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USS Minotaur (ARL-15)
USS ''Minotaur'' (ARL-15) was one of 39 ''Achelous''-class landing craft repair ships built for the United States Navy during World War II. Named for the Minotaur (the mythological monster of Crete, half man half bull, who was confined in the Labyrinth), she was the only U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name. Originally laid down as ''LST-645'' by the Chicago Bridge & Iron Company of Seneca, Illinois 20 June 1944; redesignated ''ARL-15'' on 14 August 1944; launched 20 September 1944; placed in ferry commission 30 September for conversion at Mobile, Alabama; and commissioned as USS ''Minotaur'' (ARL 15) 26 February 1945. Service history 1st commission Completing shakedown in March 1945 at the Amphibious Training Base, Panama City, Florida, ''Minotaur'' returned to Mobile to load steelplate and marine engines before departing for the Pacific. Steaming via the Marshall and Caroline Island groups, she anchored Buckner Bay, Okinawa on 4 June 1945. Having arrived during the final stag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Achelous-class Repair Ship
The ''Achelous''-class repair ship was a class of ship built by the US Navy during World War II. As the United States gained experience in amphibious warfare, amphibious operations, it was realized that some sort of mobile repair facility would be useful for repairing the damage that frequently occurred to smaller vessels such as LCVP (United States), LCVP's (Landing Craft Vehicle/Personnel). The Auxiliary Repair Light (ARL) ship was designed to meet this need, and the ''Achelous'' class was the only class to receive this designation. Description ''Achelous''-class vessels were based on the same Hull (watercraft), hull as LST's (Landing Ship, Tank) which at the time were being produced in large numbers. This hull was thought to be ideal for a ship specializing in the repair of light craft, since it was not overly large and had a shallow draft (hull), draught which would enable it to maneuver into small harbors, rivers and inlets where it could service damaged boats and effect ot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ferry
A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus. Ferries form a part of the public transport systems of many waterside cities and islands, allowing direct transit between points at a capital cost much lower than bridges or tunnels. Ship connections of much larger distances (such as over long distances in water bodies like the Baltic Sea) may also be called ferry services, and many carry vehicles. History The profession of the ferryman is embodied in Greek mythology in Charon, the boatman who transported souls across the River Styx to the Underworld. Speculation that a pair of oxen propelled a ship having a water wheel can be found in 4th century Roman literature "''Anonymus De Rebus Bellicis''". Though impractical, there is no reason why it could not work and such a ferry, mod ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Orleans
New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of municipalities in Louisiana, most populous city in Louisiana and the French Louisiana region, the second-most populous in the Deep South, and the twelfth-most populous in the Southeastern United States. The city is coextensive with Orleans Parish, Louisiana, Orleans Parish. New Orleans serves as a major port and a commercial hub for the broader Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast region. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of approximately 1 million, making it the most populous metropolitan area in Louisiana and the List of metropolitan statistical areas, 59th-most populous in the United States. New Orleans is world-renowned for Music of New Orleans, its distincti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it flows generally south for to the Mississippi River Delta in the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's Drainage basin, watershed drains all or parts of 32 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces between the Rocky Mountains, Rocky and Appalachian Mountains, Appalachian mountains. The river either borders or passes through the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana. The main stem is entirely within the United States; the total drainage basin is , of which only about one percent is in Canada. The Mississippi ranks as the world's List of rivers by discharge, tenth-largest river by discharge flow, and the largest ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal () is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across the narrowest point of the Isthmus of Panama, and is a Channel (geography), conduit for maritime trade between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Lock (water navigation), Locks at each end lift ships up to Gatun Lake, an artificial fresh water lake Above mean sea level, above sea level, created by damming the Chagres River and Lake Alajuela to reduce the amount of excavation work required for the canal. Locks then lower the ships at the other end. An average of of fresh water is used in a single passing of a ship. The canal is threatened by low water levels during droughts. The Panama Canal shortcut greatly reduces the time for ships to travel between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, enabling them to avoid the lengthy, hazardous route around the southernmost tip of South America via the Drake Passage, the Strait of Magellan or the Beagle Channel. Its ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bonin Islands
The Bonin Islands, also known as the , is a list of islands of Japan, Japanese archipelago of over 30 subtropical and Island#Tropical islands, tropical islands located around SSE of Tokyo and northwest of Guam. The group as a whole has a total area of but only two of the islands are permanently inhabited, Chichijima and Hahajima. Together, their population was 2,560 as of 2021. Administratively, Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Tokyo's Ogasawara Subprefecture also includes the settlements on the Volcano Islands and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, Self-Defense Force post on Iwo Jima. The seat of government is Chichijima. Because of the Bonins' isolation, many of their animals and plants have undergone unique evolutionary processes. It has been called "the Galápagos Islands, Galápagos of the Orient" and was named a natural World Heritage Site in 2011. When first reached during the early modern period, the islands were entirely uninhabited. Subsequent research has found ev ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chichi Jima
is the largest and most populous island in the Japanese archipelago of Bonin or Ogasawara Islands. Chichijima is about north of Iwo Jima. in size, the island is home to about 2,120 people (2021). Connected to the mainland only by a day-long ferry that runs a few times a month, the island is nonetheless organized administratively as the seat of Ogasawara Village in the coterminous Ogasawara Subprefecture of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. Together with the Volcano and Izu Islands, it makes up Japan's Nanpō Islands. Some Micronesian tools and carvings have been found elsewhere in the Bonins, but Chichijima was long uninhabited when it was rediscovered. Ignored by the Spanish, Dutch, and Japanese Empires for centuries, it was finally claimed by a passing British captain in 1828 and settled by an international group from the Kingdom of Hawaii two years later, the original nucleus of the Ōbeikei ethnic group. Britain subsequently yielded to Japanese claims and colonizat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iwo Jima
is one of the Japanese Volcano Islands, which lie south of the Bonin Islands and together with them make up the Ogasawara Subprefecture, Ogasawara Archipelago. Together with the Izu Islands, they make up Japan's Nanpō Islands. Although south of Tokyo on Honshu, Iwo Jima is administered as part of the Ogasawara Subprefecture of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. Only in size, the island is still volcanic island, volcanic and emits sulfurous gases. The highest point of Iwo Jima is Mount Suribachi at high. Although likely passed by Micronesians who made their way to the Bonins to the north, Iwo Jima was largely ignored by the Spanish Empire, Spanish, Dutch Empire, Dutch, British Empire, British, and Empire of Japan, Japanese until a relatively late date after its 1543 rediscovery. The Japanese eventually colonized the island, administering it as the Iojima, Tokyo, Ioto or Iojima Village under Tokyo's jurisdiction until all civilians were forcibly evacuated to Honshu in July 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Okinawa Island
, officially , is the largest of the Okinawa Islands and the Ryukyu Islands, Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Islands of Japan in the Kyushu region. It is the smallest and least populated of the five Japanese archipelago, main islands of Japan. The island is approximately long, an average wide, and has an area of . It is roughly south of the main island of Kyushu and the rest of Japan. It is northeast of Taiwan. The total population of Okinawa Island was 1,384,762 in 2009. The greater Naha area has roughly 800,000 residents, while the city itself has about 320,000 people. Naha is the seat of Okinawa Prefecture on the southwestern part of Okinawa Island. Okinawa has a humid subtropical climate. Okinawa has been a strategic location for the United States Armed Forces since the Battle of Okinawa and the end of World War II. The island was formally controlled by the United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands until 1972, with around 26,000 U.S. military personnel stationed on Oki ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buckner Bay
is a bay on the southern coast of Okinawa Island on the Pacific Ocean in Japan. The bay covers and ranges between to deep. The bay is surrounded by the municipalities of Uruma, Kitanakagusuku, Nakagusuku, Nishihara, Yonabaru, Nanjō, all in Okinawa Prefecture. In 1852, while visiting the Ryukyu Kingdom, Commodore Matthew Perry mapped Okinawa and labeled Nakagusuku Bay as "Perry's Bay". During the final months of World War II, the bay became a United States Navy forward base and was nicknamed "Buckner Bay". History Buckner Bay In June 1945, American forces secured Okinawa. Nakagusuku Bay became an important U.S. anchorage. United States Army troops referred to it as "Buckner Bay", in memory of Lieutenant General Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr., commander of U.S. land forces in the campaign, who was killed on 18 June. Naval Base Buckner Bay was built by Naval Construction Battalion 4 on the bay. It consisted of the anchorage, repair and depot ships, plus onshore support fac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caroline Islands
The Caroline Islands (or the Carolines) are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically, they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) in the central and eastern parts of the group, and Palau at the extreme western end. Historically, this area was also called ''Nuevas Filipinas'' or New Philippines, because they were part of the Spanish East Indies and were governed from Manila in the Philippines. The Carolines are scattered across a distance of approximately , from the westernmost island, Tobi (island), Tobi, in Palau, to the easternmost island, Kosrae, a Administrative divisions of the Federated States of Micronesia, state of the FSM. Description The group consists of about 500 small coral islands, east of the Philippines, in the Pacific Ocean. The distance from Yap (one of the larger Caroline islands) to Manila is . Most of the islands are made up of low, flat atoll, coral ato ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marshall Islands
The Marshall Islands, officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands, is an island country west of the International Date Line and north of the equator in the Micronesia region of the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. The territory consists of 29 coral atolls and five main islands as well as 1,220 other very small ones, divided across two Archipelago, island chains: Ratak in the east and Ralik in the west. 97.87% of its territory is water, the largest proportion of water to land of any sovereign state. The country shares Maritime boundary, maritime boundaries with Wake Island to the north, Kiribati to the southeast, Nauru to the south, and the Federated States of Micronesia to the west. The capital city, capital and largest city is Majuro, home to approximately half of the country's population. The Marshall Islands are one of only four atoll based nations in the entire world. Austronesian settlers reached the Marshall Islands as early as the 2nd millennium BC and introduced Southeas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
