SeaWaves Today in History February 18, 2007 ********************************************************************* February 18 1653 - The great Dutch Admiral Marten Tromp, with eighty warships, escorted a huge convoy of 150 homeward-bound merchantmen up the Channel - legend has it that he tied a broom to his masthead to show his intention to sweep the English from the seas. General-at-Sea Robert Blake commanded some eighty-five English warships, and intercepted Tromp off Portland on 18 February, and a running battle lasting three days developed. The Dutch merchantmen kept to the French side of the Channel, with their escorts forming a protective screen. The first two days proved indecisive; Tromp maneuvered with great skill, although he was displeased with the poor discipline of some of his captains. Finally, on the third day, the English broke through the defenses off Cap Gris Nez, and captured some sixty merchantmen. Tromp was forced to hug the French coast with his remaining ships, and the English broke off the action, assuming that the Dutch would be wrecked so close to a lee shore. Splendid seamanship by Tromp, however, allowed him to save his force from disaster and reach home 1745 - Count Alessandro Volta, physicist who makes the first battery, is born in Como, Italy. He gives his name to the measure of the power of electricity (volt) 1766 - Slaves arrive in Cape Town from Madagascar on the Cape-Madagascar boat Meermin 1829 - Vice Admiral Johan Olfert Fischer dies. The Vice Admiral was the Squadron Commander and Supreme Commander at the Battle of Copenhagen April 2nd, 1801 1842 - The House of Representatives passed a resolution requesting the Committee on Commerce to make an inquiry into the expenditures of the Lighthouse Establishment since 1816. This was to explore the possibility of cutting down on expenses, to examine the question of reorganizing the establishment and administration, and also to ascertain whether the establishment should be placed under the Topographical Bureau of the War Department 1846 - General order on Port and Starboard 1897 - Following the murder of the British Consul-General in Benin, Mr Phillips, and seven others in January, a punitive expedition was dispatched under the command of Rear-Admiral Sir Harry Rawson. His force comprised a Naval Brigade of seamen serving as infantry and 500 police from the Niger Coast Constabulary. Despite considerable resistance, the force succeeded in taking Benin City on 17/18 February 1915 - Germany's blockade of Britain by submarine begins 1918 - Cruiser HMS Curacoa commissioned 1919 - Destroyer USS McCalla launched 1935 - Torpedo boat FS Bombarde laid down 1939 - Destroyer FS Mameluk launched 1940 - German battle cruisers Gneisenau, Scharnhorst & heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper make an unsuccessful sortie against the "HN" convoy route between Britain and Scandinavia as part of Operation Nordmark. German U-boats providing escort for the capital ships, however, sink 12 merchant ships & destroyer HMS Daring 1940 - British government presses Norway to intern the Altmark 1940 - SS El Sonador sunk by U-61 east of the Shetlands 1940 - SS Sangstad sunk by U-61 at 59.00N, 00.25E 1940 - At 0420, SS Banderas was torpedoed & sunk by U-53 eight miles NW of Cabo Villano 1940 - At 0823, SS P.L.M. 15 in Convoy 10-RS was hit amidships by one torpedo from U-37 & sank immediately 1940 - At 0045, SS Ellin was torpedoed by U-37 & sunk 25 miles NW of Cape Finisterre 1940 - At 0926, SS Ameland had just passed the Maasbank-buoy and was hit by a torpedo from U-10. She began to sink & the 48 crewmembers (3 of them injured) abandoned the ship. The master A. Kokke returned to rescue the documents and the ship sank later by the stern. The survivors were picked up by the Dutch SS Montferland & were transferred to the tug Zwarte Zee. The wounded men were brought to Vlissingen and the crew was put ashore in Maassluis 1940 - U-23 torpedoed & sank destroyer HMS Daring which was escorting a Bergen to Methil convoy in position 58.40N 01.40E. There were only 15 survivors, 157 men lost 1941 - U-502 launched 1941 - U-203 commissioned 1941 - Italian planes bomb the port of Benghazi so badly that Britain abandoned it for supply purposes 1941 - Destroyer HMS Gurkha commissioned 1941 - Corvette HMS Veronica commissioned 1941 - At 0227, SS Black Osprey, a straggler from Convoy HX-107, was torpedoed & sunk by U-96 south of Iceland. The master and 24 crewmembers were lost. 11 crewmembers were picked up by the Norwegian SS Mosdale & landed at Barry 1941 - MS Seaforth sunk by U-103 at 58.48N, 18.17W 1941 - Admiral King states that the American security zone has been extended eastwards as far as longitude 26 W. This is more than 2,300 miles from the American coast at New York and only 740 miles from the coast of Europe at Lisbon, and it includes the Azores 1942 - An armed US freighter is torpedoed by German submarine U-161 while lying at anchor at Port of Spain, Trinidad; there are no casualties among the 36-man merchant crew and 9-man Armed Guard 1942 - A British volunteer party from Batavia, Java, sails to Oosthaven, Sumatra, retrieved valuable aircraft spares and technical stores and destroyed what was left, including the harbor facilities without interference from the Japanese 1942 - Submarine HNLMS K VII sunk by Japanese aircraft at Surabaya. All hands lost 1942 - During the day a small Japanese Navy convoy under Rear-Admiral Kubo Kyuji flying his flag on light cruiser Nagara, with seven destroyers (Hatsushimo, Nenohi, Wakaba, Asashio, Oshio, Arashio, and Michishio), escorted transports Sasego Maru & Sagami Maru to Bali (East of Java), where they landed one reinforced battalion of IJA troops to capture seize the airfield there. Throughout the day Kubo's force was subjected to a large number of air attacks by US and Dutch aircraft. However, despite glowing reports of damage, only one hit was scored on Sagami Maru, temporarily disabling her engines. As dusk approached, Kubo began withdrawing his force in three elements. His flagship, with Hatsushimo, Nenohi, and Wakaba sortied immediately. Sasego Maru, escorted by Arashio and Michishio followed some time later at a much slower speed, while Sagami Maru, under the protective eyes of Oshio and Asashio would leave as soon as temporary repairs were completed. When the Japanese convoy force had been sighted on 17 February by ABDA search planes, the sighting could not have come at a worse time. The Allied warships of ABDA's Combined Striking Force had just returned from a sortie and had been forced to separate to several Dutch ports for fuel and maintenance. None the less, Eskadercommandant Karel Willem Frederick Marie Doorman, KM immediately issued orders for all of his available ships to sortie. His hastily worked out plan was to see a sustained attack in three waves. First, in would be Doorman's main force, consisting of the Dutch light cruisers De Ruyter & Java with destroyers HNLMS Piet Hein along with USS Pope & John D. Ford. The second wave would be composed of destroyers USS Stewart, Parrott, John D. Edwards & Pillsbury supported by the Dutch light cruiser Tromp. The third wave was composed of seven Dutch motor torpedo boats, TM-4, TM-5, TM-7, TM-9, TM-10, TM-11 & TM-12. Doorman hoped for great things as, for the first time in the campaign, the Allied forces would be numerically and qualitatively superior to the Japanese. In the event, the Battle of Badoeng Strait could not have gone much worse. By 2220,when Doorman arrived, the only Japanese ships in the immediate area were the damaged Sagami Maru, and her two escorts. In a very confusing action, the Dutch cruisers steamed merrily through the strait seeing little, only Java engaging, albeit briefly. However, his trailing destroyers found themselves in a regular brawl form which only two emerged, Piet Hein being disabled by gunfire and then sunk by a torpedo from Asashio. meanwhile, the other Japanese forces turned about to offer support to their colleagues. Following in roughly two hours later the US destroyers, supported by Tromp, found themselves in an old fashioned gunfight, first with Asashio and Oshio, and then with Michishio and Arashio. Again, the results did not favor the Allies. Tromp, battered by 18 shells by the time the action was over, would have to leave the campaign for Australian dockyard at Sydney. However, the US destroyers earned some measure of revenge, knocking about Oshio and plastering Michishio, which went dead in the water with her entire powerplant "hors de combat". She had to suffer the indignity of being towed home and was not fully repaired until October. The finishing touches on this less than spectacular affair were applied by the Dutch MTBs, which sailed straight through the center of the Strait without seeing a thing! Thus ended the Combined Striking Force's best opportunity to inflict some real damage on the Japanese Navy 1942 - A British volunteer party from Batavia, Java, sails to Oosthaven, Sumatra, retrieved valuable aircraft spares and technical stores and destroyed what was left, including the harbor facilities without interference from the Japanese 1942 - Against the wishes of Lieutenant General John Lavarack, General Officer Commanding I Australian Corps, General Archibald Wavell, Commander in Chief American-British-Dutch-Australian Command, orders the Australian Imperial Force troops on the fast passenger liner SS Orcades to disembark at Batavia, Java. The next day, Wavell informs Australian Prime Minister John Curtin that these troops are need for airfield defense and are being disembarked 1942 - Destroyer USS Truxtun & stores issuing ship USS Pollux run aground during storm near Placentia Bay; the former just east of Ferryland Point and the latter off Lawn Point. Minesweeper USS Brant arrives on scene and contributes rescue parties as well as brings medical officer and corpsmen from destroyer tender and Support Force flagship, the destroyer tender USS Prairie. The tragedy produces deep admiration for the lifesaving efforts of the local population. "Hardly a dozen men from both ships would have been saved," one observer writes later, "had it not been for the superb work of the local residents." Many men jeopardize their own lives frequently to save the American sailors; several hang by lines over the cliffs to keep survivors from dragging over sharp rocks as they are pulled up from the beach below; others go out in a dory, risking swamping several times in the rough waves; after working all day rescuing USS Truxtun's people, some of the local inhabitants then toil all night rescuing USS Pollux's men with a stamina that defies description. Though poor, the men, women, and children of the town of St. Lawrence turn out to outfit the "survivors with blankets, warm clothes, boots, fed them, cleaned them up as best they could and turned them in their own beds." Subsequently, they turn a deaf ear to offers to pay for food and clothing used in succoring the shipwrecked Americans 1942 - Destroyer HMAS Bataan laid down 1942 - Destroyer HMS Wilton commissioned 1942 - Training ship HMCS Skidegate paid off 1942 - SS Somme sunk by U-108 at 35.30N, 61.25W 1942 - U-259 commissioned 1942 - General Stores Issue Ship USS Pollux wrecked Placentia Bay Newfoundland 1942 - Minesweeper HMAS Wallaroo launched 1942 - Free French submarine Surcouf, then the largest submarine in the world, is sunk in a collision with a US merchant ship (Thompson Lykes) near the entrance to the Panama Canal. There are no survivors of the 130-man crew 1942 - Minesweeping trawler HMS Botanic sunk by German aircraft in the North Sea 1942 - At 1807, SS Olinda was stopped by U-432 off Cape Hatteras with a shot across the bow. After questioning the crew, the ship was shelled & finally sunk with a coup de grâce at 2100 1943 - Rescue tug HMS Tancred commissioned 1943 - Frigate HMS Bazely commissioned 1943 - Admiral McMorris leads a US naval force of 2 cruisers & 4 destroyers in shelling Attu Island in the Aleutian Islands. This was Task Group 8.6 (TG 8.6) consisting of the TG flagship, the light cruiser USS Richmond, heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis with destroyers USS Bancroft, Caldwell, Coghlan & Gillespie. The ships steam past Holtz Bay and Chichagof Harbor looking for Japanese shipping. Chichagof Harbor is bombarded for ten minutes from 10,000 to 12,000 yards & then Holtz Bay is shelled for eleven minutes from 9,000 to 11,500 yards. Japanese casualties on Attu are 22 to 23 killed and one wounded. Coghlan also bombards Gibson Island, which guards Chichagof Harbor. After the bombardment, Indianapolis & destroyers Coghlan & Gillespie make a sweep 100 miles southwest of Attu and sink the Japanese transport Akagane Maru 1943 - Heavy cruiser HMAS Australia & three US destroyers of Task Force 44.3 cover the passage of a five-ship convoy transporting the 30,000 troops of 9 Australian Division to Sydney NSW 1943 - German auxiliary cruiser Michel (Schiffe 28) arrives at Singapore. The next day she turns over to the Japanese the merchant & Armed Guard sailors who had been captured when she sank the US freighter SS Sawokla on 29 November 1942 1943 - U-240 launched 1943 - U-343 & U-964 commissioned 1943 - Destroyer USS Ingersoll laid down 1943 - Minesweeper USS Defense launched 1943 - At 0315, MS Brasiloide was torpedoed by U-518, broke in two & sank at 12.38S/37.57W 1944 - Minesweepers HMCS Thunder, Mulgrave, Bayfield & Georgian departed Halifax for Devonport via the Azores 1944 - Corvette HMCS Trentonian departed Halifax for workups at Bermuda 1944 - Harbor Tug YT-198 sunk off Anzio 1944 - Corvette HMCS Riviere Du Loup returned to Halifax from workups at Bermuda 1944 - Minesweepers USS Success & Superior laid down 1944 - Destroyer escort USS Tabberer launched 1944 - Frigate USS Pocatello commissioned 1944 - Escort carrier USS Petrof Bay commissioned 1944 - Minesweeper USS Opponent commissioned 1944 - U-7 sank west of Pillau, in position 54.52N, 19.30E in a diving accident. 29 dead (all hands lost) 1944 - U-406 sunk in the North Atlantic, position 48.32N, 23.36W, by depth charges from frigate HMS Spey. 12 dead & 45 survivors 1944 - At 0658, light cruiser HMS Penelope was hit by one torpedo from U-410 & sank rapidly after being hit at 0716 by a coup de grâce 35 miles west of Naples. She was returning from bombarding enemy positions during the Operation Shingle, the landings at Anzio, in which she was part of the Gunfire Support Group TG 81.8, comprising of light cruiser USS Brooklyn & destroyers USS Woolsey, Mayo, Trippe, Ludlow & Edison. A smaller version of the earlier Leander-class (7,270 tons), and built with the two funnel arrangement of the intermediate Amphion-class (6,800 tons, also known as Sydney-class), the Arethusa-class were lighter (5,220 tons) and built with only three turrets, the aft “Y” turret being sacrificed to save weight and cost. Four ships of the class were built between 1934 and 1936. All three of these classes of cruisers were flexible, multi-purpose ships. They all saw extensive action during the Second World War. Because of their intermediate size and excellent maneuverability, they were suitable as destroyer leaders for service with the battle fleet. They were also intended for the traditional service of cruisers in trade warfare, where they would counter commerce raiders and provide anti-aircraft defense. Since they were also stand-by fleet cruisers, a top speed of 32 knots was retained in the specification. This was fortunate because they were used almost exclusively with the fleet, particularly in the Mediterranean theatre where they distinguished themselves in defense against air attacks. The Arethusa-class proved to be so successful that their design was adapted for the follow-on Dido-class of light anti-aircraft cruisers (5,600 tons). A force structure of light cruisers (of the Leander, Amphion, Arethusa types) and sloops was recommended for Canada to Prime Minister King by Admiral Chatfield, First Sea Lord, in the late 1930s. The Canadian naval chief, Admiral Nelles, resisted this suggestion, arguing that destroyers were better suited to Canadian needs. In the event, destroyers proved to have been inadequate for both the anti-commerce raider and convoy escort roles. Their torpedo armament was also inadequate to pose a realistic threat to German major warships when they were at large in the Atlantic. Moreover, the low angle armament of British destroyers made them unsuitable for anti-aircraft defense. British sloops proved to be superior to destroyers for anti-submarine and anti-aircraft work and their higher endurance and better sea keeping qualities meant they could be employed at times and in places that destroyers could not. In terms of purchase cost, manpower utilization, fuel economy, and combat effectiveness, the cruiser-sloop option would have been a better choice than the all-destroyer fleet 1944 - US Amphibious Force under RADM Hill lands troops on Engebi Island, Eniwetok 1944 - In the Caroline Islands, Task Force 58 (TF 58) under Vice Admiral Raymond A. Spruance repeats a strike on Japanese installations and vessels at Truk. TF 58 planes sink destroyer HIJMS Fumizuki, submarine chaser Ch 29 & MTB Gyoraitei No.10 1944 - In the Bismarck Archipelago, Destroyer Squadron 23 or Task Group 39.4 under Captain Arleigh A. Burke bombards Japanese positions at Kavieng on New Ireland Island; on New Britain Island 1944 - Destroyer Squadron 12 under Captain Rodger W. Simpson shells Rabaul, Japanese installations on the Crater Peninsula, and bivouac and supply areas at Vunapope and Cape Gazelle 1944 - In the Indian and Pacific Oceans, 4 Japanese ships are sunk by an RN submarine and USAAF and USN aircraft 1945 - Submarine HMS Spur commissioned 1945 - Destroyer USS Gearing launched 1945 - U-2344 sank north of Heiligendamm in position 54.16.5N, 11.48.5E after collision with U-2336. 11 dead and 3 survivors 1945 - Bad weather again prevails and the aircraft of TG 52.2 only fly 28 sorties against the Bonins. The Seventh Air Force dispatches 36 B-24s to bomb the island but they are recalled due to weather. Task Force 58 arrives from Japanese waters but too late in the day to bombard the island however, aircraft of TG 58.4 attack Chichi-shima in the Bonin Islands. The aircraft carriers of TG 58.4 are - USS Cabot with Light Carrier Air Group Twenty Nine CVLG-29, Langley with CVLG-23, Randolph with Carrier Air Group Twelve CVG-12, Yorktown with CVG-3 TASK GROUP 52.2 (TG 52.2), the Amphibious Support Carrier Group, consisted of the following escort aircraft carriers (CVEs) - Task Unit 52.2.1 (TU 52.2.1) - Natoma Bay with Composite Squadron Eighty One (VC-81), Petrof Bay with VC-76 Sargent Bay with VC-79, Steamer Bay with VC-90, Wake Island with Composite Spotting Squadron One (VOC-1), TU 52.2.2 - Bismarck Sea with VC-86, Lunga Point with VC-85, Makin Island with VC-84, TU 50.7.1 (Antisubmarine Hunter-Killer Unit) - Anzio with VC-82. Aircraft from TG 52 only fly 28 sorties against beach defenses on Iwo Jima due to bad weather. Task Force 58 arrives from Japanese waters but they are too late to mount any major attacks but TG 58.4, the carriers Randolph, Yorktown and the light carriers Cabot and Langley, are able to attack Chichi Jima. The only aerial victory is scored by a Fighting Squadron Thirty (VF-30) pilot in Belleau Wood who shoots down a Kawasaki Ki-45 Army Type 2 Twin-engined Fighter Toryu (Dragon Killer), Allied Code Name "Nick." During the night, several Japanese bombers attack the US Navy's ships offshore and damage a troop transport, a minesweeper and a tug; two men are killed and 31 wounded on the transport; five men are killed and nine wounded on the minesweeper; and 42 men are killed and 29 wounded on the tug 1946 - Sloops HMS Sparrow launched 1946 - Submarine HMS Alaric launched 1950 - 826 Sqn, Firefly a/c #PP431 lost in takeoff accident from HMCS Magnificent. Pilot killed 1952 - During a severe "nor'easter" off the New England coast, the T-2 tankers SS Fort Mercer and SS Pendleton broke in half. U .S. Coast Guard vessels, aircraft, and lifeboat stations, working under severe winter conditions, rescued and removed 62 persons from the foundering ships or from the water with a loss of only five lives. Five Coast Guardsmen earned the Gold Lifesaving Medal, four earned the Silver Lifesaving Medal, and 15 earned the Coast Guard Commendation Medal 1955 - 1st of 14 detonations, Operation Teapot nuclear test 1966 - USS Ticonderoga port call Subic Bay 1968 - USS Bon Homme Richard port call Subic Bay 1973 - USS America port call Subic Bay 1974 - Destroyer HMCS Columbia paid off into Category 'C' reserve 1979 - Coast Guard HH-3F helicopter 1432 crashes 180 miles SE of Cape Cod, killing 4 of its 5 occupants. The helicopter was preparing to airlift a 47-year-old crewman from the Japanese fishing vessel Kaisei Maru #18 1991 - Within three hours and ten nautical miles, USS TRIPOLI and PRINCETON struck mines while conducting operations in the northern Arabian Gulf. TRIPOLI, the flagship in one of the most extensive minesweeping operations since the Korean War, sustained a 16 x 20-foot hole in forward starboard side below the waterline. Explosion caused minor flooding to six auxiliary spaces, minimized by damage control procedures. Four crewmembers were injured, and the amphibious assault ship remained fully mission capable. PRINCETON, underway on half power, sustained damage including a crack in her superstructure. Three crewmen were injured, one seriously, and an EOD team is enroute to assess the mission capability of the Aegis cruiser. Naval forces continue maritime interception and mine countermeasures operations. Ships lead out of danger by HMCS Athabaskan 1991 - EOD team from USS Missouri destroys tenth mine 1997 - An overloaded boat with refugees sinks in the Gulf of Zula off the coast of Eritrea. At least 81 people die 2004 - RRF Cape Knox activated 2005 - At the Miami Boat Show, local Miami firefighter, Rick Stephens, will be presented with the Zodiac Cadet 240 he won at the Firefighter Combat Challenge World Championship in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Firefighter Combat Challenge is billed as the toughest 2 minutes in sports and attracts top firefighters. Zodiac of North America, the world's leading supplier of Inflatable Boats, sponsors the Challenge and presents the winning team with the Zodiac MKIII Grand Raid -- a Combat Proven boat used by US Navy SEALs. Zodiac also gives competitors an opportunity to win an individual boat for personal use -- the Zodiac Cadet 240. Rick Stephens was this year's winner, and since he is from a Miami Fire Rescue Dept., Zodiac is presenting his boat at the Miami Boat Show 2005 - Coast Guardsmen from US Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City and Group Atlantic City were recognized for their heroism in the Coast Guard’s response to a chemical tanker explosion off the coast of Virginia in a ceremony at Air Station Atlantic City at the Atlantic City International Airport. Congressman Frank A. LoBiondo (NJ-2), Chairman of the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee, and Coast Guard Fifth District Commander, Adm. Sally Brice-O’Hara, are both scheduled to take part in the ceremony. Among the awardees is Petty Officer Zee Lee, a rescue swimmer who is being awarded the distinguished Coast Guard Medal. * The Coast Guard Medal is awarded to any person serving in any capacity with the Coast Guard who shall distinguish himself by heroism not involving actual conflict with the enemy. The individual must have performed a voluntary act of courage surpassing normal expectation and in the face of great danger. For an act of lifesaving, the individual must have displayed heroism at the risk of his life. On the evening of Saturday, Feb. 28, 2004, the 570-foot chemical tanker Bow Mariner with 27 crewmembers onboard exploded and sank more than 50 miles off the coast of Virginia. Of the 27 men onboard, six were rescued by the men of women of several Coast Guard rescue assets. Rescue aircraft and boats also responded from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, N.C., and Coast Guard Stations Chincoteague, Md., Portsmouth, Va., and Cape May, NJ “These brave members of the Coast Guard have dedicated themselves to service, and represent the best our nation has to offer," said Chairman LoBiondo. “We honor them for their courageous action to rescue mariners in need at great risk to themselves. Our boaters are lucky to know that when they are on the water, help is just a short call away.” Individuals from Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City to be recognized Petty Officer Zee Lee of Ocean City, NJ (awarded the Coast Guard Medal)· Petty Officer Ben Bradley of Fresno, Calif. (awarded the Coast Guard Air Medal)· Lt. Jeff Graham of Portsmouth, RI (awarded the Coast Guard Air Medal)· Lt. Russell Torgerson of Niwot, Colo. (awarded the Coast Guard Air Medal)· Petty Officer Lee Gorlin of Brick, NJ (awarded the Coast Guard Commendation Medal) · Petty Officer Marcus Bynum of Hartford, Conn. (awarded the Coast Guard Commendation Medal)· Lt. j.g. Rodney Rios of Buena, NJ (awarded the Coast Guard Commendation Medal)· Cmdr. Daniel Taylor of Elyria, Ohio (awarded the Coast Guard Commendation Medal)· Senior Chief Petty Officer Marc Luistro of Inglewood, Calif. (awarded the Coast Guard Commendation Medal)· Petty Officer Bryan Morris of Bronxville, N.Y. (awarded the Coast Guard Achievement Medal) 2005 - Russia and Norway have reached agreement on installing solar batteries in some of the Russian lighthouses on the Barents Sea 2005 - HMS Ark Royal has won security for the workers of Rosyth. The MoD today confirmed that dockyard owners Babcock had been awarded the £20 million contract to refit the aircraft carrier, which will help safeguard the yard’s remaining 1400 jobs. The ship, which last underwent a major work at Rosyth in 2001, will be at the shipyard for 11 months of "regeneration" work 2006 - A small boat from USCGC Haddock transports a 61-year-old female to Shelter Island. The patient was a passenger on board the Adventure Hornblower. She was feeling severely ill and required Coast Guard assistance. She was taken to Shelter Island, where a San Diego EMS ambulance transported her to the hospital 2006 - At 0930Z an EPIRB (emergency position indicating radio beacon) alert was received by Falmouth Coastguard indicating that the vessel that this beacon was registered to was in distress. The position that the beacon gave placed the signal approximately 640 miles west of the Cape Verde islands. All 406 MHz EPIRB's are required to be registered, this then gives Falmouth Coastguard the opportunity to identify the owner or owners. In this instance, the information held was details of the son of the owners of the EPIRB and the vessel that it belonged to. He was contacted by Falmouth Coastguard and they were able to ascertain full information relating to this distress alert. The couple on the yacht are a retired British couple from Leicester who have been sailing around the world for the last four years in a thirty six foot catamaran called 'Wahinema'. After cooperation with International MRCC's (Maritime rescue coordination centers) from France, America and Senegal in an incident lasting in excess of 24 hrs, the operations staff at Falmouth Coastguard successfully managed to identify a merchant ship that was able to divert to the last known position of the yacht. This ship is a 38,500 ton bulk carrier, sailing under the Bahamas Flag called the 'Castillo de San Pedro'. This ship arrived at the position of the yacht and recovered the British couple the next day at 1215. They are now recovering in a cabin on board the ship. The couple had set out from the Cape Verde Islands, seven days ago bound for Trinidad. They will be landed in Port Comfort, Texas 2nd March when the ship docks 2006 - At 1030 Humber port authorities reported to Humber Coastguard that the master of the vessel 'Willow' had informed them that the ship's cook was missing. The vessel had departed Immingham at 0050hrs today. The crewman is thought to have retired to his quarters at approximately 2000hrs yesterday and has not been positively seen since. He was reported missing to the Captain at 0700. The vessel has been thoroughly searched to no avail and as his personal belongings and cash are still in his quarters it is thought unlikely he has gone ashore without permission. Humber Coastguard has commenced a search for a possible man overboard from the vessel. Cleethorpes Coastguard rescue team has been called out, a rescue helicopter R128 from RAF Leconfield has been scrambled and RNLI lifeboats from Cleethorpes, Humber, Skegness and Cromer have been requested to launch. The Cleethorpes Coastguard rescue team and inshore lifeboat are searching the River Humber Estuary and shoreline. Yarmouth Coastguard is assisting with communications. The vessel is a general cargo vessel on passage from Immingham to Romania. The vessel is 1450 tons carrying a cargo of petroleum coke and is Panamanian flag. The vessel had been under detention by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency after being inspected by Port State Control officers. It was only released from detention yesterday evening after effecting repairs 2007 - Five illegal immigrants drowned and 21 were missing after their boat sank in rough seas off the Greek island of Samos in the eastern Aegean 2007 - US Navy responding to a Taiwanese fishing vessel that was engulfed in flames approximately 640 miles east-northeast of Guam, according to Coast Guard Search and Rescue Specialist Lt. Lee Putnam. The vessel, Jin Tong Long 33, caught fire early yesterday and the crew of at least 11 sailors were forced to evacuate the ship into liferafts 2007 - Toxic gas is rising from a fertilizer-laden Dutch ship stranded off the northwest coast of Spain after a fire, Spanish media reported. The regional Galicia government named the vessel as the Dutch cargo ship Ostedijk (5,165 gross, built 2006), and a national government spokesman confirmed media reports that said the 6000-tonne ship was under tow to move it away from inhabited coastal areas. The ship, making for Valencia, sent out a distress call early on Saturday when it was off the Spanish port of La Coruna, and is currently 19km off the Spanish coast ============================================================= 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 2007 Seawaves Publishing Inc 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.