Convoy GP55 was a convoy of Allied ships that travelled between Sydney
and Brisbane in June 1943 during World War II. It comprised ten cargo
ships, three Landing Ships, Tank and an escort of five corvettes. The
Japanese submarine I-174 attacked the convoy on 16 June, sinking the
United States Army transport ship Portmar and damaging USS LST-469. Two
of the corvettes subsequently counter-attacked I-174, but only lightly
damaged her. The Australian military conducted an intensive search for
I-174 in the days after the attack in the mistaken belief that she had
been significantly damaged. This search was not successful and
highlighted the unsatisfactory communications between the Royal
Australian Navy (RAN) and Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Due to
Japan's deteriorating strategic situation, I-174 was the last Imperial
Japanese Navy (IJN) submarine to operate off the Australian east coast.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convoy_GP55>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1600:
San Marino, the world's oldest constitutional republic, adopted its
written constitution.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_San_Marino>
1856:
Officials of the Chinese Qing Dynasty arrested and imprisoned twelve
people aboard the Hong Kong-registered ship Arrow for suspected piracy
and smuggling, sparking the Second Opium War.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Opium_War>
1871:
The Great Chicago Fire broke out in Chicago, destroying 17,500
buildings and leaving 90,000 people homeless within two days.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1871_Great_Chicago_Fire>
1918:
World War I: After his platoon suffered heavy casualties during the
Meuse-Argonne Offensive in France's Forest of Argonne, United States
Sergeant Alvin C. York led the seven remaining men on an attack against
a German machine gun nest, killing 28 German soldiers and capturing 132
others.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvin_C._York>
1932:
The Indian Air Force was founded as an auxiliary air force of the
Indian Empire.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Air_Force>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
analgesic (n):
(pharmacology) Any medicine, such as aspirin, that reduces pain without
inducing unconsciousness
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/analgesic>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Muad'Dib could indeed see the Future, but you must understand the
limits of this power. Think of sight. You have eyes, yet cannot see
without light. If you are on the floor of a valley, you cannot see
beyond your valley. Just so, Muad'Dib could not always choose to look
across the mysterious terrain. He tells us that a single obscure
decision of prophecy, perhaps the choice of one word over another,
could change the entire aspect of the future. He tells us "The vision
of time is broad, but when you pass through it, time becomes a narrow
door." And always, he fought the temptation to choose a clear, safe
course, warning "That path leads ever down into stagnation."
--Frank Herbert
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Frank_Herbert>