100 Years Ago Today

[Jimbuna]

29th October 1923

The Turkish Republic is proclaimed with Mustafa Kemal (Kemal Atatürk) as president. He promotes a policy of aggressive secularization: he abolishes the veil for women, introduces the Gregorian calendar and orders the wearing of western dress and use of Roman letters.


Ship Losses:

Borgneuf (France) The cargo ship ran aground at Arcachon, Gironde. She was refloated on 12 November.
Delfin (United Kingdom) The schooner caught fire and sank at Alexandria, Egypt.
Steelville (United Kingdom) The cargo ship ran aground in the Strait of Kertch. She was refloated on 6 November.

[Jimbuna]

30th October 1923

Andrew Bonar Law, 65, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, died of throat cancer.


The first government of the Turkish Republic was formed with Mustafa Kemal Atatürk as president and İsmet İnönü as prime minister.


Ship Losses:

26 (Imperial Japanese Navy) The Type L submarine sank at Kure Naval Base. Her crew were rescued. She was refloated on 2 November.

[Jimbuna]

31st October 1923

Wilhelm Kollhoff is the first radio subscriber in Germany to register his radio. Due to inflation, he paid 350 billion marks for approval.


Ship Losses:

Shinmei Maru (Japan) The cargo ship collided with Kasuga Maru ( Japan) at Shimonoseki and sank.

[Jimbuna]

1st November 1923

[November 1st, 1923] 10,000,000,000,000 mark note. One US dollar is currently worth around 130 billion marks. 1 pound of bread costs 3 billion; 1 pound of meat: 36 billion; 1 glass of beer: 4 billion.


Bill Lovett, 29, Irish-born American gangster and recently retired leader of New York's White Hand Gang, was murdered while sleeping in an abandoned store at 25 Bridge Street in Brooklyn, after a night of drinking at Sand's Saloon.


Ship Losses:

Shinshu Maru (Japan) The cargo ship collided with Kanei Naru ( Japan) in the South China Sea off the north east coast of Korea and sank with some loss of life.

[Jimbuna]

2nd November 1923

Ship Losses:

General J. B. Carr (United States) The cargo ship was destroyed by fire and sank at New York.

[Jimbuna]

3rd November 1923

Berlin: An elderly woman gathers vegetable waste tossed from a vegetable seller's wagon for her lunch.


Ship Losses:

Success (United Kingdom) The coaster ran aground at Peterhead, Aberdeenshire. She was refloated on 4 November and brought into the harbour where she sank.

[Jimbuna]

4th November 1923

"Airship baptism. The baptismal party in the gondola of the giant airship Z R 1, built in America according to German plans."


March past of the Freikorps Oberland in front of Adolf Hitler on Maximilianstrasse in Munich - counter-event to the march of patriotic associations in front of Crown Prince Rupprecht on the occasion of the laying of the foundation stone for the Fallen memorial.


Ship Losses:

Domino (United Kingdom) The cargo ship ran aground off the Hombursund Lighthouse, Norway. Her crew were rescued. She broke in two, and was a total loss.

[Jimbuna]

5th November 1923

"Bavaria Takes Monarchy Out of Moth Balls. Royalty Struts for Day as Army Pays Homage. Pomp of royalty restored in Bavaria as Prince Rupprecht and royal family review Hittler troops."


Ship Losses:

Equator (United Kingdom) The sailing ship departed from Trinidad. No further trace, presumed foundered with the loss of all hands.

[Jimbuna]

6th November 1923

Ship Losses:

Tainan Maru (Japan) The cargo ship collided with Itsukushima Maru ( Japan) in the Inland Sea of Japan and was beached. She was later refloated and brought into Kobe.

[Jimbuna]

7th November 1923

"The Multiple Dictator": Punch cartoon satirizing Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.


Ship Losses:

Perun (Germany) The cargo ship foundered in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Portugal. Her crew were rescued by Wolf ( Germany).

[Jimbuna]

8th November 1923

The Beer Hall Putsch begins in Munich as Adolf Hitler and 603 members of his Nazi Party's Storm Troopers surround a large beer hall, Der Bürgerbräukeller.


Ship Losses:

Conifer (United Kingdom) The cargo ship collided with Skogstad ( Norway) in the Thames Estuary at Tilbury, Essex. She was beached but subsequently foundered.

[Jimbuna]

9th November 1923

Heinrich Himmler holding the war ensign of Germany during the Beer Hall Putsch.


Ship Losses:

Castleisland (United Kingdom )The coaster came ashore in Belfast Lough and was wrecked. Her crew were rescued by the Donaghadee Lifeboat.
Goole (United Kingdom) The cargo ship collided with Wynding ( United Kingdom) in the River Humber. She was taken to Hull where she sank.
Merche (Spain) The cargo ship sprang a leak in the Atlantic Ocean (30°59′N 11°00′W) and was abandoned. Her crew were rescued by Indiana ( Italy).

[Jimbuna]

10th November 1923

Ship Losses:

Martin Eduard (Latvia) The ship sprang a leak in the Baltic Sea off Gotland, Sweden and was abandoned.

[Jimbuna]

11th November 1923

Adolf Hitler is arrested, found hiding in his friend Ernst Hanfstaengl’s attic after his failed putsch. He had allegedly considered suicide, but was talked out of it.


Armistice Day at Arlington.


Ship Losses:

Hsin Lee (China) The cargo ship ran aground near Yalukiang. She was refloated on 25 November.

[Jimbuna]

12th November 1923

The new flag of the Soviet Union was adopted. Its design of a solid red field with a gold hammer, sickle and star in the upper hoist corner would be used with only a couple of minor variations until the USSR's dissolution in 1991.


Hitler, who would be incarcerated for 13 months, appointed his colleague Alfred Rosenberg to be the temporary leader of the Nazi party.


Ship Losses:

Helios (flag unknown) The salvage vessel sank off Pihlajasaari, Finland.