Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Keith, George Keith Elphinstone, Viscount

(Encyclopedia)Keith, George Keith Elphinstone, Viscount 1746–1823, British admiral. After serving as a captain in the American Revolution and early French Revolutionary Wars, he was appointed (1795) vice admiral....

Jutland, battle of

(Encyclopedia)Jutland, battle of, only major engagement between the British and German fleets in World War I. They met c.60 mi (100 km) west of the coast of Jutland. On May 31, 1916, a British squadron under Admira...

Navarino, battle of

(Encyclopedia)Navarino, battle of nävärēˈnō [key], 1827, naval battle resulting from the intervention of the European powers in the Greek War of Independence from the Ottoman Empire (Turkey). England, France, ...

Leyte

(Encyclopedia)Leyte lāˈtē, –tā [key], island (1990 pop. 1,689,756), 2,785 sq mi (7,213 sq km), one of the Visayan Islands, the Philippines, between Luzon and Mindanao. A fertile agricultural land, it is the n...

Schley, Winfield Scott

(Encyclopedia)Schley, Winfield Scott slī [key], 1839–1911, American naval officer, b. Frederick co., Md. After serving with Union naval forces in the Civil War, he held various naval posts. In 1884 he commanded ...

Benbow, John

(Encyclopedia)Benbow, John bĕnˈbō [key], 1653–1702, English admiral. Some of the stories of his exploits seem to be legendary, but he did command the fleet and successfully fight the French at La Hogue (1692),...

Cervera y Topete, Pascual

(Encyclopedia)Cervera y Topete, Pascual päskwälˈ thĕrvāˈrä ē tōpāˈtā [key], 1839–1909, Spanish admiral. During the Spanish-American War of 1898 he was given command of the Atlantic fleet and sent, aga...

Lepanto, battle of

(Encyclopedia)Lepanto, battle of lĭpănˈtō [key], Oct. 7, 1571, naval battle between the Christians and Ottomans fought in the strait between the gulfs of Pátrai and Corinth, off Lepanto (Návpaktos), Greece. T...

Howe, Richard Howe, Earl

(Encyclopedia)Howe, Richard Howe, Earl, 1726–99, British admiral; elder brother of Viscount Howe. He won early recognition in the Seven Years War for his operations in the English Channel. After the outbreak of t...

Aegospotamos

(Encyclopedia)Aegospotamos ēˌgəspŏˈtəməs [key], river of ancient Thrace flowing into the Hellespont. At its mouth in 405 b.c. occurred the culminating battle of the Peloponnesian War. Lysander and his Sparta...