|
Dumbéa Bay
Dumbéa Bay or Baie de la Dumbéa is a bay on the southwestern coast of Grande Terre in New Caledonia. It lies to the northwest of Nouméa. To the north is Gadji Bay. This bay has major historical importance related to the naval history of New Caledonia and the Pacific Ocean, especially during World War II, when it was the site of the United States Navy's Naval Base Noumea. Numerous ships anchored in the bay during the war, including the light cruiser , the destroyer , the destroyer minesweeper USS ''Southard'' (DMS-10), the aircraft transport , the fleet replenishment oiler , and the cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's List of seas, seas and Ocean, oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. ... . References Bays of New Caledonia {{NewCaledonia-geo-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grande Terre (New Caledonia)
Grande Terre () is the largest and principal island of New Caledonia, which is a territory of France. History Until about 37 million years ago, the island was completely submerged under the ocean. British explorer James Cook sighted Grande Terre in 1774 and named it "New Caledonia", Caledonia being the Latin name for what is now Scotland. The island's mountains reminded him of Scotland. Eventually, the name "New Caledonia" became applied to Grande Terre and its surrounding islands. It was annexed by the French Empire and became a penal colony in 1853. Today, Grande Terre has about 268,000 residents. Geography The largest settlement on Grande Terre is Nouméa, the capital city of New Caledonia. Locals refer to Grande Terre as "Le Caillou", the pebble. The island has a fairly hot and humid climate, though varying as the south-east trade winds bring relatively cool air. Surrounding the island and especially to the north-west is the New Caledonian barrier reef. The island is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Caledonia
New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of the French Republic, a legal status unique in overseas France, and is enshrined in a dedicated chapter of the French Constitution. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre (New Caledonia), Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Chesterfield Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of Pines (New Caledonia), Isle of Pines, and a few remote islets. The Chesterfield Islands are in the Coral Sea. French people, especially locals, call Grande Terre , a nickname also used more generally for the entire New Caledonia. Kanak people#Agitation for independence, Pro-independence Kanak parties use the name (''pron.'' ) to refer to New Caledonia, a term coined in the 1980s from the ethnic name of the indi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nouméa
Nouméa () is the capital and largest city of the French Sui generis collectivity, special collectivity of New Caledonia and is also the largest Francophone city in Oceania. It is situated on a peninsula in the south of New Caledonia's main island, Grande Terre (New Caledonia), Grande Terre, and is home to the majority of the island's European, Polynesian (Wallis and Futuna, Wallisians, Wallis and Futuna, Futunians, Tahitians), Indonesian, and Vietnamese people, Vietnamese populations, as well as many Melanesians, Ni-Vanuatu and Kanak people, Kanaks who work in one of the Oceania, South Pacific's most industrialised cities. The city lies on a protected deepwater harbour that serves as the chief port for New Caledonia. At the September 2019 census, there were 182,341 inhabitants in the metropolitan area of Greater Nouméa (), 94,285 of whom lived in the city (Communes of France, commune) of Nouméa proper. 67.2% of the population of New Caledonia lives in Greater Nouméa, which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gadji Bay
Gadji Bay or Baie Gadji is a bay in southwestern New Caledonia. It lies to the north of Noumea and just north of the Dumbéa Bay. Settlements on this stretch of coast include Savanah and Nakutakoin. It contains an island known as "Pine Island" because of its prominent pine trees and a shipwreck. This bay has major historical importance for its naval history, during World War II was used for Naval Base Noumea Naval Base Noumea was a major United States Navy sea and air base at Nouméa, New Caledonia. Naval Base Noumea was built at Noumea Harbor. Noumea was picked for a naval base as it was beyond the range of Japanese land-based planes. Noumea is on t .... References Bays of New Caledonia {{NewCaledonia-geo-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the continents of Asia and Australia in the west and the Americas in the east. At in area (as defined with a southern Antarctic border), the Pacific Ocean is the largest division of the World Ocean and the hydrosphere and covers approximately 46% of Earth's water surface and about 32% of the planet's total surface area, larger than its entire land area ().Pacific Ocean . ''Encyclopædia Britannica, Britannica Concise.'' 2008: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. The centers of both the Land and water hemispheres, water hemisphere and the Western Hemisphere, as well as the Pole of inaccessi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilising all resources in pursuit of total war. Tanks in World War II, Tanks and Air warfare of World War II, aircraft played major roles, enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, first and only nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II is the List of wars by death toll, deadliest conflict in history, causing World War II casualties, the death of 70 to 85 million people, more than half of whom were civilians. Millions died in genocides, including the Holocaust, and by massacres, starvation, and disease. After the Allied victory, Allied-occupied Germany, Germany, Allied-occupied Austria, Austria, Occupation of Japan, Japan, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft carrier fleet, with List of aircraft carriers in service, eleven in service, one undergoing trials, two new carriers under construction, and six other carriers planned as of 2024. With 336,978 personnel on active duty and 101,583 in the Ready Reserve, the U.S. Navy is the third largest of the United States military service branches in terms of personnel. It has 299 deployable combat vessels and about 4,012 operational aircraft as of 18 July 2023. The U.S. Navy is one of six United States Armed Forces, armed forces of the United States and one of eight uniformed services of the United States. The United States Navy traces its origins to the Continental Navy, which was established during ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Naval Base Noumea
Naval Base Noumea was a major United States Navy sea and air base at Nouméa, New Caledonia. Naval Base Noumea was built at Noumea Harbor. Noumea was picked for a naval base as it was beyond the range of Japanese land-based planes. Noumea is on the east side of the Coral Sea, from Brisbane, Australia. The base was built during World War II to support the many ships and aircraft fighting and patrolling in the South West Pacific theatre of World War II, South West Pacific theatre of war as part of the Pacific War. Naval Base Noumea had an anchorage for large ships. Noumea was protected against submarine attack by a ring of islands and naval minefields. At its peak 50,000 troops were stationed at Naval Base Noumea. New Caledonia has been a colony of France since 1853. Nouméa is the capital city of New Caledonia. On November 8, 1942, US Navy South Pacific headquarters moved to Nouméa. History In September 1940, New Caledonia joined the Free France organization, founded June 1940 af ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Light Cruiser
A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to this smaller cruisers had been of the protected cruiser model, possessing armored decks only. While lighter and smaller than other contemporary ships they were still true cruisers, retaining the extended radius of action and self-sufficiency to act independently around the world. Cruisers mounting larger guns and heavier armor relative to most light cruisers would come to be known as heavy cruisers, though the designation of 'light' versus 'heavy' cruisers would vary somewhat between navies. Through their history light cruisers served in a variety of roles, primarily on long-range detached patrol work, covering other military operations or global shipping lanes, as scouts and fleet support vessels for battle fleets, as destroyer command ship ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived in 1885 by Fernando Villaamil for the Spanish NavySmith, Charles Edgar: ''A short history of naval and marine engineering.'' Babcock & Wilcox, ltd. at the University Press, 1937, page 263 as a defense against torpedo boats, and by the time of the Russo-Japanese War in 1904, these "torpedo boat destroyers" (TBDs) were "large, swift, and powerfully armed torpedo boats designed to destroy other torpedo boats". Although the term "destroyer" had been used interchangeably with "TBD" and "torpedo boat destroyer" by navies since 1892, the term "torpedo boat destroyer" had been generally shortened to simply "destroyer" by nearly all navies by the First World War. Before World War II, destroyers were light vessels with little endurance for unatte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Destroyer Minesweeper
Destroyer minesweeper was a designation given by the United States Navy to a series of destroyers that were converted into high-speed ocean-going minesweepers for service during World War II. The hull classification symbol for this type of ship was "DMS." Forty-two ships were so converted, beginning with , converted to DMS-1 in late 1940, and ending with , converted to DMS-42 in mid-1945. The type is now obsolete, its function having been taken over by purpose-built ships, designated as "minesweeper (high-speed)" with the hull classification symbol MMD. The s and s chosen for conversion were obsolete four-stack destroyers built in 1918 that still had usable power plants; they were nicknamed "four-pipers" on account of their four funnel (ship), smokestacks. Although the full conversion process to minesweepers for the original 17 ''Wickes'' and ''Clemson''-class destroyers began in October—November 1940, it was not completed for all 17 until around mid-1942. When they were fully c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
USS Southard
USS ''Southard'' (DD-207/DMS-10) was a ''Clemson''-class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War II. She was the second Navy ship named for Secretary of the Navy Samuel L. Southard (1787–1842). Construction and commissioning ''Southard'' was laid down on 18 August 1918 at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by William Cramp & Sons; launched on 31 March 1919, sponsored by Miss Francesca Lewis Steward; and was commissioned on 24 September 1919. Service history 1919–1940 During the early fall of 1919, ''Southard'' completed fitting-out and steamed for the Florida coast for shakedown. She next headed for New York City to join six other destroyers in escorting the British battlecruiser out to sea as that warship departed carrying Edward, the Prince of Wales, after his visit to the United States. On 19 November 1919, ''Southard'' departed Newport, Rhode Island, for duty with U.S. naval forces in the eastern Mediterranean. For about a year, she operated in the Adriatic Se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
