SeaWaves Today in History March 13, 2008 ********************************************************************* March 13 1519 - Cortes lands in Mexico 1781 - Uranus was discovered by Sir William Herschel 1811 - Battle of Lissa (Adriatic), one of the best frigate actions of the Napoleonic Wars. A squadron of four British frigates led by Captain William Hoste defeated a French/Venetian squadron of six frigates and four smaller ships 1858 - As British troops slowly penetrated deeper into the defenses at Lucknow, Mutineer artillery shells set fire to a British sandbagged position. Able Seaman Robinson, a member of the Royal Naval brigade serving ashore at the siege, leapt onto the sandbags, and despite heavy fire from enemy only fifty yards away, proceeded to beat out the flames or throw blazing sandbags clear. He was seriously wounded in the process, but survived to receive the Victoria Cross 1882 - At 7 P.M. the schooner Annie L. Palmer bound for New York from Baracoa, Cuba, with a cargo of fruit, and a crew of six persons, stranded about two hundred yards off-shore, one mile north of Station No. 16, Fourth District, New Jersey. The patrolman reported it to the keeper. The life-saving crew boarded the vessel by 8 o'clock and found that she had grounded at low water and could not be moved until the tide rose. They ran an anchor to keep the vessel from working farther on, and waited for the flood tide. At half past 2 the next morning the tide rose and they succeeded in heaving the vessel off. They then took her to a safe anchorage 1884 - Standard Time was adopted throughout the United States 1895 - Award of first submarine building contract to John P. Holland Torpedo Boat Co 1895 - Spanish cruiser Reina Regente sinks of Gibraltar with the loss of 402 hands 1907 - Submarine HMS C4 completed 1908 - Submarine HMS C14 completed 1908 - Submarine HMS C17 launched 1913 - Submarine HMS Nautilus laid down 1914 - Lake Union dam breaks and houseboats sink in Seattle 1916 - Submarine HMS E50 launched 1917 - Armed merchant ships authorized to take action against U-boats 1917 - Submarine HMS E52 completed 1918 - Search begins for USS Cyclops, missing in the "Bermuda Triangle" no trace was found of the ship or 306 crew 1920 - Destroyer USS Graham commissioned 1927 - Canadian Pacific SS Montnairn arrived Saint John NB with Scottish emigrants (including 16-year old James Douglas Shirlaw) to Canada 1930 - Destroyer FS Vauquelin laid down 1936 - Soviet submarine SC-210 launched 1937 - U-53 laid down 1937 - Destroyer USS Somers launched 1938 - Light cruiser USS Phoenix launched 1939 - Tanker (later CVE) Sangamon laid down 1940 - The Peace Treaty ending the Winter War is signed at Moscow at 1.00 am (Finnish time). The hostilities are to end at 11 am (Finnish time) 1940 - An agreement is reached for the Canadian Army to provide coastal guns to protect Bell Island off the northeastern coast of Newfoundland 1940 - The USN’s Fleet Landing Exercise (FLEX) No. 6, which began on 11 January, concludes at Culebra. The Fleet Marine Force makes progress in developing techniques for rubber boat landings, getting heavy combat materiel ashore & improving ship-to-shore supply 1940 - Submarine FS Side Ferruch departed Halifax escort for Convoy HX-27 1940 - Corvette USS Impulse (ex-HMS Begonia) laid down 1941 - U-79, U-561 commissioned 1941 - Glasgow and Clydeside suffer their first major Luftwaffe raid tonight; 236 aircraft drop 272 tons of high explosive and 59,400 incendiaries. In the shipbuilding town of Clydebank only seven houses were left undamaged, and three-quarters of its population were made homeless. The raid leaves 1,100 dead and 1,000 injured. 13 bombers are claimed 1941 - HMS Burin (ex-MMS 141) & Cottel (ex-MMS 142) ordered Steers Shipbuilding St John's 1941 - Destroyer USS Ericsson commissioned 1942 - USS PT-32 destroyed to prevent capture Tagauayan Island Philippines 1942 - At 0441, the unarmed and unescorted Colabee was hit by a torpedo from U-126, while she steered a nonevasive course about 10 miles off Cape Guajaba, Cuba. The torpedo was fired on the surface not more than 800 yards away and struck the starboard side at the after end of #2 hold. The explosion created a large hole, blew off the #2 hatch covers and extensively damaged the bridge, killing the master and one man. After the vessel was stopped, the crew of eight officers and 29 men abandoned the ship in panic, because one of the two lifeboats was destroyed and no rafts were aboard. Only ten men get away with the boat, the others jumped overboard and many drowned. U-126 picked up one man, helped him into the lifeboat and questioned the survivors. The ship went aground shortly afterwards. The boat landed on a small Island off Key Verde, Cuba, where the Cuban steam merchant Oriente picked up these 11 survivors and took them to Nuevitas on 15 March. The first engineer and two men stayed with the ship and were taken off the next day at 21.30 hours by American steam tanker Cities Service Kansas. Four officers and 19 men died. Later the Oriente pulled the Colabee off the shoal and was anchored. The Cuban Navy towed her into port, where she was repaired and put back into service 1942 - At 0505, the unescorted tanker John D. Gill was torpedoed by U-158 about 25 miles east of Cape Fear, North Carolina. The vessel on her second voyage had stopped zigzagging for about 20 minutes off Frying Pan Shoals, flashed the running lights and then continued on a zigzag course at 15 knots. One torpedo struck on the starboard side amidships under the mainmast in the #7 tank. The tanker seemed to lift out of the water and move sideways, but the explosion did not ignite the cargo. The oil was ignited when a seaman tossed a life ring with a self-igniting carbide light overboard. The ship and sea was turned in a blazing inferno, forcing the eight officers and 34 crewmen to abandon ship within eight minutes, followed by the seven armed guards (the ship was armed with one 5in, two .50cal and two .30cal guns) seven minutes later. While lowering one of the after boats, the lines became fouled and the occupants were spilled into the sea. At least the still turning prop killed two of them. The survivors left the ship in only one of the four lifeboats and one of the six rafts. After abandonment, the tanker was rocked by a series of explosions as one tank after another ignited and exploded. The burned out vessel sank after nine hours. Eight crewmembers and three armed guards were picked up by the US Coast Guard patrol boat #4405, transferred to USCGC Agassiz & landed at Southport, North Carolina. 15 survivors in the lifeboat were picked up by the Robert H. Colley and taken to Charleston, South Carolina. Six officers, 13 crewmen and four armed guards were lost and many of the survivors were badly burned 1942 - The unarmed & unescorted four-masted schooner Albert F. Paul was reported missing after 11 Mar 1942. On 13 March U-332 spotted a four-masted schooner, which must have been the Albert F. Paul. Liebe considered using his deck gun to sink the ship, but the heavy seas prevented this. A first torpedo passed under the bowsprit, but at 0720 a second torpedo struck under the third mast and the schooner sank immediately 1942 - SS Trepca sunk by U-332 at 37N, 73.25W 1942 - SS Tolten sunk by U-404 at 40.10N, 73.50W. 20 dead and 1 survivor 1942 - U-536 laid down 1942 - RAF Bomber Command aircraft bomb the port area at Ostend 1942 - RAF Hampdens lay mines in the Frisian Islands 1942 - Submarine HIJMS I-25 launches a Yokosuka E14Y1, Navy Type 0 Small Reconnaissance Seaplane (later assigned the Allied Code Name "Glen"), to reconnoiter Auckland 1942 - Submarine USS Gar torpedoes & sinks a Japanese victualing stores ship between 6 & 10 miles SW of Mikura Jima, south of Tokyo Bay 1942 - The two motor torpedo (PT) boats carrying General Douglas MacArthur, his family, Rear Admiral Francis W. Rockwell and their staffs, PT-34 and PT-41, arrive at Cagayan on Mindanao Island in the early morning. Later in the day, a third boat, PT-35 arrives at Cagayan. The three boats had made the 560-mile voyage in heavy to moderate seas in two days. The next leg of MacArthur’s journey to Australia is to be by B-17 Flying Fortresses but only one B-17 has reached Del Monte Field and it had wheezed in to a wobbly landing. MacArthur, furious, will allow no one to board the "dangerously decrepit" aircraft, and demands the “three best planes in the US or Hawaii," manned by "completely adequate, experienced" airmen be flown to Del Monte. Unfortunately, Major General George Brett, Commanding General US Army Forces in Australia, has neither. The party must now await the arrival of three additional B-17 Flying Fortresses from Australia. Submarine USS Permit arrives at Tagauayan Island and finds the fourth motor torpedo (PT) boat involved in the evacuation of the MacArthur party, PT-32, there. The PT boat is not seaworthy and the submarine takes the boat’s crew aboard and PT-32 is destroyed by gunfire 1943 - At 2322, SS Keystone was torpedoed by U-172 about 450 miles west of the Azores. The ship had been in Convoy UGS-6, but straggled on 12 March about 15 miles behind the convoy due to engine problems and an destroyer remained with the freighter all night, but left the next morning to rejoin the convoy. The U-boat reported the vessel under her former name Sage Brush. One torpedo struck on the port side aft of the #5 hatch. The explosion blew a hole in the hull between #5 hold and the poop deck, destroyed the steering engine and steering gear, buckled the deck, disabled the 4in stern gun, flooded the shaft alley and killed one armed guard and a fireman on watch below. Five minutes after the hit a fire started and one of the aircraft carried on deck caught fire. The engines were secured and most of the eight officers, 35 crewmen, 27 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 4in and nine 20mm guns) and two passengers (US Army) abandoned ship in good order in four lifeboats. After the crew cleared the vessel, a coup de grâce was fired at 2355 hours, which struck at the #3 hold and broke the ship in two. Both parts sunk until 00.27 hours on 14 March. The survivors were picked up after seven hours by the Portuguese steam merchant Sines and landed at Horta in the Azores on 16 March 1943 - At 0458, U-68 attacked Convoy GAT-49 about 200 miles NW of Curaçao and torpedoed the Cities Service Missouri. 30 minutes later two torpedoes struck the Ceres, the first under the bridge and the second under #5 hatch, causing the ship to sink fast. The crew and the passengers immediately abandoned ship and were picked up by an escort vessel. Cities Service Missouri in station #23 was the last ship in the second column and was struck by one torpedo at the stem on the starboard side. The explosion ripped a ten-foot hole in the side and vented upward, damaging the bridge & wheelhouse. The vessel stopped to determine the damage and the master thought she could be saved if they shift the ballast. At 0610 a second torpedo struck the port side in the engine room and demolished the engines, just as they had brought the tanker on even keel. U-68 surfaced about 1300 yards from the tanker and the armed guards (the ship was armed with one 5in and two .50cal guns) fired three rounds on her but all missed. By this time, water had risen to the base of the gun and 30 minutes later the master ordered the ship abandoned. All eight officers, 35 crewmen and 11 armed guards left the tanker in three lifeboats and one raft. At 07.40 hours the ship plunged stern first with her bow straight in the air. Three hours later, destroyer USS Biddle picked up the survivors. A boatswain drowned trying to get on the destroyer and a machinist died of wounds and burns on board. The survivors were later brought to Curaçao 1943 - U-764 launched 1943 - U-1197, U-1198 laid down 1943 - U-239, U-282, U-390, U-763 commissioned 1943 - At 0530, U-107 attacked Convoy OS-44 190 miles west of Cape Finisher and reported hits on three ships. In fact, four ships were sunk, Clan Alpine, Marcella, Oporto and Sembilangan. Clan Alpine was later scuttled by sloop HMS Scarborough with depth charges. The master, 59 crewmembers and nine gunners were picked up by the sloop, transferred to the British SS Pendeen & landed at Gibraltar. The master, 34 crewmembers and nine gunners from Marcella were lost. The master, 35 crewmembers & seven gunners from the Oporto were lost. Four crewmembers were picked up by HMS Spiraea & transferred to HMS Gentian & landed at Gibraltar. A torpedo hit the Sembilangan and the ammunition exploded. The 4th engineer was thrown overboard and was the only survivor when he was later picked up by an escort vessel 1943 - Canadian-owned, British registered passenger liner SS Empress of Canada was sunk. For the first three & a half years of the war she had escaped enemy destruction so successfully that the Germans referred to her as "The Phantom". Her trooping duties had taken her all over the world. In Aug 41, she took part in a raid on the Norwegian Island of Spitzbergen, & traveled as far north as Archangel on the edge of the Arctic Ocean. At the time of her loss, she was en route from Durban, South Africa to Takoradi, on the Gold Coast of West Africa, with 1,346 passengers. The passengers were a very mixed group that included Italian POW's, military personnel from the German-occupied countries of Poland, Norway, & Greece, plus a small number of British government officials. Just before midnight on the 13th, the Italian submarine Leonardo Da Vinci torpedoed the ship. The liner started to sink quickly, & her master, Capt George Goold, gave the order to abandon ship. A second torpedo hit the ship during the evacuation. The survivors were rescued by HMS Boreas, Crocus & Petunia, which arrived from Freetown, Sierra Leone, on the evening of the 15th. HMS Corinthian followed them the next morning. Attacks by barracuda & sharks took large toll on the people in the water. A total of 392 people, 44 of them crewmembers, were lost 1943 - Minesweeper USS Magnet laid down 1943 - Destroyer escort USS Weaver laid down 1943 - Minesweeper USS Knave launched 1943 - Destroyer escort USS Donnell launched 1943 - Corvettes HMCS Napanee & Prescott sank U-163 Kkpt Kurt-Eduard Engelmann CO, Bay of Biscay, of U-163's crew of 57 there were no survivors. U-163 was en route from Lorient to a rendezvous SW of Iceland with the German blockade- runner Regensberg when she encountered the Gibraltar to UK convoy MKS 9. At 2149, Prescott was stationed five miles on the convoy's starboard bow when she obtained a contact at a range of 3700 yards on her new 271 radar. She closed the contact to 1500 yards & saw a U-Boat submerging. Prescott continued to close & obtained an Asdic contact at 1200 yards but at the same instant, saw what she presumed to be a second submarine surface close on her port bow & making for the convoy. She reversed course & engaged the submarine with her gun. When the range had closed to 700 yards the submarine submerged. Prescott attacked with depth charges but lost contact. Napanee joined & the ships began a systematic search of the area. At 2319, Prescott gained Asdic contact & re-attacked with depth charges. This time contact was lost again & could not be regained. Post-war record reconstruction established that U-163, which was the only submarine in the area, was destroyed in Prescott's second attack. U-163 a IXC type U-boat built by Deutsche Schiff Machinenbau AG Seebreck Yards Bremen, launched 1 May 41 commissioned 21 Oct 41, in service 17 months, with a record of sinking 4 ships sunk for a total of 17,011 tons, including the USS Erie, 1 ship of 7,127 tons damaged. Kurt-Eduard Engelmann was born in 1903, at Neisse-Oberneuland, Upper Silesia. He joined the navy in 1923. He began the war as the First Gunnery Officer in the heavy cruiser Blucher & was with her when she was lost during the invasion of Norway, in Apr 40. He was transferred to the staff of the Admiral commanding Norway until Apr 41. Then, he transferred to the U-boat force, & because of his seniority & rank, was assigned to the U-boat commander's course as soon as his introductory training was completed. He was assigned to command U-163 on 21 Oct 41 & was lost in the Bay of Biscay on 13 Mar 43. He was posthumously promoted to the rank of FKpt on 15 Mar 43, which was done before it has clearly been established that U-163 had been lost 1944 - HMCS Prince Rupert, USS Hobson, Haverfield with a/c from - VC-95 Sqn of USS Bogue plus Wellington & Fortress of RAF Sqn 172; & RAF Sqn 206, sank U.575 OLtzS Wolfgang Bohmer CO, North of the Azores, 46-18N, 27-34W, of U.575's crew there were 5 officer, 10 senior ratings, 22 junior ratings survivors, & 18 lost. U-575 was located by Bogue's a/c & was soon joined by Haverfield. Prince Rupert was detached from the passing convoy ON 227 to join the action. Both ships attacked with depth charges & hedgehog but with no result. They were joined by USS Hobson, which began slow creeping attack that forced the submarine to the surface. Amidst a hail of fire from all three ships & an 'Avenger' a/c from Bogue, the submarine crew abandoned ship as she sank. OLtzS Bohmer was among the survivors. U-575 was a VIIC type U-boat, built by Blohm & Voss, Hamburg, launched 22 Jan 43, commissioned 19 Jun 41, in service 33 months, conducted 10 patrols with a record of 9 ships sunk for a total of 37,121 tons including HMS Asphodel & 3 ships damaged for a total of 12,910 tons. She was the second boat to be fitted with the Schnorkel device & had sent a long signal reporting its performance that was intercepted & which led to the boat's destruction. OLtzS Bohmer was her second commanding officer. U-575 in known to have been associated with at least 4 Wolfpacks in 1942, they were - "Endras" group (12-21 Jun) which attacked convoy HG 84; "Panter" group, "Luchs" group which attacked convoy HX 209 & "Puma" group (16-30 Oct) which attacked convoy HX 212 & sank 6 ships. Wolfgang Bohmer was born in 1920, at Nordkirchen, Westphalia. He joined the navy in 1939 & went directly into the U-boat force. His first operational duty was from May 41 to Nov 41 as the First Weapons Officer in the very successful U-431 Kptlt Wilhelm Dommes, Knights Cross, CO. After a period of training, he served in the training boat U-263 (May-Aug 42) before joining U-575 in Nov 42 as the Second WO. He was made the First Weapons officer in Mar 43 & was selected for the U-boat commander's course in Aug 43. Bohmer was appointed to command his old boat on 12 Sep 43. He was captured when U-575 was sunk & was released from captivity on 12 Nov 46 1944 - Arrived Plymouth assigned - (1) 31st Minesweeping Flotilla a. HMCS Cowichan b. Caraquet c. Malpequet (2) 32nd M/S Fl, later to 14th M/S Fl, & then 31st M/S Fl. a. HMCS Vegreville 1944 - Destroyer escorts USS Riley & Willmarth commissioned 1944 - HMC MTB 743 commissioned 1944 - Corvette HMCS Galt departed Halifax for refit New York City 1944 - Destroyer USS Rowe commissioned 1944 - Destroyers USS Charles S Sperry & Porter launched 1944 - At 1940, the unescorted Peleus was hit by two torpedoes from U-852 & sank rapidly about 500 miles north of Ascension Island. The U-boat tried to destroy all evidences of the sinking by shooting at debris and rafts from the ship. During this action some survivors were killed and only four men were alive when the U-boat left the area. One of them later died, the remaining three survivors were picked up by the Portuguese SS Alexandre Silva on 20 April and taken to Lobito, Angola 1945 - Coast Guard-manned Army FS-228 was commissioned at New Orleans with LT Budd B. Bornhoft, USCGR, as first commanding officer. She was assigned to and operated in the Southwest Pacific area including Guam, Saipan, Eniwetok, etc. 1945 - U-396 sailed from Norway on her final patrol 1945 - U-905 sailed from Norway on her final patrol 1945 - U-1407 commissioned 1945 - Peru declares war on Germany 1945 - SS Taber Park (2,878 GRT), Canadian merchantman, was sunk in the North Sea off England's NE coast in position 52.22N, 001.53E, by either a mine or a German midget submarine. Only four members of the crew of 32 men survived 1945 - Submarine HMS Alliance laid down 1945 - Submarine HMS Talent launched 1945 - Submarine HMS Tasman launched 1945 - Destroyer USS Wiltsie laid down 1959 - Naval Research Laboratory takes first ultraviolet pictures of sun. USS Albany & aircraft from Navy Airborne Early Warning Squadron Four from Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico aid five ill crewmembers of Norwegian freighter Jotunfjell USS Midway port call Pearl Harbor 1970 - USS Coral Sea port call Hong Kong 1972 - USS Hancock port call Yokosuka 1974 - A 200-foot fishing vessel requested evacuation of a crewman, who had severe headaches from an earlier head injury. The vessel was directed to proceed to the vicinity of Boston Light Vessel where upon arrival a motor lifeboat from Coast Guard Station Point Allerton evacuated the patient to Coast Guard Base Boston. A waiting ambulance transported the patient to Brighton Hospital 1991 - Naval forces continue on-going counter air-defensive and other operations 1994 - ex-HMCS Margaree, sold for $193,393.00 to Global Shipping Co., Tampa, Florida, departed Halifax, under tow of Afanasiy (Russian tug) for India to be broken up 2001 - A US Navy jet mistakenly dropped a bomb on a group of military personnel at a bombing range in Kuwait, killing five Americans and one New Zealander 2003 - Capt. Charles P. Martello and his chief of staff, Cdr Thomas J. Doughty, were relieved of their duties commanding Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing 10 at Whidbey Island Naval Air Station in Washington State. Officials said Martello falsified his flying record and that Doughty participated in the fraud 2004 - Crane ship USNS Flickertail State placed laid up in James River Reserve Fleet 2004 - USCGC Sea Lion commissioned Staten Island NY 2005 - The alarm was raised by two anglers who found a 15 year old girl in a RHIB, informing them that her father and sister had fallen overboard. Dumbarton Police initially requested assistance from Clyde Coastguard in the form of technical support in determining search areas at 1458. Rescue helicopter 177 from Royal Naval Air Station Prestwick had been scrambled as well as the Strathclyde Police aircraft (VM70). Helensburgh and Greenock Coastguard Rescue teams have been conducting a shoreline search. Also, in assistance are the National Park Ranger's Boat and the Loch Lomand Rescue Boat 2005 - The Coast Guard airlifted a 22-year-old man from a fishing vessel today 42 miles off Cape Alava, Wash. Coast Guard Group/Air Station Port Angeles, Wash., received a call at 1603 from Coast Guard Station Neah Bay, Wash., requesting medical assistance for a crewmember on the 40-foot fishing vessel Attica. The emergency call was relayed to Station Neah Bay by another vessel within radio distance of the station. An HH-65 Dolphin helicopter from Air Station Port Angeles was launched to medevac the man. The helicopter lowered a rescue swimmer to the fishing vessel's deck to hoist the man into the helicopter. He was flown to Air Station Port Angeles, where an awaiting ambulance transported him to Olympic Memorial Hospital in Port Angeles for further treatment 2005 - Army Lt. Col. Steven W. Kihara relieved Navy Cmdr. Paul A. Sohl as commanding officer of the US Naval Test Pilot School during a change of command ceremony Jan. 13 here. Kihara became the US Naval Test Pilot School's first Army commanding officer. USNTPS provides instruction to experienced pilots, flight officers, and engineers in the processes and techniques of aircraft and systems test and evaluation. The school investigates and develops new flight test techniques, publishes manuals for use of the aviation test community for standardization of flight test techniques and project reporting, and conducts special projects. USNTPS maintains its staff as a focal point of expertise providing the aviation test community with engineering and training consultation. Kihara was designated a Reserve Officer Training Corps Distinguished Military Graduate and commissioned in the Regular Army after graduating from Gonzaga University in May 1984. After initial Infantry officer training, he was inducted into Aviation branch upon completion of flight school and he was reassigned to the Army Acquisition Corps upon selection for US Naval Test Pilot School attendance in January 1994 2005 - Three British military boats confiscated by Iran last year over a diplomatic spat were put on public display yesterday. They will form part of an exhibition in Iran despite requests in London for their return. "The recent action is unhelpful," said a Foreign Office spokesman. "We will continue to discuss the boats' return with the relevant Iranian authorities." The hardline Iranian Revolutionary Guards detained six British Royal Marines and two sailors for three days last June after claiming that their vessels had strayed into Iranian territorial waters along the Shat-al Arab waterway, which divides Iran from Iraq. The exhibition, called "A piece of paradise", is taking place near the southern border with Iraq where the vessels were seized. The boats will be on show until April 4. Iranian state TV said that the exhibition will feature the Revolutionary Guards telling their version of events. The eight British servicemen were delivering a boat for the new Iraqi river patrol service when the guards detained them. Iran insists the boats were intercepted only after they had entered Iranian waters but after the incident British officials said it appeared they were "forcibly escorted" over the border by the Iranian forces 2006 - A new video made this morning by the Police National Dive Squad on the wreck of F69 Wellington in improved visibility has revealed that the two stern sections of the frigate suffered massive structural disintegration in the storm on 3 & 4 March. The stern sections have rotated ninety degrees to the left and have "smeared" the bottom of the ship and some intermediate decks across the seabed. The two stern sections are now lying in a roughly east-west direction, with a large debris trail of machinery and plating stretching from the starboard side seawards towards the bow section 2006 - Multiple Coast Guard boat crews from Stations Castle Hill and Pt. Judith, and a helicopter crew from Air Station Cape Cod are currently searching the waters from the West Passage of Narragansett Bay to Wickford RI for three missing University of Rhode Island students. The students reportedly launched a rowboat off the university pier early this morning. Station Castle Hill received a call around 0400 from a University of Rhode Island security guard who heard screams from the water near the pier. The search has turned up an oar, ball cap and a sandal. Aiding in the search are the RI Department of Environmental Management, the Narragansett Eagle, a 24-foot civilian vessel, and the Narragansett Police Department 2006 - Deep Blue Marine Inc. launch their 2006 season and begin to survey several potential sites in the waters of the Atlantic 2006 - At 0830 the 18 meter Fishing Vessel Good Intent, with three crew made a mayday call on VHF channel 16. They were taking water and requested immediate assistance approximately seven and a half nautical miles, north east of Hartlepool. They had about five foot of water in the fish room and their pump could not reduce the water level. Humber Coastguard immediately responded to their call and requested shipping in the area to proceed to stand by the fishing vessel until the Hartlepool RNLI lifeboat and RAF Rescue Helicopter R131 based at Boulmer could arrive on scene. The rescue helicopter lowered a Coastguard pump down to the fishing vessel and the Hartlepool RNLI Lifeboat also placed a pump on board and then escorted the vessel into Hartlepool Fish Quay. The fishing vessel started to take on water but it took all three pumps to cope with the ingress of water and to stabilize the situation. The fishing vessel reported later in the incident that the cause was due to a leak in the wooden hull. Marine surveyors from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency's Stockton marine office have been informed 2006 - TOP Tankers Inc announced today the sale of thirteen vessels and the immediate leaseback to the Company for a period of five to seven years. The lease is a bareboat charter, with TOP Tankers continuing to operate and commercially manage the vessels 2006 - The USCG responded today to a report of a downed aircraft one-half-mile south off Santa Monica Pier. The report, received at about 0945, stated that an aircraft had left Santa Monica airport and had experienced engine problems. When the crew tried to return to the airport they had crashed. A Coast Guard HH-65 Dolphin Helicopter from Air Station Los Angeles along with the Coast Guard Cutter Blacktip from Oxnard, Calif., a boat from Coast Guard Station Los Angeles, and Baywatch arrived on scene at approximately 1000. Two of the reported three people on board the aircraft have been recovered. A search for the third person is still underway 2006 - Todd Shipyards Corporation announced that the Alaska Marine Highway System has awarded to its wholly owned subsidiary, Todd Pacific Shipyards Corporation, a $5,471,185 contract for the overhaul of the passenger and auto ferry MV Taku. Taku is expected to arrive at Todd's Seattle shipyard on January 5, 2007 with all major work to be completed by June 8th, 2007. The overhaul includes the removal and replacement of shafts, hubs, blades and all ancillary equipment related to the propulsion system, including the replacement of most of the pneumatic control system with an electronic, digital control propulsion system 2006 - MV Cape Orlando arrived at the Port of Anchorage in 7F weather. Osborne was part of a Coast Guard team tasked with providing security for the vessel while in port. The Army handled the offload of equipment including CH-47 Chinook helicopters returning to Ft. Wainwright from service in Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan. The 635-foot roll-on/roll-off ship is run by the Military Sealift Command 2006 - Shanghai municipality held a conference with the goal of building the city into one of Asia-Pacific's logistics centers. In the next five years the city will work to secure an annual 10 percent increase of added value for its logistics industry 2006 - The multipurpose amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard and guided-missile destroyer USS John Paul Jones were named honorary flagships March 13 for the upcoming search for the remains of the original Bonhomme Richard, which sank in the North Sea in 1779 2007 - Carnival Corp plc signed an agreement to build and operate a cruise terminal on the island of Roatan, Honduras 2007 - An agreement has been finalized between Sri Lanka and China under which the latter will participate in the development of a port project at Hambantota on the island's south coast 2007 - MV Sinara, which caught fire 30 miles offshore has moored at the Vladivostok 2007 - Iran's state tanker company aims to add seven very large crude carriers (VLCCs) to its current fleet of 28 over the next three years 2007 - Danaos Corp took delivery of Norasia Integra (ex ER Auckland), a vessel it had already agreed to acquire. Norasia Integra is a 4,300 TEU containership and will commence its 12 year charter with the Yang Ming Group in May 2007, as it is currently under charter with Norasia 2007 - Norway plans to withdraw the naval ships it deployed to help patrol Lebanon's coast following last summer's war with Israel 2007 - The United Nations refugee agency called on the Greek authorities to allow the urgent disembarkation and grant access to the asylum system for 16 stowaways, apparently from Turkey, found nearly a week ago on a cargo ship docked in the port of Piraeus 2007 - Fremantle Class Patrol Boat HMAS Gladstone decommissioned and gifted at a ceremony in Cairns to the Gladstone Maritime History Society, which plans to preserve and exhibit her as a land-based display at the Gladstone Maritime Museum 2007 - An F-16 Fighting Falcon from the Air Force Reserve Command's 482nd Fighter Wing here crashed in the Florida Straits approximately 75 miles south-southeast of Homestead AFB. It was flying a routine training mission. The pilot ejected safely and was successfully rescued 2007 - US Coast Guard Investigative Service opened an investigation into 50 missing merchant mariner files from a sealed box sent via FedEx. A box sent by Coast Guard Regional Examination Center New Orleans was delivered Feb. 28 by FedEx to a Coast Guard processing center in Kearneysville, W.Va. Coast Guard personnel conducted an inventory based on the pre-packaged inventory provided by the staff in New Orleans after noting the box had come unsealed in transit. The inventory determined 50 files were missing. FedEx is cooperating in the Coast Guard investigation 2007 - The Coast Guard assisted an elderly couple after their vessel ran aground at the south end of the Swinomish Channel near Bellingham WA 2007- NOAA Oscar Elton Sette arrived at new homeport at Ford Island in Pearl Harbor 2008 - USS Abraham Lincoln, Shoup and Momsen depart Everett for a six-month deployment to the Western Pacific ============================================================= 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.