100 Years Ago Today

[Jimbuna]

13th May 1920

La Targette, France (French military cemetery)


Ship Losses:

Florence Thurlow (United States) The schooner collided with Laramie ( United States) off New York and was abandoned. Her crew were rescued by Laramie.
RIMS Mayo (Royal Navy) The Royal Indian Marine transport collided with Arankola ( United Kingdom) at Rangoon and was run ashore. She became a total loss.

[Jimbuna]

14th May 1920

"The Red Army of the Republic of Soviets. Photographs collected in Moscow by our special envoy, Mr. Albert Londres".

[Jimbuna]

15th May 1920

Officers and crew of the USS Minneapolis, a U.S. Navy Columbia-class cruiser.


The execution of four Frenchmen in Vincennes, charged for denouncing others to the Germans during the Great War.


Ship Losses:

Padouk (United Kingdom) The barque ran aground 4 nautical miles (7.4 km) off Bassein, Burma. Her crew abandoned ship in the lifeboats.
Tenzan Maru (Japan) The cargo ship departed Montevideo, Uruguay for Antwerp, Belgium. No further trace, presumed foundered with the loss of all hands.

[Jimbuna]

16th May 1920

Maria Bochkareva, Russian soldier who led the Women’s Battalion of Death during the Great War, is executed by the Bolsheviks.


Defense Forces Anniversary Parade at Senate Square, Helsinki.


Ship Losses:

Lake Grafton (United States) The Design 1093 cargo ship ran aground on the Runnel Stone, off the coast of Cornwall, United Kingdom and was wrecked. Her crew were rescued.

[Jimbuna]

17th May 1920

French and Belgian troops leave the cities they have occupied in Germany.

Ship Losses:

Clewbay (United Kingdom) The cargo ship ran aground on the west coast of Mutton Island, County Galway. She was refloated on 2 June.

[Jimbuna]

18th May 1920

A public reception for Edward, Prince of Wales, in Dunedin, New Zealand.


Ship Losses:

HSwMS Laxen (Swedish Navy) The submarine sank at Karlskrona, Sweden.

[Jimbuna]

19th May 1920

The Military Cross is awarded to the city of Ypres, accepted by the Mayor of Ypres on the right. Field Marshal Lord John French and King Albert I are on the left.

[Jimbuna]

20th May 1920

A diver beginning his descent into the water.


U.S. Army recruiters during a parade in Washington D.C.

[Jimbuna]

21st May 1920

American soldiers in the Panama Canal zone engaging in an alligator hunt.


Deposed Mexican President Venustiano Carranza is assassinated (possibly a suicide) after fleeing Mexico City.


Ship Losses:

Lester (United States) The sternwheel paddle steamer was lost at Fairbanks, Territory of Alaska.

[Jimbuna]

22nd May 1920

A burial for sailors lost during World War I in Arlington National Cemetery.


Ship Losses:

Cordora (United Kingdom) The passenger ship caught fire in the Indian Ocean off Socotra and was abandoned. Her crew were rescued by Umtata ( United Kingdom).
Manoussis (Greece) The cargo ship ran aground on the Carromeiro Rocks, off Corcubión, A Coruña, Spain and was a total loss.
Tafna (United Kingdom) The cargo ship ran aground in the Tunas Channel, Cuba. She was refloated on 26 May.

[Jimbuna]

23rd May 1920

Former Austro-Hungarian field marshal Svetozar Boroević, who distinguished himself defending against Italian offensives at the Isonzo during the Great War, has passed away.


French President Paul Deschanel falls out of his presidential train, suffering minor injuries. (His eccentric and strange behaviors lead to his resignation in September).


"Search for treasures submerged during the war. The value of ships sunk by German mines and submarines is estimated at 50 billion"


Ship Losses:

Lurcher (United Kingdom) The cargo liner ran aground 2 nautical miles (3.7 km) south Portpatrick, Wigtownshire. All 53 passengers were taken off.
Mina (Soviet Navy Red Movement) Polish-Soviet War: The minesweeper was sunk on the Pripyat river at Pripyat by mines.

[Jimbuna]

24th May 1920

American soldiers off the coast of Panama on a shark-hunting expedition.


Ship Losses:

John W. Wood (United Kingdom) The schooner was rammed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean by Lake Elsah ( United States). Her crew were rescued.
Wasa (United Kingdom) The cargo ship caught fire off Colonsay, Inner Hebrides and was a total loss. Four of her crew were killed.

[Jimbuna]

25th May 1920

The Ganja Revolt breaks out in Ganja, Azerbaijan against the Sovietization of the country, but the revolt is crushed by Soviet forces in the following days. Soviet troops on an armored train in Azerbaijan.


An American soldier patrolling the Mexican-American border. Due to the instability caused by the Mexican Revolution, there have been several border raids in the past few years.


Ship Losses:

Albertus (Germany) The cargo ship came ashore at Hustadvika, Norway and was a total loss.
Equity (United Kingdom) The cargo ship ran aground in fog on Alderney, Channel Islands carrying a cargo of potatoes from Jersey. She was refloated on 15 June.
Leota (United States) The 36-gross register ton steamer was crushed by ice during the spring ice breakup while laid up on the bank of a river for the winter of 1919–1920 near Fairbanks, Territory of Alaska.
USFS Osprey (United States Bureau of Fisheries) While beached at Cordova, Territory of Alaska, to have her hull cleaned and copper painted, the fishery patrol vessel settled into the gravel on the beach, rolled away from the shore onto her side, filled with water, and became partially submerged. She was refloated and returned to service.

[Jimbuna]

27th May 1920

Ship Losses:

Deva (United States) The cargo ship caught fire at Faial Island, Azores, Portugal and was beached.
Dunleith (United Kingdom) The cargo ship ran aground at Proudfoot, Caithness. Her crew were rescued. She was refloated on 2 June.

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28th May 1920

The bodies of 138 American marines who were buried in Brest, France during the Great War returns to New York.


HMAS Sydney at the fleet review in Port Phillip, Australia during the Prince of Wales’s visit to the country.