HMS Cardiff (D108) is a Type 42 destroyer, the third ship of the Royal Navy to be named in honour of the Welsh capital city of Cardiff. She was built by Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria and launched on 22 February, 1974. During her career, Cardiff served in the Falklands War, where she shot down the last Argentine aircraft of the conflict and accepted the surrender of a 700-strong garrison in the settlement of Port Howard. During the 1991 Gulf War, her Lynx helicopter sank two Iraqi minesweepers. She later participated in the build-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq as part of the Royal Navy's constant Armilla Patrol; Cardiff thwarted attempts to smuggle oil out of the country, but was not involved in the actual invasion. Cardiff was decommissioned in July 2005, having earned two battle honours for service in the Falklands and Gulf wars. She is currently moored in Portsmouth Harbour, next to sister ship HMS Newcastle. Former servicemen have petitioned for her preservation as a museum ship and local tourist attraction at Cardiff, but her fate remains undecided.

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_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

451: A coalition led by Roman General Flavius Aetius and Visigothic king Theodoric I clashed violently with the Hunnic alliance commanded by Attila the Hun at the Battle of Chalons. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Chalons)

1685: Monmouth Rebellion: The Duke of Monmouth declared himself King of England at Bridgwater. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Scott%2C_1st_Duke_of_Monmouth)

1789: French Revolution: Members of France's Third Estate took the Tennis Court Oath, pledging not to separate until a new constitution was established. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennis_Court_Oath)

1837: Victoria succeeded to the British throne. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_of_the_United_Kingdom)

1973: Snipers fired into a crowd of Peronists near the Ezeiza Airport in Buenos Aires, killing at least 13 people and injuring 365 others. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1973_Ezeiza_massacre)

_____________________ Wiktionary's Word of the day:

otaku: One with an obsessive interest, particularly anime or manga. (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/otaku)

_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:

The only real prison is fear, and the only real freedom is freedom from fear. -- Aung San Suu Kyi (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Aung_San_Suu_Kyi)