SeaWaves Today in History December 3, 2008 Festival Day of the Royal Hellenic Navy 1775 - LT John Paul Jones raises the Grand Union flag on Alfred. First American flag raised over American naval vessel 1810 - Troops under Major General Abercromby captured the Ile de France - modern-day Mauritius - having been landed by a powerful Royal Navy force 1852 - Georgia grounded in a gale off Bonds, New Jersey with 290 persons on board. The life car was used and all survived 1883 - The schooner Pallas with a crew of three men encountered strong head winds and heavy seas off Cape Cod, MA. About half past 5 in the morning, abreast of Nausett lights, she sprung a leak and became unmanageable. Being close to the breakers, the crew was fearful they would be washed overboard as soon as she struck and took to their boat. Fortunately, they were discovered by the Nausett Station keeper, pulling vigorously to keep away from the surf. The surfboat was launched and the three men rescued. They were brought ashore by the life-saving crew, though not without a thorough drenching because the station boat was nearly swamped on the bar. The schooner meanwhile drifted into the surf, three quarters of a mile north of the station and soon broke up 1918 - Destroyer USS Aulick laid down 1918 - Minesweeper HNLMS M-2 commissioned 1919 - Destroyer USS Truxtun laid down 1921 - Whaling supply ship SS Guvernorne (ex-Imo) ran aground off Port Stanley and abandoned 1923 - Destroyer FS Tempete laid down 1934 - Soviet submarine SC-305 commissioned 1935 - U-17 commissioned 1936 - Destroyer USS Ellet laid down 1936 - Light cruiser USS Boise launched 1936 - Destroyer HMS Hyperion commissioned 1936 - December 3, 1936 Japanese marines landed at Tsingtao. (Because of a lock-out of employees at a Japanese cotton mill 1939 - 24 RAF Wellingtons, flying in sections of three at 10,000 feet, attacked German shipping and scored, according to the RAF, a hit on a cruiser 1939 - Battlecruiser HMS Renown &aircraft carrier Ark Royal arrive at Cape Town 1939 - U-31 sank SS Ove Toft 1940 - Destroyer HMCS St Laurent rescued survivors from the British tanker Conch (8,376 GRT), which had been sunk from convoy HX-90 by U-99, Kptlt. Kretschmer, Knight's Cross, Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, Knight's Cross with Swords, CO, in approximate position 55.40N, 019.00W. One of the greatest convoy battles of the war was fought on the nights of 02-03 December when seven U-boats attacked the Halifax to Liverpool convoy HX-90. Nine of the convoy's 35 merchant ships were sunk for a total of 52,817 tons and another two ships were damaged. Most critical was the loss of two large British tankers, each of which carried over 11,000 tons of aviation fuel and fuel oil. In addition to Conch, Kretschmer sank the British freighter Stirlingshire (6,022 GRT), and the armed merchant cruiser HMS Forfar. U-101, Kptlt. Ernst Mengersen, Knight's Cross, CO, sank three ships including the second tanker. German long-range aircraft sank the last of the nine ships during the day on 03 Dec. The convoy arrived in Liverpool on 05 Dec. The total shipping lost amounted to over 69,000 tons. U-101 was a medium-range Type VIIC submarine built by Germaniawerft, at Kiel. She was commissioned on 11 Mar 40. U-101 conducted nine patrols and compiled an impressive record of 23 ships sunk for a total of 114,911 tons and two ships damaged for a further 9,113 tons. U-101 survived her operations and was stricken at Neustadt, on 21 Oct 43. She was scuttled there on 03 May 45. The wreck was raised and broken up for scrap. Ernst Mengersen was born in 1912, at Bremke. He joined the navy in 1933. After two very brief operational tours in U-33 and U-54 during 1939, he was selected for command and underwent his U-boat Commander's Course from Oct to Nov 39. He was appointed to command of the Type IIB submarine U-18 on 24 Nov 39, at the age of 27. In all, he commanded four U-boats during the war (U-18, U-143, U-101, and U-607). Mengersen was awarded the Knight's Cross on 18 Nov 41, the 38th presented in the U-boat force. He completed his last tour of operations on 18 Apr 43 and in June 43 became the commander of the 20th U-Flotilla, in Pillau. In Dec 44, he was promoted to Korvettenkapitän. During the last three months of the war he was the commander of the 25th U-Flotilla and in April 1945 he became the commander of the newly formed 15th U-Flotilla. He was detained after the capitulation and was freed on 20 Feb 46. Ernst Mengersen died on 06 Nov 1995. In total, he compiled a record of 14 ships sunk for a total of 77,371 tons and two ships damaged for a further 13,217 tons, making him the 54th highest scoring U-boat 'ace' of the war 1940 - U-76 commissioned 1940 - British government orders 60 merchant ships from the USA to replace losses in the Atlantic 1940 - Churchill to First Sea Lord - The new disaster that has overtaken the Halifax convoy requires precise examination. We heard about a week ago that as many as 13 U-boats were lying in wait. Would it not have been well to divert the convoy to the Minches? Churchill also telegrams to C-in-C Mediterranean to outline the plan for the capture of the Italian Island of Pantelleria, codename "Workshop" 1940 - At anchor in the poorly defended Souda Bay, cruiser HMS Glasgow is hit by two torpedoes from Italian aircraft and badly damaged 1940 - Corvette HMS Arrowhead arrived Halifax from builder Sorel PQ 1940 - Patrol vessel HMCS Renard arrived Halifax for Local Defense Force 1940 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt embarks on USS Tuscaloosa to inspect bases acquired from Great Britain under Destroyer-for Bases agreement 1941 - U-389, U-420 laid down 1941 - U-124 sank SS Sagadahoc 1941 - Admiral Hart personally briefs Lieutenant John Walker Payne, Jr, Commander of the US Yacht Isabel and assigns his ship to the "Defensive Information Patrol". Payne sails the same day 1941 - Minesweeper HMCS Red Deer arrived Halifax from builder Montreal PQ 1941 - Destroyer HMS Tenacious laid down 1941 - Minesweeper HMAS Pirie launched 1941 - Submarine USS Halibut launched 1941 - AA cruiser HMS Charybdis commissioned 1941 - Finnish Submarine Vetehinen makes a surface attack on a 7-ship convoy shooting both bow and stern torpedoes. Enemy artillery fire was heavy, no hits on either side 1942 - U-183 sank SS Empire Dabchick in Convoy ONS-146 1942 - U-508 sank SS Solon II 1942 - U-552 sank SS Wallsend 1942 - U-761, U-951 commissioned 1942 - U-959, U-960 launched 1942 - Admiral Tanaka brings 10 Japanese destroyers to Guadalcanal in another Tokyo Express Run. 300 of 1500 drums loaded with supplies actually reach Guadalcanal 1942 - A Royal Navy force of three cruisers and two destroyers caught an Axis convoy laden with reinforcements including tanks headed for North Africa at night. RAF aircraft dropped illumination flares, and radar-controlled gunnery proved devastating, sinking the four ships in the convoy plus its escort 1942 - Aircraft carrier HMS Venerable laid down 1942 - Destroyer escort USS Sturtevant launched 1942 - Minesweeper HMAS Cootamundra launched 1943 - U-193 sank SS Touchet 1943 - U-1172 launched 1943 - German Ju-52 plane begins to sweep magnetic mines (British type) off Kotka 1943 - Minesweepers HMCS Alder Lake, Beech Lake, Ash Lake, Birch Lake, Cedar Lake, Cherry Lake, Elm Lake, Fir Lake, Hickory Lake, Larch Lake, Maple Lake, Oak Lake, Pine Lake, Poplar Lake, Spruce Lake, Willow Lake ordered 1943 - Submarine HMS Ace laid down 1943 - Destroyer escort USS Eversole launched 1943 - Frigate HMS Hoste commissioned 1943 - The Canadian-built, British-registered freighter SS Fort Camosun (7,126 GRT), was damaged by torpedoes from the Japanese Type B-1 submarine I-27, LCdr. Fukumura Toshiaki, CO, off the coast of Somalia, in position 11.2N, 046.03E. On the few occasions that the submarine force was released to attack merchant shipping, mainly in the Indian Ocean and off the North Australian coast in 1942, they did extremely well. LCdr. Fukumura and I-27 were a good example; in less than one year, I-27 sank 11 ships for 61,971 tons and damaged three ships for a 21,099 further tons. This score compared favorably with many German U-boat commanders, ranking LCdr. Fukumura in the top 65 Axis submarine ‘aces’. Japanese submarine doctrine was to employ their boats as extensions of the battle fleet for scouting and attritional attacks against enemy battle formations. They were large, fast, long-range boats that were heavily armed with outstanding torpedoes and guns. Their crews were trained to the same extremely high standards as all other IJN servicemen. Because of their size, the I-type Japanese fleet submarine was slow to dive and was relatively unmaneuverable while submerged. Once located by a proficient ASW hunting group, which was often cued by intelligence, the good acoustic conditions in the Pacific Ocean favored the attacking force. Very few Japanese submarines survived the war. I-27 was sunk on 12 Feb 44 by the British P-class destroyers Paladin and Petard off Addu Atoll, in the Indian Ocean 1944 - U-1163 sank SS Revoljucija in Convoy KB-35 1944 - U-3521, U-3522 launched 1944 - Minesweeper HMCS Alder Lake launched Midland ON 1944 - SS Cornwallis (5,458 GRT) Canadian merchantman torpedoed & sunk in Gulf of Maine in position 43.59N, 068.20W, by U-1230, Kptlt. Hans Hilbig, CO. There were 5 survivors from her crew of 48 men. Cornwallis had been proceeding independently while enroute from Barbados to Saint John, NB. U-1230 was a long-range Type IXC submarine built by Deutsche Werft AG, at Hamburg. She was commissioned on 26 Jan 44. U-1230 conducted one patrol & compiled a record of one ship sunk for a total of 5,458 tons. U-1230 departed for its only war patrol from Horten, Norway, on 08 Oct 44. Fifty-one days later, on 29 Nov 44, the boat landed two German agents at Hancock Point in the Gulf of Maine, USA. She then resumed her war patrol & on 3 Dec sank the Canadian steamer Cornwallis. She returned to Kristiansand, Norway, on 13 Feb 45. U-1230 survived the war & was transferred from Wilhelmshaven to Loch Ryan, Scotland, on 24 Jun 45 for Operation Deadlight (the mass sinking of U-boats). Hans Hilbig was born in 1917, at Rüstringen. He joined the navy in 1936. He was seconded to the Luftwaffe as a liaison officer until Mar 43, when he joined the U-boat force. After undergoing U-boat training from Apr to Oct 43 he was selected for command & completed the U-boat commanders' course between Oct & Dec 43. He was promoted to Kptlt on 01 Mar 43 & was appointed to the command of U-1230 on 26 Jan 44. There is no record of his being imprisoned at the end of the war 1944 - Frigate HMCS Inch Arran departed builder Quebec City PQ for Halifax via Dalhousie NB 1944 - Frigate HMCS Victoriaville arrived Halifax from builder Quebec City PQ 1944 - Light cruiser USS Atlanta commissioned 1944 - Destroyer USS Cooper sunk after being torpedoed in Ormoc Bay Leyte 1945 - A jet aircraft landed aboard an aircraft carrier for the first time. Lieutenant Commander Brown landed a Sea Vampire aboard HMS Ocean in the English Channel 1950 - USS YMS 482 sold to Canada to become naval reserve training ship HMCS Cordova 1952 - The Danish torpedo boat Havørnen (ex. T 53) runs aground at Scroby Sands off Great Yarmouth, England, during an exercise. The torpedo boat is salvaged during January 1953 and later refitted for active duty 1964 - USS Yorktown port call Yokosuka 1964 - USS Hancock port call Subic Bay 1966 - USS Constellation completed Vietnam deployment 1969 - Four crewmembers of aircraft carrier HMCS Bonaventure, LS's, GH Morrell; DR Patterson; GL Swin; & AB J.E. Boulter; all RCN, succumbed to fuel fumes while venting AVGAS for cleaning tanks on the ship at sea, they called on one of the Ship's Diving Officers to assist, Lt (P) Robert "Bob" Walter Stone, a Tracker co-pilot at the time, & P1AT Andrew "Andy" McLachlan were asked to take SCUBA gear & crawl into the tank to try to rescue one or all of the men. The tanks were wrapped in a blanket to avoid sparking & they pushed them ahead of themselves as they moved ahead. At one point Stone pushed his over an edge of one level he was at & it dropped away pulling his mouthpiece out of his mouth. Stone held his breath & crawled after it, re-inserted it & continued on. When they located the unfortunates it was obvious that they were beyond help & "Bob" & "Andy" crawled out the way they had come in. Lt (P) John Millar "The Rabbi" Cody advises that he was ashore as a flight instructor in HU 21 at the time this happened. It was "Bonnie's" decommissioning cruise. He was tasked to take Sea King a/c #4019/019/12419, down to the Yarmouth area. There had been some kind of an accident and there were fatalities. Cody was CC with Lt (P) Norman "Norm" Richard Lovitt as copilot. The a/c on arrival at the ship & having to make a slow approach from directly astern, & putting her down on spot 6. We then taxied forward to the vicinity of the Island, as the entire, Ships Company was on deck at the time. They were lined up in two rows on either side of the flight deck, & the a/c taxied right down between the two rows. They were all in #1 dress, with "White hats" & their chin strays down (to prevent the rotor wash from blowing them off). The a/c stopped the head but left the cab running while they loaded the four body bags into the a/c. It was all very reverent & quite impressive. After loading the body bags, we taxied forward to spot one & took off from there. On the way back to AW, we had been told not to mention the purpose of our trip on the air, as it would/could be picked up by the radio stations in town. Well, on the way home we were using cryptic language et al, only to turn on CHNS on the ADF to hear the announcer talking about the four bodies that were being flown back from the "Bonnie" off Yarmouth, that were due to arrive shortly at HU 21 at Shearwater! That shouldn't have been a surprise, but at that time, it was. On arrival back & although we didn't have the same reception as the one on "Bonnie" it was sobering to see the four hearses lined up on the tarmac. We taxied up to them, shut down without folding & stayed in the cab while they approached, loaded the bodies one at a time, & that was that, impressions to this day of that tragedy were then & still are, of how the Navy did things up at sea to ensure their men got the appropriate send-off 1972 - USS America port call Subic Bay 1970 - USS Kitty Hawk port call Subic Bay 1983 - Two USN F-14s flying over Lebanon were fired upon 1984 - Destroyer HMCS Restigouche commenced life extension refit Esquimalt BC 1993 - Destroyer HMCS Yukon paid off 1999 - Tori Murden of the United States became the first woman to row across the Atlantic Ocean alone as she arrived at the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, 81 days after leaving the Canary Islands near the coast of Africa 2004 - Cruiser USS Yorktown decommissioned Pascagoula MS 2004 - The US Department of Commerce awarded its prestigious Bronze Medal to the NOAA National Weather Service Forecast Office in Cleveland, Ohio, for outstanding customer service through outreach and education and providing accurate and timely ice forecasts for the Great Lakes shipping industry 2004 - In an unprecedented display of intergovernmental and multi-state collaboration, dozens of government officials and tribal representatives signed a Great Lakes Declaration and a framework document for the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration in Chicago to restore and protect the Great Lakes ecosystem. Officials in attendance included members of President Bush's cabinet and senior staff, United States senators and congressmen, Great Lakes governors, Tribes, mayors, state senators and representatives 2004 - Coast Guard and FURA crews continue to search for the last of more than 90 Dominican Republic migrants off Dorados' north coast of Puerto Rico, after their yola capsized while attempting to navigate the surf into a secluded area for their illegal entry. Currently, eight migrants are known to be deceased, and 83 have been rescued. Rescue agencies continue to search the area for any more possible survivors. The 40-foot vessel attempted an illegal entry in the rough waters at a rocky point off Puerto Rico. A Coast Guard HU-25 Falcon jet patrolling the area saw the vessel spill its occupants into the six-foot seas, and immediately deployed a life raft to the migrants 2004 - Frigate HNLMS Jacob Van Heemskerck decommissioned 2004 - Japanese trawler Ryoan Maru No. 75 boat captured by the Russian coast guard on Nov 23 on suspicion of exceeding its catch quota was released from Petopavlovsk-Kamchatskiy 2004 - Destroyer USS Halsey completes builder trials at Pascagoula MS 2005 - The European Commission, on behalf of the European Union, and Gabon Fisheries Partnership Agreement (FPA) for a period of six years, becomes effective. This fisheries agreement will replace the current one, due to end the day before. The new Protocol under the FPA provides for tuna fishing opportunities for 40 Community vessels, in return for an EU annual financial contribution of € 860,000, of which 60% is earmarked for support to the Gabonese national fishing policy. In addition to refocusing financial support, the new agreement also marks the beginning of a new era in fisheries cooperation between the EU and Gabon dedicated to promoting sustainable fisheries in Gabonese waters. In particular, it breaks new ground by committing both parties to broad-ranging and systematic policy dialogue, and to strengthening cooperation in a number of areas. This move towards partnership agreements, agreed under the 2002 reform of the Common Fisheries Policy, focus support on developing the local fishing sector and the capacity of the partner countries to ensure sustainable fisheries in their waters 2005 - Royal Caribbean International's Grandeur of the Seas begins sailing from the Port of Tampa for the first time. Grandeur of the Seas was originally scheduled to sail from the Port of New Orleans during this winter season, but was redeployed to Tampa in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and its damage to the Gulf Coast. The ship will make 32 sailings from Tampa between December 3 and April 29, 2006 2005 - One of the most technologically-advanced and sailor-friendly US Navy warships ever built departs from Northrop Grumman Corporation's Pascagoula shipyard. The amphibious transport dock ship San Antonio represents the first in a class that will form a solid foundation for the Navy's new expeditionary warfare strategy 2005 - USNS Yano arrives Boston for drydocking 2005 - The Tamil Nadu Government requisitioned services of navy boats to rescue people marooned in villages in the suburbs of the metropolis and constituted district, ward and village-level committees for relief works in 22 flood-hit districts following heavy rains. Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, in a statement, said all boats available with the state Fisheries and Fire Service Departments have already been pressed into service. Rain water entered many houses in Madipakkam and Manapakkam villages in the suburbs of Chennai and navy boats have been sought to rescue the marooned. She announced setting up of district, village and ward- level committees to undertake the relief and rehabilitation work in all the 22 flood-affected districts of the state. The government's endeavor was to ensure that each and every affected family got the relief assistance, she said 2005 - Spanish Navy frigate Alvaro de Bazan departs from Carrier Strike Group Two (CSG-2). CSG-2 is currently underway on a regularly scheduled deployment conducting maritime security operations Manhattan Project Heritage Preservation Assn 2005 - Retired vice admiral Frederick Ashworth, who served as weaponeer aboard a B-29 bomber dubbed "Bockscar" and responsible for the technical performance of the 4.5-ton bomb known as "Fat Man," passed away in Phoenix, Arizona following a series of unsuccessful heart surgeries, said Glen Smith, a godson of the late admiral. The bombing of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, which came just three days after the US military dropped a similar atomic bomb on Hiroshima, is credited by many US military historians with persuading the Japanese emperor to surrender to allied forces six days later. "Fat Man" essentially leveled Nagasaki, one of the largest sea ports in southern Japan, and killed, according to various estimates, between 100,000 and 150,000 people. Contemporaries remember Ashworth as a key player in the Manhattan Project, a super secret US government initiative launched in the middle of World War II to equip the United States with a nuclear arsenal. The heart of the project, which at its peak employed over 130,000 people and cost a total of nearly two billion dollars, was located at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, where Ashworth, at the time a Navy commander, held a highly-classified job 2006 - RADM Allen G. Myers USN relieved Italian RADM Emilio Foltzer as Combined Task Force (CTF) 152 commander during a change of control ceremony aboard ITS Etna at Manama 2007 - USS Tarawa and embarked 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) arrived off the coast of Bangladesh to support on-going Humanitarian Assistance / Disaster Relief (HA/DR) operations 2007 - Ecuador appointed Navy officers to lead the state-owned oil company's three biggest divisions, deepening the armed forces' control of PetroEcuador 2007 - The Unites States donated utility boats and other equipment to the Philippine Navy and even hailed them for their job despite the limited resources they have 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. Royal Navy photos are Courtesy of www.oldships.org.uk unless otherwise indicated. 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