100 Years Ago Today

[Jimbuna]

24th December 1920

Italian troops launch an attack against the city of Fiume, held by Italian nationalists led by Gabriele D’Annunzio (pictured). Italy and Yugoslavia agreed last month that the disputed city should be independent as the Free State of Fiume.


Ship Losses:

Marion J. Smith (United Kingdom) The schooner was abandoned in the Atlantic Ocean. Her crew were rescued by Pennyworth ( United Kingdom) and landed at Tarragona, Spain on 15 December.

[Jimbuna]

25th December 1920

Ship Losses:

Kwinana (United Kingdom) The cargo ship caught fire at Carnarvon, Western Australia and sank.
Ougree (Belgium) The cargo ship collided with Aleppo ( United Kingdom) in the River Scheldt and was beached off Vlissingen, Netherlands.
Photios (Greece) The cargo ship sprang a leak, broke in two, and sank in the Mediterranean Sea between Corsica and Elba, Italy. Her crew were rescued by Calliroi Saparis ( Greece).
Prah (United Kingdom) The cargo liner ran aground 5 nautical miles (9.3 km) east of Grand-Bassam, French West Africa. She was refloated on 3 January 1921

[Jimbuna]

26th December 1920

Members of the Dominican National Guard. The Dominican Republic is currently under U.S. military occupation.


Ship Losses:

Navarino (United Kingdom) The cargo ship arrived at Queenstown, County Cork, United Kingdom on fire and was beached. She was refloated on 31 December.

[Jimbuna]

27th December 1920

A tank repurposed for forestry work in France.


Ship Losses:

Elsie L. Corkum (United Kingdom) The schooner sprang a leak and was abandoned in the Atlantic Ocean (40°29′N 13°38′W). Her six crew were rescued by Heronspool ( United Kingdom).

[Jimbuna]

28th December 1920

Ship Losses:

Impressive (United Kingdom) The schooner foundered off Memory Rock, Bahamas.
Tris Adelft (Greece) The cargo ship sank in the Tyrrhenian Sea 18 nautical miles (33 km) north west of Monte Circeo, Lazio, Italy. Her crew were rescued.

[Jimbuna]

29th December 1920

Scouts of the Soviet Red Army equipped with skis and machine guns on sleds.


Italian troops capture the city of Fiume, which had been under the control of Italian nationalists led by Gabriele d'Annunzio. Damaged buildings in the city after Italian shelling.


Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands is shown around by Mr. Goedkoop, director of the Nederlandsche Scheepsbouw Mij, just before the launch of the new cruiser ‘Sumatra.’


Ship Losses:

Korsnæs (Norway) The auxiliary schooner was destroyed by fire off Chesapeake, Virginia, United States.
Lakeside Bridge (United States) The cargo ship ran aground on Pico Island, Azores, Portugal and was a total loss.

[Jimbuna]

30th December 1920

Habib Bey Salimov, the first Chief of the General Staff of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, is executed by the Bolsheviks for refusing to collaborate.


Ship Losses:

Saint Oran (United Kingdom) The cargo ship collided with Eveleen ( United Kingdom) off Ailsa Craig, Ayrshire and sank. Twenty of her crew were rescued.

[Jimbuna]

31st December 1920

16-inch coastal artillery gun being constructed at the Watertown Arsenal, Massachusetts.


British police search the cargo ship SS Pontia on suspicions it smuggled Irish nationalist Éamon de Valera back to Ireland.


Ship Losses:

Kentucky (Denmark) The cargo ship came ashore at Duncansby Head, Caithness, United Kingdom. Her crew were rescued.

[Jimbuna]

1st January 1921

Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg, German Chancellor from 1909 to 1917, has passed away. While somewhat liberal in domestic and foreign policy, he often gave in to conservatives and militarists, including giving a “blank check” for Austria-Hungary to invade Serbia in 1914

[Jimbuna]

2nd January 1921

Spanish passengers ship Santa Isabel sinks in bad weather off Sálvora Island, resulting in over 200 deaths.


Doud “Ikky” Eisenhower, first son of Dwight D. Eisenhower, dies of scarlet fever at age 3 (Eisenhower would later recall the death as “the greatest disappointment and disaster of my life, the one I have never been able to forget completely.”)


Experiments of M. Paul Cans at the Eiffel Tower, apparatus called a "marmoset" allowing to go up and down along smooth ropes.


Ship Losses:

Broadmayne (United Kingdom) The cargo ship ran aground at Dartmouth, Devon. She broke in two on 7 January.
Santa Isabel (Spain) The passenger ship ran aground off Sálvora, Galicia. She broke in two and sank with the loss of 244 of the 300 people on board.
Scottish Monarch (United Kingdom) The cargo ship ran aground in the River Clyde at Cardross, Lanarkshire. She was refloated on 6 January.

[Jimbuna]

3rd January 1921

Amelia Earhart starts her first flight lesson, taught by female aviator Neta Snook.


British admiral Joh Jellicoe and American Admiral Albert Parker Niblack on the former’s arrival at Union Station.


Ship Losses:

Euphrates (United Kingdom) The cargo ship foundered in the Atlantic Ocean (44°24′N 45°27′W). Her crew were rescued by Galileo ( United Kingdom).
Tris Adelphis (Greece) The cargo ship sprang a leak and sank in the Tyrrhenian Sea 25 nautical miles (46 km) east of Mount Circeo, Lazio, Italy.
UB-88 (United States) The Type UB III submarine was scuttled in the Pacific Ocean off San Pedro, California by USS Wilkes ( United States Navy).

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4th January 1921

Cargo ship SS Sussex after it ran aground while approaching the Panama Canal.


German battleship SMS Ostfriesland in drydock at New York. The warship was ceded to the United States as war reparations.

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5th January 1921

USS Texas (BB-35) leaves San Francisco for a tour of South America.


Cargo ship SS Sussex after it ran aground while approaching the Panama Canal.


Ship Losses:

Ardoyne (United Kingdom) The cargo ship ran aground at Cape Frio, Brazil. She was refloated on 18 January.

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6th January 1921

The outdated battleship USS Massachusetts is scuttled off Pensacola, Florida to be used as an artillery target.


Ship Losses:

USS Coast Defense Battleship No. 2 (United States Navy) The decommissioned battleship (ex-USS Massachusetts) was scuttled in shallow water in the Gulf of Mexico off Pensacola, Florida. The wreck subsequently was used as a United States Army Coast Artillery Corps target, then became an artificial reef and recreational diving site.

[Jimbuna]

7th January 1921

Ship Losses:

Ekelund (Norway) The full-rigged ship caught fire and was abandoned in the Atlantic Ocean (7°32′N 32°57′W). She was on a voyage from Durban, South Africa to Sarpsborg, Norway.
Marion (United Kingdom) The schooner departed Liverpool, Lancashire for Fowey, Cornwall. No further trace, presumed foundered with the loss of all hands.