SeaWaves Today in History October 22, 2008 1670 - Shipbuilder Jean Langlois starts construction of another barquentine 1702 - During the Northern War (1700-1721), Russian forces led by Peter I captured held Noteburg Fortress. The fortress had been founded by the Novgorodians in 1323 on Orekhovy (Nut) Island and called Oreshek Fortress. It was seized by the Swedes in 1611 and renamed Noteburg (Nut Town). Peter I named it Schlisselburg (Key City). It was used as a fortress until 1810 and as a political prison for many years after that. In 1944, it was renamed Petrokrepost (Peter's Fortress) 1707 - HM Ships Association, Romney and Eagle ran aground on Scilly Isles during a storm, whilst returning from operations in the Mediterranean. Admiral Sir Cloudisley Shovell, one of the Royal Navy's most experienced and distinguished commanders, is believed to have survived the wreck, but to have been subsequently killed by looters 1805 - Lewis and Clark begin descending the rapids of the Columbia River at Celilo Falls 1846 - Miss Lavinia Fanning Watson of Philadelphia christens the sloop-of-war Germantown, the first US Navy ship sponsored by a woman 1853 - English ship Western World grounded off Spring Lake, NJ during a gale with about 600 persons on board. Everyone was rescued using equipment at the nearby station 1854 - John Rae 1813-1893 arrives in England to claim the £10,000 British Admiralty prize for discovery of the fate of Sir John Franklin's expedition; the Hudson's Bay Company explorer, fur trader and surgeon made four expeditions to the Arctic before meeting an Inuit man who told him of a group of white men who died of starvation four years earlier, and sold him some marked silverware and a medal which confirmed they were remains of the Franklin expedition. Rae will not be awarded the prize until July 1856, since his report quotes Inuit statements that the last survivors had resorted to cannibalism, and many Britons, including Lady Franklin, insisted that sailors of the Royal Navy would never do such a thing; therefore Rae was not to be believed 1916 - Submarine HMS G3 launched 1917 - Drifters HM CD 11 & CD 71 completed by Davie Shipbuilding & Canadian Vickers respectively 1917 - Based at Rogekul to operate in the Gulf of Riga, submarine HMS C32 was seriously damaged during attack on German naval forces. Deliberately ran aground and destroyed by her crew near Pernau, Gulf of Riga 1918 - Destroyers USS Childs & Peary commissioned 1918 - Destroyer USS Du Pont launched 1920 - Submarine USS S-48 laid down 1927 - Heavy cruiser HMS Devonshire launched 1935 - Battleship FS Richelieu laid down 1940 - Italian destroyer Nullo is destroyed as she lies aground, in the Red Sea, by RAF Blenheims 1940 - U-68 launched 1940 - U-108 commissioned 1940 - Destroyer HMCS Margaree was cut in half by the merchant ship SS Port Fairy & suffered the loss of 142 crewmembers. All of the casualties occurred when the forward half of the ship sank immediately after the collision, the after half of the ship remained afloat & was eventually sunk by gunfire from Port Fairey. Margaree was the second destroyer lost due to collision within 4 months -- Fraser was lost on 25 Jun 40. To make matters worse, 86 of the 142 lost were survivors of the Fraser disaster 1941 - An aircraft dropped two bombs on U-203 in the North Atlantic; the boat survived but suffered some damage 1941 - U-406 commissioned 1941 - Submarine USS Trigger launched 1941 - Destroyer USS Bristol commissioned 1941 - U-68 sank SS Darkdale 1942 - General Holcomb, Commandant USMC, tours front line positions of his Marines on Guadalcanal, amid occasional Japanese artillery fire. He also observes an air raid by 12 Vals escorted by 12 Zeros. 29 Wildcats of the Cactus Airforce intercept and 2 Vals are lost. Their target, the destroyer USS Nicholas is not hit 1942 - Submarine USS Grayback sinks a transport at 04-45 S, 152-53 E 1942 - U-412 sunk NE of the Faeroes, in position 63.55N, 00.24E, by depth charges from a British Wellington aircraft (Sqn 179/B). 47 dead (all hands lost) 1942 - U-645 commissioned 1942 - Submarine HMS Totem laid down 1942 - Minesweeper USS Jubilant laid down 1942 - Destroyer USS Tingey laid down 1942 - Submarine HMS Thule launched 1942 - Destroyer escort USS Gilmore launched 1942 - Destroyer USS Trathen launched 1942 - Destroyer HMS Quilliam commissioned 1942 - U-443 sank SS Donax & SS Winnipeg II in Convoy ON-139 1942 - In the North Atlantic, U-662 transferred an ill crewmember to U-382, which reached base some days later 1942 - Corvettes HMCS Kitchener, Calgary & Camrose departed St John's for UK with Convoy SC-106. SC-106 arrived safely in Liverpool on 5 Nov 42 1942 - Corvette HMCS Lethbridge completed refit Liverpool NS & departed for workups Pictou 1943 - U-1229 launched 1943 - Destroyer HMS Hurworth sunk by a mine off Kalimno, Dodecanese 1943 - Minesweeper USS Incessant launched 1943 - Destroyer escort USS Foreman commissioned 1943 - Destroyer HS Adrias hit a mine which resulted in her losing her entire bow near Kalymnos Island. Accompanying destroyer HMS Hurworth, while attempting to assist Adrias, was sunk by another mine with 143 crewmembers killed. 80 survivors came ashore in Turkey and were soon repatriated. Adrias was not repaired afterwards and scrapped in November 1945 1943 - U-68 sank SS Litiopa 1943 - In Labrador, the German submarine U-537 arrives at Martin Bay, tasked with setting up an automatic weather station. The weather station consisted of various measuring instruments, a 150-watt transmitter and ten canisters containing batteries weighing 220 pounds. For the next day, the crew of the submarine manhandles the equipment ashore via rubber boats and the station is set up 400 yards inland on a 170-foot hill. The submarine departs by 1740 hours local the next day and the weather station begins operating normally. However, a few days later, the frequency used by the weather station was apparently jammed although nobody has claimed credit for it and there is no evidence that the Allies knew about the station 1943 - Submarine USS Grayback sinks an armed merchant cruiser at 26-30 N, 125-05E 1943 - Frigate HMCS Matane commissioned 1943 - Minesweeper HMCS Portage commissioned 1944 - Corvettes HMCS Leaside & Humberstone departed Londonderry as escort for the 37-ship Southend to New York Convoy ON-261. ON-261 arrived safely in New York City on 5 Nov 44 1944 - U-2522 launched 1944 - U-3007 commissioned 1944 - U-737 was attacked in the Arctic Sea by a Soviet aircraft. Three crewmembers were injured and the boat suffered slight damage 1944 - U-985 hit a mine and was damaged so seriously that she was decommissioned some weeks later 1944 - The Japanese naval forces under Admirals Kurita and Nishimura sail from Brunei, Borneo for Leyte Gulf. The decoy carrier unit under Admiral Ozawa is already at sea from Japan. Between them, Kurita and Nishimura, command 7 battleships, 13 cruisers and 19 destroyers. The plan is for Ozawa to draw off Halsey's fleet carriers and fast battleships, so these heavy units can attack the vulnerable invasion transports. The invasion force is escorted by Admiral Kinkaid's 7th Fleet and consists of 18 escort carriers and 6 old battleships 1944 - Submarine USS Sea Dog sinks a cargo ship at 29-18 N, 129-44 E 1944 - Coast Guard-manned Army vessel FS-272 was commissioned at New York with LT E. Ayers, USCGR, as commanding officer. She departed New York on 15 November 1944 for the Southwest Pacific where she operated during the war at Parang, Philippines. 1945 - Escort carrier USS Rendova commissioned 1945 - Minesweeper HMCS Kelowna paid off Esquimalt BC 1945 - Minesweeper HMCS Ash Lake cancelled. Completed as survey ship Cartier 1945 - Minesweeper HMCS Birch Lake cancelled. Completed as mercantile MV Aspy III 1945 - Minesweeper HMCS Cherry Lake cancelled. Completed as mercantile Petite Bras D’Or 1945 - Minesweeper HMCS Fir Lake cancelled. Completed as mercantile Regina Polaris 1946 - The Corfu Incident - the destroyer HMS Saumarez struck a mine whilst passing down the channel between Corfu and the Albanian coast. 36 crewmen were killed. Her consort HMS Volage took her in tow, but she in turn struck a mine, losing eight crewmen. Volage nevertheless continued to tow Saumarez to safety, passing the towline over her bow and steaming astern. The International Court of Justice ruled that the mines had been laid after the end of the war, and awarded the UK £1 million in compensation, which was never paid 1951 - First of seven detonations, Operation Buster-Jangle nuclear test 1952 - HMCS Crusader bags her first Train and becomes a member of the "Trainbusters Club" 1955 - West Germany joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization 1960 - Early in the morning, SS Alcoa Corsair and SS Lorenzo Marcello collided near the mouth of the Mississippi River. Although the Lorenzo Marcello suffered no casualties and could proceed to New Orleans, Alcoa Corsair had 8 fatalities, 9 injured, and 1 missing, besides being forced to beach because of severe damages. A Coast Guard Helicopter removed 4 of the critically injured crewmen, while Coast Guard boats and other craft ferried the remaining ones ashore to waiting ambulances President John F. Kennedy orders surface blockade (quarantine) of Cuba to prevent Soviet offensive weapons from reaching Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis 1966 - USS Coral Sea port call Subic Bay 1966 - Destroyer HMCS Fraser recommissioned after helicopter conversion at Canadian Vickers, Montreal. Final ship of the seven ship St Laurent-class modernization program 1969 - USS Coral Sea port call Subic Bay 1970 - USS Bon Homme Richard port call Subic Bay 1970 - USS Hancock commenced Vietnam deployment 1972 - USS Saratoga port call Subic Bay 1973 - USS Coral Sea port call Subic Bay 1977 - The atomic icebreaker Sibir is launched 1990 - The Iraqi merchant vessel Al Bahar Al Arabi was cleared to proceed by a multinational boarding team including Navy and Coast Guard personnel from the USS Reasoner in the North Arabian Sea. The merchant had apparently disposed of its prohibited cargo 2003 - Chinese and Pakistani naval forces conducted a joint search and rescue exercise off the coast of Shanghai in the East China Sea. It was the first time the Chinese Navy held a joint exercise with a foreign counterpart since the founding of the People's Republic of China 2004 - Destroyer HMS Glasgow paid off at Portsmouth 2005 - Change of Command Ceremony from LCdr King Wan to LCdr Mark Fletcher at HMCS Discovery, Vancouver’s Naval Reserve Unit 2005 - A volcanic eruption on the Galapagos Islands has sent scorching lava pouring seawards but giant tortoises which helped inspired the theory of evolution are safe, island authorities said on Sunday. The Sierra Negra volcano on Isabela Island -- the largest of the Pacific Ocean archipelago which is part of Ecuador – erupted. Slow-moving lava is edging down the mountainside and could reach the sea in a week's time, but the island's unique fauna and human inhabitants have not been harmed, the park said. A visit to the Galapagos by naturalist Charles Darwin in 1835 helped inspire what became the theory of evolution, due to the differences between the populations of animals such as giant tortoises and birds on different islands. Most of the Galapagos is covered by national park 2006 - Panamanians voted "Si" ("Yes" in Spanish) in a referendum on Panama Canal expansion 2006 - Deputy Secretary General of NATO, H.E. Ambassador Alessandro Minuto Rizzo visits Israel on 22-24 October, to participate as a speaker in the conference on: “NATO’s Transformation, the Mediterranean Dialogue and NATO-Israel Relations” 2006 - The USCG is investigating the cause of a collision between two ships today that occurred at the IMTT Myrtle Grove facility near Point A La Hache, La. The collision occurred at 1:25 a.m. between the Heidelberg Express, a 773-foot German container ship, and the Yerot Sakos, a 737-foot Liberian cargo ship full of iron ore 2006 - Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit Port Arthur is responding to the pollution threat and salvage of the 189-foot, US-flagged towing vessel La Marie. The La Marie began taking on water when it struck a submerged object in the Gulf of Mexico, and later sank in the process of being towed to shallower water at about 2145 21 Oct 2007 - Two US Navy female sailors were fatally shot and one was critically wounded at Naval Support Activity Bahrain at approximately 0500 by a male sailor who then shot himself 2007 - Wirral council approved Merseytravel's proposal to house a World War II U-534 at the Woodside Ferry Terminal 2007 - After completing a full investigation, three male cadets have been charged today in Trois-Rivieres, Quebec by the Canadian Forces National Investigation Service (CFNIS) in relation to an incident that occurred in August. The cadets, whose names cannot be released under the Young Offender's Act, are each charged with Sexual Assault with a Weapon, under Section 272 (1) of the Criminal Code of Canada. The incident occurred while the accused cadets and the victim were attending the Cadet Summer Training Centre, HMCS Quebec, Ste-Angele-de-Laval 2007 - The sailor found dead in his barracks at the Groton submarine base over the weekend was Storekeeper Seaman Recruit Michael Perry of Milford 2007 - Nuclear personnel aboard the submarine Hampton have been punished for lax safety procedures and for forging log books to cover their tracks 2007 - President Bush today posthumously presented the Medal of Honor earned by Lt. Michael P. Murphy, a Navy SEAL who sacrificed his life in an attempt to save fellow SEALs during a fierce battle with Taliban fighters in Afghanistan 2007 - David Burnette, a former submarine commander who ran the Patriots Point Development Authority for the past seven years, abruptly resigned 2007 - Portsmouth-based warship HMS Nottingham left to take up duties in the South Atlantic. She will be taking over from Type 42 destroyer HMS Southampton 2007 - US Navy Consolidated Maintenance Organization (CMO-11) established NAS Jacksonville 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