SeaWaves Today in History February 15, 2008 ********************************************************************* February 15 ? 1564 - Galileo Galilei, Italian astronomer and mathematician, is born in Pisa ? 1796 - Arctic explorer, Russian Fleet admiral Petr Fedorovich Anjou born. Died October 12, 1869 1852 - Denny, Boren, and Bell select claims on Elliott Bay marking the beginning of Seattle ? 1856 - USS Supply, commanded by LT David Dixon Porter, sails from Smyrna, Syria, bound for Indianola, Texas, with a load of 21 camels intended for experimental use in the American desert west of the Rockies ? 1874 - The Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton is born in Kilkee, Co Clare ? 1882 - The first shipment of frozen meat leaves New Zealand for England ? 1898 - US battleship Maine blows up in Havana Harbor ? 1911 - Congress transferred Fort Trumbull, New London, CT from War Department to Treasury Department for the use of the USRCS ? 1913 - Tacoma's Eleventh Street (City Waterway) Bridge opens ? 1915 - In Berlin, Ontario, a mob of citizens, led by unruly soldiers, throws the statue of Kaiser Wilhelm II into a local lake. Shops and businesses owned by German-Canadians are ransacked and smashed. Anti-German sentiment will lead the citizens to change the name of the city to modern-day Kitchener ? 1915 - Submarine HMS E49 laid down ? 1917 - Submarine USS O-9 laid down ? 1919 - HMC TR 8, TR 9, TR 12, CD 17, CD 25, CD 27 paid off & returned to RN ? 1919 - Minesweeper USS Bittern launched ? 1919 - Destroyers USS Roper & Ramsay commissioned ? 1921 - Destroyers USS Noa & Zane commissioned ? 1924 - Trawler HMCS Thiepval proceeded Hakodate to deposit fuel & lube dumps for round-the-world flight of Maj Stuart MacLaren ? 1924 - Yachtsman, Distinguished Master of Sport Fedor Vasilyevich Shutkov born ? 1928 - Heavy cruiser HMS Berwick commissioned ? 1934 - Destroyer HMS Electra launched ? 1934 - Heavy cruiser USS New Orleans commissioned ? 1935 - Soviet submarines P-2 & SC-319 launched ? 1936 - U-15 launched ? 1937 - Minesweeper HMS Seagull laid down ? 1938 - Rescue tug HMS Bandit laid down ? 1940 - Submarine HMS Tetrarch commissioned ? 1940 - Minesweeping trawler HMS Mangrove launched ? 1940 - At 2315, U-14 spotted two steamers in a line and an escort and fired at 2340 a torpedo at the second ship that detonated prematurely. This ship was the Sleipner, which sank after being hit in the bow by a second torpedo at 2355. The other steamer, the Rhone stopped to rescue survivors and send distress signals, but was also hit by a torpedo at midnight and sank ? 1940 - At 0837, the unescorted and neutral Steinstad was hit amidships by a G7a torpedo from U-26 and sank within 5 seconds about 75 miles west of Aran Island, Ireland. The U-boat had sighted the ship at 1912 the evening before, noticed the Norwegian flag and followed her during the night to stop the vessel according to the prize rules at the first daylight. At 0750, the Germans fired a shot across the bow of Steinstad, which did not react apart from turning towards the U-boat after the third shot was fired. So the following shots were aimed more closely to the ship without actually hitting her and shortly thereafter the crew abandoned ship in two lifeboats. The master and 12 crewmembers in one of the lifeboats were never seen again, despite of an aircraft search in the area. The other lifeboat with 11 survivors made landfall at Arranmore Island on 20 February ? 1940 - SS Aase sunk by U-37 at 49.17N, 08.15W ? 1940 - At 1400, the Den Haag was torpedoed and sunk by U-48. The British SS Glen Orchy picked up the 13 survivors in one lifeboat. The other lifeboats with bodies were later found adrift; some bodies washed ashore on the French Coast ? 1940 - At 0207, the Maryland was hit by one torpedo from U-50, broke in two and sank within seven minutes. A first torpedo fired at 0154 had detonated prematurely. The ship was reported missing after sending her position the last time on 10 February, only a wrecked lifeboat was later found at North Uist ? 1940 - U-65 commissioned ? 1940 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt embarks in heavy cruiser USS Tuscaloosa at Pensacola, Florida, for a cruise to Panama and the west coast of Central America to discuss Pan-American defense and to inspect the Panama Canal ? 1940 - The Commander in Chief, US Fleet, noting that reports on air operations in the European War stressed the need of reducing aircraft vulnerability, recommended that naval aircraft be equipped with leak-proof or self-sealing fuel tanks and with armor for pilots and observers. Although the Bureaus of Aeronautics and Ordnance had been investigating these forms of protection for two years, this formal statement of need gave added impetus and accelerated procurement and installation of both armor and self-sealing fuel tanks ? 1940 - Danish newpapers are full of protests against the sinking of the 5,177 ton 'Chastine Maersk' by a U-boat. U-boat commanders have been ordered by Hitler to torpedo any ship under British control without warning in order to stop the supply of food and war materials reaching Britain. This directive means that any ship sailing towards a British-controlled war zone, such as the English Channel, the world's busiest shipping lane, can be attacked without warning. Any ship which is following a zigzag course is also to be sunk without warning. The policy is already in effect as evidenced by the sinking of Danish, Dutch, Norwegian and Swedish ships in the last few days. Danish, Norwegian and Swedish ship owners have been meeting here and have decided to press for urgent action by their governments; one possibility is that neutral ships should henceforth travel in convoys protected by naval vessels. Last night the British Admiralty announced the sinking of two more U-boats, including the one, which sank a 12,000-ton meat ship in the Bay of Biscay. Any joy at the sinkings needs to be countered by the news that German ship yards are now building U-boats faster than Britain can sink them ? 1941 - Corvettes HMS Fritillary & Genista laid down ? 1941 - Churchill telegrams to Roosevelt: Many drifting straws seem to indicate Japanese intention to make war on us or do something that would force us to make war on them in the next few weeks or months. ...this is a war of nerves designed to cover Japanese encroachments in Siam and Indo-China. ... I do not think that the Japanese would send large military expedition necessary to lay siege to Singapore. The Japanese would no doubt occupy strategic points and oil fields in Dutch East Indies....They would also raid Australian and New Zealand ports and coasts." Churchill wants American warships to be stationed at Singapore to stave off the Japanese threat ? 1941 - Commonwealth troops capture the port of Kismayu, Italian Somaliland ? 1941 - Interior Secretary Harold Ickes recommends to President Roosevelt that the Interior Department be responsible for the defense of the Philippines ? 1941 - Admiral Harold R. Stark, Chief of Naval Operations, sends a message to Admiral Husband E. Kimmel, Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Fleet based in the Territory of Hawaii, regarding anti-torpedo baffles for protection against torpedo plane attacks on Pearl Harbor. The message states that "consideration has been given to the installation of anti-torpedo baffles within Pearl Harbor for protection against torpedo plane attacks. It is considered that the relatively shallow depth of water limits the need for anti-torpedo nets in Pearl Harbor. In addition the congestion and the necessity for maneuvering room limit the practicability of the present type of baffles" ? 1941 - At 0038, the Alnmoor, a straggler from convoy SC-21, was hit by one torpedo from U-123 and sank SSE of Rockall. The master and 54 crewmembers were lost ? 1941 - Corvettes FS Lobelia (ex-HMS Lobelia) & Bergamont launched ? 1941 - Destroyer USS Ingraham launched ? 1941 - Net tenders USS Hazel & Ash launched ? 1941 - U-78 commissioned ? 1941 - U-256, U-660, U-765 laid down ? 1941 - Destroyer HMS Laforey launched ? 1942 - Tug HMS Yin Ping sunk by Japanese naval gunfire in Bangka Straits ? 1942 - Minelayer HNLMS Pro Patria scuttled by own crew at Palembang to prevent capture by the Japanese ? 1942 - Destroyer HNLMS Van Ghent while taking part in the Allied sortie against the invasion convoy for Palembang. During the transfer through Stolze Strait, she was accidentally beached on the reef of Bamidjo between Banka and Billiton island in position 03.05S 107.21E. There were no casualties and the entire crew was taken off by HNLMS Banckert ? 1942 - Submarine USS Grayback departs Pearl Harbor for her 1st war patrol. She is ordered to patrol in the Mariana and Bonin Islands area ? 1942 - Submarine USS Seawolf departs Surabaya for her 4th war patrol. She is ordered to patrol in the Java Sea ? 1942 - At 0026, the Biela, dispersed from convoy ON-62, was torpedoed and sunk by U-98 about 400 miles southwest of Cape Race. The master, 43 crewmembers and five gunners were lost ? 1942 - At 0434, the Meropi was torpedoed and sunk by U-566. The ship had been in convoy ON-60 and continued alone after the dispersal off Halifax ? 1942 - SS Buarque sunk by U-432 at 36.35N, 75.20W ? 1942 - Submarine HMS P 38 torpedoes and sinks Italian merchant Ariosto (4116 BRT) off Tunisia. 138 Allied POW's are lost ? 1942 - Lieutenant General Percival surrendered Singapore, the worst defeat in British military history, the prospects for further defensive operations being hopeless. 130,000 military personnel entered captivity, which many did not survive. "A heavy and far-reaching military defeat," says Mr Churchill of the loss of the fortress ? 1942 - USAT Meigs, US freighters SS Mauna Loa and SS Portmar and Australian coaster Tulagi, escorted by heavy cruiser USS Houston, destroyer USS Peary and Australian corvettes HMAS Swan Warrego sail from Darwin, Northern Territory, for Koepang, Timor, Netherlands East Indies. The convoy is carrying the Australian 214 Pioneer Battalion and the US 148th Field ? Artillery Regiment (75mm Gun) (Truck-Drawn) (less the 2d Battalion), to reinforce Allied troops on Timor. (The 148th is an Idaho National Guard unit inducted in September 1940.) The units are to secure Penfoie airdrome, the only staging point on Timor for flights to Java ? 1942 - On Sumatra, the Japanese invasion fleet enters the mouth of the Musi River near Palembang, and unloads troops of the 229th Regiment despite repeated and costly attacks by aircraft from Palembang II airdrome. The troops advance to Palembang capturing the town and relieving the paratroopers that jumped yesterday. Dutch and RAF personnel withdraw from Palembang, where the demolition of refineries is only partially completed. British personnel holding landing grounds in central and north Sumatra are ordered to the west coast for withdrawal to Java ? 1942 - Late in the day, the first ship of the convoy carrying the Australian Imperial Force's 7th Division from the Middle East arrives at Oosthaven in southern Sumatra in the fast liner SS Orcades. The 3400 troops on the ship are the 2/3 Machine Gun Battalion, the 2/2 Pioneer Battalion and supporting troops. On learning of the surrender of Palembang, Lieutenant General John Lavarack, General Officer Commanding 1st Australian Army, persuades General Sir Archibald Wavell, Commander in Chief American-British-Dutch-Australian (ABDA) Command, to allow the troops to proceed to Batavia on Java ? 1942 - Having proceeded through Gaspar Strait to the north of Banka Island and failed to contact the Japanese force (which has already reached Banka Strait), the ABDA striking force (Rear Admiral Karel Doorman, RNN) is attacked by Japanese naval land attack planes of Genzan, Mihoro, and Kanoya Kokutais (Naval Air Corps) as well as carrier-based aircraft from the carrier HIJMS Ryujo. Light cruiser HMAS Hobart is straddled, while near misses damage destroyers USS Barker & Bulmer, which will need to retire to Australia for repairs ? 1942 - Five USAAF 5th Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses on an antishipping strike claim hits on a Japanese cruiser and another ship ? 1942 - During the night of the 15-16th, RAF Bomber Command dispatches ten Whitleys and six Halifaxes to attack the port area at St Nazaire; only nine aircraft bomb visually, in cloudy conditions. No aircraft are lost but three crash in England ? 1942 - Two merchant vessels on a convoy to Malta are sunk ? 1942 - On Guadalcanal, Martin Clemens, appointed as His Majesty's Commissioner for Guadalcanal (and Coastwatcher for the Royal Australian Navy's Islands Coastwatching Service), takes up his duties at the Aola station. Armed with a simple and easily broken Playfair code, and a 100-pound transmitter and receiver, Clemens' job is to report all hostile ship movements in the sound north of the island. His radio, which requires 12 to 16 men to carry when it has to be moved, can transmit 400 miles by voice and 600 miles using Morse Code. While he awaits the Japanese advance, Clemens handles tribal disputes, judges cases, and raises the Union Jack over his home every morning ? 1942 - Destroyer USS Brownson laid down ? 1942 - Minesweeper USS Engage laid down ? 1942 - Seaplane tender USS Unimak laid down ? 1942 - Destroyer USS Meade launched ? 1943 - The Atlantic Sun had developed engine trouble and straggled from the convoy ON-165. At 1000, the tanker tried to catch up with the convoy when struck by two torpedoes from U-607 on the port side 150 miles off Cape Race. The first torpedo split the ship in half abaft the midships house and the other blew a large hole in the bow. The forward section sank in 20 minutes. The after section appeared sound enough to be taken into port under power. After the ship broke in two, 22 men led by the chief officer abandoned the after section. They returned two hours later and reboarded the after part of the ship, going below to change clothing. 30 minutes later with the men still below, a third torpedo from U-607 struck near the stern post, causing the stern to sink 30 minutes later. After the hit a lifeboat with eight men cleared the ship half-swamped and without oars. Others went over the side into the sea just before the ship turned over keel up and sank. The ordinary seaman William Golobich was picked up by the U-boat from the water and took him to St. Nazaire. He eventually went to Milag POW camp. Those who remained behind faced moderate seas and 25° weather. None of the ten officers, 36 men, 19 armed guards (the tanker was armed with one 5in, one 3in and eight 20mm guns) and one passenger on board survived except the man that was taken prisoner ? 1943 - Submarine HMS L-27 completed ASW training Harbor Grace; to USA for refit ? 1943 - USCGC Calypso removed 42 persons from lifeboat of SS Buarque (Brazil) east of Cape Henry ? 1943 - USS PC-597 commissioned ? 1943 - Submarine USS Pickerel torpedoes and sinks SS Tateyama Maru (1990 BRT) off the east coast of Honshu in position 39.18N, 142.08E ? 1943 - Submarine USS Gato torpedoes and sinks stores ship Suruga Maru (991 BRT) in Bougainville Strait in position 06.27S, 156.02E ? 1943 - Submarine USS Guardfish ends her 3rd war patrol at Brisbane ? 1943 - Submarine USS Tunny sinks a Japanese sampam with gunfire east of the Bonin Islands in approximate position 25.00N, 147.00E ? 1943 - USS SC-1019 commissioned ? 1943 - USS YMS-16 commissioned ? 1943 - USS SC-1305 launched ? 1943 - USS YMS-235 launched ? 1943 - Frigate HMS Berry commissioned ? 1943 - Submarine HMS Templar commissioned ? 1943 - Submarine USS Tullibee commissioned ? 1943 - Destroyer escorts USS Neuendorf & Manning laid down ? 1943 - Destroyer HMS Trafalgar laid down ? 1943 - Submarines HMS Visigoth & Supreme laid down ? 1943 - U-225 sunk in the North Atlantic, in position 55.45N, 31.09W, by depth charges from an RAF 120 Sqn Liberator. 46 dead (all hands lost) ? 1943 - A man from U-635 took his own life in Hamburg. [Maschinengefreiter Werner Grande] ? 1943 - U-350, U-1007, U-1132 laid down ? 1943 - Frigate HMS Berry commissioned ? 1943 - Sloops HMS Modeste & Nereide laid down ? 1944 - Submarine HMS Upstart sinks German auxiliary minelayer Niedersachsen (former French Guyane) off the Italian Riviera ? 1944 - LCT(5)-35 sunk off Anzio Italy 1944 - Corvette HMCS Giffard departed Londonderry escort for convoy ON.224 ? 1944 - Destroyer escorts USS Gentry & Holt launched ? 1944 - Minesweepers USS Specter & Staunch launched ? 1944 - Net tender USS Satinleaf launched ? 1944 - Destroyer escort USS George E Davis laid down ? 1944 - Minesweeper USS Sprig laid down ? 1944 - Submarine USS Narwhal ended her 9th war patrol as she returned to base ? 1944 - Submarine USS Gato sinks the Japanese guardboat Taiyo Maru No.3 (36 BRT) off Rabaul, New Britain in position 04.00S, 150.10E ? 1944 - Submarine USS Silversides departs Pearl Harbor for her 9th war patrol. She is ordered to patrol west of the Mariana Islands ? 1944 - Submarine USS Angler departs Midway for her 2nd war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the South China and Sulu Sea ? 1944 - Submarine USS Snook torpedoes and sinks Japanese army cargo ship Kamone Maru (875 BRT) off the south coast of Korea in position 34.23N, 128.23E ? 1944 - Submarine USS Tinosa torpedoes and sinks Japanese army cargo ship Odatsuki Maru (1988 BRT) east of Dinagat Island in position 09.30N, 127.00E ? 1944 - Submarine HMS Upstart sinks German auxiliary minelayer Niedersachsen (1794 BRT, former French Guyane) off the Italian Riviera ? 1944 - Destroyer USS Stormes laid down ? 1944 - Minesweeper USS Surfbird laid down ? 1944 - SS Epaminondas C. Embiricos sunk by U-168 at 01.30N, 73E. Two men were taken prisoner by U-168 ? 1944 - At 1522, the Fort St. Nicolas was hit by a Gnat from U-410 and sank east of the island of Capri. The master, 48 crewmembers, 14 gunners and four passengers were rescued by a RAF crash launch and landed at Salerno. The Fort St. Nicolas was participating in the Operation Shingle, the landings at Anzio-Nettuno ? 1944 - Frigate USS Bisbee commissioned ? 1944 - USS PC-788 commissioned ? 1944 - USS PCS-1465 commissioned ? 1944 - Destroyer escort USS Solar commissioned ? 1944 - Submarine HMS L-26 commenced ASW training Halifax ? 1945 - Minesweeper HMCS Stratford commenced workups Bermuda ? 1945 - HMIS Shivaji commissioned as the prime training establishment for the Indian Navy ? 1945 - Submarine USS Gabilan ends her 4th war patrol at Fremantle ? 1945 - Submarine USS Picuda ended her fifth war patrol at Pearl Harbor ? 1945 - U-1053 sunk in the North Sea near Bergen in position 60.24N, 05.13E, after an accident during diving trials. 45 dead (all hands lost) ? 1945 - Frigate USS Davenport commissioned ? 1945 - Submarine HMS Sanguine launched ? 1945 - Frigate HMS Start Bay launched ? 1945 - Escort carrier Badoeng Straits launched ? 1945 - Destroyer USS Gurke launched ? 1946 - Corvette HMCS Levis paid off Esquimalt ? 1946 - Corvettes HMCS Tillsonburg, Huntsville & Bowmanville paid off Halifax ? 1946 - Gate Vessel 16 (ex-HMCS Arleux) sold ? 1949 - Submarine HMS Tudor arrives Halifax for ASW training ? 1951 - Gate vessel HMCS Porte Quebec laid down Burrard Dry Dock ? 1953 - 32 Royal Marines stormed ashore from frigate HMS Snipe to reclaim Deception Island ? 1954 - Destroyer HMCS Athabaskan commenced refit Esquimalt BC ? 1964 - Submarine HMS Onyx renamed HMCS Ojibwa while under construction ? 1965 - Canada's new maple-leaf flag was unfurled in ceremonies in Ottawa ? 1965 - The torpedo boats (FPB) Søløven and Søridderen, first ships of the new Søløven-class, a total of 6 boats, becomes the first Danish naval ships driven by gas turbines ? 1968 - USS Bon Homme Richard port call Subic Bay ? 1968 - The first test-firing of a Polaris missile from a Royal Navy submarine - HMS Resolution - was successfully conducted ? 1970 - USS Hancock port call Sasebo ? 1980 - The 70-foot fishing vessel Donna Catalina sinks 40 miles south of Nantucket Island. After pumps lowered to the four-man crew failed to keep up with the flooding, a Coast Guard helicopter lifted the crew to safety ? 1982 - Oil drilling rig Ocean Ranger capsizes and sinks during a fierce storm on the Grand Banks 315 km east of St. John's; all 84 crewmen, mostly Newfoundlanders, drown in worst marine disaster in Canada since World War II ? 1989 - Submarine HMS Unicorn laid down ? 1991 - Baghdad Radio broadcasts Iraqi Revolutionary Command Council statement that Iraq is ready for negotiations "based on UN Security Council resolution 660 of 1990 to achieve a solution to the Gulf crisis, including its withdrawal from Kuwait. The willingness on the part of the RCC should be regarded as a guarantee from Iraq and coupled with an immediate and comprehensive cessation of all land, air and sea military operations." President Bush announces that after initial happiness at the Iraq offer, "regrettably, the Iraq statement now appears to be a cruel hoax. Not only was the Iraq statement full of unacceptable old conditions, but Saddam Hussein has added several new conditions." The President reiterated, "They must withdraw without condition, there must be full implementation of all the Security Council resolutions, and there will be no linkage to the other problems in the area, and the legitimate rulers of Kuwait must be returned to Kuwait." President Bush stated the coalition will not end its military campaign, "until a massive withdrawal begins, with those Iraqi troops visibly leaving Kuwait" ? 1991 - Naval forces continue to support the air campaign with mine countermeasures and maritime interception operations. The Navy has lost an additional aircraft; an A-6 sustained major damage while returning from a combat mission. The crew was recovered ? 1991 - SECNAV activates 993 additional Naval Reservists from 87 units ? 2003 - Decommissioning ceremony for frigate USS Sides at San Diego ? 2005 - Maritrans Inc., a leading US flag marine petroleum transport company, announced today that Mr. Stephen A. Van Dyck is retiring as Chairman of the Board, effective immediately. Mr. Van Dyck will be succeeded by William A. Smith, who was elected by the Board to serve as a non-executive Chairman of the Board of Directors. Mr. Van Dyck will no longer be an employee or officer of the Company, but will remain as a consultant to the Board. In addition, Mr. Van Dyck will continue to represent Maritrans' interests in various industry trade associations and insurance clubs, including Board Chairman of INTERTANKO, West of England, and the Chamber of Shipping America and a member of the Board of the American Petroleum Institute. ? Mr. Van Dyck was originally hired by Interstate Oil Transport, predecessor to Maritrans, in 1974. He later became Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Maritrans when the Company went public in April 1987 ? 2005 - The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum on Tuesday opened an exhibition of a fishing vessel that with its crew of 23 was showered with radioactive ash from a US hydrogen bomb test at Bikini Atoll in 1954. The exhibition of the Fukuryu Maru (Lucky Dragon) No. 5 opened at the museum in Hiroshima's Naka Ward two weeks ahead of the 51st anniversary of the test and the fatal radiation fallout ? 2005 - Two men were rescued tonight when Coast Guard Air Station Detroit hoisted them to safety after being stranded on the ice in Mitchell's Bay of Lake St. Clair for several hours ? 2005 - Capping months of anticipation, the USN announced the award of a large, five-year contract for non-dry dock work on a group of destroyers to Marine Hydraulics International Inc. in Norfolk. The contract is worth $43 million but is expected to grow as the Navy negotiates more work over the next five years. It is part of an estimated $458 million package to repair a group of Arleigh Burke-class ships here and in Mayport, Fla. The other half of the contract, for dry dock work, was awarded December 20 to Norshipco in Norfolk ? 2006 - Tugboats began towing Boomtown Casino's gambling barge to a dry dock in Pascagoula ? 2006 - Jamestown Metal Marine Sales, Inc. has successfully delivered the completed Blue Chip 2 casino vessel to Blue Chip Casino, at Blue Chip's Michigan City, Ind., facility. The new vessel, which replaces the former vessel, is approximately 400 feet in length with a beam of 200 feet and provides about 65,000 square feet of gaming area on a single deck ? 2006 - A new addition to its shipping fleet will make business easier for Weyerhaeuser and other companies who export products between Canada and the United States. By offering a new and competitive way to transport cargo by sea, Weyerhaeuser is providing an alternative to costly and often unreliable ground transportation. Westwood Shipping, the company's commercial marine shipping subsidiary, will operate the newly acquired Westwood Pomona between ports in British Columbia and Long Beach, California ? 2006 - Quintana Maritime Limited announced that it has entered into time charter agreements for the MV Coal Glory and for the MV Coal Pride. Coal Glory has entered a short-term time charter for a minimum period of three months and a maximum period of five months with Cargill at a daily rate of USD 15,500 per day. Coal Glory started the new charter on February 2nd, 2006. Coal Glory is a Panamax bulk carrier built in 1995 with a carrying capacity of 73,670 dwt. Coal Pride has entered into a one-year time charter with Daeyang at a daily rate of USD 14,850 per day. Coal Pride started the new charter on February 8th, 2006. Coal Pride is a Panamax bulk carrier built in 1999 with a carrying capacity of 72,600 dwt ? 2006 - Aries Maritime Transport Limited announced it has taken delivery of the first of two new products tankers it acquired from the Stena Group. Upon delivery, the 72,750 dwt 2006-built double-hulled Panamax products tanker entered into a two-and-a-half year bareboat charter agreement with the Stena Group at a time charter equivalent rate of $24,500 per day. In addition, the bareboat charter with the Stena Group has a profit sharing component with a 30 percent share for Aries ? 2006 - Nearly 6,000 Sailors and Marines and six ships of Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG) 3 departed San Diego Feb. 15 for a six-month deployment in support of the global war on terrorism. ESG 3 is comprised of Amphibious Squadron (COMPHIBRON) 3, the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable), Peleliu, the guided-missile frigate USS Reuben James, guided-missile cruiser USS Port Royal, guided-missile destroyer USS Gonzales, amphibious transport dock USS Ogden, dock landing ship USS Germantown, Tactical Air Control Squadron (TACRON) 11, and the "Black Jacks" of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 21 ? 2006 - Submarine BAP Pisagua departed Callao for Norfolk, Virginia to take part in ASW training ? 2006 - Sea Launch Company today successfully delivered the EchoStar X communications satellite to geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO). Early data indicate the spacecraft is in excellent condition ? 2006 - President Jacques Chirac ordered the return of the aircraft carrier Clemenceau to French waters after France's highest court suspended the ship's transfer to an Indian scrap heap because of concerns that the decommissioned vessel contained unsafe amounts of asbestos ? 2006 - The Environmental Protection Agency issued the Navy a permit to sink the retired aircraft carrier USS Oriskany off Pensacola Beach in May. The agency issued a permit for disposal of chemical toxins known as polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, aboard the ship. The permit was the final hurdle Navy leaders said they needed to clear before returning the famed Korean and Vietnam War aircraft carrier from a Navy shipyard in Beaumont, Texas, to Pensacola. Oriskany is the first of more than 20 ships the Navy hopes to dispose of through reefing, and the lengthy Oriskany PCB disposal permit process is a first for the Navy and the EPA ? 2006 - A Korean-flagged fishing vessel was apprehended by officials aboard the corvette ARA Drummond of the Argentine Navy Maritime Patrolling Division, while breaking fishing laws in the Argentine exclusive economic zone (EEZ) ? 2006 - A 270-tonne block of steel being held by four cranes that was to be placed in a gas carrier under construction at "Naval One", Sestao Shipyard, collapsed on the ship yesterday without causing any injuries. Damage to the cranes and to the hull of the vessel is still to be evaluated, as is the cause of the accident, which happened at 1435 hrs. There were no injuries to dock workers as it happened during a food break. Apparently, the block came off one of the cranes, by causes still unknown, and dragged to the other three ? 2006 - USS Hopper, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer homeported at Pearl Harbor participated in the successful "Sky Hunter" Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) test event off the coast of southern California ? 2007 - Denizsan Maritime Inc. CEO Murat Mengenecioglu purchased a 20,000 DWT freighter and transformed it into an integrated fish-farm/factory with a capacity of 19,000 cubic meters to produce fish on an industrial scale. Mengenecioglu said they had cooperated with various organizations in Norway, on marine biology, water quality and fish diseases, and France, on extracting water from depth, carbon-dioxide control, automation, water circulation, feeding automation and tank insulation. UM Shipyard had helped them in developing the know-how to realize the project ? 2007 - Five individuals from Australia, Japan and the United States will search for answers to these questions as recipients of the 2007 Pew Fellowship in Marine Conservation, awarded by the Pew Institute for Ocean Science ? 2007 - Delays in committing funds and ordering the Royal Navy's two new aircraft carriers could leave the fleet with a "damaging capability gap" and affect medium-term employment in yards on the Clyde and elsewhere, the Commons Defense Committee warned ? 2007 - A Japanese whaling ship on fire and adrift in the Southern Ocean has raised fears of an environmental disaster if it leaks oil or chemicals into the waters off Antarctica. Nisshin Maru sent out a distress call after fire broke out on the ship in the Ross Sea, maritime officials in New Zealand said. Most of the ship’s 148 crew was evacuated to other Japanese whaling ships in the area, but one crewmember is reported to be missing. The fire, fueled in part by whale oil, had been contained below deck and the Japanese crew were waiting for it to burn itself out ? 2007 - ABG Shipyard delivered a new anchor handling tug supply vessel Maridive – 212 to the owner Maridive & Oil Services S. A. E. Egypt. Maridive – 212 is the second AHTS vessel being delivered by the company. This is the second vessel to be delivered to Maridive in this financial year out of the total seven vessel building orders received from the Egypt based company ? 2007 - Japanese patrol ships are seeking six crewmembers, including three Koreans, still missing Thursday, one day after their vessel sank in waters off Japan's southeast coast in bad weather, the Korea Coast Guard said. Japanese maritime police have collected the bodies of one South Korean and two Myanmarese crewmen near the scene during a search operation ? 2007 - Rear Adm. Charles “Chuck” H. Goddard USN became Program Executive Officer, Ships ? 2007 - A Canadian who helped airlift a gravely ill Russian sailor from a navy ship bucking in an ocean tempest has received an unusual military honor from Russia. Maj. Joe Goodyear, a helicopter flight engineer originally from Gander, N.L., received the Russian Medal for Strengthening of Brotherhood-in-Arms at a Thursday afternoon ceremony at the Russian Embassy in Ottawa, the city where he is now based. Russian Ambassador Georgiy Mamedov presented the medal on behalf of the Russian minister of defense. He praised Goodyear for helping save the Russian sailor's life during the rescue off the west coast of Great Britain on Oct. 29, 2001, while Goodyear was on exchange with Britain's Royal Navy ? 2008 - Coast Guard Commandant, Admiral Thad W. Allen will provide keynote remarks at the Mare Forum Maritime Transportation of Energy 2008 Conference on Coast Guard maritime safety, security and environmental stewardship priorities for 2008 in Houston ============================================================= 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.