This day in military history..

May 17
1395 Battle of Rovine
1863 Battle of the Big Black River
1900 Siege of Mafeking ends
1940 Germans capture Brussels. Incomplete Dutch Destroyer Philps Van Almonde scuttled on the ways. French Aux. Minesweeper Mardyck cought fire, beached and abandoned at Breskins
1942 I-28 sunk by USS Tautog south of Truk. I-64 sunk by USS Triton southeast of Cape Ashizuri. KM E-Boat S-34 damaged by shore batteries at Malta, later scuttled by a BF-109
1943 RAF Dam Buster air raids. KM Minesweeper M-414 sunk off Texel. U-128 sunk by USN PBM and Destroyers USS Jouett and Moffett. U-646 sunk by RAF Hudson southeast of Iceland. U-657 sunk by Frigate HMS Swale east of Cape Farwell.
1944 U-616 sunk an RAF Wellington and 7 USN Destroyers off Algeria
1987 USS Stark hit by Iraqi Exocet
 
May 18
1268 Siege of Antioc ends
1302 Bruges Massacre
1565 Siege of Malta begins(ends Sept 11)
1775 Armed Schooner Liberty, under Gen. Benedict Arnold, captures HMS Royal George and troops aboard capture Ft. Saint-Jean, Quebec. Royal George renamed Enterprise, 1st US warship with that name.
1811 Battle of Las Piedras
1863 Battle of Vicksburg begins
1940 Germans capture Antwerp. Cruiser HMS Effington wrecked on Faksen Shoals, scuttled May 21. Germans capture abandond Norwegian Sub B 6, Destroyer Troll and Torpedo Boat Snogg at Floro, enter KM service as UC-2, Troll and Zack
1941 Trawler HMS Jewel sunk by mine in Belfast Lough. RFA Tanker Olna bombed/beached at Suda Bay, repaired and put in German service
1943 Battle of Monte Cassino ends. CAM ship SS Empire Eve sunk by U-414 off Algeria. KM Minesweeper M-345 bombed/sunk off Dunkirk
1944 Dutch MTB Arend sunk by mine off Boulogne.
1945 Destroyer USS Longshaw runs aground off Naha, Okinawa and is sunk by shore batteries
2009 Sri Lankan Civil War ends
 
May 19
1445 1st Battle of Olmedo
1643 Battle of Rocroi
1655 England invades Jamaica
1776 American troops at The Cedars, Quebec, surrender
1864 Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse ends
1865 Ironclad CSS Stonewall surrenders to Spanish authorities at Havana
1940 Destroyer HMS Whitley bombed/beached/scuttled off Ostend. Aux. Minelayer HMS Princess Victoria sunk by mine of the mouth of the Humber. French aux Minesweeper Augustin Normand bombed/sunk at Le Havre. KM Naval Trawler Albion sunk by Norwegian Naval Trawler Honningsvag and Naval Cargo ship Heilhorn in the Stromoyene Islands
1941 Armed Yacht HMS Sea Angler burns/sinks
1943 U-273 sunk by RAF Hudson. Armed Merchant Cruiser Bangkok Maru sunk by USS Pollock off Jaluit Atoll.
1944 U-960 sunk by Destroyers USS Niblack and Ludlow and RAF Wellingtons and Venturas. U-1015 sunk in a collision with U-1014 west of Pillau. I-16 sunk by Destroyer Escort USS England off the Solomon Islands
 
May 20
685 Battle of Dun Nechtain
1217 Battle of Lincoln
1449 Battle of Alfarrobeira
1521 Battle of Pampeluma
1522 Siege of Genoa begins
1631 Madgeburg Massacre
1813 Battle of Bautzen Begins
1863 Confederates evacuate Yazoo City destroying the Yazoo City Navy Yard and 3 warships under construction there.
1864 Battle of Ware Bottom Church
1917 1st submarine to be sunk by an airplane was U-36 by a British flying boat
1940 Trawler HMS Rifsnes bombed/sunk off Ostend.
1941 Battle of Crete starts. Italian Destroyer Cartatone sunk by mine near Athens. Minesweeper HMS Widnes bombed/beached/abandoned at Suda Bay. Whaler HMS KOS XXIII bombed/beached
1942 Battle of Burma ends. USN Patrol Boat YP-87 sunk in a collision off Delaware.
1943 U-258 sunk by RAF B-24 west of Ireland
1944 Dutch Minesweeper Marken sunk by mine in the Thames Estuary. Trawler HMS Wyoming sunk by mine east-north-east of Harwich. KM E Boat S-223 sunk in an air attack.
1945 U-963 scuttled off the coast of Portugal. US LST-808 damaged by Kamakaze off Okinawa, beached at Ie Shima, destroyed in a typhoon later.
1969 Battle of Hamburger Hill ends
 
May 21
1809 Battle of Aspern-Essling begins
1813 Battle of Bautzen ends
1879 naval Battle of Iquique
1940 French Destroyer L'Adroit bombed/beached at Malo les Bains. Sub Chaser CH 9 bombed/beached. Aux Minesweepers Saint Bernoit, Notre Dame De Lorette, Rien Sans Plene, Jacques Coeur, Saint Joachim bombed/sunk at Dunkirk, and Leopold Soubler and Christiane Cecil scuttled at Boulogne. Trawler HMS Corburn sunk by E Boat S-32 off Le Havre. Trawlers HMS Cape Passaro and Melbourne bombed/sunk off Narvik.
1941 Italian Destroyer Carlo Mirabello sunk by mine off Cape Dukato, Albania. Destroyer HMS Juno bombed/sunk off Crete. Armed Yacht HMS Hanyards burns/sinks
1942 1st flight P-61 Black Widow
1943 Italian sub Gorgo sunk by Destroyer USS Nields off Oran. U-303 sunk by sub HMS Sickle off Toulon, later Sickle damages the Monte Carlo Casino with a torpedo that misses shipping in the Harbor.
1944 Pearl Harbor munitions disaster.
1945 Minesweeper W-34 sunk by sub USS Chub in the Java Sea.
1982 Battle of San Carlos begins
 
May 22
853 Byzantines sack Damietta, Egypt
1455 1st Battle of St. Albans
1809 Battle of Aspern-Essling ends
1863 Siege of Port Hudson begins
1864 Red River Campaign ends
1939 Germany and Italy sign the "Pact of Steel".
1940 Belgian Naval Yacht Aloha sunk by mine off Ostend
1941 Cruisers HMS Fiji and Gloucester, and Destroyer HMS Greyhound bombed/sunk off Crete. Dutch Minelayer Nautilus sunk in a collision with SS Murrayfield off Saltfleet
1942 Mexico declares War on The Axis.
1943 U-569 damaged by Avengers and scuttled.
1944 Destroyer Asanagi sunk by USS Pollock northwest of Chichi Jima. RO-106 sunk by Destroyer Escort USS England north of the Admiralty Islands
1945 Gunboat Hashidate sunk by sub USS Picuda. IJN Sub Chasers CH-37 and 58, and Landing Ship T-173 bombed/sunk by USN aircraft in the East China Sea. KM Minesweeper M-515 sunk by mine at Fehman
1968 Sub USS Scorpion sinks
 
May 23
1430 Joan of Arc captured
1568 Battle of Heiligerlee
1706 Battle of Ramillies
1793 Battle of Famars
1862 Battle of Front Royal. Battle of Lewisburg
1863 Siege of Vicksburg begins
1864 Battle of the North Anna begins
1915 Italy joins the Allies
1939 Sub USS Squalus sinks, raised, repaired and put in service as Sailfish.
1940 French Destroyer Jaguar sunk by E Boats S-21 and 23 off Dunkerque. Destroyer Orage bombed/sunk off Boulogne
1941 Destroyers HMS Kelly and Kashmir, and MTBs 67, 213, 214, 216, and 217 bombed/sunk, and Trawler HMS KOS XXIII scuttled, at Suda Bay. KOS XXIII raised, repaired and entered KM service as UJ-2104. French Gunboat Meuliere wreck on Corsica
1942 USN Patrol Craft YP-277 strikes a mine, burns and sinks at French Frigate Shoals.
1943 PT Boat Tender USS Niagra bombed/scuttled near San Cristobal Island. PT-165 and 173 lost as deck cargo when tanker Stanvac Manila is sunk by I-17 south of New Caledonia. U-752 sunk by Swordfish from HMS Archer. Sub Leonardo Da Vinci sunk by destroyer HMS active and Frigate HMS Ness in the Atlantic.
1944 RO-104 sunk by Destroyer Escort USS England. KM Torpedo Boat Greif sunk off France.
1967 Egypt blockades Eilat
 
May 24
1667 france invades the French Netherlands.
1822 Battle of Pichincha
1861 Union troops occupy Alexandria, Va. Col. Ellsworth of the 11th NY Zouaves is killed by a Hotel owner while removing a large CSA flag from the man's Hotel. The Hotel owner is then shot and killed with both men becoming martyrs.
1915 Italy declares War on Austria-hungary
1940 Germans capture Boulogne and Ghent. Destroyer HMS Wessex bombed/sunk west of Calais. French Destroyer Chacal bombed/sunk off Cape d'Alprecht. French Aux. Minesweeper La Matelot bombed/sunk, and Minesweeper Etoile De Nord sunk by mine, at Dunkirk. Norwegian Patrol Ship Ingrid bombed/sunk at Bodo.
1941 Battlecruiser HMS Hood sunk, and Battleship Prince of Wales damaged, by Battleship Bismarck. Trawler HMS Aurora II bombed/sunk at Tobruk.
1944 IJN Frigate Iki sunk by sub USS Raton in South China Sea. U-432 damaged by RAF PBY and scuttled off Norway. U-675 sunk by RAF Sunderland off Norway. RO-116 sunk by Destroyer Escort USS England north of the Admiraltys. KM Sub Chaser UJ-2223 sunk by USN PT boats off the Vada Rocks.
1945 U-979 run aground and scuttled at Amrum Germany
1982 Iran recaptures Khorramshar
 
May 25
1085 Castile captures Toledo
1862 1st Battle of Winchester
1864 Battle of New Hope Church begins
1865 20 tons of gunpowder in a depot in Mobile explodes causing 300 casualties
1933 1st flight Avia B-534 Fighter
1940 Fleet Air Arm Depot Ship HMS Mashobra bombed/beached near Harstad, scuttled June 8. Trawler HMS Charles Boyes sunk by mine off England. French Aux Minesweepers La Jannine and La Trombe II bombed/sunk at Dunkirk
1941 Sloop HMS Grimsby bombed/sunk northeast of Tobruk
1942 Sub Tender Asahi sunk by USS Salmon in South China Sea.
1943 Italian Torpedo Boat Groppo bombed/sunk at Messina. U-467 sunk by USN PBY. U-414 sunk by Corvette HMS Vetch off Algeria
1944 KM Minesweeper M-35 sunk off France. U-990 sunk by RAF B-24 off Bodo. Ex Italian sub Beilul bombed/sunk at Monfalcone while being prepared for KM service.
1945 High Speed Transport USS Bates damaged beyond repair by Kamakazes off Ie Shima, decommisioned and used as Kamakaze decoy and sunk by them on June 21. High Speed Transport USS Barry and LSM 135 sunk by Kamakazes off Okinawa.
1973 Greek Destroyer Velos Mutinys against the Govt during NATO manuevers
1982 Destroyer HMS Coventry and M/V Atlantic Conveyor sunk off The Falklands
 
May 26
451 Battle of Avarayr
1573 naval Battle of Haarlemmermeer
1644 Battle of Montijo
1736 Battle of Akia
1900 Battle of Palonegro ends
1940 Battle of Dunkirk begins. Cruiser HMS Curlew bombed/beached off Narvik. Boom Defence Vessel HMS Loch Shin and R.F.A. Tanker Oleander bombed/beached at Harstad. French Aux. Minesweeper Dijonnais bombed/sunk at Dunkirk.
1942 Battle of Gazala begins
1943 U-436 sunk by Frigate HMS Test and Corvette HMS Hyderabad west of Cape Ortegal. Soviet sub ShCh-408 probably sunk by KM and Finnish vessels in the Gulf of Finland.
1944 RO-108 sunk by Destroyer Escort USS England off Seeadler Harbor, Manus. KM Sub Chaser UJ-2229 sunk by Sub HMS Universal.
1945 US Patrol Craft PC-1603 damaged by a Kamakaze and decommissioned, sunk post War as a breakwater.
 
May 27
927 Battle of the Bosnian Heights
1644 Battle of shanhai Pass
1798 Battle of Oulart Hill
1799 Battle of Winterthuv
1813 Battle of Ft. George ends
1860 Siege of Palermo begins
1862 Battle of Hanover Courthouse
1863 Ironclad USS Cincinnati sunk by shore batteries at Vicksburg. Gunboat CSS Chattahoochie was sunk by a boiler explosion at Blountstown, Fla. on the Apalachicola River, raised, repaired, returned to service.
1864 Battle of Pickett's Mill
1905 Battle of Tsushima begins
1940 Trawler HMS Ocean Reward sunk in a collision with SS Isle of Thanet off Dover. French Aux. Minesweeper La Majo bombed/sunk off Dunkurque
1941 KM Battleship Bismarck sunk. Whaler HMS Syvern bombed/sunk ay Suda Bay. Ocean Boarding Vessel HMS Registan bombed/beached at Falmouth, raised, repaired, returned to service. Trawler HMS Evesham bombed/sunk off Yarrow. Trawler HMS Thorbryn bombed/sunk off Tobruk.
1942 CAM ship SS Empire Lawrence bombed/sunk off Bear Island. US Army Transport Jack sunk by U-558 southwest of Haiti. Minesweeper HMS Fitzroy sunk by mine off Great Yarmouth. Trawler HMS Arctic Pioneer bombed/sunk off Portsmouth.
1943 Free French Destroyer Leopard wrecked near Tobruk
1944 US troops land on Biak. PT 339 wrecked off the north coast of New Guinea and scuttled. U-292 sunk by RAF B-24 west of Trondheim
1958 1st flight F-4 Phantom
 
May 29
363 Battle of Ctesiphon
1108 Battle of Ucles
1167 Battle of Tusculum
1176 Battle of Legnano
1453 Siege of Constantinople ends
1780 Battle of Waxhaws
1781 Frigate USS Alliance captures Sloops HMS Atalanta and HMS Trepassey
1798 Gibbet Rath Massacre
1895 Japan invades Formosa
1918 Battle of Sardarabad ends
1940 1st flight F4U Corsair. Sloop HMS Bideford bombed/beached, refloated, repaired, returned to service, Trawlers HMS Calvi and HMS Polly Johnson bombed/sunk, Minesweepers HMS Gracie Fields and Waverly bombed/sunk, Destroyer HMS Grenade bombed/sunk, Aux. Anti-Aircraft ship HMS Crested Eagle bombed/sunk, all off Dunkirk. Destroyer HMS Wakefull sunk by E Boat S-30 in the English channel. Destroyer HMS Montrose damaged in a collision with Sun V off Calaise, beached, refloated, repaired, returned to service. Destroyer HMS Grafton damaged by U-62 and scuttled off Neuport. French Aux Minesweeper Joseph Marie bombed/sunk at Dunkirk. KM Flackship VP-1109 sunk by mine off Norway
1941 Destroyers HMS Hereward and Imperial bombed/sunk off Crete. Trawler HMS Sindonis bombed/sunk at Tobruk
1942 1st flight CAC CA-12 Boomerang Fighter. U-568 sunk by 3 R.N. ships northeast of Tobruk. Italian Destroyer Emmanuele Pessagno sunk by Sub north west of Benghazi.
1943 R.N. MGB 110 sunk by KM ships off Dunkirk
1944 Escort Carrier USS Block Island sunk by U-549, in turn sunk by Destroyer Escorts USS Aherns and Eugene E. Elmore
1945 R.N. LCT 357 sunk by an explosion in Suda Bay
1982 Battle of Goose Green ends
 
May 30
1434 Battle of Cipany
1940 Armed Boarding Vessels HMS Cambrian sunk by mine, and HMS King Orry bombed/sunk, off Dunkirk. French Destroyer Bourrasque damaged by mine, then sunk by German artillery fire off Ostend
1943 Sub HMS Untamed sank in the Firth of Clyde. Raised, repaired, returned to service as Vitality. USN LCT 28 sunk by mine in the Med.
1944 Whaler HMS Firmament ran aground and sank off Alexandria.
 
May 31
1223 Battle of the Kalka River
1805 Battle of Diamond Rock begins
1862 Battle of Fair Oaks and Seven Pines begin
1864 Battle of Cold Harbor begins
1915 1st Zeppelin raid on London.
1916 Battle of Jutland begins
1940 U-13 sunk by Sloop HMS Weston southeast of Lowestoft. French Destroyer Sirocco torpedoed by E Boats S-23 and 26, then bombed/sunk off Dunkirk. Trawler HMS St. Achillaeus sunk by mine and Minesweeper HMS Devonia bombed/beached/abandoned off Dunkirk. Armed Yacht HMS Grive bombed/damaged, then sunk by mine.
1941 Anglo-Iraq War ends.
1942 Sydney Harbor Raid: IJN Midget sub M-27b fouls an anti-sub net trying to enter the Harbor, crew scuttles the sub killing them.
1943 U-563 sunk by RAAF Sunderland and an RAF Halifax in the Atlantic. U-440 sunk by RAF Sunderland northwest of Cape Ortegal
1944 Frigate Ishigaki sunk by USS Herring. RO-105 sunk by Destroyer Escort USS England northwest of the Admiraltys. Gunboat Kotaka bombed/sunk in the Yangtze. U-289 sunk by Destroyer HMS Milne northeast of Jan Mayen. KM Minesweeper M-13 sunk by mine in the Geronde Estuary.
1945 I-361 sunk by an Avenger from USS Anzio southeast of Okinawa
 
June 1
1204 King Philip Augustus captures Rouen
1215 Battle of Zhongdu ends
1298 Battle of Turaida
1535 Siege of Tunis ends
1648 Battle of Maidstone
1679 Battle of Drumclog
1794 3rd naval Battle of Ushant
1813 USS Chesapeake captured by HMS Shannon
1862 Battle of Fair Oaks ends
1871 US Navy captures 5 Korean forts.
1916 Battle of Jutland ends
1918 Battle of Belleau Woods
1939 1st flight FW-190
1940 Trawlers HMS Argyllshire sunk by E Boat S-35, and Stella Dorado sunk by E Boat S-34, Destroyer HMS Basilisk bombed/sunk, Gunboat HMS Mosquito and Destroyer HMS Havant bombed/scuttled, Rescue Tugs HMS St. Fagan and St. Abbs bombed/sunk, Aux Minesweeper HMS Brighton Queen and Trawler HMS Lord Cavan sunk by artillery, all at Dunkirk. Troopship HMS Orford bombed/beached at Marseilles, Boom Defence Vessel HMS Astronomer mined or torpedoed and sunk off Aberdeenshire. French Destroyer Foudroyant and Aux Minesweepers Denis Papon, La Moussaillon and Venus bombed/sunk at Dunkirk.
1941 Cruiser HMS Calcutta bombed/sunk north of Alexandria. Battle of Crete ends.
1942 Sydney Harbor Raid: Accomidation ship HMAS Kuttabul sunk by M-24b. M-24b and M-22b lost.
1943 U-418 sunk by RAF Beaufighter in the Bay of Biscay
1944 USS Herring sunk by shore batteries off Matsuwa. Tug USS Shahaka sunk in a collision with a floating dock between Cal. and Hawaii
 
June 2
455 Sack of Rome begins
1010 Battle of Aqbat al-Bakr
1098 1st Siege of Antioch ends(began 21 Oct, 1097)
1676 naval Battle of Palermo
1763 Chippewas capture Ft. Michilimakinac
1805 Battle of Diamond Rock ends
1865 Gen. Kirby Smith surrenders CS Army forces west of the Miss. River
1866 Battle of Ridgeway. Battle of Ft. Erie
1940 Trawler HMS Blackburn Rovers sunk by mine off North Foreland, Trawler HMS Westella sunk by mine while rescuing survivors of Blackburn Rovers.
1941 U-147 sunk by Destroyer HMS Wanderer and Corvette HMS Periwinkle west of Scotland. Whaler HMS Kos XXII and LCT 16 bombed/sunk south of Crete.
1942 U-652 damaged by a Swordfish in the Gulf of Sollum, scuttled by U-81.
1943 U-105 sunk by Free French flying Boat off Dakar. U-202 sunk by Destroyer HMS Starling. U-462 sunk by RAF Halifax and 4 R.N. ships in Bay of Biscay. U-521 sunk by USN Patrol Boat PC-565
1944 KM Escort ship SG-11 sunk by Sub HMS Ultor off Port Vendres, France. Escort Awaji sunk by Sub USS Picuda in Bashi Strait off Yashu Island.
 
June 3
1665 naval Battle of Lowestoft
1785 Last Contenental Navy ship sold, no naval forces untill US Navy purchases in 1794
1861 Battle of Philippi
1865 Ironclad CSS Missouri surrenders on the Red River
1940 French Patrol Boat Purfina sunk by mine in Le Havre Roads
1941 R.N. decoy ship Mamari wrecked on the wreck of tanker Ahamo
1942 Whaler HMS Cocker sunk by E Boat S-57 east of Tobruk. Coastal Minesweeper USS Bunting sunk in a collision with USN Patrol Craft PC-569 in San Francisco Bay
1944 U-477 sunk by RCAF PBY west of Trondheim
1945 U-1277 scuttled off Oporto, Portugal
1969 Carrier HMAS Melbourne rams Destroyer USS Frank E. Evans cutting her in two, bow of Evans sinks, stern sunk as a target 10 Oct. 1969
 
June 4
1745 Battle of Hohenfriedeberg
1794 British capture Port-au-Prince, Haiti
1859 Battle of Magenta
1862 Confederates evacuate Ft. Pillow
1916 Russian Brusilov Offensive begins
1940 Battle of Dunkirk/Dunkirk Evacuation ends. French Aux. Minesweeper Emil Deschamps sunk by mine northeast of Foreness Point
1941 Minelayer HMS Van Meerlant sunk by mine off the Isle of Sleppey
1942 Battle of Midway: Carriers Akagi, Kaga and Soryu bombed/scuttled
1943 U-308 sunk by Sub HMS Truculent northeast of the Faroes. U-594 sunk by RAF Hudson west of Gibraltar. USN Sub Chaser PC-496 sunk by mine off Bizerte
1944 Allies capture Rome. U-505 captured by Boarding Party from Destroyer USS Pillsbury. R.N. LCT 2498 foundered in the English Channel. KM Minesweeper M-37 sunk off Estonia.
 
June 5
1284 Battle of the Gulf of Naples
1798 Battle of New Ross
1864 Battle of Piedmont
1900 British capture Pretoria
1916 HMS Hampshire sunk by mine, drowning Lord Kitchener
1940 KM Minesweeper M-11 sunk by mine off Rogoland, Norway.
1941 Barage Balloon ship HMS Lavinia L. bombed/sunk at Sheerness. Trawler HMS Ash sunk by mine in the Thames Estuary. Italian Gunboat Valoroso sunk by sub HMS Triumph.
1942 US declares War on Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania. Carrier Hiryu bombed/sunk off Midway. Dutch Harbor Air Raid ends, Japanese occupy Attu.
1943 U-217 sunk by Avengers from USS Bogue. Italian sub H 8 bombed/sunk at Spezia
1944 Minesweeper USS Osprey sunk by mine off Normandy. USN LCT-428 sank in the English Channel.
1967 6 Days War begins
 
June 16
1487 Battle of Stoke Field
1745 1st Siege of the Louisbourg Fortress ends
1746 Battle of Pracenza
1755 Siege of Ft. beausejour ends
1795 1st naval Battle of Groix
1815 Battle of Ligny. Battle of Quatra Bras
1862 Battle of Secessionville
1864 2nd Battle of Bermuda Hundred
1940 Soviets invade Latvia and Estonia. Sub HMS Grampus sunk by 4 Italian Torpedo Boats in the Med.
1941 Vichy French Destroyer Chavalier Paul sunk by Swordfish off Latakia, Syria. KM Patrol Ship V-5706 wrecked/sunk off Norway.
1942 Cruiser HMS Hermione sunk by U-205 north of Sollum. Polish Destroyer Kujawiak sunk by mine off Malta. Trawler HMS Tranquil sunk in a collision off The Downs
1943 U-97 sunk by an RAAF Hudson off Haifa
1944 U-998 damaged by Norwegian Mosquitos at Bergen, scrapped. R.N. LCT 589 scuttled to prevent capture in the Med. Whaler HMS Southern Pride wrecked near Freeport, Sierra Leone. I-6 rammed/sunk by Toyokawa Maru off Japan.
1945 Destroyer USS Twiggs sunk by a Kamakaze off Okinawa.
 
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