The Action of 1 January 1800 was a naval battle of the Quasi-War that took place off the coast of present day Haiti, near the island of Gonâve in the Bight of Léogâne. The battle was fought between an American convoy consisting of four merchant vessels escorted by the United States naval schoonerUSS Experiment, and a squadron of armed barges manned by piratical Haitians known as picaroons. A French-aligned Haitian general, André Rigaud, had instructed his forces to attack all foreign shipping within their range of operations. Accordingly, once Experiment and her convoy of merchant ships neared Gonâve, the picaroons attacked them, capturing two of the American merchant ships before withdrawing. Experiment managed to save the other two ships in her convoy, and escorted them to a friendly port. Although the picaroons took heavy losses during this engagement, they still remained strong enough to continue wreaking havoc among American shipping in the region. Only after Rigaud was forced out of power by the forces of Toussaint L'Ouverture did the picaroon attacks cease.
The Almirante Latorre class consisted of two battleships (Spanish: acorazados) designed by the British Armstrong Whitworth company for the Chilean Navy. Only one, Almirante Latorre, was finished as a battleship; the other, Almirante Cochrane, was converted to an aircraft carrier. They were sold to the Royal Navy prior to completion and renamed Canada and Eagle. Under their Chilean names, they honored the Admirals (Almirantes) Juan José Latorre and Thomas Cochrane. They took their British names from the dominion and a traditional ship name in the Royal Navy. Prior to completion, Almirante Latorre and Almirante Cochrane were purchased by the British Royal Navy for use in the First World War. Almirante Latorre, which was closer to completion than her sister, was commissioned into British service as Canada in October 1915. She spent her wartime service with the Grand Fleet, seeing action in the Battle of Jutland. After the war, she was put into reserve before being sold back to Chile in 1920 as Almirante Latorre. The crew of the battleship instigated a naval mutiny in 1931. After a major refit in 1937, she patrolled Chile's coast during the Second World War. She was scrapped in 1959. After Almirante Cochrane was purchased by the British, construction on the ship was halted until 1918, when it was decided to convert her into an aircraft carrier. After numerous delays, she was commissioned into the Royal Navy in February 1924. She served in the Mediterranean Fleet and on the China Station in the inter-war period, and operated in the Atlantic and Mediterranean during the Second World War before being sunk in August 1942 during Operation Pedestal.
Australian troops crossing a shallow creek between Weber Point and Malalamai.
The Battle of Sio, fought between December 1943 and March 1944, was the breakout and pursuit phase of GeneralDouglas MacArthur's Huon Peninsula campaign, part of the New Guinea campaign of World War II. Following the defeat of the Japanese in the Battle of Sattelberg, Australian Army forces broke through to Finschhafen. Constant pressure from U.S. NavyPT boats, Australian land forces and Allied aircraft brought the Japanese logistical system to the brink of collapse. Meanwhile the Allied supply system grappled with the problems of terrain and climate, particularly inclement weather and rough monsoonal seas. Australian and Papuan troops advanced along the coast of the Huon Peninsula, employing infantry, tanks, and air strikes against the Japanese positions, which were generally sited at creek crossings in the jungle. Using tactics that exploited the firepower of Australian artillery and armour, the Australian and Papuan troops inflicted heavy and disproportionate casualties on the Japanese as they advanced, ultimately linking up with the American forces at Saidor. Hundreds of Japanese soldiers were killed; thousands more died from disease, malnutrition, exhaustion and suicide. However, the Allies failed to seize the opportunity to completely destroy the Japanese forces. During the advance, Australian troops captured Japanese cryptographic materials. This would have an important effect on the subsequent course of the war against Japan in the South West Pacific, as it permitted codebreakers in Australia and the United States to read Japanese Army messages on a much greater scale than had been previously possible.
The Admiralty IX Floating Dry Dock at Singapore Navy Base, which was the target of two USAAF raids in 1945.
The Bombing of Singapore (1944–1945) was a military campaign conducted by the Allied air forces during World War II. United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) long-range bomber units conducted 11 air raids on Japanese-occupied Singapore between November 1944 and March 1945. Most of these raids targeted the naval base and dockyard facilities on the island, though several minelaying missions were conducted in nearby waters. After the American bombers were redeployed, the British Royal Air Force assumed responsibility for minelaying operations near Singapore and these continued until 24 May 1945. The raids had mixed results. While significant damage was inflicted on Singapore's important naval base and commercial port, some raids on these targets were not successful and other attacks on oil storage facilities on islands near Singapore were ineffective. The minelaying campaign disrupted Japanese shipping in the Singapore area and resulted in the loss of three vessels and damage to a further ten, but was not decisive. The Allied air attacks were, however, successful in raising the morale of Singapore's civilian population, who believed that the raids marked the impending liberation of the city. The overall number of civilian casualties from the bombings was low, though one attack rendered hundreds of people homeless and civilian workers were killed during attacks on military facilities.
US and ROK soldiers lay roses at the foot of the Hill 303 memorial
The Hill 303 massacre was a war crime that took place in the Korean War on August 17, 1950 on a hill above Waegwan, South Korea. Forty-one captured US Armyprisoners of war were machine-gunned by members of the North Korean People's Army during one of the smaller engagements of the Battle of Pusan Perimeter. Operating near Taegu during the Battle of Taegu, elements of the US Army's 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division were surrounded by North Korean troops crossing the Naktong River at Hill 303. Most of the US troops were able to escape but one platoon of mortar operators misidentified North Korean troops as South Korean Army reinforcements, and was captured. American forces eventually broke the North Korean advance, routing the force. As the North Koreans began to retreat, one of their officers ordered the prisoners to be shot so they would not slow the North Koreans down. US commanders broadcast radio messages and dropped leaflets demanding the senior North Korean commanders be held responsible for the atrocity. The North Korean commanders, concerned about the way their soldiers were treating prisoners of war, laid out stricter guidelines for handling enemy captives. Memorials were later constructed on Hill 303 by troops at nearby Camp Carroll to honor the victims.
Hōshō was the world's first commissioned ship that was designed and built as an aircraft carrier, and the first aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). Commissioned in 1922, the ship provided valuable lessons and experience for the IJN in early carrier air operations. Hōshō'ssuperstructure and other obstructions to the flight deck were removed in 1924 on the advice of experienced aircrews. Hōshō and her aircraft group participated in the Shanghai Incident in 1932 and in the opening stages of the Sino-Japanese War in late 1937. During those two conflicts, the carrier's aircraft supported Imperial Japanese Army ground operations and engaged in aerial combat with enemy aircraft. The small size of the ship and her assigned airgroups (usually around 15 aircraft), however, limited the effectiveness of her contributions to combat operations. As a result, the carrier was placed in reserve after her return to Japan from China and she became a training carrier in 1939. During World War II Hōshō participated in the Battle of Midway in June 1942 in a secondary role. After the battle, she resumed her training role in Japanese home waters and survived the war with only minor damage from air attacks. She was used as a repatriation transport after the war, making nine trips to bring some 40,000 Japanese soldiers and civilians from overseas. Hōshō was scrapped in Japan beginning in 1946.
Peveril Castle from Cavedale with Lose Hill in the background
Peveril Castle is a medieval building overlooking the village of Castleton in the English county of Derbyshire. The castle is named after its founder, William Peveril, who held lands in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire on behalf of the king. It was built sometime between the Norman Conquest in 1066 and its first recorded mention in 1086, in the Domesday Survey. The closest Peveril Castle came to seeing battle was in 1216 when King John gave the castle to William de Ferrers, but the castellan refused to relinquish control. Although they were both John's supporters, the king authorised the earl to use force to evict the castellan; eventually he capitulated although there is no evidence that the castle was assaulted. In 1223 the castle returned to the Crown. In the 13th century there were periods of building work at the castle, and by 1300 Peveril's final form had been established. Towards the end of the 14th century, the lordship was granted to John of Gaunt. Having little use for the castle, he ordered some of its material to be stripped out for reuse, marking the beginning of its decline. Since the time of John of Gaunt, the castle has been administered by the Duchy of Lancaster. By 1609 it was "very ruinous and serveth for no use". In the 19th century, Sir Walter Scott featured the castle in his novel, Peveril of the Peak. The site is cared for by English Heritage and situated in a national park. Peveril Castle is protected as a Scheduled Monument and a Grade I listed building.
The Siege of Fort William Henry was conducted in August 1757 by French General Louis-Joseph de Montcalm against the British-held Fort William Henry. Located at the southern end of Lake George on the frontier between the British Province of New York and the French Province of Canada, the fort was garrisoned by a poorly supported force of British regulars and provincial militia led by Lieutenant Colonel George Monro. After several days of bombardment, Monro surrendered to Montcalm, whose force included nearly 2,000 Indians from a large number of tribes. The terms of surrender included the withdrawal of the garrison to Fort Edward, with specific terms that the French military protect the British from the Indians as they withdrew from the area. In one of the most notorious incidents of the French and Indian War, Montcalm's Indian allies violated the agreed terms of surrender and attacked the British column, which had been deprived of ammunition, as it left the fort. They killed and scalped a significant number of soldiers, took women, children, servants, and slaves captive, and slaughtered sick and wounded prisoners. Early accounts of the events called it a massacre, and implied that as many as 1,500 people were killed, even though it is unlikely that there were more than 200 fatalities. The exact role of Montcalm and other French leaders in encouraging or defending against the actions of their allies, and the total number of casualties incurred as a result of their actions, is a subject of historical debate. The memory of the killings influenced the actions of British military leaders, especially those of British General Jeffery Amherst, for the remainder of the war.
SMS Rheinland ("His Majesty's ship Rhineland") was one of four Nassau-classbattleships, the first dreadnoughts built for the German Imperial Navy (Kaiserliche Marine). Rheinland mounted twelve 28 cm (11 in) main guns in six twin turrets in an unusual hexagonal arrangement. The navy built Rheinland and her sister ships in response to the revolutionary British HMS Dreadnought, which had been launched in 1906. Rheinland was laid down in June 1907, launched the following year in October, and commissioned in April 1910. Rheinland's extensive service with the High Seas Fleet during World War I included several fleet advances into the North Sea, some in support of raids against the English coast conducted by the German battlecruisers of the I Scouting Group. These sorties culminated in the Battle of Jutland on 31 May – 1 June 1916, in which Rheinland was heavily engaged by British destroyers in close-range night fighting. The ship also saw duty in the Baltic Sea, as part of the support force for the Battle of the Gulf of Riga in 1915. She returned to the Baltic as the core of an expeditionary force to aid the White Finns in the Finnish Civil War in 1918, but ran aground shortly after arriving in the area. The damage was deemed too severe to justify repairs and Rheinland was decommissioned to be used as a barracks ship for the remainder of the war. In 1919, following the scuttling of the German fleet in Scapa Flow, Rheinland was ceded to the Allies who, in turn, sold the vessel to ship-breakers in the Netherlands. The ship was eventually broken up for scrap metal starting in 1920. Her bell is on display at the Military History Museum of the Bundeswehr in Dresden.
Windsor Castle is a former medievalcastle, now royal palace, in Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, notable for its long royal history and its architecture. The original castle was built after the Norman invasion by William the Conqueror, and since the time of Henry I it has been used by a succession of monarchs; it is the longest-occupied palace in Europe. The castle includes the 15th-century St George's Chapel, considered by historian John Robinson to be "one of the supreme achievements of English Perpendicular Gothic" design. More than five hundred people live and work in Windsor, making it the largest inhabited castle in the world. Originally designed to protect Norman dominance around the outskirts of London, and to oversee a strategically important part of the River Thames, Windsor Castle was built as a motte and bailey, with three wards surrounding a central mound. Gradually replaced with stone fortifications, the castle withstood a prolonged siege during the First Barons' War at the start of the 13th century. Henry III built a luxurious royal palace within the castle during the middle of the century, and Edward III rebuilt the palace to produce an even grander set of buildings in what would become "the most expensive secular building project of the entire Middle Ages in England". Windsor Castle survived a tumultuous period during the English Civil War, in which it was used as a military headquarters for Parliamentary forces and a prison for Charles I. During the Restoration, Charles II rebuilt much of Windsor Castle with the help of architect Hugh May, creating a set of extravagant, Baroque interiors. After a period of neglect during the 18th century, George III and George IV renovated and rebuilt Charles II's palace at colossal expense, producing the current design of the State Apartments, full of Rococo, Gothic and Baroque furnishings. Windsor Castle was used as a refuge for the royal family during the bombing campaigns of the Second World War and survived a fire in 1992. It is a popular tourist attraction, and the Queen's preferred weekend home.
In 1892, Abdul Kadir, the first battleship of the Ottoman Empire, was laid down as part of a small-scale expansion of the Ottoman Navy. Hampered by delays, the ship was scrapped in 1914 without having ever been launched. As a consequence, the first battleships commissioned by the empire were the ex-German Barbaros Hayreddin and Turgut Reis, which were transferred in September 1910. While Barbaros Hayreddin was sunk during World War I, Turgut Reis remained in service until 1938. In 1911, the Ottoman Empire attempted to build a number of their own battleships, starting the Reshadieh-class. Three ships were planned, however, only one, Reshadieh, was actually laid down. Constructed by the Vickers company in Britain, the ship was commissioned in August 1914 but was later seized by the Royal Navy for use during the war. The other two ships of the class were scrapped on the slipway. In 1913, Sultan Osman I, under construction in Britain for the Brazilian Navy, was purchased from Brazil, but it too was seized following the outbreak of the war. Shortly afterwards, the German Goeben, which had evaded a British blockade to reach Constantinople, was transferred to the Ottoman Navy and renamed Yavuz Sultan Selim. It served during the remainder of World War I, and also during World War II. It was decommissioned in 1950 and was scrapped in 1973.
The 29th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry was an infantryregiment in the Union army of the United States during the American Civil War. The regiment was organized in December 1861 and during the course of the war took part in 29 battles and four sieges in a variety of theaters. In 1862, during the Peninsular Campaign, the 29th was attached to the Army of the Potomac as part of the famed Irish Brigade; the only regiment of non-Irish ethnicity to serve in that brigade. In January 1863, the 29th Massachusetts was transferred to Kentucky and engaged in operations against Confederateguerillas. In the summer of 1863, they were transferred again and took part in the Siege of Vicksburg and the Siege of Jackson, Mississippi. In the fall of 1863, they fought in the Knoxville Campaign which resulted in the defeat of Confederate forces in eastern Tennessee. The spring of 1864 saw the regiment once again returned to duty with the Army of the Potomac, just in time to take part in the Overland Campaign and the Siege of Petersburg. On March 25, 1865, at the Battle of Fort Stedman, the unit suffered their worst casualties of the war. The 29th was mustered out of service on August 11, 1865. It had one of the longest terms of service of any Massachusetts regiment—a total of four years and three months.
The Battle of Haman was one engagement in the larger Battle of Pusan Perimeter between United Nations (UN) and North Korean (NK) forces early in the Korean War from August 31 to September 19, 1950, in the vicinity of Haman County in South Korea. The engagement ended in a victory for the United Nations after large numbers of United States and Republic of Korea (ROK) troops repelled a strong North Korean attack on the town of Haman. Operating in defense of Masan during the Battle of Masan, the US Army's 24th Infantry Regiment was stretched along a long line on a ridge to the west of the town, at Haman. When the North Korean People's Army6th Division attacked the town, the US troops fought to repel their advance in a weeklong battle in which the 24th Infantry performed poorly, and other US reinforcements were brought in to assist in fighting off the attack. The battle remained bitterly deadlocked long enough for another UN force to counterattack at Inchon, forcing the North Korean Army to retreat from Masan.
The Battle of Hwanggan was an engagement between United States and North Korean forces that took place on July 23–29, 1950, on a road north of the village of Hwanggan in southern South Korea, early in the Korean War. The battle ended in a victory for the North Koreans after US troops were forced to withdraw south. The US Army's 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, newly arrived in Korea, was moved to a road north of Hwanggan to block the North Korean People's Army's 2nd Division, advancing following the Battle of Taejon. In an unusually good first performance, the 27th Infantry was able to delay the North Korean division for almost a week, inflicting heavy casualties on it while suffering few casualties of their own. The North Koreans eventually were able to overwhelm the US forces with sheer numbers, capturing Hwanggan and pushing the American units further south. However, the action solidified the 27th Infantry's position as a valuable reserve unit for the US Eighth Army during the Battle of Pusan Perimeter. The 27th would go on to distinguish itself in several critical battles, including the Battle of the Bowling Alley.
Logistics in the Battle of Pusan Perimeter (August 4 – September 15, 1950) during the Korean War played a decisive role in the battle. Efficient logistics, the management of personnel and materiel, supported United Nations (UN) supply lines while the North Koreans' routes of supply were steadily reduced and cut off. UN logistics improved throughout the Battle of Inchon and the defeat of the North Korean army at Pusan. UN forces, consisting primarily of troops from the Republic of Korea (ROK), the United States (US), and United Kingdom (UK), enjoyed overwhelming air and sea superiority during the battle. The UN efficiently procured and transported supplies from a large stockpile of materiel in nearby Japan. In contrast, North Korean logistics were hampered by UN interdiction campaigns which slowed the flow of supplies from North Korea to the battle. Though supported logistically by the Soviet Union and China during the battle, North Koreans often had difficulties getting their supplies from warehouses to the front lines, leaving North Korean troops unsupported during several crucial engagements.
The Battle of Towton was fought during the English Wars of the Roses on 29 March 1461, near the village of the same name. It was the "largest and bloodiest battle ever fought on English soil." According to chroniclers, more than 50,000 soldiers from the Houses of York and Lancaster fought for hours amidst a snowstorm on that day, which was a Palm Sunday. A newsletter circulated a week after the battle reported that 28,000 died on the battlefield. The engagement brought about a change in the rulership of England—Edward IV displaced Henry VI as King of England, driving the head of the Lancastrians and his key supporters out of the country. Later generations remembered the battle as depicted in William Shakespeare's dramatic adaptation of Henry's life—Henry VI, Part 3, Act 2, Scene 5. In 1929, the Towton Cross was erected on the battlefield to commemorate the event. Various archaeological remains and mass graves related to the battle were found in the area centuries after the engagement.
US troops move to engage the North Koreans at Yongdong
The Battle of Yongdong was an engagement between United States and North Korean forces early in the Korean War. It occurred on July 22–25, 1950, in the village of Yongdong in southern South Korea. The newly arrived US Army's 1st Cavalry Division was ordered there to cover the retreat of the US 24th Infantry Division after the Battle of Taejon. The 1st Cavalry Division soldiers, however, were untried in combat, and the North Korean People's Army's 3rd Division (NK 3rd Division) was able to outmaneuver them and force them back. Though the Americans lost the town, their artillery inflicted substantial casualties on the North Koreans and delayed them for several crucial days, allowing the United Nations Command time to set up the Pusan Perimeter.
The Fusō-class battleships were two battleships of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) constructed during World War I. Displacing 29,330 long tons (29,800 t), Fusō and Yamashiro, the vessels of this class, were the first super-dreadnoughts of the IJN. Completed from 1915 to 1917, they outclassed all battleships of both the Royal Navy and the United States Navy in terms of speed and firepower. Both patrolled briefly off the coast of China in the last year of World War I before being placed in reserve at the war's end. In 1922, Yamashiro became the first battleship in the IJN to successfully launch aircraft. By the eve of World War II, the Fusō class was considered obsolete in comparison to more modern battleships of both the United States and Imperial Japanese Navies. As a result, neither vessel saw significant action in the early years of the war. Fusō served as a troop transport in 1943, while Yamashiro was relegated to training duty in the Inland Sea. Both underwent upgrades to their antiaircraft suite in 1944, before embarking to Singapore in August 1944. Fusō and Yamashiro sailed as part of the Southern Force during the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Both were lost in the early hours of 25 October 1944 to American torpedoes and naval gunfire during the Battle of Surigao Strait.
Kenilworth Castle is located in the town of the same name in Warwickshire, England. Constructed from Norman through to Tudor times, the castle has been described by architectural historian Anthony Emery as "the finest surviving example of a semi-royal palace of the later middle ages, significant for its scale, form and quality of workmanship". The castle was the subject of the six-month long Siege of Kenilworth in 1266, believed to be the longest siege in English history, and formed a base for Lancastrian operations in the War of the Roses. Kenilworth was also the scene of the removal of Edward II from the English throne, the French insult to Henry V in 1414 (said by John Strecche to have encouraged the Agincourt campaign), and the Earl of Leicester's lavish reception of Elizabeth I in 1575. Kenilworth was partly destroyed by Parliamentary forces in 1649 to prevent it being used as a military stronghold; only two of its buildings remain habitable today. The castle is classed as a Grade I listed building and as a Scheduled Monument, and is open to the public.
The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (German: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) and its variants were the highest awards in the military of the Third Reich during World War II. This military decoration was awarded for a wide range of reasons and across all ranks, ranging from a senior commander for skilled leadership of his troops in battle to a low-ranking soldier for a single act of extreme gallantry. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub) was introduced on 3 June 1940 to further distinguish those who had already received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and who continued to show merit in combat bravery or military success. A total of 7 awards were made in 1940, 50 in 1941, 111 in 1942, 192 in 1943, 328 in 1944, and 194 in 1945, giving a total of 882 recipients—excluding the 8 foreign recipients of the award. The number of 882 Oak Leaves recipients is based on the analysis and acceptance of the order commission of the Association of Knight's Cross Recipients (AKCR). However author and historian Veit Scherzer has challenged the validity of 27 of these listings.
The Minas Geraes class consisted of two battleships (Portuguese: encouraçados) built for the Brazilian Navy (Marinha do Brasil) by the British Armstrong Whitworth company. Named Minas Geraes and São Paulo after major cities in Brazil, the ships were intended to be the country's first step towards becoming an international power. Designing and ordering the ships took two years, but these plans were scrapped after the revolutionary HMS Dreadnought rendered the Brazilian design obsolete, and two dreadnoughts were ordered instead. Brazil became the third country to have a dreadnought under construction, before traditional major powers like Germany, France or Russia. The order caused a stir among major powers in the world, many of whom incorrectly speculated that the ships were actually destined for a rival nation. Soon after their delivery in 1910, Minas Geraes and São Paulo were embroiled in the Revolt of the Lash, in which the crews of four Brazilian ships demanded the abolition of corporal punishment in the navy. The ships surrendered four days after it began, when a bill was passed granting amnesty to all involved. In 1922, the two battleships put down a revolt at Fort Copacabana. Two years later, lieutenants on São Paulo mutinied but found little support from other military units, so they sailed to Montevideo, Uruguay, and requested asylum. Minas Geraes was modernized in the 1930s, but both battleships were too old to actively participate in the Second World War, and instead were employed as harbor defense ships in Salvador and Recife. São Paulo was sold in 1951 to a British shipbreaker, but was lost in a storm north of the Azores while being towed to her final destination. Minas Geraes was sold to an Italian scrapper in 1953 and towed to Genoa the following year.
SMS Bayern was the lead ship of the Bayern class of battleships in the German Imperial Navy. The vessel was launched in February 1915 and entered service in July 1916, too late to take part in the Battle of Jutland. Her main armament consisted of eight 38 cm (15 in) guns in four turrets, which was a significant improvement over the preceding König's ten 30.5 cm (12 inch) guns. The ship was to have formed the nucleus for a fourth battle squadron in the High Seas Fleet, along with three of her sister ships. However, only one of the other ships—Baden—was completed. As she had been commissioned late in the war, Bayern had a limited service career. Her first operation was an abortive fleet advance into the North Sea on 18–19 August 1916, just a month after commissioning. She also participated in Operation Albion in the Gulf of Riga, but shortly after the German attack began on 12 October 1917, Bayern was mined and had to be withdrawn for repairs. She was interned with the majority of the High Seas Fleet in Scapa Flow in November 1918 following the end of World War I. On 21 June 1919, Admiral Ludwig von Reuter ordered the fleet to be scuttled; Bayern sank at 14:30. In September 1934, the ship was raised and towed to Rosyth, where she was scrapped.
König-class battleship
