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The Commodore (1986 Novel)
''The Commodore'' (published 1945) is a Horatio Hornblower novel written by C. S. Forester. It was published in the United States under the title ''Commodore Hornblower''. Plot summary Having achieved fame and financial security, Captain Sir Horatio Hornblower has married Lady Barbara Leighton (née Wellesley) and is preparing to settle down to unaccustomed life as the squire of Smallbridge in Kent. He still yearns to serve at sea and accepts with alacrity when the Admiralty appoints him a commodore, puts him in command of a squadron and sends him on a diplomatic and military mission to the Baltic. His primary aim is to bring Russia into the war against Napoleon. Hornblower is shown dealing with the problems of squadron command, and using naval mortars (carried on special ships known as bomb vessels) to destroy a French privateer. This leads to the French invasion of Swedish Pomerania. Later his squadron calls at Kronstadt, where he meets with Russian officials, including Ts ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Horatio Hornblower
Horatio Hornblower is a fictional officer in the British Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, the protagonist of a series of novels and stories by C. S. Forester. He later became the subject of films and radio and television programmes, and C. Northcote Parkinson elaborated a "biography" of him, ''The True Story of Horatio Hornblower''. Forester's series about Hornblower tales began with the novel '' The Happy Return'' (US title: ''Beat to Quarters''), published in 1937. Herein, Hornblower is a captain on a secret mission to Central America in 1808. Later stories fill out his career, starting with his unpromising beginning as a seasick midshipman. As the Napoleonic Wars progress, he steadily gains promotion as a result of his skill and daring, despite his initial poverty and lack of influential friends. After surviving many adventures in a wide variety of locales, he rises to become Admiral of the Fleet. Inspirations Forester's original inspiration was an old copy of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ludwig Yorck Von Wartenburg
Johann David Ludwig Graf Yorck von Wartenburg (born von Yorck; 26 September 1759 – 4 October 1830) was a Prussian ''Generalfeldmarschall'' instrumental in the Kingdom of Prussia ending an alliance with France to form one with Russia during the War of the Sixth Coalition. Ludwig van Beethoven's "Yorckscher Marsch" is named in his honor. The Field Marshal's surname is Yorck; Wartenburg is a battle-honour appended to the surname as a title of distinction (cf. Britain's Montgomery of Alamein). Background Yorck's father, David Jonathan von Yorck, was born in Rowe in the Prussian Province of Pomerania (now Rowy, Poland), to Jan Jarka, a Lutheran pastor, whose family came from a small manor in Gross Gustkow (hence the name ''von Gostkowski'') and traced its origins from Pomeranian Kashubians. David Jonathan von Yorck served as a captain (''Hauptmann'') in the Prussian Army under King Frederick the Great; Yorck's mother Maria Sophia Pflug was the daughter of a Potsdam artis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1945 British Novels
1945 marked the end of World War II, the fall of Nazi Germany, and the Empire of Japan. It is also the year concentration camps were liberated and the only year in which atomic weapons have been used in combat. Events World War II will be abbreviated as “WWII” January * January 1 – WWII: ** Germany begins Operation Bodenplatte, an attempt by the ''Luftwaffe'' to cripple Allied air forces in the Low Countries. ** Chenogne massacre: German prisoners are allegedly killed by American forces near the village of Chenogne, Belgium. * January 6 – WWII: A German offensive recaptures Esztergom, Hungary from the Soviets. * January 9 – WWII: American and Australian troops land at Lingayen Gulf on western coast of the largest Philippine island of Luzon, occupied by Japan since 1942. * January 12 – WWII: The Soviet Union begins the Vistula–Oder Offensive in Eastern Europe, against the German Army. * January 13 – WWII: The Soviet Union begins the East Prussian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Commodore (rank)
Commodore is a senior military rank, naval rank used in many navy, navies which is equivalent to brigadier or brigadier general and air commodore. It is superior to a navy Captain (Navy), captain, but below a rear admiral. It is either regarded as the most junior of the flag officers rank or may not hold the jurisdiction of a flag officer at all depending on the officer's appointment. Non-English-speaking nations commonly use the rank of flotilla admiral, counter admiral, or senior captain as an equivalent, although counter admiral may also correspond to ''rear admiral lower half'' abbreviated as Rear admiral, RDML. Traditionally, "commodore" is the title for any officer assigned to command more than one ship, even temporarily, much as "captain" is the traditional title for the commanding officer of a single ship even if the officer's official title in the service is a lower rank. As an official rank, a commodore typically commands a flotilla or squadron (naval), squadron of ship ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Corvette
A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the sloop-of-war. The modern roles that a corvette fulfills include coastal patrol craft, missile boat and fast attack craft. These corvettes are typically between 500 and 2,000 tons. Recent designs of corvettes may approach 3,000 tons and include a hangar to accommodate a helicopter, having size and capabilities that overlap with smaller frigates. However unlike contemporary frigates, a modern corvette does not have sufficient endurance or seaworthiness for long voyages. The word "corvette" is first found in Middle French, a diminutive of the Dutch word ''corf'', meaning a "basket", from the Latin ''corbis''. The rank " corvette captain", equivalent in many navies to " lieutenant commander", derives from the name of this type of ship. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bomb Ketch
A bomb vessel, bomb ship, bomb ketch, or simply bomb was a type of wooden sailing naval ship. Its primary armament was not cannons ( long guns or carronades) – although bomb vessels carried a few cannons for self-defence – but mortars mounted forward near the bow and elevated to a high angle, and projecting their fire in a ballistic arc. Explosive shells (also called ''bombs'' at the time) or carcasses were employed rather than solid shot. Bomb vessels were specialized ships designed for bombarding (hence the name) fixed positions on land. In the 20th century, this naval gunfire support role was carried out by the most similar purpose-built World War I- and II-era monitors, but also by other warships now firing long-range explosive shells. Development The first recorded deployment of bomb vessels by the English was for the siege of Calais in 1347 when Edward III deployed single-deck ships with bombardes and other artillery. The first specialised bomb vessels were buil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sloop-of-war
During the 18th and 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a warship of the Royal Navy with a single gun deck that carried up to 18 guns. The rating system of the Royal Navy covered all vessels with 20 or more guns; thus, the term encompassed all unrated warships, including List of gun-brigs of the Royal Navy, gun-brigs and Cutter (boat), cutters. In technical terms, even the more specialised bomb vessels and fire ships were classed by the Royal Navy as sloops-of-war, and in practice these were employed in the role of a sloop-of-war when not carrying out their specialised functions. In World War I and World War II, the Royal Navy reused the term "sloop" for specialised convoy-defence vessels, including the of the First World War and the highly successful of the Second World War, with anti-aircraft and anti-submarine capabilities. They performed similar duties to the destroyer escorts of the United States Navy, and also performed similar duties to the smaller corvettes of the Royal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Percussion Cap
The percussion cap, percussion primer, or caplock, introduced in the early 1820s, is a type of single-use percussion ignition device for muzzle loader firearm locks enabling them to fire reliably in any weather condition. Its invention gave rise to the caplock mechanism or percussion lock system which used percussion caps struck by the hammer to set off the gunpowder charge in rifles and cap and ball firearms. Any firearm using a caplock mechanism is a percussion gun. Any long gun with a cap-lock mechanism and rifled barrel is a percussion rifle. Cap and ball describes cap-lock firearms discharging a single bore-diameter spherical bullet with each shot. Description The percussion cap is a small cylinder of copper or brass with one closed end. Inside the closed end is a small amount of a shock-sensitive explosive material such as mercury fulminate (discovered in 1800; it was the only practical detonator used from about the mid-19th century to the early 20th century). ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Philip Osipovich Paulucci
Filippo Paulucci delle Roncole (11 September 1779 – 25 January 1849), also known as Filipp Osipovich Pauluchchi (), was an Italian marquis and army officer, later a general at the services of the Kingdom of Sardinia, the Holy Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Italy, and the Russian Empire. Born into a prominent Modenese noble family, he served as a junior officer in the Sardinian Army during the War of the First Coalition (1794–96). After brief services in the Cisalpine Republic and Austrian armies in Italy, in 1806 he moved into Russian service and climb the ranks to the position of governor general of Livonia. In 1829 he returned in Piedmont and was appointed full general and Inspector general of Infantry and Cavalry on 1830, only to be dismissed a year later when King Carlo Felice died. In 1848 Paulucci was rumored as a possible Commander-in-Chief for the Sardinian Army, but he refused any involvements. He died peacefully in Nice the following year. Life First years ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ivan Essen
Magnus Gustav von Essen or Ivan Nikolayevich Essen (; ) was a Russian lieutenant general of Baltic German origin and the military governor of Riga at the start of the Patriotic War of 1812. Life Pre-1812 From the Essen family in Estonia, from 1783 to 1785 he fought in Poland, where he was seriously injured. He fought in the Russo-Swedish War (1788–1790) as well as Russia's 1792 and 1794 Polish campaigns. For his service at the Battle of Maciejowice he was awarded the 4th degree of the Order of St George. In 1799 he commanded the first division in the Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland under the command of general Johann Hermann von Fersen. From 1802 he was the military governor of Smolensk. He then fought in the 1807 war against Napoleon, being seriously wounded at Friedland. 1812 During the Patriotic War of 1812 he served as Military Governor of Riga in place of Dimitri Lobanov-Rostovsky and was forced to set fire to Riga's suburbs as soon as the enemy captured their oute ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomas Byam Martin
Admiral of the Fleet (Royal Navy), Admiral of the Fleet Sir Thomas Byam Martin, (25 July 1773 – 25 October 1854) was a Royal Navy officer. As captain of fifth-rate French frigate Résistance (1796), HMS ''Fisgard'' he took part in a duel with the French ship French frigate Immortalité (1795), ''Immortalité'' and captured her at the Battle of Tory Island#Fisgard and Immortalité, Battle of Tory Island during the French Revolutionary Wars. Then while in command of the third-rate HMS Implacable (1805), HMS ''Implacable'' in the Baltic Sea and attached to the Swedish Navy he took part in the capture the Russian ship Russian ship Vsevolod (1796), ''Sewolod'' (''Vsevolod'') during the Napoleonic Wars. During his many years of service as Comptroller of the Navy (Navy Board), Comptroller of the Navy, Martin was credited with reducing the fleet from the enormous size deployed against the French to a much more streamlined service geared toward protecting merchant trade and the Brit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Siege Of Riga (1812)
The siege of Riga was a military operation during the Napoleonic Wars. The siege lasted five months from July – December 1812, during which the left flank of Napoleon's "Great Army" (''Grande Armée, La Grande Armée'') tried to gain a favorable position for an attack on Russian-controlled port city Riga, the capital of the Governorate of Livonia. They failed to cross the Daugava, Daugava River, and accordingly the siege was not carried out completely. Background During Emperor of the French, Emperor Napoleon, Napoleon's French invasion of Russia, Invasion of Russia, two corps were sent to towards the Baltic Sea via Courland and Lithuania in-order to secure his northern flank. One of the corps, Marshal of the Empire, Marshal Étienne Macdonald, Étienne MacDonald's X Corps (Grande Armée), X Corps was sent towards the Courland and subsequently began moving towards Riga.Chandler, pp. 1240–1241 By mid July 1812, the Riga garrison had grown to around 14,000 troops. The Russi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
