This Day In United States Naval History

This Day In United States Naval History - September 3rd

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1782 - The man-of-warship America is given to France to replace the French ship, Magnifique, which ran aground and was destroyed Aug. 11 while attempting to enter Boston harbor. The ship symbolizes the appreciation for France's service to America and her sacrifices during the American Revolution.

1783 - The Treaty of Paris was signed, ending the American Revolution. The United States is acknowledged as a sovereign and independent nation.

1925 - The rigid airship, USS Shenandoah (ZR 1), crashes near Byesville, Ohio. There were fourteen casualties including the Commanding Officer, Lt. Zachary Lansdowne. Twenty-nine crew members survive.

1944 - A PB4Y-1 Liberator plane launches to attack German submarine pens on Helgoland Island. The pilot, Lt. Ralph Spading, sets the radio controls and parachutes out of the Liberator, which is then controlled as a drone by Ensign J.M. Simpson in a PV-1.

1945 - The surrender of the Bonin Islands takes place on board USS Dunlap (DD 384) off Chichi Jima. Lt. Gen. Yoshio Tachibana, the local commander, signs the surrender documents. He is later convicted and executed for a particularly gruesome series of war crimes perpetuated against U.S. aviators who had been captured in the area during 1944-45.

This Day In United States Naval History - September 5th

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1776 - The Continental Navy adopts the first uniforms for naval officers. The dress prescribed was extremely somber and reflected the attitude of the Congress to eliminate the ornate trappings evidenced in the Royal Navy and move towards a democratic society. The naval officers quickly rebelled and demanded a more ornate uniform with dark blue coat and tri-corner hat, colored facings, and cuffs with gold buttons and lace, a uniform strikingly similar to that of the Royal Navy.

1781 - During the Battle of the Virginia Capes, the French prevent the British fleet from entering the Chesapeake Bay to relieve Maj. Gen. Lord Cornwallis' army at Yorktown, Va. After a siege by American and French forces, Cornwallis is forced to surrender on Oct. 19, 1781, leading the British to abandon the effort to prevent American independence.

1813 - The schooner USS Enterprise captures the brig HMS Boxer off Portland, Maine in a 20-minute battle where both commanding officers die in battle.

1918 - The transport, USS Mount Vernon (ID# 4508), is torpedoed by German submarine U-82 off France. Thirty-six of her crew are killed and another 13 are injured, but damage control efforts contain her flooding and keep her underway.

1923 - The U.S. Asiatic Fleet arrives at Yokohama, Japan, to provide medical assistance and supplies after the Great Kanto earthquake, occurs just days prior. On Sept. 1, during the earthquake, Lt. j.g. Thomas J. Ryan rescues a woman from the burning Grand Hotel in Yokohama. For his "extraordinary heroism" on that occasion, he is awarded the Medal of Honor.

1946 - USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CVB 42), and four escorts visit Greece to underscore U.S. support for the Greek Government which faces a Communist insurgency.

1990 - During Operation Desert Shield, USS Acadia (AD 42) departs San Diego for the first war-time deployment of a male-female crew.

This Day In United States Naval History - September 7th

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1775 - During the American Revolution, the British supply ship Unity is taken by the Continental schooner, Hannah, paid for by Army Gen. George Washington. It is the first prize taken by a Continental vessel.

1776 - David Bushnell's submarine Turtle is used by Sgt. Erza Lee to attack HMS Eagle in New York Harbor. Lees efforts to attach a "torpedo" to the ship's hull are frustrated by copper-sheathing, marine growth, perhaps merely a hard spot in the hull, which prevents the drill from boring into the ship bottom and it drifts away.

1797 - USS Constellation, the second of the original six frigates, is launched. Notable service includes the battles between the French frigate, LInsurgente and Vengeance, during the Quasi-War with France; participation in the Barbary Wars where she helps capture the Algerian frigate, Mashuda in 1815; and service in the West Indies Squadron against piracy and slavery.

1825 - The frigate USS Brandywine receives the Marquis de Lafayette on board for return to France after his year-long tour of the United States. The name honors the battle where the Marquis was wounded while serving with the Continental Army during the American Revolution.

1945 - The Japanese surrender the Ryukyu Islands area at the U.S. Tenth Army Headquarters on Okinawa.

2013 - USS Minnesota (SSN 783) is commissioned at Naval Station Norfolk is the 10th of the Virginia-class submarines and the third Navy vessel to be named after the state of Minnesota.

This Day In United States Naval History - September 9th

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1841 - Congress authorizes the first iron-hulled warship. Designed by Samuel Hart, USS Michigan launches in December 1843 and serves to protect the Great Lakes.

1943 - Operation Avalanche, Task Force 80 (Western Naval Task Force) under Vice Adm. Henry K. Hewitt, lands the Allied Fifth Army on the assault beaches in the Gulf of Salerno, Italy. Naval gunfire delivers a great volume of counter-battery, interdiction, and neutralization fire m becoming one of the decisive factors in holding the Salerno beachhead.

1944 - USS Bang (SS 385) attacks a Japanese convoy 3905, en route from Tokyo Bay to Chichi Jima, and sinks transport Tokiwasan Maru, and freighter Shoryu Maru.

1945 - Japanese forces in the southern part of Korea surrender in ceremonies held in Seoul, marking the end of three and a half decades of Japanese rule in Korea.

1947 - Lt. Grace Hopper is part of a team that finds a moth that is bugging up the Mark II Aiken Relay Calculator at Harvard. After debugging the system, the moth is affixed to the computer log, where Hopper notes: "First actual case of bug being found." Lt. Hopper later attains the rank of rear admiral.

1961 - USS Long Beach (CG (N) 9) is commissioned at Boston as the first nuclear-power surface warship in history and is assigned to the Atlantic Fleet and home ported at Norfolk, Va.

1989
USS Pennsylvania (SSBN 735) is commissioned at New London, Conn. The fourth Navy vessel to be named after the Keystone State, the Ohio-class nuclear-powered.

2006 - USS Texas (SSN 775) is commissioned at Newport News, Va. The second Virginia-class attack submarine is the first named for the Lone Star State. Previous ships named Texas have included two battleships and a cruiser.

This Day In United States Naval History - September 11th

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1814 - During the Battle of Lake Champlain, Commodore Thomas Macdonough anchors his ships in a position that the British squadron attacks head on, using only a few guns at a time. The British squadron is defeated, ending the final invasion of the British in the northern states. USS Lake Champlain (CG 57), a guided missile cruiser, is named after the famous battle.

1942 - Pharmacists Mate First Class Wheeler B. Lipes performs an emergency appendectomy on Seaman 1st Class Darrell D. Rector on board USS Seadragon (SS 194) on patrol in the South China Sea.

1943
During the Salerno, Italy operations, USS Savannah (CL 42) is hit by a German guided bomb. The explosion kills nearly 200 of her crew, but she remains under her own power to return to the U.S. for repairs.

1944 - USS Albacore (SS 218) torpedoes and sinks the Japanese auxiliary submarine chaser (Cha 165) off Kyushu, Japan, while USS Finback (SS 230) sinks Japanese army cargo ship, Hassho Maru, and merchant cargo ship, No. 2, Hakuun Maru, north of Chichi Jima. Also on this date, USS Pargo (SS 264) sinks Japanese auxiliary netlayer, Hinoki Maru, in Java Sea.

1982 - USS Michigan (SSGN 727) is commissioned at Groton, Conn. The second Ohio-class nuclear-powered guided missile submarine, it is the third Navy vessel to honor the State of Michigan.

2001 - American Airlines Flight 77 is hijacked by terrorists and hits the Pentagon, causing 184 fatalities. Specific to DON, the fatalities are: 33 military personnel, six civilians, and three contractors. American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 hit the Twin Towers at the World Trade Center, New York City. United Airlines Flight 93 goes down in Shanksville, Pa., after passengers engage the hijackers.

2010 - USNS Washington Chambers (T-AKE 11) is christened and launched and now operated by the Military Sealift Command. The dry cargo/ammunition ship provides ammunition, food, repair parts, stores and small quantities of fuel for the U.S. Marine Corps. The ship is named for Capt. Washington Chambers, a pioneer in US naval aviation.

This Day In United States Naval History - September 13th

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1803 - Commodore John Barry dies at Philadelphia, Pa., having served in numerous commands and over vessels in the Continental Navy during the American Revolution and in the newly formed U.S. Navy.

1814 - During the War of 1812, the British bomb Fort McHenry at Baltimore Harbor for 25 hours. The sight of Fort McHenry's flag and the British withdrawing from Baltimore the next morning inspires Francis Scott Key to write the Star Spangled Banner.

1847 - During the Mexican-American War, Chapultepec - the gateway to Mexico City - is successfully stormed by Marines. The next day they are assigned to duty as guards to the National Palace, called the Halls of Montezuma. This action inspires the first line of the Marine Hymn.

1906 - Sailors and Marines from USS Denver (Cruiser #14) land in Havana at the request of the Cuban government to preserve order during a revolution.

1944 - USS Warrington (DD 383) sinks off the Bahamas in a hurricane. After a prolonged search, numerous Navy vessels rescue only five officers and 68 men of the destroyer's 20 officers and 301 men.

1996 - USS Cheyenne (SSN 773) is commissioned at Naval Station Norfolk. The 62nd and last of the Los Angeles-class attack submarines, USS Cheyenne is the third to be named after Wyomings capital city.

2008 - Hurricane Ike hits Galveston and Houston, Texas. At Galvestons Seawolf Park, a maritime museum, the museum ship USS Stewart (DE 238) and museum submarine USS Cavalla (SS 244), suffer damage as they are thrown out of the water onto land. Both vessels are restored to the prior locations and undergo renovations.