SeaWaves Today in History June 22, 2009 Dominican Republic - Army Day. Visiting warships Dress Ship overall. Gun salutes are fired 1603 - Samuel de Champlain c1570-1635 lands at site of Quebec; no sign of Jacques Cartier's Iroquois village of Stadacona; names Montmorency Falls 1611 - Twelve mutineers force Henry Hudson, son John, and seven of his weaker crew into a boat and cast them adrift on Hudson Bay; after winter of hardship, Discovery's crew were convinced he intended to continue his search for a north west passage and not return to England, and that he had hidden a large supply of food in his quarters. Nine mutineers make it back to England; four are tried for murder, but acquitted 1757 - George Vancouver born 1807 - HMS Leopard attacks USS Chesapeake in what became known as the "Chesapeake Affair." The British warship stops an American vessel on the high seas and attempts to search for Royal Navy deserters 1812 - British schooner Duke of Gloucester and another brig battle the US schooner Julia in War of 1812 naval engagement; Julia limps back to Ogdensburg; British ships to Kingston 1826 - John Franklin 1786-1847 sets out for Mackenzie Delta; west with Back toward Bering Strait to meet the Blossom and Beechey; Richardson and Kendall explore eastward to mouth of Coppermine 1827 - Expedition from Spitsbergen leaves for North Pole; reaches farthest northern point - 82°45' - in July; record stands for 48 years 1865 - Confederate raider Shenandoah fires last shot of Civil War in Bering Strait 1884 - Navy relief expedition under CDR Winfield S. Schley rescues LT A.W. Greely, USA, and 6 others from Ellesmere Island, where they were marooned for 3 years on Arctic island. 1898 - ADM Sampson begins amphibious landing near Santiago, Cuba 1908 - Submarine HMS A13 completed 1909 - Submarine HMS C27 launched 1915 - Submarine HMS D4 sank the German minelayer Bielefeld 1916 - A/Fl/Cdr Redford "Red" Henry Mulock RNAS of Montreal PQ & Winnipeg MB awarded DSO as first RNAS & first Canadian ace 1917 - Destroyer HMS Vimeria launched 1917 - Submarine HMS L18 laid down 1918 - Rear Admiral Alexey Mikhailovich Shchastny (Born March 10, 1881), who took part in the defense of Port Arthur and the First World War died 1918 - Minesweepers HMC TR 14 & TR 16 commissioned Toronto ON 1918 - Minesweeper HMCS Givenchy commissioned Montreal PQ 1929 - Submarine HMS Parthian launched 1931 - Colonial sloop FS D'Entrecasteaux launched 1931 - Destroyer HMS Defender laid down 1933 - Light cruiser HMAS Perth laid down 1937 - German Foreign Minister Constantin Von Neurath cancelled his visit to London 1938 - Destroyer USS McCall commissioned 1939 - Colonial sloop FS La Grandiere launched 1939 - Minesweeper HMS Bramble commissioned 1939 - Soviet submarine M-99 laid down 1940 - At 0158, the Randsfjord, dispersed from Convoy HX-49, was hit by one torpedo from U-30 about 70 miles SSE of Queenstown. The torpedo struck on the port side in the foreship and caused the ship to sink capsizing after three minutes. The master and three crewmembers were lost. Two men were crushed and injured between the starboard lifeboat and the side of the ship when they lost their grip while lowering themselves down to the boat. Some men jumped overboard and were later picked up by the boat. The U-boat surfaced and the Germans questioned the survivors, handed them a bottle of Brandy before leaving the area at full speed after two destroyers were spotted. The survivors set sail for land, but were picked up after 36 hours by the British steam merchant Port Hobart and landed in Glasgow on 25 June, where three men were admitted to hospital 1940 - The Eli Knudsen had been in Convoy HX-49, which was dispersed approx. 100 miles SW of Cape Clear after U-47 had torpedoed the San Fernando in the middle of the convoy at 2007 on 21 Jun, 1940. At 0336 hours the next day, U-32 torpedoed the Eli Knudsen (one of the slowest ships in the convoy). All crewmembers abandoned ship in lifeboats and were picked up a few hours later by HMS Sandwich and taken to Liverpool. The tanker remained afloat and an attempt was made the next day to tow her to port, but she sank on 24 June in tow of the British tanker Corinda at 50.36N/07.51W 1940 - At 0217, the Neion was hit in the engine room by one stern torpedo from U-38 and sank by the stern after five minutes. The cargo of naphtha drums was recovered in 1948 1940 - At 1804, the unescorted Monique was torpedoed and sunk by U-65 in the Bay of Biscay 1940 - Corvette FS Bastiaise mined & sunk off Hartlepool, having been commissioned that same day at Smith's Dock Middlesborough 1940 - ASW trawler HMS Pirouette launched 1940 - Corvette HMS Primula launched 1940 - Rescue tug HMS Tenacity launched 1940 - U-122 disappeared between the North Sea & Bay of Biscay. 49 dead (all hands lost) 1940 - The remnants of the Polish army sails for England on the liner Batory from the French port of St-Jean-de-Luz 1940 - U-122 (Type IXB) Missing since 22 June 1940 between the North Sea and the Bay of Biscay. 48 dead (all crew lost) 1940 - K class destroyer HMS Khartoum in company with HMS Kandahar & Kingston and sloops HMS Shoreham & Indus find Italian submarine Torricelli and fight it out for 40 minutes on the surface. Khartoum suffers a hit from a 10 cm shell which splinters the air vessel of a torpedo, and as the resulting fire could not be contained, the ship is beached on Perim Island in the Red Sea at 12 38N 43 24E. About 35 minutes into the fight one of the destroyers scored a direct hit on the sub's conning tower, disabling the steering and wounding the commander, Lt-Commander Pelosi. Shortly thereafter Pelosi ordered the boat to be scuttled. This was a quite remarkable surface action, from the Italian point of view. The Toricelli had been damaged in a previous encounter off Djibouti, and was unable to submerge. It therefore had no choice (other than surrender) but to fight it out, despite the fact that, faced with three destroyers and two gunboats, it disposed a single 100mm deck gun and four 13.2mm machine guns to face 18 x 4.7-inch and four 4-inch guns on the five British warships. Yet the Toricelli had begun the fight, firing the first shot, and its second shot hit the gunboat Shoreham, forcing it from the fight. The Italian sub also emptied all its torpedo tubes during the action, but without effect, except to force evasive maneuvers and thus prolong the fight. The British, who fired off 700 rounds of 4 and 4.7-inch to achieve their one hit, were impressed enough to fete Pelosi and his officers at a formal dinner. The survivors of the Italian sub were picked up and taken to Aden. One British officer toasted, "though we were five to one, we were able neither to sink you, nor capture you, nor force you to surrender". The British commanding admiral made a point of meeting the Italian sub skipper 1941 - U-467 laid down 1941 - At 0329, the Calabria, dispersed from Convoy SL-76, was torpedoed and sunk by U-141 about 100 miles 280° from Inishtrahull lightship 1941 - At 2236, the weather ship Arakara was torpedoed and sunk by U-77 east of St John's. The U-boat misidentified the ship as the Greek steam merchant Alexandra. The master, 32 crewmembers and 12 Admiralty personnel were lost 1941 - Minesweeping trawler HMS Beech sunk by German aircraft off Scrabster, Scotland 1941 - Germany invaded Russia 1941 - Corvette HMCS Saskatoon arrived Halifax from builder Montreal PQ 1941 - French destroyer Guepard was damaged by a 6" shell from the light cruiser HMS Leander off the coast of Syria 1942 - Destroyer USS Meade commissioned 1942 - Minesweeper USS Skill launched 1942 - Battleship HMS Anson commissioned 1942 - The unescorted and unarmed E.J. Sadler was taken under fire by U-159 about 175 miles south of the Windward Passage, as the tanker was 36 hours out of port and proceeding on a nonevasive course at 8.4 knots. At 2035, U-159 began to shell the ship from a distance of about four miles. The lookouts on the tanker had not seen the U-boat until it opened fire, but now the vessel immediately swung the stern toward it and the radio operator began sending distress signals. Eight of the first ten rounds from the 10.5cm gun were hits and the crew of eight officers and 28 men abandoned ship in four lifeboats. U-159 then fired another 75 rounds and 175 rounds from the 37-mm AA gun into the tanker at close range, which set the ship on fire, but the ship remained afloat. After four hours a boarding party was sent aboard and placed scuttling charges, which finally sank the ship. The next morning a PBY aircraft spotted the survivors and directed destroyer USS Biddle, which picked them up 20 hours after the attack and brought them to Mayaguez, Puerto Rico 1942 - At 1234, the neutral Rio Tercero was torpedoed and sunk by U-202 off the US East Coast. Linder reported that the ship displayed no neutrality markings and was recognized as Argentinean only after the attack when questioning the survivors 1942 - Italian motor torpedo boat unit XII Squadriglia MAS (4 boats) arrives to Lake Ladoga 1942 - German submarines sink two more unarmed US merchant tankers. U-159 shells a tanker in the Caribbean about 175 miles south of the Windward Passage. After the crew abandons ship, the ship is sunk by demolition charges set by a boarding party from the sub. In the Gulf of Mexico, U-67 torpedoes and sinks a tanker about 40 miles off the coast of Louisiana 1943 - Destroyer escort USS Durik laid down 1943 - USS LST-333 sunk by U-593 off Dellys Algeria 1943 - USS SC-751 grounded off Western Australia 1943 - At 2046, U-572 fired a spread of four torpedoes at Convoy UGS-10 and sank the Lot with two of them. The fleet oiler USS Merrimack and an escorting corvette picked up the survivors 1943 - At 2131, U-593 fired a spread of four torpedoes at Convoy Elastic about eight miles northeast of Cape Corbelin and hit the USS LST-333 & LST-387 with one torpedo each. The first was beached and declared a total loss, while the latter was towed to Dellys and later repaired. The torpedoing of these two ships hampers the training for the forthcoming invasion of Sicily (Operation Husky). The torpedo struck USS LST-333 on the starboard side in the stern. The explosion demolished the stern section, carried away the screws and rudder and stopped the engines. About 20 minutes after the hit, the landing crafts USS LCT-244 & LCT-19 took the landing ship in tow and proceeded slowly towards the beach. After one hour, the submarine chaser USS SC-503 came alongside and took off 32 injured crewmembers and 24 injured passengers and brought them to Algiers. After five hours of towing, the stern of the landing craft came aground near Dellys. The crew and passengers were taken off by the landing craft and brought to Dellys. The USS LST-333 later sank during a salvage attempt on 6 July 1943 - Minesweeper USS Ardent launched 1943 - Destroyer escort USS Rich launched 1943 - Tug HMCS Glendevon laid down Vancouver BC 1943 - Koivisto islands are evacuated and troops transported to western side of Bay of Vyborg 1944 - Destroyer USS Haynsworth commissioned 1944 - Rescue tug HMS Enignma launched 1944 - U-1064 launched 1944 - Light cruiser HMS Swiftsure commissioned 1944 - Submarine USS Dogfish laid down 1944 - Minesweepers USS Facility & Execute launched 1944 - Frigate HMCS Prestonian launched Lauzon PQ 1944 - Minesweeper HMS Seabear commissioned 1945 - Destroyer HMS Finisterre launched 1945 - Destroyer USS O'Hare launched 1945 - Submarine USS Menhaden commissioned 1945 - Corvette HMCS Lindsay departed refit Saint John NB for Sydney NS 1945 - Corvette HMCS Bittersweet paid off & returned to RN at Aberdeen, Scotland 1945 - Corvettes HMCS Brandon & Sorel paid off Sorel PQ 1945 - The fighting on Okinawa ends. 12,500 Marines and US soldiers are dead. They also show 35,500 wounded. The US navy shows 36 ships sunk with 368 damaged. 763 US aircraft are lost. The Japanese show 120,000 military and 42,000 civilians dead. The US count is 7,830 aircraft and numerous naval vessels, including the battleship Yamato. There are also 10,755 Japanese prisoners taken. This is the first battle in which significant Japanese prisoners are taken 1945 - 162 B-29s attack the Kure Naval Arsenal and 12 others hit alternate targets; 72% of the roof area of the arsenal is damaged; the bombs destroy two incomplete submarines and damage a destroyer escort and a submarine; two B-29s are lost 1945 - USS LST- 906 grounded off Leghorn Italy 18 October 1944 and scrapped 1945 - Mines previously laid by B-29s sink four freighters and damage a transport off Japan 1945 - PB4Y-2 Privateers of the USN again sow mines off Korea 1947 - Submarine HMS Artful launched 1954 - Destroyer HMCS Cayuga departed Sasebo for Nagasaki 1967 - Submarine HMCS Onondaga commissioned 1967 - USS Enterprise port call Subic Bay 1968 - Submarine HMCS Okanagan commissioned 1974 - Capt (N) Godfrey Harry Hayes awarded Officer-Order of Military Merit. S/Lt Kenneth James Brown, CPO2 John William Edwards, PO1 Harley Garreck, Lt (N) Anne Marie Germain Halle, PO2 Thomas McVarnock, PO2 Fred M Whittemore awarded Member-Order of Military Merit 1974 - USS Ranger port call Cubi Point 1991 - Underwater volcano, Mount Didicas, erupts in Philippines 1995 - Frigate HMCS Winnipeg commissioned Esquimalt BC 1998 - North Korean minisub abandoned after entanglement in nets 11 miles off Sokcho, South Korea 2004 - MV Cape Kennedy laid up New Orleans RRF 2005 - Transport Minister Jean-C. Lapierre announced that amendments to the Canada Marine Act have been introduced in Parliament. These amendments would provide Canada Port Authorities (CPA) with access to federal contribution programs for key infrastructure improvements. They would also enhance the safety and efficiency of Canadian waterways by reforming the enforcement regime. The Canada Marine Act governs the marine sector in Canada. It has improved the effectiveness of major ports by creating a National Ports System composed of independently managed port authorities for ports that are vital to Canada’s international and domestic trade. It also provides Canada’s major ports with the necessary tools to operate commercially and efficiently. The act, which received Royal Assent in 1998, was subject to a legislative review in 2003. The proposed amendments follow up on this review and establish a framework that respects accountabilities and provides CPAs with access to federal funding for infrastructure. The Minister of Transport, in certain cases, will have full delegation to increase a port authority’s borrowing limits without Governor-in-Council’s approval. In order to benefit the smaller CPAs who are required to identify nominees for their boards of directors, the amendments provide for a reduction in the minimum number of directors on the boards of most port authorities. This will result in quicker decision-making and support responsive and efficient management of ports. Other amendments will make administrative modifications and clarifications 2005 - The Netherlands Competition Authority (NMa) launched an investigation at the end of 2003 into possible agreements that would limit competition between salvage companies. In March 2004, the NMa paid Smit Internationale a visit. The NMa has also conducted interviews with various market parties. The Netherlands Competition Authority has ended its investigation of possible anti-competition behavior. The investigation into salvage activities produced no concrete evidence of Competition Act violations. This concludes the procedure 2005 - Geological Survey of India (GSI), a subordinate office of the Mines Ministry achieved the envisaged physical target in ground geological survey, geophysical survey, mineral search and exploration by drilling and detailed mapping, airborne survey and marine survey during the last quarter of the financial year 2004-05, briefed today Director-General, GSI, Dr. K.N. Mathur in a review meeting taken by the Union Mines Secretary, Shri A.K.D. Jadhav. It carried out 3,552 sq. kms of thematic mapping, 9,275.50 sq. kms geophysical mapping, 188.60 kms of geophysical traverses, 430.35 sq. kms of large-scale mapping, 14 kms of detailed mapping and 22355 meters of drilling during these 3 months. Besides, it took up 19,662 kms of airborne survey and 4,678 kms of marine survey. Dr. Mathur said that a special cruise was taken up by GSI, Marine Wing on board RV Samudra Manthan to record the geological and geophysical changes in Andaman Sea following Tsunami in December 2004. GSI is taking all steps to modernize the organization with sophisticated equipment and technologies. Its exploration activities in South Karanpura Coalfields, Jharkhand, Talcher Coalfields, Orissa, Tatapani - Ramkota Coalfields, Chhattisgarh, Singrauli and Sohagpur Coalfields of Madhya Pradesh and East Coast Lignite Field, Tamil Nadu intersected coal and lignite at different depths. It also carried on its exploration activities for gold, diamond and base metal. The Secretary asked GSI to speed up the process for acquiring a new ship and a new helicopter. He also asked to complete the compilation and digitization of maps accurately as it would be used in planning process in the country 2005 - Southampton Magistrates Court heard the case of Eastleigh Borough Council v Rupert Bonham-Smith. Mr Bonham-Smith of Passage Lane, Warsash, was found guilty of letting for hire his vessel, Spectre of Defeat, while its license was under suspension, under Section 94 of the Public Health Acts (Amendment) Act. He was sentenced to a 6-month conditional discharge and £500 costs. Mr Bonham-Smith received a Category 2 Local Authority license allowing him to operate his vessel in the Solent in May 2004 with 10 persons on board including 1 crew. The license was valid for 5 years. On the 29th June 2004 the license was suspended by Eastleigh Borough Council following recommendation by both the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and The River Hamble Harbor Master as a result of their safety concerns. On the weekend of 25th and 26th September 2004 Spectre of Defeat was chartered from Mr Bonham-Smith for £400 while the license was still under suspension. Hamble River Patrol stopped him on the fuel berth and inquired if the charterer was aware that the vessel did not have a certificate. He was unaware of this fact and the man was then asked to provide his details and appeared as a witness for the prosecution in court yesterday 2005 - The NOAA Fisheries Service announced publication of a proposed rule to further reduce entanglements of large whales in commercial fishing gear along the US East Coast. The proposed rule would revise the agency’s current regulations under the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan that was established to reduce the risk of large whale entanglements in pot/trap and gillnet gear. Proposed modifications would require more trap/pot and gillnet fisheries to use modified gear, reduce the use of line that hangs vertically in the water or floats along the ocean bottom, and expand gear-marking requirements. The Agency also proposes to revise boundaries and seasons for management areas and exempted waters (where the rules would not apply) 2005 - Seeking to further enhance security measures at the nation's busiest port, the Port of Los Angeles has submitted grant proposals for a total of $30 million in Round 5 of the Department of Homeland Security Grant Program. Awards are expected to be announced by the end of September 2005. The latest round of security grants comes at a key time when the Port is implementing two new advanced security technologies: radiation portal monitors and SAFE (Secure Around Flotation Equipped) Boats. US Customs and Border Protection are currently installing radiation portal monitors at container terminals within the Port of Los Angeles. Trucks leaving the terminals with containers pass through the monitors. If a container registers an abnormal radiation level, the truck carrying it is pulled aside for additional screening and inspection. The Port's two SAFE boats, scheduled to arrive within weeks, are state-of-the-art $350,000 patrol boats similar to those used by the Coast Guard. The 31- and 36-foot boats will be operated by the Los Angeles Port Police and were purchased with security grant funds awarded in a previous round 2005 - An explosion blasted through chemical/oil carrier Tradewind Sunrise (4094 grt, built 1991) moored for repairs off Trinidad's west coast killing at least four people, the Coast Guard said. Heat from the fire was so intense that Coast Guard boats and helicopters were unable to approach the blazing vessel for two hours after the blast, said Coast Guard Lt. Hadyn Poonon. He said 26 islanders were working on the vessel when the blast occurred. Several workers were welding on the vessel, another Coast Guard officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters. Twenty-two of the workers escaped on lifeboats, but four died in the blaze that erupted around 1430, Poonon said. The vessel had been docked for repairs at the Inter-Island Construction Company for a month but was moved a few days ago and anchored about half a mile off the CrewsInn Marina and the port of Chaguaramas, he said. A large oil spill spread around the tanker said the officer who did not want his name published. Inter-Island Construction said it would not comment while an investigation continued 2005 - Training Air Wing (TRAWING) 6 marked an end of an era as its last T-34C Turbomentor training flight took place at 0830 at NAS Pensacola’s Sherman Field. Over the past couple of years, TRAWING 6 has been replacing the T-34C, which they’ve flown since the mid-1980s for primary and intermediate flight training, and welcoming the T-6A Texan II as the newest addition to the Chief of Naval Air Training inventory 2006 - Pacific Adventurer, a cargo ship of the Hong Kong Swire Group, collided with missile escort vessel 774 Lianjiang, under Nanhai Fleet of the PLA Navy, near Guishan Island at Zhujiang estuary. Lianjiang was a member of the Type 037-II class 2006 - China's largest ever maritime SAR exercise, involving 400 people, 28 vessels, two helicopters and an aircraft, was carried out in the waters near Dalian, Liaoning Province 2006 - H.E. Mr. Vladimir Voronin, President of Moldova, will visit NATO Headquarters to meet with the Deputy Secretary General, Ambassador Alessandro Minuto Rizzo 2006 - The North Atlantic Council (NAC) in Cape Verde 22-23 June 2006 to observe the NATO Response Force (NRF) Exercise Steadfast Jaguar 06 2006 - Indonesian Navy has pulled 80 survivors from choppy seas off Sumatra after a ferry sank in a storm, but 54 people are still missing. The Sinar Mulia Indah, which had 134 people on board, left Sibolga port late on the 21st and ran into bad weather and high waves early on the 22nd, Lieutenant-Colonel Jaka Santoso, chief of the Sibolga naval base, told Reuters 2006 - Aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious rescued two fishermen after their boat was in peril off the Yemeni Island of Abd Al Kuri, 60 miles from Somalia. Crewmembers boarded the stricken fishing vessel, which was in a precarious position 2006 - Fire fighters controlled a fire that broke out in containers containing highly flammable materials at Sheuwaik seaport in Kuwait 2006 - The Swedish Maritime Administration has filed a police report against file-sharing web site The Pirate Bay, after popular navigation software was made available for download 2006 - MARAD has given approval to Dewey Seymore & Associates, of Folsom, California, to sale the deck barge EM1005, to China Harbor - Costain Mexico S. de. R.L .de. C.V., Mexico and transfer of said Vessel to Mexican registry and flag. The deck barge was built by Bollinger Marine Fabricators and has a gross tonnage of 1072 2006 - Admiralty Holding Company announced it has begun the surveying of the Mel Fisher Center Inc.'s permitted site known as Corrigan's Wreck. Already more than 100 "hits" have been registered by Admiralty's survey equipment and definite debris trails have been established. Some initial dives have also been conducted 2006 - The world's leading luxury yacht show in Monaco is to pay for 55 wind turbines in New Zealand - enough to generate power for 45,000 homes - making the event 'carbon neutral' Under the watchful eye of Prince Albert, the yacht show is part of Monaco's new stance on global warming, and comes shortly after Prince Albert himself traveled to the North Pole in April to highlight the damage he believes global warming is having on the environment 2006 - USCG medevaced a man aboard a Japanese warship approximately eighty miles off the coast of Virginia. The Japanese Defense Ship Kashima notified the Coast Guard at approximately 0920 that a crewmember aboard suffered a heart attack. A Coast Guard HH-60 Jayhawk rescue helicopter from Air Station Elizabeth City was launched shortly thereafter. The man was hoisted to safety and delivered to Norfolk Sentara General Hospital at approximately 1130 where he will be evaluated and treated. Kashima is enroute Tampa where she will have a four-day visit from July 2-6 2006 - Transocean Inc. announced that Hydro has awarded the company a drilling contract for the construction of an enhanced Enterprise-class drillship plus a multi-year contract award for the High-Specification semisubmersible rig Henry Goodrich. Combined revenues possible from the two contract awards total approximately $950 million over six years 2006 - USCGC Hickory assisted fishing vessel Aleutian from sinking 25 miles southwest of Middleton Island near Seward. The Coast Guard received a call at 1702 from a Aleutian, reporting that their fuel tank had ruptured and flooded the engine room with 450 gallons of diesel fuel and seawater 2006 - Chinese FAC HIangjiang sank in collision with merchant ship off Guishan Island 2006 - Two swimmers attempting to cross the Egyptian border into the Gaza strip were identified while they were carrying weapons. An attempt to stop the two was made while they were still on the Egyptian side of the border, with full cooperation from the Egyptian Border Guard. After the two crossed the border and entered the Gaza strip, warning shots were fired in their direction, and after they did not respond a shooting was conducted against one of the smugglers. During the shooting the smuggler was about 100 meters from the beach. The second smuggler was not fired at out of concern of injuring people not involved in the incident, since he was closer to the populated area along the beach. Due to the shooting the two abandoned the weapons 2007 - Commanding officer of destroyer Arleigh Burke relieved of command, following what officials earlier said was a “soft grounding” of the ship off Cape Henry Light at the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay. Rear Adm. Dan Holloway, the commander of Strike Group 12, relieved Cdr. E.J. McClure. The reason for the relief is “loss of confidence in her ability to command” 2007 - Submarine USS Minneapolis-St. Paul decommissioned at Naval Station Norfolk 2007 - Bulk carrier Taharoa Express listing in heavy seas after load of iron sand shifted overnight. Maritime New Zealand (MNZ) said it is closely tracking the progress of the vessel but it is making steady progress towards Tasman Bay to seek shelter 2007 - INS Jalashva (ex-USS Trenton) commissioned at Norfolk VA 2007 - Cmdr Art McDonald assumed command as the tenth Captain of HMCS Halifax during a Change of Command ceremony. Cmdr. MacDonald replaces Cmdr. Scott Bishop who will now commence studies at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island 2007 - Nigerian Navy Forward Operational Base (FOB), Igbokoda, in Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State, arrested six sea pirates who were members of gangs that have been terrorizing traders and people of the oil rich coastal communities 2007 - Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Mullen announced Rear Adm. (lower half) Michael H. Mittelman assigned as director, Medical Resources, Plans, and Policy Division, N931, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations/ Director of the Medical Service Corps, Washington. Rear Adm. (lower half)(Selectee) Richard C. Vinci assigned as commander, Navy Medicine Support Command/Chief of the Dental Corps, Bethesda. Rear Adm. (lower half)(Selectee) James P. McManamon assigned as deputy commander for Surface Warfare (SEA 21), Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington 2007 - 24 Africans have drowned after a dinghy capsized south of Malta, according to the captain of an Italian fishing boat 2007 - USS Decatur, firing an SM-3, becomes first destroyer to shoot down a target ICBM 2008 - More than 100 US sailors were marooned in Hong Kong's famous "girlie" bars after their aircraft carrier hoisted anchor and left without them. The sailors were left behind when the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier and its support ships, carrying a total of more than 5,000 sailors, decided to leave because of an approaching tropical storm 2008 - North Korean patrol ship entered South Korean territorial waters but left after warnings were broadcast 2009 - Command of HMCS Winnipeg transferred from Cmdr. Craig Baines to Cmdr. Robert Ferguson during a ceremony in Melbourne, Australia presided over by Commander Canadian Fleet Pacific, Commodore Ron Lloyd 2009 - Commander of Maritime Command, Vice-Admiral Drew Robertson will relinquish command to Vice-Admiral Dean McFadden at a ceremony in Ottawa 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