Bahia was the lead ship of her class of cruisers built for Brazil by
Armstrong Whitworth in the United Kingdom. Six months after her 21 May
1910 commissioning, crewmen aboard the ship mutinied during the Revolta
da Chibata (English: Revolt of the Whip), killing one of the ship's
officers during the four-day rebellion. During the First World War,
Bahia and her sister ship Rio Grande do Sul were assigned to the
Divisão Naval em Operações de Guerra (English: Naval Division in War
Operations), the Brazilian Navy's main contribution in that conflict.
Based out of Sierra Leone and Dakar, the squadron escorted convoys
through an area believed to be heavily patrolled by U-boats. Between
the wars, Bahia underwent a major overhaul and modernization and was
mobilized against multiple rebellions. In the Second World War, Bahia
was once again used as a convoy escort, sailing over 100,000 nautical
miles (190,000 km; 120,000 mi) in 358 total days of sailing. On 4 July
1945 she was acting as a plane guard for transport aircraft flying from
the Atlantic to Pacific theaters of war. While Bahia's gunners were
firing at a kite for anti-aircraft practice, one aimed too low and hit
depth charges stored near the stern of the ship, resulting in a massive
explosion that incapacitated the ship and sunk her within minutes. Only
a small portion of the crew survived the blast, and even fewer were
still living when their rafts were discovered days later. Conspiracy
theories disputing this story and involving rogue German U-boats
persist to this day.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_cruiser_Bahia>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1758:
French and Indian War: Ten-year-old Mary Campbell was taken captive
from her Pennsylvania home by members of the Native American group
Lenape, presumably becoming the first white child to travel to the
Connecticut Western Reserve.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Campbell>
1894:
The Manchester Ship Canal , linking Greater Manchester in North West
England to the Irish Sea, officially opened, becoming the largest
navigation canal in the world at the time.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester_Ship_Canal>
1927:
Aboard the Spirit of St. Louis, American aviator Charles Lindbergh
completed the first solo non-stop transatlantic flight, flying from
Roosevelt Field near New York City to Le Bourget Airport near Paris.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirit_of_St._Louis>
1998:
Indonesian President Suharto resigned following the collapse of
support<!-Not bolded, cleanup issues-> for his three-decade-long reign.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suharto>
2006:
The Montenegrin independence referendum was held in Montenegro, with
55.5 percent of the voters favouring independence from the State Union
of Serbia and Montenegro.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montenegrin_independence_referendum%2C_2006>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
don't shoot the messenger (proverb):
The bearer of bad news should not be held accountable for the bad news
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/don%27t_shoot_the_messenger>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Some Figures monstrous and mis-shap'd appear,
Consider'd singly, or beheld too near,
Which, but proportion'd to
their Light, or Place,
Due Distance reconciles to Form and Grace.
A prudent Chief not
always must display
His Pow'rs in equal Ranks, and fair Array,
But with th' Occasion and
the Place comply,
Conceal his Force, nay seem sometimes to Fly.
Those oft are
Stratagems which Errors seem,
Nor is it Homer Nods, but We that Dream.
--Alexander Pope
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alexander_Pope>
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