Leap year

Since today is February 29th I decided to do a blog about the leap year.

Did you know that a year is actually about 365 and a quarter days!That is why we have a leap year every four years.People born today only have a birthday every four years!!This has to do with the earth's rotation which is rotating slower and slower every.This just means that in a few million years we will have 25 hour days.But other than this there isn't much more you need to know about leap years(I'm sorry but when I run out of info on the topic I'm bloging about,the blog ends)so I guess I'll have to finish this blog up here.

P.S.I'm sorry if anyone misinterpreted and thought I'm going to stop bloging.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leap_year

That's all for now!

Tigertank

50 Posts!!

I just wanted to say that I now have a total of 50 blog posts!!I never thought I'd do this many blogs(I was only planning to do it for a month or so)but now I've been doing it for exactly six months and I intend to keep going!!

P.S.This is not an official blog post(I will be doing my 51st on Wednesday).



That's all for now!


Tigertank

Brooklyn class cruiser

Between 1933 and 1934 seven American Brooklyn class light cruisers were ordered with 15 6inch guns.They were ordered to challenge the Japanese Mogami class cruisers which were also built with 15 6inch guns(Actually they were 6.1inch).However, even though the Mogamis were completed with 15 6.1inch guns, they were soon removed and replaced with 10 8inch weapons and reclassed as Heavy cruisers.Despite this the Brooklyns were completed with their original weapons.


None were destroyed during WW2 although(like the Clevlands)many were badly damaged.After the war they were handed over to various South American navies.During the Falklands War one ship, in service with the Argentine navy, was sunk by a British Submarine.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklyn_class_cruiser
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mogami_class_cruiser

That's all for now!

Tigertank

Edingurgh class cruiser

The construction of the British Edinburgh class light cruisers Belfast and Edinburgh began at the end of 1936.Both were actually a sub-class of the British Town class cruisers,which consisted of three sub-classes.The Edinburgh's were an improved version of their predecessors,the Southampton class.They were originally planned to mount four quadruple 6 inch turrets,but because of the difficulties to manufacture a successful quadruple they were completed with four triple gun turrets instead.They were both completed in mid-1939,just before World War2 broke out.


When the war broke out Edinburgh began escorting convoys while Belfast took part in a naval blockade of Germany but she struck a mine and was badly damaged,not to return to service until late 1942.Meanwhile Edinburgh kept escorting convoys until she sank in May 1942 after being attacked by a German U-boat(a submarine)and three German destroyers.After her repairs were completed Belfast escorted convoys until she took part in the Battle of the North Cape(see post)and thereafter the D-Day landings.She was transferred to the British Pacific Fleet in mid 1945,took part in the Korean War and is presently a museum on the Thames river in London.


A picture of the Belfast as a museum.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edinburgh_class_cruiser
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Pacific_Fleet


That's all for now!

Tigertank

Cleveland class cruiser

In 1942,during a time when the U.S. navy desperatly needed ships,an order for 52 Cleveland class cruisers was placed,but only 27 were completed(22 were built as different ships and 3 were never completed).That still makes it the largest class of cruisers ever built.None were destroyed in World War2 (although many were damaged)and one of them is still alive today as a museum in Buffalo,New york.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleveland_class_cruiser




That's all for now!

Tigertank

HMS Hood

Work on the British battlecruiser HMS Hood began in 1916 as one of four Admiral-class battlecruisers designed to counter the German Mackensen-class battlecruisers(which were never completed).In the end she was the only one that was built and was completed in 1920.During the inter-war years(between world war 1 and WW2)she toured the world,went through a major refit and was rammed by another battlecruiser(HMS Renown) in 1935.

When war broke out she was sent out to destroy enemy ships that were attacking the convoys.She was the flagship of a British force that was sent to destroy the French squadron at Mers-el-Kebir in the summer of 1940.In May 1941 she and the battleship Prince of Wales were sent out to find and destroy the German battleship Bismark.During the battle a shell hit her main ammunition magazine and she blew up and sank with the loss of all but three of her crew.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Hood_(51)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destruction_of_the_French_Fleet_at_Mers-el-Kebir


That's all for now!

Tigertank

Deutchland class cruiser

The German Deutchland class of three heavy cruisers were built in 1929 and were all completed by 1936.They were intended to be a type of battlecruiser with a main armament of 6 11inch guns that could out run or out fight any enemy ship it came up against.However, when World war 2 began their 26 knot speed was not nearly enough to get away from the newest battleships and battlecruisers,some of which had top speeds of over 30 knots!

When the war broke out two of them(one was in port) started attacking convoys and had quite a few successes,but on December 13 the Graf spee scuttled itself after a fight with three British cruisers(called the battle of the river plate) off the seaside town of Montevideo in Uruguay.the Deutschland(head of the class)kept attacking convoys until she joined the Norway operation,where she was badly damaged.While sailing out after her repairs were completed she was again badly damaged by a British torpedo bomber.

She participated in the Battle of The Barents sea where She was driven off by a lighter enemy force.She finally scuttled herself in May 1945 in the face of the Russian advance.At the outbreak of war the Admiral Scheer was in port being refitted.She didn't get out until late 1940 when she started attacking convoys.She participated in a couple of actions and served as a training ship until she was sunk by bombers in April 1945.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutschland_class_cruiser
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Barents_Sea


That's all for now!


Tigertank

The Prinz Eugen

The constrution of the German heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen began in the spring of 1936 as one of three modified Admiral Hipper class heavy cruiser(the other two were never completed).She was launched in the summer of 1938 and completed in the summer of 1940.In April 1943 she was en route to join up with the Bismark when she struck a mine and was badly damaged,delaying the operation by almost a month.


In May she joined up with the Bismark to attack convoys in the atlantic.On May 24th she fought with Bismark in the battle against the British Battlecruiser HMS Hood and Battleship HMS Prince Of Wales.After a short during which the Hood blew up and the Prince Of Wales was damaged she departed from Bismark and headed for a port in German ocupied France.She took part in the channel dash with Scharnhorst and Gneisenau in 1942 and was captured by the Americans in 1945.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_cruiser_Prinz_Eugen
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Admiral_Hipper_class_cruiser


That's all for now!

Tigertank

Scharnhorst class battlecruiser

I just realised that I haven't done a blog on a ship for a while.


The construction of the German battlecruiser/battleship Scharnhorst and her sistership Gneisenau began in 1935 at two different shipyards in Germany.Both were launched in 1936 and completed in 1938 and 1939.They saw their first action on 21 November 1939 when they fought and sank the British armed merchant cruiser HMS Rawalpindi.Both took part in the naval operation off Norway in April 1940,during which they exchanged shells with the battlecruiser Renown and were damaged.



They returned in early June,arriving in time to ambush and sink the British aircraft carrier HMS Glorious and her two escorts,but during the fight the Scharnhorst was hit by a torpedo from one of the escorts.After the repairs were made they were sent out to attack convoys and sank a few ships each,but twice they were driven away from a convoy by an escorting battleship.


Early in 1942 they took part in Operation Cerberus,a daring dash up the English channel during which both were damaged.During repairs the Gneiscenau was damaged in an air raid and never went to sea again.The Scharnhorst joined the German squadron in Norway in late 1943 and fought in the Battle of the North Cape(see post),during which she was sunk.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scharnhorst_class_battleship




a photo of the Gneisenau


That's all for now!

Tigertank

A short blog

This blog will have to be pretty quick because i'm going sking today(i love being homeschooled)so here it is.



By the way,have I done another blog labeled"A short blog"(I have the strange feeling i have)so if you see another one of my blogs labeled "A short blog"please let me know.So right now it's not that I don't know what to do for a blog,it's just that I don't have time.

I'm sorry i'll try to do a proper blog next time.

That's all for now

Tigertank

Hi

Hi im sorry but I don't know what to do for a blog.Anyway I hope everyone has a great febuary(im still going to do more blogs)and a great summer(im just saying this because i don't know what to write.)Anyway i hope you(the reader)have a great weekend or any other time when you're reading this blog.

You may have noticed this is a pretty bad blog.

That's all for now.


Tigertank

The battle of the North Cape

The battle of the North Cape was a battle between the German battlicruiser Scharnhorst and the escorts of the Russia-bound convoy JW 55B,which included a battleship.So here's how it goes:On December 25th(Christmas day)1943 Germany launched operation Ostfront with the objective of attacking and destroying the heavily escorted Russia bound convoy JW 55B.

Early in the morning of December 26th(Boxing day)1943 the Scharnhorst began it's attack.It was driven off and pursued for several hours by cruisers of the escort force before the before being joined the battleship Duke of York and the rest of the cruisers and destroyers.The Scharnhorst battled the Duke of York for one or two hours before it started to get away.


However,a shell from the Duke of York hit one of the boiler rooms on the Scharnhost,limiting it's speed and letting the destroyers catch up.They fired torpedeoes into the Scharnhorst,limiting it's speed even more.The British ships then proceded to wreck the Scharnhorst with shells.The Scharnhorst was then finished off by more torpedoes from the destroyers and sank,only 36 of her crew were saved.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_North_Cape


That's all for now!

Tigertank