SeaWaves Today in History January 25, 2007 ********************************************************************* January 25 1701 - The decree by Peter I founding a school of mathematics and navigational sciences in Moscow is published. It is the first naval institute in Russia 1799 - United States Congress made the first reference to 'revenue cutters' in legislation. The term 'cutter' is English in origin and first referred to any vessel of Great Britain’s Royal Customs Service. The US Treasury Department adopted 'cutter' to describe any vessel of their Revenue Marine Service. In 1925, the designation was modified so that the largest USCG cutters were known as 'Cruising Cutters, First Class' while coastal cutters were called 'Cruising Cutters, Second Class.' Smaller vessels for inshore work were known as Patrol Boats. These terms were in common usage by the USCG by 1930 1831 - The Polish Seim declares Emperor Nicholas I dethroned 1910 - Battleship USS Arkansas laid down 1915 - Battlecruisers HMS Renown & Repulse laid down 1915 - Patrol vessel HMCS Canada commissioned. Originally CGS Canada acquired for fisheries duties; the plan was to establish a Canadian Naval Militia to cooperate with the (land) Militia &the Royal Navy. The ship was described as "the nucleus of the Canadian navy", shortly after her arrival in Canada she commenced annual winter training (in February 1906) with the RN's North American & West Indies Squadron out of Bermuda, prior to 1914 she had a white hull when training in the West Indies, black hull in home waters. Commencing in 1908 took aboard the first naval cadets for the Canadian Naval Service. Built by Vickers, at Barrows, 557/04, Launched 14 Jun 1904, 206x25x13ft, (displacement 14ft) 2 masts, single funnel, ram bow, fitted with wireless, forecastle raised 1911, twin screw, triple expansion 1800 IHP (210 NHP) 17.5kts. Crew 60-75, as fishery Patrol vessel, 4-3pdr, to RCN 1914, 2-12pdr, 2-3pdr, returned Fisheries 1919, sold 1924, to Barron Gift Collier, Sr. renamed Queen of Nassau commercial, lost enroute Miami to Tampa, Florida 2 Jul 26, she lies in 220 feet of water off Islamorada in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary 1917 - Battleship USS Mississippi launched. Pennanted as BB-41, she displaced 32,000 T and carried twelve 14-inch rifles, three each in four turrets. Commissioned on 15 December 1917, she worked at coast defense in WWI, and in WWII was sent from Atlantic to Pacific duty, where she was a busy participant in several major island campaigns, postwar she was reclassified as AG-41 and used for gunnery training. Decommissioned on 17 September 1956, she was sold for scrap on 28 November that year 1917 - SS Laurentic hit two mines when leaving Lough Swilly and sank with a loss of 354 men. She was carrying 44 tons of gold in payment for munitions delivered to UK from the USA 1918 - Destroyer HMS Vortigen commissioned 1919 - Destroyer USS Elliot commissioned 1929 - Minelayer HMS Nautilus laid down 1929 - Submarine HMS Osiris commissioned 1929 - Destroyer HNLMS Piet Hein commissioned 1932 - Destroyer FS L'Indomptable laid down 1933 - Light cruiser HMS Arethusa laid down 1935 - Torpedo boat FS La Pomone launched 1936 - Submarine USS Shark commissioned 1939 - U-71, U-72, U-77, U-78, U-79, U-80, U-81, U-82, U-88, U-89, U-90, U-91, U-92 ordered 1939 - Destroyer HMS Matabele commissioned 1939 - Destroyer USS Jouet commissioned 1940 - At 0230, SS Biarritz was torpedoed by U-14 36 nautical miles NW of Ymuiden. She sank quickly and only one lifeboat with 19 people set off. 26 crewmen and 11 passengers (among them several women) died. 21 survivors and three bodies were picked up by the Norwegian SS Borgholm, which sailed nearby and were taken to Ymuiden. Several passengers were sailors who had paid off their ships and were on their way home 1940 - U-19 sank SS Everene five miles off Longstone Lighthouse, Farne Islands 1940 - At 2130, SS Gudveig was torpedoed & sunk by U-19 4.5 miles east of Longstone Lightvessel, north of Newcastle. Eight survivors were rescued and taken to Methil. Four of them probably by the Norwegian SS Vim 1940 - SS Tourny sunk by U-44 1940 - Tug HMS Impetus launched 1940 - Destroyer HMS Exmoor launched 1940 - Canadian Parliament is dissolved for an election on 28 March because of recent controversy over the alleged weakness of war preparations 1941 - Corvette HMCS Sudbury laid down Kingston ON 1941 - U-79, U-501 launched 1941 - U-201 commissioned 1941 - U-600 laid down 1941 - Submarine USS Gudgeon launched 1941 - Battleship USS Wisconsin laid down 1942 - Midway Island is shelled by submarine HIJMS I-73 1942 - U-125 attacks unarmed US tanker SS Olney, forcing the latter aground off Cape Lookout, North Carolina. Olney is subsequently removed from her predicament, however, repaired, and returned to service 1942 - Corvettes HMCS Summerside & Shawinigan departed St John's to escort Convoy SC-66 to Londonderry 1942 - Having taken Rabaul in New Britain, Japanese troops landed at Lae in Papua New Guinea. This and other Japanese advances south helped prompt Canberra to order full mobilization in Australia 1942 - The Union of South Africa and New Zealand declared war on Thailand. 1942 - Uruguay severed diplomatic relations with Germany, Italy, and Japan. 1942 - The Government of Thailand declared war on Great Britain and the United States. Thai troops began to advance into Burma 1942 - U-453 & U-372 were attacked in the Mediterranean by aircraft & damaged so heavily that they had to return to base 1942 - During bad weather in the North Atlantic a lookout on U-575 broke his arm 1942 - SS Culebra, dispersed from Convoy ON-53, was sunk by gunfire by U-123 ENE of Bermuda. The master, 38 crewmembers and six gunners were lost 1942 - Tanker SS Varanger sunk by U-130 at 38.58N, 74.06W - Grid CA 5435 1942 - At 0925, SS Mount Kitheron was torpedoed by U-754 & sunk by a coup de grâce at 0938 hours at 47.32N, 52.31W - Grid BB 6359 1942 - ASW trawler HMS Notre Dame de France commissioned 1943 - Syrian sailing ships Mouyassar & Omar el Kattab was shelled & destroyed by U-431 near Haifa 1943 - SS Lackenby, a straggler from Convoy SC-117, was hit by two torpedoes from U-624 & sank south of Cape Farewell. The master, 38 crewmembers and five gunners were lost 1943 - Minesweeper HMS Elfreda launched 1943 - AA cruiser USS Atlanta laid down 1943 - Destroyer USS Harrison commissioned 1943 - Destroyer escort USS Chatelain laid down 1943 - SS City of Flint sailed from New York as part of the convoy UGS-4. While en route she encountered a storm that caused her deckload to shift and she straggled from the convoy. The ship maintained a zigzag course at 11 knots and tried to find the other ships, when she was hit by one torpedo from U-575 at 22.05 hours on 25 Jan 1943. The torpedo struck on port side at the #1 hold and ignited the oil and gasoline stored there. As the vessel settled by the head, flames engulfed the forward section. With the engines secured, the crew of ten officers, 30 crewmen, 24 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 4in, one 3in and six 20mm guns) and one US Army Security officer abandoned ship with four lifeboats in rough seas within ten minutes. Then a second torpedo struck the port side aft of the bridge and the ship sank bow first at 23.05 hours about 300 miles south of Flores, Azores. Two crewmen and four armed guards died in the attack. The chief cook Robert Daigle was picked up by U-575 and was later interned in a POW camp. Three of the boats stayed in the area for two days before setting sail for the Azores. They used a portable radio for sending distress calls. The following day, the Portuguese destroyer Lima picked up 48 men and landed them at Ponta del Garda, Azores. On 28 January, destroyer HMS Quadrant rescued the ten survivors in the fourth boat and landed them in Gibraltar 1944 - Eighty-three Japanese planes and numerous ships were destroyed by an Allied raid on Rabaul 1944 - SS Fort Bellingham, Canadian-owned, British-registered merchantman torpedoed & sunk in the Barents Sea, position 73.25N, 025.10E, by U-360, Kptlt Klaus Becker, CO, & U-957, OLtzS Gerhard Schaar, Knights Cross, CO. Thirty-nine members of her crew were lost. Fort Bellingham was proceeding to the Kola Inlet, Russia, as part of the 20-ship Convoy JW-56A. She & 2 other ships were sunk from this convoy, which arrived on 28 Jan 44. In total, the 3 ships' cargoes amounted to 21,650 tons of military stores. U-360 was a Type VIIC U-boat built by Flensburger Schiffsbau, at Flensburg. She was commissioned on 12 Nov 42. U-360 conducted seven patrols & compiled a record of two ships damaged for a total of 8,693 tons. U-360 was sunk on 02 Apr 44 in the Norwegian Sea, SW of Bear Island, in position 72.28N, 013.04E, by destroyer HMS Keppel. All of her 51 crewmembers were lost. Klaus Becker was born in 1918, at Göttingen. He joined the navy in 1936. His first wartime service was in the light cruiser KÖLN. In Apr 40 he transferred to the 1st Minesweeping Flotilla as the First Weapons Officer & in Jun 40 he was appointed as the commander of the 36th Minesweeping Flotilla. In Nov 40 he was attached as a liaison officer to the 4th Escort Group & in Mar 41 returned to minesweepers as the commander of the 2nd Minesweeping Flotilla. In Oct 41 he transferred to the U-boat force & after introductory training, in May 42 was appointed as the First Weapons Officer in U-586, commanded by Kptlt. Dietrich Von der Esch. He was selected for command & underwent his U-boat commander's course between Dec 42 & Jan 43. OLtzS. Becker was appointed to the command of the training submarine U-235 on 20 Jan 43, at the age of 24. In May 43, he was appointed to the command of U-360, also a training boat, but which was converted to operational status on 01 Jul 43. He was promoted to Kptlt. on 01 Jul 43. Klaus Becker was lost with his entire crew when U-360 was sunk on 02 Apr 44 in the Arctic Ocean. The Fort-class cargo ships were built in Canada to the basic 10,000-ton (DWT) pattern. 2 types were built in Canada, the Fort & Park-classes. The only difference between the two was that the Forts were destined for British Ministry of War Transport service under the Canadian Mutual Aid program. These ships were patterned on the Ocean-class 10,000-ton cargo ships being built in the United States for Britain under the Lend-Lease Program. In turn, the Liberty-class merchant ships were patterned after the Ocean-cargo freighter. The primary difference between Canadian & US-built ships was that Canadian ships were of all-riveted construction while the US ships were welded. The cargo of such a ship equated to 300 train cars. One voyage produced enough revenue to pay for the ship. A single cargo could contain enough foodstuff to feed 225,000 people in the UK for a week, 2,000 tons of steel, enough military vehicles to equip one infantry battalion, enough bombs to load 950 medium or 225 heavy bombers, two bomber aircraft as deck cargo, sufficient lumber to build 94 four-bedroom cottages, plus enough aluminum to built 740 fighters. Canadian shipyard built 354 10,000-ton cargo ships during the war 1944 - Frigate HMCS Wentworth arrived Halifax NS from builder Esquimalt BC 1944 - The unescorted SS Fort la Maune was struck by one torpedo from U-188 and sunk ESE of Socotra Island. The master, 48 crewmembers and seven gunners landed on the Arabian coast and were brought by corvette HMS Nigella to Aden, arriving on 6 Feb 1944. Fort La Maune was a North Sands-class freighter built by North Van Ship Repair Ltd., at North Vancouver, BC She was completed in Oct 42. Fort La Maune was one of 90 North Sands-class freighters built in Canada for American order under the Hyde Park Declaration and subsequently provided to Great Britain under the Lend-Lease Agreement. Hain Steamship Co., Ltd., of London managed the ship for the British government. Twenty-two of these ships were sunk and another seven were damaged. The cargo of a 10,000-ton ship equated to the carrying capacity of 300 train cars. One voyage produced enough revenue to pay for the ship. A single cargo could contain: enough food stuff to feed 225,000 people in the U.K. for a week; enough military vehicles to equip one infantry battalion; enough bombs to load 950 medium or 225 heavy bombers; or enough aluminum to built 740 fighters, plus, carried as deck cargo: two medium bomber aircraft; and sufficient lumber to build 94 four-bedroom houses. Canadian shipyards built 354 10,000-ton cargo ships, resulting in Canada having the world’s fourth largest merchant fleet at the end of the war. The oft-repeated claim is made that Canada possessed the third largest navy by war's end but the RCN was mainly comprised of small escort vessels, many of which were of dubious value. In terms of total tonnage and combat capability, the RCN probably did not rank in the top ten navies of the world. In contrast, the Canadian merchant fleet consisted of large freighters and tankers. 1944 - At 2012, U-278 fired a spread of three FAT torpedoes at Convoy JW-56A in snow squalls about 115 miles from the North Cape and claimed the sinking of two ships with 7000 tons each after hearing two detonations and sinking noises. In fact, both torpedoes hit SS Penelope Barker in station #12 on the port side. One struck in the #5 hold, blew off the hatch cover and beams, destroyed the port lifeboats and knocked the port AA gun out of its tub. The other hit in the engine room, toppled the stack, damaged the bridge area and engine compartment. The eight officers, 35 crewmen, 28 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 5in, one 3in and eight 20mm guns) and one passenger (a Royal Navy doctor, who was on board to treating one of the armed guard for appendicitis) began to abandon ship in two lifeboats, but the ship sank by the stern within ten minutes so that some men were forced to jump overboard. Some time before the ship sank the armed guard officer and the doctor went below to assist trapped seamen, both men were lost. In all, one officer, nine crewmen, five armed guards and the passenger were lost. The survivors were picked up 40 minutes later by HMS Savage and taken to Murmansk. The Penelope Barker had left New York in convoy HX-270, arriving at Loch Ewe on 26 Dec 1943. She had left Loch Ewe on 12 Jan 1944 for Iceland, where she arrived seven days later 1944 - At 1833, destroyer HMS Obdurate was damaged by a Gnat from U-360 while escorting the convoy JW-56A to North Russia. The U-boat missed the damaged destroyer with a coup de grâce at 1844 1944 - Destroyer escorts USS Edwin A Howard & Frybarger launched 1944 - Destroyer escort USS Forster commissioned 1944 - Frigate HMS Dominica commissioned 1944 - Destroyer minelayer USS J William Ditter laid down 1944 - Destroyer escort USS Jaccard laid down 1944 - AA cruiser USS Flint launched 1944 - Destroyer USS Taussig launched 1944 - Corvette HMCS West York launched 1944 - Frigate HMCS Loch Morlich launched 1944 - U-1235, U-1274 launched 1945 - Aircraft carrier USS Enterprise arrived Ulithi Atoll 1945 - Escort carrier USS Bairoko launched 1945 - U-4707 launched 1945 - German forces in East Prussia are cutoff. Evacuation operations begin and will continue until April 1945 - Iwo Jima is bombarded by battleship USS Indiana with accompanying cruisers & destroyers 1945 - U-3022, U-3027 commissioned 1951 - US Eighth Army and UN Forces launch counter attacks which will eventually clear all of South Korea of the enemy by the end of March 1951 1951 - Enemy opens fire on HMCS Cayuga & Nootka from Wolmi-do. There were no hits or casualties 1953 - Liverpool England - Canadian Pacific liner Empress of Canada destroyed in a dockside fire; used as a troop ship during World War II 1955 - The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR published the decree “On Halting the State of War between the USSR and Germany” 1956 - Frigate HMCS Penetang paid off for transfer to Norway 1957 - The Danish naval cutter Ternen, commanded by Lieutenant Commander Erik Erling Olsen, are lost off Ravns Storø in Greenland, presumably caused by icing conditions. The whole crew of 8 officers and men are lost 1963 - 1st Seabee Technical Assistance Team arrives in Vietnam 1967 - USS Bennington port call Subic Bay 1968 - Operation Windsong I in Mekong Delta, Vietnam 25 Jan 1973 - USS Midway port call Cubi Point 1991 - DOD announces 236 Tomahawk cruise missiles have been launched 1991 - US ships engage an Iraqi vessel laying mines near Sea Island Terminal, setting part of terminal and surrounding water afire. Iraq has dumped several million barrels of oil into the Arabian Gulf from the Sea Island crude oil tanker loading terminal, off the coast of Kuwait. 5 pre-positioned Iraqi tankers in the occupied Kuwaiti port of Mina al Ahmadi have been drained of oil, and oil is being pumped from storage tanks ashore through an underwater pipeline into the gulf. Described by DOD as "an act of environmental terrorism", the spill is approximately 20 miles long, 3 miles wide, and three feet deep, and threatens to foul the intakes of Saudi Arabia's desalinization plants as well as the gulf 1991 - SECNAV activates 298 additional Naval Reservists from 41 units 2003 - USCGC Hollyhock launched at Marinette Marine 2003 - MV Cape Douglas activated from RRF 2004 - SS Cape May placed in service from RRF 2005 - Don Bell, Member of Parliament for North Vancouver, on behalf of David L. Emerson, Minister of Industry, today announced that the Government of Canada will make a contribution of up to $4.2 million toward the refit and modernization of the Queen of Oak Bay ferry. The financing support will be delivered through Industry Canada's Structured Financing Facility (SFF) to Victoria-based ferry operator British Columbia Ferry Services Inc. (BC Ferries). The construction contract has been awarded to the Vancouver Drydock Company, a Washington Marine Group (WMG) shipyard. Work has already begun and is scheduled to be completed in June 2005 2005 - BNS Wandelaar enters drydock in Antwerp to prepare for transfer to Bulgarian Navy 2005 - Russian icebreaker Krasin cleared a channel to the US McMurdo station in Antarctica 2005 - Seabulk International, Inc. announced that it had taken delivery of two newbuild vessels for its international offshore fleet -- the Seabulk Angra and Seabulk Advantage -- bringing to nine the number of new vessels added in the last two years. Seabulk Angra is a 5,500-horsepower, 236-foot UT-755L platform supply vessel built at the Promar shipyard outside Rio de Janeiro. She will join her sister vessel, the Seabulk Brasil, on a two-year time charter, with options, for Petrobras, the Brazilian national oil company, ferrying equipment and supplies to offshore drilling rigs in the Campos Basin. Offshore Brazil is a new market for Seabulk and a promising area for significant new offshore oil and gas discoveries. Seabulk Advantage is a 4,800-horsepower, multi-purpose offshore supply vessel equipped with a four-point-mooring system and purchased from Jaya Shipbuilding & Marine, Pte of Singapore. She will work offshore Angola on a five-year time charter, with options, for a major international oil company. Seabulk currently has five vessels working in Angola, which is fast becoming a major supplier of crude oil exports. The Company has two additional offshore vessels scheduled for delivery in 2005 and four in 2006 2005 - TORM has today entered into an agreement to acquire four LR1 product tankers from Malaysian Bulk Carriers Group. The agreement comprises a 2003-built LR1 product tanker to be delivered in February 2005 and three LR1 newbuildings from the Samsung yard in Korea, which are expected to be delivered in March 2005, September 2005 and January 2006. The acquisition will take place as a purchase of a total of five companies with no other activities than operation and construction of said vessels. Additionally, TORM has agreed to acquire 1.5 LR1 product tankers from Wah Kwong Shipping Holdings Limited. The first of these vessels has been acquired jointly and evenly with J. B. Ugland Shipping A/S, and is expected to be delivered from the New Century yard in China in November 2006, while the other vessel, which is chartered out at fixed rates on a seven-year charter, is expected to be delivered from the New Century yard in China in January 2007. All six vessels will over time join the TORM LR1 pool 2005 - A major study of politicians, diplomats and thinkers from Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America has concluded that Canada has become an irrelevant force on the international stage 2005 - A naval support company announced today it had won a multi-million pound contract to refit a frigate – helping to secure 130 jobs. Portsmouth-based Fleet Support Limited (FSL) said the 18-month program to refit HMS Richmond would start in April 2005 - Philadelphia firefighters -- along with a city fireboat -- were called to the Philadelphia Navy Yard on Tuesday morning to battle a fire aboard the decommissioned aircraft carrier USS America. The America, which is three football fields long and 20 stories high, is docked at the Navy Yard in South Philadelphia; part of the Navy's mothballed fleet. The fire, which was seven decks below the carrier's flight deck, was reported just after 1030. It was extinguished and there were no injuries. The cause of the fire was under investigation, but sources indicated that contractors performing work aboard the carrier may have triggered the blaze with welding or cutting torches. The carrier America saw extensive service during the Vietnam era and during the first Iraq war (Operation Desert Storm). It was officially decommissioned in 1996 2005 - Navy helicopter based from USS Dwight D Eisenhower crashed into the Atlantic. All eight people aboard were rescued from a liferaft. The helicopter crashed about 30 miles off NAS Oceana. The MH-53E Sea Dragon, primarily used for minesweeping, was part of a helicopter squadron from the Norfolk Naval Station and was doing exercises with USS Bataan 2005 - China Ocean Shipping Co (COSCO) ordered four 10,000 TEU container vessels 2005 - Mrs. Alliot-Marie launched the design phase of the second aircraft carrier for the French Navy. Commissioning is planned for 2014 2005 - Venezuela will buy four corvettes from the Izar Shipyard in a contract valued between 600 & 800 million Euros. This contract was closed with the discreet visit that Spanish Minister of Defense Jose Bono made 25 January to Caracas. In addition to the corvette order, six C-295 cargo planes made by the Spanish branch of European partnership EADS. This second contract is valued at 150 million Euros 2006 - A new online atlas will be launched at the Coastal Futures 2006 conference (25/26th January). The 'Coastal and Marine Resource Atlas' will replace outdated hard copy maps of the UK's coastline with constantly updated marine data intended as one stop shop for planning how the UK protects the environment in cases of oil spills at sea 2006 - Crowley announced that Joel Klenck has been promoted to vice president, ship assist and escort services, a part of Crowley’s marine services segment, with overall responsibility for managing the company’s growing tug services business from Southern California to Alaska. In his new position, Klenck will relocate from Jacksonville to Seattle and will report to John Douglass, senior vice president and general manager of Crowley’s marine services segment. Klenck began his career with Crowley as a marketing analyst for the company’s Puerto Rico and Caribbean liner services group in February 1999. In a series of subsequent promotions Klenck was appointed to vice president of pricing and yield management for the group. Most recently he has served as vice president of Crowley’s Caribbean and Bahamas liner service 2006 - The Philippine Navy is to receive two high-speed vessels from South Korea this year that will be used to help patrol the country’s porous borders. The transfer was part of an agreement to boost defense ties between the two countries. Six vessels were also acquired in the late 1990s, said navy spokesman Captain Geronimo Malabanan. The new patrol vessels will be used by the navy’s Stingray task force, a rapid deployment force for counter-terrorism and anti-insurgency operations 2006 - The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has submitted a proposal to the Vietnamese Government for the allocation of 280 billion VND from the State budget for upgrading the sea dyke system in 2006. The MARD plans to maintain and upgrade the system of sea dykes and breakwaters from the coastal areas of northern Quang Ninh province to central Quang Nam province. The project is estimated at a total of 10,000 billion VND 2006 - Keppel FELS Limited (Keppel FELS) has received notice from Sinvest ASA’s wholly-owned subsidiary exercising its option signed in February 2005 for another KFELS Super B class jackup rig. To be completed in first quarter 2009, the rig is contracted at around US$140 million. This KFELS Super B Class jackup is Sinvest’s fifth rig with Keppel FELS, and can drill high pressure, high temperature wells up to 35,000 ft at 350 ft water depths 2006 - Diana Shipping Inc. announced that its newly delivered newbuilding Panamax dry bulk carrier, the Coronis, has been chartered to Bocimar International nv, Antwerp, Belgium, for 11 to 13 months at $21,000 per day gross, commencing January 27, 2006 2006 - USCG issued an order to the owner of the paddle wheel boat Grand Romance to properly secure the vessel which is currently moored near the Sacramento Yacht Club. The 82-ft vessel has been moored in its present location for several years. Due to heavy weather conditions in the Sacramento area recently, one of the vessel’s mooring lines parted. With only one mooring line remaining, the Coast Guard determined that the vessel poses a potential hazard to navigation and therefore issued a Captain of the Port Order instructing its owner to properly secure the vessel. In response to the order, the vessel’s owner dispatched deckhands to tie additional lines to vessel. The Coast Guard will continue to monitor this situation to ensure the safety of mariners and waterfront structures in the area. Although the vessel has not currently caused any damage, failure to comply with the Captain of the Port Order in this case may subject the responsible party to a civil penalty of up to $32,500 per day 2006 - The tug vessel Island Brave that sank Sunday on the Duwamish Waterway at terminal seven has been refloated by Global Diving and Salvage. The USCG and Washington Department of Ecology were at the location to monitor the operation. The vessel remains moored at the terminal on the Duwamish Waterway. The Coast Guard and Department of Ecology will continue to monitor efforts to prevent further releases of oil from the vessel. A containment boom is currently in place around the vessel to contain oil products that may escape the vessel. Coast Guard pollution investigators and representatives from the Department of Ecology, the Port of Seattle Police and the Seattle Fire Department responded after the sinking was reported. The Island Brave sunk about 0045. Sunday. A minor diesel sheen was observed after the vessel sunk, but containment boom and absorbent materials were placed around the vessel to contain the pollution. Additional booms contained additional oil released during the re-floating and other equipment deployed for the operation. The cause of the sinking is under investigation by the Coast Guard 2006 - Family and friends greeted the arrival of the Navy's newest ship, the amphibious transport dock USS San Antonio as she arrived at her homeport of Naval Station Norfolk, San Antonio was commissioned Jan. 14 at Naval Station Ingleside, Texas 2006 - HMS Spartan yesterday left HM Naval Base Clyde for the last time following a successful 28 years of service with the Royal Navy 2007 - Capt. Rick Muldoon will take the helm of the Heavy Lift Helicopter program office following a change of command ceremony held in the atrium of the William B. Moffett building at NAS Patuxent River. Muldoon, currently serving as the Deputy for Operations for Program Executive Officer Air ASW, Assault & Special Mission Programs, will succeed Col. Paul Croisetiere, a 1977 US Naval Academy graduate. Croisetiere, a United States Naval Test Pilot, will be retiring from the United Sates Marine Corps with 30 years of distinguished service. Having served in all three active Marine Aircraft Wings, Croisetiere has more than 3,800 flight hours in 40 different aircraft series ============================================================= 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.