1862: The U.S. Navy’s first ironclad ship, USS Monitor, is launched at Greenpoint, N.Y. Designed by Swedish engineer John Ericsson, the turreted gunship will make history in March when it trades shots with the Confederate ironclad Virginia (a vessel built from the previously scuttled USS Merrimac) in a duel that ends with a draw at Hampton Roads, Virginia.
Dents on the turret of USS Monitor (Library of Congress photo)
1944: Just after midnight, two battalions of Col. William O. Darby’s Rangers march to the Italian town of Cisterna, charged with sneaking behind enemy lines to seize and hold the town until the main assault force can wipe out the Germans. Planners are unaware, however, that the two battalions of elite soldiers will be going up against several fortified divisions of enemy infantry and armor.
The Rangers fight valiantly, but are cut down nearly to the last man by overwhelming numbers of well-prepared Germans. Of the nearly 800 men of the 1st and 3rd Ranger Battalions, all but six are killed or captured in the Battle of Cisterna.
1945: As the ship MV Wilhelm Gustloff evacuates German sailors, civilians, and wounded soldiers from Eastern Europe, the massive vessel is spotted by Soviet submarine S-13. Three torpedoes strike Gustloff in her port side and the ship slips under the waves of the frigid Baltic sea, taking over 9,000 lives with her to the bottom – the largest loss of life at sea by a single ship in human history.
Incidentally, S-13 will sink another German evacuee-laden vessel 11 days later, claiming another 4,500 souls.
Featured Image: U.S. military policemen escort a Viet Cong guerilla following an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Saigon
1968: At 2:45 in the morning, a 19-man Viet Cong suicide squad blows a hole in the wall of the U.S. Embassy at Saigon, managing to hold the courtyard for six hours until paratroopers can retake the compound. 10,000 North Vietnamese soldiers take the city of Hue, triggering a grueling house-to-house battle with U.S. and South Vietnamese soldiers. Meanwhile, virtually all of South Vietnam’s major urban areas and bases are under attack.
The Vietnamese Tet Offensive – launched by over 70,000 jointly operating North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces – has kicked off across South Vietnam. The Communists trade their typical guerilla tactics for a risky, more conventional strategy intended to weaken the government in Saigon and inspire a revolutionary uprising. Militarily speaking, the Communists are shattered, with an estimated 50,000 killed, wounded or captured. But in the United States, the psychological effect of Tet playing out in the media drains the resolve of the American public.
