SeaWaves Today in History May 12, 2007 ********************************************************************* May 12 Finland - Snellman Day commemorates Finnish nationalist Prof JV Snellman (1806-1881). Visiting warships Dress Ship with Masthead Flags 1731 - Navigation in Lake Ladoga opens 1734 - Empress Anna Ioannovna signs a resolution to build a city at the mouth of the Or River 1780 - The fall of Charleston, SC; three Continental Navy frigates (Boston, Providence, and Ranger) captured; and one American frigate (Queen of France) sunk to prevent capture 1848 - James Ross sails with Robert McClure and Francis McClintock from London on the Enterprise and Investigator; will winter in Leopold Harbor, Somerset Island. 1876 - British polar expedition stops 650 km short of the North Pole; farthest northern point reached to that date 1918 - Minesweeper USS Woodcock launched 1920 - Destroyer USS Litchfield commissioned 1922 - Royal Canadian Navy cuts force to three small ships on each coast as an economy measure 1927 - Submarine HMS Osiris laid down 1933 - Soviet submarines SC-116 & SC-119 laid down 1934 - Destroyer HMS Fearless launched 1935 - Soviet submarine SC-421 launched 1936 - Submarine HMS Cachalot laid down 1937 - Britain's King George VI was crowned at Westminster Abbey 1937 - Submarine USS Sargo laid down 1938 - Aircraft carrier USS Enterprise commissioned 1940 - Gate vessel HMCS Ypres sunk in collision with battleship HMS Revenge at Halifax. There were three non-fatal casualties among Ypres crew of 18 men. Ypres was a one of 6 Battle-class trawlers built during WWI that were employed as gate vessels in the Halifax area. Revenge was escorting 2 troopships, the CPR's 20,000-ton Duchess of Bedford & the Cunard White Star Line's 14,000-ton Antonia & together they formed Convoy TC-4A. Originally they were intended to have cleared the anti-submarine boom at Mauger's Beach at 1830. However, due to problems getting the liners underway, Revenge did not approach the boom until approximately 2050, by which time it was dark & the visibility was poor. The Officer-of-the-Watch in Revenge did not see that the boom was closed until only 4-and-a-half cables (900 yards) away from it. The 33,000-ton battleship went astern on her 4 engines but, as she was making 8 knots, there was no hope of stopping the ship in such a short distance. Ypres, which displaced only 350 tons, & the gate system were dragged 500 yards further on before the battleship came to a stop. By this time, the gate vessel was listing approximately 50 degrees against the side of Revenge & she sank slowly, allowing the crew time to abandon ship in good order. Revenge proceeded on with the convoy once the crewmembers she had recovered were transferred to the other gate vessel, HMCS Festubert. The gate was back in operation by the 16th. Another old Battle-class trawler, HMCS Arleux, replaced Ypres. She was also rammed later in the war by the giant liner RMS Queen Mary, although she was not sunk 1940 - At 1100 HMS Furious departed the Clyde to embark the aircraft. The Fleet Air Arm pilots of both 802 and 804 Squadrons flew the RAF Gladiator IIs of 263 Squadron aboard. That done, she then brought aboard the nine Swordfish of 818 Squadron to join the six Sea Gladiators of 804 Squadron detachment. At 1300 HMS Glorious, now carrying the 18 RAF Hurricane's, puts to sea to bring aboard the six Walrus amphibians of the newly established 701 Squadron, which are also bound for Norway. These join her modest air group consisting of five Sea Gladiators of 802 Squadron and six Swordfish of 823 Squadron. At 1415, both ships return to Greenock 1941 - Corvette HMCS Pictou arrived Halifax from builder Collingwood ON 1941 - Corvette HMCS Rimouski arrived Halifax from builder Quebec City PQ 1941 - Black day for U-38. The boat hunted a freighter and fired four torpedoes, but all missed 1941 - The Allied 'Tiger' convoy arrives, in Alexandria, bearing 238 tanks and 43 Hurricanes for the Allied desert army. The tanks include 135 Matildas, 82 of the new 2-pdr-gunned Mark VI Crusader cruiser tanks and 21 light tanks 1941 - Three more US Coast Guard Lake-class ships are transferred to the Royal Navy. USCGC Champlain is renamed HMS Sennen, Sebago is renamed Walney & Cayuga is renamed Tortland 1941 - Submarine HMS Undaunted was believed to have been sunk off Zuara on the Libyan coast by depth charges dropped from the Italian corvette Pegaso. Although Undaunted should have been on her way back to Malta by this date, there is no other explanation for her loss 1941 - Insect class gunboat HMS Ladybird of the Inshore Squadron sunk in Tobruk by aircraft attack 1941 - U-516 laid down 1941 - U-128 commissioned 1941 - U-155 launched 1941 - Submarine HMS Unrivalled laid down 1941 - Minesweeper HMAS Whyalla launched 1941 - Corvettes HMCS Napanee, Chicoutimi & Barrie commissioned 1941 - Corvette HMS Bergamot commissioned 1941 - Minesweeping trawler HMS Bute launched 1941 - Minesweeper HMS Fraserburgh launched 1941 - Destroyer HMS Middleton launched 1941 - Corvettes HMS Snowdrop & Stonecrop launched 1941 - Submarines HMS Turbulent & Unbending launched 1941 - Submarine USS Drum launched 1942 - Corvette HMCS Moncton arrived Halifax from builder Saint John NB 1942 - At 0355 & 0358, U-124 fired torpedoes at Convoy ONS-92 SE of Cape Farewell and hit Mount Parnes and Cristales. The Cristales was abandoned and later sunk by gunfire by corvette HMCS Shediac. The master, 64 crewmembers, seven gunners and ten passengers were rescued. 37 survivors, including seven passengers were picked up by the corvette and landed at St John's on 16 May. The remaining 45 survivors were picked up by USCGC Spencer and landed at Boston. An escort vessel later scuttled Mount Parnes 1942 - At 0156, 0159 & 0206, U-124 fired torpedoes at Convoy ONS-92 SE of Cape Farewell and observed hits on three ships. At 0222, U-124 made a second attack and observed one hit amidships after 1 minute 56 seconds. Mohr claimed three ships totaling 16,100 tons sunk. However, only two ships were hit at the time of the first attack, the Empire Dell and Llanover. The master, Hugh MacKinnon, 38 crewmembers and seven passengers (RAF personnel) from Empire Dell were rescued. 25 survivors were picked up by corvette HMCS Shediac and landed at St John's on 17 May. 21 survivors were picked up by British rescue ship Bury and landed at St John's on 16 May. Two crewmembers were lost. The badly damaged Llanover was scuttled by corvette HMCS Arvida. The master, 39 crewmembers and six gunners were picked up by Bury and landed at St John's on 16 May 1942 - Steam tanker Virginia sunk by U-507 at 28.53N, 89.29W 1942 - At 0828, the unescorted Leto was hit by one torpedo from U-553 about eight miles north of Cape de la Madeleine. The torpedo struck in the engine room, wrecking the engine, killing eleven men (including the first engineer) and causing the ship to sink in a short time. In Quebec, the ship had taken four maritime officers as passengers on board. They were from the Dutch motor tanker Oscilla, which had been sunk by the Italian submarine Morosini on 16 Mar1942. One of them, the first mate, was rescued from a piece of wood but died later of hypothermia 1942 - At 0552, the unescorted Nicoya was torpedoed by U-553 in the Gulf of St Lawrence south of Antipasti Island and sank following a coup de grâce at 0611. Five crewmembers and one gunner were lost. The master, 62 crewmembers, nine gunners and ten passengers landed at Fame Point Lighthouse, Gaspe Peninsula, New Brunswick 1942 - At 0903, the unescorted Lise was first torpedoed by U-69 and then shelled. Twelve men were killed near the gun platform during the shelling and as it proved it fruitless to defend the ship, the crew got order to abandon ship. The master and the second mate jumped overboard and climbed into the gig that had been launched by the crew. At 1002, the tanker was hit by a coup de grâce amidships and sank. At daybreak the six men in the gig found a raft with seven men, while another lifeboat containing eight survivors searched for other survivors, but found none until daybreak, so they headed for land, reaching Carrizal in Columbia on 15 May. They went aboard the Norwegian merchant Washington Express and arrived at New York on 2 June. In the meantime, the master found that the gig was overloaded with all 13 men in it, so they decided to have a draw for a place in it. Five men had to go back to the raft and they later lost contact. On 13 May, the gig came near Curaçao and the men were rescued by the Dutch armed whaler Femern and taken ashore. A B-17 aircraft was sent out to look for the remaining survivors on the raft, but they were not found. On 31 May, another US aircraft located the raft in 14°38N/79°23W and directed the Dutch steam merchant Socrates to it, which picked up the survivors two hours later and landed them at Curaçao. On 7 June, the master, the five men from the raft and four others from the Lise left Curaçao on the Crijnssen for New York. The ship was torpedoed and sunk in the Straits of Yucatan on 10 June by U-504. All men from the Lise again survived being torpedoed. One Norwegian crewmen landed together with other survivors on the coast of Yucatan and was later flown to the USA. The Lebore picked up the master, eight crewmen and 40 others on 11 June, which was herself sunk by U-172 14 June. Again all nine Norwegians survived and abandoned ship on a raft. They were picked up two days later by USS Erie (PG 50) and taken to Cristobal. The first mate, Haugar Lyngås, later experienced a fourth torpedoing when Katy was torpedoed and sunk by U-857 23 Apr 1945 1942 - SS Cocle sunk by U-94 at 52.37N, 29.13W 1942 - Uruguay severed diplomatic relations with France 1942 - ASW trawler HMS Bedfordshire torpedoed & sunk by U-558 off Cape Lookout, North Carolina 1942 - Soviet submarine K-23, while on her 7th war patrol of Nordkyn (Olesafjord), Northern Norway, sunk by depth charges from German escorts UJ 1101, UJ 1108 & UJ 1110 1942 - Minesweeper INS Madras commissioned 1942 - Submarine depot ship HMS Wuchang commissioned 1942 - U-540, U-742 laid down 1942 - U-629, U-630, U-710 launched 1942 - Battleship USS Massachusetts commissioned 1942 - Minesweepers USS Capable & Captivate laid down 1942 - Destroyer USS Parker launched 1942 - Destroyer HMS Limbourne launched 1942 - Destroyer USS Isherwood laid down 1943 - HMC ML 095 commissioned 1943 - The Canadian-built, British-registered cargo ship Fort Concord (7,130 GRT) was damaged by U-456 KptLt. Max-Martin Teichert, Knight’s Cross, CO, and later sunk by U-403, KptLt. Heinz-Ehlert Clausen, CO, north of the Azores, in position 46.05N, 025.20W. Fort Concord was proceeding from New York City to Liverpool, as part of the 46-ship convoy HX-237. She was loaded with 8,500 tons of grain and 700 tons of military stores. Thirty-seven of the 56 crewmembers, DEMS gunners, and passengers onboard were lost. The survivors were rescued by the Canadian Flower-class corvette Drumheller and were landed in Londonderry. Records show that HX-237 arrived in Liverpool on 17 May 43 without having lost any ships, indicating that Fort Concord was sunk after straggling behind the convoy. Fort Concord was a North Sands-class freighter built by Davie Shipbuilding and Repair Co., Ltd., at Lauzon, PQ She was completed in Nov 42. Fort Concord was one of 90 North Sands-class freighters built in Canada for American order under the Hyde Park Declaration and subsequently provided to Great Britain under the Lend-Lease Agreement. Larrinaga Steamship Co. Ltd., of Liverpool, managed the ship for the British government. Twenty-two of these ships were sunk and another eight were damaged. U-456 was a medium-range Type VIIC submarine built by Deutsche Werke, at Kiel. She was commissioned on 18 Sep 41, OLtzS. Max-Martin Teichert, CO. U-456 conducted 11 patrols and compiled a record of seven ships sunk for a total of 31,779 tons and one ship damaged for a further 11,500 tons. The exact fate of U-456 is uncertain. Previously, U-456 was reportedly sunk on 13 May 43, by HMC ships Drumheller and Lagan with assistance from a Sunderland patrol aircraft from RCAF Squadron 423, in the North Atlantic, in position 48.37N, 022.39W. It is now believed that U-456 was damaged by a Fido acoustic-homing torpedo from a Liberator patrol aircraft from RAF 86 Squadron and was subsequently lost in an diving accident on 12 May 43, in position 46.39N, 026.54W. Although heavily damaged, KptLt. Teichert chose to dive the boat when approached by the O-class destroyer HMS Opportune. All 49 of U-456’s crewmembers were lost. Max-Martin Teichert was born in 1915, at Kiel. He joined the navy in 1934. When the war began, Teichert was the Second Watch Officer and Torpedo Officer in the 1934A-class fleet destroyer Friedrich Ihn, KKpt. Wachsmuth, CO. Teichert predicated in war 22 patrols in this ship before he transferred to the U-boat Force in Jun 40. After conversion training, Teichert served from Feb to Jun 41 as the First Watch Officer in the Type VIIC boat U-94, commanded by the ‘ace’ KptLt. Herbert Kuppisch, Knight’s Cross (16 ships for 82,109 tons). OLtzS. Teichert was selected for command and underwent his U-boat Commander’s Course in Jul-Aug 41. He was appointed to commission U-456 on 18 Sep 41, at the age of 26. Promotion to KptLt. followed on 01 Dec 41. KptLt. Teichert had a very busy commission with U-456, conducting 11 patrols. His most noteworthy success was the crippling of the Southampton-class light cruiser HMS Edinburgh with two torpedo hits during attacks on the 13-ship Murmansk to Reykjavik convoy QP-11, on 30 Apr 42. Edinburgh was taken in tow, bound for the Kola Fjord, when she was hit by one more torpedo during attacks by three German destroyers on 02 May. The hulk was scuttled by gunfire, depth charges and, finally, a torpedo. The cruiser was loaded with £5 million in Russian gold bullion to pay for British war aid. The gold was later raised from the wreck. KptLt. Teichert was lost when U-456 sank in the North Atlantic on 12 May 43. Max-Martin Teichert sank seven ships for a total of 31,779 tons and damaged one ship for a further 11,500 tons 1943 - Corvette HMCS Ville de Quebec arrived Gaspe to join Quebec Force 1943 - At 0313, the unescorted and zigzagging Cape Neddick was hit by two torpedoes from U-195. The first torpedo struck aft at the #3 hatch on the bilge keel but did not explode. The other torpedo struck the #2 hatch. The explosion threw a sheet of flame and a column of water higher than the bridge and ripped a hole of 25 by 30 feet into the side. The ship rolled first to port, then to starboard and finally settled on an even keel. As the ship headed into the direction of the U-boat, the armed guards began firing all guns (the ship was armed with one 3in, one 4in and eight 20mm guns). The most of the eight officers, 43 men and 25 armed guards were ordered into two boats and three rafts, as the Cape Neddick began to settle by the head and the water reached the foredeck. After the ship stopped, the deck cleared of water and the master and six volunteers from the engine room reboarded the vessel. They got the ship under way and proceeded away from the area on a zigzagging course at 04.42 hours. Just as the vessel got under way a torpedo pass ahead. The gun crew fired three rounds into the direction of U-195, but never sighted the U-boat. 15 hours later she came back and picked up the men in the boats and rafts. The cargo was shifted and on 16 May she arrived safely at Walvis Bay, South Africa. All hands survived, but several men were injured, even not serious. After temporary repairs, the Cape Neddick proceeded to Capetown, unloaded her cargo and returned to the USA, where permanent repairs were made and returned to service 1943 - At 2228, the Sandanger, a straggler from Convoy HX-237 due to thick fog, was hit amidships, in the pump room and in #6 tank by three torpedoes from U-221 and caught fire immediately. Some survivors tried to abandon ship in boats and rafts but they died in the burning sea. After the tanker broke in two, the stern sank while the burning forepart remained afloat. Because of the fast combustion, an area of low pressure was created, which caused a very strong wind to blow in along the water from the high pressure area outside of the flames, and this wind split the flames on the starboard side in two. This phenomenon saved the 19 survivors in the only intact lifeboat. They rowed for 40 minutes through this area away from the flames that burned just a few feet above their heads and behind them. The tanker sank completely about 90 minutes after the hits, but the fuel burned for several hours on the water surface. 20 crewmembers, including the master and all deck officers were lost. The survivors set sail and were spotted several times by aircraft, one of them dropped a portable radio transmitter that made it possible that they were picked up on 22 May by HMCS Kootenay & landed at Londonderry the next day 1943 - The Brand was separated from Convoy HX-237 in thick fog and was torpedoed by U-603. 36 crewmen & seven gunners abandoned ship in three lifeboats. The vessel sank after seven minutes, taking two crewmen and one gunner with her. The lifeboats set sails for Ireland, but were picked up the same day by corvette HMCS Morden. A Swordfish aircraft had been sighted in the afternoon and it had probably guided the corvette to the boats 1943 - U-311 shot down an RAF 206 Sqn Fortress 1943 - U-230 shot down an RN 811 Sqn Swordfish in Convoy HX-237 1943 - U-456 sank in an diving accident in the North Atlantic, in position 46.39N, 26.54W, while facing destroyer HMS Opportune after being badly damaged by a Fido homing torpedo from an RAF 86 Sqn Liberator. 49 dead (all hands lost) 1943 - U-223 was rammed by HMS Hesperus in the North Atlantic and badly damaged. U-377 and U-359 assisted the boat, which could no longer dive, and U-223 reached base on 24 May 1943 - U-405 had to return to base due to technical difficulties1943 - Axis forces in North Africa surrendered. British Deputy Prime Minister, Mr. Atlee, formally announced end of the North African Campaign 1943 - Admiral Ainsworth with a US naval force of 4 cruisers and 7 destroyers shells Vila and Munda in the Solomons 1943 - During the day off Attu, the battleships USS Pennsylvania & Nevada bombard Holtz Bay and Chichagof Harbor. As the USS Pennsylvania turns away, the Japanese submarine HIJMS I-31 fires torpedoes that miss. Two US destroyers attack the submarine for ten hours before finally sinking her. A second submarine, HIJMS I-35, attacks the light cruiser USS Santa Fe but the torpedoes miss and two US destroyers sink the submarine 1943 - U-89 sunk in the Northern Atlantic, in position 46.30N, 25.40W by an RN 811 Sqn Swordfish from HMS Biter, destroyer HMS Broadway & frigate HMS Lagan 1943 - U-186 sunk north of the Azores, in position 41.54N, 31.49W, by depth charges from destroyer HMS Hesperus 1943 - Sloop HMS Pheasant commissioned 1943 - Destroyer USS Carysfort laid down 1943 - Destroyer escorts USS Jenks, Cofer & Kephart laid down 1943 - U-550, U-983, U-984 launched 1943 - U-426, U-978 commissioned 1943 - Escort carrier USS Corregidor launched 1943 - Destroyer escort USS Sellstrom launched 1943 - USS Pickerel left Pearl Harbor for her seventh war patrol off the eastern coast of northern Honshu on 18 March 1943. She topped of fuel at Midway on 22 March and was not heard from again. She was reported overdue on 12 May when she failed to return to Midway. It is possible that she was lost on 3 April 1943, off the Shiranuka Lighthouse, on the northern tip of Honshu by an attack by Japanese minelayer Shirakami and auxiliary subchaser Bunzan Maru 1944 - Frigate HMCS Springhill arrived Halifax from builder Esquimalt BC 1944 - Destroyer escorts USS Gilligan & William C Cole commissioned 1944 - Sloop HMS Mermaid commissioned 1944 - Minesweeper HMCS Cranbrook commissioned 1944 - Destroyer escort USS Cecil J Doyle laid down 1944 - Minesweepers USS Fancy & Fixity laid down 1944 - Escort carrier USS Puget Sound laid down 1944 - U-2501 launched 1944 - On January 26, 1944, ObltzS Oskar Kusch, commander of U-154 was condemned to death by a military tribunal and executed on May 12, 1944, after being denounced by his former IWO for alleged "Wehrkraftzersetzung" (sedition and defeatism). One of eleven politically motivated accusations against Kusch was that he had ordered a Hitler portrait removed from the boat's officers' mess to a less conspicuous location with the commentary, "We are not in the business here of practicing idolatry." In 1996 Kusch's legal record was finally wiped clean, and in 1998 the city of Kiel erected a memorial and renamed a street in his honor not far from the military range along the Kiel Canal where he had been shot 54 years before. Kusch was one of only two U-boat commanders to be sentenced to death by German authorities, the other being Heinz Hirsacker of U-572 who was convicted of cowardice and committed suicide on April 24, 1943, shortly before his scheduled execution 1944 - At 2323, U-24 fired a torpedo at two escorts and observed a hit amidships after 67 seconds and heard how five depth charges detonated when the vessel sank. The vessel sunk was the Soviet patrol craft SKA-0376 1945 - At approx. 0635 on 16 Apr 45, U-190 sank HMCS Esquimalt at 44-26, 63-10W. A source indicated that there were 26 survivors & 44 deaths, a 2nd source that 39 of Esquimalt's ship's company perished) U-190 was launched 08 Jun 42 & commissioned 24 Sep 42, had sailed from Norway on her last patrol 23 Feb 45. At the end of hostilities on 11 May 45, U-190 reported its position as 42-35N, 43-05W, at 1001GMT. HMCS Victoriaville & Thorlock were detached from inbound Convoy ON-300. Incorrect information about U-190's position & course at first put them off the track. Homing on U-190's radio transmissions, U-190's steaming lights were sighted at 2303GMT some 500 miles east of Cape Race. HMCS Thorlock went alongside at 2340GMT on 11 May. It was found that they had followed orders by jettisoning secret documents in weighted bags, & by disposing of all ammunition - even the acoustic torpedoes. The White ensign flew from U-190 at 0001GMT on 12 May. All of U-190's crew with the exception of 9 engine-room personnel & 3 upperdeck watch keepers were transferred to the corvettes. By 0200 the contingent was steaming at 9kts for the Bay of Bulls Nfld, where it arrived at 0600GMT on 14 May. HMCS Prestonian delivered the fifty-four prisoners to Halifax on 16 May. Subsequently taken to Halifax, U-190 commissioned into the RCN on 14 May 45 as HMCS U-190. Lt DW Pope RNR took command of the boat 25 Jun 45 before she left St John's. Pope's XO was Lt KC Tyron RCNVR, senior Canadian aboard. Testing & evaluation were carried out. Paid off on 24 Jul 47, & on 21 Oct 47 U-190 was sunk by Canadian Naval a/c near the position where she had sunk HMCS Esquimalt. The intent at the time was to have Naval a/c, 8 Seafires, 8 Fireflies, 2 Ansons, & 2 Swordfish attack U-190 with rockets & this was to be followed by HMCS Nootka, Haida, New Liskeard which would bombard U-190 with guns & Hedgehog. Almost before the ships, had a chance to enter the act, U-190 pointed its bows into the air after the first rocket attack & slipped silently beneath the sea. Hans-Edwin Reith was born in 1920, at Lüneburg. He joined the navy in 1939 & went directly into the U-boat force. He served as a Watch Officer in the Type IX boat U-105, commanded by the 'ace' Kptlt. Georg Schewe, Knights Cross, (16 ships sunk for 85,779 tons) from Oct 40 to Jan 42. Next, he served as a Staff Officer at the U-boat Command Headquarters (BdU) until Oct 42, when he was promoted to OLtzS. He was assigned as the First Watch Officer in U-190, Kptlt Max Wintermeyer, CO, from 10 Oct to Dec 43. He was selected for command & underwent coursing until May 44. He was assigned to command U-190 on 01 Oct 44, where he remained until capitulation. Reith was detained as a POW & was not freed until 29 Dec 47 1945 - Frigates HMCS Loch Alvie, Nene & Matane departed Clyde with Convoy JW-67 1945 - Frigate HMCS Stone Town & corvette HMCS Humberstone departed Londonderry with escort for Convoy ONS-50 1945 - Destroyer USS Orleck launched 1945 - Submarine USS Sea Devil commissioned 1945 - Destroyers USS Fred T Berry & Gurke commissioned 1945 - Escort carrier USS Kula Gulf commissioned 1945 - Battleship USS New Mexico was hit by two Japanese kamikaze aircraft and damaged, 54 of her crew died and 119 wounded 1945 - Aircraft carrier USS Enterprise sent her aircraft against Japanese airfields on Kiusiu Island 1949 - Scrapping of U-1108 begins at Briton Ferry, England 1949 - Soviets lift the land blockade of West Berlin 1953 - 3 North American Harvard II, a/c, arrived Downsview for Reserve training purposes with VC 920 Sqn & HMCS York 1954 - Destroyer HMCS Cayuga transported Governor General from Esquimalt to Vancouver. Ship returned Esquimalt same day 1962 - Howard A. Hanson Dam is dedicated 1965 - USS Midway port call Subic Bay 1966 - USS Ranger port call Yokosuka 1966 - USS Constellation commenced Vietnam deployment 1973 - USS Hancock port call Pearl Harbor 1975 - SS Mayaguez seized by Khmer Rouge and escorted to Koh Tang Island 1982 - QE2 sails from Southampton with 5 Infantry Brigade. Sir John Nott, the then Defense Secretary said that his most poignant memory of the crisis was talking to the dockyard workers at Portsmouth working flat out to get the Task Force to sea having recently announced that he was closing a major proportion of the dockyard resulting in many job losses. He says: "These poor men had their redundancy notices about a week before the Falklands invasion and they worked day and night over that weekend to get ships ready. Can you imagine what it was like knowing that they were losing their jobs? I talked to the dockyard workers and they knew I was responsible for putting them out of work. I always remember that they were restrained and polite and I thought it was wonderful that they didn't take advantage of the visit to abuse me. They put their shoulders to the wheel, and that was my abiding memory." 1982 - HMS Glasgow was hit by Argentine Skyhawks off Port Stanley she was struck by a 500lb bomb which passed through both sides of the hull without exploding. Four Argentine Skyhawks shot down 1982 - RAF Nimrod sights Argentine Boeing 707 spying 1982 - HM Hospital Ship Uganda receives first casualties. The Queen Alexandra's Royal Nursing Service were the only female service women within the Combat Zone; Hospital Ships had been sunk by enemy fire in previous wars but as one QA veteran, Nicci Pugh said, "Nurses on the whole have a strong sense of duty to their patients, so like others throughout The Task Force, we just knuckled down & got on with it." Veterans include Nicci Pugh, who worked as an Operating Theatre Sister (Senior Nursing Officer) in Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service on the Hospital Ship Uganda throughout the Falklands Conflict. Later on in the conflict she was one of the nurses who treated Simon Weston 1982 - 3 Commando Brigade Operation Order for landings issued 1986 - Destroyer USS David R Ray deters an Iranian Navy attempt to board a US merchant ship 1987 - Former HMS Hermes recommissioned as INS Viraat 1991 - The last SS-20 missile is dismantled at the Kapustin Yar military range 1995 - Frigate HMCS Calgary commissioned Esquimalt BC 2001 - Alexey Andreevich Tupolev, chief designer at Tu design bureau died. (Born May 20, 1925) 2003 - MV Cape Knox laid up New Orleans LA RRF 2005 - NAVAIR’s most visible program of late, the Presidential Helicopters Program, will have a change of command ceremony at Hangar 111 NAS Patuxent River. Colonel Frank Mazur is turning over the program to Mr. Douglas Isleib and retiring from the Marine Corps after 24 years. Charged with sustaining the President’s aging fleet of VH-3D and VH-60N helicopters, the program under Mazur’s leadership recently inked a $1.7 billion contract with Lockheed Martin Systems Integration of Owego, NY to develop the next generation Presidential helicopter, a specialized version of the Lockheed Martin US101 medium lift helicopter currently known as the VXX, as the President’s rotary wing command and control platform 2005 - Private Sector Summit on Post-Tsunami Reconstruction and Rehabilitation, co-hosted by The Asia Foundation, Asia Society, US-ASEAN Business Council, and US Chamber of Commerce will host a discussion with Deputy Secretary of State Robert B Zoellick on his recent trip to the region. The discussion with Deputy Secretary Zoellick, moderated by Asia Society Chairman Richard C Holbrooke, will be on-the record and open 2005 - Ship Finance International Limited advised that the Company has acquired two new building 1,700 TEU Containerships, which will be delivered from Wenchong Shipyard in China in May and November this year. The purchase price for each ship is USD 49.25 million. The first ship has already been chartered out to the Korean containership operator Heung A for a period of four years from delivery at a rate of approximately USD 28,000 per day. Ship Finance also intends to charter out the second vessel on a medium term charter. Several interesting offers have been received and are under consideration. The purchase price includes 1.50 % commission payable to Seatankers, an affiliate of the Company's main shareholder Hemen Holding Ltd. This commission relates to arranging the vessel acquisitions and the charter 2005 - The Federal & Provincial governments are proud to announce that they have signed a $13.8-million agreement to fund the installation of fiber-optic cables between the Gaspe Peninsula and the Magdalen Islands. John Godfrey, Minister of State (Infrastructure and Communities), Claude Bechard, Minister of Economic Development, Innovation and Export Trade, together with Claude Vigneau, President of the Reseau integre de communications electroniques des Iles-de-la- Madeleine (RICEIM), also confirmed the availability of broadband access on the islands 2005 - Andy Scott, Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs and MP for Fredericton, announced today on behalf of Geoff Regan, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, that the Federal Government is investing $1.9 million for improvements at four fishing harbors in New Brunswick. The main wharf at Petit-Rocher has been damaged by a series of storms over the last several years. In a recent storm, waves overtopped the wharf raising serious concerns about the safety of vessels and equipment. Damage to the wharf face and deck will be repaired. Further work will involve the placement of additional armourstone along the outside face of the wharf to protect the structure from future storm damage. Work is scheduled to begin in late summer and be completed by the end of March 2006. The outer end of the main wharf at Sainte-Marie-sur-Mer has deteriorated with years of use and is in poor condition. Starting this fall, the end of the wharf will be reconstructed and a 90-metre section topped with a new concrete deck. Work is expected to be completed by summer of 2006. Other work in the area this season includes engineering studies of a wharf structure at Caraquet to assess its condition and develop plans for repair. Actual repair work is scheduled to take place next year. Shippagan will be the site of preliminary planning and engineering work this year to assess structure condition and identify possible future needs 2005 - The crews of USS Gonzalez & PNS Tariq are helping nine people from a Pakistani-flagged merchant vessel return safely to Pakistan after their vessel lost an engine while fishing in the Gulf of Oman May 7. Gonzalez and Tariq, currently conducting maritime security operations (MSO) in the area, worked in tandem to aid the safe navigation of the merchant vessel Al Hamdulillah, which experienced an engine failure in an area more than 650 nautical miles from its home port in Pakistan. Determined to proceed with its mission, the crew of the 55-foot Al Hamdulillah tried to sail to Pakistan using a borrowed bed sheet. In 48 hours, the vessel went only 6 nautical miles. As part of the US and Pakistani navies’ longstanding commitment to a stable regional maritime environment, the US guided-missile destroyer and the Pakistan frigate assisted the mariners in distress. The nine Pakistanis from Al Hamdulillah boarded Gonzalez, which began towing the vessel toward the Pakistani coast. Once on the US Navy ship, the mariners received food, clothing and medical attention. Navy medical corpsmen reported that all passengers were in good health. Doctors on Gonzalez treated one passenger for hand injuries sustained while trying to rig the makeshift sail. At 1445 Tariq assumed towage of the vessel and brought the nine Pakistanis onto the frigate, which is operating as part of the coalition conducting Maritime Security Operations (MSO). The US and Pakistan navies will work with Pakistan’s Maritime Security Agency to coordinate repatriation 2005 - The Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, which helps fund the cleanup of spills nationwide, is expected to be depleted before fiscal year 2009, according to a Coast Guard report provided to Congress 2005 - A New York sailor was sentenced to three months of hard labor Thursday for refusing to ship out for the Persian Gulf in a protest against the war in Iraq. Pablo Paredes was also demoted from petty officer third class to seaman recruit, the lowest rank in the Navy. A military judge, Lt. Cmdr. Bob Klant, imposed the sentence a day after finding Paredes guilty of refusing to board the board the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard after it received orders for the Persian Gulf in December. The 23-year-old said he refused to support a war he believed was illegal and immoral, and he has since become an outspoken anti-war activist 2005 - The Norwegian frigate Bergen returned to port for the last time. The vessel will decommission in August, to be replaced by the first Fridtjof Nansen-class AEGIS frigate 2005 - SS Oriana, the world's only deluxe liner-theme park and a famous static attraction at Dalian Xinghai resort area departed from her pier towing by four tug boats at the early hours of yesterday morning, reported by Dalian Evening News 2006 - CHC Helicopter Corporation announced the awarding of a contract renewal by the Irish Minister for Transport for the continued provision of marine Search and Rescue (SAR) services in Ireland from July 2007 to July 2010, with the Minister having options for extensions of up to three additional years. The contract award covers the provision of services from bases at Dublin, Waterford, Shannon and Sligo 2006 - The crew aboard the vessel Norseman is enroute New Bedford under own power after an engine room fire disabled the fishing vessel. Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England is on a communications schedule with the Norseman, checking in with the vessel every hour. All other responding Coast Guard assets returned to their original missions 2006 - Quintana Maritime Limited announced it has agreed to acquire seventeen vessels from Metrobulk, a privately owned Greek shipowner for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $735 million. The acquisition will be funded with approximately $191 million of proceeds from a private placement, which was led by Dahlman Rose & Co. and closed on May 11, 2006, and the balance with a proposed new credit facility led by Fortis Bank. The vessel acquisition was mediated and advised by Fortis Bank 2006 - Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co said it has won 730m in orders from firms in Belgium and Greece. The shipbuilder said it has secured an order from Exmar Marine NV of Belgium for two LNG regasification vessels and a contract from Gulf Marine Management SA of Greece to build two very large gas carriers 2006 - The owners and master of a French twin trawler, Jacques de Thezac, were fined a total of £1600 and ordered to pay costs of £1,557 for fishing illegally in British waters. The court ordered forfeiture of the whole trawl 2006 - Joint Russian-French naval exercises to practice communication and maneuvering skills for future joint rescue and other operations started in the northwestern Pacific Ocean 2006 - Australian Prime Minister John Howard says his country has sent two warships to its northern waters in case unrest in East Timor escalates 2006 - Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs and millions of servicemembers and veterans mourn retired US Rep. Gillespie "Sonny" Montgomery, who died 85 in Meridian MS following a long illness 2006 - Rear Adm. (lower half) William E. Gortney replaced Rear Adm. (select) Joseph F. Kilkenny as commander Carrier Strike Group Ten Norfolk 2006 - The largest vessel to visit Port Howard in around 25 years, the Elisabeth Boye dwarfed the jetty of the West Falkland settlement. The ship, which is chartered by South American Atlantic Services, was carrying materials for the government’s construction of the road to Second Creek. Myles Lee’s lifeboat, WestSwann towed the ship off the jetty, possibly the first time the boat has used her towing post since arriving in the Falklands. Roads Engineer Bob Hancox said the operation had been, “...a great success, without any problems at all.” Not only did the vessel deliver the road materials but she also pumped 30,000 liters of diesel ashore into the government’s tanks 2006 - Retiring RADM James C. Olson relieved by RADM Arthur E. Brooks as Commander USCG 17th District 2006 - CWO Jerry J. Farmer succeeded CWO Michael J. Tumulty as Commanding Officer of Coast Guard Station Neah Bay 2006 - Oglebay Norton Company announced that it has signed a definitive purchase agreement to sell six of its nine marine vessels. The agreement includes long- term contracts for transporting limestone from the company's Michigan quarries. Closing of the sale is subject to regulatory clearance; therefore, terms of the agreement have not been disclosed. In addition, the company stated that it intends to sell its remaining three vessels and is in negotiations with a potential buyer 2006 - A newly declassified Chinese diplomatic file explains that China gave up suing 1,063 Japanese war criminals in 1956 for the purpose of promoting normalization of China-Japan ties 2006 - USS Enterprise hosted a delegation of Moroccan dignitaries, military officers and media 2006 - USCG rescued a man from the side of Muscle Rock last night while assisting the Daly City Fire Department with their initial efforts to hoist the man to safety 2007 - Sir Robin Knox-Johnston completes his second circumnavigation of the world in the Vellux 5 Oceans Race. Sir Robin’s yacht Saga Insurance was at Outer Spit Buoy at 1130 where he dropped his sails and towed up the channel into Portsmouth. Escorted by QHM, 7 of the Clipper 68’ yachts, media, spectator boats and a flotilla of private boats and well wishers. Saga Insurance and the 7 Clipper 68’yachts will all berth at Gunwharf Quays for Sir Robin’s reception ============================================================= Sources: Colton Shipping Report, NOAA, MARAD, Marine Digest, Leo Pettipas, Kommersant, Samuel Loring Morison, Frank Pierce Young, Navy Times, Naval Institute Proceedings, www.uboat.net, Andrew Etherington, John Nicholas, US Naval Historical Center, Ministry of Defense, US Coast Guard, Thomas N. Carlson, Jack Arrowsmith, Allan Snowie, Ken Hansen, Andy Barber, John Weiss, Jack McKillop, Bernard de Neumann, Sympatico Today in History, Washington History Link, Lloyds List, Fairplay, New York Times, I-Newswire and other news sources in the public domain. Additions, submissions and corrections are always welcomed. ============================================================= Today in History Archives at: http://www.seawaves.com/newsletters/today_in_history_archive.htm Copyright 2007 Shirlaw News Service 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.