Browsing: September 7

A Brief History On September 7, 1776, American patriot Ezra Lee made the first attack by a submarine against a surface warship in history against the HMS Eagle in New York Harbor.  The attack failed when the screw designed to attach an explosive mine to the side of the Eagle failed to penetrate the ship’s hull, allowing the bomb to float away and explode harmlessly.  Last year on this date we list 10 Underperforming Weapons, weapons and weapon systems that did not live up to expectations though they may have had some level of limited success.  Also see our articles…

A Brief History On September 7th, 1533, in what had to ironically have been one of the most disappointing births in history, the future Queen Elizabeth I of England made her grand entrance onto the world and political stage. Digging Deeper The first article of this series on the Six Wives of Henry VIII discussed the possibility that Catherine of Aragon might have lied about being a virgin at the time of her marriage to Henry.  This article focuses on the consequences of Anne Boleyn denying Henry sex and what might have happened had she not. By divorcing Catherine of…

A Brief History On September 7, 1942, the Consolidated B-32 Dominator strategic bomber made its first flight.  Only developed as a fallback in case the Boeing B-29 Superfortress was not successful, the B-32 could not hold its own, and only 118 were built.  Over the years, many weapons or weapons systems have proven themselves to be disappointments.  Here 10 of those are listed, in no particular order. (Please also see the similarly-themed History and Headlines articles: “10 Weapons and Weapons Systems that Flopped” and “10 Weapons That Never (Or Barely) Went into Service.”)  Can you think of any weapons that fall into these categories? Digging Deeper 10. Consolidated B-32 Dominator. As mentioned…