The "Bismarck" and "Tirpitz" were planned in the mid 1930's by the German Kriegsmarine to counter France and its own naval expansion. Construction began in 1936 and were supposed to fall within the 35,000 long ton limit as imposed by the Washington regime and the Anglo-German Naval Agreement during the Interwar period. Both of them secretly ignored the limits but before it's completion, the agreement and the treaty fell apart due to Japan's withdrawal in 1937. "Bismarck" weighed 41,700t (long tons) and 50,300 t (49,500 long tons) when fully loaded and had a overall length of 251m (823 ft 6in) which was the largest built than any other European power until HMS Vanguard after the war. "Bismarck" had a top speed of 30.01 knots (55.58 km/h; 34.53 mph) during trials and had a max distance of 16,430 km (10,210 mi) without refuels. Bismarck had a crew of 2000-2200 and had them divided into twelve divisions of 180-200 per division and half of them were assigned to main and secondary weaponry while the other half were support crew. (Cooks, Radio Operators) The "Bismarck" had an armament of eight 38cm (15in) guns, twelve 15cm (5.9in) guns, sixteen 10.5cm (4.1in) guns, sixteen 3.7 (1.5in) guns, and twelve 2cm (0.79in) guns. "Bismarck's" main belt had a thickness of 320mm (12.6in) and was additionally covered with upper and main armor deck ranging from 50mm to 120mm ( 2in to 4.7in ) while the turret faces were protected by 360mm (14.2in) fronts while the sides were 220mm (8.7in) thick.
On 5th May 1941 Hitler started Operation Rheinübung to sever Britain's lifeline which consisted of merchant ships bringing vital supplies such as food and raw materials. If this lifeline was cut Britain would be forced to either sue for peace, negotiate an armistice or leave the British Isles. The goal of Rheinübung was to break into the Atlantic ocean and attack allied merchant ships transporting essential goods. German Naval Command (OKM) established a network of tankers and supply ships around the area "Bismarck" and "Prinz Eugen" sailed. Britain knew Nazi Germany was going to attack these supply lines and stationed multiple battlecruisers, aircraft carriers, and battleships.
At 05:45 24th of May, German lookouts spotted smoke in the distance which turned out to be from two of the Royal Navy's ships called HMS Hood and HMS Prince of Wales. At 05:52 "Hood" opened fire at what they thought was "Bismarck" but instead of "Prinz Eugen" while "Prince of Wales" fired on "Bismarck". Both "Prince of Wales" and "Hood" attacked "Bismarck" and "Prinz Eugen" head on only allowing them to use their front guns while "Bismarck" and "Prinz Eugen" could fire with all their weaponry. After several minutes of shelling, "Hood" turned 20° left to use its rear turrets and after a minute of firing, "Prinz Eugen" scored a hit on "Hood" causing an ammunition fire which was quickly extinguished. "Bismarck" fired three salvos which caused it to find the range to "Hood" and the order to rapid-fire was given. "Hood" turned 20° to the left again to make itself parallel with "Bismarck" and "Prinz Eugen. Prinz Eugen" shifted its fire towards "Prince of Wales" to keep both British ships under fire and scored a couple of hits on "Wales." "Prinz Eugen" was ordered to move behind "Bismarck" to keep track of "Norfolk" and "Suffolk." At 06:00 "Hood" was completing her second turn to the left when "Bismarck's" salvo hit. Two of the shells landed short while one of the shells struck "Hood's" thin deck armor and caused 112 t ( 110 long tons ) of ammo to explode causing "Hood" to split in half in only eight minutes and only three out of 1149 crew survived. After the sinking of "Hood, Bismarck" redirected its fire towards "Prince of Wales" and hit "Wales" directly in the bridge killing all but 3 officers and was still being fired upon and guns were malfunctioning on the new battleship and after scoring a bunch of ineffective hits on "Bismarck", the order was given to retreat at 06:13
After the engagement, "Bismarck’s" commander reported that "Hood" sunk and another battleship thinking it was "King George V" or "Renown" escaped but was damaged and transmitted a damage report along with his intentions to let "Prinz Eugen" detach and head to Saint-Nazaire for repairs. "Prinz Eugen" reported that "Bismarck" was leaking oil and an hour later a British plane reported the oil slick to "Suffolk" and "Norfolk" which was joined by a damaged "Prince of Wales". Winston Churchill ordered all ships in the area to join in the pursuit against "Prinz Eugen" and "Bismarck" which resulted in six battleships, two battlecruisers, two aircraft carriers, thirteen cruisers, and twenty one destroyers were ordered to hunt down "Bismarck" and "Prinz Eugen". With weather worsening "Bismarck’s" commander attempted to detach "Prinz Eugen" but the squall wasn’t heavy enough to hide her withdrawal from "Norfolk" and "Suffolk" which continued to maintain radar contact. "Prinz Eugen" was successfully detached and "Bismarck" turned to face "Suffolk" which forced "Suffolk" to turn away at high speeds while "Prince of Wales" fired at "Bismarck" and received fire back. Although "Bismarck" had been damaged earlier she was still able to achieve 27-28 knots and was still able to reach Saint-Nazaire unless slowed down. The British sent aircraft carrier Victorious and an additional four light cruisers to have Swordfish torpedo bombers find and engage "Bismarck" but due to the inexperience of the pilots, they nearly attacked "Norfolk" and a US Coast Guard USCGC "Modoc" and alerted Bismarck’s anti-aircraft gunners.
Republic of Mahabad
The Republic of Mahabad (also Republic of Kurdistan), established in Iranian Kurdistan, was the second independent Kurdish state of the 20th century after the Republic of Ararat in Turkey. Its capital was the Kurdish city of Mahabad in northwestern Iran. The Republic was part of the Iran crisis a conflict between the United States and USSR.
The republic was led by President Qazi Muhammad and Minister of Defense Mustafa Barzani. Prime Minister was Hadschi Baba Scheich. The Republic of Mahabad declared independence on January 22, 1946, but the movement was defeated a year later by the army of the central government of Iran. . After the collapse of the republic in 1947, Qazi Muhammad was hanged in public in Chuwarchira Square in the center of Mahabad.
Massoud Barzani, the current President of Iraqi Kurdistan, was born in Mahabad when his father, the late General Mustafa Barzani, was chief of the military of Mahabad declared in Iranian Kurdistan .
Archibald Roosevelt son of the former US-President Theodore Roosevelt, wrote in ""The Kurdish Republic of Mahabad"", that a main problem of the peoples Republic of Mahabad, was the kurds needed the power of the USSR. Only with the Red army they had a chance. But these close relationship to Stalin and the USSR let many kurdish tribes to be in opposition with this kurdish state.
Coat of arms of Iran
The Emblem of Iran was made after the Islamic Revolution in that country, in 1979. After the revolution, Iran decided to use a new flag. The old flag had a picture of a golden lion and a sabre, that was a symbol for the Shah (king) of Iran. This emblem is a symbol for the whole country and the Islamic character of the new government. It is drawn to look like a version of the word الله which means "God" in Persian (the language of Iran) and also in the Arabic language. It looks like a tulip, which is an old symbol for Iran.
Tennis
Tennis is a sport played with a felt-covered rubber ball, a tennis racket, and a court. Since 1998, every September 23 has been called "Tennis Day". Tennis’s official name is "lawn tennis".