Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/News/March 2020/Articles


 * Battle of Sluys : The first significant engagement of the Hundred Years' War, this naval engagement was a disaster for the French, who lost 90% of their ships captured and 90% of their men killed, including the two senior military officers of the realm. Helping to demonstrate why the war was to last so long, the Battle of Sluys had virtually no operational or strategic effect.


 * Francesco Caracciolo-class battleship ( & ) : An Italian design begun before the start of World War I, this class of battleships was planned in response to the British Queen Elizabeth-class battleship. Had they been completed, the Francesco Caracciolo-class would have been the fastest and most powerful battleships afloat. Even before the Italians joined the war in 1915, shortages of steel and other material significantly slowed their construction and construction. Work was suspended the following year to build ships that could be completed during the war. Continuing financial problems after the war prevented Italy completing them, although consideration was given to converting the most advanced ship into an ocean liner or an aircraft carrier.


 * John Leak : Another in PM's series on South Australian Victoria Cross recipients, Leak joined the Australian Imperial Force in 1915, and served in the Gallipoli campaign. He earned the VC for actions during the Battle of Pozières in July 1916, and was seriously wounded the next month. He returned to his unit in October 1917, but soon deserted as he was unable to stand artillery fire again. A sentence of life imprisonment was suspended, and Leak served with his battalion from December 1917 to March 1918, when he was gassed and never returned to combat. He rarely talked about military service or VC exploits for the rest of his life.


 * French battleship Gaulois : A member of the first multi-ship class of pre-dreadnoughts in the French Navy, Gaulois suffered several collisions with other French ships, sinking one of them, before the start of World War I. After serving as convoy escorts, she and her sisters deployed to the Dardanelles to prevent the ex-German battlecruiser Yavuz from breaking out and to attack fortifications there. Gaulois was badly damaged during one such bombardment in 1915 and had to be run aground. She was repaired, but was sunk by a German submarine in late 1916 with the loss of four crewmen.


 * List of pre-dreadnought battleships of the Royal Navy (Parsecboy) : This is a comprehensive summary of the large number of pre-dreadnought battleships operated by the United Kingdom. A total of 52 of these ships served with the Royal Navy, with many remaining in service after being made obsolete by dreadnought battleships. They gave generally useful service in World War I, typically in secondary theatres, and were all rapidly taken out of service after the war.


 * British nuclear tests at Maralinga (Hawkeye7) : The latest article in Hawkeye7's series on the British nuclear weapons program covers the atomic weapons tests undertaken in central Australia between 1956 and 1963. These included seven explosions of nuclear devices and around 550 minor trials. The initial clean up of the test area in the 1960s was botched, and another clean up had to be undertaken in the 1990s and 2000s.


 * Fatimid conquest of Egypt (Cplakidas) : The Fatimid conquest of Egypt was a turning point in the history of the Middle East and of Islam. The establishment of the radical Shi'a regime in Egypt threatened the Abbasids and the Sunni world as never before, the rise of Egypt as an imperial power in the Eastern Mediterranean, the establishment of Cairo as a major Muslim capital, all these would have manifold repercussions in religion and history in ways that still influence the world today.


 * 1974 White House helicopter incident (L293D) : This article covers a strange incident in which a US Army helicopter mechanic, Robert Preston, stole a helicopter to protest the lack of opportunities to complete pilot training and flew around Washington D.C., then back to Maryland, being pursued by police in helicopters and cars. He turned back towards D.C. and actually landed on the south lawn of the White House while under fire from the Secret Service. Preston was arrested and imprisoned after being convicted at a court martial. After his release, Preston received a general discharge from the Army, then lived a quiet life until his death in 2009.


 * 47th (London) Infantry Division (EnigmaMcmxc) : The 2nd London Division was a second-line formation, formed in 1939 as a motor division. Rather than being deployed or utilized in this role, it (like most other second line divisions) was assigned to guarding vulnerable points and home defence duties. Converted into an infantry division in 1940, it was later renamed the 47th (London) Infantry Division. It remained in the UK throughout the war, and is notable for establishing the first Battle School; a training course aimed at providing practical experience at field work and more lifelike combat training. The division was dispersed in 1944, and reformed from the 76th Infantry (Reserve) Division as the 47th Infantry (Reserve) Division; a training formation that lasted until just after the war ended.


 * French battleship Suffren (Sturmvogel 66) : Suffren was the last predreadnought battleship built for the French Navy. Commissioned in 1904, she spent almost all of her career in the Mediterranean. She was an unlucky ship before the start of World War I, twice colliding with other ships and with a strange habit of breaking propeller shafts. Thoroughly obsolete by the beginning of the war, Suffren was ordered to the Dardanelles in late 1914 where she bombarded Ottoman defenses on multiple occasions. The ship was badly damaged when she collided with a British cargo ship at the end of the 1915. After repairs she spent most of 1916 in Greek waters. Suffren was ordered home to refit in November and she was sunk by a German submarine with no survivors en route.