Official U.S. Navy photo, courtesy U.S. Naval Historical Center Hundreds of Navy carrier planes fly in formation over the U.S. and British fleets in Tokyo Bay during surrender ceremonies, Sept. 2, 1945. USS Missouri (BB-63), where the ceremonies took place, is at left. USS Detroit (CL-8) is in the right distance. Aircraft include TBM, F6F, SB2C and F4U types.

1867 - Capt. William Reynolds raises U.S. flag over Midway Island, taking formal possession of these islands for the United States.

1942 - One hundred twenty women, each commissioned directly as an ensign or lieutenant j.g., reported to “USS Northampton,“ Smith College for training.

1952 - Units on USS Boxer (CV 21) launch explosive-filled drone which explodes against railroad bridge near Hungnam, Korea. First guided missile launched from ship during Korean Conflict.

1965 - Cmdr. Scott Carpenter and nine aquanauts enter SeaLab II, 205 ft. below Southern California's waters to conduct underwater living and working tests.

1991 - A helicopter from USS America (CV 66) rescues three civilian sailors who spent 10 days in a lifeboat 80 miles off Capt May, N.J., after their sailboat capsized.

1992 - Navy and Marine forces begin providing disaster relief after Typhoon Omar hit Guam.

1992 - Marines and Army forces begin providing disaster relief in Florida after Hurricane Andrew.

August 29

1861 - U.S. squadron captures forts at Hatteras Inlet, N.C.

1862 - Union gunboat Pittsburgh supports Army troops in landing at Eunice, Arkansas.

1915 - Navy salvage divers raise F-4, first U.S. submarine sunk in accident.

1916 - Congress passes act for expansion of Navy but most ships not completed until after World War I.

1964 - USS Boxer (LPH 4) and two LSDs arrive off coast of Hispaniola to give medical aid to Haiti and Dominican Republic, which were badly damaged by Hurricane Cleo.

August 30

1913 - Navy tests Sperry gyroscopic stabilizer (automatic pilot).

1929 - Near New London, Conn., 26 officers and men test Momsen lung to exit submerged USS S-4.

1961 - Two Cuban frigates fire on a Naval Reserve aircraft on a training mission over international waters.

August 31

1842 - Congress replaces the Board of Navy Commissioners, a group of senior officers who oversaw naval technical affairs, with the five technical bureaus, ancestors of the Systems Commands. One of the 1842 bureaus, the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, continues to serve under its original name.

1943 - Commissioning of USS Harmon (DE 678), first Navy ship named for an African-American Sailor.

1944 - Carrier task group begins three-day attack on Iwo Jima and Bonin Islands.

1962 - Last flight of a Navy airship made at NAS Lakehurst, N.J.

September 1

1781 - French fleet traps British fleet at Yorktown, Va.

1925 - Cmdr. John Rodgers and crew of four in PN-9 run out of fuel on first San Francisco to Hawaii flight. Landing at sea, they rigged a sail and set sail for Hawaii.

1941 - U.S. assumes responsibility for trans-Atlantic convoys from Argentia, Canada, to the meridian of Iceland.

1942 - Establishment of Commander, Naval Air Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet, under the command of Vice Adm. Aubrey W. Fitch.

1942 - First Seabee unit to serve in a combat area, 6th Naval Construction Battalion, arrives on Guadalcanal.

1945 - USS Benevolence (AH 13) evacuates civilian internees from two internment camps near Tokyo.

September 2

1918 - Navy ships and crews assist earthquake victims of Yokohama and Tokyo.

1940 - Destroyer for Bases Deal agreement struck between the United States and United Kingdom.

1944 - USS Finback (SS 217) rescues Lt. j.g. George Bush, who was shot down while attacking Chichi Jima.

1945 - Japan signs surrender documents aboard USS Missouri (BB 63) at anchor in Tokyo Bay. Adm. Chester W. Nimitz signs for the United States. In different ceremonies, Japanese forces on Palau Islands, Truk and on Pagan Island and Rota in the Marianas surrender.

September 3

1782 - As a token of gratitude for French aid during the American Revolution, the United States gives America (first ship-of-the-line built by U.S.) to France to replace a French ship lost in Boston.

1783 - Signing of the Treaty of Paris ends the American Revolution.

1885 - First classes at U.S. Naval War College begin.

1925 - Crash of rigid airship Shenandoah near Byesville, Ohio.

1943 - American landings on Lae and Salamaua.

1944 - First combat employment of a missile guided by radio and television takes place when Navy drone, Liberator, controlled by Ensign James M. Simpson, flew to attack German submarine pens on Helgoland Island.

1945 - Japanese surrender Wake Island in ceremony aboard USS Levy (DE 162).