Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/News/August 2015/Articles


 * SMS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse (Parsecboy) : Another in Parsecboy's series on German battleships, this article covers the career of a pre-dreadnought that formed part of the frontline fleet for only seven years before being relegated to the reserve force. She saw limited action during the first months of World War I, before being converted into a depot ship to free up her crew to serve on more modern warships. The article went through GAN and ACR before FAC, and belongs to two Good Topics.


 * Yugoslav destroyer Dubrovnik (Peacemaker67) : The latest in Peacemaker67's series of articles on Yugoslav warships covers the only destroyer leader built for the Kingdom of Yugoslavia between the world wars. The ship was captured by Italian forces in 1941 and used successfully by the Italian Navy. She was seized by Germany in 1943, and remained in service until being scuttled in the closing days of the war.


 * Sieges of Taunton (Harrias) : In their nomination statement, Harrias' noted that it concerned "my first effort at a military history article". The article describes the three occasions the town of Taunton was besieged in 1644 and 1645 during the First English Civil War. The Parliamentarian forces which controlled the town were victorious in each of the sieges.


 * Russian battleship Oslyabya (Sturmvogel 66 and Buggie111) : Oslyabya is another warship with an unusual career. She took almost eight years to complete, but only managed a couple of years of service with the Imperial Russian Navy before being sunk by Japanese forces in the Battle of Tsushima. This is the latest of Sturmvogel's articles on Russian battleships, and was a co-nomination with Buggie111.


 * T30 Howitzer Motor Carriage (Tomandjerry211) : This article forms part of the series on little-known World War II-era armoured vehicles which Tomandjerry211 has recently developed. The T30 Howitzer Motor Carriage was a halftrack ordered by the US Army in 1941 as an interim design to meet a need for an self-propelled gun until a full-tracked vehicle was available. It was used by the US Army during 1943 and 1944 before being replaced, and some served with the French Army as late as the First Indochina War in the early 1950s.


 * Donald Hardman (Ian Rose) : Also part of a long-running series, this article covers the second and last British officer to command the Royal Australian Air Force. Hardman had a distinguished career in the Royal Air Force, and while his appointment to command the RAAF in 1952 was controversial, it proved successful. After returning to the UK, Hardman served on the Air Council until his retirement in 1959.


 * Battle of Malvern Hill (Ceradon) : The Battle of Malvern Hill was the final engagement of the Seven Days Battles during the American Civil War. While it ended with a resounding tactical victory for the Union forces on 1 July 1862, their overly cautious commander George B. McClellan ordered further withdrawals after the battle. Ceradon started an ACR for this article after an unsuccessful featured article nomination.


 * HMS Marlborough (1912) (Parsecboy) : HMS Marlborough was a British battleship of World War I. As Parsecboy noted in the nomination statement, "She had quite an eventful career, being in the thick of the fighting at Jutland, where she was badly damaged by a German torpedo. After the Great War she was involved in the British intervention in the Black Sea during the Russian Civil War and ultimately served as a target for weapons tests."


 * United Nations Confidence Restoration Operation in Croatia (Tomobe03) : This article covers rather grandly named UN peacekeeping mission tasked during 1995 and 1996 with upholding the ceasefire which ended the Croatian War of Independence. Although twenty different countries contributed troops to the mission, the force was criticised for being too small and under-resourced.


 * List of United States Army campaigns during World War II (Tomandjerry211, Hawkeye7 and Gecko G) : This nomination was an unusual three-header combining relatively new and experienced A-class contributors, and covers a suitably broad topic area. It provides a summary of all of the 46 campaigns which the US Army officially recognised following the conclusion of World War II.


 * 80th Infantry (Reserve) Division (United Kingdom) (EnigmaMcmxc) : In the nomination statement, EnigmaMcmxc described the subject of this article as "an overlooked training formation that remained within the United Kingdom throughout its existence during the Second World War". The 80th Infantry Division played an important role in the British Army's war effort by providing final training for new soldiers destined for combat units. Its designation was also used as part of the Allied efforts to deceive the Germans about the strength of their land forces. Due to the unit's obscurity, EnigmaMcmxc needed to consult a large number of sources to develop the article to A-class standard.


 * Paterson Clarence Hughes (Ian Rose) : Ian's second A-class article for the month covers an Australian fighter ace of the Battle of Britain. Hughes initially enlisted in the RAAF, but transferred to the RAF in 1937. He shot down as many as seventeen German aircraft, but was killed on 7 September 1940; his death is generally attributed to debris from a bomber he had just shot down striking his Spitfire fighter.


 * Halifax Explosion (Nikkimaria) : The Halifax Explosion, which occurred on 6 December 1917, was the largest man-made explosion prior to the development of nuclear weapons. It was caused by a collision between a French cargo ship fully loaded with wartime explosives and a Norwegian vessel, and the resultant explosion devastated the Canadian port city of Halifax. Approximately 2,000 people were killed and another 9,000 injured.