SeaWaves Today in History August 23, 2008 Poland - Air Force Day 1541 - Jacques Cartier 1491-1557 arrives at Iroquois village of Stadacona on his third trip to Canada; starts to build Charlesbourg-Royale at western tip of Cape Diamond; first French fort in Canada; first French settlement in America 1577 - Martin Frobisher c1539-1594 kidnaps three Inuit, and then sets sail for England 1623 - Pontgrave leaves Port Royal to return to France; afflicted with gout 1740 - Ivan VI (1740-July 16, 1764) born. Nominal Russian emperor from October 1740 to December 1741. After the death of Empress Anna Ivanovna, the Russian throne passed to the son of her niece Anna Leopoldovna and Prince Anton of Braunschweig, the newborn Ioann Antonovich. Count Biron of Kurland was appointed his regent but he was soon arrested by the Guard at the behest of Field Marshall Mikhin and the regency passed to the emperor's mother. However, since Germans were still present at court, the Guard soon appealed to Elizabeth, daughter of Peter the Great. She decided to stage a coup and, in December 1741, soldiers from the Preobrazhensky division arrested all members of the Braunschweig family and Elizabeth became the new empress. The deposed emperor spent his years in solitary confinement in various prisons. When Elizabeth II was on the throne, Lieut. Vasily Yakovlevich Mirovich tried to free Ivan VI from Fort Schisselburg. The officers guarding the former emperor were killed and Mirovich was later executed. Some see a resemblance between the life of Ivan VI and the last emperor, Nikolai II. Leaving aside the death of Nikolai's family, the death of Ivan VI, who was never guilty of anything, is much more tragic 1785 - Oliver Hazard Perry born 1819 - Oliver Hazard Perry dies 1833 - Britain abolishes slavery in colonies 1850 - HMS Assistance and HMS Intrepid find first trace of lost Franklin expedition in Lancaster Sound, at Cape Riley and Beechey Island 1864 - Fort Morgan, commanded by Brigadier-General Richard L. Page, was captured at Mobile Bay by Federal forces. The Union troops were commanded by Major-General Gordon Granger, and supported by gunfire from Federal ships, commanded by Rear-Admiral David Farragut. Union troops landed on Dauphin Island in late July, which commands the western entrance to Mobile Bay. To support the landed troops, the Union squadron forced the eastern entrance on 05 Aug in what is known today as the Battle of Mobile Bay. Union warships entered the main channel to Mobile Bay by exploiting a narrow entrance past Fort Morgan that had been left unobstructed for use by Confederate shipping. The western part of the channel was blocked by wrecks, pilings, and moored mines known then as ‘torpedoes’. A small squadron of Confederate warships supported the forts. The two Confederate strong points on Dauphin Island, Fort Powell (05 Aug) and Fort Gaines (08 Aug) and, were captured after 20 days of methodical fighting. Fort Morgan controlled the eastern side of the main channel to Mobile Bay. On 22 Aug, Federal artillery and warships opened a tremendous bombardment of Fort Morgan. After a daylong artillery engagement, General Page surrendered Fort Morgan on the morning of 23 Aug. Although Mobile itself did not fall until Apr 1865, from Jul 1864 onwards the Confederacy lost control of a major port that had been used by blockade-runners to bring in vital supplies 1871 - 'Paris' crew from Saint John defeat Renfrew crew from England in a rowing race 1872 - First Japanese commercial ship visits San Francisco carrying tea 1889 - The first ship-to-shore wireless message in US history is sent by Lightship No. 70 to a coastal receiving station at the Cliff House in San Francisco. "Sherman is sighted," the message said, referring to the troopship Sherman, which was returning a San Francisco regiment from the battlefields of the Spanish-American War. It marked the first use outside England of this technology, still in its infancy. The name most closely associated with the invention of wireless telegraphy -- what we now know simply as radio -- is Guglielmo Marconi, but as it is with so many technologies, there were a number of hands stirring the pot, chief among them Heinrich Hertz, Alexander Popov and Nicola Tesla. Marconi's claim to primacy was no doubt helped by the fact that he obtained the British patent for wireless in 1896, when Britannia still ruled the waves. Radio communication at sea quickly evolved into an indispensable safety aid for mariners. By the early 20th century ships were able to communicate with each other as well as with shore-based stations. The Japanese navy used radio communication to scout the Russian fleet during the Battle of Tsushima in 1905, a crushing Japanese victory and a turning point in the Russo-Japanese War. The failure of radio communication played a major role in the Titanic disaster in 1912. The lone radio operator aboard the Californian had switched off his set for the night (as was common aboard vessels carrying a single operator) and never received the Titanic's distress signals. Had someone been at his post, the Californian -- by far the closest ship to the stricken liner -- could have arrived soon enough to save many of the lives that were lost 1899 - Battleship FS Henry IV launched 1907 - Battleship FS Condorcet laid down 1910 - Tugs HMS Alliance & Firm launched 1912 - Submarine HMS S1 laid down 1914 - Japan declared war on Germany in World War I 1915 - Tug HMS Sprite launched 1918 - Cruiser HMS Delhi launched 1918 - Minesweeper USS Cardinal commissioned 1919 - Submarine HMS R4 completed 1920 - Destroyer USS William B Preston commissioned 1923 - Minelayer HNLMS Pro Patria commissioned 1926 - Destroyer FS Bourrasque commissioned 1937 - Japanese troops landed at Woosung to begin outflanking movement of attack 1938 - Minesweepers HMS Britomart & Scott launched 1938 - Patrol vessel HMS Pintail laid down 1938 - Boom defense vessel HMS Barcastle launched 1939 - Destroyer leader HMS Kelly commissioned 1939 - USSR and Germany sign non-aggression treaty. A secret protocol defining their spheres of influence in Eastern Europe was signed at the same time 1940 - Minesweeping trawler HMS Lord Darling commissioned 1940 - U-37 sank SS Keret & SS Severn Leigh 1940 - Corvette HMCS Edmunston laid down Esquimalt BC 1940 - Destroyer HMS Hostile sunk by a mine off Cape Bon 1941 - Submarine HMS P39 launched 1941 - Destroyer USS Emmons launched 1941 - U-755 laid down 1941 - U-155 commissioned 1941 - U-629 & U-630 laid down 1941 - Corvette HMCS Calgary launched Sorel PQ 1941 - HMC S-09 arrived Montreal PQ under tow. Built by British Power Boat Co., Hythe, for the ELCO Boat Corp., New Jersey. Arrived without engines, fitted with two 500 H.P., 45 tons, 70x20x4.5ft, 22kts, 4-.5in mg (2xII), 4-18in TT. Post WW.II, Jun 45 returned to RN by way of British Naval Liaison Officer New York 1941 - Corvette HMS Zinnia sunk & SS Spind damaged by U-564 in Convoy OG-71 1941 - U-143 sank SS Inger 1941 - U-201 sank SS Aldergrove & SS Stork in Convoy OG-71 1941 - U-552 sank SS Spind in Convoy OG-71 1941 - HMCS Trail, a Flower-class corvette, departed St. John's to join with the 62-ship Halifax to Liverpool convoy HX-146, as part of the convoy’s close escort as far as Iceland. The relatively short endurance of most British escorts, but especially the corvettes, forced a complicated series of meeting points and escort handovers in order to provide continuous protection for convoys across the Atlantic. The corvettes, because of their short length and broad beam, suffered badly from plunging and rolling in heavy weather. This resulted in as much as a one-third reduction in their effective range. The sustained use of high speed in screening and reacting to emergencies also drove up their fuel consumption. The combined effect of weather, defensive screening, enemy action, poor mechanical condition and improper engineering operations all drove down endurance to the point where most small escorts could no longer traverse the Atlantic. British sloops were the only exception to this very debilitating endurance limitation. Like destroyers, early attrition reduced their numbers significantly. Convoy HX-146 arrived safely in Liverpool on 06 Sep 41 with all ships intact 1942 - U-506 sank SS Hamla 1942 - Destroyer USS Blue scuttled after being torpedoed by the Japanese destroyer Kawakaze in Savo Sound, Solomons the day before. 9 crewmembers lost their lives 1942 - Soviet submarine SC-208 sunk by mines. All hands lost 1942 - Destroyer HMS Blean commissioned 1942 - Escort carriers USS Croatan & Prince William launched 1943 - USS SC-694 sunk by aircraft off Palermo 1943 - USS SC-696 sunk by aircraft off Palermo 1943 - The 40th Escort Group, consisting of sloops HMS Landguard, Bideford, Hastings and frigates HMS Exe, Moyola & Waveney were deployed on a U-boat hunt off Cape Ortegal. Light cruiser HMS Bermuda covered the whole operation. On the 25th, the Canadian 5th Support Group, consisting of frigates HMS Nene, Tweed and corvettes HMCS Calgary, Edmundston & Snowberry were deployed to relieve the 40th Escort Group. While this was in progress the ships were attacked at 1415 by 14 Dornier Do-217's and 7 Ju-88's with the new German weapon, the Henschel Glider Bombs, (the "Hs293 A-1"). Designed by the German Professor Herbert Wagner. HMS Landguard & Bideford were the first of the Allied and RN ships to be attacked and damaged by them. Several sailors were injured on Bideford and one sailor was killed. On the 27th the Canadian 5th Support group was relieved by the 1st Support group consisting of the sloops HMS Pelican, and the frigates HMS Jed, Rother, Spey & Evenlode. Destroyers HMCS Athabaskan & HMS Grenville relieved covering cruiser HMS Bermuda. The Germans also attacked these ships. This time with 18 Dornier Do-217’s also carrying Henschel Glider Bombs. HMCS Athabaskan was heavily damaged and HMS Egret was sunk with the loss of 194 of her crew. After this loss the U-boat hunt was cancelled. According to Peter C. Smith, Ship Strike: The History of Air-to-Sea Weapon Systems (Airlife, 1998; ISBN 1-85310-773-5), pp. 100-102, the operation on 8/27/43 was "a deliberate decoy sweep" to learn about the new German weapons. "The sloop Egret, which had British scientists embarked with a special radio set to monitor the wavelength the Germans were using to control the missile, was hit in an attack just after noon that day, immediately blowing up and capsizing." According to Arnold Hague, Sloops 1926-1946 (World Ship Society, 1993; ISBN 0-95061-767-3), pp. 68-69, "5 officers and 30 ratings [from Egret] survived the attack and were picked up by the Canadian destroyer Athabaskan, herself damaged during the same attack" 1943 - Destroyer escorts USS Keppler, Lloyd Thomas, Milton Lewis, Strickland, Sutton laid down 1943 - Submarines USS Trumpetfish & Tusk laid down 1943 - Destroyer escorts USS Jordan & Thomason launched 1943 - Minesweeper HMS Antares commissioned 1943 - Submarine HMS Storm commissioned 1943 - Destroyer escort USS Snowden commissioned 1943 - Minesweeper USS Sage commissioned 1943 - Frigate HMS Duff commissioned 1943 - Destroyers USS Colahan & Cowell commissioned 1943 - Tug HMCS Dispatch II assigned to Sydney NS 1943 - HMC ML 109 commissioned 1943 - U-380 damaged SS Pierre Soule 1943 - An attack by an aircraft killed 2 & wounded 3 on U-406 1943 - Soviet motor torpedo boat TK 94 sinks Finnish minelayer Riilahti. 24 men, including commander, Knight of the Mannerheim Cross, Lt.-Cdr Osmo Kivilinna are lost 1943 - Minesweeper Coastal USS Crow sunk by erratic running aircraft torpedo in Puget Sound 1944 - The Canadian-built, British-registered cargo ship Fort Yale (7,134 GRT), Captain George W. Mortimer, Master, was sunk by U-480 in the English Channel, 17 miles SE of the Isle of Wight, in position 50.23N, 000.55W. On 08 Aug 44, while proceeding as part of convoy ETC-72, Fort Yale struck a mine in the English Channel, in position 49.26N, 000.33W. The ship was able to make the Normandy beachhead and was unloaded. Fort Yale was under tow by the British tug Hudson and the American tug Farallon when she was attacked by U-480. One person was lost from the 68 crewmembers and DEMS gunners onboard. Fort Yale was a North Sands-class freighter built by Burrard Dry Dock Co., Ltd., (South Yard), at North Vancouver BC. She was completed in Dec 42. Fort Yale was one of 90 North Sands-class freighters built in Canada for American order under the Hyde Park Declaration and subsequently provided to Great Britain under the Lend-Lease Agreement. Charlton McCallum & Co., Ltd., of Newcastle-on-Tyne, managed the ship for the British government. Twenty-five of these ships were sunk and another eight were damaged 1944 - U-989 damaged SS Louis Kossuth 1944 - Destroyer HMCS St Clair paid off 1944 - U-2341 laid down 1944 - Submarine USS Toro launched 1944 - Submarine USS Piper commissioned 1944 - U-180 reported missing in the Bay of Biscay west of Bordeaux, France in approximate position 44.00N, 02.00W 1944 - Lt Kurt Braun, as Commander in deputize, brought U-763 from La Pallice in France via Bergen, Norway to Flensburg in Germany. He left La Pallice on 23 Aug 1944, 4 days before his 21st birthday! 1944 - Coast Guard manned Army FS-193 was commissioned at New Orleans. The first commanding officer was LTJG G. W. Hayman, USCGR. She was assigned to and operated in the Southwest Pacific area. 1944 - Coast Guard-manned Army vessel FS-346 was commissioned at Kewaunee WI with LTJG F. J. Bell, USCGR, as commanding officer. She was assigned to and operated in the Southwest Pacific area during the war. She was decommissioned 30 August 1945. 1945 - Submarine HMS United arrived Digby NS for ASW training 1945 - Aircraft carrier USS Leyte launched 1946 - Destroyer USS Johnston commissioned 1949 - RCN Special Flight, Seafire Mk. XV a/c #PP502, & Seafire a/c #PP461, Mid-air collision whilst practicing their rehearsal for the Canadian National Exhibition Airshow over Malton Airport. Lost was LCdr (P) Clifford "Clunk" Gordon Watson & Lt (P) Alfred Charles "Chuck" Elton both RCN. Watson was the commander of the unit and leader of the demo team 1954 - Frigate HMCS Inch Arran recommissioned as training ship 1957 - Minesweeper HMCS Ungava paid off 1958 - Massive concentration of Pacific Fleet in Quemoy-Matsu area prevents invasion of islands by China 1958 - In Taiwan Straits Crisis, Units of 7th Fleet move into Taiwan area to support Taiwan against Chinese Communists 1960 - Submarine HMS Seneschal scrapped at Dunstone 1963 - The first satellite communications ship, USNS Kingsport in Lagos, Nigeria, connected President John F. Kennedy with Nigerian Prime Minister Balewa who was aboard for the first satellite (Syncom II) relayed telephone conversation between heads of state 1967 - USS Hornet port call Sasebo 1967 - USS Coral Sea port call Subic Bay 1993 - Frigate HMCS Vancouver commissioned Vancouver BC 2002 - Frigate HMCS Vancouver made the first visit to her namesake city since returning from Operation Apollo 2003 - USCGC Sequoia launched at Marinette Marine 2004 - Spare parts from Canadian Oberon-class submarines placed up for sale by Crown Assets in Dartmouth NS 2005 - A Croatian ship, claimed to have been carrying illegal cargo has been impounded by the Indonesian Navy, the HRT television reported. The television quoted Croatian sources as saying the action was taken because the ship was carrying illegal cargo. The Croatian ambassador Aleksander Broz said the Indonesian action was "not in line with the law." The privately owned MV Mirna Rijeka has been involved in a lengthy legal battle with Indonesian officials since August 2004, when the logging vessel was accused of using improper travel documents 2005 - Aker Marine Contractors, part of the Aker Kvaerner group, has entered into an agreement with Taubåtkompaniet AS securing full marketing and operational control over the specialized offshore construction vessels "Boa Deep C" and "Boa Deep C II". The agreement runs for five years with options for extensions up to four more years, and is expected to significantly enhance the company's position in the deep water subsea and floating production markets 2005 - The Great Lakes Regional Collaboration holds the fifth of its six public meetings for Cleveland at the Cleveland Public Library Auditorium, Lower Level, Louis Stokes Wing, 525 Superior, from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. The public meetings will provide a chance for people to comment on the Draft Strategy to Restore and Protect the Great Lakes. The plan was prepared by the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration, a partnership of federal, state, and local governments, tribes and other interested parties to work on Great Lakes environmental and natural resource issues. The collaboration was formed as a result of an executive order signed by President Bush in May 2004 2005 - Two ships lost in the Baltic Sea during World War II have been found in the Gulf of Finland, a Russian researcher told a news conference. Andrei Lukoshkov, head of the Mysteries of Lost Ships research project, said the aim of the project was to find ships that had been lost during the so-called Tallinn Convoy, an operation to evacuate Soviet troops and civilians from the Estonian capital surrounded by the Germans in August 1941. One of the vessels was the Siberia hospital ship that was sunk by Nazi planes on August 20, 1941 near the Gogland Island in the Gulf of Finland. According to data obtained by the project participants from wartime archives, the Siberia had 890 wounded soldiers and 410 civilians on board. Five hundred people drowned when the ship sank. Another find was the N12 tanker that sank on August 29,1941 during the same convoy. Three hundred personnel from the 10th Rifle Corps were on board and most of them probably drowned. The project was launched in St Petersburg in the summer of 2002. Researchers poured over the 1989-2002 archives on shipwrecks in the Gulf of Finland, the Ladoga, Onega, Chudskoye, and Ilmen lakes. The founders of the project originally planned to film a documentary about "underwater monuments," although they later decided to create a list of all large objects buried at the bottom of the Gulf of Finland and the largest lakes in the northwest of Russia. Currently, the list comprises more than 10,000 objects 2005 - Tradewind Sunrise, the chemtanker that suffered a repair yard blast in June, killing four people, has been arrested in Trinidad. An ex-parte order was granted to prevent the ship leaving the island until a legal wrangle over compensation to the victims' families is sorted out. But it appeared yesterday that the 6,288 dwt unit, built in 1991 and flagged in Panama, will be able to leave as soon as the owner posts a bond. Meanwhile, there have been accusations of negligence on the part of ship staff employed by V.Ships. According to the Trinidad & Tobago Express newspaper, a preliminary draft report into the incident concludes that safety procedures were not followed. In particular, there is said to have been negligence in insuring that a gas-free environment was maintained during welding operations. Police reportedly found a cutting torch in the hands of one of the workers, with the propane valve in an open position. Investigators discovered the butterworth lid (tank cleaning cover) of the No 2 port tank was open, and believe that sparks or flames from the torch caused the explosion. There was also no evidence of any request for the authorization of a hot-work permit, nor that the ship's staff had conducted a risk assessment before hot works commenced. The vessel was last used to transport diesel, with no one delegated as responsible for safety procedures, supervision or fire watch. No tests were conducted for gas/vapor concentration; the report is said to have added. Sean O'Connor, director of InterIsle Construction, which had employed the dead men, said yesterday that the company accepted the thrust of the article 2005 - An operator setting up for an ordnance test in Area R was fatally injured at approximately 0830 at NAWC China Lake when a bundle of Celotex weighing more than 2,000 pounds fell on him. The operator, an ordnance equipment mechanic, was transported to the local hospital where he was pronounced dead by medical personnel. Celotex is used in ordnance testing to protect ordnance test articles and test instrumentation. The family is being notified. The mishap is under investigation 2006 - Researchers and scientists from the Office of Naval Research, Princeton University, the Naval Postgraduate School, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Penn State, the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, and other institutions will describe their work and demonstrate some of their cutting-edge underwater vehicles and ocean-monitoring tools at Monterey CA 2006 - Under Secretary of State for Defense, Tom Watson, visits Gibraltar 2006 - The Islamic Courts Union, a Somali militia, reopened the seaport in Mogadishu, Somalia's capital, for the first time in 11 years as the group continues to expand its control over the country. The port's public reopening is the latest sign that the city's new Islamist rulers are trying to demonstrate their ability to rule a country just emerging from more than a decade of anarchy 2006 - Pakistan handed over command of CTF 150 to Germany in a ceremony at Bahrain 2006 - Chairman Steven R. Blust announced today that Clay G. Guthridge has joined the Federal Maritime Commission as an Administrative Law Judge 2006 - Somalia's Islamist militia has taken control of a major base of piracy north of Mogadishu. The waters off the Horn of Africa has long been a dangerous region for shipping. Now, the militants said they will put an end to the seaborne threat 2006 - Authorities in Guinea have dropped all charges against the captain of a Russian tanker that was detained in the country's economic zone 2006 - BP scrapped plans to build a $650 mn liquefied natural gas terminal in Galveston as a potential glut of gas from such projects looms if many of them go ahead as planned 2006 - Fishermen in Marseilles used Greenpeace's own tactics against the environmental activist group's flag vessel to prevent it docking 2006 - Singapore Minister for Defense Teo Chee Hean observed the conduct of Exercise Eagle, a bilateral exercise between the Republic of Singapore Navy and the Indonesian Navy. He was accompanied by the Chief of Staff of the Indonesian Navy ADM Slamet Soebijanto 2006 - Ancient treasures from five ships sunken in Viet Nam's waters are now on display for the first time in Can Tho city, the Mekong Delta 2006 - Commandant of the Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen talks to USCGC Storis crew during a visit to Coast Guard Base Kodiak 2006 - Lee on Solent based Coastguard Rescue Helicopter, India Juliet, spotted two more bodies this evening, five miles south of St Catherine's Point, just off the southern tip of the Isle of Wight. The discovery was made following a long search for the missing yacht 'Ouzo' after the body of crewman James Meaby, 36 from Tooting, London was recovered yesterday. The RNLI lifeboat from Yarmouth is currently recovering both bodies from the water and will transfer them to the Police at Portsmouth for identification. 2006 - Angry unions hit out after shipbuilding bosses axed 92 jobs. Workers at Rosyth held a mass meeting after Babcock International, who run the Fife yard, announced the cuts. The blow comes as the yard prepare to play a major role in a multi-billion-pound contract to build the Navy's new generation of aircraft carriers. Union chiefs accused the company of going back on a deal to avoid compulsory layoffs before the contract starts in 2008 2006 - An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) called Scan Eagle launches from a pneumatic wedge catapult launcher on the flight deck aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Saipan 2006 - USCG formally transfers ownership of the Point Pinos Lighthouse and the surrounding grounds to the City of Pacific Grove. Point Pinos is the oldest continuously operating lighthouse on the West Coast. Since February 1, 1855, its beacon has flashed nightly as a guide and warning to shipping off the rocky California coast. Alcatraz Island Lighthouse preceded Point Pinos by 8 months, but was replaced in 1909 by the expanding military prison 2006 - Ministry of transport and communications appointed Gennady Skovrtsov head of the Ilyichevsk Commercial Seaport. The former head of the port Ruslan Radzikhovsky was dismissed 2007 - 18 sailors from an Indonesian Navy have been found on the Sunshine Coast after their vessel was driven aground. The sailors, wearing life jackets and speaking little English, sparked concerns they were illegal immigrants from a fishing boat but the men were later discovered to have been from the tall ship Arung Samudera, which beached in bad weather on Inskip Point 2007 - Bogged down in red tape for the past several months, the hunt for Chile’s long-lost first submarine – “the Flach” – is finally set to resume, this time with the blessing of the Council of National Monuments (CMN) 2007 - Cmdr. Steve Godfrey, Commanding Officer of the Coast Guard Communications Master Station Atlantic transferred command to Cmdr. Eric Bruner during a Change of Command Ceremony at the Naval Support Activity Norfolk, Northwest Annex in Chesapeake VA 2007 - Brunei Darussalam and the Republic of Singapore continued to strengthen their bilateral relations with the visit of the Chief of Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN), Rear Admiral Ronnie Tay to the Royal Brunei Navy (RBN) at the Muara Naval Base 2007 - IDF Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi appointed Brig.-Gen. Eli Marom as the next commander of the Israel Navy in place of Maj.-Gen. David Ben-Bashat, who decided to step down from his post ahead of schedule last month. Marom, whose last post was as military attaché to Singapore, served in the past as deputy commander of the navy and head of Naval Intelligence. He was the favored candidate for the OC Navy post. Marom played a key role in the capture of the PLO's Karine-A weapons ship in 2002 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