November 21, 2008 

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Spain - Flag Day. Visiting warships Dress Ship with Masthead Flags

1350 - The English fleet under Edward III defeated Spanish ships commanded by Don Carlos de la Cerda in the Channel. This may have been the first naval battle in which cannons were used, albeit very early types of bombard

1533 - The last Incan King of Peru, Atahualpa, was murdered on orders from Spanish conqueror Francisco Pizarro

1583 - The first shipwreck in Canadian waters occurred when the sailing vessel, Delight (120 tons), which was a member of Sir Humphrey Gilbert’s expedition to colonize Newfoundland, sank off Sable Island.  Approximately 100 lives and many of Gilbert's records were lost.  Twelve crewmembers were rescued. Sir Humphrey (c1537-1583) was an English nobleman, army officer, and Member of Parliament.  He was also stepbrother to Sir Walter Raleigh.  Early in his career, Gilbert started English settlements in Ireland and, later, explored parts of North America in search of the Northwest Passage.  Sir Humphrey received Letters Patent authorizing the establishment of an English colony in America in 1578.  That same year, at the age of 40, he assembled a fleet of five ships that sailed from Dartmouth on 26 Sep.  He was forced to return due to storms and attacks by Spanish ships.  He did not make a second attempt until 11 Jun 1583.  The expedition departed England with five ships.  One ship was sent back en route due to leaks and illness onboard.  The remainder made landfall at Newfoundland on 30 Jul, reaching the vicinity of present day St. John's, on 03 Aug.  After two weeks in his new colony, Gilbert dispatched Delight to explore westward, along the coastline of what is now Nova Scotia.  Because of her loss, on the return voyage to England Gilbert sailed aboard the 10-tons vessel Squirrel, even though the much larger Golden Hinde also made the voyage.  On Monday, 09 Sep, Squirrel, foundered near the Azore Islands and Sir Humphrey was among those lost.  As the accompanying ships drew to attempt a rescue, Sir Humphrey was heard to exclaim: "We are as near to heaven by sea as by land!"

1631- Thomas James 1593-1635 meets up with Luke Foxe 1586-c1635 near Cape Henrietta Maria searching for the North West Passage; together they sail into Foxe Channel as far as Cape Dorchester; James will then sail south into James Bay, named in his honor, and winter on Charlton Island

1814 - War of 1812 - British troops embark at Benedict on the Patuxent River of after the attack on Washington

1855 - Sand Point is first surveyed and opened for settlement. Sand Point's first settler is William Goldmyer 5 Sept 1868

1861 - US squadron captures forts at Hatteras Inlet, NC

1862 - Union gunboat Pittsburgh support Army troops in landing at Eunice, Arkansas

1883 - Seismic sea waves created by the Krakatoa eruption create a rise in the English Channel 32 hrs after the explosion

1907 - South cantilever arm of the Quebec Bridge over the St. Lawrence River collapses during construction; over 65 workers killed, 11 injured in Canada's worst bridge disaster. The bridge is rebuilt in 1916 but the center span falls into the river, killing another 13 people. When it is finally completed in September 1917, the Quebec Bridge is the world's longest cantilever bridge, and the largest bridge in the world

1911 - Submarine depot ship HMS Alecto launched

1912 - Gunboat HNLMS Friso launched

1914 - Arizonan is first vessel to arrive in San Francisco via Panama Canal

1915 - Navy salvage divers raise F-4, first US submarine sunk in accident

1917 - Submarine HMS L 23 laid down

1918 - Minesweeper USS Curlew launched

1918 - Minesweeper USS Robin commissioned

1916 - Congress passes act for expansion of Navy but most ships not completed until after World War I

1916 - Steamer 'Hsin Iu' sinks off China coast, 1,000 drown

1934 - Destroyer HMS Fortune (later HMCS Saskatchewan) launched

1934 - Soviet submarine SC-122 launched

1935 - Submarine HMS Narwhal launched

1936 - U-29 launched

1939 - The Royal Navy was mobilized, against the possibility of war with Germany

1940 - ASW trawler HMS Sarabande launched

1940 - U-100 sank SS Alida Gorthon, Astra II, Dalblair, Empire Moose & damaged Harismere in Convoy OA-204

1940 - Admiral Robert L Ghormley, US Assistant CNO, meets with British military delegation in London for staff talks

1940 - Italian planes raid Suez Canal

1941 - Destroyer HMS Rockwood laid down

1941 - Submarine USS Kingfish laid down

1941 - HMCS Mayflower arrived Liverpool NS for refit

1941 - The Germans execute a naval officer, Comte Jean d'Estiennes d'Orves and two others who were amongst the first agents sent from London by de Gaulle, in reprisal for the assassination of a German naval cadet on the 21st

1941 - KNM (ex-HMS) Eglantine commissioned

1941 - Evacuation of Tallinn to Leningrad. Minefields cause heavy losses, 25 of 29 larger transports are lost. Baltic red fleet loses 5 destroyers, two corvettes, two submarines and two patrol boats. Finnish VMV patrol boats sink one sailing ship and capture two tugs

1942 - Patrol vessel HMCS Camentia acquired. Sold in 1945 to Ante Boroevich of Vancouver, later owned by Norman Wadhams of Alert Bay BC

1942 - Destroyer HMCS Assiniboine arrives Halifax for refit

1942 - Corvettes HMCS Fredericton, Sudbury & The Pas arrive New York to bolster US escort forces for New York - Guantanamo convoys under Commander Eastern Frontier

1942 - Minesweepers HMCS Trois-Rivieres & Port Hope arrive Halifax from builders in Sorel & Toronto respectively

1942 - Minesweeping trawler HMS Lundy launched

1942 - Destroyer escort USS Doherty launched

1942 - Minesweeper HMS Stratford commissioned

1942 - Submarine HMS Trooper commissioned

1942 - Destroyer USS Saufley commissioned

1942 - U-66 sank SS Topa Topa

1942 - U-397 laid down

1942 - U-306 & 667 launched

1942 - U-385 commissioned

1942 - A USN PBY Catalina reports a force of 3 IJN cruisers and 4 destroyers NW of Umnak Island; thereupon all aircraft of the US 11th Air Force go on attack alert. The surface force then identifies itself as friendly

1942 - Soviet submarine SC-304 sunk by Seeigel minefield. All hands lost

1942 - The American Red Cross, reveals that Japan has refused free passage of ships carrying food, medicine, and other necessities for American POWs held by Japan. Japan refused to allow even "neutral" ships to enter Japanese waters, even those on humanitarian errands. Despite protests by the Red Cross, Japan allowed just 10 percent of what POWs elsewhere received to reach prisoners in their territories

1942 - While carrying out a coastal bombardment of the Daba area of the North Africa coast, destroyer HMS Eridge takes a torpedo hit in the engine room from Italian MTSM.228. Location - off Daba 31 07N 28 26E. She is towed back to Alexandria by HMS Aldenham but after survey is declared to be a constructive wreck and not repaired

1942 - A Japanese cruiser that twice enters Milne Bay to shell Australian shore positions around Gili Gili, each time scrupulously avoided firing on the brightly painted and lit-up hospital ship. This contrasted with the behavior of their IJA comrades ashore who were mutilating and torturing Australian prisoners

1942 - The Australian destroyer HMAS Arunta sinks Japanese submarine HIJMS RO-33 10 miles SE of Port Moresby in position 09.36S, 147.06E

1942 - Off Guadalcanal, USS Gamble, a destroyer minesweeper, escorting a supply convoy sinks IJN I-123. The supply convoy safely reaches Guadalcanal

1943 - U-18 sank Soviet minesweeper TSC-11 Dzhalita

1943 - Destroyer escort USS Atherton commissioned

1943 - Destroyer escorts USS Merrill & Snyder launched

1943 - Destroyer USS Marshall launched

1943 - Submarine USS Guavina launched

1943 - Submarine HMS Trident missed training cruiser HIJMS Kashii off Sabang in the Strait of Malacca with a spread of eight torpedoes

1943 - The Danish government resigns and the Danish Army is disbanded after the Danes refuse to yield to a German demand that saboteurs be executed. The majority of the Danish Navy, 1 coast defense ship, 9 submarines, a tender, 3 minesweepers and 4 minelayers, is scuttled at Copenhagen and a coast defense ship is scuttled at Isefjord. A patrol boat, 3 motor minesweepers and 9 small auxiliary vessels sortie to Sweden. The Germans capture 3 minesweepers and 2 patrol boats

1944 - Hitler orders extra fortifications on the North Sea coast between Denmark and the Netherlands

1944 - U-2510 commissioned

1944 - U-2342 laid down

1944 - Destroyer USS Willard Keith launched

1944 - Minesweeper USS Roselle launched

1944 - Destroyer escort USS John L Williamson launched

1944 - Destroyer USS Norris laid down

1944 - Minesweeper HMS Golden Fleece commissioned

1944 - Lt (P) Robert Hampton "Hammy" Gray RCNVR, led a flight of F4U Corsair a/c in a deadly low-level strafing attack against 3 Narvik-class destroyers. Although his a/c took a direct hit & lost most of his rudder Gray flew back to his carrier HMS Formidable. Upon arrival orbiting the ship for 45 minutes rather the disrupt landing ops. He was recovered onboard safely. Once Operations Neptune & Overlord had established the Normandy beachheads, naval air power was retasked to other targets. Because the cross-channel logistical situation was still very tenuous, enemy offensive capability, such as their large Narvik-class destroyers, merited special attention. Although they were not sunk, the air attacks kept enemy surface naval units engaged elsewhere and denied them access to the area of primary concern. In this way, a sea denial operation in one region reinforced a sea control campaign in another area.

1944 - US Marine Corps detachments from the heavy cruiser USS Augusta & light cruiser USS Philadelphia accept the surrender of two German-held islands in Marseilles Harbor and disarm the garrisons

1944 - Coast Guard-manned Army vessel FS-196 was commissioned at New Orleans. Her first commanding officer was LTJG F. B. Davis, USCGR. She was assigned to and operated in the Southwest Pacific area. She was decommissioned 22 August 1945.

1945 - Japan - In the Kurile Islands, Soviet forces occupy Etorofu Island. The Japanese garrisons on Halmahera and Morotai Islands surrender. USN forces liberate the first Allied prisoners in Japan

1945 - The USN's Task Group 30.6 commanded by Commodore Rodger W. Simpson arrives in Tokyo Bay to undertake emergency evacuation of Allied POWs in waterfront areas. Accompanying Commodore Simpson was Commander Harold E. Stassen, USNR, Flag Secretary to Commander, Third Fleet, and Admiral William F. Halsey. Stassen was the youngest-ever Governor of Minnesota, elected three times between 1939 and 1943; was president of the Univ. of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) from 1948-52, and a former football player himself, was instrumental in getting Penn into the Ivy League football group; and ran for the Presidential nomination nine times between 1948 and 1992, as a liberal Republican. Guided by TBM Avengers from the light aircraft carrier USS Cowpens and taken to the scene in LCVPs from the high-speed transport USS Gosselin, Commodore Simpson carries out his orders. The appearance of the LCVPs off the camp at Omori (the first liberated) triggers "an indescribable scene of jubilation and emotion" by the former captives, some of whom swim out to the approaching landing craft. Many of the POWs, suffering from malnutrition and other health problems, required immediate medical care and hospital ship USS Benevolence is stationed nearby to receive them. Their treatment as POWs was described as an "inquisitional form of barbarism"

1945 - The battleship USS Missouri anchors in Tokyo Bay

1945 - Off Japan, submarine Segundo encounters Japanese submarine HIJMS I-401 off the NE coast of Honshu and "after considerable negotiation," places prize crew on board

1945 - British fleet units arrive in Hong Kong to reclaim the colony for Britain

1949 - Soviet Union conducts its first nuclear weapons experiments. The device tested had between 10 and 20 kilotons of power

1950 - HMCS Nootka recommissioned after DDE conversion

1951 - Minesweeper HMCS Resolute laid down Kingston ON

1952 - Gate vessel HMCS Porte Saint Louis commissioned

1964 - USS Boxer and 2 LSDs arrive off coast of Hispaniola to give medical aid to Haiti and Dominican Republic which were badly damaged by Hurricane Cleo

1987 - Jocelyn Muir finishes her 60-day marathon swim around Lake Ontario to raise $250,000 for the Multiple Sclerosis Society; sets record for the longest international marathon

1990 - Three minesweepers and Mine Counter Measures Ship USS Avenger, loaded on board Super Servant III, depart Norfolk en route the Persian Gulf area. Two of the ships are Naval Reserve ships - USS Adroit and USS Impervious. Operation Sharp Edge, the noncombat evacuation operation being conducted off the coast of Liberia by the USS Whidbey Island and the USS Barnstable County, continues as 76 more people, including 6 Americans, are evacuated from Liberia

1994 - Toronto swimmer Carlos Costa swims across the 60 km wide Straits of Messina in 23.5 hours; first disabled athlete to complete a double-crossing of the Strait; 21-year-old athlete born with no bones below the knees

2003 - USS Rainier decommissioned at Bremerton & transferred to MSC as USNS Rainier

2004 - Destroyer USS Gridley laid down Bath ME

2004 - HMAS Launceston & Bunbury decommissioned

2005 - Taiwan will soon to have its first special yacht-manufacturing zone at Shin Da Port in Kaohsiung County, southern Taiwan since the Construction & Planning Administration (CPA) under the Ministry of the Interior has approved the change of Shin Da Port's function as a port for yachts instead of fishing boats

2005 - Hurricane Katrina slams ashore along US Gulf Coast. Heavy damage and flooding in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi

2005 - The US Navy's Military Sealift Command has awarded a $26 million contract to Maersk Line Ltd of Norfolk VA subject to the availability of fiscal year 2006 funds, for the operation and maintenance of eight fast sealift ships. These ships -- the fastest cargo ships in the world, traveling at speeds of up to 30 knots -- are used for the rapid deployment of US military equipment or humanitarian aid supplies to contingency sites around the world. The contract is valued at $26 million for its initial year and includes four one-year options that, if exercised, would bring the total value of the contract to $135 million. Under this contract, Maersk will be responsible for providing qualified ship officers and crews to operate the ships, as well as the technical support and supplies needed to maintain them. The ships that fall under this contract are USNS Algol, Altair, Antares, Bellatrix, Capella, Denebola, Pollux and Regulus. Ordinarily, these ships are maintained pierside in reduced operating status at US East Coast and Gulf ports. When needed, they can be activated and underway in less than 96 hours, ready to deliver the supplies needed for military or humanitarian crises anywhere in the world

2005 - Diana Shipping Inc announced that it has entered one of its Panamax dry bulk carriers, the Protefs, into a short term time-charter contract with Norden A/S for a period of approximately 24-30 days, estimated to begin on Aug. 31, 2005, at a gross rate of $16,500 per day. The Protefs is a Panamax dry bulk carrier of 73,630 dwt built in China in 2004

2005 - The nuclear-powered icebreaker Arktika of the Murmansk Shipping Company was the first to cover a million miles. The Arktika, which became famous for rescuing ships stuck in ice masses in the Northern Seaway in late 1983, was built at the Baltic Shipbuilding Works in Leningrad and commissioned in 1975. According to an expert at the Murmansk Shipping Company, the Arktika has proven the economic expediency of using nuclear propulsion systems on board ships. The high reliability of the systems makes the navigation area unlimited, reduces the downtime of icebreakers and improves their economic performance, decreasing shipping costs along the Northern Seaway. The icebreaker first made its way to the North Pole on August 17, 1977. In May 2000, the Arktika became the world's first icebreaker to have operated for a year without docking at a port, thereby proving its reliability 25 years after it had been commissioned (the projected lifespan of the atomic icebreaker.) The task to prolong the atomic icebreaker's service life was successfully completed in 2003 for the first time in history. This extended the reactor's life to 175,000 hours, with the initial service life estimated at 100,000 hours. Arktika will continue piloting ships down the Northern Seaway for another five to seven years

2005 - The Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) and the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) will be conducting Exercise Lion Zeal from 29 Aug to 2 Sep 05. This year’s exercise, the 6th in the bilateral Lion Zeal series, is being hosted by the RSN and will take place in the South China Sea. The Maritime Component Commander of the RNZN, Commodore Jack Steer, and the RSN’s Commander Coastal Command, Colonel Tan Wee Beng, jointly officiated at the exercise opening ceremony, which took place at Tuas Naval Base

2005 - Bomb disposal experts were called to a Co Kerry beach after ancient ammunition dating back to World War I washed up on the sands. The Defense Forces was alerted to two suspect devices on Rossbeigh Beach but further investigations unearthed another three objects. "They are badly corroded ancient ammunition that were fired around the time British Royal Navy ships were part of our maritime landscape," Defense Forces spokesman Brian Cleary said. "They were illuminating shells fired from the guns on the ship to illuminate the shoreline." Bomb disposal experts said the three badly corroded devices found on the Blue Flag beach posed no threat to public safety

2005 - Exhibition ship Oriana resold to Indian shipbreakers and will be towed from Zhangjiagang Shipyard, Jiangsu Province

2005 - A well-known New Jersey diving instructor died while exploring the wreck of a German U-boat for a documentary film about sunken submarines off the East Coast. Stephen Hardick, 60, was diving about six miles off Block Island on Sunday with three friends when he lost consciousness. He died soon after, said Coast Guard Petty Officer Bryan Davidson. The cause of death was unknown

2006 - Coastal Renaissance, BC Ferries' new Super C-class vessel, laid down in Germany

2006 - Brixham Coastguard was alerted by Devon Fire & Rescue Service to a fire on board a vessel moored in the River Dart. Brixham Coastguard tasked the Dartmouth and Berryhead Coastguard Rescue Teams, Torbay RNLI inshore lifeboat and local vessels to assist fire crews in gaining access to the unoccupied vessel which was moored in the middle of the River. The fire, which was in the engine room of the vessel, was eventually brought under control by the fire service and a Police investigation is now being carried out into the cause

2006 - USS Shiloh arrives at new homeport of Yokosuka

2006 - The actors and director of the Touchstone Pictures and Beacon Pictures "The Guardian," meet Coast Guard personnel at Air Station Houston, Ellington Field

2006 - P&O Ferries have confirmed that the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) are carrying out investigations over the disappearance of the 27ft yacht Ouzo on the Solent last week. In an effort to piece together the cause of the accident which left three yachtsmen dead 'black box' voyage data recorder information was requested from all France/Solent crossings. Following initial examination P&O's ferry the Pride of Bilbao is now under further investigation

2006 - The colossal 'Queen of the Netherlands', a high-capacity trailing suction hopper dredger, has begun dredging and reclamation operations in the waters of Abu Dhabi for Sorouh Real Estate's Shams Abu Dhabi project on Reem Island. Sorouh awarded the dredging contract for Shams Abu Dhabi to Pal Technology with Boskalis Westminster as their dredging subcontractor and Ghantoot Contracting their rock revetment subcontractor. With a massive quantity of sand required for the company's flagship project - 4.3 million cubic meters - the work is expected to last three months

2006 - Primorsk Shipping Corporation and the South Korean yard STX Shipbuilding signed a contract to build new vessels. According to the contracts, seven 51000 DWT tankers of ice strengthened class (1A of DNV classification) is planned to build by the end of 2009.
New vessels will be used for shipment of oil, oil products and chemical cargos in Far Eastern region as well as in Barents Sea. Creative teams of two corporations together worked out a design of new vessels

2006 - At noon, the OPP divers recovered the body of Alexandre Kapran, 51, of Richmond Hill, Ontario approximately 200 meters from the shore

2006 - The President intends to nominate Collister Johnson, Jr., of Virginia, to be Administrator of the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation

2006 - Saigon Shipbuilding and Maritime Industry Company (Saigon Shipmarin) signed a contract with Japan's Kanematsu Corp. to build two 6,500-tonne cargo vessels. These are the first cargo vessels that Saigon Shipmarin, a member of the Viet Nam Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (Vinashin), has built for export

2006 - FGS Sachsen, U-29, Ammersee, Zobel & Frettchen commenced Standard Einsatzausbildungsverband Flotte training off Kiel

2006 - Lt. Cmdr. Benito E. Baylosis presented the Bronze Star medal during the Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center change of command ceremony on Naval Station Norfolk. Baylosis was presented the award for leading a team of electronic engineers and technicians in the exploitation of terrorist-improvised explosive devices (IED) while serving as the Electronics Laboratory Manager, Multi-National Corps-Iraq, Combined Explosives Exploitation Cell (CEXC), Baghdad

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