1915: Lt. Cmdr. Henry C. Mustin’s Curtiss Model AB-2 launches from the armored cruiser USS North Carolina, marking the world’s first catapult launch from a ship.
1941: (Featured Image) While searching for blockade runners in the Caribbean, the cruiser USS Omaha and destroyer USS Somers spot a cargo ship flying U.S. colors but behaving oddly and whose sailors looked “uniquely un-American.” When Omaha attempts to make contact, the ship’s crew attempt to sabotage the vessel and a boarding crew is sent over. The captured ship turns out to be the German Odenwald, transporting rubber and other supplies from Japan. The sailors from the boarding party are each awarded $3,000 as bounty from the seized cargo and everyone else involved receives two month’s pay – the last time U.S. sailors will be awarded prize money.
1942: The 2d Raider Battalion sets out on a month-long patrol to cut off Japanese forces attempting to escape encirclement at Guadalcanal’s Koli Point. Over the next four weeks, Lt. Col. Evans Carlson’s Raiders marched 150 miles through dense jungles, using their trademark guerilla tactics to kill 500 enemy troops in several engagements. Only 16 Marines died during the operation, but virtually the entire battalion suffered from tropical diseases that were said to be worse than combat.
1944: Capt. Charles Yeager becomes one of the first U.S. pilots to shoot down a Messerschmidt Me-262 jet fighter, scoring his victory as the warplane attempts to land on a German airfield.
Messerschmitt Me 262
1945: Ensign Jake West’s FR-1 “Fireball” – a combination piston- and jet-powered aircraft touches down aboard the USS Wake Island, making him the first pilot to land a jet on an aircraft carrier.
Ryan FR-1 landing on USS Bairoko 1946
1951: Near Vladivostok, two Soviet Air Force fighters engage and shoot down a U.S. Navy P2V-3 “Neptune” patrol bomber 18 miles from the Russian coast. All ten crew members are lost.
U.S. Navy P2V-3 “Neptune”
1967: Cmdr. Joseph P. Smolinski and copilot Cmdr. George A. Surovik fly their SP-5B “Marlin” flying boat over Naval Air Station North Island and splash down in San Diego Bay on the last-ever operation of a U.S. Navy seaplane.
SP-5B “Marlin” flying boat
