This Day in Naval History - June 20

From the Navy News Service:

• 1813 - Fifteen U.S. gunboats engage three British ships in Hampton Roads, Va.
• 1815 - Trials of Fulton I, built by Robert Fulton, are completed in New York. This ship would become the Navy's first steam-driven warship.
• 1898 - U.S. forces occupied Guam, which became first colony of United States in the Pacific.
• 1913 - First fatal accident in naval aviation, Ensign W. D. Billingsley killed at Annapolis, Md.
• 1934 - Commander in Chief, Asiatic Fleet Adm. Frank Upham reports to Chief of Naval Operations that based on analyses of Japanese radio traffic, "Any attack by (Japan) would be made without previous declaration of war or intentional warning."
• 1944 - Battle of Philippine Sea ends with Japanese losing two aircraft carriers and hundreds of aircraft.

For more information about naval history, visit the Naval Historical Center Web site at www.history.navy.mil.