SeaWaves Today in History May 15, 2009 1602 - Cape Cod was discovered by English navigator Bartholomew Gosnold 1603 - Samuel de Champlain sails from France on his first voyage to Canada 1718 - The first machine gun is patented by London lawyer James Puckle who, as a keen fisherman, intended to use it at sea 1760 - General Levis, commanding the remnant of the French forces in New France, lifts his siege of Quebec, which is occupied by the English, after four Royal Navy warships are spotted sailing up the St. Lawrence. He retreats to Montreal to await reinforcements from France, which will never arrive 1800 - CAPT Preble in Essex arrives in Batavia, Java, to escort US merchant ships 1851 - John Rae 1813-1893 sets off to search for Franklin; explores Victoria Island from Wilbank Bay to Cape Back 1852 - Edward Belcher 1799-1877 sets sail to search for Franklin in the vicinity of Melville Island; Henry Kellett his second-in-command. 1854 - Edward Belcher 1799-1877, searching for the Franklin expedition, is forced to abandon his ships and cross the ice to Beechey Island, where he boards Inglefield's North Star, Phoenix and Talbot; with McClure and men from the Investigator 1885 - Terrorist Louis Riel surrenders to Canadian authorities at Batoche, effectively ending the North West Rebellion 1917 - The Austro-Hungarian Navy launched a surprise raid on the Allied anti-submarine barrage across the Adriatic at the Straits of Otranto. The barrage comprised a large number of British drifter fishing boats converted for anti-submarine service, deploying a network of submerged nets to prevent Austro-Hungarian and German U-boats based in the Adriatic reaching the Mediterranean, backed up by heavier Royal Navy, Italian and French warships based on Italy's east coast. Captain Horthy led three fast light cruisers - Novara, Saida and Helgoland south in an evening sortie against the barrage. They encountered an Italian convoy and quickly sank the escort destroyer and one of the merchantmen, then set about the 49 drifters on barrage duty. Hopelessly outgunned, the drifters nevertheless put up a fierce resistance, but 14 were sunk. In one incident, Joseph Watt, skipper of Gowan Lea, fought a short gunnery duel with one of the cruisers. The trawler was quickly wrecked, and the cruiser moved on, assuming Gowan Lea to be finished. Watt and his crew, however, not only managed to keep the trawler afloat, but also went to the aid of another badly damaged drifter, Floandi, rescuing the crew. Watt received the Victoria Cross. The nearest Allied squadron was at Brindisi, under the command of the Italian Rear Admiral Acton. The light cruiser HMS Bristol was at the highest readiness for steam and put to sea quickly with two Italian destroyers, while Acton followed as soon as he could in HMS Dartmouth - probably the only time an Italian Admiral flew his flag in action aboard a Royal Navy ship. Bristol and Dartmouth caught Horthy as he headed towards the Italian light cruiser Aquila, which had been stopped by a lucky hit on her steam-pipes; in turn the British cruisers hit Saida, whereupon Horthy turned for home. In the chase that followed, Bristol fell behind, leaving Dartmouth to pursue on her own. She inflicted heavy damage on Novara, but Acton eventually called a prudent halt to the pursuit as they approached Austrian waters and a potential ambush. Indeed, as Dartmouth turned for Brindisi, a torpedo hit her from a U-boat and suffered severe damage 1918 - Destroyer USS Ward laid down 1918 - Destroyer HMS Wrestler commissioned 1918 - Destroyer USS Sigourney commissioned 1918 - Submarine HMS L5 completed 1919 - Minesweeper USS Cormorant commissioned 1919 - Submarine HMS L18 completed 1920 - Light cruiser USS Cincinnati laid down 1933 - Submarine HMS Clyde laid down 1933 - Destroyer HMS Forester laid down 1933 - Destroyer USS MacDonough laid down 1934 - Submarine HMS Clyde launched 1935 - Destroyer HMS Foresight commissioned 1935 - Destroyer HMS Havock laid down 1936 - Soviet submarine SC-125 commissioned 1937 - U-52 & U-53 ordered 1937 - Destroyer USS Warrington launched 1940 - Destroyer KNM Arendal (ex-HMS Badsworth) laid down 1940 - AA cruiser USS San Juan laid down 1940 - Destroyer USS Buck commissioned 1940 - At 0030, HMS Ark Royal received word that Polish troop transport SS Chrobry had been bombed. At 0445, with Ark in position 71.10 N, 16.00 E, Flag Officer Narvik requested air cover for the ships returning Chrobry's survivors to Harstad. At 0512 a trio of 801 Squadron Skuas departed on the task. At 0710, Ark dispatched six Swordfish of 810 Squadron, led by Captain N. R. M. Skene, RM, each carrying 2 x 250 lb. and 8 x 20 lb. Cooper bombs to bomb the railway and trucks between Hundallen and the Swedish border. Two Skuas of 803 Squadron (Lieutenant L. A. Harris, RM) escorted the "Stringbags". They intercepted two He-111s and a single Ju-88, all of which escaped at high speed. However return fire hit 8L was hit in the canopy section, and splinters from the Skuas non-bulletproof glass slightly wounded both aircrew, Petty Officer Airman A. G. Johnson, RN (P) and Leading Airman F. Coston, RN (AG). All aircraft did return safely however 1940 - German aircraft sink the Dutch warships "Van Galen" at Rotterdam, "Frisa" and "Brinio" at Ijsselmeer, "Johan Maurits van Nassau" at Callantsoog, "Tjerk Hiddes", "Gerward Callenburgh" at Rotterdam and HMS Valentine at Terneuzen 1940 - HMCS Prince Henry (ex-North Star, ex-Prince Henry) purchased from Clarke Steamship Company for $606,740, and preparations were begun to convert her to an Armed Merchant Cruiser (AMC). The Washington and London Naval Treaties placed limits on the number of cruisers that could be built by the participating nations. Canada was governed by the limits placed on the Royal Navy. An important role of heavy cruisers was service on distant stations and as the 'patrolman on the beat,' keeping watch over the trade routes of the world. Smaller, more maneuverable light cruisers served as scouts for the battle fleet and as leaders for destroyer flotillas since they did not have the endurance for the trade protection role, except in home waters where short-range corvettes and armed trawlers sufficed. To meet the requirement for greater numbers of cruisers for mercantile protection, a survey of all small to medium sized passenger ships was undertaken to determine which were suitable for service as auxiliary cruisers. During the Second World War, a large amount of effort, time, and expense was dedicated to converting commercial ships to AMC's to defend against a threat that did not really exist any longer. Although both the German and Japanese navies did employ disguised merchant raiders, they were targeted against independently routed ships, as they did not have the capacity to withstand even a small conventional warship serving as a convoy escort. The use of heavy warships and submarines against convoys exposed the weakness of the AMC's. Their large size, low maneuverability, rudimentary armament, and lack of armor made them particularly vulnerable. Their large crews also made their manning and loss difficult to bear. By late '42 to early '43, the AMC's were being withdrawn from escort service and converted to troopships, a vastly less costly and complicated process as well as a more important role 1940 - Destroyer HMS Winchester was badly damaged during German air attacks while supporting Allied land forces off Holland 1940 - Destroyer HMS Valentine was beached and abandoned off Terneuzen, the Netherlands after being bombed 1940 - U-82, U-119 laid down 1941 - Aircraft carrier HMS Victorious commissioned 1941 - Battleship USS Washington commissioned 1941 - Submarines USS Amberjack & Halibut laid down 1941 - Corvette HMS Coltsfoot launched 1941 - USN Patrol Squadron Fifty Two (VP-52) deploys to Naval Air Station (NAS) Argentia, Newfoundland from NAS Quonset Point, Rhode Island with ten PBY-5A Catalinas. The seaplane tender USS Albemarle provides support. These aircraft will fly antisubmarine warfare (ASW) patrols over the North Atlantic 1941 - Corvette HMCS Sackville launched Saint John NB 1941 - Submarine FS Surcouf assigned to Bermuda for anti-raider patrols 1941 - Corvette HMCS Galt commissioned 1941 - Corvettes HMS Arrowhead, Bittersweet, Eyebright, Fennel, Hepatica, Mayflower, Snowberry, Spikenard, Trillium & Windflower transferred to RCN & retained the same names 1941 - At 2029, the Benvenue, dispersed from Convoy OB-314, was torpedoed & sunk by U-105 about 420 miles WSW of Freetown. One crewmember and one gunner were lost. The master, 47 crewmembers, one gunner and six passengers (army personnel) were picked up by the Empire Trader and landed at Freetown 1941 - After 0415, the three-masted Notre Dame du Châtelet was sunk by U-43 with 45 rounds from the deck gun and AA gunfire. The survivors abandoned ship in two lifeboats. The day before, the vessel had encountered the Italian submarine Cappellini in 47°42N/13°56W. The Italian submarine Otaria picked up two of the survivors on 23 May 1941 - U-169, U-195 laid down 1941 - U-577, U-578 launched 1941 - U-577, U-578 commissioned 1942 - Minesweeping trawler HMS Sir Tristram commissioned 1942 - Submarine USS Wahoo commissioned 1942 - Escort carrier HMS Hunter laid down 1942 - Rescue tug HMS Lariat launched 1942 - Escort carrier USS Core launched 1942 - Light cruiser USS Mobile launched 1942 - First Naval Air Transport Service flight across Pacific 1942 - Costa Rica severed diplomatic relations with Hungary and Rumania 1942 - Cruiser HMS Trinidad which had been repaired at Kola after sustaining a hit from one of her own torpedoes, is subjected to air attacks, and has to be scuttled in the Barents Sea 100 miles N of Murmansk at 73 37N 23 53E. There are 81 casualties. A US freighter suffers a direct hit by a bomb in this raid, but there are no casualties. The ship is beached to prevent loss 1942 - Corvette HMCS Brantford commissioned 1942 - Minesweeper HMCS Noranda commissioned 1942 - HMC ML 065 commissioned 1942 - Destroyer depot ship HMS Hecla mined off Capetown. She was towed to Simonstown for 18 weeks of repairs 1942 - U-859 laid down 1942 - At 0254, the unescorted Siljestad was hit on the port side under the bridge by one torpedo from U-156 and sank after 40 minutes about 420 miles NE of Barbados. The ship had been spotted at 17.20 hours the day before and missed with the first two torpedoes at 2045 & 0155. The crew abandoned ship in the two starboard lifeboats, but two men fell overboard and drowned. The U-boat then questioned the survivors and gave them the course to Barbados before leaving the area. The survivors were picked up after about 12 hours by Kupa, which also hoisted the lifeboats on her starboard side and took care of the survivors. It was planned to let them continue in the boats because the ship was heading for South Africa. At 2059, the zigzagging Kupa was hit under the bridge by one torpedo from U-156 and sank by the bow in a few minutes. The U-boat had observed about six hours earlier how the vessel stopped and assumed correctly that they picked up 31 survivors and their lifeboats from Siljestad, which had been sunk at 0254 by the same U-boat. Two crewmembers were lost. At 2113, the U-boat surfaced, questioned the survivors and fished 14 tires from the surface before leaving the area. The lifeboats made landfall after ten days in Venezuela and Barbados 1943 - Destroyer escorts USS Bebas & Le Hardy commissioned 1943 - Destroyer USS Izard commissioned 1943 - Destroyer escorts USS Ira Jeffery & Peterson launched 1943 - Destroyer escorts USS Durant & Lansing laid down 1943 - Submarine HMS Verve laid down 1943 - Submarine USS Pilotfish laid down 1943 - Patrol vessel HMS Kilbride launched 1943 - Rescue tug HMS Patroclus launched 1943 - A task force of Cuban sub chasers formed by CS-11, CS-13 and CS-12 was sailing from Isabela de Sagua in the Sabana Archipelago en route to Havana escorting the Honduran merchant ship SS Wanks and the Cuban SS Camagüey, both transporting sugar. The crews were on maximum alert. Shortly before casting off they had received communication that a submarine had been seen surfacing north of Matanzas. The merchant ships were sailing side by side 500 yards apart, with the Camagüey closer to shore. The escorts were 750 to 1,000 yards away. At the vanguard was the CS-12, followed by the CS-11, which was the flagship, and the CS-13 at the rear of the small convoy. At 17:15, when the ships were sailing by Mégano Key, a US Navy Kingfisher flew over them. The plane dived and flying at low altitude circled twice gunning and killing its engine in order to signal in the pre-established code the presence of an enemy submarine. The leader of the sub-chaser task force ordered the captain of the CS-13, Ensign Mario Ramírez Delgado, to explore the area pointed at by the plane. Years ago Ramírez told me about his actions at the time. The CS-13 sped to the area. After some minutes the hydro acoustics equipment gave a sounding of a loud and clear contact 900 yards away. It was the sub taking evasive action. The attack was on. At the proper range three depth charges were dropped aft of the sub-chaser, set to explode at 100, 150 and 250 feet, according to the calculated immersion rate of the submarine. Four explosions were detected. The fourth one “probably by proximity of one or more of the submarine’s torpedo warheads” was so potent that the Cuban sub chaser’s stern was submerged and water flooded the engine room through the hatch. At that moment through the hydrophones a noise similar to liquid entering a submerged recipient was heard. Immediately a slowly diminishing whistling was also heard. They were the evidence that the sub had been hit. To finish it off, the CS-13 dropped a couple of more charges set for 250 feet and continued exploring. After a few minutes a lookout discovered a dark stain on the water. A black and viscous substance reeking of diesel oil surfaced from the bottom. Ramírez ordered a hand to take a sample as proof of the sub’s sinking. After patrolling the area and failing further detection, the sub chaser went back to the convoy, which had continued its route. For reasons unknown, the Cuban government at the time decided to silence the action. That was the last thing that Ensign Mario Ramírez told me. At the end of the Second World War when the German Navy files were captured, it was known that the U-Boat that had been operating in the area in those days had been the U-176, commanded by Kapitänleutenant Reiner Dierksen. In 1946 Ramírez Delgado, who had been promoted to Lieutenant Jr. Grade, was decorated with the Medal of Naval Merit. His success was also acknowledged by Rear Admiral Samuel E. Morrison, the US Navy’s official historian in his book History of US Naval Operations in World War II¸ where he also praised the expertise and efficiency of Cuban seamen. CS was small wooden boats with a length of 83 ft, a 45-ton displacement and a crew of 12. Maximum speed was 18 knots. They were armed with a 20-mm cannon and 8 depth charges of 325 lb. The boats had been recently leased to Cuba by the US government and the crews had been trained in the United States. The U-176 commanded by Captain Reiner Dierksen was an IXC Class 1,540 ton submarine with a little over 250 ft. Maximum speed was 18.2 knots on the surface and 7.3 submerged. It could go down to 775 ft. The submarine could load 22 torpedoes (other sources say 12) and 44 mines. It was armed with one cannon and two antiaircraft machine guns. At the time it was sunk there were 53 men aboard, three short of its full crew. None survived. The U-176 had sunk 11 ships for a total tonnage of 53.307 tons. By the end of the war the German submarine fleet had lost three out of four of its vessels. It was the service with the greatest losses 1943 - Destroyer HMCS Athabaskan laid down Halifax NS 1943 - U-328, U-1203, U-1204 laid down 1943 - U-288, U-393 commissioned 1943 - U-288, U-393 launched 1943 - U-266 sunk in the North Atlantic in position 45.28N, 10.20W, by depth charges from a RAF 58 Sqn Halifax. 47 dead (all hands lost) 1943 - At 2043, the unescorted Maroussio Logotheti was hit by two torpedoes from U-105 and sank immediately. The ship had been missed by a first torpedo, which detonated prematurely. The second officer was taken prisoner by the U-boat, transferred four days later to U-460 & landed at Bordeaux on 25 June 1943 - At 1219, U-607 fired a spread of two torpedoes at the unescorted Irish Oak and hit her twice under the bridge after 2 minutes 10 seconds. After the crew had abandoned ship, she was sunk by a coup de grâce at 1331 1943 - U-591 was hit with machine gun fire from an RAF 10 Sqn Whitley that wounded the Commander and one seaman. The boat had to abort its 3 day-old patrol and returned to St Nazaire 2 days later 1943 - HMS Sickle torpedoes & sinks German auxiliary submarine chaser UJ-2213/Heureux south of Nice 1943 - HMS Rorqual lays 50 mines off Punta Stilo, Calabria, Italy 1944 - Sloop HMS Actaeon laid down 1944 - Frigate HMS Tortola commissioned 1944 - Submarine HMS Upshot commissioned 1944 - Destroyer escort USS Rudderow commissioned 1944 - Minesweeper HMCS Cranbrook commissioned 1944 - HMC MTB 743 commissioned 1944 - Minesweeper HMS Providence commissioned 1944 - Corvette HMCS Thorlock launched Midland ON 1944 - Frigate HMCS New Glasgow departed St John's with Convoy HXS-291 1944 - HMS Whitethroat laid down Beverley UK 1944 - U-731 sunk near Tangier, in position 35.54N, 05.45W, by depth charges from patrol vessel HMS Kilmarnock & ASW trawler HMS Blackfly and 2 USN VP-63 Catalinas. 54 dead (all hands lost) 1944 - Submarine HMS Upshot completed 1944 - HMS Ultor attacks and damages a French fishing vessel with gunfire off Cape Camarat, southern France 1945 - Light cruiser USS Providence commissioned 1945 - HMS Statesman sinks a Japanese coaster with gunfire in the Strait of Malacca 1945 - HMS Tiptoe sinks a Japanese coaster with gunfire of Sumbawa Island, Netherlands East Indies 1945 - HMS Clyde sinks a Japanese sailing vessel with gunfire of the west coast of Siam 1946 - Construction suspended on aircraft carrier HMS Powerful 1947 - 826 and 883 squadrons, equipped with Firefly FR I and Seafire XV a/c respectively, re-formed at the Naval Air Section, RCAF Station Dartmouth, to become the 18th Carrier Air Group, occupying No. 2 hangar. These squadrons had disbanded in February of 1946, due to an insufficient number of maintenance personnel, and had remained Canadian on paper in anticipation of future reactivation 1948 - Vashon Island vigilantes repel the ferry Illahee 1948 - ROK minesweeper Go Won lost with all hands 1953 - Egyptian Navy Misr (ex-Egyptian Registered Mabruk, ex-Rio Horte, ex HMCS Saskatoon) sunk after collision at Suez 1954 - Destroyer HMCS Cayuga drydocked Sasebo, Japan 1955 - Submarine HMS Ambush arrived Halifax for ASW training 1956 - Patrol craft HMCS Cormorant launched Midland ON 1957 - Britain's first hydrogen bomb is exploded on Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean 1960 - Submarine HMS Otter launched 1963 - Patrol craft HMCS Loon paid off 1965 - Frigate HMCS Cap de la Madeleine paid off 1965 - USS Independence port call St Thomas 1966 - USS Enterprise port call Subic Bay 1968 - Submarine HMS Courageous laid down 1971 - Destroyer HMCS Crescent arrived Taiwan under tow for scrapping 1982 - A reconnaissance sortie photographed a supply ship alongside the jetty at Fox Bay. There was no time for an air attack before dark but HMS Brilliant was ordered to attack the ship, so long as it could confirm it was not a hospital ship. A Lynx helicopter was used to avoid heavy anti-aircraft fire, however, it could not confirm if the ship was a hospital ship and the mission was abandoned 1991 - Amphibious Task Force arrives at Chittagong, Bangladesh, for relief operations after Cyclone Marian 1992 - Ordered, Halifax-Dartmouth Industries, Halifax, NS - 12 Maritime Coastal Defense Vessels - HMC Ships Kingston, Glace Bay, Nanaimo, Edmonton, Shawinigan, Whitehorse, Yellowknife, Goose Bay, Moncton, Saskatoon, Brandon and Summerside 2003 - MV Cape Edmont laid up Charleston SC RRF 2005 - UAE seized three Iranian boats during tensions over disputed islands in the Gulf 2005 - At 1500 Yarmouth Coastguard were called by a member of the public who reported seeing a lone, male canoeist floating face down in the water, off the beach at Winterton in Norfolk. Two kite surfers recovered the man to shore and began cardio pulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Within 5 minutes the Coastguard Rescue Team from Winterton and the Yarmouth Coastguard Sector Manager were on scene with oxygen and continued CPR on the casualty. Unfortunately, the man was later declared deceased by East Anglian paramedics. The canoeist, reported had been out in his canoe on the water alone while an elderly relative watched from a vehicle on shore. Conditions at the scene were North Easterly winds force 3-4 with a moderately choppy sea 2005 - The USS Razorback submarine opened for public tours. The World War II-era sub has been undergoing renovations and will be moved to its permanent home at a barge off North Little Rock's Riverfront Park. The vessel is to be the centerpiece of a proposed $15 million Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum on the bank of the Arkansas River. The 311-foot sub was acquired by the city and completed a trip last August from Turkey to Little Rock. About 40 submarine veterans have been volunteering their time to restore the sub. The Razorback was built in 1943-44 and named for a type of whale. The Balao-class sub was in Tokyo Bay when Japan surrendered to end World War II on September 2, 1945, and was used for Cold War patrols for the United States. The sub was decommissioned in 1970, becoming part of Turkey's fleet for 32 years 2006 - Mr. Mohammad Nasir Mohammad Raasbi, Under Secretary of Defense of Oman will be on a weeklong visit to India 2006 - Three years after Libya renounced terrorism and abandoned its program to acquire weapons of mass destruction, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced that the United States is restoring full diplomatic relations with the North African country and soon will open an embassy in Tripoli 2006 - Michele Alliot-Marie of France participates in the Defense Ministers’ meeting including the 25 EU member States in Brussels 2006 - Israeli Navy Commander, Major General David Ben Basht, uncovered the Navy Combat Unit "Snapir" ("fin" in Hebrew), in a ceremony held at the Navy base in Ashdod. This new unit opens new opportunities to both male and female combat soldiers 2006 - Frigate NRP João Belo rescued 55 year old French citizen Bernard Cireau 12 miles off Cape Espichel when his yacht Fogo sank 2006 - The owners and master of a British fishing vessel were fined a total of £16,645 and ordered to pay costs of £2,675 for fishing illegally. The owners and master of the vessel, Sasha Emiel (BM181), were found guilty at Bournemouth Magistrates Court of sending false notifications and entering false log book entries, all of which involved over-recording sole. The routine inspection was carried out by, HMS Ledbury, which detained the fishing vessel to Poole. The case was brought by the Marine Fisheries Agency (MFA) on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA). 2006 - The owners and masters of two fishing vessels were fined for illegal fishing activities at Haverfordwest Magistrates. The master/owner of the French trawler, Anita Conti (GV642084) were fined £800 and ordered to pay costs of £587.50 for failing to stow hake separately, using illegal netting twine and not providing a safe boarding ladder. In a separate incident the master and owner of an Irish twin trawler, Western Venture (C335), were fined £2000 and ordered to pay costs of £800 for using two nets with illegal strengthening bags attached which stop immature fish escaping. The illegal bags were also forfeited. The routine inspections were carried out by, HMS Tyne, which detained both fishing vessels to Milford Haven. The case was brought by the Marine Fisheries Agency (MFA) on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) 2006 - Sultanate of Oman and Austal signed a contract for two 65 meter, 50 knot, multi-purpose passenger-vehicle catamaran ferries following a competitive international tender process. The identical aluminum vessels, scheduled for delivery in 2007 and early 2008, have the capacity to carry 203 passengers and 56 cars or 54 lane meters of trucks plus 40 cars. The ferries are to provide a new tourism service to Oman’s ruggedly spectacular northern coastline and will be the flagship vessels in the Sultanate’s expanded marine transport and security network 2006 - TransLink is going ahead with plans to build a third SeaBus to cross Burrard Inlet between downtown Vancouver and the North Shore 2006 - Destroyer HMS Nottingham escorted submarine HMS Sovereign through Suez Canal 2006 - Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities and Member of Parliament for Pontiac, announced today on behalf of the Honorable Loyola Hearn, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, a federal investment of $731,000 for annual maintenance dredging at eight fishing harbors in the Gaspe Peninsula and Magdalen Islands, Quebec 2006 - Greece will provide four frigates for the Pakistan Navy, two of which will be delivered this year, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said 2007 - USNS Richard E. Byrd fourth Lewis and Clark-class underway replenishment ship lauched at 1930 at General Dynamics National Steel and Shipbuilding Company, San Diego 2007 - Tsakos Energy Navigation Ltd. announced delivery of the 37,340 dwt, 1B ice-class Handysize product tanker Byzantion from Hyundai Mipo Dockyard in South Korea 2007 - Pirates armed with machetes boarded a broken-down cargo ship off Liberia's capital Monrovia, beat up the crew and later towed it away towards Ivory Coast, the vessel's Bulgarian owner said. The 67m MV Tahoma Reefer had been docked off Monrovia after a fire destroyed its upper deck last August, owner Valentine Mihakov said. He said he had planned to tow the ship to Italy for repairs and then later sell it 2007 - The guided-missile destroyer Arleigh Burke ran “soft aground” returning to Norfolk. The ship was returning from exercises when it ran aground off Cape Henry. The ship was able to bring itself into port and there was no apparent damage to the vessel. Burke had been at sea for two days before returning to port. The Navy is conducting a damage assessment and an investigation of the incident 2007 - Thomas L. Shaw, an executive and professional engineer with 30 years of experience in the pipeline industry, has been named president of the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port LLC (LOOP) effective July 1, 2007 2007 - USCG searches for a 37-year-old man who fell overboard from a Point Judith RI based fishing vessel roughly 95 miles south of Montauk NY about 2015 2007 - British Columbia Ferry Services appoints A. Daniel Miller to its Board of Directors 2007 - USS Tennessee launched two Trident D5 missiles in test off Cape Canaveral 2008 - Danish coast guards detained two Russian trawlers Russia's State Fisheries Committee said. The first Russian vessel was detained on suspicion of poaching following an inspection by Danish border guards at the port of Torshavn, the capital of the Faroe Islands 2008 - India asked Russia to make an advance payment of $250 million to the Sevmash Shipyard in Arctic Russia for refurbishing the aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov, which will be adjusted later when final settlement is done between the two countries 2008 - BRP Bacolod City and BRP Artemio Ricarte, are currently patrolling the seas of Northern Luzon, including the Scar-borough Shoal, as part of the military’s maritime security operations 2008 - Georgian Foreign Ministry has decried a statement by the Chief Commander of the Russian Navy, Admiral Alexander Zelinin, who mentioned a possibility of setting up a Russian military base in the Abkhazian region 2008 -14 soon-to-be military doctors receive commissions onboard Battleship Wisconsin Museum Copyright 2009 Shirlaw News Group ISSN 1710-6966 Today in History Archives This information is licensed to the recipient only. 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