HMS New Zealand was one of three Indefatigable-class battlecruisers built for the defence of the British Empire. The ship was funded by the government of New Zealand as a gift to Britain, and she was commissioned into the Royal Navy in 1912. She had been intended for the China Station, but was released by the New Zealand government at the request of the Admiralty for service in British waters. After a tour of the British Dominions, with an emphasis on a visit to her namesake nation, she was back in British waters at the start of World War I, and operated as part of the Royal Navy's Grand Fleet, in opposition to the German High Seas Fleet. During the war, the battlecruiser participated in all three of the major North Sea battles—Heligoland Bight, Dogger Bank, and Jutland. New Zealand contributed to the destruction of two cruisers during her wartime service, but was hit by enemy fire only once and sustained no casualties; her status as a "lucky ship" was attributed by the crew to a Māori piupiu (warrior's skirt) and tiki (pendant) worn by the ship's captain during battle. After the war, New Zealand was broken up for scrap in 1922 in compliance with Britain's tonnage limit in the disarmament provisions of the Washington Naval Treaty.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_New_Zealand_(1911)
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1816:
The University of Warsaw, currently the largest university in Poland, was established as Congress Poland found itself a territory without a university. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Warsaw
1942:
World War II: Soviet troops launched Operation Uranus at the Battle of Stalingrad, with the goal of encircling Axis forces, turning the tide of the battle in the Soviet Union's favour. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Uranus
1969:
Playing for Santos against Vasco da Gama in Rio de Janeiro, Brazilian footballer Pelé scored his 1000th goal. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pel%C3%A9
1985:
Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev and U.S. President Ronald Reagan held the first of five summit meetings between them in Geneva. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva_Summit_(1985)
2010:
The first of four explosions took place at the Pike River Mine in the West Coast Region of New Zealand in the nation's worst mining disaster in nearly a century. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pike_River_Mine_disaster
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
pace: The collective noun for donkeys. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pace
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Arrogance is a killer, and wearing ambition on one's sleeve can have the same effect. There is a fine line between arrogance and self-confidence. Legitimate self-confidence is a winner. The true test of self-confidence is the courage to be open — to welcome change and new ideas regardless of their source. Self-confident people aren't afraid to have their views challenged. They relish the intellectual combat that enriches ideas. --Jack Welch https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jack_Welch