Naval History (History)

NASCITA ED EVOLUZIONE DEI CONTAINERS

Una rivoluzione recente quella dei containers e del trasporto marittimo degli stessi, una rivoluzione strisciante che oggi è diventata condizione del benessere, una rivoluzione scarsamente percepita dall’ opinione pubblica sino a che la sua importanza non è apparsa in tutta la sua gravità e implicazioni in occasione dell’ incaglio di una mega-portacontainers nel canale di Suez.
Oggi si parla di portacontainer da decine di migliaia di TEU, numero enorme di “pezzi” la cui movimentazione richiede una organizzazione complessa ma anche capillare, attenta ai minimi dettagli, nonché una attenta gestione tecnico-nautica della nave
Al gigantismo delle “navi madre” che possono solo scalare terminali attrezzati, sempre più specializzati, si è aggiunto il controllo di questi “snodi” da parte  della stesse “mani”, pochi operatori che, abbiamo visto nella “prova generale” del blocco del Canale di Suez, possono mettere in ginocchio l’ economia mondiale, agendo su poche leve di comando.

Come si è giunti a questo? come premessa ad un’ analisi di questa situazione, è utile conoscere come, in pochissimi anni, si sia arrivati a questa gestione degli scambi, in particolare per la parte marittima.

Questo articolo è stato originalmente richiesto, a fini divulgativi,  da Italian Shiplovers per pubblicazione nel dicembre 2020

Un tema trito e ritrito su cui si sono spesi inutilmente fiumi di inchiostro Nessuna difesa di inventori o primogeniture che non hanno alcun valore in una gestazione che è stata una scoperta collettiva e non può essere il vanto di un singolo, o di un gruppo Nessuna intenzione di trattare ancora né di elettronica, frequenze e prestazioni né di scontri il cui successo sia stato condizionato dal radar; ... solo una serie di spunti, basati non sulla definizione di quali studi o progetti fossero più o meno avanzati o validi, da una parte o dall' altra, sugli aspetti industriali, su quanto e come nuovi concetti si fossero veramente trasformati in tecnologie e, ancora più importante in dottrine di impiego, da lì, quanto e come avessero avuto pratica applicazione in produzioni industriali ed in quali serie, con quali aspettative e soprattutto con quale accettazione. Non voglio né tanto meno posso parlare di prestazioni ma solo di diffusione degli apparati, in primo luogo dal punto di vista delle serie industriali e di allestimento delle unità Un lavoro sui radar sviluppato da un GN appare certamente strano se non fuori luogo: non deve preoccupare, non parlo né degli " apparecchi " né del loro funzionamento, sempre per me molto misterioso con quegli ingombranti, ed anche un po' pretestuosi ed esigenti, scatoloni con cui mi confrontavo a bordo, ma del radar come sistema integrato e di cosa ha comportato studiarlo, industrializzarlo, metterlo a bordo, utilizzarlo ed adattarsi a questo invadente vicino… Troppi libri zeppi di dati e di tabelle (per ingannare) scritti da personaggi che né sono mai stati su una nave né hanno la minima idea di cosa fosse in effetti un radar all' epoca … …ed anche in merito agli apparati radar " Gufo " , frettolosamente prodotti e tardivamente imbarcati sulle nostre navi maggiori, i racconti di quelli che li avevano " vissuti " citano solo caratteristiche mediocri, da far disperare i comandi in merito alla loro reale operatività, in continua contestazione con l'industria che li costruiva.

"This book offers annotated translations of documents touching on Dutch admiral Cornelis Matelieff de Jonge and his voyage to Asia between 1605 and 1608. These translations are aimed at a contemporary English-speaking Asian readership interested in the early modern history of European trade, warfare and expansion in Southeast Asia with a focus on Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia. Researchers specialising in early European colonialism, international law, international relations, security studies, and diplomatic history will also find that the documents translated in this volume offer new and unfamiliar perspectives. Materlieff’s business acumen, military and diplomataic prowess as well as his vision of empire all have implications for examining not only European expansion into Southeast Asia, but also into other regions at large, including especially south Asia, Africa and the Americas.
Admiral Matelieff was a director of the Rotterdam Chamber of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) formed in 1602. He was appointed fleet commander on one of the company’s first voyages to Asia. Matelieff’s mission was both commercial and military: he launched a major sea-borne attack on the Portuguese colony of Melaka, arranged for the signing of treaties with the rulers of Johor, Aceh and Ternate, and founded the first Dutch fort on the island of Ternate. His endeavours, however, to open the Chinese market for the Dutch company proved unsuccessful.
Following his return to the Dutch Republic in September 1608, Matelieff penned a series of memorials and letters. In these he advanced recommendations for changing the way the company organized its fleets and conducted business. More importantly he offered  his Dutch contemporaries a vision of empire in Asia. The materials contained in this volume offer important observations of a perceptive analyst who was also determined to grasp the political and economic structures of Asia, and also of inter-state relations in across this vast region. At a time of Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Danish, French and English engagement in Southeast Asia, Matelieff sought to critically assess and strategize on the ways in which Europeans were increasingly engaging with Asian polities and their rulers.

This book will be released for sale in Australasia and Europe in June 2014 and available in the Americas after September 2014
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A brief analysis of the civil war between Caesar and Pompey, which takes into account political propaganda, espionage, intelligence gathering, use of double agents, religion, military operations, tactics, equipment, mil. training, etc. Dispels many of the myths surrounding late Republican warfare and Caesar's campaigns against Pompey. Establishes Julius Caesar as the pre-eminent spy master of his age.

A native of Bruges (now part of Belgium), Jacques de Coutre was a gem trader who spent nearly a decade in Southeast Asia in the early 17th century. In addition to a substantial autobiography written in Spanish and preserved in the National Library of Spain in Madrid, he wrote a series of memorials to the united crown of Spain and Portugal that contain recommendations designed to reverse the decline in the fortunes of the Iberian powers in Southeast Asia, particularly against the backdrop of early Dutch political and commercial penetration into the region. Translated into English for the first time, these materials provide a valuable first-hand account of the bigger issues confronting the early colonial powers in Southeast Asia, and deep insights into the societies De Coutre encountered in the territory that today makes up Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines.

"The article revisits the “Santa Catarina incident”, the famous episode of the first Portuguese ship captured by the Dutch in Asian waters, placing it within the broader context of Luso-Dutch rivalry in the Malay world, particularly the Straits of Singapore and Malacca. Through a careful analysis of European sources, the author assesses the broader consequences of this event and the ensuing international implications. After 1603, the VOC directors and the regents of the Dutch Republic were alerted to how profitable the policy of freebooting and despoiling the enemy could be, while the Portuguese authorities of the Estado da Índia became aware of their vulnerability in the face of geographical constraints. There is also a discussion of the legal defence of the Dutch interests as presented by Hugo Grotius, the Dutch jurist who has frequently been upheld as the “father of modern international law”. What becomes very transparent in the course of the present account is how important the Macao merchants really were to the Estado da Índia, how far their networks of trade spanned deep into Southeast Asia, and how, despite suffering a number of severe setbacks as a result of VOC freebooting activities, they managed to recuperate from these blows with amazing agility and perseverance.

You can download this paper from
http://www.icm.gov.mo/RC/TextPE.asp?No=11&ID=555"

The Italian submarine Scirè was sunk on 10th August 1942 in Haifa Bay, British Palestine, now Israel. Between 1941 and 1943 Italian combat divers had successfully attacked twenty eight ships, using innovative underwater warfare. Five of the ships were warships, including HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Valiant, sunk by the Scirè at Alexandria. As a result the strategic balance in the Mediterranean temporarily switched with the Allied powers losing their superiority to Germany and Italy. The possible attack on the oil port of Haifa and the danger to the Royal Navy in the Mediterranean made Britain redouble its efforts to destroy the Scirè. Communication intercepts allowed the British to track and hunt down the Scirè as it approached Haifa Bay. Underwater electric and acoustic warning systems - discovered and recovered recently - are reported and discussed. These probably enabled the British to locate the Scirè and sink it by means of guns and depth charges. Evidence sourced from original British and Italian documents combined with first-hand underwater investigations have helped to create a cohesive narrative of the demise of the Scirè.

In questo lavoro per la prima volta vengono analizzati i graffiti navali presenti sia all'interno che all'esterno della chiesa di Santa Maria Maggiore a Monte Sant'Angelo. Questi graffiti, ad oggi non ancora studiati, potrebbero avere un ruolo fondamentale nella datazione del complesso vista la possibilità di datare le unità navali ad un determinato secolo. Infatti le navi presenti sul muro esterno, nelle prime tre file di mattoni, sono databili al XII secolo, quando ormai la facciata della chiesa doveva essere grossomodo simile  quella che vediamo ancora oggi. L'ipotesi è che si tratti di ex voto lasciati da marinai e pellegrini che dal porto della vicina Siponto (poi Manfredonia) salivano a Monte Sant'Angelo per visitare la basilica di San Michele Arcangelo e poi forse far rotta per la Terrasanta.

In this article, naval graffiti on the exterior and in the interior of the church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Monte Sant'Angelo will be examined for the first time. This graffiti, which has not been systematically studied to this day, could play ad important role in the dating of the complex since it is possible to date naval units to a specific century. In fact, the ships that appear in the first three rows of bricks on the external wall con be dated to the 12th century, when the facade of the church must have been roughly similar to the one that we still see today. Although the meaning of the graffiti is not know, the argument advanced here is that they were left as ex votes by sailors and pilgrim who, from the nearby port of Siponto (the named Manfredonia), climbed Monte Sant'Angelo to visit the basilica of San Michele Arcangelo and then, perhaps, continued on to the Holy Land. The intent of this article is to initiate a complex line of research, one that aims to create an extensive collection of the hundreds of examples of naval graffiti that exist throughout the Gargano.

The paper deals with the discovery of an unpublished project by means of a surface assault boat in the Archive of the Historical Office of the Italian Navy. Made in January 1915, the project predates Italy’s entry into the First World War and testifies to the early interest of the Royal Italian Navy for unconventional naval assault operations which in 1918 led to the forcing of the Austro-Hungarian port of Pula in the Adriatic Sea. The project is examined in detail and compared with contemporary projects for other and more well-known types of surface assault boats, in particular with those of anti-submarine motorboats (MAS) wanted by the chief of staff of the Italian Navy of the time, the vice admiral Paolo Thaon di Revel. In parallel, the project is also considered as a fundamental anticipation of what was subsequently achieved from 1939 onwards with the surface and underwater assault boats always used by the Italian Navy during the Second World War in the Mediterranean and in the Black Sea.

The above photograph by Tim Insoll shows the two lone British war graves in the European Cemetery at Timbuctoo. They are the graves of Chief Engineer William Soutter (died 28 May 1942 age 60) and AB John Turnbull Graham (died 2 May 1942 age 23). Both of the ss Allende​ (Cardiff). Allende was sunk 17th March 1942 off the South coast of West Africa, by U68. How do they come to be there? What is the story behind these wartime graves of British Merchant seamen who died in the legendary city so far from the sea? The story really emanates from the fate of the ship's company of the ss ​ Criton​ , a Vichy French vessel arrested by the RN for carrying contraband, and escorted into Freetown. In Freetown she was manned by a scratch British Prize crew of recently released prisoners, other DBS, and native firemen from Sierra Leone. Her Master was Captain Dobeson, ex Wray Castle​ , and the remainder of the officers and crew came from various sunken ships; she also carried a token RN officer, and a stowaway. ​ Criton​ sailed in convoy SL78 on 19th June 1941 carrying a cargo of iron ore, but kept breaking down, and could not keep up with the convoy – she had been extensively sabotaged by her former Vichy French crew. ​ Criton was ordered back to Freetown alone by the escort AMC ​ HMS Esperance Bay​ at noon on the 20th. She was spotted off Conakry on the morning of the 21st and intercepted by two Vichy French sloops, one of which fired a shell over the ​ Criton​ from the port quarter. Although ordered to stop, ​ Criton​ refused, so one of the sloops (​ Air France IV​), after two-and-a-half-hours of arguing through megaphones, swept the decks with machine gun fire from a range of about fifty yards. ​ Criton​ 's firemen panicked and rushed the starboard boat, and Dobeson ordered " abandon ship ". The starboard boat was launched under the orders of de Neumann (Second Officer), and the port boat under the orders of Chalmers (Chief Officer). The port boat cleared the ​ Criton​ smartly, but with the firemen's panic, it was difficult to launch and clear away the starboard boat. Before the starboard boat had completed launching the sloop opened up with her main armament, and shells went right through the ​ Criton​ narrowly missing the starboard boat on the far side. On leaving his ship, Dobeson fell into the starboard boat and injured himself, leaving de Neumann to get the boat clear. The crew in the two boats were picked up by the sloop after she had wrecked ​ Criton with 46 salvoes, and escorted under guard to Conakry. They were then thrown into a special section of a camp in the jungle containing other merchant seamen, but ​ Criton​ 's crew was separated off by barbed wire, and everyone was warned that they would be shot if they

Ocupación Británica de Manila, 1762-64 por Peter Borschberg Sumario I. Introducción II. El ataque y la toma de Manila III. Los problemas de la ocupación británica de Manila III.i Cuestiones de permanencia y legitimidad III.ii. Restricciones financieras III.iii. Provisiones de alimentos IV. Acusaciones de cooperación china con los británicos V. Pruebas de la cooperación china con los británicos V.i. Hacer «negocio como de costumbre» V.ii. La venta de concesiones monopolísticas V.iii. Reclutamiento de culíes en Manila: cooperación de los británicos con el Gobernadorcillo de los Sangleyes V.iv. ¿Hubo una «milicia china»?

This essay is part of the work: Donald Stoker and Michael T. McMaster, Naval advising and Assistance. History, Challenges, and Analyses.

This collection of essays for the first time offers a global outlook on the phenomenon of the Naval Advising, in other words, the dispatch of a mission by a navy to another country to prepare and train the local navy. Naval missions are an important signal of the foreign policy and the political-military interests of a nation in another or in a region. The volume ranges from the Egypt of Ismail Pasha up to the Soviet Missions in China and the German Democratic Republic.
My essay is dedicated to the Fascist Naval missions in Persia, China and Spain, analysed with a comparative outlook to observe how the foreign policy of the regime used also this instrument for its commercial and prestige objectives in China and its expansionist policy in the Middle East and the Mediterranean.

Утвърждаването на ранносредновековната българска държава по долното течение на р. Дунав до голяма степен променя геополитическата ситуация в Югоизточна Европа. Макар да налагат властта си над земите около устието на Дунав и по протежение на северозападните брегове на Черно море, хан Аспарух и неговите приемници не са в състояние да изградят военноморски сили или пък да се намесят в търговските начинания по море със собствен флот.  Наред с това обаче, едва ли може да има съществени съмнения относно обстоятелството, че политическия елит в ранносредновековна България никога не пренебрегва или подценява опасността от византийската доминация по море. По обективни причини търсенето на подходящи решения за противодействие е съобразено с ресурсите и възможностите на тогавашното българско общество. Значението на въпросните мерки за противодействие нараства през третата четвърт на осмото столетие, предвид завоевателните амбиции на император Константин V. Тъкмо в този период временното елиминиране на арабската заплаха във водите на Източното Средиземноморие предоставя възможност да бъдат ангажирани значителни ресурси и многократно да се използва флота в комбинираните кампании по суша и море срещу ранносредновековна България.

Bernardo de Sá Nogueira de Figueiredo pode ser considerado com um dos personagens que tiveram maior impacto no séc. XIX português, em especial pela sua acção nas diferentes fases do complexo e atribulado processo de implantação do liberalismo. Entre o muito que já se disse sobre o marquês de Sá da Bandeira, terá sido Oliveira Martins quem melhor descreveu a sua personalidade, considerando-o "Militar fiel à bandeira, súbdito fiel ao rei, cidadão fiel à Pátria, espírito fiel aos princípios […] Sereno e firme, estóico e virtuoso, julgava-se o homme-lige 1 da liberdade portuguesa" 2 . Bernardo de Sá Nogueira tem recebido uma merecida atenção da historiografia, tanto pela sua acção como militar e político, como pela que desenvolveu em relação aos territórios africanos, para os quais defendia uma prática de colonização em que, na tradição vintista, a abolição da escravatura e do tráfico negreiro desempenhavam um lugar central. A questão da abolição era crucial no seu pensamento sobre o estado em que se encontravam o que designou como os "fragmentos decadentes da monarquia ultramarina", que era consequência do "mau governo que tem tido a metrópole" e da atenção "quase exclusiva" antes dada ao Brasil 3 . Neste texto darei relevo ao papel importante que, em diversas circunstâncias, caracterizou a sua acção junto da Marinha, pelouro governamental que era exercido conjuntamente com o Ultramar. A sua influência pode ser directamente ilustrada pelo facto de, entre 1832, na regência de D. Pedro, durante o cerco do Porto, e 1870, no 32º governo Constitucional (a que também presidiu), Bernardo de Sá Nogueira ter ocupado por sete vezes o cargo de ministro da Marinha e Ultramar. Bernardo de Sá Nogueira de Figueiredo nasceu em 1795 em Santarém, numa família de proprietários próximos do Paço, primogénito de 14 irmãos. Alistou-se em Cavalaria quando tinha 14 anos. Em 1814, integrado no exército anglo-português, combateu nos Pirinéus, foi ferido e feito prisioneiro pelos franceses, sendo libertado no ano seguinte depois da Paz de Paris. De regresso a Portugal iniciou um percurso de estudos que Luz Soriano descreveu apologeticamente: "Sabedor de que os mais ilustres capitães d´entre os gregos e romanos foram os que mais se alliaram com as prendas da sabedoria, com as do valor e coragem militar […] resolveu-se a ir […] frequentar os estudos mathemathicos da antiga Academia Real da Marinha, para depois seguir […] os da antiga academia de fortificação e desenho […]" 4 . Concluída esta fase, cursou Matemática e Filosofia em Coimbra entre 1818 e 1820, prosseguindo os estudos em Paris (onde em 1821 estudou no Museu de História Natural e no Conservatório de Artes e Ofícios) e em Londres (onde estudou engenharia, em 1825 e 1826). Esta prolongada formação contribuiu para a sua condição de homem culto, versado em diversas línguas, atributos que em conjunto com as suas opções políticas o converteram numa personalidade fundamental e singular na vida política portuguesa ao longo dos segundo e terceiro quarteis do séc.

Così appuntava nel 1931 il pittore e scrittore britannico Wyndham Lewys, durante il suo straordinario viaggio intorno alla catena dell'Atlante dal quale sarebbe nato un originalissimo affresco dell'entroterra marocchino. Anche se all'epoca dell'artista inglese l'area maghrebina aveva dato l'addio da un secolo alla corsa 2 e Lewys stesso s'era dovuto ingegnare per uscire dai nuovi percorsi turistici ormai battuti in sicurezza dai suoi connazionali, la vendita illegale delle armi restava -per qualche europeo -un'attività ancora praticata in Nord Africa 3 .

Four hundred years ago, the Dutch humanist and jurisconsult Hugo Grotius was commissioned by the United Netherlands’ East India Company (VOC) to write a defense of Admiral Jakob van Heemskerk’s seizure of a Portuguese merchant carrack in the Straits of Singapore (February 1603). At the time he was twenty-one years old. What Grotius produced between 1604 and 1606 is a comprehensive political and historical exposé on war. Today, this work is known as De Jure Praedae Commentarius, or “Commentary on Law of Prize and Booty”. Only part of this comprehensive manuscript was published during its author’s lifetime and is known as Mare Liberum or “The Free Sea” (1609).
Mare Liberum is essentially a propagandistic treatise and argues for Holland’s merchants to freely access emporia in Asia by unimpeded navigation across the high seas. The freedom of navigation forms a subset to the overarching arguments on the freedom of access and trade. This particular assessment of Mare Liberum stands in sharp contrast to past interpretations, insofar as these have placed the ‘freedom of the seas’ - and not the broader issues surrounding ‘free trade’ - at the forefront of scholarly attention. From this vantage point, Grotius was surprisingly consistent in his thinking on the broader issues of maritime trade and navigation.
During the first two decades of the seventeenth century, Grotius lent a helping hand in the process of forging political and commercial treaties between the VOC and Asian rulers. Far from championing peace and the freedom of navigation on the high seas for which the Dutch humanist is best remembered in modern times, Grotius should also assume a place among the intellectual fathers of Dutch colonial rule in Asia.""""

A special decoration was created to honor the defensors of Madrid during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). But this decoration, called Distintivo de Madrid, was given also to the crews of the republican ships involved in the sinking of the rebel cruiser Baleares off Cabo de Palos.

El Cristóbal Colón que presentan los investigadores José A. Lorente y Gabriel Verd como nacido en Felanitx, Mallorca, sólo habría vivido 46 años, mientras que el cura Bernáldez, amigo del navegante, asegura en sus escritos que Colón falleció a los 70 años de edad "in senectute bona".

To Master the Boundless Sea examines the transformational nature of nineteenth-century American hydrographers' work as they charted the ocean's depths. By exploring connections between American scientific investigation and the marine environment, Smith seeks to create a “new interpretation” of “the expansion of empire and the growth of American military power” (p. 4).

RM Reyda
TO THE ISSUE ABOUT NAVAL CAMPAIGN BY THE BARBARIAN PEOPLES
OF THE NORTH COAST OF THE BACK SEA IN 269 AD
The article is devoted to consideration of technical aspects of preparation for the campaign in269 AD, one of the most
grand in the history of Gothic Wars in 230-210-s. The possibility of building their own fleet for this campaign by the
Barbarian tribes of the north coast of the Back Sea is analyzed in details.

Cooking, in particular with one’s children, can also be an excellent occasion (or perhaps we should say excuse) to learn some military history. A good example of a suitable dish is Nikujaga (肉じゃが), an Anglo-Japanese dish “invented” (or adapted) by Admiral Togo, who defeated Russia’s Baltic Fleet at the battle of Tsushima. This paved the way for Tokyo’s victory in the 1904-1905 Russo-Japanese War – a conflict which rocked the foundations of the world-wide Imperial order and was widely seen as a challenge to hitherto accepted racial hierarchies.

The article above one of Gaius Julius Caesar's campaigns conducted during the conquest of Gaul, where faced with Gaulish maritime tribes. It has been discussed operations on  both land  and sea, which this Roman General conducted  against Veneti from the Armocinan peninsula. It also contains a description of the armed actions of legate Quintus Titurius Sabinus in the area of „Normandy" tribes.

Seconda spedizione di rilevamento archeologico sul relitto del sommergibile della Regia Marina Scirè, affondato il 10 agosto 1942 di fronte al porto di Haifa nell'allora Palestina Mandataria Britannica, oggi Israele. Con il patrocinio del Ministero degli Affari esteri della Repubblica Italiana e dell'Associazione Nazionale Arditi Incursori Marina della Marina Militare Italiana.

Dal 20 al 28 giugno 2009 si è svolta la terza spedizione archeologica della IANTD sul relitto della Szent Istvàn su incarico del Mistero della Cultura Croato. Come è noto la corazzata Santo Stefano, Szent Istvàn in ungherese, fu affondata dai MAS del Comandante Rizzo il 10 giugno 1918 di fronte all’isola di Premuda. L’importante relitto è sottoposto alla attenta tutela del Governo Croato il quale, dando seguito alla quindicennale collaborazione con la IANTD, ha stipulato un nuovo accordo pluriennale del quale questa spedizione è il primo atto. Con il patrocinio del Restauroski Zavod Ministartvo Kulture Republika Hrvtska.

Spedizione di identificazione e rilevamento del relitto del piroscafo trasporto truppe della Regia Marina Monrosa. Affondato il 25 ottobre 1941 in trasferimento dal porto del Pireo a Creta con personale e quadrupedi della Divisione Siena dal sommergibile britannico HMS Triumph. Perirono nell’affondamento 148 uomini fra soldati e marinai italiani.  Spedizione svolta con il patrocinio dell'Explorers Club di New York (U.S.A.) Flag N° 176.