The Schichau class consisted of 22 torpedo boats built for the Austro- Hungarian Navy between 1885 and 1891. Initially powered by steam from a locomotive boiler and armed with two 37 mm (1.5 in) Hotchkiss guns and two 356 mm (14 in) torpedo tubes, they all received two Yarrow boilers and a second funnel between 1900 and 1910. Ten were converted into minesweepers between 1911 and 1913. One boat was discarded in 1911 and the rest saw active service as part of local defence forces for Adriatic naval bases during World War I. The nine torpedo boats which survived were also converted into minesweepers in 1917. After the war, sixteen of the boats were allocated to Italy and four to the Royal Yugoslav Navy. All of the boats had been discarded by 1929 except for one Yugoslav vessel. Captured during the 1941 Axis invasion of Yugoslavia, it served with the Italians and later the Germans. It was lost sometime after September 1943. (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:

1789:

The Power of Sympathy by William Hill Brown, widely considered to be the first American novel, was published. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Power_of_Sympathy

1919:

The First Dáil (members pictured) convened at the Mansion House in Dublin and adopted a declaration of independence calling for the establishment of the Irish Republic. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_D%C3%A1il

1972:

Tripura, formerly part of the independent Twipra Kingdom, became a state of India. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tripura

2017:

An estimated five million people participated in worldwide demonstrations to advocate for legislation and policies on human rights and other issues. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Women%27s_March

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

pomander: 1. (countable, uncountable, historical) A mixture of aromatic substances, made into a ball and carried by a person to impart a sweet smell or as a protection against infection. 2. (countable, historical) A small case in which an aromatic ball was carried. 3. (countable) A perforated container filled with pot-pourri for placing in a drawer, wardrobe, room, etc., to provide a sweet smell. 4. (countable) An apple or orange studded with cloves used for the same purpose. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pomander

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

An unjust composition never fails to contain error and falsehood. Therefore an unjust connection of ideas is not derived from nature, but from the imperfect composition of man. Misconnection of ideas is the same as misjudging, and has no positive existence, being merely a creature of the imagination; but nature and truth are real and uniform; and the rational mind by reasoning, discerns the uniformity, and is thereby enabled to make a just composition of ideas, which will stand the test of truth. But the fantastical illuminations of the credulous and superstitious part of mankind, proceed from weakness, and as far as they take place in the world subvert the religion of REASON, NATURE and TRUTH.   --Ethan Allen https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ethan_Allen