text:
Key management

Key management refers to management of cryptographic keys in a cryptosystem. This includes dealing with the generation, exchange, storage, use, crypto-shredding (destruction) and replacement of keys. It includes cryptographic protocol design, key servers, user procedures, and other relevant protocols.

Key management concerns keys at the user level, either between users or systems. This is in contrast to key scheduling, which typically refers to the internal handling of keys within the operation of a cipher.

Successful key management is critical to the security of a cryptosystem. It is the more challenging side of cryptography in a sense that it involves aspects of social engineering such as system policy, user training, organizational and departmental interactions, and coordination between all of these elements, in contrast to pure mathematical practices that can be automated.

Types of keys
Cryptographic systems may use different types of keys, with some systems using more than one. These may include symmetric keys or asymmetric keys. In a symmetric key algorithm the keys involved are identical for both encrypting and decrypting a message. Keys must be chosen carefully, and distributed and stored securely. Asymmetric keys, also known as public keys, in contrast are two distinct keys that are mathematically linked. They are typically used together to communicate. Public key infrastructure (PKI), the implementation of public key cryptography, requires an organization to establish an infrastructure to create and manage public and private key pairs along with digital certificates.

Inventory
The starting point in any certificate and private key management strategy is to create a comprehensive inventory of all certificates, their locations and responsible parties. This is not a trivial matter because certificates from a variety of sources are deployed in a variety of locations by different individuals and teams - it's simply not possible to rely on a list from a single certificate authority. Certificates that are not renewed and replaced before they expire can cause serious downtime and outages. Some other considerations:
 * Regulations and requirements, like PCI-DSS, demand stringent security and management of cryptographic keys and auditors are increasingly reviewing the management controls and processes in use.
 * Private keys used with certificates must be kept secure or unauthorised individuals can intercept confidential communications or gain unauthorised access to critical systems. Failure to ensure proper segregation of duties means that admins who generate the encryption keys can use them to access sensitive, regulated data.
 * If a certificate authority is compromised or an encryption algorithm is broken, organizations must be prepared to replace all of their certificates and keys in a matter of hours.

Management steps
Once keys are inventoried, key management typically consists of three steps: exchange, storage and use.

Key exchange
Prior to any secured communication, users must set up the details of the cryptography. In some instances this may require exchanging identical keys (in the case of a symmetric key system). In others it may require possessing the other party's public key. While public keys can be openly exchanged (their corresponding private key is kept secret), symmetric keys must be exchanged over a secure communication channel. Formerly, exchange of such a key was extremely troublesome, and was greatly eased by access to secure channels such as a diplomatic bag. Clear text exchange of symmetric keys would enable any interceptor to immediately learn the key, and any encrypted data.

The advance of public key cryptography in the 1970s has made the exchange of keys less troublesome. Since the Diffie-Hellman key exchange protocol was published in 1975, it has become possible to exchange a key over an insecure communications channel, which has substantially reduced the risk of key disclosure during distribution. It is possible, using something akin to a book code, to include key indicators as clear text attached to an encrypted message. The encryption technique used by Richard Sorge's code clerk was of this type, referring to a page in a statistical manual, though it was in fact a code. The German Army Enigma symmetric encryption key was a mixed type early in its use; the key was a combination of secretly distributed key schedules and a user chosen session key component for each message.

In more modern systems, such as OpenPGP compatible systems, a session key for a symmetric key algorithm is distributed encrypted by an asymmetric key algorithm. This approach avoids even the necessity for using a key exchange protocol like Diffie-Hellman key exchange.

Another method of key exchange involves encapsulating one key within another. Typically a master key is generated and exchanged using some secure method. This method is usually cumbersome or expensive (breaking a master key into multiple parts and sending each with a trusted courier for example) and not suitable for use on a larger scale. Once the master key has been securely exchanged, it can then be used to securely exchange subsequent keys with ease. This technique is usually termed key wrap. A common technique uses block ciphers and cryptographic hash functions.

A related method is to exchange a master key (sometimes termed a root key) and derive subsidiary keys as needed from that key and some other data (often referred to as diversification data). The most common use for this method is probably in smartcard-based cryptosystems, such as those found in banking cards. The bank or credit network embeds their secret key into the card's secure key storage during card production at a secured production facility. Then at the point of sale the card and card reader are both able to derive a common set of session keys based on the shared secret key and card-specific data (such as the card serial number). This method can also be used when keys must be related to each other (i.e., departmental keys are tied to divisional keys, and individual keys tied to departmental keys). However, tying keys to each other in this way increases the damage which may result from a security breach as attackers will learn something about more than one key. This reduces entropy, with regard to an attacker, for each key involved.

A recent method uses an oblivious pseudorandom function to issue keys without the key management system ever being in a position to see the keys.

Key storage
However distributed, keys must be stored securely to maintain communications security. Security is a big concern and hence there are various techniques in use to do so. Likely the most common is that an encryption application manages keys for the user and depends on an access password to control use of the key. Likewise, in the case of smartphone keyless access platforms, they keep all identifying door information off mobile phones and servers and encrypt all data, where just like low-tech keys, users give codes only to those they trust.

In terms of regulation, there are few that address key storage in depth. "Some contain minimal guidance like 'don’t store keys with encrypted data' or suggest that 'keys should be kept securely.'" The notable exceptions to that are PCI DSS 3.2.1, NIST 800-53 and NIST 800–57.

For optimal security, keys may be stored in a Hardware Security Module (HSM) or protected using technologies such as Trusted Execution Environment (TEE, e.g. Intel SGX) or Multi-Party Computation (MPC). Additional alternatives include utilizing Trusted Platform Modules (TPM), virtual HSMs, aka "Poor Man's Hardware Security Modules" (pmHSM), or non-volatile Field-Programmable-Gate-Arrays (FPGA) with supporting System-on-Chip configurations. In order to verify the integrity of a key stored without compromising its actual value a KCV algorithm can be used.

Key encryption use
The major issue is length of time a key is to be used, and therefore frequency of replacement. Because it increases any attacker's required effort, keys should be frequently changed. This also limits loss of information, as the number of stored encrypted messages which will become readable when a key is found will decrease as the frequency of key change increases. Historically, symmetric keys have been used for long periods in situations in which key exchange was very difficult or only possible intermittently. Ideally, the symmetric key should change with each message or interaction, so that only that message will become readable if the key is learned (e.g., stolen, cryptanalyzed, or social engineered).

Challenges
Several challenges IT organizations face when trying to control and manage their encryption keys are:
 * 1) Scalability: Managing a large number of encryption keys.
 * 2) Security: Vulnerability of keys from outside hackers, malicious insiders.
 * 3) Availability: Ensuring data accessibility for authorized users.
 * 4) Heterogeneity: Supporting multiple databases, applications and standards.
 * 5) Governance: Defining policy-driven access control and protection for data. Governance includes compliance with data protection requirements.

Compliance
Key management compliance refers to the oversight, assurance, and capability of being able to demonstrate that keys are securely managed. This includes the following individual compliance domains:

 * Physical security – the most visible form of compliance, which may include locked doors to secure system equipment and surveillance cameras. These safeguards can prevent unauthorized access to printed copies of key material and computer systems that run key management software.
 * Logical security – protects the organization against the theft or unauthorized access of information. This is where the use of cryptographic keys comes in by encrypting data, which is then rendered useless to those who do not have the key to decrypt it.
 * Personnel security – this involves assigning specific roles or privileges to personnel to access information on a strict need-to-know basis. Background checks should be performed on new employees along with periodic role changes to ensure security.

Compliance can be achieved with respect to national and international data protection standards and regulations, such as Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, Sarbanes–Oxley Act, or General Data Protection Regulation.

Key management system
A key management system (KMS), also known as a cryptographic key management system (CKMS) or enterprise key management system (EKMS), is an integrated approach for generating, distributing and managing cryptographic keys for devices and applications. They may cover all aspects of security - from the secure generation of keys over the secure exchange of keys up to secure key handling and storage on the client. Thus, a KMS includes the backend functionality for key generation, distribution, and replacement as well as the client functionality for injecting keys, storing and managing keys on devices.

Standards-based key management
Many specific applications have developed their own key management systems with home grown protocols. However, as systems become more interconnected keys need to be shared between those different systems. To facilitate this, key management standards have evolved to define the protocols used to manage and exchange cryptographic keys and related information.

Key Management Interoperability Protocol (KMIP)
KMIP is an extensible key management protocol that has been developed by many organizations working within the OASIS standards body. The first version was released in 2010, and it has been further developed by an active technical committee.

The protocol allows for the creation of keys and their distribution among disparate software systems that need to utilize them. It covers the full key life cycle of both symmetric and asymmetric keys in a variety of formats, the wrapping of keys, provisioning schemes, and cryptographic operations as well as meta data associated with the keys.

The protocol is backed by an extensive series of test cases, and interoperability testing is performed between compliant systems each year.

A list of some 80 products that conform to the KMIP standard can be found on the OASIS website.

Closed source
• Bloombase KeyCastle

• Cryptsoft KMIP C and Java Servers

• Fornetix Key Orchestration

• Fortanix Data Security Manager

• Futurex Key Management

• Gazzang zTrustee

• HP Enterprise Secure Key Manager

• IBM Distributed Key Management System (DKMS)

• IBM Enterprise Key Management Foundation

• IBM Security Key Lifecycle Manager

• IBM Cloud Hyper Protect Crypto Services

• Oracle Key Vault

• Oracle Key Manager

• P6R KMIP Client SDK

• QuintessenceLabs qCrypt Key and Policy Manager

• RSA Data Protection Manager

• Gemalto’s SafeNet KeySecure

• Thales Key Management

• Townsend Security Alliance Key Manager

• Venafi Trust Protection Platform

• Vormetric Data Security Platform

Open source

 * Barbican, the OpenStack security API.
 * KeyBox - web-based SSH access and key management.
 * EPKS - Echo Public Key Share, system to share encryption keys online in a p2p community.
 * Kmc-Subset137 - key management system implementing UNISIG Subset-137 for ERTMS/ETCS railway application.
 * privacyIDEA - two factor management with support for managing SSH keys.
 * StrongKey - open source, last updated on SourceForge in 2016. There is no more maintenance on this project according to its home page.
 * Vault - secret server from HashiCorp.
 * NuCypher
 * SecretHub - end-to-end encrypted SaaS key management
 * Infisical - end-to-end open-source secret management platform.

Closed source

 * Amazon Web Service (AWS) Key Management Service (KMS)
 * Bell ID Key Manager
 * Bloombase KeyCastle
 * Cryptomathic CKMS
 * Doppler SecretOps Platform
 * Encryptionizer Key Manager (Windows only)
 * Google Cloud Key Management
 * IBM Cloud Key Protect
 * Microsoft Azure Key Vault
 * Porticor Virtual Private Data
 * SSH Communications Security Universal SSH Key Manager
 * Akeyless Vault

KMS security policy
The security policy of a key management system provides the rules that are to be used to protect keys and metadata that the key management system supports. As defined by the National Institute of Standards and Technology NIST, the policy shall establish and specify rules for this information that will protect its:
 * Confidentiality
 * Integrity
 * Availability
 * Authentication of source

This protection covers the complete key life-cycle from the time the key becomes operational to its elimination.

Bring your own encryption / key
Bring your own encryption (BYOE)—also called bring your own key (BYOK)—refers to a cloud-computing security model to allow public-cloud customers to use their own encryption software and manage their own encryption keys. This security model is usually considered a marketing stunt, as critical keys are being handed over to third parties (cloud providers) and key owners are still left with the operational burden of generating, rotating and sharing their keys. IBM offers a variant of this capability called Keep Your Own Key where customers have exclusive control of their keys.

Public-key infrastructure (PKI)
A public-key infrastructure is a type of key management system that uses hierarchical digital certificates to provide authentication, and public keys to provide encryption. PKIs are used in World Wide Web traffic, commonly in the form of SSL and TLS.

Multicast group key management
Group key management means managing the keys in a group communication. Most of the group communications use multicast communication so that if the message is sent once by the sender, it will be received by all the users. The main problem in multicast group communication is its security. In order to improve the security, various keys are given to the users. Using the keys, the users can encrypt their messages and send them secretly. IETF.org released RFC 4046, entitled Multicast Security (MSEC) Group Key Management Architecture, which discusses the challenges of group key management.

title: Key management


text:
Vardis

Vardis are an English three-piece hard rock, boogie rock and heavy metal band from Wakefield, West Yorkshire, who enjoyed hits between 1978 and 1986, and reformed in 2014.

They formed a prominent part of the new wave of British heavy metal scene, then prevalent in the United Kingdom. They consisted of frontman Steve Zodiac (real name Stephen John Hepworth) on guitar and lead vocals Alan Selway on bass guitar and Gary Pearson on drums. Alan Selway was later replaced by Terry Horbury (previously of Dirty Tricks) on bass guitar.

Background
The band were originally formed under the name 'Quo Vardis' (a misspelling of the Latin for 'quo vadis', or 'whither goest thou?'). This was later abbreviated to Vardis. Their first recordings were made at Holyground Studios in Cass Yard, Kirgate, Wakefield. The first ever track laid down on vinyl was titled "Jiving All Night Long" with the B-side titled "Stay with Me", both penned by Zodiac. This was followed up with a second record, both cover versions, those being "Roll Over Beethoven" (Chuck Berry) and "Don't Waste My Time" (Status Quo).

Vardis quickly gained notoriety for their high energy live performances, the unique approach of incorporating elements of 1970s glam rock and heavy metal music and frontman Steve Zodiac's searing Fender Telecaster sound. Zodiac was reputable for playing Vardis concerts barefoot and bare chested, his look completed by long, naturally ice-blonde hair.

They took the unorthodox approach of comprising their debut album, 100MPH (1980), of entirely live recordings. This is largely considered to be their finest hour and gained the band a large following early on in their career. They were invited to play the Heavy Metal Holocaust music festival in August 1981 alongside Motörhead, Ozzy Osbourne and Triumph. Around 30,000 heavy metal fans were estimated to have attended with the PA reportedly reaching new heights of amplification at over 100,000 watts.

Their second album, released in April 1981 and called The World's Insane, featured a cover version of Hawkwind's "Silver Machine", and featured bagpipes played by Judd Lander, making it one of the few heavy metal albums of that time to ever feature bagpipes. The album also featured a guest appearances from Status Quo's Andy Bown on keyboards. In 1982, Steve Zodiac was voted in the top 15 rock guitarists by Sounds magazine readers.

Vardis dissolved in the mid 1980s amid lengthy legal disputes with former management.

Vardis reformed with the Zodiac/Horbury/Pearson lineup in March 2014, and performed at festivals in the UK and Germany until Gary Pearson's departure at the end of the year, with Hoplite Records reissuing a remastered edition of Vigilante (1986) on CD and digital download for the first time on 1 April. New drummer Joe Clancy was unveiled in January 2015, as Vardis announced plans to write and record new material. This new lineup released the EP 200 MPH on 18 July, the first new Vardis material in 29 years, to critical acclaim. In November 2015, Vardis penned a worldwide deal with SPV/Steamhammer, with the German label announcing the fifth Vardis album, Red Eye, had been scheduled for release in 2016. On 15 December that year, bassist Terry Horbury died suddenly after a short battle with cancer. Bassist Martin Connolly stepped in to fulfil live obligations in support of Red Eye the following year. Roly Bailey was unveiled as the new permanent bassist in September 2019.

Live albums

 * 100 M.P.H. (Logo, 1980) - UK No. 52
 * 100 M.P.H. @ 100 Club (SPV/Steamhammer, 2021)

Studio albums

 * The World's Insane (Logo, 1981)
 * Quo Vardis (Logo, 1982)
 * Vigilante (Raw Power, LP022, 1986)
 * Red Eye (SPV/Steamhammer, 2016)

Compilation albums

 * New Electric Warriors (Logo, 1980)
 * Metal Power (Logo, 1981)
 * The Lion's Share (Razor, 1983)
 * NWOBHM (Phonogram, 1990)
 * New Electric Warriors (British Steel, 1997)
 * The World's Gone Mad (Essential, 2000)
 * NWOBHM Rarities (British Steel, 2000)
 * Metal (Sanctuary, 2001)
 * Rock of Ages (Sanctuary, 2002)

Singles and EPs

 * "Jiving All Night Long" (Holyground Enterprises, 1973)
 * "Roll Over Beethoven" (Holyground Enterprises, 1973)
 * "100 M.P.H. EP" (Redball, 1979)
 * "If I Were King" (Castle, 1980)
 * "Let's Go" (Logo, 1980) - UK No. 59
 * "Too Many People" (Logo, 1980)
 * "Silver Machine" (Logo, 1981)
 * "All You'll Ever Need" (Logo, 1981)
 * "Gary Glitter Part One" / "To Be With You" (Logo, 1982) - (double A-side single)
 * "Standing in the Road" (Big Beat, 1984)
 * "200 M.P.H. EP" (Hoplite Records, 2015)

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

title: Vardis


text:
Guarapari

Guarapari is a coastal town of Espírito Santo, Brazil, a popular tourist destination. Its beach is famous for the high natural radioactivity level of its sand.

Location
Guarapari is a part of Greater Vitoria, 47 km south of the state capital Vitória. Its population is 126,701 (2020) and its area is 592 km2. It is a well-known tourist destination, known for its curving white sand beaches backed by commercial development, which extend southward to Nova Guarapari and Meaípe. With its heavily built-up coastline like Vila Velha and Vitória, it caters heavily to seasonal tourists, and consequently has quite a dramatic seasonal population fluctuation.

The municipality contains the 953 ha Concha d'Ostra Sustainable Development Reserve, established in 2003 to protect the mangroves of the Bay of Guarapari. It also contains the 1500 ha Paulo César Vinha State Park, which protects an area of dunes, lagoons and marshes along the Atlantic shore. Formerly called the Setiba nature reserve, it is a pristine example of a coastal ecosystem and important for local turtle and bird populations.

History
The municipality has had European presence since 1585 when Jesuit missionaries built a small chapel and dug a well.

Transportation
The city is served by Guarapari Airport.

Radioactivity
Along a roughly 500-mile (800 km) portion of Brazil's Atlantic coast that runs from north of Rio de Janeiro up to the region south of Bahia, the sands of old beaches are naturally radioactive. Sea waves pound coastal mountains rich in monazite, a phosphate of rare earth metals containing uranium and thorium. The background radiation level on some spots on the Guarapari beach read 175 mSv per year (20μSv/h); Some other spots can reach dosages of up to 55 μSv/h. The average exposure level across the United States is 0.34 μSv/h while a chest x-ray is a one time exposure of 0.1 mSv, and an abdominal and pelvic CT scan with and without contrast is 20-30 mSv.

In the Guarapari city, radiation levels are far lower: a study among 320 inhabitants showed an average received dose of 0.6 μSv/h, corresponding to 5.2 mSv per year.

title: Guarapari


text:
Kiyomizu-dera

Kiyomizu-dera (清水寺) is a Buddhist temple located in eastern Kyoto, Japan. The temple is part of the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto UNESCO World Heritage Site.

History
The temple was established in 778, during the late Nara period, by Enchin Shonin, who was a priest from Nara (the capital of Japan from 710 to 784). He is said to have received a vision telling him to construct the temple next to the Otowa spring.

In 798, the shogun Sakanoue Tamuramaro improved the site by including a large hall that was reassembled from the palace of Emperor Kammu (r. 781–806). The emperor had left Nara to escape the strong influence that the Buddhist monasteries had on the government there. During this period there was a strong rivalry between the Kofuku-ji and the Kiyomizu-dera temples, and both had influence around the region.

Many of the temple's present buildings were constructed in 1633 on the orders of the shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu. There is not a single nail used in the entire structure. It takes its name from the waterfall within the complex, which runs off the nearby hills. Kiyomizu means "pure water".

It was originally affiliated with the old and influential Hossō sect, dating from Nara times. However, in 1965 it severed that affiliation, and its present custodians call themselves members of their own Kita-Hossō (Northern Hossō) sect.

Present
The expression "to jump off the stage at Kiyomizu" is the Japanese equivalent of the English expression "to take the plunge". This refers to an Edo-period tradition that held that if one survived a 13 m jump from the stage, one's wish would be granted. During the Edo period, 234 jumps were recorded, and of the jumpers, 85.4 per cent survived. The practice was prohibited in 1872.

The temple complex includes several other shrines, among them the Jishu Shrine, dedicated to Ōkuninushi, a god of love and "good matches". Jishu Shrine possesses a pair of "love stones" placed 10 m apart, which lonely visitors can try to walk between with their eyes closed. Success in reaching the other stone with their eyes closed implies that the pilgrim will find true love.

The complex also offers various talismans, incense, and omikuji (paper fortunes). The site is particularly popular during festivals, especially at New Year's and during obon in the summer, when additional booths fill the grounds selling traditional holiday foodstuffs and souvenirs.

In 2007, Kiyomizu-dera was one of 21 finalists for the New Seven Wonders of the World, but was not picked as one of the seven winning sites. The temple was covered entirely by semi-transparent scaffolding while it underwent restoration works in preparation for the 2020 Olympics.

Architecture
Kiyomizu-dera is located in the foothills of Mount Otowa, part of the Higashiyama mountain range that dominates eastern Kyoto. The main hall has a large veranda, supported by tall pillars, that juts out over the hillside and offers views of the city. Large verandas and main halls were constructed at many popular sites during the Edo period to accommodate large numbers of pilgrims.

Beneath the main hall is the Otowa waterfall, where three channels of water fall into a pond. Visitors can catch and drink the water, which is believed to have wish-granting powers. There is also the Tainai Meguri, a dark tunnel said to represent the womb of Daizuiku Bosatsu (the bodhisattva Mahāpratisarā).

title: Kiyomizu-dera


text:
Alain Maury

Alain J. Maury (born 1958) is a French astronomer who has discovered numerous asteroids.

He discovered the periodic comet 115P/Maury as well as the non-periodic C/1988 C1 (Maury-Phinney).

He has discovered a number of asteroids, including the Apollo asteroid 3838 Epona and the Amor asteroids 11284 Belenus and 5370 Taranis.

He participated in the OCA DLR Asteroid Survey (ODAS), which also discovered more than 2200 asteroids during its 30-month lifetime.

The asteroid 3780 Maury was named in his honour.

Since 2003, Maury and his wife Alejandra have operated their own observatory near San Pedro de Atacama in Northern Chile. There, they give tours introducing visitors to the night sky in order to finance their own research and further public interest in astronomy.

title: Alain Maury


text:
Invincible-class battlecruiser

The three Invincible-class battlecruisers were built for the Royal Navy and entered service in 1908 as the world's first battlecruisers. They were the brainchild of Admiral Sir John ("Jacky") Fisher, the man who had sponsored the construction of the world's first "all-big-gun" warship, HMS Dreadnought (1906). He visualised a new breed of warship, somewhere between the armoured cruiser and battleship; it would have the armament of the latter, but the high speed of the former. This combination would allow it to chase down most ships, while allowing it to run from more powerful designs.

This design philosophy would prove to be most successful when the Invincibles were able to use their speed to run down smaller and weaker ships. The classic example was during World War I at the Battle of the Falkland Islands, where HMS Invincible (1907) and HMS Inflexible (1907) sank the German armoured cruisers SMS Scharnhorst and SMS Gneisenau; despite numerous hits by the German ships, Inflexible and Invincible incurred very few casualties among their crews. They were least successful when standing in the main line of battle, where they faced enemy capital ships. An example is the loss of Invincible to a magazine explosion during the Battle of Jutland about eighteen months after her success in the Falklands, although this explosion owed more to flaws in British ammunition-handling practices – that exposed numerous cordite charges to a fire in one of her gun turrets – than any flaws in the design of the ship.

After the loss of Invincible, the two surviving ships had an uneventful time for the rest of the war conducting patrols of the North Sea, as the High Seas Fleet was forbidden to risk any more losses. They were put into reserve in early 1919 and sold for scrap in 1921.

Design
After Admiral Fisher was appointed First Sea Lord on 20 October 1904, he pushed through the Board of Admiralty in early December 1904 a decision to arm the next armoured cruiser with 12 in guns and that it would have a speed no less than 25.5 kn. Shortly afterwards he convened a "Committee on Designs" to investigate and report on requirements for future ships. While nominally independent, it served to validate decisions already made and to deflect criticism off Fisher and the Board of Admiralty, as it had no ability to consider options other than those already decided upon by the Admiralty. Fisher appointed all of the members of the Committee and himself as President of the Committee. During its last meeting on the 22 of February 1905 it decided on the outline design of the fast armoured cruiser. This, in turn, was approved by the Board on March the 16th with only minor changes, such as the reduction in the anti-torpedo boat armament from twenty to eighteen 12-pdr guns.

General characteristics
The Invincible-class ships were formally known as armoured cruisers until 1911, when they were redesignated as battlecruisers by an Admiralty order of 24 November. Unofficially a number of designations were used until then, including cruiser-battleship, dreadnought cruiser and battle-cruiser.

The Invincibles were significantly larger than their armoured cruiser predecessors of the Minotaur-class cruiser (1906). They had an overall length of 567 ft, a beam of 78.5 ft, and a draft of 30 ft at deep load. They displaced 17250 LT at load and 20420 LT at deep load, nearly 3000 LT more than the earlier ships.

Propulsion
Early in the design process the "Committee on Designs" had thought to power these ships with the traditional reciprocating vertical triple-expansion steam engines, but were persuaded to adopt Parsons steam turbines as they required fewer boilers for the same amount of power, were easier to protect from damage as they were more compact than reciprocating engines and could be kept below the waterline. In addition they were significantly lighter and more reliable than the older design. The direct-drive turbines then in use did have one significant drawback in that they ran at a relatively high speed which required small-diameter, fine-pitch propellers of a large blade area which adversely affected manoeuvrability at low speeds. Parsons alleviated this problem by his suggestion of fitting more powerful astern turbines on all four shafts, which could increase manoeuvrability by reversing the turbines as needed.

An additional solution was to fit twin balanced rudders behind each inner shaft, in contrast to the single central rudder used on earlier ships. This greatly increased the effectiveness of the rudder and substantially decreased the turning circle of the Invincibles in comparison to earlier ships of their size.

The Invincibles had two paired sets of Parsons turbines housed in separate engine-rooms. Each set consisted of a high-pressure ahead and astern turbine driving an outboard shaft, and a low-pressure ahead and astern turbine driving an inner shaft. A cruising turbine was also coupled to each inner shaft, although these were not used often and were eventually disconnected. Each shaft drove a propeller 11 ft in diameter. The turbines were designed to produce a total of 41000 shp, but reached nearly 47000 shp during trials in 1908. Designed speed was 25 kn, but all three bettered 26 kn during trials. HMS Indomitable (1907) maintained an average speed of 25.3 kn for three days during a passage of the North Atlantic in August 1908.

The steam plant consisted of 31 Yarrow (Invincible and Inflexible) or Babcock & Wilcox (Indomitable) large-tube boilers, arranged in four boiler rooms. Maximum bunkerage was approximately 3000 LT of coal, with an additional 725 LT of fuel oil to be sprayed on the coal to increase its burn rate. At full fuel capacity, the ships could steam for 3090 nmi at a speed of 10 kn.

Armament
Each carried eight BL 12-inch (305 mm) Mk X guns in four hydraulically powered BVIII twin turrets, except for Invincible which mounted her guns in two BIX and two BX electrically driven turrets. Two turrets were mounted fore and aft on the centreline, identified as 'A' and 'X' respectively. Two turrets were mounted amidships between the second and third funnels, identified as 'P' and 'Q'. 'P' turret was mounted on the port side and normally faced forward, 'Q' turret was mounted on the starboard side and normally faced aft (rearwards). 'P' and 'Q' turrets were staggered—'P' was forward of 'Q', enabling 'P' to fire in a limited arc to the starboard side and 'Q' to likewise fire in a limited arc towards the port side. These were the same guns as those mounted in the British HMS Dreadnought (1906), the Lord Nelson-class battleship and the Bellerophon-class battleship, and for a brief period the Invincibles equalled the firepower of any other nations' battleships.

The guns could initially be depressed to −3° and elevated to 13.5°, although the turrets were modified to allow 16° of elevation during World War I. They fired 850 lb projectiles at a muzzle velocity of 2725 ft/s; at 13.5°, this provided a maximum range of 16450 m with armour-piercing (AP) 2 crh shells. At 16° elevation, the range was extended to 20435 yd using the more aerodynamic, but slightly heavier 4 crh AP shells. The rate of fire of these guns was 1–2 rounds per minute. The ships had a total of 880 rounds during wartime for 110 shells per gun.

The ships' secondary armament initially was intended to consist of eighteen 3 in 12-pdr guns, but firing trials against the old destroyer HMS Skate (1895) in 1906 showed that the 12-pdr gun had little chance of stopping a destroyer or torpedo boat before it got close enough to fire its torpedoes.

The originally intended 12-pounder guns were exchanged for sixteen 4-in (102 mm) QF Mk III guns early in the construction process. They were positioned in the superstructure and on turret roofs in open mounts as they were not expected to be manned in a ship-to-ship engagement during daylight. During 1914–15 the turret roof guns were transferred to the superstructure and the total number of guns was reduced to twelve. All of the remaining guns were enclosed in casemates and given blast shields at that time to better protect the gun crews from weather and enemy action.

The guns on their PI* mounts had a maximum depression of 10° and a maximum elevation of 20°. They fired 25 lb projectiles at a muzzle velocity of 2300 - 2370 ft/s; at 20°, this provided a maximum range of 9600 yd using Common pointed shells. Their rate of fire was 8–10 rounds per minute.

These guns were replaced by twelve 4-inch BL MK IX guns on CPI mountings on Inflexible during 1917. They could depress 10° and elevate to 30°. They fired 31 lb shells at a muzzle velocity of 2625 ft/s to a maximum range of 13500 yd at a rate of fire of 10–12 rounds per minute.

The QF Mk III guns were replaced by twelve 4-inch BL MK VII guns on PVI mountings on Indomitable during 1917. These guns could depress 7° and elevate to 15°. They fired 31 lb shells at a muzzle velocity of 2864 ft/s which gave a maximum range of 11600 yd. Their rate of fire was 6–8 rounds per minute. An additional gun was fitted on Indomitable in April 1917 as an anti-aircraft (AA) gun. It was mounted on a MK II high-angle mounting with a maximum elevation of 60°. It had a reduced propellant charge with a muzzle velocity of only 2864 ft/s.

Earlier anti-aircraft guns included a 3-pounder Hotchkiss gun on a high-angle Mk Ic mounting with a maximum elevation of 60°. Both Invincible and Indomitable carried theirs from November 1914 to August 1917. It fired 3.3 lb projectiles at a muzzle velocity of 1873 ft/s at a rate of fire of 20 rounds per minute. This provided a maximum range of 7600 yd at 45°, but the maximum effective anti-aircraft range was only 1200 yd.

Each of the Invincibles was also fitted with a single QF 3-inch 20 cwt AA gun on a high-angle MKII mount at the aft end of the superstructure. This had a maximum depression of 10° and a maximum elevation of 90°. It fired a 12.5 lb shell at a muzzle velocity of 2500 ft/s at a rate of fire of 12–14 rounds per minute. They had a maximum effective ceiling of 23500 ft.

Gardiner and Gray quote an additional seven Maxim guns, but this cannot be confirmed. Five 18-inch (450 mm) submerged torpedo tubes were mounted on the Invincibles, two on each side and one in the stern and fourteen torpedoes were carried.

Fire control
The spotting tops at the head of the fore and main masts controlled the fire of the Invincibles' main guns. Data from a 9 ft Barr and Stroud rangefinder was input into a Dumaresq mechanical computer and electrically transmitted to Vickers range clocks located in the Transmitting Station located beneath each spotting top where it was converted into range and deflection data for use by the guns. The target's data was also graphically recorded on a plotting table to assist the gunnery officer in predicting the movement of the target. Each gun turret had its own transmission equipment and the turrets, Transmitting Stations, and spotting tops could be connected in almost any combination. Firing trials against HMS Hero (1885) in 1907 revealed this system's vulnerability to gunfire as the spotting top was hit twice and a large splinter severed the voice pipe and all wiring running along the mast. To guard against this possibility, 'A' turret was fitted, during refits between 1911 and 1914, with a 9-foot rangefinder at the rear of the turret roof and it was equipped to control the entire main armament.

Fire control technology advanced quickly during the years immediately preceding World War I and the development of the Dreyer Fire Control Table was one such advance. It combined the functions of the Dumaresq and the range clock and a simplified version, the Mk I, was fitted to the Invincibles during refits in 1915–16. The more important development was the director firing system. This consisted of a fire control director mounted high in the ship which electrically provided gun data to the turrets via pointers, which the turret crewmen only had to follow. The director officer fired the guns simultaneously, which aided in spotting the shell splashes and minimised the effects of the roll on the dispersion of the shells. Invincible was the first battlecruiser to receive this system during her refit from April to August 1914, but its installation was interrupted by the outbreak of the war and it was not fully working until after the Battle of the Falkland Islands in November. Indomitable and Inflexible didn't receive their systems until May 1916, immediately before the Battle of Jutland.

Protection
The armour protection given to the Invincibles the waterline belt measured 6 in amidships was only slightly more than half the thickness of HMS Dreadnought (1906)'s 11 in. The belt was six inches thick roughly between the fore and aft twelve-inch gun turrets, but was reduced to four inches from the fore turret to the bow and did not extend aft of the rear turret. A six-inch bulkhead met the barbette of X turret to fully enclose the armoured citadel. The gun turrets and barbettes were protected by 7 in of armour, except for the turret roofs which used 3 in of Krupp non-cemented armour (KNC). The thickness of the main deck was 1 in around the base of barbettes and the crown of the base of the rear conning tower. It was 2 in over the crown of the base of the forward conning tower. The lower deck armour was 1.5 in on the flat and two inches thick on the slope, except aft of the rear turret where it was increased to 2.5 in to protect the steering gear. The front and sides of the forward conning tower were 10 in thick while its rear was 7 in. The walls of the rear conning tower were six inches thick. The roof and floor of both conning towers were KNC armour 2 inches thick while their communication tubes were 3 in of KNC. The signal tower immediately aft of the forward conning tower also had three inches of KNC. Mild steel torpedo bulkheads of 2.5-inch thickness were fitted abreast the magazines and shell rooms. Krupp cemented armour was used throughout, unless otherwise mentioned.

Aircraft
By 1918 the two surviving Invincibles carried a Sopwith Pup and a Sopwith 1½ Strutter on flying-off ramps fitted on top of 'P' and 'Q' turrets. Each platform had a canvas hangar to protect the aircraft during inclement weather.

Ships
The three Invincibles were ordered at the same time as Dreadnought as part of the 1905–06 Naval Programme. The following table gives the build details and purchase cost of the members of the Invincible class. Whilst standard British practice at that time was for these costs to exclude armament and stores, for some reason the cost quoted in The Naval Annual for this class includes armament.

Service history
All three ships entered service from the second half of 1908. Initially, Invincible and Inflexible were assigned to the Home Fleet, while Indomitable took the Prince of Wales (later King George V) to the tercentennial celebrations in Canada, before also joining the Home Fleet. Invincible's electrically driven turrets proved to be a failure despite two lengthy refits in 1909 and 1911 and were converted to hydraulic power during her refit in early 1914 at the enormous cost of £151,200. The situation was so bad during her gunnery trials in October 1908 that the captain of HMS Excellent (shore establishment), the Royal Navy's gunnery school described their operation thusly: "When the order was given to train the turret, elevate or run a gun in or out, it was only necessary to push a button, or move a switch, but the result was often a flash of blue flame which seemed to fill the turret."

In 1914, Invincible was refitting in England, while Inflexible and Indomitable, together with the newer HMS Indefatigable (1909) formed the nucleus of the Mediterranean Fleet, where Inflexible served as flagship from November 1912. It was in the Mediterranean that the first naval action of the First World War took place, when the British pursued the German warships SMS Goeben and SMS Breslau upon the outbreak of war.

Pursuit of Goeben and Breslau
Indomitable, accompanied by Indefatigable, under the command of Admiral Sir Archibald Berkeley Milne encountered the battlecruiser Goeben and the light cruiser Breslau on the morning of 4 August 1914 headed east after a cursory bombardment of the French Algerian port of Philippeville, but Britain and Germany were not yet at war so Milne turned to shadow the Germans as they headed back to Messina to recoal. All three battlecruisers had problems with their boilers, but Goeben and Breslau were able to break contact and reached Messina by the morning of the 5th. By this time war had been declared, after the German invasion of Belgium, but an Admiralty order to respect Italian neutrality and stay outside a six-mile (10 km) limit from the Italian coast precluded entrance into the passage of the Strait of Messina where they could observe the port directly. Therefore, Milne stationed Inflexible and Indefatigable at the northern exit of the Straits of Messina, still expecting the Germans to break out to the west where they could attack French troop transports, the light cruiser HMS Gloucester (1909) at the southern exit and sent Indomitable to recoal at Bizerte where she was better positioned to react to a German sortie into the Western Mediterranean.

The Germans sortied from Messina on 6 August and headed east, towards Constantinople, trailed by Gloucester. Milne, still expecting Rear Admiral Wilhelm Souchon to turn west, kept the battlecruisers at Malta until shortly after midnight on 8 August when he set sail for Cape Matapan at a leisurely 12 kn, where Goeben had been spotted eight hours earlier. At 2:30 p.m. he received an incorrect signal from the Admiralty stating that Britain was at war with Austria – war would not be declared until 12 August and the order was countermanded four hours later, but Milne followed his standing orders to guard the Adriatic against an Austrian break-out attempt, rather than seek Goeben. Finally on 9 August Milne was given clear orders to "chase Goeben which had passed Cape Matapan on the 7th steering north-east." Milne still did not believe that Souchon was heading for the Dardanelles, and so he resolved to guard the exit from the Aegean, unaware that the Goeben did not intend to come out. Indomitable remained in the Mediterranean to blockade the Dardanelles, but Inflexible was ordered home on 18 August.

On 3 November 1914, Churchill ordered the first British attack on the Dardanelles following the opening of hostilities between Turkey and Russia. The attack was carried out by Indomitable and Indefatigable, as well as the French pre-dreadnought battleships FRENCH BATTLESHIP Suffren and FRENCH BATTLESHIP Vérité. The intention of the attack was to test the fortifications and measure the Turkish response. The results were deceptively encouraging. In a twenty-minute bombardment, a single shell struck the magazine of the fort at Sedd el Bahr at the tip of the Gallipoli peninsula, displacing (but not destroying) 10 guns and killing 86 Turkish soldiers. The most significant consequence was that the attention of the Turks was drawn to strengthening their defences, and they set about expanding the mine field. This attack actually took place before a formal declaration of war had been made by Britain against the Ottoman Empire which happened on 6 November. Indomitable was ordered to return to England in December where she joined the 2nd Battlecruiser Squadron (BCS).

Battle of Heligoland Bight
Invincible's first action was as part of the battlecruiser force under the command of Admiral Beatty during the Battle of Heligoland Bight operation on 28 August 1914. Beatty's ships had originally been intended as distant support of the British cruisers and destroyers closer to the German coast in case large units of the High Seas Fleet sortied in response to the British attacks. They turned south at full speed at 11:35 when the British light forces failed to disengage on schedule and the rising tide meant that German capital ships would be able to clear the bar at the mouth of the Jade estuary. The brand-new light cruiser HMS Arethusa (1913) had been crippled earlier in the battle and was under fire from the light cruisers SMS Strassburg and SMS Cöln (1909) when Beatty's battlecruisers loomed out of the mist at 12:37. Strassburg was able to duck into the mists and evade fire, but Cöln remained visible and was quickly crippled by fire from the squadron. But Beatty was distracted from the task of finishing her off by the sudden appearance of the elderly light cruiser SMS Ariadne directly to his front. He turned in pursuit, but reduced her to a flaming hulk in only three salvos at a range under 6000 yd. At 13:10 Beatty turned north and made a general signal to retire. At this time, Invincible, trailing the main body of battlecruisers, opened fire on Cöln. She fired 18 rounds, all misses, before Beatty's main body encountered the crippled Cöln shortly after turning north and she was sunk by two salvos from HMS Lion (1910).

Battle of the Falklands
The West Indies Squadron of Rear Admiral Christopher Cradock was destroyed by the German East Asia Squadron commanded by Admiral Graf von Spee during the Battle of Coronel on 1 November 1914. In response, the Admiralty ordered that a squadron be sent to destroy the Germans. The squadron, under the command of Admiral Sir Doveton Sturdee, consisted of Invincible (flag) and Inflexible. They departed on 11 November and rendezvoused with several other cruisers under Rear Admiral Stoddard at Abrolhos Rocks off the coast of Brazil on the 26th. The combined force departed the following day and reached Port Stanley on the morning of 7 December.

Spee, making a leisurely voyage back to the Atlantic, decided to destroy the radio station at Port Stanley and sent the armoured cruiser SMS Gneisenau and the light cruiser SMS Nürnberg (1906) on the morning of 8 December to see if the harbour was clear of British warships. They were spotted at 07:30 although the pre-dreadnought HMS Canopus (1897), grounded in Stanley Harbour to defend the town and its wireless station, did not receive the signal until 07:45. It mattered little because Sturdee was not expecting an engagement and most of his ships were coaling. Furthermore, the armoured cruiser HMS Cornwall (1902) and the light cruiser HMS Bristol (1910) had one or both of their engines under repair. The armed merchant cruiser Macedonian was patrolling the outer harbour entrance while the armoured cruiser HMS Kent (1901) was anchored in the outer harbour, scheduled to relieve the Macedonian at 08:00. The Germans were not expecting any resistance and the first salvo from Canopus's guns at 09:20 caused them to sheer off from their planned bombardment of the wireless station and fall back on Spee's main body.

Sturdee's ships did not sortie from the harbour until 9:50, but they could see the retreating German ships on the southwest horizon. The Invincibles, fresh out of dry dock, had a 5 kn advantage over Spee's ships which all had fouled bottoms that limited their speeds to 20 kn at best. The light cruiser SMS Leipzig (1905) was lagging behind the other ships and Inflexible opened fire on her when the range dropped to 17500 yd at 12:55. Invincible opened fire shortly afterwards and both ships began straddling Leipzig as the range closed to 13000 yd. At 01:20 Spee ordered his squadron to separate and ordered his light cruisers to turn to the southwest while his armoured cruisers turned to the north east to cover their retreat. The German ships opened fire first at 13:30 and scored their first hit at 13:44 when SMS Scharnhorst hit Invincible, although the shell burst harmlessly on the belt armour. Both sides fired rapidly during the first half-hour of the engagement before Sturdee opened up the range a little to put his ships outside the effective range of the German guns. British gunnery was very poor during this period, scoring only four hits out of 210 rounds fired. The primary cause was the smoke from the guns and funnels as the British were downwind of the Germans, although one gun of Invincible's 'A' turret jammed at 13:42 and was out of action for thirty minutes. Spee turned to the south in the hope of disengaging while the British had their vision obscured, but only opened the range to 17000 yd before the British saw his course change. This was futile as the British battlecruisers gave chase at 24 kn. Forty minutes later the British opened fire again at 15000 yd. Eight minutes later Spee turned again to the east to give battle. This time his strategy was to close the range on the British ships so he could bring his 15 cm secondary armament into play. In this he was successful and the 15 cm guns were able to open fire at 15:00 at maximum elevation. On this course the smoke bothered both sides, but multiple hits were made regardless. Those made by the Germans either failed to detonate or hit in some insignificant area. On the contrary Gneisenau had her starboard engine room put out of action. Sturdee ordered his ships at 15:15 back across their own wakes to gain the windward advantage. Spee turned to the northwest, as if to attempt to cross the British T, but actually to bring Scharnhorst's undamaged starboard guns to bear as most of those on his port side were out of action. The British continued to hit Scharnhorst and Gneisenau regularly during this time and Scharnhorst ceased fire at 4:00 before capsizing at 16:17 with no survivors. Gneisenau had been slowed by earlier damage and was battered for another hour and a half by Inflexible and Invincible at ranges down to 4000 yd. Despite the damage her crew continued to fire back until she ceased firing at 16:47. Sturdee was ready to order 'Cease fire' at 17:15 when an ammunition hoist was freed up and she made her last shot. The British continued to pound her until 17:50, after her captain had given the order to scuttle her at 17:40. She slowly capsized at 18:00 and the British were able to rescue 176 men. Invincible and Inflexible fired 513 and 661 twelve-inch shells respectively during the battle, but Inflexible had been hit only three times and Invincible had been hit twenty-two times. Two of her bow compartments were flooded and one hit on her waterline abreast 'P' turret had flooded a coal bunker and temporarily given her a 15° list. Only one man was killed and five wounded aboard the battlecruisers during the battle.

Battle of Dogger Bank
On 23 January 1915, a force of German battlecruisers under the command of Admiral Franz von Hipper sortied to clear the Dogger Bank of any British fishing boats or small craft that might be there to collect intelligence on German movements. But the British were reading their coded messages and sailed to intercept them with a larger force of British battlecruisers under the command of Admiral Beatty, which included Indomitable. Contact was initiated at 07:20 on the 24th when the British light cruiser Arethusa spotted the German light cruiser SMS Kolberg. By 07:35 the Germans had spotted Beatty's force and Hipper ordered a turn to the south at 20 kn, believing that this would suffice if the ships that he saw to his northwest were British battleships and that he could always increase speed to SMS Blücher's maximum speed of 23 kn if they were British battlecruisers.

Beatty ordered his battlecruisers to make all practicable speed to catch the Germans before they could escape. Indomitable managed to exceed 26 knots and Beatty recognised her performance with a signal at 08:55 "Well done, Indomitable" Despite this achievement Indomitable was the slowest of Beatty's ships and gradually fell behind the newer and faster battlecruisers. By 10:48 Blücher had been heavily damaged by fire from all the other battlecruisers and her speed had dropped to 17 kn and her steering gear had been jammed; Beatty ordered Indomitable to attack her. But due to a combination of a mistake by Beatty's flag lieutenant in signalling, and heavy damage to Beatty's flagship HMS Lion (1910) which had knocked out her radio and caused enough smoke to obscure her signal halyards so that Beatty couldn't communicate with his ships, the rest of the battlecruisers turned away from Hipper's main body and engaged Blücher. Indomitable fired 134 shells at Blücher before she capsized and sank at 12:07. After the end of the battle Indomitable was ordered to tow Lion back to port as one of her engines had been knocked out, the other was failing and she'd been holed a number of times beneath the waterline. It took over a day and a half at speeds of 7 - 10 kn.

Dardanelles Campaign
After the Battle of the Falklands Invincible and Inflexible were repaired and refitted at Gibraltar. Invincible sailed to England and joined the 3rd Battlecruiser Squadron while Inflexible arrived at the Dardanelles on 24 January 1915 where she replaced Indefatigable as the flagship of the Mediterranean Fleet. She bombarded Turkish fortifications on 19 February, the start of the Battle of Gallipoli, to little effect, and again on 15 March, with the same results. She was part of the first line of British ships on 18 March as they attempted to suppress the Turkish guns so the minefields could be swept. She was moderately damaged by Turkish gunfire, but was seriously damaged by a mine, probably about 100 kg in size, that blew a large hole in her starboard bow and flooded the forward torpedo flat, drowning 39 men. She had to be beached at the island of Bozcaada (Tenedos) to prevent her sinking, as she'd taken in some 1600 LT of water, but she was temporarily repaired with a cofferdam over the 30 x hole. She sailed to Malta, escorted by the battleship HMS Canopus (1897) and cruiser HMS Talbot (1895) on 6 April. She nearly foundered when her cofferdam worked loose in heavy weather en route and had to be towed stern-first by Canopus for six hours while the cofferdam was repaired. She was under repair at Malta until early June before she sailed for home. She reached the UK on 19 June where she joined the 3rd BCS.

Towards the end of the year, the British battlecruiser force was organised into three squadrons, with the 3rd BCS consisting of the three Invincible-class ships under the command of Rear Admiral H.L.A. Hood in Invincible. The 1st and 3rd BCS had sortied in response to the German bombardment of Yarmouth and Lowestoft on 24–25 April 1916, but failed to locate the German ships in heavy weather. During the return home, Invincible was rammed by the patrol yacht Goissa. Goissas bow was embedded in Invincibles side which partially stoved-in. Invincible's speed was reduced to 12 kn through flooding and she was forced to haul out of line and proceed independently to Rosyth for repairs which lasted until 22 May.

Battle of Jutland
At the end of May 1916, the 3rd Battlecruiser Squadron was temporarily assigned to the Grand Fleet for gunnery practice. On 30 May, the entire Grand Fleet, along with Admiral Beatty's battlecruisers, had been ordered to sea to prepare for an excursion by the German High Seas Fleet. To support Beatty, Rear Admiral Hood took his three battlecruisers ahead of the Grand Fleet. At about 14:30 Invincible intercepted a radio message from the British light cruiser HMS Galatea (1914), attached to Beatty's Battlecruiser Force, reporting the sighting of two enemy cruisers. This was amplified by other reports of seven enemy ships steering north. Hood interpreted this as an attempt to escape through the Skagerrak and ordered an increase in speed to 22 kn at 15:11 and steered East-Southeast to cut off the fleeing ships. Twenty minutes later Invincible intercepted a message from Beatty reporting five enemy battlecruisers in sight and later signals reporting that he was engaging the enemy on a south-easterly course. At 16:06 Hood ordered full speed and a course of south-southeast in an attempt to converge on Beatty. At 16:56, with no British ships in sight, Hood requested Beatty's course, position and speed, but never received a reply.

Hood continued on course until 17:40 when gunfire was spotted in the direction to which his light cruiser HMS Chester (1915) had been dispatched to investigate other gunfire flashes. Chester encountered four light cruisers of Hipper's 2nd Scouting Group and was badly damaged before Hood turned to investigate and was able to drive the German cruisers away from Chester. At 17:53 Invincible opened fire on SMS Wiesbaden and the other two Invincibles followed two minutes later. The German ships turned for the south after fruitlessly firing torpedoes at 18:00 and attempted to find shelter in the mist. As they turned Invincible hit Wiesbaden in the engine room and knocked out her engines while Inflexible hit SMS Pillau once. The 2nd Scouting Group was escorted by the light cruiser SMS Regensburg and 31 destroyers of the 2nd and 9th Flotillas and the 12th Half-Flotilla which attacked the 3rd BCS in succession. They were driven off by Hood's remaining light cruiser HMS Canterbury (1915) and the five destroyers of his escort. In a confused action the Germans only launched 12 torpedoes and disabled the destroyer HMS Shark (1912) with gunfire. Having turned due west to close on Beatty's ships, the Invincibles were broadside to the oncoming torpedoes, but Invincible turned north, while Inflexible and Indomitable turned south to present their narrowest profile to the torpedoes. All the torpedoes missed although one passed underneath Inflexible without detonating. As Invincible turned north, her helm jammed and she had to come to a stop to fix the problem, but this was quickly done and the squadron reformed heading west. At 18:21, with both Beatty and the Grand Fleet converging on him, Hood turned south to lead Beatty's battlecruisers. Hipper's battlecruisers were 9000 yd away and the Invincibles almost immediately opened fire on Hipper's flagship SMS Lützow and SMS Derfflinger. Indomitable hit Derfflinger three times and SMS Seydlitz once, while the Lützow quickly took 10 hits from HMS Lion (1910), Inflexible and Invincible, including two hits below the waterline forward by Invincible that would ultimately doom her. But at 18:30 Invincible abruptly appeared as a clear target before Lützow and Derfflinger. The two German ships then fired three salvoes each at Invincible, and sank her in 90 seconds. A 305 mm (12-inch) shell from the third salvo struck Invincible's midships 'Q' turret, flash detonated the magazines below, and the ship blew up and broke in half, killing all but 6 of her crew of 1,032 officers and men, including Hood.

Inflexible and Indomitable remained in company with Beatty for the rest of the battle. They encountered Hipper's battlecruisers only 10000 yd away as the sun was setting about 20:19 and opened fire. Seydlitz was hit five times before the battlecruisers were rescued by the pre-dreadnought battleships of Rear Admiral Mauve and the British shifted fire to the new threat. Three of the predreadnoughts were hit before they too were able to turn into the gloom.

Post-Jutland career
The loss of three battlecruisers at Jutland (the others were HMS Queen Mary and HMS Indefatigable (1909)) led to the force being reorganised into two squadrons, with Inflexible and Indomitable in the 2nd BCS. However, after Jutland there was little significant naval activity, for the Invincibles, other than routine patrolling, thanks to the Kaiser's order that his ships should not be allowed to go to sea unless assured of victory. The end of the war saw the end for many of the older vessels, not least the two remaining Invincible-class ships. Both were sent to the Reserve Fleet in 1919, and were paid off in March 1920.

After the end of the war, Chile began seeking additional ships for its navy. In April 1920, Chile bought Canada and four destroyers, all of which had been ordered by Chile prior to the war's outbreak and requisitioned by the British for the war. Further planned expansion included Inflexible and Indomitable, but when the secret negotiations to acquire them were leaked to the press, a major uproar erupted in Chile. The most visible dissension came from a bloc of officers in the navy, who publicly opposed any possible purchase and instead promoted a "New Navy" which would acquire submarines and aircraft. They argued that these weapons would cost less and give the country, and its lengthy coastline, better protection from external threats. The ships were not bought for reasons of cost, but neither were the aircraft its supporters had been hoping for. Both were sold for scrap on 1 December 1921.

title: Invincible-class battlecruiser


text:
Talk:Manaslu

People who want to enjoy with mountain must see manaslu
The manaslu mountain is very beautiful than others mountain in Nepal in my opinion

Wrong mountains indeed
So am I, so I have removed it. But it can still be accessed via the Manaslu history tag. By clicking on it to enlarge it, its caption can be seen, which correctly states that it shows Annapurna IV, Annapurna II and Lamjung. By all means upload it to the Pokhara and/or Annapurna pages. Viewfinder 05:50, 15 December 2005 (UTC)

The virtual view from the Pokhara area, which proves the above claim, can be seen [here]. See directions 010-040. Viewfinder 06:17, 15 December 2005 (UTC)

Korean Expeditions
The team leader of the '71 expedition was Kim Chong-sup, not Kim Ho-sup. Regarding the '72 Korean attempt on the northeast, I have other references that state that 15 total were killed in the avalanche. Can anyone varify with a legit source? --Bentonia School 03:09, 15 August 2007 (UTC)

 * The AAJ 1972 has the leader being Kim Ho-sup. Of course they could be in error. What is your reference for Kim Chong-sup?
 * Regarding 1972, AAJ 1973 confirms that "fifteen members of a South Korean expedition were killed when on April 10 avalanches overwhelmed their Camp III at 21,300 feet. The dead were four Koreans including the leader, Kim Ho Sup, one Japanese and ten Sherpas." I'll edit the article accordingly. -- Spireguy 18:07, 15 August 2007 (UTC)
 * My source for Kim Chong-sup is the Corea Alpine Club and Explorers Web. I have noted however that the Explorers Web article is basically a lift from the Corea Apline Club article. I would assume that Corea Alpine Club would have a better reference for the anglicization of Korean names, but perhaps not. It's worth looking more closely into. --Bentonia School 13:05, 16 August 2007 (UTC)
 * Hm, I just noticed that the Corea Alpine Club article has been changed (and with pretty bad English). The Explorers Web article is in tact. However, I will try to find the name of the leader as it's written in Korean. That will dispell any errors. --Bentonia School 13:09, 16 August 2007 (UTC)
 * Thanks for trying to track this down -- Spireguy 17:35, 16 August 2007 (UTC)

Manaslu Circuit / Larke Pass Trekking In Nepal
Manaslu Trek is a well-known and a lovely trekking route, providing with beautiful mountain views, rich culture and genuine adventure sum up the trek experience around the 8156m Manaslu. Opened in 1992, this area offers a combination of rich culture heritage, unsurpassed beauty and biological diversity.

Manaslu at 8163 meters (26, 775') is the 8th highest peak in the world and is located near to the border of Nepal and Tibet. The name Manaslu means "The Spirit-Mountain" in the local dialect, referring to the benevolent and strong deity, which dwells within. Trekking in Manaslu is one of the most delightful adventures.

If you would like to sample both extremes of the trekking experience in Nepal, and really get to see what all the fuss is about in terms of the most breath-taking mountain scenery on earth, then look no further than the circuit of Manaslu via the Larkya La. The Tibetan enclave of Nupri, north of Manaslu at the head of the Buri Gandaki, was closed to foreigners for years on account of its proximity to Tibet. The area was surreptitiously opened in 1991, but it took several years for the word to get out

For more details details and if you want to visit please follow on our links

www.sundarnepal.com/files/regular_manaslutrek.html

First-hand account of the first ascent?
Does anyone know if there is a first hand account of the first ascent of Manaslu? These 3 books   appear to have been published at about the right time, but it doesn’t look like they were written by members of the expedition, except possibly the last one.--Wikimedes (talk) 04:50, 18 December 2011 (UTC)
 * This site claims Aritsune Maki lead the first ascent expedition.  He also wrote the book in link 2.  Are he and Yuko Maki the same person?--Wikimedes (talk) 07:53, 19 December 2011 (UTC)
 * This site lists Takayoshi Yoda as the cameraman of the expedition, while the author of the photo essay of the first ascent at link 1 is Yoshinori Yoda.  Are they the same person?  (Link 5 is a first hand account of the first ascent at any rate.)--Wikimedes (talk) 08:24, 19 December 2011 (UTC)
 * Folks at WikiProject:Japan have informed me that Yuko Maki and Aritsune Maki are different readings of the same characters and pointed out that the author of the book of photographs is in fact Takayoshi Yoda. I made a note of the alternate spellings in the article and added a further reading section.--Wikimedes (talk) 03:33, 29 December 2011 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just added archive links to 3 one external links on Manaslu. 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:
 * Attempted to fix sourcing for http://biodiversityofnepal.icimod.org/species_List/tree_Function.asp?treefile=Manaslu$$Conservation$$Area
 * Attempted to fix sourcing for http://www.americanalpineclub.org/AAJO/pdfs/1973/asia1973_478-505.pdf
 * Attempted to fix sourcing for http://www.clubalpinomexicano.com.mx/estadisticas.htm

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true to let others know.

Cheers.—cyberbot II  Talk to my owner :Online 02:15, 6 January 2016 (UTC)

Assessment comment
Substituted at 22:57, 29 April 2016 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 4 external links on Manaslu. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20140425213901/http://www.dnpwc.gov.np/index.php/page/39 to http://www.dnpwc.gov.np/index.php/page/39
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20100302022911/http://www.project-himalaya.com/8000m-manaslu.html to http://www.project-himalaya.com/8000m-manaslu.html
 * Corrected formatting/usage for https://www.forestrynepal.org/project/2924
 * Corrected formatting/usage for http://biodiversityofnepal.icimod.org/species_List/tree_Function.asp?treefile=Manaslu%24%24Conservation%24%24Area

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 16:07, 31 May 2017 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified one external link on Manaslu. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20100317074355/http://www.adventuremountainclub.com/new/nepal_trekking/manaslu_region/manaslu_circuit.php to http://www.adventuremountainclub.com/new/nepal_trekking/manaslu_region/manaslu_circuit.php

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 23:30, 14 January 2018 (UTC)

title: Talk:Manaslu


text:
Talk:Horologist

I really hate to antagonise people but this is a definition not an entry in an encyclopedia. Either (1) it should be lengthened (with what?) (2) it should be deleted (3) WikiPedia should be combined with Wiktionary and all such pages would be solved

BozMo(talk)

title: Talk:Horologist


text:
Production assistant

A production assistant, also known as a PA, is a member of the film crew and is a job title used in filmmaking and television for a person responsible for various aspects of a production. The job of a PA can vary greatly depending on the budget and specific requirements of a production as well as whether the production is unionized.

Production assistants on films are sometimes attached to individual actors or filmmakers.

Television and feature film
In unionized television and feature film, production assistants are usually divided into different categories. Variations exist depending on a show's structure or region of the world.

 * Office PAs usually spend most hours in the respective show's production office handling such tasks as phones, deliveries, script copies, lunch pick-ups, and related tasks in coordination with the production manager and production coordinator.
 * Set PAs work on the physical set of the production, whether on location or on a sound stage. They report to the assistant director (AD) department and key set PA if one is so designated. Duties include calling out "rolls" and "cuts", locking up (making sure nothing interferes with a take), wrangling actors and background, facilitating communication between departments, distributing paperwork and radios, and related tasks as mandated by the ADs. Set PAs usually work 12- to 16-hour days with the possibility at the end of a shoot to work more than 20 hours a single day.
 * Post-production PAs work in an administrative office, focusing on film quality, arranging schedules, organizing workload and getting coffee.
 * Truck PAs drive trucks carrying equipment from place to place.
 * Locations PAs accompany the location manager and assist in any needed tasks. "They're wherever the location manager needs them to be on any particular day."
 * Extra or daily PAs are brought and needed, frequently supporting a second unit.
 * Set Runner PAs do general tasks, such as buying stationary, taking lunch orders, copying call sheets and getting coffee.

Commercials
Commercial Set PAs share the same responsibilities as their Television and Feature Film counterparts (see "Set PAs" above), but also inherit additional responsibilities traditionally encompassed by other departments in the television and feature film structure. These responsibilities range from providing both critical and mundane production support equipment such as dollies, cranes, director's chairs and pop-up tents to standing in for talent and even filling in for other departments who might be shortstaffed. It is not atypical for a commercial set PA to be seen handling trash one minute, and the next minute assisting the electricians or grips with a set-up. A select group of commercial set PAs are given the responsibility of driving and managing the production and camera cube trucks. This responsibility is often given to the more senior PAs because it provides several extra days of pay.

Set PAs in commercials are more commonly hired by the production coordinator and/or production manager as opposed to an AD or key set PA. However, many commercial ADs will also perform this responsibility.

Standard rate for a commercial PA in the Los Angeles area is a flat rate of $200 per day. On February 1, 2008, benefits for qualifying freelance PAs became available through the Producer's Health Benefits Plan.

Union vs. non-union
With the exception of Quebec, in North America, no union currently exists for production assistants, but the affiliation of a production with a union (or unions) can affect the job responsibilities of a PA. Less unionized film productions have more positions that can be serviced by non-union personnel; consequently, PAs on such productions may take on a greater variety of non-traditional duties. Examples of this would be a PA setting a light bounce (grip department) or driving a passenger van (teamster/transportation department). PAs on a union production generally have less variety in their job duties whereas a non-union PA can be asked to perform any kind of task by a department head.

In British Columbia, which has the third largest film and television production sector in North America, PAs are represented by the Directors Guild of Canada. Production assistants represented by the DGC work in the Locations Department and work both on and off set with duties including locking up the set, traffic control, echoing rolls, firewatching, and liaising with the public and location owners. The Key-PA is in charge of all the PAs and is the 1st ADs' right-hand man when it comes to do with the on set aspects regarding a location. From this position DGC PA's can move up through the Locations Department or the Assistant Direction (AD) Department as either a Training Locations Manager (TAL) or a Training Assistant Director (TAD), respectively. Office production assistants work in the production office as an Office PA and they work for the Production Manager, Production Coordinator, Assistant Production Coordinator, and / or other office staff in maintaining the work-flow in the office. From this position, Office PAs can work their way up through the office by becoming an Assistant Production Coordinator (APOC), which is unionized under IATSE 891. Pay for PAs according to the DGC Collective Agreement in BC is $283.93 (non-key) to $290.28 (key) for a 15-hour day. An 8-hour day is approximately $117.00.

In Quebec, the Set PA is part of what is called the "Unit Department" or "Régie". Usually, there is a Unit Manager, Assistant Unit Manager, Set PA, Truck PA, Set Runner, and the "dailies" as needed for street blocking and extra set ups. In other states and provinces these duties are often taken care of by the AD Department, Locations or Transport. The Unit Manager and his/her team are the ones who deal with the daily logistics of shooting on location and/or in studio.

There are two film unions in Quebec: IATSE 514 and AQTIS: L'Alliance québécoise des techniciens de l'image et du son. In both cases the PA's are unionized.

Publication
Production assistants are also present in fields other than film and television, as publication businesses also have a need for PAs to regulate the production process of making professional written pieces such as articles, books, records or any other kind of production involving the preparation of written words.

Educational and publishing companies
The tasks taken on by a PA will depend on the type of educational and/or publishing company that employs them. If the assistant works at a textbook or publishing company, they may oversee the art and composition of written works. P.A.s at educational companies may also oversee work in proofreading departments, as well as for freelance copy editors and authors. When looking at documents and other materials uploaded by the author the production assistant has to make sure everything falls within the requirements of the company they work for. This includes items such as the format, correct file types, positioning, captions and obtaining copyright forms from authors.

If the assistant is part of a publications department for a scientific or professional organization, they have daily jobs that which involve keeping records that are important for their company. They may take care of editing, sending or reading information in databases or manuscripts. Production assistants may also team up with Information Technology workers to help streamline the tasks of the publications departments since it involves keeping track of large amounts of data and information. Working with an I.T. department to create a specific sorting program can improve the speed at which documents are proofed and organized.

Entertainment companies
In entertainment companies, production assignments may have to do technical work such as typesetting, printing and binding. They must also be good communicators and be good with deadlines. When working for magazines or newspapers, production assistants may need to keep track of things like individual teams and the cost of producing a physical product. Clients and stakeholders may be involved in a magazine, so P.A.'s have to be professional. There may also be journalists who are on deadlines or need extensions. There are also creative processes that a production assistant can be involved with. They can work with book designers or magazines to ensure a client's specifications are followed properly and may then have to send a copy of the draft for approval to clients. This can last until the final piece has been completed. When printing a piece of work, production assistants may deal with is how files are supposed to be submitted to printers, along with publication dates, and any printing or copy issues. Even after a final piece is complete, the PA may need to ask a client their thoughts on final product.

title: Production assistant


text:
Brown Book

Brown Book may refer to:

 * Brown Book (album), a 1987 album by Death In June
 * Brown Book (document), created by the government in Manitoba, Canada, containing suggested fines for various offences
 *  The Brown Book (Wittgenstein) (1934–1935), a set of lecture notes by Ludwig Wittgenstein
 * The Brown Book of the Reichstag Fire and Hitler Terror, a 1933 book by Otto Katz
 * Brown Book - War and Nazi Criminals in West Germany, or Braunbuch, a 1965 book by Albert Norden

title: Brown Book


text:
Craft service

Craft service or craft services is the department in film, television and video production which provides cast and crew with snacks, drinks and other assistance.

Craft service workers, nicknamed "crafties", are so called because they provide their services to the other departments, known as crafts, in a set. In the United States and Canada they are represented by a union, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE). Other departments such as camera, sound, electricians, grips, props, art director, set decorator, special effects, hair and make-up, are referred to as crafts. Craft service is also an IATSE craft and the work is covered by a collective bargaining agreement.

Craft service is different from catering; craft service refers to the food always available to the crew while they are working, while catering is provided by a catering company or a restaurant and handles full meals.

Typically there is one main table where the snacks and coffee are set up (which is simply called "crafty" or "the crafty table"). Occasionally there are two craft service stations, with one being for cast and crew and another for non-union background actors. A "satellite" crafty may be set up next to the camera, as they may not be able to leave their workstations. In addition to snacks and drinks, the craft service department clears the set of trash. Aside from snacks and beverages, craft service may also supply bandages, aspirin, gum, antacids, toothpicks, hand sanitizer, sunscreen, and hand-warmers.

title: Craft service


text:
Apex

The apex is the highest point of something. The word may also refer to:

Fictional entities

 * Apex (comics), a teenaged super villainess in the Marvel Universe
 * Ape-X, a super-intelligent ape in the Squadron Supreme universe
 * Apex, a genetically engineered human population in the TV series The Crossing

Music

 * Apex (album), by Canadian heavy metal band Unleash the Archers
 * Apex (band), a Polish heavy metal band
 * Apex (musician) (1981–2017), British drum and bass music producer and DJ
 * The Apex Theory, the former name of the alternative rock band Mt. Helium
 * Lord Apex, a rapper from West London, UK

Video games

 * Apex (tournament), a fighting game tournament focusing on Super Smash Bros.
 * Racing Evoluzione, also known as Apex, a 2003 video game for the Xbox
 * Overwatch Apex, a South Korean Overwatch tournament series
 * Apex Legends, a 2019 video game developed by Respawn Entertainment and published by Electronic Arts

Film

 * A.P.E.X., a 1994 science fiction film
 * Apex (2021 film), a 2021 American action film starring Bruce Willis
 * APEX: The Story of the Hypercar, a 2015 American documentary
 * F1 (film), a sports drama starring Brad Pitt, which was codenamed Apex during development

Literature

 * Apex (Ramez Naam novel), a 2015 cyber-punk novel
 * Apex Magazine, an American horror and science fiction magazine

For-profit businesses

 * APEX Airlines, a charter and scheduled airline based in Yangon, Myanmar
 * Apex Digital, a California-based electronics manufacturer
 * Apex Hotels, a UK operator of four star hotels
 * Apex Records (Canada), a record label of Compo Company
 * Apex Silver Mines, a US-American mining company
 * Apex Stores, a Rhode Island-based department store chain
 * Apex Studios, a recording studio in Manhattan, New York City
 * Apple Productivity Experience Group, an operating unit of Microsoft developing software for Apple products

Other organizations

 * Apex (gang), an unstructured criminal gang in Melbourne, Australia
 * Apex Clubs of Australia, an association of young individuals
 * Applied Physics Express, a scientific peer-reviewed journal
 * Association of Professional, Executive, Clerical and Computer Staff, a British Trade Union

Places

 * Apex, Arizona
 * Apex, Missouri, community in the United States
 * Apex, North Carolina, town in the United States
 * Apex, Nunavut, community in Canada
 * Apex Park and Recreation District, in Colorado
 * Apex Mountain Resort, a ski resort near Penticton, British Columbia, Canada
 * Apex Town Hall (historic), Apex, North Carolina

Anatomy

 * Apex (entomology), the anterior corner of an insect's wing
 * Apex (mollusc), the tip of the spire of the shell of a gastropod
 * Shoot apex, the apical meristem of a plant or its remnant on a flower
 * Root apex (botany), the apical meristem of the root
 * Root apex (dental), the extreme end of the root of a tooth
 * Apex (leaf), the tip of a leaf
 * Apex of lung, the uppermost portion of lung
 * Apex of the heart, the lowest superficial part of the heart
 * Apex of the tongue, the tip of the tongue

Chemistry

 * Acetone peroxide, a highly explosive organic peroxide
 * Ascorbate peroxidase, an enzyme that catalyses the reaction between biotin-phenol and hydrogen peroxide

Mathematics

 * Apex (geometry), the highest vertex in a polyhedron or the point where the two equal sides of an isosceles triangle meet
 * Apex graph, a graph that can be made planar by the removal of a single vertex

Other sciences

 * Apex predator, a predator at the top of a food chain, with no natural predators
 * Solar apex, the direction in which the Solar System travels through the Milky Way

Computing

 * Apex (programming language), Java-like proprietary programming language
 * Apache Apex, an open-source streaming platform built on top of Hadoop
 * Apple Productivity Experience Group, an operating unit of Microsoft developing software for Apple products
 * Oracle Application Express, a proprietary Oracle software development system
 * BrailleNote Apex, a personal digital assistant for the blind
 * Apex, a game engine created by Avalanche Studios

Other technologies

 * Apex (racing), the point a car should touch on the inside of a turn when following a proper line
 * Apex (radio band), an experimental very high frequency radio broadcasting system
 * Additive System of Photographic Exposure, a system of exposure calculation based on Ev units, or stops
 * Advanced Photovoltaic Experiment, a scientific research satellite
 * Atacama Pathfinder Experiment, a radio telescope operated by the European Southern Observatory
 * R-23 (missile), an air-to-air missile (NATO reporting name "Apex")

Other uses

 * Apex (diacritic), a sign used by the Romans to mark long vowels
 * Apex (typography), an upward pointing shape in certain letters
 * Apex (headdress), a cap worn in ancient Rome
 * SS Apex, a Panamanian cargo ship in service 1958–68

title: Apex


text:
Ommastrephidae

Ommastrephidae is a family of squid containing three subfamilies, 11 genera, and over 20 species. They are widely distributed globally and are extensively fished for food. One species, Todarodes pacificus, comprised around half of the world's cephalopod catch annually.

Some members of Ommastrephidae are known for their jet-propelled flight, earning them the common name of "flying squid".

Description
The ommastrephids are small to large squids, with mantle lengths ranging from that of the glass squid (Hyaloteuthis pelagica) at 9 cm, to the Humboldt squid (Dosidicus gigas) at 1.5 m. The mantle narrows towards the back and possesses large terminal fins. The family is characterized by an inverted T-shaped funnel locking cartilage. They have an easily recognizable, slender, feather-shaped gladius with a hollow cone structure (the primary conus). Light organs (photophores) are present along the head and mantle of members of the subfamily Ommastrephinae.

Ommastrephid arms have a double series of suckers. The enlarged tips (the clubs) of the tentacles have four rows of suckers, except in the genus Illex, which has eight. Hooks are absent. One of the ventral arms develops into a secondary sexual organ (the hectocotylus) in males.

All ommastrephids are active predators. Their arms and tentacles bear sharp teeth and are used to grasp and bring prey to their beaked mouths. They are very strong swimmers, and some species are known to glide out of water to escape predators.

Ommastrephid paralarvae are distinctive for having fused tentacles, looking like a single "proboscis". It gradually splits into two as the paralarvae grow becoming completely separated once they reach mantle lengths of 5 to 10 mm.

Distribution and habitat
Ommastrephids usually occur in pelagic waters, but can also be found in neritic habitats. They are found worldwide.

Taxonomy
Ommastrephidae was first established by the Danish zoologist Japetus Steenstrup in 1857. It is classified under the suborder Oegopsina of the order Teuthida (squids). It is divided into three subfamilies – Illicinae, Ommastrephinae, and Todarodinae; further subdivided into 11 genera and more than 20 species.

These subfamilies, genera, species, and subspecies are classified under Ommastrephidae:
 * Family Ommastrephidae
 * Subfamily Illicinae
 * Genus Illex
 * Illex argentinus, Argentine shortfin squid
 * Illex coindetii, southern shortfin squid
 * Illex illecebrosus, northern shortfin squid
 * Illex oxygonius, sharptail shortfin squid
 * Subfamily Ommastrephinae
 * Genus Dosidicus
 * Dosidicus gigas, Humboldt squid, jumbo flying squid or jumbo squid
 * Genus Eucleoteuthis
 * Eucleoteuthis luminosa, striped squid or luminous flying squid
 * Genus Hyaloteuthis
 * Hyaloteuthis pelagica, glassy flying squid
 * Genus Ommastrephes
 * Ommastrephes bartramii, neon flying squid or red flying squid
 * Genus Ornithoteuthis
 * Ornithoteuthis antillarum, Atlantic bird squid
 * Ornithoteuthis volatilis, shiny bird squid
 * Genus Sthenoteuthis
 * Sthenoteuthis oualaniensis, purpleback squid or purpleback flying squid
 * Sthenoteuthis pteropus, orangeback squid or orangeback flying squid
 * Subfamily Todarodinae
 * Genus Martialia
 * Martialia hyadesii, sevenstar flying squid
 * Genus Nototodarus
 * Nototodarus gouldi, Gould's flying squid
 * Nototodarus hawaiiensis, Hawaiian flying squid
 * Nototodarus sloanii, Wellington flying squid or New Zealand arrow squid
 * Genus Todarodes
 * Todarodes angolensis, Angola flying squid
 * Todarodes filippovae, Antarctic flying squid
 * Todarodes pacificus, Japanese flying squid or Japanese common squid
 * Todarodes pusillus, little flying squid
 * Todarodes sagittatus, European flying squid
 * Genus Todaropsis
 * Todaropsis eblanae, lesser flying squid

title: Ommastrephidae


text:
Talk:Ommastrephidae

"Flying" squid
Animals commonly referred to as Flying, (Flying squid, Flying squirrel, etc.) but cannot sustain flight (unlike birds, etc.) are referred to as Volplane species -- which simply means "gliding". I added a link. A photo similar to above (previous post) would be great; too bad that one is copyrighted. ~E 74.60.29.141 (talk) 21:42, 7 October 2012 (UTC)

 * According to https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00227-013-2169-9
 * they do fly. Wiki brain (talk) 11:44, 8 February 2023 (UTC)

title: Talk:Ommastrephidae


text:
Catering

Catering is the business of providing food services at a remote site or a site such as a hotel, hospital, pub, aircraft, cruise ship, park, festival, filming location or film studio.

History of catering
The earliest account of major services being catered in the United States was an event for William Howe of Philadelphia in 1778. The event served local foods that were a hit with the attendees, who eventually popularized catering as a career. The official industry began to be recognized around the 1820’s, with the caterers being disproportionately African-American. The catering business began to form around 1820, centered in Philadelphia.

Robert Bogle
The industry began to professionalize under the reigns of Robert Bogle who is recognized as "the originator of catering." Catering was originally done by servants of wealthy elites. Butlers and house slaves, which were often black, were in a good position to become caterers. Essentially, caterers in the 1860s were "public butlers" as they organized and executed the food aspect of a social gathering. A public butler was a butler working for several households. Bogle took on the role of public butler and took advantage of the food service market in the hospitality field. Caterers like Bogle were involved with events likely to be catered today, such as weddings and funerals. Bogle also is credited with creating the Guild of Caterers and helping train other black caterers. This is important because catering provided not only jobs to black people but also opportunities to connect with elite members of Philadelphia society. Over time, the clientele of caterers became the middle class, who could not afford lavish gatherings and increasing competition from white caterers led to a decline in black catering businesses.

Evolution of catering
By the 1840s many restaurant owners began to combine catering services with their shops. Second-generation caterers grew the industry on the East Coast, becoming more widespread. Common usage of the word "caterer" came about in the 1880s at which point local directories began to use these term to describe the industry. White businessmen took over the industry by the 1900’s, with the Black Catering population disappearing.

In the 1930s, the Soviet Union, creating more simple menus, began developing state public catering establishments as part of its collectivization policies. A rationing system was implemented during World War II, and people became used to public catering. After the Second World War, many businessmen embraced catering as an alternative way of staying in business after the war. By the 1960s, the home-made food was overtaken by eating in public catering establishments.

By the 2000s, personal chef services started gaining popularity, with more women entering the workforce. People between 15 and 24 years of age spent as little as 11–17 minutes daily on food preparation and clean-up activities in 2006-2016, according to figures revealed by the American Time Use Survey conducted by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. There are many types of catering, including Event catering, Wedding Catering and Corporate Catering.

Event catering
An event caterer serves food at indoor and outdoor events, including corporate and workplace events and parties at home and venues.

Mobile catering
A mobile caterer serves food directly from a vehicle, cart or truck which is designed for the purpose. Mobile catering is common at outdoor events such as concerts, workplaces, and downtown business districts. Mobile catering services require less maintenance costs when compared with other catering services. Mobile caterers may also be known as food trucks in some areas.

Seat-back catering
Seat-back catering was a service offered by some charter airlines in the United Kingdom (e.g., Court Line, which introduced the idea in the early 1970s, and Dan-Air ) that involved embedding two meals in a single seat-back tray. "One helping was intended for each leg of a charter flight, but Alan Murray, of Viking Aviation, had earlier revealed that 'with the ingenious use of a nail file or coin, one could open the inbound meal and have seconds'. The intention of participating airlines was to "save money, reduce congestion in the cabin and give punters the chance to decide when to eat their meal". By requiring less galley space on board, the planes could offer more passenger seats.

According to TravelUpdate's columnist, "The Flight Detective", "Salads and sandwiches were the usual staples," and "a small pellet of dry ice was put into the compartment for the return meal to try to keep it fresh." However, in addition to the fact that passengers on one leg were able to consume the food intended for other passengers on the following leg, there was a "food hygiene" problem, and the concept was discontinued by 1975.

Canapé catering
A canapé caterer serves canapés at events. They have become a popular type of food at events, Christmas parties and weddings.

A canapé is a type of hors d'oeuvre, a small, prepared, and often decorative food, consisting of a small piece of bread or pastry. They should be easier to pick up and not be bigger than one or two bites. The bite-sized food is usually served before the starter or main course or alone with drinks at a drinks party.

Wedding catering
A wedding caterer provides food for a wedding reception and party, traditionally called a wedding breakfast. A wedding caterer can be hired independently or can be part of a package designed by the venue. There are many different types of wedding caterers, each with their approach to food.

Shipboard catering
Merchant ships – especially ferries, cruise liners, and large cargo ships – often carry Catering Officers. In fact, the term "catering" was in use in the world of the merchant marine long before it became established as a land-bound business.

title: Catering