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Gordon Falcon (Royal Navy Officer)
Gordon Thomas Falcon (died 11 January 1854) was an officer in the Royal Navy. He first went to sea in 1794 as an able seaman on board . Quickly promoted to midshipman, Falcon transferred to and then , Admiral Adam Duncan's flagship, in which he served at the Battle of Camperdown. As a lieutenant, Falcon was aboard when she fired on the , causing an international incident. He was promoted to post-captain on 29 October 1813, and soon after was assigned to the newly built . Falcon was in command of the 22-gun when she and the 20-gun engaged the American 44-gun super frigate, near Madeira on 20 February 1815. Outgunned, both ships were captured and Falcon was made a prisoner of war. After hostilities, Falcon was released and stood trial for the loss of his ship at Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he was honourably acquitted. Towards the end of his career, Falcon served aboard as flag captain to William Hargood, the Commander-in-Chief at Plymouth. He was there in August 1833, durin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major settlement for two millennia. The City of London, its ancient core and financial centre, was founded by the Roman Empire, Romans as ''Londinium'' and retains its medieval boundaries.See also: Independent city#National capitals, Independent city § National capitals The City of Westminster, to the west of the City of London, has for centuries hosted the national Government of the United Kingdom, government and Parliament of the United Kingdom, parliament. Since the 19th century, the name "London" has also referred to the metropolis around this core, historically split between the Counties of England, counties of Middlesex, Essex, Surrey, Kent, and Hertfordshire, which largely comprises Greater London ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Hargood
Admiral of the White Sir William Hargood (6 May 1762 – 12 December 1839) was a British naval officer who served with distinction through the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary War and the Napoleonic Wars, during which he gained an unfortunate reputation for bad luck, which seemed to reverse following his courageous actions at the battle of Trafalgar in command of HMS ''Belleisle''. Military service Born in 1762 into a Royal Navy Dockyard family, the son of a Clerk of the Survey, Hargood was able to secure a position as a midshipman on HMS ''Triumph'', on which he served from 1775 until the following year, in which time he made a convoy to Newfoundland, and then moved to HMS ''Bristol'' in which he saw the West Indies and American Eastern Seaboard, being heavily in involved in the landing at Fort Moultrie in 1776. In 1781, Hargood was a lieutenant, serving in the sloop HMS ''Port Royal'' when Pensacola fell to the Spanish despite his best efforts to ke ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saint Barthélemy
Saint Barthélemy (french: Saint-Barthélemy, ), officially the Collectivité territoriale de Saint-Barthélemy, is an overseas collectivity of France in the Caribbean. It is often abbreviated to St. Barth in French, and St. Barts in English. The island lies about south of the Caribbean island Saint Martin, and is northeast of the Dutch islands of Saba, Sint Eustatius, and the independent country of Saint Kitts and Nevis. Saint Barthélemy was for many years a French commune forming part of Guadeloupe, which is an overseas region and department of France. In 2003 the island voted in favour of secession from Guadeloupe in order to form a separate overseas collectivity (''collectivité d'outre-mer'', abbreviated to ''COM'') of France. The collectivity is one of four territories among the Leeward Islands in the northeastern Caribbean that make up the French West Indies, along with Saint Martin, Guadeloupe ( southeast), and Martinique. Saint Barthélemy, a volcanic island f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Danish West Indies
The Danish West Indies ( da, Dansk Vestindien) or Danish Antilles or Danish Virgin Islands were a Danish colony in the Caribbean, consisting of the islands of Saint Thomas with ; Saint John ( da, St. Jan) with ; and Saint Croix with . The islands have belonged to the United States since they were purchased in 1917. Water Island was part of the Danish West Indies until 1905, when the Danish state sold it to the East Asiatic Company, a private shipping company. The Danish West India-Guinea Company annexed uninhabited St. Thomas in 1672; annexed St. John in 1718; and bought St. Croix from France ( King Louis XIV) on June 28, 1733. When the Danish West India-Guinea Company went bankrupt in 1754, King Frederik V of Denmark–Norway assumed direct control of the three islands. Britain occupied the Danish West Indies in 1801–02 and 1807–15 during the Napoleonic Wars. Danish colonizers in the West Indies aimed to exploit the profitable triangular trade, involving th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leeward Islands
french: Îles-Sous-le-Vent , image_name = , image_caption = ''Political'' Leeward Islands. Clockwise: Antigua and Barbuda, Guadeloupe, Saint kitts and Nevis. , image_alt = , locator_map = , location = Caribbean Sea North Atlantic Ocean , coordinates = , area_km2 = , total_islands = 30+ , major_islands = Antigua and BarbudaGuadeloupeMontserrat Saint Kitts and NevisSaint Martin Virgin Islands , highest_mount = La Grande Soufrière, Guadeloupe , elevation_m = 1,467 , country = Antigua and Barbuda , country_largest_city = Saint John's, Antigua, St. John's , country1 = Guadeloupe , country1_largest_city = Les Abymes , country2 = Saint Kitts and Nevis , country2_largest_city = Basseterre , country3 = Sint Maarten , country3_largest_city = Philipsburg, Sint Maarten, Philipsburg , density_km2 = , population = +700,000 , ethnic_groups = The Leeward Islands () are a group of islands situated where the northeastern Caribbean Sea meets the western Atlantic Ocean. Starting with th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
English Channel
The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" ( Cotentinais) or (Jèrriais), ( Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kanaal, "The Channel"; german: Ärmelkanal, "Sleeve Channel" (French: ''la Manche;'' also called the British Channel or simply the Channel) is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busiest shipping area in the world. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to at its narrowest in the Strait of Dover."English Channel". ''The Columbia Encyclopedia'', 2004. It is the smallest of the shallow seas around the continental shelf of Europe, covering an area of some . The Channel was a key factor in Britain becoming a naval superpower and has been utilised by Britain as a natural d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henry Harvey
Admiral Sir Henry Harvey KB (Bef. 4 Aug 1737 – 28 December 1810) was a long-serving officer of the British Royal Navy during the second half of the eighteenth century. Harvey participated in numerous naval operations and actions and especially distinguished himself at the Glorious First of June in command of . His career took him all over the world, particularly on the North American station and in the West Indies where he commanded numerous ships and, later in his career, squadrons during the course of three different wars. Harvey was a member of a distinguished naval family, his brother was killed in action in 1794, three of his sons entered the navy and one of them was later raised to admiral himself. Early career Henry Harvey was born in Eythorne, Kent in 1737, the second son of Richard and Elizabeth Harvey. With his elder brother John Harvey, Henry was educated in France during the 1740s and in 1751 joined the Royal Navy, a service his brother also joined three yea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William George Fairfax
Sir William George Fairfax (8 March 1739 – 7 November 1813) was a vice-admiral in the Royal Navy and the progenitor of the Fairfax Baronets. His most notable service was as Admiral Adam Duncan's flag captain on board HMS ''Venerable'' during the Battle of Camperdown on 11 October 1797. Life William was born in Bagshot, the eldest son of Joseph Fairfax of the Horse Guards and Mary Anne. He married firstly Hannah Spears (d.1770) in 1767, and secondly in 1772, Janet Margaret Charters. William was the father of eight children. His daughter, Mary Somerville was a noted science writer and polymath. Career He joined the Royal Navy in 1750 aboard HMS ''Centurion'', under Admiral First Lord Augustus Keppel, later moving to HMS ''Mars'', HMS ''Garland'' and HMS ''Duke''. He was commissioned a lieutenant on 20 December 1757, and later served on HMS ''Eurus'' off North America. He was in reserve between 1760 and 1766 and again between 1769 and 1776 with a brief break aboard ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rear-admiral
Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star " admiral" rank. It is often regarded as a two-star rank with a NATO code of OF-7. The term originated in the days of naval sailing squadrons and can trace its origins to the Royal Navy. Each naval squadron was assigned an admiral as its head, who commanded from the centre vessel and directed the squadron's activities. The admiral would in turn be assisted by a vice admiral, who commanded the lead ships that bore the brunt of a battle. In the rear of the squadron, a third admiral commanded the remaining ships and, as this section was considered to be in the least danger, the admiral in command of it was typically the most junior. This has continued into the modern age, with rear admiral the most junior admiralty of many navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pembroke Dock
Pembroke Dock ( cy, Doc Penfro) is a town and a community in Pembrokeshire, South West Wales, northwest of Pembroke on the banks of the River Cleddau. Originally Paterchurch, a small fishing village, Pembroke Dock town expanded rapidly following the construction of the Royal Navy Dockyard in 1814. The Cleddau Bridge links Pembroke Dock with Neyland. After Haverfordwest and Milford Haven, Pembroke Dock is the third-largest town in Pembrokeshire being more populous than neighbouring Pembroke. History The natural harbour (now the Milford Haven Waterway) offering shelter from the prevailing south-westerly winds, has probably been used for many thousands of years. From maps, the first evidence of settlement is the name of the Carr Rocks at the entrance, derived from the Norse-language ''Skare'' for rock. From 790 until the Norman Invasion (1066) the estuary was used by the Vikings. During one visit, either in 854 or in 878, maybe on his way to the Battle of Cynuit, th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hulk (ship)
A hulk is a ship that is afloat, but incapable of going to sea. Hulk may be used to describe a ship that has been launched but not completed, an abandoned wreck or shell, or to refer to an old ship that has had its rigging or internal equipment removed, retaining only its buoyant qualities. The word hulk also may be used as a verb: a ship is "hulked" to convert it to a hulk. The verb was also applied to crews of Royal Navy ships in dock, who were sent to the receiving ship for accommodation, or "hulked". Hulks have a variety of uses such as housing, prisons, salvage pontoons, gambling sites, naval training, or cargo storage. In the days of sail, many hulls served longer as hulks than they did as functional ships. Wooden ships were often hulked when the hull structure became too old and weak to withstand the stresses of sailing. More recently, ships have been hulked when they become obsolete or when they become uneconomical to operate. Sheer hulk A sheer hulk (or shear hulk) wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
