Scorpion-class ironclad. According to the organization, this award recognizes the huge work of the writer and her effort in protecting the Catalan language. In 2013, she received the Golden Medal of the City council of Alcoi, as well as its Key to the City. In 2017 she won the Premi d'Honor de les Lletres Catalanes. Isabel-Clara Simó Isabel-Clara Simó i Monllor (4 April 1943 – 13 January 2020) was a Spanish journalist and writer. She is considered one of the most important writers in the Catalan language. Simó was awarded several prizes, including the Premi Sant Jordi in 1993. As a 	Isabel-Clara Simó
16329952	Scorpion-class ironclad Scorpion-class ironclad The two Scorpion"-class ironclads, and , were ironclad warships ordered by the Confederate States Navy in 1862 and seized in 1863 by the British to prevent their delivery. This would have violated the Foreign Enlistment Act, which forbade British subjects to build or arm any ships for governments at war with governments friendly to Great Britain. The "Scorpion" class were masted turret ships, each with two gun turrets that were designed to mount a pair of heavy muzzle-loading guns. They were purchased for service in the Royal Navy in 1864 and served briefly with the Channel Fleet  before they became guard ships at Bermuda and Hong Kong. "Scorpion" was sold in 1903 and sank under tow to be scrapped, while "Wivern" was sold for scrap in 1922. Design and description. In March 1862, a contract was placed with Laird & Son Co. by Captain James D. Bulloch, a naval agent for the Confederate States of America, for two double-turreted warships designed for ramming attacks at a cost of £93,750 each, exclusive of armament and ammunition. They were intended, together with other warships, to break the Federal blockade of Confederate coastal cities and to hold some Northern  cities for ransom. The ships had a length between perpendiculars of , a beam of , and a draught of at deep load. They displaced . The hull was divided by 12 watertight bulkheads and the ships had a double bottom beneath the engine and boiler rooms. Their crew consisted of 152 officers and men. The gun turrets, designed by Captain Coles of the Royal Navy, sat on circular turntables that were built on an iron radial platform with arms that rested on beveled wheels in diameter. Each turret required a crew of 18 men to rotate them via a system of rack  and pinion gears; one minute was required for a full 360° rotation. They could be rotated from inside the turret as well from outside. In emergencies the turret could be turned by a block and tackle as well as use of handspikes. A leather flap extended around the bottom of the turret and over the gap between the turret and the deck to reduce any water leakage through the gap. Like most contemporary ironclads they were fitted with a forged iron ram. The ships had of freeboard that could be increased by hinged bulwarks abreast the turrets. In service  the ships proved to be buoyant and seaworthy although they rolled heavily which meant that their decks were often awash. Their flat bottom and small rudder, however, caused steering problems before the wind. Because of their seaworthiness and powerful guns they have been judged superior to any monitor built by the United States Navy. Propulsion. The "Scorpion"-class ships had two horizontal direct acting steam engines, built by Lairds, driving a single three-bladed, propeller. Their engines were powered by four tubular boilers at a working pressure of . The engines produced a total of which gave the ships a maximum speed  of . "Wivern" reached a maximum speed just over during her sea trials on 4 October 1865. The ships carried of coal, enough to steam at . The ships were barque-rigged with three masts. "Scorpion" had conventional shrouds to anchor the masts in place, but "Wivern" was the first ship to have tripod masts to reduce interference with the firing arcs of the gun turrets. The funnel was made semi-retractable to reduce wind resistance while under sail. Armament. No ordnance had been ordered by the Confederates before the ships were seized in 1863, but in British service they mounted a  pair of 9-inch rifled muzzle-loading guns in each turret. The shell of the gun weighed while the gun itself weighed . The gun fired its shell at a muzzle velocity of and was credited with the ability to penetrate a nominal of wrought iron armour at . The guns could fire both solid shot and explosive shells. According to Parkes, going from full depression to full elevation supposedly took one hour in smooth water and with an even keel! Armour. The "Scorpion"-class ships had a complete waterline belt of wrought iron that was thick amidships and thinned to at the  bow and at the stern. It completely covered the hull from the upper deck to below the waterline. The armour protection of the polygonal turrets was quite elaborate. The inside of the turret was lined with of iron boiler plate to which T-shaped beams were bolted. The space between the beams was filled with of teak. This was covered by an iron lattice thick that was covered in turn by of teak. The iron plates were bolted to the outside using bolts that ran through to the interior iron "skin". The area around the gun ports was reinforced by  4.5-inch plates to give a total thickness of 10 inches. The turret roof consisted of T-shaped beams covered by iron plates. Holes in the roof were provided for ventilation and for the gun captain to use to aim the turret. Construction. In his letter of 29 October 1862, Confederate Navy Secretary Stephen Mallory named yard number 294 as "North Carolina" and number 295 as "Mississippi". In January 1863 the Foreign Secretary, Lord Russell, notified Bulloch, who had purchased the ships in his own name, that the ships would be prevented from sailing if they were doing so to  form part of the fleet of a nation currently at war. Bulloch therefore transferred ownership to some French bankers in June 1863, nominally on behalf of the Egyptian government, with the intention of transferring them to the Confederate flag once they were at sea. The Khedive was attempting to acquire warships, so this was superficially plausible. "North Carolina", later HMS "Scorpion", was given the cover name of "El Toussan" and "Mississippi", later HMS "Wivern", received the name of "El Monnassir". Lord Russel, prompted by the protests of the U.S. Ambassador, Charles F. Adams queried the Egyptian government directly and confirmed  that this was merely a subterfuge to disguise the true ownership of the vessels. The Admiralty was prompted to send a guard ship, , to watch over the newly launched "El Toussan" after Lairds had made a request to begin sea trials in September. The Liverpool Collector of Customs was instructed not to let the ship leave her graving dock under any circumstances and the Surveyor of Customs finally seized the ships on 9 October. The legality of this seizure was seriously disputed, but the British government had already been somewhat embarrassed by the activities of , a ship also built by  Laird Son & Co and operated as a commerce raider by the Confederate Navy. In order to overshadow discussions as to the legality of their action, the British government purchased the ships on 8 August 1864 for £25,000 in excess of the contract price. Service. Both ships were assigned to the Channel Fleet upon commissioning in 1865. "Scorpion" was refitted in 1867 with a flying bridge that connected the forecastle to the poop, above the tops of the turrets, and her sailing rig was reduced to a fore-and-aft rig. The ship recommissioned in 1868 for another tour with  the Channel Fleet. She arrived in Bermuda in November 1869 where she became the local guard ship. In 1873 a proposal was made to remove her poop and forecastle, masts and deck fitting to convert her to a harbour defence monitor with all-around fire, but this was deemed too expensive and the project was abandoned in 1878. At some point during her service in Bermuda her rigging was removed and she was reduced to simple pole masts. The ship was fitted with searchlights and quick-firing guns in 1890. "Scorpion" was sunk as a target in 1901; she was  raised in 1902 and sold in February 1903 for £736. She sank while under tow to Boston, Massachusetts. "Wivern" burst one of her 9-inch guns in 1867, but none of the 13 people in the turret was injured. She was given the same sort of refit as her sister ship in Devonport beginning in August 1868. The ship became the guard ship at Hull from January through October 1870 and was then placed in from 1870 until 1880. That year she was sent to Hong Kong where she became the harbour defence ship. "Wivern" became a distilling ship  in 1898 and was sold in May 1922 for scrap. Scorpion-class ironclad The two "Scorpion"-class ironclads, and , were ironclad warships ordered by the Confederate States Navy in 1862 and seized in 1863 by the British to prevent their delivery. This would have violated the Foreign Enlistment Act, which forbade British subjects to build or arm any ships for governments at war with governments friendly to Great Britain. The "Scorpion" class were masted turret ships, each with two gun turrets that were designed to mount a pair of heavy muzzle-loading guns. They were purchased for service in the Royal