SeaWaves Today in History April 12, 2009 1606 - The Union Flag becomes official flag for Britain, Wales & Scotland 1782 - Off Dominica, near the group of small islands of Les Saintes, Admiral Rodney caught up with the French fleet under de Grasse, which had been supporting the American Revolution. A collision a couple of nights earlier had left de Grasse with one ship badly damaged which slowed him down considerably. Rather than abandon the lame duck, de Grasse offered Rodney battle, thirty French ships of the line against thirty-six Royal Navy vessels. Despite a disordered formation and their inferiority, the French put up a credible performance at first, but a shift in the wind and superior British gunnery combined to allow Rodney to break their line in three places. Six French ships were captured, including de Grasse's flagship, Ville de Paris 1782 - French and Royal Navy squadrons were engaged off Trincomalee, in the second of an epic, if usually inconclusive, series of fights between Rear-Admiral Sir Edward Hughes and Chef d'Escadre de Suffren for control of the Indian Ocean 1861 - Civil War begins when Confederates fire on Fort Sumter, SC 1865 - The last major Confederate port city falls when Mobile, Alabama, surrenders to Union troops 1876 - Founding of Beaver Steamship Line, formerly the Canadian Shipping Co., with three new iron-screw steamers to replace the old sailing ships; the Montreal to Liverpool service is sold to the CPR in 1903, and is the origin of CP Ships 1910 - Battleship FS Vergniaud launched 1911 - LT Theodore Ellyson qualifies as first naval aviator 1916 - Submarine HMS G10 completed 1917 - Cruiser HMS Cardiff launched 1918 - Sloop HMAS Moresby launched 1918 - Submarine USS S-32 laid down 1918 - Destroyer HMS Westcott commissioned 1919 - Minesweeper USS Lark commissioned 1919 - Submarine HMS R10 completed 1919 - Destroyer USS Hogan launched 1920 - Battleship USS West Virginia laid down 1928 - Destroyer HNLMS Evertsen commissioned 1928 - Heavy cruiser USS Northampton laid down 1929 - Submarine ORP Wilk launched 1930 - Sloop HMS Banff launched 1933 - Heavy cruiser USS New Orleans launched 1934 - Destroyer HMS Eclipse launched 1935 - Soviet submarine SC-422 launched 1935 - Light cruiser HMS Ajax commissioned 1935 - Submarine HMS Clyde commissioned 1937 - Light cruiser HMS Manchester launched 1937 - Torpedo boat FS Branlebas launched 1939 - Destroyer USS Eberle laid down 1939 - Destroyer USS Wilson launched 1940 - SS Stancliffe sunk by U-37 1940 - U-103 launched 1940 - British land based aircraft attack the German ships Gneisenau, Scharnhorst, and Admiral Hipper. The attack is unsuccessful due to weather 1940 - Fleet Air Arm launches air strikes against German positions in Narvik and Bergen 1940 - Patrol vessel HMCS Laurier (ex-RCMPV) commissioned 1940 - HMS Snapper sinks the small German tanker Moonsund with gunfire off Larvik, Norway 1941 - SS St Helena sunk by U-124 at 07.50N, 14W 1941 - Escort carrier HMS Dasher launched 1941 - Minesweeping trawler HMS Product launched 1941 - U-574 launched 1941 - A British raiding party on a Norwegian destroyer attacks a fish-oil factory at Hammerfest, Norway 1941 - Denmark repudiated agreement of April 9 1941 - HMS Tetrarch torpedoes and sinks Italian tanker Persiano about 30 miles northwest of Tripoli 1942 - USS PT-35 destroyed to prevent capture Cebu City Cebu Philippines 1942 - At 1921, the unescorted & unarmed Esso Boston was torpedoed by U-130 about 300 miles NE of St Martins, while en route on a zigzag course at 14 knots, just made a starboard turn. The torpedo struck between the #2 & #3 tanks on the starboard side, ten feet below the waterline and blew open the forward deck. The engines were stopped and the crew of eight officers and 29 men abandoned ship in three lifeboats. Five minutes after the hit, U-130 surfaced and began shelling the ship, which caught fire on the entire length of the vessel. The U-boat then came alongside one of the boats and questioned the men, offered them food and water and provided directions to the nearest convoy and land. Early the next day, the chief engineer and a fireman reboarded the tanker and an inspection revealed that the ship could have been salvaged, but with no equipment the prospect for saving the vessel seemed slim. The tanker sank shortly thereafter. The survivors were picked up by destroyer USS Biddle on 13 April and landed them at San Juan, Puerto Rico 1942 - A passenger aircraft spotted U-154 off the port quarter of the unescorted Delvalle south of Haiti and advised the ship of this discovery. The Delvalle proceeded now on a nonevasive course at full speed (13 knots). At 1130 hours, a lookout spotted the periscope about 500 yards away and the ship turned around in an effort to ram the U-boat but it submerged. At 0657 on 12 April, the Delvalle was hit by two torpedoes from U-154 on the starboard side almost simultaneously about 15 feet below the waterline and just forward of amidships. The explosions extensively damaged the ship and destroyed the starboard lifeboats. As the vessel rapidly sank, the launching of the other two boats proved difficult because the severe list. A third torpedo struck the ship and sank her 15 minutes after the third hit. The crew of nine officers, 45 men, five passengers and four armed guards (the ship was armed with one 4in and two .30cal guns) all abandoned ship, with the exception of the ship’s doctor and an able seaman. The boats and rafts stayed together until daybreak, when the motor launch left to reach the coast for help. The launch later reached land at Jacmel, Haiti. The remaining survivors were sighted by a USN patrol aircraft the same day and were picked up by AMC HMCS Prince Henry 1942 - The unescorted Stanvac Melbourne was hit by two torpedoes at 1000 and was abandoned by 39 crewmembers and 9 Armed Guards in 3 lifeboats. At 1030 a third torpedo struck and the ship sank at 1120. The survivors landed near Toco Pt., Trinidad in the evening of the same day. They were taken to Port of Spain and were repatriated on 16 September aboard a US Army transport. The master Andrew T. Lagan survived the attack on the Stanvac Melbourne and this sinking, but died when his next ship, the Brilliant was sunk 1942 - Australia-based USAAF B-25s, staging through Mindanao Island, hit the harbor and shipping at Cebu, Cebu Island while B-17s carry out single-bomber strikes from Mindanao against Cebu harbor and Nichols Field on Luzon 1942 - German submarines sink 4 merchant vessels - - Armed US freighter SS Delvalle, en route from New Orleans, Louisiana to Buenos Aires, Argentina, via St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, is torpedoed and sunk by U-154 south of Haiti. - Armed Panamanian motor tanker MT Stanvac Melbourne is torpedoed by U-203 about 15 miles off Frying Pan Shoals, North Carolina. - Unarmed US tanker SS Esso Boston, en route from Venezuela to Nova Scotia, is torpedoed and shelled by U-130 NE of Puerto Rico. - Unarmed US freighter SS Leslie is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-123 approximately 3 miles SE of Hetzel Shoals Gas Buoy, Florida 1942 - Motor torpedo boat PT-35, undergoing repairs on the marine railway at the Cebu Shipyard and Engineering Works, is destroyed by crew as the Japanese capture Cebu Island 1942 - HMS Turbulent makes a torpedo attack on a submarine off Fiume. The target is not hit 1943 - Frigate HMS Drury commissioned 1943 - Submarine HMS Tally-Ho commissioned 1943 - Escort carrier USS Breton commissioned 1943 - Destroyer USS Isherwood commissioned 1943 - Minesweeper HMS Thisbe launched 1943 - Frigate HMAS Diamantina laid down 1943 - Frigate HMS Aylmer laid down 1943 - Heavy cruiser USS Fall River laid down 1943 - Minesweeper USS Marvel laid down 1943 - Destroyer escort USS Pride laid down 1943 - At 0130, U-404 fired two FAT & two G7e torpedoes at Convoy ON-176 east of Newfoundland and heard one premature detonation after 19 seconds and three other detonations after 3 minutes 45 seconds, 6 minutes 12 seconds and 7 minutes 45 seconds. Bülow claimed two ships sunk and another damaged, in fact, only the Lancastrian Prince was hit & sunk. The master, 37 crewmembers and seven gunners were lost 1943 - Between 0438 & 0446, U-563 fired torpedoes at Convoy HX-232 SE of Cape Farewell & reported three ships sunk & one damaged. The Pacific Grove & Ulysses were sunk & Fresno City was damaged. At 0842, U-168 observed a burning tanker and U-706 reported a burning vessel being sunk by an escort vessel, probably one of the ships hit by U-563. At 1340 the same day, the straggling Fresno City was finished off by U-706 with a coup de grâce. The master, 36 crewmembers & eight gunners from Fresno City were picked up by HMS Azalea & landed at Gourock. Ten crewmembers and one gunner from the Pacific Grove were lost. The master, 38 crewmembers, one gunner and 16 passengers were picked up by Azalea & landed at Gourock 1943 - USS Flying Fish sinks a Japanese merchant cargo ship at the eastern entrance to Tsugaru Strait, just off Shiriyazaki, northern Honshu 1943 - Destroyer HMCS Kootenay (ex-HMS Decoy) commissioned 1943 - HMS Ultor fires three torpedoes against the German controlled merchant Condé and the German merchant Nicoline Maersk about 8 nautical miles east of Cap Camarat. All torpedoes miss 1944 - Destroyer USS Bearss commissioned 1944 - Destroyer HMS Cavendish launched 1944 - Minesweeper HMS Tanganyika launched 1944 - Submarine USS Redfish commissioned 1944 - Minesweeper USS Refresh launched 1944 - Minesweeper USS Quail laid down 1944 - Corvette HMCS Humberstone (ex-HMS Norham Castle) launched Glasgow 1944 - USS Halibut, despite the presence of at least 3 escort vessels, sinks a Japanese army passenger/cargo ship about 20 miles SW of the Nansei Shoto, Ryukyu Islands 1944 - Coast Guard-manned Army vessel FS-365 was commissioned. Her first commanding officer was LCDR Benjamin Ayesa, USCGR. He was succeeded on 21 August 1945, by LTJG Richard H. Greenless, USCGR. She was assigned to and operated in the Southwest Pacific area during the war 1944 - USS PT-135 grounded in enemy waters and destroyed to prevent capture near Crater Point New Britain 1944 - Ocean Tug Rescue USS ATR-98 sunk in collision off Azores Islands 1944 - HMS Untiring torpedoes and sinks German merchantman Diana five miles south of Oneglia 1945 - USS LST-493 destroyed after grounding while attempting to enter Plymouth England 1945 - LCT(5)-352 sunk at Pearl Harbor 1945 - LCT(5)-66 sunk at Pearl Harbor 1945 - Three Kamikaze attacks achieve some results against the radar picket ships. Destroyer USS Stanly is damaged by a Baka; high speed minesweeper USS Jeffers is damaged by a Baka and a kamikaze; kamikazes sink support landing craft LCSL-33 and damage battleship USS Idaho; battleship USS Tennessee, destroyers USS Purdy, Cassin Young & Zellars and destroyer escort USS Riddle; 27-17'N, 127-50'E; destroyer escorts Rall, USS Walter C. Wann & Whitehurst & light minelayer USS Lindsey; minesweeper Gladiator is also damaged by the near-miss of a kamikaze. Kamikazes also attack US freighter SS Minot Victory, but Armed Guard gunners inflict sufficient damage on the attacker that it only strikes the ship a glancing blow and then disintegrates; there are no fatalities on board the merchantman among the 57-man merchant complement, the 27 Armed Guard sailors and 9 passengers 1945 - USS Mannert L. Abele also caught the fill fury of the "Divine Wind." On the morning of 12 April she found herself surrounded by 15 to 25 planes that attacked in three and four-plane waves while the others orbited out of gun range. Quickly downing all three in the first wave, her guns swung to take on another trio of Zekes, opening fire at 4,000 yards. The first two, hammered by numerous hits, disintegrated in the air. The third began to belch smoke but flew defiantly on spewing flames until it smashed into the after engine room, wiping out the entire engine room black gang, exploding with such force that it broke the keel abaft of the second stack. Dead in the water, Abele was struck a minute later by a Baka bomb - a piloted, rocket-powered, glider bomb carrying an explosive 2,600-pound warhead. The ensuing blast broke the crippled ship in two and both halves rapidly sunk. As her survivors struggled amidst the debris, the remaining Japanese aircraft began to strafe them with machine guns. It was only the good shooting of the nearby LSMRs - 189 and 190 - which downed the staffers, allowing less than half of the luckless destroyer's crew to be rescued. The USS Abele is the first destroyer to be sunk by a Baka suicide aircraft 1945 - 5 Japanese ships are sunk at sea - - Submarine USS Silversides sinks an auxiliary submarine chaser east of Tanega Jima south of Kyushu. - British submarine HMS Stygian sinks an auxiliary minesweeper off the north coast of Bali. - Mines sink the submarine HIJMS RO 64 off Kobe, Japan and a merchant cargo ship off Wakamatsu, Japan. - A B-24 aircraft (service and nationality unspecified) sinks a merchant ship off Badjowe, Borneo 1945 - US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt dies of a cerebral hemorrhage in his home at Warm Springs, Georgia. The only man to be elected to four terms as president of the United States, Roosevelt is remembered--by friends and enemies alike-- for his New Deal social policies and his leadership during wartime 1945 - Submarines HMS Alcide & Affray launched 1945 - Repair ship HMS Orford Ness launched 1945 - Destroyers USS McCaffery & Charles R Ware launched 1945 - Destroyer USS Fechteler laid down 1945 - U-1025 commissioned 1945 - Submarine USS Sarda laid down 1945 - U-486 sunk in the North Sea NW of Bergen in position 60.44N, 04.39E by torpedoes from submarine HMS Tapir. 48 dead (all hands lost) 1945 - Frigates HMS Loch More & Loch Glendhu captured U-1024 in the Irish Sea south of Isle of Man, in position 53.39N, 05.03W. The frigates attempted to tow her to port but the boat sank while underway on 13 April 1945. Prior to this engagement, U-1024 damaged US Liberty Ship Will Rogers in Convoy BB-80 1945 - HMS Stygian sinks a Japanese coaster with gunfire near Bali 1946 - Destroyer HMS Cadiz commissioned 1946 - Corvette HMCS Orangeville paid off Halifax NS 1947 - Minesweeper HMCS Portage recommissioned 1948 - Frigate HMCS Swansea recommissioned 1949 - Minesweeper HMCS Portage recommissioned 1949 - ARBV Libertad (ex-HMCS Battleford) wrecked after grounding off western Venezuela 1956 - Minesweeper HMCS Cordova (ex-USS YMS 420) paid off Esquimalt BC 1962 - US Navy demonstrates new landing craft with retractable hydrofoils, LCVP (H) 1966 - Destroyer HMCS Athabaskan paid off 1967 - USS Hornet port call Pearl Harbor 1968 - President Johnson's decision to name Adm. John S. McCain Jr. to be his top Pacific commander ended three weeks of Navy fear that this biggest tri-service post might go to a non-sailor for the first time. The president will switch McCain from his one-year tenure as chief of Navy forces in Europe-mainly the 6th Fleet-to succeed Adm. Ulysses S. Grant Sharp who has been Commander in Chief Pacific (CINCPAC) for four years 1970 - Soviet submarine K 8 foundered after electrical fire 1973 - Destroyer HMCS Fraser placed in Category C reserve 1975 - Operation Eagle Pull evacuation from Cambodia 1981 - Destroyer HMCS Skeena commenced DELEX refit at Canadian Vickers Ltd Montreal PQ 1981 - First launching of re-useable Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-1) with all Navy crew CAPT John W. Young, USN (Ret.) commanded, while LCDR Robert L. Crippen USN was the pilot. Mission duration was 2 days, 6 hours, and 20 minutes Sixteen of the shuttle's heat-shielding silicon tiles were lost and 148 damaged during reentry 1982 - Britain declares Maritime Exclusion Zone 200 miles around Falklands. A detachment of ships, including HMS Antrim, HMS Tidespring and HMS Plymouth with Special Forces and Royal Marines embarked, is ordered to proceed to South Georgia with all speed 1982 - Venezuelan tug Antonio Picardi CTL after grounding 1982 - Ottawa bans imports from Argentina, to protest invasion of Falkland Islands 1992 - USS Missouri returns to Bremerton for deactivation and storage 1993 - Aircraft from USS Theodore Roosevelt and NATO forces begin enforcing the no-fly zone over the Bosnia in Operation Deny Flight 2002 - 1,000 workers protesting at plans to transfer naval support work to the private sector stage a walkout at the Clyde naval bases in Scotland is being mounted by the Prospect and the Public and Commercial Services Union 2003 - Destroyer USS Mason commissioned 2004 - Destroyer USS Oscar Austin begins two-week yard term by NORSHIPCO 2005 - Salvage crews raised the submerged fishing vessel Semidi Tuesday evening from Shilshole Bay. The vessel has been towed to an Army Corps of Engineers debris collection area north of the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks. The US Coast Guard and Washington Department of Ecology supervised the recovery effort. Crews removed 1,300-gallons of oily water from the vessel. Divers confirmed over the weekend that vent openings on the tanks were closed, which prevented a major fuel spill. Oil-containment boom surrounded the Semidi during the recovery as a precaution. The Semidi’s owner, Jim Hicks, the Coast Guard and Ecology officials determined the 90-year old vessel to be a pollution threat to the environment. The Army Corps of Engineers will dispose of it. Hicks has retrieved his personal property from the boat. Hicks was rescued on Thursday afternoon by the Coast Guard after falling overboard while working to repair leaks on the Semidi. A Coast Guard small boat rescued Hicks who was severely hypothermic. He was transferred to awaiting emergency medical technicians at Shilshole Bay Marina who then transported him to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. The 59-foot, wooden Semidi left unmanned sank Saturday while moored to a US Army Corps of Engineers buoy. The Coast Guard was not made aware the vessel’s unstable condition before it sank. The Coast Guard opened the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund to pay approximately $150,000, for removal of the oil and other pollutants from the fishing vessel. The fund is used when there is no known responsible party or when the responsible party cannot afford to pay for a response or clean-up of a spill. The Coast Guard may seek compensation from the responsible party 2005 - The Coast Guard and Department of Ecology responded today to an oil sheen in Puget Sound’s Colvos Passage near Point Richmond, Wash. The sheen was first reported to the Coast Guard Marine Safety Office Puget Sound in Seattle at 0822. Its location was north of Point Richmond on the westside of Colvos Passage. Pollution Investigators from the Marine Safety Office were dispatched to survey the spill. Pollution investigators determined the sheen was not recoverable. The sheen was about a quarter-mile in length and later broke apart and dissipated. Pierce County Fire Department initially responded to the report and two tugs transiting the area verified the sheen was present and unrecoverable 2005 - A Coast Guard helicopter hoisted two fishermen from a liferaft five miles south of Tillamook Head, Ore., today after they abandoned their 58-foot fishing boat after it began taking on water. Coast Guard Group/Air Station Astoria launched two HH-60 Jayhawk helicopters after receiving a distress call on VHF Channel 16 at 1218 from the operator of the Joyce Marie. Fourteen minutes later, the Coast Guard received a distress signal from an emergency positioning radio beacon attached to the liferaft. The Coast Guard helicopter hoisted the men at 1248 and transported them safely to shore. Two 47-foot motor lifeboats from Coast Guard Stations Cape Disappointment and Tillamook were also launched at 12:30 p.m. to assist. A boat crew from Coast Guard Station Cape Disappointment will tow the vessel, which appears to be stable 2005 - Signaling the complete restoration of its military installations in Car Nicobar from the damage caused by the tsunami, the Indian Air Force carried out its first strike exercise jointly with the Navy in the strategically important Andaman and Nicobar Islands. As strike aircraft -- Jaguars and SU-30s -- took off from the rebuilt Car Nicobar Air Force base, which had been completely destroyed in the December 26 tsunami, naval and air force officials cheered the display of military might over the Indian Ocean archipelago. The exercise displays India's defense preparedness to safeguard the country's frontline from the Indian Ocean. Defense spokesperson Commander Salil Mehta told PTI that the base under the Andaman and Nicobar command could now be called fully operational with the strike aircraft carrying out exercises at the Port Blair Airfield 2005 - The Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries in South Korea hosted eighth high-level Asia-Pacific conference on marine safety in Busan on April 12-15 2005 - Transport Minister Jean-C. Lapierre announced the appointment of Mr. William H. Richardson of Bedford NS to the board of directors of the Halifax Port Authority 2005 - An Air Station Sitka Jayhawk helicopter crew airlifted a 29-year-old female from Angoon. The Jayhawk crew transported Rachelle John of Angoon who suffered pregnancy complications. The rescuers took John to Mt. Edgecumbe Hospital in Sitka for treatment 2005 - Sikorsky Aircraft Corp and Canadian Government officials formally inaugurated a new Canadian Maritime Helicopter Project (MHP) office located here in the company's main manufacturing facility. The newly renovated 25,000 square-foot space includes a 5,000 square-foot secure area to accommodate a detachment of 17 Canadian government employees overseeing the project. The remainder of the space houses Sikorsky Aircraft, General Dynamics Canada and L-3 MAS Canada personnel assigned to the MHP. Sikorsky Aircraft was awarded MHP contracts in November 2004 to provide 28 Sikorsky H-92 maritime helicopters, designated the CH-148 Cyclone, which will replace Sea King aircraft currently in service with the Canadian Forces, and to provide in-service support for those helicopters. Sikorsky has joined with General Dynamics Canada and L-3 MAS Canada to form The Maritime Helicopter Team, which will develop, certify and field the new Cyclone fleet 2005 - An Official report into the reasons why a Toll ship hit rocks off Penguin last November is being kept secret. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) yesterday refused to release its findings after an investigation lasting several months, citing privacy concerns. The Victorian Reliance was badly damaged when it hit a rock close to shore at Penguin on November 14. At the time it was supposed to be heading from Burnie to Melbourne. It was forced off the run until January to undergo repairs costing millions of dollars. AMSA would only say it had finished its investigation and had ordered administrative actions be taken. It would not detail the actions and would not comment further owing to legal advice under federal privacy legislation. The Maritime Union labeled the suppression of the report a disgrace. MUA state secretary Mike Wickham questioned why AMSA was not prepared to tell the public the truth on a matter which he said had endangered sailors lives and had the potential for a major oil spill 2006 - VT Shipbuilding has completed its construction work on the Royal Navy’s first-of-class Type 45 destroyer HMS Daring with delivery of the foremast to BAE Systems Naval Ships in Glasgow. The 89-tonnes steel structure was lifted onto a barge at VT’s Portsmouth Shipbuilding Facility and towed over 600 nautical miles by tug, completing the transit in just over four days 2006 - The JCSAT-9 telecommunications satellite, designed and built by Lockheed Martin for JSAT Corporation of Japan was successfully launched aboard a Sea Launch Zenit-3SL launch vehicle from the Pacific Equator. Lift-off occurred at 1930 EDT and initial contact with the satellite, called acquisition of signal, was confirmed at 2116 EDT from the Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems (LMCSS) satellite tracking station in Uralla, Australia 2006 - The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) held an anti-terror drill in east China's Qingdao City to test its capabilities in dealing with possible terrorist attacks using chemical weapons during the sailing events of the 2008 Olympic Games 2007 - Seamen's Church Institute of Philadelphia and South Jersey's (SCI) 19th Annual Spirit of the Port Award presented to Hon. William F. Keller for his tremendous contributions to the port 2007 - Secretary of the Navy Donald C. Winter announced the US Navy is terminating construction of the third Littoral Combat Ship (LCS 3) for convenience under the termination clause of the contract because the Navy and Lockheed Martin could not reach agreement on the terms of a modified contract 2007 - Stevedores of cargo handling company Finnsteve stopped working in Helsinki's western harbor and Sompasaari saying the industrial action would last until the next morning. The stevedores said they had staged the walkout because of the company's personnel policy. About 500 permanent stevedores and a number of temporary personnel work at the two cargo terminals 2007 - Shetland Coastguard coordinating SAR 75 miles northwest of Shetland where the anchor AHT Bourbon Dolphin has capsized 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