HMS Hood

HMS "Hood" (pennant number 51) was the lead ship of her class of four battlecruisers built for the Royal Navy during World War I. Already under construction when the Battle of Jutland occurred in mid-1916, that battle revealed serious flaws in her design despite drastic revisions before she was completed four years later. For this reason, she was the only ship of her class to be completed as the Admiralty decided it would be better to start with a clean design on succeeding battlecruisers, leading to the never-built G-3 Class. Despite the appearance of newer and more modern ships, "Hood" remained the largest warship in the world for 20 years after her commissioning, and her prestige was reflected in her nickname, "The Mighty Hood".
"Hood" was involved in several showing-the-flag exercises between her commissioning in 1920 and the outbreak of war in 1939, including training exercises in the Mediterranean Sea and a circumnavigation of the globe with the Special Service Squadron in 1923 and 1924. She was attached to the Mediterranean Fleet following the outbreak of the Second Italo-Ethiopian War. When the Spanish Civil War broke out, "Hood" was officially assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet until she had to return to Britain in 1939 for an overhaul. By this time, advances in naval gunnery had reduced "Hood"s usefulness. She was scheduled to undergo a major rebuild in 1941 to correct these issues, but the outbreak of World War II in September 1939 forced the ship back into service without the upgrades.
When war with Germany was declared, "Hood" was operating in the area around Iceland, and she spent the next several months hunting for German commerce raiders and blockade runners between Iceland and the Norwegian Sea. After a brief overhaul of her propulsion system, she sailed as the flagship of Force H, and participated in the destruction of the French fleet at Mers-el-Kebir. Relieved as flagship of Force H, "Hood" was dispatched to Scapa Flow, and operated in the area as a convoy escort and later as a defence against a potential German invasion fleet.
In May 1941, "Hood" and the battleship were ordered to intercept the and the heavy cruiser , which were en route to the Atlantic, where they were to attack convoys. On 24 May 1941, early in the Battle of the Denmark Strait, "Hood" was struck by several German shells, exploded, and sank within 3 minutes, with the loss of all but three of her crew. Due to her publicly perceived invincibility, the loss affected British morale.
The Royal Navy conducted two inquiries into the reasons for the ship's quick demise. The first, held soon after the ship's loss, concluded that "Hood"s aft magazine had exploded after one of "Bismarck"s shells penetrated the ship's armour. A second inquiry was held after complaints that the first board had failed to consider alternative explanations, such as an explosion of the ship's torpedoes. It was more thorough than the first board and concurred with the first board's conclusion. Despite the official explanation, some historians continued to believe that the torpedoes caused the ship's loss, while others proposed an accidental explosion inside one of the ship's gun turrets that reached down into the magazine. Other historians have concentrated on the cause of the magazine explosion. The discovery of the ship's wreck in 2001 confirmed the conclusion of both boards, although the exact reason the magazines detonated is likely to remain unknown since that area of the ship was destroyed in the explosion.
Design and description.
The" Admiral"-class battlecruisers were designed in response to the German s, which were reported to be more heavily armed and armoured than the latest British battlecruisers of the and the es. The design was revised after the Battle of Jutland to incorporate heavier armour and all four ships were laid down. Only "Hood" was completed, because the ships were very expensive and required labour and material that could be put to better use building merchant ships needed to replace those lost to the German U-boat campaign.
"Hood" was significantly larger than her predecessors of the "Renown" class. As completed, she had an overall length of , a maximum beam of , and a draught of at deep load. This was longer and wider than the older ships. She displaced at load and at deep load, over more than the older ships. The ship had a complete double bottom. "Hood" had a metacentric height of at deep load, which minimised her roll and made her a steady gun platform.
The additional armour added during construction increased her draught by about at deep load, which reduced her freeboard and made her very wet. At full speed, or in heavy seas, water would flow over the ship's quarterdeck and often entered the messdecks and living quarters through ventilation shafts. This characteristic earned her the nickname of "the largest submarine in the Navy". The persistent dampness, coupled with the ship's poor ventilation, was blamed for the high incidence of tuberculosis aboard. The ship's complement varied widely over her career; in 1919, she was authorised 1433 men as a squadron flagship; in 1934, she had 81 officers and 1244 men aboard.
The propulsion system consisted of 24 Yarrow boilers, connected to Brown-Curtis geared steam turbines driving four propellers. The battlecruiser's turbines were designed to produce , which would propel the ship at , but during sea trials in 1920, "Hood"s turbines provided , which allowed her to reach . She carried about of fuel oil, which gave an estimated range of at .
Armament.
"Hood" carried eight 42-calibre BL Mk I guns in hydraulically powered twin gun turrets. The guns could depress to −5° and elevate to +30°. At maximum elevation, they fired a shell to a maximum range of . The turrets were designated 'A', 'B', 'X', and 'Y' from front to rear, and 120 shells were carried for each gun.
"Hood"s secondary armament consisted of twelve 50-calibre BL Mk I guns, each with 200 rounds. They were shipped on shielded single-pivot mounts fitted along the upper deck and the forward shelter deck. This high position allowed them to be worked during heavy weather, as they were less affected by waves and spray compared with the casemate mounts of earlier British capital ships. Two of these guns on the shelter deck were temporarily replaced by QF Mk V anti-aircraft (AA) guns between 1938 and 1939. All the 5.5-inch guns were removed during another refit in 1940. The gun fired an shell to a maximum range of .
The ship's original anti-aircraft armament consisted of four QF 4-inch Mk V guns on single mounts. These were joined in early 1939 by four twin mounts for the 45-calibre QF 4-inch Mark XVI dual-purpose gun. The single guns were removed in mid-1939 and a further three twin Mark XIX mounts were added in early 1940. This mounting could elevate from −10 to +80°. The Mk XVI gun fired about twelve high-explosive shells per minute at a muzzle velocity of . Against surface targets, it had a range of and a maximum ceiling of , but an effective anti-aircraft range of much less.
In 1931, a pair of octuple mountings for the QF 2-pounder Mk VIII gun were added on the shelter deck, abreast of the funnels, and a third mount was added in 1937. These gun mounts could depress to −10° and elevate to a maximum of +80°. The Mk VIII 2-pounder gun fired a shell at a muzzle velocity of to a distance of . The gun's rate of fire was around 96–98 rounds per minute.
Two quadruple mountings for the Vickers Mk III machine gun were added in 1933 with two more mountings added in 1937. These mounts could depress to −10° and elevate to a maximum of +70°. The machine guns fired a bullet at a muzzle velocity of . This gave the gun a maximum range around , although its effective range was only . To these were added five unrotated projectile launchers in 1940, each launcher carrying 20 rockets. When they detonated, the rockets shot out lengths of cable that were kept aloft by parachutes; the cable was intended to snag aircraft and draw up the small aerial mine that would destroy the aircraft.
Six fixed torpedo tubes were mounted on "Hood", three on each broadside. Two of these were submerged forward of 'A' turret's magazine and the other four were above water, abaft the rear funnel. The Mk IV torpedoes had a warhead of of TNT. They had two speed and range settings – with a maximum range of or to . About 28 torpedoes were carried.
Fire control.
"Hood" was completed with two fire-control directors. One was mounted above the conning tower, protected by an armoured hood, and was fitted with a rangefinder. The other was fitted in the spotting top above the tripod foremast and equipped with a rangefinder. Each turret was also fitted with a rangefinder. The secondary armament was primarily controlled by directors mounted on each side of the bridge. They were supplemented by two additional control positions in the fore-top, which were provided with rangefinders, fitted in 1924–25. The antiaircraft guns were controlled by a simple high-angle rangefinder mounted on the aft control position, fitted in 1926–1927. Three torpedo-control towers were fitted, each with a rangefinder. One was on each side of the amidships control tower and the third was on the centreline abaft the aft control position.
During the 1929–31 refit, a high-angle control system (HACS) Mark I director was added on the rear searchlight platform and two positions for 2-pounder "pom-pom" antiaircraft directors were added at the rear of the spotting top, although only one director was initially fitted. The 5.5-inch control positions and their rangefinders on the spotting top were removed during the 1932 refit. In 1934, the "pom-pom" directors were moved to the former locations of the 5.5-inch control positions on the spotting top and the rangefinders for the 5.5-inch control positions were reinstalled on the signal platform. Two years later, the "pom-pom" directors were moved to the rear corners of the bridge to get them out of the funnel gases. Another "pom-pom" director was added on the rear superstructure, abaft the HACS director in 1938. Two HACS Mark III directors were added to the aft end of the signal platform the following year, and the Mark I director aft was replaced by a Mark III. During "Hood"s last refit in 1941, a Type 279 air warning radar and a Type 284 gunnery radar were installed, although the Type 279 radar lacked its receiving aerial and was inoperable according to Roberts.
However, Admiralty document ADM 220/76 "Reports of performance in H.M.S. Hood, H.M.S. Illustrious, H.M.S. King George V and smaller vessels of RDF279" indicates that, following the 1941 refit at Rosyth, "Hood"s Type 279 radar was indeed functional. According to the HMS "Hood" Association website, the air warning radar was of a modified type, known as Type 279M, the difference between this and Type 279 being the number of aerials. While Type 279 used two aerials, a transmitter and a receiver, the Type 279M used only a single transceiver aerial. "Hood" reported an accuracy of 3 degrees with her 279M set.
Protection.
"Hood"s armour scheme was originally based on that of the battlecruiser with an waterline belt. Unlike on "Tiger", the armour was angled outwards 12° from the waterline to increase its relative thickness in relation to flat-trajectory shells. This change increased the ship's vulnerability to plunging (high-trajectory) shells, as it exposed more of the vulnerable deck armour. of armour were added to the design in late 1916, based on British experiences at the Battle of Jutland, at the cost of deeper draught and slightly decreased speed.
To save construction time, this was accomplished by thickening the existing armour, rather than redesigning the entire ship. "Hood"s protection accounted for 33% of her displacement, a high proportion by British standards, but less than was usual in contemporary German designs (for example, 36% for the battlecruiser ).
The armoured belt consisted of face-hardened Krupp cemented armour (KC), arranged in three strakes. The main waterline belt was 12 inches (305 mm) thick between 'A' and 'Y' barbettes and thinned to 5 to 6 inches (127 to 152 mm) towards the ship's ends, but did not reach either the bow or the stern. The middle armour belt had a maximum thickness of 7 inches (178 mm) over the same length as the thickest part of the waterline armour and thinned to five inches abreast 'A' barbette. The upper belt was 5 inches thick amidships and extended forward to 'A' barbette, with a short 4-inch (102 mm) extension aft.
The gun turrets and barbettes were protected by of KC armour, except for the turret roofs, which were 5 inches thick. The decks were made of high-tensile steel. The forecastle deck ranged from 1.75 to 2.0 inches (44 to 51 mm) in thickness, while the upper deck was 2 inches (51 mm) thick over the magazines and 0.75 inches (19 mm) elsewhere. The main deck was 3 inches (76 mm) thick over the magazines and 1 inch (25 mm) elsewhere, except for the 2-inch-thick slope that met the bottom of the main belt. The lower deck was 3 inches thick over the propeller shafts, 2 inches thick over the magazines and 1 inch elsewhere.
The 3-inch plating on the main deck was added at a very late stage of construction and the four aftermost 5.5-inch guns and their ammunition hoists were removed in partial compensation. Live-firing trials with the new 15-inch APC (armour-piercing, capped) shell against a mock-up of "Hood" showed that this shell could penetrate the ship's vitals via the 7-inch middle belt and the 2-inch slope of the main deck. A proposal was made to increase the armour over the forward magazines to 5 inches and 6 inches over the rear magazines in July 1919 in response to these trials. To compensate for the additional weight, the two submerged torpedo tubes and the armour for the rear torpedo warheads were removed, and the armour for the aft torpedo-control tower was reduced in thickness from 6 to . However, the additional armour was never fitted pending further trials. As completed, "Hood" remained susceptible to plunging shells and bombs. The torpedo warhead armour was reinstated during the ship's 1929–1931 refit.
For protection against torpedoes, she was given a deep torpedo bulge that ran the length of the ship between the fore and aft barbettes. It was divided into an empty outer compartment and an inner compartment filled with five rows of water-tight "crushing tubes" intended to absorb and distribute the force of an explosion. The bulge was backed by a 1.5-inch-thick torpedo bulkhead.
Aircraft.
"Hood" was initially fitted with flying-off platforms mounted on top of 'B' and 'X' turrets, from which Fairey Flycatchers could launch. During her 1929–31 refit, the platform was removed from 'X' turret and a trainable, folding catapult was installed on her quarterdeck, along with a crane to recover a seaplane. She embarked a Fairey IIIF from No. 444 Flight of the Royal Air Force. During the 1932 West Indies cruise, the catapult proved to be difficult to operate in anything but a calm sea, as it was frequently awash in bad weather. The catapult and crane were removed in 1932, along with the flying-off platform on 'B' turret.
Battlecruiser or fast battleship.
Although the Royal Navy always designated "Hood" as a battlecruiser, some modern writers such as Anthony Preston have classified her as a fast battleship, since "Hood" appeared to have improvements over the fast s. On paper, "Hood" retained the same armament and level of protection, while being significantly faster.
Around 1918, American commanders, including Vice Admiral William Sims, commander of US naval forces in Europe, and Admiral Henry T. Mayo, commander of the Atlantic Fleet, became extremely impressed by "Hood", which they described as a "fast battleship", and they advocated that the US Navy develop a fast battleship of its own. However, the US continued with their established design direction, the slower, but well-protected battleship and the fast and lightly armoured , both of which were later cancelled in accordance with the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922.
Influences from "Hood" showed on subsequent "Lexington" designs, with the reduction of the main armour belt, the change to "sloped armour", and the addition of four above-water torpedo tubes to the four underwater tubes of the original design. To add to the confusion, Royal Navy documents of the period often describe any battleship with a maximum speed over as a battlecruiser, regardless of the amount of protective armour. For instance, the never-built G3 battlecruiser was classified as such, although it would have been more of a fast battleship than "Hood".
The scale of "Hood"s protection, though adequate for the Jutland era, was at best marginal against the new generation of gunned capital ships that emerged soon after her completion in 1920, typified by the American and the Japanese s. The Royal Navy were fully aware that the ship's protection flaws still remained, even in her revised design, so "Hood" was intended for the duties of a battlecruiser and she served in the battlecruiser squadrons through most of her career. Late in her career, "Hood" was outclassed by the armour and protective arrangement of World War II-era fast battleships, but few available "big gun" vessels could match "Bismarck"s speed, and in 1941, the Admiralty included "Hood" among the ships sent to engage the German battleship "Bismarck".
Construction.
Construction of "Hood" began at the John Brown & Company shipyards in Clydebank, Scotland, on 1 September 1916. Following the loss of three British battlecruisers at the Battle of Jutland, 5,000 tons of extra armour and bracing were added to "Hood"s design. Most seriously, the deck protection was flawed—spread over three decks, it was designed to detonate an incoming shell on impact with the top deck, with much of the energy being absorbed as the exploding shell had to penetrate the armour of the next two decks. The development of effective time-delay shells at the end of World War I made this scheme much less effective, as the intact shell would penetrate layers of weak armour and explode deep inside the ship. In addition, she was grossly overweight compared to her original design, making her a wet ship with a highly stressed structure.
She was launched on 22 August 1918 by the widow of Rear Admiral Sir Horace Hood, a great-great-grandson of Admiral Samuel Hood, after whom the ship was named. Sir Horace Hood had been killed while commanding the 3rd Battlecruiser Squadron and flying his flag on —one of the three battlecruisers which blew up at the Battle of Jutland. To make room in John Brown's shipyard for merchant construction, "Hood" sailed for Rosyth to complete her fitting-out on 9 January 1920. After sea trials, she was commissioned on 15 May 1920, under Captain Wilfred Tompkinson. She had cost £6,025,000 to build.
With her conspicuous twin funnels and lean profile, "Hood" was widely regarded one of the finest-looking warships ever built. She was also the largest warship afloat when she was commissioned, and retained that distinction for the next 20 years. Her size and powerful armament earned her the nickname of "Mighty Hood" and she came to symbolise the might of the British Empire itself.
Interwar service.
Shortly after commissioning on 15 May 1920, "Hood" became the flagship of the Battlecruiser Squadron of the Atlantic Fleet, under the command of Rear Admiral Sir Roger Keyes. After a cruise to Scandinavian waters that year, Captain Geoffrey Mackworth assumed command. "Hood" visited the Mediterranean in 1921 and 1922 to show the flag and to train with the Mediterranean fleet, before sailing on a cruise to Brazil and the West Indies in company with the battlecruiser squadron.
Captain John im Thurn was in command when "Hood", accompanied by the battlecruiser and s of the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron, set out on a world cruise from west to east via the Panama Canal in November 1923. The objective of the cruise was to remind the dominions of their dependence on British sea power and encourage them to support it with money, ships, and facilities. They returned home 10 months later in September 1924, having visited South Africa, India, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and some smaller colonies and dependencies, and the United States.
While in Australia in April 1924, the squadron escorted the battlecruiser out to sea, where she was scuttled in compliance with the Washington Naval Treaty. The battlecruiser squadron visited Lisbon in January 1925 to participate in the Vasco da Gama celebrations before continuing on to the Mediterranean for exercises. "Hood" continued this pattern of a winter training visit to the Mediterranean for the rest of the decade. Captain Harold Reinold relieved Captain im Thurn on 30 April 1925 and was relieved in turn by Captain Wilfred French on 21 May 1927.
"Hood" was given a major refit from 1 May 1929 to 10 March 1931, and afterwards resumed her role as flagship of the battlecruiser squadron under the command of Captain Julian Patterson. Later that year, her crew participated in the Invergordon Mutiny over pay cuts for the sailors. It ended peacefully and "Hood" returned to her home port afterwards. The battlecruiser squadron made a Caribbean cruise in early 1932, and "Hood" was given another brief refit between 31 March and 10 May at Portsmouth. Captain Thomas Binney assumed command on 15 August 1932 and the ship resumed her previous practice of a winter cruise in the Mediterranean the next year. Captain Thomas Tower replaced Captain Binney on 30 August 1933. Her secondary and antiaircraft fire-control directors were rearranged during another quick refit between 1 August and 5 September 1934.
While en route to Gibraltar for a Mediterranean cruise, "Hood" was rammed in the port side quarterdeck by the battlecruiser on 23 January 1935. The damage to "Hood" was limited to her left outer propeller and an 18-inch (460 mm) dent, although some hull plates were knocked loose from the impact. Temporary repairs were made at Gibraltar before the ship sailed to Portsmouth for permanent repairs between February and May 1935. The captains of both ships were court-martialled, as was the squadron commander, Rear Admiral Sidney Bailey. Tower and Bailey were acquitted, but "Renown"s Captain Sawbridge was relieved of command. The Admiralty dissented from the verdict, reinstated Sawbridge, and criticised Bailey for ambiguous signals during the manoeuvre.
The ship participated in King George V's Silver Jubilee Fleet Review at Spithead the following August. She was attached to the Mediterranean fleet shortly afterwards and stationed at Gibraltar at the outbreak of the Second Italo-Abyssinian War in October. Captain Arthur Pridham assumed command on 1 February 1936 and "Hood" returned to Portsmouth for a brief refit between 26 June and 10 October 1936. She formally transferred to the Mediterranean fleet on 20 October, shortly after the beginning of the Spanish Civil War. On 23 April 1937, the ship escorted three British merchantmen into Bilbao harbour despite the presence of the Nationalist cruiser that attempted to blockade the port. "Hood" was refitted at Malta in November and December 1937, and had her submerged torpedo tubes removed. Captain Pridham was relieved by Captain Harold Walker on 20 May 1938 and he, in turn, was relieved when the ship returned to Portsmouth in January 1939 for an overhaul that lasted until 12 August.
"Hood" was due to be modernised in 1941 to bring her up to a standard similar to that of other modernised World War I-era capital ships. She would have received new, lighter turbines and boilers, a secondary armament of eight twin 5.25-inch gun turrets, and six octuple 2-pounder pom-poms. Her 5-inch upper-armour strake would have been removed and her deck armour reinforced. A catapult would have been fitted across the deck and the remaining torpedo tubes removed. In addition, the conning tower would have been removed and her bridge rebuilt. The ship's near-constant active service, resulting from her status as the Royal Navy's most battle-worthy fast capital ship, meant that her material condition gradually deteriorated, and by the mid-1930s, she was in need of a lengthy overhaul. The outbreak of World War II made removing her from service near impossible, and as a consequence, she never received the scheduled modernisation afforded to other capital ships such as the battlecruiser and several of the s. The ship's condensers were in such bad condition by this time that much of the output from the fresh-water evaporators was required to replenish the boiler feed water and could not be used by the crew to wash and bathe or even to heat the mess decks during cold weather, as the steam pipes were too leaky. These problems also reduced her steam output so that she was unable to attain her designed speed.
World War II.
Captain Irvine Glennie assumed command in May 1939 and "Hood" was assigned to the Home Fleet's Battlecruiser Squadron while still refitting. When war broke out later that year, she was employed principally to patrol in the vicinity of Iceland and the Faroe Islands to protect convoys and intercept German merchant raiders and blockade runners attempting to break out into the Atlantic. On 25 September 1939, the Home Fleet sortied into the central North Sea to cover the return of the damaged submarine . The fleet was spotted by the Germans and attacked by aircraft from the KG 26 and KG 30 bomber wings. "Hood" was hit by a 250 kg (550 lb) bomb from a Junkers Ju 88 bomber that damaged her port torpedo bulge and her condensers. By early 1940, "Hood"s machinery was in dire shape and limited her best speed to ; she was refitted between 4 April and 12 June.
Operation Catapult.
"Hood" and the aircraft carrier were ordered to Gibraltar to join Force H on 18 June where "Hood" became the flagship. Force H took part in the destruction of the French fleet at Mers-el-Kébir in July 1940. Just eight days after the French surrender, the British Admiralty issued an ultimatum that the French fleet at Oran intern its ships in a British or neutral port to ensure they would not fall into Axis hands. The terms were rejected and the Royal Navy opened fire on the French ships berthed there. The results of "Hood"s fire are not known exactly, but she damaged the , which was hit by four fifteen-inch shells and was forced to beach herself. "Hood" was straddled during the engagement by "Dunkerque"; shell splinters wounded two men. "Dunkerque"s sister ship, , managed to escape from the harbour. "Hood" and several light cruisers gave chase, but gave up after two hours: "Hood" had dodged a salvo of torpedoes from a French sloop and had stripped a turbine reaching .
Return to home waters.
"Hood" was relieved as flagship of Force H by "Renown" on 10 August, after returning to Scapa Flow. On 13 September, after a quick refit at the dry dock where she was built (rebuilding the blades on her turbines), she was sent to Rosyth along with the battleships and and other ships, to be in a better position to intercept a German invasion fleet. When the threat of an invasion diminished, the ship resumed her previous roles in convoy escort and patrolling against German commerce raiders. Twice, "Hood" was dispatched against enemy warships. On 28 October she sailed to intercept the "pocket battleship" , and again on 24 December to locate the heavy cruiser , but "Hood" failed to find either ship.
In January 1941, the ship began a refit that lasted until March; even after the refit she was still in poor condition, but the threat from the German capital ships was such that she could not be taken into dock for a major overhaul until more of the battleships came into service. Captain Ralph Kerr assumed command during the refit, and "Hood" was ordered to sea in an attempt to intercept the German battleships and upon the refit's completion in mid-March. Unsuccessful, she was ordered to patrol the Bay of Biscay against any breakout attempt by the German ships from Brest. "Hood" was ordered to the Norwegian Sea on 19 April when the Admiralty received a false report that the had sailed from Germany. Afterwards, she patrolled the North Atlantic before putting into Scapa Flow on 6 May.
Battle of the Denmark Strait.
When "Bismarck" sailed for the Atlantic in May 1941, "Hood", together with the newly commissioned battleship , was sent out in pursuit along with several other groups of British capital ships to intercept the German ships before they could break into the Atlantic and attack Allied convoys. "Hood" was commanded by Captain Ralph Kerr and was flying the flag of Vice-Admiral Lancelot Holland. The German ships were spotted by two British heavy cruisers ( and ) on 23 May, and Holland's ships intercepted "Bismarck" and her consort, the heavy cruiser , in the Denmark Strait between Greenland and Iceland on 24 May.
The British squadron spotted the Germans at 05:37 (ship's clocks were set four hours ahead of local time – the engagement commenced shortly after dawn), but the Germans were already aware of their presence, "Prinz Eugen"s hydrophones having previously detected the sounds of high-speed propellers to their southeast. The British opened fire at 05:52 with "Hood" engaging "Prinz Eugen", the lead ship in the German formation, and the Germans returned fire at 05:55, both ships concentrating on "Hood". "Prinz Eugen" was probably the first ship to score when a shell hit "Hood"s boat deck, between her funnels, and started a large fire among the ready-use ammunition for the anti-aircraft guns and rockets of the UP mounts.
Just before 06:00, while "Hood" was turning 20° to port to unmask her rear turrets, she was hit again on the boat deck by one or more shells from "Bismarck"s fifth salvo, fired from a range of approximately . A shell from this salvo appears to have hit the spotting top, as the boat deck was showered with body parts and debris. A huge jet of flame burst out of "Hood" from the vicinity of the mainmast, followed by a devastating magazine explosion that destroyed the aft part of the ship. This explosion broke the back of "Hood", and the last sight of the ship, which sank in only three minutes, was her bow, nearly vertical in the water. A note on a survivor's sketch in the British RN Historical Branch Archives gives as the position of the sinking. "Hood" sank stern first with 1418 men aboard. Only three survived: Ordinary Signalman Ted Briggs (1923–2008), Able Seaman Robert Tilburn (1921–1995), and Midshipman William John Dundas (1923–1965). The three were rescued about two hours after the sinking by the destroyer , which spotted substantial debris but no bodies.
Aftermath of the sinking.
"Prince of Wales" was forced to disengage by a combination of damage from German hits and mechanical failures in her guns and turrets after "Hood" was sunk. Despite these problems, she had hit "Bismarck" three times. One of these hits contaminated a good portion of the ship's fuel supply and subsequently caused her to steer for safety in occupied France where she could be repaired. "Bismarck" was temporarily able to evade detection, but was later spotted and sunk by the British on 27 May.
The official Admiralty communiqué on the loss, broadcast on the day of the sinking, reported that: "during the ... action, HMS "Hood" ... received an unlucky hit in a magazine and blew up." The first formal board of enquiry into the loss, presided over by Vice-Admiral Sir Geoffrey Blake, reported on 2 June, less than a fortnight after the loss. It endorsed this opinion, stating that:
The conduct of the inquiry became subject to criticism (e.g. from Admiral Tom Phillips), largely because no verbatim record of witnesses' testimony had been kept. Moreover, Sir Stanley V. Goodall, Director of Naval Construction came forward with an alternative theory, that the "Hood" had been destroyed by the explosion of her own torpedoes. As a result, a second Board was convened under Rear Admiral Sir Harold Walker and reported in September 1941. This investigation was "much more thorough than was the first, taking evidence from a total of 176 eyewitnesses to the disaster", and examined both Goodall's theory and others (see below). The Board came to a conclusion almost identical to that of the first board, expressed as follows:
Both boards of enquiry exonerated Vice-Admiral Holland from any blame regarding the loss of "Hood".
Memorials to those who died are spread widely around the UK, and some of the crew are commemorated in different locations. One casualty, George David Spinner, is remembered on the Portsmouth Naval memorial, the "Hood" Chapel at the Church of St John the Baptist, in Boldre, Hampshire, and also on the gravestone of his brother, who died while serving in the Royal Air Force in 1942, in the Hamilton Road Cemetery, Deal, Kent.
Modern theories on the sinking.
The exact cause of the loss of "Hood" remains a subject of debate. The principal theories include the following causes:
At the second board, expert witnesses suggested that what was observed was the venting, through the engine-room ventilators, of a violent—but not instantaneous—explosion or deflagration in the 4-inch shell magazines. The same deflagration would have collapsed the bulkhead separating the 4-inch and 15-inch magazines, resulting very quickly in a catastrophic explosion similar to those previously witnessed at Jutland. This theory was ultimately adopted by the board.
An extensive review of these theories (excepting that of Preston) is given in Jurens's 1987 article. Its main conclusion is that the loss was almost certainly precipitated by the explosion of a 4-inch magazine, but that there are several ways this could have been initiated, although he rules out the boat deck fire or the detonation of her torpedoes as probable causes. In Jurens's opinion, the popular image of plunging shells penetrating "Hood"s deck armour is inaccurate, as by his estimation the angle of fall of "Bismarck"s 15-inch shells at the moment of the loss would not have exceeded about 14°, an angle so unfavourable to penetration of horizontal armour that it is actually off the scale of contemporaneous German penetration charts. Moreover, computer-generated profiles of "Hood" show that a shell falling at this angle could not have reached an aft magazine without first passing through some part of the belt armour. On the other hand, the 12-inch belt could have been penetrated if "Hood" had progressed sufficiently far into her final turn.
A more recent development is the discovery of "Hood"s wreck. Inspection of the wreck has confirmed that the aft magazines did indeed explode. The stern of the "Hood" was located, with the rudder still in place, and it was found that this was set to port at the time of the explosion. Furthermore, a section of the bow immediately forward of 'A' turret is missing, which has led historian and former Dartmouth lecturer Eric J. Grove and expedition leader David Mearns to believe that "either just before or just after leaving the surface, the bow suffered massive internal damage from an internal explosion", possibly a partial detonation of the forward 15-inch magazines.
It has been suggested that the fatal fire spread from the aft end of the ship through the starboard fuel tanks, since the starboard side of "Hood" "appears to be missing most, if not all of its torpedo bulge plating".
The evidence of the wreck refutes Goodall's theory of a torpedo explosion, while the eyewitness evidence of venting from the 4-inch magazine prior to the main explosion conflicts with the theory that the "Hood" was blown up by her own guns. The other theories listed above remain valid possibilities.
In their study of the battleship "Bismarck"s operational history released in 2019, including its engagement with "Hood", Jurens, William Garzke, and Robert O. Dulin Jr. concluded that "Hood"'s destruction was most likely caused by a 380-mm shell from "Bismarck" that penetrated the deck armor and exploded in the aft 102-mm magazine, igniting its cordite propellant, which in turn ignited the cordite in the adjacent aft 381-mm magazine. Rapid expansion of the resulting combustion gases from the conflagration then caused structural failure, passing out through the sides of the ship as well as forward and upwards via the engine room vents, expelling the aft main battery turrets and causing the stern to be detached from the rest of the hull at the aft armored bulkhead.
Wreck.
In 2001, British broadcaster Channel 4 commissioned shipwreck hunter David Mearns and his company, Blue Water Recoveries, to locate the wreck of "Hood", and if possible, produce underwater footage of both the battlecruiser and her attacker, "Bismarck". This was to be used for a major event documentary to be aired on the 60th anniversary of the ships' battle. This was the first time anyone had attempted to locate "Hood"s resting place. Mearns had spent the previous six years privately researching the fate of "Hood" with the goal of finding the battlecruiser, and had acquired the support of the Royal Navy, the HMS "Hood" Association and other veterans groups, and the last living survivor, Ted Briggs.
The search team and equipment had to be organised within four months, to take advantage of a narrow window of calm conditions in the North Atlantic. Organisation of the search was complicated by the presence on board of a documentary team and their film equipment, along with a television journalist who made live news reports via satellite during the search. The search team also planned to stream video from the remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) directly to Channel 4's website.
After footage of "Bismarck" was collected, Mearns and the search team began scanning a search box for "Hood"; completely covering the area was estimated to take six days. Areas that Mearns felt were more likely to hold the wreck were prioritised, and the side-scan sonar located the battlecruiser in the 39th hour of the search.
"Hood"s wreck lies on the seabed in pieces among two debris fields at a depth of about . The eastern field includes the small piece of the stern that survived the magazine explosion, as well as the surviving section of the bow and some smaller remains such as the propellers. The 4-inch fire-control director lies in the western debris field. The heavily armoured conning tower is located by itself a distance from the main wreck. The amidships section, the biggest part of the wreck to survive the explosions, lies inverted south of the eastern debris field in a large impact crater. The starboard side of the amidships section is missing down to the inner wall of the fuel tanks and the plates of the hull are curling outward; this has been interpreted as indicating the path of the explosion through the starboard fuel tanks.
It is further supposed that the small debris fields are the fragments from the aft hull where the magazines and turrets were located, since that section of the hull was totally destroyed in the explosion. The fact that the bow section separated just forward of 'A' turret is suggestive that a secondary explosion might have occurred in this area. Other researchers have claimed that the final salvo fired by "Hood" was not a salvo at all, but flame from the forward magazine explosion, which gave the illusion of "Hood" firing for the last time. This damage, ahead of the armoured bulkhead, could have been implosion damage suffered while "Hood" sank, as a torpedo room that had been removed during one of her last refits approximates the site of the break.
It was the opinion of Mearns and White who investigated the wreck that this was unlikely as the damage was far too limited in scale, nor could it account for the outwardly splayed plates also observed in that area. Bill Jurens points out that there was no magazine of any kind at the location of the break and that the location of the break just forward of the forward transverse armoured bulkhead suggests that the ship's structure failed there as a result of stresses inflicted when the bow was lifted into the vertical position by the sinking stern section. Furthermore, the current position of the plates at the edge of the break reflects only their last position, not the direction they had first moved.
The forward section lies on its port side, with the amidships section keel up. The stern section rises from the seabed at an angle. This position shows the rudder locked into a 20° port turn, confirming that orders had been given (just prior to the aft magazines detonating) to change the ship's heading and bring the aft turrets 'X' and 'Y' to bear on the German ships.
In 2002, the site was officially designated a war grave by the British government. As such, it remains a protected place under the Protection of Military Remains Act of 1986.
Expeditions to retrieve ship's bell.
In 2012, the British Government gave permission for Mearns to return to the site of "Hood"s final resting place to retrieve one of her two ship's bells which were lying in a small open debris field some way from the wreck herself. With the backing of the HMS "Hood" Association, Mearns planned to return the bell to Portsmouth where it would form part of the first official and permanent memorial to the sacrifice of her last crew at the newly refitted National Museum of the Royal Navy.
The expedition also took the opportunity to re-film the wreck and survey her using techniques unavailable in 2001. As before, with the exception of the attempted retrieval of the ship's bell, a strict look-but-don't-touch policy was adhered to. The original attempt, sponsored by Paul Allen and using his yacht "Octopus", was abandoned after ten days in September 2012 due to unfavourable weather conditions. In 2015, the same team attempted a second recovery operation and "Hood"s bell was finally retrieved on 7 August 2015. After conservation work, it was put on display in the museum in May 2016.
The recovered bell was originally carried on the pre-dreadnought battleship . Before being installed on the battlecruiser, the bell was inscribed around its base with the words: "This bell was preserved from HMS Hood battleship 1891–1914 by the late Rear Admiral, The Honourable Sir Horace Hood KCB, DSO, MVO killed at Jutland on 31st May 1916." There is a second inscription on the side of the bell that reads "In accordance with the wishes of Lady Hood it was presented in memory of her husband to HMS "Hood" battle cruiser the ship she launched 22nd August 1918." In addition to the two inscriptions, the bell still wears vivid royal blue paint work on its crown as well as its interior.
Surviving relics.
Some relics from the time of "Hood"s sinking still exist. A large fragment of the wooden transom from one of "Hood"s boats was washed up in Norway after her loss and is preserved in the National Maritime Museum in London. A metal container holding administrative papers was discovered washed ashore on the Norwegian island of Senja in April 1942, almost a year after the Battle of the Denmark Strait. The container and its contents were subsequently lost, but its lid survived and was eventually presented to the Royal Navy shore establishment HMS "Centurion" in 1981.
Other surviving relics are items that were removed from the ship prior to her sinking:
5.5-inch guns.
Two of "Hood"s 5.5-inch guns were removed during a refit in 1935, and shipped to Ascension Island, where they were installed as a shore battery in 1941, sited on a hill above the port and main settlement, Georgetown, where they remain. The guns were restored by the Royal Air Force in 1984.
The Ascension Island guns saw action only once, on 9 December 1941, when they fired on the , as it approached Georgetown on the surface to shell the cable station or sink any ships at anchor. No hits were scored, but the submarine crash-dived.
Fragments of propeller.
As a result of a collision off the coast of Spain on 23 January 1935, one of "Hood"s propellers struck the bow of "Renown". While dry-docked for repairs, "Renown" had fragments of this propeller removed from her bilge section. The pieces of the propeller were kept by dockyard workers: ""Hood" v "Renown" Jan. 23rd. 1935" was stamped on one surviving example, and "Hood V Renown off Arosa 23–1–35" on another. Of the known surviving pieces, one is privately held and another was given by the Hood family to the "Hood" Association in 2006. Recently a third piece has come to light in Glasgow, where "Hood" was built. It is held by a private collector and stamped "HMS HOOD v HMS RENOWN 23 1 35".


Kaskara

The kaskara is a type of traditional sword, which is characteristic of Sudan, Chad, and Eritrea. The blade of the kaskara was usually about a yard long, double edged and with a spatulate tip. While most surviving examples are from the 19th century, the type is believed to have originated around the early 14th century, and may represent a localized survival of the straight, double-edged medieval Arab sword. The kaskara was worn horizontally across the back or between the upper arm and thorax. According to British Museum curator Christopher Spring, "in the central and eastern Sudan, from Chad through Darfur and across to the Red Sea province, the straight, double-edged swords known as kaskara were an essential possession of most men."


Linoleum knife

A linoleum knife (also called a banana knife or hook axe) is a small knife that has a short, stiff blade with a curved point and a handle and is used to cut linoleum or other sheet materials such as wood panelling and veneer and sheet mica.
The knife is similar in design to the sickle and billhook. Like most cutting tools with hooked blades, the purpose of this design is to cut by pulling. This helps to reduce the wasted effort of simultaneously pressing the blade into the item as one would with a straight blade. It also allows the user to reach out and cut an item with the arm fully extended, such as during plant trimming or harvesting, or making a long continuous cut into a surface.
This tool can also be used to jimmy doors open by bypassing the safety latch in the doorjamb. Knives of a similar shape and design are commonly used by carpet fitters.


ARES FMG

The ARES FMG is a folding submachine gun designed by Francis J. Warin of Oak Harbor, Ohio, while he worked at Eugene Stoner's ARES Inc. Warin designed the gun for concealment and covert use, describing it as a “businessman’s personal defense weapon”. Allegedly, Warin had the idea of a defense weapon for VIPs and CEOs following the numbers of kidnappings of many of such persons in South America during the early 1980s. The FMG never entered full production.
The weapon was unique, in that it is designed to be folded into a box shape, which can be unfolded and made ready to fire in a matter of seconds. When folded, the size is about the same as a cigarette carton, and the appearance is deliberately similar to an old-fashioned metal commercial radio.
The ARES FMG can be folded with its 20-round UZI magazine loaded. A 32-round magazine was also available, but its use prevented folding the weapon. The original prototype was designed to use a World War II German MP40 magazine. The second prototype used UZI magazines and had a three shot burst mechanism as well.
The weapon inspired a Russian, and a Ukrainian copy which are almost identical except for caliber, magazine and folding sights that were added.
While descriptions of a fictional "ARES II FMG" exist on the web, the actual ARES FMG was only chambered in 9×19mm Parabellum.


Cannone da 149/40 modello 35

The Cannone da 149/40 was a heavy gun which served with Italy during World War II. It was intended to replace the obsolete Cannone da 149/35 A, but the small numbers produced prevented that. By 1940 orders had been placed for 590, but only 51 were in service at the end of September 1941. Weapons captured by the Germans after the Italian surrender in 1943 were put into service as the 15 cm K 408(i). Ansaldo produced a batch of twelve for the Germans in April 1944.
It was a good design despite the odd decision to use trail spade plates that had to be pounded into the ground to anchor the gun in place. Normally it was broken down into two loads for transport, but it could be further broken down into four loads for mountainous terrain.


Gaius Calpurnius Aviola

Gaius Calpurnius Acilius Aviola was a senator of the Roman Empire. He was "suffect consul" in AD 24 with Publius Cornelius Lentulus Scipio as his colleague. Aviola is also recorded as being governor of Asia in 37/38. Aviola has been identified as the father of Manius Acilius Aviola, consul in 54.
Based on Aviola's name, Ronald Syme argues that he was "presumably an Acilius Aviola adopted by a C. Calpurnius Piso"; Olli Salomies disagrees, believing the adoptive parent was a "C. Calpurnius without a cognomen (e.g. a son of C. Calpurnius, curule and plebeian aedile in 23 BC)". Yet both identify this man as the praetorian legate or governor of Gallia Lugdunensis in AD 21, who suppressed a revolt by the Andecavi in Gaul. Syme notes that "praetorian governorships tend to proceed to the consulate", yet this Acilius Aviola vanishes from history soon after; unless he had died prematurely after his governorship, it would make sense that upon being adopted by a Gaius Calpurnius Piso he changed his name and continued his career under it.
If they are identical, then Aviola is the subject of a tale recorded by Pliny the Elder and Valerius Maximus. Assumed to be dead, his body was set on top of a funeral pyre, which was then lit. Whereupon he is said to have come to life again, but due to the intensity of the flames, Aviola could not be rescued, and burned to death. This must have occurred prior to the death of Tiberius in AD 37, since Valerius Maximus published his work during that emperor's reign.


Shivaay

Shivaay is a 2016 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film directed and produced by Ajay Devgn under his banner Ajay Devgn FFilms. The story and screenplay are written by Sandeep Shrivastava and the film features Ajay Devgn in the lead titular role along with debutante actresses Sayyeshaa, Abigail Eames and Erika Kaar in lead roles. Mithoon composed the film's score and soundtrack. British band The Vamps and composer Jasleen Royal also contributed to the music.
"Shivaay" was released on 28 October 2016 on the Diwali weekend. It ran for more than 50 days at the box office. It won the 64th National Film Award for Best Special Effects in 2017. It was screened at the 2017 Shanghai International Film Festival on 17 June 2017.
Plot.
Shivaay (Ajay Devgn) is a skilled mountaineer who makes a living by providing treks and climbing expeditions to tourists. One day he meets Olga (Erika Kaar) and saves her from an avalanche. They eventually fall in love. Olga becomes pregnant but doesn't want the child. Shivaay begs her to give him the child after which he will not stop her. Nine years later, Shivaay leads a happy life with his mute daughter Gaura (Abigail Eames) until she discovers that Olga is still alive and in Bulgaria. Gaura insists Shivaay be taken to Bulgaria and despite his old sorrows, Shivaay finally agrees to take her to Bulgaria, where he saves one young child from child traffickers. Shivaay seeks the Indian embassy's help in tracing Olga and is assigned to Anu (Sayyesha Saigal).
The traffickers, led by the baron Ustinov and his right-hand man, the unseen Changez, come after Shivaay and kidnap Gaura. Shivaay chases the van, destroying various cars but loses the van and is arrested by the Bulgarian police, charged with murder and trafficking. While in the police van, Shivaay imagines the officers in the van to be the same masked traffickers, attacks them, throwing out every single officer. The van accidentally falls off a dam, and the police think that Shivaay is dead. But Shivaay escapes by jumping from the van due to his skills and survives.
Shivaay brings one of the saved prostitutes from a brothel to Anu's home to help her out. Anu, who misunderstood Shivaay earlier, agrees to help him. Olga, having now seen television coverage of Shivaay, meets him and joins him. They seek Wahab (Vir Das) help to recover CCTV footage Shivaay's various chases. Ivanovich, Ustinov's henchman, is beaten badly when he arrives there, after which he reveals Ustinov's location, where Shivaay discovers that Gaura has been taken away to be sold into the flesh trade.
Shivaay chases after the transport van carrying his daughter off to Romania. A prolonged and vicious fight ensues as Changez, now revealed to be Captain Nikolai of the Bulgarian Police, attacks Shivaay but gets killed by the latter. Gaura is reunited with Olga who is now married to a wealthy Bulgarian and can provide Gaura with every comfort. Shivaay doesn't want to lose Gaura, but, seeing as Olga now beseeches him, he heavy-heartedly leaves for the airport, where Gaura arrives & requesting not to leave her, runs into his arms.
Production.
The shooting of the film started in November 2014, with the majority shot in Mussoorie, Bulgaria and Hyderabad.
Release.
"Shivaay" released on 28 October 2016. It released internationally in 60 countries including Germany, France, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, and Chile. However, the film was not released in Pakistan.
The film's runtime was later reduced by 19 minutes and the new trimmed version was released in cinemas.
Piracy issue.
On 27 October 2016, "The Indian Express" published that self-proclaimed film critic Kamaal R Khan had uploaded the opening sequence of the film on Twitter, which he shot in a theater in Dubai. Devgn, the producer, was quoted saying that he would take legal action against Khan.
Reception.
Critical reception.
"Bollywood Hungama" gave Shivaay 3.5/5 stars. ""Shivaay" is a perfect emotional thriller that scores high on the account of its breathtaking visuals, amazing action and a high octane performance". "Dainik Jagran" rated the film 3.5/5, describing it as "full of emotion and action." "The Times of India" gave the film 3/5, praising the cinematography but criticizing the 3-hour runtime which was later trimmed. "Mumbai Mirror" also rated the film 3/5, stating that the film "scores fairly on most accounts." Bollywood Life rated the film 3/5, writing "Ajay Devgn's directorial is all about its stunning visuals and breath taking action scenes." BookMyShow reviewed the film and called the film a "perfect Diwali gift you can give yourself and your family this (Diwali) weekend."
Rajeev Masand for News 18 gave the film 2 stars out of 5 and wrote, "What Ajay Devgan the star deserved, was a sharper director and a better script. In the end, there's little else to Shivaay than the eye-watering locations (both in the Himalayas and in Bulgaria), and occasionally poignant moments between Devgan and the little girl who plays his daughter. Everything else is noise. Way too much noise." Writing for "The Hindu", Namrata Joshi commented that the movie moves too slow, and "turns out almost three hours long with just a wisp of a story." Anna MM Vetticad of Firstpost described it as a heavy-handed, over-stretched film.
Rating the film 1.5 stars out of 5, Ananya Bhattacharya of IndiaToday.in praised the cinematography but criticized the writing. Raja Sen of Rediff.com gave the film 1 out 5, calling it an "absolute catastrophe". Shubhra Gupta of "Indian Express" wrote in a 1 out of 5-star review, "The only thing your eye can rest on is the spectacular scenery. The rest is a bloated star vehicle."
Box office.
The four-week worldwide grossing of film was between and .
India.
"Shivaay" was released alongside Karan Johar's romantic drama "Ae Dil Hai Mushkil" and collected 102.4 million from India on its opening day, which was less than "Ae Dil Hai Mushkil"'s 13.30 crore domestic first day. "Shivaay" grossed more than 1.39 billion.
Overseas.
The film collected from North America (USA and Canada), from UK, from Australia, from New Zealand and from Malaysia.
Soundtrack.
"Shivaay"s soundtrack was composed by Mithoon with a guest vocal appearance by the British pop-rock band The Vamps. The lyrics were penned by Sayeed Quadri and Sandeep Shrivastava.
On 11 September 2016 the title track, "Bolo Har Har Har", was released, sung by Mithoon, Mohit Chauhan, Sukhwinder Singh, Badshah, Megha Sriram Dalton, and Anugrah. The second song, "Darkhaast", was released on 22 September 2016, and featured vocals by Arijit Singh and Sunidhi Chauhan.
All music rights of "Shivaay" were acquired by T-Series.
Awards.
 Vinay Kumar Mishra
Game.
An official game based on this film has been released by Zapak Mobile Games Pvt. Ltd, for Android mobile phone users.


Frank L. Madla

Frank Lloyd Madla Jr. (January 21, 1937 – November 24, 2006), was for thirty-three years a Democratic member of both the Texas House of Representatives and the Texas State Senate from the south side of San Antonio. Madla died in a house fire in the early morning hours on the Friday after Thanksgiving Day in 2006.
Political career.
Madla was initially elected to the lower house of the Texas legislature in a San Antonio-based district in 1972. He served for twenty years in the House until he was elected to the District 24, later District 19, state Senate seat, which is geographically large and stretches from San Antonio to as far west as El Paso. (In Texas, state Senate districts are geographically and demographically larger than United States House of Representatives districts.)
In 1985, "Texas Monthly", in its biennial feature on the best and worst Texas legislators named Madla to the "Honorable Mention" category, as one of the top twenty legislators for that session.
2006 Democratic primary.
Madla had maintained his Senate seat without opposition until successfully challenged in the Democratic primary held in March 2006 by the District 118 state representative, Carlos I. "Charlie" Uresti. Uresti, a San Antonio attorney, prevailed with 56.5 percent of the vote to Madla's 43.5 percent.
Carla Vela, the then Bexar County Democratic Party chairman, said that issues were less important in the Madla-Uresti race than an ongoing intraparty power struggle involving the political families who control the Southside section of San Antonio.
Shortly after his primary defeat, Madla announced that he would resign his Senate seat early, effective May 31, 2006.
Personal life.
Madla was born in just outside San Antonio in Helotes to Frank L. Madla Sr., and the former Epigmenia Alcala. Madla attended St. Mary's University and graduated with a B.A. in Government in 1959, and in 1963, an M.A. in Government. Madla was married in 1961, and he and wife Rosemary had a son, Frank L. Madla, III. Madla was remarried in 1977 to the former Helen Cruz (born June 2, 1954), and had a daughter, Marci Morgan Madla.
Madla was a junior high school teacher for ten years before he entered politics. At various times he worked as an insurance and real estate broker, and an instructor at University of the Incarnate Word.
Death.
Madla, along with Mary Cruz, his 81-year-old mother-in-law, and Aleena, his five-year-old granddaughter, died in a house fire. Madla had been asleep in his home upstairs and had tried to escape through the bedroom window. Burglar bars on the windows trapped him, and he succumbed to smoke and flames. His granddaughter was initially thought to have survived, but was declared without brain function and died after being removed from life support a day later. Madla's wife Helen survived the blaze but was hospitalized for a time afterward. Madla's home had no smoke detectors.
U.S. President George W. Bush issued his condolences to the Madla family and promised to pray for Helen Madla's full recovery: "Frank was a dedicated public servant who devoted more than three decades of his life to serving his state and all its people in the Texas House and Senate."
Texas Governor Rick Perry ordered state flags to be flown at half-staff in Madla's honor on November 30, the day of Madla's funeral, and 1 December, the date of his interment in the Texas State Cemetery. Perry issued this tribute: "Frank Madla was a dear friend and a dedicated public servant who was an exemplary representative for South and West Texas. Frank was a mentor to me when I came in to the legislature. He had a heart of gold and was a true Texas patriot. He and his wife, Helen, were two of Anita's [First Lady Anita Thigpen Perry] and my favorites. His death is a tragic loss to the community, to his friends and to his family. Anita and I offer our prayers on behalf of his wife Helen for her continued recovery."
Legacy.
In January 2006, the former Royalgate Elementary School in the South San Antonio Independent School District was renamed Frank Madla Elementary School. Madla described the renaming as the "single best honor" to him ever.
VIA Metropolitan Transit named its Madla Transit Center in his honor. It is located on San Antonio's South Side at the intersection of I-35 and Zarzamora Street.
Election history.
Election history of Madla from 1992.


Prism paralleloscope

A prism paralleloscope is a piece kit used by artillery units as a gun aiming point. It is a type of paralleloscope that uses a prism instead of a plain mirror. Its purpose was to function as an aiming point in the horizontal plane when laying for indirect fire artillery.
Description.
The prism paralleloscope entered service with the British Army in the late 1950s. It was permanently fitted in a fibre-glass case with a lid. This case was mounted on two short metal vertical poles so that it was about above the ground, these vertical poles were held together by two horizontal rods slightly shorter that the paralleloscope case. Once mounted the lid of the case provided a 'canopy' above the paralleloscope.
Paralleloscopes entered British service in the 1920s-1930s. These early versions were a mirror about long and wide, mounted on a tripod about high and positioned a few yards (or meters) away from and to the side of a gun on its dial sight side. Each gun in a battery had at least one. When a gun was oriented in its centre of arc it recorded the paralleloscope as one of its aiming points (other types of aiming point were a distinctive distant topographical feature or a pair of aiming posts).
With a paralleloscope the gun layer set the zero line deflection or bearing of fire on his dial sight and aimed his sight at its reflection in the paralleloscope. As the gun fire and its trail(s) bedded in and the gun moved back, the reflected image of the sight moved along the paralleloscope. It was particularly useful at night because it removed the need for aiming points with lights attached to them. If the gun had a very wide arc of fire then more than one paralleloscope was required for each gun.


Artillery miniature range

The artillery miniature range or Nutt range was invented by Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur Charles Rothery Nutt DSO as a method of training for the Royal Artillery. Nutt invented his range as a prisoner of war. In his book, "History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery:Between the wars, 1919–39", Sir Martin Farndale writes about the Nutt Range '..whose whirring and complicated machinery reproduced exactly the result of the fire orders given in the form of tiny puffs of cigarette smoke or shrapnel air-bursts of cotton wool let down on strings’.
It is known that a Nutt Range was installed at Okehampton Artillery Camp, but was removed some time between 1924 and 1933. Okehampton also had a similar Newton range, housed in a building , demolished in 1939.


Plotting room

A plotting room was the co-ordination centre of a fire control system for guns used against enemy ships or aircraft, whether naval guns or coastal artillery. The plotting room received data on ship or aircraft position and motion from fire control instruments or their operators and determined and transmitted the range and bearing (a.k.a. azimuth or deflection) the guns would fire on. Plotting rooms came into use in the early 1900s for coastal artillery and during World War I for warships as gun ranges increased, and were in general use through the 1970s on World War II-era ships (and into the 1990s on the US Navy's s). Warships had plotting rooms for naval fire control for guns from 5-inch to 18-inch calibre, including anti-aircraft use for the smaller guns. On armoured ships such as battleships and cruisers, plotting rooms were located in the armoured citadel, protected by both deck and belt armour. With a few exceptions (mostly in Scandinavia), coastal defence gun installations were inactivated shortly after World War II (US) through the middle 1950s (UK). Equipment in plotting rooms included specialised plotting boards and other analogue devices; by World War II these were supplemented or replaced by electro-mechanical gun data computers. Data could be received and transmitted by telephone, or directly via dedicated electrical systems. Locations of plotting rooms in coastal defence installations varied greatly; they could be in low-rise structures such as base end stations (usually colocated with observation equipment in a two-story structure), taller fire control towers, in gun battery structures, or in bunkers separate from gun batteries.
The British Watkin position finder system for coastal artillery, which entered service in the 1890s, did not require a plotting room due to mounting a depression position finder (DPF) on a "range dial", similar to a plotting board. An electrical system moved bearing and range dials near the guns as the DPF was manipulated by an operator.


68-pounder Lancaster gun

68-pounder Lancaster guns were a British rifled muzzle-loading cannon of the 1850s that fired a 68-pound shell. They were fitted in pairs to the "Arrow"-class gunvessel. The cannon was designed with an oval bore and had a range of about 6500 yards. The gun had a tendency to burst.


Vechevoral

A vechevoral is a type of bladed chopping weapon of Indian origin. The blade is sickle-shaped and has a concave cutting edge.


De Bange 80 mm cannon

The Canon de campagne de 80 modèle 1877 or De Bange 80mm cannon was a field artillery piece used by the French Army before and during World War I.
History.
It developed in France by Colonel Charles Ragon de Bange in 1877, and adopted by the French Army that same year. It superseded the earlier Reffye cannon (1870) and the Lahitolle 95mm cannon (1875). De Bange also manufactured another cannon of a rather similar size: the De Bange 90mm cannon.
The mle 1877 was breech loading and used the original mushroom-shaped obturator system developed by de Bange, allowing to properly seal the breech during each firing. The gun lacked a recoil mechanism, meaning that it moved backward at each firing, necessitating re-aiming every time, which considerably slowed the rate of firing. This would remain a problem with all artillery pieces until the development of the hydro-peumatic recoil mechanism of the Canon de 75 in 1897.
The mle 1877 was designed to be used by horse artillery units and its light, simple and rugged construction meant it was often used as a colonial gun in France's colonial conflicts before World War I. During World War I a number of guns were modified by removing barrels from their carriage and placing them on a simple wooden garrison mount. The guns were then placed in reinforced dugouts where they rested on a simple wooden platform that rested on an earthen berm at a +30° angle with higher angles possible by stacking wooden wedges under the barrel. A , or demolition charge called a "Lance Mines Gatard" was loaded in the muzzle of the gun while a propelling charge was loaded in the breech. The Lance Mines Gatard was used to clear obstacles and destroy strong points in enemy trenches to a maximum range of . So the modified mle 1877 became a type of spigot mortar.


Electronic scoring system

Electronic scoring systems or electronic targets are automated scoring systems used for sport shooting where the shot placement and score is automatically calculated using electronics and presented on screens to the organizer and shooters. The score may also be shown on a big screen for audience at the shooting range, and this has in many ways revolutionized the shooting sport.
With traditional paper targets the audience has to understand the signals used for scoring, and perhaps managed to monitor the scoring of maximum two targets at once, while with electronics the current scores can be shown on big screens only fractions of a second after the shot is fired and the audience can easily see how different shooters compare to each other. Electronic targets automatically gauge the hits, so that no physical inspection of hits is needed. Some systems even allow real time publishing on the internet. The scoring can also be held back by the Range Officer until the string of fire is finished, so that scores for each competitor can be shown in ascending order.
Use.
Electronic targets are used for all types of sport shooting ranging from 10 meter air rifle to over 1000 meter long range shooting competitions, for "running targets" (moving on rails) like the ISSF 50 meter running target or running moose competitions (popular in Scandinavia), and electronic knock down targets are also used for sport shooting and by many militaries. Targets are available for calibers ranging from air gun pellets up to the 105 mm tank shell.
Advantages.
Some advantages of electronic scoring systems are:
Disadvantages.
Some disadvantages of electronic scoring systems are:
Function.
All types of electronic targets use some form of trigonometric equations to triangulate the position of bullet impact.
Sound Triangulation.
Sound-chamber targets is the oldest type of electronic targets, and uses the Mach wave of the bullet to determine its position as it passes through the target. The first sound-chamber system for big bore rifles was patented in 1975, and was used for the first time in a world championship in 1982.
It functions by using microphones to measure the sound wave of the projectile as it passes through the target. The target is built like a frame and covered with rubber sheets front and back providing an almost tight sound-chamber. Inside the chamber there are microphones, either three in the bottom of the frame, or one in each of the four corners. Additionally, the air temperature inside the target is measured to precisely calculate the speed of sound. To avoid large temperature fluctuations the target is insulated in the front and back using insulating material like for instance styrofoam, and the target seen by the shooter is painted on the insulation material. To keep the sound-chamber somewhat tight, there is an additional rubber liner outside the main rubber liner, which can be turned manually or with an electric motor at certain intervals to avoid the holes in the sound chamber becoming too large.
Light Triangulation.
In 2010 Sius Ascor released Laserscore, the first electronic target system using lasers, being able to read with a claimed accuracy of a few hundredths of a millimeter by using three infrared lasers. Since the measuring method is optical and there are no moving parts, the target is almost free from wear and maintenance.
Piezoelectric Sensors Triangulation.
In 2018 Sport Quantum released an impact measuring technology using piezoelectric sensors on a plate. This enabled new generation interactive shooting targets : plate protected screens for pellets, or armored still plates for large calibres. Interactive shooting screens combine precise impact measurement and unlimited choice of targets.
Data transmission.
Data can be transferred either wirelessly or through cables. Cables are often used for permanent installations, while wireless radio transmissions are used for targets placed provisionally in the field and for running targets.
Manufacturers.
Some well known manufacturers are:
Distributors.
Open source.
The thesis includes building instructions and complete programming, together with a more in depth explanation of the physics and mathematical formulas used, which gives a good foundation for further development. During the project both "soft targets" (targets with a sound chamber) and "hard targets" (without sound chamber) were tested, and hard targets were the most successful giving an electronic precision of 2 cm (.8 inches). To function satisfactorily, E-Targ suggests that the electronic precision should be at least 10 times better than the expected precision of the shooter.


Hubert Skidmore

Hubert Skidmore (1909–1946) was an American author. His twin brother was novelist Hobert Skidmore, and he was married to the novelist Maritta Wolff, author of "Whistle Stop" and a fellow student at the University of Michigan, in 1942. He died in a house fire in 1946. He is best known for his social protest novel "Hawk's Nest", an account of the disaster at Gauley Bridge, West Virginia during the Great Depression.
Skidmore's novels divide into three groups. "River Rising!, Hill Doctor" and "Hill Lawyer", which are juvenile literature, form a loose trilogy around York Allen, who works as a schoolteacher in a rough logging community to earn money for medical school, then returns as a doctor to treat the illnesses and injuries of the people of rural West Virginia.
"I Will Lift Up My Eyes" and its sequel "Heaven Came So Near" concern the difficult transition of the Cutlip family as they move from their isolated farm to live and work in a lumber camp.
"Hawk's Nest" chronicles the experience of a wide range of representative characters as they are touched by the disaster surrounding the construction of the Gauley Bridge tunnel.
Major themes.
All of Skidmore's novels take place in his native West Virginia, and his first five novels are deeply concerned with the travails of the "hill people" confronting environmental and economic pressures. In "River Rising!", isolation, ignorance and poverty have contributed to the deaths by pneumonia of York Allen's parents, and he vows to become a doctor to help the farm families of the remote hollows of Appalachia. The Cutlip family of "I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes" live an idyllic life on their remote farm, but drought forces them off the land, and Mr. Cutlip takes work in the lumber camp.
The troubles of rural farm life are not mitigated by economic progress, however. As the lumber operations (and later, in "Hill Lawyer", coal companies) become prevalent, quality of life diminishes. But the faceless corporations are not the only villains; greed and desperation make the small-time farmers and loggers prey on each other. The lumber camps are rough, dangerous places where family solidarity is challenged. At first the Cutlips prosper, but after Nat Cutlip is killed in a logging accident, his family suffers economic and social troubles. By the end of "Heaven Came So Near", Maw Cutlip is reduced to a subsistence existence of combing the roadsides for edible weeds, and her remaining son, the talented misfit Ben, is murdered by a mob, unjustly accused of rape and murder.
Some of the characters in the Great Depression novel "Hawk's Nest" are rural West Virginians lured away from their farms by the large construction project at Gauley Bridge, building the tunnel and hydroelectric plant, but most come from other parts of the United States. Dust Bowl refugees, Southern blacks, Eastern European immigrants from the northeast and even former white collar workers ruined by the Depression converge, attracted by plentiful work and good wages. In the novel, as in the historical disaster, the supervisors and their managers and company doctors discount the health risks associated with breathing the silica dust created by digging and dynamiting the tunnel shaft, and most of the characters steadily weaken and die as their lungs are systematically ruined. As in Skidmore's other novels, particularly "Heaven Came So Near" and "I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes", simple good people are crushed by economic and social forces far beyond their control.
Skidmore's novels are also highly ecological. Characters such as York Allen and Maw Cutlip are highly sensitive observers of nature, even travelling long distances through the night in complete comfort in the woods. They consider nature restorative, and their trips back to the woods or across the mountains to their ancestral farms alleviate the stress of social and economic conflict. Conversely, Skidmore is careful to describe as tragic environmental damage caused by logging and mining.
Skidmore's works include:
Sources.
1. Douglas, Tom. Foreword. "Hawk's Nest." Appalachian Echoes Series. Knoxville, University of Tennessee Press. 2004.
2. Einstein, Frank H. "Things Fall Apart in Appalachia Too." "Appalachian Journal" Vol 11, nos 1-2. Autumn-Winter 1983-84. pp. 32–42.
3. Waage, Fred. "Walking These Hills With Hubert: Topography, Inhabitation and Ecology in the Novels of Hubert Skidmore." "Crossroads: A Southern Culture Annual". Ed. Ted Olson. Macon, GA, Mercer University Press. 2005. pp. 351–376.


Primer (firearms)

In firearms and artillery, the primer () is the chemical and/or device responsible for initiating the propellant combustion that will push the projectiles out of the gun barrel.
In early black powder guns such as muzzleloaders, the primer was essentially the same chemical as the main propellant (albeit usually in a finer-powdered form), but poured into an external flash pan, where it could be ignited by an ignition source such as a slow match or a flintlock though some muzzleloaders have primers like cap gun caps. This external powder was connected through a small opening at the rear of the gun barrel that led to the main charge within the barrel. As gunpowder will not burn when wet, this made it difficult (or even impossible) to fire these types of weapons in rainy or humid conditions.
Modern primers, by contrast, are more specialized and distinct from the main propellant they are designed to ignite. They are of two types, those using shock-sensitive chemicals, and those reliant on chemicals ignited by an electric impulse. In smaller weapons the primer is usually of the first type and integrated into the base of a cartridge. Examples include handgun cartridges, rifle cartridges, and shotgun shells. Larger artillery pieces in contrast typically use electric priming. In artillery the primers are frequently a separate component, placed inside the barrel to the rear of the main propellant charge—but there are other examples of guns, including for example some automatic weapons, designed to shoot cartridges with integral electric primers.
Upon being struck with sufficient force generated by the firing pin, or electrically ignited, primers react chemically to produce heat, which gets transferred to the main propellant charge and ignites it, and this, in turn, propels the projectile. Due to their small size, these primers themselves lack the power to shoot the projectile, but still have enough energy to drive a bullet partway into the barrel — a dangerous condition called a squib load.
Priming methods.
The first step to firing a firearm of any sort is igniting the propellant. The earliest firearms were hand cannons, which were simple closed tubes. There was a small aperture, the "touchhole", drilled in the closed end of the tube, leading to the main powder charge. This hole was filled with finely ground powder, which was then ignited with a hot ember or torch. With the advent of hand-held firearms, this became an undesirable way of firing a gun. Holding a burning stick while trying to pour a charge of black powder carefully down a barrel is dangerous, and trying to hold the gun with one hand while simultaneously aiming at the target and looking for the touchhole makes it very difficult to fire accurately.
External priming.
Matchlock.
The first attempt to make the process of firing a small arm easier was the "matchlock". The matchlock incorporated a "lock" (so-called because of its resemblance to door locks of the day) that was actuated by a trigger, originally called a "tricker." The lock was a simple lever which pivoted when pulled and lowered the match down to the touchhole. The match was a slow-burning fuse made of plant fibers that were soaked in a solution of nitrates, charcoal, and sulfur, and dried. This "slow-match" was ignited before the gun was needed, and it would slowly burn, keeping a hot ember at the burning end. After the gun was loaded and the touchhole primed with powder, the burning tip of the match was positioned so that the lock would bring it into contact with the touchhole. To fire the gun, it was aimed and the trigger pulled. This brought the match down to the touchhole, igniting the powder. With careful attention, the slow-burning match could be kept burning for long periods of time, and the use of the lock mechanism made fairly accurate fire possible.
Wheel-lock.
The next revolution in ignition technology was the "wheel-lock". It used a spring-loaded, serrated steel wheel which rubbed against a piece of iron pyrite, similar to a modern lighter. A key was used to wind the wheel and put the spring under tension. Once tensioned, the wheel was held in place by a trigger. When the trigger was pulled, the serrated edge of the steel rubbed against the pyrite, generating sparks. These sparks were directed into a pan, called the "flash pan", filled with loose powder which led into the touchhole. The flashpan usually was protected by a spring-loaded cover that would slide out of the way when the trigger was pulled, exposing the powder to the sparks. The wheel-lock was a major innovation — since it did not rely on burning material as a source of heat, it could be kept ready for extended periods of time. The covered flashpan also provided some ability to withstand bad weather. Wind, rain, and wet weather would render a matchlock useless, but a wheel-lock that was loaded and waterproofed with a bit of grease around the flashpan could be fired under most conditions.
Flintlock.
The wheel-lock enjoyed only a brief period of popularity before being superseded by a simpler, more robust design. The "flintlock", like the wheel-lock, used a flashpan and a spark to ignite the powder. As the name implies, the flintlock used flint rather than iron pyrite. The flint was held in a spring-loaded arm, called the "cock" from the resemblance of its motion to a pecking chicken. The cock rotated through approximately a 90-degree arc and was held in the tensioned, or "cocked" position by a trigger. Usually, flintlocks could lock the cock in two positions. The "half-cock" position held the cock halfway back, and used a deep notch so that pulling the trigger would not release the cock. Half-cock was a safety position, used when loading, storing or carrying a loaded flintlock. The "full-cock" position held the cock all the way back and was the position from which the gun was fired. The L-shaped "frizzen" was the other half of the flintlock's ignition system. It served as both a flashpan cover and a steel striking surface for the flint. The frizzen was hinged and spring-loaded so that it would lock in the open or closed position. When closed, the striking surface was positioned so that the flint would strike at the proper angle to generate a spark. The striking flint would also open the frizzen, exposing the flashpan to the spark. The flintlock mechanism was simpler and stronger than the wheel-lock, and the flint and steel provided a good, reliable source of ignition. The flintlock remained in military service for over 200 years, and flintlocks are still made today for historical re-enactments and muzzle-loading target competition, and for hunters who enjoy the additional challenge that the flintlock provides.
Caplock.
The next major leap in ignition technology was the invention of the chemical primer, or "cap", and the mechanism which used it, called the "caplock". Percussion ignition was invented by Scottish clergyman Rev. Alexander John Forsyth in 1807 but needed further refinements before it was gradually accepted in the 1820s to 1830s. By the middle of the 19th century, the percussion or caplock system was well established. It was adopted by both sides in the American Civil War, as it was simpler and more reliable than the flintlock. The main reason the caplock was so quickly adopted was its similarity to the flintlock and the ease of converting older arms to use percussion-cap ignition; usually, the same lock and barrel could be used with minor changes. The flashpan and frizzen were removed and replaced by a small, hollow horizontal cylinder (drum) screwed into the bored-out and tapped flash hole and carrying a "nipple" over which the cap could be fitted. A "hammer" which also had half-cock (for loading and applying the cap) and full-cock positions replaced the cock. When released by pulling the trigger, the hammer would strike the cap, crushing it against the nipple. The percussion cap was a thin metal cup that contained a small quantity of pressure-sensitive explosive, often mercury fulminate. When crushed, the explosive would detonate, sending a stream of hot gas down through a hole in the nipple and into the touchhole of the gun to ignite the powder charge. In the process of firing, the cap generally split open and would fall off when the hammer was moved to the half-cock position for loading. The caplock system worked well, and is still the preferred method of ignition for hunters and recreational shooters who use muzzle-loading arms.
Electric-fired.
A small number of caseless cartridges use no primer at all, but the primary propellant is ignited using an externally provided electric charge, such as with the Voere VEC-91 and the O'Dwyer VLe. This is not to be confused with an electrically ignited internal primer (see below).
Internal priming.
Chemical primers, advanced metallurgy and manufacturing techniques all came together in the 19th century to create an entirely new class of firearm — the cartridge arm. Flintlock and caplock shooters had long carried their ammunition in paper cartridges, which served to hold a measured charge of powder and a bullet in one convenient package; the paper also served to seal the bullet in the bore. Still, the source of ignition was handled separately from the cartridge. With the advent of chemical primers, it was not long before several systems were invented with many different ways of combining bullet, powder, and primer into a single package which could be loaded quickly from the breech of the firearm. This greatly streamlined the reloading procedure and paved the way for semi- and fully automatic firearms.
This big leap forward came at a price. It introduced an extra component into each round – the cartridge case - which had to be removed before the gun could be reloaded. While a flintlock, for example, is immediately ready to be reloaded once it has been fired, adopting brass cartridge cases brought in the problems of extraction and ejection. The mechanism of a modern gun not only must load and fire the piece, but also must remove the spent case, which may require just as many moving parts. Many malfunctions involve this process, either through failure to extract a case properly from the chamber or by allowing it to jam the action. Nineteenth-century inventors were reluctant to accept this added complication and experimented with a variety of self-consuming cartridges before acknowledging that the advantages of brass cases far outweighed their one drawback.
The three systems of self-contained metallic cartridge ignition which have survived the test of time are the rimfire, the Berdan centerfire primer, and the Boxer centerfire primer.
Pinfire.
A pinfire firearm cartridge is an obsolete type of brass cartridge in which the priming compound is ignited by striking a small pin which protrudes radially from just above the base of the cartridge. Invented by Casimir Lefaucheux in 1828 but not patented until 1835, it was one of the earliest practical designs of metallic cartridge. However, the protruding pin was vulnerable to damage, displacement and accidental ignition. Moreover, the pin had to be positioned carefully in a small notch when loading, making the pinfire's use in repeating or self-loading weapons impossible. The pinfire survives today only in a few very small blank cartridges designed as noisemakers and in novelty miniature guns.
Rimfire.
Rimfire cartridges use a thin brass case with a hollow bulge, or rim, around the back end. This rim is filled during manufacture with an impact-sensitive primer. In the wet state, the primer is stable; a pellet of wet primer is placed in the shell and simply spun out to the full extremes of the rim. (For more on the exact process and one set of chemical compounds that have been used successfully, see , a 1932 Remington Arms patent by James E. Burns.) In the dry state, the primer within the rim becomes impact-sensitive. When the rim is then crushed by the hammer or firing pin, the primer detonates and ignites the powder charge. Rimfire cartridges are single-use and normally cannot be reloaded. Also, since the rim must be thin enough to be easily crushed, the peak pressure possible in the case is limited by the strength of this thin rim. Rimfire cartridges originally were available in calibers up to 1" (100 caliber), however, all but the small .22 caliber rounds eventually died out. The .22 Long Rifle, also fired in pistols, is the most popular recreational caliber today because it is inexpensive, quiet, and has very low recoil.
While the rimfire priming method is limited due to the thin cases required, it has enjoyed a few resurgences recently. First was Winchester's .22 Magnum Rimfire, or .22 WMR, in the 1950s, followed in 1970 by Remington's short-lived 5mm Rimfire, based on Winchester's magnum case. In 2002 Hornady introduced a new .17 caliber cartridge based on the .22 WMR, the .17 HMR. The .17 HMR is essentially a .22 WMR cartridge necked down to accept a .17-caliber bullet and is used as a flat-shooting, light-duty varmint round. The .17 HMR was followed a year later by Hornady's .17 Mach 2, or .17 HM2, which is based on a slightly lengthened and necked-down .22 Long Rifle cartridge. Both of the .17 caliber rimfires have had widespread support from firearms makers, and while the high-tech, high-velocity .17 caliber jacketed bullets make the .17 Rimfire cartridges quite a bit more expensive than the .22 caliber versions, they are excellent for shorter-range shooting and still far less expensive than comparable centerfire cartridges. In 2013, Winchester released the .17 Winchester Super Magnum, which utilizes the larger case of the long-obsolete .25 Stevens allowing for velocities approaching 3000fps with a 20gr bullet and making it the world's fastest rimfire round.
Centerfire.
The identifying feature of centerfire ammunition is the metal cup containing the primer inserted into a recess in the center of the base of the cartridge. The firearm firing pin crushes this explosive between the cup and an anvil to produce hot gas and a shower of incandescent particles to ignite the powder charge. Berdan and Boxer primers are used in centerfire cartridges; the primers differ in construction. Various priming mixtures have been used in different sized primers to effect prompt ignition of the powder charge. Particles with relatively high heat capacity are required to promptly ignite smokeless powder deterrent coatings. Some priming explosives decompose into incandescent solids or liquids. Inert ingredients may be heated into incandescent sparks when the explosive decomposes into gas. Cartridges for military use require stable priming formulations so war reserves of small-arms ammunition will dependably function after years of storage.
Electric-primed.
Some rapid-fire, and larger military gun and autocannon rounds (such as the M50 20mm) utilize an internal electric primer that contains chemicals activated by an externally provided electric charge, as opposed to a mechanical impact. The primer in turn ignites the main propellant, just as with a shock-sensitive or external electric type. Among the advantages this brings is the ability, in an automatic weapon, to control the moment of cartridge ignition partially independently of the mechanical action of the gun. Historically this flexibility was employed by the German Luftwaffe in WW II, in the unusually efficient synchronization gear that enabled machine guns and autocannon to be fired through the moving propellors of their fighter aircraft with a relatively small compromise in the guns' output of automatic fire. Other countries such as the Soviet Union relied on cruder mechanical systems, which reduced the rate of fire of their guns more severely.
Electric priming was also used in the EtronX system developed and sold by Remington for some of its sporting rifles. It was sold as a firearm with a much faster lock time. It never became a popular sporting arms system and was discontinued by Remington as a result.


Formerly Used Defense Sites

Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS or FDS) are properties that were owned by, leased to, or otherwise possessed by the United States and under the jurisdiction of the United States Secretary of Defense. The term also refers to the U.S. military program created in 1986 for assessment and environmental restoration, if any, led by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Overview.
Of the potential 10,000 FUDS that have been used for military training, production, installation and testing of weapon systems the U.S. military has reviewed over 9,800 sites in the US and its territories for contamination by the Department of Defense, around 2700 of these properties were determined to be in need of environmental cleanup with restoration projects planned or ongoing, at an estimated cost of $14–18 billion.
Regulations.
The Defense Environmental Restoration Program statute (10 USC 2701) and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liabilities Act CERCLA direct the assessment, eligibility for clean up and clean up, as does the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan. One funding eligibility criteria is that the contamination must have occurred prior to 17 October 1986. EPA determines if a site qualifies as Superfund site to be listed on the National Priority List (NPL)L per National Contingency Plan (NCP), 40 CFR Part 300. If it is not listed on NPL, the state or tribe is the lead regulator while DoD is the lead agency.


Heym Express Magnum

The Heym Express Magnum is a bolt-action rifle designed for the purpose of hunting big game. The rifle is available in 5 different calibers from the .375 H&H Magnum to the powerful .450 Rigby. Rather similar in appearance to the Karabiner 98k (even if more massive and with an exposed barrel), they use a Mauser-type bolt akin to the one of the aforesaid rifle, even though the bolt is much more solid in order to better handle the huge recoil.
They are fitted with a 1-inch (25.4 mm) rubber recoil pad, and they have iron sights fitted on the barrel, but they can take a scope sight on the receiver.


9mm Mars

The 9 mm Mars is an experimental centerfire pistol cartridge developed in the late 19th century based on necking down the .45 Mars Long case. The bullet has two deep cannelures, and the case is crimped into both. The case mouth is chamfered on the outside to fit flush into the forward cannelure. This elaborate bullet seating was necessary to withstand the violent feed mechanism of the Mars Automatic Pistol. The cartridge headspaces on the shoulder adjacent to the neck. The case has a thin rim and deep extractor groove in comparison to most rimless pistol cartridges. There was a very similar 8.5mm Mars cartridge firing a 139 grain bullet at 1550 feet per second. The Mars cartridges were publicized as the most powerful handgun cartridges through the early 20th century; but less than 100 pistols were made and manufacture ceased in 1907.