Fighter Catapult Ship
Fighter catapult ships (FCS) also known as Catapult Armed Ships were an attempt by the Royal Navy to provide air cover at sea. Five ships were acquired and commissioned as Naval vessels early in the Second World War, and these were used to accompany convoys. The concept was extended to merchant ships which were also equipped with rocket-assisted launch systems and known as Catapult Aircraft Merchantmen ( CAM ships). Both classes could launch a disposable fighter (usually a Hawker Hurricane) to fight off a threat, with the pilot expected to be rescued after either ditching the aircraft or bailing out close to the launching ship. The ships There were five fighter catapult ships, collectively known as the ''Pegasus'' class. Two, ''Patia'' and ''Springbank'', were lost during the war. They were each equipped with a single Fairey Fulmar or "Hurricat" (an adapted Hawker Hurricane Mk.1A). FCS combat launches See also * Aircraft cruiser * CAM ship * List of aircraft carriers of Wo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early Middle Ages, medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Kingdom of France, France. The modern Royal Navy traces its origins to the English Navy of the early 16th century; the oldest of the British Armed Forces, UK's armed services, it is consequently known as the Senior Service. From the early 18th century until the World War II, Second World War, it was the world's most powerful navy. The Royal Navy played a key part in establishing and defending the British Empire, and four Imperial fortress colonies and a string of imperial bases and coaling stations secured the Royal Navy's ability to assert naval superior ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Robert W
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, praise, renown, godlike" and ''berht'' "bright, light, shining"). It is the second most frequently used given name of ancient Germanic origin.Reaney & Wilson, 1997. ''Dictionary of English Surnames''. Oxford University Press. It is also in use as a surname. Another commonly used form of the name is Rupert. After becoming widely used in Continental Europe, the name entered England in its Old French form ''Robert'', where an Old English cognate form (''Hrēodbēorht'', ''Hrodberht'', ''Hrēodbēorð'', ''Hrœdbœrð'', ''Hrœdberð'', ''Hrōðberχtŕ'') had existed before the Norman Conquest. The feminine version is Roberta. The Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish form is Roberto. Robert is also a common name in many Germanic languages, including En ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ship Types
A ship is a large vessel that travels the world's oceans and other navigable waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished from boats, based on size, shape, load capacity and purpose. Ships have supported exploration, trade, warfare, migration, colonization, and science. Ship transport is responsible for the largest portion of world commerce. The word ''ship'' has meant, depending on the era and the context, either just a large vessel or specifically a ship-rigged sailing ship with three or more masts, each of which is square-rigged. The earliest historical evidence of boats is found in Egypt during the 4th millennium BCE. In 2024, ships had a global cargo capacity of 2.4 billion tons, with the three largest classes being ships carrying dry bulk (43%), oil tankers (28%) and container ships (14%). Nomenclature Ships are typically larger than boats, but there is no ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Merchant Aircraft Carrier
A merchant aircraft carrier (also known as a MAC ship, the Admiralty (United Kingdom), Admiralty's official 'short name') was a limited-purpose aircraft carrier operated under British and Dutch civilian registry during World War II. MAC ships were adapted by adding a flight deck to a bulk grain ship or oil tanker enabling it to operate anti-submarine aircraft in support of Allies of World War II, Allied convoys during the Battle of the Atlantic. Despite their quasi-military function, MAC ships retained their mercantile status, continued to carry cargo and operated under civilian command. MAC ships entered service from May 1943 when they began to supplement and supplant escort carriers, and remained operational until the end of the war in Europe. Development In 1940, Captain M. S. Slattery RN, Director of Air Matériel at the Admiralty (United Kingdom), Admiralty, proposed a scheme for converting merchant ships into aircraft carriers as a follow-up to the CAM ship project. Sl ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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List Of Ships Of World War II
This list of ships of the Second World War contains major military vessels of the war, arranged alphabetically and by type. The list includes armed vessels that served during the war and in the immediate aftermath, inclusive of localized ongoing combat operations, garrison surrenders, post-surrender occupation, colony re-occupation, troop and prisoner repatriation, to the end of 1945. For smaller vessels, see also list of World War II ships of less than 1000 tons. Some uncompleted Axis ships are included, out of historic interest. Ships are designated to the country under which they operated for the longest period of the Second World War, regardless of where they were built or previous service history. Naval warfare changed dramatically during the war, with the ascent of the aircraft carrier, and the impact of increasingly capable submarines. Destroyers saw dramatic improvements, as the set a new standard not only for Japanese vessels, but for navies around the world, and are co ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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List Of Aircraft Carriers Of World War II
This is a list of aircraft carriers of the Second World War. Aircraft carriers serve as a seagoing airbases, equipped with a flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying and recovering aircraft. Typically, they are the capital ships of a fleet, as they project air power worldwide without depending on local bases for operational support. Aircraft carriers are expensive and are considered critical assets. By the Second World War aircraft carriers had evolved from converted cruisers, to purpose built vessels of many classes and roles. Fleet carriers were the largest type, operating with the main fleet to provide offensive capability. Light aircraft carriers were fast enough to operate with the fleet but smaller and with fewer aircraft. Escort carriers were smaller and slower, with low numbers of aircraft, and provided defense for convoys. Most of the latter were built from mercantile hulls or, in the case of merchant aircraft carriers, were bulk cargo ships with a fl ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Aircraft Cruiser
The aircraft cruiser (also known as aviation cruiser or cruiser-carrier) is a warship that combines the features of the aircraft carrier and a surface warship such as a cruiser or battleship. Early types The first aircraft cruiser was originally a 1930s experimental concept of creating an all-around warship. The early aircraft cruisers were usually armed with relatively heavy artillery, mines and a number of aircraft fitted with floats (making the ship a kind of seaplane tender/ fighter catapult ship). The early aircraft cruiser turned out to be an unsuccessful design. The rapid development of naval aircraft in the 1930s quickly rendered the vessels obsolete, and they were rebuilt e.g. as anti-aircraft cruisers. A United States design for a flight deck cruiser from 1930,Friedman 1983, p.179. was described as "a light cruiser forwards ndone half of a aft". Although not built, similar ships were created during and after World War II as reconstructions and later from the ke ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Gibraltar Convoys Of World War II
The Gibraltar convoys of World War II were oceangoing trade convoys of merchant ships sailing between Gibraltar and the United Kingdom. Gibraltar convoy routes crossed U-boat transit routes from French Atlantic ports and were within range of Axis maritime patrol aircraft making these convoys vulnerable to observation and interception by bombers, submarines, and surface warships during the Battle of the Atlantic. OG convoys brought supplies from the United Kingdom to Gibraltar from September 1939 until September 1942. Beginning with Operation Torch, OG convoys were replaced by KM convoys transporting military personnel and supplies from the United Kingdom to and past Gibraltar into the Mediterranean Sea. HG convoys brought food, raw materials, and later empty ships from Gibraltar to the United Kingdom from September 1939 until September 1942. After Operation Torch, HG convoys were replaced by MK convoys returning mostly empty ships from the Mediterranean to the United Kingdom. KM a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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RAF St Angelo
Royal Air Force St Angelo or more simply RAF St Angelo is a former Royal Air Force station during the Second World War, located near the village of Trory on the southern tip of Lower Lough Erne, north of Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland; also used by the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm. The name St Angelo is believed to be taken from the nearby Bishop's house (named after the saint), which was commandeered during the war as the Station Commander's residence; the name also became attached to the airfield. The airfield was later renamed as St Angelo Barracks from the 1970s and utilised as an accommodation barracks and a centre of helicopter operations over the province, by the British Army and Ulster Defence Regiment during The Troubles in Northern Ireland. The airfield remains in existence under civilian ownership, reduced to a single runway, with a range of private flying ventures but with no commercial airline services. History Second World War Established in Ap ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor
The Focke-Wulf Fw 200 ''Condor'', also known as ''Kurier'' (German for ''courier'') to the Allies, is an all-metal four-engined monoplane designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Focke-Wulf. It was the first heavier-than-air craft to fly nonstop between Berlin and New York City, about , making the flight from Berlin-Staaken to Floyd Bennett Field on 10/11 August 1938 in 24 hours and 56 minutes. It was originally proposed by the aeronautical engineer Kurt Tank as a long-range land-based airliner for the flag carrier Deutsche Luft Hansa. A key feature of the Fw 200 was its ability to cruise at altitudes in excess of , which made long distance routes more viable. A specification was issued in June 1936 and the maiden flight of the first prototype took place on 27 July 1937. Civilian Fw 200 were operated by Deutsche Luft Hansa, Det Danske Luftfartselskab, Syndicato Condor (the latter being Luft Hansa's Brazilian subsidiary), Cruzeiro do Sul, and the British Overs ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve
The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original Royal Naval Reserve, created in 1859, and the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR), created in 1903. The Royal Naval Reserve has seen action in World War I, World War II, the Iraq War and the War in Afghanistan. History Establishment The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) has its origins in the Register of Seamen, established in 1835 to identify men for naval service in the event of war, although just 400 volunteered for duty in the Crimean War in 1854 out of 250,000 on the Register. This led to a Royal Commission on Manning the Navy in 1858 and 1859, which in turn led to the Naval Reserve Act 1859. This established the RNR as a reserve of professional seamen from the British Merchant Navy and fishing fleets, who could be called upon during ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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HMS Springbank
HMS ''Springbank'' was a Royal Navy fighter catapult ship of the Second World War. History Originally a cargo ship built in 1926 for Bank Line it was acquired by the Admiralty at the start of the war and converted to an "auxiliary anti-aircraft cruiser" by the addition of four twin gun turrets and two quadruple 2 pdr (40 mm) "pom-pom"s. In March 1941 a catapult for a single Fairey Fulmar naval fighter (from 804 Naval Air Squadron) was fitted midships as a means to give further protection for convoys from enemy aircraft. ''Springbank'' was part of the escort for Convoy HG 73 from Gibraltar to Liverpool. ''Springbank''s Fulmar was launched to drive off a German Focke-Wulf Fw 200 The Focke-Wulf Fw 200 ''Condor'', also known as ''Kurier'' (German language, German for ''courier'') to the Allies of World War II, Allies, is an all-metal four-engined monoplane designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Focke-Wul ... reconnaissance aircraft; the Fulmar landed at G ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |