SeaWaves Today in History January 24, 2007 ********************************************************************* January 24 Union of the Principalities in Romania. Visiting warships dress with Masthead Flags 1720 - Peter I issued an order on the inclusion of a naval fleet in the armed forces 1848 - James W. Marshall discovered a gold nugget at Sutter's Mill in northern California, a discovery that led to the gold rush of '49 1903 - Britain and US refer Alaskan boundary dispute to commission which sits from September 3 to October 2; the result of the Anglo-American Convention will be largely in favor of American interests, enraging the Canadian public 1915 - The capital warships of the British Grand Fleet and the German High Seas Fleet clashed for the first time in the First World War at the Dogger Bank in the North Sea. Vice Admiral Franz Von Hipper led out the battlecruisers of his First Scouting Group (Derfflinger, Seydlitz, and Moltke) to attempt another bombardment of British coastal towns. However, the battlecruiser Von der Tann was not available, having damaged herself in a collision whilst taking evasive action during the Royal Naval Air Service's pioneering air raid on Cuxhaven on Christmas Day 1914. Hipper therefore took with his force the powerful armored cruiser Blucher as a substitute. Vice Admiral Sir David Beatty with his Battlecruiser Force - Lion, Tiger, Princess Royal, New Zealand and Indomitable, successfully intercepted his force. Hipper prudently turned to withdraw, but Blucher's inferior speed allowed the British battlecruisers to close the gap. During the exchange of fire, Blucher took serious hits and Seydlitz came close to blowing up when a catastrophic ammunition fire destroyed both her stern gun turrets. Hipper was forced to abandon Blucher to her fate and run. However, Beatty's flagship HMS Lion had also been badly hit, and forced to withdraw from the fight. Badly phrased signals from Beatty (a serious failing he was to repeat at Jutland), and poor initiative on the part of the next most senior admiral, led to the other Royal Navy battlecruisers concentrating their efforts against the mortally damaged Blucher rather than pursuing Hipper. Thus although a tactical victory for the Royal Navy, Dogger Bank was mainly regarded by contemporaries as a missed opportunity 1917 - Cruiser HMS Calypso launched 1917 - Destroyer USS Allen commissioned 1919 - Destroyer USS Crosby commissioned 1919 - Submarine USS R-2 commissioned 1924 - Russian city of St. Petersburg was renamed Leningrad in honor of the late revolutionary leader 1925 - Destroyer FS Cyclone launched 1933 - Destroyer HMS Duchess commissioned 1935 - Light cruiser USS Nashville laid down 1935 - Sloop HMS Wellington commissioned 1935 - Torpedo boat La Melpomene launched 1936 - U-30 laid down 1936 - Destroyer HMS Hostile launched 1938 - Minesweepers HMCS Fundy & Gaspe laid down. The 4 ships of the Fundy-class (Comox, Fundy, Gaspe & Nootka) were ordered before the outbreak of WWII as part of a modest naval buildup. All 4 ships were laid down & commissioned in 1938. With a displacement of only 460 tons and a length of 163 feet, they were even smaller than the Western Isles-class armed trawlers. They were coal-fired, which gave them significantly less endurance than comparably sized oil-fired vessels. They served in the local approaches to Esquimalt & Halifax. All were paid off in 1945 1940 - SS Alsacien sunk by U-44 at 39.01N, 09.54W - Grid CG 5552 1940 - SS Bisp sunk by U-23 at 60.47N, 04.34W - Grid AN 1115 1940 - Destroyers HMS Ledbury & Milne laid down 1940 - Corvette HMS Gladiolus launched 1940 - Flower-class corvettes HMCS Amherst, Sackville, Moncton, Levis, Shawinigan & Lunenburg ordered 1940 - German bombs dropped on land that were aimed at a cargo vessel in the Shetlands. An unknown number of enemy aircraft are involved that escape in low cloud 1941 - SS Vespasian sunk by U-123 at 55N, 15W - Grid AL 5244 1941 - Minesweeper HMAS Gawler laid down 1941 - Minesweeper HMAS Lismore commissioned 1941 - U-562 launched 1941 - Minesweeper HMCS Chedabucto laid down North Vancouver BC 1942 - Submarine USS S-26 rammed & sunk in error by USS PC-460. Three survivors from crew of 49 1942 - Minesweeper HMAS Armidale launched 1942 - U-218, U-440, U-514 commissioned 1942 - Destroyer HMS Inconstant commissioned 1942 - At 0240, the unescorted SS Empire Gem was torpedoed by U-66 east of Cape Hatteras. The burning tanker later sank in 35°02N/75°33W. 43 crewmembers and six gunners were lost. The master and the radio operator were picked up by a US Coast Guard cutter and landed at Hatteras Inlet on 25 January 1942 - SS Ringstad sunk by U-333 at 45.50N, 51.04W - Grid BC 4700 1942 - At 0653, SS Empire Wildebeeste, dispersed from Convoy ON-53, was torpedoed & sunk by U-106 east of New York. Eight crewmembers & one gunner were lost. The master, 18 crewmembers & three gunners were picked up by destroyer USS Lang & landed at Bermuda 1942 - U-586, U-587 & U-588 went into position off Norway west of the Hebrides in preparation for an anticipated Allied invasion of Norway 1942 - U-309 laid down 1942 - Corvette HMCS Wetaskiwin arrived Halifax enroute Liverpool NS for refit 1942 - Peru and Uruguay broke off diplomatic relations with the Axis Powers 1942 - HMCS Wetaskiwin, a Flower-class corvette, LCdr. Guy Stanley Windeyer, RCN, CO, arrived at Halifax, NS, en route to a refit in Liverpool, NS. Wetaskiwin completed six round trips to Iceland in eight months as part of the Newfoundland Escort Force and was worn out. During that time, she participated in two major convoy battles - SC-42 (Sep 41) and SC-48 (Oct 41), during which U-boats sank 27 merchant ships totaling over 120,000 tons. On 31 Jul 42, Wetaskiwin and Skeena, A/LCdr. Kenneth Lloyd Dyer, DSC, RCN, CO, sank U-588, OLtzS Viktor Vogel, CO, during the battle for convoy ON-115 (two ships lost totaling 16,500 tons). LCdr. Windeyer was later appointed to the command of the River-class destroyer HMCS St Laurent & was the senior officer in command of the close escort for convoy ON-154 (Dec 42). During this disastrous battle U-boats sank 14 ships for over 70,000 tons. Cdr. Windeyer collapsed, due to strain and fatigue, and was relieved of his command at sea, under Doctor’s order, by the XO 1942 - Battle off Balikpapan, Borneo, or the Battle of Makassar Strait, four US destroyers attack the Japanese Borneo invasion convoy. Destroyer USS John D. Ford is damaged by gunfire at position 01.20N, 117.01E but sinks transport Tsuruga Maru; Parrott sinks transport Sumanoura Maru; Paul Jones & Pope sink transport Tatsukami Maru; Paul Jones also sinks cargo ship Kuretaki Maru and Parrott also sinks Patrol Boat No.37, in position 00.10N, 118.00E 1942 - Japanese Eastern Invasion Force lands at Kendari on Celebes Island. Seaplane tender (destroyer), USS Childs is leaving Kendari harbor and spots the Japanese. A rainsquall obscures the seaplane tender for a while, allowing her to avoid two Japanese destroyers. Than she is attacked by six Japanese aircraft at 0800 hours local but escapes to the south. By the evening, Kendari is fully occupied by the Japanese. Most of the Dutch troops are captured by Japanese; some fight a guerilla war for a short period, while others try to escape to safer parts of archipelago. Kendari Airdrome is considered the best in the Netherlands East Indies and was immediately put into operation by the Japanese 21st Air Flotilla 1942 - Submarine USS Swordfish sinks a Japanese gunboat north of Kema, Celebes Island 1942 - Carrier-based aircraft from the aircraft carriers HIJMS Soryu & Hiryu bomb Ambon Island 1942 - The Special Court of Inquiry on Pearl Harbor, headed by Supreme Court Justice Owen J Roberts, places the main responsibility for the 7 December 1941 disaster on Admiral Husband E Kimmel and Lieutenant General Walter C Short, accusing them of neglecting to heed attack warnings, failing to confer with each other, and taking only minimum precautions. The ad hoc group becomes known as the Roberts Commission 1943 - In the Arctic Sea, U-625 fired four torpedoes at convoy escorts HMS Kent & Bermuda, but all missed 1943 - Submarines USS Raton & Pargo launched 1943 - Minesweeper HMS Gorgon & Grecian launched 1943 - Destroyer escorts USS Douglas L Howard & Frederick C Davis launched 1943 - Drifting wreck of tanker British Vigilance sunk by U-105 in Caribbean 1943 - President Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Churchill concluded a wartime conference in Casablanca, Morocco 1943 - Admiral Ainsworth leads a US naval task force into the Kula Gulf to bombard a Japanese airfield site on Kolombangara north of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. Cruisers Honolulu, St. Louis, Nashville, Helena and destroyers Nicholas, DeHaven, Radford and O'Bannon are involved. Later in the day, aircraft of Carrier Air Group Six (CVG-6) in the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga (CV-3), Douglas SBD Dauntlesses of Bombing Squadron Six (VB-6), Grumman F4F Wildcats of Fighting Squadron Six (VF-6) and Grumman TBF Avengers of Torpedo Squadron Six (VT-6), bomb the same objectives 1944 - Submarine USS Bream commissioned 1944 - Destroyer escorts USS Coates, Daniel, Garfield Thomas & Hollis commissioned 1944 - Destroyer escort USS Lloyd E Acree laid down 1944 - Aircraft carrier USS Hancock launched 1944 - In the Bismarck Archipelago, USMC TBF Avengers, supported by a large concentration of RNZAF, USAAF, USMC and USN fighters, attack Japanese shipping at Rabaul, sinking water tanker Koan Maru, aircraft transport Lyon Maru (previously rendered unnavigable on 17 January) and army cargo ships Taisho Maru & Yamayuri Maru, in position 04.13S, 152.11E 1944 - In New Guinea, Japanese planes bomb US shipping in Dreger Bay, damaging freighter SS John Muir with one direct hit and at least four near-misses that injure 16 men 1944 - German planes attack invasion shipping off the Anzio beachhead - bombs damage destroyer USS Plunkett & minesweeper USS Prevail. An aerial torpedo damages destroyer USS Mayo 1944 - During a Luftwaffe air raid on Allied shipping at Naples, SS F.A.C. Muhlenberg is damaged by bomb and by near miss of bomb; the ship's crew and port firefighting crews extinguish the fires. Seven crewmen are killed 1944 - German submarines attack Murmansk-bound convoy JW 56A. US freighter SS Penelope Barker is torpedoed and sunk by U-278 about 115 miles from North Cape, Norway; 15 crewmen are killed 1944 - MAC carrier Empire MacDermott launched 1944 - Tug HMCS Auburnville assigned to Halifax NS 1944 - Patrol vessel HMCS Sans Peur departed Esquimalt BC for Halifax NS 1945 - The following AP report was released to the newswires - Shallow Lake, Ontario. Defense minister general A.G.L. McNaughton said tonight that "today the North Atlantic is, as it hasn't been for months past, alive with German submarines." "We are having ships sunk day by day," said General McNaughton in telling a political rally here why he had not been able to campaign last week as government candidate in the North Grey by-election of February 5. The following AP report was released to the newswires - The probable sinking of a U-boat in the Atlantic, four hundred miles from Britain, was reported by RAF Coastal Command tonight - another sign that submarine packs might be on the prowl. Norwegian reports said the Germans recently stationed one hundred new U-boats at Norwegian ports as far north as Narvik 1945 - U-295 hit a mine in the Arctic Sea & was damaged so badly that she had to return to base 1945 - U-3035 launched 1945 - The Fleet Air Arm delivered a major air strike against the vital Japanese oil refineries at Palembang in Sumatra, launched from four fleet aircraft carriers 1945 - In the Volcano Islands, USN Task Group 94.9 (Rear Admiral Oscar C. Badger, consisting of battleship USS Indiana, three heavy cruisers, seven destroyers & a light minelayer and preceded by a barrier patrol of PB4Y Liberators, bombards Iwo Jima 1945 - Salvage Vessel USS Extractor sunk torpedoed in error by USS Guardfish Philippine Sea 1945 - Northeast of Iwo Jima, destroyers USS Dunlap & Fanning sink transport I-Go Yoneyama Maru & auxiliary minesweepers Keinan Maru & No.7 Showa Maru, a small Japanese three-ship convoy that had just arrived that morning 1946 - HMCS Warrior, a Colossus-class light fleet aircraft carrier, was commissioned into the RCN at Belfast, Ireland. Warrior was the first aircraft carrier commissioned into the RCN, although she was official 'on loan' from the RN. She displaced 13,350 tons, was 693 feet long (o.a.), and had a maximum speed of 24 knots. She carried approximately 30 aircraft, depending on their type 1965 - Winston Churchill died in London 1968- Seifu Maru, a Japanese refrigerator vessel, reported a fire and requested clearance to enter Dutch Harbor, Alaska to combat it. They also reported that two crewmembers had been overcome by smoke and requested their evacuation for hospital treatment. Clearance was granted and USCGC Citrus was ordered to proceed and assist in fighting the fire. The burning ship arrived in Dutch Harbor on Jan 24 and advised that the fire was raging between the decks. Fire fighting parties from Citrus began assisting the crew of the Japanese vessel. USCG aircraft evacuated three patients from Seifu Maru to Kodiak for hospitalization. The fire assistance rendered by Citrus in a 4-Day operation saved the Japanese vessel 1991 - DOD announces more than 220 Tomahawk cruise missiles have been launched at Iraqi targets 1991 - USN A-6s attacked and destroyed an Iraqi Spasilac minelayer. An A-6 sank an Iraqi Zhuk-class patrol boat and another Iraqi minesweeper hit an Iraqi mine while attempting to evade the A-6 fire. Twenty-two survivors were taken from the sea by a helo from USS Curts near the island of Jazirat Qurah. During rescue, helo comes under attack, returned fire from Iraqi forces on the island, killing 3. 29 additional Iraqis subsequently surrendered. 51 enemy prisoners of war were taken into custody by SEAL Platoon from Naval Special Warfare Group One on Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron 12 and Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron 9 helos from USS Leftwich and Nicholas and the island is reclaimed, the first liberated Kuwaiti territory. Also, A-6s and F/A-18s attacked the Umm Qasr Naval Base, hitting four Iraqi ships. In first air-to-air engagement between Saudi Arabian and Iraqi aircraft, a Royal Saudi F-15 downed 2 Iraqi F-1s (armed with Exocet anti-ship missiles and bombs). USS Worden vectored aircraft for shootdown. To-date, 19 Iraqi aircraft have been destroyed in air to-air engagements, with no US or coalition losses 1991 - US ships continue multiple operations including locating and destroying 25 mines to-date in the northern Arabian Gulf. Using Harpoon anti-ship missile, Royal Saudi vessel sinks an Iraqi minelayer in northern Persian Gulf. No survivors reported 1991 - Elements of IV and V Marine Expeditionary Brigades, and 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, embarked on ships from Amphibious Task Groups Two and Three, are conducting amphibious exercise Operation Sea Soldier IV, the largest amphibious force assembled since the 1950 landing at Inchon 2003 - Submarine USS Jefferson City changed homeport from San Diego to Bremerton for refit 2003 - USNS Fisher & William A Callaghan activated 2003 - First of 49 110-ft patrol craft, USCGC Matagorda, decommissioned to enter Deepwater Modernization 2003 - USCGC Cowslip decommissioned & transferred to Nigerian Navy as Ologbo (A 502) 2004 - Cdr David J. Bartholomew Jr. was relieved of command of the Jimmy Carter, a Groton-based submarine waiting to be commissioned, for loss of confidence 2004 - National Historic Landmark Delta Queen inducted into the National Maritime Hall of Fame at a ceremony at the US Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point NY 2004 - USNS Seay activated 2005 - Norfolk Shipbuilding & Drydock Corp (NORSHIPCO awarded an $11,050,533 firm-fixed-price contract for shiprepair overhaul and drydock to support USNS Joshua Humphreys, a fleet replenishment oiler 2005 - A 6.2 magnitude earthquake rocked parts of Indonesia's Sulawesi Island 2005 - Lloyd’s Register Asia has won a contract from Malaysia International Shipping Corporation (MISC) to inspect and assess up to six chemical tankers (four confirmed plus two options) according to the criteria laid out by the Condition Assessment Program (CAP). CAP is a consultancy service offered by Lloyd’s Register, which provides owners and charterers with an independent assessment and verification of a ship’s condition above and beyond the requirements of class. CAP is used by charterers to assess the quality and suitability of tonnage for charter and is required by most oil majors as a precondition for a vessel undergoing the vetting process. For example, Petronas, a charterer of oil tankers and also MISC’s parent company, requires the highest ratings (CAP 1 or CAP 2) for all its chartered tonnage. As the subject tankers are around 15 years old, CAP will provide an independent review of the condition of the tankers and their suitability to continue trading safely and reliably for at least another five to 10 years. MISC has previously engaged Lloyd’s Register to carry out life-extension studies for its LNG tonnage with good results. It is MISC’s expectation to achieve similar results with this contract 2005 - The Coast Guard conducted a safety inspection of a 48-foot commercial fishing vessel Monday afternoon in Westport, Wash., resulting in the arrest of a crewmember for methamphetamine possession. A boarding team from Station Grays Harbor boarded the vessel entering Westport, and conducted an identification check of the fishing vessel Baranof Queen's crew. During the boarding a Coastguardsman identified what looked like paraphernalia in the possession of a crewman. Further testing of the scorched pen tube revealed the presence of methamphetamine. The master of the Baranof Queen indicated that his policy was not to allow crewmen to use drugs or alcohol aboard the vessel. He consented to a search of the vessel where further evidence of methamphetamine use was found. Although the crewmember initially denied ownership of the pen, he ultimately took responsibility when he was notified that a citation would be issued to the master. The Westport Police took the crewman to the Grays Harbor County Jail 2005 - Excel Maritime Carriers Ltd announced today that it has taken delivery of a Handymax bulk vessel, MV Swift. The vessel was immediately entered into a one-year time-charter contract with a European charterer at a trade variable daily rate ranging from US$ 21,500 to US$ 22,000 per day. MV Swift, a Handymax bulk carrier of approximately 38,000 dwt, is the second vessel to be delivered to Excel from a total of five recently acquired vessels, and the second one-year time charter of a newly acquired vessel signed during the month of January. The Company agreed to acquire MV Swift on October 27, 2004, for a purchase price of US$ 11.85 million 2005 - The Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) Weapon System with its Standard Missile (SM)-3 successfully intercepted a ballistic missile target outside the earth's atmosphere during its descent phase of flight. The Aegis Weapon System aboard the guided missile cruiser USS Lake Erie and range sensors confirmed a direct hit of the missile target over the Pacific Ocean. Lockheed Martin develops the Aegis BMD Weapon System and serves as the Combat System Engineering Agent for Aegis BMD. Raytheon Company develops the SM-3. In addition to USS Lake Erie, the guided missile destroyer USS Russell participated in today's test. A new Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense Signal Processor (Aegis BSP), installed on the destroyer, conducted real-time detection, tracking and discrimination of the target, as well as analysis of target interception. This is the first time the Aegis BSP was used in an at-sea flight test mission. This test, Flight Test Mission 04-1, marks the fifth time the Lockheed Martin Aegis BMD Weapon System successfully guided its SM-3 to a ballistic missile target intercept. The Missile Defense Agency sponsored the test 2006 - John Reid hosts French Defense Minister, Madame Michele Alliot-Marie, in London. To highlight the close defense ties between the UK and France, a key European defense partner, Madame Alliot-Marie honored with a Guard of Honor. The Ministers are meeting to discuss mutual defense issues. France agreed to pay Britain as much as £140m to develop and construct an aircraft carrier based on the design of those being built for the Royal Navy. It is the first concrete step towards what would be the biggest joint military program in a generation. The deal, hammered out in London by John Reid, Defense secretary, and Michèle Alliot-Marie, his French counterpart, would see France pay Britain as much as £100m in three installments over the course of this year for the rights to the UK design 2006 - The coast guard is gearing up to completely take over the task of coastal patrolling along the 1,600km Gujarat coastline, a job the Indian Navy had been performing for all these years. This handover is being done in a phased manner and Gujarat coast guard has already started its patrolling along the strategic coastline in Vadinar and Okha near Dwarka in Jamangar district from December 2005 2006 - Bollinger Shipyards, Inc., Lockport LA has delivered the Offshore Supply Vessels Sarah Bordelon and Marcelle Bordelon to Bordelon Marine, Inc., Lockport LA 2006 - The IMO and the non-governmental industry organization Interferry have signed a MoU formalizing the two Organizations' intent to work together towards enhancing the safety of non-Convention ferries by collaborating, through IMO's Integrated Technical Co-operation Program, on related capacity-building activities within developing countries. Under the agreement, the two Organizations will work closely with interested parties such as Bangladesh, which has been selected as a pilot country for the Organizations' work, with the aim of identifying potential solutions to increasing ferry safety. The two Organizations have agreed to share certain costs and IMO will seek financial support from governments and multilateral funding organizations. Interferry will reach out to private sector ferry operators and its own members, as well as other international private sector organizations, to inform them of the initiative and seek their support, as well as seeking the assistance of private sector ferry operators in the pilot country itself 2006 - Together, British and Argentinean sailors commemorated the fallen of the 1982 South Atlantic campaign at a ceremony in Ushuaia, Argentina on 24 January 2006. The Royal Navy's ice patrol vessel, HMS Endurance, arrived at Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world, the day before yesterday after completing her first Antarctic work period of the 2005/06 season. The visit to Ushuaia in Tierra del Fuego, the Argentine port from which most Antarctic cruises depart, provided the ship with opportunity to re-supply and refuel before crossing Drake's Passage once more for the next work period west of the Antarctic peninsula. The visit to Ushuaia is the first by a RN ship since that of HMS Endurance's predecessor in January 1982, so it has naturally stimulated significant local and national interest in Argentina 2006 - Navy surging three ships Jan 24 & 25 to conduct maritime security operations in support of the global war on terrorism. Amphibious dock landing ship USS Oak Hill, Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Roosevelt and guided-missile cruiser USS Vicksburg deploy with their more than 1,100 sailors for approximately three months. These ships will work with allies to detect, disrupt, and deny international terrorist organizations the use of the maritime environment. They will also work closely with allies to build regional security and long-term stability 2006 - Submarine SAS S101 was conducting sea training in Norwegian waters with a German Navy team onboard in preparation for return to SA when a technical malfunction occurred, Rear Admiral Rusty Higgs said. Nobody was injured and the S101 - known by its serial number until it is named - was travelling to Kiel in Germany for further information to be gathered 2007 - The 6th Meeting of the Inter-Governmental Commission on Military Technical Cooperation (IRIGC-MTC) headed by the Defense Ministers of India and Russia. The Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Mr. SB Ivanov, who will be co-chairing the commission meeting with the Defense Minister. Shri AK Antony, will be on a five-day visit to the country from January 22 - 26, 2007 ============================================================= 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.