SeaWaves Today in History April 8, 2009 1513 - Explorer Juan Ponce de Leon claimed Florida for Spain 1609 - Samuel de Champlain c1570-1635 and 12 survivors prepare to return to France as ice in the St. Lawrence thaws; 16 out of his crew of 28 have died from scurvy due to lack of vitamin C; seeing the French suffer, the local Iroquois teach them how to make 'tisane d'anneda', or cedar tea, a medicine containing the vitamin 1610 - Samuel de Champlain c1570-1635 leaves on fourth voyage to New France 1838 - Brunel's 236ft steamship Great Western left Bristol for New York on her maiden voyage 1891 - Battleship FS Jauréguiberry laid down 1904 - Britain and France signed the Entente Cordiale, a mutual recognition of each other's colonial interests 1818 - HM Submarines E1 & E8 scuttled in Hesingfors Bay 1919 - Minesweeper USS Peacock launched 1925 - First planned night landings on a carrier, USS Langley, by VF-1 1925 - The Australian government and the British Colonial Office offered low-interest loans to enable Britons to emigrate to Australia 1930 - Destroyer FS Bordelais commissioned 1931 - Destroyers HMS Brazen & Bulldog commissioned 1932 - Destroyer HMS Diamond launched 1935 - U-9 laid down 1936 - Destroyer USS Sampson laid down 1936 - Destroyer HMS Hyperion launched 1937 - Destroyer HMCS St Laurent arrived Halifax for first time 1939 - Destroyer USS Sims launched 1939 - Destroyer FS Mogador commissioned 1940 - RN destroyers lay minefield, simulated and real, at three points off the Norwegian coast between Stadtlandet and Bodø, just north of the Arctic Circle. Battlecruiser HMS Renown and destroyers cover them. One of the screen, HMS Glowworm (Lt-Cdr Roope), is detached to search for a man overboard, just as the 8in cruiser Admiral Hipper heads into Trondheim. They meet to the NW of the port and the destroyer is sunk at around 09.00 at 64' 27''N, 06'28''E, but not before she rams and damages the Hipper. Lt-Cdr Gerard Broadmead Roope RN (b. 1905) is posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross (VC not gazetted until 1945, but the first deed for which the VC was awarded in the war). The Admiral Hipper picks up the survivors 1940 - Polish submarine Orzel stops and then sinks the German transport Rio de Janeiro in the Skagerrak 1940 - 'Karlsruhe', the auxiliary 'Tsingtau' and 10 Torpedo boats leave Germany for Kristiansund, and four mine sweepers head for Egersund, a terminal of the telephone and telegraph cable from England. 28 submarines of the Kriegsmarine form a protective screen across the western approaches to Norway 1940 - Sloop HMAS Parramatta commissioned 1940 - Corvette FS La Bastiaise launched 1940 - U-377, U-401 laid down 1940 - HMS Trident torpedoes and sinks the German tanker Stedingen south of the Oslofjord 1940 - HMS Triton fires 10 torpedoes against German cruisers Blücher, Lützow and Emden off Skagen. All torpedoes missed their targets 1941 - Ammunition lighters HMC NAD 02 & NAD 03 ordered from Halifax Shipyard Ltd 1941 - Before the final scuttling Italian MTB MAS213 torpedoes and damages cruiser HMS Capetown as she escorts a convoy off Massawa. Four Italian submarines do manage to escape and eventually reach Bordeaux 1941 - Destroyer HMS Limbourne laid down 1941 - Corvette HMCS Chilliwack commissioned 1941 - Minesweeper HMCS Malpeque commissioned 1941 - SS Tweed sunk by U-124 at 07.43N, 15.11W 1941 - At 0742, the Eskdene, dispersed from Convoy OG-57, was hit by two torpedoes by U-107 SE of the Azores and was sunk by the U-boat with 104 rounds of gunfire. The master and 38 crewmembers were picked up on the same day by the British merchant Penhale & landed at Pernambuco on 22 April 1941 - At 1940, the Helena Margareta, dispersed from Convoy OG-57, was hit by one torpedo from U-107 & sank about 330 miles west of Madeira. 27 crewmembers were lost. The master, six crewmembers and two gunners were picked up on 14 April by the fleet oiler Cairndale & landed at Gibraltar five days later. The master Owen Thomas Jones was awarded the Lloyd’s War Medal for bravery at sea 1941 - U-80 commissioned 1942 - Ocean Tug USS Napa scuttled off Bataan 1942 - Park Steamship Company established in Montreal to administer the fleet of merchant ships being built in Canadian shipyards 1942 - Japanese forces occupy Lorengau on Manus Island without opposition. Several hundred Japanese troops of a Special Naval Landing Force are landed by a naval force consisting of the light cruiser HIJMS Tatsuta, destroyer HIJMS Mutsuki and a troop transport ship SS Mishima Maru 1942 - U-123 sinks the unarmed US tanker SS Oklahoma, en route from Port Arthur, Texas, to Providence, Rhode Island, about 12 miles (19 km) off Brunswick, Georgia. The U-boat then sinks the unarmed US tanker SS Esso Baton Rouge approximately 15 miles off St. Simons Island, Georgia. Both ships sink in shallow water and are later refloated, repaired, and returned to service 1942 - USS Seadragon delivers food to Corregidor, and evacuates the final increment of naval radio and communications intelligence people 1942 - Harry Hopkins and General George C. Marshall, U. S. Army Chief of Staff, arrived in London for conferences with British service and supply chiefs 1942 - At 0844, the unescorted and unarmed Esso Baton Rouge was torpedoed by U-123 about 15 miles NE of St Simons Island, Georgia, in 31°02N/80°53W (grid DB 6177) while proceeding zigzagging on an inshore route at 13.5 knots from Baytown, Texas to New York with 89.398 barrels of heating and lubricating oil. The tanker had been spotted in the bright moonlight by U-123, after the U-boat had torpedoed the Oklahoma at 0752. The torpedo struck the starboard side between the after bunkers and the engine room. A cloud of smoke and flame shot upwards and the engine room and the quarters for the crew flooded immediately. The ship quickly sank by the stern in 40 feet of water and settled with the stern resting on the bottom. Most of the eight officers and 31 men abandoned ship in two lifeboats. The explosion in the engine room had killed two men. Another jumped overboard and was never seen again. U-123 left the sinking Esso Baton Rouge to finish off the Oklahoma with gunfire. The survivors of both ships headed together for the Georgia coast. The next morning a Coast Guard boat took them in tow and landed them at Brunswick. The Esso Baton Rouge was floated by the salvage tug Resolute and with the help of the salvage tug USS Willet & towed to St Simon Sound. Temporary repairs were made at Brunswick and on 14 May the tanker was towed by the tugs Kevin Moran and Henry W. Card to Baltimore, Maryland, arriving on 22 May. Permanent repairs were made here and the ship returned to service on 30 November 1942 1942 - At 0457, the Nemanja was hit by one torpedo from U-84 after being missed by a spread of two torpedoes two hours earlier. The ship was followed by the U-boat since 1900 the day before and was sunk by a coup de grâce at 0542 1942 - U-393 laid down 1942 - U-195 launched 1942 - Rescue tug Aimwell launched 1942 - Minesweepers USS Admirable & Adopt laid down 1943 - USS Kanawha, damaged by Japanese dive bombers yesterday, and beached off Tulagi by tugs USS Rail & Menominee, sinks before daybreak 1943 - Minesweeping trawler HMS Bryher launched 1943 - Destroyer HMS Lagos laid down 1943 - Destroyers HMS Mahratta & Tyrian commissioned 1943 - Submarine HMS Tiara laid down 1943 - Submarine USS Baya laid down 1943 - Minesweepers USS Signet & Skirmish laid down 1943 - At 1412, U-123 fired a spread of three torpedoes at the Castillo Montealegre and observed two hits after 37 & 38 seconds and saw a third explosion after 2 minutes 25 seconds. U-123 identified the ship too late as a Spanish freighter of the Castillo Montealegre type 1943 - U-972 commissioned 1943 - U-1303 laid down 1943 - HMS Unshaken torpedoes and sinks the Italian merchant Foggia 10 nautical miles bearing 46 off Soussa, Tunisia 1944 - USS Seahorse attacks a Japanese convoy 7 miles off Guam, torpedoing an ammunition ship; the explosion in turn damages destroyer HIJMS Asakaze. The crippled ammunition ship, burning, drifts ashore and explodes and sinks the next day 1944 - Frigate HMCS Capilano launched Esquimalt BC 1944 - Minesweeper USS YMS 420 launched Chicago IL 1944 - HMC ML 104 commissioned 1944 - Frigate HMS Nene commissioned 1944 - Destroyer escort USS George E Davis launched 1944 - Destroyer USS Hyman launched 1944 - Destroyer escorts USS Rall & O'Flaherty commissioned 1944 - Minesweeper USS Compel commissioned 1944 - Minesweeper USS Intrigue launched 1944 - Corvette HMCS Arvida completed forecastle extension refit Baltimore MD 1944 - U-874, U-1055 commissioned 1944 - The unescorted Nebraska, dispersed on 4 April from Convoy OS-71, was torpedoed & sunk by U-843 SW of Ascension Island. Two crewmembers were lost. The master, 55 crewmembers, eight gunners and two stowaways were rescued. The boat of the master landed at Bahia, boat of the radio operator with 20 survivors landed at Recife on 22 April. The remaining survivors were picked up by the British SS Kindat and landed at Freetown 1944 - U-2 sunk west of Pillau, in position 54.48N, 19.55E, after a collision with German steam trawler Helmi Söhle. Raised on 9 April 1944 and stricken. 17 dead and 18 survivors 1944 - U-962 sunk in north Atlantic NW of Cape Finisterre, in position 45.43N, 19.57W, by depth charges from frigates HMS Crane & Cygnet. 50 dead (all hands lost) 1945 - USS YMS-103 sunk by mine off Okinawa 1945 - Submarine USS Snook missing in Okinawa area (possibly sunk by a Japanese submarine) 1945 - Off Okinawa, USS Charles J. Badger is damaged by an assault demolition boat; USS Gregory is damaged by kamikaze; motor minesweeper YMS-92 is damaged by a mine; tank landing ship USS LST-939 is damaged in collision with tank landing ship USS LST-268; tank landing ship USS LST-940 is damaged by grounding. The aircraft carriers USS Enterprise and USS Randolph arrive off Okinawa from Ulithi Atoll during the night of 7/8 April and Task Force 58 is reorganized with the following 15 aircraft carriers - Task Group 58.1 USS Belleau Wood with Light Carrier Air Group 30 (CVLG-30), Bennington with Carrier Air Group 82 (CVG-82), Hornet with CVG-17; Task Group 58.2 Enterprise with Night Carrier Air Group 90 [CVG (N)-90], Randolph with CVG-12, USS San Jacinto with CVLG-45, Wasp with CVG-86; Task Group 58.3 Bataan with CVLG ??, Bunker Hill with CVG-84, Cabot with CVLG-29, Essex with CVG-83; Task Group 58.4 Independence with CVLG-46, Intrepid with CVG-10, Langley with CVLG-23, Yorktown with CVG-9 1945 - Mines laid by USAAF planes sink a Japanese cargo ship in the Yangtze, near Shanghai, and damage escort destroyer HIJMS Habushi 10 miles below Woosung 1945 - Submarine USS Snook was lost while conducting her ninth war patrol, in the South China Sea or Luzon Strait. On 8 April 1945, she reported her position to submarine USS Tigrone & when she did not acknowledge messages sent from Tigrone the next day, it was presumed that she had headed toward Luzon Strait. On 12 April, she was ordered to take lifeguard station in the vicinity of Sakeshima Gunto in support of British carrier air strikes. On 20 April, the commander of the British carrier task force reported that he had a plane down in Snook's assigned area and that he could not contact the submarine by radio. Snook was ordered to search the area and to acknowledge the order. When she failed to make a transmission, USS Bang was sent to make the search and rendezvous with Snook. Although Bang arrived and rescued the downed aviators, she saw nothing of the missing submarine and on 16 May 1945 USS Snook, credited with sinking 17 enemy vessels in her two and one-half years of active service, was presumed lost after 8 April 1945, the victim of unknown causes 1945 - U-2545 commissioned 1945 - U-2502 commander, Kptlt Res Gert Mannesmann, died during an air raid on Hamburg 1945 - U-774 sunk in the North Atlantic SW of Ireland, in position 49.58N, 11.51W, by depth charges from frigates HMS Calder & Bentinck. 44 dead (all hands lost) 1945 - U-1001 sunk in the Atlantic SW of Land's End, in position 49.19N, 10.23W, by depth charges from frigates HMS Fitzroy & Byron. 45 dead (all hands lost) 1945 - U-2509 sunk at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg, by bombs from Lancaster and Handley Page Halifax aircraft (RAF Bomber Command) 1945 - U-2514 sunk at Hamburg by bombs. Wreck broken up 1945 - U-3512 sunk at Kiel, by bombs. Wreck broken up 1945 - Destroyers USS Henley & Turner launched 1945 - HMS Statesman sinks a Japanese sailing vessel with gunfire in the Strait of Malacca 1946 - League of Nations assembled in Geneva for the last time 1946 - HMCS Eastore paid off & transferred to civilian crew 1946 - Minesweeper HMCS Ross Norman paid off 1946 - Loop layer (ex-corvette) HMCS Sackville paid off Halifax 1950 - Unarmed Navy patrol aircraft shot down over Baltic Sea by USSR 1950 - Submarine HMS Astute arrives Halifax for ASW training 1951 - 1st of 4 detonations, Operation Greenhouse nuclear test 1951 - Destroyer HMCS Sioux departed Halifax for second tour of Korean War duty 1957 - Tug Glenfield (ex-HMCS Glenfield) was being used for towing log booms down the Saint John River into the pulp mill. The winter of 1956/57 when the River froze over, it was decided to send her to Steel and Engine Products in Liverpool, NS. (Irving owned) for a refit. When the tug was ready to return back to Saint John, their shore captain went to bring her back. Departed Liverpool NS for Saint John NB. According to reports she was seen passing Yarmouth NS heading into the Bay of Fundy, then she was seen later beyond Yarmouth, at that time the weather had turned into a real bad storm in the Bay of Fundy. Glenfield was missing & presumed capsized & sunk, crew of 5 lost. The only trace that was ever found was a wheelhouse door 1959 - Submarine HMS Onslaught laid down 1969 - USS Bon Homme Richard port call Yokosuka 1974 - USS Kitty Hawk port call Gulf of Oman 1991 - Naval forces continue counter air-defensive, combat air patrols, minesweeping and maritime interception operations 1991 - USS Bunker Hill arrives at NAVBASE Yokosuka homeport. During her four month deployment, the AEGIS guided missile cruiser served as the anti-air warfare command ship -- "Zulu Whiskey" -- in the Arabian Gulf, directing 23 ships and 200+ fighters from six nations in excess of 65,000 combat sorties in the air war over the gulf Bunker Hill also played an important role in launching multiple Tomahawk cruise missiles against enemy targets ashore from the gulf 1995 - Former secretary of defense Robert S. McNamara, in an interview with AP Network News & Newsweek to promote his memoirs, called America's Vietnam War policy "terribly wrong" 2003 - US Coast Guard cutter icebreaker Polar Sea, returning from Antarctica, 900 miles SW of Te Taobe and was dispatched to locate a vessel in distress, along with several commercial ships in the area. 2003 - An Australian warship was prevented from leaving Sydney after anti-war protesters attached themselves to the ship with mountain climbing gear and laid an underwater object in front of the vessel. Protesters surprised police as the guided-missile frigate HMAS Sydney with its 230-strong crew steamed towards the entrance to Sydney 2004 - USN Fleet ASW Command established at San Diego 2005 - RFA Cardigan Bay launched postponed due to high winds 2005 - A US Navy cargo ship named for Air Force Tech. Sgt. John A. Chapman at 1030 dedicated at the Military Ocean Terminal at Sunny Point NC. John Chapman, a combat air controller killed in action in Afghanistan in 2002, was posthumously awarded an Air Force Cross for his extraordinary heroism. The only higher award is the Medal of Honor. The ceremony will feature Gen. John P. Jumper, USAF, US Air Force Chief of Staff, as well as Vice Adm. David L. Brewer III, USN, commander of the US Navy's Military Sealift Command. Valerie Chapman, John Chapman's widow, and Mickey Handy, wife of Gen. John W. Handy, commander of the US Transportation Command, will officially name the ship. Chapman's friends and family, including his two young daughters and fellow Airmen will join US military officials and guests at the ceremony to honor the war hero. The ship, to be named MV TSgt. John A. Chapman, will be used to strategically place Air Force ammunition and related supplies at sea. The noncombatant, commercially chartered ship will join 35 other prepositioning ships operated by the Navy's Military Sealift Command, the ocean transportation provider for the Department of Defense. Prepositioning ships remain at sea in strategic areas laden with equipment and supplies for US forces, allowing the military to rapidly deploy combat cargo into theatre. MV Chapman is 670 feet long and can sail at speeds of up to 16 knots. The ship is operated by Sealift Inc. of Oyster Bay NY under contract with MSC and is crewed by 19 US commercial merchant mariners 2005 - The Korea Meteorological Administration opened an unmanned marine meteorological observation base in the Yellow Sea. The facility, set up on Bukgyeokryeolbido, an island situated at the nation’s westernmost sea off Taean County, South Chungcheong Province, is intended for the early monitoring of downpours, storms and yellow sands originating from China. The base, completed at end of last year after three years for 2.3 billion won, is equipped with remote-control command and monitoring systems. It will be managed by Seosan Weather Station 2005 - The ROK government will carry out a project forecasting changes in the marine ecosystem in the South China Sea to study climate changes in the sea in tune to worldwide trends, such as the effectuation of the Kyoto Protocol on climate changes, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries said. The ministry plans to spend a total of 22 billion won by 2011, including 450 million won this year, on the project 2005 - The US Navy Memorial Foundation's Board of Directors announces the appointment of Rear Adm. Richard A. Buchanan, USN (Ret.) as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Washington, D.C.- based organization and the US Navy Memorial. Buchanan is responsible for operating the Foundation, which is the non- profit entity of the US Navy Memorial that honors the men and women who have served, or are serving, in the nation's sea services. In his position, Buchanan oversees US Navy Memorial Foundation's staff and volunteers and is responsible for strategic planning and implementation of the Foundation's business, philanthropic, educational, operational and public and community relations activities. Buchanan arrives to the Foundation from Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems (IDS) in Rhode Island. At Raytheon Buchanan was responsible for developing and executing the strategic plan for naval business growth. While with Raytheon he served as Vice President of Integrated Undersea Systems 2005 - The world's largest offshore oil and gas production facility left the Corpus Christi area headed for the Gulf of Mexico's Mississippi Canyon, where it will spend decades extracting domestically produced energy for US consumers. At its peak, the Thunder Horse should produce enough energy to power about 6.5 million homes per day or about 200 million cubic feet of natural gas per day and about 250,000 barrels of oil a day, which can be refined into about 5 million gallons of gasoline. Parts of the Thunder Horse were built in Morgan City LA and South Korea. Final assembly of the project, which took about six months, was done in Ingleside and required several hundred BP employees from around the world and about 750 Kiewit Offshore Services employees and subcontractors. Another final assembly project of a platform, dubbed Atlantis, should begin in a few months 2006 - United States Navy Memorial celebrates 15th annual Blessing of the Fleets 2007 - Vancouver's 2007 cruise season begins when Holland America Line's ms Zaandam arrives at Canada Place Secretary Of Defense Robert M. Gates hosts an honor cordon to welcome Chile's Minister of Defense Jose Goni to the Pentagon Copyright 2009 Shirlaw News Group ISSN 1710-6966 Today in History Archives This information is licensed to the recipient only. Images may be subject to copyright. Ask before you right-click. Royal Navy photos are Courtesy of www.oldships.org.uk unless otherwise indicated. To contact us: 418-145 West Keith Rd North Vancouver BC V7M 1L3 Canada Phone: 778-968-7447