View allAll Photos Tagged serviceability
A stroll round TE on a sunny Sunday afternoon brought this image of a pair of Loadhaul Grids. 56085 at this time was stored serviceable and 56111 had just been through the wash hence the shiny black bodyside
30th March 2003
Are you ready for a longish read?
In 1962, Huddersfield Council had taken the controversial decision to phase out its trolleybuses, the route closures taking place between 1963 and 1968. Huddersfield 541 is one of three complete trolleybuses that survive from the former Huddersfield system, the other two being 619 and 631. The chassis of 470 also survives.
541, a 1947 Park Royal bodied Sunbeam MS2 had been saved to preservation in February 1964, when Huddersfield Corporation Transport Department allowed the National Trolleybus Association (NTA) to acquire 541 straight from service use.
After the phased abandonment of London’s trolleybuses between 1959 and 1962, the closure of Britain’s remaining trolleybus systems gathered pace. During this period, the NTA along with other preservation societies were busy acquiring examples of trolleybuses where it was possible to do so. The remaining operators were generally happy for examples of their trolleybuses to be saved for posterity, with the exception of Kingston-upon-Hull where the council were adamant that nothing should be saved, so none were.
The NTA were keen to see examples of their serviceable trolleys run under power before the last trolleybus systems were closed. After approaching Wolverhampton Corporation, the NTA were given permission to allow 541 to tour the town’s last remaining trolleybus route, the 58 route to Dudley via Sedgley.
On Sunday the 22nd May 1966 with an official Wolverhampton Corporation crew in charge of the bus, 541 toured the Wolverhampton to Dudley route to the delight of enthusiasts and the amazement of local onlookers. Thus 541 became the first ‘privately owned’ trolleybus to tour another operator’s trolleybus system. 541 is pictured at Sedgley during that tour, Sedgley being about halfway along the Wolverhampton to Dudley route.
As often happened on these tours and at the enthusiast’s request, trolleybuses were allowed to utilise sections of overhead wiring not normally used by in-service trolleybuses. In this case, service trolleybuses would not circumnavigate this traffic roundabout at Sedgley unless required to do so in an emergency; such as turn-around due to a sudden road closure. This operation required the manual operation of overhead switches to allow the trolleybus to turn, a slow and difficult manoeuvre for a six-wheeled vehicle at a time when traffic levels had greatly increased. You can see here that amongst the traffic, a normal in-service trolleybus to Dudley is having to give way to 541.
This venture started a short-lived trend of a few select privately owned trolleybuses touring some of the remaining systems. Bournemouth, Reading and Teesside were amongst those who allowed these tours. Wolverhampton was by far the most generous, allowing two further tours by preserved trolleybuses, when Rotherham 44 and preserved Wolverhampton 654 toured the Dudley route on the last day of trolleybus operations on the 5th March 1967. Worthy of note, is the fact that Wolverhampton had a few years early in 1963, allowed trolleybus 869 from neighbouring Walsall to tour parts of the Wolverhampton system on an enthusiasts outing, as well as organised tours using Wolverhampton trolleys for special Sunday tours. However, these were all municipal owned vehicles at the time.
With the NTA having acquired so many vehicles, storage became a major problem for the organisation, and many of these trolleybuses ended up being parked up in open storage leaving them exposed to the elements, and in some cases to vandalism. 541 eventually fell into a state of disrepair having being stored at a number of open-air locations over the years. It needs to be said that credit is deserved where credit is due, as without the efforts of these voluntary run societies very little would remain today of this important part of British transport history.
Eventually, 541 was moved to the Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft where over a long period, dedicated restorer Brian Maguire and his helpers completely and expertly rebuilt the trolleybus back to operational condition. Much of the restoration cost was met by a generous donation from Museum member David Beach in 1994.
Rebuilt and repainted, 541 was launched to the public at the Museum in 2010. Today, all three surviving Huddersfield trolleybuses can be seen at Sandtoft, along with the chassis of 540.
The attractive combination of 16DA no 876 and 15E no 2878 with a mixed freight approaching Kloofeind on 23 July 1998.
At the time the Transnet museum had a collection of 9 serviceable locos based in Bloemfontein.
Free State, South Africa
George Dickel 8 Year Bourbon Whisky is a small-batch, handcrafted bourbon. It's aged for eight years in charred oak barrels, then blended and bottled at 90 proof. The bourbon is charcoal chill filtered and has a 45% ABV.
Mash bill: 84% corn, 8% rye, 8% malted barley
Color: Rust
Aroma: Oaky, earthy, caramel, faint fruit
Taste: Sweet, balanced earthiness
Classification: Bourbon
Company: George A. Dickel & Co.
Distillery: Cascade Hollow Distilling Co.
Release Date: Ongoing
Proof: 90
Age: 8 Years
Mashbill: 84% Corn, 8% Rye, 8% Malted Barley
Color: Rust
MSRP: $30 (2022)
NOSE
Light scents of caramel, cherry, and peppermint are the first to be noticed. Finer notes of hay, green apple, and butterscotch provide subtle, and largely inconsequential depth. A modest amount of oak is also present, but is surprisingly lackluster for the whiskey’s age. Yet it's the caramel and cherry that quickly becomes the backbone of the entire aroma.
PALATE
Sweet on the sip thanks to flavors of heavy caramel, toasted coconut, and waffle cone. With light vanilla, banana, and a mild oak influence mingling for good measure, the palate is serviceable at its best, and underwhelming at its worst. The flavor profile is easy to enjoy but struggles to impress in any meaningful way.
FINISH
Shedding some sweetness for spice, heat and oak is a welcomed transition from the meager palate. With additional notes of tobacco, leather, peanut, and charred oak, the finish contrasts the palate in the best of ways. Yet, it's still a largely straightforward affair, with the finish lacking any real impact. A weak overall presence makes for an easy sipper, but the finish is a more boring affair than it should be.
www.breakingbourbon.com/review/george-dickel-bourbon
Whiskey Night, 11/30/2023, Nashville, TN
Leica Camera AG M Monochrom
Canon 50mm ƒ/1.2 LTM
ƒ/1.0 1/125 1600
Arriva Kent & Surrey Ltd.:
Volvo B9TL-5300 YV3S4J /
Wrightbus Eclipse Gemini (10.4m)
H45/29F - 4/2008
"Sapphire”
Ex-Arriva Midlands Ltd., Thurmaston, Leicestershire (WG-4207) (17/12/2020)
Endurance road test of this fine B9 from Leicester. This was the one I drove down on the second day of CAZ movements, however it decided to conk out somewhere on the A6 near Kettering! With a few hours spent on it over the last couple of months getting it back into serviceable condition.
The bus went out in full service this morning (19/04) on the 218/219s Tonbridge circulars. This marks the first B9 in service in Kent! 6200/2/4 are at Northfleet, 6201/5 are at Gillingham.
Bidborough Corner A26 London Road, Southborough, Royal Tunbridge Wells
Sunday 18th April 2021
My plastic laundry basket has seen better days – but it's still serviceable.
The Flickr Lounge group has picked Made of plastic for the Week 20 weekend theme.
Triple axle tramset rounding the Weteringscircuit. Motor tram 933 has been preserved and is serviceable to this date. © Henk Graalman 2600 (1970)
I recently got the Nikkor 105mm micro lens to shoot macro work of my wife's glass jewelry. It turns out to be a pretty decent portrait lens with nice bokeh. Not as creamy as my Sigma 135mm Art lens, but more than serviceable.
37156 at Kyle of Localsh with a failed 37416 at the other end during shunting to ensure 37416 was dead inside the train on the 1110 to Inverness on 6th July 1990.
This was a fortunate fall-upon after I'd been dropped off at the station by a mate with whom I'd been walking & climbing in Skye with the previous week.
I was heading back to Edinburgh and so was committed to the train and was delighted to see it was this formerly very rare Motherwell allocated loco.
Having said that, its availability had been easy since the previous few weeks it had been a regular feature on the Kyle services and for the rest of the the summer and indeed for the following year too.
The loco had to do a triple run-round and backshunt at Kyle to release the good loco and marshal the dead one in rear before it departed south.
37156 was stored serviceable in October 1996 and cut up at Wigan Springs Branch in January 2000
37416 was renumbered from 37302 in October 1985 and transferred to Scotland for sleeper and other use. It was stored in September 2007 and cut up at Rotherham in March 2013.
The final shot in a set of a few taken at Kyle!
//What a disaster
William Saunderson-Meyer says the floods just another blow to a province that was already on its knees
KwaZulu-Natal has declared a provincial state of disaster to try to cope with the devastating floods of the past week.
This is normally a temporary mechanism of which the primary purpose is to facilitate speedy national government assistance to hard-pressed provincial and local authorities. It also triggers the release of emergency funds from the National Treasury.
But in KZN’s case, they might as well make it permanent. This is a province that has been on its knees for some time and it ain’t getting up any time soon.
After all, KZN hasn’t even staunched the bloodied nose it suffered nine months ago. That’s when one wing of the African National Congress government — the Radical Economic Transformation followers of former president Jacob Zuma — tried to bury the other — the so-called reformists led by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
KZN hasn’t even properly tallied the body blows it suffered then. The official estimates for the insurrection were 45,000 businesses affected, R50bn in economic damage, 129,000 jobs lost, and 354 killed.
These estimates are probably on the low side. For example, the number of people who were killed in the mayhem doesn’t include the many whose bodies were simply never found and counted.
And the true economic cost is incalculable. There’s been substantially increased emigration of minorities, cancelled investment, and the loss of international confidence in KZN as a safe tourist destination. In at least a dozen small, country towns, all the business infrastructure was destroyed, paradoxically by the very people who worked and shopped in those buildings.
Now the floods. The death toll is over 300 and still rising. Some 6,000 homes have been destroyed and road, water sewage and electrical infrastructure uprooted. As I write this, roaming mobs are opportunistically plundering container depots, stranded trucks, abandoned homes and vulnerable businesses, reportedly unhindered — as was the case during last year’s riots — by the police and army.
Naturally, no disaster is complete without a scapegoat. Ramaphosa, as is his style, was quick off the mark to finger the culprit — climate change.
“This disaster is part of climate change. It is telling us that climate change is serious, it is here,” Ramaphosa told reporters while inspecting a devastated Durban. “We no longer can postpone what we need to do, and the measures we need to take to deal with climate change.”
What balderdash. Whatever role climate change may or may not have played in the larger scheme of things, it’s nonsense to pin on it responsibility for the plight of KZN. That lies with the ANC government.
First, this was not an unforeseeable bolt from the heavens. The forecasters warned months back that this was likely to be an exceptionally wet summer because of the La Niña weather pattern that occurs every few years.
There are also historical precedents for extreme weather in KZN, which a prudent administration would have taken note of.
In 1984, Tropical Storm Domoina wreaked havoc in a swathe from Mozambique, through Swaziland to KZN. Although the current downpour is worse, the scale is nevertheless in the same ballpark.
This latest storm — as yet unnamed — dumped 450mm of rain on Durban in 48 hours. Domoina let loose 615mm in 24 hours on Swaziland and northern KZN.
But the true difference between those events, 38 years apart, lies in the lack of preparedness on the part of today’s authorities. In 1984 the SA Air Force deployed 25 helicopters to airlift people to safety. In the 2000 Mozambique floods, 17 SAAF helicopters rescued more than 14,000 people.
This time, according to a News24 report, the SA Police Service and the SAAF, combined, have been unable to put a single chopper in the air. The erosion of South Africa’s military means that of the SAAF’s 39 Oryx helicopters, only 17 are serviceable.
Durban-based 15 Squadron has not a single helicopter available for search and rescue — they are reportedly primarily used as VIP transport — but two SAAF choppers supposedly have been despatched from Gqeberha to help. The SAPS airwing has only one serviceable helicopter but “the pilot on duty has been booked off sick”.
Second, throughout the province, local government is also in a state of disaster and unable to do its job. The scale of the KZN impairment can be measured in the flood destruction of homes.
Some 4,000 shanties have been destroyed, many because officialdom was too lax to forbid building on the floodplain and against precariously unstable hillsides. Another 2,000 of the homes swept away were so-called RDP houses, shoddily built during the kickback-and-steal bonanza of the government’s Reconstruction and Development Programme of the late 1990s.
In Durban, the eThekwini metro is bloated and inert. It carries a rates and services debt of R17bn, of which R1bn is owed by the national government.
Durban is also infamously corrupt. Former mayor Zandile Gumede — along with 21 co-accused — is facing fraud, corruption and money-laundering charges in connection with a R320m municipal tender.
Yet at the weekend, even as the rain was bucketing down, she won the ANC’s regional leadership contest hands-down, despite the party’s supposed “step-aside when accused” rule.
The ANC-aligned Ahmed Kathrada Foundation has no illusions about the party it supports. It issued a statement calling on the government to ensure that unlike the plundering of Covid-19 emergency relief funds, the KZN disaster funds were not stolen or misused.
Fat chance. The ANC has already announced that its parliamentary constituency offices in KZN would become “hubs for humanitarian support” and appealed for the donation of relief supplies. Watch the trousering by the ANC’s public representatives of anything that the public is dumb enough to leave with them.
It’s in KZN where the ANC’s brazen indifference to the law and antipathy towards the Constitution is at its most obvious and most destructive.
On Monday, Zuma's corruption trial once again failed to take off in the Pietermaritzburg High Court when he successfully blocked the process with another round of delaying legal actions. His lawyers also had some carefully threatening words for the judiciary in a separate Supreme Court of Appeal action.
They urged SCA President Mandisa Maya to reconsider the dismissal of his latest corruption prosecution challenges. They warned that last year’s deadly July unrest was “in part, traceable to a perceived erroneous and unjust judicial outcome” that put Zuma briefly in prison for contempt of court.
“When such conceived mistakes are committed, the citizens (wrongly) feel entitled to resort to self-help…”
Floods, fires and locusts are devastating but at least happen relatively rarely. The ANC, alas, is a seemingly unending plague.
Scunthorpe Steelwork's four blast furnaces. The blast furnaces are, closest, Queen Victoria (1954), Queen Anne (1954), Queen Mary (1938) and Queen Bess (1938). These furnaces were built for the Appleby Frodingham Steel Company, part of the United Steels Company. This works formed the basis for the current Tata plant in Scunthorpe. Although considerably re-built over the years all four furnaces are still standing and serviceable, though all four have not been in blast together for some time.
TAP Air Portugal has become the most recent airline in Europe to take delivery of their first Airbus A320neo, and whilst that has been going on, the airline has also not been too hesitant in retrofitting their eldest Airbus A320s with Sharklets.
TAP Air Portugal made waves back in 2016 when the airline became the first European carrier to retrofit one of their eldest Airbus A320s with Sharklets. Previously, Airbus had already provided support for any Airbus A320 airframe above MSN4500 which can be retrofitted only 2 days to complete the retrofit. TAP Air Portugal was the first airline in Europe to see an Airbus A320 retrofitted with Sharklets below MSN4500.
In 2016, Airbus further extended the support for Airbus A320s eligible for Sharklet retrofitting; this time any airframe above MSN1200 can be retrofitted. However, airframes between MSN1200-4499 will need to take 13 days for the retrofit to be completed as they feature considerable wing structural differences compared to MSN4500 and above which already feature modifications that allows for a simple winglet changeover.
CS-TMW remains the oldest serviceable Airbus A320 in the world to feature Sharklets and was the first Airbus A320 in Europe to feature the retrofit below MSN4500, in this case being MSN1667. TAP Air Portugal have thus far retrofitted 9 out of 21 Airbus A320ceos in their fleet.
Currently, TAP Air Portugal operates 48 Airbus A320 family aircraft, which includes 22 Airbus A319s, 21 Airbus A320ceos, one Airbus A320neo and 4 Airbus A321s. TAP Air Portugal have 18 Airbus A320neos and 17 Airbus A321neos on-order.
Tango Mike Whiskey is one of 21 Airbus A320ceos in service with TAP Air Portugal, delivered new to Air Luxor in January 2002 on lease from GATX before transferring over to TAP Air Portugal in April 2004 on lease from Macquarie AirFinance and she is powered by 2 CFM International CFM56-5B4/P engines. She was retrofitted with Sharklets in February 2016, carrying Sharklet Retrofit Europe's 1st Airline vinyls, and she is named after the Portuguese mezzo-soprano opera singer, Luisa Todi.
Airbus A320-214(WL) CS-TMW 'Luisa Todi' on final approach into Runway 27L at London Heathrow (LHR) on TP364 from Lisbon-Humberto Delgado (LIS).
Replacing an earlier scanned slide with a better version 10-Jun-15, plus DeNoise AI 27-Feb-23.
CF-PWV was a very early B707, line number 29. It first flew as a B707-138 with P&W JT3C turbojet engines in Mar-59 with the Boeing test registration N31239. It was delivered to QANTAS in Jul-59 as VH-EBA and was the first jet aircraft on the Australian Civil Register.
It was converted to B707-138B standard with P&W JT3D turbofan engines in Sep-61. It was sold to Pacific Western Airlines as CF-PWV in Mar-69 and became C-FPWV when Canada expanded their registrations to include the C-Gxxx series at the end of May-74.
The aircraft entered the corporate world when it was sold to Tigerair Inc in Oct-78 as N138TA. It was sold to the Airmark Corporation in Oct-83 and was re-registered N220AM in Sep-84.
Just over a year later, in Dec-85, it was sold to Community Transport Inc and was re-registered as N138MJ in Oct-86. It Jul-87 it was sold to the Saudi Arabian Government as HZ-123 and retired at Southend, UK, in Aug-99 after 40 years in service.
The aircraft remained stored at Southend for 7 years until it was bought by QANTAS in mid 2006 and re-registered VH-XBA. It was made serviceable and repainted in it's original QANTAS livery. After a couple of test flights at Southend in Dec-06 it was flown back to Australia and put on display at the QANTAS Museum at Longreach, QLD, Australia in 2007. Preserved, updated 27-Feb-23.
The sun was setting on pre and just post war Amsterdam trams. After officially decommissioning the single truck trams in March 1968 some conductor training was undertaken on tram route 16 with the last few serviceable ones available. © Henk Graalman 1968
Arriva Kent & Surrey Ltd.:
Volvo B9TL-5300 YV3S4J /
Wrightbus Eclipse Gemini (10.4m)
H45/29F - 4/2008
"Sapphire”
Ex-Arriva Midlands Ltd., Thurmaston, Leicestershire (WG-4207) (17/12/2020)
Endurance road test of this fine B9 from Leicester. This was the one I drove down on the second day of CAZ movements, however it decided to conk out somewhere on the A6 near Kettering! With a few hours spent on it over the last couple of months getting it back into serviceable condition.
The bus went out in full service this morning (19/04) on the 218/219s Tonbridge circulars. This marks the first B9 in service in Kent! 6200/2/4 are at Northfleet, 6201/5 are at Gillingham.
Opp. Vauxhall Inn, Pembury Road A2014, South Tonbridge
Sunday 18th April 2021
Arriva Kent & Surrey Ltd.:
Volvo B9TL-5300 YV3S4J /
Wrightbus Eclipse Gemini (10.4m)
H45/29F - 4/2008
"Sapphire”
Ex-Arriva Midlands Ltd., Thurmaston, Leicestershire (WG-4207) (17/12/2020)
Endurance road test of this fine B9 from Leicester. This was the one I drove down on the second day of CAZ movements, however it decided to conk out somewhere on the A6 near Kettering! With a few hours spent on it over the last couple of months getting it back into serviceable condition.
The bus went out in full service this morning (19/04) on the 218/219s Tonbridge circulars. This marks the first B9 in service in Kent! 6200/2/4 are at Northfleet, 6201/5 are at Gillingham.
Opp. War Memorial, Mount Pleasant Road, Royal Tunbridge Wells
Sunday 18th April 2021
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
History
Empire of Japan
Name:Hyūga
Namesake:Hyūga Province
Builder:Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
Laid down:6 May 1915
Launched:27 January 1917
Commissioned:30 April 1918
Stricken:20 November 1945
Fate:Sunk, 27 July 1945 and subsequently scrapped, 1946–1947
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type:Ise-class battleship
Displacement:
29,980 long tons (30,460 t) (standard)
36,500 long tons (37,100 t) (full load)
Length:208.18 m (683 ft) (o.a.)
Beam:28.65 m (94 ft)
Draught:8.93 m (29 ft 4 in)
Installed power:
24 × water-tube boilers
45,000 shp (34,000 kW)
Propulsion:4 × shafts; 2 × steam turbine sets
Speed:23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph)
Range:9,680 nmi (17,930 km; 11,140 mi) at 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph)
Complement:1,360
Armament:
6 × twin 35.6 cm (14 in) guns
20 × single 14 cm (5.5 in) guns
4 × single 7.62 cm (3 in) AA guns
6 × 53.3 cm (21 in) torpedo tubes
Armour:
Belt: 299 mm (11.8 in)
Decks: 85 mm (3.3 in)
Turrets: 254 mm (10 in)
General characteristics (after first reconstruction)
Displacement:42,001 long tons (42,675 t) (full load)
Length:215.8 m (708 ft)
Beam:31.75 m (104 ft 2 in)
Draught:9.45 m (31 ft)
Installed power:
8 × water-tube boilers
80,000 shp (60,000 kW)
Propulsion:4 × steam turbine sets
Speed:24.5 knots (45.4 km/h; 28.2 mph)
Range:7,870 nmi (14,580 km; 9,060 mi) at 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Complement:1,376
Armament:
6 × twin 35.6 cm (14 in) guns
16 × single 14 cm (5.5 in) guns
4 × twin 12.7 cm (5 in) DP guns
10 × twin 2.5 cm (1 in) AA guns
Armour:Decks: 152 mm (6 in)
Aircraft carried:3
Aviation facilities:1 catapult
General characteristics (as hybrid carrier, 1945)
Displacement:39,805 long tons (40,444 t) (full load)
Length:219.62 m (720 ft 6 in)
Beam:31.71 m (104 ft)
Draught:9.03 m (29 ft 8 in)
Range:9,500 nmi (17,600 km; 10,900 mi) at 16 knots
Complement:1,463
Sensors and
processing systems:
1 × Type 21 air-search radar
2 × Type 13 early warning radars
2 × Type 22 surface-search radars
Armament:
4 × twin 35.6 cm guns
8 × twin 12.7 cm DP guns
31 × triple, 11 × single 2.5 cm AA guns
6 × 30-round 12.7 cm AA rocket launchers
Aircraft carried:22
Aviation facilities:2 catapults
Hyūga (Japanese: 日向) was the second and last Ise-class battleship built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during the 1910s. Although completed in 1918, she played no role in World War I. Hyūga supported Japanese forces in the early 1920s during the Siberian intervention in the Russian Civil War. In 1923, she assisted survivors of the Great Kantō earthquake. The ship was partially modernised in two stages in 1927–1928 and 1931–1932, during which her forward superstructure was rebuilt in the pagoda mast style. Hyūga was reconstructed in 1934–1936, improvements being made to her armour and propulsion machinery. Afterwards, she played a minor role in the Second Sino-Japanese War.
Despite the expensive reconstruction, the ship was considered obsolete by the eve of the Pacific War, and did not see significant action in the early years of the war. After the loss of most of the IJN's large aircraft carriers during the Battle of Midway in mid-1942, she was rebuilt with a flight deck replacing the rear pair of gun turrets to give her the ability to operate an air group of floatplanes; lack of aircraft and qualified pilots meant that Hyūga never operated her aircraft in combat. She participated in the Battle off Cape Engaño in late 1944, where she helped to decoy the American carrier fleet supporting the invasion of Leyte away from the landing beaches. Afterwards, the ship was transferred to Southeast Asia, occasionally serving as a flagship. In early 1945, Hyūga participated in Operation Kita, during which she transported petrol and other strategic materials back to Japan. The ship was then reduced to reserve until she was sunk during American airstrikes in July. After the war, Hyūga was scrapped in 1946–1947.
Design and description
The Ise class was designed as an improved version of the preceding Fusō class. The ships had a length of 208.18 metres (683 ft) overall, a beam of 28.65 metres (94 ft) and a draught of 8.93 metres (29 ft 4 in) at deep load.[1] They displaced 29,980 long tons (30,460 t) at standard load and 36,500 long tons (37,100 t) at deep load, roughly 650 long tons (660 t) more than the earlier ships. Their crew consisted of 1,360 officers and ratings.[2]
During the ships' modernisation in the 1930s, their forward superstructure was enlarged with multiple platforms added to their tripod masts to create a pagoda mast. Both ships were also given torpedo bulges to improve their underwater protection and to compensate for the weight of the extra armour. These changes increased their overall length to 215.8 metres (708 ft),[3] their beam to 31.75 metres (104 ft 2 in) and their draught to 9.45 metres (31 ft). Their displacement increased over 5,000 long tons (5,100 t) to 42,001 long tons (42,675 t) at deep load.[4] The crew now numbered 1,376 officers and enlisted men.[2]
Propulsion
The Ise-class ships had two sets of direct-drive steam turbines, each of which drove two propeller shafts, using steam provided by 24 Kampon Ro Gō water-tube boilers. The turbines were designed to produce a total of 45,000 shaft horsepower (34,000 kW) and give the ships a speed of 23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph). Hyūga reached 24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph) from 63,211 shp (47,136 kW) during her sea trials.[5] Each of the boilers consumed a mixture of coal and oil, and the ships carried enough of both to give them a range of 9,680 nautical miles (17,930 km; 11,140 mi) at a speed of 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph).[2]
During their 1930s modernisation, the boilers on each ship were replaced by eight new Kampon oil-fired boilers.[2] The turbines were replaced by four geared Kampon turbines with a designed output of 80,000 shp (60,000 kW) intended to increase their speed to 24.5 knots (45.4 km/h; 28.2 mph).[1] The fuel storage of the ships was increased which gave them a range of 7,870 nautical miles (14,580 km; 9,060 mi) at 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph), despite the additional weight.[2]
Armament
The twelve 35.6-centimetre (14 in) Type 41 guns of the Ise class were mounted in three pairs of twin-gun, superfiring turrets that were numbered one through six from front to rear. The first pair was forward of the main superstructure, the second pair was amidships, and the last ones were aft of the rear superstructure.[6] The ships' secondary armament consisted of twenty 14-centimetre (5.5 in) Type 3 guns in single mounts. Eighteen of these were mounted in casemates in the forecastle and superstructure and the remaining pair were mounted on the deck above them and protected by gun shields.[7][Note 1] Anti-aircraft defence was provided by four 40-calibre 3rd Year Type 8-centimetre (3 in)[Note 2] anti-aircraft (AA) guns in single mounts. The ships were also fitted with six submerged 53.3-centimetre (21.0 in) torpedo tubes, three on each broadside.[10]
In 1931–1933 the AA guns were replaced with eight 12.7-centimetre (5 in) Type 89 dual-purpose guns, placed beside the forward superstructure in four twin-gun mounts.[11] Two twin-gun mounts for license-built Vickers two-pounder (4-centimetre (1.6 in)) light AA guns were also added while the pair of 14 cm guns on the upper deck were removed.[12]
During the mid-1930s reconstruction, the torpedo tubes were removed, and the Vickers two-pounders were replaced by twenty license-built Hotchkiss 2.5-centimetre (1 in) Type 96 light AA guns in 10 twin-gun mounts.[12] This was the standard Japanese light AA gun during World War II, but it suffered from severe design shortcomings that rendered it a largely ineffective weapon. According to naval historian Mark Stille, the twin and triple mounts "lacked sufficient speed in train or elevation; the gun sights were unable to handle fast targets; the gun exhibited excessive vibration; the magazine was too small, and, finally, the gun produced excessive muzzle blast".[13] During the reconstruction, the forward pair of 14-centimetre guns in the forecastle were removed.[12]
Protection
The Ise-class ships' waterline protective belt had a maximum thickness of 299 mm (11.8 in) of Vickers cemented armour amidships; below it was a strake of 100 mm (3.9 in) armour. The upper armoured deck consisted of two layers of high-tensile steel totalling 55 mm (2.2 in) thick and the lower armoured deck also consisted of two layers of high-tensile steel, but only 30 mm (1.2 in) thick in total.[14] The turrets were protected with an armour thickness of 254 mm (10 in) on the face and 76 mm on the roof.[15] The casemate armour was 149 mm (5.9 in) thick and that of the barbettes was 299 mm thick rather than the originally planned 305 mm.[16][Note 3]
Construction and career
Hyūga shortly after completion
Hyūga, named after Hyūga Province, one of the traditional provinces of Japan, was laid down at the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries shipyard in Nagasaki on 6 May 1915 and launched on 27 January 1917.[17] Captain Shigeushi Nakagawa assumed command on 30 April[12] and the ship was completed on that same day, too late for service in World War I.[17] Hyūga was then assigned to the 1st Battleship Division of the 1st Fleet. Captain Kinzaburo Mimura relieved Nakegawa on 10 November. An explosion in No. 3 gun turret killed 11 crewmen and wounded another 25 during a gunnery exercise on 24 October 1919. Mimura was relieved in his turn by Captain Genjiro Katsuki on 20 November. Hyūga accidentally collided with and sank the schooner Hiromiya Maru, killing two of the sailing ship's crew, on 21 July 1920. On 29 August, the ship began the first of numerous patrols off the Siberian coast and in northern waters in support of Japan's Siberian Intervention against the Bolshevik Red Army. Captain Hidesaburo Ishikawa replaced Katsuki on 20 November and he was replaced by Captain Genji Ide on 20 November 1921.[12]
The ship aided survivors of the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake in September 1923. From the early 1920s through the late 1930s, Hyūga often cruised off the coast of China. Little detailed information is available about her activities during the 1920s. The ship was overhauled in 1927–1928, during which her forward superstructure was enlarged and her aviation facilities improved. Beginning on 27 March 1932, she patrolled off the coast of China after the First Shanghai Incident, together with her sister ship Ise and the battlecruisers Kongo and Kirishima.[12] On 14 June 1932, she was taking part in an exercise off Kyushu near the Mishima Islands in which a group of submarines practiced a mock combined attack on the 1st Battleship Division when the submarine I-4 unexpectedly surfaced in front of her.[18] Hyūga, zigzagging at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph), took evasive action at the last minute and managed to avoid a direct collision with the stationary I-4, although Hyūga suffered minor damage to her hull plating when her bow grazed I-4′s hull.[18]
Beginning on 24 October 1934, Hyūga was drydocked at Kure Naval Arsenal and underwent an extensive reconstruction and modernisation that lasted until 7 September 1936. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, the ship ferried two battalions of the 3rd Sasebo Special Naval Landing Force to Port Arthur, China, on 19 August 1937. She began the first of her patrols off the southern Chinese coast on 15 September that lasted until early 1941. On 30 June 1940 Hyūga served as the flagship for the Emperor of Manchuoko, Henry Pu-yi, during his state visit to Japan. Together with Ise, the ship was transferred to the 2nd Battleship Division of the 1st Fleet on 15 November. Captain Noboru Ishizaki assumed command on 1 September 1941.[12]
Start of the Pacific War
When full-scale war started for Japan on 8 December,[Note 4] the division, reinforced by the battleships Nagato and Mutsu and the light carrier Hōshō, sortied from Hashirajima to the Bonin Islands as distant support for the 1st Air Fleet attacking Pearl Harbor, and returned six days later. Captain Chiaki Matsuda relieved Ishizaki on 20 February 1942. Together with the rest of the 2nd Battleship Division, Hyūga pursued but did not catch the American carrier force that had launched the Doolittle Raid on 18 April.[12]
In May 1942 while conducting gunnery practice along with Nagato and Mutsu, the breech of Hyūga's left-hand gun in her No. 5 turret exploded, killing 51 crewmen. The two aft magazines were rapidly flooded to save the ship and she returned to Kure for repairs. The turret was deemed not to be repairable and was removed. A circular plate of armour was welded over the barbette and three triple mounts for 2.5 cm AA guns were installed there. While under repair, the ship was fitted with one of the first experimental Type 22 surface-search radar sets in the IJN, but it was removed shortly afterwards.[12]
Hyūga and the rest of the 2nd Battleship Division set sail on 28 May with the Aleutian Support Group at the same time most of the Imperial Fleet began an attack on Midway Island (Operation MI).[19][20] Commanded by Vice-Admiral Shirō Takasu, the division was composed of Japan's four oldest battleships, including Hyūga, accompanied by two light cruisers, 12 destroyers, and two oilers. Official records do not show the division as part of the larger Midway operation, known as Operation AL; they were to accompany the fleet under Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, but were only to provide support to the Aleutian task force if needed.[21]
Conversion to hybrid carriers
The loss of four Japanese aircraft carriers during the Battle of Midway in June severely limited the ability of the IJN to conduct operations and alternatives were sought. Plans for full conversions of battleships into aircraft carriers were rejected on the grounds of expense and, most critically, time, so the IJN settled on removing the rear pair of turrets from the Ise-class ships and replacing them with a flight deck equipped with two rotating catapults.[22] Matsuda was relieved by Captain Sueo Obayashi on 10 December and he was relieved in turn on 1 May 1943, the same day that the conversion officially began. Work actually began two months later.[12] The ship's No. 6 turret and the barbettes for No. 5 and 6 turrets were replaced by a hangar surmounted by a flight deck. This was not long enough to permit the launch of aircraft or their recovery. Two catapults were installed and the existing crane was moved to the flight deck. This was fitted with an extensive system of rails to link each catapult, the storage positions on the deck and the "T"-shaped aircraft lift that moved aircraft between the flight deck and the hangar. It had a capacity of nine aircraft, with eleven more stowed on deck, and one on each catapult for a total of twenty-two.[23] The ship's air group was intended to consist of a dozen each Yokosuka D4Y Suisei dive bombers (Allied reporting name "Judy"), modified for catapult launching, and Aichi E16A reconnaissance floatplanes (Allied reporting name "Paul"), of which two to three of each were reserves. The former had to land either on a conventional carrier or on land bases, whereas the E16A could be hoisted back aboard using a crane, after landing on the water near the ship.[24]
During the conversion, all of the 14 cm guns were removed and the ship's anti-aircraft suite was heavily reinforced. The eight 12.7 cm Type 89 guns were supplemented with four twin mounts and the existing 2.5 cm Type 96 AA twin-gun mounts were replaced by 19 triple-gun mounts for a total of 57 weapons.[25]
These changes increased the ship's overall length to 219.62 metres (720 ft 6 in) and the removal of the heavy gun turrets and their barbettes reduced her displacement to 39,805 long tons (40,444 t) at deep load, despite the addition of more fuel oil storage. The extra fuel increased Hyūga's range to 9,500 nautical miles (17,600 km; 10,900 mi). The weight reductions decreased her draught to 9.03 metres (29 ft 8 in). The crew now numbered 1,463 officers and enlisted men.[4]
The rebuild was officially completed on 18 November and Captain Tomekichi Nomura assumed command on 5 December as the ship was working up. Hyūga served as a training ship for most of the first half of 1944. On 25 February, Battleship Division 2 was assigned to the direct control of the Combined Fleet. The sisters were then transferred to the Third Fleet and assigned to the newly reformed Fourth Carrier Division on 1 May. That same day the 634th Naval Air Group was formed and assigned to the Fourth Carrier Division. On 24 May, the ship's light anti-aircraft armament was reinforced with 24 additional Type 96 AA guns in eight triple mounts, which brought her total to 104 guns. On 7 June, a pair of improved Type 22 surface-search radars were installed. A pair of Type 13 early-warning radars and an E27 radar detector were probably also fitted.[12]
On 23 June, the sisters conducted their first catapult training, each with four D4Ys and six E16As aboard; subsequent sessions were conducted on 21 July and 31 August.[26] Two days later, Hyūga became the flagship of the Fourth Carrier Division, now commanded by the recently promoted Rear Admiral Matsuda. In September, six racks of 30-tube 12.7 cm anti-aircraft rocket launchers were added.[12] Training of the D4Y and E16A aircrew was slowed by technical problems and was generally conducted from land bases. By 1 October the 634th had on strength 17 D4Ys, of which six were serviceable, and 18 E16As, of which 16 were operable.[27]
Battle off Cape Engaño and afterwards
Main article: Battle off Cape Engaño
After the Americans began attacking Japanese installations in the Bonin Islands on 10 October 1944, the aircraft of the Fourth Carrier Division were ordered to prepare for combat by the commander of the Combined Fleet, Admiral Soemu Toyoda. Two days later, the 634th Naval Air Group was reassigned to the Second Air Fleet and began flying to bases in southern Kyushu; among these were nine D4Ys and a dozen E16As assigned to Ise and Hyūga. On 14 October they attacked the aircraft carriers of Task Force 38 near Formosa with little effect and heavy losses.[28] The following day Nomura was promoted to rear admiral.[12]
The ships of the Fourth Carrier Division were assigned to the Main Body of the 1st Mobile Fleet, commanded by Vice Admiral Jisaburō Ozawa. The Main Body's role was to act as decoys to attract attention away from the two other forces approaching from the south and west. All forces were to converge on Leyte Gulf on 25 October and the Main Body left Japan on 20 October. By the morning of 24 October, the Main Body was within range of the northernmost American carriers of Task Force 38 and Ozawa ordered an air strike launched by the Third Carrier Division (Hyūga and Ise had no aircraft aboard) to attract the attention of the Americans. This accomplished little else as the Japanese aircraft failed to penetrate past the defending fighters; the survivors landed at airfields on Luzon. The Americans were preoccupied dealing with the other Japanese naval forces and defending themselves from air attacks launched from Luzon and Leyte and could not spare any aircraft to search for the Japanese carriers until the afternoon. They finally found them, but Admiral William Halsey, Jr., commander of Task Force 38, decided that it was too late in the day to mount an effective strike. He did, however, turn all of his ships north to position himself for a dawn attack on the Japanese carriers the next day.[29]
On the morning of 25 October, Hyūga was positioned near the light carriers Chitose and Chiyoda to protect them with her anti-aircraft guns. Her radar picked up the first of five American airstrikes at a range of 125 nautical miles (232 km; 144 mi) at 07:13, but the battleship was not a primary target. Fragments from near misses by bombs damaged the ship's anti-torpedo blister and she developed a 5° list that was easily corrected. Despite Hyūga's protection, Chiyoda was set afire and her engines were disabled. Matsuda ordered the battleship and the light cruiser Isuzu to tow the crippled carrier, but Hyūga was unable to do so and rejoined the main body at 18:30. The American submarine USS Halibut spotted the Fourth Carrier Division at 17:42 and manoeuvered to attack, missing with six torpedoes at 18:43. At 19:00 Ozawa ordered Matsuda to take his ships south to defend Isuzu and her escorting destroyers that were attempting to rescue Chiyoda's survivors, despite gunfire from a group of four American cruisers. Unable to locate either group of ships, Ozawa ordered Matsuda to reverse course at 23:30 and head for Amami Ōshima to refuel. Despite being spotted by American submarines en route, the division arrived safely on 27 October. That same day Ozawa transferred his flag to Hyūga. After leaving the island the following day, they were unsuccessfully attacked by the submarine USS Sea Dog before their arrival at Kure on the 29th.[12]
Between 29 October and 8 November, the catapults were removed to improve the firing arcs of No. 3 and No. 4 turrets. Hyūga and Ise departed on 11 November, loaded with troops and munitions for Manila, capital of the Philippines, but news was received of heavy American air attacks on Manila and they were diverted to the Spratly Islands. They arrived on 14 November and their cargo was unloaded so it could be transshipped to the Philippines. The 4th Carrier Division was transferred to the 2nd Fleet the following day. Reinforced by the battleship Haruna and three cruisers, the sisters proceeded on to Lingga Island, near Singapore, on 20 November. They arrived two days later and remained there until 12 December when they departed for Cam Ranh Bay, French Indochina, where they were on standby for an attack on an American supply convoy bound for the island of Mindanao in the Philippines. Vice Admiral Kiyohide Shima, commander of the 5th Fleet, hoisted his flag aboard Hyūga two days later. The attack was cancelled on the 30th and the ships sailed for Singapore where they arrived on 1 January 1945 before continuing on to Lingga. That same day the Fourth Carrier Division was transferred to the Southwest Area Fleet and Shima hauled his flag down. On 6 February, the division sailed for Singapore to participate in Operation Kita. The sisters and the light cruiser Ōyodo were loaded with critically needed strategic war supplies (oil, rubber, tin, zinc, and mercury) and 1,150 surplus oil workers to be ferried back to Japan.[12]
Final role
The division sailed from Singapore on 10 February and was spotted by the British submarine HMS Tantalus the following day. Tantalus was forced to submerge by a maritime patrol aircraft and was unable to attack. On 13 February the submarine USS Bergall unsuccessfully attacked the ships as did the submarine USS Blower. Later that afternoon, Ōyodo launched one of her floatplanes which spotted the submarine USS Bashaw on the surface about 22 kilometres (14 mi) ahead of the convoy. Hyūga opened fire with her main guns and forced Bashaw to submerge when one of her shells landed within 1,600 metres (1 mi) of the submarine. The convoy reached the Matsu Islands, off the Chinese coast, on the 15th and was unsuccessfully attacked by the submarine USS Rasher before they reached Zhoushan Island, near Shanghai, that night. The convoy reached Kure on 20 February, having evaded or escaped pursuit by twenty-three Allied submarines along the way.[12]
Hyūga sunk in shallow waters
The 4th Carrier Division was disbanded on 1 March and Hyūga was reduced to first-class reserve. Rear Admiral Kiyoshi Kusagawa relieved Nomura that same day. From this time until the surrender of Japan, Hyūga was anchored in Hiroshima Bay without fuel or aircraft. More than 240 American carrier-based aircraft from Task Force 58 attacked Kure on 19 March and the ship was hit by three bombs, killing 37 and wounding 52 crewmen. Her anti-aircraft guns claimed to have shot down a single Curtiss SB2C Helldiver dive bomber during the attack. Re-designated as a fourth-class reserve ship on 20 April, Hyūga was towed to a new position within Hiroshima Bay and heavily camouflaged. She was later attacked during the bombing of Kure on 24 July and was struck by 10 bombs that blew off part of her stem, destroyed her bridge and started major fires. Over 200 sailors were killed, including Kusagawa, and 600 wounded by the attack. Progressive flooding caused the ship to sink in shallow water over the next several days and her crew was ordered to remove all easily accessible weapons. Hyūga was unsuccessfully attacked by 24 USAAF Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bombers on the 29th and abandoned three days later by her crew. She was removed from the Navy List on 20 November 1945. Her wreck was raised and broken up by the Kure Dockyard of the Harima Zōsen Corporation from 2 July 1946 to 4 July 1947.[12]
Arriva Kent & Surrey Ltd.:
Volvo B9TL-5300 YV3S4J /
Wrightbus Eclipse Gemini (10.4m)
H45/29F - 4/2008
"Sapphire”
Ex-Arriva Midlands Ltd., Thurmaston, Leicestershire (WG-4207) (17/12/2020)
Endurance road test of this fine B9 from Leicester. This was the one I drove down on the second day of CAZ movements, however it decided to conk out somewhere on the A6 near Kettering! With a few hours spent on it over the last couple of months getting it back into serviceable condition.
The bus went out in full service this morning (19/04) on the 218/219s Tonbridge circulars. This marks the first B9 in service in Kent! 6200/2/4 are at Northfleet, 6201/5 are at Gillingham.
Bidborough Corner A26 London Road, Southborough, Royal Tunbridge Wells
Sunday 18th April 2021
So titled because the working had stopped reporting on Realtime Trains.
Freightliner racing green class 86/6 no. 86632 stands at Northampton with classmate no. 86638 on 17th July 2020 during a crew change whilst working 4S88 Felixstowe- Coatbridge.
4S88 is worked by a 66 from Felixstowe- Ipswich, where the 86/6s take over for the run to Crewe before a pair of 90s takes the train over the hills to Coatbridge.
Notably, 86632 and 86638 are two of the three serviceable class 86s that have Brecknell Willis high speed pantographs fitted, the other being 86604.
The Class 86 locomotives built upon the Class 81-5 however they included some improved features such as quieter fans.
The locos were initially notorious for causing track damage due to a large amount of unsprung mass however, after modifications which led to the fitting of large flexicoil springs, the problems diminished. The initial class 86/0 subclass was limited to 85 mph due to the track-wear issue, those which were fitted with flexicoil springs were renumbered into the 86/2 series and were 100mph capable. 3 test bed class 87s were numbered 86101-103 and were 110mph locos.
Many locomotives have been exported to operator Floyd in Hungary and are used on freight trains over there.
The 86/7 subclass of two locomotives was 110mph capable however they were withdrawn in early 2013 due to lack of GSMR fitment. After several unsuccessful attempts to find work for 86701 and 86702, both locomotives were exported.
The 86/6 subclass is limited to 75mph and are used on Freightliner trains on a daily basis as working pairs.
From 2015 to 2019, 86101, 86401 and 87002 were hired in by GBRf in order to work ECS moves between London Euston and Wembley ICD for the Caledonian Sleeper. After the arrival of mk5 stock to the Caledonian Sleeper, 87002, 86101 and 86401 came off lease. 86101 and 87002 were sold to Locomotive Services Limited in Crewe and 86401 was sold to the West Coast Railway Company and is currently based at Carnforth.
After 50 years of service, 16 locos remain in service with Freightliner, one with Locomotive Services Limited, one with WRC and one with a private owner.
UP financed 20 U28Bs from GE for lease to the Rock Island in 1966. When the Rock Island ceased to exist Union Pacific took possession of them in 1980. Thirteen of the 20 units were found to be serviceable upon their return to UP in April 1980, and were repainted UP yellow and gray and stored almost immediately. All were eventually scrapped.
© J.M. Seidl Photographer.
c/n A-738 / CA-138.
RCAF serial '1538'
Now operated by Hugo Mathys as part of the Classic Formation.
Seen getting airborne to display at the 2017 Flying Legends airshow,
Duxford, Cambridgeshire, UK.
8th July 2017
The following history for 'N21FS' is from the Flying Legends website:-
"Beech 18 (N21FS), A-738/CA-138 3NM RCAF 1538 completed Mar52. Deliv to 6th Repair Depot RCAF Station Trenton 25Mar52. Classified there as Inactive Reserve 12Oct56. Reclassified there as Serviceable Reserve 13Dec57. Central Experimental & Proving Establishment (CEPE) at Uplands 1Feb58. Modif to 3NMT configuration 1Feb61 & assigned to Air Defence Command at CEPE Uplands 10Apr61. 6th Repair Depot Dunnville as Serviceable Reserve 7Apr64. Air Transport Command CEPE Uplands 17Jun64. Free issue to National Aeronautical Establishment, National Research Council, Ottawa on 17May65 and civil reg’d to them as CF-SKJ-X on 21May65. Photog Mar73 at Toronto with small titles “Government of Canada” above cabin door. It had two ports in the cabin ceiling and one in the nose for environmental air sampling. NRC regis canx 15Jul91 & reg’d C-FSKJ.
Krista Investments Ltd, North Vancouver, BC reg’d 11Feb92 as an experimental aircraft. Regis canx 17Mar92. Sold to Frank Borman (Apollo astronaut) dba Picacho Avn, Las Cruces, NM, on 10Mar92. Reg’d N21FS (FS for Frank & his wife Susan) 19Mar92. Restored as a 1942 AT-7 warbird (wearing bogus AT-7 tail marks
“121072”). Experimental CofA for exhibition purposes 13Apr92. Navigation turret dome installed 17Feb93 as per Beech drawings & flt test satisfactory. Standard CofA 18Feb93. Thomas A. Leatherwood, Paso Robles, CA BS 18Jan94. Best Twin Beech award at Oshkosh ‘94. OPM Avn Svcs ApS, Aarthus, Denmark BS 28Mar06 with 7,400 hrs TT. Aircraft Guaranty Title & Trust, Houston, TX BS 28Mar06. Air traffic incident 10Jun06 at Lufthavn Arpt, Stauning, Denmark with Cessna 172B D-EABD the aircraft is privately owned by Mr. Hugo Mathys, a Swiss owner of a medical company. in ‘2007. Delivered to Switzerland 22Apr07. ‘Danish Air Transport’, Nov08 as his personal aircraft. Nose art entitled “Great Danes.” Hugo Mathys based Grenchen, Switz. Aug10. Aircraft Guaranty Corp Trustee, Onalaska, TX reg’d 31Aug11 but Hugo Mathys owns & it flies in Switzerland."
I could not get enough of the rolling hills, the green, and the the clouds - the awesome clouds - down on the South Coast.
//What a disaster
William Saunderson-Meyer says the floods just another blow to a province that was already on its knees
KwaZulu-Natal has declared a provincial state of disaster to try to cope with the devastating floods of the past week.
This is normally a temporary mechanism of which the primary purpose is to facilitate speedy national government assistance to hard-pressed provincial and local authorities. It also triggers the release of emergency funds from the National Treasury.
But in KZN’s case, they might as well make it permanent. This is a province that has been on its knees for some time and it ain’t getting up any time soon.
After all, KZN hasn’t even staunched the bloodied nose it suffered nine months ago. That’s when one wing of the African National Congress government — the Radical Economic Transformation followers of former president Jacob Zuma — tried to bury the other — the so-called reformists led by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
KZN hasn’t even properly tallied the body blows it suffered then. The official estimates for the insurrection were 45,000 businesses affected, R50bn in economic damage, 129,000 jobs lost, and 354 killed.
These estimates are probably on the low side. For example, the number of people who were killed in the mayhem doesn’t include the many whose bodies were simply never found and counted.
And the true economic cost is incalculable. There’s been substantially increased emigration of minorities, cancelled investment, and the loss of international confidence in KZN as a safe tourist destination. In at least a dozen small, country towns, all the business infrastructure was destroyed, paradoxically by the very people who worked and shopped in those buildings.
Now the floods. The death toll is over 300 and still rising. Some 6,000 homes have been destroyed and road, water sewage and electrical infrastructure uprooted. As I write this, roaming mobs are opportunistically plundering container depots, stranded trucks, abandoned homes and vulnerable businesses, reportedly unhindered — as was the case during last year’s riots — by the police and army.
Naturally, no disaster is complete without a scapegoat. Ramaphosa, as is his style, was quick off the mark to finger the culprit — climate change.
“This disaster is part of climate change. It is telling us that climate change is serious, it is here,” Ramaphosa told reporters while inspecting a devastated Durban. “We no longer can postpone what we need to do, and the measures we need to take to deal with climate change.”
What balderdash. Whatever role climate change may or may not have played in the larger scheme of things, it’s nonsense to pin on it responsibility for the plight of KZN. That lies with the ANC government.
First, this was not an unforeseeable bolt from the heavens. The forecasters warned months back that this was likely to be an exceptionally wet summer because of the La Niña weather pattern that occurs every few years.
There are also historical precedents for extreme weather in KZN, which a prudent administration would have taken note of.
In 1984, Tropical Storm Domoina wreaked havoc in a swathe from Mozambique, through Swaziland to KZN. Although the current downpour is worse, the scale is nevertheless in the same ballpark.
This latest storm — as yet unnamed — dumped 450mm of rain on Durban in 48 hours. Domoina let loose 615mm in 24 hours on Swaziland and northern KZN.
But the true difference between those events, 38 years apart, lies in the lack of preparedness on the part of today’s authorities. In 1984 the SA Air Force deployed 25 helicopters to airlift people to safety. In the 2000 Mozambique floods, 17 SAAF helicopters rescued more than 14,000 people.
This time, according to a News24 report, the SA Police Service and the SAAF, combined, have been unable to put a single chopper in the air. The erosion of South Africa’s military means that of the SAAF’s 39 Oryx helicopters, only 17 are serviceable.
Durban-based 15 Squadron has not a single helicopter available for search and rescue — they are reportedly primarily used as VIP transport — but two SAAF choppers supposedly have been despatched from Gqeberha to help. The SAPS airwing has only one serviceable helicopter but “the pilot on duty has been booked off sick”.
Second, throughout the province, local government is also in a state of disaster and unable to do its job. The scale of the KZN impairment can be measured in the flood destruction of homes.
Some 4,000 shanties have been destroyed, many because officialdom was too lax to forbid building on the floodplain and against precariously unstable hillsides. Another 2,000 of the homes swept away were so-called RDP houses, shoddily built during the kickback-and-steal bonanza of the government’s Reconstruction and Development Programme of the late 1990s.
In Durban, the eThekwini metro is bloated and inert. It carries a rates and services debt of R17bn, of which R1bn is owed by the national government.
Durban is also infamously corrupt. Former mayor Zandile Gumede — along with 21 co-accused — is facing fraud, corruption and money-laundering charges in connection with a R320m municipal tender.
Yet at the weekend, even as the rain was bucketing down, she won the ANC’s regional leadership contest hands-down, despite the party’s supposed “step-aside when accused” rule.
The ANC-aligned Ahmed Kathrada Foundation has no illusions about the party it supports. It issued a statement calling on the government to ensure that unlike the plundering of Covid-19 emergency relief funds, the KZN disaster funds were not stolen or misused.
Fat chance. The ANC has already announced that its parliamentary constituency offices in KZN would become “hubs for humanitarian support” and appealed for the donation of relief supplies. Watch the trousering by the ANC’s public representatives of anything that the public is dumb enough to leave with them.
It’s in KZN where the ANC’s brazen indifference to the law and antipathy towards the Constitution is at its most obvious and most destructive.
On Monday, Zuma's corruption trial once again failed to take off in the Pietermaritzburg High Court when he successfully blocked the process with another round of delaying legal actions. His lawyers also had some carefully threatening words for the judiciary in a separate Supreme Court of Appeal action.
They urged SCA President Mandisa Maya to reconsider the dismissal of his latest corruption prosecution challenges. They warned that last year’s deadly July unrest was “in part, traceable to a perceived erroneous and unjust judicial outcome” that put Zuma briefly in prison for contempt of court.
“When such conceived mistakes are committed, the citizens (wrongly) feel entitled to resort to self-help…”
Floods, fires and locusts are devastating but at least happen relatively rarely. The ANC, alas, is a seemingly unending plague.
This Nestorian Church officially known as the Church of St. George the Exiler, lies within the walls of the old town of Famagusta.
St. George of the Greeks, not to be confused with the similarly named St. George of the Latins, is the second largest church in Famagusta, and during the middle ages it served as the Cathedral for the Greek Orthodox community. It was built in the 12th century, to the west of a much earlier church dedicated to St. George and around a similar time the grand building of the Latin St. Nicholas Cathedral was initiated.
The build is thought to be financed by East Syrian Nestorian merchants, the Lakhas brothers, who were known for their immense wealth. The architecture and decorations of the building were reminiscent of the Southern French and Italian Gothic churches of the time and may have been influenced by King Peter I’s visit to Avignon in 1363. This version of the church’s history represents the virtual consensus of scholars of medieval Famagusta – however its architecture is also reminiscent of the 12th–13th century Crusader architecture in Palestine and Syria.
The Orthodox Cathedral
When the French Catholic Lusignans took rule of the island in 1191, they inherited an island that was predominately eastern Orthodox, and they immediately reduced the power of the church. In doing so, the southeast corner of Famagusta became a compact Greek quarter, and a conglomeration of several churches came about, most still inherent today and within close proximity of one another.
Although there was a perfectly serviceable cathedral church, namely the small Byzantine St. Simeon Church, the Orthodox community wanted a place of worship that rivalled its neighbouring counterparts. They built the much greater church with a wide central nave, two side aisles and huge columns that held up the nave vaulting.
Gothic elements were also added to the church’s north side to create a hybrid form of architecture that makes this 14th century Byzantine figure somewhat rare amongst Mediterranean churches, let alone those found in North Cyprus. The central nave also featured chapels on both sides, leading to a cross nave, all with rounded apses.
St. George of the Greeks became theOrthodox cathedral of Famagusta and was dedicated to St. Epiphanius Bishop of Salamis, who had gained a reputation as a strong defender of orthodoxy. It is believed the saint’s remains were formerly buried at the adjacent St. Simeon before his body was hauled off to the former Eastern Roman Empire capital of Constantinople, by Emperor Leo in the 9th century.
Unfortunately however, the structure was too large, with insufficient buttressing and a roof that was just too heavy, and years of modifications and renovations followed. The pillars throughout the nave were expanded to take more weight and the roof was inserted with large upturned terracotta pots to spread the load.
The church was not in existence long enough to find out if the revised compositions were sustainable. Taking the brunt of the Ottomans, evidence of which is still very evident in the remaining walls, the main of the build stood for a little over a hundred years.
Siege of Famagusta
After the capture of the city, the church was converted into a stable for camels, with worship here only being permitted once a year, during the feast of St. George the Exiler.
The Ottoman siege in 1571 left its marks on the structure and visitors today can still see cannon ball marks on the top of the church – look closely enough and you will also see some of the cannonballs still embedded in the walls. Consequently, little remains of its vaulted roof.
It is believed that during this era the apse was used as a shooting gallery, and there is much evidence in the form of bullet holes to be seen. By the 18th century, the walled city of Famagusta was more or less abandoned, with only a handful of residents living near to the desolate churches. Sailors from the nearby port would disembark and come into the city, sometimes sketching drawings of their ships into the plaster of these derelict churches. Some of these etchings can be seen at the western end of the St. George Greek church.
A passing glance and you will miss them though, a careful inspection of the wall is required.
British Era
In 1905, the British administration handed the church to the Greek Cypriots, who used it as their parish. By the 1930’s, many frescoes that were previously observed had disappeared, and between 1937 and 1939, Greek Cypriots undertook excavations and repaired some parts of the build.
Present Ruins
The church is still nevertheless home to numerous frescoes dated to the 14th and 15th centuries, depicting the life of Christ. Unlike Byzantine Orthodox churches, the frescoes in the Nestorian Church were not part of a unified design, and many were painted in differing periods by various artists. Visitors can still make out the faint outlines of once-rich frescos upon the interior stone walls.
The apse on the other hand may have had a unified design, but this is impossible to ascertain given the level of damage.
The church walls are made of ashlarand the structure has three naves and three apses. All three naves have entrances to their west. Originally, the church was built with a single nave and a protruding apse – the other two naves and two minor apses were added at a later date.
Some fragments of wall paintings still cling to the walls of the eastern apse and pieces of pottery jars sit within ceiling, which were thought to improve the church acoustics.
During the pre-Ottoman modifications, collars were added to support the overweight, and visitors will notice the remains of the iron clamps that were used to hold the blocks together.
A drawing of the church from the 18th century shows a dome on the church, not unlike the one on the nearby St. Nikolas Church, an octagonal drum with the dome sat on top. Even with the extra support added to the pillars, eventually the dome has fallen to inexistence.
Along the walls of the church, you can see several arched niches. These alcoves were the tombs of the patrons of the church. The sarcophagus was at ground level, while the brackets you can see would have held a stone slab, probably with an effigy of the deceased carved on it. It is believed that these niches were built after the walls, and their construction further weakened the roof support.
Excavations on this site have also unearthed coloured glass, most likely from the old church windows.
The only church in Famagusta that still has a bell, the Church of St. George of the Greeks is one of the best-preserved ones from the medieval times albeit the damage incurred and yet another impressive ruin to add to your visit list with much to discover.
Famagusta is a city on the east coast of the de facto state Northern Cyprus. It is located east of Nicosia and possesses the deepest harbour of the island. During the Middle Ages (especially under the maritime republics of Genoa and Venice), Famagusta was the island's most important port city and a gateway to trade with the ports of the Levant, from where the Silk Road merchants carried their goods to Western Europe. The old walled city and parts of the modern city are de facto part of Northern Cyprus as the capital of the Gazimağusa District.
The city was known as Arsinoe or Arsinoë (Greek: Ἀρσινόη, Arsinóē) in antiquity, after Ptolemy II of Egypt's sister and wife Arsinoe II.
By the 3rd century, the city appears as Ammochostos (Greek: Ἀμμόχωστος or Αμμόχωστος, Ammókhōstos, "Hidden in Sand") in the Stadiasmus Maris Magni.[5] This name is still used in modern Greek with the pronunciation [aˈmːoxostos], while it developed into Latin Fama Augusta, French Famagouste, Italian Famagosta, and English Famagusta during the medieval period. Its informal modern Turkish name Mağusa (Turkish pronunciation: [maˈusa]) came from the same source. Since 1974, it has formally been known to Turkey and Northern Cyprus as Gazimağusa ([ɡaːzimaˈusa]), from the addition of the title gazi, meaning "veteran" or "one who has faught in a holy war".
In the early medieval period, the city was also known as New Justiniana (Greek: Νέα Ἰουστινιανία, Néa Ioustinianía) in appreciation for the patronage of the Byzantine emperor Justinian, whose wife Theodora was born there.
The old town of Famagusta has also been nicknamed "the City of 365 Churches" from the legend that, at its peak, it boasted a church for every day of the year.
The city was founded around 274 BC, after the serious damage to Salamis by an earthquake, by Ptolemy II Philadelphus and named "Arsinoe" after his sister.[6] Arsinoe was described as a "fishing town" by Strabo in his Geographica in the first century BC. In essence, Famagusta was the successor of the most famous and most important ancient city of Cyprus, Salamis. According to Greek mythology, Salamis was founded after the end of the Trojan War by Teucros, the son of Telamon and brother of Aedes, from the Greek island of Salamis.
The city experienced great prosperity much later, during the time of the Byzantine emperor Justinian. To honor the city, from which his wife Theodora came, Justinian enriched it with many buildings, while the inhabitants named it New Justiniania to express their gratitude. In AD 647, when the neighboring cities were destroyed by Arab raiding, the inhabitants of these cities moved to Famagusta, as a result of which the city's population increased significantly and the city experienced another boom.
Later, when Jerusalem was occupied by the Arabs, the Christian population fled to Famagusta, as a result of which the city became an important Christian center, but also one of the most important commercial centers in the eastern Mediterranean.
The turning point for Famagusta was 1192 with the onset of Lusignan rule. It was during this period that Famagusta developed as a fully-fledged town. It increased in importance to the Eastern Mediterranean due to its natural harbour and the walls that protected its inner town. Its population began to increase. This development accelerated in the 13th century as the town became a centre of commerce for both the East and West. An influx of Christian refugees fleeing the downfall of Acre (1291) in Palestine transformed it from a tiny village into one of the richest cities in Christendom.
In 1372 the port was seized by Genoa and in 1489 by Venice. This commercial activity turned Famagusta into a place where merchants and ship owners led lives of luxury. By the mid-14th century, Famagusta was said to have the richest citizens in the world. The belief that people's wealth could be measured by the churches they built inspired these merchants to have churches built in varying styles. These churches, which still exist, were the reason Famagusta came to be known as "the district of churches". The development of the town focused on the social lives of the wealthy people and was centred upon the Lusignan palace, the cathedral, the Square and the harbour.
In 1570–1571, Famagusta was the last stronghold in Venetian Cyprus to hold out against the Turks under Mustafa Pasha. It resisted a siege of thirteen months and a terrible bombardment, until at last the garrison surrendered. The Ottoman forces had lost 50,000 men, including Mustafa Pasha's son. Although the surrender terms had stipulated that the Venetian forces be allowed to return home, the Venetian commander, Marco Antonio Bragadin, was flayed alive, his lieutenant Tiepolo was hanged, and many other Christians were killed.
With the advent of the Ottoman rule, Latins lost their privileged status in Famagusta and were expelled from the city. Greek Cypriots natives were at first allowed to own and buy property in the city, but were banished from the walled city in 1573–74 and had to settle outside in the area that later developed into Varosha. Turkish families from Anatolia were resettled in the walled city but could not fill the buildings that previously hosted a population of 10,000. This caused a drastic decrease in the population of Famagusta. Merchants from Famagusta, who mostly consisted of Latins that had been expelled, resettled in Larnaca and as Larnaca flourished, Famagusta lost its importance as a trade centre. Over time, Varosha developed into a prosperous agricultural town thanks to its location away from the marshes, whilst the walled city remained dilapidated.
In the walled city, some buildings were repurposed to serve the interests of the Muslim population: the Cathedral of St. Nicholas was converted to a mosque (now known as Lala Mustafa Pasha Mosque), a bazaar was developed, public baths, fountains and a theological school were built to accommodate the inhabitants' needs. Dead end streets, an Ottoman urban characteristic, was imported to the city and a communal spirit developed in which a small number of two-storey houses inhabited by the small upper class co-existed with the widespread one-storey houses.
With the British takeover, Famagusta regained its significance as a port and an economic centre and its development was specifically targeted in British plans. As soon as the British took over the island, a Famagusta Development Act was passed that aimed at the reconstruction and redevelopment of the city's streets and dilapidated buildings as well as better hygiene. The port was developed and expanded between 1903 and 1906 and Cyprus Government Railway, with its terminus in Famagusta, started construction in 1904. Whilst Larnaca continued to be used as the main port of the island for some time, after Famagusta's use as a military base in World War I trade significantly shifted to Famagusta. The city outside the walls grew at an accelerated rate, with development being centred around Varosha. Varosha became the administrative centre as the British moved their headquarters and residences there and tourism grew significantly in the last years of the British rule. Pottery and production of citrus and potatoes also significantly grew in the city outside the walls, whilst agriculture within the walled city declined to non-existence.
New residential areas were built to accommodate the increasing population towards the end of the British rule,[11] and by 1960, Famagusta was a modern port city extending far beyond Varosha and the walled city.
The British period saw a significant demographic shift in the city. In 1881, Christians constituted 60% of the city's population while Muslims were at 40%. By 1960, the Turkish Cypriot population had dropped to 17.5% of the overall population, while the Greek Cypriot population had risen to 70%. The city was also the site for one of the British internment camps for nearly 50,000 Jewish survivors of the Holocaust trying to emigrate to Palestine.
From independence in 1960 to the Turkish invasion of Cyprus of 1974, Famagusta developed toward the south west of Varosha as a well-known entertainment and tourist centre. The contribution of Famagusta to the country's economic activity by 1974 far exceeded its proportional dimensions within the country. Whilst its population was only about 7% of the total of the country, Famagusta by 1974 accounted for over 10% of the total industrial employment and production of Cyprus, concentrating mainly on light industry compatible with its activity as a tourist resort and turning out high-quality products ranging from food, beverages and tobacco to clothing, footwear, plastics, light machinery and transport equipment. It contributed 19.3% of the business units and employed 21.3% of the total number of persons engaged in commerce on the island. It acted as the main tourist destination of Cyprus, hosting 31.5% of the hotels and 45% of Cyprus' total bed capacity. Varosha acted as the main touristic and business quarters.
In this period, the urbanisation of Famagusta slowed down and the development of the rural areas accelerated. Therefore, economic growth was shared between the city of Famagusta and the district, which had a balanced agricultural economy, with citrus, potatoes, tobacco and wheat as main products. Famagusta maintained good communications with this hinterland. The city's port remained the island's main seaport and in 1961, it was expanded to double its capacity in order to accommodate the growing volume of exports and imports. The port handled 42.7% of Cypriot exports, 48.6% of imports and 49% of passenger traffic.
There has not been an official census since 1960 but the population of the town in 1974 was estimated to be around 39,000 not counting about 12,000–15,000 persons commuting daily from the surrounding villages and suburbs to work in Famagusta. The number of people staying in the city would swell to about 90,000–100,000 during the peak summer tourist period, with the influx of tourists from numerous European countries, mainly Britain, France, Germany and the Scandinavian countries. The majority of the city population were Greek Cypriots (26,500), with 8,500 Turkish Cypriots and 4,000 people from other ethnic groups.
During the second phase of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus on 14 August 1974 the Mesaoria plain was overrun by Turkish tanks and Famagusta was bombed by Turkish aircraft. It took two days for the Turkish Army to occupy the city, prior to which Famagusta's entire Greek Cypriot population had fled into surrounding fields. As a result of Turkish airstrikes dozens of civilians died, including tourists.
Unlike other parts of the Turkish-controlled areas of Cyprus, the Varosha suburb of Famagusta was fenced off by the Turkish army immediately after being captured and remained fenced off until October 2020, when the TRNC reopened some streets to visitors. Some Greek Cypriots who had fled Varosha have been allowed to view the town and journalists have been allowed in.
UN Security Council resolution 550 (1984) considers any attempts to settle any part of Famagusta by people other than its inhabitants as inadmissible and calls for the transfer of this area to the administration of the UN. The UN's Security Council resolution 789 (1992) also urges that with a view to the implementation of resolution 550 (1984), the area at present under the control of the United Nations Peace-keeping Force in Cyprus be extended to include Varosha.
Famagusta's historic city centre is surrounded by the fortifications of Famagusta, which have a roughly rectangular shape, built mainly by the Venetians in the 15th and 16th centuries, though some sections of the walls have been dated earlier times, as far as 1211.
Some important landmarks and visitor attractions in the old city are:
The Lala Mustafa Pasha Mosque
The Othello Castle
Palazzo del Provveditore - the Venetian palace of the governor, built on the site of the former Lusignan royal palace
St. Francis' Church
Sinan Pasha Mosque
Church of St. George of the Greeks
Church of St. George of the Latins
Twin Churches
Nestorian Church (of St George the Exiler)
Namık Kemal Dungeon
Agios Ioannis Church
Venetian House
Akkule Masjid
Mustafa Pasha Mosque
Ganchvor monastery
In an October 2010 report titled Saving Our Vanishing Heritage, Global Heritage Fund listed Famagusta, a "maritime ancient city of crusader kings", among the 12 sites most "On the Verge" of irreparable loss and destruction, citing insufficient management and development pressures.
Famagusta is an important commercial hub of Northern Cyprus. The main economic activities in the city are tourism, education, construction and industrial production. It has a 115-acre free port, which is the most important seaport of Northern Cyprus for travel and commerce. The port is an important source of income and employment for the city, though its volume of trade is restricted by the embargo against Northern Cyprus. Its historical sites, including the walled city, Salamis, the Othello Castle and the St Barnabas Church, as well as the sandy beaches surrounding it make it a tourist attraction; efforts are also underway to make the city more attractive for international congresses. The Eastern Mediterranean University is also an important employer and supplies significant income and activity, as well as opportunities for the construction sector. The university also raises a qualified workforce that stimulates the city's industry and makes communications industry viable. The city has two industrial zones: the Large Industrial Zone and the Little Industrial Zone. The city is also home to a fishing port, but inadequate infrastructure of the port restricts the growth of this sector. The industry in the city has traditionally been concentrated on processing agricultural products.
Historically, the port was the primary source of income and employment for the city, especially right after 1974. However, it gradually lost some of its importance to the economy as the share of its employees in the population of Famagusta diminished due to various reasons. However, it still is the primary port for commerce in Northern Cyprus, with more than half of ships that came to Northern Cyprus in 2013 coming to Famagusta. It is the second most popular seaport for passengers, after Kyrenia, with around 20,000 passengers using the port in 2013.
The mayor-in-exile of Famagusta is Simos Ioannou. Süleyman Uluçay heads the Turkish Cypriot municipal administration of Famagusta, which remains legal as a communal-based body under the constitutional system of the Republic of Cyprus.
Since 1974, Greek Cypriots submitted a number of proposals within the context of bicommunal discussions for the return of Varosha to UN administration, allowing the return of its previous inhabitants, requesting also the opening of Famagusta harbour for use by both communities. Varosha would have been returned to Greek Cypriot control as part of the 2004 Annan Plan but the plan had been rejected by a majority(3/4) of Greek Cypriot voters.
The walled city of Famagusta contains many unique buildings. Famagusta has a walled city popular with tourists.
Every year, the International Famagusta Art and Culture Festival is organized in Famagusta. Concerts, dance shows and theater plays take place during the festival.
A growth in tourism and the city's university have fueled the development of Famagusta's vibrant nightlife. Nightlife in the city is especially active on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday nights and in the hotter months of the year, starting from April. Larger hotels in the city have casinos that cater to their customers. Salamis Road is an area of Famagusta with a heavy concentration of bars frequented by students and locals.
Famagusta's Othello Castle is the setting for Shakespeare's play Othello. The city was also the setting for Victoria Hislop's 2015 novel The Sunrise, and Michael Paraskos's 2016 novel In Search of Sixpence. The city is the birthplace of the eponymous hero of the Renaissance proto-novel Fortunatus.
Famagusta was home to many Greek Cypriot sport teams that left the city because of the Turkish invasion and still bear their original names. Most notable football clubs originally from the city are Anorthosis Famagusta FC and Nea Salamis Famagusta FC, both of the Cypriot First Division, which are now based in Larnaca. Usually Anorthosis Famagusta fans are politically right wing where Nea Salamis fans are left wing.
Famagusta is represented by Mağusa Türk Gücü in the Turkish Cypriot First Division. Dr. Fazıl Küçük Stadium is the largest football stadium in Famagusta. Many Turkish Cypriot sport teams that left Southern Cyprus because of the Cypriot intercommunal violence are based in Famagusta.
Famagusta is represented by DAÜ Sports Club and Magem Sports Club in North Cyprus First Volleyball Division. Gazimağusa Türk Maarif Koleji represents Famagusta in the North Cyprus High School Volleyball League.
Famagusta has a modern volleyball stadium called the Mağusa Arena.
The Eastern Mediterranean University was founded in the city in 1979. The Istanbul Technical University founded a campus in the city in 2010.
The Cyprus College of Art was founded in Famagusta by the Cypriot artist Stass Paraskos in 1969, before moving to Paphos in 1972 after protests from local hoteliers that the presence of art students in the city was putting off holidaymakers.
Famagusta has three general hospitals. Gazimağusa Devlet Hastahanesi, a state hospital, is the biggest hospital in city. Gazimağusa Tıp Merkezi and Gazimağusa Yaşam Hastahanesi are private hospitals.
Personalities
Saint Barnabas, born and died in Salamis, Famagusta
Chris Achilleos, illustrator of the book versions on the BBC children's series Doctor Who
Beran Bertuğ, former Governor of Famagusta, first Cypriot woman to hold this position
Marios Constantinou, former international Cypriot football midfielder and current manager.
Eleftheria Eleftheriou, Cypriot singer.
Derviş Eroğlu, former President of Northern Cyprus
Alexis Galanos, 7th President of the House of Representatives and Famagusta mayor-in-exile (2006-2019) (Republic of Cyprus)
Xanthos Hadjisoteriou, Cypriot painter
Oz Karahan, political activist, President of the Union of Cypriots
Oktay Kayalp, former Turkish Cypriot Famagusta mayor (Northern Cyprus)
Harry Luke British diplomat
Angelos Misos, former international footballer
Costas Montis was an influential and prolific Greek Cypriot poet, novelist, and playwright born in Famagusta.
Hal Ozsan, actor (Dawson's Creek, Kyle XY)
Dimitris Papadakis, a Greek Cypriot politician, who served as a Member of the European Parliament.
Ṣubḥ-i-Azal, Persian religious leader, lived and died in exile in Famagusta
Touker Suleyman (born Türker Süleyman), British Turkish Cypriot fashion retail entrepreneur, investor and reality television personality.
Alexia Vassiliou, singer, left here as a refugee when the town was invaded.
George Vasiliou, former President of Cyprus
Vamik Volkan, Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry
Derviş Zaim, film director
Famagusta is twinned with:
İzmir, Turkey (since 1974)
Corfu, Greece (since 1994)
Patras, Greece (since 1994)
Antalya, Turkey (since 1997)
Salamina (city), Greece (since 1998)
Struga, North Macedonia
Athens, Greece (since 2005)
Mersin, Turkey
Northern Cyprus, officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a de facto state that comprises the northeastern portion of the island of Cyprus. It is recognised only by Turkey, and its territory is considered by all other states to be part of the Republic of Cyprus.
Northern Cyprus extends from the tip of the Karpass Peninsula in the northeast to Morphou Bay, Cape Kormakitis and its westernmost point, the Kokkina exclave in the west. Its southernmost point is the village of Louroujina. A buffer zone under the control of the United Nations stretches between Northern Cyprus and the rest of the island and divides Nicosia, the island's largest city and capital of both sides.
A coup d'état in 1974, performed as part of an attempt to annex the island to Greece, prompted the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. This resulted in the eviction of much of the north's Greek Cypriot population, the flight of Turkish Cypriots from the south, and the partitioning of the island, leading to a unilateral declaration of independence by the north in 1983. Due to its lack of recognition, Northern Cyprus is heavily dependent on Turkey for economic, political and military support.
Attempts to reach a solution to the Cyprus dispute have been unsuccessful. The Turkish Army maintains a large force in Northern Cyprus with the support and approval of the TRNC government, while the Republic of Cyprus, the European Union as a whole, and the international community regard it as an occupation force. This military presence has been denounced in several United Nations Security Council resolutions.
Northern Cyprus is a semi-presidential, democratic republic with a cultural heritage incorporating various influences and an economy that is dominated by the services sector. The economy has seen growth through the 2000s and 2010s, with the GNP per capita more than tripling in the 2000s, but is held back by an international embargo due to the official closure of the ports in Northern Cyprus by the Republic of Cyprus. The official language is Turkish, with a distinct local dialect being spoken. The vast majority of the population consists of Sunni Muslims, while religious attitudes are mostly moderate and secular. Northern Cyprus is an observer state of ECO and OIC under the name "Turkish Cypriot State", PACE under the name "Turkish Cypriot Community", and Organization of Turkic States with its own name.
Several distinct periods of Cypriot intercommunal violence involving the two main ethnic communities, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, marked mid-20th century Cyprus. These included the Cyprus Emergency of 1955–59 during British rule, the post-independence Cyprus crisis of 1963–64, and the Cyprus crisis of 1967. Hostilities culminated in the 1974 de facto division of the island along the Green Line following the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. The region has been relatively peaceful since then, but the Cyprus dispute has continued, with various attempts to solve it diplomatically having been generally unsuccessful.
Cyprus, an island lying in the eastern Mediterranean, hosted a population of Greeks and Turks (four-fifths and one-fifth, respectively), who lived under British rule in the late nineteenth-century and the first half of the twentieth-century. Christian Orthodox Church of Cyprus played a prominent political role among the Greek Cypriot community, a privilege that it acquired during the Ottoman Empire with the employment of the millet system, which gave the archbishop an unofficial ethnarch status.
The repeated rejections by the British of Greek Cypriot demands for enosis, union with Greece, led to armed resistance, organised by the National Organization of Cypriot Struggle, or EOKA. EOKA, led by the Greek-Cypriot commander George Grivas, systematically targeted British colonial authorities. One of the effects of EOKA's campaign was to alter the Turkish position from demanding full reincorporation into Turkey to a demand for taksim (partition). EOKA's mission and activities caused a "Cretan syndrome" (see Turkish Resistance Organisation) within the Turkish Cypriot community, as its members feared that they would be forced to leave the island in such a case as had been the case with Cretan Turks. As such, they preferred the continuation of British colonial rule and then taksim, the division of the island. Due to the Turkish Cypriots' support for the British, EOKA's leader, Georgios Grivas, declared them to be enemies. The fact that the Turks were a minority was, according to Nihat Erim, to be addressed by the transfer of thousands of Turks from mainland Turkey so that Greek Cypriots would cease to be the majority. When Erim visited Cyprus as the Turkish representative, he was advised by Field Marshal Sir John Harding, the then Governor of Cyprus, that Turkey should send educated Turks to settle in Cyprus.
Turkey actively promoted the idea that on the island of Cyprus two distinctive communities existed, and sidestepped its former claim that "the people of Cyprus were all Turkish subjects". In doing so, Turkey's aim to have self-determination of two to-be equal communities in effect led to de jure partition of the island.[citation needed] This could be justified to the international community against the will of the majority Greek population of the island. Dr. Fazil Küçük in 1954 had already proposed Cyprus be divided in two at the 35° parallel.
Lindley Dan, from Notre Dame University, spotted the roots of intercommunal violence to different visions among the two communities of Cyprus (enosis for Greek Cypriots, taksim for Turkish Cypriots). Also, Lindlay wrote that "the merging of church, schools/education, and politics in divisive and nationalistic ways" had played a crucial role in creation of havoc in Cyprus' history. Attalides Michael also pointed to the opposing nationalisms as the cause of the Cyprus problem.
By the mid-1950's, the "Cyprus is Turkish" party, movement, and slogan gained force in both Cyprus and Turkey. In a 1954 editorial, Turkish Cypriot leader Dr. Fazil Kuchuk expressed the sentiment that the Turkish youth had grown up with the idea that "as soon as Great Britain leaves the island, it will be taken over by the Turks", and that "Turkey cannot tolerate otherwise". This perspective contributed to the willingness of Turkish Cypriots to align themselves with the British, who started recruiting Turkish Cypriots into the police force that patrolled Cyprus to fight EOKA, a Greek Cypriot nationalist organisation that sought to rid the island of British rule.
EOKA targeted colonial authorities, including police, but Georgios Grivas, the leader of EOKA, did not initially wish to open up a new front by fighting Turkish Cypriots and reassured them that EOKA would not harm their people. In 1956, some Turkish Cypriot policemen were killed by EOKA members and this provoked some intercommunal violence in the spring and summer, but these attacks on policemen were not motivated by the fact that they were Turkish Cypriots.
However, in January 1957, Grivas changed his policy as his forces in the mountains became increasingly pressured by the British Crown forces. In order to divert the attention of the Crown forces, EOKA members started to target Turkish Cypriot policemen intentionally in the towns, so that Turkish Cypriots would riot against the Greek Cypriots and the security forces would have to be diverted to the towns to restore order. The killing of a Turkish Cypriot policeman on 19 January, when a power station was bombed, and the injury of three others, provoked three days of intercommunal violence in Nicosia. The two communities targeted each other in reprisals, at least one Greek Cypriot was killed and the British Army was deployed in the streets. Greek Cypriot stores were burned and their neighbourhoods attacked. Following the events, the Greek Cypriot leadership spread the propaganda that the riots had merely been an act of Turkish Cypriot aggression. Such events created chaos and drove the communities apart both in Cyprus and in Turkey.
On 22 October 1957 Sir Hugh Mackintosh Foot replaced Sir John Harding as the British Governor of Cyprus. Foot suggested five to seven years of self-government before any final decision. His plan rejected both enosis and taksim. The Turkish Cypriot response to this plan was a series of anti-British demonstrations in Nicosia on 27 and 28 January 1958 rejecting the proposed plan because the plan did not include partition. The British then withdrew the plan.
In 1957, Black Gang, a Turkish Cypriot pro-taksim paramilitary organisation, was formed to patrol a Turkish Cypriot enclave, the Tahtakale district of Nicosia, against activities of EOKA. The organisation later attempted to grow into a national scale, but failed to gain public support.
By 1958, signs of dissatisfaction with the British increased on both sides, with a group of Turkish Cypriots forming Volkan (later renamed to the Turkish Resistance Organisation) paramilitary group to promote partition and the annexation of Cyprus to Turkey as dictated by the Menderes plan. Volkan initially consisted of roughly 100 members, with the stated aim of raising awareness in Turkey of the Cyprus issue and courting military training and support for Turkish Cypriot fighters from the Turkish government.
In June 1958, the British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, was expected to propose a plan to resolve the Cyprus issue. In light of the new development, the Turks rioted in Nicosia to promote the idea that Greek and Turkish Cypriots could not live together and therefore any plan that did not include partition would not be viable. This violence was soon followed by bombing, Greek Cypriot deaths and looting of Greek Cypriot-owned shops and houses. Greek and Turkish Cypriots started to flee mixed population villages where they were a minority in search of safety. This was effectively the beginning of the segregation of the two communities. On 7 June 1958, a bomb exploded at the entrance of the Turkish Embassy in Cyprus. Following the bombing, Turkish Cypriots looted Greek Cypriot properties. On 26 June 1984, the Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktaş, admitted on British channel ITV that the bomb was placed by the Turks themselves in order to create tension. On 9 January 1995, Rauf Denktaş repeated his claim to the famous Turkish newspaper Milliyet in Turkey.
The crisis reached a climax on 12 June 1958, when eight Greeks, out of an armed group of thirty five arrested by soldiers of the Royal Horse Guards on suspicion of preparing an attack on the Turkish quarter of Skylloura, were killed in a suspected attack by Turkish Cypriot locals, near the village of Geunyeli, having been ordered to walk back to their village of Kondemenos.
After the EOKA campaign had begun, the British government successfully began to turn the Cyprus issue from a British colonial problem into a Greek-Turkish issue. British diplomacy exerted backstage influence on the Adnan Menderes government, with the aim of making Turkey active in Cyprus. For the British, the attempt had a twofold objective. The EOKA campaign would be silenced as quickly as possible, and Turkish Cypriots would not side with Greek Cypriots against the British colonial claims over the island, which would thus remain under the British. The Turkish Cypriot leadership visited Menderes to discuss the Cyprus issue. When asked how the Turkish Cypriots should respond to the Greek Cypriot claim of enosis, Menderes replied: "You should go to the British foreign minister and request the status quo be prolonged, Cyprus to remain as a British colony". When the Turkish Cypriots visited the British Foreign Secretary and requested for Cyprus to remain a colony, he replied: "You should not be asking for colonialism at this day and age, you should be asking for Cyprus be returned to Turkey, its former owner".
As Turkish Cypriots began to look to Turkey for protection, Greek Cypriots soon understood that enosis was extremely unlikely. The Greek Cypriot leader, Archbishop Makarios III, now set independence for the island as his objective.
Britain resolved to solve the dispute by creating an independent Cyprus. In 1959, all involved parties signed the Zurich Agreements: Britain, Turkey, Greece, and the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders, Makarios and Dr. Fazil Kucuk, respectively. The new constitution drew heavily on the ethnic composition of the island. The President would be a Greek Cypriot, and the Vice-President a Turkish Cypriot with an equal veto. The contribution to the public service would be set at a ratio of 70:30, and the Supreme Court would consist of an equal number of judges from both communities as well as an independent judge who was not Greek, Turkish or British. The Zurich Agreements were supplemented by a number of treaties. The Treaty of Guarantee stated that secession or union with any state was forbidden, and that Greece, Turkey and Britain would be given guarantor status to intervene if that was violated. The Treaty of Alliance allowed for two small Greek and Turkish military contingents to be stationed on the island, and the Treaty of Establishment gave Britain sovereignty over two bases in Akrotiri and Dhekelia.
On 15 August 1960, the Colony of Cyprus became fully independent as the Republic of Cyprus. The new republic remained within the Commonwealth of Nations.
The new constitution brought dissatisfaction to Greek Cypriots, who felt it to be highly unjust for them for historical, demographic and contributional reasons. Although 80% of the island's population were Greek Cypriots and these indigenous people had lived on the island for thousands of years and paid 94% of taxes, the new constitution was giving the 17% of the population that was Turkish Cypriots, who paid 6% of taxes, around 30% of government jobs and 40% of national security jobs.
Within three years tensions between the two communities in administrative affairs began to show. In particular disputes over separate municipalities and taxation created a deadlock in government. A constitutional court ruled in 1963 Makarios had failed to uphold article 173 of the constitution which called for the establishment of separate municipalities for Turkish Cypriots. Makarios subsequently declared his intention to ignore the judgement, resulting in the West German judge resigning from his position. Makarios proposed thirteen amendments to the constitution, which would have had the effect of resolving most of the issues in the Greek Cypriot favour. Under the proposals, the President and Vice-President would lose their veto, the separate municipalities as sought after by the Turkish Cypriots would be abandoned, the need for separate majorities by both communities in passing legislation would be discarded and the civil service contribution would be set at actual population ratios (82:18) instead of the slightly higher figure for Turkish Cypriots.
The intention behind the amendments has long been called into question. The Akritas plan, written in the height of the constitutional dispute by the Greek Cypriot interior minister Polycarpos Georkadjis, called for the removal of undesirable elements of the constitution so as to allow power-sharing to work. The plan envisaged a swift retaliatory attack on Turkish Cypriot strongholds should Turkish Cypriots resort to violence to resist the measures, stating "In the event of a planned or staged Turkish attack, it is imperative to overcome it by force in the shortest possible time, because if we succeed in gaining command of the situation (in one or two days), no outside, intervention would be either justified or possible." Whether Makarios's proposals were part of the Akritas plan is unclear, however it remains that sentiment towards enosis had not completely disappeared with independence. Makarios described independence as "a step on the road to enosis".[31] Preparations for conflict were not entirely absent from Turkish Cypriots either, with right wing elements still believing taksim (partition) the best safeguard against enosis.
Greek Cypriots however believe the amendments were a necessity stemming from a perceived attempt by Turkish Cypriots to frustrate the working of government. Turkish Cypriots saw it as a means to reduce their status within the state from one of co-founder to that of minority, seeing it as a first step towards enosis. The security situation deteriorated rapidly.
Main articles: Bloody Christmas (1963) and Battle of Tillyria
An armed conflict was triggered after December 21, 1963, a period remembered by Turkish Cypriots as Bloody Christmas, when a Greek Cypriot policemen that had been called to help deal with a taxi driver refusing officers already on the scene access to check the identification documents of his customers, took out his gun upon arrival and shot and killed the taxi driver and his partner. Eric Solsten summarised the events as follows: "a Greek Cypriot police patrol, ostensibly checking identification documents, stopped a Turkish Cypriot couple on the edge of the Turkish quarter. A hostile crowd gathered, shots were fired, and two Turkish Cypriots were killed."
In the morning after the shooting, crowds gathered in protest in Northern Nicosia, likely encouraged by the TMT, without incident. On the evening of the 22nd, gunfire broke out, communication lines to the Turkish neighbourhoods were cut, and the Greek Cypriot police occupied the nearby airport. On the 23rd, a ceasefire was negotiated, but did not hold. Fighting, including automatic weapons fire, between Greek and Turkish Cypriots and militias increased in Nicosia and Larnaca. A force of Greek Cypriot irregulars led by Nikos Sampson entered the Nicosia suburb of Omorphita and engaged in heavy firing on armed, as well as by some accounts unarmed, Turkish Cypriots. The Omorphita clash has been described by Turkish Cypriots as a massacre, while this view has generally not been acknowledged by Greek Cypriots.
Further ceasefires were arranged between the two sides, but also failed. By Christmas Eve, the 24th, Britain, Greece, and Turkey had joined talks, with all sides calling for a truce. On Christmas day, Turkish fighter jets overflew Nicosia in a show of support. Finally it was agreed to allow a force of 2,700 British soldiers to help enforce a ceasefire. In the next days, a "buffer zone" was created in Nicosia, and a British officer marked a line on a map with green ink, separating the two sides of the city, which was the beginning of the "Green Line". Fighting continued across the island for the next several weeks.
In total 364 Turkish Cypriots and 174 Greek Cypriots were killed during the violence. 25,000 Turkish Cypriots from 103-109 villages fled and were displaced into enclaves and thousands of Turkish Cypriot houses were ransacked or completely destroyed.
Contemporary newspapers also reported on the forceful exodus of the Turkish Cypriots from their homes. According to The Times in 1964, threats, shootings and attempts of arson were committed against the Turkish Cypriots to force them out of their homes. The Daily Express wrote that "25,000 Turks have already been forced to leave their homes". The Guardian reported a massacre of Turks at Limassol on 16 February 1964.
Turkey had by now readied its fleet and its fighter jets appeared over Nicosia. Turkey was dissuaded from direct involvement by the creation of a United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) in 1964. Despite the negotiated ceasefire in Nicosia, attacks on the Turkish Cypriot persisted, particularly in Limassol. Concerned about the possibility of a Turkish invasion, Makarios undertook the creation of a Greek Cypriot conscript-based army called the "National Guard". A general from Greece took charge of the army, whilst a further 20,000 well-equipped officers and men were smuggled from Greece into Cyprus. Turkey threatened to intervene once more, but was prevented by a strongly worded letter from the American President Lyndon B. Johnson, anxious to avoid a conflict between NATO allies Greece and Turkey at the height of the Cold War.
Turkish Cypriots had by now established an important bridgehead at Kokkina, provided with arms, volunteers and materials from Turkey and abroad. Seeing this incursion of foreign weapons and troops as a major threat, the Cypriot government invited George Grivas to return from Greece as commander of the Greek troops on the island and launch a major attack on the bridgehead. Turkey retaliated by dispatching its fighter jets to bomb Greek positions, causing Makarios to threaten an attack on every Turkish Cypriot village on the island if the bombings did not cease. The conflict had now drawn in Greece and Turkey, with both countries amassing troops on their Thracian borders. Efforts at mediation by Dean Acheson, a former U.S. Secretary of State, and UN-appointed mediator Galo Plaza had failed, all the while the division of the two communities becoming more apparent. Greek Cypriot forces were estimated at some 30,000, including the National Guard and the large contingent from Greece. Defending the Turkish Cypriot enclaves was a force of approximately 5,000 irregulars, led by a Turkish colonel, but lacking the equipment and organisation of the Greek forces.
The Secretary-General of the United Nations in 1964, U Thant, reported the damage during the conflicts:
UNFICYP carried out a detailed survey of all damage to properties throughout the island during the disturbances; it shows that in 109 villages, most of them Turkish-Cypriot or mixed villages, 527 houses have been destroyed while 2,000 others have suffered damage from looting.
The situation worsened in 1967, when a military junta overthrew the democratically elected government of Greece, and began applying pressure on Makarios to achieve enosis. Makarios, not wishing to become part of a military dictatorship or trigger a Turkish invasion, began to distance himself from the goal of enosis. This caused tensions with the junta in Greece as well as George Grivas in Cyprus. Grivas's control over the National Guard and Greek contingent was seen as a threat to Makarios's position, who now feared a possible coup.[citation needed] The National Guard and Cyprus Police began patrolling the Turkish Cypriot enclaves of Ayios Theodoros and Kophinou, and on November 15 engaged in heavy fighting with the Turkish Cypriots.
By the time of his withdrawal 26 Turkish Cypriots had been killed. Turkey replied with an ultimatum demanding that Grivas be removed from the island, that the troops smuggled from Greece in excess of the limits of the Treaty of Alliance be removed, and that the economic blockades on the Turkish Cypriot enclaves be lifted. Grivas was recalled by the Athens Junta and the 12,000 Greek troops were withdrawn. Makarios now attempted to consolidate his position by reducing the number of National Guard troops, and by creating a paramilitary force loyal to Cypriot independence. In 1968, acknowledging that enosis was now all but impossible, Makarios stated, "A solution by necessity must be sought within the limits of what is feasible which does not always coincide with the limits of what is desirable."
After 1967 tensions between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots subsided. Instead, the main source of tension on the island came from factions within the Greek Cypriot community. Although Makarios had effectively abandoned enosis in favour of an 'attainable solution', many others continued to believe that the only legitimate political aspiration for Greek Cypriots was union with Greece.
On his arrival, Grivas began by establishing a nationalist paramilitary group known as the National Organization of Cypriot Fighters (Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston B or EOKA-B), drawing comparisons with the EOKA struggle for enosis under the British colonial administration of the 1950s.
The military junta in Athens saw Makarios as an obstacle. Makarios's failure to disband the National Guard, whose officer class was dominated by mainland Greeks, had meant the junta had practical control over the Cypriot military establishment, leaving Makarios isolated and a vulnerable target.
During the first Turkish invasion, Turkish troops invaded Cyprus territory on 20 July 1974, invoking its rights under the Treaty of Guarantee. This expansion of Turkish-occupied zone violated International Law as well as the Charter of the United Nations. Turkish troops managed to capture 3% of the island which was accompanied by the burning of the Turkish Cypriot quarter, as well as the raping and killing of women and children. A temporary cease-fire followed which was mitigated by the UN Security Council. Subsequently, the Greek military Junta collapsed on July 23, 1974, and peace talks commenced in which a democratic government was installed. The Resolution 353 was broken after Turkey attacked a second time and managed to get a hold of 37% of Cyprus territory. The Island of Cyprus was appointed a Buffer Zone by the United Nations, which divided the island into two zones through the 'Green Line' and put an end to the Turkish invasion. Although Turkey announced that the occupied areas of Cyprus to be called the Federated Turkish State in 1975, it is not legitimised on a worldwide political scale. The United Nations called for the international recognition of independence for the Republic of Cyprus in the Security Council Resolution 367.
In the years after the Turkish invasion of northern Cyprus one can observe a history of failed talks between the two parties. The 1983 declaration of the independent Turkish Republic of Cyprus resulted in a rise of inter-communal tensions and made it increasingly hard to find mutual understanding. With Cyprus' interest of a possible EU membership and a new UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 1997 new hopes arose for a fresh start. International involvement from sides of the US and UK, wanting a solution to the Cyprus dispute prior to the EU accession led to political pressures for new talks. The believe that an accession without a solution would threaten Greek-Turkish relations and acknowledge the partition of the island would direct the coming negotiations.
Over the course of two years a concrete plan, the Annan plan was formulated. In 2004 the fifth version agreed upon from both sides and with the endorsement of Turkey, US, UK and EU then was presented to the public and was given a referendum in both Cypriot communities to assure the legitimisation of the resolution. The Turkish Cypriots voted with 65% for the plan, however the Greek Cypriots voted with a 76% majority against. The Annan plan contained multiple important topics. Firstly it established a confederation of two separate states called the United Cyprus Republic. Both communities would have autonomous states combined under one unified government. The members of parliament would be chosen according to the percentage in population numbers to ensure a just involvement from both communities. The paper proposed a demilitarisation of the island over the next years. Furthermore it agreed upon a number of 45000 Turkish settlers that could remain on the island. These settlers became a very important issue concerning peace talks. Originally the Turkish government encouraged Turks to settle in Cyprus providing transfer and property, to establish a counterpart to the Greek Cypriot population due to their 1 to 5 minority. With the economic situation many Turkish-Cypriot decided to leave the island, however their departure is made up by incoming Turkish settlers leaving the population ratio between Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots stable. However all these points where criticised and as seen in the vote rejected mainly by the Greek Cypriots. These name the dissolution of the „Republic of Cyprus", economic consequences of a reunion and the remaining Turkish settlers as reason. Many claim that the plan was indeed drawing more from Turkish-Cypriot demands then Greek-Cypriot interests. Taking in consideration that the US wanted to keep Turkey as a strategic partner in future Middle Eastern conflicts.
A week after the failed referendum the Republic of Cyprus joined the EU. In multiple instances the EU tried to promote trade with Northern Cyprus but without internationally recognised ports this spiked a grand debate. Both side endure their intention of negotiations, however without the prospect of any new compromises or agreements the UN is unwilling to start the process again. Since 2004 negotiations took place in numbers but without any results, both sides are strongly holding on to their position without an agreeable solution in sight that would suit both parties.
There is something special about a well-worn leather planner.
This one is at least 10 years old - probably much older. It was originally for work, was replaced a few years ago, but was still perfectly serviceable.
So now it’s my At Home planner, and most importantly my photography planner.
It’s daily pages list the challenges for the day, and a sticky note for the weekly challenges so I can just move it from day to day and cross things off as accomplished.
I’ve created numerous pages full of lists of ideas, props, sets, as well as tracking progress on the year-long challenge groups.
For various reasons, the pandemic threw me off my well-ordered path last year - something I’m trying very hard to fix this year.
Our Daily Challenge- Jan 9, 2021 - Brown
Yes - taken with the iPhone. I actually went out and took a picture of bark with the Nikon, earlier, but then sat down at the Kitchen Table and... well... the planner was calling to me.
It seems very odd to me, as I'm sure it does to you, that Dustin Hoffman is (at the time of this writing) now 78 years old, because even though I'm too young to have seen "The Graduate" in the theater, he's still the guy from "Marathon Man" and "Tootsie" to me. 1967's "The Graduate" was, of course, his breakthrough film role - though he was already an accomplished theater actor.
It was a breakthrough vehicle for another star as well - the Alfa Duetto spider, which in time would become the best selling Alfa-Romeo of all time (by a huge margin) in North America and the car that likely comes first to mind when many Americans think of Alfa-Romeo.
The Duetto (never its official name, but one which was chosen by a contest winner in 1966), with its Pininfarina styling and rounded tail, featured prominently in the film. Long scenes of Hoffman driving the car around California became iconic, and the car quickly became Alfa's top seller in the U.S. lineup, a position it would retain for the rest of its career. In 1993, the second "Wayne's World" film would directly parody these scenes. Introduced in 1966, The Spider was still on sale when that film came out. In December of 1993.
Although periodically changed, the Spider evolved slowly after 1970 (when the rear end was squared off), and continued to sell well even after the other 105-series Alfas (the Bertone-styled coupes and the square-rigged sedans) were retired. Though those vehicles were replaced by the Alfetta, the strong sales of the Spider, particularly in North America, were enough to convince Alfa to keep the car going.
At one point, the Spider was Alfa's only U.S. model, at a particular nadir in 1980 when the Alfetta had been dropped but there wasn't a good plan for federalizing any of the other models in the European lineup.
Though the Spider was one of the more sophisticated and expensive cars in its class, it originally competed with cars like the Sunbeam Alpine, Datsun Roadster, and MGB. At various times it would be compared to cars as diverse as the Mazda RX-7, Toyota MR-2, Fiat X1/9, Pontiac Fiero, and ultimately, the Mazda Miata.
By 1985, the last of its original competitors - the Fiat Spider - was retired. That year, Alfa-Romeo unveiled a special entry-level version of the Spider called - of course - the Graduate.
Inspired once again by the film, by then a classic itself, the Graduate featured a more basic interior and fewer features than the regular Spider, and cost $3,000 less - money which in 1985 could probably have bought you a serviceable 1967 Spider, but that's beside the point.
The Graduate became the most popular variant of the Spider in the years it was offered (1985-1990) and it was a U.S. exclusive.
The car seen here is one of the earliest Graduates - in 1986 the black spoiler got a high-mounted brake light where the Alfa badge is.
The Spider continued to sell in quantities large enough to make a profit - and even got a major restyle and some mechanical upgrades for 1991, but could soldier on no further after 1993, with the last run cars being sold into early 1994.
©2015 A. Kwanten.
Pressing the favourite-button? Take your time, read the text, think, and leave a comment please!
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The Cologne Club "Freundeskreis Eisenbahn Koeln" had the big goal of restoring the still existing coaches of the famous "Rheingold" luxury train back to their origins of 1928.
In late 1969 the first two coaches were finshed, while the rest still had to be restored, but was in good order.
So the Club decided to make a first trip as "Rheingold" along the original route of the train from Cologne along the Rhein river to Mainz and Darmstadt to Karlsruhe.
While living along the Darmstadt - Heidelberg/Mannheim mainline I caught the chance to get a good image of the train and decided to take the train to the big junction of Mannheim-Friedrichsfeld, where the line to Heidelberg, Karlsruhe(the direct way) and Mannheim diverge from each other, forming three double track mainlines from there on to Karlsruhe, where they again reunite. The original Rheingold route in fact first followed the direct line to Karlsruhe straight ahead, avoiding a stop at Heidelberg or Mannheim respectively. This route was chosen to avoid changing direction and engines respectively. Heidelberg in the 1920(up to 1956, when the new station was ready) was a dead-end station, and though Mannheim was a through station, a train arriving from the north(via the "Riedbahn" Frankfurt - Mannheim) also had to change direction then.
Later on the Rheingold" nonetheless got a stop at Mannheim, where the engines had to be changed.
A class 18.5 of Mainz MPD was in charge of the train from the dutch border to Mannheim, and here a class 18.3 - ex class IVh - took over to Basel SBB.
Well - as none of the mentioned engines was serviceable at the time, the club chose a class 01 engine, which of course surely was autenthic as well.
01 128 of Trier MPD was chosen for the entire trip, Trier being the next depot from Cologne housing several class 01 engines then.
The train ran twice, first time on Saturday, March 8th, 1970 and a second time the next sunday.
So I was able to catch the train on it´s first trip at Mannheim-Friedrichsfeld while charging through in moderate speed without stopping there.
Thankfully the driver had opened up again after being led into the through tracks to Karlsruhe, thus producing a nice steam plume on that dull and misty winter day.
Pity that no one had thought of changing the engine plates to their Original as 01 128 in these times, at least on the front...
Captured with Praktika Nova I und Meyer 1,8/58 mm on Ilford FP4 film, photographed with Novoflex slide-copying device and Nikon D800 and Sigma 2,8 / 105 mm macro lens.
***
1970 waren beim Freundeskreis Eisenbahn Köln gerade zwei historische Rheingold-Wagen des ursprünglichen Vorkriegs-Rheingoldzuges äußerlich wiederhergestellt worden.
Dies nahm man zum Anlaß, eine erste große Sonderfahrt mit allen ehemaligen Rheingoldwagen durchzuführen, auch wenn der Rest der Wagen sich noch nicht wieder im Ursprungszustand befand.
Die Reise führte über den Hauptteil der historischen Strecke von Köln nach Karlsruhe, wobei ab Mainz über Darmstadt - Mannheim-Friedrichsfeld - Schwetzingen gefahren wurde.
Hier sieht man den Zug bei der Durchfahrt in Mannheim-Friedrichsfeld, bespannt mit der Trierer 01 128.
Das war damals das Bw, das am nächsten bei Köln lag und
noch eine 01 als authentische Bespannung stellen konnte.
Daß bis dahin nur zwei Wagen in den Originalzustand versetzt worden waren, fällt bei dem diffusen winterlichen Licht hier kaum auf.
Mannheim-Friedrichsfeld, 8.3.1970
_____________________________
Following our ride on the Chemin de fer de Vivarais from Tournon to Colombier-Le-Vieux and back metre-gauge 0-6-0-6-0T compound Mallet 403 is turned on the table at Tournon shed. Since 2013 this has been the eastern terminus and the dual-gauge section to the SNCF station in Tournon is no longer in use.
403 was built in Switzerland for the cdf de Viverais in 1903. Despite its pristine appearance the loco will be withdrawn for overhaul in the near future. The railway has one other serviceable Mallet at Tournon and 2 under overhaul, the latter at Lamastre.
This is the off-season and on Tuesdays only one train runs and this a shorter journey to Colombier-Le-Vieux rather than the 2 hour full 30km journey to Lamastre.
DL43 stored in a serviceable condition sits alongside stripped DL36 in the Port Augusta workshops on 24-9-2015
View on the engine shed of the metre gauge Peloponessos system at Patras. Some steam activity remained on irregular duties. In the middle McArthur 1947 built Da7107 with Linke hoffman 1924 E7724 thereafter, both in serviceable condition. At left is Breda built Di7117 2-8-2, out of use
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kurt Bühligen
Born13 December 1917
Granschütz, Province of Saxony
Died11 August 1985 (aged 67)
Nidda, Hesse
BuriedCity cemetery at Nidda
Allegiance Nazi Germany
Service/branchBalkenkreuz (Iron Cross) Luftwaffe
Years of service1936–45
RankOberstleutnant (lieutenant colonel)
UnitJG 2
Commands held4./JG 2, II./JG 2, JG 2
Kurt Bühligen (13 December 1917 – 11 August 1985) was a Luftwaffe wing commander and fighter ace of Nazi Germany during World War II. He was credited with 112 enemy aircraft shot down in over 700 combat missions. His victories were all claimed over the Western Front and included 14 four-engine bombers and 47 Supermarine Spitfire fighters.
Born in Granschütz, Bühligen, volunteered for military service in the Luftwaffe of Nazi Germany in 1936. Initially trained as an aircraft mechanic, after the outbreak of World War II, he was trained as a pilot. In June 1940, he was posted to Jagdgeschwader 2 "Richthofen" (JG 2—2nd Fighter Wing). He fought in the Battle of Britain and claimed his first aerial victory in that campaign on 4 September 1940. Promoted to an officers rank, Bühligen was appointed squadron leader of the 4. Staffel (4th squadron) of JG 2 in April 1942. In November 1942, his unit was transferred to the Mediterranean and theatre where he claimed his 50th aerial victory in February 1943. Back on the Channel Front, he was appointed commander of the II. Gruppe (2nd group) of JG 2 in April 1943. Following his 96th, Bühligen was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves in March 1944. In April 1944, he replaced Kurt Ubben as commander of JG 2. He claimed his 100th victory on 7 June 1944 and in August received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords after 104 aerial victories. In May 1945, he was taken prisoner of war by Soviet forces and released in 1949.
Bühligen then settled in Nidda where he worked in automotive sales. He died on 11 August 1985 in Nidda.
Early life and career
Bühligen, the son of a pipefitter, was born on 13 December 1917 in Granschütz, in Province of Saxony of the German Empire. He joined the military service of the Luftwaffe with Flieger-Ersatz-Abteilung (Aviator Replacement Unit) in Oschatz on 13 March 1936. Following his recruit training he served as an aircraft mechanic with Kampfgeschwader 153 (KG 153—153rd Bomber Wing) from September 1937 to 15 February 1938. He then served as a mechanic with 2. Staffel (squadron) of Kampfgeschwader 4 (KG 4—4th Bomber Wing) from 16 February 1938 to 30 April 1939.[1]
World War II
World War II in Europe had begun on Friday 1 September 1939 when German forces invaded Poland. Bühligen then trained as a pilot,[Note 1] and was then posted to Jagdgeschwader 2 "Richthofen" (JG 2—2nd Fighter Wing), named after World War I fighter ace Manfred von Richthofen, as an Unteroffizier (non-commissioned officer) on 15 June 1940.[Note 2] There, he was assigned to the 2. Staffel, the 2nd squadron of I. Gruppe (1st group) of JG 2 which was equipped with the Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter aircraft.[1] At the time, 2. Staffel was under the command of Oberleutnant (First Lieutenant) Karl-Heinz Greisert.[3] On 4 September 1940, Bühligen claimed his first aerial victory, a Hawker Hurricane shot down over Dover.[4] He was then transferred to 6. Staffel, a squadron of II. Gruppe (2nd group) of JG 2. There, Bühlingen frequently flew as wingman to Greisert.[5] Greisert had been placed in command of II. Gruppe on 2 September.[6] In September 1940, Bühligen claimed three aerial victories, a Hurricane on 11 September and a Supermarine Spitfire fighter on 26 and 30 September each.[5] Following three further victories claimed in October,[5] he was awarded the Iron Cross 1st Class (Eisernes Kreuz erster Klasse) on 29 October 1940.[7] Bühligen claimed one further aerial victory on 7 November 1940, a Hurricane southeast of the Isle of Wight, before he was transferred to 4. Staffel, also a squadron of II. Gruppe.[5]
On 18 June 1941, II. Gruppe moved from Beaumont-le-Roger to Abbeville-Drucat where it stayed for the next six months. From this point on, the Gruppe defended against the RAF Fighter Command "non-stop offensive" over France.[8] In July and August 1941, while flying with 4. Staffel, Bühligen claimed seven Spitfires shot down, one on 7 July, two on 10 July, one on 11 July, two on 23 July and another on 7 August respectively.[9] He then served with the Stab (headquarters unit) of JG 2 and claimed six further aerial victories in August and September 1941, one Hurricane and five Spitfires.[10] One year after his first aerial victory, Bühligen was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) on 4 September 1941. At the time he was credited with 21 aerial victories and 15 tethered balloons shot down.[11]
On 1 January 1942, Bühligen was promoted to Leutnant (second lieutenant).[11] In March 1942, II. Gruppe began converting to the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 radial engine fighter aircraft. Conversion training was done in a round-robin system, Staffel by Staffel, at the Le Bourget Airfield near Paris. The conversion completed by end-April. From then on, the Gruppe was equipped with the Fw 190 A-2 and A-3 variant.[12] Bühligen was appointed Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 4. Staffel of JG 2 on 1 August 1942, thus succeeding Oberleutnant Jürgen Hepe who was transferred.[13] He claimed his first aerial victories as Staffelkapitän during the Dieppe Raid on 19 August. That day, II. Gruppe claimed 26 aerial victories, including four Spitfires shot down by Bühligen, for the loss of four Fw 190s.[14] In early November, the Gruppe moved from Beaumont to Merville before ordered to relocate to the Mediterranean Theater.[15]
Mediterranean theater
In early November 1942, the Western Allies launched Operation Torch, the Anglo–American invasion of French North Africa. On 17 November, II. Gruppe of JG 2 was withdrawn from the English Channel Front and ordered to San Pietro Clarenza, Sicily. At the time, the Gruppe was equipped with the Fw 190 A-3, some Fw 190 A-2s, and received the A-4 variant in early December. This made II. Gruppe of JG 2 the only Fw 190 equipped fighter unit in the Mediterranean Theater. The Gruppe flew its first missions on 19 November, securing German air and sea transportation to Tunis. That day, elements of II. Gruppe began relocating to Bizerte Airfield.[16] Bühlingen claimed his first aerial victory in this theater of operations on 3 December over a Spitfire south of Tebourba[17]
II. Gruppe area of operations in Tunisia.
On 5 December, his acting Gruppenkommandeur (group commander) Oberleutnant Adolf Dickfeld submitted Bühligen for preferential promotion to Oberleutnant. The nomination was reviewed by the commanding general of the II. Fliegerkorps (2nd Air Corps) General der Flieger (General of the Aviators) Bruno Loerzer, headquartered at Taormina, Sicily and by Feldmarschall (Field Marshal) Albert Kesselring, at the time Oberbefehlshaber Süd (Commander in Chief in the South). Both Loerzer and Kesselring approved the nomination leading to Bühligen's promotion on 1 February 1943.[11][18] On 26 December, eighteen Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), escorted by eight Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighters, attacked the harbor of Bizerte destroying approximately 100 fuel barrels and damaged one cargo ship. II. Gruppe intercepted the USAAF formation on their return from the target area, claiming three P-38 fighters shot down, including two by Bühligen.[19]
In January 1943, the bulk of II. Gruppe of JG 2 was based at an airfield at Sidi Ahmed near Bizerte. On 4 January, 4. Staffel intercepted a formation of Douglas A-20 Havoc "Boston" bombers, escorted by Curtiss P-40 Warhawk fighters, on bombing mission to Fondouk, approximately 140 kilometers (87 miles) south-east of Bizerte. The bombers were already under attack by Bf 109s from I. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 53 (JG 53rd—53rd Fighter Wing) when 4. Staffel encountered the bombers west of Fondouk. In this encounter, Bühlingen shot down a P-40 and a Boston which he misidentified as a Martin B-26 Marauder bomber.[20] On 7 January, II. Gruppe moved to Kairouan Airfield.[21] The next day, II. Gruppe flew numerous missions and claimed twelve aerial victories, including three P-38s shot down by Bühligen, for the loss of two Fw 190s.[22] One of the P-38s claimed by Bühligen was a 49th Fighter Squadron aircraft strafing tanks near Kairouan.[23] On 14 January, he was credited with the destruction of another P-38. A flight of B-17s bombers, escorted by P-38s, had attacked the harbor of Sousse.[22]
On 30 January, five Fw 190s from 4. Staffel were scrambled at 07:30 to intercept a flight of six Spitfires spotted northwest of Kairouan. Shortly after takeoff, 4. Staffel intercepted the Spitfires and claimed three Spitfires shot down, including two by Bühligen, without loss.[24] On 2 February, Bühligen became an "ace-in-a-day", claiming three P-40s, a Spitfire and a Bell P-39 Airacobra in combat near Kairouan.[25] Only one Spitfire was shot down on this day and Bühligen, according to the claims list, was the only German to report one destroyed. No. 225 Squadron RAF lost Flying Officer S.H.A Short killed near Kasserine.[26] Ten P-40s of the 33rd Fighter Group were lost—eight from the 59th Fighter Squadron and two from the 60th Fighter Squadron.[26] Five American pilots were killed in action and one captured. German pilots claimed 13 Allied fighters; 11 were recorded lost in aerial combat.[26]
II. Gruppe flew its last combat missions in North Africa on 11 and 12 March 1943. At the time, the Gruppe had ten Fw 190s remaining, seven of which still serviceable.[27] Bühligen claimed three aerial victories on 12 March, two P-38s and a B-17 near La Sebala Airfield. [28] On 18 March, the aircraft were handed over to III. Gruppe of Schnellkampfgeschwader 10 (SKG 10—10th Fast Bomber Wing). The pilots and ground personal were flown to Sicily on 22 March.[27]
Gruppenkommandeur
II. Gruppe was then ordered to Beaumont-le-Roger, where they arrived on 27 March 1943 and equipped with the Bf 109 G. Until mid-May, the Gruppe trained on this fighter aircraft.[29] During this training period, Bühlingen was promoted to Hauptmann (captain) on 1 May.[11] The first operational missions following the relocation to France were flown on 13 May.[30] On 15 May, II. Gruppe defended against an attack on the airfield Poix-Nord at Poix-de-Picardie. During this engagement, Bühligen claimed a North American P-51 Mustang shot down 30 kilometers (19 miles) north-northwest of Berck. Two days later, he claimed a Hawker Typhoon shot down north of Caen.[31][32] Bühligen received the German Cross in Gold (Deutsches Kreuz in Gold) on 25 June 1943.[11]
Messerschmitt Bf 109 of JG 2, September 1943
On 1 July 1943, Bühligen was appointed Gruppenkommandeur (group commander) of II. Gruppe of JG 2. He replaced Hauptmann Erich Rudorffer in this capacity who had been transferred to IV. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 54 (JG 54—54th Fighter Wing). That day, most of the air elements of II. Gruppe relocated to Évreux-Fauville Air Base.[33] On 4 July, Bühligen led II. Gruppe against an attack by the USAAF VIII Bomber Command, later renamed to Eighth Air Force, on Nantes and Le Mans. The Gruppe claimed three B-17s and five escort fighters shot down for the loss of a Bf 109 shot down and six further damaged.[34] Bühlingen was credited with the destruction of a Spitfire and a Republic P-47 Thunderbolt in this engagement.[31] On 14 July, Bühligen led II. Gruppe in defense of an USAAF attack on the airfields at Villacoublay and Le Bourget. That day, II. Gruppe claimed three B-17s, one P-47 and four Spitfires, including one by Bühlingen, destroyed for the loss of two Bf 109s and one further Bf 109 damaged.[35]
In early September 1943, Allied air operations under the deception Operation Starkey were very active. On 6 September, II. Gruppe defended against USAAF heavy bombers attacking Stuttgart.[36] That day, II. Gruppe claimed eight aerial victories, including four by Bühlingen, for the loss of three Bf 109s.[37]
Bühligen was promoted to Major (Major) on 1 January 1944 and received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub) on 2 March 1944. He was the 413th member of the German armed forces to be so honored and at the time he was listed with 96 aerial victories.[11] The presentation was made by Adolf Hitler at the Berghof, Hitler's residence in the Obersalzberg of the Bavarian Alps, on 4 April 1944. Among others, also present at the award ceremony were Hauptmann Hans-Joachim Jabs, Major Bernhard Jope and Major Hansgeorg Bätcher.[38]
Wing commander
On 27 April 1944, Major Kurt Ubben Geschwaderkommodore (wing commander) of JG 2 was killed in action. In consequence, Bühligen became the last Geschwaderkommodore of JG 2.[39] Command of II. Gruppe was then passed to Hauptmann Georg Schröder who had commanded the 4. Staffel of JG 2.[40] On 7 June 1944, Bühligen shot down two Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighters in the vicinity of Caen, taking his total to 100 aerial victories.[41] He was the 75th Luftwaffe pilot to achieve the century mark.[42] Following his 104th aerial victory, Bühligen received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern) on 14 August 1944. He was the 88th member of the German armed forces to be so honored. On 1 October, Bühligen was promoted to Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel)[43]
On 5 December 1944, Bühlingen was briefed on the operational objectives of Operation Bodenplatte, an air superiority operation in support of the Battle of the Bulge launched on 1 January 1945. The meeting took place at the headquarters of II. Jagdkorps (2nd Fighter Corps) at Flammersfeld.[44] JG 2's main objective was Sint-Truiden Airfield where it sustained heavy losses in the attack.[45] Bühligen himself did not fly during Operation Bodenplatte.[46]
As Geschwaderkommodore, Bühligen was ordered to Berlin on 22 January 1945 and attended the meeting with Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring which was later dubbed the Fighter Pilots' Mutiny. This was an attempt to reinstate Generalleutnant Adolf Galland as General der Jagdflieger who had been dismissed for outspokenness regarding the Oberkommando der Luftwaffe (Luftwaffe high command), and had been replaced by Oberst Gordon Gollob. The meeting was held at the Haus der Flieger in Berlin and was attended by a number of high-ranking fighter pilot leaders which included Bühligen, Günther Lützow, Hannes Trautloft, Hermann Graf, Gerhard Michalski, Helmut Bennemann, Erich Leie and Herbert Ihlefeld, and their antagonist Göring supported by his staff Bernd von Brauchitsch and Karl Koller. The fighter pilots, with Lützow taking the lead as spokesman, criticized Göring and made him personally responsible for the decisions taken which effectively had led to the lost air war over Europe.[47]
During the final days of World War II in Europe, Bühligen led JG 2 in operations against the Soviet advance on the Eastern Front. On 18 April, the remnants of JG 2 moved to Cham. Two days later, JG 2 relocated to Berlin Tempelhof Airport via Plzeň where they refueled and moved on to Leck Airfield. From Leck, JG 2 flew missions in support of the German forces fighting in the Battle of Berlin. At the time, Leck was under constant attack by the RAF. On 23 April, some elements of I. and II. Gruppe which were still based at Cham surrendered to US forces. A few pilots managed to fly to Pocking before moving on to the area of Erding-Holzkirchen-Prien. With 12 aircraft remaining, Bühligen disbanded JG 2 on 30 April while parts of JG 2 were dispersed in Leck and Föching near Straubing. The last elements of JG 2 surrendered to British forces on 8 May at Leck.[48] An engine failure caused Bühligen to be taken prisoner by the Soviets, being finally released in 1950.
Later life
In December 1949, Bühligen was released from captivity and returned to West Germany. He settled in Nidda, Hesse where he ran two car dealerships.[43] Bühligen died on 11 August 1985 and was buried at the city cemetery at Nidda in section D, grave 42.[7]
Summary of career
Aerial victory claims
According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Bühligen was credited with 112 aerial victories.[49] Spick also lists him with 112 aerial victories, of which 40 were claimed over the North Africa, 72 over the Western Front including 24 four-engined heavy bombers, claimed in over 700 combat missions.[50] Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for more than 99 aerial victory claims, plus nine further unconfirmed claims. All of his victories were claimed on the Western Front and include 13 four-engined bombers.[51]
Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 05 Ost 1157". The Luftwaffe grid map (Jägermeldenetz) covered all of Europe, western Russia and North Africa and was composed of rectangles measuring 15 minutes of latitude by 30 minutes of longitude, an area of about 360 square miles (930 km2). These sectors were then subdivided into 36 smaller units to give a location area 3 km × 4 km (1.9 mi × 2.5 mi) in size.[52]
07.12.15. As from today weekday daytime Purple route trams to/from Herdings have been cancelled until further notice and replaced by buses, as a result of a shortage of serviceable trams. Instead a 'shuttle' bus is being provided, feeding into Blue route trams at Gleadless Townend. This Stagecoach Yorkshire MAN has just left Herdings bus terminus (on the left) on the seven-minute run to Gleadless Townend, with the tram terminus just out of sight to the right.
The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) A1 Class is an English class of 0-6-0T steam locomotive. Designed by William Stroudley, 50 members of the class were built in 1872 and between 1874 and 1880, all at Brighton Works. The class has received several nicknames, initially being known as "Rooters" by their south London crews. However, the engines were more famously known as "Terriers" on account of the distinctive 'bark' of the exhaust beat.
A1 (Terrier) Class 0-6-0T No. 3 ‘Bodiam’ (70 ‘Poplar’, BR No.32570) designed by William Stroudley, built in 1872 at Brighton Works. Rebuilt to A1X in 1943 at St Leonards Works.
In May 1901 it was for £650 to Kent & East Sussex Railway and went into service K&ESR No. 3 ‘Bodiam’ where it stayed to 1931 when it was withdrawn from service and left to rusting on a siding at Rolvenden Yard until in 1932/33 it lost its name around 1935. It became serviceable when another Terrier (71 ‘Wapping’ then running as No.5 ‘Rolvenden’) was cannibalised for parts to restore ‘Bodiam’ back into service but without the nameplate.
It went to British Rail (S) in 1948 at nationalisation, when it was based at Rolvenden, moving to Ashford, then spent time at St Leonards from 1954 before moving to Brighton in 1957 and ended up working on the Hayling Island Branch, based at Eastleigh in 1963 being withdrawn in the same year. It was sold to Kent & East Sussex Preservation Society in April 1964 and then acquired by The Terrier Trust 1995 for use on the K&ESR now preserved as No. 3 ‘Bodiam’.
Photographer: unknown – Copyright – H.G. Casserley Print – taken when withdrawn on a siding at Rolvenden Yard on 14/03/1931
25260 WA09KWS Stagecoach Southwest seen here in Okehampton working new service 75A to Atlantic Village Bideford. This service is normally in the hands of the smaller darts 35164 - 35168 owing to housing estates and Weare Giffard Village, but owing to not enough serviceable vehicles this beast made a rare appearance.
I'd bet most American flight attendants - trapped in their drab, serviceable navy-blue sack dresses - would cry at the sight of that little green dress. Granted you'd need the right figure to carry that line of piping at the bust - but it's such a stunning colour and, well, just PRETTY.
The man on the right seems awfully young to have four stripes on his cuff....
"The field" was a one-time grassy area of waste ground adjoining the bus garage site at Stainforth. It was at the edge of a housing estate and was presumably owned by the local council. It was rather muddy and uneven but has been slightly improved over the years by the tipping of brick rubble, cinders and crushed stone to extend the parking area for buses. Between 1963 and 1967, S. Morgan Ltd and R. Store Ltd took delivery of six Guy Arab V double deckers. They were fitted with 73-seat front-entrance bodies by Charles H. Roe of Crossgates, Leeds. The first was 891GWT and this also became the last, as it was the only serviceable Guy bus in the fleet at the time of take-over by SYPTE.
G-VAJK, Arvo 748 Series 1 (CN 1557) of EuroAir Transport Ltd, photographed on turnaround at Dundee Airport in April 1986. At the time Euroair operated a weekday Dundee-Carlisle-Heathrow service nominally with the 748 but in practice substituting Heralds and anything else they could charter at short notice such was the serviceability issues with this aircraft. A major check at Exeter from June onwards saw it reregistered G-BEKG although serviceability didn't seem to improve.
Built in 1963, whilst the Avro brand was still active, the aircraft was delivered to Aerolineas Argentinas as LV-PXH, 'Ciudad de Sante Fe' in September 1963, before being reregistered LV-IEE on arrival in Argentina. Sold to Dan Air in July 1977 as G-BEKG the aircraft spent time with Caymen Airways as VR-CBH from 1982. Sold again, this time to Alexandra Aviation, she was leased to Air Commuter then Venture Airways flying from Coventry to Paris and finally Euroair who took ownership in July 1986. Reregistered G-DAAL in 1992, with a final move to Emerald Airways in October 1993, she operated until December 1996 before being stored at Blackpool then scrapped in 1997. Scanned from an original 35 mm colour transparency via Hasselblad X-5
A class 104 BRC&W DMU catches the sun as it approaches Wolverhampton H.L. station from the north. To the left green liveried D300 is waiting. Between the and the long black building (Carver's yard) is the Wolverhampton canal
D300 was built at the Vulcan Foundry, it went new to Crewe (north) 31/10/1960. Under TOPS it became 40100, the loco was withdrawn, still serviceable, from traffic 05/10/1980 and cut at Swindon works in June 1981. In 1965 D300 was allocated to Bescot, perhaps during this time, Peter took his picture.
Peter Shoesmith C1965/66
Copyright Geoff Dowling & John Whitehouse; all rights reserved
The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) A1 Class is an English class of 0-6-0T steam locomotive. Designed by William Stroudley, 50 members of the class were built in 1872 and between 1874 and 1880, all at Brighton Works. The class has received several nicknames, initially being known as "Rooters" by their south London crews. However, the engines were more famously known as "Terriers" on account of the distinctive 'bark' of the exhaust beat.
A1X (Terrier) Class 0-6-0T No. 3 ‘Bodiam’ (70 ‘Poplar’, BR No.32570) designed by William Stroudley, built in 1872 at Brighton Works. Rebuilt to A1X in 1943 at St Leonards Works.
In May 1901 it was for £650 to Kent & East Sussex Railway and went into service K&ESR No. 3 ‘Bodiam’ where it stayed to 1931 when it was withdrawn from service and left to rusting on a siding at Rolvenden Yard until in 1932/33 it lost its name around 1935. It became serviceable when another Terrier (71 ‘Wapping’ then running as No.5 ‘Rolvenden’) was cannibalised for parts to restore ‘Bodiam’ back into service but without the nameplate.
It went to British Rail (S) in 1948 at nationalisation, when it was based at Rolvenden, moving to Ashford, then spent time at St Leonards from 1954 before moving to Brighton in 1957 and ended up working on the Hayling Island Branch, based at Eastleigh in 1963 being withdrawn in the same year. It was sold to Kent & East Sussex Preservation Society in April 1964 and then acquired by The Terrier Trust 1995 for use on the K&ESR now preserved as No. 3 ‘Bodiam’.
Photographer: unknown – Copyright – H.G. Casserley Prints – taken at Rolvenden Yard on 15/07/195 in BR Livery minus a crest
NC18602 314 California Clipper 1939–1950 Sold to World Airways after the War and was scrapped in 1950.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Role Flying boat airliner
Manufacturer Boeing Airplane Company
First flight June 7, 1938
Introduction 1939
Retired 1946
Status Retired
Primary users Pan American World Airways
British Overseas Airways Corporation
United States Navy
Produced 1938–1941
Number built 12
The Boeing 314 Clipper was a long-range flying boat produced by the Boeing Airplane Company between 1938 and 1941. One of the largest aircraft of the time, it used the massive wing of Boeing’s earlier XB-15 bomber prototype to achieve the range necessary for flights across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Twelve Clippers were built; nine were brought into service for Pan Am and later transferred to the U.S. military.[1] The remaining three were sold to British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) by Pan Am and delivered in early 1941. (BOAC's 3 Short S.26 transoceanic flying-boats had been requisitioned by the RAF).
Design and development
The Yankee Clipper in 1939
Pan American had requested a flying boat with unprecedented range that could augment the airline's trans-Pacific Martin M-130. Boeing's bid was successful and on July 21, 1936, Pan American signed a contract for six. Boeing engineers adapted the cancelled XB-15's 149 ft (45 m) wing, and replaced the 850 hp (630 kW) Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp radial engines with the 1,600 hp (1,200 kW) Wright Twin Cyclone.[2] Pan Am ordered six more aircraft with increased engine power and capacity for 77 daytime passengers as the Boeing 314A.
The huge flying boat was assembled at Boeing's Plant 1 on the Duwamish River in Seattle, and towed to Elliott Bay for taxi and flight tests. The first flight was on June 7, 1938, piloted by Edmund T. "Eddie" Allen. At first the aircraft had a single vertical tail, and Allen found he had inadequate directional control. The aircraft returned to the factory and was fitted with the endplates on the ends of the horizontal tail in place of the single vertical fin. This too was found to be lacking and finally the centerline vertical fin was restored, after which the aircraft flew satisfactorily.[3]
The 314 used a series of heavy ribs and spars to create a robust fuselage and cantilevered wing, obviating the need for external drag-inducing struts to brace the wings. Boeing also incorporated Dornier-style sponsons into the hull structure.[4] The sponsons, broad lateral extensions at the waterline on both sides of the hull, served several purposes: they provided a wide platform to stabilize the craft while floating on water, they acted as an entryway for passengers boarding the flying boat and they were shaped to contribute additional lift in flight. Passengers and their baggage were weighed, with each passenger allowed up to 77 pounds (35 kg) free baggage allowance (in the later 314 series) but then charged $3.25 per lb ($7.15/kg) for exceeding the limit.[5] To fly the long ranges needed for trans-Pacific service, the 314 carried 4,246 US gallons (16,070 l; 3,536 imp gal) of gasoline. The later 314A model carried a further 1,200 US gallons (4,500 l; 1,000 imp gal). A capacity of 300 US gallons (1,100 l; 250 imp gal) of oil was required for operation of the radial engines.
Pan Am's "Clippers" were built for "one-class" luxury air travel, a necessity given the long duration of transoceanic flights. The seats could be converted into 36 bunks for overnight accommodation; with a cruising speed of 188 miles per hour (303 km/h) (typically flights at maximum gross weight were flown at 155 miles per hour (249 km/h)) in 1940 Pan Am's schedule San Francisco to Honolulu was 19 hours. The 314s had a lounge and dining area, and the galleys were crewed by chefs from four-star hotels. Men and women were provided with separate dressing rooms, and white-coated stewards served five and six-course meals with gleaming silver service. The standard of luxury on Pan American's Boeing 314s has rarely been matched on heavier-than-air transport since then; they were a form of travel for the super-rich, priced at $675 return from New York to Southampton (comparable to a round trip aboard Concorde in 2006).[6] Most of the flights were transpacific, with a one-way ticket from San Francisco to Hong Kong via the "stepping-stone" islands posted at $760 (or $1,368 round-trip).[7] The Pan Am Boeing 314 Clippers brought exotic destinations like the Far East within reach of air travelers and came to represent the romance of flight. Transatlantic flights to neutral Lisbon and Éire (Ireland) continued after war broke out in Europe in September 1939 (and until 1945), but military passengers and cargoes necessarily got priority, and the service was more spartan.
Equally critical to the 314's success was the proficiency of its Pan Am flight crews, who were extremely skilled at long-distance, over-water flight operations and navigation. For training, many of the transpacific flights carried a second crew.[8] Only the very best and most experienced flight crews were assigned Boeing 314 flying boat duty. Before coming aboard, all Pan Am captains as well as first and second officers had thousands of hours of flight time in other seaplanes and flying boats. Rigorous training in dead reckoning, timed turns, judging drift from sea current, astral navigation, and radio navigation were conducted. In conditions of poor or no visibility, pilots sometimes made successful landings at fogged-in harbors by landing out to sea, then taxiing the 314 into port.[9]
Operational history
The first 314 flight on the San Francisco-Hong Kong route left Alameda on February 23, 1939 with regular passenger and Foreign Air Mail Route #14 service beginning on March 29.[10][11] A one-way trip on this route took over six days to complete. Commercial passenger service lasted less than three years, ending when the United States entered World War II in December 1941.
At the outbreak of the war in the Pacific, the Pacific Clipper was en route to New Zealand. Rather than risk flying back to Honolulu and being shot down by Japanese fighters, it was decided to fly west to New York. Starting on December 8, 1941 at Auckland, New Zealand, the Pacific Clipper covered over 31,500 miles (50,694 km) via such exotic locales as Surabaya, Karachi, Bahrain, Khartoum and Leopoldville. The Pacific Clipper landed at Pan American's LaGuardia Field seaplane base at 7:12 on the morning of January 6, 1942.
The Yankee Clipper flew across the Atlantic on a route from Southampton to Port Washington, New York with intermediate stops at Foynes, Ireland, Botwood, Newfoundland, and Shediac, New Brunswick. The inaugural trip occurred on June 24, 1939.
The Clipper fleet was pressed into military service during World War II, and the flying boats were used for ferrying personnel and equipment to the European and Pacific fronts. The aircraft were purchased by the War and Navy Departments and leased back to Pan Am for a dollar, with the understanding that all would be operated by the Navy once four-engined replacements for the Army's four Clippers were in service. Only the markings on the aircraft changed: the Clippers continued to be flown by their experienced Pan Am civilian crews. American military cargo was carried via Natal, Brazil to Liberia, to supply the British forces at Cairo and even the Russians, via Teheran. The Model 314 was then the only aircraft in the world that could make the 2,150-statute-mile (3,460 km) crossing over water,[12] and was given the military designation C-98. Since the Pan Am pilots and crews had extensive expertise in using flying boats for extreme long-distance over-water flights, the company's pilots and navigators continued to serve as flight crew. In 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt traveled to the Casablanca Conference in a Pan-Am crewed Boeing 314 Dixie Clipper.[1]
The success of the six initial Clippers had led Pan Am to place an order for six improved 314A models to be delivered in 1941, with the goal of doubling the service on both Atlantic and Pacific routes. However, the fall of France in 1940 caused some doubt about whether the Atlantic service could continue; passenger numbers were already reduced due to the war, and if Spain or Portugal were to join the Axis, then the flights to Lisbon would be forced to stop. Pan Am began to consider reducing their order and, in August 1940, reached an agreement to sell three of the six under construction to the United Kingdom. The aircraft were to be operated by the British Overseas Airways Corporation and were primarily intended for the UK - West Africa route, as existing flying boats could not travel this route without stopping in Lisbon. The sale made a small net profit for Pan Am - priced at cost plus 5% - and provided a vital communications link for Britain, but was politically controversial. In order to arrange the sale, the junior minister Harold Balfour had to agree to the contract with no government approval, leading to stern disapproval from Winston Churchill and lengthy debate by the Cabinet over the propriety of the purchase.[13] Churchill later flew on the Bristol and Berwick,[1] which he praised intensely,[13] adding to the Clippers’ fame during the war.[14]
After the war, several Clippers were returned to Pan American hands. However, even before hostilities had ended, the Clipper had become obsolete. The flying boat's advantage had been that it didn't require long concrete runways, but during the war a great many such runways were built for heavy bombers.[1] New long-range airliners such as the Lockheed Constellation and Douglas DC-4 were developed. The new landplanes were relatively easy to fly, and did not require the extensive pilot training programs mandated for seaplane operations. One of the 314's most experienced pilots said, "We were indeed glad to change to DC-4s, and I argued daily for eliminating all flying boats. The landplanes were much safer. No one in the operations department... had any idea of the hazards of flying boat operations. The main problem now was lack of the very high level of experience and competence required of seaplane pilots".[15]
Retirement
The last Pan Am 314 to be retired, the California Clipper NC18602, in 1946, had accumulated more than a million flight miles.[16] Of the 12 Boeing 314 Clippers built three were lost to accidents, although only one of those resulted in fatalities: 24 passengers and crew aboard the Yankee Clipper NC18603 lost their lives in a landing accident at Cabo Ruivo Seaplane Base, in Lisbon, Portugal on February 22, 1943. Among that flight's passengers were prominent American author and war correspondent Benjamin Robertson, who was killed, and the American singer and film/TV actress Jane Froman, who was seriously injured.[17]
Pan-Am's 314 was removed from scheduled service in 1946 and the seven serviceable B-314s were purchased by the start-up airline New World Airways. These sat at San Diego's Lindbergh Field for a long time before all were eventually sold for scrap in 1950. The last of the fleet, the Anzac Clipper NC18611(A), was resold and scrapped at Baltimore, Maryland in late 1951.
BOAC's 314As were withdrawn from the Baltimore-to-Bermuda route in January 1948, replaced by Lockheed Constellations flying from New York and Baltimore to Bermuda.[18]
The Texas & Pacific #610 is the sole surviving example of the earliest form of the super-power steam locomotives built by the Lima Locomotive Works from 1925 to 1949. The super-power locomotives were the first to combine a high-capacity boiler with a modern valve gear and a four-wheel trailing truck. The performance of these locomotives was unprecedented, and they were the prototype for the modern American steam locomotive through the end of the steam age for rail.
Number 610 was the first of the T & P's second order of 2-10-4s delivered June 1927. The I-A1's differed from the first order slightly in that they were built with American multiple-valve throttles that allowed room for their stacks to be capped with decorative flanges, a favorite detail on the T & P. The boiler pressure was also raised from 250 to 255 psig, which increased tractive effort to 84,600 pounds, plus 13,300 pounds for the booster.
By 1953, all but two T & P steam locomotives were scrapped -- the 610 and 638 went on exhibit. It was proudly displayed on the Will Rogers Colliseum Grounds near Casa Manana. Slowly, however, the city lost interest in the old engine, and in 1969 it was stored at the Fort Worth Army Quartermaster Depot. T & P 610 sat at the Quartermaster Depot for six years - until plans started being drawn up for a reenactment of the American Freedom Train to help celebrate our nations Bicentennial. The AFT's decision to use the engine during the Texas leg of the tour furnished the impetus for restoring 610.
After pulling the American Freedom Train, the locomotive was leased by the Southern Railway in 1977 for use in its steam excursion program. It was used by the Southern for four years until being returned to Texas in 1981. In 1987 it was donated to the Texas State Railroad historical park where it resides today. While in serviceable condition, the TSRR keeps the #610 as a museum piece, rolling it out of the shop on weekends for public view.
My model of #610 has been built in its American Freedom Train livery, rather than the Texas & Pacific livery she wears today. She is powered by two Power Functions train motors in the tender and is fully track compatible including switches and S curves. From the limited testing I have performed I predict she will be a regular performer at events.
33052 rest’s between duties outside Hither Green MPD, 22nd January 1977.
Locomotive History
In December 1957 the British Railways ordered forty five type 3 diesel-electric locomotives from the Birmingham Railway Carriage & Wagon Company (BRCW) for Southern Region duties. They were required as part of the general modernisation resulting from phase I of the Kent Coast Electrification scheme. The number was later increased to a total of ninety eight including twelve special ’slim line’ locomotives for use on the width-restricted Tonbridge-Hastings line. Based on the BRCW type 2’s (class 26/27) of the Scottish Region, the Southern locomotives had eight cylinder Sulzer engines and Crompton-Parkinson electrical equipment. All were delivered to Hither Green MPD, beginning in 1959, and were allocated the numbers D6500-97. 33052 was originally D 6570 (BRCW works No. DEL174) and arrived at Hither Green in September 1961. It undertook the full range of Southern Region duties and remained a Hither Green locomotive for much of its career. It was named Ashford at Ashford station on 15 May 1980. In last years it was allocated to Stewarts Lane and was ‘stored serviceable’ there during 1996, still wearing its BR blue livery. During 1997 a group of Kent &East Sussex Railway members purchased the locomotive from EWS. The locomotive has been subsequently restored to its 1961 green livery as D6570, but retaining its name and headlamps. It is used as required for engineer’s trains, train rescue and special days.
Praktica LTL, High Speed Ektachrome
2705 is pretty much relegated to the Branch Line operations out of Thirlmere and has not been out on the main line for some years now.
After an 18 month break, 2705 has returned to steam this year and will be a regular feature on the Loop Line shuttle to Buxton.
Seen here departing Couridjah the train prepares to take on the steady climb up to Buxton on the old Main South Line, now known as the 'Loop Line'. Currently the line is only serviceable between Picton and Buxton, with plans to reopen the line south towards Colo Vale.
SEPTA Norristown Highspeed Line (former Philadelphia & Western interurban)- three more 1989 shots illustrating the brief period of operation of former Chicago Transit Authority 6000-series L cars. SEPTA obtained them as one of the stopgaps to keep operations going until the new fleet arrived (these were later replaced by some modified Philly L cars), the serviceable original fleet of Brill "Bullets" and Strafford cars having dwindled in numbers.
Kincardine power station on the north bank of the Firth of Forth had four shunting locomotives allocated but by 1993 none were in regular use. Two are seen here stood in the weed covered yard exposed to the elements and starting to show it while the two serviceable Ruston's that had resided in the shed behind had moved to Methil Power Station on the Fife coast. On the left is 0-4-0DE no.5 (RH 402801/1956) a standard Ruston type 165DE while on the right is a more unusual Andrew Barclay 0-4-0DH (AB 517/1966). Barclay's didn't build many of this type with a short wheelbase and central mounted cab. SSEB (South of Scotland Electricity Board) had three of them from new with AB 515 delivered new to Braehead Power Station, Renfrew and AB 516 to Clyde's Mill Power Station at Cambuslang. All three survive but only AB 517 currently has a secure future being preserved at the Strathspey Railway in the Highlands. AB 515 and 516 currently reside in Thomas Muir's Den Road Scrapyard at Kirkcaldy in Fife but have been there for some years now.
With its steam heating boiler fired up 24061 is being prepared at Grosmont to work “top and tail” with 25278 with the Dining train to Pickering, 13th March 2011. 24061 was originally D5061 and was built at Crewe works in the autumn of 1959, entering traffic in January 1960, allocated to March MPD as part of the East Anglian dieselisation program. By November 1960 it had moved across to the London Midland Region at Willesden before moving north to Rugby in December 1960 and returning to the Eastern Region at Finsbury Park in March 1961. After five years at Finsbury Park D5061 transferred north to Scotland (Haymarket) in August 1966 for empty coaching stock and local passenger duties around Edinburgh, as part of a general shuffle of Scottish locomotives in the run down of steam in the Thornton, Dunfermline and Dundee area. After eighteen months working in Scotland it returned south to Longsight in January 1968 as part of the final campaign to finish steam working in the North West. Its final transfer was to Stoke Division (in reality Crewe) in November 1968. 24061 withdrawn in August 1975 and dumped at Crewe, however the sudden abandonment of many serviceable class 24's allowed the Research Department at Derby to find a reliable replacement for class 23, 5901 and class 28, 5705. Their choice was 24061 and it was noted at Derby works in October 1975 under repair. 24061 was renumbered RDB968007 in the departmental fleet list during July 1976. Three years later in July 1979 it received the engine from recently withdrawn 24063 at Doncaster works and on return to Derby it was renumbered 97201. After another seven years service on Research department duties it was withdrawn in July 1986.
Some years ago there was still a railway in the far north of china (Nei Mongol) wich was 100% serviced by steamlocomotives. The railway (Jitong Tielu) cross a very spectacular mountainious area (railwayfans called it JingPeng pass). Nearly in the middle of the railway in the town of Daban was the depot home for around 100 steam locomotives located. Today the whole steam show is gone and replaced by diesel locomotives. Only two serviceable engines are kept for special train dutys.
In the good old days locomotive QJ6301 was one of the "supershine" engines for the passenger trains on the Jitong Tielu.
China, Feb. 2000 (scanned slide)
C-130 Hercules military transport plane heading east over my house and turning south to approach the Davis-Monthan AFB runway from the southeast to the northwest.
______________________________
Lockheed C-130 Hercules
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_C-130_Hercules
C-130 Hercules
Straight-wing, four-engine turboprop-driven aircraft overflying water
USAF C-130E
Role: Military transport aircraft
National origin: United States
ManufacturerLockheed
Lockheed Martin
First flight23 August 1954
Status: In service
Primary users:
United States Air Force
United States Marine Corps
Royal Air Force
Royal Canadian Air Force
Produced: 1954–present
Number built: Over 2,500 as of 2015[1]
Unit cost
C-130E $11.9 million[2]
C-130H $30.1 million[3]
Variants:
AC-130 Spectre/Spooky
Lockheed DC-130
Lockheed EC-130
Lockheed HC-130
Lockheed Martin KC-130
Lockheed LC-130
Lockheed MC-130
Lockheed WC-130
Lockheed L-100 Hercules
Developed into: Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules
The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built originally by Lockheed, now Lockheed Martin.
Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally designed as a troop, medivac, and cargo transport aircraft. The versatile airframe has found uses in a variety of other roles, including as a gunship (AC-130),for
airborne assault,
search and rescue,
scientific research support,
weather reconnaissance,
aerial refueling,
maritime patrol, and
aerial firefighting.
It is now the main tactical airlifter for many military forces worldwide. Over forty models and variants of the Hercules, including a civilian one marketed as Lockheed L-100, operate in more than sixty nations.
The C-130 entered service with the U.S. in the 1950s, followed by Australia and others. During its years of service, the Hercules family has participated in numerous military, civilian and humanitarian aid operations. In 2007, the C-130 became the fifth aircraft—after the English Electric Canberra, B-52 Stratofortress, Tu-95, and KC-135 Stratotanker—to mark 50 years of continuous service with its original primary customer, in this case, the United States Air Force. The C-130 Hercules is the longest continuously produced military aircraft at over 60 years, with the updated C-130J Super Hercules being produced today.[4]
Contents [hide]
1Design and development
1.1Background and requirements
1.2Design phase
1.3Improved versions
1.4More improvements
1.5Later models
1.6Next generation
1.7Upgrades and changes
1.8Replacement
2Operational history
2.1Military
2.2Civilian
3Variants
4Operators
5Accidents
6Aircraft on display
6.1Australia
6.2Canada
6.3Colombia
6.4Indonesia
6.5Norway
6.6Saudi Arabia
6.7United Kingdom
6.8United States
7Specifications (C-130H)
8See also
9References
10External links
Design and development[edit]
This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2014)
Background and requirements[edit]
The Korean War, which began in June 1950, showed that World War II-era piston-engine transports—Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcars, Douglas C-47 Skytrains and Curtiss C-46 Commandos—were inadequate for modern warfare. Thus, on 2 February 1951, the United States Air Force issued a General Operating Requirement (GOR) for a new transport to Boeing, Douglas, Fairchild, Lockheed, Martin, Chase Aircraft, North American, Northrop, and Airlifts Inc. The new transport would have a capacity of 92 passengers, 72 combat troops or 64 paratroopers in a cargo compartment that was approximately 41 feet (12 m) long, 9 feet (2.7 m) high, and 10 feet (3.0 m) wide. Unlike transports derived from passenger airliners, it was to be designed from the ground-up as a combat transport with loading from a hinged loading ramp at the rear of the fuselage.
A key feature was the introduction of the Allison T56 turboprop powerplant, first developed specifically for the C-130. At the time, the turboprop was a new application of turbine engines that used exhaust gases to turn a propeller, which offered greater range at propeller-driven speeds compared to pure turbojets, which were faster but consumed more fuel. As was the case on helicopters of that era, such as the UH-1 Huey, turboshafts produced much more power for their weight than piston engines. Lockheed would subsequently use the same engines and technology in the Lockheed L-188 Electra. That aircraft failed financially in its civilian configuration but was successfully adapted into the Lockheed P-3 Orion maritime patrol and submarine attack aircraft where the efficiency and endurance of turboprops excelled.
Design phase[edit]
The Hercules resembled a larger four-engine brother to the C-123 Provider with a similar wing and cargo ramp layout that evolved from the Chase XCG-20 Avitruc, which in turn, was first designed and flown as a cargo glider in 1947.[5] The Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter also had a rear ramp, which made it possible to drive vehicles onto the plane (also possible with forward ramp on a C-124). The ramp on the Hercules was also used to airdrop cargo, which included low-altitude extraction for Sheridan tanks and even dropping large improvised "daisy cutter" bombs.
The new Lockheed cargo plane design possessed a range of 1,100 nmi (1,270 mi; 2,040 km), takeoff capability from short and unprepared strips, and the ability to fly with one engine shut down. Fairchild, North American, Martin, and Northrop declined to participate. The remaining five companies tendered a total of ten designs: Lockheed two, Boeing one, Chase three, Douglas three, and Airlifts Inc. one. The contest was a close affair between the lighter of the two Lockheed (preliminary project designation L-206) proposals and a four-turboprop Douglas design.
The Lockheed design team was led by Willis Hawkins, starting with a 130-page proposal for the Lockheed L-206.[6] Hall Hibbard, Lockheed vice president and chief engineer, saw the proposal and directed it to Kelly Johnson, who did not care for the low-speed, unarmed aircraft, and remarked, "If you sign that letter, you will destroy the Lockheed Company."[6] Both Hibbard and Johnson signed the proposal and the company won the contract for the now-designated Model 82 on 2 July 1951.[7]
The first flight of the YC-130 prototype was made on 23 August 1954 from the Lockheed plant in Burbank, California. The aircraft, serial number 53-3397, was the second prototype, but the first of the two to fly. The YC-130 was piloted by Stanley Beltz and Roy Wimmer on its 61-minute flight to Edwards Air Force Base; Jack Real and Dick Stanton served as flight engineers. Kelly Johnson flew chase in a Lockheed P2V Neptune.[8]
After the two prototypes were completed, production began in Marietta, Georgia, where over 2,300 C-130s have been built through 2009.[9]
The initial production model, the C-130A, was powered by Allison T56-A-9 turboprops with three-blade propellers and originally equipped with the blunt nose of the prototypes. Deliveries began in December 1956, continuing until the introduction of the C-130B model in 1959. Some A-models were equipped with skis and re-designated C-130D.
As the C-130A became operational with Tactical Air Command (TAC), the C-130's lack of range became apparent and additional fuel capacity was added in the form of external pylon-mounted tanks at the end of the wings.
Improved versions[edit]
A Michigan Air National Guard C-130E dispatches its flares during a low-level training mission
The C-130B model was developed to complement the A-models that had previously been delivered, and incorporated new features, particularly increased fuel capacity in the form of auxiliary tanks built into the center wing section and an AC electrical system. Four-bladed Hamilton Standard propellers replaced the Aeroproducts three-blade propellers that distinguished the earlier A-models. The C-130B had ailerons with increased boost—3,000 psi (21 MPa) versus 2,050 psi (14 MPa)—as well as uprated engines and four-blade propellers that were standard until the J-model's introduction.
An electronic reconnaissance variant of the C-130B was designated C-130B-II. A total of 13 aircraft were converted. The C-130B-II was distinguished by its false external wing fuel tanks, which were disguised signals intelligence (SIGINT) receiver antennas. These pods were slightly larger than the standard wing tanks found on other C-130Bs. Most aircraft featured a swept blade antenna on the upper fuselage, as well as extra wire antennas between the vertical fin and upper fuselage not found on other C-130s. Radio call numbers on the tail of these aircraft were regularly changed so as to confuse observers and disguise their true mission.
The extended-range C-130E model entered service in 1962 after it was developed as an interim long-range transport for the Military Air Transport Service. Essentially a B-model, the new designation was the result of the installation of 1,360 US gal (5,150 L) Sargent Fletcher external fuel tanks under each wing's midsection and more powerful Allison T56-A-7A turboprops. The hydraulic boost pressure to the ailerons was reduced back to 2050 psi as a consequence of the external tanks' weight in the middle of the wingspan. The E model also featured structural improvements, avionics upgrades and a higher gross weight. Australia took delivery of 12 C130E Hercules during 1966–67 to supplement the 12 C-130A models already in service with the RAAF. Sweden and Spain fly the TP-84T version of the C-130E fitted for aerial refueling capability.
The KC-130 tankers, originally C-130F procured for the US Marine Corps (USMC) in 1958 (under the designation GV-1) are equipped with a removable 3,600 US gal (13,626 L) stainless steel fuel tank carried inside the cargo compartment. The two wing-mounted hose and drogue aerial refueling pods each transfer up to 300 US gal per minute (19 L per second) to two aircraft simultaneously, allowing for rapid cycle times of multiple-receiver aircraft formations, (a typical tanker formation of four aircraft in less than 30 minutes). The US Navy's C-130G has increased structural strength allowing higher gross weight operation.
More improvements[edit]
Royal Australian Air Force C-130H, 2007
The C-130H model has updated Allison T56-A-15 turboprops, a redesigned outer wing, updated avionics and other minor improvements. Later H models had a new, fatigue-life-improved, center wing that was retrofitted to many earlier H-models. For structural reasons, some models are required to land with certain amounts of fuel when carrying heavy cargo, reducing usable range.[10] The H model remains in widespread use with the United States Air Force (USAF) and many foreign air forces. Initial deliveries began in 1964 (to the RNZAF), remaining in production until 1996. An improved C-130H was introduced in 1974, with Australia purchasing 12 of type in 1978 to replace the original 12 C-130A models, which had first entered RAAF Service in 1958.
The United States Coast Guard employs the HC-130H for long-range search and rescue, drug interdiction, illegal migrant patrols, homeland security, and logistics.
C-130H models produced from 1992 to 1996 were designated as C-130H3 by the USAF. The "3" denoting the third variation in design for the H series. Improvements included ring laser gyros for the INUs, GPS receivers, a partial glass cockpit (ADI and HSI instruments), a more capable APN-241 color radar, night vision device compatible instrument lighting, and an integrated radar and missile warning system. The electrical system upgrade included Generator Control Units (GCU) and Bus Switching units (BSU)to provide stable power to the more sensitive upgraded components.[citation needed]
Royal Air Force C-130K (C.3)
The equivalent model for export to the UK is the C-130K, known by the Royal Air Force (RAF) as the Hercules C.1. The C-130H-30 (Hercules C.3 in RAF service) is a stretched version of the original Hercules, achieved by inserting a 100 in (2.54 m) plug aft of the cockpit and an 80 in (2.03 m) plug at the rear of the fuselage. A single C-130K was purchased by the Met Office for use by its Meteorological Research Flight, where it was classified as the Hercules W.2. This aircraft was heavily modified (with its most prominent feature being the long red and white striped atmospheric probe on the nose and the move of the weather radar into a pod above the forward fuselage). This aircraft, named Snoopy, was withdrawn in 2001 and was then modified by Marshall of Cambridge Aerospace as flight-testbed for the A400M turbine engine, the TP400. The C-130K is used by the RAF Falcons for parachute drops. Three C-130K (Hercules C Mk.1P) were upgraded and sold to the Austrian Air Force in 2002.[11]
Later models[edit]
The MC-130E Combat Talon was developed for the USAF during the Vietnam War to support special operations missions in Southeast Asia, and led to both the MC-130H Combat Talon II as well as a family of other special missions aircraft. 37 of the earliest models currently operating with the Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) are scheduled to be replaced by new-production MC-130J versions. The EC-130 Commando Solo is another special missions variant within AFSOC, albeit operated solely by an AFSOC-gained wing in the Pennsylvania Air National Guard, and is a psychological operations/information operations (PSYOP/IO) platform equipped as an aerial radio station and television stations able to transmit messaging over commercial frequencies. Other versions of the EC-130, most notably the EC-130H Compass Call, are also special variants, but are assigned to the Air Combat Command (ACC). The AC-130 gunship was first developed during the Vietnam War to provide close air support and other ground-attack duties.
USAF HC-130P refuels a HH-60G Pavehawk helicopter
The HC-130 is a family of long-range search and rescue variants used by the USAF and the U.S. Coast Guard. Equipped for deep deployment of Pararescuemen (PJs), survival equipment, and (in the case of USAF versions) aerial refueling of combat rescue helicopters, HC-130s are usually the on-scene command aircraft for combat SAR missions (USAF only) and non-combat SAR (USAF and USCG). Early USAF versions were also equipped with the Fulton surface-to-air recovery system, designed to pull a person off the ground using a wire strung from a helium balloon. The John Wayne movie The Green Berets features its use. The Fulton system was later removed when aerial refueling of helicopters proved safer and more versatile. The movie The Perfect Storm depicts a real life SAR mission involving aerial refueling of a New York Air National Guard HH-60G by a New York Air National Guard HC-130P.
The C-130R and C-130T are U.S. Navy and USMC models, both equipped with underwing external fuel tanks. The USN C-130T is similar, but has additional avionics improvements. In both models, aircraft are equipped with Allison T56-A-16 engines. The USMC versions are designated KC-130R or KC-130T when equipped with underwing refueling pods and pylons and are fully night vision system compatible.
The RC-130 is a reconnaissance version. A single example is used by the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force, the aircraft having originally been sold to the former Imperial Iranian Air Force.
The Lockheed L-100 (L-382) is a civilian variant, equivalent to a C-130E model without military equipment. The L-100 also has two stretched versions.
Next generation[edit]
Main article: Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules
In the 1970s, Lockheed proposed a C-130 variant with turbofan engines rather than turboprops, but the U.S. Air Force preferred the takeoff performance of the existing aircraft. In the 1980s, the C-130 was intended to be replaced by the Advanced Medium STOL Transport project. The project was canceled and the C-130 has remained in production.
Building on lessons learned, Lockheed Martin modified a commercial variant of the C-130 into a High Technology Test Bed (HTTB). This test aircraft set numerous short takeoff and landing performance records and significantly expanded the database for future derivatives of the C-130.[12] Modifications made to the HTTB included extended chord ailerons, a long chord rudder, fast-acting double-slotted trailing edge flaps, a high-camber wing leading edge extension, a larger dorsal fin and dorsal fins, the addition of three spoiler panels to each wing upper surface, a long-stroke main and nose landing gear system, and changes to the flight controls and a change from direct mechanical linkages assisted by hydraulic boost, to fully powered controls, in which the mechanical linkages from the flight station controls operated only the hydraulic control valves of the appropriate boost unit.[13] The HTTB first flew on 19 June 1984, with civil registration of N130X. After demonstrating many new technologies, some of which were applied to the C-130J, the HTTB was lost in a fatal accident on 3 February 1993, at Dobbins Air Reserve Base, in Marietta, Georgia.[14] The crash was attributed to disengagement of the rudder fly-by-wire flight control system, resulting in a total loss of rudder control capability while conducting ground minimum control speed tests (Vmcg). The disengagement was a result of the inadequate design of the rudder's integrated actuator package by its manufacturer; the operator's insufficient system safety review failed to consider the consequences of the inadequate design to all operating regimes. A factor which contributed to the accident was the flight crew's lack of engineering flight test training.[15]
In the 1990s, the improved C-130J Super Hercules was developed by Lockheed (later Lockheed Martin). This model is the newest version and the only model in production. Externally similar to the classic Hercules in general appearance, the J model has new turboprop engines, six-bladed propellers, digital avionics, and other new systems.[16]
Upgrades and changes[edit]
In 2000, Boeing was awarded a US$1.4 billion contract to develop an Avionics Modernization Program kit for the C-130. The program was beset with delays and cost overruns until project restructuring in 2007.[17] On 2 September 2009, Bloomberg news reported that the planned Avionics Modernization Program (AMP) upgrade to the older C-130s would be dropped to provide more funds for the F-35, CV-22 and airborne tanker replacement programs.[18] However, in June 2010, Department of Defense approved funding for the initial production of the AMP upgrade kits.[19][20] Under the terms of this agreement, the USAF has cleared Boeing to begin low-rate initial production (LRIP) for the C-130 AMP. A total of 198 aircraft are expected to feature the AMP upgrade. The current cost per aircraft is US$14 million although Boeing expects that this price will drop to US$7 million for the 69th aircraft.[17]
An engine enhancement program saving fuel and providing lower temperatures in the T56 engine has been approved, and the US Air Force expects to save $2 billion and extend the fleet life.[21]
Replacement[edit]
In October 2010, the Air Force released a capabilities request for information (CRFI) for the development of a new airlifter to replace the C-130. The new aircraft is to carry a 190 percent greater payload and assume the mission of mounted vertical maneuver (MVM). The greater payload and mission would enable it to carry medium-weight armored vehicles and drop them off at locations without long runways. Various options are being considered, including new or upgraded fixed-wing designs, rotorcraft, tiltrotors, or even an airship. Development could start in 2014, and become operational by 2024. The C-130 fleet of around 450 planes would be replaced by only 250 aircraft.[22] The Air Force had attempted to replace the C-130 in the 1970s through the Advanced Medium STOL Transport project, which resulted in the C-17 Globemaster III that instead replaced the C-141 Starlifter.[23] The Air Force Research Laboratory funded Lockheed and Boeing demonstrators for the Speed Agile concept, which had the goal of making a STOL aircraft that can take off and land at speeds as low as 70 kn (130 km/h; 81 mph) on airfields less than 2,000 ft (610 m) long and cruise at Mach 0.8-plus. Boeing's design used upper-surface blowing from embedded engines on the inboard wing and blown flaps for circulation control on the outboard wing. Lockheed's design also used blown flaps outboard, but inboard used patented reversing ejector nozzles. Boeing's design completed over 2,000 hours of windtunnel tests in late 2009. It was a 5 percent-scale model of a narrowbody design with a 55,000 lb (25,000 kg) payload. When the AFRL increased the payload requirement to 65,000 lb (29,000 kg), they tested a 5% scale model of a widebody design with a 303,000 lb (137,000 kg) take-off gross weight and an "A400M-size" 158 in (4.0 m) wide cargo box. It would be powered by four IAE V2533 turbofans.[24] In August 2011, the AFRL released pictures of the Lockheed Speed Agile concept demonstrator. A 23% scale model went through wind tunnel tests to demonstrate its hybrid powered lift, which combines a low drag airframe with simple mechanical assembly to reduce weight and better aerodynamics. The model had four engines, including two Williams FJ44 turbofans.[23][25] On 26 March 2013, Boeing was granted a patent for its swept-wing powered lift aircraft.[26]
As of January 2014, Air Mobility Command, Air Force Materiel Command and the Air Force Research Lab are in the early stages of defining requirements for the C-X next generation airlifter program to replace both the C-130 and C-17. An aircraft would be produced from the early 2030s to the 2040s. If requirements are decided for operating in contested airspace, Air Force procurement of C-130s would end by the end of the decade to not have them serviceable by the 2030s and operated when they can't perform in that environment. Development of the airlifter depends heavily on the Army's "tactical and operational maneuver" plans. Two different cargo planes could still be created to separately perform tactical and strategic missions, but which course to pursue is to be decided before C-17s need to be retired.[27]
Operational history[edit]
This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2014)
Military[edit]
USMC KC-130F Hercules performing takeoffs and landings aboard the aircraft carrier Forrestal in 1963. The aircraft is now displayed at the National Museum of Naval Aviation.
The first production aircraft, C-130As were first delivered beginning in 1956 to the 463d Troop Carrier Wing at Ardmore AFB, Oklahoma and the 314th Troop Carrier Wing at Sewart AFB, Tennessee. Six additional squadrons were assigned to the 322d Air Division in Europe and the 315th Air Division in the Far East. Additional aircraft were modified for electronics intelligence work and assigned to Rhein-Main Air Base, Germany while modified RC-130As were assigned to the Military Air Transport Service (MATS) photo-mapping division.
In 1958, a U.S. reconnaissance C-130A-II of the 7406th Support Squadron was shot down over Armenia by MiG-17s.[28]
Australia became the first non-American force to operate the C-130A Hercules with 12 examples being delivered from late 1958. These aircraft were fitted with AeroProducts three-blade, 15-foot diameter propellers. The Royal Canadian Air Force became another early user with the delivery of four B-models (Canadian designation C-130 Mk I) in October / November 1960.[29]
In 1963, a Hercules achieved and still holds the record for the largest and heaviest aircraft to land on an aircraft carrier.[30] During October and November that year, a USMC KC-130F (BuNo 149798), loaned to the U.S. Naval Air Test Center, made 29 touch-and-go landings, 21 unarrested full-stop landings and 21 unassisted take-offs on Forrestal at a number of different weights.[31] The pilot, LT (later RADM) James H. Flatley III, USN, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his role in this test series. The tests were highly successful, but the idea was considered too risky for routine "Carrier Onboard Delivery" (COD) operations. Instead, the Grumman C-2 Greyhound was developed as a dedicated COD aircraft. The Hercules used in the test, most recently in service with Marine Aerial Refueler Squadron 352 (VMGR-352) until 2005, is now part of the collection of the National Museum of Naval Aviation at NAS Pensacola, Florida.
In 1964, C-130 crews from the 6315th Operations Group at Naha Air Base, Okinawa commenced forward air control (FAC; "Flare") missions over the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos supporting USAF strike aircraft. In April 1965 the mission was expanded to North Vietnam where C-130 crews led formations of B-57 bombers on night reconnaissance/strike missions against communist supply routes leading to South Vietnam. In early 1966 Project Blind Bat/Lamplighter was established at Ubon RTAFB, Thailand. After the move to Ubon the mission became a four-engine FAC mission with the C-130 crew searching for targets then calling in strike aircraft. Another little-known C-130 mission flown by Naha-based crews was Operation Commando Scarf, which involved the delivery of chemicals onto sections of the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos that were designed to produce mud and landslides in hopes of making the truck routes impassable.[citation needed]
In November 1964, on the other side of the globe, C-130Es from the 464th Troop Carrier Wing but loaned to 322d Air Division in France, flew one of the most dramatic missions in history in the former Belgian Congo. After communist Simba rebels took white residents of the city of Stanleyville hostage, the U.S. and Belgium developed a joint rescue mission that used the C-130s to airlift and then drop and air-land a force of Belgian paratroopers to rescue the hostages. Two missions were flown, one over Stanleyville and another over Paulis during Thanksgiving weeks.[32] The headline-making mission resulted in the first award of the prestigious MacKay Trophy to C-130 crews.
In the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, as a desperate measure the transport No. 6 Squadron of the Pakistan Air Force modified its entire small fleet of C-130Bs for use as heavy bombers, capable of carrying up to 20,000 lb (9,072 kg) of bombs on pallets. These improvised bombers were used to hit Indian targets such as bridges, heavy artillery positions, tank formations and troop concentrations.[33][34] Some C-130s even flew with anti-aircraft guns fitted on their ramp, apparently shooting down some 17 aircraft and damaging 16 others.[35]
The C-130 Hercules were used in the Battle of Kham Duc in 1968, when the North Vietnamese Army forced U.S.-led forces to abandon the Kham Duc Special Forces Camp.
In October 1968, a C-130Bs from the 463rd Tactical Airlift Wing dropped a pair of M-121 10,000 pound bombs that had been developed for the massive B-36 bomber but had never been used. The U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force resurrected the huge weapons as a means of clearing landing zones for helicopters and in early 1969 the 463rd commenced Commando Vault missions. Although the stated purpose of COMMANDO VAULT was to clear LZs, they were also used on enemy base camps and other targets.[citation needed]
During the late 1960s, the U.S. was eager to get information on Chinese nuclear capabilities. After the failure of the Black Cat Squadron to plant operating sensor pods near the Lop Nur Nuclear Weapons Test Base using a Lockheed U-2, the CIA developed a plan, named Heavy Tea, to deploy two battery-powered sensor pallets near the base. To deploy the pallets, a Black Bat Squadron crew was trained in the U.S. to fly the C-130 Hercules. The crew of 12, led by Col Sun Pei Zhen, took off from Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base in an unmarked U.S. Air Force C-130E on 17 May 1969. Flying for six and a half hours at low altitude in the dark, they arrived over the target and the sensor pallets were dropped by parachute near Anxi in Gansu province. After another six and a half hours of low altitude flight, they arrived back at Takhli. The sensors worked and uploaded data to a U.S. intelligence satellite for six months, before their batteries wore out. The Chinese conducted two nuclear tests, on 22 September 1969 and 29 September 1969, during the operating life of the sensor pallets. Another mission to the area was planned as Operation Golden Whip, but was called off in 1970.[36] It is most likely that the aircraft used on this mission was either C-130E serial number 64-0506 or 64-0507 (cn 382-3990 and 382-3991). These two aircraft were delivered to Air America in 1964.[37] After being returned to the U.S. Air Force sometime between 1966 and 1970, they were assigned the serial numbers of C-130s that had been destroyed in accidents. 64-0506 is now flying as 62-1843, a C-130E that crashed in Vietnam on 20 December 1965 and 64-0507 is now flying as 63-7785, a C-130E that had crashed in Vietnam on 17 June 1966.[38]
The A-model continued in service through the Vietnam War, where the aircraft assigned to the four squadrons at Naha AB, Okinawa and one at Tachikawa Air Base, Japan performed yeoman's service, including operating highly classified special operations missions such as the BLIND BAT FAC/Flare mission and FACT SHEET leaflet mission over Laos and North Vietnam. The A-model was also provided to the South Vietnamese Air Force as part of the Vietnamization program at the end of the war, and equipped three squadrons based at Tan Son Nhut AFB. The last operator in the world is the Honduran Air Force, which is still flying one of five A model Hercules (FAH 558, c/n 3042) as of October 2009.[39] As the Vietnam War wound down, the 463rd Troop Carrier/Tactical Airlift Wing B-models and A-models of the 374th Tactical Airlift Wing were transferred back to the United States where most were assigned to Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard units.
U.S. Marines disembark from C-130 transports at the Da Nang Airbase on 8 March 1965
Another prominent role for the B model was with the United States Marine Corps, where Hercules initially designated as GV-1s replaced C-119s. After Air Force C-130Ds proved the type's usefulness in Antarctica, the U.S. Navy purchased a number of B-models equipped with skis that were designated as LC-130s. C-130B-II electronic reconnaissance aircraft were operated under the SUN VALLEY program name primarily from Yokota Air Base, Japan. All reverted to standard C-130B cargo aircraft after their replacement in the reconnaissance role by other aircraft.
The C-130 was also used in the 1976 Entebbe raid in which Israeli commando forces carried a surprise assault to rescue 103 passengers of an airliner hijacked by Palestinian and German terrorists at Entebbe Airport, Uganda. The rescue force — 200 soldiers, jeeps, and a black Mercedes-Benz (intended to resemble Ugandan Dictator Idi Amin's vehicle of state) — was flown over 2,200 nmi (4,074 km; 2,532 mi) almost entirely at an altitude of less than 100 ft (30 m) from Israel to Entebbe by four Israeli Air Force (IAF) Hercules aircraft without mid-air refueling (on the way back, the planes refueled in Nairobi, Kenya).
During the Falklands War (Spanish: Guerra de las Malvinas) of 1982, Argentine Air Force C-130s undertook highly dangerous, daily re-supply night flights as blockade runners to the Argentine garrison on the Falkland Islands. They also performed daylight maritime survey flights. One was lost during the war. Argentina also operated two KC-130 tankers during the war, and these refueled both the Douglas A-4 Skyhawks and Navy Dassault-Breguet Super Étendards; some C-130s were modified to operate as bombers with bomb-racks under their wings. The British also used RAF C-130s to support their logistical operations.
USMC C-130T Fat Albert performing a rocket-assisted takeoff (RATO)
During the Gulf War of 1991 (Operation Desert Storm), the C-130 Hercules was used operationally by the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps, along with the air forces of Australia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and the UK. The MC-130 Combat Talon variant also made the first attacks using the largest conventional bombs in the world, the BLU-82 "Daisy Cutter" and GBU-43/B "Massive Ordnance Air Blast" bomb, (MOAB). Daisy Cutters were used to clear landing zones and to eliminate mine fields. The weight and size of the weapons make it impossible or impractical to load them on conventional bombers. The GBU-43/B MOAB is a successor to the BLU-82 and can perform the same function, as well as perform strike functions against hardened targets in a low air threat environment.
Since 1992, two successive C-130 aircraft named Fat Albert have served as the support aircraft for the U.S. Navy Blue Angels flight demonstration team. Fat Albert I was a TC-130G (151891),[40] while Fat Albert II is a C-130T (164763).[41] Although Fat Albert supports a Navy squadron, it is operated by the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) and its crew consists solely of USMC personnel. At some air shows featuring the team, Fat Albert takes part, performing flyovers. Until 2009, it also demonstrated its rocket-assisted takeoff (RATO) capabilities; these ended due to dwindling supplies of rockets.[42]
The AC-130 also holds the record for the longest sustained flight by a C-130. From 22 to 24 October 1997, two AC-130U gunships flew 36 hours nonstop from Hurlburt Field Florida to Taegu (Daegu), South Korea while being refueled seven times by KC-135 tanker aircraft. This record flight shattered the previous record longest flight by over 10 hours while the two gunships took on 410,000 lb (190,000 kg) of fuel. The gunship has been used in every major U.S. combat operation since Vietnam, except for Operation El Dorado Canyon, the 1986 attack on Libya.[43]
C-130 Hercules performs a tactical landing on a dirt strip
During the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 and the ongoing support of the International Security Assistance Force (Operation Enduring Freedom), the C-130 Hercules has been used operationally by Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, South Korea, Spain, the UK and the United States.
During the 2003 invasion of Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom), the C-130 Hercules was used operationally by Australia, the UK and the United States. After the initial invasion, C-130 operators as part of the Multinational force in Iraq used their C-130s to support their forces in Iraq.
Since 2004, the Pakistan Air Force has employed C-130s in the War in North-West Pakistan. Some variants had forward looking infrared (FLIR Systems Star Safire III EO/IR) sensor balls, to enable close tracking of Islamist militants.[44]
Civilian[edit]
A C-130E fitted with a MAFFS-1 dropping fire retardant
The U.S. Forest Service developed the Modular Airborne FireFighting System for the C-130 in the 1970s, which allows regular aircraft to be temporarily converted to an airtanker for fighting wildfires.[45] In the late 1980s, 22 retired USAF C-130As were removed from storage at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base and transferred to the U.S. Forest Service who then sold them to six private companies to be converted into air tankers (see U.S. Forest Service airtanker scandal). After one of these aircraft crashed due to wing separation in flight as a result of fatigue stress cracking, the entire fleet of C-130A air tankers was permanently grounded in 2004 (see 2002 airtanker crashes). C-130s have been used to spread chemical dispersants onto the massive oil slick in the Gulf Coast in 2010.[46]
A recent development of a C-130–based airtanker is the Retardant Aerial Delivery System developed by Coulson Aviation USA . The system consists of a C-130H/Q retrofitted with an in-floor discharge system, combined with a removable 3,500- or 4,000-gallon water tank. The combined system is FAA certified.[47]
Variants[edit]
This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2014)
C-130H Hercules flight deck
A U.S. JC-130 aircraft retrieving a reconnaissance satellite film capsule under parachute.
C-130s from the: U.S., Canada, Australia and Israel (foreground to background)
RAAF C-130J-30 at Point Cook, 2006
Brazilian Air Force C-130 (L-382)
For civilian versions, see Lockheed L-100 Hercules.
Significant military variants of the C-130 include:
C-130A/B/E/F/G/H/K/T
Tactical airlifter basic models
C-130A-II Dreamboat
Early version Electronic Intelligence/Signals Intelligence (ELINT/SIGINT) aircraft[48]
C-130J Super Hercules
Tactical airlifter, with new engines, avionics, and updated systems
C-130K
Designation for RAF Hercules C1/W2/C3 aircraft (C-130Js in RAF service are the Hercules C.4 and Hercules C.5)
AC-130A/E/H/J/U/W
Gunship variants
C-130D/D-6
Ski-equipped version for snow and ice operations United States Air Force / Air National Guard
CC-130E/H/J Hercules
Designation for Canadian Armed Forces / Royal Canadian Air Force Hercules aircraft. U.S. Air Force used the CC-130J designation to differentiate standard C-130Js from "stretched" C-130Js (Company designation C-130J-30s).
DC-130A/E/H
USAF and USN Drone control
EC-130
EC-130E/J Commando Solo – USAF / Air National Guard psychological operations version
EC-130E – Airborne Battlefield Command and Control Center (ABCCC)
EC-130E Rivet Rider – Airborne psychological warfare aircraft
EC-130H Compass Call – Electronic warfare and electronic attack.[49]
EC-130V – Airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) variant used by USCG for counter-narcotics missions[50]
GC-130
Permanently Grounded "Static Display"
HC-130
HC-130B/E/H – Early model combat search and rescue
HC-130P/N Combat King – USAF aerial refueling tanker and combat search and rescue
HC-130J Combat King II – Next generation combat search and rescue tanker
HC-130H/J – USCG long-range surveillance and search and rescue
JC-130
Temporary conversion for flight test operations
KC-130F/R/T/J
United States Marine Corps aerial refueling tanker and tactical airlifter
LC-130F/H/R
USAF / Air National Guard – Ski-equipped version for Arctic and Antarctic support operations; LC-130F previously operated by USN
MC-130
MC-130E/H Combat Talon I/II – Special operations infiltration/extraction variant
MC-130W Combat Spear/Dragon Spear – Special operations tanker/gunship[51]
MC-130P Combat Shadow – Special operations tanker
MC-130J Commando II (formerly Combat Shadow II) – Special operations tanker Air Force Special Operations Command[52]
YMC-130H – Modified aircraft under Operation Credible Sport for second Iran hostage crisis rescue attempt
NC-130
Permanent conversion for flight test operations
PC-130/C-130-MP
Maritime patrol
RC-130A/S
Surveillance aircraft for reconnaissance
SC-130J Sea Herc
Proposed maritime patrol version of the C-130J, designed for coastal surveillance and anti-submarine warfare.[53][54]
TC-130
Aircrew training
VC-130H
VIP transport
WC-130A/B/E/H/J
Weather reconnaissance ("Hurricane Hunter") version for USAF / Air Force Reserve Command's 53d Weather Reconnaissance Squadron in support of the National Weather Service's National Hurricane Center
_________________________________
IMG_5183
C-GVKB - Basler BT-67 (Douglas DC-3TP) - Kenn Borek Air
at Calcary International Airport (YYC)
c/n12.300 - built as a C-47 for the USAF in 1944 -
operated by the RCAF as FZ694/12300 -
also b yMillardair and Mober Aviation as CF-WTV -
converted to BT-67 in 2009 -
operated by Kenn Borek Air since 2009
The Basler BT-67 is produced by Basler Turbo Conversions of Oshkosh, Wisconsin as a retrofitted Douglas DC-3 airframe, with modifications designed to improve the DC-3's serviceable lifetime. The conversion includes fitting the airframe with Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-67R turboprop engines, lengthening the fuselage, strengthening the airframe, upgrading the avionics, and making modifications to the wings' leading edge and wing tip.
Kenn Borek Air has currently 9 BT-67 aircraft registered in Canada
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
The Sd.Kfz. 124 Wespe (German for "wasp", also known as Leichte Feldhaubitze 18/2 auf Fahrgestell Panzerkampfwagen II (Sf.), "Light field howitzer 18 on Panzer II chassis (self-propelled)"), was a German self-propelled gun developed and used during the Second World War. During the Battle of France in 1940 it became apparent that the intermediate tank of the German forces, the Panzer II, had become unsuitable as a main battle tank and outdated. Though mechanically sound, it was both under-gunned and under-armored, and its small size prevented heavier armament and armor so that its development potential was limited. The chassis, however, proved serviceable for providing mobility to the 10.5 cm field howitzer, and important artillery weapon.
The design for the Wespe was produced by Alkett, based on the Panzer II Ausf. F chassis. Among other modifications the Panzer II's engine was moved forward, and the chassis slightly lengthened to accommodate the rear-mounted 10.5 cm leFH 18 howitzer. The boxy superstructure was left open at the top and rear and only lightly armored, with 10 mm armor plate, which was just enough to stop small arms fire. The vehicles were produced by FAMO's Ursus plant in Warsaw from February 1943 until June 1944, when Soviet forces approached the frontier. By that time, 676 had been produced. An additional 159 gun-less Wespe Munitionsträger were produced, too, to serve as mobile artillery ammunition carriers.
The Panzer II chassis also found use for the design of tank hunters: Existing chassis were converted to self-propelled artillery vehicles, such as the Marder II ("marten" in English). The latter was built on the basis of the original Panzer II chassis (with the engine at the rear) in two versions, the first mounted a modified Soviet 7.62 cm gun firing German ammunition, which had been acquired in significant numbers during the German advances the Ostfront, while the other mounted the German 7.5 cm PaK 40 gun. Its high profile and thin open-topped armor provided minimal protection to the crew, though. Nevertheless, the Marder II (as well as the similar Marder III, which was based on the Czech T-38 chassis) provided a great increase in mobility and firepower over contemporary German tanks during 1942 and into 1943.
By early 1944 the war situation had worsened for Germany and ever heavier tanks, esp. at the Eastern Front, appeared. The PaK 40 was effective against almost every Allied tank until the end of the war, only struggling to penetrate heavier vehicles like the Russian IS tanks, the American M4A3E2 Sherman 'Jumbo' assault tank and M26 Pershing, and later variants of the British Churchill tank. More firepower was needed, but the powerful new 88 mm PaK 43 was in short supply or earmarked for use in heavy battle tanks, which had received priority from the Oberkommando. An alternative anti-tank was the 7.5 cm KwK 42 L/70, the main armament of the Panther medium battle tank and of the Jagdpanzer IV self-propelled anti-tank gun. On the latter it was designated as the "7.5 cm Panzerabwehrkanone 42" (7.5 cm Pak 42).
The modified 7.5 cm gun had a longer barrel that increased muzzle velocity and operating pressure, resulting in much improved range and penetration. However, the new gun required a new armor-piercing projectile, the PzGr. 39/42. Apart from the addition of wider driving bands it was otherwise identical to the older 7.5 cm PzGr. 39. The wider driving bands added a little extra weight, from 6.8 kg for the old PzGr.39, to 7.2 kg for the new PzGr.39/42. The gun was fired electrically, the primer being initiated using an electric current rather than a firing pin. The breech operated semi-automatically so that after the gun had fired, the empty shell casing was automatically ejected, and the falling wedge type breech block remained down so that the next round could be loaded. Once the round was loaded the breech closed automatically and the weapon was ready to be fired again. Three different types of ammunition were used: APCBC-HE, APCR and HE.
This 7.5 cm Pak 42’s performance was almost equal to the bigger 88 mm PaK 43, and achieved a penetration of 106 mm hardened steel plate angled at 30° from vertical at 2.000 m (vs. 132 mm with the 88 mm PaK 43).
To increase the output of vehicles armed with the new 7.5 cm Pak 42, the Oberkommando ordered the conversion of existing vehicles, so that these reinforcements could be sent to the frontlines as quickly as possible, esp. at the East where the German troops were more and more caught in defensive battles. The chassis that appeared most suitable for this task was the Sd.Kfz. 124 Wespe, due to its internal layout. The 7.5 cm Pak 42’s long barrel (it was almost 5m/more than 16’ long) required a fighting compartment at the vehicle’s rear, with the engine in front of it – and the Wespe turned out to be suitable to accept the long weapon with relatively few modifications.
For the use on the open-top Wespe, the 7.5 cm Pak 42 was combined with the mount and shield of the old towed 7.5 cm PaK 40 gun, and this new construction simply replaced the Wespe’s original 10.5 cm leFH 18 howitzer. The superstructure’s armor was only minimally modified: the front opening was narrowed, because the longer 7.5 cm Pak 42 had a more limited field of fire than the 10.5 cm leFH 18. As a positive side effect, the superstructure’s walls could be slightly reduced in height (about 10 cm/4”) due to the 7.5 cm Pak 42’s lower gun carriage and front shield.
The vehicle’s internal layout and most of the equipment remained the same, just the crew was reduced from five to four, one loader was omitted. To cope with the slightly higher overall weight and the heavier front due to the long barrel, and the necessity to traverse the vehicle to aim, the gear ratio was lowered from 1:7.33 to 1:8 to reduce the stress on final gears and the wheels were replaced with reinforced alternatives that also used less rubber. Due to the smaller rounds, the internal ammunition supply rose from the Wespe’s forty 10.5 cm rounds to fifty-one 7.5 cm rounds, even though space for the crew became scarce when the Jagdwespe was fully loaded. No other armament was carried, even though a defensive 7.92 mm MG 34 machine gun was frequently installed at the commander’s position to the right of the gun, sometimes with a protective armor shield.
Like its basis, the “Jagdwespe”, how this makeshift vehicle was unofficially called, was only lightly protected, but this was intentionally done in order to reduce the overall weight and speed up the production as much as possible. The armor thickness was also limited in order to not adversely affect the vehicle’s overall driving performance, as this was the main point of this vehicle. The use of the Panzer II light tank chassis was another reason why the armor thickness had to be kept minimal, as the added weight could significantly affect its performance.
The front armor of the hull was 30 mm thick and placed at a 75° vertical angle. The sides were 14.5 mm thick, the rear 14.5 mm at 10° horizontal and the bottom was only 5 mm thick. The front superstructure armor was 15 (or 20 mm) thick and placed at a 30° vertical angle. The sides and rear of the superstructure were 15 mm and the top 10 mm thick. The fighting compartment was protected by only 10 mm thick all-around armor. The front armor was placed at 66°, side 73°, and rear 74° vertical angle.
Strangely, the “Jagdwespe” was allocated an individual ordnance inventory designation, namely Sd. Kfz. 125. This was probably done to keep the practice of the Marder family of light Panzerjäger’s taxonomy, which had received individual Sd. Kfz. Numbers, too, despite being based on existing vehicles. Initially, mostly unarmed Wespe artillery ammunition carriers were converted into Jagdwespe SPGs, but later on Wespe SPGs – primarily damaged vehicles that were refurbished – were also modified, and a few of the final newly build Wespe hulls were finished as Sd.Kfz. 125, too. However, since battle tanks still had priority, Jagdwespe production and output was only marginal, and less than 100 vehicles were completed until early 1945.
Like the various Marder versions before that fought on all European fronts of the war, there was a large concentration of the Jagdwespe on the Eastern Front. They were used by the Panzerjäger Abteilungen of the Panzer divisions of the Heer and served as well with several Luftwaffe units to defend airfields. Like the Marders before, the Jagdwespe's weaknesses were mainly related to survivability. The combination of a relatively high silhouette and open-top fighting compartment made them vulnerable to indirect artillery fire, aircraft strafing, and grenades. The armor was also quite thin, making them vulnerable to enemy tanks or infantry with more than light machine guns or pistols.
Operationally, the Jagdwespe was best employed in defensive or overwatch roles. They were neither assault vehicles nor tank substitutes, and the open-top compartment meant operations in crowded areas such as urban environments or other close-combat situations weren't a valid tactical option. But despite their weaknesses, they were more effective than the towed antitank guns they replaced, and the 7.5 cm Pak 42 with the extended barrel meant a significant improvement in firepower. The vehicle was small, easy to conceal for an ambush and relatively agile, so that it could quickly change position after a shot, and the Panzer II chassis was mechanically reliable, what made it popular with its crews.
Specifications:
Crew: Four (commander, gunner, loader/radio operator, driver)
Weight: 12.5 tonnes (27,533 lb)
Length: 4.81 m (15 ft 9 in)
6.44 m (21 ft 1 1/2 in) overall
Width: 2.28 m (7 ft 6 in)
Height: 2.21 m (7 ft 3 in)
Suspension: Leaf spring
Fuel capacity: 170 L (45 US gal)
Armor:
5 - 30 mm (.19 - 1.18 in)
Performance:
Maximum road speed: 40 km/h (25 mph)
Operational range: 220 km (137 mi) on roads
100 km (62 mi) cross-country
Power/weight: 12.7 PS/tonne
Engine & transmission:
6-cyl petrol Maybach HL62 TR with 140 PS (138 hp, 103 kW)
Armament:
1× 7.5 cm Panzerabwehrkanone 42/L 70 (7.5 cm Pak 42) with 51 rounds
1× 7.92 mm MG 34 machine gun with 2.000 rounds
The kit and its assembly:
This relatively simple German WWII what-if SPG was spawned from the thought that the light Wespe artillery SPG might also have been used for an anti-tank SPG, with relatively few modifications. The long-barreled 7.5 cm KwK 42/L70 appeared to be a suitable weapon for this kind of vehicle around 1944, so I tried to build a respective model.
The basis became the Italeri 1:72 “Wespe” kit, which is in fact a re-boxed ESCI kit. It goes together well, and you can build upper and lower hull separately for a final “marriage”. To change the Wespe’s look a little I exchanged the solid OOB wheels with those from a Panzer III, left over from a Revell/Mako kit. They are perfect in size, but due a lack of depth of their attachment openings (I only used the outer half of the Panzer III wheels) I glued them onto the hull before painting, normally I finish them separately and mount them in a final assembly step.
For the gun I had to improvise a little, because the open casemate would allow a good look at it. I settled for a straightforward solution in the form of a Zvezda 1:72 PaK 40. The gun was taken OOB, I just removed the wheel attachment points from its chassis and replaced the short gun barrel with a muzzle brake with a aluminum 1:72 L70 barrel for a Panther Ausf. F (with a Schmalturm) from Aber. Both elements were relatively easy to combine, and the gun shield could be taken over, too. Once the gun mount’s position in the Wespe hull was defined I narrowed the front opening a little with styrene wedges, added a deflector at its base, and reduced the height of the side walls for a coherent look. All in all the transplant looks very plausible!
Since the kit provides the option I decided to leave the driver’s hatch open and install the OOB driver figure on a raised seat. For the long barrel I scratched a support that was mounted to the front hull. Looks a bit awkward, though, because it obscures the driver’s field of view – but I could not find a better solution.
The only real trouble I had with the Italeri Wespe were the tracks: they were made from a really strange (and effectively horrible) vinyl material. This material repelled EVERYTHING with a kind of lotus effect – paints of any kind, even superglue! My usual method of mounting such tracks on the main wheels did not work at all, because the track would not hold at all. During these trials I also recognized that the tracks were too long – rather unusual, because 1:72 vinyl tracks tend to be too short so that some tension is needed to lengthen them properly. Two molded “links” had to be cut away, and on the kit’s box art you can see the overlength problem when you are aware of it! I guess that the ESCI designers once assumed that the tracks would be closed into a loop (= closing the track and using heat to literally weld it together) first and then forced onto/over the wheels. I was eventually able to outsmart the tracks through the massive use of superglue under the mudguards – while the tracks still do not really stick to the glue, the large surface of the dried instant adhesive keeps the tracks in place and under light tension. Not perfect, but the tracks remain in place…
Painting and markings:
Conservative, once more a variation of the Hinterhalt scheme. Once completed, the still separate hull, gun and shield received an overall base coat with RAL 7028 Dunkelgelb (TS-3 from a rattle can). On top of that I added vertical fields with Olivgrün (RAL 6003, Humbrol 86), and finally I applied branch-like thin stripes with a dark brown (Humbrol 98, which is darker and less reddish than the authentic RAL 8012, for a stronger contrast). The idea was to mimic dense brushes during spring and summertime, and to break up the vehicle’s outlines esp. through the brown lines. Following official camouflage practice the running gear area remained uniform Dunkelgelb, as a counter-shading measure against the upper hull, and to avoid “rotating” and therefore attention-catching color patches on the wheels when the vehicle moved.
Once the camouflage was completed the main wheels received rubber rims (with Revell 09 Anthracite) and the model received a dark red-brown washing. After that, the few decals were applied and overall dry-brushing with a mix of light grey and earth brown acrylic paint was done to emphasize edges and surface details, also on the gun and in the interior. Before their tedious fitting, the vinyl tracks (which came OOB in a metallic grey finish that looked really nice) had received a washing with black and brown acrylic paint as well as dry-brushing with medium grey, too.
A relatively simple and quick project, realized in a couple of days. The concept was quite clear, and thanks to good ingredients the result looks surprisingly plausible, with relatively few and little modifications. The different Panzer III wheels were not a necessary mod, but I like their look, and painting them while being already attached to the hull posed less problems than expected. The only real trouble came through the kit’s vinyl tracks, which I’d call rubbish and recommend a replacement. If they’d be made from a less repellant material, they’d be much easier to mount (and usable). However, the small Jagdwespe really looks like a juvenile Nashorn SPG!