SeaWaves Today in History November 30, 2008 1696 - Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville 1661-1706 takes St. John's with Bonaventure; troops loot and burn on the other side of the peninsula. 160 settlers and soldiers at King Williams Fort surrender to a besieging force of 400. French capture 220 boats and over 100,000 pounds of codfish, making the expedition against Newfoundland financially and militarily successful 1782 - United States and Britain signed preliminary peace articles in Paris, ending the Revolutionary War 1837 - Two early complainants on the efficiency of the American lighthouses, E. and G.W. Blunt, publishers of Blunt's "Coast Pilot," submitted a statement to the Secretary of the Treasury. They argued that "the whole lighthouse system needs revision, a strict superintendence and an entirely different plan of operation" 1853 - Victory of the Russian fleet under the command of PS Nakhimov over the Turks at Sinop 1868 - Historian of the Russian naval fleet Captain Sergey Ivanovich Elagin died. He prepared five volumes of Materials for a History of the Russian Fleet for publication and wrote the first volume of The History of the Russian Fleet: The Azov Period. FF Veselago continued that work 1911 - Cruiser HMCS Niobe ran aground near Sable Island 1918 - Trawler HMCS Vimy paid off 1918 - Destroyer USS Ellis launched 1933 - Destroyer FS Le Terrible launched 1936 - Destroyer FS Casque laid down 1936 - Submarine FS Ouessant launched 1936 - Patrol vessel HMS Kittiwake launched 1936 - Light cruiser USS Brooklyn launched 1939 - Minesweeper FS La Gracieuse launched 1939 - Corvettes HMS Arbutus & Cyclamen laid down 1939 - Light cruiser HMS Bermuda laid down 1939 - AA cruiser HMS Bellona laid down 1939 - Tug HMCS Bally assigned to Halifax NS 1939 - Russia invaded Finland. Soviet warships are bombarding Finnish ports 1940 - Submarine depot ship HMS Adamant launched 1940 - Light cruiser HMS Gambia launched 1940 - Corvette HMS Polyanthus launched 1940 - Minesweeping trawler HMS Chestnut mined & sunk off North Foreland 1940 - Destroyers HMCS St Croix & Niagara departed Halifax for UK 1940 - Minesweepers ordered - HMCS Bayfield, Caraquet, Canso, Guysborough, Ingonish, HMS Fort York, Parrsborough, Qualicum, Shippigan, Tadoussac, and Wedgeworth 1940 - Corvette HMCS Rosthern launched Port Arthur ON 1940 - Outward bound convoys OB244 and UK-bound SC11 are attacked by two groups of U-boats west of North Channel. 15 merchant ships are sunk, including seven from SC11 by Schepke's U100 on the night of the 22nd/23rd. Important steps are taken in the air war when an RAF Sunderland equipped with 1.5-cm wavelength anti-surface vessel (ASV) radar locates a U-boat. This is the first success of its kind with a system that is mainly effective by day, as contact is lost within two miles of the target 1941 - Corvette HMCS Midland arrived Halifax from builder Montreal PQ 1941 - German Raider Komet returns to Hamburg. It has been at sea for 516 days and sunk 3 ships for 31,000 tons and an additional 7 ships in company with Orion 1941 - U-206 is sunk in the Bay of Biscay with the aid of ASV (Air to Surface Vessel) radar, by a British Whitley bomber. This is the first success with ASV radar and marks the beginning of British ASW efforts in the Bay of Biscay 1942 - Destroyer escorts USS Herbert C Jones, Baron, Acree laid down 1942 - Destroyer HMS Camperdown laid down 1942 - Corvette HMS Budleia laid down 1942 - Corvette HMCS Giffard laid down 1942 - Submarine USS Mingo launched 1942 - Frigate HMS Jed commissioned 1942 - Destroyer HMS Relentless commissioned 1942 - Heavy cruiser USS Northampton sunk by two Long Lance torpedoes from destroyer HIJMS Oyashio at Lunga Point 1942 - Heavy cruiser USS Minneapolis was hit by Long Lance torpedo and lost her bow. Heavily damaged but managed to retreat and survive 1942 - Heavy cruiser USS Pensacola was hit by Japanese Long Lance torpedo. Water flooded most of machinery compartments. Only one turbine remained operational. Pensacola had to retreat from the battle 1942 - Heavy cruiser USS New Orleans hit by Japanese Long Lance torpedo during The Battle of Tassafaronga. Huge explosion cut off the bow with "A" main turret. Later the cruiser received a new bow 1942 - Trawler HMS Manitoulin arrived Halifax from builder Midland ON 1942 - Minesweeper HMCS Mulgrave arrived Halifax from builder Port Arthur ON 1942 - Minesweeper HMCS Quinte damaged after running aground entrance to St. Peter's Canal, Cape Breton. Quinte had just completed a 6-week refit before she went aground & was beached to prevent outright sinking. Salvage operations were conducted over the winter of '43 but her repairs were not completed until Jun 44, after which she was assigned to training duties at Cornwallis NS. Qunite's loss came at a critical time in the war, when every escort was desperately needed. The extremely rapid expansion of the RCN contributed significantly to several such incidents. A total of 48 Bangor-class ships were built for the RCN & a further 6, that were built for the RN in Vancouver BC were transferred to the RCN. Canadian Bangors were used mainly as escorts but they performed poorly in this capacity. They were wet ships due to their bluff bows making them even more unpleasant ships to sail in than the corvettes, which were horrible. The Bangor's had an endurance of 2,800 miles at 10 knots on 160 tons of fuel. Like corvettes, the Bangor's were small enough to be built in Great Lakes shipyards & they did provide a capability that the Flower's did not. Bangors built in Canada were fitted with gyros, whereas Flower-class corvettes were not -- one of the worth instances of bureaucratic bungling in wartime naval construction. Mines were only laid in Canadian waters once during the War, in 1943. 16 Canadian Bangors were present at D-Day & played a major part in mine clearance operations prior to the landings 1942 - Destroyer HMCS Iroquois commissioned 1942 - Corvette HMCS Buddleia laid down Aberdeen Scotland 1942 - Frigate HMCS Valleyfield laid down Quebec City PQ 1942 - Corvette HMCS Midland arrived Liverpool NS for refit 1942 - German surface Raider Thor is destroyed by fire in Yokohama. From January through October 1942 Thor sank 10 merchant ships for 56,000 tons 1942 - Submarine Papanikolis (Y-2) of the Hellenic Navy, while on patrol west of Rhodes, spotted three Italian torpedo boats, a sailing ship and a steamer of about 8,000 tonnes anchored in a cove on Alimnia islet. The captain, Lieutenant Nikolaos Roussen, waited for the ships to set sail, but after it seemed that the enemy had no such intention, Roussen fired at the steamer with his two bow torpedo tubes and struck and sunk it. It was 16.35. After that Roussen manoeuvred the submarine through the shallow waters and made off to safety. Papanikolis was the submarine that captured the imagination of the Greek public most during WWII, becoming a legend and inspiring popular artists. It was, undoubtedly, the Greek submarine that saw the most prolific action and the first put to sea after the war was declared on 28 October 1940. The submarine, along with sister ship Katsonis, was built by F&Ch de la Gironde (Bordeaux, France) and was of the type known as SCHNEIDER-LEUBEUT. It was launched on 3 November 1927, and on 21 December 1927 the Greek flag was raised in the harbour of Toulon. It was a Katsonis Class, Y-2 Penant vessel, named after War of Independence naval hero Dimitris Papanikolis. It was 62.5 meters long, and displaced 576 tonnes of water on the surface and 775 tonnes underwater. It had a top speed of 14 knots on the surface and 9 submerged. Its armament consisted of 6x21in torpedo tubes, a 100mm deck gun and two machine guns. It had a complement of 30 men 1943 - AA cruiser HMS Black Prince commissioned 1943 - Frigate HMS Redmill commissioned 1943 - Submarine USS Golet commissioned 1943 - Destroyer escorts USS Borum, Brister, Henry R Kenyon & Waterman commissioned 1943 - Frigate HMS Braid launched 1943 - Frigate USS Manitowoc launched 1943 - Submarine HMS Visigoth launched 1943 - Submarine USS Queenfish launched 1943 - Frigate HMCS Carlplace laid down Lauzon PQ 1943 - Corvette HMCS Arrowhead rejoined Western Local Escort Force, Halifax 1943 - General AA Vandegrift, USMC is appointed as commandant of the US Marine Corps, effective January 1, 1944. General Vandegrift commanded the 1st Marine Division during the Guadalcanal Campaign 1944 - Destroyer HMS Gravelines launched 1944 - Sloop HMS Opossum 1944 - Destroyer USS Beatty & Benner launched 1944 - Heavy cruiser USS Columbus launched 1944 - Escort carrier USS Puget Sound launched 1944 - Destroyer USS Cone laid down 1944 - Frigate HMCS Outremont departed UK for tropicalization refit Sydney NS 1944 - Corvette HMCS Beauharnois departed Bermuda for St John's to join EG C-4 1944 - Frigate HMCS Lauzon arrived St John's to join EG C-6 1944 - HMS Vanguard, the Royal Navy's last battleship, was launched 1945 - Destroyer USS Samuel B Roberts launched 1945 - Former corvette HMCS Merrittonia foundered on Nova Scotia coast 1951 - Destroyer HMCS St Laurent launched Montreal PQ 1951 - Destroyer HMCS Micmac paid off from training duties to repair damage to keel and received DDE modernization. Only active Canadian Tribal-class destroyer that did not participate in Korean War 1952 - Submarine HMS Artemis departed Halifax NS following ASW training 1955 - Patrol craft HMCS Loon commissioned 1964 - Repair ship HMCS Cape Scott transits Panama Canal enroute Easter Island & Peru on a scientific expedition 1966 - Frigates HMCS Antigonish & Sussexvale paid off Esquimalt BC 1966 - The former British colony of Barbados became independent 1968 - USS Intrepid port call Subic Bay 1971 - USS Oriskany port call Subic Bay 1981 - Destroyer HMCS Skeena returned to Halifax from DELEX refit 1990 - In Operation Sharp Edge, Iimited evacuation of noncombatants from Monrovia terminated. 2,609 evacuated, including 330 US citizens 1992 - The Defense' Medal ("Forsvarets Medalje"), instituted November 27, 1991, is awarded for the first time at a ceremony at Naval Base Copenhagen. Among the recipients are the crews from the corvette Olfert Fischer, awarded for their participation in the UN embargo in the Persian Gulf 2003 - USNS Bob Hope placed on active duty status 2004 - Nuclear-powered icebreaker 50 Let Pobedy under construction at St. Petersburg shipbuilder Baltiisky Zavod caught fire. There was no danger of a radiation leak because the fuel rods for the reactor have not yet been installed 2004 - Samsung Heavy Industries’ VLCC (Very Large Container Carrier), Ice class oil tanker and an LNG carrier were each chosen as the vessel of the year by Maritime Reporter, Marine Log and Naval Architect. “Vessel of the Year” title is given to a vessel that is a new vessel that distinguishes itself from existing vessels or a vessel that received the most attention in terms of efficiency, design or customer preference out of all the vessels constructed during the year. The VLCC chosen as the vessel of the year was CSCL Europe delivered to CSCL of China in October. It is a huge 8,100 TEU class carrier capable of carrying more than 8,100 20foot containers. It is notable that Samsung Heavy Industries has won a large number of orders for 8,100 TEU class carriers this year following the 7,700 TEU-class carriers and has garnered 35% share in the global market for 8,000 TEU-class carriers. Furthermore, Samsung Heavy Industries has completed tests for 12,000 TEU-class super container carrier and has launched the development of 14,000 TEU-class ultra container carrier. On the other hand, the other vessel of the year Minerva Lisa, delivered to Minerva of Greece, to navigate the Baltic Sea, and the North America to Europe route where vessels need to navigate through ice ridden sea. Minerva Lisa is an Ice class 105,000dwt Aframax oil tanker 2004 - The last planned work-ups for a deployment of F-14D Tomcats began at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base (NAS JRB) New Orleans when Fighter Squadron (VF) 213 arrived at the base to begin their Strike Fighter Advanced Readiness Program (SFARP) training with Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 204 2005 - Workers at a shipyard in the town of Severodvinsk on the Barents Sea have begun the process of decommissioning the Volgograd nuclear submarine, the enterprise said Wednesday. This is the fourth Viktor III-class submarine whose decommissioning has been funded by Canada under the Global Partnership against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction program, which was approved by the Group of Eight industrialized nations at the 2002 summit in Kananaskis, Canada, and, among other problems, addresses nuclear security issues. Under the program, the Zvezdochka shipyard is expected to decommission 12 more multi-purpose nuclear-powered submarines 2005 - USN announces homeport shift of USS Squall & Hurricane from San Diego to Little Creek 2005 - An agreement which could see carbon emissions stored in depleted oil fields in the North sea was signed today by UK Energy Minister, Malcolm Wicks and the Norwegian Energy Minister Odd Roger Enoksen. The two ministers pledged to undertake a bilateral effort to explore areas of cooperation to encourage injection and permanent storage of CO2 beneath the North Sea. Known as carbon sequestration, the technology can be used to separate CO2 from coal and gas firing power stations, which is then pumped into depleted oil fields via disused pipelines 2005 - High alert has been sounded in coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh in view of the threat of a cyclonic storm with Army and Navy asked to be ready for any emergency. The high alert has been sounded in coastal districts of Nellore, Prakasam, Guntur, Krishna, West Godavari, East Godavari and Chittoor and all precautionary measures taken by the district administration in view of the threat, official sources said. The fishermen have been advised not to venture to the sea and railway authorities have been asked to be in contact with the district collectors for monitoring the movement of rail traffic, they said. State Chief Secretary T K Dewan reviewed the situation with the Commissioner, Disaster Management and concerned senior secretaries of various departments, the sources said. Yesterday's cyclonic storm over the Bay of Bengal practically remained stationary and lay centered this morning about 450 km east-southeast of Chennai, the weather office said here 2005 - President Bush Addressed The Midshipmen Of The Naval Academy On The Strategy For Victory In Iraq, The Central Front Of The War On Terror. President Bush discussed the steps being taken to train the Iraqi military and police and the progress being made as Iraqis stand up to protect their strengthening democracy 2005 - Joint Pakistani-Saudi naval exercise, Naseem Al Bahr-VIII, started in the north Arabian Sea. The exercise, in which a task group of seven Royal Saudi Naval Forces (RSNF) Ships is taking part, will continue until 15 December in various phases. The RSNF contingent is being led by Commander Task Force Rear Admiral Sami bin Mansoor Al-Rufa'i. The aim of this exercise is to enhance levels of inter-operability between two fraternal navies. During the exercises, a large number of RSNF and Pakistani Navy units, including most modern destroyers, frigates, missile corvettes, tankers, mine hunters, naval aviation units and special services group will participate in multi-dimensional activities. The sea-phase of the exercise will begin in the first week of December. De-briefing sessions will be held to pinpoint strengths and weaknesses 2005 - American Commercial Lines Inc. announced the formation of JeffLabs, a new business unit focusing on technology applications for the transportation industry. JeffLabs will build upon the strength of ACL's two major holdings, American Commercial Barge Line LLC and Jeffboat LLC. JeffLabs will focus initially on five key areas of opportunity: Safety, Logistics, Regulatory Reporting, Customer Service and Operational Efficiency 2005 - Aries Maritime Transport Limited has taken delivery of the Chinook, a 2001-built 38,700 dwt double-hulled products tanker. The Chinook was acquired from German owners for $32.6 million. The purchase price is inclusive of the ship's existing time charter with Italian stock listed group Navigazione Montanari at the gross rate of $13,100 per day for the remainder of this year and $13,700 per day until expiration of the contract in January 2007 2005 - Twenty-two Acehnese who intended to stir up trouble in southern Thailand nabbed by police, local press reported. The Acehnese suspects were caught on a trawler off the coast of the southern Satun Province on Monday after the Indonesian-registered fishing boat was intercepted by the Third Fleet in cooperation with police, navy chief Adm Sathirapan Keyanont was quoted by the Bangkok Post as saying. An initial investigation found the 22 Acehnese planned to commit offenses in Thailand although it was unclear exactly what they had set out to do, the report said. The suspects might be linked to separatist militants in the Deep South, and the arrests corresponded with earlier reports that militants were recruiting members of foreign terrorist networks to engineer large-scale attacks in southernmost strip, Sathirapan said. The news about possible infiltration by foreign elements prompted the army to tighten security checks and intensify patrol in violence-prone areas, he said 2005 - At 2030 of the 29th November, Falmouth Coastguard received a telephone call from the manager of the World Cruising Club based at Cowes on the Isle of Wight reporting that one of the entrants of the ARC 2005 had reported that they were taking on water in a position 300 miles west of the Cape Verde islands. The Sweden 42 class yacht, Caliso, 13.25 meters in length with six people on board, five British and one Swedish and skippered by Mark Matthews had informed the World Cruising Club that they had a four inch crack in the keel box and that they were taking on water. This morning the situation had deteriorated and the skipper made a decision that the best course of action was to abandon the vessel. Falmouth coastguard broadcast a distress message via Inmarsat communications. Motor tanker Endless received this distress message. This tanker diverted his course to rendezvous with the yacht arriving at five o'clock this evening. The yacht was able to maneuver alongside the tanker and the crew were evacuated from the yacht and taken on board the tanker. The sailors will be landed at the tankers next port of destination in approximately eight days time. The motor tanker Endless is 89014 GRT and is registered in the Marshall Islands 2005 - USCG units in partnership with Michigan Department of Natural Resources, US Fish and Wildlife Service and Canadian authorities from the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources interdicted a Canadian fishing boat found to be illegally fishing in US waters on November 29th and 30th, approximately 25 miles east of Harbor Beach, MI on the US-Canadian border. USCGC Hollyhock spotted the Canadian-flagged commercial fishing boat L & R setting nets approximately 200 yards inside US waters. Hollyhock then coordinated surveillance of the nets and boat with Coast Guard helicopters from Coast Guard Air Station Detroit. On the morning of November 30th, Coast Guard Members from Station Harbor Beach MI conducted a boarding of the L & R, the first boarding of a Canadian fishing vessel in US waters in recent memory. A “haul back” of the nets from US waters was witnessed and documented by both USCG and Canadian authorities. A case package is being forwarded to both US and Canadian authorities for action 2005 - Wärtsilä Land & Sea Academy has again taken a major leap in the development of its training services by opening the doors of a new training center in Subic Bay in the Philippines. The new training center is one in a series of three training centers built for global coverage of training and competence management services in the marine and power plant industries. Wärtsilä Land & Sea Academy (WLSA) is part of Wärtsilä Corporation's Service business and is currently planning to operate three Academies where a full scope of training is offered to all ship owners or power plant owners, in addition to six full-product training centers globally. A wide selection of WLSA services can also be accessed through 130 Wärtsilä locations. WLSA scope of service extends from Wärtsilä product courses to the full range of customer specific maritime training courses in connection with competence and career management solution. The new training center in Subic Bay is equipped with five ship-handling simulator bridges, three engine room simulators, GMDSS simulators and cargo-handling simulators. All the simulators can be connected for full ship operation simulation. An important new development has arisen with the growing LNG transportation market for which Wärtsilä Land & Sea Academy is playing a key role by providing training on gas engines as well as LNG cargo handling in the near future 2005 - The SAFEMED project for Euro-Mediterranean Co-operation on Maritime Safety and Prevention of Pollution from Ships was launched at the headquarters of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in London. SAFEMED is a €4 million EU-funded regional project established under the MEDA program which is to be implemented by the IMO-administered Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Center for the Mediterranean Sea (REMPEC) 2005 - A Uruguayan Navy helicopter (B-200 T) medevaced a passenger and a crewmember from RMS Queen Elizabeth II 600 miles off Montevideo 2006 - The 16th and final modified E-6B Mercury for the US Navy is unveiled during a ceremony at Cecil Field in Jacksonville 2006 - Talisman, the BAE Systems' developed unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV), has achieved its latest capability breakthrough, by becoming the first UUV to successfully fire and control weapons at sea during trials off the South Coast of England 2006 - The rudder fell off Mayport-based frigate USS Boone while on deployment in the western Mediterranean. The mishap forced the ship to send out a call for help to which Canadian destroyer HMCS Iroquois responded, providing divers who inspected the ship’s underside. Within 24 hours, Boone was being towed to Rota for repairs by replenishment oiler FGS Spessart. The ship was not adrift or totally dead in the water because its two 350-horsepower auxiliary ropulsion units provided a “limited amount of maneuverability.” The lost rudder was replaced Dec. 27 and, after a day of operational testing, Boone got underway again Dec. 28 2007 - Former USS Hoist and Sphinx arrive at Chesapeake VA for scrapping 2007 - Japan granted three patrol vessels to the Indonesian marine police in order to help improve security in the Malacca Strait 2007 - Adm. Mark Fitzgerald relieved Adm. Harry Ulrich III as Commander, US Naval Forces Europe during a ceremony at Joint Forces Command Naples 2007 - Salvage ship ORP Lech decommissioned at Gdynia Copyright 2008 Shirlaw News Group ISSN 1710-6966 Today in History Archives This information is licensed to the recipient only. Images may be subject to copyright. Ask before you right-click. Royal Navy photos are Courtesy of www.oldships.org.uk unless otherwise indicated. To contact us: 418-145 West Keith Rd North Vancouver BC V7M 1L3 Canada Phone: 778-338-4073 Fax: 778-338-4074 Read our Maritime Mishap Blog Manage your subscription