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Fish, any of approximately 34,000 species of vertebrate animals (phylum Chordata) found in the fresh and salt waters of the world. Living species range from the primitive jawless lampreys and hagfishes through the cartilaginous sharks, skates, and rays to the abundant and diverse bony fishes. Most fish species are cold-blooded; however, one species, the opah (Lampris guttatus), is warm-blooded.
The term fish is applied to a variety of vertebrates of several evolutionary lines. It describes a life-form rather than a taxonomic group. As members of the phylum Chordata, fish share certain features with other vertebrates. These features are gill slits at some point in the life cycle, a notochord, or skeletal supporting rod, a dorsal hollow nerve cord, and a tail. Living fishes represent some five classes, which are as distinct from one another as are the four classes of familiar air-breathing animals—amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. For example, the jawless fishes (Agnatha) have gills in pouches and lack limb girdles. Extant agnathans are the lampreys and the hagfishes. As the name implies, the skeletons of fishes of the class Chondrichthyes (from chondr, “cartilage,” and ichthyes, “fish”) are made entirely of cartilage. Modern fish of this class lack a swim bladder, and their scales and teeth are made up of the same placoid material. Sharks, skates, and rays are examples of cartilaginous fishes. The bony fishes are by far the largest class. Examples range from the tiny seahorse to the 450-kg (1,000-pound) blue marlin, from the flattened soles and flounders to the boxy puffers and ocean sunfishes. Unlike the scales of the cartilaginous fishes, those of bony fishes, when present, grow throughout life and are made up of thin overlapping plates of bone. Bony fishes also have an operculum that covers the gill slits.
The study of fishes, the science of ichthyology, is of broad importance. Fishes are of interest to humans for many reasons, the most important being their relationship with and dependence on the environment. A more obvious reason for interest in fishes is their role as a moderate but important part of the world’s food supply. This resource, once thought unlimited, is now realized to be finite and in delicate balance with the biological, chemical, and physical factors of the aquatic environment. Overfishing, pollution, and alteration of the environment are the chief enemies of proper fisheries management, both in fresh waters and in the ocean. (For a detailed discussion of the technology and economics of fisheries, see commercial fishing.) Another practical reason for studying fishes is their use in disease control. As predators on mosquito larvae, they help curb malaria and other mosquito-borne diseases.
Fishes are valuable laboratory animals in many aspects of medical and biological research. For example, the readiness of many fishes to acclimate to captivity has allowed biologists to study behaviour, physiology, and even ecology under relatively natural conditions. Fishes have been especially important in the study of animal behaviour, where research on fishes has provided a broad base for the understanding of the more flexible behaviour of the higher vertebrates. The zebra fish is used as a model in studies of gene expression.
There are aesthetic and recreational reasons for an interest in fishes. Millions of people keep live fishes in home aquariums for the simple pleasure of observing the beauty and behaviour of animals otherwise unfamiliar to them. Aquarium fishes provide a personal challenge to many aquarists, allowing them to test their ability to keep a small section of the natural environment in their homes. Sportfishing is another way of enjoying the natural environment, also indulged in by millions of people every year. Interest in aquarium fishes and sportfishing supports multimillion-dollar industries throughout the world.
Fishes have been in existence for more than 450 million years, during which time they have evolved repeatedly to fit into almost every conceivable type of aquatic habitat. In a sense, land vertebrates are simply highly modified fishes: when fishes colonized the land habitat, they became tetrapod (four-legged) land vertebrates. The popular conception of a fish as a slippery, streamlined aquatic animal that possesses fins and breathes by gills applies to many fishes, but far more fishes deviate from that conception than conform to it. For example, the body is elongate in many forms and greatly shortened in others; the body is flattened in some (principally in bottom-dwelling fishes) and laterally compressed in many others; the fins may be elaborately extended, forming intricate shapes, or they may be reduced or even lost; and the positions of the mouth, eyes, nostrils, and gill openings vary widely. Air breathers have appeared in several evolutionary lines.
Many fishes are cryptically coloured and shaped, closely matching their respective environments; others are among the most brilliantly coloured of all organisms, with a wide range of hues, often of striking intensity, on a single individual. The brilliance of pigments may be enhanced by the surface structure of the fish, so that it almost seems to glow. A number of unrelated fishes have actual light-producing organs. Many fishes are able to alter their coloration—some for the purpose of camouflage, others for the enhancement of behavioral signals.
Fishes range in adult length from less than 10 mm (0.4 inch) to more than 20 metres (60 feet) and in weight from about 1.5 grams (less than 0.06 ounce) to many thousands of kilograms. Some live in shallow thermal springs at temperatures slightly above 42 °C (100 °F), others in cold Arctic seas a few degrees below 0 °C (32 °F) or in cold deep waters more than 4,000 metres (13,100 feet) beneath the ocean surface. The structural and, especially, the physiological adaptations for life at such extremes are relatively poorly known and provide the scientifically curious with great incentive for study.
Almost all natural bodies of water bear fish life, the exceptions being very hot thermal ponds and extremely salt-alkaline lakes, such as the Dead Sea in Asia and the Great Salt Lake in North America. The present distribution of fishes is a result of the geological history and development of Earth as well as the ability of fishes to undergo evolutionary change and to adapt to the available habitats. Fishes may be seen to be distributed according to habitat and according to geographical area. Major habitat differences are marine and freshwater. For the most part, the fishes in a marine habitat differ from those in a freshwater habitat, even in adjacent areas, but some, such as the salmon, migrate from one to the other. The freshwater habitats may be seen to be of many kinds. Fishes found in mountain torrents, Arctic lakes, tropical lakes, temperate streams, and tropical rivers will all differ from each other, both in obvious gross structure and in physiological attributes. Even in closely adjacent habitats where, for example, a tropical mountain torrent enters a lowland stream, the fish fauna will differ. The marine habitats can be divided into deep ocean floors (benthic), mid-water oceanic (bathypelagic), surface oceanic (pelagic), rocky coast, sandy coast, muddy shores, bays, estuaries, and others. Also, for example, rocky coastal shores in tropical and temperate regions will have different fish faunas, even when such habitats occur along the same coastline.
Although much is known about the present geographical distribution of fishes, far less is known about how that distribution came about. Many parts of the fish fauna of the fresh waters of North America and Eurasia are related and undoubtedly have a common origin. The faunas of Africa and South America are related, extremely old, and probably an expression of the drifting apart of the two continents. The fauna of southern Asia is related to that of Central Asia, and some of it appears to have entered Africa. The extremely large shore-fish faunas of the Indian and tropical Pacific oceans comprise a related complex, but the tropical shore fauna of the Atlantic, although containing Indo-Pacific components, is relatively limited and probably younger. The Arctic and Antarctic marine faunas are quite different from each other. The shore fauna of the North Pacific is quite distinct, and that of the North Atlantic more limited and probably younger. Pelagic oceanic fishes, especially those in deep waters, are similar the world over, showing little geographical isolation in terms of family groups. The deep oceanic habitat is very much the same throughout the world, but species differences do exist, showing geographical areas determined by oceanic currents and water masses.
All aspects of the life of a fish are closely correlated with adaptation to the total environment, physical, chemical, and biological. In studies, all the interdependent aspects of fish, such as behaviour, locomotion, reproduction, and physical and physiological characteristics, must be taken into account.
Correlated with their adaptation to an extremely wide variety of habitats is the extremely wide variety of life cycles that fishes display. The great majority hatch from relatively small eggs a few days to several weeks or more after the eggs are scattered in the water. Newly hatched young are still partially undeveloped and are called larvae until body structures such as fins, skeleton, and some organs are fully formed. Larval life is often very short, usually less than a few weeks, but it can be very long, some lampreys continuing as larvae for at least five years. Young and larval fishes, before reaching sexual maturity, must grow considerably, and their small size and other factors often dictate that they live in a habitat different than that of the adults. For example, most tropical marine shore fishes have pelagic larvae. Larval food also is different, and larval fishes often live in shallow waters, where they may be less exposed to predators.
After a fish reaches adult size, the length of its life is subject to many factors, such as innate rates of aging, predation pressure, and the nature of the local climate. The longevity of a species in the protected environment of an aquarium may have nothing to do with how long members of that species live in the wild. Many small fishes live only one to three years at the most. In some species, however, individuals may live as long as 10 or 20 or even 100 years.
Fish behaviour is a complicated and varied subject. As in almost all animals with a central nervous system, the nature of a response of an individual fish to stimuli from its environment depends upon the inherited characteristics of its nervous system, on what it has learned from past experience, and on the nature of the stimuli. Compared with the variety of human responses, however, that of a fish is stereotyped, not subject to much modification by “thought” or learning, and investigators must guard against anthropomorphic interpretations of fish behaviour.
Fishes perceive the world around them by the usual senses of sight, smell, hearing, touch, and taste and by special lateral line water-current detectors. In the few fishes that generate electric fields, a process that might best be called electrolocation aids in perception. One or another of these senses often is emphasized at the expense of others, depending upon the fish’s other adaptations. In fishes with large eyes, the sense of smell may be reduced; others, with small eyes, hunt and feed primarily by smell (such as some eels).
Specialized behaviour is primarily concerned with the three most important activities in the fish’s life: feeding, reproduction, and escape from enemies. Schooling behaviour of sardines on the high seas, for instance, is largely a protective device to avoid enemies, but it is also associated with and modified by their breeding and feeding requirements. Predatory fishes are often solitary, lying in wait to dart suddenly after their prey, a kind of locomotion impossible for beaked parrot fishes, which feed on coral, swimming in small groups from one coral head to the next. In addition, some predatory fishes that inhabit pelagic environments, such as tunas, often school.
Sleep in fishes, all of which lack true eyelids, consists of a seemingly listless state in which the fish maintains its balance but moves slowly. If attacked or disturbed, most can dart away. A few kinds of fishes lie on the bottom to sleep. Most catfishes, some loaches, and some eels and electric fishes are strictly nocturnal, being active and hunting for food during the night and retiring during the day to holes, thick vegetation, or other protective parts of the environment.
Communication between members of a species or between members of two or more species often is extremely important, especially in breeding behaviour (see below Reproduction). The mode of communication may be visual, as between the small so-called cleaner fish and a large fish of a very different species. The larger fish often allows the cleaner to enter its mouth to remove gill parasites. The cleaner is recognized by its distinctive colour and actions and therefore is not eaten, even if the larger fish is normally a predator. Communication is often chemical, signals being sent by specific chemicals called pheromones.
Many fishes have a streamlined body and swim freely in open water. Fish locomotion is closely correlated with habitat and ecological niche (the general position of the animal to its environment).
Many fishes in both marine and fresh waters swim at the surface and have mouths adapted to feed best (and sometimes only) at the surface. Often such fishes are long and slender, able to dart at surface insects or at other surface fishes and in turn to dart away from predators; needlefishes, halfbeaks, and topminnows (such as killifish and mosquito fish) are good examples. Oceanic flying fishes escape their predators by gathering speed above the water surface, with the lower lobe of the tail providing thrust in the water. They then glide hundreds of yards on enlarged, winglike pectoral and pelvic fins. South American freshwater flying fishes escape their enemies by jumping and propelling their strongly keeled bodies out of the water.
So-called mid-water swimmers, the most common type of fish, are of many kinds and live in many habitats. The powerful fusiform tunas and the trouts, for example, are adapted for strong, fast swimming, the tunas to capture prey speedily in the open ocean and the trouts to cope with the swift currents of streams and rivers. The trout body form is well adapted to many habitats. Fishes that live in relatively quiet waters such as bays or lake shores or slow rivers usually are not strong, fast swimmers but are capable of short, quick bursts of speed to escape a predator. Many of these fishes have their sides flattened, examples being the sunfish and the freshwater angelfish of aquarists. Fish associated with the bottom or substrate usually are slow swimmers. Open-water plankton-feeding fishes almost always remain fusiform and are capable of rapid, strong movement (for example, sardines and herrings of the open ocean and also many small minnows of streams and lakes).
Bottom-living fishes are of many kinds and have undergone many types of modification of their body shape and swimming habits. Rays, which evolved from strong-swimming mid-water sharks, usually stay close to the bottom and move by undulating their large pectoral fins. Flounders live in a similar habitat and move over the bottom by undulating the entire body. Many bottom fishes dart from place to place, resting on the bottom between movements, a motion common in gobies. One goby relative, the mudskipper, has taken to living at the edge of pools along the shore of muddy mangrove swamps. It escapes its enemies by flipping rapidly over the mud, out of the water. Some catfishes, synbranchid eels, the so-called climbing perch, and a few other fishes venture out over damp ground to find more promising waters than those that they left. They move by wriggling their bodies, sometimes using strong pectoral fins; most have accessory air-breathing organs. Many bottom-dwelling fishes live in mud holes or rocky crevices. Marine eels and gobies commonly are found in such habitats and for the most part venture far beyond their cavelike homes. Some bottom dwellers, such as the clingfishes (Gobiesocidae), have developed powerful adhesive disks that enable them to remain in place on the substrate in areas such as rocky coasts, where the action of the waves is great.
The methods of reproduction in fishes are varied, but most fishes lay a large number of small eggs, fertilized and scattered outside of the body. The eggs of pelagic fishes usually remain suspended in the open water. Many shore and freshwater fishes lay eggs on the bottom or among plants. Some have adhesive eggs. The mortality of the young and especially of the eggs is very high, and often only a few individuals grow to maturity out of hundreds, thousands, and in some cases millions of eggs laid.
Males produce sperm, usually as a milky white substance called milt, in two (sometimes one) testes within the body cavity. In bony fishes a sperm duct leads from each testis to a urogenital opening behind the vent or anus. In sharks and rays and in cyclostomes the duct leads to a cloaca. Sometimes the pelvic fins are modified to help transmit the milt to the eggs at the female’s vent or on the substrate where the female has placed them. Sometimes accessory organs are used to fertilize females internally—for example, the claspers of many sharks and rays.
In the females the eggs are formed in two ovaries (sometimes only one) and pass through the ovaries to the urogenital opening and to the outside. In some fishes the eggs are fertilized internally but are shed before development takes place. Members of about a dozen families each of bony fishes (teleosts) and sharks bear live young. Many skates and rays also bear live young. In some bony fishes the eggs simply develop within the female, the young emerging when the eggs hatch (ovoviviparous). Others develop within the ovary and are nourished by ovarian tissues after hatching (viviparous). There are also other methods utilized by fishes to nourish young within the female. In all live-bearers the young are born at a relatively large size and are few in number. In one family of primarily marine fishes, the surfperches from the Pacific coast of North America, Japan, and Korea, the males of at least one species are born sexually mature, although they are not fully grown.
Some fishes are hermaphroditic—an individual producing both sperm and eggs, usually at different stages of its life. Self-fertilization, however, is probably rare.
Successful reproduction and, in many cases, defense of the eggs and the young are assured by rather stereotypical but often elaborate courtship and parental behaviour, either by the male or the female or both. Some fishes prepare nests by hollowing out depressions in the sand bottom (cichlids, for example), build nests with plant materials and sticky threads excreted by the kidneys (sticklebacks), or blow a cluster of mucus-covered bubbles at the water surface (gouramis). The eggs are laid in these structures. Some varieties of cichlids and catfishes incubate eggs in their mouths.
Some fishes, such as salmon, undergo long migrations from the ocean and up large rivers to spawn in the gravel beds where they themselves hatched (anadromous fishes). Some, such as the freshwater eels (family Anguillidae), live and grow to maturity in fresh water and migrate to the sea to spawn (catadromous fishes). Other fishes undertake shorter migrations from lakes into streams, within the ocean, or enter spawning habitats that they do not ordinarily occupy in other ways.
The basic structure and function of the fish body are similar to those of all other vertebrates. The usual four types of tissues are present: surface or epithelial, connective (bone, cartilage, and fibrous tissues, as well as their derivative, blood), nerve, and muscle tissues. In addition, the fish’s organs and organ systems parallel those of other vertebrates.
The typical fish body is streamlined and spindle-shaped, with an anterior head, a gill apparatus, and a heart, the latter lying in the midline just below the gill chamber. The body cavity, containing the vital organs, is situated behind the head in the lower anterior part of the body. The anus usually marks the posterior termination of the body cavity and most often occurs just in front of the base of the anal fin. The spinal cord and vertebral column continue from the posterior part of the head to the base of the tail fin, passing dorsal to the body cavity and through the caudal (tail) region behind the body cavity. Most of the body is of muscular tissue, a high proportion of which is necessitated by swimming. In the course of evolution this basic body plan has been modified repeatedly into the many varieties of fish shapes that exist today.
The skeleton forms an integral part of the fish’s locomotion system, as well as serving to protect vital parts. The internal skeleton consists of the skull bones (except for the roofing bones of the head, which are really part of the external skeleton), the vertebral column, and the fin supports (fin rays). The fin supports are derived from the external skeleton but will be treated here because of their close functional relationship to the internal skeleton. The internal skeleton of cyclostomes, sharks, and rays is of cartilage; that of many fossil groups and some primitive living fishes is mostly of cartilage but may include some bone. In place of the vertebral column, the earliest vertebrates had a fully developed notochord, a flexible stiff rod of viscous cells surrounded by a strong fibrous sheath. During the evolution of modern fishes the rod was replaced in part by cartilage and then by ossified cartilage. Sharks and rays retain a cartilaginous vertebral column; bony fishes have spool-shaped vertebrae that in the more primitive living forms only partially replace the notochord. The skull, including the gill arches and jaws of bony fishes, is fully, or at least partially, ossified. That of sharks and rays remains cartilaginous, at times partially replaced by calcium deposits but never by true bone.
The supportive elements of the fins (basal or radial bones or both) have changed greatly during fish evolution. Some of these changes are described in the section below (Evolution and paleontology). Most fishes possess a single dorsal fin on the midline of the back. Many have two and a few have three dorsal fins. The other fins are the single tail and anal fins and paired pelvic and pectoral fins. A small fin, the adipose fin, with hairlike fin rays, occurs in many of the relatively primitive teleosts (such as trout) on the back near the base of the caudal fin.
The skin of a fish must serve many functions. It aids in maintaining the osmotic balance, provides physical protection for the body, is the site of coloration, contains sensory receptors, and, in some fishes, functions in respiration. Mucous glands, which aid in maintaining the water balance and offer protection from bacteria, are extremely numerous in fish skin, especially in cyclostomes and teleosts. Since mucous glands are present in the modern lampreys, it is reasonable to assume that they were present in primitive fishes, such as the ancient Silurian and Devonian agnathans. Protection from abrasion and predation is another function of the fish skin, and dermal (skin) bone arose early in fish evolution in response to this need. It is thought that bone first evolved in skin and only later invaded the cartilaginous areas of the fish’s body, to provide additional support and protection. There is some argument as to which came first, cartilage or bone, and fossil evidence does not settle the question. In any event, dermal bone has played an important part in fish evolution and has different characteristics in different groups of fishes. Several groups are characterized at least in part by the kind of bony scales they possess.
Scales have played an important part in the evolution of fishes. Primitive fishes usually had thick bony plates or thick scales in several layers of bone, enamel, and related substances. Modern teleost fishes have scales of bone, which, while still protective, allow much more freedom of motion in the body. A few modern teleosts (some catfishes, sticklebacks, and others) have secondarily acquired bony plates in the skin. Modern and early sharks possessed placoid scales, a relatively primitive type of scale with a toothlike structure, consisting of an outside layer of enamel-like substance (vitrodentine), an inner layer of dentine, and a pulp cavity containing nerves and blood vessels. Primitive bony fishes had thick scales of either the ganoid or the cosmoid type. Cosmoid scales have a hard, enamel-like outer layer, an inner layer of cosmine (a form of dentine), and then a layer of vascular bone (isopedine). In ganoid scales the hard outer layer is different chemically and is called ganoin. Under this is a cosminelike layer and then a vascular bony layer. The thin, translucent bony scales of modern fishes, called cycloid and ctenoid (the latter distinguished by serrations at the edges), lack enameloid and dentine layers.
Skin has several other functions in fishes. It is well supplied with nerve endings and presumably receives tactile, thermal, and pain stimuli. Skin is also well supplied with blood vessels. Some fishes breathe in part through the skin, by the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide between the surrounding water and numerous small blood vessels near the skin surface.
Skin serves as protection through the control of coloration. Fishes exhibit an almost limitless range of colours. The colours often blend closely with the surroundings, effectively hiding the animal. Many fishes use bright colours for territorial advertisement or as recognition marks for other members of their own species, or sometimes for members of other species. Many fishes can change their colour to a greater or lesser degree, by movement of pigment within the pigment cells (chromatophores). Black pigment cells (melanophores), of almost universal occurrence in fishes, are often juxtaposed with other pigment cells. When placed beneath iridocytes or leucophores (bearing the silvery or white pigment guanine), melanophores produce structural colours of blue and green. These colours are often extremely intense, because they are formed by refraction of light through the needlelike crystals of guanine. The blue and green refracted colours are often relatively pure, lacking the red and yellow rays, which have been absorbed by the black pigment (melanin) of the melanophores. Yellow, orange, and red colours are produced by erythrophores, cells containing the appropriate carotenoid pigments. Other colours are produced by combinations of melanophores, erythrophores, and iridocytes.
The major portion of the body of most fishes consists of muscles. Most of the mass is trunk musculature, the fin muscles usually being relatively small. The caudal fin is usually the most powerful fin, being moved by the trunk musculature. The body musculature is usually arranged in rows of chevron-shaped segments on each side. Contractions of these segments, each attached to adjacent vertebrae and vertebral processes, bends the body on the vertebral joint, producing successive undulations of the body, passing from the head to the tail, and producing driving strokes of the tail. It is the latter that provides the strong forward movement for most fishes.
The digestive system, in a functional sense, starts at the mouth, with the teeth used to capture prey or collect plant foods. Mouth shape and tooth structure vary greatly in fishes, depending on the kind of food normally eaten. Most fishes are predacious, feeding on small invertebrates or other fishes and have simple conical teeth on the jaws, on at least some of the bones of the roof of the mouth, and on special gill arch structures just in front of the esophagus. The latter are throat teeth. Most predacious fishes swallow their prey whole, and the teeth are used for grasping and holding prey, for orienting prey to be swallowed (head first) and for working the prey toward the esophagus. There are a variety of tooth types in fishes. Some fishes, such as sharks and piranhas, have cutting teeth for biting chunks out of their victims. A shark’s tooth, although superficially like that of a piranha, appears in many respects to be a modified scale, while that of the piranha is like that of other bony fishes, consisting of dentine and enamel. Parrot fishes have beaklike mouths with short incisor-like teeth for breaking off coral and have heavy pavementlike throat teeth for crushing the coral. Some catfishes have small brushlike teeth, arranged in rows on the jaws, for scraping plant and animal growth from rocks. Many fishes (such as the Cyprinidae or minnows) have no jaw teeth at all but have very strong throat teeth.
Some fishes gather planktonic food by straining it from their gill cavities with numerous elongate stiff rods (gill rakers) anchored by one end to the gill bars. The food collected on these rods is passed to the throat, where it is swallowed. Most fishes have only short gill rakers that help keep food particles from escaping out the mouth cavity into the gill chamber.
Once reaching the throat, food enters a short, often greatly distensible esophagus, a simple tube with a muscular wall leading into a stomach. The stomach varies greatly in fishes, depending upon the diet. In most predacious fishes it is a simple straight or curved tube or pouch with a muscular wall and a glandular lining. Food is largely digested there and leaves the stomach in liquid form.
Between the stomach and the intestine, ducts enter the digestive tube from the liver and pancreas. The liver is a large, clearly defined organ. The pancreas may be embedded in it, diffused through it, or broken into small parts spread along some of the intestine. The junction between the stomach and the intestine is marked by a muscular valve. Pyloric ceca (blind sacs) occur in some fishes at this junction and have a digestive or absorptive function or both.
The intestine itself is quite variable in length, depending upon the fish’s diet. It is short in predacious forms, sometimes no longer than the body cavity, but long in herbivorous forms, being coiled and several times longer than the entire length of the fish in some species of South American catfishes. The intestine is primarily an organ for absorbing nutrients into the bloodstream. The larger its internal surface, the greater its absorptive efficiency, and a spiral valve is one method of increasing its absorption surface.
Sharks, rays, chimaeras, lungfishes, surviving chondrosteans, holosteans, and even a few of the more primitive teleosts have a spiral valve or at least traces of it in the intestine. Most modern teleosts have increased the area of the intestinal walls by having numerous folds and villi (fingerlike projections) somewhat like those in humans. Undigested substances are passed to the exterior through the anus in most teleost fishes. In lungfishes, sharks, and rays, it is first passed through the cloaca, a common cavity receiving the intestinal opening and the ducts from the urogenital system.
Oxygen and carbon dioxide dissolve in water, and most fishes exchange dissolved oxygen and carbon dioxide in water by means of the gills. The gills lie behind and to the side of the mouth cavity and consist of fleshy filaments supported by the gill arches and filled with blood vessels, which give gills a bright red colour. Water taken in continuously through the mouth passes backward between the gill bars and over the gill filaments, where the exchange of gases takes place. The gills are protected by a gill cover in teleosts and many other fishes but by flaps of skin in sharks, rays, and some of the older fossil fish groups. The blood capillaries in the gill filaments are close to the gill surface to take up oxygen from the water and to give up excess carbon dioxide to the water.
Most modern fishes have a hydrostatic (ballast) organ, called the swim bladder, that lies in the body cavity just below the kidney and above the stomach and intestine. It originated as a diverticulum of the digestive canal. In advanced teleosts, especially the acanthopterygians, the bladder has lost its connection with the digestive tract, a condition called physoclistic. The connection has been retained (physostomous) by many relatively primitive teleosts. In several unrelated lines of fishes, the bladder has become specialized as a lung or, at least, as a highly vascularized accessory breathing organ. Some fishes with such accessory organs are obligate air breathers and will drown if denied access to the surface, even in well-oxygenated water. Fishes with a hydrostatic form of swim bladder can control their depth by regulating the amount of gas in the bladder. The gas, mostly oxygen, is secreted into the bladder by special glands, rendering the fish more buoyant; the gas is absorbed into the bloodstream by another special organ, reducing the overall buoyancy and allowing the fish to sink. Some deep-sea fishes may have oils, rather than gas, in the bladder. Other deep-sea and some bottom-living forms have much-reduced swim bladders or have lost the organ entirely.
The swim bladder of fishes follows the same developmental pattern as the lungs of land vertebrates. There is no doubt that the two structures have the same historical origin in primitive fishes. More or less intermediate forms still survive among the more primitive types of fishes, such as the lungfishes Lepidosiren and Protopterus.
The circulatory, or blood vascular, system consists of the heart, the arteries, the capillaries, and the veins. It is in the capillaries that the interchange of oxygen, carbon dioxide, nutrients, and other substances such as hormones and waste products takes place. The capillaries lead to the veins, which return the venous blood with its waste products to the heart, kidneys, and gills. There are two kinds of capillary beds: those in the gills and those in the rest of the body. The heart, a folded continuous muscular tube with three or four saclike enlargements, undergoes rhythmic contractions and receives venous blood in a sinus venosus. It passes the blood to an auricle and then into a thick muscular pump, the ventricle. From the ventricle the blood goes to a bulbous structure at the base of a ventral aorta just below the gills. The blood passes to the afferent (receiving) arteries of the gill arches and then to the gill capillaries. There waste gases are given off to the environment, and oxygen is absorbed. The oxygenated blood enters efferent (exuant) arteries of the gill arches and then flows into the dorsal aorta. From there blood is distributed to the tissues and organs of the body. One-way valves prevent backflow. The circulation of fishes thus differs from that of the reptiles, birds, and mammals in that oxygenated blood is not returned to the heart prior to distribution to the other parts of the body.
The primary excretory organ in fishes, as in other vertebrates, is the kidney. In fishes some excretion also takes place in the digestive tract, skin, and especially the gills (where ammonia is given off). Compared with land vertebrates, fishes have a special problem in maintaining their internal environment at a constant concentration of water and dissolved substances, such as salts. Proper balance of the internal environment (homeostasis) of a fish is in a great part maintained by the excretory system, especially the kidney.
The kidney, gills, and skin play an important role in maintaining a fish’s internal environment and checking the effects of osmosis. Marine fishes live in an environment in which the water around them has a greater concentration of salts than they can have inside their body and still maintain life. Freshwater fishes, on the other hand, live in water with a much lower concentration of salts than they require inside their bodies. Osmosis tends to promote the loss of water from the body of a marine fish and absorption of water by that of a freshwater fish. Mucus in the skin tends to slow the process but is not a sufficient barrier to prevent the movement of fluids through the permeable skin. When solutions on two sides of a permeable membrane have different concentrations of dissolved substances, water will pass through the membrane into the more concentrated solution, while the dissolved chemicals move into the area of lower concentration (diffusion).
The kidney of freshwater fishes is often larger in relation to body weight than that of marine fishes. In both groups the kidney excretes wastes from the body, but the kidney of freshwater fishes also excretes large amounts of water, counteracting the water absorbed through the skin. Freshwater fishes tend to lose salt to the environment and must replace it. They get some salt from their food, but the gills and skin inside the mouth actively absorb salt from water passed through the mouth. This absorption is performed by special cells capable of moving salts against the diffusion gradient. Freshwater fishes drink very little water and take in little water with their food.
Marine fishes must conserve water, and therefore their kidneys excrete little water. To maintain their water balance, marine fishes drink large quantities of seawater, retaining most of the water and excreting the salt. Most nitrogenous waste in marine fishes appears to be secreted by the gills as ammonia. Marine fishes can excrete salt by clusters of special cells (chloride cells) in the gills.
There are several teleosts—for example, the salmon—that travel between fresh water and seawater and must adjust to the reversal of osmotic gradients. They adjust their physiological processes by spending time (often surprisingly little time) in the intermediate brackish environment.
Marine hagfishes, sharks, and rays have osmotic concentrations in their blood about equal to that of seawater and so do not have to drink water nor perform much physiological work to maintain their osmotic balance. In sharks and rays the osmotic concentration is kept high by retention of urea in the blood. Freshwater sharks have a lowered concentration of urea in the blood.
Endocrine glands secrete their products into the bloodstream and body tissues and, along with the central nervous system, control and regulate many kinds of body functions. Cyclostomes have a well-developed endocrine system, and presumably it was well developed in the early Agnatha, ancestral to modern fishes. Although the endocrine system in fishes is similar to that of higher vertebrates, there are numerous differences in detail. The pituitary, the thyroid, the suprarenals, the adrenals, the pancreatic islets, the sex glands (ovaries and testes), the inner wall of the intestine, and the bodies of the ultimobranchial gland make up the endocrine system in fishes. There are some others whose function is not well understood. These organs regulate sexual activity and reproduction, growth, osmotic pressure, general metabolic activities such as the storage of fat and the utilization of foodstuffs, blood pressure, and certain aspects of skin colour. Many of these activities are also controlled in part by the central nervous system, which works with the endocrine system in maintaining the life of a fish. Some parts of the endocrine system are developmentally, and undoubtedly evolutionarily, derived from the nervous system.
As in all vertebrates, the nervous system of fishes is the primary mechanism coordinating body activities, as well as integrating these activities in the appropriate manner with stimuli from the environment. The central nervous system, consisting of the brain and spinal cord, is the primary integrating mechanism. The peripheral nervous system, consisting of nerves that connect the brain and spinal cord to various body organs, carries sensory information from special receptor organs such as the eyes, internal ears, nares (sense of smell), taste glands, and others to the integrating centres of the brain and spinal cord. The peripheral nervous system also carries information via different nerve cells from the integrating centres of the brain and spinal cord. This coded information is carried to the various organs and body systems, such as the skeletal muscular system, for appropriate action in response to the original external or internal stimulus. Another branch of the nervous system, the autonomic nervous system, helps to coordinate the activities of many glands and organs and is itself closely connected to the integrating centres of the brain.
The brain of the fish is divided into several anatomical and functional parts, all closely interconnected but each serving as the primary centre of integrating particular kinds of responses and activities. Several of these centres or parts are primarily associated with one type of sensory perception, such as sight, hearing, or smell (olfaction).
The sense of smell is important in almost all fishes. Certain eels with tiny eyes depend mostly on smell for location of food. The olfactory, or nasal, organ of fishes is located on the dorsal surface of the snout. The lining of the nasal organ has special sensory cells that perceive chemicals dissolved in the water, such as substances from food material, and send sensory information to the brain by way of the first cranial nerve. Odour also serves as an alarm system. Many fishes, especially various species of freshwater minnows, react with alarm to a chemical released from the skin of an injured member of their own species.
Many fishes have a well-developed sense of taste, and tiny pitlike taste buds or organs are located not only within their mouth cavities but also over their heads and parts of their body. Catfishes, which often have poor vision, have barbels (“whiskers”) that serve as supplementary taste organs, those around the mouth being actively used to search out food on the bottom. Some species of naturally blind cave fishes are especially well supplied with taste buds, which often cover most of their body surface.
Sight is extremely important in most fishes. The eye of a fish is basically like that of all other vertebrates, but the eyes of fishes are extremely varied in structure and adaptation. In general, fishes living in dark and dim water habitats have large eyes, unless they have specialized in some compensatory way so that another sense (such as smell) is dominant, in which case the eyes will often be reduced. Fishes living in brightly lighted shallow waters often will have relatively small but efficient eyes. Cyclostomes have somewhat less elaborate eyes than other fishes, with skin stretched over the eyeball perhaps making their vision somewhat less effective. Most fishes have a spherical lens and accommodate their vision to far or near subjects by moving the lens within the eyeball. A few sharks accommodate by changing the shape of the lens, as in land vertebrates. Those fishes that are heavily dependent upon the eyes have especially strong muscles for accommodation. Most fishes see well, despite the restrictions imposed by frequent turbidity of the water and by light refraction.
Fossil evidence suggests that colour vision evolved in fishes more than 300 million years ago, but not all living fishes have retained this ability. Experimental evidence indicates that many shallow-water fishes, if not all, have colour vision and see some colours especially well, but some bottom-dwelling shore fishes live in areas where the water is sufficiently deep to filter out most if not all colours, and these fishes apparently never see colours. When tested in shallow water, they apparently are unable to respond to colour differences.
Sound perception and balance are intimately associated senses in a fish. The organs of hearing are entirely internal, located within the skull, on each side of the brain and somewhat behind the eyes. Sound waves, especially those of low frequencies, travel readily through water and impinge directly upon the bones and fluids of the head and body, to be transmitted to the hearing organs. Fishes readily respond to sound; for example, a trout conditioned to escape by the approach of fishermen will take flight upon perceiving footsteps on a stream bank even if it cannot see a fisherman. Compared with humans, however, the range of sound frequencies heard by fishes is greatly restricted. Many fishes communicate with each other by producing sounds in their swim bladders, in their throats by rasping their teeth, and in other ways.
A fish or other vertebrate seldom has to rely on a single type of sensory information to determine the nature of the environment around it. A catfish uses taste and touch when examining a food object with its oral barbels. Like most other animals, fishes have many touch receptors over their body surface. Pain and temperature receptors also are present in fishes and presumably produce the same kind of information to a fish as to humans. Fishes react in a negative fashion to stimuli that would be painful to human beings, suggesting that they feel a sensation of pain.
An important sensory system in fishes that is absent in other vertebrates (except some amphibians) is the lateral line system. This consists of a series of heavily innervated small canals located in the skin and bone around the eyes, along the lower jaw, over the head, and down the mid-side of the body, where it is associated with the scales. Intermittently along these canals are located tiny sensory organs (pit organs) that apparently detect changes in pressure. The system allows a fish to sense changes in water currents and pressure, thereby helping the fish to orient itself to the various changes that occur in the physical environment.
©AVucha 2014
A 30-year-old Cary man was safely escorted from a neighborhood residence and to a hospital after he barricaded himself from a large police contingent for roughly four hours Wednesday.
Cary Police Deputy Chief James Fillmore said the man, who was threatening to harm himself and "under a lot of emotional stress," was taken to Centegra Hospital-McHenry at 3:12 p.m. after first responders arrived on the scene at Hillhurst Drive at 11 a.m. The man was unarmed and no one was hurt during the situation, Fillmore said.
The man had climbed into the garage attic and refused to come down for family members, police said.
Fillmore said no charges would be filed in the incident. Fillmore said police have responded to domestic disturbances at the home on the 300 block of Hillhurst Drive several times in the past.
The four-hour operation required a heavy police presence that included officers from Cary, Streamwood, Round Lake, Roselle, Fox River Grove and other municipalities. On scene, marked and unmarked vehicles lined the surrounding streets, and armed, vested officers, including K9 units, were seen walking toward the residence.
A large Northern Illinois Police Alarm System vehicle also was on scene. Cary Police blocked off a square area from Decker Drive to Hillhurst Drive bordered by Bryan and Bell drives. School bus routes were also redirected because of the situation.
The incident comes within a week of a Holiday Hills man shooting and wounding two McHenry County Sheriff’s officers. That incident led to an even larger police response as a 16-hour manhunt ensued before Scott B. Peters was arrested and charged with shooting the officers.
*Article obtained from the Northwest Herald
Van train 23Z passes the old PRR station at Lewistown as well as CP-Lewis. A new PTC antenna tower is behind the locomotive (the odd looking antenna out of loco roof).
The station has been preserved by the Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society and serves as the Society's archives. The Society has spent a considerable amount of funds to restore the station including the tower portion (which was torn down long ago), roof, archiving systems, fire and burglar alarm systems.
The station waiting room is opened when the Amtrak Pennsylvanian trains stop to handle their passengers.
TEIGN C Damen Stan 1405
IMO: - N/A
MMSI: 235082804
Call Sign: MWBM9
AIS Vessel Type: Dredger
GENERAL
DAMEN YARD NUMBER: 503705
Avelingen-West 20
4202 MS Gorinchem
The Netherlands
Phone: +31 (0)183 63 99 11
info@damen.com
DELIVERY DATE August 2001
BASIC FUNCTIONS Towing, mooring, pushing and dredging operations
FLAG United Kingdom [GB]
OWNED Teignmouth Harbour Commission
CASSCATION: Bureau Veritas 1 HULL MACH Seagoing Launch
DIMENSIONS
LENGTH 14.40 m
BEAM 4.73 m
DEPTH AT SIDES 205 m
DRAUGHT AFT 171 m
DISPLACEMENT 48 ton
TANK CAPACITIES
Fuel oil 6.9 m³
PERFORMANCES (TRIALS)
BOLLARD PULL AHEAD 8.0 ton
SPEED 9.8 knots
PROPULSION SYSTEM
MAIN ENGINE 2x Caterpillar 3406C TA/A
TOTAL POWER 477 bmW (640i hp) at 1800 rpm
GEARBOX 2x Twin Disc MG 5091/3.82:1
PROPELLERS Bronze fixed pitch propeller
KORT NOZZELS Van de Giessen 2x 1000 mm with stainless steel innerings
ENGINE CONTROL Kobelt
STEERING GEAR 2x 25 mm single plate Powered hydraulic 2x 45, rudder indicator
AUXILIARY EQUIPMENT
BILGE PUMP Sterling SIH 20, 32 m/hr
BATTERY SETS 2x 24V, 200 Ah + change over facility
COOLING SYSTEM Closed cooling system
ALARM SYSTEM Engines, gearboxes and bilge alarms
FRESH WATER PRESSURE SET Speck 24V
DECK LAY-OUT
ANCHORS 2x 48 kg Pool (HHP)
CHAIN 70 m, Ø 13mm, shortlink U2
ANCHOR WINCH Hand-operated
TOWING HOOK Mampaey, 15.3 ton SWL
COUPLING WINCH
PUSHBOW Cylindrical nubber fender Ø 380 mm
ACCOMMODATION
The wheelhouse ceiling and sides are insulated with mineral wool and
panelled. The wheelhouse floor is covered with rubber/synthetic floor
covering, make Bolidt, color blue The wheelhouse has one
helmsman seat, a bench and table with chair Below deck two berths, a
kitchen unit and a toilet space are arranged.
NAUTICAL AND COMMUNICATION EQUIPMENT
SEARCHLIGHT Den Haan 170 W 24 V
VHF RADIO Sailor RT 2048 25 W
NAVIGATION Navigation lights incl towing and pilot lights
Teignmouth Harbour Commission
The Harbour Commission is a Trust Port created by Statute.
The principal Order is the Teignmouth Harbour Order 1924
as amended by the Teignmouth Harbour Revision Order 2003
TEIGN C Damen Stan 1405
IMO: - N/A
MMSI: 235082804
Call Sign: MWBM9
AIS Vessel Type: Dredger
GENERAL
DAMEN YARD NUMBER: 503705
Avelingen-West 20
4202 MS Gorinchem
The Netherlands
Phone: +31 (0)183 63 99 11
info@damen.com
DELIVERY DATE August 2001
BASIC FUNCTIONS Towing, mooring, pushing and dredging operations
FLAG United Kingdom [GB]
OWNED Teignmouth Harbour Commission
CASSCATION: Bureau Veritas 1 HULL MACH Seagoing Launch
DIMENSIONS
LENGTH 14.40 m
BEAM 4.73 m
DEPTH AT SIDES 205 m
DRAUGHT AFT 171 m
DISPLACEMENT 48 ton
TANK CAPACITIES
Fuel oil 6.9 m³
PERFORMANCES (TRIALS)
BOLLARD PULL AHEAD 8.0 ton
SPEED 9.8 knots
PROPULSION SYSTEM
MAIN ENGINE 2x Caterpillar 3406C TA/A
TOTAL POWER 477 bmW (640i hp) at 1800 rpm
GEARBOX 2x Twin Disc MG 5091/3.82:1
PROPELLERS Bronze fixed pitch propeller
KORT NOZZELS Van de Giessen 2x 1000 mm with stainless steel innerings
ENGINE CONTROL Kobelt
STEERING GEAR 2x 25 mm single plate Powered hydraulic 2x 45, rudder indicator
AUXILIARY EQUIPMENT
BILGE PUMP Sterling SIH 20, 32 m/hr
BATTERY SETS 2x 24V, 200 Ah + change over facility
COOLING SYSTEM Closed cooling system
ALARM SYSTEM Engines, gearboxes and bilge alarms
FRESH WATER PRESSURE SET Speck 24V
DECK LAY-OUT
ANCHORS 2x 48 kg Pool (HHP)
CHAIN 70 m, Ø 13mm, shortlink U2
ANCHOR WINCH Hand-operated
TOWING HOOK Mampaey, 15.3 ton SWL
COUPLING WINCH
PUSHBOW Cylindrical nubber fender Ø 380 mm
ACCOMMODATION
The wheelhouse ceiling and sides are insulated with mineral wool and
panelled. The wheelhouse floor is covered with rubber/synthetic floor
covering, make Bolidt, color blue The wheelhouse has one
helmsman seat, a bench and table with chair Below deck two berths, a
kitchen unit and a toilet space are arranged.
NAUTICAL AND COMMUNICATION EQUIPMENT
SEARCHLIGHT Den Haan 170 W 24 V
VHF RADIO Sailor RT 2048 25 W
NAVIGATION Navigation lights incl towing and pilot lights
Teignmouth Harbour Commission
The Harbour Commission is a Trust Port created by Statute.
The principal Order is the Teignmouth Harbour Order 1924
as amended by the Teignmouth Harbour Revision Order 20
©AVucha 2018
A McHenry man was arrested Sunday morning after allegedly threatening a person with a firearm and refusing to cooperate with police.
William B. Cheatham, 56, was arrested at his home in the 1000 block of North Front Street, according to a statement from McHenry Police Chief John Birk.
Officers were called to the scene about 8:30 p.m. after a report of a domestic disturbance. When officers arrived, it was reported that Cheatham threatened to harm one of the victims with a firearm, Birk said. Cheatham reportedly retreated into his residence and refused to answer responding officers.
An investigation revealed that Cheatham was a convicted felon and in possession of numerous firearms. A search warrant for the residence was obtained.
Because of a threat of weapons, the McHenry Police Department requested assistance from the Emergency Services Team of the Northern Illinois Police Alarm System. NIPAS is a joint venture of suburban municipal police agencies that provide mutual aid.
Police entered the residence, and Cheatham was taken into custody without incident. During a search of the residence, investigators recovered 13 long guns, two handguns and ammunition, Birk said. To help ensure the safety of other area residents, Route 31 was closed to traffic for about four hours.
Cheatham faces charges of unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, assault and disorderly conduct.
Cheatham was processed and taken to the McHenry County Jail to await a bond hearing.
McHenry police could not be reached for information Sunday.
Caller shares her story
Cheatham’s girlfriend, Jami Stefko, told the Northwest Herald on Sunday morning that Cheatham threatened to put a gun to her 17-year-old daughter’s head. Stefko said Cheatham came home from work intoxicated and was upset that her daughter had guests.
To avoid conflict, Stefko said she escorted her daughter and their guests out of the home before calling 911.
“He threatened my 17-year-old daughter, and he has guns. He didn’t pull one out, but the point is he shouldn’t say that,” Stefko said. “She’s doing OK. She’s here with me sleeping.”
She said Cheatham was the only person inside the home when police arrived and the hours-long standoff began.
“They had to break our bedroom window on the side of the house, where it’s taped and broken, and they had to throw tear gas in,” Stefko said.
Stefko, who was busy airing out their bedroom Sunday, said the fate of their relationship is unclear.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen. I’m tired right now,” she said. “It’s upsetting, but everybody’s safe. That’s the most important. At least it didn’t end bad. Bill’s alive, no cops got hurt, we’re all OK.”
Cheatham was convicted of aggravated driving under the influence after being arrested in May 2012.
Area bar cleared
Bartender Dana Johnson said the nearby Corner Tap, 3901 Main St., was shut down during the standoff. When she returned to work Sunday morning, the place looked like “everyone went out for a cigarette” and never came back.
“This morning it was kind of funny coming in because everything was left as if everyone was still drinking,” Johnson said. “Everybody had to leave. Lights were left on. Cash was left out. It was really crazy.”
Johnson said Cheatham was a regular and got along with most patrons.
“He helps the community all the time,” she said. “He’s a veteran. I never would have imagined this happening. Never.”
*Written by Daniel Gaitan, Northwest Herald
This photograph is being made available only for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photograph. The photograph may not be manipulated in any way and may not be used in commercial material, advertisements, emails, products, promotions without the expressed consent of Alex Vucha.
Fish, any of approximately 34,000 species of vertebrate animals (phylum Chordata) found in the fresh and salt waters of the world. Living species range from the primitive jawless lampreys and hagfishes through the cartilaginous sharks, skates, and rays to the abundant and diverse bony fishes. Most fish species are cold-blooded; however, one species, the opah (Lampris guttatus), is warm-blooded.
The term fish is applied to a variety of vertebrates of several evolutionary lines. It describes a life-form rather than a taxonomic group. As members of the phylum Chordata, fish share certain features with other vertebrates. These features are gill slits at some point in the life cycle, a notochord, or skeletal supporting rod, a dorsal hollow nerve cord, and a tail. Living fishes represent some five classes, which are as distinct from one another as are the four classes of familiar air-breathing animals—amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. For example, the jawless fishes (Agnatha) have gills in pouches and lack limb girdles. Extant agnathans are the lampreys and the hagfishes. As the name implies, the skeletons of fishes of the class Chondrichthyes (from chondr, “cartilage,” and ichthyes, “fish”) are made entirely of cartilage. Modern fish of this class lack a swim bladder, and their scales and teeth are made up of the same placoid material. Sharks, skates, and rays are examples of cartilaginous fishes. The bony fishes are by far the largest class. Examples range from the tiny seahorse to the 450-kg (1,000-pound) blue marlin, from the flattened soles and flounders to the boxy puffers and ocean sunfishes. Unlike the scales of the cartilaginous fishes, those of bony fishes, when present, grow throughout life and are made up of thin overlapping plates of bone. Bony fishes also have an operculum that covers the gill slits.
The study of fishes, the science of ichthyology, is of broad importance. Fishes are of interest to humans for many reasons, the most important being their relationship with and dependence on the environment. A more obvious reason for interest in fishes is their role as a moderate but important part of the world’s food supply. This resource, once thought unlimited, is now realized to be finite and in delicate balance with the biological, chemical, and physical factors of the aquatic environment. Overfishing, pollution, and alteration of the environment are the chief enemies of proper fisheries management, both in fresh waters and in the ocean. (For a detailed discussion of the technology and economics of fisheries, see commercial fishing.) Another practical reason for studying fishes is their use in disease control. As predators on mosquito larvae, they help curb malaria and other mosquito-borne diseases.
Fishes are valuable laboratory animals in many aspects of medical and biological research. For example, the readiness of many fishes to acclimate to captivity has allowed biologists to study behaviour, physiology, and even ecology under relatively natural conditions. Fishes have been especially important in the study of animal behaviour, where research on fishes has provided a broad base for the understanding of the more flexible behaviour of the higher vertebrates. The zebra fish is used as a model in studies of gene expression.
There are aesthetic and recreational reasons for an interest in fishes. Millions of people keep live fishes in home aquariums for the simple pleasure of observing the beauty and behaviour of animals otherwise unfamiliar to them. Aquarium fishes provide a personal challenge to many aquarists, allowing them to test their ability to keep a small section of the natural environment in their homes. Sportfishing is another way of enjoying the natural environment, also indulged in by millions of people every year. Interest in aquarium fishes and sportfishing supports multimillion-dollar industries throughout the world.
Fishes have been in existence for more than 450 million years, during which time they have evolved repeatedly to fit into almost every conceivable type of aquatic habitat. In a sense, land vertebrates are simply highly modified fishes: when fishes colonized the land habitat, they became tetrapod (four-legged) land vertebrates. The popular conception of a fish as a slippery, streamlined aquatic animal that possesses fins and breathes by gills applies to many fishes, but far more fishes deviate from that conception than conform to it. For example, the body is elongate in many forms and greatly shortened in others; the body is flattened in some (principally in bottom-dwelling fishes) and laterally compressed in many others; the fins may be elaborately extended, forming intricate shapes, or they may be reduced or even lost; and the positions of the mouth, eyes, nostrils, and gill openings vary widely. Air breathers have appeared in several evolutionary lines.
Many fishes are cryptically coloured and shaped, closely matching their respective environments; others are among the most brilliantly coloured of all organisms, with a wide range of hues, often of striking intensity, on a single individual. The brilliance of pigments may be enhanced by the surface structure of the fish, so that it almost seems to glow. A number of unrelated fishes have actual light-producing organs. Many fishes are able to alter their coloration—some for the purpose of camouflage, others for the enhancement of behavioral signals.
Fishes range in adult length from less than 10 mm (0.4 inch) to more than 20 metres (60 feet) and in weight from about 1.5 grams (less than 0.06 ounce) to many thousands of kilograms. Some live in shallow thermal springs at temperatures slightly above 42 °C (100 °F), others in cold Arctic seas a few degrees below 0 °C (32 °F) or in cold deep waters more than 4,000 metres (13,100 feet) beneath the ocean surface. The structural and, especially, the physiological adaptations for life at such extremes are relatively poorly known and provide the scientifically curious with great incentive for study.
Almost all natural bodies of water bear fish life, the exceptions being very hot thermal ponds and extremely salt-alkaline lakes, such as the Dead Sea in Asia and the Great Salt Lake in North America. The present distribution of fishes is a result of the geological history and development of Earth as well as the ability of fishes to undergo evolutionary change and to adapt to the available habitats. Fishes may be seen to be distributed according to habitat and according to geographical area. Major habitat differences are marine and freshwater. For the most part, the fishes in a marine habitat differ from those in a freshwater habitat, even in adjacent areas, but some, such as the salmon, migrate from one to the other. The freshwater habitats may be seen to be of many kinds. Fishes found in mountain torrents, Arctic lakes, tropical lakes, temperate streams, and tropical rivers will all differ from each other, both in obvious gross structure and in physiological attributes. Even in closely adjacent habitats where, for example, a tropical mountain torrent enters a lowland stream, the fish fauna will differ. The marine habitats can be divided into deep ocean floors (benthic), mid-water oceanic (bathypelagic), surface oceanic (pelagic), rocky coast, sandy coast, muddy shores, bays, estuaries, and others. Also, for example, rocky coastal shores in tropical and temperate regions will have different fish faunas, even when such habitats occur along the same coastline.
Although much is known about the present geographical distribution of fishes, far less is known about how that distribution came about. Many parts of the fish fauna of the fresh waters of North America and Eurasia are related and undoubtedly have a common origin. The faunas of Africa and South America are related, extremely old, and probably an expression of the drifting apart of the two continents. The fauna of southern Asia is related to that of Central Asia, and some of it appears to have entered Africa. The extremely large shore-fish faunas of the Indian and tropical Pacific oceans comprise a related complex, but the tropical shore fauna of the Atlantic, although containing Indo-Pacific components, is relatively limited and probably younger. The Arctic and Antarctic marine faunas are quite different from each other. The shore fauna of the North Pacific is quite distinct, and that of the North Atlantic more limited and probably younger. Pelagic oceanic fishes, especially those in deep waters, are similar the world over, showing little geographical isolation in terms of family groups. The deep oceanic habitat is very much the same throughout the world, but species differences do exist, showing geographical areas determined by oceanic currents and water masses.
All aspects of the life of a fish are closely correlated with adaptation to the total environment, physical, chemical, and biological. In studies, all the interdependent aspects of fish, such as behaviour, locomotion, reproduction, and physical and physiological characteristics, must be taken into account.
Correlated with their adaptation to an extremely wide variety of habitats is the extremely wide variety of life cycles that fishes display. The great majority hatch from relatively small eggs a few days to several weeks or more after the eggs are scattered in the water. Newly hatched young are still partially undeveloped and are called larvae until body structures such as fins, skeleton, and some organs are fully formed. Larval life is often very short, usually less than a few weeks, but it can be very long, some lampreys continuing as larvae for at least five years. Young and larval fishes, before reaching sexual maturity, must grow considerably, and their small size and other factors often dictate that they live in a habitat different than that of the adults. For example, most tropical marine shore fishes have pelagic larvae. Larval food also is different, and larval fishes often live in shallow waters, where they may be less exposed to predators.
After a fish reaches adult size, the length of its life is subject to many factors, such as innate rates of aging, predation pressure, and the nature of the local climate. The longevity of a species in the protected environment of an aquarium may have nothing to do with how long members of that species live in the wild. Many small fishes live only one to three years at the most. In some species, however, individuals may live as long as 10 or 20 or even 100 years.
Fish behaviour is a complicated and varied subject. As in almost all animals with a central nervous system, the nature of a response of an individual fish to stimuli from its environment depends upon the inherited characteristics of its nervous system, on what it has learned from past experience, and on the nature of the stimuli. Compared with the variety of human responses, however, that of a fish is stereotyped, not subject to much modification by “thought” or learning, and investigators must guard against anthropomorphic interpretations of fish behaviour.
Fishes perceive the world around them by the usual senses of sight, smell, hearing, touch, and taste and by special lateral line water-current detectors. In the few fishes that generate electric fields, a process that might best be called electrolocation aids in perception. One or another of these senses often is emphasized at the expense of others, depending upon the fish’s other adaptations. In fishes with large eyes, the sense of smell may be reduced; others, with small eyes, hunt and feed primarily by smell (such as some eels).
Specialized behaviour is primarily concerned with the three most important activities in the fish’s life: feeding, reproduction, and escape from enemies. Schooling behaviour of sardines on the high seas, for instance, is largely a protective device to avoid enemies, but it is also associated with and modified by their breeding and feeding requirements. Predatory fishes are often solitary, lying in wait to dart suddenly after their prey, a kind of locomotion impossible for beaked parrot fishes, which feed on coral, swimming in small groups from one coral head to the next. In addition, some predatory fishes that inhabit pelagic environments, such as tunas, often school.
Sleep in fishes, all of which lack true eyelids, consists of a seemingly listless state in which the fish maintains its balance but moves slowly. If attacked or disturbed, most can dart away. A few kinds of fishes lie on the bottom to sleep. Most catfishes, some loaches, and some eels and electric fishes are strictly nocturnal, being active and hunting for food during the night and retiring during the day to holes, thick vegetation, or other protective parts of the environment.
Communication between members of a species or between members of two or more species often is extremely important, especially in breeding behaviour (see below Reproduction). The mode of communication may be visual, as between the small so-called cleaner fish and a large fish of a very different species. The larger fish often allows the cleaner to enter its mouth to remove gill parasites. The cleaner is recognized by its distinctive colour and actions and therefore is not eaten, even if the larger fish is normally a predator. Communication is often chemical, signals being sent by specific chemicals called pheromones.
Many fishes have a streamlined body and swim freely in open water. Fish locomotion is closely correlated with habitat and ecological niche (the general position of the animal to its environment).
Many fishes in both marine and fresh waters swim at the surface and have mouths adapted to feed best (and sometimes only) at the surface. Often such fishes are long and slender, able to dart at surface insects or at other surface fishes and in turn to dart away from predators; needlefishes, halfbeaks, and topminnows (such as killifish and mosquito fish) are good examples. Oceanic flying fishes escape their predators by gathering speed above the water surface, with the lower lobe of the tail providing thrust in the water. They then glide hundreds of yards on enlarged, winglike pectoral and pelvic fins. South American freshwater flying fishes escape their enemies by jumping and propelling their strongly keeled bodies out of the water.
So-called mid-water swimmers, the most common type of fish, are of many kinds and live in many habitats. The powerful fusiform tunas and the trouts, for example, are adapted for strong, fast swimming, the tunas to capture prey speedily in the open ocean and the trouts to cope with the swift currents of streams and rivers. The trout body form is well adapted to many habitats. Fishes that live in relatively quiet waters such as bays or lake shores or slow rivers usually are not strong, fast swimmers but are capable of short, quick bursts of speed to escape a predator. Many of these fishes have their sides flattened, examples being the sunfish and the freshwater angelfish of aquarists. Fish associated with the bottom or substrate usually are slow swimmers. Open-water plankton-feeding fishes almost always remain fusiform and are capable of rapid, strong movement (for example, sardines and herrings of the open ocean and also many small minnows of streams and lakes).
Bottom-living fishes are of many kinds and have undergone many types of modification of their body shape and swimming habits. Rays, which evolved from strong-swimming mid-water sharks, usually stay close to the bottom and move by undulating their large pectoral fins. Flounders live in a similar habitat and move over the bottom by undulating the entire body. Many bottom fishes dart from place to place, resting on the bottom between movements, a motion common in gobies. One goby relative, the mudskipper, has taken to living at the edge of pools along the shore of muddy mangrove swamps. It escapes its enemies by flipping rapidly over the mud, out of the water. Some catfishes, synbranchid eels, the so-called climbing perch, and a few other fishes venture out over damp ground to find more promising waters than those that they left. They move by wriggling their bodies, sometimes using strong pectoral fins; most have accessory air-breathing organs. Many bottom-dwelling fishes live in mud holes or rocky crevices. Marine eels and gobies commonly are found in such habitats and for the most part venture far beyond their cavelike homes. Some bottom dwellers, such as the clingfishes (Gobiesocidae), have developed powerful adhesive disks that enable them to remain in place on the substrate in areas such as rocky coasts, where the action of the waves is great.
The methods of reproduction in fishes are varied, but most fishes lay a large number of small eggs, fertilized and scattered outside of the body. The eggs of pelagic fishes usually remain suspended in the open water. Many shore and freshwater fishes lay eggs on the bottom or among plants. Some have adhesive eggs. The mortality of the young and especially of the eggs is very high, and often only a few individuals grow to maturity out of hundreds, thousands, and in some cases millions of eggs laid.
Males produce sperm, usually as a milky white substance called milt, in two (sometimes one) testes within the body cavity. In bony fishes a sperm duct leads from each testis to a urogenital opening behind the vent or anus. In sharks and rays and in cyclostomes the duct leads to a cloaca. Sometimes the pelvic fins are modified to help transmit the milt to the eggs at the female’s vent or on the substrate where the female has placed them. Sometimes accessory organs are used to fertilize females internally—for example, the claspers of many sharks and rays.
In the females the eggs are formed in two ovaries (sometimes only one) and pass through the ovaries to the urogenital opening and to the outside. In some fishes the eggs are fertilized internally but are shed before development takes place. Members of about a dozen families each of bony fishes (teleosts) and sharks bear live young. Many skates and rays also bear live young. In some bony fishes the eggs simply develop within the female, the young emerging when the eggs hatch (ovoviviparous). Others develop within the ovary and are nourished by ovarian tissues after hatching (viviparous). There are also other methods utilized by fishes to nourish young within the female. In all live-bearers the young are born at a relatively large size and are few in number. In one family of primarily marine fishes, the surfperches from the Pacific coast of North America, Japan, and Korea, the males of at least one species are born sexually mature, although they are not fully grown.
Some fishes are hermaphroditic—an individual producing both sperm and eggs, usually at different stages of its life. Self-fertilization, however, is probably rare.
Successful reproduction and, in many cases, defense of the eggs and the young are assured by rather stereotypical but often elaborate courtship and parental behaviour, either by the male or the female or both. Some fishes prepare nests by hollowing out depressions in the sand bottom (cichlids, for example), build nests with plant materials and sticky threads excreted by the kidneys (sticklebacks), or blow a cluster of mucus-covered bubbles at the water surface (gouramis). The eggs are laid in these structures. Some varieties of cichlids and catfishes incubate eggs in their mouths.
Some fishes, such as salmon, undergo long migrations from the ocean and up large rivers to spawn in the gravel beds where they themselves hatched (anadromous fishes). Some, such as the freshwater eels (family Anguillidae), live and grow to maturity in fresh water and migrate to the sea to spawn (catadromous fishes). Other fishes undertake shorter migrations from lakes into streams, within the ocean, or enter spawning habitats that they do not ordinarily occupy in other ways.
The basic structure and function of the fish body are similar to those of all other vertebrates. The usual four types of tissues are present: surface or epithelial, connective (bone, cartilage, and fibrous tissues, as well as their derivative, blood), nerve, and muscle tissues. In addition, the fish’s organs and organ systems parallel those of other vertebrates.
The typical fish body is streamlined and spindle-shaped, with an anterior head, a gill apparatus, and a heart, the latter lying in the midline just below the gill chamber. The body cavity, containing the vital organs, is situated behind the head in the lower anterior part of the body. The anus usually marks the posterior termination of the body cavity and most often occurs just in front of the base of the anal fin. The spinal cord and vertebral column continue from the posterior part of the head to the base of the tail fin, passing dorsal to the body cavity and through the caudal (tail) region behind the body cavity. Most of the body is of muscular tissue, a high proportion of which is necessitated by swimming. In the course of evolution this basic body plan has been modified repeatedly into the many varieties of fish shapes that exist today.
The skeleton forms an integral part of the fish’s locomotion system, as well as serving to protect vital parts. The internal skeleton consists of the skull bones (except for the roofing bones of the head, which are really part of the external skeleton), the vertebral column, and the fin supports (fin rays). The fin supports are derived from the external skeleton but will be treated here because of their close functional relationship to the internal skeleton. The internal skeleton of cyclostomes, sharks, and rays is of cartilage; that of many fossil groups and some primitive living fishes is mostly of cartilage but may include some bone. In place of the vertebral column, the earliest vertebrates had a fully developed notochord, a flexible stiff rod of viscous cells surrounded by a strong fibrous sheath. During the evolution of modern fishes the rod was replaced in part by cartilage and then by ossified cartilage. Sharks and rays retain a cartilaginous vertebral column; bony fishes have spool-shaped vertebrae that in the more primitive living forms only partially replace the notochord. The skull, including the gill arches and jaws of bony fishes, is fully, or at least partially, ossified. That of sharks and rays remains cartilaginous, at times partially replaced by calcium deposits but never by true bone.
The supportive elements of the fins (basal or radial bones or both) have changed greatly during fish evolution. Some of these changes are described in the section below (Evolution and paleontology). Most fishes possess a single dorsal fin on the midline of the back. Many have two and a few have three dorsal fins. The other fins are the single tail and anal fins and paired pelvic and pectoral fins. A small fin, the adipose fin, with hairlike fin rays, occurs in many of the relatively primitive teleosts (such as trout) on the back near the base of the caudal fin.
The skin of a fish must serve many functions. It aids in maintaining the osmotic balance, provides physical protection for the body, is the site of coloration, contains sensory receptors, and, in some fishes, functions in respiration. Mucous glands, which aid in maintaining the water balance and offer protection from bacteria, are extremely numerous in fish skin, especially in cyclostomes and teleosts. Since mucous glands are present in the modern lampreys, it is reasonable to assume that they were present in primitive fishes, such as the ancient Silurian and Devonian agnathans. Protection from abrasion and predation is another function of the fish skin, and dermal (skin) bone arose early in fish evolution in response to this need. It is thought that bone first evolved in skin and only later invaded the cartilaginous areas of the fish’s body, to provide additional support and protection. There is some argument as to which came first, cartilage or bone, and fossil evidence does not settle the question. In any event, dermal bone has played an important part in fish evolution and has different characteristics in different groups of fishes. Several groups are characterized at least in part by the kind of bony scales they possess.
Scales have played an important part in the evolution of fishes. Primitive fishes usually had thick bony plates or thick scales in several layers of bone, enamel, and related substances. Modern teleost fishes have scales of bone, which, while still protective, allow much more freedom of motion in the body. A few modern teleosts (some catfishes, sticklebacks, and others) have secondarily acquired bony plates in the skin. Modern and early sharks possessed placoid scales, a relatively primitive type of scale with a toothlike structure, consisting of an outside layer of enamel-like substance (vitrodentine), an inner layer of dentine, and a pulp cavity containing nerves and blood vessels. Primitive bony fishes had thick scales of either the ganoid or the cosmoid type. Cosmoid scales have a hard, enamel-like outer layer, an inner layer of cosmine (a form of dentine), and then a layer of vascular bone (isopedine). In ganoid scales the hard outer layer is different chemically and is called ganoin. Under this is a cosminelike layer and then a vascular bony layer. The thin, translucent bony scales of modern fishes, called cycloid and ctenoid (the latter distinguished by serrations at the edges), lack enameloid and dentine layers.
Skin has several other functions in fishes. It is well supplied with nerve endings and presumably receives tactile, thermal, and pain stimuli. Skin is also well supplied with blood vessels. Some fishes breathe in part through the skin, by the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide between the surrounding water and numerous small blood vessels near the skin surface.
Skin serves as protection through the control of coloration. Fishes exhibit an almost limitless range of colours. The colours often blend closely with the surroundings, effectively hiding the animal. Many fishes use bright colours for territorial advertisement or as recognition marks for other members of their own species, or sometimes for members of other species. Many fishes can change their colour to a greater or lesser degree, by movement of pigment within the pigment cells (chromatophores). Black pigment cells (melanophores), of almost universal occurrence in fishes, are often juxtaposed with other pigment cells. When placed beneath iridocytes or leucophores (bearing the silvery or white pigment guanine), melanophores produce structural colours of blue and green. These colours are often extremely intense, because they are formed by refraction of light through the needlelike crystals of guanine. The blue and green refracted colours are often relatively pure, lacking the red and yellow rays, which have been absorbed by the black pigment (melanin) of the melanophores. Yellow, orange, and red colours are produced by erythrophores, cells containing the appropriate carotenoid pigments. Other colours are produced by combinations of melanophores, erythrophores, and iridocytes.
The major portion of the body of most fishes consists of muscles. Most of the mass is trunk musculature, the fin muscles usually being relatively small. The caudal fin is usually the most powerful fin, being moved by the trunk musculature. The body musculature is usually arranged in rows of chevron-shaped segments on each side. Contractions of these segments, each attached to adjacent vertebrae and vertebral processes, bends the body on the vertebral joint, producing successive undulations of the body, passing from the head to the tail, and producing driving strokes of the tail. It is the latter that provides the strong forward movement for most fishes.
The digestive system, in a functional sense, starts at the mouth, with the teeth used to capture prey or collect plant foods. Mouth shape and tooth structure vary greatly in fishes, depending on the kind of food normally eaten. Most fishes are predacious, feeding on small invertebrates or other fishes and have simple conical teeth on the jaws, on at least some of the bones of the roof of the mouth, and on special gill arch structures just in front of the esophagus. The latter are throat teeth. Most predacious fishes swallow their prey whole, and the teeth are used for grasping and holding prey, for orienting prey to be swallowed (head first) and for working the prey toward the esophagus. There are a variety of tooth types in fishes. Some fishes, such as sharks and piranhas, have cutting teeth for biting chunks out of their victims. A shark’s tooth, although superficially like that of a piranha, appears in many respects to be a modified scale, while that of the piranha is like that of other bony fishes, consisting of dentine and enamel. Parrot fishes have beaklike mouths with short incisor-like teeth for breaking off coral and have heavy pavementlike throat teeth for crushing the coral. Some catfishes have small brushlike teeth, arranged in rows on the jaws, for scraping plant and animal growth from rocks. Many fishes (such as the Cyprinidae or minnows) have no jaw teeth at all but have very strong throat teeth.
Some fishes gather planktonic food by straining it from their gill cavities with numerous elongate stiff rods (gill rakers) anchored by one end to the gill bars. The food collected on these rods is passed to the throat, where it is swallowed. Most fishes have only short gill rakers that help keep food particles from escaping out the mouth cavity into the gill chamber.
Once reaching the throat, food enters a short, often greatly distensible esophagus, a simple tube with a muscular wall leading into a stomach. The stomach varies greatly in fishes, depending upon the diet. In most predacious fishes it is a simple straight or curved tube or pouch with a muscular wall and a glandular lining. Food is largely digested there and leaves the stomach in liquid form.
Between the stomach and the intestine, ducts enter the digestive tube from the liver and pancreas. The liver is a large, clearly defined organ. The pancreas may be embedded in it, diffused through it, or broken into small parts spread along some of the intestine. The junction between the stomach and the intestine is marked by a muscular valve. Pyloric ceca (blind sacs) occur in some fishes at this junction and have a digestive or absorptive function or both.
The intestine itself is quite variable in length, depending upon the fish’s diet. It is short in predacious forms, sometimes no longer than the body cavity, but long in herbivorous forms, being coiled and several times longer than the entire length of the fish in some species of South American catfishes. The intestine is primarily an organ for absorbing nutrients into the bloodstream. The larger its internal surface, the greater its absorptive efficiency, and a spiral valve is one method of increasing its absorption surface.
Sharks, rays, chimaeras, lungfishes, surviving chondrosteans, holosteans, and even a few of the more primitive teleosts have a spiral valve or at least traces of it in the intestine. Most modern teleosts have increased the area of the intestinal walls by having numerous folds and villi (fingerlike projections) somewhat like those in humans. Undigested substances are passed to the exterior through the anus in most teleost fishes. In lungfishes, sharks, and rays, it is first passed through the cloaca, a common cavity receiving the intestinal opening and the ducts from the urogenital system.
Oxygen and carbon dioxide dissolve in water, and most fishes exchange dissolved oxygen and carbon dioxide in water by means of the gills. The gills lie behind and to the side of the mouth cavity and consist of fleshy filaments supported by the gill arches and filled with blood vessels, which give gills a bright red colour. Water taken in continuously through the mouth passes backward between the gill bars and over the gill filaments, where the exchange of gases takes place. The gills are protected by a gill cover in teleosts and many other fishes but by flaps of skin in sharks, rays, and some of the older fossil fish groups. The blood capillaries in the gill filaments are close to the gill surface to take up oxygen from the water and to give up excess carbon dioxide to the water.
Most modern fishes have a hydrostatic (ballast) organ, called the swim bladder, that lies in the body cavity just below the kidney and above the stomach and intestine. It originated as a diverticulum of the digestive canal. In advanced teleosts, especially the acanthopterygians, the bladder has lost its connection with the digestive tract, a condition called physoclistic. The connection has been retained (physostomous) by many relatively primitive teleosts. In several unrelated lines of fishes, the bladder has become specialized as a lung or, at least, as a highly vascularized accessory breathing organ. Some fishes with such accessory organs are obligate air breathers and will drown if denied access to the surface, even in well-oxygenated water. Fishes with a hydrostatic form of swim bladder can control their depth by regulating the amount of gas in the bladder. The gas, mostly oxygen, is secreted into the bladder by special glands, rendering the fish more buoyant; the gas is absorbed into the bloodstream by another special organ, reducing the overall buoyancy and allowing the fish to sink. Some deep-sea fishes may have oils, rather than gas, in the bladder. Other deep-sea and some bottom-living forms have much-reduced swim bladders or have lost the organ entirely.
The swim bladder of fishes follows the same developmental pattern as the lungs of land vertebrates. There is no doubt that the two structures have the same historical origin in primitive fishes. More or less intermediate forms still survive among the more primitive types of fishes, such as the lungfishes Lepidosiren and Protopterus.
The circulatory, or blood vascular, system consists of the heart, the arteries, the capillaries, and the veins. It is in the capillaries that the interchange of oxygen, carbon dioxide, nutrients, and other substances such as hormones and waste products takes place. The capillaries lead to the veins, which return the venous blood with its waste products to the heart, kidneys, and gills. There are two kinds of capillary beds: those in the gills and those in the rest of the body. The heart, a folded continuous muscular tube with three or four saclike enlargements, undergoes rhythmic contractions and receives venous blood in a sinus venosus. It passes the blood to an auricle and then into a thick muscular pump, the ventricle. From the ventricle the blood goes to a bulbous structure at the base of a ventral aorta just below the gills. The blood passes to the afferent (receiving) arteries of the gill arches and then to the gill capillaries. There waste gases are given off to the environment, and oxygen is absorbed. The oxygenated blood enters efferent (exuant) arteries of the gill arches and then flows into the dorsal aorta. From there blood is distributed to the tissues and organs of the body. One-way valves prevent backflow. The circulation of fishes thus differs from that of the reptiles, birds, and mammals in that oxygenated blood is not returned to the heart prior to distribution to the other parts of the body.
The primary excretory organ in fishes, as in other vertebrates, is the kidney. In fishes some excretion also takes place in the digestive tract, skin, and especially the gills (where ammonia is given off). Compared with land vertebrates, fishes have a special problem in maintaining their internal environment at a constant concentration of water and dissolved substances, such as salts. Proper balance of the internal environment (homeostasis) of a fish is in a great part maintained by the excretory system, especially the kidney.
The kidney, gills, and skin play an important role in maintaining a fish’s internal environment and checking the effects of osmosis. Marine fishes live in an environment in which the water around them has a greater concentration of salts than they can have inside their body and still maintain life. Freshwater fishes, on the other hand, live in water with a much lower concentration of salts than they require inside their bodies. Osmosis tends to promote the loss of water from the body of a marine fish and absorption of water by that of a freshwater fish. Mucus in the skin tends to slow the process but is not a sufficient barrier to prevent the movement of fluids through the permeable skin. When solutions on two sides of a permeable membrane have different concentrations of dissolved substances, water will pass through the membrane into the more concentrated solution, while the dissolved chemicals move into the area of lower concentration (diffusion).
The kidney of freshwater fishes is often larger in relation to body weight than that of marine fishes. In both groups the kidney excretes wastes from the body, but the kidney of freshwater fishes also excretes large amounts of water, counteracting the water absorbed through the skin. Freshwater fishes tend to lose salt to the environment and must replace it. They get some salt from their food, but the gills and skin inside the mouth actively absorb salt from water passed through the mouth. This absorption is performed by special cells capable of moving salts against the diffusion gradient. Freshwater fishes drink very little water and take in little water with their food.
Marine fishes must conserve water, and therefore their kidneys excrete little water. To maintain their water balance, marine fishes drink large quantities of seawater, retaining most of the water and excreting the salt. Most nitrogenous waste in marine fishes appears to be secreted by the gills as ammonia. Marine fishes can excrete salt by clusters of special cells (chloride cells) in the gills.
There are several teleosts—for example, the salmon—that travel between fresh water and seawater and must adjust to the reversal of osmotic gradients. They adjust their physiological processes by spending time (often surprisingly little time) in the intermediate brackish environment.
Marine hagfishes, sharks, and rays have osmotic concentrations in their blood about equal to that of seawater and so do not have to drink water nor perform much physiological work to maintain their osmotic balance. In sharks and rays the osmotic concentration is kept high by retention of urea in the blood. Freshwater sharks have a lowered concentration of urea in the blood.
Endocrine glands secrete their products into the bloodstream and body tissues and, along with the central nervous system, control and regulate many kinds of body functions. Cyclostomes have a well-developed endocrine system, and presumably it was well developed in the early Agnatha, ancestral to modern fishes. Although the endocrine system in fishes is similar to that of higher vertebrates, there are numerous differences in detail. The pituitary, the thyroid, the suprarenals, the adrenals, the pancreatic islets, the sex glands (ovaries and testes), the inner wall of the intestine, and the bodies of the ultimobranchial gland make up the endocrine system in fishes. There are some others whose function is not well understood. These organs regulate sexual activity and reproduction, growth, osmotic pressure, general metabolic activities such as the storage of fat and the utilization of foodstuffs, blood pressure, and certain aspects of skin colour. Many of these activities are also controlled in part by the central nervous system, which works with the endocrine system in maintaining the life of a fish. Some parts of the endocrine system are developmentally, and undoubtedly evolutionarily, derived from the nervous system.
As in all vertebrates, the nervous system of fishes is the primary mechanism coordinating body activities, as well as integrating these activities in the appropriate manner with stimuli from the environment. The central nervous system, consisting of the brain and spinal cord, is the primary integrating mechanism. The peripheral nervous system, consisting of nerves that connect the brain and spinal cord to various body organs, carries sensory information from special receptor organs such as the eyes, internal ears, nares (sense of smell), taste glands, and others to the integrating centres of the brain and spinal cord. The peripheral nervous system also carries information via different nerve cells from the integrating centres of the brain and spinal cord. This coded information is carried to the various organs and body systems, such as the skeletal muscular system, for appropriate action in response to the original external or internal stimulus. Another branch of the nervous system, the autonomic nervous system, helps to coordinate the activities of many glands and organs and is itself closely connected to the integrating centres of the brain.
The brain of the fish is divided into several anatomical and functional parts, all closely interconnected but each serving as the primary centre of integrating particular kinds of responses and activities. Several of these centres or parts are primarily associated with one type of sensory perception, such as sight, hearing, or smell (olfaction).
The sense of smell is important in almost all fishes. Certain eels with tiny eyes depend mostly on smell for location of food. The olfactory, or nasal, organ of fishes is located on the dorsal surface of the snout. The lining of the nasal organ has special sensory cells that perceive chemicals dissolved in the water, such as substances from food material, and send sensory information to the brain by way of the first cranial nerve. Odour also serves as an alarm system. Many fishes, especially various species of freshwater minnows, react with alarm to a chemical released from the skin of an injured member of their own species.
Many fishes have a well-developed sense of taste, and tiny pitlike taste buds or organs are located not only within their mouth cavities but also over their heads and parts of their body. Catfishes, which often have poor vision, have barbels (“whiskers”) that serve as supplementary taste organs, those around the mouth being actively used to search out food on the bottom. Some species of naturally blind cave fishes are especially well supplied with taste buds, which often cover most of their body surface.
Sight is extremely important in most fishes. The eye of a fish is basically like that of all other vertebrates, but the eyes of fishes are extremely varied in structure and adaptation. In general, fishes living in dark and dim water habitats have large eyes, unless they have specialized in some compensatory way so that another sense (such as smell) is dominant, in which case the eyes will often be reduced. Fishes living in brightly lighted shallow waters often will have relatively small but efficient eyes. Cyclostomes have somewhat less elaborate eyes than other fishes, with skin stretched over the eyeball perhaps making their vision somewhat less effective. Most fishes have a spherical lens and accommodate their vision to far or near subjects by moving the lens within the eyeball. A few sharks accommodate by changing the shape of the lens, as in land vertebrates. Those fishes that are heavily dependent upon the eyes have especially strong muscles for accommodation. Most fishes see well, despite the restrictions imposed by frequent turbidity of the water and by light refraction.
Fossil evidence suggests that colour vision evolved in fishes more than 300 million years ago, but not all living fishes have retained this ability. Experimental evidence indicates that many shallow-water fishes, if not all, have colour vision and see some colours especially well, but some bottom-dwelling shore fishes live in areas where the water is sufficiently deep to filter out most if not all colours, and these fishes apparently never see colours. When tested in shallow water, they apparently are unable to respond to colour differences.
Sound perception and balance are intimately associated senses in a fish. The organs of hearing are entirely internal, located within the skull, on each side of the brain and somewhat behind the eyes. Sound waves, especially those of low frequencies, travel readily through water and impinge directly upon the bones and fluids of the head and body, to be transmitted to the hearing organs. Fishes readily respond to sound; for example, a trout conditioned to escape by the approach of fishermen will take flight upon perceiving footsteps on a stream bank even if it cannot see a fisherman. Compared with humans, however, the range of sound frequencies heard by fishes is greatly restricted. Many fishes communicate with each other by producing sounds in their swim bladders, in their throats by rasping their teeth, and in other ways.
A fish or other vertebrate seldom has to rely on a single type of sensory information to determine the nature of the environment around it. A catfish uses taste and touch when examining a food object with its oral barbels. Like most other animals, fishes have many touch receptors over their body surface. Pain and temperature receptors also are present in fishes and presumably produce the same kind of information to a fish as to humans. Fishes react in a negative fashion to stimuli that would be painful to human beings, suggesting that they feel a sensation of pain.
An important sensory system in fishes that is absent in other vertebrates (except some amphibians) is the lateral line system. This consists of a series of heavily innervated small canals located in the skin and bone around the eyes, along the lower jaw, over the head, and down the mid-side of the body, where it is associated with the scales. Intermittently along these canals are located tiny sensory organs (pit organs) that apparently detect changes in pressure. The system allows a fish to sense changes in water currents and pressure, thereby helping the fish to orient itself to the various changes that occur in the physical environment.
Nothing like a good ol' thunderstorm in the valley! This was around the outskirts of Firebaugh, CA. I was chasing this amazing thunderstorm that had formed all the way from near Los Banos. This was during my epic storm chase around the vast Central Valley this day, chasing severe thunderstorms that have developed in and around the vicinity… Conditions were perfect for storm development in the valley. Temps were in the mid 60’s and was a bit humid. It’s been a while since I’ve done a storm chase in the Central Valley. Places traveled included areas from Los Banos all the way down to Fresno, CA. Heavy rain, hail (the most intense I’ve seen in person), Midwest-like skies, and plentiful lightning were all observed this day. It was nice to finally be out in California’s version of the Great Plains once again! ‘Til next time, safe travels out there! (Outing taken place Sunday, March 12, 2023)
*Weather scenario: Multiple weather advisories were issued this day due to extreme weather. The ground zero for the strongest storms were to be in the counties of Merced and Madera, with the combination of a stronger upper-level jet, upslope lifting, or, orographic lift west of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range, and acceptable low-level shear. Supercells were expected to form as a result, even some with tops over 25-30kft. Tornado warnings and severe thunderstorms have pounded the Central Valley along with hail and lightning. Emergency alerts were sent out on cellphones and broadcasted on TV early Sunday afternoon as a powerful storm made its way through the Central Valley… A tornado warning was issued for the 2nd time this weekend shortly after 3 o'clock for Merced and Madera County near Los Banos... Residents in Dos Palos got their attention with a tornado warning on their home alarm system. Hail the size of dimes and nickels was what residents across the valley were reporting. Weather chasers (myself included) were out in full force in capturing this weekend’s rare Midwest-like active weather pattern… Fun stuff!
Newly inserted window in the north chapel with glass designed and painted by Tony Naylor, 2015.
St Mary's church in Lapworth is one of the most rewarding and unusual medieval parish churches in Warwickshire. The visitor generally approaches this handsome building from the north where the sturdy tower and spire stand guard like a sentinel. It is unusual in standing apart from the main building and was originally detached but is now linked by a passageway to the north aisle, making the church almost as wide as it is long. The west end too is remarkably configured with a chantry chapel or room set above an archway (allowing passage across the churchyard below).
The church we see today dates mainly from the 13th / 14th centuries, with an impressive fifteenth century clerestorey added to the nave being a prominent feature externally, but within it is possible to discern traces of the previous Norman structure embedded below in the nave arcade. There is much of interest to enjoy in this pleasant interior from quirky carvings high in the nave to the rich stained glass in the chancel and north chapel (which has benefitted immensely from a newly inserted window where the east wall had previously been blank). The most interesting memorial is the relief tablet in the north chapel by Eric Gill.
Lapworth church has consistently welcomed visitors and remains militantly open now despite being surrounded by churches largely reluctant to re-open after Covid. Happily since Tony Naylor's fine new window was installed the previous alarm system that restricted access to the eastern half of the church (which I inadvertedly set off on my first ever visit, deafening the neighbours!) has been relaxed so that visitors can now enjoy the full extent of the interior and its fittings.
This work is protected under copyright laws and agreements.
All rights reserved © 2008 Bernard Egger :: rumoto images
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BMW R 1200 CL - Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey, August 2002 ... Some people consider a six-day cruise as the perfect vacation. Other's might agree, as long as the days are marked by blurred fence posts and dotted lines instead of palm trees and ocean waves. For them, BMW introduces the perfect alternative to a deck chair - the R 1200 CL.
Motorcyclists were taken aback when BMW introduced its first cruiser in 1997, but the R 1200 C quickly rose to become that year's best-selling BMW. The original has since spawned several derivatives including the Phoenix, Euro, Montana and Stiletto. This year, BMW's cruiser forms the basis for the most radical departure yet, the R 1200 CL. With its standard integral hard saddlebags, top box and distinctive handlebar-mounted fairing, the CL represents twin-cylinder luxury-touring at its finest, a completely modern luxury touring-cruiser with a touch of classic BMW.
Although based on the R 1200 C, the new CL includes numerous key changes in chassis, drivetrain, equipment and appearance, specifically designed to enhance the R 1200's abilities as a long-distance mount. While it uses the same torquey, 1170cc 61-hp version of BMW's highly successful R259 twin, the CL backs it with a six-speed overdrive transmission. A reworked Telelever increases the bike's rake for more-relaxed high-speed steering, while the fork's wider spacing provides room for the sculpted double-spoke, 16-inch wheel and 150/80 front tire. Similarly, a reinforced Monolever rear suspension controls a matching 15-inch alloy wheel and 170/80 rear tire. As you'd expect, triple disc brakes featuring BMW's latest EVO front brake system and fully integrated ABS bring the bike to a halt at day's end-and set the CL apart from any other luxury cruiser on the market.
Yet despite all the chassis changes, it's the new CL's visual statement that represents the bike's biggest break with its cruiser-mates. With its grip-to-grip sweep, the handlebar-mounted fairing evokes classic touring bikes, while the CL's distinctive quad-headlamps give the bike a decidedly avant-garde look - in addition to providing standard-setting illumination. A pair of frame-mounted lowers extends the fairing's wind coverage and provides space for some of the CL's electrics and the optional stereo. The instrument panel is exceptionally clean, surrounded by a matte gray background that matches the kneepads inset in the fairing extensions. The speedometer and tachometer flank a panel of warning lights, capped by the standard analog clock. Integrated mirror/turnsignal pods extend from the fairing to provide further wind protection. Finally, fully integrated, color-matched saddlebags combine with a standard top box to provide a steamer trunk's luggage capacity.
shown in the functional details. In addition to the beautifully finished bodywork, the luxury cruiser boasts an assortment of chrome highlights, including valve covers, exhaust system, saddlebag latches and frame panels, with an optional kit to add even more brightwork. Available colors include Pearl Silver Metallic, Capri Blue Metallic and Mojave Brown Metallic, this last with a choice of black or brown saddle (other colors feature black).
The R 1200 CL Engine: Gearing For The Long Haul
BMW's newest tourer begins with a solid foundation-the 61-hp R 1200 C engine. The original, 1170cc cruiser powerplant blends a broad powerband and instantaneous response with a healthy, 72 lb.-ft. of torque. Like its forebear, the new CL provides its peak torque at 3000 rpm-exactly the kind of power delivery for a touring twin. Motronic MA 2.4 engine management ensures that this Boxer blends this accessible power with long-term reliability and minimal emissions, while at the same time eliminating the choke lever for complete push-button simplicity. Of course, the MoDiTec diagnostic feature makes maintaining the CL every bit as simple as the other members of BMW's stable.
While tourers and cruisers place similar demands on their engines, a touring bike typically operates through a wider speed range. Consequently, the R 1200 CL mates this familiar engine to a new, six-speed transmission. The first five gear ratios are similar to the original R 1200's, but the sixth gear provides a significant overdrive, which drops engine speed well under 3000 rpm at 60 mph. This range of gearing means the CL can manage either responsive in-town running or relaxed freeway cruising with equal finesse, and places the luxury cruiser right in the heart of its powerband at touring speeds for simple roll-on passes.
In addition, the new transmission has been thoroughly massaged internally, with re-angled gear teeth that provide additional overlap for quieter running. Shifting is likewise improved via a revised internal shift mechanism that produces smoother, more precise gearchanges. Finally, the new transmission design is lighter (approximately 1 kg.), which helps keep the CL's weight down to a respectable 679 lbs. (wet). The improved design of this transmission will be adopted by other Boxer-twins throughout the coming year.
The CL Chassis: Wheeled Luggage Never Worked This Well
Every bit as unique as the CL's Boxer-twin drivetrain is the bike's chassis, leading off-literally and figuratively-with BMW's standard-setting Telelever front suspension. The CL's setup is identical in concept and function to the R 1200 C's fork, but shares virtually no parts with the previous cruiser's. The tourer's wider, 16-inch front wheel called for wider-set fork tubes, so the top triple clamp, fork bridge, fork tubes and axle have all been revised, and the axle has switched to a full-floating design. The aluminum Telelever itself has been further reworked to provide a slightly more raked appearance, which also creates a more relaxed steering response for improved straight-line stability. The front shock has been re-angled and its spring and damping rates changed to accommodate the new bike's suspension geometry, but is otherwise similar to the original R 1200 C's damper.
Similarly, the R 1200 CL's Monolever rear suspension differs in detail, rather than concept, from previous BMW cruisers. Increased reinforcing provides additional strength at the shock mount, while a revised final-drive housing provides mounts for the new rear brake. But the primary rear suspension change is a switch to a shock with travel-related damping, similar to that introduced on the R 1150 GS Adventure. This new shock not only provides for a smoother, more controlled ride but also produces an additional 20mm travel compared to the other cruisers, bringing the rear suspension travel to 4.72 inches.
The Telelever and Monolever bolt to a standard R 1200 C front frame that differs only in detail from the original. The rear subframe, however, is completely new, designed to accommodate the extensive luggage system and passenger seating on the R 1200 CL. In addition to the permanently affixed saddlebags, the larger seats, floor boards, top box and new side stand all require new mounting points.
All this new hardware rolls on completely restyled double-spoke wheels (16 x 3.5 front/15 x 4.0 rear) that carry wider, higher-profile (80-series) touring tires for an extremely smooth ride. Bolted to these wheels are larger disc brakes (12.0-inch front, 11.2-inch rear), with the latest edition of BMW's standard-setting EVO brakes. A pair of four-piston calipers stop the front wheel, paired with a two-piston unit-adapted from the K 1200 LT-at the rear. In keeping with the bike's touring orientation, the new CL includes BMW's latest, fully integrated ABS, which actuates both front and rear brakes through either the front hand lever or the rear brake pedal.
The CL Bodywork: Dressed To The Nines
Although all these mechanical changes ensure that the new R 1200 CL works like no other luxury cruiser, it's the bike's styling and bodywork that really set it apart. Beginning with the bike's handlebar-mounted fairing, the CL looks like nothing else on the road, but it's the functional attributes that prove its worth. The broad sweep of the fairing emphasizes its aerodynamic shape, which provides maximum wind protection with a minimum of buffeting. Four headlamps, with their horizontal/vertical orientation, give the CL its unique face and also create the best illumination outside of a baseball stadium (the high-beams are borrowed from the GS).
The M-shaped windshield, with its dipped center section, produces exceptional wind protection yet still allows the rider to look over the clear-plastic shield when rain or road dirt obscure the view. Similarly, clear extensions at the fairing's lower edges improve wind protection even further but still allow an unobstructed view forward for maneuvering in extremely close quarters. The turnsignal pods provide further wind coverage, and at the same time the integral mirrors give a clear view to the rear.
Complementing the fairing, both visually and functionally, the frame-mounted lowers divert the wind blast around the rider to provide further weather protection. Openings vent warm air from the frame-mounted twin oil-coolers and direct the heat away from the rider. As noted earlier, the lowers also house the electronics for the bike's optional alarm system and cruise control. A pair of 12-volt accessory outlets are standard.
Like the K 1200 LT, the new R 1200 CL includes a capacious luggage system as standard, all of it color-matched and designed to accommodate rider and passenger for the long haul. The permanently attached saddlebags include clamshell lids that allow for easy loading and unloading. Chrome bumper strips protect the saddlebags from minor tipover damage. The top box provides additional secure luggage space, or it can be simply unbolted to uncover an attractive aluminum luggage rack. An optional backrest can be bolted on in place of the top box. Of course, saddlebags and top box are lockable and keyed to the ignition switch.
Options & Accessories: More Personal Than A Monogram
Given BMW's traditional emphasis on touring options and the cruiser owner's typical demands for customization, it's only logical to expect a range of accessories and options for the company's first luxury cruiser. The CL fulfills those expectations with a myriad of options and accessories, beginning with heated or velour-like Soft Touch seats and a low windshield. Electronic and communications options such as an AM/FM/CD stereo, cruise control and onboard communication can make time on the road much more pleasant, whether you're out for an afternoon ride or a cross-country trek - because after all, nobody says you have to be back in six days. Other available electronic features include an anti-theft alarm, which also disables the engine.
Accessories designed to personalize the CL even further range from cosmetic to practical, but all adhere to BMW's traditional standards for quality and fit. Chrome accessories include engine-protection and saddlebag - protection hoops. On a practical level, saddlebag and top box liners simplify packing and unpacking. In addition to the backrest, a pair of rear floorboards enhance passenger comfort even more.
The CL's riding position blends elements of both tourer and cruiser, beginning with a reassuringly low, 29.3-inch seat height. The seat itself comprises two parts, a rider portion with an integral lower-back rest, and a taller passenger perch that includes a standard backrest built into the top box. Heated seats, first seen on the K 1200 LT, are also available for the CL to complement the standard heated grips. A broad, flat handlebar places those grips a comfortable reach away, and the CL's floorboards allow the rider to shift position easily without compromising control. Standard cruise control helps melt the miles on long highway stints. A convenient heel/toe shifter makes for effortless gearchanges while adding exactly the right classic touch.
The R 1200 CL backs up its cruiser origins with the same superb attention to cosmetics as is
- - -
Der Luxus-Cruiser zum genußvollen Touren.
Die Motorradwelt war überrascht, als BMW Motorrad 1997 die R 1200 C, den ersten Cruiser in der Geschichte des Hauses, vorstellte. Mit dem einzigartigen Zweizylinder-Boxermotor und einem unverwechselbar eigenständigen Design gelang es auf Anhieb, sich in diesem bis dato von BMW nicht besetzten Marktsegment erfolgreich zu positionieren. Bisher wurden neben dem Basismodell R 1200 C Classic die technisch nahezu identischen Modellvarianten Avantgarde und Independent angeboten, die sich in Farbgebung, Designelementen und Ausstattungsdetails unterscheiden.
Zur Angebotserweiterung und zur Erschließung zusätzlicher Potenziale, präsentiert BMW Motorrad für das Modelljahr 2003 ein neues Mitglied der Cruiserfamilie, den Luxus-Cruiser R 1200 CL. Er wird seine Weltpremiere im September in München auf der INTERMOT haben und voraussichtlich im Herbst 2002 auf den Markt kommen. Der Grundgedanke war, Elemente von Tourenmotorrädern auf einen Cruiser zu übertragen und ein Motorrad zu entwickeln, das Eigenschaften aus beiden Fahrzeuggattungen aufweist.
So entstand ein eigenständiges Modell, ein Cruiser zum genussvollen Touren, bei dem in Komfort und Ausstattung keine Wünsche offen bleiben.
Als technische Basis diente die R 1200 C, von der aber im wesentlichen nur der Motor, der Hinterradantrieb, der Vorderrahmen, der Tank und einige Ausstattungsumfänge übernommen wurden. Ansonsten ist das Motorrad ein völlig eigenständiger Entwurf und in weiten Teilen eine Neuentwicklung.
Fahrgestell und Design:
Einzigartiges Gesicht, optische Präsenz und Koffer integriert.
Präsenz, kraftvoller Auftritt und luxuriöser Charakter, mit diesen Worten lässt sich die Wirkung der BMW R 1200 CL kurz und treffend beschreiben. Geprägt wird dieses Motorrad von der lenkerfesten Tourenverkleidung, deren Linienführung sich in den separaten seitlichen Verkleidungsteilen am Tank fortsetzt, so dass in der Seitenansicht fast der Eindruck einer integrierten Verkleidung entsteht. Sie bietet dem Fahrer ein hohes Maß an Komfort durch guten Wind- und Wetterschutz.
Insgesamt vier in die Verkleidung integrierte Scheinwerfer, zwei für das Abblendlicht und zwei für das Fernlicht, geben dem Motorrad ein unverwechselbares, einzigartiges Gesicht und eine beeindruckende optische Wirkung, die es so bisher noch bei keinem Motorrad gab. Natürlich sorgen die vier Scheinwerfer auch für eine hervorragende Fahrbahnausleuchtung.
Besonders einfallsreich ist die aerodynamische Gestaltung der Verkleidungsscheibe mit ihrem wellenartig ausgeschnittenen oberen Rand. Sie leitet die Strömung so, dass der Fahrer wirkungsvoll geschützt wird. Gleichzeitig kann man aber wegen des Einzugs in der Mitte ungehindert über die Scheibe hinwegschauen und hat somit unabhängig von Nässe und Verschmutzung der Scheibe ein ungestörtes Sichtfeld auf die Straße.
Zur kraftvollen Erscheinung des Motorrades passt der Vorderradkotflügel, der seitlich bis tief zur Felge heruntergezogen ist. Er bietet guten Spritzschutz und unterstreicht zusammen mit dem voluminösen Vorderreifen die Dominanz der Frontpartie, die aber dennoch Gelassenheit und Eleganz ausstrahlt.
Der gegenüber den anderen Modellen flacher gestellte Telelever hebt den Cruisercharakter noch mehr hervor. Der Heckbereich wird bestimmt durch die integrierten, fest mit dem Fahrzeug verbundenen Hartschalenkoffer und das abnehmbare Topcase auf der geschwungenen Gepäckbrücke, die zugleich als Soziushaltegriff dient. Koffer und Topcase sind jeweils in Fahrzeugfarbe lackiert und bilden somit ein harmonisches Ganzes mit dem Fahrzeug.
Akzente setzen auch die stufenförmig angeordneten breiten Komfortsitze für Fahrer und Beifahrer mit der charakteristischen hinteren Abstützung. Luxus durch exklusive Farben, edle Oberflächen und Materialien.
Die R 1200 CL wird zunächst in drei exklusiven Farben angeboten: perlsilber-metallic und capriblau-metallic mit jeweils schwarzen Sitzen und mojavebraun-metallic mit braunem Sitzbezug (wahlweise auch in schwarz). Die Eleganz der Farben wird unterstützt durch sorgfältige Materialauswahl und perfektes Finish von Oberflächen und Fugen. So ist zum Beispiel die Gepäckbrücke aus Aluminium-Druckguß gefertigt und in weissaluminium lackiert, der Lenker verchromt und die obere Instrumentenabdeckung ebenfalls weissaluminiumfarben lackiert. Die Frontverkleidung ist vollständig mit einer Innenabdeckung versehen, und die Kniepads der seitlichen Verkleidungsteile sind mit dem gleichen Material wie die Sitze überzogen.
All dies unterstreicht den Anspruch auf Luxus und Perfektion.
Antrieb jetzt mit neuem, leiserem Sechsganggetriebe - Boxermotor unverändert.
Während der Boxermotor mit 1170 cm³ unverändert von der bisherigen R 1200 C übernommen wurde - auch die Leistungsdaten sind mit 45 kW (61 PS) und 98 Nm Drehmoment bei 3 000 min-1 gleich geblieben -, ist das Getriebe der R 1200 CL neu. Abgeleitet von dem bekannten Getriebe der anderen Boxermodelle hat es jetzt auch sechs Gänge und wurde grundlegend überarbeitet. Als wesentliche Neuerung kommt eine sogenannte Hochverzahnung zum Einsatz. Diese sorgt für einen "weicheren" Zahneingriff und reduziert erheblich die Laufgeräusche der Verzahnung.
Der lang übersetzte, als "overdrive" ausgelegte, sechste Gang erlaubt drehzahlschonendes Fahren auf langen Etappen in der Ebene und senkt dort Verbrauch und Geräusch. Statt eines Schalthebels gibt es eine Schaltwippe für Gangwechsel mit einem lässigen Kick. Schaltkomfort, Geräuscharmut, niedrige Drehzahlen und dennoch genügend Kraft - Eigenschaften, die zum Genusscharakter des Fahrzeugs hervorragend passen.
Dass auch die R 1200 CL, wie jedes seit 1997 neu eingeführte BMW Motorrad weltweit, serienmäßig über die jeweils modernste Abgasreinigungstechnologie mit geregeltem Drei-Wege-Katalysator verfügt, muss fast nicht mehr erwähnt werden. Es ist bei BMW zur Selbstverständlichkeit geworden.
Fahrwerkselemente für noch mehr Komfort - Telelever neu und hinteres Federbein mit wegabhängiger Dämpfung.
Ein cruisertypisches Merkmal ist die nach vorn gestreckte Vorderradführung mit flachem Winkel zur Fahrbahn und großem Nachlauf. Dazu wurde für die R 1200 CL der nach wie vor einzigartige BMW Telelever neu ausgelegt.
Die Gabelholme stehen weiter auseinander, um dem bulligen, 150 mm breiten Vorderradreifen Platz zu bieten.
Für die Hinterradfederung kommt ein Federbein mit wegabhängiger Dämpfung zum Einsatz, das sich durch hervorragende Komforteigenschaften auszeichnet. Der Gesamtfederweg wuchs um 20 mm gegenüber den anderen Cruisermodellen auf jetzt 120 mm. Die Federbasisverstellung zur Anpassung an den Beladungszustand erfolgt hydraulisch über ein bequem zugängliches Handrad.
Hinterradschwinge optimiert und Heckrahmen neu.
Die Hinterradschwinge mit Hinterachsgehäuse, der BMW Monolever, wurde verstärkt und zur Aufnahme einer größeren Hinterradbremse angepasst.
Der verstärkte Heckrahmen ist vollständig neu, um Trittbretter, Kofferhalter, Gepäckbrücke und die neuen Sitze sowie die modifizierte Seitenstütze aufnehmen zu können. Der Vorderrahmen aus Aluminiumguss wurde mit geringfügigen Modifikationen von der bisherigen R 1200 C übernommen.
Räder aus Aluminiumguss, Sitze, Trittbretter und Lenker - alles neu.
Der optische Eindruck eines Motorrades wird ganz wesentlich auch von den Rädern bestimmt. Die R 1200 CL hat avantgardistisch gestaltete neue Gussräder aus Aluminium mit 16 Zoll (vorne) beziehungsweise 15 Zoll (hinten) Felgendurchmesser, die voluminöse Reifen im Format 150/80 vorne und 170/80 hinten aufnehmen.
Die Sitze sind für Fahrer und Beifahrer getrennt ausgeführt, um den unterschiedlichen Bedürfnissen gerecht zu werden. So ist der breite Komfortsattel für den Fahrer mit einer integrierten Beckenabstützung versehen und bietet einen hervorragenden Halt. Die Sitzhöhe beträgt 745 mm. Der Sitz für den Passagier ist ebenfalls ganz auf Bequemlichkeit ausgelegt und etwas höher als der Fahrersitz angeordnet. Dadurch hat der Beifahrer einen besseren Blick am Fahrer vorbei und kann beim Cruisen die Landschaft ungestört genießen.
Großzügige cruisertypische Trittbretter für den Fahrer tragen zum entspannten Sitzen bei. Die Soziusfußrasten, die von der K 1200 LT abgeleitet sind, bieten ebenfalls sehr guten Halt und ermöglichen zusammen mit dem günstigen Kniebeugewinkel auch dem Beifahrer ein ermüdungsfreies Touren.
Der breite, verchromte Lenker vermittelt nicht nur Cruiser-Feeling; Höhe und Kröpfungswinkel sind so ausgelegt, dass auch auf langen Fahrten keine Verspannungen auftreten. Handhebel und Schalter mit der bewährten und eigenständigen BMW Bedienlogik wurden unverändert von den anderen Modellen übernommen.
HighTech bei den Bremsen - BMW EVO-Bremse und als Sonderausstattung Integral ABS.
Sicherheit hat bei BMW traditionell höchste Priorität. Deshalb kommt bei der
R 1200 CL die schon in anderen BMW Motorrädern bewährte EVO-Bremse am Vorderrad zum Einsatz, die sich durch eine verbesserte Bremsleistung auszeichnet. Auf Wunsch gibt es das einzigartige BMW Integral ABS, dem Charakter des Motorrades entsprechend in der Vollintegralversion. Das heißt, unabhängig ob der Hand- oder Fußbremshebel betätigt wird, immer wirkt die Bremskraft optimal auf beide Räder. Im Vorderrad verzögert eine Doppel-Scheibenbremse mit 305 mm Scheibendurchmesser und im Hinterrad die von der K 1200 LT übernommene Einscheiben-Bremsanlage mit einem Scheibendurchmesser von 285 mm.
Fortschrittliche Elektrik: Vierfach-Scheinwerfer, wartungsarme Batterie und elektronischer Tachometer.
Vier Scheinwerfer, je zwei für das Abblend- und Fernlicht, geben dem Motorrad von vorne ein einzigartiges prägnantes Gesicht. Durch die kreuzweise Anordnung - die Abblendscheinwerfer sitzen nebeneinander und die Fernscheinwerfer dazwischen und übereinander - wird eine hohe Signalwirkung bei Tag und eine hervorragende Fahrbahnausleuchtung bei Dunkelheit erzielt.
Neu ist die wartungsarme, komplett gekapselte Gel-Batterie, bei der kein Wasser mehr nachgefüllt werden muss. Eine zweite Steckdose ist serienmäßig. Die Instrumente sind ebenfalls neu. Drehzahlmesser und Tachometer sind elektronisch und die Zifferblätter neu gestaltetet, ebenso die Analoguhr.
Umfangreiche Sonderausstattung für Sicherheit, Komfort und individuellen Luxus.
Die Sonderausstattung der R 1200 CL ist sehr umfangreich und reicht vom BMW Integral ABS für sicheres Bremsen über Komfortausstattungen wie Temporegelung, heizbare Lenkergriffe und Sitzheizung bis hin zu luxuriöser Individualisierung mit Softtouchsitzen, Chrompaket und fernbedientem Radio mit CD-Laufwerk.
BMW R 1200 CL motorcycle trip Austria (c) Bernard Egger :: rumoto images
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E. C. & M. CO. S. F. which stands for Electrical Construction and Maintenance Company of San Francisco was organized on December 23, 1870. The company supplied telegraph wire, insulators, and poles. They also dealt with commercial and private telegraph lines, submarine cables, and various types of fire alarm systems. E.C. & M. CO. is credited with updating Western Union Telegraph lines throughout the western states in which their insulators were nearly exclusively used. E. C & M. CO. underwent reorganization in 1877 and terminated their business operations but continued to have their insulators made by the new incorporated California Electric Works until at least 1880.
Either the Pacific Glass Works from San Francisco, California or the San Francisco Glass Works was in all probability the manufacturer of the E. C. & M. CO. insulators. These two companies merged in 1876 to form the San Francisco & Pacific Glass Works.
E. C. & M. CO. insulators were used throughout the far western states including British Columbia and Mexico with the majority used in California and Nevada.
On this particular E. C. & M. CO. insulator the color "Aurora Blue" originated when collectors named this distinctive coloration after finding examples on the route of a telegraph line between Aurora and Candelaria, Nevada which was constructed in 1880 by the Nevada and California Telegraph Company. Several telegraph lines using E. C. & M. CO. insulators were built in this mining region in the 1870's.
E. C. & M. CO. insulators are one of the most specialized insulators collected in the hobby, especially among the west coast collectors. This is because they come in a large assortment of colors ranging from purple to various blues, ambers, greens, aquas, and other exotic colors. They have a lot of historical value since they were used to service telegraph lines to the mining companies, U. S. military posts, lumber mills, and to serve telegraph lines along some of the first built railroads in the far west. In addition, they were used at a time and location when the "American West" was still considered wild.
Embossing (F-Skirt) E. C. & M. CO. S. F. (R-Skirt) [Glass button]
Index # 060
prli.nl/PL-618-ea2n2kKf-45&rf=2 EUR 750000
Spain properties property spanish real estate villa apartment townhouse house
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R132981 FRONT LINE GOLF! This beautiful villa features 4 good sized bedrooms all with en-suite bathrooms. This home is full of character featuring beautiful wooden beams in the lounge yet maintaining a delightful modern and new feel to it. The entire home is flooded with light from it´s South West orientation. You will find a lovely garden, and good size pool yet easy to maintain. There are large terraces upstairs with beautiful views and built to a very high spec. The property also contains a sizable garage and too many other additional features to mention. nnnVilla, Frontline Golf, Fitted Kitchen, Parking: Ample Garage, Pool: Private, Garden: Private, Facing: SoutheastnViews: Excellent, Garden, Golf, Pool.nFeatures Air Conditioning, Alarm System, Balcony, Basement, Blinds, Built to High Standards, Central Heating, Close to all Amenities, Close to schools, Conveniently Situated for Golf, Conveniently Situated Schools, Conveniently Situated Tennis, Covered Terrace, Detached Villa, Double glazing windows, Easily maintained gardens, Electric Blinds, Electric Gates, En suite bathroom, Excellent Condition, Fenced Plot, Fireplace, Fitted Kitchen, Fitted Wardrobes, Garage, Garden, Golf front, Luxury Fittings, Marble Bathroom, Marble Floors, Near amenities, Newly Built, Open Fireplace, Private pool, Private Terrace, Swimming Pool.<br /><br />Mijas golf courses is among the most popular golf courses on the Costa del Sol, Spain offering all golf services.nnSANTANA GOLF in Mijas is an 18 Hole golf course par 72 of approx. 6207 metres in length, set in 138 acres of picturesque parkland. The course in Santana Golf in Mijas, sympathetically laid out by the architect Cabell B. Robinson, is set in a former avocado plantation which provided a natural solution to many problems. The final result is a magnificent course with wide and well defined fairways on level terrain, hence easily walkable, where water features play an important albeit not excessive part in the overall design. Each hole has two championship tees and two tees for general play for both men and ladies – wide and well manicured putting greens surrounded by strategically placed bunkers, filled with sand produced from crushed marble. Buggy paths are provided throughout the course, beautifully integrated between the rows of fruit trees. The beautiful environment in Santana Golf in Mijas with its natural surrounding will give the golfer the overriding impression of an existing maturity in every aspect of the course. However, it is not only the beauty of the landscape and its flora and fauna that will impress the player, as the golf course itself has been provided with the best attributes to please the most discerning golfer. The course Santana Golf in Mijas has been constructed with the best means available and can boast automatic irrigation throughout the layout, as well as a sophisticated drainage system which will keep the number of days the course could be closed due to adverse weather conditions to a minimum. Santana Golf in Mijas is technically speaking a demanding course as the unique design of each hole is intended to give a continuous challenge, even for the more experienced player. The layout of the greens, well protected by greenside bunkers, as well as the many water hazards spread throughout the course, will challenge every golfer and require good course management as well as the use of every golf shot in the bag. It is difficult to speak of a signature hole at Santana Golf in Mijas as they all have something special to offer. The long Par-4 18th is one of the most demanding finishing holes along the coast according to the designer, with the lake along the right hand side and a narrow approach to the green. The 4th hole can only be defined with one word: spectacular. The views from the tee are magnificent and the ‘Campillos’ stream provides a challenging approach to the green; or what about the 8th hole, with a length of 602 metre (658 yards) considered to be the longest hole of the Costa del Sol and favouring the longer hitter; not to forget the 12th Par 3, playing downhill, with a very large undulating green, many a golfer would be happy to walk away with a three here. One of the most outstanding features of Santana Golf in Mijas is without a doubt the variety in design, as each and every hole is differentiated by its own characteristics.nnLOS LAGOS in Mijas is a course, designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr., is the longer of the two which comprise of Mijas Golf International. The fairways are wide, the ground is well-taken care of and the trees decorate more than they obstruct. Los Lagos takes its name from seven thirsty water hazards. With over 150 acres of perfumed Jacaranda, exotic Araucaria Pines, etc. This mildly undulating course pays fine tribute to the skills of the American master designer Robert Trent Jones. Measuring a massive 6963 yards from the white tees, the par 71 Los Lagos course with its generous fairways serves to deceive. His design set-up, whilst fair, requires an accuracy of position if you are to avoid massive bunkers or deep water hazards in your line to the flag. Los Lagos is a course suitable for players with a large, strong swing, but it also demands great concentration to avoid the obstacles. When hitting the ball you will have to consider the great bunkers and the water hazards, which have been designed with ingenuity. This Mijas golf course is quite flat and it does not present great unevenness.nnLOS OLIVOS in Mijas presents narrower fairways, fewer water hazards, uneven ground and much more trees. The greens are not very big and many of them are in a high position. Los Olivos also designed by Trent Jones and rebuilt by Cabell Robinson. Los Olivos complements Los Lagos, but offers a tighter challenge. This par 70 course measures 6386 yards (5840 meters) was completely refurbished by Cabell Robinson during the season 2000-2001 (keeping the original design concept of Trent Jones). The main feature which distinguishes this course from the other is the abundance of trees – hence the name – and its smaller size, as well as fewer water hazards. The greens are smaller, undulating and well defended. Although both are the work of the same designer, there is no doubt there are interesting contrasts between the two courses: if Los Lagos is based on hazards of water and sand, Los Olivos has strategic narrow tree lined fairways and elevated greens. Los Olivos in Mijas is a course best suited for players gifted with a higher technical ability and precision in their game.
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No use of this image is allowed without photographer’s express prior permission and subject to compensation • no work-for-hire
► licence | please contact me before to obtain prior a license and to buy the rights to use and publish this photo. A licensing usage agreed upon with Bernard Egger is the only usage granted. more..
photographer | ▻ Bernard Egger profile.. • collections.. • sets..
classic sports cars | vintage motorcycles | Oldtimer Grand Prix
location | Styria 💚 Austria
📷 | 2004 BMW R 1200 CL :: rumoto images
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If a photographer can’t feel what he is looking at, then he is never going to get others to feel anything when they look at his pictures.
:: Bernard Egger, BMW motorcycles, rumoto images, カメラマン, Мотоциклы и байкеры, 摩托, バイク, austroclassic, classic, Classic-Motorrad, Faszination, historic, historique, historisch, klassik, Leidenschaft,Cruiser, Moto, motocyclisme, Motorcycle, Motorcycles, Motorrad, Motorräder, Motorbike, Motocicletă, Мотоцикл, Motorcykel, Mootorratas, Moottoripyörä, Motosiklèt, Motorkerékpár, Motocikls, Motociklas, Motorsykkel, Motocykl, Motocicleta, Motocykel, Motosiklet, Motorrad-Klassik, passion, storiche, vintage, R 1200 CL, 1200CL, german, BMW, Boxer, german, Irdning, Ennstal, Grimming, Steiermark, Styria, Austria, Autriche, holidays, vacanze, Touring, Tours, Reisen, travelling, Pürgg, Trautenfels, Schloss Pichlarn, countryside, Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey, Phoenix, Euro, Montana Stiletto, luxury, touring-cruiser, luxury-touring, long-distance, Telelever, Paralever, Monolever, ABS, riding, ride, Pearl Silver Metallic, MoDiTec, diagnostic, drivetrain, top box, Topcase,
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Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey, August 2002 ...
Some people consider a six-day cruise as the perfect vacation. Other's might agree, as long as the days are marked by blurred fence posts and dotted lines instead of palm trees and ocean waves. For them, BMW introduces the perfect alternative to a deck chair - the R 1200 CL.
Motorcyclists were taken aback when BMW introduced its first cruiser in 1997, but the R 1200 C quickly rose to become that year's best-selling BMW. The original has since spawned several derivatives including the Phoenix, Euro, Montana and Stiletto. This year, BMW's cruiser forms the basis for the most radical departure yet, the R 1200 CL. With its standard integral hard saddlebags, top box and distinctive handlebar-mounted fairing, the CL represents twin-cylinder luxury-touring at its finest, a completely modern luxury touring-cruiser with a touch of classic BMW.
Although based on the R 1200 C, the new CL includes numerous key changes in chassis, drivetrain, equipment and appearance, specifically designed to enhance the R 1200's abilities as a long-distance mount. While it uses the same torquey, 1170cc 61-hp version of BMW's highly successful R259 twin, the CL backs it with a six-speed overdrive transmission. A reworked Telelever increases the bike's rake for more-relaxed high-speed steering, while the fork's wider spacing provides room for the sculpted double-spoke, 16-inch wheel and 150/80 front tire. Similarly, a reinforced Monolever rear suspension controls a matching 15-inch alloy wheel and 170/80 rear tire. As you'd expect, triple disc brakes featuring BMW's latest EVO front brake system and fully integrated ABS bring the bike to a halt at day's end-and set the CL apart from any other luxury cruiser on the market.
Yet despite all the chassis changes, it's the new CL's visual statement that represents the bike's biggest break with its cruiser-mates. With its grip-to-grip sweep, the handlebar-mounted fairing evokes classic touring bikes, while the CL's distinctive quad-headlamps give the bike a decidedly avant-garde look - in addition to providing standard-setting illumination. A pair of frame-mounted lowers extends the fairing's wind coverage and provides space for some of the CL's electrics and the optional stereo. The instrument panel is exceptionally clean, surrounded by a matte gray background that matches the kneepads inset in the fairing extensions. The speedometer and tachometer flank a panel of warning lights, capped by the standard analog clock. Integrated mirror/turnsignal pods extend from the fairing to provide further wind protection. Finally, fully integrated, color-matched saddlebags combine with a standard top box to provide a steamer trunk's luggage capacity.
The CL's riding position blends elements of both tourer and cruiser, beginning with a reassuringly low, 29.3-inch seat height. The seat itself comprises two parts, a rider portion with an integral lower-back rest, and a taller passenger perch that includes a standard backrest built into the top box. Heated seats, first seen on the K 1200 LT, are also available for the CL to complement the standard heated grips. A broad, flat handlebar places those grips a comfortable reach away, and the CL's floorboards allow the rider to shift position easily without compromising control. Standard cruise control helps melt the miles on long highway stints. A convenient heel/toe shifter makes for effortless gearchanges while adding exactly the right classic touch.
The R 1200 CL backs up its cruiser origins with the same superb attention to cosmetics as is shown in the functional details. In addition to the beautifully finished bodywork, the luxury cruiser boasts an assortment of chrome highlights, including valve covers, exhaust system, saddlebag latches and frame panels, with an optional kit to add even more brightwork. Available colors include Pearl Silver Metallic, Capri Blue Metallic and Mojave Brown Metallic, this last with a choice of black or brown saddle (other colors feature black).
The R 1200 CL Engine: Gearing For The Long Haul
BMW's newest tourer begins with a solid foundation-the 61-hp R 1200 C engine. The original, 1170cc cruiser powerplant blends a broad powerband and instantaneous response with a healthy, 72 lb.-ft. of torque. Like its forebear, the new CL provides its peak torque at 3000 rpm-exactly the kind of power delivery for a touring twin. Motronic MA 2.4 engine management ensures that this Boxer blends this accessible power with long-term reliability and minimal emissions, while at the same time eliminating the choke lever for complete push-button simplicity. Of course, the MoDiTec diagnostic feature makes maintaining the CL every bit as simple as the other members of BMW's stable.
While tourers and cruisers place similar demands on their engines, a touring bike typically operates through a wider speed range. Consequently, the R 1200 CL mates this familiar engine to a new, six-speed transmission. The first five gear ratios are similar to the original R 1200's, but the sixth gear provides a significant overdrive, which drops engine speed well under 3000 rpm at 60 mph. This range of gearing means the CL can manage either responsive in-town running or relaxed freeway cruising with equal finesse, and places the luxury cruiser right in the heart of its powerband at touring speeds for simple roll-on passes.
In addition, the new transmission has been thoroughly massaged internally, with re-angled gear teeth that provide additional overlap for quieter running. Shifting is likewise improved via a revised internal shift mechanism that produces smoother, more precise gearchanges. Finally, the new transmission design is lighter (approximately 1 kg.), which helps keep the CL's weight down to a respectable 679 lbs. (wet). The improved design of this transmission will be adopted by other Boxer-twins throughout the coming year.
The CL Chassis: Wheeled Luggage Never Worked This Well
Every bit as unique as the CL's Boxer-twin drivetrain is the bike's chassis, leading off-literally and figuratively-with BMW's standard-setting Telelever front suspension. The CL's setup is identical in concept and function to the R 1200 C's fork, but shares virtually no parts with the previous cruiser's. The tourer's wider, 16-inch front wheel called for wider-set fork tubes, so the top triple clamp, fork bridge, fork tubes and axle have all been revised, and the axle has switched to a full-floating design. The aluminum Telelever itself has been further reworked to provide a slightly more raked appearance, which also creates a more relaxed steering response for improved straight-line stability. The front shock has been re-angled and its spring and damping rates changed to accommodate the new bike's suspension geometry, but is otherwise similar to the original R 1200 C's damper.
Similarly, the R 1200 CL's Monolever rear suspension differs in detail, rather than concept, from previous BMW cruisers. Increased reinforcing provides additional strength at the shock mount, while a revised final-drive housing provides mounts for the new rear brake. But the primary rear suspension change is a switch to a shock with travel-related damping, similar to that introduced on the R 1150 GS Adventure. This new shock not only provides for a smoother, more controlled ride but also produces an additional 20mm travel compared to the other cruisers, bringing the rear suspension travel to 4.72 inches.
The Telelever and Monolever bolt to a standard R 1200 C front frame that differs only in detail from the original. The rear subframe, however, is completely new, designed to accommodate the extensive luggage system and passenger seating on the R 1200 CL. In addition to the permanently affixed saddlebags, the larger seats, floor boards, top box and new side stand all require new mounting points.
All this new hardware rolls on completely restyled double-spoke wheels (16 x 3.5 front/15 x 4.0 rear) that carry wider, higher-profile (80-series) touring tires for an extremely smooth ride. Bolted to these wheels are larger disc brakes (12.0-inch front, 11.2-inch rear), with the latest edition of BMW's standard-setting EVO brakes. A pair of four-piston calipers stop the front wheel, paired with a two-piston unit-adapted from the K 1200 LT-at the rear. In keeping with the bike's touring orientation, the new CL includes BMW's latest, fully integrated ABS, which actuates both front and rear brakes through either the front hand lever or the rear brake pedal.
The CL Bodywork: Dressed To The Nines
Although all these mechanical changes ensure that the new R 1200 CL works like no other luxury cruiser, it's the bike's styling and bodywork that really set it apart. Beginning with the bike's handlebar-mounted fairing, the CL looks like nothing else on the road, but it's the functional attributes that prove its worth. The broad sweep of the fairing emphasizes its aerodynamic shape, which provides maximum wind protection with a minimum of buffeting. Four headlamps, with their horizontal/vertical orientation, give the CL its unique face and also create the best illumination outside of a baseball stadium (the high-beams are borrowed from the GS).
The M-shaped windshield, with its dipped center section, produces exceptional wind protection yet still allows the rider to look over the clear-plastic shield when rain or road dirt obscure the view. Similarly, clear extensions at the fairing's lower edges improve wind protection even further but still allow an unobstructed view forward for maneuvering in extremely close quarters. The turnsignal pods provide further wind coverage, and at the same time the integral mirrors give a clear view to the rear.
Complementing the fairing, both visually and functionally, the frame-mounted lowers divert the wind blast around the rider to provide further weather protection. Openings vent warm air from the frame-mounted twin oil-coolers and direct the heat away from the rider. As noted earlier, the lowers also house the electronics for the bike's optional alarm system and cruise control. A pair of 12-volt accessory outlets are standard.
Like the K 1200 LT, the new R 1200 CL includes a capacious luggage system as standard, all of it color-matched and designed to accommodate rider and passenger for the long haul. The permanently attached saddlebags include clamshell lids that allow for easy loading and unloading. Chrome bumper strips protect the saddlebags from minor tipover damage. The top box provides additional secure luggage space, or it can be simply unbolted to uncover an attractive aluminum luggage rack. An optional backrest can be bolted on in place of the top box. Of course, saddlebags and top box are lockable and keyed to the ignition switch.
Options & Accessories: More Personal Than A Monogram
Given BMW's traditional emphasis on touring options and the cruiser owner's typical demands for customization, it's only logical to expect a range of accessories and options for the company's first luxury cruiser. The CL fulfills those expectations with a myriad of options and accessories, beginning with heated or velour-like Soft Touch seats and a low windshield. Electronic and communications options such as an AM/FM/CD stereo, cruise control and onboard communication can make time on the road much more pleasant, whether you're out for an afternoon ride or a cross-country trek - because after all, nobody says you have to be back in six days. Other available electronic features include an anti-theft alarm, which also disables the engine.
Accessories designed to personalize the CL even further range from cosmetic to practical, but all adhere to BMW's traditional standards for quality and fit. Chrome accessories include engine-protection and saddlebag - protection hoops. On a practical level, saddlebag and top box liners simplify packing and unpacking. In addition to the backrest, a pair of rear floorboards enhance passenger comfort even more.
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☆ Bernard Egger :: rumoto images
differs from all the turkeys out there
"Peachtree Burning" Documentary Filmakers Site Regarding the Winecoff Hotel Fire
Dawn Fields: Producer/Director/Editor
Dawn Fields has worked in production, post-production, development and acquisitions for several Los Angeles based production/distribution companies and has aquired many producer, production coordinator, assistant director and editor credits on features, shorts, and documentaries.
Ms. Fields has written, produced and directed her own projects including dramatic shorts, award-winning music videos, feature films, documentaries and regional Lottery commercials. She self-published a trade magazine for filmmakers, teaches filmmaking seminars and has several features and documentaries in various stages of production
See Ms. Field's text below:
The Winecoff Hotel's Origins
Built in 1913 by renowned architect, William Lee Stoddard, the Winecoff Hotel was Atlanta's tallest and most luxurious hotel. Standing fifteen stories tall with an open-air terrace dining room, coffee shop and lounge, the hotel was strategically located in the heart of Atlanta's retail district. According to their stationery, the hotel was advertised as being absolutely fireproof, even though it was designed without fire alarms, fire escapes or a sprinkler system.
The Night of The Fire
On December 7, 1946, the hotel was filled to capacity with over two hundred and eighty guests including shoppers, travelers, World War II soldiers eager to rebuild their lives, and forty of Georgia's most promising high school students who had come to attend a mock legislation. And even though the five year anniversary of Pearl Harbor Day was somberly approaching, Christmas was just around the corner and there was a sense of hope and excitement in the winter air.
Around three o'clock in the morning, the elevator operator, descending from the top floor, noticed the smell of smoke around the fifth floor. Panicked, she stumbled out of the elevator upon reaching the lobby and began screaming, "Fire! Fire!" Unbeknownst to her, the fire had already completely engulfed floors three, four and five. For employees of the hotel and the guests who were awake, realization and reaction would come quickly. But for the guests who were asleep, survival would come at a much higher price. Before dawn, a total of one hundred and nineteen lives would be lost.
The Tragedy of The Hotel's Design
One of the most critical factors contributing to this staggering loss of life was the design of the building itself. Based on "European" design, the hotel was a perfect square with the stairwell and elevator shafts running straight through the middle. Thin wooden doors leading to the stairwells had been left open on several floors as well as many transoms above guest rooms allowing smoke and flames to be pulled upward like a giant chimney. When the only means of egress became impassable, guests were forced to the windows of their rooms, where they were met with precious few choices. Many fashioned sheet ropes, while others doused their rooms and themselves with toilet and bath water. Others simply awaited their fates in hopeless silence.
Firefighting Efforts
By the time fire trucks arrived, many guests were already on the verge of jumping and many lept to their deaths moments before ladders reached their windows. Fear had reached such a fevered pitch that panic-strickened guests became desperate, and nothing short of a human rain shower ensued. Several firefighters fell to their deaths or were injured after being knocked off their ladders by falling bodies. Mothers hurled their babies from windows only to follow them to their deaths.
Rescue efforts were further hindered by the geographic location of the building. The Mortgage Guarantee Building sat opposite the hotel with only about six feet of alley between them. This prevented any kind of rescue from the firetrucks. But perhaps the most unfortunate limitation came from the trucks themselves. Back then, fire trucks were outfitted with ladders that could only reach as high as the seventh floor.
Eighty percent of the fatalities were guests who were staying above the eighth floor and on the back side of the building. It was reported that thirty-six people died from falling or jumping, thirty-two burned and forty-one suffocated from smoke and fumes. Perhaps the most tragic of these victims were the thirty teenage children who lost their lives and the elderly Winecoffs, who had resided in the hotel since its inception.
The Investigation: Accident or Arson?
By the time Mayor Hartsfield arrived at the location, nothing remained but smoldering embers and the smell of burnt flesh. The brick exterior was still intact, but the hollow shell of its inside told a different and tragic story. According to a report filed by the National Board of Underwriters, a partially burned mattress found in a hallway on the third floor gave rise to the conclusion that a careless and possibly intoxicated guest dropped a cigarette onto it, thus starting the fire.
Pressured by public outcry for culpability, and anxious to prove himself as "the mayor who cares", Hartsfield invited fire experts from across the country to conduct their own investigations. Many of these experts were convinced that due to the massive devastation, the intensity of the fire's heat and the speed at which it accelerated, a smoldering mattress could not possibly have been the cause. Several arson theories emerged including an illegal poker game on the third floor that spun out of control. But the press and the public in general were more concerned about why an "absolutely fireproof" hotel lacked fire escapes, a sprinkler system and fire alarms and less concerned with theories of arson. They demanded answers from the hotel's owners and operators.
Families and Survivors File Suit
In 1948, the first of over one hundred and fifty lawsuits came to trial against the Winecoff Hotel Company. The plaintiffs' lawyers hoped to prove that the hotel owner and the hotel operators were negligent in not providing adequate fire safety devices. The defendants' attorneys were charged with proving arson, thereby absolving their clients of liability and relieving their insurance companies of paying the huge claim. In the end, however, no arson theory could be substantiated, and only the hotel operators, not it's owner were found to be liable. Although the plaintiffs were awarded over $3.5 million in damages, the hotel operators were only insured for $350,000 and most of the families received less than $1,000 each.
The Fire's Effect On Fire Safety Codes
Because the building had a brick exterior, the owners were able, under certain insurance provisions, to classify the hotel as "fireproof" even though it was not fitted with fire escapes, fire sprinklers nor an alarm system. Indeed, the exterior did not burn in the fire, but the contents did. The furniture, carpet, hallways, wainscoting and painted walls were highly flammable. Even the stairwells were constructed of wood and became impassible when the fire chose this as its main route of destruction.
Up until the time of the Winecoff fire, no national codes had been required and decisions about fire safety were left to the discretion of local city officials, . Mayor Hartsfield had once argued that Atlanta property owners should be spared the hassle of retrofitting existing buildings in order to bring them up to code due to the enormous expense involved. He reasoned, "Why should we make it safe in Atlanta when Atlantans going to other towns would be in the same danger?" His position was quite popular with the property owners.
As a result of the Winecoff disaster, many fire officials became enraged and cried, "Never again!" It was determined that local officials could not be relied upon to make responsible decisions about fire safety, and national safety codes were established and strictly enforced. The response to this tragedy was so intense that officials in several southern cities ordered all existing buildings be retrofitted and brought up to code within seven days or be shut down. It is a testament to the effectiveness of these newly enforced codes that in this country there has never been a hotel fire since in which so many lost their lives.
The Winecoff After The Fire
In April of 1951, the hotel reopened as the Peachtree on Peachtree Hotel, complete with fire alarms and fire escapes. But competing hotels were cropping up all around Atlanta's retail district and by 1967, with no buyers in sight, the hotel was donated to the Georgia Baptist Convention who used it as housing for the elderly. In 1981, the hotel was sold to a real estate conglomerate and would pass through the hands of no less a dozen more buyers over the next twenty five years. Each had high hopes but no solid deal to resurrect the hotel ever materialized. Today, in 2005, the hotel remains an eyesore and a thorn in the side of a city whose officials would have demolished it decades ago if it did not reside above the city's railway system, preventing it from being imploded. To this day, the building stands as a hollowed-out shell reminding us of the tragedy that occurred there. The curse of the Winecoff Hotel solidly remains and many local merchants claim that the building is haunted, having seen ghosts puttering about on more than on occasion.
The Winecoff Hotel Fire of 1946 held the unenviable honor of being known as the deadliest hotel fire in the world and maintained that title until 1971 when one hundred and sixty-two people lost their lives in a hotel fire in Seoul, South Korea. The Winecoff remains, to this day, the worst hotel fire in American history. The fate of this once glamorous and celebrated hotel is unclear, but one thing is certain, it must never be forgotten.
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Arnold Hardy was a 26-year-old graduate student at Georgia Tech the night he heard the sirens roaring downtown from all directions. It was 1946, and he was living upstairs in a rooming house at West Peachtree and North Avenue, within walking distance of Tech, where he was working in both the research lab and physics department.
Hardy was still up at 4 o'clock on the morning of Dec. 7. After taking his date home in Buckhead, he had waited an hour for a trolley back to town. He had just taken his shoes off when he heard the sirens. An amateur photographer, he hurriedly called the fire department.
"Press photographer. Where's the fire?" he asked
"Winecoff Hotel."
Hardy called a taxi. The cab picked him up and raced toward the corner of Peachtree and Ellis. With his prized Speed Graphic camera and five flashbulbs in his pocket, Hardy sprinted the final blocks.
He was the first photographer there.
The windows of the 15-story Winecoff Hotel were backlit by orange flames. Guests--jumping out of panic or falling from makeshift ropes of bedsheets as they tried to escape the terrible smoke--were landing and dying on Peachtree Street. Amid the pandemonium and a cacophony of sirens, Hardy went to work. He took a shot that spanned the front of the building and the faces of the doomed in the windows--the mutely pleading, hopeless faces.
When he was down to his final flashbulb--one had exploded in the cold night air--Hardy decided to try for a picture of a falling or jumping guest. When his viewfinder found a dark-haired woman falling midair at the third floor, her skirt billowing, he snapped the shutter open for 1/400th of a second.
With his photography completed, Hardy heard a fireman and policeman at a drugstore across the street discussing calling the store owner so they could obtain medical supplies. He told them to break the door open. When they said they wouldn't he kicked it open himself. He was quickly arrested.
As the Red Cross moved into the store to set up a first-aid station and make sandwiches and coffee for the firemen, Hardy was led off to jail. Upon being released on his own recognizance, he headed for the darkroom at the Tech research search lab. He developed his film and struck out for the Associated Press office downtown.
The AP offered him $150 for exclusive rights to his pictures. He said he wanted $300--and got it. His final photograph--the one of the jumping woman--would be reprinted around the world the following day, and be on magazine covers for weeks. The fire had killed 119 people and drawn international coverage as the worst hotel fire in the history of the world. A few months later, Hardy became the first amateur photographer to win the Pulitzer Prize.
The AP gave Hardy a $200 bonus the day after the fire, but he has never received another cent for its frequent use. With the 47th anniversary of the Winecoff fire approaching, Hardy's famous photograph is back in the spotlight. It appears on the cover of The Winecoff Fire: The Untold Story of America 's Deadliest Hotel Fire.
The book reports for the first time that the fire was set by an arsonist. It also identifies the "jumping lady" for the first time. She was Daisy McCumber, a 41-year-old Atlanta secretary who--contrary to countless captions--survived the 11-story jump. She broke both legs, her back, and her pelvis. She underwent seven operations in 10 years and lost a leg, but then worked until retirement. She died last year in Jacksonville Fla., having never admitted even to family that she was the woman in Hardy's photo.
Hardy's Photo:
www.apug.org/forums/blogs/two40/91-week-5-pulitzer-1946-w...
The book also tells the dramatic story of James D. "Jimmy" Cahill, IM '48, who became one of the fire's heroes. Cahill, now retired from an academic career in Charlotte, N.C., had returned from the service and was staying at the hotel while applying to re-enter Georgia Tech. After escaping from the front side of the hotel, he raced around to the back to rescue his mother.
Cahill entered an adjacent building and stretched a board across a 10-foot alley to his mother's sixth-floor room. He crawled across the board and brought his mother to safety. Firemen quickly followed his lead and, with Cahill's help, rescued many guests who had no other escape from the backside of the hotel.
Hardy, a mechanical engineer, retired earlier this year, and sold Hardy Manufacturing Co. of Decatur, builder of medical X-ray equipment to his son. He retired from amateur photography decades earlier, shortly after realizing his photos would always be measured against his Pulitzer Prize winner. Hardy's goal that night had been to capture the futility of the whole scene before him. "It upset me so much that of all those trucks--there there were about 18 in the front of the building--I saw only two nets," he said. "I thought to myself, 'I'd love to take a picture that would just stir up the public to where they would do something about this and equip every truck in the city with a net.'"
Hardy's horrifying photo accomplished much more.
The Winecoff did not have fire escapes, fire doors, or sprinklers, yet had called itself fireproof. Quickly, fire codes changed nationwide. The Winecoff became a watershed event in the history of fire safety. The 119 did not die in vain--their deaths made hotels safer for Americans then and now. And the work Hardy did one night as a 26-year-old graduate student was one of the main reasons.
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Arnold Hardy, Dies at age 85
Arnold Hardy, 85, took Pulitzer-winning photo
By KAY POWELL
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 12/07/07
Arnold Hardy, the first amateur photographer to win the Pulitzer Prize, was a reluctant celebrity.
His photograph of a woman plunging from a window of the burning Winecoff Hotel on Dec. 7, 1946, is the defining image of the nation's deadliest hotel fire.
Arnold Hardy's photo prompted improvements in fire codes.
Hardy's Pulitzer-winning photo of a woman falling from an upper floor of the hotel. The woman survived and was identified in photos as Daisy McCumber.
For Mr. Hardy, then a 24-year-old Georgia Tech graduate student and lab assistant, the photograph, the publicity and the Pulitzer Prize were bittersweet, said his son Glen Hardy of Decatur.
"He stood on the sidewalk and watched people plummet to their deaths," his son said. "He had almost a post-traumatic response to that.
"It wasn't just a lucky snapshot," his son said. "It was technically a very complicated photograph to take. He had to consider lighting, temperature. He was working hard to get that photograph, to capture a moving object in pitch black darkness. He tweaked his camera to its limits."
Not long after, Mr. Hardy turned down a job from the Associated Press, married and founded a business that designs and manufactures X-ray equipment.
"The only pictures I've taken since then," Mr. Hardy said in a 2000 Atlanta Journal-Constitution article, "have been family and vacations."
Mr. Hardy, 85, of Stone Mountain died at Emory University Hospital Wednesday of complications following hip surgery. The funeral is at 2 p.m. today &madah;the anniversary of the fire— at A.S. Turner & Sons.
Mr. Hardy had earned his degree in physics, and photography was his hobby. He bought a $200 Speed Graphic that folded into a box carrying case. To pay for it, he thought he could earn freelance money shooting Tech athletic events.
On that fateful Saturday, he returned to his Midtown rooming house about 3 a.m. after a date. He heard sirens screaming, called the fire department to get the location, grabbed his camera and headed to the Peachtree Street hotel where 280 guests were registered.
He had five flashbulbs, four after one of them burst from the cold. He took three pictures. Then, with his final flash bulb, he trained his lens on the mezzanine where bodies were bouncing on the awning and striking the marquee. He noticed a woman who was trying to climb down a rope and lost her grip, the article said.
Mr. Hardy captured her fall, her dress flying above her head and her white underpants stark against the hotel. He developed his film at Tech, and it was about 6 a.m. when he saw the image of the woman in free fall. He called AP and sold the picture for $300.
Mr. Hardy continued his freelance photography until an industrial fire led him to retire his press card. "I went out there and hung around a while; there wasn't anything worth shooting," he said. "But the next day my picture appeared in the paper with some caption about the Winecoff photographer looking for another prize." Mr. Hardy did not want people to think of him as some kind of ambulance-chaser.
He used the Speed Graphic only for personal photographs until the camera was stolen in the 1970s, his son said. After that, "he would find some old camera at a garage sale for $3 and take it apart and fix it and take a few pictures with it, then get another one."
Mr. Hardy was a perfectionist, and that influenced his career making X-Ray equipment. He spent so much time perfecting his designs and equipment, he had to sell to high-end businesses such as medical equipment suppliers or airlines, said his son, who bought Hardy Manufacturing Co. in Decatur from his father.
"He always was designing or building some piece of medical equipment or a treehouse for me," he said. After retiring in 1987, Mr. Hardy, who enjoyed sailing, designed and began building a mini-houseboat but never launched it.
"One thing he took great pride in," his son said, "is that after his photograph was published worldwide, fire codes were changed all over the country and maybe the world."
Survivors include his wife, Lorraine Hardy; a daughter, Nancy Cooper of Stockbridge; three stepsons, John F. Weber III of Stockbridge, Warren D. Weber of Seattle and Keith D. Weber of Austin, Texas; five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
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📷 | 2004 BMW R 1200 CL :: rumoto images # 2008 wp
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If a photographer can’t feel what he is looking at, then he is never going to get others to feel anything when they look at his pictures.
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BMW R 1200 CL - Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey, August 2002 ... Some people consider a six-day cruise as the perfect vacation. Other's might agree, as long as the days are marked by blurred fence posts and dotted lines instead of palm trees and ocean waves. For them, BMW introduces the perfect alternative to a deck chair - the R 1200 CL.
Motorcyclists were taken aback when BMW introduced its first cruiser in 1997, but the R 1200 C quickly rose to become that year's best-selling BMW. The original has since spawned several derivatives including the Phoenix, Euro, Montana and Stiletto. This year, BMW's cruiser forms the basis for the most radical departure yet, the R 1200 CL. With its standard integral hard saddlebags, top box and distinctive handlebar-mounted fairing, the CL represents twin-cylinder luxury-touring at its finest, a completely modern luxury touring-cruiser with a touch of classic BMW.
Although based on the R 1200 C, the new CL includes numerous key changes in chassis, drivetrain, equipment and appearance, specifically designed to enhance the R 1200's abilities as a long-distance mount. While it uses the same torquey, 1170cc 61-hp version of BMW's highly successful R259 twin, the CL backs it with a six-speed overdrive transmission. A reworked Telelever increases the bike's rake for more-relaxed high-speed steering, while the fork's wider spacing provides room for the sculpted double-spoke, 16-inch wheel and 150/80 front tire. Similarly, a reinforced Monolever rear suspension controls a matching 15-inch alloy wheel and 170/80 rear tire. As you'd expect, triple disc brakes featuring BMW's latest EVO front brake system and fully integrated ABS bring the bike to a halt at day's end-and set the CL apart from any other luxury cruiser on the market.
Yet despite all the chassis changes, it's the new CL's visual statement that represents the bike's biggest break with its cruiser-mates. With its grip-to-grip sweep, the handlebar-mounted fairing evokes classic touring bikes, while the CL's distinctive quad-headlamps give the bike a decidedly avant-garde look - in addition to providing standard-setting illumination. A pair of frame-mounted lowers extends the fairing's wind coverage and provides space for some of the CL's electrics and the optional stereo. The instrument panel is exceptionally clean, surrounded by a matte gray background that matches the kneepads inset in the fairing extensions. The speedometer and tachometer flank a panel of warning lights, capped by the standard analog clock. Integrated mirror/turnsignal pods extend from the fairing to provide further wind protection. Finally, fully integrated, color-matched saddlebags combine with a standard top box to provide a steamer trunk's luggage capacity.
The CL's riding position blends elements of both tourer and cruiser, beginning with a reassuringly low, 29.3-inch seat height. The seat itself comprises two parts, a rider portion with an integral lower-back rest, and a taller passenger perch that includes a standard backrest built into the top box. Heated seats, first seen on the K 1200 LT, are also available for the CL to complement the standard heated grips. A broad, flat handlebar places those grips a comfortable reach away, and the CL's floorboards allow the rider to shift position easily without compromising control. Standard cruise control helps melt the miles on long highway stints. A convenient heel/toe shifter makes for effortless gearchanges while adding exactly the right classic touch.
The R 1200 CL backs up its cruiser origins with the same superb attention to cosmetics as is shown in the functional details. In addition to the beautifully finished bodywork, the luxury cruiser boasts an assortment of chrome highlights, including valve covers, exhaust system, saddlebag latches and frame panels, with an optional kit to add even more brightwork. Available colors include Pearl Silver Metallic, Capri Blue Metallic and Mojave Brown Metallic, this last with a choice of black or brown saddle (other colors feature black).
The R 1200 CL Engine: Gearing For The Long Haul
BMW's newest tourer begins with a solid foundation-the 61-hp R 1200 C engine. The original, 1170cc cruiser powerplant blends a broad powerband and instantaneous response with a healthy, 72 lb.-ft. of torque. Like its forebear, the new CL provides its peak torque at 3000 rpm-exactly the kind of power delivery for a touring twin. Motronic MA 2.4 engine management ensures that this Boxer blends this accessible power with long-term reliability and minimal emissions, while at the same time eliminating the choke lever for complete push-button simplicity. Of course, the MoDiTec diagnostic feature makes maintaining the CL every bit as simple as the other members of BMW's stable.
While tourers and cruisers place similar demands on their engines, a touring bike typically operates through a wider speed range. Consequently, the R 1200 CL mates this familiar engine to a new, six-speed transmission. The first five gear ratios are similar to the original R 1200's, but the sixth gear provides a significant overdrive, which drops engine speed well under 3000 rpm at 60 mph. This range of gearing means the CL can manage either responsive in-town running or relaxed freeway cruising with equal finesse, and places the luxury cruiser right in the heart of its powerband at touring speeds for simple roll-on passes.
In addition, the new transmission has been thoroughly massaged internally, with re-angled gear teeth that provide additional overlap for quieter running. Shifting is likewise improved via a revised internal shift mechanism that produces smoother, more precise gearchanges. Finally, the new transmission design is lighter (approximately 1 kg.), which helps keep the CL's weight down to a respectable 679 lbs. (wet). The improved design of this transmission will be adopted by other Boxer-twins throughout the coming year.
The CL Chassis: Wheeled Luggage Never Worked This Well
Every bit as unique as the CL's Boxer-twin drivetrain is the bike's chassis, leading off-literally and figuratively-with BMW's standard-setting Telelever front suspension. The CL's setup is identical in concept and function to the R 1200 C's fork, but shares virtually no parts with the previous cruiser's. The tourer's wider, 16-inch front wheel called for wider-set fork tubes, so the top triple clamp, fork bridge, fork tubes and axle have all been revised, and the axle has switched to a full-floating design. The aluminum Telelever itself has been further reworked to provide a slightly more raked appearance, which also creates a more relaxed steering response for improved straight-line stability. The front shock has been re-angled and its spring and damping rates changed to accommodate the new bike's suspension geometry, but is otherwise similar to the original R 1200 C's damper.
Similarly, the R 1200 CL's Monolever rear suspension differs in detail, rather than concept, from previous BMW cruisers. Increased reinforcing provides additional strength at the shock mount, while a revised final-drive housing provides mounts for the new rear brake. But the primary rear suspension change is a switch to a shock with travel-related damping, similar to that introduced on the R 1150 GS Adventure. This new shock not only provides for a smoother, more controlled ride but also produces an additional 20mm travel compared to the other cruisers, bringing the rear suspension travel to 4.72 inches.
The Telelever and Monolever bolt to a standard R 1200 C front frame that differs only in detail from the original. The rear subframe, however, is completely new, designed to accommodate the extensive luggage system and passenger seating on the R 1200 CL. In addition to the permanently affixed saddlebags, the larger seats, floor boards, top box and new side stand all require new mounting points.
All this new hardware rolls on completely restyled double-spoke wheels (16 x 3.5 front/15 x 4.0 rear) that carry wider, higher-profile (80-series) touring tires for an extremely smooth ride. Bolted to these wheels are larger disc brakes (12.0-inch front, 11.2-inch rear), with the latest edition of BMW's standard-setting EVO brakes. A pair of four-piston calipers stop the front wheel, paired with a two-piston unit-adapted from the K 1200 LT-at the rear. In keeping with the bike's touring orientation, the new CL includes BMW's latest, fully integrated ABS, which actuates both front and rear brakes through either the front hand lever or the rear brake pedal.
The CL Bodywork: Dressed To The Nines
Although all these mechanical changes ensure that the new R 1200 CL works like no other luxury cruiser, it's the bike's styling and bodywork that really set it apart. Beginning with the bike's handlebar-mounted fairing, the CL looks like nothing else on the road, but it's the functional attributes that prove its worth. The broad sweep of the fairing emphasizes its aerodynamic shape, which provides maximum wind protection with a minimum of buffeting. Four headlamps, with their horizontal/vertical orientation, give the CL its unique face and also create the best illumination outside of a baseball stadium (the high-beams are borrowed from the GS).
The M-shaped windshield, with its dipped center section, produces exceptional wind protection yet still allows the rider to look over the clear-plastic shield when rain or road dirt obscure the view. Similarly, clear extensions at the fairing's lower edges improve wind protection even further but still allow an unobstructed view forward for maneuvering in extremely close quarters. The turnsignal pods provide further wind coverage, and at the same time the integral mirrors give a clear view to the rear.
Complementing the fairing, both visually and functionally, the frame-mounted lowers divert the wind blast around the rider to provide further weather protection. Openings vent warm air from the frame-mounted twin oil-coolers and direct the heat away from the rider. As noted earlier, the lowers also house the electronics for the bike's optional alarm system and cruise control. A pair of 12-volt accessory outlets are standard.
Like the K 1200 LT, the new R 1200 CL includes a capacious luggage system as standard, all of it color-matched and designed to accommodate rider and passenger for the long haul. The permanently attached saddlebags include clamshell lids that allow for easy loading and unloading. Chrome bumper strips protect the saddlebags from minor tipover damage. The top box provides additional secure luggage space, or it can be simply unbolted to uncover an attractive aluminum luggage rack. An optional backrest can be bolted on in place of the top box. Of course, saddlebags and top box are lockable and keyed to the ignition switch.
Options & Accessories: More Personal Than A Monogram
Given BMW's traditional emphasis on touring options and the cruiser owner's typical demands for customization, it's only logical to expect a range of accessories and options for the company's first luxury cruiser. The CL fulfills those expectations with a myriad of options and accessories, beginning with heated or velour-like Soft Touch seats and a low windshield. Electronic and communications options such as an AM/FM/CD stereo, cruise control and onboard communication can make time on the road much more pleasant, whether you're out for an afternoon ride or a cross-country trek - because after all, nobody says you have to be back in six days. Other available electronic features include an anti-theft alarm, which also disables the engine.
Accessories designed to personalize the CL even further range from cosmetic to practical, but all adhere to BMW's traditional standards for quality and fit. Chrome accessories include engine-protection and saddlebag - protection hoops. On a practical level, saddlebag and top box liners simplify packing and unpacking. In addition to the backrest, a pair of rear floorboards enhance passenger comfort even more.
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Der Luxus-Cruiser zum genussvollen Touren.
Die Motorradwelt war überrascht, als BMW Motorrad 1997 die R 1200 C, den ersten Cruiser in der Geschichte des Hauses, vorstellte. Mit dem einzigartigen Zweizylinder-Boxermotor und einem unverwechselbar eigenständigen Design gelang es auf Anhieb, sich in diesem bis dato von BMW nicht besetzten Marktsegment erfolgreich zu positionieren. Bisher wurden neben dem Basismodell R 1200 C Classic die technisch nahezu identischen Modellvarianten Avantgarde und Independent angeboten, die sich in Farbgebung, Designelementen und Ausstattungsdetails unterscheiden.
Zur Angebotserweiterung und zur Erschließung zusätzlicher Potenziale, präsentiert BMW Motorrad für das Modelljahr 2003 ein neues Mitglied der Cruiserfamilie, den Luxus-Cruiser R 1200 CL.
Er wird seine Weltpremiere im September in München auf der INTERMOT haben und voraussichtlich im Herbst 2002 auf den Markt kommen. Der Grundgedanke war, Elemente von Tourenmotorrädern auf einen Cruiser zu übertragen und ein Motorrad zu entwickeln, das Eigenschaften aus beiden Fahrzeuggattungen aufweist.
So entstand ein eigenständiges Modell, ein Cruiser zum genussvollen Touren, bei dem in Komfort und Ausstattung keine Wünsche offen bleiben.
Als technische Basis diente die R 1200 C, von der aber im wesentlichen nur der Motor, der Hinterradantrieb, der Vorderrahmen, der Tank und einige Ausstattungsumfänge übernommen wurden. Ansonsten ist das Motorrad ein völlig eigenständiger Entwurf und in weiten Teilen eine Neuentwicklung.
Fahrgestell und Design:
Einzigartiges Gesicht, optische Präsenz und Koffer integriert.
Präsenz, kraftvoller Auftritt und luxuriöser Charakter, mit diesen Worten lässt sich die Wirkung der BMW R 1200 CL kurz und treffend beschreiben. Geprägt wird dieses Motorrad von der lenkerfesten Tourenverkleidung, deren Linienführung sich in den separaten seitlichen Verkleidungsteilen am Tank fortsetzt, so dass in der Seitenansicht fast der Eindruck einer integrierten Verkleidung entsteht. Sie bietet dem Fahrer ein hohes Maß an Komfort durch guten Wind- und Wetterschutz.
Insgesamt vier in die Verkleidung integrierte Scheinwerfer, zwei für das Abblendlicht und zwei für das Fernlicht, geben dem Motorrad ein unverwechselbares, einzigartiges Gesicht und eine beeindruckende optische Wirkung, die es so bisher noch bei keinem Motorrad gab. Natürlich sorgen die vier Scheinwerfer auch für eine hervorragende Fahrbahnausleuchtung.
Besonders einfallsreich ist die aerodynamische Gestaltung der Verkleidungsscheibe mit ihrem wellenartig ausgeschnittenen oberen Rand. Sie leitet die Strömung so, dass der Fahrer wirkungsvoll geschützt wird. Gleichzeitig kann man aber wegen des Einzugs in der Mitte ungehindert über die Scheibe hinwegschauen und hat somit unabhängig von Nässe und Verschmutzung der Scheibe ein ungestörtes Sichtfeld auf die Straße.
Zur kraftvollen Erscheinung des Motorrades passt der Vorderradkotflügel, der seitlich bis tief zur Felge heruntergezogen ist. Er bietet guten Spritzschutz und unterstreicht zusammen mit dem voluminösen Vorderreifen die Dominanz der Frontpartie, die aber dennoch Gelassenheit und Eleganz ausstrahlt.
Der gegenüber den anderen Modellen flacher gestellte Telelever hebt den Cruisercharakter noch mehr hervor. Der Heckbereich wird bestimmt durch die integrierten, fest mit dem Fahrzeug verbundenen Hartschalenkoffer und das abnehmbare Topcase auf der geschwungenen Gepäckbrücke, die zugleich als Soziushaltegriff dient. Koffer und Topcase sind jeweils in Fahrzeugfarbe lackiert und bilden somit ein harmonisches Ganzes mit dem Fahrzeug.
Akzente setzen auch die stufenförmig angeordneten breiten Komfortsitze für Fahrer und Beifahrer mit der charakteristischen hinteren Abstützung. Luxus durch exklusive Farben, edle Oberflächen und Materialien.
Die R 1200 CL wurde zunächst in drei exklusiven Farben angeboten: perlsilber-metallic und capriblau-metallic mit jeweils schwarzen Sitzen und mojavebraun-metallic mit braunem Sitzbezug (wahlweise auch in schwarz).
Die Eleganz der Farben wird unterstützt durch sorgfältige Materialauswahl und perfektes Finish von Oberflächen und Fugen. So ist zum Beispiel die Gepäckbrücke aus Aluminium-Druckguß gefertigt und in weissaluminium lackiert, der Lenker verchromt und die obere Instrumentenabdeckung ebenfalls weissaluminiumfarben lackiert. Die Frontverkleidung ist vollständig mit einer Innenabdeckung versehen, und die Kniepads der seitlichen Verkleidungsteile sind mit dem gleichen Material wie die Sitze überzogen.
All dies unterstreicht den Anspruch auf Luxus und Perfektion.
Antrieb jetzt mit neuem, leiserem Sechsganggetriebe - Boxermotor unverändert.
Während der Boxermotor mit 1170 cm³ unverändert von der bisherigen R 1200 C übernommen wurde - auch die Leistungsdaten sind mit 45 kW (61 PS) und 98 Nm Drehmoment bei 3000 min-1 gleich geblieben -, ist das Getriebe der R 1200 CL neu. Abgeleitet von dem bekannten Getriebe der anderen Boxermodelle hat es jetzt auch sechs Gänge und wurde grundlegend überarbeitet. Als wesentliche Neuerung kommt eine sogenannte Hochverzahnung zum Einsatz. Diese sorgt für einen "weicheren" Zahneingriff und reduziert erheblich die Laufgeräusche der Verzahnung.
Der lang übersetzte, als "overdrive" ausgelegte, sechste Gang erlaubt drehzahlschonendes Fahren auf langen Etappen in der Ebene und senkt dort Verbrauch und Geräusch. Statt eines Schalthebels gibt es eine Schaltwippe für Gangwechsel mit einem lässigen Kick. Schaltkomfort, Geräuscharmut, niedrige Drehzahlen und dennoch genügend Kraft - Eigenschaften, die zum Genusscharakter des Fahrzeugs hervorragend passen.
Dass auch die R 1200 CL, wie jedes seit 1997 neu eingeführte BMW Motorrad weltweit, serienmäßig über die jeweils modernste Abgasreinigungstechnologie mit geregeltem Drei-Wege-Katalysator verfügt, muss fast nicht mehr erwähnt werden. Es ist bei BMW zur Selbstverständlichkeit geworden.
Fahrwerkselemente für noch mehr Komfort - Telelever neu und hinteres Federbein mit wegabhängiger Dämpfung.
Ein cruisertypisches Merkmal ist die nach vorn gestreckte Vorderradführung mit flachem Winkel zur Fahrbahn und großem Nachlauf. Dazu wurde für die R 1200 CL der nach wie vor einzigartige BMW Telelever neu ausgelegt.
Die Gabelholme stehen weiter auseinander, um dem bulligen, 150 mm breiten Vorderradreifen Platz zu bieten.
Für die Hinterradfederung kommt ein Federbein mit wegabhängiger Dämpfung zum Einsatz, das sich durch hervorragende Komforteigenschaften auszeichnet. Der Gesamtfederweg wuchs um 20 mm gegenüber den anderen Cruisermodellen auf jetzt 120 mm. Die Federbasisverstellung zur Anpassung an den Beladungszustand erfolgt hydraulisch über ein bequem zugängliches Handrad.
Hinterradschwinge optimiert und Heckrahmen neu.
Die Hinterradschwinge mit Hinterachsgehäuse, der BMW Monolever, wurde verstärkt und zur Aufnahme einer größeren Hinterradbremse angepasst.
Der verstärkte Heckrahmen ist vollständig neu, um Trittbretter, Kofferhalter, Gepäckbrücke und die neuen Sitze sowie die modifizierte Seitenstütze aufnehmen zu können. Der Vorderrahmen aus Aluminiumguss wurde mit geringfügigen Modifikationen von der bisherigen R 1200 C übernommen.
Räder aus Aluminiumguss, Sitze, Trittbretter und Lenker - alles neu.
Der optische Eindruck eines Motorrades wird ganz wesentlich auch von den Rädern bestimmt. Die R 1200 CL hat avantgardistisch gestaltete neue Gussräder aus Aluminium mit 16 Zoll (vorne) beziehungsweise 15 Zoll (hinten) Felgendurchmesser, die voluminöse Reifen im Format 150/80 vorne und 170/80 hinten aufnehmen.
Die Sitze sind für Fahrer und Beifahrer getrennt ausgeführt, um den unterschiedlichen Bedürfnissen gerecht zu werden. So ist der breite Komfortsattel für den Fahrer mit einer integrierten Beckenabstützung versehen und bietet einen hervorragenden Halt. Die Sitzhöhe beträgt 745 mm. Der Sitz für den Passagier ist ebenfalls ganz auf Bequemlichkeit ausgelegt und etwas höher als der Fahrersitz angeordnet. Dadurch hat der Beifahrer einen besseren Blick am Fahrer vorbei und kann beim Cruisen die Landschaft ungestört genießen.
Großzügige cruisertypische Trittbretter für den Fahrer tragen zum entspannten Sitzen bei. Die Soziusfußrasten, die von der K 1200 LT abgeleitet sind, bieten ebenfalls sehr guten Halt und ermöglichen zusammen mit dem günstigen Kniebeugewinkel auch dem Beifahrer ein ermüdungsfreies Touren.
Der breite, verchromte Lenker vermittelt nicht nur Cruiser-Feeling; Höhe und Kröpfungswinkel sind so ausgelegt, dass auch auf langen Fahrten keine Verspannungen auftreten. Handhebel und Schalter mit der bewährten und eigenständigen BMW Bedienlogik wurden unverändert von den anderen Modellen übernommen.
HighTech bei den Bremsen - BMW EVO-Bremse und als Sonderausstattung Integral ABS.
Sicherheit hat bei BMW traditionell höchste Priorität. Deshalb kommt bei der
R 1200 CL die schon in anderen BMW Motorrädern bewährte EVO-Bremse am Vorderrad zum Einsatz, die sich durch eine verbesserte Bremsleistung auszeichnet. Auf Wunsch gibt es das einzigartige BMW Integral ABS, dem Charakter des Motorrades entsprechend in der Vollintegralversion. Das heißt, unabhängig ob der Hand- oder Fußbremshebel betätigt wird, immer wirkt die Bremskraft optimal auf beide Räder. Im Vorderrad verzögert eine Doppel-Scheibenbremse mit 305 mm Scheibendurchmesser und im Hinterrad die von der K 1200 LT übernommene Einscheiben-Bremsanlage mit einem Scheibendurchmesser von 285 mm.
Fortschrittliche Elektrik: Vierfach-Scheinwerfer, wartungsarme Batterie und elektronischer Tachometer.
Vier Scheinwerfer, je zwei für das Abblend- und Fernlicht, geben dem Motorrad von vorne ein einzigartiges prägnantes Gesicht. Durch die kreuzweise Anordnung - die Abblendscheinwerfer sitzen nebeneinander und die Fernscheinwerfer dazwischen und übereinander - wird eine hohe Signalwirkung bei Tag und eine hervorragende Fahrbahnausleuchtung bei Dunkelheit erzielt.
Neu ist die wartungsarme, komplett gekapselte Gel-Batterie, bei der kein Wasser mehr nachgefüllt werden muss. Eine zweite Steckdose ist serienmäßig. Die Instrumente sind ebenfalls neu. Drehzahlmesser und Tachometer sind elektronisch und die Zifferblätter neu gestaltetet, ebenso die Analoguhr.
Umfangreiche Sonderausstattung für Sicherheit, Komfort und individuellen Luxus.
Die Sonderausstattung der R 1200 CL ist sehr umfangreich und reicht vom BMW Integral ABS für sicheres Bremsen über Komfortausstattungen wie Temporegelung, heizbare Lenkergriffe und Sitzheizung bis hin zu luxuriöser Individualisierung mit Softtouchsitzen, Chrompaket und fernbedientem Radio mit CD-Laufwerk.
Lat. 33° 52' 53" S. Long. 18° 29" 10" E
The Milnerton Lighthouse is situated on the shores of Table Bay on Wood Bridge Island in Milnerton. Mariners approaching Table Bay after dark are confronted by a maze of lights and a high level of background city illumination. Navigational lights tend to merge with the ever expanding lights of greater Cape Town making identification difficult. Milnerton functions in conjunction with the Robben Island and Green Point lights to avert any ambiguity in determining a safe anchorage.
The Milnerton Lighthouse was commissioned on 10 March 1960. The lighthouse is a twenty one metre cylindrical reinforced concrete tower, similar to the one at Cape Hangklip. The optic is a Stone-Chance, 250mm catadioptric group-flashing, automatic revolving pedestal. It produces three white flashes every twenty seconds and the candle power is 800,O00 cd. The height of the focal plane is 28 metres and the lighthouse has a range of 25 sea miles. The Milnerton Lighthouse has a subsidiary fixed red sector light which covers the extremities of Robben Island. It is installed in the tower below the main revolving light.
Electric power is supplied by the Blaauwberg Municipality and an automatic standby generator is installed in the base of the tower. An alarm system using coloured lights is monitored by Port Control at Table Bay harbour.
References: Southern Lights: Lighthouses of Southern Africa by Harold Williams.
Ground floor
Double parking, plus 3 for the emergency in the garden. Garden around the house with three terraces whereby there is always a place in the sun and out of the wind with different views over the greenery and water. Entrance, hallway with concrete spiral staircase and modern elevator, cupboard with power flow, wardrobe and toilet with basin. Access to the garage. This includes drainage and has hot and cold water. The space is fully insulated and is easy to customize for another destination. The first bedroom is 13 m2 and has sliding doors to the garden. The bathrooms is provided with a shower, toilet, sink, daylight and adjacent laundry room. The master bedroom (20 m2) has a private bathroom with a large rain shower, double sink and toilet.
Due to the presence of an elevator, all floors are directly connected to each other.
First floor
Bright living room (76 m2) with heater from Harrie Leenders. This area has beautiful (permanent) views over the island and the water. The open kitchen is from the brand Bulthaup (B3) and is equipped with all possible comforts of Miele including high pressure steamoven, convection oven and grill with warming drawer, induction cooking zone, wok burner (gas), fridge, freezer, dishwasher and stainless extractor with external motor. Then there is a large side room (20 m2) with balcony facing southwest.
Second floor
Large workroom (36 m2) with on two sides a roof terrace. Large stair cupboard with sink with hot and cold water. This floor is also ready to be used as a bedroom with his own bathroom and separate hobby room-/office.
Third floor
Roof terrace with Jacuzzi. Accessible by staircase with outdoor shower.
SPECIALTIES:
- leasehold surrendered till 15-07-2058.
- the house is located near by one of the three landing stages (permanent mooring is allowed);
- very energy efficient;
- thick outside walls (minimum 40 cm);
- comfortably warm in winter through floor heating;
- exterior is maintenance free;
- all roofs are having a roof terrace;
- aluminium windows, sliding doors or turn-/tipping windows by Schüco;
- maintenance garden with large pines;
- possibility for own studio and / or office;
- ventilation through wall grilles;
- six person lift, 0.6 m/sec.;
- all doors are from hard and etched glass;
- electrical fittings from Gira;
- LED orientation lights inside, on the terraces and around the facade;
- door communication with all levels and among themselves: door open, free feature and color TFT display;
- each room (including roof terrace) is multiple wired with UTP to meter cupboard (fiberglass);
- alarm system with connection to central station;
- central vacuum system;
- bathrooms with fittings by Dornbracht, two rain showers, sanitary ware from Laufen, Hüppe, Duravit and Keramag;
- noise barrier-screeds;
- walls and ceilings are plastered tight.
TEIGN C Damen Stan 1405
MMSI: 235082804
Call Sign: MWBM9
AIS Vessel Type: Dredger
GENERAL
Damen Stan 1405
DAMEN YARD NUMBER: 503705
Avelingen-West 20
4202 MS Gorinchem
The Netherlands
Phone: +31 (0)183 63 99 11
info@damen.com
DELIVERY DATE August 2001
BASIC FUNCTIONS Towing, mooring, pushing and dredging operations
FLAG United Kingdom [GB]
OWNED Teignmouth Harbour Commission
CASSCATION: Bureau Veritas 1 HULL MACH Seagoing Launch
DIMENSIONS
LENGTH 14.40 m
BEAM 4.73 m
DEPTH AT SIDES 205 m
DRAUGHT AFT 171 m
DISPLACEMENT 48 ton
TANK CAPACITIES
Fuel oil 6.9 m³
PERFORMANCES (TRIALS)
BOLLARD PULL AHEAD 8.0 ton
SPEED 9.8 knots
PROPULSION SYSTEM
MAIN ENGINE 2x Caterpillar 3406C TA/A
TOTAL POWER 477 bmW (640i hp) at 1800 rpm
GEARBOX 2x Twin Disc MG 5091/3.82:1
PROPELLERS Bronze fixed pitch propeller
KORT NOZZELS Van de Giessen 2x 1000 mm with stainless steel innerings
ENGINE CONTROL Kobelt
STEERING GEAR 2x 25 mm single plate Powered hydraulic 2x 45, rudder indicator
AUXILIARY EQUIPMENT
BILGE PUMP Sterling SIH 20, 32 m/hr
BATTERY SETS 2x 24V, 200 Ah + change over facility
COOLING SYSTEM Closed cooling system
ALARM SYSTEM Engines, gearboxes and bilge alarms
FRESH WATER PRESSURE SET Speck 24V
DECK LAY-OUT
ANCHORS 2x 48 kg Pool (HHP)
CHAIN 70 m, Ø 13mm, shortlink U2
ANCHOR WINCH Hand-operated
TOWING HOOK Mampaey, 15.3 ton SWL
COUPLING WINCH
PUSHBOW Cylindrical nubber fender Ø 380 mm
ACCOMMODATION
The wheelhouse ceiling and sides are insulated with mineral wool and
panelled. The wheelhouse floor is covered with rubber/synthetic floor
covering, make Bolidt, color blue The wheelhouse has one
helmsman seat, a bench and table with chair Below deck two berths, a
kitchen unit and a toilet space are arranged.
NAUTICAL AND COMMUNICATION EQUIPMENT
SEARCHLIGHT Den Haan 170 W 24 V
VHF RADIO Sailor RT 2048 25 W
NAVIGATION Navigation lights incl towing and pilot lights
Teignmouth Harbour Commission
The Harbour Commission is a Trust Port created by Statute.
The principal Order is the Teignmouth Harbour Order 1924
as amended by the Teignmouth Harbour Revision Order 2003
Wolfsburg
Volkswagen Arena, also known as the VfL Wolfsburg Arena due to UEFA sponsorship regulations was opened in 2002 and named after the automotive group Volkswagen AG. The Volkswagen Arena has a capacity of 30,000: 22,000 seats and 8,000 standing places. It is located in the Allerpark and is the home stadium of the football team VfL Wolfsburg.
The most striking feature of the stadium is its sophisticated roof, which was designed as a truss-supported membrane structure.32 radial trusses, each 40 metres in length, make up the support system for the fire-retardant PVC membrane, which is 15,000 square metres large. The membrane is translucent, aims to improve the atmosphere in the stadium for the spectators and supports the natural growth of the grass on the pitch.
Seating
The Volkswagen Arena is a two-tier stadium with a surrounding promenade. The lower level has an inclination of approximately 25 degrees, the upper level 40 degrees.The ground area of the entire plot is around 115,000 square metres and the floor space of the stadium is around 28,000 square metres. The stadium's capacity of 30,000 consists of 22,000 seats and 8,000 standing places. The standing places can be converted into 4,000 seats.[3] The guest block of the Volkswagen Arena contains 1,886 seats and 900 standing places with separate kiosks and toilet areas. All seats in the Volkswagen Arena are completely covered.
A total of 31 boxes with 332 seats are available at the stadium, which also offers 198 so-called Executive Seats, which are integrated into the VIP block, and 1,434 Business Seats with direct access to restaurants. The Volkswagen Arena is home to a 102-square-metre-large Skylounge above both grandstands with 35 seats.This offers a view of the entire stadium and is also used as a venue for other events and even weddings. The control room, which houses systems such as the fire alarm system and police equipment, is located above the Skylounge.
The special features of the Volkswagen Arena include seats and spaces for people with disabilities and their companions. Spectators with impaired vision are provided with a total of 10 seats with headphones so that they can hear the commentator during the match. Furthermore, 80 spaces are available for spectators in wheelchairs. Families with children can book seats in a separate area at the Volkswagen Arena. VfL Wolfsburg also offers childcare during all home games at the stadium. A separate area is provided for younger and shorter spectators so that they can get a better view of the match.
VfL Wolfsburg also became the first Bundesliga club to play in an LED-lit stadium when the Volkswagen Arena was equipped with a new LED floodlight system at the start of 2017. The old floodlighting of the Volkswagen Arena consists of more than 170 elements with lamps, each weighing about 35 kilos. They were all mounted under the roof and together produce about 1,500 lux. The 84 speakers in the stadium, which weigh 120 kilos each and are likewise mounted under the roof, produce a total of 600 watts. There are also two video walls covering an area of 53 square metres in the stadium.The pitch is covered in hybrid grass,which is natural grass that is reinforced with synthetic fibres, thus improving its weatherability. The Volkswagen Arena was the first Bundesliga stadium to introduce such a system.] From the outset, the pitch has been heated so that matches can be played regardless of ice and snow.
The Volkswagen Arena was also the first Bundesliga stadium to debut 5G technology on match day 5 of the 2019/2020 campaign against Hoffenheim.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the French cathedral. For other uses, see Notre-Dame de Paris (disambiguation).
Notre-Dame de Paris
South façade and the nave of Notre-Dame in 2017, two years before the fire
Map
Wikimedia | © OpenStreetMap
48°51′11″N 2°21′00″E
LocationParvis Notre-Dame – Place Jean-Paul-II, Paris
CountryFrance
DenominationCatholic Church
Sui iuris churchLatin Church
WebsiteOfficial website Edit this at Wikidata
History
StatusCathedral, minor basilica
Founded24 March 1163 to 25 April 1163 (laying of the cornerstone)
FounderMaurice de Sully
Consecrated19 May 1182 (high altar)
Relics heldCrown of thorns, a nail from the True Cross, and a sliver of the True Cross
Architecture
Functional statusReopened 7 December 2024
Architectural typeGothic
StyleFrench Gothic
Years built1163–1345
Groundbreaking1163; 862 years ago
Completed1345; 680 years ago
Specifications
Length128 m (420 ft)
Width48 m (157 ft)
Nave height35 metres (115 ft)[1]
Number of towers2
Tower height69 m (226 ft)
Number of spires1 (the third, completed 16 December 2023)[2]
Spire height96 m (315 ft)
MaterialsLimestone and marble
Bells10 (bronze)
Administration
ArchdioceseParis
Clergy
ArchbishopLaurent Ulrich
RectorOlivier Ribadeau Dumas
Laity
Director of musicSylvain Dieudonné[3]
Organist(s)Olivier Latry (since 1985);
Vincent Dubois [fr] (since 2016);
Thierry Escaich (since 2024);
Thibault Fajoles (assistant organist, since 2024)
UNESCO World Heritage Site
CriteriaI, II, IV[4]
Designated1991
Part ofParis, Banks of the Seine
Reference no.600
Monument historique
Official nameCathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris
TypeCathédrale
Designated1862[5]
Reference no.PA00086250
Notre-Dame de Paris (French: Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris French: [nɔtʁ(ə) dam də paʁi] ⓘ; meaning "Cathedral of Our Lady of Paris"), often referred to simply as Notre-Dame,[a][b] is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the River Seine), in the 4th arrondissement of Paris, France. It is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Paris.
The cathedral, dedicated to the Virgin Mary ("Our Lady"),[9] is considered one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture. Several attributes set it apart from the earlier Romanesque style, including 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.[10] Notre-Dame is also exceptional for its three pipe organs (one historic) and its immense church bells.[11]
The 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.[12] 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 cathedral hosted the coronation of Napoleon and the funerals of many of the French Republic's presidents. The 1831 publication of Victor Hugo's novel Notre-Dame de Paris (English title: 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.[13] A fire in April 2019 caused serious damage, closing the cathedral for extensive and costly repairs; it reopened in December 2024.[14]
It is a widely recognised symbol of both 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 or seat of the archbishop of Paris (currently Laurent Ulrich). In the early 21st century, about 12 million people visited Notre-Dame annually, making it the most visited monument in Paris.[15]
Since 1905, Notre-Dame, like the other cathedrals in France, has been owned by the French government, with the exclusive rights of use granted to the French Roman Catholic Church. The French government is responsible for its maintenance.
Over time, the cathedral has gradually been stripped of many decorations and artworks. It 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.
Key dates
The Cathedral in 1699
The church restored by Viollet-le-Duc (1860s)
Cathedral fire (April 15, 2019)
4th century – Cathedral of Saint Étienne, dedicated to Saint Stephen, built just west of present cathedral[16]
1163 – Bishop Maurice de Sully begins construction of new cathedral.[16]
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.[17]
1270 – South transept and rose window completed by Pierre de Montreuil.[18]
1699 – Beginning of major redecoration of interior in Louis XIV style by Hardouin Mansart and Robert de Cotte.[19]
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.[18]
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.
1844–1864 – Major restoration by Jean-Baptiste Lassus and Eugène Viollet-le-Duc with additions in the spirit of the original Gothic style.[20]
1871 – In final days of the Paris Commune, the Communards prepared to burn the cathedral, but abandoned their plan since it would necessarily also burn the crowded neighboring hospital for the elderly.
1944 – On 26 August, General Charles de Gaulle celebrates the Liberation of Paris with a special Mass at Notre-Dame.
1963 – Culture Minister André Malraux begins the cleaning of centuries of grime and soot from the cathedral façade.
2019 – On 15 April, a fire destroys a large part of the roof and the flèche.
2021 – Reconstruction begins, which lasted 3 years.
2024 – Reopening ceremonies 7–8 December.[21] On 13 December 2024 the revered Crown of Thorns relic was returned to the cathedral.[22]
History
Outline of the primitive Cathedral of Notre-Dame in 1150, on the spot of the nave, the transept and the choir of the current building. The Cathedral of Saint Étienne was located to the west, at the level of today's parvis.
Construction sequence from 12th century to present-day, created by Stephen Murray and Myles Zhang
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.[16] 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.[13][23]
The last church before the cathedral of Notre-Dame was a Romanesque remodelling of Saint-Étienne that, although enlarged and remodelled, was found to be unfit for the growing population of Paris.[24][c] 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.[26]
In 1160, the bishop of Paris, Maurice de Sully,[26] decided to build a new and much larger church. He summarily demolished the earlier cathedral and recycled its materials.[24] 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.[23]
Construction
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.[27][28] 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 boat.[29]
Cross-section of the double supporting arches and buttresses of the nave, drawn by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc as they would have appeared from 1220 to 1230[30]
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.[31][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.[13] Patriarch Heraclius of Jerusalem 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 True Cross and a sliver of the True 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; it was completed 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.[32]
Arrows show forces in vault and current flying buttresses (detailed description)
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, and 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.[33][32] 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 12th century was the introduction of the flying buttress.[34] 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 12th century. Art historian Andrew Tallon 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,"[35] 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.[35][36] The first buttresses were replaced by larger and stronger ones in the 14th century; these had a reach of fifteen metres (50 ft) between the walls and counter-supports.[13]
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[37]
Plan of the cathedral made by Viollet-le-Duc in the 19th century. Portals and nave to the left, a choir in the center, and apse and ambulatory to the right. The annex to the south is the sacristy.
Plan of the cathedral made by Viollet-le-Duc in the 19th century. Portals and nave to the left, a choir in the center, and apse and ambulatory to the right. The annex to the south is the sacristy.
Early six-part rib vaults of the nave. The ribs transferred the thrust of the weight of the roof downward and outwards to the pillars and the supporting buttresses.
Early six-part rib vaults of the nave. The ribs transferred the thrust of the weight of the roof downward and outwards to the pillars and the supporting buttresses.
The massive buttresses which counter the outward thrust from the rib vaults of the nave. The weight of the building-shaped pinnacles helps keep the line of thrust safely within the buttresses.
The massive buttresses which counter the outward thrust from the rib vaults of the nave. The weight of the building-shaped pinnacles helps keep the line of thrust safely within the buttresses.
Later flying buttresses of the apse of Notre-Dame (14th century) reached 15 metres (49 ft) from the wall to the counter-supports.
Later flying buttresses of the apse of Notre-Dame (14th century) reached 15 metres (49 ft) from the wall to the counter-supports.
15th–18th century
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.[38]
During the Renaissance, the Gothic style fell out of style, and the internal pillars and walls of Notre-Dame were covered with tapestries.[39]
In 1548, rioting Huguenots damaged some of the statues of Notre-Dame, considering them idolatrous.[40]
The fountain [fr] in Notre-Dame's parvis was added in 1625 to provide nearby Parisians with running water.[41]
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 1 May. These works came to be known as the grands mays.[42] 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.
Thirteen of the grands mays hang in Notre-Dame; 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 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.[43] 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.[44] 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.[39] 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.
Henry VI of England's coronation in Notre-Dame as King of France, aged ten, during the Hundred Years' War. His accession to the throne was in accordance with the Treaty of Troyes of 1420.
Henry VI of England's coronation in Notre-Dame as King of France, aged ten, during the Hundred Years' War. His accession to the throne was in accordance with the Treaty of Troyes of 1420.
La Descente du Saint-Esprit; illustration depicting Notre-Dame from the Hours of Étienne Chevalier by Jean Fouquet, c. 1450
La Descente du Saint-Esprit; illustration depicting Notre-Dame from the Hours of Étienne Chevalier by Jean Fouquet, c. 1450
A Te Deum in the choir of Notre-Dame in 1669, during the reign of Louis XIV. The choir was redesigned to make room for more lavish ceremonies.
A Te Deum in the choir of Notre-Dame in 1669, during the reign of Louis XIV. The choir was redesigned to make room for more lavish ceremonies.
French Revolution and Napoleon
After the French Revolution in 1789, Notre-Dame and the rest of the church's property in France was seized and made public property.[45] The cathedral was rededicated in 1793 to the Cult of Reason, and then to the Cult of the Supreme Being in 1794.[46] 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.[13][47] 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.[48] 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.[13] The cathedral came to be used as a warehouse for the storage of food and other non-religious purposes.[40]
With the Concordat of 1801, Napoleon Bonaparte restored Notre-Dame to the Catholic Church; this was finalised 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.[49]
The Cult of Reason is celebrated at Notre-Dame during the French Revolution (1793)
The Cult of Reason is celebrated at Notre-Dame during the French Revolution (1793)
Arrival of Napoleon at the east end of Notre-Dame for his coronation as Emperor of the French on 2 December 1804
Arrival of Napoleon at the east end of Notre-Dame for his coronation as Emperor of the French on 2 December 1804
The coronation of Napoleon, on 2 December 1804 at Notre-Dame, as portrayed in the 1807 painting The Coronation of Napoleon by Jacques-Louis David
The coronation of Napoleon, on 2 December 1804 at Notre-Dame, as portrayed in the 1807 painting The Coronation of Napoleon by Jacques-Louis David
19th-century restoration
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.[13] The same year as Hugo's novel was published, anti-Legitimists plundered Notre-Dame's sacristy.[50] In 1844 King Louis Philippe ordered that the church be restored.[13]
The architect who had been in charge of Notre-Dame's maintenance, Étienne-Hippolyte Godde, was dismissed. 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.[51] 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.[40]
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 nine metres (thirty feet). Master glassworkers meticulously copied styles of the 13th century, as written about by art historians Antoine Lusson and Adolphe Napoléon Didron.[52]
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.[53]
The western façade of Notre-Dame in 1841, showing the building in an advanced state of disrepair before the major restoration by Viollet-le-Duc
The western façade of Notre-Dame in 1841, showing the building in an advanced state of disrepair before the major restoration by Viollet-le-Duc
Proposed doorway decoration by Lassus and Viollet-le-Duc; plate engraved by Léon Gaucherel
Proposed doorway decoration by Lassus and Viollet-le-Duc; plate engraved by Léon Gaucherel
The southern façade of Notre-Dame at the beginning of the restoration work; photo from 1847 by Hippolyte Bayard
The southern façade of Notre-Dame at the beginning of the restoration work; photo from 1847 by Hippolyte Bayard
Model of the flèche and "forest" of wooden roof beams made for Viollet-le-Duc (1859) (Museum of Historic Monuments, Paris)
Model of the flèche and "forest" of wooden roof beams made for Viollet-le-Duc (1859) (Museum of Historic Monuments, Paris)
20th century
Façade of Notre-Dame in the 1930s
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.[54]
On 19 January 1969, vandals placed a North Vietnamese flag at the top of 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 helicopter mission, the first of its kind in France.[55][56][57]
The Requiem Mass of Charles de Gaulle was held in Notre-Dame on 12 November 1970.[58] On 26 June 1971, Philippe Petit walked across a tight-rope strung between Notre-Dame's two bell towers entertaining spectators.[59]
After the Magnificat of 30 May 1980, Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass on the parvis of the cathedral.[60]
The Requiem Mass of François Mitterrand was held at the cathedral, as with past French heads of state, on 11 January 1996.[61]
The stone masonry of the cathedral's exterior had deteriorated in the 19th and 20th centuries 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 fallen or become too loose to remain safely in place.[62] 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.[62][63] A discreet system of electrical wires, not visible from below, was also installed on the roof to deter pigeons.[64] The cathedral's pipe organ was upgraded with a computerised system to control the mechanical connections to the pipes.[65] The west face was cleaned and restored in time for millennium celebrations in December 1999.[66]
21st century
Notre-Dame in May 2012. From top to bottom, nave walls are pierced by clerestory windows, arches to triforium, and arches to side aisles.
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.[67]
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.[68][69] 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.[70][71] 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.[72] 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.[73][74]
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.[75] 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.[76]
French police arrested two people on 8 September 2016 after a car containing seven gas canisters filled with diesel fuel was found near Notre-Dame.[77][78]
On 10 February 2017, French police arrested four people in Montpellier known to have ties to radical Islamist organisations on charges of plotting to travel to Paris and attack the cathedral.[79] On 6 June, visitors were shut inside Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris after a man with a hammer attacked a police officer outside.[80][81]
2019 fire
Main article: Notre-Dame fire
On 15 April 2019 the cathedral caught fire, destroying the flèche and the "forest" of oak roof beams supporting the lead roof.[82][83][84] It was speculated that the fire was linked to ongoing renovation work.
The fire broke out in the attic of the cathedral at 18:18, investigators concluded. The smoke detectors immediately signalled the fire to a cathedral employee, who did not summon the fire brigade but instead sent a cathedral guard to investigate. The guard was sent to the wrong location, to the attic of the adjoining sacristy, and reported there was no fire. About 15 minutes later the error was discovered and the guard's supervisor told him to go to the correct location. The fire brigade was still not notified. By the time the guard had climbed the 300 steps to the cathedral attic, the fire was well advanced.[85] The alarm system was not designed to automatically notify the fire brigade, which was summoned at 18:51 after the guard had returned from the attic and reported a now-raging fire, and more than half an hour after the fire alarm had begun sounding.[86] Firefighters arrived in less than ten minutes.[87]
The cathedral's flèche collapsed at 19:50, bringing down 750 tonnes of stone and lead. The firefighters inside were ordered down. By this time the fire had spread to the north tower, where the eight bells were. The firefighters concentrated their efforts in the tower. They feared that, if the bells fell, they could wreck the tower, and endanger the structure of the other tower and the whole cathedral. They had to ascend a stairway threatened by fire, and to contend with low water pressure for their hoses. As others watered the stairway and the roof, a team of 20 firefighters climbed the narrow stairway of the south tower, crossed to the north tower, lowered hoses to be connected to fire engines outside the cathedral, and sprayed water on the fire beneath the bells. By 21:45, they brought the fire under control.[85]
The main structure was intact; firefighters saved the façade, towers, walls, buttresses, and stained-glass windows. The stone vaulting that forms the ceiling of the cathedral had several holes but was otherwise intact.[88] The Great Organ, which has over 8,000 pipes and was built by François Thierry in the 18th century, was also saved but damaged by water.[89] Because of the renovation, the copper statues on the flèche had been removed before the fire.[90] About 500 firefighters helped to battle the fire, President Emmanuel Macron said. One firefighter was seriously injured and two police officers were hurt during the blaze.[91]
No Christmas Mass was held in 2019 for the first time in more than 200 years.[92] The first cathedral choir performance since the fire took place in December 2020; only eight members sang because of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. A video of the event aired just before midnight on 24 December.[93]
The 2019 fire destroyed Notre-Dame's wooden roof and flèche but left the outer structure largely intact.
The 2019 fire destroyed Notre-Dame's wooden roof and flèche but left the outer structure largely intact.
The flèche aflame during the 2019 fire, before its collapse
The flèche aflame during the 2019 fire, before its collapse
Animation showing the south façade before and after the fire; scaffolding had been erected as part of renovations underway when the fire started
Animation showing the south façade before and after the fire; scaffolding had been erected as part of renovations underway when the fire started
The area directly under the crossing and two other cells of vaulting collapsed
The area directly under the crossing and two other cells of vaulting collapsed
In red, the destroyed parts
In red, the destroyed parts
Stabilisation of the building
The roof reduced to piles of char at the top of the mostly intact vaults
Immediately after the fire, Macron promised that Notre-Dame would be restored, and called for the work to be completed within five years.[94][95][96][97] An international architectural competition was announced to redesign the flèche and roof.[98] The announcement drew criticism in the international press from heritage academics and professionals who faulted the French government for being too focused on quickly building a new flèche, and neglecting to frame its response holistically as an inclusive social process encompassing the whole building and its long-term users.[99][100] A new law was drafted to make Notre-Dame exempt from existing heritage laws and procedures, which prompted an open letter to Macron signed by over 1,170 heritage experts urging respect for existing regulations.[101] The law, which passed on 11 May 2019, was hotly debated in the French National Assembly, with opponents accusing Macron's administration of using Notre-Dame for political grandstanding, and defenders arguing the need for expediency and tax breaks to encourage philanthropic giving.[102]
Macron suggested he was open to a "contemporary architectural gesture". Even before the competition rules were announced, architects around the world offered suggestions: the proposals included a 100-metre (330 ft) flèche made of carbon fibre, covered with gold leaf; a roof built of stained glass; a greenhouse; a garden with trees, open to the sky; and a column of light pointed upwards. A poll published in the French newspaper Le Figaro on 8 May 2019 showed that 55% of French respondents wanted a flèche identical to the original. French culture minister Franck Riester promised that the restoration would not be hasty.[103] On 29 July 2019, the French National Assembly enacted a law requiring that the restoration must "preserve the historic, artistic and architectural interest of the monument."[104]
In October 2019, the French government announced that the first stage of reconstruction, the stabilising of the structure against collapse, would last until the end of 2020. In December 2019, Monseigneur Patrick Chauvet, the rector of the cathedral, said there was still a 50% chance that Notre-Dame could not be saved due to the risk of the remaining scaffolding falling onto the three damaged vaults.[105][106] Reconstruction could not begin before early 2021. Macron announced that he hoped the reconstructed Cathedral could be finished in time for the opening of the 2024 Summer Olympics.[107]
The first task of the restoration was the removal of 250–300 tonnes of melted metal tubes, the remains of the scaffolding, which could have fallen onto the vaults and caused further structural damage. This began in February 2020.[108] A crane 84 metres (276 ft) high was put in place next to the cathedral to help remove the scaffolding.[109] The work was completed in November 2020.[110] Wooden support beams were added to stabilise the flying buttresses and other structures.[111]
On 10 April 2020, the archbishop of Paris, Michel Aupetit, and a handful of participants, all in protective clothing to prevent exposure to lead dust, performed a Good Friday service inside the cathedral.[112] Music was provided by the violinist Renaud Capuçon; the lectors were the actors Philippe Torreton and Judith Chemla.[113] Chemla gave an a cappella rendition of Ave Maria.[114]
Heading reconstruction
In February 2021, the selection of oak trees to replace the flèche and roof timbers destroyed by the fire began. A thousand mature trees were chosen from the forests of France, each of a diameter of 50 to 90 centimetres (20 to 35 in) and a height of 8 to 14 metres (26 to 46 ft), and an age of several hundred years. Once cut, the trees had to dry for 12 to 18 months. The trees were to be replaced by new plantings.[115] Two years after the fire, a news report stated that: "there is still a hole on top of the church. They're also building a replica of the church's spire". More oak trees needed to be shipped to Paris, where they would need to be dried before use.[116] The oaks used to make the framework were tested and selected by Sylvatest.[117]
On 18 September 2021, the public agency overseeing the Cathedral stated that the safety work was completed, the cathedral was fully secured, and that reconstruction would begin within a few months.[118]
Research
In 2022, a preventive dig carried out between February and April before the construction of a scaffold for reconstructing the cathedral's flèche unearthed several statues and tombs under the cathedral.[119] One of the discoveries was a 14th-century lead sarcophagus found 20 m (65 ft) below where the transept crosses the church's 12th-century nave.[120] On 14 April 2022, France's National Preventive Archaeological Research Institute (Inrap) announced that the sarcophagus was extracted from the cathedral and that scientists had examined the casket using an endoscopic camera, revealing the upper part of a skeleton.[121] An opening was discovered below the cathedral floor, likely made around 1230 when the Gothic cathedral was first under construction; inside were fragments of a choir screen dating from the 13th century that had been destroyed in the early 18th century.[122] In March 2023, archaeologists uncovered thousands of metal staples in various parts of the cathedral, some dating back to the early 1160s. The archaeologists concluded that "Notre Dame is now unquestionably the first known Gothic cathedral where iron was massively used to bind stones as a proper construction material."[123][124][125]
Ongoing stabilization of Notre-Dame in February 2020
Ongoing stabilization of Notre-Dame in February 2020
Stabilization of Notre-Dame and removal of roof debris and scaffolding in February 2020
Stabilization of Notre-Dame and removal of roof debris and scaffolding in February 2020
Front view of Notre-Dame in January 2023
Front view of Notre-Dame in January 2023
Southwest corner of Notre-Dame in September 2023
Southwest corner of Notre-Dame in September 2023
Reopening
Main article: Reopening of Notre-Dame de Paris
Reconstruction as of 2024
The cathedral reopened on 7 December 2024 in a ceremony presided over by Laurent Ulrich, the Archbishop of Paris, and attended by 1,500 world leaders and dignitaries such as US President-elect Donald Trump, US first lady Jill Biden, Britain's Prince William, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Pope Francis declined an invitation from Macron to attend the reopening, holding a consistory in Rome to create 21 new cardinals on that day and planning a visit to the French island of Corsica the following week.[126][127]
Interior view of Notre-Dame after restoration work
Colour and controversy
The colour of the restored interior would be "a shock" to some returning visitors, according to General Jean-Louis Georgelin, the French army officer heading the restoration. "The whiteness under the dirt was quite spectacular".[128] The stone was sprayed with a latex solution to remove accumulated grime and soot. The cleaning of the church interior with latex solutions was criticised by Michael Daley of Artwatch UK, referring to the earlier cleaning of St Paul's Cathedral in London. He asked, "Is there any good basis for wishing to present an artificially brightened and ahistorical white interior?"[129] Jean-Michel Guilemont of the French Ministry of culture responded, "The interior elevations will regain their original colour, since the chapels and side aisles were very dirty. Of course it is not a white colour. The stone has a blonde colour, and the architects are very attentive to obtaining a patina which respects the centuries".[130]
New window controversy
St. Eloi Chapel window proposed for replacement by a modernist window
A new controversy arose in late 2024 over a proposal by French President Macron and the Archbishop Laurent Ulrich to replace six stained glass windows installed in chapels in the 19th century by Viollet-le-Duc and undamaged by the fire, with six modernist windows designed by contemporary artist Claire Tabouret. Tabouret won a competition sponsored by the French government for a new window design. Her proposed windows would realistically depict people from different cultures praying. The proposed windows are strongly opposed by preservationists, who want the cathedral to be restored exactly as it was before the fire.[131]
Furthermore, Emmanuel Macron announced the creation of a museum dedicated to Notre-Dame within the Hôtel-Dieu.[132]
Towers and the flèche
Main article: Spire of Notre-Dame de Paris
The two towers are 69 metres (226 ft) high. The towers were the last major element of the cathedral to be constructed. The south tower was built first, between 1220 and 1240, and the north tower between 1235 and 1250. The newer north tower is slightly larger, as can be seen when they are viewed from directly in front of the church. The contrefort or buttress of the north tower is also larger.[133] The cathedral's main peal of bells is within these towers.
The south tower was accessible to visitors by a stairway, whose entrance was on the south side of the tower. The stairway has 387 steps, and has a stop at the Gothic hall at the level of the rose window, where visitors could look over the parvis and see a collection of paintings and sculpture from earlier periods of the cathedral's history.
The cathedral's flèche (or spirelet) was located over the transept. The original flèche was constructed in the 13th century, probably between 1220 and 1230. It was battered, weakened and bent by the wind over five centuries, and was removed in 1786. During the 19th-century restoration, Viollet-le-Duc recreated it, making a new version of oak covered with lead. The entire flèche weighed 750 tonnes.
The rooster weathervane on top of the flèche has both a religious and political symbolism. The rooster is the symbol of the French state, which since 1905 has owned Notre-Dame and the other 86 cathedrals in France. It is found over all French cathedrals, as well as over the entrance of the Elysée Palace, the residence of the French president, on other government buildings, and on French postage stamps.
Following Viollet-le-Duc's plans, the flèche was surrounded by copper statues of the twelve Apostles—a group of three at each point of the compass. In front of each group is a symbol representing one of the four evangelists: a winged ox for Saint Luke,[134] a lion for Saint Mark, an eagle for Saint John and an angel for Saint Matthew. Just days prior to the fire, the statues were removed for restoration.[135] While in place, they had faced outwards towards Paris, except one: the statue of Saint Thomas, the patron saint of architects, faced the flèche, and had the features of Viollet-le-Duc.
The rooster weathervane at the top of the flèche contained three relics: a tiny piece from the Crown of Thorns in the cathedral treasury, and relics of Saint Denis and Saint Genevieve, patron saints of Paris. They were placed there in 1935 by Archbishop Jean Verdier, to protect the congregation from lightning or other harm. The rooster was recovered in the rubble shortly after the fire,[136] and has since been on display inside the reopened cathedral.
The new flèche was put in place on 16 December 2023, and a new gilded rooster sculpture, designed by architect Philippe Villeneuve, was also installed, containing the same relics as old flèche, as well as the names of two thousand people who had participated in the reconstruction. Getting to work, Villeneuve's team scrutinised the journal in which Viollet-le-Duc had entered all the details of Notre-Dame's 19th century restoration work.[137]
Towers on west façade (1220–1250)
Towers on west façade (1220–1250)
The gallery of chimeras pictured in 1910 by Georges Redon
The gallery of chimeras pictured in 1910 by Georges Redon
The 19th-century flèche
The 19th-century flèche
The rooster reliquary at the top of the flèche. It was found lightly damaged in the rubble after the 2019 fire.
The rooster reliquary at the top of the flèche. It was found lightly damaged in the rubble after the 2019 fire.
The flèche from above, in 2013
The flèche from above, in 2013
Statue of Thomas the Apostle, with the features of restorer Viollet-le-Duc, at the base of the flèche
Statue of Thomas the Apostle, with the features of restorer Viollet-le-Duc, at the base of the flèche
Iconography
See also: List of sculptures in Notre-Dame de Paris
The Gothic cathedral was a liber pauperum, a "poor people's book", covered with sculptures vividly illustrating biblical stories, for the vast majority of parishioners who were, at the time, illiterate. To add to the effect, all of the sculpture on the façades was originally painted and gilded.[138]
The tympanum over the central portal on the west façade, facing the square, vividly illustrates the Last Judgment, with figures of sinners being led off to hell, and good Christians taken to heaven. The sculpture of the right portal shows the coronation of the Virgin Mary, and the left portal shows the lives of saints who were important to Parisians, particularly Saint Anne, the mother of the Virgin Mary.[139]
The exteriors of cathedrals and other Gothic churches were also decorated with sculptures of grotesques or monsters. These included the gargoyle, the chimera, a mythical hybrid creature which usually had the body of a lion and the head of a goat, and the strix or stryge, a creature resembling an owl or bat, which was said to eat human flesh. The strix appeared in classical Roman literature; it was described by the Roman poet Ovid, who was widely read in the Middle Ages, as a large-headed bird with transfixed eyes, rapacious beak, and greyish white wings.[140] They were part of the visual message for the illiterate worshipers, symbols of the evil and danger that threatened those who did not follow the teachings of the church.[141]
The gargoyles, which were added about 1240, had a more practical purpose. They were the rain spouts of the cathedral, designed to divide the torrent of water which poured from the roof after rain, and to project it outwards as far as possible from the buttresses and the walls and windows where it might erode the mortar binding the stone. To produce many thin streams rather than a torrent of water, a large number of gargoyles were used, so they were also designed to be a decorative element of the architecture. The rainwater ran from the roof into lead gutters, then down channels on the flying buttresses, then along a channel cut in the back of the gargoyle and out of the mouth away from the cathedral.[138]
Amid all the religious figures, some of the sculptural decoration was devoted to illustrating medieval science and philosophy. The central portal of the west façade is decorated with carved figures holding circular plaques with symbols of transformation taken from alchemy. The central pillar of the central door of Notre-Dame features a statue of a woman on a throne holding a sceptre in her left hand, and in her right hand, two books, one open (symbol of public knowledge), and the other closed (esoteric knowledge), along with a ladder with seven steps, symbolising the seven steps alchemists followed in trying to transform ordinary metals into gold.[141] On each side of the west façade, there are statues of Ecclesia and Synagoga. The statues represent supersessionism, the Christian belief that Christianity has replaced Judaism.[142]
Many of the statues, particularly the grotesques, were removed from the façade in the 17th and 18th centuries, or were destroyed during the French Revolution. They were replaced with figures in the Gothic style, designed by Viollet-le-Duc, during the 19th-century restoration.
Illustration of the Last Judgment, central portal of west façade
Illustration of the Last Judgment,
central portal of west façade
The martyr Saint Denis, holding his head, over the Portal of the Virgin
The martyr Saint Denis, holding his head, over the Portal of the Virgin
The serpent tempts Adam and Eve; on the Portal of the Virgin
The serpent tempts Adam and Eve; on the Portal of the Virgin
Archangel Michael and Satan weighing souls during the Last Judgment (central portal, west façade)
Archangel Michael and Satan weighing souls during the Last Judgment (central portal, west façade)
A strix on the west façade
A strix on the west façade
Gargoyles were the rainspouts of the cathedral
Gargoyles were the rainspouts of the cathedral
Chimera on the façade
Chimera on the façade
Allegory of alchemy, central portal
Allegory of alchemy, central portal
Ecclesia and Synagoga, statues on each side of the west façade
Ecclesia and Synagoga, statues on each side of the west façade
Stained glass
The stained glass windows of Notre-Dame, particularly the three rose windows, are among the most famous features of the cathedral. The west rose window, over the portals, was the first and smallest of the roses in Notre-Dame. It is 9.6 metres (31 ft) in diameter, and was made in about 1225, with the pieces of glass set in a thick circular stone frame. None of the original glass remains in this window; it was recreated in the 19th century.[143]
The two transept windows are larger and contain a greater proportion of glass than the rose on the west façade, because the new system of buttresses made the nave walls thinner and stronger. The north rose was created in about 1250, and the south rose in about 1260. The south rose in the transept is 12.9 metres (42 ft) in diameter; with the claire-voie surrounding it, a total of 19 metres (62 ft). It was given to the cathedral by King Louis IX of France, known as Saint Louis.[144]
The south rose has 94 medallions, arranged in four circles, depicting scenes from the life of Christ and those who witnessed his time on earth. The inner circle has twelve medallions showing the twelve apostles. During later restorations, some of these original medallions were moved to circles farther out. The next two circles depict celebrated martyrs and virgins. The fourth circle shows twenty angels, and saints important to Paris, such as Saint Denis, Margaret the Virgin with a dragon, and Saint Eustace. The third and fourth circles also have some depictions of Old Testament subjects. The third circle has some medallions with scenes from the New Testament Gospel of Matthew which date from the last quarter of the 12th century. These are the oldest glass in the window.[144]
Additional scenes in the corners around the rose window include Jesus's Descent into Hell, Adam and Eve, the Resurrection of Christ. Saint Peter and Saint Paul are at the bottom of the window, and Mary Magdalene and John the Apostle at the top.
Above the rose was a window depicting Christ triumphant seated in the sky, surrounded by his Apostles. Below are sixteen windows with painted images of Prophets. These were painted during the restoration in the 19th century by Alfred Gérenthe, under the direction of Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, based upon a similar window at Chartres Cathedral.[144]
The south rose had a difficult history. In 1543 it was damaged by the settling of the masonry walls, and not restored until 1725–1727. It was seriously damaged in the French Revolution of 1830. Rioters burned the residence of the archbishop, next to the cathedral, and many of the panes were destroyed. The window was rebuilt by Viollet-le-Duc in 1861 who rotated it by fifteen degrees to give it a clear vertical and horizontal axis, and replaced the destroyed pieces of glass with new glass in the same style. The window now contains both medieval and 19th-century glass. [144]
In the 1960s, after three decades of debate, it was decided to replace many of the 19th-century grisaille windows in the nave designed by Viollet-le-Duc with new windows. The new windows, made by Jacques Le Chevallier, are without human figures and use abstract designs and colour to try to recreate the luminosity of the cathedral's interior in the 13th century.
The fire left the three great medieval rose windows mostly intact, but with some damage.[145] The rector of the cathedral noted that one rose window would have to be dismantled, as it was unstable and at risk.[146] Most of the other damaged windows were of much less historical value.[146]
In early 2024 Macron proposed removing six of the seven undamaged 19th-century stained glass windows created by Eugene Viollet-le-Duc in the chapels along the south aisle of the nave, and replacing them with new windows with more contemporary designs. He invited contemporary artists to submit designs for the new windows. This proposal inspired a backlash in the press, and 140,000 people signed a petition to keep the old windows. The plan for contemporary windows was rejected by the French Commission on Architectural Monuments and Patrimony in July 2024.[147]
The earliest rose window, on the west façade (about 1225)
The earliest rose window, on the west façade (about 1225)
The west rose window (about 1225)
The west rose window (about 1225)
North rose window (about 1250)
North rose window (about 1250)
North rose window including lower 18 vertical windows
North rose window including lower 18 vertical windows
Burials and crypts
For the Archeological Crypt located outside of Notre-Dame, see Parvis Notre-Dame – Place Jean-Paul II.
See also: Category:Burials at Notre-Dame de Paris
Unlike some other French cathedrals, Notre-Dame was originally constructed without a crypt. In the medieval period, burials were made directly into the floor of the church, or in above-ground sarcophagi, some with tomb effigies (French: gisant). High-ranking clergy and some royals were buried in the choir and apse, and many others, including lower-ranking clergy and lay people, were buried in the nave or chapels. There is no surviving complete record of the burials.
In 1699, many of the choir tombs were disturbed or covered over during a major renovation project. Remains which were exhumed were reburied in a common tomb beside the high altar. In 1711, a small crypt measuring about six by six metres (20 by 20 ft) was dug out in the middle of the choir which was used as a burial vault for the archbishops, if they had not requested to be buried elsewhere. It was during this excavation that the 1st-century Pillar of the Boatmen was discovered.[148] In 1758, three more crypts were dug in the Chapel of Saint-Georges to be used for burials of canons of Notre-Dame. In 1765, a larger crypt was built under the nave to be used for burials of canons, beneficiaries, chaplains, cantors, and choirboys. Between 1771 and 1773, the cathedral floor was repaved with black and white marble tiles, which covered over most of the remaining tombs. This prevented many of these tombs from being disturbed during the French Revolution.
In 1858, the choir crypt was expanded to stretch most of the length of the choir. During this project, many medieval tombs were rediscovered. Likewise the nave crypt was also rediscovered in 1863 when a larger vault was dug out to install a vault heater. Many other tombs are also located in the chapels.[149][150]
Eudes de Sully was the first bishop to be buried in Notre-Dame. His copper-covered sarcophagus was placed in the middle of the choir where it remained for almost five centuries.
Eudes de Sully was the first bishop to be buried in Notre-Dame. His copper-covered sarcophagus was placed in the middle of the choir where it remained for almost five centuries.
The tomb of bishop Matifort (died 1304) located behind the high altar is the only surviving medieval funerary sculpture at Notre-Dame.
The tomb of bishop Matifort (died 1304) located behind the high altar is the only surviving medieval funerary sculpture at Notre-Dame.
Burial vault under the choir of Notre-Dame, c. 1746. Pictured left to right are the tombs of Archbishops Vintimille and Bellefonds, the funerary urn of Archbishop Noailles, and two unidentified tombs.
Burial vault under the choir of Notre-Dame, c. 1746. Pictured left to right are the tombs of Archbishops Vintimille and Bellefonds, the funerary urn of Archbishop Noailles, and two unidentified tombs.
The tomb of Archbishop Affre (1793–1848) in the Chapel of Saint-Denis. The sculpture depicts the archbishop's mortal wounding during the June Days uprising while holding an olive branch as a sign of peace. The inscription reads Puisse mon sang être le dernier versé! ("May my blood be the last shed!").
The tomb of Archbishop Affre (1793–1848) in the Chapel of Saint-Denis. The sculpture depicts the archbishop's mortal wounding during the June Days uprising while holding an olive branch as a sign of peace. The inscription reads Puisse mon sang être le dernier versé! ("May my blood be the last shed!").
Great organ
The great organ
One of the earliest organs at Notre-Dame was built in 1403 by Frédéric Schambantz. It was rebuilt many times over the course of 300 years; however, twelve pipes and some wood survive from Schambantz. It was replaced between 1730 and 1738 by François Thierry, then once again rebuilt by François-Henri Clicquot. During the mid-19th-century restoration of the cathedral by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, Aristide Cavaillé-Coll used pipework from earlier instruments to build a new organ, which was dedicated in 1868.
In 1904, Charles Mutin modified and added several stops upon the suggestions of titular organist Louis Vierne. In 1924, the installation of an electric blower was financed by Rolls-Royce CEO Claude Johnson. An extensive restoration and cleaning was carried out by Joseph Beuchet in 1932 which mostly included changes to the Récit. Between 1959 and 1963, the mechanical action with Barker levers was replaced with an electric action by Jean Hermann, and a new organ console was installed.
The stoplist was gradually modified by Robert Boisseau, who in 1968 added three chamade stops (8′, 4′, and 2′/16′) and by Jean-Loup Boisseau after 1975, all upon the orders of Pierre Cochereau. In autumn 1983, the electric combination system was disconnected due to short-circuit risk.
Between 1990 and 1992, Jean-Loup Boisseau, Bertrand Cattiaux, Philippe Émeriau, Michel Giroud, and the Société Synaptel revised and augmented the instrument. A new frame for the Jean Hermann console was created. Between 2012 and 2014, Bertrand Cattiaux and Pascal Quoirin restored, cleaned, and modified the organ. The stop and key action was upgraded, a new frame for selected components of the Hermann-Boisseau-Cattiaux console was created, a new enclosed division ("Résonnance expressive", using pipework from the former "Petite Pédale" by Boisseau, which can now be used as a floating division), the organ case and the façade pipes were restored, and a general tuning was carried out. The current organ has 115 stops (156 ranks) on five manuals and pedal, and more than 8,000 pipes.
In addition to the great organ in the west end, the quire of the cathedral carries a medium-sized choir organ of 2 manuals, 30 stops and 37 ranks in a nineteenth-century case from the 1960s. During the fire of 2019, it was heavily damaged by waterlogging, but is at least partially reusable. It also had a 5-stop single-manual continuo organ, which was completely destroyed by water from firefighters.
The great organ itself suffered minimal damage (mostly to a single pipe of the Principal 32' and substantial dust) in the fire of April 2019 and underwent maintenance for cleaning and tuning. It was formally reblessed in 2024.
I. Grand-Orgue
C–g3II. Positif
C–g3III. Récit
C–g3IV. Solo
C–g3V. Grand-Chœur
C–g3Résonnance expressive
C–g3Pédale
C–f1(keys go to g1, but f#1 and g1 silent)
Violon-Basse 16
Bourdon 16
Montre 8
Viole de Gambe 8
Flûte harmonique 8
Bourdon 8
Prestant 4
Octave 4
Doublette 2
Fourniture harmonique II-V 4
Cymbale harmonique II-V 2 2/3
Bombarde 16
Trompette 8
Clairon 4
Chamades:
Chamade 8
Chamade 4
Chamade Recit 8
Cornet Recit V (from c)
Montre 16
Bourdon 16
Salicional 8
Flûte harmonique 8
Bourdon 8
Unda maris 8 (from c)
Prestant 4
Flûte douce 4
Nazard 2+2⁄3
Doublette 2
Tierce 1+3⁄5
Fourniture V
Cymbale V
Clarinette basse 16
Clarinette 8
Clarinette aiguë 4
Récit expressif:
Quintaton 16
Diapason 8
Flûte traversière 8
Viole de Gambe 8
Bourdon céleste 8 (from c)
Voix céleste 8 (from c)
Octave 4
Flûte Octaviante 4
Quinte 2+2⁄3
Octavin 2
Bombarde 16
Trompette 8
Basson-Hautbois 8
Clarinette 8
Voix humaine 8
Clairon 4
Récit classique: (from f)
Cornet V 8
Hautbois 8
Chamades:
Basse Chamade 8
Dessus Chamade 8
Chamade 4
Chamade Régale 8
Basse Chamade GO 8
Dessus Chamade GO 8
Chamade GO 4
Trémolo
Bourdon 32 (lowest octave acoustic)
Principal 16
Montre 8
Flûte harmonique 8
Quinte 5+1⁄3
Prestant 4
Tierce 3+1⁄5
Nazard 2+2⁄3
Septième 2+2⁄7
Doublette 2
Cornet II-V 2 2/3
Grande Fourniture II 2 2/3
Fourniture V
Cymbale V
Cromorne 8
Chamade GO 8
Chamade GO 4
Cornet Récit V
Hautbois Récit 8 (above stops: f-g3, outside swell box)
Principal 8
Bourdon 8 *
Prestant 4 *
Quinte 2+2⁄3 *
Doublette 2 *
Tierce 1+3⁄5 *
Larigot 1+1⁄3
Septième 1+1⁄7
Piccolo 1
Plein jeu III-V 2/3
Tuba magna 16
Trompette 8
Clairon 4
Cornet V 8
(pulls out stops with asterisks)
Bourdon 16
Principal 8
Bourdon 8
Prestant 4
Flûte 4
Neuvième 3+5⁄9
Tierce 3+1⁄5
Onzième 2+10⁄11
Nazard 2+2⁄3
Flûte 2
Tierce 1+3⁄5
Larigot 1+1⁄3
Flageolet 1
Fourniture III
Cymbale III
Basson 16
Basson 8
Voix humaine 8
Chimes
Tremblant
Principal 32
Contrebasse 16
Soubasse 16
Quinte 10+2⁄3
Flûte 8
Violoncelle 8
Tierce 6+2⁄5
Quinte 5+1⁄3
Septième 4+4⁄7
Octave 4
Contre-Bombarde 32
Bombarde 16
Basson 16
Trompette 8
Basson 8
Clairon 4
Chamade GO 8
Chamade GO 4
Chamade Récit 8
Chamade Récit 4
Régale 2/16
Couplers: II/I, III/I, IV/I, V/I; III/II, IV/II, V/II; IV/III, V/III; V/IV, Octave grave général, inversion Positif/Grand-orgue, Tirasses (Grand-orgue, Positif, Récit, Solo, Grand-Chœur en 8; Grand-Orgue en 4, Positif en 4, Récit en 4, Solo en 4, Grand-Chœur en 4), Sub and Super octave couplers and Unison Off for all manuals (Octaves graves, octaves aiguës, annulation 8′); octaves aiguës Pédalier
Additional features: Coupure Pédalier; Coupure Chamade; Appel Résonnance; sostenuto for all manuals and the pedal; cancel buttons for each division; 50,000 combinations (5,000 groups each); replay system
Organists
The p
Continuous Service from 1913
Our new bank building was opened for business on July 1, 1963, featuring all new Safety Deposit Box Protection, complete alarm system, Night and Day depository, drive in window and a large parking area.
Olson's Studio
Dexter Press
80277-B
CAPA-016840
TEIGN C Damen Stan 1405
IMO: - N/A
MMSI: 235082804
Call Sign: MWBM9
AIS Vessel Type: Dredger
GENERAL
DAMEN YARD NUMBER: 503705
Avelingen-West 20
4202 MS Gorinchem
The Netherlands
Phone: +31 (0)183 63 99 11
info@damen.com
DELIVERY DATE August 2001
BASIC FUNCTIONS Towing, mooring, pushing and dredging operations
FLAG United Kingdom [GB]
OWNED Teignmouth Harbour Commission
CASSCATION: Bureau Veritas 1 HULL MACH Seagoing Launch
DIMENSIONS
LENGTH 14.40 m
BEAM 4.73 m
DEPTH AT SIDES 205 m
DRAUGHT AFT 171 m
DISPLACEMENT 48 ton
TANK CAPACITIES
Fuel oil 6.9 m³
PERFORMANCES (TRIALS)
BOLLARD PULL AHEAD 8.0 ton
SPEED 9.8 knots
PROPULSION SYSTEM
MAIN ENGINE 2x Caterpillar 3406C TA/A
TOTAL POWER 477 bmW (640i hp) at 1800 rpm
GEARBOX 2x Twin Disc MG 5091/3.82:1
PROPELLERS Bronze fixed pitch propeller
KORT NOZZELS Van de Giessen 2x 1000 mm with stainless steel innerings
ENGINE CONTROL Kobelt
STEERING GEAR 2x 25 mm single plate Powered hydraulic 2x 45, rudder indicator
AUXILIARY EQUIPMENT
BILGE PUMP Sterling SIH 20, 32 m/hr
BATTERY SETS 2x 24V, 200 Ah + change over facility
COOLING SYSTEM Closed cooling system
ALARM SYSTEM Engines, gearboxes and bilge alarms
FRESH WATER PRESSURE SET Speck 24V
DECK LAY-OUT
ANCHORS 2x 48 kg Pool (HHP)
CHAIN 70 m, Ø 13mm, shortlink U2
ANCHOR WINCH Hand-operated
TOWING HOOK Mampaey, 15.3 ton SWL
COUPLING WINCH
PUSHBOW Cylindrical nubber fender Ø 380 mm
ACCOMMODATION
The wheelhouse ceiling and sides are insulated with mineral wool and
panelled. The wheelhouse floor is covered with rubber/synthetic floor
covering, make Bolidt, color blue The wheelhouse has one
helmsman seat, a bench and table with chair Below deck two berths, a
kitchen unit and a toilet space are arranged.
NAUTICAL AND COMMUNICATION EQUIPMENT
SEARCHLIGHT Den Haan 170 W 24 V
VHF RADIO Sailor RT 2048 25 W
NAVIGATION Navigation lights incl towing and pilot lights
Teignmouth Harbour Commission
The Harbour Commission is a Trust Port created by Statute.
The principal Order is the Teignmouth Harbour Order 1924
as amended by the Teignmouth Harbour Revision Order 2003
Fish, any of approximately 34,000 species of vertebrate animals (phylum Chordata) found in the fresh and salt waters of the world. Living species range from the primitive jawless lampreys and hagfishes through the cartilaginous sharks, skates, and rays to the abundant and diverse bony fishes. Most fish species are cold-blooded; however, one species, the opah (Lampris guttatus), is warm-blooded.
The term fish is applied to a variety of vertebrates of several evolutionary lines. It describes a life-form rather than a taxonomic group. As members of the phylum Chordata, fish share certain features with other vertebrates. These features are gill slits at some point in the life cycle, a notochord, or skeletal supporting rod, a dorsal hollow nerve cord, and a tail. Living fishes represent some five classes, which are as distinct from one another as are the four classes of familiar air-breathing animals—amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. For example, the jawless fishes (Agnatha) have gills in pouches and lack limb girdles. Extant agnathans are the lampreys and the hagfishes. As the name implies, the skeletons of fishes of the class Chondrichthyes (from chondr, “cartilage,” and ichthyes, “fish”) are made entirely of cartilage. Modern fish of this class lack a swim bladder, and their scales and teeth are made up of the same placoid material. Sharks, skates, and rays are examples of cartilaginous fishes. The bony fishes are by far the largest class. Examples range from the tiny seahorse to the 450-kg (1,000-pound) blue marlin, from the flattened soles and flounders to the boxy puffers and ocean sunfishes. Unlike the scales of the cartilaginous fishes, those of bony fishes, when present, grow throughout life and are made up of thin overlapping plates of bone. Bony fishes also have an operculum that covers the gill slits.
The study of fishes, the science of ichthyology, is of broad importance. Fishes are of interest to humans for many reasons, the most important being their relationship with and dependence on the environment. A more obvious reason for interest in fishes is their role as a moderate but important part of the world’s food supply. This resource, once thought unlimited, is now realized to be finite and in delicate balance with the biological, chemical, and physical factors of the aquatic environment. Overfishing, pollution, and alteration of the environment are the chief enemies of proper fisheries management, both in fresh waters and in the ocean. (For a detailed discussion of the technology and economics of fisheries, see commercial fishing.) Another practical reason for studying fishes is their use in disease control. As predators on mosquito larvae, they help curb malaria and other mosquito-borne diseases.
Fishes are valuable laboratory animals in many aspects of medical and biological research. For example, the readiness of many fishes to acclimate to captivity has allowed biologists to study behaviour, physiology, and even ecology under relatively natural conditions. Fishes have been especially important in the study of animal behaviour, where research on fishes has provided a broad base for the understanding of the more flexible behaviour of the higher vertebrates. The zebra fish is used as a model in studies of gene expression.
There are aesthetic and recreational reasons for an interest in fishes. Millions of people keep live fishes in home aquariums for the simple pleasure of observing the beauty and behaviour of animals otherwise unfamiliar to them. Aquarium fishes provide a personal challenge to many aquarists, allowing them to test their ability to keep a small section of the natural environment in their homes. Sportfishing is another way of enjoying the natural environment, also indulged in by millions of people every year. Interest in aquarium fishes and sportfishing supports multimillion-dollar industries throughout the world.
Fishes have been in existence for more than 450 million years, during which time they have evolved repeatedly to fit into almost every conceivable type of aquatic habitat. In a sense, land vertebrates are simply highly modified fishes: when fishes colonized the land habitat, they became tetrapod (four-legged) land vertebrates. The popular conception of a fish as a slippery, streamlined aquatic animal that possesses fins and breathes by gills applies to many fishes, but far more fishes deviate from that conception than conform to it. For example, the body is elongate in many forms and greatly shortened in others; the body is flattened in some (principally in bottom-dwelling fishes) and laterally compressed in many others; the fins may be elaborately extended, forming intricate shapes, or they may be reduced or even lost; and the positions of the mouth, eyes, nostrils, and gill openings vary widely. Air breathers have appeared in several evolutionary lines.
Many fishes are cryptically coloured and shaped, closely matching their respective environments; others are among the most brilliantly coloured of all organisms, with a wide range of hues, often of striking intensity, on a single individual. The brilliance of pigments may be enhanced by the surface structure of the fish, so that it almost seems to glow. A number of unrelated fishes have actual light-producing organs. Many fishes are able to alter their coloration—some for the purpose of camouflage, others for the enhancement of behavioral signals.
Fishes range in adult length from less than 10 mm (0.4 inch) to more than 20 metres (60 feet) and in weight from about 1.5 grams (less than 0.06 ounce) to many thousands of kilograms. Some live in shallow thermal springs at temperatures slightly above 42 °C (100 °F), others in cold Arctic seas a few degrees below 0 °C (32 °F) or in cold deep waters more than 4,000 metres (13,100 feet) beneath the ocean surface. The structural and, especially, the physiological adaptations for life at such extremes are relatively poorly known and provide the scientifically curious with great incentive for study.
Almost all natural bodies of water bear fish life, the exceptions being very hot thermal ponds and extremely salt-alkaline lakes, such as the Dead Sea in Asia and the Great Salt Lake in North America. The present distribution of fishes is a result of the geological history and development of Earth as well as the ability of fishes to undergo evolutionary change and to adapt to the available habitats. Fishes may be seen to be distributed according to habitat and according to geographical area. Major habitat differences are marine and freshwater. For the most part, the fishes in a marine habitat differ from those in a freshwater habitat, even in adjacent areas, but some, such as the salmon, migrate from one to the other. The freshwater habitats may be seen to be of many kinds. Fishes found in mountain torrents, Arctic lakes, tropical lakes, temperate streams, and tropical rivers will all differ from each other, both in obvious gross structure and in physiological attributes. Even in closely adjacent habitats where, for example, a tropical mountain torrent enters a lowland stream, the fish fauna will differ. The marine habitats can be divided into deep ocean floors (benthic), mid-water oceanic (bathypelagic), surface oceanic (pelagic), rocky coast, sandy coast, muddy shores, bays, estuaries, and others. Also, for example, rocky coastal shores in tropical and temperate regions will have different fish faunas, even when such habitats occur along the same coastline.
Although much is known about the present geographical distribution of fishes, far less is known about how that distribution came about. Many parts of the fish fauna of the fresh waters of North America and Eurasia are related and undoubtedly have a common origin. The faunas of Africa and South America are related, extremely old, and probably an expression of the drifting apart of the two continents. The fauna of southern Asia is related to that of Central Asia, and some of it appears to have entered Africa. The extremely large shore-fish faunas of the Indian and tropical Pacific oceans comprise a related complex, but the tropical shore fauna of the Atlantic, although containing Indo-Pacific components, is relatively limited and probably younger. The Arctic and Antarctic marine faunas are quite different from each other. The shore fauna of the North Pacific is quite distinct, and that of the North Atlantic more limited and probably younger. Pelagic oceanic fishes, especially those in deep waters, are similar the world over, showing little geographical isolation in terms of family groups. The deep oceanic habitat is very much the same throughout the world, but species differences do exist, showing geographical areas determined by oceanic currents and water masses.
All aspects of the life of a fish are closely correlated with adaptation to the total environment, physical, chemical, and biological. In studies, all the interdependent aspects of fish, such as behaviour, locomotion, reproduction, and physical and physiological characteristics, must be taken into account.
Correlated with their adaptation to an extremely wide variety of habitats is the extremely wide variety of life cycles that fishes display. The great majority hatch from relatively small eggs a few days to several weeks or more after the eggs are scattered in the water. Newly hatched young are still partially undeveloped and are called larvae until body structures such as fins, skeleton, and some organs are fully formed. Larval life is often very short, usually less than a few weeks, but it can be very long, some lampreys continuing as larvae for at least five years. Young and larval fishes, before reaching sexual maturity, must grow considerably, and their small size and other factors often dictate that they live in a habitat different than that of the adults. For example, most tropical marine shore fishes have pelagic larvae. Larval food also is different, and larval fishes often live in shallow waters, where they may be less exposed to predators.
After a fish reaches adult size, the length of its life is subject to many factors, such as innate rates of aging, predation pressure, and the nature of the local climate. The longevity of a species in the protected environment of an aquarium may have nothing to do with how long members of that species live in the wild. Many small fishes live only one to three years at the most. In some species, however, individuals may live as long as 10 or 20 or even 100 years.
Fish behaviour is a complicated and varied subject. As in almost all animals with a central nervous system, the nature of a response of an individual fish to stimuli from its environment depends upon the inherited characteristics of its nervous system, on what it has learned from past experience, and on the nature of the stimuli. Compared with the variety of human responses, however, that of a fish is stereotyped, not subject to much modification by “thought” or learning, and investigators must guard against anthropomorphic interpretations of fish behaviour.
Fishes perceive the world around them by the usual senses of sight, smell, hearing, touch, and taste and by special lateral line water-current detectors. In the few fishes that generate electric fields, a process that might best be called electrolocation aids in perception. One or another of these senses often is emphasized at the expense of others, depending upon the fish’s other adaptations. In fishes with large eyes, the sense of smell may be reduced; others, with small eyes, hunt and feed primarily by smell (such as some eels).
Specialized behaviour is primarily concerned with the three most important activities in the fish’s life: feeding, reproduction, and escape from enemies. Schooling behaviour of sardines on the high seas, for instance, is largely a protective device to avoid enemies, but it is also associated with and modified by their breeding and feeding requirements. Predatory fishes are often solitary, lying in wait to dart suddenly after their prey, a kind of locomotion impossible for beaked parrot fishes, which feed on coral, swimming in small groups from one coral head to the next. In addition, some predatory fishes that inhabit pelagic environments, such as tunas, often school.
Sleep in fishes, all of which lack true eyelids, consists of a seemingly listless state in which the fish maintains its balance but moves slowly. If attacked or disturbed, most can dart away. A few kinds of fishes lie on the bottom to sleep. Most catfishes, some loaches, and some eels and electric fishes are strictly nocturnal, being active and hunting for food during the night and retiring during the day to holes, thick vegetation, or other protective parts of the environment.
Communication between members of a species or between members of two or more species often is extremely important, especially in breeding behaviour (see below Reproduction). The mode of communication may be visual, as between the small so-called cleaner fish and a large fish of a very different species. The larger fish often allows the cleaner to enter its mouth to remove gill parasites. The cleaner is recognized by its distinctive colour and actions and therefore is not eaten, even if the larger fish is normally a predator. Communication is often chemical, signals being sent by specific chemicals called pheromones.
Many fishes have a streamlined body and swim freely in open water. Fish locomotion is closely correlated with habitat and ecological niche (the general position of the animal to its environment).
Many fishes in both marine and fresh waters swim at the surface and have mouths adapted to feed best (and sometimes only) at the surface. Often such fishes are long and slender, able to dart at surface insects or at other surface fishes and in turn to dart away from predators; needlefishes, halfbeaks, and topminnows (such as killifish and mosquito fish) are good examples. Oceanic flying fishes escape their predators by gathering speed above the water surface, with the lower lobe of the tail providing thrust in the water. They then glide hundreds of yards on enlarged, winglike pectoral and pelvic fins. South American freshwater flying fishes escape their enemies by jumping and propelling their strongly keeled bodies out of the water.
So-called mid-water swimmers, the most common type of fish, are of many kinds and live in many habitats. The powerful fusiform tunas and the trouts, for example, are adapted for strong, fast swimming, the tunas to capture prey speedily in the open ocean and the trouts to cope with the swift currents of streams and rivers. The trout body form is well adapted to many habitats. Fishes that live in relatively quiet waters such as bays or lake shores or slow rivers usually are not strong, fast swimmers but are capable of short, quick bursts of speed to escape a predator. Many of these fishes have their sides flattened, examples being the sunfish and the freshwater angelfish of aquarists. Fish associated with the bottom or substrate usually are slow swimmers. Open-water plankton-feeding fishes almost always remain fusiform and are capable of rapid, strong movement (for example, sardines and herrings of the open ocean and also many small minnows of streams and lakes).
Bottom-living fishes are of many kinds and have undergone many types of modification of their body shape and swimming habits. Rays, which evolved from strong-swimming mid-water sharks, usually stay close to the bottom and move by undulating their large pectoral fins. Flounders live in a similar habitat and move over the bottom by undulating the entire body. Many bottom fishes dart from place to place, resting on the bottom between movements, a motion common in gobies. One goby relative, the mudskipper, has taken to living at the edge of pools along the shore of muddy mangrove swamps. It escapes its enemies by flipping rapidly over the mud, out of the water. Some catfishes, synbranchid eels, the so-called climbing perch, and a few other fishes venture out over damp ground to find more promising waters than those that they left. They move by wriggling their bodies, sometimes using strong pectoral fins; most have accessory air-breathing organs. Many bottom-dwelling fishes live in mud holes or rocky crevices. Marine eels and gobies commonly are found in such habitats and for the most part venture far beyond their cavelike homes. Some bottom dwellers, such as the clingfishes (Gobiesocidae), have developed powerful adhesive disks that enable them to remain in place on the substrate in areas such as rocky coasts, where the action of the waves is great.
The methods of reproduction in fishes are varied, but most fishes lay a large number of small eggs, fertilized and scattered outside of the body. The eggs of pelagic fishes usually remain suspended in the open water. Many shore and freshwater fishes lay eggs on the bottom or among plants. Some have adhesive eggs. The mortality of the young and especially of the eggs is very high, and often only a few individuals grow to maturity out of hundreds, thousands, and in some cases millions of eggs laid.
Males produce sperm, usually as a milky white substance called milt, in two (sometimes one) testes within the body cavity. In bony fishes a sperm duct leads from each testis to a urogenital opening behind the vent or anus. In sharks and rays and in cyclostomes the duct leads to a cloaca. Sometimes the pelvic fins are modified to help transmit the milt to the eggs at the female’s vent or on the substrate where the female has placed them. Sometimes accessory organs are used to fertilize females internally—for example, the claspers of many sharks and rays.
In the females the eggs are formed in two ovaries (sometimes only one) and pass through the ovaries to the urogenital opening and to the outside. In some fishes the eggs are fertilized internally but are shed before development takes place. Members of about a dozen families each of bony fishes (teleosts) and sharks bear live young. Many skates and rays also bear live young. In some bony fishes the eggs simply develop within the female, the young emerging when the eggs hatch (ovoviviparous). Others develop within the ovary and are nourished by ovarian tissues after hatching (viviparous). There are also other methods utilized by fishes to nourish young within the female. In all live-bearers the young are born at a relatively large size and are few in number. In one family of primarily marine fishes, the surfperches from the Pacific coast of North America, Japan, and Korea, the males of at least one species are born sexually mature, although they are not fully grown.
Some fishes are hermaphroditic—an individual producing both sperm and eggs, usually at different stages of its life. Self-fertilization, however, is probably rare.
Successful reproduction and, in many cases, defense of the eggs and the young are assured by rather stereotypical but often elaborate courtship and parental behaviour, either by the male or the female or both. Some fishes prepare nests by hollowing out depressions in the sand bottom (cichlids, for example), build nests with plant materials and sticky threads excreted by the kidneys (sticklebacks), or blow a cluster of mucus-covered bubbles at the water surface (gouramis). The eggs are laid in these structures. Some varieties of cichlids and catfishes incubate eggs in their mouths.
Some fishes, such as salmon, undergo long migrations from the ocean and up large rivers to spawn in the gravel beds where they themselves hatched (anadromous fishes). Some, such as the freshwater eels (family Anguillidae), live and grow to maturity in fresh water and migrate to the sea to spawn (catadromous fishes). Other fishes undertake shorter migrations from lakes into streams, within the ocean, or enter spawning habitats that they do not ordinarily occupy in other ways.
The basic structure and function of the fish body are similar to those of all other vertebrates. The usual four types of tissues are present: surface or epithelial, connective (bone, cartilage, and fibrous tissues, as well as their derivative, blood), nerve, and muscle tissues. In addition, the fish’s organs and organ systems parallel those of other vertebrates.
The typical fish body is streamlined and spindle-shaped, with an anterior head, a gill apparatus, and a heart, the latter lying in the midline just below the gill chamber. The body cavity, containing the vital organs, is situated behind the head in the lower anterior part of the body. The anus usually marks the posterior termination of the body cavity and most often occurs just in front of the base of the anal fin. The spinal cord and vertebral column continue from the posterior part of the head to the base of the tail fin, passing dorsal to the body cavity and through the caudal (tail) region behind the body cavity. Most of the body is of muscular tissue, a high proportion of which is necessitated by swimming. In the course of evolution this basic body plan has been modified repeatedly into the many varieties of fish shapes that exist today.
The skeleton forms an integral part of the fish’s locomotion system, as well as serving to protect vital parts. The internal skeleton consists of the skull bones (except for the roofing bones of the head, which are really part of the external skeleton), the vertebral column, and the fin supports (fin rays). The fin supports are derived from the external skeleton but will be treated here because of their close functional relationship to the internal skeleton. The internal skeleton of cyclostomes, sharks, and rays is of cartilage; that of many fossil groups and some primitive living fishes is mostly of cartilage but may include some bone. In place of the vertebral column, the earliest vertebrates had a fully developed notochord, a flexible stiff rod of viscous cells surrounded by a strong fibrous sheath. During the evolution of modern fishes the rod was replaced in part by cartilage and then by ossified cartilage. Sharks and rays retain a cartilaginous vertebral column; bony fishes have spool-shaped vertebrae that in the more primitive living forms only partially replace the notochord. The skull, including the gill arches and jaws of bony fishes, is fully, or at least partially, ossified. That of sharks and rays remains cartilaginous, at times partially replaced by calcium deposits but never by true bone.
The supportive elements of the fins (basal or radial bones or both) have changed greatly during fish evolution. Some of these changes are described in the section below (Evolution and paleontology). Most fishes possess a single dorsal fin on the midline of the back. Many have two and a few have three dorsal fins. The other fins are the single tail and anal fins and paired pelvic and pectoral fins. A small fin, the adipose fin, with hairlike fin rays, occurs in many of the relatively primitive teleosts (such as trout) on the back near the base of the caudal fin.
The skin of a fish must serve many functions. It aids in maintaining the osmotic balance, provides physical protection for the body, is the site of coloration, contains sensory receptors, and, in some fishes, functions in respiration. Mucous glands, which aid in maintaining the water balance and offer protection from bacteria, are extremely numerous in fish skin, especially in cyclostomes and teleosts. Since mucous glands are present in the modern lampreys, it is reasonable to assume that they were present in primitive fishes, such as the ancient Silurian and Devonian agnathans. Protection from abrasion and predation is another function of the fish skin, and dermal (skin) bone arose early in fish evolution in response to this need. It is thought that bone first evolved in skin and only later invaded the cartilaginous areas of the fish’s body, to provide additional support and protection. There is some argument as to which came first, cartilage or bone, and fossil evidence does not settle the question. In any event, dermal bone has played an important part in fish evolution and has different characteristics in different groups of fishes. Several groups are characterized at least in part by the kind of bony scales they possess.
Scales have played an important part in the evolution of fishes. Primitive fishes usually had thick bony plates or thick scales in several layers of bone, enamel, and related substances. Modern teleost fishes have scales of bone, which, while still protective, allow much more freedom of motion in the body. A few modern teleosts (some catfishes, sticklebacks, and others) have secondarily acquired bony plates in the skin. Modern and early sharks possessed placoid scales, a relatively primitive type of scale with a toothlike structure, consisting of an outside layer of enamel-like substance (vitrodentine), an inner layer of dentine, and a pulp cavity containing nerves and blood vessels. Primitive bony fishes had thick scales of either the ganoid or the cosmoid type. Cosmoid scales have a hard, enamel-like outer layer, an inner layer of cosmine (a form of dentine), and then a layer of vascular bone (isopedine). In ganoid scales the hard outer layer is different chemically and is called ganoin. Under this is a cosminelike layer and then a vascular bony layer. The thin, translucent bony scales of modern fishes, called cycloid and ctenoid (the latter distinguished by serrations at the edges), lack enameloid and dentine layers.
Skin has several other functions in fishes. It is well supplied with nerve endings and presumably receives tactile, thermal, and pain stimuli. Skin is also well supplied with blood vessels. Some fishes breathe in part through the skin, by the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide between the surrounding water and numerous small blood vessels near the skin surface.
Skin serves as protection through the control of coloration. Fishes exhibit an almost limitless range of colours. The colours often blend closely with the surroundings, effectively hiding the animal. Many fishes use bright colours for territorial advertisement or as recognition marks for other members of their own species, or sometimes for members of other species. Many fishes can change their colour to a greater or lesser degree, by movement of pigment within the pigment cells (chromatophores). Black pigment cells (melanophores), of almost universal occurrence in fishes, are often juxtaposed with other pigment cells. When placed beneath iridocytes or leucophores (bearing the silvery or white pigment guanine), melanophores produce structural colours of blue and green. These colours are often extremely intense, because they are formed by refraction of light through the needlelike crystals of guanine. The blue and green refracted colours are often relatively pure, lacking the red and yellow rays, which have been absorbed by the black pigment (melanin) of the melanophores. Yellow, orange, and red colours are produced by erythrophores, cells containing the appropriate carotenoid pigments. Other colours are produced by combinations of melanophores, erythrophores, and iridocytes.
The major portion of the body of most fishes consists of muscles. Most of the mass is trunk musculature, the fin muscles usually being relatively small. The caudal fin is usually the most powerful fin, being moved by the trunk musculature. The body musculature is usually arranged in rows of chevron-shaped segments on each side. Contractions of these segments, each attached to adjacent vertebrae and vertebral processes, bends the body on the vertebral joint, producing successive undulations of the body, passing from the head to the tail, and producing driving strokes of the tail. It is the latter that provides the strong forward movement for most fishes.
The digestive system, in a functional sense, starts at the mouth, with the teeth used to capture prey or collect plant foods. Mouth shape and tooth structure vary greatly in fishes, depending on the kind of food normally eaten. Most fishes are predacious, feeding on small invertebrates or other fishes and have simple conical teeth on the jaws, on at least some of the bones of the roof of the mouth, and on special gill arch structures just in front of the esophagus. The latter are throat teeth. Most predacious fishes swallow their prey whole, and the teeth are used for grasping and holding prey, for orienting prey to be swallowed (head first) and for working the prey toward the esophagus. There are a variety of tooth types in fishes. Some fishes, such as sharks and piranhas, have cutting teeth for biting chunks out of their victims. A shark’s tooth, although superficially like that of a piranha, appears in many respects to be a modified scale, while that of the piranha is like that of other bony fishes, consisting of dentine and enamel. Parrot fishes have beaklike mouths with short incisor-like teeth for breaking off coral and have heavy pavementlike throat teeth for crushing the coral. Some catfishes have small brushlike teeth, arranged in rows on the jaws, for scraping plant and animal growth from rocks. Many fishes (such as the Cyprinidae or minnows) have no jaw teeth at all but have very strong throat teeth.
Some fishes gather planktonic food by straining it from their gill cavities with numerous elongate stiff rods (gill rakers) anchored by one end to the gill bars. The food collected on these rods is passed to the throat, where it is swallowed. Most fishes have only short gill rakers that help keep food particles from escaping out the mouth cavity into the gill chamber.
Once reaching the throat, food enters a short, often greatly distensible esophagus, a simple tube with a muscular wall leading into a stomach. The stomach varies greatly in fishes, depending upon the diet. In most predacious fishes it is a simple straight or curved tube or pouch with a muscular wall and a glandular lining. Food is largely digested there and leaves the stomach in liquid form.
Between the stomach and the intestine, ducts enter the digestive tube from the liver and pancreas. The liver is a large, clearly defined organ. The pancreas may be embedded in it, diffused through it, or broken into small parts spread along some of the intestine. The junction between the stomach and the intestine is marked by a muscular valve. Pyloric ceca (blind sacs) occur in some fishes at this junction and have a digestive or absorptive function or both.
The intestine itself is quite variable in length, depending upon the fish’s diet. It is short in predacious forms, sometimes no longer than the body cavity, but long in herbivorous forms, being coiled and several times longer than the entire length of the fish in some species of South American catfishes. The intestine is primarily an organ for absorbing nutrients into the bloodstream. The larger its internal surface, the greater its absorptive efficiency, and a spiral valve is one method of increasing its absorption surface.
Sharks, rays, chimaeras, lungfishes, surviving chondrosteans, holosteans, and even a few of the more primitive teleosts have a spiral valve or at least traces of it in the intestine. Most modern teleosts have increased the area of the intestinal walls by having numerous folds and villi (fingerlike projections) somewhat like those in humans. Undigested substances are passed to the exterior through the anus in most teleost fishes. In lungfishes, sharks, and rays, it is first passed through the cloaca, a common cavity receiving the intestinal opening and the ducts from the urogenital system.
Oxygen and carbon dioxide dissolve in water, and most fishes exchange dissolved oxygen and carbon dioxide in water by means of the gills. The gills lie behind and to the side of the mouth cavity and consist of fleshy filaments supported by the gill arches and filled with blood vessels, which give gills a bright red colour. Water taken in continuously through the mouth passes backward between the gill bars and over the gill filaments, where the exchange of gases takes place. The gills are protected by a gill cover in teleosts and many other fishes but by flaps of skin in sharks, rays, and some of the older fossil fish groups. The blood capillaries in the gill filaments are close to the gill surface to take up oxygen from the water and to give up excess carbon dioxide to the water.
Most modern fishes have a hydrostatic (ballast) organ, called the swim bladder, that lies in the body cavity just below the kidney and above the stomach and intestine. It originated as a diverticulum of the digestive canal. In advanced teleosts, especially the acanthopterygians, the bladder has lost its connection with the digestive tract, a condition called physoclistic. The connection has been retained (physostomous) by many relatively primitive teleosts. In several unrelated lines of fishes, the bladder has become specialized as a lung or, at least, as a highly vascularized accessory breathing organ. Some fishes with such accessory organs are obligate air breathers and will drown if denied access to the surface, even in well-oxygenated water. Fishes with a hydrostatic form of swim bladder can control their depth by regulating the amount of gas in the bladder. The gas, mostly oxygen, is secreted into the bladder by special glands, rendering the fish more buoyant; the gas is absorbed into the bloodstream by another special organ, reducing the overall buoyancy and allowing the fish to sink. Some deep-sea fishes may have oils, rather than gas, in the bladder. Other deep-sea and some bottom-living forms have much-reduced swim bladders or have lost the organ entirely.
The swim bladder of fishes follows the same developmental pattern as the lungs of land vertebrates. There is no doubt that the two structures have the same historical origin in primitive fishes. More or less intermediate forms still survive among the more primitive types of fishes, such as the lungfishes Lepidosiren and Protopterus.
The circulatory, or blood vascular, system consists of the heart, the arteries, the capillaries, and the veins. It is in the capillaries that the interchange of oxygen, carbon dioxide, nutrients, and other substances such as hormones and waste products takes place. The capillaries lead to the veins, which return the venous blood with its waste products to the heart, kidneys, and gills. There are two kinds of capillary beds: those in the gills and those in the rest of the body. The heart, a folded continuous muscular tube with three or four saclike enlargements, undergoes rhythmic contractions and receives venous blood in a sinus venosus. It passes the blood to an auricle and then into a thick muscular pump, the ventricle. From the ventricle the blood goes to a bulbous structure at the base of a ventral aorta just below the gills. The blood passes to the afferent (receiving) arteries of the gill arches and then to the gill capillaries. There waste gases are given off to the environment, and oxygen is absorbed. The oxygenated blood enters efferent (exuant) arteries of the gill arches and then flows into the dorsal aorta. From there blood is distributed to the tissues and organs of the body. One-way valves prevent backflow. The circulation of fishes thus differs from that of the reptiles, birds, and mammals in that oxygenated blood is not returned to the heart prior to distribution to the other parts of the body.
The primary excretory organ in fishes, as in other vertebrates, is the kidney. In fishes some excretion also takes place in the digestive tract, skin, and especially the gills (where ammonia is given off). Compared with land vertebrates, fishes have a special problem in maintaining their internal environment at a constant concentration of water and dissolved substances, such as salts. Proper balance of the internal environment (homeostasis) of a fish is in a great part maintained by the excretory system, especially the kidney.
The kidney, gills, and skin play an important role in maintaining a fish’s internal environment and checking the effects of osmosis. Marine fishes live in an environment in which the water around them has a greater concentration of salts than they can have inside their body and still maintain life. Freshwater fishes, on the other hand, live in water with a much lower concentration of salts than they require inside their bodies. Osmosis tends to promote the loss of water from the body of a marine fish and absorption of water by that of a freshwater fish. Mucus in the skin tends to slow the process but is not a sufficient barrier to prevent the movement of fluids through the permeable skin. When solutions on two sides of a permeable membrane have different concentrations of dissolved substances, water will pass through the membrane into the more concentrated solution, while the dissolved chemicals move into the area of lower concentration (diffusion).
The kidney of freshwater fishes is often larger in relation to body weight than that of marine fishes. In both groups the kidney excretes wastes from the body, but the kidney of freshwater fishes also excretes large amounts of water, counteracting the water absorbed through the skin. Freshwater fishes tend to lose salt to the environment and must replace it. They get some salt from their food, but the gills and skin inside the mouth actively absorb salt from water passed through the mouth. This absorption is performed by special cells capable of moving salts against the diffusion gradient. Freshwater fishes drink very little water and take in little water with their food.
Marine fishes must conserve water, and therefore their kidneys excrete little water. To maintain their water balance, marine fishes drink large quantities of seawater, retaining most of the water and excreting the salt. Most nitrogenous waste in marine fishes appears to be secreted by the gills as ammonia. Marine fishes can excrete salt by clusters of special cells (chloride cells) in the gills.
There are several teleosts—for example, the salmon—that travel between fresh water and seawater and must adjust to the reversal of osmotic gradients. They adjust their physiological processes by spending time (often surprisingly little time) in the intermediate brackish environment.
Marine hagfishes, sharks, and rays have osmotic concentrations in their blood about equal to that of seawater and so do not have to drink water nor perform much physiological work to maintain their osmotic balance. In sharks and rays the osmotic concentration is kept high by retention of urea in the blood. Freshwater sharks have a lowered concentration of urea in the blood.
Endocrine glands secrete their products into the bloodstream and body tissues and, along with the central nervous system, control and regulate many kinds of body functions. Cyclostomes have a well-developed endocrine system, and presumably it was well developed in the early Agnatha, ancestral to modern fishes. Although the endocrine system in fishes is similar to that of higher vertebrates, there are numerous differences in detail. The pituitary, the thyroid, the suprarenals, the adrenals, the pancreatic islets, the sex glands (ovaries and testes), the inner wall of the intestine, and the bodies of the ultimobranchial gland make up the endocrine system in fishes. There are some others whose function is not well understood. These organs regulate sexual activity and reproduction, growth, osmotic pressure, general metabolic activities such as the storage of fat and the utilization of foodstuffs, blood pressure, and certain aspects of skin colour. Many of these activities are also controlled in part by the central nervous system, which works with the endocrine system in maintaining the life of a fish. Some parts of the endocrine system are developmentally, and undoubtedly evolutionarily, derived from the nervous system.
As in all vertebrates, the nervous system of fishes is the primary mechanism coordinating body activities, as well as integrating these activities in the appropriate manner with stimuli from the environment. The central nervous system, consisting of the brain and spinal cord, is the primary integrating mechanism. The peripheral nervous system, consisting of nerves that connect the brain and spinal cord to various body organs, carries sensory information from special receptor organs such as the eyes, internal ears, nares (sense of smell), taste glands, and others to the integrating centres of the brain and spinal cord. The peripheral nervous system also carries information via different nerve cells from the integrating centres of the brain and spinal cord. This coded information is carried to the various organs and body systems, such as the skeletal muscular system, for appropriate action in response to the original external or internal stimulus. Another branch of the nervous system, the autonomic nervous system, helps to coordinate the activities of many glands and organs and is itself closely connected to the integrating centres of the brain.
The brain of the fish is divided into several anatomical and functional parts, all closely interconnected but each serving as the primary centre of integrating particular kinds of responses and activities. Several of these centres or parts are primarily associated with one type of sensory perception, such as sight, hearing, or smell (olfaction).
The sense of smell is important in almost all fishes. Certain eels with tiny eyes depend mostly on smell for location of food. The olfactory, or nasal, organ of fishes is located on the dorsal surface of the snout. The lining of the nasal organ has special sensory cells that perceive chemicals dissolved in the water, such as substances from food material, and send sensory information to the brain by way of the first cranial nerve. Odour also serves as an alarm system. Many fishes, especially various species of freshwater minnows, react with alarm to a chemical released from the skin of an injured member of their own species.
Many fishes have a well-developed sense of taste, and tiny pitlike taste buds or organs are located not only within their mouth cavities but also over their heads and parts of their body. Catfishes, which often have poor vision, have barbels (“whiskers”) that serve as supplementary taste organs, those around the mouth being actively used to search out food on the bottom. Some species of naturally blind cave fishes are especially well supplied with taste buds, which often cover most of their body surface.
Sight is extremely important in most fishes. The eye of a fish is basically like that of all other vertebrates, but the eyes of fishes are extremely varied in structure and adaptation. In general, fishes living in dark and dim water habitats have large eyes, unless they have specialized in some compensatory way so that another sense (such as smell) is dominant, in which case the eyes will often be reduced. Fishes living in brightly lighted shallow waters often will have relatively small but efficient eyes. Cyclostomes have somewhat less elaborate eyes than other fishes, with skin stretched over the eyeball perhaps making their vision somewhat less effective. Most fishes have a spherical lens and accommodate their vision to far or near subjects by moving the lens within the eyeball. A few sharks accommodate by changing the shape of the lens, as in land vertebrates. Those fishes that are heavily dependent upon the eyes have especially strong muscles for accommodation. Most fishes see well, despite the restrictions imposed by frequent turbidity of the water and by light refraction.
Fossil evidence suggests that colour vision evolved in fishes more than 300 million years ago, but not all living fishes have retained this ability. Experimental evidence indicates that many shallow-water fishes, if not all, have colour vision and see some colours especially well, but some bottom-dwelling shore fishes live in areas where the water is sufficiently deep to filter out most if not all colours, and these fishes apparently never see colours. When tested in shallow water, they apparently are unable to respond to colour differences.
Sound perception and balance are intimately associated senses in a fish. The organs of hearing are entirely internal, located within the skull, on each side of the brain and somewhat behind the eyes. Sound waves, especially those of low frequencies, travel readily through water and impinge directly upon the bones and fluids of the head and body, to be transmitted to the hearing organs. Fishes readily respond to sound; for example, a trout conditioned to escape by the approach of fishermen will take flight upon perceiving footsteps on a stream bank even if it cannot see a fisherman. Compared with humans, however, the range of sound frequencies heard by fishes is greatly restricted. Many fishes communicate with each other by producing sounds in their swim bladders, in their throats by rasping their teeth, and in other ways.
A fish or other vertebrate seldom has to rely on a single type of sensory information to determine the nature of the environment around it. A catfish uses taste and touch when examining a food object with its oral barbels. Like most other animals, fishes have many touch receptors over their body surface. Pain and temperature receptors also are present in fishes and presumably produce the same kind of information to a fish as to humans. Fishes react in a negative fashion to stimuli that would be painful to human beings, suggesting that they feel a sensation of pain.
An important sensory system in fishes that is absent in other vertebrates (except some amphibians) is the lateral line system. This consists of a series of heavily innervated small canals located in the skin and bone around the eyes, along the lower jaw, over the head, and down the mid-side of the body, where it is associated with the scales. Intermittently along these canals are located tiny sensory organs (pit organs) that apparently detect changes in pressure. The system allows a fish to sense changes in water currents and pressure, thereby helping the fish to orient itself to the various changes that occur in the physical environment.
From the concert where The Commanded Heart and the other LGBT Purge commemorative songs were premiered. The event started with a heart-stopper - the fire alarm system started to go, a persistent loud beep and strobe lights. Everyone prayed we wouldn't have to evacuate and those prayers were answered! Whew... I was a bit of the odd man out in the wardrobe department, but that stems from my sense that we commemorate and honour the sacrifices of those before us by living life joyously and with exuberance. I'm reluctant to post too much of The Commanded Heart itself, as Geoff and I won't own the rights for a while, but will post the lyrics as sung which where printed in the program, and a link from somebody who did record the song.
TEIGN C Damen Stan 1405
IMO: - N/A
MMSI: 235082804
Call Sign: MWBM9
AIS Vessel Type: Dredger
GENERAL
DAMEN YARD NUMBER: 503705
Avelingen-West 20
4202 MS Gorinchem
The Netherlands
Phone: +31 (0)183 63 99 11
info@damen.com
DELIVERY DATE August 2001
BASIC FUNCTIONS Towing, mooring, pushing and dredging operations
FLAG United Kingdom [GB]
OWNED Teignmouth Harbour Commission
CASSCATION: Bureau Veritas 1 HULL MACH Seagoing Launch
DIMENSIONS
LENGTH 14.40 m
BEAM 4.73 m
DEPTH AT SIDES 205 m
DRAUGHT AFT 171 m
DISPLACEMENT 48 ton
TANK CAPACITIES
Fuel oil 6.9 m³
PERFORMANCES (TRIALS)
BOLLARD PULL AHEAD 8.0 ton
SPEED 9.8 knots
PROPULSION SYSTEM
MAIN ENGINE 2x Caterpillar 3406C TA/A
TOTAL POWER 477 bmW (640i hp) at 1800 rpm
GEARBOX 2x Twin Disc MG 5091/3.82:1
PROPELLERS Bronze fixed pitch propeller
KORT NOZZELS Van de Giessen 2x 1000 mm with stainless steel innerings
ENGINE CONTROL Kobelt
STEERING GEAR 2x 25 mm single plate Powered hydraulic 2x 45, rudder indicator
AUXILIARY EQUIPMENT
BILGE PUMP Sterling SIH 20, 32 m/hr
BATTERY SETS 2x 24V, 200 Ah + change over facility
COOLING SYSTEM Closed cooling system
ALARM SYSTEM Engines, gearboxes and bilge alarms
FRESH WATER PRESSURE SET Speck 24V
DECK LAY-OUT
ANCHORS 2x 48 kg Pool (HHP)
CHAIN 70 m, Ø 13mm, shortlink U2
ANCHOR WINCH Hand-operated
TOWING HOOK Mampaey, 15.3 ton SWL
COUPLING WINCH
PUSHBOW Cylindrical nubber fender Ø 380 mm
ACCOMMODATION
The wheelhouse ceiling and sides are insulated with mineral wool and
panelled. The wheelhouse floor is covered with rubber/synthetic floor
covering, make Bolidt, color blue The wheelhouse has one
helmsman seat, a bench and table with chair Below deck two berths, a
kitchen unit and a toilet space are arranged.
NAUTICAL AND COMMUNICATION EQUIPMENT
SEARCHLIGHT Den Haan 170 W 24 V
VHF RADIO Sailor RT 2048 25 W
NAVIGATION Navigation lights incl towing and pilot lights
Teignmouth Harbour Commission
The Harbour Commission is a Trust Port created by Statute.
The principal Order is the Teignmouth Harbour Order 1924
as amended by the Teignmouth Harbour Revision Order 2003
The Postcard
A postally unused carte postale published by ALFA of 97, Rue Vieille du Temple, Paris. The card was printed in France.
The Notre-Dame Fire
On the 15th. April 2019, fire broke out in the attic beneath the cathedral's roof at 18:18. At 18:20 the fire alarm sounded and guards evacuated the cathedral. A guard was sent to investigate, but to the wrong location – the attic of the adjoining sacristy – where he found no fire. About fifteen minutes later the error was discovered, but by the time guards had climbed the three hundred steps to the cathedral attic the fire was well advanced.
The alarm system was not designed to automatically notify the fire brigade, which was summoned at 18:51 after the guards had returned. Firefighters arrived within ten minutes.
Fighting the Notre-Dame Fire
More than 400 firefighters were engaged. A hundred government employees along with police and municipal workers moved precious artefacts to safety via a human chain.
The fire was primarily fought from inside the structure, which was more dangerous for personnel, but reduced potential damage to the cathedral - applying water from outside risked deflecting flames and hot gases (at temperatures up to 800 °C) inwards. Deluge guns were used at lower-than-usual pressures to minimise damage to the cathedral and its contents. Water was supplied by pump-boat from the Seine.
Aerial firefighting was not used because water dropped from heights could have caused structural damage, and heated stone can crack if suddenly cooled. Helicopters were also not used because of dangerous updrafts, but drones were used for visual and thermal imaging, and robots for visual imaging and directing water streams. Molten lead falling from the roof posed a special hazard for firefighters.
By 18:52, smoke was visible from the outside; flames appeared within the next ten minutes. The spire of the cathedral collapsed at 19:50, creating a draft that slammed all the doors and sent a fireball through the attic. Firefighters then retreated from within the attic.
Shortly before the spire fell, the fire had spread to the wooden framework inside the north tower, which supported eight very large bells. Had the bells fallen, it was thought that the damage done as they fell could have collapsed the towers, and with them the entire cathedral.
At 20:30, firefighters abandoned attempts to extinguish the roof and concentrated on saving the towers, fighting from within and between the towers. By 21:45 the fire was under control.
Adjacent apartment buildings were evacuated due to concern about possible collapse, but on the 19th. April the fire brigade ruled out that risk. One firefighter and two police officers were injured.
Damage to Notre-Dame
Most of the wood/metal roof and the spire of the cathedral was destroyed, with about one third of the roof remaining. The remnants of the roof and spire fell atop the stone vault underneath, which forms the ceiling of the cathedral's interior. Some sections of this vaulting collapsed in turn, allowing debris from the burning roof to fall to the marble floor below, but most sections remained intact due to the use of rib vaulting, greatly reducing damage to the cathedral's interior and objects within.
The cathedral contained a large number of artworks, religious relics, and other irreplaceable treasures, including a crown of thorns said to be the one Jesus wore at his crucifixion. Other items were a purported piece of the cross on which Jesus was crucified, the Tunic of St. Louis, a pipe organ by Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, and the 14th.-century Virgin of Paris statue.
Some artwork had been removed in preparation for the renovations, and most of the cathedral's sacred relics were held in the adjoining sacristy, which the fire did not reach; all the cathedral's relics survived. Many valuables that were not removed also survived.
Lead joints in some of the 19th.-century stained-glass windows melted, but the three major rose windows, dating back to the 13th. century, were undamaged. Several pews were destroyed, and the vaulted arches were blackened by smoke, though the cathedral's main cross and altar survived, along with the statues surrounding it.
Some paintings, apparently only smoke-damaged, are expected to be transported to the Louvre for restoration. The rooster-shaped reliquary atop the spire was found damaged but intact among the debris. The three pipe organs were not significantly damaged. The largest of the cathedral's bells, the bourdon, was also not damaged. The liturgical treasury of the cathedral and the "Grands Mays" paintings were moved to safety.
Environmental Damage
Airparif said that winds rapidly dispersed the smoke, carrying it away aloft along the Seine corridor. It did not find elevated levels of particulate air pollution at monitoring stations nearby. The Paris police stated that there was no danger from breathing the air around the fire.
The burned-down roof had been covered with over 400 metric tons of lead. Settling dust substantially raised surface lead levels in some places nearby, notably the cordoned-off area and places left open during the fire. Wet cleaning for surfaces and blood tests for children and pregnant women were recommended in the immediate area.
People working on the cathedral after the fire did not initially take the lead precautions required for their own protection; materials leaving the site were decontaminated, but some clothing was not, and some precautions were not correctly followed; as a result, the worksite failed some inspections and was temporarily shut down.
There was also more widespread contamination; testing, clean-up, and public health advisories were delayed for months, and the neighbourhood was not decontaminated for four months, prompting widespread criticism.
Reactions to the Notre-Dame Fire
President of France Emmanuel Macron, postponing a speech to address the Yellow Vests Movement planned for that evening, went to Notre-Dame and gave a brief address there. Numerous world religious and government leaders extended condolences.
Through the night of the fire and into the next day, people gathered along the Seine to hold vigils, sing and pray.
White tarpaulins over metal beams were quickly rigged to protect the interior from the elements. Nettings protect the de-stabilised exterior.
The following Sunday at Saint-Eustache Church, the Archbishop of Paris, Michel Aupetit, honoured the firefighters with the presentation of a book of scriptures saved from the fire.
Investigation Into The Notre-Dame Fire
On the 16th. April, the Paris prosecutor said that there was no evidence of a deliberate act.
The fire has been compared to the similar 1992 Windsor Castle fire and the Uppark fire, among others, and has raised old questions about the safety of similar structures and the techniques used to restore them. Renovation works increase the risk of fire, and a police source reported that they are looking into whether such work had caused this incident.
The renovations presented a fire risk from sparks, short-circuits, and heat from welding (roof repairs involved cutting, and welding lead sheets resting on timber). Normally, no electrical installations were allowed in the roof space due to the extreme fire risk.
The roof framing was of very dry timber, often powdery with age. After the fire, the architect responsible for fire safety at the cathedral acknowledged that the rate at which fire might spread had been underestimated, and experts said it was well known that a fire in the roof would be almost impossible to control.
Of the firms working on the restoration, a Europe Echafaudage team was the only one working there on the day of the fire; the company said no soldering or welding was underway before the fire. The scaffolding was receiving electrical supply for temporary elevators and lighting.
The roofers, Le Bras Frères, said it had followed procedure, and that none of its personnel were on site when the fire broke out. Time-lapse images taken by a camera installed by them showed smoke first rising from the base of the spire.
On the 25th. April, the structure was considered safe enough for investigators to enter. They unofficially stated that they were considering theories involving malfunction of electric bell-ringing apparatus, and cigarette ends discovered on the renovation scaffolding.
Le Bras Frères confirmed its workers had smoked cigarettes, contrary to regulations, but denied that a cigarette butt could have started the fire. The Paris prosecutor's office announced on the 26th. June that no evidence had been found to suggest a criminal motive.
The security employee monitoring the alarm system was new on the job, and was on a second eight-hour shift that day because his relief had not arrived. Additionally, the fire security system used confusing terminology in its referencing parts of the cathedral, which contributed to the initial confusion as to the location of the fire.
As of September, five months after the fire, investigators thought the cause of the fire was more likely an electrical fault than a cigarette. Determining the exact place in which the fire started was expected to take a great deal more time and work. By the 15th. April 2020, investigators stated:
"We believe the fire to have been
started by either a cigarette or a
short circuit in the electrical system".
Reconstruction of Notre-Dame Cathedral
On the night of the fire Macron said that the cathedral, which is owned by the state, would be rebuilt, and launched an international fundraising campaign. France's cathedrals have been owned by the state since 1905, and are not privately insured.
The heritage conservation organisation Fondation du Patrimoine estimated the damage in the hundreds of millions of euros, but losses from the fire are not expected to substantially impact the private insurance industry.
European art insurers stated that the cost would be similar to ongoing renovations at the Palace of Westminster in London, which currently is estimated to be around €7 billion.
This cost does not include damage to any of the artwork or artefacts within the cathedral. Any pieces on loan from other museums would have been insured, but the works owned by the cathedral would not have been insurable.
While Macron hoped the cathedral could be restored in time for the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, architects expect the work could take from twenty to forty years, as any new structure would need to balance restoring the look of the original building, using wood and stone sourced from the same regions used in the original construction, with the structural reinforcement required for preventing a similar disaster in the future.
There is discussion of whether to reconstruct the cathedral in modified form. Rebuilding the roof with titanium sheets and steel trusses has been suggested; other options include rebuilding in the original lead and wood, or rebuilding with modern materials not visible from the outside (like the reinforced concrete trusses at Reims Cathedral).
Another option would be to use a combination of restored old elements and newly designed ones. Chartres Cathedral was rebuilt with wrought iron trusses and copper sheeting after an 1836 fire.
French prime minister Édouard Philippe announced an architectural design competition for a new spire that would be:
"Adapted to the techniques
and the challenges of our era."
The spire replacement project has gathered a variety of designs and some controversy, particularly its legal exemption from environmental and heritage rules. After the design competition was announced, the French senate amended the government's restoration bill to require the roof to be restored to how it was before the fire.
On the 16th. July, 95 days after the fire, the law that will govern the restoration of the cathedral was finally approved by the French parliament. It recognises its UNESCO World Heritage Site status and the need to respect existing international charters and practices, to:
"Preserve the historic, artistic and architectural
history of the monument, and to limit any
derogations to the existing heritage, planning,
environmental and construction codes to a
minimum".
On the 15th. April 2020, Germany offered to restore some of the large clerestory windows located far above eye level with three expert tradesmen who specialize in rebuilding cathedrals. Monika Grütters, Germany's Commissioner for Culture was quoted as saying that her country would shoulder the costs.
As of the 30th. November all of the tangled scaffolding was removed from the spire area, and was therefore no longer a threat to the building.
The world will now have to wait for Notre-Dame de Paris to be restored to its former magnificence.
This guinea fowl might look happy, but it was actually making a lot of noise. Either a leaf blower or some other unfamiliar sound was scaring it.
This photo has fencing in the background, so I tried minimizing it by adding texture, then selecting the bird.
St Mary's church in Lapworth is one of the most rewarding and unusual medieval parish churches in Warwickshire. The visitor generally approaches this handsome building from the north where the sturdy tower and spire stand guard like a sentinel. It is unusual in standing apart from the main building and was originally detached but is now linked by a passageway to the north aisle, making the church almost as wide as it is long. The west end too is remarkably configured with a chantry chapel or room set above an archway (allowing passage across the churchyard below).
The church we see today dates mainly from the 13th / 14th centuries, with an impressive fifteenth century clerestorey added to the nave being a prominent feature externally, but within it is possible to discern traces of the previous Norman structure embedded below in the nave arcade. There is much of interest to enjoy in this pleasant interior from quirky carvings high in the nave to the rich stained glass in the chancel and north chapel (which has benefitted immensely from a newly inserted window where the east wall had previously been blank). The most interesting memorial is the relief tablet in the north chapel by Eric Gill.
Lapworth church has consistently welcomed visitors and remains militantly open now despite being surrounded by churches largely reluctant to re-open after Covid. Happily since Tony Naylor's fine new window was installed the previous alarm system that restricted access to the eastern half of the church (which I inadvertedly set off on my first ever visit, deafening the neighbours!) has been relaxed so that visitors can now enjoy the full extent of the interior and its fittings.
My best friend Matt and I are sitting cross-legged on the driveway, conducting experiments with a magnifying glass. It’s another lazy summer day, hot and sunny, with nothing to do but burn holes in stuff. Or get a suntan.
Which is what my sister Melinda is doing. She’s laying on the chaise lounge in the back yard, wearing her bathing suit and movie star sunglasses, soaking up the rays.
Dad’s at work, of course, and Mom and Grandma are off somewhere, probably getting their hair done.
I’m telling Matt about last night. About the creaking sound. About the attic door being opened. About me hanging the bamboo cane in front of the attic door as a sort of alarm system.
Matt’s also 14, so this makes perfect sense to him.
He asks where the cane came from, and I tell him my grandfather, who died before I was born. Grandma says it was his walking stick.
We’re bringing our death beam to bear on a line of marauding ants, when Melinda comes charging around the corner of the house. Her dark eyes flash with fear.
“There’s a man in house,” she says.
Gasping for breath, she explains what happened in short, choppy sentences. She was laying on the chaise longue. She heard a loud bang from inside the house. She looked up. She saw a man’s face in the upstairs bathroom window. He was staring at her.
I immediately think of our dog Rex. He’s still in the house. We have to get him out.
I jump to my feet.
To be continued…
Newly inserted window in the north chapel with glass designed and painted by Tony Naylor, 2015.
St Mary's church in Lapworth is one of the most rewarding and unusual medieval parish churches in Warwickshire. The visitor generally approaches this handsome building from the north where the sturdy tower and spire stand guard like a sentinel. It is unusual in standing apart from the main building and was originally detached but is now linked by a passageway to the north aisle, making the church almost as wide as it is long. The west end too is remarkably configured with a chantry chapel or room set above an archway (allowing passage across the churchyard below).
The church we see today dates mainly from the 13th / 14th centuries, with an impressive fifteenth century clerestorey added to the nave being a prominent feature externally, but within it is possible to discern traces of the previous Norman structure embedded below in the nave arcade. There is much of interest to enjoy in this pleasant interior from quirky carvings high in the nave to the rich stained glass in the chancel and north chapel (which has benefitted immensely from a newly inserted window where the east wall had previously been blank). The most interesting memorial is the relief tablet in the north chapel by Eric Gill.
Lapworth church has consistently welcomed visitors and remains militantly open now despite being surrounded by churches largely reluctant to re-open after Covid. Happily since Tony Naylor's fine new window was installed the previous alarm system that restricted access to the eastern half of the church (which I inadvertedly set off on my first ever visit, deafening the neighbours!) has been relaxed so that visitors can now enjoy the full extent of the interior and its fittings.
Space Needle under construction. Old Seattle 1961. Picture taken from Kerry Park, Queen Ann Hill. The proposed Space Needle had no land on which to be built. Since it was not financed by the city, land had to be purchased that was within the fairgrounds. It was thought that there would be no land available to build a tower and the search for one was nearly dead when in 1961, a 120 foot by 120 foot (37-by-37 m) plot that contained switching equipment for the fire and police alarm systems was discovered and sold to the investors for $75,000. At this point, only one year remained before the World's Fair would begin.
It was privately built and financed by the "Pentagram Corporation" which consisted of Bagley Wright, contractor Howard S. Wright, architect John Graham, Ned Skinner, and Norton Clapp. In 1977 Bagley, Skinner and Clapp sold their interest to Howard Wright who now controls it under the name of Space Needle Corporation.[10]
The earthquake stability of the Space Needle was ensured when a hole was dug 30 feet (10 m) deep and 120 feet (40 m) across, and 467 concrete trucks took one full day to fill it. The foundation weighs almost 6,000 tons and there are 250 tons of reinforcing steel in the base. With this concrete base weighing the same as the above-ground structure, the Needle's center of gravity is just 5 feet (1.5 m) above ground level. The structure is bolted to the foundation with 72 bolts, each one 30 feet (10 m) long.
With time an issue, the construction team worked around the clock. The top dome housing the top five levels (including the restaurants and observation deck) was perfectly balanced so that the restaurant could rotate with the help of one tiny electric motor, originally 1 hp (0.8 kW), later replaced with a 1.5 hp (1.1 kW) motor. With paint colors named Orbital Olive for the body, Astronaut White for the legs, Re-entry Red for the saucer, and Galaxy Gold for the roof, the Space Needle was finished in less than one year. It was completed in April 1962 at a cost of $4.5 million. The last elevator car was installed the day before the Fair opened on April 21. During the course of the Fair nearly 20,000 people a day rode the elevators to the Observation Deck. The 20,000 mark was never reached, missed by fewer than 50 people one day. At the time of construction, it was the tallest building in the West, taking the title from the Smith Tower across town that had held that title since 1914.Crying
©AVucha 2014
A 30-year-old Cary man was safely escorted from a neighborhood residence and to a hospital after he barricaded himself from a large police contingent for roughly four hours Wednesday.
Cary Police Deputy Chief James Fillmore said the man, who was threatening to harm himself and "under a lot of emotional stress," was taken to Centegra Hospital-McHenry at 3:12 p.m. after first responders arrived on the scene at Hillhurst Drive at 11 a.m. The man was unarmed and no one was hurt during the situation, Fillmore said.
The man had climbed into the garage attic and refused to come down for family members, police said.
Fillmore said no charges would be filed in the incident. Fillmore said police have responded to domestic disturbances at the home on the 300 block of Hillhurst Drive several times in the past.
The four-hour operation required a heavy police presence that included officers from Cary, Streamwood, Round Lake, Roselle, Fox River Grove and other municipalities. On scene, marked and unmarked vehicles lined the surrounding streets, and armed, vested officers, including K9 units, were seen walking toward the residence.
A large Northern Illinois Police Alarm System vehicle also was on scene. Cary Police blocked off a square area from Decker Drive to Hillhurst Drive bordered by Bryan and Bell drives. School bus routes were also redirected because of the situation.
The incident comes within a week of a Holiday Hills man shooting and wounding two McHenry County Sheriff’s officers. That incident led to an even larger police response as a 16-hour manhunt ensued before Scott B. Peters was arrested and charged with shooting the officers.
*Article obtained from the Northwest Herald
he square and straight-lined Granada '78 appeared in August 1977 and was produced until April 1985 following a mild facelift and attention to drivetrain NVH in 1982. It was a development of the previous car, the main differences being the "Cologne" V6 engine in 2.0 L, 2.3 L and 2.8 L forms replacing the older "Essex" unit (which had never been offered in the Cologne built Granadas), and the introduction of features such as air conditioning and, for the top-price 2.8-litre versions, fuel-injection. In mainland Europe, a 1.7 L V4 was originally available. By the time of its introduction, UK Granada production had been quietly abandoned "for some time": UK market Granada IIs were imported from Germany.[16] Internally within Ford, the "Cologne" 1.7, 2.0, 2.3 and 2.8 units were the last derivatives of the 'V-Taunus' range of engines. The coupé was discontinued when the new model began production, although there was a two-door saloon version in certain European markets. A relatively low number of vehicles were also produced with the Peugeot 504 / 505 four-cylinder diesel engine in 1.9-, 2.1- and 2.5-litre capacities.[17] Originally only available as four-door sedans (the later 2.5 also as an estate), most of these went to taxi operators, and few survive. The smallest 1.9 was quite underpowered and was soon replaced by the somewhat more powerful 2.1, which was presented as the "Granada GLD" in March 1979 at Geneva.[18] By 1982, this was replaced by the more capable 2.5.[17]
As the range matured another two models were introduced. A sports based Granada was introduced as the Granada 2.8 Injection which had white alloy wheels and a black bootlid spoiler. This model borrowed the 2.8i "injected" engine from the Ghia model range. Towards the end of its production run, the introduction of the 2.0 and 2.3 LX saloon and estate UK marketing packs provided versions with a slightly higher specification than the "base" L models.
A special Ford of Britain only marketing pack edition of the Ghia X model was later introduced as the "Ford Granada Ghia X Executive" which standardised luxury appointments such as the high grade Connolly Leather interior that had previously been an optional fitment. Further refinements such an electric sunroof, electric opening boot on saloons, electric seat adjustment, heated seats, trip computer and air conditioning set the Granada Ghia X above most other cost comparable executive cars available in the UK in the early eighties. There was also a special "Taxi" edition, available only in black, which included a foot-operated "panic button" in the drivers' footwell which would operate the alarm system. In addition to these two models the range was complemented by estate models which reflected the same appointment levels as the entire saloon range including the Ghia X, but not the Ghia X Executive model.
Special models
Eight paramedic students from Central DuPage Hospital recently participated in an active shooter exercise in the College of DuPage's Homeland Security Education Center's immersion lab.
The YG class meter gauge locomotive was built in 1956 by Wiener Lokomotivfabrik, Floridsdorf, Germany.
It was serving Badarpur Steam Loco Shed of NFR and was retired from service in 1997.
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Indian Railways (reporting mark IR) is an Indian state-owned enterprise, owned and operated by the Government of India through the Ministry of Railways. It is one of the world's largest railway networks comprising 115,000 km of track over a route of 65,808 km and 7,112 stations. In 2014-15, IR carried 8.397 billion passengers annually or more than 23 million passengers a day (roughly half of whom were suburban passengers) and 1058.81 million tons of freight in the year. On world level Ghaziabad is the largest manufacturer of Railway Engines. In 2014–2015 Indian Railways had revenues of ₹1634.50 billion (US$25 billion) which consists of ₹1069.27 billion (US$16 billion) from freight and ₹402.80 billion (US$6.1 billion) from passengers tickets.
Railways were first introduced to India in the year 1853 from Mumbai to Thane. In 1951 the systems were nationalised as one unit, the Indian Railways, becoming one of the largest networks in the world. IR operates both long distance and suburban rail systems on a multi-gauge network of broad, metre and narrow gauges. It also owns locomotive and coach production facilities at several places in India and are assigned codes identifying their gauge, kind of power and type of operation. Its operations cover twenty nine states and seven union territories and also provides limited international services to Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Indian Railways is the world's seventh largest commercial or utility employer, by number of employees, with over 1.334 million employees as of last published figures in 2013. As for rolling stock, IR holds over 245,267 Freight Wagons, 66,392 Passenger Coaches and 10,499 Locomotives (43 steam, 5,633 diesel and 4,823 electric locomotives). The trains have a 5 digit numbering system and runs 12,617 passenger trains and 7421 freight trains daily. As of 31 March 2013, 21,614 km (32.8%) of the total 65,808 km route length was electrified. Since 1960, almost all electrified sections on IR use 25,000 Volt AC traction through overhead catenary delivery.
HISTORY
The history of rail transport in India began in the mid-nineteenth century. The core of the pressure for building Railways In India came from London. In 1848, there was not a single kilometre of railway line in India. The country's first railway, built by the Great Indian Peninsula Railway (GIPR), opened in 1853, between Bombay and Thane. A British engineer, Robert Maitland Brereton, was responsible for the expansion of the railways from 1857 onwards. The Allahabad-Jabalpur branch line of the East Indian Railway had been opened in June 1867. Brereton was responsible for linking this with the GIPR, resulting in a combined network of 6,400 km. Hence it became possible to travel directly from Bombay to Calcutta. This route was officially opened on 7 March 1870 and it was part of the inspiration for French writer Jules Verne's book Around the World in Eighty Days. At the opening ceremony, the Viceroy Lord Mayo concluded that "it was thought desirable that, if possible, at the earliest possible moment, the whole country should be covered with a network of lines in a uniform system".
By 1875, about £95 million were invested by British companies in India. Guaranteed railways. By 1880 the network had a route mileage of about 14,500 km, mostly radiating inward from the three major port cities of Bombay, Madras and Calcutta. By 1895, India had started building its own locomotives, and in 1896, sent engineers and locomotives to help build the Uganda Railways.
In 1900, the GIPR became a government owned company. The network spread to the modern day states of Assam, Rajputhana and Madras Presidency and soon various autonomous kingdoms began to have their own rail systems. In 1905, an early Railway Board was constituted, but the powers were formally vested under Lord Curzon. It served under the Department of Commerce and Industry and had a government railway official serving as chairman, and a railway manager from England and an agent of one of the company railways as the other two members. For the first time in its history, the Railways began to make a profit.
In 1907 almost all the rail companies were taken over by the government. The following year, the first electric locomotive made its appearance. With the arrival of World War I, the railways were used to meet the needs of the British outside India. With the end of the war, the railways were in a state of disrepair and collapse. Large scale corruption by British officials involved in the running of these railways companies was rampant. Profits were never reinvested in the development of British colonial India.
In 1920, with the network having expanded to 61,220 km, a need for central management was mooted by Sir William Acworth. Based on the East India Railway Committee chaired by Acworth, the government took over the management of the Railways and detached the finances of the Railways from other governmental revenues.
The period between 1920 and 1929, was a period of economic boom; there were 66,000 km of railway lines serving the country; the railways represented a capital value of some 687 million sterling; and they carried over 620 million passengers and approximately 90 million tons of goods each year. Following the Great Depression, the railways suffered economically for the next eight years. The Second World War severely crippled the railways. Starting 1939, about 40% of the rolling stock including locomotives and coaches was taken to the Middle East, the railways workshops were converted to ammunitions workshops and many railway tracks were dismantled to help the Allies in the war. By 1946, all rail systems had been taken over by the government.
ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE
RAILWAY ZONES
Indian Railways is divided into 16 zones, which are further sub-divided into divisions. The number of zones in Indian Railways increased from six to eight in 1951, nine in 1966 and seventeen in 2003. Each zonal railway is made up of a certain number of divisions, each having a divisional headquarters. There are a total of sixty-eight divisions.
Each zone is headed by a general manager, who reports directly to the Railway Board. The zones are further divided into divisions, under the control of divisional railway managers (DRM). The divisional officers, of engineering, mechanical, electrical, signal and telecommunication, accounts, personnel, operating, commercial, security and safety branches, report to the respective Divisional Railway Manager and are in charge of operation and maintenance of assets. Further down the hierarchy tree are the station masters, who control individual stations and train movements through the track territory under their stations' administration.
RECRUITMENT AND TRAINING
Staff are classified into gazetted (Group 'A' and 'B') and non-gazetted (Group 'C' and 'D') employees. The recruitment of Group 'A' gazetted employees is carried out by the Union Public Service Commission through exams conducted by it. The recruitment to Group 'C' and 'D' employees on the Indian Railways is done through 20 Railway Recruitment Boards and Railway Recruitment Cells which are controlled by the Railway Recruitment Control Board (RRCB). The training of all cadres is entrusted and shared between six centralised training institutes.
ROLLING STOCK
LOCOMOTIVES
Locomotives in India consist of electric and diesel locomotives. The world's first CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) locomotives are also being used. Steam locomotives are no longer used, except in heritage trains. In India, locomotives are classified according to their track gauge, motive power, the work they are suited for and their power or model number. The class name includes this information about the locomotive. It comprises 4 or 5 letters. The first letter denotes the track gauge. The second letter denotes their motive power (Diesel or Alternating - on Electric) and the third letter denotes the kind of traffic for which they are suited (goods, passenger, Multi or shunting). The fourth letter used to denote locomotives' chronological model number. However, from 2002 a new classification scheme has been adopted. Under this system, for newer diesel locomotives, the fourth letter will denote their horsepower range. Electric locomotives don't come under this scheme and even all diesel locos are not covered. For them this letter denotes their model number as usual.In world level Ghaziabad is the largest manufacturer of Locomotive.
A locomotive may sometimes have a fifth letter in its name which generally denotes a technical variant or subclass or subtype. This fifth letter indicates some smaller variation in the basic model or series, perhaps different motors, or a different manufacturer. With the new scheme for classifying diesel locomotives (as mentioned above) the fifth item is a letter that further refines the horsepower indication in 100 hp increments: 'A' for 100 hp, 'B' for 200 hp, 'C' for 300 hp, etc. So in this scheme, a WDM-3A refers to a 3100 hp loco, while a WDM-3D would be a 3400 hp loco and WDM-3F would be 3600 hp loco.
Note: This classification system does not apply to steam locomotives in India as they have become non-functional now. They retained their original class names such as M class or WP class.
Diesel Locomotives are now fitted with Auxiliary Power Units which saves nearly 88% of Fuel during the idle time when train is not running.
GOODS WAGONS
The number of goods wagons was 205,596 on 31 March 1951 and reached the maximum number 405,183 on 31 March 1980 after which it started declining and was 239,321 on 31 March 2012. The number is far less than the requirement and the Indian Railways keeps losing freight traffic to road. Indian Railways carried 93 million tonnes of goods in 1950–51 and it increased to 1010 million tonnes in 2012–13.
However, its share in goods traffic is much lower than road traffic. In 1951, its share was 65% and the share of road was 35%. Now the shares have been reversed and the share of railways has declined to 30% and the share of road has increased to 70%.
PASSENGER COACHES
Indian railways has several types of passenger coaches.
Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) coaches are used for suburban traffic in large cities – mainly Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata, Pune, Hyderabad and Bangalore. These coaches numbered 7,793 on 31 March 2012. They have second class and first class seating accommodation.
The coaches used in Indian Railways are produced at Integral Coach Factory, Rail Coach Factory.Now,they are producing new LHB coaches.
Passenger coaches numbered 46,722 on 31 March 2012. Other coaches (luggage coach, parcel van, guard's coach, mail coach, etc.) numbered 6,560 on 31 March 2012.
FREIGHT
Indian Railways earns about 70% of its revenues from freight traffic (₹686.2 billion from freight and ₹304.6 billion from passengers in 2011–12). Most of its profits come from transporting freight, and this makes up for losses on passenger traffic. It deliberately keeps its passenger fares low and cross-subsidises the loss-making passenger traffic with the profit-making freight traffic.
Since the 1990s, Indian Railways has stopped single-wagon consignments and provides only full rake freight trains
Wagon types include:
BOXNHL
BOBYN
BCN
BCNHL
TECHNICAL DETAILS
TRACK AND GAUGE
Indian railways uses four gauges, the 1,676 mm broad gauge which is wider than the 1,435 mm standard gauge; the 1,000 mm metre gauge; and two narrow gauges, 762 mm and 610 mm. Track sections are rated for speeds ranging from 75 to 160 km/h.
The total length of track used by Indian Railways is about 115,000 km while the total route length of the network is 65,000 km. About 24,891 km or 38% of the route-kilometre was electrified, as of 31 March 2014.
Broad gauge is the predominant gauge used by Indian Railways. Indian broad gauge - 1,676 mm - is the most widely used gauge in India with 108,500 km of track length (94% of entire track length of all the gauges) and 59,400 km of route-kilometre (91% of entire route-kilometre of all the gauges).
In some regions with less traffic, the metre gauge (1,000 mm) is common, although the Unigauge project is in progress to convert all tracks to broad gauge. The metre gauge has about 5,000 km of track length (4% of entire track length of all the gauges) and 4,100 km of route-kilometre (7% of entire route-kilometre of all the gauges).
The Narrow gauges are present on a few routes, lying in hilly terrains and in some erstwhile private railways (on cost considerations), which are usually difficult to convert to broad gauge. Narrow gauges have 1,500 route-kilometre. The Kalka-Shimla Railway, the Kangra Valley Railway and the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway are three notable hill lines that use narrow gauge, but the Nilgiri Mountain Railway is a metre gauge track. These four rail lines will not be converted under the Unigauge project.
The share of broad gauge in the total route-kilometre has been steadily rising, increasing from 47% (25,258 route-km) in 1951 to 86% in 2012 whereas the share of metre gauge has declined from 45% (24,185 route-km) to 10% in the same period and the share of narrow gauges has decreased from 8% to 3%. About 24,891 route-km of Indian railways is electrified.
Sleepers (ties) are made up of prestressed concrete, or steel or cast iron posts, though teak sleepers are still in use on a few older lines. The prestressed concrete sleeper is in wide use today. Metal sleepers were extensively used before the advent of concrete sleepers. Indian Railways divides the country into four zones on the basis of the range of track temperature. The greatest temperature variations occur in Rajasthan.
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
Indian Railways has a full-fledged organisation known as Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO), located at Lucknow for all research, designs and standardisation tasks.
In August 2013, Indian Railways entered into a partnership with Indian Institute of Technology (Madras) to develop technology to tap solar energy for lighting and air-conditioning in the coaches. This would significantly reduce the fossil fuel dependency for Indian Railways.
Recently it developed and tested the Improved Automated Fire Alarm System in Rajdhani Express Trains. It is intended that the system be applied to AC coaches of all regular trains.
CURRENT AND FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS
In recent years, Indian Railways has undertaken several initiatives to upgrade its ageing infrastructure and enhance its quality of service. The Indian government plans to invest ₹905000 crore (US$137 billion) to upgrade the railways by 2020.
TOILETS ON RAILWAYS
In 2014, Indian Railways and DRDO developed a bio-toilet to replace direct-discharge toilets, which are currently the primary type of toilet used in railway coaches. The direct discharge of human waste from trains onto the tracks corrodes rails, costing Indian Railways tens of millions of rupees a year in rail-replacement work. Flushing a bio-toilet discharges human waste into an underfloor holding tank where anaerobic bacteria remove harmful pathogens and break the waste down into neutral water and methane. These harmless by-products can then be safely discharged onto the tracks without causing corrosion or foul odours. As part of its "Swachh Rail-Swachh Bharat" ("Clean Rail-Clean India") programme, Indian Railways plans to completely phase out direct-discharge toilets on its lines by 2020-2021. As of March 2015, 17,338 bio-toilets had been installed on newly built coaches, with all new coaches to have bio-toilets from 2016; older rolling stock will be retrofitted.
LOCOMOTIVE FACTORIES
In 2015, plans were disclosed for building two locomotive factories in the state of Bihar, at Madhepura (diesel locomotives) and at Marhowra (electric locomotives). Both factories involve foreign partnerships. The diesel locomotive works will be jointly operated in a partnership with General Electric, which has invested ₹2052 crore (US$310 million) for its construction, and the electric locomotive works with Alstom, which has invested ₹1293.57 crore (US$195 million). The factories will provide Indian Railways with 800 electric locomotives of 12,000 horse power each, and a mix of 1,000 diesel locomotives of 4,500 and 6,000 horsepower each. In November 2015, further details of the ₹14656 crore (US$2 billion) partnership with GE were announced: Indian Railways and GE would engage in an 11-year joint venture in which GE would hold a majority stake of 74%. Under the terms of the joint venture, Indian Railways would purchase 100 goods locomotives a year for 10 years beginning in 2017; the locomotives would be modified versions of the GE Evolution series. The diesel locomotive works will be built by 2018; GE will import the first 100 locomotives and manufacture the remaining 900 in India from 2019, also assuming responsibility for their maintenance over a 13-year period. In the same month, a ₹20000 crore (US$3 billion) partnership with Alstom to supply 800 electric locomotives from 2018 to 2028 was announced.
LINKS TO ADJACENT COUNTRIES
EXISTING RAIL LINKS
Nepal – Break-of-gauge – Gauge conversion under uni-gauge project
Pakistan – same Broad Gauge. Thar Express to Karachi and the more famous Samjhauta Express international train from Lahore, Pakistan to Amritsar (Attari).
Bangladesh – Same Broad Gauge. The Maitri Express between Dhaka and Kolkata started in April 2008 using the Gede-Darsana route, in addition to a Freight Train service from Singhabad and Petrapole in India to Rohanpur and Benapole in Bangladesh. A second passenger link between Agartala, India and Akhaura Upazila, Bangladesh was approved by the Government of Bangladesh and India in September 2011.
UNDER CONSTRUCTUION / PROPOSED LINKS
Bhutan – railways under construction – Same gauge
Myanmar – Manipur to Myanmar (under construction)
Vietnam – On 9 April 2010, Former Union Minister of India, Shashi Tharoor announced that the central government is considering a rail link from Manipur to Vietnam via Myanmar.
Thailand – possible if Burma Railway is rebuilt.
TYPES OF PASSENGER SERVICES
Trains are classified by their average speed. A faster train has fewer stops ("halts") than a slower one and usually caters to long-distance travel.
ACCOMODATION CLASSES
Indian Railways has several classes of travel with or without airconditioning. A train may have just one or many classes of travel. Slow passenger trains have only unreserved seating class whereas Rajdhani, Duronto, Shatabdi, garib rath and yuva trains have only airconditioned classes. The fares for all classes are different with unreserved seating class being the cheapest. The fare of Rajdhani, Duronto and Shatabdi trains includes food served in the train but the fare for other trains does not include food that has to be bought separately. In long-distance trains a pantry car is usually included and food is served at the berth or seat itself. Luxury trains such as Palace on Wheels have separate dining cars but these trains cost as much as or more than a five-star hotel room.
A standard passenger rake generally has four unreserved (also called "general") compartments, two at the front and two at the end, of which one may be exclusively for ladies. The exact number of other coaches varies according to the demand and the route. A luggage compartment can also exist at the front or the back. In some mail trains a separate mail coach is attached. Lavatories are communal and feature both the Indian style as well as the Western style.
The following table lists the classes in operation. A train may not have all these classes.
1A First class AC: This is the most expensive class, where the fares are almost at par with air fare. There are eight cabins (including two coupes) in the full AC First Class coach and three cabins (including one coupe) in the half AC First Class coach. The coach has an attendant to help the passengers. Bedding is included with the fare in IR. This air conditioned coach is present only on popular routes and can carry 18 passengers (full coach) or 10 passengers (half coach). The sleeper berths are extremely wide and spacious. The coaches are carpeted, have sleeping accommodation and have privacy features like personal coupes. This class is available on broad gauge and metre gauge trains.
2A AC-Two tier: These air-conditioned coaches have sleeping berths across eight bays. Berths are usually arranged in two tiers in bays of six, four across the width of the coach and two berths longways on the other side of the corridor, with curtains along the gangway or corridor. Bedding is included with the fare. A broad gauge coach can carry 48 passengers (full coach) or 20 passengers (half coach). This class is available on broad gauge and metre gauge trains.
FC First class: Same as 1AC but without air conditioning. No bedding is available in this class. The berths are wide and spacious. There is a coach attendant to help the passengers. This class has been phased out on most of the trains and is rare to find. However narrow gauge trains to hill stations have this class.
3A AC three tier: Air conditioned coaches with 64 sleeping berths. Berths are usually arranged as in 2AC but with three tiers across the width and two longways as before giving eight bays of eight. They are slightly less well-appointed, usually no reading lights or curtained off gangways. Bedding is included with fare. It carries 64 passengers in broad gauge. This class is available only on broad gauge.
3E AC three tier (Economy): Air conditioned coaches with sleeping berths, present in Garib Rath Trains. Berths are usually arranged as in 3AC but with three tiers across the width and three longways. They are slightly less well-appointed, usually no reading lights or curtained off gangways. Bedding is not included with fare.
CC AC chair car: An air-conditioned seater coach with a total of five seats in a row used for day travel between cities.
EC Executive class chair car: An air-conditioned coach with large spacious seats and legroom. It has a total of four seats in a row used for day travel between cities. This class of travel is only available on Shatabdi Express trains.
SL Sleeper class: The sleeper class is the most common coach on IR, and usually ten or more coaches could be attached. These are regular sleeping coaches with three berths vertically stacked. In broad gauge, it carries 72 passengers per coach.
2S Seater class: same as AC Chair car, without the air-conditioning. These may be reserved in advance or may be unreserved.
UR Unreserved: The cheapest accommodation. The seats are usually made up of pressed wood in older coaches but cushioned seats are found in new coaches. These coaches are usually over-crowded and a seat is not guaranteed. Tickets are issued in advance for a minimum journey of more than 24 hours. Tickets issued are valid on any train on the same route if boarded within 24 hours of buying the ticket.
At the rear of the train is a special compartment known as the guard's cabin. It is fitted with a transceiver and is where the guard usually gives the all clear signal before the train departs.
UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITES
There are two UNESCO World Heritage Sites on Indian Railways. – The Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus and the Mountain Railways of India. The latter consists of three separate railway lines located in different parts of India:
- Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, a narrow gauge railway in West Bengal.
- Nilgiri Mountain Railway, a 1,000 mm metre gauge railway in the Nilgiri Hills in Tamil Nadu.
- Kalka-Shimla Railway, a narrow gauge railway in the Shivalik mountains in Himachal Pradesh. In 2003 the railway was featured in the Guinness Book of World Records for offering the steepest rise in altitude in the space of 96 kilometre.
NOTABLE TRAINS
TOURIST TRAINS
Palace on Wheels is a specially designed luxury tourist train service, frequently hauled by a steam locomotive, for promoting tourism in Rajasthan. The train has a 7 nights & 8 days itinerary, it departs from New Delhi (Day 1), and covers Jaipur (Day 2), Sawai Madhopur and Chittaurgarh (Day 3), Udaipur (Day 4), Jaisalmer (Day 5), Jodhpur (Day 6), Bharatpur and Agra (Day 7), return to Delhi (Day 8).
Royal Rajasthan on Wheels a luxury tourist train service covers various tourist destinations in Rajasthan. The train takes tourists on a 7-day/8-night tour through Rajasthan. The train starts from New Delhi's Safdarjung railway station (Day 1), and has stops at Jodhpur (Day 2), Udaipur and Chittaurgarh (Day 3), Ranthambore National Park and Jaipur (Day 4), Khajuraho (Day 5), Varanasi and Sarnath (Day 6), Agra (Day 7) and back to Delhi (Day 8).
Maharaja Express a luxury train operated by IRCTC runs on five circuits covering more than 12 destinations across North-West and Central India, mainly centered around Rajasthan between the months of October to April.
Deccan Odyssey luxury tourist train service covers various tourist destinations in Maharashtra and Goa. The 7 Nights / 8 Days tour starts from Mumbai (Day 1) and covers Jaigad Fort, Ganapatipule and Ratnagiri (Day 2), Sindhudurg, Tarkarli and Sawantwadi (Day 3), Goa (Day 4), Kolhapur and Pune (Day 5), Aurangabad and Ellora Caves (Day 6), Ajanta Caves and Nashik (Day 7), and back to Mumbai (Day 8).
The Golden Chariot luxury train runs on two circuits Pride of the South and Splendor of the South.
Mahaparinirvan Express an a/c train service also known as Buddhist Circuit Train which is run by IRCTC to attract Buddhist pilgrims. The 7 nights/8 Days tour starts from New Delhi (Day 1) and covers Bodh Gaya (Day 2), Rajgir and Nalanda (Day 3), Varanasi and Sarnath (Day 4), Kushinagar and Lumbini (Day 5 and 6), Sravasti (Day 7), Taj Mahal (Agra) (Day 8) before returning to New Delhi on (Day 8).
OTHER TRAINS
- Samjhauta Express is a train that runs between India and Pakistan. However, hostilities between the two nations in 2001 saw the line being closed. It was reopened when the hostilities subsided in 2004. Another train connecting Khokhrapar (Pakistan) and Munabao (India) is the Thar Express that restarted operations on 18 February 2006; it was earlier closed down after the 1965 Indo-Pak war.
- Lifeline Express is a special train popularly known as the "Hospital-on-Wheels" which provides healthcare to the rural areas. This train has a carriage that serves as an operating room, a second one which serves as a storeroom and an additional two that serve as a patient ward. The train travels around the country, staying at a location for about two months before moving elsewhere.
- Fairy Queen is the oldest operating locomotive in the world today, though it is operated only for specials between Delhi and Alwar. John Bull, a locomotive older than Fairy Queen, operated in 1981 commemorating its 150th anniversary. Gorakhpur railway station also has the distinction of being the world's longest railway platform at 1,366 m. The Ghum station along the Darjeeling Toy Train route is the second highest railway station in the world to be reached by a steam locomotive. The Mumbai–Pune Deccan Queen has the oldest running dining car in IR.
- Vivek Express, between Dibrugarh and Kanyakumari, has the longest run in terms of distance and time on Indian Railways network. It covers 4,286 km in about 82 hours and 30 minutes.
- Bhopal Shatabdi Express is the fastest train in India today having a maximum speed of 160 km/h on the Faridabad–Agra section. The fastest speed attained by any train is 184 km/h in 2000 during test runs.
- Special Trains are those trains started by Indian Railways for any specific event or cause which includes Jagriti Yatra trains, Kumbh Mela Trains., emergency trains, etc.
- Double-decker AC trains have been introduced in India. The first double decker train was Pune-Mumbai Sinhagad express plying between Pune and Mumbai while the first double-decker AC train in the Indian Railways was introduced in November 2010, running between the Dhanbad and Howrah stations having 10 coaches and 2 power cars. On 16 April 2013, Indian Railways celebrated its 160 years of nationwide connectivity with a transportation of 23 million passengers in a day.
PROBLEMS AND ISSUES
Indian Railways is cash strapped and reported a loss of ₹30,000 crores (₹300bn) in the passenger segment for the year ending March 2014. Operating ratio, a key metric used by Indian railways to gauge financial health, is 91.8% in the year 2014-15. Railways carry a social obligation of over ₹20,000 crores (₹200bn $3.5bn). The loss per passenger-km increased to 23 paise by the end of March 2014. Indian Railways is left with a surplus cash of just ₹690 crores (₹6.9bn $115mn) by the end of March 2014.
It is estimated that over ₹ 5 lakh crores (₹5 trillion) (about $85 bn at 2014 exchange rates) is required to complete the ongoing projects alone. The railway is consistently losing market share to other modes of transport both in freight and passengers.
New railway line projects are often announced during the Railway Budget annually without securing additional funding for them. In the last 10 years, 99 New Line projects worth ₹ 60,000 crore (₹600bn) were sanctioned out of which only one project is complete till date, and there are four projects that are as old as 30 years, but are still not complete for one reason or another.
Sanjay Dina Patil a member of the Lok Sabha in 2014 said that additional tracks, height of platforms are still a problem and rise in tickets, goods, monthly passes has created an alarming situation where the common man is troubled.
WIKIPEDIA
The building in this photo is the Queens Fire Alarm Telegraph Station, located in Forest Park, at the corner of Woodhaven Boulevard and Park Lane South (formerly known as Ashland Street), in the New York City borough of Queens. It was built as a central dispatching office for the Fire Department of New York City (FDNY). The facility started operating in 1928 and is still used by the FDNY. New York developed facilities of this type in each of the five boroughs as part of improvements to the city's fire alarm system. They were deliberately placed in parks to isolate them from other buildings, in order to reduce the possibility that a fire from neighboring buildings would spread to them. At the time it opened, this facility served all of Queens, except Astoria and Long Island City, which were already served by the Brooklyn central office that opened in 1923.
City officials quoted in the Daily Star of 29 July 1925 hailed the station as "an advanced step forward making Queens safe against fire." The new facility allowed for more space and equipment to accommodate improvements in Queens' fire alarm system. The FDNY previously operated its fire alarm central office in a "damp basement" in the Town Hall in Jamaica. The new facility was touted as providing capacity to serve the borough for the next 100 years.
The design of this building, which features Beaux-Arts and neo-Georgian features, is attributed to John R. Sliney, the FDNY's long time chief Building Inspector. Even before it was completed, the Long Island Daily Press praised its design. In an 18 January 1926 article, the paper concluded that "a civic structure of real beauty will the grace this corner then. It will be set well back from the street on the crest of a terraced and landscape slope. Steps will lead from the sidewalk through the gardens in a semicircle to doors in the two wings which will branch out from each side of the center of the building, topped by a handsome dome and cupola. Trees, shrubs, and lawns will add to the attractiveness of the structure." Nine decades later it is still an apt description.
A ground breaking ceremony was held in September 1925. However, it was not put into service until November 1928, although a formal opening ceremony was held in July 1928. According to news reports, the building was completed in 1926, but needed improvements to and connections with the fire alarm system delayed its opening. As one newspaper put it, "a fire alarm telegraph building isn't of much use without a telegraph system."
Construction of the building at this location was vociferously opposed by many community groups and politicians at the time it was proposed. In fact when the project was first planned it was intended to be at a different location in Forest Park, at Myrtle Avenue and 108th Street. Even after the site was changed, protests continued. The Leader-Observer, a "live local" weekly newspaper in the area supported opponents of the plan to place the Fire Alarm Telegraph Station at the Woodhaven location. "There seems to be no good reason," the paper contended in an editorial in its 1 October 1925 edition, "why the parks of the city should be used for the accommodation of public buildings." It added, "city parks are for recreation purposes and should not be desecrated by unsightly buildings."
With the passage of time, it seems the opponents opinions were misguided. The Long Island Daily Press, disagreeing with the sentiment of the Leader-Observer, noted that "the appearance of the building when it is completed and the grounds landscaped, will add greatly to the beauty and distinctiveness of its location and surroundings, say those in charge." This time, at least, those in charge have been proven right. As the Leader-Observer newspaper reported on 26 November 2013, a local artist Madeline Lovallo, who paints picturesque locations, created a well-received painting of the Fire Alarm Telegraph Station.
For more information on this and New York's other Fire Alarm Telegraph Stations, please see my article on Untapped New York at:
untappedcities.com/2016/04/21/nycs-beautiful-and-mysterio...
St Mary's church in Lapworth is one of the most rewarding and unusual medieval parish churches in Warwickshire. The visitor generally approaches this handsome building from the north where the sturdy tower and spire stand guard like a sentinel. It is unusual in standing apart from the main building and was originally detached but is now linked by a passageway to the north aisle, making the church almost as wide as it is long. The west end too is remarkably configured with a chantry chapel or room set above an archway (allowing passage across the churchyard below).
The church we see today dates mainly from the 13th / 14th centuries, with an impressive fifteenth century clerestorey added to the nave being a prominent feature externally, but within it is possible to discern traces of the previous Norman structure embedded below in the nave arcade. There is much of interest to enjoy in this pleasant interior from quirky carvings high in the nave to the rich stained glass in the chancel and north chapel (which has benefitted immensely from a newly inserted window where the east wall had previously been blank). The most interesting memorial is the relief tablet in the north chapel by Eric Gill.
Lapworth church has consistently welcomed visitors and remains militantly open now despite being surrounded by churches largely reluctant to re-open after Covid. Happily since Tony Naylor's fine new window was installed the previous alarm system that restricted access to the eastern half of the church (which I inadvertedly set off on my first ever visit, deafening the neighbours!) has been relaxed so that visitors can now enjoy the full extent of the interior and its fittings.
USS Olympia (C-6/CA-15/CL-15/IX-40) is a protected cruiser that saw service in the United States Navy from her commissioning in 1895 until 1922. This vessel became famous as the flagship of Commodore George Dewey at the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish-American War in 1898. The ship was decommissioned after returning to the U.S. in 1899, but was returned to active service in 1902.
She served until World War I as a training ship for naval cadets and as a floating barracks in Charleston, South Carolina. In 1917, she was mobilized again for war service, patrolling the American coast and escorting transport ships.
Following the end of World War I, Olympia participated in the 1919 Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War, and conducted cruises in the Mediterranean and Adriatic Seas to promote peace in the unstable Balkan countries. In 1921, the ship carried the remains of World War I's Unknown Soldier from France to Washington, DC, where his body was interred in Arlington National Cemetery. Olympia was decommissioned for the last time in December 1922 and placed in reserve.
In 1957, the U.S. Navy ceded title to the Cruiser Olympia Association, which restored the ship to her 1898 configuration. Since then, Olympia has been a museum ship in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and is now part of the Independence Seaport Museum. Olympia is the oldest steel US warship still afloat. However, the Museum has been unable to fund essential maintenance for the old ship, and attempts to secure outside funding have failed. Therefore the current steward, under direction of the US Navy has put the ship up for availability to new stewards. It will take an estimated ten million dollars to put Olympia in a stable condition.
Olympia was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966.
As of 2012, Olympia's future was uncertain; repairs are desperately needed to keep the ship afloat. Four entities from San Francisco, California, Beaufort, South Carolina, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Washington, DC, are vying to be a new steward, but it is a race against time due to the waterline deterioration of the hull. As the current entities are in competition for the ship, no significant repairs have been made, although the current steward has done some minor repairs. In reaction to this gap in coverage, the National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP) has set up a fund repository which, if funds are raised, will be directly applied to immediate repairs of the vessel with the cooperation of the current steward. At the present time, March 2012, the NTHP is considering a triple application by the Naval Historical Foundation, the Historic Naval Ships Association, and the National Maritime Association to have Olympia placed on the NTHP's list of the eleven most endangered "places". The steward applicants from San Francisco (Mare Island), and Beaufort, S.C., have endorsed the application. Despite these positive steps, Olympia is in critical danger due to the lack of funds.
Since 2011, Independence Seaport Museum has renewed its commitment to the continued preservation of the Cruiser Olympia until the Transfer Application Process reaches its conclusion in summer 2014. The Museum has invested in extensive stabilization measures including reinforcing the most deteriorated areas of the hull, expanding the alarm system, installing a network of bilge pumping stand pipes (which will provide greater damage control capability in the unlikely event of a hull breech), extensive deck patching and extensive repair and recoating of the ship’s rigging. Although still in need of dry docking and substantial restoration, the Olympia is in a more stable condition now than it has been for years. This work was made possible by donations from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, The U.S. Cruiser Sailors Association and many individual donors.
Of the six candidates that originally applied for stewardship of the cruiser Olympia, only two remain: an organization in California and an organization in South Carolina. The Museum continues to seek resources to preserve the ship for education and interpretation. The ship will remain open to the public seven days a week from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, and until 7:00 pm on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend.
Visited this huge location and was surprised how much is still to see there in relative good state. Unfortunately the copper kettles are not accessible anymore and are secured by motion alarm system.
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location | Irdning, Styria 💚 Austria
📷 | 2004 BMW R 1200 CL :: rumoto image # 2656 bw
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If a photographer can’t feel what he is looking at, then he is never going to get others to feel anything when they look at his pictures.
:: Bernard Egger, BMW motorcycles, rumoto images, Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey, Phoenix, Montana Stiletto, luxury, touring-cruiser, luxury-touring, long-distance, Telelever, Paralever, Monolever, ABS, riding, ride, Pearl Silver Metallic, MoDiTec, diagnostic, drivetrain, top box, Topcase,
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Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey, August 2002 ...
Some people consider a six-day cruise as the perfect vacation. Other's might agree, as long as the days are marked by blurred fence posts and dotted lines instead of palm trees and ocean waves. For them, BMW introduces the perfect alternative to a deck chair - the R 1200 CL.
Motorcyclists were taken aback when BMW introduced its first cruiser in 1997, but the R 1200 C quickly rose to become that year's best-selling BMW. The original has since spawned several derivatives including the Phoenix, Euro, Montana and Stiletto. This year, BMW's cruiser forms the basis for the most radical departure yet, the R 1200 CL. With its standard integral hard saddlebags, top box and distinctive handlebar-mounted fairing, the CL represents twin-cylinder luxury-touring at its finest, a completely modern luxury touring-cruiser with a touch of classic BMW.
Although based on the R 1200 C, the new CL includes numerous key changes in chassis, drivetrain, equipment and appearance, specifically designed to enhance the R 1200's abilities as a long-distance mount. While it uses the same torquey, 1170cc 61-hp version of BMW's highly successful R259 twin, the CL backs it with a six-speed overdrive transmission. A reworked Telelever increases the bike's rake for more-relaxed high-speed steering, while the fork's wider spacing provides room for the sculpted double-spoke, 16-inch wheel and 150/80 front tire. Similarly, a reinforced Monolever rear suspension controls a matching 15-inch alloy wheel and 170/80 rear tire. As you'd expect, triple disc brakes featuring BMW's latest EVO front brake system and fully integrated ABS bring the bike to a halt at day's end-and set the CL apart from any other luxury cruiser on the market.
Yet despite all the chassis changes, it's the new CL's visual statement that represents the bike's biggest break with its cruiser-mates. With its grip-to-grip sweep, the handlebar-mounted fairing evokes classic touring bikes, while the CL's distinctive quad-headlamps give the bike a decidedly avant-garde look - in addition to providing standard-setting illumination. A pair of frame-mounted lowers extends the fairing's wind coverage and provides space for some of the CL's electrics and the optional stereo. The instrument panel is exceptionally clean, surrounded by a matte gray background that matches the kneepads inset in the fairing extensions. The speedometer and tachometer flank a panel of warning lights, capped by the standard analog clock. Integrated mirror/turnsignal pods extend from the fairing to provide further wind protection. Finally, fully integrated, color-matched saddlebags combine with a standard top box to provide a steamer trunk's luggage capacity.
The CL's riding position blends elements of both tourer and cruiser, beginning with a reassuringly low, 29.3-inch seat height. The seat itself comprises two parts, a rider portion with an integral lower-back rest, and a taller passenger perch that includes a standard backrest built into the top box. Heated seats, first seen on the K 1200 LT, are also available for the CL to complement the standard heated grips. A broad, flat handlebar places those grips a comfortable reach away, and the CL's floorboards allow the rider to shift position easily without compromising control. Standard cruise control helps melt the miles on long highway stints. A convenient heel/toe shifter makes for effortless gearchanges while adding exactly the right classic touch.
The R 1200 CL backs up its cruiser origins with the same superb attention to cosmetics as is shown in the functional details. In addition to the beautifully finished bodywork, the luxury cruiser boasts an assortment of chrome highlights, including valve covers, exhaust system, saddlebag latches and frame panels, with an optional kit to add even more brightwork. Available colors include Pearl Silver Metallic, Capri Blue Metallic and Mojave Brown Metallic, this last with a choice of black or brown saddle (other colors feature black).
The R 1200 CL Engine: Gearing For The Long Haul
BMW's newest tourer begins with a solid foundation-the 61-hp R 1200 C engine. The original, 1170cc cruiser powerplant blends a broad powerband and instantaneous response with a healthy, 72 lb.-ft. of torque. Like its forebear, the new CL provides its peak torque at 3000 rpm-exactly the kind of power delivery for a touring twin. Motronic MA 2.4 engine management ensures that this Boxer blends this accessible power with long-term reliability and minimal emissions, while at the same time eliminating the choke lever for complete push-button simplicity. Of course, the MoDiTec diagnostic feature makes maintaining the CL every bit as simple as the other members of BMW's stable.
While tourers and cruisers place similar demands on their engines, a touring bike typically operates through a wider speed range. Consequently, the R 1200 CL mates this familiar engine to a new, six-speed transmission. The first five gear ratios are similar to the original R 1200's, but the sixth gear provides a significant overdrive, which drops engine speed well under 3000 rpm at 60 mph. This range of gearing means the CL can manage either responsive in-town running or relaxed freeway cruising with equal finesse, and places the luxury cruiser right in the heart of its powerband at touring speeds for simple roll-on passes.
In addition, the new transmission has been thoroughly massaged internally, with re-angled gear teeth that provide additional overlap for quieter running. Shifting is likewise improved via a revised internal shift mechanism that produces smoother, more precise gearchanges. Finally, the new transmission design is lighter (approximately 1 kg.), which helps keep the CL's weight down to a respectable 679 lbs. (wet). The improved design of this transmission will be adopted by other Boxer-twins throughout the coming year.
The CL Chassis: Wheeled Luggage Never Worked This Well
Every bit as unique as the CL's Boxer-twin drivetrain is the bike's chassis, leading off-literally and figuratively-with BMW's standard-setting Telelever front suspension. The CL's setup is identical in concept and function to the R 1200 C's fork, but shares virtually no parts with the previous cruiser's. The tourer's wider, 16-inch front wheel called for wider-set fork tubes, so the top triple clamp, fork bridge, fork tubes and axle have all been revised, and the axle has switched to a full-floating design. The aluminum Telelever itself has been further reworked to provide a slightly more raked appearance, which also creates a more relaxed steering response for improved straight-line stability. The front shock has been re-angled and its spring and damping rates changed to accommodate the new bike's suspension geometry, but is otherwise similar to the original R 1200 C's damper.
Similarly, the R 1200 CL's Monolever rear suspension differs in detail, rather than concept, from previous BMW cruisers. Increased reinforcing provides additional strength at the shock mount, while a revised final-drive housing provides mounts for the new rear brake. But the primary rear suspension change is a switch to a shock with travel-related damping, similar to that introduced on the R 1150 GS Adventure. This new shock not only provides for a smoother, more controlled ride but also produces an additional 20mm travel compared to the other cruisers, bringing the rear suspension travel to 4.72 inches.
The Telelever and Monolever bolt to a standard R 1200 C front frame that differs only in detail from the original. The rear subframe, however, is completely new, designed to accommodate the extensive luggage system and passenger seating on the R 1200 CL. In addition to the permanently affixed saddlebags, the larger seats, floor boards, top box and new side stand all require new mounting points.
All this new hardware rolls on completely restyled double-spoke wheels (16 x 3.5 front/15 x 4.0 rear) that carry wider, higher-profile (80-series) touring tires for an extremely smooth ride. Bolted to these wheels are larger disc brakes (12.0-inch front, 11.2-inch rear), with the latest edition of BMW's standard-setting EVO brakes. A pair of four-piston calipers stop the front wheel, paired with a two-piston unit-adapted from the K 1200 LT-at the rear. In keeping with the bike's touring orientation, the new CL includes BMW's latest, fully integrated ABS, which actuates both front and rear brakes through either the front hand lever or the rear brake pedal.
The CL Bodywork: Dressed To The Nines
Although all these mechanical changes ensure that the new R 1200 CL works like no other luxury cruiser, it's the bike's styling and bodywork that really set it apart. Beginning with the bike's handlebar-mounted fairing, the CL looks like nothing else on the road, but it's the functional attributes that prove its worth. The broad sweep of the fairing emphasizes its aerodynamic shape, which provides maximum wind protection with a minimum of buffeting. Four headlamps, with their horizontal/vertical orientation, give the CL its unique face and also create the best illumination outside of a baseball stadium (the high-beams are borrowed from the GS).
The M-shaped windshield, with its dipped center section, produces exceptional wind protection yet still allows the rider to look over the clear-plastic shield when rain or road dirt obscure the view. Similarly, clear extensions at the fairing's lower edges improve wind protection even further but still allow an unobstructed view forward for maneuvering in extremely close quarters. The turnsignal pods provide further wind coverage, and at the same time the integral mirrors give a clear view to the rear.
Complementing the fairing, both visually and functionally, the frame-mounted lowers divert the wind blast around the rider to provide further weather protection. Openings vent warm air from the frame-mounted twin oil-coolers and direct the heat away from the rider. As noted earlier, the lowers also house the electronics for the bike's optional alarm system and cruise control. A pair of 12-volt accessory outlets are standard.
Like the K 1200 LT, the new R 1200 CL includes a capacious luggage system as standard, all of it color-matched and designed to accommodate rider and passenger for the long haul. The permanently attached saddlebags include clamshell lids that allow for easy loading and unloading. Chrome bumper strips protect the saddlebags from minor tipover damage. The top box provides additional secure luggage space, or it can be simply unbolted to uncover an attractive aluminum luggage rack. An optional backrest can be bolted on in place of the top box. Of course, saddlebags and top box are lockable and keyed to the ignition switch.
Options & Accessories: More Personal Than A Monogram
Given BMW's traditional emphasis on touring options and the cruiser owner's typical demands for customization, it's only logical to expect a range of accessories and options for the company's first luxury cruiser. The CL fulfills those expectations with a myriad of options and accessories, beginning with heated or velour-like Soft Touch seats and a low windshield. Electronic and communications options such as an AM/FM/CD stereo, cruise control and onboard communication can make time on the road much more pleasant, whether you're out for an afternoon ride or a cross-country trek - because after all, nobody says you have to be back in six days. Other available electronic features include an anti-theft alarm, which also disables the engine.
Accessories designed to personalize the CL even further range from cosmetic to practical, but all adhere to BMW's traditional standards for quality and fit. Chrome accessories include engine-protection and saddlebag - protection hoops. On a practical level, saddlebag and top box liners simplify packing and unpacking. In addition to the backrest, a pair of rear floorboards enhance passenger comfort even more.