The logbook of the Ancient Mariner contains the following entries:

Jan 15 The PENTAGON opened. (1942)

Jan 16 War in Persian Gulf, Operation Desert Storm, began. (1991)

Jan 17 USS NAUTILUS (SSN 571) became the first vessel to sail on nuclear power. (1955) [The submarine got underway from the building yard at Groton, Connecticut, and steamed down the Thames River into Long Island Sound.]

Jan 18 Eugene Ely, a civilian pilot who had made the first take-off from a ship On November 14, 1910, became the first Tailhooker when he made the first shipboard landing on the deck of the cruiser PENNSYLVANIA at San Francisco. (1911)

Jan 20 The U.S. Senate approved the lease of Pearl Harbor as a naval base. (1887)

Jan 22 Naval forces participated in amphibious landings at Anzio, Italy. (1944)

Jan 23 Women first admitted into the Marine Corps. (1943)

Jan 23 USS PUEBLO seized by North Korean naval forces while collecting electronic intelligence. (1968) [The Ancient Mariner recalls that Eighty three officers and enlisted personnel were taken prisoner and held for eleven months. They were not released until the United States issued an "apology" for intruding into the territorial waters of North Korea. The apology was immediately repudiated by the United States. In the opinion of the Ancient Mariner, this incident, from start to end, was the darkest stain on the integrity of the United States Navy]

Jan 24 First Battle of Makassar Strait. Three "Four-Piper" destroyers sank four Japanese Ships at Balikpapan, Borneo. (1942)

Jan 28 The Coast Guard was formed by consolidating the Life Saving Service and the Revenue Marine Service. (1915)

Jan 27 Vietnam Cease-Fire signed in Paris. (1973)

Feb 1 Fourth Marine Division and Army 7^th Infantry Division attacked Kwajalein. The Island and surrounding atolls were secured in four days. (1944)

Feb 3 Navy Supply Corps Established. (1795)

Feb 4 United Services Organization (USO) established. (1940)

Feb 9 USS CONSTELLATION defeated French Frigate L'INSURGENTE. (1799)

Feb 14 First salute to U.S. Flag rendered by French to USS RANGER, John Paul Jones Commanding, in Quiberon Bay, France. (1778) [The Ancient Mariner recalls that RANGER fired a 13-gun salute to the flagship of the French Fleet in port. The salute was answered with a 9-gun salute.]

Feb 15 The battleship USS MAINE exploded and sank in Havana Harbor with the loss of 266 of the 354 officers and men on board. (1898) [The Ancient Mariner notes that although the sinking was instrumental in bringing the United States to war with Spain, the cause of the explosion has never been conclusively determined. One theory, propounded by Admiral Hyman Rickover in 1976, was that spontaneous combustion in a coal bunker had set off ammunition in an adjoining magazine. However, that theory ignores contemporary reports. After the Spanish American War, MAINE was refloated and inspected. Inspectors claimed that the hull was imploded, indicating an external explosion. The vessel sank while being towed back to the United States.]

Feb 16 Lieutenant Stephen Decatur sailed the INTREPID into Tripoli harbor to destroy the captured PHILADELPHIA. (1804) [The Ancient Mariner recalls that Admiral Lord Nelson called the exploit "the most bold and daring act of the age."]

Feb 16 Congress authorized the Secretary of Treasury to acquire land at New London, Connecticut to establish the Coast Guard Academy. (1926)

Feb 18 Coast Guard Reserve and Coast Guard Auxiliary established. (1941) [The Ancient Mariner notes that a Coast Guard "Reserve", an all-volunteer, non-military force, had been established on June 23, 1939, to assist recreational boaters. The name was changed to Coast Guard Auxiliary with the CG Auxiliary Act of 1941.]

Feb 19 Lighthouse establishment transferred to the Revenue Marine Bureau. (1845)

Feb 19 Marines invade Iwo Jima. (1945) [The Ancient Mariner tearfully recalls that the capture, which was not until several weeks later, took the lives of nearly 7,000 Marines and sailors. It was the most costly battle of WWII to that date.]

Feb 20 Amphibious Forces established. (1942)

Feb 23 Marines raised Flag on Mt. Suribachi, Iwo Jima. (1945)

Feb 24 The United States signed a treaty to acquire territory in Cuba for a Naval Station at Guantanamo Bay. (1903) [The Ancient Mariner recalls that U.S. Marines had seized Guantamano Bay, located about 40 miles east of Santiago, on June 18, 1898, in the first fighting on Cuban soil. The base had been used as a coaling and operational base for the remainder of the Spanish-American War.]

 

Feb 26 Congress Authorized Navy Hospitals. (1811) [The Ancient Mariner mourns the loss of the farsighted Congressmen who saw the need for adequate medical treatment for sailors. With the recent closing of most of the Naval Hospitals in the base closure plan, and a general denial of military medical care to retirees, we are in great need of the concern expressed nearly two centuries ago.]

Feb 28 USS HOUSTON, last American Cruiser in the Java Sea, was sunk during night attack on main Japanese invasion force in Sunda Strait. 696 officers and enlisted men were lost in the action. (1942)

Mar 1 Treaty of Kanagawa signed opening Japanese ports of Shimoda and Hakodate to American shipping. (1854) [The Ancient Mariner notes that the Treaty resulted from the negotiations of Commodore Matthew "Old Bruin" Perry, who had led a naval expedition to Japan on July 8, 1853.]

Mar 2 Congress authorized Revenue Cutters to fire on merchant ships that refused to heave-to for customs inspection. (1792)

Mar 2 Naval Civil Engineer Corps established. (1867)

Mar 3 The commuted ration in lieu of the alcohol allowance was reduced from 6 cents per day to 3 cents. (1847) [The Ancient Mariner recalls that it was raised to 4 cents the following year.]

Mar 3 Navy Medical Corps established. (1871)

Mar 3 President Arthur signed appropriation bill to construct first steel ship. (1883)

Mar 3 Naval Reserve established. (1915)

Mar 4 First NROTC Units established. (1926)

Mar 5 Seabees established. (1942)

Mar 5 Congress authorized U.S. Navy Memorial. (1980)

Mar 8 CSS VIRGINIA (ex-MERRIMACK) defeated Union fleet in Battle of Hampton Roads. (1862)

Mar 9 USS MONITOR and CSS VIRGINIA (ex-MERRIMACK) fought an indecisive battle at Hampton Roads marking first engagement between ironclads. (1862)

Mar 11 Congress passed the Lend-Lease Act. (1941)

Mar 11 Operation Market Time, the board-and-search interdiction operation in Vietnamese coastal waters, began. (1965) [The Ancient Mariner was there! MARKET TIME grew out of the discovery of a North Vietnamese trawler beached in Vung Ro Bay, South Vietnam. The vessel, capable of supplying arms to a battalion-sized cadre, had infiltrated the RVN coastal surveillance force composed mostly of antiquated junks, slow and without radars. The U.S. effort included destroyers, minesweepers, Coast Guard 95-foot WPBs, 50-foot patrol craft (PCF), hovercraft, gas-turbine powered Patrol Gunboats (PG), and aircraft patrols. Despite the awesome array of radar-equipped vessels (some with speeds in excess of 40-knots) and aircraft, some trawlers still slipped through the patrol line undetected.]

Mar 19 Enlistment of women in the Navy was authorized. (1917)

Mar 20 Women (Yeomanettes) first admitted into the Navy. (1917)

Mar 22 Stephen Decatur was killed in a duel with James Barron. (1820)

Mar 24 The supertanker Exxon Valdez ran aground in Alaska’s Prince William Sound in the worst oil spill in U.S. history. 11 million gallons of crude oil

poured into the Sound. (1989)

Mar 27 Congress passed the Navy Act which re-established the U.S. Navy and authorized the construction of six frigates, including CONSTITUTION, CONSTELLATION, and UNITED STATES. (1794)

Mar 27 Congress established a daily liquor ration for naval personnel of "one half-pint of distilled spirits" or "in lieu thereof, one quart of beer". (1794)

Apr 1 American amphibious forces invaded Okinawa. (1945) [The Ancient Mariner recalls that this was one of the costliest battles of the war. About 200,000 American troops landed to face 100,000 Japanese defenders and a large Japanese civilian population. Nearly 90,000 Japanese soldiers were killed before the island was secured on June 21. American casualties ashore were more than 7,600 dead and nearly 34,000 wounded. Navy losses were 4,900 killed, an equal number wounded, 34 ships sunk and 368 ships damaged. Most of the Navy casualties were the result of Kamikaze attacks.]

Apr 1 U.S. Coast Guard transferred to the Department of Transportation. (1967)

Apr 1 Light Attack Squadron (VAL) 4, the last Navy in-country combat unit,

was withdrawn from Vietnam. (1972)

Apr 6 During WW1, 15 Coast Guard cutters, 200 officers, and 5,000 enlisted men were transferred to the Navy. (1917) [The Ancient Mariner recalls that the units and men were transferred back to the Treasury Department on August 28, 1919]

Apr 7 Japanese battleship YAMATO sunk in East China Sea by naval aircraft. (1945) [The Ancient Mariner notes that YAMATO was in its way to Okinawa to attack American ships already plagued by Kamikazes. Had she not been sunk when she was, American casualties at Okinawa would have undoubtedly been much higher.]

Apr 9 American Civil War Ended. (1865)

Apr 11 Submarine force established. (1901)

Apr 11 Formal cease-fire declared in the Persian Gulf war. (1991)

Apr 12 Cutter HARRIET LANE fired first shot from a naval vessel in Civil War. Fired across the bow of NASHVILLE attempting to enter Charleston Harbor. (1861)

Apr 18 B-25 raid, led by Colonel Jimmy Doolittle, launched against Tokyo from USS HORNET. (1942)

Apr 19 American Revolution began. (1775)

Apr 22 USS NASHVILLE captured a Spanish merchant ship off Key West Florida and, in doing so, fired the first shot of the Spanish-American War. (1898)

Apr 22 The United States, Britain, and Japan signed the London Naval Treaty, which regulated submarine warfare and limited ship building. (1930)

Apr 22 U. S. forces began invading Japanese-held New Guinea, with amphibious landings near Hollandia. (1944)

Apr 24 First U.S. destroyers sailed from Boston to join British forces in WWI. (1917)

Apr 27 U.S. Marines captured the Tripolitan port of Derna, hence "...from the shores of Tripoli..." in the Marine Hymn. (1805)

Apr 28 After a mutiny on HMS BOUNTY, Captain Bligh and 18 sailors were cast adrift in a small boat in the South Pacific. (1789) [The Ancient Mariner feels obligated to point out that despite an apparent lack of leadership skills (Bligh was probably the only naval officer whose history includes TWO mutinies - the second took place in 1797), he was clearly a superb seaman. He navigated an open boat more than 3600 miles to Timor and, while en route, charted part of the northeast coast of New Holland (now known as Australia.]

Apr 30 President Adams signed into law legislation authorizing the establishment of the Navy Department. (1798)

May 1 Battle of Manila Bay. (1898) (The Ancient Mariner recalls that Commodore George Dewey, Commanding the U.S. Asiatic Fleet, defeated the Spanish Philippine Squadron. In this, one of the most decisive naval battles in history, the entire Spanish Squadron was sunk, burned or abandoned, and the shore batteries silenced, without a single American death. Commodore Dewey opened the battle by advising the commanding officer of USS OLYMPIA, his flagship, "You may fire when you are ready, Gridley".)

May 1 The out-dated Bureau system of Naval Organization was abolished and replaced by a Material Systems Management system. (1966)

May 6 The German dirigible Hindenburg burst into flames and crashed while docking at the Naval Air Station. Lakehurst, N.J. 36 of the 97 passengers and crew were killed. (1937)

May 6 American and Philippine forces on Corregidor surrendered to the Japanese. (1942)

May 6 USS ETHAN ALLEN fired a Polaris missile armed with a nuclear warhead in the first test of its kind by a submerged submarine. (1962)

May 7 Two-day Battle of the Coral Sea began. This was the first engagement between Naval carrier forces. (1942) [The Ancient Mariner recalls that the battle itself was tactically indecisive. Aircraft from YORKTOWN and LEXINGTON sank the small carrier SHOHO and damaged the carrier SHOKAKU, at the cost of LEXINGTON sunk and YORKTOWN damaged. The oiler NEOSHO and the destroyer SIMS were also lost. The battle, however, was a strategic victory for the Allies since the Japanese abandoned their plans to capture Port Moresby and dominate the Australian coast.]

May 7 German forces surrendered unconditionally, marking the end of the war in Europe. (1945)

May 8 First naval aircraft, A-1, was ordered, marking the inaugauration of naval aviation. (1911).

May 8 V-E Day proclaimed. (1945)

May 8 Haiphong harbor was mined near the end of the Vietnam war. (1972)

May 9 CGC ICARUS sank German U-352 off Charleston and took 33 prisoners, the first U-Boat POWs of WWII. (1942)

May 11 Cutter HUDSON towed USS WINSLOW from certain destruction under Spanish forts at Cardenas, Cuba. For the action, HUDSON’s commanding officer, LT Newcomb, received the Gold Medal of Honor. (1898)

May 12 SS MAYAGUEZ, an American-flag container ship, was captured by Cambodian Communists while transiting the Cambodian Coast enroute to Thailand. The vessel was anchored near Koh Tang Island and the 39 crewmembers were imprisoned in Cambodia. (1975)

May 14 SS MAYAGUEZ recaptured from Cambodians and 39 crewmembers were recovered. About 40 U.S. servicemen, mostly Marines, were killed in the capture of Koh Tang Island during the rescue operation. (1975)

May 16 First successful trans-Atlantic flight launched by U.S. Navy from Newfoundland. (1919) [The Ancient Mariner recalls that NC-1, NC-3 and NC-4 started the flight. Only NC-4, piloted by LCDR Albert Read completed the flight. The other aircraft were forced down at sea, fortunately without loss of life. NC-4 stopped at the Azores and in Portugal before completing the flight at Plymouth, England, on May 27.]

May 17 Congress enacted the Vinson Naval Act, which provided funds for a two-ocean Navy. (1938)

May 17 An Iraqi plane "mistakenly" launched missiles at the USS Stark in the Persian Gulf. 37 American sailors were killed. (1987).

May 17 American freighter SS ROBIN MOOR sunk by German U-Boat in the first American loss of WWII. (1941)

May 21 The nuclear submarine USS SCORPION sank in the Atlantic with the loss of 99 lives. (1968)

May 22 Maritime/Merchant Marine Day established. (1922) Date commemorates the first transatlantic voyage by an American steamship, the SAVANNAH, in 1819. [The Ancient Mariner expects some of you to recall that the first nuclear powered commercial vessel was named for SAVANNAH. The vessel was operated for the government by States Marine Lines for several years.]

May 25 First class of Revenue Cutter Service cadets convened on Schoolship DOBBIN, Curtis Bay, MD. (1877)

May 26 The German battleship BISMARCK was sunk after being sighted by American Ensign Leonard Smith, on loan to the RAF. (1941)

May 27 Navy NC4 aircraft completed first trans-Atlantic flight. (1919) [The Ancient Mariner recalls that NC-1, NC-3 and NC-4 started the flight from Newfoundland on May 16. Only NC-4, piloted by LCDR Albert Read completed the flight. The other aircra+++ft were forced down at sea, fortunately without loss of life. NC-4 stopped at the Azores and in Portugal before completing the flight at Plymouth, England, on May 27.]

May 31 Battle of Jutland. (1915) [The Ancient Mariner believes this battle to have been undeserving of its reputation. Both the British and the Germans lost heavily and the naval engagement, itself, was inconclusive. But the German fleet never again put to sea.]

Jun 1 James Lawrence, then commanding USS CHESAPEAKE in losing battle with British frigate SHANNON, ordered his crew: "Don't give up the ship". (1813)

Jun 1 Navy League established. (1902)

Jun 3-6 Japanese naval forces were decisively defeated in the Battle of Midway. (1942) [The Ancient Mariner notes that despite advance warning of the impending attack by interception of Japanese radio messages, the issue was in doubt until American dive bombers located the enemy carriers while Japanese planes were being refueled and rearmed. As a result, the carriers were rocked by secondary explosions from their own ordnance. Japan lost four carriers, a heavy cruiser, 322 aircraft, and 3500 lives. The Americans lost one carrier, one destroyer, 150 planes, and 307 lives. However, the severest blow to the Japanese was the loss of more than 100 of its finest pilots. The Battle of Midway marked the turning point in Japanese conquests and permitted the Allies to go on the offensive in the Pacific War.]

Jun 6 D-Day. Allied forces landed in France. (1944) [The Ancient Mariner recalls that the naval side of the invasion was code-named Operation Neptune. Prior to dawn on June 6, the greatest invasion fleet ever seen sailed from England and Wales carrying nearly 200,000 troops. Some 800 warships, including the battleship USS NEVADA, bombarded key sectors of the 40 miles of beach from Le Havre to Cherbourg in preparation for the landings. One German observer has been quoted as saying "The fire curtain provided by the guns of the Navy . . . proved to be one of the best trump cards of the Anglo-United States invasion armies".]

Jun 8 USS LIBERTY, a merchant freighter converted to a communications intelligence platform, was attacked by Israeli aircraft and torpedo boats in international waters during the six-day Arab-Israeli War. American casualties were 34 dead and 75 wounded. The Israelis later apologized, alleging a "mistake". (1967)

Jun 10 Abraham Whipple, an American Privateer, burned the British ship GASPEE in the first American naval action. (1775)

Jun 14 Flag Day. On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress adopted the Stars and Stripes as the national flag.

Jun 15 A General Order was issued which allowed servicemen to relinquish their liquor ration of one-half pint of distilled spirits in return for a cash payment of 6 cents pers day. (1831)

Jun 15 U.S. Marines invaded Saipan which was secured on July 9. (1944) [The Ancient Mariner notes that the battle for Saipan cost the Americans 16,500 casualties, including 3/400 killed. The Japanese lost nearly all of its 32,000 defenders. But, more importantly, it brought Japan to the brink of defeat, for Saipan had been the headquarters of the whole Japanese forward defense system. The loss of Saipan triggered the fall of General Tojo’s cabinet and provided the Americans an airbase within B-29 range of Japan.]

Jun 17 Navy opened first drydock at Norfolk Navy Yard. (1833)

Jun 18 U.S. Marines captured Guantanamo, Cuba, in the first operations on Cuban soil in the Spanish-American War. (1898)

 

Jun 19 Two-day Battle of the Philippine Sea began. (1944) (The Ancient Mariner notes that this battle, known as "The Great Marianas Turkey Shoot", resulted in the loss of 373 Japanese planes, the sinking of the carriers TAIHO and SHOKAKU by American submarines, and the carrier HIYO by Admiral Mitcher's carrier-based aircraft.)

Jun 21 The German Grand Fleet, interned in Scapa Flow since the Armistice in 1918, was scuttled. (1919) [The Ancient Mariner recalls that the scuttling was the result of German reaction to perceived harsh terms of the peace treaty being negotiated at Versailles. The German Admiral, von Reuter, had learned that the Fleet was to be turned over to the Allies for reparations. The Germans had been given five days to accept the terms, under threat of renewed warfare. To prevent the Grand Fleet from being used against Germany, von Reuter ordered seacocks loosened and watertight doors removed. Before the British noticed anything unusual, most of the Fleet was beyond salvage.]

Jun 25 North Korean forces attacked the Republic of South Korea, signaling the start of the Korean War. (1950)

Jun 28 Treaty of Versailles signed, formally ending WWI. (1919)

Jul 1 U.S. Naval School Annapolis renamed U.S. Naval Academy. (1850)

Jul 1 Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels created a "dry" navy when he abolished wardroom wine messes. (1914) [The Ancient Mariner notes with dismay that President Lincoln had abolished spiritous liquor on September 1, 1962. But under those restrictions, beer and wine were still legal. All alcoholic beverages were banned under Secretary Daniels' order. One can only wonder what would have happened if JACK DANIELS had been SECNAV]

Jul 3 U.S. Fleet defeated Spanish in Battle of Santiago de Cuba. (1898) [The Ancient Mariner recalls that an American Squadron under command of Commodore Winfield Scott Schley, destroyed the Spanish Atlantic Fleet, with the loss of only one American killed and 1 wounded.]

Jul 4 Independence Day. Declaration of Independence signed. (1776)

Jul 4 Statue of Liberty formally presented to the United States by France.

(1884)

Jul 4 American troops occupied Wake Island enroute to the Philippines during the Spanish American War. (1898)

Jul 4 Construction of the Panama Canal began. (1904) [The Ancient Mariner notes with admiration that the Canal, perhaps the greatest engineering feat of all time, opened for traffic only 10 years later.]

 

Jul 5 David Farragut, hero of the battle of Mobile Bay, was born in Knoxville, Tenn. (1801)

Jul 5 U.S. Navigation Bureau, forerunner to the Bureau of Naval Personnel, was established in a streamlining of the Navy Department. (1884)

Jul 6 The pirate, Captain Kidd, was captured in Boston and extradited to England for trial. (1699)

Jul 6 John Paul Jones Birthday. (1747)

Jul 8 Commodore Matthew Perry led the "Black Fleet" into Tokyo Bay, forcing the Japanese to open relations with Europe and America. (185l)

Jul 11 After disestablishment following the Revolutionary Wary, the Marine Corps was re=created by Act of Congress. (1798) [The Ancient Mariner cannot help but wonder about the strange chronology of birthdays celebrated by the Sea Services. The Navy, for example, could pick almost any day of the year for its official founding, but has arbitrarily selected October 13. The Coast Guard also has multiple events which could constitute an official "birthday". The Marine Corps now celebrates its birthday on November 10, based on the Continental Congress’ authorization to raise two battalions of Marines on that date in 1775. However, the Marine Corps was disestablished after the Revolutionary Way by the Treaty of Paris in 1783. Between 1798 and 1921, July 11 was the acknowledged birthday of the Marine Corps. In 1921, General John Lejeune, then Commanding General of the Marines, issued an order that the official anniversary would thereafter be celebrated on November 10. Recall that WWI had ended by the Armistice of November 11, 1918, and that the date became a national holiday. It took the Marines two more years to realize that by changing the anniversary date from July 11 to November 10, they would have a holiday the day after the birthday party in which to recover from the effects of the celebration.]

Jul 16 David G. Farragut, hero of the Battle of Mobile Bay, was promoted to Rear Admiral, the first American Naval Officer to serve in that rank. (1862)

Jul 16 The first experimental atomic bomb was detonated at Alamagordo, N.M. (1945)

Jul 17 Congress authorized African-Americans to serve in the Army and Navy. (1862)

Jul 17 Spain surrendered to the United States at Santiago, Chile, marking the end of the Spanish-American War. (1898)

Jul 17 322 were killed when two ammunition ships exploded at the Naval Ammunition Depot, Port Chicago, California. (1944)

Jul 18 John Paul Jones died in Paris at age 45. (1792)

Jul 19 SS BRITANIA, the first Cunard steamship to visit the United States,

arrived in Boston, Mass. (1840)

Jul 21 Veterans Administration established. (1930)

Jul 21 American amphibious forces invaded Guam. All organized resistance had ended by August 10. (1944)

Jul 21 SS SAVANNAH, first nuclear powered merchant ship, is launched at

Camden, NJ. (1959) [The Ancient Mariner notes the ship was named for the SAVANNAH, the first American steamship to complete a transatlantic voyage (May 22, 1819). The nuclear powered was operated for the government by States Marine Lines for several years.]

Jul 24 Navy transferred all its icebreakers to the Coast Guard. (1965)

Jul 25 SS LEELANAW, an American merchant ship, was sunk by a German

U-Boat off the coast of Scotland. (1915)

Jul 27 Following nearly two years of negotiations at Panmunjom, Korea, an Armistice was finally signed, technically ending the Korean War. (1953)

Jul 28 World War I began. (1914)

Jul 29 USS INDIANAPOLIS, the cruiser that carried the first atomic bomb to Guam, was sunk by a Japanese submarine while enroute from Guam to Leyte Gulf. When survivors were spotted more than three days later, only 316 out of a crew of 1200 were still alive. (1945) [The Ancient Mariner notes that the loss of INDIANAPOLIS was instrumental in the development of the Movement Report System, a radio message program of reporting ship sailings and arrivals. Also, the incident, including the court martial of the Commanding Officer, has been made into a movie, "The Mission of the Shark", which frequently can be seen on cable TV.]

Jul 30 WAVES (Women’s Auxiliary for Voluntary Emergency Service) established. (1942)

Jul 31 U.S. Customs Service, the fore-runner of the Coast Guard, was founded. (1789)

Aug 2 USS MADDOX was attacked by North Vietnamese motor torpedo boats in the Gulf of Tonkin. The attack was beaten off by MADDOX, with assistance from naval aircraft from USS TICONDEROGA. (1964)

Aug 2 Iraqi military forces invaded and overran Kuwait, signalling the start of the Persian Gulf War. (1990).

Aug 4 Congress authorized the building of ten boats to establish "a fleet of cutters". That authorization is celebrated as the establishment of the modern Coast Guard. (1790)

Aug 4 Navy Medical Service Corps established. (1947)

Aug 5 Admiral David Farragut gave the order to "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!" to begin the Battle of Mobile Bay. (1864)

 

Aug 6 USS TENNESSEE sailed to Europe with $6 million in gold to help American citizens stranded by the war. (1914)

Aug 6 In the first military use of an atomic weapon, an atomic bomb devastated the Japanese city of Hiroshima. (1945)

Aug. 6 The destroyers USS MADDOX and USS TURNER JOY were attacked in the Gulf of Tonkin by North Vietnamese torpedo boats. (1964) [The Ancient Mariner recalls that the attack is still a matter of great controversy, with some authorities claiming it never took place. However, the Ancient Mariner had a first-hand account from the MADDOX's Operations Officer a few months later and is convinced, by his knowledge of that officer's honesty and competence, that the ship's reports were accurate.]

Aug 7 Congress established the U.S. Lighthouse Service, later incorporated into the Coast Guard. (1789)

Aug 7 U.S. Marines invaded Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. (1942) [The Ancient Mariner laments the fact that the battle for Guadalcanal lasted more than six months. A total of 60,000 American soldiers and Marines fought for the island and 1,600 of them were killed, with nearly 5,000 wounded. Of more than 36,000 Japanese on the island during the battle, 23,000 were killed or died of disease. Only 1,000 were captured.]

Aug 9 First Battle of Savo Island, Solomon Islands. (1942) [The Ancient Mariner notes that Savo Island was a mere dot on the charts of the Solomon Islands, a few miles north of Guadalcanal. The Japanese sent seven cruisers and one destroyer into the "Slot" between the two islands, surprising the American fleet. Three American and one Australian cruiser were sunk, and two U.S. destroyers and a heavy cruiser were damaged. It was the worst defeat the American Navy had ever suffered in battle.}

Aug 9 Nagasaki, Japan, was destroyed by an atomic bomb. Approximately 74,000 Japanese died in the blast. (1945)

Aug 9 Congress enacted P.L. 679 which charged the Coast Guard with the function of Port Security. (1950)

Aug 10 The Sailing Ship COLUMBIA arrived in Boston, completing the first circumnavigation of the world by an American vessel. (1790)

Aug 10 U.S. Flag nicknamed "Old Glory." (1831)

Aug 10 The Department of Defense was created. (1949)

Aug 10 In the aftermath of the reported attacks on USS MADDOX and TURNER JOY in the Gulf of Tonkin, Congress approved President Johnson's retaliatory response. By joint resolution, Congress gave the President authority "to take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression". Only two dissenting votes were cast. (1964).

Aug 11 The American merchant ship SS ARAPAHO, was the first ship to use the newly created SOS distress signal. (1909)

Aug 14 V-J Day. Japan surrendered. (1945)

Aug 17 Robert Fulton's North River Steam Boat, popularly known as the CLERMONT, left New York City to begin its first successful round trip to Albany. (1807) [The Ancient Mariner recalls that the CLERMONT began regular service that year, proving the effectiveness of steam-powered ships. Fulton had earlier designed a submarine, the NAUTILUS, in 1904. The submarine sank a sloop in a demonstration for Napoleon's naval representatives. He also built the first steam-powered warship in 1814, the DEMOLOGOS, designed for the defense of New York Harbor. Later named FULTON in honor of the designer, who died in 1815, the ship served for many years as the Receiving Ship at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. FULTON was destroyed in 1829, with significant loss of life, when a few barrels of defective gun powder used in the saluting battery exploded.]

Aug 19 USS Constitution defeated HMS Guerriere. (1812)

Aug 22 Navy Dental Corps Established. (1912)

Aug 23 Oliver Hazard Perry, the hero of the Battle of Lake Erie, was born in South Kingston, R.I. (1785)

Aug 24 Battle of Eastern Solomons. (1942) [The Ancient Mariner recalls that although the Japanese damaged the carrier ENTERPRISE, the American carrier force sank the light carrier RYUJO and shot down 90 planes, forcing the Japanese to retire.]

Aug 28 Midway Islands annexed by U.S. (1867)

Aug 29 Congress reduced the amount of liquor issued in the daily ration from one-half pint to one gill (1/4 pint) and denied rations to commissioned officers, midshipmen, or enlisted men below the age of 21. (1842)

Aug 29 Marine Corps Reserve Established. (1916)

Aug 29 Congress authorized the establishment of ten Coast Guard Air Stations. (1916)

Aug 31 Navy Bureau of Medicine established. (1841)

Sep. 1 President Lincoln's personal notation, added to the Navy Appropriations Bill, prohibited spirituous beverages aboard U.S. Navy ships. (1862) [The Ancient Mariner tearfully recalls that Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels completed the creation of a "dry" Navy by banning beer and wine in 1914.]

Sep. 1 Germany invaded Poland beginning WW II. (1939)

Sep. 1 CGC NORTHLAND captured the crew of a scuttled Nazi ship off Greenland. (1942)

Sep. 2 Formal ceremony to sign Japanese surrender held on board USS MISSOURI in Tokyo Bay. (1945)

Sep 3 President Roosevelt traded 50 destroyers to England in exchange for military bases in the Atlantic. (1940)

Sep. 4 The destroyer USS GREER was attacked by a German submarine in the first U.S. naval engagement of WWII. (1941) [The Ancient Mariner recalls that after being tracked by GREER for about three hours, the U-Boat fired two torpedoes at the destroyer. Both missed. GREER dropped a pattern of depth charges, but those also missed and contact was lost.]

Sep. 6 HMS Eagle, the British Flagship, was attacked by the submarine AMERICAN TURTLE in New York harbor in the first attack by a submarine. (1776) [The Ancient Mariner notes that the attack was far from successful. David Bushnell, the inventor, had trained his brother to operate the vessel. However, on the night of the attack, his brother became ill and had to be replaced by an untrained soldier named Ezra Lee. TURTLE's screw fouled in EAGLE's rudder and Lee had to abort the mission, chased by a boatload of British sailors. Lee did release a mine at his pursuers and, when it exploded, caused such concern to the British ships that they slipped their anchor cables to remove themselves from danger. Two other attempts to use the TURTLE failed and it is believed that the submarine was eventually destroyed to keep it out of enemy hands when the British captured Manhattan.]

Sep 9 Coast Guard Auxiliary established. (1939)

Sep 9 A Japanese plane, launched from a submarine, bombed a forest area near Brookings, Oregon - the only manned bombing attack on the continental United States during World War II. (1942)

Sep 10 Oliver Hazard Perry defeated the British on Lake Erie and issued his famous message, "We have met the enemy and they are ours". (1813)

Sep 10 U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps established. (1962)

Sep 11 President Roosevelt ordered the Navy to fire on Axis raiders in American defense zones. (1941)

Sep 15 U.S. Marines landed at Inchon. (1950) [The Ancient Mariner notes that this landing was unique in amphibious history. There was no "beach" to land on, but a sea wall to scale. Tides limited landings to a few days each month, and only a few hours on those days. Despite the obstacles, General MacArthur said later that "The Navy and Marines have never shone more brightly."]

Sep 23 The American Frigate BON HOMME RICHARD, commanded by John Paul Jones, defeated HMS SERAPIS. (1779) [The Ancient Mariner notes that this was the epitome of naval battles. Although heavily out-gunned and facing a superior ship and crew, Jones prevailed. An important factor in the victory was Jones' personal heroism and leadership, including personally firing a 9-pound gun at SERAPIS. When asked by the British Captain if he had struck his colors, Jones replied "I have not yet begun to fight!" BON HOMME RICHARD was so badly damaged by British guns and mis-directed fire from other American ships, it sank two days later.]

Sep 24 USS ENTERPRISE (CVN 65), the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, was launched at Newport News, VA. (1960)

Sep 27 Douglas Munro, only Coast Guard Medal of Honor recipient, killed evacuating a Marine detachment at Point Cruz, Guadalcanal. (1942)

Sep 28 Portuguese navigator Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo arrived at the present site of San Diego, Calif. (1542)

Sep 28 American forces, backed by the French fleet, began the siege of Yorktown Heights, VA. (1781)

Sep 28 Flogging was abolished as a form of punishment in the U.S. Navy. (1850)

Sep 29 English Admiral Horatio Nelson was born in Burnham Thorpe. (1758)

Sep 29 General Eisenhower and Italian Marshal Badoglio signed an armistice aboard HMS NELSON off Malta. (1943)

Sep 29 Congress authorized President Reagan to keep 1,600 U.S. Marine in Lebanon for up to 18 months. (1983)

Oct 1 Navy Military Sealift Command established. (1949)

Oct 3 USS OLYMPIA sailed to bring back body of the Unknown Soldier of WWI. (1921)

Oct 6 Naval War College established. (1884)

Oct 10 Naval School established at Annapolis. (1845)

Oct 10 The Atlantic and Pacific Oceans were connected through the Panama Canal when U.S. engineers blew up the Gamboa Dam. (1913)

Oct 11 The first naval battle of Lake Champlain was fought during the American Revolution. American forces led by Brig. Gen. Benedict Arnold suffered heavy losses, but stalled the British. (1776)

Oct 11 The first steam powered ferryboat, the Juliana, was put into operation between New York City and Hoboken, N.J. (1811)

Oct 11 U.S. Navy announced the capture of a German radio station in Greenland. (1941)

Oct 11 Battle of Cape Esperance. (1942) [The Ancient Mariner notes that this battle temporarily halted Japanese efforts to shell Henderson Field and U.S. Marine positions on Guadalcanal. A cruiser-destroyer force commanded by Rear Admiral Normal Scott repulsed a Japanese force of battleships, cruisers and destroyers.]

Oct 13 The United States Navy had its origins as the Continental Congress ordered the construction of a naval fleet. (1775) [The Ancient Mariner notes that the first authorization was the purchase and fitting out of two armed brigs, the ANDREW DORIA and CABOT. The squadron was later increased by the converted merchantmen ALFRED (30 guns) and COLUMBUS (28 guns) as well as the sloops PROVIDENCE and HORNET and the schooners WASP and FLY. It is further noted that there are several different dates that could have been used as the birth of the Navy, but this date has been accepted as the "official" creation of the Continental Navy, despite the fact that Congress did not actually authorize a naval organization until October 30, 1775.)

Oct 14 German U-Boat sank the British Battleship Royal Oak while at anchor in Scapa Flow. (1939)

Oct 19 Cornwallis surrendered to General Washington at Yorktown following the defeat of British naval forces sent to relieve Cornwallis' besieged army. (1781)

Oct 21 USS Constitution ("Old Ironsides") launched in Boston. (1797)

Oct 21 President Kennedy announced the naval quarantine of Cuba. (1962) [The Ancient Mariner recalls that the "strict quarantine on all offensive equipment under shipment to Cuba" became effective on October 24. In addition, some 30,000 U.S. Marines were prepared to invade Cuba. After one ship was boarded and searched, Krushchev ordered the dismantling of missile sites in Cuba in return for a U.S. promise not to invade the island.]

Oct 24 Battle of Santa Cruz Islands. USS HORNET was sunk and the battleship USS SOUTH DAKOTA damaged during battle which safeguarded American forces on Guadalcanal. The Japanese suffered damage to the carriers ZUIHO and SHOKAKU and lost about 100 planes. (1942)

Oct 25 USS UNITED STATES, Stephen Decatur Commanding, captured HMS MACEDONIAN. (1812)

Oct 25 Three-day Battle of Leyte Gulf, Philippines, began. Actually four separate battles (Surigao Strait, Sibuyan Sea, Samar and Cape Engano, the Battle of Leyte Gulf was one of the greatest naval battles in history. The Japanese lost four aircraft carriers, three battleships, nine cruisers, and 10 destroyers. The cumulative battles marked the end of the Imperial Japanese Navy as an organized fighting force. (1944)

Oct 30 Congress formally established the Continental Navy, although ships had been authorized by action on October 13 of that year, and "George Washington’s Navy" had been in operation even longer. (1775)

Oct 31 The four-stack destroyer USS REUBEN JAMES, patrolling near Iceland, was torpedoed by a German submarine, becoming the first American warship sunk by the Germans. Only 45 men out of a crew of 160 were rescued. (1941)

Nov 1 Coast Guard ordered to begin operations within the Department of the Navy. (1941) [The Ancient Mariner recalls that the Coast Guard returned to the Treasury Department on January 1, 1946.]

Nov 9 Lieutenant George Sweet became the first naval officer to fly in a heavier-than-air machine, when he rode as a passenger in a Wright Brother's plane purchased by the Army. LT Sweet became an advocate of naval aviation. (1909)

Nov 10 U.S. Marine Corps Established. Semper Fi! (1775) (SEE NOTE RE MARINE BIRTHDAY UNDER JULY 11)

Nov 11 Veterans Day (still Armistice Day to some)

Nov 12 Representatives of nine nations gathered in Washington, D.C. for the start of the Washington Conference for Limitation of Armaments. (1921) [The Ancient Mariner notes that the reasons behind the need for the Conference were the high cost of shipbuilding (American Naval expenditures had increased from $85 million in 1917 to $245 million in 1921), Japanese naval construction, and the fact that the Panama Canal had made a two-ocean American Navy possible. President Harding proposed a tonnage ratio for the navies of Britain, the United States, Japan, Italy, and France as 5:5:3:1.7:1.7, respectively. The ratio was adopted on February 6, 1922, for battleships and aircraft carriers only. No limitations were placed on cruisers and smaller vessels, although cruisers could not be larger than 10,000 tons and their guns could not be larger than 8 inches.]

Nov 12 The naval Battle of Guadalcanal began. Although both sides suffered heavy losses, the Americans won a major victory over the Japanese, whose forces on Guadalcanal were virtually isolated. (1942)

Nov 12 The German battleship TRIPITZ was sunk off Norway. (1944)

Nov 12 Former Japanese premier Hideki Tojo and several other Japanese leaders were sentenced to death by a war crimes tribunal. (1948)

Nov 13 Eugene Ely, a civilian pilot employed by aircraft designer Glenn Curtiss, was first person to fly an airplane off the deck of a ship. He flew off the deck of the cruiser USS BIRMINGHAM in Hampton Roads, Virginia. He landed on the beach about five minutes later. (1910) [The Ancient Mariner can't resist reminding readers that the first shipboard landing wasn't made until January 18, 1911. There have always been more successful takeoffs than landings. This has not been a planned statistic.]

Nov 17 USCG Icebreaker, POLAR STAR launched. It was the largest icebreaker in the Western World. (1973)

Nov 20 U.S. Marines invade Tarawa. (1943) [The Ancient Mariner recalls that in this three-day battle, nearly 1,000 Marines were killed and about 2,000 wounded. The entire Japanese garrison of nearly 5,000 men were wiped out in desperate hand-to-hand combat.]

Nov 21 German Imperial Fleet surrenders to Allied naval forces at Firth of Forth. (1918)

Nov 23 SPARS, Coast Guard Women's Reserve, organized. (1942)

Nov 25 Congress authorized the capture of British naval and commercial vessels. (1775)

Nov 26 Japanese strike force sails from Kurile Islands for attack on Pearl Harbor. (1941)

Nov 28 Navy Chaplain Corps established. (1775) [The Ancient Mariner wonders if it is only coincidence, or didn't the Navy need Chaplains before the Marines were created?]

Nov 28 First regulations for the governing of the Navy, drafted by John Adams, were adopted by Congress. (1775) [The Ancient Mariner notes that among the regulations for more humane treatment of seaman was a limitation on the number of lashes which could be ordered by a ship's captain. No more than a dozen lashes were permitted.]

Dec 2 Keel laid for USS LONG BEACH, the first surface ship to be powered by nuclear energy. (1957)

Dec 6 Naval Observatory Established. (1830)

Dec 7 John Paul Jones commissioned in the Continental Navy. (1775)

Dec 7 The Day of Infamy. Japanese naval forces attack Pearl Harbor. (1941)

Dec 8 United States declared war on Japan. (1941)

Dec 10 Japanese forces capture Guam and began landings in the Philippines. (1941)

Dec 11 United States declared war on Germany and Italy. (1941)

Dec 12 Japanese aircraft bombed and strafed the Gunboat USS PANAY in the Yangtze River. The ship sank with the loss of two crewmen and one civilian passenger. The Japanese later apologized, attributing the sinking to a mistake by an "overzealous" officer. (1937)

Dec 13 Congress authorized the construction of thirteen frigates at a cost of $66,666.66 each. (1775) [The Ancient Mariner recalls that only seven of these ships ever got to sea and all of them were either sunk or captured. HANCOCK, a 32-gun frigate, was captured on June 7, 1777, and under British crew, captured TRUMBULL, another of the thirteen frigates authorized. Six of the frigates were destroyed in port to keep them from being captured by the British.]

Dec 16 The Great White Fleet sailed from Hampton Roads, Virginia on first leg of the historic 'round the world cruise. (1907) [The Ancient Mariner recalls that Admiral "Fighting Bob" Evans, Fleet Commander, designed the white hat that is now part of the enlisted male uniform. Before that, the flat hat was standard headgear for enlisted personnel.]

Dec 17 The Wright brothers inadvertently sowed the seeds of Naval Aviation when their flying machine was launched and remained airborne for 12 seconds at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Coast Guard personnel at Kill Devil Hills Life Saving Station assisted with the flight. (1903)

Dec 17 Crew scuttled German Battleship Admiral Graf Spee after being forced into Montevideo by British cruisers. (1939)

Dec 21 Medal of Honor Authorized. (1851)

Dec 22 Esek Hopkins named First Navy Commander in Chief. (1775)

Dec 23 Japanese overrun Wake Island after 12 days of attacks. (1941)

Dec 24 Treaty of Ghent signed ending War of 1812. (1814)

Naval History - Wooden Ships and Iron Men

The following is from a tale related by the chief curator of the National Park Service, and printed in no less an authoritative source than Oceanographic Ships, Fore and Aft, published by the Oceanographer of the Navy. It has to do with a cruise of the 204-foot frigate USS Constitution, commonly known as Old Ironsides , in 1779. We quote:

"On 23 August 1779, the USS Constitution set sail from Boston loaded with 475 officers and men, 48,600 gallons of water, 74,000 cannon shot, 11,500 pounds of black powder and 79,400 gallons of rum. Her mission: to search out, destroy and harass English shipping. For the next six weeks she patrolled the Eastern Coast of North America.

On 6 October, she made Jamaica, took on 826 pounds of flour and 68,300 gallons of rum. She sailed NorEast and three weeks later the Constitution reached the Azores, where she provisioned with 550 pounds of beef and 6,300 gallons of Portuguese wine. Again, she sailed NorEast to search out and engage the English.

On 18 November, the ship set sail for England where her crew captured and scuttled 12 English merchant vessels and took aboard their rum. During this extended patrol, the Constitution ran out of shot and black powder. Nevertheless, she made her way unarmed up the Firth of Clyde for a night raid. Here her landing party captured a whiskey distillery, transferred 40,000 gallons aboard and headed for home.

On 20 February 1780, the Constitution arrived in Boston with no cannon shot, no food, no powder, no rum, no whiskey. Just 48,600 gallons of stagnant water."

Detail analysis:

Length of cruise - 181 days

Booze consumption - 2.26 gallons per MAN per day (plus whatever they rescued from the 12 English merchant ships)

Guestimated re-enlistment rate - 100%