the Pacific War in February 1945 to return both Ise-class hybrid
battleship-aircraft carriers (Ise pictured) and their escorts to Japan
from Singapore, where they had been based since November 1944. Before
departing, the Japanese ships (designated the Completion Force) were
loaded with oil and other raw materials to help bring supplies through
the Allied blockade of Japan. The Completion Force sailed on
10 February 1945 and was sighted leaving port by a Royal Navy
submarine. The Allies, who had learned of the Completion Force's
composition and goals from decrypting Japanese radio signals, planned
coordinated attacks by U.S. submarines and aircraft. All attempts failed
and the Completion Force reached its destination of Kure, Japan, on
20 February without suffering any casualties. Due to the intensifying
Allied blockade, the Ise-class ships and their escorts were among the
last IJN warships to reach Japan safely from the Southwest Pacific. All
the ships of the Completion Force were sunk in or near Japanese home
waters before the end of the war.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Kita>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1258:
Hulagu Khan and the Mongols sacked and burned Baghdad, a
cultural and commercial centre of the Islamic world at the time, ending
the rule of the Abbasid caliphate.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Baghdad_(1258)>
1763:
Britain, France, and Spain signed the Treaty of Paris to end
the Seven Years' War, significantly reducing the size of the French
colonial empire while at the same time marking the beginning of an
extensive period of British dominance outside of Europe.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Paris_(1763)>
1840:
Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha married Queen Victoria of
the United Kingdom at the Chapel Royal, becoming prince-consort.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert,_Prince_Consort>
1962:
"Rudolf Abel", a Soviet spy arrested by the FBI, was exchanged
for Gary Powers, the pilot of the CIA spy plane that had been shot down
over Soviet airspace two years earlier.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vilyam_Genrikhovich_Fisher>
1964:
The Royal Australian Navy aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne
collided with and sank the destroyer HMAS Voyager in Jervis Bay,
Australia, killing 82 of Voyager's personnel.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melbourne%E2%80%93Voyager_collision>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
ophidian:
Of or pertaining to the suborder Serpentes; of, related to, or
characteristic of a snake or serpent.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ophidian>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Society cannot share a common communication system so long as it
is split into warring factions.
--Bertolt Brecht
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bertolt_Brecht>
_______________________________________________
Wikipedia Daily Article mailing list.
To unsubscribe, visit:
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/daily-article-l
Questions or comments? Contact dal-feedback@wikimedia.org