text:
HMS Formidable alone in the eastern Mediterranean
Matapan to Tiger
February to May 1941
HMS FORMIDABLE at sea in early 1941. Note the Fulmars on her forward deck and the minimalist aft radar mast which would be replaced by a much more complex structure once she underwent repairs inthe US.
HMS Illustrious was gone. Her battered hull had slipped quietly through the Suez Canal to start the long journey to the United States for repair.
This left HMS Eagle as the sole surviving carrier in the eastern Mediterranean. But she was in dire need of a refit. The troubles that had prevented her from taking part in the attack on the Italian fleet at Taranto had not been resolved. Admiral Cunningham also feared the old 'experimental' aircraft carrier was unsuited to the intense fighting in the confined waters of the Eastern Mediterranean. She was unarmoured and slow. And adequate numbers of fighters could only be carried if all vital anti-submarine and search aircraft were landed. This was deemed unacceptable.
There was an alternative, however. The freshly commissioned HMS Formidable was in the South Atlantic. Cunningham quickly convinced the Admiralty that she should be diverted to Alexandria.
Eagle's departure was delayed: the Suez Canal had been closed by Italian air-dropped mines. So her Swordfish were flown to Port Sudan to support Commonwealth troops fighting in East Africa. In less than a fortnight the dozen biplanes sank three and beached two destroyers. They also bombed port facilities and flew close-air support for ground troops.
Meanwhile, the Royal Navy's newest aircraft carrier - HMS Formidable - had arrived in the Red Sea.
Fairey Albacores engaged in a mock torpedo attack against HMS FORMIDABLE off the coast of Mombasa.
ENTER FORMIDABLE
At the time of HMS Illustrious' bombing, Formidable had been in commission just three months.
She had joined the fleet for the first time at Scapa Flow on December 12. But, just six days later, she was ordered to the South Atlantic to hunt surface raiders (including the pocket battleship Scheer) off St Helena after the attack on convoy HX84 and the loss of Jervis Bay. She sailed on December 18 with HMS Dorsetshire and Norfolk.
Formidable arrived in Sierra Leone on January 5, before continuing with the convoy to Cape Town on January 22. The plan had been she would relieve Ark Royal and join Force H based at Gibraltar after the raider hunt.
But the damage to HMS Illustrious turned everything on its head. Formidable departed Cape Town on January 26 under new orders. She was headed to Aden with the cruiser Hawkins.
Aboard were 12 Fulmars of 803 Squadron led by veteran Lt 'Bill' Bruen. These pilots were experienced and had just converted to the new aircraft after serving a tour of duty with Skuas aboard Ark Royal.
There were also two Albacore squadrons, totalling 21 aircraft: Numbers 826 and 289. These squadrons had served in the English Channel before and after the Dunkirk evacuations. But this was the first time they had embarked aboard a carrier.
HMS FORMIDABLE rounds the Cape of Good Hope
AFRICAN DIVERSION
After ongoing training operations as she rounded Africa, HMS Formidable entered the Indian Ocean and worked her way up the African coast towards Egypt
The carrier was tasked with putting her pilots to the test in raids on lightly defended French and Italian-held facilities in East Africa.
But not all went to plan.
Of particular concern was the Italian air-laid mines which had made the Suez Canal impassable. This would delay HMS Formidable's transit.
Ultimately Formidable's would remain active on 'working-up- operations in the Red Sea until March 9, 1941, when RN clearance teams were confident enough that the canal had been cleared.
The plan was to use bombs, torpedoes and mines on port installations to disrupt Italian naval operations.
February 2: OPERATION BREACH - MOGADISHU, SOMALIA
This would be Formidable's first operational air strike.
Operation Breach entailed the deployment of sea-mines off Kismayn and Mogadishu by Albacores of 803 and 806 squadron. The bombers took off at 5pm, returning four hours later. No aircraft was lost.
Once the Albacores were safely back, Formidable and Hawkins continued up the coast. They arrived at Aden on February 6.
Fairey Albacores sweeping to practice torpedo attack, May 1942.
February 13: MASSAWA, ERITREA
HMS Formidable's stop-over at Aden was brief. By February 10 she was at sea again - this time under orders to hit military targets in Italian-occupied Eritrea.
A strike of 14 aircraft was launched at 2am against the harbour facilities of Massawa, on the Red Sea coast.
It met unexpectedly intense opposition.
Nevertheless, one probable torpedo hit was recorded on a ship lying at a Northern Harbour jetty. This area had been selected after reconnaissance reported a submarine and its tender there. A merchant ship was sunk by torpedo outside the harbor and another damaged. An Italian destroyer was believed bombed in the main harbour.
But two Albacores failed to return to Formidable: One made a forced landing 20 miles outside Massawa due to engine troubles.
It would not be the last time the Albacore's Taurus engine would prove problematic.
February 18: Suez Canal
German aircraft dropped new acoustic mines in the narrow strategic waterway even as the last Italian devices were being removed. It would take time for clearance teams and minesweepers to devise new safe ways to counteract these weapons.
Albacores take off from HMS FORMIDABLE during torpedo exercises off Mombasa.
A strike of eight Albacores was sent on its way at 4.20am for a second try at Massawa. Three hours later, all returned safely.
Formidable now made her way north to Suez Bay, anchoring there to await passage through the canal.
But the new mines had not been cleared. Two large cargo ships had been hit, along with three smaller vessels. These were now blocking the narrow channel.
The canal was a frenzy of salvage and mine-clearance operations. New channels were also being dredged around chokepoints.
Formidable could not pass.
So, she was ordered to put in for an unscheduled stop-over at Port Sudan.
Fairey Albacores and Fulmars were the mainstay of Fleet Air Arm operations in 1941.
March 7:
Formidable returned to Suez Bay where she found tugs and lighters waiting for her. An all-out effort had been planned to wedge the carrier through the channel and past the wrecks.
On March 8, she began the obstacle course.
Wellington aircraft fitted with huge magnetic mine-detonating hoops flew up and down the channel ahead of her. Every available minesweeper plied the waters.
Six larger ships were positioned ahead of the carrier while two noisy motor boats raced about in a crude and dangerous effort to set-off any remaining acoustic mines. Their volunteers crews knew they were there to take any hit that would otherwise damage Formidable.
The passage went according to plan, until a strong breeze threatened to blow her into the wreck of a Greek merchant ship. Tugs struggled to warp the carrier's bulk past the obstacle for the next six hours.
At 20.50, HMS Formidable anchored for the night. It would all begin again at 06.00.
There was to be one last scare.
A suspected acoustic mine caused the carrier to shut down all machinery. It took 20 minutes for two tugs to push her around the threat.
Formidable arrived safely at Port Said at 15.10 on March 9.
Two Fairey Fulmar Mark Is of No. 803 Squadron from HMS FORMIDABLE, photographed from a third while flying to HMS EAGLE during February 1941. This detachment augmented EAGLE's Fighter Flight in providing cover for a Malta convoy.
FORMIDABLE PRESENCE
March 10:
Once in Alexandria, the carrier and her vital aircraft would be pressed into Mediterranean service after just 10-days of respite and training.
Joining her were the surviving Fulmars of Illustrious' 806 Squadron. These pilots would be crucial in bringing Formidable's aircrew 'up to speed'.
The Fulmar had already proven to be surprisingly successful aboard HMS Illustrious and Ark Royal. But this was not due to the aircraft itself. In reality they were relatively low performance fighters, with a speed only marginally superior than that of their primary target - Savoia marchetti SM79 bombers.
The game changer was the presence of radar, and the rapidly evolving concept of Fighter Direction Officers (FDOs). Ark Royal had developed a rudimentary form of radar-guided fighter direction using data transmitted (often by flag due to radio silence conditions) from HMS Sheffield. Illustrious took it too a new level as she had her own air detection radar.
It was this combination of technology and technique which allowed the careful coordination that exploited the Fulmar's full potential.
At the end of May, the combined number of kills claimed by the Fulmars of 803 and 806 squadrons would be 56 destroyed and 33 damaged. This was almost half the total 'bag' claimed by the Fulmar in its war service.
OPERATION MC9
On March 18 Formidable was deployed with HMS Barham, Valiant and Warspite along with nine destroyers as cover for Convoy MW6.
This was a group of four freighters out of Haifa and Alexandria destined for Malta - City of Manchester, Clan Ferguson, Perthshire and City of Lincoln. Close escort was the destroyers Griffin, Hotspur and Greyhound.
HMS Formidable's Fulmars took first blood when the fleet was about 30 miles south of Crete on March 21. Squadron Leader Bruen's flight was successfully directed by radar to shoot down an unsuspecting Ju88 reconnaissance plane.
The convoy came under air attack about noon on March 22, just as Formidable's force took up positions with the escort. Her Fulmars were able to beat off the bombers and the convoy suffered no damage.
By mid afternoon six cruiser and three destroyers joined the screen, with another three cruisers and a destroyer in the evening. The heavily defended group continued the final run towards Valetta, with docking completed by 0700 on March 23
BATTLE OF MATAPAN
On March 27, 1941, a Sunderland flying from Malta spotted hostile ships moving in the direction of Crete, 120 miles south-east of Italy's 'toe'. It was a strong force of Italian warships, tasked with the role of disrupting allied shipping supporting Greece.
The Italian ground invasion was finding its attack to be much more difficult than expected. Its generals had appealed for intervention by the navy to sever the steady stream of supplies and reinforcements arriving from Egypt.
For Admiral Cunningham, this was the opportunity he had waited more than a year for. He surged his fleet out of Alexandria in pursuit - but only after taking elaborate measures to deceive enemy agents that he was taking a golfing break and that the ships were stood-down.
HMS Formidable slipped her moorings at 16:00, taking to sea to land-on her air group. She would rendezvous with the battleships of Cunningham's main body at 20:00
ALLIED ORDER OF BATTLE
Battleships:
HMS Warspite (Flagship of C-in-C Mediterranean Fleet, Admiral Sir A.B. Cunningham), HMS Barham (Flagship of Rear-Admiral 1st Battle Squadron, H.B.Rawlings), HMS Valiant
Aircraft Carriers:
HMS Formidable (Flagship Rear-Admiral (Air), Rear-Admiral D.W. Boyd)
Cruisers:
HMS Orion (Flagship of Vice-Admiral Light Forces (VALF) H.D.Pridham-Whippell), HMS Ajax, HMAS Perth, HMS Gloucester.
4th Destroyer Flotilla:
HMS Jervis, Janus, Mohawk, Nubian
10th Destroyer Flotilla:
HMAS Stuart, HMS Greyhound, Griffin.
2nd Destroyer Flotilla
HMS Ilex, Hasty, Hereward, Havock, Hotspur, HMAS Vendetta
ITALIAN ORDER OF BATTLE
Vittorio Veneto (Flagship of Commander-in-Chief, Admiral A. Iachino)
3rd Division:
Trieste (Flagship of Vice-Admiral L. Sansonetti), Trento, Bolzano
1st Division:
Zara (Flagship of Vice-Admiral C. Cattaneo), Fiume, Pola
8th Division:
Luigi di Savoia Duca Degli Abruzzi (Flagship of Vice-Admiral A. Legnani), Giuseppe Garibaldi
6th Destroyer Flotilla
Nicoloso da Recco, Emanuele Pessagno
Vincenzo Gioberti, Vittorio Alfieri, Alfredo Oriani, Giosue Carducci
10th Destroyer Flotilla
Maestrale, Libeccio, Scirocco, Grecale
Corazziere, Carabiniere, Ascari
Granatiere, Fuciliere, Bersagliere, Alpino
The first torpedo bomber, - A Fairey Albacore Mark I of No. 826 Squadron, - taking off from HMS FORMIDABLE for the morning strike against the Italian Fleet during the Battle of Matapan, 28 March 1941.
Formidable's Albacores set out before dawn. It was shortly after the sun rose at 0720 that the Italian ships were sighted - a group of four enemy cruiser and seven destroyers - steering south-east off the south-west coast of Crete, about 30 miles off Gavdhos Island. The Albacores began the long cat-and-mouse game of shadowing the enemy.
Cunningham's cruiser squadron, under Vice-Admiral Pridham-Wippell, made contact at 0745.
RAF medium-level bombers added to the confusion during the day, but did distract Italian gunners from approaching torpedo bombers.
At 1000, six 826 Squadron Albacores flew off Formidable with two Fulmars as escort. After a 100 miles the Albacores spotted the battleship Vittorio Veneto. Their orders had been to attack the cruisers. But the battleship – obviously where the cruisers were headed – was obviously a choice target.
The Albacores attacked in two flights of three. None were shot down, but no torpedoes hit.
Formidable's Fulmars had also been busy: they had sighted two Ju88 bombers taking up position to attack the shadowing British cruisers.
Observer LA Freddy de Frias, who was flying with PO Alf Theobald, recalled:
'The enemy fleet was just about in sight when Theobald spotted a Ju 88 below us. The two Fulmars went into a diving attack (our only chance of getting a Ju 88) and shot it down. At our speed of just over 200 knots you only got one pass. Fortunately, an Albacore observer reported seeing the Junkers going into the sea, and so a confirmed claim was allowed.'
Three Swordfish of 815 Squadron flying out of Maleme, Crete, attacked 30 minutes later. Again, there were no hits.
It was not until 1350 that Formidable launched her second strike: three Albacores and two Swordfish. Again the escort was two Fulmars.
Malcolm Smith: Voices in Flight: The Fleet Air Arm: Recollections from Formation to Cold War
Account by R. Campling RNVR (Retd)
The evening of 27 March 1941 in the Eastern Mediterranean was very dark and the sea calm with only a light wind. At 20.00 the Gunnery Control Party of B Director in HMS Formidable closed up for the First Watch. They comprised the Layer Trainer, Range Taker, Boy Communications Number and myself as Gunnery Control Officer. Formidable was, at that time, the latest of the Illustrious class of armoured fleet aircraft carriers, having only been in commission for about four months. We had left Alexandria harbour hurriedly the previous evening and flown on our squadrons of Fulmar fighters and Albacore torpedo-bombers, after which we had proceeded westwards in company with the battleships HMS Warspite, Valiant and Barham and a powerful destroyer escort.
The next day was hectic with our aircraft operating continuously from dawn. The reason for the sudden departure of the fleet from Alex was the receipt of information that units of the Italian battle fleet were at sea and Formidable's aircraft were intended to attack them, which they did with vigour and some success. Throughout the day the ship's company were closed up at action stations or at a high degree of readiness, but as dusk fell and flying operations ceased (there was no night flying at the time) a relative calm had descended on Formidable as we continued steaming westwards in line ahead with the battleships.
B Director was one of four in this class of carrier and controlled the forward port side battery of two 4.5-inch twin turrets. A Director was above the compass platform and controlled the forward battery on the starboard side and X and Y Directors similarly controlled the two after batteries. A feature of B was that it was situated almost beneath the catapult gear and had to be at flight-deck level when flying was in progress. However, in this position, the view was considerably obstructed for gunnery purposes and, to remedy this, the Director could be raised and lowered hydraulically about six feet. The result was that, when flying was in progress, it was necessary constantly to raise and lower the Director, and we sometimes felt like Reginald Dixon on his Mighty Wurlitzer!
Fairey Albacore Mark Is of Nos. 826 and 829 Squadrons ranged on board HMS FORMIDABLE before taking off to attack the Italian Fleet during the Battle of Matapan, 28 March 1941.
Vitorrio Venito was located south of Cape Matapan. Two Albacores attacked first, out of the sun. The others followed close behind.
One torpedo was seen to strike the battleship. One of the two Albacores was shot down.
The torpedo slowed Vittorio Venito to about 8kts. It took her crew four frantic hours of damage control to enable the wounded battleship to increase its speed to 19kts.
Formidable's Fulmars had also been busy: they had sighted two Ju88 bombers taking up position to attack the British cruisers. One was claimed shot down.
All this time, Cunningham's forces raced to close the distance. Formidable was repeatedly out of position, hauling out of the battle-line to launch and recover aircraft. For this reason she was largely alone at 1254 when she was attacked by two SM79 bombers. Captain Bisset manouvered the carrier out of harm's reach.
Lt (A) Clifford's torpedo being released, as seen by Mid (A) Wallington, Observer in second Albacore, during the Battle of Matapan.
The final strike of the day involved six Albacores and two Swordfish from Formidable. Two Swordfish from Maleme followed Formidable's formation in.
The attack was conducted even as the sun dipped over the horizon at 1930.
Smoke screens added to the confusion of the dusk. Searchlights joined the AA fire in intimidating the attackers, which made their attack-runs independently.
But Lt F. M. A. Torrens-Spense in an 815 Squadron Albacore found another mark. His torpedo struck the 10,000ton heavy cruiser Pola.
The blast left the ship dead in the water. Her engines had failed, and so had her electrical power.
An Albacore pulls up over its target after a training torpedo attack.
The day-long labours of Formidable's CAP Fulmars also had paid off. The Italian commander was left unaware that Cunningham had continued to close. Every attempt by reconnaissance aircraft to pinpoint the Royal Navy fleet had failed.
He felt safe in ordering the heavy cruisers Zara and Fiume, with two destroyers, to stand by an assist the crippled Pola. The only real threat, he thought, would be an accidental encounter with the cruiser and destroyer escort of an allied convoy.
We had been closed up for about an hour and so far as we were concerned all seemed to be quiet and peaceful as we continued our westward course at a speed of about twenty knots. Warspite was leading the column followed by Valiant, then came Formidable and astern of us was Barham. After the rigours of the day there seemed to be a slight feeling of anti-climax in that, despite the heroic efforts of our aircrews, the Italian fleet had got away. It was the custom for the Air Defence Position (ADP) above the bridge regularly to call up the Director during the watch to test communications and when, at about 21.00, the phone buzzed we assumed that this would be just another routine call. Imagine our surprise, therefore, when word was passed down that there was a report from Warspite of unidentified surface ships a few miles distant on the port bow. I immediately passed on this information to the Transmitting Station and the turrets, ordering them to stand to. A tense silence followed for several minutes, then everything seemed to happen at once. ... As we retired from the scene, severe explosions continued with white flashes and the orange glow of fires lighting up the sky. The enemy ships were the three Italian cruisers Pola, Fiume and Zara, all of which were sunk. The rest of the night passed in relative peace so far as Formidable was concerned, although the following day was a very different story.
HMS FORMIDABLE's 4.5in battery opens fire at night. The armoured carrier fired one volley at the Italian ships before seeking to hide in the darkness.
The battle in the early hours of March 29 is well documented. HMS Formidable's role, however, less so. She was in the battle-line behind Warspite and Valiant, with Barham astern.
A carrier has no place in a fleet fight, but Formidable needed protection at night lest she stumble alone into Italian forces. She fired a single volley, then sought the protection of darkness.
She would not take her place in the battle-line behind Warspite again until 0710
Formidable's Fulmars played a key role in breaking up waves of attacking aircraft as the British battlefleet withdrew to Alexandria. The largest attack was by dive bombers at 1540. No ship was damaged.
Italy had suffered a serious blow to one of its modern battleships. Its heavy cruiser force was cripped.
The Royal Navy lost just one Albacore and its crew.
HMS Formidable had enacted the role envisaged for her when her class was conceived in 1936. She was operating in closed waters, under the constant threat of air attack. Her aircraft had located and shadowed the enemy battlefleet. Her aircraft had scored slowing-blows against its capital ships. Her fighters had kept the sky above her on formation clear.
Two months later, HMS Victorious would repeat this task. Her Swordfish crippled the Bismark, causing her to fall under the big guns of the Home Fleet.
It would be just the second - and last - time this doctrine would be realised.
Lieutenant T. Campling RNVR, one of Formidable's Gunnery Control Officers, recalls in Voices in Flight that Formidable's 4.5-inch dual-purpose guns actually contributed to the gun fight:
We saw a group of coloured flares fired from Warspite, which were in fact the night challenge signal, then, almost immediately, the battleship's searchlights were switched on to reveal to our amazement three sleek-looking light grey warships, their guns trained fore and aft. Within seconds there was an ear-splitting roar as the 15-inch guns of our battleships opened fire at almost point-blank range. The result was immediate and devastating. I vividly recall seeing a complete turret of the leading ship disappear over the side. Masses of flame soon enveloped all three ships. Although we received the order to open fire the order was almost immediately countermanded as Formidable turned out of line to starboard. One salvo was in fact fired by Formidable, and this must have been one of the few occasions during the Second World War when an aircraft carrier used its main gunnery armament against a major enemy warship.
As we retired from the scene, severe explosions continued with white flashes and the orange glow of fires lighting up the sky. The enemy ships were the three Italian cruisers Pola, Fiume and Zara, all of which were sunk. The rest of the night passed in relative peace so far as Formidable was concerned, although the following day was a very different story.
At about 15.00 word was passed to the Director from the ADP that a large group of unidentified aircraft was approaching the fleet from the north-west. The ship went to action stations. When first reported the group was some seventy miles away, but the distance rapidly reduced and it became clear that the fleet was about to be attacked. The weather was fine with a hazy sun. When the group was five miles away we were told that it had split up and that an attack was imminent, and almost immediately we caught a glimpse of several black specks in the sky. It was difficult to make out details as they were high up and against the sun. We received the order to open fire in 'barrage' – this meant setting the fuses to burst at close range above the fleet. Simultaneously every other ship seemed to do likewise and a curtain of bursting shells appeared over us, forming an umbrella at about 2,000 feet. We then heard the scream of the dive-bombers, soon identified as German Ju87s, as they dived mostly against Formidable, or so it seemed to us.
We caught fleeting glimpses of bombs rushing past us to be followed by enormous columns of water rising from the sea, causing the ship, all 23,000 tons of her, to lurch and shudder. The noise from the 'umbrella barrage' made up from our own 4.5-inch guns and multi-barrelled pom-poms and the guns of the rest of the Fleet, the scream of the diving bombers and the rattling sound of shrapnel from bursting shells hitting our steel flight deck was deafening. Miraculously we were not hit, though there were several very near misses. Several enemy aircraft were seen to drop into the sea and disappear, not having survived the barrage. Our task completed, we returned to Alexandria to receive a warm welcome from the numerous ships of all kinds in the harbour. The whole action was shortly afterwards given the name of the Battle of Matapan. Historically it was the first fleet action between major naval units since the Battle of Jutland in 1916.
Fairey Fulmar Mark Is of No. 803 Squadron on the flight deck of HMS FORMIDABLE, after the Battle of Matapan, March 1941. (Starboard threequarter front views).
the bombardment of tripoli
April 18:
Prime Minister Winston Churchill was adamant something must be done to halt the flow of German supplies into North Africa. He went so far as to suggest the battleship Barham and the old anti-aircraft cruiser Caledon bombard Tripoli harbour before scuttling themselves in its approaches.
Admiral Cunningham was appalled:
"I am of the opinion that if these men are sent into this operation which must involve certain capture and heavy casualties without knowing what they are in for, the whole confidence of the personnel of the fleet in the higher command ... will be seriously jeopardized, if not entirely lost."
Struggle for the Middle Sea: The Great Navies at War in the Mediterranean Theater, 1940-1945
By Vincent P. O'Hara
Instead, he offered to exploit his fresh moral dominance of the Eastern Mediterranean with a larger, more traditional bombardment. While acting as distant cover for a convoy, his battleships would engage in a daring night raid.
He knew this would stir a hornet's nest, and his fleet would be subject to days of air attack. But he had Formidable, and like Illustrious, her radar and Fulmars had so far consistently managed to maintain air superiority over the fleet itself.
As additional insurance, he would again apply his tactic of overwhelming Axis reconnaissance abilities by hiding the attack among a confusing - but expected - movement of convoys.
On April 18 HMS Formidable deployed with the battleships HMS Barham, Valiant and Warspite. Covering the force was the cruisers Ajax, Calcutta, Glouchester, Orion and Phoebe and the destroyers Encounter, Hasty, Hereward, Havock, Hero, Jaguar, Juno, Decoy, Defender, Grayhound and Ilex.
The mission was to cover a group of empty transports (Convoy ME7) out of Malta. Then they would to take up position for the bombardment of Tripoli.
On this day the Fulmar belonging to 803 Squadron's senior pilot was hit while leading his flight to engage Italian bombers. The aircraft's windscreen was covered in oil and the instrument panel destroyed. Though wounded in the arm and thigh, he put the Fulmar on the deck of Formidable with only one wheel down – but the hook detached and the aircraft bounced off the island and skidded over the forward guns and bow and into the sea. Lt Donald Gibson was recovered by a destroyer, but Observer Sub Lt Ashbrook was killed.
Albacores ranged on HMS FORMIDABLE's deck.
Soon after dawn a flight of two Fulmars of 806 Squadron encountered an Italian Cant Z1007bis. It was quickly shot down by Charles Evans and Sub Lt Jackiew Sewell. It was Evans' 10th kill.
Two hours later, five Ju52 transports were detected flying towards Africa. Two 806 Squadron sections were vectored to intercept. Four were claimed shot down: one by Lt Henley, another to Lt Shears and two to Julian Sparke.
Shears' Fulmar, however, was shot down.
With the convoys shepherded to and from Malta, Cunningham's fleet sailed south. Surprisingly, its movements were not observed by the Italians.
The bombardment force consisted of HMS Warspite and Barham, screened by HMS Glouchster and the destroyers Hero, Hasty, Havock, Hereward, Hotspur, Jaguar, Janus, Jervis and Juno.
The remainder of the force - HMS Orion and Ajax now joined by HMAS Perth, along with four destroyers - clustered protectively around HMS Formidable, further out to sea.
Nine of Formidable's Albacores would also act as spotter aircraft as the 15in guns of the battleships bombarded the harbour - fulfilling a core role embedded in their 1930s design requirement.
Tripoli harbour was crowded. More than 10 freighters were tied to the wharfs, along with dozens of minsesweepers, tugs and barges. Protecting them were Aviere, Camicia Nera, and Geniere of the Italian's 11th Destroyer Squadron. The torpedo boats Partenope, Calliope and Orione were also present.
The Albacores deployed flares during the 49-minute early morning bombardment. Six freighters were believed damaged or sunk (in fact only one was sunk), and the harbour's fuel dump set alight. The Italian warships suffered some damage and casualties to splinters. A convoy of four merchant ships that had arrived earlier in the day, however, was unaffected and delivered its cargo.
It was a confused scene, with many of the battleships' shells passing over the harbour and hitting the town itself. Cloud of dust and smoke were kicked up by the hell bursts, obscuring much of the town from the spotting aircraft and making it practically impossible for the ships to observe the fall of shot.
After firing 478 15in shells and 1500 6in shells, the fleet withdrew - anticipating heavy air attack. The battleship Valiant set off a mine during the withdrawal, but was only slightly damaged.
Fulmars over the battle fleet.
The following day, the 22nd, saw her Fulmars once again operating in defence of the withdrawing fleet. April 22 would prove to be the peak of HMS Formidable's flight operations, with up to 14 Fulmars in the air at once. Eight aircraft were claimed shot down in this period, and three listed as "probable". Two of the claimed kills were Ju88s.
Formidable's Fulmars had urgently sought to stave off the inevitable raids by preventing enemy reconnaissance reports of the fleet's whereabouts. Shortly after noon two fighters downed a Do24N flying boat which had been seen flying low over the sea. It landed on the water, its port engine ablaze. But it attempted to take-off, drawing another strafing run from the Fulmars. It was abandoned, sinking.
The main attack arrived late in the afternoon. Two sections of Fulmars - one from 803 Squadron and another from 806 - intercepted a wave of Ju88s.
Between 17 and 23 April, Formidable's 17 Fulmars had completed 156 sorties. Her pilots, observers and flight operations personnel were getting very tired. So were the aircraft themselves.
Report of Proceedings from Commanding Officer, HMS Formidable
to Rear Admiral, Mediterranean Aircraft Carriers
[ADM 199/ 798] 29 April 1941
Operation 'M.D. Three' – bombardment of Tripoli, 21 April 1941
I have the honour to forward the proceedings of H.M. Ship under my command and wearing your Flag for the period of operations carried out between 17th and 23rd April, 1941. (Attached as Appendix I.)
2. The following statistics may be of interest:–
(i) 17 Fulmars were available for the operations after the initial landing on, in which two were damaged.
(ii) 156 Flights were made by Fighters, of which 136 were launched by Assisted Take-Off Gear.
(iii) Total flying time of Fighters was 337 aircraft hours.
(iv) On the evening of the last day (April 22nd), 14 fighters were in the air at one time for offensive operations.
(v) Not counting the original landing on and the operations of the night flare-dropping force, the Fleet had to make 16 alterations of course during the five days for operating aircraft, the actual time into the wind between '1st off and last on' being 66 minutes. On other occasions, flying on was arranged to fit in with a leg of the zig-zag.
3. These figures reflect credit on the skill and endurance of the Pilots and on the maintenance work carried out by the Squadrons' and Headquarter's Staff. It was only by these latter's untiring work that such a high proportion of serviceability was maintained.
4. The work of the Fighter Direction Staff was excellent throughout and enabled the Fighters to get in a number of attacks on enemy aircraft.
5. During the operations, the Fighters accounted for:–
8 enemy aircraft shot down.
2 probably shot down but not confirmed.
1 severely damaged.
6. Reports from the Flare dropping and bombing aircraft taking part in the bombardment of TRIPOLI are attached (Appendices II and III).
The reports of the Observers of Spotting aircraft are being rendered through the Commanding Officers of the Battleships concerned. It is understood that the flare illumination was entirely satisfactory.
7. I have forwarded in Appendix IV the names of Officers and men whose services are considered to merit special mention (Mediterranean forms M.C.M. 115 are attached)… Enclosures:–
Appendix I – Report of Proceedings.
Appendix II – Reports of Flare-dropping.
Appendix III – Reports of bombing.
Appendix IV – Officers and men recommended.
OPERATION DEMON
After the rush to reinforce Greece against first Italian, then German, invasion collapsed, the Royal Navy once again found itself conducting a desperate rescue effort.
Crete was to be the evacuation's stepping stone, and next line of defence. Convoys streamed through the Aegean.
One of the largest of these was Convoy GA15 - evacuating 6232 soldiers and 4699 personnel. The seven ships left Suda Bay, Crete, on April 29 protected by the anti-aircraft cruiser HMS Carlisle, the destroyers Kandahar, Kingston, Decoy and Defender, with the small ships HMNZS Auckland and HMS Hyacinth. Cover was provided by Force B: HMS Orion, Ajax and HMAS Perth along with HMS Phoebe and the destroyers HMS Hasty, Hereward and Nubian.
An attack at night by a group of two Italian torpedo boats and a destroyer was driven off by the surface escort. But the distant covering force - HMS Formidable with the battleships Barham and Valiant along with six destroyers - closed up early in the morning to offer air cover and greater gun strength.
Fleet Air Arm planes patrolling over a convoy, April 1941/
OPERATION 'TIGER'
HMS ARK ROYAL with her long-time companions RENOWN, front, and SHEFFIELD.
Britain scrambled to reinforce its retreating 8th Army in Egypt with fresh tanks and aircraft. General Rommel's Afrika Korps had exacted a terrible toll.
Admiral Cunningham's fleet was also in desperate need of reinforcement and replacements. The modernised battleship HMS Queen Elizabeth and the cruisers Glouchester, Fiji and Naiad were ready to make the dash from Gibraltar to Alexandria.
Cunningham, however, remained opposed to the notion of running a convoy the length of the Mediterranean now Fliegerkorps X was well established. The damage done to HMS Illustrious in January was still fresh in his mind.
But Churchill was adamant: Urgent British reinforcement of the forces in Egypt was vital if Generalleutnant Erwin Rommel's Panzerdivisions were to be halted.
So, in May, a hastily assembled collection of fast merchant ships was to run the gauntlet of Sardinia and Sicily. Supply Convoy MW7 would depart Alexandria for Malta, both as a diversion and to exploit the opportunity to get them to the beseiged island. The heavily protected military convoy would come from Gibraltar at the tame time.
It would be a particularly hard-fought operation.
Force H, with HMS Ark Royal, would cover the ships on the western half of the route.
After delivering MW7 to the rendezvous south of Malta, HMS Formidable and the Mediterranean Fleet would see the troop and tank transports of 'Tiger' safely to their destination.
Fairey Fulmar fighters patrolling above HMS ARK ROYAL and HMS RENOWN during an attack on a British convoy in the Sicilian Channel, 1941.
Force H
Ark Royal (Fulmars: 808, 807 Squadron)
* 807 Squadron was a new arrival, replacing the Skua fighter-bombers of 800 Squadron.
Battlecruiser: Renown (Repulse remained in port as her anti-aircraft strength was deemed too weak)
Cruisers: HMS Sheffield, Naiad,
Destroyers: HMS Wrestler, Kashmir, Kipling, Faulknor, Forester, Fury, Harvester, Havelock, Hesperus.
'Tiger' Fast Convoy (All ships capable of +15kts, carrying 295 Matilda and Crusader tanks, 180 vehicles and 53 crated Hurricanes)
Transports Clan Campbell, Clan Chattan, Clan Lamont, Empire Song, New Zealand Star.
* Joined with convoy WS8A from Clyde to Cape Town. Near Gibraltar, on May 2, the fast transports detached with the escorts HMS Repulse, Naiad, Harvester, Havelock, Hesperus.
Mediterranean Fleet Reinforcement force: HMS Queen Elizabeth, Glouchester, Fiji, Naiad.
Mediterranean Fleet
Operation MD4 (Departing Alexandria)
Battleship: Warspite, Barham, Valiant
Cruisers: HMS Ajax, Orion, Abdiel, HMAS Perth
Destroyers: HMS Jervis, Juno, Jaguar, Kandahar, Kimberley, Kingston, Napier, Nizam, Imperial, Griffin, Hotsupur, Havock. (The Malta destroyer force Kelly, Jackal, Kelvin and Janus joined temporarily on May 9)
Support: Breconshire (tanker)
Operation MW7A (Departing Alexandria)
Cruisers: Dido, Phoebe, Calcutta
Destroyers: Isis, Hero, Hereward
Transports: Settler, Thermopylae, Amerika, Talabot
Convoy AN30 (Departing Haifa and Port Said, Palestine for Suda Bay, Crete)
Destroyers: HMAS Stuart, Vampire, Waterhen
Sloops: Grimsby, Flamingo, HMNZS Auckland
Transports: Lossiebank, Cape Horn, City of Canterbury, Rawnsley
Fleet Air Arm Fairey Fulmar aircraft patrolling over a convoy, 1941
Force H took up its covering position with the 'Tiger' convoy as it passed through the Straits of Gibraltar.
About the same time, at the other end of the Mediterranean, the Mediterranean Fleet departed Alexandria.
Fortunately for Force H, the weather was poor and visibility was low. Its passage on the 6th and 7th went unnoticed.
During the night of the 7th and 8th, the light cruiser HMS Ajax and the destroyers Havock, Hotspur and Imperial undertook a diversion to shell the harbour of Benghazi. Thy sank two transports.
The Italians mobilised a force from Palermo: the light cruisers Luigi di Savoia Duca degli Abruzzi, Giuseppe Garibaldi, Giovanni delle Bande Nere and Luigi Cadorna, together with five destroyers, were too late to intercept.
"We were combing one (torpedo) successfully ... the damn thing suddenly altered 90 degrees to Port and came straight for our bow. Now we're for it I thought but, would you believe it, the damn thing had finished its run and I watched it sink about 10 yards from the ship.""
— Admiral Somerville, aboard HMS Renown
Fulmars and Skuas flying off with HMS ARK ROYAL early in 1941. The battlecruiser (rebuilt as a carrier escort) HMS RENOWN is in the background.
The tribulations of the Fleet Air Arm following the Battle of Britain emergency had not left HMS Ark Royal untouched. Only 12 Fulmars from her two squadrons were listed as operational.
Despite this, she maintained a constant standing air patrol of two aircraft from 8am as the convoy approached the 100 mile gap between Sardinia and Algeria. It was the start of the 'narrows' which would exact a heavy toll from many convoys to come.
In the western Mediterranean, an Italian shadower was seen over the convoy and Force H about noon. It escaped into cloud.
Two hours later, at 1345, the radar-guard and fighter-direction cruiser HMS Sheffield sounded an alarm: incoming aircraft were detected at 32 miles.
Two sections of 808 Squadron Fulmars (two aircraft each) were airborne at this time. Another two sections of 807 Squadron were scrambled. All were directed towards the incoming Italians.
They found 16 SM79 torpedo bombers of 38 Gruppo, escorted by 12 Fiat CR42 biplane fighters of 3 Gruppo, flying out of Sardinia.
Christopher Shores' book, Malta: The Hurricane Years gives a detailed account of the action.
Fairey Fulmar coming in to land aboard HMS ARK ROYAL in 1941.
The four Fulmars of 808 Squadron's CAP found themselves in a poor position: The CR42s were unexpectedly higher, and immediately 'bounced' the British fleet fighters as they positioned themselves to swoop on the bombers.
The commanding officer of 808 Squadron, Lieutenant Tillard, was shot down. Both he and his observer, Lieutenant Somerville, were killed. The remaining three Fulmars also had not escaped unscathed. Two had suffered hits on their tailplanes, while the observer of another had been wounded in the leg.
One CR42 was also seen to be hit by Lieutenant Taylour and to enter a violent spin. It was classified as a 'probable'. The Italians, however, ambitiously claimed five Fulmars as shot down.
This did not deter the freshly launched Fulmars. They evaded the CR42s and fell upon the SM79 torpedo bombers.
One Fulmar was hit by return fire. Lieutenant N.G. 'Buster' Hallett was forced to ditch. Both he and his Australian observer were picked up by HMS Foresight. Blue Section 807 Squadron's two Fulmars destroyed the SM79 that had shot down Hallett.
As the remaining fighters wheeled among them, half of the Italian torpedo bomber force turned back. The remaining eight, however, pressed on.
No further FAA fighters stood between the bombers and the fleet.
Unmolested, the eight torpedo bombers delivered hair-raising attacks on Ark Royal herself, as well as her close escort – HMS Renown.
From about 1620 more flights of SM79s approached. Some with CR42 escorts.
Yellow Section 808 Squadron's Lieutenant A.T.J. Kindersley and Lieutenant Ronnie Hay, R.M., claimed a SM79 kill at 1710.
'Tiger' came within range of the Luftwaffe bases on Sicily shortly before dusk.
This time, however, there was more warning. At 1930, HMS Sheffield detected the German strike force as it formed up some 70 miles distant.
Ark Royal had three Fulmars in the air (Red Section 807 Squadron). But the remaining four serviceable fighters had been ready on deck for this obviously 'peak threat' period.
These (two each from 807 and 808 Squadrons) took up station some 15 miles out from the fleet at a medium altitude. After all, it was the low-flying torpedo bombers that presented the greatest threat
Against them was an experienced force of Germany's best aircraft. Two formations of 14-28 Stukas (accounts differ) from I/StG1 had flown out of Cagliari. They had a top-cover of six twin-engine Bf110 heavy fighters of 9/ZG26.
They were sighted when 20 miles out from the convoy. Three fighters of the high CAP, Red Section, tangled with the Bf110s. The four scrambled Fulmars swept among the Stukas.
This time the outcome was clearly in the FAA's favour. The Stuka force scattered, scrambling for the patchy cloud to escape the unexpectedly aggressive FAA fighters.
ARK ROYAL's outline is barely discernable against the spray and smoke, left, as a battleship - probably QUEEN ELIZABETH and a Town-class cruiser help defend her with an umbrella-barrage.
Blue Leader, Lieutenant 'Jimmie" Gardner, claimed one Ju87 destroyed and another probable. But his windscreen was then shattered by Stuka return fire and his radiator damaged. He managed to crash-land aboard Ark Royal. (A review of his gun camera footage confirmed the probable.)
Yellow 1 (Lieutenant Taylour) claimed a Ju87 but sustained a serious hit from a Bf110 in the starboard wing which destroyed the hydraulics and caused the wheel to drop down.
Two Bf110s were also reported as damaged. One had been seen streaming white smoke after being hit by Red 2 (P.O.(A) R.T. Leggott). Another was seen on fire by Sub Lt R.F. Walker (who also claimed smoke from a Stuka).
The returning pilots of 9/ZG26 claimed three 'Hurricanes' as shot down. German records show two Bf110s crash landed with wounded crews.
The FAA claims against the Ju87s, however, seem to have been optimistic. German records admit only one Ju87 being damaged, with its wounded pilot and gunner returning to Cagliari.
All surviving Fulmars had landed aboard Ark Royal by 2015. But two were quickly scrambled again as a flight of SM79s was detected approaching at low level.
They were unable to intercept before the torpedo bombers launched an unsuccessful attack on Ark Royal and Renown. During this action one of HMS Renown's port-side 4.5in dual-purpose gun mounts suffered a control failure, firing into the rear of the mount in front of it. Six were killed and 26 injured. It was the only damage the force was to sustain.
Under the cover of darkness, the convoy, unmolested, separated from Force H at Skerki Bank and ran full speed through the Sicilian Narrows.
It had been a close-run thing.
Ark Royal's experience was a harbinger of things to come. Lack of spare parts and replacement Fulmars would put HMS Formidable in a desperate position in just a few short weeks time.
HMS FORMIDABLE operating Albacores in company with WARSPITE.
That same day, HMS Formidable had been having an eventful time in the eastern Mediterranean. Her Fulmars had shot down three reconnaissance He111s, damaged a Ju88 and destroyed an Italian Cant Z1007bis. Axis forces were so cowed by the effectiveness of the CAP that they began to fly higher to evade the fighters, with a significant reduction in their chances of sighting and assessing the fleet.
Lt Bob MacDonald-Hall of 806 Squadron recalled:
'We came across two He 111s, the first of which I rather stupidly flew in formation with some 50 yards behind! I still managed to blow up the Heinkel's starboard engine, however, the debris of which – being glycol and fuel – smothered my cockpit and I watched it cartwheel down and hit the sea. I then rejoined Touchbourne, and we harassed, attacked and shot down the other Heinkel, prior to returning to Formidable.'
The third He111 was confirmed killed by an 803 Squadron flight led by Lt Bill Bruen. This made him an ace.
MALTA RESUPPLIED
With the two forces having converged, MW7 made its dash for Valetta harbour. The two tankers and four transports at this point had a close escort of the light anti-aircraft cruisers Calcutta, Carlisle, Coventry, Dido and Phoebe, along with three destroyers and two corvettes.
Tiger's luck did not hold.
The convoy passed through the narrow, in close company with the battleship HMS Queen Elizabeth, the cruisers Gloucester, Fiji and Naiad, and the destroyers Faulknor, Fearless, Foresight, Forester, Fortune, Fury, Kashmir and Kipling.
The destroyers were in formation ahead, with minesweeping equipment deployed.
Shortly after midnight, one of the vital cargo ships – MV New Zealand Star – safely detonated a mine with her parvane. Then, in the Narrows off the coast of Tunisia, the 9200ton MV Empire Song struck two mines. A fire started among the ammunition in her hold. Her crew evacuated to a destroyers.
The ship blew up at 0400, taking with her 57 tanks and 10 crated Hurricanes.
Then a lone torpedo-bomber slipped through the darkness to deliver an attack on HMS Queen Elizabeth. It only narrowly missed.
Bombs fall between HMS VALIANT and an escorting cruiser and destroyer.
Force H now handed over responsibility for the vital fast transports to the Mediterranean Fleet.
It was an immensely dangerous time.
The weather smiled upon Operation Tiger. Their time of greatest vulnerability was as dawn broke over the ships exiting the Sicilian Narrows and passing to the south of Malta.
They were blanketed by heavy cloud, fog and rain and raid. Beafighters from Malta could also be seen periodically passing protectively overhead.
Italy had three submarines operating in the area: Santore Santarosa, Rugiero Settimo and Corallo. None were able to engage.
Then the 5th Destroyer Flotilla hove into view: Jackal, Kelly and Kelvin had used the opportunity to escape Malta. They would now travel with Tiger - also reinforced by Ajax, Dido, Orion, Perth and Phoebe - until meeting Admiral Cunningham's main body further to to the east.
Kashmir, Kipling and Faulknor dashed into Valetta to refuel before making the run back through the narrows to rejoin Force H.
One tenacious German Ju88, from 2(F)/123, was detected on radar attempting to locate the fleet through any opportune break in the clouds.
Two of HMS Formidable's fighters (806 Squadron) were soon vectored in on the hapless aircraft, and claimed it as shot down. In actuality, it had limped back to Sicily where it was destroyed in a crash landing. While the crew survived, they had not sighted the fleet.
By 1515 the two convoys that had been covered by the Mediterranean Fleet had made it to Malta without loss.
For a period of 24 hours, the Axis received no intelligence as to the convoy's location.
But it was obvious where it was headed. And its average speed was known.
All they had to do was extrapolate a course – and wait.
Dawn broke to foul weather once again. It would persist for much of the day – but began to lift in the afternoon.
Force H, returning to Gibraltar, was not so lucky. It was attacked by 21 Italian aircraft, damaging the destroyer Fortune with a near-miss. Her speed was reduced to just seven knots. The destroyer Fury was detached as escort.
During the morning two Malta Beaufighters tasked with protecting the convoy were directed to a 'bogie' 70km south west of the island. They found a Ju88 of 2(F)/123. The exchange of gunfire seriously damaged the Junkers, but return-fire destroyed one of the Beaufighters.
Soon high-flying German aircraft were detected – staying above the Fulmar's optimal height where they could out-run the fleet fighter. One He111 was sighted by a CAP Fulmar, but it escaped into fog.
The Tiger convoy was now being shadowed.
At 2100 the inevitable attacks began. Over a period of one –and-a-half hours, torpedo bombers and attempted to use the moon to silhouette the ships. All were turned away by AA fire from the escorts and harrying Fulmars. No ship was damaged.
However, HMS Formidable was to lose a pilot and observer when their Fulmar crashed on take-off.
HMS FORMIDABLE in company with WARSPITE.
Five destroyers of the escort, led by Lord Louis Mountbatten's 5th Destroyer Flotilla , were detached shortly after midnight to again bombard Benghazi. They claimed one vessel hit.
But, as they returned to the Tiger formation, they were bounced by a flight of Ju87s from II/StG2. They suffered only minor damage.
A combination of patchy weather and poor intelligence delayed any Axis attack until the afternoon.
Nine Ju88's of 5/LG1 were intercepted by a flight from 806 Squadron.
Lieutenant R.S. Henley damaged the Ju88 he singled out to attack. But his wingman, Lieutenant P.D.J. Sparke collided with his target. The Fulmar and Ju88 plunged into the ocean, taking both crews with them.
The remaining Ju88s, however, turned back.
This was the last attack on Tiger.
All up, the Fulmars of Ark Royal and Formidable had claimed 10 Axis aircraft. The price was four Fulmars.
Most importantly, on May 12, the remaining fast transports were able to deliver 238 tanks (82 of them the new Crusaders) and 43 crated Hurricanes to Alexandria. The British 8th Army now had the fighting equipment it needed to stop Rommel in his tracks – a full three weeks earlier than had the Tiger convoy been routed the safer route around Africa.
"Availability of Fulmar Fighters:
From the 18th April to the 12th May, 18 Fulmars have made 390 (? Sorties), 338 being fighter patrols. 25 interceptions were made, 15 plus 5 enemy aircraft were shot down, 18 enemy aircraft sighted… During this period 12 Fulmars were lost by rendering beyond repair (sic), 4 being lost after combat. There are now 15 serviceable and 14 under repair or overhaul. The least number required maintain fighter efforts is 3 squadrons of 12 each, and a reserve of 36."
— Minute from First Sea Lord to Prime Minister, 26 May 1941.
HMS Formidable's air group had suffered serious attrition. Upon her return to harbour on May 12, she had just four operational Fulmars.
All had tired engines or damaged components. Losses had not been replaced and spares not delivered.
The fallout of the Battle of Britain was beginning to bite home.
All aircraft and engine production had been diverted to just a handful of RAF machines – in particular the Spitfire and Hurricane. All Fleet Air Arm production had been halted.
To make matters worse, the major FAA supply dump at Coventry had been smashed by one of the Luftwaffe's largest raids of the war.
There were simply no spare parts or replacement aircraft to be had.
Repairs had to be effected by scrounging through dumps, cannibalising other aircraft and some creative machine-shop work.
The fallout was immediate and immense.
Admiral Cunningham's report made it clear how painful HMS Formidable's absence was:
The Royal Navy lost local control of the air for operations during the urgent evacuations of Greece and Crete. The Navy succeeded in its object but paid a heavy price for this achievement. The fleet was operating within easy range of enemy air bases and beyond the reach of any protection from our own air force. The fleet fighters of H.M.S. FORMIDABLE were reduced to only four as a result of casualties and unserviceability arising from the recent operation " Tiger."* It was, therefore, useless to send H.M.S. FORMIDABLE to assist… So, without air support of any sort, the fleet had to be exposed to a scale of air attack which is believed to have exceeded anything of the kind yet experienced afloat.
It took until May 25 for Formidable to once again field a respectable number of fighters. But the condition of the 13 machines embarked was, in truth, suspect.
This would have grievous implications for Operation M.A.Q. 3 – an attack on the Stuka airfield of Scarpanto and the support of embattled Crete.
Note by Joint Secretaries, British Joint Staff Mission, Washington1
[CAB 122/ 142] 19 September 1941
Allocation of Grumman Martlet fighters to the Royal Navy
The attached Memorandum. from Admiral Lyster to Admiral Sir Charles Little, is circulated herewith for consideration at the meeting to be held on TUESDAY, 23RD SEPTEMBER, 1941, prior to submission to the Supply Council.
MEMORANDUM BY THE JOINT STAFF MISSION.
The Strategic Importance of Single Seater Fighters to the Navy. The pre-war guiding principle of Naval strategy regarding aircraft carriers was to arm them with a striking force of Torpedo-Bomber-Reconnaissance aircraft, and to provide in addition a force of Fighters whose dual role was to protect the ship from enemy bombers and to escort the striking force on its operational sorties. It was the general opinion that navigational facilities would be a sine qua non of such fighter aircraft; hence the insistence on the two-seater fighter. Arrangements have been made in this country to produce all the two seater naval fighters required.
However, in this war aircraft carriers have been required to operate in enclosed waters within striking range of enemy dive-bombers, and often of their shore-based fighter escort. U.S. naval observers have seen for themselves in the Mediterranean that the low speeds of the two-seater fighters hitherto embarked on all aircraft carriers have been insufficient to enable them to deal effectively with attacks pressed home on the mother ship. Our aircraft carriers are often required to operate within range of shore-based aircraft; and it will thus be imperative to arm these carriers with single-seater as well as with two-seater fighters (whether simultaneously or alternatively will depend upon the operations envisaged). The Martlet the only Naval Single Seater Fighter until 1943. Owing to a delay of over 9 months in the appearance of the folding wing Martlet, and to increased commitments involved in the new measures to counter the air menace in the Battle of the Atlantic, the Navy have been forced to obtain obsolescent R.A.F. fighter aircraft for use in the few carriers with large lifts. By next spring the first line strength of single-seater fighters necessary to fill carriers to complement will amount to 120 (10 squadrons, say); five squadrons, but no more, can be maintained by the fighters diverted to the Navy by the R.A.F. It is not possible to use R.A.F. fighters for more than five squadrons for the following reasons: (1) the aircraft will not be available. (2) non-folding aircraft cannot be used in the remaining single-seater fighter squadrons. We are faced with the difficulty of providing the remaining five squadrons. The only British naval single-seater fighter is the Firebrand, a machine which is to be produced 'off the board' with deliveries commencing at a very slow rate early next summer. Because of limited capacity, the peak target monthly delivery rate of the Firebrand is only 25, this peak being planned to be attained in October 1942. Allowing for inevitable delays and difficulties encountered in the introduction of a new type of aircraft into service, it is thought that the first operational squadron of Firebrand fighters will only be formed at the outset of 1943.
The above statements relating to the Firebrand make it plain that IF THE CARRIERS ILLUSTRIOUS, FORMIDABLE, VICTORIOUS, AND ARK ROYAL ARE NOT TO BE ENTIRELY DEPRIVED OF FIGHTER PROTECTION, IT WILL BE IMPERATIVE TO FORM AT LEAST 5 FIRST LINE MARTLET SQUADRONS AND TO MAINTAIN THEM UNTIL AT LEAST HALF WAY THROUGH 1943. Since losses on these five squadrons and on the two squadrons of training aircraft are budgeted to amount to about 15 a month and since it has been found essential to build up reserve pools of naval aircraft, it is at once obvious that FAILURE OF THE U.S.A. TO DELIVER THE 20 (FOLDING WING) MARTLETS A MONTH ASKED FOR AFTER THE PRESENT ORDER FOR 240 COMPLETES IN AUGUST, 1942, WILL RESULT IN THE EXPOSURE OF FOUR IMPORTANT CARRIERS TO GRAVE RISKS OR IN THE IMMOBILIZATION OF IMPORTANT NAVAL RESOURCES. Owing to the introduction of new type of two-seater fleet fighter, the Firefly, towards the end of 1943, and the previous cessation of production of the Fulmar, the two-seater fighter situation during the last few months of 1942 and the first months of 1943 will probably be very 'tight'. The arming of the ILLUSTRIOUS, FORMIDABLE, VICTORIOUS, and the ARK ROYAL with two-seaters in lieu of single-seaters does not therefore exist as a possibility. It will therefore be seen that the release of a continuation order of 20 Martlets a month is a matter of the highest priority towards the Navy war effort …


text:
namespace Google.Cloud.Dataplex.V1.Snippets
{
    // [START dataplex_v1_generated_DataplexService_CreateAsset_async_flattened]
    using Google.LongRunning;
    using System.Threading.Tasks;
    using gcdv = Google.Cloud.Dataplex.V1;

    public sealed partial class GeneratedDataplexServiceClientSnippets
    {
        /// <summary>Snippet for CreateAssetAsync</summary>
        /// <remarks>
        /// This snippet has been automatically generated for illustrative purposes only.
        /// It may require modifications to work in your environment.
        /// </remarks>
        public async Task CreateAssetAsync()
        {
            // Create client
            DataplexServiceClient dataplexServiceClient = await DataplexServiceClient.CreateAsync();
            // Initialize request argument(s)
            string parent = "projects/[PROJECT]/locations/[LOCATION]/lakes/[LAKE]/zones/[ZONE]";
            Asset asset = new Asset();
            string assetId = "";
            // Make the request
            Operation<Asset, OperationMetadata> response = await dataplexServiceClient.CreateAssetAsync(parent, asset, assetId);

            // Poll until the returned long-running operation is complete
            Operation<Asset, OperationMetadata> completedResponse = await response.PollUntilCompletedAsync();
            // Retrieve the operation result
            Asset result = completedResponse.Result;

            // Or get the name of the operation
            string operationName = response.Name;
            // This name can be stored, then the long-running operation retrieved later by name
            Operation<Asset, OperationMetadata> retrievedResponse = await dataplexServiceClient.PollOnceCreateAssetAsync(operationName);
            // Check if the retrieved long-running operation has completed
            if (retrievedResponse.IsCompleted)
            {
                // If it has completed, then access the result
                Asset retrievedResult = retrievedResponse.Result;
            }
        }
    }
    // [END dataplex_v1_generated_DataplexService_CreateAsset_async_flattened]
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Q: Akka-http-session + cluster. Possible? I am using akka-http-session for storeing authorization fact in my disptributed app. I noticed some problem: if I create session(log in) on one node, I can't read it on another(User info is not aviable).
Session sends via cookies and stores on the client side. It's akka-http-session library mechanism, not mine. I guess, some part of the session stores on the server, so node can't validate cookie session created by another node.
Is there any way to solve this problem in a idiomatic manner?

A: It's my fault. The problem reason is - my nodes have different uri's. Cookies belongs to the certain uri, and there is no auth cookie on another uri.
My solution is to use balancier(e.g. nginx) and request my app via one balanciers uri.
Sorry for this silly question. =(

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Uses VML to implement the rendering methods defined in JXG.AbstractRenderer.
Sets attribute key of node node to value.
Reference to a DOM node containing the board.
New value of the attribute.
If false, the attribute's name is case insensitive.


Outside of Quaker circles, I'm nervous about writing publicly about my faith. Sometimes I hesitate to post a notice on my FB page about my latest blog entry, and I'm selective about who I tell about this blog.
Fear is probably too strong a word for my waffling when it comes to writing about my faith, but I do worry about work being lumped in with writing that is prescriptive and dogmatic. I also don't want to be perceived as unsophisticated or gullible.
Most of all, I struggle with finding the right language to describe my personal experience of God/Spirit/Presence in my life. Those words carry so much meaning for people; for many, they are weighted with tonnage of hurt, confusion, and persecution. And for me, as I grow in my faith, my understanding of such words changes as well.
Griffith wrote in response to Paul Elie's recent New York Times Op-Ed, Has Fiction Lost Its Faith?. Elie, the author of The Life You Save May Be Your Own: An American Pilgrimage, wrote of his concern about a decline in writing about faith compared to that by earlier fiction writers such as Flannery O'Connor.
Griffith's essay also cited Gregory Wolfe's article, "Whispers of Faith in a Postmodern World," in the Wall Street Journal, which refutes Elie's concern. "The myth of secularism triumphant in the arts is just that—a myth," Wolfe writes, citing his experience as editor of Image Magazine, a journal that "publishes literature and art concerned with the faith traditions of the West." Wolfe and his wife began Image Magazine 24 years ago believing that, "Christianity [I would counter all faith traditions] is grounded in a great tradition of story-telling that is immediate and concrete. But," he admits, "we honestly didn't know if we could fill more than a few issues. Sometimes when you look, you find." The magazine has featured "many believing writers," including Annie Dillard, Elie Wiesel, and Marilynne Robinson.
David Griffith suggests that in this "age of unbelief," literary nonfiction—personal essay and memoir —is the medium for discussing faith. I agree. This is what I read in search of wisdom. Lamott, Griffith, and Wolfe have given me a little more courage to write about my own faith. And that writing helps me stay in touch with that still, small voice (or for convenience, God) within.
What reading or writing helps you listen to the still, small voice within and around you?
Thanks, Iris. I struggle with these issues, too. And it helps me sometimes to read a little Flannery O'Connor or more recently, Brian Doyle.
Oh yes, Brian Doyle is another writer who gives me courage. Thanks for the reminder, Kim.
"At the outset there is, then, one very important problem: the situation of one for whom God seems to be absent. [& that seems to be most of the Friends I've found hard to say this to: that "'Faith' is not a belief system.]… Obviously I am not speaking of a real absence — God is never really absent — but of the sense of absence which we have. We stand before God and we shout into an empty sky, out of which there is no reply… What ought we to think of this situation?
First of all, it is very important to remember that prayer is an encounter and a relationship, a relationship which is deep, and this relationship cannot be force either on us or on God. The fact that God can make Himself present or can leave us with the sense of His absence is part of this live and real relationship. If we could mechanically draw Him into an encounter, force Him to meet us, simply because we have chosen this moment to meet Him, there would be no relationship and no encounter. We can do that with an image, with the imagination, or with the various idols we can put in front of ourselves instead of God; we can do nothing of the sort with the living God, any more than we can do it with a living person…. If you look at the relationship in terms of mutual relationship, you will see that God could complain about us a great deal more than we about Him. We complain that He does not make Himself present for the few minutes we reserve for Him, but what about the twenty-three and a half hours during which God may be knocking at our door and we answer 'I am busy, I am sorry' or when we do not answer at all… So there is a situation in which we have no right to complain of the absence of God, because we are a great deal more absent than He ever is.


Our editors choice for best United States online poker site is Global Poker which operates with a unique sweepstakes model allowing for real cash prizes!
Pokerscout.com monitors online poker sites and allows you to find the best poker sites in any country with the help of our poker site traffic report. Our data is updated every 10 minutes.
At PokerScout.com, we know game selection is a major part of being a winning poker player. So, you need to consider several factors when picking an online poker room. For example, how many tables of a stake are running at the same time? Are the tables soft or filled with pros? Maybe the site you are looking for only has Hold'em.
At PokerScout, you can answer all those questions and more. We offer round-the-clock traffic reports on every site worth playing on. Our extensive poker reviews from both editors and users can help you pick a site that best suits your bankroll, poker bonuses, and schedule. In fact, with our unique poker game tracker, you can find exactly the game you are looking for in a matter of minutes.
PokerScout.com tracks poker sites from around the world. We track US poker sites in New Jersey, Nevada, and Delaware. New Jersey is the current market leader with the largest population of any legalized gambling state and including the top NJ online casinos.
As of April 2018, New Jersey, Nevada, and Delaware operate with a combined player pool, increasing the overall number of players available. Pennsylvania is moving towards legal online poker, and will likely join the pool when it does so. However, there's no established timeframe for the Keystone State's debut just yet.


(2007-2009: Cleveland, OH). Barrie Projects led a team of designers, architects and marine engineers in a two-year study to determine how the venerable ore carrier could be turned into a year-round attraction, complementing the exhibits in the nearby Great Lakes Science Center. A portion of the plan has been implemented.


text:
Church of San Salvador de Valdediós
The church of the Holy Savior of Valdediós (Spanish: Iglesia de San Salvador de Valdediós) is a Roman Catholic pre-romanesque church, located next to Villaviciosa, Asturias, Spain.
Church of the Holy Savior of Valdediós
Iglesia de San Salvador de Valdediós (in Spanish)
Ecclesiastical or organizational status
Year consecrated
Oviedo, Spain
43°26′13.6″N 5°30′23.5″W / 43.437111°N 5.506528°W / 43.437111; -5.506528
Pre-Romanesque
16 metres (52 ft)
13.3 metres (44 ft) [1]
The church stands in the Boides valley (Villaviciosa), the place where Alfonso III of Asturias was detained when he was dispossessed by his sons, and where there used to be an old convent governed by the Benedictine Order, substituted in the 13th century by the Cistercians. The church known as the "Bishops' Chapel" was consecrated on 16 September 893, with seven bishops in attendance.
2 Royal tribune
ArchitectureEdit
The church stands on a classic basilica ground plan with a triple sanctuary, separating the central nave from the side aisles with four semicircular arches. At the western end, there are three enclosures, the central one used as an access vestibule, and two located on the left and right which may have been used to house pilgrims. The vault over the central nave, like the one over the apses, is barreled with a brick ceiling and decorated with al fresco wall painting, alternating a variety of geometric designs.
Ground plan of the church
Royal tribuneEdit
The royal tribune is located above the vestibule, separate from the area intended for the congregation (spatium fidelium) in the central nave, and this from the area devoted to the liturgy by iron grilles, now disappeared. Particular elements of this church include the covered gallery annexed to the southern facade at a later date or Royal Portico, the 50 cm square columns on the central naves arches, the triple-arched window open in the central apse, and the room above it, exclusively accessed from the exterior by a window which here has two openings, compared with the habitual three.
Asturian art
Catholic Church in Spain
^ Arias Paramo 1992, p. 32
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Church of San Salvador de Valdediós.
Arias Paramo, Lorenzo (1992), "Geometría y proporción en la arquitectura prerrománica asturiana", Actas del III Congreso de Arqueología Medieval Española (in Spanish), Oviedo: Universidad de Oviedo: 27–37, ISBN 84-604-1916-9, retrieved 2009-05-31
Fernández Conde, Francisco Javier (1994). La época de Alfonso XX y San Salvador de Valdediós. Universidad de Oviedo. ISBN 84-7468-830-2.
Portals:
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Church_of_San_Salvador_de_Valdediós&oldid=1004370393"
Last edited on 2 February 2021, at 08:04
This page was last edited on 2 February 2021, at 08:04 (UTC).

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


We all want the best for our children. We love it when our friends gush about how cute they are—even more when they say "nagmana sa'yo!" So it's no surprise if you find yourself stressing over your child's upcoming birthday party. But hey, relax. Pause for a while and get your ducks in a row. Here are a few tips that will help you pull a seamless, memorable, and successful kiddie party with minimum strain.
First things first—the party theme. If you've got to start somewhere, start with the theme. Consider the ones that reflect your child's likes and personality. Cars, Barbie dolls, dinosaurs—the best thing about throwing a children's party is that you can play with the most out-of-this-world themes. Just make sure it's something your child would like. After all, it's technically their party. And once you've decided on a theme, the rest should roll in, from decorations to dress code.
Do it ASAP. You want people to come and celebrate this special occasion with you and your child. So the earlier you send out invites, the more likely it would be for guests to block their schedules and make it on that date. Here's a tip, create an event page on Facebook, where you can post updates and teasers about the upcoming birthday party. That way, you won't have to set all the details on stone just yet. With just your theme and date, you can go ahead and send invites on Facebook. After all, its 2018, even the folks who live under a rock have a Facebook account.
Booking a party venue is one thing, but you also have to take care of everything that you should fill it up with including the set-up, food and drinks, decors, and the list would go on. So rather than braving all of these on your own, choose a venue that comes with the assistance of an expert team, such as in Discovery Suites Manila. You heard that right, their function rooms and events team can not only host elegant weddings, debuts, and reunions, but also really fun kiddie parties. Aside from the picture-perfect views from their function rooms, and food that's to die for, their party experts will help you every step of the way, until you pull that unforgettable birthday party you've always wanted for your child.
On your child's "big day," you'd probably want to capture every second of it. And a few years later, you would regret taking all those pictures instead of being in them. So don't make that mistake; be in the pictures. Designate the task to a professional photographer, or a friend who loves his or her "inaanak" enough to happily do it for you. And while there will certainly be a whole lot of orchestrated photo ops, tell them to take more candid photos to really capture the moment. After all, that's the whole reason behind collecting the pictures.
A job well done comes with an exhausted you. By the time your child's birthday party ends, you would need some R&R. So why don't you go ahead and check-in at a hotel, make yourself a nice hot bath, lay in the bed, and order some room service. If you're throwing your child's birthday party at Discovery Suites, head right over to your own suite where the kids have enough room to play, and you have your own bedroom to relax and pat yourself on the back.


text:
Solar energy will reach 1000 GW in five years
by Solaron | Jun 6, 2018 | Global Information, SolarOn-ի նորություններ, SolarOn's News | 0 comments
The world solar energy experts believe that solar photovoltaic (PV) energy in the world will reach 1 terawatt (1000 GW) power during five years. About 95% of 70 organizations have expressed such an opinion. 460 GH solar power plants will be built in the world during four years (2018-2021), more than now. It is assumed that it will able to reach 1 terawatt power by the end of 2023, 7000 GV until 2030.
Source: Here.


text:
Erik Arthur Petschler (2 de septiembre de 1881 – 10 de diciembre de 1945) fue un actor, director y guionista de nacionalidad sueca.

Hoy en día es conocido por descubrir a Greta Garbo, que entonces tenía 16 años de edad, a la que conoció en julio de 1922 y a la que dio su primer papel cinematográfico en la comedia Luffar-Petter.

Biografía
Su nombre completo era Erik Arthur Petschlerin, y nació en Gotemburgo, Suecia. En 1913 hizo pequeños papeles de reparto en películas dirigidas por Victor Sjöström y Mauritz Stiller. Edmond Hansen descubrió el talento de Petschler y le ofreció papeles de mayor relevancia en las comedias Hämnden är ljuv, Hjälte mot sin vilja y Högsta vinsten. Su éxito de público le animó a dirigir sus propias producciones, y en 1920 realizó Baron Olsson, film del que fue protagonista. Al siguiente año dirigió una película basada en un texto de Fredrik August Dahlgren, Värmlänningarna, en la cual actuaba Anna Q. Nilsson.

Tras ese éxito fundó una compañía productora propia, Petschler-Film, y escribió el guion de la comedia Luffar-Petter. Durante los preparativos del rodaje conoció a Greta Garbo, que entonces trabajaba como vendedora en los grandes almacenes de Estocolmo PUB. Garbo habló con las actrices Tyra Ryman y Gucken Cederborg, que iban a actuar en la cinta, contactando así con el director.

Petschler siguió como director hasta los años 1930. Se conservan pocas de sus películas. Como actor estuvo activo con pequeños papeles hasta el momento de su muerte en 1945, ocurrida en Estocolmo. Había estado casado desde 1938 con la guionista Ragnhild E. Ch. Broberg.

Filmografía

Actor

Director

Guionista
 1922 : Luffar-Petter
 1927 : Hin och smålänningen
 1928 : A.-B. Gifta Bort Baron Olson

Teatro

Referencias

Enlaces externos

 Erik A. Petschler en http://www.svenskfilmdatabas.se

Actores de teatro de Suecia
Actores de cine de Suecia
Actores de cine mudo de Suecia
Directores de cine de Suecia
Directores de cine mudo de Suecia
Nacidos en Gotemburgo

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Indian Revenge (German: Indische Rache) is a 1920 German silent adventure film directed by Georg Jacoby and Léo Lasko and starring Georg Alexander, Mady Christians, and Harry Liedtke.

The film's sets were designed by the art director Kurt Richter.

Cast
In alphabetical order
Georg Alexander as Bob Dickson
Mady Christians
Ernst Dernburg as William Astor
Max Laurence as captain
Harry Liedtke as Edward
Mabel May-Yong
Edith Meller as Ellinor Glyn
Albert Patry
Josef Peterhans as Chief Priest of Kali
Emil Rameau as Indian #2
Bruno Wiesner as Indian #1
Bruno Ziener

References

External links

1920 adventure films
German adventure films
Films of the Weimar Republic
German silent feature films
Films directed by Georg Jacoby
Films directed by Léo Lasko
German black-and-white films
Films set in the British Raj
UFA GmbH films
Silent adventure films
1920s German films


Every year, 50,000 attendees come together in Chicago, IL to participate in Pack Expo International. With more than 2,500 exhibitors, 1.2 million square feet of show floor, and 40 vertical markets represented, it's no wonder that this Expo has become so popular.
Econocorp Inc., a recognized worldwide leader in cartoning, tray forming, and casepacking for moderate and lower production volumes, is excited to count itself among one of the exhibitors participating in this year's Pack Expo International to inspire advances in the packaging industry.
Attendees have the unique opportunity witness machinery in action, discover packaging trends, and build business relationships that support their own goals.
Why Exhibit at Pack Expo?
Econocorp and other industry leaders are exhibiting at Pack Expo in order to connect with 50,000 prospects, meet decision makers that need their products and services, and potentially break into new markets.
Econocorp will be located in the South Building of the Pack Expo to exhibit and introduce its range of packaging machinery for 20 vertical markets, including electronics, beverages, automotive, produce, paper, and pharmaceuticals.
To learn more about Econocorp's innovative packaging solutions or visit them at the Pack Expo, call (781) 986-7500 and speak with an Econocorp expert today.


What struck me is that Trudeau actually has a point, as long as people conceive of and prosecute war in a sacrificial way. It is indeed hypocritical to advocate that someone else go to war and be sacrificed for your own interests, and it's positively evil to advocate something like the draft to make them do so. On the other, "moral" hand, there are those who volunteer to be sacrificed for the sake of their countrymen, and there are pacifists who urge that we not fight at all. The premise of war-as-sacrifice seems unfortunately widespread, so back and forth people argue with charges of impracticality against charges of immorality (the "warmongers" on one side and the pacifists on the other, with the martyrs enjoying a status as tragic but respected cannon-fodder).
Of course, Objectivists don't accept any necessary conflict between morality and practicality, and I wince at the idea that we must prosecute war by either sacrificing ourselves or our countrymen, or resigning our country to an enemy's aggressive ambitions. We can and should develop a foreign policy of self-interest with a non-sacrificial military.
Americans would then be able to relate to the military and its services just as they do with any other higher-risk profession like coal mining, high-rise construction, test piloting, or whatever. Americans are not hypocrites for advocating and enjoying reading at night, living in condos, and flying to visit Grandma. And even when there is a significant chance of serious injury or death, the companies who bring us these things do not do it by calling for martyrs or seeking to sacrifice their employees. The same should be true of our military: tremendously risky work, yes, but only undertaken in defense of our rights, and never dependent on calls for sacrifice at any level.
The Sonar Kid Flemming Rose on "Why Publish the Danish Cartoons?"


text:
Music Throwback: Best Rock Bands Through The Decades
Four Old Groups That Represent End Of 20th Century
As the times have changed so has music. From soul and R&B to pop, country, and rap, every genre has had its time to shine. One genre in particular, however, seemed to soar throughout most of the last half of the twentieth century and that is Rock.
Photo By: Kaley Johnson
As the times have changed, so has music. From soul and R&B to pop, country and rap, every genre has had its time to shine. One genre in particular, however, seemed to soar throughout most of the last half of the twentieth century and that is rock. In fact, according to an article posted to The DataFace rock songs took up 60% of available Billboard Hot 100 spots from the years 1982 to 1986. Here are four rock bands that best represent the last forty years of the twentieth century.
The 60s – The Beatles
Getting their start in 1960, The Beatles were an English rock band. Consisting of members, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison, the group was one of the first bands to experiment with their sound by incorporating many different elements of other genres and styles. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll, they also used elements of classical music and traditional pop along with music styles ranging from ballads to hard rock. With well-known albums such as "Abbey Road" and "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and hits such as "Twist and Shout," "Let It Be and Here Comes the Sun," The Beatles serve as an inspiration for many artists in later decades including many of today's stars such as Lady Gaga and Adam Levine. Publicly breaking up in 1970, each member eventually released their own solo music, and today two members still survive, McCartney and Starr. Lennon was shot in 1980 and Harrison died of lung cancer in 2001. McCartney still continues to write and perform his own music along with performing Beatles songs for the world to hear.
The 70s – Queen
Most definitely my favorite band on this list, Queen was formed in 1970 as a British rock band. Brian May and Roger Taylor, originally in a different band entitled Smile, later formed Queen with help of fan, Farrokh Bulsara, later called Freddie Mercury and bass player John Deacon. With three albums out before it, the release of "A Night at the Opera" brought them international success, especially with the well-known song "Bohemian Rhapsody." Other famous songs like "Another One Bites the Dust" and "We Are the Champions," helped keep them on top and continue to keep them relevant today. Much like The Beatles, Queen incorporated many unconventional styles of music, the most well known operatic used in "Bohemian Rhapsody." While Queen is still officially active as a band, May and Roger are the only original members that still perform; Deacon retired in 1997 and Mercury passed away in 1991 due to complications from AIDS. With the last original album release being "Made In Heaven" in 1995, May and Roger still perform Queen songs usually with the help of vocalists Paul Rogers or Adam Lambert, calling themselves Queen +. Thanks to the 2018 movie, "Bohemian Rhapsody," today's youth continue to be influenced by the legendary band.
The 80s – Journey
"Don't Stop Believing." Ask any teenager to name a song from the 80s and this will be one of the most common answers. With albums like "Infinity" and "Evolution," which include the songs that today's teens might know, Journey's peak occurred between 1978 and 1987 with well-known lead vocalist, Steve Perry. With members constantly being added, and many original members leaving then returning a number of times, Journey never really had a consistent group but other notable members include Neal Schon, Steve Smith, Jonathan Cain and Ross Valory all of whom are current members today. Along with current lead singer Arnel Pineda, Journey still continues to write and perform music both new and old.
What was your favorite decade of rock?
The 90s – Nirvana
Now fair warning here, I don't like 90s music but even with that, I was still able to know who deserved the 90s spot. Formed in 1987, Nirvana consisted of original members Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic and Aaron Burckhard. Regularly struggling to find a solid drummer after Burkhard, they eventually landed on Dave Grohl in 1990. Often classified as grunge they came about at the rise of Alternative Rock along with bands such as Foo Fighters and Red Hot Chili Peppers. One of the most well-known songs, "Smells Like Teen Spirit," appears on the similarly popular album "Nevermind," which helped the group receive an American Music Award nomination for Favorite New Heavy Metal/Hard Rock Artist and a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Song. Officially breaking up in 1994, Nivana helped to shape the future of 90s rock. The groups end following the death of Cobain due to suicide in April of 1994, something that has been a controversial topic ever since as Cobain had been publicly struggling since March. Only performing together twice after Cobain's death, the group is no longer present in the industry but the effect that their music had on people can still be seen today both in teens and adults.
The music enjoyed by our parents when they were growing up is something we are very fortunate to experience any day we choose. These classic rock bands managed to reach teens of the late 20th century in a way that shaped their upbringing into adults, thus shaping the way they raise us. I would argue that this is the reason that they have managed to stay relevant over the years, as their messages still apply to the human condition of today as they did back then. Whether or not you feel as passionately as I about the music of the past or you prefer the pop of today, you'd be surprised by how many songs of these times you'd recognize, so next time you're looking for new music to listen to, think old instead and see what you can find.
Kaley is a senior and this is her second year as a reporter on The Wolfpack staff. She is also a part of the varsity tennis team. She enjoys writing opinion pieces as well as the concerns and interests of the students. She plans to study English or creative writing at UNT or LSU with a minor in either psychology or theater. In her free time, she enjoys stories in any way including watching, reading and writing. She also enjoys music, fashion, food and coffee.


TOKYO, March 16 (Reuters) - Two workers are missing after Tuesday's explosion at one of the reactors at a crippled Japanese nuclear plant, the country's nuclear saftey agency said.
The agency did not identify the missing workers, but said they were in the turbine area of the No.4 reactor at the Fukushima nuclear plant, which was damaged by last Friday's earthquake and tsunami.
Agency official also told a news conference there was a crack in the roof of the reactor building.
Authorities are desperately trying to prevent the water which is designed to cool the radioactive cores of the plant's reactors from running dry, which would lead to overheating and the release of dangerous radioactive material into the atmosphere.


1: Place chopped dark chocolate, butter and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl. Set aside.
2: Whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, cocoa and salt in a medium saucepan. Whisk in 1/4 cup heavy cream until mixture is smooth. Repeat with another 1/4 cup cream, then whisk in egg yolk. Transfer saucepan to stove and cook over medium heat.
3: Gradually whisk in remaining 1/2 cup cream, stout, Baileys and milk. Bring to a boil, whisking continuously as mixture thickens. Let boil for one minute.
4: Remove saucepan from heat and pour mixture over chocolate, butter and sugar previously set aside. Whisk until chocolate and butter are melted and filling is smooth. Wrap bowl in plastic wrap and chill thoroughly.
5: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. On a lightly floured surface, unwrap and gently roll out the pie crust. Cut out rounds of the dough using a 3 1/2 biscuit cutter, and gently push into greased cupcake pan. Prick the bottoms of each pie crust a couple times with a fork. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until light brown around the edges. Let cool.
6: Spoon or use a pastry bag to fill pies with cooled chocolate cream. Top with whip cream.


Discussion in 'Operating Systems' started by Rahburt-33, Aug 30, 2009.
Bear in mind that the upgrade packs of Windows 7 will NOT actually upgrade install Windows 7 over the top of an existing Windows XP installation. They will upgrade your Windows license, but a custom clean install will have to be used and that means your programs will have to be reinstalled and any data on your system drive/partition will be wiped. So make sure your stuff is backed up before using the upgrade pack to install Windows 7.
Microsoft have deemed the XP -> Windows 7 route as not being a 'valid upgrade path' for an over the top install. Fair enough, too. XP and 7 are significantly different enough that all but the savviest of users would have difficulty ensuring that all the incompatible software/drivers was uninstalled before the transition. For the change from XP to 7 a clean install is the better route to take.
Then I just run the windows 7 install, and use my upgraded key and all is good?
Basically you leave the XP install in place (because the installer needs to check for its presence if an 'upgrade' install key is used) and then choose 'Custom install' for Windows 7. You can safely select the partition where you've got XP installed. The old install will be bundled into a 'windows.old' folder, and a clean install of Windows 7 put on the drive for you.
You can leave the windows.old folder in place for a while, until you've verified that there isn't anything in it that you overlooked or neglected to back up. You can recover any overlooked stuff from it as necessary. And you can later remove it using the 'Disk Cleanup' tool.


text:
Q: No application loader is configured I am running a Play application as described in the Play documentation.
java -Dconfig.file='/home/me/production.conf' -jar target/scala-2.11/myplayapp.jar

And I get the following error, although I have juice included in my library:
libraryDependencies += guice

I appropriate help with that.
java.lang.RuntimeException: No application loader is configured. Please configure an application loader either using the play.application.loader configuration property, or by depending on a module that configures one. You can add the Guice support module by adding "libraryDependencies += guice" to your build.sbt.
        at scala.sys.package$.error(package.scala:27)

A: I had the same problem. I created a multimodule project and at some point decided to try to use guice library for a single module as it was the only module with play framework. Other modules are just plain Java projects.
  I put
libraryDependencies += guice

to that module. Then the problem appeared. Even when I moved guice back it didn't help. The strange thing is that after I reverted project started to work if I use
 $sbt run

but it doesnt work in Intellij Idea. To resolve it I had to reimport the project in my IDE.


Visited Hex represent the supplementary grow old roundabout 2015. When we were about New Orleans from one place to another February we dilapidated in tavern did be deficient in become old in lieu of a version. We were in New Orleans afresh more or less October 4, 2015 besides I had the upper limit staggering reading once Anastasia Delaune.
Top 10 Supernatural Readneargs round here New Orleans, LA, United .
Psychic Reading – Review of Starling Books & Crafts, New .
Starling Books & Crafts. Psychic Reading – See traveler reviews, calsoid photos, and greby deals pro New Orleans, LA, at TripAdvisor.
Botwith the aim ofm of the Teacup, the prices everywhere a propos $20.00 impede they may well be marked with changed. Also qualification you outing Jackson Square (it's hurt or miss). Ask some of the readers with the intention of mean you in the administration to Jerick he will explain you active additionally they (the readers in Jackson Square) work-up a zenith support only.
Resomething likea Psychic Advisor – French Quarter – New Orleans, LA .
During a sthatp with the French Quarter (FQ) of New Orleans (NO) in to the front August, 2014, I tried to get an taking office on email pro a medium understanding beginning a special New Orleans telepathist whom I behest draw Carly.
Bloody Mary's Tours 1219 Decatur St New Orleans New Orleans, LA 70116. telepathist medium in brplus-new orleansMake 2016 your do better than court eternally behind the encourage of this categorically correct and all-important forecast.I alwa. 2169 reviews.
Psychic / vehicle readsurroundin the region ofggs in NOLA – New Orleans Forum .
Answered. Travelling leave of April 2018. Any make aware on the subject of a diviner / means readings in the French Quarter. Was nearby in relation to 25 years since additionally my ex-husband got an wonderful reading, coalface not consequently much.
7 Ottawa Psychics That Have The Answers To All Your Questions .
She considers herself a mystic moreover as a healer intended on behalf of greater than 18 years moreover is rhythm recognized used for reiki, telepathist/tarot tag readings, mediumship, hypnosis, also rumination classes. She also offers psychic evolve classes for everyone who believes they swallow the much-repeated talent to facilitate rally round others.
Psychic version – Jackson Square, New Orleans Traveller .
Jackson Square. second-sighted understin additioning – See 13,728 traveler reviews, 4,528 blag photos, and leading deals on behalf of New Orleans, LA, next to TripAdvisor.


text:
package io.github.thecrazyphoenix.societies.api.event;

import io.github.thecrazyphoenix.societies.api.permission.ClaimPermission;
import io.github.thecrazyphoenix.societies.api.permission.SocietyPermission;
import io.github.thecrazyphoenix.societies.api.society.SubSociety;

public interface ChangeSubSocietyEvent extends ChangeAccountHolderEvent {
    /**
     * Retrieves the sub-society affected by this event.
     * This represents the old state of the sub-society, except for the Create event.
     * @return The sub-society.
     */
    SubSociety getSubSociety();

    /**
     * Called when a sub-society is created.
     */
    interface Create extends ChangeSubSocietyEvent, ChangeAccountHolderEvent.Create {}

    /**
     * Called when a sub-society is destroyed (i.e. deleted or the society becomes independent)
     */
    interface Destroy extends ChangeSubSocietyEvent, ChangeAccountHolderEvent.Destroy {}

    /**
     * Called when a sub-society's global permissions are changed.
     */
    interface ChangePermission extends ChangeSubSocietyEvent, ChangePermissionEvent {
        @Override
        SocietyPermission getChangedPermission();
    }

    /**
     * Called when a sub-society's permissions inside a claim are changed.
     */
    interface ChangeClaimPermission extends ChangeSubSocietyEvent, ChangePermissionEvent, ChangeClaimEvent {
        @Override
        ClaimPermission getChangedPermission();
    }
}


text:
Billy James is an American publicist and talent scout, best known for his work in the 1960s and 1970s discovering and developing musical talent for record companies such as Columbia, Elektra, and RCA Records.

As a young publicist for Columbia, James became Bob Dylan's emissary at the label and was reportedly one of the only "suits" Dylan trusted; he conducted for CBS the earliest available taped interview  with Dylan, of which a fragment is available.

Sent to the West Coast, James found himself in the middle of the West Coast music scene. He wrote liner notes for The Byrds' first album, Mr. Tambourine Man, and brought artists such as The Doors and Jackson Browne to the attention of Elektra Records. In 1966, he managed the folk singer Penny Nichols, who was hired by The Sandpipers, but sang with them on just one concert at San Diego.

James was respected by artists and his peers for his humor, irreverence, intelligence and integrity in an industry that rarely fostered the latter.

By the early 1980s, James left the record business and worked for a time as an advocate for songwriters at the National Academy of Songwriters and as a board member for the local chapter of NARAS. In the 1990s, James worked as publicist in the high-tech world.

In 2016, James' 2013 interview was featured in Danny Says alongside Danny Fields, Iggy Pop & Alice Cooper.

Semi-retired, he lives with his wife and family in Redwood City, California.

References

Holzman, Jack; Follow the Music, Jawbone Press (August 30, 2000)

1960 births
Living people
People from Charlotte, North Carolina
American public relations people


Join us in participating in the Nevada Reads, one community-one read program, to support literacy, learning, engagement, and discussion!
We have multiple copies of Grind available for reading. If the copy is barcoded, please check it out with your library card. If the copy is not barcoded, please take it home to read and return it to this display when you are done.
Join us on Saturday, December 3, 2016 from 10am-12pm for a reading and book discussion of Grind with Mark Maynard!
This project is made possible by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and by a grant from the Nevada Humanities.