SeaWaves Today in History January 19, 2007 ********************************************************************* January 19 Netherlands - Birthday of Princess Margriet. Visiting warships dress ship with masthead flags 1736 - James Watt, inventor of the steam engine, was born in Scotland 1762 - Mr Harrison's fourth version of his chronometer for accurately measuring longitude successfully passed its first test aboard HMS Deptford when the ship arrived at Jamaica after a three month voyage - the chronometer had lost only five seconds 1807 - Robert E. Lee, commander-in-chief of the Confederate armies, was born in Stratford VA 1826 - At the conclusion of the First Burmese War, it became clear that whilst a treaty was being negotiated, some Burmese forces were still preparing for further action. Sir Archibald Campbell therefore attacked the troops concentrating at Malun on the Irrawaddy River. The attacking force consisted of British and Madras Army troops, supported by river gunboats. These included the steamer Diana - the first steam-ship to be used on military operations. Malun was taken, and the Burmese retreated on their ancient capital of Pagan 1839 - British troops landed at Aden to take possession of the port, which had been sold to Britain by the Sultan. The Sultan's son and local tribal leaders opposed the sale, and the force, backed by a Royal Navy bombardment, had to fight to secure the port. Peaceful cooperation was finally achieved in May 1840; the British possession covered some 80 square miles, with a further 9,000 square miles of tribal lands covered by the Aden Protectorate 1840 - LT Charles Wilkes USN is first American to discover Antarctic coast 1857 - Vessel Lord Ashburton wrecked on Grand Manan Island en route from France to Saint John; loss of 21 lives 1861 - Georgia seceded from the Union 1918 - Destroyer USS Hopewell laid down 1921 - Destroyer USS Goff commissioned 1927 - Destroyer FS Ouragan commissioned 1937 - USCG units initiate flood relief operations in the Mississippi and Ohio River valleys. These operations lasted until 11 March and resulted in the rescue of hundreds of citizens along and thousands of farm animals 1939 - Destroyers HMS Kelvin & Kipling launched 1940 - Seven ships of the First Destroyer Flotilla was operating out of Harwich with six other ships of the Flotilla were returning from an operation off the Dutch coast when in calm weather a mine exploded, HMS Grenville quickly capsized. Her bow was the last part of the ship to disappear. Two ships from the Flotilla disregarded their safety and lowered boats to pluck 118 men from the water. Seventy-seven officers and crew lost their life in the sinking 1940 - Escort carrier USS (ex-HMS) Charger laid down 1940 - SS Telnes sunk by U-55 NW of Orkneys 1940 - At 2109, the unescorted SS Quiberon was hit in the stern by one torpedo from U-59 & sank within four minutes off Great Yarmouth 1940 - Patrol craft HMCS Cancolim chartered from American Can Company at a monthly charter rate of $370.00, from American Can Company. Returned Nov 1945 1940 - Flower-class corvettes ordered from Canadian yards - HMS Trillium, Mayflower, Eyebright, HMCS Chambly, Chicoutimi, Saskatoon & Lethbridge 1941 - An air raid on Malta results in more damage to aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious 1941 - Destroyer HMS Greyhound bombed & sunk in Battle of Crete 1942 - Minesweeping trawler HMS Sir Gareth launched 1942 - Submarine HMS Sahib launched 1942 - Submarine HMS Splendid launched 1942 - Escort carriers USS Barnes & Block Island laid down 1942 - At 0516, the unescorted & unarmed SS Norvana was hit just after the stack by one torpedo from U-123 south of Cape Hatteras after a first torpedo fired at 04.41 hours had missed. The explosion sent pieces of the ship into the air, some of them hitting the U-boat in a distance of 450 meters and caused the ship to sink within one minute, leaving no survivors among the eight officers and 21 crewmen on board. The US Navy later found an empty lifeboat from the Norvana off Wimble Shoals 1942 - At 0909, the unescorted & unarmed SS City of Atlanta was torpedoed by U-123 about 12 miles south of the Wimble Shoals Buoy and about eight or ten miles off the coast of North Carolina, after Hardegen had spotted the navigational lights of her. The torpedo struck the port side forward of the #3 hold. The ship quickly took a sharp list, making it difficult for the crew of eight officers and 38 crewmen to abandon ship. The vessel rolled over in about ten minutes before any of the four lifeboats could be lowered. The U-boat surfaced on the starboard side flashed a searchlight to read the name of the ship and left. Only one officer and two men survived by clinging to wreckage and were picked up by the American railway car carrier Seatrain Texas after six hours 1942 - At 1034, the unarmed SS Malay was shelled by U-123 off Oregon Inlet, while steaming in an unescorted convoy of five ships with dim navigational lights set. The U-boat fired ten shots of which five or six struck from about 650 meters. The shelling killed one man, destroyed two lifeboats, damaged the crew’s quarter and started a fire on the tanker. Then the U-boat left to follow another ship, torpedoed at 1201 hours the Ciltvaira and returned to the tanker. In the meantime the passing Scania helped the crew of Malay by passing firefighting equipment. The eight officers and 26 crewmen got the fire under control and the ship under way. U-123 fired at 1244 hours, her last torpedo, hitting the #7 starboard side tank, just aft of amidships in 35°40N/75°20W. The crew abandoned ship in three lifeboats, but one capsized and four men drowned. The survivors circled the ship for about an hour before reboarding her. The dead man and three badly injured were later taken off by boats from the Chicamacomico Coast Guard Station. The Malay reached Hampton Roads, Virginia under own power the same day 1942 - At 1201, the unescorted SS Ciltvaria was torpedoed & damaged by U-123. She was taken in tow, but was later abandoned & sank off Carolina in 35.46N/74.37W. The ship had a crew of Finns, Swedes, Danes, Estonians and a few other nationalities 1942 - Patrol craft HMCS Valdes (ex-fishing vessel Departure Bay II) commissioned 1942 - SS Lady Hawkins of the Canadian National Steamships Company passenger-liner, sunk off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina by U-66 (Zapp). The ship had been proceeding alone from Boston to Hamilton, Bermuda. Approximately 250 crewmembers & passengers were lost from the 321 persons onboard. Three lifeboats were launched as the ship sank but two were never seen again. The SS Coamo recovered one lifeboat, containing 71 survivors, after five days adrift. Five other people in the boat died before they were rescued. U-66 was a long-range Type IXC U-boat, built by AG Weser, at Bremen. She was commissioned on 02 Jan 41. U-66 conducted 9 patrols & compiled a record of 33 ships sunk for a total of 200,021 tons & 4 ships damaged for a further 22,738 tons. U-66 was sunk on 06 May 44 west of the Cape Verde Islands, in position 17.17N, 032.29W, by depth charges, ramming, & gunfire from destroyer escort USS Buckley & from USN Wildcat fighter & Avenger torpedo-bomber a/c of USS Block Island. 24 of her crewmembers were lost including the CO, Kptlt Gerhard Seehausen & 2 British merchant seamen POWs. There were 36 survivors. Richard Zapp was born in 1904, at Germersheim, Pfalz. He enlisted in the navy in 1926 & was commissioned from the ranks in 1930. His first wartime service was in minesweepers before becoming the commander of naval anti-aircraft unit 251. He transferred to the U-boat force in April 40. After introductory training, he served for 2 months in U-46 under the 'Ace' OLtzS Engelbert Endrass, where he participated in the battle against HX-79 in Oct 40. He was appointed to the command of U-66 on 21 Jan 41 & was he commissioning CO. He compiled a record of 16 ships sunk for a total of 106,200 tons & 1 ship damaged for a further 12,502 tons, making him the 27th-highest scoring ‘ace’. The last 2 of his 5 patrols were during Operation Paukenschlag. On the first patrol he sank 5 ships for a total of 33,456 tons & on the second he sank 6 ships for a total of 43,946 tons. He was awarded the Knights Cross on 23 Apr 42 (the 109th in the Kriegsmarine & 50th in the U-boat force). In June 42, he was appointed the commander of the 3rd Flotilla in La Rochelle, France. He was promoted to FKpt on 01 Jan 45. In the last months of the war, he commanded Naval Regiment 'Zapp' & defended the U-boat base at La Rochelle until capitulation in May 45. He was freed on 05 Jul 47, after more than two years in French captivity. Richard Zapp died on 17 Jul 64 1942 - Corvette HMCS Kamsack departed St John's to escort Convoy SC-65 to Londonderry 1942 - German submarine torpedoes Canadian ship Lady Hawkins, as U-boats ravage unprotected shipping along the Atlantic coast 1942 - Beginning at 0700 the Japanese landing force from the ships that had anchored in Sandakan the previous day because of weather, come ashore unopposed in Sandakan. The British Governor surrenders British North Borneo to the Japanese and they send the European residents home where they will remain until May 1942 1942 - Nine USAAF Far East Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses based at Singosari Airdrome on Java, are dispatched to attack shipping at Jolo Island in the Philippine Islands 1942 - USS PT-31 is damaged when her engines fail because of what is believed to be sabotaged gasoline and she runs aground on reef north of Mayagao Point, Bataan 1943 - U-542 launched 1943 - U-170 commissioned 1943 - Destroyer escorts USS Hebert C Jones, Whitman & Otterstetter launched 1943 - Destroyer escorts USS Blair & Inch laid down 1943 - Minesweeper HMCS Mahone arrived Liverpool NS for refit 1943 - Destroyer HMS Antelope & corvette HMCS Port Arthur sank Italian submarine Tritone while escorting Convoy MKS-6 off Bougie, Algeria 1943 - Attu Island is subjected to a naval bombardment 1944 - U-641 sunk in the North Atlantic SW of Ireland, in position 50.25N, 18.49W, by depth charges from corvette HMS Violet. 50 dead (all hands lost) 1944 - U-484, U-1168 commissioned 1944 - U-1013 launched 1944 - Escort carrier USS Lunga Point laid down 1944 - Destroyer escort USS Walter C Wann launched 1944 - Minesweeper USS Invade laid down 1944 - Destroyer escorts USS Jenks & Cofer commissioned 1944 - Submarine HMS Vivid commissioned 1944 - Escort carrier USS Saginaw Bay launched 1944 - Minesweeper HMS Felicity launched Toronto ON 1945 - U-2371 laid down 1945 - ASW trawler HMS Northern Isles beached & lost near Durban 1945 - Submarine HMS Penang damaged by Japanese aircraft near Penang. Sunk by Japanese surface forces later that day. No survivors 1945 - U-4706 launched 1946 - Frigate HMS Wigtown Bay commissioned 1946 - Frigate HMCS Runnymede paid off Esquimalt BC 1946 - Staged jointly by the USCG and USN, the first public demonstration of LORAN was held at Floyd Bennett Field in New York 1949 - The tanker Gulfstream collided with USCGC Eastwind. The collision and resulting fire resulted in the deaths of 13 men, 9 of who were chief petty officers 1965 - USS Hancock port call Subic Bay 1966 - Indira Gandhi was elected Prime Minister of India 1967 - USS Franklin D Roosevelt port call Subic Bay 1968 - USS Enterprise port call Sasebo 1969 - The USCGC Absecon, while on ocean station duty, was directed to assist the sinking M/V Ocean Sprinter. The Absecon launched a small boat and rescued all of the merchant vessel's crew. The five Coast Guardsmen manning the small boat received the Coast Guard Medal for their actions 1977 - In one of his last acts of office, President Ford pardoned Iva Toguri D'Aquino, an American who'd made wartime broadcasts for Japan 1981 - United States and Iran signed an agreement paving the way for the release of 52 Americans held hostage for more than 14 months 1991 - DOD announces 100 ships in Desert Storm operations. 216 Tomahawk cruise missiles have been launched and over 4,000 sorties (bombing, combat, attack suppression, refueling) have been flown. Air campaign is satisfactory, causing Iraq to move aircraft north. USN A-6s and A-7s from USS John F. Kennedy and Saratoga successfully launch a Standoff Land Attack Missile (SLAM) against an Iraqi target for the first time. USS Louisville fires the first submarine-launched Tomahawk cruise missile in combat history while submerged in the Red Sea. Missile was directed against an unidentified Iraqi target 1991 - USS Sylvania achieves historic quadruple underway replenishment in the Red Sea. 4 ships were resupplied at once 1990 - US State Department announces transfer of diplomatic notes with Iraq reaffirming US intention to abide by its legal obligations under the 1940 Geneva Convention relative to the protection of POWs, and expects Iraq (a signatory) to reciprocate; second note affirms legal protection from attack on US military hospital ships in regional waters 1996 - The tug Scandia and its barge, the North Cape, ran aground on the shore of Rhode Island, spilling 828,000 gallons of oil. This was the worst spill in that state's history. The Coast Guard rescued the entire crew, pumped off 1.5 million gallons of oil and conducted skimming operations 2000 - Bettino Craxi, Italy's longest-serving postwar premier, died in Tunisia at age 65 2004 - MV Rocknes capsized & sank off the coast of Norway 2004 - USNS Pollux activated 2004 - RRF Cape Douglas & Cape Douglas activated 2004 - USCGC Sailfish launched 2005 - The cargo vessel Hansa Lyon, a Dutch registered vessel reported to Humber Coastguard that they suspect their Master has fallen overboard. The vessel was departing from the River Ouse, heading out into the Humber Traffic Separation Scheme with a pilot onboard. The pilot was piloting the vessel, and the Master had gone below at 0215 to get a few hours rest before the pilot departed the vessel. When a member of the crew went to wake the Master, in order for the pilot to depart the vessel at 0512 the Master was not in his cabin. An immediate search of the ship was undertaken but the 52-year-old Polish national was nowhere to be found 2005 - UK Fisheries Ministers have reappointed Mr Andrew Dewar-Durie as Chairman of the Sea Fish Industry Authority (SFIA), Defra announced. Mr Dewar-Durie has been chairman of the SFIA since 2002. He served as deputy chairman from 2000 until being appointed chair. The appointment is from 1 May 2005 to 31 April 2007 2005 - The Collins-class submarine HMAS Farncomb formally welcomed back into Royal Australian Navy service at a rededication ceremony at Fleet Base West after undergoing a Full Cycle Docking at the Australian Submarine Corporation in South Australia 2005 - The Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries confirmed the widespread existence of a cobalt-rich manganese crust valued at 3 trillion won under the seas near Guam and Tonga in the Southwest Pacific. This discovery was the result of an exploratory mission by the Korea Ocean Research and Development Institute conducted in search of cobalt-rich manganese crust and hydrothermal sulphide deposits in the Southwest Pacific between Nov. 8, 2004 and Jan. 2. The institute’s 1,422-ton probe craft spotted a 9,000 square kilometer-wide undersea mountain covered with a crust of the mineral some 10 centimeters thick. The crust, about five times the size of the southernmost island province of Jeju, was estimated to contain about 10 million tons of the cobalt-rich manganese, worth 3.2 trillion won 2005 - Hawaiian and anti-war protesters assailed the establishment of a military research center at the University of Hawaii during a rally yesterday. "It will turn the university into a military servant," said Kyle Kajihiro, of the American Friends Service Committee, during the rally, held at the University of Hawaii-Manoa campus. Organizations including the American Friends Service Committee-Hawaii, Ilioulaokalani Coalition, Kualii Council and Not in Our Name spoke to dozens of students at the Campus Center courtyard yesterday against the Navy's University-Affiliated Research Center, which would allow classified research. Speakers at the rally said the center would contribute to the threat of military expansion in the islands 2005 - USS Essex commenced tsunami relief operations off Sabang, Indonesia with the “Blackhawks” of Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron Fifteen (HM-15) 2005 - With heavy weather rolling in, the Coast Guard Cutter Ibis rescued two men from a life raft after their 45-foot scalloper sank about 20 miles east of Atlantic City 2005 - An explosion onboard the EMC423 tank barge on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal resulted in the presumed death of a crewmember and the closure of the waterway. The tank barge that exploded was carrying approximately 588 thousand gallons of Clarified Slurry Oil. This cargo was a byproduct of the oil refining process and is used to make fuel oils. It was loaded onto the barge at the Exxon Mobile Plant in Joilet, Ill., and was destined for the Ameropan Oil Corporation facility in Cicero, IL. The tank barge involved in the explosion was owned and operated by the Egan Marine Corporation. Egan Marine operates a small fleet of barges and towboats in Lemont, Ill. The Coast Guard Captain of the Port closed the Chicago Sanitary and Ship canal between South Harlem Avenue Bridge and the South Pulaski Road Bridge to all vessel traffic. The canal was reopened as soon as it had been determined that it is safe for vessel traffic and that opening the waterway will not adversely affect the ongoing clean up and salvage operation. Heritage Environmental Corporation was contracted by Egan Marine to clean up the spill. The Coast Guard is working closely with Heritage Environmental, Egan Marine, and state and local agencies to mitigate any environmental impacts and ensure that the spill is contained and cleaned up efficiently. Marine Safety Office Chicago initiated an investigation to determine the cause of this accident. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) is assisting the Coast Guard with this investigation and is providing significant technical and investigative expertise 2005 - India Wednesday test fired its short-range, surface-to-air Trishul missile from a mobile launcher at a test range in Orissa state in east India 2005 - USS John C. Stennis was carefully placed in drydock at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Wash., for a routine Docking Planned Incremental Availability (DPIA) 2006 - Salvage tug USS Grasp transferred to Military Sealift command. Became USNS Grasp 2006 - The trial of an Italian naval officer accused of murdering a Russian citizen began in Taranto, Italy. The trial, previously scheduled for October 26, was postponed for a third time due to the presiding judge's illness. Alexander Rozenbakh, 17, was killed in September 2001 in Novorossiisk, a Russian Black Sea port, where Italian cruiser Vittorio Veneto was docked for a visit. Witnesses said the Italian seamen had been drunk, when one of them stabbed Rozenbakh to death and then fled. Russian prosecutors were not allowed to board the Italian ship at that time. In accordance with international naval law, the Italians conducted their own investigation and refused to handover the suspect. The cruiser left the Russian port soon afterward. Only a year later, the Italian side identified the suspect, Giuseppe Pillero, under pressure from Russian prosecutors and parliamentarians. Italian investigators eventually began criminal proceedings and went to Novorossiisk in 2003 for further investigation 2006 - Honored US Navy guests and representatives of the Alabama delegation, along with members of the General Dynamics Littoral Combat Ship Team, will participate in a keel laying ceremony for the General Dynamics Littoral Combat Ship. LCS 2, a revolutionary trimaran warship, is part of a new family of surface ships for the US Navy. Dr. Delores M. Etter, Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition, will serve as the keynote speaker and inscribe her initials onto a special aluminum plate to authenticate the keel of the LCS 2. The keel laying ceremony celebrates the laying down of the ship's backbone. The ceremony has come to mark one of the major milestones in the life of the ship as it symbolizes the point at which the ship begins to transition from concept to reality 2006 - A group of boat people from Indonesia's troubled West Papua province accused Jakarta of committing genocide against their people after landing on a remote Australian peninsula in an apparent bid for asylum. The 43 Papuans, who reportedly include well known independence activists and their families, were being interviewed by Australian immigration officials on Cape York in the country's far north. The group -- 30 men, six women and seven children -- reached Australia Wednesday in a large outrigger canoe that carried a banner appealing for help for the Papuan people 2006 - The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced today that analyses of the second and third round of toxicology survey results from Gulf water, marine species, and sediment samples show no elevated toxins of bacteria from recent hurricanes. Agency scientists have been collecting samples since two weeks after Katrina made landfall. The initial samples contained no elevated toxins or bacteria. The latest analyses also found no cause for concern. The samples were tested for toxins that might have been released into the marine ecosystem after hurricane flooding, such as PCBs, pesticides, and fire retardants. All samples show the levels of these compounds are well below federal guidelines for safe seafood consumption 2006 - The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced today it has clarified the Policy on Partnerships in the Provision of Environmental Information, originally issued in December 2004. The clarified policy language was developed in response to concerns expressed by several private entities that the policy could be construed as signaling an intent by NOAA to compete with private companies when producing public products and services like daily weather forecasts 2006 - Major search in the Tees Bay area for a missing man thought to be on his fishing vessel Bonnie Lass. The alarm was raised just after 0500 when Police contacted Humber Coastguard about a missing man in his sixties. Initial investigations carried out immediately by the Humber MRCC confirmed that Bonnie Lass belonging to the missing man was last seen leaving Hartlepool Fish Quay yesterday morning at 1105. Humber Coastguard are coordinating the search and have called out three Coastguard rescue teams from Hartlepool, Seaham and Redcar. They are currently searching the shoreline and local harbors. Humber Coastguard have also requested the launch of RNLI lifeboats Redcar Atlantic 75 and Redcar D-Class to the scene as well as the Teesmouth RNLI all weather lifeboat and the Hartlepool RNLI all weather and inshore lifeboats. Rescue Helicopter 131 from RAF Boulmer has also been scrambled. The weather conditions are favorable for searching and have not been extreme in the last 24 hours 2006 - Hoang Nguyen, captain of the Galveston, Texas-based commercial fishing vessel Thanh Tam, pleaded guilty in federal court to illegally importing red snapper, the Justice Department announced today. Nguyen and his crewmembers had caught and retained the fish in violation of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). Both Nguyen and a crewmember were indicted by a grand jury in Houston, Texas on November 23, 2005 for offenses surrounding the illegal importation of red snapper in 2004 and 2005. The illegal importation charge carries a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000 2006 - Busan New Port opening ceremony before starting its operation as the logistics hub of the Northeast Asia. Present at the ceremony were some 2,000 honored guests both from home and abroad including President Roh Moo-hyun and Sultan Ahmed, chairman of the port authorities of the United Arab Emirates. President Roh stressed his intention of ensuring that the new port will play a crucial role as the hub of the Northeast Asia in his congratulatory speech. The new port is equipped with an advanced operation system and facilities including a twin lift that enables super-big container ships with more than 8,000 twenty feet equivalent units (TEU) to dock. The new port is expected to create 32,674 jobs this year, bringing about production worth 3 trillion won 2006 - Queen Mary 2 was cleared to leave Port Everglades in the early hours of morning, although investigations continue into the cause of damage to one of the ship's four propulsion pods. The USCG cleared the vessel for departure, saying it was safe to carry passengers. The ship will now continue on its 38-day South America cruise on three pods. A Coast Guard spokesman said a port fixed propeller had been removed from the ship during the inspections. Cunard confirmed yesterday that the pod had been isolated and the blades removed. The USCG could not confirm the timing of a report on the accident, but said it could take between two weeks and a month. The spokesman said he thought it was more likely that the ship hit the side of the channel than a seawall as some reports suggested yesterday. The QM2 was under tow at the time of the incident and had a pilot on board. He estimated the loss of power would slow the ship down by approximately two to three knots. A spokesman for Cunard said the ship could still do 27 knots on three pods. The QM2's next port of call was to have been St Kitts but the ship will now head down towards Rio de Janeiro, with a possible call in Barbados - originally the next port of call on the itinerary - if time allows. The QM2 is due to rendezvous with namesake Queen Mary in Los Angeles next month after a journey round Cape Horn 2006 - For the fourth year in a row, the Port of Los Angeles set a nationwide container volume record by handling nearly 7.5 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) in 2005. This represents a 2.23% increase over 2004. Representing the first half of the Port's 2006-2007 fiscal year, container volumes during the past six months show an increase of 5.69%. With stable labor relations, extended terminal operating hours and no ship congestion, the Port anticipates growth in container volume to continue in 2006 2006 - Dutch salvage and towage company Multraship Salvage BV has successfully refloated the Slovakian pusher-tug Polana, which sank in the River Danube on December 19 last year following a serious fire in its engine room. Despite a rapid response from local firefighters at the time of the casualty, the fire spread into the Polana's accommodation and other parts of the ship 2006 - Massachusetts Maritime Academy TS Enterprise alongside at Norfolk until further notice with evaporator problems 2006 - Belfast MRCC coordinate a sea, air and shore search for missing crew from a fishing vessel that is believed to have sunk in the vicinity of Ardglass. An EPIRB hit from the fishing vessel Greenhill was received by Falmouth MRCC, who relayed the information to Belfast MRCC at 2015. Coastguard rescue teams from Newcastle, White Rock and Portaferry were sent to conduct a close inshore search and RNLI lifeboats from Portaferry and Newcastle were requested to launch. The Irish Rescue helicopter from Dublin was scrambled 2006 - The US National Academy of Sciences (NAS) has awarded its prestigious Gibbs Brothers Medal to Dr Donald Liu, ABS Board member and recently retired Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer. Dr Liu is one of 15 individuals selected to receive awards from the Academy for 2006 honoring their outstanding scientific achievements and is the only representative from the maritime sector. The awards will be presented on April 23 at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., during the Academy's 143rd annual meeting 2006 - Bollinger Shipyards, Inc., of Lockport, La., announced the signing of a multi-vessel contract with Rigdon Marine Corporation. Bollinger will build ten (10) platform supply vessels (PSV) for Rigdon Marine, based on a new GPA 654 Class, designed by Guido Perla & Associates. The design incorporates increased carrying capacity and greater operating efficiency, compared to similar sized vessels, while at the same time allowing simplified construction methods to reduce construction cost. All ten (10) vessels are planned to be built at Bollinger’s Lockport facility 2006 - USS Ford rescued two civilian sailors at sea in the early morning hours in the Gulf of Tehuantepec, off the west coast of Mexico. The ship was on a routine patrol when it was notified by US Coast Guard District 11 in Alameda, Calif., of a vessel in distress. The ship altered course and increased speed toward the vessel to investigate and render assistance. Once in the vicinity of the distressed vessel, the ship launched one of its SH-60B Seahawk helicopters, along with a rescue swimmer, to investigate the distress call. The helicopter crew deployed the rescue swimmer, and rescued one male and one female on the sailing vessel Eclipse. The helicopter returned the rescued sailors to Ford for medical evaluation and to assist in returning them ashore ============================================================= Sources: Colton Shipping Report, NOAA, MARAD, Marine Digest, Leo Pettipas, Kommersant, Samuel Loring Morison, Frank Pierce Young, Navy Times, Naval Institute Proceedings, www.uboat.net, Andrew Etherington, John Nicholas, US Naval Historical Center, Ministry of Defense, US Coast Guard, Thomas N. Carlson, Jack Arrowsmith, Allan Snowie, Ken Hansen, Andy Barber, John Weiss, Jack McKillop, Bernard de Neumann, Sympatico Today in History, Washington History Link, Lloyds List, Fairplay, New York Times, I-Newswire and other news sources in the public domain. Additions, submissions and corrections are always welcomed. ============================================================= Today in History Archives at: http://www.seawaves.com/newsletters/today_in_history_archive.htm Copyright 2007 Seawaves Publishing Inc ISSN 1710-6966 Photos courtesy of US Naval Historical Center, US Coast Guard Historical Center, Wikipedia Encyclopedia or Naval Museum of Manitoba unless otherwise noted. Images may be subject to copyright. Ask before you right-click.