100 Years Ago Today

[Jimbuna]

12th August 1923

Germany: The Reich government of Wilhelm Cuno resigned after losing the confidence of the coalition parties DDP and DVP and also that of the SPD. The DVP chairman Gustav Stresemann was entrusted with the formation of a new government.

[Jimbuna]

13th August 1923

Germany: The new Reich government under Gustav Stresemann (DVP) was sworn in. In contrast to the Wilhelm Cuno government, this cabinet of the grand coalition (SPD, DDP, Zentrum, DVP) had a parliamentary majority. Stresemann became Chancellor and Foreign Minister at the same time.


Ship Losses:

Sable Island (United Kingdom) The cargo liner ran aground at Lamaline, Newfoundland. Her passengers were taken off on 14 August. She was refloated on 24 August.

[Jimbuna]

14th August 1923

50,000,000 mark note issued in Trier. The US dollar is currently worth three million marks.

[Jimbuna]

15th August 1923

Mugshot of a woman wearing a fur coat arrested for “vagrancy” (likely a charge used in place of prostitution without enough proof for that charge)

[Jimbuna]

16th August 1923

A barman serves drinks to a couple of women at the soda fountain on board the Cunard liner Aquitania.


Ship Losses:

Douglas (Isle of Man) The passenger ship collided with Artemisia ( United Kingdom) in the River Mersey at Liverpool, Lancashire. All on board were rescued before she sank. The wreck was cleared in December.

[Jimbuna]

17th August 1923

"Hughes & 5 power, (left to right): Andre de la Boulaye (France); Henry G. Chilton (Britain); Charles Evans Hughes (Secretary of State for the United States); Augusto Rosso (Italy); and Masanao Hanihara (Japan)."


Ship Losses:

Ginyo Maru (Japan) The cargo ship sank at Hong Kong during a typhoon.

[Jimbuna]

18th August 1923

Ship Losses:

HMS L9 (Royal Navy) The L-class submarine sank at Hong Kong during a typhoon. She was salvaged on 6 September, repaired and returned to service.
Loongsang (United Kingdom) The cargo ship foundered in a typhoon at Hong Kong with the loss of 25 lives.
Mylie (United Kingdom) The cargo ship foundered during a typhoon with the loss of all but one of her crew. The survivor was rescued by Sin Kiang ( United Kingdom) on 30 August. She was on a voyage from Chinwangtao to Shanghai, China.
Sekino Maru (Japan) The cargo ship sank at Hong Kong during a typhoon.

[Jimbuna]

19th August 1923

Ship Losses:

Changsha (United Kingdom) The refrigerated cargo liner was driven onto the Tiji Tiji Reef, off Simunul, Tawi-Tawi, Philippines. Her passengers were rescued by Victoria ( United Kingdom). She was refloated on 23 September.
Leicester (United Kingdom) The cargo ship ran aground at Chicoutimi, Quebec, Canada. She was refloated on 22 August.
Samson (United States) The 11-gross register ton, 33.4-foot (10.2 m) fishing vessel was destroyed by fire at Cape Augustine (54°57′N 133°10′W) on Dall Island in the Alexander Archipelago in Southeast Alaska. Her three-man crew survived.

[Jimbuna]

20th August 1923

5,000,000 mark note. With increasing speed, the market decline continues. One US dollar is currently worth 4.2 million marks. The price of bread in Germany has risen to 200,000 marks (per loaf). A streetcar ride in Berlin cost 100,000 marks, ten times what it cost two weeks earlier.


Ship Losses:

Sergei (United Kingdom) The cargo ship collided with Juno ( United Kingdom) in the North Sea off Grimsby, Lincolnshire and sank.

[Jimbuna]

21st August 1923

Ship Losses:

Submarine No. 70 (Imperial Japanese Navy) The Ro-29-class submarine foundered in the Seto Inland Sea off Awaji Island with the loss of 90 of her 95 crew. Salvage operations began in October.

[Jimbuna]

22nd August 1923

Ship Losses:

Onega (United Kingdom) The cargo ship ran aground on the Khaces Shoal, off Kristinestad, Finland. She was refloated on 30 August.

[Jimbuna]

23rd August 1923

"Germany In Dictator's Grip. Chancellor Stresemann called the reichstag party leaders to his office this afternoon and announced that he was taking dictatorial measures to save Germany from ruin."


Giovanni Minzoni assassinated by fascists.


Ship Losses:

Airston (United Kingdom) The cargo ship was discovered abandoned in the English Channel by Ben Henshaw and Ben Johnson (both United Kingdom) and was towed into Portland, Dorset.

[Jimbuna]

24th August 1923

"Germany In Dictator's Grip. Chancellor Stresemann called the reichstag party leaders to his office this afternoon and announced that he was taking dictatorial measures to save Germany from ruin."


Marine Corps review.


Ship Losses:

Braebeg (United Kingdom) The coaster struck a submerged wreck atBallyhack, County Wexford and was beached.

[Jimbuna]

25th August 1923

"Klan and Deputies Battle". Violence broke out in Carnegie, Pennsylvania between citizens of the heavily Catholic community and the Ku Klux Klan. The locals threw stones and a Klansman was shot dead; about a dozen arrests were made.


Ship Losses:

Gutenfels (Germany) The cargo ship ran aground at Guadalmesí Point, Spain. She was abandoned as a total loss on 14 September.

[Jimbuna]

26th August 1923

""Pay Us or We Stay", France Tells Berlin". "What we did fifty-three years ago, our former enemies can at least try to do today", Poincaré said, referring to the Franco-Prussian War. "If not, they force us to execute on them what they menaced us with then – pay us or we stay."

Ship Losses:

España (Armada Española) The España-class battleship ran aground at Cape Tres Forcas, Spanish Morocco. She broke in two in November and was declared a total loss.