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Kamchatka Peninsula

The Kamchatka Peninsula (полуостров Камчатка, ) is a 1,250. km peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of about 270000 km2. The Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk make up the peninsula's eastern and western coastlines, respectively. Immediately offshore along the Pacific coast of the peninsula runs the 10,500. m Kuril–Kamchatka Trench.

The Kamchatka Peninsula, the Commander Islands, and Karaginsky Island constitute Kamchatka Krai of the Russian Federation. The majority of the 322,079 inhabitants are ethnic Russians, with about 13,000 being Koryaks (2014). More than half of the population lives in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (179,526 in 2010) and nearby Yelizovo (38,980). The Kamchatka peninsula contains the volcanoes of Kamchatka, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Geography

Politically, the peninsula forms part of Kamchatka Krai. The southern tip is called Cape Lopatka. (Lopatka is Russian for spade.) The circular bay to the north of this on the Pacific side is Avacha Bay, home to the capital, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Northward up the Pacific side, the four peninsulas are called Shipunsky Point, Kronotsky Point, Kamchatsky Point, and Ozernoy Point. North of Ozernoy Point is the large Karaginsky Bay, which features Karaginsky Island. Northeast of this (off the displayed map) lies Korfa Bay with the town of Tilichiki. On the opposite side is the Shelikhov Gulf.

The Kamchatka or Central (Sredinny) Range forms the spine of the peninsula. Along the southeast coast runs the Eastern Range (Vostochny). Between these lies the central valley. The Kamchatka River rises northwest of Avacha and flows north down the central valley, turning east near Klyuchi to enter the Pacific south of Kamchatsky Point at Ust-Kamchatsk.

In the 19th century, a trail led west from near Klychi over the mountains to the Tegil river and town, which was the main trading post on the west coast. North of Tegil is Koryak Okrug. South of the Tegil is the Icha River. Just south of the headwaters of the Kamchatka, the Bistraya River curves southwest to enter the Sea of Okhotsk at Bolsheretsk, which once served as a port connecting the peninsula to Okhotsk. South of the Bistraya flows the Golygina River.

Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and the settlements in the central part of the peninsula are connected by highway to Ust-Kamchatsk. The road is asphalt in its southern part, but changes to gravel about halfway north where the population is sparser. Another highway connects the local capital with Bolsheretsk. Bus service is available on both roads. Most other roads are gravel-covered or dirt roads, requiring off-road-capable vehicles. There is semi-regular passenger transportation with aircraft. The obvious circular area in the central valley is the Klyuchevskaya Sopka, an isolated volcanic group southeast of the curve of the Kamchatka River. West of Kronotsky Point is the Kronotsky Biosphere Reserve with the Valley of Geysers. At the southern tip is the Southern Kamchatka Wildlife Refuge with Kurile Lake. There are several other protected areas on the peninsula.

Climate
Kamchatka receives up to 2700 mm of precipitation per year. This is much higher than the rest of Eastern Russia, and is due to prevailing westerly winds blowing over the Sea of Japan and picking up moisture that rises as it hits the higher topography of the peninsula, and condenses into rain. The summers are moderately cool, and the winters are rather stormy, but the storms rarely produce lightning.

Although Kamchatka lies at latitudes similar to Scotland's, cold arctic winds from Siberia combined with the cold Oyashio sea current keep the peninsula covered in snow from October to late May. Under the Köppen climate classification, Kamchatka generally has a subarctic climate (Dfc), but higher and more northerly areas have a polar climate (ET). Kamchatka is much wetter and milder than eastern Siberia. It is essentially transitional from the hypercontinental climate of Siberia and northeast China to the rain-drenched subpolar oceanic climate of the Aleutian Islands.

There is considerable variation, however, between the rain-drenched and heavily glaciated east coast and the drier and more continental interior valley. In the heavily glaciated Kronotsky Peninsula, where maritime influences are most pronounced, annual precipitation can reach as high as 2500 mm, whilst the southeast coast south of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky generally receives around 1166 mm of rainfall equivalent per year. Considerable local variations exist: southern parts of the Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky metropolitan area can receive as much as 430 mm more than the northern part of the city. Temperatures here are very mild, with summer maxima around 16 C and winter lows around −8 C, whilst diurnal temperature ranges seldom exceed 5 C-change due to persistent fog on exposed parts of the coast. South of 57° ˚N, there is no permafrost due to the relatively mild winters and heavy snow cover, whilst northward, discontinuous permafrost prevails. The west coastal plain has a colder and drier climate with precipitation ranging from 880. mm in the south to as little as 430 mm in the north, where winter temperatures become considerably colder at around -20 C.

The interior valley of the Kamchatka River, represented by Klyuchi, has much lower precipitation (at around 450 to 650 mm) and significantly more continental temperatures, reaching 19 C on a typical summer day and during extreme cold winter spells falling as low as -41 C. Sporadic permafrost prevails over the lower part of this valley, but it becomes more widespread at higher altitudes and glaciers, and continuous permafrost prevails north of 55˚° N.

The summer months, when maximum temperatures range from 15 to 20 C, are popular with tourists, but a growing trend in winter sports keeps tourism pulsing year-round. The volcanoes and glaciers play a role in forming Kamchatka's climate, and hot springs have kept alive dozens of species decimated during the last ice age.

Geology, earthquakes and volcanoes
The Kamchatka River and the surrounding central side valley are flanked by large volcanic belts containing around 160 volcanoes, 29 of them still active. The peninsula has a high density of volcanoes and associated volcanic phenomena, with 19 active volcanoes included in the six UNESCO World Heritage List sites in the Volcanoes of Kamchatka group, most of them on the Kamchatka Peninsula, the most volcanic area of the Eurasian continent, with many active cones. The Kamchatka Peninsula is also known as the "land of fire and ice".

The highest volcano is Klyuchevskaya Sopka (4,750. m), the largest active volcano in the Northern Hemisphere. Many have highly symmetrical cones, and Kronotsky is viewed by volcanologists Robert and Barbara Decker as a prime candidate for the world's most beautiful volcano. Somewhat more accessible are the three volcanoes visible from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky: Koryaksky, Avachinsky, and Kozelsky. In the center of Kamchatka is the Valley of Geysers, which was partly destroyed by a massive mudslide in June 2007.

These volcanic features host certain extremophile micro-organisms that can survive in extremely hot environments.

Owing to the Kuril–Kamchatka Trench, deep-focus seismic events and tsunamis occur fairly commonly. A pair of megathrust earthquakes occurred off the coast on October 16, 1737, and on November 4, 1952, with magnitudes of ≈9.3 and 8.2 respectively. A chain of more shallow earthquakes were recorded as recently as April 2006. A significant 7.7-magnitude earthquake with a shallow depth of 10 km occurred in the Pacific Ocean, 202 km east-southeast of Nikolskoye, on July 18, 2017.

History and exploration

Prior to Russian discovery, the peninsula was inhabited by various Chukotko-Kamchatkan peoples (specifically the Itelmen, Koryak, and Alyutor). The southern tip of the peninsula was also the northernmost extent of Ainu settlement.

When the Russian explorer Ivan Moskvitin reached the Sea of Okhotsk in 1639, further exploration was impeded by the lack of skills and equipment to build seagoing ships and by the harsh land to the northeast inhabited by the warlike Koryak people. Consequently, Russians entered Kamchatka from the north. In 1651, after having assisted in the foundation of the Anadyrsk ostrog, the explorer Mikhail Stadukhin went south and followed the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk from Penzhina Bay to Okhotsk. From about 1667 there were reports of a Kamchatka River to the south. Some time before 1700 a group of Russians were stranded and died on Kamchatka.

In 1695, explorer Vladimir Atlasov became commander of Anadyrsk. In 1696 he sent the Cossack Luka Morozko south. Morozko got as far as the Tigil River and returned with reports and some mysterious writings, probably Japanese. In 1697–1699, Atlasov explored nearly the whole of the peninsula. He built an ostrog at Verkhny-Kamchatsk, rescued or captured a Japanese castaway, and went to Moscow to report. In 1699, the Russians at Verkhny-Kamchatsk were killed on their way back to Anadyrsk by the Koryaks. In 1700, a punitive expedition destroyed a Koryak village and founded Nizhne-Kamchatsk on the lower river. Bolskeretsk was founded in 1703. From about 1705, there was a breakdown of order. There were numerous mutinies and native wars all over the peninsula and north to the Koryak country of the Penzhina River and Olyutor Gulf. Several people were sent out to restore order, including Atlasov, who was murdered by mutineers in 1711. Vasily Merlin restored some degree of order between 1733 and 1739. There was no significant resistance after 1756. A major smallpox epidemic that hit in 1768–1769 quickly decimated the native population; the roughly 2,500 Itelmens present in 1773 were reduced to 1,900 in 1820, from an original population of 12,000–25,000. Those who survived adopted Russian customs, and there was a great deal of intermarriage, such that "Kamchadal" (the original Russian name for the Itelmens) came to mean any Russian or part-Russian born on the peninsula.

In 1713, Peter the Great sent shipbuilders to Okhotsk. A fifty-four-foot boat was built and sailed to the Tegil River in June 1716. This one-week journey, later redirected to Okhotsk-Bolseretsk, became the standard route to Kamchatka. In 1720, Ivan Yevreinov mapped Kamchatka and the Kurils. The Danish-born explorer Vitus Bering left Nezhe-Kamchatsk for his first voyage in 1728 and, as part of his second voyage, founded Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky in 1740.

Vitus Bering's Second Kamchatka Expedition (ca 1733–1743), in the service of the Russian Navy, began the final "opening" of Kamchatka, helped by the fact that the government began to use the area to exile people, famously the Hungarian nobleman and explorer the Count de Benyovszky in 1770. In 1755, Stepan Krasheninnikov published the first detailed description of the peninsula, An Account of the Land of Kamchatka. The Russian government encouraged the commercial activities of the Russian-American Company by granting land to newcomers on the peninsula. By 1812, the indigenous population had fallen to less than 3,200 while the Russian population had risen to 2,500.

In 1854, the French and British, who were battling Russian forces in the course of the Crimean War, attacked Petropavlovsk. During the Siege of Petropavlovsk, 988 men with a mere 68 guns managed to defend the outpost against 6 ships with 206 guns and 2,540 French and British soldiers. Despite the successful defense, the Russians abandoned Petropavlovsk as a strategic liability after the French and British forces withdrew. The next year, when a second enemy force came to attack the port, they found it deserted. Frustrated, the ships bombarded the city and withdrew.

On 24 May 1861, the ship Polar Star (475 tons), of New Bedford, wrecked on the west coast of Kamchatka during a dense fog and gale. The chief officer and a boat's crew perished while attempting to reach the shore. The rest of the crew were saved by the barque Alice, of Cold Spring, and the ship Oliver Crocker, also from New Bedford.

On 21 May 1865, the American Civil War came to the area: the Confederate States Navy steamer Shenandoah sailed past the southern end of the Kamchatka Peninsula on its way to hunt United States whaling ships in the Sea of Okhotsk. As a commerce raider, the CSS Shenandoah aimed to destroy Union merchant shipping and thus draw off United States Navy ships in pursuit, thereby loosening the US Navy blockade of Confederate coasts. The ship spent almost three weeks in the Sea, destroying only one ship due to the dangerous ice, before moving on to the North Pacific, where it virtually captured or bonded 24 whalers, sinking most of them.

The next fifty years were lean for Kamchatka. The naval port moved to Ust-Amur, and in 1867, Russia sold Alaska to the United States, making Petropavlovsk obsolete as a transit point for traders and explorers on their way to the American territories. In 1860, a Primorsky (Maritime) Region was established and Kamchatka was placed under its jurisdiction. In 1875, Russia ceded the Kuril Islands to Japan in return for Russian sovereignty over Sakhalin island. The Russian population of Kamchatka stayed at around 2,500 until the turn of the century, while the native population increased to 5,000. During the 19th century, scientific exploration of the peninsula continued. Karl von Ditmar made an important journey to the peninsula in 1851–1854.

In 1920, Russian leader Vladimir Lenin offered a 60-year lease of the peninsula to the United States.

World War II (1939–1945) hardly affected Kamchatka except for its role as a launch site for the invasion of Manchuria in August 1945. After the war, the Soviet authorities declared Kamchatka a military zone: it remained closed to Soviet citizens until 1989 and to foreigners until 1990.

From 1946 to 1949, around 50,000 North Korean people went to Kamchatka as contract workers. Several thousand refused to repatriate after the end of their contract, which has led to a community of around 1,800 by 2020.

Avacha Bay was the scene of massive die-off of benthic marine organisms in September-October 2020.

Fauna and flora
Kamchatka boasts abundant flora. The variable climate promotes different flora zones where tundra and muskeg are dominant, succeeded by grasses, flowering shrubs, and forests of pine, birch, alder, and willow. The wide variety of plant forms spread throughout the Peninsula promotes a similar diversity in animal species that feed off the flora. Although Kamchatka is mostly tundra, deciduous and coniferous trees are abundant, and forests can be found throughout the peninsula.

Kamchatka boasts diverse and abundant wildlife. This is due to many factors, including a wide range of climates; diverse topography and geography; many free-flowing rivers; proximity to the highly productive waters of the northwestern Pacific Ocean, the Bering, and the Okhotsk Seas; low human population density; and minimal development. The peninsula also boasts the southernmost expanse of Arctic tundra in the world. However, commercial exploitation of marine resources and a history of fur trapping has taken its toll on several species.

Kamchatka is famous for the abundance and size of its brown bears. In the Kronotsky Nature Reserve, there are estimated to be three to four bears per 100 km2. Other fauna of note include carnivores such as tundra wolf (Canis lupus albus), Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus), Anadyr fox (Vulpes vulpes beringiana), East Siberian lynx (Lynx lynx wrangeli), wolverine (Gulo gulo), sable (Martes zibellina), Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra), East Siberian stoat (Mustela ermine kaneii), and Siberian least weasel (Mustela nivalis pygmaea). The peninsula hosts habitat for several large ungulates including the Kamchatka snow sheep, reindeer (Rangifer tarandus), and Chukotka moose (Alces alces buturlini), one of the largest moose in the world and the largest in Eurasia, and rodents/leporids, including mountain hare (Lepus timidus), marmot, and several species of lemming and squirrel. The peninsula is the breeding ground for Steller's sea eagle, one of the largest eagle species, along with the golden eagle and gyr falcon.

Kamchatka most likely contains the world's greatest diversity of salmonid fish, including all six species of anadromous Pacific salmon (chinook, coho, chum, seema, pink, and sockeye). Due to its uniquely suitable environment, biologists estimate that a fifth of all Pacific salmon originates in Kamchatka. Kurile Lake is recognized as the biggest spawning-ground for sockeye in Eurasia. In response to pressure from poaching and to worldwide decreases in salmon stocks, some 24000 km2 along nine of the more productive salmon rivers are in the process of being set aside as a nature preserve. Stickleback species, particularly Gasterosteus aculeatus and Pungitius pungitius, also occur in many coastal drainages, and are likely present in freshwater as well.

Cetaceans that frequent the highly productive waters of the northwestern Pacific and the Okhotsk Sea include orcas, Dall's and harbour porpoises, humpback whales, sperm whales, and fin whales. Less frequently, grey whales (from the eastern population), the critically endangered North Pacific right whale and bowhead whale, beaked whales, and minke whales are encountered. Blue whale are known to feed off of the southeastern shelf in summer. Among pinnipeds, Steller's sea lions, northern fur seals, spotted seals, and harbor seals are abundant along much of the peninsula. Further north, walruses and bearded seals can be encountered on the Pacific side, and ribbon seals reproduce on the ice of Karaginsky Bay. Sea otters are concentrated primarily on the southern end of the peninsula.

Seabirds include murrelets, northern fulmars, thick- and thin-billed murres, kittiwakes, tufted and horned puffins, red-faced, pelagic, and other cormorants, and many other species. Typical of the northern seas, the marine fauna is likewise rich. Of commercial importance are Kamchatka crab (king crab), scallop, squid, pollock, cod, herring, halibut, and several species of flatfish.

Tourism
Points of interest on the Kamchatka Peninsula include thermal and mineral springs, volcanoes, glaciers, a diversity of plants and animals, and other natural features largely untouched by civilization. Activities include sport fishing, alpine tourism, heliskiing, snowboarding, dog sledding, and surfing.

title: Kamchatka Peninsula


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Pierrefonds—Dollard

Pierrefonds—Dollard is a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1988. Its population was 108,587 at the 2016 Canadian Census.

This riding occupies the northwest part of the Island of Montreal on Lac des Deux-Montagnes and Rivière des Prairies. It contains the cities of Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Pierrefonds, Roxboro and L'Île-Bizard. This riding is home to a number of pharmaceutical companies. Manufacturing is the main industry, followed by retail trade. Over 17% of the population has a university degree, while just over 4% has less than a Grade 9 education. The average family income is $75,497 with an unemployment rate of 6.5%.

According to the 2001 Canadian census, 37% of the population lists English as their mother tongue, while French is the first language for 32%. There are also significant populations who speak Arabic, Italian, Spanish and Chinese. This is an ethnically mixed riding, including Italian, East Indian and Chinese communities. The total immigrant population is almost 30%.

Geography
The district includes the Montreal borough of Pierrefonds-Roxboro, L'Île-Bizard–Sainte-Geneviève and the city of Dollard-des-Ormeaux.

The neighbouring ridings are Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, Lac-Saint-Louis, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, Laval—Les Îles and Saint-Laurent—Cartierville.

History
This riding was established in 1986 by combining parts of Dollard and Vaudreuil ridings. The 1996 redistribution moved nine per cent of the population of the riding into Lac-St-Louis.

In the redistribution of 2004, 91% of the riding was retained.

There were no changes to this riding during the 2012 electoral redistribution.

Members of Parliament
This riding has elected the following members of Parliament:

Election results
Note: Conservative vote is compared to the total of the Canadian Alliance vote and Progressive Conservative vote in 2000 election.

Note: Canadian Alliance vote is compared to the Reform vote in 1997 election.

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

title: Pierrefonds—Dollard


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Supermarine Attacker

The Supermarine Attacker is a British single-seat naval jet fighter designed and produced by aircraft manufacturer Supermarine for the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm (FAA). It was the first jet fighter to enter operational service with the FAA.

In order to rapidly introduce jet aircraft to Navy service, Supermarine proposed using the wing developed for their most advanced piston-powered design, the Supermarine Spiteful, with a new fuselage for the Rolls-Royce Nene engine. Performing its maiden flight on 27 July 1946, the flight testing phase of development was protracted due to several issues, including handling difficulties. The first Attackers were introduced to FAA service in August 1951.

Common to the majority of other first-generation jet fighters, the Attacker had a relatively short service life before being replaced; this was due to increasingly advanced aircraft harnessing the jet engine being rapidly developed during the 1950s and 1960s. Despite its retirement from front line service by the FAA during 1954, only three years following its introduction, the Attacker would be adopted by the newly formed Pakistan Air Force, who would continue to operate the type possibly as late as 1964.

Origins
The origins of the Attacker can be traced back to a wartime fighter jet project performed on behalf of the Royal Air Force (RAF). Many of the design's key features and performance requirements were stipulated under Specification E.10/44 (the E standing for experimental) issued by the Air Ministry during 1944, which had called for the development of a jet fighter furnished with a laminar flow wing and a single jet engine. In response, British aircraft manufacturer Supermarine decided to produce their own submission, which involved designing a brand new fuselage, complete with bifurcated intakes to provide airflow to the Rolls-Royce Nene turbojet engine powering the type. This fuselage was mated with the pre-existing laminar flow straight wings which had been designed for the Supermarine Spiteful, a piston-engined fighter that had been intended to replace the Supermarine Spitfire.

Joe Smith presented the Type 392 for consideration and three prototypes (TS409, TS413 and TS416) were ordered. Prior to the design being officially named Attacker, the aircraft had was referred to as the "Jet Spiteful" with "Jet Seafang" for a naval version.

E.10/44, (issued February 1945 ) specified a maximum speed of 550 mph (885 km/h) up to 30,000 ft (9,100 m).

As originally intended, the Type 392 was supposed to provide an interim jet fighter to equip the RAF while another aircraft, the Gloster E.1/44, that was also powered by the same Rolls-Royce Nene engine, completed development; the expectation was that, with the wing already designed, the remaining work required for the aircraft would be completed quickly. On 30 August 1944, an order for three prototypes was placed with Supermarine; it was stipulated that the second and third prototypes were both to be navalised. On 7 July 1945, a follow-on order for 24 pre-production aircraft, six for the RAF and the remaining 18 (to Specification E1/45 ) for the Fleet Air Arm (FAA), was placed.

Handling problems with the Spiteful prototype delayed progress on the jet-powered version, leading to the pre-production order of 24 being stopped, although work on the three prototypes continued. In January 1945 Supermarine had been ordered to stop work on their Seagull air-sea rescue amphibian and give the Type 392 maximum priority. Due to the delay, the FAA instead ordered a batch of 18 de Havilland Vampire Mk. 20s for the purpose of gaining experience with jet aircraft. After evaluating both the Jet Spiteful and the E.1/44, the RAF decided to reject both designs since neither aircraft offered any perceptible performance advantage over contemporary fighters such as the Gloster Meteor and the de Havilland Vampire, which were the RAF's first two operational jet aircraft.

Into flight
Following the design's rejection by the RAF, Supermarine decided to approach the Admiralty with an offer of developing a navalised version of the project. On 27 July 1946, the maiden flight of the type was performed by prototype Type 392 serial number TS409, a land-based version, by test pilot Jeffrey Quill. The Air Ministry issued Specification E.1/45 to cover production aircraft; meeting its various requirements necessitated a range of extensive modifications to be made to the design, including a revised fin and tailplane arrangement, as well as an increased internal fuel capacity. Accordingly, a large external ventral fuel tank was adopted, along with an extended dorsal fin and folding wing tips.

Flight testing was largely conducted at Supermarine's newly created experimental establishment at the former RAF Chilbolton. The Attacker had several deficiencies, one of which was using the Spiteful tail-wheel undercarriage rather than a nose-wheel undercarriage, a configuration that resulted in the Attacker being considerably more difficult to land on an aircraft carrier. According to aviation author Bill Gunston, this tail-dragger undercarriage meant that, when operating from grass airfields, the jet exhaust would create a long furrow in the ground that "three men could lie down in". However, according to aviation periodical Flight, claims of scorched or ploughed surfaces, even grass, were exaggerated. The Attacker was neither the only nor the first jet aircraft to be equipped with such an undercarriage, which was also used on the experimental Heinkel He 178 and several early Messerschmitt Me 262 aircraft. The chief designer at Vickers-Supermarine, Mr. J. Smith, claimed that testing had validated the performance of the tail-dragger undercarriage as acceptable.

On 17 June 1947, the first navalised prototype, Type 398 TS413, conducted its first flight, flown by test pilot Mike Lithgow; occurring four years after the Meteor had performed its first flight. During November 1949, production orders on behalf of the FAA were received by Supermarine. On 5 May 1950, the first production variant of the aircraft, designated Attacker F.1, performed its first flight; one year later, deliveries of the type commenced.

Design
The Supermarine Attacker was a navalised jet-propelled fighter aircraft, the first jet-powered aircraft to be introduced into FAA service. While originally designed to a wartime requirement for the RAF, it was not introduced until the early 1950s, and was ultimately developed for use aboard aircraft carriers. For a jet aircraft, the Attacker's design was unusual, with a tail-dragger undercarriage with twin tailwheels, as well as an unswept wing. The flight controls were relatively conventional, based on those of the Spiteful. The forward position of the cockpit was well-received, and provided an exceptionally good view for the pilot.

The Attacker had a relatively strong structure, making extensive use of heavy-gauge materials, principally aluminium alloy, which were used with stressed-skin construction and supported by 24 closely spaced stringers and formers. The nose had an unusual lobster-claw structure, comprising thick laminated aluminium-alloy sheet at the top and bottom, with no stiffening members; it gave armour protection to the pilot and carried pressurisation loads. The tip of the nose was detachable to accommodate a gun camera or ballast; between this and the cockpit was an avionics bay. Aft of the cockpit was the semi-monocoque fuel tank, followed by the engine bay.

In terms of its aerodynamics, the Attacker was well streamlined, described by Flight as being "perhaps more perfect than any other fighter". The fuselage was continuously curved with no straight lines. It was shaped to have some of the wing's laminar flow characteristics and its lines were interrupted only by the faired cockpit canopy and the engine air intakes on either side of the cockpit. The intakes diverted the front fuselage boundary layer to prevent it entering the engine; tests with the diverters faired-over gave reduced engine performance including thrust.

The design of the wing was largely unchanged from the Spiteful, save for being slightly enlarged to match the bigger Attacker. It used split flaps along the trailing edge, as well as slotted ailerons and electrically operated trim tabs. With a single main spar and one auxiliary spar, the wing was bolted directly onto stub spar booms as there was no centre-section. The exterior skins were flush-riveted and manufactured with considerable care in an attempt to achieve the laminar flow predicted from wind tunnel tests. Flight attributed the laminar-flow wing to enabling the Attacker to exceed the maximum speed of the Spiteful by more than 100 mph. However, other reports claim that the Attacker's wing was aerodynamically inferior to the original elliptical wing of the Spitfire, possessing unfavourable characteristics such as a lower critical Mach number.

The Attacker was powered by a single Rolls-Royce Nene Mk. 101 turbojet engine; at the time, the Nene was the most powerful jet engine in the world, with a thrust of 5,000 lb. The engine was supported by a heavy box-section rear spar frame, which was braced fore and aft to the main spar. As the jet-pipe was relatively long, a manually operated variable exhaust outlet was used during engine starting to prevent jet-pipe resonances and excessive turbine temperatures. The exterior skin surrounding the intake had several louvres to regulate pressures during starting; they automatically closed to seal the engine bay after starting. The engine bay incorporated a pilot-operated fire extinguisher system. Although an automatic fuel transfer system was not originally incorporated, experience with the initial prototypes led to its incorporation.

In terms of armament, the Attacker F.1 had four 20 mm (.79 in) Hispano Mk. V cannon; at the time, this was viewed as the standard armament for a frontline RAF fighter. These cannon were fired using electronically operated Maxifiux-Star units. The inboard cannon had a maximum capacity of 167 rounds of ammunition each, while the outboard cannon had up to 145 rounds each. External stores included two 1,000 lb bombs or four 300 lb rockets.

Britain
During August 1951, the Attacker entered operational service with the FAA; the first squadron to receive production aircraft was 800 Naval Air Squadron, based at RNAS Ford. Following the introduction of the Attacker F.1, two further variants of the aircraft were developed and produced for the FAA. The Attacker FB.1 was a fighter-bomber that differed little from the original F.1 model, except that it was expected to operate as a ground attack aircraft. The third, and last, variant was the Attacker FB.2, which was powered by a more capable model of the Nene engine that was accompanied by various modifications to its structure. On this model, the Supermarine Attacker was furnished with a total of eight underwing hard points, which could carry a pair of 1,000 lb (454 kg) bombs or a maximum of eight unguided rockets.

Across the three variants to be adopted by the FAA, a total of 146 production Attackers would be delivered to the service. It had a relatively brief career with the FAA, none of its variants seeing any action during the type's service life with the FAA and being taken out of first-line service during 1954. The type had been replaced in front line squadrons by multiple more capable jet-propelled fighters, including the Hawker Sea Hawk and de Havilland Sea Venom. For several further years, the Attacker remained in service with squadrons of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR), the type being finally taken out of reserve service during early 1957.

Pakistan
During the early 1950s, Royal Pakistan Air Force (RPAF) (later Pakistan Air Force (PAF)) sought to acquire its first-ever jet-powered aircraft. A combination of a lack of funds and political pressure that was exerted by British suppliers persuaded the service to acquire a variant of the Attacker known as the Type 538, which was essentially a "de-navalised" variant of the aircraft used by the FAA.

Pakistan received its first Attackers in 1951, with deliveries eventually reaching 36 units. Only a single squadron was ever equipped with these aircraft, an interceptor unit, the No. 11 Squadron, with the Attackers also equipping the PAF's first aerial display team, the "Paybills". The No. 11 squadron's Attackers remained operational for seven years with the last examples withdrawn from service in 1956 when they were replaced with the North American F-86F Sabres. The Attackers officially remained in Pakistani service until 1958, although some sources claim the Attackers were used by PAF until as late as 1964.

Variants

 * Type 392
 * Prototype land version to specification E.10/44, ordered as one of three prototypes on 30 August 1944, one built and first flown 27 July 1946.

 * Type 398
 * Prototype navalised variant ordered on 30 August 1944, one built and first flown 17 June 1947.

 * Type 510
 * Prototype with swept wings and tail whose development led to the Supermarine Swift.

 * Type 513
 * Prototype second naval prototype to specification E.1/45 ordered on 30 August 1943, one built and first flown 24 January 1950.

 * Type 398 Attacker F.1
 * Production Nene 3 powered variant, 63 ordered on 29 October 1948 and built at South Marston, 50 built as F1 as two were cancelled and the last 11 built as FB.1s. First flight of production F.1 was on 4 April 1950.

 * Attacker FB.1
 * Last 11 production F 1s were built as FB 1s plus an additional aircraft ordered on 27 March 1950 to replace one aircraft destroyed on a production test flight. The FB1 had been modified from the original design to allow it to carry rocket projectiles or bombs under the wings.

 * Attacker FB.2
 * Updated fighter-bomber variant powered by the Nene 102, 24 ordered on 21 November 1950, 30 ordered on 16 February 1950 and a further 30 ordered on 7 September 1950, all 84 built at South Marston.

 * Type 538 Attacker
 * Land based fighter-bomber variant powered by the Rolls-Royce Nene 4, made specifically for export to the Royal Pakistan Air Force, 36 built with the first delivered in 1953.

Operators

 * Pakistan Air Force, 36 aircraft.
 * No. 11 Squadron Arrows
 * Fleet Air Arm, 146 aircraft.
 * 736 Naval Air Squadron (Training Squadron)
 * 800 Naval Air Squadron
 * 803 Naval Air Squadron
 * 890 Naval Air Squadron
 * Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve
 * 1831 Naval Air Squadron
 * 1832 Naval Air Squadron
 * 1833 Naval Air Squadron
 * 1834 Naval Air Squadron
 * 1835 Naval Air Squadron
 * Fleet Requirements Unit
 * 1835 Naval Air Squadron
 * Fleet Requirements Unit

Accidents and incidents

 * On 23 May 1950, Vickers test pilot Les Colquhoun was flying the first production Attacker F.1 WA469. He was carrying out high-speed tests when during one of the tests the outer portion of the starboard wing folded up and the ailerons became locked. Colquhoun decided not to eject and managed to do a high-speed landing at Chilbolton, in the course of which he used all but the last 100 yards (90 m) of the runway and burst a tyre. The intact aircraft was examined so the cause of the incident could be discovered, Colquhoun was awarded the George Medal for his efforts in saving the aircraft.
 * On 5 February 1953, Attacker FB.1 WA535 from RNAS Stretton crashed near Winwick, Cheshire, killing the pilot Mr Roy Edwin Collingwood.
 * On 21 July 1953, Attacker FB.2 WP293 (803 NAS) from RNAS Ford, crashed at North Stoke Farm, near Arundel, Sussex, killing the pilot Lieutenant Commander William T R Smith.
 * On 10 November 1955, an accident involving Attacker FB.2 WP281, claimed the life of the chief Flying Instructor, Lieutenant Commander Charles James Lavender DSC when he tried to avoid collision with a Percival Sea Prince near RNAS Stretton.
 * On 26 June 1956, Attacker FB.1 WK328 practicing deck landings at RNAS Ford crashed near the parish church at Climping, West Sussex. The pilot, Lieutenant Jack Stanner Wyatt of 1832 (RNVR) Squadron, was killed. He was later buried in the churchyard he crashed close to.
 * On 6 July 1956, Attacker WP275 crashed in the English Channel off Littlehampton, West Sussex after a wing folded in flight; the pilot ejected safely. Parts of the aircraft were brought to the surface by a dredging vessel in 2005.
 * 15 July 1956 WP283, Attacker FB2, 1833 Sqn stalled on approach to RAF Honiley and crashed on road killing civilian.

Surviving aircraft
Following its retirement from service in 1956, Attacker F.1 Serial number WA473 was placed on display on the gate at RNAS Abbotsinch. Completed at VAs South Marston factory in July 1951, it had served with 702 and 736 Naval Squadrons. In late 1961 it was moved to the Fleet Air Arm Museum in Somerset, UK.

title: Supermarine Attacker


text:
Small Form-factor Pluggable

Small Form-factor Pluggable (SFP) is a compact, hot-pluggable network interface module format used for both telecommunication and data communications applications. An SFP interface on networking hardware is a modular slot for a media-specific transceiver, such as for a fiber-optic cable or a copper cable. The advantage of using SFPs compared to fixed interfaces (e.g. modular connectors in Ethernet switches) is that individual ports can be equipped with different types of transceivers as required, with the majority including optical line terminals, network cards, switches and routers.

The form factor and electrical interface are specified by a multi-source agreement (MSA) under the auspices of the Small Form Factor Committee. The SFP replaced the larger gigabit interface converter (GBIC) in most applications, and has been referred to as a Mini-GBIC by some vendors.

SFP transceivers exist supporting synchronous optical networking (SONET), Gigabit Ethernet, Fibre Channel, PON, and other communications standards. At introduction, typical speeds were 1 Gbit/s for Ethernet SFPs and up to 4 Gbit/s for Fibre Channel SFP modules. In 2006, SFP+ specification brought speeds up to 10 Gbit/s and the SFP28 iteration is designed for speeds of 25 Gbit/s.

A slightly larger sibling is the four-lane Quad Small Form-factor Pluggable (QSFP). The additional lanes allow for speeds 4 times their corresponding SFP. In 2014, the QSFP28 variant was published allowing speeds up to 100 Gbit/s. In 2019, the closely related QSFP56 was standardized doubling the top speeds to 200 Gbit/s with products already selling from major vendors. There are inexpensive adapters allowing SFP transceivers to be placed in a QSFP port.

Both a SFP-DD, which allows for 100 Gbit/s over two lanes, as well as a QSFP-DD specifications, which allows for 400 Gbit/s over eight lanes, have been published. These use a form factor which is directly backward compatible to their respective predecessors.

An even larger sibling, the OSFP (Octal Small Format Pluggable) has products being released in 2022 capable of 800 Gbit/s links between network equipment. It is a slightly larger version than the QSFP form factor allowing for larger power outputs. The OSFP standard was initially announced in 2016 with the 4.0 version released in 2021 allowing for 800 Gbit/s via 8×100 Gbit/s electrical data lanes. Its proponents say a low-cost adapter will allow for backwards compatibility with QSFP modules.

SFP types
SFP transceivers are available with a variety of transmitter and receiver specifications, allowing users to select the appropriate transceiver for each link to provide the required optical or electrical reach over the available media type (e.g. twisted pair or twinaxial copper cables, multi-mode or single-mode fiber cables). Transceivers are also designated by their transmission speed. SFP modules are commonly available in several different categories.

Note that the QSFP/QSFP+/QSFP28/QSFP56 are designed to be electrically backward compatible with SFP/SFP+/SFP28 or SFP56 respectively. Using a simple adapter or a special direct attached cable it is possible to connect those interfaces together using just one lane instead of four provided by the QSFP/QSFP+/QSFP28/QSFP56 form factor. The same applies to the QSFP-DD form factor with 8 lanes which can work downgraded to 4/2/1 lanes.

100 Mbit/s SFP

 * Multi-mode fiber, LC connector, with ' or ' color coding
 * SX – 850 nm, for a maximum of 550 m
 * Multi-mode fiber, LC connector, with  color coding
 * FX  – 1300 nm, for a distance up to 5 km.
 * LFX (name dependent on manufacturer) – 1310 nm, for a distance up to 5 km.
 * Single-mode fiber, LC connector, with  color coding
 * LX – 1310 nm, for distances up to 10 km
 * EX – 1310 nm, for distances up to 40 km
 * Single-mode fiber, LC connector, with  color coding
 * ZX – 1550 nm, for distances up to 80 km, (depending on fiber path loss)
 * EZX – 1550 nm, for distances up to 160 km (depending on fiber path loss)
 * Single-mode fiber, LC connector, Bi-Directional, with ' and ' color coding
 * BX (officially BX10) – 1550 nm/1310 nm, Single Fiber Bi-Directional 100 Mbit SFP Transceivers, paired as BX-U and BX-D  for uplink and downlink respectively, also for distances up to 10 km. Variations of bidirectional SFPs are also manufactured which higher transmit power versions with link length capabilities up to 40 km.
 * Copper twisted-pair cabling, 8P8C (RJ-45) connector
 * 100BASE-TX – for distances up to 100m.

1 Gbit/s SFP

 * 1 to 1.25 Gbit/s multi-mode fiber, LC connector, with black or beige extraction lever
 * SX – 850 nm, for a maximum of 550 m at 1.25 Gbit/s (gigabit Ethernet). Other multi-mode SFP applications support even higher rates at shorter distances.
 * 1 to 1.25 Gbit/s multi-mode fiber, LC connector, extraction lever colors not standardized
 * SX+/MX/LSX/LX (name dependent on manufacturer) – 1310 nm, for a distance up to 2 km. Not compatible with SX or 100BASE-FX. Based on LX but engineered to work with a multi-mode fiber using a standard multi-mode patch cable rather than a mode-conditioning cable commonly used to adapt LX to multi-mode.
 * 1 to 2.5 Gbit/s single-mode fiber, LC connector, with blue extraction lever
 * LX – 1310 nm, for distances up to 10 km (originally, LX just covered 5 km and LX10 for 10 km followed later)
 * EX – 1310 nm, for distances up to 40 km
 * ZX – 1550 nm, for distances up to 80 km (depending on fiber path loss), with green extraction lever (see GLC-ZX-SM1)
 * EZX – 1550 nm, for distances up to 160 km (depending on fiber path loss)
 * BX (officially BX10) – 1490 nm/1310 nm, Single Fiber Bi-Directional Gigabit SFP Transceivers, paired as BX-U and BX-D for uplink and downlink respectively, also for distances up to 10 km. Variations of bidirectional SFPs are also manufactured which use 1550 nm in one direction, and higher transmit power versions with link length capabilities up to 80 km.
 * 1550 nm 40 km (XD), 80 km (ZX), 120 km (EX or EZX)
 * SFSW – single-fiber single-wavelength transceivers, for bi-directional traffic on a single fiber. Coupled with CWDM, these double the traffic density of fiber links.
 * Coarse wavelength-division multiplexing (CWDM) and dense wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM) transceivers at various wavelengths achieve various maximum distances. CWDM and DWDM transceivers usually support link distances of 40, 80 and 120 km.
 * 1 Gbit/s for copper twisted-pair cabling, 8P8C (RJ-45) connector
 * 1000BASE-T – these modules incorporate significant interface circuitry for Physical Coding Sublayer recoding and can be used only for gigabit Ethernet because of the specific line code. They are not compatible with (or rather: do not have equivalents for) Fibre Channel or SONET. Unlike most non-SFP, copper 1000BASE-T ports integrated into most routers and switches, 1000BASE-T SFPs usually cannot operate at 100BASE-TX speeds.
 * 100 Mbit/s copper and optical – some vendors have shipped 100 Mbit/s limited SFPs for fiber-to-the-home applications and drop-in replacement of legacy 100BASE-FX circuits. These are relatively uncommon and can be easily confused with 100 Mbit/s SFPs.
 * Although it is not mentioned in any official specification document the maximum data rate of the original SFP standard is 5 Gbit/s. This was eventually used by both 4GFC Fibre Channel and the DDR Infiniband especially in its four-lane QSFP form.
 * In recent years, SFP transceivers have been created that will allow 2.5 Gbit/s and 5 Gbit/s Ethernet speeds with SFPs with 2.5GBASE-T and 5GBASE-T.

10 Gbit/s SFP+

The SFP+ (enhanced small form-factor pluggable) is an enhanced version of the SFP that supports data rates up to 16 Gbit/s. The SFP+ specification was first published on May 9, 2006, and version 4.1 was published on July 6, 2009. SFP+ supports 8 Gbit/s Fibre Channel, 10 Gigabit Ethernet and Optical Transport Network standard OTU2. It is a popular industry format supported by many network component vendors. Although the SFP+ standard does not include mention of 16 Gbit/s Fibre Channel, it can be used at this speed. Besides the data rate, the major difference between 8 and 16 Gbit/s Fibre Channel is the encoding method. The 64b/66b encoding used for 16 Gbit/s is a more efficient encoding mechanism than 8b/10b used for 8 Gbit/s, and allows for the data rate to double without doubling the line rate. 16GFC doesn't really use 16 Gbit/s signaling anywhere. It uses a 14.025 Gbit/s line rate to achieve twice the throughput of 8GFC.

SFP+ also introduces direct attach for connecting two SFP+ ports without dedicated transceivers. Direct attach cables (DAC) exist in passive (up to 7 m), active (up to 15 m), and active optical (AOC, up to 100 m) variants.

10 Gbit/s SFP+ modules are exactly the same dimensions as regular SFPs, allowing the equipment manufacturer to re-use existing physical designs for 24 and 48-port switches and modular line cards. In comparison to earlier XENPAK or XFP modules, SFP+ modules leave more circuitry to be implemented on the host board instead of inside the module. Through the use of an active electronic adapter, SFP+ modules may be used in older equipment with XENPAK ports and X2 ports.

SFP+ modules can be described as limiting or linear types; this describes the functionality of the inbuilt electronics. Limiting SFP+ modules include a signal amplifier to re-shape the (degraded) received signal whereas linear ones do not. Linear modules are mainly used with the low bandwidth standards such as 10GBASE-LRM; otherwise, limiting modules are preferred.

25 Gbit/s SFP28
SFP28 is a 25 Gbit/s interface which evolved from the 100 Gigabit Ethernet interface which is typically implemented with 4 by 25 Gbit/s data lanes. Identical in mechanical dimensions to SFP and SFP+, SFP28 implements one 28 Gbit/s lane accommodating 25 Gbit/s of data with encoding overhead.

SFP28 modules exist supporting single- or multi-mode fiber connections, active optical cable and direct attach copper.

cSFP
The compact small form-factor pluggable (cSFP) is a version of SFP with the same mechanical form factor allowing two independent bidirectional channels per port. It is used primarily to increase port density and decrease fiber usage per port.

SFP-DD
The small form-factor pluggable double density (SFP-DD) multi-source agreement is a standard published in 2019 for doubling port density. According to the SFD-DD MSA website: "Network equipment based on the SFP-DD will support legacy SFP modules and cables, and new double density products." SFP-DD uses two lanes to transmit.

Currently, the following speeds are defined:
 * SFP112: $100 Gbit/s$ using PAM4 on a single pair (not double density)
 * SFP-DD: $100 Gbit/s$ using PAM4 and $50 Gbit/s$ using NRZ
 * SFP-DD112: $200 Gbit/s$ using PAM4
 * QSFP112: $400 Gbit/s$ (4 × $112 Gbit/s$)
 * QSFP-DD: $400 Gbit/s$/$200 Gbit/s$ (8 × $50 Gbit/s$ and 8 × $25 Gbit/s$)
 * QSFP-DD800 (formerly QSFP-DD112): $800 Gbit/s$ (8 × $112 Gbit/s$)

QSFP

Quad Small Form-factor Pluggable (QSFP) transceivers are available with a variety of transmitter and receiver types, allowing users to select the appropriate transceiver for each link to provide the required optical reach over multi-mode or single-mode fiber.

 * 4 Gbit/s: The original QSFP document specified four channels carrying Gigabit Ethernet, 4GFC (FiberChannel), or DDR InfiniBand.
 * 40 Gbit/s (QSFP+): QSFP+ is an evolution of QSFP to support four 10 Gbit/s channels carrying 10 Gigabit Ethernet, 10GFC FiberChannel, or QDR InfiniBand. The 4 channels can also be combined into a single 40 Gigabit Ethernet link.
 * 50 Gbit/s (QSFP14): The QSFP14 standard is designed to carry FDR InfiniBand, SAS-3 or 16G Fibre Channel.
 * 100 Gbit/s (QSFP28): The QSFP28 standard is designed to carry 100 Gigabit Ethernet, EDR InfiniBand, or 32G Fibre Channel. Sometimes this transceiver type is also referred to as QSFP100 or 100G QSFP for sake of simplicity.
 * 200 Gbit/s (QSFP56): QSFP56 is designed to carry 200 Gigabit Ethernet, HDR InfiniBand, or 64G Fibre Channel. The biggest enhancement is that QSFP56 uses four-level pulse-amplitude modulation (PAM-4) instead of non-return-to-zero (NRZ). It uses the same physical specifications as QSFP28 (SFF-8665), with electrical specifications from SFF-8024 and revision 2.10a of SFF-8636. Sometimes this transceiver type is referred to as 200G QSFP for sake of simplicity.

Switch and router manufacturers implementing QSFP+ ports in their products frequently allow for the use of a single QSFP+ port as four independent 10 Gigabit Ethernet connections, greatly increasing port density. For example, a typical 24-port QSFP+ 1U switch would be able to service 96x10GbE connections. There also exist fanout cables to adapt a single QSFP28 port to four independent 25 Gigabit Ethernet SFP28 ports (QSFP28-to-4×SFP28) as well as cables to adapt a single QSFP56 port to four independent 50 Gigabit Ethernet SFP56 ports (QSFP56-to-4×SFP56).

Applications

SFP sockets are found in Ethernet switches, routers, firewalls and network interface cards. They are used in Fibre Channel host adapters and storage equipment. Because of their low cost, low profile, and ability to provide a connection to different types of optical fiber, SFP provides such equipment with enhanced flexibility.

SFP sockets and transceivers are also used for long-distance serial digital interface (SDI) transmission.

Standardization
The SFP transceiver is not standardized by any official standards body, but rather is specified by a multi-source agreement (MSA) among competing manufacturers. The SFP was designed after the GBIC interface, and allows greater port density (number of transceivers per given area) than the GBIC, which is why SFP is also known as mini-GBIC.

However, as a practical matter, some networking equipment manufacturers engage in vendor lock-in practices whereby they deliberately break compatibility with generic SFPs by adding a check in the device's firmware that will enable only the vendor's own modules. Third-party SFP manufacturers have introduced SFPs with EEPROMs which may be programmed to match any vendor ID.

Color coding of SFP
===Color coding of CWDM SFP ===

Signals

SFP transceivers are right-handed: From their perspective, they transmit on the right and receive on the left. When looking into the optical connectors, transmission comes from the left and reception is on the right.

The SFP transceiver contains a printed circuit board with an edge connector with 20 pads that mate on the rear with the SFP electrical connector in the host system. The QSFP has 38 pads including 4 high-speed transmit data pairs and 4 high-speed receive data pairs.

Mechanical dimensions

The physical dimensions of the SFP transceiver (and its subsequent faster variants) are narrower than the later QSFP counterparts, which allows for SFP transceivers to be placed in QSFP ports via an inexpensive adapter. Both are smaller than the XFP transceiver.

EEPROM information
The SFP MSA defines a 256-byte memory map into an EEPROM describing the transceiver's capabilities, standard interfaces, manufacturer, and other information, which is accessible over a serial I²C interface at the 8-bit address 0b1010000X (0xA0).

Digital diagnostics monitoring
Modern optical SFP transceivers support standard digital diagnostics monitoring (DDM) functions. This feature is also known as digital optical monitoring (DOM). This capability allows monitoring of the SFP operating parameters in real time. Parameters include optical output power, optical input power, temperature, laser bias current, and transceiver supply voltage. In network equipment, this information is typically made available via Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP). A DDM interface allows end users to display diagnostics data and alarms for optical fiber transceivers and can be used to diagnose why a transceiver is not working.

title: Small Form-factor Pluggable


text:
Fast bowling

Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is one of two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket, the other being spin bowling. Practitioners of pace bowling are usually known as fast bowlers, quicks, or pacers. They can also be referred to as a seam bowler, a swing bowler or a fast bowler who can swing it to reflect the predominant characteristic of their deliveries. Strictly speaking, a pure swing bowler does not need to have a high degree of pace, though dedicated medium-pace swing bowlers are rarely seen at Test level in modern times. There are different categories in fast bowling known in international cricket such as fast bowling, medium fast bowling, medium bowling, etc.

Terminology
Pace bowlers may be classified based on quantitative or qualitative attributes.

A widespread method of classification is based on average ball release speed. However, there is no universally accepted set of definitions and the categorization of bowlers according to speed may take into account competition level and gender. Terms used in different classifications include "slow medium", "medium", "fast medium", "fast" and "express". ESPNcricinfo, a popular cricket news website, uses both "medium fast" and "fast medium" in addition to "medium" and "fast".

Bowlers may be categorised according to their use of swing bowling or seam bowling techniques, although the term "seamer" is also commonly used to refer to pace bowlers in general.

Strike bowling
Strike bowling is the term usually applied to bowlers who are used primarily to take wickets rather than restrict runs. Typically, strike bowlers work in short spells, either at the start of an innings or to confront new batters, although they are also employed tactically at other times. For fast bowlers, results can be achieved through sheer speed and aggression, rather than by trying to make the ball move through the air (swing bowling) or off the pitch (seam bowling). More commonly, however, a combined approach is adopted to produce balls that the batter finds difficult or impossible to play, whatever the speed at which they are delivered. In this respect, the inswinging yorker is a good example of delivery that, even when bowled relatively slowly, can nevertheless be highly effective.

Swing bowling
Swing bowlers cause the ball to move laterally through the air, rather than off the pitch like seam bowlers. Normal or conventional swing bowling is encouraged by the raised seam of the ball, and conventional swing is usually greatest when the ball is new and therefore has a pronounced seam. As the ball gets older, the wear makes swing more difficult to achieve, but this can be countered if the fielding team systematically polishes one side of the ball while allowing the other to become rough. When the ball has been polished highly on one side and not on the other and if the ball is bowled very fast (over 85 mph), it produces a reverse swing such that the ball swings in the opposite direction as in conventional swing. Contrary to popular opinion, this swing is not produced by air flowing faster over the smooth or "shiny" side as compared to the rough side.

Swing is produced due to a net force acting on the ball from one side; that is, the side with the more turbulent boundary layer. For conventional swing bowling, the raised seam and the direction it points governs the direction of swing. Due to the angled seam of the ball, air flowing over the seam produces turbulence on the side that the seam is angled toward. This causes the boundary layer to separate from the surface of the ball later (farther toward the rear of the ball) than the other side where it separates earlier (farther forward on the surface). The resulting net force acts so as to move or swing the ball in the direction of the angled seam. Conventional swing bowling is delivered with the seam angled such that the smooth or polished side of the ball faces forward to move the ball in the direction of the seam i.e. toward the rough side.

A swinging ball is classed as either an outswinger, which moves away from the batter, or an inswinger, which moves in toward the batter. In most cases the outswinger is seen as the more dangerous ball because, if the batter fails to recognise it, it catches the outside edge of the bat instead of the middle and fly up to be caught in the slips. Inswingers have their place too, especially combined with the yorker as this can result in the ball either breaking the wicket (by going clean "through the gate" or getting an inside edge) or hitting the pad rather than the bat (resulting in a possible LBW decision).

Swing bowling can also be roughly categorised as early swing or late swing, corresponding to when in the trajectory the ball changes direction. The later the ball swings, the less chance the batter has of adjusting to account for the swing.

Bowlers usually use the same grip and technique on swing balls as fast balls, though they usually keep the seam slightly rather than straight, and may use the slower ball grip. It is difficult to achieve swing with a cutter grip since the ball spins in flight, varying the orientation of the shiny and rough surfaces as it moves through the air. Many players, commentators on the game, and fans agree that swing is easier to achieve in humid or overcast conditions, and also that the red ball used in Test cricket swings more than the white ball used in the one-day game.

Reverse swing
Reverse swing is a phenomenon that makes the ball swing in the opposite direction to that usually produced by the orientation of the shiny and rough sides of the ball. When the ball is reverse swinging, the ball swings towards the shiny side. Balls that reverse swing move much later and much more sharply than those swinging conventionally, both factors increasing the difficulty the batter has in trying to hit the ball. At speeds of over 90 mph a ball always exhibits reverse swing, but as roughness increases on the leading side, the speed at which reverse swing occurs decreases. This means that an older ball is more likely to be delivered with reverse swing as its surface is roughened through use.

In reverse swing the seam is angled in the same way as in conventional swing (10–20 degrees to one side) but the boundary layer on both sides is turbulent. The net effect of the seam and rough side is that the ball swings in the direction opposite to where the seam is pointing to. The turbulent boundary layer separating later is similar to the effect produced by dimples in a golf ball. In case of the golf ball, turbulence is produced on both sides of the ball and the net effect is a later separation of the boundary layer on both sides and smaller wake in the back of the ball and a lower net drag due to pressure differential between the front and the back – this enables the golf ball to travel farther.

The discovery of reverse swing is credited to Pakistan's cricketers, with Sarfraz Nawaz and Farrukh Ahmed Khan, both named as originators of the delivery.

Risks of injuries
Fast bowlers typically experience the highest incidence of injury of all player roles in cricket. The largest time-loss injuries are typically associated with overuse at the site of the lumbar spine. Common injuries include spondylolisthesis (stress fracture of the lower back), navicular stress fractures in the foot, SLAP tears or lesions, side strains or intercostal strains and muscular strains of the calves, hamstrings or spinal erectors. Popular media and commentators are often critical of the number of injuries suffered by fast bowlers. However, as of 2019, injury rates are at their lowest in decades, in many parts thanks to advances in physical conditioning, sport science, and load management interventions.

Top five fast bowlers
NB: The above figures all exclude matches in progress

title: Fast bowling


text:
Oku no Hosomichi

Oku no Hosomichi (奥の細道, originally おくのほそ道), translated as The Narrow Road to the Deep North and The Narrow Road to the Interior, is a major work of haibun by the Japanese poet Matsuo Bashō, considered one of the major texts of Japanese literature of the Edo period. The first edition was published posthumously in 1702.

The text is written in the form of a prose and verse travel diary and was penned as Bashō made an epic and dangerous journey on foot through the Edo Japan of the late 17th century. While the poetic work became seminal of its own account, the poet's travels in the text have since inspired many people to follow in his footsteps and trace his journey for themselves. In one of its most memorable passages, Bashō suggests that "every day is a journey, and the journey itself home". The text was also influenced by the works of Du Fu, who was highly revered by Bashō.

Of Oku no Hosomichi, Kenji Miyazawa once suggested, "It was as if the very soul of Japan had itself written it."

Opening sentences
Bashō's introductory sentences are the most quoted of Oku no Hosomichi:

Plot
Oku no Hosomichi was written based on a journey taken by Bashō in the late spring of 1689. He and his traveling companion Kawai Sora (河合曾良) departed from Edo (modern-day Tokyo) for the northerly interior region known as Oku, propelled mostly by a desire to see the places about which the old poets wrote in an effort to "renew his own art." Specifically, he was emulating Saigyō, whom Bashō praised as the greatest waka poet; Bashō made a point of visiting all the sites mentioned in Saigyō's verse. Travel in those days was very dangerous, but Bashō was committed to a kind of poetic ideal of wandering. He traveled for about 156 days altogether, covering almost 1500 mi, mostly on foot. Of all of Bashō's works, this is the best known.

This poetic diary is in the form known as haibun, a combination of prose and haiku. It contains many references to Confucius, Saigyō, Du Fu, ancient Chinese poetry, and even The Tale of the Heike. It manages to strike a delicate balance between all the elements to produce a powerful account. It is primarily a travel account, and Bashō vividly relates the unique poetic essence of each stop in his travels. Stops on his journey include the Tokugawa shrine at Nikkō, the Shirakawa barrier, the islands of Matsushima, Hiraizumi, Sakata, Kisakata, and Etchū. He and Sora parted at Yamanaka, but at Ōgaki he briefly met up with a few of his other disciples before departing again to the Ise Shrine and closing the account.

After his journey, he spent five years working and reworking the poems and prose of Oku no Hosomichi before publishing it. Based on differences between draft versions of the account, Sora's diary, and the final version, it is clear that Bashō took a number of artistic liberties in the writing. An example of this is that in the Senjūshu ("Selection of Tales") attributed to Saigyō, the narrator is passing through Eguchi when he is driven by a storm to seek shelter in the nearby cottage of a prostitute; this leads to an exchange of poems, after which he spends the night there. Bashō similarly includes in Oku no Hosomichi a tale of him having an exchange with prostitutes staying in the same inn, but Sora mentions nothing.

Philosophy behind the text
Nobuyuki Yuasa notes that Bashō studied Zen meditation under the guidance of the Priest Buccho, though it is uncertain whether Bashō ever attained enlightenment. The Japanese Zen scholar D. T. Suzuki has described Bashō's philosophy in writing poetry as one requiring that both "subject and object were entirely annihilated" in meditative experience. Yuasa likewise writes: "Bashō had been casting away his earthly attachments, one by one, in the years preceding the journey, and now he had nothing else to cast away but his own self which was in him as well as around him. He had to cast this self away, for otherwise he was not able to restore his true identity (what he calls the 'everlasting self which is poetry ). Yuasa notes "The Narrow Road to the Deep North is Bashō's study in eternity, and in so far as he has succeeded in this attempt, it is also a monument he has set up against the flow of time."

English translations

 * Bashō, Matsuo. The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches. Intro. and trans. Nobuyuki Yuasa. London: Penguin Books (Penguin Classics), 1966. Print. ISBN 978-0-14-044185-7
 * Bashō, Matsuo. "The Narrow Road Through the Provinces". Japanese Poetic Diaries. Ed. and trans. Earl Miner. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1969. Print.
 * Bashō, Matsuo. "The Narrow Road to the Interior". Classical Japanese Prose: An Anthology. Ed. and trans. Helen Craig McCullough. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1990. Print.
 * Bashō, Matsuo. Narrow Road to the Interior. Trans. Sam Hamill. Boston: Shambhala (Shambhala Centaur Editions), 1991. Print. ISBN 978-0-87773-644-8 (Presentation)
 * Reedition: Bashō, Matsuo. Narrow Road to the Interior and other writings. Trans. Sam Hamill. 2nd ed. Boston: Shambhala (Shambhala Classics), 2000. Print. ISBN 978-1-57062-716-3 (Presentation)
 * Bashō, Matsuo. Back Roads to Far Towns: Bashō's Oku-no-hosomichi. Trans. Cid Corman and Kamaike Susumu. 2nd ed. (1st ed. Grossman, 1968.) Hopewell: Ecco Press, 1996. Print. ISBN 978-0-88001-467-0
 * Reedition: Bashō, Matsuo. Back Roads to Far Towns: Bashō's Travel Journal. Trans. Cid Corman and Kamaike Susumu. Buffalo: White Pine Press, 2004. Print. ISBN 978-1-893996-31-1 (Preview on Google Books) (Review of the book at Modern Haiku)
 * Bashō, Matsuo. Bashō's Narrow Road: Spring and Autumn Passages. Trans. Hiroaki Sato. Berkeley: Stone Bridge Press (The Rock Spring Collection of Japanese Literature), 1996a. Print. ISBN 978-1-880656-20-4
 * Bashō, Matsuo. The Narrow Road to Oku. Trans. Donald Keene. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1996b. Print. ISBN 978-4-7700-2028-4
 * An earlier and slightly different partial translation appeared in the same translator's 1955 Anthology of Japanese Literature.
 * Bashō, Matsuo. A Haiku Journey: Bashō's Narrow Road to a Far Province. Trans. Dorothy Britton. 3rd ed. (1st ed. 1974.) Tokyo: Kodansha International, 2002. Print. ISBN 978-4-7700-2858-7
 * Chilcott, Tim. "Bashō: Oku no Hosomichi". Tim Chilcott LITERARY TRANSLATIONS. August 2004. Web. Consulted on 13 November 2010.

Critical works

 * Keene, Donald. Seeds in the Heart: Japanese Literature from Earliest Times to the Late Sixteenth Century. New York: Columbia University Press, 1999. Print. ISBN 0-231-11441-9
 * Keene, Donald. Travelers of a Hundred Ages. New York: Columbia University Press, 1999a. Print. ISBN 978-0-231-11437-0
 * Norman, Howard. "On the Trail of a Ghost". National Geographic. February 2008, 136–149. Print.
 * Online version: Norman, Howard. "On the Poet's Trail". National Geographic. February 2008. Web. Consulted on 13 November 2010.
 * Shirane, Haruo. Traces of Dreams: Landscape, Cultural Memory, and the Poetry of Bashō. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1998. Print. ISBN 0-8047-3099-7 (Preview on Google Books)
 * Suzuki, Daisetz Teitaro. The Awakening of Zen. London: Shambhala, 1980. Print.

title: Oku no Hosomichi


text:
Taguba Report

The Taguba Report, officially titled US Army 15-6 Report of Abuse of Prisoners in Iraq, is a report published in May 2004 containing the findings from an official military inquiry into the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse. It is named after Major General Antonio Taguba, the report's principal author.

Initiation
Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, the senior officer in Iraq, appointed Major General Antonio Taguba to open an Army Regulation 15-6 investigation into the conduct of the 800th Military Police Brigade.

According to the report, the inquiry was initiated because:
 * "LTG Sanchez requested an investigation of detention and internment operations by the Brigade from 1 November 2003 to present. LTG Sanchez cited recent reports of detainee abuse, escapes from confinement facilities, and accountability lapses, which indicated systemic problems within the brigade and suggested a lack of clear standards, proficiency, and leadership."

According to Taguba, his mandate was limited to examining the actions of the military police at Abu Ghraib and he was blocked from investigating further up the chain of command.

Findings
In his Findings of Fact, Major General Taguba wrote: "That between October and December 2003, at the Abu Ghraib Confinement Facility (BCCF), numerous incidents of sadistic, blatant, and wanton criminal abuses were inflicted on several detainees. This systemic and illegal abuse of detainees was intentionally perpetrated by several members of the military police guard force (372nd Military Police Company, 320th Military Police Battalion, 800th MP Brigade), in Tier (section) 1-A of the Abu Ghraib Prison (BCCF). The allegations of abuse were substantiated by detailed witness statements (ANNEX 26) and the discovery of extremely graphic photographic evidence...In addition to the aforementioned crimes, there were also abuses committed by members of the 325th MI Battalion, 205th MI Brigade, and Joint Interrogation and Debriefing Center (JIDC). Specifically, on 24 November 2003, [name redacted], 205th MI Brigade, sought to degrade a detainee by having him strip and returned to cell naked. (ANNEXES 26 and 53)".

In addition he found: "...that the intentional abuse of detainees by military police personnel included the following acts:

a. (S) Punching, slapping, and kicking detainees; jumping on their naked feet;

b. (S) Videotaping and photographing naked male and female detainees;

c. (S) Forcibly arranging detainees in various sexually explicit positions for photographing;

d. (S) Forcing detainees to remove their clothing and keeping them naked for several days at a time;

e. (S) Forcing naked male detainees to wear women's underwear;

f. (S) Forcing groups of male detainees to masturbate themselves while being photographed and videotaped;

g. (S) Arranging naked male detainees in a pile and then jumping on them;

h. (S) Positioning a naked detainee on a MRE Box, with a sandbag on his head, and attaching wires to his fingers, toes, and penis to simulate electric torture;

i. (S) Writing “I am a Rapeist” (sic) on the leg of a detainee alleged to have forcibly raped a 15-year old fellow detainee, and then photographing him naked;

j. (S) Placing a dog chain or strap around a naked detainee's neck and having a female Soldier pose for a picture;

k. (S) A male MP guard having sex with a female detainee;

l. (S) Using military working dogs (without muzzles) to intimidate and frighten detainees, and in at least one case biting and severely injuring a detainee;

m. (S) Taking photographs of dead Iraqi detainees. (ANNEXES 25 and 26)" And that these "...findings are amply supported by written confessions provided by several of the suspects, written statements provided by detainees, and witness statements."

Major General Taguba also determined that the testimony of several detainees was "...credible based on the clarity of their statements and supporting evidence provided by other witnesses (ANNEX 26)". The detainees described the following acts of abuse:

"a. (U) Breaking chemical lights and pouring the phosphoric liquid on detainees;

b. (U) Threatening detainees with a charged 9mm pistol;

c. (U) Pouring cold water on naked detainees;

d. (U) Beating detainees with a broom handle and a chair;

e. (U) Threatening male detainees with rape;

f. (U) Allowing a military police guard to stitch the wound of a detainee who was injured after being slammed against the wall in his cell;

g. (U) Sodomizing a detainee with a chemical light and perhaps a broom stick.

h. (U) Using military working dogs to frighten and intimidate detainees with threats of attack, and in one instance actually biting a detainee."

The Report recommended increased training of interrogators and the dissemination of information regarding the treatment of prisoners, both actions emphasizing the Geneva Conventions.

The Report team was also tasked with addressing the problem of detainee escapes. The Report found significant inconsistencies in the handling and processing of detainees. It recommended the standardization of detainee processing routines, the updating of accounting systems, the improvement of structural features, and several other recommendations.

title: Taguba Report