SMS Zähringen was a pre-dreadnought battleship of the Wittelsbach class of the Imperial German Navy. She was laid down in November 1899 and completed October 1902. She and her sister ships—Wittelsbach, Wettin, Schwaben and Mecklenburg—were armed with a main battery of four 24 cm (9.4 in) guns and had a top speed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph). These and the other ships of I Squadron underwent extensive annual training, as well as making goodwill visits to foreign countries. Zähringen was decommissioned in September 1910 as dreadnought battleships began to enter service and she saw little activity until the start of World War I in 1914. Zähringen saw limited duty in the Baltic Sea and played a minor role in the Battle of the Gulf of Riga. The ship was withdrawn from active service in late 1915 due to crew shortages and the threat from British submarines. After the war, she was converted into a radio-controlled target ship..

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Target_ship

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1840:

British representatives and Māori chiefs first signed the Treaty of Waitangi, widely regarded as the founding document of New Zealand. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Waitangi

1919:

More than 65,000 workers in Seattle began a five-day general strike to gain higher wages after two years of U.S. World War I wage controls. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle_General_Strike

1987:

Mary Gaudron became the first woman to be appointed a justice of the High Court of Australia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Gaudron

2000:

Second Chechen War: Russian forces captured Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, from the separatist Chechen government following a siege and assault that devastated the city. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Grozny_%281999%E2%80%932000%29

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

koha: 1. (New Zealand) A Māori tradition of reciprocal giving of gifts. 2. (New Zealand, by extension) A voluntary donation given for a service that has been provided. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/koha

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

I acknowledge that my verdict will not remove the President from office. The results of this Senate Court will in fact be appealed to a higher court: the judgement of the American people. Voters will make the final decision, just as the President’s lawyers have implored. My vote will likely be in the minority in the Senate. But irrespective of these things, with my vote, I will tell my children and their children that I did my duty to the best of my ability, believing that my country expected it of me. I will only be one name among many, no more or less, to future generations of Americans who look at the record of this trial. They will note merely that I was among the senators who determined that what the President did was wrong, grievously wrong. We’re all footnotes at best in the annals of history. But in the most powerful nation on earth, the nation conceived in liberty and justice, that is distinction enough for any citizen.   --Mitt Romney https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mitt_Romney