Remember, this information is for your enjoyment so please do not send the answers here – they will be in KTB #166 next month.

276. The Royal Air Force marked Adolf Hitler’s tenth year in power by conducting its first daylight raid on Berlin. The air attack took place while the official ceremonies were underway in Berlin.

277. German U-boats were extremely successful along the American east coast in early 1942. There was no convoy system, cities were fully lighted, ships would broadcast positions etc. in the clear. Eighty-seven ships were sunk in the first four months and the German Skippers called it the ‘American shooting gallery’. After the convoy system got started along the coast, the U-Boats moved into the Gulf of Mexico and sank forty-one ships just in May of 1942.

278. The Italian battleship that was sunk by German planes was ROMA, en route with the remaining Italian fleet from La Spezia to Malta on 9 September 1943. Italy had capitulated to the Allies and had joined with the Allies to fight against Germany, and so the Italian ships and fleet were legitimate targets of the Luftwaffe. The Admiral Commanding the Italian Fleet thought the planes were Royal Air Force and did not mount any kind of defense. All hands aboard ROMA were lost.

279. With the loss of only four men, USS MARYLAND was the American battleship that lost the fewest men during the Japanese attack on December 7, 1941

280. Shame on you if you missed this. With the loss of more than 1,100 men, USS ARIZONA suffered the most men lost on December 7, 1941.

For KTB #166 next month, do you know:

281. What were the two British battleships sunk at Alexandria by the Italians on 19 December 1942?

282. What was the last American ship damaged in action in World War II and what was the date?

283. On what ship was the Japanese surrender ceremony?

284. How was Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay, the Naval Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, killed?

285. What was the highest casualty rate ever sustained by the U.S. Marines in one battle?