Right, that's why I wrote that the NAZI surface fleet efforts were almost quaint.

Did you know that U-boat crews had the highest casualty percentage of any other German outfits in WWII? Something like 70%.

Didn't know it, but hardly surprised. They sank something like 42 U-Boats in April of '43 alone. I remember Doenitz writing about it extensively in his autobiography -- how they had massively ramped up production but the sinkings were so incredibly high they still didn't have as many boats in the water as they wanted.

Have you read Iron Coffins? Great book...

Today marks the day that Saddam Hussein was captured in Operation Red Dawn (2003).

Yes

Excellent book I really enjoyed it. Its been years though.

No.

One of the best, if not THE best, in-person, front-line military accounts I've ever read. It's about a captain of a U-Boat who actually survived the war (very rare indeed).

Jezebel.

December 14

1287. The Zuider Zee sea wall in the Netherlands gives way in the "St. Lucia's Flood" (it was the day after the holiday), killing 50-80 thousand people.

1903. The Wright Brothers made their first attempt at heavier-than-air machine powered flight with the Wright Flyer. They flip a coin to see who will get the first crack at it. Wilbur wins. They successfully launch the plane, but Wilbur pulls too sharply on the stick, the plane stalls, and lands (semi-crashes) after only three seconds of flight. Repairs will take three days...

1947. The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is founded.

1958. A Soviet team reaches the Southern Pole of Relative Inaccessability -- or the spot in Antarctica furthest from the ocean surrounding the continent. It is a location far more difficult to reach than the true South Pole.

1972. Trivia moment -- the immortal Eugene Cernan becomes the last man to walk on the Moon, after he and his fellow astronaut complete their last extra-vehicular activity (EVA) during Apollo 17. This one's for you, Mr. Last-Man-To-Walk-On-The-Moon-But-Nobody-Has-Ever-Heard-of-You man....

2008. During a press conference in Baghdad, a moronic Iraqi broadcast journalist shouts "This is a farewell kiss from the Iraqi people, you dog" and throws two shoes at President Bush. Despite calls by some ot place the shoes in a museum, American and Iraqi security forces destroy the shoes. He will later be tried for assaulting a foreign head of state, and serve nine months in prison.

I'd like to publicly applaud the work of our official thread photographer, Patteeu. Rep.

Yes, it is very nice to have pictures to look at for those of us who have trouble with the larger words. :thumb:

Ha. I just figured it was a way to let you know that people are reading without overloading your rep box.

That was also a spectacular night launch of the gigantic Saturn 5 rocket.

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