This Day in Naval History – August 8
1846 - Sailors and Marines from USS Congress capture Santa Barbara
1858 - First trans-Atlantic cable completed by USS Niagara and British ship Agamemnon
1944 - Fifth Fleet carrier task forces begin air attack against Iwo Jima and the Bonin Islands
1947 - Birthdate of the Medical Service Corps
1964 - The Navy and national intelligence sources report a North Venamese PT boat attack on USS Turner Joy and USS Maddox in the Tokin Gulf prompting Congress to pass the Tonkin Gulf Resolution on 7 August 1964. The attack was later disproven.
(Source: Navy News Service)