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London and Birmingham Railway

The London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom, in operation from 1833 to 1846, when it became part of the London and North Western Railway (L&NWR).

The 112 mi railway line which the company opened in 1838, between London and Birmingham, was the first intercity line to be built into London. It is now the southern section of the West Coast Main Line.

The line was engineered by Robert Stephenson. It started at Euston Station in London, went north-west to Rugby, where it turned west to Coventry and on to Birmingham. It terminated at Curzon Street Station, which it shared with the Grand Junction Railway (GJR), whose adjacent platforms gave an interchange with full connectivity (with through carriages) between Liverpool, Manchester and London.

Early plans
As early as 1823, a company was formed with the objective of building a railway between London and Birmingham, and in 1826, the engineer John Rennie surveyed a route through Oxford and Banbury, a route later taken by the Great Western Railway.

In 1829 a rival company was formed by Francis Giles who proposed building a line through Watford Gap and Coventry. Neither company obtained backing for its scheme, and in late 1830 the two companies decided to merge. The new company appointed Robert Stephenson chief engineer, and after preparing a detailed survey, he chose the route through Watford Gap, largely to avoid possible flooding from the River Thames at Oxford.

The L&BR
The prospectus for the London and Birmingham Railway offered the following inducements to potential investors:

First, the opening of new and distant sources of supply of provisions to the metropolis; Second, Easy, cheap and expeditious travelling; Third; The rapid and economical interchange of the great articles of consumption and of commerce, both internal and external; and Lastly, the connexion by railways, of London with Liverpool, the rich pastures of the centre of England, and the greatest manufacturing districts; and, through the port of Liverpool, to afford a most expeditious communication with Ireland.

The company was created with an initial capitalisation of £5,500,000. Much of the subscribed funds came from Lancashire, where great profits were being made in the cotton industries.

The construction of the line was the subject of much opposition by landowners, who organised a campaign in the early 1830s to prevent the L&BR from driving a line across their estates. Turbulent public meetings were held in towns in west Hertfordshire to protest against the project, including one held at the King's Arms public house in Berkhamsted. Another was held in Watford which was attended by wealthy and influential peers of the realm who had property interests on the planned route of the line: the Earl of Essex was keen to protect his Cassiobury Estate from invasion by the "iron horse", as was the Earl of Clarendon, who owned The Grove Estate. The anatomist Sir Astley Cooper was also in attendance, intent on preventing the new railway from cutting across his Gadebridge Estate. On 22 June 1832, Lord Brownlow of Ashridge voiced his opposition in the House of Lords to "the forcing of the proposed railway through the land and property of so great a proportion of dissentient landowners." The L&BR Company's first application for an Act of Parliament to construct the line was rejected in 1832, due to pressure from landowners and road and canal interests.

The railway route proposals through Hertfordshire were modified; a second act was approved in May 1833, and the line received royal assent. Construction began in November of that year. The line would follow the River Bulbourne instead of the River Gade, skirting around the edge of Hemel Hempstead to protect Sir Astley Cooper's interests; for this reason, Hemel Hempstead railway station is located 1 mi outside the town centre, at Boxmoor.

Construction
Peter Lecount, an assistant engineer of the London and Birmingham railway, produced a number of – possibly hyperbolic – comparisons in an effort to demonstrate that the London and Birmingham Railway was "the greatest public work ever executed either in ancient or modern times". In particular, he suggested that the effort to build the Great Pyramid of Giza amounted to the lifting of 15733000000 cuft of stone by 1 ft.

The railway, excluding a long string of tasks (drainage, ballasting, and so on) involved the lifting of 25000000000 cuft of material reduced to the weight of stone used in the pyramid. The pyramid involved, he says, the effort of 300,000 men (according to Diodorus Siculus) or 100,000 (according to Herodotus) for twenty years. The railway involved 20,000 men for five years. In passing, he also noted that the cost of the railway in penny pieces, was enough to more than form a belt of pennies around the equator; and the amount of material moved would be enough to build a wall 1 ft high by one foot wide, more than three times around the equator.

Opening
The line had been planned to open at the same time as the Grand Junction Railway which entered Birmingham from the north. However great difficulty in constructing the Kilsby Tunnel in Northamptonshire delayed the opening. The first part of the line between Euston Station and Boxmoor (Hemel Hempstead) opened on 20 July 1837. Services were extended to Tring on 16 October 1837. On 9 April 1838 the company opened the north end of the line, between Birmingham and Rugby, and the south end from London to a temporary station at Denbigh Hall near Bletchley with a stagecoach shuttle service linking the two parts to allow through journeys to London. The line was officially fully opened on 17 September 1838, with the first passenger train from London to Birmingham arriving that day. The first London-to-Birmingham trains took $5 1/2$ hours to complete the 112+1/2 mi journey.

It has often been claimed that initially, owing to the lack of power available to early locomotives, trains from Euston were cable-hauled up the relatively steep incline to Camden by a stationary steam engine. However, this was denied by Peter Lecount, one of the L&BR engineers, who wrote in his 'History of the Railway connecting London and Birmingham' (1839), page 48: "It is not because locomotives cannot draw a train of carriages up this incline that a fixed engine and endless rope are used, for they can and have done so, but because the Company are restricted, by their Act of Parliament, from running locomotive engines nearer London than Camden Town." The railway opened from Euston on 20 July 1837; the stationary engines and rope haulage did not commence until 27 September, and handled all trains from 14 October 1837. Until then, and whenever the rope system was stopped for repairs, locomotives hauled the trains up the incline. From November 1843 some expresses were worked without recourse to the rope, and from 15 July 1844 the rope working ceased permanently.

Locomotives
Initially, it was decided that it would be cheaper to work the railway by a contractor, and Edward Bury was chosen and awarded the contract in May 1836. The contract stipulated that the company would provide locomotives to Bury's specification, while he would maintain them in good repair and convey each passenger and each ton of goods for a fixed sum at a speed not to exceed 22+1/2 mph.

Bury provided specifications and drawings for a passenger and a goods engine, and by mid-1841 the L&BR was equipped with sixty 2-2-0 passenger engines and thirty 0-4-0 goods engines. They all had inside cylinders and dome-topped fireboxes, and were mounted on inside bar-frames; they were manufactured by seven different firms, including Bury's own.

Working the line by contract never worked in practice, because of the unforeseen ever-increasing traffic and the demand for higher speeds, so in July 1839 the contract was annulled, and thereafter Bury was engaged as manager of the Locomotive Department in the normal way, on a fixed salary with a profits bonus.

By the end of the L&BR's separate existence in July 1846, the total stock was about 120 locomotives; some six-wheeled engines had been acquired, but some of these proved inferior to the original four-wheelers.

The locomotive workshops were established in 1838 at Wolverton, roughly halfway between the two termini at London and Birmingham. These workshops remained in use for locomotive repairs until 1877, but had been gradually taken over by the Carriage Dept from 1864, and remained as a manufacturing facility up until the 1980s; today just a few parts of the original Wolverton railway works are used solely for rolling stock maintenance and repair.

Stations
When the railway was fully opened, it had sixteen intermediate stations between London and Birmingham. The "first-class" stations (served by all trains) were at Watford, Tring, Leighton, Wolverton, Blisworth, Weedon, Rugby and Coventry. Additionally, "second-class" intermediate stations (served by slower second-class trains only) were at Harrow, Boxmoor,  Berkhamsted, Bletchley, Roade, Crick, Brandon and Hampton. Roade was later redesignated as first-class due to its stagecoach connections. From about 1844 platforms were opened at Camden for tickets to be collected on southbound trains. This became a public station in 1851.

Links and branches
The first branch from the main line was the Aylesbury Railway at Aylesbury Railway Junction, 7 mi of single track, which opened in 1839 and was leased to the L&BR until purchased outright by the LNWR in 1846. The Warwick and Leamington Union Railway, a branch of almost 9 mi between Coventry and Leamington, was purchased by the L&BR in 1843 and opened in 1844.

From 1840, when the Midland Counties Railway made a junction to its line at Rugby, the L&BR also provided through connections from London to the East Midlands and the North East. It also made connections to the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway at Hampton-in-Arden between Coventry and Birmingham.

In 1845, the Northampton and Peterborough Railway, a 47 mi branch from the main line, was opened from Blisworth. Also in 1845 branch lines, from Bletchley to Bedford and from Leighton to Dunstable, were leased; they opened in 1846 and 1848. In 1846 the L&BR leased the West London Railway (jointly with the GWR) which opened in 1844 between Willesden Jct and the canal basin at Kensington.

The L&BR purchased the Trent Valley Railway in 1846 on behalf of the LNWR; this 50 mi line connected Rugby on the L&BR with Stafford on the Grand Junction Railway thus creating a more direct line from London to Liverpool and Manchester by avoiding the original route through Birmingham. The Rugby and Stamford Railway, a further branch into the Eastern Counties was approved in 1846.

Merger
In July 1846 the L&BR merged with the Grand Junction Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway to form the London and North Western Railway, which in turn was later absorbed into the London Midland and Scottish Railway, before finally passing into the hands of the nationalised British Railways in 1948 to become part of the West Coast Main Line as it is known today. The major change to the line during this period was electrification, which was carried out during the mid-1960s as part of BR's Modernisation Plan.

Neither of the L&BR's original termini, both designed by Philip Hardwick, has survived in its original form. Curzon Street station in Birmingham closed to passenger traffic in 1854 (the original entrance building remains) when it was replaced by New Street station and the original Euston station in London was demolished in 1962 to make way for the present structure which opened in 1968. On the closure of Curzon Street as a passenger station, the site became the London and North Western Railway goods depot (Birmingham) and became fully operational in 1865. The Curzon Street goods site continued railway operations as a parcel depot until 1966. The remaining parts of the old passenger station received listed building status in 1952.

title: London and Birmingham Railway


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Number Six (The Prisoner)

Number Six is the central character in the 1967–1968 television series The Prisoner. The unnamed character in the original TV series was played by series co-creator Patrick McGoohan. For one episode, "Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling", Number Six was portrayed by Nigel Stock due to McGoohan being away filming the movie Ice Station Zebra.

In the AMC remake, Number Six is played by Jim Caviezel; in the Big Finish Productions audio series of 2019, Number Six is voiced by Mark Elstob.

Biography
Much of Number Six's background is kept a mystery during the series, including his name, his job and whom he worked for. In the first episode, it is stated that he was born on 19 March 1928, the same date as McGoohan, and that he held a position of some responsibility with the British government. Certain clues though can be determined from some episodes where Number Six knows and appears to have worked for people in British Intelligence.

Life before The Village
During the episode "Once Upon a Time", Number Six undergoes an intense form of brainwashing and interrogation in which his mind is reverted to that of a child and he is made to relive major events of his life.

Among the events presented is the suggestion that, as a young man, Number Six caused a fatal car accident by speeding. It is also suggested that he attended some sort of private school and was once punished for not telling the headmaster about some of his friends' rule-breaking activities. Later in the episode, it is also stated that Number Six was a bomb-aimer during "the War", and that he worked for a British banking firm before being enrolled in a top secret government job. Other episodes suggest that he was a spy or similar operative, though director Alex Cox stated in his 2017 book I Am (Not) A Number: Decoding The Prisoner that he was in fact a rocket engineer who resigned from his work because he felt his research was being misused. He is shown to be highly sagacious, if not a genius, with proficiency and expertise in subjects ranging from fencing, boxing and marksmanship to mathematics, languages, astronomy and craftsmanship.

Prior to his capture and internment in the Village, he was engaged to be married to Janet Portland, the daughter of his superior, Sir Charles Portland.

Ultimate fate
In the final episode, "Fall Out", Number Six and several other residents appear to have escaped the Village. However, his ultimate fate is not revealed, and McGoohan repeatedly maintained in interviews that Number Six does not have his freedom at the end of the series. The last shot of the series is of Angelo Muscat (the butler of Number Two, The Village's overseer) entering Number Six’s house in the City of Westminster, and the door of the house automatically opening and closing like that of his house in The Village.

Shattered Visage
In the late 1980s, DC Comics published Shattered Visage, a four-issue comic book based on The Prisoner, with events taking place twenty years after the television series. The first official follow-up to the TV show, it was illustrated by Mister X creator Dean Motter and co-written with Mark Askwith.

In the mini-series, Alice Drake is shipwrecked on the shores of the Village and meets an older Number Six, the single resident of the Village.

2009 mini-series
The Prisoner was remade in a 2009 mini-series produced by AMC with Jim Caviezel playing the part of Number Six. Despite receiving mixed reviews, the remake was nominated for several awards, including an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie and Outstanding Cinematography for a Miniseries or a Movie.

John Drake
Many fans of The Prisoner believe that Number Six is really John Drake, the title character of McGoohan's prior series Danger Man. McGoohan always denied the theory; in a 1966 interview in The Los Angeles Times, he stated that "John Drake of Secret Agent [as Danger Man was known in the US] is gone." Furthermore, McGoohan stated in a 1985 interview that Number Six is not the same character as John Drake, adding that he had originally wanted another actor to portray the character.

However, script editor George Markstein, who co-created the series with McGoohan, always claimed that Number Six is John Drake. According to Markstein, he conceived The Prisoner as a sequel of Danger Man when McGoohan resigned from the role.

Novels based on the series by Thomas Disch and David McDaniel also connect John Drake to Number Six, though these are generally not considered canonical. McDaniel's novel refers to Number Six as "Drake" from its very first sentence: "Drake woke."

While John Drake and Number Six look identical and have the same moral integrity, profession, skills, and mannerisms, some differences are noteworthy. Drake is a less emotional, more restrained character, while Number Six has a tendency to act out in anger. Drake is also a regular smoker and drinker, while Number Six smokes only twice in The Prisoner and claims to rarely drink.

Number 93
In the opening moments of the 2009 mini-series, Michael, the amnesiac who would be known in that series as Six, discovers an old man in the middle of the desert being fired upon by security forces in some kind of an escape attempt. The old man is dressed in Number Six's trademark black sweater jacket with white trim, now displaying a badge that identifies the wearer as "93." 93's final words were "Listen to me: tell them all that I got out… be seeing you." Six later explores 93's apartment, which is identical to Number Six's from the original series. Producer Trevor Hopkins stated on a ComiCon panel that he had invited Patrick McGoohan to play the role of 93; McGoohan declined, suggesting that he could play Two instead (the role of Two went to Ian McKellen).

In popular culture

 * The Simpsons episode "The Computer Wore Menace Shoes", parodies The Prisoner, with McGoohan reprising his role as Number Six and Homer Simpson as Number Five.
 * Number Six, played by Tricia Helfer, is a character on the television series Battlestar Galactica. According to Battlestar Galactica: The Official Companion, it is a tribute to the original character.
 * In the second volume of the Tales of the Shadowmen series, Xavier Mauméjean's short story, entitled "Be Seeing You!", has Sherlock Holmes in the role of the original Number Six.
 * Several Iron Maiden songs allude to the original series. In the song, "The Prisoner", lines from the original series are played at the beginning of the song. The Village is also the setting of their song "Back in the Village."
 * UK indie rock act Mansun's second album, Six, is heavily inspired by the series as the band's former frontman Paul Draper is a big fan of the show.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Number Six (The Prisoner)


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USS Pennsylvania (BB-38)

USS Pennsylvania (BB-38) was the lead ship of the Pennsylvania-class battleship of super-dreadnought battleships built for the United States Navy in the 1910s. The Pennsylvanias were part of the standard-type battleship series, and marked an incremental improvement over the preceding Nevada-class battleship, carrying an extra pair of 14 in guns for a total of twelve guns. Named for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, she was laid down at the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company in October 1913, was launched in March 1915, and was commissioned in June 1916. Equipped with an oil-burning propulsion system, Pennsylvania was not sent to European waters during World War I, since the necessary fuel oil was not as readily available as coal. Instead, she remained in American waters and took part in training exercises; in 1918, she escorted President Woodrow Wilson to France to take part in peace negotiations.

During the 1920s and 1930s, Pennsylvania served as the flagship of first the Atlantic Fleet, and after it was merged with the Pacific Fleet in 1921, the Battle Fleet. For the majority of this period, the ship was stationed in California, based in San Pedro. Pennsylvania was occupied with a peacetime routine of training exercises (including the annual Fleet problems), port visits, and foreign cruises, including a visit to Australia in 1925. The ship was modernized in 1929–1931. The ship was present in Pearl Harbor on the morning of 7 December 1941; she was in drydock with a pair of destroyers when the Japanese launched their surprise attack on the port. She suffered relatively minor damage in the attack, being protected from torpedoes by the drydock. While repairs were effected, the ship received a modernized anti-aircraft battery to prepare her for operations in the Pacific War.

Pennsylvania joined the fleet in a series of amphibious operations, primarily tasked with providing gunfire support. The first of these, the Aleutian Islands Campaign, took place in mid-1943, and was followed by an attack on Makin later that year. During 1944, she supported the landings on Kwajalein and Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands and the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign, including the Battles of Saipan, Guam, Peleliu, and Battle of Angaur. During the Philippines campaign, in addition to her typical shore bombardment duties, she took part in the Battle of Surigao Strait, though due to her inadequate radar, she was unable to locate a target and did not fire. During the Battle of Okinawa, she was torpedoed by a Japanese torpedo bomber and badly damaged, forcing her to withdraw for repairs days before the end of the war.

Allocated to the target fleet for the Operation Crossroads nuclear tests in 1946, Pennsylvania was repaired only enough to allow her to make the voyage to the test site, Bikini Atoll. She survived both blasts, but was badly contaminated with radioactive fallout from the second test, and so was towed to Kwajalein, where she was studied for the next year and a half. The ship was ultimately scuttled in deep water off the atoll in February 1948.

Description

Part of the standard-type battleship series, the Pennsylvania-class ships were significantly larger than their predecessors, the Nevada-class battleship. Pennsylvania had an overall length of 608 ft, a beam of 97 ft (at the waterline), and a draft of 29 ft at deep load. This was 25 ft longer than the older ships. She displaced 29158 LT at standard and 31917 LT at deep load, over 4000 LT more than the older ships. The ship had a metacentric height of 7.82 ft at deep load.

The ship had four direct-drive Curtis steam turbine sets, each of which drove a propeller 12 ft in diameter. They were powered by twelve Babcock & Wilcox water-tube boilers. The turbines were designed to produce a total of 34000 shp, for a designed speed of 21 kn. She was designed to normally carry 1548 LT of fuel oil, but had a maximum capacity of 2305 LT. At full capacity, the ship could steam at a speed of 12 knots for an estimated 7552 nmi with a clean bottom. She had four 300 kW turbo generators.

Pennsylvania carried twelve 45-caliber 14 in guns in triple gun turrets. The turrets were numbered from I to IV from front to rear. The guns could not elevate independently and were limited to a maximum elevation of +15° which gave them a maximum range of 21000 yd. The ship carried 100 shells for each gun. Defense against torpedo boats was provided by twenty-two 51-caliber 5 in guns mounted in individual casemates in the sides of the ship's hull. Positioned as they were they proved vulnerable to sea spray and could not be worked in heavy seas. At an elevation of 15°, they had a maximum range of 14050 yd. Each gun was provided with 230 rounds of ammunition. The ship mounted four 50-caliber three-inch guns for anti-aircraft defense, although only two were fitted when completed. The other pair were added shortly afterward on top of Turret III. Pennsylvania also mounted two 21 in torpedo tubes submerged, one on each broadside, and carried 24 torpedoes for them.

The Pennsylvania-class design continued the all-or-nothing principle of armoring only the most important areas of the ship begun in the Nevada class. The waterline armor belt of Krupp armor measured 13.5 in thick and covered only the ship's machinery spaces and magazines. It had a total height of 17 ft, of which 8 ft was below the waterline; beginning 2 ft below the waterline, the belt tapered to its minimum thickness of 8 in. The transverse bulkheads at each end of the ship ranged from 13 to 8 inches in thickness. The faces of the gun turrets were 18 in thick while the sides were 9 - 10 in thick and the turret roofs were protected by 5 in of armor. The armor of the barbettes was 18 to 4.5 in thick. The conning tower was protected by 16 in of armor and had a roof eight inches thick.

The main armor deck was three plates thick with a total thickness of 3 in; over the steering gear the armor increased to 6.25 in in two plates. Beneath it was the splinter deck that ranged from 1.5 to 2 in in thickness. The boiler uptakes were protected by a conical mantlet that ranged from 9 to 15 in in thickness. A three-inch torpedo bulkhead was placed 9 ft inboard from the ship's side and the ship was provided with a complete double bottom. Testing in mid-1914 revealed that this system could withstand 300 lb of TNT.

Construction and World War I
The keel for Pennsylvania was laid down on 27 October 1913 at the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company of Newport News, Virginia. Her completed hull was launched on 16 March 1915, thereafter beginning fitting-out. Work on the ship finished in mid-1916, and she was commissioned on 12 June under the command of Captain Henry B. Wilson. The ship was assigned to the Atlantic Fleet and then completed final fitting out from 1 to 20 July. Pennsylvania then began sea trials in 20 July, steaming first to the southern drill grounds off the Virginia Capes and then north to the coast of New England. Rear Admiral Austin M. Knight and officers from the Naval War College came aboard on 21 August to observe fleet training exercises. Three days later, the ship was visited by Franklin Delano Roosevelt, then the Assistant Secretary of the Navy.

Rear Admiral Henry T. Mayo transferred to Pennsylvania on 12 October, making her the flagship of the Atlantic Fleet. At the end of the year, she went into drydock at the New York Navy Yard for maintenance. After emerging from the shipyard in January 1917, she steamed south to join fleet exercises in the Caribbean Sea, during which she stopped in: Culebra, Puerto Rico; Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; and Port-au-Prince, Haiti. While in Port-au-Prince, Pennsylvania again hosted Roosevelt, who met with the President of Haiti aboard the ship. The battleship arrived back in Yorktown, Virginia on 6 April, the same day the United States declared war on Germany, bringing the country into World War I. Since Pennsylvania was oil-fired, she did not join the ships of Battleship Division Nine, as the British had asked for coal-burning battleships to reinforce the Grand Fleet. As a result, she stayed in American waters and saw no action during the war.

In August, Pennsylvania took part in a naval review for President Woodrow Wilson. Foreign naval officers visited the ship in September, including the Japanese Vice Admiral Isamu Takeshita and the Russian Vice Admiral Alexander Kolchak. For the rest of the year and into 1918, Pennsylvania was kept in a state of readiness through fleet exercises and gunnery training in Chesapeake Bay and Long Island Sound. She was preparing for night battle training on 11 November 1918, when the Armistice with Germany came into effect, ending the fighting. She thereafter returned for another stint in the New York Navy Yard for maintenance that was completed on 21 November. She began the voyage to Brest, France, on 2 December by way of Tomkinsville, New York, in company with the transport ship USS George Washington (ID-3018) that carried Wilson to France to take part in the peace negotiations; they were escorted by ten destroyers. The ships arrived on 13 December and the next day, Pennsylvania began the trip back to New York with Battleship Divisions Nine and Six. The battleships reached their destination on 26 December, where they took part in victory celebrations.

1919–1924
Pennsylvania and the rest of the Atlantic Fleet departed on 19 February, bound for the Caribbean for another round of exercises in Cuban waters. The ship arrived back in New York on 14 April, and while there on 30 June, Mayo was replaced by Vice Admiral Henry Wilson. On 8 July at Tomkinsville, a delegation consisting of: Vice President Thomas R. Marshall; Josephus Daniels, the Secretary of the Navy; Carter Glass, the Secretary of the Treasury; William B. Wilson, the Secretary of Labor; Newton D. Baker, the Secretary of War; Franklin K. Lane, the Secretary of the Interior; and Senator Champ Clark came aboard the ship for a cruise back to New York. The fleet conducted another set of maneuvers in the Caribbean from 7 January to April 1920, Pennsylvania returning to her berth in New York on 26 April. Training exercises in the area followed, and on 17 July she received the hull number BB-38.

On 17 January 1921, Pennsylvania left New York, passed through the Panama Canal to Balboa, Panama, where she joined the Pacific Fleet, which together with elements of the Atlantic Fleet was re-designated as the Battle Fleet, with Pennsylvania as its flagship. On 21 January, the fleet left Balboa and steamed south to Callao, Peru, where they arrived ten days later. The ships then steamed north back to Balboa on 2 February, arriving on 14 February. Pennsylvania crossed back through the canal to take part in maneuvers off Cuba and on 28 April she arrived in Hampton Roads, Virginia, where President Warren G. Harding, Edwin Denby, the Secretary of the Navy, Theodore Roosevelt Jr., the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and Admiral Robert Coontz, the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), came aboard the ship. Further training was held from 12 to 21 July in the Caribbean, after which she returned to New York. On 30 July, she proceeded on to Plymouth, Massachusetts for a visit that lasted until 2 August. Anothery drydock period in New York lasted from 5 to 20 August.

Pennsylvania departed New York thereafter, bound for the Pacific; she passed through the Panama Canal on 30 August and remained at Balboa for two weeks. On 15 September, she resumed the voyage and steamed north to San Pedro, Los Angeles, which she reached on 26 September. The ship spent most of 1922 visiting ports along the US west coast, including San Francisco, Seattle, Port Angeles, and San Diego, and from 6 March to 19 April, she underwent a refit at the Puget Sound Navy Yard. She won the Battle Efficiency Award for the 1922 training year. She went back to Puget Sound on 18 December, and remained there into 1923. She left the shipyard on 28 January and steamed south to San Diego, where she stayed from 2 to 8 February, before continuing on to the Panama Canal. After passing through, she steamed to Culebra for a short visit. The ship then passed back through the canal and arrived back in San Pedro on 13 April. Beginning in May, she visited various ports in the area over the course of the rest of 1923, apart from a round of fleet training from 27 November to 7 December. She ended the year with another stint in Puget Sound from 22 December until 1 March 1924.

1924–1931

The ship arrived in San Francisco on 3 March, where she loaded ammunition before joining the Battle Fleet in San Diego on 9 March. The fleet cruised south to the Gulf of Fonseca, then continued south and passed through the Panama Canal to Limon Bay. The ships visited several ports in the Caribbean, including in the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico before returning to the Pacific in early April. Pennsylvania arrived back in San Pedro on 22 April, where she remained until 25 June, when she steamed north to Seattle. By this time, she was serving as the flagship of Battle Division 3 of the Battle Fleet. While in the Seattle area, she took part in training exercises with the ships of her division that lasted until 1 September. Further training exercises took place from 12 to 22 September off San Francisco. She thereafter took part in joint training with the coastal defenses around San Francisco from 26 to 29 September. The ship underwent a pair of overhauls from 1 to 13 October and 13 December to 5 January 1925. Pennsylvania then steamed to Puget Sound on 21 January for a third overhaul that lasted from 25 January to 24 March.

Pennsylvania returned to San Pedro on 27 March and then joined the fleet in San Francisco on 5 April. The ships then steamed to Hawaii for training exercises before departing on 1 July for a major cruise across the Pacific to Australia. They reached Melbourne on 22 July, and on 6 August Pennsylvania steamed to Wellington, New Zealand, where she stayed from 11 to 22 August. On the voyage back to the United States, they stopped in Pago Pago in American Samoa and Hawaii, before reaching San Pedro on 26 September. Pennsylvania went to San Diego for target practice from 5 to 8 October, thereafter returning to San Pedro, where she remained largely idle for the rest of 1925. She left San Pedro with the Battle Fleet on 1 February 1926 for another visit to Balboa, during which the ships conducted tactical training from 15 to 27 February. Pennsylvania spent early March in California before departing for Puget Sound on 15 March for another refit that lasted until 14 May, at which point she returned to San Pedro. Another tour of west coast ports began on 16 June and ended on 1 September back in San Pedro.

Pennsylvania remained at San Pedro from 11 December to 11 January 1927 when she left for another refit at Puget Sound that lasted until 12 March. She returned to San Francisco on 15 March and then moved to San Pedro the next day. She left to join training exercises off Cuba on 17 March; she passed through the canal between 29 and 31 March and arrived in Guantánamo Bay on 4 April. On 18 April, she left Cuba to visit Gonaïves, Haiti before steaming to New York, arriving there on 29 April. After touring the east coast in May, she departed for the canal, which she crossed on 12 June. She remained in Balboa until 12 June, at which point she left for San Pedro, arriving on 28 June. The ship spent the rest of 1927 with training, maintenance, and a tour of the west coast. She went to Puget Sound for a refit on 1 April 1928 that lasted until 16 May, after which she went to San Francisco. She left that same day, however, and steamed back north to visit Victoria, British Columbia. She remained there from 24 to 28 May and then returned to San Francisco. She spent June visiting various ports, and in August she embarked Dwight F. Davis, the Secretary of War, in San Francisco; she carried him to Hawaii, departing on 7 August and arriving on the 13th. Pennsylvania returned to Seattle on 26 August.

Another cruise to Cuba took place in January 1929, after which she went to the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 1 June for a major refit and modernization. She received a number of modifications, including increased deck and turret roof armor, anti-torpedo bulges, new turbo-generators, new turbines, and six new three-drum boilers. Her main battery turrets were modified to allow them to elevate to 30 degrees, significantly increasing the range of her guns, and her secondary battery was revised. The number of 5-inch guns was reduced to twelve, and her 3-inch anti-aircraft guns were replaced with eight 5-inch /25 guns. Her torpedo tubes were removed, as were her lattice masts, which were replaced with sturdier tripod masts. Her bridge was also enlarged to increase the space available for an admiral's staff, since she was used as a flagship. Her living space was increased to 2,037 crew and marines, and she was fitted with two catapults for seaplanes.

Pennsylvania returned to service on 1 March 1931 and she conducted trials in Delaware Bay in March and April. She then steamed south to Cuba on 8 May for a training cruise before returning to Philadelphia on 26 May. Another cruise to Cuba followed on 30 July; the ship arrived there on 5 August and this time she steamed across the Caribbean to the Panama Canal, which she transited on 12 August to return to the Battle Fleet. She reached San Pedro on 27 August, where she remained for the rest of the year. She toured the west coast in January 1932 and before crossing over to Pearl Harbor, where she arrived on 3 February. There, she took part in extensive fleet maneuvers as part of Fleet Problem XIII. She returned to San Pedro on 20 March, remaining there until 18 April, when she began another cruise along the coast of California. She returned to San Pedro on 14 November and remained there until the end of the year.

1932–1941

The ship departed San Pedro on 9 February to participate in Fleet Problem XIV, which lasted from 10 to 17 February. She returned to San Francisco on 17 February and then went to San Pedro on 27 February, remaining there until 19 June. Another west coast cruise followed from 19 June to 14 November, and after returning to San Pedro, Pennsylvania stayed there inactive until early March 1934. From 4 to 8 March, she made a short visit to Hunters Point Naval Shipyard in San Francisco and then returned to San Pedro. From there, she went to join the fleet for Fleet Problem XV, which was held in the Caribbean this year; she passed through the canal on 24 April, the maneuvers having already started on the 19th. They lasted until 12 May, at which point Pennsylvania went to Gonaïves with the rest of the fleet, which then continued on to New York, where it arrived on 31 March. There, Pennsylvania led the fleet in a naval review for now-President Franklin D. Roosevelt. On 15 June, Admiral Joseph M. Reeves took command of the fleet aboard Pennsylvania, which was once again the fleet flagship.

On 18 June, Pennsylvania left New York for the Pacific, stopping in Hampton Roads on 20 June on the way. She passed through the canal on 28 June and reached San Pedro on 7 July. She then went to Puget Sound for a refit that lasted from 14 July to 2 October. The ship left the shipyard on 16 October and returned to San Francisco two days later, beginning a period of cruises off the coast of California and visits to cities in the state. She ended the year in San Pedro, remaining there or in San Francisco until 29 April 1935, when she took part in Fleet Problem XVI in the Hawaiian islands. The maneuvers lasted until 10 June, and were the largest set of exercises conducted by the US Navy at the time. The ship then returned to San Pedro on 17 June and embarked on a cruise of the west coast for several months; on 16 December, she went to Puget Sound for another overhaul that lasted from 20 December to 21 March 1936. Fleet Problem XVII followed from 27 April to 7 June, this time being held off Balboa. She returned to San Pedro on 6 June and spent the rest of the year with training exercises off the west coast and Hawaii, ending the training program for the year in San Pedro on 18 November.

The ship remained in port until 17 February, when she departed for San Clemente, California at the start of a tour along the west coast. She participated in Fleet Problem XVIII, which lasted from 16 April to 28 May. Another stint in Puget Sound began on 6 June and concluded on 3 September, when she returned to San Pedro. She spent the rest of the year alternating between there and San Francisco, seeing little activity. She made a short trip to San Francisco in February 1938 and took part in Fleet Problem XIX from 9 March to 30 April. Another period in San Pedro followed until 20 June, after which she embarked on a two-month cruise along the west coast that concluded with another stay at Puget Sound on 28 September. After concluding her repairs on 16 December, she returned to San Pedro by way of San Francisco, arriving on 22 December. Fleet Problem XX occurred earlier the year than it had in previous iterations, taking place from 20 to 27 February 1939 in Cuban waters. During the exercises, Franklin Roosevelt and Admiral William D. Leahy, the CNO, came aboard Pennsylvania to observe the maneuvers.

The ship then went to Culebra on 27 February, departing on 4 March to visit Port-au-Prince, Haiti from 6 to 11 March. A stay in Guantanamo Bay followed from 12 to 31 March, after which she went to visit the US Naval Academy in Annapolis on 5 April. Pennsylvania began the voyage back to the Pacific on 18 April and passed through the canal at the end of the month, ultimately arriving back in San Pedro on 12 May. Another tour of the west coast followed, which included stops in San Francisco, Tacoma, and Seattle, and ended in San Pedro on 20 October. She went to Hawaii to participate in Fleet Problem XXI on 2 April 1940. The exercises lasted until 17 May, after which the ship remained in Hawaii until 1 September, when she left for San Pedro. The battleship then went to Puget Sound on 12 September that lasted until 27 December; during the overhaul, she received another four 5-inch /25 guns. She returned to San Pedro on 31 December. Fleet Problem XXII was scheduled for January 1941, but the widening of World War II by this time led the naval command to cancel the exercises. On 7 January, Pennsylvania steamed to Hawaii as part of what was again the Pacific Fleet, based at Pearl Harbor. Over the course of the year, she operated out of Pearl Harbor and made a short voyage to the west coast of the United States from 12 September to 11 October.

Attack on Pearl Harbor

On the morning of 7 December, Pennsylvania was in Dry Dock No. 1 in Pearl Harbor undergoing a refit; three of her four screws were removed. The destroyers USS Cassin (DD-372) and USS Downes (DD-375) were also in the dock with her. When it became clear that the port was under air attack from the Japanese fleet, Pennsylvania's crew rushed to their battle stations, and between 08:02 and 08:05, her anti-aircraft gunners began engaging the hostile aircraft. Japanese torpedo bombers unsuccessfully attempted to torpedo the side of the drydock to flood it; having failed, several aircraft then strafed Pennsylvania. At 08:30, several high-altitude bombers began a series of attacks on the ship; over the course of the following fifteen minutes, five aircraft attempted to hit her from different directions. One of the Japanese bombers hit Downes and one scored a hit on Pennsylvania that passed through the boat deck and exploded in casemate No. 9. Pennsylvania's anti-aircraft gunners fired at all of these aircraft but failed to hit any of them, apparently owing to incorrect fuse settings that caused the shells to explode before they reached the correct altitude. The gunners did manage to shoot down a low-flying aircraft that attempted to strafe the ship; they claimed to have shot down another five aircraft, but the after-action investigation noted that only two aircraft were likely hit by Pennsylvania's guns.

By 09:20, both destroyers were on fire from bomb hits and the fire had spread to Pennsylvania, so the drydock was flooded to help contain the fire. Ten minutes later, the destroyers began to explode as the fires spread to ammunition magazines, and at 09:41, Downes was shattered by an explosion that scattered parts of the ship around the area. One of her torpedo tubes, weighing 500 to 1000 lb, was launched into the air, striking Pennsylvania's forecastle. As part of her crew battled the fire in her bow, other men used the ship's boats to ferry anti-aircraft ammunition from stores in the West Loch of Pearl Harbor. Beginning at 14:00, the crew began preparatory work to repair the bomb damage; a 5-inch /25 gun and a 5-inch /51 casemate gun were taken from the damaged battleship USS West Virginia (BB-48) to replace weapons damaged aboard Pennsylvania. In the course of the attack, Pennsylvania had 15 men killed (including her executive officer), 14 missing, and 38 wounded. On 12 December, Pennsylvania was refloated and taken out of the drydock; having been only lightly damaged in the attack, she was ready to go to sea. She departed Pearl Harbor on 20 December and arrived in San Francisco nine days later. She went into drydock at Hunter's Point on 1 January 1942 for repairs that were completed on 12 January.

The ship left San Francisco on 20 February and began gunnery training before returning to San Francisco the next day. Further training followed in March, and from 14 April to 1 August, she took part in extensive maneuvers off the coast of California; during this period, she underwent an overhaul at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard in San Francisco. The work involved considerably strengthening the ship's anti-aircraft capabilities, with ten Bofors 40 mm quad mounts and fifty-one Oerlikon 20 mm single mounts. The tripod mainmast was removed, with the stump replaced by a deckhouse above which the aft main battery director cupola was housed. One of the new CXAM-1 radars was installed above the cupola. The older 5-inch /51 cal anti-ship guns in casemates and 5-inch /25 cal anti-aircraft guns were replaced with rapid fire 5-inch /38 cal guns in eight twin turret mounts. The new 5"/38 cal dual purpose guns could elevate to 85 degrees and fire at a rate of one round every four seconds. The ship briefly went to sea during the Battle of Midway as part of Task Force 1, commanded by Vice Admiral William S. Pye, but the ships did not see action during the operation.

Aleutians and Makin Atoll

On 1 August, Pennsylvania left San Francisco, bound for Pearl Harbor. She arrived there on 14 August and took part in further training, including guard tactics for aircraft carrier task forces. Another overhaul followed in San Francisco from 3 to 10 January 1943. After further training and tests at San Francisco and Long Beach that lasted into April, she departed to join the Aleutian Islands Campaign on 23 April. She bombarded Holtz Bay and Chichagof Harbor on 11–12 May to support the forces that went ashore on the island of Attu. While she was leaving the area on the 12th, the Japanese submarine JAPANESE SUBMARINE I-31 launched a torpedo at the ship, which was observed by a patrolling PBY Catalina flying boat. The Catalina radioed Pennsylvania, which took evasive maneuvers and escaped unharmed; a pair of destroyers then spent the next ten hours hunting the submarine before severely damaging her and forcing her to surface. I-31 was later sunk by another destroyer the next day.

Pennsylvania returned to Holtz Bay on 14 May to conduct another bombardment in support of an infantry attack on the western side of the bay. She continued operations in the area until 19 May, when she steamed to Adak Island for another amphibious assault. While en route, one of her gasoline stowage compartments exploded, which caused structural damage, though no one was injured in the accident. She was forced to leave Adak on 21 May for repairs at Puget Sound that lasted from 31 May to 15 June; during the overhaul, another accidental explosion killed one man and injured a second. She left port on 1 August, bound for Adak, which she reached on 7 August. There, she became the flagship of Admiral Francis W. Rockwell, commander of the task force that was to attack Kiska. The troops went ashore on 15 August but met no resistance, the Japanese having evacuated without US forces in the area having becoming aware of it. Pennsylvania patrolled off Kiska for several days before returning to Adak on 23 August.

Two days later, the battleship departed Adak for Pearl Harbor, arriving there on 1 September. She embarked a contingent of 790 passengers before steaming on 19 September, bound for San Francisco. She arrived there six days later and debarked her passengers before returning to Pearl Harbor on 6 October to take part in bombardment training from 20 to 23 October and 31 October – 4 November. Now the flagship of Rear Admiral Richmond K. Turner, the commander of the Fifth Amphibious Force, itself part of the Northern Attack Force, Pennsylvania left Pearl Harbor on 10 November to lead the assault on Makin Atoll, part of the Gilbert Islands. She was joined by three other battleships, four cruisers, three escort carriers, and numerous transports and destroyers; they arrived off Makin on 20 November, and Pennsylvania opened fire on Butaritari Island that morning at a range of 14200 yd, beginning the Battle of Makin. Early on the morning of 24 November, the ship was rocked by an explosion off her starboard bow; lookouts reported that the escort carrier USS Liscome Bay (CVE-56) had been torpedoed and had exploded. Japanese torpedo bombers conducted repeated nighttime attacks on 25 and 26 November, but they failed to score any hits on the American fleet. Pennsylvania left the area on 30 November to return to Pearl Harbor.

Marshalls and Marianas campaigns

At the start of 1944, Pennsylvania was at Pearl Harbor; over the course of the first two weeks of January, she took part in maneuvers in preparation for landings on Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands. She departed Pearl Harbor on 22 January in company with the invasion fleet, and on 31 January she began her preparatory bombardment of the atoll to start the Battle of Kwajalein. Troops went ashore the next day, and Pennsylvania remained offshore to provide artillery support to the marines as they fought to secure the island. By the evening of 3 February, the Japanese defenders had been defeated, allowing the ship to depart to Majuro Atoll to replenish her ammunition supply. She left shortly thereafter, on 12 February, to support the next major attack on Eniwetok in the Marshalls; five days later she arrived off the island, the Battle of Eniwetok already underway, and over the course of 20 and 21 February, she shelled the island heavily to support the men fighting ashore. On 22 February, she supported the landing on Parry Island, part of the Eniwetok atoll.

On 1 March, Pennsylvania steamed back to Majuro before proceeding south to Havannah Harbor on Efate Island in the New Hebrides. She remained there until 24 April, when she left for a short visit to Sydney, Australia from 29 April to 11 May, when she returned to Efate. She thereafter steamed to Port Purvis on Florida Island, in the Solomons, to participate in amphibious assault exercises. After replenishing ammunition and supplies at Efate, she left on 2 June, bound for Roi, arriving there six days later. On 10 June, she joined a force of battleships, cruisers, escort carriers, and destroyers that had assembled for the Marianas campaign. While en route that night, one of the escorting destroyers reported a sonar contact and the ships of the fleet took evasive maneuvers; in the darkness, Pennsylvania accidentally collided with the troop transport USS Talbot (DD-114). Pennsylvania incurred only minor damage and was able to continue with the fleet, but Talbot had to return to Eniwetok for emergency repairs.

Pennsylvania began her bombardment of Saipan on 14 June to prepare the island for the assault that came the next day. She continued shelling the island while cruising off Tinian on 15 June as the assault craft went ashore. On 16 June, she attacked Japanese positions at Orote Point on Guam before returning to Saipan. She left the area on 25 June to replenish at Eniwetok, returning to join the preparatory bombardment of Guam on 12 July. The shelling continued for two days, and late on 14 July, she steamed to Saipan to again replenish her ammunition. Back on station three days later, she continued to blast the island through 20 July. This work also included suppressing guns that fired on demolition parties that went ashore to destroy landing obstacles. On the morning of 21 July, Pennsylvania took up her bombardment position off Orote Point as the assault craft prepared to launch their attack. The ship operated off the island supporting the men fighting there for the next two weeks.

Operations in the Philippines

Pennsylvania left Guam on 3 August to replenish at Eniwetok, arriving there on 19 August. From there, she steamed to Espiritu Santo in the New Hebrides before joining landing training off Guadalcanal. The ship left on 6 September as part of the Bombardment and Fire Support Group for the invasion of Peleliu. She bombarded the island from 12 to 14 September and supported the landings the next day. She shelled Anguar Island on 17 September and remained there for three days, departing on 20 September. She then steamed to Seeadler Harbor on Manus, one of the Admiralty Islands for repairs. On 28 September, she arrived there and entered a floating dry dock on 1 October for a week's repairs. Pennsylvania left on 12 October in company with the battleships USS Mississippi (BB-41), USS Tennessee (BB-43), USS California (BB-44), USS Maryland (BB-46), and West Virginia, under the command of Rear Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf. These ships, designated Task Group 77.2, formed the Fire Support Group for the upcoming operations in the Philippines. They arrived off Leyte on 18 October and took up bombardment positions; over the next four days, they covered Underwater Demolition Teams, beach reconnaissance operations, and minesweepers clearing the way for the landing force.

On 24 October, reports of Japanese naval forces approaching the area led Oldendorf's ships to prepare for action at the exit of the Surigao Strait. Vice Admiral Shōji Nishimura's Southern Force steamed through the Surigao Strait to attack the invasion fleet in Leyte Gulf; his force comprised Battleship Division 2—the battleships JAPANESE BATTLESHIP Yamashiro and JAPANESE BATTLESHIP Fusō, the heavy cruiser JAPANESE CRUISER Mogami, and four destroyers—and Vice Admiral Kiyohide Shima's Second Striking Force—the heavy cruisers JAPANESE CRUISER Nachi and JAPANESE CRUISER Ashigara, the light cruiser JAPANESE CRUISER Abukuma, and four more destroyers. As Nishimura's flotilla passed through the strait on the night of 24 October, they came under attack from American PT boats, followed by destroyers, initiating the Battle of Surigao Strait. One of these destroyers torpedoed Fusō and disabled her, though Nishimura continued on toward his objective.

In the early hours of 25 October, the Southern Force came into contact with Oldendorf's battleships, which had positioned themselves to cross Nishimura's T. At 03:53, West Virginia opened fire, followed by some of the other battleships, though Pennsylvania had trouble locating a target in the darkness with her search radar. Her older Mark 3 radar was not as effective as the more modern sets on West Virginia and some of the other battleships. Task Group 77.2's battleships effectively annihilated Battleship Division 2; Shima's Second Striking Force had fallen behind and had not yet entered the fray. Yamashiro was set on fire and then exploded; she turned to flee, covered by a salvo of torpedoes from the burning Mogami, but the American battleships were able to evade them without damage. Despite having disengaged from Oldendorf's battleships, Yamashiro was hit by more torpedoes and capsized and sank around 04:20. Shima's ships passed the still-floating Fusō and realized that Nishimura had entered a trap, so he reversed course to flee; in the confusion, his flagship Nachi collided with Mogami, damaging her and slowing her to be attacked by American light forces. She was later sunk, as were three of the four destroyers. Later on 25 October, Pennsylvania's anti-aircraft gunners helped to shoot down four aircraft that attacked a nearby destroyer.

Late on 28 October, Pennsylvania shot down a torpedo bomber. The ship remained on station off Leyte until 25 November, when she departed for Manus, from which she steamed to Kossol Roads off Palau on 15 December to refill her magazines. She conducted gunnery training on 22 December, and on 1 January 1945, Pennsylvania re-joined Oldendorf's Fire Support Group on the way to Lingayen Gulf for the next major operation in the Philippines. Over the course of 4–5 January, Japanese aircraft repeatedly attacked the ships, including kamikazes that destroyed the escort carrier USS Ommaney Bay (CVE-79). Pennsylvania began bombarding Japanese positions on Santiago Island at the entrance to Lingayen Gulf on 6 January before entering the gulf that night to suppress Japanese guns while minesweepers cleared the area. The next morning, the rest of Oldendorf's ships joined her in the gulf to begin the main preparatory bombardment, which continued through the 8th. On 9 January, the amphibious assault began as troops from the Sixth United States Army went ashore.

Japanese aircraft struck the invasion fleet on 10 January, and four bombs landed close to Pennsylvania, though she was undamaged. Later that day, a fire control party directed Pennsylvania to shell a group of Japanese tanks that were massing to launch a counterattack on the beachhead. The ship patrolled outside the gulf from 10 to 17 January, when she returned to the gulf; she saw no further action, however, and she departed on 10 February for maintenance at Manus. From there, she left on 22 February for San Francisco, stopping in the Marshalls and at Pearl Harbor on the way. After arriving on 13 March, she underwent a thorough overhaul, including the replacement of her worn-out main battery and secondary guns. She also received a new Mk.34 main battery director, which was equipped with the latest Mk.8 fire control radar, on her aft superstructure. With the kamikaze threat in mind, her anti-aircraft armament was increased to seventy-one 20 mm guns in twenty-seven single and twenty-two twin mounts. An additional pair of 40 mm Bofors guns in a twin mount was installed on top of turret 2, for a total of forty-two guns. With the work done, she went on sea trials off San Francisco, followed by training at San Diego. She left San Francisco on 12 July and arrived in Pearl Harbor on the 18th, where she engaged in further training from 20 to 23 July. The next day, she departed to join the invasion fleet off Okinawa.

While transiting the Pacific, she stopped to bombard Wake Island on 1 August. In the artillery duel with Japanese coastal guns, one of their shells detonated close enough that fragments disabled one of the ship's fire control directors for her 5-inch guns. One of her Curtiss SC Seahawks was damaged in heavy seas, and the destroyer USS Ordronaux recovered the pilot. Pennsylvania loaded ammunition at Saipan before continuing on to Okinawa, arriving there on 12 August where she became flagship of Task Force 95. That night, while moored next to Tennessee in Buckner Bay, a Japanese torpedo bomber managed to penetrate the Allied defensive screen undetected; the aircraft launched its torpedo at Pennsylvania and hit her aft, causing serious damage. The torpedo opened a hole approximately 30 ft in diameter, causing the ship to take on a considerable amount of water and begin to settle by the stern. Damage control teams were able to contain the flooding. Twenty men were killed and another ten were injured in the attack, including Oldendorf, who was aboard at the time and suffered several broken ribs. Pennsylvania was the last major US warship to be damaged in the war. The next day, salvage tugs towed her to shallow water where temporary repairs could be effected. On 15 August, the Japanese surrendered, ending the war.

Post-war career

Pennsylvania was taken under tow by a pair of tugboats on 18 August, bound for Apra Harbor, Guam, where they arrived on 6 September. The next day, she was taken into a floating drydock, where a large steel patch was welded over the torpedo hole, which would allow the ship to make the voyage back for permanent repairs. The battleship USS Missouri (BB-63) relieved Pennsylvania as flagship on 15 September, and on 2 October, she was able to leave the drydock. Two days later, Pennsylvania steamed out of Guam, bound for Puget Sound, where repairs would be effected. She was escorted by the light cruiser USS Atlanta (CL-104) and the destroyer USS Walke (DD-723). While still en route on 17 October, the ship's number 3 propeller shaft slipped aft. Divers were sent to cut the shaft loose; Pennsylvania now had just one operational screw, and the open propeller shaft was now allowing water to leak into the hull. She nevertheless completed the voyage to Puget Sound, arriving on 24 October. The ship received the Navy Unit Commendation for her wartime service there on 3 November.

On 16 January 1946, Pennsylvania was designated to be expended as a target ship for the Operation Crossroads atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll to be carried out later that year. Repairs were completed enough to allow her to sail to the Marshall Islands, and she left Puget Sound on 24 February. After stopping in Pearl Harbor, she arrived in Bikini Atoll on 31 May, where she was anchored along with another eighty-three warships. The first explosion, Test Able, took place on 1 July, and was an air burst. After tests determined that the ship had not been contaminated with radiation, the crew returned to the ship from 3 to 24 July. The second blast, Test Baker, was done the next day. This was an underwater detonation, and Pennsylvania was moored just 1100 yd from ground zero. She was only lightly damaged from the blast, but the surge of water caused significant radioactive contamination; work parties came aboard the ship from 17 to 21 August to prepare the ship to be towed, and on the 21st she was taken under tow by the transport USS Niagara (APA-87), which took her to Kwajalein, where she was decommissioned on 29 August. Various radiological and structural studies were completed over the next year and a half until she was scuttled off Kwajalein on 10 February 1948. She was officially stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 19 February.

The ship's bell is on display at The Pennsylvania State University near the main entrance of the Wagner Building, home of the university's ROTC programs. It has been on permanent loan to the university from the Department of the Navy since 1955. Two of the ship's 14-inch guns that had been replaced during the 1945 overhaul are on outdoor display at the Pennsylvania Military Museum in Boalsburg, Pennsylvania.

title: USS Pennsylvania (BB-38)


text:
Talk:Omar Bradley

Koreas
An editor added this parenthetical to the Korea section. It seems accurate, but we need to word this properly on the page, so moving it here to work out what we should do. --John (User:Jwy/talk)

(this statement is inaccurate, North Korea and South Korea were not politically separate until the Korean War cease fire was negotiated. At the time the conflict began there was just one Korea.  The conflict began when Communist forces in the north attacked forces in the south, essentially starting a civil war)
 * no. the reliable sources agree they were totally separate independent nations with full-fledged national governments in June 1950 with a well-defined border. See > and accompanying UN documents.
 * Had I but glanced at the North Korea article, I would have known this. Thanks.  That is something I did not, but should have, known.  --John (User:Jwy/talk) 15:32, 5 September 2017 (UTC)

External links modified
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Wartime rank?
In February 1941, Bradley was promoted to (wartime) temporary rank of brigadier general...
 * But America wasn't at war until December 1941. Valetude (talk) 16:36, 29 October 2019 (UTC)

title: Talk:Omar Bradley


text:
Real McCoy (band)

Real McCoy is a German Eurodance and pop music project best known for their hit singles throughout the mid 1990s: "Another Night", "Automatic Lover (Call for Love)", "Run Away", "Love & Devotion", "Come and Get Your Love", and "One More Time". Their first U.S. album Another Night went multi-platinum and charted in countries around the world.

1989–1990: Early success in Germany
The Real McCoy project (originally known in Europe as M.C. Sar & the Real McCoy) was the result of the successful collaboration between record producers Juergen Wind (J. Wind), and Frank Hassas (Quickmix), plus the rapper Olaf Jeglitza (O-Jay), under their music production company Freshline Records. Wind and Hassas wrote and produced the project's main hits between 1990 and 1994 at Wind Studios B.C. in Spandau, Berlin. Traditionally, Jeglitza was given additional producer credits alongside Wind and Hassas as J. Wind, Quickmix & O. Jeglitza for Freshline. In reality, Jeglitza only had a minor songwriting role on the team, and strictly provided rap vocals for the song productions. In 1993, he became the front man of the project. The first single from the project was a cover version of the hit "Pump Up the Jam" by Technotronic featuring new rap verses from Jeglitza. The single was released in 1989 and distributed by ZYX Records in Germany where it reached No. 16 on the singles chart. Following the unexpected success of the single, Wind took over the management of Freshline Records, and became the leading producer and composer behind the project. The follow-up releases were hip house style records. "It's On You" debuted in 1990 and became a top hit in Germany and a success in other European territories. The single was particularly successful in France, where it had earned silver status for selling 200,000 units. The growing success of the two singles motivated ZYX Records to request a live act, and a music video for "It's On You". A Frenchman of African descent named George Shampro Mario was hired to be M.C. Sar, and to act as the front man and rapper for the project. Unbeknownst to the public, he was really a lip-sync artist, who was miming the rap vocals of Jeglitza for the live performances and the music video. During this early stage of the project, Jeglitza remained completely anonymous. The American singer, Patricia "Patsy" Petersen, sang the choruses on the single and fronted the project with Mario. Four more singles ("Don't Stop", "Make a Move", "Let's Talk About Love", and "No Showbo") and an album (On the Move!) were later released. Each of these follow-up releases failed commercially. In 1992, Freshline ended their relationship with ZYX Records.

1993–1995: Mainstream success with "Another Night"
In late 1992, Freshline had formed a new partnership deal with Hansa Records (BMG Berlin) to release new music for the project. After a deal was finalized, Wind immediately began planning out a success strategy for the project, with Hansa's A&R executive, David Brunner and BMG President Andy Selleneit. The three then made a creative decision to change the musical style of the project from hip house to eurodance and pop. Wind and Hassas wrote and produced the new single "Another Night" while Jeglitza wrote his rap verses. A producer duo known as the Berman Brothers (siblings Frank and Christian Berman) recommended to Wind their session singer, Karin Kasar, for the singing choruses. After hearing a demo of her voice, Wind selected her for the role. In exchange for her participation in the project, the brothers made a deal with Wind to be listed as producers with Freshline as Freshline & The Berman Brothers. They also made a deal with Wind to make the remixes for the single. A mix created by the brothers was selected to be the official single version of the song. Petersen remained the front woman and mimed Kasar's vocals for live performances and the music video for the new single. Wind and Brunner then decided to remove Mario from the project. Jeglitza was then promoted into a front man role alongside Petersen thus making the project a duo act. Brunner organized the marketing, promotion, distribution, sales strategies for the single and was credited as executive producer under the alias "D.N.B."

When released in the Summer of 1993, "Another Night" was only a minor hit in Europe reaching No. 18 in Germany and barely making the Top 100 in several other countries. Shortly after the release of the single, Wind and Hassas produced the Maxx hit "Get-A-Way" under the alias "The Movement". Brunner distributed the single through Intercord. When released in October 1993, the single became a major commercial success in Europe alongside the growing success of "Another Night".

By mid-1994, M.C. Sar & The Real McCoy had begun to achieve notable success on the charts alongside the massive success of the Maxx hits: "Get-A-Way" and No More (I Can't Stand It)". Thanks to the promotional efforts of BMG Canada, "Another Night" had suddenly hit No. 1 on the Canadian dance/urban chart in March 1994 and had remained on the chart for several weeks.  The follow-up singles "Automatic Lover (Call for Love)" and "Run Away" and the album Space Invaders  were then released in Europe. After noticing how quickly "Another Night" had reached No. 1 on the Canadian dance/urban chart, Arista Records CEO Clive Davis became interested in bringing M.C. Sar & The Real McCoy to the U.S. market. Davis had previously had success making the Swedish pop group Ace of Base a hit the U.S., and sought to do the same with M.C. Sar & The Real McCoy.

After a deal was finalized between Arista and BMG, the project name was shortened to Real McCoy and "Another Night" was released in the U.S. in mid 1994. The single had peaked at No. 3 in the U.S. by November 1994, and had quickly reached platinum status. The follow-up single release of "Run Away" was also a successful hit in the U.S. reaching gold status. Thanks to the success of the two hits, an all new U.S. release of the Space Invaders album was quickly planned for 1995. The project was officially re-branded as a trio act featuring Jeglitza, Petersen and newcomer Vanessa Mason. The Space Invaders album was re-titled Another Night. The cover art, imagery and marketing for the album was completely changed to present a lighter romantic tone. Several tracks from the album were removed for the new release. Davis commissioned a new team of producers to write and produce three new covers songs ("Come and Get Your Love", "Ooh Boy", "If You Should Ever Be Lonely (Deep in the Night)"), along with an original track (Sleeping with an Angel) for the album. The new production team included: songwriters Billy Steinberg & Rick Nowels, producer Shep Pettibone and the Lemon Productions team (Per Adebratt, Douglas Carr & Tony Ekman).

Thanks to the promotional efforts of Arista along with the popularity of "Another Night" and "Run Away", the album reached double platinum status and became a mainstream commercial success in 1995. "Come and Get Your Love" was released as the third Real McCoy single and reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Dance/Club Play chart. "Automatic Lover (Call for Love)" was also released late in 1995 as a fourth single but saw lesser success peaking at No. 52 on the chart. The Space Invaders track "Love & Devotion" was released in Europe and Australia as a Real McCoy single. It earned gold status in Australia and peaked at No. 11 in the United Kingdom. While Real McCoy's success was at its peak in 1995, the Maxx project had quickly begun to decline in Europe due to the lack of new hits on the European charts. By the end of 1995, the project had permanently disbanded.

1997–1998: Group decline after One More Time album
In 1997, the follow-up album One More Time was released. Singer Lisa Cork was recruited as a replacement for Petersen and Kasar. Wind produced the album without Hassas or Brunner's involvement and instead worked with the Lemon Productions team (Adebratt, Carr & Ekman) and songwriter/producer Brent Argovitz. The Berman Brothers produced a cover of Shania Twain's "(If You're Not in It for Love) I'm Outta Here!" for the album, while also making new remixes for the singles. For promotional reasons, Jeglitza was credited as an executive producer alongside Davis. The lead single from the album, (also called "One More Time"), reached No. 3 in Australia and achieved platinum status but saw lesser success in the U.S. peaking at No. 27 on the chart. The follow-up singles "I Wanna Come (with You)" and the Shania Twain cover "(If You're Not in It for Love) I'm Outta Here!" failed to chart and were also commercial failures. The disappointing commercial sales of the album and the final singles lead to the quick demise of the lineup in 1997. In 1998, BMG re-released the original Space Invaders album, under the title Real McCoy – Love & Devotion in Germany.

1999–2015: Real McCoy continuation and hiatus
In 1999 and 2000, two new Real McCoy singles were released with an all new line-up. Rapper Jason Ammon and singers Gabriele Koopmans and Ginger Maria Kamphuis were marketed as the 'new' Real McCoy. The first single released with the new line-up was a re-recorded version of "It's On You". Koopmans and Kamphuis recorded new vocals for the song, while Jeglitza re-recorded his original rap verses. A music video was filmed for the single in Miami, Florida, starring Ammon, Koopmans and Kamphuis with a cameo from Jeglitza. Ammon mimed Jeglitza's rap vocals in the music video. A second single titled "Hey Now" was released in 2000, featuring rap from Ammon and singing from Koopmans and Kamphuis. Both singles became commercial failures resulting in the demise of the new line-up.

After a long hiatus, Jeglitza (under the name Real McCoy) collaborated with the Polish band Ich Troje in 2006 to create the song "Follow My Heart". Jeglitza and the band represented Poland at the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest. The song, however, failed to qualify for the grand final. In early 2007, a new Real McCoy song titled "People Are Still Having Sex" was released in Germany. The single was a cover of the famous LaTour single of the same name.

In August 2009, Jeglitza performed as Real McCoy with singers Debbie Butts and Gemma Louise Sampson for DJ BoBo's "DJ BoBo and Friends" concert in Engelberg, Switzerland. Jeglitza also recorded the track "Two Hearts" with Butts and Sampson, but the track was never released officially.

2016–2020: Return of Karin Kasar and Real McCoy revival
In 2016, Jeglitza returned again as Real McCoy with the original studio singer Karin Kasar. As a live duo act, Jeglitza and Kasar performed as Real McCoy at 1990s festivals worldwide.

2020-present: Kasar's departure and line up changes
In January 2020, Karin Kasar revealed on her Instagram page that she was retiring from performing with the group. Real McCoy remained dormant for much of 2020 and 2021, with a handful of performances in the latter year with O-Jay as the sole member. In late 2021, Real McCoy announced that they would be returning for performances in 2022 with O-Jay, producer/hypeman K.I.S.T.E, and new vocalists Sara Mosquera and Mac. In December 2023, the band released a new single called "Magnify".

Members

 * Olaf Jeglitza (O-Jay) – rapper (1989–present)
 * Sara Mosquera - singer, live performer (2022–present)
 * Mac - singer, live performer (2022–present)
 * K.I.S.T.E - producer, live performer (2022–present)
 * George Shampro Mario (M.C. Sar) – frontman only, lip-sync (1990–1992)
 * Patricia Petersen (Patsy) – singer, lip-sync (1990–1995)
 * Yvonne Parker (Sunday) – session singer (1990)
 * Karin Kasar – session singer, live performer (1993–1995, 2016–2020)
 * Vanessa Mason – singer, lip-sync (1994–1997)
 * Lisa Cork – singer (1996–1997)
 * Jason Ammon – rapper (1999)
 * Gabriele Koopmans – singer (1999)
 * Ginger Maria Kamphuis – singer (1999)
 * Debbie Butts – singer (2009)
 * Gemma Louise Sampson – singer (2009)

title: Real McCoy (band)


text:
Jing Ke

Jing Ke (died 227 BC) was a youxia during the late Warring States period of Ancient China. As a retainer of Crown Prince Dan of the Yan state, he was infamous for his failed assassination attempt on King Zheng of the Qin state, who later became Qin Shi Huang, the Qin Dynasty's first emperor (from 221 BC to 210 BC). His story is told in the chapter titled Biographies of Assassins (刺客列傳) in Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian.

Background
In 230 BC, the Qin state began conquering other states as part of King Zheng's ambition to unify the country under one rule. The Qin army, having already achieved absolute military supremacy over the other states since 260 BC, first successfully annihilated the state of Han, the weakest of the Seven Warring States. Two years later, the once-formidable Zhao state was also conquered in 228 BC.

Zhao's northeastern neighbor, the Yan state was next in line to be threatened by Qin expansion. In exchange for peace, King Xi of Yan had earlier forced his son Crown Prince Dan to be held a diplomatic hostage in the Qin, but Prince Dan returned knowing that Qin was far stronger than Yan and would attack it sooner or later.

Jing Ke originally came from the minor Wey state. He was of the clan name Qing (庆氏) of the ancestral name Jiang (姜姓) and a distant descendant of Wukui of Qi, had good education and was proficient in the art of the sword. His homeland of Wey was annexed by Qin in 239 BC, and Jing Ke fled to Yan. A youxia named Tian Guang (田光) first introduced him to Prince Dan. There Jing Ke accepted the hospitality of Prince Dan, who, as a last resort, decided to send an assassin against the King of Qin. The plan involved either kidnapping the king and forcing him to release the territories from his control; or failing this, killing him. The expectation in either case was that Qin would be left disorganized, enabling the other remaining major states to unite against its conquest.

Planning
In 228 BC, the Qin army was already at the Zhao capital of Handan, and was waiting to approach the state of Yan. Jing Ke agreed to go to Qin and pretend to be a nobleman begging for mercy. According to events at the time, Dukang (督亢) (in present-day Hebei Province) was the first part of the Yan state that the Qin wanted, by reason of its fertile farmland. The plan was to present as gifts the map of Dukang and the severed head of the traitorous Qin general Fan Yuqi (identified as Huan Yi by Yang Kuan) to the king of Qin, in order to approach him.

At the time, General Fan Yuqi (Huan Yi) had lost favor with Qin and wanted revenge against it; whereas the Qin state put a bounty on capturing him of 1,000 gold pieces. Jing Ke went to Huan himself to discuss the assassination plan. Fan Yuqi (Huan Yi) believed that the plan would work, and agreed to commit suicide so that his head could be collected.

Prince Dan then obtained the sharpest possible dagger, refined it with poison, and gave it to Jing Ke. To accompany him, Prince Dan assigned Qin Wuyang as his assistant. Qin Wuyang was known to have successfully committed murder at the age of 13.

In 227 BC, Prince Dan and other guests wore white clothing and white hats at the Yi River (易水) to send the pair of assassins off. Jing Ke reportedly sang a song "The wind howls, and the waters of the River Yi are cold. Once the hero sets out, he never returns!" (風蕭蕭兮易水寒，壯士一去兮不復還). The King of Qin received the message of visitors presenting a gift to him, and was willing to receive them at the city.

The attempt
Concealing the dagger inside the map scroll, Jing Ke and Qin Wuyang represented the Yan as ambassadors and met with King Zheng. Qin Wuyang reportedly became so nervous that he acted almost paralyzed when entering the palace, and Jing Ke managed the excuse that his partner had never set eyes on the grace of Son of Heaven. Other sources suggest Jing Ke described Qin Wuyang as a rural boy who had never seen the world and was suffering a cultural shock. The panicked Qin Wuyang was then barred from moving up the palace, and Jing Ke was ordered to present the map alone.

Jing Ke approached King Zheng and politely presented the map scroll. When the King Zheng unrolled the map, Jing Ke immediately seized the revealed dagger, grabbed the king's clothes and attacked him, who somehow managed to back away from the initial thrust by tearing off a sleeve in the process. While King Zheng fled from his attacker on foot, he attempted to draw his own sword hanging from his belt, but was unable to do so while running desperately as it was a very long ceremonial sword. None of the other Qin officials within the vicinity were armed and able to stop Jing Ke, and the guards were all stationed outside the palace and were unable to immediately reach the scene. In the confusion Jing Ke began to close in on the king, who struggled to get away from the assassin by circling behind a pillar.

Seeing the king in grave danger, a royal physician named Xia Wuju (夏無且) grabbed his own medicine bag and hurled it at Jing Ke, which slowed down the assassin just enough to allow King Zheng to recover some distance. Reminded by cries from other officials, the king managed to shift his longsword behind his back and unsheathe it from behind. Now armed, he immediately turned back and struck Jing Ke in the thigh, effectively immobilizing him. The injured Jing Ke, out of a desperate last attempt, threw his dagger towards King Zheng, only to miss the target. The king then proceeded to stab Jing Ke eight more times, mortally wounding him. Knowing it was hopelessly over, the dying Jing Ke sat with his legs stretched forward and apart (a posture then considered very rude), and used the last of his strength to taunt King Zheng with abuses. At this point, the guards had arrived at the scene to finish off both Jing Ke and the fleeing Qin Wuyang.

It was recorded that right after the incident, King Zheng sat on his throne catatonically holding the sword due to the exhaustion caused by the adrenaline rush, before he finally recovered after a short while and thanked the physician Xia Wuju for attempting to stop the assassin.

Yan annihilation
After Jing Ke's attempt, the Qin army general Wang Jian was sent against the Yan state. In 226 BC, Prince Dan sent his army to fight at Ji (薊), but were soon defeated. In an effort to try to appease the King of Qin, King Xi of Yan put his son to death; however, the Yan were annexed and destroyed nonetheless.

In popular culture

 * The 1996 Chinese historical film The Emperor's Shadow features Jing Ke's assassination attempt.
 * The Chinese film The Emperor and the Assassin (1999), featuring Gong Li and others, is based on the aforementioned events.
 * The 2002 Chinese epic Hero is a highly fictionalized take on Jing Ke's attempted assassination.
 * Nobel laureate Mo Yan wrote a play in 2003, entitled "Our Jing Ke" (我们的荆轲), which retells the story of Jing Ke's failed assassination attempt. The play premiered in August 2011 in Beijing by Beijing People's Art Theatre (BPAT). The play won the highest drama award in China in 2012.

title: Jing Ke


text: Wikipedia:Metalingo

title: Wikipedia:Metalingo


text:
John Mugabi

John Mugabi (born March 4, 1960) is a Ugandan former professional boxer who competed from 1980 to 1999. He held the WBC super-welterweight title from 1989 to 1990, and challenged twice for world titles at middleweight, including the undisputed championship.

Mugabi was part of an exceptionally talented group of light-middleweights and middleweights during a "golden era" of the 1980s which included Marvin Hagler, Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, Wilfred Benítez, and Roberto Durán. As an amateur, Mugabi won a silver medal in the welterweight division at the 1980 Summer Olympics, and was the only medallist for Uganda at the event. He is listed #38 on Ring Magazine's list of 100 greatest punchers of all time

Amateur career
Representing Uganda, Mugabi was the Silver medalist at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, boxing in the Welterweight class. Mugabi lost to Andrés Aldama of Cuba in the final.

He was also a silver medallist at the 1976 Junior World Championships, losing to Herol Graham in the final. Additionally, Mugabi won a bronze medal at the 1978 All-Africa Games in the light-welterweight division.

Highlights
1976 Junior World Championships World Championships (63,5 kg), Belgrade, Yugoslavia, May 1978: All-Africa Games, Algiers, Algeria, July 1978: Golden Boat Tournament (67 kg), Łódź, Poland, February 1979:
 * Finals: Lost to Herol Graham (United Kingdom)
 * 1/16: Defeated Esko Pallaspuro (Finland) RSC 2
 * 1/8: Lost to Jean-Claude Ruiz (France) by walkover
 * (no data available)
 * Finals: Lost to Grigoriy Lapshin (Soviet Union) by unanimous decision, 0–5

TSC Tournament (67 kg), East Berlin, East Germany, October 1979: Olympic Games (67 kg), Moscow, Soviet Union, July-August 1980:
 * 1/4: Defeated Siegfried Vogelreuter (East Germany) RSC 2
 * 1/2: Lost to Ionel Budusan (Romania)
 * 1/16: Defeated Georges Koffi (Congo) KO 1
 * 1/8: Defeated Paul Rasamimanana (Madagascar) KO 2
 * 1/4: Defeated Mehmet Bogujevci (Yugoslavia) KO 1
 * 1/2: Defeated Kazimierz Szczerba (Poland) by split decision, 3–2
 * Finals: Lost to Andrés Aldama (Cuba) by majority decision, 1–4

Duals

 * Uganda–Poland Duals (63,5 kg), Kampala, Uganda, January 1978: Lost to Bogdan Gajda PTS
 * Uganda–GDR Duals (67 kg), Schwerin, East Germany, February 1979: Lost to Jochen Bachfeld PTS
 * Uganda–Poland Duals (67 kg), Warsaw, Poland, February 1979: Lost to Piotr Bobrowski 1–2

Professional career
John Mugabi started as a professional on December 5, 1980, by knocking out Oemer Karadenis in round one in Cologne. Soon after that win, Mugabi moved to London where he became acquainted with boxing promoter Mickey Duff, an expert in boxer marketing who landed Mugabi various fights in England and built his reputation there. Mugabi won eight fights in Europe. Searching for more formidable foes, John moved to Florida where he became a favourite of American TV networks with his sensational knockouts of contenders such as Curtis Ramsey, Gary Guiden, former world champion Eddie Gazo, Curtis Parker, Frank The Animal Fletcher, Nino Gonzalez and Earl Hargrove through a display of tenacity and ferociousness. 'The Beast’ as he would become known (for his ferocious attacks and untamable style—bashing his prey with overhand rights and wild left hooks) was able to fluctuate his weight between middleweight and junior middleweight. Some people lose effectiveness by changing weight classes, but not Mugabi. He was able to knock out every opponent he faced to that point of his career.

Mugabi’s first victory of note came on May 2, 1982, when he took on veteran Curtis Ramsey. It was Mugabi’s 11th bout and he took care of the American in two rounds in Atlantic City, New Jersey. 1983 was a busy calendar year for the Beast. In that year he took on Gary Guiden, who had just come off of a Championship fight against Davey Moore; Mugabi stopped him in three. Many started speculating about Mugabi’s role in the future of the Junior Middleweight and Middleweight divisions. The fact Mugabi easily made the weight at both divisions made him more intriguing than most prospects. Nicaraguan, Eddie Gazo, a former WBA Junior Middleweight Champion provided Mugabi with his first real test. Gazo went rounds with Mugabi, but ‘The Beast’ ended things the way he always did. Mugabi was simply stronger and faster tactically overwhelming the busier Gazo. In the same year, Mugabi took on Curtis Parker (a former Pennsylvania Golden Gloves amateur champion )The ‘meeting’ with Curtis Parker was on national television. Parker was an established fighter, but Mugabi’s destruction of Parker was savage. It was the first time that Parker had lost a bout by knockout.

In February 1984 Mugabi’s ability to take adversity was tested by James ‘Hard Rock’ Green. Mugabi slowly took control of the fight until it was stopped in the 10th round, with Mugabi declared the winner by technical knockout. The bout between ‘The Beast’ and Frank ‘The Animal’ Fletcher marked a quiet maturity that marked Mugabi’s transformation from being what had been dubbed a ‘banger’ with raw power to a refined tactical boxer. The Beast hurt his prey, gently testing with his jabs and then in the 4th round a couple of roundhouse punches and a haymaker travelling all the way from his waist caught Fletcher asleep—the fight ended with Fletcher’s body between the ropes.

On his way to becoming the number one contender for the middleweight title of each of the three major sanctioning bodies (WBA, WBC, and IBF), Mugabi ran roughshod over the division and finished each of his opponents inside the distance. Mugabi's ferocity was captured by Phil Berger. Writing in the New York Times in 1986, Berger, commenting on Mugabi’s preparation for the Hagler fight noted the intensity of preparation that left his sparring partners in a 'woebegone condition' and further that some did not last long enough to draw their second paycheck and left Mugabi’s training camp ‘looking like extras from 'Night of the Living Dead'.

Because of his ability to fight both at junior middleweight and middleweight, fans began to talk about the possibility of him challenging either world light middleweight champion Hearns or world middleweight champion Hagler. Despite Mugabi being a mandatory contender for some time, a Hearns - Mugabi title match never materialised, as Hearns elected to move to Middleweight to challenge Marvelous Marvin Hagler. Considering his streak and Hagler's tough battle with Hearns on April 15, 1985, some felt Mugabi had a shot at doing what eleven men before him could not: wresting Hagler's undisputed world middleweight title from him. On March 10, 1986, Marvin ‘Marvelous’ Hagler rose to a very stiff challenge. A young, undefeated powerhouse was destroying every opponent in his path. John ‘The Beast’ Mugabi had won all of his contests by knockout—many spectacular; many in the first few rounds of the fight. He possessed incredible knockout power and provided the boxing world with an epic encounter. The fight was the first televised by Showtime. Mugabi landed his share of blows to Hagler's head during the early rounds. The turning point came in the sixth round when Hagler landed many heavy blows and staggered Mugabi. Mugabi fought back gamely but his early knockout wins left him ill-prepared for a long, tough fight. In the end, it was Hagler who came out the victor, with a knockout in the eleventh round. Many boxing fans consider this to have been the toughest contest of Hagler's career. Sugar Ray Leonard's decision to come out of retirement and challenge Hagler for the Middleweight Championship was heavily influenced by Hagler's performance in the Mugabi fight.

After his first loss, Mugabi retired to Uganda and ballooned in weight to 190 lbs. In September 1986 he contacted Mickey Duff, stating that he was ready to fight again. Mugabi went down in weight and was given an opportunity by the WBC to win their world light middleweight title, vacated by Hearns. Once again many fans favoured him, this time against Duane Thomas, on December 5 of '86. However, Mugabi suffered a broken eye socket, the consequence of a punch in round three and the fight had to be stopped. Mugabi underwent optical surgery the next day to repair his injury.

Discouraged by two consecutive losses, Mugabi gained weight and did not fight for nearly fourteen months. In January 1988, he came back to fight Bryan Grant on the undercard of Mike Tyson's title defence against Larry Holmes. Mugabi won by quick knockout and set off on another knockout winning streak. He became number one contender for the WBC 154 lb title in August 1988 but could not land a fight with then-champion Donald Curry. After Curry lost his title in an upset in early 1989, Mugabi was given another opportunity to become world champion by the WBC. On July 8 of that year, Mugabi finally made his dream come true, when Curry's successor Rene Jacquot could not continue the fight due to an injury in round one in Grenoble to become the WBC light middleweight champion. After two first-round knockout wins against Ricky Stackhouse and Carlos Antunes, Mugabi, who by this time was having difficulty making the weight limit of 154 lbs, put his title on the line against Terry Norris. When Norris downed the champion for the count with a right to the jaw, Mugabi received the dubious distinction as the second fighter, after Al Singer, to both win and lose a world title by the first-round knockout when he was defeated by Norris. Showing resilience, Mugabi resurfaced with two more wins and once again found himself fighting for a world title, facing Gerald McClellan on November 20, 1991, in London for the vacant WBO middleweight championship. Mugabi looked a shadow of his former self by this time, and once again came out on the losing end, again by a first-round knockout.

Mugabi took a five-year layoff in which he moved to Australia. In 1996, he came back for the first of an eight-fight comeback. He went on to claim the Australian middleweight championship by way of a 12th-round decision over Jamie Wallace. It only took John two fights before he was in line for a world title again. In his third fight back from the loss to Norris, Mugabi would challenge Glen Kelly. That November night in 1999, marked the decline of Mugabi’s illustrious boxing career as he was again knocked out in the eighth round. Mugabi resides in Australia where among other functions he trains fighters.

When Mugabi finally retired, he had a record of 42 wins, 7 losses and 1 draw, 39 wins by knockout. His 25 fight knockout win streak stands as one of the longest knockout streaks ever in boxing.

Life after boxing
Mugabi has a daughter, Mildred Prudence Mugabi who lives in Tampa, Florida and he has another daughter who still resides in Kampala, Uganda named Mourine Basemera Mugabi.

title: John Mugabi


text:
Manning the rail

Manning the rail is a method of saluting (or rendering honors) used by naval vessels. The custom evolved from that of "manning the yards", which dates from the days of sail. On sailing ships, crew stood evenly spaced on all the yards (the spars holding the sails) and gave three cheers to honor distinguished persons. Today, the crew are stationed along the rails and superstructure of a ship when honors are rendered.

The United States Navy prescribes manning the rail as a possible honor to render to the President of the United States and for the heads of state of foreign nations. A similar but less formal ceremony is to have the crew "at quarters" when the ship is entering or leaving port. Manning the rail is also the traditional way to honor the USS Arizona Memorial when it is passed by all U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Merchant Marine vessels. More recently, as foreign military vessels are entering Pearl Harbor for joint military exercises, foreign sailors have participated in the traditional manning the rails. Notable instances occurred on July 24, 1997, when the guided-missile destroyer USS Ramage (DDG-61) and the frigate USS Halyburton (FFG-40) rendered honors to the USS Constitution during her 200th birthday celebration, and on September 14, 2001, when the crew of the German destroyer Lütjens manned the rails as they approached the destroyer USS Winston Churchill and displayed an American flag and a banner reading "We Stand By You".

title: Manning the rail