This Day In United States Naval History

[lordroel]

This Day In United States Naval History - October 1st

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1844 - Naval Observatory headed by LT Matthew Fontaine Maury occupies first permanent quarters.

1880 - John Phillip Sousa becomes leader of Marine Corps Band

1942 - USS Roe (DD 418) rescues 17 merchant seamen and two Naval Armed Guard sailors of the freighter SS West Chetac who drifted off the coast of Brazil for eight days after their vessel is sunk by German submarine U 175.

1955 - Commissioning of USS Forrestal (CVA-59), first of postwar supercarriers

1980 - USS Cochrane (DDG-21) rescues 104 Vietnamese refugees 620 miles east of Saigon

1990 - USS Independence (CV-62) enters Persian Gulf (first carrier in Persian Gulf since 1974)

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This Day In United States Naval History - October 2nd

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1799 - The Washington Navy Yard is established under the direction of Secretary of the Navy Benjamin Stoddert and supervision of Commodore Thomas Tingey.

1863 - USS Bermuda seizes the blockade-running English schooner Florie near Matagorda, Texas, with a cargo of medicine, wine and saddles much needed by the Confederate cavalry.

1918 - A squadron of 11 American submarine chasers screen British-French-Italian naval forces during the Second Battle of Durazzo, destroying mines and driving off an Austrian submarine trying to reach the fleet.

1939 - The Act of Panama is approved by the ministers of the American Republics at Panama City, Panama. The act establishes a neutral zone 300 miles to seaward from the continental coastline that is patrolled by the U.S. Navy.

1943 - A mine laid by USS Silversides (SS 236) four months earlier damages Imperial Japanese Navy minesweeper W 28 off Kavieng Bay, New Ireland, Bismarck.

1944 - USS Pomfret (SS 391) attacks a Japanese convoy in Luzon Strait, sinking an army transport about 75 miles southeast of the southern tip of Formosa.

1952 - USS Marsh (DE 699) and HMCS Iroquois (DDE 217) undergo fire by shore batteries in the vicinity of Songin, South Korea. Marsh escapes without damage but Iroquois receives one direct hit and one airburst, killing three men and wounding 10. Both ships replied with counter-battery fire, silencing the enemy shore batteries.

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This Day In United States Naval History - October 3rd

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1921 - USS Olympia (C 6) sails to France to bring home the Unknown Soldier from World War I. Olympia returns stateside Nov. 9, 1921.

1944 - USS Samuel S. Miles (DE 183) sinks Japanese submarine I-177, 60 miles north-northeast of Angaur, Palau.

1944 - USS Shelton (DE 407) is sunk by Japanese submarine off Morotai Island, Indonesia. During anti-submarine operations, USS Richard M. Rowell (DE 403) accidentally sinks USS Seawolf (SS 197), which is transporting U.S. Army personnel to the east coast of Samar. There are no survivors among the more than 100 crew and passengers.

1955 - USS Saipan (CVL 48) begins disaster relief in Tampico, Mexico, rescuing people and delivering supplies after three consecutive hurricanes struck the area. Operations end Oct. 10, 1955.

1962 - Sigma 7 (Mercury 8) is launched. The mission is piloted by Cmdr. Walter M. Schirra, Jr., and lasts nine hours and 13 minutes. Cmdr. Schirra makes six orbits at an altitude up to 175.8 statute miles at 17,558 mph. Recovery is conducted by USS Kearsarge (CVS 33).

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This Day In United States Naval History - October 4th

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1821 - Lt. Robert F. Stockton sails aboard USS Alligator from Boston to West Africa, to suppress the African slave trade and select and acquire territory to resettle former slaves in their native continent. The land eventually purchased by Stockton and Dr. Eli Ayers of the American Colonization Society becomes the Republic of Liberia.

1943 - TBF and F4F aircraft from VC-9 based onboard USS Card (CVE 11) attack four German submarines -- U-460, U-264, U-422, and U-455 -- north of the Azores. Also on this date, PV 1 aircraft from VB-128 sink German submarine U-336 southwest of Iceland.

1943 - Aircraft from USS Ranger (CV 4) attack convoys in the harbor of Bod, Norway during Operation Leader, sinking German tankers, steamships, and freight barges. This mission is the only Navy carrier operation in northern European waters during World War II. USS Corry (DD 463) provided escort support.

1944 - Pfc. Wesley Phelps, while serving with the First Marines on Peleliu Island, immediately rolls onto a grenade after it is thrown into a foxhole he shares with another Marine, saving his comrade’s life. For his "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity" he is posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.

1976 - USS Jonas Ingram (DD 938) rescues seven survivors of a Finnish motor craft that sank in the Baltic Sea.

1991 - USS Arkansas (CGN 41), USNS Sioux (T-ATF 171), USS Aubrey Fitch (FFG 34) and Helicopter Antisubmarine Squadron 6 (HS 6) rescue personnel on merchant ships in three different rescue operations in the Arabian Sea.

1998 - U.S. and Algerian navies conduct the first bilateral exercise - a search and rescue operation involving USS Mitscher (DDG 57) -- since Algerian independence in 1962.

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This Day In United States Naval History - October 5th

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1863 - Confederate ship David severely damages ironclad steamer New Ironsides with a spar torpedo off Charleston, S.C. Though not sunk, she has to leave the blockade for repairs at Philadelphia, Penn.

1918 - USS Mary Alice (SP 397) is sunk in a collision with USS O-13 (SS 74) in Long Island Sound. There are no casualties.

1942 - PBY aircraft from Commander Aircraft South Pacific sink Japanese submarine 1-22 near Indispensable Strait, Solomon Islands. Also on this date, PBY aircraft from VP-73 sink German submarine U-582 south of Iceland.

1940 - The Organized Naval Reserve is placed on short notice for call to active duty by Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox.

1943 - Task Force 14 (TF 14) performs raids on Wake Island. Rear Adm. Sakaibara Shigematsu then orders the execution of the 98 remaining civilians captured on Dec. 23, 1941 due to his fear they would escape and weaken his garrison.

1945 - Fleet Adm. Chester W. Nimitz is given a parade in his honor through downtown Washington, D.C. at the end of World War II.

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This Day In United States Naval History - October 6th

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1884 - The Naval War College is established at Newport, R.I. when Secretary of the Navy William E. Chandler signs General Order 325.

1943 - During the Battle of Vella Lavella, USS OBannon (DD 450), USS Chevalier (DD 451), and USS Selfridge (DD 357) intercept nine Japanese destroyers en route to Rabaul after evacuating their garrison on Vella Lavella Island. The Japanese escape northbound but the destroyer Yugumo is sunk. All of the U.S. destroyers suffer damage, with Chevalier being scuttled by USS LaVallette (DD 448) after being hit earlier by Yugumo.

1944 - USS Whale (SS 239) sinks the Japanese merchant tanker Akane Maru while under the escort of Japanese Coast Defense Vessel No. 21 west of Balintang Channel, Philippines. USS Seahorse (SS 304) then sinks Coast Defense Vessel No.21 as the ship is rescuing survivors from Akane Maru, 140 miles northwest of Cape Bojeador, Luzon.

1958 - USS Seawolf (SSN 575) completes a record submerged run of 60 days, logging more than 13,700 nautical miles.

1962 - USS Bainbridge (DLGN 25), the first nuclear-powered frigate, is commissioned. In 1964, she is part of Operation Sea Orbit, the first nuclear-powered task group to go on a world cruise without refueling.

1997 - NASA astronaut Cmdr. Wendy B. Lawrence returns from mission STS-86 Atlantis, the seventh mission to rendezvous and dock with the Russian Space Station Mir. The mission began Sept. 25, 1997.

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This Day In United States Naval History - October 7th

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1864 - USS Wachusett rams the Confederate raider CSS Florida in the harbor of Bahia, Brazil. The collision brings down Floridas mast, then Wachusett opens fire. After Floridas surrender, both vessels are fired upon by Brazilian coastal forts as Wachusett tows her prize out to sea.

1924 - The rigid airship Shenandoah (ZR 1), commanded by Lt. Cmdr. Zachary Lansdowne, begins a roundtrip transcontinental cruise from NAS Lakehurst, NJ. The airship returns 25 Oct. having covered 9,317 miles in 258 hours of flight.

1944 - USS Hawkbill (SS 366) and USS Baya (SS 318) attack a Japanese convoy and sink the Japanese cargo ship Kinugasa Maru about 400 miles west of Manila, while USS Cabrilla (SS 288) sinks Japanese transport No.8 Shinyo Maru off Vigan, Luzon.

1944 - USS Greenling (SS 213) sinks the Japanese transport No 8 Kiri Maru and the merchant tanker Kotai Maru.

1955 - USS X-1, the Navy's only midget submarine, is placed into service and conducts numerous scientific tests for the Naval Research Laboratory.

1975 - President Gerald Ford signs Public Law 94-106, allowing admission of women into service academies.

1985 - Palestinian terrorists hijack Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro. On 10 Oct. four of the terrorists attempted to escape aboard an Egypt Air Boeing 737 airliner, but F‑14As from VF-74 and VF -103 are launched from USS Saratoga (CV 60) and intercepted the aircraft over international waters directing it to NAS Sigonella, Sicily.

2001 - Operation Enduring Freedom begins with carrier air strikes and ship and submarine Tomahawk strikes in Afghanistan.

2017 - The Virginia-class fast attack submarine USS Washington (SSN 787) is commissioned in a ceremony at Naval Station Norfolk. Washington, named in honor of the 42nd state, is the 14th Virginia-class, fast-attack submarine to join the Navy's operational fleet.

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This Day In United States Naval History - October 8th

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1812 - During the War of 1812, a boat party under Lt. Jesse D. Elliott captures HMS Detroit and Caledonia at Fort Erie in a night attack. Detroit is burned and Caledonia is purchased by the U.S. Navy in 1813 and placed in commission as USS Caledonia.

1842 - Commodore Lawrence Kearny, commanding the East Indian Squadron, sends a letter to the Viceroy of China urging American merchants in China be granted the same treaty privileges as the British. As a result of his letter, Chinese ports are opened to American ships. These agreements are formalized by Caleb Cushing in the Treaty of Wangxia in 1844.

1915 - Light cruiser Chester (CL 1) transports British, French, and Russian refugees to Alexandria in Egypt from Jaffa, Israel.

1943 - USS Guardfish (SS 217) sinks Japanese army cargo ship Kashu Maru north-northwest of the Admiralty Islands while USS Gurnard (SS 254) sinks the Japanese army cargo ship Taian Maru and transport ship Dainichi Maru off the northern tip of Luzon.

1955 - The sixth USS Saratoga (CV 60) is launched. In 1972, she is reclassified as a multi-purpose aircraft carrier and receives the designation (CV-60). After nearly 40 years in service, Saratoga is decommissioned in 1994.

1960 - The third USS Constellation (CVA 64) is launched. In 1975, she is reclassified as a multi-purpose aircraft carrier and receives the designation (CV 64). In 2003, Constellation is decommissioned.

1990 - Two Marine UH‑1N Iroquois disappear with eight men during routine night training operations from the amphibious assault ship USS Okinawa (LPH 3) in the Gulf of Oman.

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This Day In United States Naval History - October 9th

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1814 - Sloop of war USS Wasp informs crew on the Swedish brig Adonis that she is headed to the Caribbean but is never seen again, with all hands lost.

1873 - Lt. Charles Belknap calls a meeting of 15 officers at the U.S. Naval Academy to establish the U.S. Naval Institute for the purpose of disseminating scientific and professional knowledge throughout the Navy.

1918 - While escorting the British transport ship HMS Aquitania, USS Shaw's (DD 68) rudder jams just as she is completing the right leg of a zigzag, leaving her headed directly toward the transport. Aquitania then strikes Shaw, cutting off 90 feet of the destroyer's bow, mangling her bridge and setting her on fire. Shaw's crew brings her under control, though 12 lives are lost.

1940 - Secretary of the Navy William F. Knox approves recommendation to equip 24 submarines with gasoline for delivery to seaplanes on the water. The move followed a demonstration in which submarine Nautilus (SS 168) refueled patrol planes and conducted successful test dive to 300 feet with aviation gasoline aboard.

1942 - The first three schools for enlisted WAVES open at Stillwater, Okla. (Yeoman), Bloomington, Ind. (Storekeepers), and Madison, Wis. (Radiomen).

1943 - USS Buck (DD 420) sinks after being torpedoed by German submarine U 616. Spotted by friendly aircraft the next morning, 97 survivors are rescued by USS Gleaves (DD 423) and the British LCT-170 the following evening.

1943 - USS Kingfish (SS 234) torpedoes and sinks Japanese oiler Hayamato in Sibitu Channel. Also on this date, USS Rasher (SS 269) sinks Japanese army cargo ship Kogane Maru 28 miles from Ambon, while USS Wahoo (SS 238) sinks Japanese cargo ship Hankow Maru off Oga Peninsula.

1945 - Typhoon Louise hits Okinawa, sinking 12 ships, grounding 222 and damaging 32 beyond the ability of ships companies to repair.

1952 - Carrier aircraft strike communist troops along the front lines in the Korean Peninsula. Naval aviators referred to these raids as "Cherokee strikes” in recognition of the Native American ancestry of Commander Seventh Fleet Vice Adm. Joseph J. Clark.

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This Day In United States Naval History - October 10th

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1845 - The Naval School, now known as the Naval Academy, opens in Annapolis, Md. with 50 midshipmen and seven professors. The first superintendent, Cmdr. Franklin Buchanan, later becomes an admiral in the Confederate Navy and commands the Confederate forces at Mobile Bay, Ala.

1860 - USS San Jacinto, commanded by Capt. T.A. Dorwin, captures the slave ship Bonito in the South Atlantic with about 622 slaves onboard. Bonito is then taken into naval service.

1923 - The first American-built rigid airship USS Shenandoah (ZR 1), powered by helium gas instead of hydrogen, is christened at Naval Air Station Lakehurst, N.J. On Sept. 3, 1925, USS Shenandoah encounters violent weather over southern Ohio and breaks up. Fourteen of her crew lose their lives in this tragedy.

1943 - USS Bonefish (SS 223) sinks the Japanese army cargo ship Isuzugawa Maru and merchant transport Teibi Maru off Cam Ranh Bay, French Indochina.

1955 - Following a week of disaster relief operations in the wake of Hurricane Hilda, USS Saipan (CVL 48), with HTU-1 embarked, sails from Tampico, Mexico. Helicopters flying from the ship rescue 5,439 people and deliver 183,017 pounds of food and medical supplies.

1985 - Navy F-14's launch from USS Saratoga (CV 60), intercept an Egyptian 737 airliner over international waters, and direct it to Sigonella, Sicily. The airliner was carrying four Middle Eastern terrorists who hijacked the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro Oct. 7 and murdered a U.S. citizen. The hijackers are taken into custody.

2005 - A 7.6 magnitude earthquake near the Indo-Pakistani border kills more than 73,000 people and renders nearly three million homeless. USS Tarawa (LHA 1) Expeditionary Strike Group Commander, Rear Adm. Michael A. LeFever, coordinates the operations of the Disaster Assistance Center at Islamabad, Pakistan. Through 13 Feb., U.S. and allied aircraft fly more than 4,000 missions, deliver over 11,000 tons of supplies, and transport more than 18,000 people.

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This Day In United States Naval History - October 11th

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1776 - Brig. Gen. Benedict Arnolds 17-ship flotilla is defeated in three long and separate actions at the Battle of Valcour Island on Lake Champlain as they engage 25 ships under Capt. Thomas Pringle. Though defeated, the battle delays the British advance and causes it to fall back into winter quarters. It is nearly a year before the advance is renewed.

1841 - Abel P. Upshur becomes the 13th Secretary of the Navy, serving until July 1843. Among his achievements are the replacement of the old Board of Navy Commissioners with the bureau system, regularization of the officer corps, increased Navy appropriations, construction of new sailing and steam warships, and the establishment of the Naval Observatory and Hydrographic Office.

1933 - The rigid airship Macon (ZRS 5) departs NAS Lakehurst, NJ, for her new home on the West Coast at NAS Sunnyvale, CA. The airship followed the Atlantic coast down to Macon, GA, and turned westward over the southern route. The craft arrived at Sunnyvale on the afternoon of 15 Oct., completing the 2,500-mile nonstop flight in approximately 70 hours.

1940 - Rear Adm. Harold G. Bowen, the technical aid to the Secretary of the Navy, proposes a program for the development of radio ranging equipment (radar). This formed the basis for the Navy’s prewar radar development effort, which included an airborne radar for surface search in addition to identification equipment and ship‑based radar.

1942 - A cruiser-destroyer task force led by Rear Adm. Norman Scott intercepts a similar Japanese Navy unit. In the resulting Battle of Cape Esperance, the Japanese lose the heavy cruiser Furutaka and destroyer Fubuki, with two more destroyers sunk by American air attacks the next day. The destroyer Duncan (DD 485) is the only loss from Scott's Task Force 64. This victory is the U.S. Navy's first of the Guadalcanal Campaign.

1944 - USS Tang (SS 306) sinks Japanese freighters Joshu Go and Oita Maru in the Formosa Strait. Also on this date, USS Trepang (SS 412), in an attack on a Japanese convoy south of Honshu, sinks landing ship T.105 about 105 miles southwest of Tokyo Bay.

1956 - An R6D-1 from VR-6 on scheduled Military Air Transport Service flight from Lakenheath, England, to Lajes, Azores, disappears over the Atlantic with nine crewmembers and 50 passengers aboard. Ships and aircraft searched during the following 14 days and find debris from the Liftmaster, but fail to locate survivors.

1968 - Apollo 7 is launched. The first U.S. three-man space mission is commanded by Navy Cmdr. Walter Schirra, Jr. Donn F. Eisele is the command module pilot and Marine Corps Maj. Ronnie Cunningham serves as lunar module pilot. The mission lasts 10 days and 20 hours with 163 orbits. Recovery is facilitated by HS-5 helicopters from USS Essex (CVS 9).

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This Day In United States Naval History - October 12th

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1800 - American frigate Boston captures French frigate Le Berceau, one of the French ships that was plaguing the American coast during the Quasi-War with France. After a bloody engagement, Boston brings her prize back to the United States. Though condemned as a legitimate prize of war and sold to the United States government, Le Berceau is returned to France under the terms of the Treaty of Mortefontaine, concluded about two weeks before her capture.

1914 - USS Jupiter (AC 3) is the first U.S. Navy ship to transit the Panama Canal. In March 1920, Jupiter is decommissioned. Following conversion, she is renamed USS Langley (CV 1). Upon commissioning in March 1922, Langley becomes the U.S. Navy's first aircraft carrier.

1940 - USS Wasp (CV 7) launches 24 Army Curtiss P-40 Warhawks from the 8th Pursuit Group and North American O-47s from the 3rd Observation Squadron off the Virginia Capes, marking the first launches of Army aircraft from U.S. carrier.

1942 - Scout dive bombers from VS-71 sink the Japanese destroyer Natsugumo off Savo Island. Also on this date, torpedo bombers from VT-8, Navy and Marine Corps SBDs from VS-3, VS-71, and VMSB-141 and F4F Wildcats from VMF-121, VMF-212, and VMF-224 damage Japanese destroyer Murakumo off New Georgia as she is helping survivors at the Battle of Cape Esperance. She is later scuttled by Japanese destroyer Shirayuki.

1965 - Project SEALAB II concludes. During this project, teams of Navy divers and scientists spent 15 days each in SEALAB II moored 205 ft. below the surface near La Jolla, Calif.

1980 - USS Guadalcanal (LPH 7) and other ships of Amphibious Forces, Sixth Fleet bring assistance to earthquake victims in Al Asnam, Algeria.

2000 - USS Cole (DDG 67) is attacked by terrorists in a small boat laden with explosives during a brief refueling stop in the harbor of Aden, Yemen. The suicide terrorist attack kills 17 members of the ship's crew, wounds 39 others, and seriously damages the ship.

[gillan1220]

Oct 12, 2020 2:50:31 GMT lordroel said:

2000 - USS Cole (DDG 67) is attacked by terrorists in a small boat laden with explosives during a brief refueling stop in the harbor of Aden, Yemen. The suicide terrorist attack kills 17 members of the ship's crew, wounds 39 others, and seriously damages the ship.

Naval Station Norfolk to honor the 17 lost from the USS Cole with Remembrance Ceremony

[lordroel]

This Day In United States Naval History - October 13th

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1775 - The Continental Congress votes for two vessels to be fitted out and armed with 10 carriage guns, a proportional number of swivel guns, and crews of 80 then sent out on a cruise of three months to intercept transports carrying munitions and stores to the British army in America. This legislation, out of which the Continental Navy grew, constitutes the birth of the U.S. Navy.

1862 - The Union yacht America seizes schooner David Crockett attempting to run the blockade out of Charleston with a cargo of turpentine and rosin.

1864 - Union bark Braziliera and screw-steamer Mary Sanford, both with the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, send out a boat expedition that frees a number of slaves from a plantation on White Oak Creek, Ga.

1941 - The Bureau of Aeronautics directed the painting of all fleet aircraft non-specular light gray, except for surfaces seen from above, which were to be blue gray. Beginning in late December, this color scheme extended to shore-based airplanes, except trainers.

1944 - TBF (VC 9) aircraft of escort carrier USS Card (CVE 11) sink the German submarine U-402, which had previously sunk 15 Allied vessels, including USS Cythera (PY 26).

[gillan1220]

Oct 13, 2020 2:47:26 GMT lordroel said:

1775 - The Continental Congress votes for two vessels to be fitted out and armed with 10 carriage guns, a proportional number of swivel guns, and crews of 80 then sent out on a cruise of three months to intercept transports carrying munitions and stores to the British army in America. This legislation, out of which the Continental Navy grew, constitutes the birth of the U.S. Navy.

245 years. Blue water navy with humble beginnings.

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