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148-599: Trincomalee is a natural deep-water harbour that has attracted seafarers like Marco Polo , Ptolemy and traders from China and East Asia since ancient times. Trinco, as it is commonly called, has been a sea port since the days of the ancient Sri Lankan Kings. The earliest known reference to the port of Gokanna is found in the Mahavamsa stating that in the 5th century BC, when King Vijaya who having failed to convince his brother to come to Sri Lanka as his successor, got down his youngest son Panduvasdeva, who landed at Gokanna and

296-605: A German invasion of the United Kingdom This included security patrols and spotting for naval bombardments. In February 1942, the shortcomings of the Swordfish were starkly demonstrated during a German naval fleet movement known as the Channel Dash . Six Swordfish led by Lieutenant Commander Eugene Esmonde sortied from Manston to intercept the battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau as they traversed

444-479: A 15-year-old son named Marco. In contrast to the general consensus, there are theories suggesting that Marco Polo's birthplace was the island of Korčula or Constantinople but such hypotheses failed to gain acceptance among most scholars and have been countered by other studies. He was nicknamed Milione during his lifetime (which in Italian literally means 'Million'). The Italian title of his book

592-538: A Swordfish based in Gibraltar located and sank a U-boat, the first such kill to be achieved by an aircraft during nighttime. On 23 May 1943, a rocket-equipped Swordfish destroyed German submarine U-752 off the coast of Ireland , the first kill achieved with this weapon. Towards the end of the war, No. 119 Squadron RAF operated Swordfish Mark IIIs with centimetric radar from airfields in Belgium. Their main task

740-619: A certain Marco Polo, who in 1300 was mentioned with riots against the aristocratic government, and escaped the death penalty, as well as riots from 1310 led by Bajamonte Tiepolo and Marco Querini, among whose rebels were Jacobello and Francesco Polo from another family branch, is unclear. Polo is clearly mentioned again after 1305 in Maffeo's testament from 1309 to 1310, in a 1319 document according to which he became owner of some estates of his deceased father, and in 1321, when he bought part of

888-537: A detailed account of his travels to a fellow inmate, Rustichello da Pisa , who incorporated tales of his own as well as other collected anecdotes and current affairs from China. The book soon spread throughout Europe in manuscript form, and became known as The Travels of Marco Polo ( Italian title: Il Milione , lit. "The Million", deriving from Polo's nickname "Milione". Original title in Franco-Italian  : Livres des Merveilles du Monde ). It depicts

1036-530: A direct Chinese transliteration of the name "Marco" ignores the possibility of his taking on a Chinese or even Mongol name with no similarity to his Latin name . Also in reply to Wood, Jørgen Jensen recalled the meeting of Marco Polo and Pietro d'Abano in the late 13th century. During this meeting, Marco gave to Pietro details of the astronomical observations he had made on his journey. These observations are compatible with Marco's stay in China, Sumatra and

1184-443: A dive to torpedo release altitude of 18 feet (5.5 m). Maximum range of the early Mark XII torpedo was 1,500 yards (1,400 m) at 40 knots (74 km/h; 46 mph) and 3,500 yards (3,200 m) at 27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph). The torpedo travelled 200 feet (61 m) forward from release to water impact, and required another 300 yards (270 m) to stabilise at preset depth and arm itself. Ideal release distance

1332-442: A metal airframe covered in fabric. It had folding wings as a space-saving measure, which was useful onboard aircraft carriers and battleships . In service, it received the nickname Stringbag ; this was not due to its biplane struts, spars, and braces, but a reference to the seemingly endless variety of stores and equipment that the type was cleared to carry. Crews likened the aircraft to a housewife's string shopping bag, common at

1480-482: A perilous one—of the six hundred people (not including the crew) in the convoy only eighteen had survived (including all three Polos). The Polos left the wedding party after reaching Hormuz and travelled overland to the port of Trebizond on the Black Sea , the present-day Trabzon . The British scholar Ronald Latham has pointed out that The Book of Marvels was a collaboration written in 1298–1299 between Polo and

1628-574: A portion of his estate; he approved of this and ordered that a further sum be paid to the convent of San Lorenzo , the place where he wished to be buried. He also set free Peter, a Tartar servant , who may have accompanied him from Asia, and to whom Polo bequeathed 100 lire of Venetian denari. He divided up the rest of his assets, including several properties, among individuals, religious institutions, and every guild and fraternity to which he belonged. He also wrote off multiple debts including 300 lire that his sister-in-law owed him, and others for

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1776-513: A potential wife, and they asked the Polos to accompany them, so they were permitted to return to Persia with the wedding party—which left that same year from Zaitun in southern China on a fleet of 14 junks . The party sailed to the port of Singapore , travelled north to Sumatra , and around the southern tip of India, eventually crossing the Arabian Sea to Hormuz . The two-year voyage was

1924-662: A professional writer of romances, Rustichello of Pisa. It is believed that Polo related his memoirs orally to Rustichello da Pisa while both were prisoners of the Genova Republic . Rustichello wrote Devisement du Monde in Franco-Venetian language , which was a literary-only language widespread in northern Italy between the subalpine belt and the lower Po between the 13th and 15th centuries. Latham also argued that Rustichello may have glamorised Polo's accounts, and added fantastic and romantic elements that made

2072-700: A proposed aircraft for the Greek Naval Air Service , which had requested a replacement for their Fairey IIIF Mk.IIIB aircraft, and from specifications M.1/30 and S.9/30, which had been issued by the British Air Ministry . Fairey promptly informed the Air Ministry of its work for the Greeks, whose interest had eventually waned, and proposed its solution to the requirements for a spotter-reconnaissance plane ("spotter" referring to

2220-474: A release height of 1,300 ft (400 m) and a dive angle of 70 degrees; tests against a manoeuvring target showed an average error of 44 yd (40 m) from a drop height of 1,800 ft (550 m) and a dive angle of 60 degrees. After more modern torpedo attack aircraft were developed, the Swordfish was soon redeployed successfully in an anti-submarine role, armed with depth charges or eight "60 lb" (27 kg) RP-3 rockets and flying from

2368-466: A single torpedo hit that only caused minor damage. On 26 May, Ark Royal launched two Swordfish strikes against Bismarck . The first failed to locate the ship. The second attack scored two torpedo hits, one of which jammed the ship's rudders at a 12° port helm. This made Bismarck unmanoeuvrable and unable to escape to port in France. She sank after intense Royal Navy attack within 13 hours. Some of

2516-418: A total of 27 Swordfish aircraft stationed on the island at a time, the type succeeded in sinking an average of 50,000 tons of enemy shipping per month across a nine-month period. During one record month, 98,000 tons of shipping were reportedly lost to the island's Swordfish-equipped strike force. The recorded Swordfish losses were low, especially in relation to the high sortie rate of the aircraft and in light of

2664-577: A trading voyage before Marco's birth. In 1260, Niccolò and Maffeo, while residing in Constantinople, then the capital of the Latin Empire , foresaw a political change; they liquidated their assets into jewels and moved away. According to The Travels of Marco Polo , they passed through much of Asia, and met with Kublai Khan , a Mongol ruler and founder of the Yuan dynasty . Almost nothing

2812-579: A venture, the Polo family probably invested profits from trading, and even many gemstones they brought from the East. The company continued its activities and Marco soon became a wealthy merchant. Marco and his uncle Maffeo financed other expeditions, but likely never left Venetian provinces, nor returned to the Silk Road and Asia. Sometime before 1300, his father Niccolò died. In 1300, he married Donata Badoèr,

2960-471: A volley of flares being dropped by Swordfish aircraft to illuminate the harbour, after which, the Swordfish formation commenced bombing and torpedo runs. Due to the presence of barrage balloons and torpedo nets restricting the number of suitable torpedo-dropping positions, many of the Swordfish had been armed with bombs and made a synchronised attack upon the cruisers and destroyers instead. The six torpedo-armed Swordfish inflicted serious damage on three of

3108-682: Is also largely free of the gross errors found in other accounts such as those given by the Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta who had confused the Yellow River with the Grand Canal and other waterways, and believed that porcelain was made from coal. Modern studies have further shown that details given in Marco Polo's book, such as the currencies used, salt productions and revenues, are accurate and unique. Such detailed descriptions are not found in other non-Chinese sources, and their accuracy

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3256-577: Is based on a Latin manuscript found in the library of the Cathedral of Toledo in 1932, and is 50% longer than other versions. The popular translation published by Penguin Books in 1958 by R. E. Latham works several texts together to make a readable whole. Sharon Kinoshita 's 2016 version takes as its source the Franco-Italian 'F' manuscript, and invites readers to "focus on the text as

3404-568: Is inaccurate), no other foreign visitors to Yuan China mentioned the practice, perhaps an indication that the footbinding was not widespread or was not practised in an extreme form at that time. Marco Polo himself noted (in the Toledo manuscript) the dainty walk of Chinese women who took very short steps. It has also been noted by other scholars that many of the things not mentioned by Marco Polo such as tea and chopsticks were not mentioned by other travellers either. Haw also pointed out that despite

3552-581: Is known about the childhood of Marco Polo until he was fifteen years old, except that he probably spent part of his childhood in Venice. Meanwhile, Marco Polo's mother died, and an aunt and uncle raised him. He received a good education, learning mercantile subjects including foreign currency, appraising, and the handling of cargo ships; he learned little or no Latin . His father later married Floradise Polo (née Trevisan). In 1269, Niccolò and Maffeo returned to their families in Venice, meeting young Marco for

3700-559: Is nothing in The Book of Marvels about China that could not have been obtained by reading Persian books. Wood maintains that it is more probable that Polo went only to Constantinople (modern Istanbul, Turkey) and some of the Italian merchant colonies around the Black Sea, picking hearsay from those travellers who had been farther east. Supporters of Polo's basic accuracy countered on the points raised by sceptics such as footbinding and

3848-455: Is supported by archaeological evidence as well as Chinese records compiled after Polo had left China. His accounts are therefore unlikely to have been obtained second hand. Other accounts have also been verified; for example, when visiting Zhenjiang in Jiangsu , China, Marco Polo noted that a large number of Christian churches had been built there. His claim is confirmed by a Chinese text of

3996-575: Is the Elizabethan version by John Frampton published in 1579, The most noble and famous travels of Marco Polo , based on Santaella's Castilian translation of 1503 (the first version in that language). The published editions of Polo's book rely on single manuscripts, blend multiple versions together, or add notes to clarify, for example in the English translation by Henry Yule . The 1938 English translation by A. C. Moule and Paul Pelliot

4144-496: Is unknown, but scholars estimate it to be between 1271 and 1275. On reaching the Yuan court, the Polos presented the sacred oil from Jerusalem and the papal letters to their patron. Marco knew four languages, and the family had accumulated a great deal of knowledge and experience that was useful to Kublai. It is possible that he became a government official; he wrote about many imperial visits to China's southern and eastern provinces,

4292-602: The Anglo-Iraqi War . The aircraft conducted dive bombing attacks upon Iraqi barracks, fuel storage tanks and bridges. The Swordfish also flew a high level of anti-shipping sorties in the Mediterranean, many aircraft being based at Malta. Guided by aerial reconnaissance from other RAF units, Swordfish would time their attacks to arrive at enemy convoys in the dark to elude German fighters, which were restricted to daytime operations. While there were never more than

4440-801: The Battle of Taranto . The main fleet of the Italian Navy was based at Taranto in southern Italy; in light of the success of the earlier attack upon the French Navy at Mers-el-Kébir, members of the Admiralty sought another victory under similar conditions. The Royal Navy had conducted extensive preparations, with some planning having taken place as early as 1938, when war between the European powers had already seemed inevitable. Regular aerial reconnaissance missions were flown to gather intelligence on

4588-685: The Catalan Atlas and the Fra Mauro map . Marco Polo was born around 1254 in Venice , but the exact date and place of birth are archivally unknown. The Travels of Marco Polo contains some basic information concerning Marco Polo's Venetian family and his birth in Venice; the book states that Marco's father, the travelling merchant Niccolò Polo , returned to visit his family in his hometown of Venice around 1269 and there found out that his wife, whom he had left pregnant, had died and left

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4736-487: The Genova Republic . Rustichello wrote Devisement du Monde in Franco-Venetian . The idea probably was to create a handbook for merchants , essentially a text on weights, measures and distances. The oldest surviving manuscript is in Old French heavily flavoured with Italian; According to the Italian scholar Luigi Foscolo Benedetto, this "F" text is the basic original text, which he corrected by comparing it with

4884-542: The German battleship Bismarck , which contributed to her eventual demise. Swordfish sank a greater tonnage of Axis shipping than any other Allied aircraft during the war. The Swordfish remained in front-line service until V-E Day , having outlived some of the aircraft intended to replace it. In 1933 Fairey, having established a proven track record in the design and construction of naval aircraft, commenced development of an entirely new three-seat naval aircraft, intended for

5032-507: The Italian declaration of war , nine Swordfish of 767 Naval Air Squadron stationed in Hyeres , Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur , France took off for the first Allied bombing raid upon Italian soil. Four days later, 767 Squadron relocated to Bone , Algeria before being split, the training elements returning to Britain while the operational portion proceeded to RAF Hal Far on Malta , where it

5180-535: The Mongol Empire and China under the Yuan dynasty , giving Europeans their first comprehensive look into China, Persia, India, Japan, and other Asian societies. Born in Venice , Marco learned the mercantile trade from his father and his uncle, Niccolò and Maffeo , who travelled through Asia and met Kublai Khan . In 1269, they returned to Venice to meet Marco for the first time. The three of them embarked on an epic journey to Asia, exploring many places along

5328-699: The Nazario Sauro and Daniele Manin were sunk in dive-bombing attacks. The other two Italian destroyers, Pantera and Tigre were heavily damaged and driven ashore at Jedda and later destroyed by HMS Kingston . In 1942, Swordfish of 810 and 829 Squadrons on HMS Illustrious took part in the Battle of Madagascar . They dropped dummy paratroopers in support of the initial landings. They later conducted anti-ship and anti-submarine operations in Diego Suarez Bay and bombed land targets in support of land operations during Operation Ironclad. In

5476-676: The Royal Navy . It was also used by the Royal Air Force (RAF), as well as several overseas operators, including the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and the Royal Netherlands Navy . It was initially operated primarily as a fleet attack aircraft. During its later years, the Swordfish was increasingly used as an anti-submarine and training platform. The type was in frontline service throughout

5624-537: The Second World War . Despite being representative of early 1930s aircraft design and teetering on the edge of becoming outdated (in comparison to some alternatives), the Swordfish achieved some spectacular successes during the war. Notable events included sinking one battleship and damaging two others of the Regia Marina (the Italian navy) during the Battle of Taranto , and the famous attack on

5772-698: The South China Sea and are recorded in Pietro's book Conciliator Differentiarum , but not in Marco's Book of Travels . Reviewing Haw's book, Peter Jackson (author of The Mongols and the West ) has said that Haw "must surely now have settled the controversy surrounding the historicity of Polo's visit to China". Igor de Rachewiltz's review, which refutes Wood's points, concludes with a strongly-worded condemnation: "I regret to say that F. W.'s book falls short of

5920-448: The 'marvellous' fables and legends given in other European accounts, and despite some exaggerations and errors, Polo's accounts have relatively few of the descriptions of irrational marvels. In many cases of descriptions of events where he was not present (mostly given in the first part before he reached China, such as mentions of Christian miracles), he made a clear distinction that they are what he had heard rather than what he had seen. It

6068-587: The 14th century explaining how a Sogdian named Mar-Sargis from Samarkand founded six Nestorian Christian churches there in addition to one in Hangzhou during the second half of the 13th century. His story of the princess Kököchin sent from China to Persia to marry the Īl-khān is also confirmed by independent sources in both Persia and China. Sceptics have long wondered whether Marco Polo wrote his book based on hearsay, with some pointing to omissions about noteworthy practices and structures of China as well as

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6216-602: The 1960s the German historian Herbert Franke noted that all occurrences of Po-lo or Bolod in Yuan texts were names of people of Mongol or Turkic extraction. Fairey Swordfish The Fairey Swordfish was a biplane torpedo bomber , designed by the Fairey Aviation Company . Originating in the early 1930s, the Swordfish, nicknamed "Stringbag", was principally operated by the Fleet Air Arm of

6364-474: The English Channel towards Germany. When the Swordfish formation arrived and commenced an initial attack run coming astern of the ships, the Swordfish were intercepted by roughly 15 Messerschmitt Bf 109 monoplane fighter aircraft; the aerial battle was extremely one-sided, quickly resulting in the loss of all Swordfish while no damage was achieved upon the ships themselves. The lack of fighter cover

6512-464: The Europeans with a clear picture of the East's geography and ethnic customs, and it included the first Western record of porcelain, gunpowder, paper money, and some Asian plants and exotic animals. His narrative inspired Christopher Columbus and many other travellers. There is substantial literature based on Polo's writings; he also influenced European cartography , leading to the introduction of

6660-710: The Great Wall of China. Historian Stephen G. Haw argued that the Great Walls were built to keep out northern invaders, whereas the ruling dynasty during Marco Polo's visit were those very northern invaders. They note that the Great Wall familiar to us today is a Ming structure built some two centuries after Marco Polo's travels; and that the Mongol rulers whom Polo served controlled territories both north and south of today's wall, and would have had no reasons to maintain any fortifications that might have remained there from

6808-626: The Indian Ocean to bolster local air defences and also to impart necessary procedures to FAA aircrew, which was done over two or three days' intensive activity at sea. Sources for the dates of return to Trincomalee and the joint US/UK training differ. In 1944, a wireless station HMS  Highflyer was established in Trincomalee. The Royal Navy presence in Ceylon came to an end in 1956, when Prime Minister S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike requested

6956-525: The Indies ), it is reasonable to think that they considered Marco's book as a trustworthy piece of information for missions in the East. The diplomatic communications between Pope Innocent IV and Pope Gregory X with the Mongols were probably another reason for this endorsement. At the time, there was open discussion of a possible Christian-Mongol alliance with an anti-Islamic function. A Mongol delegate

7104-674: The Mers-el-Kébir attack, a detachment of three Swordfish were sent to support British Army operations in the Western Desert , in response to a request for torpedo aircraft to destroy hostile naval units operating off the coast of Libya . On 22 August, the three aircraft destroyed two U-boats, one destroyer and a replenishment ship in the Gulf of Bomba , Libya, using only three torpedoes. On 11 November 1940, Swordfish flying from HMS  Illustrious achieved great success in

7252-489: The Mongols as ' barbarians ' who appeared to belong to 'some other world'. Doubts have also been raised in later centuries about Marco Polo's narrative of his travels in China, for example for his failure to mention the Great Wall of China , and in particular the difficulties in identifying many of the place names he used (the great majority, however, have since been identified). Many have questioned whether he had visited

7400-470: The Polos joined a caravan of travelling merchants whom they crossed paths with. Unfortunately, the party was soon attacked by bandits , who used the cover of a sandstorm to ambush them. The Polos managed to fight and escape through a nearby town, but many members of the caravan were killed or enslaved. Three and a half years after leaving Venice, when Marco was about 21 years old, the Polos were welcomed by Kublai into his palace. The exact date of their arrival

7548-736: The Polos with his last duty: accompany the Mongol princess Kököchin , who was to become the consort of Arghun Khan , in Persia. When the Polos arrived to Persia, they learned that Arghun Khan died, and Kököchin eventually became a wife of his son Ghazan . After leaving the princess, the Polos travelled overland to Constantinople. They later decided to return to their home. They returned to Venice in 1295, after 24 years, with many riches and treasures. They had travelled almost 15,000 miles (24,000 km). Marco Polo returned to Venice in 1295 with his fortune converted into gemstones . At this time, Venice

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7696-520: The Polos' journeys throughout Asia, giving Europeans their first comprehensive look into the inner workings of the Far East , including China, India, and Japan . Polo was finally released from captivity in August 1299, and returned home to Venice, where his father and uncle in the meantime had purchased a large palazzo in the zone named contrada San Giovanni Crisostomo (Corte del Milion). For such

7844-548: The Second Battle of Narvik, Swordfish continually bombed ships, land facilities, and parked enemy aircraft around Narvik . Anti-submarine patrols and aerial reconnaissance missions were also flown despite difficult terrain and inhospitable weather, which proved especially challenging for aircrew in the Swordfish's open cockpit. For many Swordfish crews, this campaign marked their first combat missions and nighttime landings upon aircraft carriers. On 14 June 1940, soon after

7992-516: The Silk Road until they reached " Cathay ". They were received by the royal court of Kublai Khan, who was impressed by Marco's intelligence and humility. Marco was appointed to serve as Kublai's foreign emissary, and he was sent on many diplomatic missions throughout the empire and Southeast Asia, visiting present-day Burma, India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam. As part of this appointment, Marco also travelled extensively inside China, living in

8140-585: The Swordfish be transferred to the company, who immediately set about establishing a brand new fabrication and assembly facility in Sherburn-in-Elmet , North Yorkshire . Less than a year later, the first Blackburn-built Swordfish conducted its first flight. During 1941, the Sherburn factory assumed primary responsibility for the fuselage, along with final assembly and testing of finished aircraft. Efforts were made to disperse production and to employ

8288-607: The Swordfish flew so low that most of Bismarck ' s flak weapons could not depress enough to hit them. Throughout 1942, the Swordfish was progressively transferred away from the Royal Navy's fleet carriers as newer strike aircraft, such as the Fairey Albacore and Fairey Barracuda , were introduced. In the submarine-hunter role, the Swordfish contributed to the Battle of the Atlantic , detecting and attacking

8436-548: The Swordfish for training. During the early months of the conflict, the Swordfish operated in mostly uneventful fleet protection and convoy escort missions. The Swordfish first saw combat on 11 April 1940, during the Norwegian Campaign . Several Swordfish aircraft were launched from the aircraft carrier HMS Furious to torpedo several German vessels reported to be anchoring at Trondheim . The Swordfish found only two enemy destroyers at Trondheim, scoring one hit in

8584-507: The Swordfish was terminated; the last aircraft to be delivered, a Swordfish III, was delivered that day. Almost 2,400 aircraft had been built, 692 having been constructed by Fairey and a further 1,699 by Blackburn at their Sherburn facility. The most numerous version of the Swordfish was the Mark II, of which 1,080 were completed. The Fairey Swordfish was a medium-sized biplane torpedo bomber and reconnaissance aircraft. The Swordfish employed

8732-498: The activity of observing and directing the fall of a warship's gunfire ). In 1934, the Air Ministry issued the more advanced Specification S.15/33 , which formally added the torpedo bomber role. On 21 March 1933, the prototype T.S.R. I, F1875 , conducted its maiden flight from Great West Aerodrome , Heathrow , piloted by Fairey test pilot Chris Staniland . F1875 performed various flights, including several while re-engined with an Armstrong Siddeley Tiger radial engine before it

8880-534: The age of sailing, the Royal Navy established a coaling station in Trincomalee as part of their large network of support bases throughout the empire. This was the begin of a permanent Royal Navy shore establishment in Trinco. With the beginning of the 20th century size of the Royal Naval Dockyard of Trincomalee grew as the facilities were increased during and after World War I . A large tank farm

9028-413: The aircraft carrier HMS  Ark Royal and conducted three sorties of attacks upon the anchored fleet. The torpedo attack, which crippled the French battleship Dunkerque and damaged other vessels present, demonstrated that capital ships could be effectively attacked while in harbour; it was also the first time in history that the Royal Navy had won a battle without the use of gunfire. Shortly after

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9176-453: The area and the Dutch expanded and built another to protect the harbour. The largest of these is Fort Fredrick built in 1624 by the Portuguese and exchanged hands until the British took over it in 1795. The smaller Fort Ostenburg was built on top of Ostenburg ridge at the entrance to the inner harbour of Trincomalee. The British used Trincomalee has an anchorage for Royal Navy ships in the Indian Ocean. With switch to steam powered ships from

9324-504: The battleships. Two cruisers, two destroyers and other vessels were damaged or sunk. The high manoeuvrability of the Swordfish was attributed with enabling the aircraft to evade intense anti-aircraft fire and hit the Italian ships. The Battle of Taranto firmly established that naval aircraft were independently capable of immobilising an entire fleet and were an effective means of altering the balance of power. The Japanese assistant naval attaché to Berlin, Takeshi Naito, visited Taranto to view

9472-442: The book a bestseller. The Italian scholar Luigi Foscolo Benedetto had previously demonstrated that the book was written in the same "leisurely, conversational style" that characterised Rustichello's other works, and that some passages in the book were taken verbatim or with minimal modifications from other writings by Rustichello. For example, the opening introduction in The Book of Marvels to "emperors and kings, dukes and marquises"

9620-502: The book that would convince him that Marco Polo did not go to China. Haw also argues in his book Marco Polo's China that Marco's account is much more correct and accurate than has often been supposed and that it is extremely unlikely that he could have obtained all the information in his book from secondhand sources. Haw also criticizes Wood's approach to finding mention of Marco Polo in Chinese texts by contending that contemporaneous Europeans had little regard for using surnames and that

9768-438: The coasts of Netherlands and Belgium in daylight raids, during which they braved anti-aircraft fire and interception by Luftwaffe fighter aircraft. Night time bombing raids were conducted against oil installations, power stations , and aerodromes . After the Allied defeat in the Battle of France and the signing of the French Armistice of 22 June 1940 , Swordfish focused their activities against ports that might be used for

9916-405: The consequences of the attack; he later briefed the staff who planned the attack on Pearl Harbor . On 28 March 1941, a pair of Swordfish based at Crete contributed to the disabling of the Italian cruiser Pola during the Battle of Cape Matapan . In May 1941, six Swordfish based at Shaibah , near Basra , Iraq , participated in the suppression of a revolt in the region, widely known now as

10064-426: The convent of San Giovanni , San Paolo of the Order of Preachers , and a cleric named Friar Benvenuto. He ordered 220  soldi be paid to Giovanni Giustiniani for his work as a notary and his prayers. The will was not signed by Polo, but was validated by the then-relevant " signum manus " rule, by which the testator had only to touch the document to make it legally valid. Due to the Venetian law stating that

10212-499: The crew area and the third crew member was left behind. RAF fighters often provided aerial cover where possible and occasionally counterattacked enemy air bases. The intensity of Coastal Command's Swordfish operations was drastically increased after the German invasion of the Low Countries , expanding to involve four Swordfish-equipped squadrons. Typically flying from Detling , Thorney Island , North Coates and St Eval , Swordfish crews were dispatched to strike strategic targets off

10360-447: The daughter of Vitale Badoèr, a merchant. They had three daughters, Fantina (married Marco Bragadin), Bellela (married Bertuccio Querini), and Moreta. In 2022, it was found that Polo first had a daughter named Agnese (b. 1295/1299 - d. 1319) from a partnership or marriage which ended before 1300. Pietro d'Abano , a philosopher, doctor and astrologer based in Padua , reports having spoken with Marco Polo about what he had observed in

10508-415: The day ends at sunset, the exact date of Marco Polo's death cannot be determined, but according to some scholars it was between the sunsets of 8 and 9 January 1324. Biblioteca Marciana , which holds the original copy of his testament, dates the testament on 9 January 1323, and gives the date of his death at some time in June 1324. An authoritative version of Marco Polo's book does not and cannot exist, for

10656-597: The drawing in his volume Conciliator Differentiarum, quæ inter Philosophos et Medicos Versantur . Marco Polo gave Pietro other astronomical observations he made in the Southern Hemisphere , and also a description of the Sumatran rhinoceros , which are collected in the Conciliator . In 1305 he is mentioned in a Venetian document among local sea captains regarding the payment of taxes. His relation with

10804-405: The earlier dynasties. Other Europeans who travelled to Khanbaliq during the Yuan dynasty, such as Giovanni de' Marignolli and Odoric of Pordenone , said nothing about the wall either. The Muslim traveller Ibn Battuta , who asked about the wall when he visited China during the Yuan dynasty, could find no one who either had seen it or knew of anyone who had seen it, suggesting that while ruins of

10952-445: The early manuscripts differ significantly, and the reconstruction of the original text is a matter of textual criticism . A total of about 150 copies in various languages are known to exist. Before the availability of printing press , errors were frequently made during copying and translating, so there are many differences between the various copies. Polo related his memoirs orally to Rustichello da Pisa while both were prisoners of

11100-429: The emperor's lands for 17 years and seeing many things previously unknown to Europeans. Around 1291, the Polos offered to accompany the Mongol princess Kököchin to Persia; they arrived there around 1293. After leaving the princess, they travelled overland to Constantinople and then to Venice, returning home after 24 years. At this time, Venice was at war with Genoa . Marco joined the war effort on behalf of Venice and

11248-521: The entrance to the Trincomalee harbor which had now become a major Royal Navy base in the far east . Mounted on the ridge was a battery of three BL 6 inch Mk VII naval guns manned by the personal of Coastal Regiments of the Royal Artillery . At same time the first purpose-built military airfield was built across the harbor, near the China Bay. The Royal Air Force station of RAF China Bay

11396-601: The established view that Polo was in China, in response to Wood's book. The book has been criticized by figures including Igor de Rachewiltz (translator and annotator of The Secret History of the Mongols ) and Morris Rossabi (author of Kublai Khan: his life and times ). The historian David Morgan points out basic errors made in Wood's book such as confusing the Liao dynasty with the Jin dynasty , and he found no compelling evidence in

11544-576: The eve of war in September 1939, the FAA, which had been transferred to Royal Navy control, had 13 operational squadrons equipped with the Swordfish I. There were also three flights of Swordfish equipped with floats, for use with catapult-equipped warships. After the outbreak of the Second World War, 26 FAA Squadrons were equipped with the Swordfish. More than 20 second-line squadrons also operated

11692-471: The evidence supporting Marco Polo's credibility." Some scholars believe that Marco Polo exaggerated his importance in China. The British historian David Morgan thought that Polo had likely exaggerated and lied about his status in China, while Ronald Latham believed that such exaggerations were embellishments by his ghostwriter Rustichello da Pisa . Et meser Marc Pol meisme, celui de cui trate ceste livre, seingneurie ceste cité por trois anz. And

11840-466: The fact that many aircraft lacked any blind-flying equipment, making night flying even more hazardous. In May 1941, Swordfish helped pursue and sink the German battleship Bismarck . On 24 May, nine Swordfish from HMS  Victorious flew a late night sortie against the Bismarck under deteriorating weather conditions. Using ASV radar, the flight were able to spot and attack the ship, resulting in

11988-400: The family property of his wife Donata. In 1323, Polo was confined to bed due to illness. On 8 January 1324, despite physicians' efforts to treat him, Polo was on his deathbed. To write and certify the will, his family requested Giovanni Giustiniani, a priest of San Procolo. His wife, Donata, and his three daughters were appointed by him as co-executrices . The church was entitled by law to

12136-492: The far south and Burma . They were highly respected and sought after in the Mongolian court, and so Kublai Khan decided to decline the Polos' requests to leave China. They became worried about returning home safely, believing that if Kublai died, his enemies might turn against them because of their close involvement with the ruler. In 1292, Kublai's great-nephew, then ruler of Persia , sent representatives to China in search of

12284-479: The few omissions, Marco Polo's account is more extensive, more accurate and more detailed than those of other foreign travellers to China in this period. Marco Polo even observed Chinese nautical inventions such as the watertight compartments of bulkhead partitions in Chinese ships , knowledge of which he was keen to share with his fellow Venetians. In addition to Haw, other scholars have argued in favour of

12432-641: The first attack of the war by torpedo-carrying aircraft. On 13 April 1940, just before the Second Battle of Narvik , a Swordfish floatplane was launched from the battleship HMS  Warspite with the crew ordered to reconnoitre for Germans ships. They reported seeing several German destroyers, and also spotted the German submarine  U-64 anchored close to the shore in Herjangsfjord . They dived to 200 feet (60 m) and dropped two 100-pound (45 kg) anti-submarine bombs; one hit and sank

12580-481: The first flight of K4190 in this new configuration was performed. Following successful water-handling trials, K4190 conducted a series of aircraft catapult and recovery tests aboard the battlecruiser HMS Repulse . K4190 was later restored to its wheeled undercarriage prior to an extensive evaluation process by the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment at RAF Martlesham Heath . In 1935, following

12728-555: The first pre-production Swordfish, K5660 , made its maiden flight. On 19 February 1936, the second pre-production aircraft, K5661 , became the first to be delivered; the final pre-production aircraft, K5662 , was completed in the floatplane configuration and underwent water-based service trials at the Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment at Felixstowe , Suffolk . In early 1936, an initial production contract for 68 Swordfish aircraft

12876-591: The first time, at the age of fifteen or sixteen. In 1271, Niccolò, Maffeo and Marco Polo embarked on their voyage to fulfil Kublai's request. They sailed to Acre , and then rode on camels to the Persian port of Hormuz . The Polos wanted to sail straight into China, but the ships there were not seaworthy, so they continued overland through the Silk Road , until reaching Kublai's summer palace in Shangdu , near present-day Zhangjiakou . In one instance during their trip,

13024-572: The first time. In 1271, during the rule of Doge Lorenzo Tiepolo , Marco Polo (at seventeen years of age), his father, and his uncle set off for Asia on the series of adventures that Marco later documented in his book. They sailed to Acre and later rode on their camels to the Persian port Hormuz . During the first stages of the journey, they stayed for a few months in Acre and were able to speak with Archdeacon Tedaldo Visconti of Piacenza . The Polo family, on that occasion, had expressed their regret at

13172-421: The gallant sortie of these six Swordfish aircraft constitutes one of the finest exhibitions of self-sacrifice and devotion to duty the war had ever witnessed". German Vice-Admiral Otto Ciliax remarked on "the mothball attack of a handful of ancient planes, piloted by men whose bravery surpasses any other action by either side that day." However, as a result of this incident, Swordfish were quickly withdrawn from

13320-536: The giant fuel tanks just north of China Bay aerodrome. The Eastern Fleet return to Trincomalee in late 1942. Operation Diplomat , a training exercise, took place in late March 1944. The objective was for the fleet to rendezvous with a group of tankers (escorted by HNLMS  Tromp ) and practice refuelling at sea procedures. They then rendezvoused with United States Navy Task Force 58.5, comprising USS  Saratoga and three destroyers, and returned to Trincomalee on 31 March. The U.S. task force had been detached to

13468-707: The inadequate air defenses prompted Somerville to move the fleet to a secret base in Addu Atoll . With Chuichi Nagumo 's Indian Ocean raid in April 1942 these fears were born out. Following the Easter Sunday Raid on Colombo on 9 April, the Japanese attacked the dockyard at Trincomalee. HMS  Hermes , HMAS Vampire and the Flower-class corvette HMS  Hollyhock were sunk. HMS Hermes

13616-481: The lack of details in his description of southern Chinese cities compared to northern ones, while Herbert Franke also raised the possibility that Marco Polo had not been to China at all, and wondered if he had based his accounts on Persian sources, in view of his use of Persian expressions. This is taken further by Frances Wood who claimed in her 1995 book Did Marco Polo Go to China? that at best Polo never went farther east than Persia (modern Iran), and that there

13764-530: The lack of details on some places in his book. While Polo describes paper money and the burning of coal, he fails to mention the Great Wall of China , tea , Chinese characters , chopsticks , or footbinding . His failure to note the presence of the Great Wall of China was first raised in the middle of the 17th century, and in the middle of the 18th century, it was suggested that he had never reached China. Later scholars such as John W. Haeger argued that Marco Polo might not have visited Southern China, in view of

13912-457: The lamp in Jerusalem . The long sede vacante between the death of Pope Clement IV in 1268 and the election of his successor delayed the Polos in fulfilling Kublai's request. They followed the suggestion of Theobald Visconti, then papal legate for the realm of Egypt , and returned to Venice in 1269 or 1270 to await the nomination of the new Pope, which allowed Marco to see his father for

14060-498: The later Operation Jane, Swordfish were ready to support the attack on Tamatave , but in the event the town surrendered before they were needed. During early 1940, Swordfish aircraft of 812 Squadron under RAF Coastal Command started a campaign against enemy ports along the English Channel . The aircraft routinely sortied to drop naval mines near such harbours. To increase range, additional fuel tanks were installed in

14208-570: The long lack of a pope, because on their previous trip to China they had received a letter from Kublai Khan to the Pope, and had thus had to leave for China disappointed. During the trip, however, they received news that after 33 months of vacation, finally, the Conclave had elected the new Pope and that he was exactly the archdeacon of Acre. The three of them hurried to return to the Holy Land, where

14356-564: The loss of 307 sailors. The RAF lost at least eight Hurricanes and the FAA one Fairey Fulmar . The Japanese lost five bombers and six fighters, one in a suicide attack on the Trincomalee fuel tanks. Seven hundred people lost their lives in the attack on Trincomalee. According to eye witness Michael Tomlinson (author of The Most Dangerous Moment and RAF Station Intelligence Officer at Ratmalana and later at China Bay in Trincomalee), one Japanese flyer deliberately crashed his plane into one of

14504-482: The more advanced T.S.R II prototype, which had been specifically developed to conform with the newly issued Specification S.15/33. On 17 April 1934, the prototype T.S.R II, K4190 , performed its maiden flight, flown by Staniland. In comparison with the previous prototype, K4190 was equipped with a more powerful model of the Pegasus engine, an additional bay within the rear fuselage to counteract spin tendencies, and

14652-445: The more innovative uses of the Swordfish was its role with merchant aircraft carriers ("MAC ships"). These were 20 civilian cargo or tanker ships modified to carry three or four aircraft each on anti-submarine duties with convoys. Three of these vessels were Dutch-manned, and several Swordfish of 860 (Dutch) Naval Air Squadron were typically deployed on board. The others were manned by aircrew from 836 Naval Air Squadron. At one time this

14800-539: The new Pope entrusted them with letters for the "Great Khan", inviting him to send his emissaries to Rome. To give more weight to this mission he sent with the Polos, as his legates, two Dominican fathers, Guglielmo of Tripoli and Nicola of Piacenza. They continued overland until they arrived at Kublai Khan 's palace in Shangdu , China (then known as Cathay ). By this time, Marco was 21 years old. Impressed by Marco's intelligence and humility, Kublai appointed him to serve as his foreign emissary to India and Burma . He

14948-491: The original model. The Swordfish II carried ASV Mk. II radar and featured metal undersurfaces to the lower wings to allow the carriage of 3-inch rockets , later-built models also adopted the more powerful Pegasus XXX engine. The Swordfish III was fitted with centimetric ASV Mk.XI radar between the undercarriage legs, precluding carrying torpedoes, and retained the Pegasus XXX powerplant. On 18 August 1944, production of

15096-405: The places he mentioned in his itinerary, whether he had appropriated the accounts of his father and uncle or other travellers, and some doubted whether he even reached China, or that if he did, perhaps never went beyond Khanbaliq (Beijing). It has been pointed out that Polo's accounts of China are more accurate and detailed than other travellers' accounts of the period. Polo had at times refuted

15244-579: The positions of specific capital ships and Swordfish crews were intensively trained for night flying operations, as an undetected aerial attack during the night raid had been judged to be the only effective method of reasonably overcoming the defences of the well-protected harbour and to strike at the fleet anchored there. Originally scheduled for 21 October 1940, the Taranto raid was delayed until 11 November to allow for key reinforcements to arrive and other commitments to be met. The aerial attack started with

15392-490: The product of a larger European (and Eurasian) literary and commercial culture", rather than questions of veracity of the account. The book opens with a preface describing his father and uncle travelling to Bolghar where Prince Berke Khan lived. A year later, they went to Ukek and continued to Bukhara . There, an envoy from the Levant invited them to meet Kublai Khan , who had never met Europeans. In 1266, they reached

15540-611: The removal of all British service personnel from the island. The dockyard was taken over by the Royal Ceylon Navy and became the home port for its newly established fleet. During Black July and Sri Lankan civil war , many sailors from this base rioted and destroyed property around the base. Marco Polo Marco Polo ( / ˈ m ɑːr k oʊ ˈ p oʊ l oʊ / ; Venetian: [ˈmaɾko ˈpolo] ; Italian: [ˈmarko ˈpɔːlo] ; c.  1254  – 8 January 1324)

15688-483: The roaming U-boat packs that preyed upon merchant shipping between Britain and North America and in support of the Arctic convoys which delivered supplies from Britain to Russia. Swordfish attacked submarines directly and guided destroyers to their locations. During one convoy battle, Swordfish from the escort carrier HMS  Striker and Vindex flew over 1,000 hours on anti-submarine patrols in 10 days. One of

15836-528: The same Marco Polo, of whom this book relates, ruled this city for three years. This sentence in The Book of Marvels was interpreted as Marco Polo was "the governor" of the city of "Yangiu" Yangzhou for three years, and later of Hangzhou . This claim has raised some controversy. According to David Morgan no Chinese source mentions him as either a friend of the Emperor or as the governor of Yangzhou – indeed no Chinese source mentions Marco Polo at all. In

15984-643: The seat of Kublai Khan at Dadu , present-day Beijing , China. Kublai received the brothers with hospitality and asked them many questions regarding the European legal and political system. He also inquired about the Pope and Church in Rome. After the brothers answered the questions he tasked them with delivering a letter to the Pope, requesting 100 Christians acquainted with the Seven Arts (grammar, rhetoric, logic, geometry, arithmetic, music and astronomy). Kublai Khan requested also that an envoy bring him back oil of

16132-456: The smaller escort carriers , or even merchant aircraft carriers (MACs) when equipped for rocket-assisted takeoff (RATO) . Its low stall speed and inherently tough design made it ideal for operation from the MACs in the often severe mid-Atlantic weather. Indeed, its takeoff and landing speeds were so low that, unlike most carrier-based aircraft, it did not require the carrier to be steaming into

16280-582: The somewhat more detailed Italian of Giovanni Battista Ramusio, together with a Latin manuscript in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana . Other early important sources are R (Ramusio's Italian translation first printed in 1559), and Z (a 15th-century Latin manuscript kept at Toledo, Spain). Another Old French Polo manuscript, dating to around 1350, is held by the National Library of Sweden. One of the early manuscripts Iter Marci Pauli Veneti

16428-522: The standard of scholarship that one would expect in a work of this kind. Her book can only be described as deceptive, both in relation to the author and to the public at large. Questions are posed that, in the majority of cases, have already been answered satisfactorily ... her attempt is unprofessional; she is poorly equipped in the basic tools of the trade, i.e., adequate linguistic competence and research methodology ... and her major arguments cannot withstand close scrutiny. Her conclusion fails to consider all

16576-469: The submarine. This was the first U-boat to be destroyed by an FAA aircraft in the war. Later that day, a force of ten Swordfish were dispatched from HMS Furious to attack the German destroyers with 250lb bombs. They scored no hits and two aircraft were shot down; the crew of one were lost, the crew of the other were picked up after making a forced-landing. During the battle, eight German destroyers were sunk or scuttled with no British ships lost. After

16724-486: The successful completion of testing at Martlesham, an initial pre-production order for three aircraft was placed by the Air Ministry; it was at this point that the T.S.R II received the name Swordfish . All three pre-production aircraft were powered by the Pegasus IIIM3 engine, but adopted a three-bladed Fairey-Reed propeller in place of the two-bladed counterpart used on the earlier prototype. On 31 December 1935,

16872-417: The time and which could accommodate contents of any shape, and that a Swordfish, like the shopping bag, could carry anything. The primary weapon of the Swordfish was the aerial torpedo , but the low speed of the biplane and the need for a long straight approach made it difficult to deliver against well-defended targets. Swordfish torpedo doctrine called for an approach at 5,000 feet (1,500 m) followed by

17020-627: The torpedo bomber role in competition with the Blackburn Shark in the combined role. Initially, the Shark replaced the Seal in the spotter-reconnaissance squadrons and the Swordfish replaced the Baffin in torpedo squadron, after which the Shark was quickly replaced by the Swordfish. For nearly two years during the late 1930s, the Swordfish was the sole torpedo bomber aircraft equipping the FAA. By

17168-423: The torpedo-bomber role in favour of more anti-submarine duties. Armed with depth charges and rockets, the aircraft were good submarine killers. In the anti-submarine role, the Swordfish pioneered the naval use of air to surface vessel (ASV) radar , allowing the aircraft to effectively locate surface ships at night and through clouds. Swordfish were flying missions with the radar by October 1941. In December 1941,

17316-474: The truthfulness of the book and defined Marco as a "prudent, honoured and faithful man". In his writings, the Dominican brother Jacopo d'Acqui explains why his contemporaries were sceptical about the content of the book. He also relates that before dying, Marco Polo insisted that "he had told only a half of the things he had seen". According to some recent research of the Italian scholar Antonio Montefusco,

17464-454: The twin roles of aerial reconnaissance and torpedo bomber . Receiving the internal designation of T.S.R. I , standing for Torpedo-Spotter-Reconnaissance I , the proposed design adopted a biplane configuration and a single 645 hp Bristol Pegasus IIM radial engine as its powerplant. The company chose initially to pursue development of the project as a self-financed private venture while both customers and applicable requirements for

17612-443: The type were sought. Development of the T.S.R. I was in parallel to Fairey's activities upon Air Ministry Specification S.9/30 , for which the company was at one point developing a separate but broadly similar aircraft, powered by a Rolls-Royce Kestrel engine instead as well as employing a differing fin and rudder configuration. Significant contributions to the T.S.R.I's development came from Fairey's independent design work on

17760-465: The upper wing was slightly swept back to account for the increased length of the fuselage; along with other aerodynamic-related tweaks to the rear of the aircraft. During the ensuing flight test programme, K4190 was transferred to Fairey's factory in Hamble-le-Rice , Hampshire , where it received a twin- float undercarriage in place of its original land-only counterpart; on 10 November 1934,

17908-450: The use of shadow factories to minimise the damage caused by Luftwaffe bombing raids. Major sub-assemblies for the Swordfish were produced by four subcontractors based in neighbouring Leeds , these were transported by land to Sherburn for final assembly. Initial deliveries from Sherburn were completed to the Swordfish I standard; from 1943 onwards, the improved Swordfish II and Swordfish III marks came into production and superseded

18056-682: The vault of the sky during his travels. Marco told him that during his return trip to the South China Sea , he had spotted what he describes in a drawing as a star "shaped like a sack" (in Latin : ut sacco ) with a big tail ( magna habens caudam ); most likely a comet . Astronomers agree that there were no comets sighted in Europe at the end of the 13th century, but there are records about a comet sighted in China and Indonesia in 1293. This circumstance does not appear in Polo's book of travels . Peter D'Abano kept

18204-544: The very close relationship that Marco Polo cultivated with members of the Dominican Order in Venice suggests that local fathers collaborated with him for a Latin version of the book, which means that Rustichello's text was translated into Latin for a precise will of the Order. Since Dominican fathers had among their missions that of evangelizing foreign peoples (cf. the role of Dominican missionaries in China and in

18352-438: The wall constructed in the earlier periods might have existed, they were not significant or noteworthy at that time. Haw also argued that footbinding was not common even among Chinese during Polo's time and almost unknown among the Mongols. While the Italian missionary Odoric of Pordenone who visited Yuan China mentioned footbinding (it is however unclear whether he was merely relaying something he had heard as his description

18500-654: The wind. On occasion, when the wind was right, Swordfish were flown from a carrier at anchor. In July 1936, the Swordfish formally entered service with the Fleet Air Arm (FAA), which was then part of the RAF; 825 Naval Air Squadron became the first squadrons to receive the type that month. The Swordfish began replacing both the Fairey Seal in the spotter-reconnaissance role and the Blackburn Baffin in

18648-447: The work of Rustichello, who was giving what medieval European readers expected to find in a travel book. Apparently, from the very beginning, Marco's story aroused contrasting reactions, as it was received by some with a certain disbelief. The Dominican father Francesco Pipino was the author of a translation into Latin, Iter Marci Pauli Veneti in 1302, just a few years after Marco's return to Venice. Francesco Pipino solemnly affirmed

18796-456: Was Il libro di Marco Polo detto il Milione , which means "The Book of Marco Polo, nicknamed ' Milione ' ". According to the 15th-century humanist Giovanni Battista Ramusio , his fellow citizens awarded him this nickname when he came back to Venice because he kept on saying that Kublai Khan's wealth was counted in millions. More precisely, he was nicknamed Messer Marco Milioni (Mr Marco Millions). However, since also his father Niccolò

18944-467: Was 1,000 yards (910 m) from target if the Swordfish survived to that distance. The Swordfish was also capable of operating as a dive-bomber . During 1939, Swordfish on board HMS Glorious participated in a series of dive-bombing trials, during which 439 practice bombs were dropped at dive angles of 60, 67 and 70 degrees, against the target ship HMS Centurion . Tests against a stationary target showed an average error of 49 yd (45 m) from

19092-619: Was a Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in The Travels of Marco Polo (also known as Book of the Marvels of the World and Il Milione , c.  1300 ), a book that described the then-mysterious culture and inner workings of the Eastern world, including the wealth and great size of

19240-466: Was a contributing factor for the heavy losses experienced; only 10 of 84 promised fighters were available. Thirteen of the 18 Swordfish crew involved were killed. Esmonde, who had previously led an attack on Bismarck , was awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously. The courage of the Swordfish crews was noted by commanders on both sides. British Vice-Admiral Bertram Ramsay wrote "In my opinion

19388-440: Was a translation into Latin made by the Dominican brother Francesco Pipino  [ it ] in 1302, just a few years after Marco's return to Venice. Since Latin was then the most widespread and authoritative language of culture, it is suggested that Rustichello's text was translated into Latin for a precise will of the Dominican Order , and this helped to promote the book on a European scale. The first English translation

19536-647: Was at war with the Republic of Genoa . Polo armed a galley equipped with a trebuchet to join the war. He was probably caught by Genoans in a skirmish in 1296, off the Anatolian coast between Adana and the Gulf of Alexandretta (and not during the battle of Curzola (September 1298), off the Dalmatian coast, a claim which is due to a later tradition (16th century) recorded by Giovanni Battista Ramusio ). He spent several months of his imprisonment dictating

19684-616: Was built close to the dockyard store fuel oil of any size fleet, along with dry docks and maintenance facilities to support any ship of the Royal Navy. Due to the increase in personnel on shore and from visiting ships the Royal Naval Hospital Trincomalee was established within the yard. In 1920, the British began deploying coastal artillery on the Ostenburg ridge , which was within the dockyard to protect

19832-484: Was captured by the Genoans. While imprisoned, he dictated stories of his travels to Rustichello da Pisa , a cellmate. He was released in 1299, became a wealthy merchant, married, and had three children. He died in 1324 and was buried in the church of San Lorenzo in Venice . Though he was not the first European to reach China , Marco Polo was the first to leave a detailed chronicle of his experience. His account provided

19980-470: Was essential. The last operational squadron, 836 Naval Air Squadron , which had last been engaged in providing resources for the MAC ships, was disbanded on 21 May 1945, soon after the end of World War II in Europe . In mid-1946, the last training squadron equipped with the type was disbanded, after which only a few remained in service to perform sundry duties at a few naval air stations. A large proportion of

20128-473: Was intended to be replaced by the Fairey Albacore, also a biplane, but it outlived its intended successor until succeeded by the Fairey Barracuda monoplane torpedo bomber. Operational sorties of the Swordfish continued into January 1945. The last active missions are believed to have been anti-shipping operations off the coast of Norway by FAA Squadrons 835 and 813, where the Swordfish's manoeuvrability

20276-494: Was lifted straight out of an Arthurian romance Rustichello had written several years earlier, and the account of the second meeting between Polo and Kublai Khan at the latter's court is almost the same as that of the arrival of Tristan at the court of King Arthur at Camelot in that same book. Latham believed that many elements of the book, such as legends of the Middle East and mentions of exotic marvels, might have been

20424-473: Was nicknamed Milione , 19th-century philologist Luigi Foscolo Benedetto was persuaded that Milione was a shortened version of Emilione , and that this nickname was used to distinguish Niccolò's and Marco's branch from other Polo families. His father, Niccolò Polo , a merchant, traded with the Near East , becoming wealthy and achieving great prestige. Niccolò and his brother Maffeo set off on

20572-572: Was re-numbered as 830 Naval Air Squadron . On 30 June, operations re-commenced with an opening night raid upon oil tanks at Augusta, Sicily . On 3 July 1940, the Swordfish was one of the main weapons during the Attack on Mers-el-Kébir , an attack by the Royal Navy upon the French Navy fleet stationed at Oran , French Algeria to prevent the vessels falling into German hands. Twelve Swordfish from 810 and 820 Naval Air Squadrons launched from

20720-598: Was received, as the Swordfish I . Manufactured at Fairey's factory in Hayes , West London , the first production aircraft was completed in early 1936 and the type entered service with the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) in July 1936. By early 1940, Fairey was busy with the Swordfish and other types such as the new Fairey Albacore torpedo bomber. The Admiralty approached Blackburn Aircraft with a proposal that manufacturing activity for

20868-417: Was refitted with the Pegasus engine again, was used to explore the flight envelope , and to investigate the aircraft's flight characteristics. On 11 September 1933, F1875 was lost during a series of spinning tests in which it became unable to recover; the pilot survived the incident. Prior to this, the prototype had exhibited favourable performance, which contributed to the subsequent decision to proceed with

21016-667: Was sent on many diplomatic missions throughout his empire and in Southeast Asia, (such as in present-day Indonesia , Sri Lanka and Vietnam ), but also entertained the Khan with stories and observations about the lands he saw. As part of this appointment, Marco travelled extensively inside China, living in the emperor's lands for 17 years. Kublai initially refused several times to let the Polos return to Europe, as he appreciated their company and they became useful to him. However, around 1291, he finally granted permission, entrusting

21164-619: Was solemnly baptised at the Second Council of Lyon . At the council, Pope Gregory X promulgated a new Crusade to start in 1278 in liaison with the Mongols. Since its publication, some have viewed the book with skepticism. Some in the Middle Ages regarded the book simply as a romance or fable, due largely to the sharp difference of its descriptions of a sophisticated civilisation in China to other early accounts by Giovanni da Pian del Carpine and William of Rubruck , who portrayed

21312-607: Was soon operational to provide air defense to Trincomalee. With the outset of World War II , Trincomalee's defences were boosted the installation of two BL 9.2 inch Mk IX–X guns and anti-aircraft batteries manned by the Royal Artillery and the Ceylon Garrison Artillery . With the fall of Singapore , Trincomalee dockyard home port for the newly formed Eastern Fleet under the command of Admiral Sir James Somerville . Although he found good facilities,

21460-579: Was subsequently enthroned at Upatissagama. King Parakramabahu I used Gokanna (Trincomalee) as his eastern port, to launch a successful invasion of Burma in the 12th century. During the colonial expansion into the Indian Ocean , Trincomalee was occupied by the Portuguese , Dutch , French and finally by the British who used the natural harbour extensively. The Portuguese built a fort to control

21608-525: Was the largest squadron operating the type, with 91 aircraft. In March and April 1941, during the East African campaign , Swordfish from HMS Eagle 's 813 and 824 Naval Air Squadrons , operating from shore bases, were used against Italian land and naval targets in Massawa, East Africa. On 2 April 1941 four Italian destroyers, attempting to escape from Massawa, were attacked at sea by the Swordfish;

21756-633: Was to hunt at night for German midget submarines in the North Sea and off the Dutch coast. The radar was able to detect ships at a range of around 25 miles (40 km). One of the aircraft operated by 119 Squadron in this role survives and is part of the collection of the Imperial War Museum ( see Surviving aircraft ). By 1945, nine front-line squadrons were still equipped with Swordfish. Overall, Swordfish sank 14 U-boats. The Swordfish

21904-399: Was undergoing repairs in Trincomalee harbour in April 1942. As a result of the advance warning of the impending attack by the Japanese, Hermes left Trincomalee, minus the 12 Fairey Swordfish Mk Is of 814 Naval Air Squadron, disembarked. A Japanese reconnaissance plane spotted Hermes off Batticaloa, and 70 Japanese bombers attacked the defenceless Hermes forty times. The carrier sank with

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