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Soviet Navy

The Soviet Navy was the naval warfare uniform service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy made up a large part of the Soviet Union's strategic planning in the event of a conflict with the opposing superpower, the United States, during the Cold War (1945–1991). The Soviet Navy played a large role during the Cold War, either confronting the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in western Europe or power projection to maintain its sphere of influence in eastern Europe.

The Soviet Navy was divided into four major fleets: the Northern, Pacific, Black Sea, and Baltic Fleets, in addition to the Leningrad Naval Base, which was commanded separately. It also had a smaller force, the Caspian Flotilla, which operated in the Caspian Sea and was followed by a larger fleet, the 5th Squadron, in the Mediterranean Sea. The Soviet Navy included Naval Aviation, Naval Infantry, and the Coastal Artillery.

The Soviet Navy was formed from the remnants of the Imperial Russian Navy during the Russian Civil War. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Russian Federation inherited the largest part of the Soviet Navy and reformed it into the Russian Navy, with smaller parts becoming the basis for navies of the newly independent post-Soviet states.

Russian Civil War (1917–1922)

The Soviet Navy was based on a republican naval force formed from the remnants of the Imperial Russian Navy, which had been almost completely destroyed in the two Revolutions of 1917 (February and October/November) during World War I (1914–1918), the following Russian Civil War (1917–1922), and the Kronstadt rebellion in 1921. During the revolutionary period, Russian sailors deserted their ships at will and generally neglected their duties. The officers were dispersed (some were killed by the Red Terror, some joined the "White" (anti-communist) opposing armies, and others simply resigned) and most of the sailors walked off and left their ships. Work stopped in the shipyards, where uncompleted ships deteriorated rapidly.

The Black Sea Fleet fared no better than the Baltic. The Bolshevik (Communist) revolution entirely disrupted its personnel, with mass murders of officers; the ships were allowed to decay to unserviceability. At the end of April 1918, Imperial German troops moved along the Black Sea coast and entered Crimea and started to advance towards the Sevastopol naval base. The more effective ships were moved from Sevastopol to Novorossiysk where, after an ultimatum from Germany, they were scuttled by Vladimir Lenin's order.

The ships remaining in Sevastopol were captured by the Germans and then, after the later Armistice of 11 November 1918 on the Western Front which ended the War, additional Russian ships were confiscated by the British. On 1 April 1919, during the ensuing Russian Civil War when Red Army forces captured Crimea, the British Royal Navy squadron had to withdraw, but before leaving they damaged all the remaining battleships and sank thirteen new submarines.

When the opposing Czarist White Army captured Crimea in 1919, it rescued and reconditioned a few units. At the end of the civil war, Wrangel's fleet, a White flotilla, moved south through the Black Sea, Dardanelles straits and the Aegean Sea to the Mediterranean Sea to Bizerta in French Tunisia on the North Africa coast, where it was interned.

The first ship of the revolutionary navy could be considered the rebellious Imperial Russian cruiser RUSSIAN CRUISER Aurora, built 1900, whose crew joined the communist Bolsheviks. Sailors of the Baltic fleet supplied the fighting force of the Bolsheviks led by Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky during the October Revolution of November 1917 against the democratic provisional government of Alexander Kerensky established after the earlier first revolution of February against the Czar. Some imperial vessels continued to serve after the revolution, albeit with different names.

The Soviet Navy, established as the "Workers' and Peasants' Red Fleet" by a 1918 decree of the new Council of People's Commissars, installed as a temporary Russian revolutionary government, was less than service-ready during the interwar years of 1918 to 1941.

As the country's attentions were largely directed internally, the Navy did not have much funding or training. An indicator of its reputation was that the Soviets were not invited to participate in negotiations for the Washington Naval Treaty of 1921–1922, which limited the size and capabilities of the most powerful navies – British, American, Japanese, French, Italian. The greater part of the old fleet was sold by the Soviet government to post-war Germany for scrap.

In the Baltic Sea there remained only three much-neglected battleships, two cruisers, some ten destroyers, and a few submarines. Despite this state of affairs, the Baltic Fleet remained a significant naval formation, and the Black Sea Fleet also provided a basis for expansion. There also existed some thirty minor-waterways combat flotillas.

Interwar period (1922–1941)
During the 1930s, as the industrialization of the Soviet Union proceeded, plans were made to expand the Soviet Navy into one of the most powerful in the world. Approved by the Labour and Defence Council in 1926, the Naval Shipbuilding Program included plans to construct twelve submarines; the first six were to become known as the Dekabrist-class submarine. Beginning 4 November 1926, Technical Bureau Nº 4 (formerly the Submarine Department, and still secret), under the leadership of B.M. Malinin, managed the submarine construction works at the Baltic Shipyard.

In subsequent years, 133 submarines were built to designs developed during Malinin's management. Additional developments included the formation of the Pacific Fleet in 1932 and the Northern Fleet in 1933. The forces were to be built around a core of powerful Sovetsky Soyuz-class battleships. This building program was only in its initial stages by the time the German invasion forced its suspension in 1941.

By the end of 1937, the biggest fleet was the Baltic Fleet based at Leningrad, with two battleships, one training cruiser, eight destroyers including one destroyer leader, five patrol ships, two minesweepers, and some more older minesweepers. The Black Sea Fleet at Sevastopol included one battleship, three cruisers, one training cruiser, five destroyers, two patrol ships, and four minesweepers. The Northern Fleet operating from the shores of Kola Bay and Polyarny was made up of three destroyers and three patrol ships, while the Pacific Fleet had two destroyers, transferred east in 1936, and six patrol ships assembled in the Far East.

The Soviet Navy had some minor action in the Winter War against Finland in 1939–1940, on the Baltic Sea. It was limited mainly to cruisers and battleships fighting artillery duels with Finnish forts.

World War II: The Great Patriotic War (1941–1945)
Building a Soviet fleet was a national priority, but many senior officers were killed in the Great Purge in the late 1930s. The naval share of the national armaments budget fell from 11.5% in 1941 to 6.6% in 1944.

When the Soviet Union entered the Second World War, during Operation Barbarossa in June 1941, initially millions of soldiers were captured, many sailors and naval guns were detached to reinforce the Red Army; these reassigned naval forces had especially significant roles on land in the battles for Odessa, Sevastopol, Stalingrad, Novorossiysk, Tuapse, and Leningrad. The Baltic fleet was blockaded in Leningrad and Kronstadt by minefields, but the submarines escaped. The surface fleet fought with the anti-aircraft defence of the city and bombarded German positions.

The composition of the Soviet fleets in 1941 included: In various stages of completion were another 219 vessels including 3 battleships, 2 heavy and 7 light cruisers, 45 destroyers, and 91 submarines.
 * 3 battleships,
 * 7 cruisers
 * 59 destroyers (including 46 modern Gnevny-class destroyer and Soobrazitelny-class destroyer destroyers),
 * 218 submarines,
 * 269 torpedo boats,
 * 22 patrol vessels,
 * 88 minesweepers,
 * 77 submarine chasers,
 * and a range of other smaller vessels.

Included in the totals above are some pre-World War I ships (RUSSIAN DESTROYER Novik-class destroyers, some of the cruisers, and all the battleships), some modern ships built in the USSR and Europe (like the Italian-built destroyer Tashkent-class destroyer and the partially completed German cruiser Lützow). During the war, many of the vessels on the slips in Leningrad and Nikolayev were destroyed (mainly by aircraft and mines), but the Soviet Navy received captured Romanian destroyers and Lend-Lease small craft from the U.S., as well as the old Royal Navy battleship HMS Royal Sovereign (05) (renamed Arkhangelsk) and the United States Navy cruiser USS Milwaukee (CL-5) (renamed Murmansk) in exchange for the Soviet part of the captured Italian navy.

In the Baltic Sea, after Tallinn's capture, surface ships were blockaded in Leningrad and Kronstadt by minefields, where they participated with the anti-aircraft defence of the city and bombarded German positions. One example of Soviet resourcefulness was the battleship SOVIET BATTLESHIP Marat, an ageing pre-World War I ship sunk at anchor in Kronstadt's harbour by German Junkers Ju 87 aircraft in 1941. For the rest of the war, the non-submerged part of the ship remained in use as a grounded battery. Submarines, although suffering great losses due to German and Finnish anti-submarine actions, had a major role in the war at sea by disrupting Axis navigation in the Baltic Sea.

In the Black Sea, many ships were damaged by minefields and Axis aviation, but they helped defend naval bases and supply them while besieged, as well as later evacuating them. Heavy naval guns and sailors helped defend port cities during long sieges by Axis armies. In the Arctic Ocean, Soviet Northern Fleet destroyers (Novik class, Type 7, and Type 7U) and smaller craft participated with the anti-aircraft and anti-submarine defence of Allied convoys conducting Lend-Lease cargo shipping. In the Pacific Ocean, the Soviet Union was not at war with Japan before 1945, so some destroyers were transferred to the Northern Fleet.

From the beginning of hostilities, Soviet Naval Aviation provided air support to naval and land operations involving the Soviet Navy. This service was responsible for the operation of shore-based floatplanes, long-range flying boats, catapult-launched and vessel-based planes, and land-based aircraft designated for naval use.

As post-war spoils, the Soviets received several Italian and Japanese warships and much German naval engineering and architectural documentation.

Cold War (1945–1991)

In February 1946, the Red Fleet was renamed and became known as the Soviet Navy (Советский Военно-Морской Флот). After the war, the Soviets concluded that they needed a navy that could disrupt supply lines, and display a small naval presence to the developing world. As the natural resources the Soviet Union needed were available on the Eurasian landmass, it did not need a navy to protect a large commercial fleet, as the western navies were configured to do. Later, countering seaborne nuclear delivery systems became another significant objective of the navy, and an impetus for expansion.

The Soviet Navy was structured around submarines and small, maneuverable, tactical vessels. The Soviet shipbuilding program kept yards busy constructing submarines based upon World War II German Kriegsmarine designs, which were launched with great frequency during the immediate post-war years. Afterwards, through a combination of indigenous research and technology obtained through espionage from Nazi Germany and the Western nations, the Soviets gradually improved their submarine designs.

The Soviets were quick to equip their surface fleet with missiles of various sorts. Indeed, it became a feature of Soviet design to place large missiles onto relatively small, but fast, missile boats, while in the West such an approach would never have been considered tactically feasible. The Soviet Navy did also possess several very large and well-armed guided-missile cruisers, like those of the Kirov-class battlecruiser and Slava-class cruiser classes. By the 1970s, Soviet submarine technology was in some respects more advanced than in the West, and several of their submarine types were considered superior to their American rivals.

The 5th Operational Squadron (ru:5-я Средиземноморская эскадра кораблей ВМФ) operated in the Mediterranean Sea. The squadron's main function was to prevent largescale naval ingress into the Black Sea, which could bypass the need for any invasion to be over the Eurasian land mass. The flagship of the squadron was for a long period the Sverdlov-class cruiser Zhdanov.

Carriers and aviation

In the strategic planning laid by the Soviet strategists, the aircraft carriers had little importance and received little attention in a view of supporting the naval strategy of disrupting sea lines of communication – nonetheless, the program of aircraft carriers pursued as way of keeping up the competition with the U.S. Navy.

The Soviet Navy still had the mission of confronting Western submarines, creating a need for large surface vessels to carry anti-submarine helicopters. During 1968 and 1969 the Moskva-class helicopter carriers were first deployed, succeeded by the first of four aircraft-carrying cruisers of the Kiev-class aircraft carrier in 1973. Both of these types were capable of operating ASW helicopters, and the Kiev class also operated V/STOL aircraft (e.g., the Yak-38 'Forger'); they were designed to operate for fleet defense, primarily within range of land-based Soviet Naval Aviation aircraft.

During the 1970s the Soviets began Project 1153 Orel (Eagle), whose stated purpose was to create an aircraft carrier capable of basing fixed-wing fighter aircraft in defense of the deployed fleet. The project was canceled during the planning stages when strategic priorities shifted once more.

It was during the 1980s that the Soviet Navy acquired its first true aircraft carrier, Tbilisi, subsequently renamed Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Kuznetsov, which carries Sukhoi Su-33 'Flanker-D' and MiG-29 fighters, and Ka-27 helicopters.

A distinctive feature of Soviet aircraft carriers has been their offensive missile armament (as well as long-range anti-aircraft warfare armament), again representing a fleet-defense operational concept, in distinction to the Western emphasis on shore-strike missions from distant deployment. A second carrier (pre-commissioning name Varyag) was under construction when the Soviet Union disintegrated in 1991. Construction stopped and the ship was sold later, incomplete, to the People's Republic of China by Ukraine, which inherited part of the old Soviet fleet after the break-up of the USSR. It was commissioned into the People's Liberation Army Navy in 2012 as the CHINESE AIRCRAFT CARRIER Liaoning.

Soon after the launch of this second Kuznetsov-class ship, the Soviet Navy began the construction of an improved aircraft carrier design, SOVIET AIRCRAFT CARRIER Ulyanovsk, which was to have been slightly larger than the Kuznetsov class and nuclear-powered. The project was terminated, and what little structure had been initiated in the building ways was scrapped.

In part to perform the functions usual to carrier-borne aircraft, the Soviet Navy deployed large numbers of strategic bombers in a maritime role, with the Aviatsiya Voenno-Morskogo Flota (AV-MF, or Naval Aviation service). Strategic bombers like the Tupolev Tu-16 'Badger' and Tu-22M 'Backfire' were deployed with high-speed anti-shipping missiles. Previously believed to be interceptors of NATO supply convoys traveling the sea lines of communication across the North Atlantic Ocean between Europe and North America, the primary role of these aircraft was to protect the Soviet mainland from attacks by U.S. carrier task forces.

Submarines

Due to the Soviet Union's geographic position, submarines were considered the capital ships of the Navy. Submarines could penetrate attempts at blockade, either in the constrained waters of the Baltic and Black Seas or in the remote reaches of the USSR's western Arctic, while surface ships were clearly much easier to find and attack. The USSR had entered the Second World War with more submarines than Germany, but geography and the speed of the German attack precluded it from effectively using its more numerous fleet to its advantage. Because of its opinion that "quantity had a quality of its own" and at the insistence of Admiral of the Fleet Sergey Gorshkov, the Soviet Navy continued to operate many first-generation missile submarines, built in the early 1960s, until the end of the Cold War in 1991.

In some respects, including speed and reactor technology, Soviet submarines achieved unique successes, but for most of the era lagged their Western counterparts in overall capability. In addition to their relatively high speeds and great operating depths they were difficult anti-submarine warfare (ASW) targets to destroy because of their multiple compartments, their large reserve buoyancy, and especially their double-hulled design. Their principal shortcomings were insufficient noise-damping (American boats were quieter) and primitive sonar technology. Acoustics was a particularly interesting type of information that the Soviets sought about the West's submarine-production methods, and the long-active John Anthony Walker spy ring may have made a major contribution to their knowledge of such.

The Soviet Navy possessed numerous purpose-built guided missile submarines, such as the Oscar-class submarine, as well as many ballistic missile and attack submarines; their Typhoon-class submarine are the world's largest submarines. While Western navies assumed that the Soviet attack submarine force was designed for interception of NATO convoys, the Soviet leadership never prepared their submarines for such a mission. Over the years Soviet submarines suffered a number of accidents, most notably on several nuclear boats. The most famous incidents include the Yankee-class submarine SOVIET SUBMARINE K-219, and the Mike-class submarine Komsomolets, both lost to fire, and the far more menacing nuclear reactor leak on the Hotel-class submarine SOVIET SUBMARINE K-19, narrowly averted by her captain. Inadequate nuclear safety, poor damage control, and quality-control issues during construction (particularly on the earlier submarines) were typical causes of accidents. On several occasions there were alleged collisions with American submarines. None of these, however, has been confirmed officially by the U.S. Navy. On 28 August 1976, K-22 (Echo II) collided with frigate USS Voge in the Mediterranean Sea.

Transition
After the dissolution of the USSR and the end of the Cold War, the Soviet Navy, like other branches of Armed Forces, eventually lost some of its units to former Soviet Republics, and was left without funding. Some ships were transferred to former Soviet states:
 * Baltic Sea: Estonian Navy, Latvian Navy and Lithuanian Navy. All three countries joined NATO in 2004.
 * Black Sea: Ukrainian Navy and Georgian Navy. The Georgian Navy was defeated by the Russian Navy at the battle off Abkhazia in 2008. Most of the Ukrainian Navy ships were captured back during the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation in 2014.
 * Caspian Sea: Azerbaijani Navy, Kazakh Navy and Turkmen Navy.

Inventory

In 1990, the Soviet Navy had:
 * 63 ballistic missile submarines:
 * 6 Project 941 (Typhoon-class) submarines
 * 40 Project 667B (Delta-class) submarines
 * 12 Project 667A (Yankee-class) submarines
 * 5 Project 658 (Hotel-class) submarines

 * 72 cruise missile submarines:
 * 6 Oscar-class submarines
 * 6 Yankee Notch submarines
 * 14 Charlie-class submarines
 * 30 Echo-class submarines
 * 16 Juliett-class submarines

 * 68 nuclear attack submarines:
 * 5 Akula-class submarines
 * 2 Sierra-class submarines
 * 6 Alfa-class submarines
 * 46 Victor-class submarines
 * 6 November-class submarines
 * 3 Yankee SSN submarine

 * 63 conventional attack submarines:
 * 18 Kilo-class submarines
 * 20 Tango-class submarines
 * 25 Foxtrot-class submarines

 * 9 auxiliary submarines
 * 1 Beluga-class submarine
 * 1 Lima-class submarine
 * 2 India-class submarines
 * 4 Bravo-class submarines
 * 1 Losos-class submarine

 * 7 aircraft carriers / helicopter carriers:
 * 1 Kuznetsov-class aircraft carrier
 * 4 Kiev-class aircraft carriers
 * 2 Moskva-class helicopter carriers

 * 3 battlecruisers:
 * 3 Kirov-class battlecruisers

 * 30 cruisers:
 * 3 Slava-class cruisers
 * 7 Kara-class cruisers
 * 4 Kresta I-class cruisers
 * 10 Kresta II-class cruisers
 * 4 Kynda-class cruisers
 * 2 Sverdlov-class cruisers

 * 45 destroyers:
 * 11 Sovremennyy-class destroyers
 * 11 Udaloy-class destroyers
 * 18 Kashin-class destroyers
 * 3 Kanin-class destroyers
 * 2 Kildin-class destroyers

 * 113 frigates:
 * 32 Krivak-class frigates
 * 1 Koni-class frigates
 * 18 Mirka-class frigates
 * 31 Petya-class frigates
 * 31 Riga-class frigates

 * 124 corvettes:
 * 10 Parchim-class corvettes
 * 36 Nanuchka-class corvettes
 * 78 Grisha-class corvettes

 * 42 amphibious warfare ships:
 * 3 Ivan Rogov-class landing ships
 * 19 Ropucha-class landing ships
 * 14 Alligator-class landing ships
 * 6 Polnocny-class landing ships

 * ≈425 patrol boats

Soviet Naval Aviation
The regular Soviet naval aviation units were created in 1918. They participated in the Russian Civil War, cooperating with the ships and the army during the combats at Petrograd, on the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea, the Volga, the Kama River, Northern Dvina and on the Lake Onega. The newborn Soviet Naval Air Force consisted of only 76 obsolete hydroplanes. Scanty and technically imperfect, it was mostly used for resupplying the ships and the army.

In the second half of the 1920s, the Naval Aviation order of battle began to grow. It received new reconnaissance hydroplanes, bombers, and fighters. In the mid-1930s, the Soviets created the Naval Air Force in the Baltic Fleet, the Black Sea Fleet and the Soviet Pacific Fleet. The importance of naval aviation had grown significantly by 1938–1940, to become one of the main components of the Soviet Navy. By this time, the Soviets had created formations and units of the torpedo and bomb aviation.

Soviet Marines

During World War II, about 350,000 Soviet sailors fought on land. At the beginning of the war, the navy had only one naval brigade in the Baltic fleet, but began forming and training other battalions. These eventually were:
 * 6 naval infantry regiments (650 marines in two battalions)
 * 40 naval infantry brigades of 5–10 battalions, formed from surplus ships' crews. Five brigades were awarded Gvardy (Guards) status.
 * Numerous smaller units
 * 1 division – the 55th Naval Infantry Division, formerly a Red Army formation

The military situation demanded the deployment of large numbers of marines on land fronts, so the Naval Infantry contributed to the defense of Moscow, Leningrad, Odessa, Sevastopol, Stalingrad, Novorossiysk, and Kerch. The Naval Infantry conducted over 114 landings, most of which were carried out by platoons and companies. In general, however, Naval Infantry served as regular infantry, without any amphibious training.

They conducted four major operations: two during the Battle of the Kerch Peninsula, one during the Caucasus Campaign and one as part of the Landing at Moonsund, in the Baltic. During the war, five brigades and two battalions of naval infantry were awarded Guards status. Nine brigades and six battalions were awarded decorations, and many were given honorary titles. The title Hero of the Soviet Union was bestowed on 122 members of naval infantry units.

The Soviet experience in amphibious warfare in World War II contributed to the development of Soviet combined arms operations. Many members of the Naval Infantry were parachute trained, conducting more drops and successful parachute operations than the Soviet Airborne Troops (VDV).

The Naval Infantry was disbanded in 1947, with some units being transferred to the Coastal Defence Forces.

In 1961, the Naval Infantry was re-formed and became one of the active combat services of the Navy. Each Fleet was assigned a Marine unit of regiment (and later brigade) size. The Naval Infantry received amphibious versions of standard Armoured fighting vehicle, including tanks used by the Soviet Army.

By 1989, the Naval Infantry numbered 18,000 marines, organized into a Marine Division and 4 independent Marine brigades;
 * 55th Naval Infantry Division, at Vladivostok (Pacific Fleet)
 * 61st Kirkenes Naval Infantry Brigade at Pechenga (Northern Fleet)
 * 175th Naval Infantry Brigade, at Tumanny (Northern Fleet)
 * 336th Guards Naval Infantry Brigade at Baltiysk (Baltic Fleet)
 * 810th Naval Infantry Brigade, at Sevastopol (Black Sea Fleet)

By the end of the Cold War, the Soviet Navy had over eighty landing ships, as well as two Ivan Rogov-class landing ships. The latter could transport one infantry battalion with 40 armoured vehicles and their landing craft. (One of the Rogov ships has since been retired.)

At 75 units, the Soviet Union had the world's largest inventory of combat air-cushion assault craft. In addition, many of the 2,500 vessels of the Soviet merchant fleet (Morflot) could off-load weapons and supplies during amphibious landings.

On 18 November 1990, on the eve of the Paris Summit where the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty and the Vienna Document on Confidence and Security-Building Measures (CSBMs) were signed, Soviet data was presented under the so-called initial data exchange. This showed a rather sudden emergence of three so-called coastal defence divisions (including the 3rd at Klaipėda in the Baltic Military District, the 126th in the Odessa Military District and seemingly the 77th Guards Motor Rifle Division with the Northern Fleet), along with three artillery brigades/regiments, subordinate to the Soviet Navy, which had previously been unknown as such to NATO.

Much of the equipment, which was commonly understood to be treaty limited (TLE) was declared to be part of the naval infantry. The Soviet argument was that the CFE excluded all naval forces, including its permanently land-based components. The Soviet Government eventually became convinced that its position could not be maintained.

A proclamation of the Soviet government on 14 July 1991, which was later adopted by its successor states, provided that all "treaty-limited equipment" (tanks, artillery, and armored vehicles) assigned to naval infantry or coastal defense forces, would count against the total treaty entitlement.

Commanders of the Naval Forces
Commanders of Naval Forces of the RSFSR ("KoMorSi")
 * Vasili Mikhailovich Altfater (15 October 1918 – 22 April 1919),
 * Yevgeny Andreyevich Berens (24 April 1919 – 5 February 1920),
 * Aleksandr Vasiliyevich Nemits (5 February 1920 – 22 November 1921).

Commander-in-Chief's Assistant for Naval Affairs (from 27 August 1921

Commanders-in-Chief of the Naval Forces of the USSR ("NaMorSi") (from 1 January 1924)
 * Eduard Samoilovich Pantserzhansky (22 November 1921 – 9 December 1924),
 * Vyacheslav Ivanovich Zof (9 December 1924 – 23 August 1926),
 * Romuald Adamovich Muklevich (23 August 1926 – 11 June 1931),
 * Fleet Flag-officer 1st Rank Vladimir Mitrofanovich Orlov (11 June 1931 – 15 August 1937),
 * Fleet Flag-officer 2nd Rank Lev Mikhailovich Galler (10 July – 15 August 1937) Acting,
 * Fleet Flag-officer 1st Rank Mikhail Vladimirovich Viktorov (15 August 1937 – 30 December 1937).

People's Commissars for the USSR Navy ("NarKom VMF USSR") (from 1938)
 * Army Commissar 1st Rank Pyotr Alexandrovich Smirnov (30 December 1937 – 5 November 1938),
 * Army Commander 1st Rank Mikhail Petrovich Frinovsky (5 November 1938 – 20 March 1939),
 * Admiral Nikolai Gerasimovich Kuznetsov (from 27 April 1939).

Commanders-in-Chief of the Soviet Navy ("GlavKom VMF") (from 1943)
 * Fleet Admiral Nikolai Gerasimovich Kuznetsov (to January 1947),
 * Admiral Ivan Stepanovich Yumashev (17 January 1947 – 20 July 1951),
 * Fleet Admiral of the Soviet Union Nikolai Gerasimovich Kuznetsov (20 July 1951 – 5 January 1956), second term,
 * Fleet Admiral of the Soviet Union Sergey Georgyevich Gorshkov (5 January 1956 – 8 December 1985), considered the officer most responsible for reforming the Soviet Navy,
 * Fleet Admiral Vladimir Nikolayevich Chernavin (8 December 1985 – December 1991; CIS Navy through August 1992).

Chiefs of the General Staff of the Navy
Chief of the Naval General Staff
 * Behrens, Evgeny Andreevich (1 November 1917 – 22 May 1919)
 * Vecheslov, Vladimir Stepanovich (wreed, 22 May – 11 September 1919)
 * Melentyev, Alexander Nikolaevich (11 September 1919 – 27 August 1921)

Chief of Staff of the Commander of the Republic Naval Forces
 * Radzievsky, Boris Stepanovich (22 July 1919 – 3 July 1920)

Chief of Staff of All Republic Maritime Forces
 * Radzievsky, Boris Stepanovich (3 July 1920 – 11 January 1921)
 * Dombrovsky, Alexey Vladimirovich (11 January 1921 – 27 August 1921)

Chief of the Naval Staff of the Republic
 * Dombrovsky, Alexey Vladimirovich (27 August 1921 – 23 December 1923)

Chief of Staff of the RKKF
 * Dombrovsky, Alexey Vladimirovich (23 December 1923 – 17 December 1924)
 * Stepanov, Georgy Andreevich (wreed, 17 December 1924 – 2 January 1925)
 * Blinov, Sergei Pavlovich (17 December 1924 – 31 August 1926)

Head of the Training Directorate of the UVMS of the Red Army
 * Toshakov, Arkady Alexandrovich (31 August 1926 – 23 August 1927, vred until 29 October 1926)
 * Petrov, Mikhail Alexandrovich (23 August 1927 – 12 October 1930)
 * Ludry, Ivan Martynovich (28 November 1930 – 9 March 1932)
 * Panzerzhansky, Eduard Samuilovich (13 April – 4 October 1932)

Head of the 1st Directorate of the UVMS of the Red Army
 * Gorsky, Mikhail Emelyanovich (4 October 1932 – 20 January 1935)

Head of the 2nd Directorate of the UVMS of the Red Army
 * Panzerzhansky, Eduard Samuilovich (4 October 1932 – 20 January 1935)

Head of the 1st Department of the Red Army Naval Forces Directorate
 * Panzerzhansky, Eduard Samuilovich (20 January 1935 – 5 March 1937), 1st rank flagship

Chief of Staff of the Red Army Naval Forces
 * Stasevich, Pavel Grigorievich (20 March – 19 August 1937), Captain 1st Rank
 * Kalachev, Vladimir Petrovich (19 August 1937 – 3 February 1938), Captain 1st Rank

Chief of the Main Naval Staff of the Navy
 * Haller, Lev Mikhailovich (10 January 1938 – 23 October 1940), flagship of the 2nd rank fleet
 * Isakov, Ivan Stepanovich (23 October 1940 – 21 April 1945), Admiral, from 1944 Admiral of the Fleet
 * Alafuzov, Vladimir Antonovich (Wreed, July 1942 - March 1943), Rear Admiral
 * Stepanov, Georgy Andreevich (Wreed, March 1943 - July 1944), Vice Admiral
 * Alafuzov, Vladimir Antonovich (Wreed, July 1944 - April 1945), Vice Admiral, from 1944 Admiral
 * Kucherov, Stepan Grigorievich (21 April 1945 – 18 February 1946), Admiral

Chief of the Main Staff of the Navy
 * Isakov, Ivan Stepanovich (18 February 1946 – 19 February 1947), Admiral of the Fleet
 * Golovko, Arseny Grigorievich (19 February 1947 – 10 February 1950), Admiral

Chief of the Naval General Staff
 * Golovko, Arseny Grigorievich (10 February 1950 – 6 August 1952), Admiral
 * Eliseev, Ivan Dmitrievich (interim, 6 August 1952 – 10 March 1953), Vice Admiral

Chief of the General Staff of the Navy
 * Eliseev, Ivan Dmitrievich (interim, 15 March – 11 May 1953), Vice Admiral
 * Fokin, Vitaly Alekseevich (11 May 1953 – 16 March 1955), Vice Admiral, from 1953 Admiral

Chief of the Main Staff of the Navy
 * Fokin, Vitaly Alekseevich (16 March 1955 – 19 February 1958), Admiral
 * Zozulya, Fyodor Vladimirovich (19 February 1958 – 25 May 1964), admiral, died on 21 April 1964.
 * Sergeev, Nikolai Dmitrievich (13 June 1964 – 1 July 1977), Vice Admiral, Admiral from 1965, Admiral of the Fleet from 1970
 * Egorov, Georgy Mikhailovich (1 July 1977 – 18 November 1981), Admiral of the Fleet
 * Chernavin, Vladimir Nikolaevich (16 December 1981 – 29 November 1985), Admiral of the Fleet
 * Makarov, Konstantin Valentinovich (30 December 1985 – 12 September 1992), Admiral, since 1989 Admiral of the Fleet

title: Soviet Navy


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Sharif of Mecca

The Sharif of Mecca (شريف مكة) or Hejaz (شريف الحجاز) was the title of the leader of the Sharifate of Mecca, traditional steward of the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina and the surrounding Hejaz. The term sharif is Arabic for "noble", "highborn", and is used to describe the descendants of Hashim ibn Abd Manaf.

The Sharif was charged with protecting the cities and their environs and ensuring the safety of pilgrims performing the Hajj. The title is sometimes spelled Sheriff or Sherif, with the latter variant used, for example, by T. E. Lawrence in Seven Pillars of Wisdom.

The office of the Sharif of Mecca dates back to the late Abbasid era. Until 1200, the Sharifate was held by a member of the Hashim clan, not to be confused with the larger clan of Banu Hashim from which all Sharifs claim descent. Descendants of the Banu Hashim continued to hold the position until the 20th century on behalf of various Muslim powers including the Ayyubids and the Mamluks. In 1517, the Sharif acknowledged the supremacy of the Ottoman Caliph, but maintained a great degree of local autonomy. During the Ottoman era, the Sharifate expanded its authority northwards to include Medina, hitherto a sharifate of its own, and southwards to the frontiers of 'Asir, and regularly raided Nejd.

The Sharifate came to an end shortly after the reign of Hussein bin Ali, who ruled from 1908, who rebelled against the Ottoman rule during the Arab Revolt of 1916. After the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in 1918 and its subsequent dissolution in 1923, Hussein formed the independent Kingdom of Hejaz and then declared himself Caliph. The British granted control over the newly formed states of Iraq and Transjordan to his sons Faisal and Abdullah. In 1924, however, in the face of increasing attacks by Ibn Saud, Hussein abdicated his political titles to his eldest son, Ali bin Hussein, who was to become the last Grand Sharif. At the end of 1925, Ibn Saud conquered the Hejaz and expelled the Hashemites. The House of Saud has ruled Mecca and Medina and overseen the Hajj (annual pilgrimage to Mecca) since that time.

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

title: Sharif of Mecca


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Sharif

Sharīf (شريف, 'noble', 'highborn'), also spelled shareef or sherif, feminine sharīfa (شريفة), plural ashrāf (أشراف), shurafāʾ (شرفاء), or (in the Maghreb) shurfāʾ, is a title used to designate a person descended, or claiming to be descended, from the family of the Islamic prophet Muhammad (c. 570 CE – 632 CE). It may be used in three senses:

 * 1) In the broadest sense, it refers to any descendant of Muhammad's great-grandfather Hashim (the Banu Hashim or Hashimites, already in Muhammad's day an established clan within the Meccan tribe of the Quraysh), including all descendants of Muhammad's paternal uncles Abu Talib (the Talibids) and al-Abbas (the Abbasids).
 * 2) More often, it refers to a descendant of Ali, a son of Abu Talib and a paternal cousin of Muhammad (the Alids), especially but not exclusively through Ali's marriage with Muhammad's daughter Fatima (the Fatimids). In the sense of descendants of Fatima and Ali (the most common one), the term effectively refers to all descendants of Muhammad.
 * 3) In the narrowest sense, it refers only to someone who descends from Fatima and Ali's eldest son (and Muhammad's grandson) Hasan (the Hasanids). In this limited context, it is contrasted with the term sayyid ('lord', 'master', plural sāda, (سادة), which then refers only to the descendants of Hasan's younger brother Husayn (the Husaynids).

The precise usage of the term has varied both historically and geographically. Today, descent from Muhammad through his daughter Fatima (either Hasanid or Husaynid) is more commonly designated by the term sayyid.

Etymology
The word derives from the Arabic root sh–r–f, which expresses meanings related to honor, nobility, and prominence. It has no etymological connection with the English term sheriff, which comes from the Old English word scīrgerefa, meaning "shire-reeve", the local reeve (enforcement agent) of the king in the shire (county).

History
Precise usage of the term has varied both historically and geographically. Often, the terms sharīf and sayyid were used interchangeably, while in other contexts they referred to Hasanid vs. Husaynid descent (especially in the Hejaz, where the Sharifate of Mecca was restricted to persons of Hasanid descent). In still other contexts, they both referred to some form of Hashimite descent, but were linked to a different and specific social status.

In most places, the term has functioned as a mark of nobility (both the Abbasids and the Fatimids were at one time holder of the caliphate), except in South Asia, where the meaning of the term has expanded to include all Muslims of foreign descent. Thus, in the caste system among South Asian Muslims, the term ashrāf designates not only Muslims of Arab descent (sayyids or purported descendants of Ali and Fatima, and shaykhs, which include all those who claim descent from the Quraysh or from one of Muhammad's companions), but also Muslims of Pasthun or Turko-Mongol (Mughal) descent.

Over time, people who were not of Hashimite descent were sometimes also granted the title sharīf as a general mark of nobility. The result of this has been that today the term sayyid has become a more common designation for those claiming descent from Muhammad. As such, Sayyid (or one of its many alternative spellings, like Sayyed or Syed) has also become a common proper name.

Major sharif dynasties

 * Abbasids (descendants of Muhammad's uncle Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib, ruled over a vast empire centered in Baghdad 750–945, and claimed the caliphate 750–1517)
 * Idrisids (Hasanids, ruled over Morocco 789–985)
 * Fatimids (Husaynids, ruled over a vast empire centered in Cairo and claimed the caliphate 909–1171)
 * Sa'dids (Hasanids, ruled over Morocco 1510–1659)
 * Alawids (Hasanids, rule over Morocco 1631–present)
 * Hashimites (Hasanids, ruled over the Kingdom of Hejaz 1916–1925, the Arab Kingdom of Syria in 1920, the Kingdom of Iraq 1932–1958, and Jordan 1921–present)

title: Sharif


text:
CTL

CTL can refer to:

 * Champions Tennis League, a tennis championship league in India
 * Chronic training load, cumulative sports training
 * Circuit Total Limitation, US standard for electrical panels
 * Coal to liquids, coal liquefaction
 * Combat Tank, Light such as the Marmon-Herrington CTLS
 * Commission de transport de la Ville de Laval
 * Complex Text Layout in typesetting
 * Core Transfer Library, a list of college courses for transfer credit among educational institutions in Indiana
 * Cut-to-length logging
 * Cytotoxic T lymphocyte
 * Constructive total loss, in marine insurance

Companies

 * Computer Technology Limited, a British computer manufacturer of the 1970s and 1980s
 * Communications Technology Laboratory, a NIST laboratory since 2010
 * CTL Corporation, manufacturer of Chromebooks

Computing

 * Certificate Transparency Logs
 * Computation tree logic
 * Control key, a computer keyboard key
 * CTL timecode, a timecode used on video tape

Culture

 * Changeling: The Lost, a tabletop role-playing game

Transportation

 * Centralia, Washington (Amtrak station), USA, Amtrak station code
 * Charleville Airport, Queensland, Australia (IATA airport code)

title: CTL


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Butcher paper

Butcher paper is a type of kraft paper originally sold to butchers for the purpose of wrapping meat and fish. It is now used for a wide variety of purposes, notably in primary education where it is used for arts and crafts, such as hanging artwork. Many high schools use butchers' paper for posters of clubs, and upcoming events. It is a cheap but sturdy paper that is sold in large rolls. Butcher paper is usually white or reddish in colour, made from kraft pulp, and is generally considered to have a density of between 30 lb/3000 sq ft (49 g/m2) and 50 lb/3000 sq ft (81 g/m2).

Moving companies use butcher paper to pack china, glass, and other fragile items for safe transport. The use of printed paper, such as newspaper, could transfer ink onto the packaged item causing damage.

title: Butcher paper


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Alan Warner (novelist)

Alan Warner (born 1964) is a Scottish novelist who grew up in Connel, near Oban. His novels include Morvern Callar and The Sopranos – the latter being the inspiration for the play Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour and its subsequent film adaptation, Our Ladies.

Early life
Warner's father was a Yorkshireman who served in World War Two. His parents were in their forties when he was born, and ran a coal delivery business in Mull, a shop in Kilchoan, and a small hotel in Oban, before in 1963 buying the 42-bedroom Marine Hotel, close to Oban ferry terminal.

He attended Oban High School, and his interest in reading was sparked when he was fifteen, after he bought three novels whose covers suggested stories with a sexual dimension: Charles Webb's The Graduate, André Gide's The Immoralist and Albert Camus' The Outsider. He explained in an interview with the Scottish Review of Books in 2011: "I had presumed novels were an art form which only happened elsewhere and had died out in Scotland around the time of Walter Scott. What a very curious but genuine assumption. On the other hand, I could argue this was because local bookshops were stuffed with Scott and not a single work of modern Scottish literature."

After moving to London, he studied at Ealing College. On his return to Scotland, he studied at Glasgow University, where he wrote a dissertation on Joseph Conrad and the theme of suicide. He then spent some time participating in the Spanish rave scene, before working in Scotland as a train driver's assistant, musician and barman.

Novels and other fiction
Warner's debut novel, the acclaimed Morvern Callar (1995), won a Somerset Maugham Award. It was followed by These Demented Lands (1997), which won the Encore Award. His third novel The Sopranos (1998) won the Saltire Society's Scottish Book of the Year Award.

Since then he has published The Man Who Walks (2002), an imaginative and surreal black comedy; The Worms Can Carry Me to Heaven (2006), which imagines the reminiscences of a sickly Spanish playboy;The Stars in the Bright Sky (2010), a sequel to The Sopranos; The Deadman's Pedal (2012), a coming-of-age novel set in 1973-4; Their Lips Talk of Mischief (2015), a comedy about two aspiring writers in Thatcher's Britain; and Kitchenly 434 (2021), a comedic satire set in the 1970s about a British rock star and the caretaker of his country house retreat.

His novella 'After the Vision' appeared in the anthology Children of Albion Rovers (1997), and his short story 'Bitter Salvage' was included in Disco Biscuits (1997), an anthology edited by Sarah Champion.

Adaptations of his work
Morvern Callar has been adapted as a film, directed by Lynne Ramsay. The Sopranos has been adapted for the screen by Alan Sharp and Michael Caton-Jones. Released under the title Our Ladies in 2019, it was directed by Caton-Jones.

A play by Lee Hall, Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour, was based on The Sopranos and premiered in 2015, directed by Vicky Featherstone and featuring live songs.

Acclaim and awards
Warner's first three novels all won awards, notably a Somerset Maugham Award. In 2003, he was named by Granta magazine as one of twenty 'Best of Young British Novelists'. In 2010, his novel The Stars in the Bright Sky was included in the longlist for the Man Booker Prize. In 2013, he was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his novel The Deadman's Pedal.

Recurring themes and motifs
Alan Warner's novels are mostly set in "The Port", a place bearing some resemblance to Oban. He is known to appreciate the 1970s Krautrock band Can; three of his books feature dedications to former band members (Morvern Callar to Holger Czukay,The Man Who Walks to Michael Karoli and Kitchenly 434 to Irmin Schmidt), and Warner has published a book about their album Tago Mago.

Personal life and teaching career
Warner currently splits his time between Scotland and Javea, Spain. In 2019 he was appointed the Writer-in-Residence at the University of Edinburgh in 2016. In 2019, he became senior lecturer in creative writing at the University of Aberdeen.

He was a member of the jury for the 2016 Scotiabank Giller Prize.

Novels

 * Morvern Callar (1995)
 * These Demented Lands (1997)
 * The Sopranos (1998)
 * The Man Who Walks (2002)
 * The Worms Can Carry Me To Heaven (2006)
 * The Stars in the Bright Sky (2010)
 * The Deadman's Pedal (2012)
 * Their Lips Talk of Mischief (2014)
 * Kitchenly 434 (2021)
 * Nothing Left to Fear from Hell (2023)

Short story collections

 * The Seal Club (2020 co-written with Irvine Welsh and John King)
 * Seal Club 2: The View From Poacher's Hill (2023 co-written with Irvine Welsh and John King)

Non-fiction

 * Tago Mago: Permission to Dream (2015)

Music

 * Superstar Vs Alan Warner EP, 1998 (a collaboration with Scottish band Superstar)

title: Alan Warner (novelist)


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Indian numbering system

The Indian numbering system is used in the Indian subcontinent (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka) to express large numbers. The terms lakh or 1,00,000 (one hundred thousand, written as 100,000 in Pakistan, and outside the Indian subcontinent) and crore or 1,00,00,000 (ten million, written as 10,000,000 outside the subcontinent) are the most commonly used terms in Indian English to express large numbers in the system.

Comparison with Western system
The Indian numbering system corresponds to the Western system for the zeroth through fourth powers of ten: one (100), ten (101), one hundred (102), one thousand (103), and ten thousand (104). For higher powers of ten, the names no longer correspond. In the ancient Indian system still in use in regional languages of India, there are words for (1062). These names respectively starting at 1000 are sahasra, ayuta, laksha, niyuta, koti, arbhudha, abhja, karva, nikarva, mahapadma, shanmkhu, jaladhi, amtya, madhya, paraardha. In the Indian system now prevalent in the northern parts, the next powers of ten are called one lakh, ten lakh, one crore, ten crore, one arab (or one hundred crore), and so on; there are new words for every second power of ten (105 + 2n): lakh (105), crore (107), arab (109), kharab (1011), etc. In the Western system, the next powers of ten are called one hundred thousand, one million, ten million, one hundred million, one billion (short scale)/one thousand million (long scale), and so on; in the short scale, there are new words for every third power of ten (103n): million (106), billion (109), trillion (1012), etc.

Written numbers differ in the placement of commas, grouping digits into powers of one hundred (102) in the Indian system (except for the first thousand), and into powers of one thousand (103) in the Western system. The Indian and most English systems both use the decimal point and the comma digit-separator, while other languages and countries using the Western numbering system use the decimal comma and the thin space or point to group digits.

There are terms for numbers larger than 1 crore as well, but these are not commonly used. These include 1 arab (equal to 100 crore or 1 billion (short scale)), 1 kharab (equal to 100 arab or 100 billion (short scale)), 1 nil (sometimes transliterated as neel; equal to 100 kharab or 10 trillion), 1 padma (equal to 100 nil or 1 quadrillion), 1 shankh (equal to 100 padma or 100 quadrillion), and 1 mahashankh (equal to 100 shankh or 10 quintillion). In common parlance, the thousand, lakh, and crore terminology (though inconsistent) repeats for larger numbers: thus 1,000,000,000,000 (one trillion) becomes 1 lakh crore, written as 10,00,00,00,00,000.

Examples

 * lakh: 150,000 rupees in India is referred to as "1.5 lakh rupees", which is written as 1,50,000 rupees;
 * crore: 30,000,000 (thirty million) rupees is referred to as "3 crore rupees", which is written as 3,00,00,000 rupees with commas at the thousand, lakh, and crore places.

Pronunciation in English
When speakers of indigenous Indian languages are speaking English, the pronunciations may be closer to their mother tongue; e.g. "lakh" and "crore" might be pronounced /lɑkʰ/, /kɑrɔːr/, respectively.

 * hazar /hæˈzɔː(ɹ̠)/
 * lakh /læk/
 * crore /krɔː(ɹ̠)/
 * arab /æˈɹ̠æb/
 * kharab /kʰæˈɹ̠æb/

Use of separators
The Indian numbering system uses separators differently from the international norm. Instead of grouping digits by threes as in the international system, the Indian numbering system groups the rightmost three digits together (until the hundreds place), and thereafter groups by sets of two digits. One trillion would thus be written as 10,00,00,00,00,000 or 10 kharab (or one lakh crore). This makes the number convenient to read using the system's terminology. For example:

This accords with the Indian numbering system, which has units for thousands, hundreds of thousands, tens of millions, etc.

Names of numbers
The table below follows the short scale usage of one billion being one thousand million. In India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, following former British usage, the long scale was used, with one billion equivalent to one million million.

Numbering systems in Hindu epics
There are various systems of numeration found in various ancient epic literature of India (itihasas). The following table gives one such system used in the Valmiki Ramayana.

Other numbering systems
The denominations by which land was measured in the Kumaon Kingdom were based on arable lands and thus followed an approximate system with local variations. The most common of these was a vigesimal (base-20) numbering system with the main denomination called a bisi (see Hindustani number bīs), which corresponded to the land required to sow 20 nalis of seed. Consequently, its actual land measure varied based on the quality of the soil. This system became the established norm in Kumaon by 1891.

Usage in different languages
Below is a list of translations for the words lakh and crore in other languages spoken in the Indian subcontinent:
 * In Assamese, a lakh is also called লক্ষ lokhyo, or লাখ lakh and a crore is called কৌটি বা কোটি kouti
 * In Bengali, a lakh is natively (tadbhava) known as লাখ lākh, though some use the ardha-tatsama লক্ষ lokkho. A crore is called কোটি kōṭi
 * In Burmese, crore is called MY ကုဋေ . Lakh is used in Burmese English.
 * In Dhivehi, a lakh is called ލައްކަ la'kha and a crore is called ކްރޯރް kroaru
 * In Gujarati, a lakh is called લાખ lākh and a crore is called કરોડ karoḍ. A hundred crore is called અબજ abaj
 * In Hindi, a lakh is called लाख lākh and a crore is called करोड karoḍ. A hundred crore is called अरब arab
 * In Kannada, a lakh is called ಲಕ್ಷ lakṣha and a crore is called ಕೋಟಿ kōṭi
 * In Khasi, a lakh is called lak and a crore is called klur or krur. A billion is called arab and hundred billion is called kharab.
 * In Malayalam, a lakh is called ലക്ഷം laksham and a crore is called കോടി kodi.
 * In Marathi, a lakh is called लाख/लक्ष lākh and a crore is called कोटी koṭi or करोड karoḍ, and an arab (109) is called अब्ज abja.
 * In Nepali, a lakh is called लाख lākh and a crore is called करोड karoḍ.
 * In Odia, a lakh is called ଲକ୍ଷ lôkhyô and a crore is called କୋଟି koṭi.
 * In Punjabi, a lakh is called lakkh (Shahmukhi:, Gurmukhi: ਲੱਖ) and a crore is called karoṛ (Shahmukhi: , Gurmukhi: ਕਰੋੜ).
 * In Rohingya, a lakh is called lák and a crore is called kurul. A thousand crore is called kuthí.
 * In Sinhala, a lakh is called ලක්ෂ lakṣa and a crore is called කෝටි kōṭi.
 * In Tamil, a lakh is called இலட்சம் ilaṭcam and a crore is called கோடி kōṭi.
 * In Telugu, a lakh is called లక్ష lakṣha and a crore is called కోటి kōṭi.
 * In Urdu, a lakh is called lākh and a crore is called  karoṛ. A billion is called arab, and one hundred billion/arab is called a kharab.
 * Lakh has entered the Swahili language as "laki" and is in common use.

Formal written publications in English in India tend to use lakh/crore for Indian currency and International numbering for foreign currencies.

Current usage
The usage of this system is limited to the nations of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Myanmar. It is universally employed within these countries, and is preferred to the English numbering system.

Sri Lanka used this system in the past but has switched to the English numbering system in recent years.

In the Maldives, the term lakh is widely used in official documents and local speech. However, the Westernised Hindu-Arabic numeral system is preferred for higher denominations (such as millions).

Most institutions and citizens in India use the Indian number system. The Reserve Bank of India was noted as a rare exception in 2015, whereas by 2024 the Indian system was used for amounts in rupees and the Western system for foreign currencies throughout the Reserve Bank's website.

title: Indian numbering system


text:
Talk:Dassault-Breguet Super Étendard

Infobox image
The french version of the page has a nice image, which I placed as a hard link in the photo box. I did not know how use (transfer?) a different language's images on the english wikipedia and I figured that was better then nothing. Greyengine5 20:26, 2004 Jul 19 (UTC)

 * I believe different languages' images are not shared & thus you need to copy the image to the English wikipedia. —Morven 20:33, Jul 19, 2004 (UTC)

Gallery superimposed over infobox
The gallery on this page writes over the top of the infobox on my browser (Firefox). Can somebody who knows about this stuff fix it? Gene Nygaard 21:47, 23 Jun 2005 (UTC)

 * I have the same problem with Konqueror. One dirty way of doing this would be to put multiple galleries, with three images in each of them. I don't quite like this solution because it is very much hard-coding and assumes a lot about the resolution of the screen of the reader... I'll do that for now, waiting for a cleaner and more elegant solution. Rama 07:08, 24 Jun 2005 (UTC)

 * I have killed the gallery. All of the images are on the commons, so providing  should be satisfactory.  Ingoolemo talk 20:22, 10 September 2006 (UTC)

Boom
If I understand correctly, SE can go as fast as Mach 1.1 in level flight,that is transsonic, rather than subsonic. Is this true? 82.131.210.162 08:55, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

French order
The French Navy initially ordered 60 of the new model, with options for a further 20,

I dont have the source here but I understand that they actually order 100 but bugdet problems means only to get 71 and leaving the Etendard IVP active. --Jor70 (talk) 11:26, 1 March 2010 (UTC)

title: Talk:Dassault-Breguet Super Étendard


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Flemington Racecourse line

The Flemington Racecourse line is a commuter railway line in the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Operated by Metro Trains Melbourne, it is the city's shortest metropolitan railway line at 7.8 km. The line runs from Flinders Street station in central Melbourne to Flemington Racecourse station, situated next to the racecourse in the city's north west, serving a total of 5 stations. The line operates only during special events, with services as frequent as every 4 minutes during peak periods of those special events. Trains on the Flemington Racecourse line run with two three-car formations of Comeng, Siemens Nexas, or X'Trapolis 100 trainsets.

The Flemington Racecourse line originated in 1861 as a branch of the Melbourne and Essendon Railway Company, designed to link the Melbourne rail network with Flemington Racecourse. The racecourse, established in 1840, gained its railway connection in 1861 but closed in 1864 due to financial issues. The Victorian Railways took over and reopened the line in 1867. Notably, the line was electrified in 1918, making it Melbourne's first electrified route. Automatic signalling was introduced in 1919, though the connection between points and signals ceased in the 1980s or 1990s with the closure of sidings.

Since the 2010s, only minor upgrades have taken place, including upgrades of signalling, the replacement of sleepers, and station accessibility upgrades.

19th century
The Flemington Racecourse line opened as a branch from Newmarket by the Melbourne and Essendon Railway Company in February 1861. The line was constructed to connect the Melbourne rail network with Flemington Racecourse, the main horse racing facility in Melbourne. The racecourse was originally opened in 1840 and received its rail connection 21 years later in 1861. Three years later, in July 1864, the line was closed after the company faced financial difficulties. The line was taken over by the Victorian Railways and reopened in November 1867.

20th century
The line was electrified in 1918 for the testing of electric trains, and therefore became the first electrified line in Melbourne. The first electric train ran a test trip from Newmarket to Flemington Racecourse station on 6 October 1918.

Automatic signalling, using two-position signals, was provided in September 1919. When passenger services were operated on the line, the points were connected to the signal boxes and the signals were brought into use. This arrangement finished in the 1980s or 1990s when the sidings were closed.

21st century
During the 2017 Melbourne Cup, a group of activists drove onto and blocked the rail tracks in an effort to protest refugee detention centres on Manus Island. The disruption caused major delays on the line during its busiest period of the year, causing racegoers to exit the train with assistance from emergency services and walk along the tracks to access the racecourse.

Services
Services on the Flemington Racecourse line operate only during special events, including during the Melbourne Cup, Oaks Day, the Royal Melbourne Show, university exams (at Victoria University located nearby), or any other large events. In general, during special events, train frequency is 4–60 minutes depending on the size of the crowd and the flow of passengers. As the line only operates during special events, services do not run 24 hours a day on Friday nights and weekends.

Train services on the Flemington Racecourse line are also subjected to maintenance and renewal works, usually when the line isn't in use for special events. In the event that maintenance does need to occur during a special event, shuttle bus services are provided throughout the duration of works for affected commuters.

Stopping patterns
Legend — Station status
 * ◼ Premium Station – Station staffed from first to last train
 * ◻ Host Station – Usually staffed during morning peak, however this can vary for different stations on the network.

Legend — Stopping patterns Services do not operate via the City Loop
 * ● – All trains stop
 * ◐ – Some services do not stop
 * | – Trains pass and do not stop

Operators
The Flemington Racecourse line has had a total of 7 operators since its opening in 1861. The majority of operations throughout its history have been government run: from the acquisition of the service from private operator Melbourne and Essendon Railway Company in 1867 until the 1998 privatisation of Melbourne's rail network, four different government operators have run the line. These operators, Victorian Railways, the Metropolitan Transit Authority, the Public Transport Corporation, and Hillside Trains have a combined operational length of 133 years. Hillside Trains was privatised in 1999 and later rebranded Connex Melbourne. Metro Trains Melbourne, the current private operator, then took over the operations in 2009. Both private operators have had a combined operational period of 26 years.

Route
The Flemington Racecourse line forms a mostly linear route from the Melbourne central business district to its terminus at Flemington Racecourse. The route is 7.8 km long and is fully double tracked. Exiting the city, the line only has minor earthworks, with some sections of the line being elevated or lowered into a cutting to eliminate level crossings. Despite some removals, there are a number of level crossings still present with no current plans to remove them.

The line follows the same alignment as multiple other lines, with the Flemington Racecourse line splitting off at North Melbourne. The Flemington Racecourse line continues on its western alignment, whereas the other lines continue onto a northern, western, or south-western alignment. Most of the rail line goes through built-up suburbs and event facilities.

Stations
The line serves 5 stations across 7.8 km of track. The stations are a mix of lowered and ground level designs.

Rolling stock
The Flemington Racecourse line uses three different types of electric multiple unit (EMU) trains that are operated in a split six-car configuration, with three doors per side on each carriage. The primary rolling stock featured on the line is the Comeng EMUs, built by Commonwealth Engineering between 1981 and 1988. Siemens Nexas EMUs are also widely featured on the line, originally built between 2002 and 2005. These train sets feature more modern technology than the Comeng trains. The final type of rolling stock featured on the line is the X'Trapolis 100 built by Alstom between 2002 and 2004, and 2009 and 2020. All of these rolling stock models are widely used on other lines across the metropolitan network and work as the backbone of the network.

Alongside the passenger trains, Flemington Racecourse line tracks and equipment are maintained by a fleet of engineering trains. The four types of engineering trains are:

 * The shunting train; designed for moving trains along non-electrified corridors and for transporting other maintenance locomotives
 * For track evaluation; designed for evaluating track and its condition
 * The overhead inspection train; designed for overhead wiring inspection
 * The infrastructure evaluation carriage; designed for general infrastructure evaluation.

Most of these trains are repurposed locomotives previously used by V/Line, Metro Trains, and the Southern Shorthaul Railroad.

Planned rolling stock
From the middle of 2020s, the next generation of the X'Trapolis family of electric EMUs—the X'Trapolis 2.0—will be introduced. This new model will fully replace the existing fleet of Comeng EMUs currently operating on the line currently with new, modern, and technologically advanced trains. The new trains will include features designed to increase passenger comfort like quicker doors, allowing for reduced boarding times, passenger information systems to display relevant information about the train and its journey, designated bicycle storage areas, and 6 cars that are fully walk through. For reliability, the trains have a higher energy efficiency to work with a lower network voltage. Finally, accessibility is improved through new interior designs featuring fold-up seating to allow additional space for wheelchair users and passenger operated automatic wheelchair ramps (located behind the two driver cabs).

Accessibility
In compliance with the Disability Discrimination Act of 1992, all stations that are new-built or rebuilt are fully accessible and comply with legal guidelines. Three of the five stations on the corridor are fully accessible, but the others have not been upgraded to meet these guidelines. These stations feature ramps with gradients greater than 1 in 14, the maximum slope for stations lacking at-grade paths or lifts. Fully accessible stations typically also feature tactile boarding indicators, independent boarding ramps, wheelchair accessible myki barriers, hearing loops, and widened paths.

Projects improving station accessibility have included individual station upgrade projects, which may include station rebuilds or upgrades. These works have made significant strides in improving network accessibility, with more than 60% of Flemington Racecourse line stations classed as fully accessible. Future station upgrade projects will continue to increase the number of fully accessible stations overtime.

Signalling
The Flemington Racecourse line uses three-position signalling, which is widely used across the Melbourne train network. Three-position signalling was first introduced in 1924, with the final section of the line converted to the new type of signalling 90 years later in 2014. The Flemington Racecourse line had Melbourne's last remaining example of two-position automatic signalling, apart from a section of the Hurstbridge line between Greensborough and Hurstbridge stations.

title: Flemington Racecourse line


text:
Reisbach (Saar)

Reisbach is a small town, belonging to the district of Saarlouis in the Bundesland Saarland.

The village was formed on April 1, 1937, when the two townships of Reisweiler and Labach were joint together as "Reisbach".

Reisweiler was first mentioned as "Radisville" in 1154. The Germanic name "Radi" means "father of the town council", which, together with the "-ville" suffix meaning "farmland", yields the meaning of "Reisweiler" as "Radi's Farmland".

The first written documentation about Labach stems from the 13th century, when it was known under the name "Loupach" or "Loupbach". The name is composed from "Loup" meaning "foliage" (German "Laub") and "Bach" meaning "creek".

The name of the consolidated village thus means "Radi's Creek".

Since January 1, 1974, Reisbach has formed the municipality of Saarwellingen, together with Saarwellingen proper and Schwarzenholz with a combined 14,000 inhabitants.

History
In 1212, Count Heinrich of Zweibrücken gave his ownership of the villages Reisweiler and Labach to Fraulautern Abbey.

The knights Marsilius and Reiner and their relative Marsilius von Lisdorf donated their stake in the patronage to the church of Reisweiler in 1237.

Labach belonged to the lordship of Schwarzenholz, and thus Fraulautern Abbey, until 1792, when the French Revolution changed everything. It also ended the ownership of the Grafschaft Saarbrücken and the Lord of Hagen over Reisweiler.

Coat of arms
The coat of arms resembles the rulerships over the two villages: The base is the coat of arms of the Lords of Saarbrücken (Lisdorf), the diagonal bar, while the red and gold colors stem from the coat of arms of the Lords of Zweibrücken. The two fields formed by the diagonal bar stand for the two villages which form Reisbach: the upper field for Labach, with the crossed circle of Fraulautern Abbey; the lower field for Reisweiler, with the cross of the Lords of Bolchen.

Reisbach was given the right to bear a coat of arms on May 11, 1964.

title: Reisbach (Saar)


title: File:1908-2-7-100large.jpg


text:
AIB (NI)

AIB (NI) (formerly known as First Trust Bank) is a commercial bank in Northern Ireland that is part of Allied Irish Banks's UK subsidiary AIB Group (UK) plc. It is one of the Big Four banks in Ireland. The bank was created in 1991 when TSB Northern Ireland merged with the AIB Group's other interests. The bank can trace its existence back to 1816 with the founding of the Belfast Savings Bank. The bank was one of the four banks that issued Pound Sterling banknotes in Northern Ireland until February 2019; First Trust notes are no longer legal currency since 30 June 2022. Allied Irish Banks confirmed plans to sell off the bank in April 2010 as part of plans to raise capital, however these plans were subsequently shelved and instead the bank announced investment plans starting in 2014. The bank traded as First Trust Bank in Northern Ireland until November 2019.

Banking services
Allied Irish Banks' UK division, with total assets of €15.1 billion (approx £10 billion), operates in two distinct markets, Northern Ireland and Great Britain (where it operates as Allied Irish Bank (GB)), with different economies and operating environments. AIB Group (UK) p.l.c., registered in the UK and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority, operates as the legal entity for the division.

Banknotes

In common with the other Big Four banks of Northern Ireland, First Trust Bank retained the right to issue its own banknotes, though production ceased on 30 June 2020. These are pound sterling notes and equal in value to Bank of England notes, and should not be confused with banknotes of the former Irish pound.

Earlier note issues by the bank were made under the bank's previous names: the Provincial Bank of Ireland Ltd. (to 1976), Allied Irish Banks Ltd. (1977–1986), and Allied Irish Banks PLC (1987–1993).

First Trust Bank's final issue of notes depicted two generic people, one male, one female. They appear as children on the £1 and £5 notes, as middle-aged on the £10 and £20, and finally as elderly on the £50 and £100. The obverse designs generally feature images associated with the Spanish Armada, commemorating the wrecking of 24 Armada ships off the coast of County Antrim in 1588:

 * 10 pound note featuring the ship Girona
 * 20 pound note featuring the chimney at Lacada Point, Giant's Causeway, near Dunluce, County Antrim, where the Girona was wrecked.
 * 50 pound note featuring a commemorative medal
 * 100 pound note featuring the Spanish Armada

A £5 note featuring Dunluce Castle on the obverse and a £1 note also featuring the Girona were issued by the Provincial Bank of Ireland and by AIB, but have not been issued by First Trust Bank.

In February 2019, First Trust Bank ceased issuing its own banknotes in circulation and replaced them with Bank of England banknotes as they are withdrawn from circulation. First Trust Bank notes could continue to be used until 30 June 2022, after which time they ceased to be legal currency but can still be paid into bank accounts, or exchanged for Bank of England notes at branches of AIB (NI).

title: AIB (NI)


text:
Ban Kulin

Kulin (Кулин; d. c. November 1204) was the Ban of Bosnia from 1180 to 1204, first as a vassal of the Byzantine Empire and then of the Kingdom of Hungary, although his state was de facto independent. He was one of Bosnia's most prominent and notable historic rulers and had a great effect on the development of early Bosnian history. One of his most noteworthy diplomatic achievements is widely considered to have been the signing of the Charter of Ban Kulin, which encouraged trade and established peaceful relations between Dubrovnik and his realm of Bosnia. His son, Stephen Kulinić succeeded him as Bosnian Ban. Kulin founded the House of Kulinić.

Early life
Kulin's sister was married to Miroslav of Hum, the brother of Serbian Grand Prince Stefan Nemanja (r. 1166–1196). He belonged to the Bosnian nobility and was brought to the throne when the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos (1143–1180) was the overlord of Bosnia. In 1180, when Komnenos died, Stefan Nemanja and Kulin asserted independence of Serbia and Bosnia, respectively.

Reign
His rule is often remembered as being emblematic of Bosnia's golden age, and he is a common hero of Bosnian national folk tales. Under him, the "Bosnian Age of Peace and Prosperity" would come to exist. Bosnia was completely autonomous and mostly at peace during his rule.

War against Byzantium
In 1183, Kulin Ban led his troops with the forces of the Kingdom of Hungary under King Béla and the Serbs under Stefan Nemanja, who had just launched an attack on the Byzantine Empire. The cause of the war was Hungary's non-recognition of the new emperor, Andronikos Komnenos. The united forces met little resistance in the eastern Serbian lands – the Byzantine squadrons were fighting among themselves as the local Byzantine commanders Alexios Brannes supported the new Emperor, while Andronikos Lapardes opposed him – and deserted the Imperial Army, going onto adventures on his own. Without difficulties, the Byzantines were pushed out of the Morava Valley and the allied forces breached all the way to Sofia, raiding Belgrade, Braničevo, Ravno, Niš and Sofia itself.

Heresy
In 1199, Serbian prince Vukan Nemanjić informed the Pope, Innocent, of heresy in Bosnia. Vukan claimed that Kulin, a heretic, had welcomed the heretics whom Bernard of Split had banished, and treated them as Christians. In 1200, the Pope wrote a letter to Kulin's suzerain, the Hungarian King Emeric, warning him that "no small number of Patarenes" had gone from Split and Trogir to Ban Kulin where they were warmly welcomed, and told him to "Go and ascertain the truth of these reports and if Kulin is unwilling to recant, drive him from your lands and confiscate his property". Kulin replied to the Pope that he did not regard the immigrants as heretics, but as Catholics, and that he was sending a few of them to Rome for examination, and also invited that a Papal representative be sent to investigate. Unconvinced, the Pope sent his legates to Bosnia to interrogate Kulin and his subjects about religion and life, and if indeed heretical, correct the situation through a prepared constitution. The Pope wrote to Bernard in 1202 that "a multitude of people in Bosnia are suspected of the damnable heresy of the Cathars." The two legates sent by the Pope went through the country of Bosnia and interrogated the clergy.

Bilino Polje abjuration
Not only did Casamaris listen to his informants' answers, but where they were in error, he would have taught them correct doctrine, in line with Innocent's directive. John must have convinced himself that he had fulfilled Innocent's command to correct the krstjani, because the "Confessio" (Abjuration) signed at Bilino Polje by seven priors of the Krstjani church on 8 April 1203, makes no mention of errors. The same document was brought to Budapest, 30 April by Casamaris and Kulin and two abbots, where it was examined by the Hungarian King and the high clergy. Kulin's son.

Charter of Ban Kulin
The Charter of Ban Kulin was a trade agreement between Bosnia and the Republic of Ragusa that effectively regulated Ragusan trade rights in Bosnia written on 29 August 1189. It is one of the oldest written state documents in the Balkans and is among the oldest historical documents written in Bosančica. The charter is of great significance in national pride and historical heritage.

Death
After his death in 1204, Ban Kulin was succeeded to the Bosnian throne by Stjepan, ban of Bosnia, often deemed his son.

Marriage and children
Kulin married Vojislava, with whom he had two sons:
 * Stephen Kulinić, the following Ban of Bosnia
 * A son that went with the Pope's emissaries in 1203 to explain heresy accusations against Kulin

Legacy and folklore
As a founder of first de facto independent Bosnian state, Kulin was and still is highly regarded among Bosnians. Even today Kulin's era is regarded as one of the most prosperous historical eras, not just for Bosnian medieval state and its feudal lords, but for the common people as well, whose lasting memory of those times is kept in Bosnian folklore, like an old folk proverb with significant meaning: "Od kulina Bana i dobrijeh dana" ("Since Kulin Ban and those good old days").

Accordingly, in today's Bosnia and Herzegovina, many streets and town squares, as well as cultural institutions, and non-governmental organizations, bear Kulin's name, while numerous culturally significant events, manifestation, festivals and anniversaries are held in celebration of his life and deeds.

title: Ban Kulin


text: User talk:195.93.32.10

title: User talk:195.93.32.10


text:
Kharab

Kharab may refer to:
 * 10¹¹ in the Indian numbering system
 * Kharab (toponymy), a component of some Arabic placenames meaning "ruined"
 * Mamta Kharab, Indian women's hockey player

title: Kharab


text:
Tony! Toni! Toné!

'''Tony! Toni! Toné!''' is an American soul/R&B band from Oakland, California, popular during the late 1980s and early to mid-1990s. During the band's heyday, it was composed of D'Wayne Wiggins on lead vocals and guitar, his brother Raphael Saadiq (born Charles Ray Wiggins) on lead vocals and bass, and their cousin Timothy Christian Riley on drums, keyboards, and background vocals. Originally, the band went by "Tony, Toni, Toné" as a joke, until they realized it "had a nice ring to it".

After their debut album Who? in 1988 followed by The Revival in 1990, the group achieved their greatest commercial success with the double platinum certified Sons of Soul in 1993. Tony! Toni! Toné! disbanded after the release of their fourth album House of Music (1996), which critics cite as their best work.

1988–1992: Who? and The Revival
Their debut album, Who?, produced and co-written by Denzil Foster and Thomas McElroy, was released in 1988. The first single "Little Walter" went to #1 on the R&B charts. The next three singles, "Born Not to Know", "Baby Doll" and "For the Love of You" were all Top 10 R&B singles. Who? spent 44 weeks on the Billboard Top Pop Albums, peaking at number 69. On December 5, 1989, the album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for shipments of 500,000 copies in the United States. As of August 1993, it has sold over 700,000 copies in the US.

Inspired by live instrumentation, turntablism, and classic soul music, Tony! Toni! Toné! recorded and produced their second album, The Revival, mostly themselves and released it on May 8, 1990 to commercial success. The Revival charted for 64 weeks on the Billboard Top Pop Albums, peaking at number 34 on the chart and reaching platinum status. The album spawned several #1 R&B hits with "It Never Rains (In Southern California)", "Feels Good", "The Blues", and "Whatever You Want" all topping the R&B charts. The album's second single "Feels Good" was released on June 19 and certified gold on November 13 after it had shipped 500,000 copies. The single topped the R&B chart for two weeks and reached number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 in the fall of 1990, going on to sell over one million copies. "Feels Good" was the group's first single to breach the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. In late 1990, the album's fourth single "It Never Rains (In Southern California)" became a number-one R&B hit and also peaked at number 34 on the Hot 100.

The Revival broadened the group's exposure to fans beyond their initial R&B audience. However, they became ambivalent about their newfound mainstream success and their music being labeled "retro" by critics. In an interview for People magazine, lead singer and bassist Raphael Wiggins expressed his dissatisfaction with the music industry, saying that "every record company wants to get a group and put 'em in a Benz with a car phone and a beeper, show them dressing in three different outfits, put them in a video shot on a beach with lots of swinging bikinis. You won't ever see us on a beach. We're just down-to-earth, funky, like-to-play guys." Before considering a follow-up album, the band recorded several songs for film soundtracks, including "Me and You" for Boyz n the Hood (1991), "House Party (I Don't Know What You Come to Do)" for House Party 2 (1991), and "Waiting on You" for Poetic Justice (1993).

1992–1995: Sons of Soul
Having fulfilled their creative intentions with The Revival, Tony! Toni! Toné! wanted to pay homage to their musical influences with Sons of Soul. In a 1993 interview for The New York Times, Wiggins elaborated on their direction for the album, stating "We're paying homage to a lot of older artists who paved the way for us artists like the Temptations, Sly and the Family Stone, Earth, Wind and Fire. They're the people who inspired us when we were growing up, people like Aretha Franklin, James Brown. We feel we're the sons of everything and all those people who came before us." He also explained the album's title as a declaration of them being descendants of those artists, "not in a grandiose sense, but from the standpoint that we really are the musical offspring of all that's come before us ... paying homage to our past, but creating in a contemporary environment."

Tony! Toni! Toné! took a hiatus as a group after the commercial and critical success of Sons of Soul. According to vocalist and bassist Raphael Wiggins, each member had pursued individual music projects, and "the group was trying to figure out where everybody's time, space and head was at." He, D'wayne Wiggins, and Timothy Christian Riley worked on songwriting and production for other recording artists during the band's hiatus, including D'Angelo, En Vogue, Karyn White, Tevin Campbell, and A Tribe Called Quest. Raphael Wiggins adopted the surname "Saadiq" for his professional name in 1994—"man of his word" in Arabic—and released his solo single "Ask of You" in 1995. Their work outside the band led to rumors of a break-up during the time between albums. Tony! Toni! Toné! eventually regrouped and began recording House of Music in September 1995.

1996–1998: House of Music
In 1996, the group released their final studio album to date, House of Music. The album lacked the strong singles of earlier entries, only getting "Thinking Of You" & "Let's Get Down" into the top 10 on the R&B charts, with "Thinking Of You" hitting #22 on the Hot 100, though it eventually reached platinum status.

House of Music expanded on Tony! Toni! Toné!'s previous traditional R&B-influenced work by emphasizing live instrumentation and ballads. In the opinion of Daily Herald writer Dan Kening, the album continued the band's mix of contemporary R&B and old-fashioned soul, deeming it "half a tribute to their '60s and '70s soul music roots and half a masterful blend of modern smooth balladeering and danceable funk." Released on November 19, 1996, House of Music reached number 32 on the Billboard 200 and spent 31 weeks on the chart. In its first eight weeks, the album sold 318,502 copies in the US. Tony! Toni! Toné! inaugurated its release with a satellite press conference and in-store performance at a small retail outlet in the San Francisco Bay Area. They also embarked on a tour of historically black colleges and Black Independent Coalition record shops after "Let's Get Down" had been sent to R&B and crossover radio on October 28 as the album's lead single; its music video was released to outlets such as BET, The Box, and MTV. Tony! Toni! Toné! performed the song on the sketch comedy show All That; on the music variety program Soul Train, they performed "Let's Get Down" and "Annie May". "Thinking of You" was released as the second single on March 11, 1997, by which time House of Music had sold 514,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. On August 6, the album was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

The single "Me & You" appears on the soundtrack to the motion picture Boyz n the Hood. Following the release of Sons of Soul, the group was a part of the R&B supergroup Black Men United, along with Silk and H-Town. The song "U Will Know" appeared on the soundtrack for the movie Jason's Lyric.

Reunions
In 2003, members of Tony! Toni! Toné!, except for Saadiq, were invited by Alicia Keys to be guest artists on her album The Diary of Alicia Keys. The song that resulted from that session was called "Diary." Released as a single in the fall of 2004, it gave them their first Top 10 US hit in eleven years and a nomination for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the 2005 Grammy Awards.

In 2023, the original lineup announced and engaged in a U.S. reunion tour, marking the band's thirtieth anniversary of their third release, Sons of Soul, and their first tour in twenty-five years; that included their music catalogue and a few songs from Saadiq's solo career and production/songwriting repertoire.

Current members

 * D'Wayne Wiggins (1986–present)
 * Raphael Saadiq (1986–1997, 2019–present)
 * Timothy Christian Riley (1986–present)

Former members

 * Amar Khalil (1998–2018)

Session musicians

 * Elijah Baker (1986–1997)
 * Carl Wheeler (1986–1997)
 * Antron Haile (1986–1997)
 * Jubu Smith

Other endeavors
Raphael Saadiq released his first solo effort, the Top 20 Billboard hit "Ask of You" for the Higher Learning soundtrack, in 1995. Around the same time, Saadiq became a much-sought-after R&B producer, scoring hits for D'Angelo, Beyoncé, Total, The Roots, and others. Later in the 2000s, he started a solo career, releasing two albums: Instant Vintage (2002) and Ray Ray (2004). He was replaced by Amar Khalil in the band. Regarding changing his surname to 'Saadiq' for a solo career, in February 2009 Raphael stated to writer Pete Lewis of Blues & Soul: "I just wanted to have my own identity".

Lucy Pearl was an R&B supergroup formed in 1999 as the brainchild of Saadiq. The other members of Lucy Pearl were Dawn Robinson (En Vogue) and Ali Shaheed Muhammad (A Tribe Called Quest). They released their self-titled debut album in 2000. After two singles, "Dance Tonight" and "Don't Mess with My Man", Robinson left and was replaced by Joi. The new line-up released the track "Without You". The group split up shortly afterwards, releasing no other material.

In 2005, D'wayne Wiggins became the bandleader for the Weekends at the D.L. television show hosted by comedian D. L. Hughley, which aired on the Comedy Central cable network until 2006. Wiggins solo album, Eyes Never Lie, sold approximately 150,000 units.

Discography
Studio albums
 * Who? (1988)
 * The Revival (1990)
 * Sons of Soul (1993)
 * House of Music (1996)

title: Tony! Toni! Toné!


text:
Talk:Elvis Stojko

Use of jargon
"Stojko had a strong performance in the free skate, despite popping a planned triple axel combination (which he later replaced by doing another triple Axel combination spontaneously) and won the silver medal. " I'm not sure what 'popping' means in this context. I think it means 'omitting' - I don't think it means that he fell. But it's probably well understood within the skating community but jargon to the rest of us, and as such should be avoided. Cross Reference (talk) 14:24, 20 February 2022 (UTC)

Alive
At the page

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_by_name:_Sto#Stoi_-_Stoj

you say that Stojko, Elvis, (died 2001), figure skater

but at the next page

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elvis_Stojko

Stojko turned professional in 2002.

Please check data!

 * Yes, this Elvis is still alive. I've corrected the above listing accordingly. Thanks for pointing that out. -- Hadal 20:52, 19 Jul 2004 (UTC)

Quad
This article states Elvis was the first person to land a quad in competition (at the 1991 World Championships). Yet the Kurt Browning entry states: On March 25, 1988, at the 1988 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Browning landed the first quadruple jump ever in competition. This accomplishment is listed in the Guinness Book of Records. Can someone please confirm which is correct —Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.106.163.227 (talk) 22:20, 26 September 2007 (UTC)

 * Reread the article. :) This article states that Stojko was the first to land a quadruple jump in combination with a second jump in competition. Browning is credited with landing the first quadruple jump. Kolindigo 22:34, 26 September 2007 (UTC)

Karate or Kung-Fu
I understand that he studied (mostly) kung-fu -- did he make time for both?

Macho?
May sound a little odd, but I'm reading an academic paper about masculinity/femininity in specific job areas, and it says "This is not unlike the observation that women athletes in masculinized sports must emphasize their femininity (e.g., runner Florence Griffith Joyner) and men athletes in feminized sports must emphasize their masculinity (e.g., figure skater Elvis Stojko)." Now, I've been able to find what the writer meant about Joyner, but does Stojko have a reputation of trying to look macho, or accent his manliness somehow? I know, most bizarre question ever, and not the content for an encyclopedia. I'm just boggled at the reference. Cantras 05:05, 8 November 2007 (UTC)

 * In a word--YES. It's practically a fetish with him.  He's very vocal about how he dislikes the costumes and more flamboyent aspects of the sport. If you look at his programs, whatever "themes" have emerged have always been overtly masculine ones--martial arts, things like that.  64.132.218.4 (talk) 19:16, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

WikiProject class rating
This article was automatically assessed because at least one WikiProject had rated the article as start, and the rating on other projects was brought up to start class. BetacommandBot 16:39, 9 November 2007 (UTC)

Assessment
I rated this article 'start' class today. It lacks references and inline citations, so I didn't think it was worth of "C class".  PK T (alk)  20:33, 9 February 2010 (UTC)
 * I'm back, just a few years later, and the article is definitely class=C today. Upgraded.   PK  T (alk)  00:41, 25 November 2023 (UTC)

Education
Which secondary school in Richmond Hill did Elvis Stojko attend?--Splashen (talk) 04:08, 23 July 2016 (UTC)

External links modified
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Sponsorship
It's not clear to me what this adds to the article, so I've culled it to the talk page.

He is sponsored by emzone, a brand of Empack Spraytech Inc.

— MaxEnt 21:38, 8 November 2021 (UTC)

title: Talk:Elvis Stojko