SMS Markgraf was the third battleship of the four-ship König class and served in the German Imperial Navy during World War I. The battleship was launched on 4 June 1913 and commissioned into the Imperial Navy on 1 October 1914, just over two months after the outbreak of war in Europe. Armed with ten 30.5-centimeter (12.0 in) guns in five twin turrets, she could steam at a top speed of 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph). Markgraf was named in honor of the royal family of Baden; the name Markgraf is a rank of German nobility. She took part in most of the fleet actions during the war, including the Battle of Jutland in 1916 and Operation Albion, the conquest of the Gulf of Riga, in late 1917. After Germany's defeat, Markgraf was one of the ships interned by the Royal Navy in Scapa Flow while the Allied powers negotiated the final version of the Treaty of Versailles. On 21 June 1919, days before the treaty was signed, the commander of the interned fleet ordered the fleet to be scuttled to ensure that the British would not be able to seize the ships. Unlike most of the scuttled ships, Markgraf was never raised for scrapping; the wreck is still sitting on the bottom of the bay.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_Markgraf
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1855:
Major Henry C. Wayne departed New York aboard the USS Supply to procure camels to establish the U.S. Camel Corps. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Camel_Corps
1913:
Emily Davison, an activist for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, was fatally injured when she was trampled by King George V's horse at the Epsom Derby. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emily_Davison
1920:
The Kingdom of Hungary lost 72% of its territory and 64% of its population with the signing of the Treaty of Trianon in Paris. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Trianon
1944:
A United States Navy task group captured German submarine U-505 (pictured), which survives today as a museum ship at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_submarine_U-505
1996:
The maiden flight of the Ariane 5 failed, with the rocket self- destructing 37 seconds after launch because of a malfunction in the control software—one of the most expensive computer bugs in history. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cluster_(spacecraft)
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
sexton: A church official who looks after a church and its graveyard and may act as a gravedigger and bell-ringer. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sexton
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Love the battle between chaos and imagination. --Robert Fulghum https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_Fulghum