1881-At 4 a.m. the patrolman from Station No. 34, Fourth District, New Jersey, discovered a vessel ashore on the south bar at Townsend’s Inlet, NJ about three miles south of the station and a mile offshore. He reported at the station at once…
1862 - USS Monitor founders in a storm off Cape Hatteras, NC.1941 - Admiral Chester W. Nimitz assumes command of U.S. Pacific Fleet.1942 - Commissioning of USS Essex (CV-9), first of new class of aircraft carriers, at Norfolk, VA1948…
1876-The British ship Circassian was destroyed off Bridgehampton, Long Island, following a successful rescue of 49 persons on December 11 by the Life-Saving Service. During later salvage operations in a storm the ship drifted out of the sand…
1941 - Admiral Ernest J. King assumes duty as Commander in Chief, United States Fleet.1959 - Commissioning of first fleet ballistic missile submarine, USS George Washington (SSB(N)-598), at Groton, CT.(Source: Navy News Service)
1897-Congress prohibited the killing of fur seals in the waters of the North Pacific Ocean.1903-An Executive Order extended the jurisdiction of the Lighthouse Service to Guantanamo, Cuba.1999- The 578-foot cargo vessel Violetta caught fire in the Houston ship channel…
1798 - First annual report by Secretary of the Navy, sent by Benjamin Stoddert.1812 - USS Constitution (Captain William Bainbridge) captures HMS Java off Brazil after a three hour battle.1943 - USS Silversides (SS-236) sinks three Japanese ships and damages a fourth off Palau…
1835-The 'Dade Battle' occurred when Seminole Indians ambushed and killed Major Francis Langhorne Dade and his Army command while they were on the march on Fort King Road from Fort Brooke to reinforce the troops at Fort King (Ocala). This battle was the immediate cause of the Second Seminole War…
1867 - U.S. claims Midway Island, first territory annexed outside Continental limits.1905 - Drydock Dewey left Solomon's Island, MD, enroute through the Suez Canal to the Philippines to serve as repair base. This, the longest towing job ever accomplished…
1955- A Coast Guard helicopter was the first rescue unit to reach a flood disaster scene in northern California. Its crew hoisted 138 persons to safety within 12 hours. The first 58 were made possible because of the light from a small handheld searchlight from positions of peril among chimneys…
1814 - Treaty of Ghent ends the War of 1812.1864 - Naval Forces under Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter with Army forces under Major General Benjamin F. Butler begin unsuccessful two-day attack against Fort Fisher, NC.1950 - Under cover of naval gunfire support…
1904-Near Oak Island and Fire Island, New York the American schooner Frank W. McCullough ran aground on Fire Island Bar, 2 miles from the former station and 4 from the latter, at about 9 am. The Oak Island crew reached the vessel at 10:30 am and the Fire Island crew a half hour later…
1826 - Captain Thomas ap Catesby Jones of USS Peacock and King Kamehameha negotiate first treaty between Hawaii and a foreign power.1910 - LT Theodore G. Ellyson becomes first naval officer sent to flight training.1941 - Gallant defenders of Wake Island (Sailors…
1819-The Revenue cutter Dallas seized a vessel laden with lumber that had been unlawfully cut from public land in one of the first recorded instances of a revenue cutter enforcing an environmental law.1837-Congress authorized President 'to cause any suitable number of public vessels…
1775 - Congress commissions first naval officers: Esek Hopkins, Commander in Chief of the Fleet, Captains Dudley Saltonstall, Abraham Whipple, Nicolas Biddle, and John Hopkins. Lieutenants included John Paul Jones.1841 - Commissioning of USS Mississippi…
1861 - Congress authorizes the Medal of Honor, the Nation's highest award, for Naval personnel.1943 - USS Grayling (SS-208) sinks fourth Japanese ship since 18 December.1951 - First helicopter landing aboard a hospital ship, USS Consolation…