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1765 - Royal Danish Naval Library is founded

1833 - Britain seized control of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic

1882 - The watch at Station No. 13, Second District, Massachusetts, reported at about 4 p.m., the collision of two schooners, two and a half miles east SE of the station. Launching the surfboat, the crew proceeded to the vessels. The smaller vessel, the British schooner Dart, was boarded first. She was out from Saint John, NB and bound for New York with a cargo of lumber and a crew of four persons. The vessel was badly damaged, having her bowsprit, jib boom, and headgear carried away. The life-saving crew at once set to work. They cleared away the wreck and weighed her anchor, which had been let go in the collision. By this time, the steamer Hercules, of Philadelphia had come alongside and Dart's master arranged for a tow to Vineyard Haven. The life-saving crew ran the hawser from the schooner to the steamer and sent them on their way. The other schooner, in the meantime, had sailed away

1904 - Marines from USS Dixie arrive in Panama

1917 - Cruiser HMS Dauntless laid down

1917 - Italian submarines H1 & H2 depart Halifax for Mediterranean via Bermuda accompanied by the brand new submarine depot ship CEARA which was built for Brazil but not yet delivered and "borrowed" to get the two submarines to Italy (The fact that the Italians used CEARA as the escort is also of interest, records indicate she was not completed, for Brazil, until April 1917)

1931 - Submarine HMS Sturgeon laid down

1933 - Destroyer HMS Dainty commissioned

1936 - Soviet submarine S-4 laid down

1938 - Destroyer USS Charles F Hughes laid down

1940 - SS Svartön sunk by U-58 57.48N, 01.47W - Grid AN 1866

1940 - Soviet submarine S-2 struck a mine at Märket in the Baltic Sea and sank

1940 - U-143, U-753 laid down

1940 - Submarine HMS Taku commissioned

1941 - US President Roosevelt announces the Liberty Ship program, 200 merchant ships of a standardized British design

1941 - Corvette HMS Hydrangea commissioned

1941 - U-335 laid down

1941 - Midshipman Prince Philip of Greece joins the battleship HMS Valiant, which, with the battleships Barham & Warspite, later bombards Bardia to assist with the British Army plans for its capture. Prince Philip of Greece was the son of Prince Andrew of Greece and of Prince Andrew's wife, Princess Alice of Battenberg [Mountbatten]. When Philip became a naturalized British citizen [during the war], he took his mother's family name [Mountbatten]. Philip was most certainly in the line [5th in 1940] of succession for the Greek throne. Postwar Philip married Princess Elizabeth of England and became the Duke of Edinburgh

1942 - U-488 laid down

1942 - President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill announced the creation of a "unified command" in the SW Pacific area, with General Sir Archibald P. Wavell as supreme commander of all United States, British, Netherlands and Dominion forces in that area.

1943 - A two-man submersible Chariot, based on a modified torpedo, succeeded in penetrating Palermo & sank the light cruiser Ulpio Traiano - the first such use of the device by the Royal Navy, which had copied it from the Italian Navy's Maiale that had been used to considerable effect against British shipping earlier in the war

1943 - U-337 reported missing in the North Atlantic. No explanation for her loss. 47 dead (all hands lost)

1943 - U-96 transferred an ill crewmember to U-163, which was on her way to base

1943 - U-406 took on an ill crewmember from U-123

1943 - Destroyer escort USS Robert E Peary launched

1943 - Minesweeper HMAS Bunbury commissioned

1943 - Light cruiser HMS Uganda commissioned

1943 - Japanese supplies and reinforcements are landed at Lae under Allied air attacks. This convoy will provide the Allied Air Force planners valuable experience for future use. Over 100 sorties were delivered by the 5th Air Force. General Kenny had information from ULTRA as to when the convoy would leave Rabaul, its destination and when it would arrive. Aircraft were ordered into the air as soon as they were ready. In some cases a medium or heavy bomber would attack singly, in other cases in twos or threes. Not surprisingly, with hindsight, the convoy handled them easily. An RAAF Catalina attacking at night sank one small transport. After the convoy delivered its cargo, 5th Air Force sank two more ships but by then the damage was done

1943 - U-310 launched

1943 - At 1800, the unescorted SS Baron Dechmont was torpedoed & sunk by U-507 NW of Cape San Roque, Brazil. Seven crewmembers lost. The master was taken prisoner and later lost when the U-boat was sunk ten days later. 28 crewmembers and eight gunners landed at Fortaleza

1943 - At 2252, SS British Vigilance (Master Evan Owen Evans) in convoy TM-1 was torpedoed by U-514 about 900 miles NE of Barbados in 20°58N/44°40W (grid DQ 9325) and abandoned. 25 crewmembers and two gunners were lost. The master, 21 crewmembers and five gunners were picked up by the HMS Saxifrage & landed at Gibraltar

1944 - After returning from her third convoy duty, the Turner was anchored off Sandy Hook, New Jersey waiting to go to the Brooklyn Navy Yard for repairs. The next morning, a series of unknown explosions rocked her ammunition storage areas, turning the ship into an inferno. Another explosion ripped the bottom out of the Turner and she sank by the stern taking with her 15 officers and 138 ratings. 165 survivors were taken to the hospital at Sandy Hook, their lives saved by blood plasma being flown in from New York

1944 - Frigate HMCS Prince Rupert departed St John's as escort for Convoy SC-150

1944 - Destroyer escorts USS Formoe, Grady, Melvin R Nawman & Oliver Mitchell laid down

1944 - Escort carrier USS Nehenta Bay commissioned

1944 - Destroyer escort USS Runels commissioned

1944 - U-275 had to return to base because the commander was suffering from appendicitis

1944 - U-373 was attacked by a British Wellington aircraft in the North Atlantic. The boat suffered heavy damage and was forced to return to base

1944 - U-1003 collided with U-237 off Danzig in the Baltic Sea. U-1003 suffered some damage

1944 - SS Empire Housman, straggling from the Convoy ON-217, was again torpedoed by U-744 and foundered two days later. One crewmember was lost. The master, 37 crewmembers and seven gunners were picked up by the armed trawler HMS Elm & rescue tug HMS Earner & landed at Reykjavik

1944 - CDR Frank Erickson flies plasma in a Coast Guard HNS-1 helicopter from Brooklyn to a hospital in Sandy Hook, NJ in the first recorded mission of mercy conducted by a rotary wing aircraft

1944 - Top Marine ace MAJ Boyington captured after shooting down 28 aircraft. "Pappy" Boyington, leader of island-based VMF-214, best known as the famed "Black Sheep" squadron, the second of that designation. Largely comprised of men other outfits considered misfits, this was the reason for their nickname. A romanticized TV series was made about them years ago. The first VMF-214 was formed in 1943, and known as the "Swashbuckers", reformed a year later in California, they became the Black Sheep. The third VMF-214 flew off the carrier USS Franklin over late 1944-45

1945 - In preparation for planned assaults against Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and mainland Japan, Gen. Douglas MacArthur is placed in command of all US ground forces and Adm. Chester Nimitz is placed in command of all US naval forces. This effectively ended the concept of unified commands, in which one man oversaw more than one service from more than one country in a distinct region

1945 - British forces launched an attack on Akyab, Burma, including the deployment of a Royal Navy bombardment force. In the event, the Japanese proved to have withdrawn, and Akyab was liberated single-handed by a Royal Artillery officer

1945 - Third Fleet carriers begin a 2 day attack against Formosa destroying 100 aircraft with loss of only 22 aircraft

1945 - Trouble with the diesels forced U-315 to return to base

1945 - U-2361, U-4703 launched

1945 - U-4712 laid down

1945 - Frigate HMCS Cap de la Madeleine detached convoy HX-328 & assigned Convoy ONS-39 westbound

1945 - At 1803, SS Henry Miller in station #51 of convoy GUS-63 was torpedoed by U-870 22 miles SW of Cape Spartel. One torpedo struck at the bulkhead between #2 and #3 holds. The engines were secured as a fire started at the #3 hold, but the holds were soon filled by water and it extinguished the flames. The ship, now down by the head and listing to port, lost way and drifted aft of the convoy, but the complement of eight officers, 36 crewmen, 27 armed guards (the ship was armed with two 3in and eight 20mm guns) and one passenger (US Army security officer) remained on board. The master decided to restart the engines and make it to Gibraltar 50 miles away. 40 minutes after the attack the master ordered 25 crewmembers, 24 armed guards and the passenger to leave the ship in two lifeboats in case a bulkhead failed. They were picked up 15 minutes later by frigate USS Brunswick & landed at Gibraltar the next day. At 0300 on 4 January, the skeleton crew brought the Henry Miller under her own power into Gibraltar, where she was declared a total loss. After the war the wreck was towed to Spain and scrapped

1946 - Frigate HMCS Joliette sold Chilean Navy & renamed Iquique

1946 - Frigate HMCS Thetford Mines to Honduran buyer for mercantile service

1946 - Submarine USS Remora commissioned

1965 - USS Coral Sea port call Subic Bay

1968 - USS Enterprise commenced Vietnam deployment

1968 - USS Ticonderoga port call Pearl Harbor

2002 - Six German naval vessels set out to patrol off East Africa as part of the US-led war on terrorism. Ultimately, the German Navy since World War II will send eight ships and a number of support vessels to the region in the most ambitious deployment outside of European waters

2003 - RSS Courageous collided with container ship ANL Indonesia in Singapore Straits

2003 - USNS Pollux & Antares activated

2004 - Hospital ship USNS Mercy activated at San Diego for Asian tsunami relief duties

2004 - CBS News anchorman Dan Rather arrives onboard USS Abraham Lincoln to cover tsunami relief operations off Sumatra

2005 - Frigate HMS Marlborough, on duty in the Persian Gulf, unofficially dubbed "HMS Stinky" after one of two water making machines has been broken down for over two weeks. 181 crewmembers of the frigate have to do without proper bathing

2005 - A 55-year-old Spanish sailor was airlifted to a St. John's hospital after a serious accident at sea. A Cormorant helicopter picked up the man from the fishing trawler Fakir on Monday morning. He had suffered back and chest injuries when he was struck by a cable. The vessel was almost 500 kilometers from St. John's at the time of the accident. The helicopter and CCGS Leonard J. Cowley met up with the vessel Monday to coordinate the rescue

2005 - Submarine U-33 rolled out of builder shed at HDW in Kiel

2005 - USS Hue City rescued five of seven mariners off the coast of Somalia while steaming in the 5th Fleet area of operations. The guided-missile cruiser began conducting the search and rescue operation after being directed to investigate the disappearance of MV Global Island at approximately 3:45 p.m. local time, Jan. 2, when Commander 5th Fleet received a call from the parent shipping company. The five mariners, including four Kenyans and one Tanzanian, were located in a life raft approximately 45 nautical miles off Somalia's coast after Global Island sank while it was enroute to Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The survivors will be taken to Mombassa, Kenya. Hue City is continuing search and rescue efforts for Global Island’s two remaining crewmembers

2005 - High Speed Vessel (HSV) 2 Swift deployed from Ingleside TX to support the Tsunami disaster relief efforts in the US Pacific Command area of responsibility in the vicinity of Singapore

2006 - Rear-Admiral Drew Robertson promoted Vice-Admiral and appointed Chief of the Maritime Staff at National Defense Headquarters in Ottawa on January 17th. He will replace Vice-Admiral Bruce MacLean who will be retiring upon completion of over 34 years of loyal and outstanding service to Canada, the Canadian Forces, and the Navy, culminating in command of the Navy as Chief of the Maritime Staff. Rear-Admiral Robertson has served in the Canadian Forces for 32 years in a variety of key positions, including command of Her Majesty's Canadian Ships Annapolis and Athabaskan, and command of the Canadian Task Group during its six-month Operation APOLLO deployment to Southwest Asia

2006 - The Spirit of Vancouver Island will be removed from service on the Swartz Bay to Tsawwassen route for its annual refit and a major passenger services upgrade. Similar to the 2005 upgrade of the Spirit of British Columbia, the Spirit of Vancouver Island will see all the interior passenger areas completely renovated. Among the many improvements to the 1994 vessel will be an upgraded cafeteria, a redesigned buffet, renovated washrooms, new seating, flooring and carpeting, and the replacement of the Lantern Coffee Bar with the Seawest Lounge.

The passenger-service improvements, which are part of a major initiative to revitalize the fleet, represent an investment of approximately $10 million that, when combined with the refit budget (which includes overhauling two of the four engines and repainting the vessel), total $13 million

2006 - Poland is to declassify nearly all its secret files from the Warsaw Pact, the military alliance of the Soviet Bloc which disbanded in 1991, Defense Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said

2006 - The international agency controlling endangered species Tuesday ordered a ban on international trade in caviar and other products from wild, endangered sturgeon fish

2006 - Three people were rescued in Shinnecock Inlet, Long Island by Good Samaritans after their fishing vessel capsized just before 0500. The fishing vessel Cindi Sea reported the overturned Hail Mary II to the Coast Guard via marine band radio at 0500. The crew of the Cindi Sea then rescued Jerzy Bogucki of Riverhead, Long Island, who had been swept away from the overturned boat. The two remaining victims, Rick Gardiner of Hampton Bays, Long Island, and John Windels of Quogue, Long Island, the owner of the vessel, managed to remain on the overturned hull until Les Trafford, a Sea Tow operator, rescued them. Trafford had heard the distress call in the cab of his truck nearby and immediately launched his boat to assist in the rescue. A Coast Guard rescue crew from Station Shinnecock arrived on scene at 0520 and transferred Bogucki from the Cindi Sea and transported him to shore. All of the victims were taken to Southampton Hospital in hypothermic but alert states. The Hail Mary II, homeported in Shinnecock, was carrying 30,000 pounds of fish and undetermined amount of fuel onboard at the time of the accident. The Coast Guard is investigating the cause of the accident and environmental impact from any discharged oil

2006 - The USCG suspended search efforts for a boater, who fell overboard from the sailing vessel Querida Maria, 170 nautical miles south of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic2006 - A 39-year-old man suffering from chest pains was medevaced from a 600-foot vessel this morning 30 miles off the coast of Port Angeles, Wash. At 0900, Coast Guard Group/Air Station Port Angeles received a call from the master of the container ship Hyundai Duke requesting medical assistance for a 39-year-old crewmember. An HH-65 Dolphin helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Port Angeles was launched to medevac the man at 0930. The helicopter lowered a rescue swimmer to the vessel and the man was then safely hoisted into the helicopter. The crewmember was then flown to Air Station Port Angeles where an awaiting ambulance transported him to Olympic Memorial Hospital in Port Angeles for further medical treatment

2006 - A dozen Greenpeace activists were detained by police on Tuesday after a protest at the French Embassy in India against a decision to send an asbestos-laden defunct warship to India to be broken up for scrap. The decommissioned aircraft carrier Clemenceau set sail from the French naval base of Toulon on Saturday for the world's largest ship-breaking yard in Alang on India's western coast. A dozen activists from the environmental group Greenpeace converged on the embassy on Monday and held up posters and pictures of workers at the shipyard reading: "Clemenceau toxic ship. Stay away. Don't pollute India." Police detained the group briefly for protesting in the heavily guarded diplomatic enclave of the capital without a permit. There was no immediate comment from the French embassy. Greenpeace says the ship contains at least 100 tonnes of asbestos that could cause serious health problems for ill-equipped Indian workers at the shipyard as well as polluting the environment

2006 - COSCO Pacific acquired a 20 % equity interest in Suez Canal Container Terminal SAE (SCCT) from Egyptian International Container Terminal, a subsidiary of Denmark's AP Moller-Maersk Group. SCCT operates Port Said East Port at Port Said, Egypt

2006 - Donald C. Winter was sworn in today as the 74th secretary of the Navy by Acting Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England. In this position, Winter leads the US Navy and Marine Corps team and is responsible for almost 900,000 people and an annual budget in excess of $125 billion. The secretary of the Navy is responsible for all the affairs of the Department of the Navy, including recruiting, organizing, supplying, equipping, training, mobilizing and demobilizing. The secretary also oversees the construction, outfitting and repair of naval ships, equipment and facilities. The office is also responsible for formulating and implementing naval policies and programs that are consistent with the national security policies and objectives established by the President and the secretary of defense. The Department of the Navy consists of two uniformed services: the US Navy and the US Marine Corps. Before joining the Bush administration, Winter served as a corporate vice president and president of Northrop Grumman's Mission Systems sector. In that position, he oversaw operation of the business and its 18,000 employees, providing information technology systems and services; systems engineering and analysis; systems development and integration; scientific, engineering and technical services; and enterprise management services. Winter also served on the company's corporate policy council. Previously, Winter served as president and CEO of TRW Systems; vice president and deputy general manager for group development of TRW's Space & Electronics business; and vice president and general manager of the defense systems division of TRW. From 1980 to 1982, he was with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency as program manager for space acquisition, tracking and pointing programs. Winter earned a bachelor's degree (with highest distinction) in physics from the University of Rochester in 1969. He received a master's degree and a doctorate in physics from the University of Michigan in 1970 and 1972, respectively. He is a 1979 graduate of the University of Southern California Management Policy Institute, a 1987 graduate of the University of California at Los Angeles Executive Program and a 1991 graduate of the Harvard University Program for Senior Executives in National and International Security. In 2002, he was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering

2006 - Despite unfavorable weather and sea swells which at times have been more than four meters, all IMO-classified hazardous cargo has now been removed from CP Valour following its grounding in the Azores on 9th December. None of the crew of 21 suffered injury as a result of the grounding. Salvage efforts have been underway since shortly after the grounding but have been repeatedly thwarted by adverse sea conditions, which are causing increasing damage to the ship. Representatives of CP Ships Marine Operations arrived on site as soon as possible after the grounding to liaise with local authorities and assist the salvage efforts. Several attempts to re-float CP Valour were not successful and because of the current state of damage to the ship, no further attempt to re-float will be undertaken. This has been discussed and agreed with local authorities. Next steps in terms of removal of the cargo and of the ship itself are under consideration. At the time of the grounding, the ship had about 1,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil and 140 tonnes of diesel oil on board as well as a small quantity of lubricating and hydraulic oil and paint. All accessible fuel oil that could be pumped has been removed as well as all lubricants, paints, chemicals and engine oils. With the removal of these materials and the hazardous-classified cargo, the threat to the local environment has been significantly reduced. A limited amount of bunker and diesel fuel has been spilled since the grounding. Local pollution mitigation specialists have removed most of the fuel that washed ashore. CP Valour was en route from Montreal to Valencia carrying 525 containers and was heading into safe anchorage when it grounded off the coast of the Azorean island of Faial

2005 - Seaspan Corporation today announced the delivery of its fourteenth ship, the Dubai Express. The 4250 TEU vessel, which was built by Samsung Heavy Industries Co. Ltd., was delivered approximately ten weeks ahead of its contractual delivery date. The Dubai Express is the second of nine Seaspan vessels to be chartered to CP USA, a subsidiary of CP Ships Ltd.
Seaspan also received notice of expected delivery for the second 4250 TEU vessel to be delivered this year, the Jakarta Express. The containership is scheduled to join the Seaspan fleet on February 21, 2006 and would grow the total fleet to 15 ships, and the number of vessels contracted to CP USA to three

2006 - Rear Admiral Enrique ÓReilly Merino appointed Director of the National Academy of Political and Strategic Studies (ANEPE) in Chile

2006 - The World Food Program (WFP) is now using new sea routes to deliver relief food to more than 2 million Somalis faced with famine

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