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Unsinkable Sam
Oscar (known by his nickname, Unsinkable Sam, or by the Germanized spelling of his name, Oskar) was a ship's cat who purportedly served during World War II with both the Kriegsmarine and the Royal Navy and survived the sinking of three ships in 1941—the German battleship ''Bismarck'', and then the British destroyer and aircraft carrier . While contemporary reports of the story were widely publicised in 1941 after the sinking of ''Ark Royal'', including photographs of Oscar, there is no firm evidence to link the cat to ''Bismarck'' or ''Cossack''. Contemporary reports On 14 November 1941, the aircraft carrier was torpedoed and sank a short distance from Gibraltar, where she was returning after ferrying aircraft to Malta in Operation Perpetual. The sinking was announced the same day, and two days later on 16 November the Admiralty confirmed that only one man had been killed. The newspaper reports noted that "most of" the ship's six cats had been saved—though not her canaries ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Belfast
Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel. It is the second-largest city in Ireland (after Dublin), with an estimated population of in , and a Belfast metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of 671,559. First chartered as an English settlement in 1613, the town's early growth was driven by an influx of Scottish people, Scottish Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Presbyterians. Their descendants' disaffection with Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland's Protestant Ascendancy, Anglican establishment contributed to the Irish Rebellion of 1798, rebellion of 1798, and to the Acts of Union 1800, union with Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain in 1800—later regarded as a key to the town's industrial transformation. When granted City status in the United Kingdom#Northern Ireland, city s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apocryphal
Apocrypha () are biblical or related writings not forming part of the accepted canon of scripture, some of which might be of doubtful authorship or authenticity. In Christianity, the word ''apocryphal'' (ἀπόκρυφος) was first applied to writings that were to be read privately rather than in the public context of church services. Apocrypha were edifying Christian works that were not always initially included as Biblical canon, canonical scripture. The adjective "apocryphal", meaning of doubtful authenticity, mythical, fictional, is recorded from the late 16th century, then taking on the popular meaning of "false," "spurious," "bad," or "heretical." It may be used for any book which might have scriptural claims but which does not appear in the canon accepted by the author. A related term for non-canonical apocryphal texts whose authorship seems incorrect is pseudepigrapha, a term that means "false attribution". In Christianity, the name "biblical apocrypha, the Apocrypha" ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Individual Cats In The United Kingdom
An individual is one that exists as a distinct entity. Individuality (or self-hood) is the state or quality of living as an individual; particularly (in the case of humans) as a person unique from other people and possessing one's own needs or goals, rights and responsibilities. The concept of an individual features in many fields, including biology, law, and philosophy. Every individual contributes significantly to the growth of a civilization. Society is a multifaceted concept that is shaped and influenced by a wide range of different things, including human behaviors, attitudes, and ideas. The culture, morals, and beliefs of others as well as the general direction and trajectory of the society can all be influenced and shaped by an individual's activities. Etymology From the 15th century and earlier (and also today within the fields of statistics and metaphysics) ''individual'' meant " indivisible", typically describing any numerically singular thing, but sometimes meani ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1955 Animal Deaths
Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first Nuclear marine propulsion, nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18–January 20, 20 – Battle of Yijiangshan Islands: The Chinese Communist People's Liberation Army seizes the islands from the Republic of China (Taiwan). * January 22 – In the United States, The Pentagon announces a plan to develop intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), armed with nuclear weapons. * January 23 – The Sutton Coldfield rail crash kills 17, near Birmingham, England. * January 25 – The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union announces the end of the war between the USSR and Germany, which began during World War II in 1941. * January 28 – The United States Congress authorizes President Dwight D. Eisenhower to use force to protect Taiwan from the People's Republic of China. February * February 10 – T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Individual Cats
This is a list of individual cats who have achieved some degree of popularity or notability. Before the modern era * Nedjem or Nojem (Egyptian language, Egyptian: ''nḏm'' "Sweet One" or "Sweetie"), 15th century BC. The cat of Puimre, second priest of Amun during the reign of Queen Hatshepsut. Depicted on a damaged relief from Puimre's tomb, Nedjem is the earliest known cat to bear an individual name. * Ta-Miu (Egyptian: ''tꜣ mjw'' "She-Cat"), 14th century BC. The cat of Crown Prince Thutmose, mummified after her death and buried in a decorated sarcophagus in Prince Thutmose's own tomb following his own early demise. * Muezza, 7th century AD. The (possibly apocryphal) cat of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. *Pangur Bán (Old Irish language, Old Irish "White Pangur"; the meaning of the latter word is unclear), 8th–9th century AD. The cat of an otherwise unknown Irish monk, who wrote a poem cataloguing the similarities between the cat's character and his own. Famous in own right ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Maritime Museum
The National Maritime Museum (NMM) is a maritime museum in Greenwich, London. It is part of Royal Museums Greenwich, a network of museums in the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site. Like other publicly funded national museums in the United Kingdom, it has no general admission charge; there are admission charges for most side-gallery temporary exhibitions, usually supplemented by many loaned works from other museums. Creation and official opening The museum was created by the National Maritime Museum Act 1934 under a Board of Trustees, appointed by HM Treasury. It is based on the generous donations of Sir James Caird (1864–1954). King George VI formally opened the museum on 27 April 1937 when his daughter Princess Elizabeth accompanied him for the journey along the Thames from London. The first director was Sir Geoffrey Callender. Collection Since the earliest times Greenwich has had associations with the sea and navigation. It was a landing place for the Romans, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Governor Of Gibraltar
The governor of Gibraltar is the representative of the British monarch in the British overseas territories, British overseas territory of Gibraltar. The governor is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the British government. The role of the governor is to act as the ''de facto'' head of state. They are responsible for formally appointing the Chief Minister of Gibraltar, along with other members of the government of Gibraltar after a Elections in Gibraltar, general election. The governor serves as commander-in-chief of Gibraltar's military forces and has sole responsibility for defence and security. Although recent appointments have all been former military personnel, most being former Royal Navy or Royal Marines flag officers, James Dutton (Royal Marines officer), Sir James Dutton resigned from the role in 2015, complaining that it was "more representational and ceremonial than I had expected". The governor has his own flag in Gibraltar, the Union Flag defacement (flag), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Motor Launch
Launch is a name given to several different types of boat. The wide range of usage of the name extends from utilitarian craft through to pleasure boats built to a very high standard. In naval use, the launch was introduced as a ship's boat towards the end of the 17th century. On each warship, the launch was usually the largest boat out of those carried aboard. It could be propelled by oar or sail, with this type remaining in service into the 20th century. Steam launches were introduced on a trial basis in 1867, but as steam-powered ship's boats became more common, the majority were steam pinnaces. Other military examples were the various motor launches used in the 20th century, employed for harbour defence, anti-submarine patrols, escorting coastal convoys, minesweeping and recovering aircrew from crashed aircraft. Generally these were decked boats, some of which were capable of fast speeds. A powered boat operated by a regulatory or official organisation may be termed a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aircraft Carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering carrier-based aircraft, shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the capital ship of a naval fleet, fleet (known as a carrier battle group), as it allows a naval force to power projection, project seaborne naval aviation, air power far from homeland without depending on local airfields for staging area, staging aerial warfare, aircraft operations. Since their inception in the early 20th century, aircraft carriers have evolved from wooden vessels used to deploy individual tethered reconnaissance balloons, to nuclear marine propulsion, nuclear-powered supercarriers that carry dozens of fighter aircraft, fighters, strike aircraft, military helicopters, airborne early warning and control, AEW&Cs and other types of aircraft such as unmanned combat aerial vehicle, UCAVs. While heavier fixed-wing aircraft such as a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Torpedo
A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such a device was called an automotive, automobile, locomotive, or fish torpedo; colloquially, a ''fish''. The term ''torpedo'' originally applied to a variety of devices, most of which would today be called mines. From about 1900, ''torpedo'' has been used strictly to designate a self-propelled underwater explosive device. While the 19th-century battleship had evolved primarily with a view to engagements between armored warships with large-caliber guns, the invention and refinement of torpedoes from the 1860s onwards allowed small torpedo boats and other lighter surface vessels, submarines/submersibles, even improvised fishing boats or frogmen, and later light aircraft, to destroy large ships without the need of large guns, though somet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Last Battle Of The Battleship Bismarck
The last battle of the German battleship ''Bismarck'' took place in the Atlantic Ocean approximately west of Brest, France, on 26–27 May 1941 between the and naval and air elements of the British Royal Navy. Although it was a decisive action between capital ships, it has no generally accepted name. It was the culmination of Operation Rheinübung where the attempt of two German ships to disrupt the Atlantic convoys to the United Kingdom failed with the scuttling of the ''Bismarck''. The last battle consisted of four main phases. The first phase late on 26 May consisted of air strikes by torpedo bombers from the British aircraft carrier , which disabled ''Bismarck''s steering gear, jammed her rudders in a turning position and prevented her escape. The second phase was the shadowing and harassment of ''Bismarck'' during the night of 26/27 May by British and Polish destroyers, with no serious damage to any ship. The third phase on the morning of 27 May was an attack by the Brit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operation Rheinübung
Operation Rheinübung () was the last sortie into the Atlantic by the new German battleship and heavy cruiser on 18–27 May 1941, during World War II. This operation aimed to disrupt Allied shipping to the United Kingdom as the previously successful Operation Berlin had done. After ''Bismarck'' had sunk HMS ''Hood'' during the Battle of the Denmark Strait (24 May), it culminated with the sinking of the ''Bismarck'' (27 May), while ''Prinz Eugen'' escaped to port in occupied France. From that point on, Germans would rely only on U-boats to wage the Battle of the Atlantic. Background During both World Wars, Britain relied heavily on merchant ships to import food, fuel, and raw materials, such things were crucial both for civilian survival and the military effort. Protecting this lifeline was a high priority for British forces, as its disruption would significantly weaken the British economy and its military capabilities, and Britain might be forced to negotiate peace, se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
