This Day In United States Naval History

[lordroel]

This Day In United States Naval History - August 20th

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1929 - A UO-1 airplane piloted by Lt. Adolphus W. Gorton makes a successful hook-up landing aboard USS Los Angeles (ZR 3) over Lakehurst, N.J.

1942 - PBY 5A from VP-73 sink German submarine U-464 in the North Atlantic.

1944 - TBM aircraft from USS Bogue (CVE 9) sink the German submarine U-1229.

1959 - USS Thetis Bay (LPH 6) completes a six-day humanitarian operation after floods in Taiwan.

[lordroel]

This Day In United States Naval History - August 21st

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1858 - The brig, USS Dolphin, captures the slave ship, Echo, with 300 Africans on board off the north coast of Cuba. She is taken to Charleston, S.C., and those saved from slavery are later sent back to Africa.

1883 - The installation of the first electric lighting on board a U.S. Navy ship is completed on board USS Trenton.

1918 - During World War I, while piloting a Navy seaplane near Pola, Ensign Charles H. Hammann lands on the Adriatic Sea to rescue Ensign George H. Ludlow, whose aircraft is shot down by Austro-Hungarian forces. Though Hammann's plane is not designed for two persons, and despite the risk of enemy attack, he successfully completes the rescue and returns to the base at Porto Corsini, Italy. For Hamman's actions on this occasion, he is awarded the Medal of Honor. USS Hammann (DD 412) and USS Hammann (DE 131) are named in his honor.

1965 = Gemini V is launched. Astronauts are Gordon Cooper, Jr., USAF, (Command Pilot) and Lt. Cmdr. Charles Conrad Jr., USN, (Pilot). They complete 120 orbits in almost eight days at an altitude of 349.8 km. Recovery is by helicopter from USS Lake Champlain (CVS 39).

1980 - USS Truxtun (CGN 35) rescues 42 Vietnamese refugees and USS Merrill (DD 976) rescues 62 Vietnamese refugees, over 200 miles southeast of Saigon.

1993 - USS Tempest (PC 2) is commissioned at Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek, Va. The third Navy ship to be named Tempest, the Cyclone-class coastal patrol ship.

2017 - The guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain (DDG 56) is involved in a collision with the merchant vessel Alnic MC while underway east of the Straits of Malacca and Singapore. Ten Sailors lose their lives and the ship suffers significant damage to the hull resulting in flooding to nearby compartments, including crew berthing, machinery, and communications rooms.

[lordroel]

This Day In United States Naval History - August 22nd

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1912 - The Dental Corps is established by an Act of Congress.

1942 - USS Blue (DD 387) is torpedoed by Japanese destroyer, Kawakaze, off Guadalcanal. She was scuttled by her crew the following day.

1944 - Submarines Haddo (SS 255) and Harder (SS 257) encounter three Japanese escort vessels off the mouth of Manila Bay. Haddo sinks Sado 35 miles west of Manila; Harder sinks Matsuwa and Hiburi about 50 miles west-southwest of Manila.

1945 - The Japanese of Mille Atoll, Marshall Islands, surrenders on board USS Levy (DE 162), the first Japanese surrender at the end of World War II.

1956 - A P4M Mercator, while on night patrol out of Iwakuni, Japan, reported it is under attack by aircraft over international waters, 32 miles off the China coast, and is not heard from again. Carrier and land-based air and surface ships, searching for the plane, found wreckage, empty life rafts, and the bodies of two crew members.

1980 - USS Passumpsic (AO 107), guided by (P 3) aircraft from Patrol Squadron 1 and 26 (VP 1 and VP 26), rescues 28 Vietnamese refugees off Saigon.

[lordroel]

This Day In United States Naval History - August 23rd

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1819 - Commodore Oliver H. Perry, the hero of the Battle of Lake Erie, dies on board the schooner, USS Nonsuch, in Trinidad of a fever contracted during his successful efforts to suppress piracy while maintaining the friendship of Latin American governments. It was his 34th birthday.

1862 - A boat crew from USS Essex, commanded by Capt. William D. Porter, is fired on by Confederate guerillas at Bayou Sara, La. In return, USS Essex shells the town.

1864 - During the Civil War, Rear Adm. David G. Farraguts squadron capture Fort Morgan at Mobile Bay, Ala., winning control of Mobile Bay. The fort withstands naval bombardment for more than two weeks.

1890 - USS Baltimore (Cruiser #3) departs New York Harbor to return the remains of inventor John Ericsson to his native Sweden. For the US Navy, Ericssons most notable designs are for USS Princeton and USS Monitor. In honor of Ericsson, three U.S. Navy ships have been named in his honor: the torpedo boat Ericsson (Torpedo Boat # 2), 1897-1912; and the destroyers Ericsson (DD 56), 1915-1934; and Ericsson (DD 440), 1941-1970.

1942 - During Operation Europe, USS Tuscaloosa (CA 37), escorted by destroyers Rodman (DD 456) and Emmons (DD 457) and British destroyer HMS Onslaught, arrives at Murmansk, Russia, and disembark men and unloads equipment from two RAF Bomber Command squadrons that were transferred to North Russia.

1944 - USS Haddo (SS 255) torpedoes Japanese destroyer Asakaze as the enemy warship is escorting tanker, Niyo Maru, 20 miles southwest of Cape Bolinao, Luzon, Philippine Islands. Asakaze later sinks near Dasol Bay after attempts at salvage fail. Also on this date, USS Tang (SS 306) attacks a Japanese convoy off Honshu, sinking cargo ship, Tsukushi Maru off Hamamatsu.

1963 - The first satellite communications ship, USNS Kingsport (T AG 164) connects President John F. Kennedy with Nigerian Prime Minister Balewa who is on board for the first satellite (Syncom II) relayed telephone conversation between heads of state, in Lagos, Nigeria.

[lordroel]

This Day In United States Naval History - August 24th

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1814 - During the War of 1812, the British invade Md. and burn Washington, D.C. Commodore Thomas Tingey, superintendent of the Washington Navy Yard, burns the Navy Yard to prevent British access during the invasion.

1862 - During the Civil War, Capt. Raphael Semmes takes command of CSS Alabama at sea off the island of Terceira, Azores, beginning his career of raiding American commerce.

1912 - The collier, USS Jupiter, is launched. The vessel is the first electrically-propelled Navy ship. She is renamed USS Langley in April 1920 with the designation of aircraft carrier CV-1 and a few months later becomes the Navys first aircraft carrier in March 1922 following conversion.

1942 - Task Force 61, commanded by Vice Adm. Frank J. Fletcher, engages the Japanese First Carrier Division, Third Fleet, commanded by Vice Adm. Nagumo Chuchi, during Battle of Eastern Solomons. Planes from Japanese carrier, Ryujo, bomb U.S. positions on Lunga Point but SBDs from VB-3 and TBFs from VT-8 off carrier USS Saratoga (CV 3) sink Ryujo. Additionally, USS Enterprise (CV 6) is damaged by carrier bombers from Japanese carrier, Shokaku. As a result of this battle, the Japanese recall the expedition to recapture Guadalcanal.

1943 - TBF aircraft from USS Core (CVE 13) sinks the German submarine (U 185) southwest of the Azores.

1992 - USS Essex (LHD 2) is commissioned without ceremony from Pascagoula, Miss., in order to take part in an emergency sortie to avoid Hurricane Andrew. After transiting through the Panama Canal, USS Essex is officially commissioned Oct. 17 at Naval Air Station, North Island, San Diego.

[stevep]

Aug 24, 2020 2:46:03 GMT lordroel said:

This Day In United States Naval History - August 24th

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1814 - During the War of 1812, the British invade Md. and burn Washington, D.C. Commodore Thomas Tingey, superintendent of the Washington Navy Yard, burns the Navy Yard to prevent British access during the invasion.

1862 - During the Civil War, Capt. Raphael Semmes takes command of CSS Alabama at sea off the island of Terceira, Azores, beginning his career of raiding American commerce.

1912 - The collier, USS Jupiter, is launched. The vessel is the first electrically-propelled Navy ship. She is renamed USS Langley in April 1920 with the designation of aircraft carrier CV-1 and a few months later becomes the Navys first aircraft carrier in March 1922 following conversion.

1942 - Task Force 61, commanded by Vice Adm. Frank J. Fletcher, engages the Japanese First Carrier Division, Third Fleet, commanded by Vice Adm. Nagumo Chuchi, during Battle of Eastern Solomons. Planes from Japanese carrier, Ryujo, bomb U.S. positions on Lunga Point but SBDs from VB-3 and TBFs from VT-8 off carrier USS Saratoga (CV 3) sink Ryujo. Additionally, USS Enterprise (CV 6) is damaged by carrier bombers from Japanese carrier, Shokaku. As a result of this battle, the Japanese recall the expedition to recapture Guadalcanal.

1943 - TBF aircraft from USS Core (CVE 13) sinks the German submarine (U 185) southwest of the Azores.

1992 - USS Essex (LHD 2) is commissioned without ceremony from Pascagoula, Miss., in order to take part in an emergency sortie to avoid Hurricane Andrew. After transiting through the Panama Canal, USS Essex is officially commissioned Oct. 17 at Naval Air Station, North Island, San Diego.

  I wish they would quit repeating this old myth.  British troops burnt some government buildings in response to the earlier sack of York [aka Toronto] and burning of some villages along the Niagara frontier but left civilian buildings alone.  There was one suggestion by one of the commanders for the destruction of a building owned by a particularly virulent newspaper editor who had subjected him to personal abuse in his papers but this was dropped when he was told that doing this would damage an adjacent building.

[lordroel]

Aug 24, 2020 17:45:08 GMT stevep said:

Aug 24, 2020 2:46:03 GMT lordroel said:

This Day In United States Naval History - August 24th

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1814 - During the War of 1812, the British invade Md. and burn Washington, D.C. Commodore Thomas Tingey, superintendent of the Washington Navy Yard, burns the Navy Yard to prevent British access during the invasion.

1862 - During the Civil War, Capt. Raphael Semmes takes command of CSS Alabama at sea off the island of Terceira, Azores, beginning his career of raiding American commerce.

1912 - The collier, USS Jupiter, is launched. The vessel is the first electrically-propelled Navy ship. She is renamed USS Langley in April 1920 with the designation of aircraft carrier CV-1 and a few months later becomes the Navys first aircraft carrier in March 1922 following conversion.

1942 - Task Force 61, commanded by Vice Adm. Frank J. Fletcher, engages the Japanese First Carrier Division, Third Fleet, commanded by Vice Adm. Nagumo Chuchi, during Battle of Eastern Solomons. Planes from Japanese carrier, Ryujo, bomb U.S. positions on Lunga Point but SBDs from VB-3 and TBFs from VT-8 off carrier USS Saratoga (CV 3) sink Ryujo. Additionally, USS Enterprise (CV 6) is damaged by carrier bombers from Japanese carrier, Shokaku. As a result of this battle, the Japanese recall the expedition to recapture Guadalcanal.

1943 - TBF aircraft from USS Core (CVE 13) sinks the German submarine (U 185) southwest of the Azores.

1992 - USS Essex (LHD 2) is commissioned without ceremony from Pascagoula, Miss., in order to take part in an emergency sortie to avoid Hurricane Andrew. After transiting through the Panama Canal, USS Essex is officially commissioned Oct. 17 at Naval Air Station, North Island, San Diego.

  I wish they would quit repeating this old myth.  British troops burnt some government buildings in response to the earlier sack of York [aka Toronto] and burning of some villages along the Niagara frontier but left civilian buildings alone.  There was one suggestion by one of the commanders for the destruction of a building owned by a particularly virulent newspaper editor who had subjected him to personal abuse in his papers but this was dropped when he was told that doing this would damage an adjacent building.

The myth has become part of American legend, there is nothing that can be done about it stevep.

[lordroel]

This Day In United States Naval History - August 25th

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1864 - CSS Tallahassee, commanded by Cmdr. John Taylor Wood, returns to Wilmington, N.C. to refuel on coal. During her more than two week raid, CSS Tallahassee destroys 26 vessels and captures seven others.

1927 - USS Los Angeles (ZR 3) rises to a near-vertical position due to the sudden arrival of a cold air front that lifts the airships tail, causing it to rise before she can swing around the mast parallel to the new wind direction. Los Angeles only suffers minor damage but the affair demonstrates the risks involved with high mooring masts.

1943 - Depth charges from USS Patterson (DD 392) sink the Japanese submarine RO-35, 170 miles southeast of San Cristobal Island, Solomon Islands.

1944 - USS Picuda (SS 382), in attack on Japanese convoy at the western entrance to the Babuyan Channel, sinks destroyer Yunagi 20 miles north-northeast of Cape Bojeador, Philippines and merchant tanker Kotoku Maru.

1951 - 23 fighters from USS Essex (CV 9) escort Air Force heavy bombers in an attack on Najin, Korea due to the target being beyond range of land-based fighters.

2017 - Hurricane Harvey Strikes the Texas Gulf Coast. The Navy responds by sending 10 aircraft to provide humanitarian assistance that lasts until Sept. 4.

[lordroel]

This Day In United States Naval History - August 26th

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1775 - The R.I. delegates press the Continental Congress for creation of a Continental Navy to protect the colonies due to the harassment of shipping by the British.

1839 - The brig USS Washington seizes the Spanish slaver Amistad, near Montauk Point, N.Y. The Africans are held on murder charges due to their prior seizure of the ship in July. The case goes to the Supreme Court in Jan. 1841, and former President John Quincy Adams successfully argues the defendants' case.

1843 - The day after the steam frigate, USS Missouri, becomes the first steam-powered ship to complete a Trans-Atlantic crossing, she accidently catches on fire, explodes and sinks at Gibraltar, without loss of life.

1912 - A detachment of Marines from USS Rainbow lands at Camp Nicholson, near Shanghai, China, to protect American interests from local revolutionaries.

1944 - Motor torpedo boats PT-511, PT-514, and PT-520 take part in a night engagement that turns back the last German attempt to reinforce the besieged garrison at La Havre. The PTs sink Germany artillery ferries AFP-98 and AFP-108.

1949 - While operating in stormy seas off northern Norway, USS Cochino (SS 345) suffers a series of serious battery explosions that result in her loss. Though Cochino's crew is successfully rescued by USS Tusk (SS 426), the submarine loses seven of her own men during this difficult effort.

[lordroel]

This Day In United States Naval History - August 27th

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1942 - USS Iowa (BB 61) is launched at the New York Navy Yard. Commissioned in Feb. 1943, Iowa serves in both the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean during World War II and now serves as a museum battleship at Los Angeles, Calif.

1944 - USS Stingray (SS 186), after being depth charged and lightly worked over while reconnoitering the designated spot lands a party of one Filipino officer, 14 men and 60 percent of the supplies earmarked for delivery to guerilla forces at Saddle Rock, Mayaira Point, on northwest shore of Luzon. Heavy Japanese shipping in the vicinity compels Stingrays departure before all stores land.

1944 - PV Ventura aircraft sink Japanese vessel, Tensho Maru, between Odomari, southwest of Sakhalin and Onnekotan Island, Kuril Islands.

1945
Units of the Pacific Fleet enter Japanese waters for the first time during World War II, to prepare for the formal Japanese surrender on Sept. 2, 1945.

1959 - While off Cape Canaveral, Fla., USS Observation Island (EAG 154) makes the first shipboard launch of a Polaris missile.

2007 - Vice Adm. Adam M. Robinson, Jr., becomes the first African-American to be appointed as Surgeon General of the US Navy.

[lordroel]

This Day In United States Naval History - August 28th

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1867 - Capt. William Reynolds of the screw sloop-of-war, USS Lackawanna, raises the U.S. flag over Midway Islands and takes formal possession of these islands for the United States.

1891 - During a period of political unrest at Valparaiso, Chile, Marines form boarding parties from cruisers USS San Francisco and USS Baltimore to protect American lives and guard the U.S. Consulate.

1942 - 120 women are commissioned as ensigns or lieutenant junior grades as WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) and report to "USS Northampton," Smith College, Northampton, Mass.

1942 - PBY Catalinas from VP-92 and Canadian corvette HMCS Oakville sink German submarine U-94. USS Lea (DD 118) and Oakville pick up the survivors. Previously, U-94 had sunk 26 Allied vessels while also damaging one Allied vessel, although none from the United States.

1952 - USS Boxer (CV 21) launches an explosive-filled drone which explodes against a railroad bridge near Hungnam, Korea. This mission marks the first guided missile launched from a ship during the Korean War.

1991 - A helicopter from USS America (CVA 66) rescues three civilian sailors who spent 10 days in a lifeboat 80 miles off Cape May, N.J., after their sailboat capsizes.

2004 - USS Momsen (DDG 92) is commissioned at Panama City, Fla., before sailing to its homeport of Everett, Wash. The 42nd of the Arleigh Burke-class of guided-missile destroyers is the first to carry the remote minehunting system and the first ship named after Vice Adm. Charles B. Momsen, the designer of the submarine escape breathing apparatus now known as the Momsen Lung.

[lordroel]

This Day In United States Naval History - August 29th

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1861 - During the Civil War, Seaman Benjamin Swearer lands with troops from the steam sloop of war, Pawnee, and takes part in the capture of Fort Clark, at Hatteras Inlet, N.C. He serves throughout the action and has the honor of being the first man to raise the flag on the captured fort. For his gallant service throughout the action, he was awarded the Medal of Honor.

1862 - The gunboat, USS Pittsburgh, supports Army troops landing at Eunice, Ark., during the Civil War.

1915 - After pontoons are brought to Hawaii from the west coast, and following extensive additional diving work, the submarine USS F-4 is raised from the bottom and taken into Honolulu Harbor for dry docking. Previously, in March 1915, during a routine dive a few miles off Honolulu, F-4 sinks in 51 fathoms of water, with the loss of her 21 crewmembers.

1916 - High waves force armored cruiser USS Memphis aground at Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, killing 33 men. Lt. Claud A. Jones rescues crewmen from the dying ship's steam-filled engineering spaces. Years later, in Aug. 1932, Jones receives the Medal of Honor for his actions.

1944 - USS Jack (SS 259) attacks Japanese convoy H3 and sinks minesweeper W28 and army cargo ship, Mexico Maru, northwest of Menado, Celebes.

1944
PBY aircraft sink Japanese sailing vessel, Toyokuni Maru, at the entrance to Ambon Bay.

1998 - USS Decatur (DDG 73) is commissioned at Portland, Ore., before arriving at its homeport of Naval Station San Diego. The Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer is the fifth U.S. Navy ship named for Commodore Stephen Decatur.

[lordroel]

This Day In United States Naval History - August 30th

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1923 - USS Colorado (BB 45) is commissioned. Notable during her pre-World War II service, she helps in the search for missing aviator, Amelia Earhart, in 1937. During WWII, USS Colorado serves in the Pacific during World War II and is hit by kamikazes at Leyte in November 1944.

1929 - At New London, Conn., 26 men test the Momsen lung to exit an intentionally-bottomed submarine. The device was created by Lt. C.B. Momsen following the failure to save surviving crew members trapped in USS S-4 (SS 109) that sank after a collision with Coast Guard cutter USS Paulding in 1927.

1942 - USS Colhoun (APD 2) is sunk by Japanese land attack planes (Kizarazu and Misawa Kokutais) off Lunga Point. Fifty-one crewmembers die. High speed transport USS Little (APD 4) and chartered freighter Kopara emerge undamaged from the attack.

1944 - U.S. tanker Jacksonville, steaming in convoy CU-36, is torpedoed by German submarine U-482 while en route to Loch Ewe, Scotland. The gasoline cargo explodes, giving little chance for the 49-man merchant complement or the 29-man Armed Guard to abandon the blazing ship, which breaks in two at the second massive explosion. USS Poole (DE 151) rescues a fireman and one Armed Guard gunner, Jacksonville's only survivors.

1945 - Rear Adm. Robert B. Carney and Rear Adm. Oscar C. Badger accept the surrender of Yokosuka Naval Base. The Headquarters of Commander, Third Fleet is then established there. Also on this date, USS San Juan (CL 54) evacuates Allied POWs from Japan.

2007 - USS Denver (LPD 9) renders medical assistance to an ailing fisherman on board a Qatari-flagged dhow while conducting Maritime Security Operations in the Persian Gulf.

[lordroel]

This Day In United States Naval History - August 31st

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1842 - Congress replaces the Board of Navy Commissioners, a group of senior officers who oversee naval technical affairs, with the five technical Bureaus, ancestors of the Systems Commands. One of the 1842 Bureaus, the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, continues to serve under its original name.

1862 - The daily rum issued to US Navy sailors on board vessels is abolished. On July 14, by an Act of Congress, the spirit ration ceases Sept. 1. Secretary of Navy Gideon Welles issues a further order requiring captains of naval vessels to remove all distilled liquors from their ships except those that serve as medical stores. Ale, beer, wine, and other liquors not distilled are exempted from the provisions of the act of July 14.

1911 - USS Utah (BB 31) is commissioned. During World War I, she serves in the Atlantic protecting convoys. In 1931, she is converted to a radio-controlled target ship and is redesignated (AG 16). Utah spends the rest of her career in this role, with additional duties as an anti-aircraft gunnery training ship beginning in the mid-1930s. On Dec. 7, 1941, while moored at Pearl Harbor, Utah is hit by a Japanese aerial torpedo attack, rolls over and sinks. A few years later, her hull is partially righted and moved closer to Ford Island, where she remains today.

1942 - USS Reid (DD 369) and PBY Catalinas from VP-42 and VP-43 sink Japanese submarine RO-61 off Atka, Aleutians.

1962 - The last flight of a Navy airship was made at Naval Air Station, Lakehurst, N.J.

1990 - Iraqi merchant vessel, Al Karamah, is boarded by the crew of USS Biddle (CG 34) in the first interception during Operation Desert Shield.

[lordroel]

This Day In United States Naval History - September 1st

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1800 - During the Quasi-War with France, the schooner, USS Experiment, commanded by Lt. Charles Stewart, captures the French privateer Deux Amix off Barbuda, West Indies.

1814 - The sloop-of-war, USS Wasp, commanded by Johnston Blakely, sinks the British brig sloop, HMS Avon, south of Ireland.

1925 - Cmdr. John Rodgers and a crew of four in a PN-9 aircraft run out of fuel on the first San Francisco to Hawaii flight. Landing at sea, they rig a sail and set sail for Hawaii. On Sept. 10, they are rescued by the submarine USS R-4, 10 miles from Kaui, then Territory of Hawaii.

1941 - The United States assumed responsibility for trans-Atlantic convoys from Argentia, Newfoundland, to the meridian of Iceland.

1942 - The United States Naval Air Force, Pacific Fleet is established. Vice Adm. Aubrey W. Fitch assumes duties of this administrative command that replaces the commands Carriers, Pacific Fleet and Patrol Wings, Pacific Fleet.

1942 - The first Seabee unit to serve in a combat area, the Sixth Naval Construction Battalion, arrives on Guadalcanal.

1942 - PBY Catalina aircraft from VP-73 bomb and sink German submarine U-756 southwest of Iceland.