This Day in U.S. Naval History - April 1
1893 - Navy General Order 409 of 25 February 1893 establishes the rate of Chief Petty Officer as of this date.
1917 - Boatswain's Mate 1/c John I. Eopolucci, a Naval Armed Guard on board the steamship Aztec, died when the vessel was sunk by a German U-boat. He was the first U.S. Navy sailor killed in action in World War I.
1942 - First Naval Air Transportation Service (NATS) squadron for Pacific operations commissioned
1945 - Over 1200 Navy ships and Army troops begin invasion of Okinawa
1966 - The command, US Naval Forces Vietnam established
1967 - Helicopter squadron HAL 3 activated at Vung Tau
(Source: Navy News Service)