{"id":1412,"date":"2013-07-10T12:19:36","date_gmt":"2013-07-10T16:19:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/prstevens.stonehippo.com\/blog\/?page_id=1412"},"modified":"2014-10-25T11:51:28","modified_gmt":"2014-10-25T15:51:28","slug":"my-visit-with-archie-2013-page-10","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/prstevens.stonehippo.com\/blog\/my-visit-with-archie-2013-page-10\/","title":{"rendered":"My Visit with Archie – Page 10"},"content":{"rendered":"

My Visit with Archie – Page 10<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Show me the way to go home…”<\/strong><\/p>\n

We boarded a return cruise boat and started back up stream. We checked out the London skyline:<\/strong>\"3900<\/a>One building we saw on the way down is called the “Gherkin” I guess because it looks like a pickle?\u00a0<\/strong>It is at 30 St Mary Axe and is known informally as “the Gherkin” (previously the\u00a0Swiss Re Building). It is a\u00a0skyscraper<\/span><\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0London<\/span><\/a>‘s main financial district.\u00a0\u00a0(The other financial district is the Canary \u00a0Wharfs we passed e=on the way down.) Ccompleted in December 2003 and opened in May 2004.\u00a0With 41 floors, the tower is 591\u00a0ft) tall\u00a0and stands on a street called\u00a0St Mary Axe<\/span><\/a>, on the site of the former\u00a0Baltic Exchange<\/span><\/a>, which was extensively damaged in 1992 by the explosion of a bomb placed by the\u00a0Provisional IRA<\/span><\/a>.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The building has become an iconic symbol of London and is one of the city’s most widely recognized examples of modern architecture.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"3910<\/a>Another nearby building you can see from the river is the\u00a0737\u00a0ft-tall\u00a0Leadenhall Building.\u00a0The\u00a0skyscraper<\/span><\/a>, due for completion in mid-2014, is\u00a0informally known as\u00a0the\u00a0<\/i>Cheesegrater<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/i>because of its distinctive wedge shape. It is one of a number of new tall buildings for the\u00a0City of London<\/span><\/a>\u00a0financial district.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"3950<\/a>We crossed the Thames and walked along a nice promenade and passed the new London City Hall.\u00a0It has been compared variously to\u00a0Darth Vader<\/span><\/a>‘s\u00a0helmet<\/span><\/a>, a misshapen\u00a0egg<\/span><\/a>, a\u00a0woodlouse<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and a\u00a0motorcycle<\/span><\/a>\u00a0helmet. A former mayor\u00a0\u00a0referred to it as a “glass\u00a0testicle<\/span><\/a>“. It’s unusual, bulbous shape, purportedly is intended to reduce its surface area and thus improve\u00a0energy efficiency<\/span><\/a>, although the excess energy consumption caused by the exclusive use of glass overwhelmed the benefit of shape.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"4000<\/a>We finally came to another of my trip goals: The HMS Belfast.\u00a0\u00a0It is now a\u00a0museum ship<\/span><\/a>, originally a\u00a0Royal Navy<\/span><\/a>\u00a0light cruiser<\/span><\/a>, and permanently moored in\u00a0London<\/span><\/a>\u00a0on the\u00a0River Thames<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and operated by the\u00a0Imperial War Museum<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0She was launched on\u00a0St Patrick’s Day<\/span><\/a>, 17 March 1938. Commissioned in early August 1939 shortly before the outbreak of the\u00a0Second World War<\/span><\/a>.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The\u00a0Belfast<\/i>\u00a0had an\u00a0overall length<\/span><\/a>\u00a0of 613\u00a0feet 6\u00a0inches, a\u00a0beam<\/span><\/a>\u00a0of 63\u00a0feet 4\u00a0inches and a\u00a0draught<\/span><\/a>\u00a0of 17\u00a0feet 3\u00a0inches. Her\u00a0standard displacement<\/span><\/a>\u00a0during her sea trials was 10,420 long tons\u00a0]<\/span><\/a>She was propelled by four three-drum oil-fired\u00a0\u00a0boilers<\/span><\/a>, turning\u00a0\u00a0geared\u00a0steam turbines<\/span><\/a>, driving four propeller shafts.\u00a0She was capable of 37.4\u00a0mph.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The\u00a0Battle of the North Cape\u00a0was a\u00a0Second World War<\/span><\/a>\u00a0naval battle which occurred on 26 December 1943, as part of the\u00a0Arctic Campaign<\/span><\/a>. The\u00a0German<\/span><\/a>\u00a0battlecruiser<\/span><\/a>\u00a0Scharnhorst<\/i><\/span><\/a>, on an operation to attack\u00a0Arctic Convoys<\/span><\/a>\u00a0of\u00a0war mat\u00e9riel<\/span><\/a>\u00a0from the\u00a0Western Allies<\/span><\/a>\u00a0to the\u00a0USSR<\/span><\/a>, was brought to battle and sunk by superior Royal Navy forces\u2014the battleship\u00a0HMS\u00a0Duke of York<\/i><\/span><\/a>\u00a0plus several cruisers (including the Belfast) and destroyers\u2014off\u00a0Norway<\/span><\/a>‘s\u00a0North Cape<\/span><\/a>.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

For the D-Day\u00a0invasion of Normandy<\/span><\/a>\u00a0the\u00a0Belfast<\/i>\u00a0was made headquarters ship of Bombardment Force E\u00a0and was to support landings by British and Canadian forces in the\u00a0Gold<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Juno Beach<\/span><\/a>\u00a0sectors. Prime Minister\u00a0Winston Churchill<\/span><\/a>\u00a0had announced his intention to go to sea with the fleet and witness the invasion from HMS\u00a0Belfast<\/i>. This was opposed by the Supreme Allied Commander, General\u00a0. Eisenhower<\/span><\/a>, and the\u00a0First Sea Lord<\/span><\/a>. \u00a0An intervention by the King eventually prevented Churchill from going.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>During her five weeks off Normandy the\u00a0Belfast<\/i>\u00a0had fired 1,996 rounds from her six-inch guns<\/strong><\/p>\n

Almost the entire ship was accessible and many compartments has life size mannikins depicting ordinary ship board life<\/span><\/a><\/strong>:<\/a>\u00a0Here’s a sample.<\/span><\/strong>\"4030<\/a>\"4020<\/a>\"4040<\/a>\"4070<\/a> \"4080<\/a> \"4090<\/a>\"5010<\/a>One interesting feature suprised me. \u00a0On the bridge there was no Helm (steering wheel) \u00a0The Captain used instrument to determine the ships position and called his directional commands 6 decks below to where the helm was actually located. Here is the Bridge:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"5020<\/a>Here is the helm – 6 decks below.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"5010<\/a>That’s it for the Belfast.<\/strong><\/p>\n

One final note on the ships we toured: The ships built in 4 different centuries:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

1. \u00a0The Mary Rose \u00a0Launched<\/span><\/a>:\u00a0July 1511 (The 16th Century)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

2. The HMS Victory \u00a0Launched in 1765. \u00a0(The 17th Century)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

3.. The HMS Warrior \u00a0Launched in 1871 (The 19th Century)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

4. The HMS Belfast\u00a0\u00a0Launched in\u00a01938. (The 20th Century)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

They were all different, but much of shipboard life remained the same!<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"5050<\/a><\/span><\/strong>After all this touring, we were tired so we took the Tube back to Archie’s home and he served me a last supper: A curry take-away from Waitrose. It was delicious!<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"5070<\/a> \"5080<\/a><\/strong>We had a quiet evening and early the next morning I left for Gatwick and on to home (via an evenig at Karen and George’s home in Boston).<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"5100<\/a><\/strong>Here is our summer home and wife Mary Ann in Wells, Maine in the good old USA.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Finally, For those of you who are really interested in the Knights Templar. \u00a0Here is my version of their story (moved from Page 08):<\/strong><\/p>\n

The\u00a0Knights Templar<\/span><\/a>\u00a0trace their origin back to shortly after the\u00a0First Crusade<\/span><\/a>. Around 1119, a\u00a0French<\/span><\/a>\u00a0nobleman from the\u00a0Champagne<\/span><\/a>\u00a0region,\u00a0Hugues de Payens<\/span><\/a>, collected eight of his knight relatives including\u00a0Godfrey de Saint-Omer<\/span><\/a>, and began the Order, their stated mission to protect\u00a0pilgrims<\/span><\/a>\u00a0on their journey to visit\u00a0the Holy Places<\/span><\/a>.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

In 1129 they were officially sanctioned by the church at the\u00a0Council of Troyes<\/span><\/a>,\u00a0they became very well known in Europe. Their fundraising campaigns asked for donations of money, land, or noble-born sons to join the Order, with the implication that donations would help both to defend Jerusalem, and to ensure the charitable giver of a place in Heaven.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Donations to the Order were considerable. New members to the Order were also required to swear vows of\u00a0obedience, chastity, piety and poverty<\/span><\/a>, and hand over all of their goods to the monastic brotherhood. This could include land, horses and any other items of material wealth, including labor from serfs, and any interest in any businesses.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

In 1139, more power was conferred upon the Order by Pope\u00a0Innocent II<\/span><\/a>, who issued the\u00a0papal bull<\/span><\/a>,\u00a0Omne Datum Optimum<\/span><\/a><\/i>. It stated that the Knights Templar could pass freely through any border, owed no taxes, and were subject to no one’s authority except that of the Pope. It was a remarkable confirmation of the Templars and their mission. The Order grew rapidly throughout Western Europe, with chapters appearing in France,\u00a0England<\/span><\/a>, and\u00a0Scotland<\/span><\/a>, and then spreading to\u00a0Spain<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Portugal<\/span><\/a>.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The Knights Templar were the elite fighting force of their day, Highly trained, well-equipped and highly motivated; one of the tenets of their\u00a0religious order<\/span><\/a>\u00a0was that they were forbidden from retreating in battle, unless outnumbered three to one, and even then only by order of their commander, or if the Templar flag went down.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

One of their key battles was in 1177: The\u00a0Battle of Montgisard<\/span><\/a>. The famous Muslim military leader\u00a0Saladin<\/span><\/a>\u00a0was attempting to push toward Jerusalem from the south, with a force of 26,000 soldiers. Saladin’s army was spread too thin to adequately defend themselves, and he and his forces were forced to fight a losing battle as they retreated, ending up with only a tenth of their original number. The battle was not the final one with Saladin, but it bought a year of peace for the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and the victory became a heroic legend.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Though initially an Order of poor monks, the official papal sanction made the Knights Templar a charity across Europe. Further resources came in when members joined the Order, as they had to take\u00a0oaths of poverty<\/span><\/a>, and therefore often donated large amounts of their original cash or property to the Order. Additional revenue came from business dealings.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Since the monks themselves were sworn to poverty, but had the strength of a large and trusted international infrastructure behind them, nobles would occasionally use them as a kind of bank or\u00a0power of attorney<\/span><\/a>. If a noble wished to join the Crusades, this might entail an absence of years from their home. So some nobles would place all of their wealth and businesses under the control of Templars, to safeguard it for them until their return. The Order’s financial power became substantial, and the majority of the Order’s infrastructure was devoted not to combat, but to economic pursuits.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

By 1150, the Order’s original mission of guarding pilgrims had changed into a mission of guarding their valuables through an innovative way of issuing letters of credit, an early precursor of modern banking. Pilgrims would visit a Templar house in their home country, depositing their deeds and valuables. The Templars would then give them a letter which would describe their holdings.\u00a0While traveling, the pilgrims could present the letter to other Templars along the way, to “withdraw” funds from their accounts. This kept the pilgrims safe since they were not carrying valuables, and further increased the power of the Templars.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The long-famed military acumen of the Templars began to stumble in the 1180s. On July 4, 1187 came the disastrous\u00a0Battle of the Horns of Hattin<\/span><\/a>, a turning point in the Crusades. It again involved Saladin, who had been beaten back by the Templars in 1177 in the\u00a0Battle of Montgisard<\/span><\/a>. The Grand Master of the Templars was involved in this battle,\u00a0(Gerard de Ridefort<\/span><\/a>). He had just achieved that lifetime position a few years earlier. He was not known as a good military strategist, and made some deadly errors, such as venturing out with his force of 80 knights without adequate supplies or water, across the arid hill country of Galilee. The Templars were overcome by the heat within a day, and then surrounded and massacred by Saladin’s army. Within months Saladin captured Jerusalem.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

I<\/em><\/strong>n the early 1190s in a remarkably short and powerfully effective campaign Richard the Lionheart, King of England and leader of the Third Crusade, together with his allies the Templars, delivered a series of powerful blows against Saladin and recovered much of Christian territory.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The Templars \u00a0financial success attracted the concern of many other orders, with the two most powerful rivals being the\u00a0Knights Hospitaller<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0Teutonic Knights<\/span><\/a>. \u00a0King Philip the King of France had other reasons to mistrust the Templars, as their organization had declared its desire to form its own state, similar to how the\u00a0Teutonic Knights<\/span><\/a>\u00a0had founded\u00a0Prussia<\/span><\/a>. The Templars’ preferred location for this was in the\u00a0Languedoc<\/span><\/a>\u00a0of southeastern France, but they had also made a plan for the island of\u00a0Cyprus<\/span><\/a>.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

At dawn on Friday, October 13, 1307, scores of French Templars were simultaneously arrested by agents of King Philip, later to be tortured\u00a0into admitting\u00a0heresy<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and other sacrilegious offenses in the Order.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Despite the fact that the confessions had been produced under duress. \u00a0Along with more bullying from King Philip, Pope Clement issued the bull\u00a0Pastoralis Praeeminentiae<\/span><\/a><\/i>, which instructed all Christian monarchs in Europe to arrest all Templars and seize their assets. In 1312, after the\u00a0Council of Vienne<\/span><\/a>, and under extreme pressure from King Philip IV, Pope Clement V issued an edict officially dissolving the Order.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The Templars disbanded and much of their wealth and financial archives have \u00a0“disappeared”. \u00a0Many theories of what happened abound. Some even say the Masonic Order is a descendant of the Templars.. “Quien sabe?”<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

“Th Th Th That’s All Folks” \u00a0Any comments? I’m \u00a0prstevens13@gmail.com<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My Visit with Archie – Page 10 “Show me the way to go home…” We boarded a return cruise boat and started back up stream. We checked out the London skyline:One building we saw on the way down is called … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1412","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/prstevens.stonehippo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/prstevens.stonehippo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/prstevens.stonehippo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prstevens.stonehippo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prstevens.stonehippo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1412"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/prstevens.stonehippo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1412\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2436,"href":"https:\/\/prstevens.stonehippo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1412\/revisions\/2436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/prstevens.stonehippo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}