[Featured image: the MH-6 “Little Bird” helicopter (U.S. Army photo)]
1942: A flotilla of 14 Dutch, British, Australian, and American ships suffers a disastrous defeat at the hands of a much-larger Japanese invasion force in the Battle of the Java Sea. 11 vessels are sunk and over 3,000 sailors are killed in the engagement.
Meanwhile, the seaplane tender USS Langley (AV-3) – America’s first aircraft carrier – is sunk by Japanese land-based aircraft while ferrying P-40 “Warhawk” attack planes to Java.
USS Langley (AV-3) as a seaplane tender. Langley was scuttled following an attack by Japanese planes near Java. (U.S. Navy photo)
1963: Test pilots from the Hughes Tool Company (Aviation Division) conduct the first test flight of their Model 369 prototype helicopter, which will become the OH-6 “Cayeuse” helicopter when it enters service with the Army in 1966. The light observation helicopter will soon see service in Vietnam, and the special operations/attack variants (MH-6 and AH-6) are still flying to this day.
1991: The 1st Marine Division captures Kuwait International Airport and the 2nd Marine Division has cut off any further egress routes from Kuwait City. 29 Iraqi combat divisions have either been destroyed or are combat ineffective, and 50,000 troops have surrendered to coalition forces. The Pentagon announces that after the massive tank Battles of 73 Easting and Norfolk – which resulted in the loss of thousands of Iraqi tanks, armored vehicles, and artillery pieces – that Iraq’s military is no longer a valid regional threat.
Although outnumbered two-to-one by a dug-in enemy, which was at the time the world’s fourth-largest military, the U.S. military has devastated Saddam Hussein’s forces, with only 28 U.S. troops killed in action and less than 100 wounded. At 9:00pm Eastern, President George H.W. Bush declares that “Kuwait is liberated. Iraq’s army is defeated.” At midnight, coalition forces begin a ceasefire.
Just 100 hours into the ground campaign and six weeks after the air campaign began, Operation DESERT STORM is over.
