Maritime History

[bobola]

Gordo said; I’m a “godless, pinko pervert, commie sympathizer” type.

Hey, man, wouldn't expect anything less from you....

[GordMay]

September 15

1931 ~ British naval fleet mutinies at Invergordon
In September 1931, as part of its attempts to deal with the Great Depression in the United Kingdom, the new National Government launched cuts to public spending (10% cut for officers & NCOs). The Invergordon Mutiny was an industrial action by around a thousand sailors in the British Atlantic Fleet, that took place 15-16 September 1931. For two days, ships of the Royal Navy at Invergordon were in open mutiny.
More: http://libcom.org/history/1918-1930-...the-royal-navy

1835 ~ HMS Beagle/Charles Darwin reaches Galapagos Islands
More: http://www.galapagosconnection.net/page_darwin.html

[GordMay]

September 16

1928 ~ Hurricane hits West Palm Beach - Lake Okeechobee Florida
The Great Okeechobee Flood--in the telling of Florida's hurricane history, no other hurricane disaster can compare to its toll of at least 1,836 dead in Florida, as well as another 1,575 in the Caribbean. At the time of the catastrophe, many in South Florida said the actual death count there was over 2,300; some said it may have been as high as 3,500. Whichever figure is correct, it ranks among the United States' worst natural disasters; only the Great Galveston Hurricane of 1900 (over 8,000), the Johnstown flood of 1889 (2,200), and the two hurricanes of 1893 (2,000 each) are likely to have caused more deaths on American soil.
More: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/wea...,2734526.story

1885 ~ ”Puritan” (U.S.) beats ”Genesta” (England) in 6th running of America's Cup

[GordMay]

September 17

1989 ~ Hurricane Hugo strikes Caribbean
Hugo slammed into the islands of Guadeloupe and Montserrat near midnight with 140 mph winds. Twenty-one people were reported killed, while 12,000 were left homeless. Leaving Montserrat, Hugo then struck the U.S. Virgin Islands. On St. Croix, the devastation was tremendous - Hugo was the worst hurricanes in the history of St. Croix. Thousands of people were left homeless, and $2 billion in damages was reported. Widespread looting on the island forced President Bush to dispatch military police to restore order. Hugo is the strongest hurricane to ever hit the East Coast of the United States (September 21)

1978 ~ Begin, Sadat and Carter sign Camp David accord

1974 ~ ”Courageous” (U.S.) beats ”Southern Cross” (Australia) in 23rd America's Cup

1959 Transit 1A, 1st U.S. navigational satellite launched; failed to orbit

1959 ~ Typhoon “Sarah” kills 2,000 in Japan and Korea
Super Typhoon Sarah, which peaked at 190 mph on September 15, weakened to a 115 mph typhoon just before making landfall on southern South Korea on the 17th. It continued to the northeast, and dissipated on the 19th over northern Japan. In the Ryukyu Islands, Sarah's high winds and rain caused 6 deaths and destroyed 6,000 houses, causing $2 million in crop damage. In all of Korea, extreme flooding and storm surge killed 669 people and left 782,126 homeless. Extreme crop damage and property damage amounted to $100 million (1959 USD) ($638 million 2005 USD). Flooding in Japan killed 24, with thousands of houses either destroyed or damaged.

1949 ~ 128 die as fire guts Canadian passenger steamer "Noronic" in Toronto

1939 ~ German U-29 sinks British aircraft carrier Courageous
Kapitänleutnant Otto Schuhart, in the Type VII U-boat U29, torpedoed and sank HMS Courageous in the South-West approaches (Southwest of Ireland), 150nm WSW of Mizen Head, Ireland. The carrier went down in only twenty minutes and 518 of her 1,200 compliment went with her, including her commander Captain W T Makeig-Jones.

1926 ~ Hurricane hits Miami and Palm Beach Florida; about 450 die
More: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/wea...,1292732.story
And
http://www.miamibeach411.com/History...rricane_1.html


642 ~ Arabs destroy Great Library at Alexandria
Omar, the second caliph, successor of Mohammed, conquered Alexandria, then the capital of world scholarship.

[GordMay]

September 18

1974 ~ Hurricane “Fifi” strikes Honduras with 110 mph winds (5,000 die)

1926 ~ Hurricane hits Miami (350 die)

1919 ~ Gulf Coast Hurricane - 16 foot surge (280 drown)

1502 ~ Christopher Columbus lands at Costa Rica on his 4th and last voyage

More Hurricane History Info’:

National Weather Service -- Hurricane History Page:
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/crp/docs/research/hurrhistory/

500 years of hurricane history: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/wea...352010.special

[GordMay]

September 21

1954 ~ First nuclear submarine, USS “Nautilus”, commissioned
1866 ~ Author H. G. Wells born

[GordMay]

September 23

1857 ~ Russian warship “Leffort” disappears in Finland Gulf (826 die)

1779 ~ John Paul Jones' "Bon Homme Richard" (US) defeats HMS “Serepis” (Br)
The “Richard” engaged the HMS “Serapis” in the North Sea, off Famborough Head, England. Richard was blasted in the initial broadside the two ships exchanged, losing much of her firepower and many of her gunners. Captain Richard Pearson, commanding “Serapis”, called out to Jones, asking if he surrendered. Jones' reply: "I have not yet begun to fight!"
Sharpshooting Marines and seamen in Richard's tops raked Serapis with gunfire, clearing the weather decks. Jones and his crew tenaciously fought on , even though their ship was sinking beneath them. Finally, Capt. Pearson tore down his colors and Serapis surrendered.
Bon Homme Richard sunk the next day and Jones was forced to transfer to Serapis.
More: http://www.jpj.demon.co.uk/jpjlife.htm

[hellosailor]

US flag trivia note:
Interestingly enough, the JPJones "Bon Homme Richard" ensign is still considered to be a formal US battle flag because of that battle. But, historians apparently still argue about exactly what and which flag it was.
(All US flag designs that have been officially used & flown, are considered to still be official and proper for use as US flags, including battle flags.)

[GordMay]

September 24

1990 ~ Supreme Soviet approves switch to free market
1990 ~ West German President Richard von Weizsaecker signs reunification treaty

1966 ~ Hurricane “Inez” named as Tropical Storm (800 miles east of Martinique)
Known as "The Crazy One," Inez carved an erratic path of death and destruction from the Caribbean through Florida, and Mexico in September & October, 1966.
Inez was a Category 2 hurricane when it crashed into the island of Guadeloupe. The torrential rains accompanying the storm caused mudslides and floods all over the island. Twenty-three people lost their lives, and the survivors were faced with the near-total loss of the island’s banana crop.
By September 28, Inez had strengthened and hit the island of Hispaniola with 140-mile-per-hour sustained winds. In the Dominican Republic, the towns of Duverge and Oriedo were totally destroyed; only the town halls in each village were spared. In Haiti, many people lost their lives in flash floods in the mountains that literally washed away the victims.
Two days later, Inez spawned a series of tornadoes in the Bahamas. Fortunately, only one person died from the twisters. The hurricane was still a Category 3 storm when it struck the Florida Keys. Highway 1, running from the Florida mainland to Key West, was completely submerged at several points. Five people died in Florida, including one surfer who did not heed warnings to stay away from the beach.
Inez moved through the Gulf of Mexico over the next week, hitting Tampico on October 10. It finally dissipated the next day.
Overall, the storm caused 293 deaths and $40 million in damages. Minimum central pressure with Inez was recorded at 27.38 inches of Hg, which according to the Saffir-Simpson scale that came out into 1970, was equivalent to a Category Four Hurricane.
Track: http://www.wunderground.com/hurricane/at196609.asp

1960 ~ USS “Enterprise” launched (1st nuclear power aircraft carrier)

1952 ~ Underwater volcano explodes under research vessel Kaiyo-maru-5
Myozin-maru-11, a fishing boat, reported seeing a newly created 150-meter long island 42 kilometers south of Tokyo. The volcanic island, created by an underwater cone, was gone within five days, even though submarine seismic activity continued. Two research ships went out to investigate, but as the Kaiyo-maru-5 sailed over a vent, the mountain erupted, killing 22 crew members and 7 scientists.

[GordMay]

September 25

1911 ~ Magazine of French battleship “Liberte” explodes at Toulon Harbor (285 killed)

1836 ~ HMS "Beagle" anchors at St. Michael
More: http://www.aboutdarwin.com/voyage/voyage10.html

1513 ~ Vasco Nunez de Balboa is 1st European to see Pacific Ocean
The Spanish conquistador and explorer, Balboa, was the first European to see (and name) the eastern shore of the Pacific Ocean.
More: http://www.thenagain.info/WebChron/Americas/Balboa.html

[GordMay]

September 26

2002 ~ Ferry “Joola” sinks off Gambian coast (hundreds die)
By the government's last count, 1,863 people died as the ship was en route to the capital, Dakar, putting the sinking among the worst maritime disasters ever.
More: http://www.findarticles.com/p/articl...7/ai_n10856443
And:
http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/africa...rry/index.html

1983 ~ Challenger “Australia II” beats “Liberty” in 25Th America’s Cup
The Australia II, skippered by John Bertrand, faced Dennis Conner sailing the 12-metre Liberty in the ocean off of Newport, Rhode Island. Australia II came from behind to prevail 4 races to 3.
More: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/04/1983acup/
And: http://www.americascup.com/en/acclop...idContent=1851

1958 ~ “Columbia” (U.S.) beats “Sceptre” (England) in 18th America's Cup
More: http://www.americascup.com/en/acclop...idContent=1729

1934 ~ British liner Queen Mary is launched
More: http://www.ocean-liners.com/ships/qm.asp

1580 ~ Francis Drake returns to England with Spanish treasure
English seaman Francis Drake returns to Plymouth, England, in the Golden Hind, becoming the first British navigator to sail the earth.
More: http://search.netscape.com/ns/boomfr...history.com%2F

[GordMay]

September 27

1985 ~ Hurricane “Gloria” makes landfall at Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, then Long Island, New York
More: http://www.csc.noaa.gov/crs/cohab/hu...ria/gloria.htm

1953 ~ Super-Typhoon “Tess” ravages Nagoya, Japan

1942 ~ Douglas Munro dies (only U.S. Coast Guardsman with WW II Medal of Honor)

1941 ~ First WW II liberty ship, freighter “Patrick Henry”, launched

1938 ~ British ocean liner "Queen Elizabeth," launches at Clydebank Scotland

1854 ~ Steamship "Arctic" sinks (328 die)
In 1854, the luxury liner “Arctic” collided with a small French steamship (“ Vesta”) and sank off the coast of Newfoundland (Cape Race). At 12:15, the Arctic slammed into the steamer Vesta, an iron-hulled ship piloted by Captain Alphonse Puchesne. Since it was the Arctic that hit the Vesta, the crew of the Arctic initially directed their energy at helping the Vesta. They had not realized that the iron hull of the Vesta had actually done much more damage to the Arctic than vice versa.
Soon, the Arctic released lifeboats, but many capsized in the choppy waters. As the crew of the Arctic discovered that their ship was seriously damaged, Captain Luce decided to try to beach the ship. In doing so, he ran over several of the lifeboats, causing even more people to drown. The Arctic was too far from shore for the attempt to be successful and the action only increased the rate of flooding inside the ship.
General panic then ensued. Desperate Arctic crew members took lifeboats from women and children attempting to escape. When one of the ship’s high-ranking officers tried to stop this, the crew killed him. The final 70 people left on board crowded onto a makeshift raft as the Arctic sank. Reportedly only one member of this group survived.
It was the worst American maritime disaster in the dawning age of steam power:

1694 ~ Hurricane hits Carlisle Bay Barbados; 27 British ships sink and 3,000 die

1290 ~ Earthquake in Gulf of Chili, China, reportedly kills 100,000
Although there is little information available on this earthquake, it reportedly took 100,000 lives.
The deadliest earthquake in history, Shensi, China (1556, January 23), killed 830,000. The death toll was so high because the tremors destroyed a number of high loess cliffs in which millions of peasants lived in artificial caves. Loess, or soft clay, formed over millions of years from silt, blown there from the Gobi Desert.

[hellosailor]

Panama Canal? Wasn't part of the disagreement because the original treaty was for 100 years, and the canal wasn't returned to Panama at all--but returned in order to be promptly handed off to the new management company, which is actually the government of "Communist" China?

There were and are many Americans who feel that since the US effectively created Panama (we played a key role in their war of indepence, effectively creating the country) for the sole purpose of building the Canal, that in response to Panama's demands that the US leave before the lease was up (and that is what they demanded) we should have left--and filled the canal back in before doing so.
Purely as a responsible ecological gesture, to show we weren't a Colonial Power trying to take advantage of them any more.

[GordMay]

October 2

1963 ~ Hurricane Flora devastates Haiti (7,000+ die)
Flora first struck the island of Tobago as a Category 3 hurricane, it crossed the Caribbean Sea and strenghened to a Category 4, when it slammed into the southern part of Haiti. It then struck Cuba, near Guantanamo Bay. Flora then slowed up, stalled over Cuba, and did a 180 degree turn and heading to the northeast into the Atlantic, sparing the East Coast of the US.. Flora (the name was retired) left over 7,000 people dead in Haiti and Cuba, making it one of the five deadliest hurricanes in Atlantic history.

1957 ~ New volcanic island (“Capelinhos”) appears off Fayal (Faial) Island, Azores

1942 ~ "Queen Mary" slices cruiser "Curacao" in half (338 die)
While making a 28-knot zig-zag course in clear weather off the coast of Donegal, Ireland, the luxury liner, and now troop transport Queen Mary, bringing 10,000 Americans to Britain, rams her escort, the cruiser Curacao. The cruiser is literally cut in two and by the time the Queen Mary clears the wreck, the two halves are 100 yards apart. The captain of the Queen Mary, fearing the presence of German submarines, doesn’t even bother to slow down to determine the damage to her escort, let alone pick up survivors. 101 sailors were saved, and 338 lost their lives. After the war, a court of inquiry determined that the cruiser was at fault for not staying out of the way.

1836 ~ Darwin returns to Falmouth England aboard HMS “Beagle”

[GordMay]

October 3

1990 ~ Reunification of East and West Germany

1986 ~ Soviet Yankee-class sub sinks 1,000 miles off NC (3 or 4 die)
A fire breaks out after an explosion in a missile tube (16 SS-N-6 missiles aboard) in the Atlantic, about 400 miles east of Bermuda. The submarine sinks three days later, with, while under tow.

1972 ~ 1st flexible substrate photovoltaic flown aboard Spaceflight 71-2

1906 ~”SOS” - ships in distress shall use the following signal: ...- - -... , repeated at brief intervals
In 1904, the Marconi company suggested the use of "CQD" for a distress signal. Although generally accepted to mean, "Come Quick Danger," that is not the case. It is a general call, "CQ," followed by "D," meaning distress. A strict interpretation would be "All stations, Distress."
At the second Berlin Radiotelegraphic Conference 1906, the subject of a danger signal was again addressed. Considerable discussion ensued and finally SOS was adopted. The thinking was that three dots, three dashes and three dots could not be misinterpreted. It was to be sent together as one string ( ...—... ).
The Marconi Yearbook of Wireless Telegraphy and Telephony , 1918 states, "This signal [SOS] was adopted simply on account of its easy radiation and its unmistakable character. There is no special signification in the letter themselves, and it is entirely incorrect to put full stops between them [the letters]." All the popular interpretations of "SOS," "Save or Ship," "Save Our Souls," or "Send Out Succour" are simply not valid.
More: http://www.telegraph-office.com/pages/arc2-2.html