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Oker
| Ìîðñêîé ñëîâàðü |
A sort of red chalk used by shipwrights to mark timber when hewing and forming it. also ocher.
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Shipwright, àíãëèéñêèé
- A person who designs, builds, and repairs ships, especially wooden ones .
- Êîðàáëåñòðîèòåëü, êîðàáåë
- A builder of ships. the art of bending planks by fire is attributed to pyrrhon, the lydian, who made boats of several configurations.
- [1] one who builds and launches wooden ships. [2] a ship’s carpenter skilled in the repair of wooden or steel vessels.
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Okinawa invasion, àíãëèéñêèé
In april 1945, the ryukyu island chain was the next target for united states island- hopping forces. this would move the usn’s pacific war away from atolls and tropical jungles separated by great ocean expanses, and toward the population centers and cultivated terraces of asia. possession of okinawa—strategically located a mere 400 miles from japan—would enable the allies to cut japan’s access to vital sources of raw materials, while its harbors, anchorages, and airfields could be used to stage ships, troops, aircraft, and supplies for the anticipated amphibious assault on the japanese homeland. code-named operation iceberg, okinawa was the last, largest, and bloodiest amphibious operation of the pacific war. admiral raymond a. spruance’s 5th fleet—which included the british pacific fleet (see royal navy)—was the greatest naval armada ever assembled. some 1,400 vessels included more than 40 aircraft carriers, 18 battleships, 200 destroyers, hundreds of assorted support ships, and 365 amphibious vessels. more troops were put ashore, more supplies transported, more bombs dropped, and more naval guns fired against shore targets than in any other operation in the pacific. • ground combat: on 1st april 1945 two marine and two army divisions landed with little opposition. in an attempt to negate overwhelming american air and fire power, the japanese had chosen not to contest the beaches in favor of defense in depth from prepared positions in caves and tunnels on the high ground inland. naval gunfire and air bombardment were generally ineffective against these entrenchments’ leaving the troops to pit explosives and flamethrowers against determined pockets of resistance. offshore 226 monsoon rains turned contested slopes into a muddy morass that mired troops in a noxious stew of maggots feasting on unburied japanese bodies. casualties totaled more than 38,000 americans wounded and 12,000 killed or missing, more than 107,000 japanese and okinawan conscripts killed. perhaps 100,000 civilians perished, many by suicide. the battle ended on 7th september but, long before the firing stopped, engineers and seabee construction battalions, following close on the heels of the combat forces, were transforming the island into a major base for the projected invasion of the japanese homeland. • the naval battle : delay in securing the island caused consternation among naval commanders since the fleet was exposed to potential surface attack and heavy air bombardment. in fact, the japanese high command did launch “operation ten- go,” a combined air-sea suicide mission. almost 1,500 kamikaze flights sank 30 american ships and damaged 164 others. simultaneously, “super-battleship” yamato, accompanied by a cruiser and eight destroyers, was dispatched with orders to beach herself at okinawa and fight until eliminated. she never got there. intercepted by vice admiral marc mitscher’s carrier-launched air strikes, and with no protective air cover, she took twelve bombs and seven torpedoes before blowing up and sinking on 7th april 1945. the cruiser yahagi was also sunk, three destroyers were so badly damaged they had to be scuttled, and the four remaining destroyers could not return to japan. there were few survivors from this last japanese naval action of the war.
Oilskins, àíãëèéñêèé
Slang for foul-weather clothing.
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