The four battlecruisers of the Mackensen class were the last to be built by Germany in World War I, but they were never completed, to free up wartime resources for more U-boats. The lead ship was named for Field Marshal August von Mackensen; the others were Graf Spee, Prinz Eitel Friedrich, and Fürst Bismarck. In response to these ships, the British Royal Navy began construction on the Admiral-class battlecruisers, but only one was completed, HMS Hood, after the war. The Mackensen class was an improvement on the preceding Derfflinger class, and was followed by the Ersatz Yorck class. That class was slated for larger guns than the 35 cm (14 in) main-battery guns of Mackensen, after the Battle of Jutland in 1916 demonstrated the need for them, but little progress was made on those ships before they too were cancelled. The four Mackensen- class ships were broken up for scrap metal in the early 1920s.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mackensen-class_battlecruiser

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1138:

Lý Anh Tông was enthroned as emperor of Đại Việt at the age of two, starting a 37-year reign. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%BD_Anh_T%C3%B4ng

1862:

American Civil War: Abraham Lincoln removed George B. McClellan as commander of the Union Army for the second and final time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_B._McClellan

1943:

World War II: An unknown aircraft dropped four bombs on Vatican City, which maintained neutrality during the war. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_the_Vatican

1990:

Ultra-Zionist rabbi Meir Kahane was assassinated in a New York City hotel by an Arab gunman. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meir_Kahane

1995:

André Dallaire was thwarted in his attempt to assassinate Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien when Chrétien's wife locked the door. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9_Dallaire

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

acnestis: The part of an animal's skin that it cannot reach to scratch itself, usually the space between the shoulder blades. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/acnestis

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

I, like God, do not play with dice, and do not believe in coincidence.   --V for Vendetta https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/V_for_Vendetta_(film)