HMS President (1878)
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HMS President (1878)
HMS ''Gannet'' is a Royal Navy screw sloop-of-war launched on 31 August 1878. It became a training ship in the Thames in 1903, and was then loaned as a training ship for boys in the Hamble from 1913. It was restored in 1987 and is now part of the UK's National Historic Fleet. Design The ''Doterel'' class were a development of the Osprey class sloop, ''Osprey''-class sloops and were of composite construction, with wooden hulls over an iron frame. The original 1874 design by the Director of Naval Construction, Chief Constructor, William Henry White was revised in 1877 by Sir Nathaniel Barnaby and nine were ordered. Of 1,130 tons displacement and approximately 1,100 horsepower#Indicated horsepower, indicated horsepower, they were armed with two 7" Muzzle-loading rifle#Rifled muzzle loaders, muzzle-loading rifled guns on pivoting mounts, and four RML 64 pounder 64 cwt gun, 64-pound guns (two on pivoting mounts, and two broadside). They had a crew of around 140 men. Construction ...
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Muzzle-loading Rifle
A muzzle-loading rifle is a Muzzleloader, muzzle-loaded Small arms and light weapons, small arm that has a rifled barrel rather than a smoothbore, and is loaded from the muzzle of the barrel rather than the breech. Historically they were developed when rifled barrels were introduced by the 1740ies, which offered higher accuracy than the earlier smoothbores. The American longrifle evolved from the German "Jäger (military), Jäger" rifle; a popularly recognizable form of the "muzzleloader" was the Kentucky Rifle. Although by definition they must be reloaded after each shot in a time-consuming fashion, they are still produced for hunting. Comparable artillery pieces are termed rifled muzzle loader (RML). Small arms Like most History of the firearm, early firearms, the first rifles were muzzle-loading, although this involved a lot of complication in inserting the bullet past the rifling, and clogging and cleaning problems were notorious. There are also muzzle-loading pistols and sh ...
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Osman Digna
Osman Digna () ( 1840–1926) was a follower of Muhammad Ahmad, the self-proclaimed Mahdi, in Sudan, who became his best known military commander during the Mahdist War. He was claimed to be a descendant from the Abbasid family. As the Mahdi's ablest general, he played an important role in the fate of General Charles George Gordon and the end of Turkish-Egyptian rule in Sudan. In Britain, Osman Digna became a notorious figure, both demonised as a savage and respected as a warrior. Winston Churchill described him as an "astute" and "prudent" man, calling him "the celebrated, and perhaps immortal, Osman Digna." Mahdist leader Osman Digna's father was a Kurd and his mother hailed from the Hadendoa tribe of the Beja people. His birthplace is not documented, but Suakin was said to be the town, where he was born. He was originally known as Osman Ali. He lived in Alexandria, Egypt, where he dealt in the selling of slaves. After the English forced him to quit this business, he ...
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Suakin
Suakin or Sawakin (, Beja: ''Oosook'') is a port city in northeastern Sudan, on the west coast of the Red Sea. It was formerly the region's chief port, but is now secondary to Port Sudan, about north. Suakin used to be considered the height of medieval luxury on the Red Sea, but the old city built of coral is now in ruins. In 1983, the adjacent historic mainland town, known as the Geyf, had a population of 18,030 and the 2009 population was estimated at 43,337. Ferries run daily from Suakin to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. Etymology The Beja name for Suakin is ''Oosook''. This is possibly from the Arabic word ''suq'', meaning market. In Beja, the locative case for this is ''isukib'', whence Suakin might have derived.Berg, RobertSuakin: Time and Tide. ''Saudi Aramco World.'' The spelling on Admiralty charts in the late 19th century was "Sauakin", but in the popular press "Suakim" was predominant. History Ancient Suakin was likely Ptolemy's Port of Good Hope, Limen Evangelis, whic ...
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Sudan
Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the southeast, and South Sudan to the south. Sudan has a population of 50 million people as of 2024 and occupies 1,886,068 square kilometres (728,215 square miles), making it Africa's List of African countries by area, third-largest country by area and the third-largest by area in the Arab League. It was the largest country by area in Africa and the Arab League until the 2011 South Sudanese independence referendum, secession of South Sudan in 2011; since then both titles have been held by Algeria. Sudan's capital and most populous city is Khartoum. The area that is now Sudan witnessed the Khormusan ( 40000–16000 BC), Halfan culture ( 20500–17000 BC), Sebilian ( 13000–10000 BC), Qadan culture ( 15000–5000 BC), the war of Jebel ...
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Suakin Expedition
The Suakin Expedition was either of two British-Indian military expeditions, led by Major-General Sir Gerald Graham, to Suakin in Sudan, with the intention of destroying the power of the Sudanese military commander Osman Digna and his troops during the Mahdist War. The first expedition took place in February 1884 and the second in March 1885. First expedition The first expedition, in February 1884, led to several notable British victories, among them the Second Battle of El Teb and the Battle of Tamai. Second expedition Following the fall of Khartoum on 26 January 1885, Graham led a second expedition in March 1885. This expedition is sometimes referred to as the Suakin Field Force. Its purpose was to defeat Mahdist forces under Osman Digna in the region and to supervise and protect the construction of the Suakin-Berber Railway. A week after its arrival in Suakin, the expedition fought in two actions: the Battle of Hashin on 20 March, and the Battle of Tofrek The Battle ...
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Gerald Graham
Lieutenant General Sir Gerald Graham, (27 June 1831 – 17 December 1899) was a senior British Army commander in the late 19th century and an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. As an officer of the Royal Engineers, he served in the Crimean War, China, Canada, and Africa — including as a Brigadier General in the Anglo-Egyptian War and as commander of the Suakin Expedition against Mahdist Sudan in 1884–85. In February 1884, Graham accompanied his close friend and colleague Charles George Gordon up the Nile to Gordon's disembarkation at Korosko, making Graham one of the last Englishmen to see Gordon alive before he set out across the Nubian Desert on his fateful mission to Khartoum. In 1887 Graham commemorated Gordon, reflecting on his life, character, and the context of the Mahdist War, in a publication entitled “Last Words with Gordon”. Early life G ...
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Mediterranean Fleet
The British Mediterranean Fleet, also known as the Mediterranean Station, was a formation of the Royal Navy. The Fleet was one of the most prestigious commands in the navy for the majority of its history, defending the vital sea link between the United Kingdom and the majority of the British Empire in the Eastern Hemisphere. The first Commander-in-Chief for the Mediterranean Fleet was the appointment of General at Sea Robert Blake in September 1654 (styled as Commander of the Mediterranean Fleet). The Fleet was in existence until 1967. Pre-Second World War The Royal Navy gained a foothold in the Mediterranean Sea when Gibraltar was captured by the British in 1704 during the War of Spanish Succession, and formally allocated to Britain in the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht. Though the British had maintained a naval presence in the Mediterranean before, the capture of Gibraltar allowed the British to establish their first naval base there. The British also used Port Mahon, on the ...
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War Of The Pacific
The War of the Pacific (), also known by War of the Pacific#Etymology, multiple other names, was a war between Chile and a Treaty of Defensive Alliance (Bolivia–Peru), Bolivian–Peruvian alliance from 1879 to 1884. Fought over Atacama Desert border dispute, Chilean claims on Litoral Department, coastal Bolivian territory in the Atacama Desert, the war ended with victory for Chile, which gained a significant amount of resource-rich territory from Peru and Bolivia. The direct cause of the war was a nitrate taxation dispute between Bolivia and Chile, with Peru being drawn in due to its secret alliance with Bolivia. Some historians have pointed to deeper origins of the war, such as the interest of Chile and Peru in the nitrate business, a long-standing rivalry between Chile and Peru for regional hegemony, as well as the political and economical disparities between the stability of Chile and the volatility of Peru and Bolivia. In February 1878, Bolivia increased taxes on the Chile ...
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Panama City
Panama City, also known as Panama, is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has a total population of 1,086,990, with over 2,100,000 in its metropolitan area. The city is located at the Pacific Ocean, Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, in the Panamá Province, province of Panama. The city is the political and administrative center of the country, as well as a hub for banking and commerce. The city of Panama was founded on 15 August 1519, by Spanish conquistador Pedro Arias Dávila. The city was the starting point for expeditions that conquered the Inca Empire of Peru. It was a stopover point on one of the most important trade routes in the American continent, leading to the fairs of Nombre de Dios, Colón, Nombre de Dios and Portobelo, Colón, Portobelo, through which passed most of the gold and silver that Spain mined from the Americas. On 28 January 1671, Panamá Viejo, the original city was destroyed by a fire when the privateer Henry Morgan sacked and set fire to it. ...
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Cape Horn
Cape Horn (, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which is Águila Islet), Cape Horn marks the northern boundary of the Drake Passage and marks where the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans meet. Cape Horn was identified by mariners and first rounded in 1616 by the Dutchmen Willem Schouten and Jacob Le Maire, who named it after the city of Hoorn in the Netherlands. For decades, Cape Horn was a major milestone on the clipper route, by which sailing ships carried trade around the world. The waters around Cape Horn are particularly hazardous, owing to strong winds, large waves, strong currents and icebergs. The need for boats and ships to round Cape Horn was greatly reduced by the opening of the Panama Canal in August 1914. Sailing around Cape Horn is still widely regarded as one of the major challenges in yachting. Thus, a few recreational ...
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Algernon Frederick Rous De Horsey
Admiral Sir Algernon Frederick Rous de Horsey (25 July 1827 – 22 October 1922) was a Royal Navy officer, appointed aide-de-camp to Queen Victoria. He distinguished himself in Canada during the Fenian raids, and was thanked in Parliament for suppressing riots in Jamaica. Early life De Horsey was the son of Spencer de Horsey, of Great Glemham Suffolk, and Lady Louise, a daughter of the first Earl of Stradbroke. His only sister was the Countess of Cardigan, whose reminiscences caused a scandal when they were published. Naval career De Horsey joined the Royal Navy in 1840 and served on the coast of Syria later that year. He received the Naval General Service Medal and bar for his service in Syria as well as a medal for his service in Acre given by the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. Promoted to lieutenant in July 1846 and to commander in June 1853, he was given command of the paddle sloop that same month and of from November 1855. Promoted to captain in September 1857, he co ...
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