Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Third Mithridatic War of 74-62 B.C.

The Third Mithridatic War of 74-62 B.C. was the last of three clashes between Mithridates VI of Pontus and the Roman Republic. A war that began in western Asia Minor ended with Roman armies campaigning in Armenia, to the east of the Black Sea and in Syria and saw Roman power extended into completely new regions
The battle of Chalcedon was a combined land and sea battle at the start of the Third Mithridatic War that ended in a crushing victory for Mithridates VI of Pontus.
The siege of Cyzicus (73 B.C.) was a Roman victory that effectively ended Mithridates VI's campaign in western Asia Minor at the start of the Third Mithridatic War.
The battle of the Rhyndacis of 73 B.C. was the first of a series of disasters that befell the army of Mithridates VI of Pontus when it attempted to retreat from the siege of Cyzicus (Third Mithridatic War).
The siege of Eupatoria (c.72-71 B.C.) was one of the shorter sieges during the Roman general Lucullus's invasion of Pontus (Third Mithridatic War).
The battle of Tigranocerta, 6 or 7 October 69 B.C., was a one-sided Roman victory over a massive army led by Tigranes I of Armenia, but one that the Romans were unable to take advantage of.

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Second Mithridatic War, 83-82 B.C.

The Second Mithridatic War, 83-82 B.C., was a short-lived conflict largely caused by the ambition of Lucius Licinius Murena, the Roman governor of Asia after the end of the First Mithridatic War.
Marcus Varius was a Roman renegade and support of the rebel governor of Spain Sertorius who fought on the Pontic side during the Third Mithridatic War.
The battle of the Halys River was the only major engagement during the short Second Mithridatic War (83-82 B.C.) and was one of the few defeats suffered by a Roman army during the three wars against Mithridates IV of Pontus.
The battle of Lemnos of 73 B.C. was a naval victory won by Lucius Licinius Lucullus early in the Third Mithridatic War over a Pontic fleet commanded by the Roman renegade Marcus Varius.

Mithridates VI Eupator 'the Great', king of Pontus

Mithridates VI Eupator 'the Great', king of Pontus, is remembered as one of the Roman Republic's most persistent enemies, despite only winning one major battle against a genuinely Roman army, at Zela in 67 B.C. During his reign he was responsible for turning Pontus into the dominant power on the Black Sea, but in the course of three wars against the Romans lost his kingdom, and died after being overthrown one of his own sons

Thursday, December 11, 2008

First Mithridatic War (89-85 B.C.)

The First Mithridatic War (89-85 B.C.) was the first of three clashes between the Roman Republic and Mithridates VI of Pontus which would last for nearly thirty years, and end with the destruction of the Pontic kingdom.
The battle of the Amnias River (89 B.C.) was the first battle of the First Mithridatic War, and was the first of a series of victories in which the armies of Mithridates VI conquered the Roman province of Asia.
The battle of Protopachium, 89 B.C., was the second of two victories won by the armies of Mithridates VI of Pontus that at least temporarily destroyed Roman authority in their province of Asia at the start of the First Mithridatic War.
The siege of Rhodes of 88 B.C. was one of the first defeats suffered by Mithridates VI of Pontus in the early period of the First Mithridatic War against Rome.
The siege of Athens of 87-86 B.C. was one of the first major Roman successes during the First Mithridatic War (89-85 B.C.), and marked the point at which the initiative in the war began to move towards the Romans.
The siege of Piraeus of 87-86 B.C. was a bitterly fought clash that only ended when the defenders of the city pulled out by sea after the fall of the city of Athens.
The battle of Chaeornea (86 B.C.) was the first of two crushing defeats suffered by Pontic armies that ended Mithridates VI's invasion of Greece (First Mithridatic War).
The battle of Orchomenus of 86 B.C. was the second of two great Roman victories that ended the Pontic invasion of Greece during the First Mithridatic War.
Archelaus was the most prominent Pontic general during the First Mithridatic War (89-85 B.C.), fought between the forces of Mithridates VI of Pontus and the Roman Republic.
Neoptolemus was a Pontic admiral and general of the First Mithridatic War, responsible for early victories over the Romans and their allies, but who lost a key naval battle that effectively ended the war.
Manius Aquillius (died 89/88 B.C.) was a Roman consul and general who successfully crushed a major slave uprising on Sicily before suffering defeat and a painful death at the start of the First Mithridatic War.

Monday, December 08, 2008

Aichi and the Aichi E12A, E13A, E16A and M6A

Aichi was the fourth biggest Japanese aircraft company of the Second World War.
The Aichi E12A was a two-seat twin-float reconnaissance floatplane designed in response to a Japanese Navy 12-Shi specification issued in 1937 for an aircraft to replace the Kawanishi E7K2 three-seat reconnaissance seaplane.
The Aichi E13A 'Jake' Navy Type 0 Reconnaissance Seaplane was the most important Japanese floatplane of the Second World War.
The Aichi E16A Zuiun 'Paul' was a floatplane reconnaissance aircraft and dive bomber designed to replace the E13A 'Jake' on the cruisers and battleships of the Imperial Japanese Navy.
The Aichi M6A Seiran is the only aircraft to have been designed as a submarine-based attack aircraft and to have entered service, although its only military operation was ended prematurely by the end of the Second World War.

Mitsubishi B2M

The Mitsubishi B2M was a Japanese biplane torpedo bomber designed by Blackburn Aircraft in Britain in response to a request from Mitsubishi for designs to replace their own B1M1 Type 13 carrier attack bomber.

Thursday, December 04, 2008

Mitsubishi G3M Nell and related aircraft

The Hiro G2H was a Japanese land based naval bomber developed as part of the Experimental 7-Shi programme, an attempt to develop a new generation of aircraft for the Japanese Navy
The Mitsubishi G1M1 was a designation given retrospectively to the sole Mitsubishi Ka.9, the first prototype in the series of aircraft that would enter service as the G3M ‘Nell’.
The Mitsubishi G3M Type 96 Attack Bomber 'Nell' was the Japanese Navy’s main land based torpedo and high level bomber in the years before the start of the Pacific War. Although it was in the process of being replaced by the G4M ‘Betty’ at the end of 1941 the 'Nell' stilled played a major part in the early Japanese conquests in Malaya and the Pacific.
The Mitsubishi G3M1 Model 11 was the first production version of the Navy Type 96 Attack Bomber, powered by the same Mitsubishi Kinsei 3 engines as the fourth and eleventh prototypes.
The Mitsubishi G3M2 was the main production version of the G3M Navy Type 96 Attack Bomber. It was produced in two models – the Model 21, which differed from the G3M1 mainly in having more powerful engines, and the Model 22 which also carried heavier defensive armament.
The Mitsubishi G3M3 Model 23 was the final version of the Mitsubishi G3M Navy Type 96 Attack Bomber. It was very similar to the G3M2 Model 22, but was powered by two 1,300hp Kinsei 51 engines
The Kusho L3Y was a transport version of the Mitsubishi G3M 'Nell' Navy Type 96 attack bomber. It was produced in two versions, both of which emerged before the Japanese entry into the Second World War

Minor Japanese Army Aircraft

The Jukogyo Ki-35 was a design for an army cooperation aircraft, produced in response to a Japanese Army specification of May 1937 but which did not enter service.
The Kawasaki Ki-5 was an inverted gull-wing cantilever monoplane designed in 1933 in an attempt to produce a Japanese fighter equal to the Hawker Fury or the Boeing B-26A, and to replace the Nakajima Army Type 91 Fighter and the Kawasaki Army Type 92 Fighter.
The Kawasaki Ki-22 was one of three designs for a heavy bomber produced in response to a Japanese Army specification issued on 15 February 1936 but that never progressed beyond the design stage
The Kawasaki Ki-28 was a monoplane designed in response to a Japanese Army fighter specification issued in June 1935, but which failed to enter production.
The Kawasaki Ki-38 was an early version of the aircraft that would enter production as the Kawasaki Ki-45 Toryu (Nick) twin engined fighter.
The Mitsubishi Ki-18 was the designation given by the Japanese Army to a single A5M (Claude) carrier fighter that was evaluated for service with the Army.
The Mitsubishi Ki-33 was a version of the A5M Navy Type 96 carrier fighter submitted to the Japanese Army in response to a specification issued in June 1935.
The Mitsubishi Ki-69 was to have been an escort fighter based on the Mitsubishi Ki-67 Hiryu (Dinah).
The Mitsubishi Ki-73 was a design for a single-engined long range escort fighter, produced in response to a Japanese Army specification issued in May 1943.
The Mitsubishi Ki-97 was to have been a transport aircraft based on the Mitsubishi Ki-67 Hiryu (Dinah).
The Mitsubishi Ki-112 was a design project for a heavily armed fighter based on the Ki-67 Hiryu (Dinah).
The Nakajima Ki-11 was a low-wing monoplane designed to replace the Japanese Army’s Nakajima Army Type 91 Fighter and the Kawasaki Army Type 92 Fighter, but which lost out to the biplane Kawasaki Ki-10
The Nakajima Ki-12 was an experimental monoplane fighter aircraft produced in the early 1930s, and which gave Nakajima valuable experience that they used in the design of the Nakajima Ki-27 Army Type 97 Fighter.
The Nakajima Ki-58 was a long range escort fighter based on the Nakajima Ki-49 Donryu heavy bomber.
The Nakajima Ki-106 was a version of the Ki-84 Army Type 4 Fighter constructed with a wooden fuselage in an attempt to save light alloys
The Nakajima Ki-113 was a version of the Nakajima Ki-84 Army Type 4 fighter produced with a number of steel components in an attempt to reduce the demand for light alloys.
The Nakajima Ki-116 was the last variant of the Nakajima Ki-84 Army Type 4 fighter to reach the prototype stage.
The Nakajima Ki-117 was to have been a high altitude version of the Nakajima Ki-84 Army Type 4 fighter.
The Tachikawa Ki-72 was a design for an improved version of the Ki-36 Army Type 98 Direct Co-operation Plane.

Japanese Aircraft Designations

The Japanese Navy used two main and two subsidiary aircraft designation systems during the Second World War, causing so much confusion on the Allied side that a fifth codename system was developed.
The Japanese Army Air Force used three overlapping aircraft designation systems – the Type number, based on the year the aircraft was accepted, the Kitai, or airframe number, allocated while a project was under development, and a series of popular names adopted just after the start of the Pacific War.