HOW BRITANNIA IS RULED OF BRITAIN
Since the 1700s the monarch has served in a purely symbolic role, leaving real power to Parliament, which consists of the House of Commons, with its elected Members of Parliament (MPs), and the House of Lords, most of whom are government-appointed Life Peers. All members of the executive branch, which includes the Prime Minister and the Cabinet, are also MPs; this fusing of legislative and executive functions, called the efficient secret of the British government, ensures the quick passage of the majority party’s programs into bills. The two main parties are Labour and the Conservatives, representing roughly the left and the right respectively.
HOW BRITANNIA IS RULED OF BRITAIN Photo Gallery
Irvin and Sons Ltd, North Shields. Greenock and Grangemouth Dockyard Co. Ltd, Grangemouth built and completed her as Yard No. 342 in February 1912; she was launched on 20 December 1911 for the Anglo-American Oil Co. Ltd, London, who owned her at the time of loss; R.A. Garder was the manager. The single screw was powered by an aft-positioned 110-nhp three-cylinder triple expansion steam engine that used one single-ended boiler working at a pressure of 180 psi, with three corrugated furnaces, 5.29 sq.m (57 sq. ft) of grate surface and 204.38 sq.m (2,200 sq.ft) of heating surface. The cylinders measured 35.56 cm, 58.42 cm and 93.98 cm with a 60.96-cm stroke (14 in. 23 in. and 37 in. with a 24-in.stroke). Richardsons, Westgarth and Co. Ltd at Middlesbrough manufactured the machinery. She had one part-steel deck and web frames, nine bulkheads cemented along with a 5.38-m cellular double base weighing 66 tons, a 3.35-m deep-tank fore of 35 tons, an eight-ton (22.65-cubic.m) forepeak tank and a seven-ton (19. 82-cubic.m) aft-peak tank. The superstructure consisted of a 19.8-m poop deck, a 4.6-m bridge deck and an 8.53-m forecastle. Lloyd’s classed her 100 A1. The Tioga had joined the northbound 35-ship convoy FN.1165 (Southend -Methil) at Middlesbrough on 1 November 1943 and sailed in ballast on passage for Grangemouth. Later that same day, she was seriously damaged following a collision with the 5,305-ton steamer Pundit (1919 – Asiatic Steam Navigation Co.
