This Week in Naval History
The USS Langley (CV 1) was the Navy's first aircraft carrier. Converted from an old collier, the Langley ushered in a new period of naval warfare with the aircraft carrier as vanguard of a modern sea force. - Credit: Photo courtesy Naval History and Heritage Command
March 15
1943 - Numbered fleet system established
1947 - Ensign John W. Lee becomes first African American officer commissioned in regular Navy. He was assigned to USS Kearsage.
1957 - Airship ZPG-2 lands NAS Key West after 11 day non-stop flight across the Atlantic
1966 - Establishment of River Squadron Five in Vietnam
March 16
1911 - Hulk of USS Maine sunk at sea in deep water with full military honors.
1945 - Iwo Jima declared secure.
1966 - Launch of Gemini 8. Former naval aviator Neil Armstrong flew on this mission which completed 7 orbits in 10 hours and 41 minutes at an altitude of 161.3 nautical miles. Recovery was by USS Leonard F. Mason (DD-852).
March 17
1898 - USS Holland, first practical submarine, launched
1942 - United States Naval Forces Europe established to plan joint operations with British
1958 - Navy Vanguard rocket launches 3.25 pound sphere from Cape Canaveral
1959 - USS Skate (SSN-578) surfaces at North Pole
March 18
1945 - Carriers begin 3 month Okinawa Campaign by destroying aircraft on Kyushu, Japan
1974 - Navy sent to sweep mines from Suez Canal
March 19
1898 - USS Oregon departs San Francisco for 14,000 mile trip around South America to join U.S. Squadron off Cuba
1917 - Navy Department authorizes enrollment of women in Naval Reserve with ratings of yeoman, radio electrician, or other essential ratings.
1942 - SecNav gave Civil Engineering Corps command of Seabees
2003 - Operation Iraqi Freedom begins with Tomahawk strikes from Navy ships and submarines.
March 20
1833 - CDR Geisinger of Peacock negotiates first commercial treaty with King of Siam
1922 -USS Jupiter recommissioned as Langley, Navy's first aircraft carrier
1939 - Naval Research Lab recommends financing research program to obtain power from uranium.
March 21
1917 - Loretta Walsh becomes first woman Navy petty officer when sworn in as Chief Yeoman.
1919 - Navy installs and tests Sperry gyrocompass, in first instance of test of aircraft gyrocompass
1945 - Bureau of Aeronautics initiates rocket-powered surface-to-air guided missile development by awarding contract to Fairchild
