text stringlengths 0 7.07k |
|---|
HMS Empress of India was one of seven Royal Sovereign @-@ class pre @-@ dreadnought battleships built for the Royal Navy during the 1890s . The ship was commissioned in 1893 and served as the flagship of the second @-@ in @-@ command of the Channel Fleet for two years . She was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet i... |
= = Design and description = =
|
The design of the Royal Sovereign @-@ class ships was derived from that of the Admiral @-@ class ironclad battleships , greatly enlarged to improve seakeeping and to provide space for a secondary armament as in the preceding Trafalgar @-@ class ironclad battleships . The ships displaced 14 @,@ 150 long tons ( 14 @,@ 3... |
The Royal Sovereigns were powered by a pair of three @-@ cylinder , vertical triple @-@ expansion steam engines , each driving one shaft . Their Humphrys & Tennant engines were designed to produce a total of 11 @,@ 000 indicated horsepower ( 8 @,@ 200 kW ) and a maximum speed of 17 @.@ 5 knots ( 32 @.@ 4 km / h ; 20 @... |
Their main armament consisted of four breech @-@ loading ( BL ) 13 @.@ 5 @-@ inch ( 343 mm ) guns mounted in two twin @-@ gun barbettes , one each fore and aft of the superstructure . Each gun was provided with 80 rounds . Their secondary armament consisted of ten quick @-@ firing ( QF ) 6 @-@ inch ( 152 mm ) guns . 2... |
The Royal Sovereigns ' armour scheme was similar to that of the Trafalgars , as the waterline belt of compound armour only protected the area between the barbettes . The 14 – 18 @-@ inch ( 356 – 457 mm ) belt and transverse bulkheads 14 – 16 inches ( 356 – 406 mm ) thick closed off the ends of the belt . Above the bel... |
= = Construction and career = =
|
HMS Empress of India , named after a regnal title of Queen Victoria , was the first ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy . She was ordered under the Naval Defence Act Programme of 1889 with the name of Renown and was laid down on 9 July 1889 at Pembroke Dockyard . The ship was renamed before she was launched on... |
Empress of India was commissioned at Chatham on 11 September 1893 to relieve the ironclad battleship Anson as the flagship of the second @-@ in @-@ command of the Channel Fleet . She participated in annual manoeuvres in the Irish Sea and English Channel as a unit of the " Blue Fleet " , 2 – 5 August 1894 . Sometime du... |
The ship arrived at Malta to begin her Mediterranean service in August . In August and September 1898 , she was part of the International Squadron blockading Crete during the Greco @-@ Turkish uprising there . The ship was relieved by the battleship Implacable on 14 September 1901 and departed Gibraltar homebound on 3... |
Empress of India was assigned to the Home Fleet on 7 May 1902 , in which she served as flagship in port and as flagship of the second @-@ in @-@ command when the fleet was at sea . The ship participated in the Coronation Fleet Review of King Edward VII in August . Empress of India served as flagship of " B Fleet " dur... |
That same day , Empress of India recommissioned in reserve at Devonport and relieved the battleship Barfleur as flagship of the new Fleet in Commission in Reserve at Home . In July 1905 she participated in Reserve Fleet manoeuvres . In September 1905 , the protected cruiser Aeolus relieved her of her duties , but she ... |
When the Reserve Fleet was abolished in February 1907 and became the Home Fleet , Empress of India continued her service as flagship , but now for the Rear @-@ Admiral , Devonport Division . On 25 May she was relieved as flagship by the protected cruiser Niobe . Three days later , the ship recommissioned as a special ... |
= = Sinking = =
|
On 4 November 1913 , Empress of India was used as a target ship in firing trials in Lyme Bay that were primarily intended to give officers and men an idea of the effect of live shell against a real target . A secondary objective was to look at the problems caused by several ships firing at the same target at the same ... |
When Empress of India sank , she settled upside @-@ down on the seabed , and some salvage was soon carried out by a Jersey company which owned the rights to the vessel . A big hole in her side was made not by a shell , but by salvage divers removing a condenser . " The wreck is accessible and is a deep dive for recrea... |
Details of the firing are given in the table below .
|
= No. 77 Wing RAAF =
|
No. 77 Wing was a Royal Australian Air Force ( RAAF ) wing of World War II . It formed part of No. 10 Operational Group ( later the Australian First Tactical Air Force ) at its establishment in November 1943 , when it comprised three squadrons equipped with Vultee Vengeance dive bombers . No. 77 Wing commenced operati... |
= = History = =
|
No. 77 Wing formed the attack component of No. 10 Operational Group ( No. 10 OG ) , which was established on 13 November 1943 . The group was to act as a mobile strike force capable of supporting Allied ground and naval units while they advanced against the Japanese in the South West Pacific Area ( SWPA ) , as distinc... |
Headquartered at Nadzab , Papua New Guinea , No. 77 Wing only became fully operational on 18 February 1944 , following the arrival of Nos. 21 and 23 Squadrons from Lowood , Queensland . However No. 24 Squadron , which was already based in the theatre of operations , was able to carry out its first sortie on 17 January... |
Operating with its new squadrons and aircraft , No. 77 Wing took part in the Battle of Noemfoor , commencing in June 1944 . Wing headquarters relocated to Noemfoor Island in July , followed by Nos. 22 and 30 Squadrons the next month . This was No. 77 Wing 's composition on 25 October 1944 , when No. 10 OG 's name was ... |
During the first week of January 1945 , No. 77 Wing 's aircraft undertook 142 missions against targets in Halmahera , Celebes , and Morotai . In May , the Beaufighters provided air cover during Operation Oboe One , the Battle of Tarakan . In the days leading up to Operation Oboe Six , the Battle of North Borneo , No. ... |
= Panic of 1907 =
|
The Panic of 1907 – also known as the 1907 Bankers ' Panic or Knickerbocker Crisis – was a United States financial crisis that took place over a three @-@ week period starting in mid @-@ October , when the New York Stock Exchange fell almost 50 % from its peak the previous year . Panic occurred , as this was during a ... |
The panic might have deepened if not for the intervention of financier J. P. Morgan , who pledged large sums of his own money , and convinced other New York bankers to do the same , to shore up the banking system . At the time , the United States did not have a central bank to inject liquidity back into the market . B... |
= = Economic conditions = =
|
When U.S. President Andrew Jackson allowed the charter of the Second Bank of the United States to expire in 1836 , the U.S. was without any sort of central bank , and the money supply in New York City fluctuated with the country 's annual agricultural cycle . Each autumn money flowed out of the city as harvests were p... |
The Hepburn Act , which gave the Interstate Commerce Commission ( ICC ) the power to set maximum railroad rates , became law in July 1906 . This depreciated the value of railroad securities . Between September 1906 and March 1907 , the stock market slid , losing 7 @.@ 7 % of its capitalization . Between March 9 and 26... |
On July 27 , The Commercial & Financial Chronicle noted that " the market keeps unstable ... no sooner are these signs of new life in evidence than something like a suggestion of a new outflow of gold to Paris sends a tremble all through the list , and the gain in values and hope is gone " . Several bank runs occurred... |
= = Panic = =
|
= = = Cornering copper = = =
|
The 1907 panic began with a stock manipulation scheme to corner the market in F. Augustus Heinze 's United Copper Company . Heinze had made a fortune as a copper magnate in Butte , Montana . In 1906 he moved to New York City , where he formed a close relationship with notorious Wall Street banker Charles W. Morse . Mo... |
Augustus ' brother , Otto , devised the scheme to corner United Copper , believing that the Heinze family already controlled a majority of the company . He also believed that a significant number of the Heinze 's shares had been borrowed , and sold short , by speculators betting that the stock price would drop , and t... |
To finance the scheme , Otto , Augustus and Charles Morse met with Charles T. Barney , president of the city 's third @-@ largest trust , the Knickerbocker Trust Company . Barney had provided financing for previous Morse schemes . Morse , however , cautioned Otto that he needed much more money than he had to attempt t... |
The stock closed at $ 30 on Tuesday and fell to $ 10 by Wednesday ( Oct. 16 ) . Otto Heinze was ruined . The stock of United Copper was traded outside the hall of the New York Stock Exchange , literally an outdoor market " on the curb " ( this curb market would later become the American Stock Exchange ) . After the cr... |
= = = Contagion spreads = = =
|
The failure of the corner left Otto unable to meet his obligations and sent his brokerage house , Gross & Kleeberg , into bankruptcy . On Thursday , October 17 , the New York Stock Exchange suspended Otto 's trading privileges . As a result of United Copper 's collapse , the State Savings Bank of Butte Montana ( owned... |
F. Augustus Heinze 's association with the corner and the insolvent State Savings Bank proved too much for the board of the Mercantile to accept . Although they forced him to resign before lunch time , by then it was too late . As news of the collapse spread , depositors rushed en masse to withdraw money from the Merc... |
A week later many regional stock exchanges throughout the nation were closing or limiting trading . For example , the Pittsburgh city 's stock exchange closed for three months starting on October 23 , 1907 .
|
= = = Panic hits the trusts = = =
|
In the early 1900s , trust companies were booming ; in the decade before 1907 , their assets had grown by 244 % . During the same period , national bank assets grew by 97 % , while state banks in New York increased by 82 % . The leaders of the high @-@ flying trusts were mainly prominent members of New York 's financi... |
Because of past association with Charles W. Morse and F. Augustus Heinze , on Monday , October 21 , the board of the Knickerbocker asked that Barney resign ( depositors may have first begun to pull deposits from the Knickerbocker on October 18 , prompting the concern ) . That day , the National Bank of Commerce where ... |
As news spread , other banks and trust companies were reluctant to lend any money . The interest rates on loans to brokers at the stock exchange soared to 70 % and , with brokers unable to get money , stock prices fell to a low not seen since December 1900 . The panic quickly spread to two other large trusts , Trust C... |
= = = J.P. Morgan = = =
|
When the chaos began to shake the confidence of New York 's banks , the city 's most famous banker was out of town . J.P. Morgan , the eponymous president of J.P. Morgan & Co . , was attending a church convention in Richmond , Virginia . Morgan was not only the city 's wealthiest and most well @-@ connected banker , b... |
Morgan and his associates examined the books of the Knickerbocker Trust , and decided it was insolvent so did not intervene to stop the run . Its failure , however , triggered runs on even healthy trusts , prompting Morgan to take charge of the rescue operation . On the afternoon of Tuesday , October 22 , the presiden... |
As a run began on the Trust Company of America , Morgan worked with Stillman and Baker to liquidate the company 's assets to allow the bank to pay depositors . The bank survived to the close of business , but Morgan knew that additional money would be needed to keep it solvent through the following day . That night he... |
= = = Stock exchange nears collapse = = =
|
Despite the infusion of cash , the banks of New York were reluctant to make the short @-@ term loans they typically provided to facilitate daily stock trades . Prices on the exchange began to crash , owing to the lack of funds to finance purchases . At 1 : 30 p.m. Thursday , October 24 , Ransom Thomas , the president ... |
Morgan summoned the presidents of the city 's banks to his office . They started to arrive at 2 p.m. ; Morgan informed them that as many as 50 stock exchange houses would fail unless $ 25 million was raised in 10 minutes . By 2 : 16 p.m. , 14 bank presidents had pledged $ 23 @.@ 6 million to keep the stock exchange af... |
Friday , however , saw more panic on the exchange . Morgan again approached the bank presidents , but this time was only able to convince them to pledge $ 9 @.@ 7 million . In order for this money to keep the exchange open , Morgan decided the money could not be used for margin sales . The volume of trading on Friday ... |
= = = Crisis of confidence = = =
|
Morgan , Stillman , Baker and the other city bankers were unable to pool money indefinitely . Even the U.S. Treasury was low on funds . Public confidence needed to be restored , and on Friday evening the bankers formed two committees — one to persuade the clergy to calm their congregations on Sunday , and second to ex... |
To ensure a free flow of funds on Monday , the New York Clearing House issued $ 100 million in loan certificates to be traded between banks to settle balances , allowing them to retain cash reserves for depositors . Reassured both by the clergy and the newspapers , and with bank balance sheets flush with cash , a sens... |
Unbeknownst to Wall Street , a new crisis was being averted in the background . On Sunday , Morgan 's associate , George Perkins , was informed that the City of New York required at least $ 20 million by November 1 or it would go bankrupt . The city tried to raise money through a standard bond issue , but failed to ga... |
= = = Drama at the library = = =
|
Although calm was largely restored in New York by Saturday , November 2 , yet another crisis loomed . One of the exchange 's largest brokerage firms , Moore & Schley , was heavily in debt and in danger of collapse . The firm had borrowed heavily , using shares of the Tennessee Coal , Iron and Railroad Company ( TC & I... |
To avert the collapse of Moore & Schley , Morgan called an emergency conference at his library Saturday morning . A proposal was made that the U.S. Steel Corporation , a company Morgan had helped form through the merger of the steel companies of Andrew Carnegie and Elbert Gary , would acquire TC & I. This would effect... |
By then , John Pierpont Morgan was drawn into another situation . There was deep concern that the Trust Company of America and the Lincoln Trust might fail to open on Monday due to continuing runs by depositors . On Saturday evening 40 – 50 bankers had gathered at the library to discuss the crisis , with the clearing ... |
At 3 a.m. about 120 bank and trust company officials assembled to hear a full report on the status of the failing trust companies . While the Trust Company of America was barely solvent , the Lincoln Trust Company was probably $ 1 million short of what it needed to cover depositor accounts . As discussion ensued , the... |
On Sunday afternoon and into the evening , Morgan , Perkins , Baker and Stillman , along with U.S. Steel 's Gary and Henry Clay Frick , worked at the library to finalize the deal for U.S. Steel to buy TC & I and by Sunday night had a plan for acquisition . But one obstacle remained : the anti @-@ trust crusading Presi... |
Frick and Gary traveled overnight by train to the White House to implore Roosevelt to set aside the application of the Sherman Antitrust Act and allow — before the market opened — a company that already held a 60 % share of the steel market to make a large acquisition . Roosevelt 's secretary refused to see them , but... |
= = Aftermath = =
|
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.