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Convoy PQ 18 was an Arctic convoy of forty Allied freighters from Scotland and Iceland to Arkhangelsk in the Soviet Union in the war against Nazi Germany. The convoy departed Loch Ewe, Scotland on 2 September 1942, rendezvoused with more ships and escorts at Iceland and arrived at Arkhangelsk on 21 September. An exceptionally large number of escorts was provided by the Royal Navy in Operation EV, including the first escort carrier to accompany an Arctic convoy. Detailed information on German intentions was provided by the code breakers at Bletchley Park and elsewhere, through Ultra signals decrypts and eavesdropping on Luftwaffe wireless communications.

The German B-Dienst read some British signals and Luftwaffe used the lull in convoys after Convoy PQ 17 (27 June – 10 July) to prepare a maximum effort with the Kriegsmarine. From 12 to 21 September PQ 18 was attacked by bombers, torpedo-bombers, U-boats and mines, which sank thirteen ships at a cost of  forty-four aircraft and four U-boats. The convoy was defended by escort ships and the aircraft of the escort carrier  which used signals intelligence gleaned from Ultra and Luftwaffe wireless frequencies to provide early warning of some air attacks and to attempt evasive routeing of the convoy around concentrations of U-boats. United States Navy Armed Guard and British Naval and Royal Artillery Maritime Regiment gunners were embarked on the freighters to operate anti-aircraft guns and barrage balloons, which made air attacks more difficult and because of inexperience, occasionally wounded men and damaged ships and cargo, with wild shooting.

The convoy handed over its distant escorts and Avenger to the homeward bound Convoy QP 14 near Archangelsk on 16 September and continued with the close escort and local escorts, riding out a storm in the Northern Dvina estuary and the last attacks by the Luftwaffe, before reaching Archangelsk on 21 September. Several ships ran aground in the storm but all were eventually refloated; unloading the convoy took a month. Because of its losses and the transfer in November of its most effective remaining aircraft to the Mediterranean to oppose Operation Torch, the Luftwaffe effort could never be repeated.

Background

Arctic convoys

In October 1941, after Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the USSR, which had begun on 22 June, the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, made a commitment to send a convoy to the Arctic ports of the USSR every ten days and to deliver  a month from July 1942 to January 1943, followed by  and another  more than already promised. The first convoy was due at Murmansk around 12 October and the next convoy was to depart Iceland on 22 October. A motley of British, Allied and neutral shipping loaded with military stores and raw materials for the Soviet war effort would be assembled at Hvalfjordur, Iceland, convenient for ships from both sides of the Atlantic. By late 1941, the convoy system used in the Atlantic had been established on the Arctic run; a convoy commodore ensured that the ships' masters and signals officers attended a briefing before sailing to make arrangements for the management of the convoy, which sailed in a formation of long rows of short columns. The commodore was usually a retired naval officer, aboard a ship identified by a white pendant with a blue cross. The commodore was assisted by a Naval signals party of four men, who used lamps, semaphore flags and telescopes to pass signals, coded from books carried in a bag, weighted to be dumped overboard. In large convoys, the commodore was assisted by vice- and rear-commodores who directed the speed, course and zig-zagging of the merchant ships and liaised with the escort commander.

Following Convoy PQ 16 and the disaster to Convoy PQ 17 in July 1942, Arctic convoys were postponed for nine weeks and much of the Home Fleet was detached to the Mediterranean for Operation Pedestal, a Malta convoy. During the lull, Admiral John Tovey concluded that the Home Fleet had been of no great protection to convoys beyond Bear Island, midway between Spitsbergen and the North Cape. Tovey would oversee the operation from Scapa Flow, where the fleet was linked to the Admiralty by landline, immune to variations in wireless reception. The next convoy should be accompanied by sufficient protection against surface attack; the longer-range destroyers of the Home Fleet could be used to augment the close escort force of anti-submarine and anti-aircraft ships, to confront a sortie by German ships with the threat of a massed destroyer torpedo attack. The practice of meeting homeward-bound QP convoys near Bear Island was dispensed with and QP 14 was to wait until PQ 18 was near its destination, despite the longer journey being more demanding of crews, fuel and equipment. The new escort carrier  (Commander A. P. Colthurst) had arrived from the United States and was added to the escort force, to give the convoy air cover.

Signals intelligence

Bletchley Park

The British Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) based at Bletchley Park housed a small industry of code-breakers and traffic analysts. By June 1941, the German Enigma machine Home Waters (Heimish) settings used by surface ships and U-boats could quickly be read. On 1 February 1942, the Enigma machines used in U-boats in the Atlantic and Mediterranean were changed but German ships and the U-boats in Arctic waters continued with the older Heimish (Hyrda from 1942, Dolphin to the British). By mid-1941, British Y-stations were able to receive and read Luftwaffe W/T transmissions and give advance warning of Luftwaffe operations. In 1941, naval Headache personnel with receivers to eavesdrop on Luftwaffe wireless transmissions were embarked on warships and from May 1942, ships gained RAF Y computor parties, which sailed with cruiser admirals in command of convoy escorts, to interpret Luftwaffe W/T signals intercepted by the Headaches. The Admiralty sent details of Luftwaffe wireless frequencies, call signs and the daily local codes to the computors, which combined with their knowledge of Luftwaffe procedures, could glean fairly accurate details of German reconnaissance sorties. Sometimes computors predicted attacks twenty minutes before they were detected by radar.

B-Dienst

The rival German Beobachtungsdienst (B-Dienst, Observation Service) of the Kriegsmarine Marinenachrichtendienst (MND, Naval Intelligence Service) had broken several Admiralty codes and cyphers by 1939, which were used to help Kriegsmarine ships elude British forces and provide opportunities for surprise attacks. From June to August 1940, six British submarines were sunk in the Skaggerak using information gleaned from British wireless signals. In 1941, B-Dienst read signals from the Commander in Chief Western Approaches informing convoys of areas patrolled by U-boats, enabling the submarines to move into "safe" zones. B-Dienst had broken Naval Cypher No 3 in February 1942 and by March was reading up to 80 per cent of the traffic, which continued until 15 December 1943. By coincidence, the British lost access to the Shark cypher and had no information to send in Cypher No 3 which might compromise Ultra. In early September, Finnish Radio Intelligence deciphered a Soviet Air Force transmission which divulged the convoy itinerary, which was forwarded it to the Germans.

Prelude

Operation Orator

An anti-shipping force (Group Captain F. L. Hopps) for the Barents Sea comprising 32 Handley Page Hampden torpedo-bombers from 144 Squadron, Royal Air Force (RAF) and 455 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) nine Catalina maritime patrol aircraft from 210 Squadron RAF and three photo reconnaissance Spitfires from the RAF Photographic Reconnaissance Unit, was sent to the Soviet Union to oppose an attack by a group of German surface ships assembled in Norwegian waters, which included the battleship Tirpitz. On 13 August the cruiser , two US and one British destroyer sailed for Russia, with RAF ground crews for the Hampden squadrons and a medical unit. The Catalinas were to be based at Grasnaya on the Kola Inlet and the Hampdens and Spitfires at Vaenga.

The Catalinas had to remain on operations until the last minute, which meant that their equipment and ground crews also had to travel by air. The relatively short range of the Hampdens and the limited navigational equipment on board and the weather caused the loss of several Hampdens and others were shot down en route. Six bombers crashed in Sweden or German-occupied Norway and plans for PQ 18 and QP 14 were recovered by the Germans from one of the aircraft. Two Hampdens ran out of fuel and force-landed in Russia, one a write-off; one aircraft arrived over the Kola Inlet during an air raid and was shot down into the sea by Russian fighters. The aircraft sank with the wounded air gunner on board and the rest of the crew were strafed in the sea. The survivors managed to get ashore, where they came under small-arms fire, until their cries of "Angliski" were recognised. By 5 September, 24 Hampdens had reached Vaenga.

Operation EV

Operation EV was the code-name for a naval operation to escort Convoy PQ 18 to a rendezvous with the returning Convoy QP 14 and hand over PQ 18 to British and Soviet escorts from Archangelsk. The convoy consisted of forty merchant ships including the Catapult Armed Merchant ship (CAM Ship) Empire Morn carrying a Hawker Hurricane Mk I fighter and the convoy rescue ship SS Copeland. The Convoy Commodore, Rear-Admiral (retired) Edye Boddam-Whetham RNR, was in Temple Arch. Three minesweepers to be based in Russia accompanied the convoy along with Force Q, two Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) oilers  and . A Close Escort (Commander A. B. Russell) was led by the destroyer , with two destroyers and two anti-aircraft ships, four Flower-class corvettes, four anti-submarine trawlers, three minesweepers and two submarines.

The Carrier Force comprised Avenger with 802 Naval Air Squadron and 882 Naval Air Squadron Fleet Air Arm (six Hawker Sea Hurricane fighters each) and 825 Naval Air Squadron (three Fairey Swordfish reconnaissance and torpedo-bombers, shared by five crews) and three destroyers. A Fighting Destroyer Escort (FDE) of the cruiser  (Rear Admiral Robert Burnett) and sixteen fleet destroyers were disposed in Force A [Captain (D) H. T. Armstrong] in  and Force B [Captain (D) I. M. R. Campbell] in . The Spitzbergen Fuelling Force (Force P) departing ahead of the convoy on 3 September was made up of two RFA oilers and four destroyers, bound for Lowe Sound. Spitzbergen was the Dutch name of the islands (Jagged Mountains) until  1925, when they became Svalbard (Norwegian) in the Svalbard Treaty. The summer melt of the polar ice cap meant that the convoy could sail north of Bear Island, considerably lengthening the journey and to conserve fuel, destroyer attacks on U-boats were limited to 90 minutes' duration.

Vice-Admiral Stuart Bonham Carter commanded a Cruiser Covering Force (CCF) comprising three cruisers and a concurrent supply run was to be made to Svalbard by two cruisers and a destroyer. A Distant Covering Force (Vice Admiral Bruce Fraser) with the battleships  and , the cruiser  and five short-range destroyers, was to sail from Akureyri on the north Icelandic coast. Four submarines took station off the Lofoten Islands and three off north Norway. The convoy was to be escorted by Western Approaches Command from its departure Loch Ewe in Scotland on 2 September to the Denmark Strait by seven destroyers and five trawlers until a handover on 7 September. Four Soviet destroyers with four British corvettes and three minesweepers were to rendezvous with the convoy near Archangelsk.

Marinegruppenkommando Nord

On 24 June, a British minesweeper based at Kola was sunk by Ju 87 Stuka dive-bombers and on 16 August, Admiral Scheer conducted Unternehmen Wunderland, a sortie against Russian ships thought to be sailing along the route north of Siberia. Admiral Scheer sailed north of Novaya Zemlya and then to the east and sank a Soviet icebreaker. By 30 August Admiral Scheer was back in Narvik. B-Dienst signals interception and documents recovered from a crashed Hampden, revealed details about the PQ 18 and QP 14 convoys, including their crossover and escort changeover points. U-boats, destroyers and the minelayer Ulm sailed on Operation Zar (Unternehmen Zar) to sow mines at the entrance of the White Sea and off Novaya Zemlya.

On 25 August, Ultra revealed the itinerary of Ulm and the destroyers (,  and ) with Tuscaloosa, sailing south of Bear Island, were diverted and sank Ulm that night; sixty survivors were taken prisoner. The Germans had to press Admiral Hipper into service as a minelayer. The Kriegsmarine established a U-boat patrol group of twelve boats in the Norwegian Sea and a squadron comprising the cruisers Admiral Scheer, Admiral Hipper, Köln and four destroyers to attack PQ 18. Since Unternehmen Rösselsprung in the summer, the battleship Tirpitz and cruiser Lützow and three destroyers were in dock for repairs and were not available for operations.

Luftwaffe
The Luftwaffe used the lull after PQ 17 to assemble a force of 35 Junkers Ju 88 A-4 dive-bombers of Kampfgeschwader 30 (KG 30) at Banak and 42 torpedo-bombers of Kampfgeschwader 26 (KG 26) (I/KG 26 [Major Werner Klümper] with 28 Heinkel He 111 H-6s and III/KG 26 with 14 Ju 88A-4s) at Bardufoss (Fliegerführer Lofoten Colonel August Roth) and Banak, with I StG 5 (Ju 87) at Kirkenes (Fliegerführer Nordost, Colonel Alexander Holle). The reconnaissance aircraft of Luftflotte 5 (Generaloberst Hans-Jürgen Stumpff) comprised I/Seefernaufklärungsgruppe 406 (He 115) at Tromsø, I/Seefernaufklärungsgruppe 906 (BV 138) at Stavanger, I KG 40 (Fw 200) at Trondheim, I (F)/22 and I (F)/124 (Ju 88) divided between Bardufoss, Banak and Kirkenes and Wettererkundungstaffel 6 (Weste 6) at Banak.

After analysing the results of anti-shipping operations against PQ 17, in which the crews of Luftflotte 5 made exaggerated claims of ships sunk, including a cruiser, the anti-shipping units devised a new tactic called Goldene Zange (Golden Comb). Ju 88 bombers were to divert the defenders with medium and dive bombing attacks as the torpedo-bombers approached out of the twilight, flying in line abreast at wave-top height to evade radar, the convoy being silhouetted against the lighter sky, then dropping their torpedoes at the same time. When B-Dienst discovered that an aircraft carrier would accompany the next convoy, Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring gave orders that it must be sunk first; aircrew were told that the destruction of the convoy was the best way to help the German army at Stalingrad and Caucasus in southern Russia.

Convoy PQ 18

2–11 September

PQ 18 left Loch Ewe on 2 September 1942, accompanied by its Local Escort force from Western Approaches Command. The convoy ran into stormy weather, which made formation keeping much harder, particularly for some of the ships with novice crews, dubious about the British since the PQ 17 disaster. Some escorts also had inexperienced crews and Scylla and Avenger were new ships. Avenger had engine trouble, a Sea Hurricane was washed overboard and aircraft tethered below, broke free and slid around the hangar, as did fuzed bombs. The convoy was reported by U-456 and on 6 September, a Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor long-range reconnaissance aircraft had observed Avenger and the Close Escort Force at Seidisfiord in Iceland. The Condor identified Avenger as  and near-missed with its bombs. Next day, as the convoy sailed round the south-west of Iceland, the local escort docked at Hvalfiordur and the close escort with six Soviet freighters joined the convoy, which rounded the west coast heading north. The convoy was sighted by a Condor on 8 September and then hidden by an overcast.

A Swedish source (A2) in Stockholm had told the British naval attaché that a surface ship operation would be mounted against the next convoy and by 8 September, the Admiralty could provide the escort commander a report on the positions of the twenty U-boats expected to attack the convoy and forecast that 65 torpedo-bombers (true figure 92) and 120 bombers were preparing the biggest torpedo attack on an Arctic convoy so far. On 8 September the convoy was joined by Scylla, with the FDE and the Avenger carrier group, which had waited until  before sailing, to conserve fuel and took post around the convoy at the same time on 9 September; the Germans sent new search positions to the U-boats and this was passed to the convoy the next day. The Cruiser Covering Force had sailed independently to a position west of Bear Island and the group carrying supplies bound for the Norwegian weather station at Barentsburg was off Svalbard, using PQ 18 to divert the Luftwaffe. The battleships of the distant covering force had sailed from Seidisfiord towards Jan Mayen Island.

Contact was made by U-boats from the Eispalast wolfpack of twelve boats, which were distributed in three groups along the expected route of the convoy. On 10 September, the weather worsened and fog descended as the escorts chased Asdic reports of submarines. Off Norway, far to the east, as Scheer, Hipper, Koln and their destroyers began Unternehmen Doppelschlag. Next day, as the convoy made its way through fog and rain squalls which turned to snow, Boddam-Whetham criticised the ships's station keeping and warned that ships should keep two cables apart [about ]. Scylla and five destroyers of the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla from the FDE departed the convoy for Bellsundet (Bell Sound) on the south-west coast on the Svalbard and arrived at  on 12 September, to fuel from the two oilers in Axelfjord; the destroyers departed at  on 13 September.

12 September

Dawn on 12 September was overcast clear underneath, with a north-westerly breeze when a BV 138 dropped below the cloud. Four Sea Hurricanes took off from Avenger but failed to shoot down the shadower, which flew back into the clouds. Sea Hurricanes were armed with rifle calibre machine-guns and hits often failed to penetrate. During the day, escorts' High-frequency direction finding equipment (Huff-Duff) detected U-boat wireless transmissions and the escorts made many depth charge attacks, driving off several U-boats. In front of the convoy at  the destroyer Faulknor, received an Asdic echo and destroyed  with its first depth charge salvo.

13 September

The convoy received Ultra information on the latest U-boat positions from the Admiralty and Swordfish aircraft were on anti-submarine patrol by  dodging a BV 138 and a Ju 88, which were faster and better armed. The German aircraft disappeared into cloud when Sea Hurricanes took off from Avenger, then flew back as soon as they landed. Several U-boats were forced to dive by the Swordfish but at  the Russian freighter Stalingrad in the tenth column, on the right flank, was torpedoed and sunk by  with 21 dead out of a complement of 87. Oliver Ellsworth, following behind, turned to avoid the ship and was hit by another torpedo as the rest of PQ 18 was making the emergency turn and one man was lost. Several minesweepers and trawlers converged on the site and rescued the survivors. Sea Hurricanes were sent to attack several  reported to be dropping mines ahead of the convoy but again failed to destroy them; Swordfish tried to attack U-boats on the surface only to be foiled by the  Early in the afternoon, two escorts attacked with no result after a conning tower was seen and another U-boat was chased out of the convoy.

At  when PQ 18 was about  north-west of Bear Island and about to turn into the Barents Sea, the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla returned from refuelling at Svalbard. Twenty  of KG 30 appeared and bombed through gaps in the cloud; Sea Hurricanes were sent to intercept but failed to shoot down any of the bombers. At about  when the Sea Hurricanes were back on deck and rearming, ships' radars detected several formations of aircraft at  range. There was an overcast, the cloud base was at , a moderate sea was running and intermittent showers and sleet obscured the convoy. The bombing succeeded in disrupting the convoy formation as  of  in two waves, followed by  of  and seventeen from KG 30 prepared to make a Goldene Zange attack. One of the Ju 88s shadowing the convoy flew to rendezvous with the torpedo-bombers and guide them to their target.

Standing orders to keep station meant that the anti-aircraft ship , on the left side of the convoy, remained out of range. The escorts closed in, rather than keeping their distance to disrupt the Luftwaffe formations as they passed overhead; the Sea Hurricanes were still on deck. Boddam-Whetham ordered a 45° emergency turn away from a torpedo attack by sounding a horn and the raising a signal flag, to be repeated by the other ships as they were seen but the ninth and tenth columns (right flank column and the next one to port) maintained course. The torpedo-bombers approached so close to the sea that machine-guns and even the low-angle BL 4.7-inch guns Mk I on some of the destroyers could be brought to bear,

Some of the anti-aircraft fire was poorly aimed and spent rounds from the ships on the left flank hit those on the right, wounding gunners, damaging cargoes and holing lifeboats. The torpedo-bomber formation split to pass the cruiser Scylla then each bomber dropped two torpedoes and turned towards the stern of the convoy. Some pilots pressed their attacks

Empire Stevenson, at the head of the ninth column disappeared in a plume of smoke and was lost with all hands. A torpedo fell straight into a hold of Wacosta, the next ship in the column, exploded and sank the ship, the crew being rescued. Oregonian at the head of the tenth column was hit by three torpedoes, capsized and only  survived, many being badly affected through exposure and swallowing oil. Macbeth, following behind, was hit by two torpedoes and the destroyer  came alongside to take off the crew before the ship sank. Sukhona and Afrikander were also sunk and the crews rescued by the close escort, leaving Mary Luckenbach as the only survivor of the two columns. At the head of one of the left flank columns, Empire Beaumont was hit, set on fire and the crew rescued; John Penn was torpedoed in the engine room, three men were killed and the ship was sunk by gunfire from the escorts. Some observers reported periscopes inside the convoy and several ships were near-missed by bombs from the  above. In fewer than fifteen minutes, eight ships had been sunk for a British claim of five bombers shot down and three probables.

Every bomber had been hit by anti-aircraft fire and four of the I/KG 26 aircraft made emergency landings in the sea; one crew being rescued by  (sea rescue service); two of the surviving aircraft were write-offs and several III/KG 26 aircraft in the second wave were shot down. After the  attack, several Heinkel He 115 (He 115) torpedo floatplanes, waiting out of range, attacked in two formations but were driven off. One of the floatplanes was attacked by four Sea Hurricanes but escaped after shooting down one of the pursuers. More aircraft were seen mining the water ahead of the convoy, which made a sharp turn to port until  Fifteen minutes later, as night fell, twelve He 115s attacked from the south-west but were deterred by the anti-aircraft barrage. Two Heinkels were shot down, one crew being captured and the other being rescued by  in the wake of the convoy. (Some late evening losses on 13 September were recorded on the next day.) Colthurst decided that the Sea Hurricanes henceforth would fly standing patrols of 25 minutes duration per fighter, to ensure that some were always available to break up  formations, even if they were too slow and ill-armed to inflict many losses. The captain of Ulster Queen resolved to ignore the standing orders to keep station and steer towards incoming aircraft instead.

The German surface force at Narvik had been alerted when the convoy was first sighted and on 10 September sailed north to Altafjord to begin  (Operation Double Hit). The move was sighted by the two British submarines on patrol and  made an abortive torpedo attack on Admiral Scheer, erroneously reporting the ship as Tirpitz. Soon after midnight on 10/11 September the Admiralty reported Enigma messages that Admiral Hipper was due at Altefjord at  and in the afternoon that Tirpitz was still at Narvik. On 13 September, Enigma showed that the ships at Altefjord had come to one hours' notice at  which was relayed to the convoy escort commander at  The ships were photographed at Altefjord by PRU Spitfires on 14, 15 and 16 September. Enigma showed that Tirpitz was still in Narvik on 14 September and on 16 September, the Swedish source A2 reported that only Admiral Hipper, Admiral Scheer and Koln would operate against PQ 18.  had already been called off on 13 September; while the ships were at Altefjord, Hitler, reluctant to risk the loss of any of his capital ships on an offensive operation, had refused to authorise a sortie. The Hampden force in Russia had undertaken an anti-shipping patrol on 14 September but found no targets. (The RAF donated the remaining Hampdens and Spitfires to the Soviet Air Force (, VVS); the crews returned to Britain on the cruiser  and two destroyers on 28 October).

14 September

At  on 14 September, the oiler  was torpedoed by  which was being stalked by an escort, the U-boat then dived under the convoy and escaped, cloaked from Asdic by propeller noise. Fires on Atheltemplar were impossible to extinguish and it was abandoned, to be sunk by the escorts after the survivors were rescued. Swordfish patrols began at dawn and at  a U-boat about  starboard of the convoy was spotted and marked by a smoke float before a Ju 88 shadowing aircraft saw off the Swordfish. U-589 surfaced again and was seen by an escort heading for the smoke around  U-589 dived again, was depth charged several times and destroyed on the eighth attack at  When the escort made for the convoy, its captain left a shot-down German bomber crew behind. The Swordfish played cat and mouse with Ju 88s and BV 138s, trying to lure them into range of ships' guns and at  a German torpedo-bomber formation of III/KG 26 was reported by a Swordfish to be en route for the convoy at wave top height. The torpedo-bomber formation divided to nullify attempts by the ships to evade their attacks.

Avenger had a standing patrol of Sea Hurricanes aloft and increased speed to emerge from the head of the convoy and run down the port side. Ulster Queen also left station to meet the attack along with Scylla and Achates. During these manoeuvres, Boddam-Whetham ordered another 45° emergency turn away. The torpedo-bomber formation divided and one part turned towards Avenger; the barrage made the others release their torpedoes too soon, some of which turned over in the air. No hits were achieved and by  eleven Ju 88s had been shot down. KG 30 arrived and dive-bombed from  until  through breaks in the cloud, opposed by the anti-aircraft fire of the convoy and attacks by six Sea Hurricanes. One Ju 88 was shot down as Avenger and several other ships were near-missed. At  twenty-two He 111s of I/KG 26 and eighteen Ju 88 torpedo-bombers attacked head on, having received reports that Avenger was in front the convoy. The bombers found Scylla instead and were attacked from behind by Sea Hurricanes, which dived on the formation as it flew into the anti-aircraft barrage. Several torpedo-bomber pilots saw Avenger and altered course down the starboard side of the convoy to attack. Three of the Sea Hurricanes which followed the German aircraft into the barrage were shot down by the ships, the pilots being rescued by destroyers. Two He 111s aimed at Avenger which combed the tracks (steered between them) several bombers did not drop and others did at random.

Mary Luckenbach was torpedoed from  by a bomber which strafed the superstructure as it passed overhead, its starboard engine on fire as it crashed into the sea; Mary Luckenbach, the last ship of the ninth and tenth columns, disappeared in a huge explosion. Ships nearby were showered with débris and concussion led the captain of Nathaniel Greene to order abandon ship, under the impression that it had been torpedoed, until he realised his mistake; two injured gunners were taken off by a destroyer. Five He 111s crashed near the convoy, four more force-landed in the sea and five of the thirteen survivors were seriously damaged. The British claimed 13 torpedo-bombers for a loss of the three Sea Hurricanes. Luftwaffe records show at least 23 aircraft of I/KG 26, III/KG 26, III/KG 30, I.406 and I.906 were destroyed; I/KG 26 was reduced to eight serviceable aircraft. The crew of one of the shot down bombers was fired on as columns of the convoy passed by. Ju 88s bombers from KG 30 conducted level- and dive-bombing attacks on the escorts until  then climbed into the cloud and departed. The Sea Hurricane pilots claimed five bombers and the speed with which the escorts had rescued the three shot down pilots raised their morale. Avenger had achieved a much better radar-controlled fighter interception than the day before. During the evening, PQ 18 passed Hope Island and some of the 550 survivors were redistributed, 209 being accommodated on Scylla and 234 on the fleet destroyers due to return with QP 14. One destroyer bound for Iceland took off the unwounded survivors on Copeland, leaving 96 seriously wounded men being treated.

15 September

Dawn on 15 September broke with a calm sea and patchy cloud at ; during the day the wind rose, bringing showers of rain, sleet and snow. Overnight and in the morning, Huff-Duff detected wireless transmissions from U-boats in the vicinity; Swordfish anti-submarine patrols were flown by Avenger from first light. German reconnaissance aircraft reached the convoy around  and near noon, German bombers were detected and Sea Hurricanes scrambled. The raid lasted for about three hours, the bombers attacking through gaps in the cloud cover but fighter attacks and the anti-aircraft fire from the ships prevented accurate bombing. The computer on Scylla, eavesdropping on 5610kHz, the Luftwaffe frequency, heard the dismay of the bomber pilots at the size of the convoy. The Sea Hurricanes managed eventually to keep the bombers circling out of range; Ulster Queen even managed to shoot down a Ju 88 in cloud, aiming with its gun-laying radar. The last bombers departed at  but although the weather worsened, U-boat alerts continued all day. Soon after noon, smoke was seen on the horizon, thought to be from surface ships but when an escort steered south-east to check, it turned out to be diesel smoke from two surfaced U-boats. The U-boats crash-dived and a BV 138 nearby was driven off; the ship failed to located the U-boats with Asdic and one of the U-boats made an abortive attack on the ship, which returned to the convoy at  The weather deterioration continued into the evening and as the destroyer  returned to its station after dropping back to refuel, a depth-charge attack was made on a "suspicious object".

16 September

U-boat contacts were made all night and at  on 16 September, U-457 sailed beneath the outer anti-submarine screen and prepared to fire a torpedo salvo at the convoy. Impulsive gained an Asdic contact, made a depth-charge attack and then lost contact amidst the propeller noises of the convoy. The destroyer passed between the merchant ships as they steamed over the position of the attack, found the suggestive smell of oil and bubbles on the sea, claiming a probable; U-457 had been destroyed. Soon after dawn, the first Catalina from Russia arrived, allowing the Swordfish crews to cease their anti-submarine patrols and at  the convoy turned south, running into mist and rising winds. At  two escorts attacked a U-boat but it evaded the attack with a Pillenwerfer, a discharge of compressed air which gave the same Asdic echo as a submarine and the hunt was terminated at  Wireless contact was made with the homeward QP 14, ready for the changeover and then Scylla and the FDE departed, along with the Avenger group, Alynbank and the two submarine escorts. PQ 18 and the close escort of corvettes, minesweepers and trawlers as a south-easterly gale brought mist and rain. There were constant U-boat alarms and at one point, mines were seen amidst the freighters, leading to the convoy gunners engaging anything seen afloat, to the detriment of seals in the sea, men, superstructure and cargo on other ships.

17–18 September

The Soviet destroyers  and  arrived before noon on 17 September and made a substantial addition to the anti-aircraft firepower of the close escort; Kuibishev and Uritski arriving next morning. At  on 18 September, the convoy reached Cape Kanin as the Luftwaffe made another Goldene Zange attack. The last twelve operational He 111 torpedo-bombers of KG 26 attacked at wave-top height from astern as the Ju 88s of KG 30 bombed the convoy. Ulster Queen turned meet the attack broadside; with the first two Russian destroyers, Ulster Queen fired into the sea to create a splash barrage. A witness on Copeland reported that the bombers

Kentucky was hit amidships and caught fire. The crew abandoned ship to be rescued, despite the sea state, by nearby escorts. A request was sent by wireless to Archangelsk for tugs to be sent as two escorts waited with Kentucky. As a party tried to board, a Ju 88 hit Kentucky with two bombs and caused more fires, attracting other bombers to the scene. The escorts tried to finish off the ship with gunfire and then returned to the convoy amidst the Goldene Zange. No Soviet aircraft were available and at  Empire Morn launched Flying Officer Burr in his CAM Hurricane, the last air defence of the convoy. Many convoy gunners fired at the Hurricane until it was out of range and Burr also had to weave through the barrage balloons flown by the merchantmen. Burr attacked Heinkels astern of the convoy and obtained a flamer before running out of ammunition. The torpedo-bombers failed to hit any ships for a loss of three bombers and one seriously damaged.

The ships had been shaken by many near misses by the torpedo-bombers and after the event it was speculated that many of the torpedoes had dud fuzes. In the confusion, the master of Empire Tristram had thrown overboard the confidential books and begun an abandon ship, before realising his mistake and pressing on. Wild shooting by the convoy gunners wounded one man and hit several aircraft carried on the deck of Patrick Henry. No more torpedo attacks were made on the convoy and soon after, Soviet aircraft appeared and kept away the Ju 88 bombers of KG 30 as the weather deteriorated again. At  four British local escorts joined the convoy, which split into two columns as dark fell and the tide in the Dvina Estuary ebbed strongly. Ships crossing the Dvina bar needed navigation beacons but these were not illuminated and some pilot boats failed to appear. PQ 18 had to drop anchor and spend the night riding out a north-westerly gale against a Lee shore. Some ships dragged their anchors or lost them, others started engines and managed to move away from the shore and heave to and two trawlers used their last coal to steam into wind. One ship had to be steered by hand after the steering gear broke down, Exford lost both anchors and several ships made for the estuary.

20–27 September

By dawn on 20 September, five ships were aground and an attempt by two corvettes to tow off a trawler failed. Campfire, aground, was full of explosives; the captain ordered the crew to abandon and make for Modyugski Island, which was achieved despite the storm and on 21 September, in better weather, the master and several volunteers re-boarded. For the rest of 20 September, the ships waited for the storm to abate and as the winds fell in the afternoon, twelve Ju 88 bombers appeared through the cloud at  and attacked, achieving only several near-misses. On 21 September, pilot boats came out and the ships were guided into port. Three warships stayed behind to guard the grounded ships, which were attacked at  by two Ju 88s which had more near misses. As the ships moved upstream, Archangelsk was bombed but the raid hit the town, rather than the port. For several days, cargo on the ships stranded on the sandbar was transferred to two heavy lift ships by lighters and a salvage ship, all the ships being re-floated by 27 September; the last ship was re-floated later; discharging the ships took a month. At a reception to celebrate the arrival of PQ 18, the convoy Commodore Boddam-Whetham, was cheered to the rafters.

Aftermath

Analysis
In the official history (1956 [1962]) Stephen Roskill called PQ 18 an Allied success but in 2004, Richard Woodman referred to it as a pyrrhic victory. The convoy operation brought 28 ships safely to their destinations and the Arctic convoy route, which had been suspended since the loss of PQ 17, was open again. The Luftwaffe torpedo-bomber attacks, while costly, had been highly effective and would have inflicted more losses, had not the British Headache operator not given early warning of some attacks, which enabled Sea Hurricanes to be scrambled in time. The Germans failed to prevent the convoy reaching Russia and their losses, particularly in trained pilots, were severe, reducing the ability of the Luftwaffe to repeat its anti-convoy operation. Attacks on Avenger had been defeated and the depth of the escort screen made torpedo attacks on the centre of the convoy extravagantly risky. Coastal Command operations in support of PQ 18 and the returning convoy QP 14, involved 111 aircraft from 14 squadrons, which flew 279 sorties and logged 2,290 flying hours, most being taken up by the fights to and from the convoy. In November, Luftflotte 5, the German air command in Norway and Finland, was ordered to transfer its Ju 88 and He 111 torpedo-bombers to the Mediterranean against Operation Torch, a decision which the British received through Ultra intercepts. Only the Heinkel 115 floatplanes, suitable for torpedo attacks on stragglers and some Ju 87 dive-bombers remained in Norway, along with a few long-range reconnaissance aircraft to observe for the surface and U-boat forces.

Casualties and losses
The Germans managed to sink thirteen merchant ships for a loss of four U-boats and 44 aircraft including 38 torpedo-bombers and six long-range bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. In Grand Strategy (1972) Michael Howard recorded an Allied loss of 38 aircraft from 309, 126 tanks from 448 and 85 of the 106 lorries carried in the convoy. PQ 19 was assembled at Loch Ewe but not dispatched, amounting to a net loss to the Allied war effort.

Merchant ships

 SS Africander – Panamanian (Sunk in air attack)
 SS Andre Marti – Soviet
  – British (Sunk by  after being damaged by U-457)
 SS Black Ranger – British
 SS Campfire – American
 SS Charles R. McCormick – American
 SS Copeland – British (rescue ship)
 SS Dan-Y-Bryn – British
  – British
  – British (Sunk in air attack)
  – British
 SS Empire Snow – British
 SS Empire Stevenson – British (Sunk in air attack)
 SS Empire Tristram – British
  – American
 SS Exford – American
 SS Goolistan – British
 SS Gray Ranger – British
 SS Hollywood – American
  – American (Sunk in air attack)
 SS Kentucky – American (Sunk in air attack)
 SS Komiles – Soviet
 SS Lafayette – American
 SS Macbeth – Panamanian (Sunk in air attack)
  – American (Sunk in air attack)
 SS Meanticut – American
 SS Nathanael Greene – American
 SS Ocean Faith – British
 SS Oligarch – British
  – American (sunk by )
 SS Oregonian – American (sunk in air attack)
  – American
 SS Petrovski – Soviet
 SS Sahale – American
 SS Schoharie – American
  – American
  – Soviet (Sunk by U-408)
 SS Sukhona – Soviet (Sunk in air attack)
 SS Tibilisi – Soviet
 SS Temple Arch – British
  – American
 SS Wacosta – American (Sunk in air attack)
 SS White Clover – Panamanian
  – American

Notes

Footnotes

References
Books

Websites

Further reading

External links
 London Gazette; report by Adm. John Tovey
 PQ 18 at Convoy web

 Newsreel video of HMS Scylla fighting the Luftwaffe while protecting convoy PQ18

PQ 18
C
Naval battles of World War II involving the Soviet Union

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Since the fabulous OC hair stylist Tera Rae Stephens started her new blog, I have been reading all about the Hot Head Extensions she has been wearing + doing for her clients.
Being that I know nothing about extensions I asked her if she could write me a guest blog on them since she is a total Hot Heads Extensions fanatic. I have to admit, they look SO natural. I had no idea Tera was wearing extensions, I just thought her hair was that long and amazing!
Make sure to read the end offer, a juicy deal for Tiny Oranges readers that want to give these extensions a try and have flowing fabulous hair for the summer! Here is what she wrote and some before and after photos.
I started doing Hot Heads extensions almost a year ago and love them for so many reasons.
From the stylist's point of view, they are the best because they don't cause any damage to the client's hair. They can be applied in about an hour, the hair is really great quality and lasts about 6 months.
As a client who wears Hot Heads myself, I love that I can't feel the extensions in my hair. They look super natural and people are always shocked when I tell them I am wearing them. They are extremely easy to take care of and quite reasonably priced in comparison to other extension methods.
Heather wears them for fullness and length. Her hair is extremely damaged from another extensions method.
We are confident her hair will grow back while wearing Hot Heads as they don't cause damage.
Amy wears Hot Heads for fullness and a little bit of length.
This is what the extensions look like in the hair. They lay totally flat and you can barely feel them when you touch your head!
8-10 weeks depending on your hair growth. It is recommended to keep them fresh and close to the scalp to prevent matting and tangling. The hair can be reapplied up to 3 times so hair only needs to be replaced every 6 months.
Hot Heads is 100% cuticle on remy hair from India. The extension itself is hand made in China with products from Asia, Europe and the United States.
The extensions are 100% Remy hair, meaning the cuticle is in tact and all facing the same direction. The benefit is that there is no matting or tangling.
The hair comes in 22 shades and would be ordered to match your hair color so it wouldn't need to be!
Yes! It is human hair and can be styled just as you would style your own hair!
Anything that does not contain alcohol, oil or ethanol. Heavy conditioners should not be applied at the scalp or tape tabs but rather mid shafts to ends.
What is the texture of the hair?
The hair has a slight body wave that smooths out very easily with a round brush and holds a curl well.
Between $800 and $1000 for the initial installation, depending on the length and amount of hair desired. The cost to maintain them every 8-10 weeks is $100.
Tera works at Tek Salon & Spa in Costa Mesa. Call or book an appointment here online.
Tera, thank you so much for your professional advice. You are so kind!
Sorry you had a bad experience but so not true for my clients. I am a stylist and have many clients that use Hotheads. If done right AND the clients do what I tell them daily to take care of them they actually are able to grow their own hair and it be healthier. I have had some clients that didn't listen and yes they did have breakage OR if your hair is very fine and thin it can break but when your hair is fine and thin or damaged just about any type of stress can cause breakage.


A paw gently wakes me at night when it rains. I think my cat really believes that I can shut off the dripping sky like a dripping faucet . He has way too much confidence in me.
We stood admiring the multitude of pink hues in the clouds as the sun set. It had been a great day that had started at dawn. With e-mails sent and answered, work projects complete and a meeting with friends and colleagues concluded, the day had been one of those of story-book perfection.
Creselda has lived on the Island for around 20 years and in Belize her entire life. Her family owns and operates La Famila, a corn tortilla factory that makes delicious corn tortillas and chips for businesses and individuals on the Island and beyond. I've known "Chris" for two years; meeting her in 2011 when I first visited the San Pedro area.
June through mid-November is considered the "slow season" on the island of Ambergris Caye. Businesses take advantage of this time to complete repairs and remodeling in anticipation of the upcoming tourist season.
A day at the spa is definitely one of life's little pleasures. Getting that much needed massage, a manicure and pedicure is an indulgence not to be missed while you're in Belize.


After a hard-fought tournament, that saw several twists and turns along the way, France lifted the World Cup 2018 trophy in Moscow on Sunday. France defeated Croatia 4-2 to win their first World Cup trophy after a span of 20 years under coach Didier Deschamps, who coincidentally, won the trophy as captain in 1998 for Les Bleus. Over the course of the one-month in Russia, several players scripted their names in history books for scoring some of the most unforgettable goals in the tournament's history. Our Team took in this amazing tournament analysis that had everything from delicious free kicks, to devastating counter-attacks to unbelievable curves; to dig out the top 10 goals just for you!
This amazing goal came from Denis Cheryshev's left foot to open the scoring for Russia in the quarterfinal clash, which it ended up losing to Croatia in penalty kicks. Truthfully, Cheryshev had three brilliant goals in this Cup, including two in the group stage, but this one was the tops with a lovely hit freezing Danijel Subasic. Overall, Denis impressed throughout the tournament, getting four goals.
Kevin de Bruyne has a knack of scoring goals in big games. He scored a blinder against Brazil. Getting the ball just outside the six-yard box, he decided to take the shoot which ended in the bottom left corner. Bruyne clearly gave no chance for Alisson Becker to save that. What the team received was an engineered goal, pitch perfect in all aspects; spectators in awe and the rivals doubtlessly broken!
This young talent, who is going to attract some major interest from big clubs after the World Cup, helped France defeat Argentina 4-3 with this outrageous slicing goal. Franco Armani had next to no shot to save this due to his position, and Pavard put it brilliantly to the far post giving us an incredible angle from behind the defender. A sublime strike that put his name on the map. Doubtlessly, Benjamin's goal was touted to be the goal of the tournament by pundits.
Typically, Messi scored one of the best goals with simplest touches. Just like the Bergkamp's memorable strike for Holland against Argentina at France '98, Messi deftly controlleds Banega's pass on his hign, engineered the football for a perfect drive and gave FIFA, one of its most terrific shots, always to be cherished. Long live Messi!
Cristiano Ronaldo's third goal for Portugal in the match against Spain. Having led Spain twice, Portugal were trailing 3-2 in the dying minutes of their opening group game, when they won a free kick from 25 yards out. Ronaldo hitched his shorts up to Y-front proportions and nailed it, smashing and curling the effort past David De Gea to complete his hat-trick.
If you liked the article, please share and subscribe!


text:
Q: About relation in linear polynomial over linear polynomial with matrices.
I was analyzing rational expressions involving linear polynomial over linear polynomial of the form:
$${ax+b \over cx+d},\;\text{where $a,b,c,d\in\Bbb R$};$$
Amazingly, these polynomials have some properties related to that of matrices of the form:
$$\begin{pmatrix}a&b\\c&d\end{pmatrix};$$
If we consider, $f(x) = \cfrac{ax+b}{cx+d};$ equivalent to $F=\begin{pmatrix}a&b\\c&d\end{pmatrix};$ for instance.
We will find that $f^{-1}(x)$ is equivalent to $\operatorname{adj} F$.
Here's how.
$$\begin{align}
f(x)=y&=\cfrac{ax+b}{cx+d};&F=\begin{pmatrix}a&b\\c&d\end{pmatrix};\\ \\
(cx+d)y&=ax+b;\\
cxy+dy&=ax+b;\\
x(cy-a)&=-dy+b;\\
x&=\cfrac{-dy+b}{cy-a}&=\cfrac{dy-b}{-cy+a}; \\ \\
f^{-1}(x)&=\cfrac{dy-b}{-cy+a};&\operatorname{adj}F=\begin{pmatrix}d&-b\\-c&a\end{pmatrix};
\end{align}$$
Amazingly, function compositions also are related to matrices. Take a look at this.
$$\text{let}\; f(x)=\cfrac{ax+b}{cx+d} \;\text{ and }\; g(x)=\cfrac{px+q}{rx+s};\\
F=\begin{pmatrix}a&b\\c&d\end{pmatrix} \;\text{ and }\; G=\begin{pmatrix}p&q\\r&s\end{pmatrix};\\
\begin{align}
f\circ g(x)&=\cfrac{a\cdot g(x)+b}{c\cdot g(x)+d};\\
&=\cfrac{a{px+q\over rx+s}+b}{c{px+q\over rx+s}+d} \times {rx+s\over rx+s};\\
&=\cfrac{a(px+q)+b(rx+s)}{c(px+q)+d(rx+s)};\\
f\circ g(x)&=\cfrac{(ap+br)x+(aq+bs)}{(cp+dr)x+(cq+ds)};\\ \\
FG&=\begin{pmatrix}a&b\\c&d\end{pmatrix}\begin{pmatrix}p&q\\r&s\end{pmatrix};\\
FG&=\begin{pmatrix}ap+br&aq+bs\\cq+dr&cq+ds\end{pmatrix};
\end{align}$$

Clearly, if we relate functions $f(x)$ and $g(x)$ with matrices $F$ and $G$. Then, $f^{-1}(x)$ can be related to $\operatorname{adj} F$ and $f \circ g \; (x)$ can be related to $FG$.
Finally, after with all this long story, the main questions are:

*

*Was it known before, if yes does it have a name?

*Why does it happen, does it explain why matrices operations were defined like this? i.e. When creators of Matrix were defining Matrix multiplications and Adjoint Matrix, they were thinking about all this?

*Main question: Can this be somehow related to 3 quadratic equations somehow using something?

A: Good noticing!  This connection is well known; see the Wikipedia article  Möbius transformations.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Этот мод содержит 8 костюмов для женских персонажей из плотной ткани и кожи, а также 5 пар обуви.
Комплекты относятся к классу легкой брони.
This mod contains 8 suits for female characters from dense fabric and leather, as well as 5 pairs of shoes.
Еhings belong to the class of light armor.
В комплект входит обувь с каблуками, поэтому в любом случае для работы моды нужна система каблуков HDT HighHeels.
Все вещи можно выковать в кузнице (эльфийский раздел).
All things can be made in the smithy (elven section).
Bethesda Softworks за Skyrim, спасибо автору Outoftouch за оригинальные модели, использованные при разработке этого мода.
Спасибо Raven за красивые текстуры и активное участие, спасибо Полине и Диме за помощь в тестировании, спасибо за поддержку и позитивный настрой многих пользователей и участников игрового сообщества.
Bethesda Softworks for Skyrim, thanks to the author of Outoftouch for the original models used in the development of this mod.
Thanks Raven for the beautiful textures and active participation, thanks for the support and positive attitude of many users and members of the gaming community.
Ask me if you want to use my mods as a resource for your work.
Would it be alright with you if I attempted a UUNP conversion of this?
It would not be a standalone and link to this post.Thank you!
I want to apologize for so long to answer. I rarely go to the network, in short, I'm sorry for the long answer (and sorry for my bad english).
Ok, sure, i give my permission.
outfit (Oz the Great and Powerful) and also Scarlet Witch (MARVEL).
А венок входит в мод?
superb work, Karter. I love your work. So much quality.
I really loved the outfit ever since you released it, but the new textures are even more gorgeous and amazing <3 Small question tho - where are the gloves from you used in some of the screens (the metal ones and the lace ones)?
Full credit would be given to you and a link to your blog page provided in the description.
Amazing dress, Karter! May I translate this into Chinese and share it on 3dmgame(the most famous Chinese skyrim gamer community that you might hear about it before)?
Thanks, Sins! Sure, I don't mind.
I'm became a fan your clothes mod. Very high quality and so cool !
I'm planning on uploading a original NPC MOD's to my blog. I was wondering if I could use your mod of "Royal Hunting UNP 2.0 to NPC outfit.
Sure, I don't mind. I give my permission.
Thank you! Thank you very much~!
Доброго времени суток! Мод просто шикарен!) Мне очень нравится!) Великолепная работа!) Хочу спросить - а от куда вы взяли лошадь с предпоследнего скриншота? А то персонаж вся из себя такая красивая, а достойного коня нет.
HDT not Working :( !!


Sandra Bookman has the latest on the fatal shootings in Newark.
NEWARK, New Jersey (WABC) -- Authorities say an off-duty Jersey City police officer fatally shot two men during a robbery attempt in Newark Sunday night.
The police-involved shooting happened at 195 South 6th Street just after 11:30 p.m.
The officer said he was approached by two armed men who intended to rob him, and he shot them.
The identities of the two men have not yet been released.
The officer was taken to University Medical Center to be treated for trauma.
A weapon was recovered at scene.
The shooting being investigated by the Essex County Prosecutor's Office.
"We are thankful that our detective, who was a victim of an attempted armed robbery, is OK and want to thank the Newark Police Department and the Essex County Prosecutor for their assistance in this ongoing investigation."


Manvel's Jack Armstrong named Male "Swimmer of the Year"
MANVEL — It came as no surprise that Manvel swimmer Jack Armstrong would garner the top male "Swimmer of the Year" honors by the Houston Chronicle after his spectacular swim season.
Armstrong is a two-time state champion at the UIL state swim meet having captured gold medals in the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle events to secure back-to-back titles.
While winning both events his junior year, he turned in an even more impressive performance his senior year including the fastest time in the state in the 100 free regardless of class.
He has five state medals (four gold and one bronze) while also winning the events at district and regionals three times while being named MVP multiple times.
Armstrong was named the Most Valuable Swimmer at the Class 5A state swim meet. Both times in the 50 and 100 were 5A records. He set the 50 record with a time of 20.10 and the 100 with a time of 43.96.
The Auburn signee also won the Speedo Junior Nationals with a time of 19.81 in the 50 and 43.35 in the 100.


Amazingly Big Sound, Surprisingly Small Size! With a stylish, space-saving design that fits anywhere in your home, this MusicCast speaker lets you stream music wirelessly using your existing Wi-Fi network. Use it as a stand-alone streaming music speaker or add other MusicCast products over time and control them all with a simple app. Two units can be used in stereo mode for a more expansive and lifelike listening experience.
*This model will NOT work as rear surround speakers on select Yamaha receivers.
MusicCast makes it easy to bring music to every room in your home wirelessly with playback controlled by a simple app. Start with a single MusicCast wireless speaker, then add more throughout the house. Next add a MusicCast-capable AV receiver in your main entertainment room for the ultimate home theater experience, then add sound bars or Hi-Fi components in other rooms wirelessly.
With a two-way speaker design plus two passive radiators, this speaker will surprise you by how well it fills a room with robust, dynamic sound, despite its compact size. It also supports playback of high-resolution audio formats such as WAV, FLAC and ALAC.
The small footprint of this speaker makes it perfect for use in the kitchen, bedside or anywhere space is limited. You can even mount it on a wall with commercially available speaker mounts using the integrated 1/4"-20 threaded mounting hole.
MusicCast allows you to access your digital music library, streaming music services, Internet radio and Bluetooth® wireless technology sources.
Stream music directly from your smartphone or tablet via Bluetooth wireless technology or AirPlay®. Use the MusicCast Controller app to pause/play and adjust the volume from your handheld device.
The WX-010 is equipped with the latest Bluetooth wireless technology, making wireless operation more convenient than ever. With Bluetooth, stream music from the WX-010 to headphones, for private listening, or to speakers.
Two WX-010 units can be paired via the MusicCast Controller app to function as left and right channel speakers, providing stereo sound for a wider listening area.
The free MusicCast Controller app puts control of your wireless speaker in the palm of your hand. Use the MusicCast Controller app to operate the speaker and change settings, select your source and control music playback.
By using the MusicCast App EQ setting, you can perform sound tuning to optimize the source you are listening to or to match your own preferences. You can set the levels of High, Mid and Low audio bands individually.
Yamaha, like all electronics manufactures, receives products returned for various reasons. In 2011 consumers returned 17 billion dollars in electronics globally, of which less than 5% were found to be defective! Once a product has been opened it must be resold as refurbished and can't be resold as new again. The history and reason why a product was returned is not provided to us, thus we can't provide any additional details regarding its past. All products are processed by Yamaha certified technicians, where they are fully tested, repaired (only if necessary), and retested again to ensure the highest quality control. Each unit must pass a complete battery of test before it can be titled a "Yamaha Factory Refurbished" product.


text:
All posts by Adam Laats
Welcome to the ILYBYGTH Archives!
As the ILYBYGTH International Offices close their doors for the foreseeable future, we invite you to migrate over to twitter to follow @AdamLaats.
In the meantime, check out some of our most popular posts n stuff:
Take the Creation Museum Challenge
Is Ken Ham Your Guidance Counselor?
Evangelical Higher Ed
Time to Bury the Fundamentalist Hatchet?
Fundamentalist Parents Can't Relax
The Conversation: Why Did This Fundamentalist Bastion Invite a Liberal Icon to Give Its Commencement Speech?
Desperate Times at Bryan College
The Series: Fundamentalist U & Me—Memories of life in evangelical colleges
Why Won't this Myth of Evangelical History Go Away?
Greatest Ed Tech Goof of All Time
Why Don't We Tell Students the Truth about Slavery?
From the Archives: Fundamentalist Pied Pipers
History News Network: The Dangers of Dunking on Dummies
School Reform
Towing an Iceberg
What do good teachers do?
The Real Reason We Can't Fix our Schools
Betsy DeVos Has Saved Public Education
Whose Values Rule the Schools?
WaPo: Democrats Are Asking the Wrong Questions about Charter Schools
WaPo: How do we know Betsy DeVos's reform plans won't work? We've tried them before.
Posted in ICYMI, Required Reading
https://iloveyoubutyouregoingtohell.org/2020/03/18/welcome-to-the-ilybygth-archives/
I Love You but You Didn't Do the Reading
Another humdinger of a week. What did you miss? The Democratic Primary is heating up, but none of the candidates seem to be asking the obvious ed question. Or how about that time Methodists burned their underwear? Or perhaps you missed Ken Ham's angry response to a newish documentary about the Creation Museum. This week's roundup has all that and more!
From the perspective of the 1820s, it seems like there are obvious questions Democrats should be asking about charter-school policy. In the recent debate, though, no one did. Why not? My two cents at WaPo.
a real watchdog for the needs of charter students must go further, asking whether teachers are fairly compensated and supported and whether students are treated with respect and dignity. America's first system of free schools, designed to educate the poor, was plagued by poor compensation and training for teachers and cruel discipline for students — undermining the very purpose of education. When considering whether charter schools are good for kids or bad, today's leaders need to start with a tough question: Do they repeat those centuries-old mistakes?
They nailed him on stop-and-frisk. Why give him a pass on charter school policy?
Methodists gone wild: David Swartz remembers an 1891 revival where women burned their corsets, at TGC.
It was a weird scene, the dusky evening, the crowd of religious enthusiasts quivering with excitement surrounding a fire which shot up long tongues of flames. "Throw off the garment," shouted the revivalist. "Burn them!" cried a feminine voice in the crowd, and pushing and panting a young woman of twenty-five forced her way to the center near the bonfire. She was tugging at her dress. There was a sudden gleam of white shoulders in the glare of the firelight, and she flung her corset into the flames, saying she would die as God had made her and not as she had made herself. Her example was contagious, and in less than half an hour not a woman in the crowd wore a corset, and nothing remained in the blaze but a mass of grotesquely twisted corset steels. The excitement was too great and several women grew faint, but they had burned their corsets and were happy: The Free Methodists consider the revival a great success, and talk of carrying the war into the States.
Documentary about the Creation Museum screens on PBS: We Believe in Dinosaurs.
The radical creationists don't like it. At Righting America.
Ham lets loose a volley of unsubstantiated attacks, including references to "deceitful producers," an "agenda-driven propaganda piece," a "supposed 'documentary," "clever camera angles and selectively-edited interviews," and more. But as is Ham's wont, over half of this article is devoted to claiming that the Ark has not received huge tax breaks.
The first school deseg case, at CS.
In 1913, a railroad foreman in Alamosa tried to enroll his 11-year-old son in the school closest to the family home. The school district denied him, and instead forced Miguel Maestas to walk seven blocks across dangerous railroad tracks to what was known as the Mexican School.
Review essay on technocracy and higher ed at NR.
Both books consider the realities behind the soaring ideals in which universities drape themselves and through which they are too often uncritically imagined by the educated public. That universities are tightly entangled in political power, the production of elites, and the administration of society has been a fact for centuries, whether the curriculum was designed to produce masters of classical Latin or shareholder value. But what happened in the twentieth century to render American universities, in particular, such enthusiastic accessories to capitalist technocracy?
Colleges are closing. What will it mean for evangelical higher ed? At TGC.
having a distinctively Christian mission — much as I might value it — certainly doesn't protect a school from the risk of closure.
First the Democrats turned against them. Then Trump dumped them. Tough times for charter schools, at NYT.
"We're used to being favored by both sides, and not used to the controversy at the national level," said Nina Rees, the president and chief executive of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.
by Adam Laats on March 2, 2020 • Permalink
Posted in ICYMI
Tagged Charter Schools, Creation Museum, Ethan Schrum, evangelical higher education, Michael Bloomberg, School Desegregation
Posted by Adam Laats on March 2, 2020
https://iloveyoubutyouregoingtohell.org/2020/03/02/i-love-you-but-you-didnt-do-the-reading-161/
Why Did the Democrats Give Bloomberg a Pass on Charters?
Some of you might have better things to do with your time. Not me. I sat spellbound during last night's Democratic debate. Beyond the obvious lesson that we need some adult supervision of these events, another point bugged me: The candidates were not shy about calling Bloomberg a flat-out racist. Yet they gave him a pass when he waffled about charter schools.
At the Washington Post this morning, I offer a few lessons from the archives. I think history gives us a better way to evaluate charter schools, one that seems to fit with today's Democratic vibe.
by Adam Laats on February 26, 2020 • Permalink
Posted in From the Archives, school reform, Schools in Black and White
Tagged Charter Schools, Elizabeth Warren, Joseph Lancaster, Michael Bloomberg
Posted by Adam Laats on February 26, 2020
https://iloveyoubutyouregoingtohell.org/2020/02/26/why-did-the-democrats-give-bloomberg-a-pass-on-charters/
Another big week. Here are a few headlines you may have missed if you put down your phone at all during the past seven days:
Can Never-Trump conservatives ever prove their case? At NR.
the story of recent right-wing politics has been a nearly unrelieved study in bomb-throwing and icon-smashing, from the '90s distempers of Gingrichism on through to the neoconservative capture of foreign policy in the George W. Bush administrations to the intersecting bigotries of the Tea Party and Birther movements in the Obama age. To truly brand an honest inquiry into conservative intellectual life as "Never Trump," such an effort would also have to show how Trumpism is in fact a culmination of long-unruly, demagogic, and cynically jingoistic tendencies in the house of the American right.
Wow: Brigham Young University removes its restriction on same-sex romantic displays. At CNN.
We should ask again: Will evangelical colleges follow BYU? Here at ILYBYGTH.
Ouch. Olivet University admits to fraud. At CT.
California-based Olivet University—represented by its president Tracy Davis—pleaded guilty to falsifying business records and engaging in conspiracy, and was fined $1.25 million, according to the DA's press officer.
Historian John Thelin puts "free college" in historical context, at HNN.
The historic reminder is that creating and funding colleges has been – and remains – the prerogative of state and local governments.
Another big story: CA has to spend $50 million to help kids learn to read, at EdWeek.
The state did not meet its constitutional responsibility to educate all children and had not followed suggestions from its own report on the problem from years earlier, the court filing claimed. . . . The settlement is a "milestone" that represents "a comprehensive, holistic and far-reaching program for achieving literacy in California," said Public Counsel lawyer Mark Rosenbaum, who sued along with the law firm Morrison & Foerster.
More on this story from the LA Times.
Under the settlement with the state, most of the funding will be awarded over three years to 75 public elementary schools, including charters, with the poorest third-grade reading scores in California over the last two years. The agreement comes after the novel lawsuit contended that the students' low literacy levels violated California's constitutional mandate to provide all children with equal access to an education, said attorney Mark Rosenbaum at the pro bono law firm Public Counsel.
Time for your Texas-Man story of the week, from TT.
Almost no one — Democrat or Republican, wealthy or poor, old or young — wants to see [Robert Morrow] elected to the State Board of Education, the 15-member body that decides what millions of public school children learn. Yet according to political pollsters, Morrow's chances in this March's Republican primary can't be ruled out.
History teacher in hot water for comparing Trump to Nazis and Soviets, at NBC.
A slide used in an Advanced Placement history class at Loch Raven High School in Towson shows a picture of Trump above pictures of a Nazi swastika and a flag of the Soviet Union. Two captions read "wants to round up a group of people and build a giant wall" and "oh, THAT is why it sounds so familiar!"
Michael Petrilli: Watch out: Schools are cramming leftist history down kids' throats. At NYP.
"In many schools, you are more likely to encounter the 1619 or Zinn version of history than anything positive," he said. "We're telling our young people that America is racist and oppressive and has only failed over the years to do right by the most vulnerable, rather than that we were founded with incredible ideals that we have sometimes failed to live up to."
We had a lively Sunday discussion of this question on the Tweeter. Short version: We settled nothing.
Tagged 1619 project, Brigham Young University, Howard Zinn, John Thelin, Michael Petrilli, Never Trump, Olivet University, Robert Morrow
Where Are Disney's Creationists?
At first, it seems like a reasonable question.
Radical creationist Ken Ham is the questioner in this case. He's wondering why Disney can have an LGBTQ character, but not a radical creationist one. As he puts it,
I wonder if Disney will introduce a biblical creationist character who refutes all their paganism, or a bible-believing Christian who witnesses to others?
…and when Ham puts it like that, it's immediately obvious why Disney won't include a radical creationist as one of their characters. The mantra of inclusion doesn't include everyone. People who insist that they are the only ones who have the Truth can't be part of the multicultural community.
After all, Disney has plenty of creationist characters. How about Snow White? She famously prays n stuff. If she is a Christian, she likely believes that God is involved in the creation of life.
Or how about Friar Tuck? As a man of God, Tuck certainly would have believed in creation.
So it's not creationism that is the problem for Disney. No, it is Ken Ham's particular version of creationism, what we call "radical" creationism. As Ham writes, he doesn't just want creationist Disney, he wants a character "who refutes all their paganism."
That's something Disney's not likely to include. Looks like Ham will have to stick with VeggieTales.
Tagged Creationism, Disney, Friar Tuck, Ken Ham, LGBTQ, Snow White, Young earth creationism
https://iloveyoubutyouregoingtohell.org/2020/02/23/where-are-disneys-creationists/
When #Red Beats #Purple, or, How Conservatives Have Already Lost this Round
Me, I don't mind if conservatives lose this battle. But I can't help but think that they'd rather win. If so, they should avoid the tactics of Trump and #PurpleforParents and focus instead on what has always worked in the past.
A losing strategy in action…
Here's what we know: In the face of sweeping victories for #RedforEd protests, conservatives have turned to accusations that teachers are just dupes in a grand subversive scheme to undermine core American values. You may have seen a recent video making the rounds, in which Jennifer warns of
RedforEd, the NEA, and the radical agenda behind it.
These warnings have been circulating on the Right for a while now. As Breitbart noted last year, #RedforEd has become a front for "social justice demagogues" who don't care about parents' "values and attitudes."
In the past, conservatives have had great success by painting teachers' unions and other educational experts as subversive, anti-American organizations. In the 1970s, for example, conservative Alice Moore won big when she attacked the "Educational Bureaucracy" and fought for
Our right as parents to rear our children according to our own moral, ethical and religious beliefs without interference.
Will the same strategy work for #PurpleforParents? Can Jennifer and her allies convince America that #RedforEd is just a scheme? A racket to fool parents into indoctrinating their children with anti-American values?
I don't think so. Historically, the fight in school politics has always been for the middle. Whoever can prove she is fighting for better schools will win. Alice Moore won in West Virginia in 1975 by fighting for better textbooks for students. She won by convincing enough neighbors that she represented better schools, the "best academic education possible."
So far, #RedforEd has been able to maintain its position as the voice of high-quality public education. Protests have kept their focus on improving schools for students. In St. Paul, for example, teacher protests have demanded
class size limits, paid teacher visits to their students' homes, a new approach to school climate, and the hiring of more counselors, social workers, nurses and psychologists.
Teachers are making similar demands all over North America, from California to Canada.
Will it work? Who knows. But #RedforEd benefited from an unforced error by President Trump. When Trump excoriated "failing government schools," he unwittingly left the field in the hands of protesting teachers. As long as #RedforEd is seen as a protest in favor of good schools for students, red-baiting conservatives will have no luck.
Thanks to KD for the tip!
Posted in In the News, Tradition in the Classroom
Tagged #PurpleforParents, #RedforEd, Alice Moore, Teachers strikes, Teachers Unions
https://iloveyoubutyouregoingtohell.org/2020/02/20/when-red-beats-purple-or-how-conservatives-have-already-lost-this-round/
Hitting Radical Creationists Where It Hurts
Fighting about science doesn't help. Radical creationists have an answer for their radically different views about DNA, population genetics, radiometric dating, etc. Where they don't have an answer is elsewhere.
As I'm arguing in my new book about American creationism, the thing that distinguishes radical creationists from the rest of us isn't really science or religion. Instead, it is good old-fashioned culture-war anger. Radical creationists like Ken Ham (what do I mean by "radical creationist?" Check out my explanation here) share a lot of theology with non-radical creationists. Where they differ—or, to be more precise, where they differ most markedly—is in their political and cultural attitudes.
Trying to puncture the scientific vision of radical creationism is not a losing battle—it is pretty easy to do. But it IS a meaningless battle. Radical creationists are very well prepared to have their dissenting science mocked and even overturned. Nothing Bill Nye can say, in other words, can ruffle their creationist feathers.
But the culture-war claims of radical creationists are different. Like radicals' scientific claims, they can be fairly easily debunked. Unlike radicals' scientific claims, however, debunking creationists' culture-war claims threatens to upend the entire project of radical creationism.
Exhibit A: Ryan Burge and the true numbers on Southern Baptists. A significant element of radical creationists' culture-war appeal rests on an assumption that Christians are not Christian enough any more. Arch-radical Ken Ham often warns his followers that Christians have slipped away from the true faith. In fact, however, as Ryan Burge recently demonstrated, Ham's claims of conservative declension are wildly overstated.
Exhibit B: Dan Williams and abortion history. Ken Ham often warns that opposition to abortion is a primary element of real Christianity. Historically, however, there have been plenty of conservative evangelicals who had disagreed. As Prof. Williams demonstrated in Defenders of the Unborn, the evangelical fervor against abortion rights is a fairly recent development.
Exhibit C: Karen Pence and "unchanging orthodoxy." Sometimes, conservatives will claim that they are only defending ancient truths delivered once for all to the saints. But as I've argued in places like the Washington Post, many central ideas of radical creationism are not really ancient truths at all.
The common thread: Radical creationism is built on a foundation of shaky claims and assumptions about history and society. Leaders like Ken Ham build their following by warning that America is under constant threat from secularism and sex. Evolutionary theory is only the most obvious efflorescence of the Satanic temptations. If people want to debunk creationists, it is pretty easy to point out that their historical assumptions do not match reality. It has only recently been considered of vital Christian importance to oppose abortion rights, for example. And young-earth creationism—the way it is embraced these days—is a novel idea, not an ancient Christian truth.
To make their cases, radical creationists use far more than just their radical science. Ken Ham, for example, teamed up with a creationist pollster to tally up the dangers lurking to creationist youth. The need for a radical science like the one offered by Answers in Genesis only makes sense as a desperate last-ditch move. It only seems necessary or sensible if mainstream culture has gone to the dogs. To make that case, radical creationists like Ken Ham often rely on spotty statistics and shoddy history. For example, as Ham warned in his 2009 book Already Gone,
we are one generation away from the evaporation of church as we know it. . . . unless we come to better understand what is happening and implement a clear, biblical plan to circumvent it.
Desperate times, Ham warns, call for desperate measures.
But, as Ryan Burge points out, what if the times aren't really so desperate for conservatives? What if America isn't really going to hell in a handbasket? Those claims have nothing to do with the science of creationism, but they have everything to do with maintaining Christians' willingness to accept radical ideas like young-earth creationism.
When historians and social scientists puncture those intellectual supports, it becomes harder and harder for young-earth creationism to convince Christians that radical options are required.
Posted in Evolution/Creation, Required Reading, Teaching Sex and Sexuality, Tradition in the Classroom
Tagged Creationism, Daniel K. Williams, Karen Pence, Ken Ham, LGBTQ, Radical Creationism, Ryan Burge, Young earth creationism
https://iloveyoubutyouregoingtohell.org/2020/02/18/hitting-radical-creationists-where-it-hurts/
Last week was so busy, our Monday news roundup had to wait until Tuesday. What did you miss? Wacky takes on coronavirus? Trump dumping charter schools? Darwin Day? Christian college closing? How about the new poll numbers about socialist "electability?" Read on!
From the Right: Kooky takes on the coronavirus:
President Trump: "The virus that we're talking about having to do, a lot of people think that goes away in April, with the heat, as the heat comes in, typically that will go away in April."
Jim Bakker (yes, that Jim Bakker): My "silver solution" takes care of coronaviruses.
Omaha pastor: Do not fear coronavirus. Trumpism has shielded the USA.
Tough times at Texas State, at CHE.
Davis-Williams, who is black, said one of the conservative students mocked him by saying he didn't "belong" there. He walked closer to respond, but the student hid behind campus police officers gathered at the scene.
That's when an officer stopped Davis-Williams — and told him to quit walking in that direction.
Another Christian college shuts its doors, at OL.
Tom Ries, who took the post of interim president in early January, said Concordia's enrollment plummeted from more than 8,000 four years ago to around 5,000 currently. He said the university has a "significant" debt load and faced significantly higher costs in the coming year.
The shutdown came suddenly. Just last Tuesday, Concordia staged a flashy event that raised $355,000 for its an innovative program with Portland Public Schools. The first some staff and faculty heard anything about a shutdown was when it was announced to them at 9 a.m. Monday. Students got the word an hour later.
Trump's budget plan cuts funding for education, at Politico.
…and it specifically cuts federal funding for charter schools, at Curmudgucation.
The Trump budget completely axes federal support for charter schools, rolling the federal money for charters into a big fat all-purpose block grant, a big chunk of money retrieved from various programs that have been deemed redundant and ineffective. States will now get a big pile of money that they can spend on a loosely defined bunch of Education Stuff. If they want to spend some of that on charter schools, they can.
What does Trump's proposed ed budget say? Review at Chalkbeat.
The Trump administration proposed a major reduction in federal education spending Monday that would eliminate nearly 30 standalone programs, including ones that support homeless students, rural students, English learners, and magnet schools.
Perhaps most surprisingly, the proposal would effectively axe a long-standing federal program that has catalyzed charter school growth across the country.
The department packaged this move as part of a bigger effort to give states more decision-making power.
How are charter-school leaders taking the news? Not well, at WaPo.
The hardest electoral positions? "Socialism" or "atheism," says new Gallup poll.
Where are the great TV shows about teachers? At WaPo.
Shows such as "Parks and Recreation," "Scrubs," "The Office," and "Silicon Valley" balance humor with heart and genuine insight. Even through the absurdity, something about the work world these shows create rings true. Not so much with TV teachers.
Darwin Day was Feb. 12. National Center for Science Education collected a series of statements: Why Teach Evolution. You can see them all here.
Teaching and discussing evolution opens so many doors to scientific inquiry and understanding. The very heart of what science is, and is not, is captured in conversations about how we know evolution is happening at the micro and macro levels, the inability of science to consider the metaphysical as an explanation of events, and the nature of science as self-correcting in light of evidence.
Tagged atheism, Charter Schools, Condordia College, Coronavirus, Darwin Day, Hank Kunnemann, Jim Bakker, Socialism, Texas State college, Trump
Photo of the Century
If you haven't seen it by now, it's worth a look. Sam Rowley's photograph just won some big award as a "wildlife" photograph. To this reporter, the photo gets its appeal not from its wildlife angle, but from the fact that it captures so perfectly our modern human condition.
Alone together in the vastness of the universe, we scrabble for crumbs…
Posted in In the News
Tagged Sam Rowley, Station squabble
https://iloveyoubutyouregoingtohell.org/2020/02/14/photo-of-the-century/
The Temptation of "Training" Teachers
What do new teachers need to know? Should they learn specific teaching methods? Or instead a more generic intellectual approach to teaching and learning? The obvious answer, it seems to me, is a little bitta both. Historically speaking, however, long and bitter experience has proven that merely training teachers to deliver a single "system" has failed miserably.
If new teachers simply learned his fool-proof system…
This old question was raised again recently in the pages of the Fordham Institute's Flypaper blog by teachers Jasmine Lane and John Gustafson. As they warn, their teacher-ed program left them feeling abandoned. As they put it,
we were not trained in how to actually teach. Our training felt more like a philosophy of teaching degree than ensuring students could learn the tangible skills required for success in high school and beyond.
I feel for them. More than that, I remember feeling a similar way when I started—left on my own, scrambling to prepare for Monday and wondering if last Friday was helpful for my students. Even veteran teachers struggle to know what to do and too often new teachers are left feeling isolated and underprepared.
So should teacher-ed programs help new teachers know exactly what to do? I work every day with talented new teachers, so personally I share the desire to provide teachers with practical, helpful ways to deliver useful lessons and to evaluate student learning. But I'm still skeptical about a couple of things.
…nothing could possibly go wrong. All teachers need is the right system and the right tools…
First, as a history teacher, I know far less than Lane and Gustafson do about specific methods of reading instruction. They advocate "effective whole-group instruction or the "Big 5" components of reading." Would that be better? I admit it happily: I don't know.
As a historian, however, I've seen the dismal effect of trying to impose a one-size-fits-all teaching "system" on new teachers. As SAGLRROILYBYGTH are sick of hearing, I'm up to my eyeballs these days in research for my new book about America's first major urban school reform.
Back in the 1810s, growing cities such as Philly, New York, Baltimore, and Cincinnati wondered what they could do with all their wild American children. They turned to young London reformer Joseph Lancaster. Since (about) 1798, Lancaster had run a school for low-income London youth. More importantly, he used his school primarily as a teacher-training institute.
Lancaster promised that he had created the perfect "system." With Lancaster's careful instruction, anyone could teach, because Lancaster provided perfect guidance. Lancaster's system, in short, taught teachers exactly what to do. It taught teachers, in other words, "how to actually teach."
As Lancaster wrote in 1807,
On this plan, any boy who can read, can teach; and the inferior boys may do the work usually done by the teachers, in the common mode: for a boy who can read, can teach, ALTHOUGH HE KNOWS NOTHING ABOUT IT…
What happened? In short, it didn't work. Among other faults with Lancaster's system, new teachers found that their "training" did not really teach them what to do. It did not teach them "how to actually teach," because actual teaching requires flexibility and a wealth of methodological tools, not just one system or method.
In practice, as Lancaster-trained teachers fanned out around the world, they found themselves in exactly the same predicament as Lane and Gustafson, but from the opposite direction. That is, Lancaster-trained teachers found that the simplistic system they had learned did not prepare them for the exigencies of real-world classrooms. Unlike Lane and Gustafson, they yearned for a broader education about teaching and learning, instead of only one over-hyped "system."
When they got to their new classrooms, Lancaster-trained teachers found they had to make things up on the fly. They found that Lancaster's pre-fabricated instructions did not address important questions of teaching and learning. In a few years, the actual teaching practices in Lancasterian schools had come to vary widely. By 1829, Lancaster felt it necessary to denounce "erroneous practices" that had taken over Lancasterian schools.
What would have been better? To this reporter, it seems obvious that a simple training program for teachers has never been enough. Because real-world classrooms are infinitely complicated places, new teachers cannot be "trained" in only one method of teaching. Instead, new teachers should learn a mix of methods, ideas, histories, and, yes, even philosophies.
Posted in From the Archives, school reform, What is school?
Tagged Fordham Institute, Jasmine Lane, Jon Gustafson, Joseph Lancaster, Reading instruction, Teacher training
https://iloveyoubutyouregoingtohell.org/2020/02/13/the-temptation-of-training-teachers/

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
May 28, 2007 May 13, 2020 itvbadmin
Atari History Through Commercials (Part 2)
1980 January: Atari 2600 Space Invaders Commercial
If Ray Kassar had just waited a few more months, he would have seen the fruits of Bushnell's push towards video game technology. Atari licensed the game Space Invaders from Taito in 1979, and proceeeded to created a version for the Atari 2600. When this game was released, it made the Atari 2600 THE product that every kid wanted to have. This game is the single reason the Atari 2600 became the dominant game platform in the very early 80's. The game was released in January 1980, but I'd expect that this commercial was shown closer to the holidays.
The Space Invaders game for the VCS, along with the success of Asteroids in the arcade netted Atari Inc gross proceeds oft $415 million for the year. Suddenly Atari was a major portion of Warner Communication's total annual income and was deemed the "fastest growing company in the history of USA" (at the time).
1981: Atari "Discover How Far You Can Go" Sizzle Film/Commercial/Video Game/ Home Computers: 2600 Warlords, Atari 800:
Instead of Atari brass realizing that Bushnell was correct about video games as opposed to computers, they opted to push the 2600 technology even longer without working towards a next generation machine. For a while, this looked like a good strategy. The 2600 was a huge hit, and with more and more games being released, it looked unstoppable. Their coin-op business was going strong as well, with Asteroids, along with new hits like Missile Command, and Centipede further cementing Atari's hold on the business. The Home computer lines was still struggling, but that did not stop them from touting it as well.
1981 Q1: Activision "Sports" Commercial
With the Atari 2600 so popular, the game programmers that had been around for almost 5 years were suddenly in hot demand. Atari Inc. did not consider the programmers and game designers an import part of the process, and they paid for this mistake dearly. With Bushnell gone from Atari, the "developer friendly atmosphere" he created was soon crushed under the corporate weight of Warner Communications and Ray Kassar. Soon after the VCS became a household name, groups of programmers and designers started jumping ship to other companies. Activision was started April 25th, 19801 when David Crane, Larry Kaplan, Alan Miller and Bob Whitehead left Atari to create their own company with President Jim Levy. Their plan was to create their own games to play on the Atari VCS. The first Activision" games were released in the first quarter of 1981. This commercial highlights Skiing, Tennis, Dragster . These sports games so "pwned" the sports games from Atari, it was not even funny. However, what they added in graphics, they cut-down in options. Atari's games were reaching "101 Variations" in some cases, where Activision chose to concentrate their efforts on a few good options. "Dragster", while it looked good, was not fun to play at all. Atari did counter later with a "Realsports Tennis", which was even better than Activision Tennis.
1981 Q1: Activision Ice Hockey Commercial
This commercial spot stars the late-great Phil Hartman as drooling game seeker in a the video game department.
1981 April : Atari 2600 "Missile Command Problem" Commercial
After the success of the licensed coin-op game Space Invaders for the VCS, Atari began to translate as many of it's coin-op hits to the VCS. Missile Command was one of the first. It was also a pretty good translation of the coin-op into the VCS format. Atari also translated these games for their 8-bit computer line. This commercial highlights Missile Command for the 2600, Video Pinball, Warlords, and Air Sea Battle. Missile Command was released in April of 1981, and since "Asteroids" is not advertised, it must have been shown before the end of the year.
1981 September: Atari 400 Home Computer Commercial
Atari started a TV blitz in the fall of 1981 to promote their line of "Home Computers". While the video game business was booming, Ray Kassar's baby, the computer line was still struggling to find its footing. This ad focused on the fact that computers could be good for education. A boy learns to speak French using his Atari 400, and impresses his grand parents. A longer version of this commercial was shown later in the year and into 1982.
1981 October: Atari Home Computer Commercials
Another commercial from the fall 1981 TV blitz. This one features a man using his Atari computer for "serious" application like "Stocks And bonds" then sneaking in a game of "Star Raiders". Atari was continually trying to show the diverse array of applications that could be used with their home computers. However, the public never caught-on until the games started flowing.
1981: Atari 2600 Asteroids Commercial
Atari Inc released "Asteroids" for the 8-Bit computer line and for the Atari 2600 in 1981. Both games started to appear on the market between March and August of that year.
Personal Anecdote: Among my friends, the Asteroids cartridge for the VCS suddenly made it a must-have item. I recall going to the local HW Computers store with my mom in the summer of 1981. I was looking for "Space Invaders" for the VCS , but when saw the Atari 2600 Asteroids Cartridge in the glass case, I knew what I wanted more than anything: an Atari 2600 for Christmas. I recently added a blog entry about the run-up to Christmas 1981 and how we convinced our parents to get us an Atari 2600. You can read it here.
1981: The Competition
The Mattel Intellivision was test marketed in 1979 and released nationally in 1980. By the end of 1981 the system was a success and started chipping away at Atari's market share. The Intellivision was (arguably) more powerful than and 2600 and could produce games that looked much better when compared side-by-side with Atari 2600 games. Mattel used this to their advantage in a series of ads .
This continued in 1982 as Mattel concentrated on Atari's "Space Games" dominance.
Personal Anecdote: Our friend Eric Barth got an Intellivision almost on the day of release. Before we had a VCS of our own, we were at Eric's playing Intellivision games. Even though the Intellivision games looked better that the ones for the Atari VCS, there was always an "odd" feel about them. The controller with it's disc and keypad just did not feel right. The resolution was was not that great, and the games always seemed…weird. Intellivision might have had better technology than the VCS, but certainly did not have the "cool" factor to make it any kind of serious contender to the video game crown.
1981 Atari 2600 Toys R Us Commercial
By Christmas 1981, the Atari VCS was the hottest toy around. Expecting huge sales, and not wanting to miss the opportunity, Atari required many of its retailers to order overly large shipments of games for the holiday season. With exclusive, decent translations of it's hit coin-op arcade games and and heavy promotion from retailers, Atari looked unstoppable.
Personal Anecdote: My brother Jeff and I finally got an Atari VCS for Christmas 1981. We were caught up in the Atari frenzy like almost every other kid around, and had dropped hints for more than 6 months about that would be the perfect Christmas gift for two 11 year-old boys. We didn't get to play it Christmas morning though. The RF unit was broken as soon as we opened the box. However, after exchanging it at Gemco the next day, we were off to the Atari races! We received a "Breakout" cartridge with the system for Christmas, but we could not stop there. We spent the rest of the day traveling around to every major department store looking for Atari VCS cartridges to buy with our savings and Christmas money. We managed to haul back Activision Tennis, Activision Dragster, and Asteroids. We had a glorious next week of vacation, playing all of our new VCS games, reading the about all other available games in the catalogs inserted in each package, and sending away for our new subscription to Atari Age magazine.
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