Belgian Frigate Louise-Marie (F931)
''Louise-Marie'' (F931) is a of the Marine Component of the Belgian Armed Forces that was commissioned in 2008. It is the second of the two frigates of this class that were purchased from the Royal Netherlands Navy on 22 December 2005. It was originally commissioned in 1991 in the Netherlands, where it served as HNLMS ''Willem van der Zaan'' (F829). Service HNLMS ''Willem van der Zaan'' was rechristened ''Louise-Marie'' (F931) on 8 April 2008 in Antwerp by Queen Paola of Belgium. It was named after ''Louise-Marie'', a naval vessel purchased by the Belgian navy in 1840, which in turn was named after Queen Louise-Marie of Belgium, the wife of Leopold I. Missions In September 2010, ''Louise-Marie'' was reported to be preparing for a second deployment to the Horn of Africa. On 29 November 2013, the ship arrived in London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a popula ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Netherlands consists of Provinces of the Netherlands, twelve provinces; it borders Germany to the east and Belgium to the south, with a North Sea coastline to the north and west. It shares Maritime boundary, maritime borders with the United Kingdom, Germany, and Belgium. The official language is Dutch language, Dutch, with West Frisian language, West Frisian as a secondary official language in the province of Friesland. Dutch, English_language, English, and Papiamento are official in the Caribbean Netherlands, Caribbean territories. The people who are from the Netherlands is often referred to as Dutch people, Dutch Ethnicity, Ethnicity group, not to be confused by the language. ''Netherlands'' literally means "lower countries" i ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Goalkeeper CIWS
The Goalkeeper CIWS is a Dutch close-in weapon system (CIWS) introduced in 1979. It is an autonomous and completely automatic weapon system for short-range defence of ships against highly maneuverable missiles, aircraft and fast-maneuvering surface vessels. Once activated the system automatically undertakes the entire air defence process from surveillance and detection to destruction, including the selection of the next priority target. Development Hollandse Signaalapparaten B.V., in short Hollandse Signaal or Signaal (now Thales Nederland) began work on the Goalkeeper in 1975, developing it around the GAU-8 gun. A prototype, the EX-83, was first demonstrated to the Royal Netherlands Navy in 1979. In 2012, the Dutch ministry of defense announced that the Goalkeeper systems in use by the Netherlands Navy will receive radar upgrades, mechanical improvements, new high-precision frangible ammunition and a new electro-optical tracking system. Also, the system's surface model will b ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Flanders Fields Memorial Garden
The Flanders Fields Memorial Garden is a monument dedicated to the participants of World War I situated alongside the Guards Chapel at Wellington Barracks in Central London, England. The garden was opened by Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and King Philippe of the Belgians on 6 November 2014. Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge were also in attendance, alongside soldiers of the Household Division. Design The garden was designed by the Belgian architect Piet Blanckaert. The garden features a 'circular grass bed' which holds soil collected from Flanders in Belgium, the site of many battles in the Western Front of World War I and trees native to Flanders. The grass bed is inscribed with words from the poem "In Flanders Fields" by John McCrae. A stone bench is also situated in the garden made from Flemish bluestone. The curator of the memorial garden, Andrew Wallis, said that the garden's design was "...full of meaningful features" and ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting took place mainly in European theatre of World War I, Europe and the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I, Middle East, as well as in parts of African theatre of World War I, Africa and the Asian and Pacific theatre of World War I, Asia-Pacific, and in Europe was characterised by trench warfare; the widespread use of Artillery of World War I, artillery, machine guns, and Chemical weapons in World War I, chemical weapons (gas); and the introductions of Tanks in World War I, tanks and Aviation in World War I, aircraft. World War I was one of the List of wars by death toll, deadliest conflicts in history, resulting in an estimated World War I casualties, 10 million military dead and more than 20 million wounded, plus some 10 million civilian de ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Western Europe, with a population of 14.9 million. London stands on the River Thames in southeast England, at the head of a tidal estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major settlement for nearly 2,000 years. Its ancient core and financial centre, the City of London, was founded by the Roman Empire, Romans as Londinium and has retained its medieval boundaries. The City of Westminster, to the west of the City of London, has been the centuries-long host of Government of the United Kingdom, the national government and Parliament of the United Kingdom, parliament. London grew rapidly 19th-century London, in the 19th century, becoming the world's List of largest cities throughout history, largest city at the time. Since the 19th cen ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Horn Of Africa
The Horn of Africa (HoA), also known as the Somali Peninsula, is a large peninsula and geopolitical region in East Africa.Robert Stock, ''Africa South of the Sahara, Second Edition: A Geographical Interpretation'', (The Guilford Press; 2004), p. 26 Located on the easternmost part of the African mainland, it is the fourth largest peninsula in the world. It is composed of Somaliland, Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Eritrea. Although not common, broader definitions include parts or all of Kenya and Sudan.John I. Saeed, ''Somali'' – Volume 10 of London Oriental and African language library, (J. Benjamins: 1999), p. 250.Sandra Fullerton Joireman, ''Institutional Change in the Horn of Africa'', (Universal-Publishers: 1997), p.1: "The Horn of Africa encompasses the countries of Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, and Somalia. These countries share similar peoples, languages, and geographical endowments." It has been described as a region of geopolitical and strategic importance, since it ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Leopold I Of Belgium
Leopold I (16 December 1790 – 10 December 1865) was the first king of the Belgians, reigning from 21 July 1831 until his death in 1865. The youngest son of Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Leopold took a commission in the Imperial Russian Army and fought against Napoleon after French troops overran Saxe-Coburg during the Napoleonic Wars. After Napoleon's defeat, Leopold moved to the United Kingdom, where in 1816 he married Princess Charlotte of Wales (1796–1817), Princess Charlotte of Wales, the only child of the British Prince Regent (later George IV). Leopold and Charlotte's marriage was happy, but it ended after a year and a half when Charlotte died after delivering a stillborn son. Leopold continued to enjoy considerable status in Britain. After the Greek War of Independence, Leopold was offered the throne of Greece under the 1830 London Protocol that created an independent Greek state, but turned it down, believing it to be too precarious. Instead, he accepted t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Queen Paola Of Belgium
Paola Margherita Maria-Antonia Consiglia dei Principi Ruffo di Calabria (born 11 September 1937) is a member of the Belgian royal family who was List of Belgian royal consorts, Queen of the Belgians during the reign of her husband, Albert II of Belgium, King Albert II, from 9 August 1993 to 21 July 2013. Early life and family background Paola Margherita Maria-Antonia Consiglia Ruffo di Calabria was born in Forte dei Marmi, Tuscany, Italy, the seventh and youngest child of Fulco Ruffo di Calabria, Fulco, Prince Ruffo di Calabria, 6th Duke of Guardia Lombarda (1884–1946), who was a List of World War I flying aces by nationality, World War I Italian flying ace.''Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Fürstliche Häuser'' XVI. "Ruffo". C.A. Starke Verlag, 2001, pp. 522–529. . Her mother was :it:Luisa Gazelli di Rossana, Donna Luisa Gazelli dei Conti di Rossana e di Sebastiano (1896–1989), a matrilineality, matrilineal descendant of the Gilbert du Motier, marquis de Lafayette, Ma ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Antwerp
Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after Tournai and Couvin. With a population of 565,039, it is the List of most populous municipalities in Belgium, most populous municipality in Belgium, and with a metropolitan population of over 1.2 million people, the country's Metropolitan areas in Belgium, second-largest metropolitan area after Brussels. Definitions of metropolitan areas in Belgium. Flowing through Antwerp is the river Scheldt. Antwerp is linked to the North Sea by the river's Western Scheldt, Westerschelde estuary. It is about north of Brussels, and about south of the Netherlands, Dutch border. The Port of Antwerp is one of the biggest in the world, ranking second in Europe after Rotterdam and List of world's busiest container ports, within the top 20 globally. The city ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Royal Netherlands Navy
The Royal Netherlands Navy (, ) is the Navy, maritime service branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. It traces its history to 8 January 1488, making it the List of navies, third-oldest navy in the world. During the 17th and early 18th centuries, the Dutch States Navy was one of the most powerful navies in the world and played an active role in the Anglo-Dutch Wars, Franco-Dutch War, Nine Years' War and War of the Spanish Succession. However, by the late 18th century it had declined through neglect and was no longer a match for either the Royal Navy, British or French Navy, French navies. The Batavian Navy and navy of the Kingdom of Holland played an active role in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, though both were repeatedly yoked to French interests. Officially formed in 1813 after the Sovereign Principality of the United Netherlands was established, the Royal Netherlands Navy played an important role in protecting the Dutch East Indies, and would play a minor role ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ship Class
A ship class is a group of ships of a similar design. This is distinct from a ship type, which might reflect a similarity of tonnage or intended use. For example, is a nuclear aircraft carrier (ship type) of the (ship class). In the course of building a class of ships, design changes might be implemented. In such a case, the ships of different design might not be considered of the same class; each variation would either be its own class, or a subclass of the original class (see for an example). If ships are built of a class whose production had been discontinued, a similar distinction might be made. Ships in a class often have names linked by a common factor: e.g. s' names all begin with T (, , ); and s are named after American battles (, , , ). Ships of the same class may be referred to as sister ships. Naval ship class naming conventions Overview The name of a naval ship class is most commonly the name of the lead ship: the first ship commissioned or built of its design. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |