Operation Catechism was a British air raid of World War II that resulted in the destruction of the German battleship Tirpitz (depiction shown). On 12 November 1944, 29 Royal Air Force heavy bombers targeted the battleship at an anchorage near the Norwegian city of Tromsø. The ship capsized after being struck by at least two bombs and damaged by the explosions of others, killing between 940 and 1,204 members of the crew. Rescuers picked up hundreds of her crew from the water, but few of those trapped within the hull were saved. The British bombers were unmolested by a unit of German fighter aircraft stationed near Tromsø, and only one was significantly damaged by anti-aircraft artillery. The attack marked the end of a long-running series of air and naval operations against Tirpitz. The battleship's destruction was celebrated in Allied countries, as well as by Norwegian civilians, and is commemorated by several memorials and displays in museums.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Catechism
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1912:
The bodies of Robert Falcon Scott and his companions were discovered, roughly eight months after their deaths during the ill-fated British Antarctic Expedition 1910. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Falcon_Scott
1970:
The Oregon Highway Division unsuccessfully attempted to destroy a rotting beached sperm whale near Florence, Oregon, with dynamite. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploding_whale#Oregon
1996:
A Saudi Arabian Airlines Boeing 747 and a Kazakhstan Airlines cargo plane collided in mid-air near New Delhi, killing 349 people. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_Charkhi_Dadri_mid-air_collision
2006:
Although the Georgian government declared it illegal, South Ossetia held a referendum on independence, with about 99 percent of voters in favour of preserving the region's status as a de facto independent state. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_South_Ossetian_independence_referendum
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
fichu: (chiefly historical) A woman's lightweight triangular scarf worn over the shoulders and tied in front, or tucked into a bodice to cover the exposed part of the neck and chest. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fichu
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
When the true lover and devoted friend reacheth to the presence of the Beloved, the sparkling beauty of the Loved One and the fire of the lover’s heart will kindle a blaze and burn away all veils and wrappings. Yea, all he hath, from heart to skin, will be set aflame, so that nothing will remain save the Friend. He who hath attained this station is sanctified from all that pertaineth to the world. Wherefore, if those who have come to the sea of His presence are found to possess none of the limited things of this perishable world, whether it be outer wealth or personal opinions, it mattereth not. For whatever the creatures have is limited by their own limits, and whatever the True One hath is sanctified therefrom; this utterance must be deeply pondered that its purport may be clear. --Bahá'u'lláh https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bah%C3%A1%27u%27ll%C3%A1h
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