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Admiral Arleigh Burke was a famed U.S Navy admiral during the Second World War. Why did he receive the nickname ‘31-Knot Burke’ however?

Answer: Burke was known for pushing his destroyers to the very limit in search of speed, but on one occasion in 1943, an error on one of his ships limited the fleet’s speed to 31 knots, rather than the customary 34 knots. Such was the surprise that Burke of all people should be so slow, he was dubbed ‘31-Knot Burke’ for the rest of the war.

Source: Admiral Arleigh ’31-Knot’ Burke by Ken Jones

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