This Day In United States Naval History

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.