Naval History Blog

May 23

1850 Navy sends USS Advance and USS Rescue to attempt rescue of Sir John Franklin’s expedition, lost in Arctic.

1939 USS Squalus (SS-92) sinks off Postsmouth, NH, with loss of 26 lives.

1962 Launch of Aurora 7 (Mercury 7), piloted by LCDR Malcolm Scott Carpenter, USN, who completed 3 orbits in 4 hours, 56 minutes at an altitude up to 166.8 statute miles at 17,549 mph. He was picked up by HSS-2 helicopters from USS Intrepid (CVS-11). The capsule was recovered by USS John R. Pierce (DD-753).

1962 USS Valcour (AVP-55) provides medical care to a merchant seaman from tanker SS Manhattan in the Persian Gulf.

May 24

1917 First U.S. convoy to cross North Atlantic during World War I leaves Hampton Roads, VA

1918 USS Olympia anchors at Kola Inlet, Murmansk, Russia, to protect refugees during Russian Revolution

1939 First and only use of VADM Allan McCann’s Rescue Chamber to rescue 33 men from sunken USS Squalus (SS-192)

1941 Authorization of construction or acquisition of 550,000 tons of auxiliary shipping for Navy

1945 Fast carrier task force aircraft attack airfields in southern Kyushu, Japan

1945 9 US ships damaged by concentrated kamikaze attack off Okinawa

1961 USS Gurke notices signals from 12 men from Truk who were caught in a storm, drifted at sea for 2 months before being stranded on a island for 1 month. USS Southerland investigated, notified Truk, and provided provisions and supplies to repair their outrigger canoe. The men would be picked up on 7 June by the motor launch Kaselehlia.

May 25

1952 USS Iowa bombards Chongjin, Korea.

1973 Launch of Skylab 2 mission, which was first U.S. manned orbiting space station. It had an all Navy crew of CAPT Charles Conrad, Jr., USN. (commanding), CDR Joseph P. Kerwin, USN and CDR Paul J. Weitz, USN. During the 28 day mission of 404 orbits, the craft rendezvoused with Skylab to make repairs and conduct science experiments. Recovery by USS Ticonderoga (CVS-14)

May 26

1944 USS England sinks fifth Japanese submarine in one week

1952 Tests from 26-29 May demonstrate feasibility of the angled-deck concept conducted on simulated angled deck on USS Midway

1990 USS Beaufort rescues 24 Vietnamese refugees in South China Sea

May 27

1813 American joint operations against Fort George, Canada

1919 Navy NC-4 completes trans-Atlantic flight from Newfoundland to Lisbon, Portugal

May 28

1813 Frigate Essex and prize capture five British whalers

1917 First underway fueling in U.S. Navy, USS Maumee fuels 6 destroyers in North Atlantic. LCDR Chester W. Nimitz served as Maumee’s executive officer and chief engineer.

1957 1st of 24 detonations, Operation Plumbbob nuclear test

1980 55 women become first women graduates from the U.S. Naval Academy.

May 29

1781 Frigate Alliance captures HMS Atalanta and Trepassy off Nova Scotia

1991 Amphibious Task Force in Bangladesh for cyclone relief redeployed