SeaWaves Today in History March 12, 2008 ********************************************************************* March 12 1664 - New Jersey became a British colony as King Charles II granted land in the New World to his brother James, the Duke of York 1914 - Battleship USS Texas commissioned 1917 - All American merchant ships to be armed in war zones 1917 - The autocracy is toppled in Russia in the February Revolution 1918 - Destroyer HMS Wessex launched 1918 - Submarine HMS H-28 launched 1918 - Moscow is reestablished as Russia’s capital after the Soviet Government moved to the city a day earlier 1918 - Sailors of the Soviet Baltic Fleet set out on a march from Helsingfors (Helsinki) to Kronstadt. The campaign came down in Russian history as the Ice March 1919 - Destroyer USS Dickerson launched 1920 - Former submarine USS Seawolf wrecked 1925 - Destroyer FS Tornade launched 1925 - Chinese revolutionary leader Sun Yat-sen died 1931 - Destroyer HNLMS Van Nes commissioned 1935 - Light cruiser USS Brooklyn laid down 1936 - Submarine HMS Seawolf commissioned 1936 - Submarine USS Tarpon commissioned 1940 - British Home Fleet returns to Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands from Rosyth and Loch Ewe after the completion of a substantial improvement of the anti-aircraft and anti-submarine defenses at the base 1940 - The British finalize their plans for the invasion of Norway. Landings are to be made at Narvik and Trondheim in order to secure the rail line to Sweden and the large iron-ore fields 1940 - A British warship today landed in Capetown, South Africa, with 46 German prisoners - the crew of the scuttled steamer Wakama, which was scuttled off the Brazilian coast on February 12th. She also landed 16 British sailors from the Ajax, the Achilles, and the Exeter, who had been wounded in the battle of the River Plate. They were brought here for convalescence from Port Stanley, in the Falkland Islands, as there are better facilities for treatment here. The German prisoners were cheerful and obviously pleased with their treatment on board the warship. They had been given the greatest freedom, and even allowed to help the warship's crew at their work. They were freely supplied with cigarettes and received the same rations as the warship's crew. It was their captain, Captain Eschact, who, when he learnt that the German reports alleged his crew had been fired on in their lifeboats, sent a special message to the Woermann Line, denying the reports and saying that the whole crew had been rescued by a British warship 1940 - U-99 launched 1941 - Commander-in-Chief, U. S. Pacific Fleet, Admiral Husband E. Kimmel, sends the following message to the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Harold R. Stark - "in view of [your letter of 15 February], the Commander-in-Chief, U. S. Pacific Fleet, recommends that until a light efficient net, that can be laid temporarily and quickly is developed, no anti-torpedo nets [for protection against torpedo plane attacks] be supplied this area" 1941 - Prolonged air raids hit Merseyside, especially Birkenhead & Wallasey. They sink two ships in dock, damage others and kill 630 people 1941 - Five 139 Sqn RAF aircraft patrolling in the North Sea attack two 500-ton ships 1941 - "Admiral Darlan's declaration and threat make me wonder whether it would not be best for you to intervene as a friend of both sides and try to bring about a working agreement. ... We fear very much a prolongation of the war and its miseries which would result from breakdown of blockade of Germany." Churchill suggests allowing a ration of wheat to go through from America to Vichy and French Africa. The Germans need not know and perhaps a French warship or two may make its way from Toulon to Casablanca or Dakar 1941 - At 1805, U-37 opened fire with the deck gun and the 37mm AA gun from a great distance at steam trawler Petursey south of Iceland, but first missed her many times, giving the crew time to abandon ship. After some heavy hits they went closer, saw the Icelandic flag painted on the side of the vessel and immediately ceased fire, but the trawler soon sank. The U-boat had observed how the crew abandoned ship, but they were never seen again 1941 - U-167, U-605, U-606, U-661 laid down 1941 - ASW trawler HMS Valse launched 1941 - Destroyer HMS Exmoor launched 1941 - Corvette HMS Vervain launched 1941 - Prolonged air raids hit Merseyside, especially Birkenhead and Wallasey. They sink two ships in dock, damage others and kill 630 people 1941 - Five aircraft of 139 Squadron patrolling in the North Sea attack two 500-ton ships 1941 - Churchill writes to Roosevelt - "Admiral Darlan's declaration and threat make me wonder whether it would not be best for you to intervene as a friend of both sides and try to bring about a working agreement. ... We fear very much a prolongation of the war and its miseries which would result from breakdown of blockade of Germany." Churchill suggests allowing a ration of wheat to go through from America to Vichy and French Africa. The Germans need not know and perhaps a French warship or two may make its way from Toulon to Casablanca or Dakar 1941 - The original incident used in Compton Mackenzie's Whisky Galore occurs in the Hebrides when a cargo ship (Politician) runs aground with her holds full of whisky. Islanders hide the quarter of a million bottles from Customs officers 1942 - The first British armed trawlers sent to augment USN patrol force efforts off the German submarine-plagued Eastern Seaboard, HMS Wastwater and HMS Le Tigre, begin patrol operations in the Third Naval District waters. They are assigned duties off Atlantic City & Barnegat NJ 1942 - 68 RAF Wellingtons are dispatched to attack the Deutsche Werke U-boat yard; 53 aircraft bomb & reports from Kiel indicate that the port area was successfully bombed, with damage in the Deutsche Werke and the Germania Werft yards, both building U-boats, and in the naval dockyard. Casualties are listed as 12 killed and 21 injured but it is not known whether service personnel were included. Five Wellingtons are lost over Kiel 1942 - 16 RAF aircraft lay mines off German ports 1942 - Three transports arrive at Karachi after sailing from Australia. Aboard the three ships are the ground echelons of the USAAF’s 7th Bombardment Group (Heavy) and 88th Reconnaissance Squadron (Heavy) arriving from Australia and the 16th and 25th Pursuit Squadrons (Interceptor), 51st Pursuit Group (Interceptor) from the US Cargo aboard the ships includes ten crated P-40s. The 51st Pursuit Group’s P-40s had been aboard the seaplane tender USS Langley (AV-3) when she was sunk on 27 February 1942 - Japanese Prime Minister General TOJO Hideki urges Australia to submit to Japanese rule or face an invasion like the recently conquered Dutch East Indies 1942 - During the night of the 12th/13th, the four motor torpedo (PT) boats carrying General Douglas MacArthur, Commanding General US Army Forces, Far East, his family, Rear Admiral Francis W. Rockwell, Commandant Sixteenth Naval District, and their staffs from Luzon to Tagauayan Island in the Cuyo Group became separated. PT-32 could only use two of its three engines and the other boats had to stop from time to time to clean gasoline strainers. The first boat to arrive at Tagauayan was PT-34 at 0930 hours, two hours late; in the late afternoon, PT-41 and PT-42 arrive in the cove from other islands where they had hidden during the morning hours. PT-35 was missing. Because of the condition of PT-32, the passengers on this boat were divided between the other two boats and these two refueled using fuel drums carried as deck cargo. The crew of PT-32 was ordered to remain at Tagauayan to await the arrival of submarine USS Permit & PT-35 and give directions to the captains of both vessels & then PT-32 could get underway for Panay Island to obtain fuel. At 1800 hours, PT-34 & PT-41 get underway for Cagayan on Mindanao Island 1942 - At 0611, the unarmed & unescorted SS Olga was hit by one torpedo from U-126 about 20 miles north of Nuevitas Light, Cuba in the Old Bahama Channel, while steaming on a nonevasive course at 10.5 knots. The torpedo struck on the port side at the #4 hold, destroying the fireroom bulkhead, blowing away the #4 hatch cover and wrecking the wheelhouse and radio room. A lookout had spotted the torpedo wake but it was too late to take avoiding action. The crew of eight officers and 25 crewmen abandoned ship in one lifeboat and two rafts, while the ship stopped and sank at 0640. The first mate Arthur Wilder was picked up by the U-boat, questioned and was then allowed to swim to the nearest raft containing three other men. When the U-boat got underway, its wake swamped the raft and washed the men from it. The second cook died in the water from shock and exposure. The survivors were picked up by a US Naval craft and taken to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba 1942 - The unarmed & unescorted SS Texan was on a nonevasive course, when she was hit at 0234 by a torpedo which struck the port side bulkhead between the #6 and #7 holds. About five minutes later U-126 shelled the ship in an attempt to destroy the radio shack. The vessel was hit by four rounds but had successfully send SOS messages. Within ten minutes after the hit, ten officers and 37 men had launched two lifeboats. After 13 minutes the ship sank and both boats capsized due to the suction (three officers and six men perished). Ten men righted one lifeboat at daybreak and they picked up later 28 other survivors. About 16h00 a plane of the US Navy passed the survivors several times without spotting them. At 05h30 on 13 March the lifeboat was spotted by the Cuban fishing boat Yoyo approximately 15 miles WSW of the sinking position and was towed to Nuevitas, Cuba arriving there at 1050. The master Robert Hugh Murphy later commanded the Coloradan, which was sunk on 9 October 1942 by U-159 (Witte) 1942 - At 1536, U-578 fired a spread of two torpedoes at the unescorted SS Ingerto & one of them struck after 1 minute 11 seconds, causing her to sink quickly. The ship had been reported missing, after she was last seen on 12 March in approx. 44°30N/49°30W and was never heard from again 1942 - Soviet submarine SC-210 lost near Cape Shabler after 12 March 1942. Possibly by UMA type mine of S-15 Romanian minefield 1942 - U-612 commissioned 1942 - Minesweeper USS Skylark launched 1942 - Corvette USS Ready commissioned 1942 - Americans land in Noumea in New Caledonia. The garrison force includes the first "Seabees" to see active service. Their mission is to build a base. These American Army units would become the Americal Division in May 1942 1942 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt designates Admiral Ernest J. King to serve as the Chief of Naval Operations, as well as the Commander-in-Chief, United States Fleet to which he was appointed on 30 December 1941. King replaces Admiral Harold R Stark as Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) effective 26 March 1942 - President Vargas issued a decree ordering the confiscation of up to 30% of the funds of Axis nationals in Brazil. There were anti-Nazi demonstrations against German shops and establishments in Rio de Janeiro. The confiscation was ordered to guarantee compensation for the ships that had been sunk 1943 - German Motor Torpedo Boat (S-boat) S-55 torpedoed & sank destroyer HMS Lightning in the Sicilian Straits 1943 - Submarine HMS Turbulent sunk off Maddalena, NE of Sardinia by depth charges from Italian MTBs. Turbulent was declared overdue on 23 March 1943 when she failed to return to base 1943 - A man from U-354 took his own life. [Maschinenmaat Helmut Richter] 1943 - U-130 sunk west of the Azores, in position 37.10N, 40.21W, by depth charges from destroyer USS Champlin. 53 dead (all hands lost) 1943 - U-323 laid down 1943 - U-1059 launched 1943 - Destroyer USS Hickox laid down 1943 - Escort carrier HMS Queen laid down 1943 - Aircraft carrier HMS Unicorn commissioned 1943 - Minesweeper USS Design laid down 1943 - Submarine USS Sand Lance laid down 1943 - At 1820, U-638 attacked a straggler from Convoy ON-168 SW of Cape Farewell (grid AJ 5897) and thought they'd missed, but the Empire Light was damaged and abandoned. 39 crewmembers and six gunners were lost. The master, three crewmembers and one gunner were picked up by destroyer HMS Beverley & landed at St John's. At 2212, U-468 sank the abandoned Empire Light by two coup de grâce 1943 - SS Thomas Hooker sunk by U-653 at 53N, 43W in Convoy ONS-169 1944 - Destroyer USS William C Lawe laid down 1944 - Destroyer escort USS Paul G Baker launched 1944 - Submarines USS Blackfin & Jallao launched 1944 - U-311 shot down an RAF 58 Sqn Halifax 1945 - A Japanese incendiary balloon is shot down near Coal Harbour, on Vancouver Island. Launched from Japan and carried across the Pacific by winter winds, the enemy expects them to land in Canada's forests and begin huge fires. Unfortunately for the Japanese, most of the intended target areas are covered in snow and mist - hardly conducive to massive conflagrations 1945 - Destroyer USS Glennon laid down 1945 - Destroyer escort USS Henry W Tucker commissioned 1945 - U-683 which has been listed as missing in the North Atlantic after 20 Feb 1945 SW of Ireland or in the English Channel. 49 dead (all hands lost). This U-boat was probably sunk today in the English Channel near Land's End, in position 49.52N, 05.52W, by depth charges from the British frigate HMS Loch Ruthwen and the sloop Wild Goose 1945 - U-296 is listed as missing in the approaches to the Northern Channel today in the approximate position 55.30N, 07W. (There is a possibility that she was lost on or about 12 March to the minefields T1 or T21 which were laid in the path to her operational area. 42 dead (all hands lost)) 1945 - U-1063 sailed from Kristiansand on her first and final patrol 1945 - U-260 scuttled at 2230, south of Ireland, in position 51.15N, 09.05W, after being mined at 80 meters depth. Whole crew interned in Ireland 48 survivors (No casualties) 1945 - Frigate HMCS Montreal departed Londonderry escort for Convoy ON-290 1946 - Oiler HMCS Mastodon 1 paid off. Mastodon was formerly the Department of Public Works Dredge No. 306. She was built in Renfrew, Scotland, in 1910 and was taken into service in late 1942 by the RCN and converted for service as an auxiliary tanker. Her role was to move fuel oil to naval storage tanks along the West Coast. MASTODON was one of a very few auxiliaries that, despite their generally small size and decrepit condition, did absolutely indispensable work. The ship displaced 1,233 tons, was 210 feet long (over all), could make a speed of six knots and had a crew of five officers and 37 ratings 1947 - President Truman established what became known as the "Truman Doctrine" to help Greece and Turkey resist Communism 1948 - RCN #1 Trg AG mid air collision over Eastern Passage NS. One pilot killed 1949 - In Bermuda area, 803 Sqn Sea Fury TF992, piloted by Lt (P) Anton Albert "Doc" Schellinck, lost power on take-off from HMCS Magnificent, probably due to sleeve failure. The a/c went into the sea off the bow to starboard, and the pilot was picked up unhurt. On this same day, Firefly FR.1 PP 426 of 826 Sqn also ditched while operating from the carrier. Both pilot and observer (identities unknown) were recovered safely 1951 - The Supreme Council of the USSR passes the Law to Advocate Peace 1953 - Minesweeper HMCS James Bay launched Esquimalt BC 1954 - Canadian Prime Minister Louis St Laurent visited HMCS Cayuga at Tokyo 1955 - Effective this date, all foreign and domestic ships are required to give 24-hour advance notice to the local US Coast Guard Captain of the Port before entering US ports. This order was designed to improve the U .S. Coast Guard Port Security program without material inconvenience to shipping 1956 - In first overseas deployment of Navy missile squadron, VA-83 left on USS Intrepid 1965 - The beginning of the US Navy's Operation Market Time to interdict resupply of Communist forces in South Vietnam by river and coastal routes. The initiation of this campaign led to the Navy's request for USCG vessels and crews to participate in riverine and coastal patrols during the Vietnam War 1967 - Washington State Ferry Kaleetan launched 1967 - USS Bennington port call Sasebo 1969 - USS Coral Sea port call Hong Kong 1975 - USS Coral Sea port call Subic Bay 1991 - DOD announces cease fire is holding, troop demobilization continues 1991 - USS John F. Kennedy, San Jacinto, Mississippi, Samuel B. Roberts, Preble, Moosbrugger and Thomas S. Gates transit the Suez Canal enroute to the Mediterranean. There are 73 Navy ships in the Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Oman and Northern Arabian Sea, 19 Navy ships in the Red Sea, and 15 Navy ships in the Mediterranean 1991 - Command ship USS Lasalle, HMS Cattistock and two tankers reopen major Kuwaiti port of Ash Shuaybah, steamed through a channel cleared of mines by a hundred US and coalition divers, bringing in potable water and supplies to assist the reconstruction of Kuwait. First US Navy warship to make port visit to newly liberated Kuwait 1991 - Naval forces continue ongoing counter air-defensive and other operations 2004 - Destroyer USS Kidd laid down Pascagoula MS 2005 - Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli said his government would give “every support” to a new ferry service from the Russian port of Kavkaz to the Georgian port of Poti 2005 - A disaster for one set of cruisers added unexpected spice to Natalie Barrett's wedding celebrations in Sydney. Her charter boat came to the rescue when a top-heavy cruiser flipped, throwing 18 people into the water. Now salvage operators are working to refloat The Hibernate, the nine-meter Cheoy Lee cruiser that capsized and sank just after 8pm on Saturday night near Shark Island. And NSW Maritime is investigating to see whether the boat was overloaded 2005 - A gang of 35 pirates armed with machine guns and rocket launchers seized a fully-laden gas tanker in the Malacca Strait, says a piracy watchdog. The ship had been released but the captain and chief engineer were kidnapped and the pirates were demanding a ransom, said Noel Choong, regional manager of the Piracy Reporting Center of the International Maritime Bureau. The 1,289-tonne Indonesian-owned MT Tri Samudra was carrying a cargo of methane gas from Samarinda in Kalimantan province on Borneo Island to Belawan when it was boarded in the early evening on Saturday, Choong said 2005 - A group of 121 fishing ministers and high-level fisheries officials who gathered at FAO over the weekend for a special ministerial meeting have issued a joint declaration stressing the need to rebuild fisheries and Aquaculture in tsunami-affected countries in a responsible and people-centered manner. Among those participating in the event were representatives from countries affected by the tsunami 2005 - A 21-year-old Royal Marine was found hanged on board a Royal Navy warship. The body of the man was discovered on HMS Albion at about 0700 while the ship was docked in Devonport Naval Base, Plymouth 2005 - Italian NUPA-class frigates Sirio & Orione commissioned at La Spezia 2006 - Coast Guard has suspended the active search for two fishermen from the fishing vessel Slayer at 1950. The crew of the fishing vessel Slayer, Richard Nebert, 42, of Juneau and Matthew Young, 18, of Sitka, got out a brief mayday call at 0654 Friday before presumably going down four and a half miles south of Point Gardner 2006 - USCG suspended its search at about 1730 for a second person in the water near Point Sur. The Monterey County Sheriff Department, the California State Parks, the Pacific Grove Ocean Rescue Team, and the Midcoast Volunteer Brigade have also suspended their search. The Coast Guard received a call from a 911 specialist at about 1115. A bystander had seen two persons fishing off the rocks off the coast of intersection Highway 1 and Palo Colorado Road. The bystander witnessed the wave carry the two people off the rocks and out to sea. The Coast Guard Cutter Hawksbill out of Monterey was launched and arrived on scene at 1145 while a Dolphin HH-65 helicopter from Air Station San Francisco was dispatched and arrived on scene about 15 minutes later. Both assets, including all agencies searched along the coast from Carmel to Pfifer Point. The CSP recovered one body at about 1143 off the coast where the two fishermen were last seen. The name of the body is being withheld pending notification of next of kin 2006 - The Coast Guard has been searching for a possible boater in distress in the vicinity of the Swanee River since about 1645. Coast Guard Station Yankeetown received a report from two separate sources that a female voice was heard calling "Mayday, Mayday, 'Little Man' taking on water two miles off Swanee" on Channel 16 (VHF radio.) The Coast Guard launched a rescue boat from Station Yankeetown along with a rescue helicopter and a C-130 from Air Station Clearwater. The helicopter has searched a six by six mile area with no sight of the sinking vessel 2006 - At 1245 Falmouth MRCC received a 999 call from a member of the public reporting that two persons had been cut off by the tide at the north end of Watergate Beach near Newquay. Newquay Coastguard Cliff Rescue team were immediately tasked together with Newquay Lifeboat and Inshore Rescue boat, with instructions to proceed to the location. When the cliff rescue team arrived at the location, a brief search was carried out by team members and the lifeboat's crew, to establish exactly where the casualties were located. Upon finding two men, it was decided that the safest and most practical option was to recover both casualties back to the top of the cliff. A Coastguard cliff man was lowered to the casualties to assess their condition. One had a minor injury to his finger but apart from that both seemed well. Following the assessment the men were recovered to the top of the cliff one at a time, to be reunited with their concerned friends 2007 - The French oil giant Total has had a month to defend itself in court against charges that it is responsible for the ruinous oil spill that devastated much of the Brittany coast in 1999. The 15 defendants, especially the huge oil company, are fighting to avoid a criminal conviction for pollution that carries a relatively modest fine but could expose them to enormous civil damages 2007 - Zim Integrated Shipping Services green lights the purchase of two 10,000-TEU container vessels worth a total US$266.4 million, which are expected to be delivered in early 2010. The board also agreed on an option to buy a third vessel from South Korea's Hyundai Shipyards 2007 - National Fisheries Institute (NFI) and US Tuna Foundation (USTF) announced their merger. The combined organization will strengthen the seafood community's ability to educate Americans about the health benefits of seafood. It will operate as a single organization 2007 - Admiral William J. Fallon, Commander, US Pacific Command relinquished command to Lt. Gen. Daniel P. Leaf USAF, Deputy Commander of US Pacific Command, during a ceremony at Camp HM Smith 2007 - Air Chief Marshal Djoko Suyanto, the commander of Indonesia's National Armed Forces (TNI), arrived in Finland ============================================================= 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 2008 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.