The six Galeb-class minelayers were originally built as minesweepers for the Imperial German Navy. In July 1921, they were purchased for the Royal Navy of the newly created Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (from 1929, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia). Re-armed, they were mainly used for training and "show the flag" cruises. Reclassified as minelayers by 1936, they laid mines off the Yugoslav coast just before the April 1941 Axis invasion of Yugoslavia, which probably resulted in the sinking of two Yugoslav merchant ships. All six were captured and put into Italian service escorting convoys in the Mediterranean Sea. All but one were lost or sunk during the war. The last escaped into Allied hands in September 1943 and was returned to the Yugoslav navy-in-exile at Malta in December. It was transferred to the new Yugoslav Navy after the war and helped clear thousands of mines laid in Yugoslav waters, being finally disposed of in 1962. (This article is part of a featured topic: Ships of the Royal Yugoslav Navy.).

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_topics/Ships_of_the_Royal_Yugoslav_Navy

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1900:

Italian-American anarchist Gaetano Bresci assassinated King Umberto I of Italy in Monza. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaetano_Bresci

1914:

The Cape Cod Canal, connecting Cape Cod Bay and Buzzards Bay in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, opened on a limited basis. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Cod_Canal

1954:

The Fellowship of the Ring, the first part of J. R. R. Tolkien's high-fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings, was published by Allen & Unwin. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings

1981:

An estimated worldwide television audience of 750 million watched the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer at St Paul's Cathedral in London. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wedding_of_Prince_Charles_and_Lady_Diana_Spencer

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

duopoly: 1. (economics) An economic condition in which two sellers exert (most of the) control over the market of a commodity. 2. (by extension) 3. The domination of a field of endeavour by two entities or people. 4. (broadcasting) A situation in which two or more radio or television stations in the same city or community share common ownership. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/duopoly

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

We have an A-bomb and a whole series of it, and we have a whole series of Super bombs, and what more do you want, mermaids?   --Isidor Isaac Rabi https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Isidor_Isaac_Rabi