THE LONG PAUSE BETWEEN THE LONG BOAT AND THE CARAVEL AND BETWEEN THE SPACE SHUTTLE AND THE STAR SHIP

SPACE AS AN OCEAN

                                Photo U.S. Air Force

LESSONS FROM THE AGE OF EUROPEAN MARINE EXPLORATION FOR THE SPACE AGE.

 From the Book "PROTOCOLS" (c) 2012 by American Admiralty Books

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THE LONG PAUSE ; BETWEEN THE LONG BOAT AND THE CARAVEL, BETWEEN THE SPACE SHUTTLE AND THE STAR SHIP

CARAVEL WITH SQUARE SAILS DEPLOYED

VIKING LONG BOAT

"Proceedings: Do you think we will live to see a Man to Mars mission?

Capt. Readdy: Without question. If we really wanted to throw money at the problem , I think we could have gone ten years ago. It's no longer a question of technology. At this point , I think we need to focus on advances in propulsion technology rather than spending tens of billions of dollars on a mission that will take the better part of a year to get there and  almost the same amount of time to come back. Just as the jet engine eclipsed the propeller in World War II and the rocket engine was the enabling technology for our initial exploration of space , there is going to be another advance in propulsion technology. The science fiction writers , I'm sure, already know what it is. Whatever it is, it will open exploration beyond the Moon."

                                                                             

Naval Institute PROCEEDINGS, Feb. 1997: February 1997; page 55 "Building the Future Now", an interview with Capt. William F. Readdy, USNR; Commander of Space Shuttle Mission STS-79

                                                                                                                         
                                                                             

THE CARAVEL BOAT ESPERANCA OF PORTUGAL, LANTEEN SAILS DEPLOYED

We are in a long pause in manned interplanetary exploration, though we have a robot probe on the surface of Mars as we write these lines. We have made in space the equivalent of short coastal voyages, near earth orbital missions routine. We have made some interplanetary voyages to our nearest celestial neighbor, the moon. These missions developed the technology for the launch, repair, and improvement of orbital telescopes like Hubble that allow us to peer to the far reaches of the visible universe. In so peering we have learned that it is a far more vast place than ever before imagined and that planets , with atmospheres and water, are probably much more abundant than once thought only a few years ago. We are standing on the beach and looking out across that vast sea of outer space, with ever increasing knowledge of the far shore coming to us through our space telescopes and unmanned probes. But our long boats can't make the crossing. We await the development of the Caravel.

 The long boat was known by many names and found in many cultures. The term as used here does not describe only the traditional and well known boat of Viking fame. The long boat refers to a variety of early vessels that were characterized by a single hull, propulsion by oar or paddle, and if sails were carried, these usually consisted of a single square sail. Such vessels made some incredible voyages. Indeed it is widely accepted that Vikings visited North America in their long boats hundreds of years before Columbus. The long boat underwent a long period of refinement under the hands of many nations. Once wealth began to move on the seas with any regularity distinct differences arose between long boats used for commerce and those used to protect or raid commerce, the first warships. An early version of the long boat purposely built for warfare was the Galley.

                                                                      

A Trireme among largest and most complex of the Galleys, the long boat at it a high point of development

  One example of this type of vessel found in the early Mediterranean was the Trireme, which by the fifth century had become the capital ship of the Mediterranean powers. Some were as much as 100 feet long and carried as many as 160 oarsmen. These were real ships, capable of real voyages, and quite impressive in their day. But the long boat at the height of its development was inadequate for repeated trans Atlantic or Pacific crossings and returns.  The long boat , in all of it's variations , was a coast wise vessel. One would occasionally survive a remarkable open water voyage, but no sailor in his right mind had any inclination to repeat such voyages. With its square sail and shallow keel, and primitive steering sweep  which precedes the true rudder, it could only sail in the most favorable of winds. With it's dependence on oars , and thus human muscle power, the caloric needs of the crew put severe limits on it's range. It's limited cargo capacity restricted  its' commercial utility. Its' relatively low free board and open construction made it vulnerable to heavy seas. The advent of routine transoceanic voyages had to wait the development of a more suitable craft. That craft would be a long time in arriving on scene and would develop from several different sources, ultimately to be perfected by most a unlikely source. The vessel that would open the seas to systematic exploration and commercial usage would be the caravel. 

 The first development that would lead to the evolution of the Caravel would be the lanteen sail. The lanteen sail , is a triangular shaped device similar in appearance to the sail of the popular small recreational sailboat known as the "SUNFISH". The lanteen sail reached its' greatest utility once wedded to a subsurface hull feature such as the extended keel, dagger board, or lee board. the lanteen sail coupled with these submerged hull features allowed a vessel to "tack"before the wind.

CLASSIC MODERN LANTEEN RIG SAIL AS USED ON VERY SMALL RECREATIONAL SAIL BOATS 

To Tack is to sail at an angle across the wind., allowing a vessel to make actual progress in an upwind direction via zig zag pattern. The lanteen sail also allowed a vessel to sail off at a wide variety of angles from the wind without the necessity to tack. The first vessels to exhibit those features were the Arabian Dhows. But the Arabian Dhows were not destined to explore the great seas, some additional refinements were still needed. They would come from an unexpected quarter.

A modern version of the ancient Dhow

The Portuguese were mostly farmers. It was their princes who led them to sea, a sea they often viewed as hostile. yet at sea these farmers turned sailors would perform most amazing feats. King Diniz was the first to realize that Portugal's future and fortune lay at sea.  In 1217 Diniz appointed a Genoese, Manoel Pessagno as admiral of his fleet. Diniz then launched an expedition to the Canary Islands and in order to encourage the shipwright's art, he knighted his foremost shipwrights. To assure his supply of timber King Diniz planted forests. Because there were so few Portuguese seafarers in the beginning Diniz never failed to hire Genoese mariners and shipwrights when needed. The Genoese had a long history of contact with the Arabs, had seen dhows, and adopted the lanteen  sail, sometimes mixing the lanteen with square sails for better performance when the wind was astern or "on a run" as modern sailors would describe it. Now they had a patron greatly interested in ship performance improvement. First the Genoese in the employ of the Portuguese and later the Portuguese themselves  would  improve on the basic designs that had evolved from the dhow. The hull form would be improved for lateral stability, freeboard would be raised , cargo capacities improved, but most importantly the sail plan was improved. Mizzen masts appeared, allowing the sail plan to be split, less sail could be carried in high winds and bent on in light airs. The oarsman, was no longer a crew position. Mariners were now sailors, milking the wind for propulsive power in all weathers. However, the full evolution caravel did not happen over night.

 The caravel did not evolve directly from the dhow nor from the more round bottomed merchant ships of the day. Rather the caravel, the prime engine of the early age of maritime exploration evolved from the Dhow by way of humble Portuguese fishing vessels. The lowly fishing vessel had to be able to carry a substantial load , be sea kindly, not too labor intensive, and be able to get back to port before the cargo spoiled.  And so it was from a people late to seafaring , and from their most humble vessel designs that the vessel that would link the continents would evolve. when the NINA, the PINTA, and the SANTA MARIA pushed out into the Atlantic they were piloted by a Genoese navigator in the service of Spain who had no real way to accurately compute his longitude, but every confidence that his caravels would carry him to wherever he was bound and back. The humble but technologically superior caravels of Spain and Portugal would blaze the paths to the New World. Eventually they would be displaced by the full rigged ships of England, but had the caravel not appeared on scene when it did, the New World would be a lot newer.

 The Space Shuttle in its hey day was seen as such an improvement over the Space Capsule that it was sometimes called the "caravel of the space age". But in fact the Space capsules in use prior, and still in use in the Russian and Chinese manned space programs , Space shuttle, and the Space Shuttle's successor are little more than early long boats. With these vessels we have gained valuable experience in space travel, but neither capsule nor shuttle can take us where we need to go, specially beyond our own solar system. We are waiting on the real caravel, perhaps two. In terms  of manned exploration and exploitation of our own solar system, our present means of propulsion is sufficient to carry us to Mars and beyond on long and difficult voyages that will rival those of the era of epic voyages that started in 1487. We simply can't get there in a long boat. When the caravel first appeared it wasn't faster that other sailing craft by any order of magnitude, it was its total package of sea keeping, carrying capacity, sail efficiency, and crew comfort that made it suitable for the long haul. We won't be sending crews on two and five year voyages in any ship we can launch from earth. The caravel for the age of exploration of the solar system will be built in space from components the size of the capsules and shuttles we have sent up so far.  The first sign that a real caravel is, and all of the subsequent design improvements are, about to arrive will be the construction of an orbital shipyard. And the next wave of solar system exploration will involve flotillas of these built in space craft, not single ships. The long boats won't disappear, they will be a cost effective fleet of ferries and personnel launches for transport to the ship yard and space stations for many decades to come. The real caravel will be built in space. 

 Then the process will begin again with totally different propulsion systems, "the warp drive", that NASA is working on even as we write. But the caravel for the exploration of space beyond our own solar system  will also be built in space. We could be in the long boats a very long time. We were before. This time we must foresee that the caravel is coming and be prepared to step on that distant shore. We must be prepared because our maritime experience with new distant shores tells us that lack of preparation can spell death and destruction for us and those we meet. We must prepare in advance  this time for first contact with everything from macrobiotic to intelligent life. We had better get this done before we get out of the long boats.

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BRITISH BIRD FARMS

BRITISH AIRCRAFT CARRIERS Design, Development, and Service Histories

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 Bird farms are not the exclusive province of the American Navy. The Brits have been a bit short in the bird farm business of late but are coming back aboard with the new QUEEN ELIZABETH class. (See our related posts  Final Deposition of the SARATOGA ,  ANOTHER INSTALLMENT OF THE MICHELIN GUIDE TO BIRD FARMS, MY CARRIER VIDEO IS WAY COOLER THAN YOURS , THE MICHELIN GUIDE TO BIRD FARMS

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

"This book is a meticulously detailed history of British aircraft-carrying ships from the earliest experimental vessels to the Queen Elizabeth class, currently under construction and the largest ships ever built for the Royal Navy. Individual chapters cover the design and construction of each class, with full technical details, and there are extensive summaries of every ship's career. Apart from the obvious large-deck carriers, the book also includes seaplane carriers, escort carriers and MAC ships, the maintenance ships built on carrier hulls, unbuilt projects, and the modern LPH. It concludes with a look at the future of naval aviation, while numerous appendices summarize related subjects like naval aircraft, recognition markings and the circumstances surrounding the loss of every British carrier. As befits such an important reference work, it is heavily illustrated with a magnificent gallery of photos and plans, some reproduced in color.

Written by the leading historian of British carrier aviation, himself a retired Fleet Air Arm pilot, it displays the authority of a lifetime's research combined with a practical understanding of the issues surrounding the design and operation of aircraft carriers. British Aircraft Carriers is certain to become the standard work on the subject."

AAB RECOMMENDED FOR SERIOUS STUDENTS OF NAVAL HISTORY ESPECIALLY THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL NAVY, INTERESTING READ AND AN EXCELLENT PERMANENT REFERENCE

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America's Historic Black Sea Fleet

WHERE ARE THEY TODAY?

By Treaty, Ships of Nations Not Located On The Black Sea Are Limited As To Numbers And Length Of Stays In The Region. It Wasn't Always This Way. Once America Had A Fleet On The Black Sea And The People Of The Region, Including Russia Were Glad The Fleet Was There. No Doubt The Ukraine and Georgia Wish We had One Now.    

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To Actually look inside click on the smaller book cover icon below

   "In a high-tempo series of operations throughout the Black Sea, Aegean Sea and eastern Mediterranean, a small American fleet of destroyers and other naval vessels responded ably to several major international crises including the last days of the Russian Revolution and the 1920-1922 Turkish Nationalist Revolution. Officers and men of the navy's "four-piper" destroyers began by investigating circumstances on the ground in mainland Turkey right after World War I, and by transporting American relief teams to ports throughout Turkey and Southern Russia to aid the tens of thousands of orphans and refugees who had survived the wartime Armenian genocide."

• Publisher: Naval Institute Press (November 15, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1612510531
• ISBN-13: 978-1612510538

This was a 2012 Naval Institute Book of Special Interest: If you are an Institute member special pricing is available at:  http://www.usni.org/store/books  

SPACE AS AN OCEAN

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SPACE AS AN OCEAN

                                     

LESSONS FROM THE AGE OF EUROPEAN MARINE EXPLORATION FOR THE SPACE AGE.

 From the Book "PROTOCOLS" (c) 2012 by American Admiralty Books

SOMETIMES MYTH HAS A PROFOUND EFFECT ON HISTORY

 Today, young adults have a very detailed vision of the coming age of faster than light space travel, exploration, trade and development via the televisions series related to the Star Trek franchise and movies going back as far as ET and Star Wars. While these visions are very fanciful, they are also incredibly detailed through the magic of cinematography. Undoubtedly these visions enliven the imaginations of countless future astronauts, physicists, astronomers, and taxpayers. There is no doubt that present and future generations have been and will  be reaching for this fanciful but detailed vision of the future and make something happen. (Note: Italian laboratories accelerated  micro waves to 30 times the speed of light, and an American lab accelerated light itself to 200 times its natural speed about a decade ago. So the "warp drive" of Star Trek  while not even close developmentally is none the less now theoretically possible. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faster-than-light     http://gizmodo.com/5951184/faster+than+light-travel-may-be-possible   http://gizmodo.com/5942634/nasa-starts-development-of-real-life-star-trek-warp-drive

http://gizmodo.com/5247705/why-we-need-to-reach-the-stars-and-we-will )

Looking at the science fiction media today, one theme that comes through a vast body of work is the naval like organization and society to be found on "star ships".  This is not a surprise since we have only one model of society aboard a small vessel, engaged for prolonged periods in voyages of discovery. That model is from ships of oceanic exploration and is of necessity naval in character. The model while somewhat evolved over the centuries,served us well in the period of oceanic exploration known as the "European Recognisance"and every indication is that it will continue to serve us well as it evolves in space exploration. 

 The vision of the future offered by the Gene Rodenberrys of our time is the stuff that myth is made of. It is a filling in of the unknown details from imagination fueled with the possible and probable. Society engaged in such myth making long before the advent of the modern electronic media. Sometimes such myth took on the wide spread perception of truth. At least once in the period just before the great age of oceanic exploration such a myth helped drive reality. The myth itself influenced real events in very unexpected ways. It is worth a few minutes to examine this power of myth. We will not engage in an exhaustive study. Let us simply review a single myth from the age of oceanic exploration and the actions of a single naval intelligence agent.

PEDRO de COVILHAO, AND THE SEARCH FOR "PRESTER JOHN" 

 Pedro de Covilhao was born into a world partly unknown. The known world of his time and culture had been at war for centuries before his birth. That known world was divided into two religious based  alliances, one Christian, and the other Muslim. For centuries these two loosely organized powers fought over the Holy Land. The Christian understanding of the world beyond their own borders was limited by partial Muslim blockage of their communications with Eastern powers broadly thought of as "India", and a vast, trackless, and as yet uncrossed ocean to their west. Hundreds of years before the birth of  Pedro de Covilhao the Christian world came to believe in a Christian kingdom in the eastern rear of the Muslim world anxious to link up with the western Christian coalition and retake the Holy Land. Belief in this kingdom lasted for generations. The West referred to the sovereign of this unknown kingdom as "Prester John". The belief in, and hope, represented by the myth of "Prester John , along with the desire for the riches of the East helped fuel the the search for the routes to "India". "India" in the time of Pedro  de Covilhao meant virtually everything beyond the Muslim World.  Mohammedan forces conquered the Holy land in 637 AD. They allowed the lucrative Christian pilgrimage trade to continue and Christian missionaries to pass through to "India", until the occupying forces of Caliph Hakim leveled the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in 1010 AD. This act predicated the launch of the first of the Crusades and Jerusalem would fall to Christian forces in 1099 AD.

 Jerusalem would periodically change hands as Europe attempted to expel the forces of Islam from the Mediterranean world. In 1145 a strange rumor would spring up concerning a Christian king of great military power living beyond the eastern borders of the Mohammedan Empire. This priest-king would come to be known as "Prester John". The myth of the priest -king, possibly the result of an Islamic disinformation operation, would have a profound effect on the course of the Christian Islamic conflicts and subsequent history. Great efforts would be made in attempting to make contact with him. Attention would be diverted from efforts at converting the Islamic rear, based on a belief that there was already a Christian power there. In the end the desire to make contact with the mythical priest-king would provide no small part of the incentive for the voyages sponsored by Henry the Navigator, though the original "Prester John" would of course be long since dead and buried, the Europeans believed in dynasties and presumed the realm continued. In the end only one Westerner, the Portuguese naval intelligence agent Pedro di Corvilhao , would ever stand before any priest- king  behind Muslim  borders centuries after 1145 AD.

 How the myth of the priest-king came about is a marvel of the power and errors associated with oral tradition, possibly nudged in particular directions by written disinformation which may have even been of Islamic origin. History now demonstrates that in the Islamic rear were basically pagan powers, some of which practiced a high level of religious tolerance. Mixed in with these pagan populations were both Nestorian Christians and Islamic converts. In the beginning of the 12th century a presumed Nestorian Christian Chieftain known as Yeliutashi reached considerable power 

as the leader of a tribe called the Kara-Kitai. In 1141 Yeliutashi defeated an Islamic Seljuk army near Samarkand, Turkestan. These facts filtered and confused by distance, time, and perhaps Islamic "spin control" formed the factual basis for the evolution of the myth of  "Prester John."' Yeliutashi died in 1144 AD and his empire faded almost immediately after his demise. The Mohammedans had no reason to fear a second front from any real "Prester John". Yet  religious tolerance in their rear, coupled with some sincere invitations to Christian missionaries by Moguls and others opened the possibility of a large scale conversion and the creation of an actual enemy. The best course of Islamic action, given their informational superiority about conditions in their rear may well have been a disinformation campaign.  Send the Christians searching for a nonexistent "Prester John" and distract them from efforts at creating one.

 Largely ignored by the Islamic powers , a Christian king did exist in the rear, and Pedro de Corvilhao would one day find him. The first documentary evidence of a "Prester John" or an islamic disinformation forgery, arrived in 1145 AD. A Syrian Christian Bishop informed one Otto Fresing, a historian in the service of the Pope, of a Nestorian King who had defeated the Meades and the Persians. It was believed that the King intended to lend his army to the support of the Christians at Jerusalem. Supposedly this King encountered difficulties in crossing the Tigris and was forced home where he intended to regroup and again march on Jerusalem. The "News" electrified the leaders of Europe, but the ongoing crusade failed and no help came from the East. Then in 1165 letters were received by the Emperor Fredrick Barbarossa, the Emperor Manuel Comnenus of Constantinople, and the Pope. The sender of these letters described himself as "Johannes Presbyter...."/

 The letters mostly introduced "Prester John' and described his Christian kingdom. The Pope dispatched  an emissary with a responding letter in 1177 AD but the emissary was never heard from again.

 In 1221 the Bishop of Acre wrote to the Pope. In his letter he described a "King David" "by the people called  Prester John". Supposedly this "Prester John was about 15 days march from Antioch and intended to take Jerusalem. In fact there was a King David. He was a Georgian and defeated a large Islamic army, but he was not on the march and may have been dead by the time the West learned of him.

 The Mohammedans had borders and contacts with the Europeans and so undoubtedly had agents in the European camps and capitals. They had the means , the motive, and greatly benefited from the disinformation concerning "Prester John". Is it such a stretch of the imagination to consider that the Mohammedans themselves were the source of the "proofs" (letters and detailed reports about) "Prester John". If the myth of "Prester John" was created by Islamic informational warriors, their side benefited in the short run. But the myth of "Prester John" may have partly driven another force of history that  would ultimately shift the locus of power to the North Atlantic nations.

Enter, Henry the Navigator. By 1415 Christian and Islamic forces were still engaged in parts of the Mediterranean world. There were rumors and widespread belief in a "Prester John"(the 5th no less). The "modern age" with it's shift of the locus of power to the North Atlantic regions and away from the Mediterranean Basin began in 1415 when the Portuguese took Ceuta on the coast of North Africa opposite Gibraltar. With Ceurta secure the Portuguese began the great period of exploration that would ultimately lead to the colonization of the New World. This era, however, began not with a push out into the Atlantic but with a southward push into Africa. South of the Sahara, the 15th century kings of Portugal hoped to find some vitally important objectives; gold,silks, spices, and a communications link to "Prester John".

 In 1787 Covilhao's monarch John II of Portugal would make a full court press for "India". First he would dispatch Covilhao on a secret mission to reconnoiter "Indian" as well as Muslim ports, and later make contact with "Prester John". That same year he would dispatch Bartolomeu Diaz with three ships to circumnavigate Africa.

 Pedro de Covilhao spoke fluent Spanish and Arabic and had undertaken secret missions for his King previously to Morocco before he received his most important and final orders from the sovereign of Portugal. On May 7, 1487 he would embark on a naval intelligence gathering operation from which he would never return to his native Portugal. In the process he would see much of the world beyond the borders of Christendom, provide valuable naval intelligence to his sovereign, and live out the rest of his life in the court of a king the Christian world thought of as the legendary "Prester John".

Covilhao was forty when the King dispatched him and a companion, Alfonso de Paiva , another agent fluent in Arabic on a mission to "India" and Africa . Their tasking was to visit all important ports in Arabia, East Africa, and with making contact with the "priest King', "Prester John".

 On May 7, 1487 Covilhao received his credentials from his sovereign and a purse of 400 cruzados. (By 1457 the Cruzado was a gold coin, previously it had been silver. The probable value of Covilhao's purse was about $680,000 in today's dollars , possibly much more.) When Covilhao and Paviva reached Lisbon they exchanged their purse for a letter of credit from the Italian banker Marchioni. By horseback they traveled to Valencia and then to Barcelona. At Barcelona they embarked in a ship for Naples. from Naples they embarked in another ship for Rhodes. In Rhodes they stayed with two Portuguese Hospitallers. The Hospitallers advised them to continue their journey disguised as merchants. As part of his merchant cover Covilhao bought a shipment of honey and crossed over to Alexandria with it. Once in Alexandria both Covilhao and  Paiva became seriously ill. While they were ill the honey shipment disappeared and they were told that the Sultan's Chamberlain had confiscated the shipment because he believed they would not recover. Covilhao persuaded the Chamberlain to pay a reasonable price for the honey. With the money Covilhao purchased other trade goods and pressed on to Cairo. In Cairo Covilhao courted the company of other merchants and eventually made friends with a pair of Moroccans bound for :India" and sailed from Egypt in their company. The first port they reached was Tor on the Sanai Peninsula. From there they went to Aden where  Paiva was to embark for Abyssinia on his own to attempt contact with "Prester John". Meanwhile Covilhao still with the Moroccans, joined a pilgrim ship returning from Mecca and sailed with the south west monsoon across the Indian Ocean to Cannanore on the Malabar Coast of India. In Cannanore he was told that nearby Calicut was the richest port in all of India and that the shipping there was controlled by Islamic merchants. Covilhao proceeded to Calicut where he observed that ships arrived in August and September with European goods, and left in Winter on the north east monsoon with cinnamon, cloves, spices, silks, porcelain, pearls, and precious stones. From Calicut, Covilhao traveled north to Goa and then crossed over to Africa visiting many ports. While in Africa he became convinced that Africa could be circumnavigated and near the end of 1490 Covilhao returned to Cario where he was supposed to meet Pavia.

 Instead he was met by a messenger of the King. Pavia had died before completing his mission of contact with the "Priest King" and Covilhao was to complete Pavia's mission. Covilhao was to find "Prester John" in Sub-Saharan Africa in the Kingdom of Abyssinia . Covilhao wrote a dispatch to his sovereign describing his travels and observations and sent this back via one of the messengers. The other messenger was a rabbi, Abraham of Beja. Before contacting the priest king Covilhao was to take Rabbi Abraham to Ormuz. In his dispatch Covilhao described ports of India, Arabia, and Africa that he had visited. He described "Moon Island"(Madagascar) and most probably expressed his belief that Africa could be circumnavigated.

 Covilhao escorted Rabbi Abraham to Ormuz and then, contrary to his sovereign instructions, took ship for Jidda across the Red Sea. From Jidda he accompanied some pilgrims to Mecca where he wanted to see the sacred Kaaba, the black stone believed to have fallen from heaven long before the arrival of prophet. After Mecca he proceeded north to the monastery of St. Catherine in the Sinai. Covilhao's delays in proceeding to Abyssinia seemed almost a premonition of his fate at the hands of the "priest -king".

 Finally in 1493 Covilhao arrived at the court of the Negus in Abyssinia. While treated well, Covilhao was detained against his will and prevented from sending any dispatches to Lisbon. The legendary "priest king"so long sought by the Christian alliance turned out to be the sovereign of a poor and virtually powerless kingdom. It was the Negus who needed and sought an alliance with the West, precisely because of the weakness of his position. The West was interested for two reasons, the "priest-king's" position in the rear of the Muslim world and his legendary strength. If his weakness became known, the West would quickly lose interest. Covilhao would be detained for life in a sort of gilded cage. A Portuguese ambassador would finally visit him in 1520 and reported that Covilhao was still alive, married to an Ethiopian woman, held in high esteem with the court of the Negus. Covilhao died in Abyssinia, one of the earliest documented cases of a naval intelligence agent who never came in from the cold. Even if the West had learned of the weakness of "Prester John"in 1493 interest in the route to "India" around Africa was about to take second place in Western navigational interests.

 On March 4, 1493 Christopher Columbus arrived in Restello, Lisbon's outer harbor. The attention of Europe would turn westward across the Atlantic. The quest for "India"and Christian / Muslim conflicts took a back burner to the exploitation and development of the "New World". Covilhao's  astounding mission with its potential for changing the balance of power , would be relegated to a curiosity of history. Undertaken a few years earlier and Covilhao might have been one of the few naval spies who changed history. 

 And so we see the tremendous effect on reality that widely held myth , particularly myth with some remote basis in truth can have on history. The new physics and astrophysics tells us that the universe and physical laws are more complex than either the Newtonian clockwork universe, or relativism. possibilities appear infinite. In the mind of our youth the "warp drive" (space propulsion systems capable of breaking the light barrier) are just around the corner, a myth with some basis in truth. In the mind of our youth the universe has in relative abundance water, oxygen, heat, and planets do circle distant stars; all of this we now know to be true. Some of these children will become heads of state and government, and others officers. One day one or more of these children will send another out to learn just how close to myth is the reality. The children have no obsolete views of the universe as a clockwork or a dustbin to unlearn. Aided by cinematic vision, a compelling myth has formed and is widely held. Driven in part by the power of this myth, like the searchers for "Prester John" the Children will reach for the stars. The lessons from the era of 1415 through 1542 if well studied could help them avoid repeating the mistakes of the last era of great exploration. There are of course other reasons for this coming exploration. But the power of the myth fuels those unschooled in physics and astrophysics, or disinclined to read volumes of technical data. The myth of the resource filled and lively universe is clear and detailed as Hollywood special effects could possibly make it. More over, as was the case several times with the myth of Prester John, facts keep coming in supporting the myth. This myth isn't just something for the scientifically educated. It is firmly planted in the minds of future tax payers all over the world. This generational myth will propel action. Mankind is space bound.

Notes/sources: 

* The Caliphate: Muhammad as prophet could not be succeeded. However, the continuity of Islam as a political-social community required succession to his civil and military functions. Upon the prophet's death his father in law was proclaimed "Khalifa Rasul Allah"(Successor of the Apostle of God). As Islam spread and eventually divided into different schools and sects the Caliphate expanded to incorporate regional Caliphs. Dynastic succession introduced stability into the Caliphate during the Umayyard period (661-750 AD). THE PERSIAN GULF STATES A GENERAL STUDY , John Hopkins University Pres. See Also ARABS, ISLAM and the ARAB CALIPHATE by E.A.Beiyaeu.

* For brief biographies and explanations of secular and religious titles see: NEW CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA  

* "SELJUK refers to the Rulers of Persia circa 1141

"NESTORIAN  DOCTRINE became the official teaching of the Persian Christian Church whose missionary activities over a number of centuries were the rival of Rome itself.-New Catholic Encyclopedia

*"Chief of the Kari Kitai or more properly the Kahan of the Kara-Khytay defeated the Seljuk King of Persia in 1141 see p. 92 THE QUEST FOR INDIA by Bjorn Lanstrom and the NEW CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA

* For time lines, biographies, etc. see: THE EMPIRE OF THE ARABS by Lt.Gen.Sir John Glubb, HISTORY OF THE ARABS by Philip K. Hiti, and THE ATLAS OF THE ARAB WORLD by Rafie Boustand and Philippe Farques

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MEMORIAL DAY ISSUE: MAY 26, 2014 HOME PAGE / NOTICES

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 A Memorial Day Thought: "In all of the lands that America has sent troops to defend freedom and humanity , America has never asked for any more land than what it took to bury our dead" (Please comment if you know the author)



NOTICES: HAVE A GREAT MEMORIAL DAY HOLIDAY: But don't forget the meaning of this day and those who died to win and maintain freedom. Freedom isn't free and that's why this holiday was authorized by Congress, as a reminder of that fact. A day to memorialize the fallen, and to enjoy some of the freedom they have provided.  At today's ball games, memorial services, parades and barbecues don't forget to pause to remember the fallen, and stand for the passing national flag or the playing of the Star Spangled banner. Here is a link to our favorite version of the national anthem. Madison Rising:  
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaye7Md3PYs                         

1. To Reach The Latest Blog Posts simply Scroll down

2. The list of Special interest pages to your right are direct links, simply click on any page of interest. Once there simply scroll down or use the various internal and external links provided

3. NEW VISITOR?  Click here for a short video explaining our purpose and mission, a basic site guide, short cuts etc.   INTRODUCTION

4. Looking for maritime links? We link to maritime information sites throughout the special interest pages based on the special interest subject. But we also have an indexed collection of most of the world's English language maritime web sites. Click here: THE BIG LINKS LOCKER

5.  Looking for past essays by the our top analyst, Namazu, former Japanese Giant Catfish demigod. His stuff is spread all over the blog but we are building an archive so you might want to check there first: EVERYTHING NAMAZU

6. We've been following the aggressive actions of the Chinese Navy and Coast Guard for nearly two years now. We are working on an archive for those posts as well: How Far Will The Dragon Swim?

7. On line books?  We have a growing collection for reading on line or use as a reference: Our authoritative literature section is where we are editing, up dating and posting the entire collection of American Admiralty Bureau Guide and Commentators, references that should prove vital to admiralty lawyers working with expert witnesses. This is an on going project but about four complete volumes are on line now: After you enter the Authoritative literature page simply scroll down to the start of the American Admiralty Bureau Guides and Commentators.

AUTHORITATIVE LITERATURE INCLUDING AAB PUBS.  We also have our popular serial posts on the parallels between space exploration and the earlier age of maritime exploration originally published as a serial blog post under the continuing title "SPACE AS AN OCEAN" and now posted as an E-Book in Progress titled PROTOCOLS: Click into our MARITIME LITERATURE page and scroll down until you see the words "E Book In Progress". Then you may continue to scroll down to read as many of the essays as you like. Each one is complete in and of its self so you could red the entire collection painlessly by reading just one a day, about five thought provoking minutes. To view the essays click here: MARITIME LITERATURE, Including PROTOCOLS. We also have in our MERCHANT MARINE INTEREST SECTION the National Mariner's Association book: BLOOD ON BROWN WATER. Just enter the MERCHANT MARINE INTEREST SECTION and scroll down:  MERCHANT MARINE INTEREST:  "BLOOD ON BROWN WATER"

8. Book Reviews: Are sorted via the special interest pages, just click on any of the special interest pages in the column margin to your right to select a subject area. Book reviews are spread throughout each section along with links to free videos on the pertinent subject, links to specialized web sites on the subject etc. Each book review will have a link to a vendor where you can obtain additional information or purchase the book. If you are interested in a library loan look for the International Book Binding Number (ISBN) either in our review or at the vendor's site. The ISBN number is a big aid when your librarian has to arrange an inter library loan.

9. To look at books that we haven't reviewed yet, shop for water sports books, videos, clothing, and equipment, boat building tools, fishing equipment, or surfing and diving gear visit our shopping mall.  The shops are open while we're under construction. 

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10. Need Boat Building Plans? Links to designers with building plans for sale are in the BOAT BUILDING section.  BOAT BUILDING SECTION

11. If you need additional guidance through this very large site try our  SITE GUIDE AND INDEXS

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