This Day In United States Naval History

This Day In United States Naval History - October 3rd

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1921 - USS Olympia (C 6) sails to France to bring home the Unknown Soldier from World War I. Olympia returns stateside Nov. 9, 1921.

1944 - USS Samuel S. Miles (DE 183) sinks Japanese submarine I-177, 60 miles north-northeast of Angaur, Palau.

1944 - USS Shelton (DE 407) is sunk by Japanese submarine off Morotai Island, Indonesia. During anti-submarine operations, USS Richard M. Rowell (DE 403) accidentally sinks USS Seawolf (SS 197), which is transporting U.S. Army personnel to the east coast of Samar. There are no survivors among the more than 100 crew and passengers.

1955 - USS Saipan (CVL 48) begins disaster relief in Tampico, Mexico, rescuing people and delivering supplies after three consecutive hurricanes struck the area. Operations end Oct. 10, 1955.

1962 - Sigma 7 (Mercury 8) is launched. The mission is piloted by Cmdr. Walter M. Schirra, Jr., and lasts nine hours and 13 minutes. Cmdr. Schirra makes six orbits at an altitude up to 175.8 statute miles at 17,558 mph. Recovery is conducted by USS Kearsarge (CVS 33).

This Day In United States Naval History - October 5th

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1863 - Confederate ship David severely damages ironclad steamer New Ironsides with a spar torpedo off Charleston, S.C. Though not sunk, she has to leave the blockade for repairs at Philadelphia, Penn.

1918 - USS Mary Alice (SP 397) is sunk in a collision with USS O-13 (SS 74) in Long Island Sound. There are no casualties.

1942 - PBY aircraft from Commander Aircraft South Pacific sink Japanese submarine 1-22 near Indispensable Strait, Solomon Islands. Also on this date, PBY aircraft from VP-73 sink German submarine U-582 south of Iceland.

1940 - The Organized Naval Reserve is placed on short notice for call to active duty by Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox.

1943 - Task Force 14 (TF 14) performs raids on Wake Island. Rear Adm. Sakaibara Shigematsu then orders the execution of the 98 remaining civilians captured on Dec. 23, 1941 due to his fear they would escape and weaken his garrison.

1945 - Fleet Adm. Chester W. Nimitz is given a parade in his honor through downtown Washington, D.C. at the end of World War II.

This Day In United States Naval History - October 7th

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1864 - USS Wachusett rams the Confederate raider CSS Florida in the harbor of Bahia, Brazil. The collision brings down Floridas mast, then Wachusett opens fire. After Floridas surrender, both vessels are fired upon by Brazilian coastal forts as Wachusett tows her prize out to sea.

1924 - The rigid airship Shenandoah (ZR 1), commanded by Lt. Cmdr. Zachary Lansdowne, begins a roundtrip transcontinental cruise from NAS Lakehurst, NJ. The airship returns 25 Oct. having covered 9,317 miles in 258 hours of flight.

1944 - USS Hawkbill (SS 366) and USS Baya (SS 318) attack a Japanese convoy and sink the Japanese cargo ship Kinugasa Maru about 400 miles west of Manila, while USS Cabrilla (SS 288) sinks Japanese transport No.8 Shinyo Maru off Vigan, Luzon.

1944 - USS Greenling (SS 213) sinks the Japanese transport No 8 Kiri Maru and the merchant tanker Kotai Maru.

1955 - USS X-1, the Navy's only midget submarine, is placed into service and conducts numerous scientific tests for the Naval Research Laboratory.

1975 - President Gerald Ford signs Public Law 94-106, allowing admission of women into service academies.

1985 - Palestinian terrorists hijack Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro. On 10 Oct. four of the terrorists attempted to escape aboard an Egypt Air Boeing 737 airliner, but F‑14As from VF-74 and VF -103 are launched from USS Saratoga (CV 60) and intercepted the aircraft over international waters directing it to NAS Sigonella, Sicily.

2001 - Operation Enduring Freedom begins with carrier air strikes and ship and submarine Tomahawk strikes in Afghanistan.

2017 - The Virginia-class fast attack submarine USS Washington (SSN 787) is commissioned in a ceremony at Naval Station Norfolk. Washington, named in honor of the 42nd state, is the 14th Virginia-class, fast-attack submarine to join the Navy's operational fleet.

This Day In United States Naval History - October 9th

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1814 - Sloop of war USS Wasp informs crew on the Swedish brig Adonis that she is headed to the Caribbean but is never seen again, with all hands lost.

1873 - Lt. Charles Belknap calls a meeting of 15 officers at the U.S. Naval Academy to establish the U.S. Naval Institute for the purpose of disseminating scientific and professional knowledge throughout the Navy.

1918 - While escorting the British transport ship HMS Aquitania, USS Shaw's (DD 68) rudder jams just as she is completing the right leg of a zigzag, leaving her headed directly toward the transport. Aquitania then strikes Shaw, cutting off 90 feet of the destroyer's bow, mangling her bridge and setting her on fire. Shaw's crew brings her under control, though 12 lives are lost.

1940 - Secretary of the Navy William F. Knox approves recommendation to equip 24 submarines with gasoline for delivery to seaplanes on the water. The move followed a demonstration in which submarine Nautilus (SS 168) refueled patrol planes and conducted successful test dive to 300 feet with aviation gasoline aboard.

1942 - The first three schools for enlisted WAVES open at Stillwater, Okla. (Yeoman), Bloomington, Ind. (Storekeepers), and Madison, Wis. (Radiomen).

1943 - USS Buck (DD 420) sinks after being torpedoed by German submarine U 616. Spotted by friendly aircraft the next morning, 97 survivors are rescued by USS Gleaves (DD 423) and the British LCT-170 the following evening.

1943 - USS Kingfish (SS 234) torpedoes and sinks Japanese oiler Hayamato in Sibitu Channel. Also on this date, USS Rasher (SS 269) sinks Japanese army cargo ship Kogane Maru 28 miles from Ambon, while USS Wahoo (SS 238) sinks Japanese cargo ship Hankow Maru off Oga Peninsula.

1945 - Typhoon Louise hits Okinawa, sinking 12 ships, grounding 222 and damaging 32 beyond the ability of ships companies to repair.

1952 - Carrier aircraft strike communist troops along the front lines in the Korean Peninsula. Naval aviators referred to these raids as "Cherokee strikes” in recognition of the Native American ancestry of Commander Seventh Fleet Vice Adm. Joseph J. Clark.

This Day In United States Naval History - October 11th

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1776 - Brig. Gen. Benedict Arnolds 17-ship flotilla is defeated in three long and separate actions at the Battle of Valcour Island on Lake Champlain as they engage 25 ships under Capt. Thomas Pringle. Though defeated, the battle delays the British advance and causes it to fall back into winter quarters. It is nearly a year before the advance is renewed.

1841 - Abel P. Upshur becomes the 13th Secretary of the Navy, serving until July 1843. Among his achievements are the replacement of the old Board of Navy Commissioners with the bureau system, regularization of the officer corps, increased Navy appropriations, construction of new sailing and steam warships, and the establishment of the Naval Observatory and Hydrographic Office.

1933 - The rigid airship Macon (ZRS 5) departs NAS Lakehurst, NJ, for her new home on the West Coast at NAS Sunnyvale, CA. The airship followed the Atlantic coast down to Macon, GA, and turned westward over the southern route. The craft arrived at Sunnyvale on the afternoon of 15 Oct., completing the 2,500-mile nonstop flight in approximately 70 hours.

1940 - Rear Adm. Harold G. Bowen, the technical aid to the Secretary of the Navy, proposes a program for the development of radio ranging equipment (radar). This formed the basis for the Navy’s prewar radar development effort, which included an airborne radar for surface search in addition to identification equipment and ship‑based radar.

1942 - A cruiser-destroyer task force led by Rear Adm. Norman Scott intercepts a similar Japanese Navy unit. In the resulting Battle of Cape Esperance, the Japanese lose the heavy cruiser Furutaka and destroyer Fubuki, with two more destroyers sunk by American air attacks the next day. The destroyer Duncan (DD 485) is the only loss from Scott's Task Force 64. This victory is the U.S. Navy's first of the Guadalcanal Campaign.

1944 - USS Tang (SS 306) sinks Japanese freighters Joshu Go and Oita Maru in the Formosa Strait. Also on this date, USS Trepang (SS 412), in an attack on a Japanese convoy south of Honshu, sinks landing ship T.105 about 105 miles southwest of Tokyo Bay.

1956 - An R6D-1 from VR-6 on scheduled Military Air Transport Service flight from Lakenheath, England, to Lajes, Azores, disappears over the Atlantic with nine crewmembers and 50 passengers aboard. Ships and aircraft searched during the following 14 days and find debris from the Liftmaster, but fail to locate survivors.

1968 - Apollo 7 is launched. The first U.S. three-man space mission is commanded by Navy Cmdr. Walter Schirra, Jr. Donn F. Eisele is the command module pilot and Marine Corps Maj. Ronnie Cunningham serves as lunar module pilot. The mission lasts 10 days and 20 hours with 163 orbits. Recovery is facilitated by HS-5 helicopters from USS Essex (CVS 9).