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A complement to this shot - taken also in New York but not on the same trip, and not exactly in the same area. I really noticed for the first time this style and how prominent it is in NYC.
Sometimes I really wish I lived there - so much to play with!
Full complement of plates with tags and remnants of dealer sticker for Ron Brooks of Ilkeston. Not local to me, their website says they're still a Toyota dealer and have been since the early '70s: www.ronbrooks.co.uk/about-us/
Forvie National Nature Reserve is on the Ythan Estuary on the east coast of Scotland approximately 16 miles north of Aberdeen.
The stark beauty of empty sand dunes is complemented by the call of Eider ducks, wafting like gentle gossiping across the Ythan estuary. With the constant shifting of the dunes, layers of history have come and gone, revealing the half buried remains of a twelfth century church.
The Sands of Forvie is a nature reserve north of Newburgh in Aberdeenshire in the northeast of Scotland. Forvie
National Nature Reserve has the fifth largest sand dune system in Britain, and the least disturbed by human activity.
The dune system is an integral part of the Ythan Estuary and separated by the estuary from Balmedie beach. The reserve contains large areas of sandy foreshore, mobile and fixed dunes, dune pasture and lowland heath and the successional development of vegetation. The sand dunes are of various stages of evolution and contain marram grass (Ammophila arenaria), red fescue, (Festuca rubra), crowberry, (Empetrum nigrum), the cross-leaved heath (Erica tetralix), common sedge, (Carex nigra), marsh pennywort (Hydrocotyle vulgaris) and the invasive creeping willow (Salix repens ssp. argentea).
The reserve contains the largest breeding colony of eider duck in Britain and an internationally important ternery.
The area is designated as a Special Protection Area for wildlife conservation purposes. The reserve is managed by Scottish Natural Heritage. Stevenson Forvie Centre near Collieston provides information on the reserve.
The sands were the site of the village of Forvie that was abandoned due to drifting sands.
Forvie was active in World Wars I and II, although very few details are recorded on the use of the area. It was incorrectly claimed there was a nine-hole golf course from 1900 to the outbreak of World War II. The course built for Lady Cathcart in 1900 was on the west coast island Uist.
The layout of Forvie and Newburgh could be mistaken for the mouth of the River Don in Aberdeen. With this is mind, defences were put in places around the mouth of the Ythan.
These consisted of pill boxes, two gun batteries and anti-tank blocks built by the 143rd Pioneer Corps. From a review of vulnerable beaches from April–October 1941, Forvie appeared on this list and was identified as "blocked with mines". The minefield ran from East to West (WO ref 31/521474 to 538472).
These were British Type C land mines weighing about 65 lbs each. Following a clear up of the area in July 1944, a number of landmines were unaccounted for due to the shifting sands of the area. Mine clearance altered the area slightly as the Bomb Disposal Unit from the Royal Engineers used a converted Bren gun carrier (known as a wasp) as a flamethrower to scorch vegetation on the mined area. Records show on some days 222 mines being dealt with, the actual mine count is unknown but the area took several months to clear. on 27 July 1944, Sapper Harry Dean (28) of 11 coy, Royal Engineers was killed whilst clearing a mine at Forvie. Sapper Dean is buried in Yorkshire .
minefield start / end from Royal Engineers file in TNA - Kew
Forvie sands was used to train the Gordon Highlanders and Highland Light Infantry in desert warfare, in addition to this Forvie Moor was used to train soldiers in the use of grenade, anti-tank grenades and 2" trench mortars. Since the war, mortar bombs have been found across the moor. Craters are still visible in the area. The soldiers training at Forvie were billeted at the Slains Lodge and buildings in Collieston.
On 3 November 1940, 30 High Explosive Bombs were dropped on Forvie Links by the luftwaffe. This is listed in the Aberdeenshire Civil Defence register, however little evidence exists that this occurred. No craters or patterns indicating a bombing run can be seen.
Whilst soldiers were training there, the moor were off limits to locals. However on Sundays, the locals could use the moor. During this time, locals collected birds eggs to use as food was rationed, and there was a plentiful supply of rabbits. On Sunday 30 November 1941, three local boys found an unexploded anti-tank grenade in a rabbit burrow that the army had been demonstrating to the home guard. One of the boys (Alex Ross), then threw it away where it exploded causing him to lose sight in one eye.
On 31 March 1941, the British steamer Melrose Abbey ran aground. On 2 April 1941 she was hit by a drifting sea mine blowing a large hole in her side, and settled on the Ythan river bed. During this time, a machine gun was posted at Forvie Sands to offer some protection for the vessel whilst plans were made to move her as she was a target for passing aircraft.
The ship was refloated on 26 July 1941 and towed to Aberdeen for repairs. She was later sunk by U-356 on 27 December 1942 north-east of the Azores. Several websites confirm this sinking, but this disagrees with the information in the reference below, which states that "As for Melrose Abbey, she was released from the Royal Navy in May 1945 and returned to her former owners, the Associated Humber Lines." The second reference may help to resolve this mix-up of ship names.
Beside the pill box of Forvie, two mobile naval 4" guns were places and controlled by 942nd Defence battery.
On 26 January 1942, the SS Lesrix, which was carrying machinery, ran aground off Hackley head during a blizzard. Locals in the community aided in the rescue of some of the crew, although ten crew members were lost. A bronze medal for gallantry was given by the King to one local for his part.
During patrols on the beach and cliffs of Forvie, a dinghy was found and this sparked a search for a spy that had been landed by submarine. This spy was caught in the moray area. It was rumoured that Tillery house near Udny had fascist sympathizers, where spies and airmen were told this was a "safe house" during the war. Since there were also Norwegian army personnel in the area who patrolled the beaches, the coast guard and home guard were issued with passes to identify themselves to the Norwegian soldiers.
In 1948, the Forvie area was earmarked to be a bombing and artillery range for the Royal Air Force and Army, as a site further north than the existing area at Lunan Bay near Arbroath. Forvie was to be used for air to ground and dive bombing practice. This involved a gunnery range out at sea and an rifle range on the moor. This proposal was cancelled in 1950; records exist in the National Archives on the proposal.
The 2014 Doddington Hall Sculpture Exhibition at Doddington Hall, a Grade I listed Elizabethan mansion complete with walled courtyards and a gabled gatehouse. In Doddington, North Kesteven, Lincolnshire.
The Sculpture Exhibitions are held every two years and feature carefully selected national and international sculptors to complement each area and to provide an eclectic exhibition to suit all tastes, styles and budgets.
Curator David Waghorne arranged the outdoor pieces taking full advantage of the Doddington Hall back drop and the large and varied gardens. Almost every piece on exhibition is for sale.
Information Source:
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
History
Nazi Germany
Name: Admiral Graf Spee
Namesake: Maximilian von Spee
Builder: Reichsmarinewerft, Wilhelmshaven
Laid down: 1 October 1932
Launched: 30 June 1934
Commissioned: 6 January 1936
Fate: Scuttled, 17 December 1939
General characteristics
Class and type: Deutschland-class cruiser
Displacement:
14,890 t (14,650 long tons; 16,410 short tons) (design)
16,020 long tons (16,280 t) (full load)
Length: 186 m (610 ft 3 in)
Beam: 21.65 m (71 ft 0 in)
Draft: 7.34 m (24 ft 1 in)
Installed power: 52,050 bhp (38,810 kW)
Propulsion: 2 propellers; 8 × diesel engines
Speed: 28.5 knots (52.8 km/h; 32.8 mph)
Range: 16,300 nautical miles (30,200 km; 18,800 mi) at 18.69 knots (34.61 km/h; 21.51 mph)
Complement:
As built:
33 officers
586 enlisted
After 1935:
30 officers
921–1,040 enlisted
Sensors and
processing systems:
1939:
FMG 39 G(gO)
Armament:
As built:
6 × 28 cm (11 in) in triple turrets
8 × 15 cm (5.9 in) in single turrets
8 × 53.3 cm (21.0 in) torpedo tubes
Armor:
Main turrets: 140 mm (5.5 in)
Belt: 80 mm (3.1 in)
Main deck: 17–45 mm (0.67–1.77 in)
Aircraft carried: 2 × Arado Ar 196 floatplanes
Aviation facilities: 1 × catapult
Admiral Graf Spee was a Deutschland-class "Panzerschiff" (armored ship), nicknamed a "pocket battleship" by the British, which served with the Kriegsmarine of Nazi Germany during World War II. The two sister-ships of her class, Deutschland and Admiral Scheer, were reclassified as heavy cruisers in 1940. The vessel was named after Admiral Maximilian von Spee, commander of the East Asia Squadron that fought the battles of Coronel and the Falkland Islands, where he was killed in action, in World War I. She was laid down at the Reichsmarinewerft shipyard in Wilhelmshaven in October 1932 and completed by January 1936. The ship was nominally under the 10,000 long tons (10,000 t) limitation on warship size imposed by the Treaty of Versailles, though with a full load displacement of 16,020 long tons (16,280 t), she significantly exceeded it. Armed with six 28 cm (11 in) guns in two triple gun turrets, Admiral Graf Spee and her sisters were designed to outgun any cruiser fast enough to catch them. Their top speed of 28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph) left only the few battlecruisers in the Anglo-French navies fast enough and powerful enough to sink them.[1]
The ship conducted five non-intervention patrols during the Spanish Civil War in 1936–1938, and participated in the Coronation Review of King George VI in May 1937. Admiral Graf Spee was deployed to the South Atlantic in the weeks before the outbreak of World War II, to be positioned in merchant sea lanes once war was declared. Between September and December 1939, the ship sank nine ships totaling 50,089 gross register tons (GRT), before being confronted by three British cruisers at the Battle of the River Plate on 13 December. Admiral Graf Spee inflicted heavy damage on the British ships, but she too was damaged, and was forced to put into port at Montevideo. Convinced by false reports of superior British naval forces approaching his ship, Hans Langsdorff, the commander of the ship, ordered the vessel to be scuttled. The ship was partially broken up in situ, though part of the ship remains visible above the surface of the water.
Design
Admiral Graf Spee was 186 meters (610 ft) long overall and had a beam of 21.65 m (71.0 ft) and a maximum draft of 7.34 m (24.1 ft). The ship had a design displacement of 14,890 t (14,650 long tons; 16,410 short tons) and a full load displacement of 16,020 long tons (16,280 t),[2] though the ship was officially stated to be within the 10,000 long tons (10,000 t) limit of the Treaty of Versailles.[3] Admiral Graf Spee was powered by four sets of MAN 9-cylinder double-acting two-stroke diesel engines.[2] The ship's top speed was 28.5 knots (52.8 km/h; 32.8 mph), at 54,000 shaft horsepower (40,000 kW). At a cruising speed of 18.69 knots (34.61 km/h; 21.51 mph), the ship had a range of 16,300 nautical miles (30,200 km; 18,800 mi).[4] As designed, her standard complement consisted of 33 officers and 586 enlisted men, though after 1935 this was significantly increased to 30 officers and 921–1,040 sailors.[2]
Admiral Graf Spee's primary armament was six 28 cm (11.0 in) SK C/28 guns mounted in two triple gun turrets, one forward and one aft of the superstructure. The ship carried a secondary battery of eight 15 cm (5.9 in) SK C/28 guns in single turrets grouped amidships. Her anti-aircraft battery originally consisted of three 8.8 cm (3.5 in) L/45 guns, though in 1935 these were replaced with six 8.8 cm L/78 guns. In 1938, the 8.8 cm guns were removed, and six 10.5 cm (4.1 in) L/65 guns, four 3.7 cm (1.5 in) guns, and ten 2 cm (0.79 in) guns were installed in their place.[2] The ship also carried a pair of quadruple 53.3 cm (21.0 in) deck-mounted torpedo launchers placed on her stern. The ship was equipped with two Arado Ar 196 seaplanes and one catapult. Admiral Graf Spee's armored belt was 60 to 80 mm (2.4 to 3.1 in) thick; her upper deck was 17 mm (0.67 in) thick while the main armored deck was 17 to 45 mm (0.67 to 1.77 in) thick. The main battery turrets had 140 mm (5.5 in) thick faces and 80 mm thick sides.[2] Radar consisted of a FMG G(gO) "Seetakt" set;[5][a] Admiral Graf Spee was the first German warship to be equipped with radar equipment.[6]
Service history
Admiral Graf Spee was ordered by the Reichsmarine from the Reichsmarinewerft shipyard in Wilhelmshaven.[2] Ordered as Ersatz Braunschweig, Admiral Graf Spee replaced the reserve battleship Braunschweig. Her keel was laid on 1 October 1932,[7] under construction number 125.[2] The ship was launched on 30 June 1934; at her launching, she was christened by the daughter of Admiral Maximilian von Spee, the ship's namesake.[8] She was completed slightly over a year and a half later on 6 January 1936, the day she was commissioned into the German fleet.[9]
Admiral Graf Spee spent the first three months of her career conducting extensive sea trials to ready the ship for service. The ship's first commander was Kapitän zur See (KzS) Conrad Patzig; he was replaced in 1937 by KzS Walter Warzecha.[8] After joining the fleet, Admiral Graf Spee became the flagship of the German Navy.[10] In the summer of 1936, following the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, she deployed to the Atlantic to participate in non-intervention patrols off the Republican-held coast of Spain. Between August 1936 and May 1937, the ship conducted three patrols off Spain.[11] On the return voyage from Spain, Admiral Graf Spee stopped in Great Britain to represent Germany in the Coronation Review at Spithead for King George VI on 20 May.[10]
After the conclusion of the Review, Admiral Graf Spee returned to Spain for a fourth non-intervention patrol. Following fleet manoeuvres and a brief visit to Sweden, the ship conducted a fifth and final patrol in February 1938.[11] In 1938, KzS Hans Langsdorff took command of the vessel;[8] she conducted a series of goodwill visits to various foreign ports throughout the year.[11] These included cruises into the Atlantic, where she stopped in Tangier and Vigo.[12] She also participated in extensive fleet manoeuvres in German waters. She was part of the celebrations for the reintegration of the port of Memel into Germany,[11] and a fleet review in honour of Admiral Miklós Horthy, the Regent of Hungary. Between 18 April and 17 May 1939, she conducted another cruise into the Atlantic, stopping in the ports of Ceuta and Lisbon.[12] On 21 August 1939, Admiral Graf Spee departed Wilhelmshaven, bound for the South Atlantic.[10]
World War II
Following the outbreak of war between Germany and the Allies in September 1939, Adolf Hitler ordered the German Navy to begin commerce raiding against Allied merchant traffic. Hitler nevertheless delayed issuing the order until it became clear that Britain would not countenance a peace treaty following the conquest of Poland. The Admiral Graf Spee was instructed to strictly adhere to prize rules, which required raiders to stop and search ships for contraband before sinking them, and to ensure that their crews are safely evacuated. Langsdorff was ordered to avoid combat, even with inferior opponents, and to frequently change position.[13] On 1 September, the cruiser rendezvoused with her supply ship Altmark southwest of the Canary Islands. While replenishing his fuel supplies, Langsdorff ordered superfluous equipment transferred to the Altmark; this included several of the ship's boats, flammable paint, and two of her ten 2 cm anti-aircraft guns, which were installed on the tanker.[14]
On 11 September, while still transferring supplies from Altmark, Admiral Graf Spee's Arado floatplane spotted the British heavy cruiser HMS Cumberland approaching the two German ships. Langsdorff ordered both vessels to depart at high speed, successfully evading the British cruiser.[14] On 26 September, the ship finally received orders authorizing attacks on Allied merchant shipping. Four days later Admiral Graf Spee's Arado located Booth Steam Ship Co's cargo ship Clement off the coast of Brazil. The cargo ship transmitted an "RRR" signal ("I am under attack by a raider") before the cruiser ordered her to stop. Admiral Graf Spee took Clement's captain and chief engineer prisoner but let the rest of her crew to abandon ship in the lifeboats.[15] The cruiser then fired 30 rounds from her 28 cm and 15 cm guns and two torpedoes at the cargo ship, which broke up and sank.[16] Langsdorff ordered a distress signal sent to the naval station in Pernambuco to ensure the rescue of the ship's crew. The British Admiralty immediately issued a warning to merchant shipping that a German surface raider was in the area.[17] The British crew later reached the Brazilian coast in their lifeboats.[15]
On 5 October, the British and French navies formed eight groups to hunt down Admiral Graf Spee in the South Atlantic. The British aircraft carriers HMS Hermes, Eagle, and Ark Royal, the French aircraft carrier Béarn, the British battlecruiser Renown, and French battleships Dunkerque and Strasbourg, and 16 cruisers were committed to the hunt.[18] Force G, commanded by Commodore Henry Harwood and assigned to the east coast of South America, comprised the cruisers Cumberland and Exeter. Force G was reinforced by the light cruisers Ajax and Achilles; Harwood detached Cumberland to patrol the area off the Falkland Islands while his other three cruisers patrolled off the River Plate.[19]
On the same day as the formation of the Anglo-French hunter groups, Admiral Graf Spee captured the steamer Newton Beech. Two days later, she encountered and sank the merchant ship Ashlea. On 8 October, the following day, she sank Newton Beech,[20] which Langsdorff had been using to house prisoners.[21] Newton Beech was too slow to keep up with Admiral Graf Spee, and so the prisoners were transferred to the cruiser. On 10 October, she captured the steamer Huntsman, the captain of which had not sent a distress signal until the last minute, as he had mistakenly identified Admiral Graf Spee as a French warship. Unable to accommodate the crew from Huntsman, Admiral Graf Spee sent the ship to a rendezvous location with a prize crew. On 15 October, Admiral Graf Spee rendezvoused with Altmark to refuel and transfer prisoners; the following morning, the prize Huntsman joined the two ships. The prisoners aboard Huntsman were transferred to Altmark and Langsdorff then sank Huntsman on the night of 17 October.[22]
Admiral Graf Spee before the war
On 22 October, Admiral Graf Spee encountered and sank the steamer Trevanion.[23] At the end of October, Langsdorff sailed his ship into the Indian Ocean south of Madagascar. The purpose of that foray was to divert Allied warships away from the South Atlantic, and to confuse the Allies about his intentions. By this time, Admiral Graf Spee had cruised for almost 30,000 nautical miles (56,000 km; 35,000 mi) and needed an engine overhaul.[24] On 15 November, the ship sank the tanker Africa Shell, and the following day, she stopped an unidentified Dutch steamer, though did not sink her. Admiral Graf Spee returned to the Atlantic between 17 and 26 November to refuel from Altmark.[25] While replenishing supplies, the crew of Admiral Graf Spee built a dummy gun turret on her bridge and erected a dummy second funnel behind the aircraft catapult to alter her silhouette significantly in a bid to confuse allied shipping as to her true identity.[26]
Admiral Graf Spee's Arado floatplane located the merchant ship Doric Star: Langsdorff fired a shot across her bow to stop the ship.[27] Doric Star was able to send out a distress signal before she was sunk, which prompted Harwood to take his three cruisers to the mouth of the River Plate, which he estimated would be Langsdorff's next target. On the night of 5 December, Admiral Graf Spee sank the steamer Tairoa. The next day, she met with Altmark and transferred 140 prisoners from Doric Star and Tairoa. Admiral Graf Spee encountered her last victim on the evening of 7 December: the freighter Streonshalh. The prize crew recovered secret documents containing shipping route information.[28] Based on that information, Langsdorff decided to head for the seas off Montevideo. On 12 December, the ship's Arado 196 broke down and could not be repaired, depriving Graf Spee of her aerial reconnaissance.[29] The ship's disguise was removed, so it would not hinder the ship in battle.[30]
Battle of the River Plate
At 05:30 on the morning of 13 December 1939, lookouts spotted a pair of masts off the ship's starboard bow. Langsdorff assumed this to be the escort for a convoy mentioned in the documents recovered from Tairoa. At 05:52, however, the ship was identified as HMS Exeter; she was accompanied by a pair of smaller warships, initially thought to be destroyers but quickly identified as Leander-class cruisers. Langsdorff decided not to flee from the British ships, and so ordered his ship to battle stations and to close at maximum speed.[30] At 06:08, the British spotted Admiral Graf Spee; Commodore Harwood divided his forces up to split the fire of Admiral Graf Spee's 28 cm guns.[31] The German ship opened fire with her main battery at Exeter and her secondary guns at the flagship Ajax at 06:17. At 06:20, Exeter returned fire, followed by Ajax at 06:21 and Achilles at 06:24. In the span of thirty minutes, Admiral Graf Spee had hit Exeter three times, disabling her two forward turrets, destroying her bridge and her aircraft catapult, and starting major fires. Ajax and Achilles moved closer to Admiral Graf Spee to relieve the pressure on Exeter.[32]
Langsdorff thought the two light cruisers were making a torpedo attack, and turned away under a smokescreen.[32] The respite allowed Exeter to withdraw from the action; by now, only one of her gun turrets was still in action, and she had suffered 61 dead and 23 wounded crew members.[31] At around 07:00, Exeter returned to the engagement, firing from her stern turret. Admiral Graf Spee fired on her again, scored more hits, and forced Exeter to withdraw again, this time with a list to port. At 07:25, Admiral Graf Spee scored a hit on Ajax that disabled her aft turrets.[32] Both sides broke off the action, Admiral Graf Spee retreating into the River Plate estuary, while Harwood's battered cruisers remained outside to observe any possible breakout attempts. In the course of the engagement, Admiral Graf Spee had been hit approximately 70 times; 36 men were killed and 60 more were wounded,[33] including Langsdorff, who had been wounded twice by splinters while standing on the open bridge.[32]
Scuttling
As a result of battle damage and casualties, Langsdorff decided to put into Montevideo, where repairs could be effected and the wounded men could be evacuated from the ship.[33] Most of the hits scored by the British cruisers caused only minor structural and superficial damage but the oil purification plant, which was required to prepare the diesel fuel for the engines, was destroyed. Her desalination plant and galley were also destroyed, which would have increased the difficulty of a return to Germany. A hit in the bow would also have negatively affected her seaworthiness in the heavy seas of the North Atlantic. Admiral Graf Spee had fired much of her ammunition in the engagement with Harwood's cruisers.[34]
After arriving in port, the wounded crewmen were taken to local hospitals and the dead were buried with full military honours. Captive Allied seamen still aboard the ship were released. Repairs necessary to make the ship seaworthy were expected to take up to two weeks.[35] British naval intelligence worked to convince Langsdorff that vastly superior forces were concentrating to destroy his ship, if he attempted to break out of the harbour. The Admiralty broadcast a series of signals, on frequencies known to be intercepted by German intelligence. The closest heavy units—the carrier Ark Royal and battlecruiser Renown—were some 2,500 nmi (4,600 km; 2,900 mi) away, much too far to intervene in the situation. Believing the British reports, Langsdorff discussed his options with commanders in Berlin. These were either to break out and seek refuge in Buenos Aires, where the Argentine government would intern the ship, or to scuttle the ship in the Plate estuary.[33]
Langsdorff was unwilling to risk the lives of his crew, so he decided to scuttle the ship. He knew that although Uruguay was neutral, the government was on friendly terms with Britain and if he allowed his ship to be interned, the Uruguayan Navy would allow British intelligence officers access to the ship.[34] Under Article 17 of the Hague Convention, neutrality restrictions limited Admiral Graf Spee to a period of 72 hours for repairs in Montevideo, before she would be interned for the duration of the war.[36][37] On 17 December 1939, Langsdorff ordered the destruction of all important equipment aboard the ship. The ship's remaining ammunition supply was dispersed throughout the ship, in preparation for scuttling. On 18 December, the ship, with only Langsdorff and 40 other men aboard, moved into the outer roadstead to be scuttled.[38] A crowd of 20,000 watched as the scuttling charges were set; the crew was taken off by an Argentine tug and the ship was scuttled at 20:55.[37][39] The multiple explosions from the munitions sent jets of flame high into the air and created a large cloud of smoke that obscured the ship which burned in the shallow water for the next two days.[38]
On 20 December, in his room in a Buenos Aires hotel, Langsdorff shot himself in full dress uniform and lying on the ship's battle ensign.[38] In late January 1940, the neutral American cruiser USS Helena arrived in Montevideo and the crew was permitted to visit the wreck of Admiral Graf Spee. The Americans met the German crewmen, who were still in Montevideo.[37] In the aftermath of the scuttling, the ship's crew were taken to Argentina, where they were interned for the remainder of the war.[38]
Wreck
The wreck was partially broken up in situ in 1942–1943, though parts of the ship are still visible; the wreck lies at a depth of only 11 m (36 ft).[9] The salvage rights were purchased from the German Government by the British, for £14,000, using a Montevideo engineering company as a front. The British had been surprised by the accuracy of the shooting and expected to find a radar range finder and were not disappointed. They used the knowledge thus acquired to try to develop countermeasures, under the leadership of Fred Hoyle at the British radar project. The Admiralty complained about the large sum paid for the salvage rights.[40]
In February 2004, a salvage team began work raising the wreck of Admiral Graf Spee. The operation was in part being funded by the government of Uruguay, in part by the private sector as the wreck was a hazard to navigation. The first major section—a 27 metric tons (27 long tons; 30 short tons) gunnery range-finding telemeter—was raised on 25 February.[41] On 10 February 2006, the 2 m (6 ft 7 in), 400 kg eagle and swastika crest of Admiral Graf Spee was recovered from the stern of the ship;[42] it was stored in a Uruguayan naval warehouse following German complaints about exhibiting "Nazi paraphernalia".[43]
Complementos "Cositas"
La verdadera elegancia no consiste en que aquello que nos ponemos nos mejore, sino en mejorar aquello que nos ponemos.
Francisco Grandmontagne.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
History
United States
Name: Ticonderoga
Namesake: Battle of Ticonderoga (1775)
Builder: Newport News Shipbuilding
Laid down: 1 February 1943
Launched: 7 February 1944
Commissioned: 8 May 1944
Decommissioned: 9 January 1947
Recommissioned: 1 October 1954
Decommissioned: 1 September 1973
Renamed: PCU Hancock to PCU Ticonderoga 1 May 1943
Reclassified:
CV to CVA-14 on 1 October 1952
CVA to CVS-14 on 21 October 1969
Struck: 16 November 1973
Fate: Sold for scrap 15 August 1974
General characteristics
Class and type: Essex-class aircraft carrier
Displacement:
As built:
27,100 tons standard
Length:
As built:
888 feet (271 m) overall
Beam:
As built:
93 feet (28 m) waterline
Draft:
As built:
28 feet 7 inches (8.71 m) light
Propulsion:
As designed:
8 × boilers
4 × Westinghouse geared steam turbines
4 × shafts
150,000 shp (110 MW)
Speed: 33 knots (61 km/h)
Complement: 3448 officers and enlisted
Armament:
As built:
4 × twin 5 inch (127 mm)/38 caliber guns
4 × single 5 inch (127 mm)/38 caliber guns
8 × quadruple Bofors 40 mm guns
46 × single Oerlikon 20 mm cannons
Armor:
As built:
4 inch (100 mm) belt
2.5 inch (60 mm) hangar deck
1.5 inch (40 mm) protectice decks
1.5 inch (40 mm) conning tower
Aircraft carried:
As built:
90–100 aircraft
USS Ticonderoga (CV/CVA/CVS-14) was one of 24 Essex-class aircraft carriers built during World War II for the United States Navy. The ship was the fourth US Navy ship to bear the name, and was named after the capture of Fort Ticonderoga in the American Revolutionary War. Ticonderoga was commissioned in May 1944, and served in several campaigns in the Pacific Theater of Operations, earning five battle stars. Decommissioned shortly after the end of the war, she was modernized and recommissioned in the early 1950s as an attack carrier (CVA), and then eventually became an antisubmarine carrier (CVS). She was recommissioned too late to participate in the Korean War, but was very active in the Vietnam War, earning three Navy Unit Commendations, one Meritorious Unit Commendation, and 12 battle stars.
Ticonderoga differed somewhat from the earlier Essex-class ships in that she was 16 ft (4.9 m) longer to accommodate bow-mounted anti-aircraft guns. Most subsequent Essex-class carriers were completed to this "long-hull" design and according to Phillip St. John Ph.D. they were referred to as the Ticonderoga class.[1] At the end of her career, after a number of modifications, she was said to be in the Hancock class according to the Naval vessel register.[2]
Ticonderoga was decommissioned in 1973 and sold for scrap in 1975.
Construction and Commissioning
The ship was laid down as Hancock on 1 February 1943 at Newport News, Virginia, by the Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., renamed Ticonderoga on 1 May 1943, and launched on 7 February 1944, sponsored by Miss Stephanie Sarah Pell. She was commissioned at the Norfolk Navy Yard on 8 May 1944, Captain Dixie Kiefer in command.[3]
Service history
Ticonderoga remained at Norfolk for almost two months outfitting and embarking Air Group 80. On 26 June, the carrier shaped a course for the British West Indies. She conducted air operations and drills en route and reached Port of Spain, Trinidad, on 30 June. For the next 15 days, Ticonderoga trained intensively to weld her air group and crew into an efficient wartime team. She departed the West Indies on 16 July and headed back to Norfolk where she arrived on 22 July for post-shakedown repairs and alterations. On 30 August, the carrier headed for Panama. She transited the Panama Canal on 4 September and steamed up the coast to Naval Base San Diego the following day. On 13 September, the carrier moored at San Diego where she loaded provisions, fuel, aviation gas, and an additional 77 aircraft, as well as the Marine Corps aviation and defense units that went with them. On 19 September, she steamed for Hawaii where she arrived five days later.
Ticonderoga remained at Pearl Harbor for almost a month. She and Carina conducted experiments in the underway transfer of aviation bombs from cargo ship to aircraft carrier. Following those tests, she conducted air operations – day and night landing and antiaircraft defense drills – until 18 October, when she exited Pearl Harbor and headed for the western Pacific. After a brief stop at Eniwetok, Ticonderoga arrived at Ulithi in the Western Caroline Islands on 29 October. There she embarked Rear Admiral Arthur W. Radford, Commander, Carrier Division 6, and joined Task Force 38 (TF 38) as a unit of Rear Admiral Frederick C. Sherman's Task Group 38.3 (TG 38.3).[3]
World War II
Philippine campaign
The carrier sortied from Ulithi with TF 38 on 2 November 1944. She joined the other carriers as they resumed their extended air cover for the ground forces supporting the Battle of Leyte. She launched her first air strike on the morning of 5 November. The aircraft of her air group spent the next two days pummeling enemy shipping near Luzon and air installations on that island. Her aircraft bombed and strafed the airfields at Zablan, Mandaluyong, and Pasig. They also joined those of other carriers in sinking the heavy cruiser Nachi. In addition, Ticonderoga pilots claimed six Japanese aircraft shot down and one destroyed on the ground, as well as 23 others damaged.
Around 16:00 on 5 November, the enemy retaliated by sending up a group of kamikaze aircraft. Two of the suicide aircraft succeeded in slipping through the American combat air patrol and antiaircraft fire to crash into the aircraft carrier Lexington. Ticonderoga emerged from that airborne attack unscathed and claimed a tally of two splashes. On 6 November, the warship launched two fighter sweeps and two bombing strikes against the Luzon airfields and enemy shipping in the vicinity. Her airmen returned later that day claiming the destruction of 35 Japanese aircraft and attacks on six enemy ships in Manila Bay. After recovering her aircraft, the carrier retired to the east for a fueling rendezvous.
She refueled and received replacement aircraft on 7 November and then headed back to continue pounding enemy forces in the Philippines. Early on the morning of 11 November, her aircraft combined with others of TF 38 to attack a Japanese reinforcement convoy, just as it was preparing to enter Ormoc Bay from the Camotes Sea. Together, the aircraft accounted for all the enemy transports and four of the seven escorting destroyers. On 12–13 November, Ticonderoga and her sister ships launched strikes at Luzon airfields and docks and shipping around Manila. This raid tallied an impressive score: light cruiser Kiso, four destroyers, and seven merchant ships. At the conclusion of the raid, TF 38 retired eastward for a refueling breather. Ticonderoga and the rest of TG 38.3, however, continued east to Ulithi where they arrived on 17 November to replenish, refuel, and rearm.
On 22 November, the aircraft carrier departed Ulithi once more and steamed back toward the Philippines. Three days later, she launched air strikes on central Luzon and adjacent waters. Her pilots finished off the heavy cruiser Kumano, damaged in the Battle off Samar. Later, they attacked an enemy convoy about 15 miles (24 km) southwest of Kumano in Dasol Bay. Of this convoy, cruiser Yasoshima, a merchantman, and three landing ships went to the bottom. Ticonderoga's air group rounded out their day of destruction with an aerial rampage which cost the Japanese 15 aircraft shot down and 11 destroyed on the ground.
While her air group busily pounded the Japanese, Ticonderoga's company also made their presence felt. Just after noon, a torpedo launched by an enemy aircraft broached in the wake of the light aircraft carrier Langley, announcing the approach of an air raid. Ticonderoga's gunners raced to their battle stations as the raiders made both conventional and suicide attacks on the task group. Her sister ship Essex erupted in flames when one of the kamikazes crashed into her. When a second suicide aircraft tried to finish off the stricken carrier, Ticonderoga's gunners joined those firing from other ships in cutting his approach abruptly short. That afternoon, while damage control parties dressed Essex's wounds, Ticonderoga recovered the damaged carrier's homeless airmen as well as those pilots from Intrepid that were in similar straits. The following day, TF 38 retired to the east.
TF 38 stood out of Ulithi again on 11 December and headed for the Philippines. Ticonderoga arrived at the launch point early in the afternoon of 13 December and sent her aircraft aloft to blanket Japanese airbases on Luzon while Army aircraft attacked those in the central Philippines. For three days, Ticonderoga airmen and their comrades wreaked havoc with a storm of destruction on enemy airfields. She withdrew on 16 December with the rest of TF 38 in search of a fueling rendezvous. While attempting to find calmer waters in which to refuel, TF 38 steamed directly through a violent, but unheralded, typhoon. Though the storm cost Admiral William Halsey's force three destroyers and over 800 lives, Ticonderoga and the other carriers managed to ride it out with a minimum of damage. Having survived the battle, Ticonderoga returned to Ulithi on 24 December.
Repairs occasioned by the typhoon kept TF 38 in the anchorage almost until the end of the month. The carriers did not return to sea until 30 December 1944 when they steamed north to hit Formosa and Luzon in preparation for the landings on the latter island at Lingayen Gulf. Severe weather limited the Formosa strikes on 3–4 January 1945 and, in all likelihood, obviated the need for them. The warships fueled at sea on 5 January. Despite rough weather on 6 January, the strikes on Luzon airfields were carried out. That day, Ticonderoga's airmen and their colleagues of the other air groups increased their score by another 32 enemy aircraft. 7 January brought more strikes on Luzon installations. After a fueling rendezvous on 8 January, Ticonderoga sped north at night to get into position to blanket Japanese airfields in the Ryūkyūs during the Lingayen assault the following morning. However, foul weather, the bugaboo of TF 38 during the winter of 1944 and 1945, forced TG 38.3 to abandon the strikes on the Ryūkyū airfields and join TG 38.2 in pounding Formosa.[3]
South China Sea combat
During the night of 9–10 January, TF 38 steamed boldly through the Luzon Strait and then headed generally southwest, diagonally across the South China Sea. Ticonderoga provided combat air patrol coverage on 11 January and helped to bring down four enemy aircraft which attempted to snoop the formation. Otherwise, the carriers and their consorts proceeded unmolested to a point some 150 to 200 mi (240 to 320 km) off the coast of Indochina. There, on 12 January, they launched their approximately 850 aircraft and made a series of anti-shipping sweeps during which they sank an incredible 44 ships, totaling over 300,000 long tons (300,000 t).
After recovering aircraft in the late afternoon, the carriers moved off to the northeast. Heavy weather hindered fueling operations on the 13th–14th, and air searches failed to turn up any tempting targets. On 15 January, fighters swept Japanese airfields on the Chinese coast while the flattops headed for a position from which to strike Hong Kong. The following morning, they launched anti-shipping bombing raids and fighter sweeps of air installations. Weather prevented air operations on 17 January and again made fueling difficult. It worsened the next day and stopped replenishment operations altogether, so that they were not finally concluded until 19 January. The force then shaped a course generally northward to retransit Luzon Strait via Balintang Channel.[3]
Attacks on South Japanese islands
The three task groups of TF 38 completed their transit during the night of 20–21 January. The next morning, aided by favorable flight conditions, their aircraft hit airfields on Formosa, in the Pescadores, and at Sakishima Gunto. While it allowed American flight operations to continue through the day, it also allowed for Japanese kamikaze operations.
Ticonderoga listing after kamikaze attacks, 21 January 1945.
Just after noon, a single-engine Japanese aircraft scored a hit on Langley with a glide-bombing attack. Seconds later, a kamikaze swooped out of the clouds and plunged toward Ticonderoga. The aircraft crashed through the ship's flight deck abreast of the No. 2 5 in (130 mm) mount, and its bomb exploded just above her hangar deck. Several aircraft stowed nearby erupted into flames. Death and destruction abounded, but the ship's company fought valiantly to save the threatened carrier. Captain Kiefer conned his ship smartly. First, he changed course to keep the wind from fanning the blaze. Then, he ordered magazines and other compartments flooded to prevent further explosions and to correct a 10° starboard list. Finally, he instructed the damage control party to continue flooding compartments on Ticonderoga's port side. That operation induced a 10° port list which neatly dumped the fire overboard. Firefighters and aircraft handlers completed the job by dousing the flames and jettisoning burning aircraft.
The other kamikaze then pounced on the carrier. Her antiaircraft gunners struck back with ferocity and quickly shot three down into the sea. A fourth aircraft slipped through her barrage and smashed into the carrier's starboard side near the island. His bomb set more aircraft on fire, riddled her flight deck, and injured or killed another 100 sailors, with Captain Kiefer one of the wounded. Yet Ticonderoga's crew refused to submit. Spared further attacks, they brought her fires completely under control not long after 1400; and Ticonderoga retired.[3]
Repair and relaunch
The stricken carrier arrived at Ulithi on 24 January but remained there only long enough to move her wounded to hospital ship Samaritan, to transfer her air group to Hancock, and to embark passengers bound for home. Ticonderoga cleared the lagoon on 28 January and headed for the U.S. The warship stopped briefly at Pearl Harbor en route to the Puget Sound Navy Yard where she arrived on 15 February. Captain William Sinton assumed command in February 1945.
Her repairs were completed on 20 April, and she cleared Puget Sound the following day for the Alameda Naval Air Station, Alameda, California. After embarking passengers and aircraft bound for Hawaii, the carrier headed for Pearl Harbor where she arrived on 1 May. The next day, Air Group 87 came on board and, for the next week, trained in preparation for the carrier's return to combat. Ticonderoga stood out of Pearl Harbor and shaped a course for the western Pacific. En route to Ulithi, she launched her aircraft for what amounted to training strikes on Japanese-held Taroa in the Marshalls. On 22 May, the warship arrived in Ulithi and rejoined the Fast Carrier Task Force as an element of Rear Admiral Radford's TG 58.4.[3]
Preparing for the Japan campaign
Two days after her arrival, Ticonderoga sortied from Ulithi with TF 58 and headed north to spend the last weeks of the war in Japanese home waters. Three days out, Admiral Halsey relieved Admiral Raymond Spruance, the 5th Fleet reverted to 3rd Fleet, and TF 58 became TF 38 again for the duration. On 2–3 June, Ticonderoga fighters struck at airfields on Kyūshū in an effort to neutralize the remnants of Japanese air power – particularly the kamikaze – and to relieve the pressure on American forces at Okinawa. During the following two days, Ticonderoga rode out her second typhoon in less than six months and emerged relatively unscathed. She provided combat air patrol cover for 6 June refueling rendezvous, and four of her fighters intercepted and destroyed three Okinawa-bound kamikazes. That evening, she steamed off at high speed with TG 38.4 to conduct a fighter sweep of airfields on southern Kyūshū on 8 June. Ticonderoga's aircraft then joined in the aerial bombardment of Minami Daito and Kita Daito islands before the carrier headed for Leyte where she arrived on the 13th.
During the two-week rest and replenishment period she enjoyed at Leyte, Ticonderoga changed task organizations from TG 38.4 to Rear Admiral Gerald F. Bogan's TG 38.3. On 1 July, under the flag of Rear Admiral Clifton Sprague, she departed Leyte with TF 38 and headed north to resume raids on Japan. Two days later, a damaged reduction gear forced her into Apra Harbor, Guam, for repairs. She remained there until the 19th when she steamed off to rejoin TF 38. On the 24th, her aircraft joined those of other fast carriers in striking ships in the Inland Sea and airfields at Nagoya, Osaka, and Miko.
During those raids, TF 38 aircraft found the sad remnants of the once-mighty Japanese Fleet and bagged battleships Ise, Hyūga, and Haruna as well as an escort carrier, Kaiyō, and two heavy cruisers. On 28 July, her aircraft directed their efforts toward the Kure Naval Base, where they pounded an aircraft carrier, three cruisers, a destroyer, and a submarine. She shifted her attention to the industrial area of central Honshū on 30 July, then to northern Honshū and Hokkaidō on 9–10 August. The latter attacks thoroughly destroyed the marshaling area for a planned airborne suicide raid on the B-29 bases in the Marianas. On 13–14 August, her aircraft returned to the Tokyo area and helped to subject the Japanese capital to another severe drubbing.
On the morning of 16 August, Ticonderoga launched another strike against Tokyo. During or just after that attack, word reached TF 38 to the effect that Japan had capitulated.
The shock of peace, though not so abrupt as that of war almost four years previously, took some getting used to. Ticonderoga and her sister ships remained on a full war footing. She continued patrols over Japanese territory and sent reconnaissance flights in search of camps containing Allied prisoners of war so that air-dropped supplies could be rushed to them. On 6 September – four days after the formal surrender ceremony aboard Missouri – Ticonderoga entered Tokyo Bay.[3]
Post-war
Her arrival at Tokyo ended one phase of her career and began another. She embarked homeward-bound passengers and put to sea again on 20 September. After a stop in Pearl Harbor, the carrier reached Alameda, on 5 October. She disembarked her passengers and unloaded cargo before heading out on 9 October to pick up another group of veterans. Ticonderoga delivered over a thousand soldiers and sailors to Tacoma, Washington, and remained there through 28 October for the Navy Day celebration. On 29 October, the carrier departed Tacoma and headed back to Alameda. En route, all of the aircraft of Air Group 87 were transferred ashore so that the carrier could be altered to accommodate additional passengers in the Operation Magic Carpet voyages to follow.
Following the completion of those modifications at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard in November, she headed for the Philippines and arrived at Samar on 20 November. She returned to Alameda on 6 December and debarked almost 4,000 returning servicemen. The carrier made one more Magic Carpet run in December 1945 and January 1946 before entering the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard to prepare for inactivation. Almost a year later on 9 January 1947, Ticonderoga was placed out of commission and berthed with the Bremerton Group of the Pacific Reserve Fleet.[3]
Redeployment in the Pacific
On 31 January 1952, Ticonderoga came out of reserve and went into reduced commission for the transit from Bremerton to New York. She departed Puget Sound on 27 February and reached New York on 1 April. Three days later, she was decommissioned at the New York Naval Shipyard to begin the extensive SCB-27C conversion. During the ensuing 29 months, the carrier received numerous modifications – steam catapults to launch jets, a new nylon barricade, a new deck-edge elevator and the latest electronic and fire control equipment – necessary for her to become an integral unit of the fleet. On 11 September 1954, Ticonderoga was recommissioned at New York, Captain William A. "Bill" Schoech in command.
Ticonderoga following her SCB-27C conversion, circa 1954.
In January 1955, the carrier shifted to her new home port – Naval Station Norfolk, Norfolk, Virginia – where she arrived on the 6th. Over the next month, she conducted carrier qualifications with Air Group 6 in the Virginia Capes operating area. On 3 February, she stood out of Hampton Roads for shakedown near Cuba, after which she returned via Norfolk to New York for additional alterations. During the late summer, the warship resumed carrier qualifications in the Virginia Capes area.
She visited Philadelphia over Labor Day weekend to participate in the International Air Show. To demonstrate the power of her new steam catapults, on three consecutive days she launched North American AJ-1 Savages while standing at anchor in the Delaware River. Ticonderoga next participated in tests of four new aircraft – the A4D-1 Skyhawk, F4D-1 Skyray, F7U Cutlass, and F3H-2N Demon.[4] Ticonderoga then returned to normal operations along the East Coast until 4 November when she departed Naval Station Mayport, Florida, and headed for Europe. She relieved Intrepid at Gibraltar 10 days later and cruised the length of the Mediterranean during the following eight months. On 2 August 1956, Ticonderoga returned to Norfolk and entered the shipyard to receive an angled flight deck and an enclosed hurricane bow as part of the SCB-125 program.
Those modifications were completed by early 1957, and in April she got underway for her new home port – Alameda, California. She reached her destination on 30 May, underwent repairs, and finished out the summer with operations off the California coast. On 16 September, she stood out of San Francisco Bay and shaped course for the Far East. En route, she stopped at Pearl Harbor before continuing west to Yokosuka Japan, where she arrived on 15 October. For six months, Ticonderoga cruised the waters from Japan in the north to the Philippines in the south. Upon arriving at Alameda on 25 April 1958, she completed her first deployment to the western Pacific since recommissioning.[3]
Vietnam
Pre-conflict operations
From 1958–1963, Ticonderoga made four more peacetime deployments to the western Pacific. During each, she conducted training operations with other units of the 7th Fleet and made goodwill and liberty port calls throughout the Far East. Early in 1964, she began preparations for her sixth cruise to the western Pacific and, following exercises off the west coast and in the Hawaiian Islands, the carrier cleared Pearl Harbor on 4 May for what began as another peaceful tour of duty in the Far East. The first three months of that deployment brought normal operations—training and port calls.
Initial actions
Main article: Gulf of Tonkin incident
On 2 August, while operating in international waters in the Gulf of Tonkin, the destroyer Maddox reported being attacked by units of the (North) Vietnam People's Navy. Within minutes of her receipt of the message, Ticonderoga dispatched four, rocket-armed F8E Crusaders to the destroyer's assistance. Upon arrival, the Crusaders launched Zuni rockets and strafed the North Vietnamese craft with their 20 mm (0.79 in) cannon. After the efforts of Ticonderoga and Maddox, one boat was left dead in the water and the other two damaged.
Two days later, late in the evening of 4 August, Ticonderoga received urgent requests from the destroyer Turner Joy — by then on patrol with Maddox — for air support in resisting what the destroyer alleged to be another torpedo boat foray. The carrier again launched aircraft to aid the American surface ships, and Turner Joy directed them. The Navy surface and air team believed it had sunk two boats and damaged another pair.
President Lyndon Johnson responded with a reprisal to what he felt at the time to be two unprovoked attacks on American seapower and ordered retaliatory air strikes on selected North Vietnamese motor torpedo boat bases. On 5 August, Ticonderoga and Constellation launched 60 sorties against four bases and their supporting oil storage facilities. The USN attacks reportedly resulted in the destruction of 25 PT-type boats, severe damage to the bases, and almost complete razing of the oil storage depot. For her quick reaction and successful combat actions on those three occasions, Ticonderoga received the Navy Unit Commendation.[3]
Stand-down
After a return visit to Japan in September, the aircraft carrier resumed normal operations in the South China Sea until winding up the deployment late in the year. She returned to the Naval Air Station North Island, California, on 15 December 1964. Following post-deployment and holiday stand-down, Ticonderoga moved to the Hunter's Point Naval Shipyard on 27 January 1965 to begin a five-month overhaul. She completed repairs in June and spent the summer operating along the coast of southern California. On 28 September, the aircraft carrier put to sea for another deployment to the Orient. She spent some time in the Hawaiian Islands for an operational readiness exercise then continued on to the Far East. She reached "Dixie Station" on 5 November and immediately began combat air operations.
1965–66 deployment
Manatee refuels Ticonderoga on 15 July 1965. U.S. Navy photo.
Ticonderoga's winter deployment of 1965 and 1966 was her first total combat tour of duty during American involvement in the Vietnam War. During her six months in the Far East, the carrier spent a total of 116 days in air operations off the coast of Vietnam dividing her time almost evenly between "Dixie" and "Yankee Stations", the carrier operating areas off South and North Vietnam, respectively. Her air group delivered over 8,000 short tons (7,300 t) of ordnance in more than 10,000 combat sorties, with a loss of 16 aircraft, but only five pilots. For the most part, her aircraft hit enemy installations in North Vietnam and interdicted supply routes into South Vietnam, including river-borne and coastwise junk and sampan traffic as well as roads, bridges, and trucks on land. Specifically, they claimed the destruction of 35 bridges as well as numerous warehouses, barracks, trucks, boats, and railroad cars and severe damage to a major North Vietnamese thermal power plant located at Uong Bi north of Haiphong. After a stop at Yokosuka, Japan, from 25 April-3 May 1966, the warship put to sea to return to the United States. On 13 May, she pulled into port at San Diego to end the deployment.[3]
On 5 December 1965, a Douglas A-4 Skyhawk was lost overboard while the aircraft carrier was 80 miles (130 km) from one of the Ryukyu Islands, Okinawa.[5] The aircraft was being rolled from a hangar bay onto an elevator. The aircraft had mounted on it a B43 nuclear bomb. The pilot, Lieutenant JG Douglas Webster, the A-4E Skyhawk, BuNo 151022, of Attack Squadron VA-56 Champions, and the nuclear weapon were all lost.[6] No public mention was made of the incident at the time and it would not come to light until a 1981 United States Department of Defense report revealed that a one-megaton bomb had been lost.[7] Japan then asked for details of the incident.[8]
1966–67, 1967–68 deployments
Following repairs she stood out of San Diego on 9 July to begin a normal round of West Coast training operations. Those and similar evolutions continued until 15 October, when Ticonderoga departed San Diego, bound via Hawaii for the western Pacific. The carrier reached Yokosuka, Japan, on 30 October and remained there until 5 November when she headed south for an overnight stop at U.S. Naval Base Subic Bay, Subic Bay in the Philippines on 10–11 November. On 13 November, Ticonderoga arrived in the Gulf of Tonkin and began the first of three combat tours during her 1966–1967 deployment. She launched 11,650 combat sorties, all against enemy targets located in North Vietnam. Again, her primary targets were logistics and communications lines and transportation facilities. For her contribution and that of Air Wing Nineteen to Operation Rolling Thunder, Ticonderoga was awarded her second Navy Unit Commendation.[3]
refer
Aircraft of Attack Carrier Air Wing Nineteen (CVW-19) near the time described in the article - this photo is from 1971 when Air Wing Nineteen had moved to USS Oriskany.
She completed her final line period on 27 April 1967 and returned to Yokosuka, from which she departed again on 19 May to return to the United States. Ten days later, the carrier entered San Diego and began a month-long, post-deployment stand-down. At the beginning of July, she shifted to Bremerton, Washington, where she entered the Puget Sound for two months of repairs. Upon the completion of yard work, she departed Bremerton on 6 September and steamed south to training operations off the coast of southern California.
On 28 December 1967, Ticonderoga sailed for her fourth combat deployment to the waters off the Indochinese coast and arrived on Yankee Station in January 1968. Ticonderoga was on Yankee Station for the beginning of the 1968 Tet Offensive. Nearly coincidental with the Tet Offensive, the siege of Khe Sanh began and Pueblo, an American spy ship, was seized by the North Koreans and taken to Wonsan harbor. The aircraft carrier Ranger was immediately deployed to the coast of North Korea. Approximately a week later, Ranger was relieved off Korea by Ticonderoga and returned to Yankee Station. Enterprise joined Ticonderoga and strikes were planned against seven MiG airfields with approximately 200 MiGS. These strikes were never executed and Ticonderoga returned to Yankee Station to resume her role in the Tet Offensive.[citation needed] Between January 1968 and July 1968, Ticonderoga was on the line off the coast of Vietnam for five separate periods totaling 120 days of combat duty. During that time, her air wing flew just over 13,000 combat sorties against North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces, most frequently in the continuing attempts to interdict the enemy lines of supply. Between line periods, she regularly returned to Subic Bay and Naval Air Station Cubi Point for rest and replenishment. She also made port visits at Singapore and Hong Kong. On 9 July, during her fifth line period, LCDR John B. Nichols claimed Ticonderoga's first MiG kill. The carrier completed that line period and entered Subic Bay for upkeep on 25 July. Ticonderoga then proceeded for her homeport in Naval Air Station North Island, Coronado, California arriving on 17 August 1968 after a one-day delay in the fog off San Diego in the San Clemente Channel. Shortly thereafter, Ticonderoga moved to the Long Beach Naval Shipyard for repairs and certain conversions to handle the A-7 Corsair attack jet and to prepare for her fifth combat cruise in February 1969.[3]
Final deployments
The crew of Ticonderoga man the rail as the ship passes through the Sunda Strait in April 1971.
During the first month of 1969, Ticonderoga made preparations for her fifth consecutive combat deployment to the Southeast Asia area. On 1 February, she cleared San Diego and headed west. After a brief stop at Pearl Harbor a week later, she continued her voyage to Yokosuka where she arrived on the 20th. The carrier departed Yokosuka on 28 February for the coast of Vietnam where she arrived on 4 March. Over the next four months, Ticonderoga served four periods on the line off Vietnam, interdicting Communist supply lines and making strikes against their positions.
During her second line period, however, her tour of duty off Vietnam came to an abrupt end on 16 April when she was shifted north to the Sea of Japan. North Korean aircraft had shot down a Navy reconnaissance aircraft in the area, and Ticonderoga was called upon to beef up the forces assigned to the vicinity. However, the crisis abated, and Ticonderoga entered Subic Bay on 27 April for upkeep. On 8 May, she departed the Philippines to return to "Yankee Station" and resumed interdiction operations. Between her third and fourth line periods, the carrier visited Sasebo and Hong Kong.
The aircraft carrier took station off Vietnam for her last line period of the deployment on 26 June and there followed 37 more days of highly successful air sorties against enemy targets. Following that tour, she joined TF 71 in the Sea of Japan for the remainder of the deployment. Ticonderoga concluded the deployment—a highly successful one, for she received her third Navy Unit Commendation for her operations during that tour of duty—when she left Subic Bay on 4 September.[3]
Post-Vietnam service
Apollo 17 recovery operations
Ticonderoga arrived in San Diego on 18 September. After almost a month of post-deployment stand-down, she moved to the Long Beach Naval Shipyard in mid-October to begin conversion to an antisubmarine warfare (ASW) aircraft carrier. Overhaul and conversion work began on 20 October, and Ticonderoga was redesignated CVS-14 the next day. She completed overhaul and conversion on 28 May 1970 and conducted exercises out of Long Beach for most of June. On 26 June, the new ASW support carrier entered her new home port, San Diego. In July–August, she conducted refresher training, refresher air operations, and carrier landing qualifications. She operated off the California coast for the remainder of the year and participated in two naval exercises-HUKASWEX 4–70 late in October and COMPUTEX 23–70 between 30 November and 3 December.
During the remainder of her active career, Ticonderoga made two more deployments to the Far East. Because of her change in mission, neither tour of duty included combat operations off Vietnam. Both, however, included training exercises in the Sea of Japan with ships of the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force. The first of these two cruises also brought operations in the Indian Ocean with units of the Thai Navy and a transit of Sunda Strait during which a ceremony was held to commemorate the loss of the cruisers Houston and HMAS Perth in 1942.
Ticonderoga off the coast of California in 1972 at the start of her final WESTPAC cruise
In between these two last deployments, she operated in the eastern Pacific and participated in the recovery of the Apollo 16 moon mission capsule and astronauts near American Samoa during April 1972. The second deployment came in the summer of 1972, and, in addition to the training exercises in the Sea of Japan, Ticonderoga also joined ASW training operations in the South China Sea. That fall, she returned to the eastern Pacific and, in November practiced for the recovery of Apollo 17. The next month, Ticonderoga recovered her second set of space voyagers near American Samoa. The carrier then headed back to San Diego where she arrived on 28 December. On 22 June 1973, Ticonderoga recovered the Skylab 2 astronauts near San Diego.
Ticonderoga remained active for nine more months, first operating out of San Diego and then making preparations for inactivation. On 1 September 1973, the aircraft carrier was decommissioned after a board of inspection and survey found her to be unfit for further naval service. Her name was struck from the Navy list on 16 November 1973, and arrangements were begun to sell her for scrap. She was sold for scrap 1 September 1975.[3]
"Queen Elizabeth's bedroom is dominated by a very fine 17th Century State bed which is complemented by contemporary English furniture decorated to resemble lacquer. The tester, the backcloth, the headboard and the trimmings are all original but the curtains, bedspread and bed skirt had deteriorated and were remade in the 1980s. The faux marble wall decoration is a 20th Century recreation of the 17th Century decorative scheme which was removed in the 19th Century." - info from the Burghley House mini guide.
"Burghley House is a grand sixteenth-century English country house near Stamford, Lincolnshire. It is a leading example of the Elizabethan prodigy house, built and still lived in by the Cecil family. The exterior largely retains its Elizabethan appearance, but most of the interiors date from remodellings before 1800. The house is open to the public and displays a circuit of grand and richly furnished state apartments. Its park was laid out by Capability Brown.
The house is on the boundary of the civil parishes of Barnack and St Martin's Without in the Peterborough unitary authority of Cambridgeshire. It was formerly part of the Soke of Peterborough, an historic area that was traditionally associated with Northamptonshire. It lies 0.9 miles (1.4 km) south of Stamford and 10 miles (16 km) northwest of Peterborough city centre.
The house is now run by the Burghley House Preservation Trust, which is controlled by the Cecil family.
Burghley was built for Sir William Cecil, later 1st Baron Burghley, who was Lord High Treasurer to Queen Elizabeth I of England, between 1555 and 1587, and modelled on the privy lodgings of Richmond Palace. It was subsequently the residence of his descendants, the Earls, and since 1801, the Marquesses of Exeter. Since 1961, it has been owned by a charitable trust established by the family.
Lady Victoria Leatham, antiques expert and television personality, followed her father, Olympic gold-medal winning athlete, IAAF President and MP, David Cecil, the 6th Marquess, by running the house from 1982 to 2007. The Olympic corridor commemorates her father. Her daughter, Miranda Rock, is now the most active live-in trustee. However, the Marquessate passed it in 1988 to Victoria's uncle, Martin Cecil, 7th Marquess of Exeter, and then to his son, William Michael Anthony Cecil, both Canadian ranchers on land originally bought by the 5th Marquess, who have not lived at Burghley.
The house is one of the main examples of stonemasonry and proportion in sixteenth-century English Elizabethan architecture, reflecting the prominence of its founder, and the lucrative wool trade of the Cecil estates. It has a suite of rooms remodelled in the baroque style, with carvings by Grinling Gibbons. The main part of the house has 35 major rooms, on the ground and first floors. There are more than 80 lesser rooms and numerous halls, corridors, bathrooms, and service areas.
In the seventeenth century, the open loggias around the ground floor were enclosed. Although the house was built in the floor plan shape of the Letter E, in honour of Queen Elizabeth, it is now missing its north-west wing. During the period of the 9th Earl's ownership, and under the guidance of the famous landscape architect, Capability Brown, the south front was raised to alter the roof line, and the north-west wing was demolished to allow better views of the new parkland. A chimney-piece after the design of Venetian printmaker Giovanni Battista Piranesi was also added during his tenure.
The so-called "Hell Staircase" and its neighbour "The Heaven Room" has substantial ceiling paintings by Antonio Verrio, between 1697 and 1699. The walls to the "Hell Staircase" are by Thomas Stothard, who completed the work about a century later. The Bow Room is decorated with wall and ceiling paintings by Louis Laguerre." - info from Wikipedia.
Summer 2019 I did a solo cycling tour across Europe through 12 countries over the course of 3 months. I began my adventure in Edinburgh, Scotland and finished in Florence, Italy cycling 8,816 km. During my trip I took 47,000 photos.
Now on Instagram.
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Francisco Aragão © 2015. All Rights Reserved.
Use without permission is illegal.
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Portuguese
No Vale da Ferradura, a convivência harmônica com a natureza é um espetáculo à parte. Curta o vento, o sol, as belas vistas, um banho de cachoeira, os animais!
Aqui você encontra animais como quati, macaco-prego, bugio-ruivo, serelepe, cutia, gambá, mão-pelada, veado-mateiro, graxaim e muitos roedores. E também grande variedade de aves de extrema beleza e raridade.
Muitos deles possuem um contato próximo com os seres humanos, como é o caso, principalmente, dos quatis, e em geral você pode observá-los de perto na área principal do Vale da Ferradura, mesmo sem fazer as trilhas.
Os quatis, em grande quantidade no Vale da Ferradura, são mamíferos que se alimentam de minhocas, insetos e frutas, apreciando também ovos, legumes e especialmente lagartos. Dormem no alto das árvores, enrolados como uma bola, e não descem antes do amanhecer. Seu órgão mais sensível com certeza é seu nariz, que é móvel e muito alongado. Possui dentes e garras fortes.
O parque Vale da Ferradura está localizado ao norte do município de Canela RS, na região correspondente às coordenadas 29°16' S - 50°50' W, compreendendo um total de aproximadamente 200 ha, com altitudes que variam de 400 m a 750 m.
Fica no Planalto das Araucárias, popularmente designado como "Serra Gaúcha". Os elementos que compõem a sua flora são típicos da Floresta Ombrófila Mista Montana e da Floresta Estacional Semidecidual Montana, com áreas de transição entre as mesmas e com diversos estágios de sucessão.
A área do parque faz parte da bacia hidrográfica do rio Caí. Nesta bacia, existem 11 Unidades de Conservação municipais e/ou particulares, duas estaduais - Parque Estadual do Delta do Jacuí e Parque Estadual do Caracol - e uma Federal - Floresta Nacional de Canela.
O clima da região é superúmido, com as curvas ombrométricas das estações meteorológicas sempre positivas. Há ocorrência de três ou mais meses com temperaturas médias compensadas mensais abaixo de 15°C, que ocasionam a chamada seca fisiológica das plantas tropicais, criadora da estacionalidade.
O Vale da Ferradura possui variados micro-habitats, com áreas mais expostas a incidência solar, aos ventos e sujeitas a interferência humana, bem como áreas totalmente protegidas, sombreadas, úmidas e sujeitas a inundações periódicas. A preservação destes remanescentes aliada à atividade de educação ambiental ao mesmo tempo que ao ócio, como forma de lazer recreativo, é extremamente importante.O parque é cortado por quatro trilhas, que apresentam características peculiares: trilha do Rio Caí, trilha do Pórtico, trilha das Cutias e trilha das Pinguelas.
http://www.canelaturismo.com.br/roteiros-e-atrativos/parque-da-ferradura/
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Outras Informações:
O parque Vale da Ferradura, localizado a 13 km do centro de Canela, proporciona ao turista integração com a natureza, com mirantes para o deslumbrante Vale da Ferradura, para a Cascata do Arroio do Caçador e Rio Santa Cruz. Uma área especial para toda família com trilhas e estrutura de churrasqueira, playground e lanchonete.
No alto do canyon de 420 metros de extensão está localizado o Vale da Ferradura - onde o Rio Santa Cruz forma a ferradura que dá nome ao lugar. A vista privilegiada da cascata do Arroio Caçador, o verde e o ar puro são complementos perfeitos para as 4 trilhas, os 3 mirantes e a estrutura de 8 churrasqueiras, playground e lanchonete, numa área total de aproximadamente 200 hectares.
A área do parque faz parte da bacia hidrográfica do rio Caí. Nesta bacia, existem 11 Unidades de Conservação municipais e/ou particulares, duas estaduais - Parque Estadual do Delta do Jacuí e Parque Estadual do Caracol - e uma federal - Floresta Nacional de Canela.
O Vale da Ferradura possui variados micro-habitats, com áreas mais expostas a incidência solar, aos ventos e sujeitas a interferência humana, bem como áreas totalmente protegidas, sombreadas, úmidas e sujeitas a inundações periódicas. A preservação destes remanescentes aliada à atividade de educação ambiental ao mesmo tempo que ao ócio, como forma de lazer recreativo, é extremamente importante.
As árvores de –Araucária, que produzem os delicioso pinhão são a maioria no parque e atraem animais silvestres como o Quati, a Cutia, o Macaco-prego e a Gralha-azul, importante para a multiplicação das árvores.
MIRANTES
• Mirante Vale da Ferradura
É o principal mirante do Vale da Ferradura. Dele você aprecia a vista da Cascata do Arroio Caçador e tem uma visão geral.
• Mirante do Vale do Arroio Caçador
Proporciona uma vista impressionante do vale do Arroio Caçador. O acesso é por uma trilha leve - cerca de 2 minutos.
• Mirante da Cascata do Arroio Caçador
Proporciona uma vista impressionante da cascata do Arroio Caçador. Aqui você desce 50 metros e a trilha é um pouco mais íngreme.
TRILHAS
• Trilha do Rio Caí
São 350 metros de trilha, iniciando a 750 metros altura e terminando a 400 metros altura, no ponto em que o arroio Caçador deságua no Rio Caí. É a principal trilha do parque, com maior nível de dificuldade, pelo declive do terreno. Você vai levar 60 minutos para descer, e 2 horas para subir.
Como a trilha do Rio Caí pode ser dividida em quatro trechos, você não precisa fazê-la inteira. Confira os trechos:
- O primeiro leva a dois mirantes, localizados a 700 metros de altura e de onde se tem uma belíssima vista da cascata do arroio Caçador.
- O segundo trecho vai de 700 até 550 metros de altura e é o de maior extensão e menor dificuldade.
- O terceiro trecho inicia a 550 metros de altura, ponto onde as trilhas do Rio Caí e do Pórtico se encontram, e termina a 450 metros de altura, no leito do arroio Caçador, acima da queda d’água.
- O quarto e último trecho vai de 450 a 400 metros altura e é o de maior dificuldade, pois o declive é acentuado e as condições de umidade são elevadas. Interessante é que parte deste trecho está sujeita a borrifos d’água, porque acompanha a queda da cascata. Ele termina no pé da cascata do arroio Caçador e às margens do Rio Caí, em uma área plana, local para um descanso merecido.
• Trilha do Pórtico
A trilha do Pórtico tem 200 metros, iniciando a 750 metros de altura e terminando a 550 metros de altura, onde se encontra com a trilha do Rio Caí. Nela existe um recanto conhecido como Cascata do Graxaim, e podem ser admiradas araucárias e xaxins.
• Trilha das Cotias
É uma bela trilha, com muita sombra, sem esforço físico, para todas as idades e condicionamentos físicos. Dá para dizer que, mais que uma trilha, é um passeio em meio à natureza. Encontra-se na faixa entre 700 e 750 metros de altura, no platô do parque, acima da trilha do Pórtico. Aprecie a bela paisagem de cactus e bromélias na área mais rochosa.
• Trilha das Pinguelas
Também está entre 700 e 750 metros de altura, porém voltada para a bela vista do Vale da Ferradura. A trilha das Pinguelas acompanha um pequeno arroio e você aproveita a sombra da copa das árvores.
Localização e informações gerais
O parque Vale da Ferradura fica na Serra Gaúcha, em Canela RS, a 13 km do centro, no Km 6 da RS 466, mais conhecida como Estrada do Caracol. Funciona das 8h30 às 17h30. No verão, quando o sol se põe bastante tarde na Região Sul, este horário pode ser estendido.
Para chegar, pegue a Estrada do Caracol, que está localizada logo ao chegar a Canela, vindo de Gramado, e vá sempre por essa via, seguindo as placas. Após o Parque do Caracol, a estrada é de terra, por alguns quilômetros.
http://www.lajedepedra.com.br/o-hotel/vale-da-ferradura.htm
(more information and pictures you can see by clicking on the link at the end of page!)
Stone penitentiary
Object ID: 32444 Steiner Landstrasse 4
The building of the prison was built in 1839-1843 as Redemptoristinnenkloster (Congregazione del Santissimo Redentore, Congregación del Santísimo Redentor, les Rédemptoristes, the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer - the female ones). After its cassation in 1848, it was adapted in 1852 for the present purpose and subsequently expanded several times. On the street side extends a long three storey wing with gaved central projection from the first quarter of the 20th Century. Adjacent to it, lies the by its narrow and tall chapel front accented, two-storey former convent. The three-bay chapel has Platzl vault (Bohemian vault) with vault and wall paintings from the construction period, which were partially destroyed. The three-storey jail house, built in 1870-1873, rises above a cross-shaped floor plan with short administration wing and three of a central octagon outgoing cell tracts. The walkways are designed as cast iron structures. A church from 1873 is located on the upper floors of the administration wing. This has a rectangular hall with coffered ceiling, a gallery and arched windows with simple ornamental panes. The equipment to which belong an aedikula, an organ and the original pews comes from the construction period. At the altarpiece an image of the Good Shepherd can be seen, which is denoted with C. Madjera 1873. Further facilities include a Baroque crucifix.
de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_der_denkmalgesch%C3%BCtzten_O...
(for further pictures please go to the link at the end of page!)
Krems an der Donau (Stein)
Community Krems at the Danube
History
Stein, copper engraving, Georg Matthäus Vischer, 1672
© IMAREAL, Austrian Academy of Sciences
The twin city of Krems-Stein in 1995 celebrating the 1000 year jubilee, is one of the oldest cities in Austria. The terrace formation, the favorable climate and location at the crossroads of the Danube trade route with the north-south connections from the Waldviertel (Wood district) and the wine district (Weinviertel) favored for thousands of years the colonization of the area and contributed essentially to the development as a center in the Danube region.
For a far into the early days reaching settlement tradition speak finds from the Paleolithic (Hundssteig, Wachtberg, 30000-25000 BC), from the Neolithic period (ceramic cultures), but also the special role of the region in the Early Bronze Age Unetice Culture (1800-1500 BC) as well as traces of the urn field culture of the late Bronze Age and the Hallstatt culture (800-400 BC). In the La Tène period settled here probably celticized groups, in the Roman period the area belonged since the beginning of the second Century to the sphere of influence of the Germanic Marcomanni. According to the biography of Saint Severin ("Vita Severini") the center of the Germanic Rugians in the second half of the 5th Century probably lay in the area of Krems-Stein, for the next century the cemetery in Unter-Rohrendorf proves the presence of the Lombards.
First time mentioned by name Krems is in a charter of Emperor Otto III of 9th August 995 as orientalis urbs que dicitur Chremisa - as a fortified place in the East which is named the Chremisa. The settlement then lay on the eastern border of the small Mark Ostarrîchi in close proximity to Moravia, but soon it grew beyond the castle district and developed in the 11th Century to a market settlement around the High market (Hoher Markt). Since 1014 Krems was due to a Royal donation (Königsschenkung) parish. The sister city of Stein is only in the second half of the 11th century (1072) named. Its center was the to parish Krems belonging Michael Church. Stone primarily was a toll and loading berth for salt, wine and grain. From skipper settlement arose a market and in the 12th Century a town settlement (since 1144). The character as a city of Krems is yet a little earlier for the year 1136 proven.
The position at the Danube the two cities had assigned their complementary functions: Stein lay directly at the stream and became toll and landing place for ships, had but due to the rising hillsides little space for large commercial and market places and construction activity. Krems, however, was cut by tributaries and floodplains from the main stream, but offered plenty of space for colonization and markets as well as the protection of a mighty castle.
Around 1150 Krems was the most important commercial center in the country. In the tower of the town castle of Krems at the steep slope of the High market between 1130-190 the first Babenberg coin, the Kremser penny, was minted. On the world map of the Arab scholar Idrisi Krems is named before Vienna, which only in subsequent time should surpass Krems. The city's growth probably already in the first half of the 12th Century the relocation of the parish of St. Stephen's Church on woman mountain (Frauenberg - now Piaristenkirche) to the foot of the mountain made necessary where the new Vitus church became parish. End of the 12th Century Krems was surrounded by a city wall, 1196 the first city judge is testified. The city has been expanded several times and extended in the late Middle Ages from the Steiner Tor in the west to the Krems river in the east. The Dominican monastery, founded in 1236 was initially outside the city.
Stein evolved from the high terrace in the direction of Nicholas church, which in 1283 was elevated into the status of a parish. In the late Middle Ages, the area between Landstraße and the Danube was built-up and the city in the area of the in 1223/1224 founded Minorits monastery (consecration of the church in 1264) and between Reisperbach and Linzertor extended.
Both cities since the beginning of the 12th Century were princely and complemented each other as land and Danube trading venues. Their close relationship has led to a unique construction as a twin city. Both cities had a civic community with its own military and financial sovereignty, but had a common municipal law (1305) and a common municipal judge and later mayor (since 1416). 1463 Emperor Frederick III the two cities conferred a common coat of arms, the imperial double-headed eagle in gold on a black background. In addition to Krems-Stein only Wiener Neustadt and Vienna had the privilege to lead the double eagle. The union of the cities existed until 1849, after 90 years of independence of Stein, in 1939 took place the recent merger.
The economic boom in the late Middle Ages was based on the viticulture and trade with wine, salt and iron. In Stein shipping formed a significant economic factor. 1463 Stein received by the Emperor Frederick III the privilege to build a fixed bridge, the second oldest after Vienna in the area of the Austrian course of the Danube river.
From the richness and self-conciousness of the citizenship testifies the in 1265 built "Gozzoburg" of the mighty city judge Gozzo of Krems, a castle-like town house with loggia. The appearance of both cities is characterised of the numerous houses from the 15th and 16th century, which are designed with bay windows, sgraffito and paintings and as well as arcade courtyards inside. A characteristic of both cities are the since the High Middle Ages profable "vintage courtyards" of monasteries and bishoprics, which were used to store wine and served for the administration of the monastic possessions, such as the Passau courtyards, the Kremsmünstererhof or the Göttweigerhof. The Göttweigerhofkapelle (chapel) is equipped with valuable frescoes from the early 14th Century. About 1500 Krems through the work of the Augsburg artist Jörg Breu became a center of the Danube School.
Since the second half of the 16th Century Krems was mostly Protestant. The resistance of the citizens against the recatholicization in 1593 led to the loss of all privileges. It was not until 1615 as Emperor Matthias cancelled the harsh verdict and restored the independence of the city. A big part in the Catholic restoration played the in 1616 settled Jesuits who ran the school and by their theater performances became famous. In addition to the Jesuit college emerged in the time of the Counter-Reformation the Capuchin Monastery Und (1614) and the early Baroque new building of the Kremser parish church, in which renowned Italian artists took part.
The 17th Century due to the shift of international trade routes and the decline of the importance of the Danube trade brought an economic downturn. Severe damages the city suffered in 1645 by the Swedes, who besieged Krems, conquered and extended it to the main fortress, and by the reconquest a year later. It was only after 1700 as a upswing set in again, which found its expression in the Baroque style of the city. Employers for the resident artists or handicrafts were the big monasteries of the country. One of the most important painters of this period was Martin Johann Schmidt, the Kremser Schmidt, until his death (1801) in Stein maintaining a painting workshop.
In the second half of the 18th Century changed the ecclesiastical structures of the city. The since 1616 the Jesuits transmitted Frauenberg church was taken over by the Piarists in 1776 after the abolition of the Order (1773). 1783 the Dominican Monastery, 1796 the Minorit's monastery and the Capuchin monastery was abolished and profaned.
The biggest change of the cityscape since the Middle Ages took place in the 19th Century by the removal of the ramparts and the city gates. Remained except for remnants of the wall only the Steinertor (gate), which became the symbol of the city. Of the in the course of industrialization established factories of importance were the leather factory in Rehberg, the factory for the manufacturing of mats and rugs made of coconut fibres in Stein and the first quartz millstone factory of Austria. Great reputation also enjoyed the organ builders Zachistal, Capek and Hradetzky and the Kremser bell founders, including Matthias Prininger, Ferdinand Vötterlechner and Johann Gottlieb Jenichen. In the last third of the century followed the connection to the railway network, 1909, the Donauuferbahn (railway line along the Danube) was opened.
After the Second World War - on 2nd April 1945, there was heavy bombing - succeeded the city to preserve the architectural heritage largely in its original state and to connect it with modernity. The successful revitalization already received international recognition, Krems in 1975, 1979 and 2009 was Europa Nostra award winner. The city with the "Art Mile" in Stein (Kunsthalle, Museum of Caricature and Artothek), the Danube Festival and numerous cultural events developed to one of the most important cultural centers in Lower Austria .
The art treasures of the city as well as tradition and the history of wine-growing presents the "museumkrems" in the former Dominican church. Which the in 1994 founded and in 1995 opened "Danube University", Krems became 13th Austrian university town and is since 2002 the seat of a University of Applied Sciences (International Management Center). With the since 1998 annually realized Wachau Marathon Krems itself also could established as a "sports city".
In the 1970s, the city once again experienced a major expansion. In 1972 joined the community of Hollenburg Krems. The once separating Danube became the connecting element between the urban north and the "orchard" in the south. Meanwhile, the "Southtown" became integral part of the city, but could maintain its rural character.
Krems has partnerships with cities in Denmark, Germany, France, Czech Republic and the USA.
www.gedaechtnisdeslandes.at/orte/action/show/controller/O...[ort]=1610
This series complements my award-winning guidebook, Chicago in Stone and Clay: A Guide to the Windy City's Architectural Geology. Henceforth I'll just call it CSC.
The CSC section and page reference for the building featured here: 5.9; pp. 51-53.
Standing on the southern side of E. Randolph Street and looking northwestward.
Behold the lower half, approximately, of the 83-story Aon Center, formerly known as the Standard Oil Building and the Amoco Building. Completed in 1973, it was originally clad in slabs of Italian Carrara Marble sliced too thin to bear the rigors of Chicago's continental climate.
By the time I took this photo, the Carrara's replacement, Mount Airy Granodiorite, had been doing its job for about a decade. While it is no means as lustrous as the original, its monumental paleness nevertheless conveys the building's "Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!" messaging quite adequately. The spire-topped Two Prudential Plaza snuggling next to it provides a nice contrast, too, with its darker, pinkish-gray Mondariz Granite exterior.
As noted in previous posts, I love the Aon, that great hulking beast, all the more for its problems and its detractors. It's good that we have been able to construct such breathtaking structures before our time to do such things runs out.
Quarried in North Carolina, the Mount Airy has been radiometrically dated to 334 ± 3 Ma ago, which places its origin in the Mississippian subperiod (Lower Carboniferous period). As a granodiorite, it's a granitoid rock whose feldspar content is mostly in the form of plagioclase. True granites, on the other hand, contain a higher proportion of alkali feldspars. Such petrologic distinctions are lost on architects, builders, and quarry operators, however. So they call this rock selection the Mount Airy Granite instead.
As is duly noted in CSC, the Mount Airy Granodiorite can also be found and scrutinized at two other Windy City sites—the Congress Plaza Hotel and Graceland Cemetery's Lehmann Mausoleum.
For much more on the site touched upon here, get and read Chicago in Stone and Clay, described at its Cornell University Press webpage.
The other photos and discussions in this series can be found in my "Chicago in Stone and Clay" Companion album. In addition, you'll find other relevant images and descriptions in my Architectural Geology: Chicago album.
Gunnar Finne (1886 - 1952)
J.S. Sirén (1889 - 1961)
Year: 1920
The memorial was designed by the sculptor Gunnar Finne together with the architect Sirén. Fittingly, the monument has an architectural presence complemented by sculptural properties, although these are confined to surface decorations.
The black granite memorial in Vanha Kirkkopuisto (Old Church Park) is dedicated to the 54 German soldiers who fell in the battle for Helsinki on April 11-12. The stone memorial resembling a monumental sargophagus follows the tradition of memorial sculpture established already in Antiquity.
The sargophagus includes a relief of a kneeling youth and the following texts in German: "Den in Kampf um Helsingfors im April 1918 gefallenen Deutschen" (To the German soldiers who fell in April 1918 in the battle for Helsinki) and "Helden Errichtete dieses Denkmal die dankbare Stadt" (The grateful City erected this monument to the heroes).
taidemuseo.hel.fi/english/veisto/veistossivu.html?id=245
About the Battle of Helsinki:
After peace talks between Germans and the Finnish Reds were broken off on 11 April 1918, the battle for the capital of Finland began. At 05:00 on 12 April, around 2,000–3,000 German Baltic Sea Division soldiers, led by Colonel Hans von Tschirsky und von Bögendorff, attacked the city from the north-west, supported via the Helsinki-Turku railway. The Germans broke through the area between Munkkiniemi and Pasila, and advanced on the central-western parts of the town. The German naval squadron led by Vice Admiral Hugo Meurer blocked the city harbour, bombarded the southern town area, and landed Seebataillon marines at Katajanokka.
Around 7,000 Finnish Reds defended Helsinki, but their best troops fought on other fronts of the war. The main strongholds of the Red defence were the Workers' Hall, the Helsinki railway station, the Red Headquarters at Smolna, the Senate Palace–Helsinki University area and the former Russian garrisons. By the late evening of 12 April, most of the southern parts and all of the western area of the city had been occupied by the Germans. Local Helsinki White Guard, having hidden in the city during the war, joined the battle as the Germans advanced through the town.
On 13 April, German troops took over the Market Square, the Smolna, the Presidential Palace, and the Senate-Ritarihuone area. Toward the end, a German brigade with 2,000–3,000 soldiers, led by Colonel Kondrad Wolf joined the battle. The unit rushed from north to the eastern parts of Helsinki, pushing into the working-class neighborhoods of Hermanni, Kallio and Sörnäinen. German artillery bombarded and destroyed the Workers' Hall and put out the red lantern of the Finnish revolution. The eastern parts of the town surrendered around 14:00 on 13 April, when a white flag was raised in the tower of the Kallio Church. Sporadic fighting lasted until the evening. In total, 60 Germans, 300–400 Reds and 23 White Guard troopers were killed in the battle. Around 7,000 Reds were captured. The German army celebrated the victory with a military parade in the centre of Helsinki on 14 April 1918.
The minifigs included in the set. 11 total- well within reason for a $120 set. Roll over the image for details.
Remember to support the Space Marines on Lego Cuusoo to see them as real sets!
KiLu sim is the perfect dream escape brought to reality in Second Life. Come explore the pathways and enjoy the photogenic scenery and views. Autumn foliage decorates the sim and you'll never know what picturesque hidden treasures you'll discover.
Tu eres clase alta, yo clase baja ,Tú vistes de seda, y yo de paja Nos complementamos como novios, Tu tomas agua destilada, yo agua con microbios, Tú la vives fácil y yo me fajo,Tú sudas perfume, yo sudo trabajo Tú tienes chofer, yo camino a patas, Tu comes filete y yo carne de lata Nuestro parecido es microscópico Pero es que por ti me derrito como gringo en el trópico Pégate a mí que no te contaminas Y con un besito vamos a pegarnos la porcina(8)
Complements... now find me an orange and purple house.
I've wanted to take a shot of this building for a while. It's on 14 mile & Coolidge.
View on black!
Complementing its Boeing 737-900ER in a similar paint scheme, Alaska Airlines had two of Virgin America's A321neos delivered in this eye-catching "More to Love" blue and red livery.
Model: Lidia Burell
MUA: Nitta Rodriguez
HAIR: Cinthya Prados F.
EStilismo: Obsesion Moda y Complementos.
Fotografía y Edición: Javier P. Jayma
jaymafotografia.com
Complementando la foto anterior, en el atardecer de la estacion Linares, esperando el Terra para dirigirnos hacia Chillan luego de un agotador día de "Cacerias" Ferroviarias, espera pacientemente la fea y deteñida 2 la hermana de la otra FEA DESTEÑIDA, para ser asignada a otra labor.
Oldsmobile introduced the 88 badge in 1949. It was named to complement the already-existing 76 and 98, and took the place of the Oldsmobile Straight-8 engined 78 in the model lineup. The new car used the same new Futuramic B-body platform as the Oldsmobile Straight-6 engined 76 but paired it with the powerful new Rocket V8 engine. This combination of a relatively small light body and large, powerful engine made it a precursor to the muscle car. The Rocket 88 vaulted Oldsmobile from a somewhat staid, conservative car to a performer that became the one to beat on the NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) circuits. It won six of the nine NASCAR late-model division races in 1949, 10 of 19 in 1950, 20 of 41 in 1952, and was eventually eclipsed by the low-slung, powerful Hudson Hornet, but it was still the first real "King of NASCAR." This led to increased sales to the public. There was a pent up demand for new cars in the fast-expanding post World War II economy, and the 88 appealed to many ex-military personnel who were young and had operated powerful military equipment.
The 88 enjoyed a great success, inspiring a popular 1950s slogan, "Make a Date with a Rocket 88", and also a song, "Rocket 88", often considered the first rock and roll record. Starting with the trunk-lid emblem of the 1950 model, Oldsmobile would adopt the rocket as its logo, and the 88 name would remain in the Olds lineup until the late 1990s, almost until the end of Oldsmobile itself.
The 1949 model was equipped with an ignition key and a starter push-button to engage the starter. Pushing the starter button would engage the starter, but if the ignition key was not inserted, unlocking the ignition, the car would not start. The car was equipped with an oil bath air cleaner. At the bottom edge of the front fender directly behind the front wheel was a badge that said "Futuramic" which identified an Oldsmobile approach to simplified driving, and the presence of an automatic transmission. 1948 Oldsmobile Futuramic introduction Styling changes for the 1950 model include the replacement of a two-piece windshield with a one-piece unit and the addition of the Holiday hardtop coupe to the line. Also a three-speed manual transmission with column shift became available as a "delete for credit" option to the Hydra-Matic automatic transmission. The 88 now outsold the six-cylinder 76 lineup, which was dropped entirely after the 1950 model year. It had a 40 ft. turning circle. The 1950 model won the 1950 Carrera Panamericana.
For 1951, the 88 was now the entry-level Olds with the discontinuation of the six-cylinder 76 line, which meant that all Oldsmobiles were powered by Rocket V8s. New this year was the more upscale Super 88 line on the new GM B-body which included restyled rear body panels, a more luxurious interior, and a slightly longer 120-inch (3,000 mm) wheelbase as opposed to the 119.5-inch (3,040 mm) wheelbase which had been standard since the 88's introduction. The station wagon was discontinued and would not reappear until the 1957 model year. New was an I-beam frame. Hydraulic power windows and seats were optional.
In 1952, the base 88 shared the Super 88s rear bodypanels and wheelbase, and got a 145 horsepower (108 kW) 303 cu in (5.0 L) Rocket V8 with two-barrel carburetor while Super 88s got a more powerful 160 hp (119 kW) 303 with a new four-barrel carburetor. Other mechanical features were unchanged with styling changes amounting to new grilles, taillights, and interior revisions. New was the optional automatic headlight control.
For 1953, the base 88 was renamed the DeLuxe 88 for only this one year while the Super 88 continued as a more upscale version. Engines and transmission offerings were the same as 1952. Late in the 1953 model year, a fire destroyed GM's Hydra-Matic plant in Livonia, Michigan, which was then the only source for Hydra-Matic transmissions. The temporary loss of Hydra-Matic production led Oldsmobile to build thousands of its 1953 models with Buick's two-speed Dynaflow automatic transmissions until GM pressed its Willow Run Transmission plant into service to resume Hydra-Matic production. New options this year included Frigidaire air conditioning, power steering, and power brakes.
[Text taken from Wikipedia]
This Lego miniland-scale 1950 Oldsmobile Rocket 88 Holiday Hardtop Coupe has been created for Flickr LUGNuts' 84th Build Challenge, our 7th birthday, to the challenge theme, - "LUGNuts Turns 7…or 49 in Dog Years", - where all the previous challenge themes are available to build to. In this case challenge 62, - "Space is the Place", - for vehicles with a space related theme.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Name: Intrepid
Builder: Newport News Shipbuilding
Laid down: 1 December 1941
Launched: 26 April 1943
Commissioned: 16 August 1943
Decommissioned: 22 March 1947
Recommissioned: 9 February 1952
Decommissioned: 9 April 1952
Recommissioned: 18 June 1954
Decommissioned: 15 March 1974
Reclassified:
CVA-11 on 1 October 1952
CVS-11 on 31 March 1962
Struck: 23 February 1982
Nickname(s): "Fighting I", "Dry I"
Status: Museum ship at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City.
Badge: USS Intrepid CV-11 Badge.gif
General characteristics
Class and type: Essex-class aircraft carrier
Displacement:
As built:
27,100 tons standard
36,380 tons full load
Length:
As built:
820 feet (250 m) waterline
872 feet (266 m) overall
Beam:
As built:
93 feet (28 m) waterline
147 feet 6 inches (45 m) overall
Draft:
As built:
28 feet 5 inches (8.66 m) light
34 feet 2 inches (10.41 m) full load
Decks: 3
Propulsion:
As designed:
8 × boilers 565 psi (3,900 kPa) 850 °F (450 °C)
4 × Westinghouse geared steam turbines
4 × shafts
150,000 shp (110 MW)
Speed: 33 knots (61 km/h)
Range: 20,000 nautical miles (37,000 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h)
Complement:
As built:
2,600 officers and enlisted
Armament:
As built:
4 × twin 5 inch (127 mm) 38 caliber guns
4 × single 5 inch (127 mm) 38 caliber guns
8 × quadruple 40 mm 56 caliber guns
46 × single 20 mm 78 caliber guns
Armor:
As built:
2.5 to 4 inch (60 to 100 mm) belt
1.5 inch (40 mm) hangar and protectice decks
4 inch (100 mm) bulkheads
1.5 inch (40 mm) STS top and sides of pilot house
2.5 inch (60 mm) top of steering gear
Aircraft carried:
As built:
90–100 aircraft
1 × deck-edge elevator
2 × centerline elevators
USS Intrepid (CV/CVA/CVS-11), also known as The Fighting "I", is one of 24 Essex-class aircraft carriers built during World War II for the United States Navy. She is the fourth US Navy ship to bear the name. Commissioned in August 1943, Intrepid participated in several campaigns in the Pacific Theater of Operations, most notably the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Decommissioned shortly after the end of the war, she was modernized and recommissioned in the early 1950s as an attack carrier (CVA), and then eventually became an antisubmarine carrier (CVS). In her second career, she served mainly in the Atlantic, but also participated in the Vietnam War. Her notable achievements include being the recovery ship for a Mercury and a Gemini space mission. Because of her prominent role in battle, she was nicknamed "the Fighting I", while her frequent bad luck and time spent in dry dock for repairs earned her the nicknames "Decrepit" and "the Dry I". Decommissioned in 1974, in 1982 Intrepid became the foundation of the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City.
Construction & commissioning
Intrepid was launched on 26 April 1943 by Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., Newport News, Virginia, the fifth Essex-class aircraft carrier to be launched. She was sponsored by the wife of Vice Admiral John H. Hoover. On 16 August 1943, she was commissioned with Captain Thomas L. Sprague in command before heading to the Caribbean for shakedown and training. Intrepid's motto upon setting sail was "In Mare In Caelo", which means "On the sea, in the sky", or "In the sea in Heaven".
Service history
World War II
Intrepid has a distinguished service record, seeing active service in the Pacific Theater including the Marshall Islands, Truk, Leyte Gulf, and Okinawa. At war's end, she was in Enewetak and soon supported occupation forces providing air support and supply services before heading back to California.[citation needed]
Marshalls, January–February 1944
3 December 1943: Intrepid sailed from Naval Station Norfolk for San Francisco, then to Hawaii.
10 January 1944: She arrived at Pearl Harbor and prepared for the invasion of the Marshall Islands, the next objective in the Navy's massive island-hopping campaign.
16 January: She left Pearl Harbor with carriers Cabot and Essex.
29 January–2 February 1944: She raided islands at the northeastern corner of Kwajalein Atoll and pressed the attack until the last opposition had vanished.
31 January: By then, the raids destroyed all of the 83 Japanese aircraft based on Roi-Namur. The first landings were made on adjacent islets. That morning, Intrepid's aircraft strafed Ennuebing Island until 10 minutes before the first Marines reached the beaches. Thirty minutes later, that islet – which protected Roi's southwestern flank and controlled the North Pass into Kwajalein Lagoon – was secured, enabling Marines to set up artillery to support their assault on Roi.
2 February 1944: Her work in the capture of the Marshall Islands was now finished. Intrepid headed for Truk, the tough Japanese base in the center of Micronesia.
17 February: Three fast carrier groups arrived undetected at daybreak.
17 – 18 February: The three carrier groups sank two Japanese destroyers and 200,000 tons (180,000 tonnes) of merchant shipping in two days of almost continuous attacks in Operation Hailstone. The carrier raid demonstrated Truk's vulnerability and thereby greatly curtailed its usefulness to the Japanese as a base.
17 February 1944: That night, an aerial torpedo struck Intrepid's starboard quarter, 15 ft (5 m) below her waterline, flooding several compartments and distorting her rudder. By running her port engines at full power and stopping her starboard engines or running them at ⅓ ahead, Captain Sprague kept her roughly on course. Her crew moved all the aircraft on deck forward to increase her headsail to further aid in control.[1]
19 February: Strong winds overpowered the improvised steering and left her with her bow pointed toward Tokyo. Sprague later confessed: "Right then I wasn't interested in going in that direction." At this point the crew made a jury-rig sail of wood, cargo nets, and canvas to further increase her headsail, allowing Intrepid to hold her course.
24 February 1944: Intrepid reached Pearl Harbor.
16 March: After temporary repairs, Intrepid sailed for the West Coast.
22 March: She arrived at Hunter's Point, California.
June 1944: She was back in fighting trim and departed for two months of operations out of Pearl Harbor, then to the Marshalls.
Palaus and Philippines, September–November 1944
6 and 7 September 1944: Intrepid's aircraft struck Japanese positions in the Palaus concentrating on airfields and artillery emplacements on Peleliu.
8 September: Her fast carrier task force steamed west toward the southern Philippines.
9 and 10 September: She struck airfields on Mindanao.
12 through 14 September: She raided bases in the Visayan Sea.
17 September: She returned to the Palaus to support Marines in overcoming opposition from hillside caves and mangrove swamps on Peleliu.
When the struggle settled down to rooting Japanese defenders out of the ground man-to-man, Intrepid steamed back to the Philippines to prepare the way for liberation. She struck throughout the Philippines, also pounding Okinawa and Formosa to neutralize Japanese air threats to Leyte.
20 October 1944: Intrepid's aircraft flew missions in support of the Leyte landings. Japan's Navy, desperately striving to hold the Philippines, was converging on Leyte Gulf from three directions.
23 to 26 October 1944: Ships of the U.S. Navy parried thrusts in four major actions collectively known as the Battle of Leyte Gulf.
24 October morning: An Intrepid aircraft spotted Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita's flagship, Yamato. Two hours later, aircraft from Intrepid and Cabot braved intense antiaircraft fire to begin a day-long attack on Center Force. Wave after wave followed until by sunset American carrier-based aircraft sank battleship Musashi and damaged her sister ship Yamato, along with battleships Nagato and Haruna and heavy cruiser Myōkō, forcing Myōkō to withdraw.
That night, Admiral William Halsey's 3rd Fleet raced north to intercept Japan's Northern Force which had been spotted off the northeastern tip of Luzon. At daybreak, aircraft took off to attack the Japanese ships then off Cape Engaño. One of Intrepid's aircraft got a bomb into light carrier Zuihō. American bombers then sank Chitose, and an aircraft from either Intrepid or San Jacinto scored a torpedo hit on fleet carrier Zuikaku knocking out her communications and hampering her steering. Destroyer Akizuki sank and at least nine of Ozawa's 15 aircraft were shot down.
Crewmen aboard New Jersey watch as a Japanese plane prepares to strike Intrepid.
Burial at sea for the victims of a Japanese bombing attack on Intrepid during operations in the Philippines, 26 November 1944.
Throughout the day, the attack continued and, after five more strikes, Japan had lost four carriers and a destroyer.
The still-potent Center Force, after pushing through San Bernardino Strait, had steamed south along the coast of Samar where it was held at bay by a small escort carrier group of six "baby flattops", three destroyers, and four destroyer escorts until help arrived and it went back towards Japan.
As Intrepid's aircraft hit Clark Field on 30 October, a burning kamikaze crashed into one of the carrier's port gun tubs killing 10 men and wounding six. Soon skillful damage control work enabled the flattop to resume flight operations.
Intrepid's aircraft continued to hit airfields and shipping in the Philippines.
25 November, shortly after noon: A heavy force of Japanese aircraft struck back at the carriers. Within five minutes, two kamikazes crashed into the carrier killing six officers and fifty-nine crew. (Actual report from Air Group 18 states "sixty were dead, fifteen missing, and about one hundred wounded.") Intrepid never lost propulsion nor left her station in the task group, and in less than two hours had extinguished the last blaze.[2]
26 November: Intrepid headed for San Francisco.
20 December: She arrived there for repairs.
Okinawa and Japan, March–December 1945
Mid February 1945: Back in fighting trim, the carrier steamed for Ulithi.
13 March She arrived at Ulithi.
14 March 1945: She set off westward.
18 March: She made powerful strikes against airfields on Kyūshū. That morning a twin-engined Japanese G4M "Betty" broke through a curtain of defensive fire turned toward Intrepid and exploded only 50 ft (15 m) off Intrepid's forward boat crane. A shower of flaming gasoline and aircraft parts started fires on the hangar deck, but damage control teams quickly put them out.
Intrepid's aircraft joined attacks on remnants of the Japanese fleet anchored at Kure damaging 18 enemy naval vessels, including battleship Yamato and carrier Amagi.
The carriers turned to Okinawa as L-Day, the start of the most ambitious amphibious assault of the Pacific war, approached.
26 and 27 March: Their aircraft attacked the Ryūkyūs, softening up enemy defensive works.
1 April 1945: The invasion began on 1 April. They flew support missions against targets on Okinawa and made neutralizing raids against Japanese airfields in range of the island.
16 April: During an air raid, a Japanese aircraft dove into Intrepid's flight deck forcing the engine and part of her fuselage right on through, killing eight men and wounding 21. In less than an hour the flaming gasoline had been extinguished, and only three hours after the crash, aircraft were again landing on the carrier.
17 April: Intrepid retired homeward via Ulithi
11 May: She made a stop at Pearl Harbor.
19 May: She arrived at San Francisco for repairs.
29 June: Intrepid left San Francisco.
6 August: In passing, her aircraft smashed Japanese on bypassed Wake Island.
7 August: She arrived at Eniwetok.
15 August: At Eniwetok she received word to "cease offensive operations."
21 August: The veteran carrier got under way to support the occupation of Japan.
2 December: She departed Yokosuka.
15 December 1945. She arrived San Pedro, California.
Post-war
Intrepid during her SCB-27C modernization.
4 February 1946: Intrepid shifted to San Francisco Bay.[3]
15 August: Her status was reduced to "in commission in reserve".
22 March 1947: She was decommissioned and joined the Pacific Reserve Fleet.[3]
9 February 1952: Intrepid recommissioned at San Francisco.
12 March 1952: She got underway for Norfolk.
9 April 1952: She decommissioned in the Norfolk Naval Shipyard for her SCB-27C modernization.
1 October: She was reclassified CVA-11.
18 June 1954: She recommissioned in reserve.
15 October 1954: She went into full commission as a unit of the Atlantic Fleet.
Top views of USS Intrepid after SCB-27C (left) and SCB-125 (right).
1955–1961
Intrepid operating as an attack carrier in the early 1960s.
1955: Shakedown out of Guantánamo Bay.
28 May 1955: Intrepid departed Mayport, Florida, for the first of two deployments in the Mediterranean with the 6th Fleet.
5 September 1956: She returned to Norfolk from the second of these cruises.
29 September Intrepid entered the New York Navy Yard for her SCB-125 modernization until April 1957, which included an enclosed bow and an angled flight deck. This was followed by refresher training out of Guantánamo Bay.
September 1957: Intrepid departed the United States for NATO's Operation Strikeback, the largest peacetime naval exercise up to that time in history.
December 1957: Operating out of Norfolk, she conducted Operation Crosswind, a study of the effects of wind on carrier launches. Intrepid proved that carriers can safely conduct flight operations without turning into the wind and even launch aircraft while steaming downwind.
1958–1961: Intrepid alternated Mediterranean deployments with operations along the Atlantic coast of the United States and exercises in the Caribbean.
1962–1965
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8 December 1961: She was reclassified to an anti-submarine warfare carrier, CVS-11.
10 March 1962: She entered the Norfolk Navy Yard to be overhauled and refitted for her new antisubmarine warfare role.
2 April 1962: She left the shipyard carrying Carrier Antisubmarine Air Group 56.
The Gemini 3 spacecraft alongside Intrepid, 23 March 1965.
After training exercises, Intrepid was selected as the principal ship in the recovery team for astronaut Scott Carpenter and his Project Mercury space capsule.
24 May 1962, shortly before noon: Carpenter splashed down in Aurora 7 several hundred miles from Intrepid. Minutes after he was located by land-based search aircraft, two helicopters from Intrepid, carrying NASA officials, medical experts, Navy frogmen, and photographers, were airborne and headed to the rescue. One of the choppers picked him up over an hour later and flew him to the carrier which safely returned him to the United States.
1962 summer: Training midshipmen at sea.
1962 autumn: A thorough overhaul at Norfolk.
23 January 1963: The carrier departed Hampton Roads for warfare exercises in the Caribbean.
Late February 1963: She interrupted these operations to join a sea hunt for the Venezuelan freighter Anzoátegui, whose mutinous second mate had led a group of pro-Castro terrorists in hijacking the vessel. The Communist pirates had surrendered at Rio de Janeiro.
23 March 1963: The carrier returned to Norfolk.
Intrepid operated along the Atlantic Coast for the next year from Nova Scotia to the Caribbean perfecting her antisubmarine techniques.
11 June 1964: She left Norfolk carrying midshipmen to the Mediterranean for a hunter-killer at sea training with the 6th Fleet.
While in the Mediterranean, Intrepid aided in the surveillance of a Soviet task group. En route home her crew learned that she had won the coveted Battle Efficiency "E" for antisubmarine warfare during the previous fiscal year.
1964 autumn: Intrepid operated along the East Coast.
Early September 1964: She entertained 22 NATO statesmen as part of their tour of U.S. military installations.
18–19 October 1964: She was at Yorktown for ceremonies commemorating Lord Cornwallis's surrender 183 years before. The French Ambassador attended the ceremony and presented the U.S. with 12 cannon cast from molds found in the Bastille, replicas of those brought to American forces by Lafayette.
Night of 21 November 1964: During a brief deployment off North Carolina, swift and efficient rescue procedures saved the life of an airman Jenner Sanders who fell overboard while driving an aircraft towing tractor.
Early 1965: Intrepid began preparations for a vital role in NASA's first manned Gemini flight, Gemini 3.
23 March 1965: Lieutenant Commander John Young and Major Gus Grissom in Molly Brown splashed down some 50 nmi (90 km) from Intrepid after history's first controlled re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere ended the pair's nearly perfect three-orbit flight aboard Gemini 3. A Navy helicopter lifted the astronauts from the spacecraft and flew them to Intrepid for medical examination and debriefing. Later, Intrepid retrieved Molly Brown and returned the spacecraft and astronauts to Cape Kennedy.
1965–1974
Intrepid operating as an auxiliary attack carrier off Vietnam, 1966.
This was the final Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization job performed by the New York Naval Shipyard, Brooklyn, New York, which was scheduled to close. In September 1965, Intrepid, with her work approximately 75% completed, eased down the East River to moor at the Naval Supply Depot at Bayonne, New Jersey, for the completion of her multimillion-dollar overhaul. After builder's sea trials and fitting out at Norfolk she sailed to Guantánamo Bay, Cuba on a shakedown cruise.
From April 1966 to February 1969, Intrepid made three Vietnam deployments, with Carrier Air Wing 10 embarked.[4] Mid-1966 found Intrepid with the Pacific Fleet off Vietnam. Nine A-4 Skyhawks and six A-1 Skyraiders, loaded with bombs and rockets, were catapulted in seven minutes, with only a 28-second interval between launches. A few days later planes were launched at 26-second intervals. After seven months of service with the United States Seventh Fleet off Vietnam, Intrepid returned to Norfolk having earned her Commanding Officer, Captain John W. Fair, the Legion of Merit for combat operations in Southeast Asia.
On 9 October 1966 Lieutenant, junior grade William T. Patton of VA-176 from Intrepid, flying a propeller driven A-1H Skyraider, shot down one MiG-17. For the action, Lieutenant (jg) Patton was awarded the Silver Star.
In June 1967, Intrepid returned to the Western Pacific by way of the Suez Canal just prior to its closing during the Israeli-Arab crisis. There she began another tour with the Seventh Fleet.
In 1968, Intrepid won the Marjorie Sterrett Battleship Fund Award for the Atlantic Fleet. For Carrier Air Wing 10's final cruise aboard Intrepid from 4 June 1968 to 8 February 1969 off Southeast Asia, the wing consisted of VF-111 Detachment 11 (F-8C), VA-106 with the A-4E, VA-66 Waldos (A-4C), VFP-63 Detachment 11 (RF-8G), VA-36 'Roadrunners' (A-4C), VAQ-33 Detachment 11 (EA-1F), VAW-121 Detachment 11 (E-1B), and HC-2 Detachment 11.[4]
Intrepid operating in the Mediterranean in the 1970s.
In 1969, Intrepid was home ported at Naval Air Station Quonset Point, Rhode Island, relieving Yorktown as the flagship for Commander Carrier Division 16. In the fall, the ship was run aground by Captain Horus E. Moore, but was freed within two hours. From April–October 1971, Intrepid took part in NATO exercises, and made calls in the North Atlantic and Mediterranean ports of Lisbon, Plymouth, Kiel, Naples, Cannes, Barcelona, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Greenock, Rosyth, Portsmouth, and Bergen. During this cruise, submarine detection operations were conducted in the Baltic and at the edge of the Barents Sea above the Arctic Circle, under close scrutiny of Soviet air and naval forces. She subsequently returned to her homeport to be refitted.
Beginning in July 1972, Intrepid participated once again in NATO exercises, visiting Copenhagen, Rotterdam, Bergen, Brussels, Portsmouth and Gourock. Intrepid found herself in the Barents and made round the clock flight operations as she was above the Arctic Circle. She cut her North Atlantic cruise short, returned to Quonset point for a mini-overhaul. She made her final cruise in the Mediterranean, stopping twice in Barcelona and Malaga Spain; Lisbon, Portugal; Nice, France; Naples, Italy; Palma, Majorca; and Piraeus, Greece once. Due to fuel limitations Intrepid spent as much time in port as she did underway.
On 15 March 1974, Intrepid was decommissioned for the final time.
Preservation as museum ship
Main article: Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum
USS Intrepid
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
P9240086.JPG
Intrepid functioning as the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum in New York City.
USS Intrepid (CV-11) is located in New York City
USS Intrepid (CV-11)
Location Intrepid Square, New York City
Coordinates 40°45′53″N 74°00′04″WCoordinates: 40°45′53″N 74°00′04″W
Built 1941
Architect Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock
NRHP Reference # 86000082
Significant dates
Added to NRHP 14 January 1986[5]
Designated NHL 14 January 1986[6]
In 1976, Intrepid was moored at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in Philadelphia and hosted exhibits as part of the United States Bicentennial celebrations.
Plans originally called for Intrepid to be scrapped after decommissioning, but a campaign led by real estate developers Zachary and Larry Fisher and the Intrepid Museum Foundation saved the carrier and established it as a museum ship. In August 1982, the ship opened in New York City as the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum. Four years later, Intrepid was officially designated as a National Historic Landmark.[6][7]
Over the years, Intrepid has hosted many special events including wrestling events, press conferences, parties and the FBI operations center after the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks.[8]
2006–2008 renovation
Throughout the last several years, the Intrepid museum has operated a fund for the restoration, raising over $60 million to refit Intrepid, to improve its exhibits for visitors, and improve Pier 86.
An aerial view of the USS Intrepid docked at pier 86.
USS Intrepid docked at Pier 86
In early July 2006, it was announced that Intrepid would undergo renovations and repairs, along with Pier 86 itself. It closed on 1 October 2006, in preparation for its towing to Bayonne, New Jersey for repairs, and later Staten Island, New York for renovation and temporary docking.[9][10]
On 6 November 2006, an attempt to remove the aircraft carrier from the pier for restoration was temporarily put on hold by the Coast Guard. Despite the use of several tugs with a combined 30,000 hp (22,000 kW), officials said the ship was stuck in 24 years worth of accumulated silt and would not move.
On 11 November 2006, the United States Navy announced that it would spend $3 million to dredge the mud and silt from under Intrepid. The effort was led by the United States Navy Supervisor of Salvage and Diving with assistance from the United States Army Corps of Engineers, United States Coast Guard, and contractors. The teams operated for three weeks to clear the site of mud and silt.
On 5 December 2006, after the removal of 39,000 cu yd (30,000 m3) of muck from under the ship and around its four giant screws, Intrepid was successfully removed from its pier and was towed to Bayonne.[11]
Intrepid made a D-Day "landing" on Staten Island, 6 June 2007, after being towed from a slip at Bayonne Dry Dock & Repair Corp.
While in Staten Island, Intrepid underwent the next phase of her refurbishment, and received an $8 million interior renovation. Never-before-seen areas of the ship including the forecastle (fo'c'sle, commonly known as the anchor chain room), general berthing quarters and the ship's machine shop were opened to the public for the first time. The hangar deck features a new layout and design including new interactive exhibits. Total cost of the renovation was $120 million — $55 million for the ship and $65 million for Pier 86.[12]
The carrier was towed back into place on the Hudson River on 2 October 2008 and reopened to the public on 8 November.[12]
Enterprise touching down on Intrepid
On 12 December 2011, ownership of the Space Shuttle Enterprise was officially transferred to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City.[13][14][15] In preparation for the anticipated relocation, engineers evaluated the vehicle in early 2010 and determined that it was safe to fly on the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft once again.[16] At approximately 9:40 am Eastern Daylight Time on 27 April 2012 Enterprise took off from Dulles International Airport en route to a fly-by over the Hudson River, New York's JFK International Airport, the Statue of Liberty, the George Washington and Verrazano-Narrows Bridges, and several other landmarks in the city; in an approximately 45-minute "final tour". At 11:23 am Eastern Daylight Time Enterprise touched down at JFK International Airport.[17]
The mobile Mate-Demate Device and cranes were transported from Dulles to the ramp at JFK and the shuttle was removed from the SCA overnight on 12 May 2012, placed on a specially designed flat bed trailer and returned to Hangar 12.[18] On 3 June a Weeks Marine barge took Enterprise to Jersey City. The Shuttle sustained cosmetic damage to a wingtip when a gust of wind blew the barge towards a piling.[19] It was hoisted 6 June onto the Intrepid Museum in Manhattan.[20]
The Enterprise went on public display on 19 July 2012, at the Intrepid Museum's new Space Shuttle Pavilion.[21]
The Intrepid with the USS Growler (SSG-577) in the lower left during Fleet Week 2010
Media appearances
On July 4, 1993 The Intrepid was used by WWE for a body slam contest when Lex Luger defeated Yokozuna.
The story of the Intrepid's move was featured on the History Channel's Mega Movers program. The episode was titled "Intrepid: On the Move" and premiered 5 July 2007.
The ship has been featured in blockbuster films, including Aftershock: Earthquake in New York, the 2004 film National Treasure and the 2007 film I Am Legend,[22][23] as well as Bordello: House of the Rising Sun and the 2005 film Little Manhattan.
The ship can be seen briefly in a shot of New York in the last few seconds of the series finale of The Suite Life on Deck, next to the SS Tipton being dismantled.
On 13 through 16 August 2012, The Colbert Report was broadcast from the Intrepid.
On 2 May 2014, the world premiere of 24: Live Another Day was held on the Intrepid.
Notre-Dame de Paris (French: [nɔtʁ(ə) dam də paʁi] ⓘ; meaning "Our Lady of Paris"), referred to simply as Notre-Dame,[a] is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the Seine River), in the 4th arrondissement of Paris, France. The cathedral, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, is considered one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture. Several attributes set it apart from the earlier Romanesque style, particularly its pioneering use of the rib vault and flying buttress, its enormous and colourful rose windows, and the naturalism and abundance of its sculptural decoration.[5] Notre-Dame also stands out for its three pipe organs (one historic) and its immense church bells.[6]
Built during medieval France, construction of the cathedral began in 1163 under Bishop Maurice de Sully and was largely completed by 1260, though it was modified in succeeding centuries. In the 1790s, during the French Revolution, Notre-Dame suffered extensive desecration; much of its religious imagery was damaged or destroyed. In the 19th century, the coronation of Napoleon and the funerals of many of the French Republic's presidents took place at the cathedral. The 1831 publication of Victor Hugo's novel Notre-Dame de Paris (in English: The Hunchback of Notre-Dame) inspired interest which led to restoration between 1844 and 1864, supervised by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc. On 26 August 1944, the Liberation of Paris from German occupation was celebrated in Notre-Dame with the singing of the Magnificat. Beginning in 1963, the cathedral's façade was cleaned of soot and grime. Another cleaning and restoration project was carried out between 1991 and 2000.[7]
The cathedral is a widely recognized symbol of the city of Paris and the French nation. In 1805, it was awarded honorary status as a minor basilica. As the cathedral of the archdiocese of Paris, Notre-Dame contains the cathedra of the archbishop of Paris (currently Laurent Ulrich). In the early 21st century, approximately 12 million people visited Notre-Dame annually, making it the most visited monument in Paris.[8] The cathedral is renowned for its Lent sermons, a tradition founded in the 1830s by the Dominican Jean-Baptiste Henri Lacordaire. These sermons have increasingly been given by leading public figures or government-employed academics.
Over time, the cathedral has gradually been stripped of many decorations and artworks. However, the cathedral still contains Gothic, Baroque, and 19th-century sculptures, 17th- and early 18th-century altarpieces, and some of the most important relics in Christendom – including the Crown of Thorns, and a sliver and nail from the True Cross.
On 15 April 2019, while Notre-Dame was undergoing renovation and restoration, its roof caught fire and burned for 15 hours. The cathedral sustained serious damage. The flèche (the timber spirelet over the crossing) was destroyed, as was most of the lead-covered wooden roof above the stone vaulted ceiling.[9] This contaminated the site and nearby environment with lead.[10] Restoration proposals suggested modernizing the cathedral, but the French National Assembly rejected them, enacting a law in July 2019 that required the restoration preserve the cathedral's "historic, artistic and architectural interest".[11] The task of stabilizing the building against potential collapse was completed in November 2020.[12] The cathedral is expected to reopen on 8 December 2024; the date was confirmed by President Macron.
Key dates
4th century – Cathedral of Saint Étienne, dedicated to Saint Stephen, built just west of present cathedral.[14]
1163 – Bishop Maurice de Sully begins construction of new cathedral.[14]
1182 or 1185 – Choir completed, clerestory with two levels: upper level of upright windows with pointed arches, still without tracery, lower level of small rose windows.
c. 1200 – Construction of nave, with flying buttresses, completed.
c. 1210–1220 – Construction of towers begins.
c. 1210–1220 – Two new traverses join towers with nave. West rose window complete in 1220.
After 1220 – New flying buttresses added to choir walls, remodeling of the clerestories: pointed arched windows are enlarged downward, replacing the triforia, and get tracery.
1235–1245 – Chapels constructed between buttresses of nave and choir.
1250–1260 – North transept lengthened by Jean de Chelles to provide more light. North rose window constructed.[15]
1270 – South transept and rose window completed by Pierre de Montreuil.[16]
1699 – Beginning of major redecoration of interior in Louis XIV style by Hardouin Mansart and Robert de Cotte.[17]
1725–1727 – South rose window, poorly built, is reconstructed. Later entirely rebuilt in 1854.
1790 – In the French Revolution the Revolutionary Paris Commune removes all bronze, lead, and precious metals from the cathedral to be melted down.[16]
1793 – The cathedral is converted into a Temple of Reason and then Temple of the Supreme Being.
1801–1802 – With the Concordat of 1801, Napoleon restores the use of the cathedral (though not ownership) to the Catholic Church.
1804 – On 2 December, Napoleon crowns himself Emperor at Notre-Dame.
1805 – The cathedral is conceded the honor of minor basilica by Pope Pius VII, making it the first minor basilica outside of Italy.[18]
1844–1864 – Major restoration by Jean-Baptiste Lassus and Eugène Viollet-le-Duc with additions in the spirit of the original Gothic style.[19]
1871 – In final days of the Paris Commune, Communards attempt unsuccessfully to burn the cathedral.
1944 – On 26 August, General Charles de Gaulle celebrates the Liberation of Paris with a special Mass at Notre-Dame.
1949 – On 26 April, the Archbishop of Paris, Emmanuel Célestin Suhard, crowns the venerated image of Our Lady of Guadalupe in the name of Pope Pius XII.
1963 – Culture Minister André Malraux orders the cleaning of the cathedral façade of centuries of grime and soot.
2019 – On 15 April, a fire destroys a large part of the roof and the flèche.
2021 – Reconstruction begins two years after the fire that destroyed a large part of the roof and the flèche.
2024 - Expected reopening of the Cathedral to occur on 8 December.
It is believed that before the arrival of Christianity in France, a Gallo-Roman temple dedicated to Jupiter stood on the site of Notre-Dame. Evidence for this includes the Pillar of the Boatmen, discovered beneath the cathedral in 1710. In the 4th or 5th century, a large early Christian church, the Cathedral of Saint Étienne, was built on the site, close to the royal palace.[14] The entrance was situated about 40 metres (130 ft) west of the present west front of Notre-Dame, and the apse was located about where the west façade is today. It was roughly half the size of the later Notre-Dame, 70 metres (230 ft) long—and separated into nave and four aisles by marble columns, then decorated with mosaics.[7][20]
The last church before the cathedral of Notre-Dame was a Romanesque remodeling of Saint-Étienne that, although enlarged and remodeled, was found to be unfit for the growing population of Paris.[21][b] A baptistery, the Church of Saint-John-le-Rond, built about 452, was located on the north side of the west front of Notre-Dame until the work of Jacques-Germain Soufflot in the 18th century.[23]
In 1160, the Bishop of Paris, Maurice de Sully,[23] decided to build a new and much larger church. He summarily demolished the earlier cathedral and recycled its materials.[21] Sully decided that the new church should be built in the Gothic style, which had been inaugurated at the royal abbey of Saint Denis in the late 1130s.
The chronicler Jean de Saint-Victor [fr] recorded in the Memorial Historiarum that the construction of Notre-Dame began between 24 March and 25 April 1163 with the laying of the cornerstone in the presence of King Louis VII and Pope Alexander III.[24][25] Four phases of construction took place under bishops Maurice de Sully and Eudes de Sully (not related to Maurice), according to masters whose names have been lost. Analysis of vault stones that fell in the 2019 fire shows that they were quarried in Vexin, a county northwest of Paris, and presumably brought up the Seine by ferry.
The first phase began with the construction of the choir and its two ambulatories. According to Robert of Torigni, the choir was completed in 1177 and the high altar consecrated on 19 May 1182 by Cardinal Henri de Château-Marçay, the Papal legate in Paris, and Maurice de Sully.[28][failed verification] The second phase, from 1182 to 1190, concerned the construction of the four sections of the nave behind the choir and its aisles to the height of the clerestories. It began after the completion of the choir but ended before the final allotted section of the nave was finished. Beginning in 1190, the bases of the façade were put in place, and the first traverses were completed.[7] Heraclius of Caesarea called for the Third Crusade in 1185 from the still-incomplete cathedral.
Louis IX deposited the relics of the passion of Christ, which included the Crown of thorns, a nail from the Cross and a sliver of the Cross, which he had purchased at great expense from the Latin Emperor Baldwin II, in the cathedral during the construction of the Sainte-Chapelle. An under-shirt, believed to have belonged to Louis, was added to the collection of relics at some time after his death.
Transepts were added at the choir, where the altar was located, in order to bring more light into the centre of the church. The use of simpler four-part rather than six-part rib vaults meant that the roofs were stronger and could be higher. After Bishop Maurice de Sully's death in 1196, his successor, Eudes de Sully oversaw the completion of the transepts, and continued work on the nave, which was nearing completion at the time of his death in 1208. By this time, the western façade was already largely built, though it was not completed until around the mid-1240s. Between 1225 and 1250 the upper gallery of the nave was constructed, along with the two towers on the west façade.
Another significant change came in the mid-13th century, when the transepts were remodelled in the latest Rayonnant style; in the late 1240s Jean de Chelles added a gabled portal to the north transept topped by a spectacular rose window. Shortly afterward (from 1258) Pierre de Montreuil executed a similar scheme on the southern transept. Both these transept portals were richly embellished with sculpture; the south portal depicts scenes from the lives of Saint Stephen and of various local saints, while the north portal featured the infancy of Christ and the story of Theophilus in the tympanum, with a highly influential statue of the Virgin and Child in the trumeau.[30][29] Master builders Pierre de Chelles, Jean Ravy [fr], Jean le Bouteiller, and Raymond du Temple [fr] succeeded de Chelles and de Montreuil and then each other in the construction of the cathedral. Ravy completed de Chelles's rood screen and chevet chapels, then began the 15-metre (49 ft) flying buttresses of the choir. Jean le Bouteiller, Ravy's nephew, succeeded him in 1344 and was himself replaced on his death in 1363 by his deputy, Raymond du Temple.
Philip the Fair opened the first Estates General in the cathedral in 1302.
An important innovation in the 13th century was the introduction of the flying buttress. Before the buttresses, all of the weight of the roof pressed outward and down to the walls, and the abutments supporting them. With the flying buttress, the weight was carried by the ribs of the vault entirely outside the structure to a series of counter-supports, which were topped with stone pinnacles which gave them greater weight. The buttresses meant that the walls could be higher and thinner, and could have larger windows. The date of the first buttresses is not known with precision beyond an installation date in the 13th century. Art historian Andrew Tallon, however, has argued, based on detailed laser scans of the entire structure, that the buttresses were part of the original design. According to Tallon, the scans indicate that "the upper part of the building has not moved one smidgen in 800 years,"[31] whereas if they were added later some movement from prior to their addition would be expected. Tallon thus concluded that flying buttresses were present from the outset.[31] The first buttresses were replaced by larger and stronger ones in the 14th century; these had a reach of fifteen metres (50') between the walls and counter-supports.[7]
John of Jandun recognized the cathedral as one of Paris's three most important buildings [prominent structures] in his 1323 Treatise on the Praises of Paris:
That most glorious church of the most glorious Virgin Mary, mother of God, deservedly shines out, like the sun among stars. And although some speakers, by their own free judgment, because [they are] able to see only a few things easily, may say that some other is more beautiful, I believe, however, respectfully, that, if they attend more diligently to the whole and the parts, they will quickly retract this opinion. Where indeed, I ask, would they find two towers of such magnificence and perfection, so high, so large, so strong, clothed round about with such multiple varieties of ornaments? Where, I ask, would they find such a multipartite arrangement of so many lateral vaults, above and below? Where, I ask, would they find such light-filled amenities as the many surrounding chapels? Furthermore, let them tell me in what church I may see such a large cross, of which one arm separates the choir from the nave. Finally, I would willingly learn where [there are] two such circles, situated opposite each other in a straight line, which on account of their appearance are given the name of the fourth vowel [O]; among which smaller orbs and circles, with wondrous artifice, so that some arranged circularly, others angularly, surround windows ruddy with precious colours and beautiful with the most subtle figures of the pictures. In fact, I believe that this church offers the carefully discerning such cause for admiration that its inspection can scarcely sate the soul.
— Jean de Jandun, Tractatus de laudibus Parisius
On 16 December 1431, the boy-king Henry VI of England was crowned king of France in Notre-Dame, aged ten, the traditional coronation church of Reims Cathedral being under French control.[33]
During the Renaissance, the Gothic style fell out of style, and the internal pillars and walls of Notre-Dame were covered with tapestries.[34]
In 1548, rioting Huguenots damaged some of the statues of Notre-Dame, considering them idolatrous.[35]
The fountain [fr] in Notre-Dame's parvis was added in 1625 to provide nearby Parisians with running water.[36]
Since 1449, the Parisian goldsmith guild had made regular donations to the cathedral chapter. In 1630, the guild began donating a large altarpiece every year on the first of May. These works came to be known as the grands mays.[37] The subject matter was restricted to episodes from the Acts of the Apostles. The prestigious commission was awarded to the most prominent painters and, after 1648, members of the Académie Royale.
Seventy-six paintings had been donated by 1708, when the custom was discontinued for financial reasons. Those works were confiscated in 1793 and the majority were subsequently dispersed among regional museums in France. Those that remained in the cathedral were removed or relocated within the building by the 19th-century restorers.
Today, thirteen of the grands mays hang in Notre-Dame although these paintings suffered water damage during the fire of 2019 and were removed for conservation.
An altarpiece depicting the Visitation, painted by Jean Jouvenet in 1707, was also located in the cathedral.
The canon Antoine de La Porte commissioned for Louis XIV six paintings depicting the life of the Virgin Mary for the choir. At this same time, Charles de La Fosse painted his Adoration of the Magi, now in the Louvre.[38] Louis Antoine de Noailles, archbishop of Paris, extensively modified the roof of Notre-Dame in 1726, renovating its framing and removing the gargoyles with lead gutters. Noailles also strengthened the buttresses, galleries, terraces, and vaults.[39] In 1756, the cathedral's canons decided that its interior was too dark. The medieval stained glass windows, except the rosettes, were removed and replaced with plain, white glass panes.[34] Lastly, Jacques-Germain Soufflot was tasked with the modification of the portals at the front of the cathedral to allow processions to enter more easily.
After the French Revolution in 1789, Notre-Dame and the rest of the church's property in France was seized and made public property.[40] The cathedral was rededicated in 1793 to the Cult of Reason, and then to the Cult of the Supreme Being in 1794.[41] During this time, many of the treasures of the cathedral were either destroyed or plundered. The twenty-eight statues of biblical kings located at the west façade, mistaken for statues of French kings, were beheaded.[7][42] Many of the heads were found during a 1977 excavation nearby, and are on display at the Musée de Cluny. For a time the Goddess of Liberty replaced the Virgin Mary on several altars.[43] The cathedral's great bells escaped being melted down. All of the other large statues on the façade, with the exception of the statue of the Virgin Mary on the portal of the cloister, were destroyed.[7] The cathedral came to be used as a warehouse for the storage of food and other non-religious purposes.[35]
With the Concordat of 1801, Napoleon Bonaparte restored Notre-Dame to the Catholic Church, though this was only finalized on 18 April 1802. Napoleon also named Paris's new bishop, Jean-Baptiste de Belloy, who restored the cathedral's interior. Charles Percier and Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine made quasi-Gothic modifications to Notre-Dame for the coronation of Napoleon as Emperor of the French within the cathedral. The building's exterior was whitewashed and the interior decorated in Neoclassical style, then in vogue.
In the decades after the Napoleonic Wars, Notre-Dame fell into such a state of disrepair that Paris officials considered its demolition. Victor Hugo, who admired the cathedral, wrote the novel Notre-Dame de Paris (published in English as The Hunchback of Notre-Dame) in 1831 to save Notre-Dame. The book was an enormous success, raising awareness of the cathedral's decaying state.[7] The same year as Hugo's novel was published, however, anti-Legitimists plundered Notre-Dame's sacristy.[45] In 1844 King Louis Philippe ordered that the church be restored.[7]
The architect who had hitherto been in charge of Notre-Dame's maintenance, Étienne-Hippolyte Godde, was dismissed. In his stead, Jean-Baptiste Lassus and Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, who had distinguished themselves with the restoration of the nearby Sainte-Chapelle, were appointed in 1844. The next year, Viollet-le-Duc submitted a budget of 3,888,500 francs, which was reduced to 2,650,000 francs, for the restoration of Notre-Dame and the construction of a new sacristy building. This budget was exhausted in 1850, and work stopped as Viollet-le-Duc made proposals for more money. In totality, the restoration cost over 12 million francs. Supervising a large team of sculptors, glass makers and other craftsmen, and working from drawings or engravings, Viollet-le-Duc remade or added decorations if he felt they were in the spirit of the original style. One of the latter items was a taller and more ornate flèche, to replace the original 13th-century flèche, which had been removed in 1786.[46] The decoration of the restoration included a bronze roof statue of Saint Thomas that resembles Viollet-le-Duc, as well as the sculpture of mythical creatures on the Galerie des Chimères.[35]
The construction of the sacristy was especially financially costly. To secure a firm foundation, it was necessary for Viollet-le-Duc's labourers to dig 9 metres (30 ft). Master glassworkers meticulously copied styles of the 13th century, as written about by art historians Antoine Lusson and Adolphe Napoléon Didron.[47]
During the Paris Commune of March through May 1871, the cathedral and other churches were closed, and some two hundred priests and the Archbishop of Paris were taken as hostages. In May, during the Semaine sanglante of "Bloody Week", as the army recaptured the city, the Communards targeted the cathedral, along with the Tuileries Palace and other landmarks, for destruction; the Communards piled the furniture together in order to burn the cathedral. The arson was halted when the Communard government realised that the fire would also destroy the neighbouring Hôtel-Dieu hospital, filled with hundreds of patients
During the liberation of Paris in August 1944, the cathedral suffered some minor damage from stray bullets. Some of the medieval glass was damaged, and was replaced by glass with modern abstract designs. On 26 August, a special Mass was held in the cathedral to celebrate the liberation of Paris from the Germans; it was attended by General Charles De Gaulle and General Philippe Leclerc.
In 1963, on the initiative of culture minister André Malraux and to mark the 800th anniversary of the cathedral, the façade was cleaned of the centuries of soot and grime, restoring it to its original off-white colour.[49]
On 19 January 1969, vandals placed a North Vietnamese flag at the top the flèche, and sabotaged the stairway leading to it. The flag was cut from the flèche by Paris Fire Brigade Sergeant Raymond Belle in a daring helicopter mission, the first of its kind in France.[50][51][52]
The Requiem Mass of Charles de Gaulle was held in Notre-Dame on 12 November 1970.[53] The next year, on 26 June 1971, Philippe Petit walked across a tight-rope strung between Notre-Dame's two bell towers entertaining spectators.[54]
After the Magnificat of 30 May 1980, Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass on the parvis of the cathedral.[55]
The Requiem Mass of François Mitterrand was held at the cathedral, as with past French heads of state, on 11 January 1996.[56]
The stone masonry of the cathedral's exterior had deteriorated in the 19th and 20th century due to increased air pollution in Paris, which accelerated erosion of decorations and discoloured the stone. By the late 1980s, several gargoyles and turrets had also fallen or become too loose to safely remain in place.[57] A decade-long renovation programme began in 1991 and replaced much of the exterior, with care given to retain the authentic architectural elements of the cathedral, including rigorous inspection of new limestone blocks.[57][58] A discreet system of electrical wires, not visible from below, was also installed on the roof to deter pigeons.[59] The cathedral's pipe organ was upgraded with a computerized system to control the mechanical connections to the pipes.[60] The west face was cleaned and restored in time for millennium celebrations in December 1999.
The Requiem Mass of Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger, former archbishop of Paris and Jewish convert to Catholicism, was held in Notre-Dame on 10 August 2007.[62]
The set of four 19th-century bells at the top of the northern towers at Notre-Dame were melted down and recast into new bronze bells in 2013, to celebrate the building's 850th anniversary. They were designed to recreate the sound of the cathedral's original bells from the 17th century.[63][64] Despite the 1990s renovation, the cathedral had continued to show signs of deterioration that prompted the national government to propose a new renovation program in the late 2010s.[65][66] The entire renovation was estimated to cost €100 million, which the archbishop of Paris planned to raise through funds from the national government and private donations.[67] A €6 million renovation of the cathedral's flèche began in late 2018 and continued into the following year, requiring the temporary removal of copper statues on the roof and other decorative elements days before the April 2019 fire.[68][69]
Notre-Dame began a year-long celebration of the 850th anniversary of the laying of the first building block for the cathedral on 12 December 2012.[70] During that anniversary year, on 21 May 2013, Dominique Venner, a historian and white nationalist, placed a letter on the church altar and shot himself, dying instantly. Around 1,500 visitors were evacuated from the cathedral.[71]
French police arrested two people on 8 September 2016 after a car containing seven gasoline canisters was found near Notre-Dame.[72]
On 10 February 2017, French police arrested four persons in Montpellier already known by authorities to have ties to radical Islamist organizations on charges of plotting to travel to Paris and attack the cathedral.[73] Later that year, on 6 June, visitors were shut inside Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris after a man with a hammer attacked a police officer outside.
Paris is the capital and most populous city of France. With an official estimated population of 2,102,650 residents as of 1 January 2023[2] in an area of more than 105 km2 (41 sq mi) Paris is the fourth-most populated city in the European Union and the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2022. Since the 17th century, Paris has been one of the world's major centres of finance, diplomacy, commerce, culture, fashion, and gastronomy. For its leading role in the arts and sciences, as well as its early and extensive system of street lighting, in the 19th century, it became known as the City of Light.
The City of Paris is the centre of the Île-de-France region, or Paris Region, with an official estimated population of 12,271,794 inhabitants on 1 January 2023, or about 19% of the population of France, The Paris Region had a GDP of €765 billion (US$1.064 trillion, PPP) in 2021, the highest in the European Union. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit Worldwide Cost of Living Survey, in 2022, Paris was the city with the ninth-highest cost of living in the world.
Paris is a major railway, highway, and air-transport hub served by two international airports: Charles de Gaulle Airport (the third-busiest airport in Europe) and Orly Airport. Opened in 1900, the city's subway system, the Paris Métro, serves 5.23 million passengers daily; it is the second-busiest metro system in Europe after the Moscow Metro. Gare du Nord is the 24th-busiest railway station in the world and the busiest outside Japan, with 262 million passengers in 2015. Paris has one of the most sustainable transportation systems and is one of the only two cities in the world that received the Sustainable Transport Award twice.
Paris is especially known for its museums and architectural landmarks: the Louvre received 8.9. million visitors in 2023, on track for keeping its position as the most-visited art museum in the world. The Musée d'Orsay, Musée Marmottan Monet and Musée de l'Orangerie are noted for their collections of French Impressionist art. The Pompidou Centre Musée National d'Art Moderne, Musée Rodin and Musée Picasso are noted for their collections of modern and contemporary art. The historical district along the Seine in the city centre has been classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1991.
Paris hosts several United Nations organizations including UNESCO, and other international organizations such as the OECD, the OECD Development Centre, the International Bureau of Weights and Measures, the International Energy Agency, the International Federation for Human Rights, along with European bodies such as the European Space Agency, the European Banking Authority and the European Securities and Markets Authority. The football club Paris Saint-Germain and the rugby union club Stade Français are based in Paris. The 80,000-seat Stade de France, built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, is located just north of Paris in the neighbouring commune of Saint-Denis. Paris hosts the annual French Open Grand Slam tennis tournament on the red clay of Roland Garros. The city hosted the Olympic Games in 1900 and 1924, and will host the 2024 Summer Olympics. The 1938 and 1998 FIFA World Cups, the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup, the 2007 Rugby World Cup, as well as the 1960, 1984 and 2016 UEFA European Championships were also held in the city. Every July, the Tour de France bicycle race finishes on the Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris.
The Parisii, a sub-tribe of the Celtic Senones, inhabited the Paris area from around the middle of the 3rd century BC. One of the area's major north–south trade routes crossed the Seine on the île de la Cité, which gradually became an important trading centre. The Parisii traded with many river towns (some as far away as the Iberian Peninsula) and minted their own coins.
The Romans conquered the Paris Basin in 52 BC and began their settlement on Paris's Left Bank. The Roman town was originally called Lutetia (more fully, Lutetia Parisiorum, "Lutetia of the Parisii", modern French Lutèce). It became a prosperous city with a forum, baths, temples, theatres, and an amphitheatre.
By the end of the Western Roman Empire, the town was known as Parisius, a Latin name that would later become Paris in French. Christianity was introduced in the middle of the 3rd century AD by Saint Denis, the first Bishop of Paris: according to legend, when he refused to renounce his faith before the Roman occupiers, he was beheaded on the hill which became known as Mons Martyrum (Latin "Hill of Martyrs"), later "Montmartre", from where he walked headless to the north of the city; the place where he fell and was buried became an important religious shrine, the Basilica of Saint-Denis, and many French kings are buried there.
Clovis the Frank, the first king of the Merovingian dynasty, made the city his capital from 508. As the Frankish domination of Gaul began, there was a gradual immigration by the Franks to Paris and the Parisian Francien dialects were born. Fortification of the Île de la Cité failed to avert sacking by Vikings in 845, but Paris's strategic importance—with its bridges preventing ships from passing—was established by successful defence in the Siege of Paris (885–886), for which the then Count of Paris (comte de Paris), Odo of France, was elected king of West Francia. From the Capetian dynasty that began with the 987 election of Hugh Capet, Count of Paris and Duke of the Franks (duc des Francs), as king of a unified West Francia, Paris gradually became the largest and most prosperous city in France.
By the end of the 12th century, Paris had become the political, economic, religious, and cultural capital of France.[36] The Palais de la Cité, the royal residence, was located at the western end of the Île de la Cité. In 1163, during the reign of Louis VII, Maurice de Sully, bishop of Paris, undertook the construction of the Notre Dame Cathedral at its eastern extremity.
After the marshland between the river Seine and its slower 'dead arm' to its north was filled in from around the 10th century, Paris's cultural centre began to move to the Right Bank. In 1137, a new city marketplace (today's Les Halles) replaced the two smaller ones on the Île de la Cité and Place de Grève (Place de l'Hôtel de Ville). The latter location housed the headquarters of Paris's river trade corporation, an organisation that later became, unofficially (although formally in later years), Paris's first municipal government.
In the late 12th century, Philip Augustus extended the Louvre fortress to defend the city against river invasions from the west, gave the city its first walls between 1190 and 1215, rebuilt its bridges to either side of its central island, and paved its main thoroughfares. In 1190, he transformed Paris's former cathedral school into a student-teacher corporation that would become the University of Paris and would draw students from all of Europe.
With 200,000 inhabitants in 1328, Paris, then already the capital of France, was the most populous city of Europe. By comparison, London in 1300 had 80,000 inhabitants. By the early fourteenth century, so much filth had collected inside urban Europe that French and Italian cities were naming streets after human waste. In medieval Paris, several street names were inspired by merde, the French word for "shit".
During the Hundred Years' War, Paris was occupied by England-friendly Burgundian forces from 1418, before being occupied outright by the English when Henry V of England entered the French capital in 1420; in spite of a 1429 effort by Joan of Arc to liberate the city, it would remain under English occupation until 1436.
In the late 16th-century French Wars of Religion, Paris was a stronghold of the Catholic League, the organisers of 24 August 1572 St. Bartholomew's Day massacre in which thousands of French Protestants were killed. The conflicts ended when pretender to the throne Henry IV, after converting to Catholicism to gain entry to the capital, entered the city in 1594 to claim the crown of France. This king made several improvements to the capital during his reign: he completed the construction of Paris's first uncovered, sidewalk-lined bridge, the Pont Neuf, built a Louvre extension connecting it to the Tuileries Palace, and created the first Paris residential square, the Place Royale, now Place des Vosges. In spite of Henry IV's efforts to improve city circulation, the narrowness of Paris's streets was a contributing factor in his assassination near Les Halles marketplace in 1610.
During the 17th century, Cardinal Richelieu, chief minister of Louis XIII, was determined to make Paris the most beautiful city in Europe. He built five new bridges, a new chapel for the College of Sorbonne, and a palace for himself, the Palais-Cardinal. After Richelieu's death in 1642, it was renamed the Palais-Royal.
Due to the Parisian uprisings during the Fronde civil war, Louis XIV moved his court to a new palace, Versailles, in 1682. Although no longer the capital of France, arts and sciences in the city flourished with the Comédie-Française, the Academy of Painting, and the French Academy of Sciences. To demonstrate that the city was safe from attack, the king had the city walls demolished and replaced with tree-lined boulevards that would become the Grands Boulevards. Other marks of his reign were the Collège des Quatre-Nations, the Place Vendôme, the Place des Victoires, and Les Invalides.
18th and 19th centuries
Empire, and Haussmann's renovation of Paris
Paris grew in population from about 400,000 in 1640, to 650,000 in 1780. A new boulevard named the Champs-Élysées extended the city west to Étoile, while the working-class neighbourhood of the Faubourg Saint-Antoine on the eastern side of the city grew increasingly crowded with poor migrant workers from other regions of France.
Paris was the centre of an explosion of philosophic and scientific activity, known as the Age of Enlightenment. Diderot and d'Alembert published their Encyclopédie in 1751, and the Montgolfier Brothers launched the first manned flight in a hot air balloon on 21 November 1783. Paris was the financial capital of continental Europe, and the primary European centre of book publishing, fashion and the manufacture of fine furniture and luxury goods.
In the summer of 1789, Paris became the centre stage of the French Revolution. On 14 July, a mob seized the arsenal at the Invalides, acquiring thousands of guns, and stormed the Bastille, which was a principal symbol of royal authority. The first independent Paris Commune, or city council, met in the Hôtel de Ville and elected a Mayor, the astronomer Jean Sylvain Bailly, on 15 July.
Louis XVI and the royal family were brought to Paris and incarcerated in the Tuileries Palace. In 1793, as the revolution turned increasingly radical, the king, queen and mayor were beheaded by guillotine in the Reign of Terror, along with more than 16,000 others throughout France. The property of the aristocracy and the church was nationalised, and the city's churches were closed, sold or demolished. A succession of revolutionary factions ruled Paris until 9 November 1799 (coup d'état du 18 brumaire), when Napoleon Bonaparte seized power as First Consul.
The population of Paris had dropped by 100,000 during the Revolution, but after 1799 it surged with 160,000 new residents, reaching 660,000 by 1815. Napoleon replaced the elected government of Paris with a prefect that reported directly to him. He began erecting monuments to military glory, including the Arc de Triomphe, and improved the neglected infrastructure of the city with new fountains, the Canal de l'Ourcq, Père Lachaise Cemetery and the city's first metal bridge, the Pont des Arts.
The Eiffel Tower, under construction in November 1888, startled Parisians—and the world—with its modernity.
During the Restoration, the bridges and squares of Paris were returned to their pre-Revolution names; the July Revolution in 1830 (commemorated by the July Column on the Place de la Bastille) brought to power a constitutional monarch, Louis Philippe I. The first railway line to Paris opened in 1837, beginning a new period of massive migration from the provinces to the city. In 1848, Louis-Philippe was overthrown by a popular uprising in the streets of Paris. His successor, Napoleon III, alongside the newly appointed prefect of the Seine, Georges-Eugène Haussmann, launched a huge public works project to build wide new boulevards, a new opera house, a central market, new aqueducts, sewers and parks, including the Bois de Boulogne and Bois de Vincennes. In 1860, Napoleon III annexed the surrounding towns and created eight new arrondissements, expanding Paris to its current limits.
During the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871), Paris was besieged by the Prussian Army. Following several months of blockade, hunger, and then bombardment by the Prussians, the city was forced to surrender on 28 January 1871. After seizing power in Paris on 28 March, a revolutionary government known as the Paris Commune held power for two months, before being harshly suppressed by the French army during the "Bloody Week" at the end of May 1871.
In the late 19th century, Paris hosted two major international expositions: the 1889 Universal Exposition, which featured the new Eiffel Tower, was held to mark the centennial of the French Revolution; and the 1900 Universal Exposition gave Paris the Pont Alexandre III, the Grand Palais, the Petit Palais and the first Paris Métro line. Paris became the laboratory of Naturalism (Émile Zola) and Symbolism (Charles Baudelaire and Paul Verlaine), and of Impressionism in art (Courbet, Manet, Monet, Renoir).
20th and 21st centuries
World War, Paris between the Wars (1919–1939), Paris in World War II, and History of Paris (1946–2000)
By 1901, the population of Paris had grown to about 2,715,000. At the beginning of the century, artists from around the world including Pablo Picasso, Modigliani, and Henri Matisse made Paris their home. It was the birthplace of Fauvism, Cubism and abstract art, and authors such as Marcel Proust were exploring new approaches to literature.
During the First World War, Paris sometimes found itself on the front line; 600 to 1,000 Paris taxis played a small but highly important symbolic role in transporting 6,000 soldiers to the front line at the First Battle of the Marne. The city was also bombed by Zeppelins and shelled by German long-range guns. In the years after the war, known as Les Années Folles, Paris continued to be a mecca for writers, musicians and artists from around the world, including Ernest Hemingway, Igor Stravinsky, James Joyce, Josephine Baker, Eva Kotchever, Henry Miller, Anaïs Nin, Sidney Bechet and Salvador Dalí.
In the years after the peace conference, the city was also home to growing numbers of students and activists from French colonies and other Asian and African countries, who later became leaders of their countries, such as Ho Chi Minh, Zhou Enlai and Léopold Sédar Senghor.
General Charles de Gaulle on the Champs-Élysées celebrating the liberation of Paris, 26 August 1944
On 14 June 1940, the German army marched into Paris, which had been declared an "open city". On 16–17 July 1942, following German orders, the French police and gendarmes arrested 12,884 Jews, including 4,115 children, and confined them during five days at the Vel d'Hiv (Vélodrome d'Hiver), from which they were transported by train to the extermination camp at Auschwitz. None of the children came back. On 25 August 1944, the city was liberated by the French 2nd Armoured Division and the 4th Infantry Division of the United States Army. General Charles de Gaulle led a huge and emotional crowd down the Champs Élysées towards Notre Dame de Paris, and made a rousing speech from the Hôtel de Ville.
In the 1950s and the 1960s, Paris became one front of the Algerian War for independence; in August 1961, the pro-independence FLN targeted and killed 11 Paris policemen, leading to the imposition of a curfew on Muslims of Algeria (who, at that time, were French citizens). On 17 October 1961, an unauthorised but peaceful protest demonstration of Algerians against the curfew led to violent confrontations between the police and demonstrators, in which at least 40 people were killed. The anti-independence Organisation armée secrète (OAS) carried out a series of bombings in Paris throughout 1961 and 1962.
In May 1968, protesting students occupied the Sorbonne and put up barricades in the Latin Quarter. Thousands of Parisian blue-collar workers joined the students, and the movement grew into a two-week general strike. Supporters of the government won the June elections by a large majority. The May 1968 events in France resulted in the break-up of the University of Paris into 13 independent campuses. In 1975, the National Assembly changed the status of Paris to that of other French cities and, on 25 March 1977, Jacques Chirac became the first elected mayor of Paris since 1793. The Tour Maine-Montparnasse, the tallest building in the city at 57 storeys and 210 m (689 ft) high, was built between 1969 and 1973. It was highly controversial, and it remains the only building in the centre of the city over 32 storeys high. The population of Paris dropped from 2,850,000 in 1954 to 2,152,000 in 1990, as middle-class families moved to the suburbs. A suburban railway network, the RER (Réseau Express Régional), was built to complement the Métro; the Périphérique expressway encircling the city, was completed in 1973.
Most of the postwar presidents of the Fifth Republic wanted to leave their own monuments in Paris; President Georges Pompidou started the Centre Georges Pompidou (1977), Valéry Giscard d'Estaing began the Musée d'Orsay (1986); President François Mitterrand had the Opéra Bastille built (1985–1989), the new site of the Bibliothèque nationale de France (1996), the Arche de la Défense (1985–1989) in La Défense, as well as the Louvre Pyramid with its underground courtyard (1983–1989); Jacques Chirac (2006), the Musée du quai Branly.
In the early 21st century, the population of Paris began to increase slowly again, as more young people moved into the city. It reached 2.25 million in 2011. In March 2001, Bertrand Delanoë became the first socialist mayor. He was re-elected in March 2008. In 2007, in an effort to reduce car traffic, he introduced the Vélib', a system which rents bicycles. Bertrand Delanoë also transformed a section of the highway along the Left Bank of the Seine into an urban promenade and park, the Promenade des Berges de la Seine, which he inaugurated in June 2013.
In 2007, President Nicolas Sarkozy launched the Grand Paris project, to integrate Paris more closely with the towns in the region around it. After many modifications, the new area, named the Metropolis of Grand Paris, with a population of 6.7 million, was created on 1 January 2016. In 2011, the City of Paris and the national government approved the plans for the Grand Paris Express, totalling 205 km (127 mi) of automated metro lines to connect Paris, the innermost three departments around Paris, airports and high-speed rail (TGV) stations, at an estimated cost of €35 billion.The system is scheduled to be completed by 2030.
In January 2015, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula claimed attacks across the Paris region. 1.5 million people marched in Paris in a show of solidarity against terrorism and in support of freedom of speech. In November of the same year, terrorist attacks, claimed by ISIL, killed 130 people and injured more than 350.
On 22 April 2016, the Paris Agreement was signed by 196 nations of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in an aim to limit the effects of climate change below 2 °C.
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Complementos para lucir ese día tan especial;unos pendientes bordados con perlas diminutas y en blanco nacarado.Son pequeños,ya que a mi gusto las joyas de ese día deben ser minimalistas.
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the model, the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
During the 1950s Douglas Aircraft studied a short- to medium-range airliner to complement their higher capacity, long range DC-8 (DC stands for “Douglas Commercial”). A medium-range four-engine Model 2067 was studied, but it did not receive enough interest from airlines and was subsequently abandoned. The idea was not dead, though, and, in 1960, Douglas signed a two-year contract with Sud Aviation for technical cooperation. Douglas would market and support the Sud Aviation Caravelle and produce a licensed version if airlines ordered large numbers. None were ordered and Douglas returned to its own design studies after the cooperation deal expired.
Towards late 1961, several design studies were already underway and various layouts considered. Initial plans envisioned a compact aircraft, powered by two engines, a gross weight of 69,000 lb (31,300 kg) and a capacity of 60-80 passengers. The aircraft was to be considerably smaller than Boeing’s 727, which was under development at that time, too, so that it would fill a different market niche. However, Douglas did not want to be late again, just as with the DC-8 versus the 707, so the development of the “small airliner” was soon pushed into two directions.
One of the development lines exploited the recent experience gathered through the cooperation with Sud Aviation, and the resulting aircraft shared the Caravelle’s general layout with a pair of the new and more economical Pratt & Whitney JT8D turbofan engines mounted to the rear fuselage and high-set horizontal stabilizers. Unlike the competing but larger Boeing 727 trijet, which used as many 707 components as possible, this aircraft, which should become the highly successful DC-9, was an all-new design with a potentially long development time.
This was a major business risk, and in order to avoid the market gap and loss of market shares to Boeing, a second design was driven forward, too. It copied Boeing’s approach for the 727: take a proven design and re-use as many proven and existing components as possible to create a new airliner. This aircraft became the DC-8/2, better known as the “Dash Two” or just “Dasher”. This aircraft heavily relied on DC-8 components – primarily the fuselage and the complete tail section, as well as structures and elements of the quad-airliner’s wings, landing gear and propulsion system. Even the engines, a pair of JT3D turbofans in underwing nacelles, were taken over from the DC-8-50 which currently came from Douglas’ production line.
The DC-8’s fuselage was relatively wide for such a compact airliner, and its inside width of 138.25 in (351.2 cm) allowed a six-abreast seating, making the passenger cabin relatively comfortable (the DC-9 developed in parallel had a narrower fuselage and offered only five-abreast seating). In fact, the Dash Two’s cabin layout initially copied many DC-8 elements like a spacious 1st class section with 12 seats, eight of them with wide benches facing each other in a kind of lounge space instead of single seats. The standard coach section comprised 66 seats with a luxurious 38” pitch. This together with the relatively large windows from the DC-8, created a roomy atmosphere.
Douglas decided to tailor the Dash Two primarily to the domestic market: in late 1962, market research had revealed that the original 60-80 seat design was too small to be attractive for North American airlines. In consequence, the Dash Two’s cabin layout was redesigned into a more conventional layout with 12 single 1st class seat in the first three rows (four abreast) plus 84 2nd class seats in fifteen rows (the last row with only four seats), so that the Dash Two’s standard passenger capacity grew to 100 seats in this standard layout and a maximum of 148 seats in a tight, pure economy seating. The needs of airlines from around the world, esp. from smaller airlines, were expected to be covered by the more sophisticated and economical DC-9.
Douglas gave approval to produce the DC-8 Dash Two in January 1963, followed by the decision to work seriously on the DC-9 in April of the same year. While this was a double burden, the Dash Two was regarded as a low risk project and somewhat as a stopgap solution until the new DC-9 would be ready. Until 1964, when the first prototype made its maiden flight, Douglas expected orders for as many as 250 aircraft from American and Canadian airlines. Launch customers included Delta Airlines and Braniff International (10 each with options for 20 and 6 more, respectively) and Bonanza Air Lines (4). Despite this limited number, production was started, since no completely new production line had to be built up – most of the Dash Two’s assembly took place in the DC-8 plant and with the same jigs and tools.
Two versions of the DC-8/2 were offered from the start. Both were powered by JT3D-1 engines, but differed in details. The basic version without water injection was designated DC-8/2-10 (or “Dash Two-Ten”). A second version featured the same engines with water injection for additional thrust and a slightly (3 ft/91 cm) extended wing span. This was offered in parallel as the -20 for operations in “hot and high” environments and for a slightly higher starting weight. Unlike the DC-8, no freight version was offered.
However, even though the Dash Two was designed for short to medium routes, its origins from a big, international airliner resulted in some weak points. For instance, the aircraft did not feature useful details like built-in airstairs or an APU that allowed operations from smaller airports with less ground infrastructure than the major airports. In fact, the Dash Two was operationally more or less confined to routes between major airports, also because it relied heavily on DC-8 maintenance infrastructure and ground crews.
Even though the Dash Two had a good timing upon market entry, many smaller airlines from the American continent remained hesitant, so that further sales quickly stalled. Things got even worse when the smaller, lighter and brand-new DC-9 entered the short-haul market and almost completely cannibalized Douglas’ Dash Two sales. Boeing’s new 737 was another direct competitor, and foreign players like the British BAC One-Eleven had entered the American market, too, despite political influence to support domestic products.
Even though the Dash Two was quite popular among its passengers and crews (it was, for its class, comfortable and handled well), the Dash Two turned out to be relatively expensive to operate, despite the many similarities with the DC-8. By 1970, only 62 aircraft had been sold. In an attempt to modernize the Dash Two’s design and make it more attractive, an upgraded version was presented in May 1971. It featured a slightly stretched fuselage for a passenger capacity of 124 (vs. 100 in the standard layout, total maximum of 162) and was powered by a pair of Pratt & Whitney JT8D-11 turbofan engines, capable of generating up to 6800 kg of thrust. This version was designated -30, but it did not find any takers in the crowded mid-range market. The DC-8/2 was already outdated.
Therefore, a half-hearted plan to replace the Dash Two -10 and -20’s JT3D engines as -40 series with more fuel-efficient 22,000 lb (98.5 kN) CFM56-2 high-bypass turbofans, together with new nacelles and pylons built by Grumman Aerospace as well as new fairings of the air intakes below the nose, never left the drawing board, despite a similar update for the DC-8 was developed and offered. Douglas had given up on the DC-8/2 and now concentrated on the DC-9 family.
Another blow against the aircraft came in the early 1970s: legislation for aircraft noise standards was being introduced in many countries. This seriously affected the Dash Two with its relatively loud JT3D engines, too, and several airlines approached Douglas (by then merged with McDonnell into McDonnell Douglas) for noise reduction modifications, but nothing was done. Third parties had developed aftermarket hushkits for the Dash Two, actually adapted from DC-8 upgrades, but beyond this measure there was no real move to keep the relatively small DC-8/2 fleet in service. In consequence, Dash Two production was stopped in 1974, with 77 aircraft having been ordered, but only 66 were ever delivered (most open orders were switched to DC-9s). By 1984 all machines had been retired.
General characteristics:
Crew: 3 (+ 3 flight attendants)
Length: 125 ft (38.16 m)
Wingspan: 105 ft 5 in (32.18 m)
Height: 42 ft 4 in (12.92 m)
Wing area: 1,970 sq ft (183 m2), 30° sweep
Empty weight: 96,562 lb (43,800 kg)
Gross weight: 172,181 lb (78,100 kg)
Fuel capacity: 46,297 lb (21,000 kg) normal; 58,422 lb (26,500 kg) maximum
Cabin width: 138.25 in (351.2 cm)
Two-class seats: 100 (12F@38" + 88Y@34")
Single-class seats: 128@34", maximum of 148 in pure economy setup
Powerplant:
2× Pratt & Whitney JT3D-1 turbofan engines, delivering 17,000 lb (76.1 kN) each
Performance:
Maximum speed: 590 mph (950 km/h; 510 kn)
Cruising speed: 470–530 mph (750–850 km/h; 400–460 kn) at 32,808–39,370 ft (10,000–12,000 m)
Range: 1,320 mi (2,120 km; 1,140 nmi) with 26,455 lb (12,000 kg) payload
and 12,456 lb (5,650 kg) fuel reserve
1,709 mi (2,750 km) with 17,968 lb (8,150 kg) payload
and 12,456 lb (5,650 kg) fuel reserve
Service ceiling: 39,000 ft (12,000 m)
Rate of climb: 2,000 ft/min (10 m/s)
Take-off run at MTOW: 7,218 ft (2,200 m)
Landing run at normal landing weight: 4,757–6,070 ft (1,450–1,850 m)
The kit and its assembly:
This model was originally intended to be my final contribution to the “More or less engines” group build at whatifmodelers.com in October 2019, but procurement problems and general lack of time towards the GB’s deadline made me postpone the build, so that I could take more time for a proper build and paintjob.
The idea behind it was simple: since the original DC-8 was stretched (considerably) in order to expand its passenger capacity from 177 to 289(!) passengers, why not go the other way around and reduce its dimensions for a short/medium range airliner with just two engines, as a kind of alternative to the Boeing 737?
The basis is the Minicraft 1:144 DC-8 kit, in this case the late release which comes only in a bag without a box or any decals and which depicts a late -60/70 series aircraft with the maximum fuselage length. Inside of the fuselage halves, markings show where these parts should be cut in order to take the plugs out for shorter, earlier variants. However, my plan would be more radical!
Shortening the fuselage sound simple, but several indirect aspects have to be taken into account. For instance, wingspan has to be reduced accordingly and the aircraft’s overall proportions as well as its potential center of gravity have to be plausible, too. Furthermore, landing gear and engines will have to be modified, too.
Several measures were taken in order to find good points where the fuselage could be cut for a maximum length reduction - after all, a LOT of material had to disappear for the twin-engine variant!
First, the fuselage was completed for a solid cutting base. I decided to take out a total of three plugs, with the plan to achieve a length somewhere near a late Boeing 737, even though this turned out to be more complicated and challenging than expected. All in all, the fuselage length was reduced from ~39cm to ~26.5cm. Less than I hoped for, but anything more would have ended in a total reconstruction of the wing root sections.
Two plugs are logical, the third one in the middle, only 1.5cm long, is less obvious. But since the wing span would be reduced, too, the wings' depth at the (new) roots was also reduced, so that the original DC-8 wing roots/fuselage intersections would not match anymore. The wings themselves were, also based on late Boeing 737 and Dassault Mercure measures, were cut at a position slightly inside of the inner engine pylon positions.
Re-construction started with the rear fuselage; I initially worked separately on the cockpit section, because I filled it with as much lead as possible, and it was connected with the rest of the hull when its three segments were already completed.
The Minicraft DC-8 is basically nice and has good fit, but I found a weak spot: the fin's leading edge. Like on Minicarft’s 727's wings, which I recently built, it's virtually flat. It just looks weird if not awful, so I sculpted a more rounded edge with putty. Since the small air intakes under the radome are open, I added an internal visual block in the form of black foamed styrene.
The JT3D nacelles were taken OOB from the Minicraft kit, I used the inner pair because of the shorter pylons. They were attached under the wings in a new position, slightly outside of the original inner engine pair and of the main landing gear. The latter was modified, too: instead of the DC-8’s four-wheel bogies I used a pair of Boeing 727 struts and twin wheels, left over from the recent build. These were attached to 1.5 mm high consoles, so that the stance on the ground became level and mounted into newly cut well openings in the inner wings. The front wheel was taken OOB from the DC-8. I was a little skeptical concerning the main landing gear’s relative position (due to the wing sweep, it might have ended up too far forward), but IMHO the new arrangement looks quite fine, esp. with the engines in place, which visually shift the model’s center of gravity forward. I just had to shorten the engine pylons by maybe 2mm, because the lack of dihedral on the DC-8’s outer wing sections considerably reduce ground clearance for the engines, despite the added consoles to the landing gear. However, all in all the arrangement looks acceptable.
For the model’s in-flight pics, and also for the application of the final varnish coat, I added a ventral, vertical styrene tube in the model’s center of gravity as a display holder/adapter. Due to the massive lead weight in the nose, the adapter’s position ended up in front of the wing roots!
Painting and markings:
I usually do not build civil airliners, so I took the occasion to represent a design icon: the “flying Colors” livery of Braniff International Airlines from the early Seventies. Braniff featured several bright liveries, but my personal favorite is the simple one with uniform fuselages in varying bold colors, mated with simple, white fins, engine nacelles and wing areas.
This choice was also influenced by the fact that 26decals offers a 1:144 sheet for Braniff DC-8s of this era (remember: the bagged Minicraft kit comes without any decal sheet at all). Choosing a color was a long process. Bright red or orange were initial favorites, but the recent 727 already had orange markings, so I rather favored blue, green or even purple. I eventually settled on a light lime green, which has a high shock value and also offers a good contrast to the Braniff markings and the windows. A tone called “Lime Green” was actually an official Braniff tone (check this great overview: web.archive.org/web/20050711080200/http://www.geocities.c..., a great source provided by 26decals in the context oft he decal sheet I used, see below). But my intention was not to authentically replicate it – I rather just wanted a bright color for the model, and I like green.
The basic color I used is simple Humbrol 38 (Lime), which was applied with a brush after the wing areas had been painted in white (Humbrol 22) and aluminum (various shades, including Humbrol 11 and Revell 99). The characteristic black area around the cockpit glazing was created with mix of decals and paint, the silver ventral areas were painted with Humbrol’s Polished Aluminum Metallizer. The fin’s and the stabilizers’ leading edges were created with silver decal sheet material (TL Modellbau), grey and silver bits of similar material were used for some small details on the wings.
As already mentioned, the decals, including all windows, come from a 26decals sheet. Due to the reduced length, the windows’ and doors’ position and numbers had to be improvised. But thanks to the relatively simple livery design without cheatlines or other decorative elements, this was an easy task. Finally, the model received an overall coat of gloss acrylic varnish from the rattle can.
Just like my recent Boeing 727 with four engines, this conversion appears simple at first sight, but the execution caused some headaches. The biggest problem was the reduced depth of the shortened wings and how to mount then to the fuselage – but the attempt to take an additional fuselage plug away was an effective move that also helped to reduce overall length.
I am astonished how modern and plausible this shortened DC-8 looks. While building, the aircraft constantly reminded me of the Tupolev Tu-104 airliner, until the engines were added and it now resembled an Airbus A320!
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the model, the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
During the 1950s Douglas Aircraft studied a short- to medium-range airliner to complement their higher capacity, long range DC-8 (DC stands for “Douglas Commercial”). A medium-range four-engine Model 2067 was studied, but it did not receive enough interest from airlines and was subsequently abandoned. The idea was not dead, though, and, in 1960, Douglas signed a two-year contract with Sud Aviation for technical cooperation. Douglas would market and support the Sud Aviation Caravelle and produce a licensed version if airlines ordered large numbers. None were ordered and Douglas returned to its own design studies after the cooperation deal expired.
Towards late 1961, several design studies were already underway and various layouts considered. Initial plans envisioned a compact aircraft, powered by two engines, a gross weight of 69,000 lb (31,300 kg) and a capacity of 60-80 passengers. The aircraft was to be considerably smaller than Boeing’s 727, which was under development at that time, too, so that it would fill a different market niche. However, Douglas did not want to be late again, just as with the DC-8 versus the 707, so the development of the “small airliner” was soon pushed into two directions.
One of the development lines exploited the recent experience gathered through the cooperation with Sud Aviation, and the resulting aircraft shared the Caravelle’s general layout with a pair of the new and more economical Pratt & Whitney JT8D turbofan engines mounted to the rear fuselage and high-set horizontal stabilizers. Unlike the competing but larger Boeing 727 trijet, which used as many 707 components as possible, this aircraft, which should become the highly successful DC-9, was an all-new design with a potentially long development time.
This was a major business risk, and in order to avoid the market gap and loss of market shares to Boeing, a second design was driven forward, too. It copied Boeing’s approach for the 727: take a proven design and re-use as many proven and existing components as possible to create a new airliner. This aircraft became the DC-8/2, better known as the “Dash Two” or just “Dasher”. This aircraft heavily relied on DC-8 components – primarily the fuselage and the complete tail section, as well as structures and elements of the quad-airliner’s wings, landing gear and propulsion system. Even the engines, a pair of JT3D turbofans in underwing nacelles, were taken over from the DC-8-50 which currently came from Douglas’ production line.
The DC-8’s fuselage was relatively wide for such a compact airliner, and its inside width of 138.25 in (351.2 cm) allowed a six-abreast seating, making the passenger cabin relatively comfortable (the DC-9 developed in parallel had a narrower fuselage and offered only five-abreast seating). In fact, the Dash Two’s cabin layout initially copied many DC-8 elements like a spacious 1st class section with 12 seats, eight of them with wide benches facing each other in a kind of lounge space instead of single seats. The standard coach section comprised 66 seats with a luxurious 38” pitch. This together with the relatively large windows from the DC-8, created a roomy atmosphere.
Douglas decided to tailor the Dash Two primarily to the domestic market: in late 1962, market research had revealed that the original 60-80 seat design was too small to be attractive for North American airlines. In consequence, the Dash Two’s cabin layout was redesigned into a more conventional layout with 12 single 1st class seat in the first three rows (four abreast) plus 84 2nd class seats in fifteen rows (the last row with only four seats), so that the Dash Two’s standard passenger capacity grew to 100 seats in this standard layout and a maximum of 148 seats in a tight, pure economy seating. The needs of airlines from around the world, esp. from smaller airlines, were expected to be covered by the more sophisticated and economical DC-9.
Douglas gave approval to produce the DC-8 Dash Two in January 1963, followed by the decision to work seriously on the DC-9 in April of the same year. While this was a double burden, the Dash Two was regarded as a low risk project and somewhat as a stopgap solution until the new DC-9 would be ready. Until 1964, when the first prototype made its maiden flight, Douglas expected orders for as many as 250 aircraft from American and Canadian airlines. Launch customers included Delta Airlines and Braniff International (10 each with options for 20 and 6 more, respectively) and Bonanza Air Lines (4). Despite this limited number, production was started, since no completely new production line had to be built up – most of the Dash Two’s assembly took place in the DC-8 plant and with the same jigs and tools.
Two versions of the DC-8/2 were offered from the start. Both were powered by JT3D-1 engines, but differed in details. The basic version without water injection was designated DC-8/2-10 (or “Dash Two-Ten”). A second version featured the same engines with water injection for additional thrust and a slightly (3 ft/91 cm) extended wing span. This was offered in parallel as the -20 for operations in “hot and high” environments and for a slightly higher starting weight. Unlike the DC-8, no freight version was offered.
However, even though the Dash Two was designed for short to medium routes, its origins from a big, international airliner resulted in some weak points. For instance, the aircraft did not feature useful details like built-in airstairs or an APU that allowed operations from smaller airports with less ground infrastructure than the major airports. In fact, the Dash Two was operationally more or less confined to routes between major airports, also because it relied heavily on DC-8 maintenance infrastructure and ground crews.
Even though the Dash Two had a good timing upon market entry, many smaller airlines from the American continent remained hesitant, so that further sales quickly stalled. Things got even worse when the smaller, lighter and brand-new DC-9 entered the short-haul market and almost completely cannibalized Douglas’ Dash Two sales. Boeing’s new 737 was another direct competitor, and foreign players like the British BAC One-Eleven had entered the American market, too, despite political influence to support domestic products.
Even though the Dash Two was quite popular among its passengers and crews (it was, for its class, comfortable and handled well), the Dash Two turned out to be relatively expensive to operate, despite the many similarities with the DC-8. By 1970, only 62 aircraft had been sold. In an attempt to modernize the Dash Two’s design and make it more attractive, an upgraded version was presented in May 1971. It featured a slightly stretched fuselage for a passenger capacity of 124 (vs. 100 in the standard layout, total maximum of 162) and was powered by a pair of Pratt & Whitney JT8D-11 turbofan engines, capable of generating up to 6800 kg of thrust. This version was designated -30, but it did not find any takers in the crowded mid-range market. The DC-8/2 was already outdated.
Therefore, a half-hearted plan to replace the Dash Two -10 and -20’s JT3D engines as -40 series with more fuel-efficient 22,000 lb (98.5 kN) CFM56-2 high-bypass turbofans, together with new nacelles and pylons built by Grumman Aerospace as well as new fairings of the air intakes below the nose, never left the drawing board, despite a similar update for the DC-8 was developed and offered. Douglas had given up on the DC-8/2 and now concentrated on the DC-9 family.
Another blow against the aircraft came in the early 1970s: legislation for aircraft noise standards was being introduced in many countries. This seriously affected the Dash Two with its relatively loud JT3D engines, too, and several airlines approached Douglas (by then merged with McDonnell into McDonnell Douglas) for noise reduction modifications, but nothing was done. Third parties had developed aftermarket hushkits for the Dash Two, actually adapted from DC-8 upgrades, but beyond this measure there was no real move to keep the relatively small DC-8/2 fleet in service. In consequence, Dash Two production was stopped in 1974, with 77 aircraft having been ordered, but only 66 were ever delivered (most open orders were switched to DC-9s). By 1984 all machines had been retired.
General characteristics:
Crew: 3 (+ 3 flight attendants)
Length: 125 ft (38.16 m)
Wingspan: 105 ft 5 in (32.18 m)
Height: 42 ft 4 in (12.92 m)
Wing area: 1,970 sq ft (183 m2), 30° sweep
Empty weight: 96,562 lb (43,800 kg)
Gross weight: 172,181 lb (78,100 kg)
Fuel capacity: 46,297 lb (21,000 kg) normal; 58,422 lb (26,500 kg) maximum
Cabin width: 138.25 in (351.2 cm)
Two-class seats: 100 (12F@38" + 88Y@34")
Single-class seats: 128@34", maximum of 148 in pure economy setup
Powerplant:
2× Pratt & Whitney JT3D-1 turbofan engines, delivering 17,000 lb (76.1 kN) each
Performance:
Maximum speed: 590 mph (950 km/h; 510 kn)
Cruising speed: 470–530 mph (750–850 km/h; 400–460 kn) at 32,808–39,370 ft (10,000–12,000 m)
Range: 1,320 mi (2,120 km; 1,140 nmi) with 26,455 lb (12,000 kg) payload
and 12,456 lb (5,650 kg) fuel reserve
1,709 mi (2,750 km) with 17,968 lb (8,150 kg) payload
and 12,456 lb (5,650 kg) fuel reserve
Service ceiling: 39,000 ft (12,000 m)
Rate of climb: 2,000 ft/min (10 m/s)
Take-off run at MTOW: 7,218 ft (2,200 m)
Landing run at normal landing weight: 4,757–6,070 ft (1,450–1,850 m)
The kit and its assembly:
This model was originally intended to be my final contribution to the “More or less engines” group build at whatifmodelers.com in October 2019, but procurement problems and general lack of time towards the GB’s deadline made me postpone the build, so that I could take more time for a proper build and paintjob.
The idea behind it was simple: since the original DC-8 was stretched (considerably) in order to expand its passenger capacity from 177 to 289(!) passengers, why not go the other way around and reduce its dimensions for a short/medium range airliner with just two engines, as a kind of alternative to the Boeing 737?
The basis is the Minicraft 1:144 DC-8 kit, in this case the late release which comes only in a bag without a box or any decals and which depicts a late -60/70 series aircraft with the maximum fuselage length. Inside of the fuselage halves, markings show where these parts should be cut in order to take the plugs out for shorter, earlier variants. However, my plan would be more radical!
Shortening the fuselage sound simple, but several indirect aspects have to be taken into account. For instance, wingspan has to be reduced accordingly and the aircraft’s overall proportions as well as its potential center of gravity have to be plausible, too. Furthermore, landing gear and engines will have to be modified, too.
Several measures were taken in order to find good points where the fuselage could be cut for a maximum length reduction - after all, a LOT of material had to disappear for the twin-engine variant!
First, the fuselage was completed for a solid cutting base. I decided to take out a total of three plugs, with the plan to achieve a length somewhere near a late Boeing 737, even though this turned out to be more complicated and challenging than expected. All in all, the fuselage length was reduced from ~39cm to ~26.5cm. Less than I hoped for, but anything more would have ended in a total reconstruction of the wing root sections.
Two plugs are logical, the third one in the middle, only 1.5cm long, is less obvious. But since the wing span would be reduced, too, the wings' depth at the (new) roots was also reduced, so that the original DC-8 wing roots/fuselage intersections would not match anymore. The wings themselves were, also based on late Boeing 737 and Dassault Mercure measures, were cut at a position slightly inside of the inner engine pylon positions.
Re-construction started with the rear fuselage; I initially worked separately on the cockpit section, because I filled it with as much lead as possible, and it was connected with the rest of the hull when its three segments were already completed.
The Minicraft DC-8 is basically nice and has good fit, but I found a weak spot: the fin's leading edge. Like on Minicarft’s 727's wings, which I recently built, it's virtually flat. It just looks weird if not awful, so I sculpted a more rounded edge with putty. Since the small air intakes under the radome are open, I added an internal visual block in the form of black foamed styrene.
The JT3D nacelles were taken OOB from the Minicraft kit, I used the inner pair because of the shorter pylons. They were attached under the wings in a new position, slightly outside of the original inner engine pair and of the main landing gear. The latter was modified, too: instead of the DC-8’s four-wheel bogies I used a pair of Boeing 727 struts and twin wheels, left over from the recent build. These were attached to 1.5 mm high consoles, so that the stance on the ground became level and mounted into newly cut well openings in the inner wings. The front wheel was taken OOB from the DC-8. I was a little skeptical concerning the main landing gear’s relative position (due to the wing sweep, it might have ended up too far forward), but IMHO the new arrangement looks quite fine, esp. with the engines in place, which visually shift the model’s center of gravity forward. I just had to shorten the engine pylons by maybe 2mm, because the lack of dihedral on the DC-8’s outer wing sections considerably reduce ground clearance for the engines, despite the added consoles to the landing gear. However, all in all the arrangement looks acceptable.
For the model’s in-flight pics, and also for the application of the final varnish coat, I added a ventral, vertical styrene tube in the model’s center of gravity as a display holder/adapter. Due to the massive lead weight in the nose, the adapter’s position ended up in front of the wing roots!
Painting and markings:
I usually do not build civil airliners, so I took the occasion to represent a design icon: the “flying Colors” livery of Braniff International Airlines from the early Seventies. Braniff featured several bright liveries, but my personal favorite is the simple one with uniform fuselages in varying bold colors, mated with simple, white fins, engine nacelles and wing areas.
This choice was also influenced by the fact that 26decals offers a 1:144 sheet for Braniff DC-8s of this era (remember: the bagged Minicraft kit comes without any decal sheet at all). Choosing a color was a long process. Bright red or orange were initial favorites, but the recent 727 already had orange markings, so I rather favored blue, green or even purple. I eventually settled on a light lime green, which has a high shock value and also offers a good contrast to the Braniff markings and the windows. A tone called “Lime Green” was actually an official Braniff tone (check this great overview: web.archive.org/web/20050711080200/http://www.geocities.c..., a great source provided by 26decals in the context oft he decal sheet I used, see below). But my intention was not to authentically replicate it – I rather just wanted a bright color for the model, and I like green.
The basic color I used is simple Humbrol 38 (Lime), which was applied with a brush after the wing areas had been painted in white (Humbrol 22) and aluminum (various shades, including Humbrol 11 and Revell 99). The characteristic black area around the cockpit glazing was created with mix of decals and paint, the silver ventral areas were painted with Humbrol’s Polished Aluminum Metallizer. The fin’s and the stabilizers’ leading edges were created with silver decal sheet material (TL Modellbau), grey and silver bits of similar material were used for some small details on the wings.
As already mentioned, the decals, including all windows, come from a 26decals sheet. Due to the reduced length, the windows’ and doors’ position and numbers had to be improvised. But thanks to the relatively simple livery design without cheatlines or other decorative elements, this was an easy task. Finally, the model received an overall coat of gloss acrylic varnish from the rattle can.
Just like my recent Boeing 727 with four engines, this conversion appears simple at first sight, but the execution caused some headaches. The biggest problem was the reduced depth of the shortened wings and how to mount then to the fuselage – but the attempt to take an additional fuselage plug away was an effective move that also helped to reduce overall length.
I am astonished how modern and plausible this shortened DC-8 looks. While building, the aircraft constantly reminded me of the Tupolev Tu-104 airliner, until the engines were added and it now resembled an Airbus A320!
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Littorio
History
Italy
Name:Littorio
Namesake:The Lictor, a symbol of Italian Fascism[1]
Operator:Regia Marina
Ordered:10 June 1934
Builder:Ansaldo, Genova-Sestri Ponente
Laid down:28 October 1934
Launched:22 August 1937
Sponsored by:Signora Teresa Ballerino Cabella
Commissioned:6 May 1940
Decommissioned:1 June 1948
Renamed:Italia
Stricken:1 June 1948
Fate:Scrapped at La Spezia 1952–54
General characteristics
Class and type:Littorio-class battleship
Displacement:
Standard: 40,723 long tons (41,376 t)
Full load:45,237 long tons (45,963 t)
Length:237.76 m (780.1 ft)
Beam:32.82 m (107.7 ft)
Draft:9.6 m (31 ft)
Installed power:
8 × Yarrow boilers
128,000 shp (95,000 kW)
Propulsion:4 × steam turbines, 4 × shafts
Speed:30 kn (35 mph; 56 km/h)
Range:3,920 mi (6,310 km; 3,410 nmi) at 20 kn (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Complement:1,830 to 1,950
Sensors and
processing systems:EC 3 ter 'Gufo' radar
Armament:
3 × 3 381 mm (15.0 in)/50 cal guns
4 × 3 152 mm (6.0 in)/55 cal guns
4 × 1 120 mm (4.7 in)/40 guns for illumination
12 × 1 90 mm (3.5 in)/50 anti-aircraft guns
20 × 37 mm (1.5 in)/54 guns (8 × 2; 4 × 1)
10 × 2 20 mm (0.79 in)/65 guns
Armor:
Main belt: 350 mm (14 in)
Deck: 162 mm (6.4 in)
Turrets: 350 mm
Conning tower: 260 mm (10 in)
Aircraft carried:3 aircraft (IMAM Ro.43 or Reggiane Re.2000)
Aviation facilities:1 stern catapult
Littorio was the lead ship of her class of battleship; she served in the Italian Regia Marina (Royal Navy) during World War II. She was named after the Lictor ("Littorio" in Italian), in ancient times the bearer of the Roman fasces, which was adopted as the symbol of Italian Fascism. Littorio and her sister Vittorio Veneto were built in response to the French battleships Dunkerque and Strasbourg. They were Italy's first modern battleships, and the first 35,000-ton capital ships of any nation to be laid down under the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty. Littorio was laid down in October 1934, launched in August 1937, and completed in May 1940.
Shortly after her commissioning, Littorio was badly damaged during the British air raid on Taranto on 11 November 1940, which put her out of action until the following March. Littorio thereafter took part in several sorties to catch the British Mediterranean Fleet, most of which failed to result in any action, the notable exception being the Second Battle of Sirte in March 1942, where she damaged several British warships. Littorio was renamed Italia in July 1943 after the fall of the Fascist government. On 9 September 1943, the Italian fleet was attacked by German bombers while it was on its way to internment. During this action, which saw the destruction of her sister Roma, Italia herself was hit by a Fritz X radio-controlled bomb, causing significant damage to her bow. As part of the armistice agreement, Italia was interned at Malta, Alexandria, and finally in the Great Bitter Lake in the Suez Canal, where she remained until 1947. Italia was awarded to the United States as a war prize and scrapped at La Spezia in 1952–54.
Littorio and her sister Vittorio Veneto were designed in response to the French Dunkerque-class battleships.[2] Littorio was 237.76 meters (780.1 ft) long overall, had a beam of 32.82 m (107.7 ft) and a draft of 9.6 m (31 ft). She was designed with a standard displacement of 40,724 long tons (41,377 t), a violation of the 35,000-long-ton (36,000 t) restriction of the Washington Naval Treaty; at full combat loading, she displaced 45,236 long tons (45,962 t). The ship was powered by four Belluzo geared steam turbines rated at 128,000 shaft horsepower (95,000 kW). Steam was provided by eight oil-fired Yarrow boilers. The engines provided a top speed of 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph) and a range of 3,920 mi (6,310 km; 3,410 nmi) at 20 kn (37 km/h; 23 mph). Littorio had a crew of 1,830 to 1,950 over the course of her career.[3][4]
Littorio's main armament consisted of nine 381-millimeter (15.0 in) 50-caliber Model 1934 guns in three triple turrets; two turrets were placed forward in a superfiring arrangement and the third was located aft. Her secondary anti-surface armament consisted of twelve 152 mm (6.0 in) /55 Model 1934/35 guns in four triple turrets placed at the corners of the superstructure. These were supplemented by four 120 mm (4.7 in) /40 Model 1891/92 guns in single mounts; these guns were old weapons and were primarily intended to fire star shells. Littorio was equipped with an anti-aircraft battery that comprised twelve 90 mm (3.5 in) /50 Model 1938 guns in single mounts, twenty 37 mm (1.5 in)/54 /54 guns in eight twin and four single mounts, and sixteen 20 mm (0.79 in) /65 guns in eight twin mounts.[5] A further twelve 20 mm guns in twin mounts were installed in 1942. She received an EC 3 bis radar set in August 1941, an updated version in April 1942—which proved to be unsuccessful in service—and finally the EC 3 ter model in September 1942.[6]
The ship was protected by a main armored belt that was 280 mm (11 in) thick with a second layer of steel that was 70 mm (2.8 in) thick. The main deck was 162 mm (6.4 in) thick in the central area of the ship and reduced to 45 mm (1.8 in) in less critical areas. The main battery turrets were 350 mm (14 in) thick and the lower turret structure was housed in barbettes that were also 350 mm thick. The secondary turrets had 280 mm thick faces and the conning tower had 260 mm (10 in) thick sides.[4] Littorio was fitted with a catapult on her stern and equipped with three IMAM Ro.43 reconnaissance float planes or Reggiane Re.2000 fighters.[7]
Service history
Littorio was laid down at the Ansaldo shipyards in Genoa on 28 October 1934 to commemorate the Fascist Party's March on Rome in 1922. Her sister Vittorio Veneto was laid down the same day.[8] Changes to the design and a lack of armor plating led to delays in the building schedule, causing a three-month slip in the launch date from the original plan of May 1937. Littorio was launched on 22 August 1937, during a ceremony attended by many Italian dignitaries. She was sponsored by Signora Teresa Ballerino Cabella, the wife on an Ansaldo employee.[9] After her launch, the fitting out period lasted until early 1940. During this time, Littorio's bow was modified to lessen vibration and reduce wetness over the bow. Littorio ran a series of sea trials over a period of two months between 23 October 1939 and 21 December 1939. She was commissioned on 6 May 1940, and after running additional trials that month, she transferred to Taranto where she—along with Vittorio Veneto—joined the 9th Division under the command of Rear Admiral Carlo Bergamini.[10]
On 31 August – 2 September 1940, Littorio sortied as part of an Italian force of five battleships, ten cruisers, and thirty-four destroyers to intercept British naval forces taking part in Operation Hats and Convoy MB.3, but contact was not made with either group due to poor reconnaissance and no action occurred.[6][11] A similar outcome resulted from the movement against British Operation "MB.5" on 29 September - 1 October; Littorio, four other battleships, eleven cruisers, and twenty-three destroyers had attempted to intercept the convoy carrying troops to Malta.[6][12]
On the night of 10–11 November, the British Mediterranean Fleet launched an air raid on the harbor in Taranto. Twenty-one Swordfish torpedo bombers launched from the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious attacked the Italian fleet in two waves.[13] The Italian base was defended by twenty-one 90 mm anti-aircraft guns and dozens of smaller 37 mm and 20 mm guns, along with twenty-seven barrage balloons. The defenders did not possess radar, however, and so were caught by surprise when the Swordfish arrived. Littorio and the other battleships were also not provided with sufficient anti-torpedo nets. The first wave struck at 20:35, followed by the second about an hour later.[14]
Damaged Littorio
The planes scored three hits on Littorio, one hit on Caio Duilio, and one on Conte di Cavour.[13] Of the torpedoes that struck Littorio, two hit in the bow and one struck the stern; the stern hit destroyed the rudder and shock from the explosion damaged the ship's steering gear. The two forward hits caused major flooding and led her to settle by the bows, with her decks awash up to her main battery turrets. She could not be brought into dock until 11 December due to a fourth, unexploded torpedo discovered under her keel; removing the torpedo proved to be a painstaking task, as any shift in the magnetic field around the torpedo might detonate its magnetic detonator.[15] Repairs lasted until 11 March 1941.[16]
Convoy operations
After repairs were completed, Littorio participated in an unsuccessful sortie to intercept British forces on 22–25 August. A month later, she led the attack on the Allied convoy in Operation Halberd on 27 September 1941.[16] The British force escorting the convoy included the battleships Rodney, Nelson, and Prince of Wales; Italian reconnaissance reported the presence of a powerful escort, and the Italian commander, under orders not to engage unless he possessed a strong numerical superiority, broke off the operation and returned to port.[17] On 13 December, she participated in another sweep to catch a convoy to Malta, but the attempt was broken off after Vittorio Veneto was torpedoed by a British submarine. Three days later, she steamed out to escort Operation M42, a supply convoy to Italian and German forces in North Africa.[16] By late 1941, British success at breaking the Enigma code made it increasingly difficult for Axis convoys to reach North Africa. The Italians therefore committed their battle fleet to the convoy effort to better protect the transports.[17] The next day, she took part in the First Battle of Sirte. Littorio, along with the rest of the distant covering force, engaged the escort of a British convoy heading for Malta that happened to run into the M42 convoy late in the day.[16] Littorio opened fire at extreme range, around 35,000 yards (32,000 m), but she scored no hits. Nevertheless, the heavy Italian fire forced the British force to withdraw under cover of a smokescreen and the M42 convoy reached North Africa without damage.[18][19]
On 3 January 1942, Littorio was again tasked with convoy escort, in support of Operation M43; she was back in port by 6 January. On 22 March, she participated in the Second Battle of Sirte, as the flagship for an Italian force attempting to destroy a British convoy bound for Malta.[16] After the fall of darkness, several British destroyers made a close-range attack on Littorio, but heavy fire from her main and secondary guns forced the destroyers to retreat.[20] As the destroyers withdrew, one of them hit Littorio with a single 4.7-inch (120 mm) shell, which caused minor damage to the ship's fantail.[21] During the battle, Littorio hit and seriously damaged the destroyers HMS Havock and Kingston. She also hit the cruiser Euryalus but did not inflict significant damage. Kingston limped to Malta for repairs, where she was later destroyed during an airstrike while in drydock.[22] Muzzle blast from Littorio's rear turret set one of her floatplanes on fire, though no serious damage to the ship resulted.[20] She fired a total of 181 shells from her main battery in the course of the engagement. Though the Italian fleet was unable to directly attack the convoy, it forced the transports to scatter and many were sunk the next day by air attack.[23]
Three months later, on 14 June, Littorio participated in the interception of the Operation Vigorous convoy to Malta from Alexandria. Littorio, Vittorio Veneto, four cruisers and twelve destroyers were sent to attack the convoy.[24] The British quickly located the approaching Italian fleet and launched several night air strikes in an attempt to prevent them from reaching the convoy, though the aircraft scored no hits.[25] While searching for the convoy the next day, Littorio was hit by a bomb dropped by a B-24 Liberator; the bomb hit the roof of turret no. 1 but caused negligible damage to the rangefinder hood and barbette, along with splinter damage to the deck. The turret nevertheless remained serviceable and Littorio remained with the fleet. The threat from Littorio and Vittorio Veneto forced the British convoy to abort the mission.[24][26] At 14:00, the Italians broke off the chase and returned to port; shortly before midnight that evening, Littorio was struck by a torpedo dropped by a British Wellington bomber, causing some 1,500 long tons (1,500 t) of water to flood the ship's bow. Her crew counter-flooded 350 long tons (360 t) of water to correct the list.[27] The ship was able to return to port for repairs, that lasted until 27 August.[27][24][26] She remained in Taranto until 12 December, when the fleet was moved to La Spezia.[26]
Fate
Littorio was inactive for the first six months of 1943 due to severe fuel shortages in the Italian Navy.[28] Only enough fuel was available for Littorio, Vittorio Veneto and their recently commissioned sister Roma, but even then the fuel was only enough for emergencies.[29] On 19 June 1943, an American bombing raid targeted the harbor at La Spezia and hit Littorio with three bombs. She was renamed Italia on 30 July after the government of Benito Mussolini fell from power. On 3 September, Italy signed an armistice with the Allies, ending her active participation in World War II. Six days later, Italia and the rest of the Italian fleet sailed for Malta, where they would be interned for the remainder of the war. While en route, the German Luftwaffe (Air Force) attacked the Italian fleet using Dornier Do 217s armed with Fritz X radio-controlled bombs. One Fritz X hit Italia just forward of turret no. 1; it passed through the ship and exited the hull, exploding in the water beneath and causing serious damage. Roma was meanwhile sunk in the attack.[26][30]
Italia and Vittorio Veneto were then moved, first to Alexandria, Egypt, and then to the Great Bitter Lake in the Suez Canal in Egypt on 14 September; they remained there until the end of the war. On 5 February 1947, Italia was finally permitted to return to Italy. In the Treaty of Peace with Italy, signed five days later on 10 February, Italia was allocated as a war prize to the United States. She was stricken from the naval register on 1 June 1948 and broken up for scrap at La Spezia.[31]
Complementing the VDL / Wright Cadet in the new colours, Dennis Dart / Alexander 2371 FJ55BWA brightens up a dull Sunday December afternoon in Lichfield after working in from Stafford on an 825.This will now work back to Cannock on the interworked 60 service. Despite recent cuts in funding , Cannock maintains a good level of Sunday services compared to other towns I have been marooned in on a Sunday !!!
flickriver.com/photos/javier1949/popular-interesting/
Palacio Longoria - Sociedad General de Autores
Calle Fernando VI, 4 c/v a Pelayo. Madrid
Arquitecto: José Grases Riera Proyecto 1902 Obras 1902-05. Colaborador en la dirección de las obras José López Salaberry. Terminación: Francisco García Nava 1912-1913. Reforma : Carlos Arniches Moltó 1950-1951. Rehabilitación: Proyecto: Ángeles Hernández-Rubio y Santiago Fajardo 992. Obras: Santiago Fajardo: 1993-95.
Declarado Bien de Interés Cultural BIC con la categoría de Monumento en 1996
Seguimos a Oscar da Rocha y Ricardo Muñoz en su excelente trabajo “Madrid modernista: guía de arquitectura”, y al primero de ellos en su magnífica tesis doctoral acerca del Modernismo en Madrid
El palacio de Longoria es, sin duda, el ejemplar más célebre del modernismo madrileño. Mandado edificar por el banquero Javier González Longoria para su vivienda privada y la sede de su negocio. Para ello recurrió al arquitecto José Grases Riera –de origen catalán, aunque afincado en Madrid desde finales del siglo XIX– cuya trayectoria, que incluye el popular Monumento a Alfonso XII en el Retiro, representa una de las mejores manifestaciones del eclecticismo característico de la arquitectura madrileña de aquella época.
Frente a sus obras más tradicionales Grases proyectó un edificio singular y novedoso, que exhibe una profusa decoración modernista inspirada en el art nouveau francés (sinuosidades naturalistas, flores variadas, cabezas femeninas, formas orgánicas diversas, etc.). Este peculiar giro en los fundamentos estilísticos del autor debe vincularse, además de a la influencia de las nuevas modas, a los deseos del propietario. Pero toda la exuberante ornamentación modernista, aplicada como un revestimiento decorativo, prende sobre unos volúmenes que responden a criterios convencionales (esencialmente eclécticos), manifiestos tanto en la planta del edificio (en forma de L con la clásica rotonda en la esquina) como en el sistema constructivo mixto (muros de carga con forjados de vigas y bovedillas) y en la composición de los alzados (simétricos y rematados por un ático en forma de mansarda).
La planta se conforma, sobre un solar en esquina sensiblemente cuadrado, mediante dos cuerpos rectangulares, paralelos a las dos calles, ensamblados por un torreón circular que acoge la gran escalera. El protagonismo visual recae sobre el tratamiento decorativo dado a las fachadas, realizadas en piedra artificial con formas suaves, vegetales y orgánicas que dan una continuidad espacial a las superficies con una decoración que lo invade todo enlazando unos elementos con otros. La fachada principal se retranquea para iluminar los sótanos y queda realzada con la inclusión de un patio inglés cerrado con una bella verja de forja, que tras su última restauración ha recuperado lo mejor de su sugestiva apariencia. La inclusión en el ático de azulejos cerámicos con piezas irregulares, recuerda al “trencadís” creado por Antoni Gaudí. La planta en “L” deja un patio-jardín interior que permite desarrollar una interesante fachada al mismo con una galería porticada sobre soportes en forma de palmeras y pabellones semicirculares en los extremos.
En el interior, se distingue la soberbia escalera principal, una de las más brillantes piezas del modernismo español, cuya admirable combinación de hierro (armadura), bronce (barandillas), mármol (escalones), yeso (relieves) y vidrio (cúpula) sigue la concepción modernista de integración de todas las artes. Trazada a partir de unos diseños extraordinaria calidad, la escalinata configura una espectacular escenografía iluminada cenitalmente por una hermosa vidriera. De traza imperial y perímetro circular se sitúa en la rotonda de la esquina, eje del edificio, y la corona una impresionante cúpula de hierro y vidrio con estructura nervada en estrella que apoya en soportes de hierro. La barandilla es asimismo una sugestiva obra de forja con dinámicos elementos vegetales salpicados con flores y hojas de latón movidos por el característico "golpe de látigo". En una labor de tal magnificencia y complejidad Grases debió contar con la colaboración de artesanos muy cualificados, pero desgraciadamente ignoramos sus nombres.
En cualquier caso el conjunto origina una escenografía espectacular y, sobre todo, plenamente modernista. La escalera es sin duda el elemento art nouveau más ortodoxo de todo el edificio, ya que en ella los distintos materiales reciben un tratamiento decorativo (identificación entre estructura y ornamento), existe una absoluta integración de las artes (arquitectura, metalistería, escultura y vidriería), se desarrolla un espacio dinámico y se crea un ambiente hedonista y totalmente novedoso. En resumen, el Palacio de Longoria es, por su condición ecléctica, el edificio más representativo del modernismo madrileño pero también, por su abundante decoración y su magnífica escalinata, uno de los más excepcionales.
Según nos comenta Oscar da Rocha en su tesis, José Grases Riera (1850-1919, terminó sus estudio de arquitectura el año 1878 en Barcelona) y en agosto de 1902 firmó la memoria y los planos del que habría de ser su trabajo más polémico. Hasta entonces sus obras madrileñas habían estado sometidas a la influencia del eclecticismo neobarroco y afrancesado que podemos apreciar en La Equitativa (1887-1891), El New Club (1899-1902), el Monumento a Alfonso XII (1901-1922) o el Teatro Lírico (1901-1902); edificios todos ellos muy alejados del modernismo exhibido por el Palacio de Longoria. Siempre se ha responsabilizado de tan inesperado cambio estilístico al propietario, Francisco Javier González Longoria, y hasta ahora esta idea sigue siendo plenamente asumible.
González Longoria poseyó el palacio muy poco tiempo. En 1912, por encargo de su nuevo propietario el dentista Florestán Aguilar, el arquitecto municipal Francisco García Nava realiza unas obras de reforma en las que introduce algunos elementos nuevos a fin de destinar el edificio para residencia personal y sede de la Compañía Dental Española. Así, realiza, entre otras obras, la conclusión de las fachadas, especialmente la configuración de las abiertas al jardín. A partir de aquel momento sus interiores se fueron degradando y desapareció la distribución original. Durante el tiempo en que el palacio perteneció a Florestán Aguilar –hasta mediados de los años 40– fueron varias las obras ejecutadas. A la vez que se reformaba el edificio, se encargó la realización de un garaje-cochera. Esta construcción, situada al fondo de la parcela y hoy perdida, podría ser el lugar que durante algún tiempo sirvió de taller al pintor Julio Romero de Torres. En 1919, el arquitecto Francisco Pingarrón Yarritu proyectó un pabellón en la azotea, con fachada al jardín –recientemente sustituido por un ligero volumen de hierro y cristal–, que con poco acierto intentaba respetar el aspecto modernista del conjunto. En 1946, los herederos de Aguilar vendieron el inmueble a Construcciones Civiles, que traslada aquí su sede, y en 1950 lo adquiere la Sociedad General de Autores, su actual propietaria, que encarga al arquitecto Carlos Arniches una radical transformación, realizando el cierre de las galerías de la fachada posterior y modificando por completo la organización y decoración interiores. Únicamente respetó el eje central, con el zaguán de entrada y la gran escalinata que, junto con la interesante escalera de servicio, son las únicas partes internas del edificio que conservan su aspecto original, además de la ejecución de una ampliación sobre un edificio colindante. La misma Sociedad emprendió en la década de 1990 la recuperación del edificio, entonces muy deteriorado, realizando la restauración de las fachadas y la rehabilitación total de los interiores. Se eliminan añadidos superfluos o antiestéticos (construcciones del jardín, pabellón de la terraza, etc.), se recuperan los motivos decorativos (algunos perdidos hacía décadas) y se devuelve a las fachadas el cromatismo uniforme (color siena) que suaviza la sensación de yuxtaposición de los elementos ornamentales sobre los muros –muy evidente cuando tenían tonalidades distintas–. Muy elogiable es el trabajo de recuperación de la escalera de servicio, uno de los escasos ámbitos que perduran del edificio original, en la que hoy se combinan acertadamente elementos antiguos y modernos. Las figuras en relieve de las esquinas y la cerrajería de los antepechos, con un diseño similar al de la verja de cerramiento, pertenecen a la primera decoración. Ahora se complementan con un zócalo de mármol de inspiración modernista y un añadido en la cancela del ascensor –basado en el modelo del antepecho– que respetan totalmente la coherencia del conjunto. Las obras fueron proyectadas por Ángeles Hernández-Rubio y Santiago Fajardo y realizadas bajo dirección de este último arquitecto.
Por todas sus cualidades arquitectónicas y artísticas el edificio fue declarado en 1996 Bien de Interés Cultural con la categoría de Monumento.
Oldsmobile introduced the 88 badge in 1949. It was named to complement the already-existing 76 and 98, and took the place of the Oldsmobile Straight-8 engined 78 in the model lineup. The new car used the same new Futuramic B-body platform as the Oldsmobile Straight-6 engined 76 but paired it with the powerful new Rocket V8 engine. This combination of a relatively small light body and large, powerful engine made it a precursor to the muscle car. The Rocket 88 vaulted Oldsmobile from a somewhat staid, conservative car to a performer that became the one to beat on the NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) circuits. It won six of the nine NASCAR late-model division races in 1949, 10 of 19 in 1950, 20 of 41 in 1952, and was eventually eclipsed by the low-slung, powerful Hudson Hornet, but it was still the first real "King of NASCAR." This led to increased sales to the public. There was a pent up demand for new cars in the fast-expanding post World War II economy, and the 88 appealed to many ex-military personnel who were young and had operated powerful military equipment.
The 88 enjoyed a great success, inspiring a popular 1950s slogan, "Make a Date with a Rocket 88", and also a song, "Rocket 88", often considered the first rock and roll record. Starting with the trunk-lid emblem of the 1950 model, Oldsmobile would adopt the rocket as its logo, and the 88 name would remain in the Olds lineup until the late 1990s, almost until the end of Oldsmobile itself.
The 1949 model was equipped with an ignition key and a starter push-button to engage the starter. Pushing the starter button would engage the starter, but if the ignition key was not inserted, unlocking the ignition, the car would not start. The car was equipped with an oil bath air cleaner. At the bottom edge of the front fender directly behind the front wheel was a badge that said "Futuramic" which identified an Oldsmobile approach to simplified driving, and the presence of an automatic transmission. 1948 Oldsmobile Futuramic introduction Styling changes for the 1950 model include the replacement of a two-piece windshield with a one-piece unit and the addition of the Holiday hardtop coupe to the line. Also a three-speed manual transmission with column shift became available as a "delete for credit" option to the Hydra-Matic automatic transmission. The 88 now outsold the six-cylinder 76 lineup, which was dropped entirely after the 1950 model year. It had a 40 ft. turning circle. The 1950 model won the 1950 Carrera Panamericana.
For 1951, the 88 was now the entry-level Olds with the discontinuation of the six-cylinder 76 line, which meant that all Oldsmobiles were powered by Rocket V8s. New this year was the more upscale Super 88 line on the new GM B-body which included restyled rear body panels, a more luxurious interior, and a slightly longer 120-inch (3,000 mm) wheelbase as opposed to the 119.5-inch (3,040 mm) wheelbase which had been standard since the 88's introduction. The station wagon was discontinued and would not reappear until the 1957 model year. New was an I-beam frame. Hydraulic power windows and seats were optional.
In 1952, the base 88 shared the Super 88s rear bodypanels and wheelbase, and got a 145 horsepower (108 kW) 303 cu in (5.0 L) Rocket V8 with two-barrel carburetor while Super 88s got a more powerful 160 hp (119 kW) 303 with a new four-barrel carburetor. Other mechanical features were unchanged with styling changes amounting to new grilles, taillights, and interior revisions. New was the optional automatic headlight control.
For 1953, the base 88 was renamed the DeLuxe 88 for only this one year while the Super 88 continued as a more upscale version. Engines and transmission offerings were the same as 1952. Late in the 1953 model year, a fire destroyed GM's Hydra-Matic plant in Livonia, Michigan, which was then the only source for Hydra-Matic transmissions. The temporary loss of Hydra-Matic production led Oldsmobile to build thousands of its 1953 models with Buick's two-speed Dynaflow automatic transmissions until GM pressed its Willow Run Transmission plant into service to resume Hydra-Matic production. New options this year included Frigidaire air conditioning, power steering, and power brakes.
[Text taken from Wikipedia]
This Lego miniland-scale 1950 Oldsmobile Rocket 88 Holiday Hardtop Coupe has been created for Flickr LUGNuts' 84th Build Challenge, our 7th birthday, to the challenge theme, - "LUGNuts Turns 7…or 49 in Dog Years", - where all the previous challenge themes are available to build to. In this case challenge 62, - "Space is the Place", - for vehicles with a space related theme.