Category Archives: High Seas

Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said the Navys presence in international waters is aimed at demonstrating the Islamic Republics power and extending a message of peace and friendship. No one would have believed that we could have a presence on the high seas, but we went to international waters and made port calls in different parts of the world to display [Irans] might, prevent Iranophobia and extend a message of peace and friendship, the commander said on Tuesday, Tasnim News Agency reported. Sayyari was referring to the 44th flotillas presence in the Atlantic Ocean and said the flotilla will return to the country on March 5. The Navys 44th flotilla, comprising Bushehr logistic warship and Alvand destroyer, set sail for the Gulf of Aden and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in mid-October to protect Iranian trade vessels against piracy in the unsafe waters. It then sailed around the African continent and arrived in the Atlantic Ocean in late November.

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Naval Presence on High Seas Underscored - Financial Tribune

Either humans will solve the ocean crisis they created or nature will provide the unthinkable solution for them, Danny Quintana, Founder GHSMP & Author ofSpace & Ocean Exploration: The Alternative to the Military-Industrial Complex

Click Here to Join the GHSMP Earth Day Boycott to Stop Industrial & Commercial Fishing on the High Seas

The Problem, Fish Stocks Collapsing and Ocean Ecosystems in Peril: There is little exaggeration in the notion that major fisheries around the world might collapse as top-of-the-food-chain marine predators like tuna, sharks and whales are being fished out of existence by industrial fishing that scoops up the desired prey while discarding millions of tons of various marine creatures called by-catch. Upwards of 100-million sharks are slaughtered annually for their fins, often cut off while they are alive, for sale in Asian countries who consider Shark Fin Soup a delicacy. When writing Space & Ocean Exploration, Danny Quintanas central premise of diverting U.S. Defense Dept. spending to space and ocean exploration also included the U.S. Navy being involved in the solution to this crisis, as explained in the solutions section below.

The disappearance of top marine predators, since it appears nature cant keep up with modern day hunters, will ultimately result in ocean ecosystem collapse as the ocean ecosystem balance provided by these vital creatures vanishes. Consequences from such a fate cant be predicted by even the most prescient because it may involve mass starvation, economic collapse, political chaos and armed conflict. Technology has increased the ability of cruise ship size trawlers to decimate ocean wildlife like never before.

Regional efforts have achieved success in regulating fishing industries, but international waters have no limitations and large and small fishing vessels, many seeking species deemed endangered, are operating throughout the world. Considering the economic value of some species, like Bluefin Tuna and shark fins, this is not a surprising development.

Banning industrial and illegal fishing on the high seas will require aggressive enforcement and Danny Quintana advocates having the U.S. Navy take the lead with other national maritime military organizations to patrol the high seas.

E.B. GO Vision Media Radio Show & Podcast Video Playlist of Danny Quintana onthe Global High Seas Marine Preserve Saving the Oceans & Marine Life

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If we continue with business as usual, I am afraid that the fish stocks will completely collapse. Closing the high seas to fishing is about 60 percent of the oceans. This would benefit all countries. The catch would improve so it would make it that the fish stocks are healthier and therefore larger catch, Dr. Daniel Pauly, Marine Biologist, Former Director Fisheries Centre, University of British Columbia.Click Here to Learn More About Dr. Pauly

The Solutions is to Ban Industrial Fishing While Promoting Sustainable Seafood Sources:

The Global High Seas Marine Preserveorganization has two primary goals, as stated above, that branch out into political action, consumer education, grass roots activist efforts and determined campaigns involving major media and Internet exposure.

Danny Quintana, in his book Space & Ocean Exploration, advocated for amending theLaws of the Seas Treaty and establish the Global High Seas Marine Preserve that bans industrial harvesting of marine life in international waters so that large top-of-food-chain predators can return in large numbers. Within the scope of diverting U.S. Defense Dept. spending for ocean research, he suggests that part of the U.S. Navysmission include enforcement, in conjunction with other nations, of the industrial fishing ban in international waters. It must be a group effort or the ban will never hold, the oceans are too big and people will take risks if the payoff is enticing enough.

GHSMPs 50 Sustainable Seafood Cities Campaign: As part of the overall goal of Saving the Oceans, GHSMP is kicking off a campaign targeting the 50 Largest Cities in the United States in an effort to have them designated as Sustainable Seafood Cities by municipal or county legislatures. This would mean that only seafood products from verifiable sustainable sources can be sold at businesses in those jurisdictions.

This campaign targets the demand side of the seafood equation which will in turn help with the supply side campaign of banning industrial fishing in international waters. A traditional political action effort alongside a massive Internet PR Campaign created by E.B. GO Vision Medias Social Media Army and Content Creation Team (SMACCT), under the aegis of the GHSMP Board of Directors, will result in a multi-pronged effort to educate and motivate the public and politicians.

The Situation by Danny Quintana

Fish are the main protein source for a one-third of all humanity, about 2.2 billion people. Several of the foundations the Global High Seas Marine Preserve is asking to get involved with us work with poor countries in developing adequate food resources. The collapse of the fisheries will have a profound effect on the entire planet and create instability in already fragile governments and marine and land ecosystems. Given the problems with unstable governments and chaos in the developing world, everyone in the humanitarian sector has a stake in reducing already vulnerable situations.

Every year over 40-billion pounds of fish and marine mammals are discarded as not sought after bi-catch, truly a fishing industry scandal of immense proportions. This situation is unsustainable and, quite frankly, profoundly immoral. There is no place on Earth not impacted by over fishing. The industrial harvesting of marine life is destroying the wildlife of the oceans while top-of-the-food-chain predators have declined over 90 percent.

A number of studies predict fish as food will run out by 2048, however, this is happening at a much faster rate because the worlds human population increases by about 80 to 100 million annually. Since 1970 half of the worlds wild fish have been slaughtered. In this short 45-year span the worlds population has increased from 4-billion to 7.4 billion, and by 2050 hit an astounding 9-billion hungry people.

If industrial harvesting of marine life continues apace the worlds great fishing grounds will soon be devoid of life and collapse as sustainable ecosystems. Should a worse case scenario unfold then billions of people, many from undeveloped countries or small island nations who depend on the oceans for food and money, will starve to death all over the world.

A man-made genocidal disaster of Biblical proportions will be the result of Mans folly.Governments will fall, economic dislocation will reverberate in every part of the world, violence and war will break out in the fight for resources and the developed nations will hunker down to survive.

All of us have the same data. We are all well aware of what shark-finning and bi-catch as well as commercial fishing is doing to the oceans.The question really is, what are we going to do about it? Without closing off the High Seas to commercial fishing, which is the primary goal of the Global High Seas Marine Preserve, the fisheries globally will not recover.

The fisheries are not on the edge of collapse, they are in the midst of the collapse that has already seen the tipping point long ago, has already reached a state of being akin to a patient in a coma, strapped to a respirator with the doctor shaking his head. Now doctors are often wrong, and if bold action and a new way of thinking is embraced then it just might be possible to snatch survival from the jaws of terminus.

The ocean is not limitless. There is a growing awareness among younger people about the collapse of the fisheries. Young people should be concerned. They know it is their future and they dont want the fish stocks to collapse.

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Table of Contents

Atlantic High Seas East Coast Canada East Coast Offshore East Coast Coastal Gulf Coast Coastal Gulf Coast Offshore Pacific High Seas West Coast Canada West Coast Offshore Coastal & Offshore for Hawaii, Guam West Coast US Coastal Coastal & Offshore for Alaska

NOTE: The terms Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) and Zulu (Z) are equivalent. Maps of coastal & offshore waters courtesy of NWS headquarters.

Atlantic High Seas

[MAP of High Seas area | Alternate MAP of High Seas]

East Coast Offshore

East Coast Coastal

East Coast Canada

Gulf Coast Offshore

National Hurricane Center

Note: Caribbean Sea offshore forecast

Gulf Coast Coastal

Pacific High Seas

[MAP of High Seas area| Alternate MAP of High Seas]

West Coast Offshore

West Coast US Coastal

West Coast Canada

Alaska Coastal & Offshore

Hawaii & Guam Coastal and Offshore

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Ocean Prediction Center-Coastal, Offshore and High Seas ...

PART VII

HIGH SEAS

SECTION 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article86

Application of the provisions of this Part

The provisions of this Part apply to all parts of the sea that are not included in the exclusive economic zone, in the territorial sea or in the internal waters of a State, or in the archipelagic waters of an archipelagic State. This article does not entail any abridgement of the freedoms enjoyed by all States in the exclusive economic zone in accordance with article58.

Article87

Freedom of the high seas

1. The high seas are open to all States, whether coastal or land-locked. Freedom of the high seas is exercised under the conditions laid down by this Convention and by other rules of international law. It comprises, interalia, both for coastal and land-locked States:

(a) freedom of navigation;

(b) freedom of overflight;

(c) freedom to lay submarine cables and pipelines, subject to PartVI;

(d) freedom to construct artificial islands and other installations permitted under international law, subject to PartVI;

(e) freedom of fishing, subject to the conditions laid down in section2;

(f) freedom of scientific research, subject to PartsVI andXIII.

2. These freedoms shall be exercised by all States with due regard for the interests of other States in their exercise of the freedom of the high seas, and also with due regard for the rights under this Convention with respect to activities in the Area.

Article88

Reservation of the high seas for peaceful purposes

The high seas shall be reserved for peaceful purposes.

Article89

Invalidity of claims of sovereignty over the high seas

No State may validly purport to subject any part of the high seas to its sovereignty.

Article90

Right of navigation

Every State, whether coastal or land-locked, has the right to sail ships flying its flag on the high seas.

Article91

Nationality of ships

1. Every State shall fix the conditions for the grant of its nationality to ships, for the registration of ships in its territory, and for the right to fly its flag. Ships have the nationality of the State whose flag they are entitled to fly. There must exist a genuine link between the State and the ship.

2. Every State shall issue to ships to which it has granted the right to fly its flag documents to that effect.

Article92

Status of ships

1. Ships shall sail under the flag of one State only and, save in exceptional cases expressly provided for in international treaties or in this Convention, shall be subject to its exclusive jurisdiction on the high seas. Aship may not change its flag during a voyage or while in a port of call, save in the case of a real transfer of ownership or change of registry.

2. Aship which sails under the flags of two or more States, using them according to convenience, may not claim any of the nationalities in question with respect to any other State, and may be assimilated to a ship without nationality.

Article93

Ships flying the flag of the United Nations, its specialized agencies

and the International Atomic Energy Agency

The preceding articles do not prejudice the question of ships employed on the official service of the United Nations, its specialized agencies or the International Atomic Energy Agency, flying the flag of the organization.

Article94

Duties of the flag State

1. Every State shall effectively exercise its jurisdiction and control in administrative, technical and social matters over ships flying its flag.

2. In particular every State shall:

(a) maintain a register of ships containing the names and particulars of ships flying its flag, except those which are excluded from generally accepted international regulations on account of their small size; and

(b) assume jurisdiction under its internal law over each ship flying its flag and its master, officers and crew in respect of administrative, technical and social matters concerning the ship.

3. Every State shall take such measures for ships flying its flag as are necessary to ensure safety at sea with regard, interalia, to:

(a) the construction, equipment and seaworthiness of ships;

(b) the manning of ships, labour conditions and the training of crews, taking into account the applicable international instruments;

(c) the use of signals, the maintenance of communications and the prevention of collisions.

4. Such measures shall include those necessary to ensure:

(a) that each ship, before registration and thereafter at appropriate intervals, is surveyed by a qualified surveyor of ships, and has on board such charts, nautical publications and navigational equipment and instruments as are appropriate for the safe navigation of the ship;

(b) that each ship is in the charge of a master and officers who possess appropriate qualifications, in particular in seamanship, navigation, communications and marine engineering, and that the crew is appropriate in qualification and numbers for the type, size, machinery and equipment of the ship;

(c) that the master, officers and, to the extent appropriate, the crew are fully conversant with and required to observe the applicable international regulations concerning the safety of life at sea, the prevention of collisions, the prevention, reduction and control of marine pollution, and the maintenance of communications by radio.

5. In taking the measures called for in paragraphs3 and4 each State is required to conform to generally accepted international regulations, procedures and practices and to take any steps which may be necessary to secure their observance.

6. AState which has clear grounds to believe that proper jurisdiction and control with respect to a ship have not been exercised may report the facts to the flag State. Upon receiving such a report, the flag State shall investigate the matter and, if appropriate, take any action necessary to remedy the situation.

7. Each State shall cause an inquiry to be held by or before a suitably qualified person or persons into every marine casualty or incident of navigation on the high seas involving a ship flying its flag and causing loss of life or serious injury to nationals of another State or serious damage to ships or installations of another State or to the marine environment. The flag State and the other State shall cooperate in the conduct of any inquiry held by that other State into any such marine casualty or incident of navigation.

Article95

Immunity of warships on the high seas

Warships on the high seas have complete immunity from the jurisdiction of any State other than the flag State.

Article96

Immunity of ships used only on government non-commercial service

Ships owned or operated by a State and used only on government non-commercial service shall, on the high seas, have complete immunity from the jurisdiction of any State other than the flag State.

Article97

Penal jurisdiction in matters of collision or any other incident of navigation

1. In the event of a collision or any other incident of navigation concerning a ship on the high seas, involving the penal or disciplinary responsibility of the master or of any other person in the service of the ship, no penal or disciplinary proceedings may be instituted against such person except before the judicial or administrative authorities either of the flag State or of the State of which such person is a national.

2. In disciplinary matters, the State which has issued a master's certificate or a certificate of competence or licence shall alone be competent, after due legal process, to pronounce the withdrawal of such certificates, even if the holder is not a national of the State which issued them.

3. No arrest or detention of the ship, even as a measure of investigation, shall be ordered by any authorities other than those of the flag State.

Article98

Duty to render assistance

1. Every State shall require the master of a ship flying its flag, in so far as he can do so without serious danger to the ship, the crew or the passengers:

(a) to render assistance to any person found at sea in danger of being lost;

(b) to proceed with all possible speed to the rescue of persons in distress, if informed of their need of assistance, in so far as such action may reasonably be expected of him;

(c) after a collision, to render assistance to the other ship, its crew and its passengers and, where possible, to inform the other ship of the name of his own ship, its port of registry and the nearest port at which it will call.

2. Every coastal State shall promote the establishment, operation and maintenance of an adequate and effective search and rescue service regarding safety on and over the sea and, where circumstances so require, by way of mutual regional arrangements cooperate with neighbouring States for this purpose.

Article99

Prohibition of the transport of slaves

Every State shall take effective measures to prevent and punish the transport of slaves in ships authorized to fly its flag and to prevent the unlawful use of its flag for that purpose. Any slave taking refuge on board any ship, whatever its flag, shall ipsofacto be free.

Article100

Duty to cooperate in the repression of piracy

All States shall cooperate to the fullest possible extent in the repression of piracy on the high seas or in any other place outside the jurisdiction of any State.

Article101

Definition of piracy

Piracy consists of any of the following acts:

(a) any illegal acts of violence or detention, or any act of depredation, committed for private ends by the crew or the passengers of a private ship or a private aircraft, and directed:

(i) on the high seas, against another ship or aircraft, or against persons or property on board such ship or aircraft;

(ii) against a ship, aircraft, persons or property in a place outside the jurisdiction of any State;

(b) any act of voluntary participation in the operation of a ship or of an aircraft with knowledge of facts making it a pirate ship or aircraft;

(c) any act of inciting or of intentionally facilitating an act described in subparagraph(a) or(b).

Article102

Piracy by a warship, government ship or government aircraft

whose crew has mutinied

The acts of piracy, as defined in article101, committed by a warship, government ship or government aircraft whose crew has mutinied and taken control of the ship or aircraft are assimilated to acts committed by a private ship or aircraft.

Article103

Definition of a pirate ship or aircraft

Aship or aircraft is considered a pirate ship or aircraft if it is intended by the persons in dominant control to be used for the purpose of committing one of the acts referred to in article101. The same applies if the ship or aircraft has been used to commit any such act, so long as it remains under the control of the persons guilty of that act.

Article104

Retention or loss of the nationality of a pirate ship or aircraft

Aship or aircraft may retain its nationality although it has become a pirate ship or aircraft. The retention or loss of nationality is determined by the law of the State from which such nationality was derived.

Article105

Seizure of a pirate ship or aircraft

On the high seas, or in any other place outside the jurisdiction of any State, every State may seize a pirate ship or aircraft, or a ship or aircraft taken by piracy and under the control of pirates, and arrest the persons and seize the property on board. The courts of the State which carried out the seizure may decide upon the penalties to be imposed, and may also determine the action to be taken with regard to the ships, aircraft or property, subject to the rights of third parties acting in good faith.

Article106

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United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

The High Seas Fleet (Hochseeflotte) was the battle fleet of the German Imperial Navy and saw action during the First World War. The formation was created in February 1907, when the Home Fleet (Heimatflotte) was renamed as the High Seas Fleet. Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz was the architect of the fleet; he envisioned a force powerful enough to challenge the Royal Navy's predominance. Kaiser Wilhelm II, the German Emperor, championed the fleet as the instrument by which he would seize overseas possessions and make Germany a global power. By concentrating a powerful battle fleet in the North Sea while the Royal Navy was required to disperse its forces around the British Empire, Tirpitz believed Germany could achieve a balance of force that could seriously damage British naval hegemony. This was the heart of Tirpitz's "Risk Theory," which held that Britain would not challenge Germany if the latter's fleet posed such a significant threat to its own.

The primary component of the Fleet was its battleships, typically organized in eight-ship squadrons, though it also contained various other formations, including the I Scouting Group. At its creation in 1907, the High Seas Fleet consisted of two squadrons of battleships, and by 1914, a third squadron had been added. The dreadnought revolution in 1906 greatly affected the composition of the fleet; the twenty-four pre-dreadnoughts in the fleet were rendered obsolete and required replacement. Enough dreadnoughts for two full squadrons were completed by the outbreak of war in mid 1914; the eight most modern pre-dreadnoughts were used to constitute a third squadron. Two additional squadrons of older vessels were mobilized at the onset of hostilities, though by the end of the conflict, these formations were disbanded.

The fleet conducted a series of sorties into the North Sea during the war designed to lure out an isolated portion of the numerically superior British Grand Fleet. These operations frequently used the fast battlecruisers of the I Scouting Group to raid the British coast as the bait for the Royal Navy. These operations culminated in the Battle of Jutland, on 31 May1 June 1916, where the High Seas Fleet confronted the whole of the Grand Fleet. The battle was inconclusive, but the British won strategically, as it convinced Admiral Reinhard Scheer, the German fleet commander, that even a highly favorable outcome to a fleet action would not secure German victory in the war. Scheer and other leading admirals therefore advised the Kaiser to order a resumption of the unrestricted submarine warfare campaign. The primary responsibility of the High Seas Fleet in 1917 and 1918 was to secure the German naval bases in the North Sea for U-boat operations. Nevertheless, the fleet continued to conduct sorties into the North Sea and detached units for special operations in the Baltic Sea against the Russian Baltic Fleet. Following the German defeat in November 1918, the Allies interned the bulk of the High Seas Fleet in Scapa Flow, where it was ultimately scuttled by its crews in June 1919, days before the belligerents signed the Treaty of Versailles.

In 1898, Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz became the State Secretary for the Imperial Navy Office (ReichsmarineamtRMA);[1] Tirpitz was an ardent supporter of naval expansion. During a speech in support of the First Naval Law on 6 December 1897, Tirpitz stated that the navy was "a question of survival" for Germany.[2] He also viewed Great Britain, with its powerful Royal Navy, as the primary threat to Germany. In a discussion with the Kaiser during his first month in his post as State Secretary, he stated that "for Germany the most dangerous naval enemy at present is England."[3] Tirpitz theorized that an attacking fleet would require a 33percent advantage in strength to achieve victory, and so decided that a 2:3 ratio would be required for the German navy. For a final total of 60 German battleships, Britain would be required to build 90 to meet the 2:3 ratio envisioned by Tirpitz.[3]

The Royal Navy had heretofore adhered to the so-called "two-power standard," first formulated in the Naval Defence Act of 1889, which required a larger fleet than those of the next two largest naval powers combined.[4] The crux of Tirpitz's "risk theory" was that by building a fleet to the 2:3 ratio, Germany would be strong enough that even in the event of a British naval victory, the Royal Navy would incur damage so serious as to allow the third-ranked naval power to rise to preeminence. Implicit in Tirpitz's theory was the assumption that the British would adopt an offensive strategy that would allow the Germans to use mines and submarines to even the numerical odds before fighting a decisive battle between Heligoland and the Thames. Tirpitz in fact believed Germany would emerge victorious from a naval struggle with Britain, as he believed Germany to possess superior ships manned by better-trained crews, more effective tactics, and led by more capable officers.[3]

In his first program, Tirpitz envisioned a fleet of nineteen battleships, divided into two eight-ship squadrons, one ship as a flagship, and two in reserve. The squadrons were further divided into four-ship divisions. This would be supported by the eight Siegfried- and Odinclasses of coastal defense ships, six large and eighteen small cruisers, and twelve divisions of torpedo boats, all assigned to the Home Fleet (Heimatflotte).[5] This fleet was secured by the First Naval Law, which passed in the Reichstag on 28 March 1898.[6] Construction of the fleet was to be completed by 1 April 1904. Rising international tensions, particularly as a result of the outbreak of the Boer War in South Africa and the Boxer Rebellion in China, allowed Tirpitz to push through an expanded fleet plan in 1900. The Second Naval Law was passed on 14 June 1900; it doubled the size of the fleet to 38 battleships and 20 large and 38 small cruisers. Tirpitz planned an even larger fleet. As early as September 1899, he had informed the Kaiser that he sought at least 45 battleships, and potentially might secure a third double-squadron, for a total strength of 48 battleships.[7]

During the initial period of German naval expansion, Britain did not feel particularly threatened.[6] The Lords of the Admiralty felt the implications of the Second Naval Law were not a significantly more dangerous threat than the fleet set by the First Naval Law; they believed it was more important to focus on the practical situation rather than speculation on future programs that might easily be reduced or cut entirely. Segments of the British public, however, quickly seized on the perceived threat posed by the German construction programs.[8] Despite their dismissive reaction, the Admiralty resolved to surpass German battleship construction. Admiral John Fisher, who became the First Sea Lord and head of the Admiralty in 1904, introduced sweeping reforms in large part to counter the growing threat posed by the expanding German fleet. Training programs were modernized, old and obsolete vessels were discarded, and the scattered squadrons of battleships were consolidated into four main fleets, three of which were based in Europe. Britain also made a series of diplomatic arrangements, including an alliance with Japan that allowed a greater concentration of British battleships in the North Sea.[9]

Fisher's reforms caused serious problems for Tirpitz's plans; he counted on a dispersal of British naval forces early in a conflict that would allow Germany's smaller but more concentrated fleet to achieve a local superiority. Tirpitz could also no longer depend on the higher level of training in both the German officer corps and the enlisted ranks, nor the superiority of the more modern and homogenized German squadrons over the heterogeneous British fleet. In 1904, Britain signed the Entente cordiale with France, Britain's primary naval rival. The destruction of two Russian fleets during the Russo-Japanese War in 1905 further strengthened Britain's position, as it removed the second of her two traditional naval rivals.[10] These developments allowed Britain to discard the "two power standard" and focus solely on out-building Germany. In October 1906, Admiral Fisher stated "our only probable enemy is Germany. Germany keeps her whole Fleet always concentrated within a few hours of England. We must therefore keep a Fleet twice as powerful concentrated within a few hours of Germany."[11]

The most damaging blow to Tirpitz's plan came with the launch of HMSDreadnought in February 1906. The new battleship, armed with a main battery of ten 12-inch (30cm) guns, was considerably more powerful than any battleship afloat. Ships capable of battle with Dreadnought would need to be significantly larger than the old pre-dreadnoughts, which increased their cost and necessitated expensive dredging of canals and harbors to accommodate them. The German naval budget was already stretched thin; without new funding, Tirpitz would have to abandon his challenge to Britain.[12] As a result, Tirpitz went before the Reichstag in May 1906 with a request for additional funding. The First Amendment to the Second Naval Law was passed on 19 May and appropriated funding for the new battleships, as well as for the dredging required by their increased size.[6]

The Reichstag passed a second amendment to the Naval Law in March 1908 to provide an additional billion marks to cope with the growing cost of the latest battleships. The law also reduced the service life of all battleships from 25 to 20 years, which allowed Tirpitz to push for the replacement of older vessels earlier. A third and final amendment was passed in May 1912 represented a compromise between Tirpitz and moderates in parliament. The amendment authorized three new battleships and two light cruisers. The amendment called for the High Seas Fleet to be equipped with three squadrons of eight battleships each, one squadron of eight battlecruisers, and eighteen light cruisers. Two 8-ship squadrons would be placed in reserve, along with two armored and twelve light cruisers.[13] By the outbreak of war in August 1914, only one eight-ship squadron of dreadnoughtsthe I Battle Squadronhad been assembled with the Nassau and Helgoland-classbattleships. The second squadron of dreadnoughtsthe III Battle Squadronwhich included four of the Kaiser-classbattleships, was only completed when the four Knig-classbattleships entered service by early 1915.[14] As a result, the third squadronthe II Battle Squadronremained composed of pre-dreadnoughts through 1916.[15]

Before the 1912 naval law was passed, Britain and Germany attempted to reach a compromise with the Haldane Mission, led by the British War Minister Richard Haldane. The arms reduction mission ended in failure, however, and the 1912 law was announced shortly thereafter. The Germans were aware at as early as 1911, the Royal Navy had abandoned the idea of a decisive battle with the German fleet, in favor of a distant blockade at the entrances to the North Sea, which the British could easily control due to their geographical position. There emerged the distinct possibility that the German fleet would be unable to force a battle on its own terms, which would render it militarily useless. When the war came in 1914, the British did in fact adopt this strategy. Coupled with the restrictive orders of the Kaiser, who preferred to keep the fleet intact to be used as a bargaining chip in the peace settlements, the ability of the High Seas Fleet to affect the military situation was markedly reduced.[16]

The German Navy's pre-war planning held that the British would be compelled to mount either a direct attack on the German coast to defeat the High Seas Fleet, or to put in place a close blockade. Either course of action would permit the Germans to whittle away at the numerical superiority of the Grand Fleet with submarines and torpedo boats. Once a rough equality of forces could be achieved, the High Seas Fleet would be able to attack and destroy the British fleet.[17] Implicit in Tirpitz's strategy was the assumption that German vessels were better-designed, had better-trained crews, and would be employed with superior tactics. In addition, Tirpitz assumed that Britain would not be able to concentrate its fleet in the North Sea, owing to the demands of its global empire. At the start of a conflict between the two powers, the Germans would therefore be able to attack the Royal Navy with local superiority.[18]

The British, however, did not accommodate Tirpitz's projections; from his appointment as the First Sea Lord in 1904, Fisher began a major reorganization of the Royal Navy. He concentrated British battleship strength in home waters, launched the Dreadnought revolution, and introduced rigorous training for the fleet personnel.[19] In 1912, the British concluded a joint defense agreement with France that allowed the British to concentrate in the North Sea while the French defended the Mediterranean.[20] Worse still, the British began developing the strategy of the distant blockade of Germany starting in 1904;[21] this removed the ability of German light craft to reduce Britain's superiority in numbers and essentially invalidated German naval planning before the start of World War I.[22]

The primary base for the High Seas Fleet in the North Sea was Wilhelmshaven on the western side of the Jade Bight; the port of Cuxhaven, located on the mouth of the Elbe, was also a major base in the North Sea. The island of Heligoland provided a fortified forward position in the German Bight.[23]Kiel was the most important base in the Baltic, which supported the forward bases at Pillau and Danzig.[24] The Kaiser Wilhelm Canal through Schleswig-Holstein connected the Baltic and North Seas and allowed the German Navy to quickly shift naval forces between the two seas.[25] In peacetime, all ships on active duty in the High Seas Fleet were stationed in Wilhelmshaven, Kiel, or Danzig.[26] Germany possessed only one major overseas base, at Kiautschou in China,[27] where the East Asia Squadron was stationed.[28]

Steam ships of the period, which burned coal to fire their boilers, were naturally tied to coaling stations in friendly ports. The German Navy lacked sufficient overseas bases for sustained operations, even for single ships operating as commerce raiders.[29] The Navy experimented with a device to transfer coal from colliers to warships while underway in 1907, though the practice was not put into general use.[30] Nevertheless, German capital ships had a cruising range of at least 4,000nmi (7,400km; 4,600mi),[31] more than enough to operate in the Atlantic Ocean.[Note 1]

In 1897, the year Tirpitz came to his position as State Secretary of the Navy Office, the Imperial Navy consisted of a total of around 26,000 officers, petty officers, and enlisted men of various ranks, branches, and positions. By the outbreak of war in 1914, this had increased significantly to about 80,000 officers, petty officers, and men.[35] Capital ships were typically commanded by a Kapitn zur See (Captain at Sea) or Korvettenkapitn (corvette captain).[26] Each of these ships typically had a total crew in excess of 1,000 officers and men;[31] the light cruisers that screened for the fleet had crew sizes between 300 and 550.[36] The fleet torpedo boats had crews of about 80 to 100 officers and men, though some later classes approached 200.[37]

In early 1907, enough battleshipsof the Braunschweig and Deutschlandclasseshad been constructed to allow for the creation of a second full squadron.[38] On 16 February 1907,[39] Kaiser Wilhelm renamed the Home Fleet the High Seas Fleet. Admiral Prince Heinrich of Prussia, Wilhelm II's brother, became the first commander of the High Seas Fleet; his flagship was SMSDeutschland.[38] While in a peace-time footing, the Fleet conducted a routine pattern of training exercises, with individual ships, with squadrons, and with the combined fleet, throughout the year. The entire fleet conducted several cruises into the Atlantic Ocean and the Baltic Sea.[40] Prince Henry was replaced in late 1909 by Vice Admiral Henning von Holtzendorff, who served until April 1913. Vice Admiral Friedrich von Ingenohl, who would command the High Seas Fleet in the first months of World War I, took command following the departure of Vice Admiral von Holtzendorff.[41]SMSFriedrich der Grosse replaced Deutschland as the fleet flagship on 2 March 1913.[42]

Despite the rising international tensions following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand on 28 June, the High Seas Fleet began its summer cruise to Norway on 13 July. During the last peacetime cruise of the Imperial Navy, the fleet conducted drills off Skagen before proceeding to the Norwegian fjords on 25 July. The following day the fleet began to steam back to Germany, as a result of Austria-Hungary's ultimatum to Serbia. On the 27th, the entire fleet assembled off Cape Skudenes before returning to port, where the ships remained at a heightened state of readiness.[42] War between Austria-Hungary and Serbia broke out the following day, and in the span of a week all of the major European powers had joined the conflict.[43]

The High Seas Fleet conducted a number of sweeps and advances into the North Sea. The first occurred on 23 November 1914, though no British forces were encountered. Admiral von Ingenohl, the commander of the High Seas Fleet, adopted a strategy in which the battlecruisers of Rear Admiral Franz von Hipper's I Scouting Group raided British coastal towns to lure out portions of the Grand Fleet where they could be destroyed by the High Seas Fleet.[44] The raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby on 1516 December 1914 was the first such operation.[45] On the evening of 15 December, the German battle fleet of some twelve dreadnoughts and eight pre-dreadnoughts came to within 10nmi (19km; 12mi) of an isolated squadron of six British battleships. However, skirmishes between the rival destroyer screens in the darkness convinced von Ingenohl that he was faced with the entire Grand Fleet. Under orders from the Kaiser to avoid risking the fleet unnecessarily, von Ingenohl broke off the engagement and turned the fleet back toward Germany.[46]

Following the loss of SMSBlcher at the Battle of Dogger Bank in January 1915, the Kaiser removed Admiral von Ingenohl from his post on 2 February. Admiral Hugo von Pohl replaced him as commander of the fleet.[47] Admiral von Pohl conducted a series of fleet advances in 1915; in the first one on 2930 March, the fleet steamed out to the north of Terschelling and returned without incident. Another followed on 1718 April, where the fleet covered a mining operation by the II Scouting Group. Three days later, on 2122 April, the High Seas Fleet advanced towards the Dogger Bank, though again failed to meet any British forces.[48] Another sortie followed on 2930 May, during which the fleet advanced as far as Schiermonnikoog before being forced to turn back by inclement weather. On 10 August, the fleet steamed to the north of Heligoland to cover the return of the auxiliary cruiser Meteor. A month later, on 1112 September, the fleet covered another mine-laying operation off the Swarte Bank. The last operation of the year, conducted on 2324 October, was an advance without result in the direction of Horns Reef.[48]

Vice Admiral Reinhard Scheer became Commander in chief of the High Seas Fleet on 18 January 1916 when Admiral von Pohl became too ill to continue in that post.[49] Scheer favored a much more aggressive policy than that of his predecessor, and advocated greater usage of U-boats and zeppelins in coordinated attacks on the Grand Fleet; Scheer received approval from the Kaiser in February 1916 to carry out his intentions.[50] Scheer ordered the fleet on sweeps of the North Sea on 26 March, 23 April, and 2122 April. The battlecruisers conducted another raid on the English coast on 2425 April, during which the fleet provided distant support.[51] Scheer planned another raid for mid-May, but the battlecruiser Seydlitz had struck a mine during the previous raid and the repair work forced the operation to be pushed back until the end of the month.[52]

Admiral Scheer's fleet, composed of 16 dreadnoughts, six pre-dreadnoughts, six light cruisers, and 31 torpedo boats departed the Jade early on the morning of 31 May. The fleet sailed in concert with Hipper's five battlecruisers and supporting cruisers and torpedo boats.[53] The British navy's Room 40 had intercepted and decrypted German radio traffic containing plans of the operation. The Admiralty ordered the Grand Fleet, totaling some 28 dreadnoughts and 9 battlecruisers, to sortie the night before in order to cut off and destroy the High Seas Fleet.[54]

At 16:00 UTC, the two battlecruiser forces encountered each other and began a running gun fight south, back towards Scheer's battle fleet.[55] Upon reaching the High Seas Fleet, Vice Admiral David Beatty's battlecruisers turned back to the north to lure the Germans towards the rapidly approaching Grand Fleet, under the command of Admiral John Jellicoe.[56] During the run to the north, Scheer's leading ships engaged the Queen Elizabeth-class battleships of the 5th Battle Squadron.[57] By 18:30, the Grand Fleet had arrived on the scene, and was deployed into a position that would cross Scheer's "T" from the northeast. To extricate his fleet from this precarious position, Scheer ordered a 16-point turn to the south-west.[58] At 18:55, Scheer decided to conduct another 16-point turn to launch an attack on the British fleet.[59]

This maneuver again put Scheer in a dangerous position; Jellicoe had turned his fleet south and again crossed Scheer's "T."[60] A third 16-point turn followed; Hipper's mauled battlecruisers charged the British line to cover the retreat.[61] Scheer then ordered the fleet to adopt the night cruising formation, which was completed by 23:40.[62] A series of ferocious engagements between Scheer's battleships and Jellicoe's destroyer screen ensued, though the Germans managed to punch their way through the destroyers and make for Horns Reef.[63] The High Seas Fleet reached the Jade between 13:00 and 14:45 on 1 June; Scheer ordered the undamaged battleships of the I Battle Squadron to take up defensive positions in the Jade roadstead while the Kaiser-class battleships were to maintain a state of readiness just outside Wilhelmshaven.[64] The High Seas Fleet had sunk more British vessels than the Grand Fleet had sunk German, though Scheer's leading battleships had taken a terrible hammering. Several capital ships, including SMSKnig, which had been the first vessel in the line, and most of the battlecruisers, were in drydock for extensive repairs for at least two months. On 1 June, the British had twenty-four capital ships in fighting condition, compared to only ten German warships.[65]

By August, enough warships had been repaired to allow Scheer to undertake another fleet operation on 1819 August. Due to the serious damage incurred by Seydlitz and SMSDerfflinger and the loss of SMSLtzow at Jutland, the only battlecruisers available for the operation were SMSVon der Tann and SMSMoltke, which were joined by SMSMarkgraf, SMSGrosser Kurfrst, and the new battleship SMSBayern.[66] Scheer turned north after receiving a false report from a zeppelin about a British unit in the area.[48] As a result, the bombardment was not carried out, and by 14:35, Scheer had been warned of the Grand Fleet's approach and so turned his forces around and retreated to German ports.[67] Another fleet sortie took place on 1819 October 1916 to attack enemy shipping east of Dogger Bank. Despite being forewarned by signal intelligence, the Grand Fleet did not attempt to intercept. The operation was however cancelled due to poor weather after the cruiser Mnchen was torpedoed by the British submarine HMSE38.[68] The fleet was reorganized on 1 December;[48] the four Knig-classbattleships remained in the III Squadron, along with the newly commissioned Bayern, while the five Kaiser-class ships were transferred to the IV Squadron.[69] In March 1917 the new battleship Baden, built to serve as fleet flagship, entered service;[70] on the 17th, Scheer hauled down his flag from Friedrich der Grosse and transferred it to Baden.[48]

The war, now in its fourth year, was by 1917 taking its toll on the crews of the ships of the High Seas Fleet. Acts of passive resistance, such as the posting of anti-war slogans in the battleships SMSOldenburg and SMSPosen in January 1917, began to appear.[71] In June and July, the crews began to conduct more active forms of resistance. These activities included work refusals, hunger strikes, and taking unauthorized leave from their ships.[72] The disruptions came to a head in August, when a series of protests, anti-war speeches, and demonstrations resulted in the arrest of dozens of sailors.[73] Scheer ordered the arrest of over 200 men from the battleship Prinzregent Luitpold, the center of the anti-war activities. A series of courts-martial followed, which resulted in 77 guilty verdicts; nine men were sentenced to death for their roles, though only two men, Albin Kbis and Max Reichpietsch, were executed.[74]

In early September 1917, following the German conquest of the Russian port of Riga, the German navy decided to eliminate the Russian naval forces that still held the Gulf of Riga. The Navy High Command (Admiralstab) planned an operation, codenamed Operation Albion, to seize the Baltic island of sel, and specifically the Russian gun batteries on the Sworbe Peninsula.[75] On 18 September, the order was issued for a joint operation with the army to capture sel and Moon Islands; the primary naval component was to comprise its flagship, Moltke, and the III and IVBattle Squadrons of the High Seas Fleet.[76] The operation began on the morning of 12 October, when Moltke and the IIISquadron ships engaged Russian positions in Tagga Bay while the IVSquadron shelled Russian gun batteries on the Sworbe Peninsula on sel.[77]By 20 October, the fighting on the islands was winding down; Moon, sel, and Dag were in German possession. The previous day, the Admiralstab had ordered the cessation of naval actions and the return of the dreadnoughts to the High Seas Fleet as soon as possible.[78]

Admiral Scheer had used light surface forces to attack British convoys to Norway beginning in late 1917. As a result, the Royal Navy attached a squadron of battleships to protect the convoys, which presented Scheer with the possibility of destroying a detached squadron of the Grand Fleet. The operation called for Hipper's battlecruisers to attack the convoy and its escorts on 23 April while the battleships of the High Seas Fleet stood by in support. On 22 April, the German fleet assembled in the Schillig Roads outside Wilhelmshaven and departed the following morning.[79] Despite the success in reaching the convoy route undetected, the operation failed due to faulty intelligence. Reports from U-boats indicated to Scheer that the convoys sailed at the start and middle of each week, but a west-bound convoy had left Bergen on Tuesday the 22nd and an east-bound group left Methil, Scotland, on the 24th, a Thursday. As a result, there was no convoy for Hipper to attack.[80] Beatty sortied with a force of 31 battleships and four battlecruisers, but was too late to intercept the retreating Germans. The Germans reached their defensive minefields early on 25 April, though approximately 40nmi (74km; 46mi) off Heligoland Moltke was torpedoed by the submarine E42; she successfully returned to port.[81]

A final fleet action was planned for the end of October 1918, days before the Armistice was to take effect. The bulk of the High Seas Fleet was to have sortied from their base in Wilhelmshaven to engage the British Grand Fleet; Scheerby now the Grand Admiral (Grossadmiral) of the fleetintended to inflict as much damage as possible on the British navy, in order to retain a better bargaining position for Germany, despite the expected casualties. However, many of the war-weary sailors felt the operation would disrupt the peace process and prolong the war.[82] On the morning of 29 October 1918, the order was given to sail from Wilhelmshaven the following day. Starting on the night of 29 October, sailors on Thringen and then on several other battleships mutinied.[83] The unrest ultimately forced Hipper and Scheer to cancel the operation.[84] When informed of the situation, the Kaiser stated "I no longer have a navy."[85]

Following the capitulation of Germany on November 1918, most of the High Seas Fleet, under the command of Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter, were interned in the British naval base of Scapa Flow.[84] Prior to the departure of the German fleet, Admiral Adolf von Trotha made clear to von Reuter that he could not allow the Allies to seize the ships, under any conditions.[86] The fleet rendezvoused with the British light cruiser Cardiff, which led the ships to the Allied fleet that was to escort the Germans to Scapa Flow. The massive flotilla consisted of some 370 British, American, and French warships.[87] Once the ships were interned, their guns were disabled through the removal of their breech blocks, and their crews were reduced to 200 officers and enlisted men on each of the capital ships.[88]

The fleet remained in captivity during the negotiations that ultimately produced the Treaty of Versailles. Von Reuter believed that the British intended to seize the German ships on 21 June 1919, which was the deadline for Germany to have signed the peace treaty. Unaware that the deadline had been extended to the 23rd, Reuter ordered the ships to be sunk at the next opportunity. On the morning of 21 June, the British fleet left Scapa Flow to conduct training maneuvers, and at 11:20 Reuter transmitted the order to his ships.[86] Out of the interned fleet, only one battleship, Baden, three light cruisers, and eighteen destroyers were saved from sinking by the British harbor personnel. The Royal Navy, initially opposed to salvage operations, decided to allow private firms to attempt to raise the vessels for scrapping.[89] Cox and Danks, a company founded by Ernest Cox handled most of the salvage operations, including those of the heaviest vessels raised.[90] After Cox's withdrawal due to financial losses in the early 1930s, Metal Industries Group, Inc. took over the salvage operation for the remaining ships. Five more capital ships were raised, though threeSMS Knig, SMSKronprinz, and SMS Markgrafwere too deep to permit raising. They remain on the bottom of Scapa Flow, along with four light cruisers.[91]

The High Seas Fleet, particularly its wartime impotence and ultimate fate, strongly influenced the later German navies, the Reichsmarine and Kriegsmarine. Former Imperial Navy officers continued to serve in the subsequent institutions, including Admiral Erich Raeder, Hipper's former chief of staff, who became the commander in chief of the Reichsmarine. Raeder advocated long-range commerce raiding by surface ships, rather than constructing a large surface fleet to challenge the Royal Navy, which he viewed to be a futile endeavor. His initial version of Plan Z, the construction program for the Kriegsmarine in the late 1930s, called for large number of P-classcruisers, long-range light cruisers, and reconnaissance forces for attacking enemy shipping, though he was overruled by Adolf Hitler, who advocated a large fleet of battleships.[92]

See the original post here:

High Seas Fleet - Wikipedia

Launch Tool

This resource will help you learn about waves and their behaviors. All waves share certain inherent characteristics that you can learn about by clicking on numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4 in the lower-right corner of the resource. The first screen provides definitions for different parts of the wave, including the crest, trough, wave height, wave period, and wavelength. The second screen provides information on normal wave action. The third screen provides information about how the wind affects waves. And, the fourth screen gives information about what determines how big a wave will eventually become.

The information on this site is applicable to classroom lessons taught in mathematics and physics. The information includes inherent characteristics of waves and their behaviors. Although there are no mathematical or physics equations in this activity, there are ones that apply to waveforms. This site can be used as an enhancement to classroom lessons as a light-hearted activity. In addition, students could be asked to write a paragraph about what they found the most interesting about waves.

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Continued here:

High Seas - Science NetLinks

Overview

Ultima Online: High Seas is the most recent expansion (aka "booster") and launched on October 12, 2010 with Publish 68. It was first announced during a UO Town Hall Meeting held on August 28, 2010 at EA Mythic/Bioware's division headquarters in Fairfax, Virginia. It was introduced with the title Adventures on the High Seas but later trimmed to just "High Seas". It was formally announced as a "booster" as opposed to a full-fledged expansion and debuted with a retail price of $14.99 USD.

On September 28, 2010 the release date was announced as October 12, 2010 and the High Seas Test shard opened for testers the next day til October 7, 2010.

During the first public demonstration, an NPC orc ship was attacked but the orc crew killed the character of the lead engineer Derek Brinkmann.

From the UO Japan website.

EA Mythic Lead Engineer Derek Brinkmann demonstrates the new ships (equipped with cannons that actually inflict damage) and goes off to attack some Orcs at Sea. A Major Feature that should be noted is the Navigation/Command System: No more commands to the Tillerman and ships can be "Mouse" driven!

Though the video is of marginal quality, due to the video stream provided, it does provide a major glimpse of what is on the Sosarian High Seas.

Go here to read the rest:

Ultima Online: High Seas - UOGuide, the Ultima Online ...

The Convention on the High Seas is an international treaty which codifies the rules of international law relating to the high seas, otherwise known as international waters.[1] The treaty was one of four treaties created at the United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS I).[2] The treaty was signed 29 April 1958 and entered into force 30 September 1962.[3] As of 2013, the treaty had been ratified by 63 states.[4]

The treaty is divided into 37 articles:

Article 1: Definition of "high seas".

Article 2: Statement of principles

Article 3: Access to the sea for landlocked states

Articles 47: the concept of a Flag State

Article 8: Warships

Article 9: Other ships in government service

Articles 1012: Safety, rescue

Article 13: Outlawing transport of slaves at sea

Articles 1421: Piracy

Article 22: Boarding of merchant ships by warships

Article 23: Hot pursuit, that is, pursuit of a vessel across borders for the purposes of law enforcement

Articles 2425: Pollution

Articles 2629: Submarine cables and pipelines

Articles 3037: legal framework, ratification, accession

Original post:

Convention on the High Seas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The high seas make up about two-thirds of the worlds ocean. These vast expanses of water are so far from shore that they fall outside the jurisdiction of any country.

While early explorers once thought of these areas as essentially barren, thanks to research over recent decades, we now know that the high seas hold some of the largest reservoirs of biodiversity on Earth. They support abundant fisheries, provide important migratory routes for whales and sharks, and brim with deep-water corals and other unique marine life.

These areas beyond national jurisdiction are rich in resources but scarce in oversight. A patchwork of rules and regulations provides little in the way of conservation safeguards to protect the greater marine ecosystem from growing commercial activities such as fishing, oil and gas exploration, and deep sea mining.

The development of marine protected areas and reservesthe equivalent of national parks at seawould be a good first step toward providing protection. Unfortunately, the world lacks an international legal instrument to establish such areas in high seas waters. The Pew Charitable Trusts project to protect ocean life on the high seas was launched to help change that.

Go here to see the original:

Protecting Ocean Life on the High Seas - Pew Trusts

High Seas combines 3 variations of one lace motif to create an asymmetrical pattern of dramatic waves.

The sample shown was knit on 3.5mm/US4 needles using 3.5 balls (800yds/730m) of Rowan Kidsilk Haze 632 Hurricane.

Dimensions of finished shawl: a parallelogram 68in/172cm by 22in/56cm. The short ends flare out to 24in/61cm.

High Seas is available in 2 separate formats:

Charted Pattern

The charted pattern pdf includes three versions:

the original pattern with left-leaning decreases on RS rows, and p2togtbls on WS rows

a mirrored version with right-leaning decreases on RS rows, and p2tog's instead of p2togtbls on WS rows

a mirrored version with right-leaning decreases on RS rows and plain WS rows.

The mirrored version with plain WS rows requires a bit more yarn per repeat than the original, details below.

$6.00

Written Pattern

The written pattern pdf contains just one version of High Seas: the slightly easier mirrored version with right-leaning decreases on RS rows and p2togs on WS rows.

$4.75

asymmetrical parallelogram shape

The mirrored version with plain WS rows

(pictured right) requires a bit more yarn per repeat than the original, as the chart is 11 stitches wider.

The visual difference between the two versions is mainly in the smallest waves (slightly denser in this version)

and the transitions between the smallest waves and

the other waves (slightly less open).

Dimensions: a parallelogram,

approx. 70in/180cm by 19.5in/50cm

The sample was knit by winterstitch

with approx. 860yds/790m of Wollmeise Lace-Garn

for 8 repeats of the main chart.

photograph above Alexandra Winter

cold mountain

3 lace scarves

Read the original:

knit/lab high seas - Kieran Foley