SeaWaves Today in History February 2, 2008 ********************************************************************* February 2 ? 1536 - Argentine city of Buenos Aires was founded by Pedro de Mendoza of Spain ? 1653 - New Amsterdam - now New York City - was incorporated ? 1709 - The real Robinson Crusoe, Alexander Selkirk, on whom Daniel Defoe based his famous novel, is rescued after spending five years on the uninhabited islands of Juan Fernandez. Defoe interviewed Selkirk in a sailors' pub. The friendly old Tudor-era tavern, located along the backwater mooring area of the Floating Harbor in Bristol, was named Ye Llandoger Trow after the Welsh community of Llandoger, from whence the cargo barges called "trows" routinely sailed across the Bristol Channel and up the Avon River into the city. The atmosphere of the same tavern also inspired Robert Louis Stevenson's literary description of the meeting place of Little Jim Hawkins with that peculiar old pirate, Long John Silver, for his famed tale, "Treasure Island". Visitors to Bristol can still get a drink and meal there -- it hasn't changed much ? 1800 - USS Constellation (CAPT Thomas Truxtun) captures la Vengeance ? 1848 - The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, ending the Mexican War, was signed. The treaty turned over to the United States a huge portion of the present-day SW, including Texas, New Mexico and California ? 1862 - USS Hartford, Capt David G. Farragut, departs Hampton Roads for Mississippi River campaign ? 1917 - Destroyer HMS Venetia laid down ? 1935 - U-1, U-2, U-3, U-4, U-5, U-6, U-13, U-14, U-15, U-16, U-17, U-18, U-19, U-20, U-21, U-22, U-23, U-24 ordered ? 1935 - Submarine FS Casabianca launched ? 1935 - Soviet submarine SC-119 commissioned ? 1938 - Patrol vessel HMS Widgeon launched ? 1939 - Submarine ORP Orzel commissioned ? 1939 - Destroyer USS Benham commissioned ? 1940 - Seven men on raft rescued with aid of an RAF Coastal Command aircraft ? 1940 - US passenger liner SS Manhattan is stopped by the French auxiliary patrol vessel Vaillant about 25 miles SE of Cape St. Vincent, Portugal, and ordered to proceed to Gibraltar for examination ? 1940 - At 0624, the unescorted tanker Creofield was torpedoed & sunk by U-59 east of Lowestoft. The master and 15 crewmembers were lost ? 1940 - At 2040, the unescorted SS Portelet was hit in the stern by one torpedo from U-59 and sank less than one mile WSW of Smith’s Knoll Lightship. Two crewmembers were lost. The master & eight crewmembers were picked up by the Finnish SS Oscar Midling and landed at Immingham on 4 February ? 1940 - Corvette HMCS Matapedia laid down Quebec City PQ ? 1941 - RAF Bomber Command - attacks continue on the invasion ports from the next 9 days & nights. Le Havre and Ostend are especially targeted ? 1941 - Carrier-based aircraft from HMS Formidable, on her way to the Mediterranean to replace the damaged Illustrious, attack harbor installations at Mogadishu ? 1941 - U-431 launched ? 1941 - Minesweeping trawler HMS Almond mined & sunk off Falmouth ? 1942 - U-581 was sunk near the coast of Guidaste, Pico Island. One of the officers, Lt Walter Sitek, managed to swim 6 km to shore where the locals picked him up. He then managed to pass through neutral Spain and make his way to Germany again when he again went to sea on a U-boat. Oblt Walter Sitek commanded 3 boats (U-17, U-981 and U-3005) during the rest of the war and survived the fighting. The rest of the crew, 37 men, were picked up by the British destroyer and taken to POW camp being finally released in 1947 ? 1942 - Large cruiser USS Guam laid down ? 1942 - Submarine USS Jack laid down ? 1942 - The unescorted & unarmed tanker WL Steed was struck by one torpedo at 1940 in bad and cold weather and was abandoned by all crewmembers in four lifeboats. U-103 surfaced and fired 17 shells into the hull until a second torpedo exploded her cargo and sank her 50 minutes after the first hit. The four lifeboats later drifted apart. Two survivors in boat 2 (14 of 16 men aboard had died of exposure) were picked up four days later by the British SS Hartlepool, but one died in hospital in Halifax on 10 February. Three others in boat 3 (had have 5 men aboard) were picked up by AMC HMS Alcantara on 10 February. Boat 4 (had 14 men aboard) was found on 12 February by the British SS Raby Castle with four men onboard, but only one was alive. The man died three days later aboard the ship. Boat 1, with three men, had cleared the ship first. But it was never found. (The Mexican tanker Poza Rica found an empty boat on 19 February northwest of Cape Hatteras, it may have been boat 1 from WL Steed) ? 1942 - Tanker Corilla sunk by U-751 in Convoy HX-173 ? 1942 - Minesweeper HMAS Rockhampton commissioned ? 1942 - Japanese minesweeper W.9 is sunk, and minesweepers W.11 & W.12 are damaged, by Dutch mines off Ambon Island ? 1942 - Submarine USS Seadragon sinks a Japanese Army cargo ship off Cape Bolinao, Luzon ? 1942 - British Naval Staff reports that German battlecruisers Gneisenau & Scharnhorst will probably attempt to leave Brest & pass up the English Channel through the Straits of Dover ? 1942 - Minesweeping trawlers HMS Cloughton Wyke & Cape Spartel sunk by German aircraft off the Humber ? 1942 - The Japanese launched their first air raid on Port Moresby in New Guinea, in preparation for a planned amphibious assault ? 1943 - Submarine HMS Usurper commissioned ? 1943 - U-795 laid down ? 1943 - At 0304, US Liberty ship Jeremiah Van Rensselaer in station #45 (last ship in the extreme port column) of Convoy HX-224 was torpedoed by U-456. The ship had been in station #11, but had performed poorly keeping station and kept her station about once in seven nights, she managed to catch up in the daytime and consequently her position was changed. ? Two torpedoes struck on the port side in the #1 hold. The explosion created a hole 8 feet by 30 feet, blew the hatch cover off, spewed cargo overboard and started a fire. A short time later, a third torpedo struck on the port side at #4 hatch and blew a truck standing on deck into the water and also started a small fire. The engines were secured and some of the eight officers, 34 crewmen, 28 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 4in, one 3in and eight 20mm guns) and one passenger abandoned ship. Panicking, they tried to launch three lifeboats, but two capsized in the rough seas. Eight men got away in a boat and others jumped overboard and swam to three rafts, but the harsh weather and cold water caused the most men to die from exposure. Only one officer, six crewmen and 17 armed guards survived. 23 survivors and three bodies were picked up after five hours by the British rescue ship Accrington and landed at Gourock. A boarding party from USCGC Ingham later boarded the ship and noted that she could have been saved, but the watch below left the boilers fire lit, which burned the boilers out. The vessel was scuttled by gunfire at 1300. The boarding party also found one man, who never left the ship and took him to the escort vessel. One week later two bodies were recovered from a raft by the French corvette Lobelia ? 1944 - Destroyer HMS Gabbard laid down ? 1944 - Light cruiser USS Oklahoma City launched ? 1944 - Rescue tug HMS Emulous commissioned ? 1944 - Destroyer USS John D Henley commissioned ? 1944 - War correspondent Raymond Clapper killed in a collision between two Avenger aircraft from USS Bunker Hill ? 1944 - Sailing vessel Yahia rammed & sunk by U-453 in eastern Mediterranean ? 1944 - Saldor, New Guinea landings ? 1945 - President Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill departed Malta for the summit in Yalta with Soviet leader Josef Stalin ? 1945 - Ecuador declares war on Germany ? 1945 - 88 USAAF B-29s destroy the docks & Japanese naval base at Singapore ? 1945 - U-4705 commissioned ? 1945 - Convoy JW-64 sailed from the Clyde. The following AP report was released to the newswires - Information received from neutral and underground sources indicates that the Germans are ready to send 200 U-boats out into the sea lanes for a large-scale attack on convoys en route to France and Russia, the Daily Telegraph said today. Estimates have been made in Stockholm, the newspaper said, that the German navy has a total of 400 serviceable submarines and is building new ones at the rate of 20 monthly. A report from the Norwegian underground said many were based at Bergen and Trondheim. The new submarines, many of them long-range 1500-tonners, were said to be fitted with a number of new devices ? 1945 - Corvette HMCS Fergus arrived St John's to join EG C-9 ? 1945 - Minesweeper HMCS Noranda returned Halifax from workups Bermuda ? 1945 - Frigate HMCS Strathadam departed St John's for Londonderry to join EG-25 ? 1946 - Destroyer USS Witek launched ? 1946 - By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Southern Sakhalin and the Kurile Islands were incorporated into the USSR ? 1948 - Submarine HMS Artful commissioned ? 1948 - The first full-scale course in naval operational flying to be conducted by the RCN began at the Operational Flying Training School, 1 Training Air Group, Naval Air Section, RCAF Station Dartmouth. Aircraft types to include Seafires, Harvards and Ansons. The mandate was to produce pilots for the 18th and 19th Carrier Air Groups ? 1956 - Minesweeper HMCS Miramichi laid down Victoria BC ? 1967 - USS Coral Sea port call Subic Bay ? 1970 - USS Constellation port call Subic Bay ? 1973 - USS Oriskany port call Subic Bay ? 1991 - A USN A-6 with two crewmembers, LCDR Barry Cooke, LT Patrick Connor, from the USS Theodore Roosevelt's Attack Squadron 36 and a USAF A-10 with 1 crewman has been shot down by anti aircraft fire. The three crewmembers are listed as missing ? 1991 - US naval operations continue with an attack on the A1 Kalia naval facility. One Iraqi Exocet-capable patrol boat was directly hit with two laser guided bombs, while a second aircraft launched a string of 12 500 pound bombs across a second patrol boat which also went into a building on the pier generating several secondary explosions ? 1991 - Helos from the USS Nicholas engaged four Iraqi patrol boats near the Myerdam Island, destroying one, damaging two. Also, A-6s scored a direct hit with two laser-guided bombs on a patrol boat in Kuwait City harbor. 35 Iraqi naval craft have been sunk or damaged to date. Senior commanders now conclude that with the destruction of all Iraqi patrol craft capable of delivering missiles. Iraqi naval forces are considered to be combat ineffective ? 1991 - USS Samuel B. Roberts diverts 2 freighters in North Red Sea, USS Halyburton assists with one diversion. USS Biddle diverts one freighter in the North Red Sea ? 1992 - The US Coast Guard shipped home 250 more Haitian refugees from the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba, a day after repatriating a shipload of about 150 Haitians ? 2000 - Searchers recovered the cockpit voice recorder from the wreckage of Alaska Airlines Flight 261 off the California coast ? 2003 - Frigate HMCS Regina departed Esquimalt to become flagship Task Force 151 in Persian Gulf ? 2003 - USNS Altair activated ? 2004 - RRF Cape Diamond, Cape Race & Cape Vincent activated ? 2005 - Japanese rescuers have saved 16 crewmen from the dry cargo ship Oreliya, which wrecked off the shores of Japan’s Chichishima Island. The fate of six other seamen unknown. Ships of the Japanese Maritime Safety Agency and two helicopters combed the wreck zone. The operation proceeds in adverse weather conditions. High waves are accompanied by strong wind, reaching the speed of up to 65 kilometers per hour. Most rescued Ukrainians were using rescue rafts. None of them has received serious injuries. Oreliya, having a water displacement of 22,000 tons, was registered in Malta and had a crew of 22 members, all of them having Ukrainian passports, the Japanese Maritime Safety Agency reported. It sent a distress signal at 0630 local time shortly before it sank ? 2005 - Frigate HS Nikiforos Fokas (ex-HNLMS Bloys Van Treslong) commenced FOST training at Devonport ? 2005 - Finnish FACX Tornio completed modernization at Aker Finnyards. The combat systems installed consists of SAM and SSM missiles, new sea mines and 57 mm gun system ? 2006 - At approximately 0525Alaska Time, MV Seabulk Pride, a 1998-built double hull tanker, owned and operated by a subsidiary of Seabulk International on charter to Tesoro Corporation, was struck by an ice floe and before loading was completed broke away from the Tesoro dock in Nikiski, Alaska. At the time, the MV Seabulk Pride was loading heavy vacuum gas oil (HVGO) and unleaded gasoline. Some product was released during this incident. The Company does not have an estimate as to the amount of product released, and there are no reports of oil near the vessel at this time. No injuries were reported by the ship or the dock. The vessel is currently aground approximately a half mile north of the dock. The vessel has confirmed that the tanks in the vessel are currently secure ? 2006 - Holland America Line took delivery ms Noordam from Fincantieri-Cantieri Navali Italiani S.p.A. at a special ceremony in Venice, Italy. The Noordam will depart Venice February 3 for her new homeport, New York City, where she will offer 10- and 11-day Caribbean cruises beginning with her maiden voyage on February 22, 2006 ? 2006 - Carnival Splendor is the name Carnival Cruise Lines has chosen for its new 112,000-ton cruise ship scheduled to enter service in spring 2008. Representing a new class of ship for the line, the 3,006-passenger vessel will be constructed by Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri and feature an innovative new design, including the largest spa and children's facilities in the Carnival fleet ? 2006 - ADI has achieved significant progress in its FFG Upgrade Project, with the start of HMAS Sydney’s formal acceptance sea trials and commencement of preparations for HMAS Melbourne’s installation ? 2006 - At approximately 1334, HMCS Athabaskan's Sea King helicopter, with a crew of five on board, ditched approximately 50 kilometers off the east coast of Denmark. All five crewmembers were recovered by the ship and are safe. All have been examined by the medical officer and have returned to their quarters. Their families have been advised of the incident. The accident occurred while the aircrew practiced night landings with the Sea King off the back of the ship. The helicopter is in 16 meters of water, marked by a buoy. Salvage operations may be undertaken pending sea state. Sea state was calm with half-meter waves and wind speed of less than 10 knots ? 2006 - The Maritime Security Agency (MSA) of Pakistan Thursday arrested 23 Indian fishermen and impounded their four boats for illegally entering into its territorial waters in the Arabian Sea, the MSA said in a statement. The MSA will hand them over to the Dock Yard Police on Friday, it added. The arrest came only a week after the MSA arrested 37 Indian fishermen along with four boats. The coast guards of both countries routinely detain each other's fishermen for straying across maritime border and hundreds have been released as a goodwill gesture under their peace initiative program. With the latest arrest, the number of arrested Indian fishermen in Pakistani jails has increased to over 600 ? 2006 - David B. Zilkoski has been named as the new director of NOAA’s Office of National Geodetic Survey where he will be responsible for overseeing NOAA's responsibilities for the nation's spatial reference system ? 2006 - At 1415 Humber Coastguard received a channel 16 Mayday call from fishing vessel Rejoice after the crew had detected a fire on board. The 40-ft fishing vessel is currently 14 miles northeast of the River Tyne. The crew of three managed to contain the fire in the engine room. Humber Coastguard coordinated the incident and the Tynemouth RNLI all weather lifeboat has Rejoice under tow for Amble where on arrival they will be met by Northumbria Fire Service ? 2006 - TODCO announced the reactivation of a cold-stacked drilling rig against a term contract from an independent oil and gas company. THE 256, a 250 foot mat slot jackup rig, will be reactivated against a one-year term contract with contract revenues of approximately $38 million. The cost to reactivate and upgrade the rig is estimated at $18.6 million consisting of approximately $12.4 million of reactivation costs that will be expensed over the 150-day reactivation period and an additional $6.2 million for capital upgrades to the rig ? 2006 - The US Embassy in Caracas confirmed that Venezuela's government has deemed their naval attaché in the country persona non grata. Chávez' government maintains that Commander John Correa engaged in espionage during his tenure in the Embassy ? 2006 - Fourteen Indonesian fishermen taken hostage by Somali pirates in mid-August released unharmed, and do not intend to give up their jobs sailing in African waters, Indonesia's foreign minister said. The 14 Indonesian fishermen were released - along with 34 fellow captives from other parts of Asia - and sailed to Mombassa, Foreign minister Hassan Wirajuda said. "They want to return to their jobs immediately," Hassan Wirajuda told reporters in Jakarta, adding that the fishermen were physically unharmed and that Indonesia had not paid any ransom ? 2006 - Naval Coastal Warfare Squadron (NCWRON) 5 made history during its commissioning ceremony at Outlying Landing Field (OLF) Imperial Beach, making it the first active-duty Naval Coastal Warfare Squadron since the Vietnam War ? 2007 - Two years after her decommissioning, the RNZN's last Leander-class frigate, the former HMNZS Canterbury, signed over to her new owners. The signing of the Sale Agreement will take place at Te Taua Moana Marae between the Crown and the Bay of Islands Canterbury Charitable Trust at 1100. His Excellency the Governor General of New Zealand, the Honorable Anand Satyanand, PCNZM will also attend and witness the signing of the Agreement ? 2007 - Guinea-Bissau has become a key transit point for cocaine moving between Latin America and Europe as drug traffickers take advantage of scant surveillance, government instability and poverty to ply their trade ? 2007 - Lotos Yard (part of MNP Group) has laid the keel for Dutch Rensen Shipbuilding BV. The ship to be delivered by June 2007 is aimed for transporting both conventional dry cargoes and containers. Together with its sister ship also under construction at Lotos it will be deployed on inland water routes in Europe ? 2007 - The government of Trinidad & Tobago has purchased its second Incat Wave Piercing Catamaran in as many months. The former US Army Theatre Support Vessel Spearhead (Hull 060) has been purchased from its Delaware, United States based Owners, Bollinger / Incat LLC. To that end the four-year-old fast ferry, to be renamed T&T Spirit, is currently being refitted for passenger service ? 2007 - The replacement of three historic river ferries along the Missouri River in Montana has been recognized by the Montana chapter of the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC). The Missouri River Ferry Rehabilitation Project won an Honor Award at the Montana chapter's annual engineering competition ? 2007 - The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has amended the regulations to prohibit US persons from registering vessels in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea [North Korea] or otherwise obtaining authorization for a vessel to fly the North Korean flag. US persons are already prohibited from owning, leasing, operating, or insuring any North Korean vessel ? 2007 - Wärtsilä has signed an agreement to acquire the Swedish company Senitec AB in Varberg. The company is privately-owned and specializes in environmental technology products for separating waste such as oily water and sludge in power plants, harbors and ships. Senitec has 5 employees. This new business gives Wärtsilä the possibility to expand its offering of environmental solutions in waste management ? 2007 - Conrad Industries, Inc. signed four contracts for the construction of 26 barges totaling $10.3 million ? 2007 - The Navy overlooked $16 million in environmental cleanup costs in its analysis of what it would take to close Brunswick Naval Air Station ? 2007 - Rear Adm. Richard B. Wren assumed command of the USS Kitty Hawk Carrier Strike Group, Task Force 70, Task Force 75 and Carrier Strike Group 5 from Rear Adm. Douglas L. McClain during a ceremony aboard aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk at 1000 ? 2007 - A 98-meter trimaran, dubbed 'prison ship' by its critics, takes to Australian waters for first time in Darwin, ahead of its inaugural border patrol. Triton is the federal government's latest weapon in the fight against illegal fisherman and other unlawful activities within Australian waters, including intercepting illegal immigrants before they get ashore. Capable of detaining 30 people for up to a month and armed with twin machine guns, the Triton is one of the world's largest trimarans. It is being deployed in Australia's northern waters during a 12-month trial costing $17 million. In Darwin for the ship's launch, federal Customs Minister Chris Ellison said it was a significant day for Australia's northern border protection ? 2007 - Commander, Naval Surface Forces Vice Adm. Terrance T. Etnyre relieved the commanding officer of the destroyer USS Halsey, Cmdr. John Pinckney Jr. Following a preliminary inquiry into incidents onboard the ship and a subsequent administrative proceeding, Vice Adm. Etnyre expressed his loss in confidence in Pinckney's ability to command. The executive officer of Halsey will temporarily serve as the acting commanding officer of the ship. Pinckney has been temporarily reassigned to the Regional Support Organization in San Diego ? 2007 - Aker Philadelphia Shipyard & Philadelphia Metal Trades Council announce new collective bargaining agreement between the union and the shipyard has been ratified by the Philadelphia Metal Trades membership. The new agreement comes after months of determined negotiations between the yard and union leadership and will be effective through January 31, 2011 ? 2007 - The Navy Expeditionary Combat Command (NECC) officially established Riverine Squadron (RIVRON) 2 in a ceremony at Naval Amphibious Base (NAB) Little Creek ============================================================= Sources: Colton Shipping Report, NOAA, MARAD, Marine Digest, Leo Pettipas, Kommersant, Samuel Loring Morison, Frank Pierce Young, Navy Times, Naval Institute Proceedings, www.uboat.net, Andrew Etherington, John Nicholas, US Naval Historical Center, Ministry of Defense, US Coast Guard, Thomas N. Carlson, Jack Arrowsmith, Allan Snowie, Ken Hansen, Andy Barber, John Weiss, Jack McKillop, Bernard de Neumann, Sympatico Today in History, Washington History Link, Lloyds List, Fairplay, New York Times, I-Newswire and other news sources in the public domain. Additions, submissions and corrections are always welcomed. ============================================================= Today in History Archives at: http://www.seawaves.com/newsletters/today_in_history_archive.htm Copyright 2008 Shirlaw News Group ISSN 1710-6966 Photos courtesy of US Naval Historical Center, US Coast Guard Historical Center, Wikipedia Encyclopedia or Naval Museum of Manitoba unless otherwise noted. Images may be subject to copyright. Ask before you right-click.