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Spitfires of the Sea
@SeaSpitfires
, 7 tweets, 4 min read Read on Twitter
#OTD (or night) 100 years ago, occurred perhaps the greatest success of the humble 40 ft Coastal Motor Boat. Defying the orders of his superiors, Lieutenant August Agar and his crew, Sub-Lt John Hampsheir and Chief Motor Mechanic Hugh Beeley, sank the Russian cruiser Oleg. 1/7
Leaving their secret mooring on the Finnish coast at 10.30pm, the crew steered CMB 4 – a diminutive 5 ton Thornycroft boat – south, through a screen of destroyers and close to the forts defending the Russian navy base at Kronstadt. 2/7

iwm.org.uk/collections/it…
Slowly, CMB 4 crept closer to the Oleg, a Russian cruiser that had been bombarding White Russian positions at Krasnaya Gorka. As the crew readied their single torpedo disaster struck, when the firing charge detonated prematurely. Fortunately the torpedo wasn't released. 3/7
For 20 nerve wracking minutes the boat drifted silently whilst the crew replaced the charge. With everything in place, Agar opened up CMB 4’s throttles and they raced towards the Oleg, dropping the torpedo over the stern at 5 past midnight. 4/7

iwm.org.uk/collections/it…
As CMB 4 roared past the nearby destroyers and out to open water, the torpedo struck the 7,000 ton Oleg amidships, throwing up a high column of flame and water. Slowly she settled onto the seabed, with the loss of 5 lives. 5/7
For sinking a ship 1,500 times their size, Agar was awarded a VC (which for political reasons could not initially be publicly explained, causing it to be known as the Mystery VC), Hampsheir received a DSC and Beeley a Conspicuous Gallantry Medal. 6/7

iwm.org.uk/collections/it…
Incredibly, CMB 4 has survived the past 102 years since her launch in 1916. After decades on display at Thornycroft’s yard in London she was restored and has most recently been on display at Duxford. Will she be there much longer? Watch this space... 7/7
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More from @SeaSpitfires see all

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Spitfires of the Sea
@SeaSpitfires
#OTD, 100 years ago, the German High Seas Fleet surrendered to the Royal Navy. After they had last met at Jutland, 70 German warships met well over 100 allied warships and sailed into captivity. It was the largest gathering of warships in close company in history.
Only the previous day, Germany's U-boats had sailed into captivity in Harwich, per the terms of the armistice signed the previous week.
The first U-boats sailed into Harwich as the mist began to lift on the morning of the 20th. The boats were received in silence: no jeering or cheering from either side. Once the formalities were done, the German crews watched as the White Ensign was raised over their vessels.
Read 13 tweets
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Spitfires of the Sea
@SeaSpitfires
The #selfie stick: a military history thread.

Selfie sticks have, of course, been around as long as the wheel. But despite this, their use in the military can only be traced back to the 17th century.
Prince William of Orange bought the fad to England from Europe when he landed at Torbay in 1688. Not one to show off, William always avoided looking directly at his phone. Artist Jan Wyck has beautifully captured William's sideways glance as he struggles to line up the shot.
It was George Washington who started the fashion for looking directly at the camera when he captured the moment of his victory at Trenton in 1777. Enraged that his horse, Blueskin, refused to look at the phone, Washington later returned him to his original owner.
Read 16 tweets

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Henry Jones
@hthjones
#OTD 3 Commando Brigade leave Portsmouth for the #Falklands aboard SS Canberra.
A section of BBC News from 9th April 1982: the Soviet Union describe the UK’s task force as "an immediate threat to international peace"

Fascinating to watch, the rest can be found here:
A CIA brief from 9th April states "the Argentines are reportedly lengthening the air strip in Port Stanley to accommodate A-4, MIRAGE, PUCARA, and C-130 aircraft and reinforcing the island with additional troops and air defence equipment"
Read 685 tweets
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Kieran Hazzard
@RadicalEIC
#OTD 199 years ago: Unemployment, radicalisation, spies, armed cells, insurrection, and bloody retribution! It’s THE RADICAL WAR 1820! (a thread)
I’m going to explore this little know attempt at “Liberty or Death” through the story of one man, John Baird. First a loyal soldier, then a deserter, a weaver, and finally a rebel. It’s going to be a long thread and spread over a couple of days, hold on to your hats.
Baird joined the 2nd battalion of the 95th Rifles in Glasgow in 1806. Promoted to bugler, he was sent with the battalion in the expeditionary force commanded by General Whitelocke to attack Napoleon's Spanish allies in Buenos Aires.
Read 38 tweets
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Robert McNees
@mcnees
The mathematician Emmy Noether was born #OTD in 1882. She made groundbreaking advances in abstract algebra, and her eponymous theorems articulated the deep connection between symmetries and conserved quantities in physics.
Image: Public domain (photographer unknown)
While at Göttingen, Noether proved the two theorems that bear her name. It is the first theorem, often just called “Noether’s Theorem,” that associates conserved quantities with symmetries of physical systems
cwp.library.ucla.edu/articles/noeth…
A symmetry is something you can do to a system that doesn’t change its physics. For example, all other things being equal, a collision between two masses works out the same way in your office and in the lab down the hall. A translation down the hall is a symmetry of the physics.
Read 29 tweets
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Paula Chertok🗽
@PaulaChertok
🕯#OTD Oct 7, 2006: Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya murdered to silence her fierce voice on Putin mafia state corruption, atrocities, propaganda. Her truth is louder today: Putin's guard dogs hurtling Russia back to USSR abyss…Journalists risk death, bullet, poison, trial.
#Politkovskaya was a journalist & human rights activist, not distinct in authoritarian Russia. Anna said journalists owe duty to tell the truth about the state. One last investigation was into mass poisoning of Chechen schoolchildren, authorities gaslighted as media mass hysteria
Before Trump, Americans might've read #Politkovskaya reports of gaslighting officials who blame media hysteria to cover up the poisoning of schoolchildren as absurd. We see now that gaslighting propaganda is a hallmark of illegitimate authoritarian states. theguardian.com/world/2006/mar…
Read 4 tweets
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pplswar
@pplswar
WANTED: A serious progressive approach to foreign policy. Dictator-lovers need not apply.
ALSO WANTED: Intellectuals who oppose bad faith arguments and don't resort to strawmen and deflections when they can't come up with remotely coherent arguments for their know-nothing FP positions.

Noah Berlatsky need not apply.
"Sometimes you have to pick the gun up to put the gun down." -- Malcolm X
Read 92 tweets
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Senator Dick Durbin
@SenatorDurbin
#OTD 112 years ago, the #AntiquitiesAct was signed by President Roosevelt & since used to create over 150 national monuments. I’m proud to stand with the millions of Americans who love and cherish our national #MonumentsForAll.
16 Presidents – 8 Republicans and 8 Democrats – have used the #AntiquitiesAct to safeguard public lands, oceans, and cultural and historic sites in order to share America’s story with future generations. President Trump wants to shrink these national treasures.
I stand with America’s #MonumentsForAll, and will fight to preserve our country’s most important national monuments, like #BearsEars and #GrandStaircase.
Read 3 tweets

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