The British flagship The Royal George went down in the Solent today in 1782 with the loss of over 800 people, several of them civilians. The George was careening (that's having its bottom scraped - don't snigger, Seven Eff Dee) when it rolled over. Rear Admiral Richard Kempenfelt was on board and went down with it. Who was to blame? The ship's captain and first officer, neither of whom were on board at the time. Were the punished? Of course not, the British navy let them off! What an institution!
In other news ...
On this day in 1918 6000 British policemen (there weren't any women - sorry ex WPC Carpenter) went on strike today over pay. They were warming up for a much bigger effort the following year.
Aren't our policemen wonderful? Not necessarily ...
