SeaWaves Today in History August 14, 2008 1586 - John Davis fights heavy ice taking his ship Mooneshine into Cumberland Sound 1704 - A French-Spanish fleet, commanded by the Comte de Toulouse, declined to re-engage a British-Dutch Fleet, commanded by Admiral Sir George Rooke, following the Battle of Velez-Malaga on 13 Aug, and withdrew to Toulon, despite the fact that the wind had freshened and was in their favor. Upon hearing that Gibraltar had been captured on 24 Jul, the Comte de Toulouse sailed from Toulon with 24 ships-of-the-line and was joined by 26 others from Brest. Eight frigates and 24 galleys supported him. Admiral Rooke's force numbers 53 ships-of-the-line and was supported by six frigates. The two forces sighted each other on 09 Aug but were unable to engage due to the light winds. The French-Spanish fleet went to anchor of Malaga and did not sail until 12 Aug. Once again, light winds hampered both fleet and the action did not begin until 1630 on 13 Aug. Rooke’s flagship, Royal Katharine, engaged Toulouse’s flagship Foudroyant. The action was over by 1900. The engagement, the only fleet action during the War of the Spanish Succession, was inconclusive and both sides claimed victory. French galleys were used to tow French ships in and out of the action. Neither side lost a ship but the casualties were heavy. Rooke’s force suffered 787 killed and 1,931 wounded, about a third of which eventually died. Toulouse’s force suffered 1,585 killed, including two admirals, and approximately 2,000 wounded. When French force withdrew, the British fleet lost contact during the night and Admiral Rooke began to fear that they had slipped past him and were making for Gibraltar. As the defenses of Gibraltar were not strong enough to repel a combined land and sea assault, the British fleet rushed back towards Gibraltar. Eventually, Admiral Rooke received word that the French fleet was in Toulon. The French withdrawal removed the threat to Gibraltar, which remained permanently under British control 1762 - In an operation brilliantly planned by Lord Anson, a fleet under Sir George Pocock and troops commanded by the Earl of Albemarle captured the supposedly impregnable fortress of Havana, twelve ships of the line, 100 merchantmen, and two million dollars worth of booty, depriving Spain of the center of its empire in the Americas 1779 - George Collie relieves Francis McLean's post by sea, routs Americans and destroys their ships in the Penobscot River, Maine 1813 - HMS Pelican captures USS Argus 1814 - Lt. Miller Worsley scuttles and burns schooner Nancy to prevent capture by US ships Niagara, Tigress and Scorpion on Georgian Bay; will later capture Tigress off Manitoulin Island 1848 - Congress creates Territory of Oregon 1852 - Edward Belcher arrives at Beechey Island; winters at Dealy Island off southern shore of Melville Island 1886 - SECNAV establishes Naval Gun Factory at Washington Navy Yard 1900 - The Peking Legations, besieged by "Boxers", were relieved by British, Japanese, Russian, US, French, German, Austrian and Italian troops under General Sir Alfred Gaselee. The Legations, under the leadership of Sir Claude Macdonald, and with their defenses planned by the engineer, later US President, Herbert Hoover, had been besieged since 20 June. British personnel in the relief force included Indian troops, Royal Marines, and Royal Navy sailors and men of the Royal Welsh Regiment, who defended beside US Marines. To this day, the Colonel-in-Chief of the Welch, and the Commandant of the US Marine Corps, exchange annual fraternal military greetings. In 1963 with British actor David Niven in the central role of Sir Claude, Hollywood made a film titled "55 Days At Peking", which covered that episode. With Niven (who trained at Sandhurst and was in fact a former British Army officer) in that film were Charlton Heston as commander of the Marines, Ava Gardner as a doomed Russian Baroness, and John Ireland as a sergeant, amongst others. It's not far off actuality and a good action film with a subtle ending 1909 - Submarine HMS C27 & C28 completed 1915 - Submarine HMS F1 completed 1917 - China declared war on Germany and Austria 1918 - Destroyer USS Thompson laid down 1919 - Destroyer USS Lawrence laid down 1923 - Light cruiser FS Duguay-Trouin launched 1931 - Destroyer FS Epervier launched 1931 - Light cruiser FS Jeanne d'Arc commissioned 1933 - Soviet submarine SC-201 laid down 1935 - Light cruiser HMS Galatea commissioned 1935 - U-5 launched 1935 - Sloop HMS Fleetwood laid down 1936 - Polish submarine Orzel laid down 1936 - Soviet submarine SC-206 commissioned 1936 - Rowing crew of the University of Washington wins the Olympic Gold Medal 1937 - Destroyers USS Blue & Henley commissioned 1939 - Soviet submarine K-21 launched 1939 - Submarine HMS Tetrarch launched 1940 - Corvettes HMCS Baddeck & Buctouche laid down 1940 - U-207 laid down 1940 - Submarine HMS Osiris torpedoed and sunk the Italian steamship Leopardi 1940 - U-59 sank SS Betty 1941 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill issued the Atlantic Charter, a statement of principles that renounced aggression 1941 - U-252 launched 1941 - U-583 commissioned 1941 - U-126 sank SS Sud in Convoy HG-70 1941 - Destroyer HMS Serapis (later transferred to the RNLN as Piet Hein) is laid down 1941 - Evacuation of the Russian Black Sea naval base at Nikolayev begins tonight. During the next three nights 13 ships under construction will be towed away. 11 remaining ships, including 1 battleship, will be blown up along with other supplies 1941 - While returning to the US from the Atlantic Charter Conference, US President Franklin D Roosevelt, in USS Augusta, watches flight operations conducted by the F2A Buffaloes and SOC Seagulls of Scouting Squadron Two Hundred One in aircraft escort vessel USS Long Island, the first "jeep" aircraft carrier. During the afternoon, USS Augusta reaches Blue Hill Bay, Maine, where he embarks in the presidential yacht, USS Potomac 1942 - HMCS Halifax, a Flower-class corvette, arrived with the Halifax to Aruba convoy HA-3. The HA (Halifax-Aruba) Canadian oil convoys were only run during 1942. The eastern Canadian wartime economy was critically dependent on Caribbean sources of oil and, in order to ensure its safe arrival, in Mid-May 1942, eight corvettes were diverted from the transatlantic convoy system to escort tankers to and from Venezuela. Between January and June 1942, the German U-boat campaign against US East Coast shipping was at its zenith and dozens of scare tankers were sunk. However, amidst this carnage, although the Canadian tanker convoys were attacked, they moved regularly and did not suffer any losses at all. Finally, once the US instituted a full convoy system, which encompassed Canadian tanker shipments, the Canadian oil convoys ceased and the RCN escort was reassigned to other duties 1942 - Corvette USS Prudent laid down 1942 - Submarine USS S-39 lost by grounding south off Rossel Island Louisiade Archipelago from Navy List 14 October 1944 1942 - Boom defense vessel HMS Barnard launched 1942 - ASW trawler HMS Mullet launched 1942 - USS S-39 grounded on submerged rocks off Rossel Island, crew rescued by Australian minesweeper HMAS Katoomba and taken to Townsville 1942 - U-598 attacked Convoy TAW-12J, sinking SS Empire Corporal & SS Michael Jebsen & damaging SS Standella 1942 - Destroyer HMS Cambrian laid down 1942 - Destroyer HMS Opportune commissioned 1942 - Minesweeper HMAS Gawler commissioned 1943 - Minesweeper HMCS Rossland launched North Vancouver BC 1943 - HMC ML 108 commissioned 1943 - U-479 & U-480 launched 1943 - U-242 commissioned 1943 - Frigates HMS Hoste, Manners, Moorsom, Mounsey laid down 1943 - Frigate HMS Byron launched 1943 - Destroyer escort USS Borum launched 1943 - Destroyer escort USS Emery commissioned 1943 - Frigate HMS Lossie commissioned 1943 - Destroyer HMS Hardy commissioned 1943 - Submarine HMS Saracen suffers flooding after heavy depth charge attacks by Italian torpedo boats Euterpe and Minerva off Bastia. Unable to control buoyancy, the crew assembles in the control room to make their escape to the surface, and Saracen sinks after being abandoned 1943 - Lighter Covered (Non Self-Propelled) YC-970 lost in Puget Sound 1944 - USS LST-921 torpedoed by U-764 off channel to Bristol England and struck 1944 - The Tribal-class destroyer HMCS Iroquois led by the Fiji-class light cruiser HMS Mauritius and accompanied by the U-class fleet destroyer HMS Ursa were deployed for a 'KINETIC' patrol off of Les Sables and Ile d'Yeu, France. At 0305, they encountered two merchant ships escorted by the Elbing-class destroyer T-24. A wild gun and torpedo engagement ensued and, although shell hits were observed on all of the German ships, none were sunk. German coastal artillery and ship-laid smoke, plus a torpedo attack that narrowly missed Iroquois from the Elbing covered the withdrawal of the German formation. At 0620 the British-Canadian formation encountered a second German force of two merchant ships and two minesweepers. This time, despite heavy return fire, the German ships were all driven ashore and set on fire by gunfire. Once again, German coastal artillery intervened and drove off the allied warships. That only one small destroyer drove off the RN-RCN force is not a very complimentary observation on the conduct of the first engagement. The odds were overwhelmingly in favor of the Allied formation in both engagements and both should have had the same outcome. It seems that the force commander was more resolute when he was presented with a golden 'second chance'. Long-range fire from shore batteries was notoriously erratic. Normally, it was only regarded as harassing fire until the range closed to less than five miles, when it became significantly more deadly. That it was even mentioned in the first (night) engagement indicates that a defense against charges of lack of aggression during the attack was already being constructed 1944 - U-618 sunk in the Bay of Biscay west of St. Nazaire, in position 47.22N, 04.39W, by depth charges from frigates HMS Duckworth & Essington and by depth charges from a British Liberator aircraft (Sqn. 53/G). 61 dead (all hands lost) 1944 - U-445, (British Wellington aircraft, Squadron 172/K) Aircraft shot down on the Brest - La Pallice route 1944 - U-766, (Canadian Wellington aircraft, Squadron 407/E) Aircraft shot down on the Brest - La Pallice route 1944 - U-1163, (Norwegian Mosquito aircraft, Squadron 333/E) No damage to U-boat. U-1163 and U-771 were being transferred from Stavanger to Kristiansand South, and were proceeding on the surface, accompanied by surface escorts. Mosquitoes E/333 and S/333 made the attack. The attack took place off Egero, Norway 1944 - U-2507 launched 1944 - U-3011 & 3511 laid down 1944 - U-667 attacked Convoy EBC-72 sinking HMS LCI (L) 99 & damaged USS LST 921 beyond repair 1944 - Destroyer USS Myles C Fox laid down 1944 - Corvette HMCS Smiths Falls launched 1944 - In the Aleutians, the USN's Task Force 94 sorties from Attu to sweep the Kurile Islands but weather forces the ships to return to port 1945 - Japan agrees to surrender 1945 - Minesweeper HMCS Hickory Lake completed and transferred to USSR 1945 - Minesweeper HMCS Fir Lake laid down Sarnia ON 1945 - Submarine USS Spikefish sank sub HIJMS I-373. Last Japanese submarine lost in WWII 1947 - Pakistan became independent of British rule 1950 - Minesweeper USS Pirate recommissioned at Yokosuka 1951 - HMCS Huron leaves Korea for Halifax 1953 - Destroyer HMCS Micmac recommissioned after major hull repairs and modernization 1954 - Destroyer HMCS Cayuga hosts Japanese school children at Otaru, Japan 1965 - Destroyer HMCS Skeena completed helicopter conversion at Davie Shipbuilding, Lauzon PQ 1966 - USS Coral Sea port call Subic Bay 1967 - USS Coral Sea port call Yokosuka 1969 - Destroyer HMCS Gatineau arrived Esquimalt after IRE refit 1972 - USS Midway port call Subic Bay 1973 - USS Hancock port call Yokosuka 1980 - Workers went on strike at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk, Poland, in a job action that resulted in the creation of the Solidarity labor movement 1986 - Seattle Aquarium expansion plans, along with other waterfront improvements, announced 1989 - Destroyer HMCS Annapolis departed Halifax for Esquimalt 1990 - Hospital Ship USNS COMFORT deploys for Middle East 1993 - Submarine HMS Vanguard completed 2003 - US Navy awards contract for construction of six Virginia-class submarines 2004 - USS John F Kennedy rescued six mariners from an Iranian cargo dhow after learning that the vessel was taking on water 2004 - Cruise ships Queen Mary 2, Ocean Countess, World Renaissance and Silver Whisper in Athens for Summer Olympics 2005 - Mr. Jean-Claude D'Amours, MP for Madawaska-Restigouche attended the unveiling of a scale model of the French frigate Le Machault, which sank during the last naval confrontation in Canadian waters between France and England in 1760. The event was part of the 20th anniversary celebrations at the Battle of the Restigouche National Historic Site of Canada, and will be followed by a conference given by Robert Grenier, Chief Underwater Archaeology at Parks Canada, and entitled "40 Years Under the Sea" 2005 - Initial BLACKSEAFOR, consisting of BGS Shkval, GGS Dioskuria, ROS Marasesti, RFS Yamal, TCG Fatih, UPS Slavutych, stands up at Contstanta, Romania 2005 - The Coast Guard continues to search for a 24-foot recreational boat with five people on board lost in the fog near the entrance of the Quillayute River WA the previous evening. The master of the boat contacted a Clallam County 911 dispatcher reporting he was disoriented in the fog and in need of assistance. The 911 dispatcher then contacted the Coast Guard. Coast Guard Station Quillayute River launched a 47-foot motor lifeboat and Coast Guard Group/Air Station Port Angeles launched a Dolphin helicopter to search Saturday night. The crews could not locate the vessel because of the dense fog. The Coast Guard sent urgent marine information broadcasts to mariners throughout the night and into this morning about the missing boat. The Coast Guard continues to search with two 47-foot motor life boats from Station Quillayute River, the Coast Guard Cutter Osprey (pictured above), an 87-foot patrol boat stationed in Port Townsend and a C-130 Hercules airplane from Coast Guard Air Station Sacramento 2006 - The dedication of the Commander Ray Evans Shore Operations Building at the Coast Guard Integrated Support Command at Pier 36 in Seattle at 2 p.m. The building was named in honor of Commander Ray Evans, World War II veteran, recipient of the Navy Cross, and a lifelong Washington resident. Evans fought alongside Signalman First Class Douglas Munro during the Invasion of Guadalcanal. Douglas Munro was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor and is the only member of the Coast Guard to receive the award. Munro was killed by enemy fire while evacuating a battalion of Marines. Evans was wounded with another member of the crew while carrying out the rest of the mission. The building will house Coast Guard Sector Seattle and Electronic System Support Unit Seattle. The cost for the construction of the building totaled $16 million. Construction on the building began in 2005, following a groundbreaking ceremony attended by Senator Patty Murray. Evans will attend the dedication along with Senator Patty Murray, Coast Guard 13th District Commander Rear Admiral Richard R. Houck and Coast Guard Auxiliary 13th District Commodore Fred Bell 2006 - The Coast Guard rescued four people in a 10-foot-inflatable raft last night approximately 14 nautical miles east of Rexhame Beach near Marshfield, Mass 2006 - MV BBC Trinidad has been delivered and has left Harlingen for her first journey 2006 - A fighter jet which fought in the 1982 Falkland Islands war was sold for £ 65.512 on the internet auction site eBay reports the Daily Mirror. Apparently a bidder in Scotland bought the engineless Sea Harrier. The former vertical takeoff Royal Navy airplane has wingspan of 25ft and is 46ft long. A truck dealer in West Bromwich, West Mids, sold the jet after getting it in a part-exchange 2007 - Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad W. Allen and US Customs and Border Protection Chief Patrol Agent, El Paso Sector, Vic Manjarrez will participate on a panel at the Border Security Conference at the University of Texas, El Paso 2007 - RMS Titanic, Inc. announced that it will conduct its first research and recovery expedition at the wreck site of the RMS Carpathia. Departing from Brest, France on August 16, 2007, the expedition team will oversee the archaeological recovery of artifacts from the Carpathia along with site documentation and assessment of the overall structural integrity of the historic ship 2007 - A North Sea oil platform northeast of Aberdeen, Scotland after a fire broke out on board 2007 - New Zealand has decided that the Geographic Board's (Nga Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa) previous place-naming tasks will now include undersea features of New Zealand’s continental shelf, such as submarine volcanoes and canyons 2007 - Naval Air Station Key West's search-and-rescue (SAR) crew pulled two local kayakers in distress from the waters off Key West Copyright 2008 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. 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