Hōshō was the world's first commissioned ship to be designed and built
as an aircraft carrier, and the first aircraft carrier of the Imperial
Japanese Navy (IJN). Commissioned in 1922, the ship was used for testing
aircraft and equipment, and to evaluate operational methods and tactics.
She provided valuable lessons and experience for the IJN in early
carrier air operations. Hōshō and her aircraft participated in the
Shanghai Incident in 1932 and in the opening stages of the Sino-Japanese
War in 1937. During those two conflicts, her aircraft supported Imperial
Japanese Army ground operations and engaged in combat with aircraft of
the Nationalist Chinese Air Force. The small size of the ship and her
assigned airgroups (usually around 15 aircraft) limited the
effectiveness of her contributions. As a result, the carrier was placed
in reserve after her return to Japan from China and she became a
training carrier in 1939. During World War II, Hōshō participated in
the Battle of Midway in June 1942 in a secondary role. After the battle,
the carrier resumed her training role for the duration of the conflict
and survived the war with only minor damage. She was used as a
repatriation transport after the war and was scrapped in 1946.
Read more:
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_aircraft_carrier_H%C5%8Dsh%C5%8D>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
537:
The current Hagia Sophia building in Istanbul, originally built
as a church before it later became a mosque in 1453 and then a museum in
1935, was inaugurated.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagia_Sophia>
1918:
A public speech by famed Polish pianist Ignacy Jan Paderewski
in Poznań sparked the Greater Poland Uprising against Germany.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignacy_Jan_Paderewski>
1966:
The Cave of Swallows, the largest known cave shaft in the
world, was discovered in Aquismón, San Luis Potosí, Mexico.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_of_Swallows>
1979:
Soviet war in Afghanistan: Soviet troops stormed Tajbeg Palace
outside of Kabul and killed Afghan President Hafizullah Amin and his 300
elite guards.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hafizullah_Amin>
2007:
Former Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto was
assassinated while she was leaving a political rally of Pakistan Peoples
Party supporters at Liaquat National Bagh in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Benazir_Bhutto>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
hooey:
(slang) Silly talk or writing; nonsense.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hooey>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
There is nothing of such force as the power of a person content merely
to be himself, nothing so invincible as the power of simple honesty,
nothing so successful as the life of one who runs alone.
--Louis Bromfield
<https://en.wikiquote.org//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Bromfield>