SeaWaves Today in History February 24, 2008

 


 


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February 24

Cuba - Grito de Baire. (Marks the start in 1895 of the Spanish-Cuban War.) Visiting warships Dress Ship overall. Guns salutes are fired

? 1813 - USS Hornet, Captain James Lawrence, captures HMS Peacock
? 1838 - Battle of Fighting Island. A force of 2,000 Canadian Militia and British regulars cross the frozen Detroit River in order to dislodge 150 ill-equipped republicans of William Lyon Mackenie's "Patriot Army of the North-West". After a brief exchange of fire, the rebels flee over the ice to the American side of the border
? 1885 - Chester W. Nimitz, whose work as US naval commander contributed greatly to the defeat of Japan during World War II, was born
? 1903 - United States signed an agreement acquiring a naval station at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba
? 1913 - Battleship HMS Barham laid down
? 1918 - Destroyer USS Greer laid down
? 1918 - Destroyer HMS Westminster launched
? 1923 - Light cruiser USS Omaha commissioned
? 1923 - Soviet submarine A-4 launched
? 1925 - Canada and US sign boundary treaty; create International Lake of the Woods Control Board
? 1925 - Liner (later AMC) Carinthia commissioned
? 1925 - Destroyer FS Lynx launched
? 1927 - Heavy cruiser HMS Shropshire laid down
? 1928 - Submarine FS Redoutable launched
? 1937 - U-46 laid down
? 1937 - Heavy cruiser USS Vincennes commissioned
? 1940 - Corvettes HMS Spikenard, Windflower & Hepatica laid down Lauzon PQ
? 1940 - US freighter SS Scottsburg is detained for several hours by British authorities, but is allowed to proceed the same day
? 1940 - Minesweeping trawlers HMS Hickory & Chestnut launched
? 1940 - SS Royal Archer struck a mine laid by U-21 on 4 Nov, 1939 and sank at 56.06N, 02.55W 
? 1940 - MS Santos was sunk off Kirkwall by U-63. Among the 31 dead were 3 passengers and 6 men from the Swedish merchant Liana, which was sunk by U-14 on 16 Feb
? 1940 - Battleship HMS Anson launched
? 1940 - Corvette USS Restless (ex-HMS Periwinkle) launched
? 1940 - Corvettes HMS Peony & Snowberry laid down
? 1941 - Admiral Darlan is appointed head of the Vichy French Government 
? 1941 - "Now our sea warfare can begin in earnest," Hitler told a handpicked audience here today. He was speaking in a charged atmosphere at the beer cellar where what became the Nazi Party was founded in 1919. He pulled no punches. "Our Nazi methods were unattractive to many," he said. "But I was a soldier and had come from the front, where I had got used to a rough tongue." Hitler reported on the progress of the intensive training of U-boat crews to man the new boats streaming out of his shipyards. His claim that U-boats have sunk 190,000 tons of shipping in the last two days, may be exaggeration; that is more like the month's total. Nevertheless it is far more than the Allies can afford
? 1941 - Italian forces repel a British attempt to capture the island of Kastellórizo in the Dodecanese. This involved a commando assault on the island. On 23 Feb the destroyers Hereward and Decoy embarked commandos at Souda Bay and proceeded to Kastellórizo with the cruisers Gloucester & Bonaventure and the river gunboat Ladybird. The troops were landed at dawn on the 25th from the destroyers, while Ladybird landed marines. Although the island was quickly occupied the Italian forces in Rhodes reacted with vigor and bombed the island heavily between 0800 and 0930. Ladybird, slightly damaged, re-embarked the marines and left for Cyprus. It was off Kastellórizo in WWI that the aircraft carrier HMS Ben-My-Chree was sunk, the only carrier lost to enemy action in WWI and the only one ever sunk by shore batteries. It had been intended to transport a permanent garrison for Kastellórizo on the armed boarding vessel HMS Rosaura, but after the setback of 25 February the troops were instead embarked in the HM destroyers Hero & Decoy at Alexandria
? 1941 - The US has ruled out the possibility of the dispatch of USN capital ships to Singapore. The US view is that the loss of Singapore, while it would be unfortunate, would not have a decisive effect on the outcome of the war but could imperil the US Pacific Fleet. The US announced its decision at the Anglo-American staff conversations, which opened here (Singapore) last month. The US Representative at these talks is RADM "Speck" Purnell, Chief of Staff of the US Asiatic Fleet
? 1941 - In the clearest statement yet on Japan's expansionist policy and the ideology behind it, foreign minister, Yosuke Matsuoka, today declared Japan's belief in its "natural right" to Oceania - the western Pacific, including Australia. Speaking to the Japanese parliament he said - "I believe the white race must cede Oceania to the Asiatics." Mr Matsuoka said that the region has sufficient natural resources to support 600-800 million people. "I believe we have a natural right to migrate there," he said. The name Oceania usually refers to the islands of the Pacific, but an Oceania for 600 million would also have to include Australasia" 
? 1941 - Destroyer HMS Dainty sunk by aircraft off Tobruk
? 1941 - Corvettes HMCS Brantford & Midland laid down Midland ON
? 1941 - Destroyer HMS Inconstant launched
? 1941 - At 0053, a second torpedo was fired from U-123 which struck after two minutes, stopping SS Grootekerk. At 0105, a coup de grâce was fired, but this was a surface runner, which struck in that part of the ship where the crew was lowering the lifeboats. The ship sank shortly thereafter. There were no survivors among the crew of 18 Dutch and 34 Chinese
? 1941 - At 2143, SS Nailsea Lass, a straggler from Convoy SLS-64, was hit under the bridge by one torpedo from U-48 and sank by the bow at 2219 hours 60 miles SW of Fastnet. Five crewmembers were lost. The master and the chief officer were taken prisoner, landed at St Nazaire on 27 February and taken to the German POW camp Milag Nord. The second officer & 18 crewmembers landed at Ballyoughtraugh, Co. Kerry and the third officer and nine crewmembers near Berehaven, Co Cork
? 1941 - SS Waynegate sunk by U-73 at 58.50N, 21.47W
? 1941 - At 004, SS Cape Nelson in Convoy OB-288 was torpedoed and sunk by U-95 southwest of Iceland. The master and three crewmembers were lost. 34 crewmembers were picked up by the British merchant Harberton and landed at Halifax on 4 Mar, 1941
? 1941 - At 0027, U-95 fired one torpedo at the convoy OB-288 about 300 miles NNW of Rockall and missed the intended target, the CO thought that he hit another ship beyond. This is not confirmed from Allied reports. At 0028, the U-boat fired a second torpedo, which struck Marslew in the stern and observed the ship sinking. The master and twelve crewmembers were lost. The British SS Empire Cheetah picked up 21 crewmembers and two gunners
? 1941 - SS Templemoat sunk by U-95 at 59.27N, 20.20W in Convoy OB-288
? 1941 - At 0116, SS Linaria, dispersed from Convoy OB-288, was torpedoed & sunk by U-96 SW of Reykjavik. The master, 30 crewmembers and three gunners were lost
? 1941 - SS Sirikishna sunk by U-96 at 58N, 21W in Convoy OB-288
? 1941 - At 0624, steam tanker British Gunner in convoy OB-289 was torpedoed and damaged by U-97 273 miles northwest of Cape Wrath. Four hours later, the corvette HMS Petunia ordered the crew to abandon ship in 61°16N/12°20W, even though the master reported that his ship could be towed to port. Three crewmembers were lost. The master, 38 crewmembers and two gunners were picked up by the corvette and landed at Stornoway, Hebrides. 
? 1941 - At 0818, U-97 attacked Convoy OB-289 for the third time & damaged the G.C. Brøvig with one torpedo. The tanker lost the bow, but the bulkhead held and the engines remained intact. She continued her voyage at slow speed with steering tow assistance by corvette HMS Petunia, arriving at Stornoway on 27 February. With permanent repairs made in Falmouth, she returned to service after three months
? 1941 - At 0212, U-97 fired two torpedoes at Convoy OB-289 SW of the Faröe Islands and reported one ship sunk. In fact the Mansepool & Jonathan Holt were hit and sunk. The master, 38 crewmembers, two gunners and ten passengers from the Jonathan Holt were lost. Two crew embers and one passenger were picked up by corvette HMS Petunia & landed at Stornoway. Two crewmembers & one passenger were picked up by the British rescue ship Copeland and landed at Greenock. Two crewmembers from Mansepool were lost. The master, 19 crewmembers and two gunners were picked up by the British SS Thomas Holt & later transferred to HMS Petunia which had earlier rescued 17 other crewmembers from the same vessel and brought them all to Stornoway
? 1941 - Minesweeper HMS Cromarty launched
? 1941 - U-512 laid down
? 1942 - U-276 laid down
? 1942 - A USN task group, centered on the USS Enterprise, conducted an air raid against Wake Island. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Enterprise and her group conducted defensive patrols to the west of the Hawaii Islands while two other carrier groups made an unsuccessful attempt to relieve Wake Island. On 11 Jan, Enterprise departed to escort US military convoys carrying reinforcements to American Samoa. On 01 Feb, the Enterprise task group began a series of raids against Kwajalein, Wotje, and Maloelap in the Marshall Islands to raise American morale and improve combat efficiency. The raids resulted in the sinking of three ships and eight others damaged, plus the destruction of numerous airplanes and ground facilities. A counterattack by Japanese land-based naval aircraft resulted in only minor damage to Enterprise. During the next month, the Enterprise task group continued their hit-and-run operations with raids against Wake and Marcus Islands. After minor alterations and repairs at Pearl Harbor, she departed on 08 Apr 42 to rendezvous with USS Hornet and transport 16 Army B-25 ‘Mitchell’ bombers for the famous ‘Doolittle Raid’ against Tokyo
? 1942 - At 1035, U-158 attacked Convoy ONS-67 & heard a detonation but could not observe anything since she had to dive. Motor tanker Diloma was hit by one torpedo was able to proceed at a reduced speed and reached Halifax a few hours after the convoy
? 1942 - At 0855, U-158 attacked Convoy ONS-67 about 420 miles SSE of St John's & observed two hits on SS Empire Celt with columns of fire and of water, although the sinking was not seen. At 0950, U-558 attacked ONS-67 in grid BC 8932 (43°51N, 43°15W) & fired three torpedoes in one minute intervals. U-158 observed three hits and that two ships stopped, a third continued on. The first & third torpedo struck the Anadara, which was later finished off by U-587. The second torpedo may have been aimed at the Empire Celt, which continued on her way after she had been hit by U-158, but the torpedo struck the already damaged Eidanger. Empire Celt later broke in two; the stern part remained afloat and was last seen in 46°45N/51°27W on 4 March. Four crewmembers & two gunners were lost. The master and 22 survivors were picked up by Canadian rescue ship Citadelle and 24 survivors by armed trawler HMS St Zeno & landed at St John's on 27 Feb
? 1942 - SS White Crest sunk by U-162 at 47.45N, 38.15W 
? 1942 - At 0950, U-558 fired three torpedoes at Convoy ONS-67 east of Halifax in 43°45N/43°15W (grid BC 8932) and observed three hits. Two ships stopped, the third continued on. The description of the target and the extremely large hole in the tanker’s side make it certain that not only the first torpedo but the third one too hit the Anadara. The second torpedo may have been aimed at the Empire Celt, which continued on her way, but the ship, which was sighted with engines stopped, was, according to the position given, the Eidanger. In the morning, U-587 attempted to finish off a tanker behind the convoy with a torpedo and gunfire, leaving it in sinking condition. The description of the target confirms that it was the Anadara. The master, 53 crewmembers & eight gunners from the Anadara were lost
? 1942 - At 0651, U-558 attacked Convoy ONS-67, heard two explosions and saw one cloud of smoke rising near the bow of the Eidanger, which had been hit by one torpedo on the starboard side, causing extensive damage to the bridge & forward. The tanker stopped, shifted the ballast to the aft tanks to press the propeller under water and with the bow partially awash tried to reach the convoy, which had geared 80 degrees to starboard to shake off the U-boats. At 0950 hours, U-558 attacked again in grid BC 8932 (43.51N, 43.15W) and fired three torpedoes in one minute intervals. U-158 observed three hits and that two ships stopped, a third continued on. The first and third torpedo struck the Anadara, which was later finished off by U-587. The second torpedo may have been aimed at the Empire Celt, which continued on her way after she had been hit by U-158 at 0855 (she foundered later), but the torpedo struck the damaged Eidanger on the starboard side right in front of the mast. The U-boat later sighted her with engines stopped and fore section now submerged. All 39 crewmembers abandoned the Eidanger and were picked up by the British rescue ship Toward, which had observed the attack. At 1540 hours, U-558 found a drifting tanker in grid BC 8689 (43.51N/43.35W), which was identified as Eidanger and sank her with a coup de grâce 
? 1942 - 764 Romanian Jewish refugees heading for Palestine are killed when a Soviet submarine sinks their steamer Struma. The Romanian ship Struma sailed from Constansa under the command of a Bulgarian captain, G.T. Gorbatenkoin, and flying the Panamanian flag. There are 747 Romanian Jews on board, many from the town of Barland; their hope was to reach Palestine. After three days at sea, the Struma anchored off the outer harbor at Istanbul, with engine trouble. Here she awaited British permission to proceed to Palestine, permission that the British refused; one reason given was "It will encourage a flood of refugees." Turkey, for some unknown reason, likewise refused them to disembark although the local Jewish community, who were already running a camp for Displaced Persons, were quite willing to take the Struma's passengers and were in the meantime supplying them with food and water. One of the passengers, Medeea Marcovici, suffered an embolism and was transferred to the Jewish hospital in Istanbul. She was granted a visa for Palestine and died in 1996. After two months at Istanbul with engines that were damaged beyond repair, conditions on board became appalling, many of the passengers now suffering from dysentery and malnutrition. Eventually the Turkish police arrived to tow the Struma out into the Black Sea. The British had exerted strong pressure on Turkey to pursue this course. The enraged passengers fought them off, but a second attempt, where force was used, succeeded and the Struma was towed out and cast adrift outside Turkish territorial waters. This inhuman decision by the Turkish and British governments was to destroy the special relationship between Britain and the Zionist Jews. On the water for 74 days since leaving Conatansa, the Struma, hopelessly overcrowded, and with no country willing to accept them, was suddenly torpedoed and sunk by Soviet submarine SHCH-213 commanded by Lt. Col. Isaev, just ten miles from Istanbul. All on board, a total of 796 persons, perished except one, nineteen year old David Stoljar. The British High Commissioner in Palestine, Sir Harold MacMichael, stated - 'The fate of these people was tragic, but the fact remains that they were nationals of a country at war with Britain, proceeding direct from enemy territory. Palestine was under no obligations towards them"
? 1942 - Submarine HIJMS I-9 launches a Yokosuka E14Y1, Navy Type 0 Small Reconnaissance Seaplane (later assigned the Allied Code Name "Glen"), to reconnoiter Pearl Harbor
? 1942 - Submarine USS Swordfish embarks US High Commissioner to the Philippine Islands Francis B. Sayre and his party of 12, plus five sailors, off Manila Bay. Their original destination is Surabaya, Java, but because of the deteriorating situation on Java, they are taken to Fremantle, Western Australia
? 1942 - USN Bureau of Aeronautics issues a contract for television equipment, including camera, transmitter, and receiver, that is capable of airborne operation. Such equipment promises to be useful both in transmitting instrument readings obtained from radio-controlled structural flight tests, and in providing target and guidance information necessary should radio-controlled aircraft be converted to offensive weapons
? 1942 - At 0145, SS Empire Hail, dispersed from Convoy ON-66, was torpedoed & sunk by U-94 east of St John's. The master, 41 crewmembers & seven gunners were lost
? 1943 - Submarine HMS Vandal wrecked off Kilbrennan Sound, Lochranza, Clyde while working up, cause unknown. On 22 February 1943 she left the depot ship Forth, on Holy Loch, to carry out a three-day exercise in the Clyde, which was to include a deep dive on the 24th. During the exercise the submarine was under no obligation to communicate with her base and no alarm was felt when she did not do so. On 24 February 1943 Vandal was observed leaving her anchorage just north of the Isle of Arran. This was the last seen of her. She was rediscovered December 1994. War Grave 1995
? 1943 - Submarine KNM Uredd lost off Norway in an unknown minefield in Noviken in Nordland. The Germans deployed the mines just a few days before the submarine arrived
? 1943 - Submarine HMS Tantalus launched
? 1943 - Submarine USS Burrfish laid down Portsmouth NSY
? 1943 - U-1009 laid down
? 1943 - U-310, U-539 commissioned
? 1943 - Corvette HMCS Vancouver arrived Kodiak AK & placed under US control
? 1943 - At 1354, US Liberty Ship Nathanael Greene in Convoy MKS-8 was hit on the starboard side by two of three torpedoes from U-565 about 40 miles NE of Oran. The first torpedo struck between the #1 & #2 hatches and the second in the engine room. The explosions severely damaged the deck cargo, damaged the amidships deckhouse, disabled the engines, destroyed the starboard boiler and flooded the forward compartments and the machinery spaces. One officer and three men on watch below were killed while seven others were injured. Only a few minutes later, German aircraft attacked the convoy and the disabled Nathanael Greene was hit amidships by one aerial torpedo. The most of the nine officers, 32 crewmen and 16 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 4in, one 3in and four .50cal guns) abandoned ship in two lifeboats, while 26 men jumped directly onboard HMS Brixham, which came alongside and later picked up the remaining survivors from the boats and the water. The minesweeper took the Nathanael Greene in tow until the British salvage tug Restive took over at 2100 & beached the vessel at Salamanda, four miles west of Mostaganem at 0630 the next day. The ship was declared a total loss, but the repair ship managed to save at least 400 tons of her cargo
? 1943 - At 0754, SS Ingria in Convoy ON-166 was struck by one FAT torpedo from U-600 between #4 hold and the engine room. The crew abandoned the vessel when the deck was awash. At 0813, U-628 fired a spread of four FAT torpedoes, followed by a stern shot two minutes later and heard five explosions, thus claiming two ships sunk and another damaged. The Ingria was only sunk instantly by one further torpedo hit, so the other explosions were probably depth charges from corvette HMCS Rosthern, which later picked up survivors
? 1943 - At 0116, U-653 fired a spread of four torpedoes at Convoy ON-166, observed two hits and heard two detonations. Feiler reported two ships sunk and another damaged. In fact, one torpedo detonated near the Delilian without damaging the vessel, while another torpedo struck the Madoera in station #13 at the bow. The crew quickly abandoned ship in several lifeboats, but the master decided at daylight to reboard the ship with 15 men. Together with the chief engineer he inspected the damage. The bow was now deeper in the water, while one boiler had remained operational. They managed to reduce the list to the bow and the water in #2 hold and in the engine room leveled. The ship got underway at 4 knots for St John’s, but after several days, she ran into an icefield about 200 miles from Newfoundland. The master slowly navigated through the ice and managed to reach St John’s on 1 March. One lifeboat with three Lascar seamen came across a lifeboat with 23 survivors from the Jonathan Sturges, which had been sunk by U-707 shortly before the Madoera herself was sunk. The Dutch lifeboat had already picked up 12 survivors from the same ship from rafts and took over six others to equalize the number of survivors in each boat. The survivors in the Dutch boat were picked up by destroyer USS Belknap on 12 March and landed two days later in Argentia.  Another lifeboat with the second engineer, two Dutch greasers and several natives was found by U-591, which took the second engineer aboard. Three weeks later he was transferred to U-758 & arrived at Bordeaux on 30 March. On 27 February, a third lifeboat was found by U-753, which took six (white) men aboard and brought them to La Pallice, but left 29 natives adrift. The two lifeboats and occupants were never found
? 1943 - At 0111 & 0114, U-707 fired two torpedoes at stragglers just behind Convoy ON-166 during a squall and reported one ship sunk & another damaged. In fact, both torpedoes struck the Jonathan Sturges in the #1 and #2 holds. The engines were secured and the eight officers, 36 crewmen and 31 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 4in, one 3in and eight 20mm guns) abandoned ship in three lifeboats and four rafts, but one of the boats swamped in the heavy seas and the occupants were picked up by the other lifeboats. The vessel was last seen barely above the water with her stern in the air, almost broken in two forward of amidships. Four crewmembers and 11 armed guards went down with the ship. On 27 February, a boat with 23 survivors came across a boat with three Lascar seamen from the Madoera, which had been torpedoed by U-653 at the same time. Four crewmembers and two armed guards were transferred to the foreign boat, which had already picked up eight crewmembers and four armed guards from rafts. The survivors in this boat were picked up by destroyer USS Belknap on 12 March and landed in Argentia two days later, but one crewmember died of exposure. The other lifeboat with the master, the chief mate, 11 crewmembers and four armed guards was never heard of again, like another boat containing ten crewmembers and seven armed guards. The last lifeboat with five crewmembers & two armed guards was found on 5 April by U-336, but one crewmember already died of exposure on 22 March. The survivors were picked up by the U-boat and landed at Brest on 11 April, later transferred to a POW camp near Bremen
? 1943 - Destroyer escorts USS Fair, Manlove & Waterman laid down
? 1943 - Beginning at 0710 hours, the USN Task Force TF 16 (Vice Admiral William F. Halsey Jr.) raids Wake Island to destroy Japanese installations there. SBD Dauntlesses and TBD Devastators of Bombing Squadron Six (VB 6), Scouting Squadron Six (VS 6) and Torpedo Squadron Six (VT 6) from USS Enterprise & SOC-1 Seagulls of Cruiser Scouting Squadron Five (VCS 5) from heavy cruisers USS Northampton, Salt Lake City bomb installations in the atoll. The bombardment unit consisting of USS Northampton & Salt Lake City with destroyers USS Balch & USS Maury (Rear Admiral Raymond A. Spruance) shells the atoll. Combined efforts of USS Enterprise's planes (bombing and strafing) and ships' gunfire sink two guardboats and two Kawanishi H6K4, Navy Type 97 Flying Boats (later assigned the Allied Code Name "Mavis") on the water; F4F Wildcat pilots of Fighting Squadron Six later shoot down a third H6K4 near Wake at about 0830 hours. Fortunately, the bombing and shelling of Wake harms none of the American marines, sailors and construction workers too badly wounded to have been evacuated in the initial increment of POWs, and the civilian workmen retained on the island to continue work on defenses. One SBD of VS 6 is lost, however, and the crew taken prisoner
? 1943 - U-232 collided with U-649 during training in the Bay of Danzig. U-649 sank as a result of that incident, taking 35 of her crew with her 
? 1944 - Frigate HMCS Cape Breton departed Halifax to join EG-6 in UK
? 1944 - Corvette HMCS Copper Cliff launched Blyth UK
? 1944 - Lighter Covered (Non Self-Propelled) YC-523 lost off Portsmouth New Hampshire 
? 1944 - Corvette HMCS Huntsville (ex-HMS Wolvesey Castle) launched Troon, Scotland
? 1944 - HMCS Waskesiu (K330), a River-class frigate, LCdr. James Philip Fraser, RCNR, CO, and HMS Nene (K272), sank U-257, KptLt. Heinz Rahe, CO, with depth charges, in the North Atlantic, in position 47.19N, 026.00W. Waskesiu was part of Escort Group 6, operating in support of convoy SC-153. Waskesiu detected the submarine on Asdic shortly after 02:00 and, although the Group Commander was convinced the contact was ‘non-sub’, LCdr. Fraser (an ex-RCMP marine division officer) was persuaded by his Asdic operators to persist. Waskesiu conducted many hedgehog and depth charge attacks until 05:50, when the submarine surfaced. The ship engaged the submarine with guns and closed to ram but the submarine avoided and maneuvered away. The submarine sank a few moments later. Due to the darkness and rough seas, only 19 of U-257's 49 crewmembers were rescued. KptLt. Rahe was seen to throw his lifejacket and one-man raft to survivors and re-entered the boat just moments before it sank. U-257 was a medium-range VIIC type submarine built by Bremer Vulkan, at Bremen-Vegesack. She was commissioned on 14 Jan 42 and conducted seven patrols with no record of sinking any ships. On 05 Oct 42, while closing to attack convoy HX-209, U-257 was attacked by a patrol aircraft and suffered such severe damage that she had to return to base for repairs. U-257 operated with the successful 'Luchs' Group (01-05 Oct 42) and the 'Falke' Group (31 Dec 42-22 Jan 43). Heinz Rahe was born in 1916, at Neumünster. He joined the navy in 1936. His first operational tour of duty was between Mar and Oct 40 as the Weapons Officer in the torpedo boat Wolf. He joined the U-boat force in Oct 40. After conversion training, he served from Apr to Sep 41 as the First Watch Officer in the Type VIIB boat U-73, commanded by the 'ace' KptLt. Helmut Rosenbaum, Knight's Cross (nine ships sunk for 57,863 tons). Rahe was selected for command and underwent his U-boat Commander’s Course between Dec 41 and Jan 42. Rahe was appointed to commission U-257 on 14 Jan 42, at the age of 25. He was promoted to KptLt. on 01 Nov 42. Heinz Rahe was among those lost when U-257 was sunk in the central North Atlantic
? 1944 - U-713 sunk in the Arctic NW of Narvik, Norway, in position 69.27N, 04.53E, by depth charges from destroyer HMS Keppel. 50 dead (all hands lost)
? 1944 - U-761 scuttled near Tangier, in position 35.55N, 05.45W, in view of approaching destroyers HMS Anthony & Wishart. 9 dead and 48 survivors
? 1944 - Corvette HMCS Petrolia (ex-HMS Sherborne Castle) launched Belfast 
? 1944 - Minesweeper HMS Octavia commissioned
? 1944 - Minesweepers USS Roselle & Ruddy laid down
? 1944 - U-1054 launched
? 1944 - Josephine "Joe" Doolittle, the wife of Lt-Gen James Harold Doolittle, Commanding General of the US Eighth Air Force, breaks a bottle of champagne across the bow and christens the aircraft carrier USS Shangri-La at Norfolk VA
? 1944 - SS Fort Stikine, sails from the Mersey. Her destination is "secret" but her cargo clearly marked for Karachi & Bombay. On deck is crated gliders, whilst below, her Bombay cargo included crated aircraft and shells, torpedoes, mines, rockets, magnesium and bombs totaling 1,400 tons of explosive. Also on board, in No. 2 'tween deck, were 124 bars of gold worth nearly one million pounds
? 1944 - Submarines HMS Varne & Supreme launched
? 1944 - During test firing with the machine gun from U-453 at the base in Salamis, Greece were two men killed (not crewmembers)
? 1945 - The boat lost a man overboard from U-997 in the Arctic Sea. [Bootsmaat Erich Sachse]
? 1945 - U-480 sunk between 29 January and about 20 February 1945 in minefield Brazier D2 in position 50°22'04"N/001°44'10"W. 48 dead (all hands lost)
? 1945 - U-927 sunk SE of Falmouth, in position 49.45N, 04.45W, by depth charges from an RAF 179 Sqn aircraft. 47 dead (all hands lost)
? 1945 - U-3007 sunk near Bremen, by bombs. Wreck broken up. 1 dead
? 1945 - U-1195 sailed from Bergen on her first and final patrol
? 1945 - U-2540 commissioned
? 1945 - ASW trawler HMS Ellesmere sunk by U-1203 at 49.04N, 05.31W 
? 1945 - SS Oriskany in Convoy BTC-78 was torpedoed & sunk by U-1208 west of Lands End. The master, the convoy commodore), 21 crewmembers, seven naval staff members and four gunners were lost
? 1945 - Egyptian Premier Ahmed Maher Pasha, is assassinated after reading out a royal decree declaring war on Germany and Japan
? 1964 - A US Coast Guard ice skiff rescued 25 persons from an ice flow that had broken loose from the shore near Camp Perry, Ohio. A similar rescue took place almost simultaneously at St. Clair Shores, Michigan when another Coast Guard ice skiff and a police helicopter removed five more from an ice flow
? 1965 - USS Hancock port call Subic Bay
? 1966 - USS Yorktown port call Subic Bay
? 1967 - USS Kitty Hawk port call Hong Kong
? 1967 - Washington State Ferry Hiyu is launched 
? 1968 - Task Force Clearwater established in I Corps
? 1968 - USS Kearsarge port call Sasebo
? 1969 - USS Hornet port call Singapore
? 1973 - In accordance with the Paris Accords, Navy Task Force 78, composed of 4 ocean minesweepers plus Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron 12, begins sweeping the North Vietnamese waters of the mines laid in 1972
? 1989 - Coast Guard units search for survivors of United Airlines Flight 811 after it crashes off the coast of Hawaii
? 1991 - Amphibious feint attacks under naval gunfire are launched in Arabian Gulf.
? 1991 - US Navy, along with UK, Saudi and Kuwaiti naval forces are conducting carrier air, minesweeping, and amphibious missions along the east coast of Kuwait. USS Missouri and Wisconsin fired at targets in occupied Kuwait in support of ground offensive
? 1991 - Maritime intercept operations also continue with USS SAMUEL B. ROBERTS recording 100th interception
? 1994 - Frigate HMCS Fredericton delivered
? 1997 - MCDV HMCS Whitehorse launched Halifax NS
? 2003 - HMCS Iroquois departs Halifax to assume duties as flagship of Task Force 151, the multi-national maritime intercept force in the Persian Gulf region
? 2003 - Destroyer USS Halsey laid down Pascagoula MI
? 2005 - Chick-fil-A employee volunteers will prepare the Atlanta-based chain's signature chicken sandwiches, waffle fries, coleslaw and brownies in the hanger bay aboard the USS Nimitz and serve lunch to the crew on board the ship. The volunteers have connections to the military, through former personal service or family members, and this event allows them, and Chick-fil-A, the opportunity to express their thanks and appreciation to the military
? 2005 - Pierre & Vacances, has decided not to proceed with plans to convert the NCL cruiseship, Norway, formerly the transatlantic liner, France, into a floating tourist resort. The group estimated that the project would have cost it at least EUR200m ($264m) and indicated that the figure could have gone higher, taking into account regulatory, technical and financial uncertainties. As a result, it said, it had decided to concentrate its resources on its mainstream holiday resident activities in France and other western European countries. One of the reasons for the high cost of the project was the need to remove asbestos from the vessel, which has been inactive in the German port of Bremerhaven since NCL decided at the start of last year not to repair the vessel. The Norway was damaged in the port of Miami in May 2003 by an engine room explosion in which seven crewmembers lost their lives and others were injured. Pierre & Vacances's project would have involved turning the vessel into a 650-room resort with casino, concert hall, conference facilities and a museum dedicated to France's involvement in the transatlantic liner trade. Isaac Dahan, the property developer who was at the origin of the program to bring the France back home to its native country, said that he was not dropping the project despite the withdrawal of his partner. He said that he hoped to find another partner in the tourist sector but said that any future project would be less "pharonic" than that of Pierre & Vacances
? 2005 - Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering received a massive boost with the largest ever order for an oil floating production, storage and offloading facility. Star Deep Water Petroleum, a subsidiary of ChevronTexaco, placed the $978m order for the facility, which will be based off the coast of Nigeria in the Agbami oil fields. DSME said it would deliver the giant project, measuring 320 m in length, 59 m wide and 32 m deep, by May 2008. The dimensions and capacity are akin to a very large crude carrier. The FPSO, weighing roughly 100,000 tons, will be able to hold 2.16m barrels of oil, the shipbuilder said in a statement
? 2005 - South Korea is looking to participate in the Galileo project, the satellite radio navigation program by the EU, as backup for the US-led global positional system (GPS) it currently uses. During the fourth science-related ministers’ meeting on Thursday (Feb. 24), the government decided to join the European project, which will enable people to pinpoint positions of objects within 1 meter. Toward that end, the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) plans to present its intent to the EU as early as next month with the aim of sealing the agreement this year. Korea will be required to contribute at least 5 million Euro (6.7 billion won) to be a part of the multi-billion Euro Galileo program, which will be up and running in 2008
? 2005 - Matson Navigation Company, Inc. (Matson), the ocean transportation subsidiary of Alexander & Baldwin, Inc. announced that it intends to invest $365 million in vessel, container and terminal assets to launch a new Guam and China service beginning in February 2006 when its present ten-year alliance agreement expires with APL. As a key element of that plan, the company has entered into cash on delivery purchase contracts for two new US-built containerships with Kvaerner Philadelphia Shipyard, Inc. (KPSI). The vessels to be acquired will be similar in capacity, speed and operating efficiency to Matson's MV Manukai and MV Maunawili, both built by the same yard and placed in service in 2003 and 2004, respectively. The two new ships are expected to be delivered and placed in service by July 2005 and June 2006 at an estimated combined cost of $315 million. Matson has the option to time charter these vessels in lieu of purchasing. It also will have a right-of-first-refusal with KPSI for up to four other containerships of similar design that are deliverable by the Philadelphia yard before June 2010. By mid-2006, both new ships will be deployed in an integrated weekly West Coast-Hawaii-Guam-China service together with three of Matson's most efficient diesel-powered containerships. The planned routing will include port calls at Long Beach, Honolulu, Guam and two ports in China
? 2005 - Canada announced Thursday that it has decided not to participate in a US missile defense system, dealing a symbolic setback to the experimental project and a blunt rebuff to President Bush, who had personally lobbied Canada to join. The decision by Prime Minister Paul Martin, who had earlier signaled he favored signing on to the system, was an acknowledgment of the deep dislike Canadians feel both for President Bush and his administration's project to shoot down missiles headed toward the United States
? 2005 - It was the end of an era last week when the chief of the South African Navy, Vice Admiral Johan Retief, who is also the last white officer to head one of the armed forces, paid Durban a ‘flying’ visit to bid farewell to the officers, men and women of Salisbury Island Naval Station. During his career of 41 years in the navy Admiral Retief spent a considerable time based in Durban with the strike craft flotilla, where he was the commissioning captain of the SAS Jim Fouche, the first of the strike craft to be built in Durban. In March 1980 as officer commanding he performed the firing of the first live surface-to-surface missile in the SA Navy
? 2006 - According to sources in Taiwan, Japan, India and China, the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) is building a new focus for its strategic nuclear forces: Hainan Island in the South China Sea. The new hub would reflect China's expanding naval power projection capabilities and greatly increase the possibility of confrontation with other navies. The strategic shift most likely involves basing some of the PLAN's new Type 094 Jin-class nuclear strategic missile submarines (SSBNs) at a new facility either within or near the existing South Sea Fleet base at Yulin on Hainan Island
? 2006 - The Prime Minister has today re-appointed Professor Martin Daunton as a Trustee of the National Maritime Museum. The term of appointment will be for four years from 14 February 2006
? 2006 - A 47-year old woman was rescued by Coast Guard Station Grand Haven and the local police department around 0945 in Lake Michigan about a half mile south of Station Grand Haven. The Coast Guard and the police pulled her from the ice with a lifering, and they transported her to the hospital. A Good Samaritan witnessed the victim fall through the ice and dialed 911
? 2006 - Search crews aboard a Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point C-130 aircraft, an HH-65 Dolphin helicopter, a 25-foot rigid hull boat from Coast Guard Station Maui, along with crews from the Maui Police and Fire Department, are currently searching the south coast of Maui for a 47 year old free diver who was reported overdue from an excursion Thursday night. The free diver, Anthony Moore, is reported to have left from Makena Landing on the south side of Maui, Thursday at 3 p.m. and was expected back at 5 p.m. When he didn't return home at the appropriate time, his wife contacted the emergency dispatch center in Maui who then contacted the Coast Guard Station at Ma'alaea Harbor Thursday evening. Thursday night a Coast Guard C-130 air-dropped two radar beacons in what was estimated to be Moore's last known position. The beacons aid in determining the best search pattern because their drift indicates the prevailing wind and current pattern at that location. Searches were focused along the beach from Polo Beach to Nuku'ele Point and offshore along the same area. The Coast Guard, along with MFD and MPD, searched until about 2335 Thursday. Rescue resources resumed their search efforts at first light Friday
? 2006 - US Senators Daniel K. Inouye and Daniel Akaka announce that the USCG will dedicate a new 47-foot Motor Lifeboat (MLB) at 1000 at its Station Maui facility at Ma’alaea Harbor. The $1-million boat is designed for high seas, surf and heavy weather environments.  The boat is capable of being operated in 30-foot seas, 50-mile per hour winds, and can respond within a 50-mile radius of Ma’alaea Harbor.  The 47-foot boat will replace the Coast Guard’s 24-foot rigid hull, inflatable Zodiac boat
? 2006 - The families of those victimized on cruise lines and victims themselves are joining together to form an international coalition dedicated to fighting for the rights of those wronged on cruise ships
? 2006 - The Walter Munk Award for Distinguished Research in Oceanography Related to Sound and the Sea presented to Dr. Peter F. Worcester at the 13th Ocean Sciences Meeting, a joint meeting of the American Geophysical Union, The Oceanography Society, the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography, and the Estuarine Research Federation, in Honolulu, HI. Dr. Worcester is being recognized for "his early and continuing contributions to the development of acoustical oceanography and tomographic inverse methods for acoustic measurement of ocean processes, for tireless service aimed at developing a responsible permitting structure for the use of sound in the sea for scientific purposes, and for leadership in the US ocean acoustics community." He is a leading international figure in acoustical oceanography and a pioneer in the field of ocean acoustic tomography. Since 1978, Dr. Worcester has been a Research Oceanographer at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, where his research interests center on the application of acoustic remote sensing techniques to the study of ocean structure and circulation. Dr. Worcester has led numerous experimental programs to develop and use tomography, each employing ever more sophisticated techniques. In 1987 he led a successful experiment north of Hawaii that measured large-scale relative vorticity and tidal currents by acoustic means. In a 1988–89 acoustic tomography experiment in the Greenland Sea, convective chimneys were observed acoustically. He has been an integral part of the international Heard Island and ATOC demonstrations, which began around 1990. Recently, in an experiment across the mouth of the Mediterranean, he showed that differential acoustic phase measurements can be used to estimate average currents. His research, while on the cutting edge of new acoustic technology and methodology, has always emphasized oceanography, particularly measurements that are uniquely possible by acoustic techniques. Presently Dr. Worcester is leading the acoustic tomography component of HOME, NSF’s Hawaiian Ocean Mixing Experiment, and he is leading ONR’s multi-year North Pacific Acoustic Laboratory (NPAL) program. These are large national efforts addressing important, timely oceanographic and ocean acoustic issues. Dr. Worcester will receive a silver medal, commemorative lapel pin, and a certificate bearing the signatures of the Secretary of the US Navy and the President of The Oceanography Society. He is the 8th recipient of the Munk award since it was first given to Walter Munk in 1993
? 2006 - Pirates had a field day with mechanical and electrical equipment from two out-of-order tugboats that were anchored off the coast of the Arabian Sea near Manora Island. Docks Police registered an FIR against four masked men, who robbed the two tugboats. The police said that FIR No 36/06 was registered on the complaint of Ahsan Ali, who is a manager with Old Port (Pvt) Ltd, the company, which owns the tugboats. The Daily Times reported that Ali informed the police that the four men approached his company's boats in two separate vessels. They took the guards stationed at the tugboats hostage and loaded the stuff into their boats. The names of the tugboats are Jawa and Jawa Bosar. The pirates took away motors, some tools and copper and scrap. The police said that the tugboats were being repaired and had been out of order for the last six months
? 2006 - Chief of the SA Navy, Vice Admiral J. Mudimu, received four courtesy calls from the newly appointed Defense Attachés from Uruguay, Nigeria, Ukraine and Zimbabwe


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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.
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