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Jaguar 420 Saloon, 1966-68 by Alden Jewell

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From Wikipedia:

"Jaguar 420 and Daimler Sovereign (1966–1969)

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Jaguar 420 and Daimler Sovereign

(1966–69)

Jag 420 Daimler Sov.jpg

1968 Jaguar 420 (left) and 1967 Daimler Sovereign (right)

Overview

ManufacturerJaguar Cars

Production1966–1968

Jaguar 420: 10,236

1966–1969

Daimler Sovereign: 5,824

Body and chassis

ClassSports saloon

Body style4-door notchback saloon

LayoutFR layout

RelatedJaguar Mark 2

Jaguar Mark X

Powertrain

Engine4.2 L XK I6

Transmission4-speed manual (Jag only); 4-speed manual/overdrive; or 3-speed automatic options available

Dimensions

Wheelbase2,727 mm (107.4 in)

Length4,762 mm (187.5 in)

Width1,702 mm (67.0 in)

Height1,429 mm (56.3 in)

Curb weight1,676 kg (3,695 lb)

Chronology

PredecessorJaguar S-Type

SuccessorJaguar XJ6

The Jaguar 420 (pronounced "four-twenty") and its Daimler Sovereign equivalent were introduced at the October 1966 London Motor Show and produced for two years as the ultimate expression of a series of "compact sporting saloons" offered by Jaguar throughout that decade, all of which shared the same wheelbase. Developed from the Jaguar S-Type, the 420 cost around £200 more than that model and effectively ended buyer interest in it, although the S-Type continued to be sold alongside the 420/Sovereign until both were supplanted by the Jaguar XJ6 late in 1968.[1]

Contents

1Pedigree

2Design

2.1Styling

2.2Interior

2.3Engine

2.4Mechanical

3Performance

4Daimler

5Differentiation

6Demise

7Scale models

8Specifications

9External links

10Further reading

11References

Pedigree

The 420/Sovereign traces its origins back to the Jaguar Mark 2, which was introduced in 1959 and sold through most of the 1960s. The Mark 2 had a live rear axle and was powered by the XK six-cylinder engine first used in the Jaguar XK120 of 1948. The Mark 2 was available in 2.4, 3.4 and 3.8-litre engine capacities.

In 1961 Jaguar launched two new models with the triple SU carburettor version of the 3.8-litre XK engine and independent rear suspension: the Mark X (pronounced "mark ten") saloon and the E-Type sports car. Both cars used versions of the Jaguar independent rear suspension system, the Mark X having a 58-inch (1,500 mm) track and the E-Type a 50-inch (1,300 mm) track. In 1965 the Mark X and E-Type were updated with a new 4.2-litre version of the XK engine, still using triple carburettors.

In 1963 Jaguar introduced the Jaguar S-Type as a development of the Mark 2. It used a new intermediate-width, 54-inch (1,400 mm) version of the independent rear suspension in place of the live rear axle of the Mark 2. Other differences from the Mark 2 were extended rear bodywork to provide for a larger boot, a changed roofline for more rear seat passenger headroom, a slightly plusher interior and detail differences around the nose. The S-Type was available with either 3.4 or 3.8-litre XK engines (only 3.8-litre in US) but in twin-carburettor form because the triple-carburettor setup would not readily fit into what was essentially still the Mark 2 engine bay.

James Taylor suggests four reasons why Jaguar boss Sir William Lyons might have decided to add yet another model to an already extensive Jaguar range:[2]

sales of the Mark X were disappointing; the car was widely seen as being too big and cumbersome and a smaller car with similar standards of technical sophistication and luxury he thought could be more successful

demands for more luxurious features would add weight to any future models, forcing the drive towards a 4.2-litre-engined compact saloon

a combination of the 4.2-litre engine with the compact saloon body was expected to have market appeal

aesthetic objections to the controversially styled S-Type were known to be harming its sales.

Consequently, Lyons initiated development of a new saloon based on the S-Type, retaining its 54-inch independent rear suspension but adding a twin-carburettor version of the 4.2-litre powerplant and frontal styling more akin to that of the Mark X. The new car was released in August 1966 in the form of two badge-engineered models, the Jaguar 420 and the Daimler Sovereign equivalent.

Design

Styling

Jaguar 420 (side view)

The starting point for design of the 420/Sovereign was the Jaguar S-Type, which had been in production since 1963 but whose styling had never met with universal acceptance.

In styling terms, the 420/Sovereign was essentially an S-Type with that car's curvaceous nose made much more linear, the better to match its rear styling (which was not altered). Contouring around its four lamps was relatively subtle, with small peaks over each, and its flat frontage sloped forward slightly. The square grille with central divider matched that of the 420G, (which was the new name given to the Mark X at the time of the 420/Sovereign's release). The low-set fog lamps of the Mark 2 and S-Type were replaced by a pair of inner headlamps at the same level as the main headlamps. The inner lamps were lit on main beam only.[3] Dummy horn grilles were added below each inner headlamp to break up what would otherwise have been a large expanse of flat metal on either side of the radiator grille. The tops of the front wheel arches were flattened to match the squarer lines of the nose. The slimline bumpers dispensed with the centre dip which had characterised the bumpers of the Mark 2 and S-Type. All this was done to improve the car's aesthetic balance compared with the S-Type and to create a family resemblance to the Mark X/420G, changes which Sir William could not afford (in either time or money) when the S-Type was designed. No attempt was made to give the 420/Sovereign the same front-hinged bonnet as the Mark X/420G and it retained a rear-hinged bonnet of similar dimensions to those of the S-Type and Mark 2.

Interior

Jaguar 420 interior

Changes to the S-Type's interior to create the 420/Sovereign were driven mainly by safety considerations, with the wood cappings on the doors and dashboard replaced with padded Rexine and a wooden garnish rail on the tops of the door linings. The clock was relocated from the tachometer to the centre of the dashboard top rail, where it was powered by its own battery. The S-Type's pull out map tray below the central instrument panel was not carried over although the 420 retained the same central console and under-dash parcel tray. The seats of the 420 were of slightly different proportions from the S-Type, although they appeared very similar.

Engine

The 4.2-litre XK engine of the 420/Sovereign was fitted with the straight port cylinder head and 3/8-inch lift cams. Compression ratios of 7:1, 8:1 and 9:1 could be specified according to local fuel quality, the difference being obtained by varying the crown design of the pistons.[4] The engine was fed by just two carburettors and developed a claimed 245 bhp (183 kW; 248 PS) gross at 5,500 rpm,[5] which was 20 bhp (15 kW; 20 PS) less than the triple-carburettor version in the 420G and E-Type. The maximum torque of the engine at 283 lb⋅ft (384 N⋅m) was virtually the same as that of the triple-carburettor version yet was achieved at 3,750 rpm rather than 4,000 rpm.

The factory-quoted horsepower rating of 245 bhp (183 kW; 248 PS) was measured using the SAE (gross) system current in the USA at the time the 420/Sovereign was sold there. The SAE (gross) system excluded many accessory drives and often used non-standard induction and exhaust systems and so was replaced by the more accurate SAE (net) system in 1972, long after the 420/Sovereign had gone out of production. Reference[6] states that the DIN horsepower rating of the 1977 USA specification 4.2-litre Series II XJ6 was equivalent to 180 bhp. The DIN system yields horsepower ratings which, for most technical purposes, are the same as those that would be obtained using the SAE (net) system. However, the 1977 test would have included power-sapping emissions equipment not present on the 420/Sovereign. Therefore, the SAE (net) power rating of the 420/Sovereign must have lain somewhere between 180 bhp and 245 bhp.

Mechanical

Jaguar 420 engine bay

A novel mechanical feature that the 420/Sovereign shared with the 420G was Marles Varamatic power steering,[4] which was offered as an option on the 420 but was standard on the Sovereign. Built by Adwest Engineering Co Ltd of Reading, England, it was a "cam and roller" system in which the non-constant pitch of the cam resulted in a variable steering ratio, with the lowest gearing being at the straight ahead, rising rapidly to either lock. The rise in gearing (equivalent to a drop in ratio from 21.6:1 to 13:1) occurred almost entirely within the first half turn of the steering wheel from the straight-ahead position. The effect was to give very light and relaxed steering at the straight ahead, with quick reaction when cornering. There was no adjustment in the behaviour of the steering in reaction to road speed. A very few of the last S-Types were similarly equipped.

Other mechanical refinements the 420/Sovereign had over the S-Type included:

replacement of the Borg Warner Type 35 automatic transmission with the stronger Model 8

a more efficient cross-flow radiator in place of the S-Type's smaller vertical flow type

a dual-line hydraulic braking system replacing the S-Type's single line system

twin 2-inch HD8 SU carburettors (cf. the S-Type's twin 1.75-inch HD6 SUs)

brake discs featuring a peripheral cast-iron anti-squeal ring

a Holset "Torquatrol" viscous coupled engine cooling fan

negative earthing, the S-Type was positive earth

a pre-engaged starter instead of a Bendix pinion

an alternator rather than the S-Type's dynamo

Performance

Contemporary road tests[5] indicate that the performance of the 420 and Sovereign was very highly thought of.

A Motor (UK) road test in May 1967 reported:

It seems somehow insolent to apply medium [price] standards to a saloon that for a combination of speed, comfort and safety is as good as any in the world, regardless of cost.

A North American perspective was provided by Road & Track, whose December 1967 report concluded:

Jaguar's big seller in the U.S. remains the E-type sports cars, but the 420 sedan offers just as unique a combination of qualities in its own field. For a reasonable basic price of $5900, Jaguar offers brisk performance, outstanding braking, excellent handling and ride, quality finish, and luxury in abundance, all in an automobile that's easy to maneuver in today's maddening traffic.

A road test by Wheels (Australia) in August 1967 enthused:

While they can continue to build and sell cars as good as this, there is hope for the man who cares about his motoring.

In terms of performance measured under test conditions, 0–60 mph in under 10 seconds and a top speed of more than 125 mph (201 km/h) were typical. Such performance figures were superior to those of many of the 4.2-litre XJ6 models that followed.[7] Among the few exceptions the testers took was to its 15–16 mpg average fuel consumption, which even for the late 1960s was rather high. Combined with the modest size of its two 7 Imperial gallon (31.75 litre) fuel tanks, such fuel consumption gave the model a touring range of only around 250 miles (403 km).[5]

Daimler

Daimler Sovereign

Daimler Sovereign engine bay

Whereas the Daimler 2½-litre V8 released in 1962 differed from the Jaguar Mark 2 in having a genuine Daimler engine, only the Sovereign's badging and aspects of interior trim differentiated it from the 420.

The market perception of the two marques Daimler and Jaguar, which the material differences between them sought to foster, was that the Daimler represented luxury motoring for the discerning and more mature gentleman whereas the Jaguar was a sporting saloon aimed at a somewhat younger clientele. In the Daimler model range, the Sovereign filled a gap between the 2½-litre V8 and the larger and more conservatively styled 4½-litre Majestic Major. Prices in the UK of the basic 420 and Sovereign, as quoted in the Motor magazine of October 1966 were:

Manual o/d – Jaguar £1615, Daimler £1724

Automatic – Jaguar £1678, Daimler £1787

In return for the ≈6.5 % difference in price, the Daimler purchaser obtained only a few substantive advantages but would have considered the cachet of the Daimler badge to be well worth the extra money; indeed the Daimler name attracted buyers who disliked the Jaguar's racier image. By the same token, rather than being unable to afford the difference for a Daimler, those who chose the Jaguar are unlikely to have regarded the Daimler as something they would wish to own anyway.

In total, the Daimler differed from the Jaguar in having:

a plastic insert on the rear number plate housing bearing the Daimler name. On the 420 the cast number plate housing bore the Jaguar name and on the Sovereign this remained beneath the plastic "Daimler" insert

wheel trim centres, horn button, oil filler cap and seat belt clasps carrying the stylised D rather than the title Jaguar, a Jaguar’s head ('growler') or no badging at all

ribbed camshaft covers bearing the inscription ‘Daimler’ rather than ‘Jaguar’, (although earlier versions shared the same polished alloy covers)

all of the 420 extras as standard, including a heated rear window, overdrive on manual transmission cars and power assisted steering

a flying D mascot at the forward edge of the bonnet in place of the leaping cat Jaguar mascot ('leaper') above the radiator grille

a fluted radiator grille with stylised D badge in place of the smooth crowned and Jaguar-badged grille

arguably more carefully selected and matched walnut veneer trim

higher grade Vaumol ventilated leather seat centre sections

better quality covers for the sun visors

Differentiation

The larger, Mark X-based Jaguar 420G

Difficulty in differentiating the 420/Sovereign from other Jaguar/Daimler models has meant that they are less well known than other Browns Lane products of the era. Even some Jaguar enthusiasts are unsure exactly where and when the 420/Sovereign fitted into the Jaguar range.

At the same time as the 420 was released, Jaguar added a chrome side strip and side repeater indicator to the Mark X and a centre bar to its grille. Along with alterations to the interior, these changes were used to justify renaming it the 420G ("G" for Grand). The Motor magazine of October 1966 referred to the 420G as "still one of the best looking large cars in the world today" and commented on the similarity of its new radiator grille to that of the 420. Given the similarity between both the names and frontal styling of the 420 and 420G, the casual observer might be forgiven for mistaking one for the other.

Daimler DS420

In 1968 the Daimler DS420 limousine began to be produced, carrying a similarly styled grille to the Sovereign and using the 4.2-litre Jaguar engine in twin carburettor form, and also undergoing final assembly at Jaguar's Browns Lane factory in Coventry, England. Although this car was based on a modified 420G floorpan rather than that of the 420, the existence of a third Jaguar-manufactured model with "420" in its name provides further scope for confusion.

Similar confusion arises with regard to the Daimler Sovereign. From late 1969 its Series I Jaguar XJ6-based successor continued with the Daimler Sovereign name until 1983, when the "Sovereign" model name was instead applied to the high-specification version of the Jaguar (which by then was into its Series III XJ6 iteration).

Demise

In 1967, its first full year of production, the 420/Sovereign easily outsold the other Jaguar saloon models still in production (the 240 and 340 Jaguar Mark 2s, Daimler 250 V8, Jaguar S-Type and 420G) and effectively ended buyer interest in the S-Type.[2] Nevertheless, relatively few were made in total due to the fact that the Coventry factory stopped making the Jaguar 420 in 1968, just over two years after production began and with just 10,236 produced. The Daimler Sovereign continued into 1969 and 5,824 were sold.

In 1968, 420/Sovereign sales were again well in excess of those of the S-Type and 420G but it was outsold by the resurgent Jaguar Mark 2/Daimler 250. By this time, many potential 420/Sovereign buyers were hanging back to wait for the new Jaguar XJ6. Introduced late in 1968, the XJ6 was slightly larger than the 420 and swept it from the Jaguar range along with the Mark 2 and S-Type, although the Daimler 250 remained in production into 1969 and the 420G lasted until 1970.

The decision by Sir William Lyons to base the Jaguar XJ6 on the engine, suspension and approximate dimensions of the 420/Sovereign showed his faith in the 420/Sovereign formula as the best way to rationalise the company's saloon car range. In that way, the 420/Sovereign became a victim of its own success.

The Jaguar 420 ceased production at Browns Lane in September 1968 and the Daimler Sovereign in July 1969, although CKD ("completely knocked down") Jaguar 420 kits were supplied as late as November 1968 for assembly by Jaguar Cars South Africa Ltd.

Scale models

As yet, no diecast model of either the 420 or Sovereign has been produced.

Airfix produced a 1/32 scale plastic kit of the 420 during the car's production run in 1968, which was reissued in 2021.

MPC models released the Airfix 1/32 scale plastic kit of the 420 during the 1960s / early 1970's, kit No. 1006-100

Neo Scale Models currently produce a 1:43 resin moulded model of the 420 and also a Sovereign version.

Specifications

EngineJaguar 6-cylinder in line, iron block, alloy head

Capacity4,235 cc (258.4 cu in)

Bore/Stroke92.07 mm × 106 mm (3.6 in × 4.2 in)

ValvesDOHC, 2 valves per cylinder

Compression Ratio8:1 (7:1 and 9:1 optional)

Max. Power245 bhp (183 kW; 248 PS) (SAE Gross) @ 5,500 rpm

Max. Torque283 lb⋅ft (384 N⋅m) @ 3,750 rpm

CarburettorsTwin SU HD8 (2 in)

SuspensionFront independent, with wishbones, coil springs with telescopic dampers and anti-roll bar

Rear independent, with lower wishbone and driveshaft as upper link, radius arms and twin coil springs with telescopic dampers

SteeringRecirculating ball, worm and nut; Varamatic power assistance optional on Jaguar (standard on Daimler)

BrakesServo assisted discs on all four wheels, inboard at rear

Body/ChassisMonocoque bodyshell with bolted front subframe, five-seater saloon, front engine, rear-wheel drive

Tyres/Wheels6.40 × 15 crossply or 185 × 15 radial, 5.5 in rim, five-stud disc wheels with wire spoke optional

TrackFront=1,410 mm (56 in) Rear=1,384 mm (54 in)

Weight (dry)1695 kg

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jaguar 420.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Daimler Sovereign.

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RMS Olympic, White Star Line, Ambrose Channel Lightship by photolibrarian

23 1

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Career

Name: RMS Olympic

Owner: White Star flag NEW.svg White Star Line 1911–1934

Cunard White Star Line Logo.JPG Cunard White Star Line 1934–1935

Port of registry: United Kingdom Liverpool, United Kingdom

Route: Southampton to New York

Ordered: 1906

Builder: Harland and Wolff, Belfast

Yard number: 400

Laid down: 16 December 1908

Launched: 20 October 1910

Completed: May 1911

Maiden voyage: 14 June 1911

In service: 1911

Out of service: 1935

Identification: Official Number 131346

Code Letters HSRP

ICS Hotel.svgICS Sierra.svgICS Romeo.svgICS Papa.svg

Radio callsign "MKC"

Fate: Retired at Southampton after 24 years service & scrapped. Superstructure dismantled at Jarrow, England, and the hull at Inverkeithing, Scotland.

Status: scrapped (besides the Second Class Lounge)

General characteristics

Class & type: Olympic-class ocean liner

Tonnage: 45,324 gross register tons; 46,358 after 1913; 46,439 after 1920

Displacement: 52,067 tons

Length: 882 ft 6 in (269.0 m)

Beam: 92 ft 6 in (28.2 m)

Height: 175 ft (53.3 m) (keel to top of funnels)

Draught: 34 ft 7 in (10.5 m)

Decks: 10 decks (1 crew deck)

Installed power: 24 double-ended (six furnace) and 5 single-ended (three furnace) Scotch boilers. Two four-cylinder triple-expansion reciprocating engines each producing 15,000 hp for the two outboard wing propellers at 75 revolutions per minute. One low-pressure turbine producing 16,000 h. 59,000 hp produced at maximum revolutions.[1]

Propulsion: Two bronze triple-blade wing propellers. One bronze quadruple-blade centre propeller.

Speed:

21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph)

23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph) (maximum)

Capacity: 2,435 passengers

Crew: 950

RMS Olympic was a transatlantic ocean liner, the lead ship of the White Star Line's trio of Olympic-class liners. Unlike her younger sister ships, the Olympic enjoyed a long and illustrious career, spanning 24 years from 1911 to 1935. This included service as a troopship during World War I, which gained her the nickname "Old Reliable". Olympic returned to civilian service after the war and served successfully as an ocean liner throughout the 1920s and into the first half of the 1930s, although increased competition, and the slump in trade during the Great Depression after 1930, made her operation increasingly unprofitable.

She was the largest ocean liner in the world for two periods during 1911–13, interrupted only by the brief tenure of the slightly larger Titanic (which had the same dimensions but higher gross tonnage due to revised interior configurations), and then outsized by the SS Imperator. Olympic also retained the title of the largest British-built liner until the RMS Queen Mary was launched in 1934, interrupted only by the short careers of her slightly larger sister ships.[2][3]

By contrast with Olympic, the other ships in the class, Titanic and Britannic, did not have long service lives. On the night of 14/15 April 1912, Titanic collided with an iceberg in the North Atlantic and sank, claiming 1,500 lives; Britannic struck a mine and sank in the Kea Channel in the Mediterranean on 21 November 1916, killing 30 people.

Background

Built in Belfast, Ireland, the RMS Olympic was the first of the three Olympic-class ocean liners – the others were the RMS Titanic and the HMHS Britannic.[4] They were by far the largest vessels of the British shipping company White Star Line's fleet, which comprised 29 steamers and tenders in 1912.[5] The three ships had their genesis in a discussion in mid-1907 between the White Star Line's chairman, J. Bruce Ismay, and the American financier J. Pierpont Morgan, who controlled the White Star Line's parent corporation, the International Mercantile Marine Co. The White Star Line faced a growing challenge from its main rivals Cunard, which had just launched Lusitania and Mauretania – the fastest passenger ships then in service – and the German lines Hamburg America and Norddeutscher Lloyd. Ismay preferred to compete on size rather than speed and proposed to commission a new class of liners that would be bigger than anything that had gone before as well as being the last word in comfort and luxury.[6] The company sought an upgrade in their fleet primarily in response to the Cunard giants but also to replace their largest and now outclassed ships from 1890, the SS Teutonic and SS Majestic. The former was replaced by Olympic while Majestic was replaced by Titanic. Majestic would be brought back into her old spot on White Star's New York service after Titanic's loss.

The ships were constructed by the Belfast shipbuilders Harland and Wolff, who had a long-established relationship with the White Star Line dating back to 1867.[7] Harland and Wolff were given a great deal of latitude in designing ships for the White Star Line; the usual approach was for the latter to sketch out a general concept which the former would take away and turn into a ship design. Cost considerations were relatively low on the agenda and Harland and Wolff was authorised to spend what it needed on the ships, plus a five percent profit margin.[7] In the case of the Olympic-class ships, a cost of £3 million for the first two ships was agreed plus "extras to contract" and the usual five percent fee.[8]

The launch of Olympic on 20 October 1910

Harland and Wolff put their leading designers to work designing the Olympic-class vessels. It was overseen by Lord Pirrie, a director of both Harland and Wolff and the White Star Line; naval architect Thomas Andrews, the managing director of Harland and Wolff's design department; Edward Wilding, Andrews' deputy and responsible for calculating the ship's design, stability and trim; and Alexander Carlisle, the shipyard's chief draughtsman and general manager.[9] Carlisle's responsibilities included the decorations, equipment and all general arrangements, including the implementation of an efficient lifeboat davit design.[10]

On 29 July 1908, Harland and Wolff presented the drawings to J. Bruce Ismay and other White Star Line executives. Ismay approved the design and signed three "letters of agreement" two days later authorising the start of construction.[11] At this point the first ship – which was later to become Olympic – had no name, but was referred to simply as "Number 400", as it was Harland and Wolff's four hundredth hull. Titanic was based on a revised version of the same design and was given the number 401.[12] Bruce Ismay's father Thomas Henry Ismay had previously planned to build a ship named Olympic as a sister ship to the Oceanic. The senior Ismay died in 1899 and the order for the ship was cancelled.[13]

Construction of the Olympic began three months before Titanic to ease pressures on the shipyard. Several years would pass before Britannic would be launched. In order to accommodate the construction of the class, Harland and Wolff upgraded their facility in Belfast; the most dramatic change was the combining of three slipways into two larger ones. Olympic's keel was laid in December 1908 and she was launched on 20 October 1910.[4] For her launch, the hull was painted in a light grey colour for photographic purposes; a common practice of the day for the first ship in a new class, as it made the lines of the ship clearer in the black and white photographs. Her hull was repainted black following the launch.[3]

The Olympic was designed as a luxury ship; her passenger facilities, fittings, deck plans and technical facilities were largely identical to those of her more famous sister Titanic, although with some small variations.[14] The first-class passengers enjoyed luxurious cabins, and some were equipped with private bathrooms. First-class passengers could have meals in the ship's large and luxurious dining room or in the more intimate A La Carte Restaurant. There was a lavish Grand Staircase, built only for the Olympic-class ships, along with three elevators that ran behind the staircase down to E deck,[15] a Georgian-style smoking room, a Veranda Café decorated with palm trees,[16] a swimming pool, Turkish bath,[17] gymnasium,[18] and several other places for meals and entertainment.

The second-class facilities included a smoking room, a library, a spacious dining room, and an elevator.[3][19]

Finally, the third-class passengers enjoyed reasonable accommodation compared to other ships, if not up to the second and first classes. Instead of large dormitories offered by most ships of the time, the third-class passengers of the Olympic travelled in cabins containing two to ten bunks. Facilities for the third class included a smoking room, a common area, and a dining room.[3][19]

Olympic had a cleaner, sleeker look than other ships of the day: rather than fitting her with bulky exterior air vents, Harland and Wolff used smaller air vents with electric fans, with a "dummy" fourth funnel used for additional ventilation. For the power plant Harland and Wolff employed a combination of reciprocating engines with a centre low-pressure turbine, as opposed to the steam turbines used on Cunard's Lusitania and Mauretania.[20] White Star had successfully tested this engine set up on an earlier liner SS Laurentic, where it was found to be more economical than expansion engines or turbines alone. Olympic consumed 650 tons of coal per 24 hours with an average speed of 21.7 knots on her maiden voyage, compared to 1000 tons of coal per 24 hours for both the Lusitania and Mauretania.[21]

Although Olympic and Titanic were nearly identical, and were based on the same design, a few alterations were made to Titanic (and later on Britannic) based on experience gained from Olympic's first year in service. The most noticeable of these was that the forward half of the Titanic's A Deck promenade was enclosed by a steel screen with sliding windows, to provide additional shelter, whereas the Olympic's promenade deck remained open along its whole length. Also the promenades on the Titanic's B Deck were reduced in size, and the space used for additional cabins and public rooms, including two luxury suites with private promenades. A number of other variations existed between the two ships layouts and fittings. These differences meant that Titanic had a slightly higher gross tonnage of 46,328 tons, compared to Olympic's 45,324 tons.[22]

Olympic on her sea trials in Belfast in 1911

Career

Following completion, Olympic started her sea trials on 29 May 1911, which she successfully completed; Olympic then left Belfast bound for Liverpool, her port of registration, on 31 May 1911. As a publicity stunt the White Star Line deliberately timed the start of this first voyage to coincide with the launch of Titanic. After spending a day in Liverpool, open to the public, Olympic sailed to Southampton, where she arrived on 3 June, to be made ready for her maiden voyage.[23] The deep-water dock at Southampton, then known as the "White Star Dock" had been specially constructed to accommodate the new Olympic-class liners, and had opened in 1911.[24]

Her maiden voyage commenced on 14 June 1911 from Southampton, calling at Cherbourg and Queenstown, reaching New York on 21 June.[25] The maiden voyage was captained by Edward Smith who would lose his life the following year in the Titanic disaster.[26] Designer Thomas Andrews was present for the passage to New York and return, along with a number of engineers, as part of Harland and Wolff's "Guarantee Group" to spot any problems or areas for improvement. Andrews would also lose his life in the Titanic disaster.[27]

As the largest ship in the world, and the first in a new class of superliners. Olympic's maiden voyage attracted considerable worldwide attention from the press and public. Following her arrival in New York, Olympic was opened up to the public and received over 8,000 visitors. More than 10,000 spectators watched her depart from New York harbour, for her first return trip.[28]

Hawke collision

Photographs documenting the damage to the Olympic (left) and the Hawke (right) following their collision (alternate view)

Olympic's first major mishap occurred on her fifth voyage on 20 September 1911, when she collided with a British warship, HMS Hawke off the Isle of Wight. The collision took place as Olympic and Hawke were running parallel to each other through the Solent. As Olympic turned to starboard, the wide radius of her turn took the commander of the Hawke by surprise, and he was unable to take sufficient avoiding action.[29] The Hawke's bow, which had been designed to sink ships by ramming them, collided with Olympic's starboard side near the stern, tearing two large holes in Olympic's hull, below and above the waterline respectively, resulting in the flooding of two of her watertight compartments and a twisted propeller shaft. HMS Hawke suffered severe damage to her bow and nearly capsized. Despite this, Olympic was able to return to Southampton under her own power, and no-one was seriously injured or killed.[14][30]

Captain Edward Smith was still in command of Olympic at the time of the incident. One crew member, Violet Jessop, survived not only the collision with the Hawke but also the later sinking of Titanic and the 1916 sinking of Britannic, the third ship of the class.[31]

At the subsequent inquiry the Royal Navy blamed Olympic for the incident, alleging that her large displacement generated a suction that pulled Hawke into her side.[32][33] The Hawke incident was a financial disaster for Olympic's operator. A legal argument ensued which decided that the blame for the incident lay with Olympic, and although the ship was technically under the control of the pilot, the White Star Line was faced with large legal bills and the cost of repairing the ship, and keeping her out of revenue service made matters worse.[29] However, the fact that Olympic endured such a serious collision and stayed afloat, appeared to vindicate the design of the Olympic-class liners and reinforced their "unsinkable" reputation.[29]

Olympic (left) returning to Belfast for repairs in March 1912, and Titanic (right) This was the last time the two sister ships would be seen together

It took two weeks for the damage to Olympic to be patched up sufficiently to allow her to return to Belfast for permanent repairs, which took just over six weeks to complete. To speed up the repairs, Harland and Wolff was forced to delay Titanic's completion in order to use her propeller shaft for Olympic. By 29 November she was back in service, however in February 1912, Olympic suffered another setback when she lost a propeller blade on an eastbound voyage from New York, and once again returned to her builder for repairs. To get her back to service as soon as possible, Harland & Wolff again had to pull resources from Titanic, delaying her maiden voyage from 20 March 1912 to 10 April 1912.[34]

Titanic disaster

Main article: Sinking of the RMS Titanic

On 14 April 1912, Olympic, now under the command of Herbert James Haddock, was on a return trip from New York. Wireless operator Ernest James Moore[35] received the distress call from her sister Titanic, when she was approximately 500 nautical miles (930 km; 580 mi) west by south of Titanic's location.[36] Haddock calculated a new course, ordered the ship's engines to be set to full power and headed to assist in the rescue.[37]

When Olympic was about 100 nautical miles (190 km; 120 mi) away from Titanic's last known position, she received a message from Captain Rostron captain of Cunard Liner RMS Carpathia, explaining that continuing on course to Titanic would gain nothing, as "All boats accounted for. About 675 souls saved [...] Titanic foundered about 2.20 am."[36] Rostron requested that the message be forwarded to White Star and Cunard. He said that he was returning to harbour in New York.[36] Subsequently, the wireless room aboard the Olympic operated as a clearing room for radio messages.[36]

When Olympic offered to take on the survivors, she was heatedly turned down by an appalled Rostron, who was concerned that it would cause panic amongst the survivors of the disaster to see a virtual mirror-image of the Titanic appear and ask them to board. Olympic then resumed her voyage to Southampton, with all concerts cancelled as a mark of respect, arriving on 21 April.[3]

Over the next few months, Olympic assisted with both the American and British inquiries into the disaster. Deputations from both inquiries inspected Olympic's lifeboats, watertight doors and bulkheads and other equipment which were identical to those on Titanic.[38] Sea tests were performed for the British enquiry in May 1912, to establish how quickly the ship could turn two points at various speeds, to approximate how long it would have taken the Titanic to turn when it sighted the iceberg.[39]

1912 "mutiny"

Olympic, like Titanic, did not carry enough lifeboats for everyone on board, and was hurriedly equipped with additional, second-hand collapsible lifeboats following her return to Britain. Toward the end of April 1912, as she was about to sail from Southampton to New York, 284 of the ship's firemen went on strike because of fears that the ship's new collapsible lifeboats were not seaworthy. 100 non-union crew were hastily hired from Southampton as replacements, with more being hired from Liverpool.[40]

The 40 collapsible lifeboats were secondhand, having been transferred from troopships, and many were rotten and could not open. The crewmen instead sent a request to the Southampton manager of the White Star Line that the collapsible boats be replaced by wooden lifeboats; the manager replied that this was impossible and that the collapsible boats had been passed as seaworthy by a Board of Trade inspector. The men were not satisfied and ceased work in protest.[41]

On 25 April a deputation of strikers witnessed a test of four of the collapsible boats. Only one was unseaworthy and they said that they were prepared to recommend the men return to work if it was replaced. However the strikers now objected to the non-union strikebreaker crew which had come on board, and demanded that they be dismissed, which the White Star Line refused. 54 sailors then left the ship, objecting to the non-union crew who they claimed were unqualified and therefore dangerous, and refused to sail with them. This led to the scheduled sailing being cancelled.[40][42]

All 54 sailors were arrested on a charge of mutiny when they went ashore. On 4 May 1912 Portsmouth magistrates found the charges against the mutineers were proven, but discharged them without imprisonment or fine due to the special circumstances of the case.[43] Fearing that public opinion would be on the side of the strikers, the White Star Line let them return to work and the Olympic sailed on 15 May.[39]

Refit

Olympic as she appeared after her refit following the Titanic disaster, with a full complement of lifeboats

On 9 October 1912 White Star withdrew Olympic from service and returned her to her builders at Belfast to be refitted to incorporate lessons learned from the Titanic disaster 6 months prior, and improve safety.[44] The number of lifeboats carried by Olympic was increased from twenty to sixty four (per Carlisle's original number), and extra davits were installed along the boat deck to accommodate them. Also, an inner watertight skin was constructed in the boiler and engine rooms, to create a double hull. Five of the watertight bulkheads were extended up to B-Deck, extending to the entire height of the hull. This corrected a flaw in the original design, in which the bulkheads only rose up as far as E or D-Deck, a short distance above the waterline. This flaw had been exposed during Titanic's sinking, where water spilled over the top of the bulkheads as the ship sank and flooded subsequent compartments. In addition, an extra bulkhead was added to subdivide the electrical dynamo room, bringing the total number of watertight compartments to seventeen. Improvements were also made to the ship's pumping apparatus. These modifications meant that Olympic could survive a collision similar to that of Titanic, in that her first six compartments could be breached and the ship could remain afloat.[45][46]

At the same time, Olympic's B-Deck underwent a refit, which necessitated eliminating her B-Deck promenades – one of the few features that separated her from her sister ship. The refit included extra cabins (the parlour suites which proved popular on the Titanic were added to the Olympic), more cabins were fitted with private bathing facilities, and a Cafe Parisian (another addition that had proved popular on the Titanic) was added, offering another dining option to first class passengers. With these changes, Olympic's gross tonnage rose to 46,359 tons, 31 tons more than Titanic's.[47]

In March 1913, Olympic returned to service and briefly regained the title of largest ocean liner in the world, until the German liner SS Imperator entered passenger service in June 1913. Following her refit, Olympic was marketed as the "new" Olympic and her improved safety features were featured prominently in advertisements. [48][3]

World War I

In August 1914 World War I began. Olympic initially remained in commercial service under Captain Herbert James Haddock. As a wartime measure, Olympic was painted in a grey colour scheme, portholes were blocked, and lights on deck were turned off to make the ship less visible. The schedule was hastily altered to terminate at Liverpool rather than Southampton, and this was later altered again to Glasgow.[3][49]

The first few wartime voyages were packed with Americans trapped in Europe, eager to return home, although the eastbound journeys carried few passengers. By mid-October, bookings had fallen sharply as the threat from German U-boats became increasingly serious, and White Star Line decided to withdraw Olympic from commercial service. On 21 October 1914, she left New York for Glasgow on her last commercial voyage of the war, though carrying only 153 passengers.[50][49]

Audacious incident

On the sixth day of her voyage, 27 October, as the Olympic passed near Lough Swilly off the north coast of Ireland, she received distress signals from the battleship HMS Audacious, which had struck a mine off Tory Island and was taking on water.[51]

The crew of the stricken Audacious take to lifeboats to be rescued by Olympic

The Olympic took off 250 of the Audacious' crew, then the destroyer HMS Fury managed to attach a tow cable between Audacious and Olympic and they headed west for Lough Swilly. However, the cable parted after the Audacious' steering gear failed. A second attempt was made to tow the warship, but the cable became tangled in HMS Liverpool's propellers and was severed. A third attempt was tried but also failed when the cable gave way. By 17:00 the Audacious' quarterdeck was awash and it was decided to evacuate the remaining crew members to Olympic and Liverpool, and at 20:55 there was an explosion aboard the Audacious and she sank.[52]

Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, Commander of the Home Fleet, was anxious to suppress the news of the sinking of Audacious, for fear of the demoralising effect it could have on the British public, so ordered Olympic to be held in custody at Lough Swilly. No communications were permitted and passengers were not allowed to leave the ship. The only people departing her were the crew of the Audacious and Chief Surgeon John Beaumont, who was transferring to RMS Celtic. Steel tycoon Charles M. Schwab, who was travelling aboard the liner, sent word to Jellicoe that he had urgent business in London with the Admiralty, and Jellicoe agreed to release Schwab if he remained silent about the fate of Audacious. Finally, on 2 November, Olympic was allowed to go to Belfast where the passengers disembarked.[53]

HMT Olympic in dazzle camouflage while in service as a troopship during World War I

Naval service

Following Olympic's return to Britain, the White Star Line intended to lay her up in Belfast until the war was over, but in May 1915 she was requisitioned by the Admiralty, to be used as a troop transport, along with the Cunard liners Mauretania and Aquitania. The Admiralty had initially been reluctant to use large ocean liners as troop transports because of their vulnerability to enemy attack, however a shortage of ships gave them little choice. At the same time, Olympic's other sister ship Britannic, which had not yet been completed, was requisitioned as a hospital ship. In that role she would strike a mine and sink the following year.[54]

Stripped of her peacetime fittings, and armed with 12-pounders and 4.7-inch guns, Olympic was converted to a troopship, with the capacity to transport up to 6,000 troops. On 24 September 1915 the newly designated HMT (Hired Military Transport) 2810, now under the command of Bertram Fox Hayes left Liverpool carrying 6,000 soldiers to Mudros, Greece for the Gallipoli Campaign. On 1 October she sighted lifeboats from the French ship Provincia which had been sunk by a U-boat that morning off Cape Matapan and picked up 34 survivors. Hayes was heavily criticised for this action by the British Admiralty, who accused him of putting the ship in danger by stopping it in waters where enemy U-boats were active. The ship's speed was considered to be its best defence against U-boat attack, and such a large ship stopped would have made an unmissable target. However the French Vice-Admiral Louis Dartige du Fournet took a different view, and awarded Hayes with the Gold Medal of Honour. Olympic made several more trooping journeys to the Mediterranean until early 1916, when the Gallipoli Campaign was abandoned.[55]

In 1916, considerations were made to use Olympic to transport troops to India via the Cape of Good Hope. However on investigation it turned out she was unsuitable for this role, because her coal bunkers, which had been designed for transatlantic runs, lacked the capacity for such a long journey at a reasonable speed.[56] Instead, from 1916 to 1917, Olympic was chartered by the Canadian Government to transport troops from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Britain.[57] In 1917 she gained 6-inch guns and was painted with a "dazzle" camouflage scheme to make it more difficult for observers to estimate her speed and heading. Her dazzle colours were brown, dark blue, light blue, and white. Her many visits to Halifax Harbour carrying Canadian troops safely overseas, and back home after the war, made her a favourite symbol in the City of Halifax. Noted Group of Seven artist Arthur Lismer made several paintings of her in Halifax. A large dance hall, "Olympic Gardens" was also named in her honour. After the United States declared war on Germany in 1917, Olympic also transported thousands of U.S. troops to Britain.[58]

In the early hours of 12 May 1918, while en route for France with US troops under the command of Captain Hayes, Olympic sighted a surfaced U-boat 500 m (1,600 ft) ahead.[59] Her gunners opened fire at once, and she turned to ram the submarine, which immediately crash dived to 30 m (98 ft) and turned to a parallel course. Almost immediately afterwards Olympic struck the submarine just aft of her conning tower and her port propeller sliced through U-103's pressure hull. The crew of U-103 blew her ballast tanks, scuttled and abandoned the submarine. Olympic returned to Southampton with at least two hull plates dented and her prow twisted to one side, but not breached.[60]

Olympic did not stop to pick up survivors, but continued on to Cherbourg. The USS Davis sighted a distress flare and picked up 31 survivors from U-103. It was discovered that U-103 had been preparing to torpedo the Olympic when she was sighted, but the crew could not flood the two stern torpedo tubes.[61] For this service, Captain Hayes was awarded the DSO.[62] Some American soldiers on board paid for a plaque to be placed in one of Olympic's lounges to commemorate the event, it read:

This tablet presented by the 59th Regiment United States Infantry commemorates the sinking of the German submarine U103 by the Olympic on May 12th 1918 in latitude 49 degrees 16 minutes north longitude 4 degrees 51 minutes west on the voyage from New York to Southampton with American troops...[63]

During the war, Olympic is reported to have carried up to 201,000 troops and other personnel, burning 347,000 tons of coal and travelling about 184,000 miles.[64] Her impressive World War I service earned her the nickname Old Reliable.[65] Her captain was knighted in 1919 for "valuable services in connection with the transport of troops".[66]

Post-war

In August 1919 Olympic returned to Belfast for restoration to civilian service. Her interior was modernised and her boilers were converted to burn oil rather than coal. Oil was cheaper than coal, it lowered the refuelling time from days to hours, and allowed the engine room personnel to be reduced from 350 to 60 people.[67] During the conversion work and drydocking, a dent with a crack at the centre was discovered below her waterline which was later concluded to have been caused by a torpedo that had failed to detonate.[68]

Olympic at Southampton in 1929

Olympic emerged from her refit with an increased tonnage of 46,439, allowing her to retain her claim to the title of largest British built liner afloat, although the Cunard Line's Aquitania was slightly longer. In 1920 she returned to passenger service, on one voyage that year carrying 2,249 passengers.[69] Olympic transported a record 38,000 passengers during 1921, which proved to be the peak year of her career. From 1922 she was joined for an express service by Majestic and Homeric; two former German liners which had been ceded to Britain as war reparations, operating successfully until the Great Depression reduced demand after 1930.[70]

During the 1920s, Olympic remained a popular and fashionable ship, and often attracted the rich and famous of the day; Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, and Prince Edward, then Prince of Wales, were among the celebrities that she carried.[71] Prince Edward and Captain Howarth were filmed on the bridge of the Olympic for Pathé News.[72] One of the attractions of the Olympic was the fact that she was nearly identical to the Titanic, and many passengers sailed on the Olympic as a way of vicariously experiencing the voyage of the Olympic's ill-fated sister ship.[73]

On 22 March 1924, Olympic was involved in another collision with a ship, this time at New York. As Olympic was reversing from her berth at New York harbour, her stern collided with the smaller liner Fort St George, which had crossed into her path. The collision caused extensive damage to the smaller ship. At first it appeared that Olympic had sustained only minor damage, but it was later revealed that her sternpost had been fractured, necessitating the replacement of her entire stern frame.[74]

Changes in immigration laws in the United States in the 1920s greatly restricted the number of immigrants allowed to enter. This led to a major reduction in the immigrant trade for the shipping lines, forcing them to cater to the tourist trade to survive.[3] At the turn of 1927–28, Olympic was converted to carry tourist third cabin passengers as well as first, second and third class.[75] Tourist third cabin was an attempt to attract travellers who desired comfort without the accompanying high ticket price. New public rooms were constructed for this class, although tourist third cabin and second class would merge to become 'tourist' by late 1931.

A year later, Olympic's first class cabins were again improved by adding more bathrooms, a dance floor was fitted in the enlarged first class dining saloon, and a number of new suites with private facilities were installed forward on B-deck.[76] More improvements would follow in a later refit, but 1929 saw Olympic's best average passenger lists since 1925.

On 18 November 1929, as the Olympic was travelling westbound near to Titanic's last known position, the ship suddenly started to vibrate violently, and the vibrations continued for two minutes. It was later determined that this had been caused by the 1929 Grand Banks earthquake.[77]

Last years

The shipping trade was badly affected by the Great Depression. Until 1930 there had generally been around one million passengers a year on the transatlantic route, but by 1934 this had dropped by more than half. Furthermore, by the early 1930s, increased competition emerged, in the form of a new generation of larger and faster liners such as Germany's SS Bremen and SS Europa, Italy's SS Rex and France's SS Île de France, and the remaining passengers tended to prefer the more up to date ships. Olympic had averaged around 1,000 passengers per journey until 1930, but this declined by more than half by 1932.[78]

Olympic's running mate Homeric was withdrawn from the transatlantic route as early as 1932, leaving only Olympic and Majestic maintaining White Star Line's Southampton-New York service, although this was occasionally augmented during the summer months by either the MV Britannic or MV Georgic. [79]

At the end of 1932, with passenger traffic in decline, Olympic went for an overhaul and refit that took four months. She returned to service in March 1933 described by her owners as "looking like new." Her engines were performing at their best and she repeatedly recorded speeds in excess of 23 knots, despite averaging less than that in regular transatlantic service. Passenger capacities were given as 618 first class, 447 tourist class and only 382 third class after the decline of the immigrant trade.[80]

Despite this, during 1933 and 1934, Olympic ran at a net operating loss for the first time. 1933 was Olympic's worst year of business – carrying just over 9,000 passengers in total.[81] Passenger numbers rose slightly in 1934, but many crossings still lost money.[79]

Olympic in 1934, passing the lightvessel she struck and sank a few months later

Lightship collision

In 1934, Olympic again struck a ship. The approaches to New York were marked by lightships and Olympic, like other liners, had been known to pass close by these vessels. On 15 May 1934, Olympic, inbound in heavy fog, was homing in on the radio beacon of Nantucket Lightship LV-117.[82] Now under the command of Captain John Binks, the ship failed to turn in time and sliced through the smaller vessel, which broke apart and sank.[83] Four of the lightship's crew went down with the vessel and seven were rescued, of whom three died of their injuries – thus there were seven fatalities out of a crew of eleven.[84] The lightship's surviving crew and the Olympic's captain were interviewed soon after reaching shore. One crewman said it all happened so quickly that they didn't know how it happened. The captain was very sorry it happened but said the Olympic reacted very quickly lowering boats to rescue the crew, which was confirmed by an injured crewman.[85]

Retirement

Olympic (left) and Mauretania laid up in Southampton prior to their scrapping.

In 1934, the White Star Line merged with the Cunard Line at the instigation of the British government, to form Cunard White Star.[86] This merger allowed funds to be granted for the completion of the future RMS Queen Mary and RMS Queen Elizabeth. When completed, these two new ships would handle Cunard White Star's transatlantic business, and so their fleet of older liners became redundant and were gradually retired.

Olympic was withdrawn from the transatlantic service, and left New York for the last time on 5 April 1935, returning to Britain to be laid up.[when?] Her new owners considered using her for summer cruises for a short while, but this idea was abandoned and she was put up for sale. Among the potential buyers was a syndicate who proposed to turn her into a floating hotel off the south coast of France, but this came to nothing.[87] After being laid up for five months alongside her former rival Mauretania, she was sold to Sir John Jarvis – Member of Parliament for £97,500, to be partially demolished at Jarrow to provide work for the depressed region.[88] Her superstructure was demolished in 1936, and in 1937, Olympic's hull was towed to Inverkeithing to T.W. Ward's yard for final demolition.[89]

By the time of her retirement, Olympic had completed 257 round trips across the Atlantic, transporting 430,000 passengers on her commercial voyages, travelling 1.8 million miles.[87][90]

Olympic artefacts

Fittings from the ship installed in the Olympic Suite at the White Swan Hotel, Alnwick

The marble fireplace from the Olympic now at the White Swan, Alnwick

The Olympic's fittings were auctioned off immediately before she was scrapped; some of her fittings, namely those of the first-class lounge and part of the aft grand staircase, can be found in the White Swan Hotel, in Alnwick, Northumberland, England. The rest of her fittings found homes in scattered places throughout Great Britain.[91]

In 2000, Celebrity Cruises purchased some of Olympic's original wooden panels to create the RMS Olympic restaurant on board their new cruise ship, Millennium. According to Celebrity Cruise Line, this wood panelling once lined Olympic's à la carte restaurant.[91]

The clock depicting "Honour and Glory Crowning Time" from Olympic's grand staircase is on display at Southampton's SeaCity Museum.[92][93]

Picture of an exhibition 2 – Stephen Shore | Arles by dynamo.photography

30 4

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Rencontres d'Arles

The Rencontres d’Arles (formerly called Rencontres internationales de la photographie d’Arles) is an annual summer photography festival founded in 1970 by the Arles photographer Lucien Clergue, the writer Michel Tournier and the historian Jean-Maurice Rouquette.

The Rencontres d’Arles has an international impact by showing material that has never been seen by the public before. In 2015, the festival welcomed 93,000 visitors.

The specially designed exhibitions, often organised in collaboration with French and foreign museums and institutions, take place in various historic sites. Some venues, such as 12th-century chapels or 19th-century industrial buildings, are open to the public throughout the festival.

The Rencontres d’Arles has revealed many photographers, confirming its significance as a springboard for photography and contemporary creativity.

In recent years the Rencontres d’Arles has invited many guest curators and entrusted some of its programming to such figures as Martin Parr in 2004, Raymond Depardon in 2006 and the Arles-born fashion designer Christian Lacroix.

Contents

1 Art directors

2 The festival

3 The Rencontres d'Arles award winners

4 Exhibitions

5 References

6 External links

Art directors

A photographer, Jean-Pierre Sudre, discussing his work, Rencontres d'Arles, 1975

1970 - 1972: Lucien Clergue, Michel Tournier, Jean-Maurice Rouquette

1973 - 1976: Lucien Clergue

1977: Bernard Perrine

1978: Jacques Manachem

1979 - 1982: Alain Desvergnes (fr)

1983 - 1985: Lucien Clergue

1986 - 1987: François Hébel

1988 - 1989: Claude Hudelot (fr)

1990: Agnès de Gouvion Saint-Cyr

1991 - 1993: Louis Mesplé (fr)

1994: Lucien Clergue

1995 - 1998, délégué général: Bernard Millet (fr)

1995, artistic director: Michel Nuridsany (fr)

1996, artistic director: Joan Fontcuberta

1997, artistic director: Christian Caujolle (fr)

1998, artistic director: Giovanna Calvenzi

1999 - 2001: Gilles Mora (fr)

2002 - 2014: François Hébel

Since 2015: Sam Stourdzé (fr)

The festival

A photography exhibition, Rencontres d'Arles, 2010

Events

Opening week at the Rencontres d’Arles features photography-focused events (projections at night, exhibition tours, panel discussions, symposia, parties, book signings, etc.) in the town’s historic venues, some of which are only open to the public during the festival. Memorable events in recent years include Europe Night (2008), an overview of European photography; Christian Lacroix’s fashion show for the festival’s closing (2008); and Patti Smith’s concert for the Vu agency’s 20th anniversary (2006).

Nights at the Roman Theatre

At night, work by a photographer or a photography expert is projected in the town’s open-air Roman theatre accompanied by concerts and performances. Each event is a one-off creation. In 2009, 8,500 people attended evenings at the Roman theatre, an average of 2,000 a night, and 2,500 were there on closing night, when the Tiger Lilies played during a projection of Nan Goldin’s “The Ballad of Sexual Dependency”. In 2013 over 6,000 people attended the nighttime photography projections, an average of approximately 1,000 each night.

The Night of the Year

The Night of the Year, which was created in 2006, allows visitors to walk around and see the festival’s favourite works by artists and photographers as well as carte blanche exhibitions by institutions.

Cosmos-Arles Books

Cosmos-Arles Books is a Rencontres d’Arles satellite event dedicated to new publishing practices.

Over the past 15 years large-scale photographic publications, self-published books, and ebooks have become essential media for experimentation by photographers and artists. They allow photography to be rediscovered as a means of expression and distribution, providing a rich terrain of expression for the art’s fundamentally hybrid forms.

Symposia and panel discussions

Photographers and professionals participating in symposia and panel discussions during opening week discuss their work or issues raised by the images on display. In recent years the themes included whether a black-and-white aesthetic is still conceivable in photography (2013); the impact of social networks on creativity and information (2011); breaking with past, a key idea for photography today (2009); photography commissions: freedom or constraint (2008); challenges and changes in the photography market (2007).

The Rencontres d’Arles awards

Since 2002 the Rencontres d’Arles awards have been an opportunity to discover new talents. In 2007 the number of annual awards was reduced to three, presented at the closing ceremony of the festival’s professional week: the Discovery Award (€25,000), Author’s Book Award (€8,000) and History Book Award (€8,000).

Luma Rencontres Dummy Book Award

In 2015 the Rencontres d’Arles offered an award to assist with the publication of a dummy book. Endowed with a €25,000 budget production budget, this new prize is open to all photographers and artists using photography who submit a dummy book that has never been published.

The winner’s book will be produced in autumn 2015 and be presented at the 2016 Rencontres d’Arles.

Photo Folio Review & Gallery

Since 2006 aspiring photographers have been able to submit their portfolios to international photography experts in various fields, including publishers, exhibition curators, heads of institutions, agency directors, gallery owners, collectors, critics and photo editors, for appraisal during the festival’s opening week. Photo Folio Review & Gallery offers them an opportunity to show their work throughout the festival.

Photography classes

The Rencontres d’Arles has always been a place where professional photographers and practitioners on every level have been able to meet each other and exchange ideas. Each year, photography class participants undertake a personal journey of creation through photography’s aesthetic, ethical and technological issues. Leading photographers such as Guy le Querrec, Antoine d’Agata, Martin Parr, René Burri and Joan Fontcuberta regularly teach at the Rencontres d’Arles.

Rentrée en Images

“Rentrée en Images” has been a key part of the festival’s educational activities since 2004. During the first two weeks in September, special mediators take students from the primary to graduate school level on guided tours of the exhibitions. Based on the festival’s programming, the event aims to introduce young people to the visual arts and fits in with a wider policy of cultural democratisation. “Rentrée en Images” reaches thousands of students, and for many of them it is their first exposure to contemporary art.

Budget

Public funding accounted for 40% of the 2015 festival’s €6.3-million budget, sales (mainly of tickets and derivative products), 40% and private partnerships, 20%[clarification needed][citation needed].

Executive Committee

Hubert Védrine, president

Hervé Schiavetti, vice-president

Jean-François Dubos, vice-president

Marin Karmitz, treasurer

Françoise Nyssen, secretary

Lucien Clergue, Jean-Maurice Rouquette, Michel Tournier, founding members

The Rencontres d'Arles award winners

2002

Jury: Denis Curti, Alberto Anault, Alice Rose George, Manfred Heiting, Erik Kessels, Claudine Maugendre, Val Williams

Discovery Award: Peter Granser

No Limit award: Jacqueline Hassink

Dialogue of the humanity award: Tom Wood

Photographer of the year award: Roger Ballen

Help to the project: Pascal Aimar, Chris Shaw

Author’s Book Award: Sibusiso Mbhele and His Fish Helicopter by Koto Bolofo (powerHouse Books, 2002)

Help to publishing: Une histoire sans nom by Anne-Lise Broyer

2003

Jury: Giovanna Calvenzi, Hou Hanru, Christine Macel, Anna Lisa Milella, Urs Stahel

Discovery Award: Zijah Gafic

No Limit award: Thomas Demand

Dialogue of the humanity award: Fazal Sheikh

Photographer of the year award: Anders Petersen

Help to the project: Jitka Hanzlova

Author’s Book Award: Hide That Can by Deirdre O’Callaghan (Trolley Books, 2002)

Help to publishing: A Personal Diary of Chinese Avant-Garde in the 1990s, China (1993-1998) by Xing Danwen

2004

Jury: Eikoh Hosoe, Joan Fontcuberta, Tod Papageorge, Elaine Constantine, Antoine d’Agata

Discovery Award: Yasu Suzuka

No Limit award: Jonathan de Villiers

Dialogue of the humanity award: Edward Burtynsky

Help to the project: John Stathatos

Author’s Book Award: Particulars by David Goldblatt (Goodman Gallery, 2003)

2005

Jury: Ute Eskildsen, Jean-Louis Froment, Michel Mallard, Kathy Ryan, Marta Gili

Discovery Award: Miroslav Tichy

No Limit award: Mathieu Bernard-Reymond

Dialogue of the humanity award: Simon Norfolk

Help to the project: Anna Malagrida

Author’s Book Award: Temporary Discomfort (Chapter I-V) by Jules Spinatsch (Lars Müller Publishers, 2005)

2006

Jury: Vincent Lavoie, Abdoulaye Konaté, Yto Barrada, Marc-Olivier Wahler, Alain d’Hooghe

Discovery Award: Alessandra Sanguinetti

No Limit award: Randa Mirza

Dialogue of the humanity award: Wang Qingsong

Help to the project: Walid Raad

Author’s Book Award: Form aus Licht und Schatten by Heinz Hajek-Halke (Steidl, 2005)

2007

[1]

Jury: Bice Curiger, Alain Fleischer, Johan Sjöström, Thomas Weski, Anne Wilkes Tucker

Discovery Award: Laura Henno

Author’s Book Award: Empty Bottles by WassinkLundgren (Thijs groot Wassink and Ruben Lundgren) (Veenman Publishers, 2007)

Historical Book Award: László Moholy-Nagy: Color in Transparency: Photographic Experiments in Color, 1934–1946 by Jeannine Fiedler (Steidl & Bauhaus-Archiv, 2006)

2008

[2]

Jury: Elisabeth Biondi, Luis Venegas, Nathalie Ours, Caroline Issa and Massoud Golsorkhi, Carla Sozzani

Discovery Award: Pieter Hugo

Author’s Book Award: Strange and Singular by Michael Abrams (Loosestrife, 2007)

Historical Book Award: Nein, Onkel: Snapshots from Another Front 1938–1945 by Ed Jones and Timothy Prus (Archive of Modern Conflict, 2007)

2009

[3]

Jury: Lucien Clergue, Bernard Perrine, Alain Desvergnes, Claude Hudelot, Agnès de Gouvion Saint-Cyr, Louis Mesplé, Bernard Millet, Michel Nuridsany, Joan Fontcuberta, Christian Caujolle, Giovanna Calvenzi, Martin Parr, Christian Lacroix, Arnaud Claass, Christian Milovanoff

Discovery Award: Rimaldas Viksraitis

Author’s Book Award: From Back Home by Anders Petersen and JH Engström (Bokförlaget Max Ström, 2009)

Historical Book Award: In History by Susan Meiselas (Steidl and International Center of Photography, 2008)

2010

[4] [5]

Discovery Award: Taryn Simon

LUMA award: Trisha Donnelly

Author’s Book Award: Photography 1965–74 by Yutaka Takanashi (Only Photograph, 2010)

Historical Book Award: Les livres de photographies japonais des années 1960 et 1970 by Ryuichi Kaneko and Ivan Vartanian (Seuil, 2009)

2011

[6] [7]

Discovery Award: Mikhael Subotzky and Patrick Waterhouse[8]

Author’s Book Award: A Living Man Declared Dead and Other Chapters by Taryn Simon (Mack, 2011)[8]

Historical Book Award: Works by Lewis Baltz (Steidl, 2010)[8]

2012

[9] [10] [11]

Discovery Award: Jonathan Torgovnik

Author’s Book Award: Redheaded Peckerwood by Christian Patterson (Mack, 2011)

Historical Book Award: Les livres de photographie d’Amérique latine by Horacio Fernández (Images en Manœuvres Éditions, 2011)

2013

Discovery Award: Yasmine Eid-Sabbagh and Rozenn Quéré

Author’s Book Award: Anticorps by Antoine d’Agata (Xavier Barral & Le Bal[disambiguation needed], 2013)[12]

Historical Book Award: AOI [COD.19.1.1.43] – A27 [S | COD.23 by Rosângela Rennó (Self-published, 2013)

2014

Discovery Award: Zhang Kechun

Author’s Book Award: Hidden Islam by Nicolo Degiorgis (Rorhof, 2014)

Historical Book Award: Paris mortel retouché by Johan van der Keuken (Van Zoetendaal Publishers, 2013)

2015

Discovery Award: Pauline Fargue

Author’s Book Award: H. said he loved us by Tommaso Tanini (Discipula Editions, 2014)

Historical Book Award: Monograph Vitas Luckus. Works & Biography by Margarita Matulytė and Tatjana Luckiene-Aldag (Kaunas Photography Gallery and Lithuanian Art Museum, 2014)

Dummy Book Award: The Jungle Book by Yann Gross

Photo Folio Review: Piero Martinelo (winner); Charlotte Abramow, Martin Essi, Elin Høyland, Laurent Kronenthal (special mentions)

2016

Discovery Award: Sarah Waiswa

Author’s Book Award: Taking Off. Henry My Neighbor by Mariken Wessels (Art Paper Editions, 2015)

Historical Book Award: (in matters of) Karl by Annette Behrens (Fw: Books, 2015)

Photo-Text Award: Negative Publicity: Artefacts of Extraordinary Rendition by Edmund Clark and Crofton Black (Aperture, 2015)

Dummy Book Award: You and Me: A project between Bosnia, Germany and the US by Katja Stuke and Oliver Sieber

Photo Folio Review: David Fathi (winner); Sonja Hamad, Eric Leleu, Karolina Paatos, Maija Tammi (special mentions)

2017

[13]

Discovery Award: Carlos Ayesta and Guillaume Bression

Author's Book Award: Ville de Calais by Henk Wildschut (self-published, 2017)

Special Mention for Author's Book Award: Gaza Works by Kent Klich (Koenig, 2017)

Historical Book Award: Latif Al Ani by Latif Al Ani (Hannibal Publishing, 2017)

Photo-Text Award: The Movement of Clouds around Mount Fuji by Masanao Abe and Helmut Völter (Spector Books, 2016)

Dummy Book Award: Grozny: Nine Cities by Olga Kravets, Maria Morina, and Oksana Yushko

Photo Folio Review: Aurore Valade (winner); Haley Morris Cafiero, Alexandra Lethbridge, Charlotte Abramow, Catherine Leutenegger (special mentions)

Exhibitions

1970

Gjon Mili, Edward Weston, ...

1971

Pedro Luis Raota, Charles Vaucher, Olivier Gagliani, Steve Soltar, Judy Dater, Jack Welpott, Gordon Bennett, John Weir, Linda Connor, Neal White, Jean-Claude Gautrand, Jean Rouet, Pierre Riehl, Roger Doloy, Georges Guilpin, Alain Perceval, Jean-Louis Viel, Jean-Luc Tartarin, Frédéric Barzilay, Jean-Claude Bernath, André Recoules, Etienne-Bertrand Weill, Rodolphe Proverbio, Jean Dieuzaide, Paul Caponigro, Jerry Uelsmann, Heinz Hajek-Halke, Rinaldo Prieri, Jean-Pierre Sudre, Denis Brihat, …

1972

Hiro, Lucien Clergue, Eugène Atget, Bruce Davidson, …

1973

Imogen Cunningham, Linda Connor, Judy Dater, Allan Porter, Paul Strand, Edward S. Curtis, …

1974

Brassaï, Ansel Adams, Georges A. Tice, …

1975

Agence Viva, André Kertész, Yousuf Karsh, Robert Doisneau, Lucien Clergue, Jean Dieuzaide, Ralph Gibson, Charles Harbutt, Tania Kaleya, Eva Rubinstein, Michel Saint Jean, Kishin Shinoyama, Hélène Théret, Georges Tourdjman, …

1976

Ernst Haas, Bill Brandt, Man Ray, Marc Riboud, Agence Magnum, Eikō Hosoe, Judy Dater, Jack Welpott, Doug Stewart, Duane Michals, Leslie Krims, Bob Mazzer, Horner, S. Sykes, David Hurn, Mary Ellen Mark, René Groebli, Guy Le Querrec, …

1977

Will Mac Bride, Paul Caponigro, Neal Slavin, Max Waldman, Dennis Stock, Josef Sudek, Harry Callahan, R. Benvenisti, P. Carroll, William Christenberry, S. Ciccone, W. Eggleston, R. Embrey, B. Evans, R. Gibson, D. Grégory, F. Horvat, W. Krupsan, W. Larson, U. Mark, J. Meyerowitz, S. Shore, N. Slavin, L. Sloan-Théodore, J. Sternfeld, R. Wol, …

1978

Lisette Model, Izis, William Klein, Hervé Gloaguen, Yan Le Goff, Serge Gal, Marc Tulane, Lionel Jullian, Alain Gualina, …

1979

David Burnett, Mary Ellen Mark, Jean-Pierre Laffont, Abbas, Pedro Meyer, Yves Jeanmougin, Manuel Alvarez Bravo, …

1980

Willy Ronis, Arnold Newman, Jay Maisel, Christian Vogt, Ben Fernandez, Julia Pirotte, …

1981

Guy Bourdin, Steve Hiett, Sarah Moon and Dan Weeks, Art Kane, Cheyco Leidman, André Martin, François Kollar, …

1982

Willy Zielke, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Alexey Brodovitch, Robert Frank, William Klein, Max Pam, Bernard Plossu, …

1983

Robert Rauschenberg, Bruce Davidson, …

1984

Jean Dieuzaide, Marilyn Bridges, Mario Giacomelli, Augusto De Luca, Joyce Tenneson, Luigi Ghirri, Albato Guatti, Mario Samarughi, Arman, Raoul Ubac, …

1985

David Hockney, Fritz Gruber, Franco Fontana, Milton Rogovin, Gilles Peress, Jane Evelyn Atwood, Eugene Richards, Sebastião Salgado, Robert Capa, Lucien Hervé, …

1986

Collection Graham Nash, Annie Leibovitz, Sebastião Salgado, Martin Parr, Robert Doisneau, Paulo Nozolino, Ugo Mulas, Bruce Gilden, Georges Rousse, Peter Knapp, Max Pam, Miguel Rio Branco, Michelle Debat, Andy Summers, Baron Wolman. …

1987

Brian Griffin, Dominique Issermann, Nan Goldin, Max Vadukul, Gabriele Basilico, Paul Graham, Thomas Florschuetz, Gianni Berengo Gardin, … Autres invités des Rencontres 88: Hans Namuth, Jean-Marc Tingaud, Mary Ellen Mark, Charles Camberoque, Martine Voyeux, Marie-Paule Nègre, Xavier Lambours, Patrick Zachmann, Jean-Marie Del Moral, Nittin Vadukul, Jean Larivière, Bruce Weber, Germaine Krull, Jean-Paul Goude, Jean-Louis Boissier, Sandra Petrillo, Daniel Schwartz, Laurent Septier, Jean-Marc Zaorski, Bernard Descamps, Marc Garanger, Yan Layma, Michel Delaborde, Michel Semeniako, Françoise Huguier, Paolo Calia, Deborah Turbeville, Gundunla Schulze. Ainsi que Henri Alekan, Arielle Dombasle, Jacques Séguéla, Roland Topor, Serge July, Lucinda Childs, invited to comment on their private screening at parties in Roman Theatre, where Christian Lacroix organised a show.

1988

La danse, la Chine, la pub. Chinese photography is presented for the first time abroad as a major exhibition with 40 Chinese photographers, including Wu Yinxian, Zhang Hai-er, Chen Baosheng, Ling Fei, Xia Yonglie, curated by Karl Kugel, co-director of the film China: Inner views / Chine: vues intérieures, released at the opening of the festival. Most major photographers who have covered this country are also present either in the exhibition of Magnum Photos, curated by François Hébel, either in solo exhibitions, such as Marc Riboud ou de Jeanloup Sieff.

1989

Arles fête ses vingt ans (1969-1989); with Lucien Clergue, Lee Friedlander, Cristina García Rodero, John Demos, Philippe Bazin, George Hashigushi, Eduardo Masférré, Hervé Gloaguen, Elizabeth Sunday, Pierre de Vallombreuse, Robert Frank's The lines of My Hand (commissioned by Charles-Henri Favrod); in honour of Pierre de Fenoÿl; Julio Mitchel, Roland Schneider, Rafael Vargas, John Phillips, Annette Messager, Christian Boltanski, la collection Bonnemaison, Javier Vallhonrat, Thierry Girard, Dennis Hopper. Exhibition Ils annoncent la couleur with Stéphane Sednaoui, Jean-Baptiste Mondino, Max Vadukul, Nick Night, Nigel Shafran, Tony Viramontes, Cindy Palmano; commissioned by Marc Vascoli. Exposition et soirée Deep South with Robert Frank, Bruce Davidson, Duane Michals, Gordon Parks, Alain Desvergnes, Gilles Mora, Paul Kwilecki, William Christenberry, William Eggleston, Marylin Futtermann, Debbie Fleming Caffery, Fern Koch, Jay Leviton, Eudora Welty; commissioned by Gilles Mora.

1990

Volker Hinz, Erasmus Schröter, Stéphane Duroy, Raymond Depardon, Frédéric Brenner, Drtikol, Saudek, …

1991

Tina Modotti, Edward Weston, Graciela Iturbide, Martín Chambi, Sergio Larrain, Sebastião Salgado, Juan Rulfo, Miguel Rio Branco, Eric Poitevin, Alberto Schommer, …

1992

Don McCullin, Dieter Appelt, Béatrix Von Conta, Denise Colomb, José Ortiz-Echagüe, Wout Berger, Thibaut Cuisset, Knut W. Maron, John Statathos, …

1993

Richard Avedon, Larry Fink, Ernest Pignon-Ernest, Cecil Beaton, Raymonde April, Koji Inove, Louis Jammes, Eiichiro Sakata, …

1994

Andres Serrano, Roger Pic, Marc Riboud, Bogdan Konopka, Sarah Moon, Pierre et Gilles, Marie-Paule Nègre, Edward Steichen and Josef Sudek, Robert Doisneau, André Kertész, …

1995

Alain Fleischer, Roger Ballen, Noda, Toyoura, Slocombe, Nam June Paik, France Bourély. …

1996

Ralph Eugene Meatyard, William Wegman, Grete Stern, Paolo Gioli, Nancy Burson, John Stathatos, Sophie Calle, Luigi Ghirri, Pierre Cordier, …

1997

Collection Marion Lambert, Eugene Richards, Mathieu Pernot, Aziz + Cucher, Jochen Gerz, Antoni Muntadas, Ricard Terré, …

1998

David LaChapelle, Herbert Spring, Mike Disfarmer, Francesca Woodman, Federico Patellani, Massimo Vitali, Dieter Appelt, Samuel Fosso, Urs Lu.thi, Pierre Molinier, Yasumasa Morimura, Roman Opalka, Cindy Sherman, Sophie Weibel, …

1999

Lee Friedlander, Walker Evans, …

2000

Tina Modotti, Jakob Tuggener, Peter Sakaer, Masahisa Fukase, Herbert Matter, Robert Heinecken, Jean-Michel Alberola, Tom Drahaos, Willy Ronis, Frederick Sommer, Lucien Clergue, Sophie Calle, …

2001

Luc Delahaye, Patrick Tosani, Stéphane Couturier, David Rosenfeld, James Casebere, Peter Lindbergh, …

2002

Guillaume Herbaut, Baader Meinhof, Astrid Proll, Josef Koudelka, Gabriele Basilico, Rineke Dijkstra, Lise Sarfati, Jochen Gerz, Collection Ordoñez Falcon, Larry Sultan, Alex Mac Lean, Alastair Thain, Raeda Saadeh, Zineb Sedira, Serguei Tchilikov, Jem Southam, Alexey Titarenko, Andreas Magdanz, Sophie Ristelhueber, …

2003

Collection Claude Berri, Lin Tianmiao & Wang Gongxin, Xin Danwen, Gao Bo, Shao Yinong & Mu Chen, Hong Li, Hai Bo, Chen Lingyang, Ma Liuming, Hong Hao, Naoya Hatakeyama, Roman Opalka, Jean-Pierre Sudre, Suzanne Lafont, Corinne Mercadier, Adam Bartos, Marie Le Mounier, Yves Chaudouët, Galerie VU, Harry Gruyaert, Vincenzo Castella, Alain Willaume, François Halard, Donovan Wylie, Jérôme Brézillon & Nicolas Guiraud, Jean-Daniel Berclaz, Monique Deregibus, Youssef Nabil, Tina Barney, …

2004

Dayanita Singh, Les archives du ghetto de Lodz, Stephen Gill, Oleg Kulik, Arsen Savadov, Keith Arnatt, Raphaël Dallaporta, Taiji Matsue, Tony Ray-Jones, Osamu Kanemura, Kawauchi Rinko, Chris Killip, Chris Shaw, Kimura Ihei, Neeta Madahar, Frank Breuer, Hans van der Meer, James Mollison, Chris Killip, Mathieu Pernot, Paul Shambroom, Katy Grannan, Lucien Clergue, AES + F, György Lörinczy, …

2005

Collection William M. Hunt, Miguel Rio Branco, Thomas Dworzak, Alex Majoli, Paolo Pellegrin, Ilkka Uimonen, Barry Frydlender, David Tartakover, Michal Heiman, Denis Rouvre, Denis Darzacq, David Balicki, Joan Fontcuberta, Christer Strömholm, Keld Helmer-Petersen, …

2006

La photographie américaine à travers les collections françaises, Robert Adams, Cornell Capa, Gilles Caron, Don McCullin, Guy Le Querrec, Susan Meiselas, Julien Chapsal, Michael Ackerman, David Burnett, Lise Sarfati, Sophie Ristelhueber, Dominique Issermann, Jean Gaumy, Daniel Angeli, Paul Graham, Claudine Doury, Jean-Christophe Bechet, David Goldblatt, Anders Petersen, Philippe Chancel, Meyer, Olivier Culmann, Gilles Coulon, …

2007

The 60th year of Magnum Photos, Pannonica de Koenigswarter, Le Studio Zuber, Collections d’Albums Indiens de la Collection Alkazi, Alberto Garcia-Alix, Raghu Rai, Dayanita Singh, Nony Singh, Sunil Gupta, Anay Mann, Pablo Bartholomew Bharat Sikka, Jeetin Sharma, Siya Singh, Huang Rui, Gao Brothers, RongRong & inri, Liu Bolin, JR, …

2008

Richard Avedon, Grégoire Alexandre, Joël Bartoloméo, Achinto Bhadra, Jean-Christian Bourcart, Samuel Fosso, Charles Fréger, Pierre Gonnord, Françoise Huguier, Grégoire Korganow, Peter Lindbergh, Guido Mocafico, Henri Roger, Paolo Roversi, Joachim Schmid, Nigel Shafran,[14] Georges Tony Stoll, Patrick Swirc, Tim Walker, Vanessa Winship, …

2009

Robert Delpire, Willy Ronis, Jean-Claude Lemagny, Lucien Clergue, Elger Esser, Roni Horn, Duane Michals, Nan Goldin (invitée d'honneur), Brian Griffin, Naoya Hatakeyama, JH Engström, David Armstrong, Eugene Richards[15] (The Blue Room), Martin Parr, Paolo Nozolino, …[16]

2010

Robert Mapplethorpe[17] Lea Golda Holterman[18]

2011

Chris Marker, photos du New York Times, Robert Capa, Wang Qingsong, Dulce Pinzon, JR, ...

2012

Les 30 ans de l'ENSP, Josef Koudelka, Amos Gitai, Klavdij Sluban & Laurent Tixador, Arnaud Claass,[19] Grégoire Alexandre, Édouard Beau, Jean-Christophe Béchet, Olivier Cablat, Sébastien Calvet, Monique Deregibus & Arno Gisinger, Vincent Fournier, Marina Gadonneix, Valérie Jouve, Sunghee Lee, Isabelle Le Minh, Mireille Loup, Alexandre Maubert, Mehdi Meddaci, Collection Jan Mulder, Alain Desvergnes,[20] Olivier Metzger, Joséphine Michel, Erwan Morère, Tadashi Ono, Bruno Serralongue, Dorothée Smith, Bertrand Stofleth & Geoffroy Mathieu, Pétur Thomsen, Jean-Louis Tornato, Aurore Valade, Christian Milovanoff,[21]

2013

Hiroshi Sugimoto, Sergio Larrain, Guy Bourdin, Alfredo Jaar,[22] John Stezaker,[23] Wolfgang Tillmans,[24] Viviane Sassen,[25] Jean-Michel Fauquet, Arno Rafael Minkkinen, Miguel Angel Rojas, Pieter Hugo,[26] Michel Vanden Eeckhoudt, Xavier Barral,[27] John Davis, Antoine Gonin,[28] Thabiso Sekgala, Philippe Chancel, Raphaël Dallaporta, Alain Willaume, Cedric Nunn, Santu Mofokeng, Harry Gruyaert, Jo Ractliffe, Zanele Muholi, Patrick Tourneboeuf, Thibaut Cuisset, Antoine Cairns, Jean-Louis Courtinat, Christina de Middel, Stéphane Couturier, Frédéric Nauczyciel, Jacques Henri Lartigue, Pierre Jamet, Raynal Pellicer, Studio Fouad, Erik Kessels.

2014

Lucien Clergue, Christian Lacroix, Raymond Depardon, Léon Gimpel, David Bailey, Vik Muniz, Patrick Swirc, Denis Rouvre, Vincent Pérez, Chema Madoz, Élise Mazac, Robert Drowilal, Anouck Durand, Refik Vesei, Pleurat Sulo, Katjusha Kumi,Ilit Azoulay, Katharina Gaenssler, Miguel Mitlag, Victor Robledo, Youngsoo Han, Kechun Zhang, Pieter Ten Hoopen, Will Steacy, Kudzanai Chiurai, Patrick Willocq, Ciril Jazbec, Milou Abel, Sema Bekirovic, Melanie Bonajo, Hans de Vries, Hans Eijkelboom, Erik Fens, Jos Houweling, Hans van der Meer, Maurice van Es, Benoît Aquin, Luc Delahaye, Mitch Epstein, Nadav Kander.

2015

Walker Evans, Stephen Shore, Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown, Toon Michiels, Olivier Cablat, Markus Brunetti, Paul Ronald, Sandro Miller, Eikoh Hosoe, Masahisa Fukase, Daido Moriyama, Masatoshi Naito, Issei Suda, Kou Inose, Sakiko Nomura, Daisuke Yokota, Martin Gusinde, Paolo Woods, Gabriele Galimberti, Natasha Caruana, Alex Majoli, Paolo Pellegrin, Ambroise Tézenas, Thierry Bouët, Anna Orlowska, Vlad Krasnoshchok, Sergiy Lebedynskyy, Vadym Trykoz, Lisa Barnard, Robert Zhao Renhui, Pauline Fargue, Julián Barón, Delphine Chanet, Omar Victor Diop, Paola Pasquaretta, Niccolò Benetton, Simone Santilli, Dorothée Smith, Rebecca Topakian, Denis Darzacq, Swen Renault, Paolo Woods, Elsa Leydier, Alice Wielinga, Cloé Vignaud, Louis Matton, Swen Renault et Pablo Mendez.

References

www.rencontres-arles.com/C.aspx?VP3=CMS3&VF=ARL_214_V...

www.rencontres-arles.com/C.aspx?VP3=CMS3&VF=ARL_213_V...

www.rencontres-arles.com/C.aspx?VP3=CMS3&VF=ARL_212_V...

www.rencontres-arles.com/C.aspx?VP3=CMS3&VF=ARL_211_V...

www.rencontres-arles.com/C.aspx?VP3=CMS3&VF=ARL_3_VFo...

O'Hagan, Sean (11 July 2011). "Tower blocks and tomes dominate the Rencontres d'Arles". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 November 2014.

www.rencontres-arles.com/C.aspx?VP3=CMS3&VF=ARL_709_V...

O'Hagan, Sean (9 July 2012). "Torgovnik's powerful portraits from Rwanda take top prize at Arles". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2 February 2015.

O'Hagan, Sean (8 July 2013). "Lost and found: Discovery award winners at Recontres d'Arles 2013". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 October 2015.

"2017 Book Awards". Rencontres d'Arles. 4 July 2017. Retrieved 7 July 2017.

"Exhibitions". Rencontres d'Arles. Retrieved 26 August 2016.

"Exhibitions: Eugene Richards: The Blue Room". Rencontres d'Arles. Retrieved 26 June 2015.

"Rencontres d’Arles 2009 Photography", Rencontres d'Arles. Accessed 3 December 2014.

Présentation de Robert Mapplethorpe sur le site rencontres-arles.com

"Lea Golda Holterman, Orthodox Eros". Retrieved 24 August 2016.

Arles 2012: Arnaud Claass sur La Lettre de la Photographie.com

Arles 2012: Alain Desvergnes sur La Lettre de la Photographie.com

Signe des temps: Arles 2012, un festival courageux (Photographie.com)

Fiche d'Alfredo Jaar sur rencontres-arles.com

Fiche de John Stezaker sur rencontres-arles.com

Fiche de Wolfgang Tillmans sur rencontres-arles.com

Fiche de Viviane Sassen sur rencontres-arles.com

Fiche de Pieter Hugo sur rencontres-arles.com

Fiche de Xavier Barral sur rencontres-arles.com

Fiche de Antoine Gonin sur rencontres-arles.com

East Village | Tenement by lucas_roberts426

47 2

Information From:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Village,_Manhattan

East Village, Manhattan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

East Village, Manhattan

New York City Neighborhood

Location in Lower Manhattan

Named: 1960s[1]

Streets: 2nd Avenue, 1st Avenue, Avenue A, The Bowery, St. Mark's Place

Subway: F, V, 6 and L

Zip code: 10009, 10003 and 10002

Government

Federal: Congressional Districts 8, 12 and 14

State: New York State Assembly Districts 64, 66 and 74, New York State Senate Districts 25 and 29

City: New York City Council District 2

Local Manhattan Community Board 3

Neighborhood map

The East Village is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It lies east of Greenwich Village, south of Gramercy and Stuyvesant Town, and north of the Lower East Side. Within the East Village there are several smaller neighborhoods, including Alphabet City and The Bowery.

The neighborhood was once considered part of the Lower East Side, but in the 1960s it began to develop its own culture and became known as the East Village. Scores of artists and hippies began to move into the area, attracted by the base of Beatniks that had lived there since the 1950s. It has been the site of counterculture, protests and riots. The neighborhood is known as the birthplace and historical home of many artistic movements, including punk rock[2] and the Nuyorican literary movement.[3]

It is still known for a diverse community, vibrant nightlife and artistic sensibility, although in recent decades gentrification has changed the character of the neighborhood

History

Tompkins Square Park is the recreational and geographic heart of the East Village. It has historically been a part of counterculture, protest and riots.

New York City's Fourth of July fireworks over the neighborhood. The East Village's East River Park is a popular viewing destination.[edit] Formation of the neighborhood

Today's East Village was originally a farm owned by Dutch Governor Wouter van Twiller. Petrus Stuyvesant received the deed to this farm in 1651, and his family held on to the land for over seven generations, until a descendant began selling off parcels of the property in the early 1800s. Wealthy townhouses dotted the dirt roads for a few decades until the great Irish and German immigration of the 1840s and 1850s.

Speculative land owners began building multi unit dwellings on lots meant for single family homes, and began renting out rooms and apartments to the growing working class. The "East Village" was formerly known as Klein Deutschland ("Little Germany, Manhattan"); however, Little Germany dissolved after the SS General Slocum burned into the water in New York's East River on June 15, 1904. From the years roughly between the 1850s and the first decade of the 20th century, the "East Village" hosted the largest urban populations of Germans outside of Vienna and Berlin. It was America's first foreign language neighborhood; hundreds of political, social, sports and recreational clubs were set up during this period, some of these buildings still exist.

What is now the East Village once ended at the East River where Avenue C is now located. A large portion of the neighborhood was formed by landfill, including World War II debris and rubble from London, which was shipped across the Atlantic to provide foundation for the Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive.[5]

[edit] The 'East Village' separates from the Lower East Side

Definitions vary, but the boundaries are roughly defined as east of Broadway and the Bowery from 14th Street down to Houston Street.[1]

Looking south from 6th Street down Second Avenue, one of the main thoroughfares through the East Village.Until the mid-1960s, this area was simply the northern part of the Lower East Side, with a similar culture of immigrant, working class life. In the 1950s the migration of Beatniks into the neighborhood later attracted hippies, musicians and artists well into 1960s.[1] The area was dubbed the "East Village", to dissociate it from the image of slums evoked by the Lower East Side. According to the New York Times, a 1964 guide called, "Earl Wilson's New York," wrote that "artists, poets and promoters of coffeehouses from Greenwich Village are trying to remelt the neighborhood under the high-sounding name of 'East Village.'"[1]

Newcomers and real estate brokers popularized the East Village name, and the term was adopted by the popular media by the mid-1960s.[6][7] In 1966 a psychedelic weekly newspaper, The East Village Other, appeared and The New York Times declared that the neighborhood "had come to be known" as the East Village in the June 5, 1967 edition.[1]

[edit] The music scene develops

In 1966 Andy Warhol promoted a series of shows, entitled The Exploding Plastic Inevitable, and featuring the music of the Velvet Underground, in a Polish ballroom on St Marks Place. On June 27, 1967, the Electric Circus opened in the same space with a benefit for the Children's Recreation Foundation (Chairman: Bobby Kennedy). The Grateful Dead, The Chambers Brothers, Sly & the Family Stone, the Allman Brothers were among the many rock bands that performed there before it closed in 1971.

Punk rock icon and writer Richard Hell still lives in the same apartment in Alphabet City that he has had since the 1970s.On March 8, 1968 Bill Graham opened the Fillmore East in a Yiddish Theatre on 2nd Avenue. The venue quickly became known as "The Church of Rock and Roll," with two-show concerts several nights a week. While booking many of the same bands that had played the Electric Circus, Graham particularly used the venue – and its West Coast counterpart, to establish new British bands like The Who, Pink Floyd, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Cream, and Led Zeppelin. It, too, closed in 1971.

CBGB, the nightclub considered by some to be the birthplace of punk music, was located in the neighborhood, as was the early punk standby A7. No Wave and New York hardcore also emerged in the area’s clubs. Among the many important bands and singers who got their start at these clubs and other venues in downtown Manhattan were: Patti Smith, Arto Lindsay, the Ramones, Blondie, Madonna, Talking Heads, the Plasmatics, Glenn Danzig, Sonic Youth, the Beastie Boys, Anthrax, and The Strokes. From 1983–1993, much of the more radical audio work was preserved as part of the Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine recording project, which was based in the nearby Lower East Side.

[edit] Rise in artistic prominence

Allen Ginsberg, a long-time resident, with poet Peter Orlovsky.Over the last 100 years, the East Village/Lower East Side neighborhood has been considered one of the strongest contributors to American arts and culture in New York.[8] During the great wave of immigration (Germans, Ukrainians, Polish) in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, countless families found their new homes in this area.

The East Village has been the birthplace of cultural icons and movements from the American gangster to the Warhol Superstars, folk music to punk rock, anti-folk to hip-hop, advanced education to organized activism, experimental theater to the Beat Generation and the community of experimental musicians, composers and improvisers now loosely known as the Downtown Scene.

Club 57, on St. Mark's Place, was an important incubator for performance art and visual art in the late 1970s and early 1980s; followed by Now Gallery, 8BC and ABC No Rio.

During the 1980s the East Village art gallery scene helped to galvanize a new post-modern art in America; showing such artists as Kiki Smith, Peter Halley, Keith Haring, Stephen Lack, Greer Lankton, Joseph Nechvatal, Nan Goldin, Jean-Michel Basquiat, David Wojnarowicz, Rick Prol, and Jeff Koons.[9]

[edit] The musical 'Rent'

The East Village is the setting for Jonathan Larson's musical Rent; set in the early 1990s, the story chronicles a group of friends over a year in their struggles against poverty, drug abuse and AIDS.

The musical Rent chronicled a period in the neighborhood's history that is bygone. It opened at the New York Theater Workshop in February 1996.[10] It described a New York City devastated by the AIDS epidemic, drugs and high crime, and followed several characters in the backdrop of their effort to make livings as artists.[11]

[edit] Decline of the art scene

The "Downtown Legends" wall at Mo Pitkins House of Satisfaction featured artists known in the East Village performance scene. A few featured in this photo include the Reverend Jen, Nick Zedd, Allen Ginsberg, Reverend Billy and Murray Hill (pictured).The East Village's performance and art scene has declined since its hey-day of the 1970s and 1980s.[12] One club that had opened to try to resurrect the neighborhood's past artistic prominence was Mo Pitkins' House of Satisfaction, part-owned by Jimmy Fallon of Saturday Night Live. It closed its doors in 2007, and was seen by many as another sign of the continued decline of the East Village performance and art scene, which has mostly moved to Williamsburg, Brooklyn.[13] Rapture Cafe also shut down in April 2008, and the neighborhood lost an important performance space and gathering ground for the gay community. There are still some performance spaces, such as Sidewalk Cafe on Avenue A, where downtown acts find space to exhibit their talent, and the poetry clubs.[14]

Punk scene icons stayed in the neighborhood as it changed. Richard Hell lives in the same apartment he has lived in since the 1970s, and Handsome Dick Manitoba of The Dictators owns and reigns over Manitoba's bar on Avenue B.

[edit] Internal neighborhoods

The East Village contains several hamlets of vibrant communities within itself.

[edit] Alphabet City

Main article: Alphabet City, Manhattan

The Nuyorican Poets Cafe has been located off Avenue C and East 3rd Street since its founding in 1973.Alphabet City comprises nearly two-thirds of the East Village. It also once was the archetype of a dangerous New York City neighborhood. Its turn-around was cause for The New York Times to observe in 2005 that Alphabet City went "from a drug-infested no man's land to the epicenter of downtown cool."[15] Its name comes from Avenues A, B, C, and D, the only avenues in Manhattan to have single-letter names. It is bordered by Houston Street to the south and 14th Street to the north where Avenue C ends. Some famous landmarks include Tompkins Square Park, the Nuyorican Poets Cafe and the Stuyvesant Town private residential community.

[edit] Loisaida

Main article: Loisaida

A Loisaida street fair in the Summer of 2008.Loisaida is a term derived from the Latino (and especially Nuyorican) pronunciation of "Lower East Side", a neighborhood in Manhattan, New York City. The term was originally coined by poet/activist, Bittman "Bimbo" Rivas in his 1974 poem "Loisaida". Loisaida Avenue is now an alternative name for Avenue C in the Alphabet City neighborhood of New York City, whose population has largely been Hispanic (mainly Nuyorican) since the late 1960s.

[edit] St. Mark's Place

Main article: St. Mark's Place

Artist Jim Power, known as the "Mosaic Man" for his public art tiling the neighborhood[16], at the 2009 St. Mark's Place Block Party.Eighth Street becomes St. Mark's place east of Third Avenue. It once had the cachet of Sutton Place, known as a secluded rich enclave in Manhattan, but which by the 1850s had become a place for boarding houses and a German immigrant community.[17] It is named after St Mark's Church in-the-Bowery, which was built on Stuyvesant Street but is now on 10th Street. St. Mark's Place once began at the intersection of the Bowery and Stuyvesant Street, but today the street runs from Third Avenue to Avenue A. Japanese street culture and a Japanese expatriate scene forms in the noodle shops and bars that line St. Mark's Place, also home to an aged punk culture and CBGB's new store. It is home to one of the only Automats in New York City (it has since closed).[18]

St. Mark's is along the “Mosaic Trail”, a trail of 80 mosaic-encrusted lampposts that runs from Broadway down Eighth Street to Avenue A, to Fourth Street and then back to Eighth Street. The project was undertaken by East Village public artist Jim Power, known as the "Mosaic Man".[16]

[edit] The Bowery

Main article: The Bowery

Once synonymous with 'Bowery Bums', the avenue has become a magnet for luxury condominiums as the neighborhood's rapid gentrification continues.The Bowery, former home to the punk-rock nightclub CBGB, was once known for its many homeless shelters, drug rehabilitation centers and bars. The phrase "On The Bowery", which has since fallen into disuse, was a generic way to say one was down-and-out.[19]

The Bow’ry, The Bow’ry!

They say such things,

and they do strange things

on the Bow’ry —From the musical A Trip to Chinatown, 1891

Today, the Bowery has become a boulevard of new luxury condominiums. It also is home to the Amato Opera and the Bowery Poetry Club, contributing to the neighborhood's reputation as a place for artistic pursuit. Artists Amiri Baraka and Taylor Mead hold regular readings and performances in the space.

The redevelopment of the avenue from flophouses to luxury condominiums has met with resistance from long-term residents, who agree the neighborhood has improved, but that its unique, gritty character is also disappearing.[20]

[edit] Parks and green space

[edit] Tompkins Square Park

Main article: Tompkins Square Park

The Tompkins Square dog run was the first in New York City, and is a social scene unto itself.[5]Tompkins Square Park is a 10.5 acre (42,000 m²) public park in the Alphabet City section of the East Village neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is square in shape, and is bounded on the north by East 10th Street, on the east by Avenue B, on the south by East 7th Street, and on the west by Avenue A. St. Marks Place abuts the park to the west.

[edit] Tompkins Square Park Police Riot

Main article: Tompkins Square Park Police Riot (1988)

The Tompkins Square Park Police Riot was a defining moment for the neighborhood. In the late hours of August 6 into the morning hours of August 7, 1988 a riot broke out in Alphabet City's Tompkins Square Park. Groups of "drug pushers, homeless people and young people known as 'skinheads'" had largely taken over the East Village park, but the neighborhood was divided about what, if anything, should be done about it.[21] The local governing body, Manhattan Community Board 3, adopted a 1 am curfew for the previously 24-hour park, in an attempt to bring it under control.[22] On July 31, a rally against the curfew resulted in several clashes between protesters and police.[23]

[edit] East River Park

Main article: East River Park

East River Park below the Williamsburg Bridge.The park is 57 acres (230,000 m2) that runs along the Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive from Montgomery Street to East 12th Street.[24] It was designed in the 1930s by Robert Moses, who wanted to ensure there was parkland on the Lower East Side.[24]

[edit] Community gardens

There are reportedly over 640 community gardens in New York City—gardens run by local collectives within the neighborhood who are responsible for the gardens' upkeep—and an estimated 10 percent of those are located on the Lower East Side and East Village alone.[25]

[edit] Tower of Toys on Avenue B

The Avenue B and 6th Street Community Garden is one of the neighborhood's more notable for a now removed outdoor sculpture, the Tower of Toys, designed by artist and long-time garden gate-keeper, Eddie Boros. Boros died April 27, 2007.[26] The Tower was controversial in the neighborhood; some viewed it as a masterpiece, others as an eyesore.[26][27] The tower appeared in the opening credits for the television show NYPD Blue and also appears in the musical Rent.[26] In May 2008, it was dismantled. According to NYC Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe, the tower was rotting in sections that made it a safety hazard.[28] Its removal was seen as another symbol of the fading past of the neighborhood.[28]

[edit] Toyota Children’s Learning Garden

Located at 603 East 11th Street, the Toyota Children's Learning Garden is not technically a community garden, but it also fails to fit in the park category. Designed by landscape architect Michael Van Valkenburgh, the garden opened in May 2008 as part of the New York Restoration Project and is designed to teach children about plants.[29]

[edit] New York City Marble Cemetery

A production of John Reed's All the World's a Grave in the Marble Cemetery, which does not contain headstones.The cemetery is actually two, which sit on 2nd Street between 1st Avenue and 2nd Avenue. They are open the fourth Sunday of every month.[30] The first and more prominent is the City cemetery, which is second oldest non-sectarian cemetery in New York City. It sits next to the oldest public cemetery in New York City not affiliated with any religion, the "New York Marble Cemetery."[31] The cemetery was opened in 1831 and at one point contained ex-U.S. President James Monroe.[32]

[edit] Culture and events

Longtime Mistress of Ceremonies at eatery Lucky Cheng's, Miss Understood stops a bus in front of the restaurant on First Avenue.Other than geography, the East Village's most notable commonalities with Greenwich Village are a colorful history, vibrant social and cultural outlets, and street names that often diverge from the norm.

The Bowery is a north-south avenue which also lends its name to the somewhat overlapping neighborhood of the Bowery; St. Mark's Place, a crosstown street well-known for counterculture businesses; and Astor Place/Cooper Square, home of the Public Theater and the Cooper Union. Nearby universities like New York University (NYU), The New School, and The Cooper Union have dormitories in the neighborhood.

[edit] Ethnicity and religion

Photograph of St. Nicholas with parts of Second Street visible. The church and almost all buildings on the street were demolished in the 1960's and replaced with parking lots.

Former parishioners of St. Mary's Help of Christians pray outside the shuttered church in August 2008.According to 2000 census figures provided by the New York City Department of City Planning, which includes the Lower East Side in its calculation, the neighborhood was 35% Asian, 28% non-Hispanic white, 27% Hispanic and 7% black.[33]

On October 9, 1966, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, held the first recorded outdoor chanting session of the Hare Krishna mantra outside of the Indian subcontinent at Tompkins Square Park.[34] This is considered the founding of the Hare Krishna religion in the United States, and the large tree close to the center of the Park is demarcated as a special religious site for Krishna adherents.[34] The late poet Allen Ginsberg, who lived and died in the East Village, attended the ceremony.

There are several Roman Catholic churches in the East Village which have fallen victim to financial hardship particularly in the past decade. Unable to maintain their properties, the Roman Catholic Church has shuttered many of them - including St. Mary's Help of Christians on East 12th Street, as well as St. Ann's. There has recently been much controversy over St. Brigid's, the historical parish on Tompkins Square Park.

[edit] Ukrainian history

Since the 1890s there has been a large Ukrainian concentration roughly from 10th Street to 5th Street, between 3rd Avenue and Avenue A. The post-World War II diaspora, consisting primarily of Western Ukrainian intelligentsia, also settled down in the area. Several churches, including St. George's Catholic Church; Ukrainian restaurants and butcher shops; The Ukrainian Museum; the Shevchenko Scientific Society; and the Ukrainian Cultural Center are evidence of the impact of this culture on the area.

[edit] Gentrification

[edit] New York University, a controversial resident

Residents of the East Village have a love-hate relationship with New York University, which owns and maintains many buildings, particularly in much of downtown Manhattan and in the neighborhoods surrounding its main campus in Greenwich Village (a distinct neighborhood from the East Village).[35]

St. Ann's Church, a rusticated-stone structure on East 12th Street with a Romanesque tower that dated to 1847 was sold to the University to make way for a monolithic 26-story, 700 bed dormitory for students. The University did protect and maintain St. Ann's original facade and small plaza immediately fronting the 12th Street sidewalk. The result is a blended, softer abutment of the new dorm building (which does rise dramatically above the facade) up behind the old St. Ann's entry way. New York University has built many dorms, and this one in particular is now the tallest structure in the area. "There are larger changes going on here," said Lynne Brown, vice president of university relations and public affairs. "I fear this tendency to blame any trend residents don't like happening at the doorstep of NYU," said Brown, mentioning that the university has been one of the longest inhabitants of the East Village. But Nancy Cosie, a 20 year resident and former St. Ann's parishioner, does not buy that argument. "Enough is enough," Cosie exclaimed to The Village Voice, "This is not a campus. This is a neighborhood, and this is my home."[35] NYU's destruction or purchasing of many historic buildings (such as the Peter Cooper post office) have made it symbolic of change that many long-time residents fear is destroying what made the neighborhood interesting and attractive.[36] "I live on Avenue B and 9th Street," an NYU student said. "I know I'm part of the problem - gentrification that is. But where am I supposed to live?"[36]

NYU has often been at odds with residents of both the East and West Villages, as legendary urban preservationist Jane Jacobs battled the school in the 1960s.[37] "She spoke of how universities and hospitals often had a special kind of hubris reflected in the fact that they often thought it was OK to destroy a neighborhood to suit their needs,” said Andrew Berman of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation.[38]

[edit] Museums, libraries, performance and art spaces

The Bowery Poetry Club.

Sherry Vine and Joey Arias during the 2009 HOWL! Festival.New York Public Library Tompkins Square branch [3]

The Fales Library of NYU

East Village Visitors Center - 308 Bowery

The Ukrainian Museum

New Museum of Contemporary Art

Museum of Jewish Heritage

Performance Space 122

Anthology Film Archives

The Stone

Bouwerie Lane Theatre

Amato Opera

Danspace Project

The Ontological-Hysteric Theater

The Pearl Theatre Company [4]

Stomp! (Theatrical show)

Metropolitan Playhouse[5]

Mercury Lounge (live music)

Sidewalk Cafe (performance and live music)

Bowery Ballroom (concerts and shows)

Nuyorican Poets Cafe (music, poetry, readings, slams)

Bowery Poetry Club (music, poetry, readings, slams)

La MaMa E.T.C. (performance theater)

Cooper Union (speeches, presentations, public lectures and readings)

[edit] Neighborhood festivals

Mayday Festival - May 1; yearly.

Charlie Parker Jazz Festival - August; yearly.[6]

HOWL! Festival - September; yearly.[7][8]

East Village Radio Festival - September 6, 2008 [9]

Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade - October; yearly.[10]

East Village Theater Festival - August 3–23, 2009.[11]

FAB! Festival & Block Party - Last weekend in September annually, Sept 25, 2010 [12]

[edit] Media

Many film shoots take place in the East Village; here a period movie with antique police cars is filmed on East 4th Street.[edit] Radio

East Village Radio

[edit] Local news

The Village Voice

The Villager

East-Village.com

EastVillageFeed.com

[edit] Cinemas

Anthology Film Archives

Landmark's Sunshine Theater

Village East Cinema

City Cinema Village East

Two Boots Pioneer Theater

[edit] Notable residents past and present

Handsome Dick Manitoba of The Dictators.

Madonna lived in the neighborhood when she was just starting out in her career.[39]Handsome Dick Manitoba, who owns Manitoba's bar on Avenue B off Tompkins Square Park.

Darren Aronofsky and his wife, Rachel Weisz

Chris Cain, Bassist for the Indie-Rock band We Are Scientists

Barbara Feinman

John Leguizamo

Daniel Radcliffe

Agim Kaba

Rosario Dawson

Tom Kalin

Vashtie Kola director

W. H. Auden[40]

Greer Lankton, Artist/Doll maker

Ellen Stewart founder of La MaMa, E.T.C. (Experimental Theatre Club) in 1961.

Madonna lived there in the 1980s.

John Lurie,musician, painter, actor, producer.

Jean-Michel Basquiat, graffiti artist

David Bowes, painter

Allen Ginsberg (1926–1997), Beat Generation poet and author of Howl.[41]

Keith Haring, neo-pop artist

Claes Oldenburg (1929-), sculptor, had a studio at 46 East 3rd Street in the late 1950s.[42]

Candy Darling, actress/Warhol superstar

Bill Raymond, actor

Ryan Adams, alt-country musician

David Cross, actor, comedian

Negin Farsad, writer, director, comedian

Nan Goldin, photographer

Stephen Lack, actor, painter

Ronnie Landfield, (1947-), painter, lived on E. 11th street, mid-1960s[43]

Kiki Smith sculptor

John Zorn composer, musician

Richard Hell, musician, author

Abbie Hoffman (1936–1989), 1960s political activist[44]

Ayun Halliday, actress and writer, and wife of playwright Greg Kotis

Greg Kotis, playwright, and husband of actress and writer Ayun Halliday

Jerry Rubin (1938–1994), 1960s political activist - with Hoffman founded the Yippies in a basement apartment at 30 St. Marks Place[44]

Cookie Mueller, actress, model

Paul Krassner (1932-), publisher of The Realist

Walter Bowart (1939–2007), co-founder editor/ of The East Village Other

Allan Katzman, co-founder/editor of The East Village Other

Tuli Kupferberg, (1923-), Beat Generation poet, and one of the original Fugs

Ed Sanders, (1939-), New York School poet and one of the original Fugs

Joseph Nechvatal (1951-) early digital artist and founder of the Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine

Randy Harrison, actor

Joel Resnicoff, artist and fashion illustrator.

Regina Spektor, (1980-) Singer-songwriter and pianist.

Rachel Trachtenburg (1993-) singer and musician

Tom Otterness sculptor

Steven Fishbach, runner-up of Survivor: Tocantins

Chloe Sevigny actress

Conor Oberst musician

Lou Reed, musician

Julian Casablancas, musician

Mark Ronson

Arthur Russell, musician[45]

Jack Smith filmmaker, artist

Iggy Pop, performer, musician

by Chic Bee

4 1

The Scream by Edvard Munch

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scream

The Scream

Norwegian: Skrik, German: Der Schrei der Natur

The Scream.jpg

Artist: Edvard Munch

Year1893

TypeOil, tempera, pastel and crayon on cardboard

Dimensions91 cm × 73.5 cm (36 in × 28.9 in)

LocationNational Gallery, Oslo, Norway

The Scream (Norwegian: Skrik) is the popular name given to each of four versions of a composition, created as both paintings and pastels, by the Expressionist artist Edvard Munch between 1893 and 1910. Der Schrei der Natur (The Scream of Nature) is the title Munch gave to these works, all of which show a figure with an agonized expression against a landscape with a tumultuous orange sky. Arthur Lubow has described The Scream as "an icon of modern art, a Mona Lisa for our time."[1]

Edvard Munch created the four versions in various media. The National Gallery, Oslo, holds one of two painted versions (1893, shown here). The Munch Museum holds the other painted version (1910, see gallery, below) and a pastel version from 1893. These three versions have not traveled for years.[2]

The fourth version (pastel, 1895) was sold for $119,922,600 at Sotheby's Impressionist and Modern Art auction on 2 May 2012 to financier Leon Black,[3][4] the third highest nominal price paid for a painting at auction.[5] The painting was on display in the Museum of Modern Art in New York from October 2012 to April 2013.

Also in 1895, Munch created a lithograph stone of the image. Of the lithograph prints produced by Munch, several examples survive.[6] Only approximately four dozen prints were made before the original stone was resurfaced by the printer in Munch's absence.[7]

The Scream has been the target of several high-profile art thefts. In 1994, the version in the National Gallery was stolen. It was recovered several months later. In 2004, both The Scream and Madonna were stolen from the Munch Museum, and were both recovered two years later.

Contents [hide]

1Sources of inspiration

2Painting materials

3Thefts

4Record sale at auction

5In popular culture

6Gallery of versions

7References

8Further reading

9External links

Sources of inspiration[edit]

Edvard Munch, 1921

The original German title given by Munch to his work was Der Schrei der Natur ("The Scream of Nature"). The Norwegian word skrik usually is translated as scream, but is cognate with the English shriek. Occasionally, the painting also has been called The Cry.

In his diary in an entry headed, Nice 22 January 1892, Munch described his inspiration for the image:

One evening I was walking along a path, the city was on one side and the fjord below. I felt tired and ill. I stopped and looked out over the fjord—the sun was setting, and the clouds turning blood red. I sensed a scream passing through nature; it seemed to me that I heard the scream. I painted this picture, painted the clouds as actual blood. The color shrieked. This became The Scream.[8]

This memory was later rendered by Munch as a poem, which he hand-painted onto the frame of the 1895 pastel version of the work:

I was walking along the road with two friends – the sun was setting – suddenly the sky turned blood red – I paused, feeling exhausted, and leaned on the fence – there was blood and tongues of fire above the blue-black fjord and the city – my friends walked on, and I stood there trembling with anxiety – and I sensed an infinite scream passing through nature.[9]

Among theories advanced to account for the reddish sky in the background is the artist's memory of the effects of the powerful volcanic eruption of Krakatoa, which deeply tinted sunset skies red in parts of the Western hemisphere for months during 1883 and 1884, about a decade before Munch painted The Scream.[10] This explanation has been disputed by scholars, who note that Munch was an expressive painter and was not primarily interested in literal renderings of what he had seen. Alternatively, it has been suggested that the proximity of both a slaughterhouse and a lunatic asylum to the site depicted in the painting may have offered some inspiration.[11] The scene was identified as being the view from a road overlooking Oslo, the Oslofjord and Hovedøya, from the hill of Ekeberg.[12] At the time of painting the work, Munch's manic depressive sister Laura Catherine was a patient at the asylum at the foot of Ekeberg.[citation needed]

In 1978, the Munch scholar Robert Rosenblum suggested that the strange, sexless creature in the foreground of the painting was inspired by a Peruvian mummy, which Munch could have seen at the 1889 Exposition Universelle in Paris. This mummy, which was buried in a fetal position with its hands alongside its face, also struck the imagination of Munch's friend Paul Gauguin: it stood as a model for the central figure in his painting, Human misery (Grape harvest at Arles) and for the old woman at the left in his painting, Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?. In 2004, an Italian anthropologist speculated that Munch might have seen a mummy in Florence's Museum of Natural History, which bears an even more striking resemblance to the painting.[13]

The imagery of The Scream has been compared to that which an individual suffering from depersonalization disorder experiences, a feeling of distortion of the environment and one's self,[14] and also facial pain in the form of Trigeminal neuralgia.[15]0

Painting materials[edit]

The material composition of the 1893 painted version was examined in 2010.[16] The pigment analysis revealed the use of cadmium yellow, vermilion, ultramarine and viridian among other pigments of the 19th century.[17]

Thefts[edit]

The Scream has been the target of a number of thefts and theft attempts. Some damage has been suffered in these thefts.

Two men breaking into the National Gallery, Oslo, to steal the gallery's (1893 tempera on cardboard) version of The Scream, February 1994

On 12 February 1994, the same day as the opening of the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, two men broke into the National Gallery, Oslo, and stole its version of The Scream, leaving a note reading "Thanks for the poor security".[18][19] The painting had been moved down to a second-story gallery[20] as part of the Olympic festivities.[21] After the gallery refused to pay a ransom demand of US$1 million in March 1994, Norwegian police set up a sting operation with assistance from the British police (SO10) and the Getty Museum and the painting was recovered undamaged on 7 May 1994.[20] In January 1996, four men were convicted in connection with the theft, including Pål Enger, who had been convicted of stealing Munch's Vampire in 1988.[22] They were released on appeal on legal grounds: the British agents involved in the sting operation had entered Norway under false identities.[23]

Thieves taking paintings from the Munch Museum in Oslo on 22 August 2004

The 1910 tempera on board version of The Scream was stolen on 22 August 2004, during daylight hours, when masked gunmen entered the Munch Museum in Oslo and stole it and Munch's Madonna.[24] A bystander photographed the robbers as they escaped to their car with the artwork. On 8 April 2005, Norwegian police arrested a suspect in connection with the theft, but the paintings remained missing and it was rumored that they had been burned by the thieves to destroy evidence.[25][26] On 1 June 2005, with four suspects already in custody in connection with the crime, the city government of Oslo offered a reward of 2 million Norwegian krone (roughly US$313,500 or €231,200) for information that could help locate the paintings.[27] Although the paintings remained missing, six men went on trial in early 2006, variously charged with either helping to plan or participating in the robbery. Three of the men were convicted and sentenced to between four and eight years in prison in May 2006, and two of the convicted, Bjørn Hoen and Petter Tharaldsen, were also ordered to pay compensation of 750 million kroner (roughly US$117.6 million or €86.7 million) to the City of Oslo.[28] The Munch Museum was closed for ten months for a security overhaul.[29]

On 31 August 2006, Norwegian police announced that a police operation had recovered both The Scream and Madonna, but did not reveal detailed circumstances of the recovery. The paintings were said to be in a better-than-expected condition. "We are 100 percent certain they are the originals," police chief Iver Stensrud told a news conference. "The damage was much less than feared."[30][31] Munch Museum director Ingebjørg Ydstie confirmed the condition of the paintings, saying it was much better than expected and that the damage could be repaired.[32] The Scream had moisture damage on the lower left corner, while Madonna suffered several tears on the right side of the painting as well as two holes in Madonna's arm.[33] Before repairs and restoration began, the paintings were put on public display by the Munch Museum beginning 27 September 2006. During the five-day exhibition, 5,500 people viewed the damaged paintings. The conserved works went back on display on 23 May 2008, when the exhibition "Scream and Madonna — Revisited" at the Munch Museum in Oslo displayed the paintings together.[34] Some damage to The Scream may prove impossible to repair, but the overall integrity of the work has not been compromised.[35][36]

Record sale at auction[edit]

The 1895 pastel-on-board version of the painting, owned by Norwegian businessman Petter Olsen, sold at Sotheby's in London for a record price of nearly US$120 million at auction on 2 May 2012.[37] The bidding started at $40 million and lasted for over 12 minutes when American businessman Leon Black by phone gave the final offer of US$119,922,500, including the buyer's premium.[4] Sotheby's said the painting was the most colorful and vibrant of the four versions painted by Munch and the only version whose frame was hand-painted by the artist to include his poem, detailing the work's inspiration.[2] After the sale, Sotheby's auctioneer Tobias Meyer said the painting was "worth every penny", adding: "It is one of the great icons of art in the world and whoever bought it should be congratulated."[38]

The previous record for the most expensive work of art sold at auction had been held by Picasso's Nude, Green Leaves and Bust, which went for US$106.5 million at Christie's two years prior on 4 May 2010.[39] When accounting for inflation, the highest price paid for art at an auction is still held by Van Gogh's Portrait of Dr. Gachet, which sold for $82.5 million in 1990, or about $149 million 2012 dollars.[40] There have been reports that The Card Players, by Cézanne, sold privately for $250m in 2011,[41][42] which can not be verified for the establishment of a record price.

In popular culture[edit]

In the late twentieth century, The Scream was imitated, parodied, and outright copies have been made following its copyright expiration, which led to it acquiring an iconic status in popular culture. It was used on the cover of some editions of Arthur Janov's book The Primal Scream.[43] In 1983–1984, pop artist Andy Warhol made a series of silk prints copying works by Munch, including The Scream. His stated intention was to desacralize the painting by making it into a mass-reproducible object. Munch had already begun that process, however, by making a lithograph of the work for reproduction. Erró's ironic and irreverent treatment of Munch's masterpiece in his acrylic paintings The Second Scream (1967) and Ding Dong (1979) is considered a characteristic of post-modern art.[44] Cartoonist Gary Larson included a "tribute" to The Scream (entitled The Whine) in his Wiener Dog Art painting and cartoon compilation, in which the central figure is replaced by a howling dachshund. The Scream has been used in advertising, in cartoons, such as The Simpsons, films, and on television. The principal alien antagonists depicted in the 2011 BBC series of Doctor Who, named "The Silence", have an appearance partially based on The Scream.[45] The Ghostface mask worn by the primary antagonists of the Scream series of horror movies is based on the painting, and was created by Brigitte Sleiertin, a Fun World employee, as a Halloween costume, prior to being discovered by Marianne Maddalena and Wes Craven for the film.[46]

In 2013, The Scream was one of four paintings that the Norwegian postal service chose for a series of stamps marking the 150th anniversary of Edvard Munch’s birth.[47]

A patient resource group for trigeminal neuralgia (which has been described as the most painful condition in existence) have also adopted the image as a symbol of the condition.[48]

In the anime Detective Conan episode 774 (2015) "The Missing Scream of Munch", the disappearance of The Scream plays the main part of story.[49]

Tweeds Paired with Plaids by Laura

5 2

USS Pennsylvania (BB-38), WWII, Battleship, Dreadnought by photolibrarian

17

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

History

United States

Name:Pennsylvania

Namesake:Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

Ordered:22 August 1912

Builder:Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company

Laid down:27 October 1913

Launched:16 March 1915

Commissioned:12 June 1916

Decommissioned:29 August 1946

Stricken:19 February 1948

Fate:Scuttled off Kwajalein Atoll after Operation Crossroads on 10 February 1948

General characteristics (as built)

Class and type:Pennsylvania-class battleship

Displacement:31,917 long tons (32,429 t) (Full load)

Length:608 ft (185 m)

Beam:97.1 ft (29.6 m)

Draft:28.9 ft (8.8 m)

Installed power:

12 × Babcock boilers

34,000 shp (25,000 kW)

Propulsion:

4 × Curtis ungeared/Westinghouse geared turbines

4 × shafts

Speed:21 kn (24 mph; 39 km/h)

Range:7,552 nmi (8,691 mi; 13,986 km) at 12 kn (14 mph; 22 km/h)

Capacity:Fuel oil: 2,305 long tons (2,342 t)

Complement:

56 officers

72 Marines

1,031 Bluejackets

Armament:

12 × 14 in (360 mm)/45 cal guns (4×3)

22 × 5 in (130 mm)/51 cal guns

4 × 3 in (76 mm)/23 cal anti-aircraft guns

2 × submerged 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes

Armor:

Belt: 13.5 in (340 mm)

Deck: 3 in (76 mm) (ends)

Turrets: 18 in (460 mm) (faces)

Conning Tower: 16 in (410 mm)

Aircraft carried:2 × floatplanes

Aviation facilities:2 × catapults

General characteristics (1931)

Displacement:

Standard: 34,400 long tons (35,000 t)

Full load: 39,224 long tons (39,853 t)

Installed power:6 × Bureau Express boilers

Armament:

12 × 14"/45 cal guns (4×3)

12 × 5"/51 cal guns

8 × 5"/25 cal anti-aircraft guns

8 × .50-cal M2 Browning machine guns

General characteristics (1942)

Sensors and

processing systems:CXAM-1 radar

Armament:

12 × 14"/45 cal guns (4×3)

16 × 5"/38 cal guns

40 × 40 mm (1.6 in) Bofors guns

51 × 20 mm (0.79 in) Oerlikon guns

USS Pennsylvania (BB-38) was the lead ship of the Pennsylvania class of super-dreadnought battleships built for the United States Navy in the 1910s. The Pennsylvanias were part of the standard-type battleship series, and marked an incremental improvement over the preceding Nevada class, carrying an extra pair of 14-inch (360 mm) guns for a total of twelve guns. Named for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, she was laid down at the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company in October 1913, was launched in March 1915, and was commissioned in June 1916. Equipped with an oil-burning propulsion system, Pennsylvania was not sent to European waters during World War I, since the necessary fuel oil was not as readily available as coal. Instead, she remained in American waters and took part in training exercises; in 1918, she escorted President Woodrow Wilson to France to take part in peace negotiations.

During the 1920s and 1930s, Pennsylvania served as the flagship of first the Atlantic Fleet, and after it was merged with the Pacific Fleet in 1921, the Battle Fleet. For the majority of this period, the ship was stationed in California, based in San Pedro. Pennsylvania was occupied with a peacetime routine of training exercises (including the annual Fleet problems), port visits, and foreign cruises, including a visit to Australia in 1925. The ship was modernized in 1929–1931. The ship was present in Pearl Harbor on the morning of 7 December 1941; she was in drydock with a pair of destroyers when the Japanese launched their surprise attack on the port. She suffered relatively minor damage in the attack, being protected from torpedoes by the drydock. While repairs were effected, the ship received a modernized anti-aircraft battery to prepare her for operations in the Pacific War.

Pennsylvania joined the fleet in a series of amphibious operations, primarily tasked with providing gunfire support. The first of these, the Aleutian Islands Campaign, took place in mid-1943, and was followed by an attack on Makin later that year. During 1944, she supported the landings on Kwajalein and Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands and the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign, including the Battles of Saipan, Guam, Peleliu, and Battle of Angaur. During the Philippines campaign, in addition to her typical shore bombardment duties, she took part in the Battle of Surigao Strait, though due to her inadequate radar, she was unable to locate a target and did not fire. During the Battle of Okinawa, she was torpedoed by a Japanese torpedo bomber and badly damaged, forcing her to withdraw for repairs days before the end of the war.

Allocated to the target fleet for the Operation Crossroads nuclear tests in 1946, Pennsylvania was repaired only enough to allow her to make the voyage to the test site, Bikini Atoll. She survived both blasts, but was badly contaminated with radioactive fallout from the second test, and so was towed to Kwajalein, where she was studied for the next year and a half. The ship was ultimately scuttled in deep water off the atoll in February 1948.

Description

Part of the standard-type battleship series, the Pennsylvania-class ships were significantly larger than their predecessors, the Nevada class. Pennsylvania had an overall length of 608 feet (185 m), a beam of 97 feet (30 m) (at the waterline), and a draft of 29 feet 3 inches (8.92 m) at deep load. This was 25 feet (7.6 m) longer than the older ships. She displaced 29,158 long tons (29,626 t) at standard and 31,917 long tons (32,429 t) at deep load, over 4,000 long tons (4,060 t) more than the older ships. The ship had a metacentric height of 7.82 feet (2.38 m) at deep load.[1]

The ship had four direct-drive Curtis steam turbine sets, each of which drove a propeller 12 feet 1.5 inches (3.7 m) in diameter.[2] They were powered by twelve Babcock & Wilcox water-tube boilers.[1] The turbines were designed to produce a total of 34,000 shaft horsepower (25,000 kW), for a designed speed of 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph).[3] She was designed to normally carry 1,548 long tons (1,573 t) of fuel oil, but had a maximum capacity of 2,305 long tons (2,342 t). At full capacity, the ship could steam at a speed of 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) for an estimated 7,552 nautical miles (13,990 km; 8,690 mi) with a clean bottom. She had four 300-kilowatt (402 hp) turbo generators.[1]

Pennsylvania carried twelve 45-caliber 14-inch guns in triple gun turrets.[1] The turrets were numbered from I to IV from front to rear. The guns could not elevate independently and were limited to a maximum elevation of +15° which gave them a maximum range of 21,000 yards (19,000 m).[4] The ship carried 100 shells for each gun. Defense against torpedo boats was provided by twenty-two 51-caliber five-inch guns mounted in individual casemates in the sides of the ship's hull. Positioned as they were they proved vulnerable to sea spray and could not be worked in heavy seas.[5] At an elevation of 15°, they had a maximum range of 14,050 yards (12,850 m).[6] Each gun was provided with 230 rounds of ammunition.[1] The ship mounted four 50-caliber three-inch guns for anti-aircraft defense, although only two were fitted when completed. The other pair were added shortly afterward on top of Turret III.[7] Pennsylvania also mounted two 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes submerged, one on each broadside, and carried 24 torpedoes for them.[1][8]

The Pennsylvania-class design continued the all-or-nothing principle of armoring only the most important areas of the ship begun in the Nevada class. The waterline armor belt of Krupp armor measured 13.5 inches (343 mm) thick and covered only the ship's machinery spaces and magazines. It had a total height of 17 feet 6 inches (5.3 m), of which 8 feet 9.75 inches (2.7 m) was below the waterline; beginning 2 feet 4 inches (0.7 m) below the waterline, the belt tapered to its minimum thickness of 8 inches (203 mm).[1] The transverse bulkheads at each end of the ship ranged from 13 to 8 inches in thickness. The faces of the gun turrets were 18 inches (457 mm) thick while the sides were 9–10 inches (229–254 mm) thick and the turret roofs were protected by 5 inches (127 mm) of armor. The armor of the barbettes was 18 to 4.5 inches (457 to 114 mm) thick. The conning tower was protected by 16 inches (406 mm) of armor and had a roof eight inches thick.[9]

The main armor deck was three plates thick with a total thickness of 3 inches (76 mm); over the steering gear the armor increased to 6.25 inches (159 mm) in two plates. Beneath it was the splinter deck that ranged from 1.5 to 2 inches (38 to 51 mm) in thickness.[10] The boiler uptakes were protected by a conical mantlet that ranged from 9 to 15 inches (230 to 380 mm) in thickness.[9] A three-inch torpedo bulkhead was placed 9 feet 6 inches (2.9 m) inboard from the ship's side and the ship was provided with a complete double bottom. Testing in mid-1914 revealed that this system could withstand 300 pounds (140 kg) of TNT.[10]

Service history

The keel for Pennsylvania was laid down on 27 October 1913 at the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company of Newport News, Virginia. Her completed hull was launched on 16 March 1915, thereafter beginning fitting-out. Work on the ship finished in mid-1916, and she was commissioned on 12 June under the command of Captain Henry B. Wilson. The ship was assigned to the Atlantic Fleet and then completed final fitting out from 1 to 20 July. Pennsylvania then began sea trials in 20 July, steaming first to the southern drill grounds off the Virginia Capes and then north to the coast of New England. Rear Admiral Austin M. Knight and officers from the Naval War College came aboard on 21 August to observe fleet training exercises. Three days later, the ship was visited by Franklin Delano Roosevelt, then the Assistant Secretary of the Navy.[11]

Rear Admiral Henry T. Mayo transferred to Pennsylvania on 12 October, making her the flagship of the Atlantic Fleet. At the end of the year, she went into drydock at the New York Navy Yard for maintenance. After emerging from the shipyard in January 1917, she steamed south to join fleet exercises in the Caribbean Sea, during which she stopped in: Culebra, Puerto Rico; Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; and Port-au-Prince, Haiti. While in Port-au-Prince, Pennsylvania again hosted Roosevelt, who met with the President of Haiti aboard the ship. The battleship arrived back in Yorktown, Virginia on 6 April, the same day the United States declared war on Germany, bringing the country into World War I. Since Pennsylvania was oil-fired, she did not join the ships of Battleship Division Nine, as the British had asked for coal-burning battleships to reinforce the Grand Fleet. As a result, she stayed in American waters and saw no action during the war.[11]

In August, Pennsylvania took part in a naval review for President Woodrow Wilson. Foreign naval officers visited the ship in September, including the Japanese Vice Admiral Isamu Takeshita and the Russian Vice Admiral Alexander Kolchak. For the rest of the year and into 1918, Pennsylvania was kept in a state of readiness through fleet exercises and gunnery training in Chesapeake Bay and Long Island Sound. She was preparing for night battle training on 11 November 1918, when the Armistice with Germany came into effect, ending the fighting. She thereafter returned for another stint in the New York Navy Yard for maintenance that was completed on 21 November. She began the voyage to Brest, France, on 2 December by way of Tomkinsville, New York, in company with the transport ship George Washington that carried Wilson to France to take part in the peace negotiations; they were escorted by ten destroyers. The ships arrived on 13 December and the next day, Pennsylvania began the trip back to New York with Battleship Divisions Nine and Six. The battleships reached their destination on 26 December, where they took part in victory celebrations.[11]

Inter-war period

1919–1924

Pennsylvania and the rest of the Atlantic Fleet departed on 19 February, bound for the Caribbean for another round of exercises in Cuban waters. The ship arrived back in New York on 14 April, and while there on 30 June, Mayo was replaced by Vice Admiral Henry Wilson. On 8 July at Tomkinsville, a delegation consisting of: Vice President Thomas R. Marshall; Josephus Daniels, the Secretary of the Navy; Carter Glass, the Secretary of the Treasury; William B. Wilson, the Secretary of Labor; Newton D. Baker, the Secretary of War; Franklin K. Lane, the Secretary of the Interior; and Senator Champ Clark came aboard the ship for a cruise back to New York. The fleet conducted another set of maneuvers in the Caribbean from 7 January to April 1920, Pennsylvania returning to her berth in New York on 26 April. Training exercises in the area followed, and on 17 July she received the hull number BB-38.[11]

On 17 January 1921, Pennsylvania left New York, passed through the Panama Canal to Balboa, Panama, where she joined the Pacific Fleet, which together with elements of the Atlantic Fleet was re-designated as the Battle Fleet, with Pennsylvania as its flagship. On 21 January, the fleet left Balboa and steamed south to Callao, Peru, where they arrived ten days later. The ships then steamed north back to Balboa on 2 February, arriving on 14 February. Pennsylvania crossed back through the canal to take part in maneuvers off Cuba and on 28 April she arrived in Hampton Roads, Virginia, where President Warren G. Harding, Edwin Denby, the Secretary of the Navy, Theodore Roosevelt Jr., the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and Admiral Robert Coontz, the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), came aboard the ship. Further training was held from 12 to 21 July in the Caribbean, after which she returned to New York. On 30 July, she proceeded on to Plymouth, Massachusetts for a visit that lasted until 2 August. Anothery drydock period in New York lasted from 5 to 20 August.[11]

Pennsylvania departed New York thereafter, bound for the Pacific; she passed through the Panama Canal on 30 August and remained at Balboa for two weeks. On 15 September, she resumed the voyage and steamed north to San Pedro, California, which she reached on 26 September. The ship spent most of 1922 visiting ports along the US west coast, including San Francisco, Seattle, Port Angeles, and San Diego, and from 6 March to 19 April, she underwent a refit at the Puget Sound Navy Yard. She won the Battle Efficiency Award for the 1922 training year. She went back to Puget Sound on 18 December, and remained there into 1923. She left the shipyard on 28 January and steamed south to San Diego, where she stayed from 2 to 8 February, before continuing on to the Panama Canal. After passing through, she steamed to Culebra for a short visit. The ship then passed back through the canal and arrived back in San Pedro on 13 April. Beginning in May, she visited various ports in the area over the course of the rest of 1923, apart from a round of fleet training from 27 November to 7 December. She ended the year with another stint in Puget Sound from 22 December until 1 March 1924.[11]

1924–1931

The ship arrived in San Francisco on 3 March, where she loaded ammunition before joining the Battle Fleet in San Diego on 9 March. The fleet cruised south to the Gulf of Fonseca, then continued south and passed through the Panama Canal to Limon Bay. The ships visited several ports in the Caribbean, including in the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico before returning to the Pacific in early April. Pennsylvania arrived back in San Pedro on 22 April, where she remained until 25 June, when she steamed north to Seattle. By this time, she was serving as the flagship of Battle Division 3 of the Battle Fleet. While in the Seattle area, she took part in training exercises with the ships of her division that lasted until 1 September. Further training exercises took place from 12 to 22 September off San Francisco. She thereafter took part in joint training with the coastal defenses around San Francisco from 26 to 29 September. The ship underwent a pair of overhauls from 1 to 13 October and 13 December to 5 January 1925. Pennsylvania then steamed to Puget Sound on 21 January for a third overhaul that lasted from 25 January to 24 March.[11]

Pennsylvania returned to San Pedro on 27 March and then joined the fleet in San Francisco on 5 April. The ships then steamed to Hawaii for training exercises before departing on 1 July for a major cruise across the Pacific to Australia. They reached Melbourne on 22 July, and on 6 August Pennsylvania steamed to Wellington, New Zealand, where she stayed from 11 to 22 August. On the voyage back to the United States, they stopped in Pago Pago in American Samoa and Hawaii, before reaching San Pedro on 26 September. Pennsylvania went to San Diego for target practice from 5 to 8 October, thereafter returning to San Pedro, where she remained largely idle for the rest of 1925. She left San Pedro with the Battle Fleet on 1 February 1926 for another visit to Balboa, during which the ships conducted tactical training from 15 to 27 February. Pennsylvania spent early March in California before departing for Puget Sound on 15 March for another refit that lasted until 14 May, at which point she returned to San Pedro. Another tour of west coast ports began on 16 June and ended on 1 September back in San Pedro.[11]

Pennsylvania remained at San Pedro from 11 December to 11 January 1927 when she left for another refit at Puget Sound that lasted until 12 March. She returned to San Francisco on 15 March and then moved to San Pedro the next day. She left to join training exercises off Cuba on 17 March; she passed through the canal between 29 and 31 March and arrived in Guantanamo Bay on 4 April. On 18 April, she left Cuba to visit Gonaïves, Haiti before steaming to New York, arriving there on 29 April. After touring the east coast in May, she departed for the canal, which she crossed on 12 June. She remained in Balboa until 12 June, at which point she left for San Pedro, arriving on 28 June. The ship spent the rest of 1927 with training, maintenance, and a tour of the west coast. She went to Puget Sound for a refit on 1 April 1928 that lasted until 16 May, after which she went to San Francisco. She left that same day, however, and steamed back north to visit Victoria, British Columbia. She remained there from 24 to 28 May and then returned to San Francisco. She spent June visiting various ports, and in August she embarked Dwight F. Davis, the Secretary of War, in San Francisco; she carried him to Hawaii, departing on 7 August and arriving on the 13th. Pennsylvania returned to Seattle on 26 August.[11]

Another cruise to Cuba took place in January 1929, after which she went to the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 1 June for a major refit and modernization. She received a number of modifications, including increased deck and turret roof armor, anti-torpedo bulges, new turbo-generators, new turbines, and six new three-drum boilers. Her main battery turrets were modified to allow them to elevate to 30 degrees, significantly increasing the range of her guns, and her secondary battery was revised. The number of 5-inch guns was reduced to twelve, and her 3-inch anti-aircraft guns were replaced with eight 5-inch /25 guns. Her torpedo tubes were removed, as were her lattice masts, which were replaced with sturdier tripod masts. Her bridge was also enlarged to increase the space available for an admiral's staff, since she was used as a flagship. Her living space was increased to 2,037 crew and marines, and she was fitted with two catapults for seaplanes.[3][11]

Pennsylvania returned to service on 1 March 1931 and she conducted trials in Delaware Bay in March and April. She then steamed south to Cuba on 8 May for a training cruise before returning to Philadelphia on 26 May. Another cruise to Cuba followed on 30 July; the ship arrived there on 5 August and this time she steamed across the Caribbean to the Panama Canal, which she transited on 12 August to return to the Battle Fleet. She reached San Pedro on 27 August, where she remained for the rest of the year. She toured the west coast in January 1932 and before crossing over to Pearl Harbor, where she arrived on 3 February. There, she took part in extensive fleet maneuvers as part of Fleet Problem XIII. She returned to San Pedro on 20 March, remaining there until 18 April, when she began another cruise along the coast of California. She returned to San Pedro on 14 November and remained there until the end of the year.[11]

1932–1941

The ship departed San Pedro on 9 February to participate in Fleet Problem XIV, which lasted from 10 to 17 February. She returned to San Francisco on 17 February and then went to San Pedro on 27 February, remaining there until 19 June. Another west coast cruise followed from 19 June to 14 November, and after returning to San Pedro, Pennsylvania stayed there inactive until early March 1934. From 4 to 8 March, she made a short visit to Hunters Point Naval Shipyard in San Francisco and then returned to San Pedro. From there, she went to join the fleet for Fleet Problem XV, which was held in the Caribbean this year; she passed through the canal on 24 April, the maneuvers having already started on the 19th. They lasted until 12 May, at which point Pennsylvania went to Gonaïves with the rest of the fleet, which then continued on to New York, where it arrived on 31 March. There, Pennsylvania led the fleet in a naval review for now-President Franklin D. Roosevelt. On 15 June, Admiral Joseph M. Reeves took command of the fleet aboard Pennsylvania, which was once again the fleet flagship.[11]

On 18 June, Pennsylvania left New York for the Pacific, stopping in Hampton Roads on 20 June on the way. She passed through the canal on 28 June and reached San Pedro on 7 July. She then went to Puget Sound for a refit that lasted from 14 July to 2 October. The ship left the shipyard on 16 October and returned to San Francisco two days later, beginning a period of cruises off the coast of California and visits to cities in the state. She ended the year in San Pedro, remaining there or in San Francisco until 29 April 1935, when she took part in Fleet Problem XVI in the Hawaiian islands. The maneuvers lasted until 10 June, and were the largest set of exercises conducted by the US Navy at the time. The ship then returned to San Pedro on 17 June and embarked on a cruise of the west coast for several months; on 16 December, she went to Puget Sound for another overhaul that lasted from 20 December to 21 March 1936. Fleet Problem XVII followed from 27 April to 7 June, this time being held off Balboa. She returned to San Pedro on 6 June and spent the rest of the year with training exercises off the west coast and Hawaii, ending the training program for the year in San Pedro on 18 November.[11]

The ship remained in port until 17 February, when she departed for San Clemente, California at the start of a tour along the west coast. She participated in Fleet Problem XVIII, which lasted from 16 April to 28 May. Another stint in Puget Sound began on 6 June and concluded on 3 September, when she returned to San Pedro. She spent the rest of the year alternating between there and San Francisco, seeing little activity. She made a short trip to San Francisco in February 1938 and took part in Fleet Problem XIX from 9 March to 30 April. Another period in San Pedro followed until 20 June, after which she embarked on a two-month cruise along the west coast that concluded with another stay at Puget Sound on 28 September. After concluding her repairs on 16 December, she returned to San Pedro by way of San Francisco, arriving on 22 December. Fleet Problem XX occurred earlier the year than it had in previous iterations, taking place from 20 to 27 February 1939 in Cuban waters. During the exercises, Franklin Roosevelt and Admiral William D. Leahy, the CNO, came aboard Pennsylvania to observe the maneuvers.[11]

The ship then went to Culebra on 27 February, departing on 4 March to visit Port-au-Prince, Haiti from 6 to 11 March. A stay in Guantanamo Bay followed from 12 to 31 March, after which she went to visit the US Naval Academy in Annapolis on 5 April. Pennsylvania began the voyage back to the Pacific on 18 April and passed through the canal at the end of the month, ultimately arriving back in San Pedro on 12 May. Another tour of the west coast followed, which included stops in San Francisco, Tacoma, and Seattle, and ended in San Pedro on 20 October. She went to Hawaii to participate in Fleet Problem XXI on 2 April 1940. The exercises lasted until 17 May, after which the ship remained in Hawaii until 1 September, when she left for San Pedro. The battleship then went to Puget Sound on 12 September that lasted until 27 December;[11] during the overhaul, she received another four 5-inch /25 guns.[3] She returned to San Pedro on 31 December. Fleet Problem XXII was scheduled for January 1941, but the widening of World War II by this time led the naval command to cancel the exercises. On 7 January, Pennsylvania steamed to Hawaii as part of what was again the Pacific Fleet, based at Pearl Harbor. Over the course of the year, she operated out of Pearl Harbor and made a short voyage to the west coast of the United States from 12 September to 11 October.[11]

World War II

Attack on Pearl Harbor

On the morning of 7 December, Pennsylvania was in Dry Dock No. 1 in Pearl Harbor undergoing a refit; three of her four screws were removed. The destroyers Cassin and Downes were also in the dock with her. When it became clear that the port was under air attack from the Japanese fleet, Pennsylvania's crew rushed to their battle stations, and between 08:02 and 08:05, her anti-aircraft gunners began engaging the hostile aircraft. Japanese torpedo bombers unsuccessfully attempted to torpedo the side of the drydock to flood it; having failed, several aircraft then strafed Pennsylvania. At 08:30, several high-altitude bombers began a series of attacks on the ship; over the course of the following fifteen minutes, five aircraft attempted to hit her from different directions. One of the Japanese bombers hit Downes and one scored a hit on Pennsylvania that passed through the boat deck and exploded in casemate No. 9. Pennsylvania's anti-aircraft gunners fired at all of these aircraft but failed to hit any of them, apparently owing to incorrect fuse settings that caused the shells to explode before they reached the correct altitude. The gunners did manage to shoot down a low-flying aircraft that attempted to strafe the ship; they claimed to have shot down another five aircraft, but the after-action investigation noted that only two aircraft were likely hit by Pennsylvania's guns.[11]

By 09:20, both destroyers were on fire from bomb hits and the fire had spread to Pennsylvania, so the drydock was flooded to help contain the fire. Ten minutes later, the destroyers began to explode as the fires spread to ammunition magazines, and at 09:41, Downes was shattered by an explosion that scattered parts of the ship around the area. One of her torpedo tubes, weighing 500 to 1,000 pounds (230 to 450 kg), was launched into the air, striking Pennsylvania's forecastle. As part of her crew battled the fire in her bow, other men used the ship's boats to ferry anti-aircraft ammunition from stores in the West Loch of Pearl Harbor. Beginning at 14:00, the crew began preparatory work to repair the bomb damage; a 5-inch /25 gun and a 5-inch /51 casemate gun were taken from the damaged battleship West Virginia to replace weapons damaged aboard Pennsylvania.[11] In the course of the attack, Pennsylvania had 15 men killed (including her executive officer), 14 missing, and 38 wounded.[12] On 12 December, Pennsylvania was refloated and taken out of the drydock; having been only lightly damaged in the attack, she was ready to go to sea. She departed Pearl Harbor on 20 December and arrived in San Francisco nine days later. She went into drydock at Hunter's Point on 1 January 1942 for repairs that were completed on 12 January.[11]

The ship left San Francisco on 20 February and began gunnery training before returning to San Francisco the next day. Further training followed in March, and from 14 April to 1 August, she took part in extensive maneuvers off the coast of California;[11] during this period, she underwent an overhaul at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard in San Francisco. The work involved considerably strengthening the ship's anti-aircraft capabilities, with ten Bofors 40 mm quad mounts and fifty-one Oerlikon 20 mm single mounts. The tripod mainmast was removed, with the stump replaced by a deckhouse above which the aft main battery director cupola was housed. One of the new CXAM-1 radars was installed above the cupola. In addition the secondary 5-inch armament was replaced with rapid fire 5-inch /38 cal guns in eight twin mounts for a total of 16 new dual purpose guns. These guns could elevate to 85 degrees and fire at a rate of one round every four seconds. They replaced the older 5-inch /51 cal anti-ship and 5-inch /25 cal anti-aircraft guns.[3] She briefly went to sea during the Battle of Midway as part of Task Force 1, commanded by Vice Admiral William S. Pye, but the ships did not see action during the operation.[11]

Aleutians and Makin Atoll

On 1 August, Pennsylvania left San Francisco, bound for Pearl Harbor. She arrived there on 14 August and took part in further training, including guard tactics for aircraft carrier task forces. Another overhaul followed in San Francisco from 3 to 10 January 1943. After further training and tests at San Francisco and Long Beach that lasted into April, she departed to join the Aleutian Islands Campaign on 23 April. She bombarded Holtz Bay and Chichagof Harbor on 11–12 May to support the forces that went ashore on the island of Attu. While she was leaving the area on the 12th, the Japanese submarine I-31 launched a torpedo at the ship, which was observed by a patrolling PBY Catalina flying boat. The Catalina radioed Pennsylvania, which took evasive maneuvers and escaped unharmed; a pair of destroyers then spent the next ten hours hunting the submarine before severely damaging her and forcing her to surface. I-31 was later sunk by another destroyer the next day.[11]

Pennsylvania returned to Holtz Bay on 14 May to conduct another bombardment in support of an infantry attack on the western side of the bay. She continued operations in the area until 19 May, when she steamed to Adak Island for another amphibious assault. While en route, one of her gasoline stowage compartments exploded, which caused structural damage, though no one was injured in the accident. She was forced to leave Adak on 21 May for repairs at Puget Sound that lasted from 31 May to 15 June; during the overhaul, another accidental explosion killed one man and injured a second. She left port on 1 August, bound for Adak, which she reached on 7 August. There, she became the flagship of Admiral Francis W. Rockwell, commander of the task force that was to attack Kiska. The troops went ashore on 15 August but met no resistance, the Japanese having evacuated without US forces in the area having becoming aware of it. Pennsylvania patrolled off Kiska for several days before returning to Adak on 23 August.[11]

Two days later, the battleship departed Adak for Pearl Harbor, arriving there on 1 September. She embarked a contingent of 790 passengers before steaming on 19 September, bound for San Francisco. She arrived there six days later and debarked her passengers before returning to Pearl Harbor on 6 October to take part in bombardment training from 20–23 October and 31 October – 4 November. Now the flagship of Rear Admiral Richmond K. Turner, the commander of the Fifth Amphibious Force, itself part of the Northern Attack Force, Pennsylvania left Pearl Harbor on 10 November to lead the assault on Makin Atoll, part of the Gilbert Islands. She was joined by three other battleships, four cruisers, three escort carriers, and numerous transports and destroyers; they arrived off Makin on 20 November, and Pennsylvania opened fire on Butaritari Island that morning at a range of 14,200 yards (13,000 m), beginning the Battle of Makin. Early on the morning of 24 November, the ship was rocked by an explosion off her starboard bow; lookouts reported that the escort carrier Liscome Bay had been torpedoed and had exploded. Japanese torpedo bombers conducted repeated nighttime attacks on 25 and 26 November, but they failed to score any hits on the American fleet. Pennsylvania left the area on 30 November to return to Pearl Harbor.[11]

Marshalls and Marianas campaigns

At the start of 1944, Pennsylvania was at Pearl Harbor; over the course of the first two weeks of January, she took part in maneuvers in preparation for landings on Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands. She departed Pearl Harbor on 22 January in company with the invasion fleet, and on 31 January she began her preparatory bombardment of the atoll to start the Battle of Kwajalein. Troops went ashore the next day, and Pennsylvania remained offshore to provide artillery support to the marines as they fought to secure the island. By the evening of 3 February, the Japanese defenders had been defeated, allowing the ship to depart to Majuro Atoll to replenish her ammunition supply. She left shortly thereafter, on 12 February, to support the next major attack on Eniwetok in the Marshalls; five days later she arrived off the island, the Battle of Eniwetok already underway, and over the course of 20 and 21 February, she shelled the island heavily to support the men fighting ashore. On 22 February, she supported the landing on Parry Island, part of the Eniwetok atoll.[11]

On 1 March, Pennsylvania steamed back to Majuro before proceeding south to Havannah Harbor on Efate Island in the New Hebrides. She remained there until 24 April, when she left for a short visit to Sydney, Australia from 29 April to 11 May, when she returned to Efate. She thereafter steamed to Port Purvis on Florida Island, in the Solomons, to participate in amphibious assault exercises. After replenishing ammunition and supplies at Efate, she left on 2 June, bound for Roi, arriving there six days later. On 10 June, she joined a force of battleships, cruisers, escort carriers, and destroyers that had assembled for the Marianas campaign. While en route that night, one of the escorting destroyers reported a sonar contact and the ships of the fleet took evasive maneuvers; in the darkness, Pennsylvania accidentally collided with the troop transport Talbot. Pennsylvania incurred only minor damage and was able to continue with the fleet, but Talbot had to return to Eniwetok for emergency repairs.[11]

Pennsylvania began her bombardment of Saipan on 14 June to prepare the island for the assault that came the next day. She continued shelling the island while cruising off Tinian on 15 June as the assault craft went ashore. On 16 June, she attacked Japanese positions at Orote Point on Guam before returning to Saipan. She left the area on 25 June to replenish at Eniwetok, returning to join the preparatory bombardment of Guam on 12 July. The shelling continued for two days, and late on 14 July, she steamed to Saipan to again replenish her ammunition. Back on station three days later, she continued to blast the island through 20 July. This work also included suppressing guns that fired on demolition parties that went ashore to destroy landing obstacles. On the morning of 21 July, Pennsylvania took up her bombardment position off Orote Point as the assault craft prepared to launch their attack. The ship operated off the island supporting the men fighting there for the next two weeks.[11]

Operations in the Philippines

Pennsylvania left Guam on 3 August to replenish at Eniwetok, arriving there on 19 August. From there, she steamed to Espiritu Santo in the New Hebrides before joining landing training off Guadalcanal. The ship left on 6 September as part of the Bombardment and Fire Support Group for the invasion of Peleliu. She bombarded the island from 12 to 14 September and supported the landings the next day. She shelled Anguar Island on 17 September and remained there for three days, departing on 20 September. She then steamed to Seeadler Harbor on Manus, one of the Admiralty Islands for repairs. On 28 September, she arrived there and entered a floating dry dock on 1 October for a week's repairs. Pennsylvania left on 12 October in company with the battleships Mississippi, Tennessee, California, Maryland, and West Virginia, under the command of Rear Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf. These ships, designated Task Group 77.2, formed the Fire Support Group for the upcoming operations in the Philippines. They arrived off Leyte on 18 October and took up bombardment positions; over the next four days, they covered Underwater Demolition Teams, beach reconnaissance operations, and minesweepers clearing the way for the landing force.[11]

On 24 October, reports of Japanese naval forces approaching the area led Oldendorf's ships to prepare for action at the exit of the Surigao Strait.[11] Vice Admiral Shōji Nishimura's Southern Force steamed through the Surigao Strait to attack the invasion fleet in Leyte Gulf; his force comprised Battleship Division 2—the battleships Yamashiro and Fusō, the heavy cruiser Mogami, and four destroyers—and Vice Admiral Kiyohide Shima's Second Striking Force—the heavy cruisers Nachi and Ashigara, the light cruiser Abukuma, and four more destroyers.[13] As Nishimura's flotilla passed through the strait on the night of 24 October, they came under attack from American PT boats, followed by destroyers, initiating the Battle of Surigao Strait. One of these destroyers torpedoed Fusō and disabled her, though Nishimura continued on toward his objective.[14]

In the early hours of 25 October, the Southern Force came into contact with Oldendorf's battleships, which had positioned themselves to cross Nishimura's T. At 03:53, West Virginia opened fire, followed by some of the other battleships,[11] though Pennsylvania had trouble locating a target in the darkness with her search radar. Her older Mark 3 radar was not as effective as the more modern sets on West Virginia and some of the other battleships.[15] Task Group 77.2's battleships effectively annihilated Battleship Division 2; Shima's Second Striking Force had fallen behind and had not yet entered the fray. Yamashiro was set on fire and then exploded; she turned to flee, covered by a salvo of torpedoes from the burning Mogami, but the American battleships were able to evade them without damage. Despite having disengaged from Oldendorf's battleships, Yamashiro was hit by more torpedoes and capsized and sank around 04:20.[16] Shima's ships passed the still-floating Fusō and realized that Nishimura had entered a trap, so he reversed course to flee; in the confusion, his flagship Nachi collided with Mogami, damaging her and slowing her to be attacked by American light forces. She was later sunk, as were three of the four destroyers. Later on 25 October, Pennsylvania's anti-aircraft gunners helped to shoot down four aircraft that attacked a nearby destroyer.[11][17]

Pennsylvania leading Colorado, Louisville, Portland and Columbia into Lingayen Gulf, Philippines, January 1945

Late on 28 October, Pennsylvania shot down a torpedo bomber. The ship remained on station off Leyte until 25 November, when she departed for Manus, from which she steamed to Kossol Roads off Palau on 15 December to refill her magazines. She conducted gunnery training on 22 December, and on 1 January 1945, Pennsylvania re-joined Oldendorf's Fire Support Group on the way to Lingayen Gulf for the next major operation in the Philippines. Over the course of 4–5 January, Japanese aircraft repeatedly attacked the ships, including kamikazes that destroyed the escort carrier Ommaney Bay. Pennsylvania began bombarding Japanese positions on Santiago Island at the entrance to Lingayen Gulf on 6 January before entering the gulf that night to suppress Japanese guns while minesweepers cleared the area. The next morning, the rest of Oldendorf's ships joined her in the gulf to begin the main preparatory bombardment, which continued through the 8th. On 9 January, the amphibious assault began as troops from the Sixth United States Army went ashore.[11]

Japanese aircraft struck the invasion fleet on 10 January, and four bombs landed close to Pennsylvania, though she was undamaged. Later that day, a fire control party directed Pennsylvania to shell a group of Japanese tanks that were massing to launch a counterattack on the beachhead. The ship patrolled outside the gulf from 10 to 17 January, when she returned to the gulf; she saw no further action, however, and she departed on 10 February for maintenance at Manus. From there, she left on 22 February for San Francisco, stopping in the Marshalls and at Pearl Harbor on the way. After arriving on 13 March, she underwent a thorough overhaul, including the replacement of her worn-out main battery and secondary guns. She also received more modern radar and fire control equipment and additional close-range anti-aircraft guns. With the work done, she went on sea trials off San Francisco, followed by training at San Diego. She left San Francisco on 12 July and arrived in Pearl Harbor on the 18th, where she engaged in further training from 20 to 23 July. The next day, she departed to join the invasion fleet off Okinawa.[11]

While transiting the Pacific, she stopped to bombard Wake Island on 1 August. In the artillery duel with Japanese coastal guns, one of their shells detonated close enough that fragments disabled one of the ship's fire control directors for her 5-inch guns. One of her Curtiss SC Seahawks was damaged in heavy seas, and the destroyer Ordronaux recovered the pilot. Pennsylvania loaded ammunition at Saipan before continuing on to Okinawa, arriving there on 12 August where she became flagship of Task Force 95. That night, while moored next to Tennessee in Buckner Bay, a Japanese torpedo bomber managed to penetrate the Allied defensive screen undetected; the aircraft launched its torpedo at Pennsylvania and hit her aft, causing serious damage. The torpedo opened a hole approximately 30 ft (9.1 m) in diameter, causing the ship to take on a considerable amount of water and begin to settle by the stern. Damage control teams were able to contain the flooding. Twenty men were killed and another ten were injured in the attack, including Oldendorf, who was aboard at the time. Pennsylvania was the last major US warship to be damaged in the war. The next day, salvage tugs towed her to shallow water where temporary repairs could be effected. On 15 August, the Japanese surrendered, ending the war.[11][18]

Post-war

Pennsylvania was taken under tow by a pair of tugboats on 18 August, bound for Apra Harbor, Guam, where they arrived on 6 September. The next day, she was taken into a floating drydock, where a large steel patch was welded over the torpedo hole, which would allow the ship to make the voyage back for permanent repairs. The battleship Missouri relieved Pennsylvania as flagship on 15 September, and on 2 October, she was able to leave the drydock. Two days later, Pennsylvania steamed out of Guam, bound for Puget Sound, where repairs would be effected. She was escorted by the light cruiser Atlanta and the destroyer Walke. While still en route on 17 October, the ship's number 3 propeller shaft slipped aft. Divers were sent to cut the shaft loose; Pennsylvania now had just one operational screw, and the open propeller shaft was now allowing water to leak into the hull. She nevertheless completed the voyage to Puget Sound, arriving on 24 October. The ship received the Navy Unit Commendation for her wartime service there on 3 November.[11]

On 16 January 1946, Pennsylvania was designated to be expended as a target ship for the Operation Crossroads atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll to be carried out later that year. Repairs were completed enough to allow her to sail to the Marshall Islands, and she left Puget Sound on 24 February. After stopping in Pearl Harbor, she arrived in Bikini Atoll on 31 May, where she was anchored along with another eighty-three warships. The first explosion, Test Able, took place on 1 July, and was an air burst. After tests determined that the ship had not been contaminated with radiation, the crew returned to the ship from 3 to 24 July. The second blast, Test Baker, was done the next day. This was an underwater detonation, and Pennsylvania was moored just 1,100 yards (1,000 m) from ground zero. She was only lightly damaged from the blast, but the surge of water caused significant radioactive contamination; work parties came aboard the ship from 17 to 21 August to prepare the ship to be towed, and on the 21st she was taken under tow by the transport Niagara, which took her to Kwajalein, where she was decommissioned on 29 August. Various radiological and structural studies were completed over the next year and a half until she was scuttled off Kwajalein on 10 February 1948. She was officially stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 19 February.[11]

The ship's bell is on display at The Pennsylvania State University near the main entrance of the Wagner Building, home of the university's ROTC programs. It has been on permanent loan to the university from the Department of the Navy since 1955.[19] Two of the ship's 14-inch guns that had been replaced during the 1945 overhaul are on outdoor display at the Pennsylvania Military Museum in Boalsburg, Pennsylvania.[20]

Perdiz-do-mar // Collared Pratincole (Glareola pratincola) by Valter Jacinto | Portugal

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Location: Europe > Portugal > Algarve

Date Photo Taken: June 3, 2016

Série com o Coliseu - IMG_1078 by Flávio Cruvinel Brandão

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Colosseum

Following, a text, in english, from the Wikipedia the Free Encyclopedia:

The Colosseum, or the Coliseum, originally the Flavian Amphitheatre (Latin: Amphitheatrum Flavium, Italian Anfiteatro Flavio or Colosseo), is an elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, the largest ever built in the Roman Empire. It is considered one of the greatest works of Roman architecture and Roman engineering.

Occupying a site just east of the Roman Forum, its construction started between 70 and 72 AD[1] under the emperor Vespasian and was completed in 80 AD under Titus,[2] with further modifications being made during Domitian's reign (81–96).[3] The name "Amphitheatrum Flavium" derives from both Vespasian's and Titus's family name (Flavius, from the gens Flavia).

Capable of seating 50,000 spectators,[1][4][5] the Colosseum was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles such as mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Classical mythology. The building ceased to be used for entertainment in the early medieval era. It was later reused for such purposes as housing, workshops, quarters for a religious order, a fortress, a quarry, and a Christian shrine.

Although in the 21st century it stays partially ruined because of damage caused by devastating earthquakes and stone-robbers, the Colosseum is an iconic symbol of Imperial Rome. It is one of Rome's most popular tourist attractions and still has close connections with the Roman Catholic Church, as each Good Friday the Pope leads a torchlit "Way of the Cross" procession that starts in the area around the Colosseum.[6]

The Colosseum is also depicted on the Italian version of the five-cent euro coin.

The Colosseum's original Latin name was Amphitheatrum Flavium, often anglicized as Flavian Amphitheater. The building was constructed by emperors of the Flavian dynasty, hence its original name, after the reign of Emperor Nero.[7] This name is still used in modern English, but generally the structure is better known as the Colosseum. In antiquity, Romans may have referred to the Colosseum by the unofficial name Amphitheatrum Caesareum; this name could have been strictly poetic.[8][9] This name was not exclusive to the Colosseum; Vespasian and Titus, builders of the Colosseum, also constructed an amphitheater of the same name in Puteoli (modern Pozzuoli).[10]

The name Colosseum has long been believed to be derived from a colossal statue of Nero nearby.[3] (the statue of Nero itself being named after one of the original ancient wonders, the Colossus of Rhodes[citation needed]. This statue was later remodeled by Nero's successors into the likeness of Helios (Sol) or Apollo, the sun god, by adding the appropriate solar crown. Nero's head was also replaced several times with the heads of succeeding emperors. Despite its pagan links, the statue remained standing well into the medieval era and was credited with magical powers. It came to be seen as an iconic symbol of the permanence of Rome.

In the 8th century, a famous epigram attributed to the Venerable Bede celebrated the symbolic significance of the statue in a prophecy that is variously quoted: Quamdiu stat Colisæus, stat et Roma; quando cadet colisæus, cadet et Roma; quando cadet Roma, cadet et mundus ("as long as the Colossus stands, so shall Rome; when the Colossus falls, Rome shall fall; when Rome falls, so falls the world").[11] This is often mistranslated to refer to the Colosseum rather than the Colossus (as in, for instance, Byron's poem Childe Harold's Pilgrimage). However, at the time that the Pseudo-Bede wrote, the masculine noun coliseus was applied to the statue rather than to what was still known as the Flavian amphitheatre.

The Colossus did eventually fall, possibly being pulled down to reuse its bronze. By the year 1000 the name "Colosseum" had been coined to refer to the amphitheatre. The statue itself was largely forgotten and only its base survives, situated between the Colosseum and the nearby Temple of Venus and Roma.[12]

The name further evolved to Coliseum during the Middle Ages. In Italy, the amphitheatre is still known as il Colosseo, and other Romance languages have come to use similar forms such as le Colisée (French), el Coliseo (Spanish) and o Coliseu (Portuguese).

Construction of the Colosseum began under the rule of the Emperor Vespasian[3] in around 70–72AD. The site chosen was a flat area on the floor of a low valley between the Caelian, Esquiline and Palatine Hills, through which a canalised stream ran. By the 2nd century BC the area was densely inhabited. It was devastated by the Great Fire of Rome in AD 64, following which Nero seized much of the area to add to his personal domain. He built the grandiose Domus Aurea on the site, in front of which he created an artificial lake surrounded by pavilions, gardens and porticoes. The existing Aqua Claudia aqueduct was extended to supply water to the area and the gigantic bronze Colossus of Nero was set up nearby at the entrance to the Domus Aurea.[12]

Although the Colossus was preserved, much of the Domus Aurea was torn down. The lake was filled in and the land reused as the location for the new Flavian Amphitheatre. Gladiatorial schools and other support buildings were constructed nearby within the former grounds of the Domus Aurea. According to a reconstructed inscription found on the site, "the emperor Vespasian ordered this new amphitheatre to be erected from his general's share of the booty." This is thought to refer to the vast quantity of treasure seized by the Romans following their victory in the Great Jewish Revolt in 70AD. The Colosseum can be thus interpreted as a great triumphal monument built in the Roman tradition of celebrating great victories[12], placating the Roman people instead of returning soldiers. Vespasian's decision to build the Colosseum on the site of Nero's lake can also be seen as a populist gesture of returning to the people an area of the city which Nero had appropriated for his own use. In contrast to many other amphitheatres, which were located on the outskirts of a city, the Colosseum was constructed in the city centre; in effect, placing it both literally and symbolically at the heart of Rome.

The Colosseum had been completed up to the third story by the time of Vespasian's death in 79. The top level was finished and the building inaugurated by his son, Titus, in 80.[3] Dio Cassius recounts that over 9,000 wild animals were killed during the inaugural games of the amphitheatre. The building was remodelled further under Vespasian's younger son, the newly designated Emperor Domitian, who constructed the hypogeum, a series of underground tunnels used to house animals and slaves. He also added a gallery to the top of the Colosseum to increase its seating capacity.

In 217, the Colosseum was badly damaged by a major fire (caused by lightning, according to Dio Cassius[13]) which destroyed the wooden upper levels of the amphitheatre's interior. It was not fully repaired until about 240 and underwent further repairs in 250 or 252 and again in 320. An inscription records the restoration of various parts of the Colosseum under Theodosius II and Valentinian III (reigned 425–455), possibly to repair damage caused by a major earthquake in 443; more work followed in 484[14] and 508. The arena continued to be used for contests well into the 6th century, with gladiatorial fights last mentioned around 435. Animal hunts continued until at least 523, when Anicius Maximus celebrated his consulship with some venationes, criticised by King Theodoric the Great for their high cost.

The Colosseum underwent several radical changes of use during the medieval period. By the late 6th century a small church had been built into the structure of the amphitheatre, though this apparently did not confer any particular religious significance on the building as a whole. The arena was converted into a cemetery. The numerous vaulted spaces in the arcades under the seating were converted into housing and workshops, and are recorded as still being rented out as late as the 12th century. Around 1200 the Frangipani family took over the Colosseum and fortified it, apparently using it as a castle.

Severe damage was inflicted on the Colosseum by the great earthquake in 1349, causing the outer south side, lying on a less stable alluvional terrain, to collapse. Much of the tumbled stone was reused to build palaces, churches, hospitals and other buildings elsewhere in Rome. A religious order moved into the northern third of the Colosseum in the mid-14th century and continued to inhabit it until as late as the early 19th century. The interior of the amphitheatre was extensively stripped of stone, which was reused elsewhere, or (in the case of the marble façade) was burned to make quicklime.[12] The bronze clamps which held the stonework together were pried or hacked out of the walls, leaving numerous pockmarks which still scar the building today.

During the 16th and 17th century, Church officials sought a productive role for the vast derelict hulk of the Colosseum. Pope Sixtus V (1585–1590) planned to turn the building into a wool factory to provide employment for Rome's prostitutes, though this proposal fell through with his premature death.[15] In 1671 Cardinal Altieri authorized its use for bullfights; a public outcry caused the idea to be hastily abandoned.

In 1749, Pope Benedict XIV endorsed as official Church policy the view that the Colosseum was a sacred site where early Christians had been martyred. He forbade the use of the Colosseum as a quarry and consecrated the building to the Passion of Christ and installed Stations of the Cross, declaring it sanctified by the blood of the Christian martyrs who perished there (see Christians and the Colosseum). However there is no historical evidence to support Benedict's claim, nor is there even any evidence that anyone prior to the 16th century suggested this might be the case; the Catholic Encyclopedia concludes that there are no historical grounds for the supposition. Later popes initiated various stabilization and restoration projects, removing the extensive vegetation which had overgrown the structure and threatened to damage it further. The façade was reinforced with triangular brick wedges in 1807 and 1827, and the interior was repaired in 1831, 1846 and in the 1930s. The arena substructure was partly excavated in 1810–1814 and 1874 and was fully exposed under Benito Mussolini in the 1930s.

The Colosseum is today one of Rome's most popular tourist attractions, receiving millions of visitors annually. The effects of pollution and general deterioration over time prompted a major restoration programme carried out between 1993 and 2000, at a cost of 40 billion Italian lire ($19.3m / €20.6m at 2000 prices). In recent years it has become a symbol of the international campaign against capital punishment, which was abolished in Italy in 1948. Several anti–death penalty demonstrations took place in front of the Colosseum in 2000. Since that time, as a gesture against the death penalty, the local authorities of Rome change the color of the Colosseum's night time illumination from white to gold whenever a person condemned to the death penalty anywhere in the world gets their sentence commuted or is released,[16] or if a jurisdiction abolishes the death penalty. Most recently, the Colosseum was illuminated in gold when capital punishment was abolished in the American state of New Mexico in April 2009.

Because of the ruined state of the interior, it is impractical to use the Colosseum to host large events; only a few hundred spectators can be accommodated in temporary seating. However, much larger concerts have been held just outside, using the Colosseum as a backdrop. Performers who have played at the Colosseum in recent years have included Ray Charles (May 2002),[18] Paul McCartney (May 2003),[19] Elton John (September 2005),[20] and Billy Joel (July 2006).

Exterior

Unlike earlier Greek theatres that were built into hillsides, the Colosseum is an entirely free-standing structure. It derives its basic exterior and interior architecture from that of two Roman theatres back to back. It is elliptical in plan and is 189 meters (615 ft / 640 Roman feet) long, and 156 meters (510 ft / 528 Roman feet) wide, with a base area of 6 acres (24,000 m2). The height of the outer wall is 48 meters (157 ft / 165 Roman feet). The perimeter originally measured 545 meters (1,788 ft / 1,835 Roman feet). The central arena is an oval 87 m (287 ft) long and 55 m (180 ft) wide, surrounded by a wall 5 m (15 ft) high, above which rose tiers of seating.

The outer wall is estimated to have required over 100,000 cubic meters (131,000 cu yd) of travertine stone which were set without mortar held together by 300 tons of iron clamps.[12] However, it has suffered extensive damage over the centuries, with large segments having collapsed following earthquakes. The north side of the perimeter wall is still standing; the distinctive triangular brick wedges at each end are modern additions, having been constructed in the early 19th century to shore up the wall. The remainder of the present-day exterior of the Colosseum is in fact the original interior wall.

The surviving part of the outer wall's monumental façade comprises three stories of superimposed arcades surmounted by a podium on which stands a tall attic, both of which are pierced by windows interspersed at regular intervals. The arcades are framed by half-columns of the Tuscan, Ionic, and Corinthian orders, while the attic is decorated with Corinthian pilasters.[21] Each of the arches in the second- and third-floor arcades framed statues, probably honoring divinities and other figures from Classical mythology.

Two hundred and forty mast corbels were positioned around the top of the attic. They originally supported a retractable awning, known as the velarium, that kept the sun and rain off spectators. This consisted of a canvas-covered, net-like structure made of ropes, with a hole in the center.[3] It covered two-thirds of the arena, and sloped down towards the center to catch the wind and provide a breeze for the audience. Sailors, specially enlisted from the Roman naval headquarters at Misenum and housed in the nearby Castra Misenatium, were used to work the velarium.[22]

The Colosseum's huge crowd capacity made it essential that the venue could be filled or evacuated quickly. Its architects adopted solutions very similar to those used in modern stadiums to deal with the same problem. The amphitheatre was ringed by eighty entrances at ground level, 76 of which were used by ordinary spectators.[3] Each entrance and exit was numbered, as was each staircase. The northern main entrance was reserved for the Roman Emperor and his aides, whilst the other three axial entrances were most likely used by the elite. All four axial entrances were richly decorated with painted stucco reliefs, of which fragments survive. Many of the original outer entrances have disappeared with the collapse of the perimeter wall, but entrances XXIII (23) to LIV (54) still survive.[12]

Spectators were given tickets in the form of numbered pottery shards, which directed them to the appropriate section and row. They accessed their seats via vomitoria (singular vomitorium), passageways that opened into a tier of seats from below or behind. These quickly dispersed people into their seats and, upon conclusion of the event or in an emergency evacuation, could permit their exit within only a few minutes. The name vomitoria derived from the Latin word for a rapid discharge, from which English derives the word vomit.

Interior

According to the Codex-Calendar of 354, the Colosseum could accommodate 87,000 people, although modern estimates put the figure at around 50,000. They were seated in a tiered arrangement that reflected the rigidly stratified nature of Roman society. Special boxes were provided at the north and south ends respectively for the Emperor and the Vestal Virgins, providing the best views of the arena. Flanking them at the same level was a broad platform or podium for the senatorial class, who were allowed to bring their own chairs. The names of some 5th century senators can still be seen carved into the stonework, presumably reserving areas for their use.

The tier above the senators, known as the maenianum primum, was occupied by the non-senatorial noble class or knights (equites). The next level up, the maenianum secundum, was originally reserved for ordinary Roman citizens (plebians) and was divided into two sections. The lower part (the immum) was for wealthy citizens, while the upper part (the summum) was for poor citizens. Specific sectors were provided for other social groups: for instance, boys with their tutors, soldiers on leave, foreign dignitaries, scribes, heralds, priests and so on. Stone (and later marble) seating was provided for the citizens and nobles, who presumably would have brought their own cushions with them. Inscriptions identified the areas reserved for specific groups.

Another level, the maenianum secundum in legneis, was added at the very top of the building during the reign of Domitian. This comprised a gallery for the common poor, slaves and women. It would have been either standing room only, or would have had very steep wooden benches. Some groups were banned altogether from the Colosseum, notably gravediggers, actors and former gladiators.

Each tier was divided into sections (maeniana) by curved passages and low walls (praecinctiones or baltei), and were subdivided into cunei, or wedges, by the steps and aisles from the vomitoria. Each row (gradus) of seats was numbered, permitting each individual seat to be exactly designated by its gradus, cuneus, and number.

The arena itself was 83 meters by 48 meters (272 ft by 157 ft / 280 by 163 Roman feet).[12] It comprised a wooden floor covered by sand (the Latin word for sand is harena or arena), covering an elaborate underground structure called the hypogeum (literally meaning "underground"). Little now remains of the original arena floor, but the hypogeum is still clearly visible. It consisted of a two-level subterranean network of tunnels and cages beneath the arena where gladiators and animals were held before contests began. Eighty vertical shafts provided instant access to the arena for caged animals and scenery pieces concealed underneath; larger hinged platforms, called hegmata, provided access for elephants and the like. It was restructured on numerous occasions; at least twelve different phases of construction can be seen.[12]

The hypogeum was connected by underground tunnels to a number of points outside the Colosseum. Animals and performers were brought through the tunnel from nearby stables, with the gladiators' barracks at the Ludus Magnus to the east also being connected by tunnels. Separate tunnels were provided for the Emperor and the Vestal Virgins to permit them to enter and exit the Colosseum without needing to pass through the crowds.[12]

Substantial quantities of machinery also existed in the hypogeum. Elevators and pulleys raised and lowered scenery and props, as well as lifting caged animals to the surface for release. There is evidence for the existence of major hydraulic mechanisms[12] and according to ancient accounts, it was possible to flood the arena rapidly, presumably via a connection to a nearby aqueduct.

The Colosseum and its activities supported a substantial industry in the area. In addition to the amphitheatre itself, many other buildings nearby were linked to the games. Immediately to the east is the remains of the Ludus Magnus, a training school for gladiators. This was connected to the Colosseum by an underground passage, to allow easy access for the gladiators. The Ludus Magnus had its own miniature training arena, which was itself a popular attraction for Roman spectators. Other training schools were in the same area, including the Ludus Matutinus (Morning School), where fighters of animals were trained, plus the Dacian and Gallic Schools.

Also nearby were the Armamentarium, comprising an armory to store weapons; the Summum Choragium, where machinery was stored; the Sanitarium, which had facilities to treat wounded gladiators; and the Spoliarium, where bodies of dead gladiators were stripped of their armor and disposed of.

Around the perimeter of the Colosseum, at a distance of 18 m (59 ft) from the perimeter, was a series of tall stone posts, with five remaining on the eastern side. Various explanations have been advanced for their presence; they may have been a religious boundary, or an outer boundary for ticket checks, or an anchor for the velarium or awning.

Right next to the Colosseum is also the Arch of Constantine.

he Colosseum was used to host gladiatorial shows as well as a variety of other events. The shows, called munera, were always given by private individuals rather than the state. They had a strong religious element but were also demonstrations of power and family prestige, and were immensely popular with the population. Another popular type of show was the animal hunt, or venatio. This utilized a great variety of wild beasts, mainly imported from Africa and the Middle East, and included creatures such as rhinoceros, hippopotamuses, elephants, giraffes, aurochs, wisents, barbary lions, panthers, leopards, bears, caspian tigers, crocodiles and ostriches. Battles and hunts were often staged amid elaborate sets with movable trees and buildings. Such events were occasionally on a huge scale; Trajan is said to have celebrated his victories in Dacia in 107 with contests involving 11,000 animals and 10,000 gladiators over the course of 123 days.

During the early days of the Colosseum, ancient writers recorded that the building was used for naumachiae (more properly known as navalia proelia) or simulated sea battles. Accounts of the inaugural games held by Titus in AD 80 describe it being filled with water for a display of specially trained swimming horses and bulls. There is also an account of a re-enactment of a famous sea battle between the Corcyrean (Corfiot) Greeks and the Corinthians. This has been the subject of some debate among historians; although providing the water would not have been a problem, it is unclear how the arena could have been waterproofed, nor would there have been enough space in the arena for the warships to move around. It has been suggested that the reports either have the location wrong, or that the Colosseum originally featured a wide floodable channel down its central axis (which would later have been replaced by the hypogeum).[12]

Sylvae or recreations of natural scenes were also held in the arena. Painters, technicians and architects would construct a simulation of a forest with real trees and bushes planted in the arena's floor. Animals would be introduced to populate the scene for the delight of the crowd. Such scenes might be used simply to display a natural environment for the urban population, or could otherwise be used as the backdrop for hunts or dramas depicting episodes from mythology. They were also occasionally used for executions in which the hero of the story — played by a condemned person — was killed in one of various gruesome but mythologically authentic ways, such as being mauled by beasts or burned to death.

The Colosseum today is now a major tourist attraction in Rome with thousands of tourists each year paying to view the interior arena, though entrance for EU citizens is partially subsidised, and under-18 and over-65 EU citizens' entrances are free.[24] There is now a museum dedicated to Eros located in the upper floor of the outer wall of the building. Part of the arena floor has been re-floored. Beneath the Colosseum, a network of subterranean passageways once used to transport wild animals and gladiators to the arena opened to the public in summer 2010.[25]

The Colosseum is also the site of Roman Catholic ceremonies in the 20th and 21st centuries. For instance, Pope Benedict XVI leads the Stations of the Cross called the Scriptural Way of the Cross (which calls for more meditation) at the Colosseum[26][27] on Good Fridays.

In the Middle Ages, the Colosseum was clearly not regarded as a sacred site. Its use as a fortress and then a quarry demonstrates how little spiritual importance was attached to it, at a time when sites associated with martyrs were highly venerated. It was not included in the itineraries compiled for the use of pilgrims nor in works such as the 12th century Mirabilia Urbis Romae ("Marvels of the City of Rome"), which claims the Circus Flaminius — but not the Colosseum — as the site of martyrdoms. Part of the structure was inhabited by a Christian order, but apparently not for any particular religious reason.

It appears to have been only in the 16th and 17th centuries that the Colosseum came to be regarded as a Christian site. Pope Pius V (1566–1572) is said to have recommended that pilgrims gather sand from the arena of the Colosseum to serve as a relic, on the grounds that it was impregnated with the blood of martyrs. This seems to have been a minority view until it was popularised nearly a century later by Fioravante Martinelli, who listed the Colosseum at the head of a list of places sacred to the martyrs in his 1653 book Roma ex ethnica sacra.

Martinelli's book evidently had an effect on public opinion; in response to Cardinal Altieri's proposal some years later to turn the Colosseum into a bullring, Carlo Tomassi published a pamphlet in protest against what he regarded as an act of desecration. The ensuing controversy persuaded Pope Clement X to close the Colosseum's external arcades and declare it a sanctuary, though quarrying continued for some time.

At the instance of St. Leonard of Port Maurice, Pope Benedict XIV (1740–1758) forbade the quarrying of the Colosseum and erected Stations of the Cross around the arena, which remained until February 1874. St. Benedict Joseph Labre spent the later years of his life within the walls of the Colosseum, living on alms, prior to his death in 1783. Several 19th century popes funded repair and restoration work on the Colosseum, and it still retains a Christian connection today. Crosses stand in several points around the arena and every Good Friday the Pope leads a Via Crucis procession to the amphitheatre.

Coliseu (Colosseo)

A seguir, um texto, em português, da Wikipédia, a enciclopédia livre:

O Coliseu, também conhecido como Anfiteatro Flaviano, deve seu nome à expressão latina Colosseum (ou Coliseus, no latim tardio), devido à estátua colossal de Nero, que ficava perto a edificação. Localizado no centro de Roma, é uma excepção de entre os anfiteatros pelo seu volume e relevo arquitectónico. Originalmente capaz de albergar perto de 50 000 pessoas, e com 48 metros de altura, era usado para variados espetáculos. Foi construído a leste do fórum romano e demorou entre 8 a 10 anos a ser construído.

O Coliseu foi utilizado durante aproximadamente 500 anos, tendo sido o último registro efetuado no século VI da nossa era, bastante depois da queda de Roma em 476. O edifício deixou de ser usado para entretenimento no começo da era medieval, mas foi mais tarde usado como habitação, oficina, forte, pedreira, sede de ordens religiosas e templo cristão.

Embora esteja agora em ruínas devido a terremotos e pilhagens, o Coliseu sempre foi visto como símbolo do Império Romano, sendo um dos melhores exemplos da sua arquitectura. Actualmente é uma das maiores atrações turísticas em Roma e em 7 de julho de 2007 foi eleita umas das "Sete maravilhas do mundo moderno". Além disso, o Coliseu ainda tem ligações à igreja, com o Papa a liderar a procissão da Via Sacra até ao Coliseu todas as Sextas-feiras Santas.

O coliseu era um local onde seriam exibidos toda uma série de espectáculos, inseridos nos vários tipos de jogos realizados na urbe. Os combates entre gladiadores, chamados muneras, eram sempre pagos por pessoas individuais em busca de prestígio e poder em vez do estado. A arena (87,5 m por 55 m) possuía um piso de madeira, normalmente coberto de areia para absorver o sangue dos combates (certa vez foi colocada água na representação de uma batalha naval), sob o qual existia um nível subterrâneo com celas e jaulas que tinham acessos diretos para a arena; Alguns detalhes dessa construção, como a cobertura removível que poupava os espectadores do sol, são bastante interessantes, e mostram o refinamento atingido pelos construtores romanos. Formado por cinco anéis concêntricos de arcos e abóbadas, o Coliseu representa bem o avanço introduzido pelos romanos à engenharia de estruturas. Esses arcos são de concreto (de cimento natural) revestidos por alvenaria. Na verdade, a alvenaria era construída simultaneamente e já servia de forma para a concretagem. Outro tipo de espetáculos era a caça de animais, ou venatio, onde eram utilizados animais selvagens importados de África. Os animais mais utilizados eram os grandes felinos como leões, leopardos e panteras, mas animais como rinocerontes, hipopótamos, elefantes, girafas, crocodilos e avestruzes eram também utilizados. As caçadas, tal como as representações de batalhas famosas, eram efetuadas em elaborados cenários onde constavam árvores e edifícios amovíveis.

Estas últimas eram por vezes representadas numa escala gigante; Trajano celebrou a sua vitória em Dácia no ano 107 com concursos envolvendo 11 000 animais e 10 000 gladiadores no decorrer de 123 dias.

Segundo o documentário produzido pelo canal televisivo fechado, History Channel, o Coliseu também era utilizado para a realização de naumaquias, ou batalhas navais. O coliseu era inundado por dutos subterrâneos alimentados pelos aquedutos que traziam água de longe. Passada esta fase, foi construída uma estrutura, que é a que podemos ver hoje nas ruínas do Coliseu, com altura de um prédio de dois andares, onde no passado se concentravam os gladiadores, feras e todo o pessoal que organizava os duelos que ocorreriam na arena. A arena era como um grande palco, feito de madeira, e se chama arena, que em italiano significa areia, porque era jogada areia sob a estrutura de madeira para esconder as imperfeições. Os animais podiam ser inseridos nos duelos a qualquer momento por um esquema de elevadores que surgiam em alguns pontos da arena; o filme "Gladiador" retrata muito bem esta questão dos elevadores. Os estudiosos, há pouco tempo, descobriram uma rede de dutos inundados por baixo da arena do Coliseu. Acredita-se que o Coliseu foi construído onde, outrora, foi o lago do Palácio Dourado de Nero; O imperador Vespasiano escolheu o local da construção para que o mal causado por Nero fosse esquecido por uma construção gloriosa.

Sylvae, ou recreações de cenas naturais eram também realizadas no Coliseu. Pintores, técnicos e arquitectos construiriam simulações de florestas com árvores e arbustos reais plantados no chão da arena. Animais seriam então introduzidos para dar vida à simulação. Esses cenários podiam servir só para agrado do público ou como pano de fundo para caçadas ou dramas representando episódios da mitologia romana, tão autênticos quanto possível, ao ponto de pessoas condenadas fazerem o papel de heróis onde eram mortos de maneiras horríveis mas mitologicamente autênticas, como mutilados por animais ou queimados vivos.

Embora o Coliseu tenha funcionado até ao século VI da nossa Era, foram proibidos os jogos com mortes humanas desde 404, sendo apenas massacrados animais como elefantes, panteras ou leões.

O Coliseu era sobretudo um enorme instrumento de propaganda e difusão da filosofia de toda uma civilização, e tal como era já profetizado pelo monge e historiador inglês Beda na sua obra do século VII "De temporibus liber": "Enquanto o Coliseu se mantiver de pé, Roma permanecerá; quando o Coliseu ruir, Roma ruirá e quando Roma cair, o mundo cairá".

A construção do Coliseu foi iniciada por Vespasiano, nos anos 70 da nossa era. O edifício foi inaugurado por Tito, em 80, embora apenas tivesse sido finalizado poucos anos depois. Empresa colossal, este edifício, inicialmente, poderia sustentar no seu interior cerca de 50 000 espectadores, constando de três andares. Aquando do reinado de Alexandre Severo e Gordiano III, é ampliado com um quarto andar, podendo suster agora cerca de 90 000 espectadores. A grandiosidade deste monumento testemunha verdadeiramente o poder e esplendor de Roma na época dos Flávios.

Os jogos inaugurais do Coliseu tiveram lugar ano 80, sob o mandato de Tito, para celebrar a finalização da construção. Depois do curto reinado de Tito começar com vários meses de desastres, incluindo a erupção do Monte Vesúvio, um incêndio em Roma, e um surto de peste, o mesmo imperador inaugurou o edifício com uns jogos pródigos que duraram mais de cem dias, talvez para tentar apaziguar o público romano e os deuses. Nesses jogos de cem dias terão ocorrido combates de gladiadores, venationes (lutas de animais), execuções, batalhas navais, caçadas e outros divertimentos numa escala sem precedentes.

O Coliseu, como não se encontrava inserido numa zona de encosta, enterrado, tal como normalmente sucede com a generalidade dos teatros e anfiteatros romanos, possuía um “anel” artificial de rocha à sua volta, para garantir sustentação e, ao mesmo tempo, esta substrutura serve como ornamento ao edifício e como condicionador da entrada dos espectadores. Tal como foi referido anteriormente, possuía três pisos, sendo mais tarde adicionado um outro. É construído em mármore, pedra travertina, ladrilho e tufo (pedra calcária com grandes poros). A sua planta elíptica mede dois eixos que se estendem aproximadamente de 190 m por 155 m. A fachada compõe-se de arcadas decoradas com colunas dóricas, jónicas e coríntias, de acordo com o pavimento em que se encontravam. Esta subdivisão deve-se ao facto de ser uma construção essencialmente vertical, criando assim uma diversificação do espaço.

Os assentos eram em mármore e a cavea, escadaria ou arquibancada, dividia-se em três partes, correspondentes às diferentes classes sociais: o podium, para as classes altas; as maeniana, sector destinado à classe média; e os portici, ou pórticos, construídos em madeira, para a plebe e as mulheres. O pulvinar, a tribuna imperial, encontrava-se situada no podium e era balizada pelos assentos reservados aos senadores e magistrados. Rampas no interior do edifício facilitavam o acesso às várias zonas de onde podiam visualizar o espectáculo, sendo protegidos por uma barreira e por uma série de arqueiros posicionados numa passagem de madeira, para o caso de algum acidente. Por cima dos muros ainda são visíveis as mísulas, que sustentavam o velarium, enorme cobertura de lona destinada a proteger do sol os espectadores e, nos subterrâneos, ficavam as jaulas dos animais, bem como todas as celas e galerias necessárias aos serviços do anfiteatro.

O monumento permaneceu como sede principal dos espetáculos da urbe romana até ao período do imperador Honorius, no século V. Danificado por um terremoto no começo do mesmo século, foi alvo de uma extensiva restauração na época de Valentinianus III. Em meados do século XIII, a família Frangipani transformou-o em fortaleza e, ao longo dos séculos XV e XVI, foi por diversas vezes saqueado, perdendo grande parte dos materiais nobres com os quais tinha sido construído.

Os relatos romanos referem-se a cristãos sendo martirizados em locais de Roma descritos pouco pormenorizadamente (no anfiteatro, na arena...), quando Roma tinha numerosos anfiteatros e arenas. Apesar de muito provavelmente o Coliseu não ter sido utilizado para martírios, o Papa Bento XIV consagrou-o no século XVII à Paixão de Cristo e declarou-o lugar sagrado. Os trabalhos de consolidação e restauração parcial do monumento, já há muito em ruínas, foram feitos sobretudo pelos pontífices Gregório XVI e Pio IX, no século XIX.

Korean War, F-84 Thunderjet, FS-193A by photolibrarian

20

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

F-84 Thunderjet

RoleFighter-bomber

ManufacturerRepublic Aviation

First flight28 February 1946

IntroductionNovember 1947

Retired1964 (USAF)

1974 (Yugoslavia)

Primary userUnited States Air Force

Number built7,524

Unit cost

US$237,247 (F-84G)[1]

US$769,330 (F-84F)

VariantsRepublic F-84F Thunderstreak

Republic XF-84H Thunderscreech

Republic XF-91 Thunderceptor

The Republic F-84 Thunderjet was an American turbojet fighter-bomber aircraft. Originating as a 1944 United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) proposal for a "day fighter", the F-84 first flew in 1946. Although it entered service in 1947, the Thunderjet was plagued by so many structural and engine problems that a 1948 U.S. Air Force review declared it unable to execute any aspect of its intended mission and considered canceling the program. The aircraft was not considered fully operational until the 1949 F-84D model and the design matured only with the definitive F-84G introduced in 1951. In 1954, the straight-wing Thunderjet was joined by the swept-wing F-84F Thunderstreak fighter and RF-84F Thunderflash photo reconnaissance aircraft.

The Thunderjet became the USAF's primary strike aircraft during the Korean War, flying 86,408 sorties and destroying 60% of all ground targets in the war as well as eight Soviet-built MiG fighters. Over half of the 7,524 F-84s produced served with NATO nations, and it was the first aircraft to fly with the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds demonstration team. The USAF Strategic Air Command had F-84 Thunderjets in service from 1948 through 1957.

The F-84 was the first production fighter aircraft to utilize inflight refueling and the first fighter capable of carrying a nuclear weapon, the Mark 7 nuclear bomb. Modified F-84s were used in several unusual projects, including the FICON and Tom-Tom dockings to the B-29 Superfortress and B-36 bomber motherships, and the experimental XF-84H Thunderscreech turboprop.

The F-84 nomenclature can be somewhat confusing. The straight-wing F-84A to F-84E and F-84G models were called the Thunderjet. The F-84F Thunderstreak and RF-84F Thunderflash were different airplanes with swept wings. The XF-84H Thunderscreech (not its official name) was an experimental turboprop version of the F-84F. The F-84F swept wing version was intended to be a small variation of the normal Thunderjet with only a few different parts, so it kept the basic F-84 number. Production delays on the F-84F resulted in another order of the straight-wing version; this was the F-84G.

Design and development

An F-84G at Chaumont-Semoutiers Air Base, France, in 1953

In 1944, Republic Aviation's chief designer, Alexander Kartveli, began working on a turbojet-powered replacement for the P-47 Thunderbolt piston-engined fighter. The initial attempts to redesign the P-47 to accommodate a jet engine proved futile due to the large cross-section of the early centrifugal compressor turbojets. Instead, Kartveli and his team designed a new aircraft with a streamlined fuselage largely occupied by an axial compressor turbojet engine and fuel stored in rather thick unswept wings.[1]

On 11 September 1944, the USAAF released General Operational Requirements for a day fighter with a top speed of 600 mph (521 kn, 966 km/h), combat radius of 705 miles (612 nmi, 1,135 km), and armament of either six 0.50 in (12.7 mm) or four 0.60 in (15.2 mm) machine guns. In addition, the new aircraft had to use the General Electric TG-180 axial turbojet which entered production as the Allison J35.

On 11 November 1944, Republic received an order for three prototypes of the new XP-84—Model AP-23.[1] Since the design promised superior performance to the Lockheed-built P-80 Shooting Star and Republic had extensive experience in building single-seat fighters, no competition was held for the contract. The name Thunderjet was chosen to continue the Republic Aviation tradition started with the P-47 Thunderbolt while emphasizing the new method of propulsion. On 4 January 1945, even before the aircraft took to the air, the USAAF expanded its order to 25 service test YP-84As and 75 production P-84Bs (later modified to 15 YP-84A and 85 P-84B).

Meanwhile, wind tunnel testing by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics revealed longitudinal instability and stabilizer skin buckling at high speeds.[1] The weight of the aircraft, a great concern given the low thrust of early turbojets, was growing so quickly that the USAAF had to set a gross weight limit of 13,400 lb (6,080 kg). The results of this preliminary testing were incorporated into the third prototype, designated XP-84A, which was also fitted with a more powerful J35-GE-15 engine with 4,000 lbf (17.79 kN) of thrust.[1]

The first prototype XP-84 was transferred to Muroc Army Air Field (present-day Edwards Air Force Base) where it flew for the first time on 28 February 1946 with Major Wallace A. "Wally" Lien at the controls. It was joined by the second prototype in August, both aircraft flying with J35-GE-7 engines producing 3,745 lbf (16.66 kN). The 15 YP-84As delivered to Patterson Field (present-day Wright-Patterson Air Force Base) for service tests differed from XP-84s by having an upgraded J35-A-15 engine, carrying six 0.50 in (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns (four in the nose and one in each wing root), and having the provision for wingtip fuel tanks holding 226 U.S. gal (856 L) each.

Due to delays with delivery of jet engines and production of the XP-84A, the Thunderjet had undergone only limited flight testing by the time production P-84Bs began to roll out of the factory in 1947. In particular, the impact of wingtip tanks on aircraft handling was not thoroughly studied. This proved problematic later.[1]

After the creation of the United States Air Force by the National Security Act of 1947, the Pursuit designation was replaced with Fighter, and the P-84 became the F-84.

F-84s were assigned to the 27th Fighter Wing, 27th Fighter Escort Wing, 27th Strategic Fighter Wing, 31st Fighter Escort Wing, 127th Fighter Day Wing, 127th Fighter Escort Wing, 127th Strategic Fighter Wing, 407th Strategic Fighter Wing and the 506th Strategic Fighter Wing of the Strategic Air Command from 1947 through 1958.[2]

Operational history

The F-84B, which differed from YP-84A only in having faster-firing M3 machine guns, became operational with 14th Fighter Group at Dow Field, Bangor, Maine in December 1947. Flight restrictions followed immediately, limiting maximum speed to Mach 0.8 due to control reversal, and limiting maximum acceleration to 5.5 g (54 m/s²) due to wrinkling of the fuselage skin. To compound the problem, parts shortages and maintenance difficulties earned the aircraft the nickname, "Mechanic's Nightmare".[1] On 24 May 1948, the entire F-84B fleet was grounded due to structural failures.

P-84Bs of the 48th Fighter Squadron, 14th Fighter Group, 1948.

A 1948 review of the entire F-84 program discovered that none of the F-84B or F-84C aircraft could be considered operational or capable of executing any aspect of their intended mission. The program was saved from cancellation because the F-84D, whose production was well underway, had satisfactorily addressed the major faults. A fly-off against the F-80 revealed that while the Shooting Star had a shorter takeoff roll, better low altitude climb rate and superior maneuverability, the F-84 could carry a greater bomb load, was faster, had better high altitude performance and greater range.[1] As a temporizing measure, the USAF in 1949 committed US$8 million to implement over 100 upgrades to all F-84Bs, most notably reinforcing the wings. Despite the resultant improvements, the F-84B was withdrawn from active duty by 1952.[1]

The F-84C featured a somewhat more reliable J35-A-13 engine and had some engineering refinements. Being virtually identical to the F-84B, the C model suffered from all of the same defects and underwent a similar structural upgrade program in 1949. All F-84Cs were withdrawn from active service by 1952.[1]

The structural improvements were factory-implemented in the F-84D, which entered service in 1949. Wings were covered with thicker aluminum skin, the fuel system was winterized and capable of using JP-4 fuel, and a more powerful J35-A-17D engine with 5,000 lbf (22.24 kN) was fitted. It was discovered that the untested wingtip fuel tanks contributed to wing structural failures by inducing excessive twisting during high-"g" maneuvers.[1] To correct this, small triangular fins were added to the outside of the tanks. The F-84D was phased out of USAF service in 1952 and left Air National Guard (ANG) service in 1957.[1]

The first effective and fully capable Thunderjet was the F-84E model which entered service in 1949. The aircraft featured the J35-A-17 engine, further wing reinforcement, a 12 in (305 mm) fuselage extension in front of the wings and 3 in (76 mm) extension aft of the wings to enlarge the cockpit and the avionics bay, an A-1C gunsight with APG-30 radar, and provision for an additional pair of 230 gal (870 L) fuel tanks to be carried on underwing pylons.[1] The latter increased the combat radius from 850 to 1,000 miles (740 to 870 nmi; 1,370 to 1,610 km).

One improvement to the original F-84 design was rocket racks that folded flush with the wing after the 5-inch HVAR rockets were fired, which reduced drag over the older fixed mounting racks. This innovation was adopted by other U.S. jet fighter-bombers.[3]

A Portuguese F-84 being loaded with ordnance in the 1960s, at Luanda Air Base, during the Portuguese Colonial War.

Despite the improvements, the in-service rates for the F-84E remained poor with less than half of the aircraft operational at any given time.[1] This was primarily due to a severe shortage of spares for the Allison engines. The expectation was that F-84Es would fly 25 hours per month, accumulating 100 hours between engine overhauls. The actual flight hours for Korean War and NATO deployments rapidly outpaced the supply and Allison's ability to manufacture new engines.[1] The F-84E was withdrawn from USAF service in 1956, lingering with ANG units until 1959.

The definitive straight-wing F-84 was the F-84G which entered service in 1951. The aircraft introduced a refueling boom receptacle in the left wing,[4] autopilot, Instrument Landing System, J35-A-29 engine with 5,560 lbf (24.73 kN) of thrust, a distinctive framed canopy (also retrofitted to earlier types), and the ability to carry a single Mark 7 nuclear bomb.[1] The F-84G was retired from USAF in the mid-1960s.

Starting in the early 1960s, the aircraft was deployed by the Força Aérea Portuguesa (FAP) during the Portuguese Colonial War in Africa. By 1972, all four operating F-84 aircraft were supplementing the FAP in Angola.[5]

Flying the Thunderjet

Typical of most early jets, the Thunderjet's takeoff performance left much to be desired. In hot Korean summers with a full combat load, the aircraft routinely required 10,000 ft (3,000 m) of runway for takeoff even with the help of RATO bottles (two or four of these were carried, each producing 1,000 lbf (4.4 kN) of thrust for 14 seconds).[1] All but the lead aircraft had their visibility obscured by the thick smoke from the rockets. Early F-84s had to be pulled off the ground at 160 mph (140 kn, 260 km/h) with the control stick held all the way back. Landings were made at a similar speed, for comparison the North American P-51 Mustang landed at approximately 120 mph (100 kn, 190 km/h). Despite the "hot" landing speeds, the Thunderjet was easy to fly on instruments and crosswinds did not present much of a problem.[6]

An F-84E launching rockets.

Thanks to the thick straight wing the Thunderjet rapidly reached its Mach 0.82 limitation at full throttle and low altitude. The aircraft had sufficient power to fly faster, but exceeding the Mach limit at low altitudes resulted in a violent pitch-up and structural failure causing the wings to break off.[6] Above 15,000 ft (4,600 m), the F-84 could be flown faster but at the expense of severe buffeting. However, the airspeed was sufficiently easy to control to make safe dive bombing from 10,000 ft (3,000 m) possible.[6] The top speed limitation proved troublesome against Soviet Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15s in Korea. Slower than the MiG, the F-84 was also unable to turn tightly with a maximum instantaneous-turn load of only 3 Gs followed by rapid loss of airspeed. One F-84E pilot credited with two MiG kills achieved his second victory by intentionally flying his aircraft into pitch-up.[6] The MiGs chasing him were unable to follow the violent maneuver and one crashed into the ground. Luckily for the F-84E pilot, the aircraft did not disintegrate but the airframe did suffer heavy warping. The F-84 was a stable gun platform and the computing gunsight aided in accurate gunnery and bombing. Pilots praised the aircraft for Republic's legendary ruggedness.[6]

Pilots nicknamed the Thunderjet "The Lead Sled".[2] It was also called "The Iron Crowbar", "a hole sucking air", "The Hog" ("The Groundhog"), and "The World's Fastest Tricycle", "Ground Loving Whore" as a testament to its long takeoff rolls.[2] F-84 lore stated that all aircraft were equipped with a "sniffer" device that, upon passing V2, would look for the dirt at the end of the runway. As soon as the device could smell the dirt, the controls would turn on and let the pilot fly off the ground. In the same vein, it was suggested a bag of dirt should be carried in the front landing gear well. Upon reaching V2, the pilot would dump the dirt under the wheels, fooling the sniffer device.[2]

Korean War

The Thunderjet had a distinguished record during the Korean War. Although the F-84B and F-84C could not be deployed because their J35 engines had a service life of only 40 hours, the F-84D and F-84E entered combat with 27th Fighter Escort Group on 7 December 1950.[1] The aircraft were initially tasked with escorting the B-29 Superfortress bombers. The first Thunderjet air-to-air victory was scored on 21 January 1951 at the cost of two F-84s.[2] The F-84 was a generation behind the swept-wing Soviet Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 and outmatched, especially when the MiGs were flown by more-experienced pilots, and the MiG counter-air mission was soon given to the F-86 Sabre. Like its famous predecessor, the P-47, the F-84 switched to the low-level interdiction role at which it excelled.

A KB-29M tanker refueling an F-84E over Korea. F-84Es could only refuel the wingtip tanks separately.

F-84G-26-RE Thunderjet 51-16719 while assigned to the 3600th Air Demonstration Team (USAF Thunderbirds), 1954.

The F-84 flew a total of 86,408 missions, dropping 55,586 tons (50,427 metric tons) of bombs and 6,129 tons (5,560 metric tons) of napalm.[2] The USAF claimed F-84s were responsible for 60% of all ground targets destroyed in the war. Notable F-84 operations included the 1952 attack on the Sui-ho Dam. During the war, the F-84 became the first USAF fighter to utilize aerial refueling. In aerial combat, F-84 pilots were credited with eight MiG-15 kills against a Soviet-claimed loss of 64 aircraft. The total losses were 335 F-84D, E and G models.[2]

Portuguese Overseas War

In 1961, the Portuguese Air Force sent 25 of their remaining F-84G to Angola. There they formed the Esquadra 91 (91st Squadron), based at Luanda Air Base. From then on, the F-84s were engaged in the Angolan Theater of the Portuguese Overseas War, being mainly employed in air strike missions against the separatist guerrillas.

The last F-84 were kept operational in Angola until 1974.

Notable achievements

The F-84 was the first aircraft flown by the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, which operated F-84G Thunderjets from 1953 to 1955 and F-84F Thunderstreaks from 1955 to 1956. The F-84E was also flown by the Skyblazers team of United States Air Forces Europe (USAFE) from 1950 to 1955.[1]

On 7 September 1946, the second XP-84 prototype set a national speed record of 607.2 mph (527.6 kn, 977.2 km/h), slightly slower than the world record 612.2 mph (532.0 kn, 985.2 km/h) held by the British Gloster Meteor.[1]

On 22 September 1950, two EF-84Es, flown by David C. Schilling and Col. William Ritchie, flew across the North Atlantic from Great Britain to the United States. Ritchie's aircraft ran out of fuel over Newfoundland but the other successfully made the crossing which took ten hours two minutes and three aerial refuelings. The flight demonstrated that large numbers of fighters could be rapidly moved across the Atlantic.[1]

F-84G was the first fighter with built-in aerial refueling capability and the first single-seat aircraft capable of carrying a nuclear bomb.[1]

On 20 August 1953, 17 F-84Gs using aerial refueling flew from the United States to the United Kingdom. The 4,485-mile (3,900 nmi, 7,220 km) journey was the longest-ever nonstop flight by jet fighters.[1]

In 1955, an F-84G became the first aircraft to be zero-length launched from a trailer.[7]

By the mid-1960s, the F-84/F-84F was replaced by the F-100 Super Sabre and the RF-84F by the RF-101 Voodoo in USAF units, being relegated to duty in the Air National Guard. The last F-84F Thunderflash retired from the ANG in 1971. Three Hellenic Air Force RF-84Fs that were retired in 1991 were the last operational F-84s.

Costs

F-84BF-84CF-84DF-84EF-84GF-84FRF-84F

Airframe139,863139,863150,846562,715482,821

Engine41,65441,65441,488146,02795,320

Electronics7,1657,1654,7619,62321,576

Armament23,55923,55937,43341,71363,632

Ordnance2,7199,2524,529

Flyaway cost286,407 for the first 100

163,994 for the next 141147,699212,241212,241237,247769,300667,608

Cost per flying hour390

Maintenance cost per flying hour185185

Notes: The costs are in approximately 1950 United States dollars and have not been adjusted for inflation.[1]

Variants

Straight-wing variants

The XP-84A (foreground) and YP-84As

XP-84

The first two prototypes.

XP-84A

The third prototype with a more powerful J35-GE-15 engine. This airframe was subsequently modified with a pointed fairing over the intake and lateral NACA intakes were installed into the intake trunks.

YP-84A

Service test aircraft; 15 built.

P-84B (F-84B)

First production version, J35-A-15 engine; 226 built.

F-84C

Reverted to the more reliable J35-A-13 engine, improved fuel, hydraulic and electrical systems; 191 built.

F-84D

J35-A-17 engine, various structural improvements. The pitot tube was moved from the tail fin to the splitter in the air intake with fins added to the wingtip fuel tanks; 154 built.

F84 E&G Thunderjet French Air Force 1951–1955

EF-84D

Two F-84Ds, EF-84D 48-641 and EF-84D 48-661 were modified with coupling devices; 641 starboard wing, 661 port wing for "Tip-Tow Project MX106 Wing Coupling Experiments." An EB-29A 44-62093 was modified with coupling devices on both wings. Because of the difference in landing gear lengths, the three aircraft took off separately and couple/uncoupled in flight. The pilot of 641 was Major John M. Davis and the pilot of 661 was Major C.E. "Bud" Anderson.

"One of the more interesting experiments undertaken to extend the range of the early jets in order to give fighter protection to the piston-engine bombers, was the provision for inflight attachment/detachment of fighter to bomber via wingtip connections. One of the several programs during these experiments was done with a B-29 mother ship and two F-84D 'children', and was code named 'Tip Tow'. A number of flights were undertaken, with several successful cycles of attachment and detachment, using, first one, and then two F-84s. The pilots of the F-84s maintained manual control when attached, with roll axis maintained by elevator movement rather than aileron movement. Engines on the F-84s were shut down in order to save fuel during the 'tow' by the mother ship, and inflight engine restarts were successfully accomplished. The experiment ended in disaster during the first attempt to provide automatic flight control of the F-84s, when the electronics apparently malfunctioned. The left hand F-84 rolled onto the wing of the B-29, and the connected aircraft both crashed with loss of all on board personnel (Anderson had uncoupled so did not crash with the other two aircraft)."[8]

F-84E

J35-A-17D engine, Sperry AN/APG-30 radar-ranging gunsight, retractable attachments for RATO bottles, inboard wing hardpoints made "wet" to permit carrying an additional pair of 230 U.S. gal (870 L) fuel tanks. Most aircraft were retrofitted with F-84G-style reinforced canopies. The fuselage was stretched 15"; the canopy was lengthened 8", the canopy frame was lengthened 12" (accounting for another 4"), and a 3" splice panel was added aft of the canopy. The stretch was not done to enlarge the cockpit but rather to enable a larger fuel tank, provide additional space for equipment under the canopy behind the pilot's seat, and to improve aerodynamics. This can be distinguished from earlier models by the presence of two fuel vents on ventral rear fuselage, the added radar in the nose splitter, and the pitot tube was moved downward from mid-height in the splitter (as on the F-84D) to clear the radar installation. 843 built. F-84E 49-2031 was a test aircraft for air-to-air missiles. F-84E 50-1115 was a test aircraft for the FICON project.

EF-84E

Two F-84Es were converted into test prototypes, to test various methods of air-to-air refueling. EF-84E 49-2091 was used as a probe-and-drogue test aircraft. The probe was mid-span on the port wing. Production aircraft with probes (removable) had the probe fitted to the auxiliary wing tanks. EF-84E 49-2115 was used as a FICON test aircraft with a B-36 host. EF-84E 49-1225 and EF-84E 51-634 were test aircraft for the ZELMAL (Zero-length launch, Mat landing) experiments version for point defense, used the booster rocket from MGM-1 Matador cruise missile.

F-84G

Single-seat fighter-bomber capable of delivering the Mark 7 nuclear bomb using the LABS, J35-A-29 engine, autopilot, capable of inflight refueling using both the boom (receptacle in left wing leading edge) and drogue (probe fitted to wingtip fuel tanks), introduced the multi-framed canopy which was later retrofitted to earlier straight-winged F-84s. A total of 3,025 were built (1,936 for NATO under MDAP). The larger engine had a higher airflow at its take-off thrust than the intake had been designed for. This caused higher flow velocities, increased pressure losses and thrust loss. Commencing with block 20, auxiliary "suck-in" doors were added ahead of the wing leading edge to regain some of the thrust loss. At high engine rpm and low aircraft speeds, such as take-off, the spring-loaded doors were sucked open by the partial vacuum created in the duct. When the aircraft reached sufficient airspeed the ram pressure rise in the duct closed the auxiliary doors.[9] F-84G 51-1343 was modified with a periscope system to test the periscope installation proposed for the Republic XF-103.

F-84KX

Eighty ex-USAF F-84Bs converted into target drones for the United States Navy.

RF-84G

F-84G Thunderjets converted by France and Yugoslavia for recon duty with cameras in the ventral fuselage and modified auxiliary wing tanks.

YF-96A aka YF-84F aka YRF-84K

F-84E 49-2430 converted to swept wing configuration. The "first prototype" for the F-84F Thunderstreak. Canopy and ventral speed brake carried over from Thunderjet. Originally with a V-windscreen, later reverted to the standard Thunderjet flat windscreen. Modified by adding a fixed hook at the weapons bay and anhedral horizontal tailplane to enable FICON tests (trapeze capture) with GRB-36D mother ship. The airframe was capable of higher speeds than the Thunderjet engine could deliver. The YF-84F was a follow on with a larger engine and deepened fuselage.

YF-84F

F-84G 51-1344 converted to swept wing configuration. The "second prototype" for the F-84F Thunderstreak. Fuselage deepened by 7 inches (180 mm) to accommodate larger engine. Canopy and ventral speed brake carried over from Thunderjet, tail configuration same as YF-96A.

YF-84F aka YRF-84F

F-84G 51-1345 converted to swept wing configuration with a pointed nose and lateral intakes. This was a test airframe to evaluate the effects of moving the intakes to the wing roots. Like 1344, the fuselage was deepened by 7 inches (180 mm) to accommodate larger engine. Canopy and ventral speed brake carried over from Thunderjet, tail configuration same as YF-96A. For the swept wing versions of the F-84 series, see Republic F-84F Thunderstreak

Tip-Tow

See EF-84D above, did not become operational. See FICON project

Tom-Tom

Two RF-84K and B-36 wingtip coupling experiment, did not become operational. See FICON project

FICON

F-84E and GRB-36D trapeze system, became operational. See FICON project

Swept-wing variants

Main articles: Republic F-84F Thunderstreak and Republic XF-84H

YF-84F

Two swept-wing prototypes of the F-84F, initially designated YF-96A.

F-84F Thunderstreak

Swept wing version with Wright J65 engine.

RF-84F Thunderflash

Reconnaissance version of the F-84F, 715 built.

RF-84K FICON project

Reconnaissance version of the F model, 25 built to hang from the Consolidated B-36 Peacemaker.

XF-84H Thunderscreech

Experimental supersonic-turboprop version.

YF-84J

Two conversions with the General Electric J73 engine.

Operators

Republic F-84 Thunderjet in the Royal Military Museum at the Jubelpark, Brussels.

Imperial Iranian Air Force F-84G of the Golden Crown aerobatic team.

Republic F-84 Thunderjet at the en:Italian Air Force Museum, Vigna di Valle in 2012.

Royal Norwegian Air Force Republic F-84G Thunderjet.

Portuguese Air Force F-84 Thunderjet.

Belgium

Belgian Air Force operated 213 Republic F-84G from March 1952 until September 1957 and 21 Republic RF-84E

Denmark

Danish Air Force operated 240 Republic F-84G fromApril 1952 until January 1962 and 6 Republic F-84E[10]

France

French Air Force operated 335 F-84G from April 1952 until November 1956 and 46 Republic F-84E

Greece

Hellenic Air Force operated 234 Republic F-84G from March 1952 until June 1960. They equipped the 335, 336, 337, 338, 339 and 340 Squadrons (Μοίρα Δίωξης)

Iran Iran

Imperial Iranian Air Force operated 69 Republic F-84G from May 1957 until September 1961

Italy

Italian Air Force operated 256 Republic F-84G from March 1952 until May 1957[11][12]

Netherlands

Netherlands Air Force operated 166 Republic F-84G from April 1952 until December 1957 and 21 Republic RF-84E

Norway

Norwegian Air Force operated 208 Republic F-84G from June 1952 until Jun 1960 and 6 Republic F-84E from 1951 until 1956 and 35 Republic RF-84F from 1956 until 1970

Portugal

Portuguese Air Force operated 125 Republic F-84G from January 1953 until July 1974

Taiwan (Republic of China)

Republic of China Air Force operated 246 Republic F-84G from June 1953 until April 1964

Thailand

Royal Thai Air Force operated 31 Republic F-84G from November 1956 until 1963

Turkey

Turkish Air Force operated 489 Republic F-84G from March 1952 until June 1966

United States

United States Air Force operated 226 Republic F-84B, 191 Republic F-84C, 154 Republic F-84D, 743 Republic F-84E, 789 Republic F-84G

Yugoslavia

Yugoslavian Air Force operated 231 Republic (R)F-84G from June 1953 until July 1974

Major USAF operational F-84 units

Republic F-84E-15-RE Thunderjet Serial 49-2338 of the 136th Fighter-Bomber Wing, Korea

10th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing: RF-84F (1955–1958)

12th Fighter Escort Wing/Group: F-84E/G/F (1950–1957;1962–1964)

14th Fighter Wing/Group: P/F-84B (1947–1949)

15th Tactical Fighter Wing: F-84F (1962–1964)

20th Fighter Bomber Wing/Group: F-84B/C/D/E/F/G (1958–1959)

27th Fighter Escort Wing/Group: F-84E/G/F (1950–1958)

31st Fighter Escort Wing/Group: F-84C/E/F (1948–1950; 1951–1957)

49th Fighter Bomber Wing/Group: F-84E/G (1951–1953)

58th Fighter Bomber Group: F-84E/G (1952–1954)

66th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing: RF-84F (1955–1959)

67th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing: (15th & 45th TRS5) RF-84F/K (1955–1958)

71st Strategic Reconnaissance Wing: RF-84F/K (1955–1956)

81st Fighter Bomber Wing/Group: F-84F (1954–1959)

136th Fighter Bomber Wing/Group F-84E (1951–1952) @ K2, also J-13

312th Fighter Bomber Group: F-84E/G (1954–1955)

363rd Tactical Reconnaissance Wing: RF-84F (1954–1958)

366th Fighter Bomber Wing/Tactical Fighter Wing: F-84E,F (1954–1958;1962–1965)

401st Fighter Bomber Wing/Tactical Fighter Wing: F-84F (1957)

405th Fighter Bomber Wing/Tactical Fighter Wing: F-84F (1953–1956)

407th Strategic Fighter Wing: F-84F (1954–1957)

474th Fighter Bomber Wing: F-84D/E/G (1952–1953)

506th Strategic Fighter Wing: F-84F (1953–1957)

508th Strategic Fighter Wing: F-84F (1952–1956)

3540th Combat Crew Training Wing: F-84E (1952–1953)

3600th Combat Crew Training Wing: F-84D/E/G/F (1952–1957)

Redesignated 4510th CCTW with F-84D/F (1958)

3645th Combat Crew Training Wing: F-84E/G (1953–1957)

4925th Test Group (Atomic): F-84E/F/G (1950–1963)

Royal Netherlands Air Force operational F-84 units

JVS-2 (Jacht Vlieger School): RF-84E (1953)

306 Squadron: F-84G (1953–1954) / RF-84E (1954-1957)

311 Squadron: RF-84E (1951-1952) / F-84G (1952-1956)

312 Squadron: RF-84E (1951-1954) / F-84G (1952-1956)

313 Squadron: RF-84E (1953-1954) / F-84G (1953-1956)

314 Squadron: F-84G (1952-1956)

315 Squadron: F-84G (1952-1956)

Aircraft on display

A F-84 during Zero-length launch testing

Croatia

F-84G

10676 Ex-USAF – Rijeka Airport, Omišalj.[13]

Denmark

F-84G

51-9966/KR-A – Aalborg Defence and Garrison Museum, Aalborg[14]

51-10622/KU-U – Aalborg Defence and Garrison Museum[14]

A-777/SY-H – Danmarks Tekniske Museum, Helsingør[15]

KP-X – Danish Collection of Vintage Aircraft, Skjern[16]

RF-84F

C-581 – Flyvestation Karup Historiske Forening Museet, Karup[17]

C-264 – Danish Collection of Vintage Aircraft, Skjern[16]

Netherlands

F-84G

K-171 – Nationaal Militair Museum, Soesterberg.[18]

Norway

F-84G

51-10161 – Flyhistorisk Museum, Sola, Stavanger Airport, Sola, near Stavanger.[19]

51-11209 – Forsvarets flysamling Gardermoen, Oslo Airport, Gardermoen near Oslo.[20]

52-2912 - Ørland Main Air Station

52-8465 – Royal Norwegian Air Force Museum, Bodø[21]

Portugal

F-84G

5131 – Museu do Ar, Sintra Air Base, Sintra.[22]

5201 - Military and Technical Training Center of the Air Force, Ota (Alenquer).[23]

Serbia

F-84G

10501 – Ex-USAF 52-2936, c/n 3050-1855B Museum of Aviation, Nikola Tesla Airport, Belgrade.[24][verification needed]

10525 – Ex-USAF 52-2939, c/n 3050-1858B Museum of Aviation, Nikola Tesla Airport, Belgrade.[25][verification needed]

10530 – Ex-USAF 52-8435, c/n 3250-2260B Museum of Aviation, Nikola Tesla Airport, Belgrade.[26][verification needed]

Slovenia

F-84G

10642 Ex-USAF 52-2910, c/n 3050-1829B – Pivka Military History Park, Pivka.[27]

Thailand

F-84G at the Royal Thai Air Force Museum

F-84G

51-10582 Ex-USAF and retired Royal Thai Air Force fighter in Royal Thai Air Force Museum

Turkey

110572 F-84G at Atatürk Airport.

F-84G

10572 – Istanbul Aviation Museum.

19953 – Atatürk Airport, İstanbul.

RF-84F

1901 – Istanbul Aviation Museum.

1917 – Istanbul Aviation Museum.

United States

YP-84A

45-59494 – Discovery Park of America, Union City, Tennessee. Formerly at Octave Chanute Aerospace Museum at the former Chanute Air Force Base in Rantoul, Illinois.[28][29]

F-84B

45-59504 – Cradle of Aviation Museum in Garden City, New York.[30]

45-59556 – Planes of Fame Museum in Chino, California.[31]

46-0666 – Mid-Atlantic Air Museum in Reading, Pennsylvania.[32]

F-84C

47-1433 – Pima Air and Space Museum, adjacent to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona.[33]

47-1486 – Goldwater Air National Guard Base, Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, Arizona.[34]

47-1498 – EAA Airventure Museum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.[35]

47-1513 – Kansas Aviation Museum at McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita, Kansas.[36]

47-1530 – Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico.[37]

47-1562 – Pueblo Weisbrod Aircraft Museum in Pueblo, Colorado.[38]

47-1595 – March Field Air Museum at March Air Reserve Base (former March Air Force Base) in Riverside, California.[39]

F-84E

F-84E at the USAF Museum

49-2155 – Yanks Air Museum in Chino, California.[40]

49-2285 – Texas Military Forces Museum in Austin, Texas.[41]

49-2348 – American Airpower Museum in East Farmingdale, New York.[42]

50-1143 – National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. It was obtained from Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, in October 1963.[43]

51-0604 – Museum of Aviation at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia.[44]

F-84G

51-0791 – Springfield Air National Guard Base, Springfield, Ohio.[45]

51-11126 - under restoration to airworthiness by a Vulcan Warbirds Inc. for the Flying Heritage Collection in Seattle, Washington.[46][47]

52-3242 – Hill Aerospace Museum, Hill Air Force Base, Utah.[48]

52-8365 - under restoration to airworthiness by a private owner in Edmonds, Washington.[49][50]

Specifications (F-84G Thunderjet)

Line drawing of F-84C

Data from Encyclopedia of US Air Force Aircraft and Missile Systems[1]

General characteristics

Crew: one

Length: 38 ft 1 in (11.60 m)

Wingspan: 36 ft 5 in (11.10 m)

Height: 12 ft 7 in (3.84 m)

Wing area: 260 ft² (24 m²)

Empty weight: 11,470 lb (5,200 kg)

Loaded weight: 18,080 lb (8,200 kg)

Max. takeoff weight: 23,340 lb (10,590 kg)

Powerplant: 1 × Allison J35-A-29 turbojet, 5,560 lbf (24.7 kN)

Performance

Maximum speed: 622 mph (540 kn, 1,000 km/h,Mach .81)

Cruise speed: 475 mph (413 kn, 770 km/h)

Range: 1,000 mi (870 nmi, 1,600 km) combat

Ferry range: 2,000 mi (1,700 nmi, 3,200 km) with external tanks

Service ceiling: 40,500 ft (12,350 m)

Rate of climb: 3,765 ft/min (19.1 m/s)

Wing loading: 70 lb/ft² (342 kg/m²)

Thrust/weight: 0.31 lbf/lb

Armament

6 × .50 in (12.7 mm) M3 Browning machine guns, 300 rpg

Up to 4,450 lb (2,020 kg) of rockets and bombs, including 1 × Mark 7 nuclear bomb

Avionics

A-1CM or A-4 gunsight with APG-30 or MK-18 ranging radar

F-84F Thunderstreak

Republic XF-91 Thunderceptor

XF-84H Thunderscreech

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

Dassault Ouragan

de Havilland Venom

Gloster Meteor

Grumman F9F Cougar

Grumman F9F Panther

McDonnell XF-85 Goblin

encyclopedia 2 by In Memoriam: valerieroybal

13 2

Tweeds Paired with Plaids by Laura

8 1

Lismore Castle. by Edward Dullard Photography. Kilkenny, Ireland.

14 26

County Waterford, Ireland.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (December 2012)

Lismore Castle

County Waterford, Ireland

Irland 2010.08.18 026.jpg

Lismore Castle, Co. Waterford

Lismore Castle is located in Ireland Lismore CastleLismore Castle

TypeVictorian

Site information

OwnerCavendish family

ConditionInhabited, grounds open to the public

Site history

Builtmost current structures circa 1850[1]

Built byDukes of Devonshire

MaterialsAssorted

Lismore Castle is a stately home located in the town of Lismore in County Waterford in Ireland, belonging to the Duke of Devonshire. It was largely re-built in the Gothic style during the mid-nineteenth century by William Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire.

Contents [hide]

1 Early history

2 The Earls of Cork & Burlington

3 The Dukes of Devonshire

4 References

5 External links

Early history[edit]

The castle site was originally occupied by Lismore Abbey, an important monastery and seat of learning established in the early 7th century. It was still an ecclesiastical centre when Henry II, King of England stayed here in 1171, and except for a brief period after 1185 when his son King John of England built a 'castellum' here, it served as the episcopal residence of the local bishop. In 1589, Lismore was leased and later acquired by Sir Walter Raleigh. Raleigh sold the property during his imprisonment for High Treason in 1602 to another infamous colonial adventurer, Richard Boyle, later 1st Earl of Cork.

The Earls of Cork & Burlington[edit]

Boyle came to Ireland from England in 1588 with only twenty-seven pounds in capital and proceeded to amass an extraordinary fortune. After purchasing Lismore he made it his principal seat and transformed it into a magnificent residence with impressive gabled ranges each side of the courtyard. He also built a castellated outer wall and a gatehouse known as the Riding Gate. The principal apartments were decorated with fretwork plaster ceilings, tapestry hangings, embroidered silks and velvet. It was here in 1627 that Robert Boyle The Father of Modern Chemistry, the fourteenth of the Earl's fifteen children, was born. The castle descended to another Richard Boyle, 4th Earl of Cork & 3rd Earl of Burlington, who was a noted influence on Georgian architecture (and known in architectural histories as the Earl of Burlington).

Lismore featured in the Cromwellian wars when, in 1645, a force of Catholic confederacy commanded by Lord Castlehaven sacked the town and Castle. Some restoration was carried out by Richard Boyle, 2nd Earl of Cork (1612-1698) to make it habitable again but neither he nor his successors lived at Lismore.

The Dukes of Devonshire[edit]

The castle (along with other Boyle properties - Chiswick House, Burlington House, Bolton Abbey and Londesborough Hall) was acquired by the Cavendish family in 1753 when the daughter and heiress of the 4th Earl of Cork, Lady Charlotte Boyle (1731-1754) married William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire, a future Prime Minister of Great Britain & Ireland. Their son, the 5th Duke (1748-1811) carried out improvements at Lismore, notably the bridge across the river Blackwater in 1775 designed by Cork-born architect Thomas Ivory.

The 6th Duke (1790–1858), commonly known as 'the Bachelor Duke', was responsible for the castle's present appearance. He began transforming the castle into a fashionable 'quasi-feudal ultra-regal fortress' as soon as he succeeded his father in 1811, engaging the architect William Atkinson from 1812 to 1822 to rebuild the castle in the Gothic style, using cut stone shipped over from Derbyshire. Lismore was always the Bachelor Duke's favourite residence, but as he grew older his love for the place developed into a passion. In 1850 he engaged his architect Sir Joseph Paxton, the designer of The Crystal Palace, to carry out improvements and additions to the castle on a magnificent scale - so much so that the present skyline is largely Paxton's work. At this time J.G. Crace of London, the leading maker of Gothic Revival furniture and his partner the leading architect A.W.N. Pugin were commissioned to transform the ruined chapel of the old Bishop's Palace into a medieval-style banqueting hall, with a huge perpendicular stained-glass window, choir-stalls and Gothic stenciling on the walls and roof timbers. The chimney-piece, which was exhibited at the Medieval Court of the Great Exhibition of 1851, was also designed by Pugin (and Myers) but was originally intended for Horstead Place in Sussex, it was rejected because it was too elaborate and subsequently bought for Lismore - the Barchard family emblems later replaced with the present Irish inscription Cead Mille Failte: a hundred thousand welcomes. Pugin also designed other chimney-pieces and furnishings in the castle and after his death in 1851 Crace continued to supply furnishings in the Puginesque manner.

King Edward VII visiting the Duke of Devonshire in May 1904

In 1858, the Cavendish family sponsored a new bridge over the Blackwater, which replaced the one built in 1775. This new construction followed designs by Charles Tarrant and was done by E.P.Nagle and C.H.Hunt.[2]

After the bachelor Duke's death, Lismore remained substantially unaltered. Fred Astaire's sister, Adele lived in the castle after marrying Lord Charles Cavendish, a son of the 9th Duke and, after his death in 1944, continued to use the castle until shortly before her death in 1981.[3] The castle was inherited by his brother, Lord Andrew Cavendish upon Adele's remarriage in 1947.[4] It is still owned by the Dukes of Devonshire, but it is lived in for only a short part of the year. Chatsworth House is the main family seat and the home of the Dowager Duchess.

The 12th Duke, who succeeded to the title in 2004, continues to live primarily on the family's Bolton Abbey estate. His son, William Burlington maintains an apartment in the castle and recently converted the derelict west range (2006) into a contemporary art gallery, known as Lismore Castle Arts. For most of the year the family's private apartments at Lismore are available to rent by groups of up to twenty-three visitors.

In 2004 The Robert Boyle Science Room was opened nearby in the Lismore Heritage Centre dedicated to his life and works where students have the opportunity of studying science and participating in scientific experiments.

Recently Lismore Castle was used as Northanger Abbey in the 2007 ITV dramatisation of that name during its Jane Austen season.

The castle's gardens are open to the public and feature contemporary sculptures, including works by Anthony Gormley, Marzia Colonna and Eilís O'Connell. The upper garden is a 17th-century walled garden,[5] while much of the informal lower garden was designed in the 19th century.

Prunus x blireana by Alfred Sin

5 1

Prunus x blireana is a cross between the Japanese apricot (Prunus mume) and the purple-leaved plum (Prunus cerasifera) (Wikipedia). It is a flowering plum, 4-5 m. tall, full sun, with beautiful double pink flowers in late winter and spring. Its flowers are fragrant, leaves reddish purple. It hardly bear fruits.

A description from Baidu (a Chinese encyclopedia): it is a cross between the male P. mume with the female P. cerasifera. It inherites more characters from the female side and manifests in its flower form (multiple layers of petals) and foliage colour. It flowers after the P. mume season.

n7_w1150 by Biodiversity Heritage Library

15

Encyclopédie d'histoire naturelle

Paris :Maresq[1851-1860].

biodiversitylibrary.org/page/10452047

Picture of an exhibition – Stephen Shore | Arles by dynamo.photography

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