Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/News/May 2023/Articles


 * Chilean cruiser Esmeralda (1883) ( & ) : Esmeralda was the world's first modern protected cruiser. Lauded and criticized for its design particulars at the time of her construction, Esmeralda was quickly outpaced by rapid advances in naval technology. When Chile found itself falling further and further behind in an arms race with Argentina, it sold the ship to Japan to help fund a new armored cruiser. Renamed Izumi, she took part in the Russo-Japanese War and was scrapped in 1912. Welcome back Ed to the FA circle after several years away, and congratulations to Muwatallis on this, their first FA!


 * William D. Leahy : In his nomination statement Hawkeye noted that Admiral Leahy "was America's most senior military officer during World War II, but probably the least well known of the seven five-star officers". Leahy saw service in the Spanish–American War, the Philippine–American War, Boxer Rebellion, the Banana Wars and World War I. As Chief of Naval Operations from 1937 to 1939 he oversaw preparations for war. After retiring from the Navy, he was appointed in 1939 by his close friend President Franklin D. Roosevelt as governor of Puerto Rico and later served as US ambassador to Vichy France. Leahy was recalled to active duty as personal Chief of Staff to Roosevelt in 1942 and served in that capacity for the rest of the war. He led the American military until 1949.


 * Ernest Roberts (Australian politician) : Ernest Alfred Roberts was a Labor member of the South Australian House of Assembly from 1896 to 1902 and 1905 to 1908 and then the Australian House of Representatives from 1908 until his death from heart failure in 1913, aged 45. Roberts also served as an officer in South Africa during the Second Boer War, with South Australian colonial forces in 1900 and Commonwealth forces in 1902; during the latter period of service he raised a unit of the Australian Commonwealth Horse.


 * Battle of the Trebia : Another in Gog's series on the Punic Wars, specifically the second instalment, this article looks at Hannibal's first major battle leading the Carthaginians against the Romans, commanded by Sempronius Longus. The clash took place on the banks of the Trebia River in present-day northern Italy. The forces were roughly equal, the Carthaginians being stronger in cavalry and the Romans in infantry. As to the result, in Gog's words, Hannibal was up against "an over-confident Roman general" and the battle "turned out about how you might expect".


 * Portland Spy Ring : As if Burgess and Maclean weren't enough, the Portland spy ring was another espionage scandal to rock the British government in the post-war period. It involved five UK-based agents -- two Brits, a Russian using a Canadian passport, and two Americans on New Zealand passports -- who passed classified research documents from the Admiralty Underwater Weapons Establishment on the Isle of Portland, Dorset, to the Soviet Union between 1953 and 1961. The operation was exposed by a Polish spy, leading to sentences for all five members. It was nonetheless a success for the Soviets, providing them with details of advances in submarine technology that they were able to copy.


 * M8 Armored Gun System (Schierbecker) : An American light tank design that never entered service, the M8 AGS began as a private venture of FMC Corporation in 1983. The US Army started to develop a mobile gun platform that could be airdropped as a top acquisition priority by 1992 with 237 intended to be purchased. The program was cancelled 1996 due to the service's budgetary constraints. There were proposals to deploy the prototypes to Iraq in 2004, but this did not eventuate. The M8 design has since been marketed internationally and proposed for two other US Army projects, without any sales. Special congratulations are in order for this, Schierbecker's first A-class article!


 * Epsom riot (SchroCat) : The Epsom riot took place on 17 June 1919 when between 300 and 800 Canadian soldiers rioted and attacked the police station in Epsom, England. Station Sergeant Thomas Green, a British police officer, was fatally injured during the incident and died the following day. The Canadian soldiers were frustrated by delays in repatriating them home following the end of World War I, and attacked the police station after two of their comrades were arrested. A regular at FAC, Schrocat's articles rarely cover military topics and it was good to see this one here for perusal before its run for featured status.


 * Battle of Bronkhorstspruit (Harrias) : This article covers the first conflict of the First Boer War, fought on 20 December 1880. It was a one-sided affair that can barely be termed a battle in terms of the contest. A blasé British commander did not consider the Boers to be able to present a threat to the men of the British Army, and was resoundingly defeated in around 15 minutes. The battle was a taste of what was to come over the following couple of months; a series of humbling defeats for the British.


 * Tiberius III (Iazyges) : Tiberius III was Byzantine emperor from 698 to 705. In 696, he was part of an army sent by Emperor Leontius to retake Carthage from the Arab Umayyads. After seizing the city, this army was pushed back by Umayyad reinforcements and retreated to Crete. Some of the officers, fearing the wrath of Leontius, killed their commander and declared Tiberius emperor. Tiberius then sailed for Constantinople and deposed Leontius. He campaigned against the Umayyads with some success. In 705 former emperor Justinian II, who had been deposed by Leontius, led an army of Slavs and Bulgars to Constantinople and deposed Tiberius. Tiberius fled, but was captured a few months later and beheaded between August 705 and February 706.