Albatros was the fourth of six Type 23 torpedo boats (schematic shown) built for the German Navy. Launched in July 1926 and commissioned in May 1927, she often served as a flagship of various torpedo boat units. The ship made multiple non-intervention patrols during the Spanish Civil War in the late 1930s. After an attack by aircraft of the Spanish Republican Air Force that killed German sailors in 1937, Albatros participated in the retaliatory bombardment of Almería. At the beginning of World War II in 1939, she helped to lay minefields and made anti-shipping patrols before participating in Operation Weserübung, the German invasion of Norway in April 1940. Albatros fired the first shots of the campaign when she encountered and crippled a Norwegian patrol boat. She was lightly damaged during the Battle of Horten Harbor. Albatros then ran aground and was wrecked while maneuvering in an attempt to avoid Norwegian coastal artillery.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_torpedo_boat_Albatros

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1865:

Uruguayan War: Brazilian and Colorado Party forces captured the city of Paysandú from its Uruguayan defenders. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Paysand%C3%BA

1920:

Under the leadership of Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer, U.S. Department of Justice agents launched a series of raids against radical leftists and anarchists in more than 30 cities and towns across 23 states. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmer_Raids

1959:

The Soviet spacecraft Luna 1 (replica pictured), the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon, was launched by a Vostok rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luna_1

1976:

An extratropical cyclone began affecting parts of western Europe, resulting in coastal flooding around the southern portions of the North Sea and leading to at least 82 deaths over the next few days. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gale_of_January_1976

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

tumultuous: 1. Characterized by loud, confused noise. 2. Causing or characterized by tumult; chaotic, disorderly, turbulent. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tumultuous

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

All you have to do is take a close look at yourself and you will understand everyone else. We’re in no way different ourselves... You show me someone who can’t understand people and I’ll show you someone who has built up a false image of himself.   --Isaac Asimov https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Isaac_Asimov