SeaWaves Today in History January 28, 2007 ********************************************************************* January 28 Sweden - Festival Day of HRH Crown Princess Victoria. Visiting warships dress with Masthead Flags 1596 - Sir Francis Drake died of fever aboard the Defiance off Porto Bello in the Caribbean, and was buried at sea. He was aged about 56 1631 - King Christian IVth's National Council agree to the plans for the construction of Nyboder as a home for Holmens (The Naval Dock Yard in Copenhagen) regular attendants 1819 - Sir Stamford Raffles landed near the mouth of the Singapore River on a beach littered with skulls - it was then a den of Malay pirates called the Orang Laut 1885 - Keeper Marcus Hanna of the Cape Elizabeth Light Station saved two men from the wrecked schooner Australia. For this rescue Hanna was awarded the Gold Lifesaving Medal. He was also awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions at Port Hudson in 1863. He is the only person to have ever received both awards 1906 - Submarine HMS B4 completed 1909 - United States ended direct control over Cuba 1915 - Congress creates the United States Coast Guard by consolidating Life-Saving Service and Revenue Cutter Service. [Act to Create the Coast Guard passed by the House on 20 January, 1915 and signed by President Woodrow Wilson on 28 January 1915] 1918 - Submarine USS R-19 launched 1918 - On 20th January 1918 battlecruiser Yavuz Sultan had sunk two English vessels off the Dardanelles. The Sultan had been damaged by mines but managed to withdraw up the Dardanelles until she ran aground off Nagara Point. It was decided to make a concerted effort to sink her; over five days 270 aircraft sorties were flown and although 16 hits were scored the Goeben refused to sink. On 27th January air reconnaissance reported that the destroyer was still aground and E14 was sent from Muldros to finish off the Goeben. Unfortunately, Sultan had been moved that very afternoon and E14 had negotiated the treacherous straits for nothing. On the journey back E14 fired a torpedo at a Turkish ship at 0845 on the morning of the 28th. Eleven seconds later an enormous explosion shook her; either a torpedo had detonated early or E14 had been depth charged. Whatever the cause, E14 was severely damaged, with water pouring in unchecked. The submarine was forced to surface where it was met with a barrage of gunfire. After half an hour it was clear that the best hope for survival was to beach her. While attempting to beach the submarine, she received a direct hit, E14 was now beyond hope and sank with the loss of 23 of her crew. Posthumously awarded the VC 1918 - Submarine HMS H21 completed 1919 - Minesweeper USS Bobolink commissioned 1919 - Submarine HMS L20 completed 1932 - Submarine FS La Sybille launched 1935 - Light cruiser FS Emile Bertin commissioned 1936 - Torpedo boat FS La Bayonnaise launched 1937 - SS Adula (later MAC ship) launched 1937 - Destroyer HMS Ilex launched 1937 - Patrol vessel HMS Sheldrake launched 1938 - President Roosevelt asked for a rearmament program 1939 - U-41 launched 1940 - SS Eston, a straggler from Convoy FN-81, struck a mine laid by U-22 on 20 Dec 1939 and sunk near Blyth. The master and 17 crewmembers were lost 1940 - At 0421, the unescorted SS Eleni Stathatou was torpedoed & sunk by U-34 about 200 miles west of the Scilly Isles 1940 - SS Flora was last seen in The Downs and was reported missing thereafter. At 2000, U-44 reported the sinking of a steamer west of Figuera la Foz. This must have been the Flora 1940 - Destroyer HMS Lively launched 1940 - Soviet submarine M-120 laid down 1940 - US freighter SS Sarcoxic is detained temporarily at Gibraltar for several hours by British authorities; the freighter SS Waban, bound for Italy and Greece, is also held there briefly but is allowed to proceed after one item of cargo is seized as contraband and 34 detained for investigation 1941 - Corvettes HMS Mignonette & Myosotis launched 1941 - Submarine HMS P-33 launched 1941 - Destroyer HMS Pakenham launched 1941 - Submarine HMS Urchin commissioned 1941 - U-411 laid down 1941 - Minesweeper HMCS Courtenay laid down Prince Rupert BC 1941 - Minesweeper HMCS Georgian launched Toronto ON 1941 - Submarine HMS Rorqual lays mines off the Adriatic coastal port of Ancona 1942 - Sloop HMS Wild Goose laid down 1942 - U-489 laid down 1942 - U-91 commissioned 1942 - Brazilian government breaks off relations with the Axis 1942 - During an antisubmarine sweep astern of Convoy HX-172, the crew of a PBO-1 Hudson of USN Patrol Squadron Eighty Two (VP-82) based at NAS Argentia, Newfoundland, attacks a surfaced submarine off Cape Race, Newfoundland. Although the pilot (Aviation Machinist's Mate First Class Donald F. Mason) reports "sighted sub, sank same," no U-boat is lost on this date 1942 - Aircraft carrier USS Enterprise becomes the first heavy ship to refuel at sea by night; doing so in the central Pacific at 2000 hours local from the oiler USS Platte under blackout conditions. The successful evolution takes five hours 1943 - Submarine USS Shark laid down 1943 - Submarine HMS X8 completed 1943 - Minesweeper USS Control launched 1943 - U-239, U-852 launched 1943 - U-960 commissioned 1943 - Japan reaffirmed her neutrality pact with Russia 1943 - The Japanese submarine I-165 left Surabaya on 21 January 1943 headed for the Western Australian coastline. It arrived at a position off the small township of Port Gregory, north of Geraldton, at around midnight (Tokyo time) on 28 January 1943. Commander Tatenosuke Tosu fired about 10 shells from the 3.9-inch (100-mm) deck guns of I-165 towards Port Gregory. The purpose of the attack was apparently to draw the Allies attention away from the fierce battle at Guadalcanal 1944 - Frigates HMS Waldegrave & Whitaker commissioned 1944 - Frigate HMS Halladale launched 1944 - Destroyer escort USS Wingfield commissioned 1944 - Destroyer escort USS Le Ray Wilson launched 1944 - U-1272 commissioned 1944 - U-271 sunk west of Limerick, in position 53.15N, 15.52W, by depth charges from a USN Liberator aircraft (VB-103/E). 51 dead (all hands lost) 1944 - U-571 sunk west of Ireland, in position 52.41N, 14.27W, by depth charges from an RAAF 461 Sqn Sunderland aircraft. 52 dead (all hands lost) 1944 - Corvette HMCS Kitchener completed refit Liverpool NS 1945 - Aircraft carrier USS Antietam commissioned 1945 - Destroyers USS Everett F Larson & Fred T Berry launched 1945 - U-2535 commissioned 1945 - Crewman from U-348 died near Gotenhafen. [Matrose Hermann Witthöft] 1945 - A German minesweeper collided with U-1163 off Dronthein in Norwegian waters, damaging the U-boat slightly 1945 - Patrol vessel HMCS MacDonald paid off & returned to Dept of Fisheries 1946 - Destroyer HMCS Saskatchewan paid off Sydney NS 1946 - Destroyers HMCS Kootenay, Ottawa & Saskatchewan placed on disposal list 1959 - HMCS Cape Scott, ex-HMS Beachy Head, ex-HNLMS Vulkaan, Cdr. Francis James Jones, RCN, CO, was commissioned in Halifax. The Burrard Dry Dock Company, Ltd., at Vancouver, BC built Cape Scott. Based on the standard Victory-class wartime merchant ship, she was one of several fleet maintenance ships built in Canada for the RN. Beachy Head was launched on 27 Sep 44 and was destined for service supporting the British Pacific Fleet in the invasion of Japan. She displaced 8,580 tons, had a length of 441 feet (o.a.), a maximum speed of 11 knots, and a crew of approximately 270 men. HMS Beachy Head was transferred from the RN to the RNLN is 1947 and was returned in 1950. She was transferred to the RCN in 1952 and was renamed Cape Scott in 1953. She lay alongside Cape Breton in Halifax for a number of years and was used mainly to supplement her sister’s capabilities. When Cape Breton was transferred to the West Coast in 1958; Cape Scott was refitted in Saint John, N.B., and, finally, was commissioned into the RCN. She was paid off into reserve on 01 Jul 70 in the same budget cut as aircraft carrier HMCS Bonaventure. In 1972, was redesignated as the Fleet Maintenance Group (Atlantic). She was sold when the Maintenance Group moved ashore in 1975 and was finally towed away in 1978 to a breaker’s yard in Texas. Cape Scott deployed to Sydney, NS, Hare Bay, Newfoundland, Bermuda, and Puerto Rico, as a ‘base’ ship to provide first line support to destroyers and frigates. The emphasis, however, was on heavy engineering rather than electronics. The AREs had a full machine shop, a foundry, and a huge shipwright shop. Frequently, complicated electronics work meant sending a warship back to Halifax. Only Cape Scott was equipped with replenishment gear, located at the forward mast. Her limited fuel capacity and very low speed restricted her utility as an auxiliary oiler 1960 - Navy demonstrates value of moon communication relay, used in fleet broadcasts 1962 - USS Cook rescues 25 survivors from after section of Panamanian tanker, SS Stanvac Sumatra, which broke in two in the South China Sea 1964 - USS Bon Homme Richard commences Vietnam deployment 1966 - USS Hancock port call Yokosuka 1966 - SS Greek Westar (ex-HMCS Hespeler) gutted by fire and sold for scrapping La Spezia, Italy 1968 - USS Kearsarge port call Subic Bay 1980 - USCGC Blackthorn sinks in Tampa Bay after colliding with the tanker Capricorn. 23 Coast Guard personnel are killed in the tragedy 1980 - Six US diplomats who had avoided being taken hostage at their embassy in Tehran flew out of Iran with the help of Canadian diplomats 1986 - Space shuttle Challenger explodes killing CDR Michael Smith, USN, and 6 other astronauts. Coast Guard units conducted the initial search and rescue operation and later assisted in the recovery of much of the shuttle's wreckage 1991 - USS Samuel B. Roberts diverts the Red Sea Energy in the North Red Sea after an inspection team found 160 railroad cars which were inaccessible. The German-flagged freighter, enroute from Greece to Aqaba, Jordan, was diverted to another port. To-date, coalition diversions total 37, 7,020 intercepts and 837 boardings. The US has conducted 490 of these boardings 1991 - DOD announces oil, estimated to have totaled 460 million gallons, appears to have stopped flowing from the Sea Island Terminal, however, still monitoring 2003 - MV Cape Ray activated 2003 - SS Cape Island, Cape Inscription & Cape Intrepid activated from RRF at Tacoma WA 2003 - MV Cape Orlando, Cape Washington, Cape Henry, Cape Horn, Cape Edmont & Cape Hudson activated from RRF 2003 - USCGC Point Brower decommissioned & transferred to Azerbaijan. Last 82-ft cutter in USCG service 2004 - Capt. Richard Mohler was fired from his command at Naval Air System Command’s Training Systems Division in Orlando, Fla., due to a loss of confidence 2004 - USNS Mendonca activated 2004 - Former US Navy commander Lloyd "Pete" Bucher, who helped his USS Pueblo crew survive brutal captivity in North Korea, then faced criticism back home, died in Poway, Calif., at 76 2005 - The memory of USS Cole Ensign Andrew Triplett will live on at Naval Station Pascagoula in Mississippi. A new naval office building will be dedicated to Triplett, one of the 17 sailors killed in the terrorist attack on the Norfolk-based Cole in October 2000. His parents, Savannah and Donald Triplett of Shuqualak, Mississippi, and his widow, Lorrie Triplett, along with her daughters, all of Virginia Beach, will attend. Triplett, 31, served in the Navy for 13 years, having enlisted after completing high school. He became a duty officer through a commissioning program for enlisted personnel 2005 - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice formally sworn in at 0945 in the Benjamin Franklin Room at the US Department of State. President George W. Bush attended the ceremony. US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg administered the oath of office 2005 - Jejudo, the largest island south off the Korean peninsula, was named as the "Island of World Peace" to promote peace in Northeast Asia. President Roh Moo-hyun declared the designation by signing a document at the presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae. The signing ceremony was attended by Construction and Transportation Minister Kang Dong-suk, Presidential Committee on Northeast Asian Cooperation Initiative chairman Moon Chung-in, and Jeju Governor Kim Tae-hwan. Jeju Island will serve as a hub for exchange, cooperation and research for world peace. It will also act as a buffer zone, preventing and resolving international conflicts and disputes 2005 - The Republic of Singapore Navy's (RSN) third frigate, RSS Steadfast, was launched by Mrs Tony Tan Keng Yam, wife of Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for Security and Defense Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam, at Singapore Technologies Marine yard. DPM Tan officiated at the launching ceremony. The launch of RSS Steadfast, the second locally built frigate, is an important milestone in the RSN’s frigate program. The RSN’s stealth frigates will be equipped with advanced sensor and weapon systems, and have enhanced anti-air, anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare capabilities. When the RSN’s frigates come into service from 2007 onwards, the Navy’s ability to undertake a wider spectrum of missions and carry out its missions of defending Singapore and its vital Sea Lines of Communications (SLOCs) will be enhanced. The ceremony was witnessed by Minister for Defense Teo Chee Hean, MINDEF and SAF officials 2005 - Canada has formally nominated the Rideau Canal to be considered for inscription as a World Heritage Site. A formal nomination was submitted to the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in Paris on January 26 seeking to have the canal, which was designated as a national historic site of Canada in 1925, inscribed on the World Heritage List. The Rideau Canal was one of 11 Canadian heritage sites that were included on Canada's Tentative List for World Heritage Sites last year 2005 - The Secretary of State for Transport, Alistair Darling, set out his view on the proposal to support the Great Yarmouth Outer Harbor (EastPort) scheme with public funding 2005 - The Department of Defense announced the team led by Lockheed Martin Systems Integration, Owego, N.Y., has been selected to build the new presidential helicopter (VXX) based on its US 101 medium lift helicopter. This $1.7 billion, cost plus award fee contract will launch the VXX program’s system development and demonstration phase during which the program will integrate a “system of systems” with a modern, in-production aircraft to provide the president with safe and reliable helicopter transportation 2005 - French flag, opting instead for the British flag. The switch is a direct response to seafarer disruption caused by the dispute over French government plans to create a new international register. The four 5,500 TEU vessels, still under construction and due for delivery late next year or early 2007, were among 16 scheduled for operation under French flag in addition to the 15 vessels already under French flag. But, CMA CGM said yesterday that it had decided to use British rather than French tax-lease financing for the vessels, which precludes their operation under French flag 2005 - The Coast Guard and Washington State Department of Ecology today responded to a reported oil sheen that now appears to be dissipating in south Puget Sound. The spill was originally reported near the southern tip of Vashon Island in Dalco Passage in Puget Sound. The Coast Guard first received a report about the oil sheen in Dalco Passage from the Washington State Ferry Rhododendron at 1140. Ecology conducted aerial surveys of the area throughout the afternoon. The Coast Guard has a 25-foot response boat and the Department of Ecology has a boat in the area. The state also contracted with the National Response Corporation and Clean Sound to access the extent of the sheen. State, federal and spill contractors observed a light, silvery sheen of unrecoverable oil mostly in the Point Defiance area. Responders established a staging area at Point Defiance Park. Boom deployed to protect environmentally sensitive areas in Vashon Island's Quartermaster Harbor and at Anzanita Beach and the Dockton area of Maury Island 2005 - US Navy awarded General Dynamics Electric Boat a $150 million contract modification to convert the USS Michigan from a Trident ballistic-missile submarine to a Trident SSGN, a multimission submarine optimized for conventional tactical strike and special-operations support. The modification includes options for the conversion of USS Georgia to SSGN-729 which, if exercised, would be worth an additional $177 million. Electric Boat will convert USS Michigan at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Washington concurrent with the ship's Engineered Refueling Overhaul. Work will be performed in Puget Sound (67 percent), Quonset Point, RI (23 percent) and Groton (10 percent), and is expected to be completed by December 2006 2006 - USCGC Terrapin arrives at homeport of Bellingham for first time 2006 - A memorial service at the Blackthorn Memorial on the north end of the Sunshine Skyway for the 23 Coast Guardsmen lost in the sinking of the Coast Guard Cutter Blackthorn January 28, 1980. Blackthorn sunk 26 years ago after colliding with the tanker Capricorn near the Skyway Bridge. Twenty-seven Blackthorn crewmembers were able to escape the Coast Guard's worst peacetime disaster. A memorial inscribed with the names of the 23 crewmembers who perished now stands two miles north of the site of the accident. The ceremony will consist of an aerial salute by Coast Guard aircraft, a wreath laying, reading of the names of the lost crewmembers, and remarks by Adm. Tom H. Collins, Coast Guard Commandant 2006 - At 2030 MOD Police launch Sir Humphrey Gale informed Solent Coastguard that they had just located an unoccupied pram dinghy in Portsmouth. The dinghy contained items, which led the police to believe it had recently been occupied. Solent Coastguard mounted a search of the harbor using the Coastguard Helicopter Rescue India Juliet, Gosport Rescue (SSRO Unit), Coastguard units from Portsmouth & Hill Head along with police marine unit Lord Ashburton. After extensive inquiries, the owners were located and it was found that the craft had been moored on the slipway at Portsmouth Hard and that it had either come adrift accidentally and floated off or been set adrift. All units were immediately released. Solent Coastguard Duty Watch Manager, Alan Bishop, would like to say that Hampshire Police were a great asset in bringing this incident to a successful conclusion 2006 - At 0222 Liverpool Coastguard were contacted by ferry Lagan Viking reporting that they had seen a man go overboard nine nautical miles south of the Isle of Man. Liverpool Coastguard commenced the search for the man overboard immediately. Lagan Viking threw a marker buoy into the sea at the point where the man had been seen exiting the ferry. Liverpool Coastguard broadcast over channel 16 and the following three vessels in the area are assisting in the search, Mersey Viking, survey vessel, Corystes and the Moon Dance. The RAF rescue helicopter from Anglesey has been scrambled and the Coastguard have also requested the launch of the Port St Mary RNLI Lifeboat. The weather in the area is North Easterly wind, 15 knots with good visibility 2006 - A man died after he was ejected from a recreational sailing vessel near Vashon Island after a wind gust pushed the boat on its side about 1220. At 1224 the Coast Guard was notified by the King County Emergency Dispatch Center that three men and a woman were in the water after being thrown from their sailboat. Two of the men and the woman were able to climb back on board the vessel. Coast Guard Station Seattle immediately diverted a 25-foot response boat to search for the missing man at 1225. An HH-65 Dolphin helicopter from CGAS Port Angeles was also launched to assist with the search and rescue operation. Additionally, the Tacoma Fire Department’s rescue vessel provided assistance. At 1252 a Vashon Fire Department boat transported one of the men in the sailboat to an awaiting ambulance on shore. The man survived. The third man was located in the water by the Coast Guard helicopter, and a Des Moines Fire Department rescue boat was directed to the same location. The man was recovered from the water and then transferred to the Coast Guard helicopter waiting on the beach, which transported him to the Harborview Hospital in Seattle. The third man, who was not wearing a life jacket, was pronounced dead at 1502 2006 - An F/A-18C Super Hornet assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron 25 and to Carrier Air Wing Fourteen was involved in an accident on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan approximately 120 miles southeast of Brisbane at approximately 2217 Japan Standard Time. The single pilot ejected safely and was recovered. There were no injuries 2006 - HMS Cornwall rededicated after a comprehensive refit 2007 - Officers at the Dumai Naval Base foiled an attempt to smuggle 15 tons of logs to Malaysia after detaining a nameless ship in Tanjung Gering waters 2007 - Lumps of oil mixed in with packets of biscuits that may have come from a ship grounded off the southern English coast have washed up on beaches in western France ============================================================= 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.