Subject: ‘Ships’

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USS Nautilus

Posted in America, Historical articles, History, Ships, Technology, Weapons on Friday, 29 April 2016

This edited article about the USS Nautilus first appeared in Look and Learn issue number 584 published on 24 March 1973.

USS Nautilus, picture, image, illustration

USS Nautilus

In 1870 Jules Verne wrote about a mighty submarine that could cruise thousands of leagues under the sea. He called it the Nautilus.

On January 21st, 1954, at a Connecticut shipyard the dream of Jules Verne came true. As Mrs Eisenhower smashed a bottle of champagne against the dark green hull of the Nautilus, the world’s first atom-powered submarine slid into the water.

Nautilus is 300 feet long, displaces 3,000 tons and cost £10 ½ million to build. Her atomic power can carry her round the world without refuelling.

And her speed is in excess of 20 knots.

When the cheers of the launching ceremony died away Nautilus went to work. Soon she was breaking records and in 1957 came a voyage of exploration as exciting as any that man has known.

The brief of her captain, Commander William Anderson, was to explore beneath the ice packs of the North Pole. The rasp of the diving alarm sounded and for the first time Nautilus edged under the ice.

Somewhere in the ship a juke-box was playing. Off-duty members of the crew relaxed in their almost luxurious quarters.

In the mess another group were eating dinner. Meanwhile in the control room, Commander Anderson wondered what they would find below the ice.

It wasn’t long before the answers to questions that had been puzzling scientists for many years began to arrive. By means of a sonar machine scientists on board were able to form a very good picture of what the ice overhead was like.

A sonar machine is a device that picks up sound and so enables the navigator to detect the presence of any objects outside his ship. This he does by listening for the echo made by an object in the path of a beam of sound.

First they found that it was a huge, ever-moving mass of varying thickness. It was made up of floes ranging from a few feet to ten or twelve feet but not often more.

The North Pole ice-pack is interspersed here and there with small lakes, little more than cracks in the surface.

After cruising for some time beneath the surface Commander Anderson decided to attempt to bring Nautilus to the surface in one of these cracks.

It was, as he put it, rather like “threading a needle.”

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A great Elizabethan

Posted in Historical articles, History, Royalty, Sea, Ships on Sunday, 31 January 2016

This edited article about Sir Walter Raleigh first appeared in Look and Learn issue number 551 published on 5 August 1972.

Execution of Raleigh, picture, image, illustration

After risking his life countless times in the service of his country, Sir Walter Raleigh was executed on a charge of treason, by Oliver Frey

He was a gallant, witty, brave and light-hearted adventurer, a typical example of those members of the Devon gentry who had been engaged in maritime adventure, often of a piratical nature, ever since the reign of Henry VIII. He was tall and handsome and his name was surrounded by legends.

He had thrown his mantle on the ground to help Elizabeth I to walk dry-shod over a puddle, they said, and he had scribbled verses with a diamond on a window pane to attract her attention. There was the tale that once, while he was lying in prison under sentence of death, he had asked for one night of freedom to rescue a lady, promising to return afterwards, and actually doing so when his wish had been granted. Whether or not these stories were true, there was one thing that could not be denied.

The name of Sir Walter Raleigh was one that was known throughout the whole of the land.

Although the pampered favourite of Elizabeth, he had done much for England. He had been tireless in his efforts to create a colony in America, he had helped to prepare the English fleet which had eventually defeated the Spanish Armada, and he had fought with distinction in Ireland. He had taken part in various expeditions against the Spanish, notably at Cadiz where he had been wounded, and he had sailed at the head of an expedition to Guinea, vainly seeking the fabled El Dorado, which was supposed to be a treasure house of gold.

But all that was in the past.

Now he was considered to be nothing more than a discredited adventurer who was guilty of treason. Locked up in the Tower for this crime, he had languished there for almost thirteen years, which had given him plenty of time indeed to reflect on how he had contributed to his own downfall.

His star had begun to wane in the reign of Elizabeth, when he had married one of her maids of honour, a presumption for which he had been punished by being put in the Tower for a while before being banished to the country. His fall from grace had been greeted with delight by the whole population, for his greed, arrogance and the fact that he was a suspected atheist, had made him the most unpopular man in England.

When he had been allowed to return to court, he had immediately quarrelled with the Queen’s new favourite, the Earl of Essex. The fact that he had helped to put down the revolt that Essex had eventually led against the Queen made no difference to the feeling of the people. Essex had been their favourite, and his death under the headsman’s axe, thanks partially to Raleigh, was merely another black mark against him.

The death of Elizabeth and the accession of James I had marked the final phase of Raleigh’s downfall. He was the last of that great band of soldier-sailors who had added lustre to Elizabeth’s reign, and for that very reason James disliked him. Men like those, men who thrived on warring with Spain were not to his taste. He wanted only peace and Raleigh had been quick to show that he was utterly against this policy.

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The best pictures from educational trade cards, 117

Posted in Ancient History, Architecture, Arts and Crafts, Best pictures, Boats, Customs, Educational card, Historical articles, History, Legend, Leisure, Politics, Sea, Ships, Theatre on Thursday, 26 November 2015

We have selected three of the best pictures from our large collection of 19th and early 20th century educational trade cards.
The first picture shows Croesus showing his treasures to Solon.

Croesus, picture, image, illustration

Croesus showing his treasures to Solon, 6th Century BC

The second picture shows the Marriage of the Doge and the Adriatic.

Doge, picture, image, illustration

Marriage of the Doge and the Adriatic in Venice

The third picture shows a Winter Carnival in St Petersburg in 1765.

carnival, picture, image, illustration

Winter Carnival in St Petersburg in 1765

High-resolution scans of all educational cards can be found in the Look and Learn picture library.

The best pictures from educational trade cards, 112

Posted in Aerospace, Ancient History, Architecture, Aviation, Best pictures, Boats, Customs, Disasters, Educational card, Famous battles, Historical articles, History, Sea, Ships, Transport, Travel, War on Thursday, 26 November 2015

We have selected three of the best pictures from our large collection of 19th and early 20th century educational trade cards.
The first picture shows an Ancient Egyptian funeral ceremony.

Ancient Egypt, picture, image, illustration

Ancient Egypt, funeral ceremony

The second picture shows Francisque Arban being rescued by Italian fishermen, 1846.

balloon, picture, image, illustration

Francisque Arban rescued by Italian fishermen after his balloon crashed into the Adriatic, 1846

The third picture shows the Battle of Milazzo, 260 BC.

Milazzo, picture, image, illustration

Milazzo, the first Roman naval victory over Carthage in 260 BC

High-resolution scans of all educational cards can be found in the Look and Learn picture library.

The best pictures from educational trade cards, 111

Posted in America, Ancient History, Boats, Educational card, Famous battles, Heroes and Heroines, Historical articles, History, Politics, Railways, Ships, Transport, Travel, War on Thursday, 26 November 2015

We have selected three of the best pictures from our large collection of 19th and early 20th century educational trade cards.
The first picture shows Miltiades, Athenian general and victor of the Battle of Marathon, 490 BC.

Marathon, picture, image, illustration

Miltiades, Athenian general and victor of the Battle of Marathon, 490 BC

The second picture shows an American locomotive, 1860.

American locomotive, picture, image, illustration

American locomotive, 1860

The third picture shows a prayer before the Battle of Lepanto.

Lepanto, picture, image, illustration

Before the Battle of Lepanto

High-resolution scans of all educational cards can be found in the Look and Learn picture library.

The best pictures from educational trade cards, 107

Posted in Africa, Ancient History, Animals, Best pictures, Boats, Educational card, Heroes and Heroines, Historical articles, History, Invasions, Myth, Politics, Ships, War on Thursday, 26 November 2015

We have selected three of the best pictures from our large collection of 19th and early 20th century educational trade cards.
The first picture shows Hercules capturing the Cretan Bull.

Cretan Bull, picture, image, illustration

The capture of the Cretan Bull

The second picture shows the Sicilian Plebiscite for union with Italy, 1800.

Sicilian Plebiscite, picture, image, illustration

Sicilian Plebiscite

The third picture shows the Vandals led by Genseric land on the coast of Africa, 428.

Vandals, picture, image, illustration

The Vandals led by Genseric land on the coast of Africa, 428

High-resolution scans of all educational cards can be found in the Look and Learn picture library.

The best pictures from educational trade cards, 105

Posted in Ancient History, Archaeology, Architecture, Best pictures, Educational card, Famous landmarks, Historical articles, History, Plants, Religion, Ships, Trade, War on Thursday, 26 November 2015

We have selected three of the best pictures from our large collection of 19th and early 20th century educational trade cards.
The first picture shows Enrico Dandolo, Doge of Venice, preaching the Fourth Crusade in St Mark’s Basilica, Venice.

Enrico Dandolo, picture, image, illustration

Enrico Dandolo, Doge of Venice, preaching the Fourth Crusade in St Mark's Basilica, Venice

The second picture shows Cogs of the Hanseatic League, 14th – 15th Century.

Cogs, picture, image, illustration

Cogs of the Hanseatic League, 14th – 15th Century

The third picture shows a shopkeeper weighing fruit in a shop in Pompeii.

Pompeii, picture, image, illustration

Weighing fruit in a shop in Pompeii

High-resolution scans of all educational cards can be found in the Look and Learn picture library.

The best pictures from educational trade cards, 101

Posted in Africa, Ancient History, Archaeology, Architecture, Educational card, Famous landmarks, Heroes and Heroines, Historical articles, History, Legend, Music, Myth, Royalty, Sea, Ships, Travel on Thursday, 26 November 2015

We have selected three of the best pictures from our large collection of 19th and early 20th century educational trade cards.
The first picture shows Orpheus playing his lyre.

Orpheus, picture, image, illustration

Orpheus playing his lyre

The second picture shows Frederick the Great playing the flute.

Frederick the Great, picture, image, illustration

Frederick the Great of Prussia and a flute concert

The third picture shows tourists in Egypt.

Egypt, picture, image, illustration

The Pyramids viewed from the outskirts of Cairo

High-resolution scans of all educational cards can be found in the Look and Learn picture library.

The best pictures from educational trade cards, 100

Posted in Architecture, Art, Artist, Arts and Crafts, Best pictures, Castles, Disasters, Educational card, Exploration, Heroes and Heroines, Historical articles, History, London, Rivers, Royalty, Ships, War on Thursday, 26 November 2015

We have selected three of the best pictures from our large collection of 19th and early 20th century educational trade cards.
The first picture shows the Royal reception of Francis Drake on his return to London from South America in 1581.

Francis Drake, picture, image, illustration

The Reception of Francis Drake to London from South America in 1581

The second picture shows the burning of the Chinese fleet at Canton.

Canton, picture, image, illustration

Burning of the Chinese fleet at Canton

The third picture shows Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, meeting with artists.

Burgundy, picture, image, illustration

Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, meeting with artists, 1450

High-resolution scans of all educational cards can be found in the Look and Learn picture library.

The best pictures from educational trade cards, 97

Posted in America, Ancient History, Animals, Best pictures, Bible, Bravery, Customs, Educational card, Famous battles, Flags, Geography, Geology, Heroes and Heroines, Historical articles, History, Minerals, Myth, Religion, Saints, Sea, Ships, Travel, War, Weapons on Thursday, 26 November 2015

We have selected three of the best pictures from our large collection of 19th and early 20th century educational trade cards.
The first picture shows Jason making a sacrifice to the Gods to aid the Argo in its voyage.

Argo, picture, image, illustration

Sacrifice to the Gods to aid the Argo in its voyage

The second picture shows gold prospectors in Alaska.

Gold prospectors, picture, image, illustration

Gold prospectors, Alaska

The third picture shows St James the Great, patron saint of Spain.

St James the Great, picture, image, illustration

St James the Great, patron saint of Spain

High-resolution scans of all educational cards can be found in the Look and Learn picture library.