Harwich Force
The Harwich Force originally called Harwich Striking Force was a squadron of the Royal Navy, formed during the First World War and based in Harwich. It played a significant role in the war. History After the outbreak of the First World War, it was important for the Royal Navy was to secure the approaches to the English Channel, to prevent elements of the Imperial German Navy (Kaiserliche Marine) from breaking out into the Atlantic or from interfering with British maritime trade and troop convoys to the continent. Most of the big ships of the Grand Fleet had dispersed to the navy's anchorage at Scapa Flow or to other north-eastern ports to watch the northern route from the North Sea into the Atlantic. Patrol flotillas were organised along the south and east coasts of England, with commands established at several ports in the region. The Dover Patrol was based at Dover, consisting mostly of destroyers, while a number of pre-dreadnoughts and cruisers were based at Portland Harbour ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the English overseas possessions, overseas possessions and trading posts established by Kingdom of England, England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, and colonisation attempts by Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland during the 17th century. At its height in the 19th and early 20th centuries, it became the List of largest empires, largest empire in history and, for a century, was the foremost global power. By 1913, the British Empire held sway over 412 million people, of the world population at the time, and by 1920, it covered , of the Earth's total land area. As a result, Westminster system, its constitutional, Common law, legal, English language, linguistic, and Culture of the United Kingdom, cultural legacy is widespread. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Pre-dreadnought
Pre-dreadnought battleships were sea-going battleships built from the mid- to late- 1880s to the early 1900s. Their designs were conceived before the appearance of in 1906 and their classification as "pre-dreadnought" is retrospectively applied. In their day, they were simply known as "battleships" or else more rank-specific terms such as "first-class battleship" and so forth. The pre-dreadnought battleships were the pre-eminent warships of their time and replaced the ironclad battleships of the 1870s and 1880s. In contrast to the multifarious development of ironclads in preceding decades, the 1890s saw navies worldwide start to build battleships to a common design as dozens of ships essentially followed the design of the Royal Navy's . Built from steel, protected by compound, nickel steel or case-hardened steel armor, pre-dreadnought battleships were driven by coal-fired boilers powering compound reciprocating steam engines which turned underwater screws. These ships dis ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cecil Hickley
Admiral Cecil Spencer Hickley, (22 January 1865 – 1 May 1941) was a career Royal Navy officer who finished as a vice-admiral, promoted to full admiral in retirement in 1925. He also played first-class cricket for Western Province in South Africa in 1890/91 and for Somerset in 1898 and 1899. He was born at Ashcott, Somerset and died in London. Naval career Hickley was appointed as a lieutenant to the battleship in 1895. He was promoted to the rank of commander in 1899, and was in command of the destroyer in the Medway Instructional Flotilla. In February 1900 he transferred with the crew to , which took the place in the Flotilla. He was posted to shore service at Chatham Naval barracks in August 1902. There was a further promotion from commander to captain in 1904. He took charge of the cruiser in 1906 and was listed as captain in the Royal Navy List for 1908. In 1916, he is recorded in the London Gazette as having been awarded the membership of the Royal Victorian Order ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Harwich Dockyard
Harwich Dockyard (also known as The King's Yard, Harwich) was a Royal Navy Dockyard at Harwich in Essex, active in the 17th and early 18th century (after which it continued to operate under private ownership). Owing to its position on the East Coast of England, the yard was of strategic importance during the Anglo-Dutch Wars; however, due to a lack of deep-water access and the difficulty of setting off from Harwich against an easterly wind, its usefulness was somewhat limited and its facilities remained small-scale compared to the other Royal Dockyards over the same period. Nonetheless, it remained actively involved in repairing and refitting the nation's warships, as well as building them: of the eighty ships built for the Royal Navy in Britain between 1660 and 1688, fourteen were built at Harwich Dockyard. (Naval vessels had occasionally been built at Harwich in earlier times, but by private shipbuilders on or around the Town Quay). After the Royal Navy withdrew from the yar ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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George Cuthbert Cayley
Admiral George Cuthbert Cayley, (30 August 1866 – 21 December 1944) was a British senior Royal Navy and Royal Air Force officer. Joining the Royal Navy in 1880, he commanded the boys' training ship (1904–1906), (1907), and (1910–1913). During the First World War, he served as commodore-in-charge and then rear admiral-in-charge of , a boys' training establishment in Shotley. On 1 April 1918, he joined the newly created Royal Air Force (RAF) as a major-general, and served as General Officer Commanding (GOC) No 5 Area and then GOC North Western Area. He relinquished his temporary commission in the RAF on 4 April 1919 and was placed on the retired list of the Royal Navy on 18 July 1919. He continued to be promoted while on the retired list, being made an admiral in November 1926. In the 1916 King's Birthday Honours, he was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in recognition of services during the First World War. He was also appointed an Officer of the ''Lé ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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George Borrett
Admiral (Royal Navy), Admiral George Holmes Borrett, Order of the Bath, CB (10 March 1868 – 10 June 1952) was an officer of the Royal Navy. He served during the First World War, commanding a battleship at the Battle of Jutland, and later rising to the rank of Admiral (Royal Navy), admiral. Early life George Borrett was born on 10 March 1868 in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon to George Tuthill Borrett. He joined the competitive examinations for cadetships in the Royal Navy on 15 July 1889 and he was one of the best of the class, making him a Naval Cadet. He later married Clare Louisa daughter of William Guyer Hunter and had one daughter named Ellen. Naval career Borrrett was promoted to sub-lieutenant on 13 November 1887, and again on 13 November 1889, to Lieutenant (Royal Navy), lieutenant. He was promoted to Commander (Royal Navy), commander on 1 January 1901 for services in China, and in June the following year was posted to the signals school at HMS Victory, HMS ''Victory ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Flag Of Rear-Admiral - Royal Navy
A flag is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular) with distinctive colours and design. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design employed, and flags have evolved into a general tool for rudimentary signalling and identification, especially in environments where communication is challenging (such as the maritime environment, where semaphore is used). Many flags fall into groups of similar designs called flag families. The study of flags is known as "vexillology" from the Latin , meaning "flag" or "banner". National flags are patriotic symbols with widely varied interpretations that often include strong military associations because of their original and ongoing use for that purpose. Flags are also used in messaging, advertising, or for decorative purposes. Some military units are called "flags" after their use of flags. A ''flag'' (Arabic: ) is equivalent to a brigade in Arab countries. In ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Minelaying
A minelayer is any warship, submarine, military aircraft or land vehicle deploying explosive mines. Since World War I the term "minelayer" refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines. "Mine planting" was the term for installing controlled mines at predetermined positions in connection with coastal fortifications or harbor approaches that would be detonated by shore control when a ship was fixed as being within the mine's effective range. An army's special-purpose combat engineering vehicles used to lay landmines are sometimes called "minelayers". Etymology Before World War I, mine ships were termed mine planters generally. For example, in an address to the United States Navy ships of Mine Squadron One at Portland, England, Admiral Sims used the term "mine layer" while the introduction speaks of the men assembled from the "mine planters". During and after that war the term "mine planter" became particularly associated with defensive coastal fortificati ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Roger Keyes, 1st Baron Keyes
Admiral of the Fleet Roger John Brownlow Keyes, 1st Baron Keyes, (4 October 1872 – 26 December 1945) was a British naval officer. As a junior officer he served in a corvette operating from Zanzibar on slavery suppression missions. Early in the Boxer Rebellion, he led a mission to capture a flotilla of four Chinese destroyers moored to a wharf on the Peiho River. He was one of the first men to climb over the Peking walls, to break through to the besieged diplomatic legations and to free them. During the First World War Keyes was heavily involved in the organisation of the Dardanelles Campaign. Keyes took charge in an operation when six trawlers and a cruiser attempted to clear the Kephez minefield. The operation was a failure, as the Turkish mobile artillery pieces bombarded Keyes's minesweeping squadron. He went on to be Director of Plans at the Admiralty and then took command of the Dover Patrol: he altered tactics and the Dover Patrol sank five U-boats in the first ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Flotilla
A flotilla (from Spanish, meaning a small ''flota'' ( fleet) of ships), or naval flotilla, is a formation of small warships that may be part of a larger fleet. Composition A flotilla is usually composed of a homogeneous group of the same class of warship, such as frigates, destroyers, torpedo boats, submarines, gunboats, or minesweepers. Groups of larger warships are usually called squadrons, but similar units of non-capital ships may be called squadrons in some instances, and flotillas in others. Formations including more than one capital ship, e.g. men-of-war, battleships, and aircraft carriers, typically alongside smaller ships and support craft, are typically called fleets, each portion led by a capital ship being a squadron or task force. A flotilla is usually commanded by a rear admiral, a commodore or a captain, depending on the importance of the command (a vice admiral would normally command a squadron). A flotilla is often divided into two or more divisions, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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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]   |