Operation Teardrop was a United States Navy operation of World War II conducted during April and May 1945 to sink German U-boats that were believed to be approaching the U.S. east coast armed with V-1 flying bombs. It was planned during late 1944 in response to intelligence reports which indicated that Germany was preparing a force of missile- armed submarines. The plan was executed in April 1945 after several Type IX submarines put to sea from Norway bound for the United States. While severe weather conditions in the North Atlantic Ocean greatly reduced the effectiveness of the four U.S. Navy escort carriers involved, long patrol lines of destroyer escorts successfully detected and engaged most of the submarines. Four were sunk with the loss of their entire crew. Most of the crew of the other submarine to be sunk were captured, with the specialists among the prisoners being brutally interrogated. USS Frederick C. Davis (pictured) was also sunk with the loss of most of her crew. The surviving U-boats surrendered in early May as part of the general German surrender. After the war the Allies determined that the submarines were not carrying missiles.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Teardrop
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1794:
The Reign of Terror: Branded a traitor, French chemist Antoine Lavoisier (pictured), a former royal tax collector with the Ferme Générale, was tried, convicted, and guillotined on the same day. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_Lavoisier
1842:
A train derailed and caught fire in Paris, killing between 52 and 200 people. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Versailles_rail_accident
1945:
A parade to celebrate the end of World War II turned into a riot, followed by widespread disturbances and killings in and around Sétif, French Algeria. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A9tif_and_Guelma_massacre
1963:
In Huế, South Vietnam, soldiers of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam opened fire into a crowd of Buddhist protestors against a government ban on the flying of the Buddhist flag on Vesākha, killing nine and sparking the Buddhist crisis. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hu%E1%BA%BF_Ph%E1%BA%ADt_%C4%90%E1%BA%A3n_shootings
1970:
Construction workers in New York City attacked students and others protesting the Kent State shootings. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_Hat_Riot
1987:
A British Army Special Air Service unit ambushed a Provisional Irish Republican Army unit in Loughgall, Northern Ireland, killing eight IRA members and a civilian. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loughgall_Ambush
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
adversity: 1. (uncountable) The state of adverse conditions; state of misfortune or calamity. 2. (countable) An event that is adverse; calamity. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/adversity
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
If man is not to do more harm than good in his efforts to improve the social order, he will have to learn that in this, as in all other fields where essential complexity of an organized kind prevails, he cannot acquire the full knowledge which would make mastery of the events possible. He will therefore have to use what knowledge he can achieve, not to shape the results as the craftsman shapes his handiwork, but rather to cultivate a growth by providing the appropriate environment, in the manner in which the gardener does this for his plants. --Friedrich Hayek https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Friedrich_Hayek
daily-article-l@lists.wikimedia.org