Banaba

Banaba (; also Ocean Island) is an island of Kiribati in the Pacific Ocean. A solitary raised coral island west of the Gilbert Island chain, it is the westernmost point of Kiribati, lying east of Nauru, which is also its nearest neighbor. It has an area of 6.0 square kilometres, and the highest point on the island is also the highest point in Kiribati, at 81 metres (266 ft) high. Along with Nauru and Makatea (French Polynesia), it is one of the important elevated phosphate-rich islands of the Pacific.
History.
According to "Te Rii ni Banaba—The Backbone of Banaba" by Raobeia Ken Sigrah, Banaban oral history supports the claim that the people of the Te Aka clan, which originated in Melanesia, were the original inhabitants of Banaba (Ocean Island), having arrived before the arrival of later migrations from the East Indies and Kiribati. The name Banaba in the local Gilbertese language is correctly spelled "Bwanaba", but the Constitution of Kiribati (12 July 1979) writes "Banaba", meaning "hollow land".
Sigrah makes also the controversial (and politically loaded) assertion that Banabans are ethnically distinct from other I-Kiribati. The Banabans were assimilated only through forced migrations and the heavy impact of the discovery of phosphate in 1900. Prior to the relocation of its inhabitants at the end of World War II, there were four villages on the island - Ooma (Uma), Tabiang, Tapiwa (Tabwewa), and Buakonikai. The local capital was Tabiang, now called Antereen.
The first known sighting of Banaba by Europeans occurred on 3 January 1801. Captain Jared Gardner of the American vessel "Diana" sighted the island. Then in 1804, Captain John Mertho of the convict transport and merchant ship "Ocean" sighted the island and named it after his vessel.
Whaling vessels often visited the island in the nineteenth century for water and wood. The first recorded visit was by the "Arabella" in March 1832. The last known visit was by the "Charles W. Morgan" in January 1904.
Banaba is prone to drought, as it is a high island with no natural streams and no water lens. A three-year drought starting in 1873 killed more than three quarters of the population and wiped out almost all of the trees; many of those who survived left the island on passing ships to escape the drought, and only some were able to return, often years later.
Phosphate mining.
The Pacific Islands Company, under John T. Arundel, identified that the petrified guano on Banaba consisted of high grade phosphate rock. The agreement made with the Banabans was for the exclusive right to mine for 999 years for £50 a year. The terms of the licenses were changed to provide for the payment of royalties and compensation for mining damage, amounting to less than 0.1% of the profits the PIC made during its first 13 years.
The Pacific Phosphate Company (PPC) built the Ocean Island Railway and mined phosphate from 1900 to 1919. In 1913, an anonymous correspondent to "The New Age" criticised the operation of the PPC under the title "Modern buccaneers in the West Pacific". In 1919, the governments of the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand took over the operations of the Pacific Phosphate Company. The phosphate rock-mining (for fertiliser), which was carried out from 1900 to 1979, stripped away 90 percent of the island's surface, the same process which occurred on Nauru from 1907 to the 1980s.
The British authorities relocated most of the population to Rabi Island, Fiji after 1945, with subsequent waves of emigration in 1977 and 1981 to 1983. Some islanders subsequently returned, following the end of mining in 1979; approximately 300 were living on the island in 2001. The population of Banaba in the 2010 census was 295. Globally, there are an estimated 6000 individuals of Banaban descent. On Rabi Island the names of settlements are the same authentic four names from Banaba Island.
Ocean Island Post Office opened on 1 January 1911 and was renamed Banaba around 1979.
In the 1970s the Banabans sued in the Court of England and Wales claiming that the UK Crown owed a fiduciary duty to the islanders when fixing the royalty payments and the difference in proper rates should be paid. In "Tito v Waddell (No 2)" [1977] Ch 106, Sir Robert Megarry VC held that no fiduciary duties were owed, because the term "trust" in the Mining Ordinance 1927 was not used in the technical sense, but rather in the sense of an unenforceable government obligation. The claim for the beach to be restored, from the 1948 agreement, was now time-barred. The replanting obligations under the 1913 agreement were binding, but also they were limited to what was reasonably practicable.
World War II and Japanese occupation.
In July 1941, Australia and New Zealand troops evacuated British Phosphate Commission employees from Banaba (then known as Ocean Island). In February 1942, the Free French destroyer "Le Triomphant" evacuated the remaining Europeans and Chinese. Japanese forces occupied the island from 26 August 1942 until the end of World War II in 1945.
On 20 August 1945, the Japanese troops murdered all but one of the remaining 150 Banabans on Ocean Island. One man, Kabunare Koura, survived the massacre. On 21 August, Australian troops retook Ocean Island from the Japanese. During this year, 280 Banabans who survived the war on Nauru and Truk were resettled on Rambi Island in Fiji.
Geography.
The woodland of Banaba is now limited to the coastal area and is made up mostly of mangoes, flame trees, guavas, tapioca and common Kiribati shrubs such as the saltbush. Having been mined for over 80 years, the centre of the island has no soil and is uninhabitable.
The village Buakonikai (‘Te Aonoanne’) is now unoccupied. Banaba had three inhabited villages in the 2010 census; Tabwewa, Antereen (also called Tabiang) and Umwa.
Climate.
Banaba Island features a tropical rainforest climate, under Köppen's climate classification. Winds between north-east and south-east bring rainfall with large annual and seasonal variability. The period of lowest mean monthly rainfall starts in May and lasts until November. From December until April the monthly rainfall is on average higher than 120 mm.
Demography.
At the census of 1931, when the production of phosphate was at his highest point, and the Headquarters of the entire colony concentrated there, the total population of Ocean Island was of 2,607 inhabitants (1,715 Gilbertese; 65 Elliceans; 129 Europeans; 698 Mongolians). After World War II, at the census of 1947, just after relocation of Banabans on Rabi Island in 1945, there were 2,060 left (considering notably the massacre of Banabans at the end of the Japanese occupation). The new ethnical repartition was then the following: 1,351 Gilbertese (the main losses); 441 Polynesians (the main gain from overcrowded Ellice Islands); 138 Europeans; 112 Mongoloids; 11 Halfcast European-Gilbertese; 2 half cast European-Ellicean; 4 Gilbertese-Mongoloids and 1 “other races”.
At the end of World War II, Gilbert Islands' (and Fiji's) British colonial rulers decided to resettle most of Ocean Island's population on Rabi Island, because of the ongoing devastation of Banaba caused by phosphate mining. Some have since returned, but the majority have remained on Rabi or elsewhere in Fiji. The Banabans came to Fiji in three major waves, with the first group of 703, including 318 children, arriving on the BPC vessel, "Triona", on 15 December 1945. Accompanying them were 300 other Gilbertese. The Banabans had been collected from Japanese internment camps on various islands, mainly Nauru and Kosrae; they were not given the option of returning to Banaba, on the grounds that the Japanese had destroyed their houses - this was not true. Only 100 to 200 returned and represent the landowners that stay in Fiji.
The population was of 2,706 in 1963, 2,192 in 1968, 2,314 in 1973 and 2,201 in 1978, the year before the end of phosphate exploitation. At the following census, in 1985, only 46 Banabans were living. With the return of some people from Rabi Island, they were 284 in 1990, 339 in 1995, 276 in 2000, 301 in 2005, 295 in 2010 and 268 in 2015 (last available census).
Politics.
Banaba Island is a political anomaly. Despite being part of Kiribati, its municipal administration is by the Rabi Council of Leaders and Elders, which is based on Rabi Island, in Fiji.
On 19 December 2005, Teitirake Corrie, the Rabi Island Council's representative to the Parliament of Kiribati, said that the Rabi Council was considering giving the right to remine Banaba Island to the government of Fiji. This followed the disappointment of the Rabi Islanders at the refusal of the Kiribati Parliament to grant a portion of the A$614 million trust fund from phosphate proceeds to elderly Rabi islanders. Corrie asserted that Banaba is the property of their descendants who live on Rabi, not of the Kiribati government, asserting that, "The trust fund also belongs to us even though we do not live in Kiribati". He condemned the Kiribati government's policy of not paying the islanders.
On 23 December, Reteta Rimon, Kiribati's High Commissioner to Fiji, clarified that Rabi Islanders were, in fact, entitled to Kiribati government benefits—but only if they returned to Kiribati. She called for negotiations between the Rabi Council of Leaders and the Kiribati government.
On 1 January 2006, Corrie called for Banaba to secede from Kiribati and join Fiji. Kiribati was using Banaban phosphate money for its own enrichment, he said; of the five thousand Banabans in Fiji, there were fewer than one hundred aged seventy or more who would be claiming pensions.
Future prospects.
The stated wish of the Kiribati government to reopen mining on Banaba is strongly opposed by many in the Banaban diaspora.
Some of the leaders of the displaced Banaban community in Fiji have called for Banaba to be granted independence. One reason given for the maintenance of a community on Banaba, at a monthly cost of F$12,000, is that if the island were to become uninhabited, the Kiribati government might take over the administration of the island, and integrate it with the rest of the country. Kiribati is believed to be anxious to retain Banaba, in the hope of mining it in the future. Like Kiritimati, it is a low-lying coral atoll but less susceptible to rising sea levels.


Dar Zuzovsky

Dar Zuzovsky (; born ) is an Israeli actress and model. As an actress she had appeared in "Hostages" and "Beauty and the Baker".
Early life.
Zuzovsky was born in Tel Aviv, Israel, to Israeli-born parents of Ashkenazi Jewish (Polish-Jewish and Czechoslovak-Jewish) descent. In Hebrew, her first name means "mother of pearl". She grew up in the neighbouring city of Ramat HaSharon along with her younger brother. Zuzovsky used to be a Scouts instructor. She graduated high school in 2009, majoring in theatre.
Zuzovsky then volunteered for the pre-army Service Year as a counsellor in a boarding school for at-risk youth. Her parents separated and decided to get divorced during that period. Subsequently, she was enlisted to the Israel Defence Forces as a soldier, where she served as a photographer of Israeli military bands.
Career.
She began modelling at the age of 15. As a model, Zuzovsky has appeared in advertising campaigns for Urban Outfitters, Samsung, Sephora and in 2014 appeared in a ten-page spread for Italian "Cosmopolitan". In 2016 she became a spokesmodel for Castro, Israel's largest fashion company.
In 2017 Zuzovsky was chosen to appear in a Los Angeles mural by Israeli contemporary artist Tomer Peretz.
Personal life.
Zuzovsky started dating Israeli actor and musician Lee Biran in 2014. They separated in 2016. Later that year she briefly dated Israeli musician Asaf Avidan.


Alexander Onslow

Sir Alexander Campbell Onslow (17 July 1842 – 20 October 1908) was the third Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Western Australia, which is the highest ranking court in the Australian State of Western Australia.
Onslow is a forebear of the notable Australian Macarthur-Onslow families.
Biography.
Onslow was the fourth son of Arthur Pooley Onslow, of Send Grove, Ripley, Surrey, by his wife, Rosa Roberta, daughter of Alexander Macleay, F.R.S., Speaker of the first New South Wales Legislative Council. Onslow was educated at Westminster and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated B.A. in 1864. He entered at the Inner Temple on 15 January 1862, was called to the bar on 17 November 1868, and went the Home Circuit. On 4 February 1878, he married Madeline Emma Loftus, daughter of Rev. Robert Loftus Tottenham, of Florence, and granddaughter of the Bishop of Clogher.
Onslow was Attorney-General of British Honduras from 1878 to 1880, and Attorney-General of Western Australia from 1880 to 1883. In July of the latter year he was appointed Chief Justice, in which capacity he administered the government during the absence of Sir Frederick Broome in England in 1884–5. Onslow's relations with that Governor having subsequently become strained, the latter threatened Onslow's security of tenure by "interdicting" him from his functions as Chief Justice, for the alleged premature and improper publication of certain correspondence then pending between them and with the Colonial Office. The Executive Council unanimously confirmed the interdict, and placed Mr. Onslow on half-pay pending the decision of the Colonial Office. In the result, Lord Knutsford reinstated Mr. Onslow, but censured him. Ultimately, in view of the attitude assumed by the Chief Justice in adjudicating on certain cases of newspaper libel, the Legislative Council passed a resolution requesting the Home Government, in the interests of tranquillity, to transfer him to some other location. He was accordingly given, a year's leave of absence but this was extended. In February 1890 it was announced that he was to exchange posts with Sir Elliot Bovill, Chief Justice of Cyprus. This arrangement did not actually take place and Sir Henry T. Wrensfordsley was sent out to the colony in 1890 as Acting Chief Justice. Mr. Onslow returned to Western Australia and resumed his occupancy of the office of Chief Justice in July 1891. Onslow was knighted in 1895 for services rendered to the Queen's colonies since 1878.
He retired in 1901 and returned to England, where he died on 20 October 1908.


UFC 253

UFC 253: Adesanya vs. Costa was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on September 27, 2020 at the du Forum on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Background.
The event was originally expected to take place on September 19, but it was moved to September 27. took place on the former date.
Although not officially announced by the organization, a UFC Lightweight Championship unification bout between current champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and interim champion Justin Gaethje (also former WSOF Lightweight Champion) was briefly linked to the event. However, the date did not materialize and their manager, Ali Abdelaziz, indicated that his clients would still face each other before the end of the year. The pairing was then scheduled for UFC 254.
Without fans in attendance, the promotion did not have to worry about the local timing of the event, so it proceeded with normal timing for prime time hours on the east coast of North America. The main card began at 6:00 am (September 27) local time in Abu Dhabi, with a full preliminary card beginning at approximately 2:30 am Gulf Standard Time.
A UFC Middleweight Championship bout between current champion Israel Adesanya and Paulo Costa served as the event headliner. The bout was originally targeted for UFC 248, but Costa was unable to compete on that card due to injury. In turn, Adesanya defended his title against former title challenger (as well as 2000 Olympic silver medalist and former world champion in freestyle wrestling) Yoel Romero.
A UFC Light Heavyweight Championship bout for the vacant title between former title challenger Dominick Reyes and former KSW Light Heavyweight Champion Jan Błachowicz served as the event's co-headliner. Former two-time champion Jon Jones vacated the belt on August 17, citing issues with the UFC over salary negotiation and the desire to compete at heavyweight."
A heavyweight bout between Ciryl Gane and Shamil Abdurakhimov was expected to take place at this event. The pairing was originally scheduled for UFC 249, but Gane was forced to pull out of the event after he was struck by a pneumothorax in training. Subsequently, the pairing was rescheduled for UFC 251 and cancelled a second time as Abdurakhimov was removed from the bout for undisclosed reasons. In late August, the bout was moved from this event to UFC Fight Night: Covington vs. Woodley a week earlier.
A strawweight bout between former UFC Women's Strawweight Championship challenger Cláudia Gadelha and Yan Xiaonan was expected to take place at this event, but a knee injury sustained by Gadelha ruled her out of the bout. The pairing was rescheduled for instead.
A flyweight bout between Jordan Espinosa and David Dvořák was expected to take place at this event, but was later rebooked for UFC Fight Night: Covington vs. Woodley due to undisclosed reasons.
A women's bantamweight bout between Marion Reneau and Ketlen Vieira was scheduled for the event. However, Reneau was pulled from the bout on September 16 citing an undisclosed injury and replaced by Sijara Eubanks.
Nate Landwehr was expected to face Shane Young in a featherweight bout at this event. However, Landwehr was pulled from the event after he tested positive for COVID-19 and replaced by promotional newcomer Ľudovít Klein.
A bantamweight bout between Casey Kenney and Heili Alateng was originally expected to take place at this event. However, it was moved to a week later due to undisclosed reasons.
At the weigh-ins, Zubaira Tukhugov and Ľudovít Klein missed weight for their respective featherweight bouts. Both fighters weighed in at 150 pounds, four pounds over the non-title fight limit. Both of their bouts proceeded at a catchweight and they were each fined a percentage of their individual purses, which went to their opponents Hakeem Dawodu and Shane Young.
Bonus awards.
The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses.


Istanbul Marathon

The Istanbul Marathon (, also known as N Kolay Istanbul Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is an international athletics event hosted in Istanbul, Turkey, in November, first held in 1979. It is the only marathon in the world whose course spans two continents, Asia and Europe.
The three race categories for men and women are: marathon, 15 km and public run. A special category for disabled persons exists also. Participation in the public run was with 150,000 people a record set in 1998.
The event is organised by Istanbul Sports Events, which also hosts the annual Istanbul Half Marathon in April.
History.
The marathon has previously been known as "Vodafone Istanbul Marathon" as well as "Intercontinental Istanbul Eurasia Marathon".
In 1997, Moges Taye of Ethiopia set the course record for men at the time of 2:13:37.
In 2005, Madina Biktagirova of Russia set the course record for women at the time of 2:34:25.
In 2006, Madina Biktagirova broke her own course record for women from the previous year with 2:28:21, and the course record for men was broken by the Lithuanian athlete Mindaugas Pukstas in 2:12:52. Also, for the first time in 2006, time keeping for marathon and 15 km was effected by means of a single-use chip, which was placed on the athlete's shoe tied by shoelaces. An athlete without this so-called champion-chip would not receive an official time. In addition, the Istanbul Eurasia Marathon that year incorporated the 4th European Police Marathon Championships for the first time, which contributed to top results.
In 2012, the month the marathon was generally held was changed from October to November. That year, the 34th edition of the marathon was named "Vodafone Istanbul Eurasia Marathon". Also that year, because the marathon had become a significant marathon event, it was awarded IAAF Gold Label status.
In 2013, around 20,000 local and foreigner athletes participated at the road race in different categories, among them wheelchair runners. The event saw also for the first time security measures concerning the bridge stability. Two years before, the running crowd on the Bosphorus Bridge caused dangerous instability by self-induced vibrations in the structure which could result in its failure. Influenced by this lesson, several start times with ten minutes intervals were held after the first start, which took place on 9:30 hours. The groups were not allowed to run on the bridge rather than to walk only. In order to avoid stopping for taking pictures, the outmost lanes of the bridge were blocked by barriers.
Course.
The course is asphalt, mostly flat and is free of traffic. It is the only course in the world where the marathon includes two continents, Asia and Europe, in one race.
The marathon starts on the Asian side of the city, shortly before the First Bosphorus Bridge, crosses the bridge giving an outstanding view of the Bosphorus and Istanbul, passes many historic sites including the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia, and ends in the İnönü Stadium in the European part. In all, the race crosses three bridges, one over the Bosporus and two over the Golden Horn. The course changed three times over the years, therefore winning scores differ.
In 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic, the course was altered to begin and end in Yenikapı and cross the Bosphorus Bridge twice, so runners would start and finish the marathon in Europe, but both enter and exit Asia during the run.
Qualification.
To register for the marathon, participants must be 18 years of age or older on the race day.
In 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic, athletes over the age of 65 were disallowed from participating in the marathon.
Prizes.
Money prizes are given to the first 25 male athletes and 15 best female athletes in the marathon category, the first 3 ranks receiving US$35,000, US$15,000 and US$10,000 respectively. An athlete, who broke the course record, is awarded with a bonus of US$5,000. Bonuses exists also for times run between 2:14:00 and 2:04:55 or better for men and between 2:33:00 and 2:15:25 or better for women, scaled from US$500 up to US$100,000. Prizes are also provided for the best ranking athletes in other competition categories.
In 2013, the total amount of the money prizes was US$1 million.
Winners.
Key: Course record (in bold)
Recent results.
38th marathon was held on November 13, 2016
37th marathon was held on November 15, 2015.
Prize money (both for men and women):
36th marathon was held on November 16, 2014.
35th marathon was held on November 17, 2013.
NB Original race winner Abraham Kiprotich was disqualified for a doping offence.
34th marathon was held on November 11, 2012.
33rd marathon was held on October 16, 2011.
32nd marathon was held on October 17, 2010.
31st marathon was held on October 18, 2009.
Awards:
30th marathon was held on October 26, 2008.
†) Course changed
Prize money:
29th marathon was held on October 28, 2007.
Motto: "Sağlıklı Çevre, Sağlıklı Nesiller, Yaşanabilir Bir Kent" (Healthy Environment, Healthy Generations)
Awards:
28th marathon was held on November 5, 2006.
Motto: "Sigarasız Bir Dünya İçin Koşuyoruz" (Smoke-Free
World)
27th marathon was held on October 2, 2005.
26th marathon was held on October 10, 2004.
25th marathon was held on October 19, 2003.
24th marathon was held on October 27, 2002.
23rd marathon was held on October 11, 2001.
22nd marathon was held on October 14, 2000.


Evacuation Day (Syria)

Evacuation Day (, also known as Jalaa Day or Clearance Day), is Syria's national day commemorating the evacuation of the last French soldier at the end of the French mandate of Syria on 17 April 1946 after Syria's proclamation of full independence in 1941.
After World War I, the Ottoman Empire was divided into several new nations, creating the modern Arab world and the Republic of Turkey. Following the Sykes–Picot Agreement between France, the United Kingdom and Russia in 1916, the League of Nations granted France mandates over present-day Syria and Lebanon in 1923.
France divided the region into six states based in part on the sectarian make up on the ground in Syria. However, nearly all the Syrian sects were hostile to the French mandate and to the division it created. This was best demonstrated by the numerous revolts, including the 1925 Hama uprising, that the French encountered in the Syrian states. A six-day general strike in the spring of 1936 paralyzed the country and in part forced the French government to negotiate the Franco-Syrian Treaty of Independence with the National Bloc. However, the French did not withdraw right away after the treaty was signed in the autumn of 1936.
With the fall of France in 1940 during World War II, Syria came under the control of the Vichy Government until the British and Free France invaded and occupied the country in July 1941. Syria proclaimed its independence in 1941 but it was not until 1 January 1944 that it was recognized as an independent republic. With the advent of the Levant Crisis in 1945 prompted by a British invasion authorised by Sir Winston Churchill – the French evacuated the last of their troops on 17 April 1946. The French regime had proposed to depart on 18 April, Good Friday in 1946, but Syrian officials opted for a slightly earlier date to avoid holding ceremonies on the Christian holiday.
In 2018, with the Syrian Civil War on-going, commemorative activities of Evaculation Day held in Umayyad Square in Damascus, merely days after the Douma chemical attack and the retaliatory military strikes carried out by France and the United Kingdom, were attended by thousands of people carrying Syrian flags.
As of 2021, Evaculation Day is observed by the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria.


Oeno (ship)

The Oeno was a nineteenth-century Pacific whaler. It traveled around Fiji and the Pitcairn Islands.
Design.
The boat was a whaler and weighed 328 tons. The boat was designed in Nantucket. The designer Aaron Mitchell of Nantucket, had Elijah and John B. Barstow of Barstow's Lower Shipyard in Hanover build the Oeno on the North River in 1821.
History.
In November 1824, the crew on the boat began whaling in the South Pacific Ocean (According to William Cary, who was on the boat at the time). By March 17,1825, the crew had captured eight whales and used 150 barrels.
Pitcairn Islands.
On January 26, 1824, George Worth, while sailing in the boat, discovered an island in the Pitcairn Islands. He named it Oeno Island, named after the boat.
Wreck.
At approximately 2:AM on April 14, 1825, the boat crashed into a reef at Vatoa in Fiji. Only one person survived the crash, William Cary. The rest of the crew and the boat was massacred and killed by the Fijians in 1827. Shortly after returning to the United States, Cary claimed the ship was destroyed by the Natives at Vatoa.


Muzaffar al-Din Mohammad

Muzaffar al-Din Mohammad was the penultimate Qutlughkhanid ruler of Kerman.
Life.
He was the son of Muzaffar al-Din Hajjaj. He succeeded Kurdujin Khatun as hereditary ruler of Kerman on the order of Ghazan in 1295/1296. One of his first orders was to bring remains of her aunt Padishah Khatun to be reburied in Kerman. His reign was troubled by rebellions of his cousins Nasrat al-Din Yulukshah, Ghiyath ad-Din Solokshah and his brother Qutb al-Din Taghishah - ruler of Sirjan. His brutal repression of them made him unpopular to the point of resignation of his vizier Fakhraddin Harawi. He was reported to be cruel to his half brothers Hasanshah and Mahmudshah too. He died in 1304 from excessive drinking of wine.
He was succeeded by his cousin Qutb al-Din Shah Jahan.


USS Whitney (AD-4)

USS "Whitney" (AD-4) was a "Dobbin"-class destroyer tender named for United States Secretary of the Navy William Collins Whitney. She was launched on 12 October 1923, and was commissioned on 2 September 1924. She was decommissioned on 22 October 1946, later being sold for scrap to the Dulien Ship Products firm on 18 March 1948. She was on station in Pearl Harbor at the time of the Japanese attack, amid a flotilla of destroyers; , , , , and . "Whitney" was undamaged during the attack.
Dallas police detective Jim Leavelle, who became renowned for escorting Lee Harvey Oswald when Oswald was shot by Jack Ruby, served aboard the "Whitney" and was on board during the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Machinist Mate 1st Class Ernest L. Quetschke served on "Whitney" from the onset of WWII to the end of WWII. "Ernie" doubled as a 6-pounder Hotchkiss gunner for his on-deck duties. Ernest Quetschke returned home to his hometown of Toledo, Ohio after the war ended.


John Rymer-Jones

Brigadier John Murray Rymer-Jones CBE MC & Bar QPM (12 July 1897 – 17 December 1993) was a British Army and police officer.
Early life.
Rymer-Jones was born in Blackheath, London, and educated at Felsted School and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich.
Military career.
Commissioned into the Royal Field Artillery in 1916, Rymer-Jones served in France and Flanders during the First World War, winning the Military Cross (MC) in 1917 and a bar in 1918, while serving with the 74th Field Brigade. The citation for his first MC reads:
"For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. He went forward with the first wave of the infantry in an attack to the final objective, establishing signal stations at each objective as he went forward. He sent in early information as to the capture of the objectives and other valuable reports. He kept his lines working, continually going about repairing them under heavy fire, and sent in timely information of an enemy concentration for a counter-attack. He showed ceaseless energy and determination."
Rymer-Jones was promoted lieutenant in August 1917 and became an acting captain while serving as brigade adjutant from September 1918 until July 1919. In 1919 he served with the British Army of the Rhine and in 1920–1921 was in Ireland attached to the King's Own Royal Regiment. In 1921 he briefly served in Upper Silesia during the plebiscite and then went to Egypt as a staff officer until 1925. From 1927 to 1928 he served as a staff officer with the Shanghai Defence Force and his last years in the Army, from 1929 to 1933, were spent as a company commander at the Royal Military Academy. He was promoted captain in February 1929.
Police career.
Following his retirement in February 1934 he joined the Metropolitan Police as a chief inspector and was posted to the headquarters of No.3 District in Hackney. He was promoted superintendent in May 1935 and took over the Croydon Division. In August 1936, he was transferred to the Organisation Department of the Commissioner's Office at Scotland Yard and in October 1936 was promoted chief constable. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1943 New Year Honours.
In 1943, Rymer-Jones was posted to Palestine as Inspector-General of the Palestine Police, with the Army rank of brigadier. In 1946, he returned to the Metropolitan Police with the new rank of commander, taking over No.1 District (West End). He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1950 New Year Honours. In April 1950, he was appointed Assistant Commissioner "D" (Personnel and Training). He held this position until his retirement in August 1959. During this time he was a vocal advocate of police dogs and increased their use within the Metropolitan Police. He was awarded the Queen's Police Medal (QPM) in the 1959 Birthday Honours, two months before his retirement.
Later life.
Rymer-Jones was also North Kent area commissioner of St John Ambulance from 1963 to 1966, secretary of the Drinking Fountain Association from 1959 to 1976, and on the committee of the Royal Humane Society from 1957 to 1977.


Stringybark Creek

Stringybark Creek is a small creek in the Wombat Ranges, Victoria, Australia. It is famous for the place where three policemen were murdered on 26 October 1878. The policemen, Sergeant Michael Kennedy, Constable Thomas Lonigan, and Constable Michael Scanlan were searching the forest for the Kelly brothers, Ned and Dan Kelly. They were wanted for the attempted murder of another policeman, Constable Fitzpatrick.
The creek is in the Toombullup State Forest, 50km from Benalla and 36km from Mansfield. The area has been developed for visitors and includes picnic area, camping, toilets and walking tracks. A memorial stone was put in place in 2001. It is near the remains of the hut. A tree near the site of two of the murders (Lonigan and Scanlan), the Police/ Kelly Tree, was scarped by a farmer in the 1930s. He carved the names of the three murdered police into it as a memorial. It has had a small copy of attached to it. This caused great upset to the families of the murdered policemen. The other murder site (Kennedy's) is approximately 400 – 500 metres North West. It is across the Stringybark Creek Road.
The murders.
A group of three policemen from Mansfield set out to search for the Kelly brothers who they thought were hiding in the bush near Mansfield. They set up camp at Stringbark Creek on 25 October 1878, not knowing that the Kellys were living in a small hut on Bullock Creek, less than 1km away. The next day Kennedy and Scanlan went to search the nearby forest, while Lonigan and Constable Thomas McIntyre stayed at the campsite. The Kellys heard noises from the police camp and went to investigate. Ned Kelly decided to try and capture the policemen and take their guns, horses and food. He called on the two policemen to give themselves up. McIntyre raised his hands, but Lonigan attempted to run and reached for his gun. Ned Kelly shot him in the eye.
The bushrangers then waited for Kennedy and Scanlan to return. When they rode into the camp, McIntyre warned them that the Kelly brothers were there, and to give themselves up. Scanlan went to unsling his rifle and was shot dead immediately. Kennedy jumped off his horse, and while shooting at the Kellys ran into the bush. Ned and Dan Kelly chased after him, shooting him twice as they hunted him for over 800 yards. Kennedy surrendered. Kelly walked up to him and shot him again in the chest and killed him. During the earlier shooting at Scanlan and Kennedy, McIntrye was able to get onto Kennedy's horse and escaped. He reached Mansfield on the next day to report the deaths.
Ned Kelly, Dan Kelly, Joe Byrne and Steve Hart were made outlaws, and a large reward was offered for their capture, either dead or alive. The three murdered policemen were taken to Mansfield and buried in the cemetery. A large memorial, funded by public donations, was built in the main street of Mansfield.
In song and poem.
In 1879, G. Wilson Hall printed a book in Mansfield called "The Kelly Gang, Outlaws of the Wombat Ranges". It included a song called "Stringybark Creek" which is believed to have been written by Joe Byrne. It described in verse the story of what had happened. The first verse is:

"A sergeant and three constables"

"Rode Out from Mansfield town,"

"Near the end of last October"

"For to hunt the Kellys down."

"So they travelled to the Wombat"

"And they thought it quite a lark,"

"And they camped upon the borders"

"Of a creek called Stringbark."
The song has been recorded many times, including the Australian folk-rock band the Bushwackers on their 1979 album, "Bushfire".
In 1880 a local school teacher's poem was read at the unveiling in Mansfield of the monument dedicated to the three murdered policemen. It was accepted as an honest description of the tragic events.


USS Zane (DD-337)

USS "Zane" (DD-337/DMS-14/AG-109) was a "Clemson"-class destroyer in the United States Navy following World War I. She was named for Randolph Zane.
History.
"Zane" was laid down on 15 January 1919 at the Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, California; launched on 12 August 1919; sponsored by Miss Marjorie Zane, the daughter of Major R. T. Zane; re-classified DD-337 on 17 July 1920; and commissioned at Mare Island on 15 February 1921, Lieutenant Commander Philip Seymour in command.
1920s.
After fitting out and shakedown, "Zane" fueled at Port Costa, California, late in June 1921 and sailed northward to the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington, for stores. Returning south to Mare Island once more, "Zane" joined Destroyer Division 14 at San Francisco, California, on 22 June and departed that port the following day, bound for the Asiatic Station.
Sailing via Pearl Harbor, Midway, and Guam, "Zane" reached Cavite, Philippine Islands, on 24 August. The destroyer then operated in the Philippines—out of Cavite, Manila, Olongapo, and Lingayen Gulf—on maneuvers and exercises through the spring of 1922. She departed Manila on 3 June 1922, bound for Chinese waters.
"Zane" reached the Yangtze estuary on 6 June and, while steaming to the mouth of the Huangpu River, en route to Shanghai, spotted the Chinese river steamer "Tse Kiang" approaching from the starboard quarter. She maintained course and speed, doing nothing to avoid a collision. "Zane" attempted to avoid a fouling when that seemed imminent, but too late. At 1158, "Tse Kiang" rammed the destroyer aft.
Fortunately, the damage was minor; and "Zane" proceeded on her way, reaching Shanghai two and a half hours later and moored alongside sistership at the American buoys. "Zane" entered the Yangtsepoo drydock on 15 June for repairs and was undocked on the following day.
Underway for Chefoo on 5 July, "Zane" reached that North China port on the 7th and remained there until the 30th, when she shifted to Chinwangtao, the seaport at the base of the Great Wall of China, to send leave parties to Peking. She lay at Chinwangtao from 31 July to 5 August, when she got underway to return to Chefoo on the latter day.
"Zane" set sail from Chefoo, homeward bound, on 25 August and visited Nagasaki, Japan, on the first leg of her voyage back to the west coast of the United States. Subsequently, touching at Midway and Pearl Harbor, the destroyer reached San Francisco on 2 October. Shifting to the Mare Island Navy Yard on 9 October, "Zane" turned in all torpedoes, torpedo gear, and landing force equipment over the three days that ensued. She then fueled at Martinez, California, before reaching San Diego and San Pedro. Decommissioned at San Diego on 1 February 1923, "Zane" remained on "Red Lead Row" for seven years.
1930s.
Recommissioned on 25 February 1930, Lt. Comdr. C. J. Parrish in command, "Zane" operated actively as a unit of the Battle Force for the next decade, except for one brief period during which time she was attached to Rotating Reserve Squadron 20 in late 1934. Initially assigned to Destroyer Division 10, Destroyer Squadron 4, Destroyers, Battle Force, Destroyer Flotilla 2, the ship served through the 1930s in a variety of squadrons, but all within the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla.
She participated in some of the inter-war fleet problems - the large-scale fleet maneuvers instituted in the early 1920s to develop equipment and tactics. She ranged from the west coast of the United States into the Caribbean and western Atlantic Ocean, as well as off the Panama Canal Zone.
However, with the new destroyer construction programs turning out more modern, faster, and heavily armed ships, the need to retain the old "flush-deckers" in the destroyer role diminished. At the same time, there grew a need for high-speed minesweepers, fast minelayers, seaplane tenders, and the like to meet the ever-growing demands on the Navy.
Destroyer minesweeper (DMS).
Converted to a high-speed minesweeper at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard and reclassified as DMS-14 on 19 November 1940, "Zane" operated primarily in Hawaiian waters on the eve of World War II.
Pearl Harbor.
On the morning of 7 December 1941, she was moored off Pearl City in a nest with her three sisterships of Mine Division 4— , , and .
The crew was just finishing breakfast when, at 0757, a signalman on watch topside observed a single plane drop a bomb on the southern end of Ford Island after a long gliding approach from the northward. Only then did the men topside realize it was a Japanese plane.
With 10 percent of her enlisted men and 25 percent of the officers ashore, "Zane" went to general quarters and, within three minutes of the initial explosion, had manned her .50-caliber antiaircraft machine gun battery. Her commanding officer, Lt. Cmdr. L. M. LeHardy, was senior officer afloat in the division and reported: "0800 Observed Japanese plane gliding low over Ford Island, enemy character now positive. This was not a drill."
Commencing fire at "any and all planes which passed within a reasonable distance of the nest" "Zane" began preparations at 0803 for getting underway, as belting and ammunition supply parties turned to. At 0830, "Zane" spotted a "strange submarine" 200 yards astern of , anchored in nearby berth K-23. "Zane's" position in the nest, however, rendered her incapable of opening fire with her after 4-inch gun: her aim was fouled by "Perry" (DMS-17), moored outboard. However, soon made the whole problem academic at 0840, when she charged down upon the Japanese type "A" midget submarine and destroyed her by ramming and with depth charges.
Meanwhile, the fleet gradually began to return fire and, by the time the second wave of Japanese planes arrived, the fleet was at action stations. Gunfire from a nearby ship (possibly "Medusa") brought down one Japanese plane, whose bomb had burst in the water near "Perry". The enemy aircraft exploded into flames on the way down and crashed on shore near the recently completed deperming station to the loud cheers of all hands topside in "Zane".
Subsequently, the ships of MinDiv 4 got underway individually and stood out to take up patrol offshore. "Zane" had suffered no damage from the enemy during the raid, but the melee of "friendly" antiaircraft fire from a number of ships nearby, including some in the nest itself, had severed a number of strands of rigging and antennae.
At 1410, "Zane" and "Wasmuth" rigged up a twin-ship, moored-mine sweep with 400 fathoms of wire between them and entered the Pearl Harbor entrance channel at 1547, sweeping up to the vicinity of the gate vessel before the sweep wire parted. Subsequently, returning to sea, "Zane" resumed antisubmarine patrols, carrying them out at a time when submarine sightings (most of them fictitious) proliferated.
1942.
"Zane" operated locally out of Pearl Harbor into the spring of 1942. She departed the Hawaiian Islands on 5 April, escorting an convoy (number 4079) to San Pedro, California. The high-speed minesweeper then underwent repairs and alterations at the Mare Island Navy Yard before she returned to Pearl Harbor in early June.
Meanwhile, the tide of war was beginning to turn. Eight months after Pearl Harbor, the United States Navy was ready to launch its first amphibious operation, codenamed Operation Watchtower. The target was the Japanese-held Solomon Islands, and the operation was to begin on 7 August 1942.
American intelligence knew that numerous unmined areas existed off the objective beachheads, but invasion planners thought it best to at least determine the exact boundaries of any minefields that existed in the areas. Accordingly, "Zane" and four of her sisterships (, , and ) —were to sweep an area extending from the 100 fathom (183 m) curve toward Port Purvis on Florida Island, but split into two groups near Gavutu Island to head simultaneously toward beach "Red," clearing a wide stretch through Lengo Channel toward Indispensable Strait. Japanese shore batteries opened up on the ships, but their fire was erratic and did no damage. By 1550 on the day of the first landings, 7 August, the area had been thoroughly swept. No mines were found.
Over the ensuing weeks, the Battle of Guadalcanal was fought, with the Japanese maintaining themselves on the island. The Americans were compelled to bring in their reinforcements during the daylight hours when they controlled the skies. At night, the Japanese, with their superior night-fighting capabilities, had command of the situation in the Solomons. "Zane" worked off Tulagi and Guadalcanal, breaking her sweep and patrol operations with periodic upkeep at Noumea, New Caledonia. On 8 September, during one such sweep operation, the minesweeper watched waves of high flying Japanese planes heading toward Guadalcanal.
Into the autumn, as the fighting ashore became more intense, the need for supplies - particularly aviation gasoline to keep the Cactus Air Force in the air - multiplied. At Espiritu Santo, "Zane" and her sistership "Trever" piled drums of aviation gasoline on their decks, together with torpedoes, ammunition and stores, and each with two motor torpedo (PT) boats in tow, set sail for Guadalcanal. They reached Tulagi Harbor at 0530 on 25 October 1942.
"Trever" completed her unloading by 0700. At 0809, the general air raid alarm sounded from ashore. "Trever" cast off and stood into the harbor itself; "Zane" got underway about the same time and lay to about 700 yards ahead of "Trever" in the shelter of Tulagi, Koko-tambu, and Songoangona Islands.
At 0955, the signal station at Tulagi informed both ships that three enemy ships had been sighted in the straits between Savo and Florida Islands, entering "Iron Bottom Bay." "Trever's" commanding officer, the task group commander, Commander D. M. Agnew, took a dim view of the recommendation that his ships seek shelter up the Maliala River. Not wanting to be, in his words, "trapped like rats," Agnew elected to run.
"Zane" and "Trever" stood out at maximum speed and cleared the channel leading out of Tulagi at 1014. Lookouts noted the stacks and mast-tops of three ships almost simultaneously at distant and bearing 250 degrees, steering a slightly converging course. Within five minutes, the American lookouts noted that the trio of enemy ships had altered course to close.
The three enemy ships (the destroyers "Akatsuki", "Ikazuchi", and "Shiratsuyu") comprised the 1st Attack Unit, dispatched to provide naval gunfire support during the day to Japanese land forces who had hoped to capture Henderson Field. Each of the Japanese ships with their 6 × 5 in (127 mm) guns outgunned their American counterparts who were armed with smaller calibre guns.
At 1020, the enemy formation changed course again to close the range still further and bring their heavier batteries to bear. "Zane" and "Trever", meanwhile, skirted the shoal waters on course for Sealark Channel. Ten minutes later, with the range at approximated 9,200 yards, the Japanese destroyers opened fire, and the running sea fight was on.
The Japanese - in view of their slated mission - were using bombardment ammunition instead of armor-piercing shells. Soon shells began landing disturbingly close to the zigzagging "Trever" and "Zane"; the latter, for example, observed one shell land just forward of her bow and one apiece on each side of the forecastle, off the bows. One enemy shell scored a direct hit on "Zane", hitting the minesweeper's number 1 × gun, forward, killing three men instantly. Other shells cut away rigging, antennae, and every halyard except the one to the gaff. That one appropriately flew the national ensign.
Providentially, at 1040, the Japanese ships turned away to engage and a small patrol craft off Lunga Point. The respite offered the two high-speed minesweepers proved fatal to the fleet tug and the YP as the Japanese ships sank them summarily before retiring, harried by American planes from Henderson Field. "Trever" and "Zane", meanwhile, continued to retire to the eastward. At 1055, the two minecraft changed course to the south and west of San Cristobal Island.
"Zane" remained in the forward areas of the Southwest Pacific theater through the end of 1942. Again in company with "Trever", the high-speed minesweeper towed PT boats of Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 2 from Nouméa to Espiritu Santo in mid-November. "Zane" later escorted a convoy from the New Hebrides to Tulagi and Guadalcanal before being sent to Sydney, Australia, in January 1943 for repairs and a rest for her crew.
1943.
While at Sydney, "Zane" was called upon to perform a rescue mission. On 22 January 1943, the Japanese submarine I-21 (a craft with an impressive record of "kills" since scoring her first on Christmas Eve 1941) torpedoed and disabled the American steamship "Peter H. Burnett". The next day, "Zane" received orders to proceed to the last reported position of the crippled steamer.
At 1255 on 25 January, "Zane" spotted a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Catalina flying boat. She, in turn, led the minesweeper to the location of "Peter H. Burnett's" lifeboat number three. Apparently, the steamer's crew and passengers had thought the ship would sink as a result of the torpedo damage aft and abandoned her; their ship, however, was still afloat.
"Zane" took on board 14 men (12 crewmembers including the Master, Charles Darling, and two U.S. Army passengers) at 1330 and altered course to head for the last reported position of the ship from which the men had come. The RAAF Catalina then helpfully radioed the position of the derelict, enabling "Zane" to reach the scene at 1735. She then transferred, via motor whaleboat, 13 of the men back to their ship; one man had been retained on board "Zane" under medical treatment for his injuries suffered when the steamer had been torpedoed. The minesweeper then took "Peter H. Burnett" in tow and pulled her to Sydney, where they both arrived safely on the 27th.
"Zane" returned to Guadalcanal in late February. In her absence, there had been a change in the situation on that once bitterly contested isle - the Japanese had evacuated it on 7 February and 8 February, leaving it in American hands at last.
With Guadalcanal finally secured, American planners looked toward the Russells, west northwest of Guadalcanal. These isles were chiefly remembered by visitors for "rain, mud, and magnificent coconuts." The operation code-named Operation Cleanslate, was the first forward island-jumping movement made in the South Pacific.
"Zane", as part of Task Unit (TU) 61.1.3, towed four landing craft (two LCVP's, one LCV and an LCM) to the objective area. As part of the "Spit Kit Expeditionary Force," the minesweeper thus put into action part of the troops slated to occupy the Russells. On 21 February 1943, Operation Cleanslate commenced but encountered no opposition from the enemy, who had only recently evacuated the islands. As Vice Admiral George C. Dyer wrote in his biography of Admiral Richmond K. Turner "The Amphibians Came to Conquer" "'Cleanslate' went off with precision, but without fanfare or publicity."
For "Zane", her next amphibious operation was Operation Toenails, the assault and occupation of New Georgia. "Zane" and comprised TU 31.1.1, the "Onaiavisi Occupation Unit." Each picked up a company of the Army's 169th Infantry Regiment and an LCVP in the Russells on 29 June and headed for their objective, the two small islands guarding the most direct approach to Zanana Beach on New Georgia Island. That beach was slated to be the jump-off point for the flanking attack on strategic Munda airfield.
Bad weather (low ceilings, moderate showers with corresponding poor visibility, shifting and gusty winds, and choppy seas) hampered "Toenails" from the start; but "Zane" and Talbot reached the Onaiavisi channel entrance at around 0225 on 30 June to begin their task. However, shortly before 0300, "Zane" grounded during a heavy rain squall while disembarking her troops. Nevertheless, the mishap did not hamper the landing process; for both "Zane" and "Talbot" succeeded in putting both companies of the 169th Regiment ashore without loss on Dume (later known as Sasavele Island) and Baraulu Islands to hold the Onaiavisi entrance until the shore-to-shore movement could commence to Zanana Beach.
"Zane" remained aground forward until 0523, when she finally managed to back free. However, the high-speed minesweeper grounded aft almost immediately, damaging her propellers. Again she tried using her own power to get free but, despite aid by "Talbot", could not do so. "Zane's" predicament was far from good: she was a sitting duck, only five miles from Japanese-held Munda airstrip. Providentially, as Admiral Dyer recounts, "no alert Japanese artillery man hauled up a battery to take "Zane" under fire."
After some four hours, pulled "Zane" off the rocks. The fleet tug (a former minesweeper herself) then took "Zane" back to the Solomons for repairs, arriving at Tulagi on 2 July.
After enough temporary patching to permit the ship to leave Guadalcanal under her own power, "Zane" headed via Espiritu Santo and Pearl Harbor to the Mare Island Navy Yard for permanent repairs and alterations. The high-speed minesweeper again sailed westward on 23 September, departing Mare Island, bound for Pearl Harbor. Reaching Oahu on 30 September, she remained in the Hawaiian operating area for the rest of the year 1943 and through mid-January 1944.
1944 to 1945.
Departing Pearl Harbor on 22 January 1944, "Zane" subsequently took part in Operation Flintlock, the invasion of the Marshall Islands. As part of the Southern Attack Force, "Zane" was assigned escort duties in the Southern Transport Screen, TU 52.7.1, in company with sistership "Perry", four destroyers, and two subchasers (SC's). She screened transports during the Kwajalein phase of "Flintlock" and subsequently served as "sweep" ship and mine disposal vessel during the invasion and occupation of Eniwetok. In that part of the operation, she suffered minor damage from exploding mines, some of which exploded within 100 yards of the ship.
After returning to Pearl Harbor in March for availability, "Zane" during the summer participated in her last major operation, Operation Forager conducted in the Mariana Islands and Palau. Again working as mine disposal vessel, "Zane" was part of Task Group 12.13, the Minesweeping and Hydrographic Survey Group. Unit 2, to which the ship was attached, included three of her sisterships: , , and .
During the landing phases of "Forager", which commenced on 15 June when Vice Admiral Turner's Task Force 52 (the Northern Attack Force) began sending ashore the marines under the command of Lieutenant General H. M. Smith, USMC, "Zane" laid down buoys and destroyed drifting mines with gunfire, working once more as mine-destruction vessel. She spotted several planes attacking the beachheads, but all were beyond the range of her guns.
Subsequently, when marines and Army troops under Major General Roy S. Geiger went ashore on Guam on 22 July under the covering gunfire of Rear Admiral Harry W. Hill's task force, "Zane" worked as an antisubmarine escort vessel, steaming in the vanguard of a reserve transport group, TG 53.19. Significantly, the Guam operation proved to be the last front-line tour for the veteran high-speed minesweeper; for, after remaining in the Marianas until 8 August, she reported to Commander, Service Squadron (ServRon) 10, at Ulithi, in the Carolines, for duty as a target-towing vessel.
"Zane" performed target-towing and local escort duties for the remainder of the war, touching in the Palaus, Marianas, Carolines, and Philippines before V-J Day in mid-August 1945 found her at anchor in San Pedro Bay, off Leyte. During those prosaic but necessary duties, she had been reclassified from a high-speed minesweeper to a miscellaneous auxiliary, AG-109, on 5 June 1945.
The ship departed the western Pacific in October, beginning her homeward voyage from Leyte on the 13th. After touching at Eniwetok, Pearl Harbor, and San Diego en route, "Zane" transited the Panama Canal on 25 November and ultimately reached Norfolk, Virginia, on 29 November. She was decommissioned there on 14 December 1945.
Struck from the Navy list on 8 January 1946, the ship was delivered to Luria Brothers and Company, on 22 October 1946; her hulk was scrapped on 3 March 1947.
"Zane" (DMS-14) received six battle stars for her World War II service from Pearl Harbor to the Marianas. In addition, she received the Navy Unit Commendation for her services at Guadalcanal in 1942 and 1943.
Postscript.
As of 2012, no other ship has been named USS "Zane".
Herman Wouk, author of the novel "The Caine Mutiny", served as an officer aboard "Zane" from February 1943 to February 1945 before becoming executive officer of another Clemson class DMS, the USS "Southard" in May. "Zane" and her campaigns served as the model for a few of the incidents that took place on the fictional USS "Caine" (DMS-22), although the climax of the novel is influenced by his experiences as Executive Officer on the Destroyer/Minesweeper USS "Southard" after she ran aground at the Battle of Okinawa due to a typhoon, two months after peace was declared with Japan. Wouk began writing his first novel, "Aurora Dawn", while the "Zane" was at Tulagi in the Solomon Islands.


Ashley Greenwood

Ashley Martin Greenwood OBE MC QC (12 June 1912 – 30 September 2003) was a British soldier, lawyer, and judge. He served inter alia as Attorney General of Fiji and Attorney General of Gibraltar, as well as a judge in Uganda. He was also an accomplished mountaineer. He calculated that in his climbing, military and legal careers, he had spent time in 103 countries.
Education.
Educated initially at Haileybury College, Greenwood enrolled at Clare College, Cambridge, where he took a double first in Classics and graduated in Law.
In his student days, Greenwood developed a lifelong passion for mountaineering, scaling numerous peaks in the Alps, Dolomites, Tyrol, and Norway, as well as mountains closer to home in Scotland and Wales. He was elected to the Alpine Club at the age of 24. His mountaineering expertise proved crucial during his military service in the Second World War. He went on to marry a fellow-mountaineer. He celebrated his 80th birthday by scaling the 6121-meter high Stok Kangri Himalayan peak in Ladakh.
Military service.
Greenwood joined the Royal Artillery as a temporary Captain in 1940, with service number 132776. In April 1943, at a mountain warfare conference at Lochailort, Scotland, he was transferred to the New Zealand Squadron as a climbing instructor for mountain warfare. He accompanied the New Zealand Squadron in its ultimately doomed attempt to occupy the Italian-controlled Dodecanese Islands. Escaping to Turkey, he went on to become a liaison officer for the Long Range Desert Group of a British brigade in Montenegro in 1945. In June 1945, he joined the Allied Military Government Organization in Austria, serving until March 1946. Shortly afterwards, he joined the Colonial Office. He was awarded the Military Cross in 1944.
Legal career.
Greenwood was appointed Deputy Registrar of the High Court of Uganda in 1946, becoming Registrar in 1947 and Resident Magistrate in 1950.
Called to the bar at London's Inner Temple in 1952, Greenwood became a Crown Counsel in 1954. After serving briefly as Solicitor General of Fiji in 1956, he became Attorney General later that year, serving until 1963, when he became Attorney General of Gibraltar. He later filled in as Acting Attorney General of Montserrat, as well as a legal adviser in Hong Kong. He was also to spend a year in Washington, D.C. as an adviser to the Telstar Conference.
Personal life.
Greenwood married fellow-mountaineer Rosemary Farmborough Howard in 1956. They had first climbed together before the war. Up until 1978, they together climbed mountains in New Zealand, Austria, Italy, Greece, Nepal, India and Peru. They both belonged to the Eagle Ski Club.


Al-Mustadi

Hassan al-Mustadi Ibn Yusuf al-Mustanjid (1142 – 27 March 1180) () was the Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad from 1170 to 1180. He succeeded his father Caliph Al-Mustanjid in 1170 as the Abbasid Caliph.
Biography.
Like his predecessor, he continued to occupy a more or less independent position, with a vizier and courtly surroundings, and supported by only a small force sufficient for an occasional local campaign. During his reign, Saladin ended the Shia Fatimid Caliphate, became the Sultan of Egypt and declared his allegiance to the Abbasids.
Benjamin of Tudela, who traveled to this area between 1160 and 1173, noted: "Two days from Akbara stands Baghdad. The large metropolis of Calif Emir-al-Mumenin al Abassi Amir al-Mu'minin, of the family of their prophet, who is chief of the Mahometan religion. All Mahometan kings acknowledge him, and he holds the same dignity over them which the Pope enjoys over the Christians. The palace of the Caliph at Baghdad is three miles in extent. It contains a large park filled with all sorts of trees, both useful and ornamental, and all kinds of beasts, as well as a pond of water carried thither from the river Tigris; and whenever the Caliph desires to enjoy himself and to sport and carouse, birds, beasts and fishes are prepared for him and for his courtiers, whom he invites to his palace. This great Abassid is extremely friendly towards the Jews, many of his officers being of that nation; he understands all languages, is well versed in Mosaic law, and reads and writes the Hebrew tongue. He enjoys nothing but what he earns by the labor of his own hands, and therefore manufactures coverlets, which he stamps with his seal, and which his officers sell in the public market..."
In 1180, Caliph Al-Mustadi died and was succeeded by his son Al-Nasir.


New Think Festival

New Think Festival, also called "Fikristan" meaning "The Land of Ideas" in Arabic, is a yearly weekend event held in both the King Hussein Business Park and The Children's Museum Jordan in Amman, Jordan. It is part of a non-profit initiative called NewThink, which aims to inspire the youth of Jordan to view the world in different innovative perspectives. The festival is one of the many events administered by the initiative, which are held throughout the year to get the youth involved.
In 2015, the festival hosted 40 different organizations at the King Hussein Business Park and the Children's Museum Jordan in Amman that aimed to inspire their audience to be visionary and think differently about the world through workshops and presentations. The organizations that participated included environmental, business, medical and educational groups.
History.
NewThink initiative was first held in 2009. Later it developed into the festival which started in 2012 with an average yearly attendance of 14,000 teens and university students from all over Jordan. Activities included programs about leadership, entrepreneurship, culture, arts, health and technology. Participants had the opportunity to choose five hours each day from over 60 sessions, which were led by 250 speakers from across the kingdom.


Kurkir ibn Justan

Kurkir ibn Justan () was a Daylamite military officer of the Buyids, who served as the chief captain of the army of Kirman from 968 until his downfall in 972.
Biography.
He is first mentioned in 968, when he was appointed as the chief captain of the army of Kirman by the Buyid ruler 'Adud al-Dawla. In ca. 970, was sent on an expedition against the Ilyasid rebel Sulaiman ibn Muhammad; the outcome was positive for the Buyids - Kurkir managed to defeat and kill the rebel, including of his nephews, Bakr and al-Husain. Kurkir then had their heads sent to 'Adud al-Dawla, who was Shiraz. However, the natives of Kirman continued to resist Kurkir, who was shortly reinforced by an army under 'Abid ibn 'Ali.
They then marched towards Jiroft, and fought the rebels on December 13, which resulted in victory for the Buyids, and the death of several leading figures of the rebellion. In 972, Kurkir, who had offended 'Adud al-Dawla, shortly fell out of favor, and was imprisoned in Siraf. During his captivity, he was treated with honor, and after that he disappears from sources.


Siege of Tarnovo

The siege of Tarnovo occurred in the spring of 1393 and resulted in a decisive Ottoman victory. With the fall of its capital, the Bulgarian Empire was reduced to a few fortresses along the Danube.
Origins of the conflict.
Tarnovo exceeded all Bulgarian towns by its size, its treasures, and its partly natural, partly artificial fortifications. Therefore, the Turks attacked this area of Bulgaria first.
The battle.
In the spring of 1393, Bayazid I gathered his troops from Asia Minor, crossed the Dardanelles, and joined with his western army, which likely included some Christian rulers from Macedonia. He entrusted the main command to his son Celebi, and ordered him to depart for Tarnovo. Suddenly, the town was besieged from all sides. The Turks threatened the citizens with fire and death if they did not surrender.
The population resisted but eventually surrendered after a three-month siege, following an attack from the direction of Tsarevets, on July 17, 1393. The Patriarch's church "Ascension of Christ" was turned into a mosque, the rest of the churches were also turned into mosques, baths, or stables. All palaces and churches of Trapezitsa were burned down and destroyed. The same fate was expected for the tzar palaces of Tsarevets; however, parts of their walls and towers were left standing until the 17th century.
In the absence of Tsar Ivan Shishman, who attempted to fight the Turks elsewhere, leading the remnants of his troops to the fortress of Nikopol, the main Bulgarian leader in the town was Patriarch Evtimiy. He went to the Turkish camp with the intention of assuaging the Turkish commander, who listened politely to his pleas, but afterwards fulfilled very little of his promises.
Celebi left the town after appointing a local commander. The new governor gathered all eminent citizens and boyars under a pretense and had them all killed. According to legend, Evtimiy was sentenced to death but saved at the last minute by a miracle.
Aftermath.
Later, the city's leading citizens were sent into exile in Asia Minor, where their historical traces are lost. The patriarch was sent into exile in Thrace. He died in exile and was later hailed as a national saint of his people.
The citizens of Tarnovo that remained in the town saw what was described by contemporary sources as a "complete devastation of the town". Turkish colonists occupied Tsarevets which from then on was called Hisar. The disciples of Evtimiy dispersed to Russia and Serbia, taking with them Bulgarian books, in the same way as the Greek learned men enriched the West with the old classics. Many merchants and boyars converted to Islam. The famous church of the Holy Forty Martyrs, built by Ivan Asen II, somewhat damaged after the battle, was turned into a mosque.
The fall of Tarnovo and the exile of Patriarch Evtimiy mark the destruction of the Bulgarian national church. As early as August 1394, the Patriarch of Constantinople appointed the Moldovan metropolitan bishop to carry the episcopal symbols in Tarnovo, where he came the following year. In 1402, Tarnovo had its own metropolitan, subjected to the Byzantine patriarch. Thus, the Bulgarian state fell under Turkish rule while the Bulgarian church fell under Greek rule.


Louis E. Denfeld

Louis Emil Denfeld (April 13, 1891 – March 28, 1972) was an admiral in the United States Navy who served as Chief of Naval Operations from December 15, 1947 to November 1, 1949. He also held several significant surface commands during World War II, and after the war he served as the dual-hatted commander of United States Pacific Command and Pacific Fleet.
Life and naval career.
Born in Westborough, Massachusetts, Denfeld graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1912. He took command of the destroyer in 1919 and served aboard the submarine during 1923 and 1924. He commanded Destroyer Division 11 from 1935 to 1937.
Denfeld was selected to be aide to the Chief of Naval Operations in 1939, then commanded first Destroyer Division 18, then Destroyer Squadron 1 from 1939 to 1941. He served as Chief of Staff to the Commander of the United States Atlantic Fleet, Admiral Royal E. Ingersoll. For planning of safe routes for escort convoys in this capacity, Denfeld received the Legion of Merit. He became head of the Atlantic Fleet Support Force in 1941, then assistant chief to the Bureau of Navigation in 1942. He led Battleship Division 9 in 1945, was appointed Chief of the Bureau of Personnel in 1945, and commanded United States Pacific Command and Pacific Fleet in 1947.
On February 28, 1947 Denfeld was named Military Governor of the Marshall Islands, Caroline Islands, and Mariana Islands, replacing Admiral John H. Towers. Denfeld was appointed Chief of Naval Operations on December 15, 1947. Due to his role in the "Revolt of the Admirals", he was detached from duty by the Secretary of the Navy Francis P. Matthews on November 1, 1949, and retired in 1950.
Denfeld was a candidate for Governor of Massachusetts in 1950. He lost the Republican nomination to Arthur W. Coolidge. Denfield died in Westborough, Massachusetts at the age of 80. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
Awards and decorations.
Admiral Louis E. Denfeld received many decorations during his career. Here is his ribbon bar:


Team Lioness

Team Lioness refers to the US women soldiers who were used to respect local customs regarding the prohibition of men touching or searching local women during operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Team Lioness, considered one of the forerunners of the now official FETs (Female Engagement Teams), went out and distributed information to local women and families and gathered intelligence.
Team Lioness.
The successes of Team Lioness and the later FETs is still under review, a report is due but no date has been set for its release. More American servicewomen have been killed and wounded resulting from hostile action in the Iraq War than in any other previous war, but this has more to do with the fact that there are more US servicewomen performing more missions than in any previous conflict.
Official policy barred the armed services from assigning women to direct ground combat units in most situations. Instead, when commanders want to put talented women soldiers on combat teams, they must do so by temporarily "attaching" them to those units, or sending them in a support role, rather than an official combat role, thus Team Lioness was "attached," but not assigned to infantry units. Their role was one of pacifying and attempting to win the hearts and minds of the local population.
Documentary.
A documentary titled "Lioness" covered one of the first members of Team Lioness in Ramadi, Iraq between 2003 and 2004. Since its release in 2008, "Lioness" has contributed significantly to the mainstreaming of the movement to recognize and respond to the needs of American servicewomen.
As a catalyst for military-civilian dialogue, the film has led to tangible change in a number of arenas by framing an important but largely invisible issue in meaningful human terms. Among the film’s notable accomplishments is its integration into the national veteran and Department of Defense healthcare infrastructures as a training tool for VA and military healthcare personnel. The film has also played a pivotal role in the passage of two critical pieces of legislation improving women veterans' access to healthcare in the VA system. The Women Veterans Healthcare Improvement Act, designed to increase availability of gender-specific services for women, was signed into law by President Obama on May 5, 2010, as part of the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act. The Compensation Owed for Mental Health Based on Activities in Theater Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Act expanded the definition of combat, making it easier for all veterans to qualify for combat-related disability benefits.


Ioane Berai

Ioane Berai () was a Georgian calligrapher of the 10th century.
He was brought up and raised in the Shatberdi monastery. His uncle was the well-known Georgian calligrapher Mikael Modrekili. His works was mainly written in Asomtavruli and Nuskhuri Georgian scripts.


Shahid Balkhi

 () (died, 325 AH - 935) was a Persian theologian, philosopher, poet and sufi. Famous Persian poet Rudaki has a poem in Balkhi's elegy. He was born in Balkh, modern day Afghanistan. Shahid Balkhi was contemporary to Ahmed ibn Sahl al-Balkhi and they had connections. He also had conversations with Zakariya al-Razi, the well-known Persian polymath and both had objections toward the nature of the pleasure.
He had poems both in Persian and Arabic languages.
Jawami ul-Hikayat story.
There is a story in Jawami ul-Hikayat, a book written in 630 AH. by Sadiduddin Muhammad Aufi Persian historian, about Shahid Balkhi that indicates his interest in reading and inquiry of knowledge;
Life.
Shahid Balkhi was born in the village of Jakhudanak near Balkh. Not much is known about his life, but he is mentioned as being one of the best poets in the court of the Samanid ruler Nasr II (r. 914-943), and one of the best scholars of the age. He was also a student of Rudaki, and had close relations with him. He died in 936, a few years before Rudaki's death. His death saddened Rudaki, who afterwards wrote an emotionally elegy about him.


Stateira I

Stateira I (; 370 BC - early 332 BC) was a queen of Persia as the wife of Darius III of Persia of the Achaemenid dynasty.
She was possibly the sister of her husband. She accompanied her husband while he went to war. It was because of this that she was captured by Alexander the Great after the Battle of Issus, in 333 BC at the town of Issus. Her husband abandoned his entire family at the site as he fled from Alexander, including his mother Sisygambis and his daughters Stateira II and Drypetis. Alexander is reported to have treated them with great respect.
Stateira I died giving birth to a son, Ochus in early 332 BC. She was given a splendid burial by Alexander, befitting her status as the wife of the Great King of Persia.Darius' mother Sisygambis had a lifelong respect and genuine friendship with Alexander.
In 324 BC, her daughter, Stateira II, married Alexander, and her other daughter, Drypetis, married one of his lifetime companions, Hephaestion. When Alexander died one year later these royal Persian women mourned his death, further indicating personal relationships rather than merely diplomatic ones. According to Plutarch, both of her daughters were assassinated by another wife of Alexander, Roxana and Perdiccas, one of Alexander's generals. Upon hearing the news of Alexander's death, Sisygambis said farewell to her family, turned to the wall, and fasted herself to death.


Sara Dane

Sara Dane is a 1982 Australian television miniseries about a woman transported from England to Australia for a crime she did not commit.
Original novel.
The mini-series was based on the best-selling 1954 novel of the same name by Catherine Gaskin. Gaskin had spent two years researching the book, which was inspired by the true story of Mary Reibey, a woman convict who married an officer while travelling to Australia, went on to become a successful businesswoman in her own right, and whose image has been featured since 1994 on the Australian $20 note.
The novel was Gaskin's most successful, selling over two million copies. Film rights were sold and Gaskin announced in 1955 that a movie version would be made at Elstree Studios the following year, but this did not occur.
Production.
In 1980 it was announced the South Australian Film Corporation would make a mini-series of the novel for Network Ten, possibly starring Judy Davis and Sam Neill. Eventually Juliet Jordan was cast.
Gaskin later said that Juliet was "not at all what I expected in Sara... but I'm more than delighted Juliet was cast... My young Sara was supposed to be a very strong character. You would have had to have been, to have survived and succeeded in the early days of Australia. If anything, the television Sara is even stronger than the novel's leading character in the end."
Soundtrack.
A soundtrack was released in 1982 by Cherry Pie.


John Tennant (bushranger)

John Tennant was an Australian bushranger who was active around the Canberra district in the mid-1820s. Mount Tennent is named after him as it was on the slopes of this steep mountain behind the village of Tharwa where many people believed he used to hide, although this is now thought to be incorrect.
Tennant was born in Belfast, Ireland, and was 29 years old when he was sentenced to transportation to Australia for life in 1823. He arrived in Sydney on 12 July 1824 on the 'Prince Regent'. He was assigned to Joshua John Moore and to join other men, James Clarke and John McLaughlin, who had helped establish Moore's property Canberry or Canberra, the first European habitation on the Limestone Plains.
In 1826 Tennant and another man, John Ricks, absconded from their assigned landholder and took to the bush. In July 1827 Tennant's gang raided Rose’s outstation at the Yass River, between Murrumbateman and Gunning. Tennant was shot in the back by James Farrell. During his recuperation, he teamed up with a female bushranger, Mrs Winter. Tennant, Ricks and another man held up Pialligo station on 21 November 1827, robbing it of supplies and stowing them in a hollow tree. When collecting them, two days later they were surprised and almost captured by the Pialligo and Canberry overseers. After other robberies, they tortured James Farrell in late December 1827. Two members of his gang (Cain and Murphy) were caught near Goulburn and Tennant and Ricks were sighted near Canberry by John Casey. The authorities were now closing in on him.
Capture.
On 8 January 1828, about 2 a.m., Mr. J. J. Moore's station was stuck up by Tennant and Rix, and all his men rounded up and placed under guard. Mr. Cowan, awakened by the noise, jumped out of bed and armed himself with a musket and handing another to his hutkeeper, William Waterson. The bushrangers demanded that Cowan should open the door and come out, to which Cowan replied that "he would defend his hut to the last." Tennant, whom Mr. Cowan had been able to recognise (the night being moonlight), "making use of horrid oaths and violent threats," said to Cowan, "If you don't come out of the hut I will burn you out." Tennant's companion, who proved to be Rix called out, "Tennant, fire in, what signifies the life of one or two?" Tennant was as good as his word, and actually set the bark roof alight on two occasions, but probably from being damp the bark would not burn. At this juncture, Thomas Leahy, an assigned servant of Mr. J. J. Moore, appealed to Tennant, saving. "Don't do that, Tennant, Mr. Cowan never did you any harm." Tennant replied, Well, I will not burn the hut, but if anyone, Scotch, Irish, or English came after them, he would have their lives.
The bushrangers then retired to the men's hut, where one of Mr. Ainslie's men was ordered to get them some food, having partaken of which the miscreants made off. At sunrise, Mr. Cowan went over to Mr. Campbell's station and reported to James Ainslie what had happened, saying, "It was time something was done." Ainslie's reply was short, sharp, and to the purpose, characteristic of the old trooper: "I will go out and take them, dead or alive," Cowan replying that he would go with him. Ainslie, hearing that two constables were at a neighbouring station, sent for and requested them to accompany him in pursuit of the gang, also obtaining the services of four Aboriginals as trackers. John Jones, district constable, also joined Mr. Ainslie at "Pialligo," before making their way to "Canberry," where Constable Fenton, Mr. Cowan, Mr. Macfarlane, and others joined the party. Leaving "Canberry," the trackers soon picked up the track of the bushrangers, which was followed round the north side of a hill into the forest land, the track becoming quite plain and leading towards the Murrumbidgee River. After following the track for about five miles they came to a brush on rising ground, where one of the trackers named "Make-a-cake," called out, "Make a light," meaning that he saw the bushrangers encampment. While the party halted to arrange their plans, Ainslie, unnoticed, rushed into the tent alone and surprised Teannant and Rix. Placing his musket to Tennant's breast, he said, "You rascal, Tennant! If you move I will put the contents of the piece through your heart." At this moment, in ignorance that Ainslie was in the tent, three shots were fired, which wounded Tennant in the neck, face, and hands, and Rix in the knee, but fortunately, Ainslie escaped injury, promptly shouting, "Cease firing, the men are fast." Mr. Macfarlane promptly rushed to Ainslie's assistance, relieving him of Tennant, whom he gave in charge to Constable Jones. A large quantity of stolen property was recovered, and among other articles we are glad to know that Mr. Ainslie was able to swear positively to his light-coloured vest with the pearl buttons, and to his nightcap marked with his initials, but with his innate Scottish caution refused to swear to the other items, as they had "no particular private marks, though still believing them to belong to himself and some of his men." Tennant after trial, and one of his accomplices in other robberies, were found guilty of larceny and hanged, while Rix, for some reason was found not guilty. James Ainslie later received a grant of 100 acres as a reward for assisting to capture the bushrangers.
John Gale in his book "Canberra, its history and legends" described Tennant in romantic terms and is largely responsible for many of the myths attached to him, stating: Tennant descending from his look-out (on Mount Tennent) would bail up (a dray) - but only when his larder or wardrobe needed replenishing - terrorising the driver by presenting fire-arms and abstracting from the loading whatsoever he needed just then and order the man in charge of the team to drive on again. He never was known to use unnecessary violence or to wantonly destroy valuable cargo for what he had no need. Where Tennant stored his booty... was never discovered, not withstanding frequent and ... exhaustive serches to this end. The mountain had numerous caves and mazes well adapted... many never explored.
This description of Tennant contradicts the evidence brought against him when he and Ricks were tried on 30 May 1828 in the New South Wales Supreme Court for stealing and putting John Farrell and Thomas Simpson in bodily fear. Farrell described part of the attack on him: Tennant then said, that they would boy-whip me and not take my life, and as he had a boatswain of his own, I should have fifty lashes; they then tied me up to a post, and took down my trowsers, and Tennant ordered me to receive fifty lashes, which were inflicted by Ricks, with the buckle end of a strap, and when I was ordered by Tennant to be taken down, he gave me three additional lashes; I was severely hurt, and bled very much; the prisoners took an old carbine, and an old musket, worth altogether about 10s. out of the hut, but they were brought back by the overseer immediately.
John Tennant, John Ricks, James Murphy and Thomas Cain were convicted on 29 February 1828 and sentenced to hang.
After having their sentences commuted the men were sent instead to the notorious penal colony of Norfolk Island for 7 years.
Tennant served his term arriving back in Sydney and died a year later in August 1837.


USS Allen (DD-66)

USS "Allen" (DD-66) was a destroyer of the United States Navy launched in 1916. She was the second Navy ship named for Lieutenant William Henry Allen (1784–1813), a naval officer during the War of 1812. She was the longest-serving destroyer on the Naval Vessel Register when she was sold in 1946 and was one of the few ships in the US Navy during World War II which was completed during World War I.
Construction and design.
The construction of six destroyers of the for the US Navy was authorized in June 1914, with a contract being signed with Bath Iron Works for the construction of USS "Allen" on 30 January 1915. "Allen" was laid down by Bath Iron Works at their Bath Maine shipyard and was launched on 5 December 1916, sponsored by Miss Dorothea Dix Allen and Miss Harriet Allen Butler, and commissioned on 24 January 1917, Lieutenant Commander Samuel W. Bryant in command. Final delivery from Bath Iron Works was recorded as 22 October 1917, per the official records of the Bath Iron Works Company. (record Number 68). Construction cost was $816,185.43 for hull and machinery.
"Allen" was long overall and between perpendiculars, with a beam of and a draft of . Displacement was standard and full load. Four Normand three-drum water tube boilers supplied saturated steam at to two sets of Parsons steam turbines rated at . A geared cruising turbine was fitted which could drive the port propeller shaft. Design speed was , with a speed of reached during sea trials.
The ship was armed with four 4-inch (102 mm) 50-calibre guns, with two 1-pounder (37 mm) pom-pom autocannon providing anti-aircraft protection. Four treble mounts for 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes were fitted. Crew was 136 officers and other ranks during wartime and 103 during peacetime.
By 1930, "Allen"s pom-poms had been replaced by a single 3-inch (76 mm) anti-aircraft gun. "Allen" was rearmed during World War II for escort operations, with two triple torpedo-tube mounts being removed to accommodate depth charge projectors and six 20 mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft guns.
Service history.
World War I.
In the five months after commissioning, "Allen" conducted patrol and escort duty along the eastern seaboard of the US and in the West Indies, continuing these duties following the United States entering World War I on the side of the Allies on 6 April. On the night of 30 April/1 May 1917, "Allen" was escorting the battleship when she collided with the destroyer , damaging both ships. On 14 June, the destroyer put to sea from New York in the escort of one of the first convoys to take American troops to Europe. After seeing the convoy safely across the Atlantic, "Allen" joined other American destroyers at Queenstown, Ireland, and began duty patrolling against U-boats and escorting convoys on the last leg of their voyage to Europe under the command of Commander Henry D. Cooke. Cooke was later awarded with the Navy Cross for his leadership of USS "Allen".
That duty included escort missions into both French and British ports. During her service at Queenstown, she reported engagements with German submarines on 10 separate occasions, but postwar checks of German records failed to substantiate even the most plausible of the supposed encounters.
On 14 July 1917, "Allen" was escorting the merchant ships SS "Rhesus" and SS "Idomeneus" when "Rhesus" was missed by a torpedo, possibly from the German submarine or . One of the last duties the destroyer performed in European waters came in December 1918 when she helped to escort , with President Woodrow Wilson embarked, into Brest, France, on the 13th. Following that mission, the destroyer returned to Queenstown, whence she departed on the day after Christmas, bound for home. "Allen" pulled into New York on 7 January 1919.
Inter-War Period.
After voyage repairs, the destroyer resumed duty along the East Coast and in the West Indies with the United States Atlantic Fleet. That duty continued until 22 June 1922, at which time she was placed out of commission, in reserve. She was placed back in commission three years later, on 23 June 1925. "Allen" spent almost three years as a training platform for naval reservists at Washington, D.C. In March 1928, the destroyer returned to the Reserve Fleet and was berthed at Philadelphia. There, she remained for more than 12 years. On 23 August 1940, "Allen" was recommissioned at Philadelphia, Lieutenant Commander Frederick P. Williams in command.
World War II.
Following a brief period of service on the United States East Coast, "Allen" was reassigned to the Pacific Fleet as a unit of Destroyer Division (DesDiv) 80. By the time "Allen" returned to commission, the Pacific Fleet had been moved from its base on the United States West Coast to Pearl Harbor in Hawaii as a gesture to "restrain" the Japanese. Therefore, "Allen" moved to the Hawaiian base, whence she operated until the beginning of hostilities between the United States and Japan.
On the morning of 7 December 1941, "Allen" was moored in East Loch to the northeast of Ford Island and just southeast of the hospital ship . During the Japanese attack on the harbor that morning, she claimed to have assisted in downing three enemy planes.
Following the attack, "Allen" began duty escorting ships between islands of the Hawaiian chain and patrolling the area for enemy ships, primarily submarines. A primary training function of "Allen" during this period was to work up new submarine crews in penetrating ASW defensive positions, with "Allen" acting as the defender. This task is recorded in several histories of US submarine operations in the Pacific as their first actual action against a ship. She also made periodic round-trip voyages to the United States West Coast. Such duty remained her occupation throughout World War II.
In September 1945, "Allen" steamed from Hawaii to Philadelphia, where she was placed out of commission on 15 October 1945. Her name was struck from the Navy list on 1 November 1945, and she was sold to the Boston Metals Company, Baltimore, Maryland, on 26 September 1946 for scrapping.
Being in service prior to the US entry into World War I, and serving through World War II, "Allen" was the longest-serving destroyer on the Naval Register when she was sold.


Michael of Trebizond

Michael Megas Komnenos (Greek: Μιχαήλ Μέγας Κομνηνός, "Mikhaēl Megas Komnēnos"; c. 1288 – after 1355) was Emperor of Trebizond for one day, July 30, 1341, and from May 3, 1344 to December 13, 1349. He was a younger son of Emperor John II of Trebizond and Eudokia Palaiologina.
Life through his first reign.
Based on Nikephoros Gregoras' statement that Michael was 56 in 1344, one can deduce he was born around 1288. Michael was brought to Constantinople c. 1297 by his mother Eudokia, following the death of Emperor John II and his brother Alexios' ascension to the throne. A few years later Eudokia returned to Trebizond, presumably leaving Michael behind in Constantinople.
His life is a blank for the next decades. Michael was presumably left in the care of his uncle the Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos, whose attempts to dictate whom his brother and their mother would marry were thwarted; it is unclear what effect these failures had on Michael. It is certain that Michael was not confined to a monastery, for he married the daughter of the nobleman Constantine Acropolites, Acropolitissa, by whom he had a son, John III. Then followed a period of civil war between Andronikos II and his grandson Andronikos III Palaiologos, by which time Michael was of middle age; which side in the war he supported, or if he even took a side in this conflict, is again unknown. Lastly, a number of his brother's family – first Alexios' son Basil, then Basil's two sons – came to Constantinople as refugees from the conflict in Trebizond. It is unknown what contact Michael had with them, if he provided them succor, or if he was even aware they were in the city.
It is in 1341 that Michael's history is once again known. In that year a group of representatives of the "Scholarioi" faction, led by Niketas Scholares and Gregory Meitzomates, arrived from Trebizond and convinced the regents of the young Emperor John V Palaiologos to allow Michael to return. Once there he would marry the deposed Empress Irene Palaiologina and assume the imperial throne.
When Michael's three ships reached Trebizond on July 30, 1341, he found Irene had been deposed and his own niece, Anna Anachoutlou, ruling as empress. As the legitimate male descendant of the ruling family, Michael received the support of much of the populace and was acclaimed emperor. Some of the nobility, led by the Metropolitan Akakios, received him as their lord and escorted him into the palace. As soon as night fell, however, the nobles imprisoned Michael, not wishing to be ruled by a mature and forceful monarch. Anna's Lazic troops dispersed Michael's supporters and plundered his ships. The following day he was sent off to Oinaion and then Limnia, where he was held captive by the "megas doux" John the Eunuch.
When Michael's own son, John III, became emperor in September 1342, Michael remained in prison. John's incompetent rule alienated his chief supporters, chief of these was Niketas who marched with the army to Limnia (where John the Eunuch had recently been slain), freed Michael and returned with him to Trebizond. John III was deposed and sent to the monastery of St Sabas under a Byzantine guard, while the nobles supporting him were killed. Michael was crowned on May 3, 1344.
Life from his restoration to death.
Michael granted Niketas the title of "megas doux" and was forced to sign the document which gave Niketas and his ministers almost all power in the Empire, promising to seek their counsel in all official actions. This constitutional experiment was short-lived, because the greatest opposition came from the people of Trebizond. They were infuriated to see the Emperor stripped of his effective authority and rose up in revolt against the oligarchy of the "Scholarioi". Michael swiftly took advantage of the opportunity, and arrested and imprisoned Niketas in 1345. Also, he sent his son John off to Constantinople and then Adrianople where he was to be kept prisoner to prevent him from becoming a further focus for the discontented nobles of Trebizond.
Taking advantage of the instability in Trebizond, the Turkmen attacked the Empire in 1346, capturing the towns of Hagios Andreas and Oinaion. In September 1347, the Black Death struck Trebizond, raging for seven months. Its effects on the city is unclear: Andrew Libadenos, who was at Trebizond at the time, makes no mention of the epidemic, while Michael Panaretos describes how the Black Death carried off "many: children, husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, mothers, and kinsmen." Another Turkmen invasion the following year led to a three-day battle. Despite the victory, Michael's reputation as ruler was not strengthened.
In 1348, the Genoese seized Kerasous, the second most important city of the Empire in revenge for a massacre of Genoese by the Trapezuntines some years earlier. In May 1349, a Genoese expedition from Caffa was launched against Trebizond. The small Trapezuntine fleet under "Megas doux" John Kabazites was destroyed and the people of Trebizond responded to this defeat by killing any Westerner they found in the capital. Eventually, peace was reached with the Genoese, but in exchange for Kerasous they were given the fortress of Leonkastron. From now on Trebizond's commercial capacity was lessened even further, as the Genoese came to increasingly command the lucrative Black Sea trade of the port.
At that time the ailing Michael was both discredited and completely unable to govern the crumbling Empire. He was deposed on December 13, 1349 by "Megas doux" Niketas, whom he had been forced to release from prison. Niketas and his supporters placed on the throne his nephew John, the son of Emperor Basil, who had been sent by the Byzantine Emperor John VI Kantakouzenos to Trebizond, and arrived on December 22. Upon assuming the crown, John took the name Alexios III.
The deposed Emperor Michael was forced to become a monk at the cave monastery of St Sabas. In 1351, he was sent to Constantinople. Michael was released by Emperor John V Palaiologos in 1355; despite being in his sixties, he set forth Trebizond, hoping to recover his throne. Michael advanced as far as Sumela Monastery, but was prevented from entering his former capital. He returned to Constantinople, where he died.
Acropolitissa.
Michael is known to have married the daughter of the Byzantine "megas logothetes" Constantine Acropolites, and Maria Komnene Tornikina, but the name of their daughter has not been recovered. For convenience, scholars have given her the name Acropolitissa, the feminine form of "Acropolites". Little is known about her; Constantine Acropolites provides most of what we directly know about her. The Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos attempted to marry Michael Komnenos' older brother, Alexios to the daughter of one of his ministers, only to be foiled when Alexios married a princess of Georgia without telling his uncle. Nicol observes that "it would be quite in keeping with the elaborate dynastic and marital schemes of Andronikos II that, having failed to marry off the daughter of one of his ministers to the Emperor of Trebizond, he should encourage or arrange the marriage of the daughter of his Grand Logothete to that Emperor's brother." She was most likely dead by 1341, for that year Michael Megas Komnenos was invited to return to Trebizond and marry the reigning Empress, Irene Palaiologina, widow of his nephew Basil of Trebizond.
Other possible descendants.
The "Georgian Chronicle" of the 18th century reports George V of Georgia marrying a daughter of "the Greek Emperor, Lord Michael Komnenos". However the reigning dynasty of the Byzantine Empire in the 14th century were the Palaiologoi, not the Komnenoi. The marriage of a daughter of Michael IX Palaiologos and his wife Rita of Armenia to a Georgian ruler is not recorded in Byzantine sources. Neither is the existence of any illegitimate daughters of Michael IX. Whether this was a daughter of Michael Komnenos of Trebizond and Acropolitissa is unknown.