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Nazi Germany's most produced fully Tracked Armoured Fighting Vehicle of World War Two was the Sturmgeschütz III (StuG III) Assault Gun and also the second-most produced Nazi German Armoured Combat Vehicle of any type after the Sd.Kfz. 251 Half-Track, it was built on a slightly modified Panzer III chassis, replacing the Turret with an Armoured fixed superstructure mounting a more powerful Gun. Initially intended as a Mobile Assault Gun for Direct-Fire Support for Infantry, the StuG III was continually modified, and much like the later Jagdpanzer vehicles, was employed as a ''Tank Destroyer''.
The Sturmgeschütz originated from German experiences in World War I, when it was discovered that, during the Offensives on the Western Front, the Infantry lacked the means to effectively Engage Fortifications. The Artillery of the time was heavy and not mobile enough to keep up with the advancing Infantry to destroy Bunkers, Pillboxes, and other minor Fortifications with Direct Fire. Although the problem was well known in the German Army, it was General Erich von Manstein who is considered the father of the 'Sturmartillerie' (Assault Artillery). The initial proposal was from von Manstein and submitted to General Ludwig Beck in 1935, suggesting that Sturmartillerie units should be used in a Direct-Fire Support role for Infantry Divisions.
On 15th June 1936, Daimler-Benz AG received an order to develop an Armoured Infantry Support Vehicle capable of mounting 75cm calibre Artillery Piece. The Gun mount's fixed, fully integrated casemate superstructure was to allow a limited traverse of a minimum of 25° and provide overhead protection for the Crew, the height of the vehicle was not to exceed that of the average Soldier. Daimler-Benz AG used the chassis and running gear of its recent Panzer III Medium Tank as a basis for the new vehicle. Prototype manufacture was passed over to Alkett, which produced five prototypes in 1937 on Panzer III Ausf. B chassis. These prototypes featured a mild steel superstructure and a Krupp Short-Barrelled, 'Howitzer-Like' in appearance, 7.5cm StuK 37 L/24 Cannon. Production vehicles with this Gun were known as Gepanzerte Selbstfahrlafette für Sturmgeschütz 7.5cm Kanone Ausführung A bis D (Sd.Kfz.142).
While the StuG was considered to be Self-Propelled Artillery, it was not clear which Land Combat Arm of the German Army would handle the new Weapon. The Panzerwaffe (Armoured Corps) was the natural user of Tracked Fighting Vehicles, had no resources to spare for the formation of StuG Units and neither did the Infantry. It was agreed that it would best be employed as part of the Artillery Arm. The StuG's were organized into Battalions (later renamed ''Brigades'' for disinformation purposes) and followed their own doctrine. Infantry support using direct fire was its intended role. Later, there was also a strong emphasis on its use as an Anti-Tank Gun.
As the StuG was designed to fill an Infantry Close Support Combat role, early models were fitted with a Howitzer-Pattern, Low-Velocity 7.5cm StuK 37 L/24 Gun, much as the earliest versions of the fully Turreted Panzer IV were. Low-Velocity Shells are lightly built of thin steel and carry a large charge of explosive, to destroy 'Soft-Skin Targets' and blast Fortifications. Such Shells do not penetrate armour well. After the Germans encountered the Soviet KV-1 and T-34 Tanks, the StuG was first equipped with a High-Velocity 7.5cm StuK 40 L/43 Main Gun (spring 1942) and in the autumn of 1942 with the slightly longer 7.5cm StuK 40 L/48 Gun. These High-Velocity Guns were the same as those mounted on the Panzer IV for Anti-Tank use but the heavy steel wall High-Velocity Shells carried much less explosive and had a lower blast effect for use against Infantry or Field Fortifications. These versions were known as the 7.5cm Sturmgeschütz 40 Ausf.F, Ausf. F/8 and Ausf. G (Sd.Kfz.142/1).
▪︎Type: Assault Gun
▪︎Place of Origin: Nazi Germany
▪︎In Service: 1940 to 1945 (German service) / Syrian StuG IIIs were in use until the Six-Day ▪︎War (1967), possibly later
▪︎Wars: World War Two / Six-Day War
▪︎Designer: Alkett
▪︎Manufacturer: Alkett, MIAG
▪︎Unit Cost: 82,500 Reichmark
▪︎Number Built: c. 10,086 StuG III / c. 1,299 StuH 42
▪︎Mass: 23.9 tonnes
▪︎Length: 22ft 6in / Width: 9ft 8in / Height: 7ft 1in
▪︎Crew: 4 (Driver / Commander / Gunner / Loader
▪︎Armour: 0.62in to 3.15in
▪︎Main Armament: 1 x 7.5cm StuK 40 L/48 Main Gun, 54 rounds
▪︎Secondary Armament: 1 x 7.92mm MG34 or MG42 Machine Gun, 600 rounds / 1 x coaxial 7.92mm MG34 Machine Gun firing from hole in Gun Mantle (from 1944 on) 600 rounds
▪︎Powerplant: Maybach HL120 TRM V-12 gasoline engine driving six-speed transmission 296hp
▪︎Power / Weight: 12 PS (9.2 kW) / tonne
▪︎Suspension: torsion bar
▪︎Operational Range: 96 miles (1.1 mpg‑imp) at 22mph (59 Imperial gallons fuel)
▪︎Maximum Speed: 25mph.
Thursday, October 17, 2013
Fortune The Most Powerful Women
Washington, D.C., USA
10:00 AM Perfect Pitch
Presented by AT&T
Four tech and science companies get five minutes to show their mettle.
Jessica Banks, Co-Founder, RockPaperRobot.com
Hannah Chung, Co-founder and Chief Creative Officer, Sproutel
Anica John, Co-Founder and CEO, Mashgin
Aarthi Ramamurthy, Founder, Lumoid and Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Battery Ventures
Judges:
Warren Buffett, Chairman and CEO, Berkshire Hathaway
Cathy Coughlin, Senior Executive Vice President and Global Marketing Officer, AT&T Inc.
Theresia Gouw, Partner, Accel Partners
Lisa Stone, Founder and CEO, Blogher
Moderator: Jessi Hempel, Fortune
Photograph by Stuart Isett/Fortune Most Powerful Women
Most limit their visit of Jodhpur to the old citadel, considered by many to be the true heart of the city. Still, no heart beats without the veins that irrigate it with life. In the case of Jodhpur, without the little streets that spread around the old fort like a spiderweb of arteries. And each of those streets throb with the vibrant life, the thousands of tiny human treasures that characterize India so well. Children, sellers, animals of all sorts...and were you to look hard enough, a little school hidden between two houses...
The most detailed map of Jules Verne's Lincoln Island (The Mysterious Island). I translated it to English and rendered it in colour, and had an online printing shop make it real and mail it to me. (You can get a copy too).
I felt that doing this map was necessary because while the ebook is free, the map is important when reading the book and there didn't seem to be a good map available in English.
Slættaratindur (most right side) - Faeröer - Føroyar - Færøerne - Faroe islands - Slættaratindur
Slættaratindur is the highest mountain in the Faroe Islands, at an altitude of 880 metres. It is located in the northern part of Eysturoy, between the villages of Eiði, Gjógv, and Funningur. Funningur lies at the foot of the mountain.
Its name means "flat summit". It can be climbed in about four hours, and although the routes are steep, technical climbing skills are not necessary to reach the summit. In clear weather the summit gives views over the entire archipelago. Slættaratindur is one of ten mountains in the Faroe Islands which rise to over 800m above sea level. Gráfelli, the second-highest peak at 856 m, lies just to the north-east of Slættaratindur.
According to Guinness World Records Slættaratindur is the object of the world's longest sight line, 550 km from Vatnajökull, the largest glacier in Iceland. GWR state that "owing to the light bending effects of atmospheric refraction, Vatnajökull (2119m), Iceland, can sometimes be seen from the Faroe Islands, 340 miles (550km) away". This may be based on a claimed sighting of Vatnajökull by a British sailor in 1939, during the British occupation of the Faroe Islands in World War II when they were used to monitor German shipping and U-boat movements. The validity of this record is analysed/undermined in mathematical and atmospheric detail by J.C. Ferranti.
De Slættaratindur is de hoogste berg op de Faeröer met een hoogte van 880 meter[1]. De berg ligt in het noorden van het eiland Eysturoy, tussen de dorpen Eiði, Gjógv en Funningur. De naam Slættaratindur betekent Platte Top in het Faeröers.
De top kan worden bereikt na een klim van ongeveer vier uur. Hoewel het parcours soms vrij steil verloopt, zijn technische klimvaardigheden niet vereist. Bij goed weer heeft men vanaf de top een prachtig zicht over de gehele eilandengroep. In uitzonderlijke omstandigheden kan men de Vatnajökull op IJsland zien. Met een afstand van 550 km is dit het verste zicht, zoals vermeld in het Guinness Book of Records. De op een na hoogste berg op de Faeröer, de Gráfelli met een hoogte van 856 meter, ligt iets ten noordoosten van de Slættaratindur.
Op 21 juni, de langste dag van het jaar, is het een traditie om op de top van Slættaratindur te staan en de zon te zien ondergaan en weer opgaan.
Webb has discovered what appears to be a new record-holder for the most distant known galaxy — shattering its own previous record. This galaxy existed only 290 million years after the big bang.
The galaxy, JADES-GS-z14-0, is unusually bright given its distance. That luminosity seems to mostly come from young stars. The amount of starlight implies the galaxy is several hundreds of millions of times the mass of the Sun.
Data from Webb’s mid-infrared instrument also reveals the surprising presence of oxygen. Detected this early in the life of the galaxy, the oxygen suggests that multiple generations of very massive stars already lived and died before Webb’s observations.
For all of these reasons, this galaxy is very different from those predicted to exist in the early universe by models and simulations. Though this is science in progress, Webb’s discovery may have profound implications for what we know of our cosmic history: blogs.nasa.gov/webb/2024/05/30/nasas-james-webb-space-tel...
This image: Scientists used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRSpec (Near-Infrared Spectrograph) to obtain a spectrum of the distant galaxy JADES-GS-z14-0 in order to accurately measure its redshift and therefore determine its age. The redshift can be determined from the location of a critical wavelength known as the Lyman-alpha break. This galaxy dates back to less than 300 million years after the big bang.
Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Brant Robertson (UC Santa Cruz), Ben Johnson (CfA), Sandro Tacchella (Cambridge), Phill Cargile (CfA)
Image Description: A graph labeled “Galaxy JADES GS z 14 0, Galaxy existed 300 million years after big bang, NIRSpec microshutter array spectroscopy.” The x-axis is labeled “Wavelength of Light, microns” and extends from about 0.5 microns to 5.5 microns, with tick marks every 0.5 microns from 1.0 to 5.0. The y-axis is labeled “Brightness” and has a zero mark with a horizontal, dashed line about a third of the way up from the bottom. An up arrow is labeled “brighter.” A jagged orange line runs horizontally across the graph. It fluctuates above and below the zero line until reaching a wavelength of about 1.9 microns, at which point it peaks before gradually decreasing again, but remaining above the zero line. The wavelength where the emission peaks has a vertical red line labeled “Lyman-alpha break, z = 14.32.
For the best part of the last year, I have been posting shots of Kent churches on Twitter, to break up the torrent of horrible news relating to COVID, Brexit and our Dear Leader, and in doing so, I have discovered many churches I visited at the start of the project, needed to redone.
Goudhurst, is, apparently, the highest point in Kent, or so Jools tells me. I will just check that with Wikki: Hmm, it seems not. That is Betsom's Hill north of the M25 near to the border with London. Goudhurst is not even in the top ten.
I can confirm we approached the village along a long hill from a river valley, finally climbing up the narrow high street, getting round the parked cars and finding a space nearly big enough for the car near to the church.
On the other side of the road from the church, a series of very Kent houses and buildings, all decorated with pegtiles, in the Kent fashion, and to the south, the imposing structure of The Star and Eagle Hotel.
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Seen from afar Goudhurst is Kent's answer to Rye - a small hilltop village over which broods the lovely church. Its west tower, dating from the seventeenth century, is rather low, but the honey-coloured sandstone is particularly beautiful here. We enter the church through the tower, and are impressed by the way in which the width and height of the nave and its aisles combine to make such a noble structure. There are two remarkably fine wooden effigies dating from the sixteenth century, carved and painted and set into a purpose-built bay window. Nearby, in the south chapel, the walls are crammed with monuments and there are three brasses, one of which is covered by a stone canopy - not particularly grand but unexpected and functional.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Goudhurst
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GOUDHURST
LIES the next parish southward from Marden. The northern part of it, as far southward as the stream formerly called Risebridge river, which flows from Bedgebury to Hope mill, and a smaller part likewise on the other side of it, adjoining to the rivulet called the Bewle westward, is in the hundred of Marden, and lower division of the lath of Scray; the rest of the parish southward of the first-mentioned stream, is in the hundred of West, alias Little Barnefield, and lath of Aylesford, comprehending the whole of that hundred. So much of this parish as is within the borough of Faircrouch, is in the hundred of Cranbrook; as much as is in the boroughs of Pattenden, Lilsden, Combwell, and Chingley or Bromley, is in the same hundred of West, alias Little Barnefield; and the residue is in the hundred of Marden. It lies wholly within the district of the Weald, and in the division of West Kent.
The borsholders of the boroughs of Highamden, Pattenden, and Hilsden, in this parish, are chosen at the court-leet holden for the manor of East Farleigh, and the inhabitants owe no service but to that manor; only a constable for the hundred of West Barnefield may be chosen out of such parts of them as lay within it for that hundred. The manor of Maidstone likewise extends into this parish, over lands as far southward as Rise-bridge.
THE PARISH OF GOUDHURST is very pleasantly situated, being interspersed on every side with frequent hill and dale. The trees in it are oak, of a large size, and in great plenty throughout it, as well in the woods, as broad hedge-rows and shaves round the fields. The lands are in general very fertile; the soil, like the adjoining parishes, is mostly a deep stiff clay; being heavy tillage land, but it has the advantage of a great deal of rich marle at different places, and in some few parts sand, with which the roads are in general covered; and in the grounds near Finchcocks, there is a gravel-pit, which is the only one, I believe, in this part of the county. There is much more pasture than arable land in it, the former being mostly fatting lands, bullocks fatted on them weighing in general from 120 to 130 stone. It is well watered with several streams in different parts of it, all which uniting with the Teis, flow in one channel, along the western side of this parish, towards the Medway. The eastern and southern parts of it are much covered with thick coppice wood, mostly of oak. The turnpike road from Maidstone over Cocksheath through Marden, leads through the upper part of this parish southward, dividing into two branches at Winchethill; that to the left goes on to Comborne, and leaving the town of Goudhurst a little to the right, joins the Cranbrooke road a little beyond it. That to the right, having taken into it a branch of the Woodgate road from Tunbridge, near Broadford-bridge, goes on to the town of Goudhurst, and thence eastward to Cranbrooke and Tenterden; and the great high road from Lamberhurst through Stonecrouch to Hawkhurst, and into Sussex, south-east, goes along the southern bounds of this parish.
The parish is about eight miles long and four broad. There are about three hundred houses in it, and somewhat more than five inhabitants to a house. It is very healthy; sixty years of age being esteemed, if not the prime, at least the middle age of life; the inhabitants of these parts being in great measure untainted with the vices and dissipation too frequently practised above the hill.
There are two heaths or commons here; the one called Pyles-health, and the other Killdown, in West Barnefield hundred.
THE TOWN, or village of Goudhurst, stands in the hundred of Marden, about half a mile within the lower or southern bounds of it, on an hill, commanding an extensive view of the country all around it. It is not paved, but is built on the sides of five different roads which unite at a large pond in the middle of it. The houses are mostly large, antient and well-timbered, like the rest of those in this neighbourhood, one of them, called Brickwall, belongs to the Rev. Mr. Thomas Bathurst. Within memory there were many clothiers here, but there are none now. There is some little of the woolstapling business yet carried on.
On the summit of the hill, on which the town stands, is the church, a conspicuous object to the neighbouring country, and near it was the marketplace, which was pulled down about the year 1650, and the present small one built lower down, at the broad place in the town near the pond. The market was held on a Wednesday weekly, for cattle, provisions, &c. till within memory; it is now entirely disused, there is a fair held yearly in the town, upon the day of the assumption of our lady, being August 26, for cattle, hardware, toys, &c. This market and fair were granted in the year of king Richard II. to Joane, widow of Roger de Bedgebury, the possessors of which estate claim at this time the privilege of holding them, by a yearly rent to the manor of Marden.
At the hamlet of Stonecrouch is a post-office of very considerable account, its district extending to Goudhurst, Cranbrooke, Tenterden, Winchelsea, Rye, and Hastings, and all the intermediate and adjoining places, to which letters are directed by this Stonecrouch bag.
ALMOST adjoining to the town eastward, on the road leading to Tenterden, there is A HAMLET, called LITTLE GOUDHURST, in which there is an antient seat, called TAYWELL, which for many generations was possessed by a family of the name of Lake, who bore for their arms, Sable, a bend between six crosscroslets, fitchee, argent. In the north isle of this church, under which is a vault, in which this family lie buried, there is a marble, on which is a descent of them. The last of them, Thomas Lake, esq. barrister-at-law, resided here, but dying without issue male, his daughters and coheirs became possessed of it; one of whom married Maximilian Gott, esq. and the other Thomas Hussey, esq. whose son Edward Hussey, esq. of Scotney, now possesses the entire see of this estate, which is demised for a long term of years to Mr. Olive, who has almost rebuilt it, and resides in it.
AT A SMALL DISTANCE southward from the abovementioned seat, is another, called TRIGGS, which was for several descents the residence of the Stringers, a family of good account in the different parts of this county. John Stringer, esq. son of Edward Stringer, of Biddenden, by Phillis his wife, daughter of George Holland, gent. resided here in king Charles I.'s reign, and married Susanna, daughter of Stephen Streeter, of Goudhurst, by whom he had Stephen, of Goudhurst; John, gent. of Ashford, who left a daughter and heir Mary, married to Anthony Irby, esq. Edward and Thomas, both of Goudhurst; the latter left two sons. Thomas and Edward, and a daughter Catherine, who married William Belcher, M. D. by whom the had Stringer Belcher, and other children. The Stringers bore for their arms, Per chevron, or, and sable, in chief two eagles displayed of the second, in the base a fleur de lis of the first.
Stephen Stringer, the eldest son of John, resided at Triggs in the reign of king Charles II. and was succeeded in it by his second son Stephen Stringer, esq. who kept his shrievalty here in the 6th year of queen Anne. He died without male issue, leaving by Jane his wife, daughter of John Austen, esq. of Broadford, four daughters his coheirs, Jane, married to Thomas Weston, of Cranbrooke; Hannah to William Monk, of Buckingham. in Sussex, whose eldest daughter and coheir married Thomas Knight, esq. of Godmersham; Elizabeth married Edward Bathurst, esq. of Finchcocks, and Anne married John Kirril, esq. of Sevenoke. (fn. 1) This seat was afterwards alienated to Francis Austen, esq. of Sevenoke, whose son Francis Mottley Austen, esq. of Sevenoke, is the present owner of it.
THE MANOR OF MARDEN claims over the greatest part of this parish; part of it, being the dens beforementioned, are within the manor of East Farleigh, and the remaining part, called Wincehurst-den, is within the manor of Gillingham, near Chatham. Although that part of this parish which lies within the hundred of West Barnefield, being the most southern part of it, contains those places which are of, by far, the greatest note in it, yet, for the sake of regularity in my description, I shall begin with those in the hundred of Marden, partly already described, and having finished that, proceed next to the hundred of West Barnefield, and the matters worthy of notice in it.
BOKINFOLD is a manor of large extent, situated in the hundred of Marden, having formerly a large park and demesnes belonging to it, which extended into the parishes of Brenchley, Horsemonden, Yalding, Marden, and Goudhurst, the house of it being situated in that of Yalding, in the description of which parish the reader will find an ample account of the former state and possessors of it. (fn. 2) It will, therefore, be sufficient to mention here, in addition to it, that the whole of this manor coming at length into the possession of Sir Alexander Colepeper. He in the 3d year of queen Elizabeth levied a fine of it, and three years afterwards alienated that part of this manor, and all the demesnes of it which lay in Brenchley, Horsemonden, Yalding, and Marden, to Roger Revell, as has been mentioned under the parish of Yalding, and THE REMAINDER OF IT in this parish, held of the manor of Marden, to Sharpeigh, whose descendant Stephen Sharpeigh passed that part of it away in 1582, to Richard Reynolds, whose son and heir John Reynolds, about the 41st year of queen Elizabeth, conveyed it to Richard Eliot, and he, about the year 1601, alienated it to Thomas Girdler, who the next year sold it to John Reynolds, and he, in the 5th year of king James, transmitted it to John Beale, who, about 1609, passed it away to John Harleston, of Ickham, and he settled it by will on Richard Harleston, who in like manner devised it to his kinsman Richard Bishop, and he, soon after the death of king Charles I. sold it to Mr. Stephen Stringer, of Triggs, in Goudhurst, whose son, of the same name, was sheriff anno 6 queen Anne, and left five daughters his coheirs, of whom Elizabeth, the third, married Edward Bathurst, esq. of Finchcocks, and on the division of their inheritance, he, in her right, became possessed of this manor. He died in 1772, upon which this estate came to his son, the Rev. Thomas Bathurst, rector of Welwyn, in Hertfordshire, the present owner of it. A court baron is regularly held for this manor.
In 1641 the archbishop collated Richard Amhurst, clerk, to the free chapels of Bockinfold and Newsted annexed, in the archdeaconry of Canterbury, then vacant and of his patronage. (fn. 3)
COMBORNE is an estate, situated in the northernmost part of this parish, adjoining to Winchet-hill, in the hundred of Marden likewise; which place of Winchet-hill was antiently the original seat in this county, of the family of Roberts, of Glassenbury.
An ancestor of this family, William Rookherst, a gentleman of Scotland, left his native country, and came into England in the 3d year of king Henry I. and had afterwards the surname of Roberts, having purchased lands at Winchet-hill, on which he built himself a mansion, calling it Rookherst, after himself. This place came afterwards to be called Ladiesden Rokehurst, alias Curtesden, and continued the residence of this family till the reign of king Richard II. when Stephen Roberts, alias Rookherst, marrying Joane, the daughter and heir of William Tilley, of Glassenbury, removed thither, and the remains of their residence here are so totally effaced, as to be known only by the family evidences, and the report of the neighbourhood.
But their estate at Winchet-hill continued several generations afterwards in their descendants, till it was at length alienated to one of the family of Maplesden, of Marden, in whose descendants this estate, together with that of Comborne adjoining, continued down to Edward Maplesden; esq. of the Middle Temple, who died in 1755, s. p. and intestate. Upon which they descended to Alexander Courthope, esq. of Horsemonden, the son of his sister Catherine, and to Charles Booth, esq. the grandson of his sister Anne, as his coheirs in gavelkind, and on a partition of those estates between them, Winchet-hill was allotted to Charles Booth, esq. afterwards Sir Charles Booth, of Harrietsham-place, who died possessed of it, s. p. in 1795, and his devisees, for the purposes of his will, are now in the possession of it; but Comborne was allotted to Alexander Courthope, esq. since deceased, whose nephew John Cole, esq. now possesses it.
FINCHCOCKS is a feat in this parish, situated within the hundred of Marden, in that angle of it which extends south-westward below Hope mill, and is likewise within that manor. It was formerly of note for being the mansion of a family of the same surname, who were possessed of it as early as the 40th year of Henry III. They were succeeded in it by the family of Horden, of Horden, who became proprietors of it by purchase in the beginning of king Henry VI.'s reign, one of whom was Edward Horden, esq. clerk of the green cloth to king Edward VI. queen Mary, and queen Elizabeth, who had, for some considerable service to the crown, the augmentation of a regal diadem, added to his paternal coat by queen Elizabeth. He left two daughters his coheirs, Elizabeth, married to Mr. Paul Bathurst, of Bathurst-street, in Nordiam, and Mary to Mr. Delves, of Fletchings, who had Horden for his share of the inheritance, as the other had this of Finchcocks. He was descended from Laurence Bathurst, of Canterbury, who held lands there and in Cranbrooke, whose son of the same name, left three sons, of whom Edward, the eldest, was of Staplehurst, and was ancestor of the Bathursts, of Franks, in this county, now extinct, (fn. 4) of the earls Bathurst, and those of Clarenden-park, in Wiltshire, and Lydney, in Gloucestershire; Robert Bathurst, the second, was of Horsemonden; and John, the third son, was ancestor of the Bathursts, of Ockham, in Hampshire. Robert Bathurst, of Horsemonden above-mentioned, by his first wife had John, from whom came the Bathursts, of Lechlade, in Gloucestershire, and baronets; and Paul, who was of Nordiam, and afterwards possessor of Finchcocks, from whose great-grandson William, who was a merchant in London, descended the Bathursts, of Edmonton, in Middlesex. By his second wife he had John, who was of Goudhurst, ancestor of the Bathursts, of Richmond, in Yorkshire. In the descendants of Paul Bathurst before-mentioned, this seat continued down to Thomas Bathurst, esq. who by his will devised this seat and estate to his nephew Edward, only son of his younger brother William, of Wilmington, who leaving his residence there on having this seat devised to him, removed hither, and rebuilt this seat, at a great expence, in a most stately manner. He resided here till his death in 1772, having been twice married, and leaving several children by each of his wives. By his first wife Elizabeth, third daughter and coheir of Stephen Stringer, esq. of Triggs, he had three sons, Edward, who left a daughter Dorothy, now unmarried, and John and Thomas, both fellows of All Souls college, in Oxford, the latter of whom is now rector of Welwyn, in Hertfordshire. Before his death he conveyed this seat and estate by sale to his son by his second wife, Mr. Charles Bathurst, who on his decease in 1767, s. p. devised it by will to his brother, the Rev. Mr. Richard Bathurst, now of Rochester, the present possessor of it. This branch of the family of Bathurst. bore for their arms the same coat as those of Franks, in this county, and those of Cirencester, Lydney, and Clarendon, viz. Sable, two bars, ermine, in chief three crosses pattee, or, with a crescent for difference; but with a different crest, viz. Party per fess, and pale, a demi wolf argent, and sable, holding a regal crown, or; which I take to be that borne by Edward Horden, whose heir Paul Bathurst, their ancestor, married, and whose coat of arms they likewise quartered with their own.
¶AT NO GREAT DISTANCE from Finchcocks, in the same hundred, lies a capital messuage, called RISEDEN, alias GATEHOUSE, which formerly belonged to a family named Sabbe, one of whom, Simon Sabbe, sold it, before the middle of the last century, to Mr. Robert Bathurst, from whom it descended down, with an adjoining estate, called TRILLINGHERST, to another Robert Bathurst, who died in 1731, and lies buried in this church, whose daughter Mary sold them both to Sir Horace Mann, bart. the present possessor of them.
We got something we weren't really anticipating with this room, either: really loud sex taking place in the room beside us, complete with the headboard hitting the shared wall and cries of "Oh baby! Oh daddy!" for about 45 minutes to an hour. This was between 3:30 and 4:30 AM. I decided to call the unseen neighbors "The Olympians" since they seemed to be world class athletes when it came to sex + duration.
Continental is probably the most hallowed nameplate associated with the Lincoln brand. Continentals were always the most advanced and most progressive models within the range, whether the marque was at a high or low point.
For 2017 Lincoln returned the Continental nameplate to the range after an absence of fifteen years, and an extended run of three-letter model codes (MKX, MKZ, MKS) for many models.
The new Continental was built on the longest wheelbase form of the versatile CD4 platform, also used for mid-size sedan and crossover Ford and Lincoln models, as well as a long-wheelbase China-market Ford Taurus.
The Continental was special though, and had a dedicated focus on quality and design, particularly for passengers.
One thing was missing for many people though, and that was the iconic rear-opening coach doors, known particularly for their inclusion in the 1961 square-cut Continental model - perhaps Lincoln's most iconic design.
The doors returned for 2019 however, for a limited run of 80 vehicles, hand-built by Cabot Coachbuilders, incorporating an additional 6 inches (150mm) into the wheelbase, along with other detail fittings.
2019 coincided with the 80th anniversary of the original 1939 Lincoln Continental, brought forth by Ford family scion Edsel Ford.
For 2020 the Coach Door Edition returned under the Black Label Lincoln program with a scheduled 150 cars to be built.
Most probably depicting the legend of the apparition and assistance of St George to Christian troops at the Battle of Antioch, 1098. This church has the oldest dedication to St George of any church in the UK, being mentioned in the will of King Alfred the Great (late C9 C.E.)
1. Rooftop playground?, 2. Quint?, 3. Austin Fire Department - Station #1, 4. MinifigCo - German WW2 Zombie, 5. Northrup F-5 Tiger VFC-13 Saints-0943, 6. Single car accident this morning, 7. Boeing EF-18 Growler-0871, 8. Boeing EF-18 Growler-0948, 9. Boeing EF-18 Growler-0958, 10. Citizen Brick - Mistress of Horror, 11. Alaska Boeing 737 -More to Love- N493AS-1121, 12. British Airways Boeing 747 G-CIVB-0727, 13. Hawaiian Airlines Airbus A330 N384HA, 14. Cactus Brick layout @Great Train Show-1104, 15. Avro Lancaster FM136-0089, 16. Avro Canada CF-100 Canuck-0128, 17. Canadian Pacific Railway (station), 18. American Airlines Allegheny heritage Airbus A319 N745VJ -7513, 19. Phoenix FD crash trucks converge on AA Airbus-6424, 20. British Army Westland Lynx AH.7 #XZ185 (parts)-4294, 21. World War 2 Diorama's - with GI Joe figures - Sherman Tank, 22. Chuck E Cheese - locked out, 23. Canadian Military Pattern truck - Ford F8 - 8 cwt (1/2 ton), 24. Douglas B-23 Dragon, 25. Northrup T-38 Talon - taxiing out
Created with fd's Flickr Toys
The most notable landmark is the village temple, known as Pura Puseh, an ancient structure dated to the 11th century, embellished with intricate stone carvings.[17] It is located in the northern part of the village, 200 metres (660 ft) off the main road.[22] The temple also has an inscription that testifies to the date of founding of Batuan in 1022 AD.[23] The temple underwent restoration in 1992. It is a five-tiered gateway tower, clearly influenced by Indian religious architecture. Its icons and decorations, however, are typically Balinese in style. Notable depictions include a Bhoma head overlooking the main gateway, the god Wisnu astride a bull, great elephants on the central stairway balustrade, and Siwa standing amongst skulls.[22] The roof of the temple is made of the fibre of chromatic black palm tree. The maintenance of the temple is done by the residents of the village. The temple is situated on the main road from Denpasar to Ubud.[23]
Wooden model of a split gate.
The entry gate to the temple appears as a split gate as if it was formed once as one gate that was split into two parts. This gate leads into a courtyard which has a garden and a galaxy of statues fixed at various locations. From the courtyard, there is another gateway spanned by an intricately carved arch with bass relief on the inset and intertwined with vines and a closed door. The entry to the sanctum is again through two gates. The sanctum is where the gods are enthroned during festival time through a special invitation to “come down into this world.” The gods invited during the festivals are venerated with deep devotion and offerings. A sign post at the temple says:[24]
Pr Puse Pr Desa
Des Adat Basua
Saka 944
The first line makes mention of two temples – The Pura Puse and the Pura Desa – the second line defines the organization responsible for the temple and the last line 'saka 944' is in Indic and is equivalent to 1022 CE[24]
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Fortune The Most Powerful Women
Washington, D.C., USA
3:00 PM–4:00 PM Concurrent SESSIONS
Finance and the Economy: Fund Managers—A View From the Hot Seat
Presented by Zurich Insurance Group
How do you outperform? And how do you handle the pressure?
Carol Deckbar, Senior Managing Director and COO, TIAA-CREF
Wellington Denahan-Norris, Chairman and CEO, Annaly Capital Management
Mary Erdoes, Chief Executive Officer, J.P. Morgan Asset Management
Karen Finerman, Chief Executive Officer, Metropolitan Capital Advisors
Moderator: Stephanie Mehta, Deputy Managing Editor and Co-chair, Most Powerful Women Summit, Fortune
Photograph by Stuart Isett/Fortune Most Powerful Women
Most of the tall ships are non-profit and devoted to teaching early American history and training future sailors. Many offer passage between ports as they sail to festivals. The Festival returns to Chicago in July 2016.
Chicago Tall Ships Festival
Navy Pier
Chicago, IL
August 2013
18x24 mixed media collage on canvas. Number 4 in my 6 wives of Henry the Eighth set.
Blogged about here:
michelesartblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/anne-boleyn-most-hap...
Located in Washington, Iron, and Kane Counties in southwestern Utah, Zion National Park encompasses some of the most scenic canyon country in the United States. Within its 232 square miles are high plateaus, a maze of narrow, deep, sandstone canyons, and the Virgin River and its tributaries. Zion also has 2,000-foot Navajo Sandstone cliffs, pine- and juniper-clad slopes, and seeps, springs, and waterfalls supporting lush and colorful hanging gardens.
With an elevation change of about 5,000 feet-from the highest point at Horse Ranch Mountain (at 8,726 feet) to the lowest point at Coal Pits Wash (at 3,666 feet), Zion's diverse topography leads to a diversity of habitats and species. Desert, riparian (river bank), pinyon-juniper, and conifer woodland communities all contribute to Zion's diversity. Neighboring ecosystems-the Mojave Desert, the Great Basin, and the Rocky Mountains-are also contributors to Zion's abundance.
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Fortune The Most Powerful Women
Washington, D.C., USA
7:00 AM BREAKFAST ROUNDTABLES
Health and Society: Rethinking Old Age
Presented by Pfizer
What the recalculation of “old” means for society—and for you
Sonia Arrison, Co-founder, Singularity University; Author, 100 Plus
Sarah Robb O’Hagan, President, Equinox
Moderator: Dr. Nancy Snyderman, Chief Medical Editor, NBC News
Photograph by Stuart Isett/Fortune Most Powerful Women
Most of the Gulls were gathered further down the Mill Stream. This one seemed to prefer his/her own company.
Most of us enjoy sparkling wine (or Champagne) : it's a sensory and taste delight that's always welcome at the table or at gatherings. Cheap sparklers are made by simply injecting CO2 from a carbonator into wine. But the good stuff is produced traditionally and laboriously. Here's a glimpse of the 4 steps involved in bringing that glass to your table (shot May 2012 @ the Okanagan Crush Pad winery in Summerland, BC):
Step 1 - The first fermentation of sparklers is the same as any wine : convert natural grape sugars into alcohol while the resultant carbon dioxide is allowed to escape, producing the 'base' wine - usually too acidic to drink.
Step 2 - Then a blend is created (the cuvée) using wines from various vineyards. The blended wine is put in heavy-walled bottles with yeast and a bit of sugar and stored horizontally for a 2nd fermentation. This traps the wine's carbon dioxide in solution. The wine then ages for a time and the spent yeast (lees) settles out, ultimately for removal.
Step 3 - After aging, the bottles are placed on riddling racks at angle (as shown) with the crown cap pointing down. The bottles are moved slightly, daily, gradually increasing the angle until the lees sediment sits in at the bottle's top, ready for removal (disgorging).
Step 4 - These bottles of white & pink sparkling wine will soon be disgorged by freezing a bit of the neck's liquid, removing the ice & lees plug, then corking.... shipping ... and ultimately, to your glass.
Most people fill up their car self, but such a helpful hand is not to be sneezed at. Thal SG, Switzerland, Aug 13, 2008.
Most likely a Henschel loco.
This photograph was most likely taken in 1916 or 1917 when the tunnel was digged from this side of the Taurus.
Photograph provided to www.trainsofturkey.com
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Fortune The Most Powerful Women
Washington, D.C., USA
2:50 PM ONE ON ONE
Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Representative, The 23rd District of Florida, U.S. House of Representatives
Interviewer: Kristin van Ogtrop, Managing Editor, Real Simple
Photograph by Danuta Otfinowski/Fortune Most Powerful Women
Most of southern Montserrat Island, Eastern Caribbean, is included in the exclusion zone created after the devastating 1995 eruption of Soufrière Hills Volcano.
Beauty, Weirdo, Rebel, Flirt. Who were they really?
Most Unlikely to Succeed
Heather, Ashely, Terry, Blaze. Their guidance counselor has come up with the worst punishment she can think of for their "failings." The four of them have to assign the tag lines underneath every senior's class picture, which is fine except for two things: It's the worst job in school, and the four of them can't stand each other.
But that's at the beginning. By the time they're done, all of their own labels have been stripped away: Heather turns out to be a troubled beauty; Ashley reveals the truth about her famous mother; Terry admits that his fliration is a cover-up, and Blaze can no longer hide the secret about his home life. To everyone's surprise, they've become friends. And to their own, they've become more than friends....
May 1987 Edition
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Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Fortune The Most Powerful Women
Washington, D.C., USA
3:00 PM–4:00 PM Concurrent SESSIONS
Leadership: Everything You Want To Know About D.C. — But No One Will Tell You
Presented by Deloitte
Power players dish about how to operate and win inside the Beltway
Juleanna Glover, Founding Principal, The Ashcroft Group
Liz Robbins, President, Liz Robbins Associates
Hilary Rosen, Managing Director, SKDKnickerbocker; CNN Political Consultant
Moderator: Judy Woodruff, Co-anchor, and Managing Editor, PBS NewsHour
Photograph by Danuta Otfinowski/Fortune Most Powerful Women
Crusaders fall to St. Joe's in heartbreaker.D3 BOYS' BASKETBALL STATE SEMIFINAL: ST. JOSEPH'S 61, WHITINSVILLE CHRISTIAN 59.By Bill Doyle TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF..SPRINGFIELD— Grant Brown lofted an off-balance 3-pointer in the final second. If the shot was good, Whitinsville Christian would win and defend its Division 3 state championship on Saturday. If it was off the mark, the Crusaders’ season would end. .With Lavante Wiggins of St. Joseph’s close by, Brown didn’t have time to set himself, but his shot was on line nevertheless. ..“To be honest, I thought I was going to get a foul called,” Brown said, “but I saw it, and I thought it was going in.” ..“I was thinking, ‘Man, that would be unbelievable if that thing went in,’ ” WC coach Jeff Bajema said, “and I thought it was.” ..“When he took it, I said, “God, it looks good,’” St. Joseph’s of Pittsfield coach Paul Brindle said. ..The shot hit the back of the rim, however, and bounced away, and St. Joseph’s held on for a 61-59 victory in a Division 3 state semifinal last night at the MassMutual Center. ..“The hoop angels just weren’t there today,” Bajema said. ..St. Joseph’s (20-5) will play Danvers at 12:30 p.m. Saturday at the DCU Center for the state title. This will be the first state final for St. Joseph’s since it won it all in 2001. ..Whitinsville Christian, the defending Division 3 state champion, finished 17-6. ..Colin Richey led the Crusaders with 15 points, including eight in the fourth quarter. His drive put his team ahead, 59-54, with 3:13 left, but WC didn’t score again. ..“They were denying Colin the ball,” Bajema said, “and Colin is the guy who makes it happen for us. We ran some stuff for other guys, but their team quickness really affected us, especially down the stretch. We just couldn’t get into a set.” ..Bajema also thought Whitinsville missed center Jesse Dykstra, the team’s only starting senior, after he fouled out with 2:02 left and the score 59-54. ..St. Joseph’s scored the game’s final seven points at the foul line. Mike McMahon made four of the free throws, including a pair with 10.6 seconds left to give St. Joseph’s its first lead, 60-59, since late in the third quarter. ..With WC leading, 59-58, Tim Dufficy missed the front end of a one-and-one with 22.5 seconds left. After McMahon put St. Joseph’s ahead, Dufficy threw the ball away and Roberson was fouled with 6.8 seconds left. ..Dufficy was upset at himself after the game, but Richey came to his defense. ..“That’s not why we lost,” Richey said. “He shouldn’t feel like that’s a big reason. That’s not why we lost. We lost because we didn’t execute down the stretch, we didn’t make shots, and we didn’t rebound. They just outworked us down the stretch.” ..Roberson made one of two at the line to make it 61-59. After a timeout, WC got the ball to Brown, but his shot missed by inches. Bajema planned to call another timeout when his Crusaders got the ball in the frontcourt, but changed his mind. ..“I thought he had a step on the kid,” Bajema said. ..Brown finished with 12 points. Dufficy had 10. ..Joe Wiggins led St. Joseph’s with 17 points and 12 rebounds, including 13 points and 10 rebounds in the second half. McMahon scored 13 points. ..Whitinsville Christian led for most of the game and was up by nine, 36-27, when Brown scored on a put-back early in the third quarter. Tank Roberson scored seven of his 15 points during a 16-4 run that gave St. Joseph’s a 43-40 edge with 3:31 left in the third. Brown’s 3-pointer highlighted a 7-2 run that regained the lead for WC, 47-45, entering the fourth. ..With four starting juniors returning next year, the Crusaders should be strong again, but the loss will stick with them. ..“It’s definitely heartbreaking,” Richey said. “We put so much time into this over the summer, even since we were kids. So it was definitely tough. You’re going to remember this forever. You’re going to remember this more than if you won the game.”
Shot at ISO 2500, Aperture of 2.8, Shutter speed of 1/1600 and Focal Length of 130.0 mm
Taken with a Minolta/Sony AF 70-200mm F2.8 G lens and processed by Aperture 3.2.3 on Tuesday March-13-2012 16:23 EDT PM
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Fortune The Most Powerful Women
Washington, D.C., USA
3:25 PM ONE ON ONE
Marillyn Hewson, President and CEO, Lockheed Martin
Interviewer: Norah O’Donnell, Co-host, CBS This Morning
Photograph by Stuart Isett/Fortune Most Powerful Women
Wednesday, October 3rd, 2012
CONVERSATION: ADVICE FOR THE NEXT PRESIDENT
Speakers:
Sheila Bair, Former Chairman, FDIC; Senior Advisor The Pew Charitable Trusts
Mellody Hobson, President, Ariel Investments, LLC
Karen Hughes, Global Vice Chair, Burson-Marsteller
Elaine Kamarck, Lecturer in Public Policy, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard’s Kennedy School
Moderator: Nina Easton, Fortune
Photograph by Stuart Isett/Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit
The Charles Bridge (Czech: Karlův most) is a famous historic bridge that crosses the Vltava river in Prague, Czech Republic. Its construction started in 1357 under the auspices of King Charles IV, and finished in the beginning of the 15th century. As the only means of crossing the river Vltava (Moldau) until 1841, the Charles Bridge was the most important connection between Prague Castle and the city's Old Town and adjacent areas. This "solid-land" connection made Prague important as a trade route between Eastern and Western Europe.
The bridge is decorated by a continuous alley of 30 statues and statuaries, most of them baroque-style, originally erected around 1700 but now all replaced by replicas.
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Fortune The Most Powerful Women
Washington, D.C., USA
GALA DINNER AND CONVERSATION
Grand Ballroom
Susan Collins, U.S. Senator, (R.-Maine), U.S. Senate
Christine Lagarde, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund
Interviewer: Nina Easton, Washington Columnist, Senior Editor, and Co-chair, Most Powerful Women Summit, Fortune
Introduction: Andy Serwer, Managing Editor, Fortune
Special appearance by Glenn Close, Award-winning Actress; Founder, Bring Change 2 Mind
Photograph by Stephanie Merriken / Fortune Most Powerful Women
Most of the nearly two–billion children in the developing world are inadequately educated, or receive no education at all. One in three does not complete the fifth grade.
The individual and societal consequences of this chronic global crisis are profound. Children are consigned to poverty and isolation—just like their parents—never knowing what the light of learning could mean in their lives. At the same time, their governments struggle to compete in a rapidly evolving, global information economy, hobbled by a vast and increasingly urban underclass that cannot support itself, much less contribute to the commonweal, because it lacks the tools to do so.
It is time to rethink this equation.
Given the resources that developing countries can reasonably allocate to education—sometimes less than $20 per year per pupil, compared to the approximately $7500 per pupil spent annually in the U.S.—even a doubled or redoubled national commitment to traditional education, augmented by external and private funding, would not get the job done. Moreover, experience strongly suggests that an incremental increase of “more of the same”—building schools, hiring teachers, buying books and equipment—is a laudable but insufficient response to the problem of bringing true learning possibilities to the vast numbers of children in the developing world.
Standing still is a reliable recipe for going backward.
Any nation's most precious natural resource is its children. We believe the emerging world must leverage this resource by tapping into the children's innate capacities to learn, share, and create on their own. Our answer to that challenge is the XO laptop, a children's machine designed for “learning learning.”
XO embodies the theories of constructionism first developed by MIT Media Lab Professor Seymour Papert in the 1960s, and later elaborated upon by Alan Kay, complemented by the principles articulated by Nicholas Negroponte in his book, Being Digital.
Extensively field-tested and validated among some of the poorest and most remote populations on earth, constructionism emphasizes what Papert calls “learning learning” as the fundamental educational experience. A computer uniquely fosters learning learning by allowing children to “think about thinking”, in ways that are otherwise impossible. Using the XO as both their window on the world, as well as a highly programmable tool for exploring it, children in emerging nations will be opened to both illimitable knowledge and to their own creative and problem-solving potential.
OLPC is not, at heart, a technology program, nor is the XO a product in any conventional sense of the word. OLPC is a non-profit organization providing a means to an end—an end that sees children in even the most remote regions of the globe being given the opportunity to tap into their own potential, to be exposed to a whole world of ideas, and to contribute to a more productive and saner world community.
Find out more at laptop.org/
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Fortune The Most Powerful Women
Washington, D.C., USA
12:30 PM JOBS AND THE ECONOMY
Why job growth really matters—and what America can learn from other economies
Joyce Russell, President, Adecco Staffing U.S., Adecco Group North America
Baroness Shriti Vadera, Former U.K. Cabinet Office Minister and Member, Council of Economic Advisors, H.M. Treasury; Strategy and Finance Advisor, Shriti Vadera Ltd.
Moderator: Nina Easton, Fortune
Photograph by Danuta Otfinowski/Fortune Most Powerful Women
Most often viewed videos/photos (top10):
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To see all of the sets of photos & videos, please click on the following:
Possibly the most famous fighter of the US Navy and Marine Corps in World War II, the F4U Corsair started as a response to a 1938 US Navy requirement for a carrier-based fighter that could achieve the most “maximum speed possible,” and yet still have a stall speed of 70 miles an hour or less for carrier landings. It was a design requirement thought nearly impossible, but Chance-Vought gave it a try, mating the most powerful engine then available—the Pratt and Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp—with an airframe designed around the enormous engine. This required a wide wing and high landing gear to allow the propeller to clear the ground or deck—too high for US Navy standards. To shorten the landing gear, Chance-Vought adopted an inverted-gull wing that bent the wing downwards from the fuselage and upwards away from the landing gear. This not only solved the landing gear problem, but also gave the XF4U design better performance.
When the first XF4U-1 Corsair flew in May 1940, it met the Navy’s desire for speed, becoming the first single-engined American fighter to break 400 mph, and setting a mark faster than that of the fastest US Army Air Corps fighter, the P-38 Lightning. By this time, World War II was in full swing, and reports from Europe led Grumman to switch to an all-.50 caliber machine gun armament, with provision for later installation of 20mm cannon if necessary.
While pilots loved the Corsair’s superb performance in the vertical, it was proving problematic as a carrier-based fighter. Since the R-2800 engine was so huge and the fuel tanks placed in the fuselage to keep the aircraft’s center of balance stable, the cockpit was set further back than normal, making it difficult to see over the nose on landing approach. Because of the torque of the aircraft, the Corsair also proved prone to stalls on missed carrier landings, and had a tendency to bounce on landing—which could cause the aircraft to bounce over the arresting cables and into parked aircraft forward on the deck. Visibility was also considered to be inadequate in the F4U-1’s “birdcage” canopy. Unable to solve these problems and desperately needing a replacement for the obsolescent F4F Wildcat then holding the line in the Pacific theater, the Navy turned to the simpler, easier-to-fly F6F Hellcat as its primary carrier fighter, relegating the Corsair to Marine land-based units.
It would be the Marines who would prove the worth of the Corsair, beginning in 1943. In combat, it was found to be far faster than any Japanese fighter then in service, and its engine power finally ended the A6M Zero’s dominance in vertical combat; the Corsair still could not match the Zero in slow manuevering fights (though the Hellcat could), but this proved not to be much of an obstacle for Marine pilots. Flying from bases in the Solomon Islands chain, units such as Gregory “Pappy” Boyington’s VMF-214 “Black Sheep,” and Robert “Butcher Bob” Hanson’s VMF-215 “Flying Corsairs,” joined by the land-based VF-17 “Jolly Rogers,” which included Tommy Blackburn and Ira Kepford, the Corsairs were to prove deadly to Japanese aircraft over the hard-fought Southwest Pacific. These squadrons racked up an impressive 11-to-1 kill ratio over Japanese opponents, which to this point in the war the US had been lucky to achieve parity. The derisive nicknames of “Hosenose” and “Hog” became affectionate, and the F4U acquired another nickname of the “Bent-Winged Bird.” The Japanese had a far more telling name for the Corsair, however: “Whistling Death,” caused by the sound of air rushing through the supercharger intakes in the wings.
While the Hellcat was proving itself as well, the Navy still wanted a way to put the Corsair back onto carriers. The British Fleet Air Arm, which had adopted the Corsair to replace its earlier Wildcats and supplement its Seafires (which were suffering a catastrophic accident rate), found some solutions to the Corsair’s carrier landing problems—using a snakelike approach to the carrier, only turning into the final landing leg at the last moment, while adding a “Malcolm Hood” developed for the Spitfire to raise the pilot’s seat seven inches. This mitigated (if not entirely solved) much of the problems with the Corsair, while Chance-Vought itself solved the stall problem by a slight modification to the wings and the bouncing problem by a hydraulic pressure bleed system. Finally, the F4U was ready for carrier operations.
It was to prove itself once more. First deployed in numbers during the Okinawa campaign of 1945, the Corsair gained another moniker, the “Angel of Okinawa,” for its support of Marines ashore and sailors afloat. Faced with mass kamikaze attacks from Japan itself, the Corsair’s speed meant that it could run down kamikazes on their final attack runs, and its range meant it could catch kamikazes far enough away from the fleet. Modification of late-war F4U-1A Corsairs into fighter-bombers, a program that was overseen by Charles Lindbergh, allowed them to put bombs and rockets onto ground targets for American troops on Okinawa itself. British and Canadian Navy Corsairs also contributed materially to the success of the Okinawa campaign; the last Victoria Cross awarded during World War II was done so posthumously to Colin Gray, a Canadian F4U pilot.
Built as Bureau Number 97142, this Corsair is a F4U-4, the last wartime variant with an uprated engine, flat windscreen, four-bladed propeller, and slightly less range. It just missed the war, as it was delivered less than a week before V-J Day, and so 97142 remained stateside. It served with a number of postwar Navy fighter squadrons, and embarked with VF-44 ("Hornets") aboard the USS Coral Sea, Lake Champlain, and Boxer. As the Corsairs were phased out in the early 1950s, it was relegated to Naval Reserve units, and finished its career with NATU Seattle. It was retired in 1956 and placed in storage, but was bought by a warbird collector in 1959. In 1979, it was sold to the National Museum of the US Marine Corps at Quantico, Virginia, but at the time the NMUSMC did not have the room, so it went to the Pima Air and Space Museum instead.
Because 97142 is technically still the property of the USMC, it wears Marine titles--ironically, as this aircraft never flew with the Marines! Finished in the midnight blue scheme used by the postwar Navy and Marines, 97142 is a bit anonymous, but is in superb condition and a great representation of this iconic World War II fighter. I never get tired of looking at Corsairs--the result of a childhood spent watching "Baa Baa Black Sheep."