| Gavin Menzies |
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| CATEGORIES ABOUT GAVIN MENZIES | |
| royal navy submarine commanders | |
| british historians | |
| history of china | |
| pre-columbian trans-oceanic contact | |
| 1937 births | |
| living people | |
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Gavin Menzies (b. '' which asserted that ships from the Chinese fleet of Admiral Zheng He traveled to the Americas prior to Christopher Columbus ' arrival in 1492 and circumnavigated the globe a century before Ferdinand Magellan as part of Their Exploration Of The World . This thesis (known as the 1421 Hypothesis ) has been discounted by mainstream historians.1234 PERSONAL HISTORY Menzies was born in London, England, though in his book the publishers erroneously claimed that he had been born in China. He has corrected this mistake,5 and corrected it in subsequent foreign language editions. Menzies joined the Royal Navy in 1953 and served in submarines from 1959 to 1970 . He sailed the routes traced by Ferdinand Magellan and Captain James Cook while he was the commander of the Diesel Submarine HMS ''Rorqual'' between 1968 and 1970. In 1969 in the Philippines, HMS ''Rorqual'' rammed a U.S. Navy Minesweeper , the USS ''Endurance'', which was moored at a pier. This collision punched a hole in USS ''Endurance'' but did not damage HMS ''Rorqual''. An enquiry found that only one of Menzies' subordinates was responsible in a combination of factors which led to the accident, including the replaced Coxswain who usually took the helm in port with a less experienced crew member and technical issues with the boat's telegraph.6 In contrast, there was no legal verdict finding Menzies personally guilty. Some critics - most likely his historian opponents - have questioned Menzies' nautical knowledge and whether he actually sailed the routes he has claimed, particularly while commanding HMS ''Rorqual''. However, all his voyages are unambigously recorded in the logbooks of the Royal Navy .7; see particularly note five of the Appendix. ''Menzies currently resides in North London with his wife Marcella.'' VEXATIOUS LITIGANT IN 1996 In 1996 Menzies, under his full name of Rowan Gavin Paton Menzies, was declared a Vexatious Litigant by HM Courts Service.8 In this case, Menzies had been declared bankrupt following losses in an investment, and sought to launch a variety of criminal proceedings against the allegedly delinquent directors.9 BOOKS FOOTNOTES EXTERNAL LINKS Critics
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