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USS Berkeley

USS Berkeley (DDG-15) was a Charles F. Adams-class destroyer guided missile destroyer in the United States Navy. She was named for Major General Randolph C. Berkeley, USMC (1875–1960), a Medal of Honor recipient for actions during the U.S. occupation of Veracruz (1914).

She was laid down by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation at Camden in New Jersey on 1 June 1960, launched on 29 July 1961 sponsored by Mrs. James B. Berkeley, Major General Berkeley's daughter-in-law; and commissioned on 15 December 1962 at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard.

Berkeley was decommissioned on 30 September 1992 at a ceremony in San Diego, California, and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register. She was turned over to the Hellenic Navy on 1 October, and recommissioned as the Greek destroyer Themistoklis (D221). The ship remained in Greek service until her decommissioning on 18 February 2002 and was sold for scrap in 2004.

1960s
After fitting out at Philadelphia, Berkeley set out for her assigned homeport of Long Beach, California, mooring there on 16 March 1963 after visits to Port Royal, South Carolina; Kingston, Jamaica; and Acapulco, Mexico. Designed primarily to provide long-range anti-aircraft cover for task forces at sea, Berkeley devoted the next six weeks testing her Tartar anti-aircraft missile system's proficiency in that role. The warship's crew also conducted gunnery, engineering, and communication systems trials. In early May, the guided-missile destroyer demonstrated her capabilities to President John F. Kennedy, knocking down two jet drone targets with two TARTAR missiles. At the end of a short visit to the Rose Festival at Portland, Oregon, in early June, Berkeley entered the San Francisco Naval Shipyard for a three-month availability. At the end of the repair period, she became a unit of Destroyer Division (DesDiv) 12 and spent the rest of the year engaged in local operations in the Long Beach area.

The warship remained in southern California waters for the first 10 weeks of 1964, preparing for a Far East deployment. On 13 March, Berkeley stood out of Long Beach in company with the cruiser USS Topeka (CL-67) and 11 other destroyers bound for her first tour of duty with the 7th Fleet. After calling at Pearl Harbor, where the aircraft carrier USS Midway (CV-41) joined company, the task group steamed to the East China Sea for a month of training. Detached on 18 April, Berkeley proceeded to Hong Kong, where she embarked Vice Admiral Thomas H. Moorer, and sailed on to Bangkok, Thailand, for the annual Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) conference. After rejoining her task group in late April, the guided missile destroyer spent the next two months screening the carriers USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) and USS Ticonderoga (CV-14) and participating in a SEATO landing exercise in the Philippines.

After spending Independence Day in Sasebo, Japan, she put to sea with the Ticonderoga task group on 5 July for routine operations. This quickly changed, however, when the warships received orders diverting them to the South China Sea where they joined other Navy units off the South Vietnamese coast and in the Gulf of Tonkin. As part of President Lyndon B. Johnson's effort to limit North Vietnamese attacks on Laos and South Vietnam, the carrier launched Vought F-8 Crusader aircraft to reconnoiter suspected communist infiltration routes in eastern and southern Laos.

Berkeley continued to screen Ticonderoga throughout that summer. On 2 August, she provided anti-air protection to the task group during air strikes against North Vietnamese missile boats during the Tonkin Gulf incident. After American warships reported more attacks on 4 August, the guided missile destroyer again screened the carrier during extensive retaliatory strikes on North Vietnamese gunboats and torpedo boats on 5 August. Berkeley remained in the South China Sea during the relative lull that followed, patrolling the region during the slow buildup of American naval forces in Southeast Asia. The warship joined the aircraft carrier USS Bon Homme Richard (CV-31) while there and sailed for home on 10 October, mooring at Long Beach, via Yokosuka, Japan, on 21 November.

After leave and upkeep, the guided-missile destroyer entered the Long Beach Naval Shipyard for a restricted availability. Following these repairs, Berkeley spent the next six months carrying out training missions, passing various communications and engineering inspections, and preparing for her next deployment to the Far East. This pattern of activity—combat service in Vietnamese waters followed by repairs and training to prepare for her next deployment—characterized her service for the next ten years.

Underway with the carrier USS Hancock (CV-19) in late November 1965, Berkeley made a brief stop at Subic Bay in the Philippines before proceeding to the South China Sea for combat operations off Vietnam. Upon arrival on "Yankee Station" on 16 December, Berkeley joined Task Force (TF) 77 in support of Operation Rolling Thunder. This naval air campaign, begun the previous March, sought to cut the flow of munitions and supplies to the Viet Cong insurgents in the south by interdicting North Vietnam's logistics pipelines through Laos and across the demilitarized zone (DMZ). Assigned to the northern search-and-rescue (SAR) station in the Gulf of Tonkin, Berkeley, in company with the cruiser Topeka and destroyer USS Brinkley Bass (DD-887), patrolled the area through the end of January 1966. Following minor repairs at Sasebo in early February, and a port visit to Hong Kong, the guided missile destroyer returned to the Gulf of Tonkin for a second SAR tour on 26 February. Her first rescue mission took place on 14 March when Berkeley received notice that a McDonnell F-4C Phantom had ditched off Hon Me Island. In company with the destroyer USS Arnold J. Isbell (DD-869), Berkeley coordinated rescue helicopter flights, and those of fighter aircraft from the carriers USS Ranger (CV-61) and Kitty Hawk, as the two warships closed the ditch site. Before they arrived, a United States Air Force HU-16 Albatross amphibian—which had landed to pick up the two Phantom crewmen—was taken under fire by North Vietnamese shore batteries. The amphibian was hit shortly thereafter, killing two crewmen and the aircraft burned and sank. Berkeley then closed Hon Me Island, drawing the enemy fire to her, and engaged in a 22-minute gunnery dual with the coastal batteries. At the same time, her combat information team directed friendly air strikes against enemy gun emplacements and coordinated three SH-3 helicopters from Yorktown and USS England (DLG-22) as they retrieved the six survivors from the water. Although repeatedly straddled by enemy fire during this action, Berkeley suffered only minor damage from shell fragments.

Relieved two weeks later by USS Coontz (DDG-40), the guided missile destroyer proceeded to Qui Nhon, where she joined Operation "Sea Dragon" for a week of call-fire missions against communist supply craft and coastal infiltration routes. After completing this mission on 8 April, she steamed to Subic Bay, where the crew began preparing the warship for visits to Australia and New Zealand. Departing the Philippines on 17 April, Berkeley crossed the equator north of the Admiralty Islands and moored at Sydney, Australia, on the 29th. Over the next three weeks, the warship's crew took part in the annual "Coral Sea Celebration"—which honored the victory won by the Allied navies in May 1942—and visited Sydney, Adelaide, and Hobart in Australia as well as Auckland, New Zealand. Underway for home on 22 May, the guided missile destroyer stopped at Suva in the Fiji Islands and at Pearl Harbor before arriving at Long Beach on 6 June.

Subsequent to a leave and upkeep period, Berkeley entered the Long Beach Naval Shipyard for a restricted availability on 19 July. During that yard period, workers installed the new Standard missile system, including launch rails and guidance equipment. Upon leaving the shipyard on 25 August, the warship commenced a three-month missile development test and evaluation program. This entailed weekly cruises in southern California waters and the firing of Standard missiles at air and surface targets. Following the removal of test equipment in mid-December, the guided missile destroyer spent the rest of the month getting ready for upcoming fleet exercises.

Following the early January 1967 Exercise "Snatch Block," which was devoted to SAR and electronic countermeasure (ECM) procedures, Berkeley spent the next three months preparing for another Far East deployment. This included many local evolutions—such as shore bombardment, carrier screening, and ASW exercises—as well as numerous operational readiness inspections. During this period, her engineers and technicians busied themselves maintaining and improving the warship's complex electronic and fire-control systems, a task abetted by a three-week tender availability in early February.

Underway for the western Pacific on 29 April, the guided-missile destroyer crossed the central Pacific; and, after a short liberty period at Yokosuka, Japan, the warship headed south to Subic Bay, arriving there on 24 May. Underway again three days later, Berkeley sailed with the aircraft carrier USS Constellation (CV-64) to the Gulf of Tonkin before joining the cruiser USS Saint Paul (CA-73) and TU 77.1.1 for a "Sea Dragon" patrol. The task unit cruised off North Vietnam near Hon Me and Hon Matt Islands, searching for enemy waterborne logistics craft and firing on designated targets ashore. This pattern—small craft search in the morning followed by shore bombardment missions later in the day—became the daily routine of Berkeley's later "Sea Dragon" patrols.

After routine upkeep and replenishment at Subic Bay in late June and early July, the guided-missile destroyer commenced her second "Sea Dragon" patrol on 12 July. Detached 10 days later, she sailed north to the Tonkin Gulf SAR station where she monitored daily strikes over North Vietnam. During three weeks on station, Berkeley participated in seven SAR incidents and helped to rescue four pilots. Relieved on 11 August by USS William V. Pratt (DLG-13), the warship sailed to Hong Kong for a week of rest and recreation.

Following a tender availability at Kaohsiung, Taiwan, the guided-missile destroyer returned to the gunline on 22 September. Berkeley alternated duty between gunfire support for the 3d Marine Division in the I Corps area and night harassment and interdiction missions against coastal infiltration routes. Detached on 1 October, the warship visited Nagoya and Yokosuka before departing Japan on the 12th. Berkeley arrived at Long Beach on 25 October and spent the remainder of the year conducting post-deployment maintenance and preparing for various service inspections.

The guided-missile destroyer carried out local operations through April 1968 before moving into Long Beach Naval Shipyard for a maintenance overhaul. Upon completion of these repairs on 3 June, Berkeley loaded supplies and ammunition before steaming west on 5 July. After fuel stops at Pearl Harbor, Midway, and Guam—as well as a diversion south to avoid a typhoon near the Philippines—the warship arrived at Subic Bay on 28 July. Four days later, the guided missile cruiser departed for the coast of Vietnam and duty on "Sea Dragon" patrol. Over the next two months, Berkeley conducted three gunline patrols—firing nightly interdiction missions, searching for waterborne logistics craft, and bombarding supply routes—off both North Vietnam and the Vung Tau Peninsula. In between these missions, she retired to Subic Bay for upkeep. Her best hunting took place on the night of 10 and 11 September, when she and the destroyer USS Harwood (DD-861) combined to sink or damage 58 enemy supply boats.

After calling at Keelung, Taiwan, in late October and at Hong Kong in early November, Berkeley sailed back to Vietnam on 11 November. The rest of November passed uneventfully, with the warship on planeguard duty on "Yankee Station." Departing the area on 1 December, she stopped at Guam and Pearl Harbor before mooring at Long Beach on 20 December.

Aside from a few periods of underway training, which included her annual missile-firing exercises in late February, the warship spent the first three months of 1969 preparing for an extensive overhaul. Entering the Long Beach Naval Shipyard on 27 March, Berkeley received new weapons and communications systems as well as a general rehabilitation of all internal spaces in the warship. With this work completed, the guided-missile destroyer commenced sea trials and post-overhaul refresher training on 24 July. The warship also tested her new Standard missile system in September before turning to preparations for another Far East deployment which took up the remainder of the year.

1970s
Departing Long Beach on 13 February, the guided-missile destroyer made fuel stops at Pearl Harbor, Midway, and Guam before arriving at Yokosuka on 4 March. After two weeks of upkeep, she sailed to "Yankee Station"—arriving there on 23 March—and provided planeguard support for Constellation and USS Coral Sea (CV-43). Then, starting on 10 May, the warship provided two weeks of naval gunfire support off South Vietnam. Between 25 May and 15 June, Berkeley visited Hong Kong and Kobe for rest and recreation before returning to South Vietnam for four weeks of gunline operations. Next came a port visit to Bangkok, Thailand, in mid-July, followed by three days of upkeep at Subic Bay. From there, the warship sailed for home on the 27th and moored at Long Beach on 14 August. The remainder of the year was dedicated to type training and upkeep in preparation for another western Pacific deployment in early 1971.

Those preparations continued into the new year, occupying her time for the first 11 weeks of 1971. Berkeley set sail on 16 March and, after brief stops at Oahu, Midway, and Guam, arrived at Subic Bay on 7 April. Following a brief upkeep period, she steamed to "Yankee Station" on 10 April and began escort duty for Kitty Hawk. During this tour, the guided missile destroyer's crew welcomed on board three Vietnamese midshipmen and provided them with six weeks of underway training. In May, after a brief period of PIRAZ duty with the cruiser USS Truxtun (CGN-35), Berkeley steamed to Japan, arriving in Sasebo on 19 May.

Fitted out with specialized reconnaissance equipment, the warship steamed to the Sea of Japan on 10 June for service as Pacific Area Reconnaissance Program (PARPRO) picket ship. She collected intelligence off the Korean peninsula for the next 10 days before mooring at Yokosuka on 19 June. The PARPRO equipment was quickly unloaded, and the warship moved south for a visit to Hong Kong.

Returning to "Yankee Station" on 5 July, Berkeley spent the next two weeks working on the northern SAR station. Heading south on 18 July, the warship passed through the Strait of Malacca and moored at Penang, Malaysia, for a port visit on 23 July. Following four days there, and just over a week in Singapore for upkeep, Berkeley returned to the Vietnam war zone on 7 August. Assigned to a naval gunfire support mission, the warship cruised off Cua Viet for the next three weeks in support of friendly forces near the demilitarized zone (DMZ). During this time, she fired 2,143 5-inch rounds at enemy targets. After a brief stop at Subic Bay, the guided-missile destroyer retraced her path across the Pacific and arrived in Long Beach on 16 September.

Following a tender availability alongside USS Piedmont (AD-17), Berkeley remained in port, aside from a few type training days at sea, for the next six months. On 20 March 1972, the warship steamed to the Pacific Missile Range for three days of weapons systems exercises—including an ASW drill with the submarine USS Caiman (SS-323)—and, later that month, the warship conducted gunnery drills in the southern California operating area. These evolutions proved timely when, on 7 April, the warship received word to get ready for an emergency deployment to Vietnam. After a feverish 72 hours of preparation, Berkeley departed Long Beach on 10 April.

The guided-missile destroyer arrived in the Gulf of Tonkin, via Pearl Harbor, Guam, and Subic Bay, on 3 May. There, she joined other 7th Fleet units in heavy attacks against North Vietnamese military units pushing south along the coast. After firing numerous bombardment missions against enemy troops and tanks advancing toward Hue, Berkeley joined Operation Pocket Money, the mining of the river approaches to Haiphong, North Vietnam, on 9 May. In company with five other destroyers, the warship closed Haiphong to provide a protective barrage of 5-inch shells as A-6 Intruders and A-7 Corsairs from Coral Sea dropped magnetic-acoustic sea mines off that port.

Shortly thereafter, Berkeley moved to a surveillance position about 25 miles to the south and kept foreign merchant shipping informed of the newly cordoned waters. In mid-June, an attempt by the North Vietnamese to ferry supplies ashore was foiled when Berkeley, supported by helicopters and two other destroyers, sank over 30 small craft. After a brief upkeep period at Subic Bay in mid-July, the guided missile destroyer moved to the gunline and fired daily missions against enemy targets near the DMZ. Following a short yard period at Sasebo late in August, the warship conducted a final five-week gunfire support tour off North Vietnam.

After a five-day visit to Hong Kong in mid-October, Berkeley steamed for home—with brief stops at Subic Bay, Wake Island, Guam, and Pearl Harbor and underway refueling by the auxiliary USS Ponchatoula (AO-148)—and arrived at Long Beach on 10 November. With the signing of the cease-fire agreement at Paris in January 1973, American involvement in the war ended; the 1972 deployment was Berkeley's final Vietnam service. After a long holiday and post-deployment standdown period, the guided-missile destroyer's crew began preparations for a complex overhaul scheduled for early January 1973.

On 5 January 1973, Berkeley moved to Bremerton, Washington, and, on 12 January, moved into drydock at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. The overhaul gave the guided missile destroyer the new tactical data system, a sonar upgrade, new communications and electronic warfare gear, and two new 5-inch gun mounts. After five months in drydock, the warship moved pierside to finish the installations, which were finally completed on 1 November. Berkeley then spent the next eight weeks conducting sea trials, including a voyage to Victoria, British Columbia, and a joint exercise with the Canadian Navy. Departing Bremerton on 4 January 1974, the warship sailed south to her new home port of San Diego, arriving there on the 18th after a brief stay at Long Beach. With the end of American participation in the Vietnam war following the previous year's cease-fire agreement, the Navy concentrated on improving overall operational readiness, a routine markedly different from earlier training which had focused on preparing warships for combat duty off Vietnam. Berkeley, therefore, spent the next five months taking part in a series of fleet-wide inspections and maintenance programs. The guided-missile destroyer finally got underway to deploy on 19 June, steaming across the Pacific and arriving in Subic Bay on 10 July.

Sailing north on the 14th, Berkeley embarked American and Japanese midshipmen at Yokosuka and Kure for two weeks of training with units of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force in the Inland Sea. Returning to Subic Bay on 7 August, the warship spent the next 10 weeks operating locally with Constellation. Then, in response to the growing Soviet Navy presence in the Indian Ocean, several American warships—including Berkeley—received orders to "show the flag" in the region. Departing Subic Bay on 27 October, she conducted a four-day port visit to Singapore, before getting underway for the Indian Ocean on 8 November.

In company with Constellation and the rest of TG 77.6, Berkeley conducted 11 days of operations with Pakistani, Iranian, and British naval units before visiting Karachi, Pakistan, on 19 November. The task group then sailed into the Persian Gulf for another week of exercises before returning to Singapore on 6 December. After an upkeep period there, the guided-missile destroyer sailed for home, via Subic Bay, and arrived in San Diego on 28 January 1975.

Following a two-month, post-deployment standdown, Berkeley spent the next four months engaged in a series of inspections, engineering tests, and exercises aimed at improving her overall readiness. In August, she completed various weapons and engineering training requirements and, in September, concentrated on ASW exercises. Following several missile-firing exercises in October and an extensive alignment of all weapons systems in November, Berkeley began preparation for her next deployment.

On 30 January 1976, Berkeley departed San Diego and set course for Hawaii on the first leg of the voyage to the Far East. Once at Pearl Harbor, however, the warship suffered several engineering failures which kept her in that port through February. Finally repaired in early March, she got underway on 12 March and, after a fuel stop at Guam, moored at Subic Bay on 1 April. Over the next three months, the guided missile destroyer conducted several "war-at-sea" exercises in the Philippines, including a missile firing exercise in late May and an ASW exercise with the frigates USS Sample (FF-1048) and USS Lang (FF-1060) in mid-June. Sailing north on 14 July, she visited Kaohsiung, Taiwan, and took part in Exercise "Sharkhunt XVI"—an ASW exercise with naval units from Taiwan—before returning to Subic Bay on 29 July. Underway again on 3 August, Berkeley carried out another missile exercise—knocking down one drone with two missiles fired—before sailing for home on 8 August. Following stops at Guam—where she received 10 days of tender availability—and at Pearl Harbor, the warship returned to San Diego on 6 September. Save for a brief two-week planeguard exercise with Constellation in early December, the guided-missile destroyer spent the remainder of the year in port.

Over the first five months of 1977, Berkeley stood several inspections and made other preparations in anticipation of an overhaul in Bremerton. Entering the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard on 6 June, the warship received new turbo-generators, a satellite communications system, and upgrades to her tactical data system. Floated out of drydock on 16 December, she remained pierside until dock trials were complete on 4 May 1978. Underway for sea trials the following day, the warship finally sailed home to San Diego on 13 June, arriving there on the 23d, after stops at Seal Beach and Long Beach. She spent the rest of the year testing her weapon systems and training with the newly installed equipment.

Early in 1979, Berkeley helped to test and evaluate two new missile systems. In February, she had one of the early Tomahawk missiles test-fired at her (set to fly close by) to see if the incoming Tomahawk could be acquired; and, in April, she made eight evaluation launches of the Standard missile. After passing a combat systems readiness test in May, the warship then prepared for her first overseas deployment in almost two years. Departing San Diego on 8 August, the guided missile destroyer transited the Pacific as part of Destroyer Squadron 13 and in the company of a Canadian Destroyer Squadron and Oiler with stops in Pearl Harbor, Midway, (off Midway the destroyers practices ASW atop a Soviet submarine),Guam and Subic Bay, and arrived in Yokosuka on 1 September. There, she joined Kitty Hawk and put to sea for seven weeks of operations in the East China Sea. During this time, Berkeley also made port visits to Hong Kong and Subic Bay. On 22 October, following the assassination of South Korean President Park Chung Hee, the task group took up a position south of the peninsula. The crisis eased after a few weeks, and the task group resumed normal operations. On 10 November, the Kitty Hawk group steamed south for operations in the South China Sea. On 21 November, the warships received orders to proceed west in response to the takeover of the American embassy in Tehran, Iran. Arriving in the Indian Ocean on 5 December, the task group sailed to the Arabian Sea and took up a position south of the Iranian coast.

1980s
Following six weeks of contingency operations, Berkeley began her long transit home on 24 January 1980, arriving in San Diego via Subic Bay and Pearl Harbor on 19 February. Later that spring, the warship conducted several gunfire and missile-firing exercises before beginning a restricted availability at Long Beach on 5 May. During the ensuing six weeks, Berkeley received extensive engineering work, including some new boiler tubes, and equipment upgrades to her weapons and operations departments. The guided missile destroyer then spent the rest of the year conducting engineering tests and working out her new combat systems in air and surface gunnery and missile shoots.

Underway on 27 February 1981, Berkeley sailed to Pearl Harbor and then on to Guam, mooring there on 21 March. While en route to Subic Bay in early April, she conducted both antisubmarine and antiair warfare exercises, an underway routine that became the pattern for this deployment. The warship then joined other 7th Fleet units for a port visit to Pattaya Beach, Thailand, before participating in Exercise "Sea-Siam 81-2." Berkeley joined Royal Thai Navy warships in a variety of maneuvers, including tactical communications, formation keeping, and antisubmarine warfare. The guided missile destroyer then moved back to Subic Bay, after diverting for stops at Sattahip, Thailand, and Hong Kong, where she joined the Kitty Hawk battle group. Departing on 13 May, the group sailed into the Indian Ocean for six weeks of antiair and surface warfare exercises before putting into Geraldton, Australia, for a week-long port visit in mid-July. Berkeley returned to Subic Bay on 4 August for three weeks of maintenance before steaming for home on 1 September.

Arriving in San Diego on 21 September, the warship spent the next six months engaged in local operations and preparing for a regular overhaul. This routine was only broken by a call at San Francisco in late January 1982 and four-day visit to Mazatlan, Mexico, starting on 20 February. Entering the Long Beach Naval Shipyard on 29 March, Berkeley received new engineering controls, upgrades to her electronic warfare, communications, sonar, and weapons systems—including the new Harpoon weapons system. Perhaps even more important to her crew, she also received a brand new air conditioning system. Underway for sea trials on 18 March, the guided-missile destroyer carried out a series of evaluations, local operations, and refresher training over the summer and fall in preparation for her next deployment. These included underway exercises with the Kitty Hawk battle group in September and November.

After a flurry of preparations in the new year, she finally put to sea for the western Pacific on 13 January 1984, as part of Carrier Battle Group "Bravo" (CTF 37.1). Arriving in the Philippines on 30 January, Berkeley trained on the Tabones gunfire range during February; and, following a 12-day visit to Subic Bay, the guided-missile destroyer steamed to Pusan, South Korea, in early March. There, between 19 and 29 March, she participated in amphibious Exercise "Team Spirit 84." She then sailed to Subic Bay, for brief repairs, before steaming west for the Strait of Malacca on 7 April.

With the establishment of the United States Central Command (CentCom) the previous year—partly in response to the outbreak of the Iran–Iraq War in 1980—Navy warships began patrolling the Arabian Sea in support of CentCom's mission to protect American security interests in the Middle East. Berkeley arrived in the Arabian Sea on 16 April and served there for the next six weeks, helping to assure Western access to oil and seeking to stem the spread of Soviet influence in the region. During this period, she visited Al Masirah, Oman, for tender availability alongside USS Hector (AR-7). After another tender availability at Diego Garcia during the second week of June, the warship sailed for home on 15 June. En route, she stopped at Fremantle, Australia; Subic Bay, Philippines; and Pearl Harbor in Hawaii before arriving in San Diego on 1 August. Berkeley spent the next nine months conducting local operations in California waters, the highlight of which was the mid-October surveillance of a Soviet intelligence gathering trawler prowling the missile-test range at San Clemente Island. The warship then operated locally that spring until entering the Long Beach Naval Shipyard on 3 May 1985 for repairs to her sonar dome. Resuming local operations on 20 May, Berkeley followed the familiar duty pattern—independent steaming off southern California punctuated by regular upkeep periods in port. The warship's first exercise in the new year took place between 14 and 22 January 1986 when Berkeley conducted a naval gunfire support exercise at San Clemente Island. Then, after a mid-March command inspection and upkeep early in April, she took part in "RimPac 86," an international naval exercise held in Hawaiian waters between 21 May and 12 June. After two more months of local training operations and other preparatory tasks, Berkeley got underway for a Far Eastern cruise on 12 August.

In a change of pace from her usual route, the guided missile destroyer followed a great circle route through the northern Pacific and the Bering Sea before arriving at Pusan, South Korea, on 1 September. After an ASW exercise with units of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force at mid-month, and another ASW exercise with South Korean warships in mid-October, Berkeley sailed south for the Philippines on 7 November. Following a brief stop at Subic Bay to refuel, the warship conducted Exercise "Burgonex 86" with the Royal Brunei Armed Forces between 15 and 23 November. Afterwards, she visited Pattaya Beach, Thailand, and then made a "freedom-of-navigation" demonstration off the coasts of Kampuchea and Vietnam in early December. Berkeley then stopped at Hong Kong and Subic Bay for port visits, before ending the year on her way to Chinhae, South Korea.

Arriving there on 3 January 1987, the warship conducted an ASW exercise in the Sea of Japan in early January before heading for home on 12 January. The next day, however, she suffered a pressure failure in her sonar dome and diverted to Guam for temporary repairs. Underway again on 24 January, Berkeley returned to San Diego, via Pearl Harbor, on 12 February. After a two-week leave and upkeep standdown, the warship resumed her familiar west coast routine. This included various weapons and supply inspections, equipment alterations in the shipyard—including more repairs to her sonar dome that summer—and training ashore for crew members. She rounded out the year with refresher training off southern California punctuated by minor repair periods alongside USS Acadia (AD-42).

Berkeley spent the spring of 1988 preparing for her next overseas deployment, on which she embarked on 6 July. In company with the battleship USS New Jersey (BB-62) and TG 70.1, the warship took the great circle route to South Korea, arriving at Pusan on 24 July. The group participated in surface warfare exercises with the South Korean Navy before heading south to Subic Bay on 5 August. Following a short availability there, Berkeley detached from the task group and continued farther south, arriving in Darwin, Australia, on 26 August. As part of Australia's bicentennial celebration, the guided missile destroyer spent the next five weeks visiting ports on Australia's northern and eastern coasts. Starting with a visit to Cairns from 4 to 8 September, she moved on to stops at Townsville, Mackay, and Gladstone before putting into Sydney on 26 August for a week-long naval celebration with over 60 warships from 16 countries. Berkeley then made a visit to Bell Bay in Tasmania before rendezvousing with New Jersey on 18 October for the transit home, arriving in San Diego via Pearl Harbor on 9 November.

Following a tender availability, the guided-missile destroyer spent the first nine months of 1989 conducting local training operations, standing combat systems' inspections, and undergoing a phased maintenance availability at the Continental Marine Shipyard between 17 April and 5 July. After a final series of inspections in August, Berkeley got underway on 18 September in company with the carrier USS Enterprise (CV-65) and six other warships bound for the Far East once more. Steaming north to the Sea of Japan, the warship participated in "PacEx '89," a joint exercise with units of the South Korean and Japanese Navies. During most of October, she carried out antiair, surface, and subsurface warfare exercises off the coasts of Korea and Japan, including four SEAL team insertions, before putting into Hong Kong on 31 October.

Sailing south, Berkeley arrived in Subic Bay on 11 November. After a two-week availability there, she moved to the Tabones training range to keep up her gunnery prowess. On 30 November, in response to a coup attempt against the Aquino government in Manila, the warship put to sea with the Enterprise battle group for contingency operations. As the crisis eased, Berkeley detached from the battle group on 12 December and sailed east to Thailand. En route, the guided missile destroyer took part in more "freedom-of-navigation" missions off Vietnam and Kampuchea, before arriving at Pattaya Beach on 14 November. After four days there, the warship moved on to Singapore for a week of upkeep.

Passing through the Strait of Malacca in late December, Berkeley and the Enterprise battle group sailed into the Indian Ocean and moored at Diego Garcia Island on 5 January 1990. Next, the group operated in the northern Arabian Sea and Persian Gulf—keeping an eye on the still-tense ceasefire between Iran and Iraq—until putting into Muscat, Oman, for a port visit on 20 January. Following exercises with the Sultan of Oman's Navy, Berkeley left the battle group on 1 February and headed back east. She participated in exercises with the Royal Thai Navy on 3 February and, after a five-day visit to Phuket, Thailand, steamed into Subic Bay on 18 February. From there, the warship continued toward home and arrived at San Diego on 15 March.

After a four-week leave and upkeep period, Berkeley resumed local operations out of San Diego. In addition to her usual training activities, however, the warship made several short indoctrination cruises for midshipmen. She also got underway in mid-July for a week of law enforcement operations with the United States Coast Guard. During these missions, which were intended to help interdict drug smuggling, the warship used surface-search radars and other equipment to spot small craft, which were then boarded by Coast Guard detachments. Although no drug seizures occurred, the warship did help the Coast Guard enforce maritime safety regulations. After returning to port on 23 July, Berkeley spent the rest of the year engaged in engineering inspections and exams.

On 11 February 1991, the warship embarked on another Coast Guard law enforcement mission off Central America. Berkeley began counternarcotics patrols off Baja California in mid-February; and, save for a 22 February visit to Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala, there she remained for the next five weeks. Returning to San Diego on 8 April for maintenance, the guided-missile destroyer then set out on a two-week Coast Guard law enforcement patrol on the 26th. This was followed in mid-May by a gunnery and missile exercise.

In early June, Berkeley departed San Diego and headed north to Oregon for the Portland Rose Festival, remaining there until 12 June. The warship returned to San Diego three days later and, over the next six weeks, conducted two midshipmen training cruises and another law enforcement patrol. In August and September, the guided-missile destroyer concentrated on refresher training and, in early October, she participated in underway training while in transit to San Francisco for "Fleet Week '91." Returning to San Diego on 25 October, the warship carried out a succession of engineering drills in the southern California operating area through November. Heading back to Portland on 2 December, Berkeley took part in the city's 50th anniversary commemoration of the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

In light of the defense budget cutbacks following the end of the Cold War, the Navy made its 1990 decision to retire 54 ships. Thus, Berkeley was tapped for deactivation and eventual foreign transfer. Inactivated at San Diego on 1 May 1992, she spent the summer preparing for transfer to the Greek Navy. Berkeley was decommissioned at San Diego on 30 September 1992, and her name was struck from the Navy list on 1 October 1992. She was transferred to the Hellenic Navy that same day and served as Themistoklis (D221).

Berkeley received 11 battle stars for Vietnam service.

Hellenic Navy operational history

Berkeley was sold to Greece on 1 October 1992, and renamed Themistoklis (D221), after Themistocles.

On 18 February 2002, Themistoklis was decommissioned in Salamis, Greece, which was the site of the great victory by the ancient Themistocles. She was sold for scrap on 19 February 2004.

In popular culture
Berkeley appears docked at Pearl Harbor in the opening scene of the original Hawaii Five-O (1968 TV series) season 8 episode Murder: Eyes Only.

title: USS Berkeley


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User talk:Kowh

Hello, welcome to Wikipedia! I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Drop us a note at New user log so we can meet you and help you get started. If you need editing help, visit How does one edit a page. For format questions, visit our manual of style. If you have any other questions about the project then check out Help or add a question to the Village pump. Meelar 04:44, 11 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Oh, and btw, I liked your user page.

Language improvements
I don't know if you answered my call for language revision of the article on Kuusinen that I wrote here some week ago, or if you found it by random, but I would in any case like to express my gratitude! It contributes to me feeling confidence in writing articles with less than perfect English. /Tuomas 16:32, 28 Apr 2004 (UTC)

I did indeed "answer the call" as it were. I think the articles could still be improved further though, so you may not want to remove your call just yet. -- Kowh 16:52, 28 Apr 2004 (UTC)

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You were listed on the Wikipedians/Ontario page as living in or being associated with Ontario. As part of the User categorisation project, these lists are being replaced with user categories. If you would like to add yourself to the category that is replacing the page, please visit Category:Wikipedians in Ontario for instructions.--Rmky87 03:13, 10 October 2005 (UTC)

Wikimedia Canada
Hi there! I'd like to invite you to explore Wikimedia Canada, and create a list of people interested in forming a local chapter for our nation. A local chapter will help promote and improve the organization, within our great nation. We'd also like to encourage everyone to suggest projects for our national chapter to participate in. Hope to see you there!--DarkEvil 17:11, 20 January 2006 (UTC)

Unreferenced BLPs
Hello Kowh! Thank you for your contributions. I am a bot alerting you that 1 of the articles that you created  is an  Unreferenced Biography of a Living Person. Please note that all biographies of living persons must be sourced. If you were to add reliable, secondary sources to this article, it would greatly help us with the current Category:All_unreferenced_BLPs article backlog. Once the article is adequately referenced, please remove the unreferencedBLP tag. Here is the article:

Thanks!--DASHBot (talk) 19:24, 2 January 2010 (UTC)
 * 1) Anthony Phillips -

ArbCom elections are now open!
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Nomination of Artistic freedom for deletion
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European badger

The European badger (Meles meles), also known as the Eurasian badger, is a badger species in the family Mustelidae native to Europe and West Asia and parts of Central Asia. It is classified as least concern on the IUCN Red List, as it has a wide range and a large, stable population size which is thought to be increasing in some regions. Several subspecies are recognized, with the nominate subspecies (M. m. meles) predominating in most of Europe. In Europe, where no other badger species commonly occurs, it is generally just called the "badger".

The European badger is a powerfully built, black, white, brown, and grey animal with a small head, a stocky body, small black eyes, and a short tail. Its weight varies, being 7–13 kg (15–29 lb) in spring, but building up to 15–17 kg (33–37 lb) in autumn before the winter sleep period. It is nocturnal and is a social, burrowing animal that sleeps during the day in one of several setts in its territorial range. These burrows have multiple chambers and entrances, and are extensive systems of underground passages of 35 - 81 m length. They house several badger families that use these setts for decades. Badgers are fussy over the cleanliness of their burrow, carrying in fresh bedding and removing soiled material, and they defecate in latrines strategically situated outside their setts or en route to other setts.

Although classified as a carnivore, the European badger is an omnivore, feeding on a wide variety of plant and animal foods, including earthworms, large insects, small mammals, carrion, cereals, and tubers. Litters of up to five cubs are produced in spring. The young are weaned a few months later, but usually remain within the family group. The European badger has been known to share its burrow with other species, such as rabbits, red foxes, and raccoon dogs, but it can be ferocious when provoked, a trait which has been exploited in the now-illegal blood sport of badger-baiting. Like many wild and domesticated species of mammals, badgers can be carriers of bovine tuberculosis, which can spread between species and can be particularly detrimental to cattle. In England, badger populations are culled to try to reduce the incidence of bovine tuberculosis in cattle, although the efficacy of this practice is strongly disputed, and badger culls are widely considered cruel and inhumane.

Nomenclature
The source of the word "badger" is uncertain. The Oxford English Dictionary states it probably derives from "badge" + -ard, a reference to the white mark on its forehead that resembles a badge, and may date to the early 16th century. The French word bêcheur ('digger') has also been suggested as a source. A male badger is a boar, a female is a sow, and a young badger is a cub. A badger's home is called a sett. Badger colonies are often called clans.

The far older name "brock" (brocc), (brock) is a Celtic loanword (cf. Gaelic broc and Welsh broch, from Proto-Celtic *brokko) meaning 'grey'. The Proto-Germanic term was *þahsu- (cf. German Dachs, Dutch das, Norwegian svin-toks; Early Modern English dasse), probably from the PIE root *tek'- 'to construct', which suggests that the badger was named after its digging of setts (tunnels); the Germanic term *þahsu- became taxus or taxō, -ōnis in Latin glosses, replacing mēlēs ('marten' or 'badger'), and from these words the common Romance terms for the animal evolved (Italian tasso, French tesson/taisson/tasson—now blaireau is more common—, Catalan toixó, Spanish tejón, Portuguese texugo) except Asturian melandru.

Until the mid-18th century, European badgers were variously known in English as brock, pate, grey, and bawson. The name "bawson" is derived from "bawsened", which refers to something striped with white. "Pate" is a local name that was once popular in northern England. The name "badget" was once common, but only used in Norfolk, while "earth dog" was used in southern Ireland. The badger is commonly referred to in Welsh as a mochyn daear ('earth pig').

Taxonomy
Ursus meles was the scientific name used by Carl Linnaeus in 1758, who described the badger in his work Systema Naturae.

Evolution
The species likely evolved from the Chinese Meles thorali of the early Pleistocene. The modern species originated during the early Middle Pleistocene, with fossil sites occurring in Episcopia, Grombasek, Süssenborn, Hundsheim, Erpfingen, Koněprusy, Mosbach 2, and Stránská Skála. A comparison between fossil and living specimens shows a marked progressive adaptation to omnivory, namely in the increase in the molars' surface areas and the modification of the carnassials. Occasionally, badger bones are discovered in earlier strata, due to the burrowing habits of the species.

Subspecies
In the 19th and 20th centuries, several badger type specimens were described and proposed as subspecies. , eight subspecies were recognized as valid taxa, but four (canescens, arcalus, rhodius, severzovi) are now considered to belong to a distinct species, the Caucasian badger (M. canescens).

Description
European badgers are powerfully built animals with small heads, thick, short necks, stocky, wedge-shaped bodies and short tails. Their feet are plantigrade or semidigitigrade and short, with five toes on each foot. The limbs are short and massive, with naked lower surfaces on the feet. The claws are strong, elongated and have an obtuse end, which assists in digging. The claws are not retractable, and the hind claws wear with age. Old badgers sometimes have their hind claws almost completely worn away from constant use. Their snouts, which are used for digging and probing, are muscular and flexible. The eyes are small and the ears short and tipped with white. Whiskers are present on the snout and above the eyes.

Boars typically have broader heads, thicker necks and narrower tails than sows, which are sleeker, have narrower, less domed heads and fluffier tails. The guts of badgers are longer than those of red foxes, reflecting their omnivorous diet. The small intestine has a mean length of 5.36 m and lacks a cecum. Both sexes have three pairs of nipples but these are more developed in females. European badgers cannot flex their backs as martens, polecats and wolverines can, nor can they stand fully erect like honey badgers, though they can move quickly at full gallop.

Adults measure 25 – in shoulder height, 60 – in body length, 12 – in tail length, 7.5 – in hind foot length and 3.5 – in ear height. Males (or boars) slightly exceed females (or sows) in measurements, but can weigh considerably more. Their weights vary seasonally, growing from spring to autumn and reaching a peak just before the winter. During the summer, European badgers commonly weigh 7 – and 15 – in autumn.

The average weight of adults in the Białowieża Forest was 10.2 kg in spring but up to 19 kg in autumn, 46% higher than the spring low mass. In Woodchester Park, England, adults in spring weighed on average 7.9 kg and in fall average 9.5 kg. In Doñana National Park, average weight of adult badgers is reported as 6 to 7.95 kg, perhaps in accordance with Bergmann's rule, that its size decreases in relatively warmer climates. Sows can attain a top autumn weight of around 17.2 kg, while exceptionally large boars have been reported in autumn. The heaviest verified was 27.2 kg, though unverified specimens have been reported to 30.8 kg and even 34 kg (if so, the heaviest weight for any terrestrial mustelid). If average weights are used, the European badger ranks as the second largest terrestrial mustelid, behind only the wolverine. Although their sense of smell is acute, their eyesight is monochromatic as has been shown by their lack of reaction to red lanterns. Only moving objects attract their attention. Their hearing is no better than that of humans.

European badger skulls are quite massive, heavy and elongated. Their braincases are oval in outline, while the facial part of their skulls is elongated and narrow. Adults have prominent sagittal crests which can reach 15 mm tall in old males, and are more strongly developed than those of honey badgers. Aside from anchoring the jaw muscles, the thickness of the crests protect their skulls from hard blows. Similar to martens, the dentition of European badgers is well-suited for their omnivorous diets. Their incisors are small and chisel-shaped, their canine teeth are prominent and their carnassials are not overly specialized. Their molars are flattened and adapted for grinding. Their jaws are powerful enough to crush most bones; a provoked badger was once reported as biting down on a man's wrist so severely that his hand had to be amputated. The dental formula is.

Scent glands are present below the base of the tail and on the anus. The subcaudal gland secretes a musky-smelling, cream-coloured fatty substance, while the anal glands secrete a stronger-smelling, yellowish-brown fluid.

Fur
In winter, the fur on the back and flanks is long and coarse, consisting of bristly guard hairs with a sparse, soft undercoat. The belly fur consists of short, sparse hairs, with skin being visible in the inguinal region. Guard hair length on the middle of the back is 75 – in winter. Prior to the winter, the throat, lower neck, chest and legs are black. The belly is of a lighter, brownish tint, while the inguinal region is brownish-grey. The general colour of the back and sides is light silvery-grey, with straw-coloured highlights on the sides. The tail has long and coarse hairs, and is generally the same colour as the back. Two black bands pass along the head, starting from the upper lip and passing upwards to the whole base of the ears. The bands sometimes extend along the neck and merge with the colour of the upper body. The front parts of the bands are 15 mm, and widen to 45 – in the ear region. A wide, white band extends from the nose tip through the forehead and crown. White markings occur on the lower part of the head, and extend backwards to a great part of the neck's length. The summer fur is much coarser, shorter and sparser, and is deeper in colour, with the black tones becoming brownish, sometimes with yellowish tinges. Partial melanism in badgers is known, and albinos and leucists are not uncommon. Albino badgers can be pure white or yellowish with pink eyes, while leucistic ones are the same but with normal eyes instead. Erythristic badgers are more common than the former, being characterized by having a sandy-red colour on the usually black parts of the body. Yellow badgers are also known.

Distribution and habitat
The European badger is native to most of Europe. Its range includes Albania, Armenia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Crete, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Ukraine.

The distributional boundary between the ranges of European and Asian badgers is the Volga River, the European species being situated on the western bank. The boundary between the ranges of the European and Caucasian badgers is in the North Caucasus, but a clear boundary has not been defined, and they are sympatric in some regions, potentially forming a hybrid zone. They are common in European Russia, with 30,000 individuals having been recorded there in 1990. They are abundant and increasing throughout their range, partly due to a reduction in rabies in Central Europe. In the UK, badgers experienced a 77% increase in numbers during the 1980s and 1990s. The badger population in Great Britain in 2012 is estimated to be 300,000.

The European badger is found in deciduous and mixed woodlands, clearings, spinneys, pastureland and scrub, including Mediterranean maquis shrubland. It has adapted to life in suburban areas and urban parks, although not to the extent of red foxes. In mountainous areas it occurs up to an altitude of 2000 m.

Social and territorial behaviour
European badgers are the most social of badgers, forming groups of six adults on average, though larger associations of up to 23 individuals have been recorded. Group size may be related to habitat composition. Under optimal conditions, badger territories can be as small as 30 ha, but may be as large as 150 ha in marginal areas. Badger territories can be identified by the presence of communal latrines and well-worn paths. It is mainly males that are involved in territorial aggression. A hierarchical social system is thought to exist among badgers and large powerful boars seem to assert dominance over smaller males. Large boars sometimes intrude into neighbouring territories during the main mating season in early spring.

Sparring and more vicious fights generally result from territorial defense in the breeding season. However, in general, animals within and outside a group show considerable tolerance of each other. Boars tend to mark their territories more actively than sows, with their territorial activity increasing during the mating season in early spring. Badgers groom each other very thoroughly with their claws and teeth. Grooming may have a social function. They are crepuscular and nocturnal in habits. Aggression among badgers is largely associated with territorial defence and mating. When fighting, they bite each other on the neck and rump, while running and chasing each other and injuries incurred in such fights can be severe and sometimes fatal. When attacked by dogs or sexually excited, badgers may raise their tails and fluff up their fur.

European badgers have an extensive vocal repertoire. When threatened, they emit deep growls and, when fighting, make low kekkering noises. They bark when surprised, whicker when playing or in distress, and emit a piercing scream when alarmed or frightened.

Denning behaviour

Like other badger species, European badgers are burrowing animals. However, the dens they construct (called setts) are the most complex, and are passed on from generation to generation. The number of exits in one sett can vary from a few to fifty. These setts can be vast, and can sometimes accommodate multiple families. When this happens, each family occupies its own passages and nesting chambers. Some setts may have exits which are only used in times of danger or play. A typical passage has a 22 – wide base and a 14 – height. Three sleeping chambers occur in a family unit, some of which are open at both ends. The nesting chamber is located 5 – from the opening, and is situated more than a 1 m underground, in some cases 2.3 m. Generally, the passages are 35 – long. The nesting chamber is on average 74 x, and are 38 cm high.

Badgers dig and collect bedding throughout the year, particularly in autumn and spring. Sett maintenance is usually carried out by subordinate sows and dominant boars. The chambers are frequently lined with bedding, brought in on dry nights, which consists of grass, bracken, straw, leaves and moss. Up to 30 bundles can be carried to the sett on a single night. European badgers are fastidiously clean animals which regularly clear out and discard old bedding. During the winter, they may take their bedding outside on sunny mornings and retrieve it later in the day. Spring cleaning is connected with the birth of cubs, and may occur several times during the summer to prevent parasite levels building up.

If a badger dies within the sett, its conspecifics will seal off the chamber and dig a new one. Some badgers will drag their dead out of the sett and bury them outside. A sett is almost invariably located near a tree, which is used by badgers for stretching or claw scraping. Badgers defecate in latrines, which are located near the sett and at strategic locations on territorial boundaries or near places with abundant food supplies.

In extreme cases, when there is a lack of suitable burrowing grounds, badgers may move into haystacks in winter. They may share their setts with red foxes or European rabbits. The badgers may provide protection for the rabbits against other predators. The rabbits usually avoid predation by the badgers by inhabiting smaller, hard to reach chambers.

Reproduction and development
Estrus in European badgers lasts four to six days and may occur throughout the year, though there is a peak in spring. Sexual maturity in boars is usually attained at the age of twelve to fifteen months but this can range from nine months to two years. Males are normally fecund during January–May, with spermatogenesis declining in summer. Sows usually begin ovulating in their second year, though some exceptionally begin at nine months. They can mate at any time of the year, though the main peak occurs in February–May, when mature sows are in postpartal estrus and young animals experience their first estrus. Matings occurring outside this period typically occur in sows which either failed to mate earlier in the year or matured slowly. Badgers are usually monogamous; boars typically mate with one female for life, whereas sows have been known to mate with more than one male. Mating lasts for fifteen to sixty minutes, though the pair may briefly copulate for a minute or two when the sow is not in estrus. A delay of two to nine months precedes the fertilized eggs implanting into the wall of the uterus, though matings in December can result in immediate implantation. Ordinarily, implantation happens in December, with a gestation period lasting seven weeks. Cubs are usually born in mid-January to mid-March within underground chambers containing bedding. In areas where the countryside is waterlogged, cubs may be born above ground in buildings. Typically, only dominant sows can breed, as they suppress the reproduction of subordinate females.

The average litter consists of one to five cubs. Although many cubs are sired by resident males, up to 54% can be fathered by boars from different colonies. Dominant sows may kill the cubs of subordinates. Cubs are born pink, with greyish, silvery fur and fused eyelids. Neonatal badgers are 12 cm in body length on average and weigh 75 to 132 g, with cubs from large litters being smaller. By three to five days, their claws become pigmented, and individual dark hairs begin to appear. Their eyes open at four to five weeks and their milk teeth erupt about the same time. They emerge from their setts at eight weeks of age, and begin to be weaned at twelve weeks, though they may still suckle until they are four to five months old. Subordinate females assist the mother in guarding, feeding and grooming the cubs. Cubs fully develop their adult coats at six to nine weeks. In areas with medium to high badger populations, dispersal from the natal group is uncommon, though badgers may temporarily visit other colonies. Badgers can live for up to about fifteen years in the wild.

Winter sleep
Badgers begin to prepare for winter sleep during late summer by accumulating fat reserves, which reach a peak in October. During this period, the sett is cleaned and the nesting chamber is filled with bedding. Upon retiring to sleep, badgers block their sett entrances with dry leaves and earth. They typically stop leaving their setts once snow has fallen. In Russia and the Nordic countries, European badgers retire for winter sleep from late October to mid-November and emerge from their setts in March and early April. In areas such as England and Transcaucasia, where winters are less harsh, badgers either forgo winter sleep entirely or spend long periods underground, emerging in mild spells.

Diet
European badgers are among the least carnivorous members of the Carnivora; they are highly adaptable and opportunistic omnivores, whose diet encompasses a wide range of animals and plants. Earthworms are their most important food source, followed by large insects, carrion, cereals, fruit and small mammals, including rabbits, mice, rats, voles, shrews, moles and hedgehogs. Insect prey includes chafers, dung and ground beetles, caterpillars, leatherjackets, and the nests of wasps and bumblebees. They are able to destroy wasp nests, consuming the occupants, combs, and envelope, such as that of Vespula rufa nests, since their thick skin and body hair protect the badgers from stings. Cereal food includes wheat, oats, maize and occasionally barley. Fruits include windfall apples, pears, plums, blackberries, bilberries, raspberries, cherries, strawberries, acorns, beechmast, pignuts and wild arum corms.

Occasionally, they feed on medium to large birds, amphibians, fish, small reptiles including tortoises and lizards, snails, slugs, fungi, tubers and green food such as clover and grass, particularly in winter and during droughts. Badgers characteristically capture large numbers of one food type in each hunt. Generally, they do not eat more than 0.5 kg of food per day, with young specimens yet to attain one year of age eating more than adults. An adult badger weighing 15 kg eats a quantity of food equal to 3.4% of its body weight. Badgers typically eat prey on the spot, and rarely transport it to their setts. Surplus killing has been observed in chicken coops.

Badgers prey on rabbits throughout the year, especially during times when their young are available. They catch young rabbits by locating their position in their nest by scent, then dig vertically downwards to them. In mountainous or hilly districts, where vegetable food is scarce, badgers rely on rabbits as a principal food source. Adult rabbits are usually avoided, unless they are wounded or caught in traps. They consume them by turning them inside out and eating the meat, leaving the inverted skin uneaten. Hedgehogs are eaten in a similar manner. In areas where badgers are common, hedgehogs are scarce. Some rogue badgers may kill lambs, though this is very rare; they may be erroneously implicated in lamb killings through the presence of discarded wool and bones near their setts, though foxes, which occasionally live alongside badgers, are often the culprits, as badgers do not transport food to their setts. They typically kill lambs by biting them behind the shoulder. Poultry and game birds are also taken only rarely. Some badgers may build their setts in close proximity to poultry or game farms without ever causing damage. In the rare instances in which badgers do kill reared birds, the killings usually occur in February–March, when food is scarce due to harsh weather and increases in badger populations. Badgers can easily breach bee hives with their jaws, and are mostly indifferent to bee stings, even when set upon by swarms.

Relationships with other non-human predators

European badgers have few natural enemies. While normally docile, badgers can become extremely aggressive and ferocious when cornered, making it dangerous for predators to target them. Grey wolves (Canis lupus), Eurasian lynxes (Lynx lynx) and brown bears (Ursus arctos), Europe's three largest remaining land predators, and large domestic dogs (C. familiaris) can pose a threat to adult badgers, though deaths caused by them are quantitatively rare as these predators are often limited in population due to human persecution and usually prefer easier, larger prey like ungulates, while badgers may fight viciously if aware of a predator and cornered without an escape route. They may live alongside red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) in isolated sections of large burrows. The two species possibly tolerate each other out of commensalism; foxes provide badgers with food scraps, while badgers maintain the shared burrow's cleanliness. However, cases are known of badgers driving vixens from their dens and destroying their litters without eating them. In turn, red foxes are known to have killed badger cubs in spring. Golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) are known predators of European badgers and attacks by them on badger cubs are not infrequent, including cases where they have been pulled out directly from below the legs of their mothers, and even adult badgers may be attacked by this eagle species when emerging weak and hungry from hibernation. Eurasian eagle owls (Bubo bubo) may also take an occasional cub and other large raptors such as white-tailed eagles (Haliaeetus albicilla) and greater spotted eagle (Clanga clanga) are considered potential badger cub predators. Raccoon dogs may extensively use badger setts for shelter. There are many known cases of badgers and raccoon dogs wintering in the same hole, possibly because badgers enter hibernation two weeks earlier than the latter, and leave two weeks later. In exceptional cases, badger and raccoon dog cubs may coexist in the same burrow. Badgers may drive out or kill raccoon dogs if they overstay their welcome.

Diseases and parasites
Bovine tuberculosis (bovine TB) caused by Mycobacterium bovis is a major mortality factor in badgers, though infected badgers can live and successfully breed for years before succumbing. The disease was first observed in badgers in 1951 in Switzerland where they were believed to have contracted it from chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra) or roe deer (Capreolus capreolus). It was detected in the United Kingdom in 1971 where it was linked to an outbreak of bovine TB in cows. The evidence appears to indicate that the badger is the primary reservoir of infection for cattle in the southwest of England, Wales and Ireland. Since then there has been considerable controversy as to whether culling badgers will effectively reduce or eliminate bovine TB in cattle.

Badgers are vulnerable to the mustelid herpesvirus-1, as well as rabies and canine distemper, though the latter two are absent in Great Britain. Other diseases found in European badgers include arteriosclerosis, pneumonia, pleurisy, nephritis, enteritis, polyarthritis and lymphosarcoma.

Internal parasites of badgers include trematodes, nematodes and several species of tapeworm. Ectoparasites carried by them include the fleas Paraceras melis (the badger flea), Chaetopsylla trichosa and Pulex irritans (the human flea), the lice Trichodectes melis and the ticks Ixodes ricinus, I. canisuga, I. hexagonus, I. reduvius and I. melicula. They also suffer from mange. They spend much time grooming, individuals concentrating on their own ventral areas, alternating one side with the other, while social grooming occurs with one individual grooming another on its dorsal surface. Fleas tried to avoid the scratching, retreating rapidly downwards and backwards through the fur. This was in contrast to fleas away from their host, which ran upwards and jumped when disturbed. The grooming seems to disadvantage fleas rather than merely having a social function.

Conservation
The International Union for Conservation of Nature rates the European badger as being of least concern. This is because it is a relatively common species with a wide range and populations are generally stable. In Central Europe it has become more abundant in recent decades due to a reduction in the incidence of rabies. In other areas it has also fared well, with increases in numbers in Western Europe and the United Kingdom. However, in some areas of intensive agriculture it has reduced in numbers due to loss of habitat and in others it is hunted as a pest.

Cultural significance

Badgers play a part in European folklore and are featured in modern literature. In Irish mythology, badgers are portrayed as shape-shifters and kinsmen to Tadg, the king of Tara and foster father of Cormac mac Airt. In one story, Tadg berates his adopted son for having killed and prepared some badgers for dinner. In German folklore, the badger is portrayed as a cautious, peace-loving Philistine, who loves more than anything his home, family and comfort, though he can become aggressive if surprised. He is a cousin of Reynard the Fox, whom he uselessly tries to convince to return to the path of righteousness.

In Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows, Mr. Badger is depicted as a gruff, solitary figure who "simply hates society", yet is a good friend to Mole and Ratty. As a friend of Toad's now-deceased father, he is often firm and serious with Toad, but at the same time generally patient and well-meaning towards him. He can be seen as a wise hermit, a good leader and gentleman, embodying common sense. He is also brave and a skilled fighter, and helps rid Toad Hall of invaders from the wild wood.

The "Frances" series of children's books by Russell and Lillian Hoban depicts an anthropomorphic badger family.

In T. H. White's Arthurian series The Once and Future King, the young King Arthur is transformed into a badger by Merlin as part of his education. He meets with an older badger who tells him "I can only teach you two things – to dig, and love your home."

A villainous badger named Tommy Brock appears in Beatrix Potter's 1912 book The Tale of Mr. Tod. He is shown kidnapping the children of Benjamin Bunny and his wife Flopsy, and hiding them in an oven at the home of Mr. Tod the fox, whom he fights at the end of the book. The portrayal of the badger as a filthy animal which appropriates fox dens was criticized from a naturalistic viewpoint, though the inconsistencies are few and employed to create individual characters rather than evoke an archetypical fox and badger. A wise old badger named Trufflehunter appears in C. S. Lewis' Prince Caspian, where he aids Caspian X in his struggle against King Miraz.

A badger takes a prominent role in Colin Dann's The Animals of Farthing Wood series as second in command to Fox. The badger is also the house symbol for Hufflepuff in the Harry Potter book series. The Redwall series also has the Badger Lords, who rule the extinct volcano fortress of Salamandastron and are renowned as fierce warriors. The children's television series Bodger & Badger was popular on CBBC during the 1990s and was set around the mishaps of a mashed potato-loving badger and his human companion.

An unnamed badger is part of Bosnian Serb writer Petar Kočić's satirical play Badger on Tribunal in which local farmer David Štrbac attempts to sue a badger for eating his crops. It is actually highly critical towards Austro-Hungarian rule in Bosnia and Herzegovina at the beginning of the 20th century. In honor of Kočić and his Badger, satirical theater in Banja Luka is named Jazavac (Badger).

Heraldry
European badger appears on the coat of arms of the municipality of Luhanka in Central Finland, referring to the former importance of the fur trade in the locality. The badger is also the title animal of the Nurmijärvi municipality in Uusimaa, Finland, where it is a very common mammal.

Hunting
European badgers are of little significance to hunting economies, though they may be actively hunted locally. Methods used for hunting badgers include catching them in jaw traps, ambushing them at their setts with guns, smoking them out of their earths and through the use of specially bred dogs such as Fox Terriers and Dachshunds to dig them out. Badgers are, however, notoriously durable animals; their skins are thick, loose and covered in long hair which acts as protection, and their heavily ossified skulls allow them to shrug off most blunt traumas, as well as shotgun pellets.

Badger-baiting
Badger-baiting was once a popular blood sport, in which badgers were captured alive, placed in boxes, and attacked with dogs. In the UK, this was outlawed by the Cruelty to Animals Act of 1835 and again by the Protection of Animals Act of 1911. Moreover, the cruelty towards and killing of the badger constitute offences under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992, and further offences under this act are inevitably committed to facilitate badger-baiting (such as interfering with a sett, or the taking or the very possession of a badger for purposes other than nursing an injured animal to health). If convicted, badger-baiters may face a sentence of up to six months in jail, a fine of up to £5,000, and other punitive measures, such as community service or a ban from owning dogs.

Culling
Many badgers in Europe were gassed during the 1960s and 1970s to control rabies. Until the 1980s, badger culling in the United Kingdom was undertaken in the form of gassing, to control the spread of bovine tuberculosis (bTB). Limited culling resumed in 1998 as part of a 10-year randomized trial cull which was considered by John Krebs and others to show that culling was ineffective. Some groups called for a selective cull, while others favoured a programme of vaccination, and vets support the cull on compassionate grounds as they say that the illness causes much suffering in badgers. In 2012, the government authorized a limited cull led by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), however, this was later deferred with a wide range of reasons given. In August 2013, a full culling programme began where about 5,000 badgers were killed over six weeks in West Somerset and Gloucestershire by marksmen with high-velocity rifles using a mixture of controlled shooting and free shooting (some badgers were trapped in cages first). The cull caused many protests with emotional, economic and scientific reasons being cited. The badger is considered an iconic species of the British countryside, though is not endangered. It was claimed by shadow ministers that "The government's own figures show it will cost more than it saves...", and Lord Krebs, who led the Randomised Badger Culling Trial in the 1990s, said the two pilots "will not yield any useful information". A scientific study of culling from 2013 to 2017 has shown a reduction of 36–55% incidence of bovine tuberculosis in cattle.

Tameability
There are several accounts of European badgers being tamed. Tame badgers can be affectionate pets, and can be trained to come to their owners when their names are called. They are easily fed, as they are not fussy eaters, and will instinctively unearth rats, moles and young rabbits without training, though they do have a weakness for pork. Although there is one record of a tame badger befriending a fox, they generally do not tolerate the presence of cats and dogs, and will chase them.

Uses
Badger meat is eaten in some districts of the former Soviet Union, though in most cases it is discarded. Smoked hams made from badgers were once highly esteemed in England, Wales and Ireland.

Some badger products have been used for medical purposes; badger expert Ernest Neal, quoting from an 1810 edition of The Sporting Magazine, wrote; "The flesh, blood and grease of the badger are very useful for oils, ointments, salves and powders, for shortness of breath, the cough of the lungs, for the stone, sprained sinews, collachs etc. The skin being well dressed is very warm and comfortable for ancient people who are troubled with paralytic disorders."

The hair of the European badger has been used for centuries for making sporrans and shaving brushes. Sporrans are traditionally worn as part of male Scottish highland dress. They form a bag or pocket made from a pelt and a badger or other animal's mask may be used as a flap. The pelt was also formerly used for pistol furniture.

Badgers and TB in the UK

 * DEFRA (UK government department) position on badgers and TB
 * Executive summary of the Krebs Report Bovine Tuberculosis in Cattle and Badgers 1997
 * The Randomised Badger Culling Trial
 * Godfray Report, Independent Scientific Review of the Randomised Badger Culling Trial and Associated Epidemiological Research, March 2004. PDF format
 * National Farmers Union proposals to control badgers (would involve repeal of the 1992 act) July 2005
 * NFBG (now Badger Trust) response to the National Farmers Union proposals, August 2005

Claims of continued badger-hunting in the UK

 * Allegations of lamping (among other practices) were made in the appendix to the NFBG (now Badger Trust) response to the Krebs Report

title: European badger


text:
Talk:Naked News

Stuff
A question from a person who hasn't seen the show, just references to it: Don't they start out fully clothed and strip during their news reading? RickK 04:45, 11 Mar 2004 (UTC)

 * Yes, they strip during the show. And that's from someone who has seen the show. :) -- Matty j 04:47, Mar 11, 2004 (UTC)

There aren't any male anchors on its PPV episodes BTW. I find it funny that all of the females there have big tits. lysdexia 09:47, 28 Oct 2004 (UTC)

 * Dunno what PPP is. Actually at least two of the longest-running (and most beautiful) anchors, Lily Kwan and Roxanne West, are A-cup at best.  So was Athena King until this winter when she got some oversized implants.  Sad, she looked far better before.  THe divine Erica Stevens has exactly medium-sized, perfectly shaped round breasts.  From someone who has both seen the show and can write in English.

 * And by the way, sometimes they strip, sometimes they're naked at the start, sometimes neither.

 * PPP was originally PPV, meaning PayPerView. --Auric (talk) 03:02, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

Questions
Two things...

1) Is it really appropriate to talk about the pubic hair of the news anchors in the cast section? This is a news show, not porn.  I say we remove that.

2) Anyone got a source regarding Lily Kwan working as a bondage model? This is the first time I hear about that.

-- Richy (3 July 2005 21:00)

3) The Naked News website says Erica Stevens is on a "well-earned sabbatical". Should she really be listed under "past female anchors", as this means she's expected to come back some day?

Answer
Erica Stevens is now back full-time even if she's still listed as on sabbatical.

Answer
To 2): In the links section of Lily Kwan's Yahoo group "Lily Kwan Fan Club", there's a link to fetish photographer Steve Diet Goedde, for whom she has done some modelling (for example, look at this: ).

-- Lollomok (15 November 2005 12:40)

Criticisms
Shouldn't there be criticisim section? I mean look, its soft-core porn tv show. It's gotta have criticism. How bout contriversy too. On the Insider, they had a report on NN stripping in public. 69.67.234.9
 * I don't see how the human body is pornography. 76.95.40.6 (talk) 13:22, 17 May 2009 (UTC)

Large areas of text removed
Per a complaint to WP:OTRS, I have removed a large amount of speculative or unsourced information about the site. Please make sure to add a reference for any information added to Wikipedia articles. Feel free to drop a note at my talk page if you have any questions about the removal. Shell babelfish 12:54, 25 November 2006 (UTC)

History, as it should be.
This show was not actually first with the idea, but one can`t figure it out from the article. Merely a link to Svetlana Pesotskaya, doesn`t show that she was the pioneer in the field. TV Channel M1 (Moscow, Russia) started airing "The Naked Truth" in November 1999.

Actually the idea is older than that, and Naked News started in December of 1999. So it's possible it was inspired by "The Naked Truth" but it doesn't seem likely. --Threkk (talk) 11:54, 17 August 2009 (UTC)

Images?
At the top, it says images are requested. What type of images? I could add a screen capture of an episode, but I'm not sure on Wikipedia's police on screen captures. I've seen them on other articles about television shows and movies, and sometimes about actors, but are there limitations on size and/or number of images allowed? (I'm not worried about content of images because WP:NOT.) — Michael J  18:32, 25 August 2007 (UTC)

Christine Kerr Picture
I feel this naked photo on Wiki of Christine Kerr should be removed. It is displaying unrestricted nudity that persons under age 18 can view without any checksums. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Albyva (talk • contribs) 03:50, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

 * Please see WP:NOT. — Michael J  22:37, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

I could direct you to a few articles featuring various images of female anatomy that would be equally appealing to minors looking for a thrill. A single image to demonstrate the format of the show is appropriate. 74.67.17.22 (talk) 16:02, 19 February 2008 (UTC)

What about the lily kwan picture on the main page?69.122.156.68 (talk) 23:39, 22 January 2009 (UTC)

Why aren't pictures of all the newscasters featured? --35.13.138.122 (talk) 20:31, 6 June 2009 (UTC)

foreign editions
The foreign editions should be covered. 70.55.203.112 (talk) 03:19, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

I second this.VincentG (talk) 21:23, 2 January 2009 (UTC)

Anchor Bios
I've noticed that nearly all the anchor bios have been re-directed to the main Naked News page recently.

The argument in all the cases that I looked at was that being a Naked News anchor wasn't notable.

I would agree that just being a Naked News anchor doesn't inherently make someone notable, but there are Several anchors who have significantly shaped the Naked News and should be considered notable because they're the ones that make Naked News Notable(It would not have survived 10 years without them).

The anchors I think are Notable are Victoria Sinclair, Katherine Curtis, Sandrine Renard, Samantha Page, Lily Kwan, and Michelle Pantoliano. Victoria is the original anchor and without her class, charm, and serious treatment of the news it would have been laughed off the internet as a joke. The rest of the anchors are each responsible for creating new segments and most of them are also writing and/or producing.

--Threkk (talk) 12:38, 17 August 2009 (UTC)

Spanish version gone?
Another language version has a link to:

http://www.nakednewsenespanol.com/

But that redirects to the main NN site. It could be mentioned that this once existed. Gronky (talk) 18:18, 9 March 2010 (UTC)

Explanation for revert
TVshows ,Movies etc and the credits at the end of them are their own source and it doesn't matter if they are behind a paywall

Also in this case the credits and bio for each of them is at the NN website .Garda40 (talk) 07:50, 18 October 2010 (UTC)

 * WP:BLP is quite clear: "All quotations and any material challenged or likely to be challenged must be attributed to a reliable, published source using an inline citation. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced—whether the material is negative, positive, neutral, or just questionable—should be removed immediately and without waiting for discussion." This material has been challenged, by me, and has no inlined citations.  If it is sourced to a website, that needs to be reliable: is it a "reliable, third-party, published source with a reputation for fact-checking and accuracy"?  Have you seen the website, or are you claiming to have verified every single one - or indeed any - of these names to the credits at the end of the shows?  Are those shows available now?  Are the dates included, or are those original research?  Remember that by adding these names back in, you are taking responsibility for their verifiability.  In the absence of much better sorcing these names cannot remain.  Kenilworth Terrace (talk) 16:37, 18 October 2010 (UTC)

 *  Have you seen the website

 * Have you ? You seem to have made no effort to look at it especially asking a question like  Are the dates included, and  or are you claiming to have verified every single one - or indeed any - of these names  since 2 of the presenters have Wiki articles with sources that include  mention of them in other places.

 * Also the fact that you have to pay to see a show is not a barrier to listing something  since  a movie's credits are considered a source for claims someone is in such a movie and you have to pay to see a movie in the cinema or on DVD.

 * But since you appear to be determined to remove those names without making the slightest effort to check them remove them if you want to and why not while you are at it delete the whole article.

 * And people wonder why people are leaving Wikipedia .Garda40 (talk) 18:11, 18 October 2010 (UTC)

 * No, I have not seen the site, since as you say it requires payment - hence my request for details. If citations exist in other places then by all means use them here too.  The burden of evidence lies with the editor who adds or restores material.  Since you do not vouch for the content then I will remove it.  Kenilworth Terrace (talk) 18:43, 18 October 2 010 (UTC)

 * Well you just proved you have even bothered other to look at the website since the section of the website with the bio of the show presenters is free and that you haven't read my reply either since I actually said the show has to be paid for not the website.

 * And you might as well remove those sections you put . on since they fail your edit summary ''remove unsourced assertions about living people per WP:BLP .Garda40 (talk) 07:25, 19 October 2010 (UTC)

Similar shows
You forgot "All Nude Sports" http://ainews.com/Archives/Story2926.phtml 74.190.139.163 (talk) 03:29, 8 January 2011 (UTC)

nm

additional citation
Seems to be fairly well sourced as of this version, can the ref improve tag be safely removed now? (it's been there since 2008) — Nicoli Maege (talk) 15:16, 17 May 2013 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just added archive links to 5 one external links on Naked News. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20140910095013/http://www.nova.cz:80/tvarchiv/?prog=POCASICKO to http://www.nova.cz/tvarchiv/?prog=POCASICKO
 * Attempted to fix sourcing for http://tn.nova.cz/red/
 * Attempted to fix sourcing for http://www.lesgravesinfos.fr/
 * Attempted to fix sourcing for http://www.lesgravesinfos.fr/
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20080607104359/http://www.bsa.govt.nz:80/decisions/2005/2005-137.htm to http://www.bsa.govt.nz/decisions/2005/2005-137.htm

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 * Only the last one is working.  Vanjagenije  (talk)  00:52, 26 December 2015 (UTC)

External links modified
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I have just added archive links to 1 one external link on Naked News. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
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External links modified
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External links modified
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Cast section
To be quite honest, I don't see the relevance of having the a current anchors and past anchors section. It changes frequently and also it clogs up the page pointlessly. I suggest that the section should be removed. RafaelS1979 (talk) 00:30, 5 April 2018 (UTC)
 * The section does have the annoying habit of growing overly large with inadequate referencing. If we are to remove this section there are a number of things I would consider saving:

 * 1) Images: both of the article's images (of Lily Kwan and Christine Kerr) are in this section, and without it the article would be imageless. If we delete the section I'd suggest moving one or both of them to other sections.
 * 2) Performers with articles that link here: Samantha Page and Michelle Pantoliano have their own articles as a result of their work on Naked News. It would be strange for them not to appear on this page. In addition Victoria Sinclair, Lily Kwan, Athena King, Sandrine Renard, Christine Kerr, Erica Stevens, Valentina Taylor and Roxanne West have redirect pages that link here. It would be confusing if they were not mentioned somewhere on this page. Of course, an alternative to this would be to delete these articles and redirects.
 * 3) Reliable sources: although most of the sources are merely tabloids, a few have reliable sources. In future we might wish to allow only reliably-sourced performers to be named. So far that would include Athena King, Lily Kwan, Michelle Pantoliano, Sandrine Renard, Brooke Roberts, Erin Sherwood, Victoria Sinclair, Roxanne West and Holly Weston.
 * These three considerations largely overlap, and would produce a core group working for the show in the 2000s. I think it would be helpful not to list them in the current way which invites additions. We could instead name them in the inline text in the way I have been doing here. A note in the markup to say that additions must be reliably source would probably help too. - Polly Tunnel (talk) 15:50, 9 April 2018 (UTC)
 * I think that your ideas are making a lot of sense and we should apply them as you've exposed it. We should leave the most notable anchors (you can't talk about NN without mentioning Victoria Sinclair!), like Victoria Sinclair, Michelle Pantoliano, Sandrine Renard, etc. even and my favorite, April Torres. But it shouldn't be all the anchors because it's pointless and at best trivial. So unless others don't agree, you have the ok from me. RafaelS1979 (talk) 19:34, 9 April 2018 (UTC)
 * ✅ - Polly Tunnel (talk) 16:50, 24 April 2018 (UTC)
 * Thanks. RafaelS1979 (talk) 21:38, 24 April 2018 (UTC)

Studio location
Does anybody know where the new studio is located? --87.147.176.31 (talk) 23:41, 6 February 2019 (UTC)

title: Talk:Naked News


text:
Talk:Neuroanatomist

Yes, it is weak and kindof embarassing but from nothing to something. please add. GrazingshipIV 04:45, Mar 11, 2004 (UTC)

title: Talk:Neuroanatomist