This Day in U.S. Naval History – December 16

1821 - LT Robert F. Stockton and Dr. Eli Ayers, a naval surgeon and member of American Colonizing Society, induce a local African king to sell territory for a colony which became the Republic of Liberia.

1907 - Great White Fleet departs Hampton Roads, VA to circumnavigate the world.

1922 - USS Bainbridge (DD-246) rescues 482 persons from burning French transport Vinh-Long.

1941 - USS Swordfish (SS-193) sinks Japanese cargo ship Atsutasan Maru.

1942 - Pharmacist's Mate First Class Harry B. Roby, USNR, performs an appendectomy on Torpedoman First Class W. R. Jones on board USS Grayback (SS-208). It is the second appendectomy performed on board a submarine.

1998 - In Operation Desert Fox, Navy cruise missiles attack Iraq.

(Source: Navy News Service)