This Day in Naval History - May 24

By Navy News Service

1917 - First U.S. convoy to cross North Atlantic during World War I leaves Hampton Roads, Va.

1918 - USS Olympia anchors at Kola Inlet, Murmansk, Russia, to protect refugees during Russian Revolution.

1939 - First and only use of Vice Adm. Allan McCann's Rescue Chamber to rescue 33 men from sunken USS Squalus (SS 192).

1941 - Authorization of construction or acquisition of 550,000 tons of auxiliary shipping for Navy.

1945 - Fast carrier task force aircraft attack airfields in southern Kyushu, Japan.

1945 - Nine U.S. ships damaged by concentrated kamikaze attack off Okinawa.