SeaWaves Today in History October 8, 2008 1804 - Government schooner 'Speedy' lost with all hands in a storm on Lake Ontario; dead include Judge Cochrane; Solicitor-General Gray; Surveyor Stegman 1806 - Royal Navy uses rockets for the first time, in a bombardment of Boulogne 1812 - Boat party under Lt. Jesse D. Elliott captures HMS Detroit and Caledonia in Niagara River. 1842 - Commodore Lawrence Kearny in USS Constitution addresses a letter to the Viceroy of China, urging that American merchants in China be granted the same treaty privileges as the British. His negotiations are successful 1847 - Secretary of Treasury Walker ordered reduction in expenditures by lowering complements on revenue cutters 1914 - Following an earlier unsuccessful attack on 22 September, Squadron Commander Spenser-Grey and Flight Lieutenant Marix of the Eastchurch Squadron, Royal Naval Air Service, took off in Sopwith Tabloid biplanes with improvised bombing gear to attack Zeppelin airship hangars at Dusseldorf and Cologne. Sqn Cdr Spenser-Grey was unable to locate his target in Cologne, and bombed the railway station instead. Marix, however, scored a direct hit on a Dusseldorf shed, destroying Zeppelin LZ25 inside. Returning to Antwerp, Marix was shot down, but safely made it back on foot to the Allied lines 1917 - HM CD 6 completed by Davie Shipbuilding Lauzon PQ 1917 - Minesweepers USS Teal & Widgeon laid down 1918 - Destroyer HMS Wolverine laid down 1918 - Destroyer USS Broome laid down 1918 - Minesweeper USS Swallow commissioned 1921 - Military airplane lands at Sand Point NAS in Seattle for the first time 1928 - Destroyer FS Aigle laid down 1936 - U-30 commissioned 1937 - Destroyer USS Fanning commissioned 1939 - U-12 sunk in the English Channel near Dover by a mine. 27 dead (all hands lost) 1939 - U-47 under command of Günther Prien set out from Kiel on the soon to be famous attack on the British Fleet at Scapa Flow 1939 - U-37 sank SS Vistula 1939 - The anti-U-boat mine barrage in the Strait of Dover is completed and sinks U-12 1939 - Battlecruiser Gneisenau and other ships of the German Navy sortie off Norway to draw the Home Fleet within U-boat and aircraft range. Capital ships Hood, Nelson, Repulse, Rodney and Royal Oak, together with the carrier Furious, cruisers and destroyers sail for various positions, but there is no contact 1939 - In the Atlantic, the USCG cutter USCGC Campbell joins the US passenger liner SS Iroquois because of the warnings received about an attack on her. Later, the USN destroyers USS Davis and USS Benham also join and the four ships proceed to New York City 1940 - U-31 was attacked by the British submarine Trident. First the submarine fired 4 torpedoes, all of which missed U-31. When the British sub began to fire its gun, U-31 crash-dived. The Trident followed up with some explosive charges, but without result. This was the third time that U-31 was attacked by an enemy submarine during this patrol. The commander wrote sardonically in the war diary - "Main task of this patrol was to play the target ship for British submarines" 1940 - U-107 commissioned 1940 - U-58 sank SS Confield in Convoy HX-76 1941 - U-83 fired three torpedoes at a convoy escort, but all three missed 1941 - U-573 fired three torpedoes at a freighter, but all three missed 1941 - Destroyer HMS Loyal launched 1941 - U-255 launched 1941 - U-507 & U-657 commissioned 1941 - Destroyer HMS Onslow commissioned 1941 - Corvette HMCS Camrose departed St. John's for Iceland for Convoy SC-48 1942 - U-125 sank SS Glendene 1942 - U-159 sank SS Clan MacTavish 1942 - U-172 sank SS City of Athens 1942 - U-179 sank SS John Carter Rose. After sinking the John Carter Rose, the crew of U-201 gave the shipwrecked survivors provisions and bandages. This was four weeks after the issuing of the Laconia order, in which Admiral Donitz directly forbade U-boats to undertake any rescue activity of this kind 1942 - U-68 sank SS Swiftsure, Koumoundouros, Gaasterkerk & Sarthe 1942 - Destroyer HMCS Algonquin (ex-HMS Valentine) laid down 1942 - Trawler HMS Anticosti commissioned 1942 - Destroyer USS Glennon commissioned 1942 - U-275 & U-535 launched 1942 - U-643 commissioned 1942 - U-172 was depth charged by the corvette HMS Rock Rose but suffered only slight damage 1942 - U-179 sunk in the South Atlantic near Cape Town, South Africa, in position 33.28S, 17.05E, by depth charges from the British destroyer HMS Active. 61 dead (all hands lost) 1943 - Destroyer ORP Orkan sunk by U-378 1943 - Two USN submarines sink two IJA cargo ships 1943 - US Thirteenth Air Force B-25s and P-40s sink a barge off the west coast of Choiseul Island 1943 - Destroyer escorts USS Howard F Clark & Silverstein laid down 1943 - RCAF Sunderland patrol a/c from RCAF 423 Sqn attacked & sank U-610, KptLt Walter Freiherr Von Freyberg-Eisenberg-Allmendingen, CO, in the North Atlantic, in position 55.45N, 024.33W. Although 15 men were seen in the water after U-610 was sunk, no survivors were recovered & her crew of 51 men was lost. U-610 was a medium-range Type VIIC U-boat built by Blohm and Voss at Hamburg. She was commissioned on 19 Feb 42. U-610 conducted five patrols & compiled a record of 4 ships sunk for a total of 21,273 tons & 1 ship damaged for another 9,551 tons. U-610 was engaged in operations against the 39-ship Halifax to Liverpool Convoy SC-143 when she was lost. Convoy SC-143 arrived in Liverpool on 12 Oct 43 having lost one ship to U-645. Baron Walter Freiherr Von Freyberg-Eisenberg-Allmendingen was born in 1915, at Geisenheim, Rheingau. He joined the navy in 1935. He was serving as the Assistant Damage Control Officer in the heavy cruiser Blücher when the war began and was with her when she was sunk in Oslo Fjord on 09 Apr 40. Freyberg transferred to the U-boat force in April & after conversion training, served as the first Watch Officer in the Type VIIC boat U-552 from Dec 40 to Jun 41, commanded by the third highest scoring U-boat ace of the war OLtzS Erich Topp, Knight's Cross, Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and with Swords (35 ships sunk and 4 damaged). Freyberg was selected for command and underwent his U-boat commander's course from Jun to Jul 41. He was appointed to command the Type VIIC training boat U-52 on 7 Jul 41. On 19 Feb 42 KptLt Freiherr Von Freyberg-Eisenberg-Allmendingen was appointed to commission U-610, & was her only CO 1943 - Minesweeper HMAS Cowra commissioned 1943 - Italian government surrenders to Allied forces; Germans and Fascist supporters keep fighting on 1943 - U-419 sunk in the North Atlantic, in position 56.31N, 27.05W, by depth charges from a British Liberator aircraft (Sqn 86/R). 48 dead and 1 survivor 1943 - U-643 sunk in the North Atlantic, in position 56.14N, 26.55W, by depth charges from 2 British Liberator aircraft (Sqn 86/Z & 120/T). 30 dead and 18 survivors 1943 - The commander of U-603 became so ill that he was incapacitated, leaving the U-boat unable to act against the enemy 1943 - The commander of U-631 broke his hand in an accident during patrol 1943 - U-762 was bombed by a Liberator aircraft from 120 RAF Squadron. Three crewmembers were wounded, and the boat was slightly damaged 1944 - U-3524 laid down 1944 - U-242 laid a field of 12 mines NW of Torkalla, but without result 1944 - Minesweeper HMCS Mulgrave, a Bangor-class minesweeper (1941-42 program) damaged by a ground mine and was beached near Le Havre, France. She was towed from Le Havre on 03 Nov 44 to Portsmouth, where she was declared a Constructive Total Loss. She was paid off on 07 Jun 45. Mulgrave was broken up for scrap at Llanelly, Wales, in 1947. 1944 - Submarines HMS Sleuth & Taciturn commissioned 1944 - A US submarine sinks a IJA transport in the South China Sea 1945 - President Truman announced that the secret of the atomic bomb would be shared only with Britain & Canada 1945 - RNAS Machrinaish, 806 RN Sqn, Seafire a/c #NN132, S/Lt (A) John Harold Johnston RNVR; Seafire a/c #NN600, A/S/Lt (A) Peter Lewis Norton RNVR; both Canadians, Lost flying accident, collided while beating-up a trawler near Pladds Point SW, coast of Scotland 1946 - Destroyer USS Henley commissioned 1950 - 1st Marine Division commences embarkation at Inchon for landings at Wonsan, Korea 1952 - LCdr Quinn, Able Seamen Blaikie & Burden from the Iroquois are buried with full Naval Honors at Yokohama Commonwealth Cemetery 1961 - USS Tulare & Princeton rescue seamen from an American and a Lebanese merchant ship, which were aground on Kita Daita Jima 1965 - USS Ticonderoga port call Pearl Harbor 1969 - USS Constellation port call Sasebo 1974 - USS Constellation port call Subic Bay 1985 - The hijackers of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro killed American passenger Leon Klinghoffer, dumping his body and wheelchair overboard 1992 - Opening of a memorial for the in action killed U-boat men in the Caribbean. The ceremony took place in Port of Spain (Trinidad) in the presence of some crewmembers from U-161, U-162 and U-615 1994 - 3 German U-boats (U-8, U-11 and U-12) visit Reykjavik, Iceland. This was the first such visit after the Second World War 1995 - Destroyer HMCS Athabaskan departed Halifax for South American UNITAS exercises 2001 - Frigate HMCS Halifax departed STANAVFORLANT for Persian Gulf duty 2002 - Former USS Towers expended as a target off San Diego in SM-1 trials from USS Sides 2005 - Frigate HMAS Toowoomba commissioned at Brisbane 2005 - "Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition" will open in Athens, Greece. The exhibition will open at the famed and newly restored "The Zappion", which was built in 1878 and is now a state owned exhibition facility. "The Zappion" is a popular destination that actually sits amongst the ruins of the original site of the Olympics. The Exhibition is scheduled to run through March 2006 2005 - Ngapona will be celebrating the 80th anniversary of the establishment of the Naval Reserve in 1925, and the 25th anniversary of women being able to enlist in the Volunteer Reserves, over the weekend of 8th and 9th October at the Auckland Maritime Museum. One of our Inshore Patrol Craft, HMNZS Hinau, will be berthed at the Spirit of New Zealand pontoon at the Maritime Museum, and will be open to the public from 1000 to 1600 on both days. RNZN Pipes and Drums will entertain the public on the Saturday 2005 - Canadian Forces (CF) and Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) assets and personnel will be demonstrating their Search and Rescue (SAR) abilities close to the shores of Victoria Park in Charlottetown, PEI 2005 - Dutch CGC Panter seized marijuana from tug Troll in Caribbean 2006 - Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Company Limited (RasGas) made its first delivery of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the shores of Qatar to Mexico 2007 - Secretary General of NATO, Mr. Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, visits Copenhagen 2007 - Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Belfair, will meet this week with Navy officials about plans for Naval Magazine Indian Island 2007 - The Government of Pakistan has announced the promotion of Rear Admiral Nayyar Iqbal and Real Admiral Mahmood Ahmed Khan to the rank of Vice Admiral with immediate effect 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