This Day In United States Naval History

This Day In United States Naval History - July 22nd

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1802 - During the First Barbary War, the frigate, USS Constellation, commanded by Capt. Alexander Murray, defeats nine Corsair gunboats off Tripoli, and sinks two.

1951 - Adm. Forrest P. Sherman, the 12th Chief of Naval Operations, dies while at Naples, Italy.

1951 - During the Korean War, USS Valley Forge (CV 45) carrier air strikes hit a fuel or an ammunition train near Kumchon, North Korea.

1964 - Four Navy divers (Lt. Cmdr. Robert Thompson, Gunners Mate First Class Lester Anderson, Chief Quartermaster Robert A. Barth, and Chief Hospital Corpsman Sanders Manning) submerge in Sealab I at a depth of 192 feet, 39 miles off Hamilton, Bermuda for an intended three weeks. The crew surfaces early on July 31 due to an oncoming tropical storm.

1966 - USS Julius A. Furer (DEG 6) is launched at Bath Iron Works, Maine. The Brook-class frigate is named in honor of Rear Adm. Julius A. Furer, a naval constructor, inventor, administrator, and author who completed the study Administration of the Navy Department in World War II.

1995 - USS Ramage (DG 61) is commissioned at Boston, Mass. The 11th ship in the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers, the ship is named to honor Vice Adm. Lawson P. Ramage, a Medal of Honor recipient from World War II. Her homeport is Naval Station Norfolk.

2017 - In a ceremony presided over by President Donald J. Trump, the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) is commissioned in a ceremony at Naval Station Norfolk attended by 10,000 people. CVN-78 honors the 38th president of the United States and pays tribute to his lifetime of service in the Navy, in the U.S. government and to the nation. It is the first new carrier design placed in service since USS Nimitz was commissioned more than 42 years earlier (May 3, 1975).

This Day In United States Naval History - July 24th

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1843 - David Henshaw takes office as the 14th Secretary of the Navy, serving until Feb. 18, 1844. USS Henshaw (DD 278) was named in his honor.

1863 - During the Civil War, the steam sloop of war USS Iroquois captures the Confederate blockade-runner, Merrimac, off North Carolina. Purchased by the Navy in March 1864, she is converted into a gunboat and commissioned USS Merrimac.

1894 - A party of 50 Marines and Sailors under Marine Corps Capt. George Fielding Elliott, is sent from the cruiser, USS Baltimore (C 3), to guard the American delegation at Seoul, Korea, during the Sino-Japanese War.

1942 - USS Narwhal (SS 167) sinks Japanese guardboat No.83 Shinsei Maru, at Utsutsu Bay, Hokkaido. USS Narwhal also sinks freighters Nissho Maru off Etorofu Maru, Kuril Island, and Kofuji Maru off Oito.

1944 - Task Force 52, commanded by Rear Adm. Harry W. Hill, lands the Fourth Marine Division, commanded Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Harry Schmidt, on Tinian, following a month of naval gunfire and air bombardment. During the invasion, USS Colorado (BB 45) and USS Norman Scott (DD 690) are damaged by Japanese shore batteries. On Aug. 1, the island is declared secure.

1945 - Task Force 38, commanded by Vice Adm. John S. McCain, launches strikes against the Inland Sea area, Japan, bombing Kure Naval Base and airfields at Nagoya, Osaka, and Miho, while sinking five Japanese vessels.

1945 - While escorting a troop convoy from Okinawa to Leyte, USS Underhill (DE-682) is hit and sunk by a Japanese kaiten manned torpedo. Of the 238 men on board only 125 survive.

1993 - USS Columbus (SSN 762) is commissioned onboard Submarine Base New London, Groton, Conn. The Los Angeles-class nuclear-powered attack submarine is the fifth ship to be named Columbus for the Navy.

This Day In United States Naval History - July 26th

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1812 - USS Essex captures the British brig, HMS Leander, off Newfoundland. Engaging British vessels the following week, USS Essex burns the brig, HMS Hero, and captures the ship, Nancy, also off Newfoundland on August 2.

1852 - John P. Kennedy takes office as the 21st Secretary of the Navy, serving until 7 March 1853.

1912 - The first tests of an airborne wireless are conducted near Annapolis, Md. using the Wright (B 1) piloted by Lt. John Rodgers. On one flight, Ensign Charles H. Maddox, who is giving technical assistance to the aviators, sends messages to USS Stringham (TB 19) at a distance of about one and a half miles.

1943 - PBM (VP 32) sinks German submarine (U 759) off Haiti.

1946 - Joy Bright Hancock is promoted to Captain and is appointed Director of the WAVES, or Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service. She guides WAVES in the later 1940s the early 1950s, a period that also witnesses the Navy's women achieve status as part of the Regular Navy. Capt. Hancock retires from active duty in June 1953 and dies on Aug. 20, 1986.

1948 - President Harry S. Truman signs Executive Order 9981, desegregating the Armed Services.

1954 - Two AD Skyraiders of Air Group 5 from USS Philippine Sea (CVA 47) are attacked by two Chinese (LA 7) aircraft while the Skyraiders are searching for survivors of Cathay Pacific airline, which was shot down three days prior off Hainan Island. Returning fire, the Skyraiders splash both attackers.

1997 - USNS Watson (T-ARK 310) is launched at San Diego, Calif. The large, medium-speed roll on/roll off ship is part of the Military Sealift Commands prepositioning program, serving as dry cargo surge sealift carriers. USNS Watson is the lead ship of vehicle cargo ships and named for Pvt. George Watson, one of seven African-Americans to receive the Medal of Honor for actions during World War II. After Watsons ship was hit by Japanese bombers, he remained in the water to help soldiers who could not swim get into life rafts. Weakened by his exertions, he was caught up in the current as the ship sank, drowning him. His body was never recovered.

2003 - USS Mustin (DDG 89) is commissioned at Naval Air Station North Island, Calif. The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer is the second to be named Mustin, but the first to be named for the distinguished family of that name: Capt. Henry D. Mustin (1874-1923; Vice Adm. Lloyd M. Mustin (1911-1999), Vietnam War veteran Vice Adm. Henry C. Mustin II and Lt. Cmdr. Thomas M. Mustin. The first USS Mustin, DD-413 of World War II era, was named for the family patriarch: Capt. Henry D. Mustin (1874-1923), who piloted the first aircraft ever catapulted from a ship, and flew the first combat missions of American aircraft from Mississippi during the Mexican campaign in 1914.

This Day In United States Naval History - July 28th

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1861 - During the Civil War, the frigate, USS St. Lawrence, spots a schooner flying English colors and gave chase. Some four hours later, as she is overhauling the schooner, the fleeing vessel runs up the Confederate flag and fires three shots. Firing with her forecastle battery, St. Lawrence hits the vessel twice, once in her bow. Survivors from the sunken vessel reveal it had been the Confederate privateer, Petrel.

1926 - USS S-1 surfaces and launches a Cox-Klemin (XS 2) seaplane flown by Lt. D.C. Allen. The submarine recovers the aircraft and submerges, successfully completing an airplane transport on board a submarine.

1943 - PBM aircraft (VP 32) sinks German submarine (U 359) south-southwest of Puerto Rico. During her service, (U 359) deploys on three war patrols.

1944 - USS Wyman (DE 38) and USS Reynolds (DE 42) sink Japanese submarine (I 55), 400 miles east of Tinian.

1945 - USS Callaghan (DD 792) is the last ship sunk by a Japanese kamikaze attack when she hits a radar picket station approximately 50 miles southwest of Okinawa, 25X 43N, 126X 55E. USS Pritchett (DD 561) is also damaged by a near hit from a kamikaze as she assists the destroyer. The kamikaze that hits USS Callaghan is carrying Willow (a primary training biplane), revealing the desperation level of the Japanese. USS Callaghan is named in honor of Medal of Honor recipient, Rear Adm. Daniel J. Callaghan, who died during the naval Battle of Guadalcanal, Nov. 12-13, 1942.

1973 - Skylab 3 is launched. The mission is the second to the first U.S. manned space station. The commander of the mission is Capt. Alan L. Bean, USN, the pilot is Maj. Jack R. Lousma, USMC, and the Science Pilot is Owen K. Garriott, a former Navy electronics officer. The mission lasts 59 days, 11 hours and includes 858 Earth orbits. USS New Orleans (LPH 11) recovers the crew.

1984 - USNS Salvor (T-ARS-52) is launched at Sturgeon Bay, Wisc. The rescue and salvage ship conducts salvage, diving, towing, off-shore firefighting, heavy lift operations and theater security cooperation missions through the Military Sealift Command.

2000 - USNS Watkins (T-ARK 315) is launched at National Steel and Shipbuilding, San Diego, Calif. The large, medium-speed roll-on/roll-off ship is part of the prepositioning program with Military Sealift Command. The ships serve as dry cargo surge sealift carriers. Watkins is named after Army Master Sgt. Travis E. Watkins, who received the Medal of Honor for his actions and leadership during the second Battle of Naktong Bulge during the Korean War.

This Day In United States Naval History - July 30th

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1918 - Headquarters Company and Squadrons A, B, and C of the First Marine Aviation Force arrive at Brest, France, on board USS DeKalb (ID #3010), as U.S. enters European Theater of World War I.

1919 - During an inspection by a six-man maintenance crew, the submarine USS G-2 suddenly floods and sinks at her moorings in Two Tree Channel near Niantic Bay off the Connecticut coast. She goes down in 13 1/2 fathoms, drowning three of the inspection crew.

1942 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the act establishing WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service). During World War II, more than 80,000 officers and enlisted women serve in the WAVES.

1943 - PV 1 aircraft from (VB 127) sinks German submarine (U 591) off Pernambuco, Brazil. Also on this date, TBFs and F4Fs (VC 29) from USS Santee (CVE 29) sink German submarine (U 43) in the mid-Atlantic, while (PC 624) sinks German submarine (U 375) off Tunisia.

1945 - A Japanese submarine sinks USS Indianapolis (CA 35), northeast of Leyte. Only 316 of her 1,199 crew survive. Due to communications and other errors, her loss goes unnoticed until survivors are seen from a passing aircraft on Aug. 2. Four days earlier, she had delivered atomic bomb components used on Japan in August.

2005 - USS Halsey (DDG 97) is commissioned at Naval Station North Island in San Diego, Calif. The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer is named after U.S. Naval Academy graduate Fleet Adm. William Bull Halsey Jr., who commanded the U. S. 3rd Fleet during much of the Pacific War against Japan.

This Day In United States Naval History - August 1st

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1801 - The schooner, USS Enterprise, commanded by Lt. Andrew Sterett, encounters the Barbary corsair, Tripoli, west of Malta. After a three-hour battle, USS Enterprise broadsides the vessel, forcing Tripolis surrender.

1921 - A high-altitude bombsight, mounted on a gyroscopically stabilized base was successfully tested at Torpedo Station, Yorktown, Va. This test was the first phase of Carl L. Nordens development of an effective high-altitude bombsight, which became known as the Norden Bombsight.

1944 - PBY aircraft attacked Japanese convoy, sink ammunition ship, Seia Maru, in Taliaboe Bay, Soela Island. Also on this date, USS Puffer (SS 268) damages Japanese oiler, Sunosaki, northeast of Borneo.

1946 - President Harry S. Truman approves legislation establishing the Office of Naval Research (ONR), charging ONR to "...plan, foster and encourage scientific research in recognition of its paramount importance as related to the maintenance of future naval power, and the preservation of national security..."

1952 - During the Korean War, USS Carmick (DMS 33) is fired on by enemy shore guns in the vicinity of Songjin lighthouse. Returning fire, Carmicks battery fire silences the guns.

1961 - Adm. George W. Anderson, Jr., takes office as the 16th Chief of Naval Operations, serving until Aug. 1, 1963. During Adm. Anderson's tenure as CNO, he oversaw the U.S. Navy's quarantine of Cuba, thus enabling the Kennedy administration to compel the Soviet Union to remove its nuclear weapons from the island.

This Day In United States Naval History - August 3rd

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1804 - Commodore Edward Preble's Mediterranean Squadron launches the first of a series of bombardments on the harbor of Tripoli. Designed to destroy the defending batteries and sink enemy ships, the bombardments are part of the blockade that Preble established in 1803.

1861 - Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles calls for designers to submit plans for ironclad warships to the Navy Department. The design, by inventor John Ericsson, is chosen for USS Monitor, a revolutionary armored ship, carrying her guns in a rotating turret.

1942 - Mildred H. McAfee takes the oath of office to become the first female line officer. She is commissioned a lieutenant commander in the Naval Reserve and simultaneously undertakes the duties of being the first director of the newly-established WAVES ("Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service").

1943 - PBM aircraft (VP 205) sinks German submarine (U 572), north of Dutch Giuiana. Also on this date, USS Buck (DD 420) sinks Italian submarine, Argento, off Tunisia.

1950 - Marine Fighter Squadron Two Hundred Fourteen (VMF 214) operating from USS Sicily (CVE 118) attacks Chinju with rockets and incendiary bombs, in the first Marine Corps aviation mission against North Korea.

1958 - USS Nautilus (SSN 571) becomes the first submarine to cross the "top" of the world during Operation Sunshine when the boat passes under an arctic ice cap at the North Pole. "For the world, our country, and the Navy - the North Pole," declared the boat's commanding officer, Cmdr. William R. Anderson. The mission had been personally authorized by President Eisenhower as a response to the USSR's Sputnik program.

2017 - Richard V. Spencer is sworn in as the 76th secretary of the Navy. Spencer, a Connecticut native, graduated from Rollins College in 1976 with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics. Upon graduation he joined the United States Marine Corps and served as an H-46 pilot until 1981.