why were the navy ships moored on the river medway

The Dutch Raid on the Medway during the Second Anglo-Dutch War in June 1667, called the Journey to Chatham or Tocht naar Chatham by the Dutch (incorrectly called the Battle of Medway by Medway Council during 350th anniversary 'celebrations' of the event), was a successful and daring attack conducted by the Dutch navy deep upriver targeting the largest English naval battleships at a time when most were virtually unmanned and unarmed, laid up due to lack of funding in the fleet anchorages off Chatham Dockyard and Gillingham in the county of Kent. At the time, the fortress of Upnor Castle and a barrier chain called the "Gillingham Line" were supposed to protect the mothballed naval ships anchored off Chatham, the main English naval base in southeastern Stuart England.

Raid on the Medway

Michiel de Ruyter
 Willem van Ghent

13 English ships lost,[2][3]
HMS Unity[4] and HMS Royal Charles[5] captured

Caribbean & North America

The Dutch, under nominal command of Lieutenant-Admiral Michiel de Ruyter, over several days bombarded and then captured the town of Sheerness, sailed up the River Thames to Gravesend, then risking the perils of its treacherous shallows, sandbars and shoals, sailed up the River Medway to Chatham and Gillingham, where they engaged fortifications with cannon fire, burned three capital ships and ten lesser naval vessels, and captured and towed away two ships of the line: HMS Unity and the pride and normal flagship of the English fleet, HMS Royal Charles.

Politically, the raid was disastrous for King Charles' war plans[1] and led to a quick end to the war and a favourable peace for the Dutch. It was one of the worst defeats in the Royal Navy's history,[1] and one of the worst suffered by the British military.[6] Horace George Franks called it the "most serious defeat it has ever had in its home waters."[7]

In 1667 Charles II's active fleet was in a reduced state due to recent expenditure restrictions, with the remaining "big ships" laid up. The Dutch seized this opportunity to attack the English. They had made earlier plans for such an attack in 1666 after the Four Days Battle but were prevented from carrying them out by their defeat in the St James's Day Battle. The mastermind behind the plan was the leading Dutch politician Grand Pensionary Johan de Witt. His brother Cornelis de Witt accompanied the fleet to supervise. Peace negotiations had already been in progress at Breda since March, but Charles had been procrastinating over the signing of peace, hoping to improve his position through secret French assistance.[8] Based on these assumptions De Witt thought it best to end the war quickly with a clear victory, thereby ensuring a more advantageous settlement for the Dutch Republic. Most Dutch flag officers had strong doubts about the feasibility of such a daring attack, fearing the treacherous shoals in the Thames estuary, but they obeyed orders nevertheless. The Dutch made use of two English pilots who had defected, one a dissenter named Robert Holland, the other a smuggler who had fled English justice.

On 17 May the squadron of the Admiralty of Rotterdam with De Ruyter sailed to the Texel to join those of Amsterdam and the Northern Quarter. Hearing that the squadron of Frisia was not yet ready because of recruiting problems (impressment being forbidden in the Republic), he left for the Schooneveld off the Dutch coast to join the squadron of Zealand that, however, suffered from similar problems. De Ruyter then departed for the Thames on 4 June (Old Style used by the English, the Dutch at the time were officially using New Style dates) with 62 frigates or ships-of-the-line, about fifteen lighter ships and twelve fireships, when the wind turned to the east. The fleet was reorganised into three squadrons: the first was commanded by De Ruyter himself, with as Vice-Admiral Johan de Liefde and Rear-Admiral Jan Jansse van Nes; the second was commanded by Lieutenant-Admiral Aert Jansse van Nes with as Vice-Admiral Enno Doedes Star and Rear-Admiral Willem van der Zaan; the third was commanded by Lieutenant-Admiral Baron Willem Joseph van Ghent with Lieutenant-Admiral Jan van Meppel in subcommand and as Vice-Admirals Isaac Sweers and Volckert Schram and as Rear-Admirals David Vlugh and Jan Gideonsz Verburgh.[9] The third squadron thus effectively had a second set of commanders; this was done to use these as flag officers of a special frigate landing force, to be formed on arrival and to be headed by Colonel and Lieutenant-Admiral Van Ghent, on the frigate Agatha. Baron Van Ghent was in fact the real commander of the expedition and had done all the operational planning, as he had been the former commander of the Dutch Marine Corps, the first in history to be specialised in amphibious operations, that now was headed by the Englishman Colonel Thomas Dolman.

On 6 June a fog bank was blown away and revealed the Dutch task force, sailing into the mouth of the Thames. On 7 June Cornelis de Witt revealed his secret instructions from the States General, written on 20 May, in the presence of all commanders. There were so many objections, while De Ruyter's only substantial contribution to the discussion was "bevelen zijn bevelen "("orders are orders"), that Cornelis, after retiring to his cabin late in the night, wrote in his daily report he did not feel at all sure that he would be obeyed. The next day it transpired however that most officers were in for a bit of adventure; they had just given their professional opinion for the record so they could blame the politicians should the whole enterprise end in disaster. That day an attempt was made to capture a fleet of twenty English merchantmen seen higher up the Thames in the direction of London, but this failed as these fled to the west, beyond Gravesend.

The attack caught the English unawares. No serious preparations had been made for such an eventuality, although there had been ample warning from the extensive English spy network. Most frigates were assembled in squadrons at Harwich and in Scotland, leaving the London area to be protected by only a small number of active ships, most of them prizes taken earlier in the war from the Dutch. As a further measure of economy, on 24 March the Duke of York had ordered the discharge of most of the crews of the prize vessels, leaving only three guard ships at the Medway; in compensation the crew of one of them, the frigate Unity (the first ship to be captured from the Dutch in 1665, from the privateer Cornelis Evertsen the Youngest) was raised from forty to sixty; also the number of fireships was increased from one to three. Additionally thirty large sloops were to be prepared to row any ship to safety in case of an emergency.[10] Sir William Coventry declared that a Dutch landing near London was very unlikely; at most the Dutch, to bolster their morale, would launch a token attack at some medium-sized and exposed target like Harwich, which place therefore had been strongly fortified in the spring. There was no clear line of command with most responsible authorities giving hasty orders without bothering to co-ordinate them first. As a result, there was much confusion. Charles did not take matters into his own hands, deferring mostly to the opinion of others. English morale was low. Not having been paid for months or even years, most sailors and soldiers were less than enthusiastic to risk their lives. England had only a small army and the few available units were dispersed as Dutch intentions were unclear. This explains why no effective countermeasures were taken though it took the Dutch about five days to reach Chatham, slowly manoeuvring through the shoals, leaving the heavier vessels behind as a covering force. They could only advance in jumps when the tide was favourable.

After raising the alarm on 6 June at Chatham Dockyard, Commissioner Peter Pett seems not to have taken any further action until 9 June when, late in the afternoon, a fleet of about thirty Dutch ships was sighted in the Thames off Sheerness. At this point the Commissioner immediately sought assistance from the Admiralty, sending a pessimistic message to the Navy Board, lamenting the absence of Navy senior officials whose help and advice he believed he needed. The thirty ships were those of Van Ghent's squadron of frigates. The Dutch fleet carried about a thousand marines and landing parties were dispatched to Canvey Island in Essex and opposite on the Kent side at Sheerness. These men had strict orders by Cornelis de Witt not to plunder, as the Dutch wanted to shame the English whose troops had sacked Terschelling during Holmes's Bonfire in August 1666. Nevertheless, the crew of Captain Jan van Brakel could not control themselves. They were driven off by English militia, and found themselves under threat of severe punishment upon returning to the Dutch fleet. Van Brakel offered to lead the attack the next day to avoid the penalty.

The King ordered the Earl of Oxford on 8 June to mobilise the militia of all counties around London; also all available barges should be used to lay a ship's bridge across the Lower Thames, so that the English cavalry could quickly switch positions from one bank to the other. Sir Edward Spragge, the famous Vice-Admiral, learned on 9 June that a Dutch raiding party had come ashore on the Isle of Grain (a peninsula where the river Medway in Kent, meets the River Thames). Musketeers from the Sheerness garrison opposite were sent to investigate.

Only in the afternoon of 10 June did the King instruct Admiral George Monck, Duke of Albemarle to go to Chatham to take charge of matters, a full three days later ordering Admiral Prince Rupert to organise the defences at Woolwich. Albemarle went first to Gravesend where he noted to his dismay that there and at Tilbury only a few guns were present, too few to halt a possible Dutch advance upon the Thames. To prevent such a disaster, he ordered all available artillery from the capital to be positioned at Gravesend. On 11 June (Old Style) he went to Chatham, expecting the place to be well prepared for an attack. Two members of the Navy Board, Sir John Mennes and Lord Henry Brouncker, had already travelled there on the same day. When Albemarle arrived, however, he found only twelve of the eight hundred dockyard men expected and these in a state of panic; of the thirty sloops only ten were present, the other twenty having been used to evacuate the personal possessions of several officials, such as Pett's ship models. No munitions or powder were available and the six-inch thick iron chain that blocked the Medway had not yet been protected by batteries. This chain system had been built during the English Civil War to repel a possible attack by the Royalist fleet, replacing earlier versions, the first dating back to 1585. Albemarle immediately ordered the artillery to be moved from Gravesend to Chatham, which would take a day.

The Dutch fleet arrived at the Isle of Sheppey on 10 June, and launched an attack on the incomplete Garrison Point Fort. Captain Jan van Brakel in Vrede,[2] ("Peace") followed by two other men-of-war, sailed as close to the fort as possible to engage it with cannon fire. Sir Edward Spragge was in command of the ships at anchor in the Medway and those off Sheerness, but the only ship able to defend against the Dutch was the frigate Unity, which was stationed off the fort.

The Unity was supported by a number of ketches and fireships at Garrison Point, and by the fort, where sixteen guns had been hastily placed. The Unity fired one broadside, but then, when attacked by a Dutch fireship, she withdrew up the Medway, followed by the English fireships and ketches. The Dutch fired on the fort; two men were hit. It then transpired that no surgeon was available and most of the soldiers of the Scottish garrison now deserted. Seven remained, but their position became untenable when some 800 Dutch marines landed about a mile away. With Sheerness thus lost, its guns being captured by the Dutch and the building blown up, Spragge sailed up river for Chatham on his yacht the Henrietta. Many officers were now assembled there: Spragge himself, the next day also Monck and several men of the admiralty board. All gave orders countermanding those of the others so that utter confusion reigned.

As his artillery would not arrive soon, Monck on the 11th ordered a squadron of cavalry and a company of soldiers to reinforce Upnor Castle.[11] River defences were hastily improvised with blockships sunk, and the chain across the river was guarded by light batteries. Pett proposed that several big and smaller ships be sunk to block the Musselbank channel in front of the chain. This way the large Golden Phoenix and the House of Sweden (the former VOC – ships Gulden Phenix and Huis van Swieten) and the Welcome and the Leicester were lost and the smaller Constant John, Unicorn and John and Sarah; when this was shown by Spragge to be insufficient, personally sounding the depth of a second channel despite the assurances by Pett, they were joined by the Barbados Merchant, Dolphin, Edward and Eve, Hind and Fortune. To do this the men first intended for the warships to be protected were used, so the most valuable ships were basically without crews. These blockships were placed in a rather easterly position, on the line Upchurch – Stoke, and could not be covered by fire. Monck then decided also to sink blockships in Upnor Reach near Upnor Castle, presenting another barrier to the Dutch should they break through the chain at Gillingham. The defensive chain placed across the river had at its lowest point been lying practically nine feet (about three metres) under the water between its stages, owing to its weight, so it was still possible for light ships to pass it. Attempts were made to raise it by placing stages under it closer to the shore.

The positions of the Charles V and the Matthias (former Dutch merchantmen Carolus Quintus and Geldersche Ruyter), just above the chain were adjusted to enable them to bring their broadsides to bear upon it. The Monmouth was also moored above the chain, positioned so that she could bring her guns to bear on the space between the Charles V and the Matthias. The frigate Marmaduke and the Norway Merchant were sunk above the chain; the large Sancta Maria (former VOC-ship Slot van Honingen of 70 cannon) foundered while being moved for the same purpose. Pett also informed Monck that the Royal Charles had to be moved upriver. He had been ordered by the Duke of York on 27 March to do this, but as yet had not complied. Monck at first refused to make available some of his small number of sloops, as they were needed to move supplies; when he at last found the captain of the Matthias willing to assist, Pett answered that it was too late as he was busy sinking the blockships and there was no pilot to be found daring to take such a risk anyway. Meanwhile, the first Dutch frigates to arrive had already begun to move the Edward and Eve away, clearing a channel by nightfall.

Van Ghent's squadron now advanced up the Medway on 12 June, attacking the English defences at the chain. First Unity was taken by Van Brakel by assault. Then the fireship Pro Patria under commander Jan DaniÃ«lsz van Rijn broke through the chain[12] (or sailed over it according to some historians,[who?] distrusting the more spectacular traditional version of events), the stages of which were soon after destroyed by Dutch engineers commanded by Rear-Admiral David Vlugh. She then destroyed the Matthias by fire. The fireships Catharina and Schiedam attacked the Charles V; the Catharina under commander Hendrik Hendriksz was sunk by the shore batteries but the Schiedam under commander Gerrit Andriesz Mak [13] set the Charles V alight; the crew was captured by Van Brakel. The Royal Charles, with only thirty cannon aboard and abandoned by her skeleton crew when they saw the Matthias burn, was then captured by the Irishman Thomas Tobiasz, the flag captain of Vice-Admiral Johan de Liefde, and carried off to the Netherlands despite an unfavourable tide. This was made possible by lowering her draught by bringing her into a slight tilt. The jack was struck while a trumpeter played "Joan's placket is torn". Only the Monmouth escaped. Seeing the disaster Monck ordered all sixteen remaining warships further up to be sunk to prevent them from being captured, making for a total of about thirty ships deliberately sunk by the English themselves. As Andrew Marvell satirised:

On 13 June, the whole of the Thames side as far up as London was in a panic – some spread the rumour that the Dutch were in the process of transporting a French army from Dunkirk for a full-scale invasion – and many wealthy citizens fled the city, taking their most valuable possessions with them. The Dutch continued their advance into the Chatham docks with the fireships Delft, Rotterdam, Draak, Wapen van Londen, Gouden Appel and Princess, under English fire from Upnor Castle and from three shore batteries. A number of Dutch frigates suppressed the English fire, themselves suffering about forty casualties in dead and wounded. Three of the finest and heaviest vessels in the navy, already sunk to prevent capture, now perished by fire: first the Loyal London, set alight by the Rotterdam under commander Cornelis Jacobsz van der Hoeven; then the Royal James and finally the Royal Oak, that withstood attempts by two fireships but was burnt by a third. The English crews abandoned their half-flooded ships, mostly without a fight, a notable exception being army Captain Archibald Douglas, of the Scots Foot, who personally refused to abandon the Oak and perished in the flames. The Monmouth again escaped. The raid thus cost the English four of their remaining eight ships with more than 75 cannon. Three of the four largest "big ships" of the navy were lost. The remaining "big ship", the Royal Sovereign (the former Sovereign of the Seas rebuilt as a two-decker), was preserved due to her being at Portsmouth at the time.[14] De Ruyter now joined Van Ghent's squadron in person.

The diary of Samuel Pepys,[15] as secretary of the Navy Board, is very often cited in descriptions of the raid, as it gives us direct information about the attitude of the policy makers in this period and of the psychological impact of the attack.

Pepys at first seems to accept the consensus that the Dutch would not dare to launch an expedition against the London area; still on 18 April he writes: "(...)then to the office, where the news is strong that not only the Dutch cannot set out a fleete this year, but that the French will not, and that he [ Louis XIV ] hath given the answer to the Dutch Embassador, saying that he is for the King of England's having an honourable peace, which, if true, is the best news we have had a good while." At that moment De Ruyter had already been on De Zeven Provinciën for a week. Nevertheless, he is aware of the preparations at Chatham, writing on 23 March: "At the office all the morning, where Sir W. Pen (sic) come, being returned from Chatham, from considering the means of fortifying the river Medway, by a chain at the stakes, and ships laid there with guns to keep the enemy from coming up to burn our ships; all our care now being to fortify ourselves against their invading us." Also he is the next day present at the meeting where the details are given: "All their care they now take is to fortify themselves, and are not ashamed of it: for when by and by my Lord Arlington come in with letters, and seeing the King and Duke of York give us and the officers of the Ordnance directions in this matter, he did move that we might do it as privately as we could, that it might not come into the Dutch Gazette presently, as the King's and Duke of York's going down the other day to Sheerenesse was, the week after, in the Harlem Gazette. The King and Duke of York both laughed at it, and made no matter, but said, 'Let us be safe, and let them talk, for there is nothing will trouble them more, nor will prevent their coming more, than to hear that we are fortifying ourselves'."

Only on 3 June does Pepys become aware that the Dutch are out in force: "the Dutch are known to be abroad with eighty sail of ships of war, and twenty fire-ships; and the French come into the Channell with twenty sail of men-of-war, and five fireships, while we have not a ship at sea to do them any hurt with; but are calling in all we can, while our Embassadors are treating at Bredah; and the Dutch look upon them as come to beg peace, and use them accordingly; and all this through the negligence of our Prince, who hath power, if he would, to master all these with the money and men that he hath had the command of, and may now have, if he would mind his business."[15]

Not until 10 June does Pepys understand that the Thames is the target: "News brought us that, the Dutch are come up as high as the Nore; and more pressing orders for fireships." The next day a growing sense of panic becomes apparent: "Up, and more letters still from Sir W. Coventry about more fire-ships, and so Sir W. Batten and I to the office, where Bruncker come to us, who is just now going to Chatham upon a desire of Commissioner Pett's, who is in a very fearful stink for fear of the Dutch, and desires help for God and the King and kingdom's sake. So Bruncker goes down, and Sir J. Minnes also, from Gravesend. This morning Pett writes us word that Sheernesse is lost last night, after two or three hours' dispute. The enemy hath possessed himself of that place; which is very sad, and puts us into great fears of Chatham." In the morning of the 12th he is reassured by the measures taken by Monck: "(...)met Sir W. Coventry's boy; and there in his letter find that the Dutch had made no motion since their taking Sheernesse; and the Duke of Albemarle writes that all is safe as to the great ships against any assault, the boom and chaine being so fortified; which put my heart into great joy." Soon, however, this confidence is shattered: "(...)his clerk, Powell, do tell me that ill newes is come to Court of the Dutch breaking the Chaine at Chatham; which struck me to the heart. And to White Hall to hear the truth of it; and there, going up the back-stairs, I did hear some lacquies speaking of sad newes come to Court, saying, that hardly anybody in the Court but do look as if he cried(...)."[15]

Pepys immediately draws the conclusion that this will mean the end of Charles's regime and that a revolution is inevitable: "All our hearts do now ake; for the newes is true, that the Dutch have broke the chaine and burned our ships, and particularly "The Royal Charles", other particulars I know not, but most sad to be sure. And, the truth is, I do fear so much that the whole kingdom is undone, that I do this night resolve to study with my father and wife what to do with the little that I have in money by me(...).[15]

On the 13th, the countermeasures proposed only increase his fears and make him decide to take his family and capital to safety: "No sooner up but hear the sad newes confirmed of the Royall Charles being taken by them, and now in fitting by them – which Pett should have carried up higher by our several orders, and deserves, therefore, to be hanged for not doing it – and turning several others; and that another fleete is come up into the Hope. Upon which newes the King and Duke of York have been below [London Bridge] since four o'clock in the morning, to command the sinking of ships at Barking-Creeke, and other places, to stop their coming up higher: which put me into such a fear, that I presently resolved of my father's and wife's going into the country; and, at two hours' warning, they did go by the coach this day, with about £1300 in gold in their night-bag." The entire city is in a state of panic: "(...)never were people so dejected as they are in the City all over at this day; and do talk most loudly, even treason; as, that we are bought and sold — that we are betrayed by the Papists, and others, about the King; cry out that the office of the Ordnance hath been so backward as no powder to have been at Chatham nor Upnor Castle till such a time, and the carriages all broken; that Legg is a Papist; that Upnor, the old good castle built by Queen Elizabeth, should be lately slighted; that the ships at Chatham should not be carried up higher. They look upon us as lost, and remove their families and rich goods in the City; and do think verily that the French, being come down with his army to Dunkirke, it is to invade us, and that we shall be invaded." Then even worse news is brought: "Late at night comes Mr. Hudson, the cooper, my neighbour, and tells me that he come from Chatham this evening at five o'clock, and saw this afternoon "The Royal James," "Oake," and "London," burnt by the enemy with their fire-ships: that two or three men-of-war come up with them, and made no more of Upnor Castle's shooting, than of a fly(...)."[15]

On the 14th more details become known of the events the previous day, showing the morale of the sailors: "[he] did hear many Englishmen aboard the Dutch ships speaking to one another in English, and that they did cry and say: We did heretofore fight for tickets; now we fight for dollars! and did ask how such and such a one did, and would commend themselves to them: which is a sad consideration", and the mood of the people towards Charles "they did in open streets yesterday at Westminster, cry, 'A Parliament! a Parliament!'; and I do believe it will cost blood to answer for these miscarriages."[15]

As he expected a stiffening English resistance, Cornelis de Witt on 14 June decided to forego a further penetration and withdraw, towing the Royal Charles along as a war trophy; the Unity also was removed with a prize crew. This decision saved the sunken-off capital ships the Royal Katherine, the Unicorn, the Victory and the St George. However, Dutch demolition teams that day rowed on boats to any ship they could reach to burn her down as much as they could, thus ensuring their reward money. One boat even re-entered the docks to make sure nothing was left above the waterline of the Oak, the James and the London; another, by accident or malicious intent, burnt the Slot van Honingen, though it had been intended to salvage this precious merchantman. Also Chatham Dockyard escaped a destruction which might have prevented the rebuilding of the English navy for decades.[14] Now the English villages were plundered â€“ by their own troops. The Dutch fleet, after celebrating by collectively thanking God for "a great victory in a just war in self-defence" tried to repeat its success by attacking several other ports on the English east coast but was repelled each time. On 27 June an attempt to enter the Thames beyond Gravesend was called off when it became known that the river was blocked by blockships and five fireships awaited the Dutch attack. On 2 July a Dutch marine force landed near Woodbridge north of Harwich and successfully prevented Landguard Fort from being reinforced but a direct assault on the fort by 1500 marines was beaten off by the garrison. On 3 July an attack on Osley Bay failed. On 21 July Julian calendar peace was signed.[16]

But still, Samuel Pepys notes in his diary on 19 July 1667: "The Dutch fleete are in great squadrons everywhere still about Harwich, and were lately at Portsmouth; and the last letters say at Plymouth, and now gone to Dartmouth to destroy our Streights' fleete lately got in thither; but God knows whether they can do it any hurt, or no, but it was pretty news come the other day so fast, of the Dutch fleets being in so many places, that Sir W. Batten at table cried, By God, says he, I think the Devil shits Dutchmen."[15]

And on 29 July 1667: "Thus in all things, in wisdom, courage, force, knowledge of our own streams, and success, the Dutch have the best of us, and do end the war with victory on their side".[15]

Wharf official John Norman estimated the damage caused by the raid at about £20,000, apart from the replacement costs of the four lost capital ships; the total loss of the Royal Navy must have been close to £200,000.[17] Pett was made a scapegoat, bailed at £5,000 and deprived of his office while those who had ignored his earlier warnings quietly escaped any blame. The Royal James, Oak and Loyal London were in the end salvaged and rebuilt, but at great cost and when the City of London refused to share in it, Charles had the name of the latter ship changed to a simple London. For a few years the English fleet was handicapped by its losses during the raid, but by around 1670 a new building programme had restored the English Navy to its former power.

The Raid on the Medway was a serious blow to the reputation of the English crown. Charles felt personally offended by the fact the Dutch had attacked while he had laid up his fleet and peace negotiations were in progress, conveniently forgetting he himself had not negotiated in good faith. His resentment was one of the causes of the Third Anglo-Dutch War as it made him enter into the secret Treaty of Dover with Louis XIV of France. In the 19th century, nationalistic British writers expanded on this theme by suggesting it had been the Dutch who had sued for peace after their defeats in 1666 – although in fact these had made them, if anything, more belligerent – and that only by treacherously attacking the English had they nevertheless been able to gain a victory; a typical example of this is When London burned, written by the novelist G. A. Henty in 1895. In the short term, the Lord Chancellor, Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon was made the scapegoat, impeached and forced into exile.

Total losses for the Dutch were eight spent fireships and about fifty casualties. In the Republic the populace was jubilant after the victory; many festivities were held, repeated when the fleet returned in October, the various admirals being hailed as heroes. They were rewarded by a flood of eulogies and given honorary golden chains and pensions by the States General and the lesser States of the Provinces; De Ruyter, Cornelis de Witt and Van Ghent were honoured by precious enamelled golden chalices made by Nicolaes Lockeman, depicting the events. Cornelis de Witt had a large "Sea Triumph" painted, with himself as the main subject, which was displayed in the townhall of Dordt. This triumphalism by De Witt's States faction caused resentment with the rivalling Orangist faction; when the States regime lost its power during the rampjaar of 1672, Cornelis's head was to be ceremoniously carved out from the painting, after Charles had for some years insisted the picture would be removed.

The Royal Charles, her draught too deep to be of use in the shallow Dutch waters, was permanently drydocked near Hellevoetsluis as a tourist attraction, with day trips being organised for large parties, often of foreign state guests. After vehement protests by Charles that this insulted his honour, the official visits were ended and the Royal Charles was eventually scrapped in 1672; however, part of her transom, bearing the coat of arms with the Lion and Unicorn and the Royal inscription Dieu et mon droit, was preserved because Charles earlier had demanded its removal and it has since 1883 been put on display in the cellar of the Rijksmuseum of Amsterdam.[5]

On 14 March 2012 the transom was transported to England on board the Royal Netherlands Navy patrol ship Holland, accompanied by the Dutch crown prince Willem-Alexander, where it was put on display, in commodate, at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich as part of the Royal River: Power, Pageantry and the Thames exhibition held on the occasion of the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II.[18]

Almost 250 years later, Rudyard Kipling wrote the poem "The Dutch in the Medway (1664-72)"[19] about these events (giving a not altogether historically correct account) for C.R.L. Fletcher's A History of England (1911):

On 14 December 1941 a Dutch minelayer named after Jan van Brakel,[20] which was serving as a convoy escort on the UK eastern coast, accidentally hit the anchor buoy of one of the gate vessels which were protecting the entrance to the Medway during World War II. The commander reported this incident to the port authorities, signalling: "Van Brakel damaged boom defence Medway". The instant reply was: "What, again?".[21]


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Vanessa Ferlito is an American actress, perhaps best known for appearing as Detective Aiden Burn in CSI: NY, as well as her recurring portrayal of Claudia Hernandez in 24 and her regular role as FBI Agent Charlie DeMarco in Graceland. She has also appeared in a number of films including: Spider-Man 2 (2004), Shadowboxer (2005), Man of the House (2005), Death Proof (2007), Nothing Like the Holidays (2008), Madea Goes to Jail (2009), Julie & Julia (2009), Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010), and Stand Up Guys (2012). Ferlito currently stars in the CBS series NCIS: New Orleans, playing Special Agent Tammy Gregorio.

Vanessa Ferlito

Ferlito was born to an Italian-American family in Brooklyn, New York. Her father died of a heroin overdose when she was two years old.[1] Her mother and stepfather own a hair salon in Brooklyn. Before becoming an actress, Ferlito was a Wilhelmina model, and a New York City "club kid".[2] Ferlito is a single mother who gave birth to a son in September 2007.[3][4]

Ferlito developed acting aspirations early in her life and broke into the entertainment business through a series of guest spots and recurring roles.

In 2003, Ferlito starred as Lizette Sanchez in John Leguizamo's boxing drama Undefeated,[5] which earned her an NAACP nomination for Outstanding Actress in a TV movie. This was followed in 2004 by a role in Spider-Man 2.[6] In 2005 Ferlito appeared in Stephen Herek's Man of the House, opposite Tommy Lee Jones, for which she received positive notice, with Variety's Joe Leydon stating that "Vanessa Ferlito is the standout, mainly because sheâ€™s the only one who gets enough to do to make a strong impression as a distinctive personality."[7]

On the small screen, Ferlito was a series regular on the first two seasons (2004–2005) of CBS's CSI: NY, as Aiden Burn, a member of the forensic investigation team led by Gary Sinise.[8][9][10] Ferlito has also appeared in other television series, including HBO’s The Sopranos, NBC’s Law & Order and Third Watch, and had a recurring role as Claudia in FOX's series 24.[11]

After CSI: NY, Ferlito starred in several films, among them Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps;[12] Nora Ephron's Julie & Julia opposite Meryl Streep, Stanley Tucci and Amy Adams; Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail;[13] and Alfredo De Villa’s Nothing Like the Holidays (originally titled Humboldt Park) with Alfred Molina, John Leguizamo and Jay Hernandez.[14][15] Prior to these, Ferlito appeared in Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof opposite Kurt Russell,[16][17] a role Tarantino wrote specifically for Ferlito.[citation needed] She also appeared Lee Daniel’s Shadowboxer with Helen Mirren and Cuba Gooding Jr.[18]

In 2012, Ferlito was cast in the feature film, Stand Up Guys, opposite Al Pacino, Christopher Walken and Alan Arkin.[19] She also played Charlie DeMarco on USA Network's Graceland, which ran between 2013 and 2015.[20] In 2016 Ferlito was added to the cast of NCIS: New Orleans for the show's third season, playing an FBI special agent who is sent from DC to investigate the NCIS team.[21]


who said the holy alliance as high sounding nothing

In practice, the Austrian state chancellor Prince Klemens von Metternich made a bastion against democracy, revolution, and secularism (although it is said that his first reaction was to call it  "a resounding nothing"). The monarchs of the three countries involved used this to band together in order to prevent revolutionary influence (especially from the French Revolution) and Enlightenment from entering these nations.

Holy Alliance

The Holy Alliance (German: Heilige Allianz; Russian: Священный союз, Svyashchennyy soyuz; also called the Grand Alliance) was a coalition created by the monarchist great powers of Russia, Austria and Prussia. It was created after the ultimate defeat of Napoleon at the behest of Tsar Alexander I of Russia and signed in Paris on 26 September 1815.[1] The intention of the alliance was to restrain liberalism and secularism in Europe in the wake of the devastating French Revolutionary Wars, and the alliance nominally succeeded in this until the Crimean War (1853–1856). Otto von Bismarck managed to reunite the Holy Alliance after the unification of Germany but the alliance again faltered by the 1880s over Austrian and Russian conflicts of interest with regard to the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire.

Ostensibly, the alliance was formed to instill the divine right of kings and Christian values in European political life, as pursued by the Tsar under the influence of his  spiritual adviser Baroness Barbara von Krüdener. About three months after the Final Act of the Vienna Congress, the monarchs of Orthodox (Russia), Catholic (Austria) and Protestant (Prussia) confession promised to act on the basis of "justice, love and peace", both in internal and foreign affairs, for "consolidating human institutions and remedying their imperfections".

Despite this noble wording, the Alliance was not only rejected as non-effective by the United Kingdom (though George IV declared consent in his capacity as King of Hanover), but also by the Papal States and the Islamic Ottoman Empire. Lord Castlereagh, the British Foreign  Secretary, called it "a piece of sublime mysticism and nonsense", and advised George IV to have nothing to do with it.

The Alliance is usually associated with the later Quadruple and Quintuple Alliances, which included the United Kingdom and (from 1818) France with the aim of upholding the European peace settlement and balance of power in the Concert of Europe concluded at the Congress of Vienna. On 29 September 1818, the Tsar, Emperor Francis I of Austria and King Frederick William III of Prussia met with the Duke of Wellington, Viscount Castlereagh and the Duc de Richelieu at the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle to demand stern measures against university "demagogues", which would realize in the Carlsbad Decrees in the following year. At the 1820 Congress of Troppau and the succeeding Congress of Laibach, Metternich tried to align his allies in the suppression of the Carbonari revolt against King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies. The Quintuple Alliance met for the last time at the 1822 Congress of Verona to strive against the Greek Revolution and to resolve upon the French Invasion into Spain.

The last meetings had revealed the rising antagonism with Britain and France, especially on Italian unification, the right to self-determination and the Eastern Question. The Alliance was conventionally taken to have become defunct with Alexander's death in 1825. France ultimately went separate ways after the July Revolution of 1830, leaving the core of Russia, Austria and Prussia as Central-Eastern European block which once again congregated to suppress the Revolutions of 1848. The Austro-Russian alliance finally broke up in the Crimean War: though Russia had helped to completely destroy the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, Austria did not take any action to support her ally, declared herself neutral and even occupied the Wallachian and Moldavian lands on the Danube upon the Russian retreat in 1854. Thereafter, Austria remained isolated, which added to the loss of her leading role in the German lands, culminating in the defeat of the Austro-Prussian War in 1866.


when did the ps4 come out in the uk

PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a line of eighth generation home video game consoles developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 during a press conference on February 20, 2013, it was launched on November 15 in North America, November 29 in Europe, South America and Australia; and February 22, 2014, in Japan. It competes with Nintendo's Wii U and Switch, and Microsoft's Xbox One.

PlayStation 4

Moving away from the more complex Cell microarchitecture of its predecessor, the console features an AMD Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) built upon the x86-64 architecture, which can theoretically peak at 1.84 teraflops; AMD stated that it was the "most powerful" APU it had developed to date. The PlayStation 4 places an increased emphasis on social interaction and integration with other devices and services, including the ability to play games off-console on PlayStation Vita and other supported devices ("Remote Play"), the ability to stream gameplay online or to friends, with them controlling gameplay remotely ("Share Play"). The console's controller was also redesigned and improved over the PlayStation 3, with improved buttons and analog sticks, and an integrated touchpad among other changes. The console also supports HDR10 high-dynamic-range color and playback of 4K multimedia.

Reception to the original PlayStation 4 model was positive, with critics praising Sony for acknowledging its consumers' needs, embrace of independent game development, and for not imposing restrictive digital rights management schemes that Microsoft had previously announced for Xbox One prior to its release. Critics and third-party studios also praised the capabilities of the PlayStation 4 in comparison to its competitors; developers described the performance difference between the console and Xbox One as being "significant" and "obvious".[11] Heightened demand also helped Sony top global console sales. By the end of 2016, more than 53 million consoles have been sold worldwide, with more than 57 million shipped.[5]

On September 7, 2016, Sony unveiled two hardware revisions of PlayStation 4; a slim build of the console, and a "Pro" version with an upgraded GPU and higher CPU clock rate to support 4K gameplay on supported titles.

According to lead architect Mark Cerny, development of Sony's fourth video game console began as early as 2008.[12] Less than two years earlier, the PlayStation 3 had launched after months of delays due to issues with production.[13] The delay placed Sony almost a year behind Microsoft's Xbox 360, which was already approaching unit sales of 10 million by the time the PS3 launched.[13] PlayStation Europe CEO Jim Ryan said Sony wanted to avoid repeating the same mistake with PS3's successor.[14]

In designing the system, Sony worked with software developer Bungie, who offered their input on the controller and how to make it better for shooting games.[15] In 2012, Sony began shipping development kits to game developers, consisting of a modified PC running the AMD Accelerated Processing Unit chipset.[16] These development kits were known as "Orbis".[17]

In early 2013, Sony announced that an event known as PlayStation Meeting 2013 would be held in New York City, U.S., on February 20, 2013, to cover the "future of PlayStation".[18][19] Sony officially announced the PlayStation 4 at the event.[20][21] It revealed details about the console's hardware and discussed some of the new features it will introduce.[20][22] Sony also showed off real-time footage of games in development, as well as some technical demonstrations.[23][24] The design of the console was unveiled in June 2013 at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, and the initial recommended retail prices of $399 (NA), €399 (Europe), and £349 (UK) given.[25][26]

The company revealed release dates for North America, Central America, South America, Europe and Australia, as well as final pieces of information, at a Gamescom press event in Cologne, Germany, on August 20, 2013. The console was released on November 15, 2013 in the United States and Canada, followed by further releases on November 29, 2013.[3] By the end of 2013, the PS4 was launched in more European, Asian and South American countries[27][28] The PS4 released in Japan at Â¥39,980 on February 22, 2014.[29]

Sony finalized a deal with the Chinese government in May 2014 to sell its products in mainland China, and the PS4 will be the first product to be released. Kazuo Hirai, chief executive officer of Sony, said in May: "The Chinese market, just given the size of it, is obviously potentially a very large market for video game products... I think that we will be able to replicate the kind of success we have had with PS4 in other parts of the world in China."[30]

In September 2015, Sony reduced the price of the PS4 in Japan to ¥34,980,[31] with similar price drops in other Southeast Asian markets.[32] The first official sub £300 PS4 bundle was the £299.99 'Uncharted Nathan Drake Collection 500GB', released in the UK on October 9, 2015; a 1TB £329.99 version was offered at the same time.[33] On October 9, 2015, the first official price cut of the PS4 in North America was announced: a reduction of $50 to $349.99 (US) and by $20 to $429.99 (Canada).[34][35][36] An official price cut in Europe followed in late October 2015, reduced to €349.99/£299.99.[37]

On June 10, 2016, Sony confirmed that a hardware revision of the PlayStation 4, rumored to be codenamed "Neo", was under development. The new revision is a higher-end model that is meant to support gameplay in 4K. The new model will be sold alongside the existing model, and all existing software will be compatible between the two models.[38] Layden stated that Sony has no plans to "bifurcate the market", only that gamers playing on the Neo will "have the same experience, but one will be delivered at a higher resolution, with an enhanced graphical experience, but everything else is going to be exactly as youâ€™d expect".[39] The high-end console was publicly revealed on September 7, 2016 as PlayStation 4 Pro.[40] At the same time, Sony unveiled an updated version of the original PS4 model with a smaller form factor.[41]

The technology in the PlayStation 4 is similar to the hardware found in modern personal computers.[42] This familiarity is designed to make it easier and less expensive for game studios to develop games for the PS4.[43][44]

The PlayStation 4 uses an Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) developed by AMD in cooperation with Sony. It combines a central processing unit (CPU) and graphics processing unit (GPU), as well as other components such as a memory controller and video decoder.[46] The CPU consists of two quad-core Jaguar modules totaling 8 x86-64 cores.[46][47] The GPU consists of 18 compute units to produce a theoretical peak performance of 1.84 TFLOPS.[24] The system's GDDR5 memory is capable of running at a maximum clock frequency of 2.75 GHz (5500 MT/s) and has a maximum memory bandwidth of 176 GB/s.[24][48][49] The console contains 8 GB of GDDR5 memory,[24][50] 16 times the amount of RAM found in the PS3 and is expected to give the console considerable longevity.[42][51] It also includes secondary custom chips that handle tasks associated with downloading, uploading, and social gameplay.[52][53] These tasks can be handled seamlessly in the background during gameplay or while the system is in sleep mode.[54] The console also contains an audio module, which can support in-game chat as well as "a very large number" of audio streams for use in-game.[55] All PlayStation 4 models support high dynamic range (HDR) color profiles.[56]

Its read-only optical drive is capable of reading Blu-ray Discs at speeds of up to three times that of its predecessor.[51][57] The console features a hardware on-the-fly decompression module boosting optical disc reading speed and buffer unread data when a game is not actively accessing the optical drive.[55] The original PS4 model can output in 4K and play multimedia in the format, but does not play games in 4K.[58][59] The console includes a 500 gigabyte hard drive for additional storage,[60] which can be upgraded by the user.[61] With System Software 4.50, anticipated for an early 2017 release, the console will support USB external hard drives up to 8Â TB for additional storage.[62]

The PlayStation 4 features Wi-Fi and Ethernet connectivity, Bluetooth, and two USB 3.0 ports.[24][51] An auxiliary port is also included for connection to the PlayStation Camera, a motion detection digital camera device first introduced on the PS3.[24] A mono headset, which can be plugged into the DualShock 4, is bundled with the system.[63] Audio/video output options include HDMI TV and optical S/PDIF audio.[24] The console does not have an analog audio/video output.[64]

The PS4 features a "Rest mode" feature. This places the console in a low-power state, while allowing users to immediately resume their game or app once the console is awoken. The console also is able to download content such as game and OS updates while it is in this state.[65][66]

The DualShock 4 is the PlayStation 4's primary controller.[26] Similarly to its predecessor the DualShock 3, it connects to the console via Bluetooth.[67] However, the DualShock 3 is incompatible with the PS4.[68] The DualShock 4 is equipped with several new features, including a touchpad on the front.[63] The controller supports motion detection via a gyroscope and an accelerometer, plus improved vibration,[63][67] as well as being the first DualShock controller to feature official support for Microsoft Windows.[69] It is powered by a non-removable rechargeable battery.[63][70]

The controller was improved for the retail of the PS4 Slim and Pro, and now adds the ability to use the controller through USB connection.[71]

The controller features several output connectors. A stereo headphone jack supports the connection of regular earphones or a headset to allow a user to speak and hear audio simultaneously.[67] A micro-USB and extension port, as well as a mono speaker are also included. The controller can be charged three ways: via micro-USB, a dedicated charging station, or the console, even while powered off.[63]

DualShock 4 features the following buttons: PS button, SHARE button, OPTIONS button, directional buttons, action buttons (triangle, circle, cross, square), shoulder buttons (R1/L1), triggers (R2/L2), analog stick click buttons (L3/R3) and a touchpad click button.[63] These mark several changes from the DualShock 3 and other previous PlayStation controllers. The START and SELECT buttons were merged into the OPTIONS button.[63][70] The SHARE button allows players to upload videos from their gameplay experiences, as well as stream to streaming services.[63] The joysticks and triggers have been redesigned based on developer input,[63] as they feature a concave surface and an etched backing to enhance grip.[70]

The DualShock 4 is the first to feature a unique "light bar" that can display variant colors, based on the existing technology used in PlayStation Move. The colors help identify players and alert them with critical messages such as low health in-game,[63] while also interacting with the PlayStation Camera to perceived movement and depth by using the controller's light bar as a positional LED.

After the announcement of the PS4 Pro and Slim, the DualShock controller was further improved, adding a light strip on the top of the touchpad, which reflects the same color as the light bar on the controller.[71]

Existing Move controllers are supported on the PS4.[67][72]

The PlayStation Camera is an optional motion sensor and camera for the PlayStation 4, similar to Kinect on Xbox. It includes two 1280×800 pixel lenses operating with an aperture of f/2.0, with 30 cm focusing distance, and an 85° field of view.[63] The dual camera setup allows for different modes of operation, depending on the initiated and running application.[73] The two cameras can be used together for depth-sensing of its surrounding objects in its field of vision.[74] Alternatively, one of the cameras can be used for generating the video image, with the other used for motion tracking.[75]

PlayStation Camera also features a four-channel microphone array, which helps reduce unwanted background noise and can be used for voice commands.[73] With the PlayStation Camera connected, different users can automatically log-on to the system via face detection.[63]

In March 2014, Sony unveiled "Playstation VR", a virtual reality headset for the PlayStation 4 featuring a head-mounted OLED display with 1080p resolution and a 100-degree field of view. The device was released on October 13, 2016[76] with a retail price of $399.99 for the headset, or $549.99 for the headset, camera, two Move controllers and free game. The headset is tracked with nine positional LEDs on its surface, guided by the PlayStation Camera primarily. A variety of games are soon to be set for the PlayStation VR exclusively. PSVR is one of the major virtual reality headsets to target consumers, as well as the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, as well as the cheapest alternative.

The PlayStation 4's operating system is called "Orbis OS", based upon a customized FreeBSD 9.[77][78][79]

The console does not require an Internet connection for usage, although more functionality is available when connected.[80] The PS4 is the first to include a WebKit-based web browser, which is a departure from its predecessor's NetFront browser;[81] it is based on the same modern WebKit core as Google Chrome and Safari, giving it high compatibility in HTML5 compliance testing.[82]

The console introduces a new customizable menu interface titled the "PlayStation Dynamic Menu", featuring a variety of color schemes.[66] The interface displays the player's profile, recent activity, notifications, and other details in addition to unlocked trophies.[83] It allows multiple user accounts, all with their own pass-codes. Each player account has the option to share their real name with friends, or use a nickname in other situations when anonymity is important. Facebook profiles can be connected to PlayStation Network accounts, making it easier to recognize friends.[84] The default home screen features real time content from friends. The "What's New" activity feed includes shared media, recently played games, and other notifications.[24] Services from third-party vendors, such as Netflix and Amazon Video, can be accessible within the interface.[85] Multitasking is available during gameplay, such as opening the browser or managing party chat, and switching between applications is done by double-tapping the "PS" button.[24]

The PlayStation Camera or a microphone enables the user to control the system using voice input. Players can command the interface to start a game, take screenshots, and save videos. Saying "PlayStation" initiates voice control, and "All Commands" displays a list of possible commands.[86]

The PlayStation 4 system software supports Blu-ray and DVD playback and 3D functionality. Playing a CD is unsupported,[87] but custom music and video files can be played from DLNA servers and USB drives using the Media Player app.[88]

The PlayStation 4 allows users to access a variety of free and premium PlayStation Network (PSN) services, including the PlayStation Store, PlayStation Plus subscription service, PlayStation Music powered by Spotify, and the PlayStation Video subscription service, which allows owners to rent or buy TV shows and films à la carte.[24] A United States-exclusive cloud-based television-on-demand service known as PlayStation Vue began beta testing in late November 2014.[89][90] Sony intends to expand and evolve the services it offers over the console's lifespan.[91] Unlike PS3, a PlayStation Plus membership is required to access multiplayer in most games; this requirement does not apply to free-to-play or subscription-based titles.[92]

Smartphones and tablets can interact with the PlayStation 4 as second screen devices, and can also wake the console from sleep mode.[93] A Sony Xperia smartphone, tablet or the PlayStation Vita can be used for streaming gameplay from the console to handheld, allowing supported games to be played remotely from around a household or away from home.[94][95] Sony has ambitions to make all PS4 games playable on PlayStation Vita.[24] Developers can add Vita-specific controls for use via Remote Play.[96] This feature was later expanded to enable PS4 Remote Play functionality on Microsoft Windows PCs and on Apple OS X Macs. The update, released in April 2016, allows for Remote Play functionality on computers running Windows 8.1, Windows 10, OS X Yosemite, and OS X El Capitan. Remote Play supports resolution options of 360p, 540p, and 720p (1080p is available on PS4 Pro), frame rate options of 30-60 FPS, and the DualShock 4 can be connected via USB.[97]

The PlayStation App allows iOS and Android mobile devices to interact with the PlayStation 4 from their device. The user can use this application to purchase PS4 titles from the console and have them remotely downloaded, watch live streams of other gamers, and/or view in-game maps while playing games.[98]

Sony is focused on "social" aspects as a major feature of the console. Although the PS4 has improved social functionality, the features are optional and can be disabled.[91]

Users have the option to create or join community groups based upon personal interest. Communities include a discussion board, accomplishments and game clips shared by other members, plus the ability to join group chat and launch cooperative games. Sony stated that "communities are a good way to socialize with like-minded players", particularly when "you want to tackle a big multiplayer raid, but don't have enough friends available".[100]

The DualShock 4 controller includes a "SHARE" button, allowing the player to cycle through the last 60 minutes of recorded gameplay to select a screenshot or video clip appropriate for sharing. Media is uploaded seamlessly from the console to other PSN users or social networking sites such as Dailymotion, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, or else users can copy media to a USB flash drive and upload to a social network or website of their preference.[101] Players can also use a free video editing application named ShareFactory to cut and assemble their favorite video clips, add custom music or voice commentary with green screen effects. Subsequent updates have added options for picture-in-picture layouts, the ability to create photo collages and animated GIFs.[102][103]

Gamers can either watch live gameplay of titles which their friends are playing through the PS4 interface with cross-game camera and microphone input, spectate silently, or broadcast their own gameplay live via DailyMotion, Twitch,[104] Ustream,[24] Niconico,[105] or YouTube Gaming,[100] allowing for friends and members of the public to view and comment upon them from other web browsers and devices. If a user is not screen-casting, a friend can send them a "Request to Watch" notification.[100]

Share Play allows users to invite an online friend to join their play session via streaming, even if they do not own a copy of the game. Users can pass control of the game entirely to the remote user, or partake in cooperative multiplayer as if they were physically present. Mark Cerny says that remote assistance is particularly useful when confronted by a potentially game-defeating obstacle. "You can even see that your friend is in trouble and reach out through the network to take over the controller and assist them through some difficult portion of the game", he said. Share Play requires a PlayStation Plus subscription and can only be used for one hour at a time.[106][107]

PlayStation 4 games are distributed at retail on Blu-ray Disc, and digitally as downloads through the PlayStation Store.[108] Games are not region-locked, so titles purchased in one region can be played on consoles in all regions,[109] and players can sign-on to any PS4 console to access their entire digital game library.[110] All PlayStation 4 games must be installed to the console's storage: users can begin to play portions of a game (such as opening levels) once the installation or download reaches a specific point, while the remainder of the game is downloaded or installed in the background. Updates to games and system software are also downloaded in the background and while in standby.[55] PS4 users will, in the future, be able to browse titles and stream games via Gaikai to demo them almost instantaneously.[24][111] Sony says it is committed to releasing an ever-increasing number of free-to-play games, including PlanetSide 2 and War Thunder.[112][113] Sony also took steps to make it easier for independent game developers to release titles for the PS4 by giving them the option to self-publish their own games rather than rely upon others to distribute their titles.[114][115]

PlayStation 4 is not compatible with PlayStation 3 games directly.[116] Selected PS3 games are available for streaming via PlayStation Now.[117] On December 5, 2015, Sony first released emulated versions of selected PlayStation 2 games as digital purchases, upscaled to high definition and with support for PS4 social features.[118] PlayStation 4 is, otherwise, not compatible with PS2 games.[118]

In December 2013, Andrew House indicated that Sony was planning to launch a cloud gaming service for the PS4 in North America within the third quarter of 2014, with a European launch to follow in 2015.[119][120]

At Consumer Electronics Show on January 7, 2014, Sony unveiled PlayStation Now, a digital distribution service which will initially allow users to access PlayStation 3 games on the PS4 via a cloud-based streaming system, purchasing games individually or via a subscription, as a solution of no backwards compatibility on the hardware of the console.[117] The United States Open Beta went live on July 31, 2014.[121] The official United States release of the service was on January 13, 2015.[122] PlayStation Now is in closed beta in the United Kingdom.[123]

Pre-release reception to the console from developers and journalists was positive. Mark Rein of Epic Games praised the "enhanced" architecture of Sony's system, describing it as "a phenomenal piece of hardware".[124] John Carmack, programmer and co-founder of id Software, also commended the design by saying "Sony made wise engineering choices",[125] while Randy Pitchford of Gearbox Software expressed satisfaction with the amount of high-speed memory in the console.[126] Eurogamer also called the graphics technology in the PS4 "impressive" and an improvement from the difficulties developers experienced on the PlayStation 3.[51]

Numerous industry professionals have acknowledged the PlayStation 4's performance advantage over the Xbox One. Speaking to Edge magazine, multiple game developers have described the difference as "significant" and "obvious".[11] ExtremeTech says the PS4's graphics processing unit offers a "serious advantage" over the competition, but due to the nature of cross-platform development, titles that share the same assets will appear "very similar". In other scenarios, designers may tap some of PS4's additional power in a straightforward manner, to boost frame rate or output at a higher resolution, whereas games from Sony's own first-party studios that take full advantage of the hardware "will probably look significantly better than anything on the Xbox One".[127]

In response to concerns surrounding the possibility of DRM measures to hinder the resale of used games (and in particular, the initial DRM policies of Xbox One, which did contain such restrictions), Jack Tretton explicitly stated during Sony's E3 press conference that there would be "no restrictions" on the resale and trading of PS4 games on physical media, while software product development head Scott Rohde specified that Sony was planning to disallow online passes as well, going on to say that the policies were designed to be "consumer-friendly, extremely retailer-friendly, and extremely publisher-friendly".[128][129] After Sony's E3 2013 press conference, IGN responded positively to Sony's attitude towards indie developers and trading games, stating they thought "most gamers would agree" that "if you care about games like [Sony] do, you'll buy a PlayStation 4".[130] PlayStation 4's removable and upgradable hard drive also drew praise from IGN, with Scott Lowe commenting that the decision gave the console "another advantage" over the Xbox One, whose hard drive cannot be accessed.[131]

GameSpot called the PlayStation 4 "the gamer's choice for next-generation", citing its price, lack of restrictive digital rights management, and most importantly, Sony's efforts to "acknowledge its consumers" and "respect its audience" as major factors.[132]

The PlayStation 4 has been acclaimed by critics. Scott Lowe of IGN gave it an 8.2 rating out of 10 praising the console's DualShock 4 design and social integration features. He criticized the console's lack of software features and for underutilizing the DualShock 4's touch pad.[133] The Gadget Show gave a similar review complimenting the DualShock 4's new triggers and control sticks, in addition to the new Remote Play feature, yet criticized the system's lack of media support at launch.[134] IGN compared the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4 over various categories, allowing their readers to vote for their preferred system. The PS4 won every category offered, and IGN awarded the PS4 with their People's Choice Award.[135]

Shortly following the launch, it became apparent that some games released on multiple platforms were available in higher resolutions on the PS4 as opposed to other video game consoles. Kirk Hamilton of Kotaku reported on the differences in early games such as Call of Duty: Ghosts and Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag which ran at 1080p on the PS4, but in 720p and 900p, respectively, on the Xbox One.[136]

Demand for PlayStation 4 was strong. In August 2013, Sony announced the placement of over a million preorders for the console,[146] while on the North American launch alone, one million PlayStation 4 consoles were sold.[147] In the UK, the PlayStation 4 became the best-selling console at launch, with the sale of 250,000 consoles within a 48-hour period[148] and 530,000 in the first five weeks.[149]

On January 7, 2014, Andrew House announced in his Consumer Electronics Show keynote speech that 4.2 million PS4 units had been sold-through by the end of 2013,[150] with more than 9.7 million software units sold.[151] On February 18, 2014, Sony announced that, as of February 8, it had sold over 5.3 million console units following the release of the PS4 onto the North American and Western European markets.[152][153] Within the first two days of release in Japan during the weekend of February 22, 2014, 322,083 consoles were sold.[154] PS4 software unit sales surpassed 20.5 million on April 13, 2014.[155] During Japan's 2013 fiscal year, heightened demand for the PS4 helped Sony top global console sales, beating Nintendo for the first time in eight years.[156]

According to data released by Nielsen in August 2014, nine months after the PS4 was released, thirty-one percent of its sales were to existing Wii and Xbox 360 owners, none of whom had by then owned a PS3.[157] At Gamescom 2014, it was announced that 10 million PS4 units had been sold-through to consumers worldwide,[158] and on November 13, it was announced that the PlayStation 4 was the top-selling console in the U.S. for the tenth consecutive month.[159]

In its first sales announcement of 2015, Sony confirmed on January 4 that it had sold-through 18.5 million PlayStation 4 units.[160] Sony updated the sell-through figures for the system throughout 2015: over 20 million consoles as of March 3, 2015[update],[161] over 30 million as of November 22, 2015[update],[162] and over 35 million by the end of 2015.[5] As of May 22, 2016, total worldwide sell-through reached 40 million.[163]

The PlayStation 4 holds a market share of at least 70% within all European countries, as of June 2015[update].[164]

The PlayStation 4 has been produced in various models: the original, the Slim, and the Pro. Successive models have added or removed various features, and each model has variations of Limited Edition consoles.

On September 7, 2016, Sony announced a hardware revision of PlayStation 4, model number CUH-2000, known colloquially as the PlayStation 4 Slim. It is a revision of the original PS4 hardware with a smaller form factor; it has a rounded body with a matte finish on the top of the console rather than a two-tone finish, and is 40% smaller in size than the original model. The two USB ports on the front have a larger gap between them, and the optical audio port was removed.[178] It was released on September 15, 2016, with a 500GB model at the same price as the original version of the PlayStation 4.[41] On April 18, 2017, Sony announced that the slim model would be upgraded to include 1Â TB of storage, with no change in price.[179]

PlayStation 4 Pro (codenamed Neo)[38] was announced on September 7, 2016 and launched worldwide on November 10, 2016.[180] Its model number is CUH-7000.[181] It is an upgraded version of the PlayStation 4 with improved hardware to enable 4K rendering and improved PlayStation VR performance, including an upgraded GPU with 4.2 teraflops of processing power and hardware support for checkerboard rendering,[182] and a higher CPU clock. Games marketed as PS4 Pro Enhanced may be optimized for higher graphics quality, resolution, or HDR support when running on PS4 Pro.[183] Although capable of streaming 4K video, the PS4 Pro does not support Ultra HD Blu-ray.[184][185][186]

Rendering games at 4K resolution is achieved through various rendering techniques and hardware features; PlayStation technical chief Mark Cerny explained that Sony could not "brute force" 4K without compromising form factor and cost, so the console was designed to support "streamlined rendering techniques" using custom hardware, "best-in-breed temporal and spatial anti-aliasing algorithms", and "many new features from the AMD Polaris architecture as well as several even beyond it". The most prominent technique used is checkerboard rendering, wherein the console only renders portions of a scene using a checkerboard pattern, and then uses algorithms to fill in the non-rendered segments. The checkerboarded screen can then be smoothed using an anti-aliasing filter. Hermen Hulst of Guerrilla Games explained that PS4 Pro could render something "perceptively so close [to 4K] that you wouldn't be able to see the difference."[187][188][189]

PS4 Pro supports Remote Play, Share Play, and streaming at up to 1080p resolution at 60 frames per second. 2160p screenshots, and 1080p video at 30 frames per second, can also be captured via the share button.[190]


who was the head bartender on the long running u.s. tv series the love boat

Lange was born in Oakland, California, in 1948, the son of Geraldine L., a television show host, and Ted Lange.[1] Lange attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.[2] Lange was a cast member of the musical Hair. His first screen appearance was in the documentary film Wattstax in 1973.[3][4] After appearing in the film Black Belt Jones in 1974, he portrayed Junior on the series That's My Mama before landing the role of the ship's bartender, Isaac, on The Love Boat in 1977, opposite  Gavin MacLeod. After he left the show in 1987, Lange appeared in various films and guest roles on 227, The Cleveland Show, Glitch!, Evening Shade, Scrubs, Drake & Josh, The King of Queens, Boy Meets World, Psych and Are We There Yet.

Ted Lange

Theodore William "Ted" Lange (/lændʒ/; born January 5, 1948) is an American actor, director, and screenwriter best known for his role as the bartender, Isaac Washington, in the TV series The Love Boat.

In addition to his film and television work, Lange has also done extensive theater work. He made his Broadway debut in 1968 in the musical Hair.[2] He also performed in a one-man show, Behind the Mask: An Evening with Paul Laurence Dunbar.[5]

During the run of The Love Boat, Lange also served as director and screenwriter on various episodes of the series. In 1977, he wrote the screenplay for the 1977 drama Passing Through, starring Cora Lee Day and Marla Gibbs. In 1999, Lange directed two episodes of Love Boat: The Next Wave, the UPN series based on The Love Boat. He also directed episodes of Moesha, Dharma & Greg, and Eve. In 2008, he directed the drama For Love of Amy.

Lange has also done extensive theater work as playwright and stage director. He has penned 17 plays, including George Washington's Boy, a historical drama about the relationship between the first president and his favorite slave, along with the comedy Lemon Meringue Facade.[5][6]

Lange remains close to Gavin MacLeod, his acting mentor, who is a Palm Springs resident, and sees his plays. He said in a 2014 interview with CBS New York.com of his long-running friendship with him, "Gavin lives in Palm Springs, I'm in LA. So, when I do my plays, he comes down and sees my plays or I'll go see what he's doing!"[7] He also said in a 2017 interview with The Wiseguyz Show, if his mentor enjoyed all the acting/dancing on The Love Boat series was: "Oh yeah, sure, Gavin was wonderful. Gavin lives down here in Palm Springs and we're still tight, all of us, Gavin and Bernie and Jill; we still see each other. Fred lives in a different state, we're still close, we're still good friends."[8]

Before the American edition of FHM folded in 2006, Lange wrote a sex and advice column, titled "Ask Isaac", with adult film actress Jenna Jameson.[9]

In 2006, Lange appeared in the fourth season of the VH1 reality show Celebrity Fit Club.[10] He lost 28 pounds during the show's run.[11]

Lange married Sheryl Thompson in 1978, and they divorced in 1989. The couple has two children, Ted IV and Turner Wallace Lange.[1] Lange remarried in 2001 to Mary Ley. His mother is Geraldine Lange, who was a personal secretary to a San Francisco mayor and was public affairs director of KBHK-TV in San Francisco in the early 1970s. She also hosted television programs on KBHK-TV.

Lange and Gavin MacLeod, who played his captain in the series, have remained close friends.[12]

For his work theater directing, Lange received the NAACP's Renaissance Man Theatre Award, the Heroes and Legends HAL Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Dramalogue Award. Lange has also been the recipient of the James Cagney Directing Fellow Scholarship Award from the American Film Institute along with the Paul Robeson Award from Oakland's Ensemble Theatre.[6]


bod of raw municipal sewage may be in the range of about

Most pristine rivers will have a 5-day carbonaceous BOD below 1 mg/L. Moderately polluted rivers may have a BOD value in the range of 2 to 8 mg/L. Rivers may be considered severely polluted when BOD values exceed 8 mg/L.[8] Municipal sewage that is efficiently treated by a three-stage process would have a value of about 20 mg/L or less. Untreated sewage varies, but averages around 600 mg/L in Europe and as low as 200 mg/L in the U.S., or where there is severe groundwater or surface water Infiltration/Inflow. The generally lower values in the U.S. derive from the much greater water use per capita than in other parts of the world.[1]

Biochemical oxygen demand

Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD, also called Biological Oxygen Demand) is the amount of dissolved oxygen needed (i.e. demanded) by aerobic biological organisms to break down organic material present in a given water sample at certain temperature over a specific time period. The BOD value is most commonly expressed in milligrams of oxygen consumed per litre of sample during 5 days of incubation at 20 °C and is often used as a surrogate of the degree of organic pollution of water.[1]

BOD can be used as a gauge of the effectiveness of wastewater treatment plants. It is listed as a conventional pollutant in the U.S. Clean Water Act.[2]

BOD is similar in function to chemical oxygen demand (COD), in that both measure the amount of organic compounds in water. However, COD is less specific, since it measures everything that can be chemically oxidized, rather than just levels of biodegradable organic matter.

Most natural waters contain small quantities of organic compounds. Aquatic microorganisms have evolved to use some of these compounds as food. Microorganisms living in oxygenated waters use dissolved oxygen to oxidatively degrade the organic compounds, releasing energy which is used for growth and reproduction. Populations of these microorganisms tend to increase in proportion to the amount of food available. This microbial metabolism creates an oxygen demand proportional to the amount of organic compounds useful as food. Under some circumstances, microbial metabolism can consume dissolved oxygen faster than atmospheric oxygen can dissolve into the water or the autotrophic community (algae, cyanobacteria and macrophytes) can produce. Fish and aquatic insects may die when oxygen is depleted by microbial metabolism.[3]

Biochemical oxygen demand is the amount of oxygen required for microbial metabolism of organic compounds in water. This demand occurs over some variable period of time depending on temperature, nutrient concentrations, and the enzymes available to indigenous microbial populations. The amount of oxygen required to completely oxidize the organic compounds to carbon dioxide and water through generations of microbial growth, death, decay, and cannibalism is total biochemical oxygen demand (total BOD). Total BOD is of more significance to food webs than to water quality. Dissolved oxygen depletion is most likely to become evident during the initial aquatic microbial population explosion in response to a large amount of organic material. If the microbial population deoxygenates the water, however, that lack of oxygen imposes a limit on population growth of aerobic aquatic microbial organisms resulting in a longer term food surplus and oxygen deficit.[4]

A standard temperature at which BOD testing should be carried out was first proposed by the Royal Commission on Sewage Disposal in its eighth report in 1912:

" (c) An effluent in order to comply with the general standard must not contain as discharged more than 3 parts per 100,000 of suspended matter, and with its suspended matters included must not take up at 65Â°F more than 2.0 parts per 100,000 of dissolved oxygen in 5 days. This general standard should be prescribed either by Statute or by order of the Central Authority, and should be subject to modifications by that Authority after an interval of not less than ten years.

This was later standardised at 68 °F and then 20 °C. This temperature may be significantly different from the temperature of the natural environment of the water being tested.

Although the Royal Commission on Sewage Disposal proposed 5 days as an adequate test period for rivers of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, longer periods were investigated for North American rivers. Incubation periods of 1, 2, 5, 10 and 20 days were being used into the mid-20th century.[5] Keeping dissolved oxygen available at their chosen temperature, investigators found up to 99 percent of total BOD was exerted within 20 days, 90 percent within 10 days, and approximately 68 percent within 5 days.[6] Variable microbial population shifts to nitrifying bacteria limit test reproducibility for periods greater than 5 days. The 5-day test protocol with acceptably reproducible results emphasizing carbonaceous BOD has been endorsed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. This 5-day BOD test result may be described as the amount of oxygen required for aquatic microorganisms to stabilize decomposable organic matter under aerobic conditions.[7] Stabilization, in this context, may be perceived in general terms as the conversion of food to living aquatic fauna. Although these fauna will continue to exert biochemical oxygen demand as they die, that tends to occur within a more stable evolved ecosystem including higher trophic levels.[4]

There are two commonly recognized methods for the measurement of BOD.

This standard method is recognized by U.S. EPA, which is labeled Method 5210B in the Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater[9] In order to obtain BOD5, dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations in a sample must be measured before and after the incubation period, and appropriately adjusted by the sample corresponding dilution factor. This analysis is performed using 300 ml incubation bottles in which buffered dilution water is dosed with seed microorganisms and stored for 5 days in the dark room at 20 °C to prevent DO production via photosynthesis. In addition to the various dilutions of BOD samples, this procedure requires dilution water blanks, glucose glutamic acid (GGA) controls, and seed controls. The dilution water blank is used to confirm the quality of the dilution water that is used to dilute the other samples. This is necessary because impurities in the dilution water may cause significant alterations in the results. The GGA control is a standardized solution to determine the quality of the seed, where its recommended BOD5 concentration is 198 mg/l ± 30.5 mg/l. For measurement of carbonaceous BOD (cBOD), a nitrification inhibitor is added after the dilution water has been added to the sample. The inhibitor hinders the oxidation of ammonia nitrogen, which supplies the nitrogenous BOD (nBOD). When performing the BOD5 test, it is conventional practice to measure only cBOD because nitrogenous demand does not reflect the oxygen demand from organic matter. This is because nBOD is generated by the breakdown of proteins, whereas cBOD is produced by the breakdown of organic molecules.

BOD5 is calculated by:

This method is limited to the measurement of the oxygen consumption due only to carbonaceous oxidation. Ammonia oxidation is inhibited.

The sample is kept in a sealed container fitted with a pressure sensor. A substance that absorbs carbon dioxide (typically lithium hydroxide) is added in the container above the sample level. The sample is stored in conditions identical to the dilution method. Oxygen is consumed and, as ammonia oxidation is inhibited, carbon dioxide is released. The total amount of gas, and thus the pressure, decreases because carbon dioxide is absorbed. From the drop of pressure, the sensor electronics computes and displays the consumed quantity of oxygen.

The main advantages of this method compared to the dilution method are:

An alternative to measure BOD is the development of biosensors, which are devices for the detection of an analyte that combines a biological component with a physicochemical detector component. Enzymes are the most widely used biological sensing elements in the fabrication of biosensors. Their application in biosensor construction is limited by the tedious, time consuming and costly enzyme purification methods. Microorganisms provide an ideal alternative to these bottlenecks.[10]

The vast variety of micro organisms are relatively easy to maintain in pure cultures, grow and harvest at low cost. Moreover, the use of microbes in biosensor field has opened up new possibilities and advantages such as ease of handling, preparation and low cost of device. A number of pure cultures, e.g. Trichosporon cutaneum, Bacillus cereus, Klebsiella oxytoca, Pseudomonas sp. etc. individually, have been used by many workers for the construction of BOD biosensor. On the other hand, many workers have immobilized activated sludge, or a mixture of two or three bacterial species and on various membranes for the construction of BOD biosensor. The most commonly used membranes were polyvinyl alcohol, porous hydrophilic membranes etc.[11]

A defined microbial consortium can be formed by conducting a systematic study, i.e. pre-testing of selected micro-organisms for use as a seeding material in BOD analysis of a wide variety of industrial effluents. Such a formulated consortium can be immobilized on suitable membrane, i.e. charged nylon membrane useful for BOD estimation. Suitability of charges nylon membrane lies in the specific binding between negatively charged bacterial cell and positively charged nylon membrane. So the advantages of the nylon membrane over the other membranes areÂ : The dual binding, i.e. Adsorption as well as entrapment, thus resulting in a more stable immobilized membrane. Such specific Microbial consortium based BOD analytical devices, may find great application in monitoring of the degree of pollutional strength, in a wide variety of Industrial waste water within a very short time.[11]

Biosensors can be used to indirectly measure BOD via a fast (usually <30 min) to be determined BOD substitute and a corresponding calibration curve method (pioneered by Karube et al., 1977). Consequently, biosensors are now commercially available, but they do have several limitations such as their high maintenance costs, limited run lengths due to the need for reactivation, and the inability to respond to changing quality characteristics as would normally occur in wastewater treatment streams; e.g. diffusion processes of the biodegradable organic matter into the membrane and different responses by different microbial species which lead to problems with the reproducibility of result (Praet et al., 1995). Another important limitation is the uncertainty associated with the calibration function for translating the BOD substitute into the real BOD (Rustum et al., 2008).

A surrogate to BOD5 has been developed using a resazurin derivative which reveals the extent of oxygen uptake by micro-organisms for organic matter mineralization.[12] A cross-validation performed on 109 samples in Europe and the United-States showed a strict statistical equivalence between results from both methods.[13] The French start-up Envolure (Montpellier, France) offers the kit ENVERDI which enables the users to perform up to 40 BOD5 simultaneously in 48 hours in a single 96-wells microplate.

Rustum et al. (2008) proposed the use of the KSOM to develop intelligent models for making rapid inferences about BOD using other easy to measure water quality parameters, which, unlike BOD, can be obtained directly and reliably using on-line hardware sensors. This will make the use of BOD for on-line process monitoring and control a more plausible proposition. In comparison to other data-driven modeling paradigms such as multi-layer perceptrons artificial neural networks (MLP ANN) and classical multi-variate regression analysis, the KSOM is not negatively affected by missing data. Moreover, time sequencing of data is not a problem when compared to classical time series analysis.

Since the publication of a simple, accurate and direct dissolved oxygen analytical procedure by Winkler,[14] the analysis of dissolved oxygen levels for water has been key to the determination of surface water purity and ecological wellness. The Winkler method is still one of only two analytical techniques used to calibrate oxygen electrode meters; the other procedure is based on oxygen solubility at saturation as per Henry's law. Though many researchers have refined the Winkler analysis to dissolved oxygen levels in the low PPB range, the method does not lend itself to automation.

The development of an analytical instrument that utilizes the reduction-oxidation (redox) chemistry of oxygen in the presence of dissimilar metal electrodes was introduced during the 1950s.[15] This redox electrode (also known as dissolved oxygen sensor[16]) utilized an oxygen-permeable membrane to allow the diffusion of the gas into an electrochemical cell and its concentration determined by polarographic or galvanic electrodes. This analytical method is sensitive and accurate to down to levels of ± 0.1 mg/l dissolved oxygen. Calibration of the redox electrode of this membrane electrode still requires the use of the Henry's law table or the Winkler test for dissolved oxygen.

During the last two decades, a new form of electrode was developed based on the luminescence emission of a photo active chemical compound and the quenching of that emission by oxygen. It is also called optical dissolved oxygen sensor.[16] This quenching photophysics mechanism is described by the Sternâ€“Volmer equation for dissolved oxygen in a solution:[18]

The determination of oxygen concentration by luminescence quenching has a linear response over a broad range of oxygen concentrations and has excellent accuracy and reproducibility.[19] There are several recognized EPA methods for the measurement of dissolved oxygen for BOD, including the following methods:

The test method involves variables limiting reproducibility. Tests normally show observations varying plus or minus ten to twenty percent around the mean.[22]:82

Some wastes contain chemicals capable of suppressing microbiological growth or activity. Potential sources include industrial wastes, antibiotics in pharmaceutical or medical wastes, sanitizers in food processing or commercial cleaning facilities, chlorination disinfection used following conventional sewage treatment, and odor-control formulations used in sanitary waste holding tanks in passenger vehicles or portable toilets. Suppression of the microbial community oxidizing the waste will lower the test result.[22]:85

The test relies upon a microbial ecosystem with enzymes capable of oxidizing the available organic material. Some waste waters, such as those from biological secondary sewage treatment, will already contain a large population of microorganisms acclimated to the water being tested. An appreciable portion of the waste may be utilized during the holding period prior to commencement of the test procedure. On the other hand, organic wastes from industrial sources may require specialized enzymes. Microbial populations from standard seed sources may take some time to produce those enzymes. A specialized seed culture may be appropriate to reflect conditions of an evolved ecosystem in the receiving waters.[22]:85â€“87

The Royal Commission on River Pollution, which was established in 1865 and the formation of the Royal Commission on Sewage Disposal in 1898 led to the selection in 1908 of BOD5 as the definitive test for organic pollution of rivers. Five days was chosen as an appropriate test period because this is supposedly the longest time that river water takes to travel from source to estuary in the U.K.. In its sixth report the Royal Commission recommended that the standard set should be 15 parts by weight per million of water.[23] However, in the Ninth report the commission had revised the recommended standardÂ :

" An effluent taking up 2–0 parts dissolved oxygen per 100,000 would be found by a simple calculation to require dilution with at least 8 volumes of river water taking up 0.2 part if the resulting mixture was not to take up more than 0.4 part. Our experience indicated that in a large majority of cases the volume of river water would exceed 8 times the volume of effluent, and that the figure of 2–0 parts dissolved oxygen per 100,000, which had been shown to be practicable, would be a safe figure to adopt for the purposes of a general standard, taken in conjunction with the condition that the effluent should not contain more than 3–0 parts per 100,000 of suspended solids."[23]

This was the cornerstone 20:30 (BOD:Suspended Solids) + full nitrification standard which was used as a yardstick in the U.K. up to the 1970s for sewage works effluent quality.

The United States includes BOD effluent limitations in its secondary treatment regulations. Secondary sewage treatment is generally expected to remove 85 percent of the BOD measured in sewage and produce effluent BOD concentrations with a 30-day average of less than 30 mg/L and a 7-day average of less than 45 mg/L. The regulations also describe "treatment equivalent to secondary treatment" as removing 65 percent of the BOD and producing effluent BOD concentrations with a 30-day average less than 45 mg/L and a 7-day average less than 65 mg/L.[24]


official residence of south african president in cape town

Genadendal Residence [χəˈnɑːdəndal] is the official residence of the President of South Africa when in office at Tuynhuys, Cape Town.[1] Genadendal is situated in Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa. It has been the official residence since 1994 when Nelson Mandela took up residence here rather than neighbouring Groote Schuur.[2] The building, formerly known as Westbrook, is named after the town of Genadendal[3] – itself an Afrikaans word meaning "Valley of Mercy".[4]

Genadendal Residence

The residence first came into existence in the early 18th century as a grain barn, and was converted into a residence in the mid 1800s.[5] The mixed Victorian-Georgian residence it was known as Westbrook until it was changed to the current name in 1995.[6]