Zagreb was the second of three Beograd-class destroyers built for the
Royal Yugoslav Navy. She was designed to be deployed as part of a
division led by the flotilla leader Dubrovnik. The first warship built
in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Zagreb entered service in August 1939,
was armed with a main battery of four 120 mm (4.7 in) guns in single
mounts, and had a top speed of 35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph). Yugoslavia
entered World War II due to the German-led Axis invasion in
April 1941. During the invasion, two of her officers scuttled her at
the Bay of Kotor on 17 April 1941 to prevent her capture by Italian
forces and were both killed by the explosion of the scuttling charges. A
French film was made in 1967 about her demise and the deaths of the two
officers. In 1973, on the thirtieth anniversary of the formation of the
Yugoslav Navy, both men were posthumously awarded the Order of the
People's Hero by President Josip Tito. (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>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1362:
Lithuanian Crusade: After a month-long siege, forces of the
Teutonic Order captured and destroyed Kaunas Castle (reconstruction
pictured), which was defended by troops of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Kaunas>
1907:
Minas Geraes, the first of three Brazilian dreadnought
battleships, was laid down, sparking a vastly expensive South American
naval arms race with Argentina and Chile.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_American_dreadnought_race>
1951:
The Peak District was designated the first national park in the
United Kingdom.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_District>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
implacable:
1. Not able to be placated or appeased.
2. Impossible to prevent or stop; inexorable, unrelenting, unstoppable.
3. Adamant; immovable.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/implacable>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Hope, like faith, is nothing if it is not courageous; it is
nothing if it is not ridiculous.
--Thornton Wilder
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thornton_Wilder>
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