SeaWaves Today in History July 3, 2009 1608 - City of Quebec was founded by Samuel de Champlain 1816 - French frigate "Medusa" runs aground off Cap Blanc. Gross incompetence kills 150 in calm seas 1845 - Admiral Fedor Vasilievich Dubasov, adjutant-general, member of State Council born 1855 - One of the main Russian supply routes to the Crimea ran across a pontoon bridge at the Genitchi Straits in the Sea of Azov. Previous attempts by the Royal Navy to destroy the bridge had failed, but Seaman Trewavas of HMS Beagle was sent in a small boat to mount another effort. Rowed by colleagues to the bridge, he jumped aboard the bridge and proceeded to hack the cables holding it together, despite heavy fire from Russian sentries. Despite being wounded, he managed to break the bridge in two, and escaped in the boat. He was awarded the Victoria Cross 1898 - At Battle of Santiago, Cuba, RADM Sampson's squadron destroys Spanish fleet 1898 - Joshua Slocum (1844-1909), from Briar Island, Nova Scotia, completes the first solo circumnavigation of the globe 1913 - Submarine USS H-3 (ex-Garfish) launched Seattle WA 1916 - 1st of 3 fatal shark attacks occurred near NJ shore (4 die) 1916 - German Patrol boat reported a trail of oil on the surface just off the Ems that was thought to be emanating from a submarine. The following day German forces attacked a British submarine with both gunfire and bombs. This vessel is believed to be HMS E26 as she failed to return from her patrol 1917 - Destroyer HMAS Waterhen laid down 1918 - Minesweeper USS Oriole launched 1918 - Destroyer USS Kane laid down 1919 - Destroyer USS Shubrick commissioned 1920 - Depot Ship HMS Wolfe launched 1929 - Heavy cruiser USS Chester launched 1930 - Congress created the US Veterans Administration 1931 - HMCS Saguenay & Skeena, both River-class destroyers, arrived at Halifax after being built and commissioned into the RCN in Britain. Consideration was given by the Canadian government to building the ships under license in Canada as a means of promoting the development of a national shipbuilding industry. There were, however, no bidders when the Government put the contract out to tender and a British shipyard was awarded the work. James Eayrs recorded in "In Defense of Canada" that the cabinet decided against building the warships in a domestic yard after a long and intense debate. A domestic construction program would increase the cost substantially and, most importantly, would generate a demand for follow-on contracts to justify the existence of the facility. Prime Minister King considered such programs of military spending to be outside of Canada's budgetary capacity 1935 - Ferry Kalakala starts daily service between Seattle and Bremerton 1940 - The British Admiralty considers withdrawal from the eastern Mediterranean. While Admiral Pound supports the idea, Churchill is adamantly opposed and quashes it. The concern involves the Italian Fleet and the fall of France 1940 - All French warships in British ports are boarded and seized by Royal Navy personnel; 3 British personnel and a French seaman die in scuffles on board the submarine Surcouf. At Portsmouth, 2 French Battleships, nine destroyers and other smaller craft are involved 1940 - U-26 (Type IA) The boat was sunk on 3 July 1940 in the North Atlantic, at position 48.03N, 1130W, by 8 depth charges from an Australian Sunderland aircraft (Sqn 10/H). HMS Rochester picked up the 48 survivors (entire crew) from the attack 1940 - The Royal Navy reluctantly mounted Operation Catapult on the orders of Winston Churchill, to destroy the French fleet at Mers-el-Kebir and Oran on the Algerian coast to prevent it falling into German hands. The French Navy had refused four alternatives offered to them - to join the British outright; be interned in British ports; sail to French ports in the West Indies; or scuttle their own ships. The bombardment sank three battleships and cost some 1,300 French lives. The French ships and shore batteries returned fire, but failed to hit any British ships. Battleship FS Bretagne sunk by gunfire from British warships at Mers-el-Kebir, Algeria. The ship blew up with severe losses. Total killed were 36 Officers, 151 Petty Officers and 825 Seaman. The French signed an armistice with the Germans on 24 June, after which her navy no longer formed part of the Allied forces. The Bretagne was therefore neither Allied nor Axis when sunk 1940 - Corvette HMCS Chilliwack laid down North Vancouver BC 1940 - Corvette HMS Mayflower (later HMCS Mayflower) launched Montreal PQ 1940 - Tugs Abeille II, Abeille IV, Abeille V, Abeille VI, Abeille XIV, Abeille XX, Abeille XXI, Abeille XXII, Cherbourgeois I, Cherbourgeois III, Cherbourgeois IV, Divette, Elan II, Excellent, Faisan, Jobourg, La Frene, La Pernelle, La Salicoque, Lama, Mammouth, Mastodonte, Mouflon, Nacqueville, Nessus, Peuplier, Pingouin, Pintade, Plougastel, Portzic, Ramier, Rene le Besnerais, Risban, Urville commissioned into RN service 1940 - Minesweeping trawlers HMS Aiglon, Andre et Louise, Congre, Henriette, L'Atlantique, and Pine commissioned 1940 - Submarine USS Tautog commissioned 1940 - HMS Snapper torpedoes and sinks the Norwegian merchant Cygnus west of Hadryet, Norway 1940 - HMS Sealion fires 6 torpedoes against a German convoy off the Boknafjord, Norway. None of the torpedoes found its target and Sealion was heavily depth charged following this failed attack 1941 - Stalin gives his first speech on the radio since the beginning of Great Patriotic War 1941 - Submarine Vesikko sinks 4100-ton ship Vyborg east from Suursaari 1941 - Minesweeper HMS Rothesay commissioned 1941 - U-265, U-521 laid down 1941 - U-577 commissioned 1941 - At 0436, U-69 began a gun duel with the armed Robert L. Holt NW of the Canary Islands. She had been the ship of commodore Vice-Admiral NA Wodehouse CB RN from the dispersed Convoy OB-337. The ship sank at 0650 after the U-boat had fired 102 high explosive rounds and 34 incendiary rounds from the deck gun, 220 rounds from the 20-mm gun and 400 rounds with the MG34. The master, the commodore, 41 crewmembers and six naval staff members were lost 1941 - HMS Upholder torpedoes in sinks the Italian merchant Laura C off Saline Ioniche, Calabria 1942 - Canada and the United States form joint military, naval, and air office in Washington 1942 - Lutzow and Admiral Scheer leave Narvik with a destroyer escort heading for Tirpitz. Lutzow and 3 of the destroyers run aground 1942 - Convoy from Taranto to North Africa consisting of three cargo ships, German MV Ankara (4,786 BRT), and Italian MVs Nino Bixio (7,137 BRT) and Monvisio (5,322 BRT), with an extremely strong escort - DD Verrazano, DD Turbine, DD Euro, TB Antares, TB Polluce, TB Castore, TB San Martino, and DE Pegaso attacked by RAF aircraft 1942 - In the first successful firing of an American rocket from a plane in flight, Lieutenant Commander J. H. Hean, USN, Gunnery Officer of Transition Training Squadron, Pacific Fleet, fired a retro-rocket from a PBY-5A in flight at Goldstone Lake, Calif. The rocket, designed to be fired aft with a velocity equal to the forward velocity of the airplane, and thus to fall vertically, was designed at the California Institute of Technology. Following successful tests, the retro-rocket became a weapon complementary to the magnetic airborne detector with Patrol Squadron Sixty Three at NAS Alameda, California, receiving the first service installation in February 1943 1942 - Frigate HMAS Gascoyne laid down 1942 - Minesweeping trawler HMS Magdalen launched 1942 - Destroyer USS Quick commissioned 1942 - U-543, U-719 laid down 1942 - U-191 launched 1942 - At 0614, the unescorted Gulfbelle was hit by one torpedo from U-126, while zigzagging at 11 knots 21 miles north of Tobago. The torpedo struck on the starboard quarter, ripped a hole 40 feet square, wrecked the engine room (killing an oiler and the second assistant engineer) and caused the turbine to fall out of the ship. The armed guards fired one round from the 5in gun, her only armament, at a range of 300 yards on the surfaced U-126. The shell passed over the U-boat, which then immediately submerged. At this time most of the crew of eight officers and 33 men had abandoned the ship in three lifeboats, because they did not clearly understand the order from the master to stand by their abandon ship stations. The master, four crewmen and the eight armed guards at the gun remained on board. Two boats drifted away in the choppy seas and were picked up by destroyer HMS Warwick. The crew in the #4 boat reboarded the ship later and were subsequently transferred to the same destroyer, which towed the tanker to Port of Spain, Trinidad. On 8 September the Gulfbelle reached Mobile, Alabama in tow for repairs, which were completed on 4 Jul 1943, when she left Mobile for Beaumont, Texas to resume service 1942 - At 0401, U-161 fired a spread of two stern torpedoes at the San Pablo, which lay berthed at the fully illuminated pier in Puerto Limón, Costa Rica and was discharging cargo. The ship was hit amidships and near the bridge in #1 and #2 holds and quickly settled to the bottom with only her superstructure above the water because the watertight doors between all holds had been left open. One crewmember died on watch below and 23 stevedores (residents of Puerto Limon) working in the holds were killed. All but three crewmembers of the vessel were ashore at the time of the attack. On 9 Jan 1943, the San Pablo was raised and after temporary repairs on 6 March, taken in tow by the tug Crusader to Tampa via Puerto Castilla and Key West, arriving on 28 March. It was first planned to repair the vessel, but she was declared a total loss and sunk as target 9 miles SSE of Pensacola Pass on 25 September 1942 - The Alexander Macomb, on her maiden voyage, heavy fog and fear of collision caused the ship to fall astern of Convoy BX-27. The master Carl Monsen Froisland maintained an intermittent zigzag course and was attempting to catch the convoy in daylight. She had reached the rear of the convoy and had about seven ships and an escort vessel in sight when at 1230 a torpedo from U-215 struck between #4 and #5 holds, causing the cargo of explosives to ignite and burst into flames. The eight officers, 33 crewmen and 25 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 4in, one 3in, four 20mm and two .30cal guns) abandoned ship in three lifeboats and one raft, but because the ship was still under way one boat capsized. Other survivors jumped into the water and hung onto pieces of wreckage. At 1300 the ship sank by the stern about 175 miles east of Cape Cod. 15 minutes later armed yacht HMS Le Tigre rescued 23 crewmembers and eight armed guards and brought them to Woods Hole on 4 July. Corvette HMCS Regina picked up 14 crewmembers and 11 armed guards who were taken to Halifax. Six armed guards and four crewmembers died in the attack. U-215 was sunk with all hands by depth charges from the Le Tigre & destroyer HMS Veteran in the counter attack 1942 - HMS Truant torpedoes and sinks Japanese army cargo ship Tamon Maru1 in Strait of Malacca 1943 - Frigate HMCS New Waterford launched Esquimalt 1943 - Frigate HMCS Outremont launched Quebec City 1943 - Minesweeper USS Incessant laid down 1943 - Destroyer escort USS Fowler, Pride & Spangenberg launched 1943 - Rescue tug HMS Earner launched 1943 - Frigates USS Allentown & Huron launched 1943 - Destroyer escort USS Whitman commissioned 1943 - Escort carrier HMS Atheling (ex-USS Glacier) commissioned 1943 - Frigate HMS Tavy commissioned 1943 - Minesweeping trawler HMS Minalto launched 1943 - U-778 laid down 1943 - U-477, U-1164 launched 1943 - U-126 sunk NW of Cape Ortegal, Spain, in position 46.02N, 11.23W, by depth charges from an RAF 172 Sqn Wellington. 55 dead (all hands lost) 1943 - U-628 sunk NW of Cape Ortegal, Spain, in position 44.11N, 08.45W, by depth charges from an RAF 224 Sqn Liberator. 49 dead (all hands lost) 1943 - U-393 commissioned 1943 - U-199 shot down a USN VP-74 Mariner. No survivors from the aircraft 1943 - U-359 & U-466 shot down a USAAC Liberator, whose entire crew of 10 perished 1943 - U-420 was attacked by an RCAF 10 Sqn Liberator and two men were killed (Bootsmann Heinz Grosser, Matrosengefreiter Willi Noeske) with one more wounded when the boat was hit with a Fido homing torpedo. She was severely damaged and arrived at Lorient on 16 July 1943 - HMS Trident torpedoes and damages the Italian merchant Vesta west of Leros, Greece 1943 - HMS Rorqual lays 21 mines in the Skiathos Channel 1944 - Carrier-based aircraft from the USN's Task Groups 58.1 and 58.2 attack Japanese airfields and shipping at Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, and Chichi Jima and Haha Jima in the Bonin Islands. These two task groups are composed of four aircraft carriers and four light aircraft carriers 1944 - Destroyer USS Vesole laid down 1944 - Destroyer escort USS Chester T O'Brien commissioned 1944 - U-154 sunk west of Madeira, Portugal, in approximate position 34.00N, 19.30W, by depth charges from destroyer escorts USS Inch & Frost. 57 dead (all hands lost) 1944 - At 1925, the unescorted Elihu B. Washburne was struck by one torpedo from U-513 off the coast of Brazil between the after port peak tank and the #5 hatch. The explosion either knocked off the propeller or broke the shaft. The ship lost the rudder, the after magazine for 3in rounds discharged and the magazine for 20mm ammunition exploded. Without control of the vessel, she turned 90° to port and gradually lost way. The most of the eight officers, 34 men, 25 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 3-in gun and nine 20-mm guns) and three passengers abandoned ship in three lifeboats. The master, eight crewmen and the armed guards remained on board to attempt to beach the ship. 25 minutes after the first hit, a second torpedo struck the hapless vessel at the #3 bulkhead. This explosion lifted the bow out of the water and threw water over the ship. At 2000, a third torpedo struck in the engine room and the remaining men now left in the fourth lifeboat. The ship was last seen by the survivors drifting with her bow completely out of the water. All hands survived and landed on the island of São Sabastião early the next morning 1944 - HMS Ultimatum fires two torpedoes at the German auxilary patrol vessel Uj 6073/Nimeth Allah off Toulon, southern France. The torpedoes miss the target 1944 - HMS Unruly fires three torpedoes at the German merchants Erpel and Pelikan north-east of Mykonos. The torpedoes miss 1944 - HMS Vox sinks two sailing vessels with gunfire off Monemvassia, Greece 1945 - Corvette HMCS Dunvegan paid off Sydney NS 1945 - Corvette HMCS Quesnel paid off Sorel PQ 1945 - Frigate HMCS Antigonish commenced tropicalization refit Pictou NS 1945 - 26 B-29s mine Shimonoseki Strait and waters at Funakawa and Maizuru during the predawn hours of the 4 July; two other B-29s mine alternate targets. This is the last mine-laying mission of Phase IV of Operation STARVATION; the mining campaign carried out by B-29s 1945 - HMS Selene damages a Japanese coaster with gunfire in the Gulf of Siam 1946 - Destroyer USS Rich commissioned 1950 - USS Valley Forge and HMS Triumph participate in first carrier action of Korean Conflict. VF-51 aircraft (Valley Forge) shoot down 2 North Korean aircraft. The action is first combat test of F9F Panther and AD Skyraider 1952 - SS United States sailed out of New York harbor on her maiden voyage. She would pass Bishop's Rock, off the English coast, three days, 10 hours and 42 minutes later, setting a record that stands to this day. The New York Times splashed the crossing on its front page, noting that the ship departed New York carrying "1,660 wildly waving passengers and the pride of a nation.'' The ship's average speed was 35.6 knots 1958 - Sea trials of the first Soviet nuclear submarine K-3 “Leninsky Komsomol” begin 1958 - Frigate HMCS Fort Erie recommissioned after modernization 1961 - Destroyer HMCS Terra Nova commenced a 12 day series of visits to Newfoundland outposts 1967 - USS Hancock port call Hong Kong 1970 - HMCS Bonaventure, Canada's last conventional aircraft carrier, was paid off this date. The Paying Off ceremony was a symbolic and moving occasion as VAdm O'Brien read the lesson; the bugler played the Last Post and the Ensign was lowered. The Stadacona band then marched onto the forward lift, which then lowered and they went down out of sight playing the final hymn. Overhead, a solitary Tracker flew with tail hook down and wings waggling in the internationally recognized sign of distress 1974 - USS Ranger port call Subic Bay 1974 - Canadian Environment Minister Jack Davis 1916- wants deep-sea salmon fishing restricted; Canada to extend jurisdiction to 200 mile limit; at Law of the Sea Conference in Caracas 1977 - Lynda Wheeler becomes Washington State Ferries' first female deck officer President Reagan presided over a gala ceremony in New York Harbor that saw the relighting of the renovated Statue of Liberty 1986 - Submarine HMS Trenchant launched USS - USS Vincennes shoots down Iran Air jetliner while engaged with Iranian surface forces over Gulf, kills 290 1992 - Destroyer HMCS Iroquois completed TRUMP refit Marine Industries Ltd, Sorel PQ 1996 - Ex HMCS Skeena left Halifax under tow for breaking up in India 2003 - USCGC Hickory commissioned Homer AK 2003 - Julie Andrews christens cruise ship Crystal Serenity 2004 - Frigate HMAS Ballarat arrives Sydney for first time 2004 - Frigate RSS Intrepid launched at Singapore 2004 - USCGC Maui & Monomoy deployed to Northern Persian Gulf 2005 - Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston assumed command of the Australian Defense Force as Chief of the Defense Force 2005 - CNAV Riverton left Halifax under tow of tug Atlantic Teak bound for St John’s 2005 - Due to sustained increases in fuel costs, Matson will raise its fuel surcharge in its Hawaii and Guam/Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) services from 10.5 to 11.5 percent 2006 - Seadrill has agreed a new assignment with Premier Natuna Sea BV in Indonesia for the jack-up Seadrill 5. The assignment is for five wells offshore Indonesia and commencement is scheduled for May 2006 in direct continuation of the rig's current commitments with APD. The duration of the contract is estimated at 135 days with a corresponding contract value of approximately US$ 26.3 million 2006 - Ship Finance International Limited advise the purchase of the 2006 built jack up drilling rig SeaDrill 3 for a purchase price of USD 210 million 2006 - Golden Ocean Group Limited advise the purchase of the 1997 built Panamax MV Rainshadow for $28.4 million. Simultaneously Golden Ocean has sold the vessel on back to back terms to Ship Finance International Limited with a ten years lease back at $10,000 per day on bareboat for the first five years and $8.250 per day for the remaining five years. The vessel is expected to be delivered in August 2006 2006 - Shanghai opened the 130,000-square-meter Shanghai Port International Cruise Terminal, which is not yet quite complete, is located on the banks of the Huangpu River in the city's Hongkou district. The terminal includes a 880-meter-long wharf which can berth three passenger liners of 70,000 to 80,000 tons at the same time. The wharf was designed with an annual throughput capacity of one million people. Costa Allegra was the inaugural visitor for the event 2006 - A.P. Møller - Mærsk A/S' fully owned subsidiary SvitzerWijsmuller A/S will make a conditional public offer for all the shares in Adsteam Marine Limited. Adsteam Marine is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and is a significant player within the harbor and terminal towage industry, primarily operating in Australia and in the United Kingdom. Adsteam Marine and SvitzerWijsmuller will simultaneously publish a joint announcement on the Australian Stock Exchange in Sydney 2006 - A US District Court Judge issued a temporary restraining order July 3 barring the use of mid-frequency active sonar during the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2006 multinational exercise 2006 - USCGC George Cobb becomes first cutter certified as a navy diving platform 2006 - Republic of Singapore Navy is engaged in a sea and shore exercise with the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) from July 3-7. Exercise Lion Zeal is based out of Devonport Naval Base and will allow the two navies to improve interoperability and develop closer ties. Ten personnel from the RSN will be working alongside members of the RNZN on the HMNZS Te Kaha 2007 - Secretary General of NATO, Mr. Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, visited Rome 2007 - Loyola Hearn, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, appointed Mr. Troy Atkinson as Canadian Commissioner to the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) 2007 - A Finnish-Swedish search team has found the wreck of a Soviet submarine sunk by the Finnish navy in the Baltic Sea during World War II. The Soviet SC305 was fired on and rammed by a Finnish submarine in November 1942, sending it to the bottom in Swedish territorial waters off the Island of Aland 2007 - ROK Navy commissioned a large multipurpose transport vessel after two years of trials. The 14,000-ton Dokdo Ham, named after Korea's easternmost islets in the East Sea (Sea of Japan), can carry up to 700 troops, seven choppers, six tanks, seven armored vehicles and two small landing boats 2007 - The director of "The President's Own" USMC Band, Michael J. Colburn, promoted colonel by President George W. Bush in an Oval Office ceremony. Col. Colburn is only the second director in the Marine Band's 208 year history to be promoted by the commander in chief 2007 - Captain and crew of HMS Penzance praised after they tracked down and safely exploded a 500lb Second World War mine which had drifted to within half a mile of the giant oil terminal at Sullom Voe on Shetland 2007 - Early morning a missing RNLI lifeguard and a female companion were recovered after being trapped for some hours in a cave in the Porth area 2008 - The MOD signed contracts with industry to build the two future aircraft carriers. The contracts, worth in the region of £3 billion, were signed with the newly-formed UK maritime Joint Venture, BVT Surface Fleet, and the Aircraft Carrier Alliance onboard HMS Ark Royal 2008 - A new visitor center opened in the Charlestown Navy Yard. The $3.3 million, handicapped accessible facility, is located in Building 5 in the Charlestown Navy Yard, adjacent to USS Constitution. The new 8,500-square-foot visitor center will feature exhibits on the history of the Charlestown Navy Yard, which opened in 1800. It will have a bookstore, a ranger desk where visitors can pick up maps of the Freedom Trail and brochures from area attractions, a theater and an orientation film. The facility will serve as a formal entry point to the 30 acres of the Boston National Historical Park portion of the Charlestown Navy Yard. Wondercabinet Interpretive Design of Lexington, Mass., designed the new facility 2008 - Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England and Vice Chief of Staff US Army Gen. Richard Cody participate in the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center Ground Breaking Ceremony at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md 2008 - A ceremony to mark the change in command for the Navy. Vice Admiral Russ Shalders AO CSC RAN handed over to Rear Admiral Russ Crane CSM RAN at HMAS Harma 2008 - Two ships of the Vietnam People’s Army Navy joined the Thai Royal Navy in a patrol on in order to boost friendship, mutual understanding and trust Copyright 2009 Shirlaw News Group ISSN 1710-6966 Today in History Archives This information is licensed to the recipient only. Images may be subject to copyright. Ask before you right-click. Royal Navy photos are Courtesy of www.oldships.org.uk unless otherwise indicated. To contact us: 418-145 West Keith Rd North Vancouver BC V7M 1L3 Canada Phone: 778-968-7447