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USS Triton (SSRN-586)

USS Triton (SSRN/SSN-586), the only member of her class, was a nuclear powered radar picket submarine in the United States Navy. She had the distinction of being the only Western submarine powered by two nuclear reactors. Triton was the second submarine and the fourth vessel of the United States Navy to be named for the Greek god Triton (the nomenclature being unusual at the time in that U.S. Navy submarines were usually named for various species of fish). At the time of her commissioning in 1959, Triton was the largest, most powerful, and most expensive submarine ever built at $109 million (equivalent to $ billion in ) excluding the cost of nuclear fuel and reactors.

In early 1960, the boat became the first vessel to execute a submerged circumnavigation of the Earth in Operation Sandblast. Triton accomplished this objective during her shakedown cruise while under the command of Captain Edward L. "Ned" Beach Jr. Triton's mission as a radar picket submarine was made obsolete after two years by the introduction of the carrier-based Grumman WF-2 Tracer airborne early warning aircraft. She was converted to an attack submarine in 1962 and became the flagship for the Commander, Submarine Forces, U.S. Atlantic Fleet ( COMSUBLANT ) in 1964. She was decommissioned in 1969, the first U.S. nuclear submarine to be taken out of service.

Triton ' s hull was moored at the St. Julien's Creek Annex of Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, Virginia as part of the reserve fleet until 1993, though she was struck from the Naval Vessel Register in 1986. In 1993, she was towed to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard to await the Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program. Triton landed on the keel resting blocks in the drydock basin on 1 October 2007 to begin this recycling process, which was completed effective 30 November 2009. Triton's sail superstructure was saved from the recycling process and is now part of the USS Triton Submarine Memorial Park located on Port of Benton Boulevard in Richland, Washington.

General characteristics
Triton was a first-generation U.S. nuclear-powered submarine, along with USS Nautilus (SSN-571), USS Seawolf (SSN-575), USS Halibut (SSGN-587), and USS Skate (SSN-578) (and her three sisters). While serving as fully operational units of the U.S. Navy, the vessels also played key developmental roles. Nautilus introduced the use of nuclear power for ship propulsion. Seawolf utilized a liquid-metal nuclear reactor using liquid sodium as an alternative heat exchange medium to pressurized water. Halibut was the first nuclear-powered submarine to perform a strategic nuclear deterrence patrol armed with Regulus cruise missiles. The Skate-class submarines were the first nuclear-powered submarine class with more than one boat built. Triton's unique contribution to the development of nuclear power for naval propulsion was her dual reactor plant, which provided the speed required for radar picket missions.

Radar picket submarines (Navy classification "SSR") were developed during the post-war period to provide intelligence information, electronic surveillance, and fighter aircraft interception control for forward-deployed naval forces. Unlike destroyers used as radar picket ships during World War Two, these submarines could avoid attack by submerging if detected. The U.S. Navy's MIGRAINE program involved converting existing fleet submarines into radar picket vessels, and the Navy also ordered two purpose-built diesel-electric SSRs, USS Sailfish (SSR-572) and USS Salmon (SSR-573). However, these were incapable of sustaining the high submerged or surfaced speeds necessary to operate with fast carrier task forces and therefore unsuitable to the task.

Nuclear power offered the only possible solution. Triton was designed in the mid-1950s as a radar picket submarine capable of operating at high speed, on the surface, in advance of an aircraft carrier task force. Triton's high speed came from her twin-reactor nuclear propulsion plant, with a designed speed, surfaced and submerged, of 28 kn. On 27 September 1959, Triton achieved "well in excess of" 30 kn during her initial sea trials.

To meet her radar picket role, Triton's main air search radar initially used the AN/SPS-26, the U.S. Navy's first electronically scanned, three-dimensional search radar which was laboratory tested in 1953. The first set was installed on board the destroyer leader USS Norfolk (DL-1) prior to its installation on board Triton in 1959. Since it was scanned electronically in elevation, the AN/SPS-26 set did not need a separate height-finding radar. A submarine version of SPS-26, designated BPS-10, was under development, and it was slated for installation on Triton. To process her radar, electronic, and air traffic data, Triton had a Combat Information Center (CIC) located in a separate air control compartment, situated between Triton's reactor and operations compartments.

Design work on a nuclear-powered radar picket submarine (SSRN) began in 1954–1955. As initially designed, Triton had a three-level hull, with the Combat Information Center (CIC) (see image) located on the middle level. The overall length was initially 400 ft, with a beam of 38 ft. Also, as initially designed, her displacement was 4,800 tons surfaced and 6,500 tons submerged. January 1955 performance estimates called for the SAR propulsion plant to produce 34000 shp, with a surfaced speed of 27 kn and a submerged speed of 23 kn. Triton initially had the same dual radar system installed on the non-nuclear Sailfish-class submarine radar picket submarines (i.e., BPS-2 search radar and BPS-3 height-finder set) housed in a large, stepped sail (see image). Construction cost was initially estimated at $78 million. Subsequent growth of the SAR propulsion plant necessitated the overall increase in Triton's length and tonnage, although without any loss in speed, while the installation of the AN/SPS-26 3-D search radar allowed the elimination of a separate height-finder.

Triton was to be the lead boat of a proposed class of nuclear-powered radar picket submarines. A December 1955 long-range naval planning report envisioned five carrier strike groups, each supported by two radar picket submarines. The total force included two non-nuclear Sailfish-class submarines and eight nuclear submarines. With construction costs for Triton escalating, this long-range requirement was revised in 1957 to provide four nuclear-powered radar picket submarines for a single nuclear-powered carrier group, with the four remaining conventionally powered carrier groups supported by two diesel-electric radar picket submarines each.

At the time of her construction, Triton was the largest submarine ever built. Her knife-like bow, with its bulbous forefoot, provided improved surfaced sea-keeping for her radar picket role. Her surface sea-keeping was further enhanced by high reserve buoyancy (30%), provided by 22 ballast tanks, the most ever in an American submarine. She was the last submarine to have a conning tower, as well as the last American submarine to have twin screws or a stern torpedo room. Her sail was the largest ever aboard an American submarine, measuring 70 ft long, 24 ft tall, and 12 ft wide, and designed to house the large AN/SPS-26 3-D air-search radar antenna when not in use. She also had a compartment solely for crew berthing, with 96 bunks, and two separate chief petty officers' (CPOs') quarters. With an overall length of 447.5 ft, Triton was the longest submarine in the history of the United States Navy until the nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine USS Ohio (SSBN-726) was commissioned in 1981.

Propulsion
Triton was the only submarine outside of the Soviet Union designed with a two-reactor propulsion plant. Her S4G reactors were seagoing versions of the land-based S3G reactor prototype. Both reactors composed the Submarine Advanced Reactor (SAR) program, a joint venture between the U.S. Navy, Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), and General Electric. As originally designed, Triton's total reactor output was rated at 34000 hp. However, Triton achieved 45000 hp during her sea trials (pictured), and her first commanding officer, Captain Edward L. Beach Jr., believed Triton's plant could have reached 60000 hp "had that been necessary". Both of Triton's reactors share the same compartment, with the number one reactor located forward and the number two reactor located aft within that compartment. The number one reactor supplied steam to the forward engine room and the starboard propeller shaft. The number two reactor supplied steam to the after engine room and the port propeller shaft. Each reactor could individually supply steam for the entire ship, or the reactors could be cross-connected as required. It is this enhanced reliability, redundancy, and dependability of a dual-reactor plant that was a key factor in the selection of Triton to undertake the first submerged circumnavigation of the world.

Triton's dual-reactor plant met a number of operational and engineering objectives, specifically the high speed requirement to meet her radar picket mission, which continues to be a source of speculation and controversy to this day. During the early 1950s, many engineers at Naval Reactors branch of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) were concerned about depending on single-reactor plants for submarine operations, particularly involving under-the-ice Arctic missions. The presence of two de-aerating feed tanks, which are used only on surface warships, suggested that Triton's twin-reactor plant may have served as a testbed for future multi-reactor surface warships. The SAR program was the first production naval reactor developed by General Electric for the U.S. Navy, and GE used this SAR experience for the High Power Reactor (HPR) program that led to the development of the D1G and D2G naval reactors used on USS Bainbridge (CGN-25), USS Truxtun (CGN-35), 'California-class cruiser, and 'Virginia-class cruiser classes of nuclear-powered surface ships.

Finally, the U.S. Navy was debating the best approach to optimize performance, particularly underwater speed, for its nuclear submarine fleet. Triton achieved high speeds through brute horsepower, rather than the more hydrodynamically efficient teardrop-shaped hull form pioneered by USS Albacore (AGSS-569) which, when combined with nuclear power, allowed USS Skipjack (SSN-585) to achieve higher speed with less horsepower.

Weapon systems
Triton's armament consisted of six Mark 60 torpedo tubes, four bow and two stern. The Mark 60 system was a 249.8 in-long hydraulic-launch tube that did not have power handling capability. The standard torpedo carried by Triton was the Mark 37, with a weapon load of ten forward and five aft. Triton's first commanding officer, "Ned" Beach, noted the torpedo load in the forward torpedo room could have been doubled with the removal of a single support girder.

Fire control and electronics
Triton's main air search radar was the electronically scanned, three-dimensional AN/SPS-26. This system had a range of 65 nmi and was capable of tracking aircraft up to an altitude of 75000 ft. Since it scanned electronically in elevation, it did not need a separate height-finding set. When not in use, the SPS-26 radar was lowered into its fairwater housing for stowage within Triton's massive sail (pictured). A submarine version of SPS-26, designated BPS-10, was under development at the time of Triton's construction, slated for eventual installation on Triton.

Triton's long-range, passive detecting-ranging sonar was the AN/BQR-7, which had a listening range up to 20 nmi for surfaced or snorkeling submarines, optimized to 35 nmi, with target tracking capability within 5 degrees of accuracy. The chin-mounted AN/BQR-2 passive sonar array supplemented the active BQS-4, with a range up to 10 nmi and a bearing accuracy of 1/10 of degree, allowing the BQR-2 to be used for fire control in torpedo attacks.

Triton's target fire-control system (TFCS) was the Mark 101, a post-war development that incorporated target tracking and ranging data into a position keeper, with a pair of analyzers that automatically revised torpedo gyros and settings as the target position changed. This automation greatly simplified a targeting solution for a plotting party. Previously targeting solutions were manually estimated target bearings which were then fed into the Torpedo Data Computer (TDC), a method used throughout the Pacific War. However, while entirely capable of providing efficient fire control solutions against post-war non-nuclear hunter-killer submarines, the Mark 101 proved to be less responsive to the rapid changes associated with nuclear submarine operations.

The Number One periscope was Triton's navigational periscope, and it had a built-in sextant developed by the Kollmorgen Optical Company that allowed navigators to observe celestial bodies in order to obtain an accurate star fix to plot the ship's course and position.

Authorization
The U.S. Navy ordered a "large radar picket using the advanced two-reactor system", designated SCB 132, in October 1955 under the United States Department of Defense appropriation for Fiscal Year 1956. This 1956 shipbuilding program was significant because it included authorization for the construction of eight submarines in total, the largest such order since World War II. Along with Triton, the FY-56 program included four additional nuclear-powered submarines – guided missile submarine Halibut, the lead ship for the Skipjack-class submarine, and the final two Skate-class submarines, USS Sargo (SSN-583) and USS Seadragon (SSN-584). The 1956 program not only completed the final authorization for all of the U.S. Navy's first-generation nuclear submarines, but with Skipjack, it also marked the initial authorization for a second-generation nuclear submarine. Finally, the 1956 program included the three submarines of the Diesel-electric Barbel-class submarine, the last non-nuclear attack submarines to be built for the U.S. Navy. Henceforth, the U.S. Navy submarine service would be a nuclear-powered force.

Keel-laying
Triton's keel was laid down on 29 May 1956 in Groton, Connecticut, by the Electric Boat Division of the General Dynamics Corporation. Her length presented Electric Boat with many problems during her construction. She was so long her bow obstructed the slipway's railway facility, used for transporting material around the yard. Consequently, the lower half of her bow was cut away to facilitate yard operations and was re-attached just days prior to her launch. Similarly, the last 50 ft of her stern was built on an adjoining slip and attached to the rest of the hull before Triton's launch. Her sail was found to be too high to go under the scaffolding, so the top 12 ft was cut away and re-attached later.

Even before her launch, there was considerable discussion of Triton's role beyond her radar picket mission. An internal Navy memorandum set forth four options for the submarine's extended use. These included configuration to serve as a command ship (SSCN) for a fleet or force commander, an advanced sonar scout for the fleet, a Regulus missile submarine (SSGN), or a minelaying submarine. However, with the exception of the command ship option, all of these proposed configurations required extensive modification of her original design.

Another potential mission was as an underwater tug, able to rescue disabled submarines under the Arctic ice pack. Triton's first commanding officer, Captain Edward L. Beach Jr., requested plans be drawn up for this modification, which he characterized as "easy and inexpensive". Although there was consideration for a deployment to Arctic waters, there is no evidence that Triton was ever employed as an underwater tug.

Launching
Triton was launched on 19 August 1958, with Louise Willis, the wife of Vice Admiral John Wills USN (ret.), as her sponsor. The principal address was delivered by Admiral Jerauld Wright, the Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Atlantic Command ( CINCLANT ), the Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet ( CINCLANTFLT ) and Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic ( SACLANT ) for NATO. Over 35,000 guests attended, the largest crowd to witness a submarine launching up to that time.

Fitting out
On 1 February 1959, Triton was provisionally accepted for service in the U.S. Navy, with Captain Beach, the Prospective Commanding Officer (PCO), now designated as Officer-in-Charge. Triton met several key milestones before her commissioning. On 8 February 1959, reactor No. 2 achieved initial criticality, while reactor No. 1 achieved this milestone on 3 April 1959.

Two shipboard accidents occurred during Triton's post-launch fitting-out. On 2 October 1958, prior to the nuclear reactor fuel being installed, a steam valve failed during testing, causing a large cloud of steam that filled the number two reactor compartment, and on 7 April 1959, a fire broke out during the testing of a deep-fat fryer and spread from the galley into the ventilation lines of the crew's mess. Neither incident was nuclear related and both were quickly handled by the boat's personnel, with Lieutenant Commander Leslie D. Kelly, the prospective chief engineering officer, being awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for his quick action during the incident on 2 October.

Sea trials
Triton began her sea trials on 27 September 1959. Over the next five days, the boat's systems and equipment were thoroughly tested under the overall direction of Admiral Hyman G. Rickover of the Bureau of Ships' Naval Reactors branch and Captain A. C. Smith, the Supervisor of Shipbuilding at Electric Boat. Triton generated 45000 hp on sea trials, reaching her design surface speed of 27 kn, and achieved a surface speed well in excess of 30 kn. Triton subsequently executed a four-hour, full-power submerged run and a crash-back maneuver. The only significant problem encountered during her initial sea trials was the overheating of the lubricating oil system for the starboard propeller shaft spring bearing. At the recommendation of Admiral Rickover, a hose was rigged to spray the bearing housing with a steady stream of sea water to keep the shaft cool, as well as a special watch set to monitor the temperature of the lube oil.

Triton began her preliminary acceptance trials (PAT) on 20 September 1959. These trials were conducted under the supervision of Rear Admiral Francis Douglas McCorkle of the U.S. Navy's Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV). After three days of at-sea tests, Triton was passed by the INSURV as being ready to enter service as a U.S. naval vessel.

Commissioning

Triton was commissioned on 10 November 1959 with Captain Edward L. Beach Jr. in command. Vice Admiral Bernard L. Austin, the Deputy CNO for Plans and Policy, made the keynote address, noting:

"As the largest submarine ever built, her performance will be carefully followed by naval designers and planners the world over. For many years strategists have speculated on the possibilities of tankers, cargo ships and transports that could navigate under water. Some of our more futuristic dreamers have talked of whole fleets that submerge. Triton is a bold venture into this field."

The widow of the late Rear Admiral Willis A. "Pilly" Lent presented the original ship's bell from the first Triton at the new commissioning ceremony. The late Admiral Lent had been the earlier Triton's first commanding officer. A watercolor painting of the submarine also was presented by the American Water Color Society. The final cost of building Triton, less her reactors, nuclear fuel, and other related costs paid by the AEC, was US$109,000,000, making Triton the most expensive submarine ever built at the time of her commissioning.

Triton was assigned to Submarine Squadron 10, the U.S. Navy's first all-nuclear force, based at State Pier in New London, Connecticut, under the command of Commodore Tom Henry. Triton subsequently completed torpedo trials at Naval Station Newport and conducted other special tests at the Norfolk Navy Base before returning to Electric Boat on 7 December 1959 in order to install special communications equipment, including a prototype of the BRA-3 towed communications buoy system housed in a large fairing located on the after end of the main deck. Work on Triton at Electric Boat was delayed as priority was given to completing the Navy's first two fleet ballistic missile (FBM) submarines, USS George Washington (SSBN-598) and USS Patrick Henry (SSBN-599), with the objective for both vessels to start their first nuclear deterrence patrols before the end of 1960.

On 20 January 1960, Triton got underway to conduct an accelerated series of at-sea testing. Triton returned on 1 February as preparations continued for her forthcoming shakedown cruise, scheduled for departure on 16 February 1960, which involved operating with the command ship USS Northampton (CLC-1), flagship of the U.S. Second Fleet, in northern European waters. On 1 February, Captain Beach received a message from Rear Admiral Lawrence R. "Dan" Daspit ( COMSUBLANT ) instructing Beach to attend a top secret meeting at The Pentagon on 4 February 1960 that led to the execution of Operation Sandblast, the first submerged circumnavigation of the world.

Shakedown cruise
During her shakedown cruise, Triton successfully executed the first submerged circumnavigation of the world, code named Operation Sandblast, following the same track as the first circumnavigation led by Ferdinand Magellan. The mission's objectives were set forth in the published ship's log (pictured):

"For purposes of geophysical and oceanographic research and to determine habitability, endurance and psychological stress – all extremely important to the Polaris program – it had been decided that a rapid round-the-world trip, touching the areas of interest, should be conducted. Maximum stability of the observing platform and unbroken continuity around the world were important. Additionally, for reasons of the national interest it had been decided that the voyage should be made entirely submerged undetected by our own or other forces and completed as soon as possible. TRITON, because of her size, speed and extra dependability of her two-reactor plant, had been chosen for the mission."

The actual mission was summarized by the U.S. Navy's Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships:

"Triton put to sea on her shakedown cruise on 15 February 1960, bound for the South Atlantic. She arrived in the middle Atlantic off St. Peter and St. Paul Rocks on 24 February to commence a history-making voyage. Having remained submerged since her departure from the east coast, Triton continued on south towards Cape Horn, rounded the tip of South America, and headed west across the Pacific. After transiting the Philippine and Indonesian archipelagos and crossing the Indian Ocean, she rounded the Cape of Good Hope and arrived off the St. Peter and Paul Rocks on 25 April – 60 days and 21 hours after departing the mid-ocean landmark. Only once did her sail break the surface of the sea, when she transferred a sick sailor to USS Macon (CA-132) off Montevideo, Uruguay, on 6 March. She arrived back at Groton, Connecticut, on 10 May, having completed the first submerged circumnavigation of the earth."

"Triton's globe-girdling cruise proved invaluable to the United States. Politically, it enhanced the nation's prestige. From an operational viewpoint, the cruise demonstrated the great submerged endurance and sustained high-speed transit capabilities of the first generation of nuclear-powered submarines. Moreover, during the voyage, the submarine collected reams of oceanographic data. At the cruise's conclusion, Triton received the Presidential Unit Citation and Captain Beach received the Legion of Merit from President Dwight D. Eisenhower."

Triton's commanding officer during Operation Sandblast, Captain Edward L. Beach, also provided a unique perspective on the circumnavigation in the published log:

"The sea may yet hold the key to the salvation of man and his civilization. That the world may better understand this, the Navy directed a submerged retrace of Ferdinand Magellan's historic circumnavigation. The honor of doing it fell to Triton, but it has been a national accomplishment; for the sinews and the power which make up our ship, the genius which designed her, the thousands and hundreds of thousands who labored, each at his own metier, in all parts of the country, to build her safe, strong, self-reliant, are America. Triton, a unit of their Navy, pridefully and respectfully dedicates this voyage to the people of the United States."

The noted historian Bern Dibner placed the significance of Operation Sandblast into historical context:

"The epochal achievement of the fleet of Magellan in circumnavigating the globe was echoed in the magnificent accomplishment by the nuclear submarine Triton in 1960. Like the voyage of Magellan, that of Triton created stirring philosophical concepts. It demonstrated that a company of men could live and work in the depth of the ocean for months at a time. It was shown that through the new technology a source of power had been made in such abundance and so manageable that, without refueling, an 8000-ton vehicle would be driven through the water around the world. It was also shown that the arts of observation, navigation, communication and control had reached the point where travel under the water was possible with pinpoint accuracy."

Also, in his 2000 book Ships of Discovery And Exploration, historian Lincoln P. Paine further noted:

"Although the voyage had been conceived as a way for Eisenhower to impress Soviet General Secretary Nikita Khrushchev at the Paris summit, this conference was canceled after U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers was shot down over the Soviet Union on 1 May. But coming less than two years after the transpolar expedition of USS Nautilus (SSN-571), Triton's accomplishment was a clear reaffirmation of U.S. technological supremacy."

The actual submerged circumnavigation occurred between 24 February and 25 April 1960, covering 26723 nmi in 60 days and 21 hours at the average speed of 18 kn while crossing the Equator on four different occasions. Also, the total duration of Triton's shakedown cruise was 84 days 19 hours 8 minutes, covering 36335.1 nmi, and Triton remained submerged for a total of 83 days 9 hours, covering 35979.1 nmi during her maiden voyage.

The New York Times described Triton's submerged circumnavigation of the world as "a triumph of human prowess and engineering skill, a feat which the United States Navy can rank as one of its bright victories in man's ultimate conquest of the seas".

Initial deployments
Following her post-shakedown availability (PSA), Triton assumed her duties as a radar picket submarine in August 1960. She deployed to northern European waters with the Second Fleet to participate in NATO exercises oriented around detecting and intercepting Soviet bombers overflying the Arctic. Triton also participated in NATO exercises against British naval forces led by the aircraft carriers HMS Ark Royal (R09) and HMS Hermes (R12) under the command of Rear Admiral Sir Charles Madden, RN. For 2 days during these NATO exercises, Rear Admiral Thomas H. Moorer and his flag lieutenant, Lt. William P. Lawrence, were aboard Triton to observe the submarine's radar-picket operations. At the time, Moorer was serving as Commander Carrier Division Six which included the carriers USS Essex (CV-9) and USS Saratoga (CV-60). Triton completed her first overseas deployment with a port visit to Bremerhaven, West Germany, the first by a nuclear-powered vessel to a European port, from 2–9 October 1960, with an estimated 8,000 touring the boat during this port-call.

For the first half of 1961, Triton conducted operational patrols and training exercises with the Atlantic Fleet. This included an at-sea exercise involving low-power testing in support of the development of a proposed natural circulation reactor (NCR). She also deployed to monitor the Soviet 50-megaton hydrogen bomb initiation at Novaya Zemlya in the Arctic Ocean during late October 1961.

During this period, the rising threat posed by Soviet submarine forces increased the Navy's demands for nuclear-powered attack submarines with antisubmarine warfare (ASW) capability. Following the development of the carrier-based Grumman WF-2 Tracer airborne early warning aircraft, Triton's AN/SPS-26 3-D long-range air search radar was no longer needed, and the development of the submarine version of this 3-D radar system, the BPS-10, was canceled in 1960. Accordingly, upon the demise of the Navy's radar picket submarine program, Triton was redesignated SSN-586 on 1 March 1961.

Overhaul and conversion
Triton entered the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in June 1962 for conversion to an attack submarine. Her crew complement was reduced from 172 to 159. She was overhauled and refueled at Groton, Connecticut, from September 1962 to January 1964, which included modification to serve as the flagship for COMSUBLANT. Since the Navy no longer had any plans to use Triton's radar picket capability, her SPS-26 radar set was replaced by a two-dimensional AN/BPS-2 air search radar, with Triton now providing the fleet with an at-sea air strike control capability.

Because she subsequently served as COMSUBLANT 's flagship following her overhaul, one area of continuing speculation is whether Triton was part of the National Emergency Command Post Afloat (NECPA) program. NECPA was tasked to provide afloat facilities for the President of the United States in case of an emergency or war, with the command cruisers USS Northampton (CLC-1) and USS Wright (CVL-49) assigned to perform this mission.

Triton had a number of attributes that made her a potential NECPA platform. Her size allowed ample room for additional shipboard systems and personnel accommodations. Her designed speed provided the capability for rapid transit, and her nuclear power plant offered virtually unlimited endurance and range. The Combat Information Center (CIC) provided substantial command and control capabilities as did the communication buoy system that could receive and send radio transmissions while submerged. As she was a submarine, Triton offered superior protection against nuclear-biological-chemical (NBC) contaminants over surface ships or an airborne command centre. However, the record remains unclear if such an explicit NECPA conversion was ever undertaken for Triton.

Subsequent operations
In March 1964, upon completion of her overhaul, Triton's home port was changed from New London, to Norfolk. On 13 April 1964, she became the flagship for COMSUBLANT. On 20 January 1965, Triton rescued the pilot and a passenger of a charter aircraft that had ditched in the Atlantic Ocean off St. Croix in the Virgin Islands. Triton was relieved as COMSUBLANT 's flagship by the Sturgeon-class submarine USS Ray (SSN-653) on 1 June 1967. 11 days later, Triton was shifted to her original home port of New London, Connecticut.

Decommissioning and final disposition
Due to cutbacks in defense spending, as well as the expense of operating her twin nuclear reactors, Triton's scheduled 1967 overhaul was canceled, and the submarine – along with 60 other vessels – was slated for inactivation. While Tritons twin reactor plant was designed to be refueled by a submarine tender like other U.S. nuclear submarines, because of the complexity of her zirconium-clad fuel elements, Tritons previous re-fueling had been done in a shipyard during her 1962–1964 overhaul. Although new fuel elements were procured and available for installation, Triton's overhaul was canceled, a source of controversy. One speculation suggests that the cancellation of Triton's overhaul allowed funds to be redirected for the repairs to the supercarrier USS Forrestal (CV-59), which had been extensively damaged off Vietnam. From October 1968 through May 1969, she underwent preservation and deactivation processes, and she was decommissioned on 3 May 1969. Triton became the U.S. Navy's first nuclear-powered submarine to be taken out of service, and second in the world, after the Soviet Navy's November-class submarine submarine SOVIET SUBMARINE K-27 in 1968. On 6 May 1969, Triton departed New London under tow and proceeded to Norfolk, Virginia, where she was placed in the reserve fleet. She remained berthed at Norfolk or at the St. Julien's Creek Annex of Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, Virginia, into 1993. She was stricken from the Naval Vessel Registry on 30 April 1986. In August 1993, the hulks of the ex-Triton and the ex-Ray were towed by the salvage tug USS Bolster (ARS-38) to the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard (PSNS), in Bremerton, Washington, arriving on 3 September 1993, to await their turn in the Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program (SRP).

Effective 1 October 2007, ex-Triton landed on the keel resting blocks in the drydock basin to begin recycling (pictured). The long delay in the disposal of ex-Triton has been attributed to the complexity of her dual reactor plant. Final recycling was completed effective 30 November 2009.

Presidential Unit Citation
On 10 May 1960, Secretary of the Navy William B. Franke presented the Presidential Unit Citation (PUC) to Triton for Operation Sandblast, the first submerged circumnavigation of the world. Chief Torpedoman's Mate Chester Raymond Fitzjarrald, the chief of the boat, accepted the PUC on behalf of Triton's officers and crew. The citation reads:

"For meritorious achievement from 16 February 1960 to 10 May 1960. During this period the TRITON circumnavigated the earth submerged, generally following the route of Magellan's historic voyage. In addition to proving the ability of both crew and nuclear submarine to accomplish a mission which required almost three months of submergence, TRITON collected much data of scientific importance. The performance, determination and devotion to duty of the TRITON's crew were in keeping with the highest traditions of the naval service. All members of the crew who made this voyage are authorized to wear the Presidential Unit Citation ribbon with a special clasp in the form of a golden replica of the globe."

Up to that time, this was only the second time that a U.S. Navy vessel had been awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for a peacetime mission, with the nuclear submarine USS Nautilus (SSN-571) receiving the first peacetime PUC in recognition of Operation Sunshine, the first submerged voyage under the North Pole in 1958. To commemorate the first submerged circumnavigation of the world, all Triton personnel who made that voyage were authorized to wear their Presidential Unit Citation ribbon with a special clasp in the form of a golden replica of the globe (pictured).

Naval Unit Commendation
The citation reads:

"For exceptionally meritorious service during a period in 1967. USS Triton conducted important and arduous independent submarine operations of great importance to the national defense of the United States. The outstanding results achieved during the highly successful operations attest to the exceptional professional skill, resourcefulness and ingenuity of Triton's officers and men. Their inspiring performance of duty throughout was in keeping with the highest traditions of the naval service."

Legacy
"The importance of the Triton goes beyond the specific military task which has been assigned her. The Triton, in her operations, will test an advanced type of nuclear propulsion plant and will pave the way for the submersible capital ships of the future."

Triton plaque
In the eight days prior to Tritons departure on her around-the-world submerged voyage, Captain Beach approached Lt. Tom B. Thamm, Tritons Auxiliary Division Officer, to design a commemorative plaque for their upcoming voyage, as well as the first circumnavigation led by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. The plaque's eventual design consisted of a brass disk about 23 in in diameter, bearing a sailing ship reminiscent of Magellan's carrack, Trinidad, above the submarine dolphin insignia with the years 1519 and 1960 between them, all within a laurel wreath. Outside the wreath is the motto "AVE NOBILIS DUX, ITERUM FACTUM EST" ("Hail Noble Captain, it is Done Again").

Commodore Tom Henry, commanding Submarine Squadron 10, supervised the completion of the plaque. The carving of the wooden form was done by retired Chief Electrician's Mate Ernest L. Benson at New London. The actual molding of the plaque was done by the Mystic Foundry.

During the homeward leg of her around-the-world voyage, Triton rendezvoused with the destroyer USS John W. Weeks (DD-701) on 2 May 1960 off Cadiz, Spain, the departure point for Magellan's earlier voyage. Triton broached, and John W. Weeks transferred the finished plaque to Triton for transport back to the United States. The plaque was subsequently presented to the Spanish government by John Davis Lodge, the United States Ambassador to Spain. This plaque is located at the City Hall in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Spain, and it is mounted on the wall of the city hall with a marble slab memorializing the 1960 Triton submerged circumnavigation.

Duplicates of the Triton Plaque were also presented to the Mystic Seaport Museum in Mystic, Connecticut, and the Naval Historical Association in Washington, D.C., as well as the U.S. Navy Submarine School and the U.S. Navy Submarine Force Library and Museum, both located in Groton, Connecticut.

Triton memorials
Triton Light is a navigational beacon on the seawall of the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, where the Severn River meets Spa Creek and the Annapolis harbor. It was donated to the Academy and named for the Greek god by the United States Naval Academy Class of 1945. The crew of Triton provided samples of water taken from the 22 seas through which their boat had sailed during their submerged 1960 circumnavigation. These samples filled a globe built into the Triton Light, and the naming of the light and significance of the globe are explained in a commemorative marker.

Beach Hall is the new headquarters for the United States Naval Institute which was dedicated on 21 April 1999 (pictured). The facility is named after Captain Edward L. Beach Sr., who served as the institute's secretary-treasurer, and his son, Edward L. Beach Jr., who commanded Triton during Operation Sandblast. The dive wheel from Triton's conning tower is on display in the lobby of Beach Hall.

Triton was the 2003 inductee into the Submarine Hall of Fame following her nomination by the Tidewater chapter and Hampton Roads Base of the United States Submarine Veterans, Inc. (USSVI). A shadow box filled with Triton memorabilia was placed in Alcorn Auditorium of Ramage Hall located at the U.S. Navy Submarine Learning Center, Naval Station Norfolk.

USS Triton Recruit Barracks (Ship 12) was dedicated in ceremonies at the U.S. Navy's Recruit Training Command, Naval Station Great Lakes, near North Chicago, Illinois, on 25 June 2004. The facility honors the memory of two submarines named Triton and includes memorabilia from both. Triton Hall is the fifth barracks constructed under the RTC Recapitalization Project, covering 172,000 square feet (15,979 square meters) in floor space. The facility is designed to accommodate 1056 recruits, and it includes berthing, classrooms, learning resource centers, a galley, a quarterdeck, and a modern HVAC system. On 17 May 2012, in a dedication ceremony, the long-missing ship's bell was added to the collection of artifacts in Recruit Training Command's USS Triton recruit barracks quarterdeck (pictured).

The USS Triton Submarine Memorial Park is located on the Columbia River, at the end of Port of Benton Boulevard in north Richland, Washington. Its purpose is "to establish a permanent park in north Richland in recognition of all the decommissioned reactor cores off-loaded at the Port's barge slip, transported and stored at the Hanford Site".

The park features Triton's sail superstructure (pictured) and an information display on the history of Triton. The park also serves as a tourist attraction, especially due to its location, since Hanford is the resting place of spent reactor cores from several Navy ships. Planning called for the sail to be cut up for transport and reassembled at the park site. Ground-breaking was initially scheduled to take place on 3 April 2008, with the dedication ceremony set for 19 August 2008 and a Fall 2009 start-date for construction. On 23 October 2009, the Port of Benton encased Triton's conning tower in concrete at its new USS Triton Submarine Memorial Park in north Richland, Washington. In mid-December 2009, the final pieces of Triton's sail were welded together at the park's site. During the 11 August 2010 Port of Benton commission meeting, it was reported that bids for the first phase, which includes the park's electrical lighting system and the pouring the concrete around Triton's sail, would be announced shortly by the port authority. The second phase would involve the park's landscaping, and the third phase would be the installation of a parking lot. The park is part of the Richland Riverfront Trail, a marked hiking trail that focuses on the state of Washington's contribution to the nuclear history of the United States, and it connects to the Sacagawea Heritage Trail. The USS Triton Submarine Memorial Park is located off George Washington Way near the Columbia River, and it was formally dedicated on 10 November 2011, the 52nd anniversary of the commissioning of the USS Triton.

In 2011, the USS Triton, Operation Sandblast, and Captain Edward L. Beach Jr., were included in the Technology for the Nuclear Age: Nuclear Propulsion display for the Cold War exhibit at the U.S. Navy Museum in Washington, D.C..

Cultural references
Triton's submerged circumnavigation, Operation Sandblast, was the subject of the ABC television series Expedition! broadcast on Tuesday, 14 February 1961. Hosted by John D. Craig, this episode was titled Saga of the Triton, and it featured film footage from Operation Sandblast with voice-over narration extracted from Captain Beach's logbook.

Triton is referenced briefly in three popular Cold War novels. In The Last Mayday by Keith Wheeler (1968), Triton is depicted as participating in a submarine training exercise at the beginning of the novel, with special notice made of her large, rectangular sail. In the 1978 novel Cold is the Sea by Edward L. Beach, the second sequel to his 1955 best-seller Run Silent, Run Deep, Triton is mentioned several times. Also, the under-ice towing capability that was considered for Triton served as a key plot point for the novel. Finally, in The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy, the biographical background for Marko Ramius mentions that, while commanding a Charlie-class submarine, Ramius had "hounded [Triton] mercilessly for twelve hours" in the Norwegian Sea. Subsequently, Ramius "would note with no small satisfaction that the Triton was soon thereafter retired, because, it was said, the oversized vessel had proven unable to deal with the newer Soviet designs".

Two films of the period, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and Around the World Under the Sea, dramatized globe-circling submerged voyages similar to Operation Sandblast. Also, in the teaser of the episode "Mutiny" of the Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea television series, broadcast on 11 January 1965, the fictional nuclear submarine Neptune is on her shakedown cruise, under the supervision of Admiral Harriman Nelson (Richard Basehart), and when the submarine's port shaft bearing begins overheating, Admiral Nelson orders a hose be rigged to cool the port shaft down with sea water, the same solution Admiral Rickover had suggested during Triton's sea trials.

The 1960 The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart comedy album included a sketch entitled "The Cruise of the U.S.S. Codfish" which was a monologue involving the final address by the captain to the crew of a nuclear-powered submarine after completing a two-year-long, around-the-world underwater voyage. Bob Newhart noted in a 2006 interview that:

"You know, I think the Triton kind of, I think was a spur for that routine as I think back. Because I then imagined what a trip like that would have been like with a totally incompetent commander, and the 'Cruise of the USS Codfish' was the final result."

Captain Beach reportedly played "The Cruise of the U.S.S. Codfish" over the ship's public address system during Triton's first overseas deployment in the Fall of 1960.

Antigua-Barbuda issued a commemorative stamp of Triton's 1960 submerged circumnavigation. Also, Triton was the name of one of the submersibles featured in the Submarine Voyage attraction at Disneyland which operated from 1959 to 1998.

50th anniversary of Operation Sandblast
The 50th anniversary of Operation Sandblast and Triton's submerged circumnavigation of the world was celebrated on 10 April 2010, during the 2010 Submarine Birthday Ball held at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantuket, Connecticut, with Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy (MCPON) Rick D. West delivering opening remarks (pictured) to the 2,200 attendees. The U.S. Navy Submarine Force Library and Museum sponsored additional events and activities, entitled "9,000 Leagues Under the Sea", between 10 and 12 April and 14–18 April 2010.

Also, on 9 April 2010, retired Admiral Henry G. Chiles Jr., who served in Triton from 1963 to 1966, was the keynote speaker at the graduation class of the Basic Enlisted Submarine School at the New London Naval Submarine Base in Groton, Connecticut. The graduation class was named in honor of Triton, and each graduate received a certificate of course completion and a commemorative coin celebrating the 50th anniversary of Triton's submerged circumnavigation. The Dolphin Scholarship Foundation used the 50th anniversary of Operation Sandblast to promote its Race Around the World fund-raising program to support its Dolphin Scholarship program. Finally, former members of Triton's crew received commemorative souvenirs of the ship's pressure hull at their 2010 re-union.

On 25 April 2010, the University of Texas Marine Science Institute posted a radio program article on its Science and the Sea web site commemorating Operation Sandblast and Triton.

For the 50th anniversary of Operation Sandblast, writer-historian Carl LaVO wrote "Incredible Voyage" for the June 2010 edition of Naval History magazine, and John Beach wrote "The First Submerged Circumnavigation" for the April 1960 issue of The Submarine Review, the official magazine of the Naval Submarine League. Mr. Beach is the nephew of Captain Edward L. Beach, the commanding officer of the USS Triton during Operation Sandblast. Finally, the Naval Institute Press published Beneath the Waves by Dr. Edward F. Finch, a 2010 biography of the late Captain Beach, which includes extensive coverage of Operation Sandblast.

The legacy of Operation Sandblast on its 50th anniversary was summarized by retired Captain James C. Hay who had served on Triton during the historic submerged around-the-world voyage. On the editorial page of the April 1960 issue of The Submarine Review, the official magazine of the Naval Submarine League, Captain Hay noted:

"It is truly a cruise which tested the crew's mettle and proved the skipper's tenacity. More than that, however, it again proved to all who cared to listen that the U.S. Navy could go anywhere, at any time, and do what ever was required. It's a good sea story about doing what had to be done. On the fiftieth anniversary of the First Submerged Circumnavigation it's a good thing to do to re-read about one of the forerunners of all we're done since."

title: USS Triton (SSRN-586)


text:
Ascot

Ascot, Ascott or Askot may refer to:

Australia

 * Ascot, Queensland, suburb of Brisbane
 * Ascot, Queensland (Toowoomba Region), a locality
 * Ascot Park, South Australia, suburb of Adelaide
 * Ascot (Ballarat), town near Ballarat in Victoria
 * Ascot (Bendigo), suburb of Bendigo in Victoria
 * Ascot Vale, Victoria, suburb of Melbourne
 * Electoral district of Ascot Vale, former electoral district of the Victorian Legislative Assembly
 * Ascot, Western Australia, suburb of Perth
 * Electoral district of Ascot, former electoral district of the Western Australia Legislative Assembly

Canada

 * Mont-Bellevue, Quebec, which comprises the former town of Ascot
 * Ascot Corner, Quebec

India

 * Askot

New Zealand

 * Ascot Park, New Zealand, suburb of Porirua

United Kingdom

 * Ascot, Berkshire
 * North Ascot
 * South Ascot
 * Ascott, Buckinghamshire
 * Ascott House
 * Ascott, Oxfordshire
 * Ascott, Warwickshire
 * Ascott-under-Wychwood, Oxfordshire
 * Ascott d'Oyley, Oxfordshire
 * Ascott Earl, Oxfordshire

Stadia and racing facilities

 * Ascot Racecourse, a Berkshire, England horse racing facility
 * Ascot Gold Cup, major race held at Ascot Racecourse
 * Ascot Racecourse, Western Australia, a horse racing facility
 * Ascot Stadium, a facility in Gweru, Zimbabwe
 * Ascot Park (speedway), a motor racing track in Los Angeles
 * Legion Ascot Speedway, a motor racing track in Los Angeles

Automobiles

 * Ascot (1904 automobile)
 * Ascot (1914 automobile)
 * Ascot (1928 automobile)
 * Honda Ascot

Motorcycles

 * Honda Ascot, a 500cc motorcycle first produced in 1982

Clothing

 * Ascot cap, a distinctive cap with a rounded shape
 * Ascot tie, a type of cravat or scarf

Military

 * Ascot-class minesweeper
 * HMS Ascot (1916), one of the ships of this class

Other uses

 * The Ascott Limited
 * Ascot (finance)
 * Ascott (surname)

Related terms

 * Eastcote (disambiguation)
 * Eastcott (disambiguation)

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

title: Ascot


text:
Democratic Socialist Perspective

The Democratic Socialist Perspective (DSP) was an Australian socialist political group. It was founded in 1972 as the Socialist Workers League (SWL), changing its name to the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) a few years later. In the early 1990s it was once again renamed, as the Democratic Socialist Party, and in 2003 it became the Democratic Socialist Perspective.

The DSP operated as the largest component of a broad-left socialist formation, the Socialist Alliance, until in 2010, it voted to merge into the Socialist Alliance.

Formation
The DSP started as the orthodox Trotskyist Socialist Workers League (SWL), founded in 1972 by members of the radical Socialist Youth Alliance (previously, and also currently, called Resistance) which grew out of the student radicalisation surrounding Australian involvement in the Vietnam War. Separate to this, the Labor Action Group formed in Brisbane. Led by John and Sue McCarthy (who had recently returned after working with the International Marxist Group in England) and Di and Larry Zetlin, it fused with the SWL at the SWL founding conference in January 1972. The SWL affiliated to the reunified Fourth International, under the influence of the American section, the Socialist Workers Party. It was also undoubtedly due to this influence that the SWL itself took the name Socialist Workers Party (SWP).

The unity between the former Labor Action Group members and their supporters in other states (generally seen as supporters of the European-based International Majority Tendency of the Fourth International) within the SWL and the majority of the SWL, which supported the positions of the minority faction within the Fourth International, known as the Leninist Trotskyist Faction, was short-lived. A minority of SWL/Socialist Youth Alliance members split in August 1972 and went on to form the Communist League as a national organisation.

The Communist League in Australia was co-founded by Queensland doctor John McCarthy (1948–2008), who later played a major role in integrating the CL and the SWP. Author Peter Robb was the second main driving force, and helped to produce its newspaper, Militant. Activist and later academic Marcia Langton was the third member of the CL committee. McCarthy broke away from the SWP (then Socialist Workers League) to create CL, and then, along with Robb and Langton, rejoined the SWP four years later, in November 1976. Both the Socialist Workers League and the Communist League were recognised as sympathising organisations of the Fourth International in Australia, a situation which remained until the two groups re-united as the Socialist Workers Party in January 1978.

Abandonment of Trotskyism
In 1986 the American SWP broke with orthodox Trotskyism and disaffiliated from the Fourth International. While maintaining Leon Trotsky's critique of the USSR, the party replaced Trotsky's theory of permanent revolution with the view that socialist revolution in Third World countries (countries in which, according to Marxist theory, the development of capitalism has been distorted by colonialism and imperialism) will take place in two connected stages. The SWL followed suit. In the early 1990s it was renamed the Democratic Socialist Party. It contested the 1998 federal election as part of the Democratic Socialist Electoral League.

The Democratic Socialist Electoral League espoused a left-wing position on most issues, including privatisation, the environment, immigration and civil rights. The party also had a comprehensive preferencing arrangement, supporting the Greens and some other left-wing groups. It differentiated itself from the Greens by claiming that the latter had no clear economic policy. It supported Labor over the Liberal Party, and was particularly opposed to the rise of One Nation.

A smaller group of loyalists to the American SWP split from the DSP and use the name Communist League to the present day. In 2022, Communist League members from throughout Australia and New Zealand relocated to Sydney to consolidate the organization.

Socialist Alliance
In 2001, the DSP, along with several other socialist parties including the International Socialist Organisation, formed the Socialist Alliance, initially an electoral vehicle. In 2002 the DSP championed the idea of turning Socialist Alliance into more of a party formation, although at first it had to withdraw this proposal as the ISO's opposition threatened to destroy the alliance. In 2003 the DSP became the first (and so far only) Socialist Alliance affiliate to become an internal tendency within the Alliance, changing its name to the Democratic Socialist Perspective, in line with its view that SA should become a "Multi-Tendency Socialist Party", a view that the May 2003 National Conference of the Socialist Alliance subsequently adopted.

Each of these changes of name and tactics has been accompanied, like in many far-left groups, with a turnover of members. While the SWP and DSP recruited many activists from the radical student movement of the 1970s and from various social movements since, it failed to retain most of them for long as the sixties and seventies radicalisation wave has receded. Nonetheless, the DSP has retained a core membership drawn from each upsurge of political struggle, some of whom are founding members of the party back in 1972. The SWP, and then DSP, was led by Jim Percy as National Secretary from 1972 until his death in 1992.

The Socialist Alliance had been created in alliance with other forces in the hopes of using joint electoral work amongst Australian socialists to increase trust and collaboration between socialists, and in the process making socialist organisation a more attractive option to the left. But although it contested the 2001 federal election and the 2004 federal election, as well as several state elections, it has failed to attract significant support. The Socialist Alliance has had two electoral successes, electing Sam Wainwright to Fremantle City Council in 2009 and Sue Bolton to Moreland City Council in 2012.

A debate broke out in the DSP in 2005 about its Socialist Alliance orientation but the minority viewpoint that opposed continuing with the Alliance orientation was soundly defeated at the DSP's January 2008 congress. This caused a split, after the opposition was expelled subsequently forming a new organisation the same year, the Revolutionary Socialist Party.

In October 2009, the DSP National Committee proposed that the organisation merge itself into the Socialist Alliance. At the DSP National Congress in January 2010, the membership voted to go ahead with the merger.

Notable members

 * Russel Norman – New Zealand former Green Party leader (2006–2015)
 * Paul Howes – Australian National Secretary of the Australian Workers' Union (2007–2014)

title: Democratic Socialist Perspective


text:
Faisal Mosque

The Faisal Mosque (faisal masjid) is the national mosque of Pakistan, located in the capital city, Islamabad. It is the fifth-largest mosque in the world, the largest mosque outside the Middle East, and the largest within South Asia, located on the foothills of Margalla Hills in Islamabad. It is named after the late King Faisal of Saudi Arabia. The mosque features a contemporary design consisting of eight sides of concrete shell and is inspired by the design of a typical Bedouin tent.

A major tourist attraction in Pakistan, the mosque is a contemporary and influential piece of Islamic architecture.

Construction of the mosque began in 1976 after a $28 million grant from Saudi King Faisal, whose name the mosque bears. The unconventional design by Turkish architect Vedat Dalokay was selected after an international competition. Without a typical dome, the mosque is shaped like a Bedouin tent, surrounded by four 260 ft tall minarets. The design features eight-sided shell shaped sloping roofs forming a triangular worship hall which can hold 10,000 worshippers.

Combined the structure covers an area of 33 acre, the mosque dominates the landscape of Islamabad. It is situated at the north end of Faisal Avenue, putting it at the northernmost end of the city and at the foot of Margalla Hills, the westernmost foothills of the Himalayas. It is located on an elevated area of land against a picturesque backdrop of the national park. Faisal Mosque was the largest mosque in the world from 1986 until 1993 when it was overtaken by the mosques in Saudi Arabia. Faisal Mosque is now the sixth largest mosque in the world in terms of capacity.

History
The impetus for the mosque began in 1966 when King Faisal bin Abdul-Aziz supported the initiative of the Pakistani Government to build a national mosque in Islamabad during an official visit to Pakistan. In 1969, an international competition was held in which architects from 17 countries submitted 43 proposals. The winning design was that of Turkish architect Vedat Dalokay. Forty-six acres of land were assigned for the project and the execution was assigned to Pakistani engineers and workers. Construction of the mosque began in 1976 by National Construction Limited of Pakistan, led by Azim Khan and was funded by the government of Saudi Arabia, at a cost of over 130 million Saudi riyals (approximately 120 million USD today). King Faisal bin Abdul Aziz was instrumental in the funding, and both the mosque and the road leading to it were named after him after his assassination in 1975. King Faisal bin Abdulaziz's successor King Khalid laid the foundation stone for the mosque in October 1976 and signed the construction agreement in 1978. Basic information about the mosque can be found written on the foundation stone. On 18 June 1988, the first prayer was held, although the mosque was completed in 1986. The mosque grounds along with being a building for prayer also used to house the International Islamic University some years ago but has since relocated to a new campus in 2000. Some traditional and conservative Muslims criticized the design at first for its unconventional design and lack of a traditional dome structure.

Capacity
The Faisal Mosque can accommodate about 300,000 worshippers. Each of the Mosque's four minarets are 79 m (230 ft) high (the tallest minarets in South Asia) and measure 10×10 meters in circumference. The main areas have the capacity to hold up to 74000 people in the main areas including the inner hall, and the courtyards. The grounds around the mosque have the capacity to contain up to 200,000 people.

Architecture
"I tried to capture the spirit, proportion, and geometry of Kaaba in a purely abstract manner. Imagine the apex of each of the four minarets as a scaled explosion of four highest corners of Kaaba – thus an unseen Kaaba form is bounded by the minarets at the four corners in a proportion of height to base. Shah Faisal Mosque is akin to the Holy Kaaba in the designer's imaginative eyes. Now, if you join the apex of each minaret to the base of the minaret diagonally opposite to it correspondingly, a four-sided pyramid shall be bound by these lines at the base side within that invisible cube. That lower level pyramid is treated as a solid body while four minarets with their apex complete the imaginary cube of Kaaba." Instead of using traditional domes, Vedat Dalokay designed an eight-sided main hall that looked like an Arab's Bedouin desert tent. Additionally, he added four minarets on all four corners of the main hall, which are of 80 m high, the tallest minarets in South Asia. The main structure of the building is the main prayer hall, which is supported by four concrete girders. The four unusual minarets are inspired by Turkish architecture. Vedat Dalokay also believed that the design of the Masjid represents Kaaba in an abstract manner. Entrance is from the east, where the prayer hall is fronted by a courtyard with porticoes. The International Islamic University was housed under the main courtyard but now has relocated to a new campus. The mosque still houses a library, lecture hall, museum, and cafe. The interior of the main tent-shaped hall is covered in white marble and decorated with mosaics and calligraphy by the famous Pakistani artist Sadequain, and a Turkish-style chandelier. The mosaic pattern adorns the west wall and has the Kalimah written in early Kufic script, repeated in mirror image pattern.

The Qibla Wall is covered with blue and white calligraphic tiles designed by a Turkish artist Mengu Ertel. The interior of the mosque uses Turkish and Pakistani inspired decorations. The mosque takes an unusual route to its design by combining contemporary and classic Islamic architecture. The unique design takes most of its elements from nomadic Bedouin tent, but it still manages to keep in contact with Islamic architecture by using Ottoman style minarets and square shape form the Kaaba.

Topography
Located at the foot of the Margalla Hills, the location plays a significant role in Faisal Mosque. The Mosque is visible from miles away and sits on a higher surface compared to the main city. The mosque faces the city and is backed by green mountain ranges, giving it a scenic view. One of the main highways of Islamabad, Faisal Avenue leads straight to the Mosque showing the importance of the landmark. The shining white color in comparison to the dark green background makes the mosque stand out and reveal its significance to the city of Islamabad.

References in literature
The Faisal Mosque is described in the book The Kite Runner by Khalid Hosseini. It is frequently referenced in the work of Michael Muhammad Knight, who came to the mosque to study Islam as a teenager.

title: Faisal Mosque


text:
Republican Party of Armenia

The Republican Party of Armenia (RPA, Հայաստանի Հանրապետական Կուսակցություն, ՀՀԿ; Hayastani Hanrapetakan Kusaktsutyun, HHK) is a national-conservative political party in Armenia led by the third president of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan.

It was the first political party in independent Armenia to be founded (April 2, 1990) and registered (May 14, 1991). It is the largest party of the right-wing in Armenia, and claims to have had 140,000 members at its heyday. It was the ruling party of Armenia from 1999 to 2018. After the latest parliamentary elections in June 2021, the party entered parliament as a part of the opposition I Have Honor Alliance.

The Economist magazine has described the RPA as a "typical post-Soviet 'party of power' mainly comprising senior government officials, civil servants, and wealthy business people dependent on government connections." It has been described by political commentators as essentially lacking political ideology.

Ideology
The Republican Party's national-conservative ideology is based on tseghakron, an early 20th-century Armenian nationalist ideology (roughly translated as "nation-religion"). It was formulated by Garegin Nzhdeh and holds that the Armenian national identity and state should carry religious significance for all ethnic Armenians. "Tseghakron" literally means "carrier of race", referring to those who represent and carry what is the spiritual and biological essence of the "classical" Armenian. However, it is often erroneously interpreted to mean "race-religion".

Establishment and early history
The Republican Party of Armenia was established in 1990 by Ashot Navasardyan. Navasardyan and several other founding members of the RPA were veterans of the National United Party and its successor, the Union for National Self-Determination, which engaged in underground activities aimed at achieving Armenia's independence from the Soviet Union.

The RPA was founded in the context of the national awakening that occurred in Armenia in 1988, the fight for Armenian independence and the struggle for the unification of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) with Armenia. The armed group known as the Army of Independence (Անկախության բանակ), which was founded by Ashot Navasardyan and his comrades in late 1989, became the organizational basis for the establishment of the RPA. On April 2, 1990, a founding council composed of the detachment commanders of the Army of Independence proclaimed the establishment of the Republican Party of Armenia in Yerevan, which became the first officially registered socio-political organization in Armenia (registered on May 14, 1991). Party founder Ashot Navasardyan was elected to the Supreme Soviet (parliament) of Armenia in the 1990 Armenian Supreme Soviet elections.

During the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, first as the Army of Independence and later as detachments detachments composed of RPA members, members of the party actively participated in defense of the borders of Armenia and the hostilities in Artsakh. On May 27, 1990, these detachments were among the first to resist the Soviet troops in Nubarashen. They were also actively involved in seizing Soviet Army weaponry and transferring it to the border regions of Armenia to arm militias fighting Soviet and Azerbaijani forces.

The RPA was among the founders of the first Armenian military cemetery – Yerablur pantheon.

The RPA has convened nine ordinary (in 1992, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009) and three extraordinary congresses (in 1996, 2002, and 2006). In 1999 the office of the party chairperson was abolished, and restored later in 2005.

The RPA has constantly focused on inter-party ties and has been actively involved in setting up different political alliances. The party was among the founders of the National Alliance formed in 1992 after the deterioration of the situation in Artsakh. The RPA actively participated in the work of the Civil Accord constitutional council formed in 1993.

In 1995, the RPA joined the Republican Bloc electoral coalition with the ruling Pan-Armenian National Movement party and two other parties to run in the 1995 Armenian parliamentary elections. However, due to the disagreements on the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, the RPA left the Republican Bloc in February 1998.

The party was led by Ashot Navasardyan from its foundation until his death in November 1997. After his death and until March 2007, Andranik Margaryan headed the party.

Ruling party
In July 1998 the RPA issued a joint statement with the powerful Yerkrapah Volunteers' Union and the latter's faction in parliamentary, which commenced the process of political consolidation within the RPA. The politically active wing of the Yerkrapah Volunteers’ Union united with the Republican Party. Vazgen Sargsyan, Armenia's influential defense minister and chairman of the Yerkrapah Volunteer's Union, became the party leader. In 1999 the Republican Party set up the Unity electoral alliance with Karen Demirchyan's People's Party of Armenia. The Unity Bloc won a majority of seats in the 1999 parliamentary elections.

Following the parliamentary elections in 1999 the role of the RPA in the Armenian political life increased greatly. While the RPA was represented by only one member (Ashot Navasardyan) in the Supreme Soviet (parliament) formed in 1990 and won five seats in the National Assembly in the 1995 elections, after the 1999 elections the RPA was the largest party in parliament with 30 MPs. Functioning within the ruling Unity Bloc, the RPA was enabled to participate in forming the government of Armenia for the first time in 1999. Vazgen Sargsyan was appointed prime minister, with several RPA members appointed to ministerial positions in his cabinet.

Following the assassination of Vazgen Sargsyan in the 1999 Armenian parliament shooting, RPA representative Aram Sargsyan (brother of Vazgen Sargsyan) was appointed prime minister. Later, in May 2000, Andranik Margaryan, chairman of the RPA council and the leader of the Unity Bloc in parliament, was appointed prime minister. In 2001, Aram Sargsyan and several other former members of the RPA founded the Hanrapetutyun (Republic) Party.

The RPA published an official newspaper, Hanrapetakan ("The Republican"). Claiming allegiance to the nationalist ideology of Armenian military leader and thinker Garegin Nzhdeh, the RPA's has made various publications Nzhdeh's life, work and the ideologies related to him, Tseghakronism and Taronism, including the book series The Nationalist. In 2001, on the initiative of Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan, Garegin Nzhdeh's 115th anniversary was celebrated at the state level.

The RPA increased its number of seats in parliament to 40 in the 2003 parliamentary elections, again becoming the largest faction in parliament. In 2003, as a result of negotiations, the three political forces supporting President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan—the Republican Party of Armenia, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation and the Rule of Law Party (Orinats Yerkir)—formed a parliamentary coalition. Andranik Margaryan continued to head the Armenian government, with seven ministers nominated by the RPA. The deputy speaker of parliament and three out of the six chairpersons of parliamentary standing committees were also elected from the Republican Party.

In May 2006 the Rule of Law Party left the parliamentary majority, and the National Assembly was subject to rearrangements of political forces, which resulted in RPA Chairman Tigran Torosyan becoming the Speaker of the Parliament.

The RPA 10th extraordinary congress of July 2006 proclaimed the Republican Party of Armenia a national conservative party. The congress decided to restore the office of the party council chairperson, which had been abolished in 2005. Serzh Sargsyan was elected the chairperson of the RPA Council.

On March 25, 2007, the RPA chairman Andranik Margaryan died, and the council chairman Serzh Sargsyan assumed the duties of the RPA chairman. On April 4, 2007, Serzh Sargsyan was appointed prime minister.

The RPA won 33.9% of the vote in the 2007 Armenian parliamentary elections. The RPA parliamentary faction was formed with 64 MPs. RPA Vice Chairman Tigran Torosyan was elected Speaker of the Parliament. The Republican Party signed a coalition memorandum with the Prosperous Armenia Party, and a memorandum of cooperation with the Armenian Revolutionary Federation.

On 10 November 2007 the 11th ordinary congress of the RPA was held, and some amendments to the Charter were made. The office of the party council chairperson was abolished, and the RPA Executive body was elected as the permanently functioning governing body, while the RPA Council was elected as the party's representative body. Serzh Sargsyan was elected RPA chairman.

Serzh Sargsyan was elected President of Armenia in the controversial 2008 Armenian presidential elections. The Republican Party of Armenia, the Prosperous Armenia Party, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation and the Rule of Law Party signed a coalition agreement, and a government was formed with Tigran Sargsyan as prime minister.

At the 12th congress of the RPA held in November 2009 RA President Serzh Sargsyan was re-elected as party chairman.

The party scored well in the 2012 parliamentary election, winning 69 seats and retaining its absolute majority.

Cancellation of EU Association Agreement
The government led by the Republican Party, concluded negotiations for an Association Agreement which included a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area with the European Union in July 2013. However, in September 2013, the party led by Serzh Sargsyan suddenly decided not to sign the agreement and declared that Armenia would instead join the Russian-led Eurasian Union. Despite not signing an Association Agreement with the EU, the party insists that it does support developing closer political and economic relations with the EU, as well as maintaining strong relations with both Russia and the United States. Other political parties criticized the government's last-minute decision to cancel the Association Agreement with the EU and vocally opposed Armenia's membership in the Eurasian Union. Many criticized Russia for pressuring Sargsyan to abandon the deal with the EU.

Velvet Revolution and loss of power
The 2017 parliamentary election saw another victory for the Republican Party, winning 58 seats of 105. Soon after the election, a coalition government was formed together with the Armenian Revolutionary Federation.

In April 2018, Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan resigned and former president Serzh Sargsyan was proposed by the RPA as prime minister, despite Sargsyan's promises not to become Armenia's new leader following the end of his presidency. The move sparked mass protests in the country, starting the so-called Velvet Revolution.

The National Assembly approved Sargsyan as the new prime minister on 16 April 2018, causing furious protests in the streets of Yerevan. On 23 April, Sargsyan resigned from his post, while on 25 April the Armenian Revolutionary Federation withdrew from the government coalition and went into opposition. Karen Karapetyan was appointed as acting prime minister.

On 8 May 2018, opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan was elected prime minister by the National Assembly and formed a coalition government comprising all political forces (Tsarukyan Alliance, Way Out Alliance and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation) except the Republican Party of Armenia, which thus went into opposition.

The 2018 snap election saw the collapse of the Republican Party of Armenia, which only scored 4.7% of the votes and lost all political representation in the National Assembly for the first time since Armenia's independence.

2020–2021 Armenian protests
On 9 November 2020, the party signed a joint declaration with the other member parties of the Homeland Salvation Movement calling on Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to resign during the 2020–2021 Armenian protests.

In May 2021, the Republican Party of Armenia and the Homeland Party announced that they would form their own political alliance, known as the I Have Honor Alliance, to run in the 2021 snap parliamentary elections. Following the election, the alliance received 5.22% of the popular vote, gaining 6 seats in the National Assembly.

Allegations of political corruption
Most of Armenia's so-called "oligarchs" (government-connected entrepreneurs who enjoy de facto monopoly on lucrative forms of economic activity) are affiliated with the RPA.

In an RPA congress held in Yerevan in November 2007, then Prime Minister and presidential candidate Serge Sargsyan acknowledged that bribery, nepotism, and other corrupt practices are widespread in Armenia. "Tax evasion and corruption must be regarded as a disgraceful and condemnable phenomenon," said Sargsyan. "We must not take into account family ties and friendship and must not regard as friends and supporters those people who will avoid paying taxes and tolerate this vicious phenomenon." However, his opponents have long accused him of sponsoring the oligarchs enjoying the economic kickbacks.

RPA-affiliated oligarchs
RPA-affiliated entrepreneurs who enjoy de facto monopolies in Armenia include:
 * Samvel Aleksanyan (Lfik Samo), a former member of parliament with close ties to former President Robert Kocharyan and former President Serzh Sargsyan, whose Salex Group has a monopoly on imports of sugar, flour, cooking oil, butter and other basic foodstuffs. Aleksanyan has been accused of hiding his true income, declaring his income for 2015 was 10 million AMD in addition to his 6.2 million AMD salary as an MP. His wife Shogherina Mkrtchyan declared her cash assets for 2016 as 3.7 billion AMD and 8.8 million US dollars, and had purchased property at over 4 million US dollars. The Aleksanyan family also owns the Yerevan City supermarket chain.
 * Aleksandr Sargsyan (Sashik), brother of President Serzh Sargsyan and former member of parliament who has a fifty percent stake in Multi Lion, Armenia's leading supplier of liquefied gas to households, cars and buses (the other fifty percent is owned by Gagik Tsarukyan's Multi Group).
 * Ruben Hayrapetyan (Nemets Rubo), a former parliament member with close ties to former President Robert Kocharyan and former President Serzh Sargsyan. Ruben Hayrapetyan resigned from parliament in June 2012 following the controversial death of an army doctor, Vahe Avetyan, at a restaurant owned by him. Hayrapetyan served as the President of the Football Federation of Armenia from 2002 to 2018.
 * Mher Sedrakyan (Tokhmakhi Mher), a former member of parliament.

RPA official accused in corruption
In September 2008, the Audit Chamber of Armenia accused Suren Khachatryan, governor of the southeastern Syunik Province, and government officials subordinated to him of embezzling 575 million drams (US$1.9  million) worth of public funds and property. Khachatryan claims he is innocent.

title: Republican Party of Armenia


text:
Democratic Socialist Party

Democratic Socialist Party may refer to:

Current parties

 * Arab Democratic Socialist Ba'ath Party (Syria)
 * Democratic Socialists (Italy)
 * Democratic Socialists of America (USA)
 * Democratic Socialist Party (Guinea-Bissau)
 * Democratic Socialist Party (Lebanon)
 * Democratic Socialist Party (Nepal)
 * Democratic Socialist Party (Prabodh Chandra) (India)
 * Democratic Socialist Unionist Party (Syria)
 * Democratic Socialist Vanguard Party (Morocco)
 * Philippine Democratic Socialist Party
 * Loktantrik Samajwadi Party (India)

Former parties

 * Democratic Socialist Party (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
 * China Democratic Socialist Party
 * Democratic Socialists (Germany)
 * Democratic Socialist Party (Argentina)
 * Democratic Socialist Party (Australia)
 * Democratic Socialist Party (France)
 * Democratic Socialist Party of Greece
 * Democratic Socialist Party (Ireland)
 * Democratic Socialist Party (Japan)
 * Democratic Socialist Party (Morocco)
 * Democratic Socialists '70 (Netherlands)
 * Italian Democratic Socialists
 * Italian Democratic Socialist Party
 * League of African Democratic Socialist Parties
 * Parti de la Democratie Socialiste (Quebec, Canada)
 * Party of Democratic Socialism (Czech Republic)
 * Sammarinese Democratic Socialist Party (San Marino)
 * Sammarinese Independent Democratic Socialist Party (San Marino)
 * Vietnamese Democratic Socialist Party

title: Democratic Socialist Party


text:
Moortown, Leeds

Moortown is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is a civil parish and sits in the Moortown ward of Leeds City Council in the north east of the city.

It is situated between Roundhay and Gledhow on the east and Weetwood on the west, with Chapel Allerton to the south, and Alwoodley to the north. It is synonymous with Moor Allerton, and institutions in the area use both names. Moortown lies in the LS17 postcode district, which was reported to contain the most expensive housing area in Yorkshire and the Humber by The Times in 2007.

General description
The suburb is located around the junction of the (north-south) Harrogate Road A61 road and the Leeds Outer Ring Road (A6120) (west-east), at that point called the Moortown Ring Road, and overlooked by a Water Tower. Scott Hall Road (A61) and Harrogate Road lead southwards to Leeds city centre. The Leeds City Council boundary for Moortown ward is the Ring Road, with properties to the north in the Alwoodley ward. The Church of England parish includes areas north of the Ring Road. Woodland north and south of the Ring Road and by the water tower is called the Moortown Plantation. A post office, petrol station and other shops are located on Harrogate Road at the northern end of Moortown.

Moortown includes small estates of council housing around the junction of King Lane and the Moortown Ring Road.

Moortown Corner
Moortown Corner is the junction between Street Lane and Harrogate Road, a local shopping area and geographical reference. The building known as the Corner House was built as a cinema (1938–1940), ballroom and restaurant but now contains shops. From 1968 to 2008 it contained a casino. Nearby is a large Marks and Spencer Simply Food supermarket which serves the surrounding area. Branches of Leeds Building Society and Virgin Money (formerly Yorkshire Bank) can also be found at Moortown Corner. Halifax closed its local branch on 9 January 2024.

Moortown Corner is served by First Leeds service 2, which is represented red on the 10-minute frequency Overground network. Less regularly, services 7A, 7S, 38, and 48 run through Moortown Corner. Harrogate Bus Company's distinctive route 36 also serves Moortown Corner, currently running between central Leeds and Harrogate every 15 minutes.

Moor Allerton District Centre
Moor Allerton District Centre is adjacent to the Moortown estate (west), north of the Ring Road and west of the junction with King Lane, which opened in 1982. Primarily a shopping centre, with a large Sainsbury's, and a Homebase, it also includes a public library. A public house, the King on the Lane, was called the Penny Fun until 2019; its name relates to the history of the area as follows. The word 'pen' comes from the Celtic for 'hill'. What is now Tunnel How Hill is visible from the Centre to the south-west. It was previously Pen-how-fyn, and a hamlet around what is now the Centre was Paenfynaen (where fynaen means settlement). Tunnel How Hill was referred to as Penny Fun in the 19th century and several houses in the vicinity used the name. There is a Penny Field nearby in Meanwood Park.

Black Moor and Cranmer Bank
To the north of the ring road and west of King Lane is the Moortown estate (west) and Cranmer Bank is part of the estate, named after the moor on which Moortown was situated. This has varied housing from the 1950s to recent along Black Moor road. There is a parade of shops on Cranmer Bank as well as Moortown Social Club at the top of the hill, along with St Stephen's Church (C of E). The main areas on the estate are Blackmoor, Tynwald, Deanswood, Scotland Wood, Cranmer Bank, Alderton and Saxon.

Lingfield
To the north of the ring road and east of King Lane is the Lingfield Estate comprising mainly semi-detached tenant properties and council flats.

Queenshill
To the south of the ring road and east of King Lane is the Queenshill estate, mainly low-rise flats, which was opened in 1962 by Sir Keith Joseph. This area contains a small row of shops, a fire station, Moortown Baptist Church, and the offices of the Leeds Jewish Housing Association.

Leafield
A smaller development of public housing lies to the south of the ring road and west of King Lane, essentially in the grounds of a former mansion, Leafield House, later Leafield Clinic, where the former Leeds North Clinical Commissioning Group's offices were located, and which is now a nursery.

Leafield House was built around 1873 and was known initially as Albert House. In the 1920s, it was the family home of William Powell Bowman (1862-1955), the owner of Goodall, Backhouse & Co., who described his profession as a “wholesale druggist and manufacturer of the celebrated Yorkshire Relish". Millions of bottles of Yorkshire Relish – a piquant, cold sauce – were manufactured in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Leafield House was bought in 1951 and two years later, the Leeds Corporation Health Committee submitted a planning application to turn the building into a maternity and child welfare centre. When clinical services were moved to more modern surroundings in 2012, Leafield House was refurbished to provide office space.

Darkwood
A small 1990 development low-rise flats off Shadwell Lane, in woods known as Blackwoods, part of the Forest of Leeds. The property was originally a large private estate called "Blackwood". It was acquired by the City of Leeds sometime prior to 1963 and converted into several large flats with the extensive grounds preserved until the subsequent development of low rise flats in the 1990s.

Religion
Moortown and neighbouring Alwoodley are the main centres of the Leeds Jewish community. There are three synagogues in the Moortown area: the Beth Hamidrash Hagadol Synagogue on Street Lane, Etz Chaim Synagogue on Harrogate Road and the UHC Synagogue on Shadwell Lane. The Marjorie and Arnold Ziff Community Centre opened in 2005, providing facilities for the Jewish community in Leeds and district, with the only Kosher restaurant in Leeds and providing offices for some Jewish organisations. The Church of England parish church is St John the Evangelist on the corner of Harrogate Road and the ring road; the Catholic church is the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church. There is also a Baptist church on King Lane. Moortown Methodist Church Centre is located in the Black Moor area: it is currently used by Showers of Mercy Ministries International, Lighthouse Chapel and Leeds Independent Seventh Day Adventist Church, but there are no regular Methodist services there. There are three mosques which also act as Muslim community centres, including one in the former "Lingfield" public house on Lingfield Hill, which opened in 2016.

St Gemma's Hospice
Moortown is home to St Gemma's Hospice, a charity hospice founded by the Sisters of the Cross and Passion in 1978. It is named after St Gemma's School which formerly occupied the site, in turn named after Italian Saint Gemma Galgani. This is situated to the south of Moortown Corner on Harrogate Road. In 2017 it became a University Teaching Hospice in association with the University of Leeds to give instruction in palliative care for health professionals. St Gemma's Hospice operates 24 charity shops around Leeds.

Sport
There is a Rugby Union football club. Moortown Golf Club hosted the 1929 Ryder Cup, but is well north of the Ring Road and is now in the Alwoodley ward. Moor Allerton Sports and Social Centre has bowls, tennis and indoor activities. North Leeds FC's home pitch is situated on Cranmer Bank, next to Moortown Social Club.

Governance
As of July 2022 there are three Labour Councillors and one Labour MP who are responsible for raising concerns / issues from the Moortown community. Moortown Community Group has a history on interacting with local councillors on behalf the local community, for example in working on the Council's Neighbourhood Design Statement.

Religion

 * Immaculate Heart of Mary RC Church
 * Moortown Baptist Church
 * All Nations Community Church
 * Sinai Synagogue, Roman Avenue, Moortown

title: Moortown, Leeds