SeaWaves Today in History February 14, 2009 1778 - John Paul Jones in Ranger receives first official salute to US Stars and Stripes flag by European country, at Quiberon, France 1779 - Captain James Cook, British explorer, is murdered by natives in Owyhee (Hawaii) during his third voyage of exploration 1797 - The Battle of Cape St. Vincent. By the end of 1796, the growing naval strength of Spain and France had forced the RN to abandon the Mediterranean, where Admiral Sir John Jervis' fleet was outnumbered 38 to 13 ships of the line. However, the French and Spanish fleets were separated and did not combine forces to exploit their advantage over Jervis. On 01 Feb, Admiral Don Jose de Cordova left Cartagena for Cadiz with 27 ships of the line. Jervis, whose fleet had been reduced to just ten ships of the line, was reinforced by Rear-Admiral William Parker with five more ships of the line. Together, they endeavored to intercept the Spanish Fleet before it could join the French fleet. They encountered the Spanish fleet, now numbering 28 major warships, off Cape St. Vincent. Upon sighting the British force, the Spanish fleet fled towards Cadiz. Jervis, flying his flag in HMS Victory, took advantage of the scattered disposition of the Spanish fleet and attempted to break through their formation, cutting part of their fleet off from their destination. Jervis ordered his ships to tack in succession and move into a major gap that had opened between two halves of the Spanish formation. Commodore Nelson, whose ship HMS Captain was third last in the line, saw that this maneuver would not be completed quickly enough to close the avenue of escape. He turned his ship, effectively turning together with the flagship, and, for a time, engaged single-handedly as many as seven Spanish ships. Among the Spanish ships engaged by Captain was SANTISSIMA TRINIDAD, the largest warship in the world at that time, and two others, SAN NICOLAS and SAN JOSEF. Nelson personally led boarding parties onto both and captured them. In total, four Spanish ships were taken and ten others were so heavily damaged as to be ineffective for further action. Admiral Jervis sent Captain Calder of Victory in the brig LIVELY to London with dispatches for their Lordships of the Admiralty. The news of the great Victory reached London in early March, almost three weeks after the battle. Parliament immediately voted their thanks to Admiral Sir John Jervis, who became Earl St. Vincent, and to his fleet. Admiral Jervis praised Commodore Nelson, who received a knighthood for his exemplary bravery. Nelson was also promoted to Rear Admiral, although the promotion had been approved beforehand but word of it did not reach Nelson until after the Battle of Cape St. Vincent. The British Victory was decisive in that it made an invasion of England less likely. In the popular view, it confirmed that no Spaniard was a match for an Englishman at sea. Above all, it restored the confidence of the nation, which had been reeling after the British retreat from the Mediterranean 1804 - LT Stephen Decatur, with volunteers from frigate Constitution and schooner Enterprise enter Tripoli Harbor by night in ketch Intrepid to destroy the captured frigate Philadelphia. Decatur succeeds without American losses. England's Lord Nelson calls this "the most daring act of the age" 1813 - Essex becomes first US warship to round Cape Horn and enter the Pacific Ocean 1814 - USS Constitution captures British Lovely Ann and Pictou 1826 - Lt. Colonel John By 1781-1836 of the Royal Engineers arrives in Hull to plan construction of the Rideau Canal from Ottawa River to Lake Ontario 1840 - Officers from USS Vincennes make first landing in Antarctica on floating ice 1903 - An Act of Congress (31 Stat. L., 826, 827) that created the Department of Commerce and Labor provided for the transfer of the Lighthouse Service from the Treasury Department. This allowed the Secretary of Commerce and Labor to succeed to the authority vested in the Secretary of the Treasury under the existing legislation 1908 - Submarine HMS C26 laid down 1910 - Submarines HMS D7 & D8 laid down 1911 - Submarine HMS D7 launched 1911 - Submarine HMS E1 & E2 laid down 1917 - Submarine USS O-7 laid down 1918 - Destroyer HMS Westcott launched 1918 - Destroyer USS Kennison laid down 1920 - Submarine USS S-13 laid down 1920 - Destroyers USS Abel P Upshur & Hunt launched 1920 - Submarine HMS M2 completed 1930 - Light cruiser FS Jeanne d'Arc launched 1930 - Destroyer HMS Anthony commissioned 1931 - Destroyer HMS Blanche commissioned 1935 - Patrol vessel HMS Kingfisher launched 1936 - U-25 launched 1938 - Britain opened Singapore naval base. Began in 1925 for Eastern Empire defense 1938 - Destroyer USS Maury launched 1939 - The German 35,000 ton battleship KM Bismarck is launched 1940 - Flower-class corvettes HMCS Wetaskiwin (ex-Banff), Agassiz, Chilliwack, Trail, Kamloops, Dawson, Alberni, Nanaimo, Edmunston ordered 1940 - Submarine USS Grampus laid down 1940 - Destroyer HMS Garth launched 1940 - At 0800, the Langleeford, a straggler from convoy HX-18, was torpedoed by U-26 about 70 miles northwest of Fastnet, Ireland and sank after 13 minutes. Four crewmembers were lost. The master and 29 crewmembers were landed at Ross, Co Clare 1940 - SS Sultan Star sunk by U-48 at 48.54N, 10.03W 1940 - SS Martin Goldschmidt sunk by U-53 at 55.53N, 12.37W 1940 - At 0135, the Gretafield, a straggler from convoy HX-18, was torpedoed and set on fire by U-57 southeast of Noss Head. Ten crewmembers were lost. The master and 30 crewmembers were picked up by armed trawlers HMS Peggy Nutten & Strathalladale and landed at Wick. The burning Gretafield drifted ashore at Dunbeath, Caithnesshire at 58°14´15N 03°25´45W. On 19 March, the tanker broke in two and was declared a total loss 1940 - Corvette USS Saucy (ex-HMS Arabis) launched 1940 - U-513, U-514, U-515, U-516, U-517, U-518, U-519, U-520, U-521, U-522, U-523, U-524 ordered 1940 - The RCAF's No.110 (Army Co-Operation) Squadron sails from Halifax, Nova Scotia, for Britain. This is the first RCAF squadron to be sent to Europe 1940 - The US passenger liner SS Manhattan is detained at Gibraltar for several hours by British authorities but allowed to proceed; not as fortunate is freighter SS Exermont, which is also detained there 1940 - Britain orders the arming of Merchant Shipping 1941 - British forces captured the important port of Kismayu in Italian Somaliland 1941 - At 2257, the Holystone, a straggler from convoy OB-284, was torpedoed and sunk by U-101 west of Ireland. The master, 35 crewmembers, two gunners and two passengers were lost 1941 - HMS Rover torpedoes and damages the Italian tanker Cesco about 17 nautical miles southeast of Capo Rizzuto 1941 - Destroyer USS Woolsey launched 1941 - MS trawler HMS Ronaldsay launched 1941 - Destroyer USS Grayson commissioned 1941 - The heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper ends a 14 day cruise in which she sank eight ships, one of which was sailing independently and seven of which were in unescorted convoy SLS64 1941 - Admiral Darlan is appointed Vichy Interior Minister; he keeps his other posts 1941 - Fleet Landing Exercise (FLEX) No. 7, which had begun on 4 February, concludes in the Culebra-Vieques area 1942 - As it became clear that Singapore was likely to fall, ships attempted to evacuate as many non-essential personnel as possible, running a gauntlet of Japanese air and naval attack. The merchant ship Vyner Brooke, carrying 65 Australian nurses, was sunk. The survivors made their way to Banka Island, whereupon the nurses were murdered by Japanese troops; only Sister Vivian Bullwinkel survived. Also at sea, HMS Li Wo, a tiny auxiliary patrol vessel armed only with one 4" gun, encountered a Japanese invasion fleet. Undeterred, her commanding officer, Lieutenant Wilkinson RNR, attacked. Massively outgunned, Li Wo managed to close the enemy and rammed a transport ship before going down in action with a heavy cruiser. There were only ten survivors. Wilkinson was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross 1942 - Minesweeper HMCS Stratford launched Toronto ON 1942 - U-737 laid down 1942 - At 0337, the Empire Spring, dispersed from convoy ON-63 (convoy commodore), was torpedoed and sunk by U-576 southeast of Sable Island. The master, the commodore, 41 crewmembers, five gunners and five naval staff members were lost 1942 - U-178, U-336 commissioned 1942 - U-617 launched 1942 - Submarine USS Sailfish ended her 2nd war patrol at Tjilatjap 1942 - The Japanese invade Sumatra. At 0800 Japanese bombers attack Palembang I airdrome followed by fighters which strafe the airfield and provide cover for by 34 Kawasaki Ki-56, Army Type 1 Freight Transports (export version of the Lockheed Model 14 later given the Allied Code Name "Thalia") carrying paratroopers. The first drop of 260 paratroopers was over the airdrome and the second drop of 100 paratroopers was over an oil refinery nearby. The airfield was defended by about 150 British AA troops, 110 Dutch soldiers and 60 RAF ground crew. The Japanese attack the airdrome all day, suffering 80 percent casualties, but are unable to capture it. The Japanese capture the refinery but it is later taken by Dutch troops from Palembang II airdrome which the Japanese did not know existed. The Allied troops attempt to destroy the oil refinery but only the oil storage tanks are set ablaze. During ensuing Allied air attacks on the Japanese invasion convoy, RAF Blenheims bomb and sink a merchant ship off Palembang 1942 - On Java, Vice Admiral Conrad E. L. Helfrich of the Royal Netherlands Navy succeeds Admiral Thomas C. Hart USN as commander of the American-British-Dutch-Australian (ABDA) Combined Naval Striking Force 1942 - ABDAFloat orders a task force (Rear Admiral Karel Doorman, RNN) to proceed and attack the Japanese Palembang-bound expeditionary force. As Doorman's ships, heavy cruiser HMS Exeter, light cruisers HMAS Hobart, HNMS De Ruyter, HNMS Java and HNMS Tromp and ten destroyers heads toward its objective, destroyer HNMS Van Ghent runs aground on a reef north of Banka Island; irreparably damaged, she is scuttled and sister ship HNMS Banckert takes off the crew 1942 - The small vessel SS Vyner Brooke, carrying about 300 civilians escaping from Singapore, is bombed and sunk off Banka Island. Passengers include 65 nurses of the 2/13th Australian General Hospital; 22 of them survive as a group and reached Radjik Beach in a boat 1942 - Submarine HIJMS I-23 is last reported south of Oahu, Territory of Hawaii. She is not heard from again, and her fate is unknown 1942 - On Mindanao, submarine USS Sargo delivers one million rounds of 30-caliber (7.62-mm) ammunition to Polloc Harbor and evacuates 24 USAAF ground crewmen of the 14th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) 1942 - USS Swordfish torpedoes and sinks a Japanese transport off Davao 1942 - Tugs HMS Pengawal, St Breock & St Just sunk by Japanese aircraft near Singapore 1942 - Submarine USS Seal arrives at Tjilatjap 1942 - Fleet tug USS Sioux laid down 1942 - Anti-aircraft cruiser USS Juneau commissioned at Berth 16, alongside Pier 2, Brooklyn Navy Yard, New York. First and only commanding officer was Captain Lyman Knute Swenson, USN (born 23 October 1892, Pleasant Grove, Iowa). The first and only Executive Officer was Commander Walter Ellery Moore, USN (born 9 April 1900, California) 1942 - Fleet tug USS Menominee launched 1942 - Minesweeper USS Reliable launched 1942 - Seaplane tender USS Rockaway launched 1942 - Submarine USS Wahoo launched 1942 - Submarine HMS Vigorous laid down 1943 - SS Duchess of York Canadian-owned, British-registered CPR passenger liner was heavily damaged off Cape Finisterre when she was bombed by Luftwaffe a/c. She was sunk later in 1943 in another air attack in the same general area 1943 - USS PC-1237 laid down 1943 - USS PC-1201 launched 1943 - Fleet tug USS Chippewa commissioned 1943 - Submarine USS Thresher attacks submarine I-162 off the Lesser Sundas in position 06.05S, 105.47E. Thresher fires two torpedoes, unfortunately one is a dud and the other misses 1943 - Submarine USS Trout torpedoes and damages the Japanese auxiliary gunboat Hirotama Maru at south entrance to Makassar Strait in position 04.11S, 117.45E. Trout surfaces to sink the ship with gunfire but 7 of her crew were wounded by gunfire from the Japanese ship. Trout then finished off the Japanese ship with a torpedo 1944 - Corvette HMCS Mayflower completed refit & forecastle extension Norfolk VA 1944 - RAF 10 Sqn Liberator attacked U-845 with 8 depth charges. One man died & another wounded 1944 - U-738 sunk near Gotenhafen, in position 54.31N, 18.33E, after collision with SS Erna. 22 dead and 24 survivors 1944 - Corvette HMCS Vancouver & Dawson departed Esquimalt for Halifax 1944 - Destroyer escort USS Mack laid down 1944 - Destroyer USS Wallace L Lind laid down 1944 - Destroyer USS Jarvis launched 1944 - Seaplane tender USS St George launched 1944 - Submarine USS Shark commissioned 1944 - Submarine HMS Scythian launched 1944 - USS PCE-877 commissioned 1944 - While operating off Cape Santiago, Luzon, USS Flasher torpedoes and sinks army cargo ship Minryo Maru (2224 BRT) in position 13.43N, 120.39E and the Japanese tanker Hokuan Maru (3712 BRT) in position 13.44N, 120.29E 1944 - Submarine USS Snook torpedoes and sinks the Japanese merchant cargo ship Nittoku Maru (3591 BRT) SW of Tsushima, Japan in position 33.48N, 128.50E 1944 - Salvage vessel HMS Salviking torpedoed and sunk by U-168 SW of Ceylon at 03.30N, 76.30E 1944 - German submarine UIT-23 sunk in the Straits of Malacca, in position 04.27N, 100.11E, by torpedoes from submarine HMS Tally-Ho 1944 - Destroyer USS Irwin & Monssen commissioned 1945 - USS YMS-48 sunk shore batteries in Manila Bay 1945 - Coast Guard-manned Army vessel FS-225 was built at Higgins Industries, Inc. and commissioned at New Orleans with LT F. A Maier, USCG, as her first commanding officer. He was succeeded on 2 March 945 by LT G. W. Pruitt, USCG. She was assigned to and operated in the Southwest Pacific area. 1945 - HMC MTB 459, 461, 462, 465, 466 destroyed by fire at Ostend, Belgium 1945 - Destroyer HMCS Assiniboine damaged in a collision with the merchantman SS Empire Bond in the English Channel. She was under repair in Sheerness until early March 1945 - Destroyer HMCS Restigouche returned to Halifax for local duties 1945 - Oiler USS Mispillion laid down 1945 - U-989 sunk off Faeroe Islands at 61.36N, 01.35W by depth charges from frigates HMS Bayntun, Braithwaite, Loch Eck & Loch Dunvegan 1945 - USS YMS-48 sunk by USS Fletcher north of Corregidor at 14.24N, 120.33E, after being damaged by Japanese shore batteries 1945 - Rescue tug HMS Expert launched 1945 - Frigate HMAS Lachlan commissioned at Sydney under the command of Lieutenant Commander George D. Tancred DSC RAN. Although classified as a frigate, in the sense of being one of a class of frigates, Lachlan's entire career as a unit of the Royal Australian Navy consisted of service as a survey vessel 1945 - Submarine USS Conger commissioned 1945 - Frigate USS Bayonne commissioned 1945 - U-3039 launched 1945 - Between 1247 & 1304, U-968 fired torpedoes at the convoy BK-3 off Kola Inlet and reported one Liberty probably damaged, one Liberty probably sunk, a tanker identified as Norness sunk and a Liberty damaged. However, the only ships hit at this time were Norfjell and the Horace Gray. This attack was probably misinterpreted by U-992, which herself attacked the convoy and claimed one tanker sunk. The Horace Gray in station #13 was hit by one torpedo on the port side at the bulkhead between the #4 and #5 holds; only minutes after the tanker ahead of her had been hit. The explosion blew the hatch covers off and opened a hole 20 feet by 60 feet in the port side and another 20 feet by 20 feet on the starboard side. The ship settled rapidly by the stern until water reached the after deck. 20 minutes after the hit the eight officers, 33 crewmen and 28 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 5in, one 3in and eight 20mm guns) abandoned ship in the four lifeboats and were picked up by two Soviet escort vessels. One hour after being hit, the master and some crewmen returned to the ship and after raising steam, a small Soviet tug towed her to Kola Inlet. While under tow a crack appeared on the starboard side and the vessel began to sink. Eight hours after being hit, the ship was beached at Tyuva Bay in 69°11.7N/33°36.5E and two days later declared a total loss after all holds were completely flooded. The Horace Gray had arrived Molotovsk on 19 January in convoy JW-64 from New York via Swansea, Wales. In 1959, the bow of the wreck of Horace Gray was fitted to Tbilisi, which had been badly damaged by U-956 (Mohs) on 30 Dec 1944. The Norfjell was hit by one torpedo in the engine room, killing two men on watch below and opening a hole of about 14 to 5 meters. The tanker remained afloat was taken in tow by the escort and beached near Tree Roochia in the Kola Inlet. The damage was temporarily repaired at Murmansk and she left in tow on 20 Oct, 1945 to Stavanger for permanent repairs, arriving on 15 November. The Norfjell with 41 crewmembers and eight gunners had arrived North Russia in convoy JW-63 and was on the outbound voyage in convoy BK-3 in order to join convoy RA-64 1945 - U-2364, U-3030 commissioned 1945 - Uruguay declares was against Germany 1946 - Earthquake hits Puget Sound 1946 - Submarine HMS Unsparing scrapped at Inverkeithing 1952 - Destroyer HMCS Sioux departed Korean War zone 1952 - HSL 208, HSL 232 & HSL 233 commissioned at HMCS Shearwater for ASR duties 1964 - Oceanographic research vessel Hudson commissioned at Halifax 1964 - Minesweeper HMCS Resolute paid off 1966 - Evi (Greek Flag, ex-HMCS Baddeck foundered off Jeddah 1978 - Submarine HMS Sceptre completed 1991 - USN A-6s attacked and sank an Iraqi Osa patrol boat in Kuwait City Bay 1991 - Naval forces continue mine countermeasures and maritime interception operations 1991 - USS America Carrier Battle Group arrives in Arabian Gulf 1995 - Submarine HMS Vigilant launched 2003 - Rear Adm. Steven Kunkle, commander of the Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier battle group, removed from command because he had an "improper relationship" with a female naval officer 2004 - Assault carrier USS Makin Island laid down Pascagoula MS 2005 - RV Triton leaves Portsmouth for final time 2005 - Russian Project 1144.2-class cruiser Admiral Nakhimov being modernized at Sevmash in Severodvinsk 2005 - The vessel Sea Ray under the flag of St. Vincent and the Grenadines with a crew of ten Ukrainian sailors on board has sunk off the Crete Island coast, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Markian Lubkivski told Interfax on Monday. A report available 1830 suggests that the ship Inka Dede rescued eight sailors, currently en route to Souda Bay, where Ukraine's consul is waiting for them 2005 - A cruise liner damaged by a storm near Majorca will now sail to Sardinia after the crew restored power to two of its four engines, the ship's owners say. A statement from V Ships of Monaco said some passengers had minor injuries and were being treated on board. The Voyager is carrying 776 people. Most of the 480 passengers are Spanish. The ship was sailing from Tunis to Barcelona when the storm struck. A giant wave smashed a bridge window, knocking out the control systems 2005 - A section of Mombassa traders, politicians and religious leaders have vowed to prevent vessels carrying imported sugar from docking at the port. They said they would mobilize the masses to block the vessels, including one being purchased from Spain by the Kenya Navy 2005 - Jack Granatstein stepped down as Chair for the Council for Canadian Security in the 21st Century. Successor as Chair will be Dr Roger Sarty, Professor of History at Wilfrid Laurier University. Roger was the senior historian at National Defense Headquarters, and worked at the Canadian War Museum. Dr Roger Sarty is one of the foremost historians of Canadian defense policy and Canada's maritime forces. A native of Halifax, Nova Scotia, he studied at the University of Toronto and Duke University, and joined the Directorate of History at National Defense Headquarters in 1981. He worked as a specialist in maritime air operations on the official history of the Royal Canadian Air Force, and then helped to establish the navy official history team. From 1991 he was Senior Historian at the Directorate, with responsibility for all English-language publications, and in 1998 moved to the Canadian War Museum. As Deputy Director, in 2000-2003 he headed exhibition and public programming development for the war museum's new building on LeBreton Flats in Ottawa. In 2004 Dr. Sarty became a professor of military and Canadian history at Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario. He is also Research Director: Naval and Military History at the Laurier Center for Military, Strategic and Disarmament Studies. Dr. Sarty has written or co-authored eight books, including The Maritime Defense of Canada (1996) and (with W.A.B. Douglas and Michael Whitby) No Higher Purpose: The Official Operational History of the Royal Canadian Navy in the Second World War, 1939-1943, Volume II, Part I (2003) 2005 - The Coast Guard and Washington State Department of Ecology responded to a reported oil sheen near Bremerton, Wash., that is now dissipating. The Coast Guard first received a report about the oil sheen in Port of Washington Narrows at about 1600. Investigators from Coast Guard Marine Safety Office Puget Sound left Seattle about 1635 to investigate the spill. Coast Guard Station Seattle launched a 47-foot motor lifeboat to assist. Department of Ecology spill responders also went to investigate the spill. Investigators arrived about 2015 and found about ten gallons of an unknown petroleum product in the water. They were unable to locate the source 2005 - Nova Scotia provincial court judge has ordered the Fishing Vessel (FV) Hime Maru No. 38 to pay a $60,000 penalty for violations of the Canada Shipping Act associated with the unlawful discharge of an oily substance into Canadian waters. This sentence sets an important precedent as it marks the first time in Canada that a member of a ship’s crew has been convicted of Oil Record Book violations. On January 6, 2004, the vessel’s agent reported an oil slick around the FV Hime Maru No. 38, which was berthed at Pier 24 in the Port of Halifax. A subsequent investigation by Transport Canada determined that the slick, containing an undetermined amount of oil, originated from the FV Hime Maru No. 38. On March 2, 2004, the Regional Operations Center of the Canadian Coast Guard received a report from Imperial Oil that the FV Hime Maru No. 38 had discharged oil overboard while refueling at the Imperial Oil dock in Dartmouth. Transport Canada investigators confirmed that the spill, containing 567.5 liters of oil, originated from the FV Hime Maru No. 38. As a result of these two incidents, the vessel, master and company faced a number of charges and the vessel and master were subsequently found guilty of several offences under the Canada Shipping Act. The vessel was found guilty of two counts of illegal discharge of a pollutant and fined $40,000. The master of the vessel was also found guilty of one count of misreporting information in the Oil Record Book and one count of not reporting a pollution incident, and was fined a total of $20,000. The court also ordered that $25,000 of the $60,000 monetary penalty is to be paid to the Environmental Damages Fund 2005 - The USN in Japan announced it will replace a cruiser and a destroyer at its base in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, with two Aegis destroyers later this year. The two guided-missile destroyers — the 8,422-ton Stethem and the 9,217-ton Lassen - will arrive in Yokosuka in June and September, respectively. Both are currently based in San Diego, California. The ships being replaced are cruiser Vincennes and destroyer Cushing that will decommission in July and October respectively 2005 - The First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Alan West and the French Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Jean Louis Battet, co-signed a report to the Secretary of State (SofS) detailing the level of co-operation achieved between the two navies during the last year and key activities planned for the forthcoming year. In the year of T200, the report detailed the strands of co-operation to be developed between the two Navies in aircraft carrier operation. Work is also in progress to scope the potential for co-operation in carrier procurement through joint industrial activity and sharing of information with the aim of maximizing the benefits to both programs 2006 - Maintenance dredging will commence in RNSA Dolphin Pool, Haslar Lake, Gosport which is expected to last for two weeks weather dependent. The vessel conducting this task will be the Witton II which will be loading spoil into two Split Hopper barges and loading will take place twice daily as the tide permits 2006 - USS Ronald Reagan will be teaming up with the INS Viraat off the coast of Sri Lanka 2006 - MarineMax, Inc., announced that it has expanded its service capabilities on Florida's West Coast with the acquisition of a large boat and yacht service facility. This facility is adjacent to a large marina, which was simultaneously purchased by Brunswick Corporation. The service facility and marina, known as Great American Marine, is conveniently located just off the Intracoastal Waterway on Boca Ciega Bay near St. Petersburg, Florida. MarineMax will own and operate the service portion of the property while Brunswick will own the marina 2006 - Seaspan Corporation announced that it has agreed to purchase two new building vessels from affiliates of Conti Holding GmbH & Co. KG ("Conti") of Germany. This acquisition is incremental to Seaspan's original contracted fleet, and will increase the company's total fleet to 25 vessels. Seaspan will acquire the two 3,500 TEU vessels upon their delivery in February and July 2007 respectively from Zhejiang Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. in China. Delivered cost is expected to be approximately $50 million per vessel, subject to certain pre-delivery expenses remaining at budgeted levels. Seaspan also announced that it has arranged simultaneous twelve-year charter agreements for these vessels with Cosco Container Lines Co., Ltd. at $19,000 per day 2006 - Matson officially launched its new Matson-dedicated Guam and Micronesia service with the arrival of the MV Manulani. The new service succeeds the former 10-year Matson/APL Alliance arrangement in which Matson and APL shared vessel deployments. With the new service, Guam will be served by Matson's five most modern, fuel-efficient vessels, including four new ships built in the past four years. In addition, Guam operations on the West Coast will be supported by Matson-dedicated facilities in Long Beach, Oakland and Seattle. First Lady Joann Camacho is joining Matson for the celebration, welcoming the ship she christened in Philadelphia in May 2005. The deployment is part of a new Matson Guam -- China service and represents a $365 million investment in vessel, container and terminal assets; the new port rotation is Long Beach, Honolulu, Guam, Ningbo, Shanghai, Long Beach. The China component, the China -- Long Beach Express, will be launched next week 2006 - Crowley Maritime Corporation announced that Nelly Yunta has been promoted to general manager Dominican Republic/Haiti for the company’s liner services group. In her new position, Yunta will be responsible for the coordination of sales, marketing, and operations activities for the Dominican Republic and Haiti; overseeing development of policies and procedures; reviewing operating results; establishing annual revenue and capital and budgets; coordinating and negotiating contractor and service provider agreements and developing business relations. She will remain domiciled in the company’s Miami office and will report to John Hourihan, senior vice president and general manager, Latin America services 2006 - Crowley Maritime Corporation announced that Maureen Cunningham has been promoted to vice president of operations for the company’s Puerto Rico liner services group. In her new role, she is responsible for all aspects of Crowley’s land operation in Jacksonville, FL and Petty Island, NJ including inland operations, trucking, cargo terminal and related operations, stevedoring, gate operations, safety and security. Additionally, Cunningham will maintain relationships with union officials, stewards, and employees through administration of company policies and agreements 2006 - The guided-missile destroyer USS Oscar Austin located and assisted a distressed fishing vessel while operating 140 nautical miles off the coast of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea 2007 - The veterans group that had been lobbying to bring a decommissioned aircraft carrier to Baltimore is giving up. The group fought for ten years to bring the former USS Forrestal to Baltimore as a floating museum. Forrestal was the nation's first supercarrier, commissioned in 1955 at Norfolk Naval Shipyard 2007 - China donated to Indonesia's newly established Sea Security Coordinating Agency to help it set up digital library. The technical aid worth 15,000 US dollars and consist of 10 computers, laptops and printers. Chinese Ambassador to Indonesia Lan Lijun said that he hoped that the equipment provided by the Chinese government would be useful for the agency to maintain security on Indonesian waters 2007 - Reuters reported that the ship, OCT Challenger, had been intercepted off the south coast of Spain and forced to dock at the port of Almeria with four tonnes of cocaine 2007 - A commander in Iran's Revolutionary Guards claimed a commando unit has engraved the military organization's emblem into the side panel of an American warship stationed in the Persian Gulf. Nur Ali Shushkari, the head of the Revolutionary Guards ground forces, told Iranian pro-government news agencies that the symbol was etched onto the ship by the crew of a submarine that had managed to reach the US vessel without detection by radar 2007 - A New Forth crossing, which will cost £1 billion and is expected to take at least ten years to design and construct, was given the go-ahead by the Scottish cabinet 2007 - A gas leak in an ROK fishing vessel killed five crewmen, including one Vietnamese, and intoxicated 24 others. According to the report, there were eight Vietnamese crewmembers being poisoned in the accident that happened when the “101 Sea World” ship anchored in Montevideo 2008 - Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead announced the following flag officer assignments: Rear Adm. Carol M. Pottenger as commander, Navy Expeditionary Combat Command, Norfolk. Rear Adm. Mark A. Vance as commander, Carrier Strike Group 3, Bremerton. Rear Admiral (Lower Half) Richard B. Landolt as commander, Expeditionary Strike Group 7 / commander, Amphibious Force US 7th Fleet, Okinawa, Japan 2008 - Coast Guard Commandant, Admiral Thad W. Allen will deliver the annual State of the Coast Guard Address at the National Press Club in Washington 2008 - A Swedish man reported to police yesterday to answer charges he cheated a Thai businessman who contracted his company to tow an old submarine from Sweden to Thailand 2008 - The Navy has exercised contract modifications for the construction of the dual lead ships of the Zumwalt class (DDG 1000) to General Dynamics Bath Iron Works and Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding. DDG 1000 and DDG 1001 are the lead ships of a class of next-generation multi-mission surface combatants tailored for land-attack and littoral dominance 2008 - Coast Guard officials have shelved their once-ambitious plan to spend upward of $1 billion on Bell Helicopter's proposed Eagle Eye unmanned aerial vehicle system Copyright 2009 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. To contact us: 418-145 West Keith Rd North Vancouver BC V7M 1L3 Canada Phone: 778-968-7447