Tag: navy

Operation Northwest Passage

 

Today in History, August 3, 1958 – For centuries European nations had sent forth explorers with one goal in mind…to find the Northwest Passage to the Orient to enhance trade.  Many failed, many never returned and their fate is unknown.

In 1947 a Russian born U. S. Navy Captain named Hyman Rickover was placed in charge of a program to build the first “Atomic” powered submarine in the world.  By 1954 his team had done so, and the USS Nautilus came to be.

On this date in 1958 the world’s first Nuclear powered submarine sailed beneath the Geographic North Pole, going on to traverse the Polar Ice Cap for the first time, creating the long searched for “Northwest Passage.”  Of course the submerged ship carrying 116 men 500 feet beneath the surface of the ocean did not create the path of commerce nations long dreamed of, but it was a technological marvel.

The Perry Brothers 


Today in History, July 8: 1853 – US Navy Commodore Matthew C. Perry and his fleet arrive in Edo Harbor (Tokyo) Japan and by threat of force, demand that the Japanese contemplate relations with the US. Faced with the threat of bombardment from Perry’s ships, the Japanese accepted a letter from President Millard Filmore. When Perry returned the next year, the offer of open relations was accepted. The rest of the story is that Commodore Perry also pioneered steam power in the Navy, served under his famous older brother Oliver Hazard Perry (“We have met the enemy and they are ours!”) during the War of 1812, was a hero in the Mexican-American War, and he and his brother were direct descendents of William Wallace. Wow. 

Navy & Marine History Made

Today in History, March 3: 1776 – The Continental Navy transports a contingent of Continental Marines to Nassau, Bahamas where the Marines make their first amphibious landing. The mission was to raid and capture gunpowder and munitions stored at the British possession for use in the American Revolutionary War. The Continental Navy and Marines are of course the origins of the US Navy and US Marines.