This Week in Navy History
Jan. 22, 1800 - Capt. Thomas Tingey is ordered to duty as the first Superintendent of the Washington Navy Yard.
Jan. 23,1960 - The Bathyscaph "Trieste" descends on a nine hour journey seven miles to the deepest part of the worlds oceans, Challenger Deep, located at the southern end of the Mariana Trench.
Jan. 24, 1991 - Desert Shield/Desert Storm SEAL platoons from USS Leftwich (DD 984) and USS Nicholas (FFG 47) recaptures the island, Jazirat Qurah, the first Kuwaiti territory from Iraqis.
Jan. 25, 1986 - Fleet Ballistic Missile Submarine USS Alaska (SSBN 732) is commissioned.
Jan.26, 1913 - The body of John Paul Jones is laid in its final resting place in the Chapel of the Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md.
Jan. 27, 1967 - Tragedy strikes the Apollo space program when a flash fire occurs in command module 012 during a launch pad test of the Apollo/Saturn space vehicle being prepared for the first piloted flight, the AS-204 mission. Three astronauts, Lt. Col. Virgil I. Grissom, a veteran of Mercury and Gemini missions; Lt. Col. Edward H. White, the astronaut who had performed the first United States extravehicular activity during the Gemini program; and (Navy LCDR) Roger B. Chaffee, an astronaut preparing for his first space flight, die in this tragic accident.
Jan. 28, 1986 - The Space Shuttle Challenger tragically explodes early in its boost phase, killing all seven astronauts, including Navy Cmdr. Michael Smith.
