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St. George's, Bermuda

St. George's (formally the Town of St. George or St. George's Town), located on the island and within the parish of the same names (and on the northern side of St. George's Harbour), settled in 1612, is the first permanent English (and later British) settlement on the islands of Bermuda. It is often described as the third permanent British settlement in the Americas, after Jamestown, Virginia (1607), and Cupids, Newfoundland (1610), and the oldest continuously-inhabited British town in the New World, since the other two settlements were seasonal for a number of years.

Nomenclature
Bermudian convention, where a toponym contains the name of a person, is to render the person's name in the possessive form. The place is rarely treated as equivalent to the person.

Among many examples of such place names in Bermuda are St. David's Island, Bailey's Bay, Smith's Parish (named for aristocrat Sir Thomas Smith), Sandys' Parish (named for Sir Edwin Sandys), Skeeters' Island (often mistakenly rendered "Skeeter's Island", it is named for Edward Skeeters and is also known as Burt's Island), Gibb's Hill, Barr's Bay, Ackermann's Hill, Nelly's Island, Cooper's Island, Darrell's Island, Paynter's Vale, Abbot's Head (or Abbot's Cliff), and Fort St. Catherine's (on St. Catherine's Point). The possessive form is also used for titles, as with Collector's Hill (named for the Collector of Taxes). Maps of Bermuda have most often been produced by non-Bermudians and names given on them do not always conform to Bermudian practice.

The use of the possessive form is not exclusive, however, as exemplified by place names such as the names of most of the parishes (which – other than St. George's Parish – all commemorate historical people), such as Hamilton Parish (named for James Hamilton, 2nd Marquess of Hamilton), Devonshire Parish (named for William Cavendish, 1st Earl of Devonshire), and Paget Parish. Some of these exceptions may have originated with changed syntax, as Devonshire Parish may originally have been The Parish of Devonshire. This is seen with the City of Hamilton (named for Henry Hamilton, a former Governor of Bermuda). Whereas the City of Hamilton is commonly referred to as Hamilton, The Town of St. George, St. George's Parish, St. George's Island, and St. George's Harbour (and any other toponym usually containing a person's name in the possessive form) always remains possessive when shortened, such as in the St. George's Foundation.

By example, Bermudians will always say St. George's and St. David's are the largest islands in St. George's Parish, and never St. George and St. David are the largest islands in St. George Parish. As many maps and other printed materials featuring Bermuda are produced abroad, it is extremely common to find maps, books and other material using the non-possessive forms, but visitors to Bermuda should be aware that using the non-possessive forms when speaking to Bermudians is likely to cause as much offence as saying "Bermudan" (although Bermudians, who pride themselves on politeness, are unlikely to respond rudely).

History

Originally called New London, St. George's was first settled in 1612. This was three years after the first English settlers landed on St. George's Island on their way to Virginia. Led by Admiral Sir George Somers and Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Gates, they had deliberately steered their ship, Sea Venture, onto a reef to escape a storm. The survivors built two new ships, the Deliverance and Patience, and most continued their voyage to Jamestown, but the Virginia Company laid claim to the island.

Two men remained behind to maintain the company's possession of the archipelago (a third stayed when the Patience returned later that year). By the Virginia Company's Third Charter in 1612, the boundaries of the new colony were extended out to sea to include Bermuda. The company sent a party of 60 new settlers to Bermuda to join the three men left behind by the Sea Venture. After a brief period on neighbouring St. David's, the settlers started building structures at St. George's, located in a sheltered sound that kept ships protected from bad weather.

In 1615, the shareholders of the Virginia Company created a second company, the Somers Isles Company. It administered Bermuda separately until the company was dissolved in 1686. (The Virginia Company was dissolved in 1624).

This small town was the capital of Bermuda until 1815; it was linked to the history of colonial America. Ten thousand Bermudians emigrated, primarily to Virginia and the American Southeast, before United States independence made them citizens of separate nations. Branches of wealthy Bermudian merchant families dominated trade in the area's ports. Bermudians settled towns in the South, and contributed greatly to the make up of the populations of several US states.

As Bermuda's population centre, and only true port during this period, St. George's was connected to development in the North American colonies. During the American War of Independence, at the request of George Washington, Bermudians assisted the American rebels in stealing much-needed gunpowder from a St. George's magazine, which supplied the forts protecting the port. The powder was carried over the hill to Tobacco Bay, from where boats transported it to an American ship that lay offshore.

During the American Civil War, some British from St. George's evaded coastal blockades to provide supplies and munitions to the desperate Confederates. This trade was based in St. George's.

King's Square forms the centre of St George's, where regular 17th-century re-enactments are held throughout the year. Excavations carried out by Bristol University and the Bermuda National Trust discovered the foundations here of the original 1612 governor's house. The Bermuda National Trust Museum is located on the square.

Ordnance Island in St. George's Harbour, is situated south of King's Square. It holds a replica of Deliverance (one of the two ships built by the survivors of Sea Venture), and a life-sized statue of Admiral of the Virginia Company, Sir George Somers, by Desmond Fountain. Somers, along with Sir Thomas Gates, had led the survivors of the 1609 wreck.

The town has numerous historical sites, such as the old State House from 1620. Other than fortifications, this was the first stone building in Bermuda, built to house the Parliament. It is the oldest building on the island. Others of note are the Unfinished Church, the Old Rectory, St. Peter's (the oldest surviving Anglican and oldest continuously occupied Protestant church in the Western hemisphere), the Tucker House, the Bermuda National Trust Museum, and the St. George's Historical Society Museum and the Featherbed Alley Printshop museum (both in the Mitchell House).

In 1996, the town was twinned with Lyme Regis, in Dorset, England, the birthplace of Admiral Sir George Somers. In 2000, the town, together with numerous surrounding fortifications, including the Castle Islands Fortifications, was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, formally known as the Historic Town of St George and Related Fortifications.

Sports
St. George's Colts and Hamilton Parish football clubs play their games at the Wellington Oval, which also serves as a cricket ground.

Education
St. George's Preschool serves the area.

St. George's Primary School is in the community.

Notable people

 * Charles Delucena Meigs (1792–1869), American obstetrician
 * Robert John Simmons, who served in the Bermuda Garrison before dying of wounds as a First Sergeant in the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment during the United States Civil War.
 * Thomas Tudor Tucker (1745 in St. George's – 1828 in Washington, D.C.) was a Bermuda-born American physician and politician representing Charleston, South Carolina.
 * John Hamilton Gray QC (1814 in St. George's – 1889 in Victoria, British Columbia) was a politician in the Province of New Brunswick, Canada, a jurist, and one of the Fathers of Confederation
 * Reverend Robert Ashington Bullen FLS, FGS, FZS, FRAS (1850 St. George's – 1912 in UK) was an Anglican priest, a geologist and an authority on Mollusca

title: St. George's, Bermuda


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Stalling

Stalling or Stallings can refer to:

 * Meanings derived from the term "stall", see Stall (disambiguation)

People

 * Stalling (surname)
 * Stallings (surname)

Places

 * Stallings, North Carolina, a town in North Carolina
 * Stallings Field, an airport in North Carolina, USA
 * Stallings Island, an archeological site in Georgia with shell mounds

Science and computing

 * Stall (fluid dynamics), in aviation and fluid dynamics, a sudden reduction in lift from exceeding a foil's critical angle of attack (such as when a plane climbs too steeply and slowly)
 * Compressor stall, in jet-engine aviation
 * Stalling (gaming), obstruction of the flow of play while leading in a timed game
 * Pipeline stall, in computing
 * Stallings theorem about ends of groups, a theorem by John R. Stallings

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

title: Stalling


text:
Talk:Benzite

Untitled
What you've written is interesting and I commend your creativity, but it isn't canon, is it? I'm not sure if you're supposed to put your own speculation in Wikipedia. Pomegranate 11:49 2 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Actually I found all of this stuff on the internet looking them up. My original description was small, but when I looked there was all of this information. It's not my creation. There seems to be a few Star Trek games out there that seriously detail Benzite life and culture. Agreed, it's non-canon, but it's out there as fact in a lot of places. --Khaldei 19:05, 2 Aug 2004 (UTC)

title: Talk:Benzite


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Kōkako

Kōkako are two species of forest bird in the genus Callaeas which are endemic to New Zealand, the endangered North Island kōkako (Callaeas wilsoni) and the presumed extinct South Island kōkako (Callaeas cinereus). They are both slate-grey with wattles and have black masks. They belong to a family containing five species of New Zealand wattlebirds, the other three being two species of tieke (saddleback) and the extinct huia. Previously widespread, kōkako populations throughout New Zealand have been decimated by the predations of mammalian invasive species such as possums, stoats, cats and rats, and their range has contracted significantly. In the past this bird was called the New Zealand crow. It is not closely related to the crow, but looks like one from a distance.

Taxonomy
The genus Callaeas was introduced in 1788 by the German naturalist Johann Reinhold Forster to accommodate a single species, the South Island kōkako, which is therefore the type species. The genus name is derived from the Ancient Greek word kallaia for a cock's wattles.

The kōkako appears to be a remnant of an early expansion of passerines in New Zealand and is one of five species of New Zealand wattlebirds of the family Callaeidae, the others being two species of endangered tieke, or saddleback, and the extinct huia. New Zealand wattlebirds have no close relatives apart from the stitchbird, and their taxonomic relationships to other birds remain to be determined.

Description
The North Island kōkako, Callaeas wilsoni has blue wattles (although this colour develops with age: in the young of this bird they are actually coloured a light pink). The South Island kōkako, Callaeas cinereus, by contrast has largely orange wattles, with only a small patch of blue at the base.

Behaviour
The kōkako has a beautiful, clear, organ-like song. Its call can carry for kilometres. Breeding pairs sing together in a bell-like duet for up to an hour in the early morning. Different populations in different parts of the North Island (if any populations of the South Island kōkako remain they are at present unknown) have distinctly different songs.

The kōkako is a poor flier and seldom flies more than 100 metres. The wings of this species are relatively short and rounded. It prefers to hop and leap from branch to branch on its powerful grey legs. It does not fly so much as glide and when seen exhibiting this behaviour they will generally scramble up tall trees (frequently New Zealand podocarps such as rimu and matai) before gliding to others nearby. Its ecological niche has been compared to that of a flying squirrel. Its diet consists of leaves, fern fronds, flowers, fruit and invertebrates.

Kōkako and humans

Māori myth refers to the kōkako in several stories. In one notable story, a kōkako gave Māui water as he fought the sun by filling its plump wattles with water and offering it to Māui to quench his thirst. Māui rewarded kōkako for its kindness by stretching its legs until they were lean, long and strong, so that kōkako could easily leap through the forest to find food.

The kōkako appears on the reverse side of the New Zealand $50 note.

title: Kōkako


text:
Talk:German orthography reform of 1996

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Luxembourg contribution
What does "as a non-German-speaking country not to be a contributory determinant upon the German system of spelling" actually mean? This needs to be correctly translated from German.Royalcourtier (talk) 00:49, 2 June 2017 (UTC)

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text:
HMS Agincourt (1913)

HMS Agincourt was a dreadnought battleship built in the United Kingdom in the early 1910s. Originally part of Brazil's role in a South American naval arms race, she holds the distinction of mounting more heavy guns (fourteen) and more turrets (seven) than any other dreadnought battleship, in keeping with the Brazilians' requirement for an especially impressive design.

Brazil ordered the ship in 1911 as Rio de Janeiro from the British company Armstrong Whitworth. However, the collapse of Brazil's rubber boom and a warming in relations with Argentina, the country's chief rival, led to the ship's sale while under construction to the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans renamed her Sultan Osman I, after the empire's founder, and the ship was nearly complete when the First World War broke out. The British government seized her for use by the Royal Navy, together with another Ottoman dreadnought being constructed in Britain. This act caused resentment in the Ottoman Empire, as the payments for both ships were complete, and contributed to the decision of the Ottoman government to join the Central Powers.

Renamed Agincourt by the Royal Navy, she joined the Grand Fleet in the North Sea. During the war, the ship spent the bulk of her time on patrols and exercises, although she did participate in the Battle of Jutland in 1916. Agincourt was put into reserve in 1919 and sold for scrap in 1922 to meet the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty.

Background
In the unstable period during and following the 1889 coup in Brazil, which deposed Emperor Dom Pedro II, and the 1893–94 navy revolt, the Brazilian Navy found itself unable to care for its own ships, let alone acquire new vessels. Meanwhile, Chile had agreed to a naval-limiting pact in 1902 with Brazil's principal rival, Argentina, as part of solving a larger boundary dispute, but they both retained the vessels built in the interim, many of which were significantly more modern and powerful than Brazil's ships. The Brazilian Navy was left behind its Argentine and Chilean counterparts in quantity as well—by the turn of the 20th century, Chile's total naval tonnage was 36896 LT, Argentina's 34425 LT, and Brazil's 27661 LT—even though Brazil had nearly three times the population of Argentina and almost five times that of Chile.

Rising international demand for coffee and rubber in the early 20th century brought Brazil an influx of revenue. Simultaneously, the Baron of Rio Branco spearheaded a drive by prominent Brazilians to force the leading world nations to recognize Brazil as an international power. The National Congress of Brazil inaugurated a large naval acquisition program in late 1904. They ordered three small battleships in 1906, but the launch of HMS Dreadnought (1906) caused the Brazilian Navy to reconsider their purchase. In March 1907, they signed a contract for three Minas Geraes-class battleships. Two ships would be constructed immediately by the British companies Armstrong Whitworth and Vickers, with the third to follow.

Alarmed at the Brazilian move, Argentina and Chile quickly nullified their 1902 pact and sought dreadnoughts of their own. Argentina's orders, after a drawn-out bidding process, went to an American company, Fore River Shipbuilding Company, while Chile's orders, delayed by the 1906 Valparaíso earthquake, went to Armstrong. Since Brazil's relations with Argentina were warming and the country's economic boom was losing steam, the government negotiated with Armstrong to remove the third dreadnought from the contract, but without success. They borrowed the necessary money, and Armstrong laid down Rio de Janeiro's keel in March 1910.

The Brazilian Navy had divided into two distinct factions, based on the size of the main battery. The outgoing naval minister favoured an increase over the 12-inch guns mounted on board the Minas Geraes class, while his incoming counterpart, Admiral Marques Leão, favoured keeping the smaller but faster-firing gun. While the exact influences upon the Brazilian government are unclear, Leão was advocating strongly for his position in meetings with President Hermes da Fonseca. Other events probably influenced them as well, such as the November 1910 Revolt of the Lash, payments on loans taken out for the dreadnoughts, and a worsening economy that had led to high government debt compounded by budget deficits. By May 1911, Fonseca had made up his mind:

"When I assumed office, I found that my predecessor had signed a contract for the building of the battleship Rio de Janeiro, a vessel of 32,000 tons, with an armament of 14 in. guns. Considerations of every kind pointed to the inconvenience of acquiring such a vessel and to the revision of the contract in the sense of reducing the tonnage. This was done, and we shall possess a powerful unit which will not be built on exaggerated lines such as have not as yet stood the time of experience."

A contract to build the ship that would become Agincourt was signed on 3 June 1911, and its keel was laid on 14 September 1911. The design called for fourteen 12-inch guns, an extreme number that historian David Topliss attributed to political necessity: the ship had to appear more powerful to the Brazilian populace than her predecessors (with twelve 12-inch guns) but, without increasing the gun size, the only option left was increasing the total number of guns.

General characteristics
Agincourt had an overall length of 671 ft, a beam of 89 ft, and a draught of 29 ft at deep load. She displaced 27850 LT at load and 30860 LT at deep load. The ship had a metacentric height of 4.9 ft at deep load. She had a large turning circle, but manoeuvred well despite her great length. She was considered to be a good gun platform.

When she came to serve in the Royal Navy, Agincourt was considered a particularly comfortable ship and very well-appointed internally. A knowledge of Portuguese was necessary to work many of the fittings—including those in the heads—as the original instruction plates had not all been replaced when she was taken over by the British. In 1917, her crew numbered 1,268 officers and men.

Propulsion
Agincourt had four Parsons direct-drive steam turbines, each of which drove one propeller shaft. The high-pressure ahead and astern turbines drove the wing shafts while the low-pressure ahead and astern turbines drove the inner shafts. The three-bladed propellers were 9 ft in diameter. The turbines were designed to produce a total of 34000 shp, but achieved more than 40000 shp during her sea trials, slightly exceeding her designed speed of 22 knots.

The steam plant consisted of twenty-two Babcock & Wilcox water-tube boilers with an operating pressure of 235 psi. Agincourt normally carried 1500 LT of coal, but could carry a maximum of 3200 LT, as well as 620 LT of fuel oil to be sprayed on the coal to increase its burn rate. At full capacity, she could steam for 7000 nmi at a speed of 10 kn. Electrical power was provided by four steam-driven reciprocating electrical generators.

Armament
Agincourt mounted fourteen BL 12-inch Mk XIII 45-calibre guns in seven twin hydraulically powered turrets, unofficially named after the days of the week, starting from Sunday, forward to aft. This was the largest number of turrets and heavy guns ever mounted on a dreadnought battleship. The guns could be depressed to −3° and elevated to 13.5°. They fired 850 lb projectiles at a muzzle velocity of 2725 ft/s; at 13.5°, this provided a maximum range of just over 20000 yd with armour-piercing (AP) shells. During the war the turrets were modified to increase their maximum elevation to 16°, but this only extended the range to 20435 yd. The rate of fire of these guns was 1.5 rounds per minute. When a full broadside was fired, "the resulting sheet of flame was big enough to create the impression that a battle cruiser had blown up; it was awe inspiring." No damage was done to the ship when firing full broadsides, despite the common idea that doing so would break the ship in half, but much of the ship's tableware and glassware did shatter when Agincourt fired her first broadside.

As built, Agincourt mounted eighteen BL 6-inch Mk XIII 50-calibre guns. Fourteen were placed in armoured casemates on the upper deck and two each in the fore and aft superstructures, protected by gun shields. After the ship was seized by the British, two more were added abreast the bridge in pivot mounts, protected by gun shields. The guns could be depressed to −7° and elevated to 13°, later increased to 15°. They had a range of 13475 yd at 15° when firing a 100 lb shell with a muzzle velocity of 2770 ft/s. Their rate of fire was about five to seven rounds per minute, but this dropped to about three rounds per minute after the ready ammunition was used up because the ammunition hoists were too slow or few to keep the guns fully supplied. About 150 rounds were carried per gun.

Close-range defence against torpedo boats was provided by ten 3 in 45-calibre quick-firing guns. These were mounted in the superstructure in pivot mounts and protected by gun shields. Agincourt also carried three 21 in submerged torpedo tubes; one was on each beam and the last was in the stern. The water that entered the torpedo tubes when they were fired was discharged into the torpedo flat to facilitate reloading the tube and then pumped overboard. This meant that the torpedo crewmen would be operating in 3 ft of water if rapid fire was required. Ten torpedoes were carried for them.

Fire control
Each turret was fitted with an armoured rangefinder in the turret roof. In addition, another one was mounted on top of the foretop. By the time of the Battle of Jutland in 1916, Agincourt was possibly the only dreadnought of the Grand Fleet not fitted with a Dreyer fire-control table. A fire-control director was later fitted below the foretop and one turret was modified to control the entire main armament later in the war. A director for the 6 in guns was added on each side in 1916–17. A high-angle rangefinder was added in 1918 to the spotting top.

Armour
So much weight had been devoted to Agincourt's armament that little remained for her armour. Her waterline belt was just 9 in thick, compared with twelve inches or more found in other British dreadnoughts. It ran some 365 ft, from the forward edge of "Monday" barbette to the middle of "Friday" barbette. Forward of this the belt thinned to six inches for about 50 ft before further reducing to 4 in all the way to the bow. Aft of the midships section the belt reduced to six inches for about 30 ft and then thinned to four inches (102 mm); it did not reach the stern, but terminated at the rear bulkhead. The upper belt extended from the main to the upper deck and was six inches thick. It ran from "Monday" barbette to "Thursday" barbette. The armour bulkheads at each end of the ship angled inwards from the ends of the midships armoured belts to the end barbettes and were three inches thick. Four of Agincourt's decks were armoured with thicknesses varying from 1 to 2.5 in.

The armour of the barbettes constituted a major weakness in Agincourt's protection. They were 9 inches thick above the upper deck level, but decreased to 3 inches between the upper and main decks and had no armour at all below the main deck except for "Sunday" barbette (which had 3 inches), and "Thursday" and "Saturday" barbettes (which had 2 inches). The turret armour was 12 inches thick on the face, 8 in on the side and 10 in in the rear. The turret roofs were 3 inches thick at the front and 2 inches at the rear. The casemates for the secondary armament were protected by 6 inches of armour and were defended from raking fire by 6-inch-thick bulkheads.

The main conning tower was protected by 12 inches of armour on its sides and it had a 4-inch roof. The aft conning tower (sometimes called the torpedo control tower) had 9-inch sides and a 3-inch roof. The communications tube down from each position was 6 inches thick above the upper deck and 2 inches thick below it. Each magazine was protected by two armour plates on each side as torpedo bulkheads, the first one an inch thick and the second one and a half inches thick.

Agincourt had another weakness in that she was not subdivided to Royal Navy standards as the Brazilians preferred to eliminate all possible watertight bulkheads that might limit the size of the compartments and interfere with the crew's comfort. One example was the officer's wardroom, which was 85 by in size, much larger than anything else in the Grand Fleet.

Wartime modifications
Approximately 70 LT of high-tensile steel was added to the main deck after the Battle of Jutland to protect the magazines. Two 3 in anti-aircraft guns were added to the quarterdeck in 1917–18. A 9 ft rangefinder was added to the former searchlight platform on the foremast at the same time. A high-angle rangefinder was added to the spotting top in 1918.

Construction and seizure
Rio de Janeiro, as Agincourt was named by her first owners, was laid down on 14 September 1911 by Armstrongs in Newcastle upon Tyne and launched on 22 January 1913. After the keel-laying, the Brazilian government found itself in an unenviable position: a European depression after the end of the Second Balkan War in August 1913 reduced Brazil's ability to obtain foreign loans, while at the same time Brazil's coffee and rubber exports collapsed, the latter due to the loss of the Brazilian rubber monopoly to British plantations in the Far East. In addition, reports on new dreadnought construction coming in from overseas indicated that the vessel would be outclassed upon completion. These factors caused Brazil to put the ship up for sale in October 1913, and she was sold to the Ottoman Navy for £2,750,000 on 28 December 1913. Renamed Sultân Osmân-ı Evvel, she underwent trials during the July Crisis the following year and was completed in August, just as the First World War was beginning.

The war broke out during her sea trials before delivery. Even though the Ottoman crew had arrived to collect her, the British Government took over the vessel for incorporation into the Royal Navy. The Turkish captain, waiting with five hundred Turkish sailors aboard a transport in the River Tyne, threatened to board his ship and hoist the Turkish flag; First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill gave orders to resist such an attempt "by armed force if necessary." At the same time, the British also took over a second Ottoman battleship, a King George V-class battleship (1911)-derived vessel being built by Vickers—Reşadiye—which was renamed HMS Erin. Such an action was allowed in the contract only if Britain was at war at the time, but since Britain was not yet at war, these actions were illegal; the British government nevertheless determined to present the Ottomans with a fait accompli. On 3 August, a day before Germany invaded Belgium, causing British political elites to reach a consensus on entering the war, the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire informed the government that Britain had seized the ships. Churchill did not want to risk the ships being used against the British, but it had consequences.

The takeover caused considerable ill will in the Ottoman Empire, where public subscriptions had partially funded the ships. When the Ottoman government had been in a financial deadlock over the budget of the battleships, donations for the Ottoman Navy had come in from taverns, cafés, schools and markets, and large donations were rewarded with a "Navy Donation Medal". The seizure, and the gifts of the German battlecruiser SMS Goeben and the cruiser SMS Breslau to the Ottomans, influenced public opinion in the Empire to turn away from Britain, and they entered the war on the side of Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire against the Triple Entente of Britain, France, and Russia on 29 October, after Goeben had attacked Russian facilities in the Black Sea.

The Royal Navy made modifications to Agincourt before commissioning her: in particular, it removed the flying bridge over the two centre turrets. The ship was also initially fitted with Turkish-style lavatories that had to be replaced. Her name, "Agincourt", was a favourite of Churchill's, and had initially been allocated to a sixth vessel of the Queen Elizabeth-class battleship ordered under the 1914–15 Naval Estimates, but not yet begun at the war's outbreak. Her nickname, The Gin Palace, came from her luxurious fittings and a corruption of her name ("A Gin Court"), pink gin being a popular drink among Royal Navy officers at the time.

The Admiralty was unprepared to man a ship of Agincourt's size on such short notice and her crew was drawn "from the highest and lowest echelons of the service: the Royal yachts, and the detention barracks." Agincourt's captain and executive officer came from HMY Victoria and Albert, most of whose crew was also transferred to Agincourt on 3 August 1914. Most of the naval reservists had already been called up by this time and sent to other ships, so a number of minor criminals who had had their sentences remitted were received from various naval prisons and detention camps.

Service
Agincourt was working up until 7 September 1914, when she joined the 4th Battle Squadron (BS) of the Grand Fleet. The fleet anchorage at Scapa Flow was not yet secure against submarine attack and much of the fleet was kept at sea, where Agincourt spent forty of her first eighty days with the Grand Fleet. This was the beginning of "a year and a half of inaction, only broken by occasional North Sea 'sweeps' intended to draw the enemy from his bases."

On 1 January 1915, Agincourt was still assigned to the 4th BS, but had been assigned to the 1st Battle Squadron before the Battle of Jutland on 31 May 1916. She was the last ship of the Sixth Division of the 1st BS, along with HMS Hercules (1910), HMS Revenge (06) and the flagship, HMS Marlborough (1912), the most heterogeneous group possible as each ship was from a different class. The Sixth Division was the starboardmost column of the Grand Fleet as it headed south to rendezvous with the ships of Admiral Beatty's Battle Cruiser Fleet, then engaged with their opposite numbers from the German High Seas Fleet in the North Sea. Admiral Jellicoe, commander of the Grand Fleet, kept it in cruising formation until 18:15, when he ordered it to deploy from column into a single line based on the port division, each ship turning 90° in succession. This turn made the Sixth Division the closest ships in the Grand Fleet to the battleships of the High Seas Fleet, and they fired on each ship as they made their turn to port. This concentration of fire later became known as "Windy Corner" to the British, as the ships were drenched by German shell splashes although none were hit.

At 18:24, Agincourt opened fire on a German battlecruiser with her main guns. Shortly afterwards her six-inch guns followed suit as German destroyers made torpedo attacks on the British battleships to cover the turn to the south of the High Seas Fleet. Agincourt successfully evaded two torpedoes, although another struck Marlborough. Visibility cleared around 19:15, and she engaged a Kaiser-class battleship without result before it was lost in the smoke and haze. Around 20:00, Marlborough was forced to reduce speed because of the strain on her bulkheads from her torpedo damage and her division mates conformed to her speed. In the reduced visibility the division lost sight of the Grand Fleet during the night, passing the badly damaged battlecruiser SMS Seydlitz without opening fire. Dawn found them with only the detritus from the previous day's battle in sight and the division arrived back at Scapa Flow on 2 June. Agincourt fired 144 twelve-inch shells and 111 six-inch shells during the battle, although she is not known to have hit anything.

Although the Grand Fleet made several sorties over the next few years it is not known if Agincourt participated in them. On 23 April 1918, Agincourt and Hercules were stationed at Scapa Flow to provide cover for the Scandinavian convoys between Norway and Britain when the High Seas Fleet sortied in an attempt to destroy the convoy. The reports from German Intelligence were slightly off schedule, as both the inbound and outbound convoys were in port when the Germans reached their normal route, so Admiral Scheer ordered the fleet to return to Germany without spotting any British ships.

Agincourt was later transferred to the 2nd Battle Squadron and was present at the surrender of the High Seas Fleet on 21 November 1918. She was placed in reserve at Rosyth in March 1919. After unsuccessful attempts to sell her to the Brazilian Government, she was listed for disposal in April 1921, but was used for experimental purposes later that year. The Royal Navy then planned to convert her into a mobile naval base and she was recommissioned on 21 November in preparation for the conversion, which would have included the removal of five of her seven turrets with their barbettes converted into storage and workshops; Nos. 2 and 5 turrets would have been retained. The conversion was cancelled on 23 February 1922 after the Washington Naval Treaty was signed that limited the battleship tonnage allowed to the RN and she was paid off on 7 April and listed again for disposal.

The ship was sold on 22 January 1923 to J&W Purves for £25,000 with the proviso that she had to be demolished 18 months after the treaty had been ratified. Her contract was immediately transferred to the Rosyth Shipbreaking Co. which had leased facilities at Rosyth Dockyard for that purpose. As the deadline of 17 January 1925 approached, the ship did not yet meet the treaty standards for scrapping. The Admiralty agreed that cutting the hull in half would be acceptable and the company attempted to move the ship through the dockyard locks on the highest Spring Tide to its beaching ground to complete the demolition. Bad weather thwarted that effort and the Admiralty agreed to allow the use of one of Rosyth's dry docks to meet the deadline. Two days later the hull had been severed and both halves had been floated out so they could be beached.

title: HMS Agincourt (1913)


text:
Kaysha

Edward Mokolo Jr. (born 1974), better known as Kaysha, is a singer/rapper and producer from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (former Zaire). He is the son of Congolese politician Édouard Mokolo Wa Mpombo.

Career
He was born in Kinshasa, Zaire but emigrated to France with his parents at the age of seven. Kaysha's first single, which used a sample from French West Indian band Kassav's Oulé, was called "Bounce Baby".

Kaysha's second single was "Telephone", from his album I'm Ready. The next year, he changed his entire style to record a more urban album called Worldwidechico with a duo with Wu-Tang Clan's Killah Priest. One of his biggest single is the global African hit "On dit quoi", from his album It's All Love, released on his own label Sushiraw in 2003. Some of his biggest hits are "Love de toi", "One Love", "Question my heart", "Fiona", "Musiquarian" and many more...

Kaysha is also a music producer. He produced songs for Passi, Solaar, Jacob Desvarieux, Soumia, Elizio, Ludo, Vanda May, Aycee Jordanu and others.

He produced huge hits for other artists like "Deeper" & "Rebound Chick" for Nelson Freitas, "I like it" for Abege, "Close your eyes" for Djodje, "Ceu" & "Love again" for C4 Pedro, and many more hits

Kaysha is one of the first African artist to have been nominated in the MTV Europe Awards in 2005 for Best African Artist

He won a Kora award for best African Artist in 2000. He won a Kora award for best African Artist of the Diaspora in 2004 and 2005.

In 2015, he issued an Afro-house hit single, "Mama Kosa" featuring Cental African, DJ and music producer, Boddhi Satva.

On 17 June 2019, Kaysha collaborated with Poison Mobutu, Mj30, Tutu Calugi, Nathalie Makoma, Noah Lunsi, Rebo Tchulo, Nzeté Sexy Chocolat Chaud and Oliverman on "Allez Les Leopards," a song composed for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations to honor the Congolese football national team, dubbed Les Leopards.

Albums

 * 2017 : African Prince
 * 2014: Alien Blood
 * 2013: Christmas Collection
 * 2013: Raw Like Sushi
 * 2013: The Best of Love
 * 2012: The Night EP
 * 2011: Works of art
 * 2009: Forever Young
 * 2008: Kinshasa B Boy
 * 2006: Legendary
 * 2005: African Bohemian
 * 2003: It's all Love
 * 2000: Worldwidechico
 * 1999: Black Sea Of Love
 * 1998: Bounce Baby

Covers

 * Be the one – 2018
 * God's plan – 2018
 * Rockstar – 2018
 * Shape of you – 2017
 * Stay – 2017
 * Passion fruit – 2017
 * Sexual Healing – 2015
 * Hotline bling – 2015
 * Hold On, We're Going Home – 2014
 * Drunk in Love – 2014
 * Diamonds – 2012
 * Human Nature – 2011

Performances with others

 * Dis l'heure de zouk – 2004
 * Kimberlite Zouk Love – 2004
 * Jocelin Demoumeaux's JDX – 2003
 * Jean Michel Rotin's Solo – 1997
 * X-Taz – 1996
 * Grand Maquis – 2005

As producer | Writer | Composer | Executive producer

 * Juan Magan : Echa Pa Aca (feat. Pitbull & Rich the Kid) – 2018 (Writer)
 * Blaya : Vem na vibe – 2018 (Writer)
 * Breyth : Supernova – 2018 (Writer, performer)
 * No Maka feat. Blaya & Mc Zuka : Paula – 2017 (Writer)
 * C4 Pedro : Ceu – 2016 (Producer)
 * C4 Pedro & Sauti Sol – Love again – 2015 (Producer)
 * Nelson Freitas : Life is Good – 2014 (Producer)
 * Ricky Boy : Nem ceu nem mar (feat. Myriiam) – 2014 (Producer)
 * Djodje : I won't stop the music – 2013 (Producer)
 * William : Inside of you – 2013 (Producer)
 * Aycee Jordan : You can't stop a revolution – 2012 (Producer, co-writer, executive producer)
 * Vanda May : May Day – 2012 (Producer, co-writer, executive producer)
 * Nelson Freitas : Rebound Chick – 2012 (Producer)
 * Nelson Freitas : I just want my baby back – 2012 (Producer)
 * Jamice : You – 2012 (Producer)
 * Dannylys – I wanna do – 2012 (Producer, writer)
 * Damogueez – I want it – 2012 (Producer)
 * Ricky Boy : Eternamente – 2011 (Producer)
 * Djodje : Bo e tudo feat. Chelsy Shantel – 2010 (Producer)
 * Djodje : Close your eyes – 2010 (Producer)
 * Nelson Freitas : Deeper – 2010 (Producer, co-writer)
 * Nelson Freitas : Magia – 2010 (Producer)
 * Loony Johnson : Backstage – 2009 (Producer, writer, executive producer)
 * Isah: Black Madonna – 2009 (Producer, co-writer, executive producer)
 * Kim : Feeling so good – 2009 (Producer, composer, writer)
 * Marysa : You make me sexy – 2009 (Producer, composer, writer)
 * Sandra Nanor : La seule Chose – 2009 (Producer, co-writer)
 * Thayna: Nouveau Depart – 2008 (Producer, co-writer, executive producer)
 * Mika Mendes: Mika Mendes – 2008 (Producer, co-writer, executive producer)
 * Neuza : Secretly loving you – 2008 (Producer)
 * Soumia: Confidences – 2008 (Producer, co-writer, executive producer)
 * Elizio: Confirmacao – 2008 (Producer, co-writer, executive producer)
 * Les Deesses – Saveurs Exotiques – 2007 (Producer, composer, writer)
 * Les Deesses – On a changé – 2007 (Producer, composer, writer)
 * Les Deesses – Danse avec moi – 2007 (Producer, composer, writer)
 * Princess Lover : C Comme – 2007 (Producer)
 * Abégé: C nou mem Again – 2007 (Producer, writer, executive producer)
 * Loony Johnson : Loony Johnson – 2006 (Producer, writer, executive producer)
 * Grand Maquis – 2005 (Producer, co-writer, executive producer)
 * Elizio: Carpe Diem – 2005 (Producer, co-writer, executive producer)
 * Soumia: In Love Again – 2005 (Producer, co-writer, executive producer)
 * SR.Dancehall2K4 – 2004 (Producer, co-writer, executive producer)
 * Teeyah: Métisse – 2004 (Producer, co-writer, executive producer)
 * Hot Caribbean Miziks – 2004 (Producer, co-writer, executive producer)
 * Elizio: Original di cabo verde – 2003 (Producer, co-writer, executive producer)
 * Abégé: C nou mem – 2003 (Producer, co-writer, executive producer)
 * Soumia: Still in Love – 2002 (Producer, co-writer, executive producer)
 * Shydeeh : I won't give up – 2001 (Producer, co-writer)
 * Shydeeh : The past (feat. Lynnsha) – 2001 (Producer, co-writer)
 * CaribbeanSoul – 2001 (Producer, co-writer, executive producer)

title: Kaysha


text:
List of prime ministers of Burkina Faso

This is a list of prime ministers of Burkina Faso since the formation of the post of Prime Minister of the Republic of Upper Volta in 1971 to the present day.

A total of fifteen people have served as Prime Minister of Upper Volta/Burkina Faso (not counting two Interim Prime Ministers).

The current interim Prime Minister of Burkina Faso is Apollinaire J. Kyélem de Tambèla, since 21 October 2022.

List of officeholders
{{legend||Voltaic Democratic Union – African Democratic Rally (UDV–RDA)|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}} {{legend||Organization for Popular Democracy – Labour Movement (ODP–MT)|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}} {{legend||Congress for Democracy and Progress (CDP)|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}}
 * Political parties

{{legend||Military|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}} {{legend||Independent|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}}
 * Other factions

{{legend|#E6E6AA|Interim Prime Minister|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}}
 * Status

title: List of prime ministers of Burkina Faso


text:
Devil Girl from Mars

Devil Girl from Mars is a 1954 British second feature black-and-white science fiction film, produced by the Danziger Brothers, directed by David MacDonald and starring Patricia Laffan, Hugh McDermott, Hazel Court, Peter Reynolds, and Adrienne Corri. It was released by British Lion, and released in the United States the following year. A female alien is sent from Mars to acquire human males to replace their declining male population. When negotiation, then intimidation, fails she must use force to obtain co-operation from a remote Scottish village where she has landed her crippled flying saucer.

Plot
Nyah, a female commander from Mars, heads for London in her flying saucer. She is part of the advance alien team looking for Earthmen to replace the declining male population on her world, the result of a "devastating war between the sexes". Because of damage to her craft, caused when entering the Earth's atmosphere, and an apparent crash with an airliner, she is forced to land in the remote Scottish moors. She is armed with a raygun that can paralyse or kill, and is accompanied by a tall, menacing robot named Chani.

Professor Arnold Hennessey, an astrophysicist, accompanied by journalist Michael Carter, is sent by the British government to investigate the effects of the crash, believed to be caused by a meteorite. The pair come to the Bonnie Charlie, a remote inn run by Mr and Mrs Jamieson in the depths of the Scottish Highlands.

At the bar they meet Ellen Prestwick, a fashion model who came to the Bonnie Charlie to escape an affair with a married man. She quickly forms a romantic liaison with Carter. Meanwhile, escaped convict Robert Justin (under the alias Albert Simpson), convicted for accidentally killing his wife, comes to the inn to reunite with barmaid Doris, with whom he is in love.

Nyah happens across the inn, incinerates the Jamiesons' handyman David, and enters the bar. When she finds no one willing to come with her to Mars, she responds with intimidation, trapping the guests and staff within an invisible wall and turning Chani loose to vaporise much of the manor’s grounds. Discovering Justin and Tommy, the Jamiesons' young nephew, hiding in the grounds, Nyah kidnaps Tommy as a possible male specimen, and sends Justin back to the inn under some manner of mind control. Nyah then brings Professor Hennessy aboard her spaceship to view the technological achievements of Martian civilisation, including the ship's atomic power source. In exchange for Tommy, Carter volunteers to go to Mars with Nyah.

Realising that the only road to victory over Nyah requires trickery, Hennessy suggests Carter sabotage the ship's power source after take off. However, Carter attempts a double cross before boarding the ship, snatching Nyah's controller for Chani, but this attempt is thwarted by Nyah's mind control powers. Carter is released by Nyah, and they both return to the bar, where she announces that she will destroy the inn and kill everyone within when she leaves for London. However she allows for one man to go with her in order to escape death. The men draw lots and Carter wins the draw, still hoping to enact Hennessy's plan to destroy the spaceship.

At the last minute, Justin, alone at the bar and now free from mind control when Nyah returns, offers to go with her of his own free will. After take-off he successfully sabotages Nyah's flying saucer, sacrificing himself to save the men of Earth, and atoning for the death of his wife. The survivors celebrate their escape with a drink at the bar.

Cast

 * Patricia Laffan as Nyah, the Devil Girl from Mars
 * Hugh McDermott as Michael Carter
 * Hazel Court as Ellen Prestwick
 * Peter Reynolds as Robert Justin/Albert Simpson
 * Adrienne Corri as Doris
 * Joseph Tomelty as Professor Arnold Hennessey
 * John Laurie as Mr. Jamieson
 * Sophie Stewart as Mrs. Jamieson
 * Anthony Richmond as Tommy
 * James Edmond as David
 * Stuart Hibberd as news reader (voice only)

Production
In an interview with Frank J. Dello Stritto, screenwriter John Chartres Mather claimed that Devil Girl from Mars came about while he was working with The Danzigers, who were producing Calling Scotland Yard (1953) that appeared as both an American television series and as cinema featurettes in Great Britain and the British Commonwealth. When production finished ahead of schedule, Mather says he was ordered to use up the remaining film studio time already booked and paid for by working on a feature film for the Danzigers. The interview also states that Patricia Laffan's devil girl costume was economically made by designer John Sutcliffe.

The film was made at Shepperton Studios with sets designed by the art director Norman G. Arnold. It was made on a very low budget, with no retakes except in cases where the actual film stock became damaged; it was shot over a period of three weeks, often filming well into the night. Actress Hazel Court later said: "I remember great fun on the set. It was like a repertory company acting that film".

The robot, named Chani, was constructed by Jack Whitehead and was operated by a human being.

The alien Klaatu, posing as "Mr. Carpenter" in The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), was intended by screenwriter Edmund H. North to evoke Jesus Christ, are there are indications that the Martian woman Nyah was intended to evoke an anti-Virgin Mary image.

Devil Girl from Mars's sound editor was Gerry Anderson (credited as Gerald Anderson), later to create UK television series such as Thunderbirds. To save time and money, composer Edwin Astley reused his Saber of London TV series score for the film.

Critical reception
At the time of the film's release Gavin Lambert wrote in The Monthly Film Bulletin: "This primitive British effort at science-fiction is quite enjoyably ludicrous, mainly on account of Patricia Laffan's splendid Nyah. Clothed in black silk tights, a black cloak, a metallurgical-looking wig and walled in make-up, she moves with the air of a sleep-walker, never looking at the person to whom she is talking and speaking her lines – particularly those describing the scientific marvels of her planet – in an impatient monotone, as if contemptuous of any meaning they may, from time to time, contain. One would like to see Nyah again, preferably in a serial. The romance of mannequin and journalist, also, will have its appeal to connoisseurs of life among the English. Settings, dialogue, characterisation and special effects are of a low order; but even their modest unreality has its charm. There is really no fault in this film that one would like to see eliminated. Everything, in its way, is quite perfect."Contemporaneously Kine Weekly said:"Effective interplay of character establishes human interest without curbing essential spectacle, and the ending literally goes with a bang. At once ingenious stunt ofering and artful woman's stuff, its conquest of both worlds stands it in good stead. ...The picture keeps the strange and frightening 'flying saucer' at a respectable distance, but resourceful camera work gives the illusion validity ... and the characters are not dwarfed by the gimmicks. Although the shots of the rocket-ship landing, departing and disintegrating are arresting, they are not introduced at the expense of human interest. The sacrifice made by Albert is the heart of its sensational and salutary matter."Rolling Stone columnist Doug Pratt called Devil Girl from Mars a "delightfully bad movie". The "acting is really bad and the whole thing is so much fun you want to run to your local community theatre group and have them put it on next, instead of Brigadoon."

American film reviewer Leonard Maltin said the film is a "hilariously solemn, high camp British imitation of U.S. cheapies".

In Going to Mars: The Stories of the People Behind NASA's Mars Missions Past, Present, and Future, Muirhead et al describe the film as "an undeniably awful but oddly interesting" film. They noted that the plot was "more a reflection of the 1950s view of politics and the era's inequality of the sexes than a thoughtful projection of present or future possibilities".

In Mars: A Tour of the Human Imagination, Eric S. Rabkin likens the character Nyah to a dominatrix and even a neo-Nazi. He said of the film that, "a host of charged images and subconscious fears" are handled with a broad camp irony. Otherwise, "without some underlying psychological engagement, how could anyone sit through a movie so badly made"?

British film critic Leslie Halliwell said: "Absurd attempt to cash in on the then new science fiction craze. The budget matches the imagination."

In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "average", writing: "Talky science-film runs like an early serial."

Chibnall and McFarlane in The British 'B' Film wrote: "Clad as a dominatrix in leather cap, cloak and stiletto boots, [Nyah] is a genuinely shocking figure in the staid world of British film-making of the time: it is as if the underworld of S&M fetishism had suddenly surfaced, and with it the collective unconscious of the nation. Backed by the mechanised might of her faithful robot (resembling a fridge on legs) she imparts a sexual charge that the film's scenario struggles to contain, and gives a wholly different spin to the desire expressed by another of the inn's visitors, the prodigal metropolitan model played by Hazel Court, to spend more time in the country, find the right man, have children. Nyah is an eroticised threat to a patriarchy that was increasingly troubled in the post-war years. She comes to turn the proud men of Earth into sex slaves for her matriarchal order. ... Devil Girl From Mars is, therefore, not only a camp classic but an ideologically significant moment in 1950s British cinema."

Legacy
The film inspired Hugo and Nebula award-winning author Octavia E. Butler to begin writing science fiction. After watching the motion picture at age 12, she declared that she could write something better.

The Los Angeles avant-garde artist Gronk lists this film as the crucial factor that guided him in his career choice.

Devil Girl from Mars developed a following via home video.

title: Devil Girl from Mars


text:
ZSL

ZSL may refer to:

 * Zoological Society of London, devoted to the worldwide conservation of animals and their habitats
 * Zjednoczone Stronnictwo Ludowe, the United People's Party, a Polish political party 1949–1989
 * Zero shutter lag, in photography
 * Zambian Sign Language
 * Zimbabwean sign languages
 * Saudi Professional League, the top football league in Saudi Arabia

title: ZSL


text:
Talk:Erode district

Untitled
Shared Content Foundation is going to conduct a seminar in Erode district for the first time at Kongu_Engineering_College on 4th August, 2004. Many volunteers will be joining us if the work shops are arranged and we will create some interesting content not only for the institution but for the entire district.

Chella 11:12, 2 Aug 2004 (UTC)

This article is extremely out of balance. In some sections like Rivers, Transportation and Communication there is too much detail whereas in section such as history nothing. Too painful to edit this article and not to loose information --Vyzasatya 20:46, 6 October 2005 (UTC)

I remodelled the data/ info in Transport section and Communication section to make it more readable. Think the article is in good shape to go out of cleanup desk --Vyzasatya 21:29, 6 October 2005 (UTC)

Kaveri or Cauvery
Under the section "Bhavani River", the kaveri river is misspelt as Cauvery.. Is that okay or shall we change it to Kaveri

Fair use rationale for Image:Tnlogo.png
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If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

BetacommandBot 04:57, 20 July 2007 (UTC)

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Proposed merge of Vilangkattuvalasu into Erode district
Orphan stub with no references. Village does not have coordinates listed and neither of the names in the lede have results on google maps. Kazamzam (talk) 20:52, 24 June 2024 (UTC)

 * Hi! If it is an orphan and a stub (one liner!), it should be rather a candidate for deletion rather than a merge as there is not much information there. An article related to a village cannot be merged into the main article concerning the district as it will create a laundry list or sea of blue of all the villages in the district, which is unwarranted. Thanks! Magentic Manifestations (talk) 05:09, 25 June 2024 (UTC)
 * As it's unsourced, a redirect is probably best. Boleyn (talk) 09:01, 28 June 2024 (UTC)
 * @Kazamzam @Boleyn @Magentic Manifestations Should I (or one of you) propose deletion (and then a redirect)? GoldRomean (talk) 16:27, 28 June 2024 (UTC)
 * You are probably best, as there isn't clear consensus, to put it forward for AfD. Best wishes, Boleyn (talk) 21:58, 28 June 2024 (UTC)
 * @Boleyn I have nominated it for deletion. Cheers, GoldRomean (talk) 00:25, 29 June 2024 (UTC)
 * The article has been there from 2006 like this, probably many more like this may exist! Magentic Manifestations (talk) 05:21, 29 June 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:Erode district


text:
Pontypridd RFC

Pontypridd Rugby Football Club (Clwb Rygbi Pontypridd) is a rugby union team from Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It competes in the Indigo Group Premiership, that it won for four consecutive seasons between 2012 and 2015, and the WRU National Cup, that it has won on 6 different occasions, the most recent being in 2014.

Established in 1876, Pontypridd RFC play their home games on the banks of the River Rhondda, at Sardis Road, Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf in Wales, with their age-grade section playing at Taff Vale Park in Pontypridd, and Pontypridd High School Fields in nearby Cilfynydd.

Pontypridd RFC experienced a successful period during the 1990s under head coach, Dennis John, referred to as the club's "Golden Age", and enjoyed further success between 2001 and 2003 with the appointment of head coach, Lynn Howells. The transition to Regional Rugby in Wales in 2003 saw the downgrading of Pontypridd to a semi-professional team, followed by financial difficulties for the club, and eventual demise of Pontypridd's "Celtic Warriors" region.

Pontypridd RFC has since refinanced and restructured, and, despite a mooted stadium sale,  it continues to be regarded as a beacon for rugby in the South Wales Valleys.

Pontypridd RFC has produced numerous players for the Wales national rugby union team and long thrived on the 'unfashionable club' tag.

Early history
Pontypridd RFC are generally accepted to have been formed in 1876 by a number of young local men who moved into the area during the Industrial Revolution of the late 19th century. However, the first reported match involving Pontypridd was played on 18 December 1873 against Roath (Cardiff). They were represented at a meeting in Tenby in 1880 that would later lead to the formation of the Welsh Rugby Union in 1881. Pontypridd's Edward Treharne, who also played for Cowbridge Grammar School as a student, was named in the very first Welsh International side in 1881. Pontypridd supplied two more players to the Welsh team before the turn of the 19th century, Tom Williams and Ernie George.

In their early days, Pontypridd RFC played their home games at Taff Vale Park in Treforest, the current home of their junior section, before moving to the People's Park alongside the River Rhondda. However, in 1908 they moved once more to a new home in Ynysangharad Park in Pontypridd itself, where they would stay for 65 years.

1945–1989
Pontypridd have long been regarded as one of the more unfashionable Welsh clubs, and during this period were over-shadowed by the more prominent Welsh clubs, Llanelli, Swansea, Neath, Cardiff and Newport, known collectively as the Big Five. Players with Pontypridd often found it hard to break into the international team while at the club, meaning a number would leave for higher profile teams each season. Despite this the club were consistently successful, achieving a long line of top ten finishes in the unofficial Welsh league, a competition they won for the first time in the 1962/1963 season.

However the 1970s would bring Pontypridd its first period of real success. Following the redevelopment of the A470 trunk road near their home ground, the team moved to its current home of Sardis Road in Pontypridd in 1974. This move was immediately followed by success in the unofficial league championship, winning it in 1975–76, 1977–78 and 1978–79 whilst never falling from the top four for seven years under the captaincy of two of Pontypridd's greatest ever players – Bob Penberthy and Tommy David.

1990–2002
The 1990s saw a huge change in Welsh rugby, especially with the inauguration of the first official Welsh leagues in 1990. Pontypridd were placed in the top (first) division for that season and have until now never been out of the top-level in the Welsh game. They consistently finished in the top five, which was considered an achievement due to the stature and pedigree of the clubs they finished among. Third places in 1991–92, 1993–94 and 1995–96 plus a runner up finish to Cardiff RFC in 1994–95 was a promising return for the club.

During the 1993–94 season there was speculation about an Anglo-Welsh competition containing only the 'Big Four' Welsh clubs of Cardiff, Neath, Swansea and Llanelli. Pontypridd's 27–12 victory over Neath in November was considered to have made the case for a 'Big Five', and coach Dennis John expressed pleasure at having put an end to such speculation later in the season following a narrow defeat to Cardiff in the Welsh Cup semi-final.

In 1996 the club won its first official major honour, beating Neath RFC in the final of the Welsh Cup, a match still considered one of the best ever. They repeated this achievement again in 2002 and 2006. The following season (1997) saw them win the Welsh League, narrowly over the same opponents. Both of these successes were obtained by what many consider Pontypridd's best ever team, led by Nigel Bezani and including players such as Richie Collins, Neil Jenkins, Paul John and Dale McIntosh.

During the 2001–02 season, Pontypridd enjoyed an incredibly successful campaign, winning the Principality Cup and narrowly losing to Sale Sharks in the final of the Parker Pen Shield competition.

From then until 2003 Pontypridd consistently finished in the top five of the league but failed to challenge for top spot (and to qualify for the Heineken Cup – Europe's top tournament) as they struggled to cope with the added financial pressures of the newly professional game, losing a number of players to larger clubs and relying heavily upon their much admired youth academy system. However, in 2003 the Welsh Rugby Union would change the game in Wales forever with the advent of Welsh Regional Rugby.

2003–present
After much negotiation and rumour of a merger with local rivals Cardiff RFC, Pontypridd finally found themselves in a partnership with Bridgend RFC, forming the Celtic Warriors that would represent the whole of the South Wales Valleys region.

However financial difficulties at Pontypridd lead the team to sell its stake in the Warriors to Bridgend RFC benefactor Leighton Samuel and all games were moved away from Sardis Road before the club was controversially dissolved by the WRU in the summer of 2004.

They were then reformed as Ponty Rugby Ltd playing at a semi professional level in the newly formed Welsh Premiership and unpopularly placed under the umbrella of local rivals Cardiff Blues by the WRU, Pontypridd continue to be the top team in the Glamorganshire south Wales Valleys and are considered by many of their fans to be the Valleys' regional representative side, with Cardiff still perceived by the residents of the Valleys as rivals.

In 2005 Pontypridd were the beaten finalists in the WRU Challenge Cup, narrowly losing to Llanelli 24–25, having led 24–8 with only 10 minutes remaining until a former Pontypridd player Neil Boobyer was brought into the game and helped turn the game around in Llanelli's favour.

The following year they would surpass their previous season's record as Saturday 6 May 2006 Pontypridd beat Neath 26–25 to win the WRU Challenge Cup (then called the Konica Minolta Cup, and currently called the SWALEC Cup after the sponsors of the tournament) in a well fought final at the Millennium Stadium. Neath were pre-match favourites having recently secured the Welsh Premier league by a large points margin, and going into the game chasing a league and cup 'double'. This was a replay of the classic 1996 final, when Pontypridd had also stopped Neath RFC 'doing the double'.

17 May 2008 saw Pontypridd enter a repeat performance against Neath at the Millennium Stadium. The score, however, was not to be repeated, as Neath beat Pontypridd 28–22.

In 2010–11 the Swalec Cup was secured after victory over Aberavon, 35–24 at the Millennium Stadium and Ponty finished in first place in the Principality Premiership with 107 points but with play-offs to crown the overall league champions introduced they lost in the final at Sardis Road against 3rd placed Llanelli to deny Ponty a historic double, reaching the Semi-Finals of the British & Irish Cup before losing to eventual winners Bristol was also a fine achievement.

The club again reached two finals the following season, losing to Cross Keys in the final of the Swalec Cup 32–19 on 7 May 2012 before being crowned Welsh Champions for the first time in 15 years after a second successive first-place finish in the Principality Premiership this time led to a Play-Off final win over Llanelli at Sardis Road on 18 May. The club also made the Quarter-Finals of the British & Irish Cup, losing away to Leinster 'A'.

The 2012–13 season was arguably the most successful in the club's history as Ponty won an historic league and cup double. First beating Neath in the final of the Swalec Cup on 4 May 2013, 34–13 and then after finishing 23 points clear in the Principality Premiership with 21 wins from 22 matches they secured the title in style by defeating Llanelli in the Play-Off Final at Sardis Road on 18 May by 47–15.

The 2013–14 season saw Ponty repeat their success of the previous year, winning an unprecedented Double Double, claiming the Swalec Cup on 4 May 2014 against Cross Keys at the Millennium Stadium by 21–8, and after finishing top of the Principality Premiership for the fourth successive season, a third league title in a row was secured on 18 May 2014 with 38–17 victory over Cross Keys in the Play-Off Final at Sardis Road. The club also defeated London Welsh, London Scottish and Cornish Pirates on the way to the British & Irish Cup Semi-Finals before exiting the competition against Leinster 'A' following a defeat on try count following a 22–22 draw. The 2014–15 saw Ponty reach a fifth successive Swalec Cup final before going down to a surprise defeat by Bridgend, while a fifth successive 1st-place finish in the Principality Premiership led to a fourth league title in a row after a 28–14 victory over Ebbw Vale at Sardis Road on 17 May 2015 in the play-off final.

Despite remaining successful at the highest level attainable by a non-regional side, Pontypridd RFC has seen a huge loss in their fan base due to the disenfranchisement of Welsh rugby supporters in the Valleys over to the appointment of Cardiff Blues as their 'regional' team. Yet despite this, Pontypridd's hardcore support base remains one of the biggest club followings in Wales

Pontypridd RFC continue to earn plaudits for the incredible contribution they have made to International Rugby. Former Pontypridd players seen wearing the red of Wales in recent years include Gethin Jenkins, Kevin Morgan, Richard Parks, Michael Owen, Martyn Williams, Dafydd James, Mefin Davies, Brent Cockbain, Robert Sidoli, Sonny Parker, Ceri Sweeney, Ian Evans, Matthew Rees, Morgan Stoddart, Cory Hill, Kristian Dacey, Seb Davies, Dillon Lewis, Tomos Williams and Jarrod Evans.

Club shield
The club shield denotes the town of Pontypridd's famous arched bridge – once the largest single-span bridge in Europe – built by William Edwards in 1756 and known as the "Old Bridge".

The chevrons are an interpretation of the ancient arms of Iestyn ap Gwrgant, the last ruler of the Kingdom of Morgannwg. The de Clare family – Norman Lords of the Welsh Marches, under whose authority the ancient shire of Glamorgan was placed – used a similar design to Gwrgant's arms. Both sets of chevrons were once seen on the coat of arms of Mid Glamorgan County Council, in which the town of Pontypridd was situated prior to the Local Government Act of 1994.

An identical chevron design is now seen in the coat of arms of Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council, which superseded Mid Glamorgan.

The black and white colours are the team colours of Pontypridd RFC.

Sponsorship
Pontypridd's most notable main sponsor was local company, Buy As You View. The company began life as Just Rentals in Tonypandy in 1976, and sponsored Pontypridd RFC from the early nineties until 2004. It employed numerous former players, including Neil Jenkins and Lee Beach and ran the Buy As You View Schools Rugby Initiative, working in partnership with Pontypridd RFC.

Pontypridd's main sponsor from 2004 to 2009 was Pontypridd-based environmental and waste management company, Egan Waste Services.

In 2009, Pontypridd-based company Amber Electrical become the club's main sponsors in a highly publicised partnership deal.

2010 saw Egan Waste Services step up their support of Pontypridd by becoming the club's main sponsors once more.

Club kit has been supplied by numerous firms, including Umbro, Hogger Sports, Cica, Rossco, Canterbury of New Zealand, Kukri Sports, Errea, Rhino Rugby and Mizuno. Kappa became the club's kit suppliers for the start of the 2018–19 season.

Club honours
Welsh Premier Division Champions – 1996–97, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15

Welsh Premier Division Runners Up – 1994–95, 1998–99, 2010–11, 2015–16

WRU Merit Table Champions – 1975–76

WRU Merit Table Runners Up – 1977–78, 1978–79

Western Mail Welsh Championship Winners – 1963, 1976, 1978, 1979

WRU National Cup Winners – 1995–96, 2001–02, 2005–06, 2010–11, 2012–13, 2013–14

WRU National Cup Runners Up – 1978–79, 1994–95, 2004–05, 2007–08, 2011–12, 2014–15, 2016–17

WRU Premiership Challenge Cup Winners – 2015–16

WRU Challenge Trophy Winners – 1997–98

WRU Challenge Trophy Runners-Up – 1998–99

WRU Champions Challenge Winners – 1996

European Rugby Shield Runners Up – 2001–02

European Rugby Shield Semi-Finalists – 2002–03

British & Irish Cup Semi-Finalists – 2010–11, 2013–14

WRU National 7s Tournament Winners – 2013

WRU National 7s Tournament Runners Up – 2014, 2015

Abercynon 7s Tournament Winners – 2008, 2009, 2010

Abercwmboi 7s Tournament Winners – 2017

Team management
Pontypridd RFC have been led by a number of high-profile coaches since the 1980s, Clive Jones – a prominent figure in Treorchy RFC's 1993/94 Heineken League successes – was instrumental in ensuring Pontypridd's place in the top tier during the latter part of the eighties.

In 1992, Dennis John took over as head coach, assisted by former Pontypridd flanker, Lynn Howells, and led Pontypridd into what is widely regarded as their "Golden Age", with Ponty winning the Welsh Cup Final in the 1995–96 season, and winning the Welsh Premier League in the 1996–97 season.

With the departure of John in 1999, former Pontypridd and Wales flanker, Richie Collins became head coach, and while some significant scalps – notably a win over Heineken Cup winners Leicester in 2000 – came his way, his tenure in charge was short-lived.

In September 2001, Clive Jones rejoined Pontypridd as director of rugby, and had, by December 2001, brought Lynn Howells back from Cardiff, who then proceeded to marshal the club to become Principality Cup winners in May 2002 and guided the team to the final of the Parker Pen European Shield days later. The advent of Regional Rugby in 2003 saw Howells depart to become coach of parent-region, the Celtic Warriors, with former Pontypridd flanker, Justin Burnell filling the void.

Burnell's departure in 2004 was followed by the appointment of former Pontypridd flanker, Simon King who, along with assistant coach, former Pontypridd and Wales captain and scrum-half Paul John, guided Pontypridd to the final of the Konica Minolta Cup in 2004–05, before winning it in 2005–06.

Paul John took over as head coach in at the commencement of the 2006–07 season, and, assisted by former Pontypridd and Wales back row, Dale McIntosh, led the club to the final of the Konica Minolta Cup in 2007/08.

During May 2010, it was decided that Paul John and Dale McIntosh would switch roles, as the demands on John in his capacity as head coach of the Wales Sevens team were becoming too great. Dale McIntosh therefore leads Pontypridd into the 2010–11 season as head coach, while Paul John assumes the mantle of assistant coach.

McIntosh left his role in October 2013 to take up a full-time position with the Cardiff Blues, leading to a restructure of the Pontypridd coaching team with Paul John as head coach, being backed up by Gareth Wyatt and Geraint Lewis with another former Wales international Garin Jenkins also joining the backroom staff. After playing his part in continuing the club's success, Lewis has since departed to become a full-time WRU skills coach being replaced as forwards coach by another former Pontypridd player in Robert Sidoli.

Justin Burnell returned to Pontypridd as director of rugby in the summer of 2017, replacing the previous coaching team of John and Sidoli, whilst Paul Matthews replaced Wyatt, who departed to join up with the Wales Women's team the following year.

The current team manager is former Pontypridd player, Dan Godfrey, and the Forwards coach is Lee Davies.

Notable former management staff

 * 🏴 Billy Griffiths (coach)
 * 🏴 Clive Jones (coach & director of rugby)
 * 🏴 Dennis John (Head Coach)
 * 🏴 Lynn Howells (Head coach & assistant coach)
 * 🏴 Steve Richards (fitness coach)
 * 🏴 Richie Collins (Head coach)
 * 🏴 Justin Burnell (Head coach & Director of Rugby)
 * 🏴 Simon King (Head coach)
 * 🏴 Steele Lewis (assistant coach)
 * 🏴 Mike Griffiths (scrum coach)
 * 🏴 Nigel Bezani (team manager)
 * 🏴 Eddie Jones (team manager)
 * 🏴 Gary Jones (team manager)
 * 🏴 Dale McIntosh (Head coach)
 * 🏴 Paul John (Head coach)
 * 🏴 Geraint Lewis (forwards coach)
 * 🏴 Garin Jenkins (scrum coach)
 * 🏴 Rob Sidoli (forwards coach)
 * 🏴 Richard Langmead (team manager)
 * 🏴 Gareth Wyatt (Head coach)
 * 🏴 Darren Bool (strength & conditioning coach)
 * 🏴 Dan Godfrey (team manager)

Senior international sevens players

 * 🏴 Cally James
 * 🏴 Dale Stuckey

Under 20 international players

 * 🏴 Ioan Evans
 * 🏴 Cally James

Former players

 * 🏴 Kieron Assiratti
 * 🏴 Gareth Baber
 * 🏴 Mathew Back
 * 🏴 Duncan Bell
 * 🏴 Nigel Bezani
 * 🏴 Dane Blacker
 * 🇺🇸 Tom Billups
 * 🏴 Neil Boobyer
 * 🏴 Billy Boston
 * 🏴 Aled Brew
 * 🏴 Jonathan Bryant
 * 🏴 Brent Cockbain
 * 🏴 Richie Collins
 * 🏴 Crispin Cormack
 * 🏴 Sven Cronk
 * 🏴 Gavin Dacey
 * 🏴 Kristian Dacey
 * 🏴 Brett Davey
 * 🏴 Tommy David
 * 🏴 Mefin Davies
 * 🏴 Seb Davies
 * 🏴 Will Davies-King
 * 🏴 Corey Domachowski
 * 🏴 Ian Evans
 * 🏴 Jarrod Evans
 * 🏴 Dai Flanagan
 * 🇹🇴 Taufaʻao Filise
 * 🏴 Dan Godfrey
 * 🏴 Ian Gough
 * 🏴 Graham Gittins
 * 🏴 Mason Grady
 * 🏴 Mike Griffiths
 * 🏴 Cory Hill
 * 🏴 Sam Hobbs
 * 🏴 Simon Humberstone
 * 🏴 Dafydd James
 * 🏴 Will James
 * 🏴 Lee Jarvis
 * 🏴 Ellis Jenkins
 * 🏴 Gethin Jenkins
 * 🏴 Neil Jenkins
 * 🏴 Phil John
 * 🏴 Paul John
 * 🏴 WillGriff John
 * 🏴 Gary Jones
 * 🏴 Kingsley Jones
 * 🏴 Paul Knight
 * 🏴 Tavis Knoyle
 * 🏴 Dillon Lewis
 * 🏴 Geraint Lewis
 * 🏴 Jason Lewis
 * 🏴 Steele Lewis
 * 🏴 Shane Lewis-Hughes
 * 🇫🇯 Nicky Little
 * 🏴 Christian Loader
 * 🏴 Dafydd Lockyer
 * 🇨🇿 Jan Machacek
 * 🇦🇷 Christian Martin
 * 🏴 Jonathan Mason
 * 🇫🇯 Niko Matawalu
 * 🏴 Dale McIntosh
 * 🏴 Kevin Morgan
 * 🏴 Matthew Nutthall
 * 🏴 Wayne O'Connor
 * 🏴 Michael Owen
 * 🏴 Sonny Parker
 * 🏴 Richard Parks
 * 🏴 Bob Penberthy
 * 🏴 Greg Prosser
 * 🏴 Matthew Rees
 * 🇨🇦 Pat Riordan
 * 🏴 Russell Robins
 * 🏴 Mark Rowley
 * 🏴 Matthew Screech
 * 🏴 Rhys Shellard
 * 🏴 Robert Sidoli
 * 🏴 Morgan Stoddart
 * 🏴 Nathan Strong
 * 🏴 Ceri Sweeney
 * 🇹🇴 Ngalu Ta'u
 * 🇨🇰 Tu Tamarua
 * 🏴 Edward Treharne
 * 🇹🇴 Fe'ao Vunipola
 * 🏴 Damien Welch
 * 🏴 Tomos Williams
 * 🏴 Martyn Williams
 * 🏴 Gareth Wyatt
 * 🏴 Thomas Young

Club captains

 * 1876–1877 James Spickett
 * 1877–1879 Henry Briscoe
 * 1880–1881 David Treharne
 * 1883–1884 William Spickett
 * 1894–1895 Ernest George
 * 1895–1896 Jack Morgan
 * 1898–1899 Billy Rees
 * 1900–? Rowley Thomas
 * 1906–1907 Duncan McGregor
 * 1911–? Frank Hawkins
 * 1920 W R Thomas
 * 1928–1929 Dick Elliott
 * 1945–1947 Jeff Scott
 * 1947–1948 Len Arnold
 * 1948–1949 Viv Jenkins/Dennis Prater/Tom Hughes
 * 1949–1950 Des Jones
 * 1950–1951 Des Jones/Roy Roberts
 * 1951–1952 Des Jones
 * 1952–1953 Bobby Narbett
 * 1953–1954 Gordon Matthews
 * 1954–1955 Gordon Matthews
 * 1955–1958 Russell Robins
 * 1958–1959 Jock Watkins
 * 1959–1960 T Brian "Shrimp" Williams
 * 1960–1962 Graham Gittins
 * 1962–1964 Eddie Jones
 * 1964–1965 Russell Jones
 * 1965–1966 Tommy Coombes
 * 1966–1967 Byron Broadstock/Tommy Coombes
 * 1967–1968 Joe Smith
 * 1968–1969 Arfon Jones
 * 1969–1970 Joe Smith
 * 1970–1971 Bob Penberthy
 * 1971–1973 Dennis John
 * 1973–1974 Wayne Evans
 * 1974–1975 Bill Davey
 * 1975–1977 Bob Penberthy
 * 1977–1981 Tommy David
 * 1981–1982 Robin Morgan
 * 1982–1983 Mike Alexander
 * 1983–1984 Bob Dyer
 * 1984–1985 John O'Callaghan
 * 1985–1987 Kerry Williams
 * 1987–1988 Phil John
 * 1988–1990 Ceri Jones
 * 1990–1991 Paul Knight
 * 1991–1992 Steele Lewis
 * 1992–1996 Nigel Bezani
 * 1996–1999 Neil Jenkins
 * 1999–2000 Dale McIntosh
 * 2000–2001 Paul John
 * 2001–2002 Dale McIntosh
 * 2002–2003 Mefin Davies
 * 2003–2004 Dale McIntosh
 * 2004–2005 Paul Matthews
 * 2005–2006 Dale McIntosh
 * 2006–2010 Nathan Strong
 * 2010–2013 Chris Dicomidis
 * 2014–2021 Dafydd Lockyer
 * 2021-2022 Morgan Sieniawksi
 * 2022-2024 Kristian Parker
 * 2024-    Cally James

Pontypridd youth and junior teams
With the loss of their extremely successful Academy set up that was handed over to their Cardiff rivals by the WRU, Pontypridd RFC re-formed a Youth side in 2006, coached by Sean Oliver and Wayne Gristock (formerly Porth Harlequins RFC).

Starting in the bottom division of the Blues league, the side made notable progress that saw them punch well above their weight and earn the nickname the 'Upstarts', when after hugely successful first season that saw them promoted seven divisions to the BB League (Blues Second Division).

The following season saw the formation of a second Youth team who again had to start in the bottom league and were coached by former Pontypridd players Dai Legge and Mike Kelleher. By the end of the 2007/8 season both youth teams had won their perspective leagues outright and earned automatic promotion, with the senior youth now playing in the top division in only their third season since forming. Several youth players have gained notable honours, including representative honours with Welsh Crawshays and Welsh Schoolboys, with players in the Cardiff Blues Academy and several older players now training with Pontypridd RFC's senior team.

Behind this successful youth setup is the Pontypridd Mini & Junior Section that was formed in 1997, the section started out with just a handful of junior players and volunteer coaches, but has grown into one of the biggest and most successful junior sections in Wales. The section contains every age group from under 7s to under 16s, with the youth sides containing players under the age of 19; with almost 300 young players in their ever-swelling ranks. The section is hugely successful, winning dozens of tournaments and trophies each season, and competing successfully in international tournaments throughout Europe where they have won every foreign tournament they have entered.

At the commencement of the 2008–09 season, it was decided that both Senior and Junior Youth teams would merge, forming a large and capable new Pontypridd Youth section. The new season will see a single squad of 35 players being selected, playing in the 2008–09 RAF Youth League: Blues Region. The squad is coached by Wayne Gristock and Sean Oliver, and managed by Chris Kingsbury MBE.

Prior to the commencement of the 2010–11 season, notification was given of a major change in the running of the Youth section, as it was decided that the section would transfer from the hands of the Mini & Junior Rugby section, and would instead fall under the remit of the senior Team Management. The hope is to discover new stars of the future, who will regularly train alongside the main body of the senior XV, echoing the past achievements of the Pontypridd Youth setup in bringing Michael Owen, Gethin Jenkins and Ceri Sweeney, amongst others, to the attention of the World.

title: Pontypridd RFC


text:
HMS Agincourt (1865)

HMS Agincourt was a Minotaur-class ironclad armoured frigate built for the Royal Navy during the 1860s. She spent most of her career as the flagship of the Channel Squadron's second-in-command. During the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878, she was one of the ironclads sent to Constantinople to forestall a Russian occupation of the Ottoman capital. Agincourt participated in Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee Fleet Review in 1887. The ship was placed in reserve two years later and served as a training ship from 1893 to 1909. That year she was converted into a coal hulk and renamed as C.109. Agincourt served at Sheerness until sold for scrap in 1960.

Design and description
The three Minotaur-class armoured frigates were essentially enlarged versions of the ironclad HMS Achilles (1863) with heavier armament, armour, and more powerful engines. They retained the broadside ironclad layout of their predecessor, but their sides were fully armoured to protect the 50 guns they were designed to carry. Their plough-shaped ram was also more prominent than that of Achilles.

The ships were 400 ft long between perpendiculars and 407 ft long overall. They had a beam of 58 ft and a draft of 26 ft. The Minotaur-class ships displaced 10627 LT. Their hull was subdivided by 15 watertight transverse bulkheads and had a double bottom underneath the engine and boiler rooms.

Agincourt was considered "an excellent sea-boat and a steady gun platform, but unhandy under steam and practically unmanageable under sail" as built. The ship's steadiness was partially a result of her metacentric height of 3.87 ft.

Propulsion
Agincourt had one 2-cylinder horizontal return connecting rod-steam engine, made by Maudslay, driving a single propeller using steam provided by 10 rectangular fire-tube boilers. It produced a total of 4426 ihp during the ship's sea trials on 12 December 1865 and Agincourt had a maximum speed of 13.55 kn. The ship carried 750 LT of coal, enough to steam 1500 nmi at 7.5 knots.

Agincourt had five masts and a sail area of 32377 sqft. Agincourt only made 9.5 kn under sail mainly because the ship's propeller could only be disconnected and not hoisted up into the stern of the ship to reduce drag. Both funnels were semi-retractable to reduce wind resistance while under sail. Admiral George A. Ballard described Agincourt and her sisters as "the dullest performers under canvas of the whole masted fleet of their day, and no ships ever carried so much dress to so little purpose." In 1893–1894, after her withdrawal from active service, Agincourt had two masts removed and was re-rigged as a barque. In 1907 the upper portions of one of her masts was installed at the shore establishment HMS Ganges for use in the training of boy seamen.

Armament
The armament of the Minotaur-class ships was intended to be 40 rifled 110-pounder breech-loading guns on the main deck and 10 more on the upper deck on pivot mounts. The gun was a new design from Armstrong, but proved a failure a few years after its introduction. The gun was withdrawn before any were received by any of the Minotaur-class ships. They were armed, instead, with a mix of 7 in and 9 in rifled muzzle-loading guns. All 4 nine-inch and 20 seven-inch guns were mounted on the main deck while 4 seven-inch guns were fitted on the upper deck as chase guns. The ship also received eight brass howitzers for use as saluting guns. The gun ports were 30 in wide which allowed each gun to fire 30° fore and aft of the beam.

Agincourt was rearmed in 1875 with a uniform armament of 17 nine-inch guns, 14 on the main deck, 2 forward chase guns and 1 rear chase gun. The gun ports had to be enlarged to accommodate the larger guns by hand, at a cost of £250 each. About 1883 two 6 in breech-loading guns replaced 2 nine-inch muzzle-loading guns. Four quick-firing (QF) 4.7-inch (120 mm) guns, eight QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss guns, eight machine guns and two torpedo tubes were installed in 1891–1892.

Armour
The entire side of the Minotaur-class ships was protected by wrought-iron armour that tapered from 4.5 in at the ends to 5.5 in amidships, except for a section of the bow between the upper and main decks. The armour extended 5 ft below the waterline. A single 5.5-inch transverse bulkhead protected the forward chase guns on the upper deck. The armour was backed by 10 in of teak.

Construction and service
HMS Agincourt, named after the victory at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, was originally ordered on 2 September 1861 as HMS Captain, but her name was changed during construction. She was laid down on 30 October 1861 by Laird's at its shipyard in Birkenhead. The ship was launched on 27 March 1865, commissioned in June 1868 for sea trials and completed on 19 December. The lengthy delay in completion was due to frequent changes in design details, and experiments with her armament and with her sailing rig. The ship cost a total of £483,003.

Agincourt's first assignment, together with her half-sister HMS Northumberland (1866), was to tow a floating drydock from England to Madeira where it would be picked up by HMS Warrior (1860) and HMS Black Prince (1861) and taken to Bermuda. The ships departed the Nore on 23 June 1869, loaded down with 500 LT of coal stowed in bags on their gun decks, and transferred the floating dock 11 days later after an uneventful voyage. Agincourt was assigned to the Channel Squadron upon her return and she became the flagship of the second-in-command of the fleet until she began a refit in 1873.

1871 grounding on Pearl Rock
It was during this assignment that she suffered a near-catastrophe when she ran aground on Pearl Rock, near Gibraltar on 1 July 1871 and nearly sank. Agincourt was leading the inshore column of ships, contrary to normal practice where the senior flagship lead the inshore column, and gently ran aground sideways when the senior flagship's navigator failed to compensate for the set of the tide. Warrior, immediately following her, nearly collided with her, but managed to sheer off in time.

Agincourt was stuck fast and had to be lightened; her guns were removed and much of her coal was tossed overboard before she was towed off by HMS Hercules (1868), commanded by Lord Gilford, four days later. Heavy weather set in the night after Agincourt was freed and it would have wrecked her if she had still been aground. Both the fleet commander and his deputy were relieved of their commands as a result of the incident. The ship was repaired in Devonport at a cost of £1,195 and Captain J.O. Hopkins assumed command in September with Commander Charles Penrose-Fitzgerald as his executive officer. Hopkins later commented: "We turned the Agincourt from the noisiest and the worst disciplined ship in the squadron into the quietest and the smartest; and a few months after we commissioned we went out to the Mediterranean for the Lord Clyde court-martial, and beat the whole Mediterranean fleet in their drills and exercises, which was a great triumph."

In 1873, Vice Admiral Sir Geoffrey Hornby, commander of the Channel Squadron, transferred his flag to Agincourt as her sister Minotaur, his former flagship, was taken in hand for a refit that lasted until 1875. That year Agincourt was paid off in turn for a refit and re-armament that lasted until 1877. During the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, the government became concerned that the Russians might advance on the Ottoman capital of Constantinople and ordered Hornby to form a Particular Service Squadron to show the flag at Constantinople and deter any Russian threat. Agincourt served as the flagship for his second-in-command and the squadron sailed up the Dardanelles in a blinding snowstorm in February 1878. After those tensions faded, the ship returned to the Channel, where she served as second flag until 1889 including during Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee Fleet Review in 1887. Over her active career, she served as flagship to no fewer than 15 admirals. That year she was again paid off and was subsequently held in reserve at Portsmouth until 1893, when she was transferred to Portland for use as a training ship.

Agincourt served twelve years at Portland, as a depot ship for boys. She was renamed Boscawen III in March, 1904. In 1905 she was moved to Harwich and renamed as Ganges II. After four years at Harwich, the ship was towed to Sheerness in 1909. After her arrival the old ship was converted into a coal hulk known simply as C.109. After five ignominious decades as what naval historian Oscar Parkes called "a grimy, dilapidated and incredibly shrunken relic" of her former self, she was scrapped beginning on 21 October 1960.

title: HMS Agincourt (1865)