SeaWaves Today in History January 4, 2008 ********************************************************************* January 4 1643 - Sir Isaac Newton, the British mathematician and physicist who explained the law of gravity, is born 1813 - Sir Isaac Pitman, British educator and inventor of a system of shorthand, is born 1863 - Blockading ship USS Quaker City captures sloop Mercury carrying despatches emphasizing desperate plight of the South 1877 - Cornelius Vanderbilt, US transportation promoter and financier who amassed a great fortune through railroad and shipping interests, dies in New York at the age of 83, leaving a fortune estimated at US$100 million 1897 - Assistance to lost persons near Oak Island, New York. At 8 -30 p.m. the keeper received word by telephone that about a gentleman and two ladies, who had left the station at 4 p.m. In a small boat making for the mainland, they had not yet reached their home. As the weather was foggy and with the bay full of floating ice, it was feared they were lost. He at once set out to their assistance with one of his crew in a rowboat and carrying a shotgun. With frequent gunfire the bewildered party was located and assisted in reaching their destination 1910 - Commissioning of USS Michigan, the first US dreadnought battleship. USS South Carolina and Michigan, sister ships, were authorized at the same time, and the former was expected to be first off the ways; it just didn't work out like that. Meantime, as 'tis often said, great minds go in the same channels: South Carolina was in fact designed and work made ready prior to that of HMS Dreadnought. Had the RN the same management as the USN, the latter would have been first, quite possibly by at least a couple of years. The key difference in launch times seems to have been Lord Fisher's careful pre-approval arrangements for rapidly acquiring extant major items for his personally long-planned seminal ship, and his forceful, hard-driving and very influential personality in a system that gave him, as First Sea Lord, the power to carry out his wishes with little hindrance once his mind was made up. Happily, he had excellent instincts, long foresight, and knew exactly what he was doing and why 1923 - Lenin finishes his “Letter to the Congress.” On that day, he pointed out negative characteristics of Stalin and suggested that he be replaced as General Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Russia Communist Party 1935 - The British open a major oil pipeline between the Mosul oilfields in Iraq and the Mediterranean port of Haifa in Palestine. This route provides the British better control over Iraqi oil by complementing oil shipments through the French port of Tripoli 1936 - U-18 commissioned 1939 - Prince Konoye Fumimaro resigns as Prime Minister of Japan 1940 - US freighter SS Exiria is detained at Gibraltar by British authorities 1940 - Corvette HMCS Godetia laid down 1940 - AMC HMS Bulolo commissioned 1940 - U-431, U-433 laid down 1941 - French Brigadier General Charles-Andre de Gaulle, Commander-in-Chief Free French Forces, demands the immediate release of the commander of the Free French Naval Force and Merchant Marine, Vice-Admiral Emile-Henri Muselier. He was arrested by the British for espionage on 2 January 1941 - Destroyers HMCS Micmac & Nootka ordered from Halifax Shipyards Ltd 1941 - Corvette HMS Larkspur commissioned 1941 - U-72 commissioned 1941 - U-595, U-596 laid down 1941 - U-203 launched 1942 - A pilot of the 2d Fighter Squadron, American Volunteer Group ("Flying Tigers"), shoots down a Japanese "Claude" (Mitsubishi A5M Navy Type 96 Carrier Fighter) over Rangoon at 1205 1942 - Major General George Brett assumes command of the US Forces in Australia. One of his first orders is to divert two transports enroute from Brisbane to the Philippines to put in at Darwin. This effectively ends the effort to reinforce the troops in the Philippines 1942 - Eight B-17 Flying Fortresses based at Singosari Airdrome, Java stage through Samarinda Airdrome, Dutch Borneo, and attack Japanese warships and transports in Malalag Bay, Davao, Mindanao Island, from 25,000 feet and damage heavy cruisers HIJMS Myoko and Nachi 1942 - Destroyer escort USS Engstrom laid down 1943 - A severe two day storm begins, sharply decreasing the capacity of Benghazi port and forcing the British Eighth Army to make greater use of the more distant port of Tobruk 1943 - Task Group 67.2 bombards Munda Airfield on New Georgia Island. TG 67.2 is comprised of four light cruisers, HMNZS Achilles, USS Helena , Nashville and St. Louis and three US destroyers. This action marks the first time that proximity fuses for AA are used by a bombardment vessel 1943 - Submarine USS Shad sinks German minesweeper M 4242 (ex-French trawler Odet II) about 45 nautical miles north-northeast of Bilbao, Spain in position 43.55N, 02.42W 1943 - Soviet Navy lists submarine M-36 Black Sea Fleet Kobuleti area (lost off Sebastapol) 1943 - One B-17 manages to bomb shipping at La Goulette, Tunisia 1943 - Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Commander Pacific Ocean Areas and Commander Pacific Fleet, replaces Rear Admiral Robert A. Theobald, Commander North Pacific Area and Task Force 8, with Vice Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid. Rear Adm Charles H. McMorris relieves Rear Admiral William W. Smith as commander of the strike group 1943 - Frigate HMCS New Glasgow laid down Esquimalt BC 1943 - Corvette HMCS Edmunston commenced refit Halifax NS 1943 - Corvette HMCS Galt arrived Liverpool NS for refit 1943 - Destroyer escorts USS Fessenden & Fiske laid down 1943 - U-280 launched 1943 - U-1002 laid down 1943 - U-1405, U-1406, U-1407 ordered 1943 - USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24 Liberators attack schooners off Gasmata and Cape Kwoi, New Britain Island 1944 - Light cruiser USS Omaha and destroyer USS Jouett intercept German blockade runner SS Rio Grande carrying a load of crude rubber in the South Atlantic. Gunfire and scuttling charges sink Rio Grande about 559 nautical miles east of Recife, Brazil, in position 06.41S, 25.36W, in a depth of 18,904 feet 1944 - Aircraft of USN Task Group 37.2 bomb Japanese shipping at Kavieng, New Ireland Island, damaging destroyers HIJMS Fumizuki and Satsuki in Stephen Strait. Task Group 37.2 is comprised of the aircraft carrier USS Bunker Hill, with Carrier Air Group 17 (CVG-17), the small aircraft carrier USS Monterey with Light Carrier Air Group 30 (CVLG-30), the battleship USS Washington and six destroyers 1944 - USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchells covered by RAAF Beaufighters, attack Japanese shipping in Tenau harbor, Dutch Timor, sinking a Japanese army cargo ship 1944 - 32 RAF Bomber Command aircraft drop mines off Bay of Biscay ports: ten each lay mines off Gironde and La Pallice, six each lay mines off Bayonne and Brest, and three each lay mines off Lorient and St. Nazaire 1944 - USAAF Eighth Air Force bomb Kiel U-boat facilities 1944 - USS PT-145 grounded in enemy waters destroyed to prevent capture Mindiri New Guinea 1944 - Aerial minelaying operations in the Marshalls continue: two PV-1 Venturas of Bombing Squadron One Hundred Thirty Seven (VB-137) and a PBY-5 Catalina of Patrol Squadron Seventy Two (VP-72), flying from Tarawa Atoll, Gilbert Islands, mine southeast pass, Jaluit Atoll 1945 - Indian XV Corps completes occupation of Akyab, key port and air base on the Arakan front 1945 - FEAF B-24 Liberators and B-25s bomb shipyards in northern Borneo 1945 - Fleet Air Arm aircraft from the aircraft carriers Indomitable, Indefatigable and Victorious launched a major air strike against the Japanese oil refineries at Pangkalan Brandan in Sumatra 1945 - Corvette HMCS Stellarton departed St John's with Convoy HX-329 1945 - Submarine USS Sirago laid down 1945 - USN Task Force 38 continues operations against Japanese airfields and shipping in the Formosa area. Navy planes sink three auxiliary submarine chasers and damage an escort vessel and an auxiliary submarine chaser in the Formosa Strait; sink an auxiliary netlayer northeast of Taiwan; and damage a minesweeper near Takao 1945 - Off San Jose, Mindoro Island, a Japanese kamikaze crashes US freighter SS Lewis L. Dyche (carrying bombs and fuses), which disintegrates, killing all hands, including the 28-man Armed Guard; debris from the exploding freighter damages a nearby oiler and a minelayer 1945 - In the Sulu Sea northwest of Panay Island, Philippine Islands, the USN escort aircraft carrier USS Ommaney Bay is crashed on the starboard side by a Japanese twin-engine Kamikaze. Composite Squadron Seventy Five (VC-75) with FM Wildcats and TBM Avengers is aboard. Two bombs are released; one of them penetrates the flight deck and detonates below, setting off a series of explosions among the fully-fueled aircraft on the forward third of the hanger deck. The second bomb passes through the hanger deck, ruptures the fire main on the second deck, and explodes near the starboard side. Fires, fueled by fuel and ammunition, prevent other ships for coming close and by 1750 the entire topside area had become untenable, and the stored torpedo warheads threatened to explode at any time. The order to abandon ship is given and at 1945, the ship is sunk about 53 nautical miles northwest of San Jose, Panay, by a torpedo from the destroyer USS Burns. A total of 95 crewmen are lost, including two killed on an assisting destroyer when torpedo warheads on the carrier’s hangar deck finally explode. The USN now has 66 escort aircraft carriers in commission 1945 - Japanese planes attack Task Groups 77.6 and 77.2 as they continue toward Lingayen Gulf, Luzon. At the request of General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, Commander-in-Chief South-West Pacific Area, Admiral William Halsey, Commander of the Third Fleet, orders Task Force 38 to extend its coverage of Luzon southward on 6 January. The main body of the Luzon Attack Force sorties from Leyte Gulf after nightfall 1945 - About 1700 hrs, U-1232 attacked the convoy SH-194 four miles off Halifax and reported two ships sunk. SS Polarland was sunk & SS Nipiwan Park damaged. Polarland in station #31 was hit by one torpedo & sank within 15 seconds. Two men rescued themselves on a raft, which floated free and were later joined by three others that came to the surface after the ship sank. The four crewmen and one gunner were picked up about one hour later by HMCS Kentville. The master, one gunner and 15 crewmembers were lost, including all officers 1946 - Minesweeper HMCS Stratford paid off Halifax NS 1946 - Truman administration resumed full diplomatic relations with Thailand 1946 - Destroyer USS Leonard F Mason launched 1946 - Frigate HMS Enard Bay commissioned 1948 - Britain granted independence to Burma 1951 - North Korean and Communist Chinese forces captured the City of Seoul 1951 - HMCS Cayuga pulls away from Inchon, the last United Nations vessel to leave the area just before the North Korean Army overruns the city 1954 - Frigate HMCS Beacon Hill paid off modernization 1982 - Destroyer HMCS Skeena commenced post modernization trials Halifax NS 1989 - VF-32 aircraft from USS John F. Kennedy shoot down 2 hostile Libyan Migs 1990 - Charles Stuart, who'd claimed to have been wounded and his wife shot dead by a robber, leapt to his death off a Boston Harbor bridge after he himself became a suspect 1991 - USS Guam and Trenton conduct Operation Eastern Exit. Embarked elements of 4th Marine Expeditionary Brigade evacuated 65 US citizens and other foreign nationals caught in civil war in Somalia. Evacuees helicoptered from US Embassy in Mogadishu to ships offshore. No injuries or incidents. USS Missouri responded to distress call from Saudi-flagged tanker Tabuk (2 small fires, inoperative fire pump) near Dubai. Missouri fire party and repair officer transferred onboard, and extinguished fire 1991 - Spanish frigate intercepts and diverts Soviet-flagged cargo ship Dimitriy Fermanov in Northern Red Sea after multinational boarding team, including Navy personnel from USS Mississippi, discovered improperly-manifested military equipment on board. Dimitriy Fermanov, enroute from Odessa, USSR to Aqaba, Jordan, anchors while manifest awaits reconciliation and is found to be in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions. 1991 - SECNAV activates 438 additional Naval Reservists from 55 units 1995 - Frigate HMCS Montreal departed Halifax for Operation Sharp Guard off Yugoslavia 2003 - Fire breaks out on an overloaded boat carrying refugees. The ship enroute from Somalia sinks near the Yemeni coast in the Gulf of Aden claiming 80 lives 2004 - Historian John Toland died of pneumonia in Danbury CT at age 91 2005 - The US Coast Guard awarded a contract totaling $144 million to Integrated Coast Guard Systems for production and deployment of the Coast Guard’s second Maritime Security Cutter Large. The WMSL is the largest of three new cutter classes -- and the first under construction -- within the Coast Guard’s Integrated Deepwater System acquisition program 2005 - The Nigerian Government procured 15 new patrol boats from the US as part of measures aimed at cracking down on rampant theft of crude from its coastal oilfields in the Niger Delta 2005 - Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, has assigned duties of the National Security Adviser to Shri M.K. Narayanan, Special Adviser to the Prime Minister of India 2005 - For the seventh time in less than six months, a retired ship considered a high priority for scrapping left the US Maritime Administration’s James River Reserve Fleet. General Nelson M. Walker, the latest in a wave of ships to leave the James River, will be towed to the All Star Metals in Brownsville, Texas, to be dismantled. “Each ship towed from the fleet demonstrates the Administration's commitment to the citizens of this region,” said Maritime Administrator Captain William G. Schubert. “We're getting the job done. We promised to remove these ships and we continue to deliver on that promise.” General Nelson M. Walker was first commissioned as the Admiral H.T. Mayo (AP-125). The vessel transported troops between Marseilles and the US and between Okinawa and the US between June and September 1945. In October 1945, Admiral Mayo participated in the first of four "Magic Carpet" voyages to Tokyo and Manila carrying replacements for battle-weary veterans whom the vessel was to bring back home. The final voyages were completed in March 1946. The vessel proceeded to New York where it was decommissioned in May 1946. The General Walker was transferred to the Military Sea Transportation Service in August 1965. From December 1965 to August 1966, it made five cruises from San Francisco to Japan, Okinawa, and Vietnam. Following decommissioning and storage, the vessel was transferred to MARAD in 1970 2005 - The Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries said on Tuesday ROK merchant marine companies will be able to transport empty containers on the Chinese coastal waters of Shanghai and Ningbo. The services are available in line with the agreement on the procedure of coastal water transport which was recently reached between the two countries. ROK shipping lines will be able to save 1 billion won or more per year as they are able to transport empty marine containers amounting to 12,000 TEUs a year. In addition, ROK shipping companies will be able to efficiently manage the stock and relocation of the empty containers. They have experienced hardships as the empty containers belonging to ROK shipping lines have been under the control of Chinese shipping companies 2006 - Perak marine police seized 3,980 cartons of clove cigarettes in a raid at Sungai Sumun, Hutan Melintang, after a tip-off by local fishermen. State Marine Police Commanding Officer DSP Salehuddin Mat Zaman said the contraband goods worth RM86,960 involving import duties totaling RM41,300 were seized from a van at 0545. They were believed to have been loaded onto the van from a boat, he told reporters here today. Also seized was the van worth RM20,000. The culprits including the van driver managed to escape, he said 2006 - Syndicates in Malaysia luring fishermen to sell their subsidized diesel purchased through the e-diesel smartcards. Since two days ago, syndicates have been hounding fishermen with offers of "instant profits" without having to go to the sea and this was revealed by Perak state executive councilor Datuk Ho Cheng Wang. Effective Jan 1, through the smart card, fishermen would be able to buy subsidized diesel at RM1 per liter. Ho said some syndicates offered RM1.10 per liter and going by that rate if a fisherman has a monthly quota of 30,000 liters, he can make RM3,000 monthly without having to work 2006 - Shri A. K. Mohapatra, an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) Officer of 1971 batch (Himachal Cadre) has assumed charge as the new Shipping Secretary, in the Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport & Highways. He was Secretary in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs before joining the Shipping Ministry. Earlier he has served as Chairman of Tariff Commission under the Ministry of Commerce & Industry. He was also Additional Secretary & Financial Advisor in the Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport & Highways in an earlier stint. Shri Mohapatra has earlier worked as Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Heavy Industry, Chairman of Bharat Bhari Udyog Nigam Limited, a large public sector conglomerate manufacturing heavy engineering products and looked after a number of Public Sector Enterprises. He also was in the Board of Directors of many Central PSUs 2006 - Five sailors from Sweden and Finland were plucked from their disabled boat and returned to shore after capsizing in wild seas off southeastern Australia. While on their way back to Sydney after competing in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht race, were hit by heavy weather and capsized the previous evening in their 11.6 meter (37.3 foot) racer savcor. The boat righted itself but was disabled, and a freighter diverted to the scene to shelter the yacht from fierce winds until a police launch arrived. The five were suffering from exhaustion, seasickness and hypothermia 2006 - A man escaped with his life after his vessel was engulfed in flames whilst he slept onboard. Falmouth Coastguard were called by the Fire and Rescue Service at 0400 with a report of a fire onboard a vessel in the Penryn River. At the time, it was unclear as to whether there were people onboard. Falmouth Coastguard Rescue Team were requested to attend the scene and assess the situation. The Falmouth RNLI Inshore Lifeboat was also requested to launch. The fire service used the inshore lifeboat as a platform from which to fight the fire, before it was able to board a neighboring vessel to douse the flames still further. In the meantime, the Coastguard team made inquiries regarding people onboard and were able to locate the owner of the 28 ft yacht, Lasina 2, who had escaped through the front hatch of his vessel when he realized that it was on fire. The man, in his late twenties, waded across the mud to a neighboring vessel where he was sheltering, unhurt 2006 - Sixty years after the end of the Second World War, Alex Polowin will receive France's Legion of Honor. The French government has been marking the 60th anniversary of the invasion of Normandy by tracking down veterans who were involved in the historic battle. Polowin served aboard HMCS Huron when it ran into a flotilla of German destroyers off the French coast three days after D-Day. In a daylong battle all the German ships were knocked out. Polowin, who enlisted at 17, now spends his free time speaking to schools as part of The Memory Project the puts vets and students together in an educational program 2006 - Korea has expanded a plan to build three 1,800-ton level 214 submarines starting in 2012 by another six in a bid to double the country's fleet by 2020, the armed forces said Wednesday. Observers pricked up their ears at the choice of submarines over Aegis vessels as a key strategic weapon to counter any threat posed by powerful nations like China and Japan in the event of reunification with North Korea 2006 - Three Carnival ships currently under charter to the US government for hurricane relief efforts will resume their previously operated schedules in 2006. The Holiday resumes year-round four-and five-day cruises from Mobile, Ala., March 27; the Sensation launches four- and five-day service from New Orleans Oct. 26; and the Ecstasy begins four- and five-day service from Galveston April 8. Elation, which replaced the Ecstasy on four- and five-day cruises from Galveston, will continue that program through April 3, then reposition to Miami for its new seven-day cruise program beginning April 30 2006 - The Coast Guard is assisting fishermen with safety preparedness during the 2005/2006 crab season in the Bering Sea and the waters off Kodiak Island. Coast Guard teams have been and will continue to conduct safety exams and training. The king crab fishery has been underway since October 15. The opilio crab fishery opened at the same time but due to the crab growth cycle the majority of the 37,184,000 pound quota is unharvested. A Coast Guard cutter equipped with an HH-65 Dolphin helicopter and crew will maintain a search and rescue guard in the fleet's vicinity. A Coast Guard HH-60 Jayhawk and crew from Kodiak will be forward deployed to St. Paul around January 9 to cover the increased activity in the area and facilitate a faster response time. Air Station Kodiak personnel monitor VHF channel 16 and the Coast Guard Communications Station on Kodiak continually monitors HF channels 2006 - Lundin Netherlands BV Succursale de Tunisie has awarded Aker Kvaerner a contract for marine operations in conjunction with deployment of the FPSO "Ikdam" to the Oudna field offshore Tunisia. The contract value is approximately USD 14 million. The work will be executed under an alliance agreement with the Aker Kvaerner company, Aker Marine Contractors, and Maersk Supply Service who will provide the installation vessel. The marine operation, including installation of mooring system, flexible risers and umbilicals is planned in June / July 2006 with the hook-up of the "Ikdam" in August 2006. The water depth at the field is about 260 meters. The project will commence immediately 2006 - Based upon requests received during public hearings held on Dec. 14 and Dec. 15, 2005 associated with the permit application filed by Weaver's Cove Energy, LLC and Mill River Pipeline, LCC, the US Army Corps of Engineers has extended its public comment period to Feb. 8, 2006. The extension would allow the public additional time to prepare written comments regarding the application. Weaver's Cove Energy, LLC and Mill River Pipeline, LCC are seeking a permit from the US Army Corps of Engineers to conduct dredging in an existing federal navigation channel, install structures and discharge fill material in wetlands and waterways for the construction of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal and natural gas pipeline facilities in Fall River, Mass. The LNG terminal would be located on a 73-acre site adjacent to the Taunton River primarily at One New Street in the city of Fall River 2006 - Shaikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai and vice-president of the United Arab Emirates, died in Australia at the age of 62 2006 - USS Ronald Reagan departed San Diego on a deployment to conduct naval operations in support of the global war on terrorism, as well as national and theater cooperative security commitments in the western Pacific. This will be the maiden deployment for the navy’s newest Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier 2006 - The Coast Guard has suspended the search for a woman who may have been swept out to sea after a large wave struck several people walking on a beach near Depoe Bay OR. One of the individuals struck by the wave called the Coast Guard at 11:15 a.m., reporting the incident. The Coast Guard was informed that several people on the beach were struck by the wave and one person was drifting out to sea. One individual injured by the wave was transported to a local hospital. Coast Guard Group/Air Station North Bend, Ore., and Coast Guard Air Facility Newport, Ore., each launched an HH-65 Dolphin helicopter. A 47-foot motor lifeboat from Coast Guard Station Yaquina Bay and a mobile land unit from Coast Guard Station Depoe Bay, Ore., also searched the area for the woman reportedly pulled out to sea. The Depoe Bay Fire Department also assisted in the search. No sign of the woman was found. At 1700 the Coast Guard suspended the search pending further developments. Swells as large as 25 feet have been reported along much of the Oregon Coast today 2006 - This year's first humanitarian shipment valued at 540 million won left Incheon for North Korea's Nampo following a ceremony marking the departure. The shipment, organized by the Korean Foundation for World Aid, an NGO based in Seoul, includes 15,333 cans of powdered milk and baby food, 25 tons of flour and other bread materials, 6,000 carts and 251 pairs of sneakers. The 2,864-ton Trade Fortune will transport the goods to Nampo, where they will be distributed to nurseries, demonstration farms and bread factories. The donation was agreed between the representatives of the Korean Foundation and the North's organization purporting to reconcile between the two Koreas in Gaeseong, North Korea, on Dec. 8 2007 - Indian Navy commissions third large tank landing ship, INS Shardul, at its newest and largest naval base: Karwar. Shardul will be the first ship to be commissioned from INS Kadamba, the state-of-the-art operational base at Karwar. It will result in a landing ship being based on India's western seaboard for the first time (so far they have been based on the east at Visakhapatnam), and the occasion will also be Mr. Antony's maiden visit to INS Kadamba after assuming charge of the portfolio 2007 - DHS Under Secretary for Science and Technology Jay M. Cohen addressed the Hawaii Military Partnership Conference 2007 - Frigate HMS St Albans star attraction at London Boat Show 2007 - Coast Guard airlifted a vehicle theft suspect possibly suffering from hypothermia near Bellingham. Coast Guard Group Port Angeles received a call at 0200 from the Whatcom County Sheriff's dispatch for a helicopter evacuation of five deputies and one suspect from a marshy area 5 miles northwest of Bellingham Airport. An HH-65C helicopter from Group Port Angeles was launched to assist. The suspect and one deputy were hoisted onto the helicopter. Both were transported to St. Joseph's Hospital in Bellingham 2007 - Queen Mary 2 makes her maiden call to San Francisco February 4-5 2007 - A plane belonging to the Singaporean Govt joined the search for an Indonesian passenger plane missing somewhere on Sulawesi Island or its waters. The Singapore's Fokker 50 made periodic flight for five hours in turn with two other searching planes of the host country in search of Adam Air's Boeing 737-400 which went missing with 102 people onboard 2007 - Fisheries Ministry decided to pour 69.2 billion VND (roughly $4.3M) for building a storm-shelter for fishing vessel in the southernmost Vietnamese Province of Ca Mau. In addition to ensuring the safety of fishermen and fishing ships operating in the Rach Goc region, the project also aims to develop a fishing services base. The shelter is expected to be completed in 2010 2007 - Newly repaired North Korean ship held in Hong Kong for two months for safety violations has been cleared to leave, but it will leave without its cargo. Marine inspectors detained the Kang Nam 5 in October when they found its lifesaving, communications and emergency lighting equipment to be outdated or insufficient. The ship's inspection papers and navigational charts were also insufficient 2007 - GE Capital Solutions acquired CitiCapital's Marine Finance division, an Irving, Texas unit of Citigroup. CitiCapital Marine finances and leases commercial workboats and passenger vessels in US and Canadian waters and the Gulf of Mexico 2007 - USCG announces switch to new command, control and communications technology monitoring distress calls throughout Puget Sound, the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and the West Coast of Washington, north of the Quinault Indian Reservation. Rescue 21 allows the Coast Guard to monitors Digital Selective Calling (DSC) emergency transmissions. When properly registered with a Maritime Mobile Service Identity (MMSI) number and interfaced with a GPS receiver, a DSC distress call provides the Coast Guard a vessel's identity and exact location, greatly improving emergency response. Rescue 21 also includes advanced direction-finding capability, allowing Coast Guard watchstanders to more accurately locate the source of a VHF distress call. That capability also helps the Coast Guard locate the source of hoax calls 2007 - According to the BBC, a stricken cargo vessel which ran aground has been refloated following a major operation. MV Emsland, laden with 1,776 tons of timber, got into trouble shortly after it left the Port of Montrose, in Angus December 29 2007 - MARAD approved McMoRan’s license application for its Main Pass Energy Hub (MPEH) project. MARAD concluded in the Record of Decision that construction and operation of MPEH deepwater port will be in the national interest and consistent with national security and other national policy goals and objectives, including energy sufficiency and environmental quality. MARAD also concluded that MPEH will fill a vital role in meeting national energy requirements for many years to come and that the port’s offshore deepwater location will help reduce congestion and enhance safety in receiving LNG cargoes to the US 2007 - Caspian Services' subsidiary Caspian Services Group Ltd., has signed a contract to provide three vessels to Reservoir Exploration Technology ASA (RXT), a marine geophysical company specializing in multi component seismic sea-floor acquisition. RXT recently signed a letter of intent with Agip KCO to conduct a four component 3D seismic survey over the extensive Kashagan field 2007 - Jordan Royer has joined the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association as government affairs manager for the Seattle office 2007 - Shipping Corporation of India may turn to Chinese shipyards for acquisitions of its future tonnage covering tankers, tugs and bulk carriers. The major shipbuilders, mostly located in Korea, are, it is learnt, unable to accept new orders for deliveries in the next few years as their order books are full for the foreseeable future 2007 - Crowley Maritime christened Marty J, the first of three Heavy Lift 455 Series barges, which have been under construction at Gunderson Marine in Portland OR. The three 400-foot by 105-foot-wide deck barges are being built to be utilized for project work in the offshore energy industry in the Gulf of Mexico. The addition of these vessels will expand and keep current Crowley’s fleet for customers of the company’s marine services business segment. During a ceremony held at Gunderson Marine on Northwest Front Ave, Nicole Murphy, sister of Fontain Martin “Marty” Johnson III, christened the barge. Marty J was so named as a tribute to Johnson, a nine-year Crowley employee who died while on a salvage assignment onboard the Cougar Ace in July of last year. The senior naval architect, had worked on many high profile projects for Crowley including the Ehime Maru, the set down of the Osprey, a nine-month project in the Sakhalin Islands and the Victoria M salvage with the US Navy as well as the design of these new heavy lift barges 2007 - German-flagged Maersk Durham wasn't allowed to leave Hamburg when German police and customs detected alcohol on the breath of both captain and first officer during clearing out procedures. The captain showed 1.88 ppm, the first officer 1.11 ppm of alcohol during a breath test. Both were found unfit to command the ship. After a new captain was appointed immediately she left harbor ============================================================= 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 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.