Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/News/July 2017/Articles


 * SMS Weissenburg : Parsecboy's latest article on a German battleship covers one of the first such vessels in the Imperial German Navy. Weissenburg was operated by the German Navy from 1894 until 1910, when she was sold to the Ottoman Navy. The battleship had a lengthy career in Ottoman and later Turkish service, seeing combat in three wars and remaining in commission until 1933. The old battleship was used as an accommodation ship until 1950. Parsecboy took the article through GAN and ACR before FAC.


 * Battle of Kunersdorf : The first of two entries by Auntieruth55 on this month's list, the Battle of Kunersdorf was fought between Prussia and an alliance of Austria and Russia in 1759, and was probably the worst defeat suffered by Prussian King Frederick the Great. The Austrian and Russian forces failed to exploit their victory, however. The article passed GAN and ACR before achieving FA status.


 * 250t-class torpedo boat : Focusing on a class of torpedo boats built for the Austro-Hungarian Navy between 1913 and 1916, this is one of two articles Peacemaker has in this month's list. After the First World War, the boats were transferred to various nations including Greece, Romania, Portugal, and the newly created Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later Yugoslavia). During the Second World War, several were transferred to Croatia, Italy, and the Soviet Union. Only four survived the war, one serving until the early 1960s with the Yugoslav Navy. Peacemaker put the article though GAN and ACR prior to FAC.


 * Coalhouse Fort : Coalhouse Fort is an artillery fortress built in the 1860s on the lower Thames River in England, and one of the best preserved forts of its era. Warner Bros. Part of the funding for its restoration came from Warner Bros, which employed the fort as a location for the opening scenes of 2005's Batman Begins. Nominator Prioryman wrote the article "to provide a comprehensive overview, as part of a personal project to document the Thames forts, and also provided almost all of the images included in it".


 * Battle of Prokhorovka : Part of the epic Battle of Kursk, the fighting around Prokhorovka on 12 July 1943 occurred when the 5th Guards Tank Army of the Soviet Red Army attacked the German II SS-Panzer Corps in one of the largest tank battles in military history. The 5th Guards Tank Army was decimated in the attack, but succeeded in preventing the Germans from capturing Prokhorovka and breaking through the third defensive belt to achieve operational freedom. The article passed GAN and ACR before achieving featured status.


 * Battle of Rossbach (Auntieruth55) : The Battle of Rossbach was an important engagement of the Seven Years' War in which Prussian forces commanded by Frederick the Great out-manoeuvred and soundly defeated a much larger French and Holy Roman Imperial force. The battle is considered one of Frederick's greatest strategic masterpieces, and effectively knocked France out of this theatre of the war. Auntieruth55 developed the article to A-class as part of a series on Frederick the Great's four major battles during the war.


 * 15th Tank Corps (Kges1901) : This article covers a Soviet tank corps that was formed twice. Its first formation, formed in 1938, fought in the Soviet invasion of Poland and was disbanded shortly afterwards. Its second formation was formed in 1942 and fought on the Eastern Front for more than a year before becoming the elite 7th Guards Tank Corps.


 * HMS Benbow (1913) (Parsecboy) : HMS Benbow was one of the Royal Navy's most powerful ships at the outbreak of World War I. She served as the flagship of one of the Grand Fleet's battleship squadrons throughout the conflict, but saw little combat. Following the war Benbow was assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet and took part in operations in support of White Russian and Greek forces in post-war conflicts. The battleship was withdrawn from service in 1929 and scrapped two years later.


 * Yugoslav torpedo boat T5 (Peacemaker67) : Built in 1914–1915, this ship served in the Austro-Hungarian navy during WWI, and was then transferred to the fledgling Navy of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later Kingdom of Yugoslavia) in 1921. She was captured by the Italians in April 1941 during the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia, and then saw service with them. Handed back to the Yugoslavs in 1943, she saw out the rest of the war, and then went on with the post-war Yugoslav Navy until 1962.


 * Vultee Vengeance in Australian service (Nick-D) : This article covers one of the Royal Australian Air Force's most notorious lemons. Ordered during a crisis period in early 1942, the aircraft did not arrive in significant numbers until 1943 and first entered combat late that year. A large deployment of the type to New Guinea in early 1944 proved short-lived and embarrassing, as despite a competent performance by their crews the Vengeances were ordered back to Australia after only six weeks to create room at forward airfields for more capable types. Small numbers of the dive bombers soldiered on in secondary and support roles until 1946, and a handful of air frames were used by the Royal Australian Navy for ground training.