This Day in Naval History – August 31

1842 - Congress replaces the Board of Navy Commissioners, a group of senior officer who oversaw naval technical affairs, with the five technical Bureaus, ancestors of the Systems Commands. One of the 1842 Bureau, the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, continues to serve under its original name.

1943 - Commissioning of USS Harmon (DE-678), first Navy ship named for an African American Sailor.

1944 - Carrier task group begins 3-day attack on Iwo Jima and Bonin Islands

1962 - Last flight of Navy airship made at NAS Lakehurst, NJ

(Source: Navy News Service)