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Shivering Sands
Shivering Sands Army Fort [U7] was a Maunsell army fort built near the Thames estuary for anti-aircraft defence. It is made up of several once-interconnected towers north of Herne Bay and is 14.8 km (9.2 miles) from the nearest land. They can be viewed from Shoeburyness East Beach on clear days. The Shivering Sands fort was the last of the Thames estuary forts to be constructed, and was grounded between 18 September and 13 December 1943. History The towers were built on land and floated out in 1943. Later in the war, the equipment was replaced, and removed soon after. The forts were abandoned in 1958. In the 1960s, some weather equipment was installed in the searchlight tower. On 7 June 1963, a boat called the ''Ribersborg'' collided with one of the towers, which fell into the sea without harming anyone or sinking the boat. In 1964 Screaming Lord Sutch set up Radio Sutch (a pirate radio station) on one of the old towers. However, he soon became bored and handed the proj ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thames Estuary
The Thames Estuary is where the River Thames meets the waters of the North Sea, in the south-east of Great Britain. Limits An estuary can be defined according to different criteria (e.g. tidal, geographical, navigational or in terms of salinity). For this reason the limits of the Thames Estuary have been defined differently at different times and for different purposes. Western This limit of the estuary has been defined in two main ways: * The narrow estuary is strongly tidal and is known as the Tideway. It starts in south-west London at Teddington Lock and weir, Teddington/Ham, London, Ham. This point is also mid-way between Richmond Lock which only keeps back a few miles of human-made head (hydrology), head (stasis) of water during low tide and the extreme modern-era head at Thames Ditton Island on Kingston upon Thames, Kingston reach where slack water occurs at maximal high tide in times of rainfall-caused flooded banks. In terms of salinity the transition from freshwater t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oliver Smedley
William Oliver Smedley (19 February 1911 – 16 November 1989) was an English businessman involved in classical liberal politics and pirate radio. In 1966, he killed Reginald Calvert, in what was judged to be an act of self-defence. Early life and World War II Smedley was born in Godstone, Surrey, on 19 February 1911, the son of William Herbert and Olivia Kate Smedley. His father was a director of the Gramophone Company. He attended Monkton Combe School near Bath, Somerset. Smedley enlisted on 17 April 1939 in the Royal Artillery and was commissioned in April 1940. He served in Iraq, North Africa, Sicily, and Italy before D-Day. He also became a paratrooper and participated in Operation Market Garden. Smedley won the Military Cross in December 1944 for his actions on 11 July 1944 at Audrieu in the battle for Normandy. Political career Smedley described himself as an "uncompromising free-trader and libertarian". In opposition to Clement Attlee's Agriculture Act 1947, Smedley ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
History Of The 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] |
Coastal Fortifications
A coast (coastline, shoreline, seashore) is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape and by aquatic erosion, such as that caused by waves. The geological composition of rock and soil dictates the type of shore that is created. Earth has about of coastline. Coasts are important zones in natural ecosystems, often home to a wide range of biodiversity. On land, they harbor ecosystems, such as freshwater or estuarine wetlands, that are important for birds and other terrestrial animals. In wave-protected areas, coasts harbor salt marshes, mangroves, and seagrasses, all of which can provide nursery habitat for finfish, shellfish, and other aquatic animals. Rocky shores are usually found along exposed coasts and provide habitat for a wide range of sessile animals (e.g. mussels, starfish, barnacles) and various kinds of seaweeds. In physical oceanograp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asimov's Science Fiction
''Asimov's Science Fiction'' is an American science fiction magazine edited by Sheila Williams and published by Dell Magazines, which is owned by Penny Press. It was launched as a quarterly by Davis Publications in 1977, after obtaining Isaac Asimov's consent for the use of his name. It was originally titled ''Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine'', and was quickly successful, reaching a circulation of over 100,000 within a year, and switching to monthly publication within a couple of years. George H. Scithers, the first editor, published many new writers who went on to be successful in the genre. Scithers favored traditional stories without sex or obscenity; along with frequent humorous stories, this gave ''Asimov's'' a reputation for printing juvenile fiction, despite its success. Asimov was not part of the editorial team, but wrote editorials for the magazine. Scithers was fired in 1982, and his replacement, Kathleen Moloney, only lasted a year. Shawna McCarthy too ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sheila Finch
Sheila Finch (born 29 October 1935) is an author of science fiction and fantasy. She is best known for her sequence of stories about the Guild of Xenolinguists. Biography Sheila Finch was born on 29 October 1935 in London, England. She attended Bishop Otter College (now Chichester University) from 1954 to 1956, then taught for a year (1956–1957) in a primary school in Hackney, London. Following her marriage to Clare Grill Rayner in 1957 (divorced 1980), she emigrated to the US and completed her BA in English Literature at Indiana University Bloomington in 1959, followed by an MA in linguistics and medieval history in 1962. She has three daughters. From 1963 to 1967, when the family lived in San Luis Obispo, California, she taught part-time at Cuesta College and began publishing poetry. The family moved to Long Beach in 1967. Sheila taught creative writing and science fiction at El Camino College from 1970 to 2005. The family relocated for two years to Munich, Germany in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Mystery Jets
Mystery Jets are an English indie rock band, formed on Eel Pie Island in Twickenham, London. The founding members still part of the band consist of Blaine Harrison (vocals, guitar and keyboards), Henry Harrison (lyrics), and Kapil Trivedi (drums). History Formation and early demos (2003) The band's first line-up consisted of Blaine Harrison on drums, William Rees on guitar and Henry Harrison (Blaine's father) on bass. Henry became a second guitarist in the band and they were joined by Kai Fish on bass and Tamara Pearce-Higgins on the organ. Kai joined the band after suggestions that they needed a bassist (he played the cello originally). Their original name was The Misery Jets, which was taken from an Evening Standard headline (Eel Pie Island is under the Heathrow flight path, where planes can be frequently spotted). It got changed to Mystery Jets when Blaine accidentally misspelled the name while painting it on a drum skin. The band at this time recorded an eponymous EP with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Sort Of Homecoming (song)
"A Sort of Homecoming" is a song by Irish rock band U2, and is the opening track on their 1984 album, ''The Unforgettable Fire''. A live version of the track is found on 1985's four-track EP, '' Wide Awake in America''. Composition As the opening track on ''The Unforgettable Fire'', "A Sort of Homecoming" epitomises the new direction U2 had taken.Parra (1994), pp. 52-56 A far more atmospheric album than the previous overt-rock of ''War'', the album has a rich and orchestrated sound. Like much of the album, the song replaces the hard-hitting martial drum sound of ''War'' with a subtler polyrhythmic shuffle, and the guitar is no longer as prominent in the mix.Graham (1996), p. 23 On the War Tour and leading up to recording ''The Unforgettable Fire'', U2 lead singer and lyricist, Bono, had become a voracious reader. He read fiction, philosophy and poetry, and came to realise that his song-writing mission—which up to that point had been a reluctant one on his behalf—was a poe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Sea in the north. It is more than long and wide, covering . It hosts key north European shipping lanes and is a major fishery. The coast is a popular destination for recreation and tourism in bordering countries, and a rich source of energy resources, including wind energy, wind and wave power. The North Sea has featured prominently in geopolitical and military affairs, particularly in Northern Europe, from the Middle Ages to the modern era. It was also important globally through the power northern Europeans projected worldwide during much of the Middle Ages and into the modern era. The North Sea was the centre of the Viking Age, Vikings' rise. The Hanseatic League, the Dutch Golden Age, Dutch Republic, and Kingdom of Great Britain, Brita ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buoy
A buoy (; ) is a buoyancy, floating device that can have many purposes. It can be anchored (stationary) or allowed to drift with ocean currents. History The ultimate origin of buoys is unknown, but by 1295 a seaman's manual referred to navigation buoys in the Guadalquivir River in Spain. To the north there are early medieval mentions of the French / Belgian River Meuse, Maas being buoyed. Such early buoys were probably just timber beams or rafts, but in 1358 there is a record of a barrel buoy in the Dutch Maasmond (also known as the Maas Sluis or Maasgat). The simple barrel was difficult to secure to the seabed, and so a conical ''tonne'' was developed. They had a solid plug at the narrow end through which a mooring ring could be attached. By 1790 the older conical tonne was being replaced by a ''nun'' buoy. This had the same conical section below the waterline as the tonne buoy, but at the waterline a barrel shape was used to allow a truncated cone to be above the water. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes allow helicopters to be used in congested or isolated areas where fixed-wing aircraft and many forms of short take-off and landing (STOL) or short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) aircraft cannot perform without a runway. The Focke-Wulf Fw 61 was the first successful, practical, and fully controllable helicopter in 1936, while in 1942, the Sikorsky R-4 became the first helicopter to reach full-scale mass production, production. Starting in 1939 and through 1943, Igor Sikorsky worked on the development of the Vought-Sikorsky VS-300, VS-300, which over four iterations, became the basis for modern helicopters with a single main rotor and a single tail rotor. Although most earlier ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
