
• Jerel McNeal, Marquette, G, Sr., 6–3, 200 Chicago, Ill.
• Luke Harangody, Notre Dame, F, Jr., 6–8, 251, Schererville, Ind.
• DeJuan Blair, Pittsburgh, C, So., 6–7, 265, Pittsburgh, Pa.
• Sam Young, Pittsburgh, F, Sr., 6–6, 215, Clinton, Md.

All-Big East Second Team:

• A.J. Price, Connecticut, G, Sr., 6–2, 181, Amityville, N.Y.
• Wesley Matthews, Marquette, G, Sr., 6–5, 215, Madison, Wis.
• Jonny Flynn, Syracuse, G, So., 6–0, 185, Niagara Falls, N.Y.
• Dante Cunningham, Villanova, F, Sr., 6–8, 230, Silver Spring, Md.
• Da’Sean Butler, West Virginia, F, Jr., 6–7, 225, Newark, N.J.

All-Big East Third Team:

• Deonta Vaughn, Cincinnati, G, Jr., 6–1, 195, Indianapolis, Ind.
• Jeff Adrien, Connecticut, F, Sr., 6–7, 243, Brookline, Mass.
• Earl Clark, Louisville, G/F, Jr., 6–8, 220, Rahway, N.J.
• Levance Fields, Pittsburgh, G, Sr., 5–10, 190, Brooklyn, N.Y.
• Jeremy Hazell, Seton Hall, G, So., 6–5, 185, Bronx, N.Y.

Big East Honorable Mention:

• Weyinmi Efejuku, Providence, G, Sr., 6–5, 210, Fresh Meadows, N.Y.
• Dominique Jones, USF, G, So., 6–4, 205, Lake Wales, Fla.
• Scottie Reynolds, Villanova, G, Jr., 6–2, 195, Herndon, Va.
• Alex Ruoff, West Virginia, G, Sr., 6–6, 220, Spring Hill, Fla.

Big East All-Rookie Team:

• Yancy Gates, Cincinnati, F, Fr., 6–9, 255, Cincinnati, Ohio
• Kemba Walker, Connecticut, G, Fr., 6–0, 175, Bronx, N.Y.
• Greg Monroe, Georgetown, C, Fr., 6–10, 240, Gretna, La.
• Samardo Samuels, Louisville, F, Fr., 6–8, 240, Trelawny Parish, Jamaica
• Mike Rosario, Rutgers, G, Fr., 6–3, 180, Jersey City, N.J.
• Devin Ebanks, West Virginia, F, Fr., 6–9, 205, Long Island City, N.Y.

The following players were selected to the 2009 Associated Press All-America teams.

Main article: 2009 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans

First Team All-America:

• DeJuan Blair, Pittsburgh, Key Stats: 15.6 ppg, 12.2 rpg, 59.9 FG%, 1.5 steals (49 1st place votes, 294 points)

Second Team All-America:

• Hasheem Thabeet, Connecticut, Key Stats: 13.7 ppg, 10.9 rpg, 4.6 blocks, 64.3 FG% (19, 238)
• Luke Harangody, Notre Dame, Key Stats: 23.2 ppg, 12.0 rpg, 2.1 apg (6, 135)
• Jerel McNeal, Marquette, Key Stats: 19.3 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 3.8 apg, 40.6 3-pt FG% (7, 114)

Third Team All-America:

• Terrence Williams, Louisville, Key Stats: 12.3 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 5.1 apg, 2.5 steals (4, 103)
• Sam Young, Pittsburgh, Key Stats: 18.7 ppg, 6.1 rpg (1, 79)

See also

• 2007–08 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
• 2007–08 Connecticut Huskies men's basketball team
• 2007–08 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team
• 2007–08 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team
• 2007–08 Marquette Golden Eagles men's basketball team
• 2007–08 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team
• 2007–08 Pittsburgh Panthers men's basketball team
• 2007–08 Providence Friars men's basketball team
• 2007–08 Syracuse Orange men's basketball team
• 2007–08 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team
• 2007–08 West Virginia Mountaineers men's basketball team

References

For other ships with the same name, see Japanese destroyer Shirakumo.

Shirakumo upon commissioning in England in 1902.
History
Empire of Japan
Name	Shirakumo
Namesake	白雲 ("White Cloud")
Ordered	1900
Builder	John I. Thornycroft & Company, Chiswick, England
Yard number	Destroyer No. 15
Laid down	1 February 1901
Launched	1 October 1901
Completed	13 February 1902
Commissioned	13 February 1902
Reclassified	Third-class destroyer 28 August 1912 Special-duty vessel (second-class minesweeper) 1 April 1922 Utility vessel (accommodation ship) 1 April 1923
Stricken	1 April 1923
Fate	Sunk as target 21 July 1925
General characteristics
Type	Destroyer
Displacement	322 tons normal, 432 tons full load
Length	215 ft 9 in (65.76 m) waterline 216 ft 9 in (66.07 m) overall
Beam	20 ft 9 in (6.32 m)
Draught	8 ft 3 in (2.51 m)
Depth	13 ft 9 in (4.19 m)
Propulsion	2-shaft reciprocating engines, 4 boilers, engine output 7,000 hp (5,200 kW)
Speed	31 knots (57 km/h; 36 mph)
Complement	62
Armament	1 x QF 12 pounder 12 cwt naval gun 5 × QF 6 pounder (57 mm) guns 2 × 450 mm (18 in) torpedoes
Service record
Operations:	Russo-Japanese War Battle of Port Arthur Battle of the Yellow Sea Battle of Tsushima World War I Battle of Tsingtao

Shirakumo (白雲, "White Cloud") was the lead ship of two Shirakumo-class destroyers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy in the early 1900s. During the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905), she took part in the Battle of Port Arthur in February 1904, the Battle of the Yellow Sea in August 1904, and the Battle of Tsushima in May 1905. During World War I (1914–1918), she participated in the Battle of Tsingtao in 1914.

Construction and commissioning

Line drawing of Shirakumo.

Authorized under the 1900 naval program, Shirakumo was laid down on 1 February 1901 as Destroyer No. 15 by John I. Thornycroft & Company at Chiswick, England. Launched on 1 October 1901 and named Shirakumo, she was completed on 13 February 1902 and commissioned the same day.

Service history

Shirakumo departed England on 27 February 1902 to make her delivery voyage to Japan. She completed it with her arrival at Kure on 30 May 1902.

When the Russo-Japanese War broke out on 8 February 1904, Shirakumo was part of the 1st Destroyer Division of the 1st Fleet. The war began that evening with the Battle of Port Arthur, a Japanese surprise attack on Imperial Russian Navy warships anchored in the outer roadstead of the Russian naval base at Port Arthur, China. Ten Japanese destroyers of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Destroyer Divisions made a torpedo attack in three waves, with the four destroyers of the 1st Destroyer Division (Akatsuki, Asashio, Kasumi, and Shirakumo) and Ikazuchi of the 2nd Destroyer Division constituting the first wave. They closed to about 650 yards (590 m) from the Russian ships and fired nine torpedoes. One of Kasumi′s torpedoes hit the Russian protected cruiser Pallada.

As the Russo-Japanese War continued, Shirakumo took part in the Battle of the Yellow Sea on 10 August 1904. After transferring to the 4th Destroyer Division in the 2nd Fleet, she participated in the Battle of Tsushima on 27–28 May 1905. Responding to a signal from the unprotected cruiser Chihaya on the afternoon of 27 May, the 4th Destroyer Division (Asagiri, Asashio, Murasame, and Shirakumo) mounted a torpedo attack against the damaged Russian battleship Knyaz Suvorov. Although Asagiri, Asashio, and Murasame launched their torpedoes at ranges of from 800 metres (870 yd) down to 300 metres (330 yd) and Murasame scored an apparent hit that caused Knyaz Suvorov to heel 10 degrees, Shirakumo did not fire, finding that Knyaz Suvorov had lost all steaming power and come to a stop before she could achieve a firing position. Knyaz Suvorov later sank.

Shirakumo was reclassified as a third-class destroyer on 28 August 1912.

After Japan entered World War I in August 1914, Shirakumo took part in the Battle of Tsingtao in 1914.

On 1 April 1922, Shirakumo was reclassified as a "special-duty vessel" for use as a second-class minesweeper. On 1 April 1923, she was stricken from the naval register and reclassified as a utility vessel for use as an accommodation ship.

Shirakumo was sunk as a target in the Bungo Channel off Himeshima on 21 July 1925.

Commanding officers

SOURCE:

• Lieutenant Commander Kota Hazama 26 June 1901 – 22 October 1901 (pre-commissioning)
• Lieutenant Commander Kota Hazama 22 October 1901 – unknown
• Lieutenant Commander Masayuki Kamada 12 December 1905 – 14 March 1906
• Lieutenant Kanzo Tsunoda 14 March 1906 – 1 April 1906
• Lieutenant Commander Yoshihiro Morimoto 1 April 1906 – 13 September 1906
• Lieutenant Yahei Nakahara 13 September 1906 -– 12 November 1906
• Lieutenant Hanjiro Sonoda 12 November 1906 – 17 May 1907
• Lieutenant Teruichi Akiyoshi 17 May 1907 – 20 April 1908
• Lieutenant Yasuhiro Yamamoto 20 April 1908 – 25 September 1908
• Lieutenant Shoichi Akiyoshi 25 September 1908 – 20 February 1909
• Lieutenant Yoshio Yamanaka 20 February 1909 – 1 April 1910
• Lieutenant Nobuyuki Kabayama 1 April 1910 – 1 December 1910
• Lieutenant Commander Tomomasa Ohashi 1 December 1910 – 20 December 1910
• Lieutenant Commander 20 December 1910 – 28 April 1911
• Lieutenant Goto Akira 28 April 1911 – 24 May 1913
• Lieutenant Meijiro Tate 24 May 1913 - 1 December 1913
• Lieutenant Commander Tadashi Takeuchi 1 December 1913 – unknown
• Lieutenant Koro Ogawa Unknown – 1 December 1916
• Lieutenant Nomura Jinzo (Naokuni) 1 December 1916 – 1 December 1917
• Lieutenant Ei Kashiwagi 1 December 1917 – 21 February 1920
• Lieutenant Fukashi Yamashita 21 February 1920 – 20 January 1921
• Lieutenant Tetsu Sano 20 January 1921 – 1 December 1921
• Lieutenant Miyazaki Taira 1 December 1921 – unknown

References

Bibliography

• 写真日本海軍全艦艇史 Fukui Shizuo Collection』資料編、KKベストセラーズ、1994年 ("Photographic history of all ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy Fukui Shizuo Collection" material edition, KK Bestsellers, 1994) (in Japanese).
• 海軍歴史保存会『日本海軍史』第7巻、第9巻、第10巻、第一法規出版、1995年 (Naval History Preservation Society "Japanese Naval History" Vol. 7, Vol. 9, Vol. 10, Daiichi Hoki Publishing, 1995) (in Japanese).
• 片桐大自『聯合艦隊軍艦銘銘伝』普及版、光人社、2003年 (Daiji Katagiri "Rengo Kantai Gunkan Meiden" popular version, Kojinsha, 2003) (in Japanese).

• Cocker, Maurice (1983). Destroyers of the Royal Navy, 1893–1981. Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-1075-7.
• Corbett, Julian S. (1994). Maritime Operations in the Russo-Japanese War 1904–1905, Volume I. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-129-7.
• Corbett, Julian S. (1994). Maritime Operations in the Russo-Japanese War 1904–1905, Volume II. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-129-7.
• Evans, David (1979). Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887-1941. US Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-192-7.
• Halpern, Paul G (1994). A Naval History of World War I. Routledge. ISBN 1-85728-498-4.
• Howarth, Stephen (1983). The Fighting Ships of the Rising Sun: The Drama of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1895-1945. Atheneum. ISBN 0-689-11402-8.
• Jane, Fred T. (1904). The Imperial Japanese Navy. Thacker, Spink & Co. ASIN: B00085LCZ4.
• Jentsura, Hansgeorg (1976). Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869-1945. US Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-893-X.
• Lyon, David (1981). The Thornycroft List. Greenwich: National Maritime Museum.
• Lyon, David (2006). The First Destroyers. Mercury Books. ISBN 1-84560-010-X.
• Stille, Mark (2016). The Imperial Japanese Navy of the Russo-Japanese War. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4728-1119-6.
• Watts, Anthony John (1971). The Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869-1945. London: Macdonald & Co. (Publishers) Ltd. ISBN 0-356-03045-8.

External links

[[:Category:Shirakumo-class destroyers [[:Category:Ships built in Chiswick [[:Category:1901 ships [[:Category:Russo-Japanese War naval ships of Japan [[:Category:World War I destroyers of Japan [[:Category:Maritime incidents in 1925 [[:Category:Ships sunk as targets [[:Category:Shipwrecks in the Philippine Sea [[:Category:Shipwrecks of Japan

For other ships with the same name, see Russian destroyer Steregushchiy and Russian corvette Steregushchiy.

History
Russian Empire
Name	Steregushchiy
Namesake	The Russian destroyer Steregushchiy (English "Guardian") of 1903
Builder	Lange & Sohn, Riga, Russia
Laid down	20 August [O.S. 7 August] 1904
Launched	4 July [O.S. 21 June] 1904
Commissioned	17 May [O.S. 4 May] 1906
Reclassified	From "mine cruiser" to destroyer 10 October [O.S. 27 September] 1907
Fate	To Russian Republic March [O.S. February] 1917
Russian Republic
Acquired	March [O.S. February] 1917
Fate	To Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic 7 November [O.S. 25 October] 1917
Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic
Acquired	7 November [O.S. 25 October] 1917
Fate	Scrapped 1922 or 1924 (see text)
Stricken	21 November 1925
General characteristics
Type	Ukrayna-class destroyer
Displacement	500 long tons (510 t) (standard) 630 long tons (640 t) (full load)
Length	63.2 m (207 ft 4 in)
Beam	7.24 m (23 ft 9 in)
Height	3.35 m (11 ft 0 in)
Draught	2.3 m (7 ft 7 in)
Propulsion	2 x vertical triple expansion steam engines, 4 x Normand boilers, 6,325 hp (4,717 kW)
Speed	25.9 knots (48.0 km/h; 29.8 mph)
Range	1,105 nautical miles (2,046 km; 1,272 mi)
Complement	90
Armament	As built: 1 × 75 mm 50 caliber Pattern 1892 guns 4 × 57 mm guns 4 × Maxim machine guns 3 x 456 mm (18 in) torpedo tubes 16 x mines From 1910: 2 x 102 mm 60 caliber Pattern 1911 guns 1 x 37 mm gun 2 x 456 mm (18 in) torpedo tubes 16 x mines From 1916: 2 x 102 mm 60 caliber Pattern 1911 guns 1 x 40 mm antiaircraft gun 2 x machine guns 2 x 456 mm (18 in) torpedo tubes 16 x mines
Service record
Operations:	World War I Battle of the Gulf of Riga Battle of Moon Sound Russian Civil War Ice Cruise of the Baltic Fleet

Steregushchiy (Стерегущий, English "Guardian") was a Ukrayna-class destroyer built for the Imperial Russian Navy in the early 20th century. She served in the Baltic Sea, seeing action in World War I between 1914 and 1917 in the Imperial Russian Navy and its successor, the navy of the Russian Republic. She then joined the naval forces of the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic — which later became the Soviet Navy upon the foundation of the Soviet Union — serving in them during the Russian Civil War (1917–1921).

Steregushchiy was named for the previous Russian destroyer Steregushchiy, which was sunk in 1904 in a heroic action in the Yellow Sea during the Russo-Japanese War.

Construction and commissioning

Steregushchiy was laid down on 20 August [O.S. 7 August] 1904 in Riga, Latvia — then a part of the Russian Empire — at the shipyard of Lange i syn (Ланге и сын, English "Lange & Sohn"), and her name was entered on the rolls of the Baltic Fleet on 3 April [O.S. 21 March] 1905. She was launched on 4 July [O.S. 21 June] 1905. She completed her official acceptance trials on 17 May [O.S. 4 May] 1906 and was commissioned that day.

Service history

From 1905 to 1908, Steregushchiy operated as part of a detachment that practiced the defense of the Russian Empire′s Baltic Sea coast. She was classified as a "mine cruiser" until 10 October [O.S. 27 September] 1907, when she was reclassified as a destroyer. In 1909 she was assigned to the 1st Mine Division, and she underwent an overhaul at the shipyard of the joint-stock company Creighton & Company in 1909–1910 in which her gun and torpedo tube armament was modified, the hot-water pipes in her boilers were replaced, her mainmast was moved to her after bridge, and the bulky ventilation cowls leading to her boiler rooms were replaced with mushroom-shaped ones.

The Russian Empire entered World War I in August 1914, and during the war Steregushchiy served in the 6th Division of the Mine Division. She took part in raids against German communications and patrols in the Baltic Sea, the defense of the coast of Courland and the Gulf of Riga, minelaying operations in the southeastern and central parts of the Baltic Sea, and escorting and carrying out the anti-submarine defense of the main forces of the Baltic Fleet. From 8 to 21 August [O.S. 26 July to 8 August] 1915 she participated in the Battle of the Gulf of Riga. In 1916 she underwent modernization at the Creighton & Company shipyard in which her gun armament again was altered and her boiler tubes were replaced.

Steregushchiy took part in the February Revolution of 8 to 16 March [O.S. 23 February to 3 March] 1917, in which Emperor Nicholas II was overthrown and the Russian Provisional Government took control of the country and established the Russian Republic. Her World war I service continued, and from 12 to 19 October [O.S. 29 September to 6 October] 1917 she participated in the operations related to the Battle of Moon Sound.

On 7 November [O.S. 25 October] 1917 the Russian Provisional Government was overthrown in the October Revolution, beginning the Russian Civil War. That day, Steregushchiy joined the Red Baltic Fleet — would eventually become part of the Soviet Navy and was subordinate to what in 1918 would become the new Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR).

On 3 March 1918, the RSFSR signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with the Central Powers and Russia exited World War I. That day, Steregushchiy was at Helsingfors. She took part in the Ice Cruise of the Baltic Fleet, moving to Kronshtadt by April 1918. She was laid up at Kronhstadt.

Again assigned to the Baltic Fleet on 21 April 1921, Steregushchiy later moved to the Baltic Shipyard in Petrograd. She was scrapped in 1922 or 1924, according to different sources. She was stricken from the naval register on 21 November 1925.

References

Bibliography

[[:Category:Ukrayna-class destroyers [[:Category:Ships built in Russia [[:Category:1905 ships [[:Category:Destroyers of the Imperial Russian Navy [[:Category:World War I destroyers of Russia

For other ships with the same name, see Japanese destroyer Kagerō.

History
Empire of Japan
Name	Kagerō
Namesake	陽炎 ("Mirage")
Ordered	1897
Builder	John I. Thornycroft & Company, Chiswick, England
Yard number	Torpedo Boat Destroyer No. 9
Laid down	1 August 1898
Launched	23 August 1899
Completed	31 October 1899
Commissioned	31 October 1899
Reclassified	From torpedo boat destroyer to destroyer) 22 June 1900 Third-class destroyer 28 August 1912 Utility vessel (tug and transport) 1 April 1922
Decommissioned	8 October 1924
Stricken	8 October 1924
Fate	Hulked
General characteristics
Type	Murakumo-class destroyer
Displacement	275 long tons (279 t) normal 360.5 long tons (366.3 t) full load
Length	208 ft (63 m) waterline, 210 ft (64 m) overall
Beam	19 ft 6 in (5.94 m)
Draught	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Depth	13 ft 6 in (4.11 m)
Propulsion	Reciprocating engine, 3 boilers, 5,800 ihp (4,300 kW), 2 shafts
Speed	30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Complement	50
Armament	1 × QF 12-pounder gun 5 × QF 6 pounder Hotchkiss guns 2 × 450 mm (18 in) torpedoes
Service record
Operations:	Boxer Rebellion Russo-Japanese War Battle of Port Arthur Battle of the Yellow Sea Battle of Tsushima Invasion of Sakhalin World War I Siege of Tsingtao

Kagerō (陽炎, "Mirage") was the lead ship of six Murakumo-class destroyers, built for the Imperial Japanese Navy in the late 1890s. Murakumo took part in the Japanese response to the Boxer Rebellion (1900), saw action in several major engagements during the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905), and served during World War I (1914–1918).

Construction and commissioning

Authorized under the 1896 naval program, Murakumo was laid down on 1 October 1897 by John I. Thornycroft & Company at Chiswick, England, as Torpedo Boat Destroyer No. 4. On 16 March 1898, she was named Murakumo. When the Imperial Japanese Navy established its Naval Warship and Torpedo Boat Classification Standards on 21 March 1898, she was classified as a torpedo boat destroyer. Launched on 16 November 1898, she was completed on 29 December 1898 and commissioned the same day.

Service history

Murakumo completed her delivery voyage from England to Japan on 23 April 1899 with her arrival at Yokosuka. On 30 April 1900 she participated in a large naval review held off Kobe, Japan, where she was placed in the fourth row. On 22 June 1900, the Imperial Japanese Navy established its Naval Vessel Classification Standard, abolishing the classification of "torpedo boat destroyer" and establishing the classification of "destroyer" as a type of warship, and under the new classification scheme Murakumo was classified as a destroyer. Also as of 22 June 1900, she was assigned to the Sasebo Naval District and incorporated into the Standing Fleet. During 1900, she took part in the Japanese intervention in the Boxer Rebellion in China. On 10 April 1903, she participated in a large naval review held off Kobe and was placed in the third row.

When the Russo-Japanese War broke out in February 1904, Murakumo was part of the 5th Destroyer Division of the 2nd Fleet. During the war, she took part in the Battle of Port Arthur in February 1904, the Battle of the Yellow Sea in August 1904, the Battle of Tsushima in May 1905. During the Battle Tsushima, Murakumo could not get into position for a torpedo attack against the Russian fleet during the night of 27–28 May 1905, but while steaming to a rendezvous on the morning of 28 May she came across the Japanese protected cruisers Niitaka and Otowa as they pursued the damaged Imperial Russian Navy protected cruiser Svetlana, which was attempting to escape northward under escort by the destroyer Buistri after the fleet action of the previous day. Keeping ahead of the Japanese cruisers, Murakumo kept Buistri from interfering with them until Svetlana ceased fire and went dead in the water after suffering additional damage. While Otowa finished off Svetlana, Buistri fled with Murakumo and Niitaka in hot pursuit. The chase culminated late in the morning in Buistri′s crew running her aground on the coast of the Korean Peninsula, partially blowing her up, and then surrendering to local authorities. Murakumo also took part in the Japanese invasion of Sakhalin in July 1905. After the war, she participated in a triumphant naval review held off Yokohama, Japan, on 23 October 1905 and was placed in the fourth row.

On 18 November 1908, Murakumo participated as a ship in the sixth row of a large-scale naval review off Kobe. On 28 August 1912, the Imperial Japanese Navy revised its ship classification standards. It established three categories of destroyers, with those of 1,000 displacement tons or more defined as first-class destroyers, those of 600 to 999 displacement tons as second-class destroyers, and those of 599 or fewer displacement tons as third-class destroyers. Under this classification scheme, Murakumo became a third-class destroyer.

After Japan entered World War I in August 1914, Murakumo operated in support of the Siege of Tsingtao. Later that year, she took part in the Japanese seizure of the German Empire′s colonial possessions in the Caroline, Mariana, and Marshall Islands.

Murakumo was stricken from the navy list on 1 April 1919, designated as a "miscellaneous vessel" for use as a submarine tender and minesweeper, and renamed Murakumo Maru. On 1 July 1920, she was reclassified as a "special duty vessel" for use as a second-class minesweeper and renamed Murakumo. On 1 April 1922, she was reclassified as a "utility vessel" for use as a target ship. An inspection conducted on 30 January 1925 revealed that her hull and other parts of the ship had deteriorated. On 4 June 1925, she was sunk as a live-fire target in the Pacific Ocean off the Sunosaki Lighthouse in Chiba Prefecture.

Commanding officers

SOURCE:

• Lieutenant Commander Danjiro Iwamura 14 February 1899 – unknown (pre-commissioning)
• Lieutenant Yoshimaru Sakurai 22 June 1900 – 25 September 1900
• Lieutenant Commander Gonsaburo Horiuchi 25 September 1900 – 10 September 1901
• Lieutenant Commander Kishiro Takebe 10 September 1901 – 30 April 1903
• Lieutenant Atsuyuki Ide 30 April 1903 – unknown
• Lieutenant Abira Yoshikawa 27 March 1905 – 12 December 1905
• Lieutenant Koichi Masuda 17 December 1905 – 30 August 1906
• Lieutenant Commander Kotaro Inoyama: 30 August 1906 – 27 April 1907
• Lieutenant Yokojiji 27 April 1907 – 26 August 1907
• Lieutenant Eijiro Tanabe 26 August 1907 – 28 May 1908
• Lieutenant Naonobu Hirata 28 May 1908 – 20 November 1908
• Lieutenant Kennosuke Matsumoto 20 November 1908 – 1 March 1910
• Lieutenant Fujita Kotaro 1 March 1910 – 1 December 1910
• Lieutenant Masanao Saruwatari 1 December 1910 – 22 May 1911
• Lieutenant Shoichi Yamashita 22 May 1911 – 9 October 1911
• Lieutenant Tomonobu Nakayama 9 October 1911 – 1 February 1912
• Lieutenant Sueo Yonehara 1 February 1912 – 1 December 1912
• Lieutenant Maruyama Hanzaburo 1 December 1912 – 1 December 1913
• Lieutenant Commander Eijiro Tanabe 1 December 1913 – 7 August 1914
• Lieutenant Shoichi Ishida 7 August 1914 – 1 May 1915 [6]
• Lieutenant Aritoshi Nakamura 1 May 1915 [6] – 1 June 1916
• Lieutenant Chuzo Kawahara 1 June 1916 – 1 December 1916
• Lieutenant Yoshihiro Imaizumi 1 December 1916 – 23 August 1917
• Lieutenant Shinjuro Takahashi 23 August 1917 – 6 February 1919 [7]
• Lieutenant Hayami Nishimura 6 February 1919 [7] – 18 October 1919 [8]
• Lieutenant Kiyoshi Suzuki 18 October 1919 – 27 December 1919 [9]
• Lieutenant Commander Shozo Wada 2 December 1919 – 1 June 1920
• Lieutenant Commander Aragasu 1 June 1920 – 1 December 1920
• Lieutenant Shichiro Ikeda 1 December 1920 [10] – 20 November 1921 [11]
• Lieutenant Yoshimasa Horie 20 November 1921 [11] – 1 December 1921 [12]
• Lieutenant Miyazaki Taira 1 December 1921 [12] – unknown

References

Bibliography

• Cocker, Maurice (1983). Destroyers of the Royal Navy, 1893-1981. Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-1075-7.
• Corbett, Julian S. (1994). Maritime Operations in the Russo-Japanese War 1904–1905, Volume II. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-129-7.
• Evans, David (1979). Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887-1941. US Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-192-7.
• Gilbert, Martin (1995). First World War. HarperCollins. ISBN 9780006376668. OCLC 1244719073.
• Halpern, Paul G (1994). A Naval History of World War I. Routledge. ISBN 1-85728-498-4.
• Howarth, Stephen (1983). The Fighting Ships of the Rising Sun: The Drama of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1895-1945. Atheneum. ISBN 0-689-11402-8.
• Jane, Fred T. (1904). The Imperial Japanese Navy. Thacker, Spink & Co. ASIN: B00085LCZ4.
• Jentsura, Hansgeorg (1976). Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869-1945. US Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-893-X.
• Lyon, David (1981). The Thornycroft List. Greenwich: National Maritime Museum.
• Nelson, Andrew N. (1967). Japanese–English Character Dictionary. Tuttle. ISBN 0-8048-0408-7.
• Stille, Mark (2016). The Imperial Japanese Navy of the Russo-Japanese War. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4728-1119-6.
• Watts, Anthony John (1971). The Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869-1945. London: Macdonald & Co. (Publishers) Ltd. ISBN 0-356-03045-8.

[[:Category:Murakumo-class destroyers [[:Category:Ships built in Chiswick [[:Category:1899 ships [[:Category:Russo-Japanese War naval ships of Japan [[:Category:World War I destroyers of Japan

For other ships with the same name, see French ship Aréthuse.

History
France
Name	Aréthuse
Namesake	Arethusa, a nymph in Greek mythology
Ordered	14 April 1927
Builder	Chantiers Schneider et Cie, Chalon-sur-Saône, France
Laid down	6 January 1928
Launched	8 August 1929
Commissioned	14 July 1933
Decommissioned	1944
Fate	Condemned 25 March 1946
General characteristics
Type	Submarine
Displacement	630 tonnes (620 long tons) surfaced 798 tonnes (785 long tons) submerged
Length	63.4 m (208 ft)
Beam	6.4 m (21 ft)
Draught	4.24 m (13.9 ft)
Propulsion	2 × Schneider-Carel diesel engines, 1,300 bhp (969 kW) 2 × electric motors, 1,000 shp (746 kW) 2 shafts
Speed	14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph) surfaced 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph) submerged
Range	4,000 nmi (7,400 km) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) surfaced 82 nmi (152 km) at 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph) submerged
Test depth	80 m (260 ft)
Complement	41
Armament	6 × 550 mm (22 in) torpedo tubes 2 × 400 mm (16 in) torpedo tubes 1 × 75 mm (3 in) deck gun 1 × 8 mm (0.31 in) machine gun

Aréthuse (NN7) was an Argonaute-class submarine in commission in the French Navy from 1934 to 1944. She saw service in World War II, first on the side of the Allies from September 1939 to June 1940, then in the forces of Vichy France until November 1942, when she became part of the Free French Naval Forces.

Construction and commissioning

Aréthuse was auhtorized in the 1926 naval program and ordered on 14 April 1927. Laid down by Chantiers Schneider et Cie at Chalon-sur-Saône, France, on 6 January 1928 with the pennant number NN7, she was launched on 8 August 1929. She was commissioned on 14 July 1933.

Service history

French Navy

When World War II began with Nazi Germany′s invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939, Aréthuse was undergoing refit at Toulon, France, while stationed at Bizerte in Tunisia as part of the 17th Submarine Division in the 6th Squadron, a component of the 4th Flotilla in Maritime Prefecture IV. Also in the division were her sister ships Atalante, La Sultane, and La Vestale. France entered the war on 3 September 1939.

The Battle of France began when German ground forces advanced into France, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg on 10 May 1940, and Italy declared war on France on 10 June 1940 and joined the invasion. Aréthuse was among nine submarines scheduled to depart Toulon, France, on 18 June 1940 bound for French North Africa, but the departure never took place and all nine submarines remained at Toulon.

The Battle of France ended in France's defeat and armistice with Germany and Italy, which went into effect on 25 June 1940. On that day, Aréthuse was at Toulon.

Vichy France

After the June 1940 armistice, Aréthuse served in the naval forces of Vichy France. On 9 December 1940, the 17th Submarine Division, now reduced to Aréthuse, La Sultane, and La Vestale, departed Toulon for Dakar in Senegal.

While Aréthuse was operating from Dakar, her main electric motor broke down in January 1941, requiring armature repairs that could not be made at Dakar. On 10 February 1941, she departed Dakar bound for Casablanca in French Morocco, where she underwent repairs. On 18 April 1941 she carried out post-repair trials, including a test dive to a depth of 60 metres (197 ft). She and the submarine French submarine Thétis Q134 (2) then toured ports in French Morocco, visiting Safi from 25 to 27 April, Agadir on 28 April, Mogador on 29 and 30 April, and Safi again on the 1 May before returning to Casablanca on 2 May 1941. From 18 to 23 May, Aréthuse again called at Agadir, and she visited Port Lyautey from 3 to 5 June 1941.

After Atalante was reactivated, she proceeded to French North Africa. She called at Casablanca in French Morocco from 20 to 27 January 1941, when she got back underway bound for French West Africa. She arrived at Dakar in Senegal on 1 February 1941 and became part of the 17th Submarine Division there.

While operating from Dakar, Atalante and La Vestale both sustained diesel engine damage that could not be repaired in French West Africa. The two submarines departed Dakar on 22 August 1941 bound for southern French Morocco, where Atalante called at Agadir from 23 to 29 August 1941 before rendezvousing with La Vestale at Safi on 30 August. The two submarines arrived at Casablanca on 31 August 1941.

As part of the 17th Submarine Division, Atalante subsequently conducted patrols in the Atlantic Ocean. She is recorded as having been at sea in the Atlantic on 1 November 1942 during a voyage from Casablanca to Dakar in company with Aréthuse, La Sultane, and La Vestale.

On 8 November 1942, Allied forces landed in French North Africa in Operation Torch. Fighting between Allied and Vichy French forces ended on 11 November 1942.

Free France

After the cessation of hostilities between Allied and French forces in French North Africa, French forces in Africa, including Atalante, joined the forces of Free France. By mid-November 1942, Atalante was part of the Free French Naval Forces and was at the submarine base at Oran in Algeria with the submarine Orphée. She subsequently supported activities at the sound schools in French Morocco, at Dakar, and at Freetown in Sierra Leone. By November 1943, Atalante and the submarines Amphitrite, Le Glorieux, and Marsouin made up the Moroccan Submarine Group at Casablanca.

Atalante was decommissioned at Oran in May 1944. By August 1945, she was at La Pallice, France. She was stricken from the navy list on 23 March 1946 and condemned on 26 March 1946.

See also

• List of submarines of France
• French submarines of World War II

References

Bibliography

• Jean-Jacques Antier (1984). L'Aventure héroïque des sous-marins français 1939-1945 (PDF). Éditions maritimes et d'outre mer. ISBN 2-7070-0068-X. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |ean= ignored (help), p. 297.
• Bagnasco, Erminio (2000). Submarines of World War Two. London: Cassell & Co. p. 38. ISBN 1-85409-532-3.
• Chesneau, Roger, ed. (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. London, UK: Conway Maritime Press. p. 274. ISBN 0-85177-146-7.
• Moulin, Jean (2006). Les sous-marins français en images (in French). Rennes: Marines Éditions. pp. 30–31. ISBN 2-915379-40-8.

External links

• "Argonaute - Sous-marin". AUX MARINS. Mémorial national des marins morts pour la France (in French). Retrieved 23 February 2020..
• Christian Lecalard (20 September 2014). "Sous marin "ARETHUSE"". Amicale RUBIS (in French). Retrieved 23 February 2020..
• "13-Sous-marins (16) sous-marins classe Argonaute (2)". CLAUSUCHRONIA Une uchronie un peu folle (in French). 31 August 2013. Retrieved 2 March 2020..

Category:Argonaute-class submarines Category:Ships built in France Category:1929 ships Category:World War II submarines of France

HMS Nymphe

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Nymphe.

History
United Kingdom
Name	Nymphe
Namesake	Nymph, a female nature deity in Ancient Greek folklore
Builder	R. & W. Hawthorn, Leslie and Company, Hebburn
Laid down	8 December 1909
Launched	31 January 1911
Completed	May 1911
Fate	Sold to be broken up 9 May 1921
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type	Acorn-class destroyer
Displacement	730 long tons (740 t) (normal) 855 long tons (869 t) (full load)
Length	246 ft (75 m) (o.a.) 240 ft (73 m) (p.p.)
Beam	25 ft 5 in (7.7 m)
Draught	8 ft 6 in (2.6 m)
Installed power	4 White-Forster boilers 13,500 shp (10,100 kW)
Propulsion	Parsons steam turbines, 3 shafts
Speed	27 kn (50 km/h; 31 mph)
Range	1,540 nmi (2,850 km; 1,770 mi) at 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement	72
Armament	2 × single BL 4 in (102 mm) guns 2 × single QF 12 pdr 3 in (76 mm) gun 2 × single 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes

HMS Nymphe was one of 20 Acorn-class (later H-class) destroyers built for the Royal Navy that served in the First World War. The Acorn class were smaller than the preceding Beagle class but oil-fired and better armed. Launched in 1911, the ship served with the Second Destroyer Flotilla, joining the Grand Fleet at the start of the war in 1914, and was transferred to Portsmouth in early 1916. She joined the Fifth Destroyer Flotilla in the Mediterranean in 1918. She was placed in was placed in reserve in 1919 and was sold in 1921 to be broken up.

Design and description

Main article: Acorn-class destroyer

After the preceding coal-burning Beagle class, the Acorn-class destroyer saw a return to oil-firing. Pioneered by the Tribal class of 1905 and HMS Swift of 1907, using oil enabled a more efficient design, leading to a smaller vessel which also had increased deck space available for weaponry. Unlike previous destroyer designs, where the individual yards had been given discretion within the parameters set by the Admiralty, the Acorn class were a set, with the propulsion machinery the only major variation between the different ships. This enabled costs to be reduced. The class was later renamed H class.

Nymphe had a length of 240 feet (73 m) between perpendiculars and 246 ft (75 m) overall, with a beam of 25 ft 5 in (7.7 m) and a deep draught of 8 ft 6 in (2.6 m). Displacement was 730 long tons (820 short tons; 740 tonnes) normal and 855 long tons (869 t) full load. Power was provided by Parsons steam turbines fed by four White-Forster boilers and driving three shafts. Three funnels were fitted, the foremost tall and thin, the central short and thick and the aft narrow. The engines were rated at 13,500 shaft horsepower (10,100 kW) which gave a design speed of 27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph). On trial, Nymphe achieved 28.7 knots (53.2 km/h; 33.0 mph). The vessel carried 170 long tons (170 t) of fuel oil which gave a range of 1,540 nautical miles (2,850 km; 1,770 mi) at a cruising speed of 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph).

Armament consisted of two single BL 4 in (102 mm) Mk VIII guns, one carried on the forecastle and another aft. Two single QF 12-pounder 3 in (76 mm) guns were mounted between the first two funnels. Two rotating 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes were mounted aft of the funnels, with two reloads carried, and a searchlight fitted between the tubes. The destroyer was later modified to carry a single Vickers QF 3-pounder 2 in (47 mm) anti-aircraft gun and depth charges for anti-submarine warfare. The ship's complement was 72 officers and ratings.

Construction

The 20 destroyers of the Acorn class were ordered by the Admiralty under the 1909–1910 Naval Programme. One of three in the class sourced from R. & W. Hawthorn, Leslie and Company, Nymphe was laid down at the company's Hebburn shipyard on 8 December 1909 with yard number 1315 and launched on 31 January 1911. The ship was completed in May 1911, the seventh ship in Royal Navy service to be named for the nymph, and the sixth to use the variant spelling "nymphe."

Service history

1911–1914

On commissioning in 1911, Nymphe joined the rest of the Acorn-class destroyers in the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla, an element of the 2nd Division of the Home Fleet. Nymphe and her sister ships Acorn, Alarm, Larne, Lyra, Nemesis, and Rifleman conducted high-speed trials in the Atlantic Ocean off Berehaven, Ireland, on 1 July 1911 and all achieved 28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph) despite rough weather. All suffered damage, however, and by the time they reached Portmsouth, England, on 4 July 1911, they all were leaking and had water in their fuel oil bunkers, requiring repair by divers. Nymphe suffered the greatest damage, with flooding in her magazines as well, ruining her ammunition. On 16 October 1911, a 6-pounder gun aboard Nymphe burst during night-firing exercises off Weymouth, England, slightly injuring one officer.

The 2nd Destroyer Flotilla was transferred to the First Fleet in 1912. In late April 1914, Nymphe and two other destroyers patrolled in Dundrum Bay, County Down, on the coast of Ireland to interdict the smuggling of weapons into Ireland. In July 1914, Nymphe was one of 20 destroyers in the First Fleet′s Second Flotilla.

World War I

World War I began on 28 July 1914, and the United Kingdom entered the war on the side of the Allies on 4 August 1914. With the outbreak of war, the First Fleet became the Grand Fleet.

At 10:30 on 15 October 1914, the Imperial German Navy submarine U-9 torpedoed and sank the protected cruiser HMS Hawke in the North Sea off Aberdeen, Scotland. Nymphe and the destroyers Alarm, Lyra, and Nemesis put to sea that day to patrol in the eastern approaches to Scapa Flow. At about 13.30 Nymphe sighted U-9′s periscope, alerted the other destroyers, and steered to ram U-9. Nymphe′s ramming attempt failed. U-9 fired a torpedo which missed Nymphe′s bow by a only a few feet before passing down her starboard side, then passed in front of Nemesis and forced Alarm to take evasive action by making a hard turn to port.

Nymphe accompanied the Grand Fleet when it put to sea for exercises on 15 March 1915. Operating in heavy seas, she soon collided with Nemesis, and the fleet′s destroyers received orders to return to port because of the bad weather.

In February 1916, Nymphe was the last Acorn-class destroyer operatying with the Grand Fleet, and by March 1916 she had left the fleet and was based at Portsmouth. In May 1916 she was serving as a temporary tender to the shore establishment HMS Vernon, the Royal Navy Torpedo School at Portsmouth. From July to November 1916 she was part of the Portsmouth Local Defence Flotilla, also known as the Port Defence Flotilla. During the night of 7-8 December 1916, she came to the assistance of the merchant ship {{SS|Conch]], which had been carrying a cargo of benzene when the German submarine UB-23 torpedoed her off St Alban's Head. Nymphe found Conch engulfed by a massive fire and rescued her chief engineer and some other members of her crew.

Nymphe served with the Paravane Department at Portsmouth from January 1917 to February 1918, developing the paravane as a weapon for use against submarines and naval mines. She was listed as part of the Portsmouth Escort Flotilla in January 1917 and the Portsmouth Local Defence Flotilla in June 1917 while performing her paravane work.

On 17 May 1917, Nymphe came to the defence of British steamer Florence Louise. The German submarine UB-40 had stopped Florence Louise in the English Channel and ordered her crew to abandon ship so that she could sink Florence Louise. Florence Louise′s crew had already taken to the lifeboats when Nymphe arrived and forced UB-40 to submerge. Florence Louise′s crew returned to their ship and resumed their voyage unescorted. A few hours later, UB-40 again stopped her, ordered her crew to abandon ship again, and sank her with explosive charges.

Nymphe suffered an internal explosion while operating in the English Channel on 9 July 1917. The explosion killed four members of her crew and injured a fifth man who later died of his injuries.

Nymphe served another tour as tender for HMS Vernon in March and April 1918.She then was assigned to service in the Mediterranean, where she rejoined the rest of the Acorn class when she joined the 5th Destroyer Flotilla in May 1918.

On the evening of 18 June 1918, she became the vicitim of a friendly fire incident while on patrol with the destroyer HMS Defender in the Strait of Otranto. Also in the area was a unit of three United States Navy submarine chasers — USS SC-94, USS SC-151, and USS SC-227 — on an antisubmarine patrol. At 21:00, the submarine chasers′ hydrophones detected sounds which their crews assumed were coming from a submarine. The submarine chasers folowed the sounds until 22:40, when they grew louder and the submarine chaser crews interpreted them as coming from a submarine on the surface. All three submarine chasers headed toward the source of the sound at Flank speed and soon sighted Nymohe and Defender, perceiving them merelty as two low-lying objects in the water which the submarune chaser crews believed were Central Powers submarines. The submarine chasers challenged the British destroyers with recognition signal flashed several times by blinker light. Nymphe and Defender did not respond, so the submarien chasers opened fire, with SC-94 firing two rounds and SC-151 firing one one. One of SC-94′s shots hit Nymphe, severing s steam line and putting one of her steam engines out of commission. Nymphe and Defender immediately flashed lights at the submarine chasers, which ceased fire, went alongside the destroyers, and discovered their identities. . When the submarine chaser crews askedwhy the destroyers had not answered the recognition signals, the crews of Nymphe and Defender replied that they had orders not to use recognition signals, a restriction unknown to the submarine chaser crews because of a lack of a unified Allied command in the area. Defender took Nymphe in tow, and the submarine chasers resumed their antisubmarine patrol. Discussing the incident in a letter to the British Admiralty, the commander of United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, Vice Admiral William Sims, wrote: "While it appears that, under attendant circumstances, the commanding officers of the submarine chasers were justified in opening fire on the destroyers, I nevertheless wish to express regret that the incident occurred, and that H.M.S. Nymphe should have sustained damage."

By July 1918 the Fifth Destroyer Flotilla, based at Brindisi, Italy. On 2 October 1918, Nymphe supported the Allied bombardment of Austro-Hungarian forces at Durazzo, Albania, protecting the southern flank of the main bombardment force and supporting a force of U.S. Navy submarine chasers. In November 1918, she was one of 14 H-class destroyers in the Fifth Destroyer Flotilla, which by then was based at Mudros. World War I ended with the armistice with Germany of 11 November 1918.

Later service and disposal

In December 1918, Nymphe was part of the Aegean Squadron, as were all other surviving ships f her class except Lyra. In February 1919, she was listed as part of the destroyer flotilla at Malta. In November 1919, she did was not listed as an active ship. She was sold on 9 May 1921 to be broken up.

References

Bibliography

• Brassey, Thomas (1912). The Navy Annual 1912. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.
• Brown, David K. (2010). The Grand Fleet: Warship Design and Development 1906–1922. Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-085-7.
• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006). Ships of the Royal Navy: a complete record of all fighting ships of the Royal Navy from the 15th century to the present. London: Chatham. ISBN 978-1-85367-566-9.
• Friedman, Norman (2009). British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the First World War. Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-049-9.
• Parkes, Oscar; Prendergast, Maurice (1969). Jane's Fighting Ships 1919. Newton Abbott: David & Charles. OCLC 907574860.
• Preston, Antony (1985). "Great Britain and Empire Forces". In Gardiner, Robert; Gray, Randal (eds.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 1–104. ISBN 978-0-85177-245-5.

[[:Category:1911 ships [[:Category:Acorn-class destroyers|Nymphe (1911) [[:Category:Ships built on the River Tyne [[:Category:Maritime incidents in 1911 [[:Category:Maritime incidents in 1915 [[:Category:Maritime incidents in 1917 [[:Category:Maritime incidents in 1918 [[:Category:Friendly fire incidents of World War I [[:Category:International maritime incidents

Early life

Peck was born in Ansted, West Virginia, on August 10, 1889, the son of Lon and Alice Peck of Lewisburg, West Virginia. His father was a railroad agent. Peck spent most of his childhood in Hinton, West Virginia. As a child, he became interested in machinery and automobiles, and enjoyed tinkering with automotive engines.

In addition to Hinton, Peck lived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Charleston, West Virginia. As a young man, he worked in Washington, D.C. as a chauffeur for Isaac T. Mann, a millionaire from West Virginia.

Aviation career

On August 12, 1911, Peck began flying lessons. He learned to fly in seven days and received the 57th pilot's license issued by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, becoming the first aircraft pilot from West Virginia. Within two weeks he set a world flight record. He apparently landed a plane in Raleigh County, West Virginia, in 1911, probably becoming the first person to fly a airplane over West Virginia.

In 1911, Peck became an instructor at the United States Army Signal Corps flight school at College Park Airport in College Park, Maryland, the oldest continuously operating airport in the world. He also flew in the first United States Post Office′s first air mail flights.

Peck was the first person to fly an airplane over the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., setting an aviation speed record in the process by covering 24 miles (39 km) in 25 minutes. During a flight over Boston, Massachusetts, he set a flight endurance record of four hours 23 minutes 15 seconds. He also set a record for landing accuracy.

Peck also set altitude records and flew planes designed by Rex Smith. He also designed and built his own airplane, the Peck Columbian, a pusher biplane with a Gyro Motor Company 50-horsepower (37 kW) engine driving a single propeller at 1,200 to 1,500 revolutions per minute. Controlled by a steering wheel, the Columbian could achieve a speed of 70 miles per hour (113 km/h).

Death

On September 11, 1912, while preparing for the

Personal life

In 1911, Peck married a young woman from Washington, D.C., Ruth. The couple settled in Washington. Ruth Peck died in the birth of a son at the age of 19 in 1912. When Peck was killed five months later, their son was left in the care of grandparents. The child died of complications of influenza at the age of seven in 1918 during the Spanish influenza pandemic.

Commemoration

In 1979, Peck's last living descendants presented a plaque in his memory to Greenbrier Valley Airport outside Lewisburg, West Virginia. As of 2003, it was on display in the airport's terminal.

External links

• Cicero Flying Field Archived 2006-02-01 at the Wayback Machine by Carroll Gray
• portrait of Paul Peck and his fellow aviators (Carroll Gray collection)
• Paul Peck at controls of one of Rex Smith's planes, circa College Park, Md (archived)

Category:1889 births Category:1912 deaths Category:Aviators from West Virginia Category:Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in the United States Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1912

Antiques Roadshow

Season	Year recorded	Year telecast	Host
1	1996	1997	Chris Jussel
LOCATIONS: Albuquerque, New Mexico • Chicago, Illinois • College Park, Maryland • Concord, Massachusetts • Denver, Colorado • Durham, North Carolina • [[Greenwich, Connecticut[Greenwich]], Connecticut • Kansas City, Missouri • Minneapolis,Minnesota • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • San Antonio, Texas • Seattle • Southfield, Michigan NOTES: The 13 tour stops are the most in a single season in the show's history.
2	1997	1998	Chris Jussel
LOCATIONS: Atlanta, Georgia • Cincinnati, Ohio • Dallas, Texas • Nashville, Tennessee • Phoenix, Arizona • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania • San Francisco, California • Secaucus, New Jersey

|}

Wrap-up

Playing in his only season of college basketball, Aminu Mohammed was the only player to appear in all 31 games. He started all of them and led the Hoyas with 13.7 points per game on 37.9 percent shooting from the field and 31 percent from three-point range, also averaging a team-high 8.2 rebounds. Mohammed had a team-leading 11 double doubles during the season. Team captain Donald Carey started all 28 games he played in and shot 42.4 percent from the field and 38.8 percent in three-pointers, finishing with 13.5 points ad 4.4 rebounds per game. Dante Harris, who started all 29 games he played in, scored 11.9 points per game, making 37.5 percent of his field goal attempts. Playing his only season as a Hoya, Kaiden Rice made 92 three-point shots during the 2021–2022 season, a new Georgetown record, including 10 in a single game, also a school record. He finished the year with 11 points per game on 36.5 percent shooting, including 36.8 percent from beyond the arc. Collin Holloway started 20 games and came off the bench in eight others, averaged 9.2 points per game on 45.3 percent shooting, 35.6 percent from three-point range. Sharing duties at center, Timothy Ighoefe played in 24 games, starting 20, and averaged 2.8 ppoints per game, while Malcolm Wilson started 10 of the 25 games he played in, averaging 2.5 points. Ryan Mutombo played in 27 games, starting one of them, and averaged 5.1 points. Backing up Harris at point guard, Tyler Beard started two agmes and played off the bench in 28 more, averaging 3 points per game. Jordan Riley had 3.2 points per game in nine appearances before his season-ending shoulder injury, while Jalin Billingsley played in 30 games and averaged 2.1 points and Kobe Clark, who appeared in 11 games, finished the season with 0.2 points per game.

Preseason hopes that Georgetown could capitalize on its 2021 Big East Tournament and highly ranked recruiting class to move the men's basketball program forward despite being picked preseason to finish 10th in the Big East, the 2021–2022 Hoyas had one of the worst seasons in school history, setting a number of Georgetown and Big East records for poor results. A debate over Patrick Ewing's future as head coach had begun during the season and continued in the wake of its final game, with some sportswriters and fans arguing that Ewing had to either resign or be fired for the program to improve and others that he should stay on because of his legacy as a great Georgetown player and his commitment to the university and the team. For his part, Ewing told the press after the ig East Tournament loss, ""I'm proud of them. I'm proud of the fight. We could have easily let go of the rope but we never did that...I know we will be better next year." Speculation over Ewing's future began to die down on March 12, when Georgetown announced the firing of assistant coaches Robert Kirby and Akbar Waheed, suggesting to observers that Ewing would stay on with new assistants. On March 24, Georgetown hired an assistant from LSU, Kevin Nickelberry, as assistant coach, in a move expected to improve the school's ability to draw talented recruits.

After the dismal season, a major roster turnover began. Kaiden Rice, the only Georgetown player to complete his college eligibility, concluded a five-season collegiate career — four at The Citadel before his arrival at Georgetown — in which he scored 1,563 points on 39.3 percent field-goal shooting, 35.1 percent from three-point range. On March 30, Georgetown announced that Timothy Ighoefe, Jalin Billingsley, and Tyler Beard had entered the transfer portal. Ighoefe, who led the Hoyas in games played among active players with 60, 21 starts, left after th

Donald Carey — who received the Big East Sportsmanship Award for the season, the third Georgetown player all-time and second of Ewing's tenure to win it —

Unanimously named to the Big East All-Freshman Team for 2021–2022, Aminu Mohammed opted to forego his remaining three seasons of college eligibility and enter the [2022 NBA draft]].

Sophomore starting center Qudus Wahab, who Ewing had said could be Georgetown's next dominating "big man," had surprised sports pundits and fans by transferring to Maryland. Two freshman who had seen only limited action — forward Jamari Sibley, who had been Georgetown's only four-star recruit for 2020–2021, and guard T.J. Berger — had transferred in search of greater playing time, Sibley leaving for UTEP and Berger departing for San Diego.

Returning players included senior guard Donald Carey, Georgetown's top three-point shooter the previous year; sophomore starting point guard Dante Harris, the 2021 Big East Tournament Most Outstanding Player; junior centers Timothy Ighoefe — the presumptive starter after Wahab's departure — and Malcolm Wilson; sophomore forwards Kobe Clark and Collin Holloway; and two junior walk-ons, guard Chuma Azinge and forward Victor Muresan, the son of National Basketball Association great Gheorghe Muresan. Two transfers arrived at Georgetown, senior Tre King from Eastern Kentucky and graduate student Kaiden Rice from The Citadel; the program hoped that King could fill a gap at power forward as well as pose a three-point shooting threat, . Also joining the team were five freshmen who made up what 247Sports.com ranked as the 16th-best recruiting class in the United States. It including five-star guard Aminu Mohammed, four-star center Ryan Mutombo (the son of Georgetown and NBA great Dikembe Mutombo), combo guard Tyler Beard (who a year earlier had opted to delay his enrollment at Georgetown to spend an additional year at Hargrave Military Academy), power forward Jalin Billingsley, and shooting guard Jordan Riley.

Confusion over Georgetown's 2021–2022 schedule arose early in the offseason, . On April 15, 2021, media reports indicated that Georgetown would play in the Orlando Invitational at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Kissimmee, Florida, on November 25, 26, and 28. On April 23, however, media reports indicated that the Hoyas would replace TCU in the 2021 Wooden Legacy in Anaheim, California, on 25–26 November. On July 14, press reports identified San Diego State as Georgetown′s semifinal opponent. Meanwhile, when the matchups for the Gavitt Tipoff Games against Big Ten Conference opponents were announced on June 24, Georgetown was among the three Big East teams not selected to participate, marking the first time the Hoyas did not compete in the annual competition between the two conferences since 2017.

Georgetown released its 2020-2021 roster later than usual, leading to speculation that roster turmoil might already have struck the team. When the roster was released on October 15, Tre King was missing from it. The school released a statement that day explaining that King "did not meet the conduct expectations of the University. He is not enrolled in classes and will not be on the Men’s Basketball team." King re-entered the transfer portal on October 22.

In their annual preseason poll in October, the Big East's coaches picked the Hoyas to finish in 10th place in the 11-team conference, a slight improvement over their 11th-place selection a year earlier.

Georgetown will visit South Carolina on December 5 in the first year of a two-year home-and-home series against the Gamecocks. Georgetown will host TCU on December 18 in the annual Big East–Big 12 Battle. It will be the first meeting of the teams.

John R. Manning

Characteristics

A contract for her construction was awarded to a company in Tacoma, Washington, on 27 June 1949.

During construction, her brine wells were increased to four from the originally planned two.

Of wooden construction, she was an 86-foot-6-inch (26.37 m) long motor vessel with a beam of 22 feet 6 inches (6.86 m) in beam, and a draft of 12 feet 8 inches (3.86 m). Her diesel engine gave her cruising speed of 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph). She had a range of 8,000 nautical miles (15,000 km; 9,200 mi), a longer range than commercial fishing boats of her size made necessary by the vast size - 13,000,000 square miles (34,000,000 km2) - of the ocean area in which she was to operate and the limited refueling options in the area. She had two diesel generators for auxiliary power, etc.

She was constructed along the line of a typical United States West Coast commercial purse-seiner, but with a number of significant differences, including a longer range and the inclusion of live bait tanks and a large number for gurdies – mechanical cranks used to haul in fishing lines – to allow her to experiment with new purse-seining techniques, as well as with longlining and deep trolling. She had a brine [refrigeration]] system capable of preserving 30 tons of tuna for later laboratory analysis ashore.

1950

John R. Manning departed Seattle bound for San Pedro, [[California], on 20 February 1950. After calling at San Pedro, she proceeded to Honolulu, arriving there on 26 March 1950, eleven days after departing San Pedro. Initially assigned to experiment with purse-seining in the waters of the [Tropics|tropical]] and subtropical waters of the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and the Palau Islands, she was the third of the three vessels assigned to POFI to begin FWS service.

John R. Manning began her first cruise on 5 April 1950. It was a shakedown cruise in the waters of the Hawaiian Islands, during which she tested her purse-seining and trolling gear, live bait tank, and bathythermograph and familiarized her crew with their operation. bound for the Line Islands, where she was to experiment with purse-seining techniques to determine their efficacy in as a means of tuna fishing in the central Pacific and determine any modifications to the gear or to fishing techniques to improve the effectiveness of purse-seining, as well as gather information on the hydrography of the area and the biology of tunas there. She fished off Kingman Reef, Palmyra Island, Washington Island, Fanning Island, and Christmas Island, and Jarvis Island;. Although weather interfered with her ability to set her nets, she found better fishing conditions in the lee of the islands. She made two purse-seine nets on yellowfin tuna, one off Fanning Island on 8 May and one off Christmas Island on 13 May; although neither was productive, her crew found fish remaining in the net longer in the second set than in the first. During 308 hours of trolling over 43 days, she caught 881 yellowfin totaling 29,590 pounds (13,420 kg), 14 oceanic skipjack tuna totaling 130 pounds (59 kg), a black skipjack weighing 24 pounds (11 kg), 181 wahoo totaling 5,838 pounds (2,648 kg), three barracuda totaling 26 pounds (12 kg), 48 rainbow runners totaling 120 pounds (54 kg), and numerous sharks. Her personnel noted that John R. Manning did not have the trolling gear for the size of fish encountered or the amount of trolling required, and that a properly outfitted trolling boat familiar with the area probably could have at least doubled her catch. She collected tuna stomachs, gonads, and size frequency data to support tuna life history studies and made bathythermograph casts both during the outbound and return trips between Oahu and Kingman Reef as well as periodically on the fishing grounds. She used night lights to search for bait fish in the lagoons at Kingman Reef and Palmyra Island, finding none, and noted mullet along the beaches sat Palmyra but reported that a lack of passages in the lagoon for small boats would make it difficult to transport them to a fishing vessel for use as live bait. She returned to Pearl Harbor on 14 June 1950.

CFR Nov Supplement 1950 p. 34 puts John R. Manning’s trolling catch at 285+1⁄2 hours and her trolling catch at 882 yellowfin totaling 29,319 pounds (13,299 kg) and averaging 33.9 pounds (15.4 kg), 178 wahoo totaling an estimated 5,888 pounds (2,671 kg). In addition to the other species.

John R. Manning got back underway on 15 July 1950 for another exploratory fishing cruise to the Phoenix Islands and Line Islands. She fished in the Phoenix Islands from 24 July to 28 August, but found weather and fishing conditions so unfavorable that she was unable to fulfill her fishing goals; she encountered no fish suitable for capture by purse-seining, and a planned combined effort to purse-seine for tuna while US FWS Henry O’Malley held them with bait was cancelled when conditions during Henry O’Malley’s short stay in the Phoenix Island made it impossible. John R. Manning’s personnel sighted no tuna near Hull Island or Gardner Island and only saw occasional schools of small, 1 to 2 pounds (0.45 to 0.91 kg) skipjack off Canton Island, although prospective trolling off McKean Island, Birnie Island, and Phoenix Island suggested that the area had excellent surface-trolling possibilities for commercial fishing vessels. On 29 August, she departed the Phoenix Islands, left Enderbury island and made for Jarvis Island in the Line Islands.

The weather improved as she proceeded northward, and during her transit to Jarvis Island John R. Manning diverted to a 1,200-foot (366 m) deep ocean bank at 02°55′N 164°25′W; she drifted over the bank overnight, noting abundant bait fish under night lights but no tuna. After she arrived off Jarvis, shw fished the waters south and west of the island carefully, but her fishing activities were hampered by intermittent rain showers and winds of up to 40 miles per hour (64 km/h). Moving on to Christmas Island, she sighted six schools of yellowfin off the island’s southwest tip on 9 September 1950 and set her purse-seine net, but caught none of them, although she did haul in wahoo and sharks. She made three more sets over succeeding days, again catching wahoo - 500 pounds (230 kg) of them in one set - and sharks each time but no tuna, although she did haul in 40 pounds (18 kg) of yellowfin on jig lines She also timed various parts of the seining operation, including how long it took for a lead line to reach a certain depth after her seine cleared the table. She then visited Palmyra, where she caught three yellowfin while trolling over three days but saw no other signs of tuna despite the presence of large numbers of 2-inch (51 mm) squid upon which tuna were known to feed. She trolled intensively at Kingman Reef, catching an average of 150 pounds (68 kg) of tuna per day, which compared unfavorably with her daily average of 2,000 pounds (910 kg) of tuna during her April-May 1950 visit to Kingman. Her personnel also collected stomachs, gonads, ovaries, and length measurements from 50 tuna; made 386 bathythermograph casts to gather data on the locations and boundaries of ocean currents in the area; and made night-light collections of bait fish and invertebrates in the lee of each island she visited and twice in the open sea. She returned to Pearl Harbor on 2 October 1950..

John R. Manning began her fourth cruise on 26 October 1950, again headed for the Line Islands to experiment with purse-seining and the use of live bait, as well as to gather meteorological, hydrographic, and biological data.

USS Scandinavia

Not to be confused with MS Scandinavia or SS Scandinavian.

USC&GS Scandinavia operating in Southeast Alaska in 1927 during her United States Coast and Geodetic Survey service.
History
United States Navy
Name	USS Scandinavia (SP-3363)
Namesake	Scandinavia, a region of northern Europe (previous name retained)
Builder	G. T. Taylor Marine Railway, Norfolk, Virginia
Completed	1916
Acquired	3 or 5 October 1918
Commissioned	5 October 1918
Decommissioned	21 May 1919
Stricken	21 May 1919
Fate	Transferred to United States Coast and Geodetic Survey 21 May 1919
Notes	In use as civilian motorboat Scandinavia 1916–1918
U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey
Name	USC&GS Scandinavia
Namesake	Previous name retained
Acquired	21 May 1919
General characteristics (as U.S. Navy vessel)
Type	Patrol vessel
Displacement	26 tons
Length	61 ft (19 m)
Beam	13 ft 2 in (4.01 m)
Draft	5 ft 3 in (1.60 m)
Propulsion	2 x 4-cylinder, 45 hp (34 kW) Sterling gasoline engines, 2 x shafts
Speed	8.6 or 10 knots (sources disagree)
Complement	8
General characteristics (as U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey vessel)
Type	Survey launch
Capacity	Berthing for 3 people

USS Scandinavia (SP-3363) was a patrol vessel in commission in the United States Navy from 1918 to 1919, seeing service in World War I. After her U.S. Navy service, she was in commission in the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey as the survey launch USC&GS Scandinavia from 1919.

Construction

Scandinavia was built as a civilian motorboat of the same name by the G. T. Taylor Marine Railway at Norfolk, Virginia, in 1916.

United States Navy service

The U.S. Navy acquired Scandinavia from Bie and Schiott of Baltimore, Maryland, on either 3 or 5 October 1918 (sources disagree) for World War I service in the section patrol. The Navy commissioned her on 5 October 1918 as USS Scandinavia (SP-3363).

The Navy assigned Scandinavia to duty with the Naval Overseas Transportation Service district supervisor at Baltimore for service as a dispatch boat and pilot boat. She carried out these duties during the final five-and-a-half weeks of World War I and for a few months in its immediate aftermath. On 21 May 1919, she was at Norfolk, Virginia, when she was decommissioned, stricken from the Navy list, and transferred to the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey.

United States Coast and Geodetic Survey service

USC&GS Scandinavia participating in hydrographic survey work during her United States Coast and Geodetic Survey service, performing wire-drag operations in the Territory of Alaska in 1920.

The U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey commissioned the vessel as USC&GS Scandinavia and placed her in service as a survey launch. At Norfolk, the crew of the Coast and Geodetic Survey survey ship USC&GS Onward conducted work on Scandinavia and on the launches USC&GS Lydia III, USC&GS Mikawe, and USC&GS Wildcat to prepare them for service. On 1 August 1919, Scandinava was towed to Norfolk Navy Yard in Portsmouth, Virginia, where she was loaded aboard a U.S. Navy transport and shipped to Puget Sound in the State of Washington. After her arrival there, she conducted wire-drag operations and other work as part of a hydrographic survey of Lake Union and Lake Washington off Seattle between July 1919 and March 1920, at one point striking a dangerous snag — a submerged tree that rose to 4 feet (1.2 m) beneath the surface — west of Mercer Island, but at too low a speed to suffer significant damage.

Scandinavia departed Seattle on 16 April 1920 in company with the survey ship USC&GS Explorer, the survey launch USC&GS Helianthus, and a 30-foot (9.1 m) tender bound for Juneau in the Territory of Alaska, making stops at Ketchikan — where Scandinavia underwent repairs — and Petersburg. Based at Juneau, the the four vessels began hydrography, triangulation, and topography in Stephens Passage in Southeast Alaska on 6 June 1920 under the overall direction of Explorer′s commanding officer, Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps officer Nicholas H. Heck, with Explorer serving as mother ship. They later expanded their work into Gastineau Channel and Lynn Canal. Triangulation was largely complete by mid-August 1920, and the rest of the field work concluded on 7 October 1920, after which the vessels proceeded from Juneau to Seattle, where they arrived on 18 October 1921.

On 24 March 1921, the vessels departed Seattle to resume their work,

The vessels set out from Seattle on 14 March 1922 for the next field season conducting wire-drag operations and triangulation and studying topography, geomagnetism, and inshore hydrography in Stephens Passage and Lynn Canal until October 1921.

Photographs of Scandinavia during her Coast and Geodetic Survey career show her performing wire-drag operations in support of hydrographic survey work in the Territory of Alaska in 1920 and operating in Southeast Alaska in 1927.

1910s

On 28 January 1910, the United States Asiatic Fleet was reestablished.

1920s

In January 1920, two Asiatic Fleet ships, the armored cruiser USS South Dakota (Armored Cruiser No. 9) and the protected cruiser USS Albany (Cruiser No. 23), helped to preserve order in Vladivostok in Russia when the civil authorities there were overthrown during the ongoing Russian Civil War, and South Dakota and Albany covered the withdrawal of the American Expeditionary Force, Siberia, from Russian territory via Vladivostok, which was completed on 1 April 1920. In March 1920, meanwhile, riots broke out in Kiukiang, China, and the gunboats USS Elcano (Gunboat No. 38) and USS Samar (Gunboat No. 41) played a significant role in restoring order there. During the spring of 1920, two Asiatic Fleet gunboats were stationed near Chungking during unrest in that area. Also that spring, the gunboats USS Palos (Gunboat No. 16) and USS Monocacy (Gunboat No. 20) were actively involved in the successful suppression of piracy on the Yangtze, where river pirates and other criminals had been firing on passing vessels and stopping and looting steamers and junk.

In May 1920, Destroyer Division 13, consisting of the destroyers USS Tarbell (DD-142), USS Yarnall (DD-143), USS Upshur (DD-144), USS Greer (DD-145), USS Elliot (DD-146), and USS Lea (DD-118) joined the Asiatic Fleet, as did a mine detachment consisting of the light minelayers USS Hart (DM-8) and USS Rizal (DM-14). The arrival of these ships allowed the Asiatic Fleet to establish radio communications along the Yangtze, with Upshur, Elliot, and Rizal providing radio relay services on the river during 1920. As of 1 December 1920, the Asiatic Fleet included 26 ships, including Huron (as South Dakota had been renamed in July 1920, simulateously being redesignated CA-9), Albany (reclassified as a gunboat and redesignated PG-38 in July 1920), the protected cruiser USS New Orleans (CL-22), the six destroyers and two minelayers, and various gunboats and auxiliaries.

In December 1922 the U.S. Navy was restructured, with the U.S. Pacific Fleet and United States Atlantic Fleet combining to form a unified United States Fleet. However, the Asiatic Fleet remained a separate entity and was charged with defending the Philippines and Guam and with upholding the Open Door Policy in China.

In 1923, the Asiatic Fleet reported a considerable amount of piracy and banditry on the upper Yangtze, but also that it lacked vessels suitable for patrolling there, its ships being either too deep in draft or too great in length to navigate the shallow and restricted waters of the upper river or lacking the power necessary to negotiate the upper Yangtze′s rapids. It also reported that its gunboat fleet on the river was worn out and no longer economical to maintain. That year, Asiatic Fleet vessels intervened to protect the steamer Alice Dollar from an attack by several hundred Chinese bandits. In December 1923, when Generalissimo Sun Yat-sen of the Chinese military government in Guangzhou announced that his government would seize control of customs in Canton, which were under international control, the Asiatic Fleet sent six destroyers to Canton, which cooperated successfully with the navies of other countries to deter Sun from following through on his threat.

In the Philippines in January 1924, a group of religious fanatics calling themselves the "Colorum" rebelled against the authority of Governor-General of the Philippines Leonard Wood. After Wood accepted an offer of assistance by Asiatic Fleet commander-in-chief Admiral Thomas Washington, the gunboat USS Sacramento (PG-19) landed a force of United States Marines and Philippine Constabulary armed with machine guns at the Colorum stronghold of Socorro. They drove Colorum members out of the town and restored order.

Virtually the entire Asiatic Fleet deployed to the coastal waters of China and the Yangtze during fiscal year 1925 (1 July 1924–30 June 1925), as combat between rival Chinese armies increasingly threatened American lives and property. In September and October 1924, Chinese armies posed a threat to Americans and their property in Shanghai and along the lower Yangtze, and Asiatic Fleet vessels joined U.S. Marines deployed from Guam and vessels of other countries to prevent fighting in Shanghai and ensure that navigation along the river was not interrupted. As internal conflict continued to roil China, destroyers of the Asiatic Fleet joined the gunboats of the Yangtze Patrol in protecting live and property along the Yangzte during fiscal year 1926 (1 July 1925–30 June 1926).

During fiscal year 1927 (1 July 1926–30 June 1927), the Asiatic Fleet was reinforced temporarily by three cruisers of Light Cruiser Division 3, two transports, and a 4,400-strong brigade of U.S. Marines as Asiatic Fleet forces spent considerable effort on evacuating Americans from threatened areas along the Yangtze, either to central locations where they could be better protected until conditions calmed down or out of China entirely. The largest conflict took place in the Nanking Incident of 1927 on 24 March 1927, when the Chinese National Revolutionary Army entered Nanking and its soldiers joined Chinese civilians in rioting against foreign interests in the city and murdering foreigners. The Asiatic Fleet destroyers USS Noa (DD-343), USS William B. Preston (DD-344), USS John D. Ford (DD-228), USS Pillsbury (DD-227), and USS Simpson (DD-221), arrived along with a number of warships of the British Royal Navy at Nanking, and Noa and William B. Preston joined British ships in bombarding the city, after which the officers of the two navies demanded the safe evacuation of all foreigners in Naking, which the Chinese agreed to. By the late spring and early summer of 1927, virtually the entire Asiatic Fleet, including its reinforcements, was operating in Chinese waters.

The conflict in China eased considerably during fiscal year 1928 (1 July 1927–30 June 1928), with little fighting along the Yangtze, allowing American businessmen to return to their dwellings and properties along the river and navigation of the river by American merchant ships to resume. The situation in Shanghai, where 1,000 U.S. Marines were stationed, stabilized. After receiving word of a threat to American missions in Yueng Kong, an expedition of sailors from the gunboat USS Asheville (PG-21) armed as naval infantrymen ascended the Makyoung River to defend the missions on 17 November 1927, but upon arriving found that no threat existed, a Chinese parade having been mistaken for an uprising. In Canton, a force of armed sailors from the gunboat Sacramento landed with a 3-inch (76.2 mm) gun on 12 December 1927 to defend the American consulate there during a communist uprising, but the situation in the city calmed enough for them to return to the ship the next day. When fears for the safety of Americans in Tientsin and Peking grew as Nationalist Chinese forces advanced on them, the Asiatic Fleet deployed a cruiser, two light cruisers, 17 destroyers, 11 submarines, and 10 other ships to northern Chinese waters — particularly in the waters around the Taku Bar — to support the 3,000 U.S. Marines deployed to protect Americans in the two cities. Forces of the warlord Chang Tso Lin evacuated the cities and fighting was minimal, however, and the United States began to reduce the Marine presence in July 1928. The number of Marines ashore in China dropped from 4,003 on 1 July 1928 to 1,700 in late January 1929, when the last Marines pulled out of Tientsin, leaving 500 Marines in Peking and 1,200 in Shanghai.

On the Yangtze, Asiatic Fleet forces responded in January 1929 to block an attempt by Chinese military authorities to detain and search American merchant ships at the Woosung forts. In February and March 1929, Asiatic Fleet ships gathered a Yantai (known to the Western world at the time as "Chefoo"), to protect Americans who had gathered there to seek shelter during unrest on the Shandong Peninsula. In March 1929, Asiatic Fleet vessels on the Yangtze took measures to protect Americans at Nanking during unrest there. In May 1929, the three light cruisers of Light Cruiser Division 3 were detached from the Asiatic Fleet and withdrew. On 1 June 1929, the fleet's commander-in-chief, Admiral Mark L. Bristol, was among the dignitaries who attended the funeral of Sun Yat-sen, the founder of the Republic of China.

During fiscal year 1930 (1 July 1929–30 June 1930), Asiatic Fleet ships found time to make port visits in China, Japan, and the Philippines, but as Chinese Nationalist forces redeployed to fight various actions in the Chinese Civil War, they left many areas unguarded, and bandits and communist forces took advantage of their absence to launch raids in those area, including against major ports on the Yangtze and coastal cities in China. Attacks on Asiatic Fleet and American merchant vessels became frequent enough to prompt the fleet to institute a convoy system for American merchant ships and to place U.S. Navy personnel aboard the merchant ships to provide an armed guard. The fleet also deployed a division of destroyers to Chinese waters to reinforce the standing Yangtze and South China patrols, employing them to respond to emergencies as they arose along the Chinese coast and on the lower Yangtze.

1930s

Banditry in China continued to be a major problem in fiscal year 1931 (1 July 1930–30 June 1931), and the Asiatic Fleet continued to use destroyers to reinforce the gunboats patrolling the Yangzte and the Siang River. Asiatic Fleet and American merchant vessels repeatedly came under fire on those rivers, and the Asiatic Fleet continued to convoy American merchant ships on the rivers and supply them with a naval armed guard.

During fiscal year 1932 (1 July 1931–30 June 1932), the Asiatic Fleet reported one of its "busiest years on record." A significant turnover in Asiatic Fleet forces took place during the year. On 7 December 1931, the six-ship divisions of Destroyer Squadron 5 were reorganized into four-ship divisions, and a new Destroyer Division 17 — consisting of USS MacLeish (DD-220), USS McCormick (DD-223), USS Tracy (DD-214), USS Truxton (DD-229), USS Borie (DD-215), and USS Simpson — was created, detached from the fleet, and ordered to return to the United States. The fleet's aircraft depot ship, USS Jason (AC-12), followed on 2 April 1932, and on 2 May 1932, the six submarines of Submarine Squadron — USS S-30 (SS-135), USS S-31 (SS-136), USS S-32 (SS-137), USS S-33 (SS-138), USS S-34 (SS-139), and USS S-35 (SS-140) — and their submarine tender, USS Beaver (AS-5), also returned to the United States, while the gunboat Helena was decommissioned at Manila on 27 May 1932 pending sale. The fleet was reinforced by the arrival of the gunboat Asheville in March 1932 and the armored cruiser USS Rochester (CA-2) and gunboat Sacramento in April 1932.

Meanwhile, a disastrous flood struck the Yangtze Valley in the summer of 1931, inundating 34,000 square miles (88,000 km²), drowning an estimated 150,000 people, and inflicting an estimated US$500,000,000 in damage, and the Asiatic Fleet's flagship, the heavy cruiser USS Houston (CA-30), and destroyers of the fleet worked with the Yangtze Patrol's gunboats to assist American consular authorities at Hankow and Nanking in evacuating American citizens and rendering assistance. With China's internal political and military situation as tumultuous as at any time since the Xinhai Revolution of 1911, the fleet also had to extend its resources to protect American lives and property against banditry and unrest across a wide swath of China. Asiatic Fleet destroyers, usually three at a time, reinforced the gunboats patrolling the Yangtze. Because of disturbances in northern China, an Asiatic Fleet gunboat — first USS Tulsa (PG-22), later relieved by Asheville — kept watch on the Tientsin-Taku-Yantai region throughout the fiscal year, and in the south, heightened tensions between Chinese factions in Canton raised concern for American safety, especially after the retirement of Helena left only the river gunboat USS Mindanao (PR-8) in the Canton area. Asiatic Fleet destroyers as well asTulsa and Sacramento kept watch on the ports of Foochow, Amoy, and Swatow as unrest grew there during the fiscal year, and Communist attacks in the Amoy area reached such levels in April, May, and June 1932 that Tulsa, Sacramento, the submarine tender USS Canopus (AS-9), and other Asiatic Fleet vessels were ordered to Amoy to protect Americans at the international settlement at Kulangsu and evacuate them if necessary, with Sacramento remaining at Amoy through the end of the fiscal year.

The Asiatic Fleet reported that banditry remained a widespread problem in China during fiscal year 1933 (1 July 1932–30 June 1933), and in the face of attacks along the upper and middle Yangtze, it continued to convoy American merchant ships in that area and provide them with naval armed guard detachments. In addition, anti-Japanese protests in China in the wake of Japan's conquest of Manchuria in the Mukden Incident of 1931–1932 threatened American lives and property and necessitated the deployment of Asiatic Fleet vessels to disturbed areas throughout the fiscal year. On 4 November 1933, Houston departed for the United States and was relieved as fleet flagship by the heavy cruiser USS Augusta (CA-31). On 14 March 1934, the gunboat USS Fulton (PG-49) was almost destroyed by a fire at sea off Hong Kong; there was no loss of life and she survived, but she was towed to Hong Kong and decommissioned, and never returned to service. During fiscal year 1934 (1 July 1933–30 June 1934), the Asiatic Fleet maintained the usual defense of American lives and property on the Yangtze, and Asiatic Fleet ships also made frequent calls at ports in southern China, where their presence had a "steadying" effect in the face of Communist attacks. On 5 June 1934, the fleet's commander-in-chief, Admiral Frank P. Upham, represented the U.S. Navy at the funeral of Japanese Admiral Heihachiro Togo in Japan.

In late July 1937, the Asiatic Fleet's commander-in-chief, Admiral Harry E. Yarnell, took his flagship, the heavy cruiser Augusta, to the Soviet Union's main naval base in the Pacific, Vladivostok, along with four of the fleet's destroyers. The visit, urged by the Soviet government, was an attempt to display solidarity between the Soviet Union and the United States in the face of increasingly aggressive Japanese behavior in China and along the border between the Soviet Union and the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo in Manchuria. The visit was unsuccessful in deterring further Japanese military operations in either area.

Sortie of 23 June 1904

Sortie of 23 June 1904
Part of the Russo-Japanese War
Location of the operation.
Date 23 June 1904 Location Yellow Sea, off Shandong (Shantung) Peninsula, China (37°57.83′N 122°15.49′E) Result Tactically inconclusive Strategic Japanese victory
Belligerents
Empire of Japan	Russian Empire
Commanders and leaders
Tōgō Heihachirō Dewa Shigetō	Wilgelm Vitgeft Pavel Ukhtomsky
Strength
5 battleships 4 armoured cruisers 8 protected cruisers 18 destroyers 30 torpedo boats	6 battleships 4 protected cruisers 14 destroyers
Casualties and losses
killed & wounded 4 destroyers damaged	killed & wounded 1 cruiser damaged

The sortie of 23 June 1904 was a major naval operation of the Russo-Japanese War. The Imperial Russian Navy's First Pacific Squadron blockaded at Port Arthur attempted to break out, defeat what it hoped would be an inferior Imperial Japanese Navy force, and form up with counterparts from Vladivostok. The Japanese succeeded in bringing stronger forces to bear than the Russians anticipated and outmaneuvered the Russians, who opted to return to Port Arthur without achieving any of their objectives, fighting off torpedo attacks by Japanese destroyers during their return voyage.

Background

The Russo-Japanese War had begun on 8 February 1904 with a surprise torpedo attack by Imperial Japanese Navy destroyers on the Imperial Russian Navy's First Pacific Squadron at Port Arthur on the Liaodong Peninsula. The attack had knocked three Russian battleships out of action. An abortive attempt by undamaged ships of the squadron to sortie on 13 April 1904 had ended in disaster when the squadron's flagship, the battleship Petropavlovsk struck a mine and sank, killing most of the men on board including the squadron's commander, Vice Admiral Stepan Makarov. Makarov's successor in command, Vice Admiral Wilgelm Vitgeft, was less aggressive than Makarov and preferred that the squadron bide its time in port. The Russian squadron thus remained trapped in port while Japanese warships blockaded Port Arthur. On 5 May 1904, the Imperial Japanese Army's Second Army landed on the Liadong Peninsula and began an advance on Port Arthur.

Throughout late July and early August 1904, as the Imperial Japanese Army laid siege to Port Arthur, relations between Admiral Vitgeft and Russian Viceroy Yevgeni Alekseyev increasingly soured. Viceroy Alekseyev, a former admiral, favored an aggressive sortie so as to enable the First Pacific Squadron to link up with the Vladivostok Squadron and thereby create a naval force powerful enough to challenge the Japanese fleet. Admiral Vitgeft believed in a fleet in being, which simply stayed at anchor to tie down blockading Japanese naval forces while at the same time contributing some of his weaponry to the land battle, as the safest course to follow. Although passive, Vitgeft's preference was actually more in keeping with the Imperial Russian Navy's doctrine, which called for building up Russian naval strength (by waiting for the arrival of the Baltic Fleet, also known as the 2nd Pacific Squadron), and then engaging the Japanese navy in decisive battle.

Alekseyev appealed to St. Petersburg, and Tsar Nicholas II replied that he fully shared the Viceroy's opinion that Vitgeft should take aggressive action. Faced with an Imperial writ and threat of legal action, Vitgeft received orders to proceed to Vladivostok immediately. By 06:15 hours on 23 June 1904, Vitgeft, flying his flag in the battleship Tsesarevich, began leading his squadron from the harbor. In addition to Tsesarevich, it consisted of the battleships Retvizan, Pobeda, Peresvet, Sevastopol, and Poltava, the protected cruisers Askold, Diana, Novik, and Pallada, and 14 destroyers.

Midship view of the Russian flagship, Tsesarevich

Battle

At 09:55, the Russian Pacific Squadri=on had cleared the harbor's entrance, and as it completed its exit, Vitgeft made a feint to the southwest to conceal his actual intent, whereby he succeeded in delaying Japanese Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō's concentration of his forces. Although Vitgeft's move bought him time, Tōgō previously had issued orders for his warships to assemble near Encounter Rock in the event Vitgeft left port and took that route. By 11:00 hours, it was clear to the Japanese that Vitgeft's fleet was headed for the open sea.

Japanese Admiral Tōgō's flagship, Mikasa

At about 12:25 the battleship fleets sighted each other near Encounter Rock at a range of about 11 miles (18 km). Vitgeft's battlefleet was headed southeast at 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph), while Tōgō, on an intercepting course, came from the northeast at 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph). Tōgō′s fleet consisted of Japan's four surviving first-class battleships (Mikasa, Asahi, Fuji, and Shikishima), the second-class battleship Chin Yen, and the armoured cruisers Nisshin and Kasuga, as well as eight protected cruisers, 18 destroyers, and 30 torpedo boats. During this time, Admiral Dewa's four cruisers (Chitose, Takasago, Yakumo or Kasagi, and Yoshino) came into view, fast approaching from the south at 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph), and Tōgō attempted to squeeze Vitgeft's fleet between the two advancing columns.

Just after 13:00, Tōgō attempted to cross Vitgeft's T and commenced firing his main batteries from the extreme range of more than 8 nautical miles (15 km; 9.2 mi). Vitgeft, with the battleship Retvizan, returned fire, but the range was excessive for both sides and neither scored hits. Tōgō had miscalculated his speed when trying to cross Vitgeft's T, and Vitgeft simply made a quick turn to port, maintained his speed, and increased the range from Tōgō's fleet. Within minutes, Vitgeft's squadron again was headed for the open sea, and Tōgō's pincer move had failed, as Dewa's cruisers had to turn quickly to avoid a collision with Tōgō's battleline, and thus broke contact without having fired a shot. As Tōgō observed Vitgeft's battleline swiftly move past his own in the opposite direction, he quickly ordered each Japanese warship to turn about individually, which put his cruisers into the lead and now parallel with Vitgeft's battleline.

At about 13:25, and again at a range of over 8 miles (13 km), Tōgō's battleships opened fire on Vitgeft's flagship and Retvizan, hitting the latter 12 times. By about 13:30 the Russian flagship had returned fire, knocking out Tōgō's wireless communications with two 305 mm (12 in) shell direct hits at this extreme range. For nearly half an hour the two battleship fleets pounded each other, slowly closing their range, until by 14:05 they reached about 3.5 miles (5.6 km), at which time both fleets let loose with their secondary 155 mm (6 in) guns. As the fleets continued to pound each other with all available guns, Tōgō's flagship was beginning to feel its wounds, and he tried to turn his vessel a bit, due to the hits she was taking (she ended up being hit 20 times), and urgently tried to have his cruisers engage the Russian battleline. But with his radio shot out, he had to rely on flag signals and radio relays from accompanying warships.

The Japanese cruisers had re-established contact with the Russian battleline, but were quickly driven off by their 305 mm gunfire. Both battlefleets were maintaining about 14 knots, but again, Vitgeft had managed to get past Tōgō, and the Japanese were forced to commence a stern chase. By 14:45 the Japanese flagship had closed to within about 7 miles (11 km) of the trailing battleship Poltava, which had been unable to maintain its fleet's 14 knots due to engine trouble. Mikasa and Asahi soon began to pound Poltava, scoring several hits. However, Admiral Ukhtomsky in the battleship Peresvet observed the plight of Poltava and ordered his division to fall back and help Poltava, and they began concentrating their gunfire onto Mikasa and Asahi. With Admiral Ukhtomsky's division firing, coupled with Poltava's rejoining of the fight, Mikasa and Asahi began taking too many hits, and upon the urging of his chief of staff, Tōgō used his superior speed to break contact, race ahead of Vitgeft's fleet, and try to re-establish contact again under more favorable conditions. By 15:20 the range was opened and the firing ceased.

As the battleships had broken contact, Admiral Dewa with his cruisers attempted to get into action, when suddenly the Russian battleships opened up on him. At about 15:40 one 305 mm shell hit Dewa's cruiser, Yakumo from a range of over 8 miles, which was well out of range of his 203 mm (8 in) guns. Admiral Dewa decided that his four Japanese cruisers had no business tangling with any Russian battleships.

By this time, only Tōgō's 6 warships (4 battleships and 2 armored cruisers) were chasing Vitgeft's 10 warships (6 battleships and 4 cruisers). With darkness only 3 hours away, Admiral Vitgeft believed that he had outranged Admiral Tōgō, and would lose him totally when darkness came. Tōgō knew this too, and ordered a 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) speed to catch up to the tail end of Vitgeft's fleet. By 17:35 hours Tōgō's warships had closed to within 3.5 miles of the again lagging battleship Poltava, and opened fire upon her. Admiral Dewa also showed up with his cruisers, and Tōgō ordered all battleships and cruisers to shell Poltava, hoping to at least sink one Russian battleship. However, the Russian commander, Captain Ivan P. Uspenskiy of Poltava would not go down meekly, and his crewmen scored several hits on Admiral Tōgō's flagship. At this time, the Shimose shells loaded inside the 305 mm guns began detonating prematurely inside the hot gun barrels; knocking out of action one 305 mm on Shikishima at 17:45, and two 305 mm barrels on Asahi at 18:10 hours. By 18:30, Tōgō had only 11 of his original 16 305 mm guns still in action.

Although the range had dropped to about 3 miles, the secondary batteries of 155 and 203 mm guns were still ineffective, and Poltava and Peresvet, although heavily damaged, were still with the Russian battleline. By 18:30, Tōgō was still having trouble controlling his battleship's gunfire; Shikishima and Asahi were blasting away at the crippled Poltava, Fuji was shooting at Pobeda and Peresvet, while the flagship Mikasa was duelling with the Russian flagship Tsesarevich. No IJN warships were shooting at the Russian battleships Retvizan and Sevastopol, which allowed them to freely blast away at Mikasa. With darkness only 30 minutes away, the Japanese flagship Mikasa almost no longer combat effective, and Russian gunfire seemingly becoming more accurate and effective with each cannon shot; the flagship signaled to Asahi to take over (known as a battle handoff) the shooting upon the lead Russian battleship. Within 10 minutes of being relieved by Asahi, Admiral Tōgō got his lucky break: at 18:40 Asahi fired a 305 mm salvo into the Russian flagship Tsesarevich, instantly killing Admiral Vitgeft and his immediate staff, and jamming the flagship's steering wheel. The explosion had wedged the wheel into a port turn, sharp enough so that Tsesarevich heeled over 12 degrees. Retvizan, which was unaware of the situation on the flagship, followed in her wake. By the time Pobeda arrived at the turning point, Tsesarevich had swung around 180 degrees and was heading back into her own line. With no signal to indicate what had happened, the other ships were unaware that Tsesarevich was not only out of control and without its admiral, but was actually without anyone at all in command.

Russian battleship Retvizan, whose captain received severe wounds in the ship's brave solo charge against the Japanese fleet

Prince Pavel Ukhtomsky of the battleship Peresvet soon realized that the flagship was out of action, and attempted to gain control of the Russian squadron. But a Japanese shell, falling wide, cut the foremast of Peresvet, preventing the signal flags from being hoisted as usual; they had to be hoisted along the bridge instead. Being thus almost hidden from view, the signal apparently was only seen on Sevastopol; no other Russian capital ships followed Ukhtomsky's lead.

At the same time Captain Eduard Schensnovich commanding Retvizan, immediately turned his battleship towards Tōgō's battleline, charging directly into it with all weapons firing, despite being down by the bow from battle damage. Tōgō's battleline shifted their fire onto Retvizan as the range dropped to less than three miles. There were so many shell splashes surrounding the charging battleship, that Japanese gunners were unable to adjust their fire. However, as Tōgō's battleships were running low on 305 mm shells, and many of his main guns were out of action, he decided to play it safe, and with the Russian squadron scattered, he turned the fight over to his cruisers and destroyers.

As Tōgō's ships began their turn, they fired a final salvo, hitting the enemy battleship with several shells, one of which seriously wounded Captain Schensnovich in the stomach. Retvizan laid smoke and also began to turn away, but the battleship had effectively ended the duel between the opposing pre-dreadnoughts, and had saved the flagship from destruction. There was little choice but to give up the attempt to reach Vladivostok and to return to Port Arthur. Even this proved impossible to coordinate, and many ships wandered off on their own.

Two hours later, the bulk of the Russian fleet returned to the relative safety of Port Arthur. Five battleships, a cruiser and nine destroyers made it back. The damaged Tsesarevich and three escorting destroyers sailed to Kiaochou, where they were interned by German authorities. The cruiser Askold and another destroyer sailed to Shanghai and were likewise interned by Chinese authorities. The cruiser Diana escaped to Saigon, where it was interned by the French. Only the small cruiser Novik sailed east around the Japanese home islands to try to reach Vladivostok. However, on 20 August 1904 pursuing Japanese cruisers forced the ship aground at Sakhalin, where it was destroyed by the crew after engaging the Japanese at the Battle of Korsakov.

Battle damage and casualties

The nearly seven hours of naval combat coupled with the estimated 7,382 fired shells had produced a hit rate of 1.7%.

Captain Eduard Schensnovich, who had bravely charged his battleship into Admiral Tōgō's battleline, thus ending the battleship fleet duel and saving the Russian flagship from destruction, later died from his wounds received in April 1910, at the age of 58.

Damage and casualties included the following:

Battleship	Primary Armament	Water line Armor	Year Launched	Builder	Damage sustained	Casualties
Tsesarevich, (Flagship)	4 12-inch, 12 6-inch guns	9 3/4 inches	1901	Toulon, France	13 305 mm gun hits and two 203 mm hits	12 crewmen killed and 47 crewmen wounded. First Pacific Squadron Admiral Wilgelm Vitgeft killed.
Pobeda	4 10-inch guns, 11 6-inch guns	9 inches	1900	St. Petersburg, Russia	11 large caliber hits	4 crewmen killed and 29 crewmen wounded
Peresvet	4 10-inch guns, 11 6-inch guns	9 inches	1898	St. Petersburg, Russia	39 hits
Poltava	4 12-inch guns, 12 6-inch guns	14 1/2 inches	1894	St. Petersburg, Russia	12 to 14 hits, 203 to 305 mm guns	12 crewmen killed and 43 crewmen wounded
Retvizan	4 12-inch guns, 12 6-inch guns	9 inches	1900	Philadelphia, United States	18 hits from 203 and 305 mm guns	6 crewmen killed and 42 crewmen wounded
Sevastopol	4 12-inch guns, 12 6-inch guns	14 1/2 inches	1895	St. Petersburg, Russia	Struck by several shells	1 crewman killed and 62 crewmen wounded
Mikasa (Flagship)	4 12-inch guns, 14 6-inch guns	9 inches	1900	Barrow, Great Britain	Hit 20 times and aft 305 mm turret knocked out of action	125 casualties
Asahi	4 12-inch guns, 14 6-inch guns	9 inches	1899	Clydebank, Great Britain	1 305 mm hit near the waterline and both aft 305 mm gun barrels burst	2 crewmen wounded
Shikishima	4 12-inch guns, 14 6-inch guns	9 inches	1898	Thames Iron Works, Great Britain	1 forward 305 mm gun barrel burst
Yakumo Armoured Cruiser	4 8-inch guns, 12 6-inch guns	7 inches	1899	Stettin, Germany	1 305 mm hit

Result

The Russians wanted to break out and sail to Vladivostok (relocating the fleet to there would have left the Japanese needing to mount a new campaign if it wanted to besiege the Russian fleet again and such a campaign would have overtaxed the resources of Field Marshal Ōyama). The Japanese had an underlying objective to destroy the Russian fleet while minimising their own losses. Once the Russian fleet left Port Arthur the Japanese initially sought to prevent it returning there. When the Japanese realised the Russians were not returning to Port Arthur they also sought to prevent the Russians reaching an alternative port. The Japanese prevented the Russians from reaching Vladivostok but failed to stop most of the fleet returning to Port Arthur. Neither side achieved its tactical goals. The Japanese, however, were successful to prevent the breakout, and returning Russian ships were later eliminated in the course of the Siege of Port Arthur.

References

• Corbett, Sir Julian. Maritime Operations in the Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905 (1994) Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-129-7
• Forczyk, Robert (2009). Russian Battleship vs Japanese Battleship, Yellow Sea 1904–05. London, UK: Osprey. ISBN 978-1-84603-330-8.
• Friedman, Norman. (2013) Naval Firepower: Battleship Guns and Gunnery in the Dreadnaught Era. Seaforth Publishing; ISBN 978-1-84832-185-4
• Kowner, Rotem (2006). Historical Dictionary of the Russo-Japanese War. Scarecrow. ISBN 0-8108-4927-5.
• Lardas, Mark (2018). Tsushima 1905: Death of a Russian Fleet. Oxford: Osprey. ISBN 978-1-4728-2683-1.
• Nish, Ian (1985). The Origins of the Russo-Japanese War. Longman. ISBN 0-582-49114-2
• Sedwick, F. R. (1909). The Russo-Japanese War. The Macmillan Company
• Semenov, Vladimir, Capt. The Battle of Tsushima (1912). New York, E. P. Dutton.
• Semenoff, Vladimir, Capt. The Battle of Tsushima (1907). London, John Murray, Albemarle Street, W.
• Steer, A. P., Lieutenant; Imperial Russian Navy. (1913) The "Novik" and the Part she Played in the Russo-Japanese War, 1904. Translated by L.A.B., translator and editor of "Rasplata". New York, E.P. Dutton.
• Naval War College (1906). International law topics and discussions, 1905. Washington: Government Printing Office. p. 162.

External links

• Russo-Japanese War Research Society
• Russian Navy history of war: Паровой броненосный и миноносный флот
• article in Russian Language: Энциклопедия кораблей/Сражения/Русско-японская война/Желтое море

[[:Category:Conflicts in 1904 [[:Category:1904 in Japan [[:Category:Naval battles of the Russo-Japanese War [[:Category:Yellow Sea [[:Category:Battles involving Japan [[:Category:Battles involving Russia [[:Category:August 1904 events

Battle of Amiens

FRENCH WIKIPEDIA

The Prussian 1st Army, which continued its march through the Oise and the Somme, between Compiègne and Saint-Quentin. This force of 43,000 men and 180 muzzleloaders was led by General von Manteuffel, who had been given the task of occupying Amiens and then marching towards Rouen in order to strengthen the defenses along the northen flank of the German forces besieging Paris.

The Prussian staff believed that all the French troops in northern France were under the command of General Charles-Denis Bourbaki, who was the general-in-chief of the northern region, and formed a single, unified army covering the railroad which connected Rouen, Amiens, and Lille, in particular the section from Rouen to Amiens, with its right at Rouen, its center at Amiens, and its left at Lille.

On 22 November 1870, Manteuffel sent a reconnaissance force toward the French forces which pushed as far as the Gentelles Wood near Amiens and reported that Bourbaki was present at Amiens. Bourbaki had, in fact, spent the previous day there before heading for Rouen. The Prussians had learned from the newspapers that Bourbaki had been relieved of his command, but apparently believed that he would remain in command at least until the arrival of his successor, and they supposed that, in his journey from Lille to Amiens and from Amiens to Rouen, he had no other goal than to bring the left and right wings of his army back together to concentrate around Amiens at the center of his supposed line.

Without waiting for his army to concentrate its forces fully along the line of the Oise, Manteuffel decided to attack this supposed concentration of the Army of the North with a portion of his army.

Farre's Army of the North was still forming and by late November consisted of only the 22nd Corps with three brigades, but to prevent the Prussians from occupying Amiens without a fight, Farre decided to place his army in front of the Prussians. On the evening of 26 November 1870, Farre completed the concentration of his troops along a line of approximately 25 kilometres (16 mi) from Pont-de-Metz, southwest of Amiens, to Villers-Bretonneux and Corbie in the east, on the left bank of the Somme. On the French left wing, Colonel Joseph Arthur Dufaure du Bessol's 3rd Brigade held the bulk of its forces at Villers-Bretonneux, with detachments at Gentelles and Cachy. In the center, Colonel Joseph Derroja's 2nd Brigade extended from the Montdidier road to Saint-Fuscien, passing through Boves. Farre originally intended to deploy General Alphonse Lecointe’s 1st Brigade to defend the entrenchments south of Amiens, but instead deployed it in position to support of Bessol's 3rd Brigade.

In addition to the 17,000 regular troops, the Army of the North had under its command 8,000 men from the Amiens garrison, commanded by General Paulze d'Ivoy, and charged with the defense of the city.

Fight in a village (Paul Grolleron). Manteuffel deployed a force of around 40,000 men from the 1st Army. He planned an attack for the morning of 27 November 1870. His plan called for his I Corps was to advance beyond the Luce, a tributary of the Avre and a subtributary of the Somme, screened by the 3rd Cavalry Division, while his VIII Corps was to protect the Prussian left flank.

Boves, Cachy and Gentelles fights The Prussians appeared around 1000 in three columns between Boves and Gentelles, which they cleared of French troops along with Cachy. General Lecointe then regrouped part of his brigade for a counterattack, which took first Cachy and then Gentelles and chased the Prussians back to the woods at Domart-sur-la-Luce, where he stopped.

Battle of Dury On November 27, the 1st German Corps defeated the three brigades of the 22nd French Corps in Amiens. One of the engagements took place in Dury, south of Amiens, with disparate troops. According to Lieutenant-Colonel Rousset:

“On the right, near Pont-de-Metz, were three battalions of Gard mobiles; between this village and the main road, a battalion of the 43rd Regiment, the 19th Chasseur Battalion and two companies of riflemen; finally, from the road to the far left, four Gard mobile battalions were deployed (Somme, Marne and North). Behind, the National Guard from Amiens formed a reserve. A 12-gun artillery battery, arriving from Arras and having barely disembarked, occupied the shoulder which cut the road north of Dury; it was soon reinforced by a battery of four guns from the National Guard. "

Around 0830, the French 2nd Chasseur Battalion conducted a reconnaissance in front of Dury, but they were pushed back by the Prussians to the entrenchments around Dury city. Dury and Saint-Fuscien were occupied afterwards without a blow by the Prussians, which turned the flank of the French center at Boves. To escape, Colonel François Pittié led a counterattack along the Avre and at Saint-Fuscien, but was pushed back on Boves, where he resisted Prussian assaults before falling back on Longueau; a final charge led by a Major Zelé decisively stopped the Prussian attack there.

Battle of Villers-Bretonneux The bulk of the action then focused on Villers-Bretonneux, where Prussian forces attacked the entrenched French positions. Since late morning the fighting had intensified between Villers-Bretonneux and Cachy, when around 1430 p.m. two Prussian columns emerging from Marcelcave broke into the far left of the French line and captured the French entrenchments there. The Colonel du Bessol reacted by carrying out a counter-attack which made it possible to retake the entrenchments. The Germans attacked again and broke the French line again. Du Bessol's launched yet another counterattack, which this time failed to retake the French defensive positions outside Villers-Bretonneux. Du Bessol was wounded during this action.

At 1630, General Farre decided to retire: indeed the French troops, although valiant, had lost ground on almost all points of the battle line, and the ammunition was almost exhausted. He ordered the artillery batteries to fall back to Corbie in order to protect the army's line of retreat to the north.

Given the weakness of his army, General Farre ordered the French soldiers to leave Amiens and head for Arras. The Germans took possession of Amiens and strengthened their position by controlling this first-rate road and rail junction.

On November 28, 1870, the Prussians entered Amiens. Commandant Jean-François Vogel, holding the citadel of Amiens with 450 Garde mobiles, 50 of whom deserted, had only 22 pieces of artillery. On the 29th, he was fatally injured. Commandant Woirhaye took command of the citadel and began negotiations with General von Goeben commanding the VIII Prussian Army Corps, with a view to its surrender. On December 1, 1870, the citadel of Amiens capitulated. The Prussians returned military honors to Commander Vogel's remains.

Assessment and consequences A month after the capitulation of Metz, the French are forced to evacuate Amiens, but the French retreat deprived the Prussians of a decisive victory. The French managed to barricade themselves in Arras which, besieged in turn, left another possibility of withdrawal. About 1,383 French soldiers were killed or injured, and a thousand were missing. For their part, the Prussians lost 1,216 soldiers and 76 officers. The day of Villers-Bretonneux decided the fate of Amiens and La Fère. Now the Prussians had two points of support in the North; they sought, thereafter, to make themselves completely masters of the line of the Somme by directing against the place of Péronne their attacks. General de Manteuffel left the observation corps of General von Goeben to Amiens, which consisted of six battalions, eight squadrons and three batteries; then he went down towards Rouen to meet General Briand. The Prussian forces, gathered on December 3 on the Epte line, from Forges-les-Eaux to Gisors, then formed a total of 47 battalions, 48 ​​squadrons and 30 batteries. After the capture of Amiens, Moltke gives the order to the first army to push until Rouen, in order to dissipate the gatherings of French troops which occupied Normandy. After taking Rouen on December 5, the Germans plan to march on Le Havre. But Faidherbe, who arrived in Arras in early December, hastened the reorganization of the army, obtained its separation into two bodies, and had 43,000 men. Its objective was to hinder German progress on Le Havre and to take over Amiens. On the 9th, after a successful helping hand with Ham, he went towards this city which he reoccupied for a short time.

On December 23, the German command therefore decided to attack the French positions northeast of Amiens, at Pont-Noyelles. The battle, also called battle of the Hallue, is tactically indecisive, but Faidherbe, "recognizing the material impossibility of remaining in position in [an] freezing temperature, without bread, without clothing and without fire, and learning that important reinforcements arrived at his adversary, "preferred to give the order of retreat to the north, leaving a thousand killed and wounded, a thousand missing and a few hundred prisoners. Amiens was definitely lost and the Germans could start investing in Péronne.

GERMAN WIKIPEDIA The Battle of Amiens, French Bataille de Villers-Bretonneux, on November 27, 1870 was a battle of the Franco-Prussian War. It took place between the armed forces of the French Northern Army and the German 1st Army. The defeated French retreated to Arras, and on November 29 the Germans succeeded in occupying the Amiens Citadel.

prehistory The German 1st Army (VIII Corps and parts of the I Corps) under General von Manteuffel, which was released after the fall of Metz, was moved to the area north of Paris to secure the Siege of Paris against the French Army of the North. The Prussian 4th Brigade (Generalmajor Karl von Zglinitzki) was assigned to observe the La Fère Fortress and began the actual siege on 25 November 1870. The Prussian 3rd Brigade went with the VIIIth Army Corps to the Somme. From 24 November 1870, the first battles between German and French forces took place north of Paris on the Somme. After several smaller clashes between reconnaissance units, the main battle began on 27 November east of Amiens.

The French Army of the North under Jean Joseph Farre had 17,500 regular French Army soldiers with 50 guns and approximately 8,000 Gardes Mobile troops with 12 guns under General Antoine Paulze d`Ivoy de la Poype. The French moved south of the Somme into a good defensive position along the line Corbie–Villers-Bretonneux–Hangard Wood with a front facing southeast. The German combat troops advancing on Amiens were superior in numbers, with about 30,000 men, as well as in their equipment and military training and experience.

In the center of the front in the vicinity of Thennes, General von Manteuffel and his staff established their headquarters.

During the subsequent battle, the swampy valley of the Avre precluded mutual support between the Prussian left wing, facing the French center and right at Boves and Dury, and the Prussian right wing, facing the French left at Villers-Bretonneux.

The battle

On 27 November 1870 at 0900 parts of the Prussian 2nd Division of the 1st Army Corps, under General Georg Ferdinand von Bentheim, began to advance on toward Amiens from the line Le Quesnel–Bouchoir on the Prussian right wing southeast of Villers-Bretonneux. Blocking their way were significant forces the French had deployed in the area of Domart-sur-la-Luce and the Hangard Wood. Needing to push north of the Luce, a tributary of the Avre, the Prussian advance guard, formed by the 3rd Brigade under Generalmajor Albert von Memerty, occupied the crossings of the Luce at Démuin, Hangard, and Domart-sur-la-Luce. The Prussians quickly cleared the Domart Wood of French troops, and the Prussian infantry then turned against Gentelles, southwest of Villers-Bretonneux. To wait for his artillery to come up to support a further advance, General von Bentheim ordered his troops to stop, and the French withdrew from the developing firefight at Gentelles. In the meantime, the Prussian 44th Infantry Regiment penetrated the eastern part of the Hangard Wood and attacked the French position between Villers-Bretonneux and Marcelcave. Unnoticed by the French, Prussian dragoons secured the road to Domart-sur-la-Luce.

At around 1300, the French prepared a counterattack against the Prussian 3rd Brigade, which pushed the Prussian 4th Infantry Regiment out of the Hangard Wood and back against the heights of Démuin. Running out of ammunition, the Prussians also had to pull out of Gentelles and and fall back to Domart-sur-la-Luce. The commander of the Prussian 30th Brigade, General Otto von Strubberg, intervened by driving four battalions of his 28th and 68th Infantry Regiments to the Luce, bringing the temporary Prussian crisis at Gentelles to an end. Thirteen batteries of Prussian artillery silenced the French artillery near Villers-Bretonneux, and the town fell into Prussian hands at 1600.

The battle on the Prussian left wing developed through the action of the German VIII Corps under General von Goeben between the Celle and the Noye. The main body of the Prussian 15th Division under General Ferdinand von Kummer advanced its advance guard directly from a line from west of Ailly-sur-Noye to Dommartin to the line Fouencamps–Sains-en-Amiénois on the left bank of the Noye.

Meanwhile, the Prussian 16th Division under General Albert von Barnekow reached the Rumigny–Plachy-Buyon line and was able to throw the French back, driving them from Hebecourt and the forest north of it and toward Dury. On the south wing, Prussian troops left the road between Montdidier and Roye unprotected.

The 15th Division had its 29th Brigade (under General Bock) in front of Moreuil. The 16th Division was with the 31st Brigade under Neidhardt von Gneisenau near Ailly-sur-Noye, with its left wing deployed near Essertaux. In the meantime, the 30th Brigade on the right bank of the Avre in St. Nicolas and on the left bank at Boves continued to advance to Longueau and, in cooperation with the 29th Brigade that followed it, was able to drive the French from the Ruinenberg there.

The Germans gave the French almost the whole line to give way, only at Cachy did the French resist until late evening to protect the retreat. The Germans did not achieve a decisive victory because the French, with the exception of the fortress garrison, were able to escape from Amiens. The withdrawing French managed to withdraw into the protection of the Arras fortress, and the Germans did not pursue them further.

The French casualties were 1,383 killed and wounded, and around 800 were captured. The Prussia lost 1,216 soldiers and 76 officers. At midday on November 28, General von Goeben entered Amiens, the city's fortress only surrendered without a fight on November 29 with another 400 soldiers and 30 guns. General Louis Faidherbe arrived in Lille on December 5 and took command of the French Northern Army, which had been assigned to him two days earlier.

NOAAS Researcher

1970

From 17 to 22 November 1970, Researcher studied the morphology of the Great Abaco Canyon, a submarine canyon northeast of Great Abaco Island in the Bahamas, including the depositional and erosional processes at work in the canyon, to support studies of its origin and geologic history. Her operations included gathering data on the bathymetry, magnetics, and sub-bottom profile of a 4,500-square-mile (11,655 km²) area northeast of Great Abaco Island and extensive development of the canyon′s mouth, including taking core samples of the seafloor and dredging for sea bottom samples. On 3 and 4 December 1970, Researcher ran approximately 370 nautical miles (690 km; 430 mi) on various headings in the vicinity of Cape Charles, Virginia, to evaluate and calibrate her newly installed sea gravimeter. During 1970, she also conducted geophysical mapping of the continental shelf in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Virginia as far east as 73 degrees West, taking readings of bathymetry, gravity, magnetism, soluble reactive phosphorus, water temperature, and salinity.

1971

During 1971, Researcher conducted geophysical surveys of the continental shelf of North America off North Carolina and Virginia and conducted studies in the Caribbean to investigate the relationship between the development of the arc of the Lesser Antilles in the West Indies and plate tectonics and seafloor spreading. She conducted a classified geophysical survey in the eastern North Atlantic Ocean for an undisclosed U.S. Government agency from 3 March to 28 May 1971. In July and August 1971, she joined other NOAA ships, including the oceanographic research ship NOAAS Discoverer, and vessels from the United States Coast Guard, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and Venezuela in studying ocean currents in the western Caribbean Sea, Yucatan Channel, and southeastern Gulf of Mexico as part of the Cooperative Investigation of the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions (CICAR), getting underway from Norfolk, Virginia, for the Caribbean on 7 July. Operating from Barbados and Guadeloupe over a 10-week period from September through November 1971, she conducted a geophysical study — the Caribbean-Atlantic Geotraverse, also a part of CICAR — of a 1,000-mile (869 nmi; 1,609 km) long, 200-mile (174 nmi; 322 km) region connecting the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean to add to the scientific understanding of the area′s geological history, and discovered a 248-mile (216 nmi; 399 km) long, 43-mile (37 nmi; 69 km) wide undersea mountain range in the central North Atlantic Ocean 558 miles (485 nmi; 898 km) northeast of Barbados. In 1974, the United States Board on Geographic Names formally adopted the name Researcher Ridge for the mountain range in honor of Researcher.

1972

On 25 January 1972, Researcher got underway from Miami to take part in testing of the deep-sea scientific research submersible Johnson Sea Link in cooperation with the Smithsonian Institution. She rendezvoused with the sea dive group off Fort Pierce, Florida, to begin the tests, and shifted the testing operations in February to waters near Key West, Florida. The only United States Government oceanographic research ship fitted with an anti-pendulating crane for handling deep-sea research vehicles at sea, she became the first NOAA ship ever to launch and recover a submersible. Operating from Researcher, Johnson Sea Link made numerous dives, reaching depths of 1,000 feet (305 m) while studying the effects of water pressure on shallow-water fish and the deep-water distribution of sea urchins. Researcher completed the three weeks of tests on 14 February 1972 and returned to Miami. She then got underway from Miami bound for Washington, D.C., pausing during the voyage to investigate a cold-water eddy about 120 to 130 nautical miles (220 to 240 km; 140 to 150 mi) east of Cape Kennedy, Florida, that NOAA had tracked from March 1971 to February 1972, the longest continuous measurement of an eddy in history at the time and the only one ever undertaken in the western Sargasso Sea. She confirmed that the eddy had continued its southwestward drift toward the Gulf Stream since February 1972, finding its center about 90 nautical miles (170 km; 100 mi) from the mean axis of the Gulf Stream in the vicinity of 28°50′N 077°55′W, and she determined its shape and measured its size as 50 by 80 nautical miles (93 by 148 km; 58 by 92 mi). Along with the NOAA survey ships NOAAS Rude and NOAAS Heck and the NOAA launch Launch 1257, she then visited Washington, D.C., from 11 to 15 April 1972, where the four vessels hosted tours for attendees at the National Ocean Survey-sponsored Interagency Technical Exchange Conference of 12–13 April and held an open house for the general public on 15 April attended by about 10,000 people. She then deployed to Lake Ontario to conduct hydrographic surveys as part of the International Field Year for the Great Lakes, a joint project between the United States and Canada to study Lake Ontario. Between 1 May and 30 November 1972, she made 31 weekly cruises on Lake Ontario to collect information on water quality and water quantity, studying heat budget, water chemistry, the spring bloom, phytoplankton, zooplankton, and internal waves, taking core samples, and conducting magnetic-gravity surveys.

1973

From 5 March to 15 July 1973, Researcher conducted activities related to the Mid-Ocean Dynamics Experiment (MODE), operating in the Atlantic Ocean southwest of Bermuda in the vicinity of 27°30′N 068°30′W to measure temperature, salinity, currents, and bathymetry, and gather weather data, and calling at Hamilton, Bermuda. On 1 August 1973, Researcher rendezvoused with the Soviet research ships Akademik Sergey Korolyov and Ernst Krenkel and the Mexican research ship Cadete Virgilio Uribe in the Sargasso Sea 185 nautical miles (343 km; 213 mi) northeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico, at 20°N 060°W. The ships operated together until 10 August to conduct the GATE International Sea Trials, a rehearsal for the Global Atmospheric Research Program′s Atlantic Tropical Experiment (GATE), a complex multinational project scheduled for the summer of 1974. The Soviet Union′s Dr. Yuri Tarbeev was embarked aboard Researcher as International Coordinator for the rehearsal, as was NOAA′s Dr. James Sparkman as U.S. coordinator, and during their ten days together the four ships compared meteorological and oceanographic measurements made by U.S., Soviet, and Mexican equipment in order to standardize instrumentation, trained personnel, and checked operational and data management procedures planned for use in 1974 during GATE. Aboard Researcher, personnel compared U.S. and Soviet reversing thermometers, salinity-temperature-depth-measuring instruments, and mechanical bathythermographs. Researcher then spent three months from August to November 1973 on a project that continued the Trans-Atlantic Geotraverse into its fourth season, conducting a study of the Intertropical Convergence Zone in the Atlantic Ocean. She gathered data on the geophysical and geological environment, solar radiation, and atmospheric and ocean conditions in the zone. The first, third, and fourth legs of her voyage focused on geophysical work, with emphases on sediment transport processes along the eastern continental margin of North America with reference to the problem of ocean dumping and on mineral-forming processes along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The second leg involved atmospheric work and served as a shakedown cruise for the upcoming GATE project.

1974

From mid-February to mid-May 1974, Researcher studied sediment transport processes along the Mid-Atlantic continental margin of North America and the effects of submarine canyons in those processes along the outer continental margin in the Mid-Atlantic Bight. During the summer of 1974, Researcher was one of 40 ships from various countries to take part in GATE, an approximately 100-day-long project lasting from June to September sponsored by the United Nations′s World Meteorological Organization and the International Council of Scientific Unions to study oceanic and atmospheric processes in and over tropical waters from Mexico east to the Persian Gulf that drive much of the world′s weather. Gathering data from the upper atmosphere to oceanic depths of 1,000 meters (3,281 ft), it was the most ambitious such study in human history at the time. Operating from Dakar, Senegal, and stationed in the tropical eastern Atlantic Ocean, Researcher used tethered balloons to measure air temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind speed, and wind direction at altitudes up to 5,000 feet (1,524 m); a bow-mounted boom bearing instruments that measured near-surface thermal radiation, temperature, and humidity, surface wind speed and direction, atmospheric pressure, and rainfall; C-band weather radar capable of detecting rainfall up to 200 nautical miles (370 km; 230 mi) away; instruments to record water temperature and salinity at depths of up to 5,000 feet (1,524 m) and expendable bathythermographs to capture temperature vs. depth profiles; and small tethered buoys that recorded wave characteristics as they changed in response to fluctuating surface wind conditions.

A crisis occurred while Researcher was on GATE duty 600 nautical miles (1,100 km; 690 mi) off the coast of Africa when one of her crew members, NOAA Corps Ensign Dennis J. Sigrist, became seriously ill with malaria on 7 August 1974. Researcher made for Dakar, where Sigrist could receive better treatment than was available aboard ship, but Sigrist′s condition had deteriorated so much by 8 August that the Senegalese Navy dispatched a patrol vessel, St. Louis, with an American physician on board to rendezvous with Researcher at sea and take Sigrist aboard. The same day, NOAA dispatched its Lockheed WC-130 weather reconnaissance aircraft from Dakar′s Dakar-Yoff International Airport to drop antibiotics, glucose solution, and other medications to Researcher. After a flight of about an hour, the WC-130 found Researcher 300 nautical miles (560 km; 350 mi) off Senegal and dropped its box of medical supplies from an altitude of 100 feet (30 m) only 200 feet (61 m) from Researcher. Researcher brought the box on board and began to treat Sigrist with the new medical supplies. Early on 9 August, with Sigrist′s condition beginning to improve, Researcher rendezvoused with St. Louis and transferred Sigrist to St. Louis in a lifeboat. While St. Louis returned to Dakar, where Sigrist was hospitalized and made a full recovery, Researcher resumed to her GATE duties.

During 1974, Researcher also operated in the New York Bight support of the Marine Ecosystems Analysis (MESA) project, which had a goal of understanding how natural processes redistribute material from marine waste disposal sites and the impact of that redistribution upon marine life.

In 1975, Researcher received the Karo Award for her scientific work during the GATE project in 1974.

1975

From 21 February to 4 March 1975, Researcher made another cruise in the New York Bight in support of the MESA project. During the cruise, she operated across the Hudson Canyon axis employing satellite navigation and collected bathymetry, salinity-temperature-depth, and sea surface temperature readings, employed tide gauges, and engaged in chemical analysis of water samples. From 11 March to 16 April 1975, she collected data along the United States East Coast between Delaware and Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, for the Rational Use of the Sea Floor (RUSEF) project, a study of sedimentary processes along the continental margin requiring an understanding of how natural processes transport sediments along the continental shelf and down the continental slope to the abyssal plain. She collected core samples, grab samples, water samples, bottom photography, data on ocean currents, soluble reactive phosphorus readings, gravity and magnetic data, surface temperature information, bathymetry, and X-ray radiographs. During May and June she conducted two Bureau of Land Management–Cooperative Investigations of the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions (BLM–CICAR) cruises in the western Caribbean Sea and eastern Gulf of Mexico to survey the distribution of nutrients, true metals, salinity, and oxygen in those waters and correlate it with circulation patterns, as well as gather data suitable for modeling the two bodies of water. In June and July she made another Trans-Atlantic Geotraverse voyage, proceeding eastward from Miami to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, then further eastward to Cape Blanc, Spanish Sahara, and then westward to Norfolk, Virginia, where she ended her cruise after gathering information on the geophysical signature and structure control of seafloor hydrothermal activity and tectonic process involved in the development of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, including soluble reactive phosphorus, gravity, magnetic, and narrow-beam echo sounder data and core and aerosol samples.

Researcher made another cruise in the New York Bight in support of the MESA project from 8 to 27 September 1975, during which she collected physical, chemical and biological data from the water column, used neuston net tows to gather information on organisms at the ocean′s surface, and retrieved two current meters. In early October 1975, Researcher visited Washington, D.C., where she held an open house attended by thousands of people as part of the celebration of the fifth anniversary of the creation of NOAA. During October and November 1975, she again operated in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea to continue the CICAR effort to understand circulation patterns there, deploying eight drift buoys and collecting bathymetric and salinity-temperature-depth data.

1976

Researcher made two cruises in 1976 — from 9 to 31 March and from 12 April to 2 May — in support of the Polymode Subtropical Front Studies, a project concerned with determining the relationship between oceanic surface features and those at depth, comparing measurements taken at sea with infrared satellite imagery taken at the same time to assess the utiity of infrared imagery in investigating oceanic mesoscale eddies, and how the atmosphere and oceanic mesoscale eddies affect sea surface temperatures. During the cruises, she operated in a one-degree square in the Sargasso Sea in the vicinity of 29°00′N 070°00′W, gathering extensive bathymetric data, sea surface temperature and salinity readings, tracking the movement of temperature gradients, and deploying two satellite tracking buoys.

From 24 May to 2 June 1976, Researcher operated in the Gulf of Mexico at two priority sites just west of the Mississippi River′s Southwest Pass (28°51′38″N 089°27′18″W and 28°53′42″N 089°29′00″W) in support of the Mississippi Delta Sediment Stability Project, an effort to understand bottom and subbottom sedimentary processes. She took core samples and bathymetric readings, recorded 37 hours of piezometer readings, recorded 63 nautical miles (117 km; 72 mi) of seismic reflection profiles, and ran a geophysical grid in the area.

In support of the RUSEF program, scientists made two cruises aboard Researcher from 14 June to 2 July and from 7 to 23 July 1976, employing reflection seismology techniques using submerged air guns and hydrophones to collect information on the sedimentary framework of the continental margin of North America between Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, and West Palm Beach, Florida. The cruise included the deployment of current meters for the study of bottom currents, seafloor slumping, and the creep of sediments, from the continental shelf into the depths of the ocean, gathering profiles that allowed the embarked scientists to determine variations in sedimentation along the continental margin — including the Outer Continental Shelf, continental slope, and continental rise — of North America during the period from 70 million to 10 million years ago as the Atlantic Ocean opened in the wake of the breakup of the supercontinent Pangaea. From 10 to 31 August 1976, Researcher made a cruise to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge to study metallogenesis at dynamic plate boundaries, making geological observations in the vicinity of 26°N 045°W and collecting core and water samples, taking bottom photographs, and running 4,444 nautical miles (8,230 km; 5,114 mi) each of bathymetry and gravimetric surveys and 4,441 nautical miles (8,225 km; 5,111 mi) of magnetic surveys.

In early October 1976, Researcher visited the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C., to serve as the focal point of NOAA′s celebration of both its sixth birthday and the United States Bicentennial. She made another MESA voyage in the New York Bight in September 1976, and returned to the Sargasso Sea in October and November 1976 for a cruise in support of MODE. She received a NOAA unit citation award in 1976.

1977

Researcher made a MODE cruise to the Sargasso Sea in March 1977. In April 1977 she operated in the Gulf of Mexico and western Caribbean Sea to conduct chemical transport and thermal structure studies. She visited the Bahamas in May 1977 to investigate internal waves. At the request of Eliot Richardson, Ambassador-at-Large and Special Representative of President Jimmy Carter for the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and head of the U.S. delegation to the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea, Researcher took aboard 100 U.N. Law of the Sea delegates and provided them with a one-day demonstration cruise in June 1977 in which her crew demonstrated modern techniques for monitoring the effects of ocean dumping. During June, she also visited the Mid-Atlantic Ridge to study tectonic plate boundaries and associated resources. She returned to the Gulf of Mexico and western Caribbean in July for further chemical transport and thermal structure work, and in August she cruised in the Mid-Atlantic Bight to study sediment transport. She resumed her chemical and thermal studies in the Gulf of Mexico and western Caribbean in a cruise in September and October, and she rounded out 1977 with another New York Bight cruise to study sediment transport in October and November.

1978

From February until early April 1978, as part of a study of the migration of sea water from the Sargasso Sea to the Caribbean Sea, Florida Strait, and Gulf of Mexico, Researcher took water samples at a depth of 250 meters (820 ft), discovering elevated levels of an oily substance resembling crude oil in the Sargasso Sea water that suggested the existence of an undersea petroleum seep and making port calls at Barbados and at La Guiara, Venezuela, during the cruise. On 11 April 1978, she departed Miami bound for Washington, D.C., where she held an open house that month in which visitors could board her to see her $750,000 computer system, photographs of sea life taken near the bottom of the continental shelf, and equipment her crew used to study ocean currents, the structure of the seafloor, and undersea animal life. She then got underway from Norfolk, Virginia, for a cruise in April and May in which she surveyed the continental margin of North America to determine the location of the foot of the continental slope, information important for a U.S. claim to extended jurisdiction under Article 76 of the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) over maritime resources beyond the 200 nautical miles (370 km; 230 mi) otherwise set by UNCLOS. She made a RUSEF voyage off the U.S. East Coast in May, and from late May into June conducted a metallogenesis cruise to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, making a port call at Barbados during the cruise. From the middle of June until the beginning of September, she was deployed to the tropical Atlantic Ocean for operations in support of the Energy Research and Development Administration related to the First Global Atmospheric Research Program Global Experiment–Tropical Atlantic, operating from Recife, Brazil. During September 1978, she made another RUSEF voyage, focusing on marine geotechnics. In 1978, Researcher received a NOAA Unit Citation Award "for substantive contributions to the programs or objectives for which NOAA was established."

1979

Researcher operated in the tropical Atlantic Ocean in January and February 1979 to study ocean thermal energy conversion as part of the Global Weather Experiment, Equatorial Atlantic, calling at Recife, Brazil, and Naval Station Rota, Spain, during her cruise. At the end of February 1979, she began her first Indian Ocean deployment, a cruise to study metallogenesis at the Carlsberg Ridge, a part of the Central Indian Ridge in the western Indian Ocean, through early April, and then to support the Indian Ocean Monsoon Experiment in the Somali Current in the western Indian Ocean from mid-April through early June, calling at Djibouti and at Victoria, Seychelles, during the metallogenesis work and at Mombasa, Kenya, during the monsoon experiment. She then returned to the tropical Atlantic Ocean for more work on ocean thermal energy conversion in support of the Global Weather Experiment, Equatorial Atlantic, from June to August 1979. During the latter of August and early September 1979, she visited the Gulf of Mexico to study ocean chemistry for the Role of Organics in the Maritime Environment (ROME) project, which studied the role of organic compounds in sea water on the toxicity and availability of trace metals to lower trophic organisms in the marine environment.

In the wake of the 3 June 1979 Ixtoc I oil spill off Mexico, Researcher diverted from other projects to conduct a systematic study of the oil slick from the well site in the Bay of Campeche to the waters of the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Texas to gather data on the amount of submerged oil and how the oil changed as it drifted northward toward the United States. Researcher′s engine cooling system prevented her from entering heavily oiled water, so a private research vessel, R/V Pierce, was contracted from Tracor Marine to join her on the cruise so that Researcher could operate along the margins of the oil plume while Pierce worked within the oil plume itself. After Pierce rendezvoused with Researcher at Miami and a helicopter platform had been installed aboard Researcher to accommodate a four-seat helicopter, the two ships departed Miami on 11 September 1979. Researcher served as primary vessel for the cruise, and her laboratory space allowed for sophisticated underway experiments, with small boats and the helicopter transferring samples between Pierce and her. Researcher′s helicopter proved very useful, providing the ships with an ability to monitor oil coverage over a large area and giving the ships regular updates on the position of the oil discharge plume and their positions relative to it. Original plans for the cruise called for the ships to work their way along the coast of Mexico and Texas 300 to 450 kilometres (162 to 243 nmi; 186 to 280 mi) offshore, but when Researcher′s helicopter made its first reconnaissance flight as the ships approached the area on 13 September, it discovered that circulation patterns in the Gulf of Mexico and changed, and the cruise efforts focused more heavily on the area around the well site as a result. Tropical Storm Henri formed off the Yucatan Peninsula on 14 September 1979 and moved erratically through the southwestern Gulf of Mexico, prompting the evacuation of oil platforms in the area, but Researcher and Pierce continued their work with little interruption despite encountering seas of up to 15 feet (4.6 m) before Henri moved away from their operating area on 17 September. After setting up a control station at 21°41′N 090°24′W on 14 September and another at the northeast extremity of the plume at 19°48′N 091°22′W on 15 September, the two ships collected samples off Veracruz from 16 to 21 September. In addition to their other work, Pierce made plankton tows under the oil slick during the cruise, while Researcher made neuston tows. On 23 September, Pierce departed the area and made for Galveston, Texas, while Researcher continued scientific operations, sampling off Tampico, Mexico, on 23 September, on a transect south of the United States-Mexico border on 24 September, off Brownsville, Texas, on 25 September, and off Corpus Christi, Texas, on 26 September. She joined Pierce on 27 September at Galveston, bringing the cruise to an end.

Researcher completed her 1979 work with a another RUSEF voyage to study marine geotechnics.

1980

Researcher began 1980 by deploying in January to the equatorial Atlantic Ocean for an energy and climate study, visiting Santa Cruz de Tenerife on Tenerife in the Canary Islands and Bridgetown, Barbados, during the voyage. She completed that work in mid-March. In mid-April, she began a ROME cruise in the Gulf of Mexico that lasted until mid-May, calling at Veracruz, Mexico, during the cruise. From late May to late June, she visited the Mid-Atlantic Ridge to study metallogenesis at dynamic plate boundaries, calling at San Juan , Puerto Rico, and Bridgetown. She operated in the Caribbean Sea from late June to late July to study subtropical underwater ocean currents and again visiting Bridgetown. In August she began her first cruise to the Pacific Ocean, passing through the Panama Canal, visiting Manzanillo, Mexico, and studying the equatorial climate for the Equatorial Pacific Ocean Climate Study (EPOCS), — a project to improve understanding of the relationship between atmospheric and oceanic variability in the tropical Pacific, including sea surface temperature. She made two cruises in the Pacific, using the Pegasus current profiler to develop and understanding of currents and taking temperature and pressure readings in equatorial waters west and west-northwest of the Galapagos Islands in the vicinity of 95 degrees West, 102 degrees West, and 110 degrees West between 3 August and 12 September. Unfortunately, improper calibration of the Pegasus instrument reduced the value of the data collected during the cruises. During her transits between Manzanillo and the waters around 03°S 100°W via Clipperton Island from July through September, she made observations of seabird populations, noting the relative of boobies, gadfly petrels, Gould's petrels, shearwaters, sooty terns, and storm petrels at various latitudes and relative to thermoclines and temperature and salinity fronts in the eastern tropical Pacific.

1981

From 7 March to 24 July 1981, Researcher used CTD casts to collect electrical conductivity, temperature, and pressure data in the North Atlantic Ocean. In November 1981, she began a cruise in the eastern Pacific Ocean between the Galapagos Islands and the coast of South America along 80 to 85 degrees West Longitude to collect hydrographic data — electrical conductivity, temperature, pressure, and oxygen data via CTD casts, as well as the sigma-t of sea water — between 24 November and 7 December in support of EPOCS, the first time this data had been collected for EPOCS east of 95 degrees West Longitude.

1982

In March 1982, Researcher made a cruise to study climate in the subtropical Atlantic Ocean, followed in April by a voyage focused on acid rain. From mid-May to early June she made another trip to study the subtropical Atlantic climate. After she returned from the cruise, a hull-mounted acoustic doppler current profiler was installed aboard her which could run unattended and profile currents she encountered without interferng with most of her other operations, and she usually ran it continuously while at sea thereafter. She operated from Bermuda from early July until the beginning of August to study marine minerals. She made another ROME voyage from the latter part of August until the beginning of October. She returned to the Pacific Ocean in November, and took Pegasus current profiler, temperature, depths in the waters off Peru and Ecuador for EPOCS in the waters between 80 and 85 degrees West from 21 November to 5 December.

1983

Researcher again cruised in the Pacific Ocean off Peru and Ecuador to collect Pegasus current prolifer, temperature, and pressure data for EPOCS between 23 March and 6 April and again from 18 to 30 May. In November and December 1983 she operated in the Strait of Florida to engage in the continuous collection of data on the Florida Current′s velocity, mass transport, and temperature in support of the Sub-Tropical Atlantic Current Study (STACS), an attempt to define the oceanographic processes involved in meridional heat flux. She operated generally along the line of 27 degrees North latitude and between 79 and 80 degrees West longitude, gathering data via use of the Pegasus current profiler, CTD casts, expendable bathythermographs, and her hull-mounted aocustic Doppler current profiler from 29 November through 13 December.

1984

Researcher took bathythermograph readings in the North Atlantic Ocen from 25 January to 9 February 1984. Between 6 and 10 February 1984, while operating off Long Island, New York, Naval Researcher Laboratory scientists aboard her also conducted an experiment using her navigation radar to study sea spikes — the localized sea scatter of radar signals — at low grazing angles. In early March 1984, she visited Washington, D.C., to hold a combined "school science day" open house with Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland for elementary school students that drew 3,300 visitors, kicking off the 1984–1985 Year of the Ocean. She then deployed to the Straits of Florida for another cruise to study the Florida Current for STACS, operating in the same area she had in November–December 1983 and gathering the same types of data. From 14 May to 4 June 1984, she participated in interlocking experiments to study the effects of equatorial oceans on climactic disasters, acid rain, and the world′s carbon dioxide balance, cruising in the Pacific Ocean between Honolulu, Hawaii, and Tahiti to take air and water measurements while a NOAA Lockheed WP-3D Orion weather reconnaissance aircraft operating from Honolulu, Tahiti, and Kiritimati flew over her to collect complimentary atmospheric samples. The data Researcher and the WP-3D collected supported four studies: One examined how the flux of chemicals from the ocean to the atmosphere can cause acid rain to develop in maritime zones, another sought to identify air-sea transfer characteristics for carbon dioxide, a third sought to understand the role of updrafts and downdrafts in the lower atmosphere in the exchange of heat between the atmosphere and the ocean, and the fourth studied how atmospheric boundary layer processes affect the movement of the trade winds toward the equator. She focused on bathythermograph collection of temperature profile data in the [[Tropical Ocean and Global Atmosphere (TOGA) project area of the Pacific Ocean from 9 to 21 June 1984, and from 28 June to 1 July 1984 she collected current data in the North and South Pacific.

1985

Researcher collected temperature profile data through the use of bathythermographs in the Gulf of Mexico and the TOGA area of the Pacific Ocean between 20 October and 14 December 1985.

1987

Researcher condcuted an equatorial Pacific cruise from June through August 1987 during which she made CTD casts at every degree of longitude as she steamed eastward from 150 degrees West to 79 degrees West off the coast of Peru to improve understanding of how ocean processes transport heat from the tropics toward the Arctic and Antarctic regions. Between 23 June and 28 July, she made a total of 161 casts at latitudes between 4°38.9' South and 15°22' South while proceeding from 150°0.3' West to 077°15.3' West. She also mad port calls in Tahiti and Panama.

USS Scandinavia

File:USC&GS Scandinavia.jpg USC&GS Scandinavia in the waters of Southeast Alaska ca. 1927.
History
United States
Name	Scandinavia
Namesake	Scandinavia
Builder	G. T. Taylor Marine Railway, Norfolk, Virginia
Launched	1916
Completed	1916
Fate	Sold to United States Navy 5 October 1918
History
United States Navy
Name	USS Scandinavia
Namesake	Previous name retained
Acquired	5 October 1918
Commissioned	5 October 1918
Decommissioned	21 May 1919
Fate	Transferred to United States Coast and Geodetic Survey 21 May 1919
History
U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey
Name	USC&GS Scandinavia
Namesake	Previous name retained
Acquired	21 May 1919
General characteristics (as U.S. Navy vessel)
Type	Patrol boat
Displacement	26 tons
Length	61 ft (18.6 m)
Beam	14 ft 2 in (4.3 m)
Draft	5 ft 3 in (1.6 m)
Speed	10 knots
General characteristics (as U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey vessel)
Type	Survey launch
Length	61 ft (18.6 m)
Beam	14 ft 2 in (4.3 m)
Draft	5 ft 3 in (1.6 m)
Propulsion	Twin engines

USS Scandinavia (SP-3363) was a patrol boat in commission in the United States Navy from 1918 to 1919, seeing service during World War I. After her U.S. Navy service, she was in commission in the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey as the survey launch USC&GS Scandinavia.

Construction

Scandinavia was constructed in 1916 as a private motorboat of the same name by G. T. Taylor Marine Railway at Norfolk, Virginia.

United States Navy service, 1918–1919

File:USC&GS Scandinavia wire drag.jpg

USC&GS Scandinavia conducting wire-drag operations in Alaskan waters, ca. 1920.

The United States entered World War I on 6 April 1917. On 5 October 1918, the U.S. Navy purchased Scandinavia from her owner, Bie and Schiott of Baltimore, Maryland, for war service as a patrol vessel in the section patrol and commissioned her as USS Scandinavia (SP-3363) the same day.

The U.S. Navy assigned Scandinavia to the district supervisor of the Naval Overseas Transportation Service at Baltimore for use as a dispatch vessel and pilot boat. She operated in this capacity through the end of the war on 11 November 1918 and into 1919. On 15 May 1919, she arrived at Norfolk for disposal. She was decommissioned the same day. On 21 May 1919, the U.S. Navy transferred her to the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey.

United States Coast and Geodetic Survey service

The Coast and Geodetic Survey commissioned Scandinavia as USC&GS Scandinavia and designated her for use as a survey launch in the waters of the Territory of Alaska. After she underwent repairs and maintenance, a U.S. Navy transport towed her on 1 August 1919 to the Norfolk Navy Yard in Portsmouth, Virginia, where she was loaded aboard a U.S. Navy transport for shipment to Puget Sound in the State of Washington. The transport unloaded her at Seattle, and there she and the survey ship USC&GS Explorer, the survey launch Helianthus, and a 30-foot (9.1 m) tender began preparations in the latter part of February 1920 for hydrographic survey operations in Southeast Alaska. During this period, Scandinavia' took part in a Coast and Geodetic Survey project conducted from 24 July 1919 to 26 March 1920 to conduct wire-drag surveys of Lake Washington and Lake Union and to find and remove dangerous snags in those waters, and she struck a submerged tree with a least depth of 4 feet (1.2 m) west of Mercer Island, fortunately at too low a speed to suffer damage.

With preparations for their Alaska season complete, Explorer, Scandinavia, and Helianthus departed Seattle on 16 April 1920 bound for Juneau, Alaska, pausing along the way at Ketchikan, Alaska, for repairs to Scandinavia and at Petersburg, Alaska, to inspect the Bureau of Fisheries sales agency there. After making final preparations at Juneau, the vessels began the 1920 season′s field work, which included triangulation, wire-drag surveys, and topographic surveys in Stephens Passage in the Alexander Archipelago and the installation of an automatic tide gauge at Taku Harbor.

After spending the winter of 1920–1921 at Seattle, the vessels returned to the area in the spring of 1921, focusing on wire-drag surveys beginning in Stephens Passage and working their way northward through Gastineau Channel and Lynn Canal, but also conducting topographic and magnetic surveys. They wrapped up the field season on 7 October 1921 and departed Juneau on 18 October bound for Seattle, where they arrived on 22 or 23 October (sources disagree) to spend the winter. On 14 March 1922, Explorer, Scandinavia, Helianthus, and the wire-drag launch No .1 set out from Seattle again, spent 20–26 March at Ketchikan making repairs to the three launches, then departed Ketchikan on 27 March and arrived on 29 March at Juneau, where they overhauled the launches and wire-drag gear. On 3 April, Helianthus left Juneau to operate independently in Lynn Canal, conducting triangulation and topographic survey work, while Explorer, Scandinavia, and No. 1 departed Juneau on 4 April bound for the south end of Stephens Passage and then worked their way northward in the passage to close gaps in previous wire-drag survey work between Cape Fanshaw and South Island. Completing this work on 13 April, they returned to Juneau, where Helianthus rejoined them on 14 April. On 17 April, all four vessels left Juneau to continue their survey program for the 1922 field season, The vessels conducted topographical surveys to the heads of Chilkat Inlet, Chilkoot Inlet, and Taiya Inlet, and in the southern portion of Lynn Canal, and triangulation in Lynn Canal and Icy Strait, and they also paused to inspect the Coast and Geodetic Survey chart agency at Haines, Alaska, on 9 June. After they completed a wire-drag survey all the way north to Skagway in late June 1922, they returned to Juneau. Scandinavia joined Helianthus and No. 1 in a wire-drag work south of Douglas Island to Stephens Passage from 1 to 8 July 1922 while Explorer underwent boiler cleaning at Juneau. Scandinavia and the other launches then reunited with Explorer for more wire-drag surveys and triangulation in Lynn Canal and in Icy Strait. Late in the season they also closed gaps in wire-drag survey coverage of Stephens Passage and located a dangerous rock a steamer had reported in Hood Bay (57°24′35″N 134°30′58″W). The vessels also installed tide gauges at Funter Bay and at Hoonah and did magnetic survey work in Lynn Canal, Icy Strait, Chilkoot Inlet, and Taiya Inlet, and in September they inspected the Coast and Geodetic Survey chart station at Hoonah. After wrapping up field work for the season on 30 September 1922, the vessels proceeded to Ketchikan, where Scandinavia and Helianthus were hauled out of the water to spend the winter at the boathouse there. Explorer then proceeded to Seattle for the winter.

In 1923, the vessels pushed their survey work to the end of Icy Strait and through about half of Cross Sound. The also installed tide gauges in Excursion Inlet, Mud Bay, Port Althorp, and Auke Bay.

working their way farther northward through Lynn Canal and then westward through Cross Sound and Icy Strait to Cape Spencer.

References

Bibliography

• Annual Report of the Superintendent, United States Coast and Geodetic Survey to the Secretary of Commerce for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1919, Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1919
• Annual Report of the Superintendent, United States Coast and Geodetic Survey to the Secretary of Commerce for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1920, Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1920
• [hhttps://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924097830834 Annual Report of the Superintendent, United States Coast and Geodetic Survey to the Secretary of Commerce for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1921, Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1921]

External links

•  This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
• NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive Scandinavia (SP 3363)
• NOAA History, A Science Odyssey: Tools of the Trade: Ships: Coast and Geodetic Survey Ships: Scandinavia

USFC Fish Hawk

1881 season

Workers completed a refit of Fish Hawk in mid-January 1881, and during January and February 1881 she conducted a series of experiments with her hatching equipment in the Hampton Roads area. She departed the Norfolk Navy Yard on 26 February 1881 and steamed to the Washington Navy Yard, where her shad-hatching apparatus was installed after she arrived there on 28 February 1881. She departed Washington on 23 March 1881 to proceed to the Avoca shad-fishing station at the mouth of the Roanoke River on the coast of North Carolina in Albemarle Sound. Grounding three times in shoal water near her destination, she arrived on 30 March 1881 at Avoca, where she remained until 30 April 1881 on shad-hatching duty. She then steamed to Havre de Grace, Maryland, arriving there on 4 April 1881 to conduct shad-hatching operations at the head of the Chesapeake Bay off the mouth of the North East River until 5 June 1881. After a hull inspection and minor repairs at Baltimore, Maryland, on 6 June 1881, she steamed to Washington, which she reached on 8 June 1881. She took aboard equipment for experiments in hatching Spanish mackerel on 13 June 1881, steamed to St. Jerome′s Creek the next day, then participated in the experiments under the oversight of Marshall McDonald at Cherrystone Inlet from 15 to 28 June 1881. On 29 June 1881 she left for the Washington Navy Yard, arriving there on 30 June 1881, where she landed her hatching equipment and took aboard dredges for the 1881 deep-sea exploration season, departing Washington on 7 July and arriving at Wood's Hole on 10 July 1881. From Wood's Hole, she conducted a series of scientific cruises (15-17 July, 20 July, 3–5 August, 8–10 August, 13 August, 22–24 August, 26 August, 29–30 August, 7–9 September, 13–15 September, 20–21 September, and 22 September), dredging and trawling in Buzzard's Bay and Vineyard Sound, off Chatham, Massachusetts, in waters between Gay Head and Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts, and at depths of 264 to 4,692 feet (80 to 1,430 m) in the Gulf Stream in the North Atlantic Ocean southwest, south, and southeast of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Island. Fish Hawk departed Wood's Hole on 4 October, made stops at Bristol, Rhode Island, and New Haven, Connecticut, and trawled in the Gulf Stream on 9 October 1881 at depths of 240 to 810 feet (73 to 247 m) before arriving the Washington Navy Yard on 12 October 1881. The Fish Commission then offered her services to United States Secretary of the Navy William H. Hunt, who in turn placed her at the disposal of United States Secretary of War Robert Todd Lincoln. With Lincoln and his party aboard, Fish Hawk departed Washington on 17 October 1881 and on 18 October 1881 arrived at Yorktown, Virginia, where the naval and military celebration of the centennial of the American and French victory in the Battle of Yorktown during the American Revolutionary War had begun on 7 October. When the ceremonies concluded on 20 October 1881, Lincoln returned to Fish Hawk, which transported him back to Washington, arriving there on 21 October 1881. Fish Hawk then spent the winter of 1881–1882 at the Washington Navy Yard.

Fish Hawk′s 1881 deep-sea exploration season continued to expand greatly the understanding of flora and fauna around the edge of the continental shelf, revealing a rich community of sea life previously unknown to science, as well as taking extensive depth and water temperature readings. In the Report of the Commissioner for 1886, published in 1889, the Fish Commission described Fish Hawk′s deep-sea explorations of 1880 and 1881 as having revealed "the richest dredging ground upon our [i.e., the U.S.] coast, both as regards variety of life and abundance of specimens." During the 1881 season, she became the first ship to employ "trawl-wings," light nets attached to her trawls to capture sea creatures disturbed by the oncoming trawl and moving away from its line of approach that might otherwise have escaped, and these new trawl-wings collected species that were new to science. Of particular interest to the Fish Commission was the tilefish, a tasty fish averaging 12 to 20 pounds (5.4 to 9.1 kg) with the largest specimen captured of about 50 pounds (23 kg), which Fish Hawk′s 1881 work showed to occur from Cape Cod to at least as far south as Delaware and to be at least as abundant as all the other species she caught (hake, cod, and herring) combined, reinforcing the Fish Commission′s hope that a successful tilefish fishery could develop.

1882 season

On 25 February 1882, Fish Hawk departed Washington for a cruise in the Chesapeake Bay, equipped with an extra-large assortment of gill nets for use in catching cod, herring, Spanish mackerel, menhaden, shad, and whitefish, with a goal of determining whether anadromous fish species could be caught in the bay and its tributaries early in the year and in deeper water before their routine appearance in shallow waters later in the season. Fighting strong winds and tides that interfered with her work, Fish Hawk set nets at depths ranging from 30 to 120 feet (9 to 37 m) in Maryland waters off Barren Island, Point Lookout, and the mouth of the Patuxent River, and in the waters of Virginia off Smith Point, Tangier Point, Cherrystone, and the mouth of the York River, with negative results except for a few young menhaden caught off Barren Island and some spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias) caught off Cherrystone. Dredging with a beam trawl at 150 feet (46 m) off Barren Island and Cherrystone caught only a few alewives, some young menhaden, some skates of the genus Raja, a crayfish, some shrimp, and a few shellfish. The results led scientists aboard Fish Hawk to the conclusion that no commercial fishery for any economically useful specifies existed that early in the year inside the Virginia Capes. Fish Hawk also brought cod eggs with her to experiment with hatching them in her hatching cones in water taken from the bay, which had a lower density than seawater, and found that cod embryos did not develop in bay water, became misshapen, and died within a few days. During the cruise, she also trawled for oysters off Kent Island and the mouth of the Magothy River, finding relatively few live oysters at either location, and made port calls at Fortress Monroe, Virginia, and at Annapolis, Maryland. She took legislators of the Maryland General Assembly on a day trip on 21 March 1882 to observe her operations, before departing Annapolis on 22 March and returning to Washington on 23 March 1882. On 15 March 1882, while Fish Hawk was on her cruise, Secretary of the Navy Hunt assigned Lieutenant Tanner to additional duty supervising the construction of the Fish Commission steamer USFC Albatros at the Pusey and Jones shipyard in Wilmington, Delaware, although he remained commanding officer of Fish Hawk as well. This duty required him to make frequent visits to the shipyard.

Fish Hawk steamed from Washington to Quantico, Virginia, on 10 April 1882, remaining there until 10 May 1882 to hatch herring and shad. After returning to Washington, she departed on 22 April 1882 to steam to Havre de Grace, Maryland, where she remained until 15 May 1882 to collect shad for an experiment in confining them in an enclosure until they were ready to spawn. She returned to Washington on 16 May 1882, She departed the navy yard on 19 June 1882 towing two Fish Commission barges, braving a gale on the lower Potomac River before delivering them to the Fish Commission station at St. Jerome's Creek in Maryland, then returned to Washington on 30 June 1882 to prepare for the season′s deep-sea exploration work. She interrupted those preparations for a voyage from 8 to 16 July 1882 during which she transported freight to the Pusey and Jones shipyard for USFC Albatross, then carried Fish Commission cargo from Baltimore, Maryland, to Havre de Grace before returning to the Washington Navy Yard to resume preparations for her scientific cruise. Departing Washington on 21 July 1882, she steamed to Wood's Hole, arriving there on 24 July to deliver Fish Commission cargo and bring aboard deep-sea dredging equipment.

Fish Hawk began her deep-sea exploration program for the year with a cruise from 1 to 3 August 1882 in which she dredged off Cape Cod, Massachusetts, visiting previously examined areas off Chatham and Provincetown and an area off Nauset Light never before studied by fisheries scientists. On her next cruise, from 10 to 12 August 1882, she trawled at depths of 390 to 2,094 feet (119 to 638 m) between 40°03′N 069°44′W and 39°53′N 069°43′W. Shen trawled in Vineyard Sound on 18 August 1882 to reexamine previously studied areas.

The tilefish had experienced a massive die-off in 1882, with many millions of dead fish found between Nantucket, Massachusetts, and Cape May, New Jersey, so Fish Hawk put to sea from Woods Hole on 21 August 1882 in search of tilefish; she trawled at depths of 420 to 1,470 feet (128 to 448 m) between 40°02′N 070°35′W and 40°03′N 070°25′W, catching hake, skate, and other fish but no tilefish before returning to Woods Hole on 23 August 1882. During her next cruise, from 25 to 27 August 1882, she trawled at depths of 582 to 4,722 feet (177 to 1,439 m) between 40°08′N 068°48′W and 40°03′N 068°56′W. On 28 August 1882, the U.S. Navy sidewheel paddle steamer USS Tallapoosa arrived at Woods Hole with U.S. Secretary of the Navy William E. Chandler and other senior U.S. Navy officials aboard, and Fish Hawk took them and Commissioner of Fisheries Spencer F. Baird out that day in Vineyard Sound to demonstrate her capabilities and operations with a day of dredging and trawling. On 2 September 1882, she spent a day dredging off Nomans Land and sent a landing party to Nomans Land to investigate a reported – but nonexistent – rock formation. On 6 September 1882, the presidential yacht USS Despatch, accompanied by the Fish Commission steamer USFC Lookout, arrived at Wood's Hole with President Chester A. Arthur aboard, and after Arthur and Baird boarded Fish Hawk, Fish Hawk spent the day demonstrating her dredging and trawling capabilities and operations in Menemsha Bight. She made another scientific cruise from 7 to 9 September 1882, trawling at depths of 1,008 to 2,712 feet (307 to 827 m) between 39°40′N 071°52′W and 39°33′N 072°06′W, following that with her final cruise of the season from 3 to 5 October 1882, during which she trawled at depths of 594 to 3,324 feet (181 to 1,013 m) between 40°00′N 070°37′W and 39°52′N 070°30′W.

Fish Hawk left Wood's Hole on 12 October 1882 and called at Bristol, Rhode Island, on 16 October to take delivery of a steam cutter and a steam lifeboat for USFC Albatross, which she delivered to Albatross at Wilmington on 26 October 1882 before arriving at the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C., on 29 October 1882. She spent the winter of 1882–1883 at the Washington Navy Yard undergoing minor repairs. On 10 November 1882, Lieutenant Tanner received orders dated 4 November detaching him from command of Fish Hawk so that he could take command of Albatross.

Deep-sea fishes collected by Fish Hawk studied by BOF and published to supplement earlier work by Alexander Agassiz.

1883 season

Fish Hawk got underway from Washington on 15 March 1883 to investigate a reported sperm whale ashore in the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Potomac River at Smith Point, Virginia; she found no whale, but inspected the Fish Commission station at St. Jerome and investigated the fisheries off Brent's Point and Marlborough Point – finding striped bass and perch in significant numbers and lesser numbers of herring and shad – before returning to Washington on 18 March. She again left Washington on 24 March 1883 to deliver cargo to the Fish Commission′s Battery Station on Battery Island near Havre de Grace and dredge for oysters off St. Jerome's Creek; she also called at Baltimore before returning to the Washington Navy Yard on 1 April 1883. On 12 April 1883 she departed the navy yard to begin the year′s hatching operations on the Potomac River, proceeding to the newly established Fish Commission station at Fort Washington, Maryland, and collecting and hatching shad, herring, and striped bass eggs at Shipping Point until 7 May and then at Glymont, Maryland, until 25 May, when she completed her hatching season for the year and returned to Washington, arriving at the Washington Navy Yard on 28 May. Her next cruise began on 4 June 1883, when she departed Washington to gather information on the commercial use of pound nets and trap nets on the Potomac River and on the coast of Virginia along the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay from the mouth of the Potomac south to Cape Charles and along the bay′s Virginia eastern shore from Cape Henry to Cherrystone. Completing that work with her arrival at Cherrystone on 12 June 1883, she proceeded to York Spit, arriving there on 18 June to begin the next phase of her cruise, a search for Spanish mackerel and experiments with hatching that species′s eggs; although she hatched the eggs, none of the young fish survived for more than a few hours. While she was anchored in Lynnhaven Bay off Ocean Beach, Virginia, near Hampton Roads during this work, a heavy storm caused her to drag her anchor and blew her ashore on the evening of 13 July 1883. At various times the United States Army tug Monroe, the U.S. Navy tug USS Pinta, the commercial tug Snowdrop, the United States Revenue-Marine revenue cutter USRC Ewing, and the United States Lighthouse Board lighthouse tender USLHT Holly rendered assistance, and she finally was refloated on 18 July without suffering any damage. She resumed her Spanish mackerel operations on 21 July 1883, pausing them to tow the hospital barge Sesnon and moor her at Fisherman's Inlet at the request of health authorities. She completed her Spanish mackerel operations on 3 August 1883.

After a final – and unsuccessful – attempt to procure Spanish mackerel eggs on 13 August and a delay due to bad weather, Fish Hawk got underway from Hampton, Virginia, on 17 August 1883 bound for Wood's Hole, which she reached on 20 August. She began her deep-sea exploration program for the season with her first trawling cruise in the Gulf Stream from 22 to 24 August, commencing dredging operations south of Martha's Vineyard at 40°13′N 070°29′W beginning on 23 August. She made a day trip with a scientific party aboard to trawl and dredge on 27 August. She proceeded to New Bedford, Massachusetts, on 30 August and underwent boiler repairs there, departing New Bedford on 4 September, and made another day trip t trawl and dredge off the south coast of Martha′s Vineyard on 6 September. On 23 September 1883 she joined the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey survey ship USC&GS Blake and the U.S. Revenue-Marine revenue cutter USRC Dexter in coming to the assistance of the steamer Decatur H. Miller, which was ashore on the coast of Massachusetts in Vineyard Sound, and they succeeded in refloating Decatur H. Miller by the evening. On 9 October she made a day trip to Mememsha Bight to trawl and dredge with a scientific party aboard. She departed Wood′s Hole on 16 October, stopped at Newport, Rhode Island, for coal, and arrived at the New York Navy Yard in Brooklyn, New York, on 20 October. After loading scientific equipment from the U.S. Navy screw steamer USS Yantic — newly returned from an expedition to Greenland — and 100 live lobsters for release in the Chesapeake Bay, she departed Brooklyn on 26 October. Reaching Hampton Roads on 27 October, she deposited 92 of the lobsters near the Rip Raps, then proceeded to Washington, where she arrived on 30 October. She remained at Washington until 12 November, when she left for the Fish Commission station at St. Jerome's Creek, where she arrived on 13 November and began surveying and stocking the oyster beds and dredging and laying out three oyster ponds. She arrived at Washington on 26 November, completing her work for 1883. and spent the winter of 1883–1884 there.

1884 season

Fish Hawk departed Washington on 8 March 1884 to conduct a reconnaissance of rivers in the southeastern United States to gather information on the feasibility of increasing the shad population there by transferring hatching operations to rivers in Florida and South Carolina. After stops at Norfolk, Virginia, and Charleston, South Carolina, she arrived at Fernandina, Florida, on 18 March, then proceeded to St. Marys, Georgia, took aboard a pilot, and steamed up the St. Marys River,to Kings Ferry, Florida, where she arrived on 19 March. Finding few fish and none in good breeding condition there, she got back underway on 31 March and returned to Fernandina. Departing Fernandina on 3 April, she stopped at Savannah, Georgia, and Charleston, before arriving at Georgetown, South Carolina, where she put a landing party ashore to examine the shad fishery in Winyah Bay and the feasibility of establishing a Fish Commission hatching station there. She departed Georgetown on 7 April and arrived at Washington on 10 April, her commanding officer reporting that the rivers Fish Hawk had investigated were not suitable for the artificial propagation of shad. She conducted a cruise in the lower Potomac River and lower Chesapeake Bay from 24 to 28 April to study the fisheries there for shad, herring, and other fishes.

From 1 to 27 May 1884, Fish Hawk engaged in shad-hatching operations in the Potomac River at Bryant's Point off Fort Washington and off Mount Vernon, Virginia, interrupting her work on 14 June to take members of the United States Fisheries Association on a day trip on the Potomac from Washington to visit downriver fisheries. On 23 June she departed Washington to transport coal and ice to the St. Jerome station, where she remained — making repairs to the station′s boats and working with the Fish Commission steamer USFC Lookout — until 2 July, when she launched a barge and took the barge under tow for delivery to Battery station. Stopping at Baltimore from 3 to 5 July to pick up a scow, she delivered the barge and scow to the Battery station on 5 July. After loading cargo, she departed Havre de Grace on 7 July with a launch under tow. She delivered the launch to the St. Jerome station on 8 July and arrived at Washington, that evening.

On 15 July, Fish Hawk departed Washington to carry freight to Woods Hole. Stopping at New York City from 17 to 20 July and then pausing at Noank, Connecticut, to take a scow under tow for delivery to Woods Hole, she arrived at Woods Hole on 21 July. She began her annual deep-sea exploration cruises on 23 July with a day trip to trawl and dredge off Gay Head, Massachusetts, with U.S. Secretary of the Navy William E. Chandler and his party aboard. She was hauled out of the water at New Bedford to have her bottom cleaned on 30 and 31 July, and returned to Woods Hole on 1 August. On 19 August she embarked a scientific party for a day trip to Hawes Shoal for trawling and dredging. After the steamer Gate City transferred personnel of the U.S. Navy paddle steamer USS Tallapoosa — which had sunk in Vineyard Sound during the night of 21–22 August after colliding with the schooner J. S. Lowell — to Fish Hawk on 22 August, Fish Hawk steamed to the scene of Tallapoosa′s wreck, where she picked up Tallapoosa′s steam launch and the rest of her crew, determined that she could provide no further assistance, and returned to Woods Hole. She then returned to her scientific activities, embarking scientists for trawling trips to Menemsha Bight on 25 August and Buzzards Bay on 2 September and a dredging trip in Vineyard Sound on 8 September. Carrying specimens and freight, she departed Woods Hole on 16 October, stopped at the New York Navy Yard from 17 to 18 October to pick up 63 live lobsters, deposited the lobsters in the lower Chesapeake Bay off Back River Light on 19 October, and returned to the Washington Navy Yard on 20 October. From 2 to 27 November she made a Chesapeake Bay cruise to study oyster beds, making stops in at Annapolis, Baltimore, and Crisfield, Maryland, and operating primarily off St. Jerome's Creek and in Tangier Sound using equipment such as trawls, dredges, and tangle bars. She also sent a diver down at each location to study the conditions on the bottom of the bay, finding that the turbidity of the water limited the diver mostly to using his sense of touch during his investigations. Her return to Washington on 27 November ended her operations for the year.

1885 season

On 7 January 1885, Fish Hawk took advantage of relatively ice-free conditions on the Potomac River and got underway for Norfolk, Virginia, where she arrived on 8 January. She remained there until 16 March, when she steamed up the Chesapeake Bay bound for Havre de Grace, where she arrived on 17 March and took a scow under tow for delivery to the Fish Commission′s Battery Station. She got to within 3 nautical miles (5.6 km; 3.5 mi) of Battery Station on 18 March but encountered ice off the mouth of the Susquehanna River and was forced to anchor, soon getting underway when her crew found that the ice was threatening to push her ashore and making for Baltimore, where she made repairs to ice damage and awaited the breakup of the ice. She left Baltimore on 2 April, took in tow a schooner carrying 40 tons of coal for Battery Station, and steamed to Battery Island, finally mooring there on 3 April. Her crew did maintenance work on the station′s facilities. On 8 April she embarked two generals — Heth and Smith — of the United States Army Corps of Engineers for a day trip, steaming in the direction of the Sassafras River to locate the wrecks of two coal barges that had sunk in the Chesapeake Bay, posing hazards to navigation, and found them at 39°23′30″N 076°03′30″W. Heth and Smith disembarked on 9 April. On 24 April, Fish Hawk steamed from Battery Station to Havre de Grace, where she coaled on 24–25 April, and then moved on to Washington, where she arrived at the Washington Navy Yard on 26 April. On 7 May, she took members of the American Fisheries Society on a day trip from Washington to the Fish Commission station at Fort Washington, where they observed seine hauling and the manipulation of fish eggs at the hatchery. She was moored at Fort Washington from 16 to 20 May so that members of her crew could receive instruction in taking spawn, her crew going ashore with fire buckets 90 minutes after her arrival on 16 May to help fight a fire that broke out at the hatchery.

On 20 May 1885, Fish Hawk got back underway to deploy to the Delaware River, arriving off Gloucester Point, New Jersey, on 26 May. Finding that shad had already been spawning for some time before her arrival — leading the Fish Commission to conclude that an earlier start was advisable in future years in order to increase the productivity of artificial hatching efforts — she collected 10,604,000 shad eggs between 23 May and 10 June, of which 8,063,000 hatched, and she deposited all of the juvenile fish in the Delaware River. On 11 June, she went on display at Burlington, New Jersey. Departing the Delaware River on 13 June, she called at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from 13 to 14 June, then steamed south to Norfolk, where she arrived on 15 June. From 19 June to 6 August — suffering a mishap on 29 June while unmooring at the Norfolk Navy Yard when a mooring line parted, causing her port propeller to strike a spar fender and lose two of its blades — she operated in the Chesapeake Bay, where she collected 4.5 million shad eggs and hatched 1,370,000 of them and experimented with hatching Spanish mackerel eggs; the vast majority of the Spanish mackerel eggs died, although on 22 July Fish Hawk finally hatched 30,000 Spanish mackerel successfully and deposited them in Tangier Sound. From 9 to 29 August she was involved in driving piles as part of the construction of a channel at the St. Jerome fisheries station. On 1 September she arrived at Baltimore, where she was hauled out of the water from 6 to 12 September for repairs. She departed Baltimore on 18 September and, after making stops at Battery Station from 18 to 19 September, Havre de Grace from 19 to 20 September, and St. Jerome Station on 20 September, she proceeded to Hampton Roads. She departed Hampton Roads on 24 September, called at the New York Navy Yard in Brooklyn from 25 to 26 September, and on 27 September arrived at Woods Hole, where she spent the winter of 1885–1886.

1886

Apart from a trip to New Bedford from 14 to 16 February 1886 for coal and supplies, Fish Hawk remained at Woods Hole until 21 February 1886, when she got underway to operate in the eastern Gulf of Maine to collect cod eggs for the Woods Hole Station, mostly using Portsmouth, New Hampshire, as her base for these operations. While she was anchored in the harbor at Portsmouth between 25 and 27 February, a severe gale struck, sinking her steam launch, putting Fish Hawk in danger of dragging her anchor and going onto rocks, and causing two schooners to collide with her, slightly damaging her upper works, On 27 February the weather moderated enough for her to get underway and tie up at the Portsmouth Navy Yard at Kittery, Maine, where she remained until 3 March to ride out the remainder of the storm. She conducted a search for her sunken steam launch on 3 and 4 March, but did not find it, and it was not refloated and recovered until September 1886. Resuming her planned operations, she collected several million cod eggs for shipment to Woods Hole. Completing the work, she steamed from the Portsmouth Navy Yard to the Boston Navy Yard at Boston, Massachusetts, on 24 March and remained there until 10 April while awaiting orders and undergoing repairs to the damage she suffered from her collision with the schooners at Portsmouth during the February gale. She left Boston on 12 April and returned to Woods Hole, which she reached on 14 April.

Fish Hawk departed Woods Hole on 16 April 1886 and headed south, spending the night of 16–17 April at Newport, Rhode Island, because of heavy fog and calling at the New York Navy Yard in Brooklyn from 18 to 22 April to await orders. She then steamed to the Fish Commission station at Battery Island in the Chesapeake Bay, arriving there on 24 April. From 26 April to 1 May she operated on shad-propagation duties in the vicinity of Battery Island and the mouth of the Susquehanna River. On 3 May she departed Battery Island and proceeded to Gloucester City, New Jersey, to propagate shad on the Delaware River, collecting 34,454,500 shad eggs and hatching 21,018,000 of them on board by 10 June, when she arrived at Camden, New Jersey, to undergo repairs that involved hauling her out of the water from 15 to 17 June. She then called at Gloucester City from 19 to 21 June, when she got underway for Washington, D.C., where she moored at the Washington Navy Yard on 24 June. She remained there until 9 July, when she departed for St. Jerome Station. From 10 July until 28 August, she moved back and forth between the St. Jerome and Battery stations, towing vessels such as a dredger, scows, and a steam launch between the stations and her crew assisting in dredging and construction work at each station and in the sinking of an artesian well at the St. Jerome Station. Completing this work, she headed south on 28 August carrying equipment and passengers to Woods Hole, stopping at Hampton Roads from 28 to 29 August, and then heading up the United States East Coast, stopping at the Winter Quarter Shoal, Five Fathom Bank, and Sandy Hook lightships to instruct their crews in the methods of taking temperature measurements for the Fish Commission. She also paused at Newport, Rhode Island, to embark the Commissioner of Fisheries, Spencer F. Baird, for transportation to Woods Hole. With him aboard, she steamed from Newport to Woods Hole on 2 September and remained there until 12 September.

A steam windlass and its engines and boiler manufactured for the new Fish Commission schooner USFC Grampus had proven too heavy for Grampus during her August 1886 shakedown cruise, and Grampus had unshipped the windlass after the cruise and left it at Woods Hole. Fish Hawk loaded it aboard on 13 September, and on 14 September got underway with the Fish Commission steamer USFC Halcyon in tow. During the day she dropped Halcyon off at the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company in Bristol, Rhode Island, then arrived at Providence, Rhode Island, where the American Steam Windlass Company installed Grampus′s former windlass aboard Fish Hawk. With that completed, Fish Hawk departed Providence on 27 September and, after spending the night of 27–28 September at Newport due to fog, returned to Woods Hole, where she remained until 24 October. She got underway on 24 October with the Fish Commission launch USFC Cygnet in tow. She called at the New York Navy Yard in Brooklyn from 24 to 26 October, dropping off Cygnet there, then began a voyage to the St. Jerome Station, pausing just outside New York Harbor to conduct an unsuccessful search near Sandy Hook, New Jersey, for English sole, a species that had been introduced there several years earlier. Experiencing weather delays, she finally arrived at St. Jerome Station on 2 November, then towed a launch from St. Jerome Station to Battery Station on 3–4 November and remained at Battery Station until 3 December — except for a round trip to St. Jerome Station from 22 to 26 November to pick up cargo for Battery Station — while her crew performed work for the station. With ice appearing on 3 December and endangering Fish Hawk, she got underway, arriving at Baltimore on 4 December and spending the rest of the year there.

1887

Fish Hawk spent 2 through 26 May 1887 on shad-hatching duties in the eastern Chesapeake Bay off the mouth of the North East River, turning her remaining fish and eggs over to the Battery Island station at the end of deployment, bringing her total for shad eggs transferred to the station for the season to 1,330,000 eggs.

1888

Fish Hawk spent 2 through 26 May 1887 on shad-hatching duties in the eastern Chesapeake Bay off the mouth of the North East River, turning her remaining fish and eggs over to the Battery Island station at the end of deployment, bringing her total for shad eggs transferred to the station for the season to 1,330,000 eggs.

USFS Gannet

FY1921 - Fish-culture New England coast. p. 49 1921; Boothbay Harbor fish-culture, lobster pound repairs, p. 38.

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