This Day In United States Naval History

[lordroel]

This Day In United States Naval History - October 28th

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1812 - During the War of 1812, the brig Argus, commanded by Commodore Arthur Sinclair, captures the British merchant brig Fly in the North Atlantic.

1882 - Orders are issued for the first Naval Attache, Lt. Cmdr. French E. Chadwick, to be sent to London.

1943 - Lt. Franklin M. Murray, in a TBF Avenger, and Ensign Gerald L. Handshuh, in an FM-2 Wildcat, from Composite Squadron (VC) 1 on USS Block Island (CVE 21), sink German submarine U-220 east of Newfoundland.

1944 - USS Gleaves (DD 423), while operating off the Franco-Italian coast, bombards German troop concentrations, barracks, and gun emplacements. Enemy shore fire at the destroyer is inaccurate, but Gleaves achieves excellent return fire results.

1952 - The XA3D-1 bomber designed to carry nuclear weapons made its first flight. Skywarriors also later served in reconnaissance, electronic warfare, and tanker configurations.

[lordroel]

This Day In United States Naval History - October 29th

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1814 - The first steam-powered U.S. Navy warship, Fulton, launches at New York City. Commissioned in June 1816, she carries President James Monroe on a day cruise in New York Harbor a year later.

1942 - PBY-5 Catalinas from Patrol Squadron (VP) 11 sink Japanese submarine I 172.

1956 - The 6th Fleet is ordered to evacuate U.S. nationals during the Suez Canal Crisis. Some of the ships involved are USS Coral Sea (CVA 43), USS Randolph (CVA 15), USS Antietam (CVA 36), and a series of support vessels. By Nov. 3, approximately 2,000 people are evacuated.

1980 - USS Parsons (DDG 33) rescues 110 Vietnamese refugees 330 miles south of Saigon.

1989 - A developmental prototype of the advanced capability version of the EA‑6B Prowler makes its first flight.

2002 - Commander Central Command Gen. Tommy R. Franks, USA, announces the impending deployment of 700 to 800 Marines to Djibouti as part of Combined Joint Task Force–Horn of Africa.

2011 - Virginia class submarine USS California (SSN 781) is commissioned at Norfolk, Va.

[lordroel]

This Day In United States Naval History - October 30th

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1799 - William Balch becomes the U.S. Navy's first commissioned chaplain.

1863 - The wooden side-wheel steam ship Vanderbilt captures the bark Saxon, which was suspected of having rendezvoused with and taken cargo from CSS Tuscaloosa at Angra Pequena, Africa.

1941 - The oiler USS Salinas (AO 19) is torpedoed near Newfoundland by German submarine U-106. Without loss of life to Salinas crew, the vessel returns to New York for repairs.

1944 - USS Argus (PY 14) rescues all survivors of the U.S. freighter John A. Johnson, which was sunk by Japanese submarine I-12 the previous day, north of Oahu.

1944 - USS Franklin (CV 13) and USS Belleau Wood (CVL 24) are hit by a Japanese kamikaze near the Philippines. The attack on Franklin kills 56 of her crew and the attack on Belleau Wood sees 92 of her crew killed or missing. Both ships return to the U.S. for repairs.

1979 - An F/A-18 makes the first landing of a Hornet at sea aboard USS America (CV 66). The plane completed 32 catapult and arrested landings during five days of sea trials.

1989 - An F/A 18A Hornet operating from USS Midway (CV 41) accidentally drops a 500-pound bomb on cruiser USS Reeves (CG 24), which wounds five sailors during night bombing exercises 32 miles south of Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territory.

[lordroel]

This Day In United States Naval History - October 31st

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1803 - The frigate Philadelphia runs aground near Tripoli while pursuing an enemy vessel in shallow water. As a result, the Tripolitans send a large gunboat force and attack Philadelphia. Stuck fast and listing, she is defenseless and Capt. William Bainbridge surrenders. Under Commodore Edward Prebles orders, Lt. Stephen Decatur leads a mission to burn Philadelphia early the following year.

1941 - German submarine U-562 sinks USS Reuben James (DD 245) as she escorted Convoy HX 156, killing 115 of her crew. Reuben James is the first U.S. ship lost to enemy action in World War II.

1956 - The U.S. Navy lands seven men in an R4D Skytrain on the ice at the South Pole. They are the first men to stand on the South Pole since Capt. Robert F. Scott in 1912.

1966 - While serving as boat captain and patrol officer on board River Patrol Boat (PBR) 105 in Vietnam, Boatswains Mate 1st Class James E. Williams and his crew are taken under fire, facing a superior number of enemy vessels. Williams leads his men to sink 65 enemy craft and inflict numerous casualties among the enemy. He is awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions. USS James E. Williams (DDG 95) is named in his honor.

1972 - While participating in a daring operation against enemy forces in the Republic of Vietnam, Engineman 1st Class Michael E. Thornton and Lt. Thomas R. Norris come under fire from a numerically superior force. Calling in for support and engaging the enemy, Norris is wounded by enemy fire. Learning that his lieutenant is down, Thornton bravely rushes through a hail of fire, fights off two enemy soldiers, and succeeds in removing Norris. Inflating Norris lifejacket, Thornton then tows him seaward for approximately two hours until they are picked up by support craft. Thornton is later awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions.

[stevep]

Oct 31, 2020 8:48:28 GMT lordroel said:

This Day In United States Naval History - October 31st

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1803 - The frigate Philadelphia runs aground near Tripoli while pursuing an enemy vessel in shallow water. As a result, the Tripolitans send a large gunboat force and attack Philadelphia. Stuck fast and listing, she is defenseless and Capt. William Bainbridge surrenders. Under Commodore Edward Prebles orders, Lt. Stephen Decatur leads a mission to burn Philadelphia early the following year.

1941 - German submarine U-562 sinks USS Reuben James (DD 245) as she escorted Convoy HX 156, killing 115 of her crew. Reuben James is the first U.S. ship lost to enemy action in World War II.

1956 - The U.S. Navy lands seven men in an R4D Skytrain on the ice at the South Pole. They are the first men to stand on the South Pole since Capt. Robert F. Scott in 1912.

1966 - While serving as boat captain and patrol officer on board River Patrol Boat (PBR) 105 in Vietnam, Boatswains Mate 1st Class James E. Williams and his crew are taken under fire, facing a superior number of enemy vessels. Williams leads his men to sink 65 enemy craft and inflict numerous casualties among the enemy. He is awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions. USS James E. Williams (DDG 95) is named in his honor.

1972 - While participating in a daring operation against enemy forces in the Republic of Vietnam, Engineman 1st Class Michael E. Thornton and Lt. Thomas R. Norris come under fire from a numerically superior force. Calling in for support and engaging the enemy, Norris is wounded by enemy fire. Learning that his lieutenant is down, Thornton bravely rushes through a hail of fire, fights off two enemy soldiers, and succeeds in removing Norris. Inflating Norris lifejacket, Thornton then tows him seaward for approximately two hours until they are picked up by support craft. Thornton is later awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions.

  Interesting that after Amundsen and Scott in 1912 no one else reached the south pole until 1956.  Probably once the initial 'discovery' had been done there was no great incentive to return plus there were a couple of world wars interrupting things.  Know there was the Shackleton Expedition that was ended when the ship was crushed in the ice.  Checking History_of_Antarctica, there was another expedition by Shackleton post WWI which was curtained by his death and after that mostly exploration was by air and it was only in the 1958 Commonwealth Expedition that the pole was reached by land, the mission crossing the continent from one side to another.

[lordroel]

This Day In United States Naval History - November 1st

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1777 - During the American Revolution, the Continental sloop Ranger, commanded by Capt. John Paul Jones, departs for France carrying dispatches British Gen. John Burgoyne's surrender in the Saratoga, N.Y., campaign. The news helps solidify Frances support of the patriots. During the voyage, Ranger captures two British prizes, Mary and George, and sends them to France.

1841 - The "Mosquito Fleet", commanded by Lt. Cmdr. J. T. McLaughlin, carries 750 Sailors and Marines into the Everglades to fight the Seminole Indians.

1864 - CSS Chickamauga, commanded by Lt. John Wilkinson, captures schooners Goodspeed and Otter Rock off the northeast coast of the United States.

1941 - President Franklin D. Roosevelts Executive Order 8929 transfers the U.S. Coast Guard to Navy Department control for the duration of a national emergency in order to perform anti-submarine patrols and escort high-value convoys.

1943 - USS Borie (DD 215) rams and sinks the German submarine U-405 in the Atlantic. As a result from the ramming, she is so badly damaged that she is scuttled the following day after a failed attempt to tow her to port. Twenty-seven crewmen lose their lives in this engagement.

1944 - USS Blackfin (SS 322) attacks a Japanese convoy and sinks auxiliary vessel Caroline Maru and transport No.12 Unkai Maru in Mindoro Strait. Meanwhile, USS Ray (SS 271) sinks the Japanese merchant tanker No.7 Horai Maru and lands a party of three men, together with two tons of supplies, at Mamburao on the west coast of Mindoro.

1952 - During the Korean War, USS Vammen (DE 644) is taken under fire by an estimated 105 mm gun in the vicinity of Sinuong. One man is wounded by a shell fragment, but there is no material damage.

[lordroel]

This Day In United States Naval History - November 2nd

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1864 - During the Civil War, Union paddle-wheelers Key West and Tawah encounter transports Undine and Venus, which the Confederates captured three days earlier on the Tennessee River. After a heated running engagement, Venus is retaken. Undine is badly damaged but manages to escape and gains the protection of Confederate batteries at Reynoldsburg Island, near Johnsonville, Tenn.

1899 - The protected cruiser Charleston runs aground on an uncharted reef near Camiguin Island north of Luzon. Wrecked beyond salvage, she is abandoned by her crew who make camp on a nearby island.

1943 - In the Battle of Empress Augusta Bay, U.S. cruisers and destroyers of Task Force 39, commanded by Rear Adm. Aaron S. Merrill, turn back Japanese forces as they try to attack invasion shipping off Bougainville. This action, with its successful use of radar to manage U.S. forces, marks the end of Japan's previous advantage in night engagement.

1943 - USS Halibut (SS 232), USS Seahorse (SS 304), and USS Trigger (SS 237), all operating independently of each other, attack a Japanese convoy south of Honshu and sink five enemy vessels.

1952 - Aircraft from USS Bon Homme Richard (CVA 31) and USS Oriskany (CVA 34) attack targets in the city of Pyongyang in the first of three major strikes against that city during a five day period.

[lordroel]

This Day In United States Naval History - November 3rd

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1853 - The frigate Constitution, as the flagship of the African Squadron under the command of Commodore Isaac Mayo, captures American slaver the schooner H. N. Gambrill, 60 miles south of Congo River. This capture is Constitution's last prize.

1865 - Following the Civil War, Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles orders all naval vessels to resume rendering honors when entering British ports and exchange official courtesies with English men of war.

1931 - The dirigible USS Akron (ZRS 4) makes a 10-hour flight out of NAS Lakehurst, N.J. carrying 207 people and establishes a new record for the number of passengers carried into the air by a single craft.

1943 - PB4Y's sink the Japanese stores ship Minato Mau 19 miles off Ocean Island.

1943 - The battleship USS Oklahoma (BB 37) is refloated following months of laborious effort after being sunk during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor Dec. 7, 1941. Too old and badly damaged to be worth returning to service, Oklahoma is formally decommissioned in September 1944.

1944 - USS Gurnard (SS 254) attacks a Japanese convoy and sinks the Japanese freighter Taimei Maru west of the Labaun, Borneo while USS Pintado (SS 387) attacks a small detachment of Japanese warships and sinks the destroyer Akikaze west of the Lingayen Gulf.

1961 - After Hurricane Hattie, helicopters from USS Antietam (CV 36) begin relief operations at British Honduras providing medical personnel, medical supplies, general supplies, and water.

2006 - NAS Keflavik, Iceland, is disestablished, marking the conclusion of 45 years of Navy control.

[lordroel]

This Day In United States Naval History - November 4th

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1923 - Lt. Alford J. Williams, flying an R2C-1 equipped with a Curtiss D-12 engine, raises the world speed record to 266.59 mph at Mitchel Field, Long Island, N.Y., beating the record set by Lt. Harold J. Brow only two days before.

1955 - Gioconda R. Saraneiro becomes the first appointed female captain in the U.S. Navy Medical Corps. Initially appointed a lieutenant junior grade in the WAVES during World War II in 1943, she left the Navy to teach and start a private practice. She returned to the Navy in 1949 and retired in June 1966. Capt. Saraneiro died in 1983.

1966 - Eight men are killed when a flash fire erupts in a storage compartment containing paint, oil, and hydraulic fluid four decks below the hangar deck aboard USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CVA 42) while the ship launches strikes from the South China Sea over North Vietnam.

1967 - Landing craft from USS Navarro (APA 215) rescues 43 men from British SS Habib Marikar, which ran aground on a reef at Lincoln Island in the Tonkin Gulf.

1971 - USS Nathanael Greene (SSBN 636) launches a Poseidon C-3 Missile in the first surface launch of the weapon.

[lordroel]

This Day In United States Naval History - November 5th

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1775 - Commodore Esek Hopkins is appointed Commander in Chief of the Continental Navy. Early in 1778, he is dismissed from his position due to dissatisfaction with his service but remains popular in his local community, serving in the Rhode Island legislature.

1915 - Lt. Cmdr. Henry C. Mustin, in an AB-2 flying boat, makes the first underway catapult launch from a ship, USS North Carolina (ACR 12) at Pensacola Bay, Fla. This experimental work leads to the use of catapults on battleships and cruisers through World War II and to the steam catapults on present-day aircraft carriers.

1917
While escorting a convoy en route to Brest, France, USS Alcedo (SP 166) is torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine UC-71. Twenty-one crewmembers are lost with the ship.

1943 - PB4Ys from Patrol Bombing Squadron VB-107 and U.S. Army Air Forces B-25s sink the German submarine U-848 480 miles southwest of Ascension Island.

1944 - Aircraft from USS Essex (CV 9), as part of Vice Adm. John S. McCain's Task Force 38's two day carrier strikes in the Philippines, sink the Japanese cruiser Nachi in Manila Bay.

1945 - Ensign Jake C. West, embarked with VF-51 on board USS Wake Island (CVE 65) for carrier qualifications with the FR-1 aircraft, loses power on the forward radial engine shortly after taking off, forcing him to start his rear engine. Returning to his ship, he makes a successful landing, thus becoming the first jet landing on board an aircraft carrier.

1986 - Three navy ships, USS Reeves (CG 24), USS Oldendorf (DD 972), and USS Rentz (FFG 46) visit China for the first time in 37 years. Embarked on the Reeves is the Commander and Chief of the U.S. Pacific fleet.

2007 - Amphibious assault ship Tarawa (LHA 1), with Marines of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit embarked, sails on her 14th and final deployment from San Diego, CA. The ship supports Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom, visits four continents, and provides humanitarian relief to people in Bangladesh and Djibouti. Tarawa returns June 2008, and is decommissioned after 32 years of service on March 31, 2009.

2010 - Fleet Weather Center San Diego is established at NAS North Island, CA. This completed the relocation of Naval Aviation Forecasting Detachment San Diego, Strike Group Oceanography Team San Diego, and Naval Maritime Forecast Center to the command.

[lordroel]

This Day In United States Naval History - November 6th

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1851 - The U.S. Navy expedition under Lt. William L. Herndon, which was exploring the Amazon valley and its tributaries, reaches Iquitos in the jungle region of the upper Amazon. The expedition covers 4,366 miles from Lima, Peru to Para, Brazil.

1941 - USS Omaha (CL 4) and USS Somers (DD 381) intercept the German blockade runner Odenwald disguised as a U.S. freighter and board her after the German crew abandon the ship. They bring the ship to San Juan, Puerto Rico, where the boarding party is awarded salvage shares.

1942 - The first officer and enlisted WAVES from training schools report for shore duty at installations around the United States.

1951 - A P2V-3 Neptune patrol bomber assigned to Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron One (VQ-1) is attacked by two Soviet La-2 fighters over the Sea of Japan, about 18 miles from the Soviet coast near Vladivostok. All 10 crewmen are lost. Three days of search and rescue operations revealed no trace of them and they are declared deceased by the Navy in 1952.

1967 - Helicopters from USS Coral Sea (CVA 43) rescue the 37-man crew of Liberian freighter Royal Fortunes after she runs aground on a reef in the Gulf of Tonkin.

1967 - Pilot Cmdr. Joseph P. Smolinski and copilot Cmdr. George A. Surovik of VP-40 complete the last operational flight by seaplanes of the U.S. Navy in an SP-5B Marlin at NAS North Island, CA.

[lordroel]

This Day In United States Naval History - November 7th

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1861 - The U.S. Naval force under Rear Adm. Samuel F. DuPont capture Port Royal Sound, S.C. During battle, DuPont's ships steam in boldly and the naval gunners pour a withering fire into the defending forts Walker and Beauregard with extreme accuracy. Marines and sailors land to occupy the forts until turned over to Army troops under Gen. T. W. Sherman.

1881 - The Naval Advisory Board submit their report to Secretary of the Navy William H. Hunt recommends new ships in the U.S. Navy be constructed of steel instead of iron, resulting in the A, B, C, D ships.

1944 - USS Albacore (SS 218) is sunk by a mine off the northern tip of Honshu. All hands are lost.

1971 - Seabees of from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 4 arrives at its homeport of Port Hueneme. This was the last full battalion to depart from the Republic of Vietnam. The departure marks the end of a significant chapter in the Seabee effort in Vietnam. An effort which began at Chu Lai in 1965 and resulted in the construction of approximately $200 million worth of facilities in support of U.S. forces.

1973 - The War Powers Resolution becomes law. The law requires the president to notify Congress within 48 hours of committing armed forces to military action and forbids armed forces from remaining for more than 60 days, with a further 30 day withdrawal period, without an authorization of the use of military force or a declaration of war.

2009 - Amphibious transport dock ship USS New York (LPD 21) is commissioned at New York City, New York.

[lordroel]

This Day In United States Naval History - November 8th

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1861 - During the Civil War, Capt. Charles Wilkes, commanding the warship San Jacinto, seizes two Confederate diplomats from the British steamer Trent, causing an international controversy with Great Britain known as the Trent Affair.

1942 - In Operation Torch, American and British forces land in Morocco and Algeria. The U.S. Navy sees most of its action around Casablanca and elsewhere on Morocco's Atlantic coast. This ambitious trans-oceanic amphibious operation gives the Allies bases for future operations. In six more months, all of North Africa is cleared of Axis forces, opening the way for an invasion of Italy.

1943 - USS Bluefish (SS 222) sinks the Japanese army tanker Kyokeui Maru in the South China Sea off the northwest coast of Luzon while USS Rasher (SS 269) sinks the Japanese merchant tanker Tango Maru in Makassar Strait and survives counterattacks by auxiliary submarine chaser Cha 41.

1956 - Navy Stratolab balloon, piloted by Lt. Cmdr. Malcolm D. Ross and Lt. Cmdr. M. Lee Lewis, surpasses the world height record by soaring to 76,000 ft. over Black Hills, S.D. The flight gathers meteorological, cosmic ray, and other scientific data. For this record ascent, the men are awarded the 1957 Harmon International Trophy for Aeronauts.

1975 - More than 100 Sailors and Marines from USS Inchon (LPH 12) and USS Shreveport (LPD 12) fight a fire aboard a Spanish merchant vessel at Palma.

1985 - In a change of tradition, the rank of Commodore is changed to Rear Adm. Lower Half. The rank of Commodore had been in use since the beginning of the United States Navy.

1990 - President George H. W. Bush announces decision to double the number of carrier battle groups deployed in support of Operation Desert Shield. By Jan. 15, 1991, USS Ranger (CV 61), USS America (CV 66), and USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) were to join USS Midway (CV 41), USS Saratoga (CV 60), and USS John F. Kennedy (CV 67).

1991 - USS Lexington (AVT 16) is decommissioned at NAS Pensacola, FL. She was commissioned on Feb. 17, 1943.

[lordroel]

This Day In United States Naval History - November 9th

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1822 - The brig Alligator, commanded by Lt. William H. Allen, recaptures several merchant ships from pirates off Matanzas, Cuba, but Allen dies in battle. Boats from Alligator capture all the pirate vessels except one schooner that manages to escape.

1863 - During the Civil War, the side wheel steamer James Adger, commanded by Cmdr. Thomas H. Patterson, captures blockade runner Robert E. Lee off Cape Lookout, Shoals, N.C.

1921 - USS Olympia (C 6) arrives at the Washington Navy Yard from France carrying the body of the Unknown Soldier of World War I for internment at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Va.

1944 - USS Barbero (SS 317) attacks a Japanese convoy and sinks the merchant ship Shimotsu Maru about 250 miles west of Manila while USS Queenfish (SS 393) also attacks a Japanese convoy and sinks the gunboat Chojusan Maru about 50 miles west of Kyushu. Additionally on this date, USS Haddo (SS 255) sinks the Japanese tanker No.2 Hishu Maru in Mindoro Strait.

1950 - Task Force 77 makes its first attack on the Yalu River bridges. In the first engagement between MIG-15 and F9F jets, Lt. Cmdr. William T. Amen, commanding officer of VF-111, based on board USS Philippine Sea (CV 47), shoots down a MiG and becomes the first Navy pilot to shoot down a jet aircraft.

1956 - Secretary of the Navy Charles S. Thomas proposes the Polaris missile program to Secretary of Defense Charles E. Wilson.

[lordroel]

This Day In United States Naval History - November 10th

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1775 - Congress votes to raise two battalions of Continental Marines, establishing the Marine Corps.

1863 - During the Civil War, CSS Alabama captures and burns clipper ship Winged Racer carrying a cargo of sugar, hides, and jute in the Straits of Sunda off Java.

1943 - PB4Y-1 patrol bombers from VB-103, VB-105, and VB-110, along with British aircraft, sink the German submarine U-966 in the Bay of Biscay off northwest Spain. Spanish fishing trawlers rescue the survivors.

1958 - The first permanent Marine aviation detachment afloat is activated aboard USS Boxer (CVS 21) to provide supply, maintenance, and flight deck control functions necessary to support the operations of Marine helicopter squadrons.

1959 - USS Triton (SSRN 586) is commissioned as a nuclear-powered radar picket submarine.