MarineLink News Search
Search term • This-Day-in-Naval-History
Create an email alert for This-Day-in-Naval-History
This Day In Naval History: March 21
1804 - The brig USS Syren (Siren), commanded by Lt. Charles Stewart, captures the Tripolitan brig Transfer off the coast of Tripoli, renaming it Scourge after being taken into US Navy service.
This Day In Naval History: March 11
1778 - During the American Revolution, the Continental frigate Boston captures the British ship Martha in the North Atlantic. 1845 - George Bancroft takes office as the 17th Secretary of the Navy. Although he serves in that position only 18 months, he establishes the Naval Academy at Annapolis and encourages the growth and importance of the Naval Observatory. 1941 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Lend-Lease Act…
This Day In Naval History: March 10
1783 - The last naval action of the American Revolution takes place when the Continental frigate Alliance, commanded by Capt. John Barry, battles HMS Sybil south of Cape Canaveral, Fla. Sybil is damaged in the fight and returns to the two warships that did not join in the battle. 1933 - The Pacific Fleet provides assistance after an earthquake at Long Beach, Calif. 1943 - USS Savannah (CL 42) and USS Eberle (DD 430) intercept German blockade runner Karin in the South Atlantic.
This Day In Naval History - March 9
1847 - An Army-Navy force begins the siege of Veracruz, Mexico. Approximately 12,000 U.S. troops land on the beaches, along with their horses, mules, artillery, and supplies. Veracruz surrenders March 29, and the forces make their way to Mexico City. 1862 - In the first battle between ironclads, USS Monitor and CSS Virginia engage in close combat in Hampton Roads, Va. Neither side could claim victory, but it eventually ends the era of wooden ships.
This Day In Naval History - March 8
1822 - Crew from the schooner Enterprise capture and burn seven small pirate vessels off Cape Antonio, Cuba. 1862 - The ironclad CSS Virginia destroys the wooden ships USS Cumberland and USS Congress in Hampton Roads, Virginia. 1943 - PBY-5 Catalinas from VP-53 sink German submarine U 156 east-northeast of Trinidad. 1945 - Phyllis Daley becomes the first African-American ensign in the Navy Nurse Corps and serves at the Naval Dispensary at Boston, Mass.
This Day In Naval History - March 1
1865 - Side-wheel steamship Harvest Moon, while underway near Georgetown, S.C., with Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren on board, hits a Confederate mine (or "torpedo" in contemporary terms) and sinks with the loss of one of her crew. 1942 - Naval Reserve pilot Ensign William Tepuni, flying a Lockheed Hudson reconnaissance, light bombing and transport aircraft (PBO) from VP-82 Squadron based at Naval Air Station Argentia…
This Day In Naval History - February 29
1992 - Fast Attack Submarine USS Jefferson City (SSN 759) is commissioned. (Source: Naval History and Heritage Command, Communication and Outreach Division)
This Day In Naval History - February 26
1944 - Sue Sophia Dauser, Superintendent of the Navy's Nurse Corps, is the first woman in the Navy to receive rank of captain. 1945 - TBMs (VC 82) from USS Anzio (CVE 57) sink two Japanese submarines: I 368, 35 miles west of Iwo Jima, and RO 43, 50 miles west-northwest of Iwo Jima. 1945 - USS Finnegan (DE 307) sinks Japanese submarine I 370, 120 miles south of Iwo Jima. 1991 - During Operation Desert Storm…
This Day In Naval History - February 19
1900 - President William McKinley signs an Executive Order placing Tutuila (Samoa) and nearby islands under the Navy Department. 1942 - The Japanese attack Darwin, Australia in the largest attack by a foreign power on that country. USS Peary (DD 226), as well as an Army transport and freighter sink in the raid, as well as a number of Australian and British vessels. 1942 - The overnight Battle of Badoeng Strait begins when the allied naval force (ABDA) commanded by Dutch Rear Adm. W.F.M.
This Day In Naval History - February 18
1846 - Secretary of the Navy George Bancroft issues the General Order to change Larboard to Port for identification of the left side of a sailing vessel. 1865 - In order for CSS Charleston, CSS Chicora, and CSS Palmetto State not to be captured by Rear Adm. John A. Dahlgren's squadron during the evacuation of Charleston, S.C., Confederate Capt. John R. Tucker, orders the ships be set afire and blown up.
This Day In Naval History - February 10
1862 - A flotilla under Cmdr. Stephen C. Rowan aboard USS Delaware engages the gunboats and batteries at Elizabeth City, N.C, capturing CSS Ellis and sinking CSS Seabird. 1900 - Commodore Seaton Schroder is appointed the first naval governor of Guam. 1943 - USS Pickerel (SS 177) sinks Japanese freighter Amari Maru off Sanriku. 1944 - USS Pogy (SS 266) attacks a Japanese convoy and sinks destroyer Minekaze and freighter Malta Maru 85 miles north-northeast of Formosa. 1945 - U.S.
This Day In Naval History - February 2
1848 - The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ends the Mexican-American War and establishes the boundaries between the two republics. 1862 - Capt. David G. Farragut, commander of his flagship, the screw sloop of war Hartford, departs Hampton Roads for Ship Island, Miss., where Farragut takes command of the Western Gulf Blockading Squadron in preparation for the assault on New Orleans. 1938 - While piloting a PBY-2 aircraft in a tactical exercise off California, Lt. Carlton B.
This Day In Naval History - January 04
1910 - USS Michigan, the first U.S. dreadnought battleship, is commissioned. 1943 - USS Shad (SS 235) sinks German minesweeper M 4242 (ex-French trawler Odet II) in the Bay of Biscay. 1944 - USS Bluefish (SS 222) and USS Rasher (SS 269) attack a Japanese convoy off French Indochina; Bluefish sinks a merchant tanker while Rasher damages another tanker. Also on this date USS Cabrilla (SS 288) sinks a Japanese freighter off Cape Padran…
This Day in Naval History - Aug. 17
1812 - Frigate President captures British schooner L'Adeline in North Atlantic. 1942 - Submarines USS Nautilus (SS 168) and USS Argonaut (SS 166) land 222 Marines on Makin Island…
Today in U.S. Naval History: May 14
This Day U.S. 1836 - U.S. Exploring Expedition authorized to conduct exploration of Pacific Ocean and South Seas, first major scientific expedition overseas. Lt.
Today in U.S. Naval History: May 7
1942 - Carrier aircraft sink Japanese carrier Shoho during Battle of Coral Sea. The first day of the carrier battle of Coral Sea, May 7 1942, saw the Americans searching for carriers they knew were present and the Japanese looking for ones they feared might be in the area. The opposing commanders, U.S. Rear Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher and Japanese Vice Admiral Takeo Takagi and Rear Admiral Tadaichi Hara…
This Day in U.S. Naval History: May 2
1975 - U.S. Navy departs Vietnamese waters at end of evacuation. For more information about naval history, visit the Naval Historical Center Web site at www.history.navy.mil.
This Day in U.S. Naval History: May 1
Before dawn on May 1, 1898, Commodore George Dewey's flagship Olympia led seven U.S. Navy cruisers and gunboats into Manila Bay. By 8 AM that morning Dewey's Asiatic Squadron had located and destroyed virtually the entire Spanish naval force in the Philippines. Damage to the American ships was negligible, and their crews suffered no fatalities and few injuries. The Battle of Manila Bay was a singular demonstration of the daring and decisive application of sea power.
This Day in Naval History - Aug. 23
1864 - Rear Adm. David Farragut's squadron captures Fort Morgan at Mobile Bay, winning control of Mobile Bay. 1958 - Massive concentration of Pacific Fleet in Quemoy…
This Day in Naval History - Aug. 21
1800 - U.S. Marine Corps Band gives its first concert in Washington, D.C. 1883 - Installation of the first electric lighting on a U.S. Navy Ship completed on USS Trenton.