This Day In United States Naval History

This Day In United States Naval History - June 27th

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1861 - While commanding a gunboat flotilla, Cmdr. James Harmon Ward is mortally wounded by a musket ball while aiming the bow gun of his flagship, USS Thomas Freeborn at Mathias Point, Va. Ward is the first US Naval officer casualty of the Civil War.

1898 - During the Spanish-American War, the 301-ton yacht Hornet captures the Spanish steamer Benito Estenger off Cape Cruz, Cuba.

1916 - At the Battle of Los Trencheros during the Dominican Campaign in the Dominican Republic, the Fourth Marine Regiment withstands an attack by Dominican insurgent forces.

1945 - PV-1 (VPB 142) sinks the Japanese submarine I 165, 450 miles east of Saipan, Mariana Islands.

1945 - USS Blueback (SS 326) sinks Imperial Japanese Navy submarine chaser, (CH 2), north of Lombok, Java Sea.

1950 - President Harry Truman authorizes U.S. Naval and Air operations south of 38th Parallel, Korea, in support of the U.N. call to assist South Korea.

This Day In United States Naval History - June 29th

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1860 - The steamer USS Mystic, commanded by William E. LeRoy, captures the slaver, Thomas Achorn at Kabenda, Africa and send her to New York.

1862 - During the Civil War, the steam sloop USS Susquehanna, commanded by Cmdr. R.B. Hitchcock, captures the blockade-running British steamer HMS Anna near Mobile, Ala.

1871 - Capt. Charles F. Halls arctic expedition sails from New York on USS Polaris. Aiming for the North Pole, USS Polaris reaches 82X 11 N, 61X W. latitude, then the furthest point north reached by a vessel.

1944 - USS Darter (SS 227) sinks the Japanese minelayer Tsugaru in the Dutch East Indies.

1950 - USS Juneau (CLAA 119) and USS De Haven (DD 727) fire the first naval shore bombardment of the Korean War in the vicinity of Samchock, Korea.

This Day In United States Naval History - July 1st

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1801 - Commodore Richard Dale's squadron arrives at Gibraltar for the protection of American interests and to strike at the Barbary Pirates in the Mediterranean. Squadron ships were USS President, USS Philadelphia, USS Essex, and USS Enterprise.

1850 - The Naval School at Annapolis, Md., is renamed the U.S. Naval Academy and adopts a four-year course of study. Also on this date, Commander Cornelius K. Stribling becomes the first Superintendent of the Naval Academy and serves until the fall of 1853.

1911 - Designer Glenn Curtiss makes the first flight in the Navys first aircraft, Curtiss A 1, at Lake Keuka, NY, and prepares Lt. Theodore G. Ellyson, the first Naval Aviator, for his two A 1 solo flights.

1918 - USS Covington (No. 1409), is torpedoed by German submarine (U 86) and sinks the next day while in tow. Of the 776 onboard, all but six are saved.

1931 - USS Constitution is re-commissioned after a four-year, nearly $1 million restoration. The next day, the ship and crew began a three-year, three-coast tour of the U.S., visiting 76 ports and hosting 4.6 million people; the tour, known as the "National Cruise", was intended to thank U.S. citizens who had supported "Old Ironsides'" restoration.

1943 - USS Thresher (SS 200) attacks a Japanese convoy off the northwest coast of Celebes, in Makassar Strait, damaging destroyer Hokaze and sinks army cargo ship Yoneyama Maru, 38 miles from Balikapan. Six days later, USS Paddle (SS 263) sinks the damaged Hokaze in the Celebes Sea.

1946 - The atmospheric nuclear weapon test, Able, is detonated during Operation Crossroads at the Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands.

1972 - Rear Adm. Samuel L. Gravely Jr. becomes the first African-American to achieve flag rank in the U.S. Navy.

This Day In United States Naval History - July 3rd

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1898 - During the Spanish American War, when Rear Adm. Cerveras Spanish fleet attempts to flee from the harbor at Santiago, Cuba, but the U.S. Navys Atlantic Squadron successfully pursues, attacks, and systematically destroys the Spanish vessels.

1942 - A PBY 5A aircraft successfully fires the first airborne retro-rocket at Goldstone Lake, Calif.

1943 - Submarine chaser USS (SC 1048) rescues survivors of a U-boat attack who had been sighted by a Navy blimp in the North Atlantic Ocean. The survivors are from the tanker Bloody Marsh, which was previously torpedoed July 2 and sunk by German submarine (U 66), which during its career sinks 37 Allied vessels until sunk by aircraft from USS Block Island (CVE 21) and USS Buckley 51) nearly a year later.

1944 - USS Frost (DE 144) and USS Inch (DE 146) sink German submarine (U 154) off Madiera.

1950 - USS Valley Forge (CV 45) and HMS Triumph participate in first carrier action of Korean War. VF 51 aircraft from Valley Forge shoot down two North Korean aircraft. The action is also the first combat test of F9F Panther and AD Skyraider.

This Day In United States Naval History - July 5th

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1801 - David G. Farragut is born near Knoxville, Tenn. Known for the quote, Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead during the Battle of Mobile Bay in 1864, he is appointed vice admiral by President Abraham Lincoln in 1864 and is commissioned an admiral, the first-ever in the US Navy, by a Congressional Act in 1866.

1814 - The sloop-of-war, USS Peacock, captures British vessels HMS Stranger, HMS Venus, HMS Adiona, and HMS Fortitude.

1859 - Hawaiian bark Gambia, commanded by Capt. N.C. Brooks, discovers the Midway Islands. The islands are named "Middlebrook Islands." On Aug. 28, 1867, Capt. William Reynolds of the USS Lackawanna takes possession of the atoll for the U.S., making Midway the first offshore islands annexed by the U.S. government.

1862 - The Navy Department is reorganized by act of Congress.

1942 - USS Growler (SS 215) torpedoes and sinks the Japanese destroyer, Arare, in the Salmon Lagoon, off Kiska. In the attack, USS Growler damages destroyers Kasumi and Shiranui.

1944 - USS Thomas (DE 102) and USS Baker (DE 190) from Task Group 22.5, sink German minelayer submarine (U 233) off Halifax, Nova Scotia.

This Day In United States Naval History - July 7th

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1798 - Congress rescinds treaties with France, and the Quasi War begins.

1846 - During the Mexican-American War, Commodore John D. Sloat, disembarks from his flagship frigate, USS Savannah, at Monterey and claims California for the U.S.

1915 - Thomas A. Edison becomes the head of the Naval Consulting Board, which screens inventions for the Navy.

1944 - USS Mingo (SS 261), USS Skate (SS 305), USS Sunfish (SS 281), USS Flasher (SS 249), and USS Bonefish (SS 223) sink up to eight Japanese ships.

1944 - While serving with the Fourth Battalion, Tenth Marines, Second Marine Division during the Battle of Saipan, Pfc. Harold C. Agerholm uses an abandoned ambulance and makes repeated trips for three hours under heavy rifle and mortar fire, single-handedly evacuating approximately 45 wounded men until mortally wounded by a Japanese sniper. For his "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity," he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.

1948 - The first six enlisted women are sworn into Regular Navy: Chief Yeoman Wilma J. Marchal; Yeoman Second Class Edna E. Young; Hospital Corpsman First Class Ruth Flora; Aviation Storekeeper First Class Kay L. Langen; Storekeeper Second Class Frances T. Devaney; and Teleman Doris R. Robertson.

1979 - USS Emory S. Land (AS 39) is commissioned at her homeport of Norfolk, Va. The submarine tender is named after Adm. Emory S. Land, an officer noted for his designs of submarines.

This Day In United States Naval History - July 9th

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1846 - During the Mexican-American War, Cmdr. John B. Montgomery and his detachment of Marines and sailors from the sloop-of-war USS Portsmouth raise the U.S. flag over (Yerba Buena) San Francisco, Calif.

1943 - PBY (VP 94) sinks German submarine (U 590) at the mouth of the Amazon River, Brazil.

1943 - Ensign John J. Parle is the Officer-in-Charge of small boats on board USS (LST 375). While preparing for the assault landing on Sicily, Italy, a smoke pot in a boat accidentally ignites. Realizing an explosion will give their position away, Parle grabs the pot and throws it over the side. As a result of the smoke and fumes he inhaled, he dies on July 17, 1943. For his "valor and courage above and beyond the call of duty" on this occasion, he is posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.

1944 - The organized Japanese resistance ceases on Saipan, Mariana Islands.

1950 - During the Korean War, Cmdr. Michael J. L. Luosey assumes command of the Navy of the Republic of Korea. He subsequently serves as its Deputy Commander until June 1, 1952.

1960 - USS Wasp (CVS 18) departs Guantanamo Bay to support the United Nations effort to calm the newly independent Congo.

1960 - USS Thresher (SSN 593) is launched at Portsmouth, N.H.

1988 - USS Oklahoma City (SSN 723) is commissioned at Newport News, Va., near its homeport of Norfolk. The Los Angeles-class submarine is currently homeported at Guam with Submarine Squadron 15.

1994 - USS Rhode Island (SSBN 740) is commissioned at Groton, Conn. The Ohio-class ballistic-missile submarine is homeported at Kings Bay, Ga.

1994 - USS Dextrous (MCM 13), an Avenger-class mine countermeasures ship, is commissioned at Ingleside, Texas, which includes former Sailors from the original Dextrous (AM 341).

1994 - USS Port Royal (CG 73) is commissioned at Savannah, Ga. The guided-missile cruiser is the 27th and last ship of the Ticonderoga-class cruisers. Named after American Revolutionary and Civil War battles at Port Royal Sound, S.C., the ship is homeported at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.