title: Tamar (Genesis)

text: Together with the brief preceding narrative of the birth of Er, Onan, and Shelah, and the subsequent narrative of the birth of Perez's children, the passage is often regarded as presenting a significant chronological issue, since it is surrounded by a narrative concerning Joseph; before the passage occurs, Joseph is described as being 17 years old, and after the passage, Joseph is described as meeting up with Judah some 9 years after Joseph had reached 30 years in age.


title: Tamar (Genesis)

text: The gap, a maximum of 22 years, is somewhat small to contain within it Judah's first marriage, the birth of Er and Onan, Er's marriage to Tamar, Tamar's subsequent pregnancy by Judah, and the birth of Judah's children (Judah was the father and his daughter-in-law, Tamar, was the mother); the passage is also widely regarded as an abrupt change to the surrounding narrative Joseph story. According to some textual scholars, the reason for these features is that the passage derives from the Jahwist source, while the immediately surrounding narrative is from the Elohist, the two being spliced together at a later date.


title: Celeste Ng

text: Celeste Ng ( ) (born July 30, 1980) is an American writer and novelist. She has released many short stories that have been published in a variety of literary journals. Ng's first novel, "Everything I Never Told You", released on June 26, 2014 won the Amazon Book of the Year award as well as praise from critics. Ng's short story "Girls at Play" won a Pushcart Prize in 2012, and was a 2015 recipient of an Alex Award. Her second novel, "Little Fires Everywhere," was published in 2017. Ng received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2020. Her most recent novel, "Our Missing Hearts", was released on October 4, 2022.


title: Celeste Ng

text: Celeste Ng was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her parents moved from Hong Kong in the late 1960s. Her father Dr. Daniel L. Ng (d. 2004) was a physicist at NASA in the John H. Glenn Research Center (formerly known as the NASA Lewis Research Center). Her mother was a chemist who taught at Cleveland State University.


title: Celeste Ng

text: When Ng was ten years old, she moved from Pittsburgh to Shaker Heights, Ohio with her parents and sister. She attended the schools in the Shaker Heights City School District, from Woodbury Elementary all the way up to Shaker Heights High School. At Shaker Heights High School, Ng was involved with the Student Group on Race Relations ("SGORR") for three years and was a co-editor of the school's literary magazine, "Semanteme". She graduated from high school in 1998.


title: Celeste Ng

text: After graduating from high school, Ng studied English at Harvard University. She then attended graduate school at University of Michigan, where she earned her Master of Fine Arts in writing, now the Helen Zell Writers’ Program. At the University of Michigan, Ng won the Hopwood Award for her short story "What Passes Over".


title: Celeste Ng

text: Ng received the Pushcart Prize in 2012 for her story "Girls, At Play". Her fiction has appeared in "One Story", "TriQuarterly", and "Subtropics". Her essays have appeared in "Kenyon Review Online", "The Millions", and elsewhere. Ng taught writing at the University of Michigan and at Grub Street in Boston. Ng also was an editor of blogs at the website Fiction Writers Review for three years.


title: Celeste Ng

text: Ng's debut novel, "Everything I Never Told You: A Novel", is a literary thriller that focuses on an American family in 1970s Ohio. The novel had four drafts and one revision before completion, which took six years. Working on it, Ng said she drew upon her own experiences of racism as well as her family and friends. The book, which the "Los Angeles Times" called an "excellent first novel about family, love, and ambition," won Amazon’s book of the year award in 2014 and was a "New York Times" Notable Book of 2014. It has been translated into 15 languages. In 2020, it was reported that Annapurna Television would develop the novel into a limited series. Ng and Mary Lee of production company A-Major Media will serve as executive producers.


title: Celeste Ng

text: Ng's second novel, "Little Fires Everywhere", is set in Shaker Heights, Ohio, and follows two families, one a mother and daughter, that challenge the boundaries and culture of the town. The novel was developed into a 2020 Hulu miniseries of the same name starring and executive produced by Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington; Ng also served as one of the show's producers.


title: Celeste Ng

text: While on a book tour for "Everything I Never Told You", Ng said her favorite book as a child was "Harriet the Spy". As an adult, one of her favorite books is "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy.


title: Celeste Ng

text: In 2018, when the American government separated the children and parents of undocumented immigrant families, Ng used her Twitter account to call attention to the policy. Ng and a group of other writers auctioned naming rights of future characters in their books. The goal was to raise money for Immigrant Families Together, a volunteer group dedicated to reuniting migrant families.


title: The Philadelphia Experiment (film)

text: The Philadelphia Experiment is a 1984 American science fiction film. It is directed by Stewart Raffill and stars Michael Paré, Bobby Di Cicco, Kene Holliday and Nancy Allen and based on the urban legend of the Philadelphia Experiment. In 1943, United States Navy sailors David Herdeg (Paré) and Jim Parker (Di Cicco) are thrown forward in time to the year 1984 when a scientific experiment being performed aboard the USS "Eldridge" suffers a catastrophe. The film follows the two men as they attempt to survive the future and race against time to put an end to the experiment that now threatens the fate of the entire world.


title: The Philadelphia Experiment (film)

text: In 1943, United States Navy sailors David Herdeg and Jim Parker serve aboard destroyer escort USS "Eldridge", docked in Philadelphia. Doctor James Longstreet and his team conduct an experiment to render the ship invisible to radar, but a malfunction causes the ship to disappear. David and Jim's attempts to stop the experiment fail and they jump overboard to escape.


title: The Philadelphia Experiment (film)

text: They land during the night in a small town, which also disappears, leaving them marooned in a desert. Startled by the appearance of an unfamiliar aircraft (a helicopter), they flee and Jim is nearly electrocuted by an electric fence. Eventually, they find their way to a roadside diner. An energy discharge from Jim destroys two arcade games, forcing an altercation with the owner. Fleeing to the parking lot, they take a woman named Allison hostage and force her to drive them away. Confused by their surroundings, they are shocked when Allison tells them that the year is 1984. They are tracked and apprehended by the police. Jim, who is suffering increasingly severe seizures, is hospitalized before disappearing from his hospital bed in a flash of light. David and Allison then evade military police, who have arrived to take David into custody.


title: The Philadelphia Experiment (film)

text: Learning that they are near Jim's birthplace, Santa Paula California, David decides to try to find his family. Jim's wife Pamela, who is now a senior citizen, immediately recognizes David from 1943. She says that the "Eldridge" had reappeared minutes after disappearing. Jim had also returned and had been chastised and hospitalized after telling the truth about temporarily visiting 1984. David finds that he himself never returned. David sees an elderly Jim outside a window but Jim refuses to speak with him. As David and Allison leave, they see military police approaching and a high speed chase through Jim's ranch ensues. The two manage to elude them when the pursuing vehicle crashes and burns. From the burning wreck, David salvages documents mentioning Longstreet. Recognizing that Longstreet had been involved with the Philadelphia experiment in 1943, David decides to find him. As they spend time together, David and Allison fall in love.


title: The Philadelphia Experiment (film)

text: In 1984, Longstreet has attempted to use the same technologies that were used in the "Eldridge" experiment to create a shield as protection from an ICBM attack. When the equipment was tested, the shielded town disappeared into "hyperspace". The scientists are unable to shut down the experiment, which has created a vortex that is drawing matter into it and causes extremely unstable and severe weather. Longstreet predicts that the vortex will continue to expand until the entire world is consumed. The scientists send a probe into the vortex and discover the "Eldridge" inside. They theorize that the two experiments have linked together with the generators on the "Eldridge" powering the vortex.


title: The Philadelphia Experiment (film)

text: David captures an assistant at Longstreet's home and forces the man to take them onto the base. Longstreet explains the situation to David and tells him that, according to surviving sailors from the "Eldridge", the ship returned to Philadelphia in 1943 after David shut down the generator. Longstreet says that David must go through the vortex to the "Eldridge" and terminate the experiment or the vortex will destroy the Earth.


title: The Philadelphia Experiment (film)

text: David is outfitted with an electrically insulated suit and catapulted into the vortex. He lands on the deck of the "Eldridge", where he finds crew members badly injured. He hurries to the generator room and smashes arrays of vacuum tubes using a firefighting axe. The generator shuts down and David looks for Jim. Assured that Jim is fine, David jumps over the side of the ship and disappears. Back in 1943, Longstreet and others watch the "Eldridge" reappear in Philadelphia, revealing crew members with severe burns, while others have been fused alive into the ship's hull.


title: The Philadelphia Experiment (film)

text: John Carpenter wrote an original draft. He called it a "great shaggy dog story. Absolute crap, but what a great story. While I was writing it, I couldn’t figure out the third act. A friend suggested the revenge of the crew against the people who put them there, but I thought it was too much like "The Fog"".


title: The Philadelphia Experiment (film)

text: Stewart Raffill says by the time he became involved with the film, the script had been rewritten nine times. He agreed to do the film, subject to the next rewrite which he thought was "terrible". The head of the studio agreed with Raffill's additions to the script, even though it was only three weeks before filming: "So, he asked if I had ever dictated a screenplay before. I told him I had not. Then he said, "Well, I’m gonna send someone to your house, a girl, every afternoon, and just dictate the story you told me and fill in the dialogue and we’ll make that". And I said, "Okay". So that's what I did".


title: The Philadelphia Experiment (film)

text: Principal photography began on November 28, 1983. Parts of the film were shot in Salt Lake City and Wendover, Utah, Denver, Colorado, Santa Paula, California, and Charleston, South Carolina. The destroyer USS "Laffey" (DD-724), then on display at Patriots Point, represented USS "Eldridge" in the film. Other shooting locations included Cooper River Bridge, Charleston Harbor, the William Enston Home, Wendover Air Force Base, and the Bonneville Salt Flats.


title: Kaiten

text: In recognition of the unfavorable progress of the war, towards the end of 1943 the Japanese high command considered suggestions for various suicide craft. These suggestions were initially rejected, but later deemed necessary. Various suicide craft were developed in the Japanese Special Attack Units.


title: Kaiten

text: For the Navy, this meant "Kamikaze" planes, "Shinyo" suicide boats, "Kaiten" submarines, and "Fukuryu" suicide divers or human mines. The "Kamikazes" were somewhat successful, and the second most successful were the "Kaitens".


title: Kaiten

text: Research on the first Kaiten began in February 1944, followed on 25 July of the same year by the first prototype. By 1 August, an order for 100 units had been placed.


title: Kaiten

text: The very first Kaiten was nothing much more than a Type 93 torpedo engine compartment attached to a cylinder that would become the pilot's compartment with trimming ballast in place of the warhead and other electronics and hydraulics. The torpedo's pneumatic gyroscope was replaced by an electric model, and controls were installed which gave the pilot full control of the weapon.


title: Kaiten

text: The original designers and testers of this new weapon were Lieutenant Hiroshi Kuroki and Lieutenant Sekio Nishina. They both died at the controls of Kaiten, Lieutenant Kuroki in a very early training prototype.


title: Kaiten

text: In total six models of Kaiten were designed, Types 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6 were based on the Type 93 torpedo. Type 10 was the only model based on the Type 92 torpedo. Types 2, 4, 5, 6, and 10 were only manufactured as prototypes and never used in combat.


title: Kaiten

text: Early designs allowed the pilot to escape after the final acceleration towards the target. There is no record of any pilot attempting to escape or intending to do so, and this provision was dropped from later Kaiten, so that, once inside, the pilot could not unlock the hatches. The Kaiten was fitted with a self-destruct control, intended for use if an attack failed or the impact fuze failed.


title: Kaiten

text: The island of Ōzushima, in the Inland Sea, was used as a training site. The island was equipped with cranes, torpedo testing pits, launch ramps, and had a large shallow bay for test running and firing. The Kaiten Memorial Museum is now situated there.


title: Kaiten

text: Kaiten pilots were all men aged between 17 and 28. Initial training consisted of sailing fast surface boats by periscope and instrument readings alone. When a pilot had advanced past this basic training, he would begin training on Kaitens. Training craft were fitted with a dummy warhead that contained telemetry equipment and an emergency blowing tank that could return the craft to the surface should the trainee dive to a dangerous depth. Kaiten training started with basic circular runs to and from a fixed landmark at a reduced speed; the training advanced to faster and more hazardous runs around rocks and through channels in deeper waters. The more difficult runs required the pilot to surface and check the periscope repeatedly, and required conscientious adjusting of trim tank levels because of the reducing weight as oxygen was used up. When the instructors were confident about a pilot's abilities, they would advance the pilot to open water training against target ships. Training at this level was often done at full attack speed, and either at night or in twilight. The final phase of training would be a submarine launch and more open water attack runs on target ships.


title: Kaiten

text: Training was dangerous, and 15 men died in accidents, most commonly collisions with the target vessels. Although the warheads were only dummies, the impact at ramming speed was enough to both cripple the Kaiten and severely injure the pilot.


title: Kaiten

text: In action, the Kaiten was always operated by one man, but the larger training models (Types 2, 4, and 5) could carry two or even four.


title: Kaiten

text: Kaiten pilots who were leaving for their final missions would leave testaments and messages behind for their loved ones.


title: Kaiten

text: Kaiten were designed to be launched from the deck of a submarine or surface ship, or from coastal installations as a coastal defence weapon. The cruiser "Kitakami" was equipped to launch eight Kaiten and took part in sea launch trials of Type 1s. In addition, two destroyers of the "Minekaze"-class were converted to Kaiten carriers. "Shiokaze" could carry four, and "Namikaze" two. Twelve destroyers of the "Matsu"-class were to follow with capacity for one Kaiten, however only one, "Take" was completed.


title: Kaiten

text: In practice, only the Type 1 craft, using the submarine delivery method, were ever used in combat. Specially equipped submarines carried two, four, or six Kaiten, depending on their class. The Kaiten were lashed to the host vessel on wooden blocks with a narrow access tube connecting the submarine to the lower hatch of the Kaiten. This allowed the Kaiten crew to enter from the host submarine while submerged.


title: Kaiten

text: Kaiten had a very limited diving depth, which in turn limited the diving depth of the host submarine. This is one of several factors blamed for the very poor survival rate of submarines using them, eight submarines being lost for the sinking of only two enemy ships and damage to several others.


title: Kaiten

text: Once the target was acquired and the host submarine was within range the pilot was briefed, the Kaiten's starting air bottles were charged and the cockpit was ventilated. The pilot then entered the vessel, the gyroscope was programmed with the correct bearing and depth and the pilot was given his final briefing.


title: Kaiten

text: The Kaiten separated from the host submarine and headed at speed in the direction fed into the gyroscope. Once within final attack range the Kaiten would surface and the pilot would check his range and bearing via periscope and make any adjustments necessary. He would then submerge to a suitable depth, arm the warhead and proceed on his final attack run. If he missed he could make adjustments and try again. If the mission failed he would detonate his vessel as a last resort.


title: Kaiten

text: Of the six different type classes created, only four were ever significant enough to be noted by the American technical missions to post-war Japan.


title: Kaiten

text: Only the Type 1, a one-man model with a warhead, was used operationally. Over 300 were built, more than 100 of which were sent on suicide missions.


title: Kaiten

text: The Type 93 torpedo formed the majority of this model of Kaiten with the only alterations being the warhead yield being increased from and the control planes enlarged and altered to allow both gyroscope and pilot control. Between the torpedo warhead and the engine section is the torpedo compressed air flask, 6 (or 8 in later models) steering air bottles and the forward trim tank, followed by the control area and the pilot's seat. In later models the Tetrachloromethane starting air bottle is located in the cockpit and a further smaller trimming tank is supplied for use at initial launch. The engine section is slotted in above the aft trim tank with the joint protected by a sheet metal cowl.


title: Kaiten

text: The pilot's compartment was entered from below through the lower hatch, which was mated to the host submarine. There was a small hand-operated periscope with a vertical range of about 70 cm, controls to arm and detonate the weapon if the attack failed and steering, velocity and depth controls. Batteries to power the 20,000 rpm gyroscope were located under the pilot's seat.


title: Kaiten

text: After initial trials in water, it was decided to have a maximum surface cruising speed and, for technical reasons, a minimum running speed at any depth of and a submerged running trim of 1–3° nose-down.


title: Kaiten

text: During development and use several problems were encountered; the most pressing were major water leaks into the pilot's chamber during transport and deep diving, and explosions caused by ingress of water into the torpedo engine. These were never fully eliminated during the weapon's active service.


title: Kaiten

text: In late 1944, Type 2 prototypes were tested in dry-dock and in controlled submerged conditions; however, they never met a standard satisfactory for open water running.


title: Kaiten

text: The Type 2 was fueled by diesel fuel oxidized by the product of the reaction between hydrogen peroxide and hydrazine hydrate catalyzed by potassium cuprocyanide; water was also used as a diluent in the combustion cycle. The engine was a custom design specifically created to satisfy the requirements of the Kaiten. It was of a U8 configuration and was in the aft compartment of the vessel. This compartment was open to the sea, with seawater used as coolant. The complete operation of the engine had to be simple for a pilot who was already under immense stress, so it was designed to be controlled by a single lever.


title: Kaiten

text: The general construction of the Type 2 is substantially different than that of the Type 1. In the forward part of the vessel is the warhead, followed by the fuel, trimming and 2 steering air tanks. The forward part of the midsection is occupied by the hydrogen peroxide chamber. This cylindrical tank required a complicated construction of welding five ribs evenly spaced around the circumference, then coating the inside of the tank with tin, then asphalt and finally with a thick tin plating. Construction of each tank took on average 2 weeks and the skill required was very high.


title: Kaiten

text: Behind the peroxide chamber is the pilot's compartment. This is much more complex with more controls than that of the Type 1. From fore to aft controls available to the pilot are: depth control gear, trim tank controls, electric switches, gyroscope, rudder control, engine control lever, gauges for various applications, warhead safety gear, engine starter, fuel flow control, and lights with their respective switches.


title: Kaiten

text: In the aft quarter of the vessel is found the battery for the gyroscope and other electronics, the aft trim tanks and 2 hydrazine hydrate containers. These containers are made of steel lined with a rubber bag to prevent sea water (used to force the hydrazine hydrate to the engine) and the hydrazine hydrate from coming into contact with each other. Immediately behind these tanks is an auxiliary water tank, then the engine compartment.


title: Kaiten

text: The engine compartment is always completely filled with sea-water, so it only has mechanical components. Immediately after the midsection is the generator, the engine, the reduction gears, and finally the propeller and control planes.


title: Kaiten

text: The Type 2 had several improvements over the Type 1. It could stay relatively reliably on course with no pilot input and could withstand depths twice as deep as those of the Type 1.


title: Kaiten

text: Many problems were encountered in the design and engineering of the Type 2, mostly relating to the engine. In initial tests, water pressure caused deformation and seizing of the engine; although strengthening was added, the problem was never fully resolved. Once the engine was installed in a prototype Type 2, it was unable to reach the required power rating and this, along with the complexity of the manufacturing process of the Type 2 itself, led to the abandonment of the project.


title: Kaiten

text: In early 1945, concerned with the slow pace of development and the unreliability of the supply of hydrogen peroxide, the Japanese admiralty decided to pursue another line of Kaiten development. Engineers responsible for Kaiten development were opposed to any new work and wished to continue their efforts on development and production of the Type 1.


title: Kaiten

text: In all about fifty Type 4 prototypes were made, however they never went into full-scale production and were ultimately abandoned.


title: Kaiten

text: The Type 4 was an attempt to modify the Kaiten Type 2, to be fueled by the same kerosene and oxygen combination as the Type 93, Model 3 torpedo. The dimensions, equipment and engine were all identical to the Type 2 although the arrangement differed in several key areas.


title: Kaiten

text: The warhead is identical to the Type 2, although some later models had an access cover at the aft end of the warhead.


title: Kaiten

text: The forward end of the forward section contains the air vessels, there are four in this section, one Type 93 torpedo air vessel flanked either side by 2 small trim tanks on the keel and three smaller vessels directly above it. The vessels are held in place simply with wood packing. The smaller air vessels are a proprietary design that took some heavy research to perfect. They are sealed by the pressure of the gas, as the pressure rises, a slackly threaded cap presses up against a sealing ring which is screwed down with another cap, thus making an airtight seal. Directly aft of the air vessels is the fuel tank which is ringed by the main forward trim tanks. The fuel tank is lightly constructed and contains baffles to prevent sloshing. Just behind this are the 4 steering air bottles.


title: Kaiten

text: The pilot's space is identical to that of the Type 2 (minus hydrogen peroxide specific circuit controls). Immediately behind the pilot are three more of the smaller oxygen cylinders however in some models these are omitted and chairs are placed for training purposes. Between the bulkheads joining this section with the engine section are two Type 93 generators, feeding the same Type 6 engine as in the Type 2 Kaiten.


title: Kaiten

text: The first uncrewed test runs of the Type 4 at cruising speed were made in early 1945, and it was noted that oxygen efficiency was very low. The same problem occurred in the first test run with a pilot, with sensor readings indicating a large percentage of unburned oxygen in the exhaust gasses.


title: Kaiten

text: The weapon made little progress in development and never exceeded a speed of 40 km/h in open sea trials; this combined with untraceable leaks in the engine and the consequent inefficiency of the propulsion system led to this design being filed as a failure and its eventual abandonment. The fact that by now the Kaiten Type 1 was in mass production was also a factor in the cancellation of the Type 4.


title: Kaiten

text: The abandonment of the Types 2, 4 and their intermediaries, development of higher capacity batteries, abundance of Type 92 torpedoes and the ever-increasing urgency to be able to defend the Japanese mainland led to a change of methodology for the Kaiten design teams. The Type 10 was the result. It was essentially a Type 92 electric torpedo with a pilot chamber in-between the warhead and drive unit.


title: Kaiten

text: Over 500 units were ordered to be produced between August and October 1945, however, only around 6 (including prototypes) were ever completed.


title: Kaiten

text: The Type 10 is significantly smaller than the Type 1 and consequently has a much smaller warhead of . The forward section of the weapon contains the warhead and the manual electric fuze, but no contact detonator unlike other kaiten types. The midsection contains the first set of Type 92 batteries as well as a steering air bottle strapped to the underneath of the weapon. The pilot's compartment contains firing, starting and gyroscope starting switches as well as a fixed periscope that could only be rotated but not raised or lowered, the rudder control, trim gauge and a sodium peroxide tin for air purification. The latter part of the weapon contained the remainder of the batteries and a small external steering air bottle. The control planes are identical to the Type 92 torpedo's other than having a manually operated rudder fitted.


title: Kaiten

text: Unlike all previous Kaitens the Type 10 only had an upper hatch, so it could not be entered from within a host submarine. This reflects the design and operation purpose of the weapon as a land-launched coastal defense weapon.


title: Kaiten

text: On paper this model had several advantages over the previous types. Firstly it was very simple to construct and maintain. Because it had no pilot controls other than to start and steer it was not complicated to train pilots to use it. It was powered by electricity and consequently had no issue of weight reduction as the fuel was used up, a problem that had caused headaches for test pilots and combat pilots of all previous models. Unlike other models the engine of the Type 10 could be stopped and even reversed, although this would be of little practical value in a combat situation. Finally, it was very light and small, so it was easily transported to different bases of operation should the need arise.


title: Kaiten

text: In practice however, the Type 10 proved to be troublesome. Water leaks into the battery compartments and pilot's compartment were commonly reported by test pilots. It was also very cramped and uncomfortable for the pilot. Japan surrendered before full development could finish.


title: Kaiten

text: The Type 10 was designed and intended as a coastal defense weapon to counter the expected invasion of the Japanese mainland by Allied troops. On 16 July 1945 the Imperial Japanese Naval command ordered the construction of over 500 Type 10s to be stationed and readied for launch from several existing and new kaiten bases. "Details available in the Deployment section above."


title: Kaiten

text: When compared with the Type 93 torpedo which was surface-vessel–launched, Kaiten had the obvious advantages of having a pilot to guide the weapon, and of being launched from a submerged submarine. Despite these advantages, however, they were not nearly as effective on a one-for-one basis as the highly successful Type 93 torpedo on which they were based. United States sources claim that the only sinkings achieved by Kaiten attacks were the fleet oiler anchored at Ulithi on 20 November 1944, with the loss of 63 men; a small infantry landing craft (LCI-600), with the loss of three men; and the destroyer escort while operating northeast of Cape Engaño on 24 July 1945, with the loss of 113 men.


title: Kaiten

text: Contrary to the above, some Japanese sources give much larger numbers of Kaiten successes. Reasons given for this discrepancy are the fact that the submarine launching the Kaiten could only estimate success by listening for the detonation of their weapons, and also that the size of the explosion after the attack on USS "Mississinewa" gave the impression of a much larger number of ships sunk.


title: Kaiten

text: American losses credited to Kaiten attacks came to a total of 187 officers and men. The losses of Kaiten crews and support staff were much higher. In total 106 Kaiten pilots lost their lives (including 15 killed in training accidents and two suicides after the war). In addition to the pilots, 846 men died when eight Japanese submarines carrying Kaiten were sunk, and 156 maintenance and support personnel were also killed. This contrasts markedly with the relative success by kill-ratio of the Kamikaze pilots.


title: Kaiten

text: The of kaitens was launched against hostile vessels near Ulithi on 20 November 1944. The group consisted of two submarines, and "I-36", carrying a total of eight Kaiten.


title: Kaiten

text: This mission gave the Kaiten their first sinking, , but at the cost of all eight Kaiten pilots. The first Kaiten launched from "I-47" was piloted by Sekio Nishina, one of the original designers of the weapon. He carried with him the ashes of the other creator, Hiroshi Kuroki, who died in a training accident very early in the Kaiten's development.


title: Kaiten

text: At the same time, submarine "I-37" was sighted and engaged by US ships off of Leyte Island. The boat, together with her Kaiten, was sunk by hedgehog attack from the destroyers and , resulting in the loss of 117 officers and men.


title: Kaiten

text: The of Kaiten operation was undertaken on 9 January 1945 against the U.S. anchorage at Hollandia, Ulithi, Manus, Kossol Roads and Apra Harbor.


title: Kaiten

text: "I-36" engaged US ships with Kaiten at Ulithi on 12 January 1945. One was destroyed by depth charges from VPB-21 but the others succeeded in damaging (with eight casualties) and sinking an infantry landing craft (USS "LCI(L)-600") (with three deaths).


title: Kaiten

text: "I-47" launched a further four Kaiten off Hollandia but only succeeded in damaging the Liberty ship SS "Pontus H. Ros".


title: Kaiten

text: "I-53" succeeded in launching her four Kaitens off Kossol Roads, but only two traveled any distance and none reached their targets.


title: Kaiten

text: The was originally intended to supplement the previous attacks on Iwo Jima and launched on 1 March 1945. "I-58" and "I-36" were within a day of reaching Iwo Jima when they were recalled for a new operation. Both returned home safely.


title: Kaiten

text: The consisted of "I-44", "I-47", "I-56" and "I-58" and was to attack the US anchorage at Okinawa. It sailed on 28 March 1945.


title: Kaiten

text: On 29 March "I-47" was attacked by a squadron of Grumman TBF Avengers and forced to dive. She was pursued for several hours until she had to surface. On surfacing she was hit by shrapnel which damaged the periscope and fuel tanks. She was forced to limp home for repairs.


title: Kaiten

text: "I-56" was detected on approaching Okinawa and hunted by the light carrier and destroyers , , , and . Heavy depth charging by aircraft from the carrier and the latter three destroyers sank her with all 122 hands on board.


title: Kaiten

text: "I-58" was hounded by aircraft and anti-submarine fire and arrived at her destination late. She returned without engaging the enemy.


title: Kaiten

text: "I-44"'s location and actions are unknown for the entirety of the mission. A submarine likely to be "I-44" was attacked in the vicinity of Okinawa on 29 April by an aircraft from . The submarine was hit first by a depth charge and finally by a Mark 24 mine. All 129 hands were lost.


title: Kaiten

text: The consisted of "I-47" and "I-36". They were to attack cargo and troop ships between Ulithi and Okinawa. "I-47" sailed on 20 April and "I-36" on 22 April.


title: Kaiten

text: On 27 April "I-36" attempted to attack a convoy of 28 US ships with Kaiten, but with no results. Two of the Kaiten could not be launched. While cruising east of Okinawa "I-36" sighted a supply vessel sailing unescorted. The commander attempted to launch Kaiten but failed, and a torpedo attack also failed when the torpedoes detonated prematurely.


title: Kaiten

text: On 2 May "I-47" launched two Kaiten against two US ships, and explosions were heard an hour later, after which "I-47" launched one Kaiten at an escort vessel. Later research indicates none of the Kaiten launched were successful and the explosions heard were probably from Kaiten pilots self-destructing or anti-submarine action.


title: Kaiten

text: The consisted solely of and sailed on 5 May 1945 for north-west Saipan. She was damaged by a mine on 6 May and was unable to continue her mission until 17 May. On 27 May "I-367" sighted a four-ship logistics support convoy and launched two Kaiten. At least one was destroyed by gunfire from . The other Kaiten carried suffered mechanical failures and were unable to be launched. "I-367" returned to base safely.


title: Kaiten

text: "I-36" sighted a lone oil tanker on 22 June and opened an attack with her Kaiten, which both failed, and four conventional torpedoes, which exploded early damaging , a landing craft repair ship. On 28 June "I-36" launched a single Kaiten against , which the "Antares" sank with shellfire and called in a nearby destroyer, the USS "Sproston". After the destroyer arrived and began depth charging, the submarine managed to launch one of the faulty Kaiten. Although the pilot failed to hit the destroyer, his actions helped the host submarine slip away. Further ships later arrived to hunt "I-36", but she managed to escape with only a minor leak in the forward torpedo room and a damaged rudder. She would not see any further action in the war, and surrendered to the Allies after the official surrender was announced.


title: Kaiten

text: On 16 June the US submarine fired two torpedoes at the , both of which missed. On 27 June, a patrolling Lockheed Ventura sighted "I-165" and dropped three Mark 47 depth charges which sank her with her crew of 106.


title: Kaiten

text: On 28 May sighted several ships but was unable to get close enough to launch "kaiten". On 15 June a convoy was attacked with conventional torpedoes because "kaiten" could not be launched due to heavy weather. "I-363" returned to base safely.


title: Kaiten

text: The was the last Kaiten-equipped group to go into combat. It was a large force consisting of "I-47", "I-53", "I-58", "I-363", , and "I-367". They departed on 14 July headed for an area south-east of Okinawa. "I-363" and "I-367" engaged in no further action before the announcement of unconditional surrender and an end to all hostilities.


title: Kaiten

text: "I-47" launched a Kaiten at a lone merchant ship on 21 July, but without result. She saw no further action.


title: Kaiten

text: Arguably the most successful attack by Kaiten was that on , a unit of the numerous class of destroyer escorts and at the time of her sinking escorting several cargo ships and troopships. After an Imperial Japanese Army Air Force Mitsubishi Ki-46 (Allied reporting name "Dinah") reconnaissance plane spotted the convoy, the submarine "I-53", attached to the "Tamon" group and carrying six Kaiten, was redirected to the expected location of the convoy.


title: Kaiten

text: The submarine launched a decoy mine ahead of the convoy's position, causing the convoy to shift bearing to avoid the mine. This, however, was just diversionary and the mine was a dummy. USS "Underhill" after realising this noticed several sonar contacts, which were later revealed to be a Japanese submarine and several Kaiten. A depth charge run was made which did not succeed in killing the submarine although it is suspected that it did succeed in neutralizing one of the Kaiten. The depth charge run was followed by a ramming attempt on a submarine at periscope depth.


title: Kaiten

text: As the "Underhill" rammed the surfaced vessel (later revealed to be a Kaiten) it was struck by a second Kaiten waiting in ambush. Both pilots detonated their charges, one of which led to the detonation of the destroyer escort's boilers, which led to her being torn in half by the explosions. The sinking resulted in the loss of almost half of her complement, including most of the officers.


title: Kaiten

text: One of the attacking Kaiten also attempted an attack on tank landing ship, "LST-991", but unexplainedly passed under the ship's keel. This may have been the same Kaiten which successfully rammed and sank "Underhill".


title: Kaiten

text: Yutaka Yokota, a Kaiten pilot whose three missions were canceled due to mechanical failures, and who wrote a memoir of his Kaiten experiences, witnessed the attack on the "Underhill".


title: Kaiten

text: Following the successful attack on the "Underhill", "I-53" launched a further Kaiten at an unnamed vessel six days later. The attack was unsuccessful. On 3 August "I-53" was detected by and the destroyer began a series of unsuccessful Hedgehog attacks. "I-53" launched two Kaitens separated by 30 minutes, explosions were heard, and it was confirmed that the destroyer was damaged in the attack. She escaped pursuit and returned home.


title: Kaiten

text: "I-58" was patrolling the Guam-Leyte route on 28 July when she was forced to dive by an aircraft. A tanker and a destroyer, were sighted and the commander decided to attack. Two Kaiten were launched, one of which was sunk by gunfire and the other by ramming, damaging the destroyer slightly in the process. A day later, "I-58" sighted and the commander, Mochitsura Hashimoto ordered two Kaiten prepared for attack. Once in firing range the commander realised it would be a waste of a Kaiten to attack such an easy target, and instead launched a spread of six Type 95 torpedoes, three of which hit, causing the cruiser to sink rapidly. On 9 August "I-58" came across a convoy led by and readied three of her Kaitens to attack, of which only one could be launched. This was followed by another rapidly prepared, and both made for . Although one narrowly missed the destroyer, both were destroyed by gunfire and depth charging. The convoy searched for other submarines, but "I-58" escaped. On 12 August a Kaiten was launched against and her escort . The Kaiten passed under the destroyer, then surfaced and self-detonated. A second object was spotted by the destroyer and depth charges were launched, after which an explosion occurred. Whether this was a Kaiten is unknown, as all six of "I-58"'s weapons were accounted for, but with two failures, perhaps one was repaired and launched later.


title: Kaiten

text: On 11 August "I-366" attacked a convoy north of Palau. The commander attempted to launch all of the Kaiten, but two failed, and the ones that were launched didn't score a hit or even explode. Less than a week later, Japan surrendered and all submarines were ordered home, and "I-366" saw no further action.


title: Kaiten

text: The consisting solely of , sailed on 16 August 1945 to attack Soviet convoys in the Sea of Japan. The mission was cancelled by headquarters before any action and "I-159" returned with all of her Kaiten on 18 August 1945.


title: Kaiten

text: Although there are very few intact Kaiten left, some have been restored and form part of various exhibitions around the world.


title: Kaiten

text: In chapter 6 of his novel "number9dream", David Mitchell describes the operation of a "kaiten" from the pilot's point of view.


title: Kaiten

text: In Season 2, Episode 21 of "Arrow", the minor character Peter volunteers to pilot a "kaiten" into the seafloor, hoping to dislodge the grounded submarine which they could use to escape the fictional island of Lian Yu.


title: Doris Kearns Goodwin

text: Doris Helen Kearns Goodwin (born January 4, 1943) is an American biographer, historian, former sports journalist, and political commentator. She has written biographies of several U.S. presidents, including "Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream"; "The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys: An American Saga"; "Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln"; and "The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism". Goodwin's book "" won the Pulitzer Prize for History in 1995. Goodwin also produced the American television miniseries "Washington". She was also executive producer of 'Abraham Lincoln,' a 2022 docudrama on the History Channel. This latter series was based on Goodwin's "Leadership in Turbulent Times."


title: Doris Kearns Goodwin

text: Doris Helen Kearns was born in Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of Helen Witt ("née" Miller) and Michael Francis Aloysius Kearns. She has a sister, Jene Kearns. She was raised Catholic. Her paternal grandparents were Irish immigrants. She grew up in Rockville Centre, New York, where she graduated from South Side High School. She attended Colby College in Maine, where she was a member of Delta Delta Delta and Phi Beta Kappa, and graduated "magna cum laude" in 1964 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. She was awarded a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship in 1964 to pursue doctoral studies. In 1968, she earned a PhD in government from Harvard University, with a thesis titled "Prayer and Reapportionment: An Analysis of the Relationship between the Congress and the Court."


title: Doris Kearns Goodwin

text: In 1967, Kearns went to Washington, D.C. as a White House Fellow during the Lyndon B. Johnson administration. Johnson initially expressed interest in hiring the young intern as his Oval Office assistant, but after an article by Kearns appeared in "The New Republic" laying out a scenario for Johnson's removal from office over his conduct of the war in Vietnam, she was instead assigned to the Department of Labor; Goodwin has written that she felt relieved to be able to remain in the internship program in any capacity at all. "The president discovered that I had been actively involved in the anti-Vietnam War movement and had written an article entitled, 'How to Dump Lyndon Johnson'. I thought for sure he would kick me out of the program, but instead, he said, 'Oh, bring her down here for a year and if I can't win her over, no one can'." After Johnson decided not to run for reelection, he brought Kearns to the White House as a member of his staff, where she focused on domestic anti-poverty efforts.


title: Doris Kearns Goodwin

text: After Johnson left office in 1969, Kearns taught government at Harvard for 10 years, including a course on the American presidency. During this period, she also assisted Johnson in drafting his memoirs. Her first book "Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream", which drew upon her conversations with the late president, was published in 1977, becoming a "New York Times" bestseller and provided a launching pad for her literary career.


title: Doris Kearns Goodwin

text: A sports journalist as well, Goodwin was the first woman to enter the Boston Red Sox locker room in 1979. She consulted on and appeared in Ken Burns' 1994 documentary "Baseball".


title: Doris Kearns Goodwin

text: Goodwin won the 1995 Pulitzer Prize for History for "No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front During World War II" (1994).


title: Doris Kearns Goodwin

text: Goodwin received an honorary L.H.D. from Bates College in 1998. She was awarded an honorary doctorate from Westfield State College in 2008.


title: Doris Kearns Goodwin

text: Goodwin was on air talking to Tom Brokaw of NBC News during their "2000 Presidential Election Night Coverage" when Brokaw announced NBC's projection that the state of Florida had voted for George W. Bush thus making him president.


title: Doris Kearns Goodwin

text: Goodwin won the 2005 Lincoln Prize (for the best book about the American Civil War) for "Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln" (2005), a book about Abraham Lincoln's presidential cabinet. Part of the book was adapted by Tony Kushner into the screenplay for Steven Spielberg's 2012 film "Lincoln". She was a member of the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission advisory board. The book also won the inaugural American History Book Prize given by the New-York Historical Society.


title: Doris Kearns Goodwin

text: Goodwin is a frequent guest commentator on "Meet the Press", having appeared many times during the tenures of hosts Tim Russert, Tom Brokaw, David Gregory, and Chuck Todd. She was also a regular guest on "Charlie Rose", appearing a total of forty-eight times beginning in 1994.


title: Doris Kearns Goodwin

text: Stephen King met with Goodwin while he was writing his novel "11/22/63", since she had been an assistant to Johnson. King used some of her ideas in the novel on what a worst-case scenario would be like if history had changed.


title: Doris Kearns Goodwin

text: In 2014, Kearns won the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction for "The Bully Pulpit". It was also a Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist (History, 2013) and was named one of the "Christian Science Monitor"'s 15 best nonfiction books in 2013.


title: Doris Kearns Goodwin

text: In 2016, she appeared as herself in the fifth episode of "", and made a cameo appearance playing herself as a teacher in the "Simpsons" episode "The Town".


title: Doris Kearns Goodwin

text: In 2002, "The Weekly Standard" determined that Goodwin's book "The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys" used without attribution numerous phrases and sentences from three other books: "Times to Remember" by Rose Kennedy; "The Lost Prince" by Hank Searls; and "Kathleen Kennedy: Her Life and Times" by Lynne McTaggart. McTaggart remarked, "If somebody takes a third of somebody's book, which is what happened to me, they are lifting out the heart and guts of somebody else's individual expression." Goodwin had previously reached a "private settlement" with McTaggart over the issue. In an article she wrote for "Time" magazine, she said, "Though my footnotes repeatedly cited Ms. McTaggart's work, I failed to provide quotation marks for phrases that I had taken verbatim... The larger question for those of us who write history is to understand how citation mistakes can happen." In its analysis of the controversy, "Slate" magazine criticized Goodwin for the aggrieved tone of her explanation, and suggested Goodwin's worst offense was allowing the plagiarism to remain in future editions of the book even after it was brought to her attention.


title: Doris Kearns Goodwin

text: The plagiarism controversy caused Goodwin to resign from the Pulitzer Prize Board and to relinquish her position as a regular guest on the "PBS NewsHour" program.


title: Doris Kearns Goodwin

text: The "Los Angeles Times" also reported on a passage in "No Ordinary Time" which appeared to use highly similar language and phrasing to one in Joseph P. Lash's 1971 book "Eleanor & Franklin"; Goodwin includes a citation for Lash in the bibliography, though the article questions if this is sufficient for the use of similar "framing language" between the two texts. In response, Goodwin said that she had met "the highest standards of historical scholarship" for the passage in question.


title: Doris Kearns Goodwin

text: Growing up on Long Island, Goodwin was a fan of the Brooklyn Dodgers. She remembered that her father would have her document the events of a baseball game from the radio, and "replay" the events for him when he returned home. Goodwin stopped following baseball after the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles in 1958, but later became a Boston Red Sox fan while attending Harvard, and is now a season ticket holder.


title: Doris Kearns Goodwin

text: In 1975, Kearns married Richard N. Goodwin, who had worked in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations as an adviser and speechwriter. The two met in mid-1972 at Harvard's Institute of Politics. Richard Goodwin was a widower who had a son, also named Richard, from his first marriage. At the time he and Kearns married, his son was nine years old. The couple, who lived in Concord, Massachusetts, had two sons together, Michael and Joseph. Richard Goodwin died on May 20, 2018, after a brief battle with cancer.


title: Stephen Fry bibliography and filmography

text: Stephen Fry is an English actor, comedian, author and television presenter. With Hugh Laurie, as the comedy double act Fry and Laurie, he co-wrote and co-starred in "A Bit of Fry & Laurie", and the duo also played the title roles in "Jeeves and Wooster". Fry played the lead in the film "Wilde", played Melchett in the "Blackadder" television series, and was the host of celebrity comedy trivia show "QI". He has contributed columns and articles for newspapers and magazines, and has written four novels and three autobiographies, "Moab Is My Washpot", "", and "More Fool Me: A Memoir".


title: Mengjiang

text: Mengjiang, also known as Mengkiang or the Mongol Border Land, and governed as the Mengjiang United Autonomous Government, was an autonomous area in Inner Mongolia, formed in 1939 as a puppet state of the Empire of Japan, then from 1940 being under the nominal sovereignty of the Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China (which was itself also a puppet state). It consisted of the previously Chinese provinces of Chahar and Suiyuan, corresponding to the central part of modern Inner Mongolia. It has also been called Mongukuo or Mengguguo (or Mengkukuo; ; in analogy to Manchukuo, another Japanese puppet state in Manchuria). The capital was Kalgan, from where it was under the nominal rule of Mongol nobleman Demchugdongrub. The territory returned to Chinese control after the defeat of the Japanese Empire in 1945.


title: Mengjiang

text: Following Japan's occupation of Manchuria in 1931 and the establishment of the puppet state of Manchukuo, Japan sought to expand its influence in Mongolia and North China. In a series of actions, starting in 1933, the armies of Manchukuo and Japan occupied Chahar and in 1936 proclaimed itself the independent Mongol Military Government, allied with Japan under Prince Demchugdongrub.


title: Mengjiang

text: In 1936 and 1937, similar operations in Suiyuan saw the occupation and absorption of that province also.


title: Mengjiang

text: Formed on May 12, 1936, the Mongol Military Government (蒙古軍政府) had Prince Yondonwangchug of Ulanqab as its first chairman. It was renamed in October 1937 as the Mongol United Autonomous Government (蒙古聯盟自治政府). On September 1, 1939, the predominantly Han Chinese governments of South Chahar and North Shanxi were merged with the Mongol United Autonomous Government, creating the new Mengjiang United Autonomous Government (蒙疆聯合自治政府). The capital was established at Zhangbei (Changpei), near Kalgan (Zhangjiakou), with the government's control extending around Hohhot. On August 4, 1941, it was again renamed: the Mongolian Autonomous Federation (蒙古自治邦).


title: Mengjiang

text: In 1939 Wang Jingwei reorganized the remnants of the occupied Chinese government for a Japanese puppet state, commonly referred to as the Wang Jingwei Regime, or the Reorganized National Government, with its capital in Nanjing. Mengjiang was nominally incorporated into the regime in 1940, though it remained autonomous from Nanjing.


title: Mengjiang

text: Mengjiang capitulated in 1945 when it was invaded by the Soviet Red Army and Mongol Red Army as part of the Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation. Most of the area, with the notable exception of Kalgan, is now part of Inner Mongolia in the People's Republic of China.


title: Mengjiang

text: "Mengjiang", meaning "Mongol Territories", came from the acceptance speech of chairmanship by Demchugdongrub:


title: Mengjiang

text: The Japanese established the Bank of Mengjiang that printed its own currency without years on it. Some traditional local money shops also made currency with the Chinese year numbering system, such as the Jiachen Year (甲辰年), on it.


title: Mengjiang

text: The Japanese had mineral interests in their created state of Mengjiang. In one example the Japanese put the iron mine in Xuanhua Longyan into production, with a reserve of 91,645,000 tonnes in 1941; and analyzed the reserves of coal in land, one was 504 tonnes, and another with a potential production of 202,000 of tonnes (1934).


title: Mengjiang

text: The Mengjiang iron deposits were exported directly to Japan. At the same time, the Japanese sought the coal reserves of Suiyuan (another Mengjiang occupied sector), including one of 417 million tonnes, and one with a potential extraction of 58,000 tonnes in 1940.


title: Mengjiang

text: The Mengjiang National Army was the Japanese-created native army organized in Mengjiang; not to be confused with the Mongol Army. It was a Kwantung Army special force group under direct command, having native commanders alongside Japanese commanding officers, as in other auxiliary outer sections of the Kwantung Army.


title: Mengjiang

text: The purpose of the army was to support any eventual Japanese operations against Outer Mongolia (Mongolian People's Republic), or the north China areas, and to act as a local security force, with the local police forces. It also had the duty of protecting Prince De Wang, the head of state, and the Mengjiang native establishment and local government properties.


title: Mengjiang

text: The army was equipped with rifles, pistols, light and medium machine guns, mortars and some artillery and anti-aircraft guns. It was organised as a mobile cavalry and light infantry force with little artillery support and no tanks or aircraft.


title: Mengjiang

text: In 1936, the Inner Mongolian Army was armed with Mauser rifles and they had 200 machine guns: mostly the Czechoslovak ZB-26 and a few Swiss Sig. Model 1930 submachine gun for Teh Wang's 1,000 bodyguard troops. They had 70 artillery pieces, mostly mortars and a few captured Chinese mountain and field guns of a variety of types (making ammo and spare parts a problem). The few tanks and armored cars were captured Chinese vehicles crewed by Japanese.


title: Mengjiang

text: After the Suiyuan Campaign, the Mengjiang National Army was rebuilt from the defeated remnants of the Inner Mongolian Army, the new eight Mongol cavalry Divisions were 1,500 men strong, in three regiments of 500 men. Each regiment were to have three Saber companies and a machine gun company of 120 men. However these divisions actually ranged in size from 1,000 men to 2,000 men (8th Division).


title: Mengjiang

text: In 1939, the ethnic Chinese troops in the Mongol Divisions were brigaded together in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Divisions and turned into the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Ch'ing An Tui Brigades of the "Mongolian Pacification Force" and used against various guerrilla groups.


title: Mengjiang

text: In 1943, the Mongol 4th and 5th Divisions were combined to form a new 8th Division and the old 7th and 8th Divisions formed the new 9th Division. Strength of the army was between 4,000–10,000 men, all cavalry at this time and had little heavy equipment.


title: Mengjiang

text: The Mengjiang state also had 5 Defense Divisions in 1943, made up of local militia and other security forces, nominally of three regiments. Apparently only one of these regiments in each division was capable of operations. In 1944, the Japanese reorganized them along with the Chahar garrisons into four Divisions of 2,000 men each.


title: Mengjiang

text: At the end of the war, a total of six divisions (two Cavalry and four Infantry), three Independent Ch'ing An Tui Brigades and a "Pao An Tui" Security Force Regiment made up the Army.


title: Mengjiang

text: The sole secondary language which could be taught in schools was Japanese while students were forced to pay respect to the Emperor of Japan and Shintoism. The government and army of Mengjiang were complete puppets of the Japanese.


title: Celia Weston

text: Celia Weston is an American character actress. Weston received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for her performance in "Dead Man Walking" (1995), and also had supporting roles in more than 40 movies, including "The Talented Mr. Ripley" (1999), "In the Bedroom" (2001), "Hulk" (2003), and "The Village" (2004). On television, she is best known for her role as Jolene Hunnicutt in the CBS sitcom "Alice" (1981–85).


title: Celia Weston

text: Weston began her career on stage, making her Broadway debut in 1979. After a recurring role on the ABC daytime soap opera, "Ryan's Hope", she joined the cast of the CBS sitcom "Alice" as Jolene Hunnicutt until the series ended in 1985. Weston later said that her role in "Alice" hindered her film career. Although she had initially rejected the role, she admitted that "the money became so phenomenal that I just had to do it." In later years, Weston acted in independent films and stage productions. She was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female for her role as Mary Beth Percy in the 1995 crime drama film, "Dead Man Walking" opposite Susan Sarandon. She also received her Tony Award nomination for her performance in the comedy "The Last Night of Ballyhoo" (1997).


title: Celia Weston

text: Weston had many supporting roles in films during her career. In the 2000s she had guest starring roles on "", "Frasier" and "Desperate Housewives". From 2010 to 2011 she co-starred alongside Jason Lee and Alfre Woodard in the TNT comedy-drama, "Memphis Beat". She later had recurring roles on "Modern Family" and "".


title: Celia Weston

text: Weston was born in Spartanburg, South Carolina. She was born Celia Watson, but changed her professional name to Weston because a British actress was already using Celia Watson professionally. She attended high school at the Spartanburg Day School, graduating in 1966. She is a graduate of Salem College in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.


title: COVID-19 rapid antigen test

text: COVID-19 rapid antigen tests or RATs, also frequently called COVID-19 lateral flow tests or LFTs, are rapid antigen tests used to detect SARS-CoV-2 infection (COVID-19). They are quick to implement with minimal training, cost a fraction of other forms of COVID-19 testing, and give users a result within 5–30 minutes. RATs have been used in several countries as part of mass testing or population-wide screening approaches. Many RATs can be used for self-testing, in which an individual "collects their own specimen… and interpret[s] their test result themselves".


title: COVID-19 rapid antigen test

text: False positives are very rare; the tests' specificity is 98%-99%. However, the tests have a sensitivity of 70%-72%, which is lower than COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests' sensitivity of 88%-96%. Despite this, COVID-19 RATs remain valuable in finding people who would otherwise not know they were infected, helping to prevent further transmission. The tests are more sensitive in the symptomatic and transmissive stages of disease when the viral load is higher.


title: COVID-19 rapid antigen test

text: COVID-19 rapid antigen tests (RATs) have been widely used for diagnosis of COVID-19. The World Health Organization (WHO) COVID-19 Case Definition states that a person with a positive RAT (also known as an antigen rapid diagnostic test or Antigen-RDT) can be considered a "confirmed case of SARS-CoV-2 infection" in two ways. First, the person with a positive Antigen-RDT could meet a "probable case definition" such as having recent loss of smell or taste without any known cause, or could meet certain "suspect criteria" such as having a severe acute respiratory illness. Second, the person with a positive Antigen-RDT could be asymptomatic but a "contact of a probable or confirmed case." Nevertheless, individual countries may have different case definitions of COVID-19; for example, in New Zealand a positive PCR test (not just a RAT) is necessary for a person to be considered a "confirmed case."


title: COVID-19 rapid antigen test

text: Between mid-2020 and early 2021, studies using mathematical models estimated the benefit of frequent RATs in screening populations for COVID-19. Paltiel "et al" studied a hypothetical college campus with 5000 students. Screening all students every two days with a "low-sensitivity, high-specificity test" (such as a RAT) would be able to control an outbreak of COVID-19. Mina "et al" theorized that higher-frequency screening using lower-sensitivity RATs may be more useful than lower-frequency screening using higher-sensitivity PCR tests because the former would "capture most infections while they are still infectious." The quick results of RATs would serve to limit asymptomatic spread. Larremore "et al" simulated various COVID-19 population screening strategies. The researchers found that "effective screening depends largely on frequency of testing and speed of reporting and is only marginally improved by high test sensitivity."


title: COVID-19 rapid antigen test

text: In addition to routine community use, rapid tests have also been utilised as part of humanitarian efforts during the pandemic. Following the flooding in Jakarta in Indonesia on 2 December 2020, rapid tests were made available in flood shelters. Furthermore, following the closure of national borders in Europe following the emergence of the Alpha variant just before Christmas 2020, nearly 6,000 lorry drivers were stranded without food, effectively stopping Christmas food deliveries. Rapid tests were deployed by French firefighters within 24 hours at the Channel. Rapid tests enabled lorries to get on the road and complete their deliveries and return to their families for Christmas, demonstrating the potential global utility of having an easily implementable COVID-19 test. Médecins Sans Frontières strongly endorsed the use of rapid tests in lower- and middle-income countries, noting "COVID-19 antigen tests can deliver rapid and actionable results, ensuring timely identification of people infected with the virus at the community level".


title: COVID-19 rapid antigen test

text: Spain became the first country to use rapid tests to facilitate a return-to-normal with rapid tests being widely available in pharmacies in December 2020, and a free music concert held in Barcelona for individuals who took a rapid test. A similar approach was taken in Albania to enable music festivals. However, many experts were unsure of this approach believing that "rapid tests are not the solution to restart normal life" but might be used in conjunction with other infection control techniques.


title: COVID-19 rapid antigen test

text: Although the specificity of RATs are high (98%-99%), in 2020 RATs were criticized for having a sensitivity as low as 50%; that is, if people with COVID-19 as determined by a positive PCR test were also tested with a RAT, about half the time the RAT would be negative. As of 2022, systematic reviews determined that the pooled sensitivities of RATs were 70%-72%. In one systematic review, the range of sensitivities across studies was 37%-90%. As WHO recommends RATs with "≥ 80% sensitivity", many RATs do not meet the WHO recommendation.


title: COVID-19 rapid antigen test

text: In the systematic reviews, the sensitivity was higher for symptomatic people (76%-82%) than for asymptomatic people (57%-68%). RATs were more sensitive when samples had more viral load, as measured by a low PCR "cycle threshold," and less sensitive when the samples had less viral load.


title: COVID-19 rapid antigen test

text: A 2022 study followed 225 adults and children with COVID-19 over 15 days using PCR tests, viral cultures, and home RATs. It found that the sensitivity of the RAT (Quidel QuickVue) increased from 0% two days prior to symptom onset or first positive PCR test to 77% four days after symptom onset or first positive PCR test, with an overall sensitivity of 50%. Compared with PCR tests collected the same day, the RAT sensitivity was 64%; compared with viral cultures collected the same day, the RAT sensitivity was 84%. The sensitivity of the RAT was lower in persons who were vaccinated against COVID-19 than in persons who were not vaccinated against COVID-19.


title: COVID-19 rapid antigen test

text: In November 2020, a new, marginally more infectious strain of SARS-CoV-2 was identified in the United Kingdom, the SARS-CoV-2 Alpha variant. The strain rapidly spread around the world. With widespread global use of this form of COVID-19 testing, there was a concern that this variant would render rapid testing obsolete. As part of the UK's accelerated technology evaluation of lateral flow, within 24 hours Public Health England laboratories were able to confirm that RATs in global development were not affected (i.e., that they could identify the new variant). This was because rapid test generally targets the capsid protein and not the spike protein. Some strains have been identified with a nucleocapsid mutation (D399N) that does decrease the sensitivity of at least one RAT (Quidel Sofia 2) up to 1,000-fold. Fortunately, the frequency of mutation D399N was still relatively low globally at ~0.02% as of May 2021. A study published in 2022 found that the sensitivities of six rapid antigen detection tests were 70.0%-92.9% for the Delta variant and 69.6%-78.3% for the Omicron variant across a range of viral loads; however, for Omicron samples with a low viral load, the sensitivities were 0.0%-23.1%.


title: COVID-19 rapid antigen test

text: If a COVID-19 RAT is used outside manufacturer recommendations, the result can be false positive. Beginning in December 2020, TikTok videos demonstrated how to use soft drinks to create false positive COVID-19 RAT results. Later, researchers found that introducing fruit juices, alcoholic beverages, bottled water, and other products directly into an Abbott Panbio COVID-19 RAT without the manufacturer's recommended buffer solution produced false positives. In contrast, a different RAT (BD Veritor) produced no false positive results under the same conditions.


title: COVID-19 rapid antigen test

text: Some have raised concerns about the slow deployment and uptake of RATs, and the potential loss of life that might have occurred as a result. A modelling study in Canada estimated that half the deaths in care homes in British Columbia in 2020 could have been prevented if rapid testing had been available.


title: COVID-19 rapid antigen test

text: An antigen is a foreign molecule or molecular structure that can cause an immune response. COVID-19 rapid antigen tests (RATs) detect antigenic proteins on the surface of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. Of the COVID-19 RATs that had received an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by January 2022, all detected nucleocapsid proteins, and one also detected the receptor-binding domain of the coronavirus spike protein. Similarly, almost all tests on the European Union common list of COVID-19 RATs target nucleocapsid proteins.


title: COVID-19 rapid antigen test

text: A typical COVID-19 RAT is a lateral flow test (LFT). For a LFT, a liquid sample (such as from a nasal swab) is placed on a pad at one end of a porous paper-like strip. The liquid passes to the other end of the paper by wicking (capillary action). At a "conjugate pad," antibodies with gold nanoparticles attach to any SARS-CoV-2 antigens present in the sample. At the test line (which may be labelled "T"), antibodies specific to SARS-CoV-2 are present. At the control line (which may be labelled "C"), antibodies that can attach to the antibodies with nanoparticles are present. If only the control line is visible, the test is negative; if both the control and test lines are visible, the test is positive.


title: COVID-19 rapid antigen test

text: In May 2020, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued the first Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for a COVID-19 RAT, the Sofia 2 test manufactured by Quidel.


title: COVID-19 rapid antigen test

text: In August 2020, the United States Department of Health and Human Services announced that the US government would be purchasing 150 million BinaxNOW RATs produced by Abbott Laboratories "to expand strategic, evidence-based testing." Later the agency announced that 100 million of the tests were to be sent to governors to use "at their discretion," for example to reopen schools.


title: COVID-19 rapid antigen test

text: By September 2020, it was reported that the United Kingdom's Moonshot program would be investing £100 billion to systematically assess, develop and implement new technologies for COVID-19 testing, including RATs for COVID-19. In that month, the World Health Organization (WHO) released interim guidance on COVID-19 "antigen-detecting rapid diagnostic tests" (Ag-RDTs) including recommendations for their use, selection, and implementation. The interim guidance noted that Ag-RDTs were easier to implement and less expensive than nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs). WHO recommended the use of Ag-RDTs in outbreaks, in monitoring disease trends, and in early identification of cases.


title: COVID-19 rapid antigen test

text: Health Canada approved its first COVID-19 RAT in October 2020, the Abbott Panbio test. As of October 2020, there were questions in the US as to whether manufacturing capacity could keep up with the potential demand for hundreds of millions of RATs. RATs began to be rolled out across Portuguese schools and care homes.


title: COVID-19 rapid antigen test

text: One of the early large studies of COVID-19 lateral flow devices (LFDs) was completed by Public Health England and University of Oxford, with a preliminary report released in November 2020. The researchers undertook an evaluation of 64 LFDs that proceeded in several phases. Of the four LFDs with "desirable performance characteristics," one (Innova) had a sensitivity of 78.8% and a false positive rate of 0.32%.


title: COVID-19 rapid antigen test

text: On 2 November 2020, Slovakia became the first country in the world to initiate country-wide mass testing using rapid tests. Five million rapid tests were performed by 60,000 staff who used the SD Biosensor antigen test and performed swabbing on the population. Two research studies on the Slovakia experience were published in early 2021, one by professor Martin Kahanec from Central European University and his coauthors and another one by Martin Pavelka from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and his team. Both studies suggested that rapid antigen mass testing helped to suppress the pandemic in the country, although according to the former study the effect of mass testing on the pandemic was temporary and started to dissipate after about two weeks.


title: COVID-19 rapid antigen test

text: The United Kingdom continued their ongoing rapid test development programme using the Innova rapid test, with increasing urgency as COVID-19 cases increased across Europe. On 6 November 2020, the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, started city-wide screening of Liverpool as part of the accelerated technology evaluation. Further expansion of rapid tests pilots were also launched for many sectors where testing had not been previously available. These included students at Universities who had been particularly hit by outbreaks. This initially started at Durham University, who had the infrastructure and expertise to manage the rapid test programme, but was expanded to the majority of UK universities and enabled the national evacuation-style plan to get students safely home for Christmas. Rapid tests were also implemented within the National Health Service (NHS) for staff to reduce possible transmission to patients, local authorities and care homes to enable visits to visit residents. On 18 November 2020, Wales completed the first whole borough testing at Merthyr Tydfil.


title: COVID-19 rapid antigen test

text: Global efforts to step up evaluations of rapid tests were initiated by the World Health Organization (WHO) Emergencies Department who launched a major rapid diagnostic test implementation project on the 10th of November 2020, aided by agreement from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation that limited costs for low- and middle-income countries.


title: COVID-19 rapid antigen test

text: Austria started country-wide mass testing on 5 December 2020 and ordered seven million tests consisting of the SD Biosensor test and Siemens Clinitest (aka Orientgene).


title: COVID-19 rapid antigen test

text: By the middle of December 2020, there were many studies confirming the efficacy and success of using rapid tests to identify individuals with COVID-19 including studies in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the US. These studies all enabled rapid tests to enter standard national COVID-19 testing strategies. Global piloting of rapid tests was now common place in schools in Canada, travel hubs in Indonesia, and across India.


title: COVID-19 rapid antigen test

text: In the US in December 2020, Professor Michael Mina of Harvard University noted that home tests were a "very powerful adjunct to everything else that people are already doing." This view was reinforced by Professor William A. Haseltine, also of Harvard, in an article in Forbes magazine asserting that "rapid, self-administered testing could stem the ever-surging tide of disease and death." However, further deployment of rapid tests as part of mass testing approaches in the US stalled as a result of the impasse around the $900 billion in COVID-19 relief contained within the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021. The bill was criticized for not specifically supporting COVID rapid self-tests. Meanwhile, the FDA authorized the Abbott BinaxNOW RAT "for prescription use at home." Subsequent approval was given for the first COVID-19 at-home RAT available without a prescription, by Ellume.


title: COVID-19 rapid antigen test

text: In the UK in December 2020, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency approved the Innova rapid test for self-testing of asymptomatic people. The United Kingdom's chief clinical medic, Dr Susan Hopkins, noted that rapid tests provided a means to find "people that...we couldn't otherwise find".


title: COVID-19 rapid antigen test

text: Noting the ability to identify cases more rapidly, and considering the ensuing escalation in cases in Europe, the European Commission (EC) met in December 2020 and developed a common European framework for "use, validation and mutual recognition of rapid tests", committing 100 million euros for the purchase of tests from Roche and Abbott. Stella Kyriakides, commissioner for Health and Food Safety, said "Rapid antigen tests offer us speed, reliability and quick responses to isolate COVID cases. This is crucial to slow down the spread of the pandemic."


title: COVID-19 rapid antigen test

text: By January 2021, the Council of the European Union advocated greater use of rapid tests, noting that "should research prove that rapid antigen tests can be conducted by the testee themselves... self-testing with or without professional guidance could also be considered." In the US, newly inaugurated US president Joe Biden released a national strategy for COVID-19 that pledged to "fund rapid test acquisition and distribution for priority populations, work to spur development and manufacturing of at-home tests and work to ensure that tests are widely available." In March 2021, the US FDA authorized the Abbott BinaxNOW RAT and the Quidel QuickVue RAT for use at home without a prescription.


title: COVID-19 rapid antigen test

text: Innova voluntarily launched a Class I recall in the US of more than 77,000 of its RATs in April 2021. Two months later, the FDA warned Americans to stop using the test because it had "significant concerns that the performance of the test has not been adequately established." A week after the FDA's warning about the Innova test, UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) cleared the rapid diagnostic's use and extended its authorization.


title: COVID-19 rapid antigen test

text: In October 2021, WHO updated its interim guidance on Ag-RDTs. Among other changes, the 2021 WHO interim guidance included updated information on test performance, uses selection, and storage. Also in October 2021, Ellume recalled more than 2.2 million of its home tests because of "higher-than-acceptable false positive test results for SARS-CoV-2".


title: COVID-19 rapid antigen test

text: In December 2021, US president Biden announced that the government planned to purchase and distribute for free 500 million at-home COVID-19 RATs. In response, Dr Leana Wen was quoted as saying that the number of tests "does not come even close to what's needed."


title: COVID-19 rapid antigen test

text: US president Biden announced in January 2022 the purchase of 500 million additional RATs for free distribution. In March 2022, WHO issued interim guidance on self-testing with Ag-RDTs. WHO made a strong recommendation that COVID-19 Ag-RDT self-testing "should be offered in addition to professionally administered testing services." An April 2022 warning from the US FDA concerned two counterfeit at-home COVID-19 RATs.


title: COVID-19 rapid antigen test

text: In late 2020, it was noted that in the US RATs cost US$5-$23, in contrast with PCR tests which cost at least $75. In a Danish study published in 2021, RATs cost about $5.70 per test, as opposed to PCRs at $10.80 per test. A 2021 study from Germany found that monitoring health care workers exposed to COVID-19 with RATs saves money compared with sending them into quarantine. A 2021 study concluded that if the US is willing to pay $100000 per year of life lost averted, then weekly or monthly testing of the population using RATs is likely to be cost-effective. Another 2021 study estimated incremental cost-effectiveness ratios of "$7890 per infection averted and $1 430 000 per death averted" if weekly screening with home-based RATs were performed in the entire US population over a 60-day period.


title: COVID-19 rapid antigen test

text: Estimates of value of the worldwide market for RATs vary. One estimate was that the market size was $28 billion in 2021 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of -21.7%, leading to a size of $14 billion in 2028. A second estimate suggested that the market value was $4.6 billion in 2021, with a CAGR of -26.3%, leading to a value of $743 million in 2027. A third estimate found a value of $5.3 billion in 2020, which was "anticipated to grow with a healthy growth rate of more than 6.7% over the forecast period 2021-2027."


title: Peter II, Count of Alençon

text: Peter II of Alençon, called The Noble (1340 – 20 September 1404; , or "Pierre de Valois"), was Count of Alençon from 1361 and Count of Perche from 1377. He was the son of Charles II of Alençon and Maria de la Cerda.


title: Peter II, Count of Alençon

text: Knighted in 1350, Peter was one of the hostages exchanged for King John after the Battle of Poitiers, and did not return to France until 1370. He and his brother Robert campaigned against the English in Aquitaine, taking Limoges, but failed to capture Usson (1371).


title: Peter II, Count of Alençon

text: He subsequently fought under Guesclin in Brittany and was wounded before Hennebont, and took part in an expedition against William I of Guelders in 1388.


title: Formula Rossa

text: Formula Rossa (Arabic: فورمولا روسا) is a launched roller coaster located at Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Formula Rossa, which was manufactured by Intamin and opened in 2010, is the world's fastest roller coaster featuring a maximum speed of .


title: Formula Rossa

text: Formula Rossa surpassed Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure as the world's fastest roller coaster when it opened in 2010, although Kingda Ka retained its record of tallest in the world. The coaster train accelerates to its top speed of in 4.9 seconds using a hydraulic launch system. Riders experience up to 1.7 g-force during acceleration and up to 4.8 g throughout the ride. It was tested by Ferrari F1 drivers, Kimi Räikkönen and Sebastian Vettel before the re-opening in 2017 The roller coaster track is in length, ranking sixth in the world among steel roller coasters. Its shape was inspired by the legendary Italian racetrack Autodromo Nazionale di Monza. Riders are required to wear safety goggles to protect from airborne particles such as dust.


title: Siege of Orléans

text: The siege of Orléans (12 October 1428 – 8 May 1429) was the watershed of the Hundred Years' War between France and England. It was the French royal army's first major military victory to follow the crushing defeat at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, and also the first while Joan of Arc was with the army. The siege took place at the pinnacle of English power during the later stages of the war. The city held strategic and symbolic significance to both sides of the conflict. The consensus among contemporaries was that the English regent, John of Lancaster, would have succeeded in realizing his brother the English king Henry V's dream of conquering all of France if Orléans fell. For half a year the English and their French allies appeared to be winning, but the siege collapsed nine days after Joan's arrival.


title: Siege of Orléans

text: The siege of Orléans occurred during the Hundred Years' War, an inheritance dispute over the French throne between the ruling houses of France and England. The conflict had begun in 1337 when England's King Edward III decided to press his claim to the French throne, a claim based on his status as the son of Isabella of France and thus of the contested French royal line.


title: Siege of Orléans

text: Following a decisive victory at Agincourt in 1415, the English gained the upper hand in the conflict, occupying much of northern France. Under the Treaty of Troyes of 1420, England's Henry V became regent of France. By this treaty, Henry married Catherine, the daughter of the current French king, Charles VI, and would then succeed to the French throne upon Charles's death. The Dauphin of France (title given to the French heir apparent), Charles, the son of the French king, was then disinherited.


title: Siege of Orléans

text: Orléans is located on the river Loire in north-central France. During the time of this siege it was the northernmost city that remained loyal to the Valois French crown. The English and their Burgundian allies controlled the rest of northern France, including Paris. Orléans's position on a major river made it the last obstacle to a campaign into central France. England already controlled France's southwestern coast.


title: Siege of Orléans

text: As the capital of the duchy of Orléans, this city held symbolic significance in early 15th century politics. The dukes of Orléans were at the head of a political faction known as the Armagnacs, who rejected the Treaty of Troyes and supported the claims of the disinherited and banished Dauphin Charles to the French throne. This faction had been in existence for two generations. Its leader, the Duke of Orléans, also in line for the throne, was one of the very few combatants from Agincourt who remained a prisoner of the English fourteen years after the battle.


title: Siege of Orléans

text: Under the customs of chivalry, a city that surrendered to an invading army without a struggle was entitled to lenient treatment from its new ruler. A city that resisted could expect a harsh occupation. Mass executions were not unknown in this type of situation. By late medieval reasoning, the city of Orléans had escalated the conflict and forced the use of violence upon the English, so a conquering lord would be just in exacting vengeance upon its citizens. The city's association with the Armagnac party made it unlikely to be spared if it fell.


title: Siege of Orléans

text: After the brief fallout over Hainaut in 1425–26, English and Burgundian arms renewed their alliance and offensive on the Dauphin's France in 1427. The Orléanais region southwest of Paris was of key importance, not only for controlling the river Loire, but also to smoothly connect the English area of operations in the west and the Burgundian area of operations in the east. French arms had been largely ineffective before the Anglo-Burgundian onslaught until the siege of Montargis in late 1427, when they managed to successfully force it to be lifted. The relief of Montargis, the first effective French action in years, emboldened sporadic uprisings in the thinly-garrisoned English-occupied region of Maine to the west, threatening to undo recent English gains.


title: Siege of Orléans

text: However, the French failed to capitalize on the aftermath of Montargis, in large part because the French court was embroiled in an internal power struggle between the constable Arthur de Richemont and the chamberlain Georges de la Trémoille, a new favourite of the Dauphin Charles. Of the French military leaders, John, the "Bastard of Orléans" (later called "Dunois"), La Hire and Jean de Xaintrailles were partisans of La Trémoille, while Charles of Bourbon, Count of Clermont, the marshal Jean de Brosse and John Stewart of Darnley (head of the Scottish auxiliary forces), were lined up with the constable. The inner French conflict had reached such a point that their partisans were fighting each other in the open field by mid-1428.


title: Siege of Orléans

text: The English took advantage of French paralysis to raise fresh reinforcements in England in early 1428, gathering a new force of 2,700 men (450 men-at-arms and 2,250 longbowmen), brought over by Thomas Montacute, 4th Earl of Salisbury, who was regarded as the most effective English commander of the time. These were bolstered by new levies raised in Normandy and Paris, and joined by auxiliaries from Burgundy and vassal domains in Picardie and Champagne, to a total strength possibly as great as 10,000.


title: Siege of Orléans

text: At the council of war in the spring of 1428, the English regent John, Duke of Bedford determined the main thrust of English military campaigns would be towards the west, to stomp out the remaining Armagnac forces in the Maine and lay siege to Angers. The city of Orléans was not originally in this plan – indeed, Bedford had secured a private deal with Dunois, whose attentions were focused on the Richemont-La Trémoille conflict, then raging violently in the Berri. As Charles, Duke of Orléans was at the time in English captivity, it would have been contrary to the customs of knightly war to seize the possessions of a prisoner. Bedford agreed to leave Orléans alone, but, for some reason, changed his mind shortly after the arrival of English reinforcements under Salisbury in July 1428. In a memorandum written in later years, Bedford expressed that the siege of Orléans "was taken in hand, God knoweth by what advice", suggesting it was probably Salisbury's idea, not his.


title: Siege of Orléans

text: Between July and October, the Earl of Salisbury swept through the countryside southwest of Paris – recovering Nogent-le-Roi, Rambouillet and the area around Chartres. Then, rather than continuing southwest to Angers, Salisbury turned abruptly southeast towards Orléans instead. Pressing towards the Loire, Salisbury seized Le Puiset and Janville (with some difficulty) in August. From there, rather than descending directly on Orléans from the north, Salisbury skipped over the city to seize the countryside west of it. He reached the river Loire at Meung-sur-Loire, which he promptly seized (a detachment of his men crossed the river then to plunder the abbey of Cléry). He pressed a little downriver, in the direction of Blois, to take the bridge and castle of Beaugency. Salisbury crossed the Loire at the point, and turned up to approach Orléans from the south. Salisbury arrived at Olivet, just one mile south of Orléans, on 7 October. In the meantime, an English detachment, under John de la Pole, had been sent to seize the regions upriver, east of Orléans: Jargeau fell on 5 October, Châteauneuf-sur-Loire immediately after, while further upriver, the Burgundians took Sully-sur-Loire. Orléans was cut off and surrounded.


title: Siege of Orléans

text: Manning the defenses of Orléans, John of Dunois had watched the tightening English noose and took care to prepare the city for siege. Dunois correctly anticipated that the English would aim for the bridge, nearly one quarter mile (400 m) long, that led from the south shore of the Loire into the centre of the city of Orléans on the north shore. The bridge passed over the riverine island of St. Antoine, an optimal location for Salisbury to position English cannon within range of Orléans city centre. At the southern end of the bridge was a turreted gatehouse, "Les Tourelles", which stood in the river, connected by a drawbridge to the southern bank. Dunois rapidly erected a large earthwork bulwark ("Boulevart") on the south shore itself, which he packed with the bulk of his troops, thus creating a large fortified complex to protect the bridge. Just across from the Boulevart was an Augustinian friary, which could be used as a flanking firing position on any approach to the bridge, although it seems Dunois decided not to make use of it. On his orders, the southern suburbs of Orléans were evacuated and all structures leveled to prevent giving the English cover.


title: Siege of Orléans

text: The siege of Orléans formally began on 12 October 1428, and initiated with an artillery bombardment that began on 17 October. The English assaulted the Boulevart on 21 October, but the assaulters were held back by French missile fire, rope nets, scalding oil, hot coals and quicklime. The English decided against a new frontal attack, and set about mining the bulwark. The French countermined, fired the pit props and fell back to the Tourelles on 23 October. But the Tourelles itself was taken by storm the next day, 24 October. The departing French blew up some of the bridge arches to prevent a direct pursuit.


title: Siege of Orléans

text: With the fall of the Tourelles, Orléans seemed doomed. But the timely arrival of the Marshal de Boussac with sizeable French reinforcements prevented the English from repairing and crossing the bridge and seizing Orléans immediately. The English suffered another setback two days later, when the Earl of Salisbury was struck in the face by debris kicked up in cannon fire while supervising the installation of the Tourelles. English operations were suspended while Salisbury was carried off to Meung to recover, but after lingering for about a week, he died of his injuries.


title: Siege of Orléans

text: The lull in English operations following Salisbury's injury and death gave the citizens of Orléans time to knock out the remaining arches of the bridge on their end, disabling the possibility of a quick repair and direct assault. The new siege commander appointed by Bedford in mid-November, William de la Pole, Earl of Suffolk resolved on surrounding the city and starving it into submission. He did not have enough men to invest the city with continuous trenchlines, so he set up a series of outworks, ("bastides"). Over the next few months, seven strongholds were set up on the north bank, and four on the south bank, with the small riverine isle of Charlemagne (west of Orléans) commanding the bridges connecting the two banks.


title: Siege of Orléans

text: In the winter, a Burgundian force numbering about 1,500 men arrived to support the English besiegers.


title: Siege of Orléans

text: The establishment of the outworks was not without difficulty – the French garrison sallied out repeatedly to harass the builders, and systematically destroyed other buildings (notably, all the churches) in the suburbs to prevent them serving as shelter for the English during the winter months. By the Spring of 1429, the English outworks covered only the south and west of the city, with the northeast basically left open (nonetheless swarming with English patrols). Sizeable contingents of French men-at-arms could push aside the patrols and move in and out of the city, but the entry of any lighter-escorted provisions and supplies was firmly blocked, there and further afield.


title: Siege of Orléans

text: On the south bank, the English center was the bridge complex (composed of the Tourelles-Boulevart and the now-fortified Augustins). Guarding the approach to the bridge from the east was the bastille of St. Jean-le-Blanc, while to the west of the bridge complex was the bastille of Champ de St. Privé. St. Privé also guarded the bridge to the island of Charlemagne (which had another bastille). On the north bank of the Loire, on the other side of Charlemagne bridge, was the bastille of St. Laurent, the largest English bulwark and the nerve center of English operations. Above that were a series of smaller outworks, in order: the bastille de la Croiz Boisse, the bastille des Douze Pierres (nicknamed "London"), the bastille de Pressoir Aps (nicknamed "Rouen") and, just north of the city, the bastille de St. Pouair (nicknamed "Paris"), all on top of the main roads. Then came the great northeastern gap, although its back was mostly covered by thick forest of the Bois d'Orléans. Finally, some 2 km east of the city, on the north bank, there was the isolated bastille of St. Loup.


title: Siege of Orléans

text: Orléans's position seemed gloomy. Although the French still held isolated citadels like Montargis to the northeast and Gien upriver, any relief would have to come from Blois, to the southwest, exactly where the English had concentrated their forces. Provisions convoys had to follow dangerous circuitous routes swinging around to reach the city from the northeast. Few made it through, and the city soon began to feel the pinch. Should Orléans fall, it would effectively make the recovery of the northern half of France all but impossible, and prove fatal to the Dauphin Charles's bid for the crown. When the French Estates met at Chinon in September 1428, they pressed the Dauphin to make peace with Philip III of Burgundy "at any price".


title: Siege of Orléans

text: The threat to Orléans had prompted the partisans of Richemont and La Trémoille to make a quick temporary truce in October 1428. In early 1429, Charles de Bourbon, Count of Clermont assembled a French-Scottish force in Blois for the relief of Orléans. Hearing of the dispatch of an English supply convoy from Paris, under the command of Sir John Fastolf for the English siege troops, Clermont decided to take a detour to intercept it. He was joined by a force from Orléans under John of Dunois, which had managed to slip past the English lines. The forces made junction at Janville and attacked the English convoy at Rouvray on 12 February, in an encounter known as the Battle of the Herrings, on account of the convoy being laden with a large supply of fish for the forthcoming Lenten season.


title: Siege of Orléans

text: The English, aware of their approach, formed a "laager" with the supply wagons, lining the circumference with bowmen. Clermont ordered the French to hold back, and let their cannon do the damage. But the Scottish regiments, led by John Stewart of Darnley, dissatisfied with the missile duel, decided to move in. The French lines hesitated, uncertain of whether to follow or remain back as ordered. Seeing the French immobilized or only timidly following, the English sensed an opportunity. The English cavalry burst out of the wagon fort, overwhelmed the isolated Scots, and threw back the hesitant French. Disorder and panic set in, and the French fell into retreat. Stewart of Darnley was killed, John of Dunois wounded. Fastolf brought the supplies in triumph to the English soldiers at Orléans three days later.


title: Siege of Orléans

text: The defeat at Rouvray was disastrous for French morale. Bickering and recriminations immediately followed as Clermont and Dunois blamed each other for the disaster, reopening the fissures between the Richemont and La Tremoille parties. Clermont, disgusted, quit the field and retired to his estates, refusing to participate further. Once again, the Dauphin Charles was advised to sue for peace with Burgundy and should that fail, to consider abdicating and retiring to the Dauphiné, perhaps even going into exile in Scotland.


title: Siege of Orléans

text: In March, John of Dunois made an irresistible offer to Philip III of Burgundy, offering to turn Orléans over to him, to hold as a neutral territory on behalf of his captive half-brother Charles, Duke of Orléans. A group of nobles and bourgeois from the city went to Philip to try to make him persuade the Duke of Bedford to lift the siege so that Orléans could surrender to Burgundy instead. The specific terms of the offer made are outlined in the letter by a contemporary merchant. Burgundy would be able to appoint the city's governors on behalf of the Duke of Orléans, half the city's taxes would go to the English, the other half would go for the ransom of the imprisoned duke, a contribution of 10,000 gold crowns was to be made to Bedford for war expenses, and the English would gain military access through Orléans, all in return for lifting the siege and handing the city to the Burgundians.