title: Blackburn Buccaneer

text: In October 1962, 16 aircraft were ordered by the South African Air Force (SAAF), as the "Buccaneer S.50". These were S.2 aircraft with the addition of Bristol Siddeley BS.605 rocket engines to provide additional thrust for the "hot and high" African airfields. The S.50 was also equipped with strengthened undercarriage, and higher capacity wheel brakes, and had manually folded wings. They were equipped to use the AS-30 command guided air-to-surface missiles. Due to the need to patrol the vast coastline, they also specified aerial refueling, and larger underwing tanks. Once in service, the extra thrust of the BS.605 rocket engines proved to be unnecessary, and they were eventually removed from all aircraft. South Africa later sought to procure further Buccaneers, but the British government blocked further orders, because of a voluntary arms embargo on that country.


title: Blackburn Buccaneer

text: Blackburn's first attempt to sell the Buccaneer to the Royal Air Force (RAF) occurred in 1957–1958, in response to the Air Ministry Operational Requirement OR.339, for a replacement for the RAF's English Electric Canberra light bombers, with supersonic speed, and a combat radius; asking for an all-weather aircraft that could deliver nuclear weapons over a long range, operate at high level at Mach 2+ or low level at Mach 1.2, with STOL performance. Blackburn proposed two designs, the B.103A, a simple modification of the Buccaneer S.1 with more fuel, and the B.108, a more extensively modified aircraft with more sophisticated avionics. Against a background of inter-service distrust, political issues, and the 1957 Defence White Paper, both types were rejected by the RAF; as being firmly subsonic, and incapable of meeting the RAF's range requirements; while the B.108, which retained Gyron Junior engines while being heavier than the S.1, would have been severely underpowered, giving poor short-take off performance. The BAC TSR-2 was eventually selected in 1959.


title: Blackburn Buccaneer

text: After the cancellation of the TSR-2, and then the substitute American General Dynamics F-111K, the Royal Air Force still required a replacement for its Canberras in the low-level strike role, while the planned retirement for the Royal Navy's aircraft carriers meant that the RAF would also need to add a maritime strike capability. It was therefore decided in 1968 that the RAF would adopt the Buccaneer, both by the purchase of new-build aircraft, and by taking over the Fleet Air Arm's Buccaneers as the carriers were retired. A total of 46 new-build aircraft for the RAF were built by Blackburn's successor, Hawker Siddeley, designated "S.2B". These had RAF-type communications and avionics equipment, Martel air-to-surface missile capability, and could be equipped with a bulged bomb-bay door containing an extra fuel tank.


title: Blackburn Buccaneer

text: Some Fleet Air Arm Buccaneers were modified in-service to also carry the Martel anti-ship missile. Martel-capable FAA aircraft were later redesignated "S.2D". The remaining aircraft became "S.2C". RAF aircraft were given various upgrades. Self-defence was improved by the addition of the AN/ALQ-101 electronic countermeasures (ECM) pod (also found on RAF's SEPECAT Jaguar GR.3), chaff and flare dispensers, and AIM-9 Sidewinder capability. RAF low-level strike Buccaneers could carry out what was known as 'retard defence'; four retarded bombs carried internally could be dropped to provide an effective deterrent against any following aircraft. In 1979, the RAF obtained the American AN/AVQ-23E Pave Spike laser designator pod for Paveway II laser-guided bombs; allowing the aircraft to act as target designators for further Buccaneers, Jaguars, and other strike aircraft. From 1986, No. 208 Squadron RAF, then No. 12 (B) Squadron, replaced the Martel ASM with the Sea Eagle missile.


title: Blackburn Buccaneer

text: Further developments beyond the Buccaneer S.2 were put forward by Hawker Siddeley in the 1960s and 1970s; however none would be pursued through to production by either the Royal Navy or the Royal Air Force. One such effort was designated as "Buccaneer 2*", which was presented as a cost-effective alternative to the TSR-2. The 2* would have featured newer equipment; such as head-up displays and onboard computers from the cancelled Hawker Siddeley P.1154 VTOL aircraft, it would have also adopted the same radar system as that being developed for the TSR-2. An even more extensively upgraded model, the "Buccaneer 2**" was also mooted, which would have been furnished with more sophisticated land-strike capabilities derived from the TSR-2 again. According to Denis Healey, defence minister 1964–1970, the RAF had been hostile to the Buccaneer due to it being a naval aircraft; it has been further suggested that developing improved Buccaneers for the RAF would weaken arguments against the Royal Navy's planned CVA-01-class aircraft carriers. In one report by the Ministry of Defence (MoD), it was claimed that two Buccaneer 2* could do the job of one General Dynamics F-111, for less than half the unit cost.


title: Blackburn Buccaneer

text: The Buccaneer was a mid-wing, twin-engine aircraft. It had a crew of two in a tandem-seat arrangement with the observer seated higher and offset from the pilot to give a clear view forwards to enable him to assist in visual search. Its operational profile included cruising at altitude (for reduced fuel consumption) before descending, just outside the anticipated enemy radar detection range, to for a dash to and from the target. Targets might be ships-at-sea or large shore-based installations at long range from the launching aircraft-carrier. To illustrate, in May 1966, an S.2 launched from HMS Victorious in the Irish Sea, performed a low-level simulated nuclear weapon toss on the airfield at Gibraltar and returned to the ship, a trip The aircraft had an all-weather operational capability provided by the pilot's head-up display and Airstream Direction Detector, for example, and the observer's navigation systems and fire control radar. The Buccaneer was one of the largest aircraft to operate from British aircraft carriers, and continued operating from them until the last conventional carrier was withdrawn in 1978. During its service, the Buccaneer was the backbone of the Navy's ground strike operations, including nuclear strike.


title: Blackburn Buccaneer

text: The majority of the rear fuselage's internal area was used to house electronics, such as elements of the radio, equipment supporting the aircraft's radar functionality, and the crew's liquid oxygen life support system; the whole compartment was actively cooled by ram air drawn from the tailfin. For redundancy, the Buccaneer featured dual busbars for electrical systems, and three independent hydraulic systems. The aircraft was made easier to control and land via an integrated flight control computer that performed auto-stabilisation and auto pilot functions.


title: Blackburn Buccaneer

text: The Buccaneer had been designed specifically as a maritime nuclear strike aircraft. Its intended weapon was a nuclear air-to-surface missile codenamed Green Cheese, but this weapon's development was cancelled, and in its place was the unguided Red Beard, which had been developed for the English Electric Canberra. Red Beard had an explosive yield in the 10 to 20 kiloton range; and was mounted on a special bomb bay door, into which it nested neatly to reduce aerodynamic buffet on the launch aircraft. At low levels and high speeds, traditional bomb bay doors could not be opened safely into the air stream; therefore, Blackburn developed a revolving bomb bay which turned about the long axis of the aircraft, exposing the weapon load mounted on what was effectively the inside of the single bomb bay door and allowing it to be released quickly without creating a massive increase in drag; this feature also proved convenient in providing ground-level access. and unintentionally improved the aircraft's stealth capability by not generating a large increase in the radar cross section.


title: Blackburn Buccaneer

text: The bomb bay could also accommodate a ferry tank, a photo-reconnaissance 'crate', or a cargo container. The reconnaissance package featured an assortment of six cameras, each at different angles or having different imaging properties, and was only mounted on missions specifically involving reconnaissance activities. The Buccaneer also featured four underwing hard points capable of mounting bombs, missiles, fuel tanks, or other equipment such as flares; later developments saw the adoption of wing-mounted electronic warfare and laser designator pods. A similar underwing configuration was latterly adopted by the SAAF. Upon its entry into service, the Buccaneer was capable of carrying practically all munitions then in use by Royal Navy aircraft. It was intended for a pack with twin 30 mm (1.2 in) ADEN cannons to be developed for the Buccaneer, but the effort was abandoned and the type was never equipped with a gun.


title: Blackburn Buccaneer

text: Early on in the Buccaneer's career, conventional anti-ship missions would have employed a mix of iron bombs and rockets at close range. This tactic became increasingly impractical in the face of Soviet anti-aircraft missile advances; thus, later Buccaneers were adapted to make use of several missiles capable of striking enemy ships from a distance. The Anglo-French Martel missile was introduced upon the Buccaneer, but the weapon was said to have been "very temperamental", and its deployment required an attacking Buccaneer to increase its altitude and thus its vulnerability to being attacked itself. An extensive upgrade programme undertaken in the 1980s added compatibility with several new pieces of equipment; including the Sea Eagle missile, a self-guiding 'fire-and-forget' missile capable of striking targets at an effective range of , five times that of the Martel AJ 168 anti-ship missile, while also being significantly more powerful.


title: Blackburn Buccaneer

text: In order to dramatically improve aerodynamic performance at slow speeds, such as during takeoff and landing, Blackburn adopted a new aerodynamic control technology, known as boundary layer control (BLC). BLC bled high pressure air directly from the engines, which was "blown" against various parts of the aircraft's wing surfaces. A full-span slit along the part of the wing's trailing edge was found to give almost 50% more lift than any contemporary scheme. In order to counteract the severe pitch movements that would otherwise be generated by use of BLC, a self-trimming system was interconnected with the BLC system, and additional blowing of the wing's leading edge was also introduced. The use of BLC allowed the use of slats to be entirely discarded in the design.


title: Blackburn Buccaneer

text: Before landing, the pilot would open the BLC vents as well as lower the flaps to achieve slow, stable flight. A consequence of the blown wing was that the engines were required to run at high power for low-speed flight in order to generate sufficient compressor gas for blowing. Blackburn's solution to this situation was the adoption of a large air brake; this addition also allowed an overshooting aircraft to pull away more quickly during a failed landing attempt. The nose cone and radar antenna could also be swung around by 180 degrees to reduce the length of the aircraft in the carrier hangar. This feature was particularly important due to the small size of the aircraft carriers from which the Buccaneer typically operated.


title: Blackburn Buccaneer

text: For a carrier take-off, the Buccaneer was pulled tail-down on the catapult, with its nosewheel in the air to put the wing at about 11°. It could be launched "hands-off": the pilot able to leave the tailplane in a neutral position. With blowing on, the Spey 101 output drops to around , though about is recovered from the trailing edge slits which face aft. About 70% of the blown air goes over the flaps and ailerons, which are in a drooped position. Off an aircraft carrier, the minimum launch speed was around at ; from an airfield, the Buccaneer took off in at with blown air. The figures become at without blown air.


title: Blackburn Buccaneer

text: The fuselage of the Buccaneer was designed using the area rule technique, which had the effect of reducing aerodynamic drag while travelling at transonic speeds, and gave rise to the characteristic curvy "Coke bottle" shape of the fuselage. The majority of the airframe and fuselage was machined from solid castings to give the required strength to endure the stress of low-level operations. Considerable effort went into ensuring that metal fatigue would not be a limiting factor of the Buccaneer's operational life, even under the formidable conditions imposed of low level flight. However, design changes for the Mark 2 Buccaneer, the addition of extended wingtips and the position of a new bolt hole, did cause fatigue problems leading to the loss of two aircraft.


title: Blackburn Buccaneer

text: A large air brake formed the tail-cone of the aircraft. The hydraulically operated air brake formed two leaves that could be opened into the airstream to quickly decelerate the aircraft. The style of air brake chosen by Blackburn was highly effective in the dive-attack profile that the Buccaneer was intended to perform, as well as effectively balancing out induced drag from operating the BLC system. It featured a variable incidence tailplane that could be trimmed to suit the particular requirements of low-speed handling, or high-speed flight; the tailplane had to be high mounted due to the positioning and functionality of the Buccaneer's air brake.


title: Blackburn Buccaneer

text: The wing design of the Buccaneer was a compromise between two requirements: a low aspect ratio for good gust response, and high aspect ratio to give good range performance. The small wing was suited to high-speed flight at low altitude; however, a small wing did not generate sufficient lift that was essential for carrier operations. Therefore, BLC was used upon both the wing and tailplane, having the effect of energising and smoothing the boundary layer airflow, which significantly reduced airflow separation at the back of the wing, and therefore decreased stall speed, and increased effectiveness of trailing edge control surfaces, including flaps and ailerons.


title: Blackburn Buccaneer

text: The Buccaneer entered service with the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) on 17 July 1962, when 801 NAS was commissioned at RNAS Lossiemouth in Scotland. The Buccaneer quickly replaced the FAA's Supermarine Scimitar, which had previously been performing the naval attack role. In addition to conventional ordnance, the Buccaneer was cleared for nuclear weapons delivery in 1965; weapons deployed included Red Beard and WE.177 free-fall bombs, which were carried internally on a rotating bomb-bay door. Two FAA operational squadrons, and a training unit were equipped with the Buccaneer S.1. The aircraft was well liked by Navy aircrew for its strength and flying qualities, and the BLC system gave them slower landing speeds than they were accustomed to. The Buccaneers were painted dark sea grey on top, and anti-flash white on the undersides.


title: Blackburn Buccaneer

text: Deficiences in the Buccaneer S.1's Gyron Junior engines led to the type's career coming to an abrupt end in December 1970. On 1 December, an S.1 attempted to overshoot from a misjudged landing approach but one engine surged and produced no thrust, forcing the two crewmen to eject. On 8 December, an S.1 on a training flight suffered a massive uncontained engine failure. The pilot successfully ejected, but due to a mechanical failure in his ejection seat the navigator was killed. Subsequent inspections concluded that the Gyron Junior engine was no longer safe to fly. All remaining S.1s were grounded immediately and permanently.


title: Blackburn Buccaneer

text: By April 1965, intensive trials of the new Buccaneer S.2 had begun, with the type entering operational service with the FAA later that year. The improved S.2 type proved its value when it became the first FAA aircraft to make a non-stop, unrefuelled crossing of the Atlantic Ocean. On 28 March 1967, Buccaneers from RNAS Lossiemouth bombed the shipwrecked supertanker off the western coast of Cornwall to make the oil burn in an attempt to avoid an environmental disaster. In 1972, Buccaneers of 809 Naval Air Squadron operating from took part in a mission to show a military presence over British Honduras (now Belize) shortly before its independence, to deter a possible Guatemalan invasion in pursuit of its territorial claims over the country.


title: Blackburn Buccaneer

text: The Buccaneer also participated in regular patrols and exercises in the North Sea, practising the type's role if war had broken out with the Soviet Union. During the 1960s and 1970s, the Royal Navy standardised the air wings operating from their carriers around the Phantom, Buccaneer, and the Fairey Gannet aircraft. A total of six FAA squadrons were equipped with the Buccaneer: 700B/700Z (intensive flying trials unit), 736 (training), 800, 801, 803 and 809 Naval Air Squadrons. Buccaneers were embarked on , , HMS "Ark Royal", and .


title: Blackburn Buccaneer

text: The Buccaneer was retired from FAA service with the decommissioning in 1978 of the "Ark Royal", the last of the navy's fleet carriers. Their retirement was part of a larger foreign policy agenda that was implemented throughout the 1970s. Measures such as the withdrawal of most British military forces stationed East of Suez were viewed as reducing the need for aircraft carriers, and fixed-wing naval aviation in general. The decision was highly controversial, particularly to those within the FAA. The Royal Navy would replace the naval strike capability of the Buccaneer with the smaller V/STOL-capable British Aerospace Sea Harrier, which were operated from their s.


title: Blackburn Buccaneer

text: After the General Dynamics F-111K was cancelled in early 1968, due to the programme suffering serious cost escalation and delays, the RAF was forced to look for a replacement that was available and affordable, and reluctantly selected the Buccaneer. The first RAF unit to receive the Buccaneer was 12 Squadron at RAF Honington in October 1969, in the maritime strike role, at first equipped with ex-Royal Navy Buccaneer S.2As. This was to remain a key station for the type, as 15 Squadron equipped with the Buccaneer the following year, before moving to RAF Laarbruch in 1971, and the RAF Buccaneer conversion unit, No. 237 Operational Conversion Unit RAF, forming at Honington in March 1971. The Buccaneer was seen as an interim solution, but delays in the Panavia Tornado programme would ensure that the 'interim' period would stretch out, and the Buccaneer would remain in RAF service for over two decades, long after the FAA had given up the type.


title: Blackburn Buccaneer

text: With the phased withdrawal of the Royal Navy's carrier fleet during the 1970s, the Fleet Air Arm's Buccaneers were transferred to the RAF, which had taken over the maritime strike role. 62 of the 84 S.2 aircraft were eventually transferred, redesignated "S.2A"; some of these were later upgraded to S.2B standard. Ex-FAA aircraft equipped 16 Squadron, joining 15 Squadron at RAF Laarbruch, and 208 Squadron at Honington; the last ex-FAA aircraft went to 216 Squadron.


title: Blackburn Buccaneer

text: From 1970, with 12 Squadron initially, followed by 15 Squadron, 16 Squadron, No. 237 OCU, 208 Squadron, and 216 Squadron, the RAF Buccaneer force re-equipped with WE.177 nuclear weapons. At peak strength, Buccaneers equipped six RAF squadrons, although for only a year. A more sustained strength of five squadrons was made up of three squadrons (15 Squadron, 16 Squadron, 208 Squadron), plus No. 237 OCU (a war reserve or Shadow squadron), all assigned to Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) for land strike duties in support of land forces opposing Warsaw Pact forces in continental Europe, plus one squadron (12 Squadron) assigned to Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic (SACLANT) for maritime strike duties.


title: Blackburn Buccaneer

text: Opportunities for Buccaneer squadrons to engage in realistic training were limited, and so when the US began its Red Flag military exercises at Nellis Air Force Base in 1975, the RAF became keenly interested. The first Red Flag in which RAF aircraft were involved was in 1977, with 10 Buccaneers and two Avro Vulcan bombers participating. Buccaneers would be involved in later Red Flags through to 1983, and in 1979, also participated in the similar Maple Flag exercise over Canada. The Buccaneer proved successful with its fast low-level attacks, which were highly accurate despite the aircraft's lack of terrain-following radar and other modern avionics. The Buccaneer was armed with AIM-9 sidewinders but only 1 aircraft got an aircraft kill through the whole service. The kill was in the Gulf War against a taxiing AN-12 with bombs.


title: Blackburn Buccaneer

text: During the 1980 Red Flag exercises, one of the participating Buccaneers lost a wing mid-flight due to a fatigue-induced crack and crashed, killing its crew. The entire RAF Buccaneer fleet was grounded in February 1980; subsequent investigation discovered serious metal fatigue problems to be present on numerous aircraft. A total of 60 aircraft were selected to receive new spar rings, while others were scrapped; the nascent 216 Squadron was subsequently disbanded due to a resulting reduction in aircraft numbers. Later the same year, the UK-based Buccaneer squadrons moved to RAF Lossiemouth in order to free space at Honington for the Tornado.


title: Blackburn Buccaneer

text: In 1983, six Buccaneer S.2s were sent to Cyprus to support British peacekeepers in Lebanon as a part of Operation Pulsator. On 11 September 1983, two of these aircraft flew low over Beirut, their presence intended to intimidate insurgents, rather than inflict damage directly. After 1983, the land strike duties were mostly reassigned to the Tornado aircraft then entering service, and two Buccaneer squadrons remaining (12 Squadron, and 208 Squadron) were then assigned to SACLANT for maritime strike duties. Only the 'Shadow Squadron', No. 237 OCU, remained assigned to the role of land strike on long term assignment to SACEUR, No. 237 was also to operate as a designator for Jaguar ground strike aircraft in the event of conflict. The Buccaneer stood down from its reserve nuclear delivery duties in 1991.


title: Blackburn Buccaneer

text: The Buccaneer took part in combat operations during the 1991 Gulf War. It had been anticipated that Buccaneers might need to perform in the target designation role, although early on, this had been thought to be "unlikely". Following a short-notice decision to deploy, the first batch of six aircraft were readied to deploy in under 72 hours, including the adoption of desert camouflage, and additional equipment, and departed from Lossiemouth for the Middle Eastern theatre early on 26 January 1991. In theatre, it became common for each attack formation to comprise four Tornados and two Buccaneers; each Buccaneer carried a single laser designator pod, and acted as backup to the other in the event of an equipment malfunction. The first combat mission took place on 2 February, operating at a medium altitude of roughly , and successfully attacked the As Suwaira Road Bridge.


title: Blackburn Buccaneer

text: Operations continued on practically every available day; missions did not take place at night as the laser pod lacked night-time functionality. Approximately 20 road bridges were destroyed by Buccaneer-supported missions, restricting the Iraqi Army's mobility and communications. In conjunction with the advance of Coalition ground forces into Iraq, the Buccaneers switched to airfield bombing missions, targeting bunkers, runways, and any aircraft sighted; following the guidance of the Tornado's laser-guided ordnance, the Buccaneers would commonly conduct dive-bombing runs upon remaining targets of opportunity in the vicinity. In one incident on 21 February 1991, a pair of Buccaneers destroyed two Iraqi transport aircraft on the ground at Shayka Mazhar airfield. The Buccaneers flew 218 missions during the Gulf War, in which they designated targets for other aircraft, and dropped 48 laser-guided bombs.


title: Blackburn Buccaneer

text: It had originally been planned for the Buccaneer to remain in service until the end of the 1990s, having been extensively modernized in a process lasting up to 1989; the end of the Cold War stimulated major changes in British defence policy, many aircraft being deemed to be surplus to requirements. It was decided that a number of Tornado GR1s would be modified for compatibility with the Sea Eagle missile, and take over the RAF's maritime strike mission, and the Buccaneer would be retired early. Squadrons operating the Buccaneer were quickly re-equipped with the Tornado; by mid-1993, 208 Squadron was the sole remaining operator of the type. The last Buccaneers were withdrawn in March 1994, when 208 Squadron disbanded.


title: Blackburn Buccaneer

text: South Africa was the only country other than the UK to operate the Buccaneer, where it was in service with the SAAF from 1965 to 1991. In January 1963, even before the S.2 entered squadron service, South Africa had purchased 16 Spey-powered Buccaneers. The order was part of the Simonstown Agreement, in which the UK obtained use of the Simonstown naval base in South Africa, in exchange for maritime weapons. An order for a further 20 Buccaneers was blocked by British Prime Minister Harold Wilson's government.


title: Blackburn Buccaneer

text: In the maritime strike role, SAAF Buccaneers were armed with the French radio-guided AS-30 missile. In March 1971, Buccaneers fired 12 AS-30s at a stricken tanker, the "Wafra", but failed to sink it. The AS-30 missile was also used in ground attacks for effective precision strikes, one example being in 1981, when multiple missiles were used to strike a number of radar stations in southern Angola. For overland attack, the SAAF Buccaneers carried up to four bombs in the rotary bomb bay, and four bombs, flares, or SNEB rocket packs on the underwing stores pylons. During the 1990s, it was revealed that South Africa had manufactured six air-deliverable tactical nuclear weapons between 1978 and 1993. These nuclear weapons, containing highly enriched uranium, with an estimated explosion yield of 10-18 kilotons, were designed for delivery by either the Buccaneer or the Canberra bomber.


title: Blackburn Buccaneer

text: SAAF Buccaneers saw active service in the 1970s and 1980s during the South Africa Border War, frequently flying over Angola and Namibia, launching attacks upon SWAPO guerilla camps. During a ground offensive, Buccaneers would often fly close air support (CAS) missions armed with anti-personnel rockets, as well as performing bombardment operations. Buccaneers played a major role in the Battle of Cassinga in 1978, being employed in repeated strikes upon armoured vehicles, including enemy tanks, and to cover the withdrawal of friendly ground forces from the combat zone. The Buccaneer was capable of carrying heavy load outs over a long range, and could remain in theatre for longer than other aircraft, making it attractive for the CAS role. On 3 January 1988 Buccaneers of the SADF destroyed the important bridge across the Cuito River using a Raptor glide bomb, following on from a less successful attempt on 12 December 1987. Only five aircraft remained operational by the time the Buccaneer was retired from service in 1991.


title: Blackburn Buccaneer

text: Early in the Buccaneer programme, the US Navy had expressed mild interest in the aircraft, but quickly moved on to the development of its comparable Grumman A-6 Intruder. The West German Navy showed a greater interest, and considered replacing its Hawker Sea Hawks with the type, although it eventually decided on the Lockheed F-104G for its maritime strike requirement, following the bribing of West German government officials in the Lockheed bribery scandals.


title: Blackburn Buccaneer

text: In the United Kingdom, Buccaneer S.2 "XX885" has been rebuilt to flying condition by Hawker Hunter Aviation. It was granted UK CAA permission to fly in April 2006.


title: Scold's bridle

text: A scold's bridle, sometimes called a witch's bridle, a gossip's bridle, a brank's bridle, or simply branks, was an instrument of punishment, as a form of public humiliation. It was an iron muzzle in an iron framework that enclosed the head (although some bridles were masks that depicted suffering). A bridle-bit (or curb-plate), about in size, was slid into the mouth and pressed down on top of the tongue, often with a spike on the tongue, as a compress. It functioned to silence the wearer from speaking entirely, and caused extreme pain and physiological trauma to scare and intimidate the wearer into submission. The scold's bridle was overwhelmingly used on women, often at the request of husbands or other family members. This prevented speaking and resulted in many unpleasant side effects for the wearer, including excessive salivation and fatigue in the mouth. For extra humiliation, a bell could also be attached to draw in crowds. The wearer was then led around town by a leash.


title: Scold's bridle

text: First recorded in Scotland in 1567, the branks were also used in England and its colonies. The kirk-sessions and barony courts in Scotland inflicted the contraption mostly on female transgressors and women considered to be rude, nags or common scolds.


title: Scold's bridle

text: Branking (in Scotland and the North of England) was designed as a mirror punishment for shrews or scolds—women of the lower classes whose speech was deemed "riotous" or "troublesome"—by preventing them from speaking. This also gives it its other name, 'The Gossip's Bridle'.


title: Scold's bridle

text: It was also used as corporal punishment for other offences, notably on female workhouse inmates. The person to be punished was placed in a public place for additional humiliation and sometimes beaten. The Lanark Burgh Records record a typical example of the punishment being used: "Iff evir the said Elizabeth salbe fund [shall be found] scolding or railling … scho salbe sett [she shall sit] upone the trone in the brankis and be banishit [banished of] the toun thaireftir [thereafter]" (1653 Lanark B. Rec. 151).


title: Scold's bridle

text: Though primarily used on women, the Burgh Records of Scotland's major towns reveal that the branks were at times used on men as well: "Patrick Pratt sall sit … bound to the croce [cross] of this burgh, in the brankis lockit [branks lockèd]" (1591 Aberd. B Rec. II. 71) / "He shall be put in the branks be the space of xxiiij houres thairafter" (1559 (c 1650) Dundee B. Laws 19).


title: Scold's bridle

text: When the branks was placed on the "gossiper's" head, they could be led through town to show that they had committed an offence or scolded too often. This was intended to humiliate them into "repenting" their "riotous" actions. A spike inside the gag prevented any talking since any movement of the mouth could cause a severe piercing of the tongue. When wearing the device, it was impossible for the person either to eat or speak. Other branks included an adjustable gag with a sharp edge, causing any movement of the mouth to result in laceration of the tongue.


title: Scold's bridle

text: In Scotland, branks could also be permanently displayed in public by attaching them, for example, to the town cross, tron or tolbooth. Then, the ritual humiliation would take place, with the miscreant on public show. Displaying the branks in public was intended to remind the populace of the consequences of any rash action or slander. Whether the person was paraded or simply taken to the point of punishment, the process of humiliation and expected repentance was the same. Time spent in the bridle was normally allocated by the kirk session, in Scotland, or a local magistrate.


title: Scold's bridle

text: Quaker women were sometimes punished with the branks by the non-Quaker authorities for preaching their religious doctrine in public places.


title: Scold's bridle

text: Jougs were similar in their effect to a pillory, but did not restrain the sufferer from speaking. They were generally used in both England and Scotland in the 16th and 17th centuries.


title: Scold's bridle

text: The scold's bridle did not see much use in the New World, though Olaudah Equiano recorded that it was commonly used to control Virginia slaves in the mid-18th century.


title: Scold's bridle

text: Escrava Anastacia ("Anastacia the female slave") is a Brazilian folk saint said to have died from wearing a punitive iron muzzle.


title: Scold's bridle

text: In 1567, Bessie Tailiefeir (pronounced Telfer) allegedly slandered Baillie Thomas Hunter in Edinburgh, saying that he was using false measures. She was sentenced to be "brankit" and fixed to the cross for one hour.


title: Scold's bridle

text: Two bridles were bought for use by the magistrates of Walsall in the 17th century, but it is not clear what happened to them or even whether they were ever used.


title: Scold's bridle

text: "The Scold's Bridle" is the title of a novel by Minette Walters, where a scold's bridle is a key element in the plot.


title: Yellowfin tuna

text: The yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) is a species of tuna found in pelagic waters of tropical and subtropical oceans worldwide.


title: Yellowfin tuna

text: Yellowfin is often marketed as ahi, from the Hawaiian , a name also used there for the closely related bigeye tuna. The species name, "albacares" ("white meat") can also lead to confusion: in English, the albacore ("Thunnus alalunga") is a different species, while yellowfin is officially designated "albacore" in French and referred to as "albacora" by Portuguese fishermen.


title: Yellowfin tuna

text: The yellowfin tuna is among the larger tuna species, reaching weights over , but is significantly smaller than the Atlantic and Pacific bluefin tunas, which can reach over , and slightly smaller than the bigeye tuna and the southern bluefin tuna.


title: Yellowfin tuna

text: The second dorsal fin and the anal fin, as well as the finlets between those fins and the tail, are bright yellow, giving this fish its common name. The second dorsal and anal fins can be very long in mature specimens, reaching almost as far back as the tail and giving the appearance of sickles or scimitars. The pectoral fins are also longer than the related bluefin tuna, but not as long as those of the albacore. The main body is a very dark metallic blue, changing to silver on the belly, which has about 20 vertical lines.


title: Yellowfin tuna

text: Reported sizes in the literature have ranged as high as in length and in weight. The all-tackle International Game Fish Association (IGFA) record for this species stands at for a yellowfin caught in 2012 off Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. The fisherman received a prize of $1 million once the catch was confirmed by the IGFA.


title: Yellowfin tuna

text: Yellowfin tuna are epipelagic fish that inhabit the mixed surface layer of the ocean above the thermocline. Sonic tracking has found that although yellowfin tuna, unlike the related bigeye tuna, mostly range in the top of the water column, another study reported that depth tends to vary with time of day: 90% of their recorded depth values were shallower than during the night, and shallower than during the day.


title: Yellowfin tuna

text: Although yellowfin tuna penetrate the thermocline relatively infrequently, they are capable of diving to considerable depths. An individual tagged in the Indian Ocean with an archival tag spent 85% of its time in depths shallower than , but was recorded as having made three dives to 578, 982, and . The maximum dive depth measured in a second study was .


title: Yellowfin tuna

text: Although mainly found in deep offshore waters, yellowfin tuna may approach shore when suitable conditions exist. Mid-ocean islands such as the Hawaiian archipelago, other island groups in the Western Pacific, Caribbean, and Maldives islands Indian Ocean, as well as the volcanic islands of the Atlantic such as Ascension Island and Saint Helena, often harbor yellowfin feeding on the baitfish these spots concentrate close to the shoreline. Yellowfin may venture well inshore of the continental shelf when water temperature and clarity are suitable and food is abundant.


title: Yellowfin tuna

text: Yellowfin tuna often travel in schools with similarly sized companions. They sometimes school with other tuna species and mixed schools of small yellowfin, and skipjack tuna, in particular, are commonplace. They are often associated with various species of dolphins or porpoises, as well as with larger marine creatures such as whales and whale sharks. They also associate with drifting flotsam such as logs and pallets, and sonic tagging indicates some follow moving vessels. Hawaiian yellowfins associate with anchored fish aggregation devices and with certain sections of the 50-fathom curve.


title: Yellowfin tuna

text: Yellowfin tuna prey include other fish, pelagic crustaceans, and squid. Like all tunas, their body shape is particularly adapted for speed, enabling them to pursue and capture fast-moving baitfish such as flying fish, sauries, and mackerel. Schooling species such as myctophids or lanternfish and similar pelagic driftfish, anchovies, and sardines are frequently taken. Large yellowfins prey on smaller members of the tuna family such as frigate mackerel and skipjack tuna.


title: Yellowfin tuna

text: In turn, yellowfin are preyed upon when young by other pelagic hunters, including larger tuna, seabirds, and predatory fishes such as wahoo, shark, and billfish. Adults are threatened only by the largest and fastest hunters, such as toothed whales, particularly the false killer whale, pelagic sharks such as the mako and great white, large Atlantic blue marlin and Pacific blue marlin, and black marlin. The main source of mortality, however, is industrial tuna fisheries.


title: Yellowfin tuna

text: Their unique cardiovascular system, warm body temperature, elevated metabolism, and well-developed lymphatic system are all involved in their ability to engage in both rapid bursts and long periods of swimming. When swimming rapidly, a tuna's fins retract into grooves to form a smooth aerodynamic surface and increase its speed, due to a biological hydraulic system involving the lymphatic system.


title: Yellowfin tuna

text: The behavior of abruptly diving to deeper levels may be a tactic to escape predators. Evidence from trackers even includes a case in which a diving yellowfin tuna may have been swallowed at a depth of .


title: Yellowfin tuna

text: Modern commercial fisheries catch yellowfin tuna with encircling nets (purse seines), and by industrial longlines. In 2010, 558,761 metric tons of yellowfin tuna were caught in the western and central Pacific Ocean.


title: Yellowfin tuna

text: Formerly, much of the commercial catch was made by pole-and-line fishing, using live bait such as anchovy to attract schools of tuna close to the fishing vessel that were then taken with baited jigs on sturdy bamboo or fiberglass poles or on handlines. This fishery, which targeted skipjack and occasionally albacore, as well as yellowfin, for canning, reached its heyday between World War I and the 1950s before declining. The most well-known fleet of pole-and-line boats sailed from San Diego in California and exploited abundant stocks in Mexican waters, as well as further south to Panama, Costa Rica, and the Galapagos Islands.


title: Yellowfin tuna

text: Pole-and-line fishing is still carried out today in the Maldives, Ghana, the Canary Islands, Madeira, and the Azores. Few pole-and-line boats now specifically target yellowfin, an incidental take compared to the total commercial catch. In the Maldives, the catch is a mix of skipjack tuna and small yellowfins that often associate with them.


title: Yellowfin tuna

text: Purse seining largely took over commercial tuna fisheries in the 1960s and 1970s. Today, purse seines account for more of the commercial catch than any other method. The purse-seine fishery primarily operates in the Pacific Ocean, in the historic tuna grounds of the San Diego tuna fleet in the eastern Pacific, and in the islands of the western Pacific, where many U.S. tuna canneries relocated in the 1980s, but significant purse-seine catches are also made in the Indian Ocean and in the tropical Atlantic Ocean, especially in the Gulf of Guinea by French and Spanish vessels.


title: Yellowfin tuna

text: Purse-seine vessels locate tuna using onboard lookouts, as was done in the pole-and-line fishery, but they also employ sophisticated onboard electronics, sea-surface temperature and other satellite data, and helicopters overhead. Once a school is located, the net is set around it. A single set may yield . Modern tuna seiners have a capacity up to , reach speeds of over , and carry multiple spotting helicopters.


title: Yellowfin tuna

text: Purse seining for yellowfin tuna became highly controversial in the late 1970s when it became apparent that the eastern Pacific fishery was killing many spinner dolphins, pantropical spotted dolphins, and other cetaceans (often called "porpoises" by the tuna fleet) that accompany the fish. This association has been long-recognized by commercial tuna fishermen.


title: Yellowfin tuna

text: Since the introduction of "dolphin-friendly" labeling, an increasing number of purse seine sets are now made on "free schools" unassociated with dolphins, as well as schools that associate with floating objects—another long-understood association that has grown in importance in tuna fisheries. The latter practice in particular has a major ecological impact because of the high proportion of bycatch, including manta rays, sea turtles, pelagic sharks, billfish, and other threatened marine species taken by setting nets around logs and other floating objects. Such tuna are often significantly smaller than the larger adult tuna associated with dolphins. The removal of huge numbers of juvenile yellowfin and bigeye tuna that have yet to reach breeding age has major potential consequences for tuna stocks worldwide.


title: Yellowfin tuna

text: Most of the commercial catch is canned, but the "sashimi" marketplace adds significant demand for high-quality fish. This market is primarily supplied by industrial tuna longline vessels.


title: Yellowfin tuna

text: Industrial longlining was primarily perfected by Japanese fishermen who expanded into new grounds in the Western Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic Oceans in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Longlining has since been adopted by other fishermen, most notably South Korea, Taiwan, and the United States.


title: Yellowfin tuna

text: Tuna longlining targets larger "sashimi"-grade fish around and up that swim deeper in the water column. In tropical and warm temperate areas, the more valuable bigeyes are often the main target, but significant effort is also directed towards larger yellowfins. Longlining seeks areas of higher ocean productivity indicated by temperature and chlorophyll fronts formed by upwellings, ocean current eddies, and major bathymetric features. Satellite imaging technology is the primary tool for locating these dynamic and constantly changing ocean areas.


title: Yellowfin tuna

text: Bycatch is a major environmental issue in the longline fishery, especially impacting billfish, sea turtles, pelagic sharks, and seabirds.


title: Yellowfin tuna

text: Besides the large-scale industrial purse seine and longline fisheries, yellowfin tuna also support smaller-scale artisanal fisheries that have often supplied local domestic markets for generations. Artisanal fisheries now also often fish for the lucrative "sashimi" market in many locations where international air shipment is possible.


title: Yellowfin tuna

text: Artisanal fishermen tend to employ assorted hook-and-line gear such as trolling lines, surface and deep handlines, and longlines.


title: Yellowfin tuna

text: By far, the largest fishery using artisanal methods exists in Philippine and Indonesian waters where thousands of fishermen target yellowfin tuna around fish aggregation devices or "payaos", although this fishery far exceeds the artisanal scale in terms of tonnage caught and the numbers of participants involved, and should more properly be considered a commercial handline fishery. General Santos City is the most important Philippine port for the landing and transhipment of catches. Catches that qualify as "sashimi"-grade are mostly shipped to the Japanese market; those that do not meet the grade are sold locally or canned. Elsewhere in the Pacific, small-boat fishers in Hawaii, Tahiti, and other Pacific islands supply local and in some cases foreign markets with fresh yellowfins.


title: Yellowfin tuna

text: Yellowfin tuna probably first came to the attention of sport fishermen when they appeared on the tuna grounds of Catalina Island, California, only a few years after pioneering fishermen invented the sport, targeting the Pacific bluefin tuna. These tuna were of the same species caught by commercial fishermen in Japan and the western Pacific, but the reason for their appearance was not known at the time. Later, warmer water species such as yellowfin tuna, dorado and striped marlin were found to enter southern California waters in seasons having favorable ocean conditions, particularly during the El Niño phenomenon, which brings warmer water up North America's western coast.


title: Yellowfin tuna

text: Yellowfin tuna were subsequently discovered by sport fishermen in Bermuda, the Bahamas, Hawai'i, and many other parts of their range. Larger adult fish which had developed distinctively long sickle fins were initially thought to be a different species and were known as Allison tuna (a name first given by the then curator of the Bermuda Aquarium, Louis Mowbray, in 1920). Such destinations as Hawai'i and Bermuda became famed for their catches of these beautiful fish. In Hawai'i, various styles of feather lures served as bait, but in Bermuda, chumming techniques from boats anchored on productive banks were evolved to target not only Allison tuna, but also wahoo and the smaller blackfin tuna. Bermudian experts developed techniques to take all these fish on light tackle, and for many years the International Game Fish Association records for yellowfin tuna were dominated by entries from Bermuda in the lighter line classes, with fish in the and larger class from Hawai'i taking most of the heavier line-class records.


title: Yellowfin tuna

text: Today, yellowfin tuna are a major sport fish pursued by sport fishermen in many parts of the world. Thousands of anglers fish for yellowfin tuna along the eastern seaboard of the United States, particularly in North Carolina and New England. Yellowfin are also a popular gamefish among anglers fishing from US Gulf Coast ports, San Diego, and other ports of southern California. Larger "long-range" boats in the San Diego fleet also fish in Mexican waters, searching for yellowfin tuna in many of the grounds that the San Diego pole-and-line tuna clippers used to fish. The yellowfin tuna is also a highly prized catch in the offshore sport fisheries of South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. Sport fishing for yellowfin tuna exists on a smaller scale in many other parts of the world.


title: Yellowfin tuna

text: According to the Hawaii Seafood Buyers Guide, yellowfin tuna is widely used in raw fish dishes, especially "sashimi". This fish is also excellent for grilling. Yellowfin is often served seared rare.


title: Yellowfin tuna

text: Yellowfin buyers recognize two grades, ""sashimi" grade" and "other", although variation in the quality of "other" grades occurs.


title: Yellowfin tuna

text: Different seafood sustainability guides come to different conclusions about whether yellowfin fishing is sustainable. The Audubon's "Seafood Guide" (a guide for what types of marine food products are not ecofriendly) lists troll-caught tuna as "OK", but labels long-line caught as "Be Careful".


title: Yellowfin tuna

text: Yellowfin is becoming a popular replacement for the severely depleted supplies of southern bluefin tuna.


title: Yellowfin tuna

text: In 2010, Greenpeace International added the yellowfin tuna to its seafood red list. The Greenpeace International seafood red list is a "list of fish that are commonly sold in supermarkets around the world, and which have a very high risk of being sourced from unsustainable fisheries".


title: Abram Petrovich Gannibal

text: Abram Petrovich Gannibal, also Hannibal or Ganibal, or Abram Hannibal or Abram Petrov (; c. 1696 – 14 May 1781), was a Russian military engineer, general-in-chief, and nobleman of African origin. Kidnapped and enslaved as a child by Ottomans, Gannibal was traded to Russia and presented as a gift to Peter the Great, where he was freed, adopted and raised in the Emperor's court household as his godson.


title: Abram Petrovich Gannibal

text: Gannibal eventually rose to become a prominent member of the imperial court in the reign of Peter's daughter Elizabeth. He had 11 children, most of whom became members of the Russian nobility; he was a great-grandfather of the author and poet Alexander Pushkin.


title: Abram Petrovich Gannibal

text: The main reliable accounts of Gannibal's life come from "The Moor of Peter the Great," Pushkin's unfinished biography of his great-grandfather, published after Pushkin's death in 1837. Scholars argue that Pushkin's account may be inaccurate due to the author’s desire to elevate the status of his ancestors and family. There are a number of contradictions between the biographies of Pushkin and the German novel "The Blackamoor of Peter the Great", based on his great-grandfather.


title: Abram Petrovich Gannibal

text: Richard Pankhurst, the former professor at the Institute of Ethiopian Studies at the University of Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, believed the young Abram, Ibrahim or Abraham, as he named him, was born around 1698. He was the son of a minor "prince" or chief whose capital was Mareb River (now part of present-day Sudan). His father was relatively affluent, owning many slaves both inherited and taken in battle. He had several wives and 19 children. However, after his father died in battle trying to defend his territory from the Ottoman Turks trying to enslave the population, Abram was captured and taken to Constantinople by ship. His sister, Lagan, is said to have drowned in the sea in a desperate attempt to save her brother.


title: Abram Petrovich Gannibal

text: A historical biography by Gannibal's son-in-law, Rotkirkh, was largely responsible for the myth, propagated by some historians, that Gannibal was born in Sudan. Recent research has established that the general was born in Central Africa, in an area bordering Lake Chad in present-day Cameroon.


title: Abram Petrovich Gannibal

text: Abram stayed in the Ottoman Empire for about a year in the service of Sultan Ahmed III's household. At the time, the Russian ambassador Sava Vladislavich-Raguzinsky, representing Peter the Great, was looking for "a few clever little African slaves" for the Tsar's palace in Moscow; a "Kammermohr" was a common feature of European courts of the time, as an exotic symbol of the court's prestige. On orders of Vladislavich's superiors (one of whom was Pyotr Andreyevich Tolstoy, great-grandfather of the celebrated writer Leo Tolstoy), Abram was selected for this purpose and soon ransomed from the Sultan's viziers with a bribe. In 1704, the ambassador immediately dispatched him by land to Moscow in order to be presented to Tsar Peter the Great.


title: Abram Petrovich Gannibal

text: The Tsar is noted to have taken a liking to the boy's intelligence and potential for military service, and brought the child into his household.


title: Abram Petrovich Gannibal

text: Abram was baptized in 1705, in St. Paraskeva Church in Vilnius, with Peter as his godfather. The date of Gannibal’s baptism held personal significance; he used that date as his birthday because he did not know his actual date of birth.


title: Abram Petrovich Gannibal

text: Abram valued his relationship with his godfather, as well as that of Peter's daughter (Elizabeth), and was loyal to them as if they were family.


title: Abram Petrovich Gannibal

text: Starting at a young age, the boy Abram would travel alongside the emperor during his military campaigns, and at these military journeys he served as his godfather’s valet.


title: Abram Petrovich Gannibal

text: In 1717, Abram was sent to Metz to receive an education in the arts, sciences and warfare from the highest institutes available. By then he was fluent in several languages and excelled in mathematics and geometry. In 1718 Abram joined the French Army with hopes of pleasing his godfather by expanding his learning in military engineering. He enrolled in the royal artillery academy at La Fère in 1720.


title: Abram Petrovich Gannibal

text: During Abram's studies, conflict broke out between France and Spain, and he fought in the War of the Quadruple Alliance, rising to the rank of captain. While fighting in the French war against Spain, Abram received a head injury and was captured by the Spanish army. He was released in 1722 and continued his studies in Metz.


title: Abram Petrovich Gannibal

text: It was during his time in France that Abram adopted the surname "Gannibal" in honor of the Carthaginian general Hannibal ("Gannibal" being the traditional transliteration of the name in Russian). In Paris he met and befriended such Enlightenment figures as the Baron de Montesquieu and Voltaire (this claim by his biographer Hugh Barnes is disputed by reviewer Andrew Kahn). Voltaire called Gannibal the "dark star of the Enlightenment".


title: Abram Petrovich Gannibal

text: Gannibal returned to Russia the following year and became first an engineer and then a mathematics tutor for one of the Tsar's private guard units.


title: Abram Petrovich Gannibal

text: Gannibal's education was completed by 1723, and he was due to return to Russia. After the death of Peter in 1725, Prince Menshikov gained power in Russia due to his good standing with Peter. However, Menshikov was not fond of Gannibal and was suspicious of his foreign origins and superior education. Gannibal was exiled to Siberia in 1727. He first traveled to Kazan, then to Tobolsk and Irkutsk, and then to Selenginsk near the Mongolian border. He was pardoned in 1730 due to his technical skills, and completed his service in Siberia in 1733. During this time he built a fortress and led several construction projects, where he became a master engineer.


title: Abram Petrovich Gannibal

text: Elizabeth of Russia became the new monarch in 1741. Gannibal became a prominent member of her court, rose to the rank of major-general, and became superintendent of Reval (now Tallinn, Estonia), a position he held from 1742 to 1752. A letter signed on 22 March 1744 by "A. Ganibal" is held at the Tallinn City Archives. In 1742, the Empress Elizabeth gave him the Mikhailovskoye estate in Pskov Oblast with hundreds of serfs. After being made the chief military engineer of the Russian army in 1756, he received the rank of general-in-chief in 1759. He eventually retired to the estate Empress Elizabeth gave him, in 1762 during the reign of Catherine the Great.


title: Abram Petrovich Gannibal

text: In an official document that Gannibal submitted in 1742 to Empress Elizabeth, while petitioning for the rank of nobility and a coat of arms, he asked for the right to use a family crest emblazoned with an elephant and the mysterious word "FVMMO", which may mean "homeland" in the Kotoko language. In his book, "Gannibal: The Moor of Petersburg", Hugh Barnes writes of meeting with the sultan of Logone-Birni, who gave him the same translation of the word. However, Frances Somers-Cocks, author of "The Moor of St Petersburg: In the Footsteps of a Black Russian", met the same sultan and received a different translation for FVMMO. She also suggested that FVMMO stands for the Latin expression "Fortuna Vitam Meam Mutavit Omnino" which means "Fortune has changed my life entirely."


title: Abram Petrovich Gannibal

text: Gannibal married twice. His first wife was Evdokia Dioper, a Greek woman. The couple married in 1731. Dioper despised her husband, whom she was forced to marry. The marriage between Dioper and Gannibal was very volatile, and he suspected her of infidelity early in their marriage. Gannibal’s suspicions were confirmed when Dioper gave birth to a white daughter. When Gannibal found out that she had been unfaithful to him, he had her arrested and thrown into prison, where she spent eleven years.


title: Abram Petrovich Gannibal

text: Gannibal began living with another woman, Christina Regina Siöberg (1705–1781), daughter of Mattias Johan Siöberg and wife Christina Elisabeth d'Albedyll, and married her bigamously in Reval, in 1736, a year after the birth of their first child and while he was still lawfully married to his first wife. His divorce from Dioper did not become final until 1753, upon which a fine and a penance were imposed on Gannibal, and Dioper was sent to a convent for the rest of her life. Gannibal's second marriage was nevertheless deemed lawful after his divorce. Gannibal’s second marriage to Christina was much happier, and he appreciated her fidelity and affection towards him.


title: Abram Petrovich Gannibal

text: On her paternal side, Gannibal’s second wife was descended from noble families in Scandinavia and Germany: Siöberg (Sweden), Galtung (Norway), and Grabow (Denmark) / von Grabow (Brandenburg). Her paternal grandfather was Gustaf Siöberg, Rittmester til Estrup, who died in 1694, whose wife Clara Maria Lauritzdatter Galtung (ca. 1651–1698) was the daughter of Lauritz Lauritzson Galtung (ca. 1615–1661) and of Barbara Grabow til Pederstrup (1631–1696).


title: Abram Petrovich Gannibal

text: Abram Gannibal and Christine Regina Siöberg had ten children, including a son, Osip. Osip in turn had a daughter, Nadezhda, the mother of Alexander Pushkin. Gannibal's oldest son, Ivan, became an accomplished naval officer who helped found the city of Kherson in southern Ukraine in 1779 and also attained the rank of general-in-chief, the second-highest military rank in imperial Russia.


title: Abram Petrovich Gannibal

text: Many British aristocrats descend from Gannibal, including Natalia Grosvenor, Duchess of Westminster, and her sister, Alexandra Hamilton, Duchess of Abercorn. George Mountbatten, 4th Marquess of Milford Haven, a cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, is also a direct descendant, as the grandson of Nadejda Mountbatten, Marchioness of Milford Haven.


title: Abram Petrovich Gannibal

text: Gannibal's actual place of birth continues to be uncertain, and is subject to speculation by modern historians. Until recent scholarly field work, it was generally assumed that he originated in Ethiopia. Chiefly Russian scholars for many years believed that he was from the vicinity of Medri Bahri, an ancient kingdom in present-day Eritrea. In a letter he wrote to Empress Elizabeth, Peter the Great's daughter, Gannibal stated that he was from the town of "Logon" or "Lagone". Anthropologist Dmitry Anuchin wrote an essay about Alexander Pushkin in which he theorized that "Lagone" referred to Logo-chewa in Eritrea. In 1999, the Russian Institute in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, also campaigned for a commemorative stamp to honor Pushkin's bicentennial.


title: Abram Petrovich Gannibal

text: The governments of Ethiopia and Eritrea each claim that Gannibal was born in their respective territories. Under this belief, the Ethiopian government named a street in Addis Ababa after Alexander Pushkin, Gannibal's great-grandson. It also placed a bust of him near the African Union headquarters in 2002, and arranged for a statue of Pushkin to be transferred from Moscow to Addis Ababa in 2014. However, the notion that Gannibal may have been born in Ethiopia holds little currency with the general Ethiopian population. The Eritrean government asserts that Gannibal was instead born in Loggo Sarda, an area in modern Eritrea. It also erected its own statue of Pushkin and named a street for him in 2009.


title: Abram Petrovich Gannibal

text: Vladimir Nabokov cast doubt on Gannibal's ancestry, based on research findings during his work translating Pushkin's novel "Eugene Onegin". Nabokov disagreed with Anuchin's theory, stating that it was just as likely that Gannibal was referring to "the Lagona region of equatorial Africa, south of Lake Chad." Support for Anuchin's theory of Ethiopian birth declined after it was exposed as racially based, implying that "hamitic" Ethiopian origins better explained Gannibal's success than "negroid" origins.


title: Abram Petrovich Gannibal

text: The Beninese historian Dieudonné Gnammankou, an expert on Russia, studied Russian, French and African sources and argued that Gannibal was indeed from Logone-Birni and was most likely the son of a chief in the ancient sultanate. In 1995, Gnammankou asserted that the "Logon" Gannibal wrote about was actually Logone, capital of the old Kotoko kingdom of Logone-Birni, now located in northern Cameroon. He believed that the pattern of slave trade around Lake Chad made that region a more plausible likelihood for Gannibal's birthplace than Gondar, Ethiopia. Gnammankou's biography of Gannibal was translated into Russian, and was voted the best book on Pushkin at the 1999 Moscow Book Fair.


title: Abram Petrovich Gannibal

text: Gnammankou's findings were in turn buttressed by the field work of Hugh Barnes. After consulting with the Sultan of Logone-Birni, Barnes found that an inscription on Gannibal's crest, which was hitherto undecipherable, corresponded with the term for "homeland" in the local Kotoko language of central Africa.


title: Abram Petrovich Gannibal

text: In November 2010, representatives from Russia and Estonia, the ambassador of Cameroon, and the sultan of Logone-Birni went to La Fère, France to unveil a commemorative plaque honoring Abram Petrovich Gannibal as a graduate of La Fère's royal artillery academy. The academy, which closed in the 1990s, had been started by King Louis XV shortly before Gannibal's enrollment there in 1720. The plaque declares that he was a graduate of the royal artillery academy of La Fère, and later became chief military engineer and general-in-chief of the Imperial Russian Army. It also notes that Gannibal is the great-grandfather of Alexander Pushkin, Russia's greatest poet. Dieudonné Gnammankou, whose research into Gannibal's background was largely responsible for the ceremony at La Fère taking place, also served as the main speaker at a symposium following the event.


title: Abram Petrovich Gannibal

text: Alexander Pushkin used his great-grandfather Abram Gannibal as the model for Ibrahim, the lead character in his unfinished novel "The Moor of Peter the Great". After leaving school in 1817, Pushkin met Abram's last surviving son, Peter. He met Peter again in 1825, after writing in his diary about wanting to "get from him some memoirs about my great-grandfather." He seemed to use his own experiences, along with Gannibal's to create the plot for "The Moor of Peter the Great". A stage version of the work was written by Carlyle Brown and premiered at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival's 13th Southern Writers' Project in March 2001.


title: Abram Petrovich Gannibal

text: Abram Gannibal is a protagonist of the Soviet comedy movie "How Czar Peter the Great Married Off His Moor", although the film's plot has almost nothing to do with Gannibal's real biography. The film is partly based on Pushkin's "Moor of Peter the Great".


title: Abram Petrovich Gannibal

text: There are several portraits thought to depict Gannibal, which include a painting of the Battle of Lesnaya by Pierre-Denis Martin the Younger. The young boy present in Martin’s painting is argued to be Gannibal, because of the young boy’s role as valet to Peter during military campaigns and Gannibal’s possible connection to the artist while in France. A portrait by Adriaan Schoonebeeck is also believed to portray Gannibal during his time with Peter the Great. In Schoonebeeck’s portrait of Peter the Great, the young servant boy directly behind Peter is thought to be Gannibal. Although there are a variety of portraits that claim to contain Gannibal, there is little evidence to suggest the claims are accurate.


title: Abram Petrovich Gannibal

text: In the Lesnaya painting, the young boy is dressed in traditional slave attire, which Gannibal did not wear due to his status under Peter the Great.


title: Battle of Kasserine Pass

text: The Battle of Kasserine Pass was a series of battles of the Tunisian campaign of World War II that took place in February 1943 at Kasserine Pass, a gap in the Grand Dorsal chain of the Atlas Mountains in west central Tunisia.


title: Battle of Kasserine Pass

text: The Axis forces, led by "Generalfeldmarschall" Erwin Rommel, were primarily from the "Afrika Korps" Assault Group, the Italian "Centauro" Armored Division and two Panzer divisions detached from the 5th Panzer Army, while the Allied forces consisted of the U.S. II Corps (Major General Lloyd Fredendall), the British 6th Armoured Division (Major-General Charles Keightley) and other parts of the First Army (Lieutenant-General Kenneth Anderson).


title: Battle of Kasserine Pass

text: The battle was the first major engagement between U.S. and Axis forces in Africa. The American troops were numerically superior, but inexperienced and poorly led; they suffered many casualties and were quickly pushed back over from their original positions west of Faïd Pass.


title: Battle of Kasserine Pass

text: After the early defeat, elements of the U.S. II Corps, with British reinforcements, rallied and held the exits through mountain passes in western Tunisia, defeating the Axis offensive. As a result of the battle, the U.S. Army instituted sweeping changes in unit organization, and replaced commanders and some types of equipment.


title: Battle of Kasserine Pass

text: U.S. and British forces landed at several points along the coast of French Morocco and Algeria on November 8, 1942, during Operation Torch. This came only days after the breakthrough of the British Eighth Army (Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery) following the Second Battle of El Alamein. In response, German and Italian troops were ferried in from Sicily to occupy Tunisia, one of the few easily defended areas of North Africa and only one night's sail from bases in Sicily. This short passage made it very difficult for Allied naval vessels to intercept Axis transports, and air interdiction proved equally difficult, because the nearest Allied airbase to Tunisia, at Malta, was over distant.


title: Battle of Kasserine Pass

text: The Run for Tunis in November and December 1942 is the term for an attempt to reach Tunis before German and Italian reinforcements could arrive. Because of the poor road and rail communications, only a small, division-sized Allied force could be supplied and due to the excellent defensive terrain, small numbers of German and Italian troops were sufficient to defeat the attempt. The Allied build-up continued, more aircraft became available and new airfields in eastern Algeria and Tunisia were built. The Allies reduced the flow of Axis troops and equipment into Tunis and Bizerta, but a sizable Axis force was already ashore.


title: Battle of Kasserine Pass

text: On January 23, 1943, the Allied Eighth Army took Tripoli, Erwin Rommel's main supply base. Rommel had anticipated this, switching his line of supply to Tunis with the goal of blocking the southern approach to Tunisia from Tripoli at Gabès. The Mareth Line, which the French had built to protect against an Italian attack from Libya, was


title: Battle of Kasserine Pass

text: Allied troops had already crossed the Atlas Mountains and set up a forward base at Faïd, in the foothills on the eastern arm of the mountains, an excellent position to thrust east to the coast, split the Axis forces in southern Tunisia from the forces further north, and cut the line of supply to Tunis.


title: Battle of Kasserine Pass

text: Elements of the 5th Panzer Army, headed by General Hans-Jürgen von Arnim, reached the Allied positions on the eastern foot of the Atlas Mountains on January 30. The 21st Panzer Division met French troops at Faïd, and, despite excellent use of the French guns, which caused heavy casualties among the German infantry, the defenders were easily forced back.


title: Battle of Kasserine Pass

text: U.S. artillery and tanks of the 1st Armored Division then entered the battle, destroying some enemy tanks and forcing the remainder into what appeared to be a headlong retreat. This was, however, a trap, and when the 1st Armored Division gave chase it was engaged by a screen of German anti-tank guns, and sustained heavy casualties. A U.S. forward artillery observer whose radio and landlines had been cut by shellfire recalled,


title: Battle of Kasserine Pass

text: The 21st Panzer Division resumed its advance towards Faïd. American infantry casualties were exacerbated by the practice of digging shallow shell scrapes instead of foxholes, as German tank drivers could easily crush a man inside a scrape by driving into it and simultaneously making a half-turn. Several attempts were made by the 1st Armored Division to stop the German advance, but all three combat commands found that each defensive position they tried to occupy had already been overrun, and they were attacked by German troops with heavy losses. On February 2, the 1st Armored Division was ordered to end its attacks and concentrate to form a reserve. The Germans captured most of Tunisia, and the entrances into the coastal lowlands were blocked. The Allies held the interior of the roughly triangular Atlas range, but with the exits blocked this was of little advantage to the Allies. For the next two weeks, Rommel and the Axis commanders further north debated what to do next.


title: Battle of Kasserine Pass

text: Rommel did not consider the Eighth Army a serious threat because, until Tripoli was open, Montgomery could maintain only a small force in south Tunisia. Ships commenced unloading on February 9 but the port was not fully operational until the end of the month. Rommel made a proposal in early February to "Comando Supremo" (Italian High Command in Rome) to attack with two battlegroups, including detachments from the 5th Panzer Army, toward two U.S. supply bases just to the west of the western arm of the mountains in Algeria. A quick thrust could capture the supplies and disrupt a U.S. attempt to concentrate forces near Tebessa. Arnim objected and the attack was delayed for a week until agreement was reached to mount Operation "Frühlingswind", a thrust by the 5th Panzer Army through the U.S. communications and supply center of Sidi Bou Zid. Rommel's forces, to the south-west, would conduct Operation "Morgenluft" to capture Gafsa and advance on Tozeur.


title: Battle of Kasserine Pass

text: On February 14 the 10th and 21st Panzer divisions began the Battle of Sidi Bou Zid, about west of Faïd, in the interior plain of the Atlas Mountains. The U.S. tanks were defeated and the infantry, poorly sited on three hills and unable to give mutual support, was isolated. A counterattack the next day was easily repulsed and on February 16 the Germans advanced towards Sbeitla. After the success at Sidi Bou Zid, Rommel ordered the "Afrika Korps" Assault Group to attack Gafsa on February 15, but, on the night before, Anderson ordered the defenders to evacuate Gafsa and make the main defence line the hills around Feriana, as he believed Gafsa should not be defended against a large attack. The next day, because of the threat to the southern flank, Anderson obtained Eisenhower's agreement and ordered a withdrawal from the Eastern Dorsale, to the line of the Western Dorsale from Feriana northwards. Early on February 17, Fredendall ordered a withdrawal from Sbeitla and Feriana. The U.S. II Corps was able to concentrate at the Kasserine and Sbiba Passes, on the western arm of the mountains. U.S. casualties were 2,546 men, 103 tanks, 280 vehicles, 18 field guns, three anti-tank guns and an anti-aircraft battery.


title: Battle of Kasserine Pass

text: At this point, there was some argument in the Axis camp about what to do next; all of Tunisia was under Axis control, and there was little to do until the Eighth Army arrived at Mareth. Rommel decided to attack through the Kasserine Pass into the main force of the U.S. II Corps at Tébessa to capture U.S. supplies on the Algerian side of the western arm of the mountains, eliminate the Allied ability to attack the coastal corridor linking Mareth and Tunis and threaten the southern flank of the First Army. On February 18, Rommel submitted his proposals to Albert Kesselring, who forwarded them with his blessing to the "Comando Supremo" in Rome.


title: Battle of Kasserine Pass

text: At 13:30 on February 19, Rommel received the "Comando Supremo"s agreement to a revised plan. He was to have 10th and 21st Panzer Divisions transferred from Arnim's 5th Panzer Army to his command and attack through the Kasserine and Sbiba passes toward Thala and Le Kef to the north, clearing the Western Dorsale and threatening the 1st Army's flank. Rommel was appalled; the plan dispersed Axis forces and, through the passes, would expose their flanks. A concentrated attack on Tébessa, while entailing some risk, could yield badly needed supplies, destroy Allied potential for operations into central Tunisia and capture the airfield at Youks-les-Bains, west of Tébessa.


title: Battle of Kasserine Pass

text: In the early hours of February 19, Rommel ordered the "Afrika Korps" Assault Group from Feriana to attack the Kasserine Pass. The 21st Panzer Division at Sbeitla was ordered to attack northward through the pass east of Kasserine which led to Sbiba and Ksour. The "Kampfgruppe von Broich", the battlegroup released by Arnim from 10th Panzer Division, was ordered to concentrate at Sbeitla, where it would be ready to exploit success in either pass.


title: Battle of Kasserine Pass

text: The Sbiba area was attacked by Battle Groups Stenkhoff and Schuette, remnants of the 21st Panzer Division. Facing the German armored advance was the British 6th Armoured Division (less the 26th Armoured Brigade which except for the tanks of the 16/5th Lancers had been sent to Thala). Also in the line was the 18th Regimental Combat Team from the U.S. 1st Infantry Division; and three battalions of infantry from U.S. 34th Infantry Division. There were also three U.S. Field Artillery battalions, elements of two British anti-tank regiments and some French detachments. The Germans made little progress against the combined firepower of the defending force which had also laid minefields. The 21st Panzer Division was checked and then driven back by February 20.


title: Battle of Kasserine Pass

text: Defending the pass was a force consisting of the U.S. 1st Battalion, 26th Regimental Combat Team, the U.S. 19th Combat Engineer Regiment, the 6th Field Artillery Battalion, a tank destroyer battalion and a battery of French artillery. On the hills to their west was French General Welvert's Task Force Welvert comprising a U.S. Ranger and infantry battalion, three French infantry battalions, two U.S. field artillery battalions, four French artillery batteries and engineer and anti-aircraft detachments. Furthest west was Task Force Bowen (consisting of the 3rd Battalion of the 26th Regimental Combat Team), blocking the track from Feriana towards Tebessa. Between Task Force Bowen and Tebessa to the north was the regrouping 1st Armored Division although only Combat Command B was fit for combat. The positions in the pass had been placed under Colonel Alexander Stark, commander of the 26th RCT, on the night of February 18 and the command named Stark Force.


title: Battle of Kasserine Pass

text: An attempt to surprise the Kasserine defenses by the 33rd Reconnaissance Unit into the pass failed and a battalion of Panzer grenadiers was ordered into the floor of the pass and another onto Djebel Semmama, the hill on its eastern flank and slow progress was made against artillery fire. The tanks of 1/8th Panzer Regiment were committed at noon but little further progress resulted against stubborn defense. Rommel decided to commit his units from the 10th Panzer to the Kasserine Pass the next morning in a coordinated attack with the "Afrika Korps" Assault Group, which was to be joined by elements of the Italian 131st Armored Division "Centauro". British reinforcements from the 26th Armoured Brigade (6th Armoured Division) had been assembling at Thala and Brigadier Dunphie, making forward reconnaissance, decided to intervene. The First Army headquarters restricted him to sending Gore Force, a small combined-arms group of a company of infantry, a squadron of 11 tanks, an artillery battery and an anti-tank troop. Brigadier Cameron Nicholson (6th Armoured Division) was given command of Nickforce, all units north-west of the pass.


title: Battle of Kasserine Pass

text: During the night, the American positions on the two shoulders overlooking the pass were overrun and at 8:30 am German panzer grenadiers and Italian Bersaglieri resumed the attack. At 10:00 am Dunphie judged that Stark Force was about to give way and ordered Gore Force to the Thala side of the pass as elements of the "Centauro" Division launched their attack towards Tebessa and continued it during the afternoon. On February 20 during the opening attack on key American positions of the town of Djebel, the 5th Bersaglieri Regiment made a frontal assault on U.S. positions that lasted most of the morning and finally carried the position, losing the regimental commander Colonel Bonfatti in the process. This action cracked open the allied defenses, opening the road to Thala and Tebessa. By midday the accompanying combined Axis armored units poured through the pass routing U.S. forces with the 1st U.S. armored division into one of the worst U.S. defeats of the Tunisian Campaign. The Italian regiment was complimented by General Bülowius, commander of the DAK assault group who cited their action as the instrumental event of the Axis victory. At 1:00 pm Rommel committed two battalions from 10th Panzer which overcame the defense. Tanks and Bersaglieri from the "Centauro" Division advanced along Highway 13 and overran the 19th Combat Engineer Regiment. The U.S. survivors made a disorganized retreat up the western exit from the pass to Djebel el Hamra, where Combat Command B of the 1st Armored Division was arriving. On the exit to Thala, Gore Force slowly leapfrogged back, losing all its tanks in the process, to rejoin the 26th Armoured Brigade some further back.


title: Battle of Kasserine Pass

text: The "Afrika Korps" Assault Group began moving along the Hatab River valley towards Haidra and Tebessa in the early afternoon of February 21 and advanced until they met defenders consisting of the U.S. 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division and Combat Command B of the U.S. 1st Armored Division at Djebel el Hamra. The German–Italian force was halted and, despite heavy pressure including air attacks, failed to dislodge the American defenders. Having brought the Axis drive towards Tebessa to a halt, General Paul Robinett and General Terry Allen now turned their attention to planning a counterattack that was to take place the next day, February 22. Plans made by both sides were upset by the battle, and the Axis forces (5th "Bersaglieri," a "Semovente" group from "Centauro" and 15 Panzer) launched another assault on the U.S. position on the morning of February 22 toward Bou Chebka Pass. Although the American defenders were pressed hard the line held and, by mid-afternoon, the U.S. infantry and tanks launched a counterattack that broke the combined German and Italian force. More than 400 Axis prisoners were taken as the counterattack was pressed into the "Afrika Korps" position.


title: Battle of Kasserine Pass

text: Rommel had stayed with the main group of the 10th Panzer Division on the route toward Thala, where the 26th Armoured Brigade and remnants of the U.S. 26th Infantry Regiment had dug in on ridges. If the town fell and the southern of two roads from Thala to Tebessa was cut, the U.S. 9th Infantry Division to the north would be cut off and Combat Command B of the 1st Armored Division would be trapped between the 10th Panzer Division and its supporting units moving north along the second road to Tebessa. The combined force fought a costly delaying action in front of Thala, retreating ridge by ridge to the north until by dark, the force held the German attacks just south of the town. The divisional artillery (48 guns) of the 9th Infantry Division and anti-tank platoons, that had moved from Morocco on February 17, west, dug in that night. Next day, the front was held mostly by British infantry, with exceptionally strong backing by unified U.S. and British artillery, under Brigadier General Stafford LeRoy Irwin, the U.S. artillery commander. The British had 36 guns, supported by armoured cars of the Derbyshire Yeomanry and Valentine and Crusader tanks of the 17th/21st Lancers.


title: Battle of Kasserine Pass

text: Anderson ordered the 9th Infantry Division and its artillery support to Le Kef to meet an expected German attack but U.S. Major General Ernest N. Harmon, who had been sent by Eisenhower to report on the battle and the Allied command, instructed the 9th divisional artillery to stay behind. On the morning of February 22 an intense artillery barrage from the massed Allied guns forestalled the resumption of the 10th Panzer Division attack, destroying armor and vehicles and disrupting communications. Broich, the battle group commander, decided to pause and regroup but Allied reinforcements continued to arrive. Under constant fire, 10th Panzer waited until dark to retire from the battlefield.


title: Battle of Kasserine Pass

text: Overextended and with supplies dwindling, pinned down by the Allied artillery in the pass in front of Thala and now facing U.S. counterattacks along the Hatab River, Rommel realized his attack had been stopped. At Sbiba, along the Hatab River and now at Thala, the efforts of the German and Italian forces had failed to make a decisive break in the Allied line. With little prospect of further success, Rommel judged that it would be wiser to break off to concentrate in South Tunisia and strike a blow at the Eighth Army, catching them off balance while still assembling its forces. He at least had the consolation that he had inflicted heavy losses on his enemy and that the Allied concentrations in the Gafsa – Sbeitla area had been destroyed. At a meeting at Rommel's Kasserine HQ on February 23, Kesselring and his Chief of Staff Siegfried Westphal tried to change Rommel's mind, arguing that there were still possibilities for success. Rommel was adamant; Kesselring finally agreed and formal orders from the "Comando Supremo" in Rome were issued that evening calling off the offensive and directing all Axis units to return to their start positions. On February 23 a massive American air attack on the pass hastened the German retreat and by late February 24 the pass had been reoccupied, Feriana was in Allied hands; Sidi Bou Zid and Sbeitla followed soon after.


title: Battle of Kasserine Pass

text: German losses at Kasserine were 201 killed, 536 wounded and 252 missing, totalling 989 casualties. In materiel, Germans lost 20 tanks, 67 vehicles and 14 guns. Allied forces captured 73 German and 535 Italian soldiers.


title: Battle of Kasserine Pass

text: American losses totalled 300 killed, 3,000 wounded, and 3,000 missing. Losses were so high that an additional 7,000 replacements were needed to recover units to their original strength. The French losses on the 34th Division totalled 50 killed, 200 wounded and 250 missing. Regarding Allied personnel captured, Rommel and Ziegler claimed 3,721 prisoners captured but in a consolidated report of February 24 they reported 4,026 Allied prisoners of war.


title: Battle of Kasserine Pass

text: Materiel losses of the US II Corps were staggering: in total 183 tanks, 104 half-tracks, 208 guns and 512 trucks and motor vehicles were lost, some of them captured by the Germans. The Allies also lost supplies and fuel, since over 215 cubic meters of gasoline and lubricants were seized along with 45 tons of ammunition.


title: Battle of Kasserine Pass

text: Rommel had hoped to take advantage of the inexperience of the new Allied commanders but was opposed by Arnim who, wanting to conserve strength in his sector, ignored Kesselring's orders and withheld the attached heavy tank unit of 10th Panzer. Rommel felt that most U.S. units and commanders had showed their inexperience, losing sight of the broader picture. Rommel was unable to exploit Allied failings due to a lack of forces and freedom of maneuver and the opportunity was missed, but he praised the 2nd Battalion, 13th Armored Regiment of the 1st Armored Division in its defense of Sbeitla for being "clever and well fought". Rommel was later impressed with how quickly U.S. commanders came to understand and implement mobile warfare and also praised U.S. equipment: "British experience has been put to good use in American equipment". Of particular interest to the Germans was the sturdy M3 armored half-track, and for some time after the battle, German units deployed large numbers of captured U.S. vehicles.


title: Battle of Kasserine Pass

text: The Allies studied the results equally seriously. Positioned by senior commanders who had not personally reconnoitered the ground, U.S. forces were often located too far from each other for mutual support. It was also noted that U.S. soldiers tended to become careless about digging in, exposing their positions, bunching in groups when in open view of enemy artillery observers, and positioning units on topographic crests, where their silhouettes made them perfect targets. Too many soldiers, exasperated by the rocky soil of Tunisia, were still digging shallow slit trenches instead of deep foxholes.


title: Battle of Kasserine Pass

text: The 1st Armored Division was on the receiving end of German anti-tank and screening tactics and had not learned about those tactics from experienced British armored forces. Others in the U.S. Army were well aware of the German deception tactics. The Allies were also unable to prevent the Germans from attaining air superiority over the battlefield, limiting effective Allied air reconnaissance and allowing relentless German bombing and strafing attacks that disrupted Allied attempts at deployment and organization. Attacks by the "Luftwaffe" in close support of German ground offensives often neutralized U.S. attempts to organize effective defensive artillery fire.


title: Battle of Kasserine Pass

text: General Dwight D. Eisenhower began restructuring the Allied command, creating the 18th Army Group, commanded by General Sir Harold R. L. G. Alexander, to tighten the operational control of the three Allied nations involved and improve their coordination. Major General Lloyd Fredendall was relieved by Eisenhower and sent home. Training programs at home had contributed to U.S. Army units in North Africa being saddled with disgraced commanders who had failed in battle and were reluctant to advocate radical changes. Eisenhower found through Major General Omar Bradley and others, that Fredendall's subordinates had lost confidence in him and Alexander told U.S. commanders, "I'm sure you must have better men than that".


title: Battle of Kasserine Pass

text: Fredendall took the blame but Anderson, the First Army commander, was judged to be at fault for the failure to concentrate Allied armored units and keep forces concentrated, that later disintegrated into individual units. When Fredendall disclaimed all responsibility for the poorly equipped French XIX Corps and denied French requests for support, notably when under pressure at Faïd, Anderson allowed the request to go unfulfilled. Anderson was also blamed for dispersing the three combat commands of the U.S. 1st Armored Division, despite the objections of Major General Orlando Ward, the divisional commander. U.S. Brigadier General Irwin later became commander of the 5th Infantry Division in Europe and went on to higher command, as did British Brigadier Nicholson, who later commanded the 2nd Infantry Division in India. Allied commanders were given greater scope for initiative and to keep forces concentrated. They were also urged to lead their units from the front and to keep command posts well forward, unlike Fredendall who had rarely visited the front line. (Ward was sent home, where he trained troops and then commanded the 20th Armored Division in Europe.)


title: Battle of Kasserine Pass

text: On the 6 March, Major General George Patton was temporarily removed from planning for the Allied invasion of Sicily to command the II Corps. Bradley was appointed assistant corps commander and moved up to command of II Corps when Patton returned to planning for Sicily. Fredendall was reassigned to the United States and several other commanders were removed or promoted out of the way. Patton was not known for hesitancy and did not bother to request permission when taking action to support his command or other units requesting assistance. During the advance from Gafsa, Alexander, the 18th Army Group commander, had given detailed orders to Patton, afterwards changing II Corps' mission several times. Once beyond Maknassy, Alexander again gave orders Patton considered excessively detailed. From then on, Patton simply ignored those parts of mission orders he considered ill-advised on grounds of military expediency and/or a rapidly evolving tactical situation.


title: Battle of Kasserine Pass

text: Efforts were made to improve the integration of immediate artillery and air support, which had been poorly coordinated. While U.S. artillery response times improved dramatically, coordinating close air support was not achieved until Operation Overlord over a year later. American anti-aircraft artillery began reforms, having learned that, while Stuka dive bombers were vulnerable to .50 BMG rounds fired from vehicles, field units needed dedicated autocannon to protect them from aerial attack: in one division, 95 percent of air attacks were concentrated on its artillery.


title: Iranian rial

text: The rial (; sign: ﷼; abbreviation: Rl (singular) and Rls (plural) or IR in Latin; ISO code: IRR) is the official currency of Iran.


title: Iranian rial

text: There is no official symbol for the currency but the Iranian standard ISIRI 820 defined a symbol for use on typewriters (mentioning that it is an invention of the standards committee itself) and the two Iranian standards ISIRI 2900 and ISIRI 3342 define a character code to be used for it. The Unicode Standard has a compatibility character defined .


title: Iranian rial

text: A proposal has been agreed to by the Iranian parliament to drop four zeros, by replacing the rial with a new currency called the toman, the name of a previous Iranian currency, at the rate of 1 toman = 10,000 rials. This change is expected to take place between 2020 and 2022.


title: Iranian rial

text: The rial was first introduced in 1798 as a coin worth 1,250 dinars or one-eighth of a "toman". In 1825, the rial ceased to be issued, with the qiran subdivided into 20 shahi or 1,000 dinars and was worth one-tenth of a toman, being issued as part of a decimal system. The rial replaced the qiran at par in 1932, subdivided into 100 new dinars.


title: Iranian rial

text: Prior to decimalisation in 1932, these coins and currencies were used, and some of these terms still have wide usage in Iranian languages and proverbs:


title: Iranian rial

text: In 1932, the rial was pegged to sterling at a rate of £1 stg = Rls 59.75. The exchange rate was £1 = Rls 80.25 in 1936, £1 = Rls 64.350 in 1939, £1 = Rls 68.8 in 1940, £1 = Rls 141 in 1941 and £1 = Rls 129 in 1942. In 1945, the rial was pegged to the US dollar at US$1 = Rls 32.25. The rate was US$1 = Rls 75.75 in 1957. Iran did not follow the dollar's devaluation in 1973, leading to a new peg of US$1 = Rls 68.725. The dollar peg was dropped in 1975.


title: Iranian rial

text: In 1979, Rls 70 equalled US$1. The value of the rial declined precipitously after the Islamic revolution because of capital flight from the country. Studies estimate that the flight of capital from Iran shortly before and after the revolution in the range of $30 to $40 billion. Whereas on March 15, 1978, Rls 71.46 equalled $1, in July 1999, $1 equalled Rls 9,430.


title: Iranian rial

text: Injecting sudden foreign exchange revenues in the economic system forms the phenomenon of "Dutch disease" in a country. There are two main consequences for a country with Dutch disease: loss of price competitiveness in its production goods, and hence the exports of those goods; and an increase in imports. Both cases are clearly visible in Iran.


title: Iranian rial

text: Although described as an (interbank) "market rate", the value of the Iranian rial is tightly controlled by the central bank. The state ownership of oil export earnings and its large reserves, supervision of letters of credit, together with current – and capital outflow account – outflows allows management of demand. The central bank has allowed the rial to weaken in nominal terms (4.6% on average in 2009) in order to support the competitiveness of non-oil exports.


title: Iranian rial

text: There is an active black market in foreign exchange, but the development of the TSE rate and the ready availability of foreign exchange during 2000 narrowed the differential to as little as IR100 in mid-2000. However, the spread increased again in September 2010 because channels for transferring foreign currency to and from Iran being blocked because of international sanctions.


title: Iranian rial

text: Monetary policy is facilitated by a network of 50 Iranian-run forex dealers in Iran, the rest of the Middle East and Europe. According to the "Wall Street Journal" and dealers, the Iranian government was selling US$250 million daily to keep the rial exchange rate against the US dollar between Rls 9,700 and Rls 9,900 in 2009. At times (before the devaluation of the rial in 2013) the authorities weakened the national currency intentionally by withholding the supply of hard currency to earn more rial-denominated income, usually at times when the government faced a budget deficit.


title: Iranian rial

text: The widening of the gap between official and unofficial exchange rates stood at over 20% in November 2011. This shows the correlation between the value of foreign currencies and the domestic inflationary environment.


title: Iranian rial

text: The unofficial rial to US dollar rate underwent severe fluctuations in January 2012 (the rial losing 50% of its value in a few days, following new international sanctions against the CBI), eventually settling at Rls 17,000 at the end of the period. Besides all the bad effects on the economy in general, this had the effect of boosting the competitiveness of Iran's domestic industries abroad. Following President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's decision to liberalize the mechanism by which bank interest rates are set (granting banks the authority to raise interest rates to 21%), CBI announced that it would be fixing the official rate of the rial against the dollar at Rls 12,260 from January 28, 2012, and seek to meet all demand for foreign currency through banks.


title: Iranian rial

text: As of June 2020, the Iranian rial has fallen almost five-fold since the beginning of 2018 and contributing to the record inflation. Reason cited by analysts is the fact that the government has been printing money in excess of the economic growth.


title: Iranian rial

text: Until 2002, Iran's exchange rate system was based on a multi-layered system, where state and para-state enterprises benefited from the "preferred or official rate" (Rls 1,750 for US$1) while the private sector paid the "market rate" (Rls 8,000 for US$1), hence creating an unequal competition environment. The "official rate" applied to oil and gas export receipts, imports of essential goods and services, and repayment of external debt. The "export rate", fixed at Rls 3,000 per dollar since May 1995, applied to all other trade transactions, but mainly to capital goods imports of public enterprises.


title: Iranian rial

text: In 1998, in order to ease pressure on exporters, the central bank introduced a currency certificate system allowing exporters to trade certificates for hard currency on the Tehran Stock Exchange, thus creating a floating value for the rial known as the "TSE rate" or "market rate". This method finally replaced the fixed "export rate" (Rls 3,000:US$1) in March 2000, and has since held steady at some Rls 8,500:US$1.


title: Iranian rial

text: In March 2002, the multi-tiered system was replaced by a unified, market-driven exchange rate. In 2002 the "official rate" a/k/a "preferred rate" (Rls 1,752:US$1) was abolished, and the TSE rate became the basis for the new unified foreign-exchange regime. Iran's Central Bank channels more than 90 per cent of hard currency into the local market (2012).


title: Iranian rial

text: In a move interpreted as aiming at unifying currency exchange rates, on September 24, 2012, the government launched a foreign exchange centre, that would provide importers of some basic goods with foreign exchanges, at a rate about 2% cheaper than the open market rate on a given day. This project was cancelled following the strong depreciation of the rial between 2012 and 2013 but was put on the agenda again in 2015 for use in the reunification of forex rates (planned for 2017) and the introduction of currency derivatives. through the Iran Mercantile Exchange.


title: Iranian rial

text: In addition to banks, "exchange shops" are also available for limited transactions. Exchange shops must operate under the licenses issued by Central Bank of Iran. Foreign currencies can be bought or sold at these exchange shops.


title: Iranian rial

text: from certain investments under the Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Act and from limitations on other investment-related current international payments under this act.