SeaWaves Today in History October 4, 2008 1535 - Jacques Cartier 1491-1557 starts downstream from Hochelaga on board the Emerillon toward Stadacona where he will spend the winter 1821 - LT Robert F. Stockton sails from Boston for Africa to carry out his orders to help stop the international slave trade 1851 - Freak gale off coast of Prince Edward Island sinks 100 American fishing vessels and kills at least 130 fishermen 1853 - The beginning of the Crimean War 1873 - Sigtryggur Jonasson leads first Icelander group to found a new settlement on Lake Winnipeg; they name it 'Gimli,' which means 'Paradise,' or 'The Great Hall of Heaven' in Icelandic. The settlers arrive in 1875 1912 - In the early hours of 4 October HMS B2 was on the surface about four miles north east of Dover when the 23,000-ton steamer SS Amerika, on passage from Hamburg to New York, via Southampton, collided with the submarine. B2 was struck just forward of the conning tower, a fatal blow that sent the submarine immediately to the bottom 1916 - The foundation of the city of Murmansk (at the time it was called Romanov-on-Murman). Now it is one of the biggest ports of Russia and main administrative center of the Polar Region 1917 - Destroyer HMS Montrose laid down 1917 - Submarine HMS H43 laid down 1918 - There was an explosion at the TA Gillespie Co. munitions yard in Morgan NJ. Coast Guardsmen from Perth Amboy responded. When fire threatened a trainload of TNT, these men repaired the track and moved the train to safety, thus preventing further disaster. Two Coast Guardsmen were killed in this effort 1919 - Destroyers USS Reuben James & Borie launched 1920 - Drifter ex-HM CD 54 lost on passage to UK from Canada 1921 - SS Esperance Bay launched. Served as AMC in Second World War 1929 - Destroyer HMS Achates launched 1934 - Destroyer USS Dewey commissioned 1934 - Light cruiser HMS Newcastle laid down 1935 - Italy suggested a symmetrical cancellation of the naval and military measures of precaution which Britain and Italy had taken in the Mediterranean 1939 - US freighter SS Black Hawk, detained by British authorities since 19 September, is released 1939 - The US Naval Attaché in Berlin reports that Grossadmiral Erich Raeder, Commander in Chief of the German Navy, has informed him of a plot wherein the US passenger liner SS Iroquois, that had sailed from Cobh, Eire, with 566 American passengers on 3 October, would be sunk (ostensibly by the British) as she neared the east coast of the United States under "Athenia circumstances" for the apparent purpose of arousing anti-German feeling. Admiral Raeder gives credence to his source in neutral Eire as being "very reliable" 1939 - U-23 sank SS Glen Farg 1940 - Corvettes HMCS Summerside & Louisburg laid down Quebec City PQ 1940 - Patrol vessel HMCS Otter commissioned 1940 - Churchill asks Roosevelt to send US ships to help defend Singapore, a British colony 1940 - HMS Rainbow was on patrol in the Mediterranean, operating in the Gulf of Taranto and later in the Gulf of Otranto. She was due back in Alexandria on 19th October but failed to return. On 4th October while attacking a convoy Rainbow collided with the Italian M/V Antonietta Costa and was lost with all hands 1941 - Corvette HMCS Halifax launched Collingwood ON 1941 - The first group of U-boats attacked the British Alexandria-Tobruk shipping supply line in the Mediterranean, a shipping link vital to the British troops fighting in North Africa 1941 - A German aircraft dropped three bombs on U-559 in the Mediterranean, mistaking it for an enemy submarine, but the U-boat suffered no damage 1941 - U-111 sunk SW of Tenerife, in position 27.15N, 20.27W, by depth charges from the British anti-submarine trawler HMS Lady Shirley. 8 dead and 44 survivors 1941 - Corvette HMCS Kamsack commissioned 1941 - Lady Shirley, a small armed trawler in Royal Navy service, won a remarkable gunnery duel with the German submarine U-111 off the Canaries, sinking the U-boat and taking the crew prisoner 1941 - U-159 & U-252 commissioned 1941 - U-457 & U-458 launched 1941 - The Japanese Foreign Ministry sends the following message to the consulate in Manila, "I want you to make a reconnaissance of the new defense works along the east, west and southern coasts of the Island of Luzon, reporting on their progress, strength, etc. Also please investigate anything else which may seems of interest" 1942 - Destroyer USS Evans launched 1942 - U-175 sank SS Caribstar 1942 - Minesweeper USS Usage launched British commandos launched a raid on Sark 1942 - Tanker SS Camden is torpedoed by submarine HIJMS I-25 off the coast of Oregon, position 43°42'N, 124°52'W, and is abandoned 1943 - U-596 sank SS Marit in Convoy XT-4 1943 - U-539 shot down RAF British Liberator aircraft (Sqn 120/V.) Lost with this aircraft was Wing Commander R M Longmore, the commanding officer of the 120 Squadron 1943 - RAF Hudson aircraft (Sqn 269/S) attacked U-731 on 4 Oct. The commander and 5 more men were wounded and the boat was damaged. The boat did not have to abort its patrol 1943 - A US Avenger aircraft from the USS Card dropped a bomb on a group of three U-boats which had assembled to refuel from the U-tanker U-460. The bomb missed its mark and caused no damage. However, in a follow-up attack the same day, U-460 and another of the three U-boats, U-422, were sunk. U-422 sunk in position 45.13N, 28.58W, by Avenger and Wildcat aircraft with 49 dead (all hands lost). U-460 sunk in position 43.18N, 28.58W, by depth charges from Avenger and Wildcat aircraft with 62 dead and 2 survivors 1943 - U-279 sunk in the Atlantic SW of Iceland in position 60.40N, 26.30W by depth charges from an American Ventura aircraft (Sqn VB-128/B). 48 dead (all hands lost) 1943 - U-383 sunk SW of Iceland, in position 60.51N, 28.26W, by depth charges from a British B-24 Liberator aircraft (Sqn 120/X). 50 dead (all hands lost) 1943 - Frigate HMCS Swansea commissioned 1943 - Frigate HMCS St Catharines arrived Halifax from builder Esquimalt BC 1943 - Destroyer escort USS O'Flaherty laid down 1943 - Minesweepers USS Strategy & Strength laid down 1943 - Destroyer escort USS Janssen launched 1943 - Frigate HMS Goodall commissioned 1943 - U-294 & U-923 commissioned 1943 - Admiral Pound resigns as British First Sea Lord due to ill health. Admiral Fraser refuses the position, and Admiral Andrew Cunningham accepts it 1943 - Aircraft carrier USS Ranger, operating off the north coast of Norway, strikes German shipping off Bodo. Four freighters are sunk and seven are heavily damaged. The British Home Fleet provides escorts. Operation Leader, the only USN carrier operation carried out in northern European waters during WW II, causes "appreciable losses" to two convoys. The task force reaches the launch position off Vestfjord before dawn completely undetected. At 0618 hours, Carrier Air Group Four (CVG-4) in USS Ranger launches 20 SBD Dauntless dive bombers of Bombing Squadron Four (VB-4) and an escort of 8 F4F Wildcat fighters of Fighting Squadron Four (VF-4). One division of dive-bombers attacked the 8,000-ton freighter SS La Plata, while the rest continued north to attack a small German convoy. They severely damaged a 10,000-ton tanker and a smaller troop transport and sink two of four small German merchantmen in the Bodö roadstead. A second attack group of 10 TBF Avengers of Torpedo Squadron Four (VT-4) and six Wildcats of VF-4 destroy a German freighter and a small coaster and bomb yet another troop-laden transport. Three Ranger planes were lost to antiaircraft fire. In the afternoon, three German aircraft finally locate USS Ranger, but her combat air patrol shot down a Junkers Ju 88 and a Heinkel He 111 and chase off the third 1943 - Four US P-39 Airacobras and 4 F4Us sink 18 barges in a strike along the west coast of Choiseul Island; the P-39s are especially effective because of their nose cannon 1943 - 9,400 men under General Sasaki evacuate Kolombangara Island in the Solomon Islands. US destroyers are foiled in their attempts to stop this movement by Admiral Ijuin's fleet 1944 - Frigate HMCS Chebogue damaged beyond repair by GNAT torpedo fired from U-1227 550 miles WSW of Cape Clear 49-20N 24-20W, while escorting convoy ONS-33. Seven crewmembers killed. Towed in succession by HMCS Chambly, HMS Mounsey, HMCS Ribble & HMS Earner 1944 - HMC MTB 491 commissioned. Log - 29th flotilla, "G" Type, 44 tons, 71.75x20.6x5.6ft, 39kts, crew 3/14, 1-6pdr, 2-20mm(1xII) 4-18in TT. 1944 - Destroyer HMS St Kitts launched 1944 - U-228 was damaged by Canadian and British aircraft during an air attack on the base at Bergen, Norway 1944 - LCT(6)-579 sunk off Palau Caroline Islands 1944 - U-2517, U-2518 & U-3510 launched 1944 - U-2337 commissioned 1944 - RAF attack on U-boat pens "Bruno" in Bergen, Norway. Between 0515 and 0615 - 93 Halifaxes and 47 Lancasters took off from bases in the UK with 12 Mosquitoes as a long range fighter escort. 7 bombs hit the target, causing little structural damage because of the thickness of the concrete roof. A nearby ship repair yard were seriously damaged. 3 U-boats were damaged, 3 small ships were hit, and two of them sank. The U-boat Pens are still (1999) in use by the Royal Norwegian Navy 1944 - Two platoons of the US Army are landed from icebreaker USCGC Eastwind at Little Koldeye, Greenland and capture a German weather station 1944 - Four USAAF B-25s bomb a freighter and a barge off Shimushu Island 1944 - USAAF B-25s and A-20 Havocs conduct shipping sweep on Ambon Island, hitting a wharf at Halong on Celebes Island, and attack shipping and shore targets of opportunity at various points 1945 - Frigate HMCS Kokanee completed tropicalization refit 1945 - Minesweeper HMCS Thunder paid off at Halifax 1945 - Destroyer USS Glennon commissioned 1945 - Docker strike begins at UK ports 1952 - Task Force 77 aircraft encounter MIG-15 aircraft for the first time 1953 - RCN VS 880 Avenger a/c #85913 lost in landing accident Kenora ON 1954 - RCN Firefly a/c lost in flying accident in UK during ASW training 1954 - Patrol craft HMCS Loon launched Toronto ON. Log - Built by Taylor Boat Works, Toronto, ON. 66 tons, 92x17x5.3ft, 14kts, crew 2/19, 1-20mm, hedgehog. Paid off 1965, last reported at Sambro NS, renamed RA RA RA Yacht, owned by Winston Lyons 1956 - Two US Air Force jet aircraft crashed in rugged mountain terrain about four miles from Mount Olympus, WA. For seven days, the Coast Guard directed a highly coordinated search for the lost plane and crews. Finally, aircraft and helicopters from the CG Air Station, Port Angeles, WA, assisted by aircraft and ground search elements from other services located and evacuated the four crewmembers, one of whom had died 1958 - Destroyer HMCS St Croix commissioned 1963 - 3,800 longshoremen strike at three St. Lawrence ports; delays shipment of wheat to Soviet Union 1965 - USS Ticonderoga port call Pearl Harbor 1971 - Oil and natural gas discovered under Sable Island, 280 km south of Halifax 1972 - USS Kitty Hawk port call Subic Bay 1976 - Destroyer USS Jonas Ingram rescues 7 survivors of a Finnish motor craft that sank in the Baltic Sea 1980 - A fire breaks out on the Dutch cruise vessel Prinsendam off Ketchikan, AK. Coast Guard helos and the cutters Boutwell, Mellon, and Woodrush respond in concert with other vessels in the area and rescue all of the passengers and crew without loss of life 1990 - USS Independence leaves the gulf after successfully completing its mission (to demonstrate that it is possible to put a carrier in the Gulf and carry out operations) 1991 - USS Arkansas, USNS Sioux, USS Aubrey Fitch and Helicopter Antisubmarine Squadron SIX rescue personnel on merchant ships in three different rescue operations in the Arabian Sea 1998 - US and Algerian Navies conduct first bilateral exercise since Algerian independence in 1962. It was a search and rescue operation involving USS Mitscher 2003 - Frigate HMAS Paramatta commissioned at Sydney NSW 2003 - Submarine HMCS Windsor commissioned Halifax NS 2005 - A last-minute failure to agree on a major defense deal to build "stealth" frigates at a Franco-Italian summit on Tuesday threw the fate of Europe's largest single naval construction project into confusion. The two NATO allies backed away from signing the 11-billion-euro ($13.12 billion) deal to build the 27 frigates to modernize their navies that should have crowned talks between President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Delegates said the two sides also failed to make progress in long-running discussions over whether Italy's state power firm Enel should be allowed into the French energy sector or whether their national airlines should deepen existing ties. In an embarrassing setback, French officials were forced to retract a statement that the frigates deal had been signed after apparently discovering a last-minute hitch in negotiations. Neither side explained why the deal had not been signed as expected 2005 - More rigid US government-mandated cruise embarkation/debarkation rules go into effect as a result of laws requiring detailed recording and evaluation of all incoming and outgoing travel 2005 - The ministers of Heritage Canada (Status of Women) and Veterans Affairs Canada will unveil, at the Canadian War Museum (Lebreton Gallery), a plaque donated by WWII WRENS commemorating WRCNS 1942-1946 2005 - Coalition air and surface forces concluded Search and Rescue (SAR) operations in the Persian Gulf at approximately 1525 after locating the body of a Sailor who fell out of a US Navy MH-53 helicopter during a regularly scheduled training mission in the Central Persian Gulf, off the coast of Saudi Arabia 2005 - Fisheries Minister, Ben Bradshaw, welcomed the launch of the UK Marine Fisheries Agency. The executive agency has been created to deliver the Government's services to the fishing industry and a number of marine environmental interests. It will carry out fisheries inspection and enforcement work previously done by the Sea Fisheries Inspectorate. It will also be responsible for administering fishing licensing and quota regimes, the provision of grants and advice to the fishing sector, collating and analyzing statistical data on UK fisheries, and providing some marine conservation services. The agency was created following a recommendation made by the Review of Marine Fisheries and Environmental Enforcement 2005 - The Navy's projected cost of sinking the retired aircraft carrier USS Oriskany as an artificial reef off the Florida Panhandle has increased from $2.8-million to $12.73-million, owing to delays in getting an Environmental Protection Agency permit. The carrier, a combat veteran of the Korean and Vietnam wars, would be the largest ship ever purposely sunk as an artificial reef 2005 - The Coast Guard, EPA, Alabama Department of Environmental Management and Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, established a joint information center to provide information about ongoing environmental response and vessel removal operations along the Alabama and Mississippi coast 2005 - Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) has received a 2005 Technology in Government (GTEC) Distinction Award. A gold medal in the "Securing and Managing Information Assets" category was presented last night to the Heroes Remember Project Team which is part of VAC's Canada Remembers Program. The Heroes Remember Project is a unique online collection of video and audio conversations with Canadian Veterans 2005 - Transport Canada, together with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, have awarded a contract to RMRI (Canada) Inc. of St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, to study the risks of an accidental oil spill along the south coast of Newfoundland and Labrador over the next ten years resulting from the transportation of oil and oil products by commercial vessels. The contract of $686,156 was awarded to the company following a competitive bidding process 2005 - HMS Hurworth came to the aid of a Dutch trawler after it caught an American bomb in its nets. Hurworth, on routine fishery protection duties in the North Sea, safely detonated the 250lb WWII bomb about 45 miles off Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. Hurworth was hailed over VHF radio by the Dutch trawler Onderneming, stating it had hauled the device onto its deck. Hurworth’s three-man diving team quickly assessed the air-dropped bomb, which was in good condition with little corrosion, and planned its disposal. The trawler then lowered the device onto the seabed and the dive team placed counter charges alongside it to carry out a controlled explosion. Hurworth’s Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Commander Jason Horne, praised the efforts of the disposal team – Petty Officer (Diver) Tony Bean, Leading Seaman (Diver) Steve King and Able Seaman (Diver) Matt Jones 2005 - Two earthquakes were registered on Indonesia’s Sumatra Island. There were no immediate reports about damage or casualties. The first earthquake measuring 5.5 points on the open-ended Richter scale rattled Banda-Acheh. Another quake measuring 5.3 points on the Richter scale was registered on Sumatra. The quake epicenter was located 120 kilometers away off Banda-Aceh and 41.8 kilometers under the seabed of the Indian Ocean. Both quakes caused no tsunami threats 2005 - In anticipation of the Canadian Navy's centennial in 2010, the Chief of Maritime Staff, Vice-Admiral Bruce MacLean, has commissioned six paintings depicting various eras of naval service to Canada. These paintings, under the auspices of the Canadian Naval Centennial Project, will highlight the Navy's contributions in both World Wars, the Korean Conflict, the Cold War, Operation Friction (Persian Gulf War), and Operation Apollo (campaign against terrorism). The changing nature of naval operations has evolved significantly over the last century. From an inaugural fleet of two ships in 1910 to today's multi-purpose, combat-capable, globally deployable force, the Navy has served Canadians with distinction both at home and around the world. Documenting these accomplishments over the years have been Canadian war artists, capturing the activities of the Navy as they carried out their numerous missions 2005 - For the first time in its history, the American Queen, one of the three authentic steamboats of Delta Queen Steamboat Company, embarked through the Gulf of Mexico on a journey to Texas on a 30-day charter. Based on confidentiality, the company did not issue the name of the chartering entity. The steamboat traveled down the Mississippi River and out into the Gulf of Mexico for a two-day journey to Texas 2005 - Lloyd’s Register has been authorized by the US Coast Guard (USCG) to extend its Alternate Compliance Program (ACP) capabilities to include mobile offshore drilling units (MODU) - in addition to cargo vessels, tank vessels, offshore supply vessels, and passenger vessels 2006 - Mr. Kassymzhomart Tokayev, Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan, visited NATO Headquarters 2006 - USCG Commandant Admiral Thad W. Allen will give keynote remarks at the 4th Annual Homeland Defense Symposium on “Building the 21st Century Coast Guard” at Colorado Springs 2006 - A former fishing boat skipper has admitted deliberately sinking his vessel to fraudulently recover almost £600,000 of insurance. Francis Wiseman, of Pitcaple, Aberdeenshire, tampered with valves below deck on the Seaward Quest. The trawler sank in calm seas off Shetland in October 1994 and the crew was rescued 2006 - The location of a potential LNG project in New Zealand has been confirmed as Port Taranaki. Port Taranaki has been selected as the preferred site for the LNG import site ahead of Northport near Whangarei. Contact Energy and Genesis Energy are considering importing LNG to meet the country's rising energy needs, as the huge Maui gas field starts to run out 2006 - Nicaragua has announced plans to build a waterway linking the Pacific and Atlantic that would carry bigger ships than the existing Panama Canal. President Enrique Bolanos said the new route - which would cost $18bn (£9.5bn) and take 12 years to complete - was needed for the rise in world shipping. Panama is due to vote in three weeks on whether to expand its own canal, to let larger ships pass and cut queues. Nicaragua sought to play down fears its canal would compete for the same trade 2006 - Captain Paul Wright, a 26 year veteran of Cunard Line appointed master of Queen Victoria, currently under construction in Venice that will enter service in December 2007 2006 - Addax Petroleum replaced the FPSO on the OML123 property offshore Nigeria, with an upgraded FPSO contracted from Fred Olsen Production AS and that production on OML123 has returned substantially to pre-replacement levels 2006 - Exxon Mobil plans to drill three exploratory wells in an Indonesian offshore oil block over the next three years 2006 - AP Møller-Mærsk is doubling its fleet of drilling rigs and ships outside the container business 2006 - Mitsubishi Motors is looking for a deep water port to set up the country`s first car terminal in Gujarat. The investment for the project is estimated at Rs 30 billion 2006 - Two allegedly substandard vessels flying Georgian flags impounded in Novorossiysk. Russia has suspended transportation and mail links with Georgia following a diplomatic row last week over the arrest of four Russian officers in Tbilisi for alleged spying, who’ve been released 2006 - Broström's third 14,500 dwt D-class vessel Bro Distributor, was delivered and has begun its maiden voyage to Europe. The vessels will be employed in the distribution of refined oil products in European trade 2006 - Trinity Yachts delivered the 157 ft. (47.9m) tri-deck motor yacht Lady Linda 2007 - HSM-71's establishment ceremony held at NAS North Island. First MH-60R squadron 2007 - USCG Rear Admiral David Pekoske, Transportation Security Administration Transportation Worker Identification Credential Program Manager Maurine Fanguy and Customs and Border Protection Office of Field Operations Assistant Commissioner Thomas Winkowski will testify before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, Subcommittee on Surface Transportation & Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, & Security on the Security and Accountability for Every Port Act 2007 - The Air Warfare Destroyer (AWD) program signing ceremony for the Build Phase contracts at ASC Osborne Ship Facility. Minister for Defence the Hon. Dr Brendan Nelson, Chief of Navy VADM Russ Shalders, CEO DMO Dr Stephen Gumley, Air Warfare Destroyer Program Manager Mr Warren King, CEO of the AWD Alliance Mr John Gallacher, Managing Director Raytheon Australia Mr Ron Fisher, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of ASC, Mr Greg Tunny and President of Navantia, Senor Juan Pedro Gomez Jaen. The signing of the final contracts for the Air Warfare Destroyers commences the Build Phase, which will see finalization of the production design, widespread engagement of Australian Industry in equipment source selection, the construction of three ships in Australia and ultimately deliver the most advanced destroyers to ever enter Royal Australian Navy service 2007 - One RNZN sailor drowned and two others were injured in an accident near Northland 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. 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