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Star Breeze
''Star Breeze'' (formerly ''Seabourn Spirit'') is a German-built cruise ship completed in 1989. The luxury liner travels between Europe and Africa, and is owned by Windstar Cruises. In early 2005, she was rated the best small cruise ship by Condé Nast. In April 2015, she departed the Seabourn fleet, and on 6 May 2015 she was rechristened and entered service with Windstar Cruises. Pirate attack On 5November 2005 at 5:50a.m., while ''Seabourn Spirit'' was underway 115km off the coast of Somalia with 115 passengers, the ship was attacked by two pirate speedboats launched by a mother ship.Bomb experts tackle missile, The Herald Sun, 8November 2005 Machine guns were fired as well as rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) at the cruise ship, and the remains of an RPG's rocket motor wedged itself in the wall of a room and was disarmed by sailors from after the attack.Rebuilding Africa tourism, Christian Science Monitor, 8 November 2005Cruising into hell, ''The Daily Telegraph'' (Australia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Portoferraio
Portoferraio () is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Livorno, on the edge of the eponymous harbour of the island of Elba. It is the island's largest town. Because of its terrain, many of its buildings are situated on the slopes of a tiny hill bordered on three sides by the sea. History It was founded by Cosimo I de' Medici, List of rulers of Tuscany, Grand Duke of Tuscany, in 1548, with the name of ''Cosmopoli'' ("Cosimo's City"), to balance the presence of the Spanish citadel in Porto Azzurro. It had three forts (Forte Stella, Forte Falcone, and Forte Inglese) and a massive line of walls, all still visible today. The name evolved from Ferraia in Etruscan civilization, Etruscan times, Fabricia with Romans and Ferraio with Grand Duchy of Tuscany. The city remained attached to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany until the late 18th century, when, due to its strategic position, it came into contention with France, United Kingdom, Great Britain, and Habsburg monarchy, Austria. A Br ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surface area.Sayre, April Pulley (1999), ''Africa'', Twenty-First Century Books. . With nearly billion people as of , it accounts for about of the world's human population. Demographics of Africa, Africa's population is the youngest among all the continents; the median age in 2012 was 19.7, when the worldwide median age was 30.4. Based on 2024 projections, Africa's population will exceed 3.8 billion people by 2100. Africa is the least wealthy inhabited continent per capita and second-least wealthy by total wealth, ahead of Oceania. Scholars have attributed this to different factors including Geography of Africa, geography, Climate of Africa, climate, corruption, Scramble for Africa, colonialism, the Cold War, and neocolonialism. Despite this lo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It has been a focal point for the British people at times of national rejoicing and mourning. Originally known as Buckingham House, the building at the core of today's palace was a large townhouse (Great Britain), townhouse built for the John Sheffield, 1st Duke of Buckingham and Normanby, Duke of Buckingham and Normanby in 1703 on a site that had been in private ownership for at least 150 years. It was acquired by George III in 1761 as a private residence for Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Queen Charlotte and became known as The Queen's House. During the 19th century it was enlarged by architects John Nash (architect), John Nash and Edward Blore, who constructed three wings around a central courtyard. Buckingham Pala ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She had been queen regnant of List of sovereign states headed by Elizabeth II, 32 sovereign states during her lifetime and was the monarch of 15 realms at her death. Her reign of 70 years and 214 days is the List of monarchs in Britain by length of reign, longest of any British monarch, the List of longest-reigning monarchs, second-longest of any sovereign state, and the List of female monarchs, longest of any queen regnant in history. Elizabeth was born in Mayfair, London, during the reign of her paternal grandfather, King George V. She was the first child of the Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother). Her father acceded to the throne in 1936 upon Abdication of Edward VIII, the abdic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Gurkha
The Gurkhas or Gorkhas (), with the endonym Gorkhali ( Nepali: गोर्खाली ), are soldiers native to the Indian subcontinent, chiefly residing within Nepal and some parts of North India. The Gurkha units consist of Nepali and (in India) Indian Gorkha, Nepali-speaking Indian people. They are recruited for the Nepali Army (96,000), the Indian Army (42,000), the British Army (4,010), the Gurkha Contingent in Singapore, the Gurkha Reserve Unit in Brunei, and for UN peacekeeping forces and in war zones around the world. Ordinary citizens of the two demographic groups become a Gurkha by applying for, and passing, the selection and training process. Gurkhas are closely associated with the '' khukuri'', a forward-curving knife, and have a reputation for fearless military prowess. Former Indian Army Chief of Staff Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw once stated that: Origins Historically, the terms "Gurkha" and "Gorkhali" were synonymous with "Nepali", which originates ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Long-range Acoustic Device
A long-range acoustic device (LRAD), acoustic hailing device (AHD) or sound cannon is a specialized loudspeaker that produces sound at high power for communicating at a distance. It has been used as a method of crowd control, which has caused permanent hearing damage, having an extremely high decibel capacity (up to 160 dB measured at one meter from the device). Other uses have included for negotiations in siege situations; to deal with piracy at sea; for mass notification during natural disasters or other emergencies; and by defense forces, including several navies. Overview Acoustic hailing devices are acoustic devices capable of outputting intelligible sound at very high volumes. The distance at which acoustic hailing can be effective varies based on several factors including the sound level, directionality, and frequency of the acoustic source, the sensitivity and directionality of the receiver, and the transmission channel environment. The sound level diminishes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Shrapnel Shell
Shrapnel shells were anti-personnel artillery munitions that carried many individual bullets close to a target area and then ejected them to allow them to continue along the shell's trajectory and strike targets individually. They relied almost entirely on the shell's velocity for their lethality. The munition has been obsolete since the end of World War I for anti-personnel use; high-explosive shells superseded it for that role. The functioning and principles behind shrapnel shells are fundamentally different from high-explosive shell fragmentation. Shrapnel is named after Lieutenant-General Henry Shrapnel, a Royal Artillery officer, whose experiments, initially conducted on his own time and at his own expense, culminated in the design and development of a new type of artillery shell. Usage of the term "shrapnel" has changed over time to also refer to fragmentation of the casing of shells and bombs, which is its most common modern usage and strays from the original meaning. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Rocket-propelled Grenade
A rocket-propelled grenade (RPG), also known colloquially as a rocket launcher, is a Shoulder-fired missile, shoulder-fired anti-tank weapon that launches rockets equipped with a Shaped charge, shaped-charge explosive warhead. Most RPGs can be carried by an individual soldier, and are frequently used as anti-tank weapons. These warheads are affixed to a rocket motor which propels the RPG towards the target, stabilized in flight with fins. Some types of RPG are reloadable with new anti-tank grenades, while others are single-use. RPGs are generally Muzzleloader, loaded from the front. RPGs with high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) warheads are very effective against lightly armored vehicles such as armored personnel carriers (APCs) and armored car (military), armored cars. However, modern, heavily-armored vehicles, such as upgraded APCs and main battle tanks, are generally too well-protected (with thick composite armor, composite or reactive armor) to be penetrated by an RPG, unless ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Mother Ship
A mother ship, mothership or mother-ship is a large vehicle that leads, serves, or carries other smaller vehicles. A mother ship may be a maritime ship, aircraft, or spacecraft. Examples include bomber aircraft, bombers converted to carry experimental aircraft to altitudes where they can conduct their research (such as the B-52 carrying the X-15), or ships that carry small submarines to an area of ocean to be explored (such as the R/V Atlantis (AGOR-25), Atlantis II carrying the DSV Alvin, ''Alvin''). A mother ship may also be used to recover smaller craft, or go its own way after releasing them. A smaller vessel serving or caring for ''larger'' craft is usually called a tender ship, tender. Maritime craft During World War II, the German Type XIV submarine or ''Milchkuh'' (Milk cow) was a type of large submarine used to resupply the U-boats. Mother ships can carry small submersibles and submarines to an area of ocean to be explored (such as the R/V Atlantis (AGOR-25), Atla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Pirate
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, and vessels used for piracy are called pirate ships. The earliest documented instances of piracy were in the 14th century BC, when the Sea Peoples, a group of ocean raiders, attacked the ships of the Aegean and Mediterranean civilisations. Narrow channels which funnel shipping into predictable routes have long created opportunities for piracy, as well as for privateering and commerce raiding. Historic examples of such areas include the waters of Gibraltar, the Strait of Malacca, Madagascar, the Gulf of Aden, and the English Channel, whose geographic structures facilitated pirate attacks. The term ''piracy'' generally refers to maritime piracy, although the term has been generalized to refer to acts committed on land, in th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Somalia
Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, the Gulf of Aden to the north, and the Indian Ocean to the east. Somalia has the longest coastline on Africa's mainland. Somalia has an estimated population of 18.1 million, of which 2.7 million live in the capital and largest city, Mogadishu. Around 85% of Somalia's residents are ethnic Somali people, Somalis. The official languages of the country are Somali language, Somali and Arabic, though Somali is the Languages of Somalia, primary language. Somalia has historic and religious ties to the Arab world. The people in Somalia are mainly Muslims, following the Sunni Islam, Sunni branch.. In antiquity, Somalia was an important commercial center. During the Middle Ages, several powerful Somali empires dominated the regional trade, including th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
