SeaWaves Today in History August 20, 2008 1583 - Humphrey Gilbert c1537-1583 sails to Cape Race to fish for cod and explore mainland; sends two ships back to England 1765 - John Harrison demonstrated his fourth chronometer to the Board of Longitude, set up at the Admiralty's behest to seek an accurate timepiece which could permit longitude to be measured accurately for navigation. An award of £20,000 was offered. Harrison's fourth chronometer design finally provided the breakthrough needed for precision timekeeping 1812 - Isaac Hull on the USS Constitution (Old Ironsides) defeats the British ship Guerriere after a two-day battle off Nova Scotia in the War of 1812 1814 - War of 1812 - British troops disembark at Benedict on the Patuxent River in preparation for the attack on Washington 1816 - Corps of Colonial Marines (recruited from refugee African American slaves in the War of 1812) disbanded in Trinidad near modern Princes Town, founding a community that still celebrates its identity 1852 - Buffalo to Detroit - 500 to 600 persons on board (the passenger list was lost with the ship) including 132-200 Norwegian immigrants, a number of Germans, and the rest Americans, including some honeymooners, left on the steamer Atlantic (side-wheeler, built Newport, Michigan, 1848 (1849?), 1155 tons, Captain Pettys. In the very early morning 20th August propeller Ogdensburg's bow put a hole in the Atlantic's port side (they might have been steaming fast in the fog; the Atlantic was considered a fast ship, and the Ogdensburg was brand new - Rattigan), and 150 to 250 drowned (number agrees with Dana Thomas Bowen, but a couple of web sites put the number as high as 350 1912 - Fort William dock workers go on strike 1914 - German naval code books were recovered by the Imperial Russian Navy from the wreck of the light cruiser Magdeburg, and passed to the Royal Navy - one of the most important intelligence coups of the First World War. The Royal Navy's cryptographers in Room 40 were able to read German naval wireless signals for a considerable period of time thereafter, Royal Navy ships often being able to put to sea before German raiders had even left harbor 1914 - Rimouski Quebec - Purser's safe raised from the wreck of the Empress of Ireland after two months of salvage operations 1916 - RNAS Dunkirk, Short 184 a/c, Fl/Lt Benjamine Cecil Tooke RNAS, shot down off the Belgian coast & taken POW. His Observer is lost. They were gunspotting for HMS General Craufurd. Ltnz S Boenisch claims their seaplane 1917 - RNAS Cranwell, DE2C a/c, P/FO Lawrence Code RNAS of Ottawa ON lost while landing at RNAS Cranwell 1917 - 10 Naval Sqn, Sopwith Triplane a/c #N5355, F/S/Lt Charles Haddow Weir RNAS of Medicine Hat AB wounded & taken POW following combat 1918 - Destroyers USS Abel P Upshur & Hunt laid down 1918 - Minesweeper USS Teal commissioned 1918 - U-156 surfaces and commandeers the steam trawler Triumph in Canadian waters. The crew is allowed to take to their lifeboats, and will land at Canso, NS, early the next day 1919 - Submarine USS R-10 commissioned 1923 - Destroyer FS Orage laid down 1928 - Destroyer HMS Arrow laid down 1932 - Sloop HNLMS Johan Maurits van Nassau launched 1934 - Submarine HMS Grampus laid down 1935 - Sloop HMS Deptford commissioned 1936 - U-22 commissioned 1936 - Light cruiser HMS Aurora launched 1936 - Destroyer USS Balch commissioned 1936 - Soviet submarines SC-309 & SC-310 commissioned 1938 - Submarine HMS Saury launched 1940 - Minesweeping trawler HMS Resparko bombed & sunk off Falmouth 1940 - Destroyer HMS Eridge launched 1940 - Minelayer HMS Latona launched 1940 - U-46 attacked SS Leonidas M Valmas. Constructive total loss 1940 - UA sank SS Tuira in Convoy OB-198 1940 - U-89 & U-130 laid down 1940 - Submarine HMS Undaunted launched 1940 - Minesweeping trawler HMS Almond commissioned 1940 - U-51 sunk in the Bay of Biscay west of Nantes, France, in position 47.06N, 04.51W, by a torpedo from the British submarine HMS Cachalot. 43 dead (all hands lost) 1940 - Corvette HMS Fennel launched Sorel PQ 1940 - Prime Minister Churchill declared willingness to lease bases to the United States. (". . . anxiety was also felt in the United States about the air and naval defense of their Atlantic seaboard, and President Roosevelt has recently made it clear that he would like to discuss with us, and with the Dominion of Canada and with Newfoundland, the development of American naval and air facilities in Newfoundland and in the West Indies . . . . His Majesty's Government are entirely willing, to accord defense facilities to the United States . . . and we feel sure that our interests, no less than theirs . . . will be served thereby" 1941 - U-591 & U-592 launched 1941 - Minesweeper HMS Ilfracombe commissioned 1941 - Minesweeping trawler HMS Lorinda sank after fire near Freetown 1941 - On 6 August 1941 HMS P 33 sailed from Malta with orders to intercept an Italian convoy bound for Libya. On 18 Aug HMS P 32 reported hearing a prolonged depth charge attack that lasted for two hours. When the attack was finally over P 32 attempted to contact P 33 but received no response and it is almost certain that P 33 had perished in the attack. P 33 was reported overdue on 20 Aug when she failed to return to Malta. However the Italians claim that she was sunk by the torpedo boat Partenope off Pantelleria on the 23 Aug 1942 - Submarine USS Gunnel commissioned 1942 - Escort carrier USS Nassau commissioned 1942 - U-229, U-340, U-643 & U-644 launched 1942 - U-368 & U-748 laid down 1942 - U-636 commissioned 1942 - U-464 was surprised by a Catalina aircraft of VP-73 squadron in rough weather and 5 depth charges rendered the boat unable to dive. Although it could still do 8 knots on the surface it was simply waiting to be destroyed by nearby surface forces. Kptlt. Harms was aware of this and decided to scuttle the boat and head for a nearby Icelandic trawler. What happens next is available in two versions a) The Icelandic trawler Skaftfellingur headed for the sinking U-boat and commenced rescue operations. The Germans seemed hesitant to leave their boat but finally after one of them had been pulled over to the trawler via line they jumped into the water. The 7-man Icelandic crew (reduced crew due to hazardous waters) then accommodated the 52 German survivors and placed them in the bow of the ship where they should remain. A machine gun on the bridge enforced the order. Later the same day 2 British destroyers arrived and captured the Germans. (English and Icelandic sources) b) The U-boat crew boarded the boat and subdued its crew and headed for Germany. They were only interrupted by two British destroyers. (German sources) How a tired and wet crew was to board a trawler sailing at 10 knots is anyone's guess. The former explanation is more likely and supported by better facts. The Icelandic captain was even given the 3rd degree by a British court in Fleetwood about this 1942 - Trawler HMS Baffin commissioned & loaned to RCN 1942 - Corvette HMCS Dawson arrived Kodiak for Aleutian Campaign under US control 1942 - Late in the afternoon, the USN's Task Group 2.6, comprised of the auxiliary aircraft carrier USS Long Island, light cruiser USS Helena and destroyers USS Aylwin & Dale, reaches a point 190 miles SE of Guadalcanal. USS Long Island is carrying 31 aircraft of two squadrons of Marine Aircraft Group Twenty-Three. The 31 aircraft and the squadrons are (1) 19 F4F-4 Wildcats of Marine Fighting Squadron Two Hundred Twenty Three and (2) 12 SBD-3 Dauntlesses of Marine Scout Bombing Squadron Two Hundred Thirty Two. The aircraft, the first US aircraft to be based on the island, begin landing on Henderson Field at 1700 hours local. Lieutenant Colonel Gerald Thomas, operations officer of the 1st Marine Division, will later attributes to this event a boost in morale matched by no other event during the campaign. The task group is spotted by Japanese reconnaissance operating from the Shortland Islands but they are out of range of enemy land-based aircraft and they retire from the area without incident 1942 - USN redesignates escort carriers from Aircraft Escort Vessel (AVG) to Auxiliary Aircraft Carrier (ACV) 1943 - U-197 sunk south of Madagascar, in position 28.40S, 42.36E, by depth charges from 2 British Catalina aircraft (Sqn. 259/C & 265/N). 67 dead (all hands lost) 1943 - U-670 sunk in the Gulf of Danzig after collision with the target ship Bolkoburg. 21 dead and 22 survivors 1943 - U-1107 laid down 1943 - U-596 sank SS Nonn El Sayeda 1943 - Minesweeper HMS Spanker commissioned 1943 - Minesweepers HMS Chameleon, Cheerful & Squirrel laid down 1943 - Submarine USS Pompano departs Midway Island on her seventh war patrol. She is never heard from again 1944 - Destroyer minelayer USS Lindsey commissioned 1944 - Heavy cruisers USS Los Angeles & Chicago launched 1944 - Minesweeper USS Quail launched 1944 - Aircraft carrier USS Antietam launched 1944 - U-764 sank SS Coral in Convoy ETC-72 1944 - U-1229 sunk in the North Atlantic SE of Newfoundland, in position 42.20N, 51.39W, by depth charges and rockets from 3 Avenger and 2 Wildcat aircraft (VC-42) of escort carrier USS Bogue. 18 dead and 41 survivors. The U-1229 was on a mission to land an agent, Oskar Mantel, in the Gulf of Maine, USA but the boat was sunk on the outbound route from Norway. Mantel was among the survivors 1944 - U-861 sank SS Berwickshire & damaged SS Daronia in Convoy DN-68 1944 - U-3513 laid down 1944 - U-9 sunk at Konstanza, Black Sea in position 44.12N, 28.41E, by bombs from Soviet aircraft. In 1945 the Soviets raised the boat and brought it into Nikolayev. She became in 1945 the USSR TS-16, but due to extensive damages she was broken up sometime after 12 Dec 1946 1944 - U-188 scuttled at the U-boat base in Bordeaux when unable to escape the Allied advance. Broken up in 1947 1944 - U-413 sunk in the English Channel south of Brighton, in position 50.21N, 00.01W, by depth charges from the British escort destroyer HMS Wensleydale and the destroyers HMS Forester and Vidette. 45 dead and 1 survivor 1944 - U-862 shot down RAF Catalina aircraft, Squadron 265/H. The boat shot down the aircraft and escaped despite a massive search for it 1944 - Destroyers HMCS Chaudiere, Kootenay & Ottawa sank U-984 OLtzS Heinz Sieder, West of Brest, 48-16N 05-33W. There were no survivors of her 45 crew. U-984 a VIIC type U-boat, built by Blohm & Voss, Hamburg, launched 12 May 43, commissioned 17 Jun 43, in service 14 months, with a record of 4 ships sunk for a total of 22,850 tons & 1 ship damaged for a further 7,240 tons. Escort Group 11 was returning to Londonderry after sinking U-621, OLtzS Hermann Struckmann Knights Cross, CO, (see 18 Aug) HMCS Restigouche had already been detached due to defects, Ottawa & Chaudiere were low on fuel & Kootenay had a leaking fuel pump that was becoming critical. Ottawa gained asdic contact at 1935. Chaudiere used the last of her 'Hedgehog' bombs (without result) & then resorted to depth charges, which produced an oil slick. At 2300 the attacks were broken off & EG 11 proceeded back to base. At the time, it was judged that insufficient evidence had been produced to justify awarding a 'kill'. However, record reconstruction after the war has proven that U-984 was sunk in this engagement. The sinking of 2 U-boats in 2 days, both commanded by experienced officers, was probably the best Canadian ASW performance during the war. Although the successes of EG 11 on 'offensive' ASW sweeps in the Bay of Biscay indicate there was some value in 'hunter-killer' Ops, post-war Ops analysis concluded that the effort expended per U-boat killed on such 'sweeps' was far greater than in convoy battles. Detached groups also had the effect of weakening the escort forces assigned to screen convoys. Historians & naval Ops planners still strongly argue this point. OLtzS Sieder was U-984's only Commanding Officer. Heinz Sieder was born in 1920, In Munich. He joined the navy in 1938. When the war broke out he was under training in the old battleship Schlesien. He continued his training at the naval college & naval gunnery school until Apr 40, when he was assigned to the battlecruiser Scharnhorst. He transferred to the U-boat force in Feb 41 and underwent conversion training. He was assigned to the 26th U-Flotilla in Sep 41 & in Jan 42, was appointed as the First Watch Officer in the Type VIIC training boat U-440, Kptlt Hans Geissler, CO. U-440 was transferred to Ops in Sep 42 & OLtzS. Sieder was selected for command in Apr 43. A RAF ‘Sunderland’ patrol a/c sank her on her next patrol.) After his U-boat commander's course, Sieder was appointed to commission the Type VIIC boat U-984 on 17 Jun 43. He was awarded the Knight's Cross on 08 Jul 44, the 112th presented in the U-boat force 1944 - Shellfire from Prinz Eugen assists in the successful defense against the Russian attack near Riga 1944 - In the Aleutian Islands, 4 US Eleventh Air Force B-25s fly a shipping sweep with no results 1944 - The USN's non-rigid airship K-111 operating in conjunction with the escort carrier USS Makassar Strait off San Diego, California, demonstrates the feasibility of refueling and replenishing airships from aircraft carriers. In this operation that lasted 72.5 hours, K-111's crew was relieved every 12 hours and its engines were operated continuously. In one evolution, the airship remained on deck for 32 minutes 1944 - Coast Guard-manned Army vessel FS-256 departed the 3rd Naval District for Los Angeles. She was towing the QS-54. She was assigned to and operated in the Southwest Pacific area. She was decommissioned 22 October 1945 1944 - Coast Guard-manned Army vessel FS-259 departed the 3rd Naval District for Los Angeles towing the QS-57. She was assigned to and operated in Hawaii 1945 - HMC ML 114 paid off 1945 - HMS Baffin paid off & returned to RN on the Clyde 1945 - Frigates HMCS Outremont, Poundmaker & Prestonian completed tropicalization refits at Sydney NS, Lunenburg NS & Halifax NS respectively 1945 - Tropicalization refit of HMCS Buckingham at Shelburne NS suspended 1945 - Tropicalization refits cancelled - HMCS Strathadam (not known), Victoriaville (Saint John NB), Carlplace (Shelburne NS), Fort Erie (Pictou NS), Inch Arran (Sydney NS) 1945 - Destroyer USS John R Craig commissioned 1945 - US Navy patrol planes reconnoiter Indochina and south China coasts. During the missions, Japanese fighters attempt to intercept them 1946 - Two trainloads of German high-explosive aircraft bombs weighing 1,100 tons were being loaded into barges to be dumped at sea when the German loading party dropped one on the quayside. The explosion not only caused deaths and injuries, but threatened to detonate another 11 bombs, and more still aboard the trains. Garry Garred and his senior officer in 5140 RAF Bomb Disposal Squadron, Squadron Leader Hubert Dinwoodie, were sent to Lubeck to defuse them 1948 - Destroyer HMAS Anzac launched 1948 - RCN Firefly IV, a/c #VG963 from HMCS Magnificent, ditched at sea. Lt (P) Charles Alfred Bourque & Lt (O) Ronald "Dick" Earl Quirt (both RCN) recovered 1949 - LCdr (P) Clifford "Clunk" Gordon Watson RCN & the "Special Flight" of Seafire a/c, "Watson's Circus" departed Shearwater for Toronto 1950 - Destroyer HMCS Sioux proceeded Popsing'po, to evaluate bombardment of 16 Aug, the artillery pieces had been replaced and four more added, SIOUX bombarded the facility, and departed believing the job complete; however, a few days later an RAN destroyer found the guns had been replaced. Popsing'po was subsequently, code named "Tombstone" 1950 - Destroyer HMCS Athabaskan proceeded Yonghung Do, at 0630 a bombardment was commenced to cover an ROK marine landing and continued to 1800. Once secured and in ROK control, Athabaskan proceeded to Palmi Do, where a North Korean radio outpost existed, two North Korean Soldiers and their equipment were ceased, and the hut destroyed 1952 - Interservice air operation at Chang Pyong-ni, Korea, US Navy, Marine and Air Force aircraft destroy 80 percent of assigned area 1953 - The Soviet Union publicly acknowledged it had tested a hydrogen bomb 1954 - Destroyer HMCS Cayuga arrived Sasebo 1959 - USS Thetis Bay completes 6-day humanitarian operation after floods in Taiwan 1959 - A CS2F Tracker (1519) a/c of Anti-Submarine Sqn 880 flown by Lt (P) Roger de Chounac Nantel & Lt (P) George Arthur "Murray" Caldwell both members of #8 JAOBTC, crashed on take-off, while carrying out Field Carrier Landing Practice at HMCS Shearwater, the a/c stalled at about 150 feet from the ground & went into an uncontrollable slow roll before landing, right side up, in a revetment near the tower. The co-pilot managed to escape from the plane, but the pilot was unconscious, remaining in the a/c which was on fire. AB Jacques Pierre George Bouchard & AB Angus Kenneth MacLean, witnessed the accident & were among the first on the scene, without regard to their own safety, entered through the after hatch & attempted to remove the harness from the unconscious pilot. Being unable to unlock the overhead hatch, both held the pilot clear of the port side window while it was being smashed by the crash crew, & at the same time succeeded in removing the harness & other entangled gear from the pilot. While they were still assisting the pilot the flames spread aft, a sudden burst of fire engulfed the after fuselage section & one of the Officers assisting in the rescue ordered the two AB's out of the a/c. By this time, however, the port side window had been cleared & it was possible to remove the pilot safely from the burning a/c. Shortly after the a/c became a mass of flames 1969 - US Navy Seabees and sailors from Helicopter Training Squadron Eight evacuated 820 people from Pass Christian, MS after Hurricane Camille 1976 - Gordon Lightfoot releases single, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, from his album Summertime Dream, about an ore carrier which sank on Lake Superior; will reach #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 2004 - VAdm Arun Kumar Singh relieved VAdm Suresh Mehta as Indian Coast Guard Director-General. Mehta became new deputy chief of the Navy 2005 - The Department of Defense will once again operate the Point Perpendicular Lighthouse from sunset on Saturday, 20 August to sunrise on Sunday, 21 August 2005 as part of the International Lighthouse and Lightships celebrations. The event recognizes the heritage significance of the site and its long association with Navy. Defense has been committed to the continued repair and restoration of the Point Perpendicular Lighthouse and associated buildings, which are listed on the Commonwealth Heritage register. Built to replace the wrongly-positioned Cape St George lighthouse, Point Perpendicular lighthouse began operation on the 1st May 1899. Designed by Charles Harding, Architect of the Harbors and Rivers Branch of the then Public Works Department, the lighthouse and keeper's quarters were the first constructed using concrete blocks cast on site. The building technique eliminated the use of heavy scaffolding and shuttering which is necessary for the "concrete poured" construction of towers. This method was later used to construct similar lights at Cape Byron and Norah Head. The tower is 21.4m tall placing the light 93m above sea level, due to the height of the cliffs upon which it stands. The lighthouse still contains its original Chance Bros 920mm focal radius 9-panel lens, an excellent working example of late 19th century Victorian design & manufacturing. The illuminant was originally vaporized kerosene, which gave a light intensity of 100,000 candelas visible for 33km. In June 1964 the light was converted to 240V electric power. This came from two generators located in what was the former stables. This increased the output to 1,200,000 candelas visible for 40 km. Replaced by an automatic solar light on a steel lattice tower in 1993; the light was last operated in September 1999 to celebrate its centenary 2005 - Coast Guard crews from Station Neah Bay WA responded to a mayday call for a 59 year-old diver Saturday afternoon. The man surfaced from a dive unconscious and friends on the recreational boat began cardiopulmonary resuscitation. A 25-foot response boat from Neah Bay arrived with a registered nurse aboard who also performed CPR on the man. The diver was transferred to the response boat and taken to Station Neah Bay where awaiting emergency medical technicians pronounced the man dead on arrival 2005 - The Philippine and United States navies conducted an amphibious assault joint exercise at the Subic Bay former US navy base, west of Manila, according to Philippine Navy sources. Members of the First Marine Batallion of the Philippine Navy joined the exercise at the Naval Education and Training Center in San Antonio, Zambales bordering the Subic Bay, with their American counterparts as part of the ongoing Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training 2005, or CARAT, an annual bilateral exercise between the US and Philippine navies, said the sources. During the exercise in Zambales, members of the Philippine Marines boarded the USS Harpers Ferry, a dock landing ship, and were made to attempt a beach landing and assault using a US amphibious assault vehicle. The exercise is aimed at increasing capability of the Philippine Marines to fight maritime terrorism, piracy and sea robbery. American ships docking in Subic for CARAT included docking landing ship USS Harpers Ferry, guided missile destroyer USS Paul Hamilton, frigate USS Rodney M. Davis and salvage tug USS Safeguard. The US warships had just come fresh from the completion of CARAT exercises with the Royal Brunei Navy. A total of 2,000 officers and enlisted personnel coming from the Philippine and US navies are participating in the exercise 2006 - Search operations resumed off the coast of the Italian Island of Lampedusa, south of Sicily, after a boat loaded with illegal immigrants sunk the previous day. Coastguards recovered 10 bodies Saturday and 70 survivors, but several of those said there had been 120 people on the boat, which would leave 40 unaccounted for. Witness statements in Italian newspapers referred to around a dozen children and adolescents who were still missing. The prosecutor's office on the southern island of Sicily said it was launching an investigation into whether an attempt by the Italian navy to rescue the migrants from their overloaded craft may have caused it to overturn 2006 - The Merchant Marine Ministry said 18 illegal immigrants, including eight children, were detained off the island of Lesvos. The coast guard intercepted the immigrants, who were traveling in an inflatable dinghy, one nautical mile off the Aegean island. Separately, five illegal immigrants, all minors, were detained on Patmos. The immigrants told authorities that they had reached the island from Turkey aboard a small rowboat which they then destroyed 2006 - Joe Rosenthal, whose photo of soldiers raising the US flag over Iwo Jima during the Second World War became one of the world's most famous wartime images, has died at 94 2006 - USCGC Key Largo repatriated 10 Cubans and two suspected Dominican migrant 2006 - USCG medevaced a 27-year-old male from Beaver Island at approximately 2330. Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City transported the adult male, who was suffering from severe abdominal pains, to Charlevoix Area Hospital 2006 - 58-year-old man perished after jumping off a recreational boat in Potato Slough, which connects to the San Juoquin River. The Coast Guard received a VHF-FM radio distress call at approximately 1130 from a recreational boater in Potato Slough who stated that a man, who had been swimming from his house boat to the recreational boat, had submerged and had not resurfaced. A Coast Guard Station Rio Vista boat searched along with a Coast Guard Air Station San Francisco HH-65 helicopter, a San Juoquin County Sheriff's boat, and a Sacramento County Sheriff's boat. The man was located at approximately 1510 by the San Juoquin County Sheriff's boat and was pronounced dead on scene 2006 - Hospitalman Chadwick T. Kenyon, 20, of Tucson, Ariz., died of injuries suffered when his vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations against enemy forces in the Al Anbar province, Iraq. Kenyon was assigned to the 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Twentynine Palms, Calif 2007 - Submarine Base New London Fire Department introduced its newest public fire education tool — a robotic fire truck — at a “Story Time” outside the Child Development Center 2007 - Russia has started flying jets again from its only operational aircraft carrier after a two-year break, state-run television reported on Sunday in the latest show of the country’s reviving military capability. "Aircraft are taking off and landing from the deck of the Kuznetsov after a gap of two years. To the pilots and crew (the gap) seemed enormous," Channel One television said in a report from on board the vessel 2007 - Iranian dictator Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei in a decree appointed Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari as Commander of the Islamic Republic Army's Navy Secretary Of Defense Robert M. Gates announced the President has nominated Capt. Lawrence S. Rice for appointment to the grade of rear admiral (lower half) 2007 - Senator Jon Tester asking US Navy to name a new submarine USS Montana 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. To contact us: 418-145 West Keith Rd North Vancouver BC V7M 1L3 Canada Phone: 778-338-4073 Fax: 778-338-4074 Read our Maritime Mishap Blog Manage your subscription