Emirates (airline) Emirates Airline headquarters Emirates (Arabic: ????? ???????? ?ayaran al-Imarat) is a major airline in the Middle East, and a subsidiary of The Emirates Group. It is the national airline of Dubai, United Arab Emirates and operates around 2200 passenger flights per week,[1] from its hub at Dubai International Airport Terminal 3, to 106 destinations in 60 countries across 6 continents.[2] The company also operates four of some of the world's longest non-stop commercial flights from Dubai to Los Angeles, San Francisco, São Paulo and, Houston all on the Boeing 777-200LR.[3][4] Emirates is a subsidiary of The Emirates Group, which has over 50,000 employees, and is wholly-owned by the Government of Dubai directly under the Investment Corporation of Dubai.[5] Cargo activities are undertaken by the Emirates Group's Emirates SkyCargo division.[6] During the mid-1980s, Gulf Air began to cut back its services to Dubai. As a result Emirates was conceived in March 1985 with backing from Dubai's royal family, whose Dubai Royal Air Wing provided two of the airline's first aircraft. It was required to operate independent of government subsidies, apart from $10 million in start-up capital. The airline became headed by Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the airline's present chairman. In the years following its founding, the airline expanded both its fleet and its destinations.[7] In October 2008, Emirates moved all operations at Dubai International Airport to Terminal 3, a new terminal exclusively dedicated to Emirates. Emirates operates a mixed fleet of Airbus and Boeing wide-body aircraft and is one of only nine airlines to operate an all wide-body aircraft fleet. The centrepiece of the airline's fleet is the Boeing 777. Emirates also has orders for 58 Airbus A380s and became the second operator of the Airbus A380-800 after Singapore Airlines when their first aircraft was delivered on 28 July 2008.[8] Emirates has won numerous awards and is an industry bellwether for aircraft purchases, purchasing over 130 aircraft in 2007 alone.[9] The airline ranks amongst the top 10 carriers worldwide in terms of revenue, passenger kilometres, and has become the largest airline in the Middle East in terms of revenue, fleet size, and passengers carried as of 2007.[10] In 2009 the airline was the seventh-largest airline in the world in terms of international passengers carried,[11] and fourth-largest[12] in the world in terms of scheduled international passenger-kilometres flown. Emirates has built up a strong brand name as a trendsetter in the aviation industry, particularly in terms of service excellence, coupled with consistent profitability.[13] In 2009, Emirates was voted the fifth best airline in the world by research consultancy firm Skytrax.[14] History Origins Boeing 777-300ER During the mid-1980s, Gulf Air began to cut back its services to Dubai. As a result Emirates was conceived in March 1985 with backing from Dubai's royal family, whose Dubai Royal Air Wing provided two of the airline's first aircraft, used Boeing 727-200/Advs. It was required to operate independent of government subsidies, apart from $10 million in start-up capital. It also leased a new Boeing 737-300 from Pakistan International Airlines which was returned in 1987.[15] The first flight of the airline was, Dubai-Karachi on 25 October 1985.[16] The airline leased an Airbus 300B4-200, from Pakistan International Airlines. Bombay and Delhi were the next destinations for the airline. Emirates became profitable within its first nine months. During its first year, it carried about 260,000 passengers and 10,000 tons of freight. By 1986, the airline was adding new destinations such as Colombo, Dhaka, Amman, and Cairo to its route network. Emirates launched daily nonstop service to London Gatwick on 6 July 1987 with two new Airbus A310s. It also started flights to Singapore. The airline in 1987 added Frankfurt via Istanbul, and Male (Maldive Islands). Emirates lacked a regional network, as its main competitor Gulf Air also dominated traffic in the region. This growth came as the region was experiencing a downturn, with the Gulf War and the laying off expatriate workers as factors. In its second year, competitors had accused Emirates of starting a price war, something the airline's competitors still accuse Emirates of doing. By the end of 1987, Emirates was serving 11 destinations.[17] Incorporation and growth Emirates had become one of the world's fastest growing airlines by the early 1990s. Revenues increased by about $100 million each year, approaching $500 million in the year 1993. It carried 68,000 tons of cargo and 1.6 million passengers in the same year. The Gulf War had helped Emirates by keeping other airlines out of the area. Emirates was the only airline to continue flying in the last ten days of the war.[citation needed] Emirates operated nine Airbus A310s by 1998 A partnership agreement with US Airways entered in the fall of 1993 allowed Emirates to offer services round the world. It previously had cooperation agreements with Cyprus Airways. By 1994, the airline was connecting 32 destinations with its 15 aircraft. At this time Emirates was the sixth largest airline in the Middle East. Emirates took in revenues of $643.4 million in the year ending 30 March 1994. The airline had 4,000 employees and carried two million passengers a year between 34 destinations with a fleet of 18 Airbus aircraft. Seven new Boeing 777s worth over $1 billion were ordered in 1992 which began to arrive in the spring of 1996. One of the planes was used on a new service to Melbourne via Singapore. Emirates placed a large order with Airbus later the same year. In spite of the large capital expenditures, the Dubai government had laid out only $50 million since the airline's inception. A total of 92 air carriers were flying to markets internationally and Emirates faced intense competition at its home base. It carried about three million passengers a year to Dubai International Airport in the mid-1990s. Emirates continued to expand during the late 1990s. The growing cargo business accounted for 16 percent of the airline's total revenues. Airbus A330-300 lands at London Heathrow Airport In May 1998, Emirates paid the Government of Sri Lanka $70 million for a 40 percent stake in SriLankan Airlines (formerly known as Air Lanka). As part of the deal, Emirates received a 10 year contract to manage SriLankan.[18] In January 2008, Emirates announced that it would give back management of SriLankan Airlines to the Sri Lankan Government, effective April 2008.[18][19] However there are no plans to remove or decrease the stake in the airline.[18] Modern history Towards the end of the year 2000, Emirates was planning to start ultra-long-haul service to the East Coast and West Coast of the United States as well as nonstop flights to Australia and Argentina. Traffic continued to grow at a rate of 20 percent in 1999-2000. The Boeing 777 has become an integral part of the fleet in recent years In 2005, Emirates began flying non-stop to New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport using their new Airbus A340-500. These flights marked new non-stop air services between the United Arab Emirates and the USA, after Delta Air Lines's flights since 2001, terminated later[20][21] and restarted again in 2007. South Asia is an important region for the Emirates network. Pakistan was the first country to receive flights from the airline and it still does to this day.[22] India was the second country to receive flights from Emirates, and continues to expand an extensive network in India. Emirates is the largest airline operating internationally, in India, and operates over 185 flights a week across 10 cities.[23] Emirates has been steadily capturing the traffic from South Asia to North America, allowing passengers to bypass the traditional hubs of London Heathrow, Frankfurt, and Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport; the home bases of British Airways, Lufthansa, and Air France, with a transit stop at Dubai International Airport instead. Similarly, Emirates competes with British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Qantas, Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways International, Middle Eastern rival Etihad Airways, and other airlines on the lucrative London to Sydney Kangaroo Route.[24] Airbus A380 Airbus A380-800 landing at London Heathrow Airport in October 2009 Airbus A380-800 landing in Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport to receive final paint-job Emirates announced an order in April 2000 as the first launch customer for the Airbus A3XX (later named Airbus A380), the largest civil aircraft ever built. The deal comprised five Airbus A380-800s and two Airbus A380-800F. The deal was confirmed on 4 November 2001 and Emirates announced orders for 15 more A380-800s at the same time. Two years later Emirates once again ordered 21 A380-800s. In April 2006, Emirates ordered two more A380-800s, however they cancelled their two orders for the freighter variant. In 2007, Emirates ordered 15 A380-800s, bringing their order to 58.[25] Emirates justified its order saying that purchasing the 481- to 656-passenger super jumbo was to maximize its use of scarce takeoff and landing slots at crowded airports like London Heathrow. In November 2005, the first A380-800 in full Emirates livery was flown to Dubai, where it was displayed at Dubai Airshow 2005.[26] On 20 November 2005, Emirates ordered 42 Boeing 777s, to help with its expansion. This order came one day after Airbus announced that the A380-800 superjumbo would be delayed by another six months.[27] A third delay was announced on 3 October 2006, pushing the initial delivery of the first A380-800 to October 2007.[28] The announcement was met with anger by Emirates' President, Tim Clark, who threatened to cancel their Airbus order as it was affecting the airline's expansion plan, saying: “ It's very serious. This will do us serious damage. Compensation is not our target, what we really seek is to give a chance for Airbus to deliver what they promised so that we can assess, because we need that aircraft.[29] ” In total as of April 2008, Airbus paid as much as $110 million during 2007 in compensation for the late delivery of the A380-800 to Emirates for the delays.[30] On 1 August 2008 Emirates flew its first A380-800 flight, with 489 passengers, from Dubai to New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport.[31] [32] The airline now uses their Airbus A380-800 on flights to: • Bangkok,[33] • Sydney, • Toronto, • Auckland (via Sydney),[34] • London Heathrow with double daily services commencing from July 1st 2010,[34] • Seoul, • Jeddah,[35] • Paris,[36][37] • Beijing, commencing August 1st 2010 • Manchester, commencing September 1st 2010. During 2010 as more aircraft are delivered, the A380 will resume flights to New York-JFK. The airline has also expressed interest in starting A380 flights to Melbourne. [38] Emirates A380-800 taxiing at Dubai International Airport In February 2009, Emirates raised many issues concerning its A380 superjumbos.[39][40] Emirates gave a 46-page presentation in Toulouse, informing Airbus officials about heat-damaged power cables, defective engines and numerous malfunctions reportedly to be mainly caused by the two showers built in the aircraft.[41][42][42][43][44] Terminal 3 Main article: Dubai International Airport#Terminal 3 Dubai International Airport's Terminal 3 was built exclusively for the use of Emirates at a cost of $4.5 billion and officially opened 14 October 2008. Terminal 3 is the largest building in the world by floor space, with over 1,500,000 m2 (370 acres) of space. The Terminal has annual capacity of 27 million passengers, and with the expansion of Concourse 3, will have an annual capacity of 43 million passengers by 2011, once concourse 3 is complete.[45] The new concourse 3 will be exclusively for the A380- 800.[46][47] [48] Corporate management The airline is a subsidiary of The Emirates Group, which is a subsidiary of the Dubai government investment company, Investment Corporation of Dubai.[49][50][51] The airline has recorded a profit every year, except the second, and growth has never fallen below 20% a year. In its first 11 years, it doubled in size every 3.5 years, and has every four years since.[52] In 2008 Emirates paid dividends worth US$776 million to the Government of Dubai. The government has received Dhs3.1 billion from Emirates since dividends started being paid in 1999 for having provided an initial start-up capital of US$10 million and an additional investment of about US$80 million at the time of the airline's inception,[53] the Dubai government is the sole owner of the company. However, it does not put any new money into it, nor does it interfere with running the airline.[52] Structure and employment Emirates has diversified into related industries and sectors, including airport services, engineering, hospitality services, catering, and tour operator operations. Emirates has 4 subsidiaries and its parent company has more than 50.[54][55] Emirates employed a total of 28,037 staff at the end of the fiscal year on 31 March 2009.[56] Its parent company, The Emirates Group, employed a total of 48,246 employees of which 10,324 were cabin crew, 2,141 were flight deck crew, 1,849 were in engineering, and 9,379 were listed as other.[57] Subsidiaries Main article: Emirates subsidiaries Emirates has diversified in to related industries and sectors, including aircraft ground handling, aviation engineering, air catering, and tour operator operations. Emirates has over 6 subsidiaries, whilst its parent company has over 50. Financial and operational performance In the financial year 2008-09 reached passenger numbers reached 22.7 million, representing an increase of 7.1% over the previous year. Cargo carried in 2008-09 improved by 9.8% to 1,408,300 tonnes (2007-08: 1,282,134 tonnes). [58] The airline's profits however were down 72% for the 2008/09 fiscal year. Its profit of 1.49bn dirhams ($406m; £255m) for the year to March 31 compared with a 5.3bn dirhams profit for the previous year.[59][60] The airline was the seventh-largest airline in the world in terms of international passengers carried,[11] and fourth-largest[12] in the world in terms of scheduled international passenger-kilometres flown. It is also the seventh-largest in terms of scheduled freight tonne-kilometres flown (sixth in scheduled international freight tonne-kilometres flown).[61] In the first six months of 2009, Emirates posted a 165 per cent jump in net profits to Dh752 million ($205 million), for the first six months of the current financial year ending September 30, up from Dh284 million ($77 million) in the same period of 2008. Revenues of the airline, which entered its 25th year in October, declined 13.5 per cent to Dh19.8 billion ($5.4 billion) compared with Dh22.9 billion ($6.2 billion) recorded last year, due to lower passenger and cargo yields. The increased profits came mostly from 18 per cent capacity growth by adding eight new aircraft to the fleet that has grown to 139. The airline carried 13 million passengers and over 700,000 tonnes of cargo.[62] Branding The calligraphy of the logo in Arabic on the engines From 2004, the airline changed its slogan to Fly Emirates. Keep Discovering In 2008, Emirates launched a slogan mainly revolving around their route network of 100 destinations in 55++ countries across six continents - Fly Emirates. Keep Discovering and Fly Emirates. To over Six Continents.[64] Most recently Emirates launched a campaign to promote Dubai as a destination using the slogan Fly Emirates. Meet Dubai. • The Finest in the Sky • Be Good to yourself. Fly Emirates • When was the last time you did something for the first time. • Fly Emirates. Keep Discovering Emirates introduced a new design in August 2008 for its 16,000 uniformed staff, designed by Simon Jersey plc. The offboard uniform includes the Emirates hat, red kick-pleats in the skirts, more fitted blouses and the return of red leather shoes and handbags. For the onboard uniform, male and female cabin crew wear service waistcoats in place of the previously worn service jackets and tabards. The male flight attendants wear a chocolate brown suit, featuring pinstripes, with a cream shirt and a caramel, honey and red tie. Both male and female Pursers wear this chocolate brown color, but with no red featured.[65] Since its formation in 1985, though to a limited extent until all aircraft were repainted, Emirates aeroplanes carried a section of the United Arab Emirates flag on the tail fins, a calligraphy of the logo in Arabic on the engines and the "Emirates" logo on the fuselage both in Arabic and English. The colour scheme used since 1985 was changed in November 1999 to the one still in use today. This change saw the modification of logotype, the enlargement and move of the English logo (the Arabic remaining smaller) towards the front of the aircraft and a different, flowing flag on the tailfin.[66] Some newer aircraft such as the Airbus A380-800, have the Emirates logo painted on the belly of the aircraft. Emirates aircraft also have the Fifa World Cup logo on them, as Emirates is the official airline sponsor. [67] Destinations Boeing 777-300 at Singapore Changi Airport Main article: Emirates destinations Emirates operates 1,883 flights every week across its network of 103 destinations in 65 countries on six continents from its hub in Dubai.[68] Several new destinations are added each year. Codeshare agreements As of February 2010, Emirates has codeshare agreements with the following airlines[69]: • Air Malta • Air Mauritius • Continental Airlines • Japan Airlines • Jet Airways • Korean Air • Oman Air • Philippine Airlines • Royal Air Maroc • South African Airways • Thai Airways • V Australia Fleet Main article: Emirates Fleet Emirates Airbus A330-200 (A6-EKS) landing at London Heathrow Airport Boeing 777-300ER (A6-EBA) the first of the -300ER variant to be delivered on 25 March 2005 completing its first flight to Düsseldorf International Airport Emirates Boeing 777-300 (A6-EMP) taxiing on NC3 taxiway at Singapore Changi Airport Emirates operates an exclusively wide-bodied aircraft fleet making up from 3 aircraft families: the Airbus A330 / A340, Airbus A380 and the Boeing 777. In keeping with its policy of maintaining a young fleet, which stands at an average of 5.7 years in April 2008,[70] it renews its fleet frequently. It operates the youngest fleet of any major airline as of May 2009. On 30 July 2009, Emirates received its 45th Boeing 777-300ER making it the world's largest operator of Boeing 777s with 83 in the fleet as of January 11th 2010.[71] In July 2008, Emirates received its first Airbus A380-800 and in August 2008, it became the second airline to fly the Airbus A380-800, after Singapore Airlines.[72] Emirates Aircraft utilisation remains one of the highest in the industry at 13.7 hours per day.[57] Speaking at the recent IATA 2009 annual general meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Tim Clark, Emirates's President, said that they would be operating around 163 aircraft in three years, and that they have to consider the 58 aircraft that are to be retired within the coming years, including the A330-200, A340-300 and 777-200/-300 Classics.[73] Passenger The Emirates passenger aircraft fleet consists of the following widebody aircraft as of December 2009:[74][75] Cargo Emirates SkyCargo Airbus A310-300F A6-EFC at Zürich Airport Main article: Emirates SkyCargo Emirates Cargo is the air freight division of Emirates. It began operations in October 1985, the same year Emirates was formed. Since then it has been the main cargo division of Emirates, and the anchor cargo airline at Dubai International Airport. Environmental record The airline claims to have lower emissions than other airlines due to its fleet which has an average fuel burn of less than four litres for every 100 passenger kilometres they fly.[76] The Cargo division of the airline also uses an efficient hub-based operation, using fewer flights needed to transport the same number of people. Fleet efficiency • Emirates has stated that their versions of A380-800 will offer fuel economy of 3.1 litres per 100 passenger km. Emirates A380-800s also feature the Engine Alliance GP7200 engines, which save 500,000 litres of fuel per aircraft per year.[77] • The company uses a program called "Flextracks". The technology is used to plan and optimize routes efficiency and load factor. • Emirates has invested in a program called "tailored arrivals". This allows air traffic control to uplink to aircraft on route. It first determines the speed and flight profile from the air onto the runway, this allows the crew to accept and fly a continuous descent profile, saving fuel and emissions.[78] • Emissions are lowered by using aircraft like the Boeing 777-300ER, which uses one engine to taxi the aircraft to its airbridge.[79] Services Cabin First Class First Class suite on a Boeing 777-200LR First class passengers have a full suite, complete with closing doors to ensure privacy, a mini-bar, a coat rack and storage. They also feature the ICE system on a 23 in (58 cm) LCD screen. The seat converts into a 2 m (6 ft 7 in) fully flat bed. Private suites are being introduced on the latest B777-300ERs, the B777-300s and B777-200LRs. They are already installed on all ten of Emirates Airbus A340-500 aircraft, and on all of the Airbus A380-800 aircraft. The older Boeing 777-300ERs, Boeing 777-200s and selected Boeing 777-300s feature flat beds with integrated passenger seat control, along with the ICE system and a 19 in (48 cm) screen. First class seats may also include a personal minibar.[80] On its newly delivered A380-800, first class features private suites,[81] two shower-equipped lavatories and spa,[82] and access to the first/business class bar area and lounge.[83] Premium class seating is located on the entire upper deck of A380-800 aircraft. In 2009, Emirates was voted the second best First Class by Skytrax. Skytrax had said that the Emirates A380-800 product greatly helped influence its position.[84] Business Class Business Class cabin on the Airbus A380-800 Business class on Boeing 777-200LRs, 777-300s and Boeing 777-300/ERs feature seats with a 60 in (150 cm) pitch that recline to 79 in (200 cm)-long, angled lie-flat beds.[85] Amenities include massage function, privacy partition, winged headrest with six-way movement, two individual reading lights and an overhead light per seat, in-seat power supply, USB Ports and an RCA socket for laptop connection, over 600 channels of entertainment on ICE, shown on a 17 in (43 cm) wide TV screen. Onboard bar behind the Business Class cabin on the Airbus A380-800 The A340-500s have deeply reclining sleeper seats which have a 60 in (150 cm) pitch and are 18 in (46 cm) wide. All A340-500 aircraft feature the ICE system in all three classes. The Boeing 777-200s have deeply reclining seats which are almost lie-flat. They have a 58 in (150 cm) pitch and are 20.5 in (52 cm) wide. The Boeing 777-200s also feature the ICE system. On Airbus A330 aircraft and A340-300s, the seats are standard business class recliners and feature a leg rest and seat back screens. These business class seats are smaller than other business class seats in the Emirates fleet as these aircraft are used predominantly on short-medium haul routes. On Airbus A380-800 aircraft, the seats recline to form a fully flat bed and are equipped with personal mini-bars. Business class passengers also have access to an on-board bar at the rear of the aircraft.[85] Business class passengers have the ability to customize and save seat and in-flight entertainment settings to a memory key for re-use on future flights.[86] Economy class Economy Class on a Boeing 777-300ER Emirates Economy Class offers a 32-34 inch seat pitch (81–86 cm) and standard seat width (except on the Boeing 777 fleet). The seat features adjustable headrests, a 600-1000 channel ICE In-Flight-Entertainment and in-seat laptop power-outlets on newer aircraft and laptop recharging facilities in galleys in older aircraft. There is additional recline on A380 Economy Class seats.[87][88][89] Economy class dinner served on EK 216 (B777-200LR) flight from LAX-DXB on April 23, 2010. Emirates is unusual in that it operates a ten-abreast, 3-4-3, seating configuration on its 777 fleet (rather than the customary 3-3-3 configuration). Other airlines with this layout include Air France-KLM (on selected 777-300ER aircraft), China Southern Airlines, Philippine Airlines and two Japanese airlines in domestic services (All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines).[90] Economy class breakfast served on EK 533 (A330-200) flight from COK-DXB on Aug 3, 2009. In-flight entertainment system Emirates became the first airline in the world to introduce a personal entertainment system on a commercial aircraft after introducing the world’s first seat-back screens in 1992. All three classes feature a personal In-Flight-Entertainment (IFE) system on Emirates aircraft. There are three types of entertainment system on Emirates: ice; ice Digital Widescreen; and Emirates tv&radio. Emirates has won the award for best in-flight-entertainment from Skytrax for their ICE system every year since the systems inception in 2003. At present, almost 70% of the fleet has the ice in-flight entertainment and by 2011 the entire Emirates fleet is set to have the system. ICE offers more channels than any other in-flight entertainment system.[91] Economy Class with mood lighting and ICE seatback entertainment Emirates tv&radio, is also offered mainly on short haul routes, and 30% of the Emirates fleet, offers passengers with 15 video and 26 audio channels, as well as 50 video games. Also available are BBC headlines, an airshow and external cameras giving a birdseye view from the plane.[92] Emirates A380-800 ICE seatback screen showing external tail camera view ICE ICE (Information, Communication, Entertainment) is the In-Flight-Entertainment system operated by Emirates. Introduced in 2003, ICE is available on all new aircraft and features between 600 and 1000 channels to all passengers.[93] ICE is found on the airline’s Airbus A380-800, Airbus A340-500, Boeing 777-300ER and Boeing 777-200/LR aircraft. It is also available on all Boeing 777-300 aircraft which have all been retrofitted.[94] In July 2007, Emirates introduced ICE Digital Widescreen, an updated version of ICE. It offers over 1000 channels of entertainment (up from 600) available to all passengers. ICE Digital Widescreen is available on all new aircraft.[95] Information The system is based on the 3000i system from Panasonic Avionics Corporation. ICE provides passengers with a direct data link to BBC News. ICE is the first IFE system to be connected directly to automatic news updates. This is complemented by ICE's Airshow moving-map software from Rockwell Collins. Exterior cameras located on the aircraft can be viewed by any passenger, through the IFE system, during takeoff and landing. Emirates was also one of the first airlines to introduce high-speed, in-flight Internet service along with Singapore Airlines, by installing the Inmarsat’s satellite system and became the second airline in the world to offer live international television broadcasts using the same system.[96] Communication Communication ICE also contains a link to an in-flight email server which allows passengers to access, send or receive emails for US $1 per message.[97] ICE also contains a seat-to-seat chat service. In November 2006 the airline signed a deal with mobile communications firm AeroMobile to allow in-flight use of mobile phones to call or text people on the ground, on selected 777s. The service was first introduced on a commercial service between Dubai and Casablanca on 20 March 2008.[98] Entertainment Entertainment The ICE system includes movies, music, and video games. ICE offers over 130 on-demand movie titles and 15 video on demand channels, 60 prerecorded television channels, 350 audio channels, and around 50 video-game titles. ICE can also be accessed in 10 languages such as English, French, German, Spanish, Arabic, Korean, and Japanese.[99] Since 2003, all entertainment options are available on-demand to all classes with options to pause, forward, and rewind them. Emirates now features docking capability for Apple Inc.'s iPod portable music and video player as of mid-2007. This allows the device's battery to be charged, but also allows integration with Emirates' in-flight entertainment (IFE) system. This also enables the IFE system to play music, television shows, or movies stored on the iPod, as well as function as a control system.[100] Emirates self-service check-in at Dubai International Airport Ground services Passengers may check-in between two to 48 hours prior to flight departure. This may be done over the counter or at the lounge within the airport. Self-service kiosks are also available at Dubai International Airport.[101] Alternatively, they may check-in through the Internet or by short message service. Online printing of boarding passes is available through Internet check-in. Passengers on short trips may also check-in on their return flight upon departure from the city of origin. Lounges First and business class passengers, as well as Skywards Gold members, have access to Emirates Lounges. The airline has 27 lounges in 23 cities, with plans for 12 more.[citation needed] Skywards Silver members can use the lounge in Terminal One at Dubai. At airports in which Emirates does not operate a departure lounge, a third party departure lounge is usually provided for First and Business class passengers as well as Skywards Gold. Chauffer-drive First and business class passengers can make use of complimentary chauffer-driven airport transfers in selected cities. Frequent Flyer Program Emirates uses Skywards as their Frequent flyer program. Skywards Main article: The Emirates Group#Skywards Skywards is a three tier frequent flier program operated by Emirates. It is used by over 5.72 million customers.[102] The three tiers are Blue, Silver which requires 25,000 tier miles for entry, and Gold, which requires 50,000 tier miles for entry.[103] Business model Emirates aircraft parked at Dubai International Airport Main articles: Emirates Business Model and Emirates Rivalry The established network carriers in Europe and Australia, i.e. Air France-KLM, British Airways, Lufthansa, and Qantas, perceive Emirates' strategic decision to reposition itself as a global carrier as a major threat because it enables air travellers to by-pass traditional airline hubs such as London Heathrow, Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport, and Frankfurt Airports on their way between Europe/North America and Asia/Australia by changing flights in Dubai instead. These carriers also find it difficult to deal with the growing competitive threat Emirates poses to their business because of their much higher cost base. The Abu Dhabi based Etihad Airways is also looking to take traffic away from Emirates.[104] Some of these carriers—notably Air France and Qantas—are so concerned about the detrimental effects of Emirates' growth on their future ability to compete with it on a level playing field that they have resorted to openly accusing their Dubai-based rival of receiving hidden state subsidies and of maintaining too cosy a relationship with Dubai's airport authority as well as its aviation authority, both of which are also wholly state-owned entities that share the same government owner with the airline. In addition, they have also accused Emirates of taking unfair advantage of its government shareholders' sovereign borrower status. They claim that this masks its true financial performance and reduces its borrowing costs below market rates.[52][105][106] Marketing and sponsorships The Emirates Stadium in London Emirates is a sponsor of sports clubs and events, both at its home base and in its overseas markets. It sponsors the annual Dubai Shopping Festival, the Dubai Summer Surprises and the West Australian Symphony Orchestra as well as the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.[107] As of April 2009, Emirates spends 2.7% of its of its total budget on Marketing and Communications.[108] For Emirates, marketing expenses account for a far greater share of its total costs than for most of its competitors.[citation needed] In the English-speaking world the sponsorship always carries the words "Fly Emirates". Emirates sponsors Arsenal F.C. and their 60,000 seater Emirates Stadium as well as AC Milan, Olympiacos CFP, Hamburger SV, Paris Saint-Germain FC, Asian Football Confederation (AFC), Emirates Cup, the Collingwood Football Club as well having sponsors with Chelsea F.C. from 2001-05. As of 2009, they also sponsor the Scottish Junior Cup known now for sponsorship reasons as the Emirates Junior Cup, which is the top prize in Scottish Junior football (as opposed to the senior football Scottish Cup). Emirates also funds many events in Rugby. They co-funded construction of The Sevens, a stadium in Dubai purpose-built for the 2009 Rugby World Cup Sevens, with the Dubai government.[109] They also will sponsor the Rugby World Cup 2011, IRB Referees and Match Officials, IRB Sevens World Series, International Sevens Teams, and the Western Force. Emirates are also a major sponsor of Emirates Team New Zealand, a New Zealand based yachting syndicate that has enjoyed success in the America's Cup.[110] In Cricket, they sponsor Cricket Australia,[111] Lord's Taverners,[112] and Pro Arch Tournament.[113] Their branding also features on International Cricket Umpires shirts.[114] Emirates has also become an official partner of the International Cricket Council until 2015. This deal gives emirates association with all major ICC tournaments, including the 2011 and 2015 ICC Cricket World Cups, ICC Champions Trophy and ICC World Twenty20.[115] They are also the major sponsor of the Kings Xi Punjab team of Indian Premier League, the largest domestic Cricket tournament in the world. In Power boat racing they sponsor the UIM Class 1 World Powerboat Championship.[116] In horse racing they sponsor the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA).[117] In races, Emirates sponsor the Dubai World Cup, Melbourne Cup, Champion Stakes, Newmarket, Yorkshire Cup, York, and The Singapore Derby.[118] They sponsor the Godolphin stables, and the Australian Jockey Club.[119][120] Emirates also sponsor the Dubai International Racing Carnival, Melbourne Cup Carnival, and the Australian Jockey Club’s Autumn and Spring Carnival.[121] In Tennis they sponsor the Dubai Tennis Championships,[122] and the Canadian Open tennis championships held in Montreal and Toronto. Emirates also sponsor the Dubai Grand Racing.[123] In Golf, they sponsor 12 events, including the Dubai Desert Classic, Dubai Ladies Masters, Malaysian Open, Hong Kong Open, BMW International Open, Austrian Open, Volvo Masters of Asia, Hero Honda Open, Australian PGA Championships, Africa Open, Volvo China Open, and the HSBC Champions.[124]

A new study released Monday by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences found that more than 24 million Chinese men of marrying age are likely to find themselves unable to find women to marry come 2020. The reason? There just aren't enough females to go around, because Chinese mothers often abort their baby girls.

"Sex-specific abortions remained extremely commonplace, especially in rural areas," the study explained, saying that the reasons for this imbalance of the sexes were "complex." Generally, however, experts speculate that male offspring are preferred in China because they have better earning potential and are therefore better equipped to take care of their parents as they age. Because of this, a report from Mirror Evening newspaper calculates that in some regions of China the male-female ratio was 130 males for every 100 females (a normal ratio would be 103-107 males to 100 females). Worse yet, according to Yahoo! News, "Abductions and trafficking of women were rampant in areas with excess numbers of men." Illegal marriages and forced prostitution were also problems in those areas, it said.
Not only is this news tragic, repugnant, and lower-than-low female-hating (I mean, seriously, how deep can the misogyny go? If you're a girl, you'll likely be killed off in utero, but if you do manage to make it into the world are doomed to a life of rape and torture at the hands of horny men? Sweet Lord, that is terrible), but it also makes China's population control policy—adopted in 1979, one child per family—look tremendously short-sighted. Did no one anticipate a gender disparity? Especially in the '80s, once pregnant women started getting ultrasounds and terminating girl fetuses like 'Whoa'? There wasn't one sex researcher who said, "Hey, guys. Guys? We might need these girls at some point...for the mating and the reproduction, if not simply because this practice of aborting them is truly and utterly f*cked?"

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia SMS Moltke[Note 1] was the lead ship of the Moltke-class battlecruisers of the German Imperial Navy, named after the 19th century German field marshal Helmuth von Moltke. Commissioned on 30 September 1911, the ship was the second battlecruiser commissioned into the Imperial Navy. Moltke, along with her sister ship Goeben, was an enlarged version of the previous German battlecruiser design, Von der Tann. The ship was very similar to Von der Tann, but had increased armor protection and two more main guns in an additional turret. Compared to her British rivals—the Indefatigable class—Moltke and her sister Goeben were significantly larger and better armored.[Note 2] The ship participated in most of the major fleet actions conducted by the German Navy during the First World War, including the Battles of Dogger Bank and Jutland in the North Sea, and the Battle of the Gulf of Riga and Operation Albion in the Baltic. Moltke was damaged several times during the war: the ship was hit by heavy caliber gunfire at Jutland, and torpedoed twice by British submarines while on fleet advances. Following the end of the war in 1918, Moltke, along with most of the High Seas Fleet, was interned at Scapa Flow pending a decision by the Allies as to the fate of the fleet. The ship met her end when she was scuttled, along with the rest of the High Seas Fleet, in 1919 to prevent them from falling into British hands. The wreck of Moltke was raised in 1927 and scrapped at Rosyth from 1927 to 1929. Development In a conference in May 1907, the Germany Navy Office decided to follow up the unique[Note 3] Von der Tann battlecruiser with an enlarged design.[4] 44 million marks were allocated for the 1908 fiscal year, which created the possibility of increasing the main guns to 30.5 cm (12 in) in diameter, instead of the 28 cm (11 in) weapons on the preceding design. However, Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, along with the Construction Department, argued that increasing the number of guns from 8 to 10 would be preferable instead of increasing the size of the previous battery.[4] The General Navy Department held that for the new design to fight in the battle line, 30.5 cm (12 in) guns were necessary. Ultimately, Tirpitz and the Construction Department won the debate, and Moltke was equipped with ten 28 cm (11 in) guns. It was also mandated by the Construction Department that armor protection was to be at least as good as that of Von der Tann. The ship was also to have a top speed of at least 24.5 knots (45.4 km/h).[4] During the design process, the ship's weight continued to grow due to the increase in the size of the citadel, armor thickness, the additions to the ammunition stores, and the rearrangement of the boiler system.[4] The naval arms race between Germany and Britain put a great deal of stress on the Navy design staff, and prompted the decision to build two ships of the new design. They were assigned under the contract names of "Cruiser G" and "Cruiser H." Blohm & Voss received both contracts in 1908; "Cruiser G" was assigned to the 1908–1909 building year, while "Cruiser H" was assigned to 1909–1910.[5] The contract for "Cruiser G" was awarded on 17 September 1908, under building number 200. The keel was laid on 7 December 1908, and the ship was launched on 7 April 1910. "Cruiser G" was commissioned on 30 September 1911, as SMS Moltke.[1] Service record Pre-war At the launching of the ship on 7 April 1910, Helmuth von Moltke the Younger christened the ship after his uncle Helmuth von Moltke the Elder,[6] the Chief of Staff of the Prussian Army in the mid 19th century.[2] On 11 September 1911, a crew composed of dockyard workers transferred the ship from Hamburg to Kiel through the Skagen.[7] On 30 September, the ship was commissioned, under the command of Kapitän zur See von Mann,[2] and replaced Roon in the Reconnaissance Unit. Sea trials continued until 1 April 1912.[7] SMS Moltke in New York in 1912. She was the first and only German capital ship to ever visit the United States. On 11 May 1912 she left Kiel, accompanied by the light cruisers Stettin and Bremen, and arrived off Hampton Roads, Virginia, on 30 May 1912. After touring the East Coast for two weeks, she returned to Kiel on 24 June.[7] In July 1912, Moltke escorted Kaiser Wilhelm II's yacht to Russia. Upon returning, Moltke's commander was replaced by KzS Magnus von Levetzow,[2] and the ship became the Reconnaissance Force flagship until 23 June 1914, when the commander's flag was transferred to the new battlecruiser Seydlitz.[7] There was some consideration given to deploying Moltke to the Far East in order to replace the armored cruiser Scharnhorst, but the plan was abandoned when it became apparent that Goeben needed replacement in the Mediterranean. Moltke was then scheduled to transfer to replace her sister ship, but this plan was interrupted by the outbreak of World War I.[7] World War I As was the case with almost all German capital ships during World War I, Moltke's action was somewhat limited. However, she did participate in most of the major fleet actions conducted by the High Seas Fleet. At the start of the war, the ship was assigned to the I Scouting Group of the High Seas Fleet, under the command of Rear Admiral Franz Hipper.[7] Battle of Heligoland Bight Main article: Battle of Heligoland Bight Shortly after the outbreak of World War I, on 28 August 1914, Moltke participated in the Battle of Heligoland Bight. During the morning, British cruisers from the Harwich Force attacked the German destroyers patrolling the Heligoland Bight. Six German light cruisers—Köln, Strassburg, Stettin, Frauenlob, Stralsund, and Ariadne—responded to the attack and inflicted serious damage to the British raiders. However, the arrival at approximately 13:37 of the British 1st Battlecruiser Squadron, under the command of Vice Admiral David Beatty, quickly put the German ships at a disadvantage.[8] Along with the rest of the I Scouting Group battlecruisers, Moltke was stationed in the Wilhelmshaven Roads on the morning of the battle. By 08:50, Rear Admiral Hipper had requested permission from Admiral Friedrich von Ingenohl, the commander in chief of the High Seas Fleet, to send Moltke and Von der Tann to relieve the beleaguered German cruisers.[9] Moltke was ready to sail by 12:10, but the low tide prevented the ships from being able to pass over the sand bar at the mouth of the Jade Estuary safely. At 14:10, Moltke and Von der Tann were able to cross the Jade bar; Hipper ordered the German cruisers to fall back to his ships, while Hipper himself was about an hour behind in the battlecruiser Seydlitz. At 14:25, the remaining light cruisers—Strassburg, Stettin, Frauenlob, Stralsund, and Ariadne—rendezvoused with the battlecruisers.[10] Seydlitz arrived on the scene by 15:10, while Ariadne succumbed to battle damage and sank. Hipper ventured forth cautiously to search for the two missing light cruisers, Mainz and Köln, which had already sunk. By 16:00, the German flotilla turned around to return to the Jade Estuary, arriving at approximately 20:23.[11] Bombardment of Yarmouth Main article: Raid on Yarmouth On 2 November 1914, Moltke, Rear Admiral Hipper's flagship Seydlitz, Von der Tann, and Blücher along with four light cruisers left the Jade Estuary and steamed towards the English coast.[12] The flotilla arrived off Great Yarmouth at daybreak the following morning and bombarded the port, while the light cruiser Stralsund laid a minefield. The British submarine D5 responded to the bombardment, but struck one of the mines laid by Stralsund and sank. Shortly thereafter, Hipper ordered his ships to turn back to German waters. However, while Hipper's ships were returning to German waters, a heavy fog covered the Heligoland Bight, so the ships were ordered to halt until visibility improved so they could safely navigate the defensive minefields. The armored cruiser Yorck left the Jade without permission, and while en route to Wilhelmshaven made a navigational error that led the ship into one of the German minefields. Yorck struck two mines and quickly sank; the coastal defense ship Hagen was able to save 127 men of the crew.[12] Bombardment of Scarborough, Hartlepool, and Whitby Main article: Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby It was decided by Admiral von Ingenohl that another raid on the English coast was to be carried out, in the hopes of luring a portion of the Grand Fleet into combat, where it could be destroyed.[12] At 03:20 on 15 December, Moltke, Seydlitz, Von der Tann, Derfflinger, and Blücher, along with the light cruisers Kolberg, Strassburg, Stralsund, and Graudenz, and two squadrons of torpedo boats left the Jade.[13] The ships sailed north past the island of Heligoland, until they reached the Horns Reef lighthouse, at which point the ships turned west towards Scarborough. Twelve hours after Hipper left the Jade, the High Seas Fleet, consisting of 14 dreadnoughts and 8 pre-dreadnoughts and a screening force of 2 armored cruisers, 7 light cruisers, and 54 torpedo boats, departed to provide distant cover.[13] On 26 August 1914, the German light cruiser Magdeburg had run aground in the Gulf of Finland; the wreck was captured by the Russian navy, which found code books used by the German navy, along with navigational charts for the North Sea. These documents were then passed on to the Royal Navy. Room 40 began decrypting German signals, and on 14 December, intercepted messages relating to the plan to bombard Scarborough.[13] However, the exact details of the plan were unknown, and it was assumed that the High Seas Fleet would remain safely in port, as in the previous bombardment. Vice Admiral Beatty's four battlecruisers, supported by the 3rd Cruiser Squadron and the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron, along with the 2nd Battle Squadron's six dreadnoughts, were to ambush Hipper's battlecruisers.[14] During the night of 15 December, the main body of the High Seas Fleet encountered British destroyers. Fearing the prospect of a nighttime torpedo attack, Admiral Ingenohl ordered the ships to retreat.[14] Hipper was unaware of Ingenohl's reversal, and so he continued with the bombardment. Upon reaching the British coast, Hipper's battlecruisers split into two groups. Seydlitz, Moltke, and Blücher went north to shell Hartlepool, while Von der Tann and Derfflinger went south to shell Scarborough and Whitby.[15] During the bombardment of Hartlepool, Moltke was struck by a 6 in (15.2 cm) shell from a coastal battery,[7] which caused minor damage between decks, but no casualties.[15] Blücher was hit six times and Seydlitz three times by the coastal battery.[15] By 09:45 on the 16th, the two groups had reassembled, and they began to retreat eastward.[16] The High Seas Fleet's disposition on the morning of 16 December By this time, Beatty's battlecruisers were in position to block Hipper's chosen egress route, while other forces were en route to complete the encirclement. At 12:25, the light cruisers of the II Scouting Group began to pass through the British forces searching for Hipper.[17] One of the cruisers in the 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron spotted Stralsund and signaled a report to Beatty. At 12:30, Beatty turned his battlecruisers towards the German ships. Beatty presumed that the German cruisers were the advance screen for Hipper's ships, however those were some 50 km (31 mi) ahead.[17] The 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron, which had been screening for Beatty's ships, detached to pursue the German cruisers, but a misinterpreted signal from the British battlecruisers sent them back to their screening positions.[Note 4] This confusion allowed the German light cruisers to escape and alerted Hipper to the location of the British battlecruisers. The German battlecruisers wheeled to the northeast of the British forces and made good their escape.[17] Both the British and the Germans were disappointed that they failed to effectively engage their opponents. Admiral Ingenohl's reputation suffered greatly as a result of his timidity. The captain of the Moltke was furious; he stated that Ingenohl had turned back "because he was afraid of eleven British destroyers which could have been eliminated ... under the present leadership we will accomplish nothing."[18] The official German history criticized Ingenohl for failing to use his light forces to determine the size of the British fleet, stating: "he decided on a measure which not only seriously jeopardized his advance forces off the English coast but also deprived the German Fleet of a signal and certain victory."[18] Battle of Dogger Bank Main article: Battle of Dogger Bank (1915) SMS Moltke underway In early January 1915, it became known that British ships were conducting reconnaissance in the Dogger Bank area. Ingenohl was initially reluctant to destroy these forces, because the I Scouting Group was temporarily weakened while Von der Tann was in drydock for periodic maintenance. However, Konteradmiral Richard Eckermann, the Chief of Staff of the High Seas Fleet, insisted on the operation, and so Ingenohl relented and ordered Hipper to take his battlecruisers to the Dogger Bank.[19] On 23 January, Hipper sortied, with his flag in Seydlitz, followed by Moltke, Derfflinger, and Blücher, along with the light cruisers Graudenz, Rostock, Stralsund, and Kolberg and 19 torpedo boats from V Flotilla and II and XVIII Half-Flotillas. Graudenz and Stralsund were assigned to the forward screen, while Kolberg and Rostock were assigned to the starboard and port, respectively. Each light cruiser had a half-flotilla of torpedo boats attached.[19] Again, interception and decryption of German wireless signals played an important role. Although they were unaware of the exact plans, the cryptographers of Room 40 were able to deduce that Hipper would be conducting an operation in the Dogger Bank area.[19] To counter it, Beatty's 1st Battlecruiser Squadron, Rear Admiral Archibald Moore's 2nd Battlecruiser Squadron and Commodore William Goodenough's 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron were to rendezvous with Commodore Reginald Tyrwhitt's Harwich Force at 8:00 on 24 January, approximately 30 mi (48 km) north of the Dogger Bank.[19] At 08:14, Kolberg spotted the light cruiser Aurora and several destroyers from the Harwich Force.[20]Aurora challenged Kolberg with a search light, at which point Kolberg attacked Aurora and scored two hits. Aurora returned fire and scored two hits on Kolberg in retaliation. Hipper immediately turned his battlecruisers towards the gunfire, when, almost simultaneously, Stralsund spotted a large amount of smoke to the northwest of her position. This was identified as a number of large British warships steaming towards Hipper's ships.[20] Hipper turned south to flee, but was limited to 23 knots (43 km/h), which was the maximum speed of the older armored cruiser Blücher. The pursuing British battlecruisers were steaming at 27 knots (50 km/h), and quickly caught up to the German ships. At 09:52, Lion opened fire on Blücher from a range of approximately 20,000 yards (18,300 m); shortly thereafter, Queen Mary and Tiger began firing as well.[20] At 10:09, the British guns made their first hit on Blücher. Two minutes later, the German ships began returning fire, primarily concentrating on Lion, from a range of 18,000 yards (15,460 m). At 10:28, Lion was struck on the waterline, which tore a hole in the side of the ship and flooded a coal bunker.[21] At 10:30, New Zealand, the fourth ship in Beatty's line, came within range of Blücher and opened fire. By 10:35, the range had closed to 17,500 yards (16,000 m), at which point the entire German line was within the effective range of the British ships. Beatty ordered his battlecruisers to engage their German counterparts.[Note 5] However, confusion aboard Tiger led the captain to believe he was to fire on Seydlitz, which left Moltke able to fire without distraction.[21] At 10:40, one of Lion's 13.5 in (34 cm) shells struck Seydlitz causing nearly catastrophic damage that knocked out both of the rear turrets and killed 159 men.[22] Disaster was averted when the executive officer ordered the flooding of both magazines to avoid a flash fire that would have destroyed the ship.[Note 6] By this time, the German battlecruisers had zeroed in on Lion and began scoring repeated hits. At 11:01, an 11 in (28 cm) shell from Seydlitz struck Lion and knocked out two of her dynamos. At 11:18, Lion was hit by two 12 in (30 cm) shells from Derfflinger, one of which struck the waterline and penetrated the belt, allowing seawater to enter the port feed tank. This shell eventually crippled Lion by forcing the ship to turn off its engines due to seawater contamination.[22] By this time, Blücher was severely damaged after having been pounded by heavy shells. However, the chase ended when there were several reports of U-boats ahead of the British ships; Beatty quickly ordered evasive maneuvers, which allowed the German ships to increase the distance to their pursuers.[23] At this time, Lion's last operational dynamo failed, which dropped her speed to 15 knots. Beatty, in the stricken Lion, ordered the remaining battlecruisers to "Engage the enemy's rear," but signal confusion caused the ships to solely target Blücher, allowing Moltke, Seydlitz, and Derfflinger to escape.[24] By the time Beatty regained control over his ships, after having boarded Princess Royal, the German ships had too far a lead for the British to catch them; at 13:50, he broke off the chase.[25] Battle of the Gulf of Riga Main article: Battle of the Gulf of Riga On 3 August 1915, Moltke was transferred to the Baltic with I Reconnaissance Group (AG) to participate in the foray into the Riga Gulf. The intention was to destroy the Russian naval forces in the area, including the pre-dreadnought Slava, and to use the minelayer Deutschland to block the entrance to Moon Sound with naval mines. The German forces, under the command of Vice Admiral Hipper, included the four Nassau and four Helgoland battleships, the battlecruisers Moltke, Von der Tann, and Seydlitz, and a number of smaller craft.[26] On 8 August, the first attempt to clear the gulf was made; the old battleships Braunschweig and Elsaß kept Slava at bay while minesweepers cleared a path through the inner belt of mines. During this period, the rest of the German fleet remained in the Baltic and provided protection against other units of the Russian fleet. However, the approach of nightfall meant that Deutschland would be unable to mine the entrance to Moon Sound in time, and so the operation was broken off.[27] On 16 August, a second attempt was made to enter the gulf. The dreadnoughts Nassau and Posen, four light cruisers, and 31 torpedo boats breached the defenses to the gulf.[28] Nassau and Posen engaged in an artillery duel with Slava, resulting in three hits on the Russian ship that prompted her withdrawal. After three days, the Russian minefields had been cleared, and the flotilla entered the gulf on 19 August, but reports of Allied submarines in the area prompted a German withdrawal from the gulf the following day.[29] Throughout the operation, Moltke remained in the Baltic and provided cover for the assault into the Gulf of Riga. On the morning of the 19th, Moltke was torpedoed by the British E class submarine E1. The torpedo was not spotted until it was approximately 200 yards (183 m) away; without time to maneuver, the ship was struck in the bow torpedo room. The explosion damaged several torpedoes in the ship, but they did not detonate themselves. Eight men were killed, and 435 tonnes (480 short tons) of water entered the ship. The ship was repaired at Blohm & Voss in Hamburg, between 23 August and 20 September.[7] Bombardment of Yarmouth and Lowestoft Main article: Bombardment of Yarmouth and Lowestoft Moltke also took part in the bombardment of Yarmouth and Lowestoft on 24–25 April. Hipper was away on sick leave, so the German ships were under the command of Konteradmiral Friedrich Bödicker. The German battlecruisers Derfflinger, Lützow, Moltke, Seydlitz and Von der Tann left the Jade Estuary at 10:55 on 24 April, and were supported by a screening force of six light cruisers and two torpedo boat flotillas.[30] The heavy units of the High Seas Fleet sailed at 13:40, with the objective to provide distant support for Bödicker's ships. The British Admiralty was made aware of the German sortie through the interception of German wireless signals, and deployed the Grand Fleet at 15:50.[30] By 14:00, Bödicker's ships had reached a position off Norderney, at which point he turned his ships northward to avoid the Dutch observers on the island of Terschelling. At 15:38, Seydlitz struck a naval mine, which tore a 50-foot (15 m) hole in her hull, just abaft of the starboard broadside torpedo tube, allowing 1,400 short tons (1,250 long tons) of water to enter the ship.[30] Seydlitz turned back, with the screen of light cruisers, at a speed of 15 knots (28 km/h). The four remaining battlecruisers turned south immediately in the direction of Norderney to avoid further mine damage. By 16:00, Seydlitz was clear of imminent danger, so the ship stopped to allow Bödicker to disembark. The torpedo boat V28 brought Bödicker to Lützow.[31] At 04:50 on 25 April, the German battlecruisers were approaching Lowestoft when the light cruisers Rostock and Elbing, which had been covering the southern flank, spotted the light cruisers and destroyers of Commodore Tyrwhitt's Harwich Force.[31] Bödicker refused to be distracted by the British ships, and instead trained his ships' guns on Lowestoft. The German battlecruisers destroyed two 6 in (15 cm) shore batteries and inflicted other damage to the town. In the process, a single 6 in shell from one of the shore batteries struck Moltke, but the ship sustained no significant damage.[7] At 05:20, the German raiders turned north, towards Yarmouth, which they reached by 05:42. The visibility was so poor that the German ships fired one salvo each, with the exception of Derfflinger, which fired fourteen rounds from her main battery. The German ships turned back south, and at 05:47 encountered for the second time the Harwich Force, which had by then been engaged by the six light cruisers of the screening force. Bödicker's ships opened fire from a range of 13,000 yards (12,000 m).[32] Tyrwhitt immediately turned his ships around and fled south, but not before the cruiser Conquest sustained severe damage. Due to reports of British submarines and torpedo attacks, Bödicker broke off the chase and turned back east towards the High Seas Fleet. At this point, Scheer, who had been warned of the Grand Fleet's sortie from Scapa Flow, turned back towards Germany.[32] Battle of Jutland Main article: Battle of Jutland Moltke, and the rest of Hipper's battlecruisers in the I Scouting Group, lay anchored in the outer Jade Roads on the night of 30 May 1916. The following morning, at 02:00 CET,[Note 7] the ships slowly steamed out towards the Skagerrak at a speed of 16 knots (30 km/h).[33] Moltke was the fourth ship in the line of five, ahead of Von der Tann, and to the rear of Seydlitz.[33] The II Scouting Group, consisting of the light cruisers Frankfurt, Rear Admiral Bödicker's flagship, Wiesbaden, Pillau, and Elbing, and 30 torpedo boats of the II, VI, and IX Flotillas, accompanied Hipper's battlecruisers.[33] An hour and a half later, the High Seas Fleet under the command of Admiral Scheer left the Jade; the force was composed of 16 dreadnoughts.[Note 8] The High Seas Fleet was accompanied by the IV Scouting Group, composed of the light cruisers Stettin, München, Hamburg, Frauenlob, and Stuttgart, and 31 torpedo boats of the I, III, V, and VII Flotillas, led by the light cruiser Rostock. The six pre-dreadnoughts of the II Battle Squadron had departed from the Elbe roads at 02:45, and rendezvoused with the battle fleet at 5:00.[33] Shortly before 16:00, Hipper's force encountered Vice Admiral Beatty's battlecruiser squadron. The German ships were the first to open fire, at a range of approximately 15,000 yards (14,000 m).[34] When the British ships began returning fire, confusion amongst the British battlecruisers resulted in Moltke being engaged by both New Zealand and Tiger.[Note 9] The British rangefinders had misread the range to their German targets, and so the first salvos fired by the British ships fell a mile past the German battlecruisers. At 16:52, Moltke hit Tiger with two main gun shells, but neither of these hits caused any significant damage. Moltke then fired a further four shells, two of which hit simultaneously on the midships and after turrets, knocking both out for a significant period of the battle.[35] The destruction of Indefatigable Approximately 15 minutes later, the British battlecruiser Indefatigable was suddenly destroyed by Von der Tann. Shortly thereafter, Moltke fired four torpedoes at Queen Mary at a range between 11,500–10,400 yards (10,500–9,500 m).[36] This caused the British line to fall into disarray, as the torpedoes were thought to have been fired by U-boats. At this point, Hipper's battlecruisers had come into range of the V Battle Squadron, composed of the new Queen Elizabeth-class battleships, which mounted powerful 15 in (38 cm) guns. At 17:06, Barham opened fire on Von der Tann. She was joined a few minutes later by Valiant, Malaya, and Warspite; the ships concentrated their fire on Von der Tann and Moltke.[37] At 17:16, one of the 15 in shells from the fast battleships struck Moltke, where it pierced a coal bunker, tore into a casemate deck, and ignited ammunition stored therein. The explosion burned the ammunition hoist down to the magazine.[38] Von der Tann and Moltke changed their speed and direction, which threw off the aim of the V Battle Squadron and earned the battered ships a short respite.[38] While Moltke and Von der Tann were drawing the fire of the V Battle Squadron battleships, Seydlitz and Derfflinger were able to concentrate their fire on the British battlecruisers; between 17:25 and 17:30, at least five shells from Seydlitz and Derfflinger struck Queen Mary, causing a catastrophic explosion that destroyed the ship.[39] Moltke's commander, Kapitän zur See von Karpf, remarked that "The enemy's salvos lie well and close; their salvos are fired in rapid succession, the fire discipline is excellent!"[40] By 19:30, the High Seas Fleet, which was by that point pursuing the British battlecruisers, had not yet encountered the Grand Fleet. Scheer had been considering retiring his forces before darkness exposed his ships to torpedo boat attack.[41] However, he had not yet made a decision when his leading battleships encountered the main body of the Grand Fleet. This development made it impossible for Scheer to retreat, for doing so would have sacrificed the slower pre-dreadnought battleships of the II Battle Squadron, while using his dreadnoughts and battlecruisers to cover their retreat would have subjected his strongest ships to overwhelming British fire.[42] Instead, Scheer ordered his ships to turn 16 points to starboard, which would bring the pre-dreadnoughts to the relative safety of the disengaged side of the German battle line.[43] Moltke and the other battlecruisers[Note 10] followed the move, which put them astern of König.[44] Hipper's badly battered ships gained a temporary moment of respite, and uncertainty over the exact location and course of Scheer's ships led Admiral Jellicoe to turn his ships eastward, towards what he thought was the likely path of the German retreat.[45] The German fleet was instead sailing west, but Scheer ordered a second 16-point turn, which reversed course and pointed his ships at the center of the British fleet.[46] The German fleet came under intense fire from the British line, and Scheer sent Moltke, Von der Tann, Seydlitz, and Derfflinger at high speed towards the British fleet, in an attempt to disrupt their formation and gain time for his main force to retreat.[47] By 20:17, the German battlecruisers had closed to within 7,700 yards (7,040 m) of Colossus, at which point Scheer directed the ships to engage the lead ship of the British line.[48] However, three minutes later, the German battlecruisers turned in retreat, covered by a torpedo boat attack.[49] A pause in the battle at dusk allowed Moltke and the other German battlecruisers to cut away wreckage that interfered with the main guns, extinguish fires, repair the fire control and signal equipment, and ready the searchlights for nighttime action. During this period, the German fleet reorganized into a well-ordered formation in reverse order, when the German light forces encountered the British screen shortly after 21:00. The renewed gunfire gained Beatty's attention, so he turned his battlecruisers westward. At 21:09, he sighted the German battlecruisers, and drew to within 8,500 yards (7,800 m) before opening fire at 20:20.[50] The attack from the British battlecruisers completely surprised Hipper, who had been in the process of boarding Moltke from the torpedo boat G39. The German ships returned fire with every gun available, and at 21:32 hit both Lion and Princess Royal in the darkness.[51] The maneuvering of the German battlecruisers forced the leading I Battle Squadron to turn westward to avoid collision. This brought the pre-dreadnoughts of the II Battle Squadron directly behind the battlecruisers, and prevented the British ships from pursuing the German battlecruisers when they turned southward. The British battlecruisers opened fire on the old battleships; the German ships turned southwest to bring all of their guns to bear against the British ships.[51] By 22:15, Hipper was finally able to transfer to Moltke, and then ordered his ships to steam at 20 knots (37 km/h) towards the head of the German line.[52] However, only Moltke and Seydlitz were in condition to comply; Derfflinger and Von der Tann could make at most 18 knots, and so these ships lagged behind. Moltke and Seydlitz were in the process of steaming to the front of the line when the ships passed close to Stettin, which forced the ship to drastically slow down to avoid collision. This forced Frauenlob, Stuttgart, and München to turn to port, which led them into contact with the 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron; at a range of 800 yards (730 m), the cruisers on both sides pummeled each other. Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter decided to attempt to lure the British cruisers towards Moltke and Seydlitz. However, nearly simultaneously, the heavily damaged British cruisers broke off the attack.[53] As the light cruisers were disengaging, a torpedo fired by Southampton struck Frauenlob, and the ship exploded.[54] The German formation fell into disarray, and in the confusion, Seydlitz lost sight of Moltke. Seydlitz was no longer able to keep up with Moltke's 22 knots (41 km/h), and so detached herself to proceed to the Horns Reef lighthouse independently.[54] By 23:30 on her own, Moltke encountered four British dreadnoughts, from the rear division of the 2nd Battle Squadron. Moltke's commander Kapitän von Karpf ordered the ship to swing away, hoping he had not been detected. The British ships in fact had seen Moltke, but had decided to not to open fire in order to not reveal their location to the entire German fleet.[55] At 23:55, and again at 00:20, Kapitän von Karpf tried to find a path through the British fleet, but both times was unable to do so. It was not until 01:00, after having steamed far ahead of the Grand Fleet, that Moltke was able to made good her escape.[55] The severely damaged Seydlitz returning to port after the battle Close to the end of the battle, at 03:55, Hipper transmitted a report to Admiral Scheer informing him of the tremendous damage his ships had suffered. By that time, Derfflinger and Von der Tann each had only two guns in operation, Moltke was flooded with 1,000 tons of water, and Seydlitz was severely damaged.[56] Hipper reported: "I Scouting Group was therefore no longer of any value for a serious engagement, and was consequently directed to return to harbour by the Commander-in-Chief, while he himself determined to await developments off Horns Reef with the battlefleet."[56] During the course of the battle, Moltke had hit Tiger 13 times, and was hit herself 4 times, all by 15 in (38 cm) shells. The starboard No. 5 15 cm gun was struck by one of the 15 in shells and put out of action for the remainder of the battle. The ship suffered 16 dead and 20 wounded, the majority of which were due to the hit on the 15 cm gun. Flooding and counter-flooding efforts caused 1,000 tons of water to enter the ship.[57] Later operations During the fleet advance on 18–19 August, the I Scouting Group was to bombard the coastal town of Sunderland in an attempt to draw out and destroy Beatty's battlecruisers. As Moltke was one of only two remaining German battlecruisers still in fighting condition in the Group (Von der Tann being the other), three dreadnoughts were assigned to the Group for the operation: Markgraf, Großer Kurfürst, and the newly commissioned Bayern. Admiral Scheer and the rest of the High Seas Fleet, with 15 dreadnoughts of its own, would trail behind and provide cover.[58] The British were aware of the German plans and sortied the Grand Fleet to meet them. By 14:35, Scheer had been warned of the Grand Fleet's approach and, unwilling to engage the whole of the Grand Fleet just 11 weeks after the decidedly close call at Jutland, turned his forces around and retreated to German ports.[59] In September 1917, KzS von Karpf left Moltke; KzS Gygas assumed command of the ship. Between September and October 1917, the ship took part in Operation Albion supporting the German invasion of the Russian islands of Ösel, Dagö, and Moon (in present-day Estonia). Following the successful operation in the Baltic, Moltke was detached to support the II Reconnaissance Group (II AG), but did not actively participate in the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight.[57] Late 1917 saw the High Seas Fleet beginning to conduct anti-convoy raids in the North Sea between Britain and Norway. In October and December 1917, two British convoys to Norway were intercepted and destroyed by German cruisers and destroyers, prompting Beatty, now the Commander in Chief of the Grand Fleet, to detach several battleships and battlecruisers to protect convoys.[60] This presented to Admiral Scheer the opportunity for which he had been waiting the entire war: the chance to isolate and eliminate a portion of the Grand Fleet.[61] At 05:00 on 23 April 1918, the High Seas Fleet left harbor with the intention of intercepting one of the heavily escorted convoys. Wireless radio traffic was kept to a minimum to prevent the British from learning of the operation.[61] At 05:10 on 24 April, Moltke suffered machinery failure: the starboard propeller had fallen off the shaft, and before the turbine could be stopped, a gear wheel was destroyed.[61] The destroyed wheel flung pieces of steel into an auxiliary condenser, which flooded the engine room and stopped the operation of the center and starboard engines. Saltwater entered the boilers, reducing the ship's speed to a mere four knots; by 08:45, the captain of Moltke reported to Scheer that his ship was "out of control",[61] and that the ship would need to be towed. At 09:38, the cruiser Strassburg attempted to take the ship under tow, but was unable to do so. At 10:13, the dreadnought Oldenburg was detached from the battle fleet to tow Moltke back to port.[62] At 14:10, the convoy had still not yet been located, and so Scheer turned the High Seas Fleet back towards German waters. By 17:10, Moltke's engines had been repaired, and the ship was able to steam at a speed of 17 knots.[62] At 19:37, the British submarine E42 spotted the ship and fired a torpedo into Moltke. The ship took in 1,800 tons of water, but was able to reach harbor under her own power.[63] Repairs were carried out in Wilhelmshaven in the Imperial Dockyard, between 30 April and 9 September 1918.[62] Following repairs, Moltke took part in training operations in the Baltic from 19 September to 3 October. Starting on 1 November, the ship served as the I Scouting Group flagship for Rear Admiral von Reuter,[62] after the battlecruiser Hindenburg had gone into dry dock for repairs.[64] Fate Seydlitz leading the German battlecruisers into internment; Moltke is the second ship in the line Moltke was to have taken part in what would have amounted to the "death ride" of the High Seas Fleet shortly before the end of World War I. The bulk of the High Seas Fleet was to have sortied from their base in Wilhelmshaven to engage the British Grand Fleet; Scheer—by now the Großadmiral of the fleet—intended to inflict as much damage as possible on the British navy, in order to retain a better bargaining position for Germany, whatever the cost to the fleet.[65] However, while the fleet was consolidating in Wilhelmshaven, war-weary sailors began deserting en masse. As Von der Tann and Derfflinger passed through the locks that separated Wilhelmshaven's inner harbour and roadstead, some 300 men from both ships climbed over the side and disappeared ashore.[66] On 24 October 1918, the order was given to sail from Wilhelmshaven. Starting on the night of 29 October, sailors on several battleships mutinied; three ships from the III Squadron refused to weigh anchors, and acts of sabotage were committed on board the battleships Thüringen and Helgoland. The order to sail was rescinded in the face of this open revolt. In early November 1918, the German Revolution began; it led to the Armistice that ended the war and toppled the monarchy.[67] The vessel was surrendered with the rest of the High Seas Fleet on 24 November 1918 and interned at Scapa Flow, under the command of Kapitän-Leutnant Wollante.[68] Believing that the Treaty of Versailles had been signed and his fleet was about to be seized by the British, Rear Admiral von Reuter ordered the scuttling of the High Seas Fleet on 21 June 1919, while the British Grand Fleet was away on exercises. The ship sank in two hours and fifteen minutes.[69] Moltke was raised in 1927 and scrapped at Rosyth in 1929.[70]