100 Years Ago Today

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8th January 1921

A discharged sailors’, soldiers’ and airmen’s store full of canned goods.


Chequers, a country house in Buckinghamshire, is donated by Sir Arthur Lee to be used as a home for the British Prime Minister.

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9th January 1921

German submarine SM UB-131, which was surrendered to the Allies after the war, is wrecked near Bulverhythe, England while it was being towed.


Ship Losses:

Elipidifor No.415 (Soviet Navy) Russian Civil War: The Elipidifor type auxiliary gunboat was damaged by Sakalave ( French Navy) at Anapa in the Black Sea. She was beached and abandoned.

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10th January 1921

British Prime Minister Lloyd George with Lord Reading, the newly appointed Viceroy of India, at Chequers.


Electoral College are certified in the U.S. Senate, formally confirming Warren G. Harding’s election as the next President.


Ship Losses:

Cabo Roche (Spain) The coaster caught fire and foundered in the Ligurian Sea 6 nautical miles (11 km) off Cape Mele, Liguria, Italy. Her crew were rescued.
Mintie (United Kingdom) The schooner was abandoned and set afire in the Atlantic Ocean (44°15′N 27°10′W). Her crew were rescued by Anversoise ( United Kingdom).

[Jimbuna]

11th January 1921

The premier of France, Georges Leygues, loses a vote of no confidence held in the National Assembly by a margin of 463 to 125, due to his failure to enforce reparations from Germany.


Turkish troops win the (First) Battle of İnönü, stopping the Greek offensive with the deployment of the recently organized standing army of the Grand National Assembly. Mustafa Kemal after the battle.

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12th January 1921

USS Oklahoma (BB-37) and USS Arizona (BB-39) side by side in the Pedro Miguel locks, Panama Canal.


Ship Losses:

Acacia (United Kingdom) The cargo ship was beached near Hurst Castle, Hampshire.
Aspasia Stavroudis (Greece) The cargo ship caught fire in the Aegean Sea 8 nautical miles (15 km) east of Carpatsos. She sank the next day, her crew survived.
Christoforos (Greece) The cargo ship sank in the Mediterranean Sea off Cape Papa.
Ontaneda (Norway) The cargo ship foundered in the Atlantic Ocean (47°20′N 40°05′W). Her crew were rescued by Fanad Head ( United Kingdom).

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13th January 1921

Ijūin Gorō, commander-in-chief of the Imperial Japanese Navy during the Great War, dies. He was 68.

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14th January 1921

Russian refugees fleeing the Bolsheviks arriving ashore in Constantinople.


British troops using a Mark IV tank to break through storefronts in Dublin to search for arms.

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15th January 1921

Ship Losses:

Horley (United Kingdom) The coaster was struck by another vessel in the River Thames at Blackwall, London and sank. She was refloated on 18 January.

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16th January 1921

Aristide Briand (pictured) returns to power as Prime Minister of France after his predecessor Georges Leygues lost a vote of confidence for failing to enforce reparations on the Germans.


Ship Losses:

Carmelita (Venezuela) The cargo ship was destroyed by fire at Puerto Cabello and was a total loss.

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17th January 1921

Chilean battleship Almirante Latorre in drydock at Balboa, Panama.


Airship R34 wrecked at Howden, UK


The Black Watch marching past the saluting base in Cologne, Germany on the occasion of the recent visit of Field Marshal Sir Henry Wilson to the Rhine Occupational Forces.


Two airmen of the new Minnesota Air National Guard, which begins operations today.


English magician P.T. Selbit performs the first public show of the “sawing a woman in half” illusion.


Ship Losses:

Claremorris (United Kingdom) The cargo ship struck rocks at Durat Point and was beached in the Sound of Islay.
HMS Marjoram (Royal Navy) Bound for Haulbowline, where she was to undergo a refit to become the drill ship HMS President, the Anchusa-class sloop-of-war was wrecked on Flintstone Head.

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18th January 1921

Ship Losses:

Dover Castle (United Kingdom) The brigantine came ashore at Zierikzee, Netherlands and was wrecked.
Pandora (United Kingdom) The schooner sprang a leak and was abandoned in the Irish Sea off Beaumaris, Anglesey. Her crew were rescued by the Beaumaris Lifeboat.

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19th January 1921

The battleship USS Utah transiting the Panama Canal.


Ship Losses:

Daisy (Germany) The schooner was abandoned in the North Sea off IJmuiden, Netherlands. Her crew were rescued by the trawler Ymuiden 146 ( Netherlands). Daisy was discovered derelict by the trawler Hohenfels ( Germany) and towed into Nordenham, Germany, arriving on 27 January.
Juanita (United States) While no one was on board, the 7-net ton motor vessel burned to the waterline and sank while at anchor in Surprise Harbor (57°01′N 134°35′W) in Southeast Alaska.
Kibi Maru No.2 (Japan) The cargo ship ran aground 100 nautical miles (190 km) south of Thursday Island, Queensland, Australia. She was refloated on 7 February.

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20th January 1921

British submarine K5 sinks with all hands off the Isles of Scilly, possibly because it dived below its maximum diving depth, resulting in loss of 57 crew.


Ship Losses:

HMS K5 (Royal Navy) The K-class submarine foundered in the Atlantic Ocean 120 nautical miles (220 km) south west of the Isles of Scilly with the loss of all fifty-seven crew.

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21st January 1921

Ship Losses:

SMS Baden (Royal Navy) The decommissioned former Imperial German Navy battleship foundered in heavy seas in the English Channel off Whale Island, Hampshire, England, after use as a gunnery target by the shore establishment HMS Excellent and the monitor HMS Terror (both Royal Navy). Baden was refloated three months later and put back into use as a target ship.
HMS Europa (Royal Navy) Under tow after being sold out of naval service, the decommissioned Diadem-class protected cruiser sank off Corsica in a gale. She later was refloated and scrapped.
Heiyei Maru No.2 (Japan) The cargo ship foundered off Toba, Mie.

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22nd January 1921

Sir Hamar Greenwood, the Chief Secretary for Ireland, inspecting Auxiliaries of the Royal Irish Constabulary during the Irish War of Independence.


The British Mark V tank is being used as a battering ram to break down the door of a Johnston Mooney & O'Brien bakery at 153 Capel Street, Dublin, during the Irish War of Independence.


Sweden's Crown Prince Gustaf, who would reign from 1950 to 1973 as King Gustaf VI Adolf, saved the life of a British sailor in Stockholm's harbor. (Prince Gustaf)


Ship Losses:

Afrodite (Greece) The cargo ship ran aground at Westcar, Yorkshire, United Kingdom. Her crew were rescued before she sank.
Newton Stanley Lake (United Kingdom) The schooner was abandoned in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Virginia, United States. Her crew were rescued.